Starfall Street: Complete.
As Juliana was battling Clavell, Florian was pacing in front of the door to the schoolyard.
The clues were there. He'd suspected it for a while. He wasn't sure if Juliana had, the girl was clever but not observant. And she wasn't caught up on Miss Eevee.
He was distracted from his thoughts when Juliana approached. "You won?" She nodded silently, to his relief. "Ok. Cassiopeia should be right behind this door. Are you ready?"
"Not really. But I'm tired from today's excitement, so let's get it over with."
Juliana pushed open the door. Florian looked over her shoulder, expecting to see someone under the lights.
No one was there.
"She's not here?" Florian asked, anger and disappointment coming through in his voice.
"I fought the director to get here!" Juliana angrily punched a wall, and then whimpered as she realized it was a terrible idea.
"So you're here," said a voice, and they saw movement in the shadows. Juliana gasped, whether in pain or surprise, and Florian nodded knowingly.
"Hey, Penny."
At the sound of her name, Penny stepped out. "I...I did make it obvious, didn't I?" she asked, her voice much higher than the synthesizer she used as Cassiopeia.
"A little bit," Florian confirmed. "But don't worry, only people who know comics would have figured it out. Though using a Captain Charizard reference instead of Miss Eevee threw me off at first."
"Wait, what?" Juliana was looking from one to the other, eyes wide in surprise. "You...Penny! You were the big boss the whole time?"
"I was."
"And Florian! You knew and kept it a secret?"
"I figured it out," he corrected. "Subtle but important difference."
"And thank you for keeping my secret." Penny smiled at Florian, then turned to Juliana. "He solved the mystery, but you have the Star badges. When you two stepped in, that day on the stairs...the idea of Operation Starfall came to me. But I had to wait to see which of you would be stronger. That turned out to be you." She pulled out a Pokeball. "You're going to have to battle me. Defeat me, Juliana, and put Team Star to rest once and for all!"
She sounded much more confident. Juliana was willing to give her the battle she wanted. Florian even pulled out his phone to record.
Penny's Umbreon opened with Baby-Doll Eyes, cutting the attack strength of the Body Slam Juliana told Hydreigon to use. A trade-off of Dark Pulse and Dragon Pulse followed, leading to Hydreigon's victory. Juliana swapped for Talonflame to take care of Leafeon, and a single Acrobatics attack took out her opponent - Talonflame hadn't even looked at Leafeon's Baby-Doll Eyes.
For Vaporeon, Lurantis was called out. Penny didn't waste time with Baby-Doll Eyes, instead choosing to open with Aurora Beam. Lurantis staggered back, but a powerful Petal Blizzard took Vaporeon out quickly.
Flareon was next. Webby's Aqua Step was more than enough. Then, not having a type advantage for Jolteon, Juliana swapped for Farigiraf.
"That's...odd," Penny said, looking up at Farigiraf's face.
"He's beautiful!" Juliana protested.
"I didn't say he wasn't." Penny nodded to Jolteon. "Use Thunder!"
The attack hit, but it wasn't super-effective. Neither was the Stomp that Farigiraf followed it with, but the critical hit took down Jolteon, too.
Penny smiled, but her vision was blurred with tears. "I can't fault you in battle skills," she said quietly. "But now it's time to face my final Pokémon! Let's go, Sylveon!"
Juliana fought a sad noise. She had a type advantage for this, too. "Come back, Farigiraf! Tinkaton, you're up!"
Penny wasn't surprised. "If we're going to lose, we're going to lose in style! Shine like the stars, Sylveon, and become who you want to be!"
She tossed her Tera Orb at the same time Juliana threw hers. Sylveon attempted a Baby-Doll Eyes, but it wasn't enough to stop the Tera boosted Gigaton Hammer.
Penny called Sylveon back. Juliana stepped forward, possibly to apologize, but Florian pulled her back.
"It's over," said Penny.
"It's over," Clavell's voice confirmed.
Juliana yelped and whirled around to face him. He was dressed as Clive once again. "How long have you been there?"
"I caught the ending," Clive admitted. "Ms. Tyme was insistent that I write..." he looked over at Penny, then cleared his throat. "It took longer than I anticipated."
Clive took a step forward. Florian turned off his phone. "Florian here is quite good at getting Team Star members to open up," Clive said, as Florian's Rotom flew back into his pocket. "If you're so inclined, I would love to hear the story of how Team Star was founded."
Penny looked at Florian, then back at Clive. "I trust you," she said to both of them. "You were important parts in Operation Starfall. I can tell you." She thought it over carefully and began her story. "I was shy and into computers since childhood, but the bullying truly started when my idiot uncle nearly doomed the world by pure accident...well, more like pure stupidity..."
Penny finished her story to the stunned silence of the others.
Juliana had a few memories of the Darkest Day incident - she'd been staying with her father at the time. The sky had gone dark in the middle of the day, and she and Henry weren't allowed to leave the house. They'd ended up getting into a bake-off and making poor Polteageist sick from eating too many cookies. Florian hadn't been there, but Clive had been watching the news. It had made international headlines. Of course the niece of the one behind it would have been bullied.
"...and they said things. 'Crazy runs in the family,' things of that nature." Only Clive understood why Florian cringed, but Penny continued on. "They even shut me in my locker and called it 'saving Paldea.' I started Operation Star, but honestly, my time in Galar was almost less stressful than my time in Paldea."
"I see," said Clive. "And why come back, then, if you were less bullied in Galar?"
Penny smiled slightly. "Because my friends in Team Star...they're my greatest treasure. I couldn't abandon them again."
"You never did, boss!"
Penny spun around, and they all noticed her face light up at the sight of the other Star bosses. It was adorable. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We came to see you," Giacomo explained. "Didn't expect to see your face...or to see you get creamed like that..."
"Leave her alone," Eri complained.
Giacomo laughed. "Hey, Juliana type advantaged her way through my base."
"All of our bases," Mela added, trying and failing to be grumpy.
Atticus chuckled. "Lady Juliana is quite the trainer, indeed," he agreed. "As are you, Cass...er, Lady Penny."
"So how did you all get here?" Penny asked excitedly.
Clive glared at Florian and Juliana. "They took a cab," he said, and the pair both whistled innocently. Then he returned to Team Star. "Well, then. If you would allow me, I must reveal my own secret identity before this continues."
And once again, he yanked off the Clive disguise to reveal Clavell underneath. All six Star bosses flinched just like Florian and Juliana had, but Clavell ignored it.
"Director Clavell?" Penny yelped.
"Director?" the other bosses repeated in confusion.
Clavell made a disappointed sound. "There are multiple violations of school rules, starting with uniform customization and ending with a lengthy truancy. I have no choice..." he suddenly smiled. "I have no choice but to allow Team Star to continue, using your bases as the school-sanctioned Star Training Centers."
Ortega dropped his cane. "You mean we're not in trouble?"
"Oh, you're in extraordinary trouble. I merely decided that it wasn't worth forcing expulsion on students who were, at their core, innocent." His smile faded. "Now, I suppose I'll be seeing you in school now, won't I?"
Juliana would have slept in the next morning, if she hadn't been called to Clavell's office again.
Tie half-undone and hat missing, she followed her Pawmo to the office in a haze, already missing her bed. Clavell paid no attention to the practical zombie, instead focusing on the girl she was once she was alert and her equally tired male counterpart.
"I would like to thank you again for your help with Team Star," he said. "If it weren't for you, Miss Juliana, Master Florian would never have gotten the bosses to open up about their past, and without his help I may have taken unfortunate actions."
"I guess the pyrite incident did help me after all," Florian commented. "Even if I wasn't nearly as bullied as they were."
Clavell's response was interrupted by a knock. "Director?" a soft voice called, barely audible through the door across the room. "It's me. Penny."
"Oh?" Clavell looked surprised, even as she entered the room. "What brings you here?"
"I...I want to make a few requests. I know I have no right, that the Star Training Centers are supposed to be a punishment...but I would like to work on them with my friends."
"Of course you may, Miss Penny. You were, after all, the mastermind behind their actions."
"And my second request is..." she looked away. "I would like to be punished more severely than the rest of Team Star."
"Because you were the big boss?"
Penny shook her head, staring at the floor. "Because...the League Points I gave you all for helping were...technically not supposed to exist."
"Huh?" Juliana checked the LP counter on her phone. "You paid us in more than TMs? I thought that was just the school giving us an allowance."
"It wasn't." Penny swallowed. "I hacked the LP management system, and sort of...boosted the amount that was supposed to be there. Then I used that manufactured LP to pay you all for your involvement in Operation Starfall."
"You've been counterfeiting currency?" Florian asked, a bit more loudly than intended.
Penny nodded, facing the floor.
"That is a federal crime!"
Penny nodded again.
"We'll miss you," said Juliana, fully expecting Penny to be put away for a long time.
Clavell was as impressed as he was angry. "I didn't think it was possible. Unfortunately, this means..."
"I know." Penny wiped a tear off her cheek. "I should be expelled after all. And...probably arrested."
"I was going to say that I must report you to Ms. Geeta," Clavell finished. "I would like to keep you in school, if possible. However." He turned to Florian and Juliana. "We do need some privacy for this."
"Of course," Florian said. As they shuffled past, he leaned in to wish Penny good luck.