Chapter Text
"Morning, everyone!" Ms. Briar greeted the next day. Carmine stood to her right, and Kieran stayed to her right. "Did you sleep well? Starting today, you'll be joined by our two students from Blueberry Academy." She turned to the two. "Go on, kids! Time to introduce yourselves."
"Hi! I'm Carmine!" Carmine greeted, unusually happy. "It's a pleasure to meet all you outsiders—I mean, visitors from Paldea! Hee hee!"
Carmine turned to Kieran.
"I-I'm… Kieran…" he shyly greeted.
"Carmine and Kieran actually grew up here, so ask them for help if you need anything," the caretaker said. "And you two had better be of real help, you hear me?" he warned the two.
"Aye-aye," Carmine unenthusiastically said.
"R-Right…"
"Now that's settled… Why don't I tell you all a bit about what we have planned for you? This school trip of yours will be an exercise in orienteering! First, we'll have you split into pairs. Then each pair will be tasked with finding three signboards located around the land of Kitakami. On each signboard, you'll find snippets of an old folktale passed down here in Kitakami. Read them all and learn a bit about our home. To prove you've completed the task, we ask that each pair take a snapshot together in front of these signboards with their phone or camera. Take a photo together in front of each of the three signboards to complete your mission! Take a photo together in front of each of the three signboards to complete your mission! It's a self-guided tour of Kitakami! Learn all about its rich history! Much more fun than sitting around and listening to me ramble on and on, eh?"
"Wonderful! What an innovative idea for a group activity!"
"Oh, and I've got a gift for each of you as well!"
He gave each of us a red selfie stick.
"I hear these things're all the rage in the big cities. Use them when you take those photos! I'll even teach you a rad pose I came up with all on my own."
He taught us a cheering pose, as if we were shouting "Eureka!"
"Ah, yes. Real… rad…"
I could hear the disappointment in Ms. Briar's voice. Can't blame her. From my experience, I have never seen any attempt to be "hip with the kids" succeed.
"Remember that one of the goals of this trip is to deepen the ties between our two schools. It seems like someone who knows the area well would be a big help. That being said… Let's try to maximize the number of interschool pairs, okay? Time to mingle!"
We started talking. Kieran looked away when I approached him, so I approached Carmine.
"You're Florian or whatever, right? Let me guess—you want to pair up with one of us poor, lonely Blueberry students?"
I nodded. I didn't want to do it that much, but here we are.
"Gosh, it's so sweet of you to go out of your way like that. What would we ever do without you? Oh yeah. So my little brother here has been all googly-eyed over you since yesterday."
Kieran's eyes widened in embarrassment.
"He wouldn't stop talking about you—even at home. I seriously couldn't get him to shut up."
"S-Sis!" Kieran exclaimed. "What're you tellin' her that for, dummy?!"
"Hey! Watch who you call 'dummy,' if you know what's good for you!"
Was anyone else listening?
"Aw man…"
"Look at him, being all shy…" Carmine fake-gushed. "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."
"Sure," I replied. A battle could put my mind at ease.
"Well, what do you know—turns out you're sorta nice. This'll make my brother real happy." She turned to Kieran. "Chin up, Kiki! Florian says he'll battle you!"
"What?!" the little brother exclaimed. "W-Wowzers, really?! You don't mind?!"
"He doesn't mind a bit. Get to your positions, you two. Everyone else, clear out. Make some space!"
"I-I got this," Kieran affirmed to himself. This was the first time I saw a smile on his face. He sent his first Pokémon, a Sentret, out. I hadn't rearranged my team, so you guessed it, Quaquaval was up once again! Unlike Carmine, I didn't have a bad gut feeling about Kieran, so I decided to go easy on him.
"Quaquaval, use Aqua Jet!"
"Sentret—"
And Quaquaval still took it out in one blow. I kept Quaquaval in as he sent his Yanma out.
"You got this, Yanma! C-Cut through the wind and show'em what you've got! Use Air Cutter!"
"Quaquaval, use Brick Break!"
The super effective move did quite a bit of damage to Quaquaval. Quaquaval chopped at Yanma, bringing it down to the ground, but it managed to get back up. The two Pokémon were at about the same health.
"H-Hey, you're not holding back, are ya? I… I wouldn't really like that…"
Shoot. He caught on.
"Yanma, use Air Cutter!"
"Quaquaval, use Aqua Step!"
After Yanma made its move, Quaquaval danced and high kicked it, knocking it out.
"Wowzers…"
I wanted to say, "I meant Aqua Jet! Whoopsies!" But would it have made him feel better?
"Good show!" Ms. Briar cheered. "Nicely done, kids! Nothing like a friendly battle to get to know someone!"
"W-Wowzers! You sure are strong, Florian!"
I'm strong? Just wait until you battle Juliana.
"You really aren't half bad," Carmine said. "Kiki's nearly as strong as I am, you know."
"I dunno about that…"
"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—!"
"Don't what? It's not like we can pair up. Or were you hoping to partner with some other rando outsider instead of Florian?"
"Well… no, but… Aw man…"
"Don't worry. He's just being shy," Carmine assured me. "I'll go find some chump to pair up with, too. Or I can just do this alone. Watch out for my little bro, you."
I nodded.
"Looks like you've all paired up!" The caretaker said. "Let's go ahead and mark where you'll be going on those Rotom Phones of yours. Now then, off you go to do some exploring! Oh, and if you find yourself in need of any Potions or Poké Balls or the like, head on over thataway and stop by Peachy's! They'd be happy to set you to rights."
"U-Um… So it looks like… we should probably start with that signboard at… Loyalty Plaza…" Kieran said. "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… I'll probably just get in your way if I stick too close, so I'll just… follow you from a safe distance!"
Kieran ran to the left. I was going to follow after him when Juliana tapped my shoulder.
"Looks like you have a new admirer," Juliana teased.
"If you had gone there instead of me, he'd be obsessing over you instead," I replied. "Who are you partnered with?"
"That bloke Carmine."
"Okay. I ran into her when I went to talk to the caretaker. Just… be careful," I warned.
"I've got an eye on her," she reassured me. "Seriously, she called us 'outsiders'. Massive red flag, innit?"
"Speaking of her, where is she?"
"I saw her going east," she said. "Oh! She made me swear that I wouldn't tell anyone. Sorry!"
"Ah. Sounds like her. (Or at least, what I know of her.) See you!"
We split up in opposite directions. I ran through the apple orchards outside the west side of town and bumped into an Applin on the way. At least I wouldn't have to browse through Tagtree Thicket anymore…
I climbed up a small plateau. A red triangle acted as an archway. This must be Loyalty Plaza. A traveling app developer showed up (mainly to upgrade my phone with a bunch of frames that depended on my Rotom Phone case. I found a wooden signboard near the entrance.
"That's the first signboard!"
Kieran ran up to me.
"S-Sorry, did I startle ya? I-I did mention that I'd hang back an' follow you here… We're s'posed to read the signboard, right?"
"Right."
"Oh, I already know the whole story, so… g-go ahead. You should check it out."
I read the signboard.
"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, O-ki-do-gi, Mun-ki-do-ri, and Fe-zan-dip-i-ti?" I took care pronouncing their names since I didn't want to offend any of the locals. "—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."
"The Loyal Three Monument is right over there…" Kieran pointed ahead. "But don't you think the ogre in that folktale sounds kinda…cool?"
"You think it's cool?"
"C'mon, it was all alone!" Kieran protested in a sudden burst of emotion.
"I was just making sure I heard you right…"
"The battle was three against one, but the ogre still managed to hold its own. That's way cool! 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 at 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…"
Kieran snapped back to reality, as if he had some flashbacks the moment before. "Umm… So yeah, we're s'posed to take a photo in front of the signboard, right? I don't have a smartphone… Could you…?"
"Sure!"
We posed. I winked and gave a peace sign. Kieran shyly gave a peace sign, too.
"One, two, three, smile!"
Kieran smiled. He didn't show his teeth, but I could tell he was happy.
"That turned out great. You're even good at taking photos…"
"Rotom did the positioning and the 'clicking the shutter' part," I replied. "I'm just good at posing. You wanna try it with me?"
"Oh! No! I didn't mean—M-Maybe… next time… Y'know, I didn't wanna have to come do this whole school trip thing, but… well… it might actually be kinda fun… I get to be out in nature around my hometown… and talk to you, Florian… H-Hey, if you want, maybe we could set up a picnic. Would you like a sandwich—?"
Miraidon came out of its Poké Ball at the mention of the word "sandwich."
"Gyah!" Kieran jumped back in surprise. "Wh-what is that thing?! Some kinda… kaiju or somethin'?!"
"A kaiju? This is Miraidon. I ride on it sometimes. And it likes sandwiches."
"It's called Miraidon? And you ride on it, huh…? I've never seen another Pokémon like this… And it seriously comes out whenever it hears the word 'sandwich'?"
I chuckled. "It's a long story."
Miraidon affectionately growled.
"Never thought I'd actually get to meet such an awesome Pokémon. No wonder you're so strong, Florian… You're… you're special."
"I've heard that before."
"Oh. Really?"
"From my mom," I laughed.
"Oh! So, the next—! 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 this mountainside. I'll hang back for now an' meet you here later!"
Miraidon made a confused, disappointed noise. I took a Flying Taxi back to Mossui Town and saw a bridge to the right with the same triangle "arch" at the end. I crossed it and climbed up the mountainside using Miraidon. I saw the same red triangle at the foot of a flight of stairs, where I was. Stairs! Woohoo! Couldn't get enough of them in Paldea, so there's more here!
A bunch of stalls met me at the top of the stairs. I went past that and climbed more stairs to the very top. The caretaker stood in front of some sort of temple. I found a signboard to the left.
"That's the second signboard. Bit tricky to find, huh?"
Kieran appeared behind me again.
"S-Sorry… I'm followin' at a distance, so… I… I hope you can get used to me showing up like this. Now then, let's read the sign…"
"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 the 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."
"Did you read it…?" Kieran asked. I nodded. "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."
He was starting to persuade me. I mean, that teal mask sounded like it could do good things.
"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."
"You know, I'm starting to…"
"Oh! Um… right. Picture. We're s'posed to take a picture! You can take the next one, too, if you don't mind, Florian…"
We did jazz hands at the signboard. Kieran seemed to be more confident in this photo.
"Phew. I knew it was the right call to let you handle it, Florian. Now, on to the next signboard… Oh. And you know the mountain the stories say the ogre lives on? It's actually Oni Mountain." Oni Mountain. Demon Mountain. That didn't sound intimidating at all. "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."
"You know what, I'll go see it with you."
"Y-Yes! I really… wanted you to see it for yourself, Florian! So… if you keep climbing up, you'll reach the Infernal Pass. There's a sign before that… If you turn at the sign, you can get to the Dreaded Den. S-So I'll just head on up, then. Come along when you're ready. An' be careful!"
I followed after Kieran and climbed up the stairs. I took a spiralling path on the mountainside which ended with a narrow bridge to the other side of a waterfall. I made the mistake of looking down.
"It's okay. Miraidon, let's do this."
Miraidon sped through the path, somehow managing to stay in the center. I met Kieran on the other side.
"Florian! Didja have trouble getting across that narrow path?"
"It was scary," I admitted.
"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… O-Oh yeah… I think I've gotten a bit stronger since the last time we battled, so… y'know… if you wanted to… we could battle?"
"Let's do it!"
"All right! Though, uh, we should heal up our teams first."
Kieran took care of our Pokémon with the healing items he had.
"I'll give it all I got. I-I got this!" he said with more confidence in his voice. "Th-this time… I'll put up a good fight!"
His Sentret had evolved into a Furret while I was gone.
"Quaquaval, use Brick Break!"
"Furret, use Double-Edge!"
Quaquaval delivered a swift blow to Furret.
"But that was just one attack! Aw man, it did so much damage…"
"You said you don't like it when I hold back… Quaquaval, stay in—"
Ceruledge came out of her Poké Ball. Quaquaval returned to his own.
"Yanma, use Bug Buzz!"
"Ceruledge, use Bitter Blade!"
Yanma's wings blurred together. I flinched at the sound, but it only made Ceruledge's blades flare up more.
"Whoa, that attack made my heart skip a beat…"
I kept Ceruledge in as Kieran sent his next Pokémon out, a Poliwhirl.
"Ceruledge, use Shadow Claw!"
Kieran covered his eyes as Ceruledge slashed at Poliwhirl
"Poliwhirl, use Liquidation!"
A sphere of water formed around Poliwhirl as it punched Ceruledge.
"Ceruledge, do it again!"
Ceruledge took Poliwhirl down, ending the battle.
"Aw man… I lost…"
"I…"
"I knew it… You really are strong, Florian. How am I ever gonna be able to beat you?"
"Have six Pokémon instead of three," I was about to tease.
"If the ogre saw that battle, I'm sure it'd be thinking, 'that kid's got real strength…' See, my school… Blueberry Academy… It's a school that specializes in teachin' the art of Pokémon battlin'."
A school specializing in Pokémon battling? Nemona and Juliana (but especially the former) would kill to attend that.
"If I was as strong as you… maybe I could aim to be the best Trainer there. Let's go have a look at the ogre's den."
I nodded as we walked together inside the cave. I felt like something watched us enter…
"Watch your head," Kieran warned. It was a good call, since I could have hit my head if I jumped with how low the roof was. "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…"
"You're sweet, Kieran."
"N-no, I'm not! 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."
We stepped outside after a not-so-fruitful search.
"Whoa, no way… The sun's already gone down? I guess we'll have to save the last signboard for tomorrow… Oh! I almost forgot! Today's the first day of the Festival of Masks over at Kitakami Hall. It's this 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."
"We can go together!" I offered.
Kieran seemed to be taken aback. "Y-Yeah! Why not? It'd be great to go together… 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. We live in the northwest corner of the village. It's… um… let's see, I could maybe draw a map…"
I brought my Rotom Phone out.
"Oh, your Rotom Phone has a map in it, huh? You want me to register it on your map? Yeah, I could give that a try…"
Kieran zoomed in on the northwest corner of Mossui Town. A new marker appeared.
"Wowzers! It sure is handy having a map that shows you everything right there in your phone… I'm gonna ask if I can get a Rotom Phone someday too! I'll be right behind you, if you wanna head to my family's place first. See you there!"
I took a Flying Taxi to the Mossui Town Pokémon Center, healed up, and went to Kieran's house from there.
Kieran ran after me when I reached the porch. "Grandpa, I'm home!"
"Welcome home, Kieran," Kieran's grandfather greeted. "And who's this with you?"
"Oh, um… This is Florian… He's part of the same school trip as me and Sis."
"Oho! So this is a new friend of yours, eh, Kieran?"
"I'd say so," I replied.
"What?! R-Really?! We're friends?"
"What else would we be?" I asked.
"F-Friends… I feel all tingly and funny hearing that… Ehehe…" He giggled.
"Thank you for befriending our Kieran here, Florian," his grandfather said.
"Oh? Kieran's made a friend?" his grandmother asked as she walked in on us.
"Y…Yeah! This is Florian. Florian, this is my grandma."
"Well, fancy that! A friend of Kieran's! We're delighted to have you, Florian."
Kieran's granddad looked at the sky. "Oh my, is it really already sundown?"
"Goodness me, I'd nearly forgotten," his wife said. "The Festival of Masks starts tonight, doesn't it? Come now, Kieran. You too, Florian. I'll get out some jinbei for you both so you can go to the festival all gussied up."
"Hear that?" Kieran asked. "We get to dress up in jinbei! Yay!"
"Now, now, don't go running off just yet—we have to do up your hair, too!"
Kieran's grandma had a green set of robes and sandals that fit me just right. If there's one thing I've learned from my family, it's to never question the grandma. Grandparents have mysterious ways… She pulled my bangs back and tied it with a red ribbon on the top of my head.
"There we are. All done!"
"Woah…" Kieran marveled. He wore a white set of robes (or jinbei, as I now know they're called).
"It suits you mighty fine. Just as I thought it would!"
"Goodness, it's like I've gained another grandson!" his granddad joked. "Hoho!"
"I imagine a stylish young thing like yourself could make good use of this too, Florian."
Kieran's grandma gave me a teal card.
"Having that card should open up all sorts of new looks for you at the big-city shops and salons."
"Hey, Gran, d'you know where my—?"
Carmine went out with a set of dark blue jinbei. Juliana came out wearing a similar set of jinbei as mine. Her hair was tied slightly to my right in a ponytail that was round and spread out like a bun.
"Gah! What're you doing here?" Carmine asked.
"Hello, Florian," Juliana greeted. "I thought I saw you."
"Florian said… he'd go to the Festival of Masks with me…"
"Oh, really? Is that so…?"
Juliana chuckled.
"What's it matter anyway?" Kieran snapped. "What're you doin' back here?!"
"Oh, right. Gran, I couldn't find my mask for the festival."
"Oh, the masks?" Kieran's (and I guess Carmine's) grandma repeated. "Oh, the masks? They should be in the shed. I put them there after last year's festival."
"It shouldn't be locked, so you four can go have a rummage and see what you find," their granddad said.
"All right! To the shed! First one there wins!"
Carmine ran off.
"Wait—Sis! You're such a cheater!"
Kieran ran off as well.
"Please forgive those two," their granddad said. "They can be a bit rambunctious."
"Don't worry. I've met worse," I reassured them.
"Let's see who gets third place!"
Juliana ran off.
"I'm starting to feel like Carmine's rubbing off on you!"
I ran after her, even though the shed turned out to be just a few steps away.
"Rrrghhh!" Carmine growled. "But there's gotta be another one!"
Kieran turned around. "Sis, Florian and Juliana are here."
Carmine turned around in surprise. "Tch! Just rolling up like you own the place."
"…You asked us to follow you," Juliana pointed out.
"Well, it looks like there're only two masks in the shed. Too bad, right? There's nothing I can do 'bout it!"
"This girl is lying," Juliana whispered to me. With the way she said it, she wanted to say a not-so-nice word instead of "girl."
"Guess you'll just have to do without a mask, eh? First come, first served, and all that!"
Juliana skeptically looked at her. "Seriously?"
"Eh. It's fine…"
"C'mon now, don't look so glum! How about instead of a mask, I give you a battle in style? Festival style!"
Kieran facepalmed, sighed, and slumped down.
"Can I have a go this time, Florian? You've already had your turn," Juliana teased.
"I'm not stopping you," I replied.
"Come on! Get in position!"
Carmine stood at the porch while Juliana stood at the bottom of the tiny hill.
"Feel free to be dazzled by how great I look in my jinbei. I'll win while you're distracted!"
Carmine sent a small rodent-like Pokémon out. Its left half was light brown while its right was black. The two halves were divided by a light yellow zig-zag line. Juliana sent a small, white-and-yellow striped Bug-type out. I remember that it's from Alola… Wasn't it called "Cutiefly"? No, this Pokémon is bigger… Oh! It's Ribombee!
"What Pokémon is that, Carmine?" I asked.
"I'm not telling—" Carmine started to tease.
"It's Morpeko." Juliana cut her off. "Electric- and Dark-type. I've seen it in Galar. If you decide to catch one, don't let it go hungry. Ribombee, use Dazzling Gleam!"
"Morpeko, use Aura Wheel!"
A pink beam of light and a yellow wheel clashed. The pink light overpowered it.
"Is this about the mask?! C'mon, you two stop with the super effective moves!"
A red ribbon tied to Morpeko's ear vanished. It was a Focus Sash. Both halves of its body turned black, and the remaining yellow parts turned dark purple. Its eyes turned red, and it was ready to go feral.
"Battle of the ankle biters, huh? Ribombee, use Dazzling Gleam again!"
"Morpeko, use Thunder Wave!"
Ribombee blinded Morpeko again. Carmine sent her second Pokémon out. It looked more like Sinistea this time. Did it somehow devolve…?
"It's most likely Grass-type," I said.
"Okay! Ribombee, use Pollen Puff!"
"Sinistcha, use…"
Carmine gulped as Ribombee prepared a volley of balls of pollen. The teacup stayed intact, but the green ghost in it was out of energy. Juliana switched to her Weezing (that's new) while Carmine sent her Swadloon out.
"If you'll shove a Koffing in my throat, I'll shove this in yours! Weezing, use Sludge Bomb!"
Weezing fired a ball of poison at Swadloon. Juliana kept it in as Carmine sent her next Pokémon, a Mightyena, out. Mightyena growled. Juliana held Koraidon's Poké Ball.
"Should I…?"
"Go for it!"
Juliana sent Koraidon out.
"Another one?!" Kieran exclaimed.
"This is Koraidon. It likes sandwiches and kicking butt, and I just fed it a roll. Koraidon, use Collision Course!"
Koraidon adopted a battling stance as the air became slightly hotter. It leaped into the air and dived into Mightyena in a wheel of prehistoric fury. (But it still made sure to keep the road intact.)
"Hey, you're supposed to be enamored and distracted by my festival style! …Oh well! It's not like beating me was gonna cause two more masks to magically appear. Now then, let me get my mask…"
Kieran and Carmine retrieved two masks and wore them on the left side of their heads. Kieran wore a green one and Carmine wore a bluish-violet one.
"How's that? Look good, don't I?"
"I-It's okay, Florian. You can just wear my mask."
"What?! No! I already said it's first come, first served! And besides, that's your ogre mask! You've always loved that mask best! And even if you did give him that, there still won't be any left for this little girl here!"
We were both fourteen years old.
"Yeah, but—"
"No buts about it! Floriana and Julian—"
"I thought she got our names just fine," Juliana muttered.
"—can just get their own masks at the festival. They're fine! Now, move it! Let's go!"
Carmine rushed off.
"Oof… Sorry… 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 some masks for you before you got there… O-oh, but, uh, don't tell her I told you that, you two. The Festival of Masks is held up at Kitakami Hall. W-We should probably get going…"
Juliana and I followed Kieran to Kitakami Hall.
"How are you?" Juliana asked. "I caught Quagsire, Ribombee, Snorlax, and Weezing! How about you? What's your new team?"
"You… caught a new team?"
"I did!"
"Well… It's just that I didn't."
"Oh. You don't have to. But imagine the look on Carmine's face if I told her that I haven't used this team for more than a day!"
Traditional music sounded in Kitakami Hall. I marveled at how much the night changed the atmosphere.
"This is the Festival of Masks! Today's just the first day. It'll keep going for a while…"
"I bet you don't have any festivals this big over in Paldea or wherever, right?" Carmine asked.
"I guess that's true," I replied.
"Heh… Knew it. See, Kitakami's just as good as any of your big, shiny cities."
"It's okay. Just ignore her."
"I'll snap a photo so you can remember this amazing night forever. Gimme your Roto-Stick for a sec…"
I handed Carmine my Roto-Stick.
"C'mon, you two. Scooch in closer!"
"Ow! You're steppin' on my toe, Sis!"
"Oh, stop complaining! This'll only take a second! Okay, are you all ready? Say Chansey!"
Carmine clicked the shutter. "Now that's what I call a nice festival vibe! The Festival of Masks is held so we can all honor the Loyal Tree, 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?"
Kieran giggled. "Hehehe…"
"What? What're you laughin' at?"
"N-Nothin'! I was just thinkin' it was funny that, like… you don't know anything about the ogre…"
"The signboards didn't say anything about the ogre being evil, after all…"
"What?! I know the legends of Kitakami better than anybody! Pretty gutsy of you to laugh at your big sis!"
"S-Sorry…" He hung his head low.
"Kiki's still a little baby, so of course he thinks some kind of terrible monster's cool. He likes the ogre more than the Loyal Three."
"Oh, look! They've got candy apples!" Kieran pointed to a stall nearby, eager to change the topic. "Let's go check out the stalls!"
Kieran ran off. We decided to check the stalls out, too. There were Kitakami Fried Noodles, shaved ice, candied apples and other berries, masks, ornaments, ice cream…
I met Kieran at the candy apple stall.
"E-Excuse me… Two candy apples, please…" he told the saleslady. She wore the same mask as him, which I assumed was a mask of the ogre he kept talking about.
"You got it! Two candy apples, comin' right up!"
He paid the saleslady.
"Uh, here… You can have one." He offered a red candy apple to me and another to Juliana.
"Thank you!"
"Are you sure?" I asked. "I can always buy my own."
"Grandma gave me some pocket money, so it's no big deal. I love candy apples. 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?"
"No, I didn't!"
"Hey, let's check that one out over there!"
Juliana and I followed Kieran up more stairs to a red tent-shaped building.
"Step right up for a game of Ogre Oustin'!" the cashier said. "So, y'all want to have a go?"
"Sure!"
"Hey, you two are some of those kids that came all the way from Paldea, right? I can't very well take money from guests! Have a go, on the house!"
"Oh, you're gonna try it? I'll, uh… I'll cheer you on from… a safe distance…"
"You're up for a run of Ogre Oustin', huh?"
Carmine walked in on us.
"I did one just now. It was pretty easy—for me, that is. My score was 6,390! Think you can do better?"
"Go get 'er, Florian! Or Juliana! Whoever's going first…"
I rode on Miraidon.
"Ogre Oustin' is a traditional game that has been played in Mossui Town since long ago. Gather up lots of berries and bring them to the berry tables to earn a high score."
"The playing field is dotted with Ogre Balloons in four different colors. Pop these balloons to collect the berries inside them."
"There are also four different colors of berry tables at your home base. Place one of your berries on a matching table. Once you've managed to place the target number of berries on these tables, you win!"
"From time to time, greedy Pokémon may gather around the berry tables, hoping to gobble up all your hard-earned berries. If you let them, they'll eat until all your berries are gone. Make sure to scare them off!"
"For this first stage, you need two Liechi Berries, four Salac Berries, two Apicot Berries, and two Ganlon Berries!"
I raced around the area with Miraidon, first popping two red balloons. I then went back to the red berry table. Then I popped four green balloons and went to the matching table. I repeated the process with the blue and gray balloons, narrowly scaring the Skwovet and Greedent that showed up.
"Alright! Stage 2! You'll need five of each berry! Go!"
Okay. New strategy. I started popping all of the balloons I could find until I had five of each kind and went back to the berry tables. It worked!
"Stage 3! You need eight Liechi Berries, eight Salac Berries, seven Apicot Berries, and seven Ganlon Berries! Go!"
I found out the hard way that there was a maximum to how many berries I could hold, so the "hoarding" strategy didn't work. I put the berries I had down, but as soon as I left to get more, some more Skwovet and Greedent showed up. I barely managed to scare them off, but they had gotten to some of the berries.
"Five, four, three, two, one! Time's up! You cleared two stages, popped eighty-seven Ogre Balloons, and placed 70 berries on tables. Your score is…" I heard my heart beat. "4,262!" Dang it! I didn't beat Carmine!
"That was some fine dashing about! Lessee now… You scored 4,262 points, so here's your prize!"
I received a small hexagonal charm.
"I, Carmine, Mossui's reigning champion of Ogre Balloon busting… have triumphed!" Carmine gloated. "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 Florian a sound defeat for me!"
"N-No…"
"What's that? You're taking the side of an outsider over your own sister?!" Red flag. "That makes me so annoyed I think I'm gonna black out!"
"Ugh… Sorry she's causin' such a scene. Don't worry—I'll deal with her. Why don'tcha go wander around a bit in the meantime?" He turned to Carmine. "Juliana hasn't even gone yet!"
I saw a small green Pokémon wearing a similar mask to what Kieran wore.
"Did you just see that?" I asked.
"Yeah. Screw Ogre Oustin', let's find the real ogre."
We followed the Pokémon over. It turned around. I walked up to it, slightly crouching.
"Pon?" the Pokémon said. It seemed like a mysterious child was staring at me from behind their mask…
"Are you enjoying the festival, little guy?" I asked.
The Pokémon jumped. "Ponio!"
"Hey—listen to this… It's nuts!"
Carmine walked in on us.
"Kiki's no use at all! Zero talent for oustin' ogres, I'm telling you!"
The Pokémon took one look at her and ran away.
"Hey, what was that?"
Juliana and I chased after it.
"Hey! You shouldn't run off on your own! New kid, that applies to you, too!"
The Pokémon backflipped. Its mask slipped off in the process, revealing a face with round, sparkling eyes. I picked the mask up and examined it.
"You should come back! The mountain's dangerous at night!"
The Pokémon ran away.
"Who was that? Where'd that kid come from…?"
"I don't think it's a kid…"
"What're you talking about? Wait, do you mean…? That kid we just saw… They ran off toward the mountain… C-Could that have been the ogre?! From the story on all the signboards? Are you saying that story was true?!"
"Seems like it."
"I mean, they did drop a mask… so they really must be…"
"Florian! Juliana! Sis!"
Kieran ran in on us.
"What're you guys doin' over here?"
"Oh, we just bumped into—!" Juliana started to say.
"Hey! Wait—stop stop stop!" Carmine exclaimed.
"Wh-what? Why're you yellin' all of a sudden, Sis?"
"It's nothing! It's nothing you'd be interested in at all, I swear!"
Kieran eyed her skeptically. "Huh. Oh, I get it. I bet you were makin' fun of me behind my back… I'm just… gonna head back to the festival…"
I was going to call, "Kieran, wait!"
"Whew. At least he didn't figure out what we were really talking about. Don't scare me like that—blabbing for the whole world to hear! Don't you have any filter?"
"What I do have is a desire to make people's dreams come true!" I wanted to say.
"See, Kiki really likes the ogre. Like, really, really, really likes it. So, if he found out we'd seen the ogre without him… I guess I was afraid he'd feel bad, y'know? Feel left out or something… Am I overthinking it? 'Sides, I didn't want him running up the mountain to follow the ogre at this hour, either."
Tauros crap! That was a load of Tauros crap!
"Well… in any case, we already lied about it, and that's that. Let's keep the whole thing our little secret, okay? And maybe hold off on showing Kiki that mask you just picked up, too."
I went to buy some shaved ice. It looked like Carmine and I had the same thing in mind, since she was at the same stall.
"Hee hee… The festival's so much fun! And absolutely nothing weird happened, right?"
I decided I was full, and went to buy a Pikachu mask instead. We met up with Kieran at the entrance of Kitakami Hall.
"Had enough of the festival?" Kieran asked.
"Just about," Juliana replied.
"Well then, guess we should head home. I'll walk you back to the community center."
And with that, our perception of Carmine became even more confusing.