The violet book- a Pokémon violet fanfiction

Chapter 21

About 5 months ago...

Water pelted the surface of the Pokémon lab, reflecting off the light of the fire.

It was dark outside, aside from the flames of the fire that were currently being put out. The crescent moon was high in the sky, but gave off a faint glow.

A shadow...

A person hiding around the corner.

"It's done sir..." Brenden exhaled, stepping towards the cloaked figure. "I finished the job, May suspected nothing. We should be able to flow through the rest of the plan with ease..."

The figure grunted with surprise. "Really? I thought she'd be more cautious about the fire...You have done well, Brenden. Here is your pay."

Brenden shuddered, reaching forward to take the stack of money out of the cloaked figures palm.

"Thank you, sir...I must go now." He said quietly.

The cloaked figure watched him as he started to tread away, before calling to him one more time.

"Make sure you turn their eyes towards her. Don't let them know it was you." He warned.

Brenden looked shocked. "What—why? I already burned....Why...Why frame her as well?"

A small smile flickered across the figure's face. "You don't want them to know it was you, do you?" Brenden flinched.

"N-no sir..."

"Then you know what you must do."

He scowled for a moment. "Yes sir..." Brenden said reluctantly, turning away.

Brenden stopped, then turned back towards the figure.

"What do you have against May? Why do you want her life to be ruined so badly?" Brenden demanded.

The man gave him an amused look. "If you care so much about your friend, why agree to frame her?"

Brenden glared at the figure. "Because I need to help my... I promised her...I'd..." He trailed off at the man's gaze.

"I see your point, I suppose...I will do my best, sir." Brenden finished.

There was an eerie silence, aside from the occasional chirps of Pokémon in the distant forest.

"Good. I know you will not disappoint me."

5 Months later (4 days after chapter 20 happened)...

Juliana skipped through the school halls joyfully.

She had art class this morning. Juliana was always excited for art class, and today was no exception.

She remembered about four days ago, Nibbles, Doodle, and Sweetarts had evolved after their second titan Pokémon battle, and Juliana couldn't stop obsessing over how awesome she thought her new Florgato, fletchender, and kirlia looked.

Juliana bounced excitedly as she approached the doors.

I can't believe I have so many badges already! She counted them mentally for a moment. Three gym badges, three team star badges, and three Titan badges. So...nine?...Wow. Three more in four days.

She cleared her throat.

Alright! Art class!~ Her mind sang. Mr, Hassel is really nice, he usually lets me stay for my breaks. I wonder who's in my class today.

Juliana felt a rush of thoughts run through her mind as she pushed the art room door open, scanning the room intently.

Mr. Hassel heard the loud 'BREEESH!' of the door opening, and turned around to see who had entered.

"Juliana! Glad to see you!" He cried, delighted. Mr. Hassel dropped a stack of papers on his desk, and started towards her.

"How are you today?" He asked eagerly.

Juliana's eyes glittered excitedly. "Great! I was so excited for art class today, because I haven't had it in days! Buuut, I got lucky today! Do I have any class assignments?"

Mr. Hassel chuckled. "No, you finished them all last time you had art class.."

Juliana beamed up at her teacher. "Nice."

"Did you sleep well?" Mr. Hassel asked, staring at her intently. Juliana nodded with a smile. "Yep! Thanks for asking!"

He patted her on the top of her hat. "No problem, kiddo. Go enjoy art class now,"

In her mind, Juliana sometimes considered Mr. Hassel a father-like figure. She knew it was ridiculous, but her biological dad, Norman, had divorced her mother while Juliana was young.

Not that I can really blame him...Ran through her mind.

"Okay! Thanks!"

She whirled around towards her favorite area in the room, a table at the back where multiple pencils of differing sizes and blank sheets of paper normally sat. As she was turning though, she accidentally knocked into a familiar person.

"Yeep! My bad! Sorry!" Juliana cried, standing up. "Oh—hi, Penny!"

She blinked violently for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened. Once Penny stood up, she met eyes with Juliana. "Oh—uh—hello, Juliana..."

Juliana laughed nervously. "Hi!...Hehe...Sorry...when I get excited, I'm usually pretty clumsy."

A ghost of a smile lit on Penny's face. "It's fine..."

Juliana thought for a moment.

"I thought you usually didn't attend class..."

Penny blinked. "Well...Uh...I..."

Juliana noticed her nervousness, and shook her head. "Erm—S-sorry! That uh...That slipped..." She blurted out.

Wait...Arven doesn't usually show up for class either! She realized with a jolt. He said wouldn't bother showing up for class, and that he'd spent more time studying the Herba Mystica, so why is he suddenly attending now?...

Juliana found these questions too confusing, and knew if she didn't shut down her brain, then she'd be puzzling over them all day. Doesn't matter—! Stop thinking about it and being nosy!

"Is everything okay?" Mr. Hassel asked, running over to the two girls. "I saw you two fall."

Juliana laughed nervously, as Penny nodded slowly. "Yeah, we're okay. I was being clumsy, that's all."

Mr. Hassel exhaled with a smile. "Good...I'll be over here if you need me." He said, pointing a thumb towards his desk. He sighed and muttered something along the lines of: "Gotta go fill out some stuff for Geeta..." as he was walking away.

Juliana glanced around the room for a moment. Not very many students were in the room, about six at most. Most of them were chatting, giggling, and messing with things in the classroom.

"Do you want to draw with me?" Juliana asked, turning back to Penny.

She flinched and ducked her head slightly. "Me?...You want me to draw with you?"

Juliana couldn't tell if it was the surprise of being invited to do something, or if Penny was about to snap at her saying something like: "Why would I ever want to draw with you!?"

Juliana just nodded, forcing a smile onto her face. "Yeah!"

Penny hesitated for a moment, before letting a small smile slide on her face. "Really? Uh—I mean—Y-yeah, I'd love to."

Juliana thought she could hear genuine delight and surprise coming from Penny's voice, although it was hard to tell through the quietness of her usual state. She could tell Penny was just trying not to draw attention to herself.

"Great! Let's go!"