Chapter 2: Kitakami
Juliana landed in Kitakami. She is tasked to go into town for medical assistance. She runs into trouble with a duo however…
One eleven hour airplane trip and an additional one hour bus drive later, Juliana and her school group landed and set foot in Kitakami. They took a small rest at a bus stop.
"Here we are everybody!" Briar announced.
"We're finally here!" said Marcus, very relieved.
"My butt is killing me!" Carlota was in agreement. "First that airplane flight, then that bus ride…"
Briar laughed amused, "Hahaha! Well, you all survived the long trip! Is everyone here?"
"We're all here!" Juliana spoke for the group.
"Then welcome to the land of Kitakami! This is the stage for all the new experiences and learning opportunities you'll have out in nature! It's actually my first time here too. Why, the rice fields really are just dazzling!" Briar pointed to a little town with her finger, "Up ahead is Mossui Town. That will be our base of operations for the duration of the trip!"
Suddenly Josh moaned. "M-Ms. Briar… I don't feel so good…"
The remaining students and Briar look at him in concern. "Uh-oh! All that travel must have given you a dose of motion sickness, hm? Why don't we pause for a moment and take in the sight of these fields?" She turned to Juliana. "Now Juliana, I have a little request for you. Could you run ahead to the community center in Mossui and let the caretaker know we're here? It would also be great if you could explain that one of our students is feeling unwell."
"I'm on it!" Juliana answered without hesitation.
Briar smiled, "I knew I could count on you. On your way then! I'll look after your poor travel buddy here."
Juliana nodded and took off. She ran down the road and arrived into the town.
Meanwhile at the community center, two kids were talking with each other. The first was a tall teenage girl with yellow eyes. She was wearing a blue uniform with blue and white stripes on her pants, a yellow bag around her waist, white shoes with red stripes, and a red glove on her right hand. She had long black hair with red highlights, and a yellow headband. She also had bangs partially covering her face, kind of like a mask. The second person was a boy, who appeared to be around Juliana's age. He also had yellow eyes, and shorter black hair in a similar hairstyle to the girl with a matching yellow headband. Some of his hair was colored underneath his black hair also similar to the girl, only purple. In terms of clothing the boy had the same shoes as the girl, and wore a white jacket over his blue collared shirt and red tie, as well as white shorts with a white and blue stripe on each side. He also wore a red glove on his right hand, and a yellow bag over his shoulder.
"Ugh! Where is Ms. Briar?!" The girl asked impatiently, "She should've been back by now!"
"I'm…I'm sure she's coming, Sis," The boy assured her. He turned around and spotted someone. He gasped in surprise, "Sis, I think that's one of them now!" The girl looked up and both kids spotted Juliana heading in their direction. The girl ran towards her first with the boy following behind his sister.
"So…" The girl spoke first, "You're one of those students who came from the Paldea region, huh?"
"Yes, I am." Juliana answered.
The boy, hiding behind his sister, curiously caught a glance of the girl close up. "Whoa…way cool…"
"Hush, Kieran." The girl shushed him and shot him a look. "My name's Carmine." She put on a fake smile and waved her hands at Juliana as if she not letting her pass. "Sorry, but I can't let an outsider like you wander into Mossui Town."
Juliana was taken aback and confused, "Come again? I need to–"
"If you insist on coming in, you'll have to battle me first." Carmine cut her off.
Juliana did a double take. "W-wait, what?!" She was shocked. A battle? Now?
Kieran sighed exasperation at his sister. "C-C'mon Sis… You just wanna battle. You're makin' a big fuss over nothing…"
Carmine quickly shot a mean glare at her brother and shook her fists to her chests. "I told you to hush, Kiki!" She quickly turned back to Juliana, "Just ignore my little brother."
"Aw man…" Kieran slumped over in defeat. Juliana felt a little sorry for him.
"All right, let's do this. 3 on 3. Get in position!" Carmine told her.
"You gotta be kidding me…" Juliana sighed. "Fine. Just remember to keep your word." The girls got into their battle positions.
Carmine smirked, thinking she'll easily win. "I'm gonna have some real good fun with you." Juliana was unfazed by her demeanor, however.
"S-Sorry about all this…" Kieran apologized as if it was on Carmine's behalf, "Give-Give it all you got!"
Carmine shot her brother another glare, baffled at him for cheering on the outsider. "Kiki! Are you seriously cheering for the outsider over your own sister?!"
Kierna flinched before slumping over again and sighed. "Aw man…"
"Welcome to Kitakami! For your first experience, get ready to eat dirt!" Carmine released her first Pokémon into battle. "Mightyena, let's go!"
Juliana did a quick scan on Mightyena with her Rotom-phone. "Mightyena. The Bite Pokémon. A dark type. Mightyena are skilled pack hunters and will not stop until they catch their prey."
"Dachsbun, let's go!" Juliana released the bread Dog Pokémon. Neither Carmine nor Kieran had seen a Pokémon like that before. Kieran looked on at the opposing side, a bit more curious about the mysterious girl.
"Who's that Pokémon?" Carmine asked herself. She pulled out her Rotom-phone for a scan. "Dachsbun. The Dog Pokémon. A fairy type. Dachsbun's body produces the scent of freshly baked bread. When exposed to heat, its body hardens."
Mightyena growled at its opponent with its intimidate ability. Dachsbun flinched a little and her attack got lowered. "It's okay Dachsbun! We can win this!" Juliana encouraged.
Carmine scoffed. "Tsk! Just cause' you have a type advantage doesn't mean a guaranteed victory, you know. Mightyena, use snarl!" Mightyena let out a loud snarl move with purple soundwaves.
"Dodge, then play rough!" Juliana commanded. Dachsbun quickly dodged the snarl and beat up Mightyena in a white smoke. Super effective!
"Hmph! Not bad." Carmine dryly complimented. "But we can play rough too, y'know! Mightyena, Play rough!" Mightyena charged at Dachsbun.
"Quick, Dachsbun, body press!" Dachsbun jumped in the air and avoided the attack. She then used her body weight to slam a super effective hit on Mightyena and knocking it down. "Now, draining kiss!" Dachsbun quickly ran towards the exhausted Mightyena and gave it a kiss on the cheek, draining the remainder of its energy. Mightyena fell to the ground, unconscious with swirly eyes.
Carmine recalled Mightyena in frustration and sent out another Pokémon. "You're not winning that easily! Ninetales! You're up next!" This time it was the golden Fox Pokémon, Ninetales.
Juliana scanned Ninetales with her Rotom-phone once more. "Ninetales. The Fox Pokémon. A fire type. Ninetales hypnotizes opponents with their flames. It is said that Ninetales can live for 1000 years."
"Use Flamethrower!" Carmine commanded Ninetales to breathe fire from her mouth and at Dachsbun. To her surprise, Dachsbun didn't even take damage, instead a red aura showed up. "WHAT?! How is it okay?!" She asked, flabbergasted.
"Dachsbun's ability is well baked body. She absorbs all fire attacks to boost her defense, so thanks!" Juliana explained cheerfully.
Back on the sidelines, Kieran was impressed by what he was seeing so far. He remembered what his sister's Pokedex said. That's right…Rotom said if Dachsbun is exposed to heat, its body will harden. Guess Sis forgot…
"Now use body press!" Juliana commanded. Dachsbun jumped into the air.
"Ninetales, extrasensory!" Carmine shouted, not letting her opponent get the upper hand. Ninetales' eyes glowed bright red and grabbed Dachsbun with a rainbow colored psychic energy beam and slammed her into the ground. Carmine smiled smug in satisfaction. "Use confuse ray before it gets up!" Ninetales readied its move with purple orbs
"Stomping tantrum!" Juliana quickly said. Dachsbun got up and stomped the ground hard to send flying pieces of earth at Ninetales and stopped confuse ray. Super effective and twice as hard since Dachsbun's last attack missed.
"Are you serious?!" Carmine shouted in anger.
"Finish with body press!" Juliana commanded. Dachsbun leaped into the air once more and slammed Ninetales unconscious. "Awesome work, Dachsbun! We're two and zero!" She cheered and Dachsbun barked in victory.
Carmine's temper was flaring up as she recalled Ninetales. "Guess it's up to you, Sinistcha!" She released her last Pokémon that looked similar to a Polteageist, but in a medium sized broken ceramic tea cup
So that's a Sinistcha. Looks similar to a Polteageist. Juliana thought as she scanned the Pokémon. "Sinistcha. The Matcha Pokémon. A grass/ghost type. Sinistcha hide in people's houses and pretends to be tea to trick people into drinking it to drain their life energy."
"Dachsbun return." She recalled Dachsbun and picked up another poke ball. "Come out, Meowscarada!" She sent out her partner Pokémon onto the field.
Carmine took a quick glance at the masked bipedal green cat. She did another quick scan with her Rotom-phone. "Meowscarada. The Magician Pokémon. A grass/dark type. Meowscarada surprises opponents with a faux bouquet of flowers that explode with pollen upon contact and are hard to miss."
"Hmm… I'll admit that Pokémon looks cool. It'll look cooler when it falls flat." Carmine smirked smug. "Use shadow ball!" Carmine commanded. Sinistcha launched a purple shadow ball.
"Meowscarada, night slash!" said Juliana. Meowscarada ran forward and conjured a purple wand in her hand, slashed the shadow ball and slashed Sinistcha. Super Effective!
"Matcha gotcha!" said Carmine. Sinistcha stirred and launched hot green tea at Meowscarada. Fire marks surrounded Meowscarada's body as the cat winced in pain.
"Meowscarada's burned?" Juliana was concerned for her Pokémon.
"A secondary effect of matcha gotcha that sometimes happens," Carmine boasted with a smug smile, "Looks like I'm lucky!" In the background Kieran quietly felt sorry for Juliana getting taunted by his sister, it was a feeling he was too familiar with.
Regardless, Juliana wasn't backing down. "Fight through it Meowscarada! Flower trick!" Wincing through the pain, Meowscarada snapped her fingers and landed a faux bouquet Sinistcha. Not very effective, but a guaranteed critical hit.
"How are you landing critical hits?!" Carmine was at her limit with Juliana. "That's so unfair! Use hex!" Sinistcha summoned an evil purple eye and hit Meowscarada with purple energy. Due to the burn, it landed additional damage.
"Stay strong, Meowscarada!" Juliana encouraged her Partner Pokémon. Moved, Meowscarada let out a crying meow and shook off the burn. "Way to go! Use acrobatics!" Meowscarada attacked Sinistcha in the air repeatedly, which made the latter faint with swirly eyes.
Carmine gasped in total shock. "What?!" Juliana took out all three of her Pokémon with ease.
"Wowzers!" Kieran was shocked too. "You went and beat my sis?!"
"Thanks to Dachsbun and Meowscarada's efforts," Juliana said with a smile, "I gotta say, that was a great battle, Carmine!"
But Carmine was still in disbelief as she returned her fallen Pokémon. "I can't believe it…!" She held her fists to her chest and shook them, "There's no way you should've been able to beat me!" she sighed in defeat, remembering her promise, "Fine. I guess you pass. Barely. Seems I've got no choice. I'll let you into town, but only if you become one of my grunts and do every–"
"Oi!" Carmine got interrupted by the caretaker coming out of the Community Center. All three kids turned their attention to him now. "What're doing, causing a ruckus out here!" the caretaker scolded the Kitakami kids.
"Tch. Here comes trouble…" Carmine said with an annoyed tongue click. "C'mon Kiki. We're outta here." She ran ahead.
"B-But I…" Kieran hesitated and glanced at Juliana one last time.
"Kiki!" Carmine called him.
"Aw man…" Kieran reluctantly ran off and followed Carmine. "Wait up, Sis!" Juliana looked on, feeling sorry for him. She kinda wanted to get to know him.
The caretaker shook his head and approached Juliana. "Why, hello there, stranger! You must be one of the students from that Paldean academy, right?"
"Yes. my name's Juliana." The Paldean student introduced herself. "Are you the caretaker?"
"Indeed I am." The caretaker nodded. " I help run the community center here in Mossui Town–and a fair few other things besides! I'll be looking after your group during your visit. I hope those two kids weren't giving you any grief just now…were they?"
"Well, Carmine challenged me to a battle, but Kieran didn't give me a hard time." Juliana answered.
The caretaker pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in exasperation. "I hardly know what to do with those two…Especially Carmine. That girl's always been a handful. I apologize that she gave you a hard time."
"Ms. Briar mentioned you could help us. See, one of my classmates got a little sick from traveling. She sent me here to find you."
"I see…Well then I'd better give them a hand so they can make it into town! Where is your group?"
"They're waiting at the bus stop." Juliana and the caretaker went back to the bus stop so that Josh could receive medical attention.
Juliana returned to the bus stop with the caretaker. While the caretaker does his magic, Briar allowed Juliana and the other two students to explore the fields around them as long as they stay close by to the bus stop. As Juliana admired the Yanma and Cutiefly flying around, a gust of wind blew her hat off her head. She chased after it when a white string launched in the air and grabbed her hat and pulled it down. She saw that the white string reeled back into the mouth of a little yellow and green bug Pokémon with a leaf hood. The bug Pokémon crawled up to Juliana and offered to return her hat to her. The little Pokémon chirped hello.
Admiring the kind gesture and cuteness, Juliana smiled and bent down to the little Pokémon's level and grabbed her hat. "Hello there. Thank you so much for returning my hat. What Pokémon are you?" She pulled out her Rotom-phone and scanned the little bug Pokémon.
"Sewaddle. The Sewing Pokémon. A bug/grass type. Sewaddle uses leaves on the ground to make clothes and dress up like their final evolution, Leavanny."
"Nice to meet you, Sewaddle. My name is Juliana." She had an idea and pulled out an empty poke ball. "You want to come with me?"
Sewaddle smiled at her. It tapped the little poke ball button and allowed itself to go in and be caught.
Juliana was elated when Sewaddle decided to go with her and be her friend. She did a quick check on Sewaddle data in her Rotom-phone. Sewaddle happened to be a girl and her ability was overcoat, which protects her from weather in battle. Juliana swapped out her Dachsbun for Sewaddle so the Sewing Pokémon can be in her party. She then spotted something pink and ran over to a different part of the field. It was there she noticed one of the cutiefly was pink. Enchanted, she ran over and scanned the cutiefly with her Rotom-phone. "Cutiefly. The Bee Fly Pokémon. A bug/fairy type. Cutiefly can detect the aura of all living things and its diet consists of pollen and nectar."
"That must be a shiny Cutiefly. I wanna catch it!" Juliana pulled out Lycanroc's poke ball and sent her out to battle the pink Cutiefly. "Lycanroc, use rock tomb!" Lycanroc sent rocks at Cutiefly and did major damage due to its bug typing. Cutiefly few power of the moon and launched a moonblast at Lycanroc. "Rock tomb once more!" The Wolf Pokémon dodged and attacked with rock tomb again. Cutiefly was left stumbling, perfect time for a poke ball. "Go poke ball!" Juliana tossed her poke ball and Cutiefly went inside. After a few shakes, it was caught. "Yes! Cutiefly's mine!" She swapped out her Lycanroc for her shiny Cutiefly. Rotom's data says that Cutiefly is a girl with the ability, shield dust, which blocks additional effects from moves. She sent her back out for a proper greeting. "Hi Cutiefly! My name is Juliana. Let's be friends, okay?" Cutiefly gave her a closed eye smile and nodded.
After the capture of her two new Pokémon Juliana met up with her school group and settled in at the Community Center. She couldn't wait to get the school trip started tomorrow.
Note: Juliana meets Carmine and Kieran! Sewaddle and Cutiefly have been added to Juliana's team! I chose those two for her because I can imagine Juliana catching cutesy type Pokémon. I also gave her a shiny Cutiefly because I think the pink color suits Juliana. I decided to evolve all of Carmine's Pokémon in her first battle with Juliana since she's a bit more experienced than Kieran.
Juliana's Pokémon on hand: Meowscarada (F), Sewaddle (F), Cutiefly (Shiny, F), Lucario (M), Espeon (F), Gabite (F)
Juliana's ride Pokémon: Koraidon
Pokémon in Juliana's boxes: Dachsbun (F), Lycanroc (Midday Form, F)
Also I won't lie, writing the Pokémon battles for this whole fanfiction were a little harder than I thought it might be. But I hope you enjoyed reading the battles and more to come in the following chapters.
On to Chapter 3 where the field trip begins!