Juliana and Kieran sprinted through the sprawling Apple Hills, and the beaten path up the outskirts of the Wistful Fields, tracing Pecharunt's retreating shape through the air.
"I think… I think it's heading towards Loyalty Plaza!" Kieran panted.
Sure enough, they witnessed Pecharunt turn right at the fork in the road, heading for the villagers' memorial plaza.
"Let's go!"
"Wait…" Juliana called after him.
Juliana was gasping as she held her knees with her red, sweating hands.
"I think… I think I need to rest for a little bit… My—my leg, I can feel it acting up…"
She motioned to her bad leg, the one that had gotten injured in her fight against Drayton. Kieran looked solemn.
"Of course, Juliana… Heh." He chuckled. "I guess if you of all people are sayin' we should rest, then you must be pretty serious."
They found a nearby railing to stand against for a few minutes, while Juliana tried to regain her energy. The two didn't talk for a bit, mostly just trying to recoup their emotions. Kieran had noticed that Juliana was riding really high on anxiety, about as bad as him, and wondered if she was also trying to get her mental health in order.
Especially after what Arven said before about her emotions being all over the place. He could also feel a bit of his anger still present after whatever that thing did to his brain, and wanted to try to let that subside too.
Juliana, for her part, was feeling very turmoiled in her head. Ever since Pecharunt resurrected that inner voice that plagued her before, she could feel it in her head very faintly. That mental acuity she had felt before was starting to erode, like some shut door in her head that had been reopened, and was threatening to burst through.
She needed something to distract from these plaguing thoughts. She turned to Kieran, and decided to ask the one question that had been burning ever since what Kieran told her earlier.
"…Hey, Kieran?"
He looked at her softly. "Yeah?"
"I gotta know something."
"What's that?"
She tugged at her jacket sleeve, feeling a little vulnerable.
"Umm, do you… still… have feelings for me?"
Kieran was a little taken aback at the sudden question. He wondered how long she'd been thinking about this.
He leaned his arms back against the railing.
"You really want to know the truth?"
She nodded.
"…Nah. I don't think so."
"You sure? Are you sure you're not just—saying that so I won't feel guilty?"
"No." Kieran scratched his head a bit. "Ummm, at first, I think I just—I mean, I didn't talk to many girls before I met you, because I used to be so shy. And, well, I remember when I first saw you, and you were really kind and super pretty…"
"Awww." Juliana squeezed her cheeks a bit. "You really think I'm pretty?"
Kieran flustered a bit, his face turning red. "Ehhh! Well, yeah but, e-especially when you were constantly acting like that!"
"Oh," she realized. "Heh, uhh… I guess flirting is just something I do when I'm trying to get close to people…" Juliana giggled a bit, now feeling embarrassed at herself. "Gosh, I just wanted to make new friends. But instead I ended up swooning two siblings for the price of one!"
"Heh-heh-heh!" Kieran laughed out loud. "Yeah, but you made my Sis more lovesick than anyone in those yucky books she reads… As for me, though?" He gazed down for a moment, with a fond smile on his face. "After all this time, I've decided… I think I like being friends with you a lot better."
Juliana's eyes glistened. "You really mean that?"
"Yeah…" He smiled at her. "Maybe this isn't what you wanna hear, but—unlike Carmine, I think I am starting to see you as being more like, another big sister. … A much nicer one!"
She snort-laughed a bit at the irony of such a statement.
"Kieran, that's… that's really cool! I'm glad there are no hard feelings between us!"
"Of course not! And besides, I—err…" Kieran was about to go off on something, but shushed himself. "Uhh, never mind."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Ummm… just—never mind!" Kieran was starting to act all shy for some reason. Juliana watched as his fist beat against his hip rapidly.
"Seriously, what were you about to—" Then Juliana's eyebrows flew up as she realized, and she started looking at him with a cheshire grin, inching closer. "Wait a minute… I think I know."
"Ehh!? Know what?"
She lightly poked at his shoulder. "You've got a crush on another girl now, don't ya?"
"Ahhh!" Kieran jumped a little at Juliana having somehow read his mind so accurately. "M-maybe! Does it really matter?"
"Oooooh!" Juliana had her hands pressed up to her chin now, craving the sweet gossip. "Who is it? Is it someone I know?"
"Ermm…" He just looked away from her, his face getting very red now.
Juliana gasped. "It IS somebody I know! Oh my gosh! Who!? Ambrea, that mathematics wiz who I saw you talking to?"
"H-HEY! Should we really be talking about this right now!?" Kieran crossed his arms in front of himself defensively. "Don't we have… much bigger things to worry about right now!?"
"Oh…" Now Juliana's face flushed a bit, she had gotten a little lost in her eagerness. "Hee-hee, sorry. I guess you're right. Come on, let's go!"
She started to move, but for a brief second, she looked back at Kieran's gestures and gave a rather wry smirk.
"W-what!?"
"Heh, nothing… But I'm feeling refreshed now. So let's go beat that thing splendidly."
The two students made their way into the Loyalty Plaza… which was eerily quiet compared to when Juliana remembered coming here before. There were absolutely no villagers or tourists hanging around, or sitting on the benches. The foliage wasn't even alive with the sounds of Pokémon.
As they walked forward, Kieran spotted something.
"Wait, is that…?"
Juliana gasped. "NEMONA!"
She was jubilant upon finally seeing the backside of her oldest friend, standing ominously in front of the wrecked remains of the Loyal Three monument.
"Thank goodness you're okay!"
"… … …"
Juliana gulped.
"N-N-Nemona!?"
A small part of her desperately hoped Nemona would turn around and shower Juliana with her warm hazel eyes. But the rest of her rational brain already knew what was coming when Nemona turned around and…
"Mochi MOCHI!"
The Paldean superstar's eyes were bright and purple, and her freckled face grinned malevolently at Juliana and Kieran as she chanted the same dreaded dance they had seen from everybody else.
"I shoulda figured!" Kieran shouted. "Pecharunt probably got to her first before everyone else… that's why she disappeared!"
"Mochi… mochi… MATCH!"
Kieran's eyebrows flew up. "…Did she just say 'match'?"
Juliana couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, Nemona… I guess no amount of brainwashing can cure your endless battle-mania either!"
"Hmph!" Kieran scrunched his nose. "Looks like we've got company again!"
Pecharunt flew in behind Nemona, and opened its shell again to revel at the pair.
"Runt run!"
"Figures, now Pecharunt's going to make us battle the strongest out of all your friends." Kieran's lip snarled a bit. "At least it's gotten smarter."
But Juliana had taken to noticing something interesting. Watching Nemona in her possessed state, with Pecharunt's purple aura around her, standing in front of the destroyed monument was triggering a memory.
"Hey, Kieran…?"
"Hmm?"
"Remember that—day you stole Ogerpon's Teal Mask and took it to this spot?"
Kieran's face sunk in guilt. "I—I try not to!"
"Yeah, but…" She pointed. "You punched that monument with your fist. And then—and then for no reason, it lit up all purple-y remember?"
"Ohhhh. Wait, you're right. And then…" Kieran's eyes lit up. "…And then those lousy Loyal Three came back to life! … I don't understand! Are you saying this—Pecharunt thing might've had somethin' to do with that?"
"I don't know, maybe!" Juliana thought to herself, I could've sworn I had seen something purple in your hand when you punched it like that…
"Well, either way… it's got control of Nemona now. There's no way I can hold her off. She creamed me pretty good just a few hours before!"
Kieran turned around, feeling pretty insecure in his skills, only to be met with a frightening sight.
"GAH!"
"Huh?"
"L-look!"
Juliana turned around and gasped, for behind them… an entire crowd was congregating into Loyalty Plaza!
Not just Arven and Penny…
"Mochi MOCHI! "Mochee mochee!"
But Kieran was horrified to see his grandparents…
"Mochi! "Mochi MOCHI!"
Nao and all the elders…
"Mochi?"
"MOCHI!" "MOCHI!" "MOCHI!"
…and all the rest of his friends and neighbors, surrounding them all in a circle, all chanting. All dancing.
"Mochi mochi MOCHI!"
"This is bad! Everyone from Mossui Town is under Pecharunt's control… and they're all here!"
"Aw man…" Juliana surveyed the horrifying scene before them. "Maybe we gave Pecharunt too much of a headstart to gather them all up."
"What do we do, Juliana!?" Kieran panicked as he backed away from all the crazed townspeople. "They've got us boxed in! We're completely trapped!"
Juliana darted around, wondering the answer herself. However, her eyes fixed back to Nemona and Pecharunt standing on the other side. With her teeth baring down, Juliana felt a jolt of intensity within her… a spark to rush forward!
"The only thing we can do, Kieran! We've gotta keep battling until that crazy thing has nothing left to challenge with!"
"R-right!"
"And if there's anyone who can defeat Nemona to save everybody, it's ME! Saved the world twice already… what's a third time, right!? Here I come, you big sour grape!"
Feeling tenacious and with an even more renewed sense of confidence than ever, Juliana started marching towards her corrupted friend, determined to defeat Pecharunt's mightiest soldier and set this crazy curse right!
But Pecharunt acted faster, and it quickly commanded somebody else to step in between Juliana and Nemona…
"AHHHH!" Juliana stopped in her tracks. "CARMINE!"
"Mochi mochi MOCHI!" Carmine's voice boomed out, dancing with more fervor than ever before.
Being confronted with her crush's sudden appearance made all that bluster vanish like a punctured balloon. Juliana felt vulnerable and terrified again, being forced to scare at Carmine's beautiful and once comforting face, possessed with that burning violet in her irises as she drew closer and closer to Juliana.
"Carmine, p-please…" Juliana already felt herself beginning to cry again. "Please don't do this…"
"MOCHI! Mochi-ana?" But Carmine refused to yield. In fact, her gaze remained fixed on Juliana and she smiled rather affectionately. Her face even blushed as she kept stepping closer. "Hee-hee, mochi mochi…"
"Noooo…" It had flipped like a switch. Juliana's legs were rooted to the ground like a tree, her face was shaking with horror, and she felt absolutely petrified. "I can't bear to battle you… H-h-help…!"
To her surprise, Kieran swooped in front of her and shielded her with his arms.
"Shut it, you big dummy! Quit being such an annoying pest and scaring her!"
"Mo-CHIIII!?" Carmine responded, sounding affronted.
Then he giggled a little. "Wowzers! I always wanted to say that back to her. … Boy, I sure hope she won't remember this afterwards."
"Kieran, w-what are you doing?"
"You battle Nemona, Juliana!" Kieran took out one of his Poké Balls. "I'll handle my Sis!"
"What? YOU? But Kieran, I thought you've never won a battle against your sister!"
"Well, there's a first time for everything!" he said confidently, brushing back his loose end. "'Sides, all I gotta do is hold her back so you can focus! So—don't worry about me, alright? Stoppin' my sis from wailing on folks is what I'm good at!"
Juliana nodded, feeling a bit of her confidence return again.
"Alright—watch my back, okay?"
"You got it! Good luck!"
Juliana spun back around and, with her best determined expression, prepared to face against the Pecharunt-controlled Nemona as she sent out Kilowattrel.
"CAWWWWW!"
"Mochi match! MOCHI MATCH!" Nemona bellowed excitedly. "L-let's… have… mochiful match!" She seemed to be tapping into her normal emotions very slightly just like Carmine was.
She even took her usual battling stance before starting out with her Midday Form Lycanroc.
"Bark-ruff!"
Meanwhile, Kieran faced up against his sister Carmine, sending out his Poliwrath as the first of his partners who was going to help keep her away from her love.
"Mo…chi mochi!"
There was an ever so slight growl from Carmine's otherwise rhythmic chanting, as she sent out her Mightyena, who immediately growled just like its tempered partner and Intimidated Poliwrath into lowering its attack.
"Typical Sis…"
Meanwhile, Nemona's Lycanroc opened the match by instantaneously casting Stealth Rock and causing several pointed rocks to levitate in the air around Juliana's side of the arena.
Juliana grunted a bit. "You're certainly battling just like you usually do…"
Even with its attack lowered, Kieran's Poliwrath was able to land enough punches to take out Carmine's Mightyena no problem. However, she quickly sent out Morpeko next who, with its powerful Aura Wheel, quickly fried the fighting frog.
"Mor-peko-peko!"
"Mo-chi-chi-chiii?" Carmine uttered in what almost sounded like a taunt.
"Grrrr… I said shut it, Sis."
Juliana was starting with bad luck too. Thanks to the hit from Stealth Rock and Lycanroc charging forward with its blazing fast Accelrock, Kilowattrel's world was rocked.
"Cawwwww…!" it cried as it fainted.
But Juliana remained unbound. "Let's clean up this mess, Indeedee!"
Indeedee bowed politely as she entered battle, but the rocks dug into her and left her shouting in pain.
"In… DEEE!"
Irritated at the mess she had been brought into, Indeedee used her abilities to create a Psychic Terrain on the ground powerful enough to sweep up all the offending rocks.
"Inn?"
The maid-like Pokémon peered around for a safe place to deposit this debris into, then, spotting Lycanroc at last and realizing it must've been the grubby tosser, sent all those rocks its way with a fierce cry.
"INDEEEEE!"
Lycanroc cried out as the rocks coarsed through its body like a meteor shower. And then, before it had any more time to react, Indeedee bore down grumpily upon it. She had zero patience for litterbugs.
"EXPANDING FORCE!"
"Dee-deeee!"
All of Indeedee's terrain-surged psychic power expanded was too much a reckoning for Lycanroc's crimes, forcing the stony wolf to be recalled.
"Splendid clean-up job, Indeedee!" Juliana gave her a thumbs-up. Indeedee replied happily, feeling rejuvenated by her partner's gratitude. "See? I learned from the best, Nemona!"
"Mochiii! Ha ha ha!"
However, much to Juliana's surprise, Nemona's next choice was none other than Quaquaval, the same partner she'd raised up alongside Juliana's Meowscarada.
"QUA-CA-KA-CAAAAV!"
The flamboyant dancer Pokémon laid a dangerously powerful Aqua Step on Indeedee, so powerful it forced the Emotion Pokémon to send her last cleaning bill.
"Indeeee…"
"But you still are the best…" Juliana growled, recalling Indeedee.
Kieran's Incineroar was able to wrestle control away from Carmine by torching her Alolan Ninetales with Flare Blitz. But her Overqwil boasted the same sharp tactic as Nemona's Lycanroc by spurting out poisonous spikes onto the field.
"Great… Looks like we're the ones in a minefield now!"
"Chi-yuuuuuuu…"
"And I'm in a REAL tight pickle with this aquatic weirdo!" Juliana remarked, having just lost even her own ruinous Pokémon Chi-Yu to Quaquaval's terrifying kicks. The fiery fish had only managed to score one Ruination, in a tragic contrast to Ting-Lu and Chien-Pao's successful carnage.
Juliana, really feeling pinched, took a look inside her backpack, in the pocket full of Poké Balls containing not just her Pokémon, but some of the different species she'd been catching for Jacq's Pokédex.
…Including her three most recent captures.
She gulped with uncertainty. "I can't believe—I might actually have to use these guys…"
"Huh? Use what?" Kieran asked from behind.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?" Juliana sucked her teeth in before nervously tossing out an Ultra Ball. "Go, Munkidori!"
His head sharply turned. "WHAT?!"
-POP-
"Mmm-kay…!"
"No way!" Kieran's eyes were wide as could be. "You mean you—you, you CAUGHT one of the Loyal Three!?"
"Uhhh, actually… I caught all three of them," she replied humbly.
"WOWZERS INFINITY!"
Pecharunt however… didn't seem quite as thrilled. In fact, as it floated down its reaction to seeing this Pokémon almost seemed like a very hostile one, yelling out in an unusual anger.
"Pechaaa! CHRAAAHHHH!"
"…Kay!?" And Munkidori started snipping back, as if it was just as outraged to see this purple thing. "MM-KAY-KAY-KAAAAY!"
"Huh? What's going on?" asked Kieran, confused by the noises he was hearing.
"I—I don't know!" Juliana answered, befuddled by the exchanges. "Do Munkidori and Pecharunt… actually know each other?"
Pecharunt sprung out the same purple chains it was using to communicate through Arven and Penny, and swung them towards Munkidori, aiming for the purple band on its head.
"Muuun-KAY!"
But Munkidori reacted fast, and used its psychic powers to slow the chains' ambush, before kicking them back Pecharunt's way, where it got knocked in the face with its own cords.
"Pehhh… CHA-CHAAAAH-RUN!"
Juliana gasped, suddenly noticing something. Those long malignant chains Pecharunt was using… were completely identical to the purple bands that each of the Loyal Three sport!
"NO WAY…!"
"Huh? What!?"
Her mouth was agape. "Carmine and I were sharing this theory a while back… We were talking about how—how someone must've been commanding the Lousy Three back in the day. I thought it was some ancient Trainer, but… but! THOSE CHAINS!"
Now Kieran gasped. "You're not saying… that this Pecharunt thing was the LEADER of the Loyal Three!?"
"Maybe that's why Ogerpon ran away…!" Juliana gasped again. "Maybe, maybe Pecharunt here… was the one who led the ambush to steal those Masks a thousand years ago!"
"That's INSANE! Well—well, geez! Now I feel like we have to defeat this thing not just for our friends' and neighbors' sake, but—but to avenge Ogerpon too!"
"CAWWWWW!"
Carmine's Toucannon unleashed a powerful Beak Blast against Hydrapple, an attack that would've left a scorching burn had the huge syrup dragon not already been poisoned by Toxic Spikes.
Hydrapple's syrpent heads struggled, having already shot one low-power Fickle Beam into the toucan Pokémon's wings.
"Come on, Hydrapple…!" Kieran urged it. "You were my first ever partner, the one's who been with me through most of my life… You gotta pull through! If ever there was a time you shot out a Fickle Beam at max power, now's the time!"
The seven syrpents all locked in at their partner's urging. They all charged up a huge beam of energy together, and at full blast the raging Fickle Beam roasted that bird until it was ready to be served for dinner.
"HYDROOOOOO!" "HYDROOOOOO!" "HYDROOOOOO!" "HYDROOOOOO!" "HYDROOOOOO!"
"GRRRR…" Carmine was seething now, pulling on the ends of her hair. "Mochi MOCHI MOCHIII!"
"Ha-ha-ha! Now you're really starting to act like your usual grumpy self again, Sis!"
The psychic powers that—ironically had possibly been bestowed onto Munkidori by Pecharunt's own influence—Munkidori mastered allowed it to send Nemona's Quaquaval packing, ending what Juliana thought would be her biggest threat.
But Ribombee—the same Ribombee who Juliana had caught in this very region as a Cutiefly—proved a challenging mistress of its own. Despite Munkidori's best efforts to sludge its wings, Ribombee took it out and even restored its own health with a Draining Kiss.
"Mmmmm-kay…"
"Cha! BRRB-BRRB-BRRB!" Pecharunt cried tauntingly, clearly relishing being able to best its traitorous old minion.
"Mochi mochi MATCHUP!" …while Nemona was clearly still just relishing in the excitement of the battle.
"I think I'm starting to regret trading Nemona my Cutiefly…" Juliana winced. "Especially since I didn't know at the time it evolved into something so precious!"
"Beeee?" Ribombee flittered excitedly at the compliment from its former partner. "Ribom-bom-beee!"
"I think we need something that packs a bigger… punch! Go, Okidogi!"
"GRRRIFIC!" Okidogi cried.
"Pehh-cha-RUUUUUUUUNT!" Pecharunt was once again furious to see its own former minion being used against it, and Okidogi began revving up its own severed chain, ready to lay a beatdown on the Pokémon who had once enslaved it.
Ribombee tightened its scarf, expecting more Poison moves to beseech it. But Juliana had an even better idea in play.
"Okidogi—and I'm so sorry for this, Ribombee, but I need to save my friends…" she briefly whispered. "GIGA IMPACT!"
"GIGA MOCHI!?" Nemona cried out excitedly.
Okidogi charged up all the power in its body, and rushed forward to beat Ribombee down in a mighty blow, instantly taking the tiny bug out.
"Beeeeee…"
"Man… Okidogi's so cool!" Kieran had to gush. "I know it went up against Ogerpon in the past, but… y'know, I always thought that if I was forced to pick a favorite from those Loyal Three, then that big strong doggy would be my pick!"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Nemona laughed uproariously, jumping up and down in the air. "AWESO-MOCHI MATCH! Mochi-mo!"
Nemona's next Pokémon thundered into battle, all its golden scales clanging with a mighty wind.
"KOMMOOOHHHH!"
Juliana's pupils shrank. "Is… that what Hakamo-o evolves into?"
"Woahhhh!" Kieran had to admire. "You gave Nemona your Jangmo-o and she evolved it all the way to Kommo-o!?"
"Yeah…" She gulped. "I think I'm regretting this trade even more…"
Hydrapple continued to put up its best fight, but unfortunately Carmine's Scrafty surprised it with a chilling Ice Punch, leaving that candy apple frozen on ice.
"Hydrooooo…"
As Kieran recalled his best partner, he gritted his teeth. "Carmine's still really, really super tough…"
Meanwhile, Juliana's Okidogi fell to Kommo-o's clangorously boosted Dragon attacks.
"Grrrrr…"
"Yeah, and so's Nemona… Only one member of the squad left. Go, Fezandipiti!"
"Yip-ip-ippy!"
Fezandipiti basked in its beauty, showing off its gorgeous, glittered wings as it entered into battle.
"Ooooh…" Carmine's purple eyes twinkled, witnessing the Pokémon's splendor from afar as some of that glitter seemed to touch her face. "Mochi, mochi…"
Juliana chuckled a little. "I remember Carmine saying she thought Fezandipiti was almost as gorgeous as her…"
However, the pheasant-like Pokémon's eyes balked upon seeing Pecharunt, and it turned its back on its former master, shooing away all the glitter from its wings in the process and cutting the modeling session short.
"…Yip."
"BRRB-PEYAHHHH!"
Let's see, Dragon… and Fighting?" A wicked gleam sparkled in Juliana's eye. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Fezandipiti?"
"YIP-IPP!"
One Play Rough later, and Kommo-o had shimmered its last sparkle.
"Kommooooo…"
"Mochi mochi…" Nemona fretted.
Pecharunt was the one noisily seething now. It had just officially been bested all three of its former retainers, using the very powers it had bestowed upon them in the first place.
"Cha! Cha! Pecha… RUNT!" it gave a forceful command.
Now it was Nemona's turn to gleam. "Not… done… yet! Match! Match matchi MOCHI! Mo-chien!"
Nemona sent out her final gambit… and the fourth of the legendary Treasures of Ruin, a Pokémon that looked like an enormous snail made from moss and leaves, with the tablets that composed its actual body serving as a shell.
"WOOOOOOOOOH."
"Wo-Chien…" Juliana sighed. "I remember you being preeeeeetty tough when Nemona showed you off…"
Wo-Chien leered at Juliana and Fezandipiti with its squinty red eyes, its ability causing them to lower their guard.
"Mochi…" Nemona pointed forward. "MOCHI MO!"
Huge muddy whips sprung from Wo-Chien's back. Pecharunt took out its own chains again to guide the huge beast on what to do with them, and unfortunately for Juliana, Wo-Chien could feel its power rising from the bitter grudges that its new co-commander harbored.
"WOOOOO-CHIEN!"
Wo-Chien slammed its Power Whip hard over Fezandipiti, crushing its wings with brute force and sending it hurling to the ground in such a massive shockwave that it instantly took the poor prideful bird out of its grace.
"…ip."
Juliana winced hard.
"Now I'm really out of options! There's gotta be something else powerful enough to combat this thing… OH! Wait."
Bracing, Juliana pulled out a Timer Ball from her bag.
"One ancient beast to defeat another… Let's see how you deal with the Bloodmoon Beast!"
-POP-
"GRRRRRAAAAUGGGHHHH." Ursaluna growled a mighty roar, its blackened green eye and red forehead mark glowing under the light of the Kitakami moon.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Kieran exclaimed. "You even caught the dreaded Bloodmoon Beast they used to tell stories about to scare us!? Is there anything you can't do, Juliana?"
"Don't forget to focus on your sister, Kieran!"
"Don't worry about me! Gliscor, Dual Wingbeat!"
Kieran's Gliscor beat its scorpion-like wings at double the wind power, overwhelming Scrafty and blowing the wind out of its sails.
"Ki-chi… MOCHI MOCHIIIIIII!"
Carmine's purple irises were burning with rage and her blood was boiling. The Kitakamite girl's anger at being on the losing end was a force that transcended even Pecharunt's control, and she sent out her best partner with all the fury of the world's most determined baseball player.
"Sineeees-cha!"
"YES!" Kieran pumped his fist. "I—I've actually got my Sis down to her last Pokémon! But that also means I've gotta be real careful… I need to choose a Pokémon I can trust, someone I… I know will pull through for me. But all I've got left are…"
Kieran had two risky Poké Balls to choose from. He gazed between the one on the left and the one on the right… and with an uncertain, but desperate puckering of his lips, he decided to send out the one on the right.
"Go… Iron Valiant!"
-POP-
"GARUUUUUU-bloop!"
Despite Bloodmoon Ursaluna's best efforts, even this mighty beast struggled under Wo-Chien's deadly attacks. The ancient bear had already found itself massively crippled by that deadly Ruination, and when Wo-Chien capitalized by using Giga Drain to restore back what little health Ursaluna had managed to take it, that was lights out for the living Hisuian relic.
"Waaa-grrrrrr…"
Juliana was panicking a little bit now. Wo-Chien was an even more brutal wall of a Pokémon than she remembered.
I can do this, right…? That's my whole thing… Not causing accidents everywhere, but—but breaking down walls! Everywhere I go!
She held her last Poké Ball, and whispered to it.
"I need your help now, more than ever… We gotta beat this thing and win. This is what we've trained in every battle for. Everything we've strived for since that day I first met you…"
The Paldean girl closed her eyes a bit and briefly reminisced on that first day of her journey, when she was asked to pick between three Pokémon for her first partner. She bent down and allowed Sprigatito to crawl onto her arm, and the tiny grass cat purred on her shoulder.
"To be my first partner and carry me to victory. Please. Please win for me."
Juliana snorted air through her nostrils.
"Alright, Nemona! It's time for us to prove who's really the best Grass/Dark Trainer!"
"Mochi-scarada!?"
-POP-
Meowscarada posed for the weighted task burdened upon it. Drawing its invisible-stemmed flower like a swordsman's rapier, ready to defend the honor of its stead… Meowscarada stared the mighty beast down.
"Meow-SCRAAHHH!"
Meanwhile, Iron Valiant had been vigilant in not letting this messy teacup Pokémon of Carmine's disturb its swagger, taking every hit like a champ and dealing powerful blows against Sinistcha in turn.
"Mochi… Mochi MOCHI GETCHA!" Carmine shouted.
Sinistcha began brewing up a hell of a whipped matcha tea storm in its cup.
"Uh oh…" Kieran felt afraid.
"SINEEEEEEES!"
Sinistcha unleashed its most powerful and concentrated Matcha Gotcha yet, causing a tidal wave of hot matcha to splurge Iron Valiant and Kieran's way.
"OH NO…!" Kieran gasped to see how badly he was about to be splashed.
He cringed hard and closed his eyes, expecting the worst… only to find himself completely dry.
Opening his eyes, he was shocked to see something he had never witnessed before.
Iron Valiant had stepped in… and used its own metallic body to shield Kieran from the matcha wave. It growled weakly, feeling all that hot tea burning its sheen, but confidently and courageously.
"Iron Valiant…" Kieran breathed. "You… you actually, protected me?"
Iron Valiant turned its head back to Kieran, and cried affirmatively.
"Gall… bloop."
He couldn't stop himself from smiling bigly! Iron Valiant had finally become a team player!
"Th—th… thank you, Iron Valiant! You're awesome!"
On the other end of the arena, the two Grass/Dark Pokémon engaged in a deadly dance of war. Meowscarada bravely dodged all Wo-Chien's best Power Whips, dealing a heavy Brick Break to tear down its wall.
The monstrous Wo-Chien then tried to wrap Meowscarada up in its own tablets, but the theatrical Magician Pokémon just danced along the tiles, dealing a crushing blow to Wo-Chien's exposed backside.
Wo-Chien responded with another soaring Ruination wave, cutting Meowscarada down to near-fainting.
"This is the time… it's now or never!"
Juliana drew her Tera Orb.
"Let's FINISH this, Meowscarada!"
"Mrrrow!"
Juliana's Orb gathered a bunch of Tera energy from the nearby Crystal Pool. Juliana didn't even flinch while holding it, her burning determination keeping her stoic as she tossed the Orb up.
TERA-PA-GOOOS!
Terapagos's power surged over Meowscarada's form. The crystallized balloons came out, and Meowscarada yowled confidently.
"Now, Meowscarada… AERIAL ACE!"
"Meowwwww!"
The Tera Jewel bristled with windy energy as Meowscarada unleashed a cutting blade of pressurized air that impacted Wo-Chien's mossy body, spreading all the leaves around, and making the huge snail-like Pokémon quake, until…
"Wo… chien."
It collapsed into a pile of mud, forcing Nemona to recall her Pokémon… and concede the match. Not that she seemed the least disappointed over it.
"Mochi… MO-MO-CHIIII!"
Kieran was ready to end his battle too.
"Iron Valiant… SPIRIT BREAK!"
The hybrid cyborg gathered up all its pixie powers, and channeled them into its pink dual-bladed scythes, slashing through the cracks in Sinistcha's cup to send the ghostly Pokémon's liquid body in shivers.
"Sinnnnn…."
"MOHHHH…!" Carmine seethed, as if begging for Sinistcha to stay conscious.
…
"…cha."
But alas. The tea was spoiled.
Carmine, huffing like she was in massive disbelief, recalled it. "Mochi… MOCHI MOCHI!" she began stomping the ground.
Kieran was ecstatic. He could hardly believe what was happening.
"I did it… I actually did it!" He stood next to Iron Valiant proudly. "I FINALLY BEAT YOU, SIS!"
"GALLLLLL-VOOOIIIIIIR-bloop!"
"WE did it, Kieran!" Juliana celebrated. "HIGH-FIVE!"
Kieran jumped up and enthusiastically gave her a double high-five. They were both over the moon in their well-earned victories against their tough friends, and Pecharunt looked around in disbelief.
"Mochi… skills, mochi…" Nemona mumbled.
"MO! CHI! MOCHI?! GRRRRRRR!" Carmine was grabbing at her hair and shaking her entire body in inconsolable rage.
Pecharunt looked around and growled angrily, in total shock that Juliana and Kieran had bested both its chosen champions.
"You'd better just give up now and release our friends!" Kieran angrily commanded Pecharunt.
"Yeah! We can keep going all night long, my pal Kieran and I! You'll NEVER beat us!"
Juliana eagerly stepped forward right to Pecharunt's face, making the little gremlin retreat a bit in fear.
"I'll beat you in a fight right now!" she haughtily challenged the runt. "My Meowscarada is plenty strong enough to take on the likes of you!"
"Pehhh…"
Juliana had really triggered Pecharunt's bitterness with her zest. It glanced over at the Terastallized Meowscarada, who gestured with its clawed fingers, as if to say "Bring it on."
Pecharunt's eyes leered.
…
"…CHAA!"
Without warning, Pecharunt whipped its chains ferociously in Meowscarada's direction, and squeezed them around the grass cat, entrapping it in a spiral of toxicity.
"M-MEOWSCARADA!" Juliana cried out, her cocky spirit instantly shattered.
Meowscarada was left poisoned from the Malignant Chain… and Pecharunt's dark aura revealed an extra gruesome effect: the toxins coursing through Meowscarada's veins seeped into its cranial functions, leaving the Pokémon helplessly confused.
"No… Wait, stop. I'm—I'm sorry!"
The addled Pokémon tried to take another swipe at Pecharunt, but ended up accidentally clawing its face instead.
"Mrrow…!"
And Pecharunt took the opportunity to divebomb Meowscarada with a deadly Poison Jab… shattering those crystals, and taking the Pokémon out.
Juliana shivered. Her entire core seemed to stiffen and chill, but she couldn't move herself from standing in front of the awful Pokémon.
Her intensely shaky hands still drew up more Poké Balls.
"Well, I'm—I'm—I'm still not scared of you! I've got more Pokémon! I can—I can…"
But she had already made her bed… Pecharunt could see her weakness. And it immediately decided to shoot its shot.
"PECHAAAAAA!"
"AHHHHH!"
Juliana screamed in distress as Pecharunt ensnared both her wrists in its malignant purple chain, causing her to drop her Poké Balls as she tried to wrestle herself free.
"JULIANA!" Kieran screamed.
"Let go of me, you jerk…!" Juliana struggled. "I'm not—admitting defeat! NOT EVER!" she snarled stubbornly.
Pecharunt just eyed her… as its twisted white smile grew wider and wider.
…
"Runt."
"Huh? I—GULP!"
Nemona suddenly sprung up out of nowhere… and shoved a Binding Mochi straight into Juliana's mouth. She barely even had time to react in horror as she felt herself swallow the horrid thing whole.
-GASP!-
"Juliana, NO!" Kieran grasped his head, horrified.
"No, no, no, no…" Juliana felt terrified as she could feel the mochi's sweet taste reverberating across her whole mouth and throat. "This isn't real! You're not going to turn me into one of your—AGGH!"
But a vicious purple aura began to enwrap Juliana's body, and Pecharunt, satisfied, decided to release her in her momentary anguish.
"Juliana, PLEASE!" Kieran begged. "You've got to fight it! If anyone can resist that stuff, it's you!"
But Juliana screamed and wailed as her head erupted in pain. Her entire brain felt like it was on fire. She lost control of her nerves, and her arms started flailing on their own. Her once bad leg was completely numb now, she was losing the ability to feel anything. Her wild eyes were flickering rapidly between hazel-brown and deep purple.
"Kieran…!" She groaned loudly. "It's… no use! I can feel it, my mind… You've—you've gotta run! SAVE YOURSELF!"
Juliana strained hard as she tried to concentrate, tried to keep herself tethered to reality. She gazed out desperately to all her possessed friends, but as they started to become blurry in her fading vision, they also began to disappear into colorless blobs inside her mind.
"Friends… GNNNH… Friends? Family? L-l-love? C-C-CARM…"
She could only sniffle and gasp in despair as she actively felt the memories of all her adventures eroding from her brain. All those faces she'd met… All the world-saving missions… The Pokémon she'd caught… The bonds she'd made…
Carmine…
"Uggghhh…"
That's it. Give up struggling, Juliana. This is your destiny. Your purose.
We will finally be one. You will finally be happy.
"Ngggh… Ahhh-AHHHHHHH!"
Kieran rushed over to Juliana's screaming and spazzing form, desperately shaking her by the shoulders.
"JULIANA! Juliana! Stay with me! Don't leave me as the only one left! Think about your friends! Think about Carmine! JULIANAAAA!"
But he watched helplessly as Juliana's face grew numb, and her eyes started rolling back into her head.
Everything was getting fuzzy. She was becoming a completely blank slate. Nothing there anymore inside her noggin… No friends, or family, or memories. Only Pecharunt's face, and that voice trickling in her mind, grabbing the controls.
"Jul… i… ana? Is that… my name?" she croaked weakly. "Who… who am… I?"
Kieran felt tears bursting from his eyes as he watched his friend all but disappear. Finally, her head slumped over, her whole body becoming still as if her spirit had left it entirely.
Sniffle, sniffle.
"J-J-Juliana? … Please."
…
"Mm… mm…"
"No."
"Mochi mochi MOCHI!"
Juliana sprung up in an instant. Now she was dancing and repeating the same chant as everyone else!
"MOCHI! MOCHI? MOCHI!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kieran wailed.
"Brrrb-brrrrb-BRRRRRRB!" Pecharunt cackled.
With Juliana now under the runt's control too, Kieran looked around in fear and terror as all the possessed people began closing in around him. They were all chanting the same Mochi chant in complete sync, and all of them gazing right at Kieran.
"No, no, no, no, no! NO, NO, NOOOOO!" Kieran was sweating up a storm. "This is a nightmare! It has to be! This can't be how it all ends! Somebody… HELLLLPPPP!"
But there was nobody coming. Kieran was the last one in Kitakami not fallen under the mochi curse, and Pecharunt's army was circling around them, each of them holding Binding Mochi and determined to change that.
Kieran tried desperately to make a run for it. But he only got as far as the huge tree in the center of the Plaza before he suddenly felt someone grabbing his arm.
"Huh!? S-SIS!?"
"Mochi mochi!"
And then his other arm.
"GAHH! JULIANA! LET GO OF ME!"
"Mochi mochi MOCHI!"
The two girls had Kieran locked in place, holding tightly onto both his arms, as the crowd descended.
"Carmine… Juliana… Please! Both of you LET GO! I'm your friend!" he begged and pleaded, tears riding down his cheeks. "You've got to fight this! We can't lose to that thing like this! IT'S JUST NOT RIGHT!"
But Pecharunt hovered over the poor, panicking boy. It jutted out its chains once more… and affixed them both to Carmine and Juliana.
"Quit struggling, pipsqueak… If you know what's good for you…"
"This is what we want, Kieran… This is the happiness that Pecharunt promises us… We'll never have to worry ever again."
"NO! That's not you talking! Either o' you!" he barked shrilly. "You're both under his control! He's made you into his puppets! YOU'VE GOTTA LISTEN TO ME! SNAP OUT OF IT!"
"Eat the mochi, Kiki…"
"Eat the mochi, Kieran…"
"EAT THE MOCHI." "EAT THE MOCHI." "EAT THE MOCHI." "EAT THE MOCHI." "EAT THE MOCHI." "EAT THE MOCHI."
Kieran's face darted around helplessly, calling for anyone in the crowd to come to their senses, as he watched in terror while Carmine and Juliana began to hold up a Binding Mochi close to his mouth.
"GRANDMA! GRANDPA! HELP MEEEE!" he screamed. "SOMEBODY! NAO-SAN! MS. JULIETT! ARVEN! PENNY! NEMONA! SISSSSS! JULIANAAAAA!"
But Pecharunt landed on his face, and held his mouth wide open.
"NOOO, NOOO, NOOOO! NO NO NO!"
The two girls slowly brought the mochi to his mouth…
"Happy together."
"Happy forever."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
…was the last thing Kieran screamed, before the mochi was forced into his mouth, and he swallowed it with a single tear.