"Emma?"

I stuffed another spoonful of Lucky Charms into my mouth and lifted my head, meeting Looker's eyes for the first time that morning. He was sitting across from me, his hand running over the scratches in the worn wooden table, his face even more lined than usual.

"What's up, Mr. Looker?" I said cheerfully. "You look upset. You should be happy! You're finally back in Kalos with me. It's been seven whole months, you know."

He smiled wearily and nodded. "Yes, Emma, darling, I know. I'm very happy to be back. But you know the only reason I'm here is because I'm picking up a new mission."

"Yeah, I know, so you're going to be doing boring-boring work again -"

"I'm not finished!" Looker said with a laugh, though his face settled quickly back into the tired look from before. "We're working on a case that's very unique."

"Okay. Can you tell me about it?" I asked eagerly, shoving my cereal aside so aggressively I nearly sent it flying off the table. "Can I help? I want to help! I solved almost nine cases on my own when you were gone, you know."

Looker's smile turned into a more genuine one as he answered me. "Yes, well, this looks rather difficult. I don't think just you and I can solve it alone."

"Tell me tell me tell me!" I practically yell. This time I start bouncing in my chair, causing the table to shake and the cereal bowl to actually fall off the edge of its wooden surface. "Oops."

I ran to grab paper towels off the counter as Looker began to carefully describe the mission to me. "Well, perhaps you remember Team Galactic."

"I do!" I dropped to the ground, about twelve paper towels in my fists, and began wiping up the marshmallow-dotted mess on the floor.

"So... they've kind of disbanded. Or so we thought. But now they appear to be teaming up with the remnants of Flare and - do you need help, Emma?"

"No, I'm good! Go on!"

His smile softened a bit more and he continued. "Alright. So they're trying to form something new. Right now, we need to figure out more about the workings of Team Galactic, and how Saturn might carry out this whole thing. So we're bringing in an expert."

A whole new emotion flashed briefly across his face, something like pain and regret. "Do you remember me talking about a certain character named Jupiter?"

I stood, clutching the soaking paper towels with a scrunched-up expression as I tried to remember. "Ummm... You mentioned her once." He also seemed desperate to get her over with very quickly. Up until now I had just assumed she wasn't important, but maybe the reason he skipped over her was because she was.

"Ah. Oh, um, well, you see, she was a commander of Team Galactic, and we're going to need her help. She'll understand everything going on there. We wanted to try and get Mars, the other remaining commander no longer directly associated with the team, but she's since passed away, so we can't." Under his breath, he added, "Would have been a hell of a lot easier if we could just have her instead."
"Oh no! What happened to her? Poor Mars," I said with a sigh, dropping the soggy mass of paper and milk into the tiny trash can beside the fridge. "She seemed quite nice when you described her, if a bit unstable."

"Unstable was what got her. Suicide, or so we think. But that's not what's important. Jupiter is coming to help us out."

"Mmkay. When?"

Looker gazed off into space.

"Looker, when?"

"Today."

"Oh. Okay! What's she like? Is she nice?"

Looker chuckled to himself. "Nice isn't exactly the word, Emma. She's got a charismatic way, but she's very manipulative. And cruel. And cold. But she's rather inappropriate at times, so I encourage you to ignore anything she says that might be a bit less PG."

He rambled on about her for a while, a stupid grin on his face despite the fact he was listing her flaws, while I finished cleaning up the kitchen. I even left the room and he didn't notice.

Ah, Looker. This is the way he gets with women. Going on and on and on and on about them, admiring from afar with a dreamy look, and getting horrifically rejected after he tries some dumb trick with flowers. Jupiter just sounded like another stupid crush to me.

He smartened up a bit around two in the afternoon, shaving and changing into the jacket he used to wear for missions in the Sinnoh region (for old time's sake, he claimed). As the clock ticked closer to three he began pacing back and forth in the small apartment, stroking his chin and mumbling to himself while my Espurr, Mimi, ran after him excitedly, squeaking her head off.

Finally, there was a knock at the door, and poor Looker paled to the point where he looked almost ghostly.

"Emma, get the door," he muttered. "No, I'll get the door. No, ah, just, let me do it!"

Before he could rush to open the door a sharp, ever-so-slightly raspy voice called out in a Kalosian accent. "Looker, darling, I know you're there! Open up, love, I've missed you."

"Love? Darling? Looker, what is she talking about?" I said, tilting my head and running after him. He laughed nervously and flung open the door so quickly it whacked against the wall, creating a large BANG that made the woman standing on the doormat flinch.

Her lipsticked smile was one that I sort of recognized in that I saw it in myself sometimes - the 'oh, Looker, you bumbling idiot, I love you anyway' smirk that I prayed didn't appear as mean when I did it. Her bright purple hair was short and choppy. The glimmer in her eyes was one you might see in a cat who's hunted down the mouse that's been evading it for weeks. Her outfit was a bit of a stereotypical Kalosian look - a cheap-looking black skirt that was far too short and a simple black-striped white t-shirt. But what really struck me was her height. I think she must have been over six feet, so she towered over Looker and I. The general effect was terrifying.

I didn't like her one bit.

"Arceus, Looker, relax!" she laughed, leaning against the doorframe. "A nervous wreck, just like always."

Looker mumbled something incoherent and blushed.

"Well, what a charming little place you have here," she said, her catlike eyes scanning the place as if for something to criticise. The first thing she saw that she clearly disliked was me.

"And, ah, who's the little girl?"

"Emma, say hello," Looker said distractedly.

"Hi! I'm Emma. You're Jupiter, right? It's good to meet you!" I said as politely as I could, sticking out a hand for her to shake it. She just laughed.

"Adorable! You have her well trained, my dear. But is she not a bit young?"
Looker's blush only deepened. "I'm her caregiver, not her, um, partner!"

"I'm just joking, Looker. She's, ah, fourteen? Whatever. You've hardly said hello!"

Jupiter leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, leaving a purple lipstick stain on his reddening skin. "It's so good to see you again, darling."
"It's lovely to see you too," Looker whispered, utterly starstruck. The two stared at each other for a bit, one in wonder and the other in amusement, until I finally stepped in and offered to let Jupiter enter the apartment.

"Oh, thank you, Emma. Yes, um, come in, Jupiter," Looker said, breaking eye contact to help her move her small duffel bag into the front room. "I would have put you up in a hotel, but we're rather strapped for cash, so we'll have to make do."

"It's quite alright, Looker. I expect we'll be working together all hours of the day anyway, so might as well, hmm?"

She looked over the room once again, a kitchen stroke living room stroke dining area, and noted the three doors leading off of it. "Where will I be sleeping, if it's not too much of a pain for me to ask?"

"I'll go to the couch and you can have my room," I offered. "It's very small but very comfortable."

"Emma, that's kind, but -"

Looker was cut off by a wink from Jupiter's eye and a quick remark from her tongue. "Don't worry, girl. Mister Looker and I are very used to sharing a bed."

Oh my Arceus.
"Ah, Emma! Why don't you, um, go, ah, make tea!" Looker babbled, shoving me away from the two of them and into the kitchen.

She's his ex!

Jupiter perched demurely on the beaten couch and waited for Looker to sit beside her. When he did, she cuddled up to him and whispered something into his ear, causing him to turn even redder somehow.

Or, um, maybe not his ex.

"Jupiter, Jupiter, please, let's keep this professional," he muttered back. "Especially around Emma."

"Oh, leave her alone," Jupiter purred. "You and I have catching up to do, Looker. We've hardly talked in the past few years."

I switched the kettle on and growled to myself. This was not what Looker needed. He was going to go and get his heart broken, and then where would this mission be?
"Jupiter, what kind of tea do you like? We have what Looker calls 'the normal kind' and peppermint," I said as sweetly as I could, turning back around to face them. Jupiter let go of Looker's arm and smiled, though definitely not kindly.

"Whichever is fine, doll."

Ooh, boy, I really didn't like that look in her eyes. I served them tea and moved out of their way as fast as I could. If this was going to turn into some kind of weird romantic thing I wanted to see as little of it as possible, thanks very much.

I couldn't quite believe it. Looker has probably had one girlfriend in his life and it somehow manages to be this beautiful (I'll give her that one - she's gorgeous), cruel woman who's utterly obsessed with him.

"Mimi," I groaned, plopping down on my bed and picking the small Pokémon up with one hand. "What do I do?"
"Espurr!"

"Yeah, thanks for the advice."
I flopped onto my face and decided I was going to have to keep them apart. Whatever history they had was history for a reason, right? I mean, detectives and criminals don't match up. There had to be a reason why they split.

Well, it was probably Jupiter's arrest. So breaking them up through bringing up past feuds was out.

Maybe it wasn't romantic, if I was lucky. Jupiter was just flirty and nothing had ever happened between them and they were just talking on the couch right now, no touching, no kissing, no nothing. Just friends - no, just work partners.

That was all.

After an hour of thinking and feeling sorry for myself Looker knocked on my door.

"Emma?"

"What?" I snapped without thinking, raising my head. "What do you want?"

"Oh, goodness, can I come in? I think there's some stuff I ought to tell you about Jupiter."

"Well, gee, yeah, you did miss a few key details. Like the whole ex-girlfriend thing," I muttered quietly as he entered the room, shutting the door gently behind him.

"Yes, well, it was complicated," he said as if that was the whole story. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure there's not any way you could possibly explain?'

"Well, I... Um..."

He paused to wipe a lipstick stain off of his cheek and sighed. "Emma, we did have something of a relationship, and I don't think it's appropriate for her to be behaving so flirtatiously with me around you - or at all. But we need her right now, so we're going to have to make the best of it."

"Yeah, well, she's kind of sneaky in my opinion. I don't think we can trust her," I said, smashing my face back into my pillow.

"I think we might be able to. She wants to take down Team Galactic as much as we do, you know."

"Yeah, sure. She probably just needs us to find out where she can sign up again."

Looker shook his head. "Emma..."

"Emma!" I mocked in a high-pitched voice. "I don't like Jupiter at all, okay? She has you totally under her spell. She could try anything and you'd hardly notice."

"Now, Emma -"

"Now, Emma!"

"Emma, stop that!"

"Emma, stop that!"

"Fine! Emma, I won't stand this kind of disrespect. You can consider yourself off the case if you hate Jupiter so much, okay?" Looker said frustratedly, standing up and brushing out the door. "I don't need this right now. There are more important things than your petty suspicions!"

"Is the brat being difficult, Looker, my love?" a sugary voice called. "Don't bother with her, sweetheart. Come here."

When I left my room to get a snack Jupiter and Looker were cuddled up on the couch, whispering and giggling like little kids who'd just learned a bad word.