"And cut! Good work people," the director called out as the actors and pokémon relaxed and began to disperse. A young woman with a Pumpkaboo floating near her shoulder was quickly swarmed by a horde of people, quickly trying to fix up her appearance and her outfit, ensuring she looked perfect. She sauntered off, her agent scurrying along behind her, trying to relay her schedule to her over the crowd.

"Diantha? Did you hear me?" She jumped at the sound of her name. Turning away from the other woman, the main star of the movie, she pulled off the fake glasses she wore and said, "Sorry?" Her agent sighed.

"I said you've got the rest of the day off now since you're not needed for any of the other scenes they'll be filming." Diantha nodded, wearing an apologetic smile for her ignorance.

"Right. Thanks, I'll go get changed and head out then." Her agent nodded and turned to leave, shaking her head with exasperation. Now left alone, the young actress had nothing to do but leave the set and return home for the day. Well, "set" wasn't exactly the right word.

More accurately, the professor in charge of the lab had very very kindly allowed the crew to film on location for the movie; a fact that Diantha was reminded of as she walked past the director and said professor while they were discussing the shooting schedule. And from the sounds of it, it wouldn't be too long till they would be finished.

"I hope it turns out well," she muttered to herself, making her way down the hallway to the room that had been offered as a temporary dressing room. This movie meant a lot to her. It was her first time being in a proper role. Granted, it was only a supporting role, but it was a role nonetheless. It was a chance to show that she had talent, that she could act. She could go places! Be someone!

"Maybe..." she sighed, as she neared the dressing room door. She cracked it open, and already, she could see her darling Kirlia waiting for her, as she always did. Diantha opened the door fully, allowing Kirlia to join her out in the hallway; fortunately, some of the more energetic pokémon belonging to extras and film crew had fallen asleep. Her partner chirped away at her, asking how her day went, to which the young woman responded, "It went well, and I'm done for the day. I'll get ready and we'll go home." She made to enter the dressing room, only for Kirlia to take hold of the lab coat she wore, stopping her.

"What is it?" Diantha asked. To her surprise, the Emotion Pokémon turned and pointed to a door a little further down the hallway; the door leading to the lab's greenhouse, which many pokémon called home within the building. She looked back down to find Kirlia watching her expectantly, and immediately, she said, "No. We can't." Another attempt to enter the dressing room failed when the door slammed shut and locked itself.

"Kirlia," Diantha warned, however the pokémon simply walked toward the door, turned back to the woman, and telekinetically tugged on her lab coat. She bit her lip, looking down the corridor.

"We can't do this, we could get in trouble," she said, however she was already walking toward the Kirlia. She then continued, resting her hand on the handle and tightening her grip around it, "This could cost me my role in the movie, and my career in general if we're caught." Her pokémon laid a hand on her knee, and gave her a reassuring smile. Diantha regarded her partner carefully, then turned to look back down the corridor once more.

The coast was clear. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

She opened the door.

A rush of warm air greeted her as she hurried in and shut the door behind her, though not before Kirlia ran in after her. She paused by the door to catch her breath, surprised that she had actually done it. Meanwhile, her Kirlia continued on into the room, seeing to the pokémon that had started to wander over and investigate the new arrival; fortunately, a few words from the Psychic/Fairy type made most of the group move elsewhere and leave the woman alone, though some still lingered.

"Wow," Diantha gasped, getting to her feet again and walking further into the room, though calling it a forest would be more accurate. A Linoone crawled over and sniffed at Diantha gingerly. She giggled as she bent down and stroked the pokémon, who originally flinched at her touch before relaxing and curling up on her lap. It purred contentedly, making the woman smile.

"You're pretty friendly, aren't you?" she murmured to it. A faint chuckling from behind her made her freeze.

"Indeed she is." Diantha spun round, scaring the Linoone off her lap as she jumped to her feet. She scrambled for words, struggling in her panic, though she eventually managed to choke out, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't be here." The young man chuckled again, and said, "Yes, you shouldn't." Diantha flinched, aware of how much trouble she was in, and she found herself chastising herself for her curiosity.

"I..." she started, trying to think of what else she could say. Common sense told her that she should just leave and head for the dressing room and go home like she should've, and then she should just deal with whatever punishment came her way; however she simply wound up ducking her head and playing with the edges of the lab coat she wore. In the end, it was the young man who spoke up next.

"It's a beautiful place, isn't it?" he asked, motioning to their surroundings. Diantha nodded, still ashamed at having been found out. The man pocketed his hands into his lab coat and asked, "I take it you've been curious about this room while you've been filming?" Another nod. And he smiled.

"Then might I just say there's nothing wrong with a little curiosity. At least I think so." This made Diantha look up, confused. With another inviting smile, the man held his hand out and said, "My name is Augustine Sycamore. I'm one of the professor's assistants, though I'm a more recent addition to the team." Though hesitant at first, Diantha eventually took a few steps closer toward the young man - toward Sycamore, and said, taking his hand, "I'm Diantha. I'm one of the actresses working on the film."

"Ah yes, I've seen some of your shoots in particular; I must admit that your character, Adelle, is a favourite of mine. Very brave and kind. You portray her well," he said. His words made Diantha blush, and she muttered a small, "Thank you." She felt her lab coat being tugged again, which made both her and Sycamore look down; Kirlia peaked out from behind the woman, staring apprehensively at the scientist.

"Well now," he said, bending down so he was close enough to eye level with the pokémon, "is this your partner?" Diantha nodded. She bent down as well as she said, "Yes, she is. We've been together since I was small and since she was a Ralts." Sycamore leaned in closer to the pokémon, who in turn hid further behind its partner. The young man smiled and chuckled, "She seems very fond of you." The woman also chuckled at her Kirlia's behaviour and responded, "She's not normally this shy." Kirlia frowned and tugged on Diantha's lab coat again, then pointed at Sycamore, to his confusion. However the message was clear enough to Diantha, who bit her lip nervously. She sighed.

"Listen, I really should leave and get ready. I shouldn't have been here in the first place," she said quietly. She stood up, with Sycamore mimicking her movement, and added, a slight waver in her voice now, "I'll understand if you would report what happened; I did break the rules." She brushed past the scientist as she made her way to the door, her Kirlia trotting along behind her. However she was halted as Sycamore called after her, "Diantha, wait a minute."

"Does being in this film mean a lot to you?" he asked once she was facing him again. Her response was a small nod. With a small smile, he said, "I'm aware of what will happen if I report this; you could lose your role. And I'm going to assume here that it took you a long time to get this far." Another nod, though Diantha's curiosity was growing as he asked, "How far do you want to go?" She didn't answer immediately, even though she knew the answer. She took the time to think it over, and only when she was sure did she reply, "I want to be a star."

"So I thought," Sycamore said, still smiling. He then sighed, "I know what it's like to want something, or to be something; as silly as it seems, I would like very much to be the head professor of this lab someday. But it takes a lot of hard work and time. And sometimes, people make mistakes that can affect their goals." Diantha grimaced, aware of the implications in his final sentence. He wasn't finished though, and what he said next both surprised and relieved the woman.

"I said earlier that I've been watching the filming, and so I have to admit that I'm curious. I'd very much like to see the film, however I don't think it would be quite the same if it wasn't you in the role of Adelle," he said, giving the woman a quick wink. Though the action made Diantha's cheeks darken again, she also couldn't help but let out a small gasp.

"You...you're not going to report me?" she said, almost inaudibly. He nodded, and Diantha's face broke out in a wide grin as she said, laughing with gleeful relief, "You have no idea what that means to me." Her happiness made the man chuckle himself, though he did then add, "Yes well, I do have one condition." Diantha's smile fell, though his only seemed to grow that little bit larger.

"I want you to do your very best, to perform and act to the best of your abilities, and I want you to become the star that you want to be," he said. Diantha smiled again and she nodded. Then, with a slight gleam in her eye, she herself said, "I can do that...so long as you then do your very best to become the head of this lab and your field of research." She held her hand out to seal the deal. Sycamore regarded her carefully, then smiled.

"I believe that is a fair deal." With that, he took her hand, though to the woman's surprise, he lifted it up and planted a gentle kiss upon it. He smiled at her flustered expression and said, "I do believe that this is the beginning of a fine friendship, if I do say so myself. And I do so hope to see you shine in all the roles you will hopefully come to play, Diantha."

First off, I'm sorry that this is the second drabble in a row that's set in the pokémon lab and also in the greenhouse; however I just wound up writing this one and I knew where I wanted to take it and I just went with it cause writing it just came easy.

Second, it occurred to me as I was writing that last bit that much like the previous Diantha-Sycamore drabble I wrote, this one also ends with him doing something surprising and getting the last word in. Huh.

...It wasn't intentional.

And thirdly, I'm sorry for the ship tease. What I was trying to portray here was their first meeting. However even as I was writing it, I couldn't help but think, "Yeeeeah, people will probably see this as ship tease."

But either way, this is done, and just one final note; as I'm sure you can all guess, this takes place at least some time waaaay before X and Y is even a thing, since Diantha is younger and not the Hollywood starlet she is, nor the Champion (Hell, I would even say she hasn't even thought about trying such a thing at this stage), and Sycamore is, likewise, younger and not head professor. I haven't given specific ages and whatnot, but yeah, they're younger at least.

So, thank you for reading, feel free to fave and follow if you don't already, and reviews are always nice too.

Till next time, and hopefully, it'll be in another location away from Sycamore's lab.

Angel-chan x