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Florian and his twin sister Juliana had just landed in Kitakami.The branches of the trees were gently caressed by the summer wind, and the youths, accompanied by Professor Briar, were stretching their legs after the long journey from Paldea.“We have finally arrived!” Fabiàn, a bespectacled boy with hazelnut hair, exclaimed jumping.“First the plane, then the bus! My butt hurts from sitting down!” Mariana, a curly-haired, dark-skinned girl, complained.“Dear students, it's been a long journey, but now we're here! Look around: it's the first time I've been here too..."The teacher pointed out to the children the flora and fauna of the fields that lined the road and the bus stop, making her showy earrings jingle with every movement of her head.There was a Yanma fluttering on the tall blades of grass, and some Woopers walked among the rice paddies and ditches, with their usual naive smile.“That's Mossui Town over there. That's where we're going."Suddenly, a panicked exclamation came from Rodrigo, the youngest of the group, a child with a red hat:“Sorry teacher, I don't feel very well…”“Oh, darn, it must have been the bus! Florian, would you please go and inform those of the Community Center? And you, Juliana, could you ask if there is a doctor for our Rodrigo?”"Certainly!"The twins approached the child:“Don't worry, you'll be better soon!” Juliana reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder.“Wait for us!” Florian echoed her, stroking his hat."Thank you…"---------------The twins ran up the hill and at the end of the road, surrounded by low walls and flowerbeds, they saw what appeared to be the Community Center of Mossui Town, as well as the very distinct figures of two people.Getting closer, the two youths saw a boy that seemed to be their age and an older girl, both with black hair and golden eyes, both dressed sportily. They were talking to each other and not far away there was a man sitting on a bench with his Vulpix; he didn't seem to be part of the conversation.“Carmine, look! We have visitors!” the boy exclaimed at a certain point, recoiling as if he had seen a ghost.He didn't have time to finish the sentence, that the older girl immediately rushed forward like a Liepard:“Hello, are you the students from Paldea?”The boy was hiding behind her, and she seemed quite annoyed by it.“Sorry, outsiders can't come to Mossui as nothing.”“Wow, and who are you to decide that? The mayor?"Juliana was like that: she couldn't stand haughty people like that Carmine, and the fact that she was older didn't scare her: she untied her braid of soft brown hair, ready to get into a fight if necessary.Florian didn't share his sister's brute methods, but he couldn't help but think of how hateful the stranger’s smirk was.“The mayor has no time for you.” the raven girl replied, still with the annoying smile and a falsely friendly tone of voice.“But Carmine, it's not t-”“SILENT, KIERAN!” she shouted back at him, looking like a displeased Salazzle.“What is it, you decide who can speak and who can't as well?” Juliana teased, twirling the Pokéball in the air.Carmine glared at her.“Come on… Let's see what you can do, wondergirl…”“N-No, please… Forget it…”“Kieran, I told you to shut up…”“Ugh…”Florian approached his peer, while the two shrews prepared to fight.“It's going to be fun, I'll make you eat the local dust!”The local dust turned out to be… A Poochyena.She hadn't made her evolve.“In addition to being boastful, she is also ignorant… Where do you think you're going with that Poochyena?” Juliana mentally mocked her, before recalling her trusted Coco, a Skeledirge.“Alluring Voice.” she told him, and the Poochyena fell unconscious without being able to do anything.As a second choice, Carmine sent out Poltchageist, and Juliana decided to switch to LadyFreeze, her Froslass.Even in this case, Carmine's Pokémon could do nothing against Lady's Shadow Ball.Carmine's last hope, if it could be called that, was a little Vulpix.“Oh God, this girl is truly a hopeless case…” Juliana thought to herself, as she ordered LadyFreeze to launch a Water Pulse on the canine.Vulpix was faster and she burned Froslass with Will-O-Wisp, and the ghost immediately retaliated, but she couldn't knock the little Pokémon out.“Disable!” Carmine shouted, “Put that annoying move KO!”Without losing heart, Juliana ordered LadyFreeze’s Shadow Ball attack, but first she was hit by Vulpix's Extrasensory.“What do you think of our welcome in Kitakami? Hey, don't think badly, I don't do it for fun!”"I cannot stand her!"Inside, Juliana was screaming.The Shadow Ball put an end to Carmine's dreams of glory, and she pulled back, not even comforted by her brother, who applauded ecstatically.“Wowzers, you managed to beat Carmine!” he exclaimed in fact, surprised.“They must be really bad here in Mossui, if Carmine is seen as some sort of champion…” Juliana thought malevolently.“Argh, I’m so angry! But I have to say that you did well. Fine, you are promoted, you have my permission to enter Mossui Town, but from today you will be my henchwoman, do we have a deal?"“Er… What about me?” Florian timidly intervened, amused and worried by the whole situation.“What are you doing, don’t encourage her!”Juliana approached her with a hard face."Who do you think you are?"Before the fuse could be relit, a man dressed in purple came running out of the main building.“HEY, YOU! WHAT ARE YOU UP TO?!”“Tsk, what a drag… Let's go, Kiki!” Carmine muttered, before starting to run.“B-but I… All right, wait for me, Carmine!” Kieran shouted, chasing her.After a few moments, the man approached the twins.“Hello, are you the students from Paldea? I am the head of the Community Center and I will take care of you during your presence here. By any chance, did those two siblings bother you?”"No!""Yes!"Florian and Juliana's answers overlapped and the two remained looking at each other for a few interminable seconds.The man sighed.“I understand... I don't know what to do with them anymore... Carmine in particular has always been a difficult girl. I hope she didn't bother you too much."“Of course she did!” Juliana muttered, before being elbowed by Florian.----------------------------------------------------------------------------That evening, the twins were placed in their room at Mossui Town Community Center.They played for the bunk bed, and Juliana took the one above.Once the lights were turned off, the girl realized she couldn't sleep, so, tired of looking at the ceiling a meter from her face, she called her brother:“Hey, Flor, are you awake?”“What is it, Juli?”“Do you think we will see that pair of siblings again?”“You mean Carmine and Kieran? Likely…"“I can't stand her! She treated us like criminals, she poses as a diva and considers her brother a slave!"“Are you sure the real reason isn't because she looks a bit like you?” Florian teased her, with a big smile."ME?! THE SAME AS CARMINE?! Don’t count on it!"“Come on, it's time to sleep now.”"All right. Good night!"At the same time, Carmine and Kieran were also chatting with each other, lying on their beds.“Hey, Carmine…”“Mhmmm… What do you want, Kiki?”“Why were you so sour today?”“Mh?”“I mean with those guys.”“Oh… You know that tourists make me wary, Kieran… People constantly coming and going reminds me too much of our parents and that irritates me!”“What do mom and dad have to do with it now?”“You still call them that? They've been calling every now and then for almost two years, great parents!”“I still don't understand what it has to do with those guys…”The raven-haired girl, who had sat down on the bed during the heat of the speech, collapsed again onto the pillow, dejectedly, placing a hand on her forehead.“I hate change. Maybe you don't remember it as well as I do, Kiki, but when we were little our parents tossed us around a lot. They didn't know how to keep a job, or a house, so we were constantly moving. It was when I was seven and you were three that our grandparents intervened. For Jin and Nie we are just postal packages..."Kieran didn't know what to say to her; it was true, he barely remembered the trips with his parents, because they had stopped when he was very young, while for Carmine they were wounds that had never healed, which had made her an abrasive person, not inclined to open up to strangers.Without another word, the raven-haired boy drifted off to sleep.