The next day, all the Uva students lined up outside the Mossui Town community center, with Ms. Briar their chaperone and Nao the caretaker gathered and the Kitakami siblings standing next to them.
"Morning, everyone!" Ms. Briar greeted. "Starting today, you'll be joined by two students from our own Blueberry Academy. Go on, kids! Introduce yourselves!"
The taller sibling rolled her eyes but put on her best fake smile.
"Hi! I'm Carmine! It's a pleasure to meet all you outsiders—I mean visitors from Paldea! Hee-hee!"
She opened her eyes… and was met with the sight of Juliana jumping up and waving at her excitedly. Carmine snarled her lip and gave a dramatic hair flip in response.
"I-I'm Kieran…"
"Carmine and Kieran actually grew up here, so ask them for help if you need anything," Nao instructed. "And you two had better be of real help, you hear me?"
"Aye-aye." Not on these brats' lives, old timer.
"R-right…" I hope they all go to Carmine instead of me…
Nao proceeded to explain the orienteering exercise he had planned for the schoolgoers, splitting them into pairs, having them find three signboards in Kitakami depicting the land's old folk legends, and taking snapshots in front of them.
"Remember that one of the goals of this trip is to deepen the ties between our two schools," Briar informed them. "Having someone who knows the area well would be a big help so… let's try to maximize the number of interschool pairs, okay? Time to mingle!"
She stepped back to give both pairs of students the room to interact, which made Kieran gulp.
"I thought you and I would just go together," he whispered to Carmine.
"Yeah, tough luck, huh? Guess we'll have to divide and conquer."
Carmine put on a smile she knew didn't look too genuine as she gazed around. So which one of you rugrats will take the plunge?
Kieran tried his best not to just stare at the ground.
The students from Uva Academy all looked at them rather nervously, no doubt intimidated by these students from another school, especially after having heard tales around town about them being awfully rowdy.
So it figures one brave student would be the first to approach them.
Juliana smiled at the two of them. Carmine just raised an eyebrow.
The things I'd shout at you right now if the adults weren't here…
"Oh, it's you… You're Juliana or whatever, right?" Carmine asked, pretending she hadn't heard the pest's name a dozen times back at home.
"Yup! And you're still Carmine!" Juliana nodded with the same saccharine smile. "And… Kieran, right?"
"Y-you remembered me…" Kieran breathed.
"Let me guess, you want to pair up with one of us poor, lonely Blueberry students? Or did you just not get enough of my insane beauty yesterday?"
Juliana blushed a lot, which only made Carmine's sickly smile grow.
"Well, m-maybe not like that but… yeah! Our battle yesterday was so much fun, and I'd love to get to know you better. … B-both of you, I mean."
Of course the enemy wants to learn our secrets.
"Gosh, it's so sweet that you were thinking of us all this time." Carmine replied in a very unserious tone. She took a quick glance at Kieran, and a devilish idea formed in her head. "Oh yeah. So my little brother here has been all googly-eyed over you since yesterday."
Kieran gasped at being called out.
"Really?" said Juliana, sounding touched. Kieran tried to hide behind his bangs as his face flushed.
"N-n-no I haven't!"
"He wouldn't stop talking about you, even at home. I seriously couldn't get him to shut up."
Kieran stared angrily at her. "S-Sis! What're you tellin' him that for, dummy!"
"HEY! Watch who you call 'dummy' if you know what's good for you!" Carmine threatened, raising her fist.
"Aww man…" Kieran turned around and hung his head in shame.
"Look at him, being all shy…"
"Umm…" Juliana looked at Kieran, feeling uncomfortable. The siblings' banter was certainly less humorous than it had been yesterday.
"See, Juliana, here's the thing. My brother's no good at talking to people. He'd probably never work up the nerve to ask you himself, but he'd really like a battle with you."
"Eep!" Kieran practically buried his head in his hands.
"I don't know…" Juliana continued to glance at Kieran with concern. "Kieran? Is she telling the truth? Do you really want a battle?"
Kieran meekly lifted his head up. "I- I… Y-yes?"
"Ooookay… As long as you're sure, then… I'm game."
"Well, what do you know!" Carmine clapped. "Turns out you're very agreeable. This will make my brother real happy."
She snickered a bit while thinking to herself.
Yeah… and depending on the outcome, he'll be much easier to wrangle again. Either he manages to defeat you and lose all his naïve respect for you, or you wipe the floor with him and he comes crying back to his big sis again. Either way, a win-win for me.
"What!?" Kieran's head lifted up again. "W-wowzers! Really? You don't mind?"
"I don't mind a single bit," Juliana reassured him with a soft smile. "I already got to battle your sister and it was a lot of fun! I'm excited to see what you've got too, Kieran."
"You see? Chin up, Kiki! And show her everything you're made of!"
As Carmine told everyone to start clearing out for the battle, Juliana watched her with an annoyed look. I wish your sister didn't have to push you into this, though…
"Awesome battle!" the rest of the kids cried after the battle was said and done.
Kieran smiled at Juliana. "W-wowzers! You sure are strong, Juliana!"
"Thanks, Kieran!" Juliana smiled back. "You weren't so bad yourself! You sounded really confident wi—"
"Yeah, yeah, great battle and all!" Carmine suddenly interjected, shoving Kieran aside. "But just hold on a minute! Since when did you get ahold of a Wooper and a Cutiefly!? Those weren't in your team yesterday, and I sure as heck know Wooper like that aren't native to Paldea!"
Juliana reared back in shock. "W-well, yeah." She sent out the Wooper and Cutiefly she had just used in battle, and the Wooper joyfully snuggled up on its Trainer's shoulders while Cutiefly hovered around her. "When we all got up this morning, I had some time to train along the road and catch some Pokémon! I met this adorable little Wooper yesterday and promised I'd come back for him."
She tickled Wooper's abdomen, and Wooper hopped up and down on her shoulder in bliss.
"Besides, I like to change up my team between big battles. That way, I get to befriend as many Pokémon as possible!"
"Oh-ho, is that so? How strategic of you."
I knew the 'nice girl' thing was all an act! This devious rat is trying to thwart my attempts at making a strategy against her, and she's already messing with our local fauna! I warned Ms. Briar this whole inner school trip was going to completely ruin Kitakami's ecosystem!
Focus, Carmine. Losing your cool is exactly what she wants you to do.
"Man, you're so amazing, Juliana…" Kieran said in awe.
For a second, Carmine smiled seeing her brother so happy, then she remembered her "mission" and cleared her throat to speak civilly.
"You really aren't half bad, especially using Pokémon you don't deserve—I mean, aren't familiar with. Kiki's nearly as strong as I am, you know."
"I dunno about that…" Kieran replied sheepishly.
"Oh, I could tell that," said Juliana. "You're pretty evenly matched in strength." Kieran couldn't help but blush again.
Carmine rubbed her chin in thought. I need to learn more about this girl and how to break her. But I don't think I can stand to be around that naive smile of hers all day without going crazy…
This calls for some reconnaissance duty.
"Say… this orienteering thing. We're supposed to group up in pairs, right?"
"That's what Ms. Briar said."
Carmine flashed a toothy grin. "You should go ahead and pair up with Kiki, then!"
"O-oh," Juliana said, sounding surprised. "…Really?"
"What!?" Kieran looked up in shock. "No, sis, don't-!"
"Don't what? It's not like we can pair up." She put her arm around Kieran and gestured to the other students. "Or were you hoping to pair up with some other rando outsider instead?"
Kieran gulped while looking at the other students. They all looked back at him rather awkwardly.
"Well… no, but… aw man…" He threw his head down again, feeling like he could barely look in Juliana's direction.
"Don't worry. He's just being shy," Carmine reassured Juliana.
Juliana walked over and gently put her hand on Kieran's, which startled him.
"It's okay, Kieran," Juliana giggled. "Seriously, I don't bite. I'd love to go with you."
She stepped back a bit, feeling like she almost saw a bit of a glare from Carmine out of the corner of her eyes.
"R-really? Wowzers…"
"I'll go find some chump to pair up with too. Watch out for my little bro, you," said Carmine, giving an eager thumbs-up. "Or else."
Juliana gulped. The threat was clear.
Carmine walked away grinning. Kieran stood still. Juliana smiled awkwardly at him.
"This is gonna be fun, right Kieran? Hiking through Kitakami together… You showing me the land you grew up in."
Kieran forced himself to look up. But when he saw Juliana's eager smile, his face flushed red again.
"U-um, yeah. Yeah… totally." He cleared his throat. "So um, it looks like… we should probably start with the signboard at… Loyalty Plaza…"
Meanwhile, Carmine walked in a calm stride before planting her feet and crossing her arms, smirking at the impressionable Uva students, who shook nervously while looking at her.
One of them bumped another boy, blond haired with glasses, up front.
"You can have her," he said hastily.
"What? But I—"
"Well, well, well. Fresh meat." Carmine knelt down to the shorter student's level. "Looks like you're going to be my new best friend for this trip."
The boy rattled like a leaf. "Alright, s-sure. My name's Bu—"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Carmine waved him off. "Come on, let's not dilly dally. I want to get this— I mean, we should get this done before the sun sets. Otherwise, they'll leave us behind to fend for ourselves against the vicious wild Pokémon around here."
"W-will they really do that?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. "Probably."
She couldn't help but steal another glance back at Juliana and her younger brother. They were still getting ready to leave, and she heard Kieran say something along the lines of:
"I'll probably get in your way if I stick too close, so I'll just… follow you from a safe distance!"
He then ran off on his own towards the Apple Hills, leaving Juliana behind. Juliana looked between the Wooper and Cutiefly who supposedly belonged to her now, and after a moment's hesitation, walked forward at a slow pace.
Seemingly making no effort to keep up with the flighty Kieran.
Carmine sneered as she watched Juliana leave.
"You'd better look after him, you mousey little twerp…"
"Umm, C-Carmine, that's your name?" Her new 'pal' was trying to regain her attention. "Are we leaving soon, or…?"
"Yeah, we are. Come on. Let's head straight to the farthest ones near Kitakami Hall and get this dumb exercise over with."
"Okay, but—Ow! Ow! Quit dragging my arm like that!"
Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle.
Click.
"Yes!" Juliana celebrated. "That's Applin caught!"
Cutiefly, the Pokémon she'd used to weaken the Apple Core Pokémon, chirped happily with her. Juliana ran up to the nearby farmer watching, holding the Nest Ball in gratitude.
And Kieran, watching from a distance, shyly clapped too.
"Thank you so much for the suggestion, mister! I didn't know Applin has a third possible evolution! None of my textbooks talked about it!"
The apple farmer chuckled. "There's plenty of things you can't find out by burying your head in books all day little missy, you gotta go out into nature to discover it for yourself!"
Kieran snickered a bit. He sounds just like Carmine, but a lot friendlier.
"Duly noted!" Juliana giggled. "So where do I find the special apple to evolve it?"
"Heh! …I don't know, actually," the farmer answered, his smile deflating. "…Sorry."
"Oh." Juliana stared blankly at him for a bit. "Well… thanks anyway!"
"You kids take care now!"
"Come on, Kieran!" Juliana motioned to her partner.
"C-coming."
Juliana briskly walked up the hill, admiring the fresh scent of all the apple trees on the… aptly named Apple Hills. After a bit of walking, she turned around to Kieran… only, to her confusion, for him to have completely vanished. She looked around but saw no sight of him.
"Huh… I guess this is the part where he 'hangs back from a distance' now."
Deciding to let Kieran do his own thing, Juliana was about to turn a corner on one of the treegrounds looking for more brand new Pokémon to catch when she heard a sound behind her.
She quickly whipped her head around to see a small silhouette duck into a nearby bush.
She sighed. "Kieran… I know that's you."
No response.
She decided to ignore it and continue walking. Just as she walked past another tree however, she heard loud sprinting. She whipped around again, just in time to see someone gasp and hide behind the tree.
"…Carmine wasn't kidding about you being shy, huh?"
Juliana shook her head and decided to continue her stride. She reached out her hand and felt a few droplets hit them.
"Oh… rain. Hmm-hmm. Now it feels like running around in Paldea again."
She heard movement behind her a couple more times, but from now on she decided to just ignore it. The noises continued at a greater pace, seemingly aware that they didn't need to be so cautious.
"I was serious about what I said before," she said. "I really don't bite. I'm sorry if I came off as a bit too eager for you. I just get… excited by a lot of little things, I guess!"
There was a soft sound of little feet walking behind her now. Juliana grinned, and part of her wanted to just turn around and catch Kieran on the spot. A way to force him out of his shell.
But… I don't want to break his trust like that when we just met…
"I hope you don't feel like I'm putting you down for being shy… I get it. The world can be a frightening place sometimes. Especially when you don't know how to talk to people."
Juliana smiled in reminiscence. She remembered for a brief moment, that one girl she met on her first day of school, who she saved from some rather pushy Team Star grunts.
I never even got her name. I hope she's doing okay…
"It is nice walking with somebody, though." Juliana smiled again, this time with all heart. "I hope I can find a way to break you out of your shell, and that we can be friends."
She couldn't hear anything else behind her, as she started to approach the park area she assumed was the Loyalty Plaza. But… in some weird sense, she was sure she felt a smile behind her.
"Come on, kid! We haven't even made it to Oni Mountain yet, and my clothes are getting soaked out here!"
The unlucky Uva student who had gotten paired with the pushy Carmine was panting up and down as he braved the many staircases leading up from the backend of Kitakami Hall up to Oni Mountain, where one of the signposts was awaiting them.
"I'm sorry, Carmine… huff, huff… I'm getting there, but… it was such a hilly road to get here… And now all these stairs…"
"The land of Kitakami builds mighty warriors!" Carmine boasted. "I grew up in this town riding my bike up and down all these hills while you Uva kids were glued to your books, taking your silly little notes and memorizing math equations you're going to forget after you graduate. It's time you outsiders learned what the outside world is like!"
By now, they'd made it to the outer hills of the mountain, where Carmine couldn't help but grin watching a pack of Morpeko chowing on fallen berries nearby.
"We don't spend all our time cooped up in class, y'know…" he complained. "Uva Academy has tons of stairs… huff, huff… We just don't have to go up a lot of hills to get there. And we've got a courtyard… huff, huff, for battling too… Aye… What's with those weird looking Pichu?"
Carmine ignored him, just calmly walking up the hill with her arms held behind her head, a blissful smile on her face.
"And what about Miss Pretty, huh? Does she ever like to get down and dirty, or is she a nerd like you?"
"Huff, huff… who?"
Carmine spun around to face him, looking annoyed.
"Juliana. Your friend with the braid. Ringing a bell?"
"J-Juliana's not my friend. I've never even met her."
"Excuse me?"
"I don't really know any of the other kids from the trip. None of them are in my classes. We just… all picked a random number from a lottery and got chosen."
Carmine squinted at him for a second, and then rolled her eyes as she went back to walking with her back to him.
"Great. So you're completely useless to me. Tch, some reconnaissance."
The nameless student almost tripped on a rock he didn't see, and took a second to gather his breath.
"I thought kids from Blueberry Academy were supposed to be nice…"
Loyalty Plaza wasn't a huge park. But with all the flowerbeds and the way the sun poked through the trees to create a dancing show of light on the ground, it was a very beautiful sight.
Juliana saw the signboard in front of her, but she was hesitant to go right up to it, wanting to take in the sights of this plaza instead. She's used to all the public spaces in Paldea being packed with a fair amount of people, but… there were only a small handful of visitors in the Loyalty Plaza. It was somehow less lively but livelier in other ways for it.
The wonders of a region with way less people in it.
"You found the first signboard…" came a voice from behind her.
Juliana turned around and finally there was Kieran.
"S-sorry, did I startle you?"
Juliana exhaled. "No… you just frazzled me a little the way you kept sneaking up me, that's all."
Kieran reared back. "Wuh-!? But, I wasn't trying to—I'm so sorry!" He threw his head forward in shame.
"It's okay," Juliana reassured him. She was beginning to grow concerned at how easily this boy seems to deflate. "No harm done."
"Umm, I got you this…"
He reached into his bag and pulled out what looked like an apple of some sort. Juliana grabbed it, but was immediately caught off by how sticky it was in her hands.
"Oh! Sorry, it's, very syrupy…" Kieran started thumbing his bangs in embarrassment. "Gosh, I'm really blowing this, aren't I…?"
"What… is this?"
"It's a Syrupy Apple. The kind that evolves Applin into a Pokémon called Dipplin. It's really cool-looking, just like a candy apple! I actually have one myself!"
"Oh! Well, that's very handy. Thank you, Kieran."
"Yeah, umm… when you talked to that farmer about wanting one, I remembered that I bought a few of them from this empty stand that was selling one and had an extra one, so I… quickly ran home to get home. But I… should've said something instead of running off when you weren't looking. Sorry about that."
"That's fine but…" A few gears started turning in Juliana's head. "So wait, after I talked to that farmer, you ran back into town?"
"Mm-hm."
"So you weren't the person I heard following me and saw hiding behind things while I was walking up the hill?"
"Umm, no?" Kieran scratched his head. "Is that… something you want me to start doing instead of just hanging back?"
Juliana looked confused. "Uhh—well, I don't know, I just want you to feel relaxed, but then who was… ehh, just forget it."
"Uhh, okay. … You know, umm… if I had given you an Applin instead—Well, umm, see there's this legend I read about in another region where if you give—you give someone else that you like an Applin, it means…" He paused. "N-never mind, actually. I guess you should just read the signboard."
"Oh. … Okay."
"Yeah, I've already read it plenty of times, so g-go ahead."
Juliana took a read of the signboard. It detailed a legend of a fearsome ogre who lived in Kitakami a hundreds of years ago. It laid a fearsome attack on the villagers below, but a group of Pokémon called the Loyal Three laid down their lives to defend Kitakami from the ogre's attack, according to the board, and were laid to rest while the ogre was never seen again.
"Wow. That's some story."
"There's a monument to the Loyal Three right over there," said Kieran, pointing off to a statue fixture in the distance.
"Huh. Neat."
"Yeah. But umm…" he shuffled his feet a bit. "The thing about that is, well, don't you think the ogre in that folktale sounds kinda cool?"
"Hmmm…" Juliana gazed at the signboard again. She noticed that there was an illustration on the bottom showing large creatures she assumed to be the Loyal Three chasing down a smaller creature with horns and a large mask that looked like a scary face, brandishing a spiked weapon. "Yeah… it does look cool."
"Really!? You think so?" Kieran said a little too excitedly. "I—I think it's pretty cool. It was just one ogre facing down three opponents, and it was able to hold its own against them!" His smile faded. "Mmm… but most people in my village just think the ogre is scary and mean, and they make fun of me for thinking it's cool."
Juliana shook her head. "Well, that's not right."
"Yeah. Umm… so you really think so too, right? That the ogre is cool? You're not just… saying that to make me happy?"
Juliana gave him a puzzled look. Gosh, what made him so insecure?
"No, I—I really meant it. That drawing makes it look neat, especially that weapon it's holding. And y'know, I've met some Pokémon in Paldea that seemed really scary, but were actually really docile when you meet them. So it wouldn't be the first Pokémon to be misunderstood by everyone."
"Right!" He looked very chipper again. "You get it! I'm happy someone thinks the way I do! I often think the legends are probably wrong, and that the ogre might've been trying to defend itself! 'Cause this is its home and all. But I wouldn't dare say that to anyone in town."
"Hmm. It'd be great to find out the real truth someday."
"Yeah, I agree. Everyone in town is scared of the ogre...but me? I really like it. It was very strong, and very cool... and it didn't even care when everyone else shunned it... I've always wanted to be like that, ever since I was a kid." He took a big sigh. "I want to be just like the ogre."
"That's a very interesting dream to have."
"Yeah. I'm not very good at standing up for myself. My sis sorta ends up doin' everything for me… even when we're at school..." Kieran's feet shuffled nervously on the ground. "I really did want to have a battle with you, y'know. All that was true. But, I really needed her to speak up on my behalf."
"But you were very brave when I asked you if it was for real and you said yes," said Juliana. "And you put up a great fight. I think you've got a lot of strength inside you, Kieran. You just have to find out how to tap into it."
Kieran grinned warmly. "I...I do want to try to get stronger. So I can do things for myself, you know? I'm gonna become someone people can rely on. I want to become the strangest Trainer in my school. Then, just maybe someday… I could be that ogre's friend."
Kieran and Juliana took a picture of themselves posing in front of the signboard, as per the assignment. Then Kieran talked about sandwiches, which led to a surprise appearance from Juliana's sandwich-looking "kaiju".
"It's called Miraidon? And you ride on it, huh...? Wowzers, I've never seen another Pokémon like this… And it… comes out whenever it hears the word 'sandiwch'? Man, you've got some really unique Pokémon where you come from, Juliana."
After that, Kieran told her the next signboard they should go to was out in Paradise Barrens which they had to go through the Wistful Fields to get to, and decided he was going to leave so he could "hold back" like Juliana said it was okay for him to do.
After he left, Juliana took in one last look at the plaza. The lights of the park went on, which told her the day was starting to wind down.
"Best get to those other signboards as soon as we can."
As she walked out the archway to the plaza's entrance, some rocks and pebbles suddenly landed on the ground from above.
"Huh?"
She looked up. There was only the cliffs of the huge mountain bearing down upon her. But… for just a split second, Juliana thought she saw something looking down at her from up there.