"Mmkay…"
Munkidori was the last of the Lousy Three to fall to the combined might of Juliana's Ceruledge and Carmine's Poltchageist. It tripped on its own feet, dropping the mask in its possession, and scurried away in panic.
"You never stood a chance!" Carmine boasted after it. She turned to Juliana and slammed her fists together. "We're an unstoppable force! You and I are just like Ogerpon and its masks—we help bring out each other's full power!"
"Pon pon!" Ogerpon cheered.
"Yeah, we do!" Juliana agreed. "And look, there's the last mask!"
She ran up and picked up the mask in the grass. It was a blue heart-shaped mask that looked like a crying face.
Ogerpon rushed up, and Juliana held it out for her. "Here you go!" Ogerpon looked at the mask, and smiled cheerfully at its friend.
"That's the last mask, isn't it?" Juliana verified. Ogerpon nodded affirmatively. "Hurray! We got all of them back! That means we've completed our mission!"
Ogerpon started to cry out in rallying joy. "Pon-pon! Pon yo pon ponnn…!" Then it felt a tap on its shoulder, and turned around.
"ROAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!"
Carmine hunched over the little ogre flashing her hands at it like claws… and wearing Ogerpon's other mask they had retrieved from Fezandipiti, a spiked red and yellow mask that bore a very angry face.
"Pon?"
Ogerpon just seemed to stare at Carmine's attempted scare… and then burst out laughing.
"Aww, come on!" Carmine lifted the mask up. "Weren't you at least a little scared?"
"I think Ogerpon's immune to being scared by its own masks," Juliana giggled. "But you really brightened up my day with that!"
Ogerpon smiled, and grabbed the Hearthflame mask from Carmine's displeased face. Taking out the other two masks in its possession, Ogerpon looked between all three of its recovered masks, gave them a tight hug, and began jumping up and down in celebration.
Juliana laughed. "Well, we really did it! Ogerpon finally has all of its masks again, and I've never seen it so happy!"
"Congratulations, Ogerpon! And good work, Juliana! Thank goodness it all worked out!"
Juliana put her arms behind her back and stretched bigly, relieved to have successfully accomplished their task.
As her head cocked up, she spotted something on the trees above that piqued her interest.
"Woah. What are those bright red fruits up there?"
"Huh?"
"On the trees," she pointed.
Carmine looked up. "Oh, wow! Good eye!" Her eyes twinkled at the sight of the tree fruits sprouting from two nearby trees. "Those are Umeboshi plums! They grow very rare around here, and only during a certain point in the early autumn!"
"'Uma-boshi', huh?"
"Umeboshi!" Carmine sternly corrected her pronunciation. "They're really sought after because they have like… this taste that's so hard to describe. It's sweet in one way but also sour in another."
"Oh, wow."
"I've gotta get some of those home to my Gram! I bet she can make some scrumptious stuff with those! It'll be a welcome change from all the mochi she makes…"
Juliana gazed up with her hand over her eyes.
"Those trees are pretty tall, though."
She felt a hand come down on the top of her hair and start nuzzling it.
"Awww, too short? Let me and my gifted legs handle this!"
Carmine walked over to one of the trees with a proud strut, and jumped as high as she could to reach the umeboshi… but her fingers were just barely not there.
"C'mon… Don't make me look stupid, you dumb plums… Get DOWN here! … Huh?"
She felt something tapping her legs and looked behind her to see Ogerpon was trying to get her attention.
"Pon pon!" Ogerpon jumped up with its arms held out wide.
"What? You wanna try and reach for 'em?" Carmine sighed dramatically. "If you want to help that badly, then alright. But I can totally get them all by myself."
Even so, she hoisted an excited Ogerpon up in her arms, who reached up and delicately picked all the plums. Ogerpon nuzzled its face up to Carmine's, and Carmine couldn't help but laugh merrily at its gesture of affection.
Juliana couldn't help but laugh because Carmine's laugh was that infectious.
As the tall pair scooped up plums, a light breeze blew through the field and tickled Juliana's legs. It bristled against the purple-colored thistles all around her, almost making them hum.
"This place is gorgeous…"
She hadn't really taken the time to soak in the views of Wysteria Pond while they were fighting a giant monkey Pokémon. There was a glistening body of water where Surskit danced, and a flock's worth of Sensu Style Oricorio walked the tall grass, blending in with the purple shrubbery.
It was like a pretty little corner of the world.
Juliana felt her excitement pumping up, and by the time Carmine and Ogerpon had finished plucking all the plums…
"Hey! Let's have a picnic here!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Pon pon?" Ogerpon imitated Carmine.
"Right here!" Juliana spread her arms out. "This place is beautiful! And the wind is so calming, the sun's out. C'mon! This is the perfect place for it!"
Carmine looked at her funny. "Why do you have your mind on lunch all of a sudden? Did you forget about the importance of our mission?"
"We already got the masks back, right? So we've got all the time in the world," Juliana giggled as she continued, "And picnics aren't just about food! They're about enjoying nature, and spending quality time with friends, including our Pokémon! Isn't that why you love camping?"
"I—Well, yeah, o-of course! I'm the master of picnics, I'll have you know!" Carmine said defensively. "I just didn't know a bookworm like you knew anything about having a good picnic."
"Of course I do!" Juliana laughed some more. "Picnics are all the rage in Paldea! I have them with my Pokémon all the time!"
"…You do?" Carmine responded. She tried to hide the surprise in her tone, feeling embarrassed that she had apparently been getting the "city vibes" from Juliana all wrong.
"Yeah! I even brought all my picnic supplies right here in my backpack, in case I wanted to unwind with one here in Kitakami!"
"You're kidding."
"And just think about Ogerpon, she probably hasn't enjoyed something like a picnic with friends and good food in many years." She knelt down to the happy ogre. "What do you say, Ogerpon? Want to sit down for a picnic for a couple hours?"
Ogerpon cried excitedly at the idea and began rustling with joy.
"Besides, I—I'm still worried about you after that fall," Juliana said, adopting a voice of concern. "Maybe we should take it easy for a bit."
Carmine huffed. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm fine! I—"
Her brain shut down from whatever she was about to say when she felt Juliana tenderly grab her hand.
"…Then help me believe you."
Juliana gazed into Carmine's eyes. Carmine gazed back, taking in the brilliant brown-hazel color she'd first noticed waking up to them in the Chilling Waterhead.
What were those eyes doing to her?
"W-well… Y-you know what? Ogerpon's cute enough to warrant anything that it wants," Carmine reasoned. "So it's the boss! And if the boss wants it, then who am I to say no?"
"Pon-yo!"
"Gasp! Am I not cute enough?" Juliana whined in mock offense, putting her fingers to her cheeks and making an exaggerated pouting face.
"Not when you do that, no."
Carmine tried to keep her face still.
…Maybe a little.
Carmine had to admit, she was both surprised and impressed not only that Juliana wasn't lying about having all the essentials for a picnic on her person, but how expertly she set everything up.
Carmine helped her with the chairs and the blanket, but Juliana set up the basket, all the cups, plates, and bottles by herself. She brought out all sandwich ingredients in little slider bags and freezer pouches, and insisted Carmine help her out in making the sandwich.
She noticed that Juliana had a skill for putting ingredients together that was almost artisan-like. She was able to stack things on top of each other without letting anything drop off the bread.
"Lots of trial and error, though," she chuckled sheepishly.
"Yeah, but if I tried to pile all this stuff together, I'd probably be dropping everything all over the floor! You're… very good at this," said a legitimately impressed Carmine.
Juliana blushed. "T-thanks."
A real compliment?
She started slathering the pickles on with her face turned away so Carmine wouldn't see how red it was. Carmine just chuckled deviously to herself, finding the sight funny.
Juliana and Carmine both brought out all the Pokémon on them to enjoy the fresh air too. Some of them played with a blue Marill-shaped ball Juliana shaped, and others ran around racing each other or playing hide and seek.
Carmine was surprised at how easily her own Pokémon seemed to bond with Juliana's, especially Poltchageist and Floragato who were getting along surprisingly well.
"Yeah, it's nice to see my Pokémon get along so well with others. I've never had a shared picnic with another Trainer besides Arven before," Juliana admitted. "And he doesn't really seem to have any Pokémon of his own."
She and Carmine were sat snugly on Juliana's Uva Academy-themed picnic blanket, enjoying delicious sandwiches with Ogerpon and Miraidon.
Ogerpon was scarfing down its sandwich with big bites, enamored by the sweet yet tangy taste of Juliana's veggie sandwiches, apparently her mother's recipe.
It was so protective of its delicious meal that, when a curious Miraidon poked its nose in to sniff at the food, Ogerpon gave it a threatening look while reaching for its ivy cudgel… which made Miraidon retreat in fear.
"Well, for some reason, everyone you meet seems to really like you right away. I guess that kind of infectious energy spread to your Pokémon like a virus. Good thing I'm the only one immune to your charms," Carmine snarked.
"Or maybe you're just resisting too hard," Juliana smiled bigly. "By the end of this adventure, you're going to wish I was your sister!"
"Tch, if I had grown up with you as my sister, I probably would've gone mad years ago."
Juliana just giggled in response. Now that she had received a genuine compliment from the once all-sour Kitakamite, she could take any further snark from Carmine in stride. Juliana was satisfied with how far in she'd broken through Carmine's thick walls.
"Speaking of siblings though…" Carmine started to look a little sad. "I hate to admit it, but I really wish Kiki were here right now."
Juliana frowned, feeling guilty. "Do you think he'd be upset if he found out we held a picnic without him?"
"Yeah, probably. … Guess we shouldn't tell him."
"What? But Carmine, I… I thought we agreed we wouldn't lie to him anymore."
"I promised we wouldn't lie about Ogerpon anymore. I'm still okay with keeping secrets that I know would hurt him. I've been in the big sister business a long time, Juliana."
"Yeah, but…"
"You seemed okay with not telling him about the whole… y'know, our little adventure back there in the caves."
Juliana pouted. She didn't have a good retort for that.
"Look, Juliana… You're an only child, aren't you?" Carmine asked a bit more sensitively. Juliana reluctantly nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's what I thought. See… maybe if you were our sister, you would understand better. This is just—a thing siblings have to do. Especially me as the older sibling.
Y'know, my grandparents, they… they really want me to be the responsible one for him. Especially without our parents around. It's a lot of pressure, always havin' to protect him. …I really don't think you could ever understand."
Juliana nodded softly, knowing that on some level, she was making a really good point.
"I know that you care about him and that you're trying to protect him," she acknowledged. "But… we're also really hurting his feelings."
Carmine had a look of bitter resignation, and replied softly, "…I know."
"And isn't—don't you think that maybe, that maybe his feelings being hurt is the reason that he…" Juliana trailed off, not being sure how to finish that sentence nicely.
But Carmine picked up on her insinuation and cocked an eyebrow.
"I hope you aren't suggesting that it's my fault Kiki's been acting so strange."
"No! Of course not! I would never suggest that!" Juliana said, waving her hands anxiously upon realizing she hit a nerve. "I'm just… I don't know. I guess I'm worried that you're not considering his feelings."
Carmine wanted to scoff. Wanted to snark back. Wanted to get mad. But nothing sounded appropriate in her head. It wasn't that she thought Juliana was right. But… she just didn't know how to respond to that.
Juliana sucked in her lips. She knew she had just made things a bit awkward. Carmine fingered the rim of her orange juice bottle. After a minute or two of silence, she spoke up.
"You're really all about that, huh? Putting everyone else's feelings first?"
Juliana awkwardly shrugged. "I guess? I don't think there's anything wrong with that."
"Didn't say there was," Carmine quietly responded. "Y'know… I guess you and Kiki are kind of similar in that way."
"Really?"
She nodded. "I mean… he's been saying a lot of selfish stuff lately, but, really since he was a kid he was always worrying about other people and especially Pokémon more than himself. And I mean, yeah, caring about others is great and all…" She became sullen. "Not watching out for yourself is really dangerous. That's, that's what makes me worried he'll hurt himself real bad someday."
Juliana's face was still. Carmine had made another point that was difficult to combat. It took her almost a minute to respond.
"That might be true, but… I think he could learn to be responsible for himself, in time. Maybe when the time is right, you just need to give him that chance."
"Mmm," was Carmine's only response, neither affirming nor dismissive.
Juliana decided they had talked about Kieran enough and decided to change the subject. She thought about how Carmine had mentioned their parents not being around.
"So… how long have you and Kieran been living with your grandparents? If that's okay for me to ask."
Carmine shrugged. "I don't know about… as long as I can remember. I mean, I do sort of have a tiny bit of memory of my dad's face, I guess? But I was really little then, and Kiki would've only just been born. And then whatever happened happened, and it's just been us and Gram and Gramps since then."
"I'm sorry."
"Ehh, it doesn't bother me too much," she shrugged again. "They're basically like my parents anyway. And Gramps used to say they'll tell us what happened when we're older. But… I guess I've just never been curious to ask. Grandma and Grandpa are my family. That's all that matters to me."
Juliana watched her Pokémon playing around for a bit while she reflected on Carmine's way of thinking.
After a pause, she said, "My dad… my dad also died when I was really young."
Carmine, surprised to hear her being so forthright, muttered "…'m sorry to hear that."
"Yeah. I was born in the Galar region where they both used to be office workers, but after he died, Mom moved us to Paldea, in a little town called Cabo Poco, I guess for a fresh start. And since then, it's… just been the two of us. Facing the world together."
Juliana smiled, thinking about what her mom must be doing right now.
Maybe picking fruits outside like us. Or cleaning up after Skwovet.
"So… this is your first time outside of Paldea at all since you were a baby?" Carmine asked in-between a spoonful of strawberry yogurt infused with umeboshi juice.
Juliana thought about it for a second. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess it really is."
"Heh. I could tell," she said with a playful smile. "You've totally got the stench of a real homebody."
"The stench?" a disbelieving Juliana repeated.
"Yeah! Most people who have been to different places have a whole mix of smells to them. But you? You just stink of boring ol' Paldea."
"Hmph!" Juliana crossed her arms. "And what does Paldea smell like?"
Carmine reached into her nearly empty cup of yogurt with her finger. Then she reached over and booped Juliana on the nose, leaving a tiny dollop of yogurt on it.
"You."
Juliana huffed and pouted. She used her tongue to try to lick it off, but ended up cringing from the incredibly tart aftertaste.
"What'd you do that for?" Juliana asked, using a tissue to wipe it off.
"Because… you're real cute when you pout like a sourpuss," said Carmine, still giggling with her chin resting on her hands.
"Oh yeah? Well you're really pretty when you laugh."
Carmine stopped, and her own face sucked in a bit, flushing red.
"Hah! Made you blush, didn't I?" said an unusually smug Juliana.
Carmine's face tinged a bit. "See? You're not all sweet like you think you are!" She smiled coyly. "I like it. You remind me of the person I adore the most."
"And who's that?"
Juliana bobbled her head teasingly in Carmine's direction, only to be met with a sudden splash of apple juice in her face.
"Me, of course! And by the way, you look absolutely adorable when your face is all wet!"
"Hmph!"
Juliana picked up a leftover pickle from her plate and stuck it on Carmine's forehead. Ogerpon started guffawing at the sight.
"Grrr!" Carmine growled. "You trying to wage war, shortie? Because I win a food fight like no other! Just watch thi—"
"Uhhh… what are you two doing?"
Juliana and Carmine were both brought out of their playfulness when they heard Kieran's voice.
He was standing at the edge of the hill going up the pond, with a confused look on his face.
"Kiki! D-don't sneak up on people!" Carmine scolded.
"But I wasn't…" He hung his head down. "Ugh, sorry. I just came here to see how you were guys were doing getting the masks back."
"We got 'em all!" Juliana told him excitedly as she stood up and started gathering supplies. "Ogerpon has all of its masks back again!"
Ogerpon stood up excitedly and did a little show of putting on all four of its masks and making different facial expressions with each one:
Laughing mischievously with its Teal Mask.
Imitating Carmine's roaring prank with its Hearthflame Mask.
Pretending to cry and wipe its face with its Wellspring Mask.
And patting its stomach while laughing heartily with its Cornerstone Mask.
Kieran giggled in delight and clapped.
"It looks so happy now! That must feel great to take back all the masks the village kept from you after all these years!"
"Pon pon yo pon!" Ogerpon cried, nodding vigorously.
Carmine decided to help Juliana pack up everything, and Juliana started rolling up the blanket. Kieran couldn't but snicker at the pickle still on her forehead. She quickly slapped it off and began to feel self-conscious.
"Just so you know, we weren't doing anything suspicious," said Carmine. "We were just—just—"
"Just having a picnic? That's fine," Kieran said blankly. "Ogerpon deserves to have some real food after spending its whole life foraging Berries on its own, so I get it." Juliana was relieved that Kieran seemed to be so understanding.
"Well, I'm sorry you just missed us kicking some Lousy Three butt, Kiki! We could've used another cheerleader."
"Pon yo?"
"Not that you weren't doing a great job, Ogrepon."
"Yoooo…" Ogerpon blushed.
"Oh, that's fine! I woulda just slowed ya down anyways…" Kieran lamented.
"That's not true," Juliana shook her head.
"Well, uhh… Since you're here and ya already got the masks, I… I wanted to ask a favor…"
"What's up?"
"I wanted you to come to the village. …An' bring the ogre with you."
Juliana's smile fell. "Bring Ogerpon…? But the villagers… Are you sure it's safe?"
"You gotta trust me!" Kieran insisted. "It'll be OK. I promise…"
Carmine's eyes narrowed, and she instinctively put a hand over Ogerpon like a mother protecting her child.
"Kiki… what're you planning? I hope you aren't doing something rash…"
"I'm serious!" Kieran said a bit more defensively. "Can't you just trust me for once in your life, sis?"
"…" Carmine looked guiltily down to the ground.
Kieran paused and looked a bit regretful to have said that.
"Sorry, but… Th-that's all I wanted to ask. Just come! … Please!"
And without another word, like someone else was waiting on him, he ran back in the direction of the village.
"I wonder what's gotten into him," Carmine worried. "Everyone in the village thinks that Ogerpon's a menace, right? I hope he knows what he's doing…"
"Pon!" Ogerpon exclaimed, seemingly blissfully unaware of the situation.
Juliana looked at the small Pokémon and smiled. Patting it on the head, she reasoned, "Kieran admires Ogerpon too much that I think he would do something that risks putting it in danger."
She closed her eyes and thought on it a minute.
"I think… let's trust Kieran and take Ogerpon to the village."
"Well, I trust you, Juliana. So… okay." Juliana's eyes lit up to hear her say that. "If things go south, I'll use my natural charm to smooth things over!"
She flipped her hair dramatically, making Ogerpon's eyes twinkle in awe.
"See? Works like a charm every time!"
Juliana giggled.
They started walking the way through Wistful Fields back into town. On the way, Carmine turned to Juliana and said gently, "Hey… thanks for suggesting that picnic. You were right. I do feel less anxious now."
"I'm glad to hear it," Juliana smiled. "Maybe—maybe after all of this is over, we can have another one sometime."
Carmine smiled softly.
"You know what? I'd like that."
"Grrr…"
As expected, Ogerpon cowered in fear by the time they got to the bridge to Mossui Town, where Kieran was waiting.
"Eesh… You really don't want to be here, do you?" Carmine observed.
"D-don't worry! It'll be fine!" said Kieran.
"Kiki! What's all this about, really?"
Kieran didn't face her. But he craned his neck to look back at Ogerpon.
"I-I know you must be scared, Ogerpon, but I did my best…"
"Pon?"
"I wanted to prove that I care about you too… So, just trust me and come with me, OK?"
Ogerpon still looked woefully unsure. But Kieran smiled gently at it. Ogerpon looked surprised, as if whatever bad vibes it was picking up from the young boy before didn't seem to be there anymore.
So, cautiously, it reached its arm out. Kieran took it in his hand.
Silently, the two walked together back to the village, with Juliana and Carmine right behind them.
It turned out, Kieran had been up to something quite tremendous while the Mask Retrieval Squad was way.
Incredibly, he had managed to get the true story of Ogerpon out to the townspeople and convinced all of them, even Nao and the rest of the town elders, that the truth of Ogerpon and the Loyal Three's past had been misconstrued all along.
"He'd got into my secret cabinet with all the mask-maker's old notebooks and drawings that our family passed down," Hideko explained. "I tried telling him to stop because I feared he'd draw resentment from everyone, but…"
Juliana and Carmine were astonished as Nao led the town in apologizing to the touched Ogerpon.
"We're so sorry, dear ogre!"
"Ogerpon's so cute!"
"Who would call that thing a monster?"
"…Seems that I was wrong to worry so much," Hideko sheepishly admitted. "We should've let the past be the past and told everyone much sooner."
"I won't pretend all of us aren't to share the blame, since we just believed a bunch of old legends without digging any further, and then exploited it to lure in tourists," Nao reasoned. "And besides… who knows how easy it would've been to believe without young Kieran's spark of confidence and energy!"
Kieran was surprised when Carmine gave him a hard pat on the back.
"Who knew Kiki had it in him! Especially since he usually hates talking to people!"
"It was no big deal…" Kieran responded. "I just… I just hated that the ogre felt so scared of me and wanted to prove that I could be its hero."
Juliana put her hand on his shoulder. "You did a great thing, Kieran. Look at how happy it is!"
Ogerpon was so beaming at everyone's compliments that its starry eyes were lit up like real stars, and it couldn't stop bouncing around in joy.
"From now on, you can come to the village whenever you want, and you don't need to hide your face when you do!" Kieran smiled.
"Pon-yo!" Ogerpon smiled back at him.
"The three masks we kept at Kitakami Hall rightfully belonged to you all along, dear ogre," said Nao. "If you've managed to get them back from those three villains, please feel welcome to keep them."
"We got the masks back, and we managed to clear Ogerpon's name!" Carmine marveled. Her eyes started to well and her voice trembled. "I'm… I'm so happy."
"Hey… are you crying?" Juliana noticed.
"What? N-no I'm not!" she insisted, tears running down her eyes. "S-shut up! I just like a happy ending, okay?"
Seeing Carmine cry tears of joy made Juliana's own eyes feel a bit watery, which Carmine picked up on.
"Hey, don't you start! We can't sit here crying when we've still got one last thing to do! Let's escort Ogerpon back to its home."
"Together," Juliana added, glancing at Kieran.
"Right!" he nodded.
Ogerpon cheered out, and Juliana and Carmine both giggled in response. Kieran however, watched the two of them and began to frown again…
"Well, here we are!"
"Pon!"
Ogerpon cried out in delight to see its old home again, and ran up to the cave entrance.
Carmine giggled. "It's a bit lonely out here, but I guess this place must mean a lot to Ogerpon."
"Once something's been home to you for so many years, I guess that never really goes away," said Juliana.
She walked over to Ogerpon, trying to ignore the heavy feelings she could sense rising up within her. Juliana wanted to keep a happy face for the Mask Pokémon, even though what they were doing now felt really hard.
It's so crazy that we've bonded with Ogerpon so much, and now this is goodbye…
She knelt down to face Ogerpon. The ogre looked up at her with its bright starry eyes.
With a heavy sigh, she said, "This has been a lot of fun, Ogerpon. One of the best weeks of my life. I'll never ever forget this! So… take care—OK, Ogerpon?"
She gave a resounding fist pump to punctuate her goodbye.
"Po?" Ogerpon looked confused. Juliana stepped away while trying to give her best grin, even though she was holding back tears. Then Ogerpon, finally seeming to sense what was going on, ran back up to her crying. "Ponooo!"
It grabbed onto Juliana's legs, not wanting to let go.
"Ogerpon, wh-what are you doing?" Juliana begged, her eyes definitely welling up now. "I'll miss you too," she promised, giving Ogerpon a tight hug back.
Carmine looked between the two of them. She really took in just how inseparable the pair of them seemed.
"Hey… you know what?" she said softly. "This might be crazy, but—But I think… Ogerpon might want to go with you, Juliana."
"What?"
Ogerpon let go and cried out in joy. "Pon! Popon!"
"You—you do? You'd want to leave this place you call home just to… travel with me?" Juliana asked it, wiping away her tears. "To be honest… And I thought this was crazy too, I was—I was kind of hoping deep down inside that you would become my partner…"
Ogerpon just seemed to get more joyous about the idea.
Kieran's face began to change, from happy to sullen… He didn't seem to like what he was hearing.
As his facial muscles tinged, he began to ruminate on the whole day. Ogerpon's terrified face when it didn't want to accept Kieran's friendship… Contrasted to how attached it was to Juliana now.
Dark feelings were rising up within him. Feelings of jealousy, and envy, and resentment…
He thought back to the scene he had walked in on at Wysteria Pond. How Juliana, Ogerpon, and Carmine, his own sister Carmine, were having a picnic without him and laughing together.
It hadn't seemed to bother him before, but now all of a sudden, he began to think about it and wonder if they were laughing at him. Making fun of him.
Kieran didn't really believe that, of course but now… he felt his insecurities begin to consume him again. His mind boiling over, wanting nothing more but to act on what Kieran believed was the right course for him to take.
"Hey, hold up!" he shouted out of nowhere.
Juliana and Carmine looked over at him.
"Something wrong, Kiki?"
To their concern, he began scratching his head again like he did back at Loyalty Plaza.
"If it's not gonna stay here, then I… I wanna…" He trailed off for a second, but then shouted with a sudden sense of gusto, "I want Ogerpon to come with me!"
"What!?" Juliana uttered in shock.
"Kiki…" said Carmine, sounding extremely disappointed. "I thought you had let it go…"
"Pon?" Ogerpon seemed confused about everyone's change in tone, and felt a bit scared.
Juliana wanted to put a hand over it to comfort it, but now felt nervous about irritating Kieran further, especially since this was so out of left field for him.
Kieran gritted his teeth.
"I know I'm bein' real selfish, but… but you know how much the ogre means to me. That's why I put so much effort into making the village not scared of it anymore! I-I could be its friend and make it real happy! I'll use it in battle and we'll have so many fun adventures together!"
"I… I…" Juliana's heart felt split. She was so sure Ogerpon was asking to go with her… but she wasn't deaf to her friend's pleas either. "I didn't know how badly you wanted this…"
Now feeling indecisive, she looked at Ogerpon for affirmation. Ogerpon just gazed back at her and went "Pon?" with an oblivious smile.
Kieran drew out one of his Poké Balls. "Look! Let me battle you, okay? I want to see which one of us should get to keep Ogerpon with them!"
Carmine huffed. "Kiki, come on, that's not fair to Juliana!"
"Carmine…"
You should see how strongly the two of them have bonded with each other-"
"CARMINE!" Juliana shouted, startling her. Carmine hadn't heard her yell that loud before. "I really appreciate you stepping up to defend me, but… Kieran's got a point. He's basically grown up with Ogerpon his whole life, and… I only just knew it existed a few days ago."
She fidgeted with her hands. "Maybe, maybe if Kieran really wants it then… then perhaps I should give it to him, right?"
"What? No!" Carmine balked. "You would take away Ogerpon's freedom of choice just because Kiki asked for it?"
Juliana went sullen. "You're right—I'm sorry, I… I didn't think of it that way…"
Kieran looked gobsmacked.
"I can't believe it, sis… It's true…" He grabbed at his head in distress. "You really are siding with Juliana over me…"
"I'm not siding with anybody!" Carmine seethed. "If anything I-I'm siding with poor Ogerpon here!"
"Pon?"
"Look Kiki, I'm not saying I don't know where you're coming from on this. I know better than anyone how much you love the ogre. But… if you really love Ogerpon, then… don't you think you should value its feelings?"
"I-" This finally gave Kieran sufficient pause.
"That's what you both do, isn't it?" she said, turning to Juliana as well. "Putting the feelings of others, including in Pokémon, before your own?"
Juliana was stunned. Now only was her line of thinking apparently resonating with Carmine now, Carmine was actually challenging her on it!
"You're right, what—what have I been thinking? This is all about Ogerpon after all."
She sighed out all of her anxieties and faced Kieran.
"She's right, Kieran. Instead of battling, we… we should let Ogerpon decide."
"But I… I…"
Kieran wanted to argue. He really did. But… it was like the fog in his head that was keeping him so stubborn was clearing up. And he was being brought back down to reason.
He looked at Ogerpon, who was quietly swaying its arms around in the midst of their argument. It didn't understand what was going on. Of course it didn't.
And he thought really hard about when he was trying to hand the Mask back, and how Ogerpon seemed to be scared of him for some reason.
If I forced Ogerpon to go with me… would it always be so scared of me?
Juliana did make it all real happy…
But I swear I could make it happy too…!
Kieran stood there, deliberating furiously about what he truly wanted.
Finally, he let out a puff of air that sounded like his acquiescing.
"Okay… you win, sis."
"Really?" Even Carmine was a bit taken aback. "You'll let Ogerpon choose?"
"Yeah…" He looked at Juliana and tried to give the best smirk he could. "Ya know what? I still think I did a lot for Ogerpon that it should just choose me but…" He sighed heavily. "If—if after all that, it really wants to go with you Juliana then… then I'll try to be happy about it."
"Kieran…" Juliana said, sincerely touched.
After all this time, had she finally broken through both siblings' walls? Were both Carmine and Kieran coming around to caring about not just Ogerpon's feelings, but about hers?
"Kiki, I'm—I'm so proud of you," Carmine smiled warmly. "That settles it, then."
She picked up Ogerpon, who reacted with surprise at first but then cried cheerfully, and placed it down between Juliana and Kieran.
"I'll put Ogerpon in the center here and… whoever it wants to go to in the end, gets to keep it."
Ogerpon was now at the center of the cliffside to the Dreaded Den, Juliana standing on one side and Kieran standing on the other. Carmine stood between them like a referee.
"Pon yo pon?"
The small ogre looked around, stealing glances at both Juliana and Kieran.
Juliana knelt down and smiled.
"To tell you the truth, if… if you wanted to come with me, and have adventures in Paldea then… I would really love it a lot, Ogerpon. But if you want to give Kieran a chance to prove his love for you… then I'm fine with that too."
Kieran, touched at her sentiment, knelt down and smiled as well.
"Yeah. Umm… I've always, really admired you a whole lot… I think you're so cool, and brave and just… all around awesome. If you were my partner, I would always want to treat you right and keep ya happy. But… but Juliana's a really nice person. I know, I know she would do all of those things too."
Juliana almost felt like she was going to cry, holding both hands over her heart at Kieran's meaningful words.
"Pon… Ponnn…"
Ogerpon seemed to be taking its decision very seriously now. It glanced back and forth between the two of them, seemingly unable to decide who it wanted to run too.
It closed its eyes…
"Poyo… PONNN!"
With a burst of confidence, Ogerpon unsheathed its ivy cudgel, and leaped in the air. Then, after waving its cudgel mightily towards the sun, it finally landed squarely in someone's hands.
"WHAT!?" cried out two voices.
"No way…!"
"But—but…!"
"Huh!? Ogerpon, what's the deal?" Carmine exclaimed in confusion. "You're supposed to be choosing between Juliana or Kiki, not snuggling up to me!"
"Ponnn…" But Ogerpon wriggled around excitedly in Carmine's arms, and wrapped its arms around her shoulders to give her a huge hug.
"What are you doing? This wasn't in the cards at all. You're not making any sense unless… unless…"
Ogerpon looked up at Carmine with big eyes. Her own eyes began to glisten.
"Ogerpon, are you… are you saying that you want… me to be your partner?"
"Ponyo!"