"Goooooooood morning, Blueberry Academy! You already know who it is! It's your girl Jazzy, here with the A/V club as always to bring you all the most important and exciting news on campus! How are we feeling TODAY, Blueberries?"
The campus halls of Blueberry Academy erupted in raucous cheers.
"Hahaha! That's the exact kind of response I expected, because you know there's plenty of exciting things happening in our cool blue school today! Most of all, the weather! How about those great blue skies? I know how many of us were feeling a little dreary thinking those storm clouds were never going to go away, but finally the sun is shining on us again and everything is looking bee-autiful!"
Jazzy sifted through the papers in front of her, each donated by different clubs to let her know every important topic that needed to be hit, and took note of one particular embroidered pink stationery atop the rest of the stack.
"Looking at our morning announcements here, and—aww, isn't this cute! Did Lacey do this? It's certainly grabbing my attention! I guess she wanted me to get to the League Club's exciting announcement first! Oooh, and it is a big one! Pokémon Leagues all across the globe are going to post their official League rankings simultaneously today and the BB League has extended an invitation to all members of the League Club to come to the clubroom and watch the results live together! Fuuuuun!"
The League Club Room in Blueberry Academy was packed with members. Several dozen boys, girls, and in-betweeners who held membership in the battle-loving club had gathered together to witness the World League results being posted live on the big screen TV that Lacey had arranged to borrow from the school's A/V club.
In the absence of a current Champion in the BB League, and with the only other choice for leadership being… Drayton, Lacey had become a sort of acting President for the League Club, working hard to make sure the club held together and keep everyone excited as the BB League remained in a weird spot between circuits.
Some of it was stressful work, but the ever hard working Lacey had worn it all with a bright smile on her face like always, and was wearing that same smile right now as she made her way to the front of the room and got up to the mic.
"Welcome to the clubroom, everyone!" Lacey said enthusiastically.
The club members, who had all been chatting among themselves, all quieted down. Lacey glanced over at Amarys and Crispin, who both encouraged her with thumbs up. Drayton was sitting in the back and scrolling through his phone.
Lacey cleared her throat. "We're so glad to see so many cool members turn out today for the announcement of the quarterly Pokémon World League results! Is uhh, is everyone super thrilled to be here?"
The whole crowd of club members erupted in affirmative shouting.
"Wow, hee-hee! That's wonderful! Umm…"
The girl from Driftveil tried to discreetly sift through her index cards, with suggestions her fellow Elite Four had written down for her. For as much as she had an energetic personality, Lacey had always found public speaking… rather difficult. She did her best to hide that she was feeling nervous as a Clamperl.
She decided to try one of Crispin's suggestions. "Alright, how about this, everyone! Why don't you all give a great, big shoutout for who you want to see coming out on top of the rankings this time?"
Then Lacey's honey brown eyes bugged out as the clubroom became a cacophony of everyone enthusiastically shouting out their favorite Champions, Gym Leaders, and Elite Four members across all the different regions, from cries of "Cynthia!" to "Koga!" to "Skyla!" With several cries for Lance peppered throughout, a fairly high fan club for Nessa, and even a few calls for Sinnoh's Volkner sprinkled in.
Of course, it was the calls for her father that rang the loudest in Lacey's head… and the calls for his grandfather that Drayton tuned out the most.
"Wow, amazing! Though I think we'd better tone ourselves down a bit before the Battle Chess club across the hall starts complaining again!" Lacey giggled sheepishly. "But that's cool! So everyone's got their favorite, huh? Well, a few people close to me might know that I'm—well, a little bit biased…"
There were some murmurs among the clubmates, and Amarys's eyes opened slightly wide, having believed that Lacey wanted to keep her lineage a secret.
"…which is why I'm totally rooting for Valerie from Kalos!"
Her clubmates all laughed in response, and Lacey looked upon everyone with a bright smile, finally feeling a bit more confident with this whole public speaking thing.
"Alright then! Now that we've lightened things up around here…" She looked at another index card, this time a suggestion written in her friend's favorite blue pen. "Oh, here's a fantastic idea from Amarys! While we're still waiting for the results to go live, let's all hear some stories on who was the very first Gym Leader or Champion or whoever that you remember watching their match and—"
"HEY!" Drayton interjected, standing up and holding his phone out. "They just posted the rankings, everyone!"
Everyone excitedly in response, while Lacey looked at him completely agitated.
"Seriously!? I told you to let me know when we were a minute out, Drayton! I was going to host a countdown and everything!"
"What's the big deal?" Drayton shrugged. "Everyone here's been knee deep in suspense all day, so why make 'em wait? Live for the moment!" He grinned his classic smug toothy grin at Lacey, who just grimaced at him.
Amarys leaned out from her chair and whispered to Lacey, "Perhaps in the future, you should designate tasks like that to me."
"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking," Lacey shook her head. "Okay, fair enough! Let's all see!"
She got onto the laptop that was inputting into the big TV screen and opened the official Pokémon World League webpage, where the hot numbers flashed in a continually repeating slideshow, much to everyone's cheers, showing overall League rankings, where each League Champion stood, and individual Gym and Elite ranks for every region.
As everyone in the room started absorbing the results and yelling out in response to them all, Lacey finally sat down at the table with everyone else and allowed herself to take a breath.
Amarys helpfully massaged her shoulders. "You did wonderful, Lacey. I was truly captivated."
"Awww, thanks, Mar."
"Yeah, you were on fire, Lacey!" Crispin encouraged her. "Here. I made this sandwich just for you when Amarys told me how nervous you were about today."
"Awww! Crispin, thank you!" Lacey was touched to receive a strawberry and cream cheese sandwich from the eager young chef, and happily took a bite of it. "Mmmm, mmmm! Oh my, this is delicious! Your recipes have been bursting with flavor lately, Crispin!"
"Heh-heh. Yeah, well… you find a much better appreciation for strong taste profiles when an illegally spicy sandwich like Carmine's destroys your whole palette for a month," he chuckled.
Lacey giggled lightly in response. She could almost hear the kind of sassy reply Carmine would belt out if she was there in the room with them.
"Mmm." Amarys looked up and pointed. "They're showing Unova League stats right now, Lacey. I can see your father's name."
"Wowww, yeah, look at that!" said Crispin. "Clay's still holding one of the Top 4 positions!"
"Hee-hee, that's how committed Daddy is! He'd sooner bury his head in the sand than let himself fall below expectations!"
"Oh… looks like our big Champ Rosa has simmered out a bit, though," Crispin observed, as the Champion stats came up onscreen.
Drayton glanced up. "…Oh yeah. She's below Wallace now. Bummer."
"I'm sorry, Amarys," Lacey sympathized. "I know she's your favorite."
"Oh, I'm not terribly surprised. Did you know that Rosa has recently announced her return to the role of Lucario Girl after taking a break from acting years prior?"
Lacey giggled. "You've only told us that about five times."
"Oh," Amarys blushed. "Well… yes. I believe with her focusing on rebuilding her dormant acting career and other enterprises, her dip in the Champion rankings makes sense."
"Heh," Drayton chuckled. "Maybe whatever anger issues Rosa has been letting out in those battles over the past three years have finally fizzled out. I wonder if she'll give the Champion spot back to Iris again. I'd love to see my dark queen return."
Amarys's head drooped down, as Lacey shot him a dirty look and went "Ahem!"
"Oh, uhh… ehh. Yeah. Sorry about your fav though, Amary."
The BB Elite Four continued watching the results from their table. The Alola League, a still freshly established addition to the circuit, was thriving well, as was Galar's major and minor Gym divisions.
But it was the Paldea League's numbers that truly surprised them.
"Oh, wow!" Crispin reacted. "Look at how much Paldea's grown this season!"
"Huh," Lacey observed. "Wow, Geeta's actually moved up a few spots in the Champion rankings. And… Kingambit's her ace now?"
Drayton laughed a little at that. "Did someone finally get it into her thick skull that she'd be way more formidable as a Champion if she actually led with her Glimmora's Toxic Debris ability and saved Kingambit with Supreme Overlord for last? I guess miracles do happen."
"It's not just her that's risen up a lot though, so has Katy!" Crispin pointed. He'd always had a soft spot for the Cortondo Gym Leader, mainly because of how much he idolized her as a fellow chef. "She used to pull some of the weakest numbers out of all the different Leagues, now look at her position!"
"Her Scizor is an extremely qualifying ace, evidently," said Amarys. "I don't recall her using one of those before. Grusha seems slightly higher as well, and Larry and Hassel are maintaining their positions strongly. Only Iono's numbers are down from before. I wonder what's inspired everyone in that region to start putting in significantly more effort this season."
"Well… Paldea has been breeding some very strong Trainers lately, as we've seen firsthand," Drayton noted. "Maybe it's something in the water over there."
For once, the rest of them actually chuckled at one of Drayton's remarks. It made Crispin think and, as he crossed his arms over the table, he started wondering something out loud.
"If Paldea's rules worked differently, so that whoever beats the whole League becomes the Top Champion just like in most of the other places, I bet Juliana would be up on that board! You guys think she'd be pulling rank on everyone else up there?"
But everyone at the table grew silent, much to his worry.
"Oh… geez, I'm sorry! I read the room wrong again, didn't I?"
Lacey giggled. "Not this time, no! Sorry, Crispin! I was just thinking and… yeah, I bet you're right. If Juliana was the de facto Champion of Paldea…" A proud smile drew on her face. "She'd be shining like a really bright star on that board, that's for sure."
"I wonder what they would consider her ace," Amarys found it fun to wonder. "Perhaps her Meowscarada, or that Chi-Yu Pokémon?"
"Her adorably powerful Tinkaton would have my vote!" Lacey giggled. "Or maybe Mienshao."
"What about that awesome Araquanid?" Crispin chimed in. "That thing's such a powerhouse for how quickly she caught and raised it!"
Drayton scoffed. "I'd place all my money on that terrifying Miraidon. I used to wonder why she didn't use it in her battles more often, but then Carmine went and caused so much trouble with it and now I'm thinking Juliana keeps that thing on the bench to show mercy on us all, something Carmine doesn't have."
They all laughed heartily with each other, soaking in the fond memories of their absent friend and once-Champion.
"You know what?" Lacey said, with her hands over her heart. "I really do hope… somehow, someway, we get to see Juliana again."
As the afternoon wore on and the initial excitement of the rankings died down, the League Club gathering became a chill evening party. The BB League ordered a bunch of pizzas and a big cake for the whole room, and everyone hung out chatting among themselves, discussing the results together, as well as general school life.
Lacey and the rest of the BB Elite Four—or at least Amarys and Crispin, because Drayton had fallen asleep at a desk—were also fielding questions from clubmates, most notably about the state of the BB League and its indefinite hiatus between circuits.
"I know it's frustrating to wait, Sophie," Lacey tried to assure one of the Ultra Rank members. "Trust me when I say that it'll be well worth it. We just want to make sure the club will be running smoothly for everyone."
"I know, it's just…" She twiddled her thumbs bashfully.
"Rumors going around, right?"
She sighed. "Some of the guys are going around telling everyone you're just trying to keep everything the same until either Juliana or Kieran come back. I know it's not true, but—"
"Yes. Yes, I see," Lacey said a bit curtly. "Well… annoying rumor mills are always going to be spinning, unfortunately. The only information you should trust will always be from us, and you'll all be the first to know when things are finally moving along!"
"Got it! Thanks, Lacey!"
"And who knows?" Lacey gave a wink. "We might even have something to share veeeery soon."
Sophie giggled, and with her mind at ease, she went to rejoin her friends as Lacey smiled.
"Who knows indeed," Amarys said, sitting behind her.
Lacey slumped onto a chair and groaned.
"Ugh. Did I really just give someone hope based on Carmine's extremely vague promises of 'all our problems being solved today'?"
Amarys let out a bit of a giggle. "You don't trust whatever it is Carmine's planning?"
"Don't get me wrong," she sighed. "It was so great to hear her voice again, and she sounded soooo much better on the phone, but… when she's playing with my emotions like this, a little transparency would be nice!"
"Well, no matter what, I think it indicates she's likely returning to school today. So we can at least be excited for that!"
"Yeah…" Lacey smiled fondly. "At least there's that. Ummm…" Her voice became pensive. "If—if Carmine's really coming back, then… that's got to mean Kieran must be returning to school too, right?"
"Carmine's leave of absence seemed to be driven largely by her brother's well-being in Kitakami, so…" Amarys nodded. "Yes. I would logically assume that to be the case."
"I hope so… I hope he's—doing a lot better now too." Lacey's voice trembled a bit, and Amarys noticed her playing with her hair, which wasn't a usual habit for Amarys's fellow Elite Four.
"You're… very worried about Kieran, aren't you?" she asked.
"Oh… of course I am, Mar. He's our former leader, after all! I know Kieran was really searching for answers for what he wants to do next, and I've just been thinking about him the whole time he's been gone. I hope he's found those answers… and Carmine too. I just want to see them both smiling again."
"Yeah…" Amarys nodded. "Me too."
The party continued on like normal for the next few minutes, with everyone still enjoying the pizza and chatting with each other.
…All of that camaraderie was instantly cut off however as the doors to the League Club Room were suddenly thrust open.
"TREMBLE IN FEAR, YOU SCRUFFY PEONS!" a familiar voice bellowed out into the unsuspecting crowd. "YOUR DAYS OF PEACE AND TRANQUILITY IN THIS CLUB ARE OVER, FOR THE LOUD AND PROUD QUEEN OF KITAKAMI, CARMINE… HAS RETURNED!"
Carmine proudly stepped out into the room and puffed out her chest, letting the whole room of her clubmates bask in the glory of her mighty return to Blueberry Academy.
The crowd quickly flew into murmurs. Many of them positive, since Carmine's incredible battles as Juliana's understudy and co-Championship partner still had all the students abuzz, but many of them were also intrigued, looking at the Kitakamite girl and noticing something was… different about her.
"Ohhh, Carmine!" Lacey stood up and clapped her hands together. "I'm so extremely happy to see you back at Blueberry again! I can't wait to… to…" As she opened her eyes and got a good look at her friend though, Lacey couldn't help but twist her nose a bit. "Uhhhh, Carmine, what on Earth did you do to your hair?"
"WHAT!?" Carmine placed her fingers over her new hairstyle defensively. "Don't you like it? I tied my hair up just like Kiki to show that I've evolved just as much as he has!"
Carmine's crimson roots were proudly on show now as she wore her hair tied up towards the back very similarly to how her brother had been styling his hair… and that bun of hair flew up like an angry flare as she began to seethe at everyone.
"WELL YOU ALL THOUGHT IT LOOKED COOL ON KIKI!"
"No, no, Carmine, it's fine, it looks great!" Lacey tried to reassure her. "It's so very, umm… umm…" Then she nudged the still-sitting Amarys and whispered, "Amarys, help me out here. What's a good word?"
"…Umm." But the normally articulate girl adjusted her glasses as she found herself at a rare loss for such words to describe Carmine's… unique style.
"Was this supposed to be your big surprise?" Crispin wondered. "A new hairstyle? … I don't get it."
Next to the fiery-haired lad, Drayton snorted loudly as he began to stir from all the noise.
"Ugghh… nnn. You guys won't believe the dream I was just having," he said groggily. "I swore Carmine came back to school and—and…"
But his words trailed off as Drayton caught sight of Carmine and her new hair and his mouth went agape.
…
A snort.
Then an even longer snort.
And then he couldn't hold it back anymore.
"HA-HA-HA! HAHAHA!"
"Drayton!" Lacey scolded him. "Show some sensitivity, will you!"
But Drayton was laughing so hard he threatened to fall out of his chair completely as his feet kicked around.
"AAAAAAHAHAHAHA! HA! HA… OOO, HAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"
Carmine growled loudly at Drayton, her face simmering as red as her bright locks, and angrily stomped out of the room, closing the doors behind her.
There was a suppressed giggle on the other side, which earned a soft "hrmph" from Carmine. "Don't you dare say a word," they could all hear her whisper.
Drayton picked himself up, still coming down from his laughing fit as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Ha-ha… oh man! I thought the whole point was that she didn't want everyone to see her as a scary monster!"
"No matter how long we continue to know each other, your gall keeps surprising me to new levels," Amarys shook her head at the brazen boy.
"That wasn't it, was it…?" Crispin was still confused. "She isn't just going to—leave again?"
But after a few seconds, Carmine stepped through the doors again, having redone her hair back into its classic look, but still looking grumpy.
"There. Better now?" she sneered at everyone.
Everyone in the room gave murmured responses that basically amounted to "Yes", while Drayton gave her a smug thumbs up, which Carmine did her best to try to ignore.
"Well… yes. I'm treading these grounds again, whether you all wanted me back or not! There's no more getting rid of this raging Charizard!" she grinned at everyone. "And guess what? I'm the world's sweetest package deal, because guess who my sidekicks are? Members of the League Club, behold—!"
Carmine tried to nudge someone out by their arm, only to be met with resistance.
"Ugh! Come on!" she huffed. "We talked about this! It'll be great! Trust me!"
There was an audible groan from beside the doorway, and Carmine grinned at everyone again.
"Making his GRAND return! Once your strongest, never-fearing Champion, now the bravest hero of his homeland! The one and only… Kieeeeeeran!"
Kieran's entrance generated some… excited murmurs, and even a handful of claps, not to mention… a loud squee from somebody, which caused everyone to look up and wonder where that came from.
Amarys couldn't pinpoint the sound, but she did notice a red-faced Lacey covering her mouth for some reason.
"Wow," Kieran chuckled a bit sheepishly. "That's uhh… less people booing me than I expected."
"Ya see?" Carmine winked at him. "You leave 'em long enough that everyone realizes how much life you were bringing to this club, and you become the cult favorite."
"Ehh… yeah. Or maybe they're just desperate for anybody to be Champion."
Carmine sneered at her little bro. "Always such a pessimist, you are."
"Yo! Kieran!" Crispin, much to Amarys's surprise, leapt over the table in excitement. "It's great to see you again, bud!"
"Indeed!" Amarys began walking towards them along with him and Lacey. "Lacey and I were just talking about how much we were hoping to see your return!"
"And what about you, Carmine?" asked Lacey. "How are you feeling?"
"Oh, I'm doing great!" Carmine boasted. "This sexy beast is running at full capacity again! Now there'll be plenty of time for all of us to play catch-up, but… we still have one more surprise! Right, Kiki?"
"Oh, uhh…" Kieran started fumbling for something in his pockets. "Yeah!"
Then he finally pulled out his noisemaker and blew on it.
"And now for my last and bestest trick! I bring to you my greatest accessory of all!" Carmine announced, gesturing to the door like it was her own stage and she was about to pull a magic act. "Today is the best day of your lives, for your true leader has returned to grace you with her presence!"
Kieran gave her an odd smile, while the BB League's eyes all began to widen, even Drayton's, who was finally paying attention now.
"No way…!"
"Ladies and germs! Give it up, for the second hottest girl to have ever attended Blueberry Academy! The one… the only… JULIAAAAAANA!"
All the students, which had gathered in a crowd in front of the doorway, all lit up in surprised and excited murmurs… that then became confused murmurs when nobody stepped through.
"…Urk!" Carmine grunted.
And then finally, the Paldean girl walked in, looking very modest and bashful.
"Carmine… I told you this was a little too much—"
"Juliana!" "We knew you'd come back!" "I missed having you in the clubhouse so much!" "Now I finally get a chance to battle you and your awesome team!"
Juliana was surprised to be showered with so many excited greetings from all the clubgoers.
"Umm… wow! Thanks, everybody!" she greeted warmly. "I guess I really made my mark around here, huh?"
"I'm very happy to see you again, Juliana!" Amarys greeted her. "Umm…" Not knowing how else to convey her emotions, she went in for a hug, which Juliana greatly appreciated.
"Awww! It's great to see you again, Amarys!" She gasped. "And Crispiiiiin!"
"Hey, Juliana! How's life been on the other side of the—Hey!"
Drayton nudged Crispin aside to address Juliana directly.
"There's my J-girl!" he grinned. "Knew you'd come to your senses eventually. Maybe this place will finally be interesting again. But hey, come here! I'm sure you missed your old pal the Drayster just as much as he missed you! Nrrrrrrrr!"
With that, Drayton pulled her over and started aggressively rubbing her head, much to Carmine's ire.
"Hey! HEY! Watch those grubby hands of yours, asswipe! I worked hard on that new hairstyle of hers!"
"Ha-ha-ha! I missed you too, princess!" he chortled. "I should've known that fancy new 'do was your own style! No wonder J-girl's beaming like a Goldeen!"
Drayton kept on grinning, and took a wider look at Juliana's ensemble, which was a mishmash of academy uniforms. She wore a white Blueberry top with the red ascot and blue pants matching Carmine's. But over it, she wore the purple blazer from her new style Uva uniform as an open jacket, and paired it with pink Zapaldea brand high-top sneakers.
"So you've got a little bit of Carmine's old Kitakami charm around your head, and pieces of Blueberry and… Naranja? Whatever your school's called, all on fleek! You're like the full spectrum now! What's that tie?" he asked, pointing to the little purple tie underneath Juliana's ascot, with a star pattern on it.
"Oh yeah! This was a gift from Team Star, my friends back at my other school—which is called Uva, by the way. I wore this to remind me that I'm now a shining beacon everywhere I go!" she beamed.
"She's proudly repping both schools now as the best thing to have come out of them!" said Kieran.
"Awwww," said Drayton. "That's so sappy I think I might start crying."
Lacey cleared her throat as she cut through the crowd. "If I might interject, Drayton?"
"By all means."
"Hello, Juliana!" Lacey cupped her hands together. "It feels like it's been a while since we've seen each other, hasn't it?"
"It sure has!" Juliana giggled. "I missed you a lot, Lacey."
"Awww, I missed you too! I just need to know, you didn't pop by for a quick visit, right? I'm hoping you came back to complete the rest of your exchange program?"
"That's right. Director Cyrano was even super nice about it and assured me I can just pick up where I left off! Isn't that great?" she grinned.
"Super great!" Lacey nodded, smiling sweetly. "That's wonderful news. Since you're here to stay, that means I no longer have no qualms about doing this."
"Huh?"
-SLAP!-
"OWW!"
Carmine and Kieran both gasped.
Juliana held the side of her cheek. "Wh—why?"
Lacey's smile vanished, and she pointed a finger right over Juliana's face with a stern expression.
"THAT'S for sneaking back into the Terrarium without even bothering to say hello!"
Juliana's face went white. "You mean… you saw me?"
Lacey gave her a disbelieving look. "Juliana, I don't know how to impress upon you that were the CHAMPION of the BB League! Your face is still all over the school, everyone still watches your battles on the net! Of course somebody was going to spot you running around and being all shifty and report to us about it! It doesn't matter what kind of weird coat you were wearing, EVERYONE saw you a mile away!"
Juliana shrank inwards, awkwardly twiddling her fingers. "I… yeah, that makes sense."
Lacey grunted as she brought a hand to her forehead.
"Look, it's not any of my business to ask for what reasons you needed to come back to our school, catch a bunch of Pokémon, and then leave all within the span of an afternoon. But to be all sneak like that and not check in with your old clubmates…" Then came the angry X. "It's JUST NOT RIGHT!"
Juliana looked guilty. A fresh slice of humble pie delivered to her mouth from the feisty Unovan girl.
"You're right… that was a rotten thing to do. I really did miss you guys a lot, but my head was also in a really bad place back then…" She sighed. "But I know that's no excuse. I'm really, really sorry."
"Well… as long as you promise never to do something like that ever again, then all is forgiven," Lacey affirmed.
"Wowwww!" Carmine couldn't help but giggle at her girlfriend's misfortune. "You got scolded hard, Juliana! I almost felt that pain from here!"
"Really? Well get ready to feel it up close."
"Wha—"
-SLAP!-
"OWWW! HEY, WHAT GIVES!?"
Carmine seethed at Lacey, but Lacey quickly shut that down by jabbing her gloved finger at Carmine's face.
"THAT'S for not staying in touch like you promised!"
Carmine huffed. "Okay, mom…"
"That's not right either! Leaving us in the dark and forcing your poor brother into having to keep us all in the loop when we were worried sick to our stomachs about you, Carmine!"
Now Carmine looked away from her with a guilty expression. "…That's—that's fair."
"Not that I minded hearing from you of course, Kieran." Despite the ice in Lacey's tone, she quickly put on her normal honey-like voice to address him.
"Oh, uhh—yeah. I didn't take any of that the wrong way."
"Well, good." But Kieran got worried as Lacey marched up to him now… and raised her open palm. "Because THIS—!"
"YIPES!"
Kieran closed his eyes and cringed, waiting his turn for the inevitable slap.
…
But instead, he felt the warm, fuzzy sleeves of Lacey's pink cardigan embracing him.
"…is to tell you how much I missed you Kieran, and how glad I am to see you here all happy and healthy again."
"Oh… w-wowzers…" Kieran was hit with the sweet smell of Lacey's blossom-scented shampoo tickling his nose as her light hair rubbed up against his face, and his heart danced the rhythm to a samba. "Well thanks, Lacey. I…" He gulped. "I missed you too."
"HEY!" Carmine shouted. "Why does Kiki get off so easy compared to the two of us!? How is THAT right!?"
Juliana chuckled a little, and Carmine was bemused to see a sly smile spread over her lips.
"Oh… I think I know why."
"Huh?" Carmine furrowed her eyebrows at her. "Tell me."
But Juliana just shrugged. "Ehh, if you don't know, I guess you don't know, Carmine."
"What does that even mean?"
However, Juliana only responded to Carmine's needling by giggling to herself and starting to turn away. Carmine grabbed Juliana's arm to keep her planted.
"No, no! Hey! Come on! You don't get to do that! You think just because we're dating now that I'm going to let you play all coy with me?"
This elicited a sharp gasp from Lacey, who ran up to them both with widened irises.
"Did—did I just hear that right!? Are you two… really dating!?"
Juliana and Carmine looked at each other, having just realized what they admitted to, and chuckled.
"Well, damn it… I wanted to make that a big, formal announcement so I could show off the amazing girlfriend I bagged. And when you word it like that it's weird, since…" Then Carmine leered at Juliana. "We still haven't even been on our first date yet."
"We've got all the time in the world for that now!" Juliana giggled as she took Carmine's hands in hers. "But yes, it's true! I bagged a really amazing girlfriend, and all I had to do was kiss her a couple times for her to be all mine," she grinned.
"Hmph."
"AWWWWW, YOU GUYS!" Lacey squeed as she embraced both girls in her arms. "That makes me so happy!"
"About damn time you two finally stopped beating around the bush," Drayton grinned.
Juliana laughed in embarrassment. "I probably shouldn't even ask how long it was obvious to all of you that we were in love with each other, should I?"
"For your own sanity? Probably not."
"Well… I didn't know," Crispin muttered sheepishly. "I just thought you two were like… really good friends or something."
"Their chemistry was always much greater than that," said Amarys, with a smile and even a tear. "Juliana filled a void in Carmine's heart as deeply as she added meaning to our club."
"Well spoken, Amarys!" Lacey's eyes drifted to Drayton. "Now that our friends are back where they belong, and all that mushy romantic tension has been resolved, don't you have anything to add, Drayton?"
"Huh? Me? What do ya mean? I already said my peace."
Lacey huffed and started nudging his shoulder. "…Didn't you have something big that you wanted to say if Carmine ever came back?"
Rather uncharacteristically, Drayton started to blush.
"H-hey! You don't need to go bringing that up! I mean, I was just musing out loud, right? It's stuff that probably doesn't even need to be said!"
"What is he blabbering about?" Carmine asked curiously.
Lacey giggled. "Oh, he's trying to play it so cool right now, but Drayton honestly missed you two a lot. He was a little bit of a mess without you, actually!"
"That's putting it on a bit thick, don't you think?" Drayton gruffed.
"Well, she's got a point," said Crispin. "I remember you were kind of moping around a couple weeks ago saying that you felt like you were the one who pushed them away."
"URK!"
"Oooooh! Really?" Carmine's eyes lit up. "Now this I've gotta hear!"
"So your mouth is big for more than just eating huge hamburgers, huh?" he grunted quietly. Seeing Carmine beaming at him so eagerly and even Juliana's eyes lit with curiosity, Drayton sighed and let his white quiff droop. "Alright… yeah. So I was feeling the void here with you guys gone, and it got me thinking a lot about the way I was treating you, Juliana."
"…and me, right?" Carmine said with a glare.
"Well… yeah, actually, that kind of bites too because I gave you that whole big speech about not pushing people away with your strong emotions when…" He sighed again. "I was totally doing the exact same thing. I pushed you around Juliana because I was ultimately just jealous of Kieran's success, and of course… I also went against Kieran when I should've been much more of a supportive pal. So I totally accept that the blame's halfway on my feet for knocking both you guys 'till you went back home. I hope you'll both accept that… because I'm rarely ever in the mood to be sorry for anything!"
"Awwww, Drayton," said Juliana, touched. "Of course I accept your apology. I already told you that stuff that happened when I first met you is water under the bridge!"
"Ho-ho-ho! How about that! The great arrogant 'Drayster' finally taking himself down a peg!" Carmine giggled. "You know… you're not such an annoying bozo when you're being this much of a softie."
"Thanks, princess!" said Drayton, putting his hands behind his back. "I'm glad you've got Juliana by your side now, because she makes you a lot less of an annoying loudmouth too!"
The smile dropped and was replaced with a furrowed stare. "What was that."
"Uhh… that was supposed to make you laugh!"
Carmine glowered at him. "Oh… I'll be laughing when I'm done with you, you turd-for-brains."
She started lifting up her blue sleeve, but was stopped by Juliana grabbing her arm.
"Ugh—let go of me, Juliana! He is so overdue for a thrashing!"
"Carmine… we talked about this, remember?" Juliana gently reminded her. "If you want to stop worrying about going too far with hurting people, you have to stop giving in to these tendencies so easily."
"Yeah, but he's ASKING for it!"
"I know he is, but we talked about Drayton too, remember? That's his whole game! He's trying to push your buttons because he thinks it's funny, especially when you get all mad like this! You just gotta ignore him!"
"Awww, you guys were talking about me? Couple of sweethearts, you are," Drayton said, still feeling nonchalant.
Carmine finally calmed down enough that her blood wasn't boiling so much, and Juliana gently stroked her arm.
"Drayton's like a Maschiff, Carmine. He just wants the attention. If you leave him alone, he'll get bored of you and start picking on someone else."
"Huh. Kind of weird to be treating me like a puppy with no obedience training."
"Shouldn't have branded yourself as one then," Juliana said slyly, pointing to the Maschiff insignias on Drayton's black jacket.
"…Touché."
Drayton grinned, which Juliana took as a sign of acceptance, but really he was grinning at the big goofy smile Carmine was giving the girl from behind. He just knew she must be extremely proud of her budding protégé in sassiness.
Kieran cleared his throat to address the room. "Umm… if it's alright, I've got something to say to everyone."
"Ohhh! That's right!" said Carmine. "I almost forgot about your little thing, Kiki!"
He huffed at his big sister for a second, and as he felt everyone's eyes staring at him, Kieran started feeling a little nervous. But as he looked to his right, Carmine flashed her teeth. Juliana gave him a big thumbs-up. And Lacey… she smiled the biggest, most supportive smile she could muster.
The combined support from his three closest compadres made Kieran feel confident. And that alone assured him he was doing the right thing.
"I just wanted to say… well, I know I was in the wrong. When I became your Champion, I—I was just using this club to pummel out my own dumb frustrations. I hit the punching bag in my room too hard and broke it, so I… I guess all you guys accidentally became my replacement punching bag."
This elicited a few chuckles from the clubmates (including a rather hearty laugh from Crispin, who muttered "I always wondered what happened to that thing") which further helped Kieran feel at ease.
"But I know that wasn't fair. … I know I went too far with all the strict rules and the trash talk and keeping everyone in the League Club too busy with my meanness. I've got a lot of making up to do. Like, a lot… And maybe it'll never be enough. Some of you guys might just—hate me forever, and I… I totally get it."
Kieran's head slumped a little, which almost made Carmine want to step in. But she gave Juliana a glance first, and Juliana's look, without saying words, communicated to her that she give him the space he needs. So she reluctantly stood back and let Kieran breathe on his own.
And sure enough, he lifted his head up, with an expression that was more… hopeful.
"But… if that isn't the case, if there's some chance that… that you all can forgive me, and we can start over again…"
That was accompanied with an aside smile to Juliana. Juliana recognized the theme and beamed warmly at him.
"…I'd really like to join the BB League again. But I wanna start from the beginning. And I'm not looking t' be Champion and rule you all to the ground again, I just… I just want to see how strong I can get, and keep going from there. Whether that puts me in the junior ranks, or back up to Elite status… I just wanna figure out what kind of Trainer I am."
The League Club members all looked at each other and murmured. Some of them definitely seemed more willing to give Kieran the benefit of the doubt than others. Kieran could spot a few students he recognized from his battles that still looked cross with him, and he gulped.
There weren't were any clear-cut statements being made until…
"Well, you have my vote, Kieran."
Lacey was the first to cut in.
"…Thanks, Lacey," she smiled at her. She smiled back at him.
"Mine as well," Amarys was encouraged to speak up.
"Y-yeah! Mine too!" Crispin gave a thumbs-up. "Class 2-C sticks together!"
Drayton was the last one to speak. And he only did it after rolling his eyes.
"As long as you don't pull me up off my tush the way you did before, then…" He shrugged. "Yeah, fine, we're golden!"
But this didn't really placate the rest of the club. The murmurs started getting a bit more contentious now, with a few of the students whispering about why the Elite Four gets to speak for everyone in the club. This worried Lacey and everyone else to hear, fearing a riot…
"I think we should give him a chance."
A single voice rang out among the crowd, and they all parted in the direction they heard it coming from, splitting off to reveal a young man in the back.
Kieran's mouth went agape when he saw who it was, and upon seeing the guy's face, Juliana and Carmine gasped too.
It was the exact same student that the two of them had witnessed Kieran scolding harshly on Juliana's first day at Blueberry.
"You remember me, right? Because yeah… I remember you," said the boy as he stepped a little closer.
Kieran gulped in remembrance. "H-hi, Miguel…"
"You were about to kick me out of the League Club and everything… Just because you said I wasn't trying hard enough. But the thing is—you didn't. You gave me another chance to prove myself. And trust meI didn't waste it Kieran!"
Kieran's eyebrows lit up a bit. He was astonished… especially because, as far as he could recall, the actual reason he never followed through on his threat to kick Miguel out was because he got so caught up upon seeing Juliana attending Blueberry and taking part in the BB League challenge that—he had honestly just forgotten about this guy.
"My paw always said… you're only worth how much you can forgive those who did you wrong and give 'em a second chance." Miguel started to rub his shoulder with a bit of a sad look. "And… I don't want to betray his memory by—by not putting that to heart."
Juliana winced a little. She remembered this guy saying something to Kieran about things being rough back at home. Wonder if that's what he meant…
The boy Miguel marched up until he was staring Kieran right in his cautious-looking face.
"Do you really mean it? That you want to start over and try things differently?"
Kieran nodded.
"Yeah, I'm serious about it…" He sighed. "I'm real sorry for being so mean to you, Miguel. You didn't deserve it."
Then to Kieran's surprise, Miguel held out his hand.
"Alright. Then… I support you, Kieran."
Kieran, feeling extremely touched, accepted his hand and they shook firmly on it. The crowd grew from cries of surprise and wonder to… a slowly-building excited chorus of cheers, inspired by the olive branch Miguel extended.
"Whooooo! Yeah, Kieran!" Juliana clapped ravenously for Kieran, so excited to have watched this happen.
She was the only one to notice Lacey wiping tears off her face with one of her pink handkerchiefs. Then she beamed at Carmine, whose mouth was still just open in astonishment.
"I don't believe it… He was able to hash things out all on his own. With the kid who I thought should hate him more than anything. … I didn't even have to raise a fist against anyone."
"That's gotta make you feel—good, right?" Juliana tried to gauge.
"You kidding!?" Carmine lit up. "This is great!"
Feeling all sorts of jazzed up, Carmine ran over and scooped up Kieran away from Miguel, spinning him around in glee and nuzzling his head just as hard as Drayton was doing to Juliana.
"THAT'S MY LITTLE KIKIIIIIIIII!" she squeed. "YOU REALLY ARE GROWING UP SO FAST, AND AS YOUR BIG SISTER I COULDN'T BE PROUDER OF YOU!"
Kieran was shouting in a mix of confusion, annoyance, but admittedly a bit of glee.
"Siiiiiiis! Come on! You can't just toss me around like this in public!"
"Awwww, why not?" she cooed, resting her proud chin over his messed-up hair. "We gotta work on getting rid of that 'tough guy' image somehow, right?"
Kieran groaned in annoyance at his sister's antics, but… he also couldn't help but smile, remembering how much he had taken this for granted.
Just like that, what started as a party to celebrate the World League results unexpectedly became one to celebrate the return of three of the League Club's long-missed students. The BB Elite Four even took charge to keep things going by setting up tables for battle-sim games and ordering more food, while Crispin saw to whipping up a few more treats for everyone.
But the four of them also sat on a table to hear out the last of a returning visitor's concerns.
"So I guess what I'm trying to say is…" Juliana said, bearing her heart out to her friends. "Abandoning you guys like that was just… a completely horrible thing to do. I told you it was for the best of this club, but I was really just thinking about myself and how much I wanted to run away from everything."
"It's… really okay," Amarys tried to assure her. "None of us hold you any ill will towards you."
"You sure? Because… to be honest, I expected you all to be a lot angrier with me."
"Nah! We're cool as ice, J-girl!" Drayton grinned. "You've become way too much of an asset to this little group of ours that we could ever hate you for something even that lousy."
"Wow!" Crispin chuckled. "You really have gotten more sincere lately, Drayton!"
"Ehhh." His head slumped down over his arms. "I'll say whatever I need to make this whole apology tour end. You and Carmine and the shortie all need to cut the drama already, it's getting tiring."
Lacey sighed. "Tactful as always, Drayton."
Carmine and Kieran were watching from a nearby table.
"Look at 'em, Kiki," said Carmine. "I told Juliana that my friends are all super cool. They don't have a single bone of animosity in their bodies! That's why I told her she didn't even need to apologize! But she's doing it anyway…" She sighed lovingly. "I guess I really can't pretend that I don't love that strong sentimentality in her anymore, can I?"
She expected at least a chuckle or something out of Kieran, but he was silently looking ahead.
"Heh! Little bro with his head in the clouds again, huh?" she teased him, lightly knocking on his noggin.
"Agh! I was listening! Honest!"
"No you weren't," she giggled. "What happened? You spot a cute girl or something? Maybe Lacey?"
"Wh—no!" he quickly defended, even as he started to blush.
"Ahhh-ha, I can see that face of yours going red! Hee-hee, it's okay. You look adorable. I'll take you being a goofy little dork again over a hotheaded Champion any day!"
Kieran just rolled his eyes and brushed her off, figuring Juliana's advice about not giving someone who's trolling you for attention could be applied just as well to his sister.
But what frustrated him about Carmine's teasing was that she was kind of right. He really was staring at Lacey.
Just seeing her smiling face again, and having her face brush so close against his, really sparked Kieran into remembering that wild dream he had while his mind was trying to resist Pecharunt's Binding Mochi, and how in his darkest moment, when he reached deep into his heart and tried to seek out the most soothing figure he could imagine…
It wasn't Juliana whose visage gave him comfort. It wasn't his grandparents. It wasn't even his sister.
Lacey was the one who showed up, helped Kieran conquer his demons… and gave him the strength he needed to break free from Pecharunt's control and save his friends. And he just couldn't stop thinking about that as he stared deep into those light brown pools.
"…Why was it you, Lacey?" he whispered.
Lacey glanced Kieran's way for a second, as if she noticed him staring. She gave a brief, but very serene smile his way.
The jitters Kieran started feeling in his stomach seemed to sprout some clues.
"Whatever feelings of anger and confusion we had when you left, you gave them more than enough time to subside…" Lacey told Juliana. "Right now, all I feel is pure joy and relief that you… changed your mind and came back to us."
Juliana gazed at all of them, warm feelings springing up within her. "So… there's really no hard feelings?"
"None at all!" said Drayton.
"Really, I think we just have one question for you," Lacey smiled.
Crispin crossed his arms over the table and grinned. "When do you start your new term, Ms. President?"
Juliana gasped.
"You mean…?"
"That's right!" Drayton nodded. "We never bothered to crown a new Champion while you were gone, so… your seat's still warm, prez!"
"R-really!?" Juliana looked at them all in shock. "But—but… I definitely thought even if you were okay with me joining the BB League again, that I'd really have to start over from scratch this time!"
"Honestly, I don't know why we were dragging our feet for so long, letting the circuit stall out and not messing with the ranks any," Lacey shrugged.
"…Mm." Amarys looked around at everyone. "Is it really not obvious to everyone else?" They all looked at her curiously. "We never filled Juliana's role because, I think… deep within our hearts, we all knew she would be returning to fill that position again."
"Awwwww!" Lacey was touched. "You're… you're totally right, Amarys. I think that's exactly why we kept it open."
"Well, that and I don't think Drayton was making a big fuss about having to take on Champion duties again," Crispin chuckled.
Drayton shushed him and whispered, "Again with the blabber-mouthing, Crispin! I've got a good thing going here!"
"Even though the circuit's over…?" Juliana was still in disbelief. "Surely, your rules don't allow me to just slip back in."
"Forget about the rules, Juliana!" Lacey shook her head. "You're our friend and fearless leader! We want you so badly that we've all decided even when you eventually have to leave Blueberry, we're committed to figuring that all out together!"
"You've been a notorious rulebreaker since you first arrived here." Amarys smirked at her, the first time Juliana had personally seen her crack a smile. "So why stop now?"
"And—and you're really sure that no one else in the club will have a problem with that?"
"What're you kidding?" Crispin replied. "Everyone loved having you as the leader of the club, Juliana!"
"But if you really need more convincing…"
Drayton had suddenly come up behind Juliana, and he motioned for her to stand up from her chair.
"Hey, clubmates! Listen up!" he called out, getting everyone's attention. "Anyone in favor of Juliana becoming the club president again, raise your hand!"
Juliana's eyes nearly flew out of her head as Drayton's question instantly sparked almost everyone in the room to raise their hands and cry out encouraging yells.
"Yeah!" "Champion Juliana!" "I still love you!"
With a gleeful smile, Carmine jumped up and tried to make her hand higher than everyone else's.
"Great!" said Drayton. "And all those opposed… don't let the door hit you on the way out!"
Everyone in the crowd laughed heartily at that, especially Juliana. Lacey, beaming a proud smile, rushed over and held Juliana's hand up. "Then people of the League Club, I give you… the return of Champion Juliana!"
The whole League Club clapped and cheered for Juliana, who was very happy and humbled to be so easily welcomed back in like this. Her elation was boosted even further as Carmine rushed in and held both of Juliana's arms up even higher, shouting…
"YEAH! THAT'S MY GIRLFRIEND! YOU HEAR ME!? THAT'S MY GIRLFRIEND!"
…and leaning over to give Juliana a big smooch on the cheek, making her whole face go red with gushy feelings.
"I'm beyond ecstatic you two have finally found your happiness," Amarys expressed to the adorable couple. "It inspires me so!"
"Awww, thanks Mar-y! I missed you girls so much!" Carmine grinned, wrapping her arm over Juliana like a shrug. "We gotta do like… a huge movie marathon or something to make up for lost time!"
"As it happens…" Amarys smiled splendidly. "I've been hit with the sudden desire to binge-watch all the Riolu Girl movies before the new one comes out."
"Oooh! I've never seen any of those!" Juliana admitted. "Would I… be allowed to join in?"
"Mmm, I don't know, three's a crowd," Carmine said dismissively. Juliana pouted, but then Carmine patted her head and said, "I'm kidding, my sour little grape! Of course you can! …So long as Amarys is okay with that."
"That would be remarkable! I still want to get to know you better as well, Juliana!"
"Aye-aye!"
…
"So long as, well…" Amarys trailed off a bit. "I just hope that neither of you would have the indecency to—engage in covert play with each other while you're sharing my bed."
"OH!" Juliana's face went red again, and she found herself giggling out of shock.
"A-AMARYS! We would never—where did that even COME from!?" Carmine stuttered, her face turning just as red. "You're the last person in this club I'd ever expect to say such lewd things!"
"Hmmm… perhaps I've been reading the books you donated to me a little too studiously."
Kieran decided to join Crispin, Miguel, and former Elite Four Tayon at one of the tables and play a board game with them. After Tayon won the pool (and the boys realized maybe they shouldn't have made that bet to match their PokéMonopoly money with real Poké Dollars) and the group dispersed, Kieran sat alone and fiddled around on his Rotom Phone.
"Heeeey!" said a voice coming up to him. "You've finally got one of those for yourself, huh Kieran?"
"Oh! Hi, Lacey!" Kieran greeted her. He made an effort to sit up at his desk as he gave the pink-haired girl his full attention.
"I remember you used to talk about wanting a Rotom Phone of your own, but how expensive it is to get one when you're living in Kitakami," Lacey recalled. She pointed at the empty chair next to him. "Is it… alright if I sit here?"
"Uh-huh!" Kieran replied. Catching how eager he sounded, he then said, "I mean, of course." As Lacey sat next to him, he explained, "Yeah, I didn't think it would be possible to get one until my next birthday. But… my grandparents said I was such a hero for saving everyone that—they apparently pooled some of their savings and got me one as a goodbye present! They even gave me enough money to pick out my own cover!"
He excitedly held up the Applin-themed phone case for Lacey to see.
"Awwww! How adorable!" she gushed. "An Applin case to match your big, tough Hydrapple!"
"That's right!" he laughed.
"Y'know, Juliana talked a little bit about your crazy adventures in Kitakami and Paldea when she called me to ask about Carmine." Lacey brushed aside her hair a bit. "She told me that you were… that you were really brave and fearless out there."
"Ohh—yeah?" Kieran replied, stuttering a bit.
"Mm-hm. It all sounded soooo engaging, the way she described it but… if it's alright, I umm…" Her finger slid along the table a bit. "I'd actually really like to hear what it was like from your perspective."
"R-really?"
"Is that okay?"
"Yeah… yeah! I'd love to tell you all about it!"
Kieran ignored how nervous he was feeling and dove into telling Lacey his version of quest into Area Zero's underdepths, and that weird few days in Kitakami. He left out some of the whackier parts, like the ancient Paradox Pokémon, how Pecharunt possessed people like Carmine and Juliana into dancing, and… that dream that he had, of course.
The more he told his story, the more Kieran could feel himself relaxing more around Lacey too. He found the bravado in his cadence just at the same point he got to the part about how he teamed up with Ogerpon to wear down Pecharunt's defenses before Juliana was saved.
It helped a lot that Lacey was completely attuned to his stories. She listened with an attentive face. She reacted every time Kieran said something surprising, laughed when he said something really funny that happened, and actually looked anxious as he talked about how despairing things were looking for a while when Terapagos seemed unstoppable, or how everyone had fallen under Pecahrunt's spell. Kieran was such an enthralling storyteller that even a few other club members nearby had decided to drop in and listen to his tales.
"Wow! To think you really caught all those scary-sounding Pokémon for yourself...!" Lacey said with wide, impressed eyes. "That's so amazing, Kieran! I bet Carmine and Juliana and everyone back home must've been so proud of you!"
"They sure were! Everyone just kept telling me how brave I've gotten!" Kieran beamed. "Between all that, being able to make up with my Sis, and finally becoming friends with Ogerpon… Honestly, Lacey, I've never been happier!"
"Well now, it's my turn to tell you how brave I think you are," Lacey smiled warmly. "I've always told you that you had the strength in you all along, Kieran. And to hear that you've finally embraced that, it—it fills me with so much joy. You're so confident and… grown-up now. Watching you come out of your shell and become more mature in this club—and beyond—has been one of the coolest experiences ever!"
"Wowzers… thanks, Lacey." Kieran rubbed the back of his head a bit. "It really means the world to hear that from you!"
"After going through all that crazy stuff, and rebuilding all your relationships again, I wonder…" Lacey looked down at the table thoughtfully for a second. "Do you think that… you finally, have all that you've ever needed?"
Kieran's eyes lit up. That was a much more introspective question than he was expecting, and as he looked into Lacey's honey-brown eyes, which almost seemed to… glimmer at him, he felt compelled to give an answer.
"Well… maybe not everything."
"Oh… Yeah. I guess we never really do, do we? Always pushing for a new goal. Well umm…"
Lacey turned her face away from him a bit. She didn't want Kieran to see how flushed her face was.
"Let me know when you think of something, okay?"
…
Kieran swallowed.
"Yeah. I will."
Meanwhile, Juliana wasn't taking her newly regained position lightly. In the back corner of the club, she was talking with Crispin and Drayton, discussing the state of the club, particularly in gaining new recruits.
"Well, the biggest thing I've noticed is that when I tell people about us, like in my cooking club and stuff, I guess… a lot of students are under the impression that it's a very exclusive club," Crispin explained. "Like… you have to know somebody in the club to get in or whatever!"
"Heh!" Drayton added, "Seems like a lot of our classmates also think you have to be some high-level battle expert to get in, when we've got plenty of folks who'll never place in a VGC any time soon but are just here for the love of the game!"
The new club president had her finger to her chin as she listened thoughtfully to their observations.
"So… it sounds like the problem is that it's hard to convey what sort of club this is to anyone who doesn't know about it," Juliana determined. "And the kind of uhh, of vibe that you want it to be for everyone."
"Exactly!" Crispin answered.
"Well, that's not a hard problem to approach. The way I see it, we just have to work on putting ourselves out there more!"
"What do you mean by that?" asked a confused Drayton.
"My friend Nemona's the president of the student council back at my school, and she's talked a lot about how she does outreach for her club. Instead of just trying to bring new people in, we have to bring the club to the people! If everyone doesn't know what the League Club's about, we gotta go out there and tell them!"
"Ohhhh!" Crispin started to understand. "So like… we help advertise the club, and make it easier for people to get more information on it!"
"Exactly!" Juliana replied, pleased that he was getting it. "As ambassadors to the club, we could go out to the places where lots of students like to hang out and pass out flyers, talk to people like the A/V Club who are interested in marketing us, and share more videos of the club online so people can see what League Club activities are like firsthand!"
"Now that sounds FIRE!" Crispin was feeling very energized now. He tossed his trust frying pan over his head and said, "Maybe we could even do battle demonstrations out in those big open places! Nothing gets a crowd's fire burning like getting to see that action upfront!"
"YEAH! Now you're talking! If my friend Nemona were here right now, she'd probably be all over that idea, Crispin!"
"Man, watching you two fire on all cylinders like this gets me so pumped it made me forget I was already part of this club!" said Drayton. "With you two heading up a big push like that, I bet people from all over campus will want to come and check our little club out."
"We'd all be taking part in this, Drayton," Juliana said adamantly. "We're all the club ambassadors. That includes you too."
"Nahhh, I bet Lacey and Amarys will be really jazzed about your little outreach idea." He stretched his arms out wide. "Sounds like you'll have all the people you need without me and my slowness weighing you down."
Juliana sighed. She'd gotten to know Drayton well enough to know he was very "subtly" trying to push all the hard tasks onto everyone but him.
"Don't think you can talk your way out of this, Drayton," she giggled. "You'd be a tremendous help to us! You're still one of the most popular people in this whole club! And I don't know many other people in Blueberry who are able to grab people's attention as well as you can." Juliana made an attempt to try to appeal to his ego. "You made such a great sales pitch convincing me to join the BB League!"
"Well sure, but…" Drayton made a point to yawn dramatically. "I guess you don't know, but I've had to take on sooooo many new responsibilities here at this club. I don't know that I could scrounge up the free time to go out chasing new members. You can ask Lacey how swamped I am."
"Yeah… I already did. She says you've mostly just been laying around," Juliana informed him, sternly crossing her arms as she called his bluff. "Come on, Drayton. You wanted me to 'prez it up', right? Well, I'm your authority now! Just like you wanted! And I'm going to use that to make sure you're a lot busier around here!"
Drayton gulped. "Well—that may be true, but… what if I told you I've decided to become a much better student and I've started attending my classes again? You really wanted to see me focus on improving my grades, right? Well I took your advice, prez!"
"Oh really?" Juliana's eyebrows furrowed as she smiled coyly. "If that's the case, I'd love for you to show me some of these new and improved grades."
"Urk…"
Drayton didn't know why he was getting so flustered. This was just Juliana, the easily malleable little precocious new blood from Paldea! When did the little munchkin grow such a backbone and figure out how to bypass all his defenses?
"Look J-girl, I'll stop beating around the bush and level with you for real. You don't need me, okay?" He shook his head, deciding to try for a new tactic. "You've grown so much from being that scared, flightly little girl I remember you being when you first came to Blueberry. You're the new hero of this school! Everyone looks up to you, and so do I, because I know you can do anything you set your mind to, just like how you adopt all sorts of funny new hairstyles!"
"I'm not seeing through your tricks anymore, Drayton," Juliana shook her head. "Nothing you say will deter me from making sure you get off your butt for once!"
"Geez, you're so much more tenacious now…" Drayton muttered to himself. "Well, I value your opinion a lot and promise I'll take it into consideration, Ms. President. But until I've made a decision, I'll just keep cheering you on from the sidelines 'cause that's what I'm best at! And I promise there's nothing you can do to change my mind!" He crossed his arms with a confident beaming smile.
…
"…Is that so?"
"Umm…" He definitely didn't like the face Juliana was making.
"I really didn't want to have to do this," she sighed. Then she cupped her hands and called out, "Hey Carmine?"
Carmine whipped around from a nearby table, stuffing her mouth with cheesy pizza goodness.
"Mmmmyeah?"
"Forget everything I said before. Drayton's fair game. You can do whatever you want with him."
"Wait a minute—"
Carmine swallowed her food in a big gulp.
"Ohhhh… REALLY?" With a growing devilish smile on her face, the Kitakamite girl put her slice down on the table and began to advance slowly towards him.
"Now, Carmine!" Drayton held his hands up, definitely not feeling scared of her. "Remember all that stuff I heard you were worrying about! You don't want to hurt people, remember?"
"Yeah, actually, I don't give a shit if an annoying bozo like you thinks I'm a monster," said an unfazed Carmine, rolling up her sleeves. "You're the only one who actually deserves my full wrath."
"And by the way, I think my hair looks cool!" Juliana made a point of saying loudly. "Carmine styled it this way for me and I don't get what's so funny about it to you, Drayton!"
"J-JULIANA!" he gasped through gritted teeth.
"HEY! You think my Carmine-style braid is FUNNY, bucket breath!?" Carmine seethed, revving up like an engine. "Don't think I forgot about how hard you were laughing at MY hair too, you judgmental asshole!"
Crispin saw the heat turning up and wisely stepped out of Carmine's way. "Oh, you're roasted now, dude."
"You know what, Juliana? I change my mind!" Drayton said frantically, backing away from the tall terror approaching him. "Your outreach idea sounds amazing, I want to be such a big part of it! I'll even do the legwork all on my own if you want me to, just so long as you tell your girl here to HEEL!"
Carmine just growled at him like she was a Mightyena using Intimidate, and boy was Drayton's Attack falling.
"Yeah, I don't know if anything you say could change my mind, Drayster, I just believe in you too hard!" Juliana turned away from him.
"I told you I'll do ANYTHING!"
"How about regular updates on those grades of yours, since you're so inspired to be a straight-A achiever now?"
Drayton's eyes practically bulged out at he audacity.
"You're—you're diabolical, Juliana!" he gasped. Carmine was right on his ass now, and he was sweating. "I should've never invited you to this school! You two are perfect for each other! You're both messed up in the head! I—GAH!"
Drayton took off running around the room as Carmine chased him with the speed and determination of an angry Tauros.
"I'm going to mess up YOUR head when I'm done with you!" she threatened Drayton. "Let's see how funny YOUR hair can get!"
"Ha, ha! Well that's going to make him think twice before questioning your orders again," Crispin chuckled.
"Yup," Juliana laughed. "Mess with the Tauros, and you get the horns!"
"Oooh, I like that saying!" he and Juliana high-fived each other and watched the spectacle.
Drayton continued to run for his life, yelping all the while as Carmine constantly grabbed onto his hair and pulled on it, snarling so much she was foaming.
Juliana smiled. "…Gosh, I love her."
Earlier that afternoon…
"Do you… really think they'll want me back?" Juliana wondered. "After how much I left them in the dust?"
"Oh please," Carmine reassured her. "Everyone in the League Club loved the hell out of you! If anything, you're our Golden Ticket!"
"Yeah," Kieran agreed. "I don't even know if anyone will be happy to see me…"
"My friends will be for sure!" said Carmine. "And they'll totally vouch for you too!"
"Yeah, I guess that's fair…"
"Who are you looking forward to seeing the most?" asked Juliana.
"Umm…" Kieran blushed a bit. "I don't—know that I… know the answer to that?"
"Probably that Crispin kid, right?" Carmine guessed. "Since you two are in the same class and everything!"
"Ermm, yeah…"
Now it was Carmine's turn to look nervous. "I suppose… you both know what I'm going to ask now…?"
Juliana giggled a bit. "Sooooo, how hard did you say you threw those snacks at Crispin?"
"HEY!"
Much to the trio's delight, Director Cyrano had taken it upon himself to meet Juliana, Carmine, and Kieran at the Castelia City airport and drive them down the tunnel that led back into Blueberry Academy, just like he had done for Juliana her initial first day at the school.
Juliana was grateful to him for providing this service again. Cyrano was thankful—and he expressed it in many words—that Juliana had decided to give his school another shot. And true to what Director Clavell had promised, Cyrano informed Juliana how Briar had seen to it that her class credits were all kept intact and he personally made sure her dorm room was the same!
And so, the cart zoomed down the beautiful underwater tube again. Cyrano had even provided Juliana with fresh new Blueberry uniform clothes in a space bag, and she eagerly dug them out to examine them.
"Looks like you're going to be donning our proud whites again!" said Kieran.
"Or y'know… you could always match my style and we could be twins in blue," Carmine teased, twirling her locks.
Kieran chuckled. "That would be weird."
"Why would that be weird?" Carmine glowered.
"Yeah, so many options…" Juliana tugged the lapel of her purple Uva jacket. "It's weird having just gotten used to this new style, and already changing to a new suit again." She thought about it, then turned to their driver. "I probably can't mix and match uniforms together, right Director?"
"Ha ha ha! Why not?" Cyrano guffawed. "You know actually… sounds like a swell idea to me! That Geeta lady of yours seems really passionate about wanting people to see the bond between our two schools, maybe you could be a walking symbol of our newfound unity, Juliana! While looking stylish to boot!" he turned around and grinned at her.
"Oh…!"
Juliana was still a little surprised at the Blueberry Director's carefree demeanor compared to the gentle but indignant adherence for rules that Director Clavell and La Primera both represented. But now, with Cyrano's surprising encouragement, she wavered thoughtfully between the white clothes in her lap, and the uniform she was already wearing.
"Hmm…"
"I'm just so happy that you kids all worked out your issues on your own and are going to enjoy life in my Blueberry Academy together again as the best of friends! Almost brings a tear to my eye…" said Cyrano. The loud sniffles they could hear from him illustrated how much he meant it.
Carmine rolled her eyes at the eccentric school director, then watched, charmed, as Juliana held up different shirts over her chest and fit her purple jacket over them to gauge what colors matched best.
"It's almost scary how you just fit right in pretty much everywhere you go," Carmine admired. "The academy, this club, you name it! You'd make a good spy."
"Really?" replied Juliana.
"Yeah," Kieran agreed. "You always look cool no matter what clothes you're wearing."
"Aww, thanks Kieran!"
"And what about you, Kiki?" Carmine shifted her gaze toward her brother. "How long are you planning to keep your hair like that?"
"Huh, why? Does it look weird?" he asked, gently stroking his scalp. He glanced at Juliana, who shrugged nonchalantly.
"Oh, come on Juliana! His whole thing is wanting to grow up, so we can afford to be more honest with him, right? You're the one who advocated for that."
"Honest about what?" Kieran asked, now sounding a little annoyed.
Carmine sighed. "I've been meaning to say this all along… You really should stop trying to be all edgy. It's not a good look for you."
"Wh—what?" he replied, looking confused as he gripped the sides of his head. "But I'm not even trying to be edgy anymore! I just put my hair up so I can let loose during battles! Aww man…" Kieran's head slumped.
"What, so you can't 'let loose' unless you tie your hair up?" Carmine began to giggle. "Aww, that's too cute!"
Kieran scoffed. "Shut up, Sis! You're such a dummy!"
"Hey, what'd you just call me!?" Carmine instantly seethed, making Kieran flinch. "You'd better watch your mouth if you know what's good for you!"
"Hey!" Cyrano leaned his shoulder over the driver's side. "You kids better not be-a rasslin' back there or I'LL have to give you what's what!"
"It's okay, Director! They're always like this!" Juliana giggled. "And honestly… I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Well… seeing you two play around with styles has got me feeling all vanilla and plain!" Carmine huffed. "Now I've got this itch like I gotta do something different with my look too!"
Juliana twinkled at her and said, "Carmine, you don't need to change anything just to feel more special. You're insanely beautiful no matter what you look like!"
Kieran turned away from her and stuck his tongue out from the sap.
Carmine's face flushed as she smiled bashfully. "Well, yeah but… you're my girlfriend now, so things like that don't mean anything coming from you anymore."
"Sure it does!" Juliana insisted. "Because from now on, I won't ever have any problems being honest with you! So if you did something that looked weird or ugly… I would probably say something!"
"Hmmm…" Carmine crossed her arms and looked pensively at Kieran's updo. "You know Kiki, you and I got the same hair genes, just mine are slightly better. I bet I could pull off your little edgelord style way better than you could!"
"You're… going to try to copy my hair?" Kieran turned back around, giving her a squinted face. "I can't—really picture that on ya, Sis."
"Hmph!" She defiantly dug a yellow hair tie out of her pouch. "Well just watch me!"
With a stubborn face of determination, Carmine removed her hairband and held the hair tie in her mouth as she grabbed her beautiful locks and pulled them up by their roots so her natural crimson undersides were prominently displayed, and began tying it up in a pulled style very much like Kieran's.
Kieran and Juliana both watched her work her magic with curious eyes… which soon became confused, wincing ones as they watched Carmine's bold new direction take stage.
"There we go!" Carmine said, pleased with herself as she whipped her newly tied-up hair gleefully around her head. "I already feel like a whole new person! Too bad I don't have a mirror handy on me, but that's where you come in, my honest little grape! How do I look? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much more smooch-able am I?"
"Ehhhhh—" Kieran struggled to vocalize.
"You look… great!" Juliana lied. "Totally hot!"
"Awww!" Carmine gushed with her hands. "You must really mean that too, based on what you just said!"
She gulped. "Yup!"
"Well, give me a smooch to prove it, sweetie!"
"…Okay."
Carmine eagerly leaned the side of her much barer face in, and Juliana, swallowing her qualms over how… weird she looked, gave her big, excited cinnamon stick the more earnest kiss on the cheek she could muster.
…
Then Carmine smushed Juliana's face and roared, "Hey, that didn't feel like a very truthful kiss!"
Juliana's pressed-up face stammered. "I—I…"
But before she could discern Carmine's apparent lie detector abilities, the cart came to a screeching halt as they stopped in front of the academy's entrance doors.
"Get out and stretch those legs of yours, you three!" Cyrano eagerly jumped out and began to turn out. "Because we've hoist anchor on—YAHHH!"
He fell backwards with a yell as soon as he saw Carmine's hair. The older gentleman hoisted himself up as best he could as he readjusted his white boater hat.
"Oh my stars and darlings… it's just you, Carmine. Boy, you gave me a fright real good with that terrifying display!"
Carmine turned away and scowled.
"Hmph. Everyone's a critic."