The morning had arrived in the Evolveglades. Most townsfolk hadn't awakened yet, and in one particular household, not a creature was stirring, except for Snubbot. She climbed up the ladder on the twins' bunk bed and shook Minun awake. "Dad, dad!"

Minun's eyes snapped open. "Huh?!"

"Today's the day!" Snubbot barked. "It's the science fair!"

Plusle sat up in bed and looked at the clock on her dresser. "Oh! We better get ready!"

They went to the kitchen for breakfast, where Michael was making toast and eggs. Phyllis was sipping some root beer in a mug. Michael saw Snubbot dragging Minun in by the hand and chuckled. "Someone's excited."

"Yeah, I can't wait to see dad and auntie's school!" Snubbot exclaimed.

"I'm sure you'll like the kids there," Minun said.

There was Slakoth, who had done the bare minimum, a simple papier-mâché volcano. Other students included Geodude, who had a report on the rock cycle, and Lombre who made a water purifier. The elementary schoolers weren't the only contestants; the science fair was a collaboration between both the Platinum Middle School and Red & Blue Elementary. One of the middle schoolers in question was Pignite, who had made an exhibition about rocket science, complete with an actual miniature rocket. He prided himself on his intellect, and he didn't really worry about anyone else's exhibit, he knew it would pale in comparison to his.

The judges, who were Principal Luxray and Deputy Mayor Ludicolo, were going around the lunchroom and looking at people's projects. They approached Pignite's table.

"Welcome to my exhibition," he said with a flourish. "As you can see, I didn't use any cheap bottle rockets, I made this myself. Want me to demonstrate?"

Principal Luxray shook his head. "A real rocket? That's quite dangerous to set off indoors."

Pignite was disappointed. "Alright, well, you press this button, and it goes flying. An explosion may or may not happen."

Ludicolo nodded and wrote in his clipboard. "It's still impressive that someone your age could build something like this, though. I'll give you points for that."

"Victory is mine," Pignite thought.

Next, Principal Luxray and Ludicolo went to Minun's table.

"Hello, this is my exhibit on AI. Not very many products of artificial intelligence have personality, so I took some inspiration from the rare cases of this," Minun said, and then he gestured to Snubbot. "This is Snubbot."

"Hi, Principal Luxray, Mr. Ludicolo!" she said, and she took a small bow. "It's good to see you both for the first time. Dad told me about you, he says you're nice."

"Hmm, polite," Principal Luxray noted.

"She can recognize names and learn things, just like any other kid," Minun said. "For example, I showed her how to juggle." He handed her two baseballs, and she juggled them.

Ludicolo's eyes widened. "Very clever!"

When the time came to give the results, Principal Luxray stood on the stage and tapped the microphone, which blared some feedback. He snickered nervously and cleared his throat. "Attention, attention! We have decided on the winners. Minun is in first place for his explanation on AI, while Pignite is in second place for his rocket experiment, and Flareon is in third place for his rainbow flame demonstration."

Pignite scowled in displeasure. He couldn't believe that an elementary schooler of all people had achieved a higher place than him. Flareon just smiled contently, as he was fine with his result. All three of them received their ribbons.

Everyone made their way back to the classrooms. Snubbot followed the Mon 4.

"Man, that was great," Snubbot said with a grin. "Can I go into class with you?"

Minun unlocked his locker and opened the door. "Actually, I think you should stay in my locker until school is over."

"Aw, but why?" Snubbot asked.

"You might be a bit distracting to the class," Minun said. "I promise I'll come back for you when the final bell of the day rings. Don't leave the locker, okay?"

"Okay," Snubbot sighed. She entered the locker and closed it behind her. The Mon 4 then went to class.

An hour or so passed. Snubbot's patience was wearing thin, and her boredom grew. She remembered that Minun told her not to leave his locker, but at the same time, she couldn't think of any other way to pass the time. She figured that he wouldn't mind if she went out for a bit, so she opened the locker door and wandered down the hallway.

Snubbot passed by several classrooms and peeked into the windows, where the students were doing their assignment. She decided not to barge in while they were busy, so she let them be. She passed by two bathrooms, the men's room, and the women's room. She was still curious, so she entered the men's room.

Snubbot looked at her surroundings. She approached the sink and turned one of the handles. Water came out of the faucet, and this startled Snubbot so badly that she began to back away, only to bump into a stall door. She opened the door and saw a roll of toilet paper. She began to unravel it and was impressed by how long it could get.

"This looks like some kind of banner," Snubbot thought. She then had an idea and stretched it all the way across the room. She did the same with every roll in each stall.

Just then, Principal Luxray came in and was aghast at the state of the area. "What in the world?!"

Snubbot waved at him, cheerfully oblivious. "Hello! I did some redecorating, what do you think?"

"What have you done?!" Principal Luxray shouted. "Look at this mess!"

Snubbot's smile faded. "Huh? What's wrong with it?"

"This isn't for accessorizing, it's toilet paper!" Principal Luxray roared. "Come to my office, now!"

Nervous, Snubbot followed him to his office. Principal Luxray had her sit in a chair next to his desk, and he started up the intercom to make an announcement. "Minun, please come to the office."

Minun was bemused. He hadn't done anything as far as he was aware, but he got out of his seat and went there. When he arrived, a glaring Principal Luxray and a worried-looking Snubbot were waiting for him. When Minun saw Snubbot there, he began to piece it together and it dawned on him that Snubbot had indeed sneaked out, so his expression darkened. "What happened?"

Principal Luxray scowled. "Your science project here covered the entire men's room with toilet paper."

Minun gasped. "Why would you do that?!"

"I didn't know what it was for, honest," Snubbot whimpered.

Principal Luxray crossed his arms. "You said you could teach her things. Didn't you teach her to follow directions?"

Before Minun could say anything, Snubbot spoke up. "Principal Luxray, please don't be mad at him. It's not his fault. He told me not to go anywhere else, but I did it anyway. It was all me."

"Fair point," Principal Luxray admitted. "Minun, you won't lose your blue ribbon, but because you built Snubbot yourself, she's still your responsibility. You'll receive an hour's worth of detention after school."

As they went down the hallway, Minun was silent, but he made his frustration very clear. His eyebrows were furrowed, his forehead was wrinkled, and his mouth was firmly curled downwards. Snubbot was equally unnerved and saddened by it.

"Um, dad?" she asked.

Minun did not respond. He walked to his locker and opened it before pointing to the inside of it. Snubbot entered without a word of protest. As she sat in there, she had that awful feeling you get in your gut when you know you've made a big mistake. She hated this sensation, and it did not help that a scary thought entered her mind; what if he didn't love her anymore? She curled up in a ball and was much too sad to move until Plusle opened the locker door.

"Snubbot, it's time to go home," she said, and then she saw the look on Snubbot's face. "Oh, what's the matter?"

"Oh, auntie Plusle, why didn't I listen to dad?" Snubbot lamented. "What am I gonna do?"

Plusle took her hand. "I have an idea. You should apologize to him."

Snubbot got up. "How can I show how bad I feel?"

"Be sincere," Plusle told her. "Make it clear that you want to make amends. And remember the magic words, 'I'm sorry', they can help a lot."

Snubbot nodded. "Got it."

Later, Minun arrived home. He had a blank stare on his face and his mouth was comparable to a straight line. Snubbot noticed him, but before she could get her words out, Minun made a beeline for his and Plusle's room and closed the door.

She knocked on the door. "Dad? It's me." There was no answer, but she knew she had to say something. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I didn't mean to get you in trouble. I promise I won't do it again. I hope you still love me."

Still, there was only silence. Crestfallen, Snubbot sank to the ground as the color in her eyes became duller. Her gut feeling only worsened, and she had another feeling in her chest, but it wasn't the warm and fuzzy feeling from before, it felt heavier and more negative. Then, the silence was broken by the door creaking open.

"Of course I still love you, Snubbot," Minun said gently. "Nothing can change any of that."

"Can you ever forgive me?" Snubbot asked. She had big, sparkly puppy-dog eyes.

Minun opened his arms. "Mmhmm, everyone makes mistakes."

Heavily relieved, Snubbot took this invitation and glomped him. He tightened his arms around her and scratched her behind the ears. Gone was the heavy feeling in Snubbot's chest, and the warm and fuzzy feeling had returned for her. A grin came to her face.