Hideko huddled tightly under his green umbrella, shielding himself from the heavy rainstorm beating down above him.
The land of Kitakami was under a dark curtain of crowds, and every square inch of Mossui Town was drenched in rainwater. The sewer grates were practically whirlpools. And all the Pokémon that liked to perch on the roofs or drift around the city outskirts were elsewhere finding shelter from the torrential downpour.
Hideko clutched the handle of his umbrella as he huddled over the front counter of Peachy's stand.
"Evening, Hideko!" the shopkeer greeted him.
"Are you getting enough rain out here, Panyu?" Hideko jested.
"At least the Mishis won't have to worry about their apple trees getting too much sun."
"Ohh, they'll just find something else to complain about," he retorted. "Like the mud, or something."
"I suppose that's true," Panyu chuckled. "Just spring onions and a carton of eggs today, youngster? Your Sunday usual?"
"And some rice and starch today, please."
"Ooooh! Is Yukito on her mochi kick again?"
"That woman's going to drive me up the wall with all that stuff," Hideko shook his head.
"Coming right up!" she giggled.
As Panyu headed to the back of the stand to get the extra stock, Hideko eyed the extremely dusty pink doll that always sat on the counter of Peachy's stand.
"Hmmph. I suppose with rain this relentless, my chances of that thing finally rotting are another hundred years away."
"You and that Never-Rotting Peach! What is it you hate about such a cute little toy?"
"I told you, I don't have a reason," Hideko answered, squinting at it. "Something about it just… gives me the heebie-jeebies."
"Well that's what I used to say about that fearsome ogre on the mountain. How wrong I was when your little Kieran finally got us all to see what a darn cutie it is!" Peachy set all of Hideko's groceries on the counter. "Speaking of which, is the little skitterbug still forgetting you folks exist?"
"No! Now that you mention it… Yukito and I just got a letter from Kieran the other day! He sounded all sorry he hadn't been keeping in touch with us and, he even told us about his friends and how he's doing really great right now! I was very happy to hear he and Juliana are still such good friends."
"Juliana, that's… that's the young girl who was here on the school trip from Paldea, right? The one that made friends with your grandkids and even joined the same school?" He nodded in response. "How nice! She was a very adorable and polite little thing. Even if she was rather pushy about wanting to use her fancy 'cryptic currency'…"
Hideko smiled cheerfully, but then his face softened.
"Actually… it's Carmine who hasn't called or sent us anything in a couple weeks. But—I'm sure we'll hear from her very soon."
"I hope so too, Hideko. But I'm sure you two are loving that peace and quiet right now." She bagged everything up and handed it to him. "You tell Yukito I said hello, you hear?"
"I sure will, Panyu! Thank you kindly as always."
Hideko grinned at her, gave that 'Never-Rotting Peach' another cross look, and started to hoist up his umbrella and walk away when…
He looked up and suddenly gasped.
"What's wrong?"
After a pause, Hideko regained his breaths.
"My word… For a second there, I could've sworn I saw something in the shape of… Absol!"
"Absol?"
"A Pokémon… a mythical one from the Hoenn region. It's—said to appear before humans before an imminent disaster."
"Oh, Hideko!" Panyu laughed. "You're such a superstitious old man! Thanks for the laugh, hon. But you take care now and quit staring up at them mountains lookin' for spooks!"
"Hmm. Yes, yes I will. You take care, Panyu."
Deciding to forget what he thought he just saw, Hideko bunched the bags of groceries up around his arms, held his umbrella high up over his head, and began the walk home.
Over the mountains…
A pair of red eyes watched the man in the distance leaving. Then, slowly… its eyes drifted back over to the shop.
To the dusty pink doll.
Absol glowered at it. As if waiting for it to do something.
Then… with a last cautious gaze, Absol turned around and leapt down the mountains. Never to be seen again…
"…HAH!"
Carmine sprung up in bed with sweat beading down her face.
She looked all around her bedroom, getting a grip on reality and where she was. Then, after a brief sad face, she started angrily pounding her own head.
"GRRRRR! Damn it, stupid brain! Knock it off already!"
Carmine threw off her covers in frustration and sat at the bed's edge, fuming.
"That was one of the weirdest ones yet… Juliana almost took off her-!"
She scrunched her face.
It's not fair… I stopped having those dreams when she came to our school! But now they're happening again…
And of course, I'm dreaming about her again the same time I found out this stupid crush is completely one-sided! It's like my own brain is mocking me.
Carmine forced herself out of bed and stomped into the bathroom to take her shower, all while maintaining her red grumpy face.
As she stepped out in a white towel wrapped around her body, unsheathing the yellow one around her hair, Carmine said to herself, "I just gotta wait for my brain to catch up with reality I guess. Juliana doesn't like me back, so… we're never going be a thing. Simple as that."
She turned on the hair dryer and ran it through her hair. "I'm just—gonna have to settle for being friends. Which, that's fine! I've survived this long being okay with just… friends!"
Carmine switched off the hair dryer and opened her eyes to look at herself in the mirror… only to recoil in disgust.
"Ugh!" She dragged down her lower eyelids. "These bags… I bet I didn't get any REM sleep with that stupid dream making me squirm in my bed all night long."
Carmine's whole face looked dead to her. She popped open her makeup box, considering all the various tools that could help remedy her situation, wondering if she should go all out like that day when Juliana first… came to school.
…
"…Nah. I'll just put some concealer under my eyes and be done with it," she grimaced.
Carmine trudged the hallways of Blueberry Academy, wearing her usual blue winter uniform, and the lightest amount of makeup on her face. She took a huge chug from her hazelnut coffee, and munched on her bagel.
No cream cheese this time. She didn't have the energy to spread it.
…It felt weird to be having her daily breakfast without Ogerpon, since Juliana was still in possession of her Ball.
She probably forgot to give it back with everything going on… Or maybe she's getting attached to Ogerpon.
She swallowed that bite of bagel, hoping the carbs and gluten would help not just bolster her energy, but also distract her mind from what she was constantly thinking of.
No matter how much Carmine tried to distract her mind with other things, it was like her brain couldn't focus on anything else but that kiss.
"Carmine…? What—what are you…!"
*SMOOCH*
It was like passion and sin wrapped together in a bottle. On the one hand, it was the most pleasurable memories in Carmine's recent memory, the kind of raw emotion that gets you going in the morning, gives you the drive to live!
…But then reality would come crashing back, and Carmine would remember everything that came afterward. Juliana's confused expression, and stammers of feelings unrequited.
A girl she loved, and then violated. Not just her, but violating their entire friendship…
Juliana hadn't spoken to her at all yesterday.
…Why would she? She either hates me, or she's scared to death of me now.
Carmine chugged the rest of her coffee in one gulp, crushed the cup, and threw it into a garbage can as she crossed her arms in turmoil.
Maybe I'll find Kiki and go hang out with him today… I really want us to reconnect again. And more importantly, I think I need to let myself forget about Juliana for a while…
As Carmine passed through one of the underclassmen wings, she heard a familiar squeaky voice, and looked down a locker row to see Crispin talking with some of his friends.
"Yo, Skrelp-for-brains!"
"Huh?" Crispin turned around and grinned. "Oh! Hey, Carmine! Fancy seeing you here! Grabbin' some delicious breakfast to start the day, huh?"
"Uhh, yeah, whatever," she said, rolling her eyes. "Listen. You and Kiki have been thick as thieves lately, haven't ya? So you probably know where I could find him right now, right?"
"Heeeey! Just because we're in the same class, that doesn't mean I keep 24/7 tabs on the guy! Though… I do know where he said he was goin'." Carmine grinned at him. "What? That—doesn't prove anything! We just talked this morning, that's all. Kieran said he was excited to spend the whole day with Juliana!"
"Juliana…? Oh." Carmine's face sunk.
"Yeah! So anyway, I was still up for that Multi-Battle we talked about before, Carmine! Did you and Lacey and Amarys wanna…?"
But Carmine dipped without saying a word.
"…uhh. Okay, never mind. See you later? That was weird." Confused, Crispin breathed into his hand and turned to his friends. "My breath isn't all garlic-y, is it?"
"Kieran and Juliana… No, no, that's fine! They deserve to hang out with each other! She used to never shut up about wanting to be Kieran's friend again."
Carmine was mumbling these things to herself as she walked down another wing, overlooking a huge window wall out into the Terrarium.
"And Kiki…" She stopped, and gazed out of that open window. "Why should I blame him? I mean, he liked Juliana from the beginning. Wanted to be friends with her the whole time I was being stupid and spying on her and pretending she was the enemy."
Her forehead bonked against the glass as she closed her eyes and winced.
"…Even with having a stupid crush on Juliana… he beat me there too."
It was the night of the Festival of Masks.
Enraged to have her coveted Ogre Oustin' high score beaten not just by a first-timer but an outsider, Carmine had demanded Kieran use the money Grandpa Hideko had lent them to defend her honor.
She would've spent the time Kieran was playing boasting to Juliana some more, if the girl hadn't run off somewhere else while she wasn't looking.
"That stupid brat…!" she seethed. "Gets one dumb victory over me, and then hightails it because she doesn't want to watch my pipsqueak brother completely flounce her? I knew she was a coward all along."
Then Kieran came riding back in on the rental Stantler, utterly exhausted.
"Woo… woo…! How's… that?" he huffed.
"Looks like… 6,120!" said the woman at the stall.
"6,120? Wowwwww," Carmine said in surprise. "Still not as great as my high score, obviously, but that's the best I've ever seen you done, Kiki! You looked like you really wanted to smash all those balloons!"
"Well… just wanted to get a really great score, s'all," Kieran said.
"Hee-hee-hee! Look at you putting in the effort! I don't know if you're trying to show me up, or if you're just trying to impress that outsider girl!"
"Uhhh…" Kieran's face flushed a little as he looked away bashfully. "Let's go with that first one."
"Huh? Wait a minute…"
Then Carmine began to snicker.
"...What's got you?"
"It's true, isn't it? You were trying to impress that Juliana girl!"
"I…"
"You have a crush on her, don't you?" Carmine gushed hard as she cupped her hands together. "Ohhh! Kiki! That's so cute! And here, I was kidding about her being your little girlfriend!"
"What– Hey!" Kieran darted around frantically, as his face turned red. "Shut up, sis! Folks are gonna hear you!"
"Awww, but you're so adorable!" Carmine started jumping up and down in her blue jinbei. "I can totally see it too! You're both short, you're both huge dorks. She even has that same dopey smile you get when you're real happy!"
"No she doesn't! What smile? Seriously! Will you stop?" Kieran was trying hard to push all his bangs over his face, shielding it from his sister's relentless teasing.
"Not until you admit it," she said in a sing-songy voice.
"But I, but I…" Kieran threw his head down. "I just– I just think Juliana's kinda cute and, really cool… Like the coolest girl I've ever met, and–"
"What, cooler than me!?" Carmine interrupted, taking sudden offense to that.
"You know what I mean!" he said, exasperated. "So yeah, I– I kinda like her. So what, are you gonna make fun of me now?"
"I'm not going to make fun of you, silly! I just think you're so precious! My bro's first real crush!" She rustled Kieran's mophead of hair. "Wittle Kiki's gwowing up so fast!"
Kieran grumbled and turned himself away from his sister, feeling embarrassed.
"In fact, because I'm your big sister and I care about you so much, I'm gonna focus all my efforts into helping you woo her!"
Kieran frowned. "That doesn't sound reassuring…"
"What do you mean?" Carmine seethed. "I'll have you know, I'm a GREAT matchmaker! I'll prove it to you right now! So, where did that little pest run off to?"
"Sis! Wait!" Kieran tried to call after her.
But Carmine had already taken off, running around the nearby temple trying to find Juliana until she finally spotted her at the edge of town.
"Huh? What are you doing all alone over there, you strange girl?"
In that small moment, Kieran had made himself vulnerable to his sister.
And then… she and Juliana found the Teal Mask. And everything went downhill from there. That's when the lies started.
Kieran's tender confession of love became lost in her memories as Carmine got herself enthralled in an epic quest to repair Ogerpon's mask, which led to her brushing Kieran away, making Juliana push herself away from him too…
…and then keeping her all to myself. Just like he said.
Oceanic waves of guilt swam through Carmine's mind now as the feelings of having betrayed Kieran really began to weigh down on her for the first time.
I did all of that, stole Juliana away from Kiki. And she never even loved me back for it. It was all for nothing…
She said that she's never liked any of the boys she's met. … What if Kieran would've been the example otherwise? The first boy to really touch her heart?
Did I– did I prevent true happiness?
Carmine heard a familiar cry behind her, and looked to see one of the overhead TV monitors on the wall behind her was playing Juliana's League match against Lacey. Ogerpon was on-screen, giving Alolan Sandslash a boisterous Helping Hand.
"Pon! Pon! PONIO!" Ogerpon clapped vigorously.
Carmine watched the battle with a sad expression.
"All for a Pokémon I couldn't even treat right…"
It was a month or so before Juliana arrived to Blueberry Academy.
Carmine had her hair in a ponytail and was dressed in her black tank top and a pair of sweatpants, her face sweating so much she rubbed a towel all over it. She had just finished wailing her fists on a black punching bag.
"A top-level workout today, huh?"
Carmine's classmate Cammie, a medium-height girl with black streaks in her pink hair, culminating in a braid of pink and black, stood there in her workout clothes with a gleeful smile on her face.
"Every calorie you burned today will make the food you eat tomorrow all the sweeter!" Cammie told her. "…That's what my mom always says, anyway."
Carmine never understood how Cammie could spend all her time at the Boxing Club she founded, pushing herself harder than Carmine or anyone else… and not even break a single sweat.
I guess that's just what being the child of someone as vigorous as Maylene does for your genes.
"And I've gotta say, Carmine… your little Pokémon is making me all sort of envious! I've never seen someone, person or Pokémon, so studious! So determined!"
Carmine shifted her gaze onto Ogerpon, who was bashing on one of the purple-colored training dummies with a focused and… almost manic-looking smile.
"Pon! Pon! Pon! POINOOOO!"
She finished her flurry of punches with a fierce swing of her spiked ivy cudgel, knocking the dummy so hard its head fell off.
"Although I don't know how many more of those training dummies I can spare," She mumbled quietly, "Why is the purple ones she always does that to…?"
"Come on, Ogerpon!" Carmine called out. "Let's call it a day for today!"
"Pon?" Ogerpon's face became stubborn. "Pon-NO!"
Then Carmine's face rivalled hers. "I said let's go!" she huffed. "We can come back tomorrow!"
"Club's closed tomorrow," said Cammie.
"Then Thursday!"
Ogerpon grumbled indignantly, but eventually went to join Carmine as they walked out, still sporting a frown.
Carmine giggled. "You're even worse than Kieran was when he was younger!"
Carmine grumpily turned away from her with a huff. Then, as soon as they were out into the hallway, Ogerpon sprinted off and started pushing on the doors that led out into the Terrarium like a toddler.
"Ogerpon… I really don't have the energy to go for a jog in the Terrarium right now! So knock it off!" Carmine replied, a little harsher than she meant it to.
The monster girl was taken aback, and fell on her tush as she began to cry.
"Ponn…"
Carmine felt instantly regretful, and gently knelt down to Ogerpon.
"I'm… sorry, Ogerpon. I didn't mean to yell at you like that."
She softly picked Ogerpon up and swaddled her in her arms.
"Pon…"
"I know you're a born and bred mountain girl like me… You want to run free, and experience that wild outside air, right?" Ogerpon sadly nodded. "I wish you weren't so strong that you keep breaking all the exercise equipment… And I know the Terrarium's artificial biomes will never compare to the real thingBut we make do with what we got, right?"
Using her finger, Carmine gently wiped away Ogerpon's tears and smiled softly at her.
"I'll tell you what, my mighty warrior girl… next time we have a decent break, I'll definitely take us back to Kitakami so you can relive your old runs. But just for tonight, I'll get you one of those poppyseed bagels you like, and we'll sit in my room with Amarys and watch movies with my window open, so you can at least get some crisp ocean air in your lungs. How does that sound?"
Ogerpon thought about this, and after a few seconds… quietly nodded.
"Good. I'm sorry you had to see my signature Temper Flare. I promise you'll never have to again. Now come on… Let's get you something delicious."
"Pon-pon!" Ogerpon said a little more cheerfully.
Carmine grinned pleasingly as she carried Ogerpon down the hall towards the food court. But as the Mask Pokémon swayed gently in her arms, Carmine couldn't help but ponder hers and Ogerpon's situation.
Did you really make the right choice in picking me?
Ogerpon just liked me because I was nice to her in Kitakami… Carmine lamented in the present day. If she knew what she was actually signing up for, with these school walls confining her like a prison… She would've had that with Kieran too, but he might've had a better idea on how to make her happy.
She sighed heavily. "But Juliana would've taken her somewhere where she could run free. I couldn't give her… any of those things…"
Carmine stared down at her half-finished plain bagel, and let it drop to the floor as food for a Rattata.
She gazed out the window with a deeply troubled expression on her face.
"After everything I did…" she whispered. "Do I really deserve any of this?"
"It delights me to hear such enthusiasm from you, Ms. Briar," said Geeta. "Should I take that to mean you've finalized the concept for your book?"
"Indeed I have!" Briar responded.
Juliana sat at one of the stations inside Blueberry Academy's computer lab, where she participated in a video call with Geeta, Briar, as well as Arven. The three of them each occupied their own squares on Juliana's monitor screen.
Geeta had started the call with the two students by addressing formal matters. Most notably, this included developing a plan to have Professor Sada declared dead without revealing the intimidate details of her rogue excursion, much like Professor Turo before her.
Then, once that had been settled, she added Briar to the call so she could go over the details of her book project.
"I've been thinking on it a lot, and I discussed it with our friend young Arven here yesterday, and I think I'll prepare a pitch to present to you by this coming Monday!"
"Yes, well… a detailed pitch will be well-received, but any hints as to the basic core of it?"
"Oh! Right! Yes, of course," Briar answered. Juliana stifled a chuckle. "So as it is, my idea for the book is that it will combine original elements from Heath's research… as well as the research we've collated as having belonged to that of Professor Sada."
Arven nodded, and Geeta replied, "I see. About what I expected."
"Yes! It will be a celebration of both scientists' breakthroughs; Heath's reports on the Stellar Tera Type, along with Professor Sada's detailed blueprints on her invention the Tera Orb, finally revealing its long mysteries of origin! Not to mention the wonderous things Arven has researched on his own about the Herba Mystica!"
"That's right!" Arven beamed.
"A successor to my ancestor's original volume the Violet Book. I've decided to call it… the Scarlet Book!"
She proudly held up Professor Sada's red binder, still in her possession, to illustrate her inspiration.
"The Scarlet Book… I like it!" said Juliana.
"Me too!" said Arven. "A book like that could inspire a lot of young kids the same way Dad's copy of the Violet Book inspired me!"
"A fitting title for a companion piece indeed," Geeta agreed. "I'll be more than glad to help support your book's production Ms. Briar… so long as you keep myself and the board regularly updated on its contents for final approval."
"Absolutely! I realize now that much of the information about Terapagos and the Paradoxes is still considered very sensitive, and I look forward to our finished efforts being more collaborative than the unfair censorship Heath was subject to!"
"Of course. Just like you, I want the final product to be something everyone can feel proud of. And Juliana and Arven?"
"Yes, ma'am?" they both said.
"Both of you, as well as Kieran and Carmine, have my many thanks for your assistance in Ms. Briar's expedition. You saved the Paldea region from yet another potential catastrophe, enhanced our understanding of the Great Crater even further, and helped resolve many of my worries over this region's future. And for all that, I am eternally grateful."
"It was no problem at all, ma'am," said Juliana.
"Yeah! We were happy to help!"
"That being said, there is… another pertinent matter to discuss."
Juliana winced. "You mean…?"
"The Paradox Pokémon you've caught within the boundaries of Area Zero, yes. I don't want to be too scolding here, but… I had assumed the first case of you doing such was understood as a one-time forgiveness."
Arven and Juliana both looked really guilty.
"Well, see, Ms. Geeta—err, La Primera, ma'am, the thing is…" Arven tried to explain.
"La Primera, please forgive us," said Juliana. "The Scream Tail I caught… I only caught it to defend me and Arven, since it was attacking us. I completely forgot about it in all the mess that happened afterwards, that's why I didn't release it. And Carmine and Kieran—that's my fault too. I probably should've warned both of them why it was important to leave the Paradoxes alone."
"And I'm sorry about Slither Wing, but—I just had to!" Arven defended. "It was hurt, real bad… I just, I couldn't leave it to die like that. I would've never been able to live with myself…"
Geeta calmly considered these words.
"Is that Pokémon still in your care as we speak?"
Arven nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I've been trying to nurse Slither Wing back to health, but I don't know if I can do it without more of those Herba Mysticas… As soon as I figure out how to make it all better, I promise I'll let it be released back into Area Zero."
Geeta closed her eyes for a few seconds, and sighed.
"…No need."
"What?"
"I know better than most—after all the time and effort you'll have spent into helping that poor creature recover, it is all but assured you will have formed a bond with it. So, I will allow you to keep it."
"Really?" Arven said in surprise. "Gosh, umm… t-thank you for being so unforgiving, La Primera ma'am! Wow, you're nowhere near as scary as all my classmates said."
"What was that?"
"Uhh-! NOTHING! Nothing!" Arven quickly retracted.
"And Juliana… I will admit, I did allow you to keep your previous catch of Iron Bundle and in the time since then you've proven capable of being trusted with it. So, with the acknowledgment that Area Zero is being closed off indefinitely and there will certainly never be any more opportunities for this to happen again, I shall allow you to keep the Scream Tail specimen as well."
"Awww! Thank you so much, La Primera!" Juliana said gratefully. Then she frowned again. "But… what about, Carmine and Kieran?"
Geeta put a finger to her forehead for a few seconds to contemplate again.
"I will ask of you just one question regarding your friends, Champion Juliana. Do you trust them?"
Juliana considered it for a few seconds, then nodded.
"Yes, ma'am. I do. With all my heart."
To her surprise, Geeta smiled pleasantly.
"Then, so long as you make absolutely clear to both of your friends the risks of publicly revealing their Paradox Pokémon's true origins, I will let it be your responsibility what they do going forward! That resolves the matter."
"And feel free to keep Terapagos too!" Briar chimed in. "I've decided I'm going to follow Geeta's judgment on how much we're allowed to say about Terapagos and its true nature, which means I probably won't be needing it for my research after all!"
"I… wasn't aware you considered either of those to be your call, but yes. Very well," Geeta mumbled.
Juliana giggled.
"Well, this has been so wonderful catching up with you all! I would love to sit here and talk for hours about our time in Area Zero and my exciting new endeavors if I could, but I'm afraid I have to attend to my classes in a matter of minutes, so I will have to call it here."
"Understood, Ms. Briar, of course. We can manage the rest of this meeting ourselves. Good tidings to you."
"And to you, Geeta! Very great tidings indeed! Farewell, students! Great fortunes bless us all!"
"Uhh, yeah, you too!" said Arven.
"Bye, Ms. Briar!"
Then Briar clicked off her feed.
"Hmmm. Between its director and its teachers, it seems that the… passion of Blueberry Academy's faculty is just as unbound as that of its students," Geeta remarked.
"It sure is!" Juliana chuckled.
"Well, I'm afraid I must wrap up my end of this call too, children. Some rather… pressing matters have come up in the League today that I must attend to," Geeta said grimly.
"Uh-oh!" Juliana laughed. "This isn't about… Iono's stream, is it?"
"Huh? Iono? That's the Gym Leader who's also a streamer, right?" said Arven. "OH! Wait! I think someone in my class did tell me about that! She caught two of the Gym Leaders making out or something, right?"
Geeta bristled with an angry grumble.
"Well… it wasn't that extreme!" Juliana laughed. "Larry and another Gym Leader Katy were on a secret date or something at a restaurant, and Iono filmed them kissing and uploaded it all over the Internet."
"MMM!" Geeta couldn't help making a stifled noise. "It truly is—so remarkable, that Ms. Iono and her… extracurricular promotions touch people even multiple regions away." She had trouble hiding a bit of scorn in her face. "I cannot say for certain what my official business is for today! But it is quite the headache, and I'm afraid I must go in order to absolve this scandal. It was nice to hear from both of you. Be well to each other."
"Wait!" Juliana said. "La Primera…?"
"Yes?"
"Please go easy on Larry and Katy, okay?" Juliana pleaded. "I think… Iono did that without their permission. And both of those Gym Leaders are… really kind people."
"Hmmm…" Juliana wasn't sure, but she felt like she could see the tiniest smirk on the Top Champion's face. "Even oceans away, you're still setting an example as a Champion, looking out for others and standing up for what's right. That pleases me to see. … I'll take your words into account."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Farewell for now."
And then Geeta signed out too, leaving Arven as the only face left on the monitor.
"Wow." Arven smiled at her through the screen. "Still the big softie looking out for everyone, aren't you?"
"Well, I don't know about that…" Juliana shrugged modestly. "It's just that Larry and Katy were both really kind to me, and… honestly? I—think they look kinda cute together…"
"I think I've heard of Larry, before. Isn't he one of the most popular Gym Leaders?" Arven tried to recall. "I only know Katy because everyone I've talked to about doing the Gym Challenge says she's the easiest one and I should start with her… Hey, you okay Jules?"
He noticed Juliana looking down with a glum face.
"Hmm? Yeah, yeah…"
"You sure? Seems like… something's on your mind."
Something was.
Thinking about those two Gym Leaders in love had caused Juliana to remember the thing that's been plaguing her mind for the past two days.
Carmine kissed her.
On the lips.
And that was the only topper of the big thing that shook Juliana's entire world: finding out that apparently, Carmine has been secretly in love with her since… Kitakami.
Even two days later, it felt so unreal, the idea that one of her own friends had fallen for her… And yet that kiss. It was so viscerally real. As much as Juliana tried, she couldn't get herself to stop thinking about it.
She even had a dream about Carmine and… Juliana doesn't usually remember her dreams very well, but Carmine kissed her again in that dream, and she sure couldn't shake that one out of her memory.
And that was the biggest thing: Juliana legitimately couldn't figure out if she liked it or not. That kiss. It was out of nowhere and shocked her a lot, but it wasn't—unpleasant?
But what does that mean? I don't have a crush on Carmine… right? She's really pretty, and I love being around her a lot. But isn't the case with all my friends?
"Juliana!"
Juliana sharply raised her head up. "Huh?"
"You still with me? Usually, it's Nemona who gets distracted super easily, not you!"
"Oh yeah. Sorry about that, Arven…" Juliana ran her hand through her braid. "It's just… I don't know. Carmine and I had a bit of a… an interesting conversation the other day."
"Oh! Really?" Arven reacted, getting strangely excited. "…What about? Huh?"
"Umm… kind of, hard to explain?" she answered, a little puzzled by his reaction. "It's just—I don't know. It's a little… private, if that's okay."
"Oh. Yeah, I understand."
Juliana twiddled her thumbs for a moment.
"Hey Arv…?"
"Mm-hm?"
"This might be a weird question, but… when we did that whole thing at the Great Crater, with Carmine and Kieran… Umm, what did you think of Carmine? When you met her?"
"Carmine, huh?" Arven crossed his arms and thought back. "Well… I thought she was kind of strange at first. I could tell she had quite a wild temper right away! It seemed like she wanted to pick fights with me almost as soon as we met!" he chuckled. "Even her own brother seemed fed up with her!"
Juliana chuckled along with him, smiling to herself a little bit.
"But you know what else I could tell right away?" Juliana leaned in and listened, genuinely curious. "I could tell right away that she means a lot to you Juliana, and—you to her."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's just, umm—how can I put this?" Arven scratched his head, trying to look for a way to say it without spoiling his promise to Carmine. "When I saw you two hanging out with each other, I thought you looked, well… kind of adorable together."
"Ehh!?" Juliana's hair stood on end and her face turned red. "What do you mean 'adorable'!?"
"Not in that way!" Arven immediately tried to backpedal. "I just, mean like, you know! Really close friends and all that!"
"Oh. Okay…"
Juliana still felt a bit troubled by this.
Arven only knew Carmine for a day or two, and even he could tell how close we were and… thought we were cute together?
"Jules? You're… doing the thing again. Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry about me, Arven," she brushed off. "What about you? How are you feeling? You mentioned how you were still thinking about your mom earlier. Are you… holding up okay?"
"Yeah…" he answered. "I think am, actually. It's weird. Like… I'm still sad my Mom died and all that, and that I didn't know she was under our feet the whole time. But I also feel weirdly… relieved? Like, I guess this was the closure I needed. And I feel a little, happy noe? Does that—does that seem kind of weird to you?"
Juliana grinned. "Not really. It makes sense. You were worrying about her for so long, even while you were still reacting to your dad's death. It's gotta be a huge load off your shoulders. Especially since now you know she didn't abandon you like you thought."
"Yeah! Exactly! It's like a huge weight is off my mind. And now it's like I feel more motivated then ever! Like, instead of being sad about my parents, I just wanna—I just wanna live my life to the fullest and make 'em both proud of me! Wherever they are."
Arven looked at Juliana with a reassuring smile. "My mind's not stuck in the past anymore. And because of that, I can focus on my future instead! And my present."
"I believe in you, Arven!" Juliana cheered him on. "You're one of the most determined guys I've ever met. You can put your mind to whatever you want!"
"Thanks, Jules. Yeah… I think I know where I'm going forward now. I'm going to take on that Gym Challenge!"
"Oooh! Good luck with that! Are you going to ask Nemona for help like she offered?"
"What, the student council girl?" Arven tried to bluster at this, but he couldn't bring himself to. "I mean, I guess she did come in clutch for me by tutoring me. Now I'm actually making up all my credits. I guess—as much as I hate to admit it, I guess it wouldn't hurt… I'm just not ready for how much she's going to get all excited and scream in my face when I tell her that."
He and Juliana laughed. Then he remembered something.
"Oh, hey! That reminds me, Penny actually wanted me to relay something to you."
"Penny?" Juliana looked confused. "Why didn't she just… contact me herself?"
Arven raised an eyebrow. "Have you met Penny?"
"Fair enough," she conceded.
"Anyway, she wanted me to let you know, I guess you guys were talking about doing anime nights together or something when you got back?"
"Of course. You were there, remember?"
"Was I? Oh. Well, anyway, she wanted me to tell you… how did she put it? She figured out how to do something called 'watch parties' over the Internet so you can do—sharing screens or something like that?"
"Oh! So like… we could watch anime together here! By using our phones! Like that?"
"Yeah, that, that sounds right. I think. Ugh. Why didn't she just ask Nemona to tell you? I don't know all this tech talk."
"Well, thanks, Arven. I'll definitely try to get back to her on that! Thanks again for everything! It was great to talk to you."
"Yeah, it was fun talking to you too, Juliana. I guess I gotta get going if I want to get a headstart on training my Pokémon. See you around, okay?"
"You too!"
"And good luck with everything!"
They smiled at each other one more time, before Arven shut off his video, and Juliana decided to end the calling app.
"That sounded like a fun call."
"Ahh!" she said, startled.
Kieran flinched too.
"Oh… sorry! I didn't mean to sneak up on you." Then he chuckled a little. "Heh. Just like old times, I guess."
"How… much of that did you hear?" she wondered.
"Oh, not much. Just the end of it, something about you and your friend Penny watching anime together?"
"That's right. Oh, hey!" Juliana stood up from her chair. "You were telling me about that show you really like starring Palafin, right?"
"Mm-hm…"
"Maybe that's something we could do together at some point! You and me, and Penny, we could all hang out with that screen-sharing thing and watch stuff together!"
"Huh? Penny's… your friend?" he asked. Juliana nodded. "Well, I don't know. You know, I still get kind of shy around people I've never met."
"That's okay, so does Penny!" she giggled. "You guys are kind of a lot alike… I guess that's why I think it could be a lot of fun."
"Hmm. Maybe then. I mean, if there's friends with you, then I guess they've gotta be cool."
"Awwww!" Juliana gushed.
"Makin' new friends probably isn't a bad idea… A lot of my classmates here are still pretty mad at me."
"Oh." Juliana frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Ahh, it's okay. I know I did wrong by then. I just gotta gain their trust again, I guess." Kieran smiled softly. "So… what were you doing next?"
"I don't know yet. Maybe grabbing something to eat, and then doing my homework?"
"Okay. Wanna meet up and do something later?"
"Sure!" Juliana nodded. "How about we watch that Palafin show together, just you and me?"
"Y-yeah, sure! That sounds cool!"
"Great!" Kieran said, excited.
Juliana beamed at him, and looked off into the distance…
That's when she frowned.
"Umm, I'll see you later, Kieran, okay?"
"Oh, uh… yeah, sure! See you around, Juliana."
After Kieran walked off, Juliana started walking out of the lab into the wing outside.
Where she saw a certain someone leaning against the wall overlooking the glass window.
"Carmine?"
Carmine looked up, a little surprised to see her.
"Oh… hey, Juliana."
Juliana walked up to her, trying to smile as best she could. But in both their hearts, they knew this was an… awkward way to meet up again.
"Hi, Carmine. … How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing… fine. How about you? You and Kieran are… hanging out a lot more, I've heard."
"Yeah! Um… actually… He and I were—talking about watching an anime or something tonight. You're…" Juliana swallowed her words for a second, confused as to why it felt much harder to talk to Carmine now. "You're more than welcome to join us. You know, if you want to."
"…"
Carmine's face shied away from her. Juliana was now feeling very awkward.
"Umm…"
She rattled her brain for something else to say, then she remembered something.
"Oh!" She held something out for Carmine.
"Is that…?"
"Ogerpon's Ball. I'm so sorry, Carmine. I kept forgetting to give her back to you. Thank you so much for lending her to me! She really helped me a lot in winning those battles! You trained Ogerpon extremely well."
"Umm, yeah." Carmine scratched the back of her head, staring at the Friend Ball containing her partner. "About that…"
Juliana perked up. "Hmm?"
"Is it alright if we, talk somewhere private actually?"
"Umm…"
Interpreting Juliana's hesitation as fear, Carmine quickly interjected, "I'm not going to kiss you again! Okay? That'll, that'll never happen."
"Okay…"
The two of them went to go find a private place to talk. As they did, Juliana was feeling weird again. Why did she feel almost… disappointed?
They eventually settled for one of the empty classrooms nearby. Juliana shut the door behind her as Carmine paced up and down, trying to gather her thoughts.
She took a deep breath, feeling so sure of what she wanted to say.
…But then she turned around, saw Juliana's expectant face, and her soul seemed to shrink again.
"Juliana, about Ogerpon…" Carmine struggled to say the words. "I think—I think that you should just, hold onto her instead of giving her back to me. I think you should be her partner instead."
"Huh!?" Juliana said, surprised.
"Look… I know Ogerpon got super friendly with me during our Mask Retrieval Squad mission. And that's why when we let her choose who to go with, she decided to pick me of all people. But, the thing is—I haven't been a great partner to her."
"What do you mean?"
"These… cold school walls. Not having anywhere to really run around or exercise in. A girl who's too caught up on studying to go on mountain hikes like I do back home… I think Ogerpon's really upset here. I think a place like this isn't where she belongs at all."
Carmine faced Juliana forward now with glistening eyes.
"But then I got to see your Paldea. That huge-wide open region, so many fields and mountains… You were pointing out to me all those places you visited on your journey. You know what I kept thinking about? How much she would've loved that. Ogerpon may have decided to go with me but… she deserved to go with you, Juliana. The whole time."
"But…" Juliana looked at the Friend Ball with an incredulous expression. "Carmine… Even if you think that's true, Ogerpon still wanted to be friends with you. And you two have bonded so much together while I was back home. It wouldn't be right—"
"I KNOW we have!" Carmine sharply answered. "But… remember what you told me? About considering other people's feelings before our own?" He looked mournful for a minute, but then sighed and faced her again. "I'm doing what I did the first time when I said we should all be thinking about Ogerpon's needs first. I know Ogerpon will hate it at first, but—I think she'll be a lot happier in the long run."
Juliana gazed at Ogerpon's Ball again, her eyebrows furrowed heavily with indecision. She looked up at Carmine, and could tell that despite how insistent she was… she was trying really hard not to look incredibly sad at what she was saying.
I'd better just say what will calm her down…
"Carmine… I'll tell you what. I don't feel good about just taking Ogerpon away, but—I'll hold onto her for now. And then we can talk about this more sometime later, okay? Does that sound good?"
Carmine was silent.
"Ooh! How about this? I bet Kieran really wants to get to know Ogerpon now that he's finally friends with us again. How about we arrange a playdate sometime? The three of us together, with Ogerpon! We could—"
Juliana stepped forward, only to be even more surprised as Carmine flinched and stepped away from her.
"…Carmine?"
Carmine was holding onto her arm, looking very emotionally distraught. Juliana was extremely concerned to know why.
"Carmine… what's wrong? If it's about the kiss, then… I'm not mad at you. Really. I was just—really surprised, is all. Actually, it was—it was kind of—"
"Juliana, listen…" Carmine said, half-mumbling. "I appreciate you wanting to include me and all that, but—maybe you and Kiki should just go it alone for a while."
"But, you're both my friends. I don't want to—"
"I know, but! It looks like you and Kiki are having a lot of fun right now, and—and I think you should chase that instead of… hanging around with someone like me."
"Carmine, what are you talking about?" Juliana demanded, getting a little frustrated now.
"Look, I already stole you away from Kiki once! And now you two have the chance to make up for all that lost time, you should just take it!"
"That doesn't make any sense!" she protested. "You didn't steal me away! I mean yeah, I wish you hadn't told me to lie to him, or scared him away, but… but…"
Juliana shook her head.
"This isn't just about Kieran, is it?"
"Even if you don't blame me for what happened between you and Kieran… I blame myself for what happened between us." She bit her lip hard. "Because it was me doing that, forcing you to spend all that time with me, getting all close to you, that caused me to fall in love with you! I shouldn't have ever let that happen!"
"Carmine—"
"I got selfish, and I paid the price for it! My crazy lesbian hormones got all messed up in my brain… I know you don't like me back, and that's okay! I just—Grr! I just want it all to stop, okay!? I want to stop feeling like this!"
"Carmine…" Juliana could feel tears welling up. "I'm so sorry… It's all my fault, not yours… I was so focused on trying to break your walls down that I—I tried too hard. I flirted with you, and I was the one always trying to stay close to you, because I just wanted to be friends with you really badly… I didn't know that by doing that, I was causing you to start liking me."
Carmine bunched her arms up, feeling so small and afraid. Juliana could see now that she was holding back tears too.
"What's done is done. I'm serious, okay?" she said to Juliana. "Just keep Ogerpon, and focus on being friends with Kiki. I'll be fine…"
"No you won't," Juliana insisted. "You'll be sad and lonely."
She tried approaching Carmine again, only for Carmine to use her arm to push Juliana back.
"Just stop, okay?" Carmine snapped at her. "You're making it so hard for me!"
"But—Carmine! Please! I want to make this right!" Juliana pleaded with teary eyes, pushing back against her arm. "Just tell me how I can fix this!"
"You CAN'T! Okay?" Her lip was quivering hard now, and tears streamed down her face. "This isn't just something you can fix like a sick dog or time machine or something. There's nothing you can do…"
"But I want us to still be friends…" Juliana choked up.
"I'm sorry…" Carmine blubbered. "But I don't think I can… Because, because!"
Her yellow eyes flared open Juliana's way, and made her start breathing harder.
"Kissing you was the worst thing I could've done! Because now every time I look at you now, Juliana, I just— I just want to grab you and kiss you some more!"
"Then, then you can kiss me again!" Juliana stammered. "You can k-kiss me a thousand times if you want, I really don't mind it!"
"Juliana, no."
"I'll let you kiss me, and even take me out on dates! Maybe—maybe I'll learn to love you back! If we just try for it—"
"Juliana, STOP!" Carmine finally shouted, physically shoving her. "I don't WANT you to pretend to be my girlfriend just to make me happy! I want YOU to be happy, okay?"
Juliana was too lost for words, swallowing her own saliva too much, to retort.
"Look… I think the best thing we could do for each other right now is to just—to just stay away from each other for a while. If we stay apart, I could get myself to a place where I stop thinking about you every minute of the day… then, then my feelings for you will probably go away on their own. I'll probably meet someone new, who I love even more."
Carmine was struggling for breath too. Her arms were shaking harder than any seething she'd ever done in the past as she bunched up like she was frigid.
"And then, maybe after all that… That's how we can be friends again. But for right now…" She bit her lip again and let more tears fall down her cheek. "I just want to be alone. Okay?"
"…"
"Please. Just go have fun. And stop worrying about me."
Juliana didn't say anything. She finally realized there was nothing more she could say. Carmine had completely made up her mind, and wasn't going to listen anyway.
Distraught that she had to do this, Juliana reluctantly put Ogerpon's ball back in her pocket, and started walking away.
The classroom door creaked loudly as Juliana opened it. She started stepping out.
Halfway through, she turned around.
Carmine had been watching her leave… She quickly turned her back to Juliana.
Through her tears, Juliana only said one thing.
"I'm not giving up on you, Carmine. No matter how much you want me to. You're my best friend. I'm with you until the end."
…
Or at least, that's what she wanted to say.
In reality, Juliana walked out and closed the door without saying anything.
She could only make it a few steps past the room before she had to lean against the wall, and cry out the rest of her feelings.
Once the door to that room had closed, Carmine stood there silently for a few moments.
Then she started crying too.
Earlier, while Juliana and Arven were in the video call alone waiting for Geeta and Briar to sign in, Juliana noticed Arven looking a little glum on her screen.
"What's wrong, Arven? Still thinking about your mom? I'm so sorry, this has gotta be like that meeting you had about your dad all over again…"
"Ahh. It's okay. I'm actually—really glad I have a friend with me now."
"And I'm glad to be here."
"But the biggest thing I'm still thinking about is just how crazy it all was…"
"Everything your Mom was doing down in the underdepths?"
"Not just that. I just—I can't believe that somehow, my Dad and my Mom were both just a few layers of dirt away from each other, coming up with the same plan to draw in Pokémon from another time period and let them run loose over Paldea… The same protection protocols, even the fact that they were both doing it to make a perfect paradise for me."
Arven crossed his arms.
"It's incredible. For all that they butted heads, I guess my parents were more similar to each other than different… That's why I'm so frustrated about what happened!"
He faced Juliana solemnly.
"It's like, if the two of them had just realized that they both wanted the same thing from the beginning and actually talked things out… maybe they could've avoided all the disaster that followed."