In the early morning hours, Lucas made his way out of bed and down to the Kingston Castle library to conduct his experiments with the Time Flute the King had given him. He hoped that the ArcNet Team would be down there to help him begin work, but when he arrived, he was the one of only three people present, which included a maid cleaning the tables and Justin Jacques, who was reading a fantasy novel at a nearby table. He was saddened, but hadn't lost hope that the ArcNet Team would join him, or at the very least the technical producer Corey would. He was smart enough to analyze, but perhaps not enough to know the logistics of how this could work. He would need a team to work with.

He took a seat at his own table just to the left of Justin's, quietly holding a notebook and the chest containing the legendary Time Flute. His Pachirisu was still sound asleep on his head, is tail swinging behind his trainer's back like the pendulum of a clock. The library was quiet, so he was free to sleep the rest of the way. And it left Lucas free of distractions, which let him open up his note book and begin to set up his first page of notes. But once he had set up the header, he knew the rest of his page would be blank until someone else arrived. He slumped back on his chair and sighed.

"Who am I kidding? Who am I to try and do something like this?"

Justin kept reading his book, occasionally raising an eyebrow at whatever the plot of his book was, until he noticed he was no longer alone in the library. "Ah. Hello there. What's got you up so early in the morning?"

"I've got a secret project I'm working on" Lucas answered. "But the rest of my team is sleeping in, I think."

"Top secret, eh? Alright. Have fun."

Lucas blinked in astonishment. "You're not even interested?"

"You would have told me if it was important, yes?" the young gentleman asked. "I just assumed your secret project was only for important eyes, which mine aren't." Before Lucas could try and explain himself, Justin waved him off. "Not to worry. I'm not offended. There's a lot going on around here that I'll be privy to if I'm told. Otherwise, I just get to come here and read."

"I didn't mean it like that" the boy reasoned. "I just-this could be super important to what lies ahead for us. And I don't want anyone trying to take this whole thing over."

Justin nodded, but had drifted back to reading his book and flipped the page as if their conversation hadn't even happened. Lucas would have gone back to staring at his blank notebook and wondering about the state of his role in the fight to come, had they not been joined by another person in the library. Lizzie, another of the King's friends and former Elite Four members, stormed her way into the library with something in her hand, her face flush with color. To Lucas's confusion, the object in her hand was a white lily. Something that confused him even more was that she stopped in front of Justin's table.

"What is this?!"

Justin looked up at her and shrugged. "A white flower?"

"Why was this on my nightstand?" the woman demanded.

"I'm afraid I can't be sure" Justin explained, trying to ease any conflict. "Did you perhaps order one?"

"Why would I-" Lizzie paused and thought things through for a minute before sighing. "Those two." She then looked towards Justin and bowed in shame. "I am so sorry for accusing you, Justin. I just assumed that...uh, never mind!" She then quickly rushed out the doors of the library, too ashamed of the spectacle she'd made of herself to explain further.

"What was that all about?" Lucas remarked.

"Beats me" Justin answered. "But I've never seen Miss West so angry like that. We're friends and all, but I wouldn't give her a flower like that unless she and I were more than friends, if you know what I mean. But we're not." He then continued trying to read his book to make sure the conversation ended there. But the more he tried, Lucas could tell that the flower was still going to bother him. Finally, Justin dropped his book and lamented his position. "Confound it! I want to know who tried to do this!" He rose from his seat and prepared to leave, but then quickly used a bookmark to mark his page, put the book back on the shelf and rushed out of the library.

Lucas's Pachirisu finally woke up at this and hopped off his trainer's head, sniffing around for any tension in the air. When he couldn't tell what was wrong, his ears twitched and he looked at Lucas worriedly. Lucas patted him on the head. "Don't worry about it, bud. Just a bit of a spat between...I wouldn't call them lovers. Maybe I'd call them...hm. I don't know what I'd call them, actually." The Pachirisu seemed to get it and bounced up and down the table, accidentally bumping into the chest and sliding it towards Lucas. He caught it and opened it to ensure the flute wasn't harmed. When he was sure it wasn't, he thought for a moment. "Hmm, who would be capable of playing this for us?" With no immediate answer, he simply knew he'd have to wait and see if the ArcNet Team would be there before breakfast.

{}

Courtney stood in the shadows observing as her minions collected everything they could to torment Ryan Kingston. The boy was strapped to a metal board like a monster from horror movies, not saying a word to anyone and doing literally everything he could to brace himself for the worst they could offer. Courtney had to give the boy credit for holding through the first few hours of pain, but she knew that the Master wanted him completely and irrevocably broken. With her men still showing signs of weakness, she knew it would have to be herself who did it.

When one of her men tried to change the settings on one of the cattle prods she had brought for them, she walked over and swiped it from his hands. "You had this setting at 100 volts?"

"Setting it higher could kill him, M'am" the guard insisted.

Courtney changed the settings to 500 volts and thrust the prod into the man's heart, causing him to fall to the ground almost immediately, foaming at the mouth. "No, you see? You're still alive. We need it higher." She pointed at their captive on the table. "That one's already got one foot in the grave. He can take more. And I intend on dishing out more than even an average human can take!" She then changed the setting to 700 volts and thrust it into Ryan's leg, causing the boy to scream in extreme pain. She removed it and Ryan exhaled, breathing heavily. "There, you see?" She snapped her fingers and had the guards take the foaming guard away.

"What...what do you think...this will accomplish?" Ryan sputtered, still trying to recover his breath.

"Nothing whatsoever" Courtney replied, giggling as she did. She then jabbed it into his side, causing Ryan to roar in pain. When she removed it, she knew now was the time to test his mental resolve. "So, how does it feel, Ryan? Knowing you're going to be tortured for the rest of your miserable existence?"

"You couldn't-" Ryan began, but Courtney jabbed him again, this time in his ribs.

"Oh, you're quite mistaken. There is no 'couldn't', 'shouldn't' or 'can't here. You don't have mortality to cling to. Not yet, at least. The Master has been tempted to use his powers to revive you so he can kill you again and again. We're willing to do anything and everything to you. And we will, if it comes down to it." She grinned to herself. She hadn't even considered her own personally favored form of torture. She brought herself next to the boy, placing her hand on his head. "Let's see how deep this well of pity goes. I want to know your every thought. Your every fear. Your every regret."

"My only regret...was not...not letting Michael kill you on Mt. Heatmor!"

Courtney couldn't help but admire the boy's tenacity. "You're good. Very good. But I prefer people who are interesting, not good." She then thrust the prod into his sides and let it sit there, listening to Ryan's screams and flailing on the table like a fish out of water. She removed it and looked at him with feigned sympathy. "You actually thought you were a White Mage, didn't you? How cute!" She then put the prod on his chest, prompting the boy to cry out in agony. "Keep crying, Ryan. It's going to do you so good with all those people not coming to save you!"

Ryan tried to move his body out of the way of the prod, but Courtney kept it firmly in the center of his chest. "I'll-I'll-"

Courtney removed the prod. "Come again? Speak up."

"I'll enjoy watching you die!"

Courtney giggled at this assertion. "Oh really? And are you going to be the big hero who kills me?"

Ryan spat in her face. "No. But I'll enjoy it all the same!"

Courtney wiped the boy's spit out of her face and let the cattle prod fall out of her hands. "You know what? The voltage is going to get amplified in a bit. But now, I think you've earned a special kind of pain!" She began to move her hand in strange and bizarre ways. Ryan's confidence fell from him immediately as he felt his muscles and blood contorting in unnatural ways. He could do little more than endure it with his limbs strapped to the table. "The Master's gift to me. I can feel him enjoying your suffering, sweetie. Let's see if he likes this!" She began to separate her fingers, prompting the boy's ear-splitting cries to echo all throughout the entire base. "I am going to enjoy our time together, Ryan. Messing with you is like playing with clay. I can mold you, morph you and rip you apart at my leisure. And you can do nothing but cry for Mommy and Daddy. At least your father had the common courtesy to die and stay dead." She felt her own bones crack as she flicked her wrist and felt as if she were holding the beating heart of Ryan Kingston in her hands. Or, half beating heart. He was in a state of limbo, after all. She squeezed her hands on his heart, causing Ryan to almost convulse on the table. But that was when she was interrupted. "Oh, now what?!"

She rushed over to her laptop, where a video link was asking to be connected. She was about to erase the call, but she saw where it's origins came from and she instantly answered it. The video call depicted a man in a violet-colored suit with a white cape behind him. "Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was told that you were the woman who contacted my family about the connections to Artemis the Seeker?"

Courtney did her best to act as normally as possible. "Yes, I am. If you'll excuse me for a second, I have a loose end to tie up." She then slipped aside from the computer, collected the cattle prod and pressed it onto Ryan's stomach, increasing the voltage to 1000 before taking her laptop out of the room. "I'm sorry, Eusine. I'm a little busy at work at the moment." She tried to close the door before Ryan's screams could be heard, but her efforts were in vain.

"Is everything alright over there?"

"Oh yes" Courtney lied. "We're doing our own kind of research here on Mystic Island. Someone just bit off a bit more than they could chew."

Eusine shrugged. "Well, I appreciate your interest in my ancestor. Artemis the Seeker was who inspired me to learn as much as I can about the Legendary Beasts of Johto."

"Actually, I was more interested in his child. A daughter named Celina."

"Celina was my grandfather's mother" Eusine answered. "She died after giving birth to her son, if I'm not mistaken. It's a shame what happened to her husband. Burned to ashes by Entei. But Artemis did say that the Beasts decried their union by killing him, so who's to know. He at least raised my grandfather like he was his own, but I do want to know why Artemis thought so lowly of this man Celina was married to. Sora, was it?"

Courtney sighed. "Many do not believe in fate and destiny, Eusine. You would think Artemis the Seeker would, seeing as how the very Pokemon he was seeking destroyed his son in-law and devastated his daughter. But, we cannot control the destiny's we're set on, can we?"

"I am actually curious about learning more about Sora and Celina myself" the eccentric man revealed, "but I'm afraid I need to focus as much as I can on my newest project."

"A new project?"

"There is a shrine in Ilex Forest that caught my eye and I'm curious to know about it's origins. It's a shrine to the Mythical Pokemon known as Celebi."

Courtney did everything in her power to prevent herself from cackling, despite the glorious news she had at her disposal now. "Coincidentally, Eusine, I have a chance to help you as you have me." And continue to, my son!

"You can?"

"The King of Arcana is currently in possession of Celebi" she revealed. "And I'm certain he will be more than happy to accommodate your research with any questions you may have."

"The King of Arcana?" Eusine gasped. "You mean that Kingston fellow?"

"The very same" Courtney answered. "And who knows? Maybe you and I will learn more about Sora and Celina from there."

"I doubt a King of Arcana would know about that" Eusine laughed.

"We shall see" Courtney replied courteously. "Hurry and get yourself to Arcana and meet with the King and hopefully all of our answers will be revealed. I must be going now. Too-ta-loo!" She ended the call and casually tossed the laptop aside. She had no use for the device now. Eusine would do exactly as his heart commanded and send him traveling towards Arcana and the pursuit of knowledge. And that would send him directly to the King himself. Michael would recognize him as she had. Their spiritual heir. Irrefutable proof that they were in fact destined to be together. And there truly was nothing that sniveling little bitch Julia Pines could do to stop this. She would have Michael, Julia would have nothing and her world would be set for all eternity. She leaned back on the walls of the base and cackled her black heart off.

{}

"I've told you everything I know" Chris told his cousin and best friend as they met in the Lord's Study that morning. He had been urgently summoned by the King to make an appearance, which he gladly accepted and made his way to Kingston Castle almost immediately. But Michael didn't need him for his battle aptitude, yet. Now, the King was in need of something else. Knowledge. And considering the rest of the team on Mirage Island was out of reach, he would have to fill in what he knew about Mewtwo's plans as best as he could. "And whatever that creep Elezar wanted us to. I bet he was still in league with them until the end!"

The King sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "I need to know what Mewtwo is after. Cloning is for sure a part of it, what with us finding out he's got this Helen Wong as his prisoner and now what I know that Elezar knew. If Mewtwo wanted to make more of himself, he couldn't do it. His DNA is artificial. It would disintegrate the moment he tried."

"Couldn't he also use Mew's DNA? That was how he was made, right?"

Michael pondered this. "He had Mew's DNA accessible to him once Hunter made it to Mirage Island, so it's possible. But why just himself? Why not use more of the Mythical Pokemon? And on top of that, how can he force these Pokemon to think and act like him?"

Chris shrugged as he himself drank from a glass of wine. "Beats me. Maybe he isn't as smart as other Psychic Pokemon."

"I'm glad I can look to you to keep things serious" Michael sarcastically replied.

"Look, we're overthinking this" he assured his best friend. "We can't rush into this fight with Mewtwo unprepared, that's for sure. But if we go in too prepared, we won't anticipate him and that freak Courtney doing something that could catch us off guard. We've walked into too many traps those guys have set for one lifetime." He lowered the wine glass onto his cousin's desk. "But I know one thing. If Mewtwo finds out what Ryan and Avery are planning, it could wreck everything for us."

"What were they planning?"

"It all depends on whether or not Ryan or Addison is this White Mage everyone's talking about. What do you think?"

"Ryan ending up the same way as Avery is impeccable, but I can't be too sure that this then leads to Ryan being the one who is the White Mage. Countess Rosemary is almost completely sure that it is Addison and has been training her, even after we found out Ryan survived. We can't hope that Ryan is going to somehow rush to the rescue. We're in no position to rely on luck and faith. Not if Mewtwo gets what he wants from Professor Wong." Michael rose from his seat and walked out to the window behind his chair. "Mewtwo isn't stupid enough to let the same thing defeat him twice. He probably has a backup plan."

"What would it be, though?" Chris wondered.

The two were in silence for several seconds before Michael came to the conclusion he had been searching for. And to Chris's mind, he sounded worried. "What if Mewtwo isn't the only Pokemon on Mirage Island?" Michael asked rhetorically.

"Come again?"

"Think about it" the King continued, his back to Chris. "There are over ninety trainers being held hostage there by the Syndicate. Wes, Lance, Iris, Steven, Sinnoh's Elite Four, Giselle, Annette and so many others. Their Pokemon are still with them. Some of the deadliest and most powerful Pokemon in existence."

"You think Mewtwo is going to warp all those people against us?"

"No. I think he's going to clone those Pokemon the same way he wants to clone himself."

Chris gulped. "Well that's...terrifying."

"I suspect the clones and his little minions are going to be what he throws at us first. To either soften us up or test our strength. When that's over, he and the clones of himself will come and erase us all from existence, or worse."

"Why would Wong help him?"

"I highly doubt she has a choice in the matter. The same way I didn't have a choice but to obey him when Courtney made him enter my mind."

Chris's eyes lit up at this. "Couldn't you use that connection to see into his mind? Or is it a one way door?"

Michael's frown deepened as he returned to his chair. "I never have the ability to access it. It only comes and goes in spurts. I felt I could see into his mind last night during my dream. But I couldn't have. He was enjoying some twisted fantasy about having caught Amanda and Ryan. Maybe it was just some twisted dream he was having."

Chris grinned. "So long as Avery has Darkrai at her beck and call, those two aren't going to get captured. Darkrai can shroud them from Mewtwo's sight."

"Then that's one less thing we have to worry about. But that doesn't answer the rest of our quandaries. Chiefly, how does Mewtwo think he can force these clones to think like him? The Singularity is powerful, but I don't think even he has the strength to keep those channels open forever. It would weaken him to stretch his prowess through so many minds."

"Then again, he could only need one or two people out there commanding them. Courtney is one of them, would that whelp Kage be the other now that Hunter's dead?"

Michael shook his head. "Mewtwo isn't going to come at us with the same routine out of fear that we can stop it. He's going to have something else planned for us. You are right about that when you said we should expect them to try and catch us off guard with something. And I can't let that happen again. The last time that happened, it almost cost me Julia."

Chris was contemplative. "Yo Mike. Not for nothing, but do you see the tension between Cam and Julia?"

The King now took his own turn to grin. "It'd be hard not to see. Those two have been at each other's throats for a long time now."

"Ever since Julia left you before we all got into that Taghwan Hall thing" Chris recalled. "She hates Julia. Jules even said the two were almost going to fight before Annie got in between them." He sighed. "I can only think a part of it is for how I always felt about Julia and how Julia has treated you. Do you think there's anything else out there to explain it?"

"That would take us being able to get into Cam's mind. Something we don't know."

"What about Julia?"

"Julia's becoming more transparent these days" Michael answered gently, Chris seeing just how deeply his cousin's connection to his wife was becoming. "She's afraid of taking a bad step around her. Cameron is the one who would need to open up. She's never been transparent, not even to you or me."

Chris grinned. "Man, we are stuck bad, aren't we?"

"Stuck?"

Chris leaned back in his chair. "The Pines girls have us wrapped around their fingers. How did we both fall for it?"

"I can explain myself" Michael laughed. "How you and Piper got so close so quickly is lost on me and her, though."

"Weren't you two the ones trying to push us together?"

"To make sure you two weren't so lonesome when Julia and I left for Kalos" he reasoned. "Piper had a crush on you for sure, but to think it would become like this is a bit of a surprise, but certainly welcome to be sure." He let out a gentle and thought provoking smile. "Fighting for the two of them, plus our children, is what's keeping me going. When all of this ends, I can only assume that we can finally retire in peace."

"How many times do I have to tell you, bud?" Chris sighed. "We're never allowed to retire. We're stuck in the hero game for a long time to come." He glanced behind him as the door burst open. Lizzie shuffled inside, her face red from a collection of embarrassment, exhaustion and no doubt some budding feelings from somewhere. She stood in front of the King's desk, a white flower in her hand. "What's up, Liz? You into gardening now?"

"Where is Mark?" Lizzie demanded.

"You think I keep tabs on everyone?" Michael joked. "I have no idea where he is." The King glanced down at the flower in her hand. "Where'd the Lily come from?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out!" she snapped. "I found this next to my bed and I'm hunting down who gave it to me!"

"I highly doubt that this is going to make said person fall for you, sweetie" Chris snickered.

"Oh shut up! I'm trying to find out why someone is trying to make me feel something for-"

Chris rose up dramatically from his seat. "It's finally happened. No woman can resist the Kingston charm for long. Lizzie has finally sought the forbidden fruit of Christopher Kingston. Face it, Liz. You're in love with little old me!"

"Get an ego check" Michael snorted.

Lizzie stomped on his foot, prompting Chris to yelp in pain. "OW! What the heck?!"

"The day I fall in love with you is the day I get checked into a mental hospital!" Lizzie insisted. "I want to find Mark and figure out why he was trying to make me think that-and he...UGH! WHERE ARE YOU MARK?!" She then stormed out of the Lord's Study, with Chris gently massaging his foot.

"Man, she's gotten good at that."

"Best not stir up Piper into thinking some other girl can take you from her" Michael warned.

"No one can" Chris replied. "Just messing with Lizzie, that's all. So Mark is trying to make her fall for somebody?"

Michael grinned. "Mark is a classic example of what mystery books refer to as a 'red herring'. Lizzie is going to be so busy trying to get answers from him that she's failed to realize that Lilies are particularly hard to come by this time of year. Grandma's garden is the only place to get them."

Chris's eyes widened. "You? You're trying to do something?"

Michael waved off the notion. "Not at all. But I won't pretend that someone didn't come up to me and ask if they could have some plucked to give to her."

{}

Having not seen or heard from Lucas since the day started, Dawn decided to begin her own personal search for her friend. Though she had a hunch that he would be in the Library working, she decided to check every single place on the grounds of Kingston Castle for him first. He was not with the King in his study, nor was he with Cynthia, who had gone off for some special kind of training with Cameron. He wasn't seeing Countess Rosemary or hanging out with Addison, who herself was secluded in her bedroom and trying to meditate for some special kind of training she would have. Finally, having become slightly ticked off at the idea that Lucas would go off without telling her, she strode her way to the Library to give him a piece of her mind.

But to her surprise, he wasn't there. The only person in the Library besides a servant cleaning the book shelves was the Queen, who was busy reading a tome that Lucas had told her Michael's friend Rui was reading. Was the Queen in on whatever Lucas was doing? She had to find out for herself and slowly made her way up to where Julia was seated.

"Excuse me, Your Grace?" Dawn nervously asked.

Julia lowered the book onto the table and smiled up at her. "Ah. Dawn. Is everything okay?"

"I've been looking for Lucas for a while, now" she admitted. "You haven't seen him around, have you?"

"He was here earlier" the Queen answered. "But he must have gone off to begin work on some project of his."

"But I've looked pretty much everywhere for him" she sadly responded. "Where would he go and then not tell me?"

Julia giggled. "Sounds like you two have gotten a lot closer since coming here."

Dawn blushed. "Well, you know..."

"Unless he's left the castle for somewhere more spacious to work, I think the only other place he would be now is in the Cellar with the ArcNet team."

"What could he want with them?" Dawn questioned aloud, before quickly bowing before the Queen. "Thank you, Your Grace." She then quickly hurried out the Library and through the halls of Kingston Castle. She nearly bowled over several people along the way, but ground herself to a halt when she found the handsome yet shy Justin Jacques peering around the corner as if trying to hide from someone. She approached him from behind and tapped him on the shoulder. "Everything alright, Justin?" Before she knew it, Justin hauled her to the side of the wall and the two were both hiding. "What are we hiding from?"

"I heard that Madeline Kingston is somewhere in the castle" Justin shuddered.

"The Police Lieutenant?"

"I don't know what she's become so transfixed by" the young man explained, "but she will never leave me alone so long as I am here. The sooner the King relinquishes one of my Uncle's old properties to me, the better." The duo looked up and saw Madeline descending down the stair in the foyer within sight of them. Dawn was about to comment, but she found herself again being pushed a few feet backwards. "I can't have her find me!"

"Then you need a better place to hide" Dawn suggested.

"Is there a place in the Castle I can?"

"You should try the Cellar. That's where I'm going."

"How do we get there?"

Dawn glanced behind her and sighed. "We have to make it to a different hallway. The one across from the Foyer. That's where the elevator is." She glanced upwards and saw Mark Lionel had arrived and was speaking with Madeline about something. She gestured towards Justin. "Come on. This may be our only chance." When Justin did not immediately move, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him after her. The two tried to tiptoe as quickly as they could past Madeline and Mark. Mark noticed them, as Madeline had her back to them and subtly moved his eye to indicate he knew they were trying to avoid her. With one last burst of speed, the two managed to get into the hallway where the elevator was without being seen by Madeline. Dawn made one last look back and saw that Mark and Madeline had both gone back upstairs.

"We're clear?" Justin asked nervously.

The blue haired maiden nodded. "Yes. But for how long remains to be seen." She then gestured for Justin to make his way towards the elevator. While Justin triggered the elevator to come up from the cellar and escort them down, Dawn stood guard. For all she knew, Madeline could bolt downstairs and try to whisk Justin off on her own. And considering how horrified of that idea he was, she had to be a bit of a bodyguard for him until it was clear. But before she could feel as if the coast was completely clear, another person walked their way. "Lizzie?"

Lizzie West was still stalking about the castle in hot pursuit of someone. "You haven't seen Mark, have you?"

Dawn pointed up to the stairway. "I think he went upstairs."

"I can't believe he started this!" Lizzie snapped. She was about to head upstairs, but paused. "One more thing, Dawn. You wouldn't happen to have seen Justin around, have you? We...we kinda parted on bad terms before and I just wanted him to know something. Have you seen him?"

Dawn gulped. "I'm not sure I'm at liberty to answer that."

Lizzie nodded. "I see. Okay. Well, just let him know I was looking for him." She then made her way towards the stairs.

Dawn did not have the time to exhale a sigh of relief on Justin's behalf, as she was then grabbed by the wrist herself and pulled backwards towards the elevator. She was yanked into the elevator just before the doors closed to go back down. Justin hurriedly closed the doors and pressed the button to go down. Dawn tried to pull herself out of his grasp, but it was surprisingly strong. "Don't tell me you're hiding from Lizzie, too?"

Justin frowned. "Apparently, there are tons of people unhappy with me or too obsessed with me."

"Lizzie seemed more mad at Mark than anything" Dawn suggested, still trying to pull her hand free. "I think you're in the clear."

"No, this is how it always starts" he went on. "I make one small mistake or someone else makes one for me and I lose friends left and right. It's why I don't have many friends outside of the few I have here and even they are fleeting." The elevator began to move downwards. "With my luck, you are probably sick of helping me too."

Dawn shook her head. "What gives you that idea? I just don't want my boyfriend to think anything is going on. You know, with you holding my hand and everything."

Justin finally let go of her and slumped down against the doors of the elevator. "Sorry about that. That's just been a trait of mine since I was a boy. I do that mostly for emotional or physical support. But I have found out that a lot of that can be attributed to signs of affection. I saw it firsthand with Miss Kingston and apparently someone saw me doing that with Miss West and tried to push us together. I mean, putting a flower by her bed?"

"So that's why Lizzie was so upset with Mark?" she questioned.

"I just became friends with Miss West. Why would I jeopardize that friendship by having feelings for her?"

"Are you afraid that you do have feelings for her and that she'd reject you? Or is it that she may care about you and you don't?"

Justin shook his head in confusion. "I can't be sure. I just want to know why someone tried to make Miss West mad at me?"

Dawn scratched the back of her head. "Somehow, I don't think that is their intent, whoever it was. I think they just assumed there was something between you two." She knelt down in front of him and smiled. "You don't have to worry about feeling that way if you do, you know. Sometimes, it's nice to just feel so strongly about someone. Even if nothing comes of it. Take it from someone who liked someone who didn't like them the same way back." The elevator finally stopped and opened, prompting Justin to tumble backwards and onto the floor just a few feet from where Lucas and Amber were sitting. Dawn sighed. "I guess subtlety isn't one of your strong points, is it Justin?"

"What are you guys doing here?" Lucas asked curiously.

Dawn's gaze fell on Lucas, who was sitting surprisingly close to Amber, the two hovering over a small chest of some kind on the table. Perhaps a little too close for her liking. But rather than be too controlling, she simply giggled at a slightly higher pitch. "Oh come on, Lucas. I can't come and make sure you don't need my help every now and then?"

Amber was quicker to get the message behind Dawn's wording than Lucas was, prompting her to rise from her seat almost immediately and make a fair distance between her and Lucas. "We were just looking over the Time Flute while we waited for Dylan and Corey to be done shooting their promo in the hidden dungeons." She rolled her eyes as her attention was drawn to the open tunnels leading to the secret dungeons. "Those two will do anything for a few thousand more subscribers."

Dawn walked down towards Justin, took his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Well, I have a job for you guys while you're busy with...whatever this is."

Amber shrugged. "What's the job?"

Dawn patted Justin on the shoulder. "You see, Lord Jacques over here is in a bit of hot water with Lizzie West over something someone else did and is also trying to hide from Police Lieutenant Madeline. If you guys let him keep you company down here, I think he may be able to help you too."

"The more the merrier" Amber replied happily.

"I don't want to be a bother" Justin glumly stated.

"You won't be" Lucas assured him. "I wish I had known this was going on earlier this morning. If I had, I would have brought you down here before."

Justin bowed graciously. "Thank you both. I promise I won't get in the way."

Dawn nodded. "Good. I'll make my way out then. Take care." She made her way up to the elevator, only for Lucas to stop her. "Huh? What's up?"

"You're going already?" he asked.

"I'm not the science type of girl" she admitted. "You know I'd die of boredom down here. And if that happened, what would I be able to do to help Addison in the fun stuff like battling?" She winked. "Besides, I've got to be in my own element like you have to be in yours. That way, we're helping no matter what."

"If you say so" Lucas answered, admittedly disappointed.

Dawn put her arm around him and gestured around. "Look at all the help you have here. You've got Justin, Amber, Dylan and Corey down here helping you figure out that thingamajigger you've got there. You also have the most powerful computer in all of Arcana to answer any problems you have while also trying to get those Pokemon off the drive and onto the database." She looked herself over. "Meanwhile, I've let myself go. I need to get back into training shape. I need someone to show me the ropes of being a master Pokemon Trainer. And with Cynthia off training on her own, that means I've got to be as polite and kind a girl as I can be to convince the King to help me."

Lucas blushed. "If this is you out of shape, I think I'd worship the Dawn that's in shape."

Dawn playfully tussled his hair and kissed him on the cheek. "Alright. Meet me in the Courtyard at sunset. We're going to get some Ice Cream after I get some training in." She then rushed into the elevator, leaving Lucas as red-faced as ever as the doors closed.