"GOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, BLUEBERRY ACADEMY!"
"Ugggggghhhhhhh. Shut up, Jazzy…"
While the voice of the school's A/V club headliner rang out from her Rotom Phone, Carmine sat up in bed, looking like she was ready to audition for PokéStar Studios' latest zombie flick.
Her hair was a frizzy mess of black and red, like a thorny bush. Her once striking yellow eyes looked dead. And most of her limbs were still asleep as the tired girl struggled to get herself to climb out of bed.
She put a hand over the poster hanging above her bed, the fierce smile of her favorite rockstar who was there to see her off every night.
"Give me strength today, Roxie…"
"It is a gorgeous day today in the pristine region of Unova!" Jazzy's voice continued. "No humidity, clear skies, and sunny weather expected all the way to evening! Who could ask for a better forecast?"
Carmine's eyes just glowered as she made her way to the bathroom while those morning announcements continued.
She hopped into the shower, where Carmine's idea of a shower today was to just stand under the faucet and let all of the water soak over her ennui.
"Speaking of battles, we've just received word that current rankings from this season's BB League circuit should be posted online by the end of the week!"
"Good for them. … Good for them."
Carmine got out of the shower, spent a few seconds drying her hair with her Porygon2-branded hairdryer, brushing her teeth, and lightly applying her mascara as Jazzy's spiel continued.
"But hey! In lighter news, we're still seeing new faces coming in from Blueberry's exciting exchange program that started this week! We've got new transfer students joining us from all over!"
"Joy, a whole bunch of dirty outsiders to our school," Carmine mumbled sardonically. "All the more people who are about to learn why they should avoid the wicked witch of the west wing dorm room, lest she put a hex on them all. …And I'd do it, too."
Once upon a time, there used to be a lot more to Carmine's daily routine. Like combing her hair, for starters. Or applying even more makeup like blush and heavier mascara, all to enhance her natural dark beauty. Maybe some eyebrow plucks. And of course, the moisturizer.
But that was a Carmine who used to be motivated to impress everyone wherever she went. To grace the world with her gorgeous looks in the hopes of sending people swooning.
Nowadays, this lonesome girl's apathy would only take her so far.
"And here's something unique! For the first time ever, we're hosting an extremely gifted student from the Paldea region's own Uva Academy!"
"…"
Carmine stared at her own reflection in the mirror.
"…Don't do it, Carmine. There's no point in getting your hopes up."
"That's right, the birthplace of the Terastal phenomenon itself! Maybe we can all learn a thing or two about Tera Types from our new longfaring classmate!"
"Yeah, and if I'm lucky, and that's like a ten or twelve-percent change at best, I can find this grimy city kid and learn a thing or two about Juliana…" Carmine misered, washing her face.
And all the fun adventures it sounds like she's having, with oodles of friends around her following her lead like cattle. Nemo, and Peppy, and… whatever she said the other chick's name is. I bet they aren't all too busy to shower Juliana with praise and make her feel wanted.
Despite an initial spark of hope when she first heard from the grapevine that one of the incoming exchange students was said to be from Paldea's own grapevine of a school, Carmine had eventually convinced herself that it was assuredly not the girl she wished to see again.
She had based this mostly on Juliana's last letter.
With so many friends to adventure with, and all the duties she probably has now as an 'inspiring' Champion… what kind of dumbo would she be to abandon all that and come here?
Never mind that I invited her to come over to our school sometime… like some of clingy idiot. I bet she's forgotten all about that by now anyway.
Carmine stepped out of her steamy bathroom, clad in a magenta towel, as Jazzy's voice continued.
"We've also got news to share about new clubs starting up, special events being hosted in Agriculture and Musical…"
With a big sigh, Carmine shut off the Blueberry Radio app on her phone, not caring about whatever droll news Jazzy had to dish out.
The app closed, leaving nothing on her phone but her custom lockscreen… which made Carmine frown.
"Putting you on my phone might've been a bad idea…" she grumbled. "Now I just feel like your smile's taunting me."
Within minutes, she was all dressed up and ready to start the day… assuming this day was going to bring any more than feelings of mediocrity and grayness.
There was nothing better to start a monotonous day than a monotonous breakfast.
Hence, Carmine stood in line with several other students as they waited their turn at the breakfast café. She kept quietly and sullenly to herself. Carmine used to bask in showing all her emotions and not being afraid who saw.
But these days, she knew drawing attention to herself would just risk drawing ire from those League Club members frustrated with her brother and his authoritarian rule over the club.
So she stayed silent and stone-faced amidst the crowd, not showing a crack of emotion even as she heard the boy standing in front of her chatting up a storm about the club's Champion.
"I'm just saying, if this Kieran is as much a tyrant as you Unovans say, maybe it's time someone taught him a lesson," he said in a thick Kalosian accent.
"Uh-huh," the clearly uninterested girl in front of him replied.
"Oops." Carmine, meanwhile, accidentally dropped her phone and bent down to pick it up.
"Now what if I told you zis, that just speaking in theory, someone were to smuggle in their Mega Stone from home, and used ze power of Mega Tyranitar to teach that boy humility!"
"If you're saying what I think you're saying, you'd better not go telling people you have that, or actually try to use it in battle. They'll kick you out for that, y'know."
"I'm not saying anything, just… how you say? Spitballing?" the Kalosian student defended. "Besides, even if I did get sent back home, it'd be worth it to send such a scorching Talonflame of a boy crashing down! No?"
"Whatever, man." The girl rolled her eyes. "You must be suuuch a big shot back home. Ahh, the line's moving."
They all started walking ahead.
"All I'm trying to say is—AGGGH!"
The Kalosian student tripped all of a sudden and fell on his bottom. The girl couldn't help but giggle, and Carmine shot him a dry smirk, as the line marched on without him.
He looked down in confusion to see his shoelaces had mysteriously become tied together, and shouted in despair to the moving line.
"Nooo! C'est pas vrai! Not fair!"
Carmine paid for a poppyseed bagel, a plain bagel with cream cheese, and a hazelnut coffee. She traveled down past the food court with her bag and drink, and took a seat on one of the benches directly looking out into the deep ocean glittery blue seas surrounding Blueberry's walls.
This was what Carmine had decided to call comfort the past few days. With the cafeteria just being a place where she would feel everyone's eyes on her, and her friends basically swallowed up by clubroom meetings and the busy campus life, unable to meet up anymore, she had to find peace in this solitude. Peace with the one other reliant companion she had left.
Once Carmine made herself comfy on the bench, she drew out a familiar Ball.
"Come on out, Ogerpon. Time for breakfast."
-POP-
"Pon ponnnn!" Ogerpon cried excitedly.
Ogerpon's cheerful energy was one of the few things that kept Carmine going these days. She had a soft but warm smile as she passed the poppyseed bagel over to Ogerpon.
Ogerpon took a big bite of the bagel… only to grimace upon eating it.
"Huh? What's wrong?" asked Carmine, who was just about to eat hers. "I thought you loved poppyseed."
Ogerpon just looked at her with a grumbling face.
She sighed. "I know it's what I've been giving you every day for the past week, but don't tell me you're already sick of it."
Ogerpon looked sadly at the bagel and set it down in her lap. She then craned her horned head and glanced in the direction of the bagel vendor in the food court. It wasn't hard to guess what she was staring at, as her starry yellow eyes locked onto the rainbow bagels on display, and she began to salivate from her fanged mouth.
"Come on, I'm almost flat broke at this point," Carmine fretted. "I can't blow it all on one of those."
"Ponoo…"
Ogerpon began to get all teary, which tugged at her partner's poor heartstrings.
"Awww… I, I… Here," she said with a resigned tone. "Let's swap."
The ogre was surprised to see Carmine handing her plain bagel over.
"Take it," Carmine smiled, exchanging it for the sans-one-bite poppyseed.
"Pon?" Ogerpon tilted her head, looking at the bagel now in Carmine's head.
"Naw, don't worry about me! I like poppyseed now! … Honest!"
Satisfied with this, Ogerpon took a huge bite out of her new bagel. It didn't beat a tasty rainbow bagel, but it was something new and flavorful with the cream cheese Carmine had spread on it, and Ogerpon murmured loudly as she savored the taste.
This was enough to make Carmine grin before she took a bite out of her own new bagel. Ogerpon glanced at her again, so she smiled and gave a thumbs-up with a mouthful of bagel.
Once her tiny partner had turned around though, Carmine turned her head and began quietly gagging, and took a huge gulp of her hazelnut coffee to wash the taste out.
"Anything for you…" she quietly murmured.
Just then, her Rotom Phone began to ring.
"Hmm?" Then she and Ogerpon saw the caller ID and their eyes lit up. "Oh!"
Carmine hastily answered.
"Lacey?"
"Heeeeeeey, Carmine!"
Carmine giggled. "Hey, Lace! It's so good to hear your voice!" Ogerpon beamed too upon hearing the voice of her one-time sleepover buddy. "You sound really chipper!"
"Hee-hee! I sure am! You'll never believe what I'm doing now!"
"What's that?"
"Well, I happened to bump into Director Cyrano at the entrance, and guess who he was with?" she said in a teasing manner.
"Uhhh, who?"
"The new exchange student from Paldea!"
Carmine's grinning cheeks instantly sagged. "…Oh."
"Sooooo now I'm helping give her a tour of the whole academy! You should come too, Carmie! I bet you'll be really surprised!"
Carmine snarled. "No thanks."
"Awww, come on! What if I told you she's really pretty…? And a terrific battler? And sweet as cake?"
"I really wish you'd stop toying with me like this, Lace," Carmine shook her head. "I already know it's not her…"
"I don't know, Carmine…" Lacey's voice sounded weirdly teasing like. "I feel like you and this girl would instantly hit it off."
"Tch."
On some level, Carmine knew that Lacey was just trying to help, and she deserved Carmine's respect for that, so she tried to improve her tone.
"Just… just ask her if she knows Juliana and then tell me what she says later, alright? In fact… can we…" She cleared her throat, not wanting to sound too desperate. "Can you and I… hang out sometime? Maybe this weekend, or the next time you're free?"
There was a pause on the other end.
"…Yeah, Carmie. Of course. I'm sorry that we haven't gotten many chances to meet up lately, you know how busy things are at the League Club right now. Goodness. Now I feel really bad for—"
"No, no," Carmine interjected. "Please. You have nothing to be sorry for. In fact, I'm the one who's sorry for unloading on you like that."
"Hmm. Well... maybe this will be just what you needed, then."
Carmine blinked several times in confusion. "Just what I… what?"
Lacey only giggled in response.
"Lacey, you're scaring me now."
"Sorry, it's just—Oop!" She started speaking in more hushed tones. "I think she's coming out. I'll send you a picture so you can see what I'm talking about, okay?"
"Uhh—okay," a bemused Carmine responded.
"Great, bye!" And then she hastily hung up.
Carmine just stared blankly, trying to make sense of whatever that conversation was.
"…I think my friends are starting to get cabin fever, Ogerpon. Or… clubroom fever."
"Pnnn?" Ogerpon responded with her mouth full of bagel.
Then her phone pinged.
Carmine saw the message from Lacey, and opened the attachment.
…
"…!"
Carmine's eyes nearly popped right out of their sockets, and she gasped from the bottom of her throat.
All of her hair went up on end. Her heart went from calm to beating at the rate of a running Zebstrika. All of her joints became rigid and frozen.
"Ju—Ju—JULIANA?!"
Lacey had just sent her an impossible picture.
There was her friend from Paldea. Smiling all happy like a clam. Wearing her hair a little differently from the article Carmine had seen, with the dreaded braid having returned.
And she was dressed head-to-toe… in a Blueberry uniform!
"She's—SHE'S HERE!? AT BLUEBERRY?!"
Her shaking fingers got out a "IS THAT REALLY HER?" response to Lacey before the phone slipped out of her fingers in shock and fell to the floor.
Carmine grabbed onto the ends of her hair and began to sweat.
"YOU MEAN SHE'S THE NEW STUDENT?!"
Ogerpon jumped down and looked at Carmine's phone in curiosity. Then, gasping happily upon looking at the picture, she grabbed the phone and started hugging Juliana's image close to her face while humming in glee.
…Until Carmine grabbed the phone out of her arms like lightning to hastily badger Lacey for answers.
LACEY THIS ISN'T A PRANK RIGHT?
LACEY
PLEASE ANSWER ME
JSJSJKLSKLJLLASLSL
Carmine was on the verge of hyperventilating until she finally received several reply texts.
⋅˚₊‧ lacey ‧₊˚ yes, it's really her!
⋅˚₊‧ lacey ‧₊˚ please stop blowing up my phone! they're both looking at me weird! (crying emoji)
Carmine giggle-snorted through her nostrils, as the reality hit her of how much of a pest she was being.
And then a few seconds later…
⋅˚₊‧ lacey ‧₊˚ want her number? (winking emoji)
YES
Carmine held her phone close to her chest, exhaling big, breathy huffs and not feeling her heartbeat decrease at all.
"This can't be real, right? This has to be another crazy dream… Juliana… Juliana's come here! To my school!"
She started thumping her legs on the floor in excitement… then she stopped and trying to level herself.
"…Okay, calm down, you freak. Why am I acting like this?" She sighed in annoyance. "This is why Lacey thinks you're smitten, you fool."
But Ogerpon also stood on the bench and jumped up and down in excitement.
"Pon! Pon! Pon!"
Carmine chuckled a little. "That's right, Juliana was your friend too! You've probably been missing her a lot too, haven't you? Probably even more than me!"
"Pon yoooo!"
The Kitakami girl giggled, and looking down at her still unfinished bagel, had a sudden impulse.
"Breakfast!" she suddenly shouted. "You and I should have a proper breakfast before greeting out friend!"
"Ogieee!"
Then, to Ogerpon's shock, Carmine sprinted right up to the bagel vendor.
"Two rainbow bagels, please!" she said enthusiastically.
"Uhhh… okay," he said, flustered. "That'll be 300 LP, miss."
Carmine checked her digital wallet, only to balk.
"Grrrr! I only have 240 BP left!?" She pleaded to the shopkeeping student in desperation. "Can I… pay for the rest of it in Poké Dollars or something?"
"Ummmm, no? That's not how it works? I don't even know what the exchange rate would b—AHHH!"
Carmine grabbed him by his shirt and started shouting in his face.
"Then—then let me take out a loan or something! I'll do some BBQ's later and pay you back!" Then she started shaking him around. "THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME!"
"Okay, okay! I—I'll give you the "2 for 1" deal we usually reserve for fellow Culinary Club members if you let go of me!"
Carmine let go of his shirt and replied, "Thank you," with a calm, pleasant smile on her face.
She rushed back to Ogerpon to present her hard-earned rewards.
"PONNNIEEEEE!" Ogerpon screeched in happiness as she accepted the coveted rainbow bagel of destiny.
She took a dainty bite and smiled in bliss… only to look up in confusion as Carmine ravenously scarfed down her bagel in three huge bites like a starving Mightyena and then downed the rest of her hazelnut coffee in one gulp.
"Okay! Okay!" a newly jazzed-up Carmine proclaimed. "Now I've had breakfast, what do I do next!?" She started looking around frantically, the caffeine content apparently having already gone up to her brain. "I gotta—I GOTTA TAKE ANOTHER SHOWER!"
This time, Carmine dove into her shower with the full works. She spent thirty minutes working on her hair with shampoo, conditioner, and moisturizer. She put her hairdryer on full blast and combed her now radiant, luxurious locks.
She redid her mascara, now with much more precision on her brows, and went for a subtle rose shade of lipstick. She even dug out her underused nose hair trimmer.
And while she was busily remaking herself into a confident goddess, Carmine was desperately trying to call Amarys on her phone.
"Pick up! Pick up! Pick up!"
But there was no answer, so Carmine grabbed the phone and texted "EMERGENCY".
Within seconds, the phone rang.
"AMARYS!"
"Carmine, what's the emergency?"
"I need emotional support BADLY! You need to be my rock for this!"
There was a pause on the other end.
"Carmine, you understand I'm in the middle of tutoring at this hour, correct? Jerome requires my assistance studying for geography and-"
"Forget him!" Carmine shouted. "I need you more!"
"Carmine-"
"Look, pointing at all the regions on a map isn't even that hard! But listen!" Her arms started shaking up and down, so she worked to calm them before saying "Juliana's here!"
"…What do you mean?"
"She's here at Blueberry! Juliana is the new exchange student! Lacey g-gave me her phone number and everything, but I'm so nervous and I feel like I'm about to explode and—and—"
Carmine took a deep breath to try to calm herself down… only to shout involuntarily into the mirror.
She huffed and huffed and was met with silence until…
"…Understood. I'm in the Central Plaza. Meet me there."
"Oh, thank you, thank you, Mar-y! You're a lifesaver!"
"You can do it, Carmine."
Carmine stood by the wall, breathing anxiously, as she held her Rotom Phone in her hands.
"I know…" She gulped. "I know."
She took a big, heavy sigh as she stared at the number on her screen, provided to her by Lacey. Amarys was standing alongside her at the top platform of the Central Plaza, near all the self-service machines and the battle arena.
"Here we go… reestablishing contact. I'm about to do what I should've done months ago…"
"I believe in you," Amarys smiled.
"Thanks, Mar-y."
Biting down on her lower lip, Carmine fatefully pressed the number, and then pressed the button asking to call it.
Ring, ring… Ring, ring…
"Hello?" said a voice.
"Hey!" Carmine greeted, her heart jumping at having received an answer. "This is Juliana's phone, right?"
"Yeah!" she answered back. "Who's this?"
Carmine held the phone to her chest again and jumped up and down several times.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it, that's really her…" she whispered ecstatically.
She cleared her throat and held it back up again.
"It's me! Carmine!"
She could hear a gasp on the other line.
"Carmine!? Is that really you!?"
"YES!" Carmine squeaked out. She blushed immediately, that having come out much louder than she intended, and looked at Amarys with rosy cheeks.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so happy to hear your voice!" she heard Juliana say excitedly.
You too! Holy crap, your voice is just as sweet and adorable as I remember it! …is what part of Carmine wanted to say.
But she cleared her throat to try to shut that pathetic girl out.
"Me too! Of course!" she answered coolly. "How have you been?"
"I've been doing great!" came Juliana's happy response. "What about you?"
Carmine turned to Amarys and bared all her teeth with a silent squee. Amarys found herself chuckling a bit, having never seen this side of her friend before.
The Kitakami girl squared herself up from her shoulders, and did a flick of her hair, trying more desperately to summon the cool, calm Carmine that she knew Juliana remembered.
"Ohhh, I've been doing quite alright for myself," she answered in a smug tone. "But I just heard the news! You got picked for Blueberry Academy's exchange program… right?" Smile dropped a bit.
"I sure did!"
Smile back up.
"Hah! One of my friends just told me! Oooh… never thought we'd be fellow students of BB Academy!"
Carmine cupped her hands up like fists and both her legs bounced up and down. Then she blushed again and whispered frantically to Amarys, "You don't think she heard that, did you?"
"I don't know, perhaps slight but not enough to know what… that was," Amarys whispered back, refraining from saying she didn't really know either.
"Anyway, umm, you should totally come show your face!" Carmine said, deciding to continue on like normal. "It's been too long already!"
"Yeah! Yeah, I'd love to catch up with you! Absolutely!"
Yes, yes, yes!
Much to Carmine's barely restrained excitement, the two made plans to meet up right there in the Central Plaza.
"Alright… see you there!" said Juliana.
"Uh-huh!"
Then, in a split second decision, Carmine decided to add some spice to her next remark.
"Oh, and- Don't keep me waiting if you know what's good for you! 'Kay!?" She shook her fist out, as if she expected Juliana to see that.
But sure enough, she heard a snicker on the other end. "No need to worry!"
Then Juliana hung up…
And Carmine unleashed a huge, cathartic, almost primal yell of victory, which made several eyes within the Plaza turn over.
…She couldn't tell from Amarys's blank expression whether that stunned her or not.
"This is… I can't believe this is happening!" Carmine proclaimed. "This is literally the moment I've waited months for, and it's really happening… Amarys, pinch me please, just so I know this isn't another dream!"
"I… will refrain from that," Amarys answered. "If you don't mind my inquisitiveness, Carmine… are you still certain that your feelings for Juliana haven't risen above being platonic?"
Carmine flinched in shock.
"Seriously!? You too!? I thought you were supposed to be the level-headed one! Seeing everything through logic instead of emotion! That's why I rely on you for things like this!"
"…Well, apologies then. It's just that my 'logic' right now is in noticing that you've never behaved this way before for any of your other companions."
"You don't… you don't know that," Carmine muttered while wincing.
Amarys paused.
"Truthfully, your current attitude is… actually very reminiscent of the various protagonists in some of the novels you've bestowed to me."
"You—you've actually been reading those!?" Carmine seethed. "Grrr! I do not have a crush on Juliana! How many times do I have to keep saying that?"
"If you insist that that's true, then I shall believe it. But… I must admit, I'm still confused by the hostility of your denial," said Amarys, tilting her head. "You're not frightened by the prospect of having romantic feelings for a person, are you?"
"N-no… of course not. I definitely want a super-cool awesome girlfriend someday," Carmine responded pensively. "It just… It needs to be someone perfect, that's all. The most perfect girl."
"And Juliana is not a suitable candidate?"
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Because, because…" Carmine gritted her teeth angrily. "Because she's just NOT! Okay!? I don't feel that way about her, and I know she doesn't feel that way about me either! So… can't we just drop it already and—"
"Just so you're aware, Juliana is approaching our location," Amarys interjected, observing behind her.
"WHAT!?"
Carmine almost turned her head around, but stopped herself.
"She is the girl on the photo you presented to me, correct?" Carmine rapidly nodded. "Then yes, that is her ascending the ramp as we speak."
"Crap, crap, crap!" Carmine began to panic. "I need to be cool! Need to be cool! Quick, talk to me about something that makes me feel relaxed!"
"What… makes you feel relaxed?"
"I don't know! We can talk movies, anime… I know! Have you caught up on Detective Me and Manaphy?"
"I have not watched this week's episode yet, no."
"Then let's talk about last week's! And—and nod your head 20 times as like, a countdown before getting my attention!"
"…Okay. That episode a week prior was about… Jee attempting to reconcile with Harlan while pursuing the alleged murdering Slowpoke, correct?" Amarys inquired, nodding rhythmically.
"Yeah, that's right. She wanted to go with him to the big game but then she got alerted that Mr. Poke had supposedly struck again and meanwhile Manaphy is still being chased by the Joltik Queen."
"The tension in this series is unbound. It appears that Gee is increasingly a victim of circumstance, especially where her relationships are concerned."
"Especially with thinking Manaphy has abandoned her. So yeah, things are a bit rough right now…"
"I couldn't agree more." Then Amarys pretended to notice something behind her. "Ah. You have a visitor, Carmine."
Carmine sighed one last time before swiveling her body around.
"Oh!" It took every ounce of her eating not to immediately run over and squeeze those adorable cheeks on Juliana's face. "Hey there, Juliana! Long time no see!"
"Hi, Carmine!" Juliana greeted warmly. "It's been so long!"
"It sure has!" That's good. Keep acting natural. She did a dramatic flip of her silky locks. "I bet you really missed me, huh?"
After a few minutes of the two catching up, Amarys dug out her silver pocket watch to catch the time, clicked a button, and cleared her throat.
"It really is time for me to go now," she politely informed Carmine. "I'm needed in the clubroom. Nice seeing you, Carmine."
"Ahh—OK!" Carmine replied, a little nervous to be losing her rock. "S-see you round, Amarys."
Amarys briefly stopped to say farewells to Juliana, as Carmine brought her hands together and tried to calm herself down.
You still got this, girl. You've been chatting her up all normal, just like in Kitakami! As long as you keep your cool, it'll be we never stopped talking to each other!
She noticed Juliana start to turn back around to her, and quickly resumed her normal posture.
"That's one of my classmates, her name's Amarys. She's an interesting one!"
"You've got a lot of pretty friends," Juliana smiled.
Yeah, I sure do… You included—I mean! In comparison to everyone else, I guess.
"Ahh, right! You met Lacey too, didn't you? Yeah, we were a pretty tight squad—are a pretty tight squad!" Carmine backspaced herself. Juliana didn't need to hear about her lonely state, especially after how much she prided herself as self-sufficient back in Kitakami. "Mm. It is really good to see you again."
Carmine extended a hand, expecting a tight handshake from Juliana.
…Instead, the girl responded with a sudden and tight squeeze that made Carmine's whole body heat up quicker than an oven on blast.
"Oh! We're—we're doing hugs now! Okay!" Carmine laughed nervously.
Holy shit! You little Swadloon! You've gotten much cuddlier, haven't you? Why is my heart beating this fast? Why do I want to—t… Oh man, I am in so much trouble.
Juliana broke off and smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry! It's just... I really missed you a lot."
CLEARLY.
"Naturally," Carmine smiled. Naturally! Be natural! BE NATURAL! "Speaking of classmates, it… feels kinda weird seeing you here at my school. And in our school colors no less!"
"Yeah!" Juliana dusted herself off and proudly held her chest up. "How does it look on me?"
It looks freaking adorable.
You're like a little doll that I want to have sleeping in my bed next to me!
"It looks… fine," Carmine shrugged. "You look a little less like the dork I remember you were in that lame grape suit."
Juliana rolled her eyes now. "Gee, thanks."
As the two conversed, Carmine kept her mind focused on two things:
#1: Maintaining as much of a cool and relaxed aura around Juliana as she could. The last thing Juliana needed to think was that she'd become a neurotic mess since leaving home. Which she hadn't! But Carmine was afraid to give her that perception, and wanted her old friend to know that Carmine was still a confident, put together woman!
…While trying not to think about #2, which is that…
Somehow, Juliana really had gotten much cuter since Carmine had last seen her. Carmine wasn't sure what it was. She still had the same dumb, round face. She still smiled like a total weirdo. She was still short like a gremlin. Her arms and legs were still measly twigs.
Well… no. She had a BIT more meat on her bones now, they didn't look like they were going to snap like they did in Kitakami.
…Although, Juliana's legs seemed to wobble a bit on occasion, and her eyes looked slightly baggy unlike before.
Must be all that jet lag, Carmine surmised. The poor thing.
Still, there was this… unspoken radiance to the short girl that Carmine was reminded of. Especially in those sweet, brown eyes. Sweet like chocolate milk…
No! It's a trap! Don't get lost in them again!
"Well, I may not have changed at all, but look at you!" Carmine commented. "You seem like a much more confident person than the last time we met."
"Aww, thanks." Now Juliana started blushing, and Carmine's serotonin levels rose greatly, enabling her to speak more confidently.
"I think you even grew an inch or two taller! And oh, you were even confident enough to bring this silly thing back."
Carmine felt the braid, finding it… a bit silkier and less childish looking than Juliana's initial braid in the first days of the Kitakami trip.
She realized a bit late that she had just went and grabbed Juliana's own hair without asking, and quickly let go.
"You kept the ponytail, though. I'm real happy about that."
"Get into position! You won't know what hit you!"
As one would expect, Juliana and Carmine's jovial reunion quickly turned into an opportunity for battle. Carmine stood on one side, putting on her best game face as she readied her first Pokémon.
"And be ready! It's a Double Battle!"
"I'm starting to see a pattern here…"
Juliana readied her team members as she pondered something, noticing how excited Carmine was.
"It was you, right…?"
"Me what?" Carmine called out.
"You were the one who submitted my name and invited me here, weren't you?"
Carmine reared back a little bit.
Wait… she was invited here by student submission? But… who? Who even knows about Juliana outside of me and Lacey and Amarys and…
Her eyebrows raised up.
…and Kieran. Hrrng… why do I have a really bad feeling all of a sudden?
"Ohhh, so you were recommended and you want to know if it was me, do you?" Carmine decided to put a pin on that thought and just adopt a cocky smile for now. "I'll only tell you if you win, alright?"
"Fair enough! Get ready!"
Juliana sent out her first two Pokémon. One was a familiar sight.
"Screeeee!" Kilowattrel cried out.
The other was someone new.
"Indeedee!" Juliana's new Psychic partner sounded as she took a polite bow.
"An Indeedee, huh?"
"Indeed…ee!" Juliana grinned.
"Heh. Funny. While I've got a new pal to show off too!"
Carmine sent out her two Pokémon.
Mightyena growled immediately to intimidate Juliana's team, while…
"Caw-cawww!"
"What is that!?"
"Hee-hee. A little gift from a perky birdwatcher I knew until a little while ago," Carmine explained. "She's Toucannon and she'll mess you up!"
"CAW!"
"Well my Kilowattrel is still going to fry its wings! Use Thunderbolt!"
Kilowattrel summoned a mighty bolt from the skies down onto Toucannon, which did great damage but not enough to knock it out.
"We know how to combat that! Flame Charge!"
Carmine's Toucannon rushed ahead with a burst of speed and flame at Kilowattrel.
"And meanwhile, Mightyena! Give that little maid your best Crunch attack!"
Mightyena began rushing towards Indeedee when…
"Not so fast!"
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Juliana pulled out from her bag…
"Wait—you're going to Terastallize already!?"
Juliana's Tera Orb lit up.
"Neat! So it really does work here!" she beamed.
Charged with new Terastal energy powered by the Terrarium Core, she tossed it over Indeedee's head.
TERA-PO-GOO!
"It even makes the same noise…"
Indeedee lit up in crystals, before bursting out with a gigantic heart-shaped Tera Jewel on her head.
"Fairy Tera Type!?" Carmine reacted in surprise.
By the time Mightyena made impact, its Crunch now had very little effect on the Fairy Terastallized Indeedee, who cried out to the big wolf with confidence and vigor.
"You've gotten a lot bolder since you were a cute tyke in Kitakami…"
"Aww, you still think I'm cute!" Carmine growled and made the face Juliana remembered so well. "I'm going to show you advanced Terastallizing strategies, Paldea style!"
A LOT bolder, Carmine noticed. …I like it.
"Time to wipe that stupid smile off your face! Toucannon, with your mighty speed, hit Kilowattrel with another Flame Charge!"
"Cawwww!"
Toucannon did as instructed and hit another speedy Flame Charge at Kilowattrel, wounding the bird.
"Hmph! Let's get a nice Tailwind going, Kilowattrel! And then Indeedee, ride that wind and shine bright with a Dazzling Gleam at Mightyena!"
With speed lent from Kilowattrel's Tailwind, Indeedee was able to send out a burst of blinding Fairy energy… that hit both Pokémon! Mightyena still stood just barely holding on, while Toucannon fainted.
Carmine seethed angrily. "Grrrrr!"
"Woah…"
Carmine broke out of her rage state and started giggling.
"What?"
"You didn't know Dazzling Gleam was going to hit both of them, did you? Oh my gosh, you're so new to Double Battles! That's so adorable!"
"Yeah, yeah…"
"But time for another new friend! Meet Scrafty!"
"Scraff-scraff!"
"What the heck…?"
Carmine focused Mightyena's attacks on Kilowattrel now, knocking the big bird out before Juliana could use it to make a guess at Scrafty's type.
Juliana was forced to send out her next partner.
"Deliiiibird!" Iron Bundle sounded in its robotic cry.
Carmine looked utterly baffled.
"Wait… w-what? That's… that's not a Pokémon from our classes! That's… some kind of robot Delibird!? Is it even a Pokémon!?"
It was Juliana's turn to feel a little cocky now.
"Really? I guess Blueberry doesn't teach you everything… Well, have fun guessing my friend Iron Bundle's type then!"
Iron Bundle proudly cried out as it flapped its wings… and its screw top head popped off for a second, making Carmine jump back.
"Gah! That thing's a little freak is what it is!"
Iron Bundle set up a snowstorm with an Aurora Veil to boost its team's defenses, while Indeedee targeted Carmine's team with another Dazzling Gleam.
Not only did it hit both Pokémon again, but Scrafty fell out immediately and Mightyena went with it!
"Wowwww! A two-for-one deal!" Juliana said while clenching her fist.
"Hey, stop that! You can't ALWAYS rely on just one move!" Carmine snarled. "Why don't you use one of those not-very-effective moves sometimes!?"
"Sounds like someone can't take the heat," Juliana teased, feeling a snowflake drop into her palm. "Or the snow."
"I'll show you who can take snow! You'll be sorry you set up a blizzard! Vulpix, go!"
Uh-oh, Juliana thought. Here comes that fiery thing again. …Wait, I thought she evolved her Vulpix!
In fact, the Vulpix Carmine sent out looked very different to the one she had before.
"Voool!"
"Awww, that must be an Alolan Vulpix!" Juliana knelt down and gushed. "So cute! You replaced the Ninetales you had before?"
"Absolutely not!" Carmine sputtered in offense. "My Kantonian Ninetales is still my baby! I'm training both types now! My new goal is to be the dual Ninetales-wielding queen of Blueberry Academy!"
"I see," Juliana giggled. "Boy, that's… that's so funny."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, you'll see if you actually manage to knock out one of my Pokémon."
"Challenge accepted! Time for MY ace to come and play!"
Carmine sent out her familiar teacup-residing friend.
"Hi, Sinistcha!" Juliana waved gleefully. "I thought about you not too long ago!"
Sinistcha giggled at this affectionate greeting.
"Hey! No fraternizing with the enemy, remember? Because you're not the only one with new tricks, Juliana…"
Carmine pulled something out from her bag. Juliana gasped when she saw what it was.
"That's… a TERA ORB!" Juliana was practically ecstatic. "You finally earned one for yourself!"
"That's riiiiight!" Carmine boasted. "I'm ready to go all out! Heh heh... Time for me to Tera it up!"
TERA-PO-GOO!
Carmine's Orb encased Sinistcha in wonderous crystals, and Sinistcha burst out now a supercharged Grass Tera Type.
"Oooooh."
"You thought Sinistcha's big move was scary before?" Carmine smiled with her fierce yellow eyes. "Cause it's about to Matcha Getcha now!"
Sinistcha stirred up a big pot of scalding matcha tea, and with its glimmering Tera powers, sent out a huge twinkling wave of the stuff over to Iron Bundle and Indeedee.
"And Vulpix, add some ice to that pot with a blanket of Powder Snow!"
Vulpix's Powder Snow attack also hit both of Juliana's Pokémon. The slalom of being splashed with tea and ice was too much for Indeedee, whose crystals shattered into pieces as it fainted.
"Indeeeeee…"
"Well, there goes my Tera."
"Indeed-ee! And now I've learned something…" Carmine said ominously.
"What's that?"
"Your strange Delibird… thing. I think you were trying to trick me by calling it 'Iron'. Unfortunately for you, that little birdwatcher Tayon also had a Delibird of their own. Yours took that Powder Snow attack a lot better than theirs did… but our Grass moves are also hitting a lot harder."
"…Meaning?"
Carmine smiled deviously. "Some ice with that water?"
Juliana gulped. "You figured out its Types…"
"You may be Champion of your own tiny corner of the world, but you're still in for some intense battle brains over here, little girl. I'm just the beginning of your reckoning."
Juliana did her best not to let this comment ruffle her iron feathers, as she sent out her next teammate.
"It's funny… that you thought this snow was for you."
"Whoa!" Carmine was genuinely surprised. "An Alolan Sandshrew! When did you catch that?"
Juliana grinned. "Twenty minutes ago, actually! That's why I thought it was funny you have an Alolan Vulpix."
"…Alright, that is pretty funny," Carmine had to admit.
Iron Bundle tried to hit Sinistcha with a Hydro Pump but missed. Sinistcha launched another Matcha Gotcha, which hit Iron Bundle for good damage, this time enough to shut off all its little blue lights.
Juliana discreetly took out her Pokédex and let it scan her new Sandshrew.
"Alright… what moves do you know?" Then she noticed one of its moves… "Wait, really?" …and its Types. "Wait, REALLY?"
Carmine snarled her lip. I think she just figured it out…
"Sandshrew! Use IRON HEAD!"
"Saaaaandshrew!"
Sandshrew charged into Vulpix with its thick, steely head… sending the snowy fox packing.
"Wow, good job," Carmine clapped sarcastically. "You figured out your Sandshrew's secret art. Oh, but…! How about that?"
"Huh?" Juliana was curious.
A very slow, soft smile grew on Carmine's face.
"Looks like… I'm down to my last Pokémon. It's just my little warrior girl… and she's even more ferocious now than she was before…"
Juliana's eyes lit up and she gasped loudly.
"You mean…!"
Carmine beamed as she tossed the Friend Ball high up into the air.
"Ogerpon, go!"
Ogerpon shook off the bagel crumbs from her cloak. She looked around at her opponents and grinned confidently. But then, she looked at their Trainer and gasped…
"Pon!? PONIOOOOOOOO!"
Ogerpon dashed forward with a wide smile on her face. Juliana knelt down and held her arms out, and Ogerpon all but tackled her right into the ground.
"Ogerpon!" Juliana exclaimed. "It's been so long! I missed you so much!"
"Ogie-pon-pon! Ponio!"
The small ogre exclaimed in just as much delight as she nuzzled Juliana tightly. Both Juliana and Carmine felt a small tear coming down their faces.
"Awww, such a happy reunion!" Carmine's face changed back into determined. "But we'll have plenty of time to catch up later! Right now, this is a fight!"
Juliana slowly stood up and gave Ogerpon gentle pats.
"She's right. Let's battle now and talk later, you cutie!"
"Pon-pon!" Ogerpon nodded to Juliana and put on her game face.
Then, the ogre leapt into the air and landed by Carmine's side.
"Speaking of old friends…" said Juliana. "Go, Meowscarada!"
"Mrrrrowww!"
"Awww, your Starter's fully evolved now. Isn't that precious?"
"Oh, ponnnn…"
Ogerpon stood in front of Meowscarada and was amazed at the Grass Cat Pokémon's much improved height.
Carmine giggled. "That Floragato you remember is a lot taller now, isn't it?"
"Ponio!" Ogerpon saluted to the tall cat once she finally recognized her friend.
Meowscarada smiled to see Ogerpon too, and immediately got to work setting up a trick.
Creating three grassy buds with its paws, it presented Ogerpon with a small red flower. Ogerpon watched as Meowscarada placed the flower under one of the buds and then shuffled them around.
Having followed the little flower intensely, Ogerpon pointed at the far right bud.
"Mrreow?"
"Pon!"
Meowscarada lifted the bud… and revealed a tall rose!
"Poniooo!" Ogerpon's starry eyes lit up in amazement.
The Magician took the rose and bestowed it to Ogerpon with a warm grin. Ogerpon happily took the rose and beamed.
"Ponio-pon!"
"HEY!" Carmine seethed. "We'll have time for magic tricks later too! It's time to get serious, Ogerpon!"
Ogerpon nodded and drew out her Hearthflame Mask, enduing her with the powers of flame.
"Now take out that Sandshrew! Post-haste!"
Ogerpon yelled out a confident cry as she raised up her burning Ivy Cudgel, and slammed it down onto the Ice and Steel Pokémon, taking it out flat in no time at all.
"And now… endgame! Both down to our last Pokémon! Who will win?"
"Only one way to find out!" Juliana responded. "Ready to see another old friend in a new light?"
Two heavy, furry, purple limbs cast out like a curtain, and then split open to reveal the grace of Juliana's long-time Fighting pal.
Carmine clapped.
"Aww, you actually kept one of your Pokémon from Kitakami and EVOLVED it! That makes me so happy! Mienshao is so elegant looking, isn't it?"
Mienshao leapt into the air and landed with a mighty kung-fu pose that exuded vigor and bravery.
"Ha-ha! It sure helped me a lot in my fight against your pal Lacey!" Then Juliana thought of something. "Darn, I should've thought about its Wide Guard earlier…"
"Pon?"
Ogerpon ran up again, this time to inspect Mienshao.
"Mieennn!"
Mienshao lit up in delight, also recognizing its old battle opponent, and began celebrating by doing a circling dance around Ogerpon.
Ogerpon giggled at Mienshao's show and started twirling around her ivy cudgel in delight.
"Hey! What did I say?" Carmine said, really flustered now. "We can have a little concert later! Seriously!"
Then Juliana's Meowscarada joined in and started making flowers burst out of thin air, coating the whole arena with the little petals and buds.
A few students even started gathering around just to watch the little show.
"This is NOT going the way I had planned..."
Juliana walked up next to Carmine and giggled.
"I think this might be what they call… a draw."
Carmine grumbled, but begrudgingly shook Juliana's hand.
"Fine."
Once the battle had ended in its own impromptu way, Juliana and Carmine proceeded to chat more amicably inside the plaza.
Juliana had sent out her other Pokémon to meet Carmine's, and, to no one's real surprise, Ogerpon took up an immediate friendship with Tinkaton.
Ogerpon proudly presented her ivy cudgel to Tinkaton, and even offered for her to hold it. Tinkaton took the cudgel and with a mischievous face, began swinging it around like a spiky sword.
Carmine grinned as she watched the pair interact.
"So, Tinkaton huh? Did you get yourself one of those in order to fill the void of having your own murder gal with a destructive weapon?"
Juliana chuckled. "Well… not intentionally. But, now that you say that, I guess maybe that is part of the reason I wanted her so badly when I first saw her as a Tinkatuff…"
Tinkaton brought out her own extremely huge iron hammer. Ogerpon looked up at it with stars in her eyes, breathing out in awe of the giant thing.
"Tink?"
Tinkaton actually held the hammer out, as if offering its own weapon for Ogerpon to try out.
"Pon?"
"HEY! No, wait!"
Carmine stood up in haste to break off this transaction.
"As much as Ogerpon with a Tinkaton's hammer sounds really adorably badass… I am not going to be held responsible for you two tearing up all the blocks in this plaza!"
She fixed her gaze menacingly on the two of them as her face went red and she gritted her teeth. Even Tinkaton was a little frightened, and put its hammer away.
"Hee-hee-hee."
"And what are YOU laughing at!?" Carmine redirected her ire towards Juliana.
"You really haven't changed a single bit!" Juliana guffawed. "I missed hearing you yell all the time like that!"
"I don't yell all the tiiiiime!" Carmine angrily marched over to Juliana and seethed with her fists again.
"Yup! Whatever you say!" Juliana laid back and sighed. "I'm really happy we met up again. I was a little nervous coming to this school. I thought everyone was going to be mean and scary…"
"What, just because of me!?"
"No! No! Just… in general. It's… it's always kind of scary meeting new people."
"Oh." Now much calmer, Carmine took a seat on the blocky wall with Juliana, looking down upon the rest of the Plaza. "Well… yeah. I suppose you're right about that."
What was I so worried about? Carmine thought. We're still just like we were in Kitakami.
"That's why I'm really glad to already have a really good friend here to make it easier," Juliana smiled.
Carmine couldn't stop herself from grinning and inched closer to Juliana.
"Awww, well don't worry your pretty little head! Your mighty guardian from Kitakami is here again. Carmine and her greatest warrior Ogerpon will defend your honor and not let anyone so much as lay a scratch on you!"
"I'm so glad to hear that." Then, to Carmine's surprise, Juliana rested her head on Carmine's tall shoulders. "My tall guardian… Hee-hee! I feel very safe under your watch."
Carmine's face flushed a whole red. Juliana's hair was right in her face… Carmine couldn't resist from sniffing it. It smelled really, really good.
She wanted to ask what kind of shampoo Juliana uses. It was almost like a tart, fruity scent.
"Um… y-yeah," she found herself stammering. "Ogerpon and I will always have your back!"
"Yay…"
Juliana actually sounded a little sleepy.
Is she about to doze off pressed against me like this?
Carmine didn't know whether she liked the sound of this, but… oddly she found herself ready to accept if Juliana truly was going to fall asleep right in her lap.
"You're really jet lagged, huh?"
"Yeah. Yeah, that must be it…" Juliana muttered. "I just, feel so relaxed now all of a sudden… Like I'm exactly where I want to— Hmm? Oh. Heh-heh."
Carmine looked down to see what Juliana was laughing at… and her hair stood on all ends.
She and Juliana were holding hands.
"Look at us…" said Juliana, who really sounded like she was starting to nod off. "We make such a cute couple, don't we…?"
Carmine's yellow pupils lit up like a storm.
"Huh!? Us… uhh, yeah! People would totally think we are, wouldn't they?"
Inside she looked calm and happy, but inside Carmine's whole mind was beginning to dance now.
Oh my gosh… What is she doing to me? Is she taunting me on purpose!? She's making me feel so many emotions I've never felt before!
It hasn't even been a whole day, and I'm… I'm…
Carmine realized in horror.
What are these urges I'm holding back? Why do I keep wanting to hug her? To hold her tight like a Teddiursa, and, tell her everything's okay! But I can't lose my cool in front of her!
Damn it! What if Lacey and Amarys are right? What if I AM a lovesick Poochyena!? Is this really—
"Ehhhh!?"
Carmine and Juliana both sat up at the sudden noise.
Ogerpon, who was playing nicely with Tinkaton and Sandshrew before, suddenly changed her expression and darted her head around, looking frantically in all directions.
"Pon-pon!" she cried out in what sounded like distress.
"Huh? What's wrong with Ogerpon?" Juliana wondered.
Ogerpon began trembling in her whole body, and with a sudden shriek of panic, went to hide herself behind Tinkaton, confusing the Hammer Pokémon a great deal.
"Oh no…" Carmine said gravely.
"What?"
Carmine's face had become really grim, and she started looking all around too.
"He must be around here somewhere…"
"What? Who?" Juliana felt really nervous now.
"Are you kidding me!?" They heard a voice shout somewhere in the distance. "What, was this assignment too hard for you too?"
"EEEP!" Ogerpon cried.
"Wait…" Juliana was perplexed. "That voice… Isn't that…?"
Carmine hastily grabbed Ogerpon's ball and recalled her frightened partner back inside.
"Call back your Tinkaton! HURRY!"
"I—I—Okay!"
Juliana didn't know what was going on, but she did as obeyed and recalled her Tinkaton.
Carmine followed the voice and peered from behind a series of blocks on the edge of the raised platform. Juliana followed suit and tried to crane her neck up, which made Carmine flare up.
She forcefully pushed Juliana's head and whispered "Get down!"
Juliana, who by now was very confused, bent down until just her eyes were over the structure, only to see…
"Is that… Kieran!?"
"Sssshhh! Keep your voice down!" Carmine made them both duck down.
Kieran's nostril flared down below, and he sharply looked up towards where the two of them were hiding.
There was another student with him, a boy slightly taller than him with ashy brown hair, wearing a much lighter uniform than among the choices Juliana was offered, who looked frazzled.
"Umm, what—"
"Shut it!" came Kieran's sharp tongue. "I just… For a second, I thought I heard—Whatever."
Carmine and Juliana very slowly inched their eyes up again.
"Phew," Carmine whispered. "He almost saw us…"
Juliana wanted to ask what was going on, and why they were hiding from Kieran now, but figured Carmine would snap if she spoke up again.
But something was definitely wrong.
Although it was recognizably Kieran down below, he looked much different from how Juliana remembered him. It wasn't just his purple locks tied up in a knot and his unzipped jacket that made him look different, it was the way he carried himself.
Kieran's foot tapped repeatedly along the ground, and his head swayed almost like a marionette on strings. His eyes had a cold look to them, even more so than when Juliana saw him at his angriest, on top of looking sleepless.
All in all, Kieran looked more like an empty shell of a person than he did in Kitakami.
And things only got weirder as he spoke to the student.
"I thought I told you to train five Pokémon to battle with," he said, sounding more like an annoyed superior than a classmate.
"S-sorry… Things have been really hectic at home this month…" the male student tried to justify.
"Oh. Got it," Kieran responded, calmly but in a somewhat frightening way. Then his eyes sharply met his timid classmate's. "So that means you're just okay being this weak forever? That's what I'm hearing?"
Carmine shook her head disappointedly, which just confused Juliana further.
"N-no, I—"
"Well, since you're so busy, I'll go head and do you a favor." Kieran's eyes had closed, but he opened them with a piercing glare. "I'll write your resignation from the club for you."
"What!?" he replied in shock.
Juliana couldn't help herself from gasping. But luckily, Kieran didn't seem to hear.
"I don't need people in my club who don't take it seriously."
"W-wait, Kieran! I'm sorry! Give me another chance!"
But Kieran was already on his way out as the student started protesting, his pleas landing on deaf ears.
He tried to run after Kieran, but Kieran only responded by whipping his head around and leering threateningly at him, holding out one of his Poké Balls. Kieran's now ex-clubmate took the cue and timidly ran off in a different direction.
"That's what I thought."
"Oh, Kiki…" Carmine muttered, watching her brother leave.
Juliana pulled back, in extreme disbelief over what she just witnessed.
"Wh—Why… Carmine, wh—"
Carmine saw the amount of alarm on her face and gave frowned sympathetically.
"Not what you were expecting, right? … Hell of a reintroduction scene."
Juliana went right up to Carmine, her face still paralyzed in shock.
"Wh—Why!? What happened to him? Why does he look like that, and… and why was he just so mean to that boy!?"
Carmine's face became pained, and Juliana looked even more distressed.
"And… and why do you not even seem surprised by it?"
"Kiki…" Carmine folded her arms. Whatever good feelings she was just experiencing moments ago were completely gone now. "He just… I don't know. He hasn't been the same since we got back from the school trip…"
"You can say THAT again!" Juliana exclaimed. "He's—he's turned into a bully! Why?"
"That's the question of the hour, isn't it?" came a voice from afar.
"Huh?"
"Urk!" Carmine squeaked, clenching her face with her hand.
Another boy, a much taller one, was striding his way up to the pair. He had a cool, suave demeanor to him. His white hair follicles danced up and down as he walked, and he spoke with a low, chill voice.
"Well, that was painful to watch, wasn't it?"
"Oh, you've just GOTTA be kidding me…"
Juliana noticed Carmine's expression change as this boy squeezed his way into their space. She looked irritated… but in a much different way. Like a quieter, more stressful, simmer.
"If it isn't Carmine!" he said all jovially. "And… THIS must be the famous Juliana!"
"Uh… hi?" Juliana offered her hand out. "So you've… heard of me, huh?"
"Think I have," he answered, accepting the handshake. His handshake wasn't very firm, though. "Are you that new kid with the wild backstory?"
"UGH! What a lovely surprise!" Carmine simmered. "Just the annoying bozo I didn't want to run into!"
The boy turned to Carmine and tutted, which only served to stress her out more.
"C'mon, now! At least introduce me!" he replied. Somehow, his white and blue quiff actually wilted downward to match his deposition.
Carmine sighed. "Juliana, this is Drayton… and, he's the worst," she said with a very unimpressed face. "He's the strongest Trainer at Blueberry Academy."
Drayton waved modestly.
"Ohhhh," said Juliana, who was much more impressed.
"Well… he WAS, at least," Carmine clarified, adding some bite to that 'was'.
"Beautiful intro. Thanks."
"Listen here, bozo. Juliana's here on a foreign exchange program. She's my friend, and I don't need y—"
"Oh, yes, of course!" Drayton, ignoring Carmine's tone, walked right up to Juliana and looked the Paldean girl up and down. "Y'know, I'm being modest. But in fact, Carmine has actually told me a loooot about you."
"Really?" Juliana snickered. "A lot, huh?"
"URK!" Carmine uttered again. She fiercely shook her head at Drayton, daring him to go into further detail.
Drayton took the hint and changed the subject.
"So you and Carmine are thick as thieves, I've gotten that much. But what about Kieran?" His stance changed, as if he was really eager for an answer on this. "You friends with the guy?"
"That's right!" Juliana responded.
"NNNG!"
"We were friends on the Kitakami trip. Well… emphasis on 'were', I guess."
Drayton crossed his arms.
"Ohoho, I see. That's great!"
"…It is?"
"Hey! Toothpaste brain!" Carmine interjected. "Juliana and I were having a personal conversation! I don't appreciate you waltzing in here and—"
"Awww, ease up, princess. I just wanted to come and say hi. It's awfully selfish of you to want the new student all to yourself and not let her make any new friends."
Juliana snickered. "Yeah. Ease up!"
"Don't you DARE start encouraging him!" Carmine seethed. "You don't know what kind of super annoying Pandora's Box you're opening by giving him the satisfaction!"
"I'm just out here being a nice guy and trying to make the new kids feel comfortable!" Drayton protested. "She doesn't mind at all, do you Juliana?"
"Yeah, I don't mind." She snickered again. "So… just chill out, Carmine."
"EXCUSE ME!?"
"Hahaha! Well spoken!" Drayton enthusiastically put his arm around Juliana. "I like this one! You're already like the coolest student we've ever had here at Blueberry!"
"Gee, you're definitely exaggerating now—"
"No, seriously! Anyone who enjoys pushing Carmine's buttons as much as I do is A-OK in my book! I think you and I are going to be fast friends!"
"Grrrr!" Carmine growled as she stomped her foot, her face red with rage. "You get your grubby hands off of her right now, or I swear I'll—"
"All right, Juliana!" Drayton proclaimed, lightly turning them both away from Carmine. "Since you're the Drayster's certified new pal, how about I show you our clubroom?"
Juliana gasped. "Really? I get to see one of the clubrooms!?"
"Huh? Why do you need to do that!?" Carmine addressed him.
"You haven't joined any of the clubs we've got here, right?"
Juliana shook her head. "Nope. And there's so many of them, right?"
"Oh, tons. More than two dozen, in fact. And take it from me—you'll have a way better time here if you join one of them."
"Well, what kind did you have in mind?"
Drayton crossed his arms again. "Ever heard of the League Club?"
"WHAT!?" Carmine's hair stood up. "You can't possibly suggest—"
"Wait, is that the club that has its own Elite Four and everything?" Juliana asked excitedly.
"Bingo dingo! The League Club is probably the most exciting place to be if you're someone you loves battles! And I was watching you and Carmine duke it out from afar, so I got the feeling you're someone who really loves battles."
"You little creep—!"
"We'd love to have such an interesting new member! In fact, we'd better call dibs now."
"Who's all this 'we' you're talking about?" Carmine challenged him. "Last I checked, you're not even President of the club anymore. So why are you still acting like you call all the shots?"
"I'm not bossing anyone around," Drayton shook his head. "I didn't even do that kind of stuff when I was President."
"You didn't do much of anything when you were President…" Carmine angrily mumbled.
"It's Juliana's decision if she wants to check it out. I just thought it'd be a sick opportunity. All the battles you could ever want, tons of activities. Great way to get to know people and have them admire you. But yeah, it's really up to you, of course."
Juliana had to laugh at all the ways this Drayton character not only took Carmine's lashes easily, but was swiftly able to dish out his own barbs and leave her simmering.
I gotta make this guy my mentor in figuring out how to tease Carmine better.
"Drayton, I would love to come check out your club."
"Fantastic!" Drayton smiled. "Come with me."
He waved for Juliana to follow as he started leading the way out from the plaza.
"Hey! Hold on!" Carmine tried to call out. "Gah! You see?" she seethed. "I told you he was the worst!"
Juliana just giggled and started walking along, only for Carmine to stop her with a touch of her shoulder.
"Wait. I'm going with you."
"You're taking this whole 'guardian' stuff pretty seriously, huh?" she chuckled.
"Look, I don't like the way Drayton's acting right now. I have this nasty feeling that jerkface is up to something. Like it was his whole plan as soon as he saw you to snatch you up."
"I think you're just being paranoid… what did he call you? Princess?" Juliana smiled.
"Ugh! You two really are made for each other." Carmine looked annoyed for a second, but then she was overcome with concern. "But hey. Listen up."
"Hmmm?"
"Please be more careful around here, okay? I know everyone's supposed to be all nice to each other at your little Uva school, but here… well, not everyone here is as friendly as I am."
"I can take care of myself, you know."
"I know! I know. Just… listen. You shouldn't be so lax about telling everyone that Kiki's a friend of yours."
"Why not?"
"Because… well, for a lot of reasons, he's not exactly very popular around here right now. And, frankly, neither am I. And that's only just because we're related."
"…Really?" Now Juliana looked concerned. "Are… people giving you trouble here?"
"You don't need to worry about me," Carmine insisted. "I'm a big girl and can take care of myself. But I'm just saying. If word starts getting around that you and Kiki are pals, well… I just don't want to see you getting into trouble."
Juliana stopped. It was really finally seeming to weigh down on her that her experiences at this school were going to be a lot different from Uva, and that even being friends with Carmine and Kieran was going to be a much different experience from what she remembered in Kitakami.
But Juliana knew better than to back down from a challenge by now.
She hoisted her Blueberry bag up proudly and marched along to follow Drayton, ushering Carmine to come along.
On one hand, Carmine had to smirk at Juliana's risen confidence from the girl she knew before. But she still couldn't help but be pensive.
"Poor girl really doesn't know what she's getting herself into…"