"Froslass, use Icy Wind!"
Froslass flared her arms out and blew a cold gust of wind towards Ribombee. Ribombee nuzzled its brown scarf up over its face taking the cold impact, as its wings became littered with snowflakes and flapped slower.
"That's a good call!" Nemona complemented her opponent. "Icy Wind's not as strong as something like Ice Beam, but it's often really handy at lowering an opponent's speed!"
"Which means we get another shot!" deduced her opponent Cyanna, a fellow Uva student with curly cerulean pig tails. "So Froslass, go with a Shadow Ball attack!"
"Fross… Lass!"
Froslass charged up a ball of ghostly energy and fired it at Ribombee, doing sizable damage.
"Not bad!" said Nemona. "But here's another lesson! Most Pokémon can learn a whole BUNCH of different moves, not just based on their Types! So you have to be ready for anything! Like THIS! Ribombee, use Thief!"
"Ribom… BEE!"
In a quick flash of movement, Ribombee suddenly appeared behind Froslass and struck her with a dark blow, swiping the snow mistress's Shadow Tag in the process.
"Beeeee!" Ribombee cried, holding its stolen prize proudly in the air.
Froslass however, had the wind taken out of its sails. "Froslass…" And she fell forward, with swirls in her eyes.
"Oh, wow! Froslass, return!" said Cyanna, recalling her partner.
Nemona, seeing her opponent's Pokémon faint, suddenly felt flighty.
"Uh-oh, hey…" she said sensitively. "I didn't show off too much, d-did I? With that last move?"
"No, no, that was great!" Cyanna said. "It was awesome to see some real Champion-level plays like that! You're an awesome tutor, Nemona!"
"Well, thanks!" Nemona blushed.
Audrey, a student with a black ponytail who was about as tall as Nemona, clapped for her friend. She and Cyanna were both on a wide mesa with Nemona in Area Three of the South Province, the rocky region between Mesagoza and Artazon. Nemona's Pawmot was also there, acting as a cheerleader.
There were patches of snow all along the brown ridges of this area, and Cyanna and Audrey had on their winter uniforms to deal with the cold. Nemona wore her usual attire, just with a light black jacket and green scarf. Apparently, she doesn't need more layers because she's 'always heated up!' But the two girls could also see Nemona's white breath.
"Man… I wasn't sure about becoming a battle studies tutor when my pal Arven first suggested it, but this has been a lot of fun!" Nemona beamed.
"It's been great for us too!" said Audrey. "Did it also help you get your mind off your missing friend like you'd said you were hoping?"
"…I told you to forget I said that, didn't I?" Nemona smiled through gritted teeth. "Anyway… nothing's better than practicing for yourself, so I think we can call it for today!"
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to testing out some of the things you taught me for myself!" said Cyanna.
"Shall we go then?" Audrey offered, letting Cyanna take her arm. "Bye, Nemona! See you around!"
"Thanks for the battles!" Cyanna called out as they walked away together.
"Adios, amigas!" Nemona waved to them. "They look like they're very good friends. I'm happy for them!"
"Paw-paw-mooo!" Pawmot agreed.
Once they were gone though, that smile began to fade.
Why did she have to bring up what I said about Juliana…?
Juliana, after all, was a large reason why she was doing this. Nemona remembered gushing to Arven, as she was helping him train for the Gym Challenge, about how fun it was to put limiters on herself and watch Juliana and her skills grow the further she got along her own Challenge, and Arven suggested tutoring students for battle studies class would be a great way to reclaim that feeling.
Nemona didn't disagree, but… at some point, it also became a distraction for how much Nemona really missed her dear friend while she was off having adventures in another school. (And maybe Arven sensed that too.)
For a brief time, Nemona's spirits were lifted was when she heard from several students, including Penny, that Juliana had apparently returned to Paldea and was going to school again!
…But that was two weeks ago, and Nemona had failed to see even a glimpse of her best friend. She could constantly be told places where Juliana was spotted, rush there as fast as she could… only to keep missing her. It was really seeding the poor girl's doubt that people might just be messing with her…
After all, if Juliana has really come back… why hasn't she talked to me at all?
"…Are you sure you want to go this way instead?"
Nemona was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the two girls coming back up. Audrey, with a sour face, was now leading Cyanna down the opposite path from where Nemona saw them leave.
"Y-yeah…" Audrey said meekly. "It's just… I think I saw that weird girl down there."
"You mean the one who looked at us funny when we were holding hands in the hallway?"
"Mm-hm. Sorry, it's just—her eyes kind of scare me… I really don't want to run into her again."
Nemona eavesdropped on Cyanna and Audrey, growing concerned.
"Qué esto?" she said quietly. "I don't want to hear that someone's making the other students uncomfortable."
Ribombee chimed in agreement.
As president of the student council, I guess it falls to me to investigate!
Nemona ran down the rocky path that went towards Artazon, and looked all around for a strange girl with scary eyes. As she made it to a cliff past one of the watchtowers, she peered out and spotted someone down. Nemona glimpsed closely at this figure, and gasped.
"Isn't that…!?"
It was unmistakable. That brown braid! The Palafin standing by her! It had to be Juliana!
Nemona squeed out loud.
"Ribombee, look! We found her! It's your old buddy again!"
Ribombee looked out over the cliff. The exotic Bee Fly Pokémon was surprised to recognize its original Trainer who caught it in Kitakami and started dancing happily with a wide smile on its face.
"Come on, vamanos! Let's go down there and have ourselves a Champion reunion!"
Nemona couldn't contain herself any longer. She leapt from that cliff and immediately started making a dash towards Juliana's location.
She stopped short just a few yards away from where Juliana was huddled. Juliana was huddled in a grassy brush wearing a yellow vest just like Arven's, but strangely didn't seem to be wearing any other thick layers.
Nemona, with an evil smile on her face, hunched down and started inching quietly towards Juliana. As she got closer, she could hear her friend talking quietly.
"This is getting ridiculous, Palafin. I thought having that Sparkling Sandwich meal power was going to make this go a lot faster!"
"Grohh?" Palafin, always alert for danger, glanced back and noticed Nemona's approach.
"We're wasting time out there when there's still so many other missions to do. I'm getting about ready to just-"
"Ta-ta-TACHAAAAAAN!"
Nemona yelled excitedly as she pounced forth and glomped Juliana from behind, just like she used to do all the time.
"Juliana, it's meeeeee~! I'm so freaking happy to see you! I'd heard people saying you were back, but I just couldn't believe it! I thought it was too good to be true! And yet here you are!"
"Aghh…" Juliana groaned, flailing around.
Nemona, oblivious, continued gushing. "How have you been? I mean, there's SOOOO much stuff we have to catch up on! I have so many awesome things to tell you about!"
"Hey—"
"OHHH, but you've probably even MORE awesome stories to share! You must've fought so many really strong Trainers at Blueberry, I can't wait to hear about your fun battles! And all the Pokémon you caught too! I want to see them all right away, maybe even in a—"
"GET OFF OF ME!" Juliana shouted in annoyance, shoving Nemona off her. "Geez!"
Nemona was knocked to the ground from Juliana's violent push. But she was barely even fazed, giggling a little as she watched Juliana furiously dust herself off.
"Ha-ha! Okay, little miss grumpy pants!" she laughed, mocking Juliana's angry frown. "Looks like someone's still got a little bit of that Unovan energy in them!" As Nemona picked herself up, she continued, "But hey, that's a great thing! Because that energy turns into competitive spirit, and you gotta know I've been itching for another great battle now that I've got my bestest… rival… back? Umm. Juliana?"
Nemona was flummoxed to see that Juliana had already turned her back to her, having started focusing again on whatever task she was doing. Nemona frowned a bit. It wasn't like Juliana to ignore her like this, but she figured Juliana must just have a lot on her mind right now.
She snapped her fingers. "Helloooo! Earth to Juliana!"
Juliana groaned loudly and turned around. "Now what?"
"Now what, like you think I've only got a few things to say!" Nemona chuckled. "I just wanted to tell you how happy I am that—uhh… ohh. Wow."
Juliana finally turned herself around completely, and now Nemona was caught off-guard because she… looked quite different now.
Juliana's hair was a bit darkened and frizzy, with stray hairs popping out of her braid, like she hadn't done her hair in a while. She also had a bit of a slouched gait that she didn't have before, letting her shoulders hang low while her arms just sprawled out in front of her. And her face looked really pale.
But the real striking difference was in… her eyes. Juliana had always had very round and bright hazel-brown eyes that emanated her sense of joy and curiosity. But now her eyes looked squinted, and cold. Like she was constantly leering. And most troubling were the bags under them, making her look sleepless.
"Seriously, what?" Juliana sharply demanded to know. "Are you going to keep staring at me, or do you actually have something to say? I'm very busy here, you know."
Nemona balked a little, wondering where this sudden attitude had come from.
"Uhh—sorry. I just… You look… well?"
Juliana only rolled her eyes in response, and started tapping on her hip impatiently.
For some reason, Nemona gulped. "So… what are you doing out here anyway?"
Juliana pointed down below. Nemona peered over and saw a very unusual sight: in the field down below, there were giant Klawf everywhere!
"Qué bárbaro!" she exclaimed. "That's so many Klawf…! Is this area like some sort of mating ground for them?"
"Hardly. I've been making sandwiches to attract them. I learned how to prepare special sandwiches that not only bring out a bunch of Pokémon of certain types, but will also make it more likely that a Shiny Pokémon will come out."
"Ooooooh!" Nemona had her hands cupped under her chin in raving curiosity. "Soooo you're out here Shiny hunting, Juliana? No wonder you look so determined! You looking to add a cool shiny Klawf into your fiery roster?"
Juliana scoffed. "It's not for me. There's a girl in my math class who said her life would be complete if they had a shiny Klawf. She likes its 'baby blue' sheen and how rosy its cheeks are."
Nemona couldn't suppress a snort at Juliana saying such cutesy things with a straight-laced frown. She huddled up closer to Juliana, which led her to inch herself away with an annoyed grunt.
"So that's what you've been up to, huh? Helping your classmates out by doing little favors for them?" She started squeezing Juliana's cheeks. "Awww! Look at you being the super-helpful Champion!"
Juliana smacked Nemona's hands away.
"Don't ever touch me like that!" she snapped.
Nemona jumped back a little bit. Juliana had never raised her voice like that before. "Uhh, s-sure. I'm… sorry."
"And for your information, I'm doing more than just 'favors' for people," she said matter-of-factly. "I've found my new purpose in life, Nemona."
"Your new purpose…?"
Juliana's Palafin chirped up suddenly, spotting a little silver creature standing on a signpost.
"GAROOO!"
Gimmighoul yelped as Palafin shot out a small jet stream of water from one of its flippers, snagging a coin the tiny Pokémon was holding, and then retracting its flow, sending Gimmighoul's coin up into the air as Juliana caught it.
"Whoa…!" said an impressed Nemona.
"I'm a treasure hunter," Juliana flashed the coin as she gave Nemona a gaze as piercing as scarlet. "Specifically… I've made it my new mission to make sure everyone else in this school finds their greatest treasure, by any means necessary."
She opened up a little sack in her backpack filled with the gold coins, and dropped her newest find into it.
"I'm glad for your sharp eye, Palafin. That makes… 60 of those coins now. 126 including the ones back in my room. So we only need… ugh…"
Juliana grasped at her head, the attempt at doing simple math causing a brief and totally mild headache.
"870 more or something like that, so that Ashton kid can evolve his Gholdengo." She started putting a finger to her chin and muttered. "Maybe I need to concentrate more on the Gimmighoul that are in chests up in those watchtowers instead of the ones roaming around…"
Nemona was concerned as she had witnessed Juliana appearing to suffer from what looked like an intense migraine, and tried her best to keep a smile up.
"Wow, Juliana, you're—really committed to all this! How long have you been going with all these little missions of your anyway?"
"What, you mean this whole thing with Klawf? Uhh, I don't know… three days, maybe."
Nemona's eyes widened.
"Three, three days? Oh…" She laughed, but it was more of a nervous laugh. "I—guess that's why I haven't seen a whole lot of you at school! Three days… wow. So did you set up camp somewhere nearby?"
Nemona looked all around the area, but… much to her worry, didn't really see anything suggesting a place for Juliana to settle.
Juliana didn't answer her, either. She turned her back and squared her shoulders… like she was avoiding the question.
"Juliana…?" Now she was growing extremely worried. "When—when was the last time you slept? …Or ate something?"
After a pause, Juliana muttered something.
"What was that?"
"…I don't remember."
Nemona gasped. "Juliana! You can't just put off taking care of yourself! We always need to stop after a while for our bodies to function!" She put her palm to her head. "I remember bugging you about forgetting to eat and stuff, but… I thought it was just because you were as excited to beat all those Gyms as I was for you."
Juliana was looking uncomfortable with this conversation and tried to turn around, but Nemona lightly grabbed her hand and forced her to stay focused.
"Hey… listen up, my precious Julie. I know a really fun place to eat in Artazon. They've got great sandwiches and you can even eat on the roof! Hows about you and I head up there and have ourselves a nice tasty lunch? It'll be my treat! And then afterwards… I'll even help you look for that Klawf! Two heads are always better than one, right?"
Nemona smiled her best toothy grin to show Juliana how eager she was. Juliana just stared blankly back at her. Nemona wasn't sure if she was thinking hard about it, but then Juliana just shook her head and said…
"I'm not hungry."
However, a loud growl from her stomach immediately betrayed her, and Nemona gave her a knowing smirk.
"Come on, Juliana, seriously! Even your tummy's telling you off!" she giggled. "Just take a rest for a few minutes. You know how much I hate taking a chill pill, so that's how you know I really mean it. I mean, you look like you could really use—"
"I'm fine," Juliana snarled.
"Juliana…"
"Grrrrr! I said I'm FINE!" Juliana shouted. She started seething with her fists out, a very unusual motion for her. "Why doesn't anybody EVER believe me when I say that I'm fine!?"
Nemona took a step back. To her own surprise, she was becoming… quite frightened of her friend. Juliana had a very manic look in her eyes now… and Nemona's might be playing tricks on her, because for just a split second, she swore she could see purple in those eyes.
Is that… the same kind of crazy look everyone says I get sometimes?
"I'm not—not saying that you aren't fine, J-Juliana…" Nemona stammered.
She was starting to feel a wrench in her heart. Juliana was one of the first people who she remembered made Nemona feel good to let loose and be herself, but now… she felt like how she always used to be with people, always tripping on landmines…
But this was her rival for life. Her best friend.
"But y'know… taking care of your body is always extremely important. More than anything else!"
"You think what I'm doing isn't very important?"
Juliana stepped forward, practically stamping the ground with her right foot. Nemona found herself stepping back again. Juliana's eyes were wild, and even beginning to twitch a little.
"This is my purpose, Nemona! I finally have something that makes me feel complete… and you just want to take it away from me."
"No, I don't!" she protested.
"You can't understand… of course you can't. You're so simple, Nemona."
Nemona was flabbergasted. "What—what did you say!?"
"The only thing inside that head of yours is Pokémon battles," Juliana said matter-of-factly. "You don't try to hide it. You can't hide it. Everything about you is out in the open."
"I don't—I don't know if you're praising me or mocking me…" Nemona admitted.
"But I on the other hand had to spend a lot of time across three different places to finally figure out what my true calling is, so I don't need anybody to tell me what to do anymore. I'm the only one in control of myself. If you really can't grasp that, then—maybe you should just stay out of my way."
"J-Julieee!" Nemona cried out, completely heartbroken.
"Don't call me that."
Nemona hated to admit it, but she could feel tears welling up inside of her. Juliana was like a complete stranger to her now, nothing like how she was before.
What on earth did Blueberry Academy do to her? Even when Arven got to meet Juliana again at the Crater, he didn't say anything about her being like this…
"Juliana…" She felt a single tear rolling down her eye. "I don't know what's gotten into you, or why you're acting like this now, but it's… it's scaring me! I can't just stand by as your friend and watch you be so reckless with yourself…!"
That triggered something in Juliana. Her dreary eyes finally opened up wide, and she took a defiant stance.
"I'm… not reckless! I'm not reckless!" she screamed. Then, much to Nemona's fright, she started scratching furiously through her dry hair. "I'm not, I'm not, I'm NOT!"
"Okay, okay!" Nemona tried to calm her down. "Alright, then…" she gulped. "Then prove it."
"What?"
Nemona drew out one of her Poké Balls, trying to ignore how much her hand was shaking.
"Juliana! I challenge you!"
"…Seriously?" Juliana sneered again.
"Y-yeah, seriously! You say I'm all about nothing but battles, but—but I know what gets me going and makes me happy! And… it's the only way I feel like I can get through to you right now! So I challenge you to a battle, with my strongest partners! And if I win, then—then you have to let me take you out to lunch! Fair deal!"
…
Juliana turned around. "I refuse."
"WHAT!?" Nemona exclaimed. "You've—you've never refused a battle with me before Juliana, no matter how much I ask! You're… you're the only person who's never turned me down…"
"Well, there's a first time for everything, then."
Juliana recalled her Palafin, and got ready to send out her Kilowattrel.
"Come on Julie, you're really, really scaring me now. I—I want my best friend back! We're supposed to be rivals for life! The kind, sweet girl who I always cheered on and cheered me on right back!"
"CAWWWWW!"
Kilowattrel popped out. Juliana was looking down to the ground… and she was… mumbling something incoherently.
"Juliana… I'm starting to feel like you never came back from Blueberry Academy at all…"
Nemona anxiously tried to reach a hand out to Juliana's shoulder. But Juliana's face twisted again and she rebuffed her. She faced Nemona sharply now.
"I'm only going to tell you this once…"
Kilowattrel flew up off the ground, and Juliana grabbed onto its talons.
"LEAVE ME ALONE."
Before Nemona could say anything more, Kilowattrel braced itself and suddenly, with a jet-like impact, it and Juliana sailed away down the mountains.
"Juliana, w-wait!" Nemona tried fruitlessly to run after her. "I'm sorry! COME BACK! PLEEAAAASE!"
But it was hopeless. By the time she blinked, Juliana was a disappearing dot over the horizon.
Nemona was sent to her knees in a patch of snow. The tears were definitely coming out now. By this time, her Pawmot finally caught up with her and noticed its partner's distress.
"Pawmo?"
Pawmot walked up alongside her, and Nemona smiled sadly as she stroked its paw.
"Oh Pawmot… What happened to our precious Julie?"
The situation at the BB League was calamitous. Already recoiling from the sudden departure of its newest Champion, now the rumors of Kieran also leaving school were catching on and the League's members were really starting to wonder what the future of their beloved club was.
A lot of questions were directed Drayton's way of whether he was becoming Champion or class president again, which he answered by… craftfully dodging those questions and ducking away from anyone who asked.
Which left the other three haggard members of the BB Elite Four to try to calm people's trepidations. Like today, where Lacey, Amarys, and Crispin were all in the League Club Room trying to field questions as several of the club members asked them about everything going on.
A group of four or five of them were surrounding Lacey, as Crispin stood by and Amarys sat on a table.
"Guys, just… please all of you calm down, okay?" Lacey said as gently as she could. "I promise, the rest of the Elite Four and I are talking things out and we'll have answers for what the future of the club will be soon enough!"
Trust me, I'd really like to have as much answers than the rest of you… Lacey thought to herself.
Then the door opened.
And Lacey gasped to see none other than…
"Carmine."
Carmine entered the clubroom with her head slumped downwards, hair completely over her face so much Lacey could barely even make out her eyes. She only tilted her head up slightly to acknowledge Lacey's voice.
…That's a bad sign.
"Amarys! No, wait—Crispin! Uhh, take over for me!"
"Huh? What?"
Crispin didn't want to admit he'd blanked out a bit, but suddenly Lacey dashed, and the League members were surrounding him instead, peppering him with questions.
"Is the Elite Four disbanding?" "Does the League have to pick a new Champion?" "Is Drayton going to quit or some shit?"
"Uhh, uhh!" Crispin looked all around him, flustered. "Well, I don't—know the answers to any of those questions, but…" He drew out his frying pan. "If you'd like to put me in front of a stove, I can show you guys this awesome new potato pancake recipe I just invented!"
This elicited a lot of confused murmurs. Crispin sheepishly smiled at Amarys, who just tilted her head quizzically before deciding to get up and follow Lacey.
"Carmine!" Lacey said when she got up to her sulking friend. "It's so good to see you out in the open again! I've already heard everything from Kieran. He's still committed to going back home to Kitakami, right?"
"…I guess so…" Carmine quietly mumbled, not lifting her shrouded head up.
"Okay…" Lacey was concerned by this low demeanor of hers. "And… he also said that, you were… actually considering going home with him?"
"That's right…"
"Ohh." Lacey had some trouble hiding the disappointment in her face. She looked over at Amarys, whose head slumped down. "Well, that's… that's a very brave decision of you, Carmine. Are you going back home in order to look after our Kieran?"
…
There was a pause, and then Lacey heard what sounded like a quiet scoff.
"I guess…"
Lacey's eyebrows furrowed. That was a very non-committal response, and Lacey could already tell Carmine was concealing.
"Well… you're a very good sister, Carmine. I'm glad that—Kieran always has someone like you looking out for him."
"Yeah, sure…" she muttered, almost dismissively sounding.
Lacey huffed quietly. She was hoping Carmine finally showing her face in the clubroom meant she was ready to be open about her emotions, which had been so obviously affected by the abrupt way she and Juliana parted. But even standing right in front of her, it was like Carmine still wasn't here.
Carmine lifted her head up only a little, enough that Lacey could make out her slightly trembling mouth.
"Anyways, I just… I just wanted to let you guys know so you weren't… wondering where I went."
She started to turn around, much to Lacey and Amarys's surprise.
"The day we go, I'll ask Kiki to let you guys know when we land… Otherwise, see ya around."
She waved very weakly at them. Lacey, completely stunned, grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving.
"Carmine, wait! You—you can't just leave on that note!"
"Please let me go…" she whispered.
"Carmine, wait, just… stay for a minute and tell us what's wrong. You're clearly upset about something."
"Just… drop it, okay? I—I don't want to do this right now…"
Amarys spoke up. "Carmine… we have all been concerned for your mental state these past several weeks. I always observed you as confiding in us as your friends whenever you were in deep emotional anguish." She gulped. "But instead… you have shut us out completely, and I—I feel… anxious for you, in a way that doesn't come to me normally."
"Just… please tell us what's wrong."
"You really don't wanna know…" Carmine quivered. "Just trust me when I say this is what's best for everyone, okay?"
"Best for everyone?" Lacey repeated, confused, and tried to touch her shoulder. "Carmine… why would you leaving be best for all the rest of u—"
Carmine nudged her shoulder away.
"BECAUSE I'M POISON! OKAY!?"
She finally reared up and showed her whole face, and Lacey and Amarys were treated to a terrifying sight.
Carmine had dried black mascara running down her whole face like she'd been crying it all off. Her yellow eyes were piercing daggers like nothing else. And her hair was ragged and unkempt, her yellow hairband doing Arceus's work in not making Carmine's locks spiral out like a Grimmsnarl's mane.
Lacey gasped and stepped back. Amarys's eyes were as wide as they could get under the frames of her glasses.
Carmine lurched forward, stomping on the floor with bitterness in her black-stained eyes.
"You want to know what I was doing all holed up in my dark cave this whole time? Why I shut myself off from the world?" Her voice was dripping with malice. "I finally had all the space I needed to think about what I've done… all the people that I've hurt… How everything that happened, with me, Kiki, and Juliana…"
She folded her arms like she was feeling the extreme cold.
"…How it was all my fault."
"How was anything that happened your fault, Carmine?"
"Because I'm the one who forced Juliana to become a jerk to Kieran and Kieran to become a jerk right back!" she snarled through her teeth. "I'm the one who broke Kiki's spirits! He got hurt because of me and my awful lies! I completely ruined everything for everyone! All this… chaos you're talking about, because Juliana left school? I'M THE REASON SHE LEFT!"
Now Carmine was shaking. Her face was tinging like she was about to cry again.
"When I was a little girl… And I let all those stupid shit-nosed brats bully me at Blueberry Junior… I told myself that if I fought back and got mean, then I would defeat all my bullies and stand up for my friends."
She gazed down at her hands like she did before, staring at them like they were growing claws.
"But I pushed myself too far… I became a worse bully than any of them ever were! I completely broke myself. That's the only thing I'm good at anymore, Lacey! The only thing I've EVER been good at! Just being a big nasty bully and driving everyone away!"
Lacey rapidly shook her head. "Carmine… you're no bully! Not in the slightest! I don't get how you could think that!"
"Agreed," said Amarys. "Completely illogical."
"Why didn't you come talk to us when you started having these doubts…?" Lacey tried to come over and hug Carmine, but she put up her guard, so Lacey settled for gently rubbing her arms. "We all go to very dark places when we're alone with our thoughts. But that's why we have friends! To set us straight and help us see the forest for the trees."
"But you don't understand, Lacey…" Carmine blubbered. "I… I…"
"Whatever you did, it couldn't have been that bad."
Carmine scrunched her eyes shut as she felt them getting watery.
"After Kieran got his arm hurt from that Terapagos, I told Juliana she was a bad influence on Kiki, and that… and I yelled at her and said she should stay away from us forever…"
Lacey admittedly had trouble keeping her eyes from widening at the sound of that.
"O-o-okay… I mean, yeah that's…" She gulped again. "That is pretty extreme. But—you get very angry and say a lot of things you don't mean when you're being… protective."
"Overprotective, you mean," she whispered.
"No. But either way, Juliana knows you so well, she's got to realize that as much as we do! I don't think that alone would've driven her to—"
"And I almost hit my own brother."
Lacey reared back, genuinely shocked. "…What?"
"Kiki tried to stand up to me, and I got really mad at him… I—I swear I was going to hit him, Lace! You should've seen the fear in his eyes…"
Lacey was fighting off a rising part of her now, a side that wanted to get outraged at Carmine and asked how she could raise a fist against someone as pure, innocent, and good-hearted as Kieran. But she looked into Carmine's glistening eyes and realized in that moment that she must be kicking herself much harder than anyone else could.
Now the self-hatred was starting to make sense…
Then they heard the door opening again, and Lacey's eyes went wide.
"Hey hey hey, fam!" Drayton waved smugly. "So, did you all put out those fires or what—"
"Drayton, NO." Lacey looked at him fiercely. She could already feel Carmine's arms starting to bristle in her grasp, and saw her face reddening. "Not right now, no. Just please get out of here."
"Huh? I don't get it, what—"
Crispin grimaced. For once, he was reading the room perfectly; he leapt out from the crowd and tried pushing Drayton away physically.
"I think Carmine's about to blow her lid right now, Drayster! You don't want to be around when that volcano goes off—"
"YEAH! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST TAKE A HINT FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE AND GET THE HELL OUT, BOZO!?"
Too late. Lacey winced. Carmine broke from her grasp, completely wound up.
"THAT WAS SOME FANTASTIC ADVICE, BY THE WAY!" She was seething so hard she threatened to blow a gasket. "JUST LET MY HEART SING OUT A MELODY FROM HELL THAT MAKES JULIANA SCARED SHITLESS OF ME AND RUN BACK HOME WITH HER TAIL BETWEEN HER LEGS!"
"Carmine…" Lacey tried to calm her down.
"GOT ANY MORE BRIGHT IDEAS, YOU DISEASED WASTE OF OXYGEN!?"
She grabbed a can of half-eaten potato chips from a table, Drayton's undoubtedly, and chucked them towards his head.
He ducked however, and it bonked Crispin instead. Drayton took his cue to flee as Crispin winced in pain.
"Owwww! Why…?"
"Carmine, stop!" Lacey pleaded.
"Oh my gosh…"
Carmine immediately brought her hands to her lips, horrified at what she'd done.
"I—I just did it again…" she quietly realized. "I don't know how to turn off my anger anymore… I—I really am a monster."
"No, no! Carmine, you're not a monster!" Lacey insisted. "Having a temper doesn't make you a bad person! We all get annoyed with Drayton sometimes! That isn't the first time you've gotten mad enough to throw something at him and, really, it probably won't be the last! And what just happened there was an accident, right Crispin?"
"Yeah…" Crispin was rubbing his head. "I know you didn't do that on purpose. It didn't even really hurt that much! …Ow. Really!"
They were both trying to assuage Carmine's panicking, but in fact referring to this as an accident was only making her sink deeper into her own head.
Not just because it wasn't an accident—she really did chuck that can with the full swing of bitter retaliation—but now she was remembering Juliana's pleas after Kieran got hurt.
That Terapagos's attack was an accident. That she didn't mean to do it. That she would never hurt Kieran on purpose…
Is this really how Juliana felt?
"Holy shit…" she said out loud. "I really am horrible."
"No you're not…" Lacey choked out, feeling like she was just repeating herself at this point.
"No, no. It's okay, Lace. It really is. Because now I'm more sure than ever of what I need to do."
"And what's… that?" Amarys was almost afraid to ask.
"I am going back home with Kiki. Not just to protect him or whatever, but… to protect all the rest of you guys…" She gulped. "…from me."
Amarys was completely nonplussed. "Why would any of us need protection from you? We are your friends, and well versed in dealing with your emotional episodes."
"Just think about it, would you!" Carmine said angrily. "I drove Kieran away because I was all selfish and wanted to keep Juliana and sweet Ogerpon all to myself… But then I threw all that away by being a bad partner to Ogerpon, and—and letting my anger get completely out of control until I drove Juliana right out of this school." There was a sniffle. "I bet she still hates me."
"A kind soul like Juliana? Never in a million years!" Lacey declared, crossing her arms defiantly.
"Yeah!? Well… well, then she really is an idiot!" Carmine huffed. "And anyways… the longer you guys hang around me, I'm probably just eventually going to hurt all of you too! It's only a matter of time."
Lacey and Amarys responded with completely defiant looks, but Carmine was past the point of being able to see reason in their faces anymore.
"Either way, I end up all alone… Maybe that's what I deserve. All the adults in that stupid town and in this stupid school who never trusted me were right about me all along. The dreaded monster of Kitakami, all alone up in the mountain, that everyone should learn to fear… that was never Ogerpon at all. It's me. I'm the horrible ogre that devours people's souls… No wonder I was always so caught up in that story. It was about me this whole time."
Lacey felt horrible for having no response to that. She wanted so badly to have a good one… but she was all out of cards to deal, and was hating herself a little for that.
"That's why I have to be the one to lock this monster up." Carmine was really starting to tear up now. "That's why I'm going back to Mossui Town, where… I'll never bother anyone else ever again, except for…"
She choked up as the tears rolled down her cheeks, smearing her mascara-covered face even more.
"…except for stupid, pesky outsiders."
Carmine was all bunched up now, a sobbing, nervous wreck who could barely keep her eyes open. Lacey tried one last time to reach over, to console her and tell her everything was going to be alright…
But Carmine recoiled. She was too afraid. Afraid of herself, and what she might do to her friend. She gazed at Lacey with a pathetic, tear-soaked grimace and then finally shouted "I'm SORRRRRYYYYYYYYY!" before running out of the room, burying her face in her hands.
"Carmine…!" Lacey called out, but to no avail.
She was gone.
The air in the room was silent. Lacey still had her hand out feebly. Crispin looked crushed. All the other students in the room were just watching quietly and stunned. And even the normally stoic Amarys was trying to hold back tears.
Lacey's arm drooped… and her head craned up.
And then, she let out a loud frustrated yell that nobody was expecting.
"AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
Crispin sullenly bent over to pick up the can on the floor, and scoop up all the broken potato chips. He set down his frying pan, from which he saw his own pitying reflection in and sighed.
"Maybe it's a good thing Juliana went home… Wherever she is right now, she's probably got an easier time right now than the rest of us."
Miraidon soared above the clouds of the Northern Province of Paldea. For most of her time partnered with the legendary serpent, Juliana had only been able to utilize its steel-plated wings to slowly glide down from great heights.
But thanks to its ingesting all of Amarys's special flying supplements, Miraidon's wings glittered in the air as it finally enjoyed the unencumbered power of full flight, zooming through the skies and taking Juliana practically anywhere she wanted to go.
This afternoon, it was down in the snowy province below. Unlike the patches that dotted the Southern Province, this area of Paldea was covered in snow coming down from Glaseado Mountain.
The area that Juliana was scouting down below barely looked like the fields she had run through in her journey through Paldea, where she had fought Eri and her friend Carmen at the Caph Squad's Base.
Miraidon growled nervously at how much Juliana was leaning her whole body off the edge of her ride, feeling afraid that she was going to fall.
But finally, Juliana excitedly pointed down.
"Look! … There it is!"
Miraidon felt a sudden, sharp tug as Juliana pulled hard on its horns like she was steadying a bike. Really, she was asking for her purple serpent partner to start gliding down towards the land, but Miraidon was used to a gentler pull and started plummeting down like a bullet.
They narrowly avoided scraping against several bamboo trees as Miraidon came to a hard landing. So hard in fact, that it growled lightly at Juliana, feeling a bit pained from that harsh descent.
"Graaaooo…"
But Juliana barely noticed her Pokémon's feelings, because she took a huge leap off Miraidon and let her own feet touch base.
She hit the ground so hard that it sent shocks through her legs, especially her right leg feeling weak again after all that extensive discipline.
Juliana winced for just a second, but otherwise ignored the shearing pain in her legs and up her spine as she started trudging forward.
Area Two of the Northern Province was like something out of a storybook. The normally brown plains of this bamboo thicket were covered in a thick blanket of snow, and the bamboo trees around the pair were covered in the stuff; even the leaves and bamboo poking out had so much snow on them that they were like thick, white sticks.
But what Juliana was really eyeing was just a little ahead of her, up on a hill.
"There it is…" she raved, oblivious to the sheer white breath coming out of her mouth. "Just like Mr. Jacq told me about… that powerful Tera Raid crystal."
The black crystal shimmered and sparkled in her vision. A call from her teacher Jacq a few days ago informed her that ever since Terapagos shot those green beams of light out from the Great Crater of Paldea, their investigation had been picking up readings of these black crystals occasionally appearing in the region.
Juliana was enamored by his claims that they supposedly housed Tera Pokémon even more powerful than the ones usually found in Tera Raids, but Jacq's warnings that these crystals were super dangerous and that she was not to go near them had fallen on deaf ears.
His pupil was too determined, too filled with ambition to back down, especially after having received her newest 'mission'.
"None of the raids I've found and dominated in had any of those Sweet Herba Mysticas that Mr. Saguaro wants…" Juliana misered. "But this super Tera Raid here…" She started chuckling in a slightly mad tone. "It's gotta have the herbs that I want! Ha-ha-ha! It's just gotta!"
The girl could barely muster the strength to stand up right now, but she used all her willpower to keep herself standing and confident, even as all her limbs wobbled.
"And I have the perfect partner that can quash ANY super-powerful Pokémon…"
She drew out a Friend Ball from her bag and tossed it.
"Oguhh?"
Ogerpon shook the snow off her cloak and then gasped happily.
"Pon!"
She looked around and marveled at all the snow on the ground, having never experienced much snow in Kitakami before. Giggling excitedly, she immediately set to work trying to make a snowball with her cloaked arms…
…only for Juliana to rather harshly pat her on the back.
"Come on, Ogerpon! No time for games right now! We've got an important mission!"
"Ponyo! … Pon?"
Ogerpon looked up at her partner and was… very surprised at Juliana's new, almost ghoulish appearance with her pale face, dead eyes, and unstraightened hair.
"We're going to challenge a super-powerful Pokémon… right over there!"
Ogerpon glanced over excitedly… only for her smile to drop when she saw the spooky big black crystal.
"…P-ponio?"
"Come on!" Juliana said eagerly. She grunted loudly as she stood up. "Let's go get 'em, Ogerpon!"
"Poniooooo…"
Ogerpon found herself cowering in fear. The big black crystal had a strange vibe to her that made her feel scared in her bones and start shivering.
"What's the matter?" Juliana tilted her head, looking impatient. "Come on, it's not THAT scary! There's just a Terastallized Pokémon in there that we need to beat!"
"Po…" Ogerpon turned and tried to run, but Juliana grabbed her by her arm. "Ponoo!"
"Ogerpon, come onnnn!" Juliana whined. She bent down again. "This is so that my home ec teacher Mr. Saguaro experience true sweetness and stop feeling so embarrassed in front of his students! This is for our friends!"
She placed her hand over Ogerpon's cheek.
"And we loooove to help our friends, and make them all happy! Don't we? We want… everyone to be happy!"
Ogerpon opened her scared eyes, and saw Juliana at eye level with her, grinning a wide smile.
"Pon?"
But then… something happened.
Juliana's face started twisting in a weird way, until suddenly… she was making a very weird face. Her closed mouth curled open at the ends, as Juliana's facial features became round… and her eyes changed shape and gazed at Ogerpon in a strange—and very distressingly familiar—cutting glare.
Just like how Kieran had looked at her before.
"P-p-POOONNNN!?" Ogerpon shrieked in terror. "PonOOOOOOOOO!"
She instantly turned away from Juliana and began crying on the spot, absolutely petrified with fear. Juliana just reacted to this spectacle with confusion and a barely concealed annoyance.
"Huh!? Ogerpon! What's the matter with you?" Juliana demanded to know. "You can't start acting like this now! I NEED YOU!"
"P-pon… Ponioooooooo…"
The poor ogre fell back into the snow and was holding her arms over her face as she felt rushes of fear and terror start to grip her.
"OGERPON!" Juliana shouted more desperately. "You're ruining this for me! I don't know if you're really tired or something, but we can rest later! Don't you care about our friends!?"
"Ponnnnn…! PONNNNNNN…!"
Poor Ogerpon felt like her tiny head was splintering.
"They're counting on us right now, Ogerpon! They're all good people with very loyal Pokémon and you just KILLED THEM LIKE THAT!? YOU—YOU MONSTER!"
"Ehhhh!" Ogerpon cried out.
"MOMMY, I'M SCARED! WHY DID THAT HORRIBLE OGRE DESTROY ALL OUR HOUSES!?"
Something was happening in Ogerpon's mind. This was a far worse trauma than what Kieran's face had done to her before.
"THOSE POKÉMON LAID THEIR LIVES DOWN TO PROTECT US FROM THIS HORRIBLE BEAST!"
Ogerpon was experiencing flashes out of nowhere. Memories were coming back to her like vicious strikes of lightning inside her noggin.
"GRRIFIC!"
"MMKAY!"
"YIP-IP-IPPY!"
Another image alongside the Lousy Three was making itself clearer in Ogerpon's head… A blurry, purple image. No, a face.
…
THAT FACE.
"PECHAA!"
"…!"
Ogerpon was instantly transported back to that fateful day, a thousand years ago.
The rain was beating down hard on the rough lands of Kitakami.
And Ogerpon was stuck in the mud, her body heavily bruised and beaten. She could barely even sit up, her worn-out ivy cudgel tossed to the ground. Her green Teal Mask hid the pain and fear on the brave ogre's face.
The three looming figures towered over her, boastful in their three-against-one victory against the tiny ogre.
"GRRIFIC!" "MMKAY!" "YIP-IP-IPPY!"
The three beasts, with bright glowing purple irises, were all tethered to a binding purple chain.
And that chain… led to the trio's master.
The small purple runt at the head of the whole pack…
Leering down upon Ogerpon with its menacing, leering curved smile.
"Rrrr… PECHA!"
With a crack of its chains like hard whips, the beasts were all set free.
"Ponio…!" Ogerpon cried weakly.
She could only watch in terror as the Lousy Three all started charging up Oni Mountain… towards the den where Ogerpon and her beloved human partner made their home. Where she had last seen her partner running off to make sure the Masks were safe.
And she was left alone with the Lousy Three's leader, who made noises at Ogerpon… like it was cackling wildly.
"BRRRB-BRRRB-BRRRB! BRRRB-BRRRB-BRRRB!"
It shivered Ogerpon right to her very bone, worried tremendously for the safety of her friend… little knowing that it was already too late…
"P-p-p-ponnnnnnn!"
Ogerpon cried out into the heavens, horribly traumatized as she felt herself re-experiencing all the emotions from that horrid, horrid night.
Juliana unfortunately wasn't in the right mind to understand Ogerpon's pain. She just looked at the crying monster girl baffled and annoyed.
"Ogerpon! OGERPON!" she yelled. "Come on, SNAP OUT OF IT!"
She seethed with her fists again, shaking and shivering in this deep cold. But Ogerpon was too much of a crying mess in the snow to even so much as acknowledge her.
Juliana wiped her nose… and brought out the Pecha Berry from her pocket.
She inhaled its sweet, intoxicating scent, and just like before in the art room, it seemed to speak to her.
We don't need the ogre's help.
"Grrrr…"
We have more partners. The ogre… is unnecessary.
"Pon-pon-pon… … Ogie!?"
Ogerpon's nose twitched, and that seemed to bring it out of her crying spell as she was suddenly hit with a smell that was also… very, very familiar.
With a moment of hesitation, Juliana scornfully turned her back on Ogerpon and dug the Berry back into her pocket.
She was limping really badly on her right leg as she walked towards the black crystal on her own, and her arms, numbed from the frostbite, flopped around like noodles. But Juliana refused to back down.
Ogerpon was catching wind of this scent and slowly realized what must be happening to her present-day partner…
"PONI-O-NO!" she cried out.
She leapt back onto her tiny feet, and desperately ran up to Juliana.
"Pon… PON!"
Ogerpon tugged and tugged at Juliana's feet, trying to get her to stop.
But this earned her a gentle kick… and then Juliana swiftly turned around, her face boiling with indignant anger that was almost as frightening as that horrible smile.
Her leering eyes were wide open and manic now, twitching furiously.
"OGERPON!" she screamed. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? I don't know why you're acting like this, but it STOPS NOW! DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR FRIENDS!?"
"Pon…! Pon…!" Ogerpon made several desperate motions with her arms, trying to warn Juliana of something.
And for a split second, Juliana's face softened. Those round, innocent hazel-brown eyes started to return, and look with regret at what she was doing…
Don't get distracted!
But it quickly went away, and now Juliana was far too enraged to read anything from her Pokémon's emotions.
"This is unbelievable…! All my friends have turned against me!" she angrily declared, digging her nails deep at her skull.
Her so-called friends all came to her mind, but Juliana's mind was so blotted that she couldn't remember anything but the most negative things about each of them.
"Kieran drew a whole wall about how much he hates me… Even Nemona thinks that I'm completely reckless!? And… and HER…" Her teeth gnarled hard. "She's the worst of them all. She called me a bad influence."
Juliana's eyes flashed, now a piercing shade of violet, as she looked down upon the treacherous ogre.
"Even you're not on my side anymore…"
They won't understand.
They can't understand.
Not until we figure out how to make them happy forever.
"Happy… forever…" Juliana repeated mindlessly.
Once everyone is happy all the time, you and your friends will never experience hardships ever again.
I can help you make them happy.
"…I don't need you to finish my purpose," she bluntly told Ogerpon.
With robot-like movements, she turned around again and completely ignored Ogerpon's strife.
She started walking towards the crystal once more… only breaking her fixed gaze when she heard her Rotom Phone ringing. She stopped to look at it, and saw Arven's caller ID.
"Ugh."
With a dismissive scoff, Juliana put the phone back into her pocket and let it go to voicemail.
"Uhh, hey Juliana?" said Arven's voice. "You there?"
"I just uhh… just wanted a chance to talk when you have a minute. Not about anything important—well, I guess kind of important actually, uhh… I'm, really happy to hear you're back home again!
I mean… I didn't even know you were back at school! I had to find out from Nemona, who told me all about how she… how she saw you and tried talking to you. She seems… really worried about you, Jules."
Juliana didn't notice as her phone slipped out of her pants pocket, and fell into the snow, with Arven's voice still going.
"So… p-please answer my call, when you get a chance. Because… if even old Nemo here noticed there was something wrong with you, then—then you know I'm doubly worried.
…
I just… I just really want to know that you're okay, little buddy. That's all…"
Arven's voice sounded like it was practically trembling.
"So… please, please just call one of us back, okay? Please? Alright. …Bye, Juliana."
-BEEP-
Ogerpon, kicked to the ground, could only watch in horror and despair, feeling like she was trapped in some horrible time loop, as her partner once again approached certain death.
"Poni-o-nooo! PONI-O-NOOOO!"
The Paldean girl had the gait of a complete zombie at this point. Juliana's legs were completely shot, ready to give out at any moment. Her shoulders sagged. Every single bone in her body was screaming out in pain.
Her whole head was twitching along with her eyes now, and her skull felt like it was splitting apart from such horrible migraines. But Juliana didn't care a single bit that she was running on fumes. That she was beginning to feel a bit faint.
This is our chance… to make them truly happy.
Both of them too… will finally be happy with me. Forever.
She gazed upon the glimmering black Tera Raid crystal in front of her with manic, twitching eyes and an unnatural grin on her face.
"This is finally my moment… Heh-heh-heh! To prove them all wrong! I will fulfill my purpose!"
Juliana's convulsing arm drew out another Poké Ball… her Beast Ball.
"PA-GOS!" Terapagos cried happily as he popped out of his Ball and landed on the snowy ground.
"You and me, Terapagos… We've got this."
"TERA!"
Feeling just as eager to battle as Juliana, Terapagos jumped up into the air and covered himself in a glimmer as he transitioned into his Stellar Form.
"With your s-s-Stellar power… we'll win for sure…" Juliana's head was bobbing wildly now, and her vision was going in and out. "We'll win the battle… Get the herbs…"
She scratched furiously at her noggin, trying desperately to keep herself conscious.
"I'm not a bad influence… I'm not! I'M NOT!" She gritted her teeth. "I'll show you!"
Although Juliana's gangly body wanted to collapse into the snow, she and Terapagos began to crawl through the entrance into the crystal anyway…
…and that was the last thing Juliana remembered, before darkness took a hold of her.
"POOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNN!"