"Pokémon evolution is the great mystery, we as humans seem to be almost eternally compelled to study. Why is this?

I think we are fascinated by the ways in which Pokémon are always changing and evolving, while humans stay mostly the same. As a child, I remember hearing that there were researches dedicated to the study of Pokémon evolution, and wondered... why? Some Pokémon are able to grow into stronger versions of themselves, and others are not. What else is there to learn?

Is it because we too are commonly driven by a desire to become stronger and better versions of ourselves? My feelings are, perhaps we're too obsessed with this mindset, of always trying to find a better version of ourselves in the mirror. I think by letting in this needless anxiety over an imagined future, people lose sight of their present in this way. Of the things we have now.

There are Pokémon who never evolve at all, and maybe that's because they don't need to. They are already the perfect versions of themselves. Not everything needs to change and keep on trying to adapt.

Many things, as I have often observed, are perfect just as they are. Or perhaps... as they have been."

THE APRIL ISSUE

"ZZZZZzzzzz…"

"Hey." She poked. "Hey." She poked again. "Wake up."

No matter how many times Carmine poked her in the arm, Juliana snored loudly as her arms sprawled out around her head. With each snore, she threatened to munch on her unruly hair as it covered her face.

"I said wake up, dummy," Carmine prodded, poking at her cheek.

Juliana just turned her head over with a smile over her mouth, as her drool began to leak out onto the pillow.

Carmine huffed… and slapped her in the face.

"AHHH!" Juliana screamed awake, throwing up her velvety black blanket. "Huh!? What!? Where—" She parted all the hair over her face like a curtain and looked up with her sleepy eyes.

"Geez, you're a hard one to stir! Still Queen of the Snorlax, huh?" Carmine giggled. "Briar made me come and wake you up. We're here in your dinky little Paldea."

Juliana groaned as she sat up with great effort. "Guess we're back on Ms. Briar's morning schedule again…" She yawned and rubbed her eyes, only to look up and see Carmine seemingly staring. "…What?"

"Uhh-!" Carmine quickly cleared her throat. "Nothing! I've just… never seen you with your hair down before." She quickly turned away so Juliana wouldn't see her blushing.

"Ohhh," Juliana chuckled. Then as she groaned, she realized, "Wait… yeah you did. Remember that one day in Kitakami you called it a rat's nest and made me walk all the way back to redo my hair?"

"Really? Hmm. Doesn't ring any bells! Sorry!" Carmine said a little frantically. "Anyway, umm… just get dressed as quick as you can, alright? Apparently, we got a long cab ride ahead of us."

Juliana groggily stood up and reached into her bag to search for her uniform. Carmine was about to step out of her cabin, but she paused.

"Hey, Juliana…" she said quietly. "Can I ask you a weird question?"

"Mmmm?" Juliana grunted.

"What do you… dream about when you sleep?"

Juliana parted her hair fully and blinked several times at Carmine's unexpected question.

"Uhhh, I don't really know…" She replied. "I don't usually remember any of my dreams. Just for like a minute or so when I wake up."

"Ohhh. Huh. I—guess you're just like Lacey, then. … It's still a minute, though. What do you remember about the one you just has?"

Juliana rubbed her eyes again, a little confused as to what made Carmine so curious about dreams all of a sudden. Maybe she had a really interesting dream last night.

"Well, let's see…" She rattled her brain, trying to grab hold of any fleeting images she could. "I was on a beach. It was a Pokémon battle, I think. And somebody was there with me. I want to say it was… Nemona?"

Carmine's nose scrunched. "Nemona?"

Juliana rubbed her head. "Sorry… it's going away now."

Carmine was feeling her blood boil for some reason. You can't even remember what Nemona wanted to do in your dream as well as the—the things you wanted to do in MINE?

"Hmph! Well—whatever," Carmine said in a haughty manner, her face becoming red for some reason. "Just—hurry and get dressed so we can go, or else you'll be in for a world of pain!"

She sharply closed the door, making Juliana wonder what was up with her. She decided to start doing her hair, and as she pulled it up to do her braid, she tried to think more about her dream.

Was it Nemona…? It was someone really tall. Maybe it was Carmine…

The group's plane had taken off from Castelia City and flown across the ocean to land in the closest airport to their destination in Paldea.

Which was Levincia.

Which did Not help Carmine's assertion that Paldeans are a bunch of pampered city kids.

Eventually, Briar was able to book a cab that would accommodate the four of them as they flew over the Dalizapa Passage and into the outer city limits of Medali. Gazing at all those familiar places outside the window made Juliana feel very nostalgic for her journey through those lands; all the Trainers she met in Paldea, and the unique Pokémon she encountered along the way.

Once they had hiked all the way to the top of the hill where the Zero Gate was, Juliana realized that there was a pretty decent view of Medali from up that high.

"See?" She said, stretching out her arm to Carmine. "Paldea isn't all big cities!"

Carmine raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Are you about to call that a small town? It's still probably four times the size of Mossui Town." She chuckled. "I don't know what you're so ashamed of, Juliana. It's okay that you grew up in a big land full of concrete and privilege," she teased, lightly pinching Juliana's cheek.

Juliana just turned away and huffed like a put-upon child.

Carmine gestured to Kieran, who was standing nearby on his phone.

"Not everyone can be like Kiki and I, born and bred in the harsh wilds of Kitakami! Right, Kiki?"

"Mmm," Kieran muttered lowly.

"Right!" she smiled. "But hey… the air in this region smells nice, so at least you Paldeans got something going for you. Hey, speaking of Paldean city rats, where is that scruffy friend of yours anyway?"

"Yes, that's a good question," said Briar, looking around. "I hope Arven shows up with the keys to this gate. I don't know how we're going to get in otherwise."

"Ha-ha! Don't worry!" called a male voice in the distance. "Your faithful Klefki servant is here!"

And there he was, one of Juliana's loyal Paldean friends. Arven strode up the hill, smiling the smile she always remembered as he jingled the keys to the Zero Gate around in his hand.

Juliana gasped and started running. "Arven!"

"Little buddy!"

Arven spread his arms out and caught Juliana as she practically dove into him.

"I didn't think I was gonna see you again so soon!" she said, delighted.

"Ha-ha, me neither!" Arven replied, aggressively ruffling her hair. "Cool uniform, by the way!"

He gazed up and down at Juliana's all-white Blueberry uniform.

"You really got assimilated into that school fast, huh? Probably forgot all about your old buddy, Arven!"

"Ha! Like I'd ever!"

"They wouldn't tell me the names of the Blueberry kids who were coming along, but I knew, I just knew you had to be one of them! You still don't refuse a mission, do ya Jules?"

"Neither do you, apparently! I was really shocked you would want to come to Area Zero again after everything that happened before!"

"Oh! Yeah! Well, umm…" Arven softened up a bit. "Y'know? I just—I know how dangerous this place is, and I didn't want to see any Blueberry students get hurt down there." He puffed up his chest. "So I decided it was my duty to be your guide through that treacherous place!"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-hoooooo!" came Carmine's unimpressed chortle. She marched up to Arven with a furrowed expression. "Well, thank goodness us poor Blueberry students have a big, strong man to protect us from the scary robot Pokémon lying beneath!"

"Well, someone's got a mouth. I'm guessing this chick is the legendary Carmine, right?"

"So my reputation proceeds me even in this hoity-toity region. I'd expect nothing less!" Carmine sneered at him. "…But don't ever call me 'chick' unless you want my classic greeting of a knuckle sandwich!"

"Uhhh… well, you've got a reputation among anyone who's friends with Juliana, that's for sure!" Arven chuckled. "And Juliana was right, by the way. You're not just pretty, you're downright stunning!"

Juliana's whole body reared up like her Sprigatito used to do when it was frightened.

"Wh— ARVEN! I—I never told you she was pretty! …D-did I?"

Carmine grinned wickedly at her, but put her frown back on when she faced Arven, and did a dramatic flip of her hair.

"Well… you'd better snap a good picture, mister, because I'm well out of your league."

"And why's that?" Arven chuckled. "Is it because I'm too good looking? Maybe you'd change your tune if Juliana told you what an amazing cook I am!"

"I don't care if you can make sandwiches as good as you spit dirt!" Carmine seethed. "I just don't fancy show-offy guys like you, that's all! And I especially don't mingle well with outsiders!"

Juliana snickered loudly. "You guys only met for a few seconds and you're already flirting with each other. I didn't expect anything less of that."

Arven grinned at her, but Carmine's cheeks went red with anger. "Y—YOU JUST KEEP QUIET!"

Then she heard Kieran begin to snicker too.

"And what's YOUR issue!? I'm going to bash both of your heads together, I swear!"

"I just think it's really ironic. Especially 'cause ya don't realize it."

"Realize WHAT!?"

Kieran tilted his head up. "If you and I are in Paldea now, doesn't that make us the outsiders?"

"HURK!" Carmine's pupils shrank, and she pulled hard on the ends of her hair at this earth-shattering comeback. "I've become what I hate the most…" she simmered.

"Ha-ha! I like you, little dude!" Arven laughed, walking up to Kieran. "Bring it here!" He held out his hand for a fist bump.

Kieran just eyed him blankly. "…You're Juliana's friend, right?"

"Sure am! The best exclusive club on Earth!" he grinned.

…

"Then, I'll pass," Kieran said before walking away.

"Heh!" Arven remarked, his fist still hanging. "You uhh, you Blueberry types are awfully touchy, huh?"

"Are you going to open this gate or what?" Kieran snapped at him. "I want to catch my Legendary Pokémon already and get this over with!"

"And impatient too…" Arven said under his breath.

He walked over to the Zero Gate with his keyring and steadily unlocked it.

"I can't believe this is really happening!" Briar said with glee as the gate slowly opened. "I've dreamed of this day for so many years, and I've finally made it a reality!"

"Never heard of somebody being excited to go into the Great Crater before…" Arven said, bemused. "Are you the woman related to an old researcher that Ms. Geeta told me about?"

"Oh!" Briar said, embarrassed. "I never did introduce myself, did I? Call me Briar, dear! Yes, it's true. My ancestor was none other than Heath, the first person to lead a huge expedition into the Great Crater of Paldea!"

"Oh yeah, Heath was that guy who wrote the Violet Book, wasn't he? … That was my dad's favorite book."

"And may I just say, what an honor it is to meet the son of such legendary Professors! I spent a lot of time studying your father's research! Oh, and reading your mother's column! What a pedigree of intelligent individuals you've sprung from!"

"Awww, that's nice." Arven was surprised to hear someone mention his mom for the second time. "I'm sure my dad would've—would've really loved to meet you."

Briar had a realization and felt embarrassed again.

"Oh, of course… My sincerest condolences for his death. I hope I didn't sound insensitive just now."

"It's alright, ma'am," Arven smiled. "I'm just glad people are still celebrating my dad's work. I had my issues with him growing up, but he—really was a fantastic researcher."

Arven still had some mixed feelings about the fact that he was going back to the place where he saw his father for the last time—or at least something in the image of Professor Turo. But he stayed polite for this Briar lady's sake as they all walked into the big chasm overlooking the giant elevator that would take them down into Area Zero.

"Since you know the area already Arven, I trust we can count on you to lead the way and make sure everyone's safe."

"Sure can do, ma'am! Come on, Juliana!" he motioned. "I could use my trusty buddy for this!"

Juliana giggled as she ran alongside Arven. "You just want me around in case you forgot how the machines work, don't you?"

"Well, we don't have Penny around, so y'know… two heads are better than one."

The two laughed with each other as they headed inside the facility.

Carmine grumpily paced back and forth with her arms crossed.

"Grrrr… we've only been in Paldea for a little bit and she's already getting all chummy with her old friends again."

Kieran scoffed. "Jealous much?"

"I'm not jealous!" she shouted.

"Guess now you finally know how it feels. She leaves us all behind in the end, doesn't she…?"

"Wh—You KNOW that's not what I meant!" Carmine growled, and then said quietly to herself, "And seriously? That's still what you think? When are you going to let that go already…?"

"Alright!" Arven said, clapping his hands as he looked around the empty lab room. "It's a good thing the lights are still on, because I don't have the slightest clue how Penny turned them on last time."

"And the warp panels are still activated!" said Juliana, pointing at the glowing green pad in the center. "So we probably won't have to jump down on Miraidon's back again!"

"Awww, that would've been fun, though! Maybe not for those friends of yours, but…" Arven took a look at the machinery. "Let's see… Dad—I mean, the AI did all this remotely last time, right? But I think we should be able to activate the elevator manually through this computer here."

He turned on a computer screen next to the elevator, and was greeted with a flurry of green-colored text options. He peered at the screen, looking out of his element.

"Uhhh… maybe you should try to crack this, Jules. You're a little better with technology than me."

"Okay."

Juliana punched in keys on the keyboard as she tried to work the computer interference.

"So, what are Nemona and Penny up to right now?"

"Oh! Right! I guess you wouldn't know! There's another big School Battle Brawl happening today, and Nemona and Penny are both battling in it! I think they might even be up against each other!"

Juliana chuckled. "You mean the Academy Ace Tournament?"

Arven scoffed. "What, is Nemona paying you to call it that lame name? Anyway, what about YOU! Is our little rockstar best friend kicking butt at Blueberry Academy or what?"

"Hee-hee! Well… I don't want to brag too hard but…" As a loading screen appeared, Juliana eagerly swayed her arms back and forth. "Guess who just became the Champion of the school's BB League!"

"Ohhh, like the school has its own Elite Four?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, hey, congratulations, little buddy!" Arven gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "That's my Jules! Conquering every plateau! I knew you would rock the world over there! That's why I'm so glad we convinced you to go!"

"Yeah," said Juliana. "Thanks so much for that too… It was the best decision ever. I've had so much fun over there, made so many friends… I'd love to find a way for you to meet them someday!"

"Well, I've already gotten to know that colorful pair outside!" Arven grinned. "…Those two are the friends you were talking about before, right? That you met on the first trip to that other place, and you really missed them?"

"Yup! Carmine and Kieran… They're brother and sister."

"Ha! No kidding! You must've gotten really close with them by now! They probably think of you as their new sister, right?"

"Well…" Juliana's smile faltered a bit. "Carmine… yeah, definitely. I know she seemed a little mean back there, but she's probably the nicest girl once you get to know her. She's—she's probably one of my best friends now. Apart from you guys, of course!"

"Never too much room for another best friend!" he laughed.

"But Kieran, umm… I dunno. I think he's still really mad at me for what happened in Kitakami. When he thought I neglected him…"

"So he's not usually like that, then? All…" Arven paused, trying to find the nicest words.

"Grouchy? No." Juliana paused. "I really… I really wanted to make things up with him, but nothing seems to have worked…"

Arven noticed her growing despondence and gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder to try to comfort her.

"Hey… chin up, buddy. You're the kind of person whose smile can wash away any big salt pile, no matter how hard! I mean, you made this big grumpy loner come out of his shell and meet new friends, remember?" he said, pointing to himself.

Juliana laughed lightly at his joke, which made him happy to see.

"Whatever's going on with that Kieran dude, I'm sure you'll find a way to crack that nut too. I know you will, Juliana."

"Thanks, Arven," she smiled appreciatively. "It means a lot for you to say that… I missed you, you know. All of you guys."

"We missed ya too, Jules. I'll be honest, I haven't seen Penny in a while. She's kinda… not really the one to approach you first, I've realized. But I see her with those Team Star pals of hers a lot, so she's definitely not lonely. Just still likes to keep to herself a bit, I guess."

"Awww, that makes me happy," said Juliana. "I still wanna do that anime night with her sometime. I wonder if she knows a way that we can do it remotely, like with a computer."

"Nemona talks about you all the time, though! When she's helping me study."

"Awww, you're letting her tutor you?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Arven rolled his eyes. "She wore me down in the end. But, study sessions with student council girl are actually a lot less annoying than I thought they'd be. For as—impatient as Nemona is with most things, she's actually really kind and goes slow when it comes to stuff like helping me study. I'm actually… kind of doing well in my classes now thanks to her," he said, smiling a bit.

"That's so cool!"

"Tch, she's even starting to make the Gym Challenge sound not horrible. So good at manipulating people… But yeah, anyway, she says she can't wait 'till you're here to stay again!"

"I can't wait to see Nemona again too. Sure wish I could join that tournament with her!"

"Yeah… I was all set to play in that thing too, before I decided to come along on this thing."

"Why did you?"

Arven got quiet.

"Oh… y'know. Had to make sure my best buddy had her back covered!"

"Is that… the whole reason?" Juliana looked at him inquisitively.

"Heh!" Arven chuckled meekly. "Even oceans away, you still know me too well, huh? So, uhh, the thing is…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Weird things have been going on lately."

"Like what?"

Arven crossed his arms, looking a bit forlorn.

"Just… weird stuff. I guess everyone's been seein' the green light that keeps shooting outside of the Great Crater. But in terms of me, umm, well… It's been weird, 'cause I keep hearing this… noise every time it happens."

"A noise?"

"Yeah, it's like, it's almost just like… that little ''BOO-DOOP-BOO-DOO' noise you hear every time someone Terastallizes your Pokémon. It's like that, but—sometimes it's different, like it—it echoes."

"…Echoes?" That caused Juliana to recall something. "I—I think I might've heard that too. When we had the Championship match at Blueberry. When we Terastallized, it was like it was… reverberating or something."

"So you can hear it too?" Arven said, surprised. "Do you… do you also hear the Pokémon cries afterward?"

"Pokémon cries? What do you mean?"

"Ohh… maybe not. Lately, I've been hearing these Pokémon noises immediately after the echo. Some of them are cries I've never heard before, but… a few of them, strangely enough, kinda sounded like your Pokémon, Jules."

"My Pokémon?"

"Yeah! In fact… just the other day, it happened and I—I could've sworn I heard that brute of yours! Bellowing out."

"You thought you heard… Miraidon?" Juliana began to think things over in her head. "And this was just a few days ago?"

"Mm-hm," he nodded.

Juliana looked back. Back to where she knew Carmine was standing outside.

"That's… very odd."

"You're telling me! Especially because nobody else seems to hear it! And—and… I don't know." Arven bunched up into himself a bit. "You might think—I'm gonna sound a little crazy for this."

"No I won't. Hit me."

Arven hesitated. He seemed extra sensitive now as he told her this.

"The last couple of times it happened… well, I could've sworn… I thought I heard someone's voice."

"Really?"

"Yeah… It was so weird. It wasn't like, a voice from anyone I recognized. And yet—something about it seemed, I don't know, very familiar…"

Arven trailed off. He didn't know, but he felt very sad for some reason. Juliana picked up on this, and she stopped typing for a moment to give him a soft, gentle hug.

"Thanks, bud…" he said quietly. "I guess I kinda needed that."

"So that's why you came here… So you could figure this stuff out…"

"It's just—bugging me so much. It's so weird, I almost feel like I had to. Like… like, something is calling me here. Is that weird to you?"

"Not at all, Arven." She patted him on the back. "Not at all."

Eventually, the two of them were able to get the elevator running, and the group of five descended into the depths of Area Zero together, beneath the white clouds over the crater, and into the forbidden land below.

Carmine was the first to gasp when they stepped out into the open plains.

Before anyone else could react, she sprinted out and ran directly to the end of the cliff, gazing out over the railing at the marvelous sight before her eyes.

A huge white sky overlooked the spiral of grassy mountains that dotted this natural haven called Area Zero, untouched by most humans.

The trees radiated dappled sunlight onto the ground. Despite how far down the crater they were, the sun felt like it was casting an even brighter sheet of white over this whole area.

Twinkles of white sparkling light coated the fields and danced in the air around Carmine's head, creating such a hum that it was almost like the wind itself was singing a song.

"This is… this is incredible. It's just like how I used to imagine heaven would look!"

Carmine was sure she heard a quiet "Wowzers…" from behind, and turned around to see an awe-stricken Kieran. Then they made eye contact, she giggled at him, and he pouted.

"It's— S'alright, I guess."

Juliana giggled, which only made Kieran cross his arms and pout harder. Arven chuckled, and put his arm on her shoulder.

"Just as breathtaking as the first time around, right?"

"I forgot…" Juliana mumbled. She opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the words.

"Ha-ha. Me too, buddy. Me too. … Where's the teacher?"

Briar was trailing behind all of them, stopping to admire every single blade of grass. Every twinkle on the ground. Every bit of light radiating from the foliage. Jotting things down ravenously in her notepad.

"We made it…" she was saying quietly to herself. "I—I'm finally here…"

Carmine looked back too, and sighed.

"Didn't think we'd have to chaperone the chaperone…"

"Sorry, sorry! It's just… Wow, I could get lost in here if I really wanted to." Briar put on a professional face. "It's better than any pictures or books could've ever described it…"

"So you two have been here before, right?" said Kieran.

"That's right!" said Arven.

"With our friends!" said Juliana.

"Friends, huh…" he muttered.

-POP-

"AGIAS!"

Without warning, Juliana's Miraidon had come out of its Ball, and seemed to express surprise at having returned to its origin place again.

"Eek!" Carmine cried. "You scared me!"

"Agia…" Miraidon cried, as if apologizing. It then walked up—and gave Carmine a huge lick.

"GAHH! Ptoo! Thuh!" she spit. "Enough with that already!"

"Did Miraidon come here with you too? Back then?" asked Kieran.

"Actually… this is where Miraidon came from in the first place," Juliana explained.

"WHAT!? Really!?"

"Huh," said Carmine. "I guess that makes a lot of sense. I was starting to wonder why you were the only one in Paldea with that giant thing…"

"It's funny you say that. There was a second Miraidon here last time," Arven remembered.

"A second… one of those things?" Kieran's eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah… It was a lot less nicer than this one," Juliana remembered.

"Graaaooo…"

"I was wondering about that, actually," Arven whispered to Juliana. "That other Miraidon… did it go with dad's robot double into the time machine, or is it still running around in here somewhere?"

"That's a good question," Juliana realized. "I didn't really see where its Ball went after our Miraidon beat him. You think there's a chance we'll run into it down here?"

"I don't know…" Arven grumbled.

Kieran was watching their faces, rather intensely curious about their hushed whispers.

"What are you talking with yourselves about…?" he wondered. "Is there another big purple Pokémon like yours here or not!? I wonder if it's looking for a Trainer…"

"I must admit, I'm very intrigued about this specimen," Briar admitted, gazing at Miraidon's form. "But of course, that's not what we're here for. Our mission is not here, but further down below in the deepest parts of Area Zero… and to see what's even deeper!"

"What do you mean 'even deeper'?" asked Arven. "You're talking about somewhere even deeper than the Zero Lab?"

Briar pulled out her copy of the Violet Book. "Heath mentioned in his writings that he fell from the depths to someplace even deeper. If his writings are to be believed, there must be an uncharted space below Area Zero…"

"Impossible," Arven insisted. "If there was another point deeper down than the Zero Lab—Dad would've surely found it, right? Back me up here, Juliana."

"Uhhh…"

Juliana found herself a bit tongue-tied. She was rather unsure based on what Geeta had told her about those mysterious research notes… and the possibility they weren't written by Professor Turo. Should she say something?

"Wait, hold on," said Carmine. "Doesn't the 'depths' imply he was deep down as he could get?"

"Never mind that nonsense for now," Arven looked all around. "Speaking of Pokémon like this brute, how come we haven't seen any of the—"

"Hey, look!"

Kieran was leaning right over one of the railings, pointing downward.

Carmine rushed over and forced him away. "What are you doing, you psycho!? Trying to get killed?"

Kieran bitterly forced himself away from her grasp. "Stop treating me like a baby already…"

"Well, maybe stop acting like one." Then she looked down and her eyes lit up. "Whoaaaa… Is that them? Those robot Pokémon you were talking about?"

Juliana and Arven rushed over to have a look for themselves.

"Sure is…" Arven gulped.

Down on the valleys below them, they could spot dozens of future Paradox Pokémon who were still calling Area Zero their home.

A pair of Iron Bundle floated around in a shallow lake at the bottom of a waterfall. Iron Moth floated around in the skies. There were several Iron Treads rolling like tires down the mountainside.

And on a craggy cliff, Iron Hands was engaged in a vicious territorial battle with a Tyranitar-like opponent. The Hariyama-like robot seemed to be the more aggressive of the two, literally throwing hands, packed with electrical charges in each blow.

Iron Thorns was being a lot more cautious; its green, glowing spines were out, but it seemed to be waiting for a moment it needed to defend itself rather than engaging Iron Hands directly.

"There's still so many of them…" Arven observed. "It's a really good thing we were able to stop there from being even more of them."

"Yeah," Juliana agreed. "They would've totally destroyed Paldea…"

"This is all so marvelous!" Briar was taking a much different tone. "To see the very same Pokémon Heath saw with his own eyes!" She eagerly flipped open her copy of the Violet Book. "He talked about his encounters with monstrous Pokémon just like this! Similar in appearance to known Pokémon of the present, and yet seemingly from a different timeline altogether!"

"They all look… so cool and powerful…" said Kieran. "Your region was hiding these things the whole time instead of sharing them with the whole world?" He then mumbled quietly, "Maybe everyone in Paldea is the same…"

Juliana's face then twisted—not so much at Kieran's words, but thinking about what Briar had just said.

"Hold on a minute," she said with a troubled face. "What did you say, Ms. Briar? Heath… talked about these Pokémon in the Violet Book?"

Then it was Arven's turn to look confused.

"Hey, wait… yeah! How does that make sense? The AI—I mean, my dad's notes, told us that his time machine brought these Pokémon into Area Zero!"

"Yes! Strange, isn't it? These questions are at the heart of my thirsting desire for the truth!" Briar said excitedly. "Geeta told me about Professor Turo's experiments, but to claim he made a time machine is rather dubious, don't you think? Especially if my ancestor was here before him and says these Pokémon already existed!"

She gazed out into the open air, watching all the Paradox Pokémon down below, and compared them with the drawings in the book.

"That being said… many of these seem to be—new species from what his team discovered. The descriptions they gave certainly didn't say anything about these monsters looking like robots."

"Maybe this Heath dude got it all wrong, then," said Carmine. "Just got spooked by some giant Pokémon and went—'Ahh! Clearly, these are monsters from a whole nother dimension!" she said with a bit of a smirk.

"Hmm!" Briar snapped her book shut, her face suggesting a personal affront had just been made. "Well, we'll see who's right in the end. Heath and his team did say they saw these monsters underground. Maybe you kids just never saw all of these so-called 'Paradoxes' your first time here!"

Arven leaned in close to Juliana. "Hey, is it me or is she… getting kind of hotheaded?"

Briar clasped her hands together and cleared her throat. "Well—we'll have plenty of time for healthy debates with each other over what the truth is, especially once we see it for ourselves. Let's just keep on and head straight for the Zero Lab. Besides those Pokémon, there shouldn't be any other obstacles on our way down, right?"

Juliana turned to Arven. "What about the locks?"

"That's right," said Arven. "Juliana and I and our pals had to go around to each station and disable all the locks last time. But if everything's still turned on upstairs, then… I figure those locks are probably still shut off too, right? I guess the only way to know for sure is to go down there for ourselves."

"That being said, let's all stick together," said Briar. "I'll lead the way and make sure everyone's safe, so long as we do our best to avoid those monsters over there."

"TCH! Forget that!" Kieran balked. "I didn't come all the way here just see all these super-powerful Pokémon and have to ignore them all!"

He started defiantly running ahead of the group.

"KIKI!" Carmine shouted. "Where do you think you're going!?"

"I'm to see if I can catch some awesome Pokémon for myself!" he declared. "I'm tired of letting you and Juliana have such a huge advantage over me!"

"YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, OR YOU'RE IN FOR A WORLD OF TROUBLE!" Carmine screamed out so hard her face was red.

But Kieran completely ignored her and ran down the grassy path on his own.

"GRRRRRR!" Carmine growled viciously. "That little brat! Why won't he listen to me!? Still think it was a great idea to come here!?" she said to Juliana's face. "Now I gotta chase after Kiki to make sure he doesn't get killed by one of those freakish things!"

"Carmine… He's not that reckless, and he's got a really strong team now," Juliana protested. "I think we can trust Kieran to take care of himself by now, can't we?"

Carmine's face twisted even more like she was about to blow a gasket.

"Okay, okay, wrong answer!" Juliana quickly answered. "Then—how about this? I'll go with Kieran myself, and make sure he's—"

"NO!"

Juliana had started to turn in the direction he ran, but Carmine suddenly grabbed her wrist and forced her to stay.

It wasn't just Juliana that was startled by that. Arven and Briar were rendered speechless too. The area became so silent you could cut the tension with a knife.

"W—why not?" Juliana was confused. "You know my Pokémon and I are plenty strong too."

"Yeah, but—but!" Carmine was having trouble vocalizing. "It's just—I—I don't…!"

Juliana looked at her with a face of dawning surprise.

"You don't… trust me?" She could feel tears start to come out.

"I—I…"

"Whoa, hey. Guys." Arven cut in between them. "I don't want to see you guys break into an argument. I'll go and make sure the kid's safe. I don't mind."

"What a funny joke!" Carmine sharply turned to him. "You'd think I would trust a stranger like you to protect my little brother? You must be out of your mind!"

"A-Arven's good on his word, Carmine! Really!" Juliana defended him. "His Pokémon are really strong, we fought some of those Paradoxes together! And… he's loyal to the end! He would never let anyone get hurt!"

"See? An endorsement from the Juliana-meister herself!"

Carmine sneered at him.

"Grrrr…" She pressed against the bridge of her nose hard with her fingers. "I can't believe I'm going to say this…"

"So I take it that's a yes, the—een!" Arven was startled as Carmine grabbed him by his purple school tie.

"You listen up and you listen good, scrubhead. If anything so much as scratches my little brother… it'll be your head. Understand?"

Arven gulped. "Crystal clear, miss! Uhh…"

Carmine reluctantly let go of him and Arven took off running.

"Yo, Kieran! Little dude!" he called out. "Where'd ya go? Wait up for your pal Arven!"

Juliana waved as she watched him leave… but she was still very confused.

Why was it… easier to convince Carmine to let someone she doesn't know look after Kieran than… me?

A worrying realization hit Juliana's mind. She doesn't… really blame me for everything that happened to him, does she?

These thoughts troubled her a great deal. But… Juliana also knew this wasn't the time to examine them more deeply. Kieran had Arven; Carmine needed her.

"Hmmm…" Briar thought to herself. "Well, I did want us all to stay together. But, if we're going to split up anyway, perhaps you kids should go on ahead as well. To be honest… a part of me was hoping to stay here for a while longer and take more notes."

"Seriously? We sure abandoned safety protocols pretty fast…" said an exasperated Carmine. "I'm really starting to feel like I never should've- …!"

She interrupted herself with a sharp gasp as she felt Juliana's hand in hers.

Juliana looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey… we'll go about it together, just like we always do. Nice and slow."

Carmine grumbled. She wanted to argue… but she also knew full well how powerless she was against that smile by this point.

"…Fine."

"Yaaaaaay!" Juliana jumped for joy.

Carmine couldn't help but break a smirk.

Arven eventually managed to catch up with Kieran as the Kitakamite boy found a small clearing underneath a waterfall, and was sending his Pokémon out to battle everything in sight.

His Incineroar for instance, had just defeated a Bisharp along the water.

"You cooked him, Incineroar! Maybe if there's an Alpha somewhere in these Bisharp, like the books say, we can make it come out and get ourselves an unstoppable Kingambit!"

"You take Pokémon battles pretty seriously, huh?" Arven chuckled from atop a large rock overlooking.

Kieran just looked up at him and grimaced.

"…I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"You said to stop following you everywhere. I'm just sitting here on this rock! No need to be so…"

Arven dug out a Poké Ball and sent out his Garganacl.

"…salty about it!"

"GARRRRR!"

"Ha! Get it?"

Kieran just shook his head and went back to what he was doing.

"…I guess maybe you guys don't have Garganacl where you come from, huh?"

"You must be really popular back home," Kieran said, rolling his eyes. Arven laughed, causing him to get irritated. "What's so funny?"

"I definitely buy you and that Carmine girl as siblings now! You two basically sound alike!"

His face scrunched up. "…No we don't."

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"DO—" Kieran exhaled deeply. "Stop doing that."

"Sorry!" Arven laughed, kicking his feet. "I guess I'm just jealous really. I've always—kind of wanted siblings."

Kieran scoffed. "Why? It's not as fun as you think."

"Seriously? Do you and Carmine not get along great or something?"

Kieran huffed to himself, surprised that he was actually entertaining this conversation.

"We get along fine, okay? She just treats me too much like a baby sometimes, and I get real sick of it. She's not happy unless she's bossing me around."

"That doesn't seem true from what I've seen. She just gets really worried about you, don't most older siblings do that? Feel like they have to look after the younger one and all that stuff?"

Kieran didn't respond for a bit. He was too busy ordering his Dragonite to take down a Corviknight. Dragonite summoned a thundercloud that Corviknight's wings.

"Cawww…"

Once the steely raven fell, he just went, "Ehh."

"Ehh?"

"I used to be jealous she was spendin' all her time with Juliana, but… it was also super great to actually feel like my own person for once. Now she's ordering me around again, and it's already super-annoying!"

"She does seem a bit tightly wound…" Arven chuckled. "I'm surprised Juliana made friends with her so easily."

"Yeah, well, nowadays Carmine just wants to keep Juliana for herself."

Arven was puzzled by that. This Carmine girl didn't seem like the selfish type for the hour or so they've known each other, but is that why she wouldn't let Juliana follow this kid?

"And that's fine. I don't care anymore. She can have Juliana for all I care! I'm totally over her now."

"What!?" Arven hopped down from his rock in disbelief. "How can you be 'over' someone like Juliana? She's one of the awesomest, kindest girls I've ever met!"

Kieran laughed a very sarcastic laugh. "Then I guess you never saw her true face under the mask. She lied to me, and then she abandoned me. Cheated me out of being friends with a Pokémon that I've loved my whole life."

Arven shook his head. "That doesn't sound like the Juliana I know at all, and I've known her for a long while now! She would never turn her back on her friends like that!" More softly, he said, "She talked about you, you know."

Kieran turned around in surprise. "She… she did?"

"Yeah! I remember her talking about a student from her trip who she said she really wanted to be friends with, but everything went south. And when we were talking to her about going to Blueberry… it seemed like she was still regretting it really hard, and wanted to make amends."

Kieran paused. This was all news to him. He stared down at the water, at his wet shoes, the glistening water reminding him a bit of the shallow waters around the Mossfell Confluence he used to splash around in.

…Strange. He hadn't been reminded about things like that in a very long time.

"She really said all that…?"

"Mm-hm," Arven nodded, stepping a little closer to the shore. "She talked about that, and another friend she made over there who seemed to be really special to her."

Kieran closed his eyes and frowned again at that.

"Yeah… that'd be my sis. She started out hating Juliana, wanting nothin' to do with her. Then they met that ogre. And out of nowhere, the two of them started going gaga for each other… hangin' out all the time. Leaving me in the dust…"

Arven shook his head again and put his hands on his hips.

"Whatever happened between you and Juliana, it's got to have been a misunderstanding! Did you ever talk to her about any of this? Like, really really talk to her? I don't think she would've ever meant to leave you behind on purpose! Sure, she gets a little excited, wants to make as many friends as possible…"

He started to smile to himself as he remembered fondly his past interactions with Juliana.

"But Juliana never forgets a friend… Not ever. She doesn't have a selfish bone in her body. Just the opposite. Sometimes, she gets so worried about her friends, she—she stops thinking about her own needs. Won't let herself be satisfied until everyone around her is happy…"

Arven chuckled. "I don't know if she ever told you this—She almost didn't go to your school at all."

Kieran gave him a brief puzzled glance.

"It's true. She started turning the whole thing down, because she was too worried about us. Me, and Nemo and Penny. She thought she was abandoning us. But we all talked her out of it, basically yelled at her to go!" he chuckled. "And it worked. She flew all the way over to that other region."

He looked up at Kieran.

"Just to try to set things right with you."

"…"

"I think I'm really lucky to call Juliana my friend. She's done so many things for me I'll never be able to repay. … I think she'd do the same for you, if you just gave her another chance."

Kieran had his back to Arven, not saying anything. Arven didn't know if anything he said made it through to this kid, so he decided to step back and return to watching over him from a distance.

But in fact… Kieran found himself doing something he hadn't allowed his brain to do in really long while.

He was thinking back to those days in Kitakami, those early days when he and Juliana seemed completely inseparable. How she encouraged him to open up slowly by letting him be shy with her.

And reconciling that with everything Arven just said about her.

For once… Kieran had stopped, and was truly mulling things over.

…

Why was it so much easier for him to think this clearly?