Carmine squeezed out all the water from the towel until it was dry. Then she grabbed the sponge, let it soak in the hot water, and started rubbing it over Juliana's swollen ankle.
"How's that?"
"Oooh… yeah. That feels a lot better than the towel. Doesn't even sting."
"Good."
Carmine scrubbed diligently with the sponge. Juliana, sitting on a chair in the shower room with her feet in the plastic tub, just smiled affectionately at the amount of effort the Kitakamite girl was putting into making sure Juliana was getting the hot foot bath she deserved.
It was the two of them alone inside this girls' locker room.
"Thank you a lot for doing this for me," Juliana said sincerely.
"Hmm? Ohh—yeah," Carmine said a little shakily. "It's… it's nothing."
Carmine was glad both their faces were red from the steam, or else she'd certainly be blushing at the intimacy of what she was doing. After all, even Juliana's feet she was noticing were extremely cute and delicate…
"I just want you to feel better is all."
"Huh? … Oh, right! Yeah! The foot bath! Thank you for that too, but—I was talking about the other thing."
"The other thing?" Carmine was confused for a second, until she remembered. "Oh, right. … Umm, I still haven't said yes to that, remember? I said I would think about it."
"Oh, heh-heh! Right!" … "So have you thought about i—"
"I KNEW you were about to ask that!" she snapped, squeezing water out of the sponge.
Juliana grinned awkwardly. Carmine looked down to the floor.
"…"
"I just… I feel like you don't know what it is you're asking of me here."
"Beating the whole Elite Four?" Juliana snickered. "What happened to you saying you could beat them all with your hands tied behind your back?"
"Yeah, with my own Pokémon, maybe!" she seethed mildly, squeezing even more water out.
"But I can coach you! Just you like offered to do for me! You know my Pokémon can beat all of them because they did once already!"
"Yeah, but…" She sighed heavily. "It's not just the Elite Four, remember?"
"You're talking about Kieran?" Carmine nodded smally. "I thought you've never ever lost a battle against him. You must know what his battling style is like. Better than anyone else who could challenge him actually, even me!"
"Can't you think more than just practically? You're worse than Amarys sometimes!" she huffed. "Look, Juliana… this, this is what I meant. During our picnic date in Kitakami. When I said there's a lot you don't understand about siblings."
Carmine gently dropped the sponge in the bucket and knelt to her knees as she thought sadly about her relationship with her brother.
"Kiki means the whole world to me, Juliana… I've known him literally most of my whole life. I've watched over him, helped him grow… Stopped him from doing stupid things."
Carmine grew more somber as she talked.
"But it wasn't until he stopped wanting to be around me that I realized… how much he really means to me. Because you were right, this is the first time we've ever had such a serious rift before in all the time we've grown up together. And I feel like I understand Kiki less and less as the days go by…"
She choked up a bit. "That's why—I've been so on eggshells when it comes to trying to approach him and mend things. I'm just so scared of—If, if I did something that makes him so angry that he just… never forgives me…" Juliana thought she saw a small tear welling up. "I couldn't live with myself, Juliana. He's everything to me. Without Kiki, I would just… I would just rot away and be nothing but an empty husk."
Juliana nodded in patient understanding.
"I'm sorry, Carmine. I guess I didn't think about just how deep your guys' bond is. … Do you really think he's so mad at you that he would never forgive you if you beat him in a battle?"
Carmine looked up at her with glossy eyes.
"Don't you remember when he had Ogerpon's mask at Loyalty Plaza? How he wanted to battle you really badly, but then—I stepped in because you were too upset to do it… And he didn't like that at all."
Juliana snarled her lip a bit. "I just remember how much it hurt when he called me a liar…"
"But remember after that? He still didn't let up until—until you picked yourself up and talked him out of it. To be honest, I—I still don't know even now how you managed to do that."
"It wasn't like a magic trick or anything, though," Juliana shook her head. "All I did was… talk to him."
"You made him give up the Teal Mask! You got Kiki to think about Ogerpon more than what he wanted. I don't even know what I was saying wrong that he wouldn't listen to me anymore!"
Juliana bent down and observed her ankle. The swelling and bruising had both gone down considerably, and in that moment it didn't feel like it was hurting as much. So she felt it was safe to lift both her feet from the tub.
Carmine reached for the fresh pair of socks on the bench next to them and handed them to her along with a yellow towel.
"That's what I'm saying. He doesn't—he doesn't listen to me at all anymore. Even when I yell at him in my big sister voice. That used to shut him up better than anything else! Now he doesn't even flinch! That's why I realized I do want you to be the one to battle Kiki for the Championship title."
"Huh?"
"Because as much as it… loathes me to admit, I think at this point Kiki trusts you—" She swallowed. "More than he does me."
Juliana shook her head vigorously as she used the towel to dry herself off.
"That's not true, Carmine! You might not see it, but every time I've seen Kieran together with you, even though he's so angry, he—he still looks at you a lot the same way I saw him doing in Kitakami. He—he's still your brother. And I think he still loves you. Somewhere really, really deep down."
Carmine didn't say anything in response.
She wordlessly accepted the towel when Juliana handed it back and picked up the water bucket to empty it out in a nearby sink.
There was a sniffle, and Carmine reached up to wipe her eye, only to realize it was dry. She wasn't the one sniffling.
She whipped her head around to see Juliana wiping it from her own eye instead.
Carmine set the bucket down and hustled back to her side.
"Hey… what's with the tears? Because of Kiki? … Is your leg still hurt?"
Juliana shook her head.
"No, not any of that, just—" She sucked on her lips a bit. "I don't know, this kind of feels weird to say…"
"What do you mean?"
"It's just—I've never quit on anything before."
"…?"
Juliana's eyebrows were furrowed deep, and she was blinking rapidly, as if trying to dry her glistening eyes fast. Her hands dug into each other over her lap, and her whole face looked both solemn but also uncertain about her own solemnness.
"Never in my whole life. The Gym Challenge… Beating all those Titans with Arven… Operation Starfall… Even the Professor's Mission. I—I always stuck to my guns and achieved my goals, even when it got really hard and really scary… Like the Mask Retrieval Squad!" she realized. "I never gave up on that either, even though sometimes Kieran kinda made me want to…"
Carmine wanted to say something snarky in response, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to. So instead, she just stood and listened.
"If I was to call it quits on this whole BB League thing—I, I don't know. It wouldn't feel… I'd feel so incomplete on the inside."
Another sniffle, as Juliana turned to Carmine with a confused expression.
"But… isn't that kind of wrong, to feel that way? I should be thinking about Kieran, or about you, in all this. And instead, I'm… worrying about myself? It feels so—"
She was interrupted by a boop on the nose. With a flustered face, she looked over to see Carmine smiling warmly.
"Finally. That's my girl. This really isn't just about Kiki or me." Beaming with delight, she said, "You're actually thinking selfishly for once."
Juliana just looked more confused.
"Why do you say that like that's a good thing?"
"Because it IS!" Carmine insisted. "For just a moment there, you're finally putting yourself first! Do you know how much your little self-sabotaging altruism makes me want to wring your head sometimes!? This is great! It's progress."
She rubbed Juliana's head like a proud mother. Juliana just sat there and let her body rock around with her furrowed face, still not really getting it.
"And you know what? You're right. You're totally right. When you commit yourself to something like that…" Carmine chuckled a bit. "If I was to tell you how many times I fell off my grandma's Rapidash and hurt myself, and still kept going, because I was shooting for that Ogre Oustin' high score…"
She closed her eyes and started snickering fondly in remembrance. Juliana snickered too; somehow, this instantly made her feel a lot better inside, and even seemed to dull some of the pain in her leg.
Little did she know, Carmine wasn't just thinking back on childhood memories, but also ruminating on what Lacey had said to her when Carmine first admitted her crush.
"If you want my advice, just, do what you've been doing. Let yourself be by her side, raise her up, and… let her raise you up too. Be the best friend that you can be for her."
When Carmine opened her eyes, she had an even bigger smile on her face as she sighed.
"Alright… you know what? Fine. I'll do it."
"What?" Juliana lit up.
"I'll—I'll be your substitute."
"Yaaaaaaaay!"
Juliana was so giddy she grabbed Carmine by her waist and interlocked her into a tight hug. Carmine almost tripped and fell on the slippery shower floor.
"H-hey! Watch it!" she complained. "You could've gotten me all wet and hurt too!"
Juliana didn't seem to pay her complaints any notice, just murmuring happily as she nuzzled her head over Carmine's torso.
Carmine sneered a bit, hating how much heat she could feel rising into her head and through her heart.
Damn it, why do you keep finding new ways to be so cute…? You ARE a master manipulator.
Once they had gotten that tender moment out of the way, and Carmine begrudgingly agreed to help Juliana put her socks and her ankle brace back on, the two started making their way out of the locker room.
Carmine insisted on carrying Juliana in her arms, despite how difficult it was to hide her straining. Juliana for her part didn't mind being treated like a princess.
"You'd better get yourself some good rest tonight. I expect us to start at 9:00 sharp tomorrow morning!"
"9:00 sharp? For what?"
"Seriously? Do I have to coach the coach!?"
Juliana giggled. "How much coaching do you really need, though? You've seen my Pokémon!"
"If we're really doing this, I need the complete ins and outs of your team, Juliana! What moves they know and can learn, their stats! Their nature! Hidden abilities! Give me those EV's and IV's, girl!"
"I—I don't know what half of those things you just said mean."
"You wanted a serious understudy, I'm here to make the play sell out worldwide! We're going to pound my friends into the dirt, by any means necessary! And I do mean any means!"
"AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!"
Crispin screamed like his whole mouth was on fire.
"SWEET BABY NUMELS ON A MAMA CAMERUPT GOING UP MT. CHIMNEY ON A HOT SUMMER DAY!"
The fiery Elite Four member danced around on the spot like he was walking on coals, and grabbing at the ends of his hair as an entire volcano erupted inside his mouth. All his League Club assistants looked on with concerned faces and hands over their mouths.
Carmine just stood there in front of the picnic table with a cool smirk on her face, watching Crispin's impromptu dance for the rain gods.
"Soooo, was that a spicy enough sandwich for ya, hothead?"
"YES! YES! The spiciest sandwich around! I give! I give!" Crispin yammered out. His face was redder than a balloon and his tear ducts were gushing like geysers. "It's burning up every corner of my mouth! You passed my trial, Carmine! Holy Magikarp!"
He dove frantically into his picnic basket, tossing everything out of it until he finally found a milk bottle inside and chugged the entire thing down in one gulp.
Carmine just smiled sweetly to herself. Unbeknownst to Crispin, she twirled around a small bottle of Master Heatran's Liquid Magma in her pocket. A hot sauce so potent, it was above traditional Scoville ratings, came with multiple health warnings, and was known to be banned in several regions.
"OH MY GOSH! Somebody, please… Huff, huff… Get me another Moomoo Milk on the double!" Crispin sputtered out wildly. "MY GUTS ARE ON FIRE!"
"Wow. It sure was lucky for us that Crispin asked to hold off the battle until this afternoon. Your sandwich must've really impressed him!"
"Hee-hee. Didn't it just."
Juliana rode up to the yellow plains of the Savannah Biome on her Miraidon, where Carmine had asked her to meet. She rode side-saddle, with the iron serpant now serving as not just her mode of transport, but also her mobility vehicle.
Since the battle was against Crispin, Juliana decided to focus the lesson on her Water-type partners. Ogerpon joined in the fun, donning her Wellspring Mask to change into her own aquafied form.
"Now send it out again!" Juliana instructed.
Carmine tossed the Net Ball, and with a huge yellow shine, Palafin emerged again, now having underwent a heroic transformation with its special Zero to Hero ability.
"Pon-ponnnn!" Ogerpon was enamored with Palafin's change of form.
"See? By switching it out once, and bringing it back out again, Palafin becomes a whole superhero!"
"Grroh?"
Palafin suddenly winced in shock, and looked to Juliana with a cautious expression.
"Oh, sorry, uhhh… I mean, the Palafin we knew suddenly up and vanished, but this mighty superhero has arrived in its place to win the battle!"
"GRROH!" Palafin pumped its fist into the air with bravery and tenacity.
Carmine looked unimpressed with the charade.
"Seriously? Wow, such a noble and… humble hero. No wonder they made a whole anime out of you…"
Palafin obliviously took this as a compliment and struck a haughty pose for its temporary new commander.
"Ponio?"
Ogerpon beamed with excitement as Juliana's giant water bug Pokémon skittered up to them next.
"Alright, now Araquanid here comes with really, really strong defense and a lot of great Bug and Water-type moves! It's also got a cool ability that—"
"—lets it tough out Fire-type moves and never get burned, right?"
Juliana smiled sheepishly. "Oh, heh-heh! Guess you know more about the Terrarium Pokémon than I do, huh?"
"Nothing about the Pokémon that inhabit this giant glass dome can surprise me anymore, rookie," Carmine said confidently.
Araquanid gurgled happily and walked up to rub its head against Carmine with affection.
Carmine started drowning with her head inside its water bubble.
"Gbbbl! GBBBBL!"
Crispin's Magmortar launched a powerful Fire Blast that scorched Ogerpon badly enough to make the poor ogre feel faint.
"Oggguhh…"
Carmine was there to catch her partner from hitting the ground.
"You did you best, little warrior girl. Time to rest up."
Ogerpon smiled weakly as Carmine recalled it into its Ball.
Blaziken tried to make a move against Araquanid with a powerful Blaze Kick, but Araquanid absorbed the blow with its powerful bubble, and channeled another Aqua Ring to keep its barely scratched health up.
"Brrrrrrble!" the giant bug roared.
"How do you like that!?" Carmine declared.
Crispin heaved heavily as he battled, the after-effects of Carmine's sandwich still rocking his throat.
"Man… you're really serious, aren't you…" he huffed. "Just like they Kieran always said about you… I'm startin' to feel like I was doing better against Juliana."
"Well, get ready to eat a big heaping of DIRT to wash off that lava in your mouth, ketchup hair! Go, Palafin!"
Palafin shone and sparkled as it hit the stage in its powered-up superhero form.
"GRROH!"
"Waaaaah! I forgot about Palafin!" Crispin gasped. He was holding himself against a wall now. The stress of the battle was making some of that burning spice come back up through his throat again. "I don't know if I'm about to cry or retch!"
Carmine strode out of the Savannah Plaza with a proud strut and a smug smile on her face as Juliana and Miraidon rode up to her.
"Wow…" Juliana giggled. "Ummm, that was—"
"Stupendous? Amazing? The greatest battle you've ever seen?"
"It was something, alright!"
Miraidon growled loudly in agreement.
"I definitely forgot how uhh—competitive you can be."
Carmine frowned. "I hope you're not criticizing me."
"No, the opposite." Juliana blushed a little. "It's umm… I like watching you like that. It's really cool."
Carmine blushed too and scratched her hair. "O-oh. Right! Of course! Just—another facet of my intoxicating beauty! Glad you're seeing it!"
The girl had a furious face on as she and Toucannon divebombed through all the Magnemite rings with the rocket-like speed of Toucannon's Beak Blast.
"SKROWWWWWW!" Toucannon chirped proudly as they went through the last of the rings and into the finishing area.
Amarys walked up to them with a click of her stopwatch.
"My expectations were held very high in the knowledge of your skills Carmine, and… you still exceeded them greatly."
"That's why you never doubt me, Mar-y!" she smiled.
"Yes, indeed," she nodded. "Only three seconds off from Juliana's record-breaking time as well."
"What!? Three seconds!?" Carmine suddenly exclaimed. "I was THAT close to beating her time!? Pshaa! Run it back! I'll totally take that record for myself! Come on, Toucannon, let's go!"
"Skrow-rowww!"
Toucannon eagerly followed Carmine as they began to head back to start, leaving Amarys there in disbelief.
"Wait, but—but Carmine! You've passed the trial already!" she tried calling out. "You'll have ample time to try for the harder trials after our battle is completed!"
But her overeager friend was too far away to hear her. Amarys adjusted her glasses and looked at her stopwatch in restrained exasperation, at a rare loss for words.
"So unorthodox…"
Carmine could only keep her gaze fixed on Juliana's own unorthodox Pokémon as Chi-Yu floated in front of her and gazed back at her with its own beads for eyes.
"So… you're really saying this thing has been around since ancient times and once laid a curse on a whole kingdom? And now you're just using it for battles?"
"Yup!" Juliana said gleefully. "There's four of them in total! I found this one behind a waterfall in a bamboo forest, and my friends got the other three!"
"I—I don't like the way it's liking at me."
Carmine felt like she was in a stare-off with the strange flaming fish at this point, especially since Chi-Yu refused to show any expression or noise to indicate its feelings.
"Well… Ms. Raifort did say that the Treasures of Ruin only trust those with a pure heart."
"Hey! I'm plenty pure-hearted!" Carmine seethed. "You and this funny fish of yours trying to say I'm not!?"
Chi-Yu gazed deeply into Carmine's eyes. Then…
"Cheeeee."
With a red twinkle from its beads, Carmine suddenly felt her stomach drop and her legs get a bit weak.
"Wha… what did it—just do?"
"Oh yeah! Ms. Raifort says Chi-Yu's beads have a special ability to lower the inner defenses of anything on the field! Apparently, even in a Double Battle, its partner will feel it too."
"I—I certainly feel my defenses lowered quite a bit…" Carmine said uneasily.
"Well, luckily, Ogerpon didn't seem to be too affected by it, so it should be a safe ally."
"Pon-pon!" Ogerpon now donned the Hearthflame Mask and she brandished her ivy cudgel boastingly over her head.
"Good to know…" Carmine still felt weird on the inside. "Well, does this thing have any other party tricks?"
"Well, I taught it Snarl so that it'll also cripple most Pokémon's special attack…"
"Makes sense. Mar-y does love her special attackers."
"And it also knows a special move called Ruination that can cut its enemy's health in half."
"What?" Carmine looked at Chi-Yu with wide eyes. "That… is so… freaking… METAL!"
"Chi-Yu, ruin this Metagross's dreams into oblivion! And then Ogerpon… lay the finishing kill!"
Chi-Yu first used its Ruination attack to whittle the Terastallized Metagross down into half-health. And then, with a murderous cry, Ogerpon charged up its Ivy Cudgel and burned the huge metal behemoth to a crisp, the Tera crystals shattering everywhere.
A bit of sweat ran down Amarys's face.
"Your tenacity… certainly exceeds that of most of my past opponents, dear friend. But we will not yield until the battle is through! Reuniclus, Dazzling Gleam!"
Reuniclus mustered all of its might to shower Chi-Yu and Ogerpon with blinding sparkles of fairy light. Neither Pokémon reacted much to the onslaught of light, with Ogerpon shrugging it off and Chi-Yu's beads glowing red with determination.
"Yes, yesss!" Carmine basked with a sinister gleam. "Chi-Yu's many intense Snarls have made your attacks USELESS against us! Say your prayers and sink to the ground, Amarys!"
"…"
Amarys adjusted her glasses instead of responding.
"Chi-Yu, Dark Pulse!"
"Cheeee-eeeee!"
"Is this what TRUE power feels like!?"
Carmine watched with brimming ecstasy as Chi-Yu's powerful Dark Pulse bombarded Reuniclus. She began to cackle like a mad witch.
"More, more, more! Ha ha ha ha! WA HA HA HA HAAAAAA!"
Amarys gulped. "You are… beginning to frighten me a great deal, Carmine."
A sweat drop rolled down Lacey's face.
"Well… Carmine sure is embracing her role very well…"
She and Juliana were watching the match on the big TV screen in the student lounge. Juliana sat next to her with the cane she was using to get around indoors in her lap.
"If we wake up tomorrow morning, and Carmine has become such a corrupt queen that Blueberry falls to ruin like in the legends… I take full blame for that one," said Juliana, raising her hand.
Drayton had… politely excused himself from watching the match. Lacey figured he was probably on high alert training his team after realizing how serious Carmine is.
Crispin wasn't there either. Some sort of… stomach problems, apparently.
Lacey had to force herself to sit down with the amount of anxiety riding through her bones.
"I guess I should be glad… Carmine's one of the most terrific battlers I know, but I thought she would be too nervous to do something like this. Nope! She's—committing 100% of herself into his. As her friend, y'know, I—I couldn't be prouder of her."
Juliana nodded bigly in agreement, until she looked over and noticed Lacey's hands appeared to be trembling.
"Lacey?"
"Hmm? Yeah?"
"Are you… getting nervous?" she asked with a slight hint of amusement.
"What? Me! No way!" Lacey declared, crossing her arms. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for this day? I've wanted to have a good, serious battle with Carmine forever! I'm nothing short of excited right now."
Her attention was turned back to the TV screen as Reuniclus's defeat, and Carmine's mad cackling, attracted whoops and hollers from the students watching.
"Wooo!" "Go, Carmine!" "Wow, Juliana's Pokémon are insane!"
Juliana sat back with a proud, bashful blush to hear compliments being given both girls' way.
Lacey felt herself beginning to sweat more.
"It's… sure to be a—a battle to remember."
It was only the very next day that Lacey found herself having to keep up an objective face as she quizzed her own friend on the ins-and-outs of her cute Pokémon buddies.
"Alright, Minior!" Lacey clapped. "Spread out!"
The seven different colors of Minior reattached their thick, rocky shells and shuffled around like a shell game.
"Now! Carmine! Which one is the pink Minior you just—"
Carmine instantly pointed to the one on the very far right.
"That one."
The pink Minior burst from its rocky shell and made cosmically happy noises.
Another sweat drop on Lacey's face.
"V-very good! But try this one on for size!"
Lacey whistled for her next subject to come out, an adorable Pikachu!
"Pika!"
"Pikachu is an Electric-type Pokémon well known for producing electricity within its body. But in which part—"
Carmine knelt down. "Its cheeks. It stores the electricity in those fat red little cheeks."
"Pika-pi?"
Lacey sighed. "Ding-ding-ding." Trying not to let Carmine ruffle her feathers, she called out, "Venonat, sweetie! Time to—"
"—ask me which part of its body it uses like radar? Easy. The eyes. Why don't you bring out your Sinistea instead?"
"Very well…" Lacey gulped.
She set up three individual Sinistea to float around in their cups in front of Carmine. Then she cleared her throat to give her rehearsed question.
"Sinistea like to live in precious antique teacups! But there are a lot of phonies out there! It's hard to tell which cups are genuine antiques..."
"Yeah, unless you write on it with a sharpie marker."
"Exactly! Unless you—wait, what?"
Lacey grabbed the Sinistea she knew was bearing an Antique mark and was incensed to find Carmine's signature, complete with winking face and peace sign, drawn on the back of its teacup.
"Hee-hee." Carmine smiled mischievously as she held up the offending marker.
"Carmiiiiiiine!" Lacey whined. "I work really hard on these quizzes! The least you could do is get into the spirit of them!"
Carmine shrugged. "Sorry, Lace. But wouldn't it be less honest for me to pretend I don't know the answers to all these? I've watched you do this trial a million times."
"Alright, well then I'll just skip right to the brand new question I've asking. Let's see if you get this one!"
Lacey did one more whistle to bring out one of her most beloved partners, her Granbull.
"Granbull is a quiet, delicate, and lovable Pokémon, of course! But can you tell me this: when I take a nap with my adorable Granbull, which part of its body do I use… as a pillow!?"
Carmine facepalmed with a grumble.
"Now what!?"
"Lacey…" She looked at her friend with a sympathetic grin. "Do you know how many times I've caught you sleeping on that big softie's belly?"
Lacey huffed through her nostrils.
"Alright! Well one more, just for posterity! Which of these regional forms can I evolve using these Galarica Twigs I found near the beach?"
"Slowpoke," Carmine answered with a smug smile.
Lacey marched right up to her and started delivering the questions right to her face.
"How many different colors of flower can Flabébé attach itself to!?"
"Five."
"Which form of Vivillon are you likely to find in Kalos!?"
"Meadow Pattern."
"What topping do I like on my ice cream!? Strawberry, caramel, or sprinkles!?"
"Trick question. All three."
"What's a Pokémon people always really ugly that I think is actually really adorab—"
"Trubbish, for some reason."
"VENUSAUR IS ONE OF THE POKEMON THAT HAS—"
"The female one's got a seed sticking out of its bulb. Glaceon's your favorite evolution of Eevee. You would be a Psychic Trainer in the trading card game. Your eyes are brown. Your favorite movie is A Shuppet's Journey. And the first Pokémon your daddy gave you when you were young was a cute little Cleffa with a red bow."
Lacey looked like she was about to pop a gasket.
She took a deep, wide breath… and went back to being all smiles.
"Good, good! Seems like you know about cuteness quite well, Challenger!" she said through a gritted smile. "You've passed the Trial and then some. Why don't you head over to my pretty pink court and we'll begin the battle?"
"Gladly," Carmine smiled innocently as she bowed to her friend. "Great trial, Lacey!"
"You too, Carmine, you two…" As her friend walked away, Lacey grumbled to herself, "Some of those answers weren't even part of my test…"
Juliana tossed out her Heal Ball, and Tinkaton yipped happily onto the scene, brandishing her giant metal hammer.
"Tinka-tink!"
"This is Tinkaton!" she announced proudly atop her Miraidon. "The biggest thing to know about her is her signature move Gigaton Hammer, which—"
Juliana was interrupted by the sudden grab of her working ankle.
"Juliana."
"Ehh…?"
Carmine was looking up at her with a very devious grin.
"The biggest thing to know about your Tinkaton is… Big girl. With big hammer."
Juliana swore she saw stars in Carmine's glimmering yellow eyes. And maybe blood.
"Big hammer… that KILLS."
She grinned widely from cheek to cheek like someone about to commit the world's biggest crime.
Juliana's heart skipped a beat.
"I uhh… I really let you off your leash by putting you up to this, huh?" she observed.
"Oh, you have nooooo idea, my sweet innocent little girlie."
Carmine rubbed her hands together with glee as she approached both Tinkaton and Wellspring Ogerpon. They strode up to the Kitakamite girl, eager and ready.
"Yes, come to me, both of you wonderous murder children…"
"Tink!" "Ponio!"
Juliana was still clutching her chest and trying to catch her breath.
She's so cool…
Seeing this side of Carmine reminded her of how much she used to love spending time with that self-proclaimed wild girl in her natural habitat. Carmine was so cool, so confident…
So free.
Juliana found herself beginning to blush.
Lacey's face was red too as her battle with Carmine commenced.
Red with anger and frustration.
Upset at how much Carmine was dominating the match with Juliana's powerful Pokémon, she commanded her Galarian Slowking to cook up an extremely bewitching Eerie Spell out of desperation, hoping to drain that pesky Tinkaton of its Gigaton Hammer uses.
"Tinkaton, Protect!"
But Slowking's attempt at a devastating potion just splashed around the shield Tinkaton put up.
Now Lacey felt on the ropes. "Excadril! We'd better Terastallize!"
"EXCAH!"
"Ogerpon, quick!" Carmine suddenly commanded. "Use Horn Leech before her Tera Orb charges up!"
"Wha-!?"
With fast reflexes, Ogerpon extended her horns and pierced them right into Excadrill, managing to siphon some of its energy JUST as it became encased in crystals to become Tera Fairy.
"How—yours and Ogerpon's timing is impeccable, Carmine!"
"Pon-PONNN!"
"And Tinkaton… that Slowking deserves a BRUTAL SWING to its slow head!" she commanded with an evil smile.
Tinkaton belted out a cry of war as it channeled massive dark energy to give Slowking a huge swing of its hammer. The witch doctor Pokémon had just brewed its last concoction.
"Slowwww…"
Lacey recalled it with a horrid, sunken feeling of defeat looming.
"Excadrill… my beloved sweetheart… we can beat her! Please, your best High Horsepower!"
"EXCAH!"
Excadrill delivered a thundering charge to hit Tinkaton with the power of the earths. It weakened the pink menace a great deal… but not enough to take it out.
"Tiiiiink…" the Hammer Pokémon growled.
Lacey swallowed hard.
Without even saying a word, Carmine lit up her Tera Orb. It shone with the spellings of Lacey's doom as she cast it over Ogerpon.
The crystals burst out, and Ogerpon's Wellspring Mask became super-charged.
"Ponioooooo …" Ogerpon growled just as threateningly.
Carmine just stood there with the smuggest smile to end all smuglords.
"Ogerpon… you know what to do. Tinkaton… give her a boost."
Lacey just watched with wide, curious eyes, wondering what was about to happen.
Ogerpon began charging up its Ivy Cudgel with the power of a thousand raging waterfalls. Meanwhile… Tinkaton's hammer brimmed with energy as well.
Suddenly...! Ogerpon hopped into the air.
Tinkaton raised its hammer.
The ogre dove back down and landed RIGHT on the hammer's edge.
Carmine brewed an evil smile.
"Now… GIGATON IVY CUDGEL."
"…!"
"TINK!"
Like a raging catapult, Tinkaton swung Ogerpon through the air like a blazing missile.
Exacadrill saw its life flashing before its eyes.
Lacey, breathlessly, stepped back from the arena.
"OOOOGUH.. POOOOOONNNNNNN!"
-CRAAAAAASH-
The impact shook the entire arena, rocking everyone in the Coastal Plaza from their feet, and causing a huge blowback that blew the leaves off several palm trees nearby.
Carmine and Lacey were soaked from head to toe in ivy-smelling water. Carmine barely even seemed to notice, jumping up in the air and clapping excitedly.
"Way to go, you two! You made your mama-slash-auntie proud!"
"Tinkah!" "Ponyo!"
Lacey observed her flattened, fainted Excadrill at the center of the wet puddle.
"I always knew you would be the most one-of-a-kind Trainer the world's ever seen…"
She glanced up at Carmine, who gave her two thumbs-up with the most ecstatic grin on her face.
"Mighty dragons of Unova help Drayton…"
Drayton was in a state like nobody had ever seen from the normally suave young male.
He had seen Carmine's other matches of course… and he was terrified.
As he stood at the center of the cold arena, he was having trouble keeping his feet from shaking. On the outside, he was smiling his usual smug grin. On the inside, he was sweating buckets.
It was a bright sunny day in the Polar Plaza this time, and boy did Drayton wish for the freezing temperatures in order to cool his heat.
For all the teasing of how easily Carmine would wipe the floor with Drayton in a battle, something about that day becoming a reality, having seen the girl's angry side at her most primal, made Drayton shudder in ways he never thought he would.
At the other end… Carmine was just standing there.
Menacingly.
"So, Carmine," he quickly corrected himself. "Here we finally are, at last."
There was no answer.
At least one of her usual jabs would've been preferrable to her icy silence.
He cleared his throat. "So, uhh… about your trial—"
"I've actually got a fantastic idea for a trial," Carmine cut him off.
"Oh? Let's… hear it, princess."
"There are so many tall cliffs here in the Polar Biome, all at different elevations too!" she observed. "It'd be a wonderful to be able to drop a heavy object off each of them and write an essay for Physics class about how long it takes to reach terminal velocity at each height."
"Okay…?"
Carmine gave him a piercing glare.
"How much do you weigh, Drayton?"
Drayton gulped.
"Y-you know what? Forget the trial! Since we're such good pals, you and I, I'll declare it an easy pass and we can just get straight to the battle!"
"Good boy."
"You uhh… you're pretty fired up for this, ain't ya Carmine?"
"This isn't excitement."
"…Ohhh?"
Carmine sneered.
"Cause this one's not for Juliana. I have been taking your crap for the past two years I've known you at this school. You are one of the most ignoramus, most insufferable people I've ever met."
Drayton tried his best to smile innocently.
"And now, on top of manipulating my friends with your little scheme… you've roped me into this madness. But it turns out that was your biggest undoing, bozo. Because now you've given me the perfect opportunity for sweet, sweet vengeance."
"…"
Drayton was beginning to regret bringing up the substitute clause.
"And I've got the greatest weapon on my side."
Carmine got straight to the point for their coaching session earlier as she pointed directly at Juliana's great purple beast.
"You used that thing against some of the Trainers in the Terrarium. I saw it on videos posted. I knew it was a sweet ride, but I never knew it actually has battle potential!"
"Uhh… yeah?" Juliana answered kind of uneasily from atop Miraidon.
"Gurrah?" The iron serpent growled in confusion.
"Then I want you to teach me all of its secrets. This is how I destroy that annoying blockhead forever!"
"Ummm…" Juliana winced. "I'm not—against you using Miraidon, per say. It's just, well…"
"What?"
Juliana flashed her braced ankle.
"I'm… kinda a bit more dependent on Miraidon than usual right now. When Miraidon shifts into its Battle Form, I can't really ride on it anymore. So, what will I do?"
"You use my Zebstrika."
A voice startled the both of them, and they were equally surprised to see who it belonged to.
"KIERAN!?" "KIKI!?"
Kieran took out one of his Poké Balls and called out a huge, black zebra Pokémon.
"I'll let you sit on my Zebstrika while my sis uses Miraidon… but just this one time."
Juliana and Carmine looked at each other, surprised at this sudden turn of generosity from Kieran.
"Gosh… thanks, Kieran. You showed up just in the nick of time to be our her—"
"Save it. It has nothing to do with you," he replied crossly. "…Honest. I just—To tell you the truth, I've always wanted to see that thing in action too. Ever since I first saw it at the Loyalty Plaza. So, I'll play nice just this once so you can fulfill my wish."
Juliana could kind of sense that Kieran wasn't telling the full truth, but she knew not to look a gift Mudsdale in the mouth.
Once she had slid from her Miraidon's back to Zebstrika's, Juliana faced her Pokémon.
"Alright, Miraidon… Shift into Battle Form."
"AGIAS!"
Miraidon rose into the air on its jet boosters, and enveloped itself in a huge swirl of blue and yellow energy. It practically transformed itself into a ball of light.
Juliana was used to the sight, but Carmine and Kieran both had to cover their eyes.
After it finally emerged from its chrysalis-like transformation, Miraidon had taken on a new slender, confident, and battle-ready form.
It roared proudly into the wind, its huge ball-like chest glowing with hyper-charged electricity, and slowly rose down to meet its owner and the astonished siblings.
"Incredible…"
"…Wowzers."
Drayton barely had time to be impressed, or send out any of his usual quips, as Juliana's monster of a Pokémon easily decimated most of his team with the combined power of Tinkaton and Alolan Sandlash.
"SHROO!"
Sandlash's Icicle Crash rained down on Sceptile and knocked out its lights, while Miraidon unleashed a powerful Draco Meteor over Kingdra.
Already down to his one and only Pokémon, Drayton tried not to look like he was sweating bullets.
"Geez… where was that awesome Pokémon when Juliana was battling me? I guess she wanted more of a challenge…"
"Or maybe she was being merciful. I'm not."
Seeing the corner he was being pushed into, Drayton was quick to Terastallize his Archaludon and have it use Flash Cannon on Sandslash, taking it out of commission.
"Shroo-shroo…"
"You did amazing, Sandslash. Juliana trained you really, really well in such a short time! Like I had any doubt in her. Don't worry, we'll be sure to avenge you."
"Grrraaahhh!"
"Don't speak so soon!" Drayton remarked, feeling a little tinge of confidence rising up again. "We can still send you running to the hills! Archaludon, start charging up your Electro Shot!"
"Rrrrrooohhhh!"
Archaludon took its folding stance to look like a bridge again and charged up its lightning rods.
"Of course. The attack you used to hurt Juliana…"
That confidence withered away as Drayton's eyes widened.
"You—you know that wasn't my fault!"
But Carmine still brought out her Tera Orb with a rageful fist. She charged it up and threw it over Miraidon with great force.
Miraidon became encased in crystals, and emerged covered in a glimmering yellow sheen. Its Tera Jewel took the shape of a giant lightbulb.
"AGIIIAS!"
Drayton's teeth grit hard. Archaludon was still charging its shot… and the writing seemed to be on the wall.
Carmine's yellow eyes shimmered with a glowing spark, a feeling that she felt had been boiling in her blood for millennia.
This was it.
That primal joy that she used to feel from battling. The incomparable, unquenchable feeling that rose from her chest and made her feel alive whenever she pulled out a winning move.
That fire that had burned out ever since he suffered that humiliating loss and saw her BB League ranking sink…
It was burning hotter than any sun in the universe now.
The queen had returned.
"Time to end this once and for all! Are you ready to DIE, Drayton!?" she screamed.
"Uhhh…"
A small but quaking fear rose up in Drayton that this wild tigress was going to command Juliana's Pokémon to attack him instead of his last partner.
"Miraidon… use Electro Drift! FRY HIM TO SMITHEREENS!"
Miraidon put all the legendary hadron power it had within itself into curling itself up into a ball and then charging at Archaludon with its full Tera charged force.
"HELL YEEEEAAAAAHHHH!"
Carmine's yell came from the throat, a metal scream at such a guttural, ear-piercing octave as to make even her idol Roxie proud.
Archaludon was just about to send out its own beam of electricity.
It didn't matter.
Professor Turo's greatest discovery collided with the metal behemoth in a huge, raging explosion of awesome electricity that lit up the entire arena and shot a beacon into the sky that could be seen not just by everyone in the Terrarium, but even off in the horizons of Castelia City nearby.
"GROWWWWWWLLLL!"
Miraidon's LED-like eyes lit up in a magnificent yellow as the huge iron dragon celebrated its thundering victory.
Archaludon fainted.
And Drayton's hair looked like the bride of Frankenstein. To say nothing about his singed clothes and humbled expression.
"Heh. Heh-heh… Well, I almost had it in the bag. Wouldn't ya say?"
"That was AMAAAAZING! You were both so incredible out there!"
Juliana hugged Miraidon's neck tightly, and the Paradox Pokémon growled back affectionately.
"Agias!"
Having exhausted most of its energy again, Miraidon had shifted back into its Low-Power Mode and both Juliana and Carmine were riding side saddle on its back and laughing with each other on their slow voyage through the Polar Biome. Ogerpon sat next to them both, helping herself to some delicious hanami dango on a stick.
"The best part of all that is, it's going to take Drayton days to get his hair back into that dumb toothpaste shape again!" Carmine laughed giddily. "If that's not an ultimate victory for every time he's made me pull my hair out, I don't know what is!"
Juliana laughed back.
"And now there's only one battle left! Are you ready for tomorrow?"
"…"
That smile quickly vanished, as reality finally began to knock on Carmine's door again.
She gulped. "Right… One last battle…" She muttered quietly, "Against Kiki."
Juliana saw her change of tone and was concerned.
"You're not still nervous, are you?"
"Hmm? No. It's—it's not. I've just… been doing a lot of thinking about Kiki. Especially after seeing him again this morning…"
"Oh yeah? … What about?"
Carmine turned to Juliana with a soft, almost worried expression.
"Hey, Juliana… Can I ask you something in confidence? Like, comrade to comrade?"
Juliana smiled as best she could. "Sure… comrade! I'm all ears."
"Do you… think that I'm too bossy towards Kieran?"
Juliana motioned for Miraidon to stop as she faced her friend directly.
"What do you mean?"
Carmine bunched her hands together. She felt extremely vulnerable all of a sudden. Months ago, it would've been unthinkable for her to open up to somebody like this, especially not Juliana.
But here in this moment… she felt like there was nobody she trusted more right now.
"I mean, have I… too hard on him? He's my brother, and I—I just want to protect him and encourage him to stand up for himself, y'know? But—was I pushing him too hard all this time?"
Her eyes began to glisten as she faced Juliana like a lost soul. Her mind kept going back to what Kieran said the other day, when he talked about not letting yourself become someone's servant… while looking right at her.
What did he mean by that?
"Do you think… do you think that him becoming like this is all… is all my fault?"
"Carmine…"
Juliana wasn't sure how to respond for a solid minute there.
So instead… she hugged her.
Carmine was surprised, but accepted the hug tenderly.
"Of course this isn't your fault. You didn't do this. Everything you've done for Kieran… it was out of love. All that scolding, and lying for his sake… I guess, I guess it sounds kinda bad. But isn't that what you said, that that's what siblings do?"
"You were the one who told me off for all of it during our picnic date, remember?"
"Yeah, I know, but… You said I wouldn't understand, but now I think I really do. Because lately you've been looking out for me the same way you've been for Kieran."
"I have?"
"Yeah! Yelling at me me for doing stupid things, looking out for me… Every time you get angry with me, I can see that it's out of love. You and I have gotten so much closer lately… It's weird but, I guess I kind of feel a bit of what life between you and Kieran has always been like."
Juliana stopped short of saying what she wanted to say, but it felt true. Her bond with Carmine, especially in the ways the girl had been doting on her more than usual lately, was really beginning to feel almost… sisterly. Right?
Carmine was silent for a bit.
Juliana wasn't sure if her words worked.
And she was a bit alarmed to see Carmine slowly become even more pensive.
Juliana didn't know why, but seeing Carmine so sad made her own heart feel like it was dropping hard. She instinctively put her hands around Carmine's shoulder.
"Hey… hey. What's wrong?"
Carmine sniffled a bit. "I am… so, incredibly sorry for calling you an idiot the other day."
"Oh…" To be honest, Juliana had forgotten about that. "It's umm… it's okay. I know you were just, upset. Because of my leg and all…"
"Yeah…"
Now it was Juliana's turn to start contemplating things. As she thought about Carmine's remark, she realized that she'd been holding back her feelings and… it actually kind of stung a little bit. What Carmine had said.
She didn't mean to, but Juliana started to find herself sniffling.
Now Carmine looked at her in surprise.
"Huh?"
"You don't… you don't really think I'm a reckless idiot, right?"
Carmine's mouth hung off a bit.
"Well, umm… idiot, no. Reckless, well…" She pointed to Juliana's brace. "I'd say that's proof positive right there. I think sometimes you act like an idiot because of it. And just like with Kiki, I have to come in to tell you you've being a knucklehead. I don't know you survived so long in Paldea all on your own."
"Eheh, well… I guess I had my friends with me to tell me when I was being a knucklehead."
"And now you have ME!"
To Juliana's surprise, Carmine wrapped her arm around Juliana's head and brought it in close to her chest.
"And you're MY reckless idiot, okay!?" She started nuzzling Juliana's head really hard. "So only I'm allowed to say that about you and you know I don't mean it! If anyone else calls you something like that, I will unleash my ultimate power against them!"
Juliana laughed, feeling much more at ease.
"Thanks, Carmine." She let herself fall into Carmine's chest and wrapped her arms around the girl's torso. "You really are my best friend."
Carmine's face flushed red a bit at the sudden intimate contact. You've gotten so touchy-feely lately…
"Uhhh… yeah! Hee-hee! And you're definitely the best name out of everyone on my rivals list!"
The two of them laughed cathartically with each other as Miraidon continued to ride them through the calm and cool tundra path.
…Little did they know, someone was watching them from above.
The top of Kieran's head peered at them from the top of the highest viewing deck in the Central Plaza. His eyes followed Juliana, Carmine, and Miraidon as they laughed with each other into the horizons, eventually disappearing into the thick fog of the Canyon Biome.
Once they were gone, he slumped downward into the blocky wall.
Were it a week or two ago, he'd be feeling a lot of things. Rage. Resentment. Impatience. The anger at having been denied a straight follow-up match with Juliana.
But having forced himself to interact with his sister and former friend over the past few days had changed something within him. Kieran watched their bond and their happiness and for some reason, it was making him… sad.
Envious, even.
As much as he tried to deny it, Kieran had sat in his room, looking over the old photos of himself and Juliana in front of the signboards in Kitakami, and found himself… longing for their friendship again.
He remembered how pretty Juliana looked whenever she smiled in front of him. How fun their very first battle in Mossui Town was. …The small crush he had developed for her.
How excited he had been when he was able to convince the whole town of the ogre's true nature, and clear her name…
And Carmine and the rest of the villagers telling him how proud they were of him…
In spite of himself, Kieran had been feeling doubts over the past few days.
If I tried harder, could I have been the ogre's friend all along? Would Juliana and I still be friends? Did I… did I take all this too far?
Kieran heard footsteps and gazed up with his tired eyes.
Another student was walking through the plaza, chatting with someone on his phone. He briefly glanced Kieran's way. … Then he did a double take, saw who he was looking at, and quickly scampered away with a look of panic.
Kieran watched him leave, and began to huddle over his knees.
"This isn't the respect that I wanted…" he said sadly.
As he sat alone against the wall, Kieran finally began to understand what he was truly feeling…
Loneliness.
Despite all of his achievements, his pride, and his ego… Kieran found himself wishing he had somebody to lean on himself. With everyone being so terrified and resentful of him, and how much he'd been deliberately trying to avoid his sister, he had never felt so alone in his life.
"So much for everybody wanting to be my friend…" he muttered.
He then stretched out and dug into his pocket. He pulled the wrap loose and gazed at his Pecha Berry.
"And so much for you being a good luck charm…"
It had been just after Juliana and Kieran paid a visit to the empty Dreaded Den within Oni Mountain. Juliana's second day in Kitakami… and of course, she was bursting with energy.
"What? A race?" Kieran gulped. "Umm, s-sure!"
"Great!" said Juliana. "Last one there's a rotten Exeggcute!"
She dashed off without even saying "Go!" or anything.
"Wowzers. She's so cool…" he mumbled to himself.
Kieran gazed back into the empty den. Staring into the dark, empty chasm often made him think about the 'dreaded' ogre and how lonely of an existence it must live… if it's real.
"Poor ogre…" he lamented. "I wish I was a much stronger Trainer, like Juliana. Then we could be partners, and I would protect you from anyone that wants t' harm you. We… we'd be unstoppable together, I bet!" he chuckled.
The wind picked up a bit. As the air blew past Kieran's face, he suddenly began to smell something very sweet.
"Hmm? What is that?"
He was drawn to some thick bushes right near the den's entrance. His curiosity got the better of him, and he walked over and brushed through the thick twigs… where Kieran found an impressive pile of Berries gathered.
"Woah…" he said, enthralled. "Is this… the ogre's secret stash? Wow. This is so many Berries. It must have worked really hard to gather all of them. Maybe that's why I never see it at home… 'Cause it's always riskin' its life for these… We have plenty of food to give it…"
Then, he saw something begin to gleam.
"…Huh?"
At the very back of the ogre's stash, was a thick rock pressed against the wall. With some effort, Kieran was able to wedge out the moss-covered rock from the wall.
Underneath it, amidst all the moss and dirt… was a Pecha Berry.
"A… another Berry?"
Kieran picked the Berry up curiously. He examined all its sides, but nothing seemed unusual about their Pecha Berry, besides maybe how bright and ripe its leaves looked.
"Why was this Berry hidden away from all the rest of them?" he wondered. "Just… seems like an ordinary Pecha Berry. Maybe it's special to the ogre…?"
He glanced back at the empty den.
"If that's the case, maybe I should put it back…"
He was about to set the Berry back down where he found it. But then…
His nose twitched.
The Pecha Berry… seemed to release a strong scent all of a sudden. The same scent he had just smelled a minute ago.
Kieran wanted to ignore it, but it was such a—strong, strangely intoxicating scent.
It was almost like the Berry itself was calling out to him, asking Kieran to take it with him.
Kieran thought about what he had just said—wanting to be a much stronger Trainer. It was like… somehow, the Berry seemed to take that thought and amplify it, planting roots in his mind like a fungus.
"A really strong Trainer…" he muttered. "The strongest Trainer anyone's ever seen… The perfect friend for the ogre."
He started to smile… a big, toothy grin from one cheek to another.
"Yes… yes! That's my new goal. Finding ways to be stronger…"
Kieran seemed to be in his own little world now. He held the Berry in his hands and let its bewitching scent fill his nostrils. At least until—
"Kieran?" he heard Juliana. "You still here?"
"Huh? Uhh, uhhh yeah!" he called back, being brought back into reality. "I was just… Nothing! I'm comin'!"
He took one last look at the Berry in his hands.
Juliana's the first person who actually really wants to spend time with me… She'll definitely want to help me be the ogre's friend.
With a soft smile, he decided to tuck it into his pocket for now, and ran down the mountain.
"No fair though, Juliana! You got such a big headstart!" he sweated.
Kieran once again held the Pecha Berry out in his hands.
This was now several months ago that he had found it. And yet, the Berry was somehow still just as fresh as that day. Never rotting, even a little.
He stared blankly at the strange fruit.
Now that he was looking at it, he wasn't really sure why he ever thought it was so special to begin with. It really was just an ordinary Berry…
"Maybe I should've just left you there in that bush," he said.
Kieran felt a bit frustrated with this Berry now, and was about to put it away, when suddenly…
He began to smell something. Something very sweet.
It was the Pecha Berry.
Just like that day, he began to feel its intoxicating scent overtaking him again.
"So sweet…" he muttered.
The Berry's scent made him think back on his promise: to be the strongest Trainer ever.
How had he lost his motivation so easily?
Now his positive memories of Juliana and Carmine began to slip away, and he started remembering the negative stuff again.
How Juliana had promised never to lie to him again… and then did. Without a single hesitation.
"Oh… Carmine and I were just talking about whatever! Nothing important! Nothing you'd care about! Ha-ha!"
Liar. They found the ogre's mask and he had to steal it to find out the truth.
"Kieran, we were toootally just about to tell you the truth about that mask! Now that you can found it, we can all go give it back to the ogre ourselves!"
Sure. They even let him give the mask to Ogerpon, and the ogre just rejected him completely. He didn't even do anything wrong.
"Gah… Grrr…"
"Silly Kieran! I guess because it already saw us at the festival, it only likes us and not you! Too bad!"
Then came the biggest heartbreak.
After everything he did to clear the ogre's name and make it a hero… Kieran remembered hoe confident he was the ogre would choose him.
It didn't.
It chose Carmine of all people.
"This isn't how it was supposed to happen at all! After all the work I did to make you like me and wanna be my friend, you… you chose my SIS!?"
"Kiki, what's gotten into you? You'll support Juliana but not your own sister? Come on, don't be so selfish! The ogre just likes me better, obviously!"
Kieran's eyes flashed open.
The cold yellow glare in them had returned.
"Idiot…" he muttered to himself. "Why would you want to hang out with either of them when they didn't want anything to do with you? All that matters is proving myself to the ogre…"
Then, as he stood up, he shook his head and began to ruffle at his roots.
"No… no! Why do I need the ogre's approval anyway? It doesn't care about MY feelings! It's just as big a bully as the rest of 'em! All that really matters is getting stronger, and STRONGER! Until nobody ever laughs at me or thinks I'm weak ever again!"
His body rattled. He shoved the Pecha Berry back into his pocket as he felt reinvigorated, and more determined than ever.
All of his previous doubts had washed away again.
Now there was anything left in his mind but his ultimate goal.
"I'm going to be the ultimate Trainer… I AM the ultimate Trainer!"
As he got ready to walk away, he turned back to sneer one last time at where Juliana and Carmine had disappeared.
"You'd better be ready, Carmine." He said her name with a vicious bite. "Because tomorrow, I'm finally going to prove that I don't need you. Or the ogre. Or ANYONE!"
Clutching one of his Poké Balls, that smile began to return. That bizarre grin that scared Ogerpon, where he smiled through the edges of his mouth in a weird, curved shape.
"…I'm going to be the strongest in the world, and nobody's ever going to hurt me again!"