A few minutes later, Carl followed Arven into the Pokémon Center at the heart of Cabo Poco. They found a free spot, settled in, and Carl started from the beginning.
"So you're actually my cousin?" Arven said once Carl had finished. In his gut, he'd already accepted it -- no con artist would be brazen enough to walk him directly into a Pokémon Center in broad daylight.
"If you live in that lighthouse on Poco Path and your father's name is Turo, then yes, almost certainly." Carl studied the smaller boy in front of him with a complicated feeling he couldn't quite name.
Of the three main characters in Scarlet and Violet, Arven stood apart. Nemona was relentless in her pursuit of battle, and Penny was quietly orchestrating everything from the shadows as Cassiopeia. But Arven was, without question, the one who made you feel for him the most -- and admire him at the same time.
What happens to a child who spends years growing up without their parents around? The news had no shortage of answers to that question. That Arven had managed to become the steady, reliable person from the game despite everything said something about him that Carl found hard not to respect.
What complicated things was that Carl didn't know exactly where the story stood right now. Had Arven's parents already met their fate in Research Station No. 4 deep in Area Zero? If so, then the two of them had more in common than either knew. Though "met their fate" wasn't quite accurate -- the AI Professor had said they were simply "gone," and whether anything could still be done about it was a question Carl didn't have an answer to.
"By the way, did you just get back from Naranja Academy?" Carl nodded toward the large grocery bag at Arven's feet.
"Ah, that..." Arven scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "School hasn't started yet. I just... hadn't left the house in a few days. Ran out of food."
Carl frowned slightly, keeping his voice carefully neutral. "What about your parents?"
Arven's expression clouded over. "They're busy with their research. They used to come back maybe once every few months, or at least send a letter through someone. But lately..." He paused. "They haven't even sent a letter."
Carl felt his stomach drop. That more or less confirmed it. The timeline fit.
"I see." He let the moment breathe, then changed course. "Hey, since you've got time -- do you want to come see the farm later? If you help me sort out the house a bit, I'll make sure you and Mabosstiff eat well tonight. Proper dinner, I mean."
Carl wasn't some scheming farmer looking to get free labor out of a kid. His real reason for inviting Arven was simpler: he wanted to spend time with him. If nothing went sideways, Arven was the only family Carl had in this world.
But Arven, who'd spent years mostly on his own, didn't quite know how to act around this sudden relative. After the invitation, he looked a little lost, unsure what to do with himself.
The awkward silence between them was thickening when a bright, energetic voice cut right through it.
"Wait -- is that a Serperior? You're that guy from back then, aren't you?!"
Both Carl and Arven turned at the same time. A girl in athletic wear had appeared at their side without either of them noticing. She had deep brown skin and amber eyes that were locked on Carl with open excitement.
"Isn't that Nemona from class 1-A?" Arven stared at her, baffled. "How do you know Carl?"
He was fairly sure Carl had said today was his first day in Paldea. So how?
"Uh, Nemona, have we actually met before?" Carl was equally confused.
He knew who Nemona was from the games, sure. But he'd never set foot in Paldea before, and he didn't have any ties to the Rotom Phone company or anyone connected to it. So how did she recognize him?
He turned it over in his head. It wasn't Galar or Kalos -- he hadn't traveled those regions. Unless... that one trip to Unova to pick up a sample for Professor Rowan?
Then it clicked. The girl's face in front of him lined up with a pale, frightened face from a memory he'd nearly forgotten entirely. "You're the kid who almost got swept off the deck."
Over a year ago, after wrapping up his run through Hoenn's Battle Frontier, Carl had been getting ready to move on to Kanto when Professor Rowan had asked him to make a detour to Unova -- pick up a biological sample from Professor Juniper on his behalf.
On the way from Castelia City to Nuvema Town, flying on Corviknight over the water, he'd spotted a private yacht getting hit by a group of wild Pokémon. He'd pulled a child off the side of the deck before they got taken by the waves, shooed the Pokémon off, and left before the yacht's owner had finished yelling his thanks. He hadn't given it another thought. For him at the time, it had been barely a detour.
Now, standing in front of Nemona, Carl couldn't help but shake his head at how strange the world was. He never would have guessed that the kid he'd caught without breaking stride was going to turn out to be one of the main characters of Scarlet and Violet.
"You were unconscious when I left, so I never got to thank you." Nemona's voice was genuine, the brightness in her eyes softening for just a moment. She bowed her head. "Thank you. I wasn't sure I'd ever get the chance to say that in person."
She straightened up, and just like that, the spark was back in her eyes. She held up a Poké Ball and looked at Carl directly. "Now then -- please, battle me with everything you've got! I want to know exactly how far apart we are right now!"
Arven, in the back of his mind: We're not in Kanto. Paldea doesn't do the "lock eyes and battle starts" thing.
Out loud, he began quietly worrying on Carl's behalf. Even in a school where gossip barely reached him, Nemona's reputation had. The girl in front of them had a monster's natural talent for battles -- supposedly capable of clearing all eight Gym Badges in under six months if not for some personal reason holding her back.
As far as Arven could tell, Carl was older, sure, but he'd come to run a farm. Battling was probably not his strong suit.
"You sure about this?" Carl's voice had shifted into something a little harder to read.
He knew Nemona's ceiling was extraordinary, but right now she was still early in her development -- nowhere near the level of a regional champion. Whatever Pokémon he sent out would end the match in short order. He didn't want to flatten Paldea's most promising future trainer before she'd had a chance to grow. Then again, Nemona was Nemona. One loss wasn't going to break her.
"Yes!" The competitive fire in Nemona's eyes was unmistakable. "Please don't hold back!"
Arven, who had been half-zoning out, suddenly noticed he was already standing at the edge of the Pokémon Center's outdoor battle court without quite knowing how he'd gotten there.
While he tried to figure out how to console Carl after the inevitable loss, Carl and Nemona had already taken their positions on opposite sides of the field.
The battle was about to start.