Carmine woke up bright and early at around eight o'clock. After getting a good morning stretch going, she spent the next half-hour doing the rest of her routine: shower, then her hair and makeup, putting on her uniform, followed by one last set of stretches just to keep herself limber.

She stepped out of her bedroom to grace the world with her beauty once more, and instantly heard a bunch of Cutiefly buzzing outside her window, along with a few Volbeat.

Carmine hung on the windowsill taking in the beauty of her homeland. But thinking about Kitakami quickly reminded her of what was going on today… and her good mood seemed to vanish.

She walked past the door to her brother's room, all quiet inside. Which made sense. He often got up last out of everyone in the family, even now.

As she made her way to the kitchen, she smelled something delicious: her grandmother's famous Shakshuka stew.

"Good morning, Carmine!" Yukito greeted her.

"Mornin', Grandma. Is that your egg stew I smell cooking?"

"Sure is, sweetie! I figured you two deserved my best cooking before you head out again!"

Carmine's smile drooped. "…Right."

Steam began to rise over the stovepot her grandmother was using. She lifted the lid and began to stir.

"I think the stew's just about ready. Could you please let Kiki now?"

"Hmm? I thought he was still asleep."

"Oh no, I heard him moving about earlier, but didn't want to disturb him in case he still wasn't feeling great. But we can't let him skip out on breakfast, can we?"

"Aye-aye."

Carmine walked over to Kieran's room and knocked.

"Kiki? You in there?"

She started opening the door… but only made it about an inch in before it was swiftly slammed in her face. Papers from Kieran's desk flew about in a gust, and Carmine's face went up in shock before becoming indignant.

"Why, you…!" She tried jostling the door open again, but Kieran had locked it. "Kiki, open up! Gram says you need to have your breakfast!" She softly kicked the door with her foot. "C'mon!"

But there was no response.

Carmine huffed as she picked up all the drawings off the floor.

"Fine, be that way! Have fun starving while I eat all of your stew."

She marched back into the kitchen and angrily took a seat.

"He won't come out of his room, Gram," Carmine informed her.

Her face was still angry, but as she sat at the table and let her thoughts run, it began to look sadder and sadder until her grandmother walked over and noticed her downpour.

"Ohhh. Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Huh? …Nothing," she muttered.

Yukito crossed her arms. "Grandma always sees through your lies. Are you upset about Kieran, honey? Did we do something wrong?"

Carmine shook her head. "Mmm, no. It's not that. Kiki… or you guys. I just…" She slumped her head. "I don't know."

Yukito nodded. "You're thinking about your friend, aren't you?"

Carmine perked her head up. She imagined Juliana's smiling face… and realized that truly was chief in her mind right now.

"I don't know why I'm so upset. I guess… I should just forget about her. I mean, Paldea's so far away. From here and from Unova. Odds are I'll probably never see her again anyway."

Yukito went to her tea kettle and poured some tea into a black cup, which she set in front of Carmine. Carmine peered in.

"Heh. Green tea. You're like a witch, Gram. You always know what I need before I say anything. …I'm gonna miss that too."

She took a slow sip of the warm green tea, as Yukito tended to the stew again.

"A friendship is a hard thing to break, Carmine. The only thing that can let the two of you drift apart is if you let that happen. And I've seen you two together, dear. In the short time you and… sorry?"

"Juliana," she chuckled.

"Right. In the short time you two have known each other, it's like you've been joined at the hip, which was especially surprising after the way you talked about her the first day she came."

Carmine cringed. "Yeah. Guess I was being a bit edgy…"

She decided to thumb through Kieran's drawings she'd picked up from the floor. One was a drawing of his Pokémon, Furret and Dipplin, playing together.

There was another one that… looked like it was depicting Ogerpon and its masks? Unfortunately, Kieran had taken a thick black marker and scribbled over a lot of it, which made Carmine frown.

"Well, she's a sweet girl. One of the kindest foreigners we've ever had for a guest. You can tell her that I said that, and that if she ever finds herself in Kitakami again, she's welcome here anytime."

"…Right."

Then Carmine got to the last drawing, and this one really took her aback.

It was a drawing of Juliana. Her arms were out. She had a huge smile on her face. She was all dressed up in her green jinbei, with the Kitakami ponytail and all.

And there were a bunch of hearts surrounding her.

He must have drawn this the night after we all went to the Festival together…

Yukito saw Carmine staring at the drawing, and she walked over to her with a smile on her face.

"I mean it, you know. She's extremely kind. I can see how strongly she cares about you. And I don't think she's the kind of friend who's going to let something as silly as distance or the word 'never' get between you two."

She set down a bowl of her stew for Carmine. "You just have to want that too, dearie. And you two will be alright."

Juliana pondered her grandma's words, and gazed at Kieran's drawing.

Even as just a crude drawing, Juliana's whole vibe emanated from it, and her smile was doing the same things to Carmine that the real one does.

She wanted to take a colored pencil and draw in the brown for her eyes. Her sweet… hazel-brown eyes.

Carmine realized she could feel her heart rising in her chest just from looking at this drawing of Juliana… just the same as whenever they've been together the past few days.

She had a sense that she might finally be understanding what her feelings were toward the Paldean girl.

"Yeah…" she started to smile. "Yeah, I guess we will. Thanks, Grandma."

"Yawn…"

"Pon-pon!"

Juliana barely had time to finish yawning before Ogerpon, excited to see her awake, embraced her in a hug.

"Ha ha! Good morning to you too, Ogerpon!"

She sat up in bed, brushing away her hair from her eyes, as she looked at the clock.

"Wow, it's almost 10 o'clock…" She stretched in bed. "And I feel great. That's probably the best sleep I've had staying in this room!"

"Pon yooo!" said Ogerpon, happy to share in Juliana's joy.

After ten minutes of getting up, brushing her teeth, doing her hair, and putting on her uniform, Juliana stepped out of her room with Ogerpon in tow to greet the rest of her fellow students in the community center atrium.

"Hey Juliana. Good morning," said a familiar boy walking up to her.

"Oh hi, Bruce!" Juliana greeted. "Good morning to you too!"

"How'd you sleep? You look a lot less… dead," he snickered.

"I slept great last night! Thanks for asking. Did you have a good sleep too?"

"Yeah…" His winded tone didn't seem to agree.

"Pon yo pon!"

Bruce's attention was drawn to Ogerpon.

"Oh. Is that… the ogre everyone's been making such a big deal about?" He chuckled lightly. "It's a lot less scary looking than in the legends!"

Ogerpon beamed happily at him.

"Oh…! That's right," he said. "I've got a message from Carmine."

"Really? Oh! Did you two finish your orienteering?"

Bruce grumbled a bit. "Barely… I had to remind her that we still only a took picture at the one. Then she grabbed me by my collar and hustled me around the whole field around town so we could finish the other two."

Juliana laughed. "Sounds like her!"

"Tell me about it. Anyway, she says she's waiting for you at Loyalty Plaza and that you should hurry up and meet her there. Oh, and uh… bring that ogre with you, she said."

Juliana nodded. "Hmm. I wonder what she wants that's so urgent. I guess I'd better grab a quick breakfast and get going. Thanks for telling me!"

"No problem. But… why do you two always use me as your messenger boy, huh!?"

Ogerpon chortled at the sight of his frustrated stomping. Bruce just sighed and walked away.

Carmine was standing at the center of Loyalty Plaza, in front of the ruined remains of the old Loyal Three monument, bobbing her feet up and down repeatedly.

"Come on, where are you…"

Carmine didn't know when the last time was she felt this antsy. Yesterday, between the picnic with Juliana and the excitement of battling Ogerpon, time felt endless.

Now just one morning later, Carmine could feel each grain of sand hitting the bottom of the hourglass on everything she wanted to say and do.

Finally, she heard a familiar cry.

"Pon yo!"

Carmine whipped around.

"Juliana!" she said excitedly. Then she cleared her throat and tried to adopt a cooler attitude. "There you are! You took your time!"

Juliana giggled. "It's great to see you today too, Carmine."

"So, how's our little ogre friend doing?"

"Ogie-pon!"

"She looks very chipper!" Carmine giggled. "And how'd you sleep last night?"

"…Really great, actually."

"Ha-ha, I could tell! You've got way less frown lines on you. And… you look a lot prettier…" Carmine realized she might be staring too much. "Err. Well… not as much as me. But, that's a high bar to clear, right?"

"Carmine…" Juliana gave her a coy look. "Are you flirting with me?"

"WHAT!? No!" Carmine's face flushed like a tomato and she grabbed her hair to try to curtain her face. "If anything, I was complimenting myself, you—you… SHUT UP!"

"Relax, I was kidding!" Juliana laughed. "I just think you look funny when you're caught off guard." And cute.

Carmine groaned. "You know what? I change my mind. Go back to being sleep deprived, you were a lot less annoying."

"But you said I'm cuter when I'm assertive."

"Just… let me talk for a minute, okay?" Carmine asserted herself. But privately, she was thinking to yourself, You are. But that's why you're frustrating me. Stop making it harder for me to think!

She heard Ogerpon giggling softly to herself. Strangely, this helped Carmine to focus.

"Listen. I wanted to tell you… You battled really great yesterday, Juliana. Not just with Ogerpon, but with those Lousy Three as well."

"Awww, thanks, Carmine," Juliana smiled. "You're a really great battler too."

Carmine grinned at her. But she quickly frowned again, and turned to look at the ruined monument.

"I guess… the Mask Retrieval Squad has completed its mission."

Juliana looked at Ogerpon, who was just dancing happily listening to the two of them.

"That's true. We got all the Masks back. We cleared Ogerpon's name. All of us together…"

Juliana thought about yesterday, and as soon as she remembered Kieran, her face went sharp.

"Oh! How's… Kieran's doing?" she asked, worried for the answer.

She could see Carmine's head slump a little, which seemed to confirm her fears.

"Well, he's shut himself in his room ever since he got home yesterday… I haven't even seen him," Carmine answered morosely.

"That's worrying…"

"Yeah…"

Juliana hadn't dwelled a lot on Kieran since everything else that happened, but now that he was on the front of her mind again, she was fighting back feelings of guilt. Despite Carmine's assurances otherwise, she still felt like his current state was somehow her fault.

And she just wanted to atone for that.

"Is there anything I can do?"

It was almost like Carmine could sense these feelings from her though, because she turned around and quickly looked concerned.

"Oh… you don't need to feel guilty or anything, Juliana." Carmine sighed sadly. "If anyone's to blame, it should be me. It all started 'cause I said we should keep the whole Ogerpon thing a secret…"

Juliana shook her head. "Your heart was in the right place. You didn't know what would happen…"

"Yeah but…"

Carmine gasped a little as Juliana tenderly rubbed her hand. "You're… you're a good person, Carmine. Please, don't ever think you're not."

"I… Yeah. I-I know that."

Juliana slowly took her hand away. Honestly, she didn't even think to do that. It was just an impulse in her head, and she was stricken curious about it.

Maybe… Maybe Carmine broke through some of my walls too without me realizing.

She gazed at Carmine, and began to realize just how much she had come to value Carmine as a true friend. It was the same warm feelings she'd been feeling whenever she met up with Nemona. But… slightly different? In a way? An even warmer feeling? She wasn't sure.

"You wouldn't think it, but… Kiki's got a bit of an ego too!" Carmine ruminated, not realizing how much Juliana was staring. "He doesn't take losing very well."

Juliana nodded. "Yeah, I've noticed that much. So, do you really think he'll be okay?"

"Yeah. I think so. If I just let him cool down on his own… Especially once we're back at school, and he's with the friends in his own grade again, I'm sure he'll bounce back to his old self again real fast."

Juliana decided to accept these words and tried to swallow down the rest of her worries about Kieran.

"Pon?"

Ogerpon innocently ran up between the two of them, as if she wanted some attention.

"And how are YOU doing, Ogerpon!" Carmine grinned widely in an instant and knelt down. "Juliana's lucky to have had such an adorable bedmate last night!"

"Pon-pon…" Ogerpon blushed shyly.

"Speaking of which… we still haven't figured out who actually gets to have Ogerpon as their partner." Carmine's face lit up. "I know! Maybe we should let her choose again. Maybe letting her sleep with you last night gave you two more time to bond, and she'll have a better idea which one of us she likes more!"

"I don't know," Juliana disagreed.

She watched Ogerpon as the ogre's starry eyes just seemed to glance all around and her face beamed bright like a toddler's. Ogerpon was all smiles last night, but not as much as she was right now with her two favorite friends.

"It seems to me like she's been the most happy whenever you're around, Carmine."

"You think so? Well… let's see what she thinks. Ogerpon?"

"Pon?"

Ogerpon snapped out of whatever happy daze she was in, and was met with Juliana and Carmine both smiling at her while pointing to themselves.

"Ogerpon-pon!"

She happily ran up to them and grabbed one leg of each, hugging them both from the ground while crying blissfully.

"She's still refusing to be helpful…" Carmine whined.

Then, Ogerpon leapt backwards, adopted a stance, and then she pointed her ivy cudgel forward and towards the ground between them.

"Pon pon!"

"…Now what is she doing?"

"Does she… want the two of us to have a battle now?" Juliana wondered.

"Hey… that's a great idea! Let's have a battle, Juliana!" Carmine eagerly pulled out a Poké Ball. "It'll give us both one last great memory to cherish on this trip, and maybe Ogerpon will side with the winner!"

Juliana seemed unsure. "…I think you're just looking for an excuse to battle."

"Hee-hee! But you're not one to turn down a good battle, are you?"

Juliana chuckled. "Got me there! I was… kinda hoping you and I would have another battle before we left."

"See? Everything works out! Let me know when you're ready!"

Carmine sent out her trusty Mightyena, which felt like a safe bet for Juliana as she opened with her Bug/Fairy catch.

"Bombeee!" Ribombee cried out, showing off its pretty brown scarf.

"Ohhhh! Your Cutiefly evolved! And it's so cute!" Carmine gushed.

"I think luck is on my side today!" Juliana beamed. "Battles always go smoothly for me when I start with a Type advantage!"

"Ha! Thinking types are the surefire way to win is only the words of a novice battler." Especially if you really don't know you've actually got a double advantage there. "I'm about to show you the true merits of raw power!"

"If you say so! To tell you the truth, I just wanted to see my Ribombee's new move. Go, Pollen Puff!"

"Mightyena, use Sucker Punch," Carmine quietly but sharply commanded.

While Ribombee was still readying its attack, Mightyena laid a swift strike of darkness on the flying bug, which didn't do a lot of damage thanks to its typing but still made an impression.

Ribombee sent out its Pollen Puff, and Juliana was excited to notice that it did a surprising amount of damage to the Dark-type Mightyena.

"Hmmph," Carmine commented in response. "You keep learning all these type matchups on the go, and yet you're still pulling through as well as those of us who had to memorize them in books. Show-off."

Carmine went for the mercy kill at that point and had Mightyena use Fire Fang, which knocked Ribombee out. So Juliana's next choice was Mienfoo.

Mightyena went for another Sucker Punch, but luckily Juliana's Mienfoo could now utilize Drain Punch to both knock Mightyena out and restore some of its health.

"Yeesh, you really hit where it hurts, don't you?" said Carmine. "Well, check this out!"

Turns out, Carmine had a new evolution to share as well.

"Leaava!"

Juliana whipped out her Pokédex to scan Swadloon's new form.

"Leavanny? It's so cute!"

"It's cuter AND more deadly now! A bit like me, don't you think?" Carmine teased, flipping her hair.

"Well, I don't know about the deadly part…"

Carmine's fist shook. "Oh yeah? Wanna see something really deadly? Go for String Shot, and follow it up with a Slash attack!"

Leavanny, who was now much more agile than its swaddled pre-evolution, quickly bound Mienfoo in a casing of pure string. This rendered it defenseless when Leavanny executed a mighty Slash, leaving Mienfoo close to fainting.

"We're not down yet! Mienfoo, Fury Swipes!"

Mienfoo struggled to use Fury Swipes, having to use its first few swipes to cut itself free, and was about to use the rest on Leavanny when…

"Leavanny… Fell Stinger."

"Fell Stinger?"

"VANNY!"

Before Mienfoo could attack, Leavanny struck first with its stinger-like feet and jabbed Mienfoo in the abdomen.

Mienfoo went down, and Leavanny felt its speed increase.

"We're too fast for the naked eye, Leavanny and I!"

"Hey, nice rhyme!"

Carmine glowered. "I wasn't trying to rhyme."

Juliana raised an eyebrow as she thought of something. "Anyway, yesterday you were boasting about how your Swadloon is Bug AND Grass right? Both Types weak to Fire?"

"…"

Carmine sucked in her lips.

"Thought so!" she giggled. "Go, Ceruledge!"

"CERUL!"

The next turn went how one would expect. Leavanny tried to use its speed advantage to wrap Ceruledge, but its fiery blades roasted the string bindings with little effort and a single Flame Charge left Leavanny the equivalent of kindling.

Carmine growled. "Time to kick some butt, Morpeko."

Morpeko opened with a Thunder Wave, which capped Ceruledge's quick movements with a bout of paralysis. Ceruledge was still able to get a Bitter Blade on Morpeko to restore its own health, but Morpeko's stomach rumbled and it shifted into Hangry Mode.

Now exuding the powers of darkness, Morpeko rolled up an Aura Wheel that made devastating waves against Ceruledge, enough to knock it out.

"Come on, Floragato! We have to turn this around!"

Carmine had Morpeko rev up another Aura Wheel. But Morpeko had already nourished itself in the interim and reverted to Full Belly Mode, meaning its attack was Electric-type again and did little damage to Floragato.

Floragato took advantage of the situation and laid a nasty Seed Bomb on Morpeko. Morpeko became hangry again and tried to cause an Uproar, but Floragato silenced it with its own Slash attack.

"Copying my moves? I bet you're real popular back home!" Carmine teased. "But I bet you weren't expecting this…"

*POP*

"Howwwwwl!"

"What the…" Juliana pulled out her Pokédex app again.

"NINETALES, the Fox Pokémon. It from VULPIX when exposed to a FIRE STONE."

"Evolves from Vulpix!?" Juliana exclaimed, her eyebrows flaring up. "Then that means…"

"Ninetales! INCINERATE that cat!"

All nine of Ninetales' tails raised up in the air as it breathed a powerful fire attack from its mouth.

"Gato!?"

Floragato was doused in flames, and Juliana winced, covering her eyes. When she opened them…

"Gato…" Floragato was burned to a crisp, swirls in its eyes.

Juliana gulped as she recalled her precious Starter, being down to her last two Pokémon and knowing that Carmine's ace was still waiting in the wings.

But there was still a chance, and Juliana knew enough about battling to realize it would be a mistake to let her confidence drop now.

"Well… time to put out this Fire! My first Kitakami friend… Wooper! Help me out!"

"Woop woop!"

"Wooper, use Water Gun!"

Wooper fired out the most powerful Water Gun it could muster, doing some decent damage to Ninetales.

"Heh. Not bad. You might stand a chance of crushing my sweet fox with that move…" A wicked look twinkled in her eye. "So let's Disable it, why don't we?"

Ninetales' eyes twinkled menacingly at Wooper. Wooper reacted in confusion, but when it tried to go for another Water Gun… nothing came out.

"Woo-woop!?"

"Now, Ninetales… baffle its mind with Extrasensory!"

Ninetales hit Wooper with a strong Psychic attack. Wooper, confused and battered, promptly fell on its legs and fainted.

"I think your Wooper's more of a lover than a fighter, sorry to say."

"Darn…" Juliana muttered. "I've only got one chance left…"

She sent out her last Pokémon, Jangmo-o.

"Awwww. Still not close to evolving that thing yet? Tsk tsk."

"We'll show you! Jangmo-o, with your nice shiny golden head, go for Headbutt!"

Jangmo-o hit Ninetales with a mighty Headbutt, but Ninetales had the defense to take it like a champ. Carmine had it use Extrasensory again, which did much stronger damage to Jangmo-o.

Juliana changed tactics and commanded a strong Dragon Tail. This one hit hard, and Ninetales was down for the count.

"Well now, down to my last one, huh?" said Carmine. "You still put up a real good fight, Juliana. But I think you're about to be in for a real surprise now… Go! My shining star!"

She sent out her last Ball, and Juliana expected to see Poltchageist again. But instead, with a cry that sounded like tea cups clanging, it was Sinistcha, happily dancing around in its large chipped cup, who slid into battle.

Juliana gasped. "Is that what Poltchageist evolves into!?"

"Lucky me, I stopped by Peachy's and she happened to have found the special teacup that evolves my little matcha friend! Now it's Sinistcha! And it—ehh?"

Juliana had run right up to the Matcha Pokémon to inspect it further.

"So cool! It's like a huge giant cup of tea swirling around! So much different from Polteageist! But seriously, why the name flip?"

Sinistcha shook its matcha cup body around, delighted at the attention.

Carmine was about to snap at her for gushing instead of focusing on the battle again, but… she backed off, realizing this is just the kind of person Juliana is.

And besides, she found it… strangely infectious now.

"It is pretty adorable, isn't it?" she admitted. "And it's about to leave both you and your Jangmo-o spinning! Go my lovely little ghost, and use Scald!"

Sinistcha geared itself up, and it splashed Jangmo-o with a douse of hot tea that left the Scaly Pokémon with a painful burn.

But Jangmo-o held on as best it could, and Juliana commanded it to use Dragon Claw. Sinistcha took some damage from it, but once it knew its teacup was still intact, Sinistcha put its game face back on.

"Time to stir things up a bit with our new move!" Carmine declared confidently. "Better be on your guard, or this move will getcha!" She couldn't help but snicker a bit. "Sinistcha! Give this little runt a taste of your awesome Matcha Gotcha!"

Sinistcha spun itself vigorously inside its tea cup, spilling little drops of tea around it but powering itself up. Then…

"SINEEEEEEEEEES!"

Matcha tea sprayed everywhere into the battlefield. Even Juliana got a bit of it onto her clothes.

But it was Jangmo-o who took the brunt of it. It was pelted hard by Sinistcha's strong juices, which went beyond just scalding the poor dragon and even sapped its life energy, the wily Matcha Pokémon absorbing all of that energy back into itself to restore its health.

It was too much.

Burned, fried, and drained…

Jangmo-o fell.

"Great job, Jangmo-o," Juliana said, kneeling down to her tired Scaly Pokémon. "You did the best you could out there."

"I… I won?" Carmine realized in shock. "I won. I WON! I finally won!"

"Congratulations!" Juliana ran up to her and grabbed her hands. "That was such a wonderful battle, Carmine!"

"Uhh, d—thanks? … You, you take losing pretty well."

Juliana just giggled. "Well, of course! I know I'm not going to win every single battle, but as long as I had fun, I always focus on that and work to get stronger for the next one! And I had LOTS of fun with our battle! You're a really amazing Trainer, Carmine!"

"Thanks," Carmine said sincerely. "You weren't too bad yourself, I hate to admit. It's been a while since I… since I really felt like I earned that win."

She was of two minds right now. She was both very thankful and joyous about winning the battle, but she was also feeling a slight tinge of embarrassment that she had been such a sore loser in all of Juliana's previous victories.

"Pon! Pon! PONNNN!"

She heard Ogerpon's excited cries, and was surprised when the little ogre jostled herself in excitement and immediately leapt into Carmine's embrace.

"Awww! Are you happy for me too, Ogerpon?" Carmine gave Ogerpon a little tickle on her leafy chin, which made her giggle quite a bit.

Juliana grinned from ear to ear.

"I hope now you know for sure."

"Huh?" Carmine was confused. "Know what for sure?"

She nodded. "That you really are the right Trainer for Ogerpon."

"I…"

"That's why you wanted this battle, right? To prove yourself to her? I think she knows more than ever now that you're going to be a great partner for her."

Carmine thought about this. She looked at Ogerpon in her arms, who was beaming at her more widely than ever, even after having spent the night with Juliana.

"Well… you're not completely wrong. Part of the reason I wanted to meet up here was… was because I couldn't leave without knowing Ogerpon made the choice that was going to make her the most happy."

This made Juliana come to a realization.

"I think I get it now."

"Hmm?"

"I think I finally understand why Ogerpon went to you. Kieran was… thinking about how much he wanted Ogerpon. And, and I… I just wanted Kieran to be happy. I wasn't thinking about Ogerpon at all in that moment. But you, Carmine. You were the only between all of us who was… being completely selfless, and really thinking about Ogerpon's feelings."

"Pon-yo!"

"Y'know… when I first met you…" Juliana cringed a little. "I didn't know what to think. You were so jumpy, and acted like a snob."

"Hey…" Carmine seethed just a tiny bit.

"And I judged you too much for it. But… then we spent all that time together. And I got to see more sides of you. Your other masks!" she giggled. "Your love for Kieran. And your Pokémon. And I really see it. Despite what I thought before, you're a really good, caring person, Carmine. And Ogerpon sees how big your heart really is."

Carmine… didn't know what to do with a whole spiel like that. Nobody had ever said these kinds of things to her. She let Ogerpon down gently onto the ground. And when she did… Juliana was holding her hand out.

"I'm really, really glad I met you Carmine. I'm so happy we became friends."

Carmine stared, and stared… but finally, she smiled too. And she accepted the handshake. But in her own special Carmine way, using her grip to thrust Juliana forward a bit, startling her and making the two of them— "Po-po-po-po!" –the three of them laugh happily with each other.

Carmine sighed. "You're really something else, you know?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Silly. You're so good at seeing things in a… in a whole light that nobody else does. You've made me see things in ways I never thought I could before. No wonder you have such an easy time making friends. I used to think all that was your weakness but…"

She grinned affectionately.

"Now I get it. It really is your strength. You're like a rope that binds people together. You even got me and Kiki to argue with each other less than we probably ever have being stuck on this piece of rock together," she chuckled.

Juliana laughed too, partly out of sentiment and… just being stunned to have all her affectionate gestures being reflected back to her.

"I guess that's why," Carmine said quietly.

Then Juliana's interest was piqued.

"You guess that's why… what?"

Carmine began to grin to herself even bigger. Her cheeks even flushed a bit red. Juliana noticed Carmine seemed to have a hard time getting herself to look at Juliana.

"To be honest… I've really come to see you as a great friend too. So much, that… I actually, uh…"

She was having trouble finding the words all of a sudden. Juliana was genuinely intrigued.

"Sheesh," Carmine scolded herself. "This is really awkward to tell you, but I—"

"Ro-to-to-to-to…"

She was interrupted by the sound of Juliana's Rotom Phone ringing.

"Uhhh…" Juliana reacted.

Her Rotom Phone flew from her pocket and flashed its screen in front of her, showing her the group's chaperone was calling.

"Hey there, Juliana! This is Briar."

Carmine grunted bitterly. "Seriously? Of all the times…"

"Hi, Ms. Briar. What's uhh, what's going on?"

"Well, it seems all the student pairs have completed their orienteering as of this morning. The caretaker and I wanted to have some words with all the students, so… would you mind heading back to the community center?"

Carmine looked a bit frustrated now. Juliana watched as she walked in closer, took a really deep sigh, and then spoke loudly.

"Message received, loud and clear!"

"Ahh, is that Carmine with you?"

"It sure is," Juliana responded, looking at Carmine with concern.

"Wonderful! That's one less phone call I have to make." They heard a light chuckle from Briar. "You kids never cease to amaze me. It seems you become fast friends even by spending the briefest amount of time together."

Carmine hmphed. "If only she knew how much time you and I have really spent together…"

"Well, head on over to the community center! I'll be there with the rest of the students. And please make sure Carmine comes with you, and Kieran as well! Lots going on, and so little time!"

Then Briar signed off.

Juliana gazed at Carmine, whose mood seemed to have completely shifted. She looked rather grumpy now and… upset.

"…She's right though," Carmine mumbled. "It was still pretty brief. We only just became friends, and now we…" She couldn't bear to finish the sentence.

Juliana, seeming to pick up on what Carmine was anxious about, started feeling a little sad herself.

"Hey… just because things are wrapping up, doesn't mean we're out of time. We've still got a few minutes if you want to tell me what it is you were about to tell me."

Carmine looked at her. Like, really looked at her. Like she was scanning her face. Her pleasant smile. Her cheery motions. And her pretty—no, beautiful brown eyes that looked hazel in the right kind of light. Like she was trying to capture them as memories for her to keep.

This also gave Juliana a chance to notice how bright Carmine's yellow eyes were. Yellow might seem like a sharp color for some, and whenever Carmine gets eccentric, they can appear quite striking. But now, in this tender moment, Juliana looked at them and just felt… warmness.

An ever encapsulating warmness. Like a sun that you don't want to stop staring at. Together with her long, almost spiky eyelashes… And her silky long, black hair, wrapped up in that yellow headband, all gazing downward at the short-heighted Juliana… she was really taking in now just how, cool Carmine was.

Like she was the dictionary definition of the word.

She had a mole below her left eye that Juliana had never noticed before.

It's cute…

The trance was lost when Carmine started looking sad again and shook her head.

"No. No, it'd be better if I head off. I got to pop back home really quick to see if Kiki's lightened up enough that he'll show up. I'll just—meet you there, okay? Go see what the nosy old guy wants."

She started brushing past Juliana to walk out of the plaza.

"Okay! But… we'll have plenty of time to talk afterwards, right?" Juliana asked.

Carmine stopped, and turned her head just enough that Juliana could peek at her yellow eyes again.

"…Thanks, Juliana," she said quietly. "For everything. I'm glad you were my friend too."

Then she headed off, running a little faster now.

Juliana and Ogerpon both stood there, watching her leave, looking a little sad.

"Well… that was really weird." She gazed to the ground in thought. "What do you… suppose she was about to tell me?"

"Pon?"

"Truth be told, I didn't think you'd wrap up the tour this quickly. You're quite the prodigies!"

Juliana heard Nao the caretaker talking as she made her way to the center of Mossui Town, with Ogerpon strolling happily in tow.

There, Briar, Carmine, and Nao were all standing in front of the community center, along with all of her Uva classmates.

She calmly walked in and stood next to Butch, who picked up a scent from her and sniffed around her.

"Why do your clothes smell like tea?"

"Ahh, there you are Juliana!" said Briar. "Everybody's here—well, most of us are here, anyway."

Carmine looked sadly off to the side. Juliana instantly noticed to her disappointment that Kieran wasn't there.

"Well… as you were saying, caretaker!"

"Mmm, yes! Anyway, on that note, I've got a little gift for each of you."

He went and personally handed each of the four students a Kitakami Mochi Set.

"Pon-pon?" Ogerpon cried curiously, seeing what Juliana got.

"Hmmm, why not? You can have some too, dear ogre. Consider it our penance."

Ogerpon took the Mochi set happily.

"Everyone say thank you Mr. Caretaker!" said Briar.

"Thank you, Mr. Caretaker!" said Juliana and the rest of the students.

"Now then… I believe you had some words to say, Ms. Briar."

"Oh yes. Right…"

Briar began to fidget a bit, looking a little hesitant. Juliana noticed Carmine looking at Briar with a sad face. Then she caught Juliana's eyeline… and her face retreated with a blush.

"I just want to say… I hope this trip to Kitakami has been a lot of fun for all of you. If it were up to me, we'd continue on this fun adventure as long as everyone pleases. But of course, we must all return to our natural pastures eventually. And as it so happens…"

She briefly glanced at Carmine's upset face.

"I'm sorry for suddenly springing this on you, but Carmine, Kieran, and I will need to return to Blueberry Academy a little earlier than expected."

Juliana's smile dropped.

"…What?" she cried out louder than she meant to, earning a couple of looks.

Carmine glanced at her, and mouthed a quiet "Sorry."

"But why?"

"Again, truly sorry… but there have been some concerning developments revolving around the Great Crater."

"Of Paldea…?" said a student, scratching his head.

"Yes, indeed. I'm afraid we really must be heading back."

The students began murmuring amongst each other. Juliana heard a girl whispering, "Isn't their academy in Unova? Why does a crater in our region affect anything?"

"So who's going to chaperone us for the rest of the trip?" asked Butch.

"Well, about that…" Briar looked to her right and noticed something. "Oh! Perfect timing! Here comes Mr. Jacq now!"

"Hello, hello, everyone!"

All of the students greeted Jacq as he walked into town from the direction of Reveler's Road.

"Sorry for making it late," he apologized. "I got really caught up in taking notes on this adorable pair of Swinub who came up to me while I was packing the table!"

"Yes, well…" Briar maintained her composure in light of her colleague's… looser demeanor. "I was just explaining to the kids here about us having to go back to Blueberry early. So they're wondering about the rest of the trip. I believe you can explain that to them."

"Oh-ho! Yes! Of course! Leaving the hard part to me, huh?" he muttered quietly. "Well… umm. Yeah, so like Briar said, the Blueberry students are going home early. She asked me to accompany you all. And uhh, after talking it over with both Ms. Briar and your awesome caretaker here, we've made the decision that the rest of us will be calling it a trip and heading back to Uva Academy as well."

All of the students gasped and clamored in shock.

Juliana was even more struck. She hadn't expected to be saying goodbye to Carmine and the land of Kitakami today.

Does this mean I won't even get a chance to say goodbye to Kieran…?

"But what about the rest of the Festival!?" asked the shortest male student.

"Mmm. I'm happy to answer that question," said Nao. "The thing about that is… in discussing with the rest of the town elders, we've also made the decision to postpone the Festival of Masks for the time being."

The students all erupted in various reactions of surprise and concern.

"We decided it was best, once we learned the truth about the Loyal Three. And of course, of dear Ogerpon." He gestured towards Ogerpon, who blushed. "It wouldn't feel right to continue a festival that's still themed around such falsehoods. Great for tourism perhaps, but we wouldn't feel right at home with it. So we're going to retool things with the Festival of Masks, and hopefully hold it again properly later in the year."

"I'll try to communicate this with all the proper channels as best I can so you all have a chance to come back and experience the Festival when it's on," said Jacq. Geet is sure going to have a hard time with all this…

A hand raised.

"Yes? Umm… Emi, wasn't it?"

"Does that mean the Ogre Oustin' game is going away?"

Nao chuckled. "Oh, not at all. It's a very fun diversion and… a very lucrative attraction as well, so it's not going anywhere. We will… probably just have to think of a better name for it is all."

"But with no more Festival going on, and all of you having completed your Orienteering missions, I figured it made the most sense that we end the trip now and all of you can continue your studies at Uva," Jacq explained.

The students all spoke with each other, generally being more accepting now about this outcome.

Juliana hadn't been able to wipe the look of immense distress from her face though. It troubled her to be receiving this news all at once, and she kept looking at Carmine, who was just gazing down to the ground now.

Briar cleared her throat. "Now then… Carmine, I believe you had something to say?"

Carmine felt a bit awkward. "Huh? Geez, way to put me on the spot. Umm…"

All of the students quieted down to listen to her, especially Juliana. Carmine stepped forward to address them all.

"Unfortunately my brother's not feeling well, so it's just me here to speak..."

Juliana looked yearningly off towards the road that led to their house, as if she was expecting—hoping—that Kieran was going to come out, all smiles, to join his sister in saying goodbye. But alas.

"Anyway, as you all know, this village is where I was born. Kiki—that is, Kieran and I—grew up here for much of our lives. It's a very special, sacred place to us. And I'll be honest—I didn't want any outsiders coming here at all!" she said with a snarl.

"Yikes…" one student recoiled. Juliana couldn't help but chuckle lightly, and Carmine smiled a bit more when she heard that.

"It felt like our home was being turned into a tourist trap for a buncha ignorant strangers..."

At this point, she put a hand to her heart.

"But then we spent some time together, and none of you were the way I imagined you'd be at all..."

She was now looking directly at Juliana.

"You were all really nice once I actually talked to you! You were so friendly, and eager, and excited about Pokémon battles, and well… you got me to see my homeland with fresh eyes for the first time in my life. And thanks to your help, you, you really changed our village for the better. I guess in the end… I shouldn't have been so quick to judge people I didn't know anything about either."

Juliana felt a little touched, and also a bit embarrassed.

"Wow," Bruce whispered to her. "I had no idea our orienteering together made so much of an impact on her."

Juliana stifled a loud chuckle. Briar looked at her scoldingly, but it actually made Carmine giggle a bit too.

"So I guess what I'm trying to say is... I had a lot of fun! Thank you all so much for visiting our village!"

She stepped forward some more. And then, to Juliana's surprise, Carmine walked right up to her and tenderly grabbed her hands.

"Especially you, Juliana… I'm really glad I got to meet you."

Carmine's voice started choking up; she was trying to fight back the tears she could feel coming. Juliana could feel her own face tingling up with sadness.

"And… I'm so glad we became friends, and helped Ogerpon together."

Juliana's lip trembled. "I'm really glad too, Carmine. I wouldn't trade these memories for anything."

"Yeah…" She sniffled loudly. "A-and I mean, it's not like this is good-bye forever... right?"

A tear fell down her cheek. This was enough to shatter Juliana's walls to pieces… and her eyes started welling up too.

"Y-yeah! Of course! We'll totally meet each other again someday!"

"You know, Blueberry Academy has tons of strong Trainers! You'd fit right in!" Carmine cry-laughed. "So—so you'd better come and visit us someday! You won't regret it!"

"Hey…"

"Huh?"

The next thing Carmine knew, Juliana inched up to her height and wrapped her arms around her in a soft, warm hug.

Carmine reciprocated it with a sad smile.

They wanted to just stay in that moment forever, unmoving. Not letting go.

But eventually… Carmine did. She removed herself from Juliana's embrace, then she took her hands away.

"Friends until the end, Carmine," Juliana smiled through her tears, holding out her pinky. "Promise?"

"Yeah… yeah. P-promise."

"And… pass that on to Kieran too, please. Same promise."

"I will." Sniff. "I will."

Carmine stepped back and wiped her tears away.

"Well…" she loudly addressed everyone, as if just remembering there were other people there again. "I almost forgot—I still need to get packed and everything!"

Carmine gathered all her composure, and started walking away from Juliana and the group.

She turned around after a few steps… and waved the same way she did when she first ambushed Juliana in Mossui Town.

"This is NOT good-bye, okay?" she said with a bright smile on her face now. "We're definitely gonna see each other again!"

She started running back home for real now.

Although her back was turned, Juliana smiled and waved back to her.

"Pon…"

Juliana had nearly forgotten Ogerpon was there.

Ogerpon looked in the direction Carmine ran, and then she gazed at Juliana with a frantic expression. Juliana wasn't sure why… but she quickly realized Ogerpon must be unsure now of who she should go with.

So she knelt down.

"Hey, Ogerpon."

"Pon!" Ogerpon grinned at her.

Juliana smiled warmly.

"I want to thank you. You've been watching over me since I first arrived here, haven't you? You were someone who needed a friend and… you saw me alone in this strange land and you decided I should be your friend. I'm really, really grateful for that."

Ogerpon blushed and smiled bashfully. "Pon…"

"I'm heading back to my own homeland now. It's called Paldea. It's got a bunch of adventures waiting for me, and friends who really care about me. They're the ones who are going to look after me, follow me around, and keep me smiling. So I won't be lonely at all."

She stared thoughtfully in the direction towards Carmine's house.

"But Carmine… I don't know. I have a funny feeling that she's going to really need someone like that right now. So… I'd like you to be that friend for her, Ogerpon. I'd feel a lot better too, knowing that you're looking out for her, and making her happy every day."

Ogerpon looked in that direction again. Then, after a few moments of contemplation, she gave an affirmative cry and reached her arms out for a farewell hug, which Juliana gladly gave.

"Goodbye Ogerpon." She was holding back tears again. "Until we meet each other again!"

Ogerpon beamed, excitedly said "Pon!" one final time, and then happily ran off to meet up with Carmine.

Juliana wiped a tear from her face as she watched Ogerpon leave.

Briar leaned in close to Jacq. "I umm… I really didn't mean for this to all be so dramatic."

Jacq just chuckled. "Yeah, but you know how kids are. They must've all made quite the bond with each other."

He observed Juliana with a proud smile, as she stared off into the road for a few more seconds before sighing and turning around.

"So you were able to Brick Break through that barrier after all, huh?" he said quietly. "That's my student."

After saving goodbye to her grandparents, Carmine boarded the small six-seater bus Briar had called for them with her school backpack and a suitcase filled with her belongings.

Luckily, Kieran finally agreed to come out of his room with everything packed up and hopped in too. All with very little drama. In fact… he said very little at all.

And even on the bus ride, he stayed silent. The two of them sat in the middle row with Briar and the driver up front.

Carmine looked at the blank expression on her brother's face, and worry took over her again.

"Umm, it'll be really exciting heading back to school, right Kiki?" she said gently. "I bet you're going to have some really fun stories to share with all your classmates."

Kieran slowly turned his head towards her. He cast a look at her. It wasn't quite a glare, but it wasn't a happy expression either.

He sighed quietly, and then turned his attention to the window.

At least he doesn't seem mad anymore…

Carmine decided to take what she could get from Kiki.

"Pon yo?"

Then she heard Ogerpon behind her. Kieran briefly looked behind there as well, but only briefly.

Ogerpon had taken the long seat at the back of the bus so she could look out the back window. And Carmine looked, and she saw that Ogerpon was watching Oni Mountain, the place that she had been calling home for apparently hundreds of years, slowly becoming less and less visible over the horizon.

"Hey…" She leaned over and reached her hand out to Ogerpon, who gave her cloaked arm. "Don't worry. Kitakami is our home too. We'll definitely be back again lots of times."

"Ponyo…" Ogerpon gave a cry that sounded a tad unsure but trusting in Carmine's words. At least, that's how she interpreted it. She couldn't really pick up on Ogerpon's emotions as well as Juliana seemed to, but she had plenty of time to learn.

"You love battling a lot, right?"

Ogerpon answered eagerly.

"Hmm-hmm! Well, you're going to love life at Blueberry. It's practically nothing but battles! And you're going to meet all my friends, ohh they're all going to love you, I just know it!"

"Pon?"

"And you and I will hang out together, training all the time! And talking girl stuff every night! It's going to be a blast!"

"Pon-pon!" Ogerpon sounded very eager about all this.

"…"

Carmine decided to ignore the look Kieran gave them both.

She looked out her own window… and saw a plane flying overhead. She couldn't be sure it was Juliana's obviously, but it still made her grin a little.

"And you and I are both going to see our mutual friend again someday. … I really hope so anyway."

Then, a wide look suddenly crossed her face.

"…CRAP! I… I never even got her number," she said sorrowfully.

Juliana made herself cozy in her seat. She had gotten a window seat on the plane heading back to Paldea, next to a student named Emi that she hadn't talked to much. But the two struck up a brief conversation about their experiences in Kitakami and what classes they take. They didn't share any classes in common, or much of any hobbies.

Juliana found herself thinking about Carmine. She imagined the kinds of things Carmine would talk about if they were sitting next to each other. Imagined the sorts of things she might have to say about her classes, and what friends she's got.

She wasn't expecting to start missing Carmine so soon but… Juliana was already beginning to experience an emptiness in her chest.

I really do wish she was here next to me right now… Who knows how long it'll take for us to see each other again. Our academies might not even share the same breaks. Maybe it won't happen until we're both out of school… Long enough that our walls might be back up again…

And Kieran… I really hope he's doing okay.

Juliana was distracted by her thoughts when she saw Mienfoo, the Pokémon she'd chosen to be plane buddy, curiously gazing out the window.

She looked and saw that Kitakami was slowly being eaten up by the clouds as they ascended over the land.

She rubbed Mienfoo's back. "It's a weird feeling leaving the place you call home, huh?"

"Foo…"

"Well, you're going to love Paldea a lot, I can promise you that."

"Mien?"

She smiled. "It's got a lot of great natural areas to run around in, and Trainers everywhere just itching for a battle. You and I are going to have a ton of great matches, especially against all the Gym Leaders I still have to fight!"

"Mien! Mienfoo!" the Martial Arts Pokémon cried excitedly. Juliana patted it on the back some more as she giggled.

She decided to put the Snorlax-themed sleep mask they provided over her eyes, and see if she could catch some Z's before they landed back home again.

As she began to drift off, she thought about Paldea. Her home.

All of the places she's been to so far, and those she has yet to venture to. The Pokémon she's encountered. The people she's met.

Her friends, and their smiling faces…

Juliana thought about how much she had missed all of them while she was away, and imagined how they would all react when they see her again.

She could hardly wait.

NEXT TIME... A NEW BEGINNING!