Cynthia awoke to the blaring sound of her alarm the next morning, and she just let out a groan as she forced herself out of bed. It was still dark out, because Hugo wanted to have the shoot in the 'golden hour' where the sun was in the midst of rising. It was terrible having to get up that early, but Cynthia still had to lest she wanted to invoke Hugo's rage, so she made herself get dressed. She made herself look semi-decent in that blue blouse of hers, and once she finished everything and brushed her teeth, Cynthia took a look at her phone, checking up on her notifications. Wow, she had a lot of text messages.

[Liz:] PFFFF HOW LONG ARE YOU GONNA HIDE BEHIND THAT 'JUST FRIENDS' SHTICK NOW HAHAHAHAA

[Liz:] LUCKY DEVIL

What on earth was Elizabeth going on about now? Cynthia just shook her head and moved on to the other messages she had.

[Gardenia:] I KNEW IT! I KNEW THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING GOING ON BETWEEN YOU TWO!

[Gardenia:] YOU HAVE TO GIVE ME ALL THE DETAILS THIS INSTANT! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T COME TO ME ABOUT THIS!

There were a lot of yelly texts so early in the morning… And nearly all of them were timestamped at 1 and 2 o'clock in the morning. Didn't these people have lives? Cynthia thought it was only going to get worse from there, because she had messages from Looker of all people.

[Looker:] Please let me know if you cannot assist in the investigation in any point in time because you have plans. I do not wish to intrude on your personal life. You do so much for Interpol, I'm sure you can get some time off.

This was terrible. This was absolutely terrible. What on earth had happened?! Why was everyone acting like Cynthia just got wrapped up in some PR scandal?! She had a message from Diantha too. Cynthia was starting to believe she was caught up in a PR scandal.

[Diantha:] For your own sake, darling, do not look at the tabloids. Spare yourself the trouble.

….Great. It was a scandal. What did Cynthia even do?! Part of her just wanted to look up what had happened, but Diantha warned her not to, and Cynthia was too afraid to do otherwise. Throwing her phone into her pocket, Cynthia just let out a heavy sigh and opened her door to head towards Lake Valor for filming, but she was stopped by… bright flashes?

It was the paparazzi. They had cornered Cynthia at her house, journalists snapping pics and reporters holding out microphones towards her. Cynthia flinched at all of the bright lights and the rapid-fire questions posed to her, and she had no idea what to do.

"Cynthia- what is your relationship to the Kalosian actress Diantha?"

"Uh…" Cynthia blinked a few times, "We're friends?"

"What do you have to say about the photos snapped of you two last night?"

"Wait, what?! What photos?!"

"You were spotted out on Valor Lakefront with Diantha, and then Diantha was caught later with lipstick on her cheek. Thoughts?"

There's the scandal that Cynthia was completely unaware of. Now she was finally starting to understand all of the strange messages sent to her in the middle of the night. This was not good. This was not good at all.

"Uh…" Cynthia had to find a way out of that one, "I was just showing her the lake?"

"And the lipstick?"

"It's that Kalosian tradition. You know, the one where you say hello and goodbye to your friends with the two kisses to the cheek?" Nice save, Cynthia. Nice save. She even smiled after that, proud of herself for wiggling her way out of that potential mess.

"So, she's teaching you about Kalosian customs in your downtime?"

Cynthia felt a buzz in her pocket and held up a hand, shooting the reporters an apologetic smile, "Hold on…" It was a message from Diantha.

[Diantha:] The press may try to hassle you. "No comment" will be your new best friend.

"Who are you texting, Cynthia? Is that Diantha?"

Cynthia looked up from her phone, gaze darting from side to side for a brief moment, "Uh… No comment?" Diantha's message had come just in the nick of time. How handy for Cynthia that was.

"Are you interested in women, Cynthia?"

"What?!" Cynthia glared at the reporter before clearing her throat and trying to regain her composure, "...No comment."

"Is this a touchy subject?"

"No comment!" Cynthia called out Togekiss and started to walk off with her Pokémon so they could fly off in the clear from all of the reporters. Once they were out of sight from the paparazzi, Cynthia just hung her head and groaned, rubbing Togekiss's back, "Thanks, Togekiss… You really saved me there…"

Cynthia arrived at Lake Valor, and immediately her phone vibrated with another text message. Cynthia simply gripped her phone and pretended to wind up her arm like she was about to hurl her phone into the lake. She was really tempted to. It took all of her self-control not to. With a heavy sigh, she unlocked her phone to see that it was a message from her sister. Was it too late to throw her phone into the lake?

[Liz:] you're bringing shame to the family name dear sister

[Liz:] that run in with the paps was the most embarrassing thing i've ever seen in my life and i've had the misfortune of seeing you at my 21st bday party

[Cynthia:] YOU'RE the one bringing shame to the family name

[Cynthia:] Don't think I've forgotten that time you tried to flirt with Candice and you slipped and fell and broke an arm on the ice

[Liz:] you know what i take it back you're good carry on

Cynthia sighed and just turned off her phone. She needed a break from the blasted thing. A few moments later, Cynthia spotted Diantha approaching her, and she forced a grin to her face.

"Hey…" Cynthia's voice dropped. Diantha wasn't looking too good, "Dear heavens, is everything alright?!"

Diantha had purple marks under her eyes and she looked half-dead. She groggily nodded her head, rubbing her eyes, "Nothing a little makeup can't fix…"

Cynthia furrowed her eyebrows out of concern, "Hungover?"

"Huh? Oh, erm… Yeah. A bit." Diantha seemed really uneasy in answering. Despite being such a renowned actress, that excuse felt very fake.

Cynthia picked up on the fact that Diantha could be lying, but she didn't want to push her for answers. Things ended kind of awkwardly last night; the last thing Cynthia wanted was to overstep more boundaries. "Drink some water, then. You look like a mess."

"I saw the mirror this morning…" Diantha muttered, "I'm aware…"

Cynthia just winced, placing her hand on Diantha's back and guiding her towards the makeup trailer, "Come on… Let's get you to get freshened up…"

Diantha stifled a yawn, still rubbing her eyes. This was really unlike Diantha, to have nearly complete lack of composure. Cynthia dropped her off at the makeup trailer before turning around and heading back to the set, spotting Hugo sticking out like a sore thumb with all of his yelling. This was not going to be fun with him around. It was only a matter of time until Hugo spotted Cynthia and waved her over in impatient urgency.

"Oh, look… You decided to drop by after all…" He said in a droll, eyes narrowed.

Cynthia bowed sarcastically, a sly grin on her face, "I know. Shocker. I'm all yours for the day."

Hugo brushed that remark off completely, not wanting to waste any more time, "I have a question of the utmost importance for you."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow, "Which is…?"

Turning towards the lake, Hugo placed his chin in his hand, "I was looking for a way to reduce production costs and film time. Would it be possible to pass off Lake Valor as Lake Verity? If we could shoot the scenes at Lake Verity here, this could simplify things for us."

"Hmm…" Cynthia tilted her head, placing her hands on her hips and musing it over, "I think it's certainly possible. Lake Valor and Lake Verity are quite similar in appearance… Lake Verity has less buildings near the lake and is rich in flowers along the lakefront. If the animation team could make those changes, then it could work."

Hugo nodded along to that, "Then it's decided. We'll do both scenes here."

Cynthia shrugged, "Knock yourself out."

"I'm going to need you to supply an image of the Legendary Pokémon for the Ditto onset to transform into." Hugo added, "I assume you have one."

Rummaging into her pants pocket, Cynthia just sighed as she pulled out her Pokédex, "Yeah, I got it…" She walked off, scrolling through the Dex pages until she came across Azelf's page. After finding the Ditto, Cynthia kneeled down and showed it the picture of Azelf, and soon the Ditto transformed into Azelf in a heartbeat. The only difference was that Ditto had little dots for eyes, but Cynthia was sure the animation team could fix that easily. Standing up, Cynthia slid the Pokédex into her pocket again, crossing her arms as she watched the Ditto-Azelf fly around a bit, getting a hang of its new form.

Suddenly Hugo started clapping, "Places, everybody! Places!" And that's when Cynthia knew the real 'fun' was about to start.

Sighing, Cynthia just braced herself for what was to come, and she stood next to Hugo while he got ready for filming to shoot. Soon enough, Hugo shouted action, and the one set worker sounded the clapperboard. This was happening. They were filming now.

The one scene played out fairly simply: the antagonist captured Azelf at Lake Valor, but Diantha's character Raina happened to be on a trip to Veilstone City at the exact time. She spotted the abduction take place, and she then would rescue Azelf with the help of her partner Pokémon, Empoleon. After winning the battle, Raina chased the antagonist away from the lake, but doubled back to check on Azelf and care for its injuries following the abduction. It was the scene that introduced the plot to the film, and it had to be perfect.

While the scene played out in front of Cynthia, she didn't pay too much attention to the dialogue or action, but rather the interaction Diantha had with Ditto-Azelf. Cynthia had warned Diantha of the dangers the Lake Trio posed, but she wasn't sure how much Diantha remembered, so she just remained on the lookout for any inaccuracies in the acting. Every once in awhile, after a take, Cynthia would lean over and tell Hugo what pointers he should give to Diantha, like 'be more careful with Azelf because you're not supposed to hurt her,' or 'act a bit more awestruck,' or 'Azelf barely weighs over half a pound so toughen up and try not to act like you're being crushed beneath Ditto's weight.' She phrased that last one a little bit more delicately, but something got lost in translation with Hugo, and Diantha just sent Cynthia a look that was a cross between confused, annoyed, and tired when she got the note. Cynthia just bit her lip at that, wondering what stunt Hugo pulled that threw her right under the bus. Aside from that, filming the scene with Azelf wasn't too bad. Hugo got a few takes he was satisfied with a couple hours in, and he dismissed everyone for lunch. Cynthia caught up with Diantha when she had the chance, checking up on her.

"You don't look as dead as you did before…" Cynthia began, placing her hands on her hips and leaning closer to get a better look at Diantha's face, "I say that's progress?"

Diantha sent Cynthia a strange look, but nodded eventually, "Yeah… Rough morning, I guess."

"Mmm…" Cynthia looked Diantha over, concern on her face, "Are you sure everything's alright?" She asked, dropping her voice into a whisper.

"Yeah. I just… I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Diantha admitted, gulping while trying to keep Cynthia's gaze.

Cynthia tilted her head. She wondered what could have kept Diantha up so late, and she sort of jumped to the assumption that it was related to what happened on their trip to the lake, "Couldn't sleep, huh?"

Diantha nodded, scratching her cheek and looking away, "...You know… Homesickness and all that. I haven't traveled this far away from Kalos for a production before. Plus there's still a bit of culture shock, and all those things…"

"Yeah. I understand." Cynthia let out a soft exhale, standing up straight and closing her eyes. She still felt as if Diantha was hiding something from her, but it was obvious that Diantha did not want to share it with Cynthia. She just accepted that maybe things were still a bit weird between them, and that Diantha might not feel comfortable in confiding in her after all, "...If you're up for it, we can go grab something to eat over in Pastoria or Sunyshore City." She asked, trying to change the topic.

"That sounds nice." Diantha grinned at that, perking up a bit, "Yeah, let's do it."

Cynthia shot a smile back, and she looped her arm around Diantha's shoulders and guided her along, "Come on. I know a fantastic place in Sunyshore City. It might remind you a little of home."

Letting out a laugh, Diantha smiled wider as she let Cynthia lead her to Sunyshore, "I'd like that…"

After lunch, Diantha and Cynthia returned to the set for the second half of filming they needed to do. Cynthia provided the Pokédex page of Mesprit for the Ditto to take shape once she arrived, and she pulled up a seat next to the director's chair so she'd be ready before things began. She had already jogged Diantha's memories on the fact that Mesprit cannot be touched, so that could save on a few takes down the line. It also presented less opportunity for Hugo to warp Cynthia's pointers into insults, which was very much appreciated. They didn't want another "Toughen up Diantha, you're embarrassing us all out there acting like a .7 pound Pokémon is weighing you down," on their hands.

The filming of the Lake Verity scenes went pretty well. Raina had found out earlier in the film that the antagonist was planning on stealing all of the Lake Trio, so she went to intercept his efforts at Lake Verity and protect Mesprit from falling into enemy hands. Just when Raina figured she had won, Mesprit started acting up, which meant that one of the other members of the trio had been captured. It turned out that the antagonist had went to Lake Verity as a distraction while some of his minions went to go and recapture Azelf, which they succeeded at doing, and Raina could do nothing to stop them. It led Raina to asking Mesprit to join her in saving Uxie, so that the antagonist would not get all three of the trio, which set up the next act of the film. It took a long time to get the scenes perfect, but overall it wasn't as dreadful as Cynthia thought it would be. Filming wrapped up at around six.

Diantha walked over to Cynthia when filming wrapped, sitting down next to her, even if she was in the director's chair. She didn't care. Cynthia just flashed a grin her way, "Hey." Cynthia said, trying to read Diantha's expression, "What's up?"

"Not much." Diantha said easy, resting her chin in her hand, "I think I might just call it a night early and catch up on rest."

"That might be smart." Cynthia laughed softly under her breath, "Tomorrow's filming is in Hearthome City, right?"

"Darling, you know I don't know the cities in this region…" Diantha teased, a smile tugging at her lips, "Is Hearthome the one that's in the center of the region?"

Cynthia nodded, "Yeah, it is. There's someone I want you to meet up there. I think that'd also help with this homesickness you've been feeling." When Diantha only raised a curious eyebrow, Cynthia explained further, "Her name is Fantina. She's from Kalos too. She's the Gym Leader over in Hearthome City, and she's also a performer."

"Actress?" Diantha asked, definitely intrigued.

"Nah. Contest performer." Cynthia shook her head, "She's a master at it. She's a lot like you in that sense."

Diantha let out a quiet hum, swaying her head a bit, "Fantina, you said? I'm excited to meet her, if what you say is true."

"And she's excited to meet you. She said she's always been a fan of yours. I hope you don't mind, but I told her that we'd all have lunch together tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Diantha grinned. She straightened herself out in the chair and stood, trying her best to hide an exhausted yawn from Cynthia but to no avail, "I wouldn't want to fall asleep on you now, so I'm going to head back to my hotel. I need the rest." She placed her hand on Cynthia's arm before walking off, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, rest up." Cynthia nodded. There was something she still wanted to say, so right when Diantha pulled her hand away, Cynthia took ahold of it gently so Diantha wouldn't leave just yet, "Before you go…" Cynthia cleared her throat, now growing a little uneasy inside, "If there's something wrong, or if something- anything at all is bothering you… you can talk to me about it. I'm here for you. I just...wanted you to know that."

Diantha stopped, turning to glance at Cynthia's hand on hers before meeting Cynthia's gaze. She looked confused at first, then conflicted, then she just smiled and nodded her head, "Right. I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thank you, Cynthia." And she was off again.

Cynthia just let her hand fall on her lap, and she hung her head with a sigh, rubbing her forehead. She was no expert on acting, but she was certain that Diantha's answer just felt so...fake. Shaking her head with a groan, Cynthia couldn't help but feel bothered. She felt like she might have messed things up with Diantha, making things awkward and ruining the connection they had. Diantha was definitely keeping something from Cynthia at this point, and she did not look like she was ever going to talk to Cynthia about it. Diantha shared so much with Cynthia the night prior, and Cynthia didn't understand why Diantha was suddenly holding back from sharing things. With another sigh, Cynthia just stood up and forced the topic out of her mind. She just wanted to get back home.

That night, when Diantha finally fell asleep, she found herself back in that strange world again in her dreams. She has been having the same sorts of nightmares over and over again, and it looked like that night would be no different. This time, however, Diantha seemed to have been transported to an earlier time in her nightmare's events, now in the heat of the moment of Cynthia's confrontation with 'the devil' instead of only appearing during the aftermath. She was still trapped on a platform far away from the one Cynthia was on, but Diantha wasn't going to let that distance remain for long, and she went to the corner of the platform to try and leap to the next, but something stopped her.

Diantha spun around at the noise behind her, finding two strange figures with Pokémon trying to corner her. She only furrowed her eyebrows at the figures– her mind wasn't making them out well enough, and she could only see grey and cyan faintly for their outfits. Grabbing a Pokéball, Diantha called out her Gardevoir and instantly gave her a look to attack. Gardevoir sent numerous pink needles flying towards the Pokémon opposite of them, but the Pokémon suddenly vanished before Dazzling Gleam could make contact. No trace of the Pokémon were left, neither were the trainers, and Diantha figured it was just some strange vision this world was giving her. She called Gardevoir back and continued to pursue Cynthia, catching up to her on the final platform.

When Diantha reached that platform, she instantly started running to reach Cynthia's side. Along the way, she started registering her surroundings, and she immediately noticed how wounded and exhausted Garchomp was… and Cynthia looked just as terrible. Diantha called out for Cynthia, making sure that she was alright.

"Cynthia!" Diantha finally came to a halt, breathless from all the running, "What on earth is going on here?!"

"D-Diantha…" Cynthia's eyes widened, but eventually she squeezed them shut in a grimace. She was clutching her side, barely able to stand on her two feet, "W…What are you doing here?! I thought I told you not to follow me!"

Diantha shook her head, confused, "I don't understand… Where are we? What's going on?!"

"I didn't want you to see this place… I didn't need you getting involved when this is my business!" Cynthia growled, and she looked around as if she was still on guard.

Diantha looked past Cynthia, noticing something strange out of the corner of her eye. There was another person laid on the ground, not moving and body filled with injuries… The injuries did not look like they were caused by a Pokémon either… Diantha only cautiously looked back at Cynthia, eyebrows furrowed, "Cynthia…"

In that moment, a loud shriek from a Pokémon sounded in the distance, and Diantha knew where this was going at that point. A large shadow rose over the platform, and its piercing red gaze loomed over Garchomp, Cynthia, and Diantha. Cynthia just gritted her teeth and let out another growl, and her attention went to her Garchomp.

"Draco Meteor!" She shouted, looking up at the Pokémon lingering over her, "Come on… We've beat this monster before… We can't lose here!"

Garchomp reared its head in the air, causing five spheres of blue energy to form before Garchomp sent them flying towards the shadowy Pokémon. Diantha only watched on in fear as the meteors crashed into the Pokémon's chest, but it didn't look all too fazed. The Pokémon swung its large tail out of anger, knocking into a stalagmite and causing it to fly towards Cynthia and Garchomp. Cynthia's eyes widened when she noticed the stalagmite was on a direct track for her, and then Garchomp dove in front of Cynthia and extended its wings to shield her. However, before anything could happen beyond that, everything went black.

Diantha's eyes flew open at that, and she was relieved to see that she was in her hotel again. She let out a harsh sigh, breathing heavy from the anxiety that nightmare brought on, and she noticed how her skin was slick with sweat again. Diantha slammed her fist into the pillow next to her in annoyance, letting out an angry groan.

"Why does this keep happening…?!" She muttered to herself, glaring at her ceiling. Glancing over to the clock on the nightstand, Diantha saw how it was one o'clock in the morning. She let out another groan and slapped her hands to her face, obviously disheartened. She could either go back to sleep and risk another nightmare, or she could stay awake and be exhausted the next morning. The last thing she wanted was to get another nightmare, and in her state, Diantha doubted whether or not falling asleep would be so easy.

She sighed and pulled her hands away from her face, knowing that getting any more quality rest would be a miracle more than anything that night. The next day was going to be hellish for her, she could already tell…