"Ogerpon, are you… are you saying that you want… me to be your partner?"
"Ponyo!"
Carmine was spellbound. Ogerpon swayed in her arms and smiled happily.
"I… I…"
Juliana had her hands over her mouth.
"I didn't see that coming at all… It chose you, Carmine."
"What? No!" said Carmine, flustered. "I mean, I'm flattered and all. I'm super pretty and courageous, after all. A perfect fit for a mighty warrior such as Ogerpon! But…"
She gently set Ogerpon to the ground. Ogerpon stood there and smiled happily at her, kicking its feet to a rhythm.
"I think Ogerpon might just be confused. I'm pretty sure it chose you, Juliana."
Juliana shook her head. "No… I don't think so. It makes sense. You and Ogerpon bonded a lot when we were out getting the Masks."
"We did?"
"Yeah! You two were celebrating beating up those bullies together, you picked those uma-boshi plums togeth—"
"Umeboshi," Carmine corrected her again.
"Yeah, those! And, and… well I don't know. You called it adorable so many times."
Carmine blushed.
"I think… I think, anyone who spent all that time with you doing those things and having you call them cute all day long, they would totally want to be with you forever!" Juliana reasoned.
"Pon! Pon yo!"
Carmine glanced at Ogerpon again, who seemed to be jumping up and down in agreement.
"Ogerpon…" she said softly.
"No, no, no!" came a sudden, sharp voice.
They all turned to look at Kieran.
His expression and entire demeanor had changed completely. His hands were shaking in rage, and his face looked like it was about to pull a muscle.
"This isn't how it was supposed to happen at all!" He barked in a loud, dumbstruck tone. "After all the work I did to make you like me and wanna be my friend, you… you chose my SIS!?"
Juliana looked distressed. Kieran had made a complete 180 in attitude from just seconds ago. Ogerpon, seeming to sense something amiss about the Kitakamite boy again, began to look scared and ducked behind Juliana.
"Kiki, what's gotten into you?" asked a despondent Carmine. "I thought you said you were fine with whoever Ogerpon chose. You were okay with it going to Juliana, but… not your own sister?"
Kieran stomped his foot.
"Well yeah, because Juliana was always nice and at least said she cared about the ogre as soon as I first told her about it! I… I was already kind of thinking she'd be a better trainer for Ogerpon than me…"
Kieran started to ruffle his hair again, this time more furiously than ever before. Juliana had a hand to her mouth, feeling beyond concerned for his mental state.
He pointed a finger accusingly towards Carmine.
"But, but… you've never done anything but make fun of me for liking the ogre! And you've spent your whole life thinking it was the villain, and—and going around every festival wearing that mask of Munkidori, who killed its partner!" His yellow eyes were practically piercing through Carmine's soul. "And now! After all that!? Between the three of us, y-you probably deserve to be with the ogre the least!"
"Kiki, come on…" Carmine was breathing heavily now. She scrunched her face and started speaking from her heart. "You're right! Okay? I admit it, you're totally right! I let myself fall for the village's lies, and I poked fun at you when you were the only one of us smart enough to see through it all. It was wrong of me, and I'm totally sorry for that! I've got a lot to repay. But… you don't have to be so hurtful."
Kieran balked and grunted in bitter anger.
"ME!? Being so hurtful!?" He growled. "I'm the only one who's always been honest all the time! I never lie or do anything for myself! And what do I get for that!? NOTHING! Meanwhile, you two scheme and lie and leave me out of everything and now the ogre's your best friend!"
"Kieran, we were never scheming against you!" Juliana insisted. "I thought we already explained that to you!"
Kieran was grinding his teeth so hard they threatened to shatter. He grasped at his head, feeling almost completely suffocated by his hurt feelings.
"I just… I don't know what to believe anymore! I'm so tired of being strung along! You've been at the wheel this whole time Juliana, and I-I've just been along for the ride! I'm so tired of it!"
He cringed several times like he was close to crying. But all his anger slowly started giving way to despair, and he found himself dropping to his knees.
His head slumped down, and he punched the ground.
"Just… just do what ya want. I give up," he mumbled.
"Kiki…"
Juliana wanted to say something else, but Kieran seemed to be swimming in his own head now, not glancing up at anyone anymore.
And she heard a noise from behind her.
"Pon…?"
Ogerpon peeked out from behind Juliana, trying to gauge if all the arguing had ceased.
"I'm so sorry, Ogerpon," Carmine apologized. "You shouldn't have to feel afraid because of something that isn't your fault. Or for making your own decisions."
She gave Ogerpon some gentle head pats, which seemed to put the small Pokémon at ease again. Juliana watched all of this affectionately, beginning to feel a little better too.
"If… you really want me to be your partner, then I can promise I'll take good care of you. I just… I just want to be sure it's what you want." Carmine motioned for Juliana to stand next to her. "Between the two of us, who do you really want?"
She held out her hand, and nudged for Juliana to hold hers out too.
Ogerpon looked back and forth at both hands with an indecisive face.
Then, adopting a smile, it grabbed Carmine's hand, and Juliana's hand, and put them together as it beamed happily at the two girls.
"Pon-pon!"
"Awwww, so cute!"
"And… very much not helpful," Carmine lamented.
Then, Ogerpon's eyebrows flared.
It jumped several paces back, fished out its Hearthflame Mask and put it on. Then it unsheathed its ivy cudgel and gave the two a cry of determined courage.
"Huh? Now what is it doing?"
"I think… Ogerpon wants a battle!" Carmine deduced.
"Pon yooo!"
Ogerpon used its cudgel to point at both girls.
"Does it… want us both to fight it?"
"Of course!" said Carmine. "After watching the two of us team up to beat all those Lousy Three, Ogerpon must want to test our strength as a unit! Let's do this, Juliana!"
She nodded to Juliana, who nodded back. They both sent out their Poké Balls, with Carmine summoning her trusty Mightyena while Juliana sent out Ceruledge.
"Let's show Ogerpon what we're made of!" Carmine declared.
"Ponnn…"
Then, Ogerpon did something incredible. Concentrating with all of its power, it began to summon up the Terastal energy emanating all around it.
Carmine gasped. "Is it…?"
TURA-PO-GOO!
"It's Terastallizing!"
A huge cluster of Tera Crystals surrounded Ogerpon. But when they broke out… things were truly different.
It wasn't just that Ogerpon was encased in crystals.
Stunningly, its Hearthflame Mask had changed shape and grown in massive size!
The mask was so huge that Ogerpon was almost completely obscured from behind it. And rather than being a weathered old mask, it now looked like a huge, terrifying face with enlarged horns and tusks, and a wonderous cloak of squiggly flames enveloped all around it.
Juliana and Carmine both gasped in awe.
"It Terastallized its mask!? I've never seen a Pokémon be able to change its own shape when it Terastallizes!"
"So this is what Ogerpon's truly capable of…" Carmine observed.
"Wowzers…" They even heard Kieran make a remark from where he was slumped, but watching with a small bit of vigor.
"You're just so full of surprises, Ogerpon!" Carmine marveled.
"It's sure got a lot of tricks up its sleeve! But we do too! Right, Ceruledge?" Juliana nodded to her partner. "Go for a Flame Charge!"
"Ceru!" Ceruledge gathered a bunch of flames at its disposal and began charging forward towards Ogerpon.
Carmine gave a cocky laugh at Ogerpon. "You think you've got tricks? Betcha didn't know my Mightyena knows a Fire-type move! Now, my loyal pet! Give it a nice Fire Fang!"
Mightyena barked fiercely and jumped into the air to deliver its flame-charged fangs towards Ogerpon. Both Pokémon made their impact at the same time.
But… somehow, neither attack did much to harm Ogerpon and it shrugged off the flames like it was nothing.
"Our attacks did nothing to it!" an astonished Juliana cried out.
"What!?" Carmine gasped. "But how! They were Fire attacks! And I was so sure Ogerpon is a Grass Pokémon!"
"Pon-pon…" Ogerpon responded by raising its Ivy Cudgel in the air. The viny weapon began to get supercharged with fire power… "OOOGIEPON!" …and it slammed the giant club over Mightyena, severely wounding it.
"Did it just attack with FIRE!?" Carmine reacted.
Kieran mumbled something out to both of them.
"What?"
With a sigh, Kieran raised his head up and inched a little closer to the battle.
"Umm, according to the legends…" He mumbled weakly. "Ogerpon draws power from those masks. In one of the old diaries I found in Grandpa's cabinet, i-it said that Ogerpon was even able to change its Type when it wore one."
"Wowwwwwww," they both said.
"So that's Ogerpon's real power!" Juliana said in amazement.
"You've got so many cool gimmicks…!" Carmine marveled. "If someone were to have you as their Pokémon, and figure out how to use that power to its fullest potential, the two of you would be unstoppable!"
Ogerpon made a cute noise, and Carmine was sure it was blushing from behind its giant crystallized mask.
"We still won't go down without a fight though!" she maintained. "Mightyena, use Bite!"
"GROWLL!"
Mightyena leapt and laid a nasty bite on Ogerpon through its mask, which was enough for Ogerpon to flinch while trying to counter-attack.
But it quickly regrouped itself and instead sent a huge swing of its fire-powered cudgel Ceruledge's way.
"Ceruledge, watch out!" called Juliana.
"Ceru!" Ceruledge shielded itself with its dual ghostly blades and braced for impact.
The cudgel hit, but Ceruledge seemed to not just tank, but completely absorb the impact and became covered in flames.
"Woah! I didn't know you could do that, big guy!"
"Your Ceruledge must have the Ability Flash Fire!" Carmine observed.
"Flash Fire?"
"Yeah! Instead of being hit by Fire-type moves, it absorbs the flames and uses them to charge itself up!"
"Woah! That's incredible! Then Ceruledge! Put that cool Ability to use and give it another Flame Charge!"
Ceruledge took a fighting stance, and charged to Ogerpon again. Having already increased its agility with its first charge, Ogerpon barely even had a second to react as Ceruledge unleashed all its bottled-up flames against the Mask Pokémon, coating it in a burning blaze of red and blue.
"Ponn…!"
Ogerpon seemed severely weakened from Ceruledge's onslaught and ready to faint.
"I think we've just about won!" said Carmine. "All that's left is to go in for the kill! Mightyena, Take Down!"
Mightyena lunged forward and pounced Ogerpon with great force. The recoil from this move caused Mightyena to faint, but it also successfully finished Ogerpon.
The crystallized mask shattered into glittering pieces, and Ogerpon was left both maskless and incredibly dazed.
"We've done it!" Carmine cheered.
Juliana was about to agree. But then, Ogerpon quickly snapped out of its daze. The memories of watching Juliana when she first arrived to Kitakami, and going on adventures with her to recover its masks gave Ogerpon strength, and it slapped on its Wellspring Mask.
"What!? It put on another mask?" Kieran reacted.
TURA-PO-GOO!
Then the familiar sound of Terastallizing reverberated, and it began to encase itself in crystals again.
"And it's Terastallizing again!?" Carmine gasped.
This time when Ogerpon emerged, its Wellspring Mask had grown in size just like the Hearthflame, now sporting a giant melancholy face with teardrops made out of crystals, and a stream of water-like energy enveloped around it.
"No way!" said Juliana. "Carmine, I… I think the only way you're going to catch Ogerpon is if we defeat it when it's used up all of its masks!"
Carmine gulped. "Well, so much for me thinking this was gonna be a piece of cake…"
Fully powered up again, Ogerpon's cudgel bristled with energy once more. But this time, it was surrounded by waves and bubbles as Ogerpon used it to strike Ceruledge.
Clearly, this was a different power, because not only did it impact the Fire Blades Pokémon directly, but it was a strong enough hit to knock Ceruledge out and force Juliana to recall it.
"If it defeated your Ceruledge in one shot like that… it must be wielding the power of Water now!" Carmine guessed. "Well I've got just the teammate to take care of that! Morpeko, go!"
Carmine's Morpeko chirped happily as it entered into battle.
"Water, huh? Then… who else but Sprigatito! Err, I mean Floragato!"
Juliana sent out her Floragato. Carmine's Morpeko, upon seeing Floragato, jumped in the air and Floragato responded with a fist bump.
"Awww, look how well our Pokémon have bonded!" Carmine gushed.
"Ogerpon's seen us use these two together to take down the Loyal—I mean, Lousy Three. Let's hope it hasn't picked up all our strategies."
"Hah, strategize against this! Morpeko, give 'em a good Aura Wheel!"
Morpeko started running in place until it had generated a hamster wheel of pure electricity and slammed at Ogerpon with it, electrifying the Mask Pokémon.
Ogerpon wasn't frazzled however, and used its grassy powers to set up a wide field of Grassy Terrain, instantly regenerating its health.
Then it leapt from behind its mask and hit Morpeko with a Low Kick. The tiny rodent, weak to the Fighting move's power, was left severely weakened and in a daze, practically on the verge of fainting.
"Oh no, my little Peko! Hang in there!"
"Floragato! Use Seed Bomb!"
Floragato generated a bunch of huge power-packed seeds and pelted Ogerpon with them, causing big explosions which rocked the small ogre and its mask.
"Yes!" Juliana clenched her fist. "This one's in the bag!"
But Ogerpon wasn't going to go down easy. It used the Grassy Terrain to restore its health and hit Floragato with a Slam attack, doing some pretty decent damage.
"I think my Morpeko's all worn out… this one might be all up to you, Juliana."
Floragato breathed in the stream of grassy air, and regained some of its strength. Juliana commanded it to use another Seed Bomb, and this time the natural minefield was too much for Ogerpon, whose Wellspring Mask completely burst.
"That was really close… I'd better trade Morpeko for my Poltchageist before it faints," said Carmine as she switched out her Pokémon.
"That's another mask down!" Juliana celebrated.
Kieran had picked himself up and was standing closer to watch the battle.
"Man. You really are good, Juliana…" His head slumped. "I'm no match."
"Don't say that, Kieran. Of course you are."
He pouted and turned his head away.
Ogerpon was caught in a daze again. But, with Morpeko and Floragato bringing back memories of being at Wysteria Pond, having collected all of its masks and gathering plums together with Carmine before they all had a fun picnic, Ogerpon's confidence was spurred again, and this time, it donned the Cornerstone Mask.
TURA-PO-GOO!
It Terastallized once again. The crystallized Cornerstone Mask looked like a giant, whimsical face adorned with very long horns over its eyes and black tusks over its mouth. Huge tendrils that resembled dreadlocks surrounded Ogerpon now.
"Your masks are too cute to scare us, Ogerpon!" Carmine declared.
"What Type are you this time, Ogerpon? Rock?" Juliana guessed. Ogerpon only gave a mischievous noise in response. "Well, let's bet on that! Floragato, another Seed Bomb! The strongest one you can give!"
Floragato, with fierce determination, launched a huge bevy of exploding seeds at Ogerpon. They shook the whole ground with terrifying booms, which should've been enough to make Ogerpon faint on the spot.
But Ogerpon stood firm with only a sliver of its health left.
"What!? It survived all that?"
Carmine gasped. "Does Ogerpon have Sturdy as an Ability while it's using that Mask!?"
Ogerpon, weathering the attack with its incredible Defense and Sturdy Ability, went for a final Slam attack on Floragato. And this time, Floragato fell to the impact.
"You did great, Floragato…" Juliana assured. "This is getting real tight. Go, Cutiefly!"
Carmine's eyes went wide. "Wait! Cutiefly!?"
Cutiefly chirped happily as it came out.
"A tiny little Bug against that thing's Rock Moves!? What's the plan!?"
Juliana looked like a Deerling in headlights.
"Wait… is Bug weak to Rock or something?"
"OGIIIIEEEEE!"
Suddenly thirsty for blood, Ogerpon's ivy cudgel became infused with the power of the mountains, and it slammed down on Cutiefly, knocking the poor little bug out instantaneously.
"Does that answer your question?" Carmine facepalmed. "Aren't they teaching you anything about battling at that school?"
"Sorry, my mistake," Juliana said sheepishly.
"Well, no surprise. It's up to your shining hero Carmine to make up for your mistakes. Poltchageist, go for a super-powerful Energy Ball!"
Poltchageist charged up a ball of green energy and hurled it at Ogerpon. Ogerpon took the attack with gusto, thanks to the health it regenerated from its Grassy Terrain, and charged its cudgel again.
It slammed the cudgel on Poltchageist… and Poltchageist dropped its stick and went down.
"What!?" Carmine seethed.
As if on cue, the terrain that just protected Ogerpon dissipated too.
"How did it go down that fast?" Juliana wondered. Then she realized something. "You did… heal up your Pokémon after the battles with the Lousy Three, right Carmine?"
"Urk!" Carmine gritted her teeth in embarrassment. "Well… there was a lot going on after that and—and shut up! You and your picnic distracted me! Anyway… go Swadloon!"
"Swaddle!"
"…Isn't Swadloon a Bug-type too?"
"It's Bug and GRASS!" Carmine snarled. "So it won't go down like a chump the way your Cutiefly did!"
Juliana recoiled, which made Carmine instantly regret saying that.
"Ugh. I'm sorry… the stress of this battle is getting to me. I just, I really want to prove myself to Ogerpon…"
"I understand."
Maybe Carmine wants Ogerpon more than she realizes…
Juliana sent out Mienfoo, hoping its Fighting moves would counter the hard-as-rock Ogerpon.
"Fuu!"
Luckily, Ogerpon set its sights on Swadloon instead, going for another rock-powered Ivy Cudgel. Swadloon took a brutal hit from the attack, but not enough to leave it weak.
"Swaddle!"
Swadloon went for a Trailblaze attack while Mienfoo laid a Force Palm on Ogerpon, doing a lot of damage to the point that the crystals over its enlarged mask were starting to chip.
"We've got it on the ropes now, Juliana!"
But Ogerpon wasn't about to let its guard down, and directed its Ivy Cudgel to Mienfoo now, severely crippling the Martial Arts Pokémon.
"Fooooo…"
"Awww, Mienfoo!" Carmine frowned. "We have to avenge our friend, Swadloon! That Trailblazing should have you moving like a missile! Hit it with Razor Leaf before it strikes again!"
"Swaaaad… LOON!"
Carmine's Swadloon hit with great speed and agility, and Ogepron found itself in a shower of leaves sharp as razor blades.
"Ponnn…!"
This was the final straw for the Cornerstone Mask, which shattered into pieces like the rest.
"Did we do it?" Carmine asked excitedly. "Is that it!?"
Kieran cleared his throat. "It's got one more mask, remember?"
Ogerpon did almost stumble down, having been knocked down three times for the count. But then, it shut its eyes, and accessed some of its most inner memories.
It remembered its partner from long, long ago. The memories they shared. The kindness. All the fun adventures. Being alone in the world together.
…The smile it would never forget.
"OHHH-PON!"
With one last rallying cry, Ogerpon fished out its final mask: the Teal Mask.
TURA-PO-GOO!
And it Terastallized one last time, displaying that huge grinning ogre face that dotted so much of Kitakami's signboards and legends.
"Okay… so this is really it! Good thing Swadloon's also a Bug-type! This is the break I was looking for!" Carmine said confidently. "Let's go for Struggle Bug!"
"SWAD!"
Swadloon unleashed all its Bug energy Ogerpon's way, doing a significant amount of damage.
"That's gonna be our ticket to victory, Carmine!" Juliana said excitedly.
"Yo pon?"
Ogerpon braced its legs, and laid a Slam attack into Swadloon with the full force of its mask.
Carmine gasped.
This desperation move was too much for Swadloon… and it was down.
"Oh no…" Carmine worried.
Juliana grew desperate too. "Quick, Mienfoo! We need to Terastallize!"
She took out her Tera Orb, and let energy build up inside of it before tossing it over her Mienfoo.
TURA-PO-GOO!
Mienfoo burst into its Terastallized form, complete with a huge fist-shaped crown on top of its head. Ogerpon gave a taunting cry, seeming to welcome the challenge.
"Before it tries anything else, go for a Tera power-packed Force Palm!"
"Mien!" Mienfoo's Tera Crown glistened with Fighting-type energy. "Mien… FOO!"
Mienfoo laid the most powerful Force Palm it could upon Ogerpon, which did a healthy amount of damage.
But Ogerpon still stood, and now it realized where it needed to focus the rest of its energy on.
"Grrr…" It growled.
It took out its ivy cudgel once more, which became powered up by Ogerpon's natural Grass energy.
"Grrrr… PON!"
This time, the slam from Ogerpon's cudgel was brutal. It recognized the strength of the Terastallized Mienfoo, and wasn't going to hold back anymore.
"Mien?"
SLAAAAAM!
The whole mountainside was rocked by the impact, and Juliana was crushed, but not surprised, to see Mienfoo on the ground afterwards with big swirls in its eyes.
"Mienfoo… return," she said glumly.
Carmine was looking at her with an anxious expression.
"Pleeeease tell me you still have your Jangmo-o or something."
Juliana winced.
"I uh… I might've… forgotten to heal it up after it fainted to Munkidori."
"And you were just criticizing ME for that!?" Carmine seethed. "All I have left is my Morpeko and it's as good as dead!"
She threw out her Poké Ball and sent Morpeko out again… who struggled so much to stand that it plopped on its little butt, and growled softly while in its Hangry Mode.
"Haven't you got one more Pokémon?"
"Well… yeah."
"Then what are you waiting for!?"
Juliana gulped, and wordlessly sent out her last Pokémon into battle.
"Woop WOOP!" her Johtonian Wooper cried out happily.
Carmine's jaw dropped.
"Oh, we are so toast." Her fists were shaking. "Morpeko, please do something…!"
"Peko?"
Morpkeo lifted its nose in the air… and then it sprinted into Ogerpon's den.
"What the—WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" Carmine shouted. "When I said do something, I didn't mean to run away! You little coward!"
Juliana just looked completely sullen now.
She raised a finger apprehensively. "Wooper… U-use… Water Gun?"
"Woop!"
Wooper quickly, and blissfully, spurted out a tiny splash of water at Ogerpon.
Ogerpon didn't even stumble.
"Ogerrrrrrrr…" it laughed mischievously. It raised its cudgel once more and made a huge leap.
Wooper looked up, still smiling, seemingly oblivious to the horrific fate that awaited it.
"This is really it…" Juliana moaned.
Ogerpon came down, gunning for Wooper. But just as it was about to make impact…
"Morrrrrr-PEKO!"
Carmine's Morpeko suddenly appeared out of nowhere and kicked Ogerpon away.
"PON!?"
"Morpeko!?" Carmine gasped.
Ogerpon's Cudgel went flying into the air, and landed smack-dab into the ground.
"Ponyooooo…!"
Ogerpon ran desperately to where its cudgel landed, and tried with all its might to pull it out of the ground.
Carmine was flustered. "I—I don't know what happened, but Morpeko looks all healthy again! And that was the most powerful kick I've ever seen it give!"
"I think I know…" Kieran muttered.
"You do?" said Juliana.
He looked into Ogerpon's cave and saw a bunch of eaten-off berry stems and cores on the ground.
"Yeah… when you and I were up here the other day, by ourselves, I… I took a look inside the ogre's cave and saw it was stockpiling Berries."
As Kieran explained this, he grasped something in his pocket, and briefly sported a look of guilt on his face.
"It—it must've been storing them for winter or somethin'…"
"Ohhh, that's why your Morpeko ran away, Carmine… It smelled the Berries!"
"Morpeko's a Pokémon that's always got one mind on its belly…" Carmine noted. "If it gobbled up all those Berries, it must be super powered up now!"
With a cry of "Pon!", Ogerpon finally dislodged its cudgel from the ground.
"Let's wrap this up before Ogerpon attacks again! Morpeko, run like your life depends on it… into a powerful Aura Wheel!"
Morpeko did as instructed, and started running like an athlete to generate a huge wheel of dark power.
"Mor! Mor! Mor! Mor! MORRRRR…"
Ogerpon trembled.
"MORPEKO!"
Morpeko unleashed the wheel at full power, and it slammed into Ogerpon and its crystallized mask with a huge burst.
The Teal Mask shattered.
Ogerpon fell off of its feet… and landed on the ground, completely fainted.
"Ponnnn…"
Morpeko let out a huge burp, and smiled again as it transformed back into Full Belly Mode.
"You did it…" Juliana said breathlessly. She started shaking Carmine's shoulders. "You really did it, Carmine!"
"I—Well, of course I did! Was there ever any doubt?" Carmine laughed cathartically.
"Use a Poké Ball! Hurry!"
"Right! Umm…" Carmine frantically looked through her bag, and felt her uniform pockets. "Uhh—umm, oh no!"
"Are you all out of Poké Balls?"
"No! I came prepared! I just… don't… remember, where—"
"Use this!"
Juliana handed her a special Poké Ball from her own bag. It was green with red spots on the top of it.
Carmine took it. "What kind of Poké Ball is this?"
"It's a Friend Ball! I got it from a special auction at a place called Porto Marinada! Come on, hurry and use it!"
Carmine heeded her words and tossed the Friend Ball at Ogerpon. The Friend Ball converted Ogerpon into energy and dropped to the ground as it shook.
Wiggle.
Wiggle.
"Come on…"
Wiggle.
…
Click.
Carmine grabbed the Ball and held it proudly in the air.
"Yes! We did it! We caught Ogerpon together!"
"And now it's all yours!" Juliana said, shaking Carmine's arm again.
Carmine pulled her back. "Mine? But we caught it with your Ball. Doesn't that make it yours?"
"Well… no?"
Juliana tried to wrap her head around this.
"I don't… I don't think whose Ball it was matters as, long as you're the one who threw it?" She appeared genuinely confounded. "I mean… every Poké Ball is given to us by someone else… right? Umm…"
A soft clapping cut through their confusion.
Kieran calmly walked up to the two of them.
"Con… Congratulations, sis…" He said with a shaky throat.
"T-thanks, Kiki."
Carmine took her Rotom Phone out and got the Pokédex app opened up.
"It's all yours, now. You and the ogre, forever…"
"Hang on now, Kiki," said Carmine, as she scanned Ogerpon's Ball with her phone. "We still haven't even figured out who actually caught it." Her eyes widened. "Wait…"
"But, whichever one of us it is…" Juliana tried to assure him. "Will take very good care of it. You can be sure of that."
Kieran's head dropped down. "Yeah…"
"SQUEEE!"
Carmine suddenly made a loud noise out of nowhere and looked really happy all of a sudden.
"Huh? What's going on?" Juliana asked.
"My Pokédex says that Ogerpon's a GIRL!" Carmine assessed. "She's one of the pack! Our cute little spunky warrior girl! That makes me so excited!"
"Awwww. I don't know why but… I guess I felt the girl power coming off of Ogerpon the whole time," Juliana giggled.
Kieran sighed.
"Why… why can't I be like you, Juliana?"
Juliana titled her head. "Huh? What do you mean… like me?"
He looked up sadly at her. "I mean, Sis, I get. She's real strong and all. Always has been. I thought that was just the perk of her bein' older than me and more experienced and all. But… you said you've only been a Trainer for how long? A couple months?"
Juliana looked sheepish.
"And… and yet you led everything, and the ogre decided you were just as worthy as my Sis after only knowing you for a day. It's not fair…"
Juliana felt guilty, and tried to lay her hand on his shoulder.
"Kieran… I wish you'd stop putting yourself down so much. You're plenty strong too—"
But Kieran violently brushed her away.
"No." His face started to stiffen again. "No, you can just stop pretending. I can't beat either of you in a fight. And now… now I understand why the ogre didn't pick me."
His foot began to dig into the ground, kicking up dirt.
"It's because I'm weak. And the ogre knows it. It took one look at me, when we first met it… and it judged me just the same as everyone else who says I'm nothing but a big baby. Pathetic little Kieran…"
"Who's been saying that stuff, Kiki?" Carmine demanded to know. "You should've told me sooner people were pushing you around like that, and I would've kicked their butts all the way to Sinnoh!"
Kieran slowly turned his head to Carmine with a hint of a glare.
"You lookin' for a vacation, sis?"
"…What?"
His fists began to shake again. He tried to get a hold of his thoughts, but could feel himself getting more and more angsty.
"It's useless… You two will never understand. I shouldn't even be breathin' the same air as you until I… I…"
He trailed off.
Juliana tried to reach her hand out.
"Kieran… Come on. We can get stronger together. I made a promise to you, remember? No matter what, we'll always be—"
"STOP IT!" He shouted. "JUST STOP IT!"
Juliana recoiled her hand, taken aback at his sudden outburst. She was trying not to, but she could feel her eyes beginning to well up.
There was a shadow of a moment when Kieran looked at her, and felt a tinge of guilt…
And then…
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!"
Without another word, Kieran left them.
He took off down the mountain path with his hands covering his eyes, howling in grief so loud it echoed across the whole mountain.
Juliana didn't know how to react. She futilely reached her hand out in the direction he ran… and let it go limp.
She didn't know what she had done wrong to lead Kieran down this path. He had forgiven her for lying to him, right? And she had kept telling him all the way that he was a strong Trainer too… so why was he this consumed with doubt?
"…What did I do wrong?" she asked, her voice shaking. "I—I just want us to be friends…"
She felt a pair of hands start gently massaging her shoulders.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Juliana. I promise. He's just… he gets like that. If I had a Poké Dollar for every time Kiki got mad at me for no reason, and then was all smiles and sunshine the next day, I'd be as rich as the Glitterati. Give it a day, and he'll be fine…"
Juliana didn't see, but Carmine's face was a bit forlorn, like she wasn't entirely sure if she believed her own words.
"I don't know Carmine. This seems… different. He seems really stuck in his own head now."
"He'll get over it." A small sniffle. "I promise."
Kieran marched straight home and slammed his door.
Leaning against the door, he took a huge, heavy sigh.
"Why does nothing go right for me… Why have you taken everything from me?"
His fists were all balled up in rage, and he needed something, anything, to ease his pain.
He spotted the giant Furret pillow sitting on his bed. It was so huge it was even taller than him.
"Juliana… Sis…"
He hesitated for a moment. Then… he punched the pillow. And punched it again. And again. And again.
"Why. Why. WHY. WHY. WHY!"
With Juliana and Carmine still in disagreement over who actually had Ogerpon as their partner now, a discussion of who would at least be keeping her for the night as they walked down Reveler's Road back into town.
"Ogerpon deserves a proper bed for tonight after all those years it spent alone in that damp old cave. But I don't think I could take her home with me…" Carmine lamented. "Kiki's probably still upset, and the last thing I want to do is set him off even further…"
The conversation at some point shifted to Juliana admitting that she hadn't been sleeping very well most of the nights she's been on Kitakami.
"Well, no wonder you've got so many wrinkles!" said Carmine, poking at her face. "You haven't been getting any of that valuable beauty sleep!"
"I haven't gotten any wrinkles!" she protested.
"No, but those bags under your eyes are big enough that I should toss my Berries into them for that Ogre Oustin' high score!" Carmine teased.
Then she had a thoughtful look.
"Y'know, if you've got trouble sleeping… maybe all you need is a friend."
And that's how Juliana found herself sprucing up her room at the community center for both Ogerpon and her to be satisfied.
She plugged a nightlight she brought from home into the wall. Passed down from her mother, it bore the design of an exotic Pokémon from Galar that used to be her mom's favorite, called Butterfree.
"There we go. I don't really need a nightlight to sleep anymore but… it'd probably do you some good to have somewhere not all cold and dark to sleep in for once, huh?"
"Pon! Pon!"
Ogerpon thumped the blanket like a happy toddler.
Juliana stood there in her PJ's and giggled.
"You're pretty excited to snuggle up, huh? Guess that makes two of us!"
Juliana chuckled warmly as she turned off the lamp on her nightstand and climbed into bed.
"Pon! Pon yo!" Ogerpon cried excitedly, laying her arm over Juliana as she tucked them both in.
"Hee-hee. I don't know why, but I'm so glad you're a girl. It just… it fits you so well."
Ogerpon blushed and giggled to herself.
"We've both had a long day, huh? Here's to even more exciting adventures tomorrow!" said Juliana. "Until then, let's hope for a warm and pleasant sleep for the both of us. Good night, Ogerpon."
"Pon…" Ogerpon yawned.
Within a matter of minutes, the two had closed their eyes and were drifting off into dreamland.
After seeing Juliana and Ogerpon off at the community center, Carmine was left alone to walk back up the road to her house itself.
She certainly didn't mind being alone at night. She'd often gone for walks around the town in her youth when she couldn't sleep.
But… there was a lot on her head now. Between Ogerpon seemingly wanting to go with her, Kieran's outburst, and… for some reason, a lot of worry over Juliana and her sleeplessness, Carmine sort of wished for the kind of company that would distract her from all that.
Nonetheless, she made it home with a brave smile on her face as she greeted her grandparents on the porch.
"Hi, Grandma and Grandpa. Sorry I'm home a little late. I had to make sure my friend got back to the community place okay."
Carmine had to pause. She didn't know why, but calling Juliana her friend made a warm feeling rise up in her chest.
"We're just glad you made it home safe, dearie," Yukito smiled.
"Kieran said that you actually managed to catch the ogre for yourself!" said Hideko. "Is it true, Carmine?"
Carmine winced. "Well… sort of. It's complicated. But yeah."
"I was kind of hoping maybe the ogre would want to travel with you, or your friend. It seems like it has grown really attached to the both of you."
Carmine smiled at that, but frowned again when she thought of her brother.
"…How's Kiki doing?"
Her grandparents glanced at each other, both looking rather sullen.
"The poor dear's shut himself in his room ever since he came home," Yukito said. "Wouldn't even come out for dinner."
"And I suppose the news we were given to share didn't lift his mood much, neither."
"News? …What news?"
Hideko's face was glum, and Carmine had a bad feeling in her gut.
"That nice Briar lady from your school came to visit us while you were gone," Yukito explained.
With a sad face, Hideko told her, "Apparently… you two are going back tomorrow."
Carmine's face fell.