Juliana stepped out of the Medali Gym with her Mienfoo alongside her. She proudly gazed at the Normal Badge in her hand.
"Five Badges now… Nemona's going to be real happy with this, Mienfoo."
"Mienfoo!" Mienfoo took a defensive stance all of a sudden as it watched over Juliana's back.
"Hee-hee. You're always on-guard for me, aren't you? Well, we've got three Gyms left to go. I guess we're going to have to be on our guard from now on."
She had barely made it down the end of the block before she heard someone clearing her throat.
Juliana turned around and was surprised to see Larry, the Gym Leader of Medali, slowly march up to her.
"Finally," said Larry. "I called your name three times. Didn't you hear me?"
"Umm…" Juliana looked sheepish.
"Well, at least that exotic Pokémon of yours noticed me. A loyal guardian like that is a good thing for a kid to have."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Larry. What's up?"
"You left this behind."
The soft-spoken businessman pulled out a photograph from his pocket and handed it to Juliana.
"Oh! The selfie we took!" Juliana realized. "I must've dropped it! Thank you!"
"It's no problem," Larry nodded. "I still don't… really know who started this whole trend of the students taking photos with us. But if it will really help you remember how great our battle was, then I hope you cherish it always."
Juliana chuckled. "Thank you, Mr. Larry. I will!"
"You're welcome." He looked at her blankly for a second before pondering something. "You're one of those students who went on the Uva Academy field trip to Kitakami, aren't you?"
"That's right! How'd you guess that!?" Juliana then looked to her left. "Oh… I guess because of my Mienfoo, huh?"
"Foo!"
Larry glanced at the Martial Arts Pokémon.
"Well… now that you mention it, yes, I had been rather puzzled at how you had several non-Paldea native Pokémon in your party. You really made it more challenging for me to strategize."
He cleared his throat.
"But as it happens, my workplace co-sponsored your trip. So I had to do a lot of—I mean… I helped with the paperwork that got you and the rest of the students on the trip."
He scratched the back of his head and grumbled a bit. "As well as all the clearance for you all to use Pokémon outside Paldea's Dex in the Pokémon League…"
"Wow," said Juliana. "I had no idea your job entails so much! No wonder you look so busy!"
"…Thanks," Larry responded, deciding to assume she meant that as a compliment. "I hope that your trip was the kind of fun and confidence-building exercise the boss was hoping for. It seems like it's toughed you up considerably. I think the other Leaders are all going to have their eye on you."
"T-thanks, Mr. Larry!" Juliana graciously bowed.
"Keep up the energy you have now and you'll go far. I think you might even have potential to be a Champion." Then, after a pause, Larry picked up his briefcase. "Well, in either case, my break time's over. Time to go back to work."
Juliana, a little puzzled, watched him walk down the road to report for his salary job so soon after their Battle had finished.
"Take care of yourself, Juliana," he said as he pulled out his flip phone to start calling a Flying Taxi and disappeared.
"Huh," Juliana commented after he was gone. "He's a nicer guy than I expected. He must be really dedicated to his job AND being a Gym Leader. … I hope he has some excitement going on in his life."
"Mien…"
Mienfoo started to give a cry of agreement, but then it swiftly looked around and raised its guard again.
"Huh?" Juliana looked at it curiously. "Are you sensing danger again? I don't know who could jump out at us in such a quiet town like thi—"
"SURPRISE!"
Juliana was cut off as someone suddenly glomped her from behind.
"AGHH!"
"Mien!?" Mienfoo jumped back in shock.
"Ta-ta-tachán! Did you miss me, Juliana? 'Cause I sure missed you!"
Juliana breathed easy when she recognized that boisterous voice.
"Geez, Nemona, you almost gave me a heart attack," she giggled.
"Ha-ha! Oops, sorry."
Juliana's tall and excitable friend sheepishly let go. She wore her black hair in a long ponytail, with two distinct green bangs sticking out in the front, and her Uva Academy uniform loose and relaxed.
"I was just so excited because I knew! I just knew! Once I heard you were back in Paldea, I was 100% sure I would find you tackling your next Gym right away!" Nemona threw her fists down excitedly. "You won! Right? Right!?" She looked insecure. "…Right?"
Juliana snickered, and proudly held up the Normal Badge.
"YES! Ha ha!" Nemona jumped high into the air and pumped her fist up. "I never had any doubt, of course!" She excitedly hugged Juliana again really tightly. "You've become such an amazing Trainer, Juliana!"
"Awww, Nemona," Julina blushed. "I missed you so—MIENFOO, WAIT!"
Mienfoo was charging up an extremely large Aura Sphere while leering right at Nemona.
"Friend, friend! Nemona friend!"
Juliana hastily took herself out of Nemona's embrace and held her tenderly by the cheek, as Nemona flashed her incredibly big smile at Juliana's overprotective ferret Pokémon.
"Mien?" Mienfoo, finally understanding there was no danger, folded its arms. "…Mien."
"Oh. My. GOODNESS!"
Mienfoo was startled again when Nemona went right up to its face all starry-eyed with her fists balled up.
"What is this Pokémon!? I've never even seen it before! You must've caught it in Kitakami, right!? How strong is it!?"
The Martial Arts Pokémon continued to eye this stranger and her eccentric personality warily.
"Oooh! I want to see ALL the cool exotic Pokémon you caught in Kitakami! I bet you fought some really strong Trainers over there too! What were they like!?"
"Uhh—" Juliana had forgotten how this girl functioned, and was a little lost for words.
Nemona could definitely be an overwhelming person to talk to sometimes, with her seemingly bottomless amounts of energy. But she was the first person who was really kind and patient with Juliana as she learned the ins and outs of battling for the first time.
Plus, she had such an unbeatable passion for battles, and Juliana had really come to respect and even admire that about her. Living for her best friend's smile had become Juliana's primary motivator during the early days of her Treasure Hunt.
"No, wait! What am I saying? The best way to see how far you've come!" She eagerly fished out a Poke Ball and flashed her arm forward. "I want to BATTLE all your cool new Pokémon! Right here, right now!"
We've only been talking for a minute after not seeing each other for a week and she already wants a battle…
"I'm glad you haven't changed at all, Nemona," Juliana giggled.
Carmine waved a flashlight at the comforter sheet hanging by a wire, shining on it like a spotlight.
"And 3… 2… 1! Here she cooooomes!"
Like an elegant model, Ogerpon parted the curtain and walked out. She was clad in a small purple gown. The skirt swayed gently like a butterfly in the wind as Ogerpon strut her stuff, making the poses Carmine had demonstrated for her and flittering her little eyes like a flirting model.
"Ohhhhh, so regal!" Carmine clapped excitedly. "All the biggest fashion agencies should be ringing the phones right now wanting to sign you!"
Ogerpon blushed as she swayed around happily in her dress.
"A 10/10 look for sure! That would pair even lovelier with a ballroom mask! Hmmm…" She pondered. "Are you game for wearing different masks just for play, Ogerpon?"
"Ponn…" Ogerpon seemed to consider the question and then looked at Carmine with a non-committal face.
"Not sure? That's okay. We don't have to do what you don't wanna do," Carmine nodded. Ogerpon smiled appreciatively. "Anyway, here's what I was thinking of next…"
Carmine pulled out a vintage white-and-green dirndl dress in a child's size.
"A little taste of your mountaineer roots! What do ya think?"
"Ponio!" Ogerpon cried excitedly.
Just then, they heard a knock at the door.
"Hmm? Come in!"
Carmine called out, not noticing that Ogerpon had begun to tremble slightly. The door opened.
"Huh? Kiki?"
"Sis."
He glanced at Ogerpon with a sneering look.
"Ogre."
"Pon…" Ogerpon was inexplicably shaking like a leaf, as if Kieran's whole aura was giving her bad vibes again.
"I need a favor from you."
He was annoyed to only get Carmine's snicker in response.
"Wh—what did you do to your hair?" She burst out chortling. "You look like an onion, Kiki!"
Kieran, who had pulled his hair back and tied it in a knot so that his purple roots were prominently visible, just looked annoyed by his sister's teasing and grit his teeth while lightly stamping his foot.
"You finished?"
Carmine was shut up by her brother's curt tone. Ogerpon seemed even more unnerved by Kieran's new tics for some reason, and took to hiding behind the makeshift curtain.
"Like I said, I need a favor from you. Are you going to listen or what?"
"H-hey! Is that any way to talk to your big sister?" Carmine seethed. "You haven't said a single word to me since we came back to school! And this is how you finally open up, by making demands? I don't care what kind of a mood you're in, you still need to show me respect if you know what's good for you!"
Unfettered by Carmine's threats, Kieran proceeded to explain.
"Let me make it simple for you. I've decided I want to join the BB League, and I know you've got friends in the Elite Four. I don't want to waste my time fighting all the weaklings at the bottom, so I need you to put in a good word for me."
"Good… word?"
"All you have to do is convince one of your friends, like Lacey, to give me a personal recommendation."
"Lacey? But why wo—"
"People who get recommended to the League by someone as important as the BB League start out at a higher rank, don't they? And I just want to get to the top as soon as I can."
"Wait, okay, back up a second!" Carmine pushed out with her hands to get a word in. "First off… since when are you feeling ready for the BB League? You used to go on all the time about how intimidating the League is for you, and that you're not cut out for it."
"That… was the old me," Kieran gravely replied. "The weaker me. Now I want nothing more than to be the strongest Trainer, the best around. So are you going to help me or what?"
Carmine huffed in frustration that Kieran was still being so sharp with her.
"You know, 'please' is still a word that exists around these parts, you little runt. But even if you weren't forgetting your manners, the answer would still be no, Kiki."
Kieran reared back, stunned. "What!? But why not?"
Carmine sighed a little, and tried to talk to him more gently.
"Look… that's really cool that you've finally become confident enough to take on the BB League. As your sister, I couldn't be happier, and I'll support you every step of the way! But… I can't tell my friends that you're ready to face them head-on right now. They'd never believe me. And to tell you the truth, I don't believe that either."
Kieran looked gutted by this response, and Carmine hated to see that.
"I mean, I could probably beat them all if I wanted to, sure! But you've got a long ways to go before you'd stand a chance." She gritted her teeth. "Especially against that blowhard Drayton! That big Archaludon of his would probably stomp you flat in seconds, Kiki. The last thing I'd ever do is put you in a position to be humiliated like that."
Kieran shut his eyes in deep thought. Carmine stole a glance over at Ogerpon, who was timidly peaking out from behind the curtain sheets. She looked worryingly at her brother, hoping that he would see reason.
But when he opened his eyes, he looked sullen.
"Of course… I get it. You still think I'm too weak just like everyone else. You just want to keep me this way forever so that you'll always be the boss of me, telling me what's best for me."
"Wha-!?" Carmine was flabbergasted. "That is—not true at all! How could you say that, Kiki?"
"Hmmph. Why don't you battle me then?"
Carmine blinked several times in confusion.
"What? A battle…? Are you serious right now?"
"Very!" he sharply responded. "I'm going to prove to you that I'm a whole new Kieran and then we'll see if you think I'm still too weak to become Champion!"
Carmine's lip twitched in anger. She couldn't believe the kind of gall that was coming out of the normally sweet, timid Kieran right now.
Resigned, she went over to her desk to draw out the capsule with her Poké Balls in them.
"If a battle is what it'll take to get out of… whatever this whole funk is, then that's the only reason I'm saying yes. Not because I'm making any promises to get you in with the Elite Four if you win."
"Fine by me," Kieran shrugged blithely.
He looked over at the comforter sheet Ogerpon was still hiding behind. She peered at him with her one worried, star-shaped pupil.
Kieran paused, as if experiencing a feeling of regret for a brief second. But then he sneered.
"Without the ogre," he bitterly declared. "Don't want you to get an easy win."
Carmine glanced back crossly as she selected her team members.
"Trust me, I wouldn't be putting Ogerpon through this even if you insisted…" she grumbled to herself.
"Qua-quack-quav-QUACK!"
"So, what do you think?" Nemona asked excitedly.
Juliana watched the tall blue peacock-like Pokémon strut in its rhythmic dancing, with a combined look that was both amused and bemused.
"It umm…" She chuckled. "It sure fits you alright, Nemona."
Nemona smiled. "I knew I made the right choice for me when I picked Quaxly back at the start of your adventure. Now get ready for this! Time to Terastallize!"
TERA-PO-GOO!
Nemona's Tera Orb burst into sparkles around her Quaquaval. Despite this, the Dancer Pokémon didn't miss even a single step, grooving in its own little world as it burst out in a blue crystalline form with a crystallized water spout atop its moving head.
"Well… I've got a big surprise for you too!" Juliana boasted.
She tossed out her last Pokémon.
Two green paws cupped together, creating the illusion of a curtain lifting. Aa they parted, two beady eyes slowly opened from behind a harlequin-like mask.
Then, a mighty cat's yowl sounded out. Pulling out a green bulb with pink flower petals, its stem appearing invisible by the Pokémon's reflective fur, Meowscarada made a dramatic stage pose as it officially entered into battle.
"Awww, your Sprigatito reached its final form!" Nemona cupped her hands excitedly. "I knew you would raise it up quicker than most!"
TERA-PO-GOO!
Juliana Terastallized her Meowscarada into the Grass-type, and Meowscarada, after striking another dazzling pose, powered up its "invisible" flower into a powerful Seed Bomb-shooting bulb that lit up around Quaquaval in wonderous green sparks, and sent the high-flowing dancer to the floor.
"Show's over," said Juliana. "Thank you all for coming."
Meowscarada bowed gracefully to an unseen audience.
"You did really great, Quaquavel," Nemona assured her partner as she recalled it. "Oh man…"
Juliana was concerned. "…Huh?"
Then, suddenly beaming again, Nemona sprinted over to Juliana.
She grabbed her by the shoulders, and started shaking her excitedly.
"Bravo! That's what I'm talking about, girl! You battled amazing! Best I've ever seen you and your Pokémon yet!"
She laughed almost uncontrollably as she let go, covering her face as she tried to contain her emotions.
"I'm so thrilled! I knew from the moment I saw you you were going to become a really strong, powerful Trainer, and look at you! You're already almost up to my level!"
"Y-you really mean it?" asked a stunned Juliana.
"Muy bien! Now spill the beans!" she demanded, getting up in Juliana's face.
"Spill the beans on… what?" she asked, backing a few inches away.
"Your strategies have changed so much! You weren't just out there catching Pokémon, you must've been battling someone REAL strong! Tell me all the deets!"
"Oh, uh… yeah! Of course, you're right. So while I was there, I met these two other students from Blueberry Academy. This boy named—"
"Ohhhh, snap!" Nemona reacted, her eyes widening. "You got to fight kids from Blueberry Academy!? Oooh, that makes me so jealous!" she rattled. "I've heard that kids who learn battling at Blueberry are a whole level above anyone else. They literally do nothing but study battling all day long over there! Now I definitely want to know their names!"
"Well, I was just about to get to that!"
"Oh… hee-hee. Sorry," Nemona apologized. "I got a little too springy again."
"One of them is this boy named Kieran, who's pretty strong for someone a year behind us. I just…" She started to look despondent. "I just wish he would stop doubting himself, and—and I wish we hadn't left on such bad terms."
Nemona, sensing that Juliana was feeling some emotional wounds, decided to prod.
"…Okay. 'm really sorry to hear that. What about the other student?"
"Oh! Yeah! Carmine!" Juliana said in a more excited voice. "She's so cool! And really super-talented at battling! She's got this really amazing Pokémon! It's—it's like a Polteageist, but a regional form that's like matcha tea, and it's got these really great Grass attacks! And… and we met this REALLY super amazing Pokémon called Ogerpon who's really adorable and can change its Type by putting on different masks! And now Carmine's training it, it's probably got to be super strong by now! And she's really pretty and, and—"
Juliana gulped and cut herself off. She was mortified to realize she had just rambled harder than even Nemona, just by thinking about Carmine.
Nemona, for her part, laughed.
"Wow! She sure made an impression on you, huh? This Carmine girl's got really strong Pokémon AND she's really pretty?"
Juliana's cheeks flushed red and she instinctively went to tug on her braid in embarrassment, only to fluster even more because her hair was a different style now and that braid was gone.
"I don't know that I like hearing that sort of talk!" Nemona began to get a crazy look in her eyes. "Is she even prettier than me, Juliana? Is she even STRONGER than me!?"
Juliana began to back up in a sweat.
"I thought I was your favorite rival! Now someone else wants to be my Juliana's bestie!?"
"I… I…"
Juliana looked frightened for a second, but… then she laughed.
"Okay, good one! That time, you almost got me with the crazy girl act!"
Nemona dropped the crazy eyes and looked disappointed.
"Ohhhhh! I thought I had you!"
"You should go back to pretending you were stalking me!" Juliana giggled. "At least I got to see you around pretty much all the time!"
The two of them laughed uproariously. Juliana's Mienfoo, who had been watching this whole thing unfold apprehensively, stared passively between its loyal owner and this girl flip-flopping with her emotions.
Finally seeming to sense she truly wasn't a danger, it passively folded its arms… and joined in on the laughter.
"Alright, Sinistcha! Scald attack!"
Carmine's Sinistcha splashed Kieran's Dipplin with a douse of hot water. It didn't do very much to the Grass/Dragon Pokémon, but like Carmine hoped, Dipplin was left with a nasty burn.
"Yes!" Carmine celebrated.
The two siblings had gone out onto the Terrarium, a huge artificial landscape within Blueberry Academy's underwater structure, painstakingly created to perfectly simulate multiple biomes that all sorts of different Pokémon inhabit.
The battle arena they had chosen was on a plateau next to one of the outdoor classrooms within the Canyon Biome, a section of the Terrarium whose breezy winds and mountainous fields always pleasantly reminded the pair of their native Kitakami atmosphere.
Kieran growled angrily.
"If you win due to blind luck, I swear, sis! Dipplin! You'd better muster up the best Dragon Pulse you got!"
Dipplin put on its best determined eyes, and charged up a strong purple beam of energy that it fired at the Matcha Pokémon.
Sinistcha took the brunt of the attack without fainting, as Dipplin took heavy damage from its Burn.
"I think it's time to wrap this up with our new favorite! Sinistcha, Matcha Gotcha!"
Sinistcha swirled around in its teacup and blasted life-draining matcha tea at Dipplin. The burn was put out, but so was the Candy Apple Pokémon, and the syrupy worms retreated into their syrupy apple out of defeat.
Kieran was mortified. He recalled his trusty Pokémon with a quiet but simmering look.
Carmine meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was a really great battle, Kiki! I've gotta admit, you have grown a lot stronger since the last time you and I got to have a battle like this," Carmine smiled eagerly. "I'm so proud of how far you've come."
Kieran's face slumped and he didn't respond.
Carmine gulped. "…Kiki?
She heard him mutter something.
"What?"
"…Weak. Weak. Weak! WEAK!"
Kieran furiously scratched at his head where his long bangs used to be, gripping onto his pulled back hair in immense fury.
"I'm still just as weak…" He grumbled, seemingly to himself more than Carmine. "I thought I could really pun a win. Dumb, pathetic Kieran!"
"Hey! Did you even hear what I said? You've grown a lot since our last battle and you were so much more confident back there! Now learn to take a compliment already, you angsty little twerp!"
To her distress, Kieran just stomped his foot really hard on the grass-covered dirt and his fists trembled maddeningly.
"But I'm still not good enough!" he whined. "I'll never be where I want to be if I'm still losing this bad to the likes of you!"
"The likes of… Kiki. That really hurts."
Kieran had his arms folded and his head almost buried in them. Even Sinistcha was looking upon him with concern.
"Sinees…?"
"Forget it," he finally said. "This battle was probably the wake-up call I needed anyway. I'm really not ready to face the Elite Four. Not yet anyway, I need to become stronger…"
He gazed at the Poké Ball containing his Dipplin and began to squeeze on it.
"Stronger and stronger… If I have to defeat a bunch of weaklings to build up my team and make it to the top… Then so be it."
He started to walk away, much to Carmine's surprise, still simmering to himself.
"Kiki! Hey Kiki… wait!"
Frantic, she rushed over and grabbed Kieran by the arm.
"Just wait one second!"
"Let go of me, sis," he growled.
"No! You listen to me!" she snapped. "You've been acting so weird ever since we got back from Kitakami, a-and I don't like it one bit! I miss my little brother! The nice and caring Kieran who didn't care how weak he is—err, thinks he is!"
She looked at him pleadingly, even though he refused to face her.
"Now look, this needs to stop already. You and I need to sit down and talk this out, so we can figure out how to snap you out of thi—"
"There's nothing WRONG with me!" Kieran barked. "Now LET GO OF ME, CARMINE!"
Carmine was shellshocked to have Kieran yell at her like that. She didn't even let go on purpose, her hand just limped away from his arm.
Kieran turned around, and his face screamed with rage.
"You miss a pathetic, weak little boy who couldn't defend himself! Forget about all that stuff, because little boy is gone! I'm all grown up now and I don't need you holding my hand anymore! Okay!? So just—just stop it! Just let it go already!"
Despite his face being red with anger, his eyes were also tearing up.
"You could never understand how I feel! You've got everything you could ever want! Everything I've ever wanted!" he ranted. "You're friends with all the coolest Trainers! You got the ogre all to yourself! You even got Juliana t—to…"
The tears were practically streaming down his face now.
"You'll never understand how much I need this! NEVER!"
Carmine was fighting back from crying herself.
"Kiki…" She desperately tried to reach her arms out and hug him. "Please… I'll listen… Just tell me what—"
"UGH!"
Kieran forcefully pushed his sister's arms away, almost making her stumble to the ground.
"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"
With that he ran off, yelling in anguish.
Carmine… Carmine just stood there. Her eyes were dry, but her pupils were tiny. Her whole body was shaking. A couple of students were looking at her now, having witnessed the whole blow-up.
To her, they may as well not be there.
She just looked, horrified, off in the distance. Her voice, low and croaky.
"Kiki… Please… Please come back... I'm so sorry…"
"WHAT?!"
Juliana and Nemona were sat on a park bench near the Treasure Eatery in Medali, and Nemona had just reacted in surprise at what Juliana was offering her.
"You—you really want me to trade me one of your Pokémon from Kitakami?"
"Yeah!" Juliana answered. "To be honest… I haven't been using Hakamo-o as much as I thought I would. I guess I don't need a Dragon Pokémon for much right now, and… Mienfoo's been covering my Fighting-type needs pretty well. So yeah. I think you would do a lot more with it than me."
"Awww…" Nemona accepted the Ultra Ball containing Juliana's Hakamo-o—now hers, with grace. "Thanks, Juliana! I'll raise it really well and make it into a strong partner! You're the best pal a girl could ask for!"
She leaned over and gave Juliana a friendly side-hug.
"By the way, I've been meaning to tell you… your new hair is so cool! It's a really great look on you!"
"Aww, thanks!" said Juliana, brushing up her ponytail. Then she realized something.
Oh yeah. I'm rocking a new hairstyle, and Arven never said anything about it. She scoffed to herself. I bet he didn't even notice, did he?
"It's called a Kitakami ponytail. Carmine… well, her grandmother that is… she gave me this look for the Festival of Masks and… Carmine said that it made me look really cute, so, I guess I just kept it."
"Ha-ha! Well, I agree with her there!" Nemona smiled. "You really like this Carmine girl a lot, huh?"
Juliana grinned to herself. "She… she's one of the most unique people I've ever met. And I had so many fun adventures with her in Kitakami. I was so sad when we had to say goodbye… I hope I get to see her again someday."
"Well, I hope so too," said Nemona, putting an arm on her shoulder. "Having a friend who means that much to you it's… it's one of the most wonderful feelings in the whole world. And hey!" That comforting shoulder rub turned into a playful punch. "If she ever comes around our neighborhood, then you gotta introduce me to her too! I'd love to battle her!"
"Ha-ha, it's a promise!" Juliana laughed.
The two sat together, eating their fresh sandwiches from the Every Wich Way branch in Medali.
Juliana looked at the Treasure Eatery thoughtfully.
"I think my new goal…" she decided. "…is to find enough of those special Tera Shards so I can change my Meowscarada's Tera Type like Larry talked about. Being Grass Tera is cool and all but… I think I could unlock its full potential by having it Terastallize into something else."
"Yeah!" Nemona replied with her mouth full. "Look at you, strategizing so much! I gotta do that with my Quaquaval too! No more predictable Water Tera!"
"We make each other stronger!" Juliana grinned.
"¡Qué guay!"
They gave a fist bump to each other.
Now it was Nemona's turn to look thoughtfully at the restaurant.
"Hey… You know, I've been thinking about it. What I said, about how wonderful it is to have a good friend?"
"Mm-hm?"
Nemona turned to Juliana and smiled warmly at her.
"Thank you… so much not just for letting me be your friend, but for being my friend, Juliana."
Juliana smiled back. "Of course. You're welcome."
"Y'know, you'd think that me being a Champion and President of the student council and all that would make me one of the most popular girls in school but… not so much," said Nemona with a bothered face. "In fact, sometimes it feels like there's—there's an invisible wall between me and the other students."
"…Like a barrier," Juliana realized.
"Yeah! Exactly like that! I don't really know why it is… Whenever I try to challenge one of my classmates to a battle, they make up a lame excuse to leave me hanging. And everyone says I have this… innate gift for battling, or that I was raised differently or whatever. It's like they see me as a whole pedestal above them." She whimpered, "Or, maybe it's just because I'm just… too much? Like, all my emotions and stuff?"
Juliana was surprised. She had never seen this kind of insecure side to Nemona before. She thought about what it was like breaking down Carmine's walls and… realized she was unconsciously following the same process with her best friend.
"But it's—I'm not scary, or crazy or anything like that! Right? I just love battling so much and want it to be fun. That's why I try to go easy on everyone! And that's, that's good right?"
Juliana wasn't sure what to answer.
"…Maybe? But, so you're saying you feel like you never get to battle with all your heart? That you're always holding back?"
"A little bit, yeah. I guess—I guess that's why I want you to get even stronger, and make it all the way to the top. So I can have someone who's finally equal to me, and we can battle our hearts out!"
For a moment, she'd gotten her excitement back. But then she looked frazzled again.
"But I mean… I'm not putting pressure on you, right? I don't want to find out that you have been scared of me this whole time, and feeling like you just have to do this for me, and—and…"
Juliana could tell her friend was becoming extremely self-conscious and she put her hand on Nemona's lapped hands in order to calm her down.
"Hey. Of course you're not pushing me, Nemona. I'm doing this… because I want to! Because it's a lot of fun and I want to be a really strong Trainer too so I can figure out what it is I treasure the most!"
Nemona smiled again, and Juliana beamed to see that friendly smile pop up.
"You've been such a great friend to me, Nemona, and a great rival! I wouldn't trade all this for anything in the world."
Nemona sniffled hard, and smiling cheek-to-cheek now, she embraced Juliana in a really big, tight hug.
Juliana felt that warm feeling in her heart again, like her whole self just blossomed on the inside whenever she was around Nemona.
Except… it was different now, she came to realize?
She used to feel these sorts of fuzzies every time she hung out with Nemona, before her trip to Kitakami. She'd actually wondered if she might be harboring a little crush on her new friend.
Now that they were seeing each other again after Kitakami, it wasn't like that feeling had faded. But…
It wasn't the same kind of intense feeling now. In fact, Juliana realized that all that warmness and gooey feeling she felt inside of her… had been much stronger in Kitakami, the more she got to know Carmine.
To the point that it was like her heart warmed up and started beating faster every time she looked at Carmine, and Carmine smiled back at her.
Why did Carmine completely overtake Nemona in making her feel that way? Is that how much she valued Carmine as a friend?
Or… even more than that?
"Hey."
Nemona broke away from their hug.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for unloading all that on you, I guess I, I guess I just really needed to hear that."
Juliana grinned again and held out her hand.
"Of course. Rivals to the end, remember?"
Nemona giggled happily and accepted the tight handshake.
"Yeah! Rivals to the end!"
Carmine held on to her arm as she tried to push her legs forward down the hallway back to her dorm. She was still nursing a thousand-yard stare on her face, trying to convince herself that whole scene at the Canyon Biome hadn't just happened.
She felt herself come down to earth a bit as she saw her Lacey running up to her, her arms rocking around femininely.
"Carmine! Carmine!"
She forced herself to hold her head up and smile as Lacey approached.
"Is it true? I heard that Kieran just signed up for the BB League!"
Carmine blinked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess he must've…"
"Yaaaaay!" Lacey squeed, gripping Carmine's hands in hers. "I was really hoping he would join someday! I always felt like he had the potential to make it really far!"
"You did?" Carmine reacted in surprise.
That was a strange revelation. Was… she the only one doubting her brother?
"This must be a happy day for you! Now you're both tackling the League together!" She had a look of realization. "Oh. Well… I guess you're still taking a break from the League and all that, after your last loss."
"You had to go and remind me…" Carmine rolled her eyes.
"Sorry!" Lacey winced. "I guess I'm just too excited for Kieran. Maybe seeing your little bro get stronger will be just the push you've been needing to try again! Or not, and that's okay too. Ooooh! I'm just so happy for you two! I gotta get to class now, but we are so meeting up later! See ya round, Carmine!"
"See ya."
Carmine watched Lacey run down the hall, blissfully unaware of the turmoil Carmine felt in every bone of her body. She knew Lacey couldn't read her emotions, with how hard she was working to bottle them up until she could get back to her sanctum.
She opened the door to her dorm room. She calmly walked over to her bed.
Her knees gave out. As she sat over her blanket, she could see her hands were still trembling.
"You'll never understand! NEVER! JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"
Kieran's harsh words rang through her head like a gong. She was surprised to feel saline dripping down her face, and reached her hands up to feel tears were welling up.
"What? No, come on…" she whined. "Don't cry. You're stronger than this, Carmine… He's just going through a phase… We'll be alright again…"
Carmine hunched over, almost determined to just lay her head down and let it all out.
Then she felt something tap her shoulder.
"…Huh?"
Her wet eyes looked up to see Ogerpon, standing on her bed and smiling down on her. Ogerpon had put on the bright green dirndl Carmine had picked out for her.
"Awww, Ogerpon…" Carmine cooed, wiping away her tears. "You look positively adorable."
"Ponio!"
Ogerpon cried out in thanks, and then she knelt down and embraced Carmine, wrapping her whole grassy cloak around Carmine in a big fuzzy hug like a blanket.
Carmine laughed, and wrapped her own arms around Ogerpon's.
"Thank you, Ogerpon."