I know I said there was going to be a 1 to 2 month break before the mass updating, but that was assuming all of S-EARL updates haven't started yet. As it turned out, SA's update was almost done, SL's took like 30 minutes, and SE's was halfway done. So… here's SL #012!

Alert: just so you readers know, someone (with permission though) is translating one or more of S-EARL into Vietnamese. Permission was given on January 22, 2013. So keep this in mind in case you hear stuff. Extremely unlikely, but you never know. This note will appear on the most recent chapter of all of S-EARL.

Vote results: technically unanimous. 7 votes for Diamond & Platinum, 4 my-votes. So with 11 out of 11 votes, SL #012 is Diamond & Platinum.

Segment: Diamond & Platinum.

Chapter 12: Blackmail

April 22, Sandgem Town, 7:50 am…

"I… I think I am in love with Pearl…"

Those nightmarish words echoed throughout Diamond's mind. He simply stared at Platinum, unable to believe what was happening. He couldn't feel his heart beating anymore. Just cold nothingness. The world around him seemed to be spinning out of control, making him very nauseous. There was an irrepressible urge to sit down and cry. But he couldn't do that since Platinum was looking at him expectantly.

What the hell was she expecting, anyways? A congratulations? Did she even know the impact of her words? Probably not. Diamond always found it surprising that a girl as smart as Platinum could be so damn blind to things.

Diamond tried to think of what to say to her. He could just walk away and give her a blunt hint that she had just destroyed his world and punched a giant hole in his heart. But as much as she hurt him, he could not bear to hurt her in return.

So instead, he focused on the most prominent emotions from the messy batch he was experiencing. What was the most prominent? Anger, betrayal, despair, sadness, loneliness, and finally, bitter happiness. He would never get the girl he loved. She was now permanently out of reach. He'll just have to be satisfied knowing that she was happy…

"That's… that's great, Lady…" he croaked out. Platinum didn't seem to notice anything. Either her beautiful yet sometimes scary eyes were for display only, or he had better control of his emotions than he thought. "I'm… happy for you."

"Thank you, Diamond," Platinum said with an embarrassed blush. "I would highly appreciate it if you would help me find out if he loves me back."

'I know for a fact that he doesn't love you the way I do, Lady… Only if I had the courage to tell you…' "Sure, I'll do my best…"

"Thank you very much," the heiress said happily. "Now, I must go and prepare breakfast. It is my first time and I do not wish to ruin it. So if you could find Pearl and bring him to my…" She trailed off and looked past Diamond at the Sandgem Pokémart. "Oh, never mind. There he is."

Platinum waved at him but Diamond didn't even bother turning to look. Pearl saw both of his friends and ran closer, under the belief that there was no reason to avoid the heiress now that Diamond was here.

"Hey Dia," he said when he got close.

"Hey," Diamond muttered as a reply.

"Now that both of you are here, I shall return home to make breakfast. I do hope that you will like it," Platinum said happily. She smiled at them for a short while before leading both boys back to her mansion.

Diamond followed her with a blank look. Pearl observed his expression as he followed. He's been with Diamond enough to know whether his blank look was because he was sleepy, or he was lost in thought. This time, it wasn't either…

At the massive Berlitz Mansion dinner table, Diamond and Pearl sat and waited for Platinum to come. While Pearl tried to find out why his best friend was acting the way he was, Diamond had come up with a plan of his own that he intended to carry out to full completion.

Before long, Platinum came back, with the servants of the Berlitz Mansion carrying the plates. They distributed the plates amongst the three Sinnoh Dex Holders and Platinum watched eagerly as her two friends began eating.

"So, how are they?" she asked nervously.

'This has got to be the worst piece of sh-' "It's good, Miss Lady," Pearl said as he forcefully swallowed the ex-fresh ingredients in his mouth. It was a good thing the heiress made many dishes carrying small portions of varying food. That way, even if something sucked, there were other options. "It's not as good as Dia's cooking, though."

"Of course," Platinum said with a smile. "He is far more experienced than I. Diamond, how is your food?"

Diamond didn't answer and he silently ate. Platinum watched his expression carefully, trying to gauge his reaction. Pearl looked at him worriedly as he never saw him behave like this before.

"Dia?"

Diamond suddenly sighed. "There's something important I have to tell you about our trip to Johto," he said at last.

"Oh? What is it?" Platinum asked.

"I'm not going with you," Diamond answered.

"What? Why?" Pearl asked. 'What the hell? The whole point of going to Johto was to get you closer to Miss Lady, Dia!'

"Something very important came up," Diamond lied. "And I can't go with you."

"Is it urgent?" Platinum asked, unable to stifle her disappointment. "Because I would highly appreciate your company…"

"Sorry, Lady."

Diamond rose to his feet and began walking away. Platinum tried to follow, but Pearl stopped her.

"Let me go talk to him, Miss Lady."

Pearl quickly followed Diamond, but it seemed that he had already left the mansion. So the hasty Dex Holder chased after him and eventually found him standing next to the Pokémon Center with another blank look.

"Why'd you follow me, Pearl?"

"Dia… no, Diamond," Pearl started. "What's with you? I know there's nothing important or urgent happening recently. So why are you backing out of this trip?"

"I think you know better than me," Diamond said with a long sigh. "The Lady… loves you, Pearl."

"… Oh, shit… she told you…"

"It's over for me. I'll always love her, but she'll always love you. And I love her enough to want what'll make her happy, not what'll make me happy. She's all yours Pearl. I'm giving up."

"Hey, I told you that I was helping you get her," Pearl said. "I don't even like her. I just want her to be a close friend, nothing more, nothing less."

"It doesn't matter what you want," Diamond said bitterly. "Or what I want. The only thing that matters is what she wants. And that's you. I'm sure deep inside, she's happy that I'm not going with her on this trip."

"Miss Lady is not coldhearted," Pearl said, his voice rising in frustration. He glanced backwards to check that Platinum was not following. "She may not love you, but she likes you. She wants you to go with her to Johto. And listen. When we get to Johto, I'll be leaving you two alone. Whatever feelings she may have for me will be replaced if you save her from danger. And trust me. Miss Lady will be getting into trouble more frequently than you will be eating."

"That's why I'm not going with you. She'll just get confused if I'm the one saving her. And I'm telling you, she'll want you to save her from danger. You have to take care of her from this point on, Pearl. Keep her safe. Because I don't think I can do that anymore."

"Dia… no, Diamond. Listen to me," Pearl growled out. "You dragged me into a mess that I didn't like to start with. And I tried all I could to steer Miss Lady to you. All this shit backfired so far, and it's pissing me off. If you don't come with us to Johto, then I am going to end this early. I'll go straight to Miss Lady and say to her face and I don't like her. And you and I both know what'll happen next. She'll want your company for support, but you won't be giving her that support because you don't want her confused. You know what that means? She would've lost her only friends all at once. Good luck in trying to get her happy after that point."

"… You wouldn't harm her like that, would you?"

"Try me. I don't want to be in this mess any longer. You are going to come with us to Johto so we can fix this problem, or I go and break her heart."

Diamond and Pearl glared at each other for a few seconds until Pearl started to walk away, towards the Berlitz Mansion.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Diamond demanded as he ran up to his friend.

"I'll be waiting with Miss Lady," he answered. "If you don't show up within 10 minutes to tell her what you've decided to do, I'm breaking her. You'll be miserable, she'll be miserable, and I'll be miserable. We'll all go down in this spiral of misery together. But the thing is, you and I will be able to get out of that spiral. But Miss Lady… would probably stay in her mansion for the rest of her life, afraid to make any friends because of what happened with us. I mean her only friends suddenly decided to abandon her and break her heart. Where's the guarantee that it won't happen again?"

"You… can't break her, Pearl!"

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"… Fine! I'll go with you to Johto."

In her mansion, Platinum paced around the dinner table, waiting for her two friends to return. She didn't know why Diamond suddenly couldn't go to Johto, but whatever the reason, she sincerely hoped that he could go with her. But before she could worry too much, Diamond and Pearl returned. Their expressions were… odd, and she didn't recognize them. But she didn't care. She was just glad that her friends had returned.

"Diamond," she started nicely. "I would highly appreciate it if you would come to Johto with us. The trip will not be fun without you. So please. Can you come with us?"

Diamond looked away from her face. He couldn't bear to look at her now with the recent developments. "… Okay, I'll go with you."

Platinum beamed in joy and clasped his hands. "Oh, thank you, Diamond. I promise this trip will be very enjoyable."

Diamond turned to stare at Pearl. "… Yeah. I know it will be…"

Before too long, the Sinnoh Dex Holders headed to Canalave City via carriage. For the ride, Diamond sat on one seat and Pearl sat on the opposite side. Platinum… sat with Pearl, as predicted by both boys. She seemed quite happy to sit beside her crush, but her happiness soon faded. She could see the rigid expressions of her friends. They were both staring through the window with a blank look and refused to say anything.

"Diamond, Pearl, is something wrong?" Platinum asked. "You two do not appear to be in a good mood. Did something happen?"

"No," both boys answered in monotone unison.

"I think you two are lying to me," Platinum said as she looked back and forth between her two friends. "I thought you two promised never to lie to me again."

"We're not lying," the two boys said in perfect monotone and unison again.

"Miss Lady, what's the first thing we're going to do when we get to Johto?" Pearl asked to change the topic.

Platinum slightly narrowed her eyes but soon decided to let it drop. "We will be arriving in Olivine City. There is a famous eatery there, and we will be trying it. Afterwards, we shall head towards Ecruteak City."

And just like that, all three Sinnoh Dex Holders stopped talking. Platinum seemed really bothered by the awkward silence. She tried to break it a few times by asking Diamond and Pearl about why their mood seemed so bad, but she only got seemingly computer-automated monotone replies. Offended by the fact that her friends were lying to her, Platinum soon gave up and stared through the window.

The three Dex Holders eventually arrived at Canalave City and boarded the ship to Johto in complete silence. On the ship, each Dex Holder entered their own rooms in silent contemplation. Diamond thought about how he was going to stop Pearl from breaking Platinum. Pearl thought about how he was going to steer the heiress towards Diamond without breaking her. Platinum thought about what could possibly be going through her friends' minds and why they were in such a bad mood. She contemplated whether it was her fault, but dismissed the idea. She didn't do anything, did she?

But just to be on the safe side, she went to talk to Diamond. From her experience, Platinum found that the relaxed Dex Holder had the most calming effect on her. And whenever they were alone, Diamond tended to say stuff that he normally wouldn't.

Platinum soon stood in front of Diamond's room and knocked on the door. There was a small moment of silence before the boy opened the door. He didn't say anything but let her in. Inside the cabin, Diamond sat on the bed and Platinum sat beside him.

"Diamond, why are you so depressed?" the heiress asked. "You seemed happy earlier today when you arrived at Sandgem." She tried to look into his eyes but he wasn't looking at her. "… Did I do something to offend you?"

The boy sighed. 'Crap.' "No, this has nothing to do with you, Lady," he lied. "It's just that… the urgent matter earlier today was a great offer for a comedy trip. Pearl and I have been looking forward for that offer for a long time, but…" He looked into Platinum's beautiful eyes and hoped that she would believe such a lie.

The heiress looked into his eyes for a second before she smiled. "Thank you for telling me the truth, Diamond. And I am really sorry about the lost opportunity. When we return, I promise I will do all I can to help you regain that opportunity."

'Oh, you naïve, oblivious, heart destroying girl…' "I'm sorry for lying, Lady. I promise I won't do it again."

Platinum nodded. "I trust you."

The heiress smiled at him for a second before she left. Diamond watched her leave and looked down in terrible shame. He couldn't believe he had to lie to her… and right in her face for that matter. If she eventually found out that he had lied all this time…

There was a bigger emergency though. His lie had to survive for the time being. And Pearl didn't know what happened. Diamond quickly sent his friend a message with his Pokégear, telling him of what he said to Platinum. That way, if the heiress went to talk to the hasty Dex Holder, the lie wouldn't be busted.

Diamond felt terrible. Absolutely terrible. He wanted to leave Pearl and Platinum alone so the heiress would be happy. But he couldn't leave abruptly. Platinum would undoubtedly look for him. He had to leave naturally. Like… meeting someone, for example. But if he left, Pearl would just break Platinum's heart. And Diamond could not allow that to happen. He had to use Pearl's threat against him, so to speak. Surely the hasty Dex Holder wouldn't break Platinum's heart if she was in dire need of his company…

'Lady, I'm so sorry. I'll always love you, but you'll love Pearl. You're my first love, but he's your first. And that's permanent. The longer I stay with you, more painful it'll be for me. So I can't stay with you. But I can't leave you. I have a solution. And this will be a lot more painful to me than it will be to you. But in the long run, you'll be happy. Lady, I can't leave you, but I promise that you will leave me. … You will want to leave me.'

Remember. This storyline WILL result in Diamond getting together with Platinum. I just don't know how that'll work right now. But it will happen!