Chapter 3: The field trip begins
The joint school trip begins. Juliana gets to know Kieran through a battle and vice versa.
The next morning, everybody met in front of the Community Center, including Carmine and Kieran. Briar kicks things off with a few words. "Good morning everyone! I hope you all slept well. Starting today, you'll be joined by our two students from Blueberry Academy. Go on, kids! Time to introduce yourselves."
"Hi I'm Carmine!" She said cheerfully? Inside, Juliana was confused, remembering she's the same girl that tried to run her out of town. "It's a pleasure to meet all you outsiders–I mean visitors from Paldea! Hee hee!"
Kieran on the other hand, looked all nervous. He looked down shy. "I-I'm…Kieran…" he looked up to Juliana smiling at him, surprising him a bit on the inside.
"Carmine and Kieran actually grew up here, so ask them for help if you need anything." The caretaker explained. "And you two had better be of real help, you hear me?"
"Aye-aye." Carmine replied sarcastically.
"R-right…" Kieran replied next.
The caretaker explained to all the students that they'll be pairing with a partner and find three signboards located around Kitakami. Written on the signposts are snippets of an old folktale that has been passed down in Kitakami as a part of the land's culture. The pairs will take a photo together in front of the signboards as proof of completing the task. He handed Juliana and the other students a selfie Roto-stick.
"Alright, Naranja Academy, go ahead and introduce yourselves." Briar instructed.
Juliana went first. "My name's Juliana! It's nice to meet you! I hope we have fun during our time together here in Kitakami!" The other three introduced themselves and Briar had some more words she'd like to say.
"Remember that one of the goals of this trip is to deepen the ties between our two schools. It seems like having someone who knows the area well would be a big help. That being said…Let's try to maximize the number of interschool pairs, OK? Time to mingle!"
Juliana decided to talk to Kieran since she didn't yesterday, but today was her chance. She approached the siblings. "Hi there! Nice to see you two again." She remained optimistic and hoped for the best, not letting the memory of Carmine's behavior yesterday get to her.
Carmine promptly stepped in front of her. "Juliana, right? Let me guess, you want to pair up with one of us poor, lonely Blueberry students?"
"Well… That's one way to put it…" Juliana was a bit put off by Carmine's choice of words. She quickly switched to a cheerful smile. "But yes!" Really, she only intended to talk to Kieran, but Carmine doesn't need to know.
"Gosh, aren't you sweet going out of your way like that?" Carmine looked at Kieran with a sneaky smile. "Oh yeah. So, my little brother here has been all googly-eyed over you since yesterday." Said little brother gasped in shock. "He wouldn't stop talking about you–even at home. I seriously couldn't get him to shut up."
Kieran's eyes dimmed with anger and embarrassment as he blushed red in the face. "S-Sis! What're you telling her that for, dummy!"
"HEY! Watch who you call 'dummy', if you know what's good for you!" Carmine hissed at him.
"Aw man…" Kieran sighed and slumped over.
Carmine let out a small laugh. "Look at him, being all shy…See, my brother's no good at talking to people. He'd probably never work up the nerve to ask you himself, but he'd really like a battle with you."
"Oh really? I'd love to!" Juliana accepted with a second thought.
"Well, what do you know–turns out you're sorta nice. This'll make my brother real happy." Carmine turned to Kieran. "Chin up Kiki! Juliana says she'll battle you!"
"What?" Upon hearing that, Kieran perked up and faced Juliana. "W-wowzers, really? You don't mind?!"
"Not at all! I accept your challenge! Let's do 2 on 2, kay'?" Juliana told him, still smiling warmly.
"S-sure." Kieran said yes.
"Get to your positions you two," said Carmine, "Everybody else, clear out. Make some space!"
"I-I got this!" Kieran said with a bit of confidence.
The kids got into position and got the battle started. Kieran took a deep breath and sent out his first Pokémon. "Furret, let's go!" Furret entered the battle first.
Juliana squealed in delight. "Furret is so cute!" She quickly regained her focus. She quickly scanned Furret with her Rotom-phone.
"Furret. The Long Body Pokémon. A normal type. Furret are very quick and agile, which allows them to escape predators. Its slim body can fit into narrow places with ease."
"Time for me to send out my Pokémon. My new friend, Sewaddle!" She released her Sewaddle out to battle.
"Wowzers…I can't believe this… I get to battle you!" Kieran openly expressed his excitement, "This is awesome!"
"I feel the same way, Kieran!" Juliana agreed.
"Furret, use quick attack!" Kieran commanded. Furret ran fast and slammed Sewaddle.
"Sewaddle, use string shot!" said Juliana. Sewaddle spat out a sticky thread from her mouth aimed at Furret.
"Use dig!" said Kieran. Furret quickly burrowed underground and avoided string shot.
"Watch where Furret comes up." Sewaddle nodded and waited. She felt the ground shaking and quickly got out of the way of Furret's move. "Now, energy ball!" said Juliana. Sewaddle launched a green ball of energy from her mouth at Furret and knocked it out.
Kieran recalled Furret and brought another Pokémon. "Go, Yanma!"
"Sewaddle, return," Juliana recalled Sewaddle and pulled out another Pokémon. "Yanma. The Clear Wing Pokémon. A bug/flying type. Yanma are fast fliers and rapidly flap their wings to create soundwaves strong enough to break glass."
"Gabite, you're up next!" Juliana sent out her Gabite from her dusk ball.
Yanma was a little scared by the blue dragon Pokémon. "It's okay, Yanma! You can do this!" Kieran assured. "Use quick attack!" Yanma flew at a fast speed.
"Block it!" Juliana commanded. Gabite put up her fins and blocked Yanma's attack. "Use dragon claw!" Gabite's claw glowed green, but missed as Yanma dodged.
"Yanma, c-cut through the wind and show them what you got! Air slash!" Kieran commanded. Yanma quickly released multiple light blue flying blades at Gabite.
"Gabite, use dragon claw again!" She commanded. Gabite sprinted and went in for a speedy dragon claw at Yanma.
"Aw man! That was so fast!" Kieran got worried. But he quickly regained focus. "But you can do this, Yanma! Buzz those wings with bug buzz!" Yanma quickly buzzed its wings loudly at Gabite.
Gabite took damage and covered her ears. "Fight through it, Gabite! Rock tomb!" Juliana commanded. Gabite fired some rocks the little dragonfly. Yanma was knocked out and left with swirly eyes.
"Yanma, return," Kieran recalled the dragonfly Pokémon and smiled at it. "Take a long rest, OK." He put his poke ball away.
The kids walked up to each other as the students from Juliana's school and Briar congratulated her. "Nicely done, kids. Nothing like a friendly battle to get to know someone!"
"W-wowzers!" Kieran spoke up, "You sure are strong, Juliana!"
"Thanks Kieran." Juliana thanked him. "What a battle! You were great too!"
But Carmine walked up to her brother unhappy with his performance. "It wasn't much of a battle if you got beat that quick. Were you even trying, Kiki?"
Juliana wasn't too happy with her attitude. "Hey, now! You got beat by me too! Remember?"
Carmine hissed upon being reminded. "Didn't need that…"
Juliana took a deep breath and quickly changed the subject. "That aside…Kieran, would you like to pair up with me for the signboard assignment?"
"P-pair up? Y-You and me?" Kieran was a little taken aback and flustered. Although flattered, he'd never think anyone would talk to him. He wasn't good at talking to people.
"Yep! Whaddya say?"
"Um…" One part of Kieran wasn't sure. Then again, this was his chance to get to know Juliana and talk to her. He nodded and shyly smiled. "S-Sure…I-I'll be your partner."
Carmine showed a small smile as she was happy for brother. "Welp, no use standing around here, I better pair up. Look out for my bro, you…" she surprisingly talked to Juliana in a calm tone.
The caretaker added the locations of the signboards to the students' phones and now the assignment can get underway. If they need supplies like poke balls, potions, food, drink, etc., they can stop by a little shop called Peachy's and pick up what they need.
"Um…" Kieran started to speak. "So it looks like…we should probably start with the signboard at…Loyalty Plaza. That's out past the apple orchards on the west side of the village. It's close by too. And I figure it might, um, make sense to…y'know…visit them all in order."
Juliana smiled. She was on board with the plan. "Sure! Sounds good to me. We should heal our Pokémon before we go out, though. They had quite a battle."
They stopped by the Pokémon center tent and healed up their Pokémon Center tent. "You kids be careful now, kay'?" said the lady working there.
"We will." Juliana answered.
"Hey Juliana?" Kieran asked.
"Yes, Kieran?"
Here goes, he thought to himself. He felt his nerves creeping up and shaking, but he went for it. "I was thinking and… do you… wanna walk together to the…Loyalty Plaza?"
"Of course I'll walk with you!" Juliana answered happily.
"R-really?" Kieran genuinely asked. "T-that's great. I was… worried I might get in your way, but… thanks, Juliana." He smiled.
"No worries. C'mon let's go." The kids started their assignment and started walking to their first stop.
Note: There you have it, Juliana and Kieran partner up. I also decided to evolve Kieran's Sentret into Furret when the main character first battles 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)
Chapter 4 is next as Juliana and Kieran start their assignment!