The violet book- a Pokémon violet fanfiction

Chapter 12

"It's here. It's really here."

The soft glow of the herbs was scarce in the light from the opening of the cave.

"You found it, Juliana." Arven stared at the Herba Mystica before reaching out and grabbing it. He brushed his palms across it lightly as if to remind himself that it was real.

"Oh... really? I actually did it?" Arven's face flickered to a smile.

"Well you see it right in front of us, don't you?"

Juliana grinned. "I was trying to sound heroic, dolt."

Arven chuckled.

  "Well, now I'm going to be heroic and make the best sandwiches you've ever had." He said, pulling a picnic set from his bag.

Juliana smirked. "Well that won't be hard. It's not like my mom ever made good sandwiches, and those are about the only ones I've ever had."

Arven smiled a tiny bit, let go of the table he was trying to set up, and pulled out a dark purple book.

"Now then, let's see... What does the book have to say? It says here that the Sweet Herba Mystica is good for gut health and that it helps aid digestion. Says it's great for stomachaches, too, or when you want to stimulate the ol' appetite!"

Juliana blinked. "Huh. Sounds useful."

Arven smiled a tiny bit, closing the book and starting to set up the table again.

"Yeah. Now if I can just get him to eat some..." He muttered to himself.

Juliana looked puzzled for a moment. "What? Get who to what?" She asked confusedly.

"Uh- what? You- uh- you should probably go clean your cut." He commented, trying to change the subject.

"Oh. Yeah. Right." She chuckled, sitting on a large boulder. Juliana gave him a highly suspicious look, before flicking her gaze back to her knee.

"Uh- wait, With what? A bandaid? Cause guess what? I don't have any."

Arven smirked, then reached into his bag. He pulled out a gauze pad and handed it to her.

Juliana wrinkled her face. "Don't those things hurt?"

Arven laughed. "Yeah, well it's gonna hurt a lot more if it gets infected."

Juliana's eyes widened. "Really? That will happen?" He nodded, turning back to his picnic set.

Juliana bit her lip, then opened up the gauze pad. She very slowly placed it on her knee.

Juliana waited a moment, feeling no pain. "Oh. I guess it doesn't hurt that ba- HOLY Arceus!"

The cut started to burn. A lot. She kept making wincing noises as the gauze cleaned her scratch. Arven gave her a pitying look.

"I'm- I'm gonna make the sandwiches now." He muttered. "Oka-ow. Okay." She stuttered.

Juliana exhaled, trying to ignore the pain.

"Oh, and here's a badge I made myself. I call it a 'Titan badge'. It's a replica of the gym badges, I hope you like it." Arven said, reaching over to press a small, warm, metal badge into the palm of her hand.

"Oh! Wow! That looks so cool!" Juliana said, her eyes sparkling.

Arven smiled. "Good. Good to hear."

Juliana thought for a moment quietly.

"Um- so I heard the professor was your father, right?" She asked, trying to start up conversation.