Kieran's achievements really began to attract the attention of the Blueberry Academy student body.
He had just made it to Elite Rank which granted him the privilege to challenge all of the BB Elite Four in succession, and he was already cutting his way through the powerful quartet.
Tayon fell first.
Then Crispin.
And despite Carmine's expectations… so did Amarys, even to her own surprise.
Yet still, every time she watched Kieran in-person or through the livestreams, he didn't look like he was getting any more excited about his wins, only more determined. Almost more… bitter.
Everything was happening so fast, and Carmine's head was spinning from it all. By this point, she didn't even know whether she was rooting for Kieran's success or not. She wanted to be happy for her brother and support him, but a dire feeling was growing within her that if he somehow pulled through and beat Drayton… things were somehow just going to get worse.
And the distance between them would only grow
So Carmine had a lot on her mind already, and the demanding workload of school life wasn't helping matters.
As she exited her Intermediate Ability Studies class, she fretted to herself in the school hallways.
"Man… she wants me to write a whole 500-word essay on the impact of Abilities that suppress other Pokémon's abilities? And it's due by Friday? What a drag."
"Oh noooo!" she heard a voice say sarcastically. "The poor little princess from Kitakami has to write words on paper!"
She whipped around with fierce anger to see another classmate in the hallway mocking her.
"How horribly traumatic! Everyone feel sorry for her!"
"HEY!" she barked, raising her fist. "What's your problem, anyway!?"
"You wanna know what my problem is? Your freaking brother is the problem!" he snapped back.
"What—Kiki, I mean Kieran?"
"Yeah! He treated me like dirt after I lost to him, and said that he's going to kick me out of the League when he becomes Champion because apparently I'm not good enough! So you bet I got a bone to pick with him!"
"He said that to me too!" a female student snapped. "He even made fun of me, saying Lanturn is one of the lamest Pokémon out there and I should be ashamed for not relying on something more competitively viable!"
Carmine darted back and forth between the two angry students, her face full of fury and confusion.
"Yeah, well—why are you idiots crying to me over it!? What am I, my brother's keeper?"
"Well, isn't that the truth?" an angry boy strode over. "You two are always side by side next to each other, and it used to be he was so sensitive he always came crying right over to you!"
Carmine's eyes bulged. "Hey… NOBODY TALKS ABOUT KIKI LIKE THAT! Are you lookin' for a punch in the face!?"
"You see!" he pointed. "She does protect him!"
"Not only that! Did you know? She's friends with the whole BB League!" the girl shouted. "She probably pulled strings to get her little bro in ahead of everyone else! Nepotism at its finest!"
"What th—NO!" Carmine snapped back, getting a little overwhelmed as they all circled in on her. "It was the opposite of that! He begged me to do that, and I said no! He got strong all on his own, and—and so what!? Y-you can't all handle a little trash talk now!?"
More and more students in the hallway began to chime in.
"It goes way beyond trash talk! He's going to change the whole BB League and tear down the foundations of everything we worked for!"
"It's all a mess!"
"It's not fun anymore!"
"He called me pathetic!"
"He spit in my face!"
"Your brother's a freaking JERK!"
Carmine trembled angrily and her face twitched, confronted with all these angry peons at once. Her eyes kept darting around, not being able to focus on one voice at a time.
"All of you… BACK OFF! I did nothing wrong! And you're all taking out your anger on me!"
"She's right! Shouldn't we all be ganging up on Kieran instead?"
"Yeah, let's toss him out of the League!"
"No, no, NO!" Carmine growled so throatily her whole face turned red. "You leave him alone too!"
But this only elicited more angry protests from all of her classmates.
"Why don't you both go back to your little jungle island and leave the rest of us alone?"
Carmine seethed like she'd never seethed before.
"You'd better come here and say that to my FACE, jerkwad!" she lashed out, with tears in her eyes.
Just then, a light popped out in front of her.
"Huh? Ogerpon!?"
Ogerpon, seeming to sense her partner's distress, had come out of her Poké Ball all on her own and armed herself with her Teal Mask and ivy cudgel, reading to take on this gauntlet of n'er do wells threatening Carmine.
"Pon-pon-PONNNNN!" she shouted angrily.
"Grrr… you'd all better back off if you know what's good for you! Or I'll ask Ogerpon here to cream all of you and ship you back home to your mamas in a box!"
"Ponioooo!"
"Just what is going on out here?" an adult voice shouted out from a nearby room.
"Oh lovely…"
Everyone stopped and turned in shock as the art teacher of Blueberry stepped out and crossed his arms.
"Miss Carmine, you know the rules. No fighting in the hallways."
Carmine huffed. "I know, I know. Sorry, Mr. Burgh. Come on Ogerpon, put that away…"
"Grrrr…"
Burgh turned to all the rest of her classmates.
"And that goes for all of you," he said sternly. "This school is supposed to be a healthy and cooperative environment. If you have issues with your fellow students, please either settle it in a battle or talk it out civilly. But don't turn it into a circus. At Blueberry, we strive to rise above that."
The students all murmured and said, "Sorry, Mr. Burgh."
As they all began to sheepishly walk away, he continued addressing them.
"If any of you are experiencing repressed anger, I welcome any students to seek help from one of our guidance counselors. Or participate in one of my outdoor art classes. It's a very relaxing and therapeutic experience."
Burgh looked Carmine's way.
"I'm extending that invitation to you as well, Carmine. It would really help you with all of your… anger issues. And your Pokémon might benefit from expressing itself too."
She sighed. "You're right, Mr. Burgh. I'll… consider it."
With that, he returned to his classroom.
"The more things change between here and Kitakami, the more they stay the same…" Carmine grumbled. "Why do adults always treat me like the instigator?"
She pouted, ran her fingers through her hair, and crossed her arms.
"Whatever. Let's just go, Ogerpon."
But Ogerpon growled in response. Carmine looked down at her, and she hadn't been able to wipe the look that said 'ready for battle' off her face. She was still clutching her ivy cudgel and Teal Mask, clearly desiring some outlet to use them.
"…What? Mr. Burgh's right, we shouldn't be picking fights with people just to prove a point."
But Ogerpon seemed indignant, and stewed in her frustration.
Maybe I laid it on a little too thick about how we should stop all the bullies by hitting them back…
Carmine knelt down and faced her grumpy partner closer to eye level.
"I'm sorry Ogerpon… I know you just wanted to fight off the bullies in my honor. And… and I know you haven't gotten a whole lot of opportunities to run wild and unleash your abilities here. Since I haven't been doing much battling…"
"…Pon?"
Carmine felt like it had been steadily easier getting easier to communicate with Ogerpon the more time they had spent together… except for moments like this, where it felt like they were back at square one again.
"Ogerpon… would you like to go spend time at Cammie's Boxing Club again? You know…" She mimicked the actions of hitting a punching bag and whacking around a medicine ball.
The Mask Pokémon grumbled a little hesitantly at this suggestion, and Carmine knew why. The Boxing Club had been Carmine's easy answer to giving Ogerpon all that exercise she craved… quite a lot.
Not just for a lack of better ideas, but also to spare the League Club Room from having to shell out for another treadmill.
"Come on." Carmine offered her hand. "Maybe it would do you good to get out all that pent-up anger…" She winced at realizing she was echoing Burgh's words. "You know… way better than some silly fingerpainting would, anyway."
Ogerpon still seemed uncertain, but accepted Carmine's hand anyway as they walked down the halls. She was still frowning a bit, which made it difficult for Carmine not to frown as well.
After seeing Ogerpon off with her classmate Cammie, the Kitakami girl walked down the halls again in the direction of the League Club Room.
As she got closer, her steps slowly started to get faster, and faster. And faster.
Until Carmine was stomping down the halls of Blueberry Academy in a brisk pace, with an increasing look of restrained fury upon her face.
Now, instead of wanting to confront Kieran's sister, the other students were looking at her and giving her a wide berth, wanting their jawlines to remain non-crooked and praying mercy for whoever was the current target of the rough girl's ire.
Her feet were threatening to make craters in the floor by the time she swung the League Club Room door open and barged her way in.
All four members of the BB League, Lacey, Amarys, Crispin, and Tayon, looked up in shock. They were the only people in the room along with Drayton (of course he finally made one of these), who quickly ran over to block her, waving his hands.
"Hey, whoa, Carmine!" he exclaimed. "Sorry, but you saw the hours on the door, didn't you? We're in a meeting right now, Elite Four onl—"
"Buzz off, dweeb!" She flicked Drayton in the nose to get him out of her face and marched right over to Lacey.
"Ummm, hi, Carmine. What's—"
Carmine grabbed her by the arm. "You. Me. Outside. Now." And started pulling her towards the door.
Lacey looked back awkwardly at the room. "Uhhh, be back in a couple minutes, everyone?"
Carmine slammed the door behind her and backed Lacey up to the wall. Lacey leaned against it, feeling a little terrified of her bullheaded friend.
"Carmine, what's going on?" she asked nervously. "Why are we—"
Carmine shushed her. "Just hear me out for a minute, okay?" She took a huge breath. "You're facing up against Kiki next, right?"
"Y-yeah. Tomorrow. …Why?"
"Listen to me." She grabbed the edges of Lacey's pink coat tightly and pulled her in. "I need you to do me a favor."
"…?"
Carmine was breathing very heavily, and gritting her teeth. Lacey was used to her seething motions, but she had rarely seen Carmine in this much of a worked-up state.
"I need you… to beat… the living snot, out of my little brother. Okay?" Carmine let go with enough force to startle her. "Don't even think about holding back against him!"
Lacey was stunned, and her lip quivered as she tried to find the words.
"Carmine, I… Where is this coming from?"
"Just—" Carmine gently rocked Lacey against the wall. Lacey could see her eyes becoming watery. "I know how you feel about him, okay? And I know you want the best for him, believe me I do too! Just… please. Please don't hold back. Don't hand him the win."
Lacey pulled Carmine's hands back and held them in hers.
"Carmine… Of course I won't do that. You know I like your brother a lot, but you should also know I take my duties very seriously. I haven't thrown a match and I never will! Only honest battling! But…"
She gently brushed Carmine's hair out from her face.
"I guess I'm… confused? I know you and Kieran have had, a lot of issues lately. I get that. But, he's still your brother Carmine. I mean… wouldn't you still be proud to see him succeed and become an Elite Four member like us? Or, and I know this is hard to fathom, but… him being Champion? That would be such an amazing accomplishment for him! And, and you always talk about how you wish he would grow a lot stronger. Now he's doing it!"
"Yeah, I know. Of course I want to see him become a really strong Trainer. But…"
Carmine squirmed and trembled, her body making such insecure motions that were completely alien to her friend.
"Not like this," she said very shakily. "Not like what he's become. I-I feel like I don't even recognize him anymore. He's being so harsh to everyone, and—and they're all blaming me for it…"
"Wait, what!?" Lacey's distinctly defined eyebrows flew up.
"Just a few minutes ago… A bunch of students were yelling at me, telling me off 'cause of him and all the harsh things he said…"
"Goodness! That's awful! Why didn't you start with that!?" Lacey lightly pushed her away and scanned the hallways furiously. "Where are they now!? I'll go discipline them myself! That is just NOT right!"
Carmine ushered her to calm down.
"No, no please… I don't want to make it worse and have them think I'm some kind of tattletale."
"Yeah, but to resort to bullying, that's just—that's not…"
Lacey trailed off when she turned back to her friend and noticed something truly distressing.
Carmine was covering her face with her hands, trembling really hard, and gasping loudly for air.
Then Lacey saw the saline dripping through her fingers and realized she was trying to hold herself back from crying.
She swooped back over and cradled Carmine with all the affection she could muster.
"Carmine, what's—what's wrong!? Is it because of those meanies? Are… are you upset about Kieran?"
"I don't know…" Carmine said between sobs, burying her head in Lacey's embrace. "It's just, everything. I've been finding myself crying more and more when I'm alone."
Lacey huffed in anguish. "Carmieee! Why don't you tell me these things?"
"I don't—I don't want everyone to think lesser of me…" she blubbered. "But I don't know, it's like everything's going wrong all of a sudden… Kiki's become a jerk, Ogerpon hasn't been very happy around here and I think I'm a bad partner, and I haven't been sleeping well and—and…"
She stopped mid-sentence, which led Lacey to gently push further while letting Carmine's tears soak her jacket.
"And what, Carmine?"
"Something just feels off… I don't know what. It's like—like a part of me never became back from Kitakami or something. I keep feeling like I'm missing something and I don't know what… If I could just figure it out…"
"Ohhhhh," Lacey cooed. "Well, you don't have to deal with these things alone, you know. Never ever."
"I know… I just—"
The moment was interrupted by the sound of the clubroom door creaking open. Drayton uneasily poked his head out.
"Hey—"
"GO AWAY, DRAYTON! Can't you see we're having a private moment here!?" Lacey lashed out to him in a louder and harsher manner than most people would expect from sweet little Lacey. "Just—just cancel the meeting! This is a friend emergency!"
"I know, and I'm sorry. It's just, y'know—Tayon and all…"
"Then just do the whole thing without me!" Lacey insisted. "I'll say goodbye to Tayon myself later! Just go!"
"Oooookay then…" Drayon awkwardly closed the door behind him.
"You should go back in…" Carmine mumbled. "They need you. I don't want to be a burden."
Lacey huffed again, this time stubbornly. "You are not a burden, Carmine! Don't ever say that about yourself. You can cry on my shoulder for as long as you absolutely need to."
"I don't deserve you, Lace…"
"Yes you do!" She pat Carmine on the head. "Everyone deserves a little bit of Lacey in their lives, and there's plenty of me to go around!" She held Carmine's chin up and started wiping her face. "Hey. Would you like to have a sleepover in my room tonight?"
Carmine sniffled. "You mean it…?"
"Yeah! We can have a little therapeutic girls' night! And you can bring Ogerpon! I think my room's super cute vibes could help you get some well-earned sleep and get both of your heads back on tight."
"Oh, Lace…" she sniffled some more and nuzzled her head in Lacey's chest. "That sounds wonderful after the week I've been having. Thank you. You're amazing."
"Awww, I know," Lacey answered, patting her head again.
The door started to creak open. Carmine instantly grabbed a Super Potion from her bag and chucked it at the door to force it closed again.
"Will you butt out already, bozo!?" she shouted.
"Ahhhhh!" Crispin's voice whined from inside. "What did I do!? I just wanted to go to the bathroom!"
"Hehe… there's my girl," Lacey giggled.
Juliana looked out into the sun as she stepped out of the Uva Academy doors after a long and sometimes strenuous day of studies.
With much of the goals she had set for herself during the Treasure Hunt having finally been completed, Juliana was slowly assimilating back into taking all the classes she'd signed up for and doing her homework on the regular, which had been quite the interesting transition from spending all her time running between locations, meeting lots of Pokémon, and raising up her team.
She stole a brief gaze at the sun shining over Mesagoza, and started contemplating about what her next move was.
There was still the matter of the last Titan Pokémon Arven had told her about, but he was still having trouble finding a lead on its exact location in the huge expanse of Casseroya Lake, especially given that there were conflicting reports on what this supposed False Dragon Titan actually looked like.
Maybe I gotta head to the lake myself and try to find it… But it looks like such a huge lake on the map…
Juliana had just started to weigh her options when her Rotom Phone started ringing.
She answered the unknown call, but there was silence on the other end.
"Umm… hello?" she pried.
"…Juliana?"
Juliana smiled upon recognizing that voice.
"Cassiopeia? Is that you with another mission?" she said with a smug grin.
"Ha-ha… No. Not anymore."
Juliana giggled. "What's up, Penny?"
"There's something I want to talk to you about."
"What is it?"
"N-not on the phone." She heard a gulp on the other end. "Could you come meet me in front of the school stairs? Y'know, where we first met?"
Juliana thought back on her first meeting with Penny, when she was being harassed by Team Star grunts at the foot of the stairs. Hindsight made her snicker. Did those two girls ever figure out who Penny really was? Their minds were probably blown!
"Of course."
"Great. Umm… I'll be waiting..." Then she hung up.
Juliana hoisted her bag up and got ready to make the long trek down the Uva Academy stairs. As she took each step, the memories of Operation Starfall's final chapter, just a couple days ago, swam through her mind…
"Ha-hah!"
Penny gasped in utter shock as her operative "Clive" removed his disguise and revealed himself as none other than…
"D-Director Clavell!?"
"Yeah, I-I figured…" Juliana non-reacted.
"Just as Cassiopeia was your disguise, the boy you knew as Clive was mine!"
"But… but why!?"
With Juliana as his witness, Clavell revealed to Penny his true intentions of taking on a disguise so that he could speak on equal terms with Team Star. And with that, he had a huge surprise for the Big Boss of Team Star…
Her friends. Her former teammates.
They all came out to greet Penny in the flesh for the first time.
"Yo, Big Boss! Long time no see!"
Juliana struggled not to tear up as she watched this delightful reunion/sort-of first meeting unfold. She felt a little bad for Penny, knowing the girl had given every vibe of a reclusive introvert and was now forced into the most intense social gathering of her life.
Especially when…
"Hasta la vistar, Cassiopeia! And hello Penny!"
"Hasta la vistar…" Penny reminisced on the stairs. "The six of us thought up that catchphrase back when we created the team. It's so cringey it's perfect, you know?"
"I'm glad you said something," Juliana giggled. "I had a hard time not making a face every time someone said that."
"Ha ha… yeah. It's hard for me to know what's cringey on a universal level or just feels like that way to me. I'm… not so great with people, as you've probably noticed. And I never seem to find the right words. So for me… most conversations kinda feel like cringe."
Juliana laughed at that.
Penny paused for a second. "…I like you though, Juliana. It feels like you take everything in stride, and see the joy out of every situation, no matter how cringy it is. That's why I got more comfortable showing my face around you as we went on."
"Well… thank you," Juliana replied, honored at that description. "I guess I always just try to keep a positive face about everything, and… that's always taken me pretty far. That's how I seem to keep on making friends, anyway!"
Penny nodded. "I kind of… I kind of wish I was like you."
But Juliana shook her head. "You're perfect just the way you are, Penny. You and everyone else in Team Star. Anyone who's got a problem with that… they're the ones who need to change."
Now Penny was blushing. "…Thanks, Juliana. You're really sweet." But then she pulled a more indignant face. "You should've said that to Director Clavell from the beginning!"
Juliana laughed even harder now.
Because funnily enough, Juliana remembered that most of Penny's stress that night seemed to come not just from meeting all her old friends face-to-face, but that she still couldn't get over that she had been sharing all her mission intel and giving instructions to the director of the academy himself.
"I mean—that's so weird! Especially with the outfit, and that big wig!"
Clavell cleared his throat, feeling a bit awkward about the whole thing.
"And—and Juliana… you knew!?"
Juliana's lips sucked in. "Umm… I mean, it's not like he told me outright. But, uhh, yeah when he first showed up as Clive, I… kind of recognized him right away."
Clavell responded with a blush of embarrassment.
"Well. Yes." He cleared his throat. "I… thank you for playing along with my act then, Miss Juliana. Apologies if you felt odd having to carry on the charade."
Penny swiftly turned to her quintet of Team Star comrades.
"Did all of you guys know!?"
"Well, I dunno," Giacomo shrugged. "I mean, I never put two and two together or whatever, but now things suddenly make a lot more sense with the way he was spitting…"
"Yeah! 'Cause he was actin' like a big fussy grown-up, right?" Mela agreed. "He really freaked me out!"
"As a trained artisan in the craft of disguising oneself, I could see there was more beyond thee adolescent persona and antiquated hairstyle," Atticus concurred.
"Huh? Uhh—yeah!" Ortega said nervously while smacking his cane. "I-I totally knew he wasn't just another dude too!"
"Oh, Ortie…" Eri giggled. "It's okay, I was fooled too."
Penny went on to explain to Juliana, with excitement and glee, that instead of getting in trouble with the Pokémon League for hacking into their systems and stealing LP for the operation, that Director Clavell vouched for her to volunteer with the League as a way to repay for debt, and Geeta was apparently impressed with her computer skills, even inviting for her to work for them after her graduation.
"That's amazing, Penny!" Juliana marveled. "I'm glad you got recognized for your talents instead of having more adults misjudge you. You deserve it after everything you went through."
"Y-yeah. Apparently, I have "outstanding talent" or something, according to them…"
Penny sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
"I'm still having trouble finding the right words but…" She bowed humbly. "Th-thank you...so much, Juliana. You saved Team Star—and my friends along with it!"
"It was my great pleasure," Juliana beamed.
"I know words won't ever be enough to properly thank you for all you've done. I owe you a great debt and umm…" Penny squeezed her gray hoodie with her jacket, searching for the words. "I'm like, really good with hacking and machinery and whatever. Yeah, so—If you ever figure out a way I can repay it, just let me know and I'll be there."
"Hmmm…" Juliana thought for a bit. "Y'know… I actually know how you can repay it right now."
"Huh? What's that? Wait, what are you—Ah!"
Without warning, Juliana walked over and gave Penny a soft, gentle hug. Penny didn't know what to do with her hands, or emotions. But, slowly, she let her hands fall on Juliana's back, and began to smile.
"Mm. This is kind of nice, actually."
Juliana broke off and said to her, "Let's keep on being friends. Okay? That'll mean so much more to me than anything else you could give me."
Penny considered this offer, and grinned for real.
"…Yeah. Sure. No problem. You really do feel like a friend to me after all that. Next time, I'll be the one helping you!"
"I can't wait!" Juliana grinned back.
"Well… I've got to get to class. Be seeing you, then. Hasta la vistar! "
"Ha-ha! Hasta la… vistar…"
"You—you really don't have to do the pose. We can… we can just forget about that," Penny cringed as she watched Julina hesitate to do the star pose.
"Fair 'nuff!"
Penny turned to run back up the stairs. But she only made it a few steps before turning around.
"Oh! And one more thing…" She paused again. "You remember that friend that you told me about? The one who you said got bullied a lot too?"
Juliana's face drifted somewhere between a smile and a frown.
"…I do."
"Ummm, if it's alright to ask… she was the one you were thinkin' about that night, wasn't she?"
"…"
Director Clavell had cleared his throat to get the group's attention again once everyone had a good laugh over his… regrettable disguise.
He announced that it was time to get down to the real matter: that of his decision on what to do with Team Star and the Academy's order those who refused to disband from the group would face explusion.
"It's time we put an end to this…" Clavell said gravely.
Giacomo gulped. "Here it comes…"
Eri and Mela exchanged worried glances with each other, as Atticus tried to console a fidgeting Ortega.
Penny closed her eyes, and became resigned to her fate. She was already thinking ahead: that she would be kicked out of the Academy forever now. That she would never see any of her friends again. That her family was going to be so disappointed in her.
"WAIT!"
Everyone sharply turned to Juliana, who blurted out of nowhere.
"Please, Director… can I say something?"
"You wish to… speak, Miss Juliana?" asked a confused Clavell. "…Very well. Go ahead."
"Okay. Because I just want to say, please… please don't punish them!" Juliana insisted.
Director Clavell was very stunned.
"Just don't do it. They're just victims of bullying. They didn't do anything wrong. Yeah. They lashed out at everyone. And stopped showing up to school. But so what? They were only doing what came naturally to them! After hearing everything they said…"
Juliana's voice began to croak.
"It's just… it's just what they do. When people were attacking them, and—and all the adults were just doing nothing about it… Because Penny, you were right! It was messed up what those teachers did! They should've seen what was going on and put a stop to it before you all had to do it yourselves! Instead they ran away… like cowards."
"…Maybe, maybe they only did it because they blamed themselves…" Penny suggested.
"Maybe. But… it's just—it's so unfair!" Juliana's eyes were squinching now, as if she was trying to stop tears from happening. "To go through so much bullying in your life… And then all the adults just think you're a rowdy kid instead of a victim… Making you feel all alone in the world…"
The Team Star bosses all looked at each other rather uncomfortably, feeling a sense that Juliana was pulling all of this from somewhere deep within.
"You shouldn't be alone. You shouldn't. And not everyone gets to have someone like—like…"
Juliana had to stop herself, because she realized at that moment that none of them would know what she meant by saying Ogerpon.
"You guys, Team Star… you all have each other. You found something in common, and you turned your hardships into—into friendship. You all became each other's greatest treasure. That's so wonderful. And—and you guys deserve to keep that friendship!"
She turned sternly now to Director Clavell.
"And… and I don't care what the Academy has to say about that! If you're going to go against Team Star just because they had to take matters into their own hands against a world that hates them… then I'm going to keep on supporting them too! And—and you can punish me too if you like!"
Everyone was rendered speechless. Juliana, the soft-spoken girl everyone at the Academy knew, had just wrung out a speech that hit an emotional crater and tugged on all of their heartstrings.
Mela turned to Giacomo, who was hiding his face.
"Awww. Are you cryin'?"
"Of course I'm not crying! I just—I just have something in my eye! It's my allergies actin' up!"
"Miss Juliana…" Clavell uttered.
He didn't say anything for a few seconds. But then, much to Juliana's surprise… he began to clap.
"Champion for only a day… and you're already setting a wonderful example. Standing up for your fellow students. Brining them together in solidarity. And willing to take a bullet for them. Those are the true makings of a Champion lighting the way for Paldea. Well done, Miss."
"Ummm… thank you?" Juliana replied, a bit confused.
"Your compassion for others is unbound. Your words were very moving, and I could tell you delivered that whole speech from your heart. Though… I'm embarrassed to say, rather unnecessarily so."
"Huh?"
"Because you see, what I was about to say to Team Star is that…" He gracefully bowed. "They all have my sincerest apologies."
The members of Team Star all reacted in shock.
"…Come again?" said Penny.
"As director of the academy, I let you down. My handling of your situation was a dismal failure..." Clavell explained regrettably. "And… you're correct, Miss Juliana. The whole of our faculty, past and present, bears fault in everything that transpired. There may never be a way to fully make up for the faculty's mistakes."
Juliana didn't say anything, but she was… touched to know that she had resonated this much with the Director.
"Ever since my first days as director, all I've ever experienced of the academy is an environment blessedly free from bullying. But I now know this peace was built on the backs of your hurt and anger—and, of course, your immense courage in putting things to right. As Miss Juliana said… you shouldn't have had to go through all of that on your own. We have to take our responsibility as adults, to make this a safe and friendly environment for everyone."
Juliana nodded proudly.
"And so, I'll get straight to the conclusion. The academy's order for Team Star to disband and my threat to expel those who did not obey...are hereby revoked!"
Juliana was silent. Penny felt a bit embarrassed now.
"I mean… you don't have to answer if you don't wanna."
Juliana closed her eyes for a second, but then she glumly nodded.
"Yes. Yes, she was. When I said those things about having to lash out against bullies, and having all the adults around you turn their backs on you… That—that all came from her. Those were the things that she said happened to her."
"…I'm sorry to hear all of that," Penny sympathized. "This friend… was she someone you met in Kitakami?"
Juliana nodded with a chuckle. "Yup. She was one of the students from the other school Blueberry Academy, but… Kitakami is her homeland."
"Is she… your greatest treasure?"
Juliana didn't really have an answer for that. In fact, her Treasure Hunt was nearing its end, and she didn't have an answer at all to what her greatest treasure might be. Even on the Champion Assessment Interview when Rika asked her what was most important to her, she was honest and told Rika there were too many things.
But she thought about Team Star, and how they all said their friends were their greatest treasure. And Juliana began to think about her own friends.
Nemona. Arven. Penny now included.
Meowscarada and all the other Pokémon she's met and put on her team.
And of course… Carmine.
And Kieran.
Her dear friends from Kitakami, weighing on her noggin every single day.
"Yeah…" She finally decided. "I think… she, and you… all my friends… I think there is a chance that you're all my greatest treasure."
Penny smirked. "Then maybe… I already repaid my debt to you in advance…" she muttered to herself.
"Huh?"
"…Nothing," Penny shook her head. "That friend of yours, where is she now? Do you guys still keep in touch?"
Juliana sadly shook her head.
"No. We don't. She had to go back to her own school, and I had to come back here. We didn't exchange phone numbers or anything like that. Even though we really should've."
Juliana couldn't explain why, but thinking about Carmine this much again… she felt a mix of emotions. Like happiness and sadness at the same time.
Penny could tell that too.
"Then… I hope she's doing okay now, wherever she is."
"Yeah." Juliana sniffled a bit, but turned to Penny with a sad smile. "I really hope so too."
"Well…. I got nothing else to say, so… see ya."
Juliana chuckled. "See ya around, Penny!"
Penny nodded and went back up the staircase, leaving Juliana alone to commiserate.
She looked out into the Paldean sun again.
"When you're alone and don't have anyone else…" she said quietly to herself.
She kept gazing out into the sky, thoughtfully. Determined to do something. She could see a little glimmer in the distance… sparkles from the small pond in the town park. Like a glimmering ocean. Somebody at the park was playing with their Fidough.
A smile crept along her face, and the wind blew through Juliana's hair, giving her a look of determination.
"I know where I'm heading next."
Carmine sat all crumpled up in her bed. Her blankets pulled up against her legs. Alone with nobody but her own sad thoughts.
She sighed.
There was a knock on her door.
"…That you, Lacey? You can come in."
The door opened.
"I think I'm ready for that sleepover, Lace. Let's go."
"…Who's Lacey?"
"Huh?"
That voice felt familiar. Carmine looked up… and she swore her eyes almost flew right out of her skull when she saw who was at the door.
"Hey…" the Paldean girl giggled.
"J-J-Juliana!?"
"So you do remember me!" Juliana replied cheerfully. "It's been so long!"
Carmine scrambled upright.
"What th—Is that really you!?"
Juliana looked around confused. "Who… else would I be?"
"Bu—B—Wh—What on earth are you doing here!?" Carmine's entire mind was racing. Juliana was… here! At her school! But how!?
"Hee-hee! Surpriiiiise! I asked for a transfer!" Juliana answered, not losing her cheery demeanor.
"A transfer? You mean, you mean—"
"That's right!" Juliana clapped her hands together and smiled. "I'm a Blueberry student now! So from now on, I'll be going to school with YOU!"
"Well, that—that's great! That's wonderful! I always, I always thought you'd fit in here! But… why?" Carmine rackled through her hair, still very confused and in shock. "Why did you decide to switch to Blueberry all of a sudden?"
Juliana just giggled in response and held a finger to her mouth.
"Is it really not obvious?"
Carmine just furrowed her eyebrows in response.
Juliana dropped her smile all of a sudden, and looked a bit… sullen.
"…I missed you, Carmine."
Carmine swallowed. "You what?"
"I—I missed you a lot. That's why. I went to all to this trouble… just so I could see you again."
She began to pace around Carmine's room.
"Every day I couldn't see your shining face, I just—it was killing me. My heart was hurting without you. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I couldn't even breathe."
Carmine's mouth was agape. "I… I don't know what to say."
Juliana started to grin again. "You don't have to say anything, Carmine. I found you again. And now we're together again. That's all that matters."
"I, I guess it is." Carmine didn't know why she was feeling weirdly okay with all this.
"Good. I'm so glad to hear that. Because now that I've found you again…" Juliana sharply turned around and... closed the room to her door. And locked it. "Let's celebrate."
Carmine was feeling weirdly unnerved now. "Celebrate… how?"
"Oh. You know. Let's just… have some fun."
She walked over to Carmine's blinds and pulled them down, shrouding them both from the outside world, after which Juliana fluttered her eyebrows at her. Carmine was looking even more pensive.
"Umm, okay? What did—what did you have in mind?"
Then Juliana started doing something… weird. She started rubbing Carmine's bedside with her hands. Slowly, almost… sensually.
"Please forgive me, Carmine. But I just—I can't take it anymore. Every passing second without your longing embrace, I just—I want to die, Carmine."
Slowly, like a bug… she hunched herself over the frame—the bedframe?
Hang on, my bed in my dorm room doesn't have a frame. Is this… wait, this is my bed from home… How did it get here? How did I get in it?
…until Juliana had found her way on top of Carmine's plaid red comforter from her childhood home, crawling towards the Kitakami girl on all fours like a Poochyena, with a sultry look on her face.
"Every second that I'm not with you… Every breath I'm not sharing with you…"
Carmine was getting seriously freaked out now, and started gripping her bedsheets tightly, backing all the way against the wall.
"Juliana, what's—what's going on? What are you doing?"
She couldn't back up any further as she found Juliana slowly leaning over her. A bizarre, almost feral look in her eyes. Juliana grabbed at the band holding together her Kitakami-style ponytail and pulled it off, letting her long, beautiful brunette hair roam free.
"That's much better. Don't you agree? Aren't I much prettier this way?"
"I, I… What's happening right now?" Carmine said, feeling mostly frightened now. She was breathing heavily, and gasped as Juliana reached her hand towards Carmine's face. "What, what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry, it's just… you're so sweaty, Carmine," said Juliana with a worried face, lightly touching her cheek. She used her finger to lift Carmine's chin up.
"I'm…?"
"Are you feeling hot? We can't have that. Can we? Let me help you with this."
"Wh—STOP! HEY! Wh—what are you doing!?"
Much to her incredulous surprise, Juliana brought her hands down and started unbuttoning Carmine's academy top! Carmine could only look on completely befuddled, but weirdly not outraged, as the girl undid each button, one by one, and eventually forced the whole thing right off of her, leaving Carmine in her sweat-drenched black undershirt.
"Hee-hee! Much better. Hello, girls."
Juliana tossed Carmine's top to the floor.
"Juliana, you're—you're crazy!" Carmine sputtered, completely aghast. "You're being completely wild right now and—and you're scaring me!"
"Am I, Carmine? Am I really? I don't think I am…"
Why is she saying these things, what do they mean? Why did she just undress me!? Why can't I escape? Why—why does it feel like I don't even want to? Why is this even happening right now!?
"Because you want this, that's why."
"…Huh!?"
"Isn't this… what you want?" Juliana said quietly and breathlessly. "Deep inside of you, isn't this what you crave? You and me… your little wild city girl?"
Carmine breathed even harder as Juliana laid her hands down flat on the sheet, towering over Carmine now, and her face drew in even closer. Carmine felt like her heart was beating so hard it was about to rip right out of her chest.
"Now here I am, and I'm all yours," she whispered sensually into Carmine's ear.
She licked her extremely wet lips, making Carmine's heart flutter.
"Kiss me, Carmine… Kiss me, and I'll all be yours. Forever and ever."
Against all of her instincts, Carmine felt herself leaning in towards Juliana's wanting lips. Her eyes began to close. She puckered her lips. Wanting to just melt into this moment…
And then.
"GUHH!"
Carmine jolted awake from her side of the bed in a complete frenzy.
"What was THAT!?"
Ogerpon jostled awake from Carmine's yells after being asleep inbetween her and Lacey.
Carmine was sweating buckets through her pajamas, and she was breathing hard. She tried to focus on all the bright string lights glimmering in Lacey's room, desperately seeking a grip on reality.
"Why did I just dream about Juliana like that!? Why was I about to kiss her!? Wh—WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?!"
Lacey was startled awake by Carmine's shouting and within milliseconds was in frantic mom mode.
"Carmine! Carmine, it's me!" she grabbed her friend's arm. "What happened!? Did you have a nightmare?"
Carmine's eyes were darting around like ping-pong balls. She couldn't stop breathing heavy. She was shaking and trembling. She looked down at her own hands, which were hot as the sun, with a face of abject horror.
"N-no… Something, far, far worse…"