"Huh... what do ya know," said Nemona. "It's snowing…"
Snowflakes flittered in the air and greeted the four Uva students as they walked out of the Zero Gate, now safely on the other side of an adventure they wouldn't soon be forgetting.
"It's a little early in the season for snow, isn't it?" Juliana wondered.
"Hmmm, I wonder…" Penny mumbled.
"What's up, Pen-Pen?" Nemona called out.
"I was just thinking—Don't call me that, by the way. When we were in one of those research stations, I remember reading some of the scattered papers around and I feel like one of them said that the Professor's time machine experiment was known to cause weather fluctuations."
"Whoa!" Nemona pumped her fists. "Are you saying that the robo-professor using that machine to travel into the future might've caused it to snow early in the present!? Is this snow from the FUTURE!?" she gushed, now looking at the drops of snow falling with sparkles in her eyes.
"Well… no, I don't think so," Penny shook her head at the weird way Nemona's brain worked. "That would be highly illogical."
Juliana giggled at her friends. Watching the ways that all three of her friends' personalities mixed and clashed with each other throughout their fun adventure in the Great Crater, trekking through the lush paradise of Area Zero, and fighting off bizarre robotic Pokémon in the depths, had probably been one of the most fun parts of this whole unique adventure for her.
Where's Arven, though?
She glanced behind her and saw Arven slowly trodding along behind everyone, his head sagging a little, and his expression somewhere between blank and… mildly troubled.
Nemona and Penny took notice of his disposition too, and they looked on as Juliana approached him.
"Hey Arv…" She gave him a soft, sympathizing smile. "You doing okay… bud?"
Arven lifted his head up slightly to look at her.
"Hmm? Oh. … Yeah. Yeah, no I'm fine. It's just…"
Arven's head was still stuck in that room. The deepest room of the Zero Lab. Watching as the Professor—an AI double of the man he'd just learned had passed away—spoke his final words to the Paldean travelers, moments before he was ready to ascend for good.
"Arven. I am sorry that I kept the truth from you for so long. I inherited all the thoughts and wishes of the professor, and so I understand better than any..."
The AI gazed directly at Arven, with a look that—for an android who had only been making blank expressions—almost looked sorrowful.
"Your father truly loved you." His eyes closed. "I truly believe that he, that both of your parents… They had you in their hearts from the beginning of their research."
Arven's lip quivered as he looked up at the—the thing that held the image of his father.
"You… you can't… You can't just go and say a thing like that now!" he protested.
The AI paused.
"No? I suppose you're right. I am sorry." He turned to face everyone now. "Arven. Miraidon. Juliana. It is a little sad, but I'm afraid this is goodbye…"
Arven rustled his head a few times, trying to deny what he wanted to shout out. But his heart was screaming too loud.
"DAD!"
"Farewell, my free adventurers!" the AI saluted. "I bid you adieu!"
Then he rose… and disappeared… into the light of the machine.
The last time Arven would ever see that face.
"I guess he's gone for real now…" Arven mumbled. "In every way I knew him… I'm never going to see him again. I mean…" Arven let out a sniffle as he wiped his face with his arm. "I guess I knew the whole time, deep down… that something had probably happened to him and that's why he never reached out to me. He's been gone most of my life anyway, so…"
Arven clutched his heart, trying to deny this pain that he was feeling.
Juliana sensed the problem and met him head on.
"He's not gone, you know."
"What do you mean?"
She pointed at Arven's heart. "Your dad is always going to be around, right in there." She took a deep breath. "Just like how… my dad is always going to be in here," she affirmed, putting a hand over her own heart.
Arven paused. He didn't know if Juliana had ever told him about her own father. But, being reassured by this commonality they now shared, he allowed himself to smile a little.
"Thanks, Jules."
Juliana nodded. "And you're not alone either. Remember? You got your little buddy right here!" she smiled, hoisting up her bag.
Arven laughed.
"That's riiiiight!" Nemona skipped happily over and glomped Arven from behind, startling the frazzled boy. "You've got all your bestest buddies with you now, Arven!"
"Y-yeah," Penny stuttered.
"And I'll keep on encouraging you for as long as it takes!"
And then there was a flash of light as Mabosstiff popped out from his Ball and started jumping up and licking his partner in the face.
"Ha-ha-ha! Okay, okay! Down, boy! …And down, girl!" he snarked towards Nemona, who let go of him with an embarrassed smile. "Alright. Thanks, guys, I get it. I'm, blessed to have all of you as my friends. I'll… try to remember that going forward."
Juliana grinned with her teeth. Arven smiled back. Then he looked around.
"…Hey, when did it start snowing?"
Nemona was quickly back to grumbling. "Pay attention for once, would you?"
"Brr-kawwwk-ulu! Brr-kawwwk-ulu!"
Juliana's newfound catch from within the Great Crater had taken to running around and dancing with its feet in what seemed like a sense of euphoria.
"Your new little partner sure seems to like this weather fine!" Arven chuckled. "What was it called? …Iron Bundle?"
"I think I saw it using Ice moves just like a Delibird would," Nemona recalled. "I wonder if these funky future Pokémon have ever seen snow from all the way down there."
Juliana knelt down and smiled as Iron Bundle ran up to her. Its head popped out of its metallic red-and-white body like a spring-top and then spun around, as it made happy noises that sounded like a Delibird's clucks, but with a robotic twang to them.
"I don't know! There's probably a lot of things this little guy is gonna see that are new to him!"
"Are you… sure it's really safe to catch one of those 'Paradox' Pokémon and bring it outside the Crater?" Penny asked apprehensively. "I thought the whole idea behind sealing up Area Zero and shutting down that machine was that these things are extremely dangerous."
"Yeah, but that's if they all escaped at once and started rampaging around, right?" Nemona reasoned. "I don't think just one little Pokémon like this can cause a whole lot of trouble." She huffed out loud. "Dang it, maybe I should've caught one too! That one that sorta looked like a Hariyama sure looked super powerful, didn't it?"
"But—if people see that thing, won't it raise a lot of questions?"
Juliana's lip twisted as she thought about it.
"No. No, I don't think so. It looks similar enough to a Delibird. I think most people who see it will probably just assume it's another regional form or one of those 'convergent' species like Wiglett and Diglett! After all, I didn't know there was another Pokémon that looked like Sinistea's twin until I—!" Juliana stopped that sentence short and paused. "…Until I met one in Kitakami."
Miraidon, who had confidently regained its Battle Form again, grunted to Iron Bundle while it danced in circles. Iron Bundle looked up at the iron serpent and playfully spurted it with a blast from its twinkling water cannon.
Miraidon almost looked annoyed by the act of play, but quickly regained its jolly demeanor while Iron Bundle made a noise that sounded like filtered laughing.
"Besides, it looks like it's getting along with Miraidon well!" Juliana laughed. "They both look really happy now!"
Arven shook his head while snickering.
"Well, if anyone around here knows how to tame freaky robot Pokémon brought over from the future, I guess it's you, Jules."
"Awww, Jules is such a cute name!" Nemona said from behind Arven, startling him again. "I want to start calling you that too!"
"H-hey! Lay off, student council girl! That's my own special name for my special bud!"
Nemona rolled her eyes and chortled.
"Right, and 'student council girl' must be your special name for me! Right, Pepper?"
"I said lay off already! A-and quit calling me that!"
Arven shook a fist towards Nemona, who just laughed it off. Juliana found herself stifling her giggles watching their behavior. Their bickering rather fondly reminded her of how she and Carmine used to interact, where Juliana went from playful flirting to just trying to push the Kitakami girl's buttons because it was funnier to make her angry.
Penny didn't share Juliana's enthusiasm, groaning at what she felt like she had been putting up with through the whole mission.
"I suggest we toss those two back into the Crater and see which one of them ends up killing the other first," she suggested.
This earned a chuckle from Juliana, at least until she gritted her teeth and had to stop to shake the pain off one of her legs. Penny looked at her in concern.
"…You good?"
"Yeah. Just… so much running around," said Juliana. "How long were we down there anyway? Felt like almost all night long."
"I think so, yeah," Penny chuckled. "This was just like being on one of my dad's 'Adven-tours' only… less dumb and annoying. I'm probably going to crash the moment we get home."
Arven meanwhile, had decided to shrug Nemona off so he could lock up the tall, blue fence gate leading into the wider Zero Gate with his dad's keys, making sure the facility was closed off to the public once more.
"Yeah… I might need something to eat very soon," Juliana agreed. "I don't even remember when's the last meal I had."
"Hold up a second!"
Arven, after making sure the padlock was secure, walked over sternly to them with his hands on his hips.
"When is the last time either of you ate or slept!?"
"Well… I was up all night training my team for the big mission," Juliana explained. "Just, wanted to make sure they were ready. And we had a picnic!" she proclaimed. "I made sandwiches… I think I ate one of them? I don't remember."
Penny hesitated.
"…That's a good excuse. I'll be honest, I just binged a whole season of one of my new anime the night before. I keep myself going with energy drinks. Still have some in my bag, in fact."
"Oh, can I have one of those?" Juliana asked, rubbing her eyes. "I could use the boost."
"Sure, here you g—"
"Hey, NO! Vay!" Nemona scolded too. "Girls! Neither of you even had any breakfast? I had fresh toast, eggs, and an orange juice yesterday morning! I can't imagine starting the day right without a proper meal!"
"Uhh, yeah! Never thought I'd agree with Nemona of all people, but she's right!" Arven nodded. He muttered to himself, "I'm surprised though. You always act like you're on more caffeine than anyone else…"
"Geez," said Penny, scratching her head. "You both sound just like my parents now…"
"Well, apparently, somebody has to step in to make sure you're eating properly!" said Arven. "I'd offer to make everyone sandwiches, if it wasn't for this snowfall. Let's see…"
Arven placed his hand over his eyes and looked out into the horizon, seeing past the light mist the snowfall was generating in the air.
"Medali's just at the bottom of these cliffs, I'm pretty sure. So I've got an idea. Let's all grab a bite to eat at the Treasure Eatery!"
"Hey, that sounds like a great idea!" said Juliana.
"Ehh? Uhh—sure. Okay, I guess," Penny acquiesced. "As long as it isn't too crowded…"
"Woo-hoo! I'm in all the way!" Nemona cheered. "And afterwards, we can ask to use their battle arena to have a whole bunch of mega-amazing battles together! We can go 2-on-2, make it a friendly tournament, or we could even do it tag-team style!"
Juliana and Penny both groaned awkwardly, while Arven facepalmed and shook his head.
"It never ends with you, does it…?"
The news rippled throughout Blueberry Academy.
Drayton had been the reigning Champion of the BB Elite Four and class president of the BB League Club for the past two or three years. Considered by many to be the most powerful Trainer in the Club.
And he lost.
In a span of two months, Kieran, an unassuming first year student from Kitakami, went from joining the BB League at its lowest rank… to being crowned its new Champion.
At first, this was a new and exciting change that everyone at Blueberry was talking about, wondering what it would mean for the BB League.
Even Kieran seemed thrilled initially to have come out on top, and he looked real happy on the big TV screen as students clapped and cheered for their new Champion.
…But then it was like his whole demeanor changed overnight. As soon as the very next day, he appeared irritable and impatient, and demanded that everything was going to change BIG time for the BB League. He made promises of no more weaklings 'ruining' its reputation, and everyone was going to understand just how serious and demanding being an expert battler truly was.
Uncertainty turned to frustration as members saw the club's ranking and score systems become a lot more rigid, trial matches spiked up in difficulty, and once-excelling rankers were seeing themselves demoted or kicked out of the club entirely.
The League Club Room saw less casual use as Kieran overcompensated for Drayton's lax scheduling by assigning more exclusive meetings to be held in the clubroom, limiting its free use by others. A few students just dropped out of the BB League outright, lamenting a club that no longer seemed to be about fun, just… competitiveness for the sake of it.
Within just a couple weeks of Kieran's new leadership, the atmosphere within Blueberry Academy's walls had changed.
Carmine was having a difficult time walking through the cafeteria without feeling anxious, like daggers would start shooting at her from any minute.
Every time she made eye contact with another student, it was always either a look of indifference or… a dirty glare.
She was trying to stop the tray of food from shaking in her hands by the time she reached the table. A group of students from the math club sat at one of the long tables, but there was some space in the center so she took an empty seat.
The mathletes' conversation stopped as they all turned to look at her. Then, quietly, and without even much of a change in expression, they gathered up their trays and looked for somewhere else to eat.
Carmine's face twisted like she'd eaten a lemon.
"Fine!" she snapped. "Like I wanted to sit next to a bunch of nerds anyway!" She grunted as she started fingering a fry—the plate of Academy Fries being most of what she could afford now on her low BP—and simmered in quiet fury. "What is this whole campus's problem now anyway?"
She asked that question like she didn't know. The whole mood had changed around here for the worse, and she knew exactly why.
In fact, just at the table across from her, she could hear a male student simmering to his female friend. He was wearing a League Club Uniform and angrily slammed his BB League pin onto the table. She could only hear vague cries of "How could they do this to me…" and his friend trying her hardest to placate him. No guesses what that was about.
Then the girl briefly locked eyes with her, and mumbled something to her friend. He turned around to face her, which startled Carmine. She gripped her tray, ready to activate her fight or flight instinct. But he just scowled at her and turned around.
Carmine sneered back.
It seems like the harsher Kiki is towards everyone, the angrier they get towards me like they think I'm the one who made him his way…
She closed her eyes shamefully.
But it is… partly my fault, isn't it? Especially after yesterday…
It's been sticking out in her mind since the other day.
After mailing her letter off to be sent to Juliana, Carmine decided to swallow her anxiety and show up at her brother's dorm, with Ogerpon in tow, to congratulate after his victory.
She knocked on the door and was surprised to hear a pleasant "Come in!"
Kieran was sitting at his desk when Carmine opened the door. His eyebrows went up when he saw her face. He didn't look happy or angry, just… surprised. Like he wasn't expecting her.
"Oh. Hey, sis."
Carmine glanced around Kieran's room, having stepped into it for the first time since they stopped dorming together. It looked about what you would expect; they had played by the "halfsies" rule when they shared a room together, and Kieran's room was basically what his half had always looked like, just stretched out into a full room.
His prized giant Furret plushie, that Grandma Yukito had given him for Christmas one year, sat on the bed snaking over his pillows and blanket.
Kieran also had a poster in his room depicting his favorite cartoon The Mighty Hero Palafin! and a bookcase lined with various shonen magna, with some of his action figures displayed on top. His kitchen area was noticeably cleaner than Carmine expected it to be, given how often she was forced to clean it up when they shared one, though there was a stray bag of chips open.
But most interestingly, there was a huge punching bag in the middle of the room, black and yellow, that looked like it was made from very firm material. Chained from a hook in the ceiling. And showing signs of rough use.
Where did he even get the money for that…?
"Hey there, new champ," she greeted, smiling a little to see him in such a lighter mood. "We both wanted to come and offer our congrats."
She gestured to Ogerpon, who cautiously but optimistically, stepped into the room. Kieran even smiled a bit watching her step forward.
"Wowzers, umm… thanks. It's—it's quite a big accomplishment, isn't it? I'm honestly still surprised that I won!" he chuckled, scratching his forehead.
Huh. He's even talking like his old self again.
Carmine started smiling a lot bigger now, relieved to see that this may have finally been the thing to get him out of his funk like she'd hoped.
"It sure is! You're basically one of the strongest Trainers in the whole school now!" Carmine gushed, feeling a lot more at ease. "I'm so proud of you! And Gram and Gramps are going to be so proud of you too when we tell them! You've come such a long way, Kiki."
"I sure have," Kieran responded. "I sure have…"
Still smiling, he stood up from his desk and took a big sigh, building himself up for what he was about to say next.
"Pretty cool, right? So… how about it?"
"Hmm? How about wha—hey!"
Strangely, Kieran lightly brushed against his sister as he walked up behind her, and knelt down… so that he could make eye contact with Ogerpon.
"What do ya think?"
"Pon?" Ogerpon responded, a little confused now.
"I know you rejected me back at your den, Ogerpon. And I understand why you did it. I was pretty weak and pathetic back then, wasn't I? Just letting everyone walk all over me. Totally not a suitable partner for the mighty ogre…"
"Kiki…" Carmine uttered.
He doesn't really still think that's the reason…?
"B-but look! I'm a Champion now! And one of the strongest Trainers! Sis just said it herself!" He was smiling at Ogerpon now a bit eccentrically, almost manic-like. "I should be totally worthy of your friendship now, right? I'm a strong enough Trainer that we could win any battle we come up against!"
He held out his hand towards Ogerpon, who stared at it, still not really sure what was going on.
Carmine's face grew more and more worried. She could also sense what was about to happen next, and was gearing for the blowback.
"Look—"
Kieran abruptly shushed her, making her eyebrows leap up.
"It's the ogre's decision. …Remember?"
Ogerpon looked at Kieran's hand and slowly began to reach her cloaked arm out.
"…Pon?"
Then she took a good look at Kieran's face… and suddenly, he began to smile much differently than before. It was almost like he was grinning through the edges of his mouth, curving it in a weird shape as his eyes gazed at Ogerpon in a strangely cutting fashion.
Ogerpon gasped in fright.
"Ponnn! Ponoooo-pon…"
Overcome with a strange, sudden terror, the poor ogre girl began whining out in distressed noises neither of them had ever heard before and darted behind Carmine's legs, shaking like a leaf.
"H-hey, it's okay, Ogerpon," she tried to assure the ogre, gently coercing her with her hand. But she was both surprised and frightened by this behavior. "What's the matter?"
"SERIOUSLY!?"
Kieran shouted, and his mouth dropped agape.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" he whined.
Carmine was distressed to see him start needling at his roots again the same way he used to in Kitakami.
"This has gotta be a joke, right? A sick joke! Am I ever going to be good enough for you!?"
"Kiki, calm down!" Carmine pleaded. "Ogerpon isn't rejecting you at all! You're—you're scaring her!"
Kieran just scoffed in response. He suddenly took a sharp gaze at his desk and just stared in that direction for a bit.
Carmine looked over, confused, but she couldn't see anything noteworthy on the desk besides some homework papers, a handheld gaming system, and a mere Pecha Berry.
"This is unbelievable."
Kieran unzipped his academy jacket, revealing his red academy undershirt underneath. His whole attitude seeming to have changed again, he gruffly walked over to his punching bag and smacked it hard with his fist.
"Kiki… You didn't—you didn't really go through all of this just because you still thought Ogerpon hated you, did you?"
Kieran didn't reply, but she heard low huffing from him.
"You didn't—"
She stopped herself from completing the rest of that sentence, at least out loud.
You didn't do all of this because of me?
She heard quiet yelps from under her.
Carmine picked up Ogerpon and tried to gently rock the small ogre, but she had grown completely inconsolable in a way Carmine had never seen her before. Her eyes were wet with tears, she was clutching her own head like she was in pain.
"There, there," she said softly. "It-it's going to be okay, Ogerpon…"
"Ponnn… ponnn…!"
…
"Figures."
Carmine sharply turned to Kieran, trying to figure out how this entire situation went so downhill so quickly.
"After everything I've done… I still get no respect. You and the ogre, both ignoring me…"
Carmine huffed, completely hurt and flabbergasted, with tears in her eyes.
"Kiki… you're not being fair!" she cried out. "For crying out loud, I thought you would finally be over all this—"
"SHUT UP!" he snapped back. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don't get to say that, after everything you did, Carmine!"
Now Carmine was breathing frantically. "What, Kiki!? What have I done to hurt you!? You keep blaming me without telling me what it is you think I did!"
"You can't stand there and act so innocent when it was you… all the time, pushing me down! And taking everything from me! You and—and…"
Kieran was growling in rage now. His heart started beating faster.
Then he turned around, and took a HUGE swing at his punching bag, which made it fly several inches into the air, causing Carmine and Ogerpon to gasp.
"…Maybe you're right, Carmine. Maybe you're not the one I should be angry at. There's only one person I could defeat… like, really really stomp into the ground…" he mumbled to himself. "To finally prove that I deserve respect. And then the ogre would see… who's truly the strongest."
He smacked the bag with his one fist one more time, and then bitterly muttered…
"But she's not here."
Carmine, sighing to herself and still cradling a trembling Ogepron in her arms, tried one last time to step forward and reach out to her brother.
"Leave."
"Kiki—"
"Just leave!" he sharply turned around. "I need to train harder and harder! And figure out the new rules! Now that I'm Champion… EVERYTHING'S going to change around here!"
Carmine breathed out. She wanted to just keep trying, to pull her little brother out from whatever this shadowy state that seemed to be overtaking him was, but—
"Get out!"
He rushed over, pushed both girls out of his room, and slammed the door in their faces.
"Ponnnnn…"
…It was just the next day after that the new, angry Kieran emerged and inflicted his bitterness over the whole League.
And Carmine sat there trying not to blame herself for it.
It's not my fault anyway, right? Kieran thinks he's entitled to Ogerpon's friendship when all he's done is scare the poor thing… He just won't recognize her as her own individual making her own choices.
Poor Ogerpon…
She thought about the traumatized ogre, who she had sent out to run free in the Terrarium. Carmine hoped that would help calm Ogerpon's nerves, since she'd still been rattled ever since the encounter.
What did Kieran even do to scare her so much this time…? The poor thing was practically having a panic attack. She never acted like that towards Kiki before, even when she was afraid of him.
Amarys would have answers…
Carmine pulled out her Rotom Phone and tried to call Amarys, but there was no answer. Figuring she might be in class or in a meeting, Carmine instead sent her a text asking when she'd next be free.
Just a short minute later, she got a reply… but it wasn't good news.
Amarys Apologies. Kieran has all of us booked solid in meetings for the rest of the day, and possibly tomrrow as well.
After another few seconds, Amarys sent the exact same text again, re-written word for word, but with the "tomrrow" typo corrected.
Carmine sighed sadly. She shoved a whole fistful of fries into her mouth as she commiserated to herself.
"I wouldn't give you Ogerpon, so now you're going to take all my friends away from me? That's real low, Kiki. Real low…"
She could almost feel herself starting to sniffle, until a cutting voice changed her mood.
"Yikes. Looks like you and I are both having a rough day, ehh Carmine?"
"Oh, gag me with a harpoon."
Carmine wanted to curse the heavens for whatever demented joke they were playing on her as the person whose company she least wanted strode his way into the cafeteria like he owned the place.
A few students looked up at Drayton and murmured for a few seconds, but quickly went back to their own business. Drayton observed this disparity as he stopped at Carmine's table.
"Ouch. Just a week ago, I could walk into any room and classmates would be askin' for my autograph or a battle. I guess being #2 isn't anywhere near as glamorous—"
"Get out of here, Dray-turd," Carmine grumpily interrupted him. "I'm in no mood for your pity parties or your gloating. So unless what you're hungry for is a knuckle sandwich, then scram."
"I would never dare do either of those things. Just wanted to 'ketchup' with ya." He pointed at her ketchup dipping dish. "Heh! Get it? 'Ketchup'?"
Carmine rolled her eyes and groaned in annoyance.
"What are you even doing here, bozo? From what Amarys just told me, you're supposed to be cooped up in the clubroom right now."
Drayton took a seat and hung his arms up behind his head in his usual irritatingly chill fashion.
"Yeah, but I told your little 'Kiki' I had to use the boys' room. He told me to make it quick, so I made up an excuse about having the runs. That should keep him from investigating me."
"TM-freaking-I!" Carmine seethed. "You're such a gross jerk! How about I shove all these fries down your throat, and you can make that excuse a reality!?"
"Wow! Hey, chill! I'm here as your friend, I promise. I'm just super bored and wanted to poke your brain on what you think of your brother's newfound leadership. I mean, from the looks of it, it doesn't like he isn't making you very popular around campus."
Carmine folded her arms and pouted. "…What's it to you? Just leave me alone already."
"Well… I'll be blasé and tell you what I think," Drayton replied. "Sincerely? Your brother's… kind of a drag right now."
"I'll drag you through the mud if you're going to start shit-talking my brother."
"Wow, you've got more barbs on you than an Overqwil, don't you? But hey, beat me and bruise me all you want. I just know that life in this club is nowhere fun as it used to be with him making up all these new rules and holding everyone up to impossible standards. I don't know if anybody's told you this, but we've had eight students quit the whole League this week. They didn't even wait for Kieran to punish them."
Carmine's eyes shifted around and she quietly muttered, "…No, I didn't know that."
"And me, I thought not being Champion anymore might actually be more exciting! Finally, a lot of responsibility off my shoulders. But instead, the kid's got me watching everyone's battles, forcing me to do one-on-one evaluations just so he can criticize me for going too lax on them?"
He shook his head in exasperation.
"I never knew how good I had it being able to skip every meeting before! The new grueling day-in day-outs of this club almost make me yearn for the 'caring, loving' embrace of my family back home. … Almost."
"How sad for you," Carmine rolled her eyes. "I don't know what you're hoping for me to do about it."
"He's your brother. You haven't… tried to talk to him about it or anything?"
Carmine looked up at Drayton gravely.
"I did. In fact, trying to talk him down is what made him so angry. So if you just want your life to be even harder, I'm your girl apparently."
"Hmmm…"
Drayton had a bit of a shifty look on his face now.
"Well… believe it or not, I also had another reason for coming here. I want to know more about some of your… juicy secrets."
My juiciest secret is I want to twist your nose as hard as I can and put in earplugs so I can't hear you saying 'Uncle'.
"What big 'secrets' of mine could you possibly care about, you self-absorbed weirdo?"
"Well… mostly, I just want to know when you were planning to tell your old pal the Drayster that you've got friends in high places."
"What are you even blabbering about? … HEY!"
Drayton suddenly grabbed Carmine's phone and began typing something on it. He instinctively held up a hand to block Carmine's face as she stood up to maw at him.
"You'd better give my phone back right now, asshole, before I—"
"Relax, okay?" He slid the phone back to her with a picture open. "I'm talking about this."
She looked at her own phone in annoyance, but her eyes lit up upon being confronted directly with…
Juliana.
Carmine felt all the nerves in her body shoot up upon seeing that happy, smiling face again, and for a brief moment, all of her neurons shut down.
That toothy grin. Her gorgeous brown eyes.
Carmine had to stifle a chuckle. She's still wearing her hair like that…
She zoomed out on the picture, to reveal it was part of an online article, and Juliana was in the middle of a group photo.
She was about to investigate further, when a sudden thought nagged her back into reality.
"Hang on a minute." She swiftly turned to Drayton, eyes narrowed. "How did you even know I'm friends with this girl? I certainly never bothered to tell you that."
"Oh, I have my ways…" Drayton boasted. "Lacay can be very persuasive."
"Lacey's my friend and would never talk about my crushes with anyone, especially the likes of you!" Carmine seethed through her teeth.
"Alright. So I tricked her into revealing the information with my incredible charm. The same way I just tricked you into telling me it's a whole-on crush!"
Carmine actually squeaked at realizing this and pulled Drayton down by his jacket.
"I—I do not have a crush on Juliana! She was a friend I made in Kitakami! Geez, you're so annoying!"
"Well, whatever you want to call her, it looks like your pal's a bonafide Champion now."
"…Really?"
Carmine let go of him and took a closer look at the article now. The headline read "UP-AND-COMING UVA PRODIGY SETS NEW RECORD FOR YOUNGEST TRAINER TO ACHIEVE CHAMPION RANK IN PALDEA".
Juliana was beaming from cheek to cheek while posing with several adults whom Carmine presumed to be Paldea's Elite Four, and holding a large medal.
She recognized Geeta in the lineup, the "Top Champion" or whatever they called it of the Paldea region. The weakest Champion to ever exist. Next to her was a tall man dressed in a business suit, making zero effort to smile, who looked absolutely dead on the inside.
Another tall man, with broad shoulders, stood behind Juliana. Carmine recognized him vaguely as someone who once came to Blueberry as a guest instructor, and seemed to know Drayton's family. The quality of the photo almost made it look like there were tears running down his cheeks.
There was also a rather cute-looking guy—wait, no, that's a girl!—with a very laidback smile. A… surprisingly handsome girl.
For some reason, there was also a small child in the photo, standing in front of the androgynous girl with an excited smile on her face.
Is that her kid, or someone else's…?
Carmine boggled as she read the article, detailing the story of Juliana's journey to becoming Champion and making particular note of how recently she had enrolled in Uva Academy and started out as a Trainer before making it this far.
"She only just started as a Trainer a few months ago… and now she's already Champion…"
"…Really?"
Carmine didn't see, but Drayton's normally droopy eyes shot up, and he began scratching his chin, intrigued.
Boy, doesn't that sound familiar?
"It's only been less than two months since the Kitakami trip. How many Badges did that snot-nosed kid say she had at that point? Four?" Carmine tried to recall.
The article went on to talk more about Juliana's victory, her friendship and thrilling exhibition match with Nemona, the other youngest Uva student to make Champion Rank, and a blurb from the school's director, who credited her with helping to resolve a conflict between a group of troubled students (Team Star? That's right, I remember her saying something about them…) as an example of how she was already using her newfound fame to guide and influence people around her for the better.
"Wow, so she's a quick mover," said Drayton. "Must be an incredibly strong Trainer then?"
"Yeah…" Carmine fondly remembered. "Juliana and I battled a few times, and she put up one of the best fights I think I've ever had. And she showed so much passion for it every single time… Guess I shouldn't be too surprised."
The gears were clicking in Drayton's brain as he tried to put all the pieces of this Juliana girl together in his head.
"You said you two met in Kitakami. Does that… mean Kieran knew her too? Did they ever battle?"
Carmine reminisced with a sadder face now.
"Yeah… they actually started as friends. And it seemed like they had gotten really close with each other for a while. But then… Kiki got so frustrated after losing to her in battle, and so much stuff happened with the ogre." She sighed morosely. "Last straw that broke the Camerupt's back was when Kieran demanded another battle for ownership over Ogerpon, but Juliana said no and tried to talk him down… Kiki just got really upset and—"
She was so immersed in her memories for a minute that she had forgotten who she was talking to.
"Hang on! Why am I even telling you any of this!? Since when do you care about our personal problems?"
"I care immensely," Drayton promised. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't? Everything you've told me is… well…" A smug smile began to appear on his face. "It's interesting. It's all, very very interesting…"
Carmine leered. "…Why are you smiling like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you're got something super annoying cooking up in your thick head."
"Come on, Car, you know me, I smile like this all the time," Drayton replied.
"Yeah, and you're always being an annoying dillweed, so my case rests…" Carmine mumbled.
Drayton turned around and, unheard by Carmine, started musing to himself out loud.
"The kid has been muttering lately about some girl lately that he's been unable to beat, almost like it's all he thinks about now," he pondered. "If that really is her, and she's a League-recognized Champion now…" He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, deep in thought. "I wonder…"
"DRAYTONNN!"
Drayton's thoughts, and the tranquility of all the students in the cafeteria, were sharply disturbed by a sudden angry yell from the entrance.
Lacey had thrust the doors open, her face red and her hazel eyes emanating a boiling fury that was so uncommon for the normally sweet, soft-spoken Fairy-loving girl.
"I KNEW IT! I knew you were pulling some kind of trick!" Lacey shouted. "Stop bothering Carmine and get back to the clubroom RIGHT NOW!"
"Welp, that's my cue to leave," said a rattled Drayton. "You've really rubbed off on sweet Lacey, huh?"
He got up and started hastily running. He called out to Carmine…
"If you find my dead body, send my ashes to anywhere except my Grandpa, kay?"
"GET BACK HERE!" Lacey snarled at Drayton. As she passed by Carmine, she briefly put on her normal kind smile and greeted "Hey Carmine!" before chasing Drayton down with her game face back on.
Carmine stifled a giggle. Then, to her surprise, she looked down to see Lacey had left something behind on the desk for her.
A wrapped strawberry pastry. One of the more costly items on the cafeteria's desserts menu. Lacey had even drawn a heart on it with a purple marker.
Carmine picked up the tasty treat in awe and unwrapped it. As she bit into it, she couldn't help but place her hand on her cheek, marveling at the rich sweetness of the delectable that was usually out of her BP wallet's reach.
Her phone was still out in front of her. Grinning softly, she zoomed in on Juliana's picture again and placed the phone upright over a saltshaker on the table.
"Look at 'em go, eh Juliana?" she chuckled. "It's funny that spaz thinks I'm the one who gave Lacey that kind of temper. Just goes to show that he's never met Clay! Lacey seems super-sweet most of the time, but if you push her buttons hard enough, she'll show you that she is really her father's girl. And it's scary."
In her head, she imagined Juliana laughing in response. Juliana had a very bubbly laugh, she remembered, and found humor in some of the oddest things sometimes.
"…Maybe you would just laugh at her like you always used to with me. But then again, I feel like you and Lacey would get along really, really well. Like… she'd never have any reason to feel angry about you, I bet!"
Gazing at Juliana's picture, she found herself smiling more.
"I guess, anyone who crosses paths with you is really lucky to have you as a friend. You've probably been bringing smiles to everyone over there at Uva. Haven't you?"
Juliana's static picture continued to beam happily. Carmine, strangely, felt just a tiny bit less alone now as she munched on her delicious strawberry-filled dessert.
"Orrrrrder up!"
Valencia, the head chef of the Treasure Eatery, confidently brought out a whole cart of food plates over to the dining table where the four Uva students clapped happily and smiled eagerly.
"Yaaaaay!" Juliana and Nemona cheered.
"Thank you for cooking and delivering it us to us, ma'am," Arven thanked while lightly bowing his head.
"Yeah, and—and thank you for the heated pillows!" said Penny. "That was really kind of you."
"Think nothing of it, kids!" the sweet chef smiled. "Here at the Treasure Eatery, we always strive to make it a cozy place to eat for everyone. Rain, sleet, or shine!"
Valencia craned her neck to look out the nearest window.
"And lucky for you kids, the snow seems to be calming down now. Nothing like the ripe blizzard we had going on last night. What a flurry! Really came straight out of nowhere!"
Juliana nearly choked on one of her grilled rice balls.
"A-a blizzard out of nowhere?"
"Mm-hm! Lots of folks in Medali came running in here last night just to take shelter from it! And you all know Larry, right? Our Gym Leader?" They nodded. "The poor fellow got snowed in while visiting someone in Cortondo! He was stuck there all night!"
As she led the cart away, she kept on muttering, "Called in his first sick day in over six months too, from what I hear. He must've caught a cold real bad."
The quartet all huddled together with alarmed faces and spoke in hushed tones.
"Okay, so… did we or did we not cause a huge blizzard with Turo's time machine?" a panicking Juliana wondered.
"I don't know," said a flustered Penny. "Those notes could have just been the Professor speculating and it's all a coincidence. ..R-right?"
"Well I never heard anything about dad's research messing with the weather," Arven said. "But I suggest we just keep calm and act like everything's normal."
"Yeah, I agree," Nemona nodded. "But hey! Look on the bright side. At least it was just a giant blizzard we brought in from the future, and not a bunch of rampaging robot Pokémon!"
"I—I still don't think that's how it works," said Penny, shaking her head.
"Well, either way I'm very glad we were able to prevent that outcome!" Arven said proudly. "Who knows what kind of chaos would've occurred if those terrifying Paradoxes had gotten loose all over Paldea? Honestly…" he looked a bit sorrowful. "I still can't believe my dad was ever seriously thinking of letting that happen."
Nemona, sitting directly next to him, felt bad for him and gently rested her hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him. He smirked lightly at her in appreciation.
"…I'm glad all of you guys came," he said quietly. "I don't—I don't know that I would've handled facing all of that alone."
"Of course! It was our pleasure," Nemona handled him. "But who knows? With my skills, I bet I could've taken down all those rogue Pokémon and saved Paldea myself if they had gotten out!"
Arven chuckled. "With you and Juliana working side-by-side like I saw you guys take out that Glimmora, those Paradoxes would've been up against formidable opponents for sure!"
"Hey, don't count me out," said Penny. "My Veevees and I would've done our part to help too. I bet I could've even recruited my Team Star buddies to run them all over with their Starmobiles!"
Everyone at the table laughed. Juliana did too, but as she thought back on all those strange Pokémon, she remembered something she wanted to bring up.
"There is one thing that I still think is a little odd, though."
"What's that, Jules?" said Arven as he swallowed a bite of his Tatsugiri sushi roll.
"So you remember Iron Treads, right? That's what Turo—err, the AI said it was called. The one that looks like Donphan. And we fought the huge Titan one too?"
"Of course. How could I forget that tight battle?"
"I've just been thinking about it and… didn't the Iron Treads we fought in the desert look… a little bit different from all the ones we saw in Area Zero?"
"How so?" asked a puzzled Arven. "You mean cause it was much huger?"
"Well, not just that. Remember? It also had those really huuuge tusks! None of the Iron Treads in Area Zero had big tusks like that!"
Arven thought back. "…Huh. You're right, I guess they didn't."
"Maybe those Herbs that made it super gigantic also enhanced the way its tusks grew out?" Penny suggested.
"I guess so. It's just… I swear its eyes looked different too," said Juliana. "And it didn't look all metallic and robot-y like the ones down there."
"Hey, yeah, you're right!" Arven replied, slowly recalling the monster's appearance. "I remember now! Both of them had red markings all over them, but the one in the desert's looked like patches of fur or something! Heh! Now that I think about it, the Titan Treads kind of looked more like a dinosaur than a robot!"
"Maybe the Professor's time machine brought over more than one kind of Donphan into the present!" said Nemona.
"Maybe," Arven pondered. "Or maybe the Herbs do something weird to those Pokémon, make them a lot more organic looking."
"Well now I wish I had tagged along with you two to fight those giant Pokémon from the beginning!" said Nemona, boxing the air with her fists. "I would've sent that Iron Treads thing running back crying into its proper place in the timeline, and then I would've been able to tell you the difference!"
Arven found himself chuckling again at Nemona's eccentricities.
"Well… either way, what's done is done. I guess that's just one of the many mysteries of Area Zero that's probably going to stay buried forever now."
"Yeah, I guess so," Juliana concurred.
They all continued their meals and chatting with each other for the next hour.
Eventually, their plates were empty and their bellies were full. Valencia happily took all their plates and left the bill. Arven had insisted he was going to cover the bill since it was his idea to eat here… until he got a look at the actual numbers and almost whited out. Nemona heroically stepped in to pay for everyone's meals instead, and promised Arven he could pay her back later, much to his gratitude.
While they waited for the tab to return, Arven and Nemona got to chatting with each other, while Penny kept her eyes glued to her phone. Until she heard the girl next to her softly giggling, and she looked over and noticed Juliana was reading a letter with Blueberry Academy's branding on it.
"Is that from your friend at Blueberry?" Penny asked. "The one you told me about?"
"Oh… yeah," said Juliana, a little embarrassed. "I was just, reading it over again. It's a really nice letter, makes me really happy to read."
"That's from the girl in Kitakami you talked about, right?" asked Nemona. "What was her name, Carmen?"
"Carmine."
"Oh, hee-hee! Almost got it right!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot you were on a trip! I want to hear all about it sometime. The kinds of Pokémon you met there, and all the different foods they had!" Arven remembered. "When did that happen again?"
"I think, after the first couple of Titans we fought," Juliana tried to recall.
"And your first four Gym Badges!" Nemona proudly pointed out.
"Oh yeah! I'm… really happy you remembered that!"
"I think that was also in-between you taking down Mela's Schedar Squad base and the Navi Squad base with Atticus," said Penny. "…From what I recall, anyway."
"So let me get this straight…" Arven pieced together. "So this whole time, you were helping me with the Titans. AND defeating all the Gym Leaders. AND taking down all the Team Star hideouts with Penny. AND you went on a school trip while all three of those were going on!?"
"Well…" Juliana sheepishly mulled over. "Yeah."
"Ay caramba, that's a lot of adventurin' you were doing!" Nemona exclaimed.
"Yeah, tell me about it!" said Arven. "I guess you were always busy in one way or another, or sometimes two. I guess that—" He stopped himself. "Well, no, I don't want to say that."
"What is it?" asked Juliana, genuinely curious. Everyone looked to Arven now.
"Well, geez. I—I was just going to say I guess that's why you look so tired a lot of the time."
Juliana looked perplexed.
"Tired? I don't… look tired, do I?"
She looked to Nemona for affirmation. Nemona gave a bit of a non-committal shrug.
"Not that I've noticed. But… people do say I'm kind of bad at noticing things like that, like when people are too tired to battle anymore," she awkwardly giggled.
"Umm…" Penny decided to speak up. "I mean—I guess I saw you looking like you were a little worn out and having to stretch your legs a bunch while we were adventuring through the Crater."
"…I did?"
"AY!" Nemona stood up in shock. "I don't want to be hearing that my bestie's in pain like that! Juliiiiiie! Having lots and lots of adventures is tons of fun, but don't be pushing so hard that your body can't take it!"
"Guys, guys, I'm fine! Really!" Juliana assured them, feeling a little flustered now. "Maybe I went a little too hard every now and then, but that was just because I was so eager to help people! You don't need to worry about me. I'm made of iron like all those Paradoxes!" she snarked, flexing her muscles.
"Okay," Arven said, deciding to believe her. "Just… make sure you're not ever spreading yourself too thin, little buddy, okay? Promise?"
"And that you're always remembering to eat and sleep when you need it!" Nemona chimed in.
Juliana gulped. "Yeah, I-I promise I'll be more careful." She patted her full stomach. "I feel well-fed today, so quit worrying already!"
"Great!" said Nemona, pumping her fist in the air. "Now that we've got that all settled, and we've finished our meals, what are we gonna do next!?"
Arven threw his head back. "You've gotta be kidding me! Does your battery ever run out!?"
"What!" Nemona protested. "I'm always up for more fun adventures! Especially if it's a battle! How about it?"
"Mm, mm! No way!" Arven sternly shook his head. "Remember what we just talked about with Juliana? I think now, after everything we went through, it's time we went home and all had a good rest."
"Awwwwww!" Nemona deflated.
"I'm with you there," said Penny. "My legs feel like jelly right now. Today was probably more time spent outside than I've ever done in years. And enough exercise for a lifetime. Plus, I'm still kind of shaken after encountering all those scary robots. I just wanna go back home and cuddle with my Veevees and watch anime for the night."
"Yeah, fine, I guess I'm tired too," Juliana finally admitted. "Although…"
"Although what?" Nemona perked up.
"The next time we meet up, if you guys are interested, I've got an idea for something we could do. Who'd be up for a little special treasure hunt through Paldea?"
"A treasure hunt!?"
"What kind of treasure?" asked Arven.
"Have any of you guys had Ms. Raifort's history classes? Where she talked about these ancient Pokémon from old legends that supposedly put a curse on a king and led his kingdom to ruin?"
"Oh yeah, I think I remember that!" Nemona recalled.
"Uhh, y-yeah!" Arven coughed. "I remember that one too."
"You haven't attended any history classes, have you?" said an unimpressed Nemona.
"…You don't know that."
"You really need to start attending classes, y'know," she politely scolded him. "I'd even offer to tutor you to make catching up a lot easier for you so you can still graduate!"
"You… you would?" said a surprised Arven.
"Hold up!" Penny whined. "Are we really not going to talk about the fact that she just said these Pokémon are… c-c-cursed?" she stammered, her hands shaking.
Arven huffed. "Don't worry Penny, there's no such thing as curses!"
"H-how can you be so sure…?"
"We're just talking about old legends, right? None of it's real?" Arven postered.
"Well, actually…"
Juliana proceeded to tell them about what Raifort had shared with her when Juliana took up a conversation with her at the academy, about how the Pokémon of legend not only exist, but are supposedly entombed within Paldea itself!
She showed everyone where Raifort had marked the four Shrines supposedly containing the ancient Pokémon on her map, and pictures of the different colored stakes dotted all around Paldea, that Raifort explained are seals that will unlock each of the Shrines.
"Hey, I think I've seen these before!" said Nemona. "I always wondered what they were for. I guess I just thought they were weird decorations people put up."
Arven gazed at the four Shrine gates shown.
"You know what? When I was in all those places looking for the Titan Pokémon, I ran into a couple of these glowing spots. Let's see, I remember this one was in the Socarrat Trail, and… this one is somewhere near where we met the Flying Titan with the boulders."
"Wow, it's really starting to sound like these Pokémon ARE real!" Penny clamored. "But… you said those stakes are littered all over random spots in Paldea, right? How are we supposed to find them all without spending a whole year on this?"
"Hmmm…" everyone thought.
"I've got it!" Arven proclaimed. "It looks like there are four of these Shrines, and each of them has their own corresponding stakes. Well, there are four of us too! That means we could each split up and take a different quadrant of Paldea around each of the Shrines, and together we'll find them all in no time!"
"That's a fantastic idea!" said Juliana, excited.
Then Nemona slapped her hand on the table.
"And I just thought of a way to make it even more exciting! Four Shrines means there must be four Pokémon in total! Right? How about this? Whoever finds one of the Shrines and gets it open gets to keep the Legendary Pokémon they find inside for themselves!"
They all went "Oooh" and clamored in agreement. Now this was really starting to sound like a grand hunt!
After their tab came back, they all left the restaurant and headed back to the Academy to get a good night's rest.
Then, as soon as the next morning after classes let out, they met up one more time outside the school, made a plan, and headed off in different directions.
Juliana, Nemona, Arven, and Penny all split off into the different Provinces, excited to go on a grand adventure all through Paldea and find treasures for each of them!
And all the way across the sea, Carmine was reflecting on adventures past too.
She sat at her desk in her dorm room, having just read over Juliana's letter. She was shocked and delighted to find out that the girl actually wrote her back, and shared a bunch of her adventures with Carmine too!
Carmine had a warm smile on her face reading the letter, and she found herself holding it up to her nose and inhaling it, catching a whiff of Juliana's scent—
"Wait!" she stopped herself. "Why am I doing that? That's weird. Stop it, Carmine."
She set the letter down, intending to put it by her beside table so she could treasure it and read it at night when she needed help sleeping.
Her phone was on the desk, still open to the picture of Juliana from the article Drayton had pulled up.
Seeing the picture made her smile even more.
But as she looked both at the picture and at the letter, that smile faltered a bit. Sighing deeply as she internalized her own emotions, Carmine decided to address Juliana's image again.
"Hey. So… can I tell you something? Something I definitely wouldn't have the courage to tell you in a letter?"
Juliana just smiled back at her. Carmine sighed again.
"As much as I hate to admit it, I…"
Her eyes scrunched shut.
"I—I actually really wish you were here right now."