Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Long, long ago in a certain forest, lived a lonely Pokémon called Pecharunt. Now you would think Pecharunt would want for nothing, it lived in a grove filled with sweet, delicious Pecha Berries and a river nearby. But there was always something Pecharunt thought was missing...

One day, as Pecharunt was gathering Pecha Berries for the day, it heard a strange sound coming from downstream. Upon peering around the rocky outcrop where the grove met the river, Pecharunt saw an old woman doing her daily washing and humming to herself.

In its surprise at seeing another, Pecharunt dropped a Pecha Berry into the river. The berry floated towards the old woman, "Oh! What a sweet looking Pecha Berry we have here." The old woman said when she noticed the Pecha Berry. She plucked the berry out of the river, took a bite, and said, “My, how delicious, I wonder if there are any more nearby?"

The old woman called out in a manner that seemed strange to Pecharunt, "Hey! Delicious Pecha Berries come this way! Bitter Pecha Berries go away!"

It was then that Pecharunt got an idea, maybe this is what it had been missing. Pecharunt decided to float itself down the river and see what happened next.

The old woman, upon seeing Pecharunt float down the river towards her remarked, " My oh my! What a humongous Pecha Berry! I think I'll bring it home to eat!" Hmmm...that's not quite what Pecharunt had in mind. But Pecharunt decided not to reveal itself just yet.

It wasn't until it felt the sharp sting of a knife point that Pecharunt showed itself to the old woman and old man who was with her. Pecharunt did not want to be eaten, not at all.

"Oh!" The old woman exclaimed, "what a cute little Pokémon! Let's raise it as our own!"

"Indeed!" The old man said with a nod, "We shall name it Momowaro!"

With that, the old couple let Pecharunt into their lives. And Pecharunt was satisfied. For a time. Love, companionship, a family, that's what it had been missing. But something niggled at the back of Pecharunt's mind. How long would this last? Would the old couple tire of Pecharunt? Would they send it back to its lonely Pecha Berry grove?

No, Pecharunt decided, it would not let that come to pass. Now, Pecharunt had a certain power: to create a special kind of mochi to chain someone to Pecharunt's will. Just a precaution, you see, so the old couple would love Pecharunt forever.

But a strange thing seemed to happen the longer the old couple ate Pecharunt's mochi, a greed overtook them. They began to ask Pecharunt for things. Little tokens of Pecharunt's affection for the old couple.

Little tokens that soon became bigger and bigger. Until one day the old man said, "I hear in the land of Kitakami there are a set of masks that are a sight to behold."

With a sigh and a wistful look in her eyes, the old woman said, "I wish we could see such magnificent masks. Momowaro, would you be so kind as to bring them to us?"

And just like that, Pecharunt set off on a journey to retrieve the masks for the old couple. But Kitakami was a long way away, over mountains, through valleys, across the sea and Pecharunt knew it couldn’t manage alone.

First, Pecharunt came across Okidogi. Powerful and brutal, Pecharunt knew Okidogi's strength would be an asset on its journey. With an offering of mochi, Okidogi became Pecharunt's friend.

Second, Pecharunt and Okidogi came across Munkidori. Clever and cunning, Pecharunt knew Munkidori's power of foresight would be able to forewarn them of any dangers that might present themselves. With an offering of mochi, Munkidori became Pecharunt's friend.

Third, and finally, Pecharunt, Okidogi, and Munkidori came across Fezandipiti. Beautiful and beguiling, Pecharunt knew Fezandipiti's pheromones would distract anyone who might object to Pecharunt taking the masks. With an offering of mochi, Fezandipiti became Pecharunt's friend.

Pecharunt and its friends journeyed over the mountains, through the valleys, and across the sea. They finally reached the land of Kitakami. The masks were within their grasp.

A local festival was going on the night they arrived. Many were wearing masks, but Pecharunt saw right away that the masks a tall human and a short Pokémon (Ogerpon, Pecharunt heard the heard the human call it) were different than the others. Even from the edge of the festival where Pecharunt was observing, it could feel the power emanating from the masks.

This was it, Pecharunt's quarry was in sight. Pecharunt had Munkidori use its psychic power to learn where the human and Pokémon pair lived. And a time when they would both be away.

Pecharunt then sent in Okidogi and Fezandipiti to fetch the masks. But something went wrong. Pecharunt's friends returned with only three of the masks.

Suddenly, Ogerpon was upon them a terrifying aura of rage radiating off her. It seemed she wouldn't let the masks go without a fight. No matter, Pecharunt would have the masks, and it's happiness along with them.

However, it was to no avail. Not Okidogi's strength, nor Munkidori's foresight, nor Fezandipiti's pheromones. Nothing seemed to work. Ogerpon's rage would not be quelled, and Pecharunt's friends lay in a defeated heap.

Ogerpon next turned her cudgel on Pecharunt. As Ogerpon's cudgel hurdled towards Pecharunt, it could sense its fate. The masks, Pecharunt's friends, and happiness, it all would be lost.

As Ogerpon's attack struck, Pecharunt used the last of its power to seal itself away in its shell. Pecharunt rolled into the forest, away from the fearsome Ogerpon, away from the Loyal Three, away from the masks and Pecharunt's hope for happiness.

This would not stand. All Pecharunt wanted was the masks. How dare Ogerpon steal Pecharunt's happiness. Pecharunt seethed with the injustice of it all.

But now was not the time. Pecharunt needed to gather it strength. In time, Ogerpon will pay and Pecharunt will have those masks. Pecharunt will be happy.

Alone again, Pecharunt's anger grew. All in good time though; revenge, after all, is patient.

Chapter Text

Kieran wakes to the cries of Starly outside his window flitting around looking for their morning meals. He hears Hoothoot cries too, signaling the end of another night. The dawn of a new day, as it were. It’s nice, Kieran thinks, waking to the sounds of Pokémon cries rather than the blaring of his alarm clock.

It takes him a moment to remember he’s in his room at his grandparents’ place and not in his Blueberry Academy dorm room. The start of summer vacation is always a bit like that, though, isn’t it? A little hard to get used to when it starts, a slower change of pace from the usual regimented school schedule. A slightly jarring feeling of having too much free time and yet not enough to spend it on. It’s only when it’s over do you really miss it. It’s a little early to be whinging about the woes of student life, isn’t it? Break has only just started, Kieran chides himself.

Summer break also means the start of the Mask Festival in Kitakami. Kieran has such fond memories of summers past. Watching grandpa Yukito put the finishing touches on the masks he’s made over the last year. Going to the festival with his sister; the crowded temple grounds, the festive stalls lining the streets selling snacks and goods that could only be for the festival. Not to mention candied apples. The best part if you were to ask Kieran.

If you asked, Big Sis Carmine, though, she’d say the best part is Ogre Oustin’. Kieran isn’t inclined to agree, he finds the whole game rather mean…poor, misunderstood ogre…probably just wants a friend…If only the rest of the village could see that. The poor little ogre couldn’t possibly be as bad as the legends imply!

Kieran has learned to keep those thoughts to himself though, everyone in the village (Carmine especially) would react with a mix of pity and irritation if he ever brought up his alternative theory about the character of the ogre. It could really bring a guy down. But one day! Kieran will prove that the ogre is good! It’ll take some time, but Kieran’s sure he can convince the village of his point of view!

He tosses the covers off himself in a rush, and Furret squeaks in annoyed indignation at the sudden rush of cool air. Kieran can’t help it, there’s excitement buzzing in his veins as he remembers what else this summer break will bring! Today is the start of the joint school trip with Uva Academy! Well, ok, technically the school trip starts tomorrow, but the Uva Academy students should be arriving today!

Ooh, it’s gonna be so fun! Kieran thinks to himself as he quickly makes his bed and dresses. Sure, maybe Carmine’s right and it is all just a ploy for the Mossui Town caretaker to bring in more tourists. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! Maybe it’ll be a chance to make some friends, finally. He’d tried during the school year, but everyone had seemed rather intimidating…especially Drayton, the Champion of the BB League…he had such a cool air about him…

"Kiki! Hurry up!" Kieran hears Carmine call from downstairs, "Breakfast’s ready! Get out here before it gets cold!"

"Coming!" Kieran says. Sigh, Carmine can be so impatient sometimes…

By midday, Kieran and Carmine are waiting outside the community center for the Uva Academy students to arrive. After only a few minutes, Carmine is tapping her foot impatiently and glaring daggers at the village entrance.

"I’m sure they’ll be here soon…!" Kieran says, trying to pacify his sister, "maybe baggage claim took a long time…or maybe the bus was late or something…"

Carmine turns her narrow-eyed glare on Kieran and harrumphs, "If you say so, Kiki. All this waiting is giving me a headache!" Carmine turns from him, now staunchly avoiding looking at the village entrance.

Sure, it is. Ah, looks like Big Sis is in one of her moods, Kieran thinks to himself. Well, when isn’t she…

Just then, Kieran notices someone coming up the hill. She’s wearing what looks to be the school uniform for Uva Academy with its signature purple pants and tie. She’s also wearing a wide-brimmed hat, but interestingly the student seems to have grown out her bangs and set it in a braid hanging in front of her face. It’s kinda cute, the way the braid falls in her face…wait…where did that thought come from?

Kieran shakes his head, trying to dislodge the strange thought, "Sis! Look!" he says, tapping Carmine on the shoulder, "There’s one now!" Upon closer inspection, she seems slightly out of breath for some reason. Hmm, where are the rest of the students? Shouldn’t there be four altogether?

They run up to the student, who has paused to catch her breath. She looks like she’s about to ask them something when Carmine says, eyeing the student closely, "So…you’re one of those students who came from the Paldea region, huh?"

"Yeah. I’m Juliana" she says with a nod. "Would either of you happen to know where the caretaker is? One of my friends…"

Juliana. Wowzers, that’s a pretty name, Kieran ponders, missing the rest of Juliana’s words. Maybe he’s imagining it, but there seems to be an air of strength about her that could only come from someone from such a prestigious school as Uva. "Whoa…" Kieran mumbles, awestruck, "Way cool…"

"Hush, Kieran." Carmine says, giving her brother a withering look.

"I’m Carmine, by the way." She says turning back to Juliana, a wolfish smile now in place, "Sorry, but I can’t just let an outsider like you wander into Mossui Town. If you insist on coming in, you’ll have to battle me first."

Juliana looks taken aback; her eyebrows furrowed; lips parted in slight consternation. Kieran can’t help but roll his eyes, "C-c’mon, Sis…" he says, exasperation evident in his voice, "you just wanna battle. Makin’ this big fuss over nothing…"

Carmine shoots him another glare and says, voice high and pinched, "I told you to hush, Kiki!"

She turns back to Juliana that same fakey, feral smile in place once again, "Just ignore my little brother." She says like he’s some sort of pest.

Aw, man…Kieran sighs deeply. This is how it always goes, isn’t it…

Juliana, meanwhile, seems to have gotten over her initial surprise at Carmine’s abrasive battle proposition. There’s a smile on her face, one that doesn’t quite meet her eyes when she says, "Sure. I guess I have time for a battle."

"All right, let’s do this. Get in position. I’m going to have some real good fun with you." Carmine says, and Kieran can feel the glee emanating from his sister. Even in Blueberry Academy, they’d heard tales of the strong students from their sister school. His upperclassman, Lacey, loved to tell the story about how one of the Uva Academy students challenged her father to a battle during a party. Kieran must admit, he’s pretty curious too. Secretly, he’s glad Big Sis Carmine challenged Juliana to a battle…even if she made that challenge in such a roundabout way…

Once Carmine and Juliana are a suitable distance from each other, Carmine calls out, "Welcome to Kitakami! For your first experience get ready to eat dirt!"

For her first Pokémon, Carmine sends Mightyena snarling out of its Pokéball. Kieran knows Mightyena can actually be quite sweet, but it sure does put on a good show of being intimidating.

"Go! Cleopatra!" Juliana calls out, and out bursts an elegant looking bird Pokémon.

Wait…that’s one of the Pokémon that Carmine’s favorite influencer uses—

"An Espathra? Really?" Carmine snorts derisively, an imperious eyebrow arched high on her forehead, "Do you know nothing of type matchups? Mightyena, use howl!"

Mightyena’s cry echoes around the village and a hush seems to fall over them. An intense look passes over Juliana’s features, sending a shiver up Kieran’s spine. He wonders what it would be like to have her full attention on him like that…

Kieran shakes those thoughts out of his head…not the time…! Juliana says, with the practiced calm of a trainer who’s been through many battles, "Dazzling Gleam!"

Espathra begins to shine, and Kieran shields his eyes with his hands against the brightness. He drops his hands to the sound of Carmine’s indignant cry and Mightyena collapsed in a heap in front of them.

Juliana smiles again, similarly close to Carmine’s earlier one, "I don’t think type matchups are too much of a problem for me." She says, a pleased tilt to her head.

Tha-thump! Kieran’s heart pounds in his chest in an unfamiliar way. His eyes widen in amazement. Wowzers, she’s so strong…! Not for the first time this afternoon does Kieran wish he was in his sister's place battling Juliana.

Carmine is practically snarling as she shouts, "Ninetales, go!"

As Ninetales comes out of its Pokéball, the air around them heats up several degrees. Haughty like its trainer, Ninetales seems to look down its nose at Juliana and her Espathra. "Don’t think that same trick is going to work twice, outsider." Carmine says with a sneer.

"I don’t think it needs to." Juliana says, her own smile all tooth now, "Cleopatra, Lumina Crash." Espathra’s eyes glow blue and rays of light crash into Ninetales. The Pokémon winces in pain, but when the light fades, Ninetales is still standing.

"Ninetales! Quick, use disable!" Carmine says. Ninetales narrowed its eyes and glares over at Espathra. Juliana clicks her tongue, and Kieran can feel the cruel delight coming off his sister. Before Juliana can direct Espathra again, Carmine continues, "Now, use will-o-wisp!"

Ninetales eyes glow this time, and a ghostly fire surrounds Espathra. That burn looks kinda painful. Ooh, Kieran’s not sure who he should root for. On the one hand, Carmine’s being her usual disagreeable self and probably needs to be brought down a peg. On the other hand, though, Carmine is his sister, and he does kinda want to her, and by extension Blueberry Academy, to triumph over their sister school…

On the other, other hand, the way Juliana battles is really something...If just her Espathra is so strong, he wonders what other Pokémon she has with her…C’mon Ninetales! Kieran thinks to himself, help me see who else is on Juliana's team!

As Kieran frets over who he should be rooting for, Juliana says, "Cleopatra, let’s end this quickly. Psychic!"

Espathra’s eyes glow purple this time, and a wave of psychic energy washes over Ninetales causing it to collapse. Ninetales is returned to its Pokéball, and with that it looks like Carmine is down to her last Pokémon. Why didn’t she bring her whole team with her, Kieran wonders? Was she really so confident she could beat the Uva Academy students with only three Pokémon. That was a bit foolish, wasn’t it?

"Alright Sinistcha. I’m counting on you to help me beat this outsider" Carmine says, quietly enough that only Kieran can hear, from this distance. Then, louder she says, "Go!"

As Sinistcha comes out of its Pokéball, cackling with ghostly glee, Juliana seems to be assessing how much more Espathra can take. Her fingers are curled around her lips as she looks between the two Pokémon. Oh. That expression is kinda cute, too...

Seeming to come to a decision, Juliana says, "Cleopatra, finish this. Drill Peck!"

In a flash, Espathra closes in on Sinistcha. Faster than Kieran’s eyes can follow, Espathra pecks Sinistcha in several, painful looking, spirals. As fast as it came out, Sinistcha collapses. Carmine looks like she can’t believe her eyes, "H-how…" she says breathlessly.

Juliana walks over to Espathra, pulling out a spray bottle of medicine from her backpack. The earlier look of intense concentration fades, the sharpness of Juliana’s gaze that had sent Kieran’s stomach aflutter softens the closer she gets to the two of them. As she sprays Espathra down, she says with a wink, "Well, Cleopatra here is quite the opportunist, you see. I’d say it was thanks Mightyena’s howl earlier."

"You…" Carmine breathes, "Who are you?"

Juliana shrugs, a somewhat abashed smile makes its way onto her face, and she pointedly doesn’t answer Carmine’s question, "That was a great battle! If we get to do it again, I promise I’ll show you more of my team!"

"Wowzers!" Kieran says more to himself, "You went and beat my Sis?!" These Uva Academy kids must really be something. He can’t stop staring at Juliana, the way she seems so relaxed now that the battle is over. Espathra too, fluffs its feathers and cuddles up closer to her, basking in the pets Juliana is giving it now. So different from the elegant, cold efficiency with which it had battled earlier.

"I can’t believe it…There’s no way you should’ve been able to beat me!" Carmine still seems shocked by the outcome of their battle. Kieran, meanwhile, wants more than ever to battle Juliana. He wants to know more about her team, about her, about how she battles. Everything! And…yes, he admits to himself, he kinda wants that sharp concentration trained on him…lucky Carmine…

"…Fine, I guess you pass." Carmine snorts, finally seeming to come to terms with her loss. Kieran rolls his eyes; Big Sis can be so rude sometimes. Why can’t she just take this gracefully? Juliana seems to agree as she also rolls her eyes while returning Espathra to its Pokéball. "But just barely." Carmine continues, "Seems I’ve got no choice. I’ll let you into town, but only if you become one of my grunts and do every little thing I—"

"Oi!" Carmine is interrupted, as the door to the community center opens, the caretaker runs towards them, shaking his fist, "What’re you doing, causing a ruckus out here!"

"Tch. Here comes trouble…" Carmine clicks her tongue in annoyance, "C’mon, Kiki. We’re out of here." And she runs off toward Revelers’ Road before the caretaker can start his lecture on battling so close to the "newly refurbished" community center. Again.

"B-but I…" I wanted to stay and talk to Juliana more Kieran doesn’t say. Aw, man…well, there’ll be more chances once the joint school trip officially starts tomorrow. "Wait up, Sis!" Kieran says as he dashes away himself.

Once they’re both far enough out of the caretaker’s lecturing range, Kieran takes one last look at Juliana. She seems to be telling the caretaker something urgent, because almost immediately he’s running down the road towards the bus stop. Hmm, maybe that’s what Juliana was trying to say earlier. Maybe one of the other Uva Academy students was in some kind of trouble…oh, no, maybe she won’t want to talk to him tomorrow because Big Sis Carmine delayed her friend getting whatever help they needed…Aw, man…

Kieran’s about to run back and ask Juliana if everything’s alright, when Carmine’s hand on his shoulder stops him, "Hey, let’s get outta here and check out how the festival preparations are going. Maybe if we’re lucky, they’ll let us do some Ogre Oustin’ early!"

Kieran sighs, well the caretaker’s probably got everything in hand anyways. Kieran nods, and the two of them meander their way up Revelers’ Road towards Kitakami Hall. As they’re walking, Carmine turns towards her brother and says with a sly little eyebrow wiggle, "Ooh, I know that look, Kiki! Thinking about my battle with Juliana, weren’t you? She was pretty strong. For an outsider anyways."

"N-no!" Kieran says too loudly, his heart thumping in that unfamiliar way again "I was not!"

Kieran runs a little bit ahead and Carmine just laughs. He’s sure she’s seen how his face has turned bright pink at being called out like that. He can’t help it! Juliana is so intriguing, and the way she battles is something else!

Aw, man…it’s going to be a long school trip, isn’t it. But even still, Kieran’s looking forward to it more than ever!

Chapter Text

“You should have seen Juliana today, grandpa!” Kieran says, a dreamy smile on his face at the memory of watching Carmine's and Juliana's battle earlier, “She was sooo cool! And she only needed one Pokémon to beat Big Sis!”

Grandpa Yukito nods along at Kieran’s words, smiling as he slurps another mouthful of soba. Even all the way to dinner time, Kieran can’t get the the battle out of his head. Juliana was so amazing, maybe tomorrow he’ll find the courage to ask her for a battle himself. He doubts it, though, the thought alone of that concentrated battle gaze of hers has him feeling lightheaded, heart pounding almost painfully in his chest.

“He’s been like this all afternoon.” Carmine says, affectionately annoyed, “Juliana this, Juliana that. She was ok for an outsider. But if I had brought my whole team, she wouldn’t have stood a chance!”

Wrong, Kieran thinks as slurps up a bite of soba, but he doesn’t say that aloud, he knows better than to start an argument during dinner. Grandma Hideko smiles softly at her grandchildren, “It looks like this year’s school trip is going to be a good one.”

Kieran nods as he finishes the last of his soba. “W-would it be alright if I went out for a walk?” he asks, stacking his dishes to take over to the sink.

Carmine rolls her eyes and scoffs, “Gonna go check out the community center are you, Kiki?”

Kieran ignores the way his ears burn at Carmine’s words. He sticks his tongue out at her as his answer. Grandpa Yukito just nods while Grandma Hideko says, “Don’t stay out too late, dear. You have to get up early tomorrow after all.” With that, Kieran walks out the door.

He is, in fact, going to go check out the community center. Not specifically to see Juliana again, although that would be a nice bonus. Kieran just wants to know what the other students are like, too! Gauge if they’ll all be as cool as Juliana. That’s all. No ulterior motives here, thank you very much.

As he walks closer to the community center, who comes into view but Juliana herself. Kieran’s heart quickens at the sight of her. She’s looking to her right at someone Kieran can’t see, and she says with some amount of concern in her voice “You feeling better now?”

Not wanting to interrupt, Kieran creeps a little closer sticking close to the side of the building where he won’t be seen as easily. A tall boy with blond and brown hair comes into view; He looks haggard, and he gives Juliana a wan smile when he says, “A little. Who know bus rides could be so bumpy…”

Juliana chuckles nervously, a hand coming up to rub at the back of her head absentmindedly, “Eh-heh, I guess I’m used to that kinda thing…It was nothing compared to riding around on Mirai.”

“Hah.” The boy lets out a humorless chuckle, “You got that right, little bud. You also took your sweet time sending that caretaker over. Did you challenge him to a Pokémon battle first, or what?”

“Oh, shush!” Juliana says, she gives the boy a little slap on the shoulder. Kieran kinda wishes he were in that boy’s place…

“I’ll have you know; it took so long cuz some hothead challenged me to a battle! I couldn’t just let her challenge go unanswered!” Juliana continues, and Kieran blinks rapidly trying to dislodge thoughts of Juliana’s hands out of his head…

The boy laughs for real this time, “You absolutely could have if you wanted to! Nemona’s really rubbed off on you, hasn’t she little bud!”

Juliana lets out an undignified snort and the two of them laugh good naturedly together. Kieran wonders what it would be like if he could have that easy camaraderie. Would he be able to laugh like that with her, too? It seems unlikely, what with the way he’s been eavesdropping. Hopefully, neither of them will notice him, though so he can pretend he hadn't been listening in when he officially meets them tomorrow for the school trip.

The boy yawns wide, “I think I’m going to turn in for the night, little bud. You should too, after all, we have an early start tomorrow.” He shoves off the wall he’d been leaning on to go back into the community center.

“Ok, mom, I got it.” Juliana says to his retreating form, “I won’t stay out too late. See you in the morning.”

As the doors to the community center shut, Juliana lets a full-mouthed yawn of her own. She turns and finally spots Kieran from his (not so hidden) hiding spot. “Oh, hey” she waves at him, “You’re that kid from before! Kiki, right?”

Kieran squeaks in response. S-she remembered my name (or nickname, anyways) his brain supplies unhelpfully. She’s looking at him with those wide eyes of hers and his face feels hot all of a sudden. Juliana looks like she’s about to say something else, but he doesn’t stick around. As he flees, he babbles out a “sorry” he’s sure she doesn’t hear.

The next day, they all meet in front of the community center. The first thing they do is go around giving introductions. The tall boy Kieran saw last night gives a gruff, “Arven.”

Juliana, meanwhile, gives a sunny smile that Kieran can’t quite look at head-on and says, “I know we met yesterday, but in case you forgot, I’m Juliana! Nice to officially meet you two!”

Carmine has that same fakey smile from yesterday when she challenged Juliana to a battle and gives the Uva Academy students a sanctimonious little wave, “Hi! I’m Carmine!” she says, voice pitched up as if she’s trying to disarm the other students, “It’s a pleasure to meet all you outsiders—I mean, visitors from Paldea! Hee hee!” You’re slipping a little there, sis…try to make it a little less obvious you don’t want them here, please…

Carmine then looks at him expectantly, and, oh, right, introductions. “I-I’m…Kieran…” he mumbles lamely.

The caretaker then goes on to explain that this year’s joint school trip will be about pairing up and going to the various scenic landscapes of Kitakami and taking photos at the signboards detailing one of the local folktales. To prove that the students have actually been to the signboards, each pair must document their visit with a commemorative photo. To make this task easier, the caretaker hands out selfie sticks to help the students take even better photos. Looks like Big Sis Carmine was right, this really does just seem like a tourism campaign disguised as a school trip.

Well, at least it doesn’t seem like too onerous a task, Kieran knows this area like the back of his hand after all. He’s memorized the signboards in question, too, since they tell the story of the ogre. The only problem now is finding someone to pair up with. He had kinda wanted to pair up with Carmine, but Ms. Briar seems to want them with students from Uva Academy. The other two students seem ok, but that Arven guy seems kinda prickly…Is it too much to hope for pairing up with Juliana…?

Speaking of, Juliana’s walking up to them now. Kieran’s about to attempt to say hi to her when Carmine beats him to the punch, “Let me guess—you want to pair up with one of us poor, lonely Blueberry students?”

Juliana laughs, she seems to see right through Carmine, “Oh, indeed. I’m just trying to follow the rules.”

“Gosh, it’s so sweet of you to go out of your way like that. What would we ever do without you?” Carmine says the sarcasm practically dripping off her voice.

“Oh yeah.” A sly grin slowly makes its way onto Carmine’s lips as an idea seems to come to her. “So, my little brother here has been all googly-eyed over you since yesterday. He wouldn’t stop talking about you—even at home. I seriously couldn’t get him to shut up.”

Wha—what’s Carmine saying?! Kieran thinks he might be blushing all the way down to his toes, “S-Sis! What’re you tellin’ her that for, dummy?!” He says hotly, his voice cracking slightly with his nerves.

Carmine glares over at him, it looks like she might give him a swat as she hisses, “Hey! Watch who you call ‘dummy,’ if you know what’s good for you!”

“Aw man…” if he couldn’t look Juliana in the eye earlier, he certainly can’t now…

“Oh, look at him, being all shy…” Carmine says, ruffling his hair. This can’t get much worse, can it…? What must Juliana think of him…

“See, my brother’s no good at talking to people. He’d probably never work up the nerve to ask you himself, but he’d really like a battle with you.” This is the end, isn’t it…Juliana’s gonna choose to pair up with Arven and Kieran’s going to be stuck with one of the other students for the school trip. She probably won’t even look at him with how thoroughly Carmine’s dressed him down…

Kieran’s so busy catastrophizing he misses the twinkle that appears in her eyes as she nods an enthusiastic yes. “Well, what do you know—turns out you’re sorta nice. This’ll make my brother real happy.”

Carmine ruffles her little brother’s hair again, “Chin up, Kiki! Juliana says she’ll battle you!”

What?! “W-Wowzers, really?! You don’t mind?!” Kieran says, awestruck. He does wish he’d been able to make the challenge himself, but maybe this is for the best…he didn’t think he would get this chance at all! He didn’t bring his whole team, though, which was little silly in retrospect…just like Carmine yesterday...

“She doesn’t mind a bit.” Carmine answers for Juliana, who rolls her eyes in response. “Get to your positions, you two. Everybody else, clear out. Make some space!”

“I-I got this!” Kieran says to himself as he follows Carmine to a spot she’s pointed out to him near the little convenience store called Peachy’s.

As Juliana’s walking to her spot, Kieran hears Arven say, “Go easy on him, little bud…” Juliana side-eyes her friend and scoffs as if to say, ‘not a chance’. Good. Kieran doesn’t want to be treated like some fragile, little weakling.

“Wowzers…I can’t believe this…I get to battle you!” Kieran says as he sends out his first Pokémon, Furret, “This is awesome!”

Juliana nods in agreement, “You’ve already met Cleopatra.” She says, studying her Pokéballs, “I think I’ll go with…this one! Show ‘em what you got, Mio!” She throws the ball and out comes a graceful green cat Pokémon, Meowscarada. There’s a small smile on the Pokémon’s face as it prances out of the ball, like it knows exactly how magnificent it is.

Kieran remembers how fast Espathra was yesterday, and he wonders if Juliana likes fast Pokémon. With that in mind, Kieran calls out, “Furret, use quick attack!”

With speed that Kieran can’t track with his eyes, Furret runs up to Meowscarada and gives it a scratch that leaves it staggering. As Furret retreats to Kieran’s side, that intense look from yesterday settles onto Juliana’s face again. Oh. Kieran’s heart begins to thud in his chest. She’s scrutinizing him with the same amount of concentration she did Carmine yesterday. Wowzers, he’s not sure how long he be able to bear being looked at like that.

“Mio, night slash.” Somehow even faster than Furret had just been, Meowscarada closes the distance between the two Pokémon. A dark aura surrounds Meowscarada’s claws as it slashes Furret, sending it sprawling. Meowscarada waltzes back over to Juliana as Furret struggles up, a pained expression on its face. Poor baby doesn’t look like it will be able to take much more…

“Double-edge, Furret!” Kieran says, maybe he won’t be able to win this round outright, but Furret can at least do some damage before it faints.

Before Furret can move, Juliana says, “Flower Trick.” From seemingly out of nowhere, Meowscarada produces a bouquet of flowers that it hurls at Furret. Upon contact with Furret, there’s a loud bang as the bouquet explodes. With that, Furret collapses onto the ground and Kieran is down to his last Pokémon. Kieran regrets not bringing more of his team with him, but man, is this an exhilarating battle. Juliana’s so cool…

“You got this, Yanmega!” Kieran says, tossing out his next Pokéball, “C-cut through the wind and show ‘em what you’ve got!”

“Ooh, good choice. Your Yanmega looks strong!” Juliana calls out, Kieran feels elated at the compliment.

“Air slash, Yanmega!” Kieran calls, Meowscarada seems like a grass type, so maybe he has the advantage for once.

But before it can make it’s move Juliana says, “Mio, use U-turn!” Meowscarada runs up to Yanmega and swipes at it with its paw before returning to its Pokéball. It doesn’t look like that attack hurt very much. “Sorry, I think this one would be a better opponent. Onibi, go!” Juliana continues, a sly smile on her face. She tosses the next ball and out comes what looks to be a ghostly knight. Kieran knows this Pokémon, it’s Ceruledge! As a kid, his grandma read him Charcadet’s Adventures so many times! It must also be a fire type because, like yesterday with Ninetales, the temperature on the battlefield heats up several degrees.

Yanmega is finally able to complete it’s attack; it flaps its wings and the air itself turns into a blade that goes crashing into Ceruledge. Ceruledge stumbles back a few steps, but it doesn’t falter. It looks up at Yanmega with a heated glare, the flames of its eyes burning brightly.

“Quick Attack!” Kieran calls out, better to end this quickly, it looks like Ceruledge holds a grudge. Yanmega rushes at Ceruledge but just phases right through. Oh…right…it’s also a ghost…

“Use bitter blade, Onibi!” Juliana says, a ghostly blue fire surrounds Ceruledge and it slashes Yanmega with one of its blade arms sending the dragonfly Pokémon sprawling into a heap on the ground.”

“Wowzers…” Kieran breathes as he returned the fainted Yanmega to its Pokéball. He really should have brought more Pokémon with him; the battle was over too soon…

Their various onlookers cheer as the battle ends. “Nicely done, kids!” Ms. Briar claps, smiling between Kieran and Juliana, “Nothing like a friendly battle to get to know someone!”

“You sure are strong, Juliana!” Kieran says, he can’t get over how amazing she is. Maybe she can teach him to be strong like her. The thought of Juliana giving him battle tips sends Kieran’s stomach aflutter.

“You really aren’t half bad.” Carmine adds. Wowzers, a real compliment from his sister? Juliana’s definitely the real deal, isn’t she, “Kiki’s nearly as strong as I am, you know.” Carmine continues, patting her brother on the shoulder.

“I dunno about that…” Kieran mumbles, he’s not sure he should be compared to such strong trainers like Juliana and his sister…

“You’re strong too, Kieran,” Juliana says, and he can only look up at her with wide-eyed amazement, “You really had me worried there when you brought out Yanmega! It’s a good thing I had Onibi with me, or my little Mio would have been in a lot of trouble!”

Carmine looks like she has another idea up her sleeve when she says, “This orienteering thing…We’re supposed to group up in pairs, right? You should go ahead and pair up with Kiki, then.”

“What?! No, Sis, don’t—” Kieran feels his face heat up all the way to the tips of his ears. How can she just come out and ask like that?

“Don’t what?” Carmine looks over at him with a sly smile and one eyebrow arched high on her forehead, “It’s not like we can pair up. Or were you hoping to partner with some rando outsider instead of Juliana?”

“Well…no, but…Aw man…” This is what he wants, of course…

“I’d love to pair up with him! But is he ok?” Juliana asks. Oh, she’s such an angel worrying about him…

“Don’t worry. He’s just being shy.” Carmine says, and he can hear the smugness in her voice, “I’ll go find some chump to pair up with too. Watch out for my little bro, you.” Carmine walks over to Arven and slings an arm around his shoulders, “You and I are about to become very good friends!” Arven looks dubious at the prospect, but it doesn’t look like he can bring himself to say no.

The other two Uva Academy students look at each other and one of them says, “Well, I guess that just leaves us, doesn’t it.”

The second student sighs, “Wow, that Kieran kid is super lucky, getting to pair up with the Champion like that…”

“Hah!” Juliana barks out a laugh, “If there’s anyone you should be jealous of, it’s Carmine! Arven’s makes the best sandwiches, after all!”

Arven, who had been trying to extricate himself from Carmine’s grip goes stock still and sputters out and abashed, “Li-little Bud…You really think my sandwiches are the best...?”

Juliana nods vigorously, but the only thought in Kieran’s head at the moment is about what that other student had just said. Juliana is a Champion? Does Uva Academy also have a League Club like Blueberry Academy? Or is she a Champion like Lance or Cynthia? A trainer like Juliana thinks he’s strong? Wowzers, that’s almost too much for one guy to handle…

“Well, looks like you’ve all paired up!” the caretaker says, snapping Kieran out of his thoughts, “Let’s go ahead and do some exploring! The beautiful land of Kitakami awaits!”

With that, the caretaker leaves them to their own devices. The two Uva Academy students who had been paired up by necessity wander off, looking at their Rotom Phones trying to decided which location will be the easiest to get to. Carmine, meanwhile, drags Arven off towards Revelers’ Road peppering him with questions about his sandwich making skills. That just leaves Kieran and Juliana.

There’s a nervous fluttering in Kieran’s chest, and he’s finding it hard to look Juliana in the eyes now that they’re alone together. Voice embarrassingly shaky, he says “U-um…So it looks like…we should probably start with the signboard at…Loyalty Plaza…That’s out past the apple orchards on the west side of the village…It’s close by. And I figure it might, um, make sense to…y’know…visit them all in order…”

“Cool! Lead on then, Kieran!” Juliana says, and he can just barely see her sunny smile in his peripheral vision.

“O-oh…um...I-I think I’ll just meet you there...” he says.

Juliana tilts her head at him quizzically, “Are you sure? I thought the whole point was going there together?”

“A-ah…” Kieran says eloquently, Juliana’s just too cute for words, “W-we will! It’s just…I forgot something at my house and I’m going to go get it real quick!”

“I can wait for you. It’s no problem.” she says, smiling gently at him.

“No, I don’t wanna hold you up! I-I’ll just meet you there, ok?” Kieran says and he bolts back towards his house before she can come up with any more objections. This whole school trip thing is looking to interesting, exciting, overwhelming than Kieran could have hoped for.

Chapter Text

When Kieran gets back to his house, he’s met with Grandma Hideko who says, “Oh! You’re back already? I thought this was a whole day event.”

Kieran shakes his head, “I won’t be staying long, grandma. I just forgot something in my room is all…”

“Did fill your bag with too many sweets again? I know you have a sweet tooth, but it can be dangerous out there without your Pokémon.” Grandma Hideko says, giving Kieran a stern look.

Kieran feels his face flush hot. Urgh, that was one time! And he wasn’t even in danger! Big Sis Carmine was around the whole time! “N-no! I just didn’t think I would be battling so soon…!”

Before Grandma Hideko can scold him any further, Kieran dashes to his room and shuts the door with a bang. He unclips his fanny pack from his waist and goes over to the side table where he keeps the rest of his Pokémon friends. There are so many to choose from: Poliwrath, Shiftry, Gliscor, Probopass, and of course Dipplin. He should probably bring them all for whatever challenges await during the school festival (more battles with Juliana, hopefully). But Kieran still kinda wants to keep Furret with him so maybe he should just bring one or two more with him today. Wouldn’t want to reveal his whole team right away after all.

On the other hand, his snack bag is looking pretty low. And Juliana might get hungry as they’re exploring today. What kinda pseudo tour guide would he be if he couldn’t offer her snacks? Kieran opens a drawer on the side table that contains his snack stash. There are so many choices; rage candy bars, lava cookies, pocky...Ooh, he just can't decide! So he doesn't and just starts filling his bag.

Ah. It looks like there’s room enough for only one more Pokéball now…Well, three Pokémon should be good for now…right…? Kieran shuts the snack drawer, picks Poliwrath as his third partner, and quickly leaves the room before he can overfill his bag with sweet snacks. Maybe Grandma Hideko is right about his sweet tooth…

On his way out, Grandma Hideko stops him before he can catch up with Juliana. She presents him with a bento box neatly wrapped in his favorite furoshiki cloth. With a gentle smile, Grandma Hideko says, “I made some apple curry for lunch today. Since you came back, I made some into sandwiches for you to take with you! I hear sandwiches are quite popular in Paldea. I also packed a thermos of mugicha in there in case you get hot.”

“Thanks, Grandma!” Kieran beams, he’s sure Juliana will love it! Apples are one of Kitakami’s specialties and Grandma Hideko makes the best apple curry! He gives Grandma Hideko one last wave as he hurries out the door.

Kieran races up Apple Hill, but he doesn’t catch up to Juliana until he gets to the Loyalty Plaza. She’s standing at the signboard, looking a little lost. Her head is tilted to one side in a cute manner, as is she’s wondering if this is what they were supposed to be looking for.

“That’s the first signboard…” he says, causing Juliana to jump. She looks over at him, eyes narrowed slightly. Oh no…has he made her mad? “S-sorry, did I startle ya? I-I did mention that I’d meet you here…”

Juliana nods, but she still looks annoyed that Kieran snuck up on her. Kieran kinda wishes there were a cave her could hide in, but he keeps talking though his nerves, “We’re s’posed to read the signboard, right? I already know the whole story…so g-go ahead. You should check it out.” Juliana goes back to looking at the sign, reading the words aloud.

Long, long ago, there was a fearsome ogre in the land of Kitakami. The ogre made its home in the mountain behind the village, frightening all who ventured there. One day, the ogre came down from the mountain in a terrible rage, causing great fear in the village. By some stroke of luck, Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti all happened to be there as well. The three Pokémon laid down their lives to fend off the ogre and send it back to the mountain. In admiration, the people of the village bestowed upon this brave trio the title “the Loyal Three.” Their remains were given a proper burial, and statues of the three were erected above the site.

Juliana finishes reading the signboard and looks back over at Kieran. Kieran gestures towards the shrine that’s just a few steps away from the signboard and says, “The Loyal Three Monument is right over there…” It’s a small, but well cared for monument, someone is always putting fresh flowers to commemorate the sacrifice of the Loyal Three. Kieran doesn’t really think the Loyal Three are that interesting. The Ogre on the other hand…

Kieran’s always wanted to change people’s minds about the ogre, maybe he’ll start small and gauge what Juliana thinks first. “Don’t you think the ogre in that folktale sounds kinda…cool?”

“It sure does!” Juliana says with a nod. Kieran’s eyes widen and his heart does a little somersault in his chest. She understands! This is maybe the first time anyone has agreed with him about the ogre…!

“Right?! I knew you’d get it, Juliana!” Kieran says, beaming, “It was up against three whole opponents at once, battling it out all by itself—Wowzers, that’s so cool!” He’s rambling again, isn’t he…even though Juliana seems to be on the same page as him about the ogre, maybe now isn’t quite the time…

“Oh…but I guess most people would just think an ogre like that is scary, huh? I don’t think there’s any reason to be afraid…When I was little, I went up into the mountain so many times a night—all on my own—an’ I never once met that ogre. Only scary thing that happened was the grown-ups givin’ me a real earful about it…”

“Yeah, I know that feeling.” Juliana says giving him a little smile, “My friends and I went somewhere that’s more than a little off limits recently. Our teachers were less than enthused even though we came back basically unharmed…”

Huh. So, there are places like that in Paldea, too. “Umm…so yeah,” Kieran says a little awkwardly, “we’re s’posed to take a photo in front of the signboard, right? I don’t have a smartphone…Could you…?”

“Oh! Right” Juliana says. She moves to one side of the signboard and motions for Kieran to stand next to her. He does. But then his shoulder brushes against hers and his heart starts hammering away in his chest. Face hot, Kieran shuffles to a safer distance away at the other side of the signboard. Juliana motions for him to come closer again, but he shakes his head meekly. Oh. He’s definitely not ready to be that close to her…

Juliana shrugs, sends out her Rotom Phone, and strikes a victory pose. Kieran copies Juliana, albeit a little poorly, and the Rotom Phone snaps the picture. Juliana moves to him again to show him, and…Wowzers, she’s so close…

Barely even noticing the photo, Kieran says, “That turned out great. You’re even good at taking photos…”

“Thanks!” Juliana says, giving him another sunny smile. Kieran thinks he never wants her to stop smiling at him. She’s so pretty…

“S-sorry…” he says, tugging at his hair, he can’t quite meet her eyes anymore, “Not trying to butter you up or anythin’…Y’know…this whole school trip thing is a lotta fun…I get to be out in nature around my hometown…and talk to you, Juliana…” he pulls out the furoshiki Grandma Hideko had given him earlier, “H-hey, if you want, maybe we could set up a picnic. Would you like a sandwich—?”

There’s a sudden flash of light from Juliana’s belt and out pops a violet-colored creature. It sniffs at the furoshiki and gives an excited sound. Kieran flinches away, nearly dropping their lunch, squealing an undignified, “Gyah! Wh-what is that thing?! Some kinda…Kaiju or somethin’?!”

Juliana laughs, “A ‘Kaiju’? No, this is Miraidon, Mirai for short! In Paldea, there’s a Pokémon called Cyclizar that likes to let people ride on it. Mirai is a little like Cyclizar’s distant cousin and lets me ride all around on it. Mirai doesn’t have very good manners, though, and always comes out its Pokéball at even the slightest mention of sandwiches.”

“Wowzers!” says, inching a little closer to Miraidon, “I’ve never seen a Pokémon like this…it seriously comes out whenever it hears the word ‘sandwich’?”

As if to confirm that statement, Miraidon lets out another excited sound. Juliana rolls her eyes and says, “See, no manners with this one. Mirai. No. This sandwich is for us. You can have the one I asked Arven to make.” She then pulls out a wrapped sandwich from somewhere in her bag, carefully unwraps it, and tosses it to Miraidon who snarfs it up eagerly. Juliana then grabs Kieran’s hand and leads him over to one of the nearby benches so they can eat their lunch.

Before Kieran can really process that Juliana had been holding his hand, she lets go and says excitedly, “So, what kind of sandwich did you bring?”

“Ah.” Kieran says eloquently. He quickly unwraps the furoshiki trying not to think about the way his hand felt in hers. “My grandma made us some apple curry sandwiches!”

“Wow! That sounds delicious!” Juliana says, eyes wide at the prospect of a new kind of sandwich. Kieran hands her one of the sandwich halves and she takes a big bite. After a few chews, she lets out a sound of deep appreciation and gives Kieran a thumbs up.

As they finish their lunch, Kieran can’t help thinking to himself how lucky Juliana is. She has such a cool Pokémon as her friend, and she has human friends who are willing to make her food when she asks. She’s talented at battling and seems to be able to go wherever she wants! She’s so amazing…! He feels even more starry-eyed than he did yesterday.

“Wowzers!” He says dreamily, “Never thought I’d actually get to meet such an awesome Pokémon. No wonder you’re so strong, Juliana…You’re…you’re special.” Oh. Should he have said that aloud? Pivoting back to the topic of the school trip, Kieran says, “Errr, we should go find the next signboard! It’s on the grounds of Kitakami Hall. Um, Kitakami Hall is…Well, first double back to town from here, then there’s this bridge you cross, and from there, you’ll need to climb up the mountainside. I’ll hang back for now an’ meet you there later!”

“I don’t think so.” Juliana says shaking her head, giving Kieran a small frown, “Those directions sound a lot more complex than before. And we really should be doing this together. You going to walk with me this time.”

“O-oh…O-ok…” Kieran says, he’s blushing again. She wants to walk with him, the thought tingles down his whole body. She probably just doesn't want to get lost along the way. But still...Juliana recalls Miraidon to its Pokéball, stands up, grabs Kiran’s hand again, and leads them back down the path towards Mossui Town.

As they’re walking back through Apple Hills, Kieran is a little sad that the school trip isn’t taking place in the springtime. He wishes Juliana could see how beautiful the hills are with all the apple trees in bloom. Juliana would have looked so lovely among the blossoms…there his stupid brain goes again…

They pass through Mossui Town and up Revelers’ Road. It’s quite the climb and Kieran’s feeling a little winded as they reach the top of the hill, he isn’t used to coming up here after a semester at Blueberry Academy. Juliana doesn’t seem fazed at all…Kieran recalls that Uva Academy has a long, steep set of stairs leading up to its entrance from the city below. Maybe that’s why the hill of Revelers’ Road and the stair leading up to Kitakami Hall don’t seem to bother her.

When they finally make it to Kitakami Hall, Kieran points out the second signboard to her, “That’s the second signboard. Bit tricky to find, huh?” They go up to the signboard and Juliana reads aloud again:

The ogre possessed four mysterious, glimmering masks. It is said that depending on the mask the ogre donned, the powers of its cudgel would change. When wearing its teal mask, it could bring life back into withered greenery around it. When wearing the crimson mask, it could turn a candle’s flame into a raging inferno. When wearing the blue mask, it could stop the very flow of a river. When wearing the ashen gray mask, it could easily break the hardest stone in two. Before the Loyal Three fell, they wrested away three of the ogre’s masks, greatly weakening it.

Kieran remembers thinking how amazing the ogre was for being able to harness so many kinds of power with its masks. Once Juliana finishes reading, he says, “The masks the Loyal Three stole are kept over at Kitakami Hall. Everyone in town is scared of the ogre…but me? I really like it. It was strong…and cool…and it didn’t even care when everyone shunned it…I’ve always wanted to be like that, ever since I was a kid. I want to be as cool as the ogre. My Sis sorta ends up doin’ everything for me…even when we’re at school…I…wanna try to get stronger. So, I can do things for myself, you know? I’m gonna become someone people can rely on. Then, just maybe…I could be that ogre’s friend.”

He’s probably said too much again. He’s just met her and he’s already spilling his life story to Juliana. But there’s just something about her, her kind face, her gentle smile, her strength that makes him want to talk. She’s looking at him, but not with concern like most everyone else in Mossui town when he tries to defend the ogre. She’s listening to him, but not with an air of pretend patience that so many others seem to. Maybe she even agrees with him that the ogre shouldn’t be so reviled…!

Ah, he’s almost forgotten what they came here for again, “Oh! Um…right. Picture. We’re s’posed to take a picture! You can take the next one, too, if you don’t mind, Juliana…”

Juliana pulls out her Rotom Phone, and this time he stays at the safe distance on the opposite end of the signboard as her. He even copies her pose with a little more confidence, though he can’t quite manage the big gesture she makes with her arms.

“Phew. I knew it was the right call to let you handle it, Juliana. Now, on to the next signboard…” he says, they’re really zipping through these signboards. At this rate it’s going to be over too soon…

Kieran gets an idea, since it’s nearby-ish, they could go visit the cave that the Ogre is said to live in. “You know the mountain the stories say the ogre lives on? It’s actually Oni Mountain. You can climb it from the stairs over there. If you wanted, we could…go see the ogre’s home? Folks call it the Dreaded Den.” He says, his voice growing small. He’s not used to people being as interested in the ogre as he is…

Juliana nods enthusiastically, “I wanna see it!” She says with a grin.

“Y-yes!” He feels a sense of relief wash over him, “I really…wanted you to see it for yourself, Juliana! So…if we keep climbing up, we’ll reach the Infernal Pass. There’s a sign before that…if we turn at the sign, we can get to the Dreaded Den. The path is a little treacherous, but I’ll be there to guide you every step of the way!”

Juliana grins at him again, and he leads the way up the stairs and into Oni Mountain. Kieran’s heart flutters in his chest, Juliana is so amazing! He’s not sure how many people would be so eager to go into a place called the Dreaded Den, but Juliana sure is. He’s glad she chose to be his partner for the school trip.

They traverse Oni Mountain up to the Dreaded Den. When they get to the narrow natural bridge that connects to the ogre’s cave, Juliana gives him a dubious look. Pushing down his nerves, Kieran gently takes her hand and leads her across the bridge. He’d been pretty nervous too the first time he’d come up here as a kid, but he knows from experience that the path is stable.

Once they’re across, he lets go of her hand and points to the small cave ahead of them, “There it is…the Dreaded Den. This is s’posed to be the ogre’s home…At least, that’s what everyone says. I come here all the time, but I’ve never seen it…Maybe a powerful ogre like that would only show up if it heard some kinda battle goin’ on…” Is this just another excuse to battle Juliana again? Maybe. But he really does think a strong Pokémon like the ogre would want to come investigate if there was a battle going on, “So, y’know…if you wanted to…we could battle?”

She’s smiling at him again and there’s a twinkle in her eye, “Let’s do it!” She says.

“All right!” He pumps his fist in the air, “I’ll give it all I got! This time…I’ll put up a good fight!”

For his first Pokémon, Kieran sends out Furret again. It comes out of its Pokéball looking just as eager as Kieran to be fighting Juliana’s Pokémon again. Juliana studies her options for a moment before saying, “Onibi, go!” and out comes Ceruledge. Good, she’s not going easy on him. But Kieran has a trick up his sleeve.

“Furret, use dig!” He calls out and it burrows itself underground before Juliana can call out her move.

Juliana smiles at him, a predatory, toothy thing, and she calls out “Solar blade, Onibi.” Ceruledge glows as it starts to gather light to it. Well, it looks like she has some tricks up her sleeve too.

Furret finds its target and comes charging up at Ceruledge. Ceruledge staggers back but does not fall. The light it had been gathering turns into a shining sword that the Pokémon swings towards Furret. As the light fades, Kieran sees that Furret has collapsed into a heap. Wow. With only one move, too. Juliana really is amazing. But Ceruledge is looking pretty tired, it certainly won’t last much longer.

“Alright Poliwrath, it’s your turn!” Kieran says, throwing his next Pokéball. As Poliwrath comes out, it strikes a pose showing off its big arm muscles.

“Another good choice.” Juliana says with a sharp nod, “We’ll see how long Onibi can last.” Kieran wonders if Juliana’s going to try the same attack, she had with Furret. If she does, he doesn’t Ceruledge will last the time it takes for solar blade to charge.

“It’s ok, Onibi, I know you’re tired. Use shadow claw!” Ceruledge rushes forward, its blade arm emitting a shadowy aura, it slashes Poliwrath before racing back to Juliana’s side.

That attack looks like it hurt, but Poliwrath is still standing. “Liquidation, Poliwrath!” Kieran says. Poliwrath slams into Ceruledge with all its might and Ceruledge collapses. He did it! He beat one of Juliana’s Pokémon!

Juliana’s smiling at him again. She studies her Pokémon for a moment before calling out, “Dango, it’s your turn!” She throws her ball and out comes Clodsire, a placid smile on its face.

…But isn’t Clodsire a ground type? Kieran wonders if this is a similar trap to Juliana’s first battle with Carmine yesterday. Either way, Poliwrath is certainly faster, so he says, “Poliwrath, use liquidation again!”

Poliwrath uses the same move, slamming into Clodsire. But nothing seems to happen; if anything, Clodsire just seems even happier now that it’s wet. Juliana’s giving him that look again, the look that sends shivers down his spine. “Good try, Kieran, but my little Dango loves water. Now, use earthquake!” Clodsire slams its tail into the ground and the earth beneath Poliwrath begins to shake violently, leaving Poliwrath in a collapsed heap.

And just like that, he’s down to his last Pokémon again. Maybe he shouldn’t have put so many snacks in his pack so he could have brought a bigger team with him…well, no use dwelling on that now, “Go Yanmega! You can do it!” he calls out. At least she can’t use earthquake again.

“Yanmega, use air slash!” he says, and Yanmega sends a blade of air careening into Clodsire.

“Dango, use poison jab!” the spines on Clodsire’s back stick up, leaking a sickly purple color, as it launches itself at Yanmega. It lands hard on the ground and waddles back over to Juliana. Yanmega is still hanging in there, but it looks like that last attack left it poisoned…

Before Kieran can call his next attack, Yanmega shivers and collapses to the ground from its poisoning. And that’s it. He’s lost again, but he did better this time! “I knew it…” He says “You really are strong, Juliana. If the ogre saw that battle, I’m sure it’d be thinking, ‘That kid’s got real strength…’”

Juliana says, a serious look in her eye, “I think the ogre would think the same thing about you! That was a fun battle, you did really well! My poor Onibi…hopefully it doesn’t hold a grudge.” She winks at him.

Kieran looks away, his face hot again. Out of the corner of his eye he thinks he sees something green slipping quickly behind a rock. Probably just a leaf falling off a tree or something. “L-let’s go have a look at the ogre’s den.” Maybe going into the ogre’s home will take his mind off the funny things Juliana’s doing to his heart.

“Watch your head.” Kieran says as they duck into the cave that’s supposedly the ogre’s home. It’s a lot smaller than he remembers it being when he was little, “See how dark it is in here? And cramped…Even the floor’s all rough and uneven. Living all alone in a place like this would get pretty miserable, don’t you think? Poor ogre…We have plenty of room at our house. I would’ve totally let it stay with us…”

Juliana pats him on the shoulder and in the gloom of the cave, he can just barely make out her soft smile, “You’re a sweet kid, Kieran.” She says.

“N-no, I’m not!” He sputters, he’s glad the ogre’s den is so dark so she can’t see how red his face is, “I’ve just…always liked the stories about the ogre, that’s all…B-but…if the ogre really did show up to stay at our place, I’m sure the whole town would freak.” The conversation lapses into silence as they look around the cave for any signs of the ogre. Seeing nothing, they leave the cave and are greeted by a sky dyed in brilliant hues of orange and purple.

“Whoa, no way…The sun’s already gone down? I guess we’ll have to save the last signboard for tomorrow…” He says he hadn’t realized they’d spent the whole day together. Time really does fly if you’re having fun. Juliana nods and belatedly covers her mouth to hide the yawn that comes. Right. She’s only arrived yesterday; jetlag must still be hitting her hard…

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Kieran says as they’re crossing back over the rock bridge, “Today’s the first day of the Festival of Masks over at Kitakami Hall. It’s a big event where everyone puts on masks and runs around celebratin’…I mean, it’s not like you’ve gotta go or anything, but if you wanted to…y’know…check it out…well, it’d be fun.” Maybe she’s too tired after trekking all around today, but the festival will still be on tomorrow if she isn’t up for it.

She looks at him quizzically for a moment, and he thinks he’s imagining the light dusting of pink on her cheeks. “That does sound fun.” Juliana says a moment later, eyes sparkling at the prospect, “Let’s go together!” Seems like jetlag isn’t affecting her too badly after all.

“Y-yeah! Why not! It’d be great to go together…” Kieran trails off. Wait…had he just…asked Juliana on a…date? And she said yes? Kieran feels himself blush from head to toe. He’s not sure she realizes the weight of what they’d both just said. He’s not entirely sure he does, either. All he knows is his heart is thundering in his chest and there’s a panic rising in his throat that he’s trying his best to will away. It’s not working. He really, really wants to flee, to hide in his room, anything to make this embarrassment go away.

“T-there’s just a few things we’d have to get ready first, so we should swing by my house before heading to the festival.” Kieran says, and if he’s walking a little too quickly back to his grandparents’ house, he hopes Juliana doesn’t notice.

Chapter Text

By the time Kieran and Juliana return to his grandparents’ house, Kieran’s finally managed to calm himself down just a little. No, he’s not taking Juliana out on a festival date. Certainly not. Big Sis Carmine is going to be there, too. It can’t be a date if your big sister is tagging along. That other guy, Arven, is probably going to be at the festival too. So, really, definitely, absolutely not a date. The Butterfrees flapping away in his stomach can calm down now because this trip to the Festival of Masks is just a friendly inter-school group outing. Nothing more.

(Kieran ignores the way his traitor heart beats wildly at the thought that if Carmine and Arven weren’t at the festival tonight, it could be a date.)

“Grandpa, I’m home!” Kieran calls out, waving to Grandpa Yukito sitting on the little bench by the front door.

“Welcome home, Kieran.” Yukito says. Upon noticing Kieran’s brought someone home with him, he stands and nods towards Juliana, “And who’s this with you?”

“Oh, um…This is Juliana…She’s part of the same school trip with me and Sis.”

“Oho!” Yukito says with a wry smile, “So, this is a new friend of yours, eh, Kieran?”

“I sure am!” Juliana says, nodding enthusiastically.

“What?! R-really?! We’re friends?” He looks at Juliana, eyes wide, mouth agape. She gives him another nod accompanied by that warm smile of hers and the nervous fluttering he thought he’d managed to wrangle into submission returns in full force. She thinks they’re friends…Wowzers… “F-friends…” he whispers the word reverently, “I feel all tingly and funny hearing that…ehehe…” he chuckles to himself. Besides Carmine, Juliana is his first friend.

The smile on Grandpa Yukito’s curves into something wider and he says, “Thank you for befriending our Kieran here, Juliana.”

“Oh? Kieran’s made a friend?” says Grandma Hideko coming from around the side of the house.

“Y…yeah! This is Juliana.” Kieran says, “Juliana, this is my grandma. She made the sandwiches we had for lunch today.”

“That apple curry was so delicious! Thank you so much!” Juliana says a fond look in her eye at the memory of lunch.

“Well, fancy that!” Hideko says with a light laugh, “A friend of Kieran’s! We’re delighted to have you, Juliana."

They all chat for a few more minutes before Grandpa Yukito suddenly says, looking off at the orange dyed clouds in the sky, “Oh, my, is it really already sundown?”

“Goodness me, I’d nearly forgotten. The Festival of Masks starts tonight, doesn’t it?” Hideko says. She looks over at Kieran and Juliana, a twinkle in her eye, “Come now, Kieran. You too, Juliana. I’ll get out some jinbei for you both so you can go to the festival all gussied up.”

“Hear that? We get to dress up in jinbei! Yay!” He’d nearly forgotten why they came back to the house in the first place. Can’t go to a festival without a jinbei! That’s practically illegal!

Juliana looks at him quizzically, like she’s about to ask what a jinbei even is. Before she can get the words out, Grandma Hideko says, “Now, we have to do up your hair, too!” and she whisks Juliana away inside to get dressed up for the festival.

Kieran dashes to his room to get changed himself. He puts his snacks back into the snack drawer for tomorrow’s trek to signboard number three. He keeps his Pokémon in his bag, though, never know what emergency might pop up. He then pulls on his white jinbei and heads back out to wait for Grandma Hideko and Juliana.

The door opens a few minutes later and Hideko leads Juliana out of the house, “There we are. All done!” Kieran does a double take when Juliana steps out. Her usual side braid has been swept up into the Kitakami ponytail style. She’s also wearing a green jinbei that Kieran’s worn in the past.

“Whoa…” Kieran’s heart stutters in his chest, and something hot curls in his stomach at the thought of Juliana wearing his clothes. It’s a stupid thought, that jinbei is probably one of Carmine’s hand-me-downs…so why does his face feel like it’s about to burst into flames…?

Seemingly oblivious to Kieran’s inner turmoil, Grandma Hideko says, beaming triumphantly, “It suits you mighty fine. Just as I thought it would!”

“Hoho!” Grandpa Yukito chortles in agreement, “Goodness, it’s like I’ve gained another granddaughter!”

As the three of them gush over Juliana’s festival outfit (Juliana who looks a little awkward and shy at all the sudden praise), the door to the house opens again and out comes Carmine, “Hey, Gran, d’you know where my—?” Her eyes land on Juliana, her hands coming up to her mouth in annoyed shock, “Gah! What’re you doing here?”

Carmine looks like she wants to say more, but Kieran shakes himself out of his thoughts and says, “I invited her over! Juliana said…she’d go to the Festival of Masks with me…”

“Oh, really?” Carmine says eyebrow cocked, “Is that so…” her initial shock morphs into a smug smile.

Kieran feels himself flush, “What’s it matter anyway!” He says too loudly, reminding himself again that he and Juliana are not about to go on a festival date for the umpteenth time. Maybe he should try and change the subject, “What’re you doin’ back here?!”

“Oh, right.” Carmine says, turning back to Grandma Hideko, “Gran, I couldn’t find my mask for the festival.

“Oh, the masks?” Hideko says, one of her hands coming up to her chin as she ponders for a moment, “They should be in the shed. I put them there after last year’s festival.”

Grandpa Yukito nods in agreement, “It shouldn’t be locked, so you three can go have a rummage and see what you find.”

“All right! To the shed! First one there wins!” And then Carmine dashes off without even a countdown.

“Wait—Sis!” Kieran gives Juliana an apologetic look, “You’re such a cheater!” he yells and runs after her.

When he catches up, Carmine is looking furtively back towards Juliana who’s chatting with their grandparents. Once Kieran is next to her, Carmine says, “Good. That outsider won’t hear us from this far away.”

Kieran gives his sister a quizzical look, and her next words catch him off guard, “You’re big sis is so proud of you, Kiki…! Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way of your date, I’ll just be around in the background in case you need any advice.”

Kieran flushes hot, “Wha—It’s...that’s not—”

Carmine gives him a little pat on the shoulder, “It seems like it was only yesterday that you were hiding behind me too scared to even look at Juliana. And now my baby bro is goin’ on his first date…!” she says wistfully.

That’s because that was yesterday Kieran wants to say! And he hadn’t been too scared to look at Juliana, he couldn’t seem to look at anything but her! Kieran feels his face burn even hotter and he shrugs Carmine’s hand off roughly, “S-shut it, sis! J-just look for the masks already…!”

Carmine chuckles as she goes into the shed. Right away she tosses Kieran his ogre mask and a Fezandipiti mask. She goes farther in rummaging through the various boxes muttering to herself. Juliana finally catches up to them, a look on her face that seems to ask how the search is going right as Carmine growls, “Rrrghhh! But there’s gotta be another one!”

“Sis, Juliana’s here.” Kieran calls out.

“Tch!” Carmine clicks her tongue as she emerges from the storage shed. She’s put back on her mask of irritated annoyance as she says, “Just rolling up like you own the place, huh?” Why can’t she ever just be straightforward? Kieran sighs internally, “Well, it looks like there’re only two masks in the shed. Too bad, right? There’s nothing I can do ‘bout it! Guess you’ll just have to do without a mask, eh? First come, first served, and all that!”

Juliana shrugs, “That’s fine…it’s not a big deal.” She says, but there’s a slight slump to her posture, a small down turning of her lips indicating that she had been hoping for a mask.

Both Kieran and Carmine wince at Juliana’s change in mood, “C’mon now, don’t look so glum!” Carmine says, “How about instead of a mask, I give you a battle in style? Festival style! Come on! Get in position!”

Carmine starts to move a suitable distance away, boasting about how she’s definitely going to win this time on account of how amazing she looks in her jinbei. Kieran, on the other hand, just kinda wants to get to the festival already. As much as he enjoys watching Juliana battle, he wants to show Juliana all the fun things the festival has to offer more. He approaches Juliana and says nervously, “H-here, Juliana, you can just wear my mask.”

Carmine pauses mid-walk, turning to glare at him, “What?! No!” she yells, a scandalized look on her face, “I already said it’s first come, first served! And besides, that’s your ogre mask! You’ve always loved that mask best!”

“Yeah, but—” it’s my mask to give away Kieran starts to say.

“No buts about it!” Carmine snaps, “Juliana can just get her own mask at the festival. She’s fine! Ugh, now I don’t even feel like battling anymore! Let’s just go already!” She then walks off in a huff, leaving Kieran and Juliana standing awkwardly in her dust.

“Oof…Sorry, Juliana…” Kieran says, tugging at his hair, “I know my sis seems kinda harsh, b-but she’s really not all that bad…Actually, she was tearin’ the shed apart, tryin’ to find a third mask for you before you got there…O-oh, but, uh, don’t tell her I told you that, Juliana! The Festival of Masks is held up at Kitakami Hall. W-we should probably get going…”

Juliana nods and the two of them head after Carmine. As they’re passing by the community center, they see Arven standing near the entrance. “Hey,” Juliana says with a wave, “Kieran and I are heading up to the Festival of Masks. Wanna come?”

It’s stupid, but Kieran is just a tiny little bit disappointed that Juliana is inviting him. Arven barely suppresses a yawn, “Sorry Little Bud, I’m wiped. I think I’ll try and catch it tomorrow. I don’t know where you get all your energy from…”

Juliana giggles (Kieran files that away as something he’d like to see Juliana do more of), “I can’t help it! Kitakami is so exciting! I’ll tell you all about it when I get back tonight!” Arven smiles fondly at Juliana before yawning widely. He waves at the two of them before heading into the community center. Once the door closes, the two continue on their way.

Kieran and Juliana finally catch up to Carmine at Peachy’s. Carmine’s waiting for them, hands on her hips. She huffs when they’re finally within earshot, “Took you two long enough.”

“Well, if you had just waited for us, we could have all gone together!” Kieran says, rolling his eyes. Carmine huffs again and starts the walk up Revelers’ Road towards Kitakami Hall. Kieran gives Juliana an apologetic look and they follow her.

The three walk in silence for a little while before Juliana says, “It’s interesting that there’s a festival celebrating the ogre when it seems to be the villain of its tale.”

“Huh?” Carmine says, giving Juliana a strange look, “What do you mean?”

“From the signboards, it seems like ogre is the one that wears masks.” Juliana says, head tilted slightly, “is that not what the festival is about?”

Carmine shakes her head, “Actually, the Festival of Masks is held so we can honor the Loyal Three, the brave heroes of Kitakami! The Loyal Three are the Pokémon that once protected this land from the evil ogre, you know. Most of the kids in town wear masks of the Loyal Three, like me. Did I mention they’re our heroes?”

“Hehehe…” Kieran can’t help but chuckle at his sister’s explanation. Typical Carmine, always focused on the Loyal Three.

“What?” Carmine says, turning her gaze on her brother, “What’re you laughin’ at?”

“N-nothin’! I was just thinkin’ it was funny that, like…you don’t know anything about the ogre…” Kieran says.

“Excuse me?!” Carmine says, scandalized, “I know the legends of Kitakami better than anybody! Pretty gutsy of you to laugh at your big sis!”

“S-sorry…” Kieran mumbles

Carmine turns back to Juliana, “Kiki’s still a little baby,” She says clicking her tongue, “so of course he thinks some kind of terrible monster’s cool. He likes the ogre more than the Loyal Three.”

“I mean,” Juliana says, an amused glint in her eyes, “you have to admit, the ogre does sound pretty cool. I don’t think I could take on three opponents at once like it did.”

Carmine sighs dramatically, “Oh, Kiki’s gotten to you then, huh? You two have no taste! The Loyal Three are so much better than some silly ogre!”

As they continue their walk up Revelers’ Road, Kieran ruminates on what Juliana said earlier. He’d never thought about why it was called the Festival of Masks before. It does seem a little odd that it honors the Loyal Three when the ogre’s the only one to wear a mask. Interesting. Maybe he’ll ask Grandpa Yukito about that tomorrow.

They finally make it up to Kitakami Hall. Various food smells waft through the air from the various stalls. Paper lanterns line the spaces between the stalls lighting the area in a soft orange glow. “This is the Festival of Masks! Today’s just the first day, it’ll keep going for a while. There will also be a parade and on the last day there’ll be a fireworks display!” Kieran says with a fond smile.

“I bet you don’t have any festivals this big over in Paldea or wherever, right?” Carmine winks

Juliana can’t seem to answer, her eyes wide mouth slightly agape. Carmine laughs at her expression, “Guess it’s so incredible you’re at a loss for words, huh?”

“Yeah!” Juliana says, “This is really cool! I haven’t had time during the school year, so this is my first festival in a while!”

“Well, then I think I’ll leave you and Kiki to explore to your hearts’ content! I’ll be over at the other end playing some Ogre Oustin’!” Carmine says. She gives Kieran a cheeky wink before making her way through the crowds.

And that leaves just him and Juliana alone together…ah. There are those nerves again…it’s not a date. It’s not a date. It’s not a date Kieran chants to himself. This is just two friends hanging out at the Festival of Masks together. Nothing more…

“Oh, l-look! They’ve got candy apples at that stall over there! L-let’s go check it out!” Kieran says pointing to one of the stalls. He hopes Juliana doesn’t notice how nervous he sounds…

He leads the way to the stall without looking back. “I love candy apples.” He says, “You don’t get to eat ‘em every day, y’know. Grandma always just makes us mochi as a snack…There’s even a Pokémon in Kitakami that looks like a little ol’ candy apple—didja know that?” He knows he’s rambling, but if he stops talking, he thinks he’s going to overfocus on the fact that it’s just the two of them. That even though he’s just met Juliana yesterday, he thinks he wants to be more than just friends with her. The thought kinda scares him, he’s never felt this way before. Yeah, he does want to be friends with her. But the way she makes his heart flutter…

Oh good, they’ve finally made it doe the candy apple stall… “E-excuse me…Two candy apples, please…” Kieran says, trying to shake loose the stray thoughts swirling in his head.

“You got it! Two candy apples, comin’ right up!” the stall-keeper says with a large smile. A moment later, they hand Kieran two glossy candy apples and Kieran passes them the money in return.

“Uh, here, Juliana…” He says, handing her one of the apples.

“Thanks!” She says. As she takes hers, their fingers brush lightly sending tiny sparks up Kieran’s arm. It takes all his willpower not to flinch away from her.

“G-grandma gave me some pocket money, so it’s no big deal.” He says breaking eye contact.

“You ok?” she says, he can see the concern on her face in his peripheral vision, “Your face is a little red. Wanna find somewhere to sit?”

Kieran’s face grows hotter, “Hey, let’s check that out over there!” he says, changing the subject. He then starts walking to one of the stalls on the other side of the street. He’s not sure where he’s taking her, but it turns out to be one of the stalls selling masks for the folks who didn’t bring their own.

“Oh, hey,” Juliana says, coming up behind him, “they have Meowscarada mask! Thanks for pointing it out, Kieran!”

Kieran’s mumbled red-faced ‘you’re welcome’ goes unheard as the stall-keeper says cheerily, “Indeed we do, miss! The caretaker told us some kids from Paldea might be coming to the festival, so we had some specially made!”

“Cool, I’d like one please!” As Juliana buys her mask, Kieran hopes it’s enough of a distraction for Juliana not to realize how awkward he’s being.

“Is there anything else you wanna do tonight?” He asks once she’s done.

“Carmine was saying something about ousting ogres? What’s that?”

“Oh? Ogre Oustin’? It’s one of the games here at the festival. It’s not really my thing, but they have some pretty cool prizes. We could head that way if you want.”

Juliana nods, “I love me some prizes!” She says. They head over to the far end of Kitakami Hall where the Ogre Oustin’ entrance is.

“Step right up for a game of Ogre Oustin’!” the greeter calls as Kieran and Juliana approach. “So y’all want to have a go?”

“Yeah!” Juliana says with a nod.

As she’s getting out her money to pay for a ticket, the greeter says, “Hey, you’re one of those kids that came all the way from Paldea, right? I can’t very well take money from a guest! Have a go, on the house!”

“Are you sure?” Juliana says, head tilted slightly.

“Yeah,” the greeter says, with a wink “the caretaker would have some choice words for me if I didn’t get you excited to come back next year. Tickets are on us this time!”

“Alright then!” Juliana says with a laugh, “I’ll have to give it a go then!”

“Good luck, Juliana? I’ll be cheerin’ you on from the sidelines!” Kieran says.

“You’re up for a run of Ogre Oustin’, huh?” Says Carmine who’s come from seemingly nowhere, “I did one just now. It was pretty easy—for me. I have the highest score of the night! I doubt you’ll be able to beat me!”

Juliana rolls her eyes, “We’ll see about that!” She says, bringing Miraidon out of its Pokéball.

“Go get ‘er, Juliana!” Kieran cheers, ignoring Carmine’s glare

“That was some fine dashing about!” the greeter says once Juliana’s come back up from her game of Ogre Oustin’ “Lessee now…You scored 5,900 points! That means you get an Exp. Charm! Here you go!”

The greeter hands Juliana her prize. Carmine huffs in pride, “I, Carmine, Mossui’s reigning champion of Ogre Balloon busting…have triumphed!” she says smirking in Juliana’s direction, “I really wanna have another go to deliver a crushing final defeat with a killer score…but I don’t have much pocket money left…Kiki, you go serve Juliana a sound defeat for me!”

“N-no thanks…” Kieran says. Does she have the be such a sore winner?

“What’s that? You’re taking the side of an outsider over your own sister?!” Carmine says, clutching her chest dramatically, “That makes me so annoyed I think I’m gonna black out!”

“Ugh…you’re causin’ such a scene…” Kieran grouses, “You know I don’t like Ogre Oustin’!”

“But what about your pride as a citizen of Mossui Town? Don’t you want to show this outsider what we’re made of?” Carmine says with a wink.

Kieran huffs. Who cares about that nonsense? He turns to Juliana to apologize for all this silliness, but she isn’t there. Kieran does a quick scan of the area, but he can’t see her anywhere…

“If you’re looking for your precious Juliana, she went that way.” Carmine says, pointing towards the stairs that lead to Oni Mountain. “Don’t mind me, go have fun on your date, Kiki!”

Kieran groans. He ignores Carmine’s comment and runs off in the direction she pointed. He sees Juliana a moment later. She crouched slightly, talking to someone just out of Kieran’s sight.

“Are you enjoying the festival?” Kieran hears her ask.

“Ponio!” Juliana’s companion says. What a strange response.

“Juliana! You shouldn’t run off on your own.” Kieran says, “This area is kinda treacherous at night…”

Both Juliana and whoever she’s talking to flinch at the sound of his voice. Juliana shoots him a glare, her lips parted in a surprised ‘oh’. Kieran finally gets a look at Juliana’s new companion; they seem to be a small child wearing a green striped kimono. They’re wearing an ogre mask, too. What good taste they have.

“Oh?” Kieran says, getting closer, “who’s your new friend?”

Upon seeing Kieran, the mysterious child seems to panic. They look between Kieran and Juliana before fleeing up the stairs.

“Wait!” Juliana calls, “You shouldn’t go that way on your own!”

She starts chasing after the mysterious child, Kieran following closely behind. At the top of the stairs, the mysterious child freezes. It looks back at the two of them, fear radiating off of them in waves. Suddenly the mysterious child jumps backwards, their mask falling from their face. Kieran can’t quite make it out but, the face behind the mask is not a human’s face. It’s a face Kieran would recognize anywhere though. The mysterious kid is, in fact not a kid at all, but rather the ogre from the folktale. The ogre is real...

Chapter Text

Kieran can't believe it. The ogre is real. The ogre is here! The folktale isn't just a story to scare kids away from Oni Mountain!

"Ogerpon..." Kieran breathes. He probably shouldn't even know the ogre’s name, but he does. One time long ago he'd found a fragile, ancient book in his grandparents' room. He was so young at the time that he couldn't understand much of what was written in it, but one word had imbedded itself into his mind. Ogerpon.

The same Ogerpon who was mere feet away, looking upon him and Juliana right now, panicked fear at being found in its very posture. But there also seems to be a small part of the ogre that's curious about the two humans who found it. Like the ogre's stuck at the top of the stairs, unsure of whether to run or not.

The sound of Ogerpon's mask falling down the stairs rings in Kieran’s ears, all he can do is stare slack-jawed up at the ogre. Juliana picks up the mask, holding it up for Ogerpon to retrieve, a gentle, encouraging smile on her face. It occurs to Kieran that she doesn't know. That she can only pick up that mask so easily because she doesn't share his shocked reverence...

Ogerpon, meanwhile, looks like its curiosity is winning out over its fear. It cautiously takes a step forward, like it's going to come get the mask. Something stops it, though, a sound, a movement, Kieran can't tell. Ogerpon takes a forlorn look at the mask Juliana is holding, shakes its head, and then flees off into the night.

"I hope that Pokémon will be alright..." Juliana says, turning towards Kieran, "Hey, are you ok? You look really pale..."

"I..." Kieran says, his tongue feels thick in his mouth, he's not sure he should reveal his thoughts. There's a part of him that wants to keep Ogerpon's identity a secret. He immediately feels guilty for the thought, Juliana saw the ogre, too, she's holding its mask in her hands. She deserves to know.

Before he can overthink this anymore, he says, the words coming out in a rush, "That was the ogre! From the legends!"

Juliana looks at him, eyes wide. Her eyes dart to the mask in her hands and back up to the mask he's wearing. "I think you're right!" She's beaming at him, "that's so cool!"

Kieran’s shock at meeting Ogerpon morphs into excitement, "I think you were onto something before!" Kieran says, thoughts racing a mile a minute in his head, "the Festival of Masks can't be about the Loyal Three, they don't wear masks! But the ogre does! There has to be more to the folktale! Before we head to the signboard tomorrow, we should—"

Kieran wants to say more, but he's interrupted by a familiar voice, "What are you two doing all the way out here?" Juliana and Kieran jump, turning to see Carmine behind them. Her hands are on her hips, a stern look on her face, "Weren't thinking about going up Oni Mountain this time of night, were you?" Kieran shakes his head 'no'. Carmine's eyes narrow in suspicion, "I...didn't interrupt something naughty...did I?"

Kieran wants to say something, anything to refute Carmine’s insinuation that he was doing anything naughty (especially with Juliana), but his brain feels stuck between gears. Who would do something naughty at a festival, anyways? Where anyone could see? No thank you.

Hmmm...well...there are a lot of big stone lanterns around. No one would notice if Juliana pinned him up against one of them, that fierce look in her eyes, lips curled in a feral smile, braid tickling his neck as she leaned in and...AGH!!! No!!! Not the time! Stupid Carmine putting stupid thoughts into his head...

As Kieran attempts to recalibrate his thoughts, Juliana says, "Nothing naughty here...we were just trying to help someone who seemed lost. It turns out they were actually the ogre—"

"No...!" Kieran shouts, earning strange looks from both Juliana and Carmine. "I-it wasn't actually the ogre...! It was just a...a wild Spiritomb playing a trick on us."

He's met with silence; Juliana's eyebrows pinch together in a look of concern. Carmine raises an eyebrow, suspicious, "A Spiritomb? Do those even come this far south?"

"W-why not? I-I mean, the Bloodmoon Beast in the Timeless Wood is rumored to be an Ursaluna who wandered down from Sinnoh isn't it? W-who's to say a Spiritomb didn't just hitch a ride?" Kieran stutters. Of all the people who shouldn't know about Ogerpon, Carmine’s pretty high on the list. He looks at Juliana, silently pleading with his eyes for her to back him up.

"Right..." Juliana says, and Kieran lets out a mental sigh of relief "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was a Spiritomb. It must have hit me with a confuse ray or something...now that I think about it, it's eyes were unmistakable. It was for sure a Spiritomb."

Carmine's eyes narrow even further in their suspicious squint and he's sure she's going to call them out. "Well, whatever. I just came over here because I wanted to get some Magiyaki and thought I'd invite you two as well. But if you don't want to..."

More like Carmine wants Kieran to pay for her Magiyaki because she wasted all her money on Ogre Oustin'. He doesn't say that, though, "S-sure, we'll meet you over there in just a sec, I'm still a little dizzy from that Spiritomb encounter..."

"Ok..." Carmine says, eyebrow raised, "See you in a few then." And she walks off towards the Magiyaki stand.

Once Carmine’s out of earshot, Juliana says, "What was that about?" She's looking at him askance.

"S-sorry..." Kieran says, biting his lower lip nervously, "It's just that...Sis has always been kinda overprotective...and she really, really doesn't like the ogre. So, if she knew we saw it tonight, she might try and stop us from giving the mask back...I know it sounds silly, but please don't tell her about the ogre..."

Kieran can't look at Juliana, he feels more than a little foolish. What must she think of him? A stupid little boy who has to lie to his sister to keep her from worrying...

He suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder. His eyes snap back up to Juliana's, and she says soothingly, "It's OK, Kieran, I won't say a thing."

"Thanks..." He says, for some reason he can feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. Aw man, he thought he'd kicked that habit...

"Need a hug?" Juliana says with a soft smile.

Kieran shakes his head, face suddenly warm, he quickly wipes at his eyes, "N-no, that's ok. Thanks for the offer, though. If we stay here any longer, Sis really will think we're over doing something naughty..."

"Hmm..." Juliana hums. Um...what does that mean...? Before Kieran can dwell too much on what that hum could have possibly meant, she says, "well, if you change your mind, the offer still stands. Shall we head over to the Magiyaki stand?"

"Y-yeah..." Kieran says, already mourning the loss when Juliana takes her hand off his shoulder. As they’re about to leave, he suddenly remembers, "J-Juliana, would you mind holding onto the ogre’s mask for now? Tomorrow, we can talk to my grandpa to see if he knows anything else about it." Juliana nods and slips the mask into her bag.

"What took you so long, Kiki?" Carmine asks when Kieran and Juliana arrive at the Magiyaki stand. She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, and offers him a sly, yet strangely proud smile.

Kieran feels his face scrunch up in annoyance, "Have you decided on what you want?" he asks instead, ignoring Carmine’s snort of laughter at him changing the subject.

"Of course!" She says haughtily, "One of everything! I'm starved, after all!"

"Um...I don't think Grandma gave me enough pocket money..." Kieran says.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have wasted your money on those two candy apples, then." Carmine says with a casual shrug.

Kieran blinks. How did she even know about that? He thought she'd been over at Ogre Oustin' at that point. Kieran feels himself start to flush red again, had Carmine also seen how awkward he'd been leading Juliana to the mask stand?

Seeing how her brother is squirming, Carmine looks like she's about to relent and just choose one flavor, when Juliana says, "Don't worry about that, I got you covered!"

"Eh? Are you sure?" Kieran says, eyes wide.

"Yeah," she says, giving him a little wink that makes his heart skip a beat, "it's my treat! As thanks for today!" Then, without missing a beat, she turns to Carmine, "You wanted one of every flavor, right?" She says it like it's a challenge.

"Ugh. Spoilsport." Carmine says, rolling her eyes, "One red bean and one custard, please."

"No problem! What do you want, Kieran?"

"J-just a chocolate for me, please." He says. Wowzers, Juliana is so cool...

Juliana nods and turns to the stand keeper, "Two red bean, one custard, one chocolate, and one okonomiyaki, please."

The stand keeper nods and gets started making their Magiyaki. A few minutes later, they hand Juliana the fish shaped pancakes, and she gives the money in return. She then hands Carmine and Kieran their Magiyaki and says with a barely suppressed yawn, "Do you mind if we start heading back? I think the jetlag's finally getting to me..."

Kieran nods and Carmine says, "Yeah, there isn't that much to do on the first day anyways."

They walk along, silently munching on their Magiyaki for a little while, until Carmine says, with a faux-innocent smile, "Hey, Kiki, can I have bite?"

"Sure!" he says, handing her his Magiyaki.

Carmine tears a piece off and eats it, making an exaggerated sound of approval. She turns to Juliana and says, "You gotta try this! It's sooo tasty!"

"Yeah?" Juliana says, she looks to Kieran, "Can I have a bite, too? I'll trade you some of mine for it."

"I'm happy to share!" He says with a nod.

Juliana hands him her Magiyaki and takes the one Carmine offers her. Kieran thinks that, like his sister, she's just gonna tear a piece off. But no, she takes a big bite into the pastry, making a genuine sound of approval. Kieran’s eyes widen. That's...this is like that think he's seen in Sis’s manga before. What was it called again? An indirect kiss...?

Ah. At that thought, Kieran’s mouth goes dry. He feels suddenly too warm, and he can't seem to tear his eyes away from Juliana's mouth. Oh. That's no good...she's gonna catch him staring and ask what's wrong again. He's not sure he'd be able to answer if she did...

"What's wrong?" Carmine asks, to Kieran’s utter embarrassment, she's smiling directly at him, "Aren't you gonna have a taste too?"

He wants to scream. She's doing this on purpose isn't she? Making him die of embarrassment in front of Juliana. Before he can say something biting, Juliana says, "It's not a trade if I'm the only one eating."

Kieran’s swallow and takes a small nibble of Juliana’s Magiyaki. He can barely taste it. He smiles at Juliana through the pounding of his heart and says, "That was really good! I usually go for the sweet ones, but this was a nice change of pace!"

Juliana nods, "I think I'll go for one of the sweet ones next time! The red bean one is for Arven, so I'll have to get his review tomorrow!"

Kieran nods weakly, and they trade back their Magiyaki. Juliana devours the rest of hers, while Kieran’s eyes are trained on the spot Juliana had bitten off. As he's contemplating whether to take a bite there or not, Carmine sidles up to him and says so only he can hear, "Was is really a Spiritomb making you dizzy earlier, Kiki?"

Can the earth just swallow him up right here, please? Face aflame, Kieran glares at his evil older sister. He can't find it in him to answer though, so he just shoves the rest of his Magiyaki into his mouth instead.

The rest of the walk down Revelers' Road is calm. Carmine seems to have decided that Kieran’s been teased enough for one night. As they're passing Peachy’s, Juliana says pointing at something just out of view, "Hm? Was that there before?"

Kieran and Carmine stop and look at what Juliana's pointing to. The storefront gate is down, but there's a little basket filled with purple mochi sitting on the ledge. What seems to be a plush version of the Peachy’s mascot, a sort of Pecha Berry berry looking thing with a black center, is leaned up against the gate, propped up against the mascot's little antenna-arms is a sign that reads EAT MOCHI in big bold letters.

"Don't mind if I do!" Carmine says, picking out one of the mochi from the basket. Kieran and Juliana exchange similar looks of confusion at Carmine’s eagerness.

"What's with the looks?" She says, after popping the mochi in her mouth, "they were here earlier. I talked to the granny who runs Peachy’s this afternoon and she said she was trying out a new recipe."

"But why is it out here after the store is closed?" Kieran asks.

"And why are the mochi that lurid purple color?" Juliana adds, eyebrows pinched in concern.

"The mochi's probably out here as promotion." Carmine says with a shrug, "as to the color? Maybe the recipe uses purple rice, or something."

Kieran shakes his head, "No, I'm good thanks. The candy apples and Magiyaki were enough for me."

Juliana picks up one of the mochi and gives it a sniff. Her nose wrinkles (very cutely, Kieran might add) and puts it back. "None for me. They kinda smell...rotten? I wanna say. I'm also pretty full."

"More for me, then." Carmine says picking up several more. The three then continue their walk, out of the corner of his eye, Kieran thinks he sees the mascot move. But when he looks back fully, it seems to still be in the same place as before. Is that sign the mascot was slightly more crooked than it had been earlier...? Probably just his imagination...or he's more tired than he realized...he shakes his head and keeps walking.

They reach the community center and Juliana says, waving, "Well, looks like this is my stop. See you tomorrow, Kieran!"

"B-bye!" Kieran waves back! Wowzers, he thinks this is the first time he's had plans to meet up with someone two days running.

"What? No goodbye for me?" Carmine says, putting on an exaggerated pout.

Juliana chuckles, "Whoops! Sorry about that, bye Carmine. I'll probably see you tomorrow, too."

"That's more like it!" Carmine says with a wink. They all wave goodbye one more time and Juliana heads into the community center for the night.

Kieran and Carmine walk back to their house. When they get to the front door, Carmine pauses, "Did you have a good day today?" She asks.

Kieran nods, "Yeah! It was a lot of fun!" He says. And then, with a slight pout, adds, "No thanks to all your teasing, though!"

"Hah!" Carmine laughs, "What's a big sister for if not to tease her cute little brother!"

Kieran’s pout deepens. He's not sure how to respond to that. Carmine laughs again, "Night, Kiki." She says, and then she winks at him adding, "Hope you very pleasant dreams!"

Welp. He's for sure blushing again. Kieran ducks into the house, hoping Carmine doesn't notice how pink his face is. He mutters a rushed good night to Carmine and dashes into his room before she can tease him anymore. Once Kieran’s safely in his room, he thinks to himself that, yeah, it had been a nice day! He’d gotten to spend the day with Juliana! And he’d seen the ogre! In all that excitement, he’d almost forgotten! As Kieran gets ready for bed, he thinks about what tomorrow might bring.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Kieran wakes...well, wakes might be an overstatement. His eyes blearily open after a fitful sleep, the previous day's activities kept him tossing and turning most of the night. His swirling thoughts oscillating between Juliana and the ogre.

The two even plagued his dreams during the little sleep he had managed to get. They had even combined at some point, and he dreamed of Juliana as some sort of magical girl, complete with an outfit inspired by Ogerpon and a terrifyingly beautiful thorny cudgel as her weapon of choice to smite any evil doers. Kieran’s quite sure he wouldn't mind if dream Juliana decided he was one of said evil doers...

Kieran imagines he has his sister to thank for his restless sleep. She had wished pleasant dreams on him after all...maybe a little too pleasant if he's being honest with himself. He's not sure he's ready to truly examine what that sort of honesty might entail, though, so he shunts those thoughts to a far-off corner of his mind.

Needless to say, Kieran’s real tired. He's not sure how much he'll be up for today...but on the other hand, there's a chance he could battle Juliana again today. That thought alone gets him out of bed.

As he gets ready for the day, he remembers the conversation he had with Juliana about the candy apple Pokémon at the festival yesterday. Dipplin's definitely coming with him today. He thinks maybe he should bring Gliscor and Shiftry along too...but then again, maybe it's best to leave a couple surprises for future battles.

Kieran goes down for breakfast and is a little surprised to see Big Sis Carmine isn't waiting for him at the table like usual. For some reason, she has this weird competitive thing with him to see who could get up the earliest. He'd asked her about it once, and she'd fed him some line about being a good role model. Kieran hadn't believed that for a second, best not to even compete if Carmine couldn't be honest with him.

Still, though, it's a little strange that she's not up already. "Hey, gran," Kieran asks Grandma Hideko as she's puttering around in the kitchen, "is Carmine still asleep?"

Grandma Hideko pauses, giving him a quizzical look, "She must be. We heard you come back last night. But then, much later, we heard the door open again."

Kieran blinks in confusion. Carmine had for sure been returned home with him last night. Had she gone back to the festival immediately afterwards? "That's weird..." He murmurs.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry," Grandma Hideko says soothingly, "Carmine’s probably just sleeping in." Kieran nods, there's probably nothing to worry about. Grandma Hideko's probably right. Nonetheless, he can't help but feel that something's off...

The thought is put on the backburner as Kieran eats quickly eats his breakfast and heads out to meet up with Juliana so they can talk to Grandpa Yukito about what they saw at the festival last night.

When Kieran arrives at the community center, the door opens seemingly to greet him. He's met not with Juliana though, but that rather scary looking classmate of hers instead. What was his name again...? Arwen? No, that doesn't sound quite right. Ah, right, Arven.

"Um..." Kieran says eloquently, "H-have you seen Juliana?"

"Little bud?" Arven says, tapping a finger on his chin, "she left real early. Said something about wanting some Pokémon catching time? She should be back soon."

Kieran nods, and the two stand there in awkward silence. He's never been particularly good at initiating conversation, and Arven’s looking at him like he's done something wrong. Eventually, Arven clears his throat and says, "How's...um, orienteering going? Getting along with Little Bud?"

"Y-yeah," Kieran says, "I'm having a lot of fun! Juliana's really...nice!"

'Nice', understatement of the century right there. Juliana's more than just nice, she's kind, strong, cool, cute! She’s good at battling, too! Kieran could go on, but he feels like he might combust if he does. His face feels hot just thinking about Juliana’s good qualities…

"That's good." Arven nods. Scratching his cheek, he adds, "She's not...challenging you to too many battles, is she?"

"Eh?" Kieran blinks in confusion, "No? What do you mean? Battling is fun!"

Aven winces slightly, as if he's worried he offended Kieran. Perhaps Arven is just about as good at making small talk as Kieran is. Before Arven can explain his question, a familiar voice says, "You're not badmouthing me when I can't defend myself, are you?"

Kieran and Arven turn to see Juliana walking towards them, a smile on her face. Kieran notices a dirt smudge on her cheek. Unbidden, Kieran wonders how she'd react if he licked his finger and wiped the smudge off. Would she look at him wide-eyed, cheeks pink? Maybe she'd pull his hand against her cheek when he finished and thank him with a gentle smile...

As Kieran’s trying to chase these thoughts away, Arven asks, "Who's that you got there, Little Bud?"

It's then that Kieran notices a Piplup toddling around Juliana's feet. "Oh, this little one?" She leans down, patting the Piplup on its head, who snuggles up closer to her hand at the affection, "I ran into Mr. Jacq earlier and he gave me an egg for whatever reason. I wandered around for a little while and hatched this little cutie!"

Juliana then turns to Kieran with an apologetic smile, "That's why I was so late getting here. Eh heh!"

"A-ah...!" Kieran startles, he's finding it hard to look directly at her again. Cheeks burning, he looks down at Piplup and says, "I-it's not a problem. We hadn't actually set a time to meet after all."

"Phew, that's good." she says, returning Piplup to its Pokéball, "Shall we get going? You wanted to stop by your house first, right?"

Kieran nods and the two of them start heading back to the house. As they're walking, Juliana turns to Arven and says with a wink, "I only challenged him to two battles yesterday by the way. Nemona would have done at least fifteen by now!"

Arven just rolls his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Have fun today, Little Bud."

"Oh, also!" Juliana says, suddenly remembering something, "I saw Carmine heading up Revelers' Road earlier. I don't know if you planned to meet there or anything, but I thought I'd let you know!"

"Thanks." Arven says with a little wave. Juliana waves back, and they're off.

As they’re walking, Kieran wonders aloud, "I wonder what Big Sis was doing? Didn't she and Arven get that sign first yesterday?"

Juliana shrugs, "I dunno. I tried calling out to her, but she didn't seem to hear me. She also seemed to be carrying that mascot thing we saw at Peachy’s last night."

"Weird..." Kieran murmurs, what could Carmine possibly be doing?

Before he can contemplate anyone, they've arrived back at his house. They find Grandpa Yukito sitting on a bench out front, basking in the morning air.

"H-hey, Gramps?" Kieran starts.

Grandpa Yukito opens his eyes, "What is it Kieran?" He says.

"Last night, at the festival, we saw something..." He nods at Juliana who takes Ogerpon's mask out of her bag.

“Could this be…?” Grandpa Yukito's eyes go wide, and he looks between Juliana and the mask in her hands for several moments. “This mask—it belongs to that poor ogre! Where did you find this?!” he finally says.

“We bumped into the ogre last night at the Festival of Masks! I tried talking to it, but…I guess I scared it off and it dropped that mask…” Kieran says, guiltily remembering how Ogerpon had fled from them.

“I never would have thought that the ogre would still be gracing out festival with its presence…” Grandpa Yukito breathes, eyes suddenly misty.

“Huh? What do you mean ‘still’?” Kieran says, confused at his grandpa’s sudden display of emotion, “The ogre is always portrayed as the villain…isn’t it?”

Grandpa Yukito sighs, “I suppose it’s time I told you, Kieran…You see, the truth of what happened with that ogre…is the other way around.”

“Eh? What do you mean by the other way around?” Kieran says, even more confused now.

Grandpa Yukito nods at Juliana, “You should hear this too. You also met the poor ogre…or Ogerpon as it’s rightly named. Let me tell you the true story, as passed down through our family by word of mouth for generations… It’s story of truths…A story that must never be told to the rest of the village. This is going to be a bit of a long story to tell…Is that all right?”

Juliana looks at Kieran, a similar look of confusion etched onto her face. Both he and Juliana look back at Grandpa Yukito and nod. Grandpa Yukito nods back at them and begins to speak again, “Long, long ago, a man and an ogre came to Kitakami from a faraway land. The people of the village feared the strange newcomers and so they refused to let them enter the village. The man and the ogre were saddened that they were unwelcome, but they were happy with their own company. They settled quietly in a cave on the mountain. There was one villager who pitied the two travelers, however, the village mask maker. He made several masks for the man and the ogre. The masks were brilliant works, adorned with gems the man had brought with him. By wearing these masks, the travelers could hide their true faces and mingle with the villagers. The man and the ogre were overjoyed. They thanked the mask maker for his kindness. Wearing the masks, the man and the ogre started secretly joining the village festival, soon becoming the talk of the village. Rumors of the pair and their masks quickly spread far and wide. However, the rumors attracted more than just innocent curiosity…One day, a group of greedy Pokémon sneaked into the cave in which the man and the ogre lived and tried to make off with the masks. The man walked in on the theft in progress. He managed to protect only one of the masks. Several hours later, when the ogre returned to the cave, it found its beloved home in ruin. All that was left were the signs of a struggle and a teal mask. The ogre donned that mask and went down to the village, perhaps to search for its friend. It found the greedy Pokémon there, gloating over their stolen masks, and defeated them. The villagers, of course, had no idea what was happening nor why. All they saw was the raging ogre. And they felt great fear. The villagers thought the three Pokémon had fallen trying to protect the village from the ogre. To honor their sacrifice, the villagers named them the Loyal Three and interred them at what is now known as the Loyalty Plaza. Wounded and weak, the ogre returned to its cave—alone and with great sadness.”

There's a ringing in Kieran’s ears once Grandpa Yukito finishes his telling of Ogerpon's history. The story's been wrong all this time? How could his family just stand by and watch as the ogre was mistreated? His heart pounds and there's an unfamiliar rage bubbling up inside him.

"Hey," Juliana says, giving him a look of concern, "Are you ok?" She attempts to put a hand on one of his shoulders, but he roughly shrugs her off.

"How could you?" Kieran says his voice sounds strange and unfamiliar to his ears. "Why would you keep this from me? You've always known how I feel about the ogre! So why?"

"I'm sorry, Kieran..." Grandpa Yukito says, avoiding eye contact, "The time just didn't seem right. Your grandma and I decided we should wait until you and Carmine were a little older. Maybe that was a mistake…"

Kieran scoffs and turns towards the front gate, "I have to go set the record straight!" He says, taking a step back towards the village, "Everyone should know how it really happened! Ogerpon deserves better!"

"Stop, Kieran! I told you already to keep it to yourself!" Grandpa Yukito yells

"Why should I!" Kieran yells right back

"The villagers believe their own version of history. They revere the Loyal Three—so how would they react to being told that they’ve got it all wrong?" Grandpa Yukito says a sad look in his eyes.

Kieran’s hands ball into fists of their own accord, a pained groan escapes his throat, “They wouldn’t believe it…would they…”

“Unfortunately, they wouldn't. Back when this all first occurred, the mask maker—that is to say our ancestor—tried desperately to tell the truth of the matter. But nobody would take him seriously, and he was persecuted as a heretic.”

Kieran feels like crying, there’s a sob lodged at the back of his throat. He catches Juliana’s gaze; she doesn’t look like she’s fairing much better. Is there nothing they can do…?

Grandpa Yukito gives them an apologetic look, “In the end, the mask maker chose to protect his descendants—us—by keeping his silence. However, he kept the truth alive— passed down from generation to generation as a family secret.”

A silence permeates the air between the three of them. Kieran doesn’t think he can bare looking at his grandpa right now. His whole body shakes with anger. He always knew Ogerpon wasn't bad...!

Eventually, Grandpa Yukito says, voice quiet and forlorn, “I know it’s not much of a consolation, but I noticed the jewel on the forehead of the Teal Mask was chipped. I might be able to fix it. Would you mind leaving the mask with me for a little while?

Juliana hums contemplatively, “Maybe it got chipped when it fell down the stairs? Why don’t we let your grandpa fix the mask, and return it to Ogerpon? I'm sure it would be happy to get its mask back.”

“S-sure…” Kieran mumbles, voice weak. It won’t make up for what Ogerpon has gone though, but it seems like the least they can do.

Juliana gives Grandpa Yukito the mask. He takes it and gently runs a hand over the chipped area, “Don’t you worry. I’ll be sure to take good care of this.” He says.

“Why don’t we continue on to the third signboard for now?” Juliana says, her eyes full of concern for him, “It might help the time go a little faster.”

“Ok…” Kieran says, but he doubts it’ll help. He feels drained. What a whirlwind of a morning…

As the two of them exit through the front gate, Kieran runs into Carmine. Rubbing his nose gingerly, he says, "A-ah, sorry about that...I didn't see you there..."

Instead of her usual, surly 'Watch where you're going, Kiki!' Carmine stays uncharacteristically quiet. He looks up at her questioningly and is met with a strange blank expression.

Kieran’s about to ask if something's wrong when Carmine’s eyes flash a strange purple for a moment. She says, as if she's just realized he's there, "What are you two still doing here? Shouldn’t you be off orienteering?"

"We're just heading out now! I just...forgot something in my room. I...went to get some snacks so we could have a picnic at the third signboard..." Kieran mumbles. He so wants to tell Carmine about Ogerpon, but grandpa Yukito's words echo in his mind...

"So, what'd he forget, outsider?" Carmine says, addressing Juliana.

"You're asking me?" Juliana says, head tilted in confusion.

"Why not?" Carmine says, tone suddenly cold, "Kiki doesn't seem to want to tell me after all."

Juliana's eyebrows crease, "But he did tell you. I was chatting with your grandpa while Kieran got snacks from his room."

"What were you chatting about?" Carmine asks. Kieran wonders where this interrogation is coming from. She hadn't overheard about Ogerpon...had she?

Juliana shrugs, "Oh, just this and that. Nothing exciting."

Carmine eyes narrow, and it looks like she has more she wants to say. Kieran grabs Juliana's sleeve, "Um...S-sorry sis, but we should get going...our third signboard is a bit of a trek after all...!" Kieran tugs Juliana in the direction of Revelers' Road before any more words can be exchanged.

The walk to the third signboard is mostly silent. Kieran just can't seem to find it in him to start any sort of conversation. His mind is too occupied with thoughts of poor Ogerpon. How badly the whole village treated it. How they had the gall to have a festival dedicated to its tormentors, even! It makes Kieran sick to his stomach to think about how he participated, too!

As they trudge along, Juliana gives him several concerned looks. She doesn’t try to start a conversation, though, and for that Kieran is grateful. He knows that they should probably try to process what they learned about Ogerpon together, but Kieran isn’t ready for that. He will talk to her, but he wants to sort out his own feelings first. By the time they reach the Paradise Barrens, Kieran resolves that, when the mask is fixed, he'll apologize to Ogerpon! It won't make up for the years of mistreatment, but maybe it'll be a start...

“These are the Paradise Barrens. Pretty lonely place, huh?” Kieran says, commenting on the desolate landscape with its stark rock formations, “According to the old legends, the ogre used to be seen around here lots.”

“Wanna just check out the signboard and head back?” Juliana says quietly.

“Yeah…” Kieran says, “I never really liked this place very much…”

They walk over to the signboard and, like before, Juliana reads the words aloud.

If you see a shadowy figure approaching you outside the village, be wary. Don a mask at once and hide your face. Do so, and whether the shadow is man of monster, you will pass each other by as fellow mask wearers. If you should meet the shadow when you have no mask in hand, then pray that it is only a man. If it is, you will live to see another day, and you will remember to never forget your mask again. But if it is the ogre, you will meet your end, as do all humans whose faces are seen by it. Once it sees your face, your soul will be forfeit. And you shall never return to the village.

“In the old days, everyone carried masks wherever they went. I guess…the one who made those masks was the ancestor gramps was telling us about. I don’t…really like what was written on this sign…”

Juliana shakes her head, “Me neither…”

“Wanna take that last photo?” Kieran says. Juliana nods and they both shuffle over to the signboard. Juliana does her best posing in front of the sign, but her smile is a dim approximation of its usual brightness. Even the thumbs-up she gives looks a little dejected. Kieran’s not sure what to do himself, so he just sorta stands there with a small grimace on his face.

He hopes that when they show these photos to Ms. Briar or the caretaker or whoever at the end of the assignment period, they won’t comment. As much as he likes spending time with Juliana, Kieran just kinda wants this day to come to an end. Or, at the very least, he wants this trip to the Paradise Barrens to be over with so he can go back to his room and have a nice, solitary cry.

Chapter Text

As Kieran and Juliana are getting ready to trek back to Mossui Town, a familiar figure appears from the distance. "Hey." Arven says, hand raised in greeting. The moment he sees Juliana's face though, his eyebrows pinch in concern, "You ok, little bud?" He asks.

Juliana puts on a wobbly smile, "Yeah, the walk over was just a little hot is all."

"You sure?" Arven’s asks, eyebrows furrowing until they practically meet in the middle, "You look really pale..."

With an awkward chuckle, Juliana nods, "Really, I'm OK! I just didn't realize how hot it would be and I kinda...forgot to bring a water bottle with me..."

Arven clicks his tongue at that, "I guess it's a good thing Carmine suggested we do this signboard today. Here, sit. You can have one of my extra waters." Arven leads Juliana to a large rock by the signboard, helping her sit before producing a water bottle from his large backpack.

Kieran feels...well a lot of things at this particular moment. While his heart is still heavy from learning the truth about Ogerpon this morning, a weird pang of something is also making its presence known. The feeling digs its claws into him, whispering unkind thoughts about Arven darkly into his mind. Watching the two of them interact in such a friendly manner makes him want to bare his teeth. He wants to growl at Arven that he's perfectly capable of comforting Juliana too, thank you very much! That he'd be better at it because he knows what Juliana's going through right now.

There's a strange guilt that comes with these thoughts, though. That the only reason Juliana had to lie about forgetting her water in the first place is because of him and Grandpa Yukito...that this terrible, awful lie his family has passed down all these generations is causing Juliana anguish at the moment...that his comfort wouldn't actually be any comfort at all.

The swirl of emotions has Kieran rooted to the spot, capable only of watching silently. It's only when Arven turns to him and calls, "You get over here too! I have plenty of water to go around!" That he feels he's been pulled back into the moment.

Kieran walks numbly over to the rock, and Arven essentially pushes him down onto it before pressing a cool bottle of water into his hands. He knows he isn't dehydrated, but he takes a long swig anyways. The cool water feels soothing as he drinks, maybe this was what he needed after all...

"Well, this is something of a reversal, isn't it?" Juliana says after a few minutes.

Arven’s eyes narrow as he harrumphs, "I don't think I know what you're referring to."

Juliana smiles, "Oh, sure." She says, rolling her eyes, "Remind me, who was it who almost collapsed from hunger on Casseroya Lake again?"

Arven scoffs, "Tatsugiri looks way too much like sushi for its own good..."

"Well, it was a good thing I was there to make you a nice smoked fillet sandwich then, wasn't it?" Juliana says with a wink.

Arven sighs deeply and looks over to Kieran, "Little bud's version of making a sandwich is haphazardly throwing the ingredients on as quickly as possible and tossing the top bread off somewhere into the ether. If I hadn’t been so hungry, I might have fainted from shock."

Juliana lets out an indignant squeak, "Excuse me! My sandwich making skills are impeccable! And I'll have you know, none of the bread goes to waste! It's just part of Mirai's share!"

Arven hums, one eyebrow raised skeptically. Juliana narrows her eyes at Arven before turning to Kieran, "You agree with me, right Kieran? Sandwiches don't need two pieces of bread to be sandwiches! Open-faced is good, too! Right??"

Kieran blinks at her sudden attention on him. "Um..." He says, taking a sip of water to avoid answering, "I think...a sandwich needs two pieces of bread...less messy that way...?"

Arven gives Kieran an appreciative thump on the back and says with a wink, "See? Told you so!"

Juliana clutches at her chest dramatically, "Uncultured! That's what the two of you are! I'm sure Carmine would agree with me that open-faced sandwiches are the height of the sandwich eating experience!" Arven is the first one who lets out a loud guffaw, Juliana and Kieran not far behind. They laugh for several minutes, and Kieran feels a little lighter.

"Speaking of, where is sis anyways?" Kieran asks, wiping tears of laughter out of the corners of his eyes.

"Hmmm..." Arven says, looking back in the direction he came from, "Not sure. She said she'd meet me here, but she had something to do first..."

Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Just as soon Arven says that, Carmine appears in the distance. She's carrying a basket of...something. Kieran can't tell from this far away. She waves at them when she gets closer, "So, what's for lunch?" And it's like their confrontation earlier that morning hadn't happened at all. Weird...

He kinda wants to bring it up. Ask why Carmine was acting so odd earlier (and if she heard something she wasn't supposed to), but then Juliana says, "Hey, come help us set lunch up!" And Kieran’s stomach growls in protest that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Well, Carmine’s strange behavior will just have to wait. Maybe he'll ask her if something's up once they return home for the evening...

Lunch is nice, except for one awkward moment when Carmine tries to push those weird purple mochi on them again. Juliana and Kieran both shake their heads, claiming the sandwiches filled them up. Arven, on the other hand, takes one to be polite. As he eats it, his nose wrinkles like it doesn't taste very good...Kieran’s glad he didn't eat any...

After lunch, the four of them sit in amiable silence. Juliana is right, Arven really is an amazing cook! Maybe, before the school trip is over, Kieran should ask Arven to teach him what and how to make Juliana's favorite food.

...Not for any ulterior motives or anything...but, y'know, just as a thank-you gift for being his orienteering partner...

As Kieran’s trying to steer his thoughts away from Juliana and picnic lunches alone together, Carmine suddenly says, "Why don't we have some fun and have after lunch double battle?"

Arven and Juliana exchange a look, "Sounds good to me, but what do you want to do Arven? Is Boss up for it?"

Arven smiles fondly at Juliana, and that ugly feeling attempts to claw its way out of Kieran’s throat again. "Yeah," Arven says with a shrug, "He could do with some exercise. What's a double battle compared to titans after all?"

Juliana grins at the reference Kieran’s missing, and she turns to him and asks, "How about you, Kieran?"

Kieran nods, he's not sure he trusts his own voice at the moment. "All right! That's decided then!" Carmine says with a smile that is altogether too waspish for Kieran’s liking, "Arven, you're with me. We'll each choose four Pokémon and battle it out from there."

The three of them look at each other. "S-sorry about sis," Kieran says, awkwardly tugging at his hair, "She's not usually quite this bossy..."

"What was that, Kiki?" Carmine yells, voice high and shrill, Kieran thinks he sees her eyes change that strange purple again, "You want me to come over there and smack you? Hurry up!"

At that, anger flashes in Juliana's eyes and it looks like she has some choice words for Carmine. Before she can though, Arven who has a similarly angry expression says, "Cool it. This is just supposed to be for fun, isn't it?" Carmine narrows her eyes in response but doesn't say anything else.

As they all finish getting ready, Carmine says, tone faux-casual, "Why don't we make this battle even more fun?"

"What do you have in mind?" Kieran asks. He hopes maybe Carmine is actually trying to lighten the mood. But something tells him, with the weird way she's been acting today, she's not...

"Well..." she says, finger on her chin as if she's actually thinking about it, "When I win, you tell me about that little chat you had with grandpa this morning."

And there it is. Kieran’s stomach drops. She had heard them, hadn’t she...she just wants confirmation she was lied to. Kieran can't really blame her; he imagines if he was in the same position that he'd feel so hurt and angry he'd no longer be able to think straight. But...he promised Grandpa Yukito not to tell. Maybe he can break that promise once the Teal Mask has been fixed, once Ogerpon can defend itself again...Kieran’s heart hurts, he hates this...

Arven looks confused and uncomfortable, like he really regrets agreeing to this double battle. Sorry Arven, Kieran thinks, really didn't mean to drag you into this mess...but here we are...

Juliana, meanwhile, is radiating an indignant anger. Her posture is tight and stiff, lips twisted into an almost-snarl. It sends an inappropriate shiver down Kieran’s spine. He's flattered that she's getting so angry on his behalf. How ridiculous...not the time...

"What happens if we win?" Juliana asks as she readies her Pokémon.

"What do you want?" Carmine says with a cocky smirk.

"An apology." Juliana says.

Carmine scoffs, "What do I have to apologize to you for?"

"Not to me." Juliana says, pointing her thumb in Kieran’s direction, "To Kieran. You've been really awful to him all day..."

Carmine rolls her eyes, but pointedly doesn't answer. Juliana huffs her annoyance but keeps getting ready muttering about who she should choose. Kieran feels stuck. On the one hand Juliana defending him sets his heart aflutter. On the other hand, lying to Carmine feels weird and wrong...but she has been acting so weird today...maybe just best to get this battle over with...

Soon, the four of them are ready. Carmine sends out Morpeko, Arven sends out Cloyster, Kieran sends out Poliwrath, and Juliana sends out Baxcalibur.

"Morpeko, aura wheel on Poliwrath!" Carmine calls out, the little mouse rolls into a ball, spinning faster and faster until it spins straight into Poliwrath. Poliwrath staggers back, falling to one knee before struggling back up. Maybe this was a bad first choice...

"Glaive rush, Hyourinmaru! On Morpeko!" Juliana calls next. Baxcalibur races towards Morpeko, once it gets close enough, it flips entirely upside-down, and slams back blade first into Morpeko. Morpeko collapses, and Carmine growls indignantly as she returns Morpeko to its ball. Baxcalibur returns to Juliana with an exhausted limp.

Kieran goes to make a move next, but before he can, Arven calls, "Cloyster, use light screen!" Cloyster closes its shell in concentration, and a light shines around it.

It's Kieran’s turn next, "Alright, Poliwrath, brick break on Cloyster!" Poliwrath runs over and gives Cloyster a sturdy chop, breaking the sparkling shield around it. As Poliwrath returns to Kieran’s side, Cloyster spits out several irritated bubbles but stays upright.

For her next Pokémon, Carmine sends out Leavanny, "Leaf blade on Poliwrath!" She calls out, and it immediately runs over slashing Poliwrath with a sharp leaf arm. Poliwrath collapses, and Kieran wonders why she's going so hard after his Pokémon...

Maybe it's the same reason Juliana seems to be dogging Carmine’s. "Hyourinmaru, ice fang on Leavanny!" Juliana says. Baxcalibur lunges at Leavanny, sinking frozen fangs into it. Leavanny cries out and collapses. As Carmine returns Leavanny to its Pokéball, she glares at Juliana, who returns the glare with equal force.

Before any words can be exchanged between the two, Arven says, "Cloyster, use rock blast on Hyourinmaru!" Cloyster, in quick succession, shoots five pointed rocks into Baxcalibur, sending it sprawling. The ice dragon stumbles back to its feet before ultimately collapsing. As Juliana returns Baxcalibur to its Pokéball, Arven gives her a deliberate look, "Don't forget you have two opponents in this battle, little bud."

Juliana's lips quirk up into a little half smile as her eyes flick over to Arven’s concerned gaze. She nods once, and takes a steadying breath, "Thanks." She says to Arven, and then in the next breath calls out, "Mio, go! Show 'em what you got!"

Carmine sends out Sinistcha and Kieran sends out Yanmega. Juliana, who seems to have relaxed a little, looks at Arven and winks, "Flower trick on Cloyster, Mio." In a move that Kieran still can't see despite being so close, Meowscarada produces a bouquet of flowers and hurts it at Cloyster. With a final gurgle, Cloyster retreats into its shell and collapses.

Arven shakes his head, "Guess I should have seen that one coming, huh? It's your turn, Toedscruel."

Kieran can't help but smile just a little, glad that the tension in the area had abated a little. Although Carmine still has an unusually sour look. This is for Poliwrath, Kieran thinks to himself, "Air slash, Yanmega, on Sinistcha!" Yanmega flaps its wings, sending a nearly invisible wave of wind crashing into Sinistcha. It flinches back, unable to make a move itself, and Carmine turns her glare onto him. Guess she wasn't expecting him to fight back...

"Use night slash on Sinistcha, Mio!" Juliana calls. Meowscarada closes in and slashes Sinistcha with claws that let off a dark aura. Sinistcha collapses and Carmine growls an indignant, "What are you doing? You didn't even get to make a single move!" As she returns Sinistcha to its Pokéball.

"Toedscruel, sludge bomb on Mio." Arven says. Toedscruel shoots a ball of purple sludge from its trunk. The poisonous ball crashes into Meowscarada, who stumbles back onto one knee. It struggles up for a moment, breathing hard.

"All right Yanmega, use air slash again. On Toedscruel this time." Kieran says. Yanmega sends another wave of air careening into Toedscruel, it rears back in a mess of tentacles, but doesn't fall. Down to her last Pokémon, Carmine sends out Mightyena.

Juliana gives Meowscarada a concerned look before saying, "Mio, U-turn on Toedscruel!" Haltingly, Meowscarada goes over to Toedscruel and swipes at it. Toedscruel collapses and the two Pokémon return to their Pokéballs at the same time. "Ok, Sena, it's your turn." And out comes Tinkaton, the ground shaking when she brings her hammer down as she lands.

Kieran’s about to make his call attack, when Carmine yells over him, "Mightyena, fire fang on Yanmega!" There's an edge to her voice and posture, Kieran finds worrying. No time to dwell on that, though as Mightyena leaps onto Yanmega sinking its red-hot fangs into Yanmega. Yanmega makes a distressed buzzing sound before collapsing.

Kieran sends out Dipplin next, a sweet scent filling the air as it comes out of its Pokéball. Arven sends out Garganacl, and suddenly Kieran has a tasted for a salted candy apple...

"All right, Sena, gigaton hammer on Garganacl." Tinkaton lifts the hammer as if it weighs nothing and leaps high into the air, summersaulting as she brings it full force down onto Garganacl. Garganacl crashes down hard, but ultimately struggles back up.

Carmine gives Juliana a smile that doesn't reach her eyes and says, "Fire fang one more time Mightyena! On Tinkaton!" Mightyena leaps at Tinkaton, fangs bared and blazing, but Tinkaton neatly steps to the side more concerned with an imaginary scratch in her hammer.

Both Carmine and Mightyena snarl their annoyance at the failed attack. Juliana just shrugs, "Better luck next time." And that leaves Carmine seething.

Distracted by the two of them, Kieran almost misses when Arven says, "Use stealth rock, Garganacl." It throws several stones that land near Tinkaton and Dipplin. Might be time to end this soon, don't want any other Pokémon getting hurt by this trap...

"Dipplin," Kieran calls, "use energy ball on Garganacl." Dipplin a ball of green energy into Garganacl, who collapses.

Arven returns Garganacl to its Pokéball, "All right, Boss, it's down to you now..." and he sends out a massive Mabosstiff. It comes out of his Pokéball growling, but neither Juliana nor Tinkaton seem very concerned. The gentle look in Mabosstiff's eyes, belies his snarling posture.

"Sena," Juliana says, "play rough on Mightyena." Tinkaton leaps onto Mightyena, tackling it to the ground in a move that looks like it could be fun if handled much more gently. As Tinkaton returns to Juliana's side, Mightyena rises slowly, looking exhausted.

"Boss, use fire fang on Sena." Mabosstiff leaps at Tinkaton, and weirdly there's this huge grin on Juliana's face as the attack lands. Tinkaton, too, even though she's using her hammer to prop herself up seems strangely thrilled at the attack. How curious, Kieran thinks to himself.

Now is not the time for curiosity, though, and before Carmine can call her next attack, Kieran says, "Dipplin, dragon pulse on Mightyena." Dipplin opens its mouth wide and shoots an indigo beam at Mightyena, causing it to faint. As Mightyena is returned to its Pokéball, Carmine blinks with open-mouthed shock that she was the first to run out of Pokémon.

It's two-on-one now, and Juliana says with her grin still in place, "Sena, gigaton hammer on more time!" The hammer seems a little heavier this time when Tinkaton lifts it up. She leaps up into the air and brings the hammer down onto Mabosstiff with less flourish this time. Mabosstiff staggers but doesn't fall.

"Crunch on Dipplin, Boss." Arven says. Kieran hears Juliana give off an amused huff as Mabosstiff sinks his fangs into Dipplin. The force of Mabosstiff's crunch sends Dipplin reeling, but it doesn't faint.

"Energy ball, Dipplin!" Kieran says, sending another ball of green energy into Mabosstiff who collapses.

Now that the battle is over, Carmine scoffs before stomping back the way she came without a word to the other three.

Before Arven can return Mabosstiff to his Pokéball, Juliana runs over cooing, "You were great, Boss! I'm glad I got to battle you at full strength again!" She pets Mabosstiff while feeding him a max revive. Mabosstiff makes a grateful little noise and Juliana smiles fondly.

"And you!" Juliana says, looking up at Arven one eyebrow arched high, "You went easy on me! Sena was about to faint, why didn't you go for it!"

Arven chuckles, not quite meeting Juliana's eyes, "Well, uh, you know, I just didn't want Kieran to feel left out...or something..."

"Sure..." Juliana says, dragging out the word to make it clear she doesn't believe him. She then turns to Kieran, "Let's get your Pokémon healed up, too, yeah?"

Kieran walks over, but it feels weirdly like he's intruding. That ugly feeling bubbles up again, but Kieran does his best to push down any of the unkind thoughts he's suddenly having about Arven...

Once all the Pokémon have been healed, Arven groans as if he's just remembered something, "Ugh, Carmine left before we could prove we'd been to the third signboard..."

"Eh," Juliana shrugs, "we'll retake ours with you." She gives Kieran a knowing look, "Our first one didn't turn out too great, did it?"

"Yeah..." Kieran says, that photo seems somehow far away now, "let's do it."

"Thanks, you two." Arven says, nodding gratefully at them. They crowd around the signboard and both Juliana's and Arven’s Rotom-phones snap a pic.

The walk back to Mossui Town is calm. They walk Arven back to the Community Center and then, interestingly, Juliana decides she wants to walk Kieran back to his house.

Outside of the gate, Juliana asks, voice low, "Do you think your sister heard us this morning? Is she mad we didn't tell her about Ogerpon?"

Kieran nods, he's not entirely sure, but he has a sinking feeling that's what Carmine’s mad about. Juliana hums, fingers curling around her chin.

"I-I'm sorry..." Kieran says.

Juliana blinks at him, "What for?"

"I...I feel like this is all my fault somehow. Like, if you had partnered with someone else, none of this would be happening..." Kieran hiccups, he can feel his throat constrict, tears welling up in his eyes. Ugh, humiliating...he didn't want to cry in front of her...

Suddenly, Juliana's arms around him, "You've done nothing wrong, Kieran." She says quietly into his ear, "A few things aside, this has been a wonderful school trip. No need to apologize!"

They stay like that, Kieran quietly hiccupping little sobs until he's calmed down. And then suddenly he feels too warm, too aware of all the points of contact between them. Juliana pulls away and Kieran misses said contact immediately.

But then she's resting her forehead on his and one of her hands is on her cheek, "Feeling better now?"

Vision full of Juliana, Kieran can just barely say, "Y-yeah..." his heart is thumping erratically, and he's sure she can hear it.

"Good." She says, pulling away, Kieran feels breathless and a little shaky. The spots where her head and hand had just been feel too hot, like she's branded him. He wants to ask her to stay close, but his voice doesn't want to cooperate at the moment.

"I think I'm going to turn in for the day." She says, and it might just be Kieran’s imagination, but are her cheeks a little pink too?

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kieran. Maybe the mask will be fixed by then." She waves him goodnight, and he numbly waves back. Wowzers, what a day it's been...

Chapter Text

That evening, any time Kieran tries to talk to Carmine, she flat out ignores him. At dinner, she pretends not to hear him when he asks her to pass him the Furikake. The moment stretches out across the table awkwardly until Grandpa Yukito reaches over and hands the little bottle to Kieran.

After dinner, Carmine disappears into her room without even a goodnight. Kieran feels conflicted. There's a part of him that gets it. He would hate being left out, especially if it happened to be something involving Ogerpon. But Carmine’s also being a sore loser, and this temper tantrum of hers, or whatever it is, is getting more than a little old. How's he supposed to apologize if she won't even give him the chance?

Kieran goes to bed with a heavy heart. Hopefully tomorrow the mask will be fixed, and he and Juliana might be able to convince Grandpa Yukito to tell Carmine about Ogerpon. Then he can apologize, and things can go back to the way they were! Hopefully...

The next morning, Juliana meets him outside the front gate. As soon as she sees him, she gives him a cheery wave, her face lit up in a sunny smile. Kieran starts waving back until suddenly the phantom memory of her arms around him, her forehead pressed against him sends his heart stuttering in his chest.

His arm falls limply back to his side, "G-good morning...!" He mumbles, the Yanma that settled on a neighbor's roof seems to be giving him an unimpressed look at his lackluster greeting.

"Morning!" Juliana says, somehow oblivious to Kieran’s awkwardness, "Did you get any chance to talk to Carmine after that battle yesterday?"

"N-no..." Kieran shakes his head, trying to steer his thoughts away from how he might be able to get Juliana to hug him again (or, if he was feeling bold enough, he could just...nope! Nope! Too much, too bold), "M-maybe we should go ask Grandpa if there was any progress on fixing the mask."

"Sure!" Juliana nods, "Lead the way!" She flashes him another sunny smile that leaves him breathless.

"R-right..." he says, walking back through the gate. Juliana's like the sun, warm and bright; Kieran just wants to bask in her. Kieran didn't know how much he needed her light, but now that he has it...

"Hey, Grandpa," he asks, hoping no one notices how red his face suddenly is, "How's the mask coming along?"

"I've managed to repair the damage to the wood." Grandpa Yukito says with a nod, "the only part I don't think I can fix is this..." He points to the large jewel in the center of the forehead. It has one large crack that runs from top to bottom, there are several smaller cracks branching off from the main one. Kieran thinks it actually looks kinda cool like that...but if the cracks mean the mask is powerless, that's pretty useless, huh...

"Hmmm..." Juliana studies the mask, fingers curled around her chin, "Is there any way you can replace that part entirely?"

"Clever girl," Grandpa Yukito smiles fondly at Juliana, "that's just what I was going to say. I need the two of you to go up Oni Mountain for me. At its center, there's a place called the Crystal Pool, where you'll be able to find the material I need to finish fixing the mask."

"Wait," Kieran blinks, "Is Juliana even allowed to go that far into Oni Mountain?"

"I was worried about that as well." Grandpa Yukito says with a nod, "Yesterday, when you two were out, I went to the caretaker to ask his permission on Juliana's behalf. It turns out I didn't need it, as that would have been the last orienteering assignment. Now, enough chatting. The sooner you go, the sooner I can fix the mask."

"Thanks, Grandpa!" Kieran says, he then turns to Juliana, "Shall we get going?" Juliana nods, and they wave goodbye to Grandpa Yukito as they make their way to Oni Mountain.

"You and Arven are pretty good friends, huh?" Kieran asks as they make their way up Oni Mountain. This is certainly just a question of idle curiosity, Kieran has no vested interest in the answer whatsoever (...at least not one that's ready to admit to, yet).

Juliana gives him a look, eyebrow raised in mild suspicion, "Why do you ask?" She says, and it's like she can see right through him. Right down to the ugly feelings that Kieran hasn't been able to squash yet. He likes Arven! Arven’s a nice guy...! And yet...

"Um..." Kieran says, breaking eye contact, "I-it's just that...yesterday you seemed really happy when Mabosstiff used fire fang on Tinkaton...I w-was just a little curious..."

"Heh! I'm surprised you noticed that." Juliana says, her expression turning slightly awkward, "You see, when I first started at Uva Academy, Boss was really sick. Like, almost dying...I didn't know that at the time because Arven just sort of roped me in as hired muscle." Juliana chuckles at her phrasing, "He had this book, a travel diary of sorts, which talked about these five special herbs which, when eaten together, could cure all sorts of ailments. Even eating just one of those herbs could grant a lot of energy, so there were various Pokémon who hoarded the herbs to themselves. Arven and I went around to different places collecting them, making and feeding sandwiches made with them to Boss as we got them. I admit, I was a little annoyed that he didn't just tell me why he wanted the herbs from the jump...but then I met Boss, who is one of the sweetest guys by the way, and I wanted to help get him healthy again. That's why I was so happy yesterday. Boss has been healthy for a while now, but I'm glad that the herbs weren't just a temporary fix."

Kieran nods along at various points of Juliana’s tale, but he doesn't quite know what to say anymore...his weird jealousy of Arven suddenly feels really foolish. Of course, Juliana was helping out a sick Pokémon! All this story has done is make Kieran want to know more about Juliana! Who else had she helped at Uva Academy? He also remembers someone saying Juliana is a champion in Paldea, and he wants to know about that, too! Maybe, once all this business with Ogerpon and Carmine is over, there will finally be time to ask her...

They make their way past the Dreaded Den this time and continue the long trek up Oni Mountain. Juliana is mostly quiet, and Kieran’s a little worried he offended her with his question about her and Arven's friendship...but she would say something if she was mad, right? She doesn't seem like the kind of person who clams up when something was bothering her...

Eventually they make it to the stairway that leads up to the center of Oni Mountain and the crystal pool. "More stairs?" Juliana says with a huff, "This is almost worse than Uva..."

"We're almost there." Kieran chuckles, "Just one more push!"

She rolls her eyes at him, "If we have to come up here again, we're riding Mirai!"

Ooh now isn't that an idea! The thought of interacting with Miraidon is still a little daunting, but Kieran kinda wants to know how fast it can go...is it too much to hope that the other masks might need fixing, too?

When they finally reach the top of the stairs, Juliana sucks in a gasp, "Wow..." she breathes, taking in the landscape, "It's so beautiful up here..."

"Y-yeah..." You sure are, Kieran almost says, "there's a legend that on misty nights, if you have a certain Pokémon, you're able to meet with folks who have passed."

"Wait, really?" Juliana stops mid-step on the little bridge that leads to the main body of water, "Do you know what Pokémon? Have you ever tried it?"

"N-no," Kieran says, an involuntary shiver runs up his spine, "I'm not really a big fan of ghosts..."

Juliana gives him a look, "Are you afraid of Carmine’s Sinistcha then?"

"Sinistcha's cute, though...it's got that goofy little smile, and the way it's little feet stick out from the bottom of its cup..."

Juliana laughs, "That's true! What about, say, a Ceruledge then?"

Kieran’s eyes widen, "No! Ceruledge is super awesome! It's just...human ghosts that spook me..."

Juliana lets out a little sigh of relief and gives him a pat on the shoulder, "Yeah, I'm not sure what I'd do if I met a ghost of someone I knew. Glad to know you're not scared of Onibi, though, she liked battling you after all."

She smiles at him, maybe a little too wide, her cheeks dusted pink, before continuing across the bridge. Kieran thinks it must have been a hotter walk than he realized, his jacket suddenly feels stuffy and constricting. Before he has time to ponder the weather anymore, Juliana turns back and motions for him to follow. Kieran shakes his head, trying to ignore how hot he feels and trots to keep up with her.

Across the bridge, they stand at the edge of the main body of the crystal pool. There are several large crystals in the pool, but none of them look very loose. "So," Juliana says, scrutinizing the crystals, "Do we just jump in and try to pull a cluster off?"

"I don't know..." Kieran shrugs, "One of us will probably have to distract all the Arrokuda, too." He says eyeing the swarm of fish Pokémon.

"Hmmm..." Juliana's fingers curl around her chin, "Maybe we should ride Mirai into the lake...Arrokuda probably wouldn't be too interested in an electric dragon, right?"

As they ponder how to go about getting a crystal cluster, little bubbles start appearing on the pool's surface. As the bubbles get bigger, the ground beneath their feet starts shaking.

"W-what's happening?" Kieran says, swaying a little, "Is it an earthquake?"

Juliana stares at the spot where the bubbles are steadily growing bigger and bigger. Suddenly, her arm whips out, taking hold of the back of Kieran’s jacket. She jumps backwards, tugging Kieran along, several steps as a giant Milotic emerges, landing with a heavy sounding thud where the two of them had just been standing. It seems to be glaring at the two of them...maybe they woke it up...?

"Wowzers..." Kieran says, awestruck, "You saved me..."

"You can thank me later!" Juliana has to practically yell over the loud trill Milotic makes, "We have to subdue this guy first!"

Kieran nods and sends out Dipplin at the same time as Juliana sends out Meowscarada. Milotic writhes, and overhead dark clouds gather. A slow drizzle starts, gathering speed, soon Kieran has to blink water out of his eyes in order to see straight.

"Mio, use flower trick!" Juliana calls, and with a flourish Meowscarada hurls a flower bouquet at Milotic. It explodes on contact, sending Milotic staggering. It rears back up, but it looks tired.

"Syrup bomb, Dipplin!" Dipplin spits a blob of sticky candy at Milotic. It tries to shake off the candy coating but finds its stuck fast. Milotic opens its mouth, charging up an icy beam straight at Dipplin.

When the ice beam hits, Dipplin cries out before collapsing. Kieran and Juliana exchange looks, before Juliana calls out, "Let's finish this up quickly, Mio! Use night slash."

Meowscarada rushes at Milotic and slashes it with dark claws. Milotic sways as if it's about to collapse back into the crystal pool. Juliana suddenly gets a twinkle in her eye, and before Milotic can fall into the water, she pulls a net ball out of her bag and throws it at Milotic. Upon contact, the ball opens, and a beam of light pulls Milotic inside. The ball drops to the ground and wiggles one, two, three times before clicking shut marking a successful capture.

Juliana walks over to the ball and, after picking it up, says, "Well, that was a bit of a surprise, huh?"

"Sure was!" Kieran nods, "I'd heard rumors about large Pokémon appearing here, but it's my first time seeing one. Good job catching it, too!"

Juliana picks something else up off the ground and grins at him, "I've got some experience with giant Pokémon, after all. What's really lucky is that Milotic also dropped this."

Juliana extends her arm out as Kieran walks over to see what she's talking about. In her open palm, is a small cluster of brightly sparkling blue crystals. Kieran’s eyes widen, "Is that...?"

"Yep!" Juliana says, her smile growing wider, "I'm pretty sure this is the crystal cluster we're looking for! Wanna break for lunch before we head back?"

Kieran’s stomach rumbles in agreement, and he nods enthusiastically. They settle along the shore of the crystal pool, feet dangling in the water. "So, what did you and Arven make for us today?" Kieran asks as Juliana rummages through her bag.

She shakes her head, pulling out two packs of onigiri, "I couldn't find him this morning. I went over to Peachy’s and got these instead. The lady who runs the stand tried to push those weird mochi on me again, though."

Kieran frowns, "That's weird...I wonder why she wants people to eat them so badly?"

Juliana shrugs, "I don't know. What's even weirder, though, is as I was leaving, I thought it felt someone glaring at me. When I glanced back, I swear I saw that mascot thing turn away. Like it didn't want me to catch it staring or something..."

A shiver runs up Kieran’s spine, "Ugh...I don't like the sound of that..."

Juliana nods, setting the two onigiri packs down between them, "Maybe, once we've finished helping Ogerpon, we should investigate that next?"

Yeah, maybe they should do that...they are basically done with the joint school trip after this. There's plenty of time to spare. Kieran also quietly hopes he can spend more nights at the Festival of Masks with Juliana, too. He hasn't quite worked up the courage to ask her yet...

As they're eating, Kieran notices Juliana's still dripping wet from their battle with Milotic. He tracks a water droplet that rolls down her chin and onto her slender neck. Kieran swallows, almost hypnotized by its movement. There's a part of him that wonders how she'd react if he just...sucked the water off her...

He watches, mesmerized, as another droplet falls from her braid onto shoulder of her school shirt. The white fabric, made translucent by the water, sticks to her skin and he catches a glimpse of her shoulder...

Kieran blinks rapidly, forcing his gaze to the front. He stares, unfocused on the crystal poor, heart pounding in his chest, face uncomfortably hot...what was he doing? Juliana probably hasn't noticed how see-through her shirt is...and here he is acting like a creep...!

With jerky movements, Kieran takes off his jacket. He holds the jacket out to Juliana and, avoiding eye contact, squeaks, "H-here...!"

Juliana looks between him and the jacket, one eyebrow raised, "Er...? No thanks, it's too hot for another layer. Thanks for the offer, though."

"B-but...um...it's j-just that...!" He stutters, hand trembling as he tries to push the jacket into her hands. Can't she just put it on...? For his peace of mind, if nothing else...

Juliana glances down at herself and back up at Kieran. Understanding crosses her face, and a devious smile curls up her lips. She scooches closer, and asks, voice a veneer of innocence, "It's just that...what? What are you trying to say, Kieran?"

Kieran’s eyes snap back to hers, and his breath hitches. She's so close...he can feel her breaths ghosting over his cheek...! Best not think about that too deeply...

They stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, Kieran’s heart beating so hard he can feel it in his fingertips. He swallows hard before he breaks, gaze falling away from her face. He gets an eye full of the purple of her tie, just as a giant wave of water splashes him in the face.

He blinks the water out of his eyes and catches Juliana pulling her arm out of the lake. Shaking the excess water off, she scooches back to her original spot. Looking at Kieran askance, she says, "Mind your wandering eyes, please." She's scolding him, but her tone is more amused than angry.

On top of that, just to add to his humiliation, she winks at him. He feels like dunking his head into the crystal pool. Maybe if he's lucky, a Barraskewda will come from the depths and swallow him whole...

They drip-dry on the shore for a little while, and Kieran cools off (metaphorically speaking) before getting ready to head back down the mountain. At the stairs leading down the mountain, they almost run into Briar. She's fiddling with a little instrument, muttering to herself, "The energy readings seem strongest coming from those crystals at the bottom of the pool…I knew it!"

"Ms. Briar!" Kieran says before she walks straight into him.

"Oh!" Briar blinks, she clearly hadn't been expecting to see anyone else up here, "Hi there, Kieran. And Juliana, too! I see you've already found what was going to be our final test for you all. Did we choose locations that were too easy to find?"

"Not at all." Juliana says, shaking her head, "Kieran and I just make a good team is all."

Kieran's heart skips a beat, "Uh…I’m sorry, Ms. Briar, but this place is actually pretty special. It's a little unusual for anyone outside the community to be allowed up here..."

"I’m aware that this is sacred ground, yes." Briar says with a nod, "I did get permission from the caretaker, though. Was that not sufficient?"

"Er…Why did you come here?" Kieran asks, eyebrows scrunched together.

"Oh, just doing a bit of field research," Briar says, showing them the scientific instrument she had been muttering over earlier, "I was interested in the properties of the water here. And well…my hunch was on the money! You see, the Crystal Pool’s waters emit energy of the same wavelength as Terastal energy. Though I have no idea why that is…Once I figure that out, I might be able to stabilize that Terastal phenomenon in regions other than Paldea!" She nods at Juliana, "Once this school trip is over, I'd like to bend your ear for a while. I heard from Jacq that there was a little bit of trouble because you visited Area Zero unauthorized. I'd love to know all about that, if you have the time. It sounds like quite an adventure, if you ask me."

Juliana stills, "Um..." she says, voice uncharacteristically strained, "I don't think I'm...allowed to talk about that..."

"That's such a shame..." Briar sighs, a hand coming to rest on her cheek, "Perhaps if my research in the Crystal Pool bears fruit, I'll finally be able to get permission to go into Area Zero myself."

"Uh, that's up to Ms. Geeta..." Juliana says, looking oddly uncomfortable at this topic, "Sorry, um…We’ve got somewhere to be, so…we'd better be heading back, Kieran!"

Without waiting for an answer, Juliana speeds off down the stairs. Kieran wishes Briar an awkward good look on her research and hurries off after.

About halfway down, Juliana glances back to make sure Briar can't overhear, "Hey," she says, and there's an edge to her voice, "promise me you won't tell Arven about Briar's research, will you?"

Eh? What an odd question. Kieran tilts his head to the side, "I doubt the topic would even come up...is there reason why though...?"

Juliana's lips thin into a hard line, "Just promise me, ok?"

She's giving him an intense look, and Kieran suppresses a shiver, "O-ok, I promise!" He says with a nod.

"Thanks." Is all Juliana says in response.

The rest of the trip back down Oni Mountain is quiet. Kieran glances over at Juliana every once in a while, and can practically see the gears turning in her head. He wants to know what’s occupying her thoughts, but he doesn't want to pry...

...Maybe he should try talking to Arven...? Or would that be going behind Juliana's back? Before he can dwell on that line of thought, they've arrived back at his house.

"Hey, Grandpa!" Kieran calls out once they're through the gate, "We got the Crystal Cluster you needed!"

Grandpa Yukito looks up at the two of them, his face wan, "Kieran, Juliana…I’m so sorry."

"Huh?" Juliana and Kieran exchange looks, "Did something happen?"

"Carmine, she…" Grandpa Yukito takes a deep, shuddering breath, "She ran off with the mask."

Chapter Text

"What?" There's a ringing in Kieran’s ears. He stares, mouth agape, at Grandpa Yukito and he tries to process what he just heard. "Why would Big Sis do that?! Did you tell her about the ogre or something?!" There's a pit in his stomach and a panic rising in his throat at the thought. He can't help but feel that this is all his fault...if he hadn't lied to Carmine the night of the festival, maybe none of this would be happening right now...

Grandpa Yukito shakes his head, "I haven’t said a word."

Then why would she take the mask? Kieran wants to shout. But that's not quite right, is it? She probably had overhead them yesterday and is lashing out at not being included. "Right, I’m sorry…" Kieran says weakly, "I know you wouldn’t go blabbing like that..."

"Would you mind telling us what happened?" Juliana asks. Kieran’s eyes flit over to her, her eyebrows are scrunched together in consternation.

Grandpa Yukito nods, "While I was working on the mask earlier, Carmine...I don't know how, but she snuck up on me, demanding to know where I got the mask and who it belonged to. Before I could say anything, she snatched it and ran off without another word. Something else, I noticed as Carmine grabbed the mask, her eyes were an odd purple color..."

Kieran and Juliana exchange looks. That had happened yesterday too, hadn't it? How weird...

"Where do you think she went after taking the mask?" Juliana asks.

"She seemed to be headed to Loyalty Plaza with the mask." Yukito says, pointing towards Apple Hills, "I think…it would be best for you two to go after her."

"Thanks grandpa, we will." Kieran says with a nod, and they head back through the front gate.

Once they cross the bridge on the outskirts of Mossui Town, Kieran groans, "Aww man, it's gonna take so long to get up there..."

Juliana hums thoughtfully, "Not if Mirai takes us there. Are you up for it?"

Kieran blinks, "Is Miraidon big enough?"

"Well," Juliana shrugs, "Mirai's 'carried' four people before. Two shouldn't be a problem."

Kieran nods his agreement, it certainly would he faster than walking. Juliana calls Miraidon out of its Pokéball, the purple dragon blinks at her expectantly. Juliana grins and pulls another onigiri out of her bag. Miraidon sniffs it experimentally and Juliana chuckles, "Sorry, bud, this is all I got today. It won't be as good as an Arven special, but at least it's something."

Miraidon huffs, annoyed, but gobbles up the rice ball anyway. Juliana gives Miraidon a little pat on the head before settling onto its back. She pats the space behind her, and Kieran balks. He's starting to doubt her claim that Miraidon can carry four people, there's barely enough room for just Juliana...he feels suddenly warm at the thought of sitting so close behind her.

But there's no time for the fluttering in his stomach, they have to get to Loyalty Plaza now! Swallowing down his nerves, Kieran sits as far back on Miraidon as he can. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Juliana says, one eyebrow raised skeptically, "We'll be going pretty fast, so it might be better if you held onto me."

"Wha—" Kieran feels the heat rising in his cheeks, "But...! A-are you sure...?"

"Sure, I'm sure..." Juliana says, her own cheeks suddenly pink too, "Don't want you getting hurt or falling off, you know."

"O-ok, if you're sure..." Juliana nods, and Kieran scooches closer, nervously wrapping his arms around her waist. He's not quite sure what to do with his hands, so he clasps them white-knuckle tight in front of himself. He tries to ignore the way Juliana's stomach muscles flex as he presses his hands against her.

"Ready?" Juliana asks, no longer looking at him.

"Y-yeah..." Kieran mumbles, he hopes she can't feel his thundering heartbeat through her back...

"All right, Mirai, let's go!" Juliana says, Miraidon gives an enthusiastic 'Agias’, and they race up through Apple Hills. Kieran watches wide-eyes as familiar scenery blurs by, almost forgetting his embarrassment. It's like he's seeing his hometown for the first time, it's a marvel how fast Miraidon can go.

They make it up to Loyalty Plaza in record time, and Kieran’s elation fades. In the distance stands Carmine, her back is to the entrance of the Loyalty Plaza. Her shoulders are hunches up all the way to her ears, and it looks like she's holding the Teal Mask in a death grip. Even from as far away as the entrance, Kieran can sense a deep anger emanating from her.

Kieran and Juliana exchange looks, Kieran’s worry reflected in Juliana's eyes. Juliana gives him a reassuring nod, and they approach Carmine.

"Hey, sis..." Kieran says once they're closer.

Carmine straightens, turning to face them, scowling, "What?" Kieran flinches, there's an anger he's not used to in her voice.

"Please give back the mask...it's really important." Kieran tries, hoping asking nicely will be enough.

"So, you can give it back to your precious ogre?" Carmine sneers at the look of shock on his face.

"You...you knew?" Kieran says heart thudding in his chest. Besides him, Juliana sighs. They both understood that Carmine had probably overhead them yesterday, but the confirmation is still a hard pill to swallow.

"You really thought I bought that story I bought that story about a Spiritomb?" Carmine says, glaring at him, "Do you really think I'm that stupid, Kiki?"

"N-no..." He stutters, "It's just that..."

"It's just what? Spit it out already!"

"I wanted to see Ogerpon again, ok?!" Kieran blurts, the ensuing silence is deafening, but he screws up his courage continues, "I knew that if we told you about the ogre on the night of the festival you would have kept me from helping get the mask fixed! You always try to protect me like I'm still some little kid! I know I shouldn't have lied to you...but I just...I wanted to do this without you trying to stop me! I'm sorry, sis. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. Please just give the mask back. Once it's fixed, we can all go up Oni Mountain together and return it to Ogerpon. And then you'll see! It ogre really isn't the villain!"

Carmine mutters something under her breath, Kieran can only barely catch the word tricked. Before he can ask her what she said, Carmine says louder, "Then battle me, Kiki."

"W-what?" Kieran says, "What’s gotten into you, sis?! You’re acting real off today…"

"You want this mask so badly, then battle me for it. If you win, I'll give back the mask."

"You want to battle me?" Kieran says, faltering, "Not Juliana?"

Carmine clicks her tongue, "What does that outsider have to do with this?"

"She has everything to do with this!" Kieran says, it feels a little weird to be discussing Juliana when she's standing right next to him, "She saw Ogerpon first! It already likes her!"

"Who cares?" Carmine hisses, her eyes flashing purple, "Outsiders have no business sticking their noses into Kitakami affairs. Do you want the mask back or not?"

Distressed, Kieran glances at Juliana. She shakes her head as if she doesn't understand what's going on either. "Carmine’s clearly not interested in battling me." Juliana says, patting him gently on the shoulder, "But we need the mask back. You got this."

Kieran sighs long-sufferingly, it seems like this is the only way forward. He turns back to Carmine and nods, "Ok, let's do this then."

"Good." Carmine says with a mirthless smile, "Head to your position and we can get this show on the road."

Kieran moves to his spot, apprehension churning in his gut. He really doesn't want to do this. Something weird is going on, sure Carmine is on the prickly side, but she's never been quite this hostile before...

But this seems to be the only way forward. They can't get the mask back otherwise...

Carmine sends out Mightyena and Kieran calls out Yanmega. There's an uneasy quiet that settles over the Loyalty Plaza before Kieran says, "Bug buzz, Yanmega!" Yanmega vibrates its wings hard and fast, sending an invisible soundwave crashing into Mightyena.

Mightyena staggers backwards, but struggles up, teeth bared in an angry snarl at Yanmega. "Mightyena, use fire fang!" Carmine says, her lips curled in a similar snarl to Mightyena’s. Mightyena leaps sinking red-hot fangs into Yanmega. Yanmega makes a distressed buzzing but doesn't fall, it looks like it’s about to, though.

"Use quick attack, Yanmega!" Kieran calls. Yanmega lunges at Mightyena and slams into it bodily, causing Mightyena to collapse.

With a glower, Carmine says, "It's your turn Ninetales." The fox Pokémon comes out of its ball, arrogantly pointing its elegant tails to the sky.

"One more time, use quick attack Yanmega." Kieran knows Yanmega isn't going to last much longer, but may as well try and get a little bit of damage in.

Before Yanmega can make its move, Carmine says, "Ninetales, disable!" Ninetales' glares at Yanmega, eyes aglow, making it unable to complete its attack.

Before Kieran can pivot and call another attack, Carmine says, "Now, use flamethrower." Ninetales opens its mouth and a jet of hot flames arcs into Yanmega, causing it to collapse.

"It's your turn, Poliwrath!" Kieran calls.

Kieran is about to call his next move when Carmine says, "Now, Ninetales, use extrasensory!" Ninetales' eyes glow again as it sends a shockwave of invisible psychic power crashing into Poliwrath.

Poliwrath drops to one knee, before struggling up tiredly. "Liquidation, Poliwrath!" Kieran calls. Poliwrath straightens up before launching itself at Ninetales with an immense blast of water, slamming into the fox Pokémon. Ninetales stumbles before collapsing and Poliwrath staggers back to Kieran’s side, swaying a little with exhaustion.

"Morpeko, go!" Carmine, there's an edge to her voice as if she didn't think he could get this far on his own. "Aura wheel!" Carmine then says. Morpeko curls into a ball, spinning faster and faster before slamming full speed into Poliwrath who collapses into a heap.

As Kieran returns Poliwrath to its ball, Morpeko's stomach rumbles. It twitches and suddenly an angry scowl appears on its face, teeth bared as its stomach rumbles again even more loudly than the first time.

"Go, Gliscor!" Kieran says. Gliscor bursts out of the Pokéball, flapping its wings soundlessly, grinning to show off its sharp fangs.

Before Carmine can get another attack in, Kieran says, "Use x-scissor, Gliscor!" In a flash, Gliscor is on Morpeko slashing it with two razor sharp claws. Morpeko stumbles backwards, but ultimately staggers upright.

"Thunder wave, Morpeko." Carmine says, Morpeko looks back at her skeptically. Carmine gives Morpeko a hand motion that seems to say, 'get to it already!' Morpeko gives a little huff before sending a little jolt of electricity at Gliscor that, predictably does nothing. Morpeko's stomach rumbles loudly again and it fishes a berry out of its fur. Munching angrily, Morpeko squeaks its disappointment at Carmine’s choice of orders.

Kieran, too, is a little confused by what just happened. Carmine wouldn't usually make such a silly mistake. What's going on? Something weird is definitely happening today...

"Gliscor, use earthquake!" Kieran calls out before Carmine has time to correct her mistake. Gliscor slams into the ground, the ensuing quake causes Morpeko to fumble its berry before it collapses.

Some kind of focus seems to snap back into place for Carmine and she mutters to herself angrily something Kieran can't hear. Then, out loud, she says, "Leavanny, go!"

Kieran calls for Gliscor to use dual wingbeat at the same time as Carmine tells Leavanny to use leaf blade. The two leap at each other, a tangle of limbs. After their brief clash, Gliscor returns to Kieran’s side only a little worse for wear while Leavanny lies in a collapsed heap.

Carmine clicks her tongue; it seems like she's down to her last Pokémon. "Sinistcha, it's your turn." She says.

"Use dual wingbeat one more time, Gliscor!" Kieran says. Gliscor rushes at Sinistcha, who fades out of existence causing the move to miss.

No sooner does Gliscor return to Kieran’s side does Carmine say, "Stun spore, Sinistcha!" Sinistcha cackles as it throws a yellow powder at Gliscor. As the powder settles, Gliscor freezes, its wings flapping much slower than before.

Carmine quickly follows up by calling, "No Sinistcha, use hex!" Sinistcha glows briefly and then a ghostly fire surrounds Gliscor. One by one the flames slam into Gliscor before it collapses.

"Dipplin go!" Kieran says. A sweet aroma wafts throughout the area as Dipplin appears.

Carmine smirks and Kieran bristles. Carmine thinks she's got this won, does she? Just because Dipplin's quite a bit slower? She'll see.

"Sinistcha, use scald!" Carmine says. Sinistcha shoots a jet of boiling water at Dipplin who blinks, unimpressed, at the impromptu bath.

"Use dragon pulse, Dipplin!" Kieran calls. Dipplin opens its mouth wide and blasts Sinistcha with an indigo beam. Sinistcha collapses, its teacup clattering onto the ground.

And with that, it's over. Kieran is about to return Dipplin to its Pokéball and retrieve the mask from Carmine. Before he can do either of those things, though, Juliana says, "Stop, Kieran! Something's wrong!"

Kieran glances over at Juliana who's looking intensely at a spot on the ground near Carmine’s feet. Kieran looks, too, but it's just the shadow of Carmine’s legs.

Until the shadow wiggles. He thinks it's just a trick of the light, but it does it again. The shadow writhes and twitches rising up and out of the ground, wisps of purple smoke swirl upwards as the shadow bulges out of the ground.

Eventually something emerges from the dark mass and it's...that little mascot thing from Peachy’s? Is it...glaring at him...? It looks like it's trying to be menacing. An unsuccessful attempt, to be sure.

Kieran blinks and rubs his eyes, maybe he's just tired from the battle. Nope. The mascot thing is still there. Still looks like it's trying to glare a hole into Kieran. He looks back over to Juliana. He's met with a brows furrowed confused look that he's probably mirroring at her. Kieran, temporarily ignoring his confusion, starts to walk towards Carmine to retrieve the mask.

"Stay where you are." Carmine says in a harsh command, "Battle's not over yet Kiki."

Kieran freezes, looking back at Peachy’s mascot. Is it actually a Pokémon? As he glances between the mascot and Carmine, she laughs haughtily, "Let me introduce you to my new partner, Lord Momowaro! Show them what you got!"

Momowaro cackles, its body splitting in two. The two halves float a small distance away, revealing an inner body that reminds Kieran of a Pecha Berry pit with a ponytail on top. With the shell gone, an unbearably sweet smell fills the area, even stronger than Dipplin's super sweet syrup. Like overripe fruit and...something else that Kieran can't quite put his finger on

Momowaro mutters unintelligibly to itself. It cackles to itself again when it seems to have come up with a particularly nasty plot. Kieran has to do something! But what kind of Pokémon is this? What are its weaknesses? He has no frame of reference to even begin to formulate a plan.

"Um..." He flounders, "U-use syrup bomb, Dipplin." Dipplin spits a sticky blob of candy at Momowaro. It lands and Momowaro barely looks bothered. Oh, that's not good...don't panic, Kieran! All this means is that it's not weak against grass type moves...

Momowaro, shaking off some of the candy, and gleefully hurls a blob of noxious purple goo at Dipplin. Is this thing just toying with him? It doesn't look like it did any damage until Dipplin shivers violently. It seems that Momowaro knows toxic...

It's OK, still no reason to panic, Kieran thinks to himself as he says, "Dipplin, use dragon pulse." Dipplin opens its mouth wide and sends a beam straight at Momowaro.

Just before the attack lands, Momowaro hides itself away in its shell. Dragon pulse manages to push it back a little and when Momowaro reemerges it looks like it's lost some of the bravado it had earlier. Something in its expression looks shocked that Kieran didn't just roll over and give up.

"Ugh, come on!" Carmine scoffs, "Stop holding back, Lord Momowaro! Show Kiki that he's making a mistake siding with that ogre!" Kieran wonders if she’s talking about Ogerpon or Juliana given the way she's scowling at the other girl.

Momowaro shakes its head as if to rid itself of any doubts. It then glares at Kieran and Dipplin. A shiver runs up his spine, he's never felt this kind of malice directed at him before...whatever's coming next can't be good.

Momowaro eyes glow and chains dripping with nasty purple poison shoot out from its discarded shell halves. The chains wrap tight around Dipplin and squeeze until the dragon collapses.

And now Kieran’s down to his last Pokémon, Furret. The panic and fear have truly set it at this point. He can't do this. Furret can't beat this thing. But what else can he do? If he doesn't win, they won't get the mask back. And Ogerpon...

He feels like he's about to hyperventilate. Haltingly, he throws his last Pokéball, "It's down to you, Furret! Do your best!"

Both Carmine and Momowaro laugh when they see Furret, like their victory is all but assured. Something hot bristles up his spine at the way Carmine smirks at him.

No. He cannot let them have this. "Furret!" Kieran calls with a determination that's suddenly welled up inside him, "Use dig!"

It's a bit of a gamble, Kieran thinks to himself as Furret burrows underground. He isn't one hundred percent sure, but it seems like Momowaro is a poison type.

Momowaro doesn't seem to notice at first, too busy cackling to itself again plotting its next attack. When it finally notices that Furret isn't within eyesight anymore, it's too late. Furret has burrowed a path directly underneath Momowaro and is about to make its move. That fear from before returns to Momowaro's face and before Furret can land a hit, it panics and hides behind Carmine’s legs.

What?

It gave up? Does that mean he's won? Kieran looks at Juliana who looks just as confused. "Wha—" Carmine says, eyes wide, voice high with anger, "What are you doing? Get back out there!"

Momowaro shakes its head, and Carmine’s jaw drops in disbelief. Kieran almost wants to laugh. All its grandstanding before was just an act, wasn't it? This Momowaro is nothing but a coward.

"I said!" Carmine growls through gritted teeth, "Finish the fight!" She picks Momowaro and it looks like she's about to throw it back into battle.

Before she can Momowaro's eyes glow. Carmine’s eyes suddenly turn that odd purple color, and she stills, gently placing 'Momowaro' onto the ground.

A malevolent energy dissipates off Momowaro as its whole body glows a faint purple. "Tis such a pity." Carmine says, but her voice has a strange echo to it like there are two people speaking in unison, "It seems you've fallen for that wretched ogre’s lies." Is this Momowaro's doing?

"What have you done to big sis?!" Kieran says, pit of dread sinking in his stomach. Is this why Carmine’s been acting so weird lately?

"Worry not," Momowaro says through Carmine, ignoring Kieran, "her sway over you won't last much longer. Say goodbye to the Teal Mask." Carmine lifts the mask high above her head.

Chapter Text

Time seems to slow, Kieran watches in horror as Carmine bring the Teal Mask down. That ringing in his ears is back, it feels like his head is stuck in a fog. Why is this happening? He won. If their positions were reversed, Kieran’s sure he'd give the mask back...he thinks Carmine would to, but this Momowaro or whatever its name is...why does it hate Ogerpon so much?

Kieran feels stuck, nailed down to this one small patch of ground. If he tries to move, Momowaro will have Big Sis break the mask (or worse, Momowaro will break Carmine). But Ogerpon...! He can't, he can't, can't! Can't think, can't act, can't move! Can't do anything...!

Vaguely, out of the corner of his eye, he registers Juliana reaching into her bag. She says something he can't hear, and with a flash of light, her Clodsire appears. She points at Momowaro and, eyes wide with glee, Clodsire waddles towards it with surprising speed. In seconds, Momowaro disappears into Clodsire's mouth, eyes wide with panicked shock. Carmine freezes on the spot, an odd wail echoing from both her mouth and the Pokémon inside Clodsire.

Kieran crashes back into his own body as the sounds of a struggling Momowaro can be heard from inside Clodsire's mouth. Carmine screeches in that strange double voice, "H-how dare you?! Release me at once!"

"Dango here is an odd one." Juliana says with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes, "You see, it's a poison type but it's favorite food is Pecha Berries. Unless you want to be lunch, have Carmine return the Teal Mask."

"Never...!" Is Carmine-Momowaro's reply. There's an odd look on Carmine’s face, stuck somewhere between indignant, terror, and deep, seething anger.

"I see." Juliana sighs. With a sharp nod she looks at Clodsire, "Alright, Dango. Snack time."

Clodsire slaps its tail on the ground excitedly. The sounds of panic from inside Clodsire increase until Momowaro says through Carmine, "F-fine! We will return the mask! Just tell your brute to release me...!"

"I will once the mask has been returned." Juliana says, eyes narrowed in suspicion. She looks over at Kieran and motions at Carmine with her head.

"M-me?" Kieran stutters, pointing at himself.

"Uh-huh." Juliana nods at him, a small, soft smile flits across her lips, "You won that battle, so you get the mask."

Kieran doesn't know about all that. This outcome doesn't feel much like winning. Certainly not with Juliana stepping in...but still...her praise warms Kieran enough that he finds he the strength to bridge the gap between Carmine and himself.

"S-Sis?" Kieran says, laying a hand on Carmine’s shoulder, shaking her gently.

Carmine doesn't react. She's staring straight through him, eyes glowing a lurid purple. Kieran’s heart thuds painfully in his chest. This is somehow his fault...! If only he—

Kieran shakes his head! Now is not the time to spiral! He shakily removes the Teal Mask from her nerveless fingers and staggers back over to Juliana's side.

Juliana gives him a wan smile and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. Unconsciously, Juliana’s fingers massage into a spot on his shoulder. Now’s not the time…! Kieran can't allow himself to dwell on how soothing her fingers feel...

Juliana turns back to Clodsire, "Alright Dango, spit that out. I've got an even better treat for you right here!"

Juliana pulls out a small pouch from her bag and Clodsire thumps its tail even more enthusiastically. It opens its mouth and Momowaro comes shooting out. Clodsire doesn't seems to notice or care in the least, waddling back over to Juliana, vibrating with impatience as she opens the bag. Clodsire gets several berries to munch on before being returned to its Pokéball.

Momowaro, meanwhile, glares at the two of them, looking quite a bit more bedraggled than it had moments ago. With an irritated huff, it shakes off as much of Clodsire spit as it can. Through Carmine, Momowaro says, their double voice an angry hiss, "How dare you...!"

That's rich, Kieran thinks. Momowaro is the one who's too cowardly to finish the fight it started, and its mad at them? Juliana seems to be on the same wavelength, if her angry glare is anything to go by. "You really thought I was going to let you smash the mask?" Juliana says, "You lost. All I did was make sure you kept up the end of the bargain."

"This is far from over!" Momowaro growls, "If this one's Pokémon are too weak, we'll just have to get some more!"

Kieran bristles, Carmine’s Pokémon aren't weak! Before he can voice the anger clawing its way up his spine, Momowaro's vanishes into Carmine’s shadow. After a moment, an eerie light emanates off her, wisps curling off like fog over a lake. Carmine spins, approaching the Loyal Three monument, hand outstretched. Hand glowing with that eerie energy, Carmine touches one of the stone pillars. She removes it a moment later, leaving behind a glowing handprint.

For a moment, nothing happens, the air around them grows ominously still. Suddenly, the ground rumbles. 'What's happening', Kieran thinks, a pit forms in his stomach, 'is it an earthquake?' They have enough to deal with already. And now the earth itself is conspiring against them? The statues of the Loyal Three begin to shudder, glowing with the energy from Carmine's hand, and the monument explodes in a beam of light, rubble shooting out in all directions.

Through the dust cloud, Kieran can just barely make out three distinct forms. The dust settles and there the resurrected Loyal Three stand, like they've come straight out of one of Kieran’s childhood picture books. To the left, Munkidori cackles ominously. To the right, Fezandipiti flicks one of its head feathers away from itself haughtily. In the center, Okidogi flexes its muscles glaring down at Kieran and Juliana.

Kieran stares at the Loyal Three in wide-eyed horror. How are he and Juliana supposed to beat them? Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Juliana tense, hand twitching towards the Pokéballs on her belt. She can't really be thinking of fighting them alone, can she? Furet’s the only Pokémon he has left at the moment...there's no time to heal the rest of his party...AGH, this is such a mess...!

At some point, Momowaro reemerged from Carmine's shadow. It grins wide and arrogant, "Welcome back, my friends!" It says though Carmine, "The time has come to finish what we started! Now go! Retrieve the Teal Mask!"

The Loyal Three glance between Momowaro and the Teal Mask in Kieran's hands before huddling together in a tight circle muttering fervently amongst themselves. After several moments, Fezandipiti breaks away from the group and lets out several delicate chirps that seem to be directed at Momowaro.

Momowaro blinks, Carmine’s voice comes out a startled squawk, "What do you mean 'not until you've had something to eat'??"

Both Munkidori and Okidogi grunt in unison. Momowaro groans, "Fine! Have this as a snack!"

Momowaro glows, and suddenly a mountain of purple mochi appear in front of the Loyal Three. Kieran can feel his jaw drop, and Juliana gives a quiet gasp next to him. Well at least now they know where the mochi have been coming from...it seems pretty obvious in hindsight...

The Loyal Three gobble down the mountain of mochi lickety-split before returning to their huddle. This time, it's Okidogi who breaks away first, whining at Momowaro while making exaggerated movements towards its stomach.

"Not enough?! Excuse you!? Who is it you have to thank for reviving you in the first place!" Momowaro screeches, livid.

Fezandipiti and Munkidori swat at Okidogi angrily. They both make simpering noises trying to placate Momowaro. Momowaro relents with a beleaguered sigh. It has Carmine point towards Kitakami Hall, "The humans have snacks down there."

The Loyal Three look at Momowaro, eyes as big as saucers. They look like they're about to bolt down the mountain, but before they can Momowaro says, "Take this one with you. There's something else we need down there, too."

The Three nod and Momowaro disappears into Carmine’s shadow again. Fezandipiti picks Carmine up and flies off towards Kitakami Hall, Munkidori and Okidogi running close behind. And they're gone, out of sight. Off to further whatever nefarious scheme Momowaro has in mind...

Kieran blinks, it feels like he's finally able to breathe again now that it's just him and Juliana. He takes a shuddering breath in, the panic hasn't receded, but the ground beneath him feels a tiny bit steadier.

Juliana looks at him, eyebrows pinched with concern, "Were they...?" She asks, uncertain.

Kieran nods shakily, "The Loyal Three. I'm pretty sure..."

Juliana sighs, "I thought so." She says, "Well, let's get your Pokémon healed up."

Kieran nods, grateful, "Thanks..." He mumbles. Kieran’s glad Juliana's here, her presence a calming balm. If he had tried to face this alone, who knows how he'd be fairing right now...

They work in silence until Juliana says suddenly, "Hey, where are Ogerpon's other masks? One of the signboards said something about it using four different ones, right?"

"That's right." Kieran says, running a finger over his chin thoughtfully, "I'm pretty sure they're kept at Kitakami Ha...oh no." He has a sinking feeling he knows why Momowaro went down the mountain with the Loyal Three. Panic rises in Kieran’s throat again, hot and sour. It's just one thing after another today...!

"Right." Juliana stands, "I thought that might be the case. Here's what we're gonna do. I'll head down to Kitakami Hall and see if the masks are still there. You go back to your place, see if your grandpa is done with the Teal Mask. Ok?"

"S-should we really be splitting up...?" Kieran balks. What if he runs into Momowaro by himself?

"We have two tasks to do, and no time to argue about how we're going to do them." Juliana says, tone firm, "We'll meet back up at the community center and decide where to go from there."

Before Kieran say anything else, Miraidon appears in a flash of light. Juliana hops on and the pair speed off towards Kitakami Hall.

"W-wait...!" Kieran shouts, eyes wide, "J-Juliana, stop! That's—" a steep drop, not a path, the words stick in Kieran’s throat as he watches Miraidon make a beeline towards the fence.

Juliana turns back and winks at Kieran, "I forgot to mention," Miraidon leaps over the fence, "Mirai's pretty good at flying, too!" Heart in his throat, Kieran looks on in disbelief as the two antennas on Miraidon's head open up into plane wing looking things and they gently glide down the mountain.

"Now go!" Juliana says, before she gets too far, "I'll see you soon!"

As Juliana and Miraidon glide out of sight, Kieran watches mouth agape, heart thudding erratically in his chest. That's...she just...

Juliana's fearless, Kieran realizes (and, boy, does that have his heart pounding for an entirely different reason). There's no time to ponder at the moment, so Kieran turns around and runs back towards Apple Hills.

As soon as he got back to the house, he'd told Grandpa Yukito what happened. Grandpa blanched, and without a word hurriedly continued his work on the mask.

Now, Kieran paces an anxious circle in the yard as Grandpa Yukito puts the finishing touches on the Teal Mask. At the rate he's going, they're going to have a new small, circular trench. Grandpa Yukito glances up at him, sympathy etched into his face.

There's a whine lodged in Kieran’s throat of 'hurry up...! There's no time!' But he can't...! Grandpa's going as fast as he can. His normally steady hands shake with exertion, with fear of what Momowaro will do next.

Kieran feels it too, nervous energy pooling in his gut. He's worried, so worried. About Ogerpon, about Carmine, about Juliana. Especially so about Juliana. He knows she can take care of herself, but still...

As Kieran stews, Grandpa Yukito finally finishes. With a heavy sigh, he stands up, "I've done my best." He says, "It should be restored to full strength. At least I hope so..."

Kieran hopes so, too. He reaches out to take the mask when, suddenly the door to the house opens with a sharp clack and both Kierana and Yukito jump.

Grandma Hideko appears, one arm behind her back, a placid smile on her face. There's something odd about the expression, it lacks all of the usual warmth Grandma Hideko usually brings with her.

"I thought you all could do with a snack." She says, and there's something odd about her voice, too, but Kieran can't quite tell what it is.

"Hm...?" Grandpa Yukito says, head tilted at her sudden appearance, "Thank you, dear. But neither of us are very hungry at the moment..."

"I...insist..." Grandma Hideko says, smile stretching oddly, she brings her the hand from behind her back slowly into view, "D-dear...have some...mo...chi..."

Kieran’s stomach drops as a plate of familiar purple appears. No...Grandma Hideko, too...? Words stick in his throat when Grandpa Yukito reaches a hand out, "This is awfully sudden, dear...but if you insist..."

No...! Not Grandpa Yukito, too! Momowaro's taken so much from him already! Kieran can't, won't, let it happen again...!

"W-wait...!" Kieran finally finds his voice, "Gramps, those mochi are...!" Grandpa Yukito freezes, glancing back at Kieran with wide eyes.

Sensing their hesitation, Grandma Hideko says, eyes cracked open to reveal a familiar purple glow, "Eat it...Eat th-the...mochi. I insist...!"

Grandpa Yukito shakes his head, "N-no thank you, dear. I'm really not hungry."

With a sudden flash of light, Grandma Hideko's Chandelure suddenly appears. With an angry glare, Hideko growls, "EAT...THE...MOCHI...!!!"

Grandma Hideko points at them, and Chandelure's eyes start to glow. "Hideko..." Grandpa Yukito says incredulously, "W-what...?"

"You who support that wretched ogre will not be permitted to continue!" Hideko says her voice not her own.

Yukito sucks in a sharp breath, eyes wide. Suddenly, Kieran feels the Teal Mask being shoved into his arms, "Go!" Grandpa Yukito shouts.

Kieran feels numb, "B-but I...!" He can't just leave...!

"No buts." Grandpa Yukito says resolutely, "You have to make sure the mask gets back to Ogerpon! I'll hold her off as long as I can! Now go!"

Kieran shakes, rooted to the spot. He can't, he can't, he can't...! He must. For Ogerpon! For Big Sis Carmine! For Grandma Hideko and anyone else who might come under Momowaro's spell! Momowaro has to be stopped!

Kieran nods at Grandpa Yukito, "Ok!" He says, voice watery.

The last thing Kieran hears as he runs under the gate is, "Go, Arbok!"