#arven obsessively in love with me i think

[marinaradave]

WHAT IS HIS FUCKING PROBLEMMM

#arven pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon violet #arven obsessively in love with me i think #it tickles me so bad like hes mad for absolutely no reason #i love a jealousy trope so bad hes taking it #pokemon kieran #pokemon scarvi #pokemon sv

[hopeful0romantic]

I leveled up some, finished Starfall quest line (it’s actually been a few days so I forgot what it’s actually called) and beat the last of the gyms ✨

haven’t fought the elite four yet but y’know what it’s fine cuz I went and beat Arven’s battle. Ended with his Mabostiff(?) against my Dachsbun (is that what it’s called? Idk, I named mine Butter so I haven’t seen the Pokémon name in a bit lmao)

#pokemon sv #pokemon scarlet #pokemon violet #arven #I think Arven’s quest line is my favorite #I love him #Nemona scares me #not out of intimidation #more out of ‘why are you obsessed with me please god leave me alone’ #I love Penny my only gripe with her is her reaction to Miraidon

[ittybittybattyart]

Finally beat everything from Pokemon scarlet and I’m hyperfixating on it haha, I’ve always loved Pokemon and I’m so glad I got to play this, the last gen I played was 7 (moon(Guzma my beloved)

There’s a lot of characters I like from this game that I’m hoping to draw (Rika, Geeta, Jacq, Hassel, Brassius, Ryme, Carmine, Drayton, Amarys, Giacomo, Eri) but I thought I’d start with one of my absolute faves Kieran! (Tied with Arven)

I really resonated with Kieran and Arven, it’s so cool to see the improvement in the storytelling/character writing with Pokemon, I hope they keep it up and keep improving too!

Semi personal rambling of why I relate to this dude under the cut

If this game had come out when I was a tween/teen I would’ve resonated even more with Kieran than I do now, since I was dealing with a lot of similar stuff at that time.

I’ve gotten to a much better place with myself and situation in the last five or so years, most of these unless otherwise said aren’t things I really struggle with anymore but I was so reminded of my younger self while playing through Kierans story

The self esteem problems and wanting to prove others wrong about what they think of me, the passive and overt bullying from others, the need of validation from others, especially those I admired/envied. Additionally the constant setbacks in life and trying to achieve my goals despite it and the envy of other people’s lives that seemed easier than mine

… also some of the obsessive tendencies just like generally, I'm extremely monotropic so its VERY difficult to get me to focus on something I'm not fixated on already, I will talk about it without even realizing and do it for days/weeks/months its still something that really effects me, I'll fixate so hard i dont sleep much for weeks and forget to eat/drink kind of levels, I've always been like this (AuDHD)(I'm working on taking breaks and self care in this regard tho)

Therapy really helped/helps (Kieran please go to therapy lol)

#ittybittybattyart #ittybittybattyart2024 #pokemon kieran #rival kieran #champion kieran #pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon sv #pokemon scarlet dlc #pokemon dlc spoilers #personal ramblings

[wyrdle]

[Repost] Some Sada/Turo/Clavell ex-polycule doodles + thoughts because I enjoy the angst:

So my headcanon is that these three first met together as researchers in Area Zero for tera crystal research. Clavell is the oldest, but I don't think there's too huge an age gap between him and the profs. xD Turo comes second, Sada youngest. Present day Sada and Turo having grey hairs and wrinkles is a dear thought to me.

Anyway, between the three, I like the thought of Clavell being the sort of Mom friend of the group, and very much the heart of the trio. He watches out for their health often, especially when they're working themselves to the bone. They reach great heights together, discovering the tera orb eventually. Idk if they ever enter a relationship here, but I like to think there are Feelings (TM). Even if not, Clavell cares about the profs, and likewise.

After the discovery of the Tera Orb and wrapping up of Academy involvement however, things start changing. Clavells disagreement + refusal to join the violet+scarlet book research project results in their parting of ways + an irreparable rift in their relationship.. Merging the two profs stories together, they get together and have Arven eventually.

Instead of one prof leaving the other however, both professors fall/perish to their own ambitions. One of them dies to a mishap to the time machine. The other continues their obsession, almost a post-humous "I'll do it for you" drive, ending up dead by either Miraidon or Koraidon.

Present day Clavell is horrified that his once partners are dead. I like the additional layer of grief for Clavell, that he cared and was much closer to the profs beyond being peers. Pretty warm to the thought of Tyme being a more balanced+ reciprocal partner of present day, so he vents to her his grief, regret and anger.

"I loved them, once." Clavell weeps to her, amidst the swirl of emotions.

Hfhdsj. This angst works whether they're romantic or platonic, but jfdhsj. Broken polycule is such delicious angst for Clavell, and I like to think he's better off now.

Anyway, I'll finish off this doodle eventually!!! I'll be tagging these as Zerotrioshipping :P

#director clavell #clavell #professor turo #professor sada #clavell/sada/turo #clavell x sada x turo #zerotrioshipping #lol i think i'm the only one shipping them #it really is just for the breakup angst haha #pokemon scarlet violet #pokemon scarlet violet spoilers #cw choking #cw injury

[wildflowercryptid]

For the last/surnames for your mjv pieces, is there any specific meanings/symbolism when you give them those surnames? Like “Hinoki” for Kieran & Carmine, since Hinoki means “cypress” and it’s a real life tree.

(Sorry if this is a specific question. This is my autistic brain and curiosity of fictional name symbolism)

YES, THERE IS!! i'm also an autistic person who's obsessed with name etymology so i love giving characters ( original or otherwise ) names that symbolizes something about them or something they're associated with.

since i didn't do this before, i'm gonna use this as an excuse to explain the etymology behind the full names i gave the SV kids! some of them are more interesting than others, fair warning.

putting it under a cut since this may get a little long.

CRATER CREW + KITAKAMI KIDS

FLORIAN RUSSEL CAVALLARI & JULIANA SIGAL CAVALLARI

> cavallari ( spanish, from "caballero" meaning knight, cavalier, or rider ) — referencing their connection to koraidon, the designated ride pokémon of scarlet. > russel ( french, little red ) — meant to signify his role as the protagonist of scarlet. > sigal ( hebrew, viola ) — meant to signify her role as the protagonist of violet.

NEMONA CAMINO VALIENTE

> camino ( spanish, road ) — references her role as the main companion of the victory road storyline. > valiente ( spanish, brave or bold ) — meant to signify her forward and adventurous nature.

ARVEN MITO ALFARO

> mito ( spanish, myth or legend ) — references his role as the main companion of the path or legends storyline. > alfaro ( spanish, the lighthouse ) — references the poco path lighthouse, the professor's old lab and his childhood home.

PEONELOPE " PENNY " CASSANDRA ESPINOSA

> peonelope ( peony + penelope ) — there's no real significance to this name choice, i just thought it'd be funny if peony continued the trend of shoehorning his own name into his kids' in increasingly ridiculous ways. > cassandra ( greek, to shine or excel ) — meant to sound similar to cassiopeia. it also made me think of shining like a bright star. > espinosa ( spanish, thorn ) — meant to reference penny's relation to chairman rose through her father, peony. this is actually her mother's maiden name, peony took her surname to distance himself from rose and kept it even after getting divorced.

CARMINE & KIERAN HINOKI

> hinoki ( japanese, species of cypress native to central japan ) — references their family's craft of mask making, as hinoki wood is commonly used to make noh masks.

TEAM STAR CAPTAINS

GIACOMO LAUREANO MORENA

> laureano ( spanish, laurel ) — larry's name from the spanish translation of sv. meant to reference my headcanon that larry is giacomo's father. > morena ( spanish, dark-haired ) — a loose reference to his dark type specialization.

MELA CANDELLA LUCERO

> candella ( spanish, candle ) — a loose reference to her fire type specialization. > lucero ( spanish, derivative of " luz " meaning light or morning star ) — also meant to reference her fire type specialization, along with her role as team star captain.

ORTEGA ÁLVARO VERA REGINO

> álvaro ( spanish, elf warrior ) — meant to signify his fairy type specialization. > vera ( spanish, river bank ) — pulled from veracidad, which i headcanon is the apparel company that ortega's family owns. it also references the ruchbah squad's base's proximity to the water. > regino ( spanish, from the latin " regis " meaning king ) — meant to signify the affluence of his family.

ATTICUS HENZO

> henzo ( from the scientific name of the fall-blooming anemone, eriocapitella hupehensis ) — atticus's name from the spanish & italian translations of sv. i thought it sounded fitting and i thought it was cool that it could be referencing hattori hanzō, ( who's name could be read as to partially conceal. )

ERI NESPERA

> nespera ( portuguese, common name for loquat ) — eri's name from the italian translation of sv. i just thought it sounded pretty.

BB ELITE FOUR

LACEY TAMAYO TURNER

> tamayo ( japanese, generational jewel ) — loose reference to her relation to lian, clay's hisuian ancestor. > turner ( from turnip ) — clay's name in the german translation of bw/bw2.

AMARYS NERINE

> nerine ( from the genus nerine ) — amarys's name in the original japanese of sv.

CRISPIN HINO

> hino ( japanese, fire ) — reference to his fire type specialization.

DRAYTON LIRIO

> lirio ( spanish, iris or lily ) — draydon's name in the spanish translation of bw/bw2.

also, here's the first post i made about their names, along with age, gender. and sexuality headcanons!

#some of the characters's names have changed slightly btw! #mostly just giving some additional last names to be more in line with spanish naming conventions #i've named all of the other poketags + rivals too i should share them at some point... #hc : (pkmn) mjverse #hc : (mjv) paldea #mj.txt #asks

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere Platonic Arven, please? He is one of my favorite characters in the game.

I love him too, Anon. Here you go :) Sorry it took months, it's been awhile since I've played Scarlet and Violet so I apologize if something is off.

Yandere! Platonic! Arven Concept

Pairing: Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Jealousy, Social isolation, Manipulation, Overprotective behavior, Dubious companionship, Guilt tripping.

Arven would make a good yandere, in fact in canon he is shown to be jealous.

I say this because I think he shows he's jealous of the player having other friends than him in Area Zero within the game.

Arven would be an incredibly caring yandere despite his jealousy and clingy behavior.

He can already somewhat be seen as a platonic yandere.

Arven wants to be the only friend of his darling, or at the very least the most important.

His background gives him the potential of being a clingy yandere.

Think about it, he's mostly grown up alone all his life as his only parent was more focused on research.

His only friend has been Mabostiff and he nearly lost him, too.

Until you came alone and helped him out.

I feel in this concept at least his darling would most likely be the player character.

He's traveled alongside you in the past to tackle many Pokemon challenges and battles.

He isn't as obsessive about Pokemon battling as Nemona but he doesn't mind a few battles with your team.

As a platonic yandere I can see Arven being jealous over Nemona and Penny, your two other friends.

In fact when he first met them he felt jealousy burn within him.

Arven fears you'll pay other people more attention instead of him.

He'd probably never harm anyone physically but he does get moody.

I can see Arven being one to hurt the emotions of others, often causing verbal fights to keep you away from others.

Arven cares for you as your best friend but isn't above ruining your other relationships to keep that connection.

I can imagine him being volatile towards Nemona for dragging you off for battles or Penny for simply hanging out.

Your other friends are also targeted.

Arven feels he should scare any competition away so you only come to him for help.

Arven goes to great lengths for those he cherishes and loves.

Over time he'd probably isolate you in order to keep you to himself.

He's clingy, too.

Arven likes to hold you, affectionately calling you his "Buddy" before sighing in bliss.

He may struggle with physical contact at first but it soon becomes his favorite thing with his darling.

Asking for space from Arven is upsetting to him.

Why would you want space?

Best friends stick together, don't they?

... are you going to see Nemona or Penny behind his back?

Arven would be one to guilt trip.

He would play with your emotions to get you to stick around.

Would you really betray him by leaving?

Are you going to just abandon him?

But you're his little buddy....

There's a good chance with a quiver of the lip and some manipulation he'll drag you back to his side.

Especially if his darling is vulnerable to emotions, like someone who has a ton of empathy.

Arven does a lot for his buddy, which he can use against them if they try to leave.

He gives you gifts and makes you food... he's always there when you need him, even when you don't need him too.

Arven comes off as the perfect friend for you.

He listens to you vent, he rubs your back when you're worried, he's so caring.

He's your perfect friend... one who has been with you through thick and thin...

You wouldn't just turn your back on him for the attention of others, would you?

"Buddy... don't just ignore me! I'm your best friend... aren't I?"

#yandere pokemon #yandere pokemon scarlet #yandere pokemon violet #yandere arven #platonic yandere

[dipplinduo]

For your story, please tell me they’ll at least be a moment or two of Arven and Crispin bonding over their love for food and cooking. I think it’s a missed opportunity that these two don’t have any canon interaction.

And Nemona going after Crmine and challenging her to battles constantly? Carmine’s gonna be shocked with how obsessed Nemona is with Pokémon battles. I can imagine Carmine loving it at first, but then she realizes she met her match and thinks ‘Damn, and I thought I was obsessed with having Pokémon battles. This b!tch takes it to a whole ‘nother level.’

But these are just little ideas/suggestions. I wish these characters met. Hopefully in the Epilogue update we’ll get to see them meet.

Yes & yes. ;) <3 There's gonna be a lot of fun interactions with all this dorm life setup!

#my fics #dipplinshipping #kieran pokemon #kieran x juliana pokemon #juliana x kieran pokemon #juliana pokemon #kieran x juliana #juliana x kieran #carmine pokemon #nemona pokemon #arven pokemon #crispin pokemon

[elbdot]

Jesus christ so hey congratulations on completing tha dubs! Excited to experience them later this month 😄

I do want to take this opportunity tho to ask about your overall thoughts on S&V? Like what you think of the stories, characters, and....Paldea's possible inclusion in these comics 👀?

Excited to hear your thoughts!

OKAY I've gotten a bunch of Pokemon S&V Questions since November and now that I FINALLY played through the game I can FINALLY answer them HERE WE GO

POKEMON SCARLET AND VIOLET IS... GOOD

IS REALLY GOOD

It has some really nice storylines, some weaker, some stronger, I REALLY liked the characterization of all the Team Star Admins (even though the team's backstory is a bit all over the place), Arven was my favorite, followed by Nemona and Penny is- Penny is certainly there 😶

Geeta is not really a memorable champion...I don't really care much for her, but I do find it interesting that she's apparently quite unpopular amongst the Gym leader for her strict management. I don't think we ever had an in-universe unpopular Champion before.

My favorite part of the game was undoubtedly exploring the region with my Pokemon! Taking on the Gyms was more of a chore I had to do to be able to catch and train higher leveled Pokemon but I gotta say, the Gym challenges were always really fun and sometimes I reseted my game just to play the mini-games again :D

But I THINK I spent the most time trying to take selfies and pictures of me and my Pokemon whenever something fun happened or I found a really nice location or the sun was about to set. Taking photos is a HUGE hobby of mine and games that give me this kind of freedom with the photo-option are a HUGE plus in my book (You have NO idea how much time I spent in the USUM Photo Club Mini game)

I gotta say tho the Pokemon of this Region...?

BIGGEST weak point in my opinion. WEIRDEST bunch I've ever seen. Weird doesn't always have to mean BAD but in this case...yeah no there were a lot of weird AND bad ones in there, sometimes great concepts but VERY STRANGE execution that left a lot to be desired for me personally.

I was very open to what kind of Pokemon I would catch in this game. I ended up having only ONE new Paldean Pokemon on my team. And it wasn't even an all new Pokemon, it was Paldean TAUROS :'D Gotta say tho, I never cared THIS much about Tauros before. REALLY love my big black bull (ye I have the regular one, the rare ones are cool but I fell in love with this big fella)

I had a Kilowattrel and Amarouge on my team for a bit, but I switched them out after a while, I was really hoping I'd click with Amarouge more, but in the end I gave space for old and familiar faces instead. Kilowattrel I really like tho! But the fact I could walk around and interact with some of my favorite Pokemon overworld made me SO obsessed with adding them onto my team, THIS is the kind of Pokemon experience I've been waiting for for quite a while :DD

I haven't played through post game yet and I haven't finished all of the school classes yet, but I'm looking forward to complete them, as the cast of this game is really vast and fun!

In case of the comics however, just like with Galar I don't think we'll see an inclusion of this region within the story. Given the narrative of Scarlet and Violet, it would also be difficult to tie in its story with those of EAA and to be honest - I know you guys want to see El and her friends in other regions, which is very sweet, I'm happy you care so much about her that you want to see them travel around the world! But...I NEVER felt the desire to make this comic a world travel tour and I don't really understand where this idea came from that so many people expect El to leave Alola any time soon :'D

"El's Alolan Adventures" will continue to be about El's Adventures in Alola :'D I still love Alola and since El is currently Alolas Champion, she doesn't have any plans to leave the region any time soon and there are still SO many stories to tell with the cast of the Alola region! DON'T FORGET Gladion's Arc I still need to finish!!

HOWEVER

I THINK it's a fair assumption that you'll definitely see SOME fanart from me for this region :D In fact, you can already see my first (ANIMATED) piece on patreon! ☺️

AND I'll show a few more of my "travel pictures" as I've taken...A LOT of them... BUT YEAH Pokemon Scarlet, best main-line game since Sun and Moon for me!! OH and Legends of Arceus was REALLY FUN too of course

#pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon scarvio #pokemon #mod #reply

[wingsonghalo]

A Match(a) Made in Heaven: a Pokémon Fanfic- Chapter 1

Hello everyone!

I posted this on Ao3 yesterday so I figured I should post it over here too. About a month ago, I started talking about the potential of shipping Carmine and Penny with @forwortuntodawn. Penny calls her pretty, Carmine loves being called pretty; they'd both be snarky together; their personalities would balance each other out... there's so much to love about them! Eventually I dragged several other friends into the CarPen pit with me, and here we are.

An extra-special thank you to the aforementioned KC, my #1 Beta Bestie and COO of CarPen. Rarepair Hell's more like heaven with you. Thank you also to two other dear friends, @smilelikeaknife and @litlyre, who along with KC are the KEWLest writer pals ever. You all give me something to strive for, and I admire you all so much! Thank you for all your encouragement and all the laughs. Just as before, this and all CarPen content is for you. 💖💖💖

I hope you take a chance on this pairing, reader. I promise I will do my best to make it worth the read!

================================================

Title: A Match(a) Made in Heaven Fandom: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Pairing(s): Carmine x Penny, Arven x Juliana Wordcount for this chapter: 6,549 Summary: "Hey, Red-n'-Blue," she murmured out the side of her mouth, "am I crazy, or is Juli putting out mad vibes with the tall chef guy?" The shorter girl's gray eyes looked up at her. An eyebrow stretched towards her multicolored bangs. "You ARE crazy if you think we're going to gossip about my friends before you even learn our names, Stretch." Carmine ropes Penny into her plans to get Arven and Juliana together, but she might end up focused on more than just that relationship... Carmine x Penny and Juliana x Arven! Also available on: Ao3 Support me on: Patreon | Ko-fi 

A Match(a) Made in Heaven

Chapter 1: A Pact

Despite what anyone else, especially her brother, might say, Carmine was totally a generous and thoughtful person.

No, really!

She carefully observed others to determine things about them—their emotional state, their likes and dislikes, where they'd come from, their social status, all that type of stuff. Sure, sometimes her observations included just asking other well-informed individuals about persons of interest, but that was its own kind of savvy too, wasn't it? You had to know who to ask, after all.

One of the things that captured Carmine's interest the most lately was the romantic entanglements of her peers. She was a teenage girl and found such matters of the heart fascinating (It had nothing to do with "needing more hobbies" or being "too nosy for your own good, sis," thank you very much, Kieran. Hmph. As if he could talk, when his hobbies were 1) fanboying about an old legend, 2) obsessively training in Pokémon battles, and 3) there was no 3; that was the end of the list). And yeah, maybe sometimes she wished that the romantic drama involved her once in a while, but whatever. Being an observer was cool. Carmine was fine with just sitting on the sidelines. Absolutely. 100%.

It was fine, okay?!

Anyway, she'd recently met a girl from Paldea on a school trip. Juliana was her name. Short, dainty, shiny chestnut-colored hair, big sparkly cinnamon-brown eyes, perfect smile (not as perfect as her own, of course), magnetic personality. She was almost annoyingly cute, like a little mascot designed for people to immediately latch onto. Carmine had initially just thought of her as another lame outsider who'd come to goggle at their tiny backwater hometown. A good-for-nothing tourist.

Juliana had not been a good-for-nothing tourist.

Instead, she had been… probably the second genuine friend Carmine had ever had, after Amarys. She'd been Kiki's first genuine friend. Juliana had taken everything both siblings had thrown at her in stride, and still emerged from the mangled mess of misplaced resentment and jealousy and distrust as their ally and confidante. Though it pained Carmine to admit it, she owed much of her newfound understanding with her brother to Juliana.

(It pained her to admit it, and that was why Carmine had no intention of doing so to anyone but herself. Maybe Juliana, sometime, if Carmine was feeling generous; which, as we've established, was frequently, okay?)

The point was, Juliana was an almost impossibly good person and everyone liked her. Even Kieran had been irresistibly drawn into her thrall at first, totally infatuated within minutes of meeting her, despite Carmine's continual insistence that he not get suckered by anyone who pretended to be interested in lame ol' Mossui Town, talent in Pokémon battling notwithstanding. (Didn't he know that was how evil land development companies got their claws into vulnerable little rural towns, sending people out to get information from unsuspecting yokels before turning on them and erecting a mall or whatever?!) In this one particular instance, however, her caution had been unwarranted: Juliana really was the compassionate, pure-hearted little angel she appeared to be, except in battle, where she suddenly became a demon (or an ogre?) with an angel's face. Carmine had been forced to confront the fact that she had—inadvertently, mind—been keeping herself and her brother confined to their own little world, never letting anyone else get too close until Juliana waltzed in with that silly little cherubic smile of hers. She seemed to exist just to break them out of their shells, to get them to open their eyes to all the people and places they'd never cared to look at before.

It was because of this fresh perspective on things, this newly-discovered consideration for things outside her usual bubble, that Carmine came to be curious about Juliana's feelings.

At first, she was only interested because Kieran was all googly-eyed over her. She had to scope out anyone who might eventually become part of their family, right? She couldn't let anyone get all buddy-buddy with her brother if they were just going to break his heart.

(It turned out that her efforts to watch over the two of them, to protect her brother's feelings and safety, had only cemented Kieran getting his heart broken—though not for the reasons she feared.)

(Whatever, Carmine wasn't thinking about that right now. Not again.)

Juliana had treated her brother with kindness, acceptance, and good humor. She had always worn a gentle smile, and frequently asked Kieran what he wanted to do, where he wanted to go, what he thought about things.

Actually, she had been so considerate of Kiki that at times Carmine had found herself wondering whether Juliana had any thoughts or desires of her own.

This willingness to let others take the lead had nearly tricked Carmine into believing that Juliana was weak-willed, but it turned out that their new friend was merely one of those people that kept their own thoughts hidden for fear of hurting others.

Hmph. Like that ever turned out well.

(Carmine did not envy Juliana's selfless nature. Not one bit… that she would ever admit to out loud, anyway.)

Regardless, she had gleaned from her careful observation—and okay fine, consulting other people—that Juliana was not interested in Kiki. Not in a romantic context, anyway. She seemed to dote on him in an almost sisterly way, which Carmine tried not to be too offended by. Kiki already had the world's best sister, thank you very much. But she understood. Kieran had a way of making you want to protect him, take care of him, even when he was being an antisocial little jerk.

Or maybe that was just Carmine that felt that way, because it was Kiki.

Whatever; not important.

Where was she? Oh yeah. Juli friendzoning (brotherzoning?) Carmine's brother.

Though at first she had wondered what the hell Juliana's problem was in not responding to Kieran's obvious infatuation, Carmine was almost positive she knew the reason for it now:

Juliana was already in love with somebody.

For an annoyingly long time, she'd been stumped as to who the object of her friend's affections could be. Juli tended to treat everyone with the same level of friendliness and warmth, so it could have been anyone from back home in Paldea, or maybe one of her fellow students in the BB League Club, or perhaps even Carmine herself, if Juliana had had any taste.

(Okay, she at least knew it wasn't herself, but honestly, why not?! She was a catch, damn it!)

But as soon as Juli's closest friends from Paldea visited Kitakami—and, well, as soon as Carmine was no longer a mochi zombie—it had become pretty glaringly obvious who had captured her inscrutable Paldean pal's heart.

She lingered around him even when she didn't need to, sticking close at his side; glancing back at him when she got too far ahead; tucking her hair behind her ear as her warm brown eyes shyly flickered up to glimpse him. When he walked into a room, Carmine swore she could watch little flames spark to life in Juliana's eyes, see her smile spread like a spring bud opening its petals.

It would have been adorable, if it wasn't so hard to watch.

The guy—what was his name again? Carmine still hadn't committed it to memory—seemed just as enamored with Juliana. His gaze followed her as if magnetized whenever she moved around, wonder reflecting in his pretty turquoise eye, as if the short girl was an awe-inspiring sunset. He hovered around her like he was her guard dog, fixing an intimidating glare on anyone who dared get too close to his "little buddy," as he called her. He could have made a pretty good living as a bouncer or a bodyguard, with those muscular arms, wide shoulders supporting the most ridiculously oversized backpack Carmine had ever seen, and brooding expression that warned others to keep their distance… but it couldn't have been more clear that there was only one person he wanted to protect. He was gorgeous, honestly, but he seemed devoted to Juliana to the point where he could barely see anyone else, so he usually came off as surly and reserved unless she was around, at which point he pulled a complete 180 and became jovial and perfectly gentlemanly. What was his deal? Had Juli saved his life or something?

Despite his obvious admiration of her, he seemed content to just be near her, like she was the sun and he was a pathetic little weed growing by the side of the road. Juliana, similarly, seemed happy to just exist beside him. Evidently they weren't an item. Carmine wasn't even sure if either of them were aware that they looked at one another like the other person was an oasis in a desert.

She needed more context from someone who had been around them longer. Luckily, Juliana had brought two more of her female friends with her for this little visit, both of whom had also fallen victim to that renegade wannabe air-freshener's mind-control mochi.

The taller one was kind of intimidating. She had the reckless sort of hyperactive energy that Carmine was usually only used to seeing in wriggly Lillipup that hadn't been housetrained yet and knocked the fine china off the walls. She was friendly, but frankly, Carmine was afraid if she struck up a conversation with her, she would demand another 5 battles.

That left the other one—a small, scrawny girl with short, brightly-colored two-toned hair, enormous glasses, a frumpy gray sweater, and the cutest little Eevee backpack the world had ever known. She seemed quiet, her bespectacled eyes always moving over her surroundings like she was scanning them into a database. Or perhaps she was simply zoning out and was just very good at pretending otherwise. The few times Carmine had heard her speak, a rather posh Galarian accent had emerged, which had somewhat startled Carmine at first but now sort of fascinated her. Did she say so little because she was self-conscious about her accent, or did she just truly have little to say?

She intended to find out as she sidled up to her, her eyes still fixed on Juliana and What's-His-Face engaged in lively conversation. "Hey, Red-n'-Blue," she murmured out the side of her mouth, "am I crazy, or is Juli putting out mad vibes with the tall chef guy?"

The shorter girl's gray eyes looked up at her. An eyebrow stretched towards her multicolored bangs. "You are crazy if you think we're going to gossip about my friends before you even learn our names, Stretch," she said, and it kind of wasn't fair how her accent made everything she said sound more intelligent.

Carmine frowned. "Well, I bet you can't tell me mine either!"

The girl in the sweater shrugged, crossing her arms. "Make yourself more memorable, and then I'll consider it."

She scoffed, her temper beginning to flare already as she clenched a hand into a fist by her side. "How rude! Anyone would find a face like mine memorable!"

A smirk lifted one corner of the other girl's mouth. "Maybe the face you're making now, sure—talk about scary."

Carmine's mouth dropped open in shock, and then her other hand curled into a fist as well. "I—you—how dare you!" she sputtered. Her face was filling with indignant heat, but when her nails bit into her palms, the unexpected sensation worked to ground her. She'd just met this frumpy little runt; why was she letting her rile her up? She let her eyes fall closed, took a deep breath, and let it out before opening her eyes once more and staring right into those cold, appraising ones. "Yes, I agree, I'm so beautiful it can be scary," she fired back smoothly, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "But if it helps you remember me, fine. The name's Carmine." She threw out her best charming smile, the one she was fairly sure had stolen the hearts of many a wretched suitor that was simply too awed by her radiance to approach her. "Don't make me repeat it."

An intense thrill of satisfaction buzzed down her spine at the sight of those gray eyes widening behind the big round lenses, pale, slightly-sunken cheeks coloring slightly. "Hmph," was all the other girl said, though, as she averted her gaze and fiddled with the sleeves of her sweater. "I remembered your name anyway because your brother said it before, but whatever… guess your face is plenty memorable too."

Ha! It was big of her to admit it. "And you?" Carmine prompted, resting her hands on her hips.

The shorter girl locked eyes with her again, silent for a moment before thrusting out her hand. "Penny," she said, and Carmine read a challenge in the determined set of her mouth. "Better remember mine too, or I'm never telling you a thing about Arven."

Carmine was never one to back down from a challenge. "Nice to meet you, Penny," she purred as she squeezed Penny's hand. A grin crept across her face. "I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…"

"I have a feeling I just made a pact with a demon," Penny replied mildly, but there was a smile growing on her face as well.

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Penny, Carmine would soon discover as they walked around the festival the next evening after making their little deal, was rather difficult to get information out of… unless you knew what to offer her in return.

Having used the rest of yesterday to talk to Penny about Kieran's and her own history with Juliana, she had decided that today she would focus on inquiring about Juliana's history with Arven. But she hadn't gotten any further than asking, "So like, what's their deal? How did they meet?" before Penny was raising an eyebrow at her, unimpressed.

"What, you want all this intel for free?" Her usual gray ensemble, which usually served to help her blend in, now stood out like a sore thumb amid all the festivalgoers in their traditional jinbei and sandals, but it was Penny's own fault for not accepting any of the clothes Carmine's grandparents had offered, in Carmine's opinion.

Carmine scoffed at the other girl's audacity, frustrated at being shut down before she'd even gotten her first bit of information. She had brought a small drawstring money purse for the festival, of course, but she'd really been planning on using it for—hey wait a second, why was she even considering paying this twerp for answering such a basic question?! "I don't think this really counts as 'intel'!" she huffed, attempting to toss her hair before remembering that Grandma had put it in an updo for her. "I could just ask Juli about it for free!" Juliana was probably wandering from stall to stall with Arven right about now, actually, their hands close enough to touch, but neither of them daring to close the distance. Even the thought of it was irritating.

"Hmm, you could," said Penny, nodding with a half-smile like Carmine had just passed some sort of secret test. She plucked a bit of Carmine's cotton candy without asking, then popped it into her mouth and silently dared Carmine to comment on it with the quirk of an eyebrow. "So why don't you, then?"

Carmine contemplated that for a minute. While it was true she could hear this straight from the source, she had a sneaking suspicion that Juliana would become flustered and evasive if she tried to probe her for information about Arven. "Juli's the type to downplay her own victories and gas up everyone else's," she finally settled on, also taking a nibble of her fluffy pink festival food. "And Arven…" She snorted. "If I asked him, I'd probably just get a sermon about how great Juliana is."

Penny's eyes were glinting behind her glasses. "Wowww," she said, drawing out the word in a way that was simultaneously sarcastic and yet mildly impressed. "Maybe you do have more than two brain cells knocking around in that pretty head of yours."

"Hey!" said Carmine sharply, and then a moment later, more hesitantly, "You think my head is pretty?"

The other girl just stifled a laugh, which was vexing. It had been a legitimate question! "All right, Carmine," Penny said after stealing another bit of sugary fluff, "the truth is I wasn't around for when they met, so I only know what they've told me. What I can tell you about firsthand is the perilous adventure we all went on that brought the four of us together as friends, buuuut…" She peered around at all the festival stalls, her gaze landing on the shaved ice. "I'm feeling kinda parched since I'm not used to talking so much…" Shrewd gray eyes flickered up to meet hers, prompting.

Carmine sighed. "What flavor might quench your thirst?" she asked flatly.

"Raspberry, please," Penny chirped, a bit of a spring in her step as they made their way over to the shaved ice stand, Carmine pulling out her purse.

***

"That's… that's so sweet!" Carmine burst out after Penny concluded her story. She blamed the thickness in her throat on the sugary cherry syrup, hiding her sniffle by ducking her head to take another bite of the shaved ice. "I can't believe she was there for him when he had to say goodbye to the Professor… geez, I thought Kiki and I had issues about our parents, but at least they were all right while they were around…" She clamped her mouth shut as she realized she'd gotten a little personal there with no preamble, and glanced over at her companion to gauge her reaction. She'd found herself rambling a bit yesterday, too, come to think of it.

Just as before when Carmine had accidentally entered Backstory Mode, Penny's expression hadn't changed, mostly because she was still digging into her blue-raspberry ice with a gusto that would suggest her little plastic spoon was actually an icepick. "Meh. We've kind of all got family issues of varying types," she said once she'd dislodged a syrup-soaked chunk to fling into her mouth. "Crazy that Arven's involved a time machine and a scavenger hunt for magic plants though, I'll give him that."

Oh, and the plants…! Carmine's eyes prickled with emotion at the reminder of the supplemental information Penny had provided—the part about Juliana helping to restore Arven's beloved partner Pokémon, Mabosstiff, to full health after he'd been injured by one of those crazy violent Pokémon the Professor had brought to this time period. Carmine couldn't even imagine something like that happening to her precious Mightyena. The mere notion of it made her lip wobble.

Yes, she thought as she plunged her spoon into the red ice for another mouthful of fake-fruity deliciousness, if someone had helped her save her Pokémon and then journeyed with her to a lawless pit to confront her own family issues, Carmine would also be hopelessly devoted to whoever it was. Her heart would start up a beat like those taiko drums making a racket over there every time she saw them, too. Arven looking at Juliana like the sun shone out of her ass made a lot more sense now. By comparison, Kiki's fascination with her when they'd first met seemed shallow, almost fanciful. Kieran had seen in Juliana a hero from a storybook that he longed to emulate and look up to, not a real-life hero who would take him by the hand to save him personally. It was no wonder Juliana had scarcely noticed the awed looks from Carmine's brother, if she was already used to being looked at like Arven looked at her. "Okay, y'know what?" Carmine decided. "I'm officially on board. I'm getting those two together."

For a few seconds there was only faint crunching as Penny stared at her and devoured her shaved ice. She had a lot of nerve looking at Carmine like she was the silly little child, when Penny was the one who had blue syrup dripping down her chin. "You think you can do that, huh?" she deadpanned. "You got the knowledge and tools to back up that confidence, toots?"

"W-Well…" Carmine pursed her lips and frowned, quite certain no one had said the word toots since last century. "No, I guess I don't…" If she could just win Penny over, she might have a chance, though.

In a move perhaps influenced by the Big Sister Instinct left over from when Kiki had been a baby, Carmine impulsively grabbed Penny's chin and used one of the napkins in her lap to wipe away the dribbling syrup. "But I do have you!" she finished her earlier statement, putting on her world-class charming smile again.

Penny, who had completely frozen up like the ice still lingering in her paper cup at the unexpected contact, blinked widened eyes before quickly regaining her composure. "Hmph," she scoffed, turning her face away and muttering something that sounded like maybe sometime if you're lucky. The flickering orange light cast by the standing stone lanterns near them made her cheeks look as if they were glowing pink.

"What?" said Carmine, having been unable to hear her words well over the din of the festival.

"I said shipping my friends is yucky!" the shorter girl growled as she faced Carmine again. Actually, maybe it was more than the lighting—her whole face looked slightly pink.

Carmine tilted her head slightly, perplexed. She could have sworn those weren't the same words Penny had muttered, but oh well. It probably hadn't been anything important. Things other people said scarcely ever were.

"Anyway..." Penny tossed her empty shaved ice cup into the trash can next to their bench, and Carmine wrinkled her nose as the shorter girl proceeded to wipe her hands on her leggings rather than just using a napkin. "I'm surprised you're not angling for Juliana to date your brother, actually. Weren't you going on about how good of an influence she is on him yesterday?"

She blinked, surprised that Penny had actually been listening then. Carmine had indeed rambled on about that a bit while explaining what Juliana had done for her and her brother, but as Penny had been tapping away at her phone the whole time and only giving an occasional yeah and oh, mm-hmm, she'd thought it hadn't really sunk in. "Well, it's true that I thought she might be good for him at first," she admitted, poking at her melting cherry ice a little, "but now that I reflect on things a bit more, maybe what Kieran needed was just… support." Her shoulders slumped as guilt pressed down on her again. "Support I shoulda been better at givin' him in the first place, as his family." Her voice, which had accidentally slipped a little into the vernacular Kieran still spoke with, was quiet. "I was just lookin' for Juli to solve my problems," she finished in a murmur.

"Psh." Penny's scoff made her sit up ramrod straight again, head whipping over in indignation. The expression Carmine saw on the other girl's face wasn't disdain or mockery, however. There was a wry smile lifting one half of her mouth, and a complicated sort of furrow between her brows. "Welcome to the club," she said, and Carmine realized that the look on her face was the same one Kieran wore whenever he said things like All that stuff happened 'cause no matter how strong my team got, my heart stayed weak or I get why no one would wanna waste their time on me anymore... no one to blame but myself, I s’pose. It looked like regret. Self-deprecation.

Had Juliana played a part in saving all of her friends from themselves, Carmine wondered?

Before she could ask about it, though, Penny was shrugging, watching a little kid in an Eevee mask tear up the stairs despite his father's protests that he slow down. "Well, good on you for realizing it, at least," Penny said as her eyes followed the kid's movement. "Guess you're not the oblivious princess you seem to be."

"I seem like a princess?" Carmine's voice was hopeful.

Penny's gaze snapped to meet hers again in surprise, and this time when she laughed, she didn't stifle the joyful sound. Her eyes crinkled up, and the unguarded smile that broke her usual deadpan facade seemed to transform her. "How... how is that what you got out of that statement?" she asked incredulously, shaking her head as she almost doubled over.

She was laughing at Carmine. Carmine should have been outraged. But somehow, hearing Penny laugh felt like witnessing a rare natural phenomenon—like a rain shower in the sunlight, or something like that. She couldn't help but avert her eyes, confused at the strange bubbly feeling that had just sparked in her stomach. An answering smile crept across her face without her realizing it.

"Okay, Your Highness," Penny said, laughter still lingering on the edges of her words as she got to her feet. "This has been fun, but I've gotta get my hands on one of those masks now."

"What?" Carmine's eyebrows flew up in surprise. "I thought you didn't want to dress up for the festival!" And after she'd been offered the cutest jinbei, too!

"That was before I knew there was an Eevee mask." There was a particular sparkle in Penny's eyes that reminded Carmine of Kieran's whenever he used to get hyped up about the ogre legend (though she guessed she could no longer call it a legend). "I will obtain one of those masks or die trying," she declared solemnly.

"Did you not see how terrifying it looked on that kid?" Carmine pointed out, getting up as well and throwing out her empty shaved ice cup. "I get that you like Eevees, but you're gonna make kids scream if you walk around in that." Heck, Juliana's other Paldean friend, Nemona, had already frightened people earlier, barreling up to passersby to ask for Pokémon battles wearing that uncanny Pikachu mask she'd bought.

"It's the principle of the thing," Penny informed her with a shrug, jamming her hands in her sweater pocket. "I see Eevee things, I get Eevee things. Also, I want to get back at Nemona for that hideous Pikachu mask."

"Fair enough."

Penny hadn't invited Carmine to keep walking around the festival with her, but somehow that was how it turned out. They went from stall to stall, arms close enough to touch, but both of them comfortable enough to not worry about it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carmine was used to being the one who could wheedle others into doing what she wanted. Once she figured out someone's weakness, it was only too easy to use it to her advantage. From the time she was a little girl, Carmine had become a master of sucking up to influential distant relatives who might throw some financial support her family's way; of flattering popular kids so they allowed her to hang around them and left her brother alone; of flirting with stupid teenaged tourists who were hoping to sucker an ignorant little country girl but ended up getting bled dry themselves instead. It had become somewhat more difficult the older she got—teens and adults were much harder to dupe than children, after all, and as cunning as she was, her wits regrettably almost never exceeded those of richer, more well-connected peers or socially-savvy adults—but for the most part, she was still fairly confident in her abilities.

With her newest acquaintance, though, she found that she had somehow become the sucker in this equation, continually promised juicy tidbits of information which were withheld from her until she provided some sort of compensation. She would have been angrier about it, if she wasn't so begrudgingly impressed. Penny wasn't even fake-nice about her demands like Carmine would have been—she would just hold out her hand and say, "What do you have to make it worth my while this time?"

Despite this, though, Carmine didn't dislike hanging around Penny during the 3 extra days the Paldean friends spent in Kitakami after the festival had concluded. Her snarky, quietly muttered remarks often made Carmine stifle snorts of laughter, she was surprisingly easy to talk to (if you didn't mind being looked at like you were an idiot), and she was content to let Carmine have all the attention in social situations if she could linger in the background. She'd also called Carmine pretty a few times, though she wasn't sure whether the other girl really meant it as a compliment or a mocking statement.

As for Arven and Juliana, she couldn't find many opportunities to ask them questions about one another (plus Penny said she shouldn't bother them on their vacation, and well, that was valid, she supposed), and it was a bit difficult to observe them without making them suspicious (Penny had also called her a voyeur when she attempted to follow them, and had dragged her away with a strength Carmine hadn't known she had).

It was fine, though. Those two lovebirds were definitely going to get together, especially now that she had recruited one more Cupid (albeit a reluctant one)! Even when Carmine couldn't be there back in Paldea, Penny would keep her updated on any updates via messaging.

"You will keep me updated on any developments on the Juli-and-Arven thing, right?" Carmine pressed her partner in crime—matchmaking, she meant; her partner in matchmaking—as the 4 Paldean students waited at the bus stop for their ride to the airport. Carmine and Kieran had of course accompanied them to say goodbye.

Penny rolled her eyes and sighed. Her hair was still sticking up a little in the back, and there were circles under her eyes that stood out against her pale skin—evidently, she wasn't the best at waking up in the morning. Though the summertime insects cried out noisily and the birds cheeped in the trees, the early morning light was still a sleepy orange haze on the horizon. "Yeah, yeah. But you know it's not gonna happen faster with us scrutinizing it, right? The watched pot never boils and all that?"

"I've never heard that saying," said Carmine primly, lying through her teeth.

The shorter girl pushed up one side of her glasses to rub at her eye with the heel of her hand as she yawned, not even bothering to hide it. It reminded Carmine a little of how Ninetales yawned. "Well," said Penny when she could speak again, "thanks for hanging out with me during this visit, I guess, though I know you had ulterior motives." She fixed Carmine with a lopsided smile. "Despite the crappy cell service and you dragging me around to spy on my friends, I still had fun. I'll kinda miss it here."

Carmine abruptly realized that she had made a friend, completely by accident, and was now going to have to say goodbye to her.

"I… I'll miss having everyone here, too," she blurted, words clumsy with the unfamiliar sentiment. Her gaze dropped to the ground, and she felt fidgety all of a sudden. "But don't be a stranger, all right? You can message me—"

"—if there are any developments with those two; I know," Penny finished with another sigh.

"For any reason," Carmine corrected her firmly, taking a step closer. "You can message me whenever you want." She held out her hand like Penny had done not so long ago. "We're… we're friends now, right?"

Penny stared at Carmine's outstretched hand, eyebrows raised, and then lifted her eyes to lock onto Carmine's. What she saw must have reassured her, because a quiet smile stretched across her face, and she returned the handshake, her small hand cool against Carmine's. "Sure," she said. It might have sounded dismissive from someone else, but the warmth in that single word told Carmine that her acceptance was genuine.

Carmine grinned, joy sparking bright in her chest like a firecracker, as she squeezed her new friend's hand.

After Juliana had hugged Carmine and Kieran both about 3 more times, and goodbyes were exchanged all around, the bus arrived, and the 4 Paldean visitors were on their way.

"I'm surprised ya got so close with them, Sis," Kieran pointed out as they trekked back to Mossui Town from the bus stop. "You're usually so eager for outsiders to get out as soon as possible."

Carmine hummed, her eyes following the Yanma as they came to light gracefully on the standing pools of water in the rice paddies, only to flit away again moments later with a quiet buzz of their wings. "Maybe some outsiders aren't so bad. I wouldn't have minded if they'd stayed longer," she admitted.

Kieran gawped at her. "Wowzers," he breathed, almost tripping on a stone in the road. "Sounds like you're growin' up."

She reached her foot over to kick at his heel playfully. "I don't want to hear that from my little brother. And eyes on the road or you'll go toppling into a pit, dummy."

Kieran stuck out his tongue at her. "I'll just pull you in with me," he promised, and then took off at a jog ahead of her. "Race ya back to the house!"

She couldn't help but smile. Only a month ago or so, Kieran would never have let himself act so childishly. It felt like catching a glimpse of the little brother she'd known while they grew up, chasing each other around Kitakami Road with sticks, laughing and smiling despite the skinned knees and bandaged elbows and muddy shoes. "No fair; you got a head start!" she complained, breaking into a run to catch up.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her phone chimed, and Carmine immediately snatched it up to check it. As she'd suspected, it was a reply from Penny.

she's sitting across from him at lunch. but before u ask: no i don't think they're playing footsie

She suppressed a laugh and merely smiled, tapping out a reply: Well, maybe you should put the idea in their heads!

and how do u suggest i do that miss mind control?

Carmine let a snort escape at that before starting on another reply.

"Sis?"

Kieran's voice pulled her back down to earth from the little world she always went to when she was texting Penny. Her eyes found him, gazing at her perplexed from where he sat at his desk. Carmine was sprawled out across his bed, having come here to get some quiet study time since Kieran rarely had guests at his dorm room. "What?" she prompted him.

"I've been tryin' to get your attention for the last couple minutes," said Kieran, frowning at her. "Are you textin' that Eevee girl again?" He shook his head. "Seems like you're talkin' to her all day sometimes."

"Her name is Penny," Carmine sniffed, sitting up straighter and pointedly putting the phone aside, "and I do not text her all day." They’d have to be in the same time zone to do that, she reasoned to herself.

Kieran looked unconvinced. "Sure. Look, I'm glad ya have a friend an' all, but if you're just gonna sit there and text the whole time, why bother comin' to my room to do it?"

"Your room's quieter," she defended herself. "And is it so unusual that I would want to spend time with my precious baby brother?"

"Yes," Kieran deadpanned, raising his eyebrows. "Seems to me like you're just usin' me and Penny to procrastinate doin' any work."

She scoffed in feigned outrage, even though he'd partially hit the mark. "How rude!"

Privately, though, she was glad he hadn't caught on to her additional motive: keeping tabs on Kieran. Ever since he'd fallen into that self-destructive spiral of his last semester, she'd been trying to keep a closer watch on him when they returned to Blueberry Academy. She’d been haunted by the memory of being so powerless, and was determined to prevent it from ever happening again. Every now and then she was still plagued with nightmares about Kieran descending alone into a shadowy pit; Kieran's eyes, cold and devoid of light; Kieran's cheeks becoming more sunken and gaunt until his uncanny smile became that of a grinning skull's. She would wake up gasping, eyes sticky with unshed tears, a scream still caught in the back of her throat as fear and guilt clashed in her stomach.

She'd been so grateful for Juliana sticking her nose where it didn't belong back then. But there was a part of her that still felt… bitter. Wounded. Someone without any siblings had had to come along and do a better job of pulling Kieran's head out of his ass than she could, and as thankful as Carmine was that Juliana had been that someone, it had also left her with her pride as a big sister damaged.

Surprisingly, Penny had proven to be a great source of comfort in that regard. It turned out that she was a little sibling herself, and recently, whenever Carmine found herself worried about Kiki, she'd message Penny, who would usually tell her to stop hovering over him and let him make his own mistakes. She'd also advised just telling Kieran that she was concerned about him, but she couldn't do that, could she?

just be honest and tell him ur worried, Penny had said the last time Carmine consulted her about this. or if u can't do that, at least threaten to forcefeed him a vegetable. my big sis said that to me once. it was obnoxious but i guess the sentiment's appreciated, lol.

"I… want to make sure you're eating properly," she ventured, catching Kieran's attention before he went back to studying from his textbook. "You lost so much weight before, Kiki…"

Carmine caught the way her brother's eyes widened for a moment before he looked away, putting on a nonchalant face. "I eat fine," he grumbled, his cheeks coloring slightly. "And even if I didn't, what're you gonna do about it? You can't even make tea without Sinistcha's help…"

She jumped off the bed, catching Kiki in a headlock and grinding her knuckles into his dark hair with her other hand. "You've got a lotta nerve insulting your big sister like that! I can totally cook if I want to!"

"Agh, no, not the noogie!" Kieran squawked, flailing in her grip. "All right, fine, you can cook, geez!"

"You're darn right I can!" Satisfied, she released him, popping her hands on her hips. "But I don't feel like it, so I'm going to treat you to a meal instead. Feel free to tell me how generous I am."

Kieran sighed, but there was a reluctant smile on his face as he smoothed his hair back down. "You're a real piece of work, Sis," he said, but Carmine heard the gratitude hidden behind the complaint.

Well, either that, or Carmine was very good at only hearing what she wanted to hear. She'd been told things like that before.

She made a mental note to thank Penny for her advice as she and her brother made their way to the Cafeteria.

================================================

Next time: Penny comes to Blueberry as a special coach, and both girls go to a party! I hope you'll look forward to it, and thank you for reading! 💕

#pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon sv #arviana #carpen #stuff i write #carmine #penny of team star #rival kieran #indigo disk #mochi madness

[lesbianmichelmishina]

characters from earlier games whom i want the scarvi cast to meet

nemona: LEON. high-energy champs who love to win??? nemona would so be a leon fangirl.

arven: i want to see him cooking with beni. mochi vs sandwiches.

penny: i want penny to meet guzma, solely so that guzma can slowly realise that this nerdy eevee-obsessed kid is a much more serious criminal than he is.

katy: viola! omg they would chat about their darling bugs while katy bakes, and then viola would take some insta-worthy photos of the resulting cake that go viral. the cake is vivillon themed.

brassius: he and burgh would be friends i think.

kofu: he and crasher wake have the combined energy of a tsunami and that sounds hilarious.

tulip: i HAVE to see tulip doing diantha's makeup and sweating the entire time. she's too gay for this shit.

iono: RAIHAN.

larry: i'm going to say red, because while red is an unspeakably strong trainer and certified oddball, he's also got strong Normal Dude vibes and that fits well with larry. i think red would listen sympathetically to larry's complaints about work while the two of them eat ramen.

ryme: hear me out, i think there's room for a collab between her and piers. he jams out on a guitar, she freestyles to whatever beat he creates.

grusha: melony. this boy needs a hug and i think melony could give him a good one. also ice type friends.

clavell: he and looker attempt to understand slang together. clavell is struggling because he's clavell, looker is struggling because paldean is not one of his best languages. they are Trying.

rika: cynthia. see, every lesbian pokemon fan swoons for cynthia. i don't think rika would be any different. i think rika would lose her shit upon meeting cynthia. then the two of them bond over garchomp.

poppy: byron. he would instantly go Dad Mode on this tiny girl. then he finds out that she has steel types and he's on the verge of trying to get custody. how does he tell roark about his new baby sister.

hassel: burgh again, but for different reasons. i think hassel is a burgh fanboy.

real sada/turo: norman sits them down and has a Friendly Chat with them about their parenting skills. the slakings are blocking the doors. there is no escape.

ai sada/turo: i want them to meet laventon solely because laventon trying to work out what the fuck the ais are would be hilarious.

mela: flannery. awkward torkoal buddies!

ortega: listen he and bede would either be besties or hate each other on sight and i cannot work out which would be funnier.

giacomo: piers again, he's totally a piers fan, he's done fan remixes of piers's songs.

atticus: i want him to meet and get proper ninja training from koga and janine because he deserves it.

eri: zisu. the arm-wrestling contest would be LEGENDARY.

jacq: he and sycamore probably found each other on grindr during a conference and. y'know.

salvatore: he would like to meet fantina! the two could practise their kantonese together.

raifort: she and volo would get along for the worst reasons.

miriam: i want her to meet peselle. they have common ground and honestly i think it'd be cute.

dendra: i can picture her training with maylene and having a good time.

saguaro: i think gaeric would immediately fall in love if he met saguaro. and tbh i can't blame him.

tyme: i'm gonna say clemont. she would be really impressed by his inventions and would be a good tutor to him.

koraidon/miraidon: listen n would take one look at these big idiot lizard dogs and IMMEDIATELY fall in love. they are his new friends, he will give them all of the sandwiches.

#gotta tag em all #pokemon spoilers #scarvi spoilers

[goldensunset]

i’m not about to draw a minimum of twelve entire pictures but i wanna do this anyway (i guess i could just edit the images in there but that’s lame lol)

•my favorite gym leader is probably either tulip or clay! something about tulip i just always found very endearing and respectable and i love clay’s no-nonsense attitude and sheer strength. plus he gets bonus points for his daughter being lacey

•fav champion is clearly volo. like how could you not classify that as a champion fight. that was so freaking hard man. runner up goes to kieran though bc he was also really hard for me. but of course if we’re talking official true pokémon league champions then cynthia

•fav elite four member has gotta be lacey. i adore her. first time i’ve ever lost to the same opponent multiple times in a fair fight (aka being prepared and on-level). she’s sooo cute and fun! she also terrifies me severely

•favorite protagonist is akari no surprise there. la does such a good job of making it clearly important why the protag is the protag. it offers a legitimate in-universe explanation as to why this one child in particular is so much more powerful than all the others. out of place in time and space, literally chosen by a god… the way certain characters question her humanity, both in a good and evil way… it’s so good

•favorite rival… well pokémon fans use the term rival really loosely. it can mean any friend character that you battle for funsies even once. it can mean literal arch nemesis. idk. arven stole my heart with his story but i don’t consider him a rival like most people do so that goes to cheren. i love his story and he has also mopped the floor with me several times

•favorite antagonist is also volo next question. i’m sick in the head about him. n is a strong and clear second place obviously though. i’ve done enough rambling on here about them

•professor laventon is the guy ever he feels like he actually personally cares about akari so much. that’s her dad. the way he’s actively involved in plot stuff, he accompanies the team on field missions even when he really doesn’t need to… he’s always there. you see him a lot. and he’s clearly writing the pokédex entries himself and they’re absolute gold. but seeing as professor is also a broad term because they’ve been really breaking up the older tradition in recent games, i nominate director clavell as second place bc i respect the guy a lot. that old man (tm) enjoyer here

•fav battle facility leader… well. i don’t really have one bc i’ve done very little with the battle facilities in the two games i’ve played that had them lol. so i guess throwaway answer is ingo but mostly for pla reasons. actually i think he counts as a battle facility leader in pla with the daybreak update and i’ve done some of his stuff so he does in fact count for me

•for fav clan member i’m gonna say arezu i like her a lot. she tried doing the right thing in a very chaotic way and i respect her for her efforts. plus her design is cute and she gives great haircuts and her noble is adorable

•character from other media… well i’m obsessed with the way n is portrayed in pokespe. perfect blend between sad prettyboy and freak behavior. they just made everything so intense. and i love oshawott from poképark 2 with the way he’s trying so hard to be serious and cool but snivy keeps getting on his nerves lol. that’s the reason i chose oshawott in pla bc that was the only of those pokémon i recognized

•i’m classifying arven as miscellaneous bc like i said i don’t consider him a rival but MAN!! man… this guy just got shortchanged so many times but i’m glad he was able to get closure for his parents’ disappearance and death and that he can move on and just live his own life. also certified dog lover moment

•top fav character… yeah you all know it’s volo LOL. completely shrimp fried my brain. the absolute hyperactive high i was on when he revealed himself. made even more insane bc i had literally been spoiled that he was a twist villain but i had no other context so i was just waiting the whole game for him to be evil. imagine the sinking in my gut when the credits rolled and it didn’t happen i thought i’d been embarrassing myself the whole time but then the postgame punched me in the gut HARD. i thought he’d end up being like the sad sympathetic frenemy guy where you don’t really want to fight him but NOPE full on evil full on he was just using you. made even better by the context that he had been your biggest fan throughout the whole game while everyone else had been suspicious of you. i lost my entire mind. once again second place to n though

#pokémon #legends arceus #bw #sv #dppt

[r0-boat]

Hello! Really love your content and have to say I love all the aus on here they either got me screaming or having to lay down to process. Could you please write about dark clavell (and the idea got me thinking about dark Larry too if you don’t mind I love these men so much. Dosent matter if n/sfw your choice)?

I'm going to do my little rambly headcanons because there's just so much stuff I could do with this

Dark/evil!Clavell

Cw: slight yandere, kidnapping, unhealthy relationship

Maybe he's actually the one behind the Paradox project, maybe he's either obsessed with power or knowledge? Maybe he only lets team star run loose to cause Ruckus to draw attention away from finding out more about the Paradox Pokemon and the secrets of the Paldea center.

Maybe he's after the chairwoman spot, wanting to become the most powerful trainer in Paldea. Maybe his plan was to use the time machine to seek for an ultra powerful Pokemon to Aid him. even in death with Arven under his wing at the Academy his parents had no choice but to comply with his wishes.

He's such a sweetheart around the students so they are none the wiser what he actually is like, behind closed doors he is cold-hearted,calculating and a little intimidating. ( based off of his battle theme)

Only playing a part and taking down team star to be in the students good graces. And possibly remove himself from suspect.

When he wants something he will use all his power to get it, he truly believes that he's untouchable, even the chairwoman doesn't know what he actually does behind the scenes.

You are the only one who got close enough to his plans for him to come out and fully stop you, if his Pokemon don't take your team out then he always has a back up plan to make you black out.

He has truly thought of every strategy you might use, because he's probably have been around you long enough to know what kind of Pokemon you use not to mention having the battlefield in a certain way where only his Pokemon would benefit.

You wake up in a place you don't recognize, a highly surveillance room. Clavell does admit that he has taken a sort of liking to you, so he ends up keeping you. As nothing more than a little pet.

He puts a little collar around your neck, petting your chin with his thumb only to chuckle when you try to bite him. he's going to enjoy breaking you~

Nothing like coming home and having you keeping his bed warm, he would take such good care of you, won't you become his good pet?

You wrap a hand around your neck and squeeze it showing you that he has superiority, he may not be able to overpower you physically. but he is a very smart man and can make you submit to him in other ways.

#director clavell #pokemon x reader #Yandere #Yandere clavell #clavell x reader

[professor-walnut]

Nemona is by far my favourite rival character in any game; she is also absolutely neurodivergent - hear me out on this.

I love seeing characters in media who are subtly autistic or adhd coded, and pokemon has a lot of them. But pretty frequently when writers create nd characters, they end up falling into a trope of genius/shy/nerdy/introverted/emotionless. And there is nothing wrong with that! I love all of these characters, and they do bring representation to a lot of people.

Nemona, right from the start of the game is absolutely the opposite of that type of character, however. She's loud, she's extroverted and excitable and in your face right from the start. She doesn't fit that cliche box, but she slowly shows more and more through her dialogue and actions through the storyline and postdated that she has her own struggles.

Her 'battle obsession' is a special interest, she will turn every topic into a conversation about pokemon battles, even when it's not appropriate to do so. She gets so wrapped up and excited about it that other characters frequently have to remind her that you, the player, aren't in fact a champion trainer, and you and your pokemon need to rest and might not want to battle over and over or go up against overpowered mons. She hyperfocuses on you as the character, sensing someone with even just a DROP of interest in the thing she is obsessed with and clings to you from then on, deciding with or without your agreement that you have to be best friends bevause of it. She physically bounces on the spot getting so excited whenever her special interest is mentioned, towards the end there's multiple times she will jog on the spot or shake her fists excitedly unable to even find the right words. (And let me tell you man, if that's not the most accurate portrayal of my own experiences vibing with a special interest. Sometimes it's like you have so much excitement your body can't even contain it and you must MOVE).

She misses social cues - which is particularly shown when you're in area zero as a group. The rest of the characters will be discussing heartfelt topics, Arven is going through some shit and everyone is worrying about Koridon/Miridon, but Nemona makes seemingly insensitive comments throughout, sometimes having to correct herself like -yes right of course I want our lizard friend to be okay and definatly not because I really want to battle it.

She reacts to things in inappropriate ways - when AI Sada/Turo starts glitching out over the audio (which by the way, being in an abandoned creepy base and just hearing an eerie voice being like "hello children- hello children - h-h-h-hello-he- chil-chil-children children children hell children hello ch-children :)" is nightmare fuel.) and the other three are freaked the fuck out, understandably so, Nemona is cheerful as anything and commenting on how it's making her even more excited, even to the point Penny has to point out to her that this reaction is not normal.

The thing that sold it to me the most was her short story post game, where you can talk to her at various places around the school. You watch her excitedly approach a random boy she doesn't know and try to rope him in to battling her. He gets awkward and uncomfortable and turns her down - she doesn't read the room and still thinks they're going to battle. You realise - for the first time in the game really - that dispite Nemona being a student president and a champion trainer, someone who looks and seems like they should be super popular and cool - you've never seen her with a friend. She doesn't have a social group before meeting you and getting to bond with Arven and Penny. She is extroverted and confident and talks to the teachers and gym leaders like peers, but she's awkward and misses important social cues and other kids notice. They're intimidated by her and her energy and her hyperfixiation.

The part at the end of her storyline, where you are in her dorm room talking, and she describes her feelings as having an invisible wall between her and other kids - that hurt me on an emotional level. Because that is exactly what it's like to be a neurodivergent teenager with one hyperfixiation special interest you pour everything into. For me it was art, when I was a teen I was obsessed, I drew in every lesson, from the moment I got up to the moment I went to bed, I collected art books and watched art tutorials and it's all I wanted to talk about, think about, DO every second, I couldn't bare the boredom of anything that wasn't that. And that level of obsession and passion was too much for other kids, it scared them, it weirder them out. That small section of dialogue where she talks about feeling distanced from other kids really hit me in the feels, and I kinda wish I had been able to experience this characters story back when I was a young teen in the same place, it would have hit me all the harder.

When you look back at the beginning of the game after playing it through, it makes so much more sense why she comes across as a little clingy to you as the character - why she makes insecure comments about you not needing to battle other people when you could be battling her, and why she follows you around from gym to gym as if your journey is her own. You're the first person to - in inelegant terms - 'put up with' her energy. You are her first real friend who not only accepts her sort of aggressive special interest infodumping but embraces it, endulges in it because it makes her happy. If course she clings to you, the playable character is probably the best friend, maybe even the first real friend she has ever had.

Anyway that's my aggressive rant over having too many emotions about fictional characters for today, thanks for coming to my Ted talk. I just really love seeing a different variation of neurodivergent character portrayed in franchises, it makes my little heart happy for all the neurodivergent kids out there who get to vibe with someone, you know?

#pokemon scarlet and violet #spoilers #its the middle of the night but man I needed to TALK #this game is a gift even if the graphics suck and the bugs are unbarable

[volos-wish]

My interpretation/explanation of Arvens backstory.

SV leaves a LOT open. The story is so good and yet it leaves sooooo much to be desired like we need wayy more context and overall world building.

But thats not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about Arvens backstory and how I interpreted it.

First off lets start with his parents. I do not think they were married. I think that they were young researchers on their first field job and they were so happy about it. I think that they were happy to be exploring the rest of their lives and looked towards the future.

(Not to mention in game the prof refers to the other parent as "that person" aka not at all how you would refer to a romantic partner. Maybe they were mad they got left.)

One day they got together and Arven was born. Once Arven was born the parent that left didn't want to take care of a kid. They probably didn't want one, at least not within this part of their life and left so they could fufil their dreams without being held back.

(They also refer to Arven as the boy and not my kid. Not much attachment there, more like a variable in their current situation.)

On the other side of that I think that the professor was ecstatic to have a kid! I think that the professor was happy to move to this next step in life and truly did love Arven. That is, at first.

I think the professor viewpoint of all of this was that everything was fresh and new. That they wanted to live their life to its fullest and experience everything it had to offer.

And that is why I think they neglected Arven. Why they were always a terrible parent. I believe that they viewed him in a flawed way. That he was a simple step in life that once they had their fill and fun with it they would leave behind and discover something new.

They left Arven behind in pursuit of their happiness which just so happened to be Time Travel. They became so obsessed with it that they forgot about their kid altogether and strove to insane measures to protect their dream. Installing crazy defense protocols and even making a ROBOT AI version of themselves to not only help them out but live on forever.

And I think that making a second version of yourself to work on scientific discoveries (and pursuit of dreams) just makes you a mad scientist. They were so obsessed they probably went insane. Though not in like a big way, just and obsessive way.

Finally, they died in an accident. Not realizing the danger in merging the future/past with the present and blinded by their hubris they didn't see any risks. The AI took over and unintentionally avoided all of the original professors flaws.

The AI had common sense. A full worldwide database to utilize and with it understanding of the risks that the time machine made.

This part was what stood out to me the most about sv and its story. That the AI wasn't the bad guy, it wasn't evil. It understood what was wrong with its creator and understood what its role was. Yet for the greater good it became its own person. I believe that there is a distinct difference between the AI and the professor and they could classify as different people.

The AI Professor was the one we saw this whole game. Yet, it is different from Arvens original parent, and we may never know what they were actually like.

Basically, they were probably a narcissist and the most self centered person ever. With love for their son, albeit with a flawed thought process.

Note: This is just me filling in the gaps and polishing it to make sense. Obviously I went into the theorizing territory so don't yell at me for feeling like the AI we get is in fact not the original prof and a distinct person to a point. Thats just how I personally feel about them. (Also I haven't played Scarlet idk if the story differs much.)

#im sorry if this is incomprehensible its like 11 pm im tired #but i want to get my thoughts out #aAAAAHHHH #y talks #sv #pokemon #pokemon sv #sv spoilers #pokemon theory #pokemon theorys #pokemon interpretation #arven #trainer arven #professor sada #professor turo #pokemon spoilers

[kogameh]

I didn't liveblog the epilogue like I did with Teal Mask since I moved my reactions to twt but my goooooood it was so GOOD 😭 I'm kinda obsessed with it actually. Everyone was so full of personality and there's a LOT you can dissect from their lines and interactions!! The writers really do a lot of care into them oh my god

Again there's a Lot to dissect even if the story is like. what. 1 hour long but fav highlights on top of my head are:

ARVEN BEING JEALOUS OF KIERAN LMAOOOO This is like THE popular headcanon when Kieran first existed and its REAL????

There's just a lot of lines where the gang def hang out a lot off screen like Penny going all "You want to meet Kieran because you want to BATTLE him, dont you?" at Nemona and Arven thinking Nemona is gonna jumpscare them when she went missing bc he predict her all too well augahaghah... I love when it shows that theyre close ya know...

Also some little details easily missable in dialogues like Penny (and Nemona?) having sweet tooth and Carmine's fav food being yakisoba, etc, I'm def scratching the surface here lol

AND THEN HOW ARVEN AND KIERAN BECAME BESTIES SO FAST DESPITE HOW THEY FIRST MET AAAAAAH i REALLY hope they get to play games and watch movies on that tv-

Actually the whole Paldea-gumi got along with Kieran fast like how Nemona is excited (but also scares Kieran) on finding another person to battle with...and Penny vibing with another introvert/shy friend... He deserves it sooooo muuuuuch

Uh. The whole zombie infection thing actually horrifies me (in a way it flinches me to see my favs being put in an embarrassing situation #&@%&@) BUT I will say I like how Kieran is the main tsukkomi here and some parts shows he still have his, uh, unwell side.

Also being a sgao enjoyer they DEF get a lot of moments and I'm so glad they teamed up 😭 It's funny how much people (including me) are expecting Kieran to be under the Momotaro's influence only for him to be the two survivors along with MC £^*@^@*@&

Speaking of, Pecharunt actually didn't get much role here outside of being the mastermind which def disappointed a lot of people wanting more lore on the Pokemon side so yeah....its kinda funny that THE main purpose of this distribution got put in the backburner like that. In fact both Indigo Disk and this event feels more character-focused over the Pokemons? ^#*@^@*^ Which is kinda a risky move considering most Pkmn fans can't rea-

In the end they did implied they hang out off screen but that left me wanting MORE... Can I get an iyashikei with just Paldea-gumi and Kitakami siblings PLEASEEEEEEE

The whole thing feels like a stupid B-movie plot and I LOVE it...a proof that some stories don't have to be a masterpiece if its already brimming with personalities and charm. Why am I seeing fuckers complaining over more buttons to mash just go back to previous gens if you want your bland ass mythical distributions via PokeCen NPCs or some shit!!!

I. would put my overall conclusion here but that means having to accept ScarVio has ended. I'm NOT doing that (inhaling copium). This is probably gonna remain the only mainline Pokemon I'll ever get attached to so...yeah...I'm gonna miss them a lot...

(Anyway I have to yell here because I have no one to talk about this event. Its lonely when you're just exploding by yourself hahhaah.)

#kogami's scrapbook #sv spoilers // ///// // #long post

[roxannarambles]

Indigo Disk Photo Album

Just some screenshots and excuses to ramble a bit about Drayton, the environments in Indigo Disk, and Rika. Major spoilers obviously.

First of all, I want to say when Drayton said "Yo, Champ in the making," I was so happy. Such an adorable callback for old fans. Then when I beat the next E4 and he said 'Yo yo, Champ in the making' I thought maybe it was just script writers being lazy and not noticing, but MAYBE he said it twice because I beat TWO people? The third time confirmed it was intentional and I was so happy, lol. Also, I saved him for last, which the dialogue takes note of, so that was really cool.

I liked Drayton, he was my favorite BB person. I think most of that 'laziness' stems from pushing back against all the no doubt intense pressure put on him to follow in the footsteps of family members that are very powerful and accomplished trainers, and really, who could blame him. (Read his dialogue with Hassel if you get the chance, it's good) He's also a 'lil toxic towards Kieran when Player wins, but again, I can't exactly blame him for having some bad feelings towards Kieran considering how much of a JERK Kieran was being.

Terarium stuff. I loved this Pyroar they intentionally placed on the Pride Rock-esque formation. Also I loved other environmental details like electrowebs for Galvantula, antlion pits for Trapinch, nests for Vullaby, etc. Also met up with Perrin so the brothers could re-unite . . . girl why don't you evolve your Growlithe. You do know all you need is a Fire Stone, right? You could be riding a giant fire dog around.

The extra-super sparkly part to Area Zero was nice, but this underground lake with this awesome tree in the center was the coolest. I think they should have had Terapogos there instead of some random poke you need to battle to progress. Also, I have to admit this WAS a very cool moment, when Terapogos broke the Master Ball. It felt very impactful, just seeing that. So props for that.

Ms. Briar's academic obsession with Terapogos is so similar to Sada/Turos' obsession with building a Time Machine and a paradise, I really expected more parallels to be drawn in the story but they never really did. I feel like they didn't take full advantage of that. Although I suppose it's nice Ms. Briar realized she needed to step back, that she was hurting people as a result, whereas Arven's parent never realized this. (I'm gonna explore the idea more if I do an Indigo Disk rewrite and get the Paldea Pals properly involved in the plot) Kieran had an obsession of his own, of course, with Ogerpon but also with growing stronger, and that resulted in a lot of pain too ultimately.

Okay so, the added information on Rika was interesting. She mentions 'babysitting the boss' because Geeta is prone to being absent-minded and needs help keeping track of all the details, which a lot of people loved, although personally I don't like Geeta, so that info didn't fascinate me too much. I found it more interesting that Rika got super upset when she learned Player went into Area Zero, which is honestly really sweet that she's that concerned for our safety. She also mentions that she 'went to kind of a rough school' which is really interesting. I guess she didn't attend Naranja then. People often assume she and Geeta attended Naranja and met there as students, I guess that kinda wrecks that theory. I wonder which school Rika attended? I'm going to guess it's in an area that was economically disadvantaged, as "rough" usually means "poor" (Rika also notes the clubhouses were not 'as nice' as BB's)

Rika also notes that she has a "professional mode" when she's teaching or doing League work, which she finds exhausting if she has to do it all the time, and that she prefers her regular, relaxed, normal self. (She also reveals she wears the glasses because they make her look sharp and professional but they're literally just for show, which is hilarious.) If the player tells her they prefer regular Rika to professional Rika, she says she'll try to loosen up around us and act like her normal self. Aw.

#pokemon #pokemon s/v #indigo disk #screenshots #drayton #rika #still forever mad that rika didn't put a flygon on her team #flygon is so PERFECT for her