A/N: Hey guys! What's up? It's Thanksgiving as I write this, while I also watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so... it'll take me a while to write this.

By the way, you're not getting a cover picture for this story until Thanksgiving, haha!

Here we go!

Also, anyone who read The Phantom Turnabout will recognize two of my OCs in this chapter!

Chapter Three – School, and The Wright Talent Agency

5:30AM came too early. That's what Luke decided as Brenda was forced to drag her groaning son from his warm, comfortable bed.

"Come on, Luke, you have to get ready! It's your first day of school, after all," she said, stifling her laughter.

And a true gentleman always strives to make a good first impression. Professor Layton's voice echoed in the young man's head. He let out another groan, but forced his black eyes open.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, shuffling over to his closet and pulling out his outfit for the day. Brenda laughed once more and left the room to give her son privacy to get ready.

Once showered and ready, Luke grabbed some breakfast, then went to meet the Feys to catch the train. He was meeting not only Pearl, who he found out was in 6th grade, as opposed to his own 8th grade, but her two younger cousins as well.

Her cousins, Jade and Ruby Fey, could have been Pearl's sisters. Both had the same shade of brown hair as Pearl and the same gray eyes. They were a lot younger then her, though, both at the age of nine, in fourth grade. They were twins, after all.

"Morning!" Pearl said brightly. Luke let out a decidedly un-gentleman like grunt through his muffin, causing all three girls to laugh. Realizing what he did, and how the Professor would disapprove, he quickly swallowed.

"Morning," he amended, making Pearl giggle more. Luke blushed, studying the half-of-a-muffin he had left.

"Excited for school?" Pearl asked. Luke chuckled.

"Not particularly. Once I became apprenticed to Professor Layton, I was getting my education from him and the other professors at Gressensheller University," he explained.

"So, you were home schooled?" Jade asked, blinking up at this new boy, her own gray eyes wide. Luke thought about that for a minute.

"Sort of," he finally replied.

"Wow, so was Mystic Pearl and us!" the little girl gasped.

"How many times do I have to tell you," Pearl started, her cheeks a little red. "Just call me Pearl. Only Mystic Maya gets that title," she said. Jade blushed.

"Oops, sorry!" she squeaked. Ruby shook her head at her sister before studying Luke again. Just then the train pulled up, letting the four board.

"Passes," one of the workers said as he stopped at their seats. Pearl, Jade, and Ruby all held up cards that the worker scanned, then turned to Luke. "Pass?" he asked, a little be more abruptly, no doubt annoyed he had to ask again. Luke frowned at him, before realizing the issue.

"Oh, I don't..." he trailed off.

"Oh yeah!" Pearl gasped, pulling out an extra pass. "Mystic Maya told me to give this to you!" she said, handing it to Luke. He sighed in relief and gave it to the train worker to scan. The worker huffed slightly, scanned it, and shoved it back at the boy. Luke scowled in his direction as the worker walked away, putting the pass in his satchel.

"Is he always that ornery?" Luke grumbled, crossing his arms. All three of the girls looked at him blankly.

"What's ornery?" Jade asked curiously.

"Eeeeh..." Luke had to think about it for a moment. "Cankerous?" More blank looks. "Ill-tempered?"

"Oh! Why didn't you say so?" Pearl said with a grin. "Yeah. He is. At least, in the morning when we see him. Don't know about when he's not working though," she said. Luke shook his head.

"Well, it is kind of early..." he said, resting back against his seat and yawning, widely. This sent the three girls into another fit of giggles. "How did you EVER get used to this?" Luke asked, looking at them.

"We didn't have to," Ruby said.

"Oh?"

"Our training made us wake up at five before we started going to school," Pearl explained.

"Training?"

"As Spirit Mediums!"

"Oh... yeah..." Luke said, vaguely remembering Maya mentioning something about that in their time in Labyrinthia.

"Maybe I'll show you sometime," Pearl said with a coy grin. Ruby, however, leaned over to Jade.

"She's been spending WAY too much time around Mystic Maya..."

Schools in America were a lot different from those in London, and it took Luke a lot to get use to. Finally, however, he was able to escape the building, and all the questions the other kids asked him about his accent, the Professor (apparently, even in America, they know about Professor Layton's and Luke's feats), and London itself.

"You okay?" Pearl asked as Luke found her in front of the school building.

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head. "So are we going to catch the train now?"

"No. We have to wait an hour for Jade and Ruby to get off school."

"Oh."

"We are, however, going to go visit an old friend. Common!" she said with a bright smile, leading away from the school. A very confused Luke followed after.

Pearl walked up the stairs of the building to an old door, Luke following after.

"Pearl, where are we going?" he asked, looking around.

"Right here!" she said, stopping in front of the door. On the front was a sign: The Wright Talent Agency.

"'Wright'... wait, not... Mr. Wright?" Luke asked as Pearl opened the door. Phoenix Wright was sitting on the couch in a reception like area, surrounded by magic props, taking a swig from a dark green bottle that Luke couldn't see the label to.

Phoenix looked nothing like Luke remembered him as. The once pressed blue suit and loafers was replaced with a gray tee-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. He had a pin on his collar of a face with a wide-open mouth, and his once-neat spikes were now slightly disheveled.

"Hi, Mr. Nick!" Pearl said excitedly as Phoenix looked up when hearing the door. He grinned, putting the bottle on the table (Luke could now see the label said that it was a bottle of Grape Juice) and stood, hugging the girl. He then noticed the boy behind her.

"Luke?" he asked in surprise. Luke smiled weakly at him.

"Hi, Mr. Wright," he said. Phoenix smiled at him too, before glancing around.

"Is the Professor here?" he asked. Luke shook his head.

"No, my father is the archaeologist hired to study that artifact found in Kurain village, so..." he trailed off, looking away. Phoenix nodded.

"Right. Well, come in, come in. Are you two thirsty?" he asked. Luke glanced again at the bottle of grape juice before smiling.

"Yes. Water is fine," he said.

"I'll get it!" Pearl said, disappearing deeper into the office. Phoenix shook his head.

"I could have gotten it, Pearls!" he called after the girl. Pearl turned back and looked at Phoenix with a frown. Phoenix put his hands up defensively. "Alright, alright."

In the hour it took for the twins and Phoenix's daughter, Trucy, to get off school and to the office, Luke learned about that fateful trial a year ago where Phoenix lost his badge and adopted his daughter. He didn't learn about what happened between then and now, but he got the feeling Phoenix fell on some really hard times.

Finally, though, Trucy, Jade, and Ruby came in, and after a little longer, Luke and the Feys were back on the train, doing their homework and heading back to Kurain village.

A/N: Phoenix will become a larger part of this story, don't worry. As for what happened in the year between his loosing his badge and this story, I have a fanfiction for that, so don't worry!