Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
As estimated, it didn't take long for the group to reach Mossui Town.
The tricky part, however, was getting anywhere.
As Carmine had complained earlier, the town was packed, the streets crowded with tents, bedrolls, stalls, and booths of varying degrees of quality. Dozens if not hundreds of people and Pokémon, the majority of whom are clearly not locals, were everywhere, making it virtually impossible to move anywhere without bumping into someone. Julie, feeling Durantsy and perhaps a tiny bit claustrophobic, crawled onto her sister's shoulder so she could feel less constricted in the congested village.
Most of the obvious tourists were wearing costumes, also of varying degrees of quality, of multiple characters from The Ogre's Tale. There were dozens of Ogresses in green cloaks with masks and cudgels. Two men made up to look like Moon Wukang and his rival the Six-Eared Zarude were facing off in a surprisingly well-rehearsed dance battle. A man dressed like Lady Iron Fan and his wife as the Demon Tauros King were going around with their baby, dressed up as the Blue Prince, hanging from a papoose on the former's chest. Two groups whose Pokémon were dressed as the first and arguably most despised band of villains Ogress fought, the Disloyal Trio, were arguing over which of their teams was the most lore-accurate. Pokémon made up to resemble their Noble counterparts from antiquity were shown off proudly by their trainers. Children in masks were running around, hitting each other with sticks, though that was a thing kids did all the time, so it was unclear if it actually had anything to do with the upcoming event.
Costumes and memorabilia were being sold. Collectors' editions of limited-edition copies of manga and DVDs were being haggled over. Astonishingly good artwork was being shown off by their creators, many of whom were wearing equally good costumes.
"This is amazing!" An excited Ohara squealed, staring longingly at a massive Ogress plushy with a cost way outside her price range. "It's almost like OgreCon!"
Kieran gasped. "You've been?! I've always wanted to go, but it's so far away, and we could never afford tickets."
"We have always wanted to go as well," ANNA commented, absentmindedly batting one of Julie's claws away before she could swipe one of the many plushies being sold nearby. "However, we arrived in this era after the most recent con and I do not know if we will still be here when the next one rolls around."
"Once we have Time Machine, can always go see!" Julie reasoned, staring at some takoyaki hungrily. "Maybe we go to EVERY con, since start! Get all best stuff! Limited exclusives! Autographs! Food! Hook-ups with pretty girls!"
"Sister, it would be highly irresponsible of us to use the Time Machine like that," ANNA chided her.
Julie looked at her expectantly.
"We will do that, of course, I am just noting that it is irresponsible."
Julie grinned.
"Can I come?" Ohara asked hopefully.
"Or me?" Kieran pleaded.
"Kiki, don't be ridiculous, they don't have a Time Machine," Carmine scoffed.
"That is actually accurate, we do not as yet have access to one-" ANNA admitted.
"And really, don't you already have enough Ogress junk already? How many more body pillows does a boy your age really need?" Carmine sneered.
"But sis, if we could travel through time, maybe we could make my doujinshi canon!" Kieran said excitedly. When Carmine scoffed at this, he added, "Or maybe convince O-PEN to handle the Lady Iron Fan thing differently?"
Carmine hesitated. "… What was that you were saying about a Time Machine?" She asked ANNA.
"We will not use the Time Machine to allow changes to the timeline," ANNA said flatly.
"But think of all the good you could do with it!" An excited Hohma pointed out. "You could prevent wars! Save lives! Stop awful movies from getting made! Kill Ghetsis when he was still a baby!"
The sisters gave him disgusted looks. "Nyou want kill baby?!" Julie demanded.
"I am reconsidering granting you access to the Time Machine," ANNA said coldly. She pushed him away from a stroller with an infant dressed like Tashima Uro being pushed by his mother, dressed like the Dragon Queen. "And keeping you away from infants in general."
"Wait, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Hohma protested.
Briar stared at the many cosplaying tourists in awe. "There are so many of them… I had no idea so many people would be going to this year's Festival of Masks."
"They're not here for the festival, they're just here for O-PEN," Carmine complained. "I bet most of them don't even know about the festival!"
"I'm sure that's not true," Briar insisted.
"Hey, buddy! Looking forward to the Festival of Masks?" Carmine yelled at a man dressed like the psychotic ronin Juwa Fuuzo.
"The what now?" The fake samurai asked in confusion.
Carmine shot Briar a look. "Well-" the teacher said hesitantly.
"And just look at the mess they've made of this place!" Carmine complained. "So many people they've taken to sleeping on the streets because nobody has any more room to put them! Trash, everywhere! You can hardly even notice the decorations that should be up for the Festival with all this ogre crap everywhere!"
"What decorations?" ANNA asked.
"Exactly!"
"Well… At least the town should make a big profit from hosting all these people?" Ohara suggested.
Carmine snorted. "Hardly! Most if not all that money will have to go towards cleaning up after everyone is gone and replacing all the food they've been eating, food we need once the season ends! We're not exactly a rich country, you know! This place is literally the only town in the region! The mayor might as well be King!"
"A previous Mayor actually did declare himself king a long time ago," Kieran spoke up. "That led to one of the bloodiest revolutions in Kitakami history."
"Kiki, our great-grandpa got a splinter," Carmine pointed out.
"Yes, and a really nasty one," Kieran replied.
"If you consider that one of your worst revolutions, your country must have had a pretty peaceful history," Ohara commented wistfully.
"The other one killed thousands of people and Pokémon and is the reason we only have the one town."
"Oh."
Carmine snorted. "I bet this is O-PEN's master plan… To ruin the town and our traditions! Why else would she want to leave Kitakami to seek her fortune elsewhere, if not to one day get revenge on the region she must have always despised for some petty reason by usurping our biggest holiday and making it all about herself, just like she ruined my favorite character for no good reason whatsoever?"
"You and your brother are attending a prestigious Academy in another region," ANNA pointed out. "Do you both intend to move back here to stay permanently once you graduate, or go elsewhere?"
"That's different," Carmine insisted.
"How?" Julie asked, genuinely curious.
"Because shut up!"
"Oh look, we're here," Briar said very loudly, both to get everyone's attention and because it was hard to be heard over the dozens of people clogging the streets. "And… Oh dear, this looks like trouble."
They had reached the front of the community center, where the caretaker, an old bald man with glasses, a small goatee, and purple clothes was being harangued by a very angry group of tourists. "Look, I'm sorry, but we're full up!" He yelled desperately. "There simply isn't room for anyone else, you'll have to make arrangements elsewhere-"
"We've asked everywhere else in town! Everyone's full!" Someone dressed like the wise sage Sanza shouted angrily from the back of his rather exhausted-looking Galarian Ponyta.
"What do you expect us to do, sleep on the streets or outside the town?!" A woman dressed as the Pirate Queen Valentina demanded.
"Well, quite a lot of people are already-" the caretaker pointed out, which only caused an even greater uproar.
"What kind of town is this, forcing people to sleep outdoors?!" An obnoxious kid dressed like the Divine Child demanded.
"We have money! Kick those other people out and we'll give you some!" A woman wearing a costume of the famously ascetic poet Shichihara demanded, unaware of the irony.
"Madam, I really can't do that – oh, Carmine, Kieran, there you are!" The caretaker exclaimed in relief, seeing the group. "Which means that must be Miss Briar and the students from Paldea… Please, come right in and we'll get you sorted."
"What?! Why are you letting them in but not us?!" Someone dressed like Pigsy the Emboar shouted.
"They have a reservation," the caretaker said, frantically ushering the group in and slamming the doors behind them. "Whew! Sorry you had to see that, everyone," he apologized, wiping his brow and giving them a tired smile. "As I'm sure you've noticed, things have been a little chaotic as of late."
"That would be an understatement," ANNA nodded.
"In here, too?" Hohma murmured, noticing that the floor of the community center lobby was packed full of tents and sleeping bags, with barely any space to step between them, their inhabitants looking up from their manga or toys or games or electronic devices to give them curious looks.
"We're full up," the caretaker said in exhaustion. "We've had to fit multiple guests per room, and even then, there isn't enough space for everyone. I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid you'll all have to share one room, I was forced to give away two of the ones you reserved so some especially large families or groups had a place to stay."
"Oh," Briar said, looking like she'd been caught flat-footed. "That's… Not ideal, but I suppose we'll have to manage. At least we're not sharing with anyone else…?"
To all their relief, the caretaker shook his head. "Thankfully, no, though I may have had no choice but to allow it if you hadn't arrived when you did."
"If it'll help at all, Kiki and I were planning on staying with our grandfather anyway," Carmine spoke up.
"And we can just stick Aliquis in a corner and turn him around so none of us will feel creeped out by him staring at us in our sleep," Ohara suggested.
"That's a boy?! I thought it was some kind of prop or mannequin!" The caretaker exclaimed.
"No, he's just been paralyzed by existential dread," Hohma said dismissively.
"Julie and I would also be able to find alternative arrangements. I do not actually require sleep, and she is perfectly happy sleeping outdoors," ANNA offered.
"Nyou don't speak for me! But nyeah Julie is," Julie admitted.
"Thank you, but no," Briar insisted. "I refuse to let any of my students be displaced under my watch."
"We nyot nyour students," Julie pointed out.
"For the time being, you are," Briar informed them, though she grimaced as she took another look at the packed lobby. "Though it's clear I may have dropped the ball a bit… I had no idea things would be this bad."
"None of us did," the caretaker admitted. "When we opened our doors to all those fans coming to see O-PEN, we hadn't realized there would be so many… We had no idea just how popular she is."
"I could've told you," Kieran grumbled. "It's not like anyone listens to me…"
"Anyway, you don't need to worry about taking your shoes off in here," the caretaker continued. "We've given up on getting the floor clean until after this is all over. If they're extra dirty… Well, I hope one of you has a Water Pokémon, because the washing station's been broken by some of our guests."
Carmine snorted. "Of course."
"It's a good thing this place was newly built, so it's practically as good as anything you'd find in one of your big fancy cities," the caretaker continued. "Normally you'd be able to watch TV, chat, or relax however you like here, but as you can see that's currently not an option. Over there is the cafeteria, and the toilets will be down that way, and your room is down the hall over there," he continued, pointing at several doors around the room. "That should cover anything, but if you run into any trouble at all, don't you hesitate to talk to our fine staff at the desk!"
They glanced at the receptionist, who was currently being mobbed by over a dozen annoyed guests and looked as if she were longing for death, like Larry.
"If you can find an opening," the caretaker admitted Mareepishly.
Briar grimaced slightly but bowed. "Thank you for letting us stay here. All right, kids, do you have anything to say to the staff who will be taking such good care of us?"
"We will try our hardest not to be as much of a fuss as some of your other more… Unruly guests," ANNA promised. "Especially my sister."
"Hey, what that supposed to mean?!" Julie demanded.
"What a bunch of well-mannered students! I can already tell you're going to be wonderful visitors," the caretaker said, though there was a desperate, hopeful edge in his voice. "So you just think of this place as your own home away from home, and relax!… If you can."
"You must all be tired after such a long day," Briar said to the students. "I know it's a bit early still, but why don't we have dinner, then call it a night?"
The caretaker nodded. "We've got plenty of food ready for you all, so I hope you brought your appetites!"
"Julie hungry!" Julie declared. "Airplane food nyot very filling."
"I could eat," Hohma admitted.
"Carmine, Kieran, will you be joining us?" Briar asked her students.
"I don't think so, Miss Briar," Carmine said, briefly flashing the oblivious Julie a hateful look, then an apologetic one to the caretaker. "And besides, we don't want to tax the center's resources any further than they already are."
"Carmine, we're not that bad off-" the caretaker started to say, which was clearly a bald-faced lie.
"I really must insist," Carmine interjected.
"But sis, I wanted to talk about The Ogre's Tale with them, and maybe get some writing tips from Julie and ANNA," Kieran protested.
"There'll be plenty of time to do that tomorrow and during the festival," Carmine said firmly. "Come on Kiki, grandpa is probably waiting on us. We'll see you all tomorrow." She glared at Julie. "Especially you."
"Okay. Bye!" Julie said cheerfully, waving at the local, who scowled at her before grabbing Kieran and dragging him out of the center, rudely shoving her way through the even ruder tourists clustered outside.
"Well, this trip is certainly getting off to a bit of a rough start," Briar murmured. "But I'm sure we can still make the best of it! Oh, and I don't suppose any of you could perhaps fill me in on the details of The Ogre's Tale? Considering how the town seems to have gone crazy for it, it might help if I had a more than passing familiarity with the franchise, so we don't stick out tomorrow."
"I know a few bits from cultural osmosis, but clearly there's a lot more going on than I thought," Hohma agreed.
"Oh, sure thing!" Ohara said eagerly. "We'd be happy to! Um, n-not to be presumptuous, r-right?" She asked nervously, glancing at the sisters.
"Nyo problem!" Julie assured her.
ANNA nodded. "Indeed. I have already searched the Internet for an ideal synopsis and found a video which should sufficiently explain the entire story up to this point, including spinoffs and other side materials. It is only six hours long."
Briar and Hohma both blanched. "I… Don't suppose you could find something shorter?" Briar asked hesitantly.
"That is the short one," ANNA said, to their dismay.
The next morning, they gathered in the lobby to wait for Carmine and Kieran. They were supposed to have been there at nine, but given how congested the streets were, nobody was particularly surprised they hadn't gotten there yet. All of them had slept decently well and Hohma only needed to be slapped one time for peeking at the many girls he was surrounded with, though he insisted it had been an accident. The only exception was Briar (or possibly Aliquis, nobody really knew how to say for sure), who had become so enthralled by the synopsis video ANNA had shown her she'd spent all night long going down the Bunnelby hole that was The Ogre's Tale expanded canon and rather quickly became a fan for life. (Hohma had admitted it was more interesting than he'd expected after viewing the synopsis but was rather daunted by the decades of material he might need to review if he really wanted to get into it.)
Thankfully, ANNA had decided to brew both Briar and the equally exhausted caretaker her special coffee mix, for which they were both extremely grateful.
"This coffee," Briar moaned, taking another sip from her mug, looking as if she'd fully rested rather than spent over 12 hours staring at a screen in a dark room. "Is the best coffee I've ever had."
"It's remarkable," the caretaker whimpered, tears running down his face. "I actually feel the will to live again."
"Yes, Larry had a similar reaction when I offered him some, which is why he made me promise never to give it to him again," ANNA replied.
"You must give me the recipe," the caretaker pleaded.
"Unfortunately, there is no coffee machine on the planet capable of producing this blend," ANNA informed him. "My body is the only machine in this star system that can make it."
"If you were a few years older, I'd marry you just so I could drink this every day," Briar purred.
"I am older than you," ANNA reminded her.
"Oh, right. If you looked a few years older, I'd marry you," Briar amended her statement.
"And disappoint quite a few of your students back at Blueberry, I suppose," Hohma joked.
"Wait, really?" Briar asked, startled.
"Can Julie have a sip?" Julie pleaded, giving the teacher big cat eyes.
Briar's instinctive urge to refuse and keep this liquid gold to herself ran up against Julie's sheer cuteness and failed. "Well… Perhaps one sip-"
"Sister," ANNA interjected sternly. "You know you are forbidden from drinking anything caffeinated. You remember what happened last time."
"Julie put the fires out," Julie grumbled.
Hohma's jaw dropped. "That was you?!"
"You know, we really should expect this sort of thing by now," Ohara commented.
Briar raised her mug to her lips and discovered, to her dismay, it was empty. "Say, ANNA, I don't suppose you'd be willing to give me a refill?"
"Due to the inherent flaws in your underdeveloped organic body, if you drink more than one mug within a 24-hour time period, your heart will explode," ANNA informed her.
Both Briar and the caretaker seriously considered this, wondering if it would be worth it.
"Sorry we're late!" Carmine yelled as she came through the doors, dragging an exhausted-looking Kieran behind her. "You'd think this early it might be easier to get around, but no, those outsiders are already up and about and making a nuisance of themselves! It certainly didn't help that this one stayed up all night reading a certain fanfic," she snarled, glaring at Julie while tugging on Kieran.
"But it was the first new chapter of Ogre Battle Saga in almost a month! There's no way I could miss it!" Kieran protested.
"Wait, you guys posted a new chapter?!" Ohara gasped, pulling out her Rotom Phone and checking her notifications. "Holy Miltank, you did! And it's… Almost 20,000 words?! How did you do that in one night?!"
"I have a built-in word processor," ANNA explained.
"And Julie is a literary genius!" Julie bragged.
"Look, can we just get this over with?" Carmine grumbled. "Honestly, the sooner you and the rest of these outsiders can leave, the faster things can get back to normal around here."
"Very well," the caretaker said, looking into his mug again to see if there was even a drop of coffee left. To his disappointment, there wasn't. "Why don't I tell you all a bit about what we have planned for you? This school trip of yours will be an exercise in orienteering! You will be tasked with finding three signboards located around the land of Kitakami. On each signboard, you'll find snippets of an old folktale passed down here in Kitakami. Read them all and learn a bit about our home. To prove that you've completed the task, we ask that you take a snapshot together in front of these signboards with your phone or camera. Take a photo together in front of each of the three signboards to complete your mission! It's a self-guided tour of Kitakami! Learn all about its rich history! Much more fun than sitting around listening to me ramble on and on, eh?"
Nobody laughed. His smile faded slightly. "Tough crowd…"
Briar clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! What an innovative idea for a group activity!"
"Oh, and a gift for each of you as well!" The caretaker announced, taking out about half a dozen orange and black devices with a holder at the end that looked like it could fit a Rotom Phone. "These are Roto-Sticks! They're a new accessory you can rest your Rotom Phones on. They allow you to take selfies from a little bit further away than you can on your own! I hear these things are all the rage in the big cities. Use them when you take those photos! I'll even teach you a rad pose I came up with on my own."
He struck a pose. It was most assuredly not rad.
"So cool! With one of these, it'll feel like we're actual social media influencers!" Hohma gushed.
"Like Iono!" Ohara squealed.
"I do not understand the purpose of these devices," a puzzled ANNA spoke up. "Our Rotom Phones are already capable of floating and taking pictures on their own. Why do we need to stick them in an accessory to take selfies they can easily do without assistance?"
There was an awkward pause.
"That's… Hey yeah, what is the point of that?" A startled Ohara realized.
"Sounds like the sort of thing a big money-hungry company might whip up to trick people into buying something they don't actually need," Hohma commented.
Julie shook her head. "This why Julie's tribe eschew capitalism."
The caretaker flushed. "Just… Just take the darn things," he muttered in the tone of one who'd realized that they'd just been scammed.
"Well, at least make good back scratcher," Julie observed, using her new stick to do just that.
"Anyway," Briar said to get everyone back on track. "Remember that one of the goals of the strip is to deepen the ties between our two schools. It seems like having someone who knows the area will be a big help. That being said… Carmine and Kieran, would you be all right showing us around?"
"Of course, Miss Briar!" Carmine cried, standing up straight. "You can count on us! After all, I doubt these outsiders could possibly navigate the wilderness without us-"
"The satellite I put into orbit yesterday has already completed an extensive topographical map of Kitakami, pinpointing all locations of interest, including all the signposts," ANNA announced. "It appears that the closest one is at a place called Loyalty Plaza."
Carmine's eye twitched. "Of course you did."
"Oh, that's past the apple orchards on the west side of the village," Kieran recalled. "It is close by. I guess it might, um, make sense to… You know… Visit them all in order…"
"I think that's a fine idea, Kieran," Briar told him gently as Carmine fumed. "Well, class, shall we head out?"
They all agreed in the affirmative and headed out.
Then they realized they'd forgotten Aliquis and had to go back to get him.
"So, which way is the quickest way to Loyalty Plaza?" Briar asked once they were outside.
"Well-"
"We should-"
ANNA and Kieran hesitated, realizing they'd spoken at the same time. "My apologies, you should-"
"No, you go first-"
"Oh shut it, both of you!" Carmine snapped, taking out her Rotom Phone and opening an app. "I don't want to have to navigate through the crowd of unwashed fans more times than I have to! Let's just take a Flying Taxi, it's what we should have done the first place."
Moments later, a large shadow passed over them, and the nearest tourists yelled and scurried out of the way as a Flying Taxi landed right in front of them.
It was supported by Noctowls.
Both Ohara and ANNA stared at the taxi in horror, though for different reasons. "Oh no," Ohara moaned, already turning green at the thought of riding in the cab.
"No," ANNA said flatly, producing a Pokéball. "Viola, I choose you."
The Miraidon emerged from her Pokéball. "How may I serve you, mistress?"
"We are flying," ANNA informed her, hopping onto her back. "Right now."
Viola glanced at the Flying Taxi and cringed. "I understand perfectly."
She transitioned into her Ultimate State and launched into the air, much to the amazement of those below. "We will meet you at Loyalty Plaza!" ANNA shouted down, waving at the rest of the group.
"Hey, you can't do that! Can she do that?" Carmine demanded of Briar.
"Well, it goes against the bonding we're supposed to be doing, but she has repeatedly expressed her hatred of most public transit in this era, especially the airborne kind," Briar admitted.
"Well… What makes her think that she'll get there before us, huh?" Carmine demanded, grasping at reasons to be angry.
"Detailed knowledge of the flight speed and carrying capacity of a Noctowl, multiplied by the number on the taxi, combined with all of your weights put together, when compared against Viola's flight speed confirms that you will be much slower than me," ANNA replied.
"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?!" Carmine shrieked.
"No, actually, I am much heavier than you," ANNA told her.
"Oh," Carmine said, taken aback. "Then…uh… Are you calling me anorexic?!"
Everyone groaned. Kieran facepalmed.
"Hey, wait! Nyo leaving without Julie!" Julie cried, calling out Scar and hopping on her back. "Come on, Scar! We race sisters to Loyalty Plaza!"
"Sure, chief!" The Koraidon bellowed happily. "Where Loyalty Plaza?"
"Um…" Julie pulled out her Rotom Phone and checked. "That way!"
"All right!" Scar cheered, spreading her wings as she shifted into her Apex Build and lifting off. "See you at finish line, sis!"
Viola scoffed. "Not if we see you first!"
The two dragons and their riders shot off into the distance, quite a lot of the people below taking pictures.
"W-wait, I w-want to ride w-with you, Julie!" Kieran stammered far too late.
"Missed your chance, Kiki. Better luck next time," Carmine scoffed.
"Well… That's a little disappointing…" Briar muttered, secretly wanting to ride on one of the mighty dragons as well. "Still, their loss is our gain! I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time learning about Kitakami while traveling above it at a slower pace, courtesy of our local tour guides!"
Carmine preened, and Kieran blushed and hid behind his sister.
"Um, Miss Briar, are you sure we can't walk instead?" Ohara asked nervously.
"Nonsense, this will be perfectly fine!" Briar assured her.
Several minutes later, the Flying Taxi landed at the gate just outside of Loyalty Plaza, a triangular arch leading into a beautiful park with lush grass, flowers, and trees, well-worn paths leading to a surprisingly barren patch of land surrounding a triangular shrine with three small statues of a monkey, a dog, and a bird with a purple hat, apron, and scarf respectively. The door shot open and Ohara rushed out, vomiting noisily into some bushes. The rest of the group, looking rather ill themselves, staggered out after her.
"You forgot she gets horribly motion sick, didn't you?" Hohma accused the teacher.
"You'd think I'd remember better by now," Briar muttered, struggling not to throw up herself.
"That girl," Carmine snarled, looking both red and green in the face, shouted as she pointed at Ohara. "Is riding in a different taxi to the next spot!"
"Oh Arceus I have to do that AGAIN?!" Ohara moaned.
"… You know, perhaps we should do something to help her with that," ANNA, standing at the gate with Julie, feeding their dragons sandwiches – which, sadly, were nowhere near as good as Arven's – commented.
"Good idea! Sister can whip up superduper magicky science thing for that, nyeah?" Julie agreed.
ANNA nodded. "Yes, I could, but-" She paused, remembering one of their conversations from yesterday and seeing an opportunity to give Julie a confidence boost in a particular field. Also, she had lost the race and was feeling somewhat vindictive. "Say, sister, are you not capable of brewing a potion that could also serve as a remedy for her motion sickness?" She asked very loudly.
Julie gave her a startled look. "W-what? Sister, nyou knyow Julie isn't-"
And suddenly Ohara was right in her face. "You can cure me?!" She shrieked, causing Julie to yelp and jump to the top of the arch.
"W-well, Julie-" Julie stammered.
"Please, please, please use your magic to cure me!" Ohara begged, tears in her eyes. "I've had to suffer this my entire life! It's made visiting relatives and family or going anywhere almost impossible! People have been calling me ' Vomit Girl' behind my back since kindergarten! And to my face!"
"That's… That's awful, but-"
"I will do literally anything if you'll cure me," Ohara pleaded, on her knees. "I'll give you my hand in marriage. I'll give you my soul. I'll be your girlfriend. Your pet. Your toy. Your slave. I'll even give you head. You want head? Because I will give you head right here and right now in front of everyone-"
"Th-that nyot nyecessary!" Julie shouted as she hopped down from the gate, looking uncharacteristically flustered. "L-look, Julie love to help, but… Julie nyot even sure right ingredients exist in this time-"
"But surely there are substitutes that should work just as well?" ANNA suggested innocently. "I seem to recall you concocting a number of tinctures and potions for our friends using herbs, mushrooms, leaves, and other components from this time."
Julie shot her a venomous look. "Okay, maybe, but nyot like everything I nyeed right here in Plaza-"
She paused, sniffing the air.
"Hold that thought."
She raced into the park, a hopeful and lovestruck Ohara staring after her.
She wasn't the only one. "Isn't she amazing? So selfless!" Kieran sighed.
"… Yes. I'm sure that's the only reason she chose to do that," Carmine said bluntly, the sarcasm flying over her brother's head.
"While we wait for my sister to finish, would you like to read the signpost?" ANNA suggested. "We already had a look while we were waiting for you, then we decided not to take a picture until we were all here."
"Thank you very much for that, ANNA," Briar said graciously, Hohma, Carmine and Kieran following her into the Plaza where they examined the large triangular signpost just inside the entrance.
Long, long ago, there was a fearsome ogre in the land of Kitakami.
The ogre made its home in the mountain behind the village, frightening all who ventured there.
One day, the ogre came down from the mountain in a terrible rage, causing great fear in the village.
By some stroke of luck, Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti all happened to be there as well.
The three Pokémon laid down their lives to fend off the ogre and send it back to the mountain.
In admiration, the people of the village bestowed upon this brave trio the title "the Loyal Three."
Their remains were given a proper burial, and statues of the three were erected above the site.
"Fascinating… And I suppose that must be their grave back there," Briar observed, nodding at the shrine at the back of the Plaza.
"Did that actually happen?" Hohma wondered. "Are there really three dead Legendary Pokémon buried back there?"
"We wondered the same thing," ANNA explained. "I did a geothermal scan of the burial site and confirmed there are indeed three bodies beneath that shrine resembling the statues depicted in it and other iconography I've spotted around the village and resemble no known Pokémon on file."
"Hey, you can't just look into the graves of some of our greatest heroes!" Carmine protested.
"My scans were noninvasive. The bodies were unharmed," ANNA confirmed. She frowned. "Although… There were some strange anomalies. They seemed unusually well-preserved for corpses buried hundreds of years ago, and something about the soil seemed oddly reminiscent of-"
"Excuses, excuses," Carmine snapped, utterly uninterested.
"Wait… The story on the signpost… Doesn't that sound a lot like the first arc of The Ogre's Tale?" Ohara suddenly realized.
"Hey yeah, except the role of hero and villain are swapped," Hohma commented.
Carmine scoffed. "Well, duh! O-PEN ripped off our legend, just like she ripped off tons of other classical legends and fables for her stupid manga, like Journey to the East, the Tale of the Princess Kagu, the Epic of Pokémesh, the Romance of the Five Kingdoms… Not a shred of originality in her!"
"Actually, all those stories have existed in the public domain for hundreds of years, so there is nothing wrong with her basing her manga off of them," ANNA pointed out. "Hers would not be the first retelling or reimagining of a classical story."
"Don't you think the ogre in that folktale sounds kind of… Cool?" Kieran asked shyly.
"… You mean the one who nearly destroyed the village and three heroes had to give their lives to drive away?" Ohara asked.
"C'mon, it was all alone!" Kieran insisted. "The battle was three against one, but the ogre still managed to hold its own. That's way cool! That's part of why I always admired the ogre, even before I realized Ogress was based off it…"
"Right, because admiring a horrible rampaging monster totally isn't a red flag," Carmine snarked, rolling her eyes.
"You admired Lady Iron Fan-"
"Because she WASN'T a villain, she was done wrong by the author and that's TOTALLY different!" Carmine shrieked.
Briar glanced from the signpost to the distant shrine, rubbing her chin contemplatively. "… History is often written by the victors," she murmured. "The ogre is remembered by all as a monster… But then again, my own ancestor is remembered as a madman and a liar, which I'm convinced is far from true. Without knowing what really happened back then, how can we ever know the truth behind the story?"
"Well, we could use a Time Machine," Hohma suggested, glancing at ANNA.
"Hohma, I hope you are not suggesting we abuse a dangerous device capable of shattering the barrier of space and time to gaze into the distant past," ANNA said sternly.
"Uh, well…"
"Because that is a brilliant idea. As scientists and explorers, my people are seekers of truth, and there is much about our own past and origins that has long been forgotten," ANNA remarked. "A Time Machine would be a superb way to learn more about the distant past and discover the whole, objective truth behind every story. It would require some modification to be used as a mere window into those times to avoid any risk to the timeline, but that should not be too hard to manage."
Hohma's expression brightened at this.
"If you can do that, can we use it to see the ogre in its prime?" Kieran asked hopefully.
Carmen rolled her eyes. "Kiki, first of all, there is no Time Machine, she's just being a chuuni."
"I am not a chuuni, I am a-"
"Second, your obsession with the ogre is starting to get out of hand."
"Oh, and your obsession with Lady Iron Fan isn't?" He retorted.
"I am not obsessed!" She snapped.
Nobody believed her.
"And seeing the ogre would be the next best thing to meeting Ogress for real," Kieran continued. "When I was little, I went up into the mountains so many times at night – on my own – an' I never once met that ogre. Only scary thing that happened was the grown-ups givin' me a real earful about it… But I still want to meet it! I want to see if it's as strong as Ogress is! That's always been one of the things I've loved about her most… She's really strong!"
Briar frowned. "Perhaps so, but – if the numerous analysis and discussion threads I read last night are anything to go by – one of the most common recurring themes in the franchise is that her strength is often more a curse than a blessing."
"Hey, if people get scared by how strong she is, that's their problem, not hers," Kieran said dismissively. "I wish I were that strong…"
Carmine snorted. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen," she said flippantly, failing to see a brief flash of utter hatred cross her brother's face.
"Okay, Julie is back!" Julie announced, bounding over on all fours.
"You have all the ingredients for the spell?" ANNA asked her sister.
Julie nodded, though she looked uncharacteristically nervous and doubtful. "Yes. Well. Almost nyone of what Julie would use back home. Lots of substitutes. Should work almost as good. Maybe. Nyot sure. Maybe this bad idea-"
"Please, Julie?" Ohara pleaded. "I'm really desperate here. I do not want another taxi ride like that."
"You and me both," Hohma muttered.
"I can't believe I got charged extra because of you! I am not giving them a good review," Carmine complained.
"Sister, go ahead. I have faith in you," ANNA encouraged Julie.
"… Thanks."
Julie put a bundle of sticks and tinder on the ground and whistled, both Scar and Viola trotting over. Julie pointed at the tinder and the dragons exhaled a brief burst of flame and electricity, setting it alight. She then produced a small pot and placed it onto the flames, then pulled out a pouch full of herbs, berries, grass, leaves, bark, hair, dirt, and other things she'd gathered from around the park and tossed it in. Taking out her club next, she mashed the contents of the pot until they were rendered into a thick paste, then produced a pair of gourds and carefully poured a few drops from each into the pot, filling it and causing several colored puffs of smoke to waft into the air.
She extended a hand, and Scar opened one of her wings, allowing Julie to pluck a feather, which she used to start stirring the pot, chanting in a strange tongue, almost sounding like there was more than one person speaking.
Everyone stared in wonder except Carmine, who yawned and rolled her eyes, dismissing the whole thing as more chuuni nonsense.
"Incredible…" Briar murmured, scribbling note after note as the liquefying contents of the pot started glowing, the smoke rising from the fire rapidly shifting colors. "ANNA, do you know what she's saying?"
"Yes, but they are concepts difficult to translate into your language," ANNA replied. "Loosely speaking, she is invoking the spirits of her ancestors and her homeland to create an elixir capable of curing Ohara's severe motion sickness."
"Can she even do that?" An intrigued Briar asked. "She is very far from home, after all."
"Yes, but she is here," ANNA pointed out. "She carries a piece of her home with her in her heart, in her memories. As such, the power of her tribe's magic can transcend paltry boundaries like space and time to reach her wherever or whenever she is."
"So cool," Hohma gushed, recording the whole thing on his Rotom Phone.
"Sis, isn't this amazing? Real magic!" Kieran squealed.
"Magic? She's just making soup," Carmine snorted. "If she really wanted to help Ohara, instead of trying some backwoods folk remedy she should take her to a pharmacy!"
Ohara clasped her hands in prayer, looking hopefully at Julie as she continued her work.
Abruptly, the contents of the pot solidified, the flames flaring up and shifting through every color of the spectrum before abruptly snuffing out. Julie produced her club again and banged it against the pot three times, shouting what sounded like a name each time, then tipped the pot over and poured its suddenly liquid again contents into a pouch. Pulling a drawstring on the opening of the pouch shut, she started vigorously shaking it, continuing her chanting, before abruptly flinging it at the ground, where it exploded with a thunderclap and a fantastical burst of smoke and flame, stars, moons, and colorful spirits resembling Julie herself flying everywhere, blowing everyone's hair back and knocking all the leaves off the nearby trees.
When the smoke cleared, a small green pellet could be seen on the ground, surrounded by blast marks.
Julie picked up the pellet, sniffed it, touched it with her tongue, then nodded and offered it to Ohara. "Spell finished. Chew and swallow. If Julie did everything right, will cure nyou of motion sickness forever, render nyou immune to most diseases, and drastically extend lifespan. But, um, small chance of making nyou into cat girl. Possibly big chance since Julie had to use substitute ingredients and Julie nyot really that good at magic. Nyou knyow what, maybe this bad idea, let's go to pharmacist instead-"
O'Hara snatched the pellet, stuffed it in her mouth, chewed and swallowed.
"Or nyou could do that."
Carmine gagged. "Oh, gross! That was on the ground! And she licked it!"
"How do you feel?" Hohma asked, pointing his phone at Ohara.
"Describe in detail, please!" Briar added, pen at the ready.
"It tastes… Good! Really really good!" Ohara moaned, rubbing her stomach. "I feel full, and… My stomach feels really settled for the first time in… Maybe ever! I feel amazing! Julie, you did it-"
There was a puff of smoke and suddenly cat ears formed on top of her head. "Nyah?"
Everyone gasped.
"Oh nyo!" Julie reeled in horror. "Julie screwed it all up like Julie knyew Julie would!" She started sobbing. "Julie is sorry! Julie nyever do magic again-"
"THANK YOU!"
"Nyah?" Julie asked as an enthusiastic Ohara hugged her, conveniently pressing her face in her chest.
"This. Is. INCREDIBLE!" Ohara squealed. "I feel strong! Brave! Confident! My hearing is so good I think I have perfect pitch! I can see the veins in a leaf dozens of meters away! Smell what Hohma ate for breakfast! The sun feels so warm on my skin, the wind in my hair feels like when my mother brushed it when I was younger… I feel like the whole world is giving me one big hug! I even think my clinical depression and anxiety is gone!"
"You have clinical depression and anxiety?" Hohma asked in surprise.
"Not anymore!" Ohara sang. "Julie, do you feel like this all the time?"
"Julie…J-Julie usually does," Julie stammered, dumbfounded. "Nyou… Don't mind being like this? Julie didn't screw up?"
"Julie didn't screw up! Julie didn't screw up at all!" Ohara assured her. "And now Ohara – I mean me, I mean I – am all yours, just like I promised, Mewstress!" She started nuzzling Julie and purring.
"Oh." Julie relaxed and started rubbing her face against Ohara's breasts. "Julie is okay with this."
"Wow, that's certainly the kind of hug two very platonic friends would have," Kieran commented.
Everyone stared at him.
"… Wow," Hohma said finally, dumbstruck. "That's just… Wow."
"Remarkable," Briar moaned, eyes sparkling. "But, ah, is this permanent?"
Julie's eyes widened, looking worried again. "Julie… Julie doesn't knyow. Accidental side effect rather than intentional. Hard to say." She moaned. "Oh nyo, Julie promised Papa Clavell Julie wouldn't turn anyone into catgirls! He'll be so disappointed in Julie!"
ANNA grimaced, feeling a strong pang of guilt. She had only intended for Julie to become more confident in her skills as a spellcaster, not this. "I have several samples of gene cleanser prepared," she offered. "If we need to turn her back-"
Julie shook her head. "Bad idea. Transformation linked to cure spell. Change her back, she has motion sickness again. And clinical depression and anxiety."
"No! I don't want any of that again!" Ohara cried.
"It would only be for a moment; I can easily synthesize a cure of my own-" ANNA offered.
Ohara rapidly shook her head. "Nope! I'm staying like this. Forever if possible. I never want to go back if I don't have to!"
ANNA raised her hands in surrender. "Very well. I was merely putting the option out there. It will still be available to you if you change your mind."
"I won't, but thank you," Ohara said, calming down.
Kieran stared at Ohara hugging Julie, picturing it being himself instead, but with cat ears and other features. "S-say, um, Julie, y-you know, I have some really bad allergies, I-I don't suppose you can try whipping up something to-"
"Oh for the love of – will you all quit humoring her delusions?!" Carmine snarled as she stomped over. "It's just stupid cosplay! See, these will come right off-"
She grabbed Ohara's new ears and tugged. The other girl screamed and clawed at Carmine, who staggered backwards, shocked. "Those… Those didn't come off… And…" She glanced down at her arm, noticing that her sleeve was shredded and she was bleeding. "You… You have claws?!"
"I do?" Ohara asked in surprise, glancing at her fingers, which did indeed have claws. "I have claws!"
"But that's… That's not… How could…w-what?" Carmine stammered, very pale.
"The answer is very simple," ANNA said, converting two of her fingers into a pair of plasma scissors and cutting away the damaged portion of Carmine's sleeve, then turning another finger into an aerosol spray which she used to dose the wound with nanotech, the cuts mending themselves in seconds. "Julie is a prehistoric cat girl from the distant past, while I am a techno-organic life form from the decent future. As I have stated. Several times."
"I thought… I thought you were just a crazy chuuni," Carmine said faintly, staring at her now pristine skin in confusion and horror.
"You were wrong."
"Wow. I think you broke sis," Kieran observed, staring at the shellshocked look on Carmine's face.
Hohma grimaced. "Oh no, are we going to have another person paralyzed by existential terror? Aliquis is bad enough!"
Briar frowned. "Speaking of… Where is Aliquis? We can't take the group photo and move on to the next signpost without him."
Everyone glanced around, but Aliquis was nowhere to be found.
"Where is he?" A concerned Ohara wondered. "He can't have gotten up and wandered off, could he?"
"Considering that he is, in fact, a living breathing person, he could have," ANNA pointed out. "But it seems unlikely he would have without us noticing."
Julie sniffed the air. "Julie doesn't smell him."
"When was the last time any of us saw him?" An alarmed Briar asked.
"Well, I know he was with us in the… Taxi…" Hohma said slowly, before turning and looking at the place where they had been dropped off earlier, the place the taxi was no longer occupying.
They stared for a long moment.
"Uh-oh."
"Okay, yeah, I am definitely giving them a bad review," Carmine griped.
After a very long and uncomfortable call with the taxi service, they got Aliquis back and took their group photo, as well as a free ride to their next destination, Kitakami Hall, located at the foot of Oni Mountain, the oni-shaped mountain in the center of the region. The temple grounds were traditionally where the Festival of Masks was held, and this year would be no different. As they arrived, they saw numerous food and game stalls being erected, and plenty of tourists already gathering in large numbers in preparation for that evening's special event, when O-PEN would make her big public announcement. A stage was already under construction just in front of the Hall proper, a huge red triangular building. Various statues, masks, posters, and booths featuring merchandise and memorabilia pertaining to The Ogre's Tale were already swamped by tourists and even some of the locals who didn't care that it wasn't time for the Festival yet and nothing was open, they wanted to be catered to and they wanted it now, or at the very least wanted to be first in line to get the best stuff.
"I can't believe it…" An excited Ohara murmured eagerly, staring at this stage, and the hundreds of folding chairs being set up in front of it, many of which were already filled. "In a few short hours, we're going to get to see THE O-PEN in person! This is going to be the best day of my life and being turned into a cat girl and cured of my motion sickness, depression, and anxiety already made it really high up there!"
"Joy," Carmine spat venomously. "Ugh, just look at how they're desecrating these sacred grounds with their crass commercialism!"
"Sis, people buy stuff at the festival all the time," Kieran pointed out.
"That's different!" Carmine insisted.
"How?" Hohma asked.
"Because that's for the festival, not to line the pockets of that hack!" Carmine snarled.
"I think we're actually getting a pretty decent cut of the profits-"
"Shut up, Kiki."
"There really are so many people here…" Briar murmured with a hint of concern. "I hope we won't have trouble looking around tonight. Or finding good seats…"
"Sorry, Miss Briar, but I'm pretty sure every seat has already been paid for," Ohara apologized. "Including mine…" She said giddily, a joyous on her face.
Julie scowled at ANNA. "For the last time, you could have checked too," ANNA said curtly.
Julie very maturely stuck her tongue out at her.
"Hey, there's the signpost," Kieran said, pointing at the signpost rather like the one back at Loyalty Plaza hidden away in a corner behind the Hall, near a triangular gate leading higher up the mountain.
"Then let's see what this one has to say," Briar said, leading the group towards the signpost, which they read with interest.
The ogre possessed four mysterious, glimmering masks.
It is said that depending on the mask the ogre donned, the powers of its cudgel would change.
When wearing the teal mask, it could bring life back into withered greenery around it.
When wearing the crimson mask, it could turn a candle's flame into a raging inferno.
When wearing the blue mask, it could stop the very flow of a river.
When wearing the ashen gray mask, it could easily break the hardest stone in two.
Before the Loyal Three fell, they wrested away three of the ogre's masks, greatly weakening it.
"Four elemental masks… Another parallel between the ogre myth and the first arc of The Ogre's Tale," ANNA observed.
"Except in the story, the masks were precious gifts from Ogress's master, stolen by the Disloyal Trio and lost when she was forced to flee her home, while in the original myth… Carmine, Kieran, would you happen to know where the ogre got its masks from?" Briar asked.
Carmine frowned. "Uh… Actually, no, now that I think about it. I don't think I've ever heard any version of the story which mentions where it got them from. It just… Had them. I mean, lots of Pokémon just have items or artifacts associated with them with no real explanation, you know? Maybe it made them itself?"
"I suppose that is possible," ANNA acknowledged. "Another question we will only be able to solve with a time machine, perhaps."
"Well, I don't know if it helps, but… We have the masks," Kieran spoke up, pointing at the Hall. "They're just in there."
"Really?" Briar asked, intrigued. "I don't suppose we can have a look at them?"
Carmine made a face. "Well, I guess we could…"
They headed for the Hall, only to find the entrance blocked by the caretaker, who apparently worked there as well. "Oh, hello again!" he said, smiling as he saw the group approach. "I take it you've finished with the second signpost?"
"Oh, right, we forgot to take picture," Julie realized.
"We can go back in a minute. Caretaker, I don't suppose we could go inside? I just heard that you have the three masks associated with the mythical ogre and was wondering if we could have a look at them," Briar asked.
The caretaker shook his head. "Sorry, the hall's closed right now. O-PEN is in there-"
"She's HERE?!" Julie, Ohara, Kieran, and even ANNA shouted.
The caretaker winced. "Yes, she's inside, and please keep it down or else we'll be mobbed, and she might decide it's too dangerous here and cancel the whole event, which means a LOT of unhappy fans will demand their money back. Her being in there means NOBODY can go in there right now. Strict orders. Only she and her Gardevoir are inside."
"Curious…" ANNA murmured. "Whatever could they be doing?"
The caretaker shrugged. "No idea. I don't get paid enough to ask those kinds of questions." His face fell. "I don't get paid enough at all, actually…"
He was surprised when Julie abruptly hugged him. "Huh?"
"Nyou look like nyou nyeed hug," Julie purred, nuzzling him. "Like Larry."
The caretaker stared at her, eyes wide, then started sniffling, holding back tears. "I… I don't know who that is, but… You're right, I did need a hug. Thank you, little girl."
"Julie is older than you."
Carmine stiffened. "Wait… If they were telling the truth about what they are, then… Kieran, you can't go out with her, she's much too old for you."
"You're not mom, you're not the boss of me!" Kieran snapped back.
"I might as well be mom, given what-" Carmine cut herself off, grimacing. "You know what, forget it. You really think this is a good idea, go for it, don't say I didn't warn you when it blows up in your face."
"It won't," Kieran said confidently.
"It probably will, actually," ANNA commented. He ignored her.
"Do you know when the hall will be open to the public again?" Briar asked the caretaker after Julie finally let go of him and decided to hug an ecstatic Ohara instead.
"It'll probably be open by the time of the festival, but I wouldn't recommend coming back sooner than that," the caretaker informed her. "You should still have time to take a look at the masks before O-PEN makes her big announcement."
"All right. Thank you very much," Briar told him.
"I wonder what she's doing in there," Ohara wondered as they headed back towards the signpost.
"She's probably defacing the masks, or stealing them," Carmine sneered.
"Why would she do that?" A skeptical ANNA asked.
"Because she clearly hates Kitakami and our heritage! She turned our greatest myth inside out and made a fortune out of it while we never got a cent! She's taking our most important holiday and making it all about her! AND SHE RUINED LADY IRON FAN!" Carmine ranted.
Everyone groaned. "She's never letting up on that, is she?" Hohma grumbled.
"Sis, you really should stop listening to Goroge so much, he has no idea what he's talking about," Kieran complained.
"Sometimes I feel like he's the only one around here who does!" She shot back.
After they took their picture – making sure Aliquis was with them this time – Kieran commented, "You know, everyone in town is scared of the ogre… But me? I really like it."
"We have gotten that impression, yes," ANNA replied.
"It was strong… And cool… And it didn't even care when everyone shunned it…" Kieran continued. "I've always wanted to be like that, ever since I was a kid. I want to be as cool as the ogre!"
"You mean the rampaging monster that killed three Pokémon and ran away never to be seen again?" Carmine asked snidely. "Yeah, real cool."
"You don't know it was like that! Maybe it's like it was in the manga!" Kieran insisted. "And that's not the point. You sorta end up doin' everything for me… Even when we're at school… I… Wanna get stronger. So I can do things for myself, you know? I'm going to become someone people can rely on. Then, just maybe… I could be that ogre's friend."
"Again, the rampaging murdering monster who vanished hundreds of years ago and may not even still be alive," Carmine pointed out bluntly.
"Oh shut up! You never support me or believe in me!" He snapped.
"Maybe I would if you didn't have such stupid ideas!" She retorted.
"They're not stupid!"
"THEY ARE! AND SO ARE YOUR GARBAGE STORIES!"
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"
"… Kind of feeling like this isn't something we should be seeing…" An uncomfortable Hohma muttered.
"I'm glad the two of you aren't like that," Ohara told ANNA and Julie.
"We have our moments," ANNA admitted. "Like when a certain someone uses someone else's toothbrush."
"Nyou nyot even nyeed toothbrush! ANNA has nyo real teeth and cleans with tiny magic machines!" An exasperated Julie pointed out.
"I have other uses for my toothbrush than that!" ANNA insisted.
"Like what?" Ohara asked.
ANNA hesitated. "… Seeing as how I cannot lie; I choose not to answer that question."
Briar cleared her throat loudly. "Okay, now that we've taken our second picture, why don't we leave these sibling disputes for later… When there are so many people staring at us… And move on to the next signpost? That should be in the Paradise Barrens."
"That's a bit of an oxymoronic name," Hohma observed.
"I'm sure it's not that bad," Briar said.
"No, it is," Carmine corrected her.
"Um, wait, while we are here… Maybe we could check out this place nearby, just up the mountain?" Kieran asked, pointing at the triangular gate nearby, where a set of stairways began winding their way up the slope. "According to legend, Oni Mountain used to be where the ogre lived. Maybe we could check out the cave where it used to hide out in? Folks call it the Dreaded Den. I go there all the time, hoping to find the ogre."
"And you never do," Carmine pointed out snidely. "It's probably long gone, Kiki."
"Well, maybe it will be back this time!" Kieran snapped defensively.
"Well, I suppose we are already here…" Briar murmured. "Kids, what do you think?"
"I suppose it could be worth a look," ANNA admitted.
"Maybe Mewstress can find a clue about what happened to the ogre?" Ohara suggested.
Julie frowned. "Julie doesn't knyow. Any trace of ogre probably gone ages ago. Buuuut…" She considered. "Might be able to cast locator spell. Only work if anything of ogre's still there. Masks probably better."
"However, seeing as we can't view the masks right now…" ANNA pointed out.
Julie sighed. "Cave might be worth looking at. So long as Julie doesn't screw up again."
"I promise you, Mewstress, you didn't screw up!" Ohara said softly, taking her paws. "I'm happier than I ever thought I could be, and it's all thanks to you!"
Julie blushed at this.
"They really are good friends," Kieran observed.
Everyone stared at him.
"Welp, looks like we're going to waste time going to look at a dirty cave," Carmine grumbled. "Certainly not how I would've liked to spend the day…"
"It's just a brief detour," Briar assured her.
"Miss Briar, the Dreaded Den is a lot further up the mountain than Kiki is leading you to believe, and the taxis refuse to go there," Carmine pointed out. "If we do this, we might not have time to make it to the Barrens before the festival."
"Then we'll go tomorrow," Briar said with a shrug. "We're going to be here for a few days, we have plenty of time."
However, they soon found themselves once again barred by the caretaker. "Sorry, everyone, mountain's closed," he told them, standing in front of the gate leading up the mountain.
"What?! What do you mean the mountain's closed?!" Kieran protested.
"Wait, didn't we just see him at the hall, how did he get here-" the confused Hohma asked.
"I have a Psychic Pokémon who can Teleport that alerts me whenever someone is trying to go somewhere they shouldn't in the areas I have responsibility for so I can be there to stop them," the caretaker explained.
"Oh, that's actually a very reasonable and plausible explanation," Hohma admitted in surprise.
"Julie assumed caretaker had huge family with multiple identical siblings like Nyurse Joy," Julie admitted.
ANNA had as well but decided not to share that.
"No, my parents hated each other far too much for that," the caretaker said morosely.
"Why is the mountain closed?" Briar asked.
"O-PEN's orders. Granted, I'm not sure she has the authority to do that, but she's the one paying for most of this, so…" He shrugged. "Considering how rowdy the festival might turn out – and the amount of alcohol being sold – she requested we keep anyone from climbing up the mountain for their own safety, especially the Dreadful Den."
"What?! How dare she?!" Carmine shouted indignantly.
"I thought you did not even want to climb the mountain," ANNA pointed out.
"Yes, but now that I've been told I can't, I really want to, especially since O-PEN is involved!" Carmine explained. "First Kitakami Hall, now the entire mountain, especially the Dreadful Den? She's clearly up to no good! Maybe that's where she's hiding the loot!"
"What loot?" A tired Ohara asked.
"The loot she's plundering from the hall as we speak! She has a Gardevoir, which means she can easily Teleport the masks and all the other treasures within to a secondary location, likely the Den!" Carmine declared.
The caretaker scratched his head Mareepishly. "Not sure I'd call most of what's in the hall treasure… Most of the really valuable stuff was sold or stolen ages ago…"
"In fact… If she's using the Den as her hideout… She's probably relying on the legend of the ogre to keep anyone from investigating! No, wait… She's in league with the ogre!" Carmine gasped. "Which explains why she wrote a manga where the ogre was a hero to make us feel sympathetic towards it and let down our guard! Or… Maybe she IS the ogre! There must be a reason nobody has ever seen her with her mask off and why she's kept her true identity such a big secret all these years!"
Everyone stared at her blankly. "Sis, are you listening yourself right now?" An incredulous Kieran asked.
"That all seems… Highly improbable," Briar said slowly. "Mr. Caretaker, do you know when the mountain will be open to the public again?"
"Tomorrow," he replied. "Technically it'll be open once the festival is over, but by that point it'll be pretty late, and I wouldn't recommend it."
"Well kids, I guess that's that," the teacher said with a shrug, turning back to the students. "I guess we'll have to check out Kieran's cave tomorrow."
"Awww, but I really wanted to show it to everyone!" Kieran complained. "Now that we're all such good friends, I really wanted to share this with all of you! Especially you, Julie."
Julie blinked. "Nyah?"
"I think 'friends' is a bit of a stretch," Hohma muttered. Ohara nodded in agreement.
"But Miss Briar, if we wait until tomorrow, O-PEN will have gotten away with everything!" Carmine protested. "ANNA, Julie, maybe you could fly us up on your dragons instead?"
The twins considered. "Well, it would take multiple trips, unless none of you minded being carried-" ANNA started.
"No," Briar interjected firmly. "I won't have any of my students committing any crimes or infractions under my watch. We are leaving the Dreaded Den until tomorrow, and that's final. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Miss Briar," everyone answered her.
"Also, if you were really planning on sneaking up there, you probably shouldn't have talked about it in front of me," the caretaker pointed out.
"H-hey, Julie, c-can I ride with you on your Dragon to the next stop?" Kieran asked shyly.
Julie shook her head. "Sorry Kiki, Julie already promised Harahara she could ride with Julie."
"It'll be so much fun, just me and Mewstress," Ohara moaned happily.
"O-oh," Kieran muttered, struggling to hide how disappointed and envious that made him. "Well… I-I suppose I shouldn't get in between you and your best friend."
Julie stared at him blankly. "Julie's what now?"
"All right, everyone, next stop, Paradise Barrens," Briar announced. "Now for a quick head count to make sure we don't lose anyone this time… One, two, three… Wait… Hang on… Oh no, where's Aliquis?!"
"Oh for – he's gone again?!" Carmine shouted in disbelief.
"But I was so sure he was with us the whole time!" Hohma protested as everyone started looking around. "He was in the picture and everything! Where could he have gone now?!"
Julie sniffed the air and pointed a claw at a Machoke in a hard hat, who was walking away with Aliquis under one arm. "There!"
"Wait, come back!" Briar shouted, racing after the Superpower Pokémon. "That's not a prop, that's my student!"
Once they'd safely retrieved Aliquis, they departed for the final signpost, out in the Paradise Barrens.
Once they arrived, it was evident the whole place had been misnamed.
"Told you so," Carmine said smugly as a put-out Briar stared at the rocky wasteland devoid of anything other than a smattering of wild Pokémon, a handful of trainers, and a somewhat lonely and out of place signpost.
Briar sighed in disappointment. "I guess I'd hoped for something a bit more… Oh well. I guess this is the end of our orienteering adventure tour of Kitakami. Or… I suppose our adven-tour?" She said with a grin, hoping to gain a few smiles.
She failed utterly.
"Our girlfriend Penny's father already coined that term," ANNA told her.
"Oh," Briar mumbled, shoulders sagging. "Let's… Let's just look at the signpost and go."
They walked over to the signpost and examined it.
If you see a shadowy figure approaching you outside the village at twilight, be wary.
Don a mask at once, and hide your face.
Do so, and whether the shadow is man or monster, you will pass each other by as fellow mask wearers.
If you should meet the shadow when you have no mask in hand, then pray it is only a man.
If it is, you will live to see another day, and you will remember to never forget your mask again.
But if it is the ogre, you will meet your end, as do all humans whose faces are seen by it.
Once this is your face, your soul be forfeited. And you shall never return to the village.
"Well, that was pretty freaking creepy," Hohma commented.
"I liked the last two signposts better," O'Hara complained.
"Maybe that why this one all the way out here, where nyobody bother looking for it," Julie suggested.
"It sounds like a potential origin for the Festival of Masks," Briar noted.
"As well as a thinly veiled justification for xenophobia," ANNA added.
"We're not xenophobic, you are!" Carmine yelled.
Nobody paid her any heed.
"In the old days, everyone carried masks wherever they went. And… The one who made those masks was actually our great-great-great-grandpa's great-great-great-grandpa… Or something," Kieran spoke up.
"So the stories are true?" Ohara asked.
"I mean, I don't think any of that stuff about the ogre stealing souls is true or anything, but… It is true that our family used to make masks," Kieran explained. "Our family… Has a long line of mask makers. Even my Gramps can make 'em."
Carmine nodded. "I even heard the reason we hold the Festival of Masks is because our ancestors came up with the idea."
"Fascinating!" Briar exclaimed, taking notes.
Kieran grimaced. "But I don't really like what they wrote on this sign here… Just because the ogre seemed super scary, everyone got all afraid of it and drove away from the village… I'm pretty sure the ogre must've been lonely on its own. Left all alone like that… Treated like some kind of outcast…"
"Kiki," Carmine said bluntly. "It killed at least three Pokémon. That we know of."
"Yeah, well… Maybe it wouldn't have had to if someone had actually given it a chance!" Kieran said angrily. "If they didn't treat it like an outcast or weirdo because of their personal tastes and writing style or like some dumb kid that doesn't know what they're talking about!"
"… He still talking about ogre?" Julie whispered to ANNA.
"I do not think so, no," she replied.
"This is super awkward," Hohma muttered, Ohara nodding in agreement.
Briar, looking equally uncomfortable, cleared her throat. "Well, would you look at the time!" She said loudly. "I do believe we should head back. The Festival is going to start soon, and we should probably get ready for it. Don't you all think so?"
Everyone from Naranjuva immediately agreed. Carmine and Kieran, still glaring at each other, each gave a brief nod.
"Wonderful," Briar said relief. "And luckily, for once nothing has happened to Aliquis-"
An immense Orthworm burst out of the ground, swallowed Aliquis whole, and burrowed back beneath the earth.
Everyone but the twins stared in disbelief.
"Huh, Julie didn't think we'd ever see an Orthworm that big again," Julie commented idly.
"I suppose they must have Herba Mystica here as well, we should tell Arven," ANNA agreed.
"OH, COME ON!" Briar shouted.
Ultra Space was a beautiful sight.
Colors that didn't exist. Lights that changed consistency and shape as they passed by. Warp holes surrounded by halos opening to other worlds beyond imagining. Beings never before seen in their dimension passed by, and more than once Lillie thought she saw alternate versions of herself and her partner passing by. Some of them, unbelievably, were boys.
Of course, none of it was as beautiful as the woman she'd chosen to share her life with, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest as her wife expertly steered their daughter, Nebby, through the higher dimensional planes.
"That's the exit up ahead, mother," the Lunala screeched, nodding at an approaching warp hole.
Selene smiled. "Okay, Nebby. Take us in!"
Screeching in joy, the majestic bat dove towards the portal, scattering a smack of Nihilego as they flew through them, and passed through the warp hole, an Ultra Wormhole blossoming open around them as they emerged back in the dimension they called home.
Spread out beneath them was a sparkling blue ocean, much like the one they had departed from, but here there were no signs of islands or the majestic Aether Paradise they called home, the only sign of human life a sizable yacht beneath them.
"We have bigger than that back home, don't we?" Selene asked her wife.
"Dear, it's not the size that matters, but what you do with it," Lillie told her gently.
"But we do, right?"
Lillie laughed, sending thrills of joy down her wife's spine. "Yes, we do."
Nebby swooped down towards the boat below, a flock of Wingull scattering, squawking in dismay at the appearance of the divine interdimensional being that had just appeared in their midst, and gracefully alighted on the boat's flight deck, the gathered sailors, staff, and well-dressed individuals waiting for them staring in awe.
As well they should. Lillie was exceedingly proud of her daughter and considered wonder and astonishment to be the appropriate response to her beauty and majesty.
"Good girl," she whispered to Nebby as she and Selene slipped off the Lunala's back, stroking her cheek and causing the great bat to squeak happily. "Thank you for getting us here so quickly and safely."
"I would never let anything happen to either of you, Mother!" Nebby said loyally.
"I know," she said, kissing her daughter's forehead. "Now, return. We'll see you again when it's time to go home."
Nebby happily returned to her Pokéball, which Lillie pocketed as her Ultra Spacesuit retracted into her hairband, allowing her long blonde hair and white dress – both of which looked a little too much like her mother's for her comfort, though she had grown more or less accustomed to it by now – to billow freely in the breeze. Selene's own Ultra Spacesuit had retracted into a pin on her trademark hat – which she wore everywhere, even to relatively fancy occasions such as this, and she was the reigning Champion of Alola, so who was to tell her no? – Revealing she was wearing a very form fitting black suit which accentuated her curves, assets, and muscles most definitively, her long dark hair tied up in a bun behind her head, her Mega Ring on one wrist, her Z-Ring on the other, and most important of all, her wedding ring flashing prominently on her finger.
She wanted to make out with her so bad and then tear that suit off her.
Sadly, that would have to wait until after dinner. With any luck, Nebby would get them home before she lost control and took her right in the middle of Ultra Space.
From the adoring look in Selene's eyes, it was clear her wife was thinking the same thing.
And then Selene winced in pain and gripped her head. "Selene?!"
"Madam President! Madame Champion! Welcome aboard!" Mencia, the attractive older woman looking stunning with a long flowing sparkling dark gown, tasteful jewelry and makeup, her long wavy hair falling freely down her back, and an absolutely fake smile plastered on her face said as she approached.
"Hi," Lillie said briefly, her attention on her wife. "Selene? What's wrong?"
"Gah… I can't… I can't hear you," Selene stammered, a pained and horrified look on her face. "In here," she said, tapping her head. "Or… Here," she continued, grabbing her wife's hand and placing it over her heart.
Lillie gasped, horrified. "Your powers? Something's wrong with them?"
"I'm afraid that would be our doing," Mencia said, her smile getting increasingly faker as she tried not to look or sound offended at being ignored. "We installed psionic blockers onto the ship to keep any of our minds from being read. We may be way out of cellular range, but we still have quite a lot of information our competitors would love to get their hands on, especially up here," she explained, tapping her temple.
Lillie scowled at this. She grudgingly admitted she could see the reasoning, even if it did seem a bit arrogant of a mere board member to assume anyone cared that much what she thought… But that didn't excuse the pain it was causing her wife.
"Care to explain the Aura-blockers, then?" Selene winced, rubbing her forehead. "Especially since pretty much anyone who can use Aura is on the side of the angels, so setting up something to disrupt it kind of looks mighty suspicious? Like you actually have something to hide?"
"We can't be too careful," Mencia simply said, utterly unapologetic.
Lillie was strongly tempted to immediately bring out Nebby and just fly home. She hadn't even wanted to meet with Mencia anyway, but after months of dodging her calls, she had eventually decided to just get it over with and see what she wanted, something she was now very much regretting. "At least tell me you have some aspirin."
"We do." Mencia nodded one of the staff, who quickly stepped forward, producing a bottle and shaking out a few pills into one hand.
So they had expected this reaction. Troubling.
As Selene snatched the pills and ingested them, Mencia nodded at three individuals far more well-dressed than the staff, who came forward. "Allow me to introduce you to my family, Madam President and Madam Champion. This is my husband, Desmond, one of the company's best programmers and developers."
Desmond, a tall, ashen-skinned man with short dark hair, a scar on his forehead, and a short beard and mustache stared at them without blinking. "Fascinating. Two women appearing on a giant bat of light from a wormhole with clothing that shrank into compartments far too tiny to contain them. Truly my dream continues to surprise me."
"Dream?" Selene rasped; her expression still pained but less so.
"You'll have to forgive my husband, ever since the lobotomy he's been convinced the world and everything in it are figments of his imagination," Mencia explained.
"Only logical explanation. The abilities and even existence of Pokémon violate multiple laws of physics and thermodynamics. The world makes no sense. Your clothes make no sense. Therefore, it all must be a dream," Desmond replied.
"Pokémon are able to do the amazing things they can thanks to Infinity Energy," Selene pointed out, unnerved. "And we were able to do the trick with our Ultra Spacesuits because they were made by people who live in a super advanced city in another dimension and now that I'm saying it out loud, I have to admit it does sound kind of Farfetch'd."
"Exactly. Unable to come up with rational explanations, the dream supplies dream logic to fill in obvious gaps and inconsistencies in reality," Desmond said. He still hadn't blinked. Lillie was starting to wonder if he even had eyelids.
"… What was that about a lobotomy?" she asked hesitantly.
"Oh, Desmond hit a creative block so decided to remove some unnecessary parts of his brain to get rid of whatever was holding him back, and he's been coming up with stellar products ever since!" Mencia said proudly. "Granted, it also removed his ability to remember names, faces, or view others as living thinking creatures deserving of empathy – which he has also lost the capacity for – but such is the price of progress. Oh, you'll need to wear these, by the way," she said, handing the incredibly disturbed couple a pair of nametags.
They exchanged wordless looks of horror. Even without her psychic abilities, Lillie had no trouble telling how freaked out Selene was. She felt the same way, after all.
"And let me introduce you to my darling girls!" Mencia said cheerfully as Desmond continued not to blink. "Isabella, come over and introduce yourself!"
"Hi!" An incredibly beautiful woman who looked much like her mother but several years younger with long dark wavy hair which flowed behind her, a stellar figure barely contained by her purple dress, a bouncing bosom, a vapid smile, and eyes lacking any intelligence whatsoever cheered as she flounced over and shook their hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you! Please vote for me in the upcoming election!"
"Dear, they aren't citizens of Paldea, they are ineligible to vote," Mencia reminded her daughter, her smile slightly strained.
"Oh, duh! Move to Paldea and please vote for me in the upcoming election!" Isabella said without skipping a beat, giggling.
"Wait, you're still running? I thought that after the most recent scandal-" the confused Selene spoke up.
"That statement was taken completely out of context," Mencia said sharply.
Isabella nodded rapidly, chest heaving. "Like, yeah! I love Pokémon eggs, they're so tast-"
"And here's my pride and joy, Nemona!" Mencia said very loudly, quickly pushing her eldest daughter away so hard she nearly fell to the deck. The ridiculously high heels she was wearing probably didn't help.
A surprisingly human-looking girl gracefully walked over – very slowly, as if unaccustomed to the heels she was wearing – and curtsied a little awkwardly, offering the couple a smile. "Hello, Madam President and Madam Champion. It's an honor to meet you. I do hope you enjoy your time with us this evening."
"… Wait, you're Nemona?" Selene asked in surprise. "From what I've heard, I thought you'd look a bit more… Um…"
"Freakish?" Mencia laughed and gripped her daughter's shoulder with rather long, sharp, pointed nails. "You'll be happy to know that our scientists were able to fully reverse the damage those horrible time travelers did to my precious daughter."
"Time travel. Impossible," Desmond, who still hadn't blinked, snorted. "Can't exist."
"That's why we've been out here so long with almost no contact with the outside world. Didn't want those dreadful hooligans getting their claws into her again! Can you believe, she actually thought she was in love with them!" She laughed. Isabella started laughing as well, having no idea what was going on, until an irritated Mencia shot a glare at her and she stopped.
"… Is that true, Nemona?" Lillie asked slowly, an all too familiar of dread and revulsion rising in her gorge.
Nemona nodded, smiling brightly. "Of course, Madam President! I'm so grateful my wonderful mother took me away from them! Out here, surrounded by my loving family, I've been reminded of what's really important in life, and I'm happy to be completely human again! To be normal!"
"Well said!" Mencia said proudly, relaxing her grip on Nemona's shoulder. "Now, if you'll follow me, dinner will be served shortly, but we should still have some time to talk business before starting our repast."
The minute Mencia's back was turned, the couple again shared knowing looks. Of all the fake smiles they'd seen so far, Nemona's was, without a doubt, the fakest.
And Lillie should know. She'd seen the same smile countless times in her mirror and older photographs. And just like her younger self, Nemona's eyes shared the same broken, desperate plea for help.
And Lillie had no intention of letting her down.