A young boy with black hair and purple-colored back ends dashed up the mountain. He was huffing excitedly with every sprint and was carrying a whole bunch of somethings using his blue shirt as a burlap. Despite his youthful speed and zealousness, the boy was being careful not to drop any of those items he wanted to keep snug.

Once he had made it up the plateau of Oni Mountain, the boy made a sharp right turn at the fork where there was a signpost pointing that way to the DREADED DEN… ignoring the "DO NOT ENTER" signage beneath it.

The boy gulped as he reached the narrow land bridge that connected the rest of the mountain to the forbidden hideaway at the other end of the huge crashing waterfall.

But with each visit he made to this secret place, he felt himself getting less and less afraid to cross the precarious strip. Whatever fear of heights this youngster sported was nowhere near as tantamount to his determination for getting to the other side.

Smiling with an open mouth as he made it to the cliffside, the boy stopped in front of a large cavern. Still sporting a huge grin, he slowly lowered his white shirt, letting a small pile of Berries tumble to the floor, along with a few mochi treats from home.

"Here you go, ogre!" the boy called out into the cave. "I brought ya some Berries to eat! I know you prob'ly don't have a whole lot to eat up here… I wish my Gramm and Gramps would let me take my supper and eat it outside. 'Cause if they did, I would totally come here and bring you some!"

He stared out into the dark, empty cave. There was no answer from inside.

There usually wasn't.

But despite that, the boy kept on smiling, fully believing that even if his "friend" wasn't there at that moment, that it was out there listening somewhere, to every single word.

"Or maybe… maybe someday, they'll let you come down to the village and have supper at my house! Wouldn't—wouldn't that be really cool?"

…

The boy held his fist close to his heart, feeling sad.

"I just want you to have enough to eat, dear ogre… Nobody in the whole wide world deserves to go hungry. Or be all alone…" He glanced sadly into the cave. "I just want ya to know that not everyone in this town thinks you're a bad guy, ogre… I think that you're really nice. Someday, I'm gonna find a way to prove that to everyone! And then we can be friends! And you and I'll—"

"KIKI!" a voice suddenly called out, echoing across the mountain. "KIKI!"

The boy gulped. "Uh-oh…! That's my sis! I'll get in real big trouble if she finds me up here again! I—I gotta go!" He hurriedly stood up, but was still polite enough to bow into the cavern. "I'll come back and see you again, ogre! I promise!"

The boy hustled back across the land bridge as fast as he could, desperate to make his escape before anyone could see where he had gone.

He made it just a little before where the path split with signs pointing towards the Inferno Pass and Dreaded Den against the cliff…

…but then, something jumped out of the bushes and tackled him to the ground.

"AHHHH!"

The boy felt himself get swept up before being let loose as he rolled and rolled along the ground.

He stood up, feeling dizzy and annoyed, looking at how much dust had gotten on his clothes.

"Owwwww…" he whined.

"Hmmph!"

A young girl, looking just a year or so older than him, marched up to him with her hands on her hips.

"Serves you right!"

She wore a yellow shirt and a big pink hairband that swept her crimson red locks over her black ones. And she sneered at the boy with annoyed yellow eyes and a pouting lip.

"I KNEW I'd catch ya goin' to that terrible den again, Kiki! I'm tellin' Gramps, and you're gonna be in so much trouble!"

"No, no, no! Sis, please don't tell on me!" Kiki pleaded. "I'm sorry! I'll do whatever ya want as long as you promise not t' tell! Carmine, please!"

"Anything, huh?" Carmine giggled. "Hee-hee, I like the sound of that! Okey-dokey, get up Kiki!"

Kiki groaned as he tried to dust off his dirty clothes and stand up. Carmine poked him in the stomach with her finger.

"First! Ya gotta promise NEVER to go to that lousy cave ever again!"

He huffed. "But, sis…!"

"But NUTTIN!" Carmine shouted so loud the wind whistled through her missing front tooth. "One day, you'll fall down that crumbly-lookin' bridge into the water, where, ding-dong, ya can't swim, silly!" She knocked on his forehead to remind him of this. "And even if ya did make it to the other side, the evil ogre will come out and gobble you up!"

"No he won't!" Kiki protested. "You're just makin' that up to scare me!"

"Nuh-uh! It's gonna see you, it's gonna think you look like a really tasty snack…"

Carmine had an evil look on her face as she got up in Kiki's face, wiggling her fingers.

"…and then it'll DO THIS!"

Then, with playful noises of a rabid Pokémon, she started biting light all over Kieran's arms, tickling him and making him fall again.

"Ha-ha-ha! Sis, stop it! Ha ha ha!"

"Never, mu-haw-haw-haw! I am the evil ogre, and I will eat all the bad children in this village, starting with YOOOUUUU!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Once the ticklefest was over, Lil' Carmine decided the best way to cash in her favor was for them to hike all the way down Oni Mountain and back home, with Carmine as the fearless leader, of course.

Carmine marched forward with big steps, holding a long stick out to emphasize her status as the commander, while Kiki lagged behind her. His feet were killing him, but he dragged along. At least this "do everything I say" command was just for today.

"You gotta stop running off to dangerous places on your own, Kiki!" she lectured her brother. "It's not just Gramm and Gramps, you make me worried too! I don't want anything bad to happen to ya! Especially 'cause if it does, they'll blame ME for it!"

"Nothing bad's gonna happen to me, Sis!" Kiki urged. "I'm not a dummy! I know how to watch m'self!"

"…Nah, you're a big-time dummy," Carmine side-smiled.

"Hey! No I'm not! I'm gonna tell Gramm you're callin' me names!"

"Hee-hee-hee! I'm joking, Kiki! It was just a joke!" she chided him.

"Yeah, well… it's not very funny," he pouted childishly.

Carmine swiftly turned around to Kiki and put her hands on her hips again. Even though she was only an inch or two taller than Kiki, she knew how to make herself look imposing enough so that it was more like a foot's difference.

"Kiki, you shouldn't go out this far when ya don't even have a Pokémon! There are so many scary wild Pokémon out here! If you got attacked by one of 'em, what would you have done, Kiki?" She got right into Kiki's face, her face getting progressively shrewder. "Huh? HUH? HUH!?"

"I—I—I dunno!" Kiki whined, cowering.

"See? You're never gonna get anywhere whining and shiverin' all the time like that, you little… round… weirdo!" Carmine shook her head at him. "I'm not always gonna be here to protect you from things like that, y'know!"

She pointed at herself and boasted.

"Gramm and Gramps said that as long as I keep bein' a good girl, I'll get to go t' school at Blueberry Junior Academy next year!"

"Really? Isn't that… all the way in that 'You-know-a' place you were talkin' about with all those forests and mountains?"

"The Unova region, Kiki!" Carmine corrected him. "Yup, exavtly! I'm gonna make so many friends over there, and we'll go on so many campin' adventures together all the time! I can't WAIT!"

"Man, you're so lucky! I wish I could make a bunch of friends too…"

"I bet you will, Kiki! Once ya learn to stop being such a crybaby!"

Kiki sniffled. "I'm not a crybaby…"

"Awww! Chin up, Kiki! 'Cause I got a special surprise for ya!"

"A surprise!?" he gasped. "What is it? What is it?"

"Close your eyes, silly!"

"Okay!" Kiki eagerly put his hands over his eyes.

He heard a loud popping sound. Something made a noise, which he thought was weird, followed by what sounded like Carmine shushing it.

"Sis… you're not gonna scare me by puttin' an Ekans in my hands or soimethin', are ya?"

"Nope! But hold out your hands anyway!"

"Okay…" he said uneasily, and held out his palms.

Kiki felt something small but a little heavy being placed in them, and freaked out a little when he could feel a tiny part of it squirming.

"Ahhhh! It's—it's moving!"

"Okay, open your eyes!"

He did, and looked down…

"Huh?"

"Aplooo! Aplooo!"

"WOWZERS! It's an Applin!"

The Applin chirped happily in Kiki's palms, looking up at him with eagerness and curiosity.

"That's right!" Carmine grinned. "It's an Applin!"

"Is it—is it for me!?" Kiki said excitedly. But his smile quickly disappeared. "Oh… no, it's prob'ly yours, isn't it? You're just showin' it off…"

"Nope! I caught it just for you!"

"What!? Really!?"

"Yeah! Me and Poochyena!" she nodded enthusiastically. "I caught it last week, Grampa even bought a Poké Ball for me to do it! I was gonna wait 'till your birthday, but… well… Knowin' you, you're probably gonna run off into the wild on your own again, 'specially while I'm gone!"

Kiki huffed. "No, I'm—I'm not…"

"Yeah you will, 'cause you're an idiot."

"Am not!"

"Are too," Carmine smiled.

"AM NOT!"

"Are too."

"AM—" He grumbled. "Grrr, you're so annoyin'!"

"Hee-hee… Anyway, at least when you disobey and run off again, you won't die! …Probably!"

Kiki wanted to retort. But he looked down at his brand-new Pokémon, who smiled up at him in his hands… and he began to smile too. "Whatever… I'm really, really happy! So, thank you, Sis! Thank you so much!"

"O' course!" she said cheerfully. "Papa used to read us a bedtime story—I bet ya don't remember, you were just a cute little baby—about how people in Galar give an Applin t' someone who's real super special to them!"

"And…" Kiki's eyes glistened. "You're givin' it to me cause—cause I'm super special?"

Carmine smiled sweetly at her little brother. "You're the most special person on the whole planet, Kiki! That's why I want ya to grow up real big and strong so you can take care of yourself! If ya train real hard with that Applin, it could be either a cool apple dragon with wings or a—or a big apple pie!"

He gasped. "Or a HYDRAPPLE!"

"Huh?" Carmine looked at him, confused. "What's a 'hide-apple'?"

"Hydrapple! It's—it's in one of the books at my preschool!" Kiki told her excitedly. "It's like a giant candy apple, but—but it's a Pokémon!"

"Ohhh, you mean Dipplin?"

"Apploooo!" Applin cheerfully replied.

"Nuh-uh! Not like Dipplin, cause it's got like—a whole bunch of heads!"

"Heh-heh! Well there ya go, Kiki! I bet someday you'll evolve it to be the most ginormous super-powerful Dipplin with a whole bunch o' heads in the entire world! Then nobody will ever pick on my little bro ever again!"

"Ha-ha-ha! Wow! That'd be so cool!" he giggled. "I…"

But as Kiki gazed down at the Applin, feelings of regret and sadness slowly began to dawn over him.

"I…"

Carmine frowned. "…What's wrong, Kiki?"

"I just… Wow. I can't—believe I forgot…"

"Forgot what?"

"I forgot that…" his eyes started to glisten. "That you were the one who gave me my very first Pokémon. You gave me my Applin… Because you wanted me to be strong."

"That's right. Ever since we were little… That's all I ever wanted for ya, Kiki. My little brother… the Champion!"

Kieran started wiping his teary eyes with the sleeve of his Blueberry uniform, parting the bangs between his eyes as he did so.

"Dipplooo?" His Dipplin stook its top head out of the syrup apple and chirped in concern.

"Why did I let myself forget all that?" Kieran sniffled, feeling immense waves of regret. "I thought you were always just bossin' me around to be mean. I always just thought you were annoying and selfish… our whole lives. But—but you were always lookin' out for me. Sis, I'm—I'm so sorry. I've been a terrible brother, haven't I?"

There was a scoff. "You sure have!"

He looked up in shock. "Wh—what?"

Just like Kieran, Carmine had suddenly grown up too. She was now much more than an inch taller than Kieran dressed in her Blueberry uniform. But her childlike kindness had also gone away, and she now bore down on him with an angry face.

"I mean, what a gip, right?" she chuckled. "I told you I wanted to see you get all big and strong, and stop being such a wuss! And then I came back from school, and what did I see? That you're still just a whiny, sniveling brat!"

"H-hey!" Kieran actually stepped back a bit, shocked at her words. "What are—what are you talking about, Sis!?"

"Oh, get REAL, Kieran!" Carmine said derisively. "Like you ever thought you were going to be anywhere close to my level anyway! You try to be all cool and tough, like you're such a big man but inside, you're still the same idiotic little crybaby I always remembered you as! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"Uh! Wh… I, huh?"

Kieran tried to fight it, but he really was starting to tear up. Carmine was always very brazen and blunt with her words, but—never in all of Kieran's memories had she ever been this cruel to him.

"Sis, what are you saying? You don't mean any of that…" he was starting to tremble. "…do you?"

"Ha-ha-ha! What are you going to CRY, Kiki?" she taunted him. "I can't believe I had to be stuck with such a lame-o as my little brother! You're not even good enough to kiss the ground that I step on!"

Kieran gasped. He felt his whole throat close up at such harshness.

"S-sis… why…? I… I thought you cared…"

It was all becoming too much. Kieran felt completely devastated. The person he trusted more than anyone else in the world had just told him he was more worthless than dirt. He held his head together, the bangs drooping over his face as tears started to roll down his cheeks.

"You… you big bully…"

"That's right… stay weak forever, Kieran. That's just how I like you, an easy minion I can order around and make me feel so much better about myself!"

Carmine just laughed mercilessly at his anguish, reveling in how much she was tearing down Kieran's confidence. Keeping him small. Keeping him feeling useless.

Kieran could feel his anger and resentment burning deep in his soul. Everything in him screamed to lash out. To denounce Carmine as the awful sister she was, to declare that he didn't need her—or anybody else—to feel like he was worthy! Maybe even challenge her to a battle to shut her up forever!

He was just about to do it too, his face reddening quicker than an angry Voltorb, when—

"DON'T LISTEN TO HER, KIKI!"

"H-huh?"

"WHAT!?" Carmine screamed out.

Kieran felt a tug on the back of his uniform. He turned around… and was surprised to see little Carmine again. The younger version. Looking up at him—a completely flipped perspective—with her gentle, pleading yellow eyes.

"Don't listen to a thing she's sayin', Kiki!" Lil' Carmine begged him, tugging on his jacket. "She's tryin' to trick ya! And confuse you!"

"What!?"

"GRRRRRR!" The older Carmine seethed. "And what are you, some—sappy nostalgic memory of me from when I was young and weak!?" She looked scornfully at Kieran. "Just like you? Don't you think I'm a lot wiser to reality than when we were BOTH naïve little brats? Face it, Kiki! Nobody knows you better than me! Not even YOU."

Kieran growled. "S-shut up!"

"She's tryin' to make you angry on purpose!" urged Lil' Carmine. "It's cause she's not real! It's all a trick by Pecharunt! You know the real me would never say these things!"

"…Pecharunt…!"

This caused a jolt in Kieran as he suddenly began to remember.

"Pecharunt… I—I can just barely remember… What are—Me and Juliana…! Ugh! We were—" He felt sharp pains in his head trying to recollect his memories. "We were fighting him or, or something…"

His vague efforts in recalling what was happening to him in the real world caused ripples in this space, affecting the older Carmine as her image seemed to glitch for a few seconds.

Her yellow irises fizzled in and out before finally, their true purple color emerged, as did the aura surrounding her, revealing this Carmine's true nature as one of Pecharunt's constructs: a false phantom.

Kieran gasped. "It's true… you're not the Carmine that I know at all! You're a—you're a FAKE!"

The false Carmine bristled and seethed.

"YEAH!? Well, so what!? Doesn't make a difference! I'm still spouting the truth! Even if the real Carmine would never have the guts to say these things to you, you KNOW it's what she's thinking deep inside! That she wishes she wasn't stuck such a cowardly… massive screwup like you!"

Kieran's fists started to shake. "You're wrong! You know that? Just plain wrong! Carmine doesn't think I'm a screwup at all! And you know what… I don't think so either! You're trying to make me feel bad about myself, but it ain't gonna work anymore! So just go away!"

"Yeah, take a hike!" Lil Carmine chimed in.

"Hmph. You're just living in denial, my soft, spongy little bro. No huge shock though. you've been in denial your whole life."

She closed her eyes, and Kieran felt a pulse shake the whole landscape, this time not from his mind.

"But I suppose… it wasn't until that field trip that you got your first real dose of reality. Isn't that right… darling?"

"Huh…?"

Kieran heard rustling from a bush nearby. And then a figure stepped out. As she dusted off her plain summer Uva uniform, adjusting her white school hat and the brunette braid underneath it, Kieran was shocked to see…

"Ju—Juliana!?"

Juliana straightened her purple tie and grinned an extremely devilish smirk at Kieran, one very unlike how the normally kind and sweet girl would smile.

"Hmph. You're not Juliana…" Kieran looked at her sternly. "You're just a fake too, aren't you?"

"Hmmm…" Juliana put a finger to her chin and hummed loudly. "Yeah, whatever! I guess I'm still the world's worst liar, right?"

Juliana shrugged as a purple aura began to surround her too, and she blinked her hazel-brown eyes to turn purple.

"Hee-hee-hee!" she giggled all innocently, as she strutted her way towards the false Carmine. "But then what is the difference? Because either way, whether I'm the real Juliana or not doesn't change the fact that I LIED to you!"

"Well, y-yeah!" Kieran retorted, feeling a little flustered. "But I know that was just to protect me—"

"Oops! Sorry! That was a lie too! I'm just so out of control with the lying right now! I'm not good at it, but something about you just makes me want to keep doing it, Kieran! Sorry that I took so much enjoyment out of hurting you."

"That's… you didn't…"

Unlike Carmine who laced her words with venom, the false Juliana spoke with an exaggerated sweetness and naivety to her tone, which in some ways made the things she was saying bruise Kieran's psyche a little harder.

The false Carmine scoffed. "I don't know what you're apologizing to him for," she sneered. "Dumb kid should've been smart enough to know better than to believe a cool girl like you would ever do anything else but humor him."

"Well, that's not fair, Carmine!" the false Juliana protested.

"Thank you," Kieran shook his head.

"I mean, the first day I met him, maybe I thought we could've been friends." She giggled. "He was kind of cute…"

"…" Kieran blushed, but refused to dignify that.

"But… wow!" Juliana put an arm on Carmine's shoulder as she began to tenderly rub it. "Compared to you, Carmine… Not only are you so beautiful and gorgeous, but so much stronger than Kieran too! And way smarter and more dependable."

"Awwww." Carmine wrapped her arms around Juliana's in turn. "You know it, babe! I've always been the only sibling that scores chicks around here!"

"You can say that again," Juliana laughed. "So glad I fell in love with you instead of shy little Kieran!"

"C'mere, you."

Kieran watched as the phantoms of Carmine and Juliana started leaning their faces in close to each other, and then disgust as they started kissing each other… with their tongues.

"Ewwww!" he and lil' Carmine both cringed.

The false Carmine concluded their bizarre make-out session by bending over and kissing Juliana on the forehead.

"I'm so glad I have you in my life too now, Juliana! It's way better to finally have someone other than this little pest dragging me down," she snarked, pointing to Kieran.

Juliana giggled in response, while Kieran found his blood starting to boil again. Lil' Carmine saw his fists shaking and grabbed his arm.

"Kiki, don't get angry! That's exactly what they WANT you to do! It's what Pecharunt wants you to do! He wants you to get all angry and lose your will to fight, so that he can control you and use you as his weapon!"

Her words were causing Kieran's head to thunder with migraines. It was almost like this younger Carmine seemed to be acting as the manifestation of his conscience, battling against the foreign influence dousing his head with lies.

"Ya gotta stop focusin' on this fake dream and these fake jerks, and you gotta stop Pecharunt from takin' you over!"

"Ugh…" Kieran could feel his memories beginning to unblur. That's—that's right!" He grappled his hand, feeling some funny pulses of clarity. "P-Pecharunt! He… he fed me that Mochi! I—I can feel it in my mouth!"

In the real world, at Loyalty Plaza, Carmine and Juliana were still holding Kieran by his arms, whispering things into both his ears by Pecharunt's command as the runt stared deep into Kieran's struggling gaze, trying to will him to give up on fighting.

"Mm… mm…! Mm-mmo…!" Kieran struggled.

Pecharunt leered. It beamed another wave into Kieran's hand, irritated at how stubborn this one was being compared to the rest.

"Uhh…! I can feel it…" Still grasping his head inside the dream, Kieran began to feel himself regaining control of his mind palace. "I'm almost there…! I can—I can break free!"

"Poniooooooo!" a voice called out.

"Huh? Now what?"

There were sounds of movement high above on the cliffs. Something small started jumping down from ledge to tree branch to ledge, and then down onto the ground, making a three-point landing in front of an astonished Kieran, especially when he finally saw who it was.

"Ogerpon! It's… it's you!"

The ogre stood up proudly, donning its bright, glimmering Teal Mask as it shook around making cheerful noises.

"Pon-ogie-pon!"

"Ha-ha!" Kieran giggled. Even trapped in a stressful hallucination like this, watching Ogerpon's bubbly movements filled him with delight. "Please tell me it's really you, Ogerpon! That you came back… and you're here to save me?"

"Ponyo?"

Ogerpon tilted its head curiously at Kieran, and inched forward.

"Yeah… that's right!" Kieran said gently, holding out his hand.

Ogerpon outstretched its cloaked arm to touch his… before yoinking it back.

"What?"

Then, the ogre lifted its mask up just slightly so it could blow a huge raspberry at Kieran.

"PBBBT!"

"Ahhh!" he jumped back.

The ogre bristled and whined, before turning its back on Kieran and jumping into the phantom girls' embrace instead.

"Awwww!" the false Carmine cooed. "There's our little warrior girl!"

"Aren't we so lucky you and I were able to go on an awesome adventure with Ogerpon, just the two of us alone, and become Ogerpon's partners for life?" Juliana delighted.

"Yeah, and thank goodness we didn't have lame old Kiki slowing us down! Or else we'd still be chasing down that first mask, I bet!"

All three of them laughed, the ogre included. Kieran felt himself becoming enraged. He had been trying so hard to convince himself these voices weren't real, but to taunt him by hanging the ogre of all things over his head, it was just too far over the line.

He bore down on his teeth and stamped his foot on the ground.

"HEY! You wouldn't have gotten the whole village to realize the ogre wasn't the villain without MY help!" he sharply declared, marching forward. "So why don't you both just clam up and—"

"KIKI, NO!" Lil' Carmine squeaked, dragging him by the arm. "Don't get angry! Don't start actin' like a jerk again! YOU CAN'T GIVE IN!"

"But I—I…!"

"WAHHHHH-PONNNN!"

The ogre began to squirm and whine loudly in the arms of the two girls.

"Damn it, Kiki! Look what you DID!" the false Carmine scolded him.

"Yeah, you're scaring the poor thing!"

Kieran was aghast. "I—I'm sorry… I didn't mean to, d-dear ogre…"

"The ogre chose US, Kiki! Not you! If you really 'love' the ogre so much, why don't you just let it be happy with us, you ungrateful little twig? Take a hint and get lost!"

"But I…"

"Carmine, not like that," the false Juliana scolded her. "Kieran… if you really want a friend you can trust so badly, why don't you just join up with Pecharunt instead?"

"P-P-Pecharunt?"

The purple aura around the two phantoms began to intensify, as Kieran felt his whole world turn at an angle.

"Yeah… that's a great idea, Kiki! Pecharunt will make you into a great warrior!"

"You'll finally find your true calling, Kieran! Just let Pecharunt inside your heart, and you'll never have to worry ever again!"

"No more being a sniffling coward and feeling scared all the time!"

"Just you and Pecharunt…"

"TOGETHER FOREVER," they said in unison.

Kieran had never felt so mentally torn in all his life. The words they were speaking were ebbing into his head, it was all sounding so… strangely agreeable. A life spent honing his skills, becoming the strongest Trainer in the world, never needing to be dependent on anyone else ever again.

But Lil' Carmine just kept staring up at him as a reminder of his old life, of the friends that he had made… who surely couldn't hate him for real, the way these phantoms were claiming.

R-r-right?

He clutched his head, searing in unbelievable pain.

"I just want it all to stop…!" His face squeezed hard, trying to block out all the noise. "No matter what, even if I have to become a puppet, just… just make it stop! SOMEBODY!"

With all his desperation, Kieran tried to will for this nightmare to end, reaching into the deepest corners of his heart. Hoping to find something, anything, that would give him the clarity he needed.

Carmine, Juliana, and the ogre all laughed at his misfortune, sensing that they were just on the cusp of finally breaking his spirit… Enough so that he would finally—

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" a voice called out. "ALL OF YOU, STOP IT!"

Kieran's eyes sharply opened and he looked all around. "Wha…? Who—who's there?"

He was alerted to the sound of somebody sprinting fast behind him, and before he could even turn all the way around, somebody swooped into the scene, her pink cardigan blowing in the wind heroically, as she angrily faced the trio of ne'er-do-wells.

"Figures I'd catch you causing all sorts of trouble around here! Have you no respect for human decency?"

"Huh!? L-L-LACEY?!" Kieran stepped up, utterly gobsmacked. "What on Earth are YOU doing here!?"

Lacey turned towards Kieran, with her sweet, serene face. Her warm hazel eyes, and her soft eyebrows. She looked down at him like someone almost… angelic, and smiled.

"I've always been here, Kieran," she smiled sweetly. "You pulled me out from within your heart… just like you always do, when you need to be reminded of what true fairness and unconditional kindness really looks like. And I'm honored to play that role for you."

"Gee, uh… thanks. I'm—I'm actually really glad to see you, Lace. Err, Lacey, I mean!"

Lacey giggled. "You can call me whatever you want, Kieran! But first, we've gotta take care of these nefarious bullies."

The pink-haired girl crossed her arms and stepped forward to face the dark interlopers, channeling all the grit and bravado of her tough father Clay like Kieran had seen on TV.

"R-right!" Kieran agreed.

For some reason, just being ordered to do something by Lacey took instant priority over all the other troubled thoughts in his mind. He nervously stepped forward too, feeling like he was finding a little bit of his strength too. Lil' Carmine held his hand as they walked, giggling.

"You two really oughta be ashamed of yourself, confusing sweet Kieran here with your poisonous thoughts."

Mysteriously, those dark phantoms of Juliana and Carmine actually squirmed a little bit, this image of Lacey's approach making them feel nervous. The false Juliana began to shield the ogre out of fear, while the false Carmine nervously bulked.

"You—you'd better just, s-stay back if you know what's good for you, twinkletoes!" But even she was losing her bluster, especially after Lacey's defiant scoff.

"HA! You can't fool me, or Kieran. We both know what our friends are truly like. The real Carmine would NEVER tolerate bullies like you."

Her eyes fixed onto the false Juliana like a sniper finding its target.

"Lacey… we're friends, right?" Juliana gulped. "You wouldn't do anything to hurt one of your friends…"

"Friends? Friends are supposed to pick each other up when they're down, Juliana!"

"Yeah!" yelled Lil' Carmine.

"And the REAL Juliana knows that better than anyone! She'd never try to hurt Kieran's feelings, and she always strived to be the best friend to Kieran that she could possibly be."

"Yeah! Yeah, that's RIGHT!" Kieran declared. "Juliana's one of the most selfless people in the world! And you're making her look like a chump!"

"Manipulating people's emotions, trying to bring their guard down so they preyed upon by toxic influences…"

The false Juliana's purple eyes darted nervously in all directions, looking for an escape.

Lacey's hands bristled. She could feel her true anger rising, and Kieran didn't even have to guess what was coming up next as her eyes flared up.

"It's… JUST… NOT… RIGHT!"

And then, as Lacey crossed her arms together, the whole world struck in a booming pulse under her feet. Her arms glowed, channeling Kieran's deepest, most inner feelings, as they formed a big pink neon X. A neon X that Lacey thrust the phantom's way with a loud yell.

The pink X flew out… and pierced right through the false Juliana's body.

"YAAAAAHHHHHH….!"

She screamed as her whole body dissipated away into purple wisps of nothingness, leaving behind only her Uva Academy hat which floated away in the wind.

"Woah!" Kieran yelled. "You… you did it, Lacey!"

"WE did it, Kieran!" Lacey grinned back at him. "This is your strength! It was always inside you, just waiting for you to tap into it and do what's right!"

"Forget this!" The false Carmine dropped the ogre in a panic and tried to sprint away. "I'm getting the hell away from you freaks!"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Lil' Carmine shouted, taking off after her.

The false Carmine ran and ran until she stopped at the edge of the cliff, just narrowly avoiding tumbling down towards Kitakami Hall.

"Woah… That was close."

She took a moment to breath and tried to turn around, only to meet… herself of equal height!

"AHH!"

The now fully teenaged Carmine grabbed her phantom double by her uniform and dragged her back, forcing her to dangle over the cliffside squirming.

"Nobody messes with MY little brother, you pathetic imposter! Compared to the real me, you're just an ugly bully who should drop dead!"

The false Carmine was too petrified to say anything, as the Carmine of Kieran's vision seethed and gritted her teeth with fierce yellow eyes.

"You give sisters like me a bad name, so why don't you just GET LOST!"

And with that, she tossed the false Carmine off the cliff with extreme prejudice, never to be seen again.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!"

"PECHAAAA!" the ogre screamed.

But it barely had time to mourn its phantom partners, as Kieran and his helpers set their eyes on the ogre next.

"You're next!" Carmine declared, pounding her fist.

"We can do this together, Kieran!" Lacey encouraged him.

"Yeah. 'Cause you know what? If you were the real ogre…" Kieran gazed at it with a vengeful gaze. "You'd CARE."

"…Grrr… CHAA!"

The ogre slowly lifted up its Teal Mask… and Kieran gasped, for underneath that mask and that green cloak was not Ogerpon at all…

"PECHA-RUUUUUUUNT!"

Pecharunt-in-Ogerpon's-cloak shot out a series of purple pulses that rocked Kieran so hard he had to wince from the pressure.

"Urg…"

But when he opened his eyes and gasped, he realized that he was now completely alone in a faceoff with this manic cosplaying runt.

He gulped.

"Brrrb-brrrb-brrrrrb…"

Pecharunt cackled as it fit the Teal Mask back on and drew up Ogerpon's cudgel.

Kieran felt his fists trembling a bit. But as he stared ahead at his attacker, he realized something, in that moment.

Something that would still give him hope… was still glimmering right in front of him.

"Ogerpon's mask… I always… I always loved that mask."

Kieran began to remember. He remembered all the drawings he made of the ogre's mask when he was a little kid. He remembered how excited he was to be given money to buy an ogre mask of his very own at the Festival of Masks.

…He remembered seeing it for the first time, sitting on Grandpa's workbench. Even though he knew it was wrong to steal it in that moment, he remembered how having the Mask in his hands filled him with bravery.

With courage.

…

"That's it…" he quietly realized.

…

"THAT'S IT!"

"Pehh?"

The runt was weirded out as Kieran… began to smile at it.

"Pecharunt, thank you. You've just given me… the answers I've been searchin' for this whole time."

Pecharunt scratched its cloak with its cudgel, confused.

"Ever since I was little, I thought that I wanted Ogerpon for myself. I thought my biggest dream was to have it side-by-side as my partner. That's why I got angry with Juliana for keepin' it a secret from me… Why I got mad at Carmine for stealing her as a partner… And why I blamed Ogerpon, for not accepting my love."

His eyebrows furrowed.

"But it was all wrong. Because now, I get. I finally get it! … HA!"

Much to the runt's shock, Kieran did a sudden somersault and stood right in front of it.

"…c-cha…?"

Kieran unbuttoned his Blueberry jacket, showing off his red tank top. He tied up his purple locks into a knot. He stared Ogerpon down with all the confidence of a Champion. His Hydrapple cried out in support behind him.

"HYDROOOOOOO!"

"This whole time, I didn't actually want Ogerpon to be my partner."

He reached his hand out… and grabbed the Teal Mask off of Pecharunt's face, startling it!

"I wanted to be a HERO like Ogerpon!"

Kieran gazed at the wooden mask he held in his hands, and… feeling more confident in himself than ever before, he affixed it upon his own face.

"Because everyone—everyone in my life always misunderstood me too. They all thought I was weak, that I was too childish… I think that's the real reason why I loved the story of the ogre so much. Because it inspired me!"

Pecharunt tried to raise its ivy cudgel against this confuddling boy, only for Kieran to grab that next!

"R-RUNT!"

"The story of the ogre inspired me…" he realized, admiring the cudgel in his hand. "How with just a tiny weapon and the courage to do the right thing, that little Pokémon was a mighty warrior. That's what I wanted to be too… a mighty warrior!"

Pecharunt backed away from Kieran, grumbling, as it held tightly onto the ogre's grassy cloak.

"And that's what I AM!"

But Kieran swiftly grabbed the cloak from it too. Pecharunt spun around in a daze, now completely naked and left in its true floating form.

"Pecha… RUUUUNT!" it growled angrily at Kieran.

But Kieran didn't care. He wrapped the green cloak around himself. He tightened the Teal Mask over his face. He gripped the ivy cudgel in his hands.

He brandished himself in front of Pecharunt, posing with just as much bravado and vigor as Ogerpon.

"This whole time, I've fulfilled my dreams without even realizing it! Just like Ogerpon, I've become a strong warrior too! I'm a Champion now! I'm one of the strongest Trainers at my whole school! I'm able to match up with Juliana and all my friends at Blueberry! I FINALLY BEAT MY SIS!"

Now it was Kieran's turn to stomp on the ground and cause shockwaves that sent Pecharunt flying off balance. The little wisp cried out, completely frazzled to have lost so much control over this dreamscape.

"Brrb-brrb… Piiih-cha!"

"I'm not afraid of you anymore, Pecharunt! I'm never gonna be afraid of ANYTHING ever again! You know why? Because even if I can't see my friends right in front of me, even if you make them all into your puppets, I know that they're all right here."

He pointed to his noggin. "My friends will always be in my head, givin' me the courage I need to move forward. And right now… they all need my help! It's time for me to fulfill my destiny just like Ogerpon! I'm going to be a HERO TOO! I'm going to defeat you Ogerpon, and SAVE EVERYBODY!"

Pecharunt tried to muster itself up, but nothing could make it equipped to take on Kieran as the ogre warrior-clad boy rushed forward, raising his ivy cudgel high in the air, his cloak billowing over him like a superhero cape, and his high mighty cry sounding out from behind his mask.

"HYYYYYAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

He struck the runt down with his weapon, causing the whole space to be bathed in white.

"PHTOOOOO!"

Kieran broke free from the possessed Carmine and Juliana's grasp, causing them to both wail in distress and confusion, as he lurched to the ground, sputtering and gagging as chewed up pieces of purple mochi flew out of his mouth.

"PTUHH! Ugh… Cough, cough… Oh, man…!"

"EEEECHAAAA!?"

Pecharunt shrieked in indignant shock and fury. This was something the ancient runt had never, ever witnessed before: somebody's willpower being so resistant to its poisonous influence that they spit the Binding Mochi right back out!

"What happened? I'm—I'm fine?" Kieran looked down at the purple globs on the ground in disbelief and felt his face. "I—I'm fine! I did it!"

Then he looked up… and his vision slowly unblurred to see Pecharunt hovering right over him, bristling in its own feelings of disblief. As Kieran stood up, his fists started to shake.

"Now I get it… That was YOU all along, wasn't it?"

Kieran wicked away the loose end in front of his face and snarled at the runt.

"You were usin' that Pecha Berry to manipulate me from the beginning. That whole time I had it, you were messing with my memories, makin' me think Juliana and my Sis were going against me! You made it so I didn't want to think about anything else but getting stronger. What, just so I could be your guard dog or something!?"

"Brrrrb-brrrb-brrrb…"

"Well, guess what?"

Kieran pumped his jacket several times and tried to look as intimidating as he could. Inside, he was still feeling a little scared of course, but he was also high on adrenaline, and relying on that to keep him brave.

"It worked. You made me so much stronger than I was back in Kitakami, and heck, maybe I should be thankin' you for that! But I won't be anybody's servant anymore. I chart my own journey! And YOURS is at an end." He cocked his chin up, the habit he'd done so many times as Champion. "Now fix my family and my friends… or face my reckoning."

Pecharunt just growled aggrievedly in response, and barked out a shrill order.

"PIHH! PEH-CHA!"

"Mochi mochi! "Mochi, mochi!"

Carmine and Juliana both nodded, and grabbed Kieran's arms again. He huffed stubbornly. Pecharunt drew out another Binding Mochi, intending to repeat the process.

"G-go ahead!" Kieran dared it, trying to remain brave. "You can—you can stuff me with as much of that evil mochi as you want, and—I'll still find a way to break free! You're not… you're not gonna stop me from saving everyone from your control!"

But despite his threats, Kieran still winced and held his face away, afraid that he truly might not resist another round of mochi being put in his mouth.

He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst, but just as Pecharunt was holding the devilish treat up to his mouth…

"GEH-PONNNNNN!"

A shadow emerged from the darkness and divebombed right onto Pecharunt, causing the creature to drop its mochi and be sent flying back several feet.

"Pechaaaaaaaa!"

The runt dropped hard onto the dirty ground in front of the ruins of the memorial statue. It barely even had time to look up however, as something green moved swiftly in the blink of an eye, and pelted the runt right in its face with her spiky ivy cudgel.

"Chiiiiiihhhhh!" Pecharunt lay on the ground, feeling bruised. "Peeeehhhh…"

"Mochi?" Carmine cried out.

"Mo-mo?" Juliana looked around.

They were each grabbed from behind and lightly nudged away from holding Kieran, who dropped and knelt on the ground again.

"Owww…" he whined. "This is really killin' my knees… Huh?"

A cloaked arm extended out in front of his face. He looked up and was delightfully surprised.

"O-OGERPON! You came back!"

He took Ogerpon's arm and used it to hoist himself up, while Ogerpon cried out happily. "Gee-gee!" As Kieran stood up, Ogerpon circled around him, scruffing all the dust off his clothes, and then she cried in what sounded like a concerned way of asking "Are you okay?" much to Kieran's surprise.

"Uhh, yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you so much for saving me, Ogerpon!"

"Pon-yooooo," she said appreciatively, and then happily saluted him.

He couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"Hey Ogerpon… listen. I just wanted t' say… I'm real sorry for all the ways I mistreated you and acted ungrateful. And—and for scaring you without realizin' it. I should've respected you more as your own person—err, Pokémon from the beginning… I hope you can forgive me for all that."

"Pon…" Ogerpon hummed for a bit, and then happily cried, "PON! Geeeeeee-pon! Gee-gee!"

"Really!?" he said ecstatically. "So, so does that mean we can be friends now!?"

"PONN!"

Ogerpon jumped into the air and launched herself into Kieran's embrace, nuzzling his head affectionately as he started to laugh.

"Ha-ha! Wowzers! This is great! Thank you, Ogerpon! I'm—I'm so happy we can finally be friends!"

"Pon-yo-pon, gee-gee!"

"This is great! But… why are you calling me 'gee-gee'?"

"BRRRRRB…"

Pecharunt finally shook off the walloping attack Ogerpon had just delivered it and began to rise up from the ground, grunting with even more intensity.

Ogerpon quickly jumped out of Kieran's arms and stuck a superhero landing. She drew out her Hearthflame Mask from her cloak and fitted it on, before using that angry face to stare her old adversary down and give an angry cry.

"GRAH! Pon PON!"

"BRRRB!" Pecharunt roared back just as defiantly. "Cha runt-runt!"

Emboldened upon seeing the Pokémon that beat it nearly to death and caused it to go into a long slumber a thousand years ago, Pecharunt drew forth its malignant chains, ready for a toxic serving of revenge.

"What Juliana was sayin'… about how those chains are just like the ones on the Loyal Three… Pecharunt really was their commander all along, wasn't he?"

Grrrrr-pon…" Ogerpon growled in the affirmative.

"Then that means… everything that happened to you. Losing your masks, your partner disappearing, everyone thinkin' you were the bad guy…" Kieran gazed ahead with a quiet fury at the runt. "It was all Pecharunt's fault the whole time, wasn't it? He was the real villain."

Ogerpon turned back towards Kieran and lifted her mask up, so he could see the sadness in her eyes as she nodded solemnly. Her tears welled a little as she recalled everything she lost because of this nefarious purple wisp… and the new friends she had been so terrified of losing.

As she turned to gaze at both Carmine… and Juliana… both wrapped under the runt's horrifying spell, her eyes threatened to burst with tears.

"Hey," Kieran said to get her attention.

"…Pon?"

"There's still a chance! We can save them both… as long as we defeat that little troll!" Kieran raised a fist, and held it out. "C'mon, Ogerpon. Let's both be the heroes they need."

"Pon-pon!"

Ogerpon felt very strengthened by Kieran's words, and she slipped the mask back on to take center stage.

"Go! Ogerpon!" Kieran commanded.

"GRAHHHH-pon!"

"Pechaaa!"

The embittered Pecharunt wasn't going to wait for them to make the first move. It immediately began charging up a Shadow Ball, and lobbed it at Ogerpon, who absorbed the blow with grit.

"Ogerpon, use Ivy Cudgel!"

The warrior girl's cudgel shimmered with bristling and crackling flames, and Ogerpon brought the firestorm down upon Pecharunt, scorching the purple gremlin.

"Nice one, Ogerpon!" Kieran pumped his fist.

"Pon-ponnn!"

Ogerpon's old foe was beginning to recognize the ogre had become a lot stronger since their last encounter. But Pecharunt began cooking up a Nasty Plot of its own. Spreading out its long purple chains, it swung them outward, preparing to ensnare Ogerpon in a deadly embrace.

Kieran thought quickly, however. "Ogerpon! Uhh, use Spiky Shield!"

Ogerpon responded just as rapidly and set up a magical green barrier around itself, covered in long, pointed green spikes. Pecharunt's Malignant Chain collided, but the Spiky Shield punctured the long cords as they tried to wrap around Pecharunt, ripping them apart to Pecharunt's great distress.

"NICE! I thought I remembered my Sis using that move during Lacey's match!"

Pecharunt bristled angrily, and began gathering up venomous liquid from its body.

"Watch out Ogerpon… I think it's going to use Toxic!"

The runt lunged forward with its toxic juices, and pelted Ogerpon with them in a viscous spray. Ogerpon became badly poisoned as the wet venom dripped down its cloak.

"Urggg… P-pon…"

"Ogerpon, no!" Kieran cried out. "…Huh?"

But then Ogerpon unsheathed her cloak a bit, revealing her secret arsenal… She snagged one of the Pecha Berries she had spent the past couple hours gathering, and instantly chomped it up under her mask, quickly curing herself from the poisoning.

"Wowzers! You really came prepared for this! No wonder you had to make a… what does Sis call it whenever she runs away? A strategic retreat!"

"Ponnn… yooo!" Ogerpon cried bravely.

"Let's take back some of the health that big baddie stole from you! Ogerpon, use Horn Leech!"

Ogerpon extended her horns outwards, and even decided to be crafty as she leapt up and caught Pecharunt's flailing chains. With a effortful grunt, Ogerpon curved her horns and ensnared them around the chains and pulled hard, using the malignant chains to drain Pecharunt's energy right from the source!

Pecharunt cried out in pain, becoming so drained of power that its chains shriveled up almost completely. Pecharunt balked at such terrifying new strategies from its opponent, and argued loudly.

"CH-RUNT! RUNT! RUUUUUUNT!"

"Ha-ha! You've got my Sis to thank for the new and improved Ogerpon!" Kieran boasted, pointing to his dancing sister. "Carmine not only made her a whole lot stronger, but a lot more creative too!"

"Pon-yo-poooonnn!"

"Mochi, mochi!" Carmine chanted, as if she was agreeing.

"Ogerpon's not the same hero you underestimated before, and neither am I!"

"Grrrrrrrrr, BRRB-BBRB! RUNT!"

Pecharunt harnessed more power from deep inside its body and fired another Shadow Ball at Ogerpon. Ogerpon took a slightly bigger hit this time, cringing a bit.

"Ogerpon, quick! Use Horn Leech again!"

Ogerpon hastily extended her horns again, jutting them out towards Pecharunt. Pecharunt had been able to regrow its chains just enough to hold the piercing horns back for a few seconds, but not before they ultimately punctured more energy out of the poison pincushion.

Outraged, Pecharunt conjured yet another Nasty Plot, allowing it to fully regrow its Malignant Chain, which it shot out at Ogrepon once again.

"S-SPIKY SHIELD!"

Ogerpon tried to put up the Spiky Shield again, but Pecharunt was a lot quicker this time and managed to squeeze some of Ogerpon's body through the spikes, leaving the Pokémon quite poisoned once more.

"Grrrr… Pon…"

This time Ogrepon had to reach for two Pecha Berries under her cloak, and gobbled them both up. Even though this cured her poison, she felt her nerves weakening from the constant battering of Pecharunt's toxins. Kieran recognized that this was becoming more of a struggle the longer the battle went on.

"We're just gonna keep goin' around in circles…" he started to lament. "Maybe we can't withstand Pecharunt on our own after all. If only we had some extra help…"

Ogerpon gasped. "Ponyo!"

She looked around her for a brief moment and rushed over when she found the entranced Juliana dancing.

"Poni-o-no! PONI-O-NOOOO!"

But Juliana wasn't responding to the ogre's cries. "Mochi, mochi, MOCHI!"

"Ponoooo…"

"I'm sorry, Ogerpon," Kieran said sadly. "Unless you know any way to snap Juliana out of Pecharunt's control, I don't think even she can help us…"

"Pon…"

Ogerpon thought deeply, and in suddenly recalled something. The special technique Carmine had taught her several months back…

"It's called Life Dew, Ogerpon!" Carmine explained. "So technically what you have is a move called Synthesis, but I have this little pet theory, see? With all that water and stuff you're able to summon when you have that adorable blue mask on, you might be able to learn how to channel that Synthesis into a Life Dew whenever you're wearing that mask! Doesn't that sound super awesome?"

"Poni-pon!"

"Hee-hee! I knew you'd agree!"

Carmine and her little warrior girl stood in the middle of the Coastal Biome. This was one of their training sessions, a while before Juliana had started attending Blueberry and Kieran was still working up the ranks of the BB League.

"Sinistcha can show you how it's done."

Ogerpon had on her Wellspring Mask, per Carmine's instructions, and watched closely as Sinistcha carefully executed its move to demonstrate. Using moisture in the air, it conjured up a well of healing dew within its teacup and then, in a much gentler burst than its usual Matcha Gotcha move, Sinistcha splashed a wave of dew that trickled over Ogerpon's body and left her feeling very refreshed.

"Pon-yooooo…" she cried, impressed.

"Now you try!"

"Ponnn…"

Ogerpon began activating her Synthesis move, which usually channeled healing powers from sunlight. But with the special properties of her Wellspring Form, she instead focused on absorbing the moisture in the air and converting it into dew.

The crystals on her Wellspring Mask glimmered as she concentrated her water-generating powers, and with a confident "Poni!" she thrust out a spurt of dew that rained over Sinistcha, and the Matcha Pokémon gurgled happily to indicate that it felt refreshed by the dewy rain.

"Sinees!" "Sinees!"

"PONO!" Ogerpon cried with a wide smile, surprised that she had pulled off a custom Life Dew.

"Yaaaay! You did it!" Carmine clapped. "That's my smart-thinking warrior girl!"

"Poniii…" Ogerpon looked bashful, her cheeks blushing.

"These are the kinds of out-of-the-box strategies that'll always give you and me an edge against even our most irritating opponents! And now you've got a secret power to heal your buddies whenever they're in need!" Carmine grinned and said with a giggle, "Who knows?"

"A burst of dew like that might REALLY change the tides for us someday!"

Ogerpon traded her Hearthflame Mask for her Wellspring one, imbuing her with power over water. She jumped onto Juliana's shoulders, and grabbed at the Paldean's vacantly faced head.

"Mochi mochi? Mochiiiii…"

The monster girl closed her eyes and concentrated tightly, willing all the moisture in the air to gather around her. She felt a huge well of dew building up underneath her cloak, which transformed blue with all the aqua energy Ogerpon was using.

Kieran watched in awe, wondering what sort of power Ogerpon was summoning, while Pecharunt tilted its head, confused but reluctantly intrigued.

Once Ogerpon believed it had accumulated enough dew, it released a burst of it over Juliana's head, coating her in some healing dew.

"Mochi… mochi?"

Juliana swished some of her damp hair around, seemingly confused but delighted by the water show.

Ogerpon tried again, and splashed her with more dew, beginning for it to do something.

"Pon-pon…! Ogie-pon!"

"Mo… chi… Mo…chi-pon?"

Astonishingly, the Life Dew did seem to be doing something to Juliana. Her dancing had slowed. Her head was bobbing all around, and she sounded very addled, like a bit of her mind might be poking through the possession.

Ogerpon gasped, and with all her remaining dew, she focused hard and splashed the rest of it over Juliana, drenching her hair and staining her purple uniform.

Her dancing stride broke completely. Instead, she now began to stumble around, grabbing her hand and uttering confused, disoriented noises.

"Mo… uhhh… chi-frieeeends…? Happy…"

Pecharunt shrieked angrily. It had already lost its warrior, it couldn't fathom losing its helper too! It started rushing towards Juliana, desperate to put her mind back at ease, but Ogerpon body slammed it to the ground and tried to hold it down with all her might.

"O-gurrrrrr…"

"Juliana, come on!" Kieran urged her. "You gotta fight this and break free! We could really use your help right now!"

"Ehhhhhh…? Uggghhhh…"

Inside her mind, there was nothing but blackness.

There was… an awareness. But no sense of what she should be looking for. No memories to call upon. No knowledge of who she was, or what her purpose was. There wasn't even a name for her to draw upon.

She could make out blobs of color in her vision, but they had no rhyme or meaning.

Even so, she was beginning to feel… a splash. Some sort of urge to swim through the colors, to try to seek out any form of sense. Anything to make her feel like she existed, or had a reason to care.

There were noises. She could make them out very faintly. If she could only make out what they were, or reach out to them… But she had no physical self of which to do so.

…

She willed it anyway.

Eventually, through the confusing mess of noise and color, a face began to appear. A cuddly one. Something green.

She reached out… in order to pat it.

"Spri-goooo!" the Sprigatito cooed as she stroked it with her hand. Her hand. That's right, she had one of those, to pet her Pokémon with.

…That's right. Sprigatito is… my Pokémon. My very first partner.

The memory of her first day as a Trainer slowly started to come back to her.

"…re you these three's Trainer?"

There was a voice. Who is it?

She made her way to the source of the voice, and was met with a tall, kindly girl who made her feel flustered.

The girl showed her the basics of battling, and welcomed her to her new school.

"Whaddya say, new neighbor—wanna be friends?"

She reached her arm out and cemented their newfound friendship.

"Absolutely! Let's be friends forever, Nemona!"

"Great! Ha-ha-ha! I absolutely love Pokémon battling! In fact, we should have a battle right now—you and me!"

From there, images finally became clear. She had a reason for existing: she had a friend. She had a school!

Uva Academy!

The threads and knits of her Uva Academy uniform materialized. She had clothes to wear and a reason for wearing them.

"I really want to get those herbs for myself, but... I'm not very good at Pokémon battles."

Inside the halls of Uva Academy, she found another voice. A male one. One who was asking her for help.

"And I'd never hear the end of it if I went crawling to that student council girl... But here you waltz up! You've got to help me out with this, (...)—you'd be perfect!"

"Hmmm. This all seems kinda weird to me, but… fighting a bunch of tough Pokémon sounds pretty cool."

"Wait, really!?" She remembered him throwing his hands up. "You'd help a guy like me with something like that!?"

"Of course. I love helping people, Arven!"

She does love helping people. That's right.

Finding her feet on the ground, she set off on her Treasure Hunt to hunt down these Titans with Arven.

And from there, she kept on meeting more friends and partners that helped her feel more and more complete and filled with purpose.

"So I've come up with a plan to bring down Team Star and force them to disband for good. I call it... Operation Starfall! But I'll need allies to carry out this operation... and I'd like you to be one of them, (...)."

"Disband Team Star for good…"

She thought about her earlier run-in with Team Star, how they bullied a girl named Penny into trying to join their ranks, and she had to step in to defend her.

That's right. She hated bullies. She would never stand by and let someone else become a victim.

"Alright… I don't know who you are, or why you want me specifically. But I just want Team Star to stop causing trouble."

"So… you're in?"

"I'm in."

Becoming Cassiopeia's new field agent gave her the eyes for which to scan for Team Star bases, storm each squad's territory, and defeat the bosses on their Starmobiles to take them off the map.

And then—Cassiopeia revealed herself to be Penny, that same girl who inspired her to rise as a hero.

Just when it seemed like she and her friends were about to suffer a terrible fate, she opened her mouth and appealed for them to be forgiven.

"It's just so unfair! To go through so much bullying in your life… And then all the adults just think you're a rowdy kid instead of a victim… Making you feel all alone in the world… You shouldn't be alone."

She remembered her big speech, her grand appeal to Director Clavell, asking for these rowdy kids to be spared.

…The only thing she couldn't recall is why she had found the passion to speak up against someone who had been bullied that hard in the first place.

"And… and I don't care what the Academy has to say about that! If you're going to go against Team Star just because they had to take matters into their own hands against a world that hates them… then I'm going to keep on supporting them too! And—and you can punish me too if you like!"

To stand by your friends, even when it might hurt you as much as them. That's when she found it… her sense of honor.

And on the Gym Challenge too, she would find plenty of opportunities to put her creativity to use, to come up with so many strategies and adapt to the tides of battle as all these Gym Leaders ran her through her paces… and thanked her for such awesome battles.

"Your strength rose during our battle like a nice bread in the oven! Seeing such an eager young student like yourself, with a fine taste for sweets and a prodigy at battling… You made me remember what it was like when I was young and starting out, (...). I feel that I may need to work on my own strength as well!"

"Gosh… thanks, Katy!"

"Keep up the energy you have now and you'll go far. I think you might even have potential to be a Champion."

"T-thanks, Mr. Larry!" she graciously bowed.

"Hey… seriously. Thank you for that awesome battle, and for agreeing to that sweet collab! You're like… one of the coolest Challengers I've had in a while. And the way you made my numbers go up on today's stream—you're the real deal, (...)! I'm never going to forget an awesome superstar like you!"

She smiled warmly. "Thank you, Iono. Me neither."

To rack up these Badges, and make such an impact to every Gym Leader she met… it filled her with a sense of pride.

She also began to remember her studies at Uva Academy… filling with brain with all sorts of knowledge, experiences, and even more bonds, as she found herself forming trusting relationships with all her swell teachers.

"Having you here with me allowed me to do what needed to be done to face what turned out to be one of my biggest fans. I must thank you for always showing up at just the right time, (...)."

"Ahhh, I'm so happy! Yes! I, Salvatore, will take it upon myself to look after Pawmi for good! I will indeed!"

"Seeing part of history with my own eyes fills me with joy. The four of you all have my thanks! This is simply amazing. I never thought that each of you would be able to do THIS much for me."

"Osu, new kid! Thanks to you, I may finally be getting the hang of this sandwich-making stuff! Thanks for your advice!"

"Now I see that it is possible to reconcile the difference between my outward appearance and my inner love of sweets. Thanks to you, I was able to have a most delectably sweet experience."

"Thank you so much! I saw you pushing yourself real hard with your Treasure Hunt, and that really inspired me. Thanks for giving me the push I needed to try again, (...)."

Thinking over all these bonds, of the gratitude her teachers shared with her, just for being a listening eye… it filled her with a strong sense of loyalty.

"To think now that I was so very close to resigning this post and returning to my home… Your words truly brought me strength when I needed it, and I am indebted to you."

"Yeah, everything you've sent me, especially all these Pokémon for the school to study, are going to be utterly invaluable in helping me complete my Kitakami and Blueberry Pokédexes!"

"Standing up for your fellow students. Bringing them together in solidarity. And willing to take a bullet for them. Those are the true makings of a Champion lighting the way for Paldea. Well done, Miss."

Champion… That's right. She's a Champion!

"Flo-gato!" "Cerullll!" "CAWWW!" "Tinka-tuff!" "Glimmooo!" "Indee-dee!"

With her trusty team of Pokémon, she conquered all her challenges and met all her goals! On top of helping out each and every one of her friends… she rose to the top of the Pokémon League and proved herself the kind of Trainer that every kid in Paldea just like her could look up to.

"Such overwhelming power… Such amazing skill… It seems Paldea has gained another wonderful Trainer to be proud of." She remembered Geeta clapping for her at the end of their long, intense battle. "Congratulations. It's my honor to call you Champion (...)."

To have this honor bestowed upon her, to be the shining light that all Paldeans would look to… she felt courage.

Lastly, she started to recollect all her adventures outside of Paldea. Venturing to the land of Kitakami...

Helping Ogerpon recover her masks and clear her name.

"Pon-yo-poooooon!"

Going to Blueberry Academy and meeting her new friends.

"Heh! Well, that's quite a compliment… Maybe you really are the kind of shakeup this club needs, (...)."

"I have great difficulty with knowing how to express my feelings. But I have found that a hug is often a straightforward way of communicating that—that I am glad to be friends with you."

"I'm—I'm really glad that you came to our school, (...)… we're very lucky to have you around."

"You really are the nicest girl in the whole world."

And then, of course…

There was Kieran.

The boy from Kitakami, who followed his own brave journey from a timid wannabe friend to a mighty Champion… Who broke her heart for a while by turning against her, but luckily, they made amends in the end, and she remembered the sheer jubilation she felt that day when they finally patched things up.

"And, uhh... I guess what I'm trying to say is... I wanna make things right. So do you think… we could start over from zero and be friends again?"

And she smiled at him, with her classic perky grin.

"Hi there! My name's Juliana. What's yours?"

Wait—Juliana.

That name. It sounds familiar.

Is it… mine?

With this final triggering of her identity, all her friends started to surround her in a circle amidst all the whiteness. Nemona, Penny, Arven…

All her teachers. The Gym Leaders and Elite Four of Paldea. The bosses of Team Star. Her friends from Blueberry Academy.

Kieran. Ogerpon.

Meowscarada, and all the rest of her Pokémon.

Her mom.

She looked around, feeling a welling sense of happiness and completion, as they all stood around her and chanted her name to encourage her. To power her up.

"Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!" "Juliana!"

"Juliana…" Her smile grew wider and wider. "That is my name. This is who I am."

She looked down excitedly at her hands, her body. Her legs. She felt the brunette hair on her head, and in a reflection she saw her own hazel-brown eyes.

She was finally feeling like herself again. Surrounded by all her loved ones booming out her name…

Juliana had found her soul again, and she began to lift off the ground in newfound bliss.

"I'm Juliana… I'm Juliana! From the Paldea region, well… Galar region originally, I guess. I'm a student at Uva Academy, I'm a Champion Rank Trainer, and the BB League Champion at a whole other school!"

She said all these things about herself like it was her resume, but she was only getting more and more excited.

"I love helping people! I love Pokémon! I don't play a lot of video games or watch a lot of movies, but I love making art! I'm a wiz at math and Pokémon battling, and stacking sandwiches! But… I'm also an extremely terrible cook! HA-HA!"

"Julieeeee!" Juliana!" "JULES!"

She smiled bigly to see her Paldean friends all beckoning her.

"And I've got three of the greatest friends in the world! NEMONA! PENNY! ARVEN!"

She took off in a fierce sprint to greet her friends. And on the way there, she gazed happily at all the rest of her friends, like Kieran and the BB League…

"…What?"

But the closer she got to her Paldean friends, the more they seemed to get farther away from her, and started to gray out like they were becoming statues.

"W-wait… you guys are my friends too! I—I can make time for ALL of you!"

She tried to stretch her arms out so she could embrace all her friends at once. However, this led to something freaky happening.

"Huh!?"

Juliana stretched her arms too hard, and they started to pull apart like noodles. Nemona, Penny, and Arven saw this happening and they all screamed out in worry and concern.

"AHHH! I'm—I'm stretching myself too thin!" she wailed. "But… I don't want my friendships at Blueberry to all disappear!"

Gritting her teeth, she decided to make a 180, turned away from her Paldean friends, and started making a beeline for her Blueberry friends.

"Kieran… guys!"

The five of them all held their arms out to greet her, but then—

"Guroooooo!"

She didn't look up enough in time to see an Electro Shot from Archaludon fire right at her feet, causing her legs to crumble into pieces.

"WAAAHHHHH!"

Now all her Blueberry friends were stressing out at the horrifying scene.

"I'm—I'm sorry!" Juliana tried calling out. "I didn't mean to get myself hurt!"

She looked around in horrid desperation. The Uva teachers, Team Star bosses, and Gym Leaders were the only ones not wailing in distress because of her physical breakdowns.

"Please… help me."

She tried running towards them all at full speed, not caring how fast she was running at this point. But they immediately all started yelling in concern, with Miriam out in front yelling things she couldn't hear.

-CRACK-

"AHHHH!" Juliana wailed. "My—my back!"

Her spine twisted itself into an almost spiral shape.

"What's happening to me!?" she cried out, her eyes starting to tear up. "I just felt like I had put myself together, now I'm completely breaking apart!"

To Juliana's confusion and stress, even her clothes and all her hair all started to glitch and flicker between different styles. Braid. No braid. Ponytail. Uva uniform. Blueberry uniform. New Uva uniform. Kitakami jinbei!

"I don't know who I am… I just want to be everything, to everyone, all at once!" she moaned. "I just want EVERYBODY to all be happy all the time! Is that really too much to ask?!"

But now everyone around her was clamoring in terror and distress at Juliana's twisted shape, and it made her eyes water to see all the people she cared about so upset because of her.

"I… I'm sorry…" she cried out to all of them. "I didn't mean—to hurt everyone… I—NGGG!"

Juliana's head suddenly flared with the rest of her memories finally returning to her. The bad ones.

"You acted like you didn't know anything Juliana, but you were laughing at me behind my back all along! You're a LIAR! You do nothing but LIE!"

Her mind stung with the memory of lying to Kieran, and causing her friendship with him to spiral out of control.

"And then you go and injure yourself like this! All you do is disappoint me with your failed promises, Juliana!"

Next, she was hit with the memory of how she let everyone down by injuring her leg during her BB League match with Drayton. Following that… the loud SHRRRRRIP noise of when she tore Kieran's cherished Furret pillow apart.

Her mind palace had been such a blissful place seconds ago. Now it was like somebody had infiltrated her inner sanctum and spoon-feeding her these burning reminders of her regret. …And here came the airplane.

"With your Stellar power… we'll win for sure… Get the herbs… I'm not a bad influence… Ugggh."

Juliana gasped inside herself as she felt herself reliving her collapse, in the middle of the snowy Northern Province… where she would've died without Ogerpon's intervention.

"You had me worried sick! Don't ever do that to us again, alright?"

She glanced over at her Paldean friends again. Nemona, Penny, and Arven all looked at her mortified, like they had just witnessed a car accident.

"What good reason could you possibly have to inspect something like that that you knew was extremely dangerous?"

Her friends' admonishments were buzzing through her head, hitting her guilt points like bad migraines.

"I'm—I'm sorry…" she cried. "I didn't mean to make you all so worried…"

"You're killing yourself."

It was Penny's blunt declaration that hung around her head and stung the most.

"You're killing yourself."

She looked around in despair. Whereas the Paldean trio was reacting in horror to her accident, the BB Elite Four and Kieran were all finding comfort within each other in her absence…

After Juliana abandoned them.

She didn't feel like she was floating anymore. She felt like she was falling. The more she tried to pull herself closer to her friends… the more they grew distant from her. The more she felt like she was falling apart, and sinking into a dark hole.

"I'm extremely reckless… I barrel in without thinking. I don't consider people's feelings. I'm selfish…" she rationalized in despair. "I'm supposed to be a Champion, but I'm not even strong enough to look out for myself…"

"You're killing yourself."

"I'm killing myself… and everyone around me."

"You don't have to live this way."

"Huh?"

Juliana heard a voice below her… and gasped.

She wasn't just falling into an abyss. A giant Pecharunt's face formed at the bottom of the hole she was slowly plummeting into.

"P-P-PECHARUNT!"

Then it ALL came rushing back to her. The final, most painful memory of all.

All her friends in the circle above her were chanting something different now.

"Mochi, mochi!" "Mochi, mochi!" "Mochi, mochi!" "Mochi, mochi!" "Mochi, mochi!" "Mochi, mochi!"

"The mochi mayhem…" Juliana gasped. "It was all my fault. I left that Pecha Berry behind… I dragged everyone I love—and myself—into darkness."

Her face was stained with tears now.

"I'm a walking disaster. I bring destruction everywhere I go."

Pecharunt's white face grinned a darkly smile at her, and she heard its voice speaking to her.

"You've lived such a rough life and suffered so much pain. But you don't have to anymore."

"No more pain…"

"That's right. If you follow me, you'll never hurt anyone else. You'll never hurt again."

"Never hurt again…"

"You need solace. I need friends. We can help each other."

"We can?"

"If you be my friend, and use your powers of helping to aid me… I can finally make my friends happy again. Doesn't that sound great? They're two wonderful people, who just want to be happy… like you, and your friends."

"That's all I want…" she said almost mindlessly. "…is to make people happy."

She looked down at her own mangled body. There was still a gaping black hole where her chest should be.

"I feel so incomplete."

"Then come with me, child. Come, Juliana. Become my ultimate helper. Make the world a better place. And you'll never be unhappy again for as long as you live."

She found herself smiling, the temptation of a life with no more misery, only happiness, was becoming too enticing.

"I'll make sure of it. You, all your friends, and my friends… We'll all be happy together—"

"—forever."

Juliana gulped, and gazed upwards at her friends. Lost in their mochi chanting, they were all crumbling apart too.

"Maybe you guys would all be better off without me…" she said, succumbing to her despair. "Maybe I would be better off never having to worry again…"

Slowly, Juliana felt all her willpower draining. It was becoming harder and harder to find any reason to resist falling into Pecharunt's vortex, to let the purple Pokémon become her new master, and guide her to eternal happiness.

Her eyes began to drift to sleep, and she began to accept Pecharunt taking her again. Taking all her painful memories from her. Taking her back to the guaranteed colorless bliss of happiness.

…

There was another splash.

"JULIANA, WAIT!"

A hand suddenly grabbed her.

"Huh!?" her eyes snapped open.

And then yet another hand, this one wearing a red glove, grabbed her arm… and started pulling.

Juliana felt herself being pulled up out of the darkness, and as she looked up to see who her savior was… she saw light. And the face of an angel, smiling down upon her in a way that tickled every nerve in her being.

"You can't give up now, Juliana!" Carmine grinned at her. "You just can't!"

"CARMINE!" Juliana called out excitedly.

"Hee-hee-hee! Who else, you silly goober? Now for crying out loud, help me out here! Geez, you weigh more than a Munchlax!"

Juliana gripped both of Carmine's arms tight and tried to pull herself out of the vortex. But she couldn't help looking down at Pecharunt…

"She was unhappy too, remember? You couldn't stay together. Don't you want to both be together and happy?"

Carmine snapped her fingers in Juliana's face. "HEY! Idiot! Up here! Quit listening to that freak!"

It really felt like an angel versus devil situation, what Juliana was in. Both voices felt equally enticing to her, wanting to pull her in. She felt like she was being completely stretched out. And as she glanced at her friends, they all still looked miserable and crumbling.

"Carmine…"

"Urrrrg…"

"Carmine, you have to let me go."

"What!? No way! Quit spittin' crazy talk and let me save you already, you weirdo!"

"Carmine!" Juliana implored, raising her voice. "Look at everyone… All my friends, all your friends. I'm just dragging you all down… I'm a doom magnet."

"Juliana… no you're not. You've never dragged anybody down. Don't you remember what I told you, the day that we both left Kitakami?"

Juliana tried to remember. However, her memories of Carmine… It was like they were locked away in a box. Like Pecharunt was trying to suppress her from remembering.

"You see things in a whole new light that nobody does. Your strength is your ability to make friends, everywhere you go."

"You're like a rope that binds people together."

She remembered now.

These were the exact words Carmine said to her in Loyalty Plaza, on the last day of the trip. After calling her naïve and optimistic the whole time they were together… it was one of the first times Carmine had ever stopped putting up a tough front and actually let herself be friendly.

One of the first times that Juliana was starting to fall in love with her.

"You're the rope that pulls us all up when we're falling into darkness. You're the light in so many people's lives, Juliana…"

Carmine smiled sweetly, a tear coming off her face and splashing onto Juliana's… splashing really hard, almost like a whole wave of dew hitting her.

"You're the light in mine."

Juliana gasped.

To hear Carmine, even an imaginary version of her, saying these things… it made every bell sing inside her head. It heated up every spot in her body, which she felt slowly starting to recollect and reconstruct herself.

All of her memories were returning now. All the laughs she shared with Carmine across Kitakami and Blueberry Academy. The amazing adventures they went on. How Carmine helped her win the BB League, defeated Terapagos with her and Kieran…

And in that gaping hole where she felt incomplete… She felt it filling with a divine wholeness. Carmine was filling it.

But even so, Juliana looked into those beautiful shining, yellow eyes. And more memories began swimming into her head. The horrible fight they had afterward, how she left Carmine behind thinking it was the best way to protect her… Only to learn later just how broken Carmine became in the intervening months without her.

Her soul felt like breaking again. Gravity shifted. Carmine was stunned as Juliana started allowing herself to drift down again.

"But Carmine… I—I broke you too."

"I know you did," she solemnly nodded.

"I made… so many mistakes."

She huffed. "Yes! You did."

"I ruined your life, I ruined—"

But she was interrupted by Carmine bluntly slapping her across the face.

"Okay, I get the point! Now will you get your head out of blame city already!?"

"But, Carmine—"

"But nothing. Juliana… do you wanna know what all those mistakes—that stuff you did wrong—make you?"

"What?"

"Human, silly." She giggled. "You're human, just like the rest of us. We all mess up sometimes. Even I—as much as I hate to admit it—am not perfect. But you gotta stop worrying all the time and obsessing over these mistakes, or else they'll rule you for life way more than that purple jerk will."

"Chaaaaru!" Pecharunt growled from the bottom of the vortex.

"Our mistakes are what make us grow as people. Everyone wishes they were happy all the time but… you can't have happiness without a little bit of sadness every once in a while. And those sad moments, those messes we create…"

She chuckled. She chuckled in a way that Juliana realized she missed to death.

"…They're what make us appreciate life that much more. So, quit feeling sorry for yourself already. It's super annoying."

This made Juliana snort. Even though this was just an imagined version of Carmine saying this stuff, it felt almost like the real Carmine scolding one.

"But, my friends…"

"Hey. You know what the cool thing is about friends? No matter what, thick and thin, they always forgive you. Things always turn out alright in the end."

Carmine motioned to her right, and Juliana watched as the images of her friends all began to repair themselves. Nemona spotted Juliana and excitedly nudged Penny and Arven, and they all started calling out to Juliana excitedly.

"You see? You're not a wrecking ball, Juliana! You're the glue that holds everyone together. The three of them wouldn'tve met each other without you, would they? Nemona and Arven sure wouldn't have found each other!"

"I… You're right," Juliana realized. She chuckled. "You're right!"

"And hey." She whistled and motioned to her left. "Look over there."

All of Juliana's Blueberry friends started to reform themselves too, and Kieran was the one who excitedly saw Juliana and started calling out, alerting the rest of the BB League too.

"Yeah, Kiki was being a little hardass for a while. But who got him out of that? Don't you remember… saving my little bro?"

Juliana reflected on her efforts to get Kieran to help out in the battle against Terapagos, how she finally appealed to his good nature and dared him to prove himself a hero.

This time, she laughed heartily. "Ha-ha, yeah! I guess I did that too, didn't I?"

"RIGHT!? Finally, the stubborn little missy is waking up!" she snarked, pounding lightly on Juliana's head, which she playfully batted away. "And sure… not everyone will forgive you right away. That's when you rely on patience, communication, and hey, a little bit of buttering up never hurt anyone!"

Juliana giggled again. "…Some people might not ever move on."

"Oh, for sure! But those are the people who can just bug off. You know what you call people like that, Juliana?"

"What?"

Carmine grinned in her face. "Bozos."

"HEY!" Drayton ran up. "I take some offense to that o—"

"Oh my gosh, SHUT! UPPP!" Carmine whipped her head back at him. "For the love of Arceus! Even as an abstract construct of Juliana's imagination, you're such an IRRITATING SCUMBAG!"

Juliana finally broke out of her consternation fully, and started laughing uproariously. Carmine looked back at her and smiled, very pleased.

"You finally getting the picture now, dummy?"

"I am…" Juliana sniffled a bit. "I really am. Thank you, Carmine."

…

"I love you. I miss you so much."

"I know," Carmine nodded. She let go of Juliana's hands and floated above her. "Now hurry up and get out of this dump so you can save my ass, will you? Then you can tell me that in person."

"I will. … I WILL!" Juliana declared with oomph.

Carmine smiled. As she floated up to the center of Juliana's mind palace, the yellow glow from her unmatchable beauty and kindness warmed Juliana up. The big gaping hole in her chest finally disappeared, as Carmine helped her find the last missing part of herself:

Her heart.

And with that, Juliana felt all her insecurities evaporate away into nothing. Everything was as it should be. Her mind was restored, and she finally felt wholly… complete.

She floated above all her friends, teachers, and supporters now, who eagerly chanted her name and encouraged her, as she started floating above them all.

"You can do it, Juliana!" Nemona called out.

"There's my little buddy!"

"Rock on, Juliana!"

"You got this, J-girl!"

"You're the best!"

"A Champion to light the way for us all!"

"Kick that stupid purple thing's butt and make it look super dazzling for all the Ionites watching at home!"

"BWUHUHOIIIII! You—you buwn bwighter than even the mightiest dragoo-ho-ho-hooon!"

She could even see all her various Pokémon, from Meowscarada to Chi-Yu to Mienshao to Palafin, calling out to their Trainer and cheering her on like they were powering up a Tera Raid ally.

"You're the bravest person I know, Juliana," she heard her mom's voice say. "You can do anything you set your mind to!"

"You got that right!" said a man's voice… one she hadn't heard in an extremely long time.

Juliana gasped, and looked up to the light.

"…Dad!?"

"Go and get 'em, buttercup."

Her head was rushing with confidence, vigor, and a fully renewed, now completely implacable sense of self as Juliana looked back into the vortex and stared Pecharunt down.

It was no longer a giant vworping face to the high up Juliana, but just a tiny little speck, waiting to be bested.

"You're wrong about me, Pecharunt. I'm not a lost soul who needs to be saved. And I'm certainly not a blank slate!"

She gazed around at all the chanting faces below her.

"My family, my friends, my teachers, my Pokémon… they all define me. I don't need you to tell me who I am, what to say, or what I think and do… I am my own girl. My own woman!"

She clenched her fists, preparing herself for the ultimate strike.

"I… AM JULIANA! HEAR ME ROOOOAAAARRRRRR!"

"WOO-HOOOO!" Carmine called out, pumping her fist.

Juliana rushed into the vortex at blinding speed, blazing like a fireball, as she aimed directly for Pecharunt's face.

"PECHA!?" the face cried out.

"PALAFIN… PUUUUUUUUNCH!" she cried, channeling an awesome finishing move from the Super Hero Palafin! show as her blazing fist collided.

It struck Pecharunt right in the schnoz, causing its face to break up into a million pieces, and her whole world went white.

"PTOOOO! TUH! TAH! Ugggghhhh!"

Now Juliana fell to the ground, spitting out pieces of purple mochi.

"JULIANA!" Kieran gasped. "You—you broke through!"

"PON YOOOO!"

Juliana sputtered and gasped, coughing up purple stuff from her mouth, as her purple eyes flashed open… and returned to their normal hazel-brown color.

"What happened? Where am I?" She started looking down at her own hands in growing relief. "It's—it's me! Oh my gosh! I'm myself again!" Juliana began touching her face and hair excitedly. "No more Pecharunt in my head! I'm, I… uhh, ewww?" She felt the drenched strands of her hair. "Why—why am I all wet?"

But rather than answering any of her questions, Kieran just ran up and laughed, while Ogerpon rushed in and tackle-hugged her.

"PONI-O-NOOOO!"

"OGERPON!" Juliana cried out. "YOU—YOU CAME BACK!"

Juliana stood up and excitedly spun around in circles holding Ogerpon.

"I was so worried, but now I'm sooooo relieved!"

"Hee-hee! Ogerpon was the one who helped revive you, Juliana!"

"NO WAY! Really!?" Juliana looked at her with the biggest, dopiest grin. "Awwwww! Ogerpon! You really are my all-time number-one hero!"

"Pon-pon-ponnnn…" Ogerpon responded, rubbing against Juliana's head in the most affectionate, cathartic head nuzzle.

"So what happened?" she asked Kieran. "Did—did we beat Pecharunt? Is everybody saved?"

He gulped. "Not quite…"

Kieran pointed outward, and Juliana looked over to see Pecharunt picking itself up off the ground. It was all dusty and bruised from Ogerpon's aggressive tackles, and it was inflamed to see Juliana having regained her free will.

"BRRRRRRRRB-RUUUUUUUNT!" it bellowed out, sounding even more pissed off than it had been yet.

"Ogerpon and I were able to whittle Pecharunt down a bit, but—until we beat that thing completely, I don't think we can use that same trick on the rest of our friends."

Juliana placed Ogerpon down, and faced Pecharunt very sternly.

"…I see."

She started marching Pecharunt's way. The normally calm, kind girl had taken on a more… aggressive demeanor as she started cracking her knuckles, surprising Pecharunt a bit who had spent so long observing her through the Mythical Pecha Berry—but never seen this side of her.

"…P-Pecha?"

"Let's get one thing straight here, you little jerk," Juliana snarled. "Nobody messes with me… OR my friends!"

She looked at all her friends gathered around them. Penny, Nemona, Arven… Carmine. They were all still stuck in their dancing states.

"Mochi, mochi!" "Mochi MATCH!" "Mocheeee!" "Mochi mochi, MOCHI!"

Watching them still trapped inside their own minds, just like she was only moments ago, made Juliana's blood start boiling. And as she faced down Pecharunt, her eyes twitched. Her fists were shaking extremely hard. And she was huffing hot air through her nostrils.

"You really, really shouldn't have done that…" she said in a very gruff, almost husky voice. "Because as soon as you put that—that evil mochi into MY mouth…! Nice girl Juliana left the building. Now you only have ME."

Juliana was breathing very deep, angry breaths now, making even Ogerpon's cloak bristle a bit and putting Kieran's hairs on edge.

"I made a promise to her that I would fix everything," she said, her dilating eyes glancing one more time as the possessed Carmine. "And y'know what? I'm getting REAL tired of breaking promises. So instead... I'm taking a page out of her book. I'm going to break YOU."

Juliana's eyes opened up wide now, and she was gnarling her teeth as her shaking hand pulled out her Beast Ball. Kieran, Ogerpon, and even Pecharunt were all stunned… she really looked like Carmine now.

"Welcome to Kitakami… BOZO," she said with bite. "For your first experience, get ready to EAT DIRT!"

"Ger-ponn…"

"…Wowzers."

Juliana, with all the same baseball pitcher-like force that she'd always seen Carmine summon in battle, tossed the Ball out and Terapagos sprung into the arena.

"Tera-pa-goooooh!"

Inspired by Juliana's vigor, Kieran eagerly commanded, "Let's go, Ogerpon!"

"Poniee!"

Ogerpon swapped her mask again, this time trading the Wellspring Mask for the Cornerstone—to signify that she was ready to rock Pecharunt's world once and for all—as she took position again. Terapagos also prepared himself, by jumping up and quickly shifting into his Terastal Form.

"Pa-goo-goh!"

Pecharunt looked between its opponents and grumbled. The little purple cauldron of malicious mochi manipulation was getting very riled up. Now on top of its masked assailant ruining all its plans, it was being double-teamed against both Ogerpon and another mysterious Pokémon with strange powers.

"Cha! Cha… rrrrun!" The runt whined about the unfairness of the situation, and started cooking up another Nasty Plot to annihilate these defiant Trainers.

"Pecharunt is a REALLY tough Pokémon, Juliana. You know how powerful Ogerpon is. But even she was struggling to hold her own against it."

"Well… I don't know about you Kieran, but frankly I'm done trying to be a good sport with that—that twerp!"

Kieran tried to hide his snort, especially when Juliana whipped her head to him in a way that really did feel like Carmine's scolding glare. But instead, it was a look born of determination. With a wicked smile, she held up her Tera Orb.

"What do you say we up the ante, and send this creep packing?"

"Ooooh… wait. You're going to Terastallize Terapagos?" Kieran couldn't help but glance at his own arm. "Are you sure that's—that's safe?"

"Of course! I've been doing lots of training with Terapagos since then and it's totally safe! Just trust me!"

"Hrmmm…" He couldn't help but still look a little squeamish, and reflexively clutched his arm.

Juliana saw what he was doing and—realizing he needed extra assurance—softened her features and spoke to him in a gentler, more Juliana-like fashion.

"Hey, Kieran… I swear I'm not being reckless anymore. I know what happened last time and—and I promise I wouldn't do something like this if there's a chance it would get you hurt again." She smiled at him. "Okay?"

"…"

Eventually, he nodded. "Okay, Juliana… As long as you're sure, then—" He let go of his arm. "I trust ya."

"Thanks, Kieran. Now come on, let's…"

Kieran couldn't help but beam at the sound of that. Just like they did in the Area Zero battle to calm down Terapagos, Juliana and Kieran held their Tera Orbs up high at the same and screamed out…

"TERASTALLIZE!"

TERA-PA-GOO!

"TERA-PA-GEEEEEEE!"

Terapagos bellowed out loud and proud as his own Terastal energy surrounded both himself and Ogerpon.

The burst that came out of the double crystals shook Loyalty Plaza so hard leaves flew off the big tree in the center, and a few of the possessed dancers lost their beat.

"Mochi moch…"

"PEEEEYA!?"

Pecharunt was stunned and astonished at the incredible transformations both Pokémon undertook as they emerged from their crystals, with Ogerpon's Cornerstone Mask having become a giant sparkling face surrounded by square dreads, and Terapagos positioning himself on his giant Terastal orb with all the hexagons of the Stellar Tera Type surrounding him.

"OGUHHHHH-PON!"

"TERAAAHHHH-GOOOO!"

"Both of our Legendaries combined…" said Juliana.

"And our awesome willpower…" said Kieran.

"YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE!" they both declared to Pecharunt.

Pecharunt simmered in rage and barked out to them. "BRRRB! CHA-CHARR!"

"Show Pecharunt just how much awesome power ya got, Ogerpon! Give it a big whoopin' Terastallized cudgel!"

Ogerpon held her ivy cudgel high in the air and channeled all the power of the mountains. Of course, this wasn't just any mountain, but Oni Mountain itself. Ogerpon's old home, whose crystal-enriched powers she knew better than anyone, and just like in the bottom of Area Zero, her cudgel came out bristling with the power of not just rock but Terapagos's crystals themselves.

"Ogie… PUH-POOOONNNNN!"

Ogerpon brought down her Tera powered cudgel in a huge roaring slam against Pecharunt. The caving sparkles and hard rocks hit Pecharunt harder than any other time Ogerpon had ever whacked it before, and already it was fighting the urge to fall into slumber again, to retreat once more and wait for a new challenge.

But this was a much angrier Pecharunt than the frightened little thing from a thousand years ago, and it held on with all its might, determined not to let history repeat itself.

Deciding that this Terapagos creature was a more unpredictable element and thus a greater concern, Pecharunt decided to focus its boosted special powers on charging up a Shadow Ball, which it fired at Terapagos with brute prejudice.

…Only for Terapagos to all but shrug it off.

"…Tah!" the blue turtle scoffed.

"Peh-ja!?"

"Heh-heh-heh-heh!" Juliana chortled. "Terapagos's special ability… The first attack you hit it with will never do the damage you want it to, thanks to its power over all the types!"

"Terrraaaa!" Terapagos chirped.

"Now let's show this pipsqueak what true power looks like, Terapagos! Go… TERA STARSTORM!"

"PAGOO!"

Channeling a great burst of energy from his unique Tera Jewel, Terapagos unleashed a devastating meteor shower against Pecharunt. Shooting stars that were packed with the brutal energy of every single type, so Pecharunt could do nothing but bristle and shriek from the awesome onslaught.

"Chaaaaaa-raaaaaaaaaa…!"

"See that?" Juliana pointed out to Kieran. "I swapped that awful Tera Blast back for the move Terapagos used against us in the Crater! He already knows how to make a starstorm like that that hits his opponents while keeping us safe, so none of us get hurt!"

"Ha-ha! Yeah! Good thinking, Juliana! Sorry I doubted you."

"BRRRRRRRB!"

Pecharunt wanted to retaliate fast, and welled up more poisonous goop, this time to toxify the turtle and his big ball.

"Pe-CHA!"

But Terapagos also reacted fast, and lowered his spinning circles of hexagons, rotating it until it landed on the symbol that looked like Poison. Pecahrunt's Toxic splashed against the purple hexagon like an immovable shield, and Terapagos chirped happily.

Pecharunt was so embroiled now that its limbs were all shaking about in a wild tantrum.

"This is good…" Juliana smirked. "It's getting all worked up. Making it all mad like that is how we get its guard down."

"Yeah… that is how you beat my Sis every time."

Juliana snorted loudly and turned away for a second, blushing a bit.

The purple runt quickly got another Shadow Ball ready, and this time fired it towards Ogerpon.

"Spiky Shield!"

This time, Ogerpon was right on the mark and timed her Spiky Shield so that Shadow Ball completely dissipated in the green spikes.

"And Horn Leech!"

Ogerpon's horns outstretched, and she lunged forward. "Guh-ponnn!" She was so quick on the draw that Pecharunt didn't even have time to put up a defense before Ogerpon used her horns to squeeze the Pokémon like chopsticks to the grape it was. Ogerpon certainly felt as refreshed as someone who had just eaten a bunch.

Pecharunt bristled to its near breaking point, and the purple chains sprung out again. Pecharunt unleashed them in a frenzied fury towards Ogerpon, more juiced up than ever before, looking to ensnare her again and turn her lights out for good: the same way Ogerpon did to Pecharunt.

The chains were quick and lashing like turbo-charged Ekans, and Ogerpon desperately tried to put up another Spiky Shield… but she had used up all that energy conjuring up the one before, and was left being able to do nothing else but cringe.

Even Kieran started to brace, worried those awful lashes were going to strike him as well. "Yaaaahhhh!"

But suddenly, just at the sound of impact, a rush of colored sparkles lurched in front of the pair.

Kieran and Ogerpon both looked up, astonished, to see Terapagos having dragged his huge Orb in front to shield them, and used his hard Terastal shell to receive the full brunt of Pecharunt's Malignant Chain.

"Huh?" "Pon?"

"Ta-pogoooo…" Terapagos cried weakly.

"T-Terapagos… You… saved us?"

Although Terapagos had clearly been severely poisoned by the attack and was on his dying legs, he managed the feat of floating off his orb, weakly hovering in front of Kieran, and giving him a peck on the face.

"Awww…" he giggled. "Was this your way of saying sorry for accidentally hurting me?"

"Pa-gohhh…"

"Heh-heh! Well, I guess we're all square now! Thank you, Terapagos."

"Gooooo…"

But that was all the strength Terapagos had left to muster. With his debt repaid, his orb and all his wonderful Stellar power shattered into pieces, and Juliana was forced to recall her fallen partner.

"You did wonderful, Terapagos…" Juliana complimented the Beast Ball. "You are a real friend."

"And a real hero," said Kieran. "Ogerpon… let's make sure Terapagos didn't faint for nothin'! I bet we can take out Pecharunt for good with one more of those super-powered cudgel attack of yours!"

"Pon-pon!"

Reading Kieran's message loud and clear, Ogerpon drew her cudgel and welled up mountainous, Terastal energy once again. Pecharunt could only look up and cringe, knowing the world of hurt that was coming.

"Piiih…"

"GEH-POOOONNNNNN!"

Ogerpon slammed her Ivy Cudgel on Pecharunt with all her might. The runt was knocked to the ground so hard there was practically a little crater in the ground surrounding it.

"Chaerrrr…"

"Is that it?" Juliana breathed out. "Did we finally win?"

Pecharunt looked thoroughly bruised, like a crushed grape. But…

"BRRRRRB…"

"You've gotta kiddin' me!" Kieran said exasperated. "This thing just doesn't know when to quit!"

Despite looking like it was practically on the brink of loss, Pecharunt had grown too stubborn, too determined to let a thousand years of sleep, and months of gradual influence and machinations, all amount to naught.

It slowly rose from the cracked ground. The wings of its shell twitched as the creature struggled to even remain afloat. But it remained defiant and hellbound on keeping its little army together.

"Mochi, mochi!" "Mochi? Mochi!" "Mochi mochi MOCHI!"

Juliana bit her lip hard, thinking for a way to keep Pecharunt grounded. Then, suddenly, she remembered one of Carmine's techniques.

"Say 'Araquanid, turn the tables!' Hurry!"

With great haste, Juliana combed her bag for the right Net Ball, and tossed it out, giving a direct command before Araquanid's long legs had even hit the ground.

"ARAQUANID, TURN THE TABLES!"

Araquanid propelled itself forward like a jet, and landed behind Pecharunt.

"Peh?"

Then Araquanid inverted its legs to ensnare Pecharunt in a tight embrace, drowning the Pokémon inside its water bubble.

"BRRRRRBB! BRRRB-BRRRRR!" Whether Pecharunt was screaming in rage or struggling to breathe was anyone's guess.

But the runt brought out its long purple chains, and quickly pulled its own entanglement on the giant water bug, pelting and squeezing it tight with its venomous chains.

"Grrrrrr-blllllb-brrb-bubbl!"

Araquanid's water bubble burst, and the Water Bubble-less Pokémon almost immediately fainted. Juliana's lip bit even harder, almost to the point of drawing blood, at how frustrated she was.

"Darn. I really thought that'd work."

"Well, it wasn't a bad strategy. That's the same thing ya did against my Dragonite, right? But… I'm pretty sure my Sis told you to use Liquidation too."

"DRAT!" She smacked her head. "I totally forgot!" She sighed and said forlornly to her recalled partner, "I'm sorry, Araquanid."

Pecharunt coughed out water, and squinted its barely-open eyes towards Juliana, Kieran, and Ogerpon either, growling loudly and furiously.

Kieran pointed, cringing a little. "Hey is that… kinda how I looked when that thing was makin' me super-angry?"

"Uhhh…"

Rather than answer, Juliana just shrugged sheepishly, making Kieran throw his head down.

"Awww, man… So I probably looked just as much like a dweeb."

Pecharunt wasn't through yet. With its long chains already spread out, it now flung them towards Ogerpon.

"OGIE!?"

"Ogerpon!" Juliana called. "Uhh-! Uhh! Catch 'em with your cudgel!"

Ogerpon hastily held her cudgel out in front of her, and let the chains grab onto that. Pecharunt grumbled, and decided to try to shake Ogerpon's most powerful weapon out of her clutches.

She gasped, and struggled to hold on tightly.

"Ogrrrrrrrr…"

"Ogerpon… remember everything this jerk took from you!" Kieran encouraged her. "All our friends that are in danger—everything you fought for! Ya gotta use that to power yourself up, like I did!"

Ogerpon's starry eyes twinkled open. She used her memories to drive her motivation, similarly to when she was battling with all her masks against Juliana and Carmine.

She remembered the adventures of the Mask Retrieval Squad, and recovering her masks from those lousy bullies. Becoming Carmine's partner, and winning so many battles that both she and Carmine were finding their confidence restored all anew.

Helping Juliana win the Championship match. Saving the world with her and Kieran by teaming up to defeat Terapagos and stop his out-of-control rampage from destroying Paldea, where she went on to meet even more wonderful friends of Juliana's.

And finally… she drew upon her memories of her former partner. From long ago. All the adventures they went on across different lands, his life tragically brought to an early end by the Lousy Three's rampage.

What would he want her to do right now? … To fight, of course.

"Fight until you win… my sweet little munchkin."

"PONN!"

Channeling the memories of her partner, her partners, and everyone else she was fighting for, Ogerpon pulled back… and pulled back hard.

"Peh…? PECHAAAAAAAAA!"

"OGIE-POOOOOOOOON!"

In fact, she pulled back so hard that Pecharunt found itself flung into the air! The whiplash sent the purple gremlin flying high over Ogerpon's head and crashing into the ground several yards away.

"CHAAAAAA…! Peh— CHA!"

Ogerpon wasn't finished. She thrust her enwrapped cudgel once more, sending Pecharunt flying the other way now, landing rough onto the other side of the arena.

"Grrrrr…"

"B-brrrrb! Pehhh! Ruuuuunt!"

Pecharunt wasn't yelling defiantly anymore… it was begging. It wanted this madness to stop. But a thousand years' worth of rage and grief underneath that mask weren't about to let that happen.

"PONNNN!"

Ogerpon threw her cudgel up with a quick and mighty thrust.

"PEHHHHHHHH…!"

Pecharunt went flying so fast that its chains broke off the cudgel, and…

-SMACK-

It bonked headfirst into the biggest tree in the center of Loyalty Plaza. It slid down the bark and landed on the ground with a thud, dazed and with a really nasty bump on the top of its wisp-like head.

"C-cha… Runnnn…"

Despite this, it tried feebly, one last time, to stand up on its nubby little legs.

This was its last mistake, because now Juliana felt the need to pull off one last gambit to make sure it was down.

-POP-

"Tinkaton! Ogerpon! NOW!"

"…Brrb?"

With a wild gleam in her eyes, Juliana's Tinkaton leapt in the air above Pecharunt… holding the hugest iron hammer Pecharunt had ever seen in its life.

"TINKAAAAA…"

"CHAAAAA!"

Pecharunt screamed, expecting it was about to be hit with the full megaton power of that horrifying hammer. But instead…

"GRRRRR…"

Ogerpon landed on the hammer's edge, her Ivy Cudgel fully charged up with rocks and Tera power once more.

Juliana was practically bristling with excitement as she shouted…

"GIGATON STELLAR TERA-POWERED IVY CUDGEL!"

"TINKATOOOOOON!"

"OGUH-POOOOOONNNNNNN!"

Tinkaton swung Ogerpon like a baseball—nay, a high-sparking comet that impacted Pecharunt in the blink of an eye, causing the entire arena—possibly the entire hillside, to rumble with almost the magnitude of an earthquake.

Whatever leaves were left on that big tree were quickly flung off to parts unknown. Shards of crystals danced all in the air, and the wind kicked up so strongly Juliana and Kieran both had to shield themselves from it.

As the dust cleared, and the air settled… they finally got to see the result of Ogerpon and Tinkaton's combined power.

Pecharunt lay on the ground, with swirls in its eyes.

Finally… defeated.

Juliana was almost rendered speechless. "What do… what do we do now?"

Much to her surprise, a Dusk Ball flew into the air… and hovered over Pecharunt, converting it into energy.

"Huh? Kieran… did you throw that!?"

Wiggle.

Wiggle.

Wiggle.

…

…

…

Click.

Juliana and Kieran both gasped. Kieran rushed over and quickly picked up his Dusk Ball.

"Kieran…" Juliana swallowed. "You—you did it… You caught Pecharunt."

"I did…" He was struggling for breath just as much as Juliana, until… "…ha-ha-ha! HA-HA-HA! HAAAA-HAAAA-HAAAA!"

He was laughing more joyously than Juliana thought she'd ever seen him do before.

"I did it! I really did it! I… I finally caught one of the Mythical Pokémon for myself!" He held the Ball up proudly.

"Yaaaaaay!" Juliana clapped happily. "I'm so happy for you, Kieran! And—and really surprised! I didn't know you would want a—a nasty little thing like that to be one of your Pokémon."

"Heh-heh, well… Yeah, Pecharunt is a little nasty. But… it's also really cool, don't you think!? All those cool moves, the way it used its chains! Sometimes I forget we were fightin' it to save everyone, but I was just- Wowzers! So awesome!"

Juliana giggled. "Well, when you put it that way… I guess it is a pretty neat Pokémon…"

"Nnnnn…" Ogerpon rolled her eyes and groaned. She clearly didn't share either of their sentiments.

But then, they heard noises around them.

All their Mochi-possessed friends and townspeople had stopped chanting… but they also weren't coming back to themselves. Instead, they all shambled and groaned aimlessly, like they were truly just mindless walking flesh bags now.

"Our friends still aren't… lookin' so hot," Kieran noticed.

"Yeah… I was—I was really hoping without Pecharunt controlling them, that… they'd go back to normal," Juliana sighed, huffing worriedly.

"Pon-pon…" Ogerpon whined.

"What do we do now?"

"Hmmm…" Kieran gazed down at the Dusk Ball containing Pecharunt. "I think—I think there's only one thing we can do."

"What's that?"

"…We gotta ask Pecharunt nicely."

"P-pon!?"

Juliana's eyes bugged out. "You can't be serious. After how much we just thrashed it, Kieran? It's either gonna want to beat us up, try to feed us mochi again or just… run away and flee."

"I don't think so…" Kieran shook her head. "I think there's a chance we can reason with it. We don't have any other ideas, right?"

"Well…" Juliana sighed, crossing her arms. "I guess not. It's your call, Kieran, but—be on guard, Ogerpon."

"Pon." Ogerpon put her Teal Mask on and clutched her ivy cudgel at the ready.

Kieran gulped. "Okay… here goes nothin'."

-POP-

Pecharunt floated in the air, and shook its head a bunch, still feeling disoriented.

"Pehhh… Pecha?"

It looked all around itself, very confused. And then gasped to see Juliana and Kieran both standing in front of it with furrowed eyebrows. Feeling like it had to defend itself again, it started to charge energy…

"Pecharunt, wait," said Kieran.

"…cha?"

"Pecharunt… we don't wanna fight you anymore. It's all over now. We stopped your plan, and I caught you, which means you have to do what I say now. So…" He cupped his hands together. "Please… please release our friends!"

"Pehh?" Pecharunt was quite taken aback to be spoken to so earnestly.

"Please."

Now Juliana spoke up. She had tears in her eyes.

"They're our friends, Pecharunt…"

"And my family!"

"They mean more to us than anything on this Earth… I don't…" Juliana wiped her face with her sleeve. "I don't know how either of us could ever live without them! You want all of us to be happy, right?"

"Well, you gotta know they're not happy either! Havin' to dance like that saying nothing but 'mochi' their whole lives… It's just not right! They may be smilin' and all that, but they can't be happy like that!"

"…"

Pecharunt was speechless. It had never been approached this way before… at least without accepting a treat first.

"Pecharunt… I know you'll do the right thing. 'Cause, the thing is… I don't think you're such a bad guy."

"HUH!?" "PON!?" Juliana and Ogerpon both balked.

"Uhh-! Uhh! Kieran? You don't think turning a whole bunch of people into mindless zombies is something someone who isn't a villain does?"

"Grahh!" Ogerpon loudly protested. "Pon-pon-yo! G'PONN!"

"Yeah, or… or all the things Pecharunt probably did to Ogerpon in the past!"

"I know, I know. It's just… I don't know. I guess I just have this gut feeling…" Kieran admitted. "I just feel like—maybe we misunderstood Pecharunt this whole time…"

Juliana and Ogerpon both glanced at each other with the same confused face.

"I guess I just…" He chuckled, and glanced at Ogerpon. "Have this feeling when I know that maybe the villain of the story—wasn't actually a villain…"

"Pon!?" Ogerpon gasped, realizing what Kieran was implying. "…Grrrrr." Annoyed, she snarled her mouth and looked to the side.

"Maybe Pecharunt just—just really wants some friends."

He smiled warmly at Pecharunt, who didn't feel any anger burning inside it anymore. Instead, it tilted its head and looked at Kieran curiously.

Juliana's eyebrows lifted up slightly. She hated to admit it, but… Pecharunt was showing a new, vulnerable side to itself. Perhaps… a lonely one?

She remembered what Pecharunt's voice was speaking to her about, about just wanting to make people happy… Could that thing's intentions have really been so innocent all along?

"Hey, Pecharunt?" she found herself saying.

Pecharunt turned to her now. "Brrb?"

"I don't—I still don't know if I really trust you. But—if Kieran thinks you might actually be a good guy, then… then I guess I should trust his instinct. After all, he knew the truth about Ogerpon before anyone else did."

She held onto her arm, sighing deeply.

"I guess all I wanna say Pecharunt is, I remember… in my head. I could hear your voice. You were talking about friends…"

Pecharunt nodded, seeming to understand what she was referring to.

"And you said something about—having friends of your own? That they were the whole reason you did all of this? Wanted me and Kieran to be your helpers so that you could—finally make them happy or something?"

"Chrrrunt!" it burbled in what seemed a fond tone, thinking about its friends… The old couple.

Juliana gazed at Pecharunt with a sad, almost pitiful expression.

"Pecharunt… I really hate to tell you this. But… you've been asleep for longer than I think you realize."

"…Cha?"

"Yeah…." Kieran realized. "Like, if you were around—at the same time all that stuff happened with Ogerpon and the Loyal Three, then… then you must've been laying around as a toy like that for over a thousand years!"

"PECHA!?"

Pecharunt shouted in shock, and looked all around its surroundings, finally seeming to process for the first time that a lot of time truly had passed since the days of Kitakami it remembered.

Everything was new. Especially this plaza… and whatever that pile of rocks at the end of it was. It really had awakened in a completely different time…

Juliana sighed. "Pecharunt, if you really did have friends of your own back then… they're—they're probably long gone now."

"PEYYYAH!? Peh… piii…"

Pecharunt sadly slumped down. Its wings, the wisp on its head, its little nubby hands… they all sagged. And it started to make a noise that—sounded like crying.

"So you really did have someone you cared about…" Juliana felt her eyes get a bit glossy.

Even Ogerpon, who was trying with all her might to hold on to her burning resentment for the thing she'd spent the past hundreds of years blaming for her partner's death… couldn't help but feel a little sad for the wretched thing.

"But… Pecharunt?" Juliana sniffled. "The thing is… Even when those people are gone from our lives, I know better than anyone else… They're never gone completely." She put a hand over her chest. "Not in here. In our hearts, we'll always be… together forever."

"…Chiiih."

Pecharunt tried to mimic what Juliana was saying, placing its nubs under its face. Ogerpon did the same thing, placing her arms over her heart… and smiling as she felt her old partner's presence.

Kieran thought for a minute. Then, with an assured smile, he walked up to Pecharunt's face.

"Hey Pecharunt?"

"Brrb?"

"If you release all our friends from this spell, then…" He held out one of his fingers, and let Pecharunt grasp it with its little nubs. "I promise that I'll be your friend, okay?"

"Pey-ja?" it uttered, a little excited at the sound of that. So excited, in fact, that it eagerly pulled out another Binding Mochi! "PECHA!"

"AHHH!" Juliana and Kieran both reared back, while Ogerpon brandished its cudgel defensively again. "Grrr-ponnn…!"

"You don't… you don't need one of those things in order to find a friend, Pecharunt," Kieran said, uneasily touching the mochi and lowering it with his finger. "If you be my partner, then… then I bet I can show you, what it means to be a real friend."

"Cha-ruuuun?" it gazed up at Kieran curiously.

He giggled a little. "After all… I did have a pretty good teacher."

Kieran glanced at Juliana with a smile, which made her feel so touched she gave a warm, genuine smile right back to him, placing both hands on her heart.

"So, whaddya say?"

He looked Pecharunt's way, eager for an answer. Pecharunt had its mouth open, looking very indecisive. Then… it felt a tap behind it.

"Cha…? PEE-CHA!"

Ogerpon stood there, threateningly beating her ivy cudgel… and glowering at the runt. "Grrrrrr…"

Pecharunt looked at Ogerpon. Looked back at Juliana and Kieran, and everyone all around. Then…

"…Pecha."

Realizing it really had no alternatives, Pecharunt began to float up higher into the air, now with a still but determined expression on its face.

Juliana, Kieran, and Ogerpon all watched it curiously to see what it would do. They backed away a little, sensing something big was about to happen.

"Pehhhh…"

Pecharunt gathered up all its energy, the holes in its wings glowing a bright, iridescent purple. And then…

"CHAAAAAAAA!"

A huge purple pulse shot out of the little Pokémon, rippling through all of Loyalty Plaza and beyond.

Juliana and Kieran didn't feel much of anything, besides one last feeling of clearness in their heads.

But for everyone else, as the wave swept over them, they all started reacting to it. Their stumbling ceased… they all began to grasp their heads, like they were coming out of a bad hangover.

The purple auras surrounding each of them vanished, and Juliana and Kieran watched in delight as their flashing purple eyes all gradually changed back to each person's natural color, one-by-one. They all started muttering, speaking out words of confusion, as the townspeople all started regathering their minds again.

"Ugh… where am I?"

"Was I sleepwalking again?"

"Hmm. How did we all get here?"

"How did I end up at Loyalty Plaza?"

"Well, that was quite a doozy…" Nao mumbled, rubbing his bald head. "Hmm? What's this?" He looked all around at the elders surrounding him.

…

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE!?"

"EHH!? GULP!" "UHHH…" the rest of the town elders all stammered.

"Caught you all being lazy, I did! Come on, we can't be hanging around a place like this!"

"Urg! R-right! We should all be… preparing for the festival."

"Yeah… must've just… taken a little nap and a hike, I guess."

Anxious to avoid any more of the crochety man's scolding, the town elders all followed Nao as they started marching out of the plaza. The rest of the townspeople—once they were done shambling—decided to follow their lead and return to their duties, putting all this away in their minds as some strange blackout.

A few of them noticed Pecharunt, and whispered with each other, wondering what that unusual Pokémon was. Pecharunt gazed back curiously at them too… but for the villagers, it was just a passing interest, and they all started leaving.

Kieran combed through the crowd desperately. Then he gasped and ran towards…

"Grandma! Grandpa!" He ran over and hugged them both. "You're okay!"

"OH! Yes… that we are, Kieran, that we are," Hideko chuckled. "Umm… I don't remember much of what happened, to be honest. Weren't we just talking to you and Juliana up on the hill…? How did we get here?"

"Mmmm…" Yukito murmured. "I just remember making some of my delicious mochi and sharing it with everyone," she smiled. "Is it all gone now? Maybe I should make some more…"

"Ehhh…" Kieran and Hideko both reacted uneasily.

Juliana watched Kieran and his grandparents' reunion with a pleased smile. Then, from behind her, she heard…

"Juliana! Kieran!"

She gasped. "ARVEN!"

Arven and Penny were both standing there behind her, walking up to her while still both feeling a little dazed.

Juliana squeed with delight and sprinted up to Arven.

"WOAH!"

She tackled him in a hug so hard, he fell to the ground in her rambunctious embrace.

"H-hey, easy buddy! You really knocked me down this time!"

But Juliana was laughing and glomping him too much to care.

"You're okay! All you guys are okay!"

"I don't think Arven's going to be if you don't let him get off the ground…" Penny chuckled. She smiled as she saw Kieran running up to them. "Oh. Hey, Kieran."

"Hey! Umm…" He wasn't really sure what to do with Penny, and she looked kind of shy too. Eventually, they settled for… an awkward fist bump, "Hee-hee."

As Juliana finally let Arven get himself together, he rubbed his hair and sighed.

"Last thing I remember is that thing attacking us in front of the shop… Everything after that is just a blur… I gotta tell you about the crazy dream I had though where we were all fighting each other with our amazing Pokémon!"

"I remember some of it…" Penny muttered. "Crushing, inescapable darkness. A complete loss of all freedom of movement, thinking… even feeling. Nothing to look forward or back on… just the black walls of eternity all around me."

"Uhhh…" The three of them all looked at each other.

Juliana, concerned for her friend, dug into Penny's big Eevee backpack and grabbed all seven Poké Balls that were inside. Then she tossed them up… and Penny found herself surrounded by all her Veevees, who cuddled up around the troubled girl in an instant.

"Esp!" "Vaporeon!" "Jolt!" "Flare!" "Umbreon!" "Leee!" "Sylvee!" Sylveon in particular wrapped her ribbons around Penny to comfort her.

"Oh… oh yeah, this is nice," Penny lulled. "Okay, I'm feeling better now… Thanks, Juliana."

Arven crossed his arms and turned around, which caused him to gasp. "YAH!"

"Broooo?"

Pecharunt turned to face him. In all the chaos, the little Pokémon had decided to encase itself in its squinty-eyed pink shell form again.

Kieran noticed Arven's panic and grabbed his arm. "Don't worry, Arven! It's not a threat anymore!"

"Yeah, we made it all docile now… I think," Juliana said, still not quite so trusting.

"If you say so… so all that 'mochi mochi' stuff really was because of some Pokémon, huh?"

"See? SEE!?" Penny jerked up from the Umbreon licking her face. "I told you it was real! I told you that pink little monster was behind everything and it was an evil curse!"

"Uhh… when did you ever say that?" Arven shrugged. Penny was about to retort angrily, when he suddenly flipped out. "Hang on a second! Where—where's Nemona!?"

The four of them all looked around, and eventually spotted Nemona standing in front of the ruined monument, her head drooped down.

"Nemona!" Arven cried out. He was the one who ran up and got closest to her face. "Are you okay!? Are you hurt!? Where did you run off to!? I—I—I'm just really happy to see you."

"Ughh…"

"Nemona!" Juliana called. "You feeling all right? …Please don't say 'mochi mochi.'"

…

"Mochi MATCH!" she declared with her eyes closed.

Much to their alarm, she did spring up dancing!

Juliana, Arven, and Kieran all screamed. "AHHHHHHH!"

"What the-?" Penny's eyes widened. She hadn't moved from her mountain of Veevees. "The curse wasn't lifted!?"

But then Nemona stopped, and her eyes slowly opened, having returned to their usual color.

"…Huh?" She looked all around. "What's going on?" Her legs started to give out, and Arven caught her in her fatigue. "How did I get here?"

"NEMONA! I'm so glad you're alright!" he cried, hugging her tightly. However, he stopped to look at her sternly. "But don't—don't ever do that again! Or run off on your own! You almost scared me something fierce!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Pepper?" she moaned weakly. "All I wanted to do was look around here and catch a cute Pokémon to help cheer Juliana up…"

"Seriously? That's where you disappeared to?" Arven huffed. "Sheesh. Glad you're back to normal now, at least."

"Yup! Mornin', everybody," she said like it was the most casual thing in the world. "Y'know, I had this crazy realistic dream that I was battling you, Juliana!"

"Oh, really?" she giggled.

"Yeah! It was awesome! Felt like a real battle too, at least until you brought out that giant bear and the big old green dog-looking thing!" she laughed, swaying her frail limbs around. "But it was so hype though! Sign me up to have another dream like that anytime! Hahaha!"

"Ohh, Nemo. I… I…" Arven gave up and wrapped her in another hug. "Darn it. You're a mess, but I love you."

"Awww, I love you too, Arvie!" Nemona cooed. "Maybe I should go wandering off more often if you're going to be this clingy!" she giggled.

"…Don't push it, princess."

"Gosh," Kieran said to Juliana. "Those two sure are, uhh…"

"Something else?"

"Heh-heh, yeah, that!"

Meanwhile, Pecharunt floated a distance away and watched the whole spectacle. It poked out from inside its pink shell a little bit, watching Juliana and her friends in all their camaraderie, and it began feeling something it… hadn't felt in what must've been a thousand years.

They all looked happy together, smiling and laughing. Pecharunt found itself… giggling a little bit. "Brrrb-brrb!" Was this… joy?

However, Juliana suddenly had a burst of realization, and she started looking around all frantically.

"Hey… where's—where's…"

"Oh! Right!" Kieran lit up. "Sis! Sis, where are you!?"

"Ger-ponn!" they heard Ogerpon call out.

Juliana gasped. "Ogerpon found her!"

She and Kieran both dashed to the other end of the courtyard where Ogerpon was beaming with delight to have found Carmine standing near one of the benches, her back turned to everyone.

Juliana was practically shaking with anxiety again. Carmine was right in front of her… and was hopefully in the right mind to acknowledge her this time. Juliana could feel all the nerves she felt from before rising up again, wondering how Carmine would receive her—worried to death the girl was still holding a grudge against her.

And all she wanted now was to confess how she felt.

We can be girlfriends, or we can just be friends if you want… Just, please, please oh please don't hate me.

Her breathing grew faster. Her legs were frozen stiff again, and she wanted to say something to get Carmine's attention… but she was so scared her throat closed up.

Kieran saw her behavior, and whispered, "Hey. If you want to run somewhere else first, and I'll explain everything to her…"

"No," she managed to gulp. "It's okay. I—I want to see her." She swallowed big. "…I want her to see me. I need to know what her face will look like."

"Gotcha."

…

He cleared his throat and shouted out to her. "Hey, sis! Hello! Are you all done with the dancing and—"

"CARMINE!" Juliana found herself blurting out. She rushed forward. "Carmine, it's me! And—and Kieran! We're both here! I'm here! P-p-please say something!"

This seemed to perk Carmine's head up. Her face slowly turned.

"…Hmm?"

She turned around to gaze at her brother… and at Juliana, whose eyes she locked dead onto instantly.

"…!" Juliana felt her whole body chill like a freezer.

"…"

She was speechless. Carmine was staring at her, right at her for the first time in months… and Juliana felt terrified.

Why isn't she saying anything?

…

"Mmm…" Carmine finally mumbled.

…?

"Mm-mo…"

Juliana's pupils shrank. "N-no…"

"Mochi mochi MOCHI!"

Somehow, Carmine began chanting about mochi, and dancing with her arms again.

"MOCHI! MOCHI, MOCHI!"

Juliana screamed.

Kieran, however, grunted in annoyance.

"UGH! Seriously? You too? This joke's gettin' old, Sis!" he said sharply, tapping his foot.

"What's happening?" Arven asked, running over with Nemona draped over his shoulders.

"Woah-ho-ho!" Nemona clapped. "Man Carmine, you're STILL dancing after all this time? You're like a wild party machine!"

"Uhhhh, that's… not's what going's on," Penny said nervously. "Is—is she still under the curse!?"

Kieran sighed and faced them all. "I'm so sorry, guys. My Sis is being obnoxious. I think she's playin' a practical joke on us!" He turned back around and huffed at Carmine. "Let me guess, I have to snap my fingers to bring you back to normal, right? Well, guess what? I learned how to snap my fingers while I was at Blueberry, so here you go!"

He proved it by getting in his sister's face and snapping his fingers right over her nose.

"Mochi, mochi! Mochiiii? Mo-mo-mo!"

"…Uhh, sis? I—I said you can stop now."

Now looking extremely worried, Kieran started trying other things like waving his hand in front of Carmine, and shaking her dancing arms.

But she didn't even so much as pause from her rhythm. Kieran's eyes widened in alarm.

"Okay, seriously! You can STOP now! You're—you're really scaring me now! Cut it out, Sis!"

"Mochi, mochi, mochi, MOCHI!"

But Carmine wasn't stopping.

"Carmine!?" Juliana called to her. "CARMINE! It's us! It's me! Juliana! Please, we defeated Pecharunt, you can stop dancing now!"

She stood up on her toes and aggressively shook Carmine by the shoulders, but all it accomplished was messing up Carmine's hair a bit and making her voice reverberate.

"Mo-ohhh-ohhhh-chi chi!"

"CARMINE! Carmine, what are you doing!?" Juliana screamed at her, her eyes getting watery.

Her hands started shaking really bad, and her breaths were coming out like loud wheezes. Juliana was going into full panic mode.

"What—what's happening!?" she cried. "Why won't Carmine stop dancing!?" Then she grabbed Kieran and started shaking him! "KIERAN, WHY WON'T SHE STOP DANCING?!"

"I—I DON'T KNOW, JULIANA!" he squeaked. "I'm just confused as you are!"

"WELL, WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING!"

"I KNOW WE DO! Where—where's Pecharunt!?"

"Broo?" Pecharunt perked up from the other side of the big tree upon hearing its name.

"Pecharunt, c'mere!"

Kiean hastily grabbed Pecharunt by its shell and ran back to Carmine with the nubby Pokémon in his arms, startling it a great deal.

"Pecharunt!" He brought the Subjugation Pokémon out in front of his sister. "S-Something's wrong with Carmine! Whatever that thing you did to turn everyone back to normal, it must not have reached her! You gotta do that thing again!"

"PLEASE!" Juliana screamed.

"Pehh-cha?"

"Does it even understand what's going on…?" asked a skeptical Penny.

But Pecharunt responded as if it did. It floated in front of Carmine, observing her independent dancing.

"Mochi? Mochi, mochi!"

Concentrating hard, it got another mind-restoring pulse ready…

"Chooo!"

…and beamed it directly at Carmine, no chance of missing now. This did affect her, as it completely stopped her dancing.

…

Juliana's lip jittered. "….Di—did it work?"

…

"…Don't."

Kieran gasped. "She's sayin' something!"

"Don't… don't…"

"Yes, Carmine?" Juliana asked eagerly. "What is it!?"

"Don't wanna be… myself anymore."

"Huh?" said Arven.

"Don't… wanna… be… mochi-self."

"This is… starting to get a little spooky now," Nemona commented.

…

"MOCHI, MOCHI, MOCHI!" And then she resumed dancing like nothing happened.

Juliana and Kieran screamed again.

"Huh!? It didn't work!?" Kieran exclaimed. "I don't understand! But isn't Pecharunt the one who caused her to do this in the first place!?"

"Peh?" Pecharunt tilted its head, seeming equally confused as to why its abilities were no longer affecting Carmine's trance.

"Wh… what was all that stuff she was just saying?" Juliana asked. "'Don't want to be myself anymore'? What does that even mean!?"

"Oh dear…" they heard from afar.

Carmine and Kieran's grandparents walked up to the pair, looking mournfully at Carmine's uninterrupted dancing.

"I'm afraid Carmine was in a very awful spot… just before you got here, Juliana," Yukito explained to her.

"What do you mean?" Juliana asked with deep timbers in her voice.

"She closed herself off from all of us after coming back home… told me she blamed herself for whatever nasty things you two went through, and told me she was scared to death of hurting anybody else. She was in one of the darkest places I—I've ever seen her in. Carmine told me… she told me she felt like she didn't belong anywhere."

"That's… that's awful…" said Juliana, starting to choke on the tears that had instantly gone from 0 to 100 on her face. "Carmine," she blubbered. "How can you even think these things about yourself? I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have left… I shouldn't have let your mind go to such dark places."

"But—but…!" Kieran stammered. "That doesn't… Then why is she—like this!?"

"It almost sounds like…" Penny gulped. "She got herself so wracked with self-hatred that… it's like a self-inflicted trance. To escape from her pain!"

Hideko's gaze shifted to her husband, who looked at everyone with an extremely sorrowful face.

He sighed. "I went through my cabinet, and tried to find anything from our ancestor's journals talking about that old dancing plague. A lot of the pages are missing—unfortunately, I'm convinced they might be among the old texts my father sold off when I was young—but I did find one entry that seemed to be discussing the plague, after it had passed over everyone…"

Yukito crossed his arms, and even he—a gruff man who didn't usually show emotion—started to sniffle a bit.

"It's not good news, unfortunately. You see, even after whatever had caused everybody in Mossui Town to start dancing like a crazy circus had passed and the madness ceased… a few of the villagers apparently never stopped dancing."

Juliana and Kieran and all their friends gasped in horror.

"Yes, apparently whatever it was that caused them to start engaging in such… behavior—" he choked, watching his granddaughter's movements. "—left their mind and their spirit completely broken, and they never recovered."

Kieran's mouth was agape with anguish.

"So you're—you're saying that, even though we stopped Pecharunt, Carmine… my Sis… might stay like this forever?!" he choked, starting to cry himself.

"Ponoooooo-pon…" And so was Ogerpon.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Juliana blubbered. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! Carmine can't be gone for good! There's gotta be—there's gotta be something else we can do! RIGHT!? THERE'S GOTTA BE SOMETHING!"

Frantically, she picked Ogerpon up and started jostling her.

"OGERPON! Whatever that—that dew stuff was you used to revive me, you gotta try it to see if it'll work on Carmine!"

"Pooo-aaaaa-aaaaaa-aaaaan!" Ogerpon cried in distress, getting dizzy.

"Juliana—" Kieran tried to get her to stop.

"Or—or—or maybe we can figure out a way to cure her!" She gasped, and ran up to Nemona and Arven, yelling to them extremely jittery and crazily. "NEMONA! ARVEN! Come on! LET'S GO LOOK FOR TERA CRYSTALS! We'll find some of those herbs and—and fix her in no time, just like Mabosstiff and Slither Wing! LET'S GO!"

"Juliana, hold on now-!" Nemona of all people was proclaiming.

"WAIT! That's it! There's gotta be a medicine for this sort of thing! We'll just have to call everyone! Like Ms. Miraim! Ask around and find out who's ever worked cases like this!" Juliana was running about in a wild circling frenzy now, frightening all her friends around her. "WE WON'T REST UNTIL WE FIND SOMETHING! WE WON'T—WE WON'T…"

"JULIANA!" Nemona, Arven, Kieran, and Penny all shouted at her.

Juliana halted and looked at everyone. She was hyperventilating badly, the sweat coming down her face just as much as the wet, bulbous tears flowing from her eyes, and her hair bad become all ratty.

"Juliana sweetie, you're having a nervous breakdown!" said Nemona. "You've got to relax for just a few minutes and take some deep breaths!"

"Yeah! I'm sure there's gotta be something we can do for Carmine. But… I don't think it's going to happen tonight, Jules. I'm—I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Penny croaked. "I don't want to see… both of you become broken in one night. That's happened to all of us enough already…"

…

Juliana looked at all of her friends, on the cusp of collapsing just like Nemona warned.

"MOCHI!" Carmine called out. "MOCHI? Hee-hee, mochi mochi!"

And then she did.

She got down on her knees and broke down crying the most silent, yet ugliest tears she'd ever managed. She was completely wrecked, all the optimism in her mind completely dead and buried. She was trying so hard to deny reality, but forced to repeat the facts inside her mind, making her feel trapped in a nightmare of her own doing.

Carmine's gone.

Carmine's gone.

CARMINE'S GONE.

The crying got louder, and more feral.

Kieran held his head together in his hands, his grandparents comforting him as he sobbed for his sister too.

"I wanna take it all back…" he moaned. "Every time I ever complained about her… I wanna take it all back, Grandma!"

"I know, sweetpea, I know."

Juliana's friends tried cautiously approaching their emotionally distraught friend. Watching her going through this was utterly heart wrenching for them.

"Juliana…" Nemona placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Let's get you to bed and—"

"NOOOO!" she shouted in such a shrill voice it made all their ears ring. "I'M NOT LEAVING HER!"

Juliana picked herself up and practically thrust herself onto Carmine, grabbing the Kitakamite girl by her blue academy top, and cried in her face.

"CARMINE, PLEASE!" she wailed. "PLEASE COME BACK! PLEASE!"

"Mochi, mochi!" Carmine responded as if all the world's cares were nonexistent. "Mochi? Mochi, mochiii?"

"NO! STOP IT!" Juliana slapped her across the face. "JUST CUT IT OUT! PLEASE, THIS ISN'T FAIR!" She slapped her again. "CARMINE, I'M BEGGING YOU!" And she slapped Carmine's face repeatedly, each time getting more ferocious.

"JULIANA, STOP IT!" Hideko shouted. He gruffly pulled Juliana off Carmine, but Juliana still held on to Carmine's hand with all her might. "I—I know you're upset! Believe me, we are too! We're Carmine's family! But I won't just let you smack my granddaughter around like that! Ya hear!?"

"I… I… I… I'm sorry, it's just…" She made a loud cry, struggling to breathe. "I—I don't think I can live without her…"

"Deki, please," Yukito ushered her husband away, and held Juliana's shoulders much more gently. "Sweetie… I know how much you love Carmine. Believe me with all my heart that she loves you just as strongly. And she is probably still somewhere in there, waiting for you. I just know it. But… your friends are right. There's nothing we can do for her right now, sweetie."

Juliana scrunched her eyes shut. Her face was red like the sun, but she knew she had to stop living in denial. There really was… nothing. Nothing she could do about it.

"The best we can do for tonight is… just to bring her home. Make sure she's comfortable. And then tomorrow, we'll talk about this. …Okay? Just—just please let her go for now, Juliana."

Yukito started putting her arms around Carmine now, gently guiding the girl forward as she continued dancing absentmindedly.

"Mochi, mochi…"

"I know dear. C'mon… let's go home together."

But Juliana stumbled along, so hesitant to let go of Carmine's hand… until she tripped on a rock, and was forced to let go, gasping as she did so.

"…Carmine!"

To her despair, she really couldn't do anything else but watch the girl's back leaving as her grandparents carried her away from the Plaza, down the road back to her house.

Kieran looked between them and Juliana. He gazed at her, wanting so badly to say something, next to Ogerpon who had been crying her eyes out the whole time.

…But he just couldn't find the words. So instead, he just nodded sadly at her before he decided to follow his family home. He followed behind Hideko, who had just noticed the Pokémon following his grandson and was wide-eyed.

"Hey, that thing… Isn't—isn't that the Never-Rotting Peach?"

"Uhhh, yeah, Gramps, it's… it's kind of a long story," Kieran admitted, looking at Pecharunt sheepishly.

"I always knew there was something fishy about that thing…" he muttered. "That face… I've definitely seen it before, maybe even in some of those lost pages…"

Ogerpon stayed with Juliana in the square, hugging her waist. Perhaps looking both to comfort Juliana… and seek some of it herself.

"Ponnnn…"

Juliana was shaking harder than a leaf. She brought her hands to her face, wanting desperately for all the tears and the anguish to stop for just a second so she could breathe.

Arven sensed that she needed someone to cry on, and gently laid Nemona down so he could rush up to be there for her.

Juliana buried herself in Arven's chest, sobbing inconsolably, as Arven pat her head and tried to be reassuring.

"There, there, Jules… I promise… I promise one way or another, we're gonna figure this out, okay?"

He glanced over at Penny and Nemona, and sensed they were just as beaten by this long, awful night as he was. Nemona was practically struggling to stand.

"Ohhh-ohhh…"

Arven sighed. "Come here, you." With his one free arm, he wrapped Nemona around himself, doing his best to support both girls in need. "Penny… let's head on back."

"Yeah…" she muttered sadly.

With somber faces, they all started leaving the square together. Penny had her head down. Arven did his best to support both a fatigued Nemona and a Juliana who was still lost inside her crushing sadness.

Her mind was like a funereal projector reel, playing all the highlights of that wonderful girl Carmine and how she'd shaped the past half-year for Juliana, in a slideshow of regret and bitter anguish.

The day she first met Carmine, thinking immediately that she was the most beautiful girl on the planet. How she cracked Carmine's hard surface with their first exciting battle, and gained her trust even harder on their quest helping out Ogerpon. Forming the Mask Retrieval Squad, battling at that Crystal Pool together.

The picnic that must've replayed itself in her head over dozens and dozens of times. Carmine dolliping her in the nose with that yogurt.

Meeting up with Carmine again at Blueberry Academy… being promised a tutorial in cooking. Helping ease Carmine's anxiety with her hugs. Going on BBQ's together. Battling together… as one unit, to defeat—no, to save her brother.

How she saved Carmine's life, at the Chilling Waterhead. Without even thinking, she dove on in, risking killing herself too…

Even back then… I already couldn't imagine a future without her…

And Carmine repaid the favor… by saving her life in the Area Zero underdepths. Her tall guardian… always ready to fight for her. To stand by her side.

Juliana's beautiful… gorgeous… perfect… selfless hero.

She thought about Carmine's beautiful yellow eyes, how she always knew how to apply the mascara that would make them shine the brightest. That gorgeous, silky hair. The beauty mark.

That wonderful, amazing smile… that she might never get to see again.

That amazing, harmonious laugh… that she might never get to hear ever again.

The day Carmine kissed her.

That wonderful, sweet, time-stopping kiss… that was never going to happen again.

Because that's all these memories were now to Juliana… snapshots of a life with a girl she'd completely taken for granted, not knowing it was all going to cruelly ripped away like this.

She would've never left had she known.

She would've never fought with Carmine had she known.

She would've never told Carmine she didn't love her had she known.

Arven stroked her hair, trying to get his own tears out from within her strands.

"I'm so sorry, Juliana… This really—" She wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "This really feels to me like I'm reliving Mom's death all over again…"

Now Juliana felt more alone than ever inside her consciousness, doomed to be racked with guilt and regret… possibly for the rest of her life, her mind burning with uncertainty and anxiety… that those experiences were all in the past forever, and she and Carmine were never going to have their happy ending.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

WAIT.

When Arven's mom died…

Juliana's memory had drifted back to the day they witnessed Professor Sada's ghost return to say goodbye to her son… and remembering that moment suddenly caused something to SHARPLY reenter her mind.

It was what Briar had said to her, as they were watching the tearful reunion.

"Even at the very end, when it seems like a person's mind is completely gone. That the person you thought you knew is dead… There's one part of them left. A light that will never go out."

"What's that?"

"Love, Juliana… Love. Even when our bodies become dust in the wind… love is the one thing that will always remain, she told me. Love is what keeps us alive… forever."

…

Love… keeps us alive…

…forever.

…

THAT'S IT! LOVE!

"OWWW!" Arven cried out, as Juliana suddenly elbowed him hard in the rib to escape!

"Juliana!?" Nemona called out. "Where the heck are you going!?"

Juliana barged down the hill faster and harder than she'd ever ran before. Her bad leg ached like crazy. Tears streamed from her eyes blinding her vision so she could barely see the path in front of her.

But there was a clear target. That unmistakable blob of black, red and blue slowly coming into focus in front of her.

…

"OH!"

Yukito gasped in shock as Juliana came out of nowhere like a bullet and grabbed Carmine away.

Juliana stood the tall girl upright and grabbed at her top again.

"Carmine, listen! I'm sorry, okay!? I'm sorry for everything!"

"Mochi, mochi?"

"I'm sorry that we had that awful fight! I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye to you! I'm sorry I pressured you into being my understudy when I didn't even think about how it would make you feel! And—and I'm sorry because… that day… when you and I were running together on the treadmill, I couldn't help myself… I was staring at your boobs the whole time! And I felt like such a gross pervert for it!"

"Mochi, mochi, mochi…"

Kieran caught up with them, having been trudging behind, and watched mesmerized at Juliana laid out her open heart against his sister, who not only didn't even seem to be listening but was getting her arms ready to start dancing again.

"I'm sorry that I'm an idiot sometimes, and that I'm reckless all the time! I'm sorry I made you worry so much when I hurt my leg… I'm sorry I got Kieran hurt by not paying attention, and I'm sorry I called you a jerk! You're not a jerk at all, Carmine! You're PERFECT!"

Yukito was angry, and wanted to march up and tell Juliana to just leave Carmine alone already. But Hideko, bearing a worried face of her own, halted him.

"But most of all…? I'm so, so, incredibly sorry when you kissed me… and told me you loved me… that I told you I didn't feel the same way! Because I lied that day! It was the biggest lie I've ever told in my life, and I'm the chump who fell for it! Because the truth is, Carmine, I… I love you more than anything in the world. You're the greatest, most wonderful person I've ever met in my life and I was so stupid I didn't see you standing right in front of me until it was too late!"

"…Mochi?"

Juliana finally stopped pouring her heart out for just a few seconds… enough time to catch her breath, and let the ugly tears come flying down again.

By this time, her friends all frantically caught up with her on the road too.

"The truth is…" Juliana said much more calmly, much softer. "I made a huge, horrible mistake by trying to let go. By trying to forget you ever existed. And I'll never do that ever again. Carmine, whether you're cured today, tomorrow, or years from now… Or never at all… I'm never, ever going to leave your side ever again."

She sucked in deep breaths and finally uttered the words she should've said to Carmine that day in the empty classroom when she tried to let go of Juliana.

"I'm not giving up on you, Carmine. You're my best friend. I'm with you, until the end."

"Mochi, MOCHI!"

Juliana tried to be strong… she tried to hold it together. But it was unbearable. The dam had burst. Her walls… were broken down and destroyed permanently.

"DAMN IT, CARMINE!" she shouted. "I LOVE YOU!"

Then she did it. She freaking did it, and everyone gasped.

She stood up on her toes and kissed Carmine on the lips.

"Wowzers…" Kieran whispered.

The touch of Carmine's sweet lips on hers made Juliana feel like fireworks were going off in every square inch of her body. Her heart was roasting over a furnace, and her brain was practically drowning in serotonin.

This was just an amplification of everything she had felt that day Carmine first kissed her… All the bliss. All the primal emotions released. It was otherworldly. It was heaven.

Even with Carmine being as good as comatose, Juliana could almost feel her soul deep inside… With her own lips, she tried latching onto that warmth she could feel, and reel it back in.

She didn't even stop for air… she just held on, trapped in a moment in time with this kiss. To her, it was beautiful.

To everyone else, well… they watched as Carmine still continued to bunch her arms up. In certain ways… both of them were lost on another world, far from Earth. And her friends, seeing the fruitlessness of it all, felt deep anguish for Juliana.

"This is pointless…" Arven fretted. "Carmine's about to dance again."

"Can we just—can we go home already?" Penny trembled. "I'm starting to get really depressed now."

"Wait…" Nemona's squinting eyes started to light up again. "Guys."

"What?"

"LOOK."

Carmine's arms had bunched up like they were about to shimmy again… but then they stopped. They slowly began to move in a different way. Trembling… they were stretching outward.

Kieran gasped. "Could it be…?"

"Ponnn!" Ogerpon gasped too.

Carmine's hands unclasped themselves… and started hovering over Juliana's body, close to her backside.

And then everyone gasped.

"-!?"

Juliana snapped out of the kiss and popped her eyes open, feeling two hands suddenly touching her back.

"Wha—" She looked up in a glimmer of hope and disbelief. "Carmi—MMPH!"

Then she found herself pulled back in. Her eyes lit up and sparkled like they were about to pop as Carmine was now fully returning the kiss.

Now Juliana could feel Carmine's lips sliding with hers. She could even feel Carmine's tongue, and the warmth from her breath being sucked into Juliana's mouth as they transferred heat.

This… this blew the first kiss away. Juliana was riding a high she had never experienced before in her life. This was more than fireworks now. It was a goddamn light show.

And they weren't just keeping still either. Juliana felt Carmine stroking her back lovingly and tenderly, as her head swayed with Juliana's, and Juliana found herself gripping onto Carmine's long, silky hair for comfort.

She wasn't just kissing a beautiful statue anymore… but a fiery golden angel. One who made Juliana feel like she had literally died and been greeted in heaven by the personification of joy and eternal bliss itself.

Tears streamed down both their cheeks.

And everyone watching… Kieran, their grandparents, Juliana's friends, Ogerpon and Pecharunt, were all completely awestruck.

Finally… they broke away, both gasping for breath. A long string of saliva trailing down both their bottom lips.

And Juliana gazed, her eyes wider than the ocean, as Carmine started to groan audibly, and her face twitched.

And then… and then… she watched in astonishment as those beautiful yellow eyes began to open, and Carmine a natural, human look of daze that made Juliana feel for the first time ever since she'd landed in Kitakami… that she was truly staring at her long-missed friend once again.

"…C-C… Carmine?"

"Ohhhh…" she moaned. "Ju… Juliana? That you?"

"Yes…" she whispered in compete disbelief.

"Wow… this must be another dream…" Carmine giggled weakly. "You and me making out again, huh…? It feels so real this time…"

Juliana couldn't hold it in anymore, she was laughing cathartically now.

"Carmine… Carmine, it's not a dream! Wake up, Carmine!"

Carmine's eyes blinked several times as she fully opened them and finally started getting a grip of her surroundings.

"What the… where—where am I? What happened while I was— Wait, J-J-JULIANA?!"

"Yes! YESSSS!" she cried out in sheer delight. "CARMINE, YOU'RE BACK!"

"What are you talking about? Back from… what? I was just having this crazy dream—"

Then Carmine's eyes widened as she looked at Juliana and the realization hit her.

"Wait a minute… Did—" She had her hand over her mouth and gasped. "D—DID YOU AND I JUST…!?"

"UH-HUHHHH!" Juliana was crying harder than a baby at this point, but she didn't care. "Carmine, I'm so freaking happy to see you again!"

And she finally broke and let herself cry into Carmine's chest. Now they were happy, relieved tears of ecstasy. Carmine put her hand on Juliana's head to try to relax her, touched but extremely confused.

"Uhhh- hey! Whoa! Why the waterworks, Juliana? I'm—I'm stroked to see you too, but… what on Earth is happening!? How did I get here? What are YOU doing here? And—and why does my face hurt so much?" She looked at her surroundings, which confounded her even more. "Uhhh… Gramm? Gramps? What are we all doing near the Lousiness Plaza?"

"Well…" Hideko was nearly lost for words. "…I'll be."

Yukito just had her face stuffed with happy tears of her own.

Kieran was also nursing tears, feeling joy that he hadn't experienced… probably since he was a little kid, as Ogerpon reached up to help dry his tears.

"Sis… It's really you… I'm so happy…"

Carmine gasped. "OGERPON! HEY!"

"GER-PONNNNN!" Ogerpon cheerfully replied, jumping up and hugging Carmine's ankles. But this also messed with Carmine's balance when she was still trying to get her bearings—this sobbing girl also still attached to her.

"My little warrior girl! You're back home! But—what…"

Pecharunt started spinning happily around Kieran's head, dancing a little jig and making happy noises. Whatever was happening right now… yeah, now the little runt was sure of it. This is joy.

"Uhh, KIKI! WHAT IS—WHAT THE HELL IS THAT FREAKY PURPLE THING DANCING AROUND YOUR HEAD!?"

"You really did it, little buddy…" Arven started crying. "You really went and did it…"

"ARVEN?! What are YOU of all people doing here!? And… and who are YOU folks!?"

The slumping Nemona reached up to his face with a handkerchief, ignoring her own tears. "There, there. My big sensitive guy…" She sniffled. "We're all just… SO HAPPY! It almost makes me want to challenge everyone to a battle right here on the spot!"

"Damn it…" Penny was aggressively rubbing her red, teary eyes. "Now my glasses are all wet…"

Carmine's face was red with bemused fury. She reared her head up and screamed into the heavens.

"WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!"