"Wowzers… I'm finally done."
Kieran collapsed on his bed, the long, daunting task of tidying up his room was now finally complete. After some time of being obsessed with battling and getting stronger, it was a lot to do. Tinkatink had a worried face and hopped upon his bed to poke him with her little hammer.

Kieran lifted himself up and smiled at her, "Thanks for helping me, Tinkatink."

Tinkatink made a cheerful noise as Kieran pat her head. He thought about the battle between Juliana and Rika just over an hour ago. The passion and fire between the two trainers kept him on the edge the entire time, he couldn't peel his eyes away. It wasn't just because of Ogrepon, he was amazed at the strong trainers visiting from Paldea. Despite having largely returned to his old self, his fire for battling was still there and it was fanned by that amazing match. Maybe one day, he'd do as Nemona suggested and challenge the Paldea Elite Four.

With nothing left to do, his mind drifted to his conversation with Arven that day.

Earlier in the Savannah Biome…

"Mabosstiff is really special to you, huh?" Kieran inquired.

Arven was enthusiastic in his response, "He sure is! He and I have been best buds since I was a little kid, and he was just a little Maschiff!"

Kieran lit up, "Hey, that's just like me and my Hydrapple! It's been with me since it was a li'l Applin."

Arven asked, "So is Hydrapple your best bud?"

Kieran was unsure, "Hmm, well… my Poliwrath and Politoed are pretty special to me too. Oh, and I really like my Yanmega." Kieran slouched over, realizing he couldn't bring himself to choose, "Aw, man… Furret's also a precious pal of mine. I guess I just can't pick a favorite… sorry…"

Arven was confused as to why Kieran was apologizing, and assured him, "Hey, that's fine! There's nothing wrong with thinking every one of your Pokemon is the best!"

Kieran chuckled, "Hehehe… I guess that's an option too, huh?"

"ARVEN! KIERAN!"
The voice of Juliana shouting startled them, but when they looked around, they couldn't see her.

"Juliana!?" Arven exclaimed.

"Wha… Where are you?" Replied Kieran.

"LOOK UP!" Her voice rang again.

They looked up simultaneously and were both shocked to see her riding Koraidon, flying high in the sky.

"What the-!?" Arven flung his arms up.

"W-Wowzers!"

They watched her wave, hearing her boisterous laughter as she flew off into the distance.

"Well, I'll be… That big brute learned how to fly." Arven muttered, looking toward the artificial sky and smiling, "That's great to see."

"How does she not get scared doing that?" Kieran wondered.

Arven chuckled, "That's how she is. Juliana just being her usual self. I'm surprised she didn't land. Heh! I bet it's because of that brute. Hahaha! Knowing it, it's probably having the time of it's life!"

Kieran laughed too, "Hehe… Hey Arven, you were the one that gave her Koraidon, right?"

Arven nodded, "That's right. At the time, she and I had just met. Koraidon was with me at the time, but I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. That was because it… reminded me of things that I would rather forget… So! I challenged her to a battle, because I knew she would win. That gave me a reason to give her Koraidon."

"I… see." Kieran responded, "How did you know she would win?"

"Because I was terrible at battles, and I was using a Pokemon that I had only caught a few minutes before. I didn't think I would see her again and I was eager to get Koraidon off my hands for good."

"Ah…"

"Then again, she had only just moved to Paldea recently and was starting her first day at school. So, she had just gotten her Pokemon too… Yeah, she's just a lot better than me at battling! Haha!" Arven then looked around, upon confirming no one was within earshot, he admitted, "Heh… between you and me. After I had given Koraidon to her and got to school, I did think to myself, 'That girl was kinda cute.' But I had pushed that outta my head quick. I was so caught up in… other things that there was no room for that."

Kieran found this funny, "Hehe… you uh… really liked her a lot even before?"

Arven was sheepish, "Well… like I said, I did think she was cute. But I had no time to think about that back then."

"That sounds really cool." Kieran praised, "I uh… overheard my big sis talking about you and Juliana with Amarys. She was gushing over you guys so much and I… I heard you guys had an adventure together? Wow… that sounds so cool…"

Arven turned a little pink, "Heh… yeah, Juliana and I had an adventure together. I'll be cherishing those memories for as long as I live, no doubt!"

"I see…"

Arven noticed the look on Kieran's face and replied, "Heh, that look on your face. You wanna know all about our adventures. Right?"

Kieran's eyes widened, "Y-Yeah!"

"Heheh! Got your attention, didn't I? Well, it's a bit of a long story, and I'm not quite ready to tell you the whole thing. But she and I battled Titans! Which are Pokemon that are so much larger than they usually are! I wouldn't have done that without her by my side. I'm so lucky to have met her…"

"W-Wowzers, that's… so cool. I've never heard of Pokemon like that before."

Arven advised, "Trust me, you don't actually want to encounter one. They're no joke."

Kieran grinned, "Hehe… I would guess, a Pokemon like that seem real vicious."

Arven nodded, "Yeah, you're right."

Just as Arven was about to say more, they were interrupted by someone quickly approaching, "Kieran, hey Kieran!"

Kieran immediately recognized the boy that he had kicked out of the club when he was at his worst. The boy had a big smile on his face, "Hey Kieran, thanks so much for letting me back into the club! You have no idea how much that meant to me!"

Kieran was flustered, "Ah… y-yeah! No problem… Um… how are things? At home, I mean… if you don't mind…"

"Things are getting a lot better! No worries!" The boy gave a thumbs-up, "I just wanted to say thanks for letting me back in! And hey, I can stand up to anyone that tries to give you a hard time, got it?"

Kieran was appreciative, "Thanks…"

"All right man, catch you later!" The boy waved and ran off just as quickly as he approached. Arven was intrigued, "Good to see you making things right, Kieran."

Kieran became bashful, "I hope so… I gave everyone a real hard time back then…"

Arven put an assuring hand on his shoulder, "Hey, as long as you're doing better now. It's gonna be okay. And hey… if you need to talk to anyone. You know where to find me, right?"

Kieran smiled, "Thanks, Arven…"

"Anytime buddy."

Suddenly, the boys noticed several students rushing past them. They were headed to the entrance.

"What's happening?" Arven spoke up.

A student heard his question and answered it, "Hey guys, come to the front of the school! Juliana's battling one of Paldea's Elite Four!"

"What?" Arven's eyes widened and he adopted a big smile, "All right! Come on, Kieran, let's go watch!" He immediately took off running.

Kieran rushed after, "H-Hey, wait up!"

Back to the present…

Tinkatink poked Kieran's legs again, catching his attention. She was holding her empty food plate and tapping it with her hammer, "Ba!" She exclaimed.

Kieran replied, "You hungry? O-Okay." He took her plate and went to prepare her food. She followed him to the kitchen area. He chuckled, "Hehe… don't worry, I'll get something good for you. And for the others too."
While he was doing this, he let his other Pokemon out too, and began the ritual of preparing their favorites. Once he got everything made, which included snacks for himself, he took his hair tie out and shook his head, allowing his hair to hang loose.
A quiet evening with his Pokemon was just what he needed.

Meanwhile in Juliana's room, she kicked her shoes off and hopped on her bed.

"Aah! What a day that was!" Juliana expressed, "It was so nice to be able to battle Rika again. She was as cool as she always is!"

Tinkaton and Ogrepon were out, and Ogrepon was still joyful from the victorious battle. Tinkaton proudly looked at her and patted her on the shoulder. Ogrepon cheered, "Pon, pon!" The two Pokemon exchanged smiles.

"Tee hee! That battle was so much fun, wasn't it?" Juliana smiled.

Suddenly, the love ball containing Cinccino popped open, and out came the scarf Pokemon. Juliana greeted, "Oh, hi Cinccino! You did great, too!"

"Cinccino!" The grey Pokemon spoke.

Ogrepon approached Cinccino to get a closer look. When she did that, Cinccino immediately noticed some dirt on the ogre and instantly took to cleaning it off. Ogrepon giggled at the sensation Cinccino's fluffy tail scrubbing her.

As Juliana laughed at this, she was interrupted by her rotom phone. Seeing it was Nemona from the caller ID, she picked up, "Hello?"

Nemona wasted no time exclaiming, "Juliana! That battle was so amazing! I was all fired up just watching!"

"Thanks Nemona!" Juliana replied, "I was so nervous. I hadn't battled her in so long and I had a new team!

Nemona assured her, "You did great! Nothing to be nervous about at all! Hey, I'm still all fired up! How about you meet up with me and we battle?"

"Now? Right now?" Juliana questioned.

"Yeah, right now!" Nemona enthused, "I know it's dark, but please? I really need a fruitful battle!"

Juliana decided, "You know what? Sure! I'm still pretty energetic too! Where are you?"

"I'm in the Savannah Biome! I'll be near the entrance, so come and meet me there!"

Giggling, Juliana replied, "Okay, I'll be there soon!"

After hanging up, Juliana turned to her Pokemon, "Hey guys, let's go meet up with Nemona!"

Ogrepon and Tinkaton became excited and happily agreed. Cinccino tilted her head in curiosity.

"I think you'll like Nemona, Cinccino!" Juliana assured, "She's so fun! Let's go meet her!"

Hearing that made Cinccino feel more confident, and she agreed along with her teammates. Juliana eagerly recalled her Pokemon, put her shoes back on, and rushed out the door after grabbing her bag.

She reached the Savannah Biome quickly, looking around for her battle bestie as she did so. A small group of Charmander watched her from a distance.

"Whoa, this place looks amazing at night too! Wow!" Juliana remarked, even noting that the fake sky had realistic stars too.

"Juliana!"

Juliana immediately saw Nemona rushing toward her and waved, "Hey Nemona!"

"Way to go, Juliana! You did great in that match with Rika!" Nemona raved.

Juliana laughed, "Thank you, Nemona! It was so much fun!"

"It sure looked it! We've got to have a go at a battle now!" Nemona clasped her hands together in anticipation.

Juliana grinned, "Okay! As long as you promise me you won't run away when I show you how I've improved with my new team!"

"Ooh, you're so on now!" Nemona enthused. The two bolted off to find a spot and battled on.

For three hours…

Author's Note: Hahaha… for three hours. Girls gonna be so tired.

See you all next time!