(A retelling of "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" with a Juliana/Carmine romantic angle that starts out faithful but gradually diverges with new story beats and expanded character development.
This fic is set in the same canon as my Katy/Larry fic "Vanilla is the Warmest Flavor" for worldbuilding purposes. So while I might draw some allusions to that story here and there, beyond that this is a completely self-contained story with a different set of characters that DOES NOT require you to have read that fic first.
This story however will contain spoilers for all the major storylines in Scarlet/Violet and its DLC.)
"Ugh! Just look at them, Kieran. They're even bigger squares than I thought."
"Really? They all look… pretty normal to me."
"Well of course you think that, Kiki. You're as much a square as they are!"
Kieran lowered his binoculars. "Hey, I'm—I'm not a square."
Carmine lowered hers for a second just to roll her eyes and scoff at her younger brother.
"You are. But you're lucky our school's colors make you look a little less lame. Take a look at what Paldea's oh-so-prestigious academy forces these dweebs to wear. Purple? As a color for school uniforms?" Carmine chuckled to herself. "Who do you suppose their mascot is, a big smiling grape?"
"I mean… our school's called Blueberry Academy—"
"Hey!" Carmine interrupted. "Don't argue with your sister. It's not very nice."
"But, but…" Kieran sighed in resignation. "Okay. Sorry, sis."
Carmine leaned in a bit further on the stone wall to try to get a better shot at the group all standing around at the bus stop just outside of Mossui Town.
"Geez, look at Ms. Briar yapping on and on. Those poor kids look bored out of their minds. With any luck, they'll decide this trip's way too lame for them and want to run back home."
She scoped and re-scoped the lens of her binoculars trying to adjust her focus.
"Oh?" Then, at that moment, her eyes were drawn to one of the students in particular.
"Hey, Kieran. Take a look at that girl."
"The one with the braid in her hair?"
"Yeah. Her. The one that's almost as short as you."
Carmine was now laser-focused on a young girl among the class. She indeed rivaled Kieran in height, but looked mature enough that she was probably closer to Carmine's age than her little brother's. Her hair was a soft dark brown with a right side braid, and she was wearing what appeared to be the slim "summer" variant of her school uniform.
As Carmine observed this girl, she started to giggle out loud, surprising Kieran. As Briar talked endlessly, the girl had started gazing in all sorts of directions at the landscape around her.
What amused Carmine even more was how much this girl seemed to smile bigly at Pokémon such as Spinarak or Poochyena wandering about nearly, as if she'd somehow never seen such common Pokémon before.
"So what's your story, little miss sunshine? Never been outside and seen grass with your own eyes?" Carmine scoffed derisively. "I told Ms. Briar this was a terrible idea. These kids are your typical tourists, so cozied up in their own little world that dumb, simple things are amazing to them just because they're somewhere 'exotic'. Kids like her are going to ruin our little haven of a town."
"Huh… I don't know," Kieran doubted. "She seems pretty harmless to me. In fact, she looks kinda cool…"
Carmine took off her binoculars and gave her brother a miffed look.
"Really cool, huh? Perhaps I should introduce you to her if you want her to be your girlfriend so badly!" Kieran's whole face flushed red. "Didn't our grandparents ever teach you not to trust strangers?"
"Well…"
"And why should I trust your opinion, anyway? You're the same knucklehead who thinks the scary ogre from the legends is the good guy!"
"I told you, everyone's got that legend all wrong!" Kieran argued back. "I think what really happened is—"
Just then, Carmine caught sight of something and shushed Kieran quickly, putting her gloved hand over his mouth.
"Keep quiet, Kiki! Look!"
She pointed out in the distance. The girl, the same one she had been eyeing a minute ago, was now running up the road towards town. Alone, without the others.
"Oh my gosh! What is this?" Carmine guffawed. "Miss Pretty thinks she's real brave, huh? Doing reconnaissance for her scrawny little friends."
She stood up with an air of confidence.
"Come on, Kiki. It's time for us as Mossui Town's loyal guards to intercept this unwelcome visitor!"
"But, but…"
Kieran tried to argue, but Carmine had already run off with glee towards the town entrance. He sighed dejectedly.
"Man… why is she acting so high and mighty all of a sudden? And what does 'reconnaissance' mean anyway?"
"Awww! Aren't you a cutie!"
Juliana, a young Pokémon Trainer from Paldea and a student of Uva Academy, had made it halfway up the road to Mossui Town when she stopped to admire a small blue amphibious Pokémon that was dancing in delight atop a field of mud-soaked crops.
"You're a Wooper, right?" Juliana asked, flipping open her Pokédex to verify. "You sure do look very different from the ones we have back home, but you've still got that adorable smile!"
The pale blue-colored Wooper jumped in the air with a happy grin, and then dove into the muddy patch, only its eyes visible to the Paldean girl.
"Ooh, are you looking to play hide and seek?"
Juliana giggled at the Wooper's playfulness, but then her eyes were drawn back to her fellow students and chaperone still waiting at the bus stop.
"Gosh, there's so many cool new Pokémon just on this little road alone. I'd love to stay and explore so I can play with all of you, but I'm afraid I'm on an important mission! Wish me luck, okay?"
She waved goodbye to the Wooper, who gave a happy cry back to her as she resumed her trek up the hill and into town.
"Huh, so this is Mossui Town…"
Juliana glanced around at all the buildings and homely atmosphere of the small town. She barely made it down the road in front of the building Briar had pointed to when suddenly…
"NOT SO FAST!"
"Woah!"
Someone swooped in out of nowhere and blocked Juliana's path forward. She gazed at the figure and was surprised to see a very tall, extremely pretty girl who looked to be around her age, clad in a blue uniform with a unique hairstyle that was black at the front but with red highlights on its backside, and bangs in the shape of an X over her face. With a yellow headband holding it all together.
"Umm… hi! Who are you?" Juliana greeted her nervously.
A much shorter boy, clad in a white uniform and sporting a very similar hairstyle to the tall girl's, ran up behind her, panting a little.
The taller girl took a few seconds to just stare at Juliana, scanning her up and down.
"So… you're one of those students who came from the Paldea region, huh?"
"Woah… way cool…" muttered the short boy as he peered out from behind her. Juliana gave him a soft smile, which made him blush.
"Hush, Kieran," his companion whispered.
"Y-yeah. That's right! My name's Juliana!" she greeted enthusiastically. "What's yours?"
The girl raised an eyebrow at her.
"You're awful friendly to strangers, aren't you? Well, the name's Carmine to you and you've got a lot to learn about this place."
"Hi, Carmine!" Juliana replied without skipping a beat. "Say, would you mind helping me out, please? That's the community center, right?" She asked, pointing to the building.
"Heh. That's on a need-to-know basis, I'm afraid."
"…But that is the community center," Kieran mumbled.
Carmine seethed at her younger brother. "Ugh! What part of 'need to know' did you not pick up on!? Don't give the outsiders all our town secrets!"
"Sis, there's… there's a sign right there saying it…"
Juliana watched this back and forth banter between the two, and despite trying her best to stifle herself, started giggling.
This only served to redirect Carmine's ire.
"Hey! Just what are you laughing at!?"
"You two!" Juliana responded between giggles. "You're so funny! Are you guys brother-and-sister or something?"
"Is it that obvious?" Kieran wondered, fingering the cross-shaped bangs over his face.
"This mockery will not go unpunished!" Carmine seethed, bringing her hands in front of her face like fists. She took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Sorry kid, but Mossui Town is a very sacred village. We can't just let any outsider wander in."
"Really?" Juliana quickly looked back at the road where her group was waiting. "Eeeven if it's a medical emergency?"
Carmine shook her head. "You look fine to me. So did all your little friends from where I could see them. Excuses will get you nowhere. If you insist on coming in, you'll have to battle me first."
Kieran shuffled off to the side, looking embarrassed.
"C-c'mon, sis… You just wanna battle. Makin' this big fuss over nothing…"
"I told you to hush, Kiki!" Carmine seethed again. She turned back to Juliana with a smile. "Just ignore my little brother."
"Aw man…"
"Well then… sure! Why not?" Juliana eagerly dug out one of her Poké Balls. "I'm always fair game for a fun battle!"
Hope you're fair game for getting stomped on too, you smiley weirdo.
"Alright, let's do this. Get into position!" Carmine smirked at her opponent. "I'm going to have some real good fun with you."
"Welcome to Kitakami! For your first experience, get ready to eat dirt!"
The battle began, with Carmine sending out her trusty Poochyena. Juliana, knowing she knew next to nothing about the Pokémon that Kitakamites use in battle, went with her trusted partner first.
"Meww!" cried Floragato.
"Aww, it's so cute!" Carmine seemed to beam. Then her devious smirk returned. "It's going to look even cuter laying flat on the pavement!"
But in spite of her best efforts, Juliana's Floragato managed to hang on from Poochyena's vicious attacks and hit back with a strong U-turn, leaping into the air. This took out the Dark-type Poochyena completely, causing it to faint.
"Drat!" shouted Carmine.
"Woah…" said Kieran.
Carmine growled. "So your little school does teach you a few smarts about battling amidst all the boring math and history subjects, huh? W-well, big deal! Let's see how well your little friend does against this!"
She tossed another Ball, which brought out a cute orange fox-like Pokémon.
"Ohhhh, so adorable!" Juliana gleamed, kneeling down. "That's Vulpix, isn't it? It's a Fire-type, but it can also be an Ice-type depending on the region! We read about it in school!"
"Oh, you read about it in a book. Well at Blueberry Academy, we really learn all the advanced battling techniques, and we do it on the field! Hey, where'd that grassy cat go anyway?"
Juliana gave her a bemused look.
"Umm… Floragato went back into its Ball. That's—that's how the move U-turn works. Don't they teach you about moves like that at your school?"
Juliana meant it with sincerity, but Carmine looked gobsmacked.
Kieran couldn't help but snicker. "You walked right into that one, sis."
"Shut up! Both of you!" Carmine was really ticked off. So that whole 'nice girl' routine was just an act! She caught me off-guard just to make fun of me!
"I guess I have the advantage now," Juliana smiled. "Go Finizen!"
Juliana's Finizen popped out from a Net Ball and did a graceful flip in the air.
"You hoard a lot of cute Pokémon, don't you?" Carmine cracked a bit of a smile. "You're just like a girl I know back at school. But cuteness alone doesn't equal strength, or else I'd be the strongest person in the world! Vulpix, give 'em a good Quick Attack!"
"Vul! Vul! VULPIX!"
Vulpix dazzled its opponent by seeming to appear and disappear like lightning, getting ready to strike when…
"Finizen, Aqua Jet!"
Before Vulpix even had a chance to attack, Finizen charged forward like a torpedo in water and blasted Vulpix with a burst of bubbles, leaving it severely weakened.
"Wowzers, so cool!" Kieran marveled.
Carmine seethed yet again. "Wh- who's side are you on anyway!? Keep your comments to yourself!"
"Aww…"
"Okay, Finizen!" Juliana commanded with confidence. "I think it's time we flipped this battle around! Go, Flip Turn!"
Carmine scoffed to herself. You sound like an anime protagonist.
With a heartened dolphin chirp, Finizen braced itself, and then charged forward, hitting Vulpix like a crashing wave of water before flipping in the air.
"Vul…"
Vulpix fainted, and Finizen returned to its Ball.
Carmine was enraged. "Do you have any Pokémon that actually stay out the whole battle instead of running away like cowards!?"
Juliana shrugged with a smile. "It's a solid strategy."
"Grrr! There's nothing more solid than what my last Pokémon is going to do to you! GO, Poltchageist!"
Carmine sent out her last Pokémon, a curious floating Pokémon that looked like a tea caddy full of matcha tea.
Juliana gasped in delight. "OH MY GOSH! Is that a regional form of Sinistea!?" She eagerly pulled out her Pokédex to scan. "I didn't know Sinistea had one of those!"
"Sinistea? So you come from one of the places that has that dainty little teacup?" Carmine put her hand over her mouth as she giggled. "I feel so sorry for you! This right here is Poltchageist! It's way cuter and way more awesome than your silly Sinistea!"
Her Poltchageist waved its stick in the air and cried happily.
"And it's called Polt-cha-geist? Not… Sinist-cha? Why'd they mix the names up?"
"I've always wondered that too," Kieran commented.
"Wh—I don't know!" Carmine barked. "Hey, are you going to just keep making googly eyes at my Pokémon or are you going to take this seriously?"
"Fair enough. You asked for it. Go, Ceruledge!"
"HYUHH!"
Ceruledge practically somersaulted into battle and sheathed its flaming blades with great fury.
"That's the coolest one yet!" Kieran beamed.
Carmine's eyes were wide. "Wh… what— what the heck is that thing!?"
Poltchageist began to shake nervously, getting the feeling it was suddenly in danger…
The battle ended as one would naturally expect.
Poltchageist fell, and Carmine reluctantly recalled her last Pokémon and admitted defeat.
"You… who ARE you?" Carmine whispered to herself.
"Wowzers!" Kieran exclaimed. "I can't believe you beat my sis!"
With a proud sigh, Juliana recalled Ceruledge and walked up to face her tall opponent again.
"I can't believe it… there's no way you should've been able to beat me!" Carmine growled.
"Glad we got that all settled," said Juliana. "That was a great battle!"
Carmine just shook her head. "Yeah, I'm sure it was for you."
"You had fun too, right?" asked Juliana. "As long as you put in your all, that's what matters in the end!"
"…What."
Carmine just leered at the strange new girl in response, as if trying to read her.
"Umm…" Juliana's eyes shifted around nervously.
"Are you making fun of me?"
"What? No! Of course not! I would never do that to someone! I was being serious. You're a great battler."
Carmine's expression barely changed. "Okay…"
Hmm. She's either a master of manipulation… or a girl who's way too nice for her own good.
"…Fine. I guess you pass. Barely." She said that last word with gritted teeth. "Seems I've got no choice. I'll let you into town, but only if you become one of my grunts and do every little thing I say—"
Just then, a voice cut her off.
"Oi! What're you doing, causin' a ruckus out here!"
The siblings looked behind them to see the very angry caretaker of Mossui Town's community center approaching them.
"Tch. Here comes trouble… C'mon, Kiki. We're out of here." Carmine then pointed her finger threateningly at Juliana. "You haven't seen the last of us, goldilocks."
She sprinted off into town after that, leaving her addled brother behind.
"B-but I—" Kieran gave Juliana a quick apologetic look, then took off after his sister. "Wait up, Sis!"
Juliana sheepishly waved goodbye.
The caretaker turned to her with an apologetic look.
"Why, hello there, stranger! You must be one of the students from the Paldean academy, right?"
"That's me," Juliana responded. "My name's Juliana."
"Charming to meet you! What a polite young girl. You can call me Nao. I help run the community center here in Mossui Town… and a far few other things besides!" Nao looked in the direction the siblings had run off to. "I hope those two kids weren't giving you any grief just now… were they?"
"Well… a little bit. But it wasn't a huge problem."
"I'm glad you're such a good sport about it. I hardly know what to do with the two of them… Especially that Carmine. Always been a handful, that one. I apologize if she gave you a hard time."
"Oh, it wasn't too bad," Juliana assured him. "Actually… I had a lot of fun. They're not so terrible."
Especially Carmine… She was kind of pushy, but it made her a lot of passion into that battle. I hope I get to meet her and her brother again.
Juliana felt a weird tenderness in her heart, thinking about those two.
From there, the caretaker was alerted to the group's situation with the student who was nauseous from the traveling, and he along with Juliana and the rest of the group was shown into the community center's quarters.
Night fell onto the land of Kitakami, and the village of Mossui became quiet as a mouse.
Quiet everywhere… except for inside the house at the top of the highest hill in town.
"It was amazing! The dolphin Pokémon swooped around and twirled in the air like it was a ballet dancer, and took out Sis's Vulpix in a single wave of water!"
"How thrilling!" Hideko remarked, listening to his grandson's raving tale.
Kieran was a ball of energy running around the dining table in excitement as he pantomimed all the actions he was describing. His grandfather sat and listened with keen earnestness, while his grandmother got up to start collecting everyone's dinner plates.
Carmine was batting around her last piece of braised cabbage with a fork, trying her best not to look irritated as her younger brother regaled in the story of her latest defeat.
"And then—and then—Juliana sent out her last Pokémon! And it was this amazing Pokémon Sis and I had never seen before! It was like a cool knight in shining armor with a blue flame on its head! And both of its arms were SWORDS with even more blue flames on it! You should've seen it Grandma, it was so incredible!"
"Oh, I bet it was, sprout," his grandmother Yukito replied.
Carmine stood up suddenly. "Let me help you with those plates, Grandma."
"Hoo! My, my, dearie!" Yukito chuckled. "You've never offered to help me clean up before."
"That Blueberry school must be doing wonders for your manners," Hideko chortled.
"It's nothing to do with that. I'd just rather be anywhere than hear any more of Kiki's rambling about how badly I lost," she replied, shooting a glare in Kieran's direction.
"Awww, come on, sis. You gotta admit that battle was really awesome even if you lost. Juliana was pretty cool! Y-y'know, for an outsider, I mean."
Carmine just scoffed and followed her grandmother into the kitchen with a stack of plates.
As Yukito turned on the sink and started rinsing dishes, she turned to her granddaughter with a polite smile.
"Why must you always be such a sourpuss towards Kiki, Carmine? As his big sister, you should be encouraging him more."
"Humph." Carmine looked indignant.
"Don't you want him to be happy? It's okay to be upset that you lost a battle, but do you know when's the last time we saw Kieran this excited about something? You write to us all the time about how much trouble he has fitting in with the other kids at your school, and that he's always so put-down. We can only do so much to cheer him up here. You're his big sister and you're always watching over him. That means it's your job to support him, sweetie."
Carmine sighed. "I know, Grandma. I promise I'll do a better job at supporting Kiki… just so long as he gets better at listening to my orders!"
Yukito chuckled. "You inherited our family's stubbornness gene alright, dearie. But you need to learn to lighten up a bit. Now head on back out there and I'll fix you both up some delicious mochi!"
Carmine nodded with a smile and walked out of the kitchen, stewing over her grandma's words.
She stopped in the middle of the hallway as she grasped one of her Poké Balls. A look of determination came upon her face.
"You want me to be less stubborn towards Kieran and 'lighten up'? Fine. Then instead, I'll channel all that energy into finding a way to wipe that dumb smile clean off that Juliana girl's face."