"Alright! Now give me a high-five!"
"FOO!"
Mienfoo jumped into the air with great momentum and gave its new Trainer a power-packed high-five.
"Yeah!"
Mienfoo made a graceful landing to the ground and flexed its might for Juliana.
"How are you so cute and yet also so brave?" Juliana marveled. "Alright, you're definitely staying on my team. I can't wait to see what you evolve into!"
"Foo!" Mienfoo saluted in agreement.
Then the Martial Arts Pokémon suddenly went on alert, hearing a faint clapping sound, and jumped on a rock, readying a fighting stance.
"Mienfoo!" it proclaimed, looking upward.
Juliana looked up at the hill above them to see Kieran. Kieran gasped when he realized he was spotted, and ducked away.
Juliana sighed. At least this time, it really is Kieran.
"Foo…" Juliana was alarmed to see Mienfoo beginning to charge up an Aura Sphere.
"No wait! It's okay, Mienfoo! He's a friend! He's just shy!"
"Mien?" Mienfoo cancelled its charge, and crossed its arms. "Mien…"
She sighed again in relief, then she and her new friend decided to walk onwards.
Juliana found herself resonating with the name Wistful Fields. Not strictly for the reasons it might've been named for, but the vast grassy hills and tiny mountains was making her feel a tinge of nostalgia for her homeland of Paldea, especially with the soft breeze rolling in. She felt like she was traveling up that one road between Cortondo and Cascarrafa with all the windmills.
She had faced several excited Trainers along this route, mostly Delinquents and Festival Kids, that also pleasantly reminded her of how Paldea was strangely filled with random Trainers scattered everywhere.
After soaking in the fresh new vibes of Kitakami and Mossui Town, Juliana began to feel weirdly at home again, encountering exciting Pokémon to fill her Pokédex with and foraging new team members just like back in her own region.
After squeezing her way between some short rocky plateaus, Juliana gasped as she came upon a completely open and breezy field, filled with vibrant Pokémon ambling around.
Juliana took a fresh moment to stare in awe at the sight before her, before she suddenly heard a soft thud. She turned around to see Kieran had used his Yanma to help him jump slowly down from the hill he had been standing on.
He and Juliana locked eyes for a second… before Kieran shyly ducked into a bush.
Juliana was doing her best to try not to look ticked off. Putting her hands in her pockets for a bit, she decided on something.
"Okay, Kieran," she called out into the distance. "How about this? You don't have to show your face if you really don't want to. But… I'm still going to talk to you as if you're there. Does that sound fair?"
She heard a rustling from the bush.
"I'm just… going to assume that's a yes."
Little did Juliana realize that the other Blueberry sibling was only several yards away… give or take a hundred meters upwards.
"Watch out for all these steam vents," Carmine cautioned her partner.
They had made their way to the Infernal Pass, a white craggy area on the side of Oni Mountain with a sweltering atmosphere, which was quickly answered by all the bursting steam vents strewn about.
"You know, a few years back, there was a kid… about your height, wore glasses just like you, who decided to stand on one of those. Then it went BOOM! right under his feet, and all that was left were his glasses, without the frames."
Carmine's partner just grumbled in response, having grown accustomed to all the tall tales she was telling at this point. Aside that, he was also busy tapping on his Rotom Phone.
She turned around to him and looked instantly irritated.
"Hah! Typical city tourists, fly out to the most awesome region you've ever seen and you still can't keep your eyes off your phones. How do you Paldeans even function?"
"I'm doing something important," he said, annoyed.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" she asked, walking backwards. "Checking to see if your cheerleader crush swiped right on Luvdisc?"
"No… you've been asking so many questions about that Juliana girl that I'm talking to some other students in our school's chatroom to see who might know her."
"…Oh." Carmine couldn't hide her surprised response. She hadn't expected this kid to actually put in effort trying to satiate her desire for intel. "Any takers, or is she a loner like you?"
She was so interested in this that she wasn't looking where she was going, and the Uva student looked up just in time to say—
"CARMINE, LOOK OUT!"
"Huh—YIPES!"
Carmine stepped back just as a huge steam vent rose up and burst just inches from where she was walking.
"Are you okay!?"
"Y-yeah… I'm fine," she responded, frazzled. "I'm—I'm made of steel, y'know."
"Heh… I guess you were the one not looking that time," he couldn't help but joke.
Carmine pouted in fury. "Don't rub it in, you little snot."
"Uhh, s-sorry. Umm…" He pulled up his phone again. "So… according to some of the kids I've talked to, apparently Juliana's actually starting to rack up a reputation among the kids who are doing the Gym Challenge."
"The Gym Challenge, huh? Still eight Gyms, Elite Four, and all that jazz?"
"Mm-hm. But if this is true, then it's kind of insane."
"What's that?"
"Well… apparently she only started school a few weeks before our Treasure Hunt began, and since then it's only been a few weeks but… they're saying she already has four Gym Badges!"
"Oh… is that really all?"
"Huh!?" He was surprised at Carmine's brazenness. "How is that not unbelievable!? She's only been doing the Gyms for a couple weeks and she's already halfway done!? I wish I had known I was standing next to such an efficient Trainer or I would've paired up with her!"
Carmine just started busting out in derisive laughter.
"What's so funny!?"
"You. You Paldeans are so funny, thinking your Gym Challenge is such a huge deal." She started walking up the pass again, forcing the kid to toddle alongside her.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Look, I hate to give you a hard reality check here. You might think the Gyms in the Paldea region are like the pinnacle of prestige. But guess what? To all the rest of us who have done Gym Challenges in other regions? Paldea's Pokémon League is a joke."
The kid gasped dramatically. "How can you even say that!?"
"Simple. All the Gym Leaders in your region are super easy and put no strategy into anything. And your Champion… ugh, what's her name again? Gerta?"
"It's GEETA!" he responded, sounding very offended. "Her name's Geeta! But we call her La Primera because she's one of the strongest and most respected Trainers in the region!"
Carmine rolled her eyes. "Well… whatever her fancy title is, she's still a pushover. We've run battle sims with her teams before. And every single other Champion solos her. Sorry to crush your spirits."
She waved her hand dismissively at the student from Uva as she walked ahead with her back turned to him.
He stood there with his arms crossed, feeling frustrated.
"Hmph. You're a very judgmental person."
"Excuse me!?" To his startlement, Carmine did a swift 180 and doubled back over to him, doing her seething motions again. "How DARE you say that to me! I'll have you know I'm one of the nicest people you'll ever meet back at my old school!"
He gulped. "I'm… sorry?"
Carmine looked him up and down, and turned her nose.
"Maybe it's for the best you stay knocking around in Paldea, squirt. You'd get eaten alive in a place like Unova."
She sprinted forward again to where the signboard for Infernal Pass was.
"Now hurry up and take that picture already!" She pointed her fingers at her cheeks with a smile. "…And make sure to get my good side, okay?"
"Sigh…"
"So umm… as you already know, my name's Juliana. My mom and I moved to Paldea when I was 3, so even though I wasn't born there it's still like I've been living there my whole life."
Juliana wanted to talk, but didn't know what else to say in a one-way conversation with someone that wasn't even making himself visible to her. So she decided to start simple by just… talking about herself.
"That Floragato you saw when I was battling your sister is my first ever partner Pokémon. It was just an adorable little Sprigatito when I first got it! I don't know if… you guys have Pokémon like Sprigatito around here or in the Unova region." She chuckled. "I guess not, since Carmine acted like she'd never seen it before. Heh. Her reaction to it was… kind of adorable, don't you think?"
She thought she heard a "Heh" from a rock above her, but wasn't too sure.
"Let's see…"
Juliana had been walking through the Wistful Fields for some time now, and she figured they must be getting close to Paradise Barrens since the grass was beginning to sparse out with patches of bedrock, and Kieran had mentioned it was a pretty rocky area.
"Ooh! I could tell you about some of my friends! I don't have a whole lot of them, because I just started school like, a month or two ago. But one of my best friends right now is someone I met on my first day going out! Her name's Nemona, and she's a Champion rank Trainer who's just… bursting with energy! She loves battling more than anyone else I've ever met. In fact, sometimes she can be a… a little much," Juliana admitted.
"But she's also one of the nicest girls I've ever met, and… she really wants me to become a Champion and get to her level so we can be rivals, which… I don't really know if that's my main goal, but it seems like she gets really happy every time I get further with beating the Gyms, so that's been my drive lately."
Juliana pulled something out of her bag, a special charm Nemona had given her when Julina told her about the trip she was going on. According to Nemona, it's supposed to bring good luck. Juliana didn't know whether she believed in such things, but decided to keep it along with her.
"Gosh, I can't wait to see her again…" She then giggled a bit. "I don't know if you guys would make good friends, though. She'd probably scare you all the way to the other side of the globe with how much she likes to talk!"
That time, she definitely heard a giggle. She couldn't tell where it came from, though.
"Alright… who else? Oh! I know! Arven! He's… a unique guy. His dad's actually a really famous Professor in our region. I don't think he has any of his dad's interests in science, but he's really passionate about cooking. So passionate that he's… sorta got me doing this uhh, really bizarre series of quests with him," she explained, knowing that was a bit of an understatement.
"I don't know what his goals are. He seemed kind of mean at first, but I guess he's just easily frustrated. He also seems… sad about something. I've asked him a couple times why he seems so down, but he just doesn't answer… I guess, I guess that's the reason I'm tagging along with him, is because this all seems to make him feel better…"
Juliana's eyes drifted to the ground. Talking about Nemona and Arven was starting to make her contemplate on something. And she stopped to a halt.
"You know… it's kind of funny. I tried to think of things to tell you about myself but… I ended up just gushing about my friends instead. I guess… unlike them, I don't really have a whole lot to my name yet. I'm still just, looking for my own treasure. Don't even… have a real goal in mind."
…
"I guess sometimes, it's just… hard to see yourself for who you are, and not just how everyone else sees you."
…
"…Yeah," came a faint voice. "I-I know what you mean."
This brought Juliana out of her funk. She still didn't know where Kieran was talking from, but she had just achieved a huge step in getting him to open up, and that was accomplishment enough.
"There are thugs on motorcycles everywhere you look, on bridges and street corners! And did I mention the eeevil Team Plasma? You make a wrong turn somewhere, and they'll jump out of nowhere and SNATCH your Pokémon right up!" Carmine declared, clasping her hands together like a trap. "And that's not to mention all the scary Pokémon you'll find in Unova!"
Her traveling companion just rolled his eyes at this point as they descended down the stairs back to Kitakami Hall.
"What? Are you not totally terrified?"
"We've got plenty of tough Trainers and strong Pokémon too, y'know. In fact… in our region, there's places you shouldn't go to because there's these gigantic Pokémon making their nests there. Like… super gigantic! Bigger than even a normal Pokémon of their species!"
Carmine just looked at him and scoffed incredulously.
"Giant Pokémon, huh? Get real, would you?"
"I-I'm serious!" he shouted, stomping his feet. "I can even show you the pictures to prove it!"
"Kid… listen here," said Carmine, craning her neck his way. "I can tell you right now, I'm probably never going to have any reason to pay your Paldea region a visit, unless Ms. Briar gets permission to study some big crater in your area for science-y stuff. But it sounds like that's almost impossible. So, don't feel like you have to impress me, okay? I really don't care."
The Uva student just stood there behind her, looking stumped.
"That Ms. Briar lady wants to… go to the Great Crater of Paldea? Why?"
"So… what about you?" Juliana tried to opine. "What's your history, Kieran?"
…
She just heard soft running sounds.
"Mm. Still not too comfortable talking about yourself, huh?"
"N-no. Sorry."
Juliana had reached what seemed like a cliff off into nowhere… only to realize Paradise Barrens was directly below. She made it down the little path cutting through the cliff, and was now in some real rocky territory like Kieran said.
"Okay, well… how about your sister? Carmine? She's… certainly unique."
"T-that's one way to put it," said Kieran's faint voice.
"She seems really cool in her own way," Juliana admitted. "She's got a lot of confidence in battling, and she is very pretty." She found herself giggling a bit, not sure why she said that.
The only response to that was silence, which made Juliana second-guess herself.
"Umm, we can talk about something other than your sister if you—"
"…You really think my sister's pretty?" came Kieran's voice, which sounded like it was a bit closer.
"W-well, yeah, I… I guess. She's… really cute."
"Huh. She likes to think that she's the prettiest girl in the world. I guess I-I didn't know whether anyone else thinks of her that way…"
Juliana smiled hearing Kieran talking with a bit more confidence. But then she thought back on the siblings' interaction back in town and frowned.
"She seemed like, she was being a little mean to you back there, though. You and… Carmine get along normally, right?"
She heard a groan from Kieran. "Yeah that's just… my sis. She gets very bigheaded sometimes, and makes some mean comments because of it. She also likes to order me around all the time, and won't let me do anything she says is too dangerous."
"Hmm…" Juliana wondered if there was an optimistic way to look at that. Being an only child, she had a hard time gauging sibling relationships. "It seems like she wants to think of herself as this mighty protector for your guys' home. I wonder if… maybe she sees herself as your protector too? Since she's your big sister and all."
"…M-maybe?" There was a pause for a bit. "At school, whenever she sees somebody else bullying me, she does give them a real good thrashing. And she also taught me a lot of things growing up, like battling. How to ride a bike. She helped me write my recommendation letter to get into Blueberry Academy too."
"Oh."
Juliana was surprised to hear all of this. She had only seen Carmine's more arrogant side the few things they'd interacted up to then… but now Kieran was describing someone who sounded softer and more caring.
"That's… that's really cool. Maybe I've been misjudging her this whole time. … You're lucky to have a sibling who looks out for you like that, and likes to do all those things with you."
…
"I never thought about it that way before…"
"Now I kind of want to get to know her better too."
"…C-Carmine is mean to me a lot sometimes, but she's… also one of the coolest people I know. …Once you get to know her anyway. A-and as long as you're not an 'outsider' or whatever."
Juliana chuckled. "Guess I'm out of the running then." She laughed lightly at herself, and was pleased to hear Kieran laughing from a distance too. She spotted something in the distance.
"Hey. There's the signboard."
"Hey, what the-!?"
Carmine sighed. "Now what's your problem?"
"There's a signboard right over there!"
The Uva student pointed to a signboard identical to the one they'd just taken a photo of at Infernal Pass. … This one was situated right at the outskirts of Kitakami Hall.
"It sure is. Good eye, squirt."
"Why didn't you point that out when we were walking by here? There are three signboards, right?"
Carmine shook her head. "Nah, there's a bunch of 'em. We could've just stopped here if we wanted."
"Why didn't we!?"
She just shrugged. "You looked like you needed the exercise. You're welcome." And then she casually walked away with a smile on her face.
"Grrr…"
Carmine looked out into the grounds of Kitakami Hall, where stalls were being set up for the Festival of Masks behind held that night. The caretakers were putting up banners, and Misha, the woman who runs the Ogre Oustin' game, was decorating carts to be used for storing berries in the activity.
"Gosh. I sure am glad they don't force Kieran and I to help set things up for the festival like they did when we were younger. They should be making you outsiders do the lousy work instead, right?" She cackled, expecting a response.
But to Carmine's surprise, her partner wasn't there anymore.
"Hey? Hey, where'd you go, you little brat!?"
"Whooaaaa!"
Carmine heard his astonished yell from off in the distance and ran down to the other side of town where she found him gaping at a monument.
"Do I seriously need to start keeping a leash on you, kid?"
"Hey, Carmine!" he called to her, seemingly having not heard her insult. "What's this cool looking rock?"
"What, that silly old thing? It's called uhh…" Carmine covertly read the plaque. "It's the Mossened Boulder, of course!"
"Woah!"
"You think that's something? Take a look over there."
She pointed to a lush gorge outside of town, where a tall spiny spire stood at the center of a lush space with rivers and cliffs.
"Wowwww!"
"That's the Fellhorn Gorge, and that big pointy spire is called the Fallen Horn. It fell off the mountain or… something like that."
"That's amazing!" The boy's head moved around as she gazed in awe at the beautiful gorge. "You're really lucky!"
"…Me?"
"Yeah! That you got to grow up in such a beautiful place like this! This is better than anything I've ever seen in Paldea!"
Carmine was taken aback. "Well, y-yeah! Of course it is! You think I don't know that? It's natural beauty, untouched by the meddling of rowdy outsiders like you."
Carmine was boasting again, but in actuality, she found herself mesmerized by the sights of the gorge too. Despite having lived here most of her life, she realized she'd never actually ventured to that part of Kitakami, or even stopped for a second to look at it.
That is pretty beautiful…
Not wanting the Uva student to see her looking soft, she cleared her throat in an aggressive manner.
"So! I suppose like a typical tourist, you want to go down there and take a million pictures?"
The student pondered. "Well… I dunno. Honestly… I don't think a picture could capture how great this looks with your own eyes."
"Wow. You're… not the kind of rabid tourist I was expecting."
"…You know what? I'll take a picture. I'll just do it from here and pose in front of it so I can show everyone in my class." He pulled out his Rotom Phone and set up photo mode. "Umm… I know you'll probably say no, but… any chance I could get you to take it for me?"
Carmine blinked in surprise. "You want… you want me to take it for you? I mean, I guess you've noticed I'm an expert in photography, after all."
The student handed her his phone and set himself up.
"Move a little closer."
He did, and then he initiated a pose like he was flashing his claws.
"…That's the dorky pose you're going to go with? Alright, fine."
Snap!
He took his camera back and marveled at the picture.
"Wow! Thanks a lot!"
Carmine was trying to wipe the look of confusion off her face.
"Sure… thing? Hope it was a good one or whatever. I'm surprised you trusted a stranger like me to not do something funny with the picture. Or mess with your phone."
"I guess I never considered it like that… Umm, but you didn't so… I was r-right to trust you?"
"…Whatever."
"Umm, t-thank you, Carmine."
The Uva student sat on a bench to start uploading and sharing his photo on the net. Carmine watched his annoying eager face… befuddled.
What a weirdo. I treated him like dirt the whole time we were out just to amuse myself, and I literally just told him I made him trek several miles for nothing.
And yet… he's still a polite dork after that and he even trusted me with his phone.
I guess Juliana's not a one-off among these squirts then. Maybe I did learn a little something about her home base.
…That these kids from Paldea are all freaks! They're totally willing to trust strangers, they think everything's amazing, and they somehow always end up looking happy again.
Is there like, no bullying that goes on in that school at all to break their spirits?
…
…
Must be nice.
After reading the signboard at Paradise Barrens, Kieran got so jazzed up talking about the ogre that he asked Juliana if she wanted to see the part of Oni Mountain the ogre supposedly makes his home, and was surprised when she said yes.
She mostly said it because she enjoyed his enthusiasm, and watching him beam happily and actually walk alongside her as they walked through the upward path to the mountain and towards the "Dreaded Den" made her very happy.
The young Kitakamite then surprised her again by asking for another battle once they reached the cave opening at the end of a surprisingly narrow rockway.
Their battle wasn't quite as one-sided as when they had fought at the town square, with Kieran's Yanma actually giving Juliana's Floragato and Mienfoo a run for their money. It was only through Juliana sending out her Wattrel that the great dragonfly Pokémon was finally felled… but just barely.
"Ahh… darn it." Kieran mustered up his courage and readied his last Pokémon. "Okay, Furret! Win this one for me, okay?"
Kieran's last Pokémon came out, and Juliana instantly gasped.
"What is that!? It's so cute! Did it evolve from your Sentret!?"
"Oh, y-yeah!" Kieran found himself stammering again at Juliana's reaction. "I was… letting it battle some Pokémon in the fields and it, it did that. I didn't see it coming."
"Wow! That's so great, Kieran!"
"Heh-heh, y-yeah…"
Furret gave a happy cry.
"Now, Furret! Use Fury Swipes on that… Watt-y thing!"
"Fur! Fur! Fur! Furret!"
Kieran's Furret initiated a fury of swipes at Wattrel that did sufficient damage to the bird, possibly enough to knock it out.
"Oh, no… Wattrel, hang in there…"
"Watt… … … TREL!"
Suddenly, something happened. Juliana's Wattrel became bathed in a glow of bright, white energy.
"Huh?"
Kieran was shocked. "Is it… seriously…!?"
The white energy dissipated, and a larger bird Pokémon stood in Wattel's spot. It immediately chirped full of energy, the bruises it took from Furret having seemingly vanished, and spread its much longer wingspan for everyone to see.
"Whoa… didn't see that one coming either."
Kieran was gobsmacked. "No way! Your Pokémon evolved too? I-I thought I had this!"
Juliana pulled out the Pokédex app on her Rotom Phone to scan her newly-evolved Pokémon, now being deemed "Kilowattrel".
"KILOOOOO!"
"Wow!" said Juliana. "Looks like you weren't the only one graced with good evolution look today, Kieran!" Heh, maybe Nemona's charm does bring some luck after all…
"I… I guess not?" Kieran responded, looking a little deflated now.
Juliana's phone beeped.
"Huh? What's this? Oh…" Her Pokédex app seemed to be notifying her of something. "Kilowattrel learned a new move just by evolving!? Dual Wingbeat, huh? That sounds amazing! Let's do it, Kilowattrel!"
"WATTREEEEEL!"
"Huh? W-wait a minute, we weren't prepared for this…"
But the Frigatebird Pokémon was above listening to the concerns of mere mortals. It struck Furret with one massive strike of wind from its wings, and then readied up another one right after.
Furret couldn't take the consecutive blows, and was quickly knocked out.
"Furrrrret…"
Kieran ran over to his fainted Pokémon.
"We won!" said Juliana.
"Furret…" Kieran's Furret weakly turned its head up to squint at its Trainer. "It's okay. You and I just… weren't strong enough…" he said, bowing his head.
He recalled his Furret, while Juliana eagerly petted her newly-evolved bird.
"You did such a great job out there!"
"I knew it…" Kieran mumbled. "You really are strong, Juliana. How am I ever gonna be able to beat you?"
Juliana turned her attention from Kilowattrel to Kieran with a look of sympathy.
"If the ogre saw that battle, I'm sure right now it'd be thinking 'That kid's got real strength...'"
"Hey… don't sell yourself short, okay?" Juliana gave him a gentle shoulder pat. "You did really great too. Kept us on our toes even better than you did before! At my school, my teachers like to say that everyone's got the makings of a really strong Trainer, and every battle is a chance to grow."
"Huh…" Kieran still looked a bit downtrodden. "I guess… Blueberry Academy has sayings like that too. It's a school that specializes in teachin' the art of Pokémon battling. If I was as strong as you... maybe I could aim to be the best Trainer there."
"Your school sounds awesome," Juliana grinned. "I wonder if I'll ever get to visit it someday."
"Y-yeah. That would be, that would be really cool if you did! We could battle and hang out all the time and… well, yeah." Kieran felt a bit self-conscious now. "Hey uh… let's go have a look at the ogre's den."
They decided to head inside, unaware that there was something watching the two of them from a distance, before it decided to hobble away.
"Watch your head."
The ogre's den was certainly smaller than one would think a rowdy monster would make its home in for hundreds of years.
"See how dark it is in here?" said Kieran.
"And cramped..." Juliana agreed. "Even the floor's all rough and uneven."
Kieran had a sad look on his face gazing around.
"Living all alone in a place like this would get pretty miserable, don't you think?"
"Yeah… I guess so."
Juliana didn't want to tell Kieran what she was thinking, which is that, if the "den" the ferocious ogre is supposed to live in just looks like this, a mere crack in the mountains… Juliana was feeling more skeptical that the monster in the legends truly existed at all.
It did sound like a pretty great bedtime story.
"Poor ogre..." Kieran lamented. "We have plenty of room at our house. I would've totally let it stay with us..."
"Oh yeah?" Juliana responded. She then flashed Kieran a wily look. "Then when can I move in?"
Kieran's face went red like a tomato. He laughed nervously.
"I uhh—I don't think there's enough room for you and the ogre, Juliana. Y-you'd have to sleep on the couch."
Juliana giggled in retort.