"Here we go!" Carmine brought the box between her and Juliana's knees and opened it up. "My special little project!"
"Ooooh!" said Juliana.
She opened up the box and saw a bunch of large handmade masks, some made with paper and others made with materials like felt and clay.
"Pon-ponnnnnn," said Ogerpon, equally enamored as she sat on Carmine's dorm room floor between the two girls.
"I may not be a highly apprenticed mask maker like my ancestor was, but you know what? I decided to give it a fair shot!"
Juliana grinned and said, "I'm glad to see you finally embracing art in a way that makes you happy."
Carmine reflexively made a noise of disgust at that and said, "Well… I didn't do it just to satisfy that prissy Mr. Burgh or anything. I did it for myself to get my creative juices flowing! And to see if Ogerpon likes them so she has more masks to wear!"
"Goooh, pon-eeee…"
Ogerpon took some of Carmine's handmade masks and examined them in awe, using her own appeal for beautiful masks to judge her partner's auteurship.
Namely, she would put on one of the masks and try to adopt a persona that would match its details. For example, there was a pink paper-mâché mask in the shape of a heart that Ogerpon put on, and its lovely design inspired her to twirl around like a ballerina.
"Geee," she said gracefully.
"Awww!" said Juliana while clapping.
"You're born for the runways of this world, my little fashion star!" Carmine giggled. "I don't expect any of these masks will go as far as to change Ogerpon's type and get powered up by Professor Sada's Tera thingy like her real masks do, but… imagine how awesome that would be if Ogerpon like, became a Fairy-type with my mask!"
"Hmmmm… Well, your ancestor also fitted Ogerpon's masks with clusters from the Crystal Pool, remember? I wonder how much that helped Ogerpon unlocking special powers with them."
Carmine gasped and grabbed Juliana's shoulders in excited realization.
"AGH! Why didn't you say something before we left Kitakami you beautiful genius!? Imagine if you and Arven scooped some of those up on your hike! We could've experimented with them and maybe been on the precipice of something great!"
Then Ogerpon put on a tiny yellow mask made of clay with blue devil horns over her face and pretended to act like a fearsome monster. "Grahhh-rahhhh!"
But the mask was too small and unsteady to stay on her face and she dropped it, leaving her goofy face exposed. "Grrr… ohh."
"Then again…" Carmine laughed. "Maybe it's best I didn't psyche myself up for disappointment. I don't think I have the skills to make masks with special powers like my great-great-whatever, but at least I had fun! That's what counts, right?"
"Heyyyyyy…" Juliana looked inside the box and noticed how familiar the last three masks looked. "Who are these three supposed to be?"
"Oh! Hee-hee, I was wondering when you'd notice those."
"GEE-GEE!" Ogerpon recognized whose face the mask with the purple feathers used as hair looked like. She put the mask on and began imitating Kieran's frustrated head-scrubbing, while making noises that sounded like his voice.
"Ha-ha-ha! That is SOOOO Kiki! You nailed him perfectly!"
Juliana laughed heartily. "I think with a mask like that, Ogerpon must be feeling a strong sense of bravery, and loyalty to her friends."
"Yeah…" She picked up the next mask. "How about this one, Ogerpon? Remind you of a certain someone?"
She tossed back her silky locks at the same time Ogerpon gasped happily at the felt mask with red and black paper strings and put it on.
"Ger-ponn! Gehhh…" Then she jut her cloaked arms out and started shaking. "GRRRRRRR!"
"Are you imitating my angry motions?" Carmine chuckled. "Little brat! I don't know whether I should be flattered!"
"I think you should be very flattered," Juliana giggled. "With that mask, Ogerpon feels uhh, an overwhelming sense of beauty and grace."
"Awww… you're gonna make me blush," Carmine said bashfully, unaware it was already happening.
"Poni-o-no!"
Ogerpon found the last mask in the box, and Juliana's heart skipped a few beats when she saw it. The face was drawn with so much sparkling detail… and Carmine had skillfully used painted rope to emulate Juliana's signature braid.
Carmine felt a little shy as she explained, "My—my best one of the bunch, in my opinion."
Ogerpon put on the Juliana mask and started acting all cutesy and lovely, greeting both Juliana and Carmine like total besties, before she leapt eagerly into action… and finished by deliberately tripping on her face.
"Pon-ioooo…" she fake-groaned.
"Heeeey! That was a stellar performance, but I think I resent that last part…" Juliana playfully grumbled.
Carmine however, was laughing so hard she kicked her feet in the air.
"Oh man! You've gotten so savage, Ogerpon! As your mentor in sassiness, I couldn't be prouder!"
"So… what do you think?" Juliana opined. "A mask like that… what would you say it represents, Carmine?"
"Hmmm." Carmine stroked her chin thoughtfully. "A mask like that, with such a unique deposition, would definitely grant Ogerpon all the powers of… being a filthy outsider."
"HEY!" Juliana whined.
But she was placated by surprise as Carmine leaned right over her face, and gave her a soft peck.
"A really cute one."
The red-faced Juliana's reply didn't quite form coherent words. Carmine just grinned and patted her on the cheek.
Ogerpon stifled giggles, watching the two lovebirds interact like this. She held up the heart-shaped mask again and waved it around in front of her face.
"Hey… speaking of mop boy, aren't he and the rest of your friends from Paldea visiting today? I'm surprised you wouldn't want to spend the day catching up with your little geek squad."
Juliana brushed her hair back as she regathered her composure.
"Umm…" She cleared her throat. "Yeah! I actually caught up with them this morning and—and they suggested we all hang out together…"
"Ahhhh. Well, why didn't you? I'm not that possessive of you, y'know," she said a little crossly. "I know how much you missed your friends, so if you had wanted to ditch for today I wouldn't have minded. …That much."
"I know but…" Juliana giggled meekly. "As soon as the words came out of my mouth that I already had plans with you, all three of them basically yelled at me to stick with that plan and spend all the time I wanted with you."
"Hee-hee! I like your friends. They all definitely fit that 'naïve city kid' mold that I envision all Paldeans having a lot better than you do. But they know their boundaries, so that's a good thing! And they seem to care a great deal about you, which is the best part."
"Yeah, they're the best friends I could ask for," Juliana said fondly. "Very lucky to have them."
"Pon-pon…" Ogerpon nodded.
"And you're not worried about them ether? Three little Corphish in the giant pond that is Blueberry?"
"Nah. If there's anything I know about Nemona, Penny, and Arven, it's that they know how to fit themselves into any environment they squeeze into."
"All right, LISTEN UP!" Nemona declared as her teaching stick thwapped against the solid whiteboard of the club room.
The sharp noise quickly halted all the interior conversations, and the Blueberry students who had volunteered for this Paldean student's special lesson all turned to attention. Nemona sternly drifted her eyes among them all… before breaking out into a giggle.
"Sorry! I've just always wanted to do something like that. To think that I get to play the teacher for once, and give a Uva-grown lesson to the students of Blueberry Academy. Never would've dreamed of this in a million years! But let's give it a shot."
She clapped her hands together to address everyone.
"Now I'm not going to pretend that I'm not in a room full of some seasoned battlers here. I know how you Blueberry types are! The stories of how wild everyone in this school is about battling breaches out even to our humble little region. So I know a lesson like this doesn't need to be about anything basic or even the advanced stuff you get out of textbooks. Instead…"
Her face became fierce.
"It'd be most appropriate to talk about something you only get from the soul! From battling out on the field! And that is, finding your perfect… RIVAL!"
The Blueberry students all looked to each other in confusion.
"I'm talking about the most personal kind of battling relationship! A friend who you not only enjoy battling against, but who builds you up! The kind of rival who makes you want to keep on getting stronger until you become the best version of yourself!"
She taped a big picture of Juliana onto the ground.
"Like Juliana! You all know her, right?"
Everyone answered affirmatively.
"She and I are rivals for life! I helped her get started on her path to becoming a Champion, and I would never be so arrogant as to say I'm the sole reason why she's become such an exceptional Trainer but… I'm sure it was that burning desire for us to become equals that helped motivate her to keep on going—and motivated me too! All that time I spent with Juliana—it reinvigorated my love for battling, and now my team and I press harder than we've ever gone before! It's been the ultimate symbiotic friendship!"
Nemona felt gleeful to reminiscence on how her friendship with Juliana first blossomed, but as she opened her eyes and realized everyone was staring at her, she felt a bit bashful.
"Umm… right! There's—a lesson here I'm teaching. And that's that if you find someone who drives you in that same kind of way, you'll want to keep hitting all your goals too—is what I'm trying to say. Does that make sense to everyone?"
Nemona's crowd of pupils all turned to each other and discussed, but the general atmosphere seemed to be that they understood the point she was making.
"Fantástico!" she shouted, jumping up with her fist in the air. "So now that you've seen firsthand with two powerful Champions how making an awesome rival for life will make all your wildest dreams come true… who wants to go FIRST!?"
Her hand flew out over the center of everyone, holding a Poké Ball, as their faces all became confused.
"I'll gladly volunteer to be anyone's rival! We can battle our hearts out for the whole next few days I'm here, and you'll all be Champion ready too! So let's get started already!"
"…" "…" "…" "…" "…" "…"
Penny shook her head and sighed. She was sitting at a table along with Arven, Crispin, and Drayton.
"Tch. If there's one thing I can say about Nemona, pretended to have a lesson to teach before just turning it into a way to ask for battles longer than I expected."
"WHOOOOO!" One person who held immense enthusiasm for Nemona's lecture—no huge surprise—was her incredibly supportive boyfriend. "That's my girl! You're all really lucky to have Nemona as your battle tutor!"
"That's how they feel now, wait until nine battles later…" Penny chuckled.
"Ugh, tell me about it. Your girl's only been here for a day and is already wearing my neck out wanting to battle my team over and over again," Drayton complained. "Kyurem damn us all if she finds out she could technically sign up for the BB League."
"Woah! Another Paldean student taking on the BB League?" said Crispin. "I don't know why you say that like that'd be a bad thing, I think it sounds totally fire!"
"You think everything sounds fire, Crispin. Me, I might just retire to my pad and crash until she and the rest of you folks are off again…"
"HAH! Well if you're getting bored of Nemona's battle frenzy, then don't you worry!" Arven puffed out his chest. "The classes I have planned are sure to be very educational! It's going to bring out some real uhh—stimuli!"
"Oh… that so?" As Arven commanded his attention, Drayton's whole demeanor suddenly changed. He leaned his arms out, looking more attentive. "Well, if someone as clever looking as you is promising really interesting classes, Arven, maybe I'll stay out for a little while and listen."
Penny and Crispin exchanged weird faces with each other, both wondering why Drayton almost looked like he was… fluttering his eyelashes at the dude.
"Well, thanks… Drayton, right?" Arven grinned cheerfully. "Boy, you Blueberry types sure are awfully friendly!"
Sure enough, Arven had decided to dedicate the first of his several planned lectures on a really unique topic: the Herba Mystica of Paldea, and everything he'd learned on how they can improve people's and Pokémon's health and ensure effective bonds.
His Mabosstiff was by his side as both the Ur-example and just a generally helpful teacher's assistant.
"Barrr-ruff!"
Several students had shown up to this lecture, including his own supporting partner Nemona… although having just finished signing herself up as a temp rival for over a dozen Blueberry students, she was conked out on the desk, taking Drayton's usual position.
Kieran and his classmate Crispin were listening much more eagerly, enraptured by Arven's tales of his and Juliana's adventures through Paldea collecting all these different Herbs. His sister however, wasn't so impressed.
Carmine rested her head on her arm, looking thoroughly skeptical as Arven described in excited detail the huge and fearsome Titan Pokémon. Amarys was sitting next to her, more engrossed in the botany aspects of the lecture than anything else.
"And then… just when we thought it was all over and the Titan was defeated, Juliana and I heard a noise! It was the jumbo-sized Tatsugiri, and it turned to be a powerful Titan TOO! It wasn't the food chain in action at all, but two different Pokémon working in tandem as one huge fearsome unit!"
Everyone was wowed, especially Kieran.
"That's amazing! Paldea must be one cool region if even a little shrimp Pokémon like that can harness some secret power and become a legendary monster! Maybe that's where I need to do my training."
"Tch," Carmine scoffed. "Short minds like yours are so easily enamored by tall tales, Kiki." She squinted dubiously at Arven. "And you're a big hayload of talk, Arven. Do you really expect me to believe you Paldeans just happen to live alongside so many giant Pokémon just crawling around all over your pretty region like that?"
Arven just took Carmine's sour attitude in stride and laughed. "I'm surprised Juliana hasn't bragged your ear off about our awesome adventures together! I guess she's all humble like that. But I still have the pictures she and I took, and I'd be glad to show 'em to you if you really don't believe me!"
He took some polaroids out of his yellow vest pocket and held them out. Carmine rolled her eyes as she accepted the photos… but as she looked through each of them, her eyes got bigger and bigger.
That giant crab Pokémon… it's gigantic! Is that—the big "Klawf" thing that scruffy kid from the school trip was talking about?
The other photos showed Juliana and Arven facing down a huge stork Pokémon, that one giant Donphan that they now understood to actually be a prehistoric Great Tusk escaped from the Area Zero underdepths…
"Wow, look at that giant worm!" Kieran pointed. "It's even bigger than our house, Sis!"
"I've read many books about Orthworm," Amarys observed. "To think that it could grow to that size, and create tunnels that huge… The mind shudders to think."
"You mean—that four-eyed twerp… and Juliana… They were—t-telling the truth the whole time!?" Her shrunken irises glared Arven down in disbelief. "What kind of freaky place do you all live in anyway!?"
"Y'see?" a boastful Arven reveled. "I told you our adventures weren't just too good to be true, but simply good and righteous! And it wasn't all just for the thrill of a lifetime either!"
He clapped his hands together in excitement.
"Because now, I've applied everything I've learned about the amazing Herba Mystica and the wonderful uses it provides! Which leads me to my next class…"
All of Arven's diagrams and bullet lists about the Titans and the Herbs were all on a sheet whose ring he pulled to bring the whole thing up… revealing a whiteboard full of pictures of sandwiches.
"How to maximize your SANDWICH making potential to create awesome Meal Powers!"
"Sandwich powers!?" Crispin leapt up from his station. "Aww yeah! Now I'm even MORE fired up!"
Carmine balked. "Wait… you're not about to tell me Juliana's weird ramblings about using sandwich ingredients to change how wild Pokémon 'spawn in' are actually something real too, are you? I can only handle so much of this science fiction mumbo jumbo in one day…"
Amarys giggled next to her. "It hasn't escaped my notice that Paldeans are awfully fixated on all matters regarding food…"
And soon afterwards, it was time for the final special guest from Uva to give her lecture. As her legs rattled, and her sweating hand tugged on the sleeve of her gray jacket, Penny found herself suddenly questioning why she had agreed to this.
I mean… I know why I did. A few days' vacation from school in a much warmer region, getting to see a cool underwater school, and hanging out with Juliana for a bit.
But this is the caveat, huh?
The short, nervous girl made her way to the front of the room, and immediately took stock of all the eyes focused on her.
She gulped big. Public speaking.
Every single bone in Penny's body was shaking. She could feel the sweat trickling down her pores. And she was sure that every single one of the Blueberry students in the room could see how anxious she was.
A part of her wanted to run and hide. To leave behind her phone and tell people that her friend "Cassiopeia" was handling the lesson in her stead. But as her timid eyes darted about, Penny could make out two supportive faces in the back.
Arven and Lacey sat at a table behind everyone (along with a still napping Nemona). They craned their necks out so Penny could see them, and were both giving her a huge thumbs-up. Lacey cupped her hands over her mouth and whisper-screamed "I believe in you!"
Penny smiled warmly. "Thanks, guys," she whispered back.
She cleared her throat. Realizing she had garnered as much confidence as she could muster, she spoke out… in a voice that still wasn't as loud as she wanted to be:
"H-hi, everyone. M-my name's Penny, and…"
"HI, PENNY!" all the Blueberry students immediately shouted back.
"…GEH!"
Penny's glasses almost flew off her face at how loudly and eagerly her new charges all responded back. I guess Juliana did warn me about how excitable this bunch is…
"S-so today, I'm here all the way from Paldea to give you a special class on…" She gulped again. "Type matchups."
With a hand that was still shaking, Penny turned on the projector and showed an advanced slide over the whiteboard, featuring graphics she had created on her laptop showing a lot of advanced type matchups.
"Now, umm, that is to say… I don't know if you guys had to do that thing where they make you memorize the whole types chart front to back and recite it on paper like 12 times…"
Penny's listeners all answered "Yes" to that, some grumbling about it more than others.
"Right!" she giggled, already feeling slightly more at ease. "Well, umm, trying to cram a whole bunch of types like that inside your noggin is one thing, but then you head you into the field and it's like—BZZT!" she imitated a shorting circuit. "Your mind completely forgot, right? And there you go—heh-heh, dying to a Cetitan because you didn't know it would be super effective against your Diglett."
This elicited laughs from the crowd, which helped calm the Galarian girl's nerves even more, and she found herself smirking. All the tips her girlfriend Noni had given her about presenting to a large crowd were… really helping a lot.
"I think the best way to learn some of these advanced matchups is to actually learn them in action! I brought a bunch of my friends with me today, and not only are they all a bunch of different types, but they each know special moves that are going to help with learning all the most strategic matchups!"
Penny slugged off her big fluffy Eevee-themed backpack and laid it out on the table as she took out the seven Poké Balls containing her treasured friends.
"Alright, my Veevees… come out!"
Penny tossed the Balls out, and the crowd gasped to be greeted with the six most adorable Pokémon in the shy girl's possession.
"Ohmigosh! It's Vaporeon! So cute!"
"Poreee!"
"Yoooo! It's Umbreon and Sylveon! Those two are my favorite!"
"Umbrr!"
"What moves does your Espeon know!? Can I be the one to battle it?"
Penny was awestruck.
"Wow… you guys all really love Eevees, huh?"
"YES!" they all shouted enthusiastically.
"I've got a Jolteon too! We should totally let ours play!"
Penny's Veevees were enamored with the attention and started playing about with the students, which only caused them to gush over the Veevees' cuteness even harder.
Despite having only brought them out for an important lesson, the big boss of Team Star couldn't stop a big smile from emanating on her face.
"Ha-ha…! You know what? Let's save the lesson for tomorrow," she laughed, stroking her Flareon's mane lovingly. "Instead… let's all have a little playdate with my Veevees!"
"YAAAAAAAAAAY!" they all cheered.
"EEEEEEEE!" But one shriek rang out among all the others, and Penny was surprised as Lacey, who she had initially pegged as the very calm and collected type, rushed up to the front.
"What the heck!? Juliana told me a lot about you, but she never mentioned you having a full team of adorable EEVEES!"
"She didn't? That's—that's kinda my signature trait."
"Well, I hope you don't mind me imposing on you like this but…!" Lacey suddenly drew out a Poké Ball. "I've always wanted to battle a whole bunch of Eeveelutions all at once! Will you please indulge me?"
"Ehh!? You're talking about a battle against one of you BB Elite Four types right here and now!?"
"Did someone say BATTLE!?" Nemona suddenly sprung awake, making Arven almost jump out of his chair.
"AGH! Babe, how—do you even do that?"
"Oh no. What have you done," Penny's irises shrank. Juliana, wherever you are, I could sure use some saving…
"I got it! Both of you, stand over that hill there where I can get a good view of the other biomes behind you!"
Juliana and Carmine both dashed over to the small yellow hill Perrin pointed at. Juliana spread her arms out wide and asked, "Is this a good shot or am I obscuring the horizon too much?"
"Well… actually, you're coming up a little short on my lens, kiddo. Why don't you stand on top of that rock?"
"Awwww, she's saying you're too short!" Carmine couldn't help but giggle, as Juliana tried not to pout.
"Not at all, just trying to get everything in the right frame! Actually Carmine, you're… blocking the sun a little bit. Mind squatting just a tad?"
Carmine simmered a bit, which made Juliana laugh.
"Perfect! Now you can spread your arms out, Juliana!"
Juliana did so with a gleeful smile on her face, making it look like she was showcasing all the beauty to behold in Blueberry's Terrarium, while Carmine decided to sling her arm over Juliana and give a proud smile to the camera.
"Oooh! Very fierce! Hold that smile for me, and…"
-SNAP!- -SNAP!- -SNAP!-
Once Perrin had gotten shots from a few different angles and felt satisfied with the scene, she instructed her two lovely volunteers to head over to the arena next to the self-service healing station and set up a battle scene. Juliana sent out her Mienshao against Carmine's Morpeko, and they each adopted fierce battle stances.
"Hang on!" Juliana suddenly realized. "If we're doing these pictures to advertise for Blueberry Academy, wouldn't it make more sense if we used Pokémon that you can catch here? To show off the Terrarium's biodiversity?"
"Woah, hey, good call!" said Perrin. "Knew you were my number-one assistant for a reason, partner!"
"Well, if we're going to do that, I say we make it a theme!" said Carmine.
And that's how Perrin got a brilliantly composed shot of Juliana eagerly commanding her Alolan Sandslash on one side, while Carmine and her Alolan Ninetales dazzled in sparkles on the opposing side, creating a fresh wintery battle shot in the middle of the warm Savannah Biome.
"Excellent! We're already on to the last shot I want to do," Perrin said with jubilance in her voice. "It's a pretty intimate shot. Hope you two are well-prepared for it."
"You kidding?" Carmine nudged her girlfriend's shoulder and said, "You put the two of us together, and we can create whatever romantic scene you need!"
"Hee-hee, that's right!" Juliana agreed.
"That's what I like to hear! Since you told me how much you love setting up picnics Juliana, I assume you've got a blanket and some supplies on ya somewhere?"
For Perrin's final photo-op, Juliana and Carmine sat down on a blanket in the crisp grass of the Savannah Biome. To get the best shot possible, Perrin had Carmine sitting around Juliana, with a picnic basket in their laps and half a sandwich on a plate in front.
"Is this good?" asked Juliana.
"Well… I'd like to get you leaning into Carmine a bit more—only if you're okay with that, of course."
"Well, actually…" Juliana let her head fall into Carmine's chest and smiled. "I'm more than okay with that."
"Yeah, I bet you are," Carmine giggled.
"Awesome! Now there's the intimacy that screams 'Find blossoming new relationships at Blueberry Academy'! Now just hold on that moment and…"
-SNAP!- -SNAP!- -SNAP!-
"Say Miss Perrin, if you're looking to sell any of these photos to one of those LGBT-centered magazines, I bet we can give you something really spicy."
Then she kissed the top of Juliana's head, making her go "OH!" in surprise.
"Ha-ha-ha! I like where you head goes, Carmine," Perrin chuckled, taking another snapshot. "I don't think I'll do anything else but hold onto that last one… Just for sweet memories, of course."
"Did you get all the shots you needed, Perrin?" asked Juliana, standing up.
"I think I have. Thanks so much to you two for agreeing to this. It's been ages since the last time I've worked with human models. It made for a nice bit of practice, especially with people I can trust over chasing down some rando students!"
"And getting some good photoshoot opportunities from an award-winning photographer is a great way to boost my spirits," Carmine boasted. "Tells me that I can probably become a pro model for all the great magazines someday if I wanted to!"
"You definitely have the looks for it, that's for sure!" Perrin complimented her.
"Umm… yeah, thanks," Carmine said bashfully. "It's rare to hear that from an actual adult…" she mumbled.
"And of course, it was great to know that my trusty partner still remembers ol' Perrin!"
"Duh! You helped me out so much when I was down, Perrin. I could never forget you for that," Juliana said earnestly. Kneeling down, she giggled, "Or your funny Growlithe!"
"Brow-wow! Roww!" Perrin's Growlithe barked happily.
"GRRRR-ROWWW!" The Growlithe's brother, who was entrusted to Juliana's care and had gotten… exceptionally better, joined in the happy barking.
"That's one splendid specimen of an Arcanine!" Perrin gushed, admiring the newly evolved Pokémon's fur which was smooth like volcanic rock. "Your brother's been so well taken care of, Growlithe. And now you've reunited! I knew your paths were destined to cross again!"
Then Perrin turned to face Juliana, and found herself genuinely smiling at the young girl, prompting Juliana to ask "…What?"
"Sorry. It's just… you know what even the best photo can't possibly capture? How much happier you look, Juliana. You're almost like a whole different person now and it just—really beams me to see that."
"Well, I listened really hard to your advice and—" Juliana tugged on her arm as she found herself gazing lovingly at her girlfriend. "—and I fixed everything that was wrong. I found my broken piece again, and I guess… I'm complete now."
Carmine brushed her hair back, more than happy to bask in hearing someone say that she helped make them feel complete… and maybe a little shy to say in front of a virtual stranger that she honestly felt the same way.
"Awww, that makes me so happy to hear!" Perrin replied. Then she explained to Carmine, "I guess you must be flattered to know how much Juliana here was really thinking of you during her excursion in Kitakami with me. You can thank me all you want for giving her the swift kick in the pants she needed to stop moping here, come back and apologize to you in person!"
"Ha-ha, yeah, I know stubborn she can be, I'm sure she really needed to—" Then Carmine came to a standstill as she started processing something. "Wait a minute. When you say stop moping here and come back—that means you two were already in Kitakami beforehand?"
Juliana's face suddenly went white.
"UMM—"
"Hold on, did I misread things?" asked Perrin, who was confused now. She pointed to Carmine and asked, "I'm sorry. I thought she was the girl you told me that you almost bumped into while we were in Kitakami before? The one that made you so scared you wanted to run away?"
She started backing away nervously. "Well! Uhh—see, the thing about that is…"
"WAIT A MINUTE! That means…"
Then Carmine sharply gasped, and her face swiftly turned to rage as she pulled down on her ends.
"That WAS you that I saw out in the Wistful Fields! And in front of the store!"
Juliana found herself stumbling backwards as Carmine started stomping towards her like an angry locomotive with steam coming out of her ears.
"Carmine, wait! P-please, I can explain everything!"
But it was too late. Carmine lunged at her like a Pyroar and pinned her to the ground as her face became red like fire.
"You little SNEASEL! You had me thinking that I was going crazy! HOW DARE YOU TOY WITH ME LIKE THAT! WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING, DOING ALL THAT AND THEN NEVER LETTING ME KNOW I WASN'T LOSING MY FREAKING MARBLES?!"
"Yikes," Perrin blushed. "I didn't mean to accidentally start some drama. Guess it's a good thing I'm a photographer and not a counselor, huh Growlithe?"
"Ruff?"
"I'M SORRY! I'm so, so, so-so-sorry!" Juliana blubbered.
She shook in fear as Carmine gripped her wrists tightly, turning her face away and hoping that the angry lioness wasn't about to eat it right off. She didn't know if this was worse than the day Terapagos's attack hit Kieran.
"I didn't—I didn't mean to cause you so much stress! My mind was all over the place and I panicked! But if you promise not to kill me right here on the spot, I'll—I'll do anything to make it up to you, Carmine! Anything!"
Juliana kept her eyes scrunched shut, expecting the worst from Carmine at her full rage. But instead, she felt Carmine's hot breath get close to her face, and a voice that softly asked…
"Anything?"
"H-huh?"
Then Juliana's eyes snapped open as the girl began whispering almost lullingly into her ear.
"Well… come see me in my room later tonight, and… maybe we can talk more deeply about how you can make amends."
Then she gave Juliana a small kiss on the cheek, making her gasp, and left the stunned, red-faced girl lying on the ground as she stood up and stretched.
"Woof. Actually felt kind of good to get all that pent-up stress off my chest… Thanks for that too, sweetie! Guess it helps to know I was never suffering from wild hallucinations either. Now I gotta find a way to cool off. I wonder if there's a shower room nearby?"
Carmine walked away blissfully… as Juliana continued to lay there, and shake. And sweat. She didn't feel like she had arms or legs anymore, just a melted pile of goop on the ground where there was once a suggestion of an adolescent girl's body.
Her Arcanine was so concerned for its Trainer's state that it quietly trudged over and nudged her with its arm, making concerned yelps.
"I'm fine, Arcanine…" Juliana groaned. "I think. I just… I don't know… Why do I feel so extremely terrified but also…"
She gulped. Her heart was rapidly thumping, and she could feel the heat rising in her blood. Maybe that adolescent body was still there.
"…kind of aroused at the same time?"
-SNAP- -SNAP- -SNAP-
The bright flashes of Perrin's camera illuminated Juliana's stunlocked form.
"Oooh, that's good. Hold on that position, if you don't mind. I bet I could make something almost like an exhibition piece with your little dilemma. The agony of teenage emotions captured in a still! Sorry to have caused your friend to flip out on you like that, partner. But uhh…" She sucked in her lip and muttered, "From the sounds of it, maybe you'll have more to thank me about."
-SNAP-
"Either way, you're definitely a grade-A model, Juliana."
"Thanks…"
Juliana looked up at the artificial moon starting to come into focus in the Terrarium glass. She wished it was real.