(Or, "Sweet Eatings and Sour Meetings")
"Aaand here we are!"
"Oooooh!"
Juliana walked into the League Club Room and was immediately taken in by the room's friendly, homely vibes.
It was a large room with the same wood finish walls and blue carpeting as her dorm room and much of the rest of the campus grounds, and adorned with an even larger window looking out into the ocean water.
At the center of the room was a set of tables where students sat, and couches against the wall. A computer station, a set of lockers and a series of bookshelves, and even a little corner of the room lined with treadmills.
Two of them looked very expensive, but there was an odd one out that looked much cheaper, even lacking a high-tech screen and handles like the other two, looking more like a hasty replacement.
"This is the base of operations for the League Club! On behalf of the whole club: Glad you're here!"
Drayton's loud proclamation brought the attention of two students sitting at one of the tables, a boy and a girl. Their eyes lit up in surprise upon seeing Juliana.
"Whoa. You're the new kid from Paldea, right?" said the girl. "We just saw your picture in the student paper!"
Juliana giggled. "That's me!"
"We gotta battle sometime! I want to know all about how Paldeans Terastallize their Pokémon!"
"Look who's already popular," Drayton grinned.
However, both students' expressions changed when they glanced past Juliana.
"…Uh-oh," one of them said.
"What?"
The guy leaned in and whispered, "You'd better watch out. That girl behind you is bad news."
"What is she doing here?" the girl whispered.
Juliana looked behind her and was perplexed to only see her Kitakamite friend.
"Who… Carmine?"
Carmine stuck her tongue out at them as she closed the door behind her.
"Ignore them. They're just jealous."
The guy scoffed out loud.
"I was just telling our new classmate here that everyone at the League Club plays nice with each other," Drayton said to them. "As her new clubmates, I don't think you two would wanna damage our reputation for the new kid now, would you?"
"Maybe you shouldn't have thrown to that psycho then," the guy muttered to himself.
Juliana stepped forward with a stern, but friendly expression.
"You know, at my school back home, everybody gets along and we all support each other," she informed them. "They told me at Blueberry, you all solve any problems you have with each other by battling. That's why I was so excited to come here. I'm not here to make any enemies, but to battle and make new friends!"
The two students looked at each other a little guiltily.
"So it shouldn't matter who my pals are, or who someone like Carmine is related to! We all still have one thing in common, right?" She pulled out her Tera Orb from her bag. "We love Pokémon! That should be enough for us to be friends, right?"
She held out her hand as a peace offering. The guy looked a little hesitant, but reluctantly shook her hand.
"Guess you've made your bed. Just don't get burned," he commented before walking away.
The girl was still pensive. Juliana flashed her Tera Orb with a smile, which made her chuckle.
"Yeah, okay. I still wanna battle you sometime."
"Me too!" Juliana grinned.
She gave Juliana a nod of respect, and to Carmine's surprise, actually looked her way and mouthed what looked like a "Sorry" as she too went back to her seat.
Carmine was stunned at Juliana's tenacity.
"Well, look at you… You really have figured out what you're all about since we last saw each other. Maybe I was wrong to worry so much about you fitting in," she admitted, playfully ruffling Juliana's hair.
"Ha-ha, thanks Carmine!" Juliana appreciated. "I just couldn't stand those two giving you a hard time!"
"Sorry about that, J-girl," Drayton addressed. "There's been a few sour bunches at this club lately. We've all been working hard to curb that kind of toxicity here but… easier to spread hate than love, am I right?"
"Uhh…"
Carmine rolled her eyes and leaned in closer to speak quietly to Drayton.
"Chowder brains like those two are just one of the many problems around here, lughead. Are we sure this is a good idea, bringing her here?" she asked, pointing at Juliana.
"Well, why not?" Drayton whispered back.
"You know, 'cause…" Carmine didn't finish that sentence, but she looked around apprehensively.
"…'Cause of Kieran? Nah, don't worry! He won't show up here anytime soon. Never does, unless it's for a meeting."
"If you say so…"
"Ummm, what are you guys talking about?" asked Juliana, craning her neck up.
"Oh, nothing important," said Carmine.
"Because now the only important thing here is you!" Drayton grinned. "Are you ready to become part of our little club, Juliana?"
Juliana looked around the room excitedly.
"Wow! Gee, it all sounds so exciting! But, what does the League Club… do, exactly?"
"Heh-heh, I'm glad you asked! We Blueberry Academy students have our own Pokémon battle ranking system: the BB League!"
"The BB League? Oh!" Juliana recalled. "Director Cyrano mentioned something about that!"
"Here in the League Club, we battle each other to train up so we can climb the ranks. We win, we lose, we have a good ol' rowdy time! Such is our humble club in a nutshell."
Carmine sighed. "You're not wrong, but seriously? That's how you explain it to new people?"
"Yup! Though I guess we're having less of a good ol' rowdy time than usual lately."
"I'm a member of the club too," Carmine informed her. "I don't show up to the clubroom very much, though. … I think you've seen why."
Juliana gasped. "So wait! If this is the same league Director Cyrano mentioned, does that mean this is where I can battle the school's Elite Four!?"
"Ha! If you're lucky," Carmine remarked. "The BB League Elite Four are the four strongest Pokémon Trainers in the BB League. Only those who attain the highest ranking of Elite earn the chance to face them!"
"Ohhhh."
"My friend Lacey, that you met? She's one of them."
"Cool!"
So is that girl Amarys you saw me with at the Plaza." She leered in Drayton's direction. "…And unfortunately, so is this annoying toothpaste-haired bozo."
"No way!" Juliana turned to Drayton.
"Too bad you didn't make the cut, Carmine."
"I've just been too busy with extracurricular stuff!" Carmine seethed. "Haven't had time for League matches."
Drayton shook his head. "I don't know why you're so embarrassed. Everyone ranks down from time to time. You shouldn't let one huge loss dominate your whole li—"
"HUGE loss!?" Drayton instantly realized he said the wrong thing when Carmine grabbed him by his shirt. "That shmuck was down to his last two Pokémon! You're really asking for a knuckle sandwich right now, aren't you!?"
A sweat drop rolled down Juliana's face as she awkwardly watched this exchange.
"Guys, don't start a fight in the middle of a clubroom."
Carmine scoffed and let go of Drayton.
"Whatever. I got all the way up to the last rank before Elite, and then I lost ONE match that was enough to push me back down a rank," she recounted. "Then I went on the Kitakami trip and was dropped back down to the starting rank when the season rolled over, so I lost my drive after that."
"There's no shame in being honest about your failures," Drayton grinned.
"He's right, Carmine. Losing one battle isn't the end of the world." Juliana giggled. "I mean… you know all about that, don't you?"
Carmine shot her a surprised smirk. "Watch your tongue, girlie."
"Ha-ha, so you showed up Carmine back in her own home, huh?" Drayton guffawed. "I would've paid to see that!"
Carmine rolled her eyes. "Well, I only bother with tackling the BB League when I need an outlet to blow off some steam anyway. I don't need any validation from beating up a bunch of NPC's. If we're talking actual skill, I'm WAY above any of the Elite Four!"
"Heh heh. That's no lie."
"Oh really?" replied an unimpressed Juliana.
"What do you mean 'Oh, rea—' YEAH, REALLY!" Carmine seethed. "I promise you, I could beat ALL the BB Elite Four with my hands tied behind my back!"
"Don't start getting too full of yourself now." Drayton turned back to his new friend. "So whatcha think, Juliana? Fun club, huh? I can get you signed up right away!"
Carmine balked at his haste and seethed. "What's your hurry, dingbat? Don't push Juliana into doing something she doesn't want to do!"
"Who's being pushy? Why don't you let her figure out what she wants instead of speaking for her, huh?"
"I swear I'm gonna—"
"Carmine, relax, it's okay!" Juliana insisted, hoping to defuse the tension. "This club sounds fun! I'm totally willing to give it a shot!"
"See?" Drayton held his arm out. "I knew I could feel the enthusiasm!"
Carmine sighed. "Yeah, but… you have a really time saying no to people, don't you?" She mumbled to herself, "At least back home, I thought you were just saying yes to everything I told you to do because of how pretty I am…"
"Carmine." Juliana faced her directly. "I can take care of myself."
Carmine grumbled in response.
"Protective one, aren't you?" Drayton observed. "You're almost as bad with her as with Kieran!" He took a big stretch with his arms. "Aaanyway, think that cares of all the tutorials. You're in—on a trial basis!"
"Yay!"
"Huh?" Carmine looked at him again in confusion. "What do you mean 'trial basis'!?"
"You heard me! Far as the Drayster's concerned, we're clubmates now! Trial-basis clubmates! We can get you all signed up later. For now, you can use this clubroom freely, and do whatever you want here. Consider this casa su casa, as you Paldeans say!"
Carmine lowered her eyelids. "I thought the whole point of this clubroom is that's for BB League members or invite-only."
"Which is why I'm inviting her right now," Drayton smiled smugly. "Any other objections, smarty pants?"
"Hmph." Carmine turned her head away and pouted. Juliana snickered, which made her pout even harder.
"So like I said, you can officially do whatever with the stuff here," said Drayton, putting his arm around Juliana as he guided her around the room. "You and your Pokémon can train on those high-speed treadmills as much as you want. And that's not all!" He pointed to a table lined with snack containers. "For a limited time, you can have as many of these snacks as you want!"
"Umm…" Juliana looked a little uncertain.
"Those snacks are all yours, Drayton—snacks you leave around open and unfinished." Carmine made a disgusted face. "I wouldn't go near any of 'em. Who knows how long they've been sitting around—"
"But wait, there's more! Check out the computer over there, too! It's super helpful."
Before Carmine could say anything else, Drayton took Juliana over to the computer station to show her all the different things she could use it for. Carmine stewed over having seemingly lost all control of her reunion with Juliana to Drayton.
I should've just picked you up in my arms and ran away as soon as I saw him coming up to us…
Alright Carmine, cool your jets. Just try to think of the positives… Juliana's still here! At our school. And Drayton may be trying to hog all of her attention now, but there'll be plenty of times for us to hang out, right?
Unless she decides Drayton is way cooler than I am…
Such a dreadful thought made Carmine's whole body writhe like there was an Ekans slithering inside of her. She tried to push that out by thinking of alternatives.
Maybe Juliana will decide to join the League Club and then she and I can have fun battles. I certainly might be motivated to try again if she was gonna move up the ranks…
…But who knows when she's going to cross paths with Kiki? He's been so mean to everyone lately, me included… And I know he's still got some hanging feelings towards her…
The two of them meeting each other could turn ugly.
Carmine could feel herself breathing heavier, all of these negative "what if's" triggering her anxiety even further. She realized she needed to stop letting her mind run rampant, and tried to focus on a single thought.
…Somehow, that made her circle back around to what she said in her head about picking Juliana up in her arms and run away.
An image played in her mind of Carmine dashing through the Kitakami Wilds, wild and free, with Juliana cradled in her arms. Juliana gazed up at her courageous protector, with sparkles in her eyes, and—
YOU FREAK! Stop having dumb thoughts like that!
Carmine seethed quietly to herself, and her eyes narrowed as she fixated on Drayton's leftover snack boxes.
That pig and his stupid uneaten snacks! The fumes from those stale things must be getting to my head!
In the meantime, Drayton had finished with Juliana's little computer lesson and they gathered at the front of the room again.
"Man," he said, stretching his arms yet again. "All that explaining left me starving. Think I'm gonna head on over to the cafeteria. I could go for a delicious Academy Fries with cinnamon breadsticks right about now…"
As if on cue, Juliana heard her stomach growl.
"Wow. I guess I'm hungry too! I don't think I've even eaten anything since I got off the plane."
"What is with some of you people and forgetting to eat?" Carmine shook her head.
"Ahhh! Got your mind on food, did I?" Drayton seemed to ponder. "Hmmm, now that I think about it, our cafeteria here only takes BP as payment, y'know. You probably don't have a whole lot of those yet, do ya?"
Juliana grimaced. "Not… really, no."
"Well, luckily for you, your pal the Drayster's gotta plenty of spare BP to lend a clubmate. So, if you wanna officially join us, maybe we can have a cafeteria date right now to talk details!"
"A—a date?" Juliana stammered.
This earned a loud, sharp gasp from Carmine.
"A WHA—!?"
Juliana jumped a little at Carmine's outburst, but Drayton didn't seem to flinch at all.
"Yeah, a little date between pals!" He checked his watch with a slightly alarmed face. "Ooh. I'm just about out of free time actually. Gotta make a schedule, which isn't something I'm used to saying!" he remarked. "I'd better get there pronto!"
Much to Carmine's increased incredulousness, Drayton coolly began to walk out of the room.
"That offer's set to expire very soon, Juliana! You'd better come along if you want a free lunch!" he called out to Juliana as he left. "Be seein' ya!"
"Wow, he's… quite an interesting guy, huh?" said Juliana. "I'm kind of surprised you didn't talk about more when we were—"
She was then startled by Carmine making a loud, frustrated growl as her hands balled up into fists, giving her the appearance of a vengeful Primeape.
"Aaagh! That bozo! SERIOUSLY! What is his problem!?"
Juliana chuckled. Well… maybe that's why.
"And a cafeteria date!? Seriously!? What does he even mean by that?!"
Juliana smirked. "Well, a date is—"
"I KNOW what a date means!" Carmine shouted. "That's why I'm so angry, you gremlin!"
Juliana usually laughed at having gotten under Carmine's skin. But this time, her face was completely red, and sweating. Much to Juliana's concern, she seemed more than just momentarily angry right now.
"This is why he's the worst! I hate him, I HATE HIM!"
"C-calm down, Carmine!" Juliana ushered him, feeling a little frightened now.
"Rrrgh! I'm sorry!" Carmine apologized. "I'm… I'm sorry. This is why I wish he hadn't butted in on our sweet reunion. I'm going through so much right now and he… he thinks he can just take charge of everything while he works for nothing. Sorry you had to see an ugly side of me. That's just how much he makes my blood boil."
"It's okay… As long as we're all still friends…" Juliana heard her stomach growl again. "I—I'm sorry, but, I should probably get going."
She turned around to leave, only to find her wrist being grabbed.
"WAIT!"
"H-huh?"
Juliana turned back around to Carmine, a little stunned at her forceful grab. Carmine seemed a little shocked by herself too as she quickly let go. But she hardly looked angry anymore. Her face was still red, but now she looked… more anxious than anything.
"You're not… you're not seriously going on that stupid date with him, are you?" Carmine asked. Her voice seemed to be trembling a bit.
"Well, I am hungry," Juliana tried to snark.
"Y-yeah! But…"
To Juliana's surprise, she heard Carmine sniffle, and a soft "Please, not him…
"Huh?" Juliana was caught off guard by this show of vulnerability.
"What?" Carmine had a firm frown. "I didn't say anything."
"Carmine…"
Juliana gently placed her hand on Carmine's arm, and instantly heard what she thought was another sniffle. She was always showing new sides to herself that kept Juliana on her toes back in Kitakami, and it seemed like even in a different location and months later, she was still surprising Juliana in new ways.
"It's not like he's going to replace you as my new best friend! Drayton didn't have fun battles with me in Kitakami, or go hiking up a mountain together, or battle old legends to get back some masks for our adorable new friend. That was all you, remember? He can never replace that."
"Yeah, I-I know." Carmine was burning up on the inside, not just from the anxiety anymore, but from Juliana's gentle touch. "I just, I don't want to see you get hurt an—"
"I'll be fine," Juliana assured her. "I may not look it, but I'm a big girl too! I made it through all my adventures in Paldea without so much as a scratch. I can handle one big weirdo!"
This seemed to finally put Carmine at ease enough to break out a snort.
"Alright, fine. Just pepper him with all the same insults that I would, let him know he's not the boss of you. And please, please eat something."
"Aye-aye!"
"Oh, and—my dorm room's 27F on the north wing, so feel free to stop on by once you get tired of his prattle!"
She smiled at Carmine one more time, and Carmine earnestly grinned back while doing her two-handed wave. This was the last bit of assurance Juliana needed to wave back, turn around and walk out the door.
"Oh!"
To her surprise, and another irritant huff from Carmine, Drayton turned out to still be lurking just behind the doors.
"Hey there, sport! Knew you'd come around! Let's get going!"
"Uhh, sure, whatever you say!" Juliana laughed awkwardly. "Hey, cool jacket, by the way!"
Carmine hunched by the doors and watched both of them slowly disappear down the hallway.
"Huh? Oh thanks! It's about time someone noticed."
"You don't have a Maschiff of your own, do you?"
"A what now?"
Juliana turned her head. "The… the dog Pokémon on your jacket. It's native to my home."
"Oh, that's what this thing is. Huh. Neat."
Carmine shook her head and dragged her body back into the clubroom, where she let herself slump down on one of the seats.
"Urrrgh…" she groaned to herself. "I thought Juliana coming to my school would help my stress levels, not raise them up even more."
A boy sitting across the table piqued up. "Maybe you two just need t—"
Carmine roused up in her seat.
"I wasn't talking to you, pipsqueak!" she seethed. She grabbed one of Drayton's snack boxes and chucked it towards his head. "Mind your own business!"
"Oww!"
Juliana received her food and walked over to the table where Drayton was sitting. His head was slumped over, but it perked up when he saw his newfound friend approaching.
"Ahhh, the classic Academy Pizza, huh?"
"Nothing beats a good pizza, right?" Juliana grinned, carrying her pizza and a delicious grape smoothie over.
"Here's the Drayster take." He motioned to his own tray, which was decked out with a delicious Hoennian soba bowl, loaded cheddar fries, a gelatin donut treat, and a handful of jellybeans. "The Academy Special's the best thing on the menu."
Juliana looked admittedly envious at the rich plate of offerings.
"Oh, yum… I'm sure it is… but it also looked really expensive. I didn't want to take advantage of—"
"Ohh, forget all that, Juliana! You and I are amigos now!"
Drayton grabbed their trays and swapped them with each other, leaving Juliana with his loaded plate.
"Are… are you sure?"
"Treat yourself, girlfriend! Wouldn't have offered if I minded!" He smirked lightly as he witnessed Juliana lick her lips at her new meal. "Everything on that plate is so soft, you can basically just gulp it down! Barely even need to chew!"
"Wow, that sounds tasty! But umm…" She looked at him with a bothered expression. "Please chew your food, Drayton."
"Heh-heh! You and my ma would get along," Drayton chuckled as he scarfed on a huge bite of pizza. "Well, except for that part…" he muttered more so to himself.
He let Juliana enjoy a few bites of her food before getting to the big thing he wanted to talk to her about.
"So listen up, J-girl. Can I call you J-girl?"
Juliana winced.
"Alright, not a big fan of nicknames, that's cool. Anyway, your Pokémon are pretty strong, yeah? I've read about your exciting Champion battles in Paldea." He stopped to take a big swig of his cola. "And I might've watched you and Carmine duking it out on the big plaza from afar."
She raised an eyebrow. "So you've been spying on me this whole time?"
"Scoping out hot new talent, I think is a better and more ethical way of putting it. With a team like yours, Juliana, you've got a real shot at becoming the BB League Champion."
"The Champion?" Now both of Juliana's eyebrows raised. "You even have your own Champion!? Like… like La Primera?"
"Bingo! You could add another Champion title to your illustrious resume! Wouldn't that be wild? An exchange student just rolling up here and snatching the crown?"
"Is the BB League Champion a big deal at this school like back home?" Juliana asked, full of curiosity. "Like, people looking up to me as a role model and all that?"
"Sure! You'll be the strongest Trainer in the whole school! Everyone will look up to you in admiration, want your autograph…" Drayton pointed at himself. "This might surprise you to know, but I was actually the Champion for a really long time!"
"Really?" Juliana's eyes were lit up like stars now.
"Heck yeah! Everyone respects the Champion around here a great deal. And as an ex-Champion bravado, I can see the exact same spark in your eyes that I had. I think you have the potential to go all the way!"
"You, you do?" she responded with a flattered smile.
"Uh-huh! Let me just get right to the point. I wanna see you join the BB League, Juliana! Sign up now, and the Drayster will throw in a former Champion's recommendation! You in?"
"Wow. Uhh…"
This was a big question being pressed to Juliana. She felt a bit of déjà vu from when Nemona first introduced the concept of the Pokémon League to her, and strongly encouraged her to take up the Gym Challenge.
Of course this time, there weren't two other new friends simultaneously pleading with her to help them in their quests.
Though, that didn't mean there wasn't a similar dilemma here, with Juliana also wanting to take all the exciting battle-themed courses, get close to Carmine and Ogerpon again, and figure out a way to patch things up with Kieran.
But, she figured, she had managed to juggle all these goals at the same time once before without a single issue. What would be the harm in another packed set of school adventures?
I could even think of this as being Part 2 of my Treasure Hunt, like Director Clavell said!
So, pensively, she finally replied, "Alright… sure, Drayton. I'll give this BB League thing a shot."
"Great!" he replied enthusiastically. "Phew, that's a load off my back. The hard part's out of the way."
"I thought the hard part was getting me all signed up?"
"Naw, that'll be easy peasy," Drayton assured. "All we need is to get approval from all the BB Elite Four."
"Oh. Well… that might be hard to do right now," Juliana replied. "Lacey said she had to make a big meeting. So did that other girl Carmine said is part of the Elite Four."
"Oh yeah," Drayton replied casually. "All of us Elite Four are scheduled to have a huge meeting right now. I'm the one who set the whole thing up, after all." He stole a quick look at his phone. "Heh. I guess I must've just… 'forgotten' to tell them I wanted to meet in the cafeteria instead of the big meeting room we often reserve. The one all the way at the other end of the school. But no biggie! I texted them just before you got here and cleared everything up. We should be seeing them shortly."
Juliana was really thrown for a loop now.
"Wait, you're—you're the one who set that meeting? Then why—why aren't you—Why did you even ask me to—"
"Ugh!" She was cut off by a familiar voice. "There he is! DRAYTON!"
Juliana was astonished to see Lacey march into the cafeteria, followed by that girl Carmine was talking to earlier. Astrid? Aurora? Juliana couldn't quite remember her name.
"You're really in for it now!"
This was a very different Lacey than the one Juliana had met just hours before. The Lacey who showed her around campus was sweet, patient, and kind. But now, she looked exhausted, grumpy, and like she wanted to shake Drayton until he saw stars.
"What is your problem? I was already ready to have words with you for not respecting the proper League protocol in giving more than a day's notice for private meetings. But now, you have the nerve to send us all to the wrong place and make us sit there waiting for you? It's just not right!"
She crossed her arms into an X again like Juliana had seen her do with Director Cyrano.
"I concur," Amarys nodded. "This represents a severe lack of consideration for our busy schedules on your part. My carefully planned out itinerary has already been so disrupted as it is."
"Yeah, man…"
A boy Juliana hadn't seen before puffed his way into the room, struggling for breath. He had a wild head of red and yellow hair, was dressed in a chef-like outfit, and was smacking a frying pan around in his hands.
"Really wish you'd given us the heads up…" Crispin sputtered. "I was already late running all the way to the end wing… And then, then I had to run all the way here too… I feel like I'm about to pass out!"
Lacey had her hands on her hips she glared daggers into Drayton's astonishingly unfazed eyes.
"You need to shape up and start taking our valued time more seriously, Drayton! With everything going on right now, we can't afford t—to…"
Lacey finally looked over and noticed Juliana was sitting next to him, and she lost her train of thought. Her mood flipped like a dime and she greeted the Paldean girl with a bubbly, if not surprised, smile.
"Oh! Hi there, Juliana."
Juliana giggled. "We really gotta stop meeting like this."
"For sure!" she giggled back. But then she winced with an apologetic grin. "Umm, I'm really sorry Juliana, but… I'm afraid this is a private meeting for the BB League right now, and I'm going to have to ask you to move to a different table."
Now Juliana was really confused. "Huh? But…"
"Relax that pretty head of yours, Lacey bean," said Drayton as he put his arm around Juliana's shoulder. "Juliana's with me. I asked her to come along."
"What!?" Lacey exclaimed. She looked at Juliana with an even more confused face. "Juliana? Is he for real…?"
"Uhh…" Juliana smiled sheepishly. "…Yeah?"
Lacey's eyes leered in.
"Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"I believe everything can be explained once our Champion is here." Drayton looked around. "Where is our fearless leader right now, anyway?"
"I'm right here."
Juliana froze up.
She knew that voice anywhere.
"It—It can't be…"
"Look who's decided to grace us with his presence."
Nervously, she turned her head in the direction of the door, and gasped in shock.
Kieran!?
Kieran strutted his way into the cafeteria room. Juliana could observe more closely now just how different of a vibe Kieran seemed to exude from when she last knew him. Somehow, the way he had his purple hair tied up and wore his undershirt so openly made him look much older, and even a bit more confident.
Juliana's last memory of Kieran was his angry, bangs-covered face expressing his upset at Ogerpon choosing Carmine and calling himself weak in comparison to Juliana, before running off crying. Her peace offering, saying the two of them could be stronger together… rejected.
She struggled to see that same shy, timid Kieran she met in Kitakami inside this boy. He even walked differently from how he used to. Every step he took was a much firmer step on the ground.
His yellow eyes, a similar yellow but never before as striking as Carmine's, seemed to stare blankly but with a quiet fury to them. His thick eyebrows were out in the open now, along with a beauty mark that was now visible on his neck, very similar to the one on his sister's face.
Juliana couldn't explain why, but she felt all her nerves tensing up as he drew closer, in a way she never reacted to him before. She nudged Drayton harshly.
"Kieran is the Champion of the BB League!?" she incredulously whispered to him. "You never told me THAT!"
"I didn't?" he casually whispered back. "Huh. Musta slipped my mind."
Juliana had wanted to find a way to get close to Kieran again, but she didn't realize their first meeting in several months was going to happen right here and right now. Especially after that horrifying display of cruelty she had witnessed him lay down to that meek student earlier, she didn't know how he was possibly going to react to seeing her again.
What if… what if he's still mad at me after all this time? What is he going to do?
Lacey seemed to suddenly be a bit on edge now too. Her expression looked worried as she glanced between Kieran and Juliana, as if she was equally nervous about the two meeting.
She's friends with Carmine. Does she know about our history?
Even Amarys's hands seemed to shake as she adjusted her glasses, and stepped back to give Kieran room.
Juliana's heart was beating at a million miles a minute as Kieran stood across from them, the two of them now inches away from each other. The most frightening part was… so far, Kieran seemed to show no reaction on his face.
In fact, somehow, it was like he didn't even notice her sitting there. His entire focus seemed to laser solely in on Drayton.
"…What did you want to talk to me about?" There was no longer any hint of a stammer or a crack in Kieran's voice. Instead, he just spoke curtly.
"Nothing special," Drayton shrugged, his head slumped down again. "Just thought we could all grab a bite. Where better to do that than the cafeteria?"
Juliana flinched at Drayton somehow maintaining his demeanor in all this. She had found his chill, lax attitude charming up to this point. Now it was really beginning to bother her, especially as it really began to dawn on her that Drayton had intentionally led both her and Kieran into a trap.
The rest of the Elite Four instantly looked to Kieran to see how he would react.
"What a waste of time…" he shook his head. "If you've got so much time to goof off, why don't you go train your Pokémon? You think maybe this is why you lost to me?"
Even despite what she had witnessed earlier, it still boggled Juliana's mind to see Kieran so brash with his words now. Back in Kitakami, he would never raise a single harsh word towards anybody except Carmine, and that was just mere sibling banter. Now, he was throwing around condescension like it was second nature to him.
What… happened to you, Kieran?
"I'll take that as a no." Drayton craned his head to the right. "So I can't swing a lunch date with you, even if I've got your ol' pal with me?"
Juliana flinched even harder, and her pupils shrank. Her heart felt like it was about to jump out her chest.
Slowly but surely, Kieran finally glanced her way.
At first, his look seemed blank.
"Huh—!?"
…But then a spark of reminiscence hit him, and he studied her face more inquisitively.
Then finally, he gasped.
"J-J-JULIANA?!"
Juliana's lip just quivered for several seconds, unsure how to react. She gulped really hard and tried to put on her best "I-totally-don't-want-to-run-away-from-here" smile on.
"H-hi, Kieran!" she greeted, trying not to make her voice so shaky. "Lllllong time no see!" She gulped again. "You look… different!"
Kieran's mouth was just completely agape.
The tension in the room was so hot you could cut it with a knife. Everyone had fallen dead silent.
Crispin seemed to be the only one not detecting anything amiss, as he looked around confusedly.
"Wow! So uhh… you're the new exchange student, right? From Paldea? And you and Kieran already know each other!?" he said excitedly. "That's so wild! What are the odds?"
Kieran was still struggling to form words. His face seemed to read so many things, and Juliana wasn't sure what they were. Confusion? Anger? Betrayal? … Murder?
"Wh-why…?" he finally uttered in a distressed manner. "Why are you here?"
Juliana tried to find her words too. There were so many things she anticipated wanting to tell Kieran if the two ever met again, but she certainly couldn't have predicted any of this.
"I, I… That boy is right. I'm here as a—"
"Name's Crispin, miss!" he said with a thumbs up and a smile.
"Nice to meet you," she smiled. "I'm—I'm here as an exchange student."
"You didn't hear that Juliana was coming to study abroad here?" asked Drayton.
"For real?" He turned to Lacey for affirmation.
She nodded. "Yes, it's true. Director Cyrano himself introduced her to me when we met at the school's entrance." She looked at him apologetically. "I never had a chance to tell you, or else I definitely would have."
"…"
Kieran's face didn't seem so… angry? It just seemed that he was trying to process all of this now. Juliana sympathized. She understood that Kieran must be just as stupefied as her right now.
"We're already tight, us two. Isn't that right, Juli… an… a?" Drayton looked to his right, but was startled at the sight of Juliana frowning at him in exactly the same way that Carmine does.
He cleared his throat. "Anyway… In fact, I was just asking Juliana here to join the BB League!"
"Oooh, I like it!" Crispin said eagerly. "That'd be fire!"
"WHAT!?" Lacey exclaimed, surprised at this information and Crispin's quick response.
"A student from another school joining the BB League?" Amarys opined. "Unprecedented."
"Th—that's right!" Lacey declared. "Juliana may be wonderfully capable in battle, but that doesn't mean she belongs in the BB League!"
Juliana gasped a little, taken aback at this rejection. Lacey realized how she sounded, and immediately tried to save face.
"It's absolutely nothing personal against you, Juliana. It's just that we don't accept outside students. I'm sorry, but rules are rules."
"It's—it's okay…" Juliana mumbled. "Not my first time being an outsider…"
Lacey gasped and her eyes widened. She'd forgotten about Carmine's former obsession.
"Oh gosh! I—I didn't mean it that way either!"
"Awww, c'mon. Why did the mood shift so fast?" Drayton whined. "Do you all hate fun and friendship or something? You wanna exclude someone who's taking our same classes and living in our same dorms? Isn't this place supposed to be all about unity and students having autonomy?"
Amarys sighed. "You're trying to capture our approval based on appealing to accusations of hypocrisy and emotional neglect… Very unorthodox for anyone but yourself."
"I—I'm sorry," Juliana apologized. "I didn't mean to make such a fuss. I really had no idea…"
"Some things never change…"
"What?" Did… Kieran say that?
But Kieran had his side turned to her now, choosing not to face his old friend.
"You don't have to apologize at all, Juliana!" Drayton declared. "I thought we were all going to be a much more welcoming bunch. But clearly everyone's wrapped up in politics! You know what then? I think we should vote on it."
"Oooh, like a democracy!" said Crispin.
"Drayton," Juliana tried to get his attention. "You don't have to go to all this trouble. I don't even know if I wan—"
"I'm a yes, obviously," said Drayton. "How 'bout you, Lacey?"
Lacey closed her eyes and took a second to consider.
"I… I'm sorry. But considering the rules, it's a no from me. What about you, Crispin?"
"Huh? Yeah, why not!" he replied. "She's at our school. That makes her a student like us, right?"
Crispin grinned widely at Juliana, and she grinned back at him, happy to have at least one other person in her lane.
"How about you, Amarys? Whaddya say?"
Amarys immediately shook her head. "I have tremendous respect for Juliana, but I also abide by the rules of this institution. Proposition declined."
Juliana felt her heart sink.
"Two against two, huh," Drayton assessed. "All right, then! What says the reigning BB League Champion, our mighty Kieran?"
Juliana's eyes shifted over to Kieran. And his eyes met hers as well.
Now it was impossible for her to read anything from his face. It was like a stone wall.
She breathed in anticipation. Her look of guilt and pleading was visible to everyone in the room. She wasn't just asking for Kieran's acceptance in the moment… but for a second chance at what they'd failed to mend before.
Kieran's lip twitched for a bit. Then he closed his eyes.
"It doesn't matter who I'm facing…" And then opened them again. Fierce and determined. "I don't lose. Not even to you."
Juliana wasn't sure whether that answer pleased her or not.
"Heh. Guess we've got our answer," said Drayton.
"…"
Kieran gazed silently. Juliana held her mouth open, wanting to say something but the words drowning in her throat.
So instead, he just picked his head up and walked out without another word.
"Ah! Kieran, wait-!" Lacey called out. But Kieran left, and she immediately rechanneled her anger at Drayton. "Drayton! You've hit a new low! Manipulating people to get what you want—it's seriously just not right!"
She made an X once more, gave Juliana one last apologetic look, and then hustled out to try to catch Kieran.
Amarys walked closer again.
"It appears the fates have been decided. I won't protest further." She held out her hand, and Juliana shook it. "Welcome to the BB League, Juliana."
"Thanks, umm—"
"Amarys."
"Amarys. Thank you," Juliana smiled politely.
And then Amarys walked out too.
Crispin looked around awkwardly.
"Uhh…" He paused for a bit, and decided to start walking out too. "Hey guys, wait up!" As he left, he called out, "Welcome to the club, Juliana! Hope you make some sparks!"
Juliana stood up. Her head felt a bit woozy, like she was on the verge of throwing up.
…Was she? She really didn't know.
Drayton stood up too and gave her a handshake as well.
"Sorry about all that, Juliana. Guess you'll be joining the BB League, huh?"
"Nnn…"
Drayton's smile dropped a bit at her tone of hesitation.
"Having second thoughts now? That's okay. Take some time to think. Yeah, today was a little rough. But look on the bright side. We got everyone's approval, now you just have to win their hearts! And maybe you and Kieran'll come out of this better friends!"
"Yeah…" Juliana gulped. "Maybe…"
"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you. Every step of the way."
She got up to start leaving.
"Hey! You're not gonna finish your lunch?"
"No…" Juliana mumbled. "I'm—I'm not really hungry anymore."
"Oh, okay…" Drayton replied, a little concerned. "Well… more for me, I guess…"
Juliana didn't know what this feeling was.
As she walked down the hallway of the Academy, past several classrooms, her whole head felt like it was spinning.
There was this pain almost like a knot in her stomach. It was so strange, she didn't feel nauseous like she had food poisoning, but it was almost exactly the same kind of wooziness in her whole body.
Was she dying? It didn't feel like she was dying.
She was awfully hurt by a few things, from feeling like Drayton had entrapped her, to Lacey's sudden turn against her. And Kieran…
Poor Kieran.
Is that what this is? … Guilt?
She had an awful lot to feel guilty about, Juliana figured. Being brought face to face with Kieran again essentially made her feel like she was facing up to demons she thought she had left behind in Kitakami.
Being forced by Carmine to lie to him about the mask, the awful pit in her stomach it caused, and watching in despair as that one tiny fib started destroying her friendship with Kieran little by little. The way Ogerpon's seeming rejection, and the way she embraced Carmine instead, cut into him like a knife. Eventually culminating in their final confrontation.
She wanted to make peace… but the poor boy was too broken by that point. He put up all of his walls, and that time Juliana's strongest Brick Break couldn't shatter them.
Kieran shut her out… and now apparently, his anger and self-pity had only become worse and worse in all the intervening months she was back at home and having better adventures with her friends.
And the boy she met in the cafeteria just now was no longer Kieran, but some… sad, sad monster.
How much of this is my fault? Juliana wondered. Did I do this to him…? If I had just done things differently, and told him the truth about Ogerpon from the beginning, maybe none of this would have happened…
She trembled within her thoughts, trying desperately to convince herself she wasn't the bad guy.
All she had to do was make it back to her dorm room, and then she could recollect herself and figure out what her next move was. Did she even want to do this BB League thing? And possibly have to face Kieran? Maybe she just had to spend the rest of the day alone, away from people.
Juliana didn't know anymore. She just wanted to focus now on getting back to her room.
Just gotta get back to my—
"YOU."
Juliana gasped.
"K-Kieran!"
Kieran stood in the middle of the empty hallway. And he definitely looked cross now. He was gritting his teeth and staring her down with his uncovered eyes.
He started slowly marching towards her.
"Alright. Spill it. Why are you really here?"
Juliana felt petrified by his sudden confrontational behavior, and found herself backing away from him.
"Wha… what do you mean? I-I already told you. I'm an exchange studen—"
"Yeah, whatever. I'm being serious. What's your big plan now?"
At least in the cafeteria minutes ago, she had other friends surrounding her to keep Kieran in check and make her feel safe. But this hallway was practically deserted. It was just the two of them alone. And Juliana had no idea what Kieran was gearing to do.
"'Cause I figure it's gotta be one of two things," he bitterly continued. "Either my sis invited you here so you two can make googly eyes at each other and make fun of me behind my back like you used to do back home."
"What!? N-no!"
"OR, you came here all on your own. Because you heard I'm a Champion now. So you flew all the way here from your paradise land of Paldea just so you could take that title for yourself and leave me with nothing! AGAIN!"
Juliana rapidly shook her head. "None of those things are true, Kieran! If you'd just let me explain—"
"Oh, yeah. Sure. I'll let you explain," Kieran smiled mockingly, before frowning even harder. "I'd love to see what kind of lie you come up with this time."
"There's no more lies, Kieran! H-honest!" Juliana felt herself backing up against the lockers as he got closer. "Director Cyrano, he… he came to my school and told me I was invited here. I—I came here, for new opportunities! And—and to have fun battles!"
Kieran was unfazed. He kept his gaze locked onto Juliana like he was trying to burn holes into her soul.
"And, and I—I came here because I wanted to see my friends again, HONEST! Wh— who I missed so much! Especially Carmine, and, and—"
"And the ogre, right?" Another mocking smile. "Ohhhh, I bet it was soooo overjoyed to see you! Meanwhile, it still doesn't want to give poor, pathetic Kieran the time of day!"
"Well I do, Kieran! I wanted to see you too! I wanted to, I wanted to make amends and…"
Juliana gasped. She was now up completely against the wall, over a set of lockers, as Kieran got right up in her face, snarling at her.
"I swear, I didn't know anything," Juliana blubbered. "I—I didn't even know there was a Champion here, or that it was you! Drayton, he—he led me on without telling me anything, just saying I should join the League!"
Juliana pressed herself up against the lockers, feeling more and more frightened as Kieran's fists began to shake with rage and he grinded his teeth so hard they threatened to shatter.
This was the girl who had encountered Titan Pokémon of incredible sizes. Stood up to a group of Legendary bullies. Took on an eccentric squad bosses and found herself chased by aggressive Pokémon throughout the lands.
Faced against a rogue AI summoned by a long-dead professor, with all the hopes of Paldea's future resting on her shoulders to win that battle.
And yet she'd never felt more scared than this moment.
It wasn't just that Kieran had become so unpredictable. It was like something greater, some sort of ominous aura surrounded him, filling Juliana with feelings of dread.
Her legs bent, feeling like jelly, as Kieran stared her down. He still looked viscerally angry. Juliana shut her eyes, ready to let herself fall into despair and take whatever he was about to lash at her with.
"Kieran…" she pleaded. "I—I'm sorry… For everything… Please…"
"…"
Suddenly, Kieran's expression changed, as he gazed at her terrified face.
Hesitantly, Juliana opened her eyes… to see his face softening. His angry eyebrows relented, and he actually started to back away from her. At that moment, the aura around him seemed to dissipate, and he was suddenly aware of how terrified she was.
"I…"
Gazing into his softening eyes, Juliana finally saw a little glint of her friend from Kitakami.
"Kieran…" she said softly.
"DARN IT!"
Juliana shrieked and hit the floor as Kieran slammed his fist into one of the lockers. That timid visage was gone again, and he turned away from Juliana simmering in frustration once more.
"I practiced this so many times… All the things I wanted to say to you if I ever saw you again…"
Juliana tried to slow her breathing as she crawled along the ground, watching Kieran's tense backside.
"I was going to tell you how much stronger I am now… That I've thrown away the old me. I was—I was going to show you that I don't need you or my sis or anyone else anymore…"
The Paldean girl struggled to pick herself up from the ground, letting out a few sniffles. Kieran turned his head slightly upon hearing this.
"…'Sorry," he said quietly.
Juliana's head perked up. "What?"
Kieran winced. Then he turned around to face her again, trying to make his face all furious again.
"I-I said! You'd better train up your team hard if you dare try to face me in battle again. I'm not the same weakling that you remember! So… so bring your best! You'd better."
Kieran winced one more time before running off. Juliana picked herself up as she watched him leave.
Her mind was still very frazzled from everything, especially by Kieran's brief change in attitude.
For a second there, it was like he was his old self again…
She turned around, only to shriek again as she bumped into Drayton.
"Ouch!" he reacted, more so to her shrill scream than anything. "Hey, Juliana, I—I'm really sorry. I knew things between you and Kieran were bad, but wow." His quiff drooped again. "I had no idea they were that bad. I never meant t—"
But Juliana, in her panic, violently shoved him.
"Ugh! You JERK! What is wrong with you!?" she screamed at him with tears in her eyes. "Why are you following me everywhere!? What do you want with me? And why—why didn't you tell me Kieran was the Champion and that we were meeting him!?"
"It was because of—I don't know, I was just trying to—"
"Just, just… Agggh!"
Juliana got on her heels and started running in the opposite direction of where she was going.
"Juliana, wait—!"
Drayton reached his hand out fruitlessly.
"Man, that… that really could have gone better," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But still… wow. She rattled him good there. I haven't seen the kid all shaken up like that since the old days."
Drayton sighed bigly and looked ahead with a ray of hope.
"I guess in that way, this is working out better than I expected. So long as I haven't totally scared her too badly, then… then everything's still going according to plan."