Everyone sat quietly around the table, with most of them having been awake since the previous night. Although fatigue hung heavily on Harper, the tension of what was to come kept him awake. He and Brycen occupied one side, with Beartic standing just behind them, while Professor Juniper and Bianca sat across the table. Caleb and Claire took up a spot beside the wall, tightly cradling Zorua and Eve, fully intent on holding on to them so as not to lose them again.

  Harper locked eyes with Juniper, who quickly averted her gaze when their eyes met. She had arrived a few minutes earlier while he was in conversation with Brycen. Since returning, she hadn’t uttered a single word, likely waiting for Mr. Stu Deeoh to arrive and kick off the meeting.

  ~Or maybe it’s because of Brycen,~ he thought to himself as he glanced over at the veteran actor, who had been giving a tense glare at the Professor and her assistant the entire time.

  By the looks of things, she and Bianca haven't been told that they knew their secret yet.

  Juniper's eyes settled on Claire and Eve as she closely observed how the ribbons softly entwined around her trainer's arm. He noticed how much she wanted to say something—ask questions, maybe even congratulate Eve on the evolution. She was making the right call in not doing anything, as Harper wanted answers from her first before she did anything else.

  She was supposed to arrive at Pokéstar Studios and properly greet everyone who worked on Sonamu’s Sunrise before watching the test screening. However, because of last night’s chain of events, that never came to happen.

  If he had one thing to be grateful for, it’d be that he had no need to act as cautious as he anticipated around Professor Juniper.

  ~I mean, what’s the point of acting inconspicuously around her when she’d been looking into me this whole time?~

  The doors swung open abruptly, revealing Mr. Stu Deeoh with an out-of-character expression. Taking a seat at the front of the table, he let out a deep sigh and began addressing everyone in the room.

  “I ‘ad ‘oped to start zis meeting in a positive light, but I’m afraid zat due to current circumstances, we must address ze donphan in ze room first,” he murmured, his fingers tightening slightly where they were clasped together, casting a serious glance across the table.

  Brycen crossed his arms as he closed his eyes, exhaling through his nose in thought. “There are multiple that we need to address, but which do you want to start with, Stu?”

  “Well, we can start with why Neo Plasma invaded my studio… again,” the old man growled at the end of his sentence with a clenched fist, unsettling everyone but Brycen and Beartic. “Why did zey break in and attempt to kidnap ‘arper? What was zeir motive?”

  “It is because of two unlucky coincidences that became intertwined with each other,” Brycen responded, holding two fingers up before lowering one of them. “One of the Plasma grunts admitted their scheme to us about their plan to abduct Harper, hoping to gain favor with their boss because of the high regard the Unova Research Team has for him.”

  “What sort of high regard, Brycen?” he asked, turning his head over.

  The veteran actor frowned at Juniper and Bianca, pointing at them with the still-raised finger “That brings us to the second coincidence; The high regard that they placed on Harper to conduct research on him in secret.”

  Bianca looked like she’d just been slapped across the face with a script. Her mouth hung open, eyes darting and scrambling for an answer. Harper could tell she wasn’t ready to be called out in front of everyone like that. Beside her, Juniper didn’t flinch, but Harper saw the way her hands tensed on the table. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. The silence from her was louder than any defense she would have thrown out. Harper felt it in his gut—not anger, not yet. Just that cold, hollow confirmation that they’d been studying him behind his back.

  And the worst part?

  They weren’t denying it.

  Meanwhile, Zorua’s head dropped as he pressed himself tighter against Eve. The sylveon didn’t ask questions, as she wrapped her feelers around him instead, staring with protective confusion. Caleb’s mouth opened, then closed again. He looked like he wanted to ask why but didn’t even know where to start. Claire leaned forward in her seat, her voice barely above a whisper.

  “Wait… they were doing that behind our backs?” Her eyes flicked to Bianca, hurt plain as day.

  “You were researching Mr. Harper the whole time?” Caleb turned over as well like he was waiting for her to say it wasn't true. But she didn't. No one did.

  Harper could see it hit them all at once—they weren’t just left out.

  They were never meant to know at all.

  Brycen approached the side of Harper's seat, slowly and mildly tapping on the table. This simple and unremarkable action sounded like the banging of a judge's gavel in an empty courtroom, echoing louder the longer he continued. After what felt like an hour, Bianca broke the silence.

  “H-How long did you know?” she stammered, her shoulders drawn up and her eyes darting between Brycen and the others.

  “Since the day of the pitch,” he immediately responded, without so much as lifting his gaze.

  Bianca flinched, receding into her seat further than what Harper thought was possible.

  Mr. Stu Deeoh leaned forward, folding his hands tightly atop the table. “Why did you want to research ‘arper?”

  Juniper nervously adjusted the hem of her coat and glanced toward Harper with shame. “We heard of Harper’s proficiency in writing from Cheren. It’s a skill that no other pokémon has come close to having. We wanted to see what made him so adept in an unusual setting like a film studio. If we learned what made Harper learn Unovan, it would revolutionize linguistics as we know it today.”

  “A-Also—!” Bianca blurted out, her hands clasped tightly in front of her with worry. “—After what you told me about what triggered Harper’s panic attacks, we… we wanted to make sure that we could help him recover in any way possible…”

  “And that is why I allowed you to continue,” Brycen snapped back, his hands pressed flat against the table as he leaned forward. “I hoped that somehow, I would be able to get an answer as to how to help Harper if I left you two alone. However, with what has occurred last night, it has become one of the most regrettable mistakes I have made in my life.”

  Brycen narrowed his eyes and slowly exhaled through his nose, his gaze fixed coldly on the table before lifting back to them.

  “The grunts constructed a lie that Harper was being studied by the Unovan Research Team in order to impress their top leader. The coincidence had to align with the fact that you two were indeed doing what they fabricated. If those grunts succeeded in kidnapping Harper, what would have happened to him? What would happen to you?” he jabbed at the two, his hand slicing through the air with each question.

  “T-Team Neo Plasma attempting to kidnap Harper is related to us?” Bianca whispered, her head lowering as she shrunk under the weight of his words. “N-No… W-We didn’t mean to…”

  Again, the conference room fell into silence, now more stressful than ever. Harper stared down at his paws, feeling the air around him tighten like a string pulled too far. No one dared to move. Even the sound of someone breathing too loudly might’ve shattered what little was left of the room’s balance.

  “C-Can I go outside?” Zorua shakily spoke up, pointing a trembling paw at the door. “I… I don’t—”

  "—Of course, we can, let's have the adults handle this," Beartic calmly nodded, soothing the disguised fox. "We'll come back later, so let's wait outside for now."

  The door clicked shut behind them, and they all sat together on the seats lining the hallway, unsure of how to react.

  “Mr. Harper?” Caleb’s voice was small, almost unsure.

  Harper turned to the young boy, his ears twitching slightly as he gave a gentle nod, letting Caleb know he was listening.

  "Claire and I… we didn't know about what Professor Juniper and Ms. Neri were doing, honest," His hands fidgeted at his sides, with his twin sister nodding along.

  “I thought this was supposed to help us be better trainers… Were they lying the whole time?” her voice softly quavered.

  Harper quickly shook his head as he whipped his whiteboard to his front. His marker squeaked against the surface as he wrote, pausing the twins’ growing anxiety.

  *Their intentions weren’t in the right place, but you still grew as trainers.* Harper read aloud what he wrote. *Caleb’s grown as a clever strategist and Claire’s learned a lot to be a great nurse.*

  *You’ve even become great voice actors in such a short time. I’ve never seen such growth before.*

  He wasn’t lying to make them feel better, he really meant it. From the child actors and voice talents he’d seen and heard in his years of working in Hollywood, it was hard to find any who truly appreciated the experience they gathered during production. Through the uncertainty and nervousness wracking the twins’ heads, his assuring words soothed them enough to calm down.

  Harper then turned to the two young pokémon. "The same goes for both of you as well. You've become a better version of yourselves, literally, in a way," he softly smiled at Eve, who returned one back. "You also helped me change as well, and now I feel more ready than ever to tell my own truth."

  Eve’s ribbons fluttered gently as she tilted her head, eyes soft with appreciation. Zorua glanced up at Harper, his ears twitching again not out of stricken nerves, but of something closer to relief. He gave a shy nod, his tail flicking once behind him.

  “Well said, kid,” Beartic grunted with a nod, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his muzzle. “Well said…”

  Zorua lowered his head for a moment, his ears twitching nervously before he looked up at Harper with wide, uncertain eyes. He took a slow step forward, leaning slightly into Eve’s side for comfort.

  “Mr. Harper, I think… I think I’m ready,” he whispered. Eve stood next to the Dark-type, resting her head on top of his. “I don’t want to keep everyone waiting anymore…”

  “Wait, what are you talking about?” Beartic tilted his head. “Is there something else that I don’t know?”

  “There’s a reason why I feel ready to tell you and Brycen about myself at Dragonspiral Tower,” Harper responded. “Zoru— Zorro and I are pretty similar…”

  The polar bear scrunched his face with a low hum from his chest before sighing. “I won’t question it. I’m sure that you’ve planned this in some way.”

  He took a few steps back to the conference room and with a raised ear, he listened in to the ongoing conversation inside. A few moments later, the last muffled voice stopped talking, and Beartic waved his paw to the rest of them.

  “They’re done, let’s head back in.”

  The door swung open with a creak as Harper stepped inside, closely followed by Zorua. Eve walked closely behind Caleb and Claire, seemingly anchoring the twins together. Beartic assumed his position next to Brycen, who stood near the far wall, his arms tucked into his sleeves. Bianca and Juniper remained seated, their expressions a mix of relief and regret. As everyone settled back into their seats, Brycen summarized what they had discussed in private.

  "Professor Juniper has agreed to delete everything she has on you. Thankfully, only she and Bianca have access to the data," he stated firmly, his eyes scanning the room as he addressed both Harper and the others. "The Unovan Research Team's partnership with Pokéstar Studios will still continue, at least until Sonamu’s Sunrise is released, but they are not allowed to intrude on privacy again. I will make sure of it.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t ‘ave revealed our partnership early…” Mr. Stu Deeoh mumbled to himself, shaking his head. “Zose grunts took action because of zat…”

  Harper glanced down at Zorua, who gave a small nod, paws trembling just slightly as he stepped forward. Together, they walked to the front of the room. Harper stopped just short of the center, letting Zorua take that final step on his own. All eyes turned toward them.

  “Are you ready, Zorua?” Harper gently asked.

  “I am,” he answered, giving a single nod.

  Nodding in return, Harper started writing carefully, making sure each word was easy to read in the first of many sentences he would need to fully clarify everything.

  *Before anything else, there’s something we want to explain,* Harper read aloud as well.

  “Explain what?” Caleb questioned, his brow furrowing.

  *Why Zorro ran off so suddenly, and why Eve came back evolved.*

  With a quavering breath, Zorua unleashed a dense black fog around him as his form shifted, surprising everyone in the room. When the haze dissipated, his true form sat where the poochyena was a moment ago. Caleb’s jaw dropped, with his eyes shaking in a frenzy with Claire raising her hand to her mouth in shock. Juniper and Bianca’s eyes went back and forth between Harper and Zorua in disbelief. Beartic let out a low, rumbling exhale through his nose as even Brycen’s expression changed to one of disbelief at the reveal with his eyebrows raised.

  *I’ll do my best to explain, but please don’t hold anything against Zorua.*

  Write. Erase. Write. Erase. This was the most he had to write in one sitting but to tell the entire story of what happened outside of everyone else's perspectives, this was something that had to be done. He didn't even stop when his marker dried out, he just reached over, grabbed another from a nearby pen holder, and kept going without missing a beat. His paw ached. His writing wasn't as neat as he hoped, but none of that mattered. Every word he scribbled carried the weight of everything Zorua hadn't been able to say, everything Eve had silently endured, and everything that had built up between all of them since the night before. This wasn't just explaining—it was unloading. Untangling. Making sure the truth finally had a voice, even if it came in marker ink.

  Harper kept writing, but his eyes flicked toward Caleb more than once. Of everyone in the room, he knew the news would hit the young boy the hardest. Caleb had placed so much trust and love into Zorro, and he now learned that he’d bonded with a pokémon who he didn’t think he was.

  His paw hesitated mid-sentence. Would Caleb feel betrayed? Would he blame Zorua? Worse, would he blame him for keeping the truth quiet until now? The thought dug at him, but he pushed it down and kept writing. Caleb deserved honesty, no matter how much it might hurt.

  For everyone else’s reaction, they were all shocked with each instance of the story he revealed. From how Zorro was kidnapped to how Eve evolved to help the distressed Zorua, they thankfully kept quiet through it all, but Harper knew of all the questions he needed to help answer when he finished.

  With the final sentence, Harper concluded the long explanation, answering everyone’s concerns and opening up new ones.

  *A few minutes ago, Zorro found the courage to want to reveal the truth now.*

  *That is everything that happened from then up till now.*

  He glanced at Caleb one more time, more worried than ever about how he'd react. Zorua looked just as worried, unable to lift his head up.

  “So… you really weren’t Zorro this entire time?” Caleb eventually asked, rising from his seat.

  “N-No…” Zorua faltered, tears beginning to form under his eyes. “I-I’m sorry f-for lying this entire time…”

  “And Team Plasma stole him? Just like that?” he clenched his fists, failing to stop them from trembling.

  “Y-Yes, a— an— and I couldn’t stop them…” Zorua slumped onto the floor, his paws weighing his head down. “If we hadn’t played that day— If I wasn’t so weak— I-I could’ve done something!”

  Watching the crying fox wallow in grief, Caleb unfurled his clenched fists and knelt down, picking Zorua up and holding him in his arms.

  “I… I’m mad right now… really mad,” he admitted, his voice low. “Not at you for pretending to be Zorro, but at Team Plasma. This is all a hundred percent their fault, not yours.”

  Caleb reached for his side and grabbed Zorro’s pokéball, holding it in one hand.

  “I know what I want to do now: I want to go and find Zorro and beat those Team Plasma bad guys for stealing him. Do you want to help me find them?”

  Harper watched as Zorua stared up at Caleb, eyes wide, like he hadn’t even considered the possibility that someone might still want him around. The little fox had spent the last few minutes bracing for rejection, but now? That armor was cracking.

  Zorua’s breath hitched, his paws trembled, and then, he burst into a messy nod.

  “Y-Yes…!” he cried, voice shaking as much as his body. “I-I want to help! I want to find him, too!”

  Zorua buried his face into Caleb’s shirt, still crying, but different from earlier. The cries of helplessness Harper heard back at the docks were instead replaced with those of relief, joy, and hope.

  Harper let out a slow breath, the tightness in his chest loosening just slightly as he watched Caleb hold Zorua close. Beartic followed along, giving him a reassuring grin as Brycen gave a single pat on the head.

  “I have never expected a development such as this to have happened in the middle of a production,” the veteran actor remarked as a faint smile crossed his face. “You did a fine job helping them, Harper.”

  As Harper accepted the praise from Brycen and Beartic, he noticed how Professor Juniper’s expression had changed from emotional to curious. Harper felt the shift as it happened, and then, sure enough, Juniper spoke.

  “Caleb brings up a good point, and I have to ask,” she said, slowly and carefully. “If Zorua has been impersonating Zorro this whole time… then how did the pokéball still work?”

  Harper glanced over at him, but Zorua didn’t look away. Still in Caleb’s embrace, his tail twitched once as he steeled himself to respond.

  “I didn’t steal his spot…” he answered quietly. “All I cared about was Caleb not being sad for him being gone, so I did my best to pretend to be Zorro. I didn’t think about his pokéball at the time because I wanted to be by Caleb’s side…”

  The young boy shifted in place, eyes cast downward as he rubbed Zorua’s back. “I didn’t return him to the ball right away,” he admitted. “After Zorro vanished, I didn’t want him out of my sight again. I thought if I kept him close, he wouldn't get lost. I didn’t use his pokéball, not until I wanted to become a trainer.”

  “But you still had to use his pokéball eventually,” Professor Juniper called out the missing detail. “Zorua shouldn’t have synced with Zorro’s pokéball unle—”

  She paused, then slowly sat back, realization creeping across her face.

  “…Unless your Illusion ability goes far deeper than we’ve ever recorded.”

  Bianca blinked. “You mean it wasn’t just copying how Zorro looked?”

  Juniper nodded slowly. “Zorua didn’t just replicate Zorro’s appearance with his illusions. If he mimicked Zorro down to posture, voice, behavior, type energy, and a growing bond with Caleb… it’s possible the illusion tricked the recognition system. Fully.”

  “But no one’s ever documented that happening before,” Bianca added. “Zoruas are rare even in Unova, and we’ve never seen Illusion work like this before. A pokémon’s ability can’t interfere with pokéball functionality… right?”

  Zorua’s ears twitched nervously. “I didn’t mean to trick it. I just… didn’t want them to know he was gone.”

  “Zorua didn’t override the system,” she came to a conclusion. “He tricked it completely out of protection for Caleb. That level of illusion is basically unheard of…”

  As the weight of Juniper’s words settled into the room, no one spoke for a moment, with a contemplative silence hanging over everyone. Zorua’s ears slowly lifted, no longer folded back in fear.

  But then her gaze drifted sideways toward the pale pink pokémon sitting quietly beside Claire.

  “Still… there’s another part of this that doesn’t make sense to me,” she murmured, narrowing her eyes slightly. “This is the first case that I’ve ever seen an eevee evolve into a sylveon in Unova. From what Professor Sycamore theorized, they evolve due to two main factors, but I don’t see any answer for one of them…”

  “What’s the first reason, Professor?” Claire asked.

  “Eevees need a very close and emotional bond,” she answered, still deep in thought. “The second factor, however, is that they must learn a Fairy-type move, but from the progress updates that Bianca’s given me, nothing matches.”

  Harper paused.

  He knew that. He remembered reading it somewhere online, albeit vaguely. From all the moves that eevee could naturally learn, he only recalled one of them that was a Fairy-type; Baby-Doll Eyes.

  But that brought up another question. When did Eve learn it? She hadn’t trained in moves or combat like how Zorua did during their spars, and Harper was drawing a blank.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Baby-Doll Eyes weakened the opponent pokémon’s attack by one level, but nowhere at any point in time did Eve have to use something like tha—

  ~Wait… Back then…~

  He did train with Eve once, but it wasn’t in a battle. She wanted to learn how to act better, and he helped her the best he could. She followed his advice well, a bit too well, in fact, because he never had such a visceral and physical reaction to that one stare she gave to him.

  “Something the matter?” Beartic asked, tilting his head as he leaned slightly closer. His paw hovered just above Harper’s shoulder, unsure whether to nudge him or wait.

  “I… I think I know how Eve evolved,” Harper responded, catching the attention of everyone in the room before he began writing his answer.

  *I likely taught Eve Baby-Doll Eyes by accident.*

  “‘Baby-Doll Eyes?’” Claire turned to Juniper. “What move is that?”

  “It’s a Fairy-type move, one that’s been documented recently in Kalos,” she replied, folding her hands thoughtfully as her gaze settled on Harper. “How did you teach it?”

  *All I did was teach Eve how to be better with facial expressions.*

  “That’s… it?” Bianca breathed out. “Did you do anything else?”

  Harper shook his head as he wiped his writing with his arm, placing his marker down. He looked across the table. Claire was gently stroking Eve's fur, whispering something only the sylveon could hear. Caleb hadn't let go of Zorua once, and the Dark-type had finally stopped shaking, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion more than fear. Juniper leaned back in her seat, her posture less rigid now like something had finally uncoiled inside her.

  At the far end of the room, Mr. Stu Deeoh finally leaned back, rubbing his temple with two fingers before muttering something under his breath in Kalosian. Harper didn’t catch it, but from the tone, he was just tired.

  “I think we should end ze meeting now,” he announced, standing up from his seat with a stretch of his back. “Ze kids have been up all night and need some sleep. I believe all of you are tired as well.”

  “Y-Yes, I didn’t realize until now,” Bianca agreed as she rubbed her eyes. “Maybe we can continue this discussion another time?”

  “Only for anything related to the production of Sonamu’s Sunrise,” Brycen replied firmly, stepping aside to let the others pass. “There will be no further talk of Zorua, Eve, or Harper. They have already experienced enough stress today as it is.”

  “O-Of course,” she stammered, nodding her head down.

  “Well, I shall take my leave now,” Mr. Stu Deeoh declared, adjusting his coat with a sharp tug as he turned toward the door. “I want to give my statement to Virbank City’s authorities about Neo Plasma.”

  When the studio owner left the room, Bianca silently guided the twins and their pokémon out of the room, with Juniper following behind them.

  “Professor, may I have a quick word with you?” Brycen suddenly interjected, stepping away from the wall with a subtle tilt of his head. “Just the two of us, it won’t take long.”

  “That’s our cue to leave,” Beartic picked Harper up and placed him on his shoulder. “Let’s get you some sleep, you still haven’t fully recovered yet.”

  “But what about Bry—”

  “He’ll be with us soon,” the polar bear affirmed with a smile. “Don’t worry, he’s just got one final thing to say to the Professor.”

  “How do you know that? Brycen didn’t say anything to you when we were in there.”

  “Call it intuition,” He faintly shrugged, his gaze lingering on the closed door behind them before turning back and walking down the hall. “If Juniper could understand me, I would probably ask the same from her.”

  Harper didn’t ask another question and instead leaned forward on Beartic’s head, resting his body. Mr. Stu Deeoh was right. Now that he had the time to take a breather, the fatigue that he had been putting off to the side rushed forward in an instant. Feeling safe under the Ice-type’s presence, Harper allowed himself to sleep.

  Brycen handled everything well, so he trusted him with the rest.

  Juniper watched as Brycen methodically sat directly across from her. With the two of them being the only ones in the room, she had no idea what the retired Gym Leader was about to say to her.

  Earlier, the demands that he requested were simple, but the way he did so… unnerved her.

  She almost feared what he was about to say now.

  “Thank you for letting me speak with you in private, Professor,” he began calmly as he met her gaze with his icy gaze. “While I understand that you hold one of the highest authorities in Unova as the region’s Pokémon Professor, I would like to speak with you without that in mind. I want to talk to you not as a retired Gym Leader to a Professor, but simply as people. May I have that privilege?”

  “…Yes, you may,” she accepted, nodding slowly.

  With a deep breath, Brycen continued, dropping his professional tone.

  “Earlier, I told you that Harper is not a Pokémon to be poked and prodded just because he is literate,” he spoke plainly, his gaze unwavering. “Because he has gone through an unrecognizable amount of trauma, a young Riolu like him should not carry the burden of knowing that he’s being observed at all times.”

  “But why does Harper want to continue his career as an actor?” Juniper asked, finding the courage she failed to gather the first time he told her. “Being an actor would only increase his presence.”

  “There is a stark contrast between fame in filmmaking and fame in Pokémon research. I have found his drive to pursue cinematographic arts to be remarkable, and I will help him in that endeavor.”

  “Even… at the cost of exposing himself to people like Team Neo Plasma?”

  Brycen rose from his seat, tracing his fingers along the edges of the conference table as he walked around. “If there were any other way to keep Harper safe from outside threats, I would jump at the chance. However, that would go against his dream of being an actor, which he has chosen over safety. I recognize the immense talent we have here at Pokéstar Studios, but after yesterday's incident, it pales in comparison to Harper's true value.”

  He unlatched Harper’s pokéball from his waist and held it up with a determined look in his eyes. “My goal was to help him become a great actor, but it has changed. Now, my goal is to protect him with everything I can, and the first step is to ensure that he never becomes famous for being ‘that one pokémon that can write’ in the eyes of any undesirable figures,” he attached the pokéball back before facing her with a wave of his hand. “I’m not labeling you as one of them, but let me offer you some advice anyway, Aurea.”

  Brycen lowered his chin slightly, his expression shadowed as his next words dropped like a Rock Tomb.

  “Never do something like this again.”

  It was the darkest voice Juniper had ever heard from him.

  Cold.

  Absolute.

  All she could do was give a single nod.

  Satisfied with her answer, Brycen gave a warm, yet eerie smile.

  “Thank you, Professor. I trust that you can keep your promise,” The piercing bitterness in his voice was now gone, replaced with a casual tone. “I will take my leave now, I don’t want to be apart from Harper and Beartic any more than I have to be today. Bianca and the twins must be waiting for you as well.”

  “...Yes, we should go.”

  The two left the conference room and eventually the building, splitting off in opposite directions at a backlot intersection. As she made her way to Bianca and the twins, she rolled her sleeve up, opening up her contacts on her Xtransciever. Selecting one of the other researchers on her team, she sighed as she hit the call button. A few seconds later, Alya picked up.

  “Hello? Ayla of the Unovan Research Team speaking,” a voice crackled from her wrist. “Is that you, Professor?”

  “Hello Ayla,” Juniper greeted. “I have a request to make, one that I hope you can keep private.”

  “Um… sure? What is it?”

  “Do you know the folder in our database? The one that Bianca and I have been working on?”

  “I do, but isn’t that the research you've been meaning to show us when it was finished?”

  “It is, and I want you to delete it. All of it.”

  “W-What?” Ayla sputtered. “But the two of you have been working on it for so long! I was wondering what it was, but you’re going to delete it?”

  “Our data for the research is… flawed,” Juniper hesitated for a moment, attempting to keep it vague. “It’s been skewed since the very beginning, so it’s better to just delete it entirely.”

  “Not a single bit of it is useful? If it’s data that was collected from you and Bianca, I’m sure that at least a piece is salvagabl—”

  “—Ayla, Please?” she sighed.

  “I— Sorry, Professor. I’ll get to it immediately,” Ayla reluctantly complied before the call ended with a buzz and a beep.

  Juniper lowered her arm slowly, the Xtransceiver’s screen fading to black. For a long moment, she stood still, her hand hovering near her sleeve like she wasn’t sure what to do next.

  The folder was gone. The research, the notes, the sleepless nights spent analyzing what Harper could be—it was over. All of it.

  She was likely never going to find the secret behind the riolu’s literacy, but maybe it was for the better. Now that Caleb had a zorua and Eve had a sylveon, it was better to move on to scientific research with a more definite conclusion that she could find.

  ~Just keep moving forward…~ Juniper thought to herself. ~We just need to keep moving forward…~

  Once the storm finally passed, post-production resumed as planned. The team finally got to sit down and watch the test screening for initial reactions. Most of the feedback was positive, and the only criticisms were out of the actors’ and voice actors’ hands, mostly pointing to visual effects and pacing. If there had been any complaints about how Zorua or Eve performed, reshoots would’ve become a real issue.

  With Eve having evolved into a Sylveon, the studio’s biggest hurdle became how to approach marketing. Promotional shoots had been scheduled to begin right after the test screening, with posters, trailers, and social media teasers ready to go. However, Eve’s unexpected evolution caused a whole new set of issues. Most of the marketing material—posters, banners, and thumbnails—had been planned and centered around her being an eevee. Now that she was a sylveon, all of it looked out of sync.

  Feeling responsible for the chaos, Zorua volunteered to help. No matter how many times Harper reassured him it wasn’t his fault, the Dark-type still insisted on doing his part. After coming clean to the rest of the crew about who he really was, Zorua began training to create a new illusion: Eve in her original Eevee form. He had only ever used one illusion for years, so it took time to adapt.

  Caleb helped Zorua the best he could with training his illusions. There wasn't a single amount of blame that the young boy placed on the fox. Caleb told Harper during their training that he and Zorua were going to search for Zorro as soon as Sonamu’s Sunrise was finished. The two were dead set on their new goal, and Claire and Eve agreed to help along, not minding their delay in becoming future Lab Trainers.

  Eventually, Zorua got the hang of imitating Eve's pre-evolved form, except for the eyes. The studio's photographers were able to take separate shots of Zorua and his illusion of 'Eevee,' and then splice them together for convincing promotional images with a bit of image editing.

  With that handled, Harper spent the rest of his time recovering. Though his injuries had already healed from the Neo Plasma attack and Zorua's earlier mishap, Brycen and Beartic instructed him to not do any more training or spars. He didn't argue back, knowing that no amount of doing so would convince them otherwise. Besides, with all that extra time he had now, Harper turned to films as a source of entertainment.

  He started watching everything he could get his hands on. From older Pokémon films he had been promising himself to see like Enter the Beartic to blatant knockoffs like That Darn Meowth! and Yamask of the Opera, it turned into the strangest movie marathon he'd ever done. Unlike his movie marathons of the past where he watched films for research or to understand filmography, this one was to see what the average movie in the Pokémon world was like. It became stranger once Mr. Stu Deeoh found out what Harper was up to and offered him a spare theater room at Pokéstar to use whenever he wanted.

  As much as he loved the upgrade from a television to a theater screen, it was lonely to watch movies all alone in such a big space. Also, with how small he was to barely take up one of the many seats himself, it didn’t help to make that size difference feel any better.

  Soon enough, Beartic, the twins, and their pokémon began tagging along. Sometimes it was just to keep Harper company, other times it was because the movie he picked genuinely intrigued them. Meanwhile, Bianca and Professor Juniper kept their distance from him, and honestly, he somewhat preferred it that way. He only saw them every now and then when saying goodbye to the twins, Zorua, and Eve for the day. Any longer with them would’ve made things awkward.

  Despite that, he never minded the extra company; After all, movies were meant to be watched with other people.

  One of the films that Harper decided to watch together had a name eerily close to one from his world: The Maltese Braviary. Like many of the pokémon adaptations he'd seen earlier, the plot and cinematography were nearly identical to its Earth counterpart, only with pokémon tossed into the scenes. It bugged him a little that the pokémon were barely involved in the story—mostly background or filler—but considering it was made during the black-and-white film era, he decided to let it slide.

  Harper never realized it, but up until now, movies always leaned towards two sides and never had a middle ground. They either involved pokémon in battle-heavy plots or never used them further than background or featured extras in other stories.

  As he had already watched The Maltese Falcon before, the story beats were all familiar to him with the typical noir setup. There was the usual mysterious object, double-crossing clients, and a hard-boiled lead caught in a web of lies. What made this version different, however, wasn't the Braviary in the title, or the pokémon standing silently in the background. It was Zorua.

  From the first scene, the little fox sat transfixed on his trainer's lap. He rarely blinked and didn’t even react to the occasional gasp or laugh from Claire and Caleb. His ears tilted forward, his eyes reflecting the flickering grayscale light, fully caught in the story. Harper had never seen him so focused. Not even during sparring or illusion training. It amused him to see that the movie had its claws in Zorua.

  Zorua suddenly sprung forward, resting his front paws on Harper's armrest beside him.

  "C-Can I ask something weird?" he nervously whispered, his ears twitching as he avoided Harper's gaze.

  Harper sat up a bit straighter and nodded.

  “I… I want a name. A real one. People called me ‘Zorro’ all the time and now they call me ‘Zorua’. I don't want to be ‘Zorua’ anymore either.”

  “Mr. Harper, what’s Zorua asking for?” Caleb asked, glancing between the two with a puzzled look.

  He’s asking for a name.

  When the young boy read the answer out loud, everyone quieted at once.

  “You sure?” Caleb soon asked.

  Zorua nodded. “I don’t want to lie about who I am anymore. I want to be someone real. I want to be me.”

  After translating the Dark-type’s response to the rest, Caleb sat a while in thought. A moment later, he turned to Harper with a smile.

  “Mr. Harper, could you give him a name for me?” he asked warmly, resting a hand on Zorua’s back. “You helped him tell the truth, so I wanna let you choose.”

  While Harper was willing to accept, the topic of picking a name brought up a question he never asked up till now.

  *Just want to ask, but how did you come up with Zorro’s name?*

  “We used to have a picture book about a thief named Zorro,” Caleb briefly turned to Claire, who nodded back. “Because all poochyena have black around their eyes like a mask, I named him that way.”

  Harper stared down at an angle, tapping his paw on the velvet seat. ~I mean… the name does work for Zorua, but it's for Zorro himself. What’s a good name for him…?~

  His first thought was of the movie they had just watched. Using a name of the characters felt too specific, and they didn't really sound well as a name for a pokémon. He went broader, finding the right term to use that would work for Zorua’s name.

  ~The Maltese Fal— Braviary’s a mystery detective film… mystery… no… that's way too broad and dumb—~

  A split second later, Harper found the perfect answer, finding the balance between too broad and too specific. Grabbing his whiteboard, he wrote down his answer and showed everyone.

  “What do you think of ‘Noir’?”

  “Noir?” Zorua tilted his head as the others watched with intrigue. “What does that mean?”

  “It’s a genre that categorizes films to be dark and stylized like what we just watched,” Harper explained, waving at the giant screen in front of them. “They usually have morally ambiguous heroes and themes of detective work and hiding true intentions from others. In its most literal definition, ‘Film Noir’ means dark film in Fre— Kalosian.”

  After explaining it again this time to the twins and Brycen, they all perked up positively to the new name.

  “A fitting name for Zorua,” Brycen commented, glancing over at the fox with a faint smile. “It suits his typing as well.”

  “Yeah! That’s a great name!” Claire chimed in, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

  The pokémon and trainer locked eyes with one another. “I like the name as well, but do you like it?”

  Zorua got closer to Caleb’s face, giving a single lick before resting his head on the boy’s shoulder, nodding once.

  “I love it.”

  Caleb wiped his cheek before giving a hug to the fox. “Heh. Thanks, Noir.”

  Seeing Noir accept his name from the trainer he felt betrayed was the final confirmation he needed that he found his place. When the Dark-type looked over at Harper, he gave him a genuine smile, one like their time at the docks.

  It eased Harper that Noir finally found closure for his true identity because it meant that he would feel the same when the time came for him to do the same.

  The sky over Virbank City’s harbor was still a pale gray, thick with the usual fog rolling over. Commuters and cargo crew were scarce, but that was the point. Everyone had agreed to meet at the port before sunrise to avoid the public eye. After everything that had happened at Pokéstar Studios, no one wanted to risk being seen.

  Now that the show was nearly completed, Juniper decided that this was the right moment for them to leave. Now that Caleb and Claire's role in Pokéstar was over, they wanted to return home to Nuvema. Brycen also decided that it was the right time to take their break after hearing of her plans. He had explained to Mr. Stu Deeoh ahead of time their extended leave, so everything went along smoothly.

  Harper sat beside Beartic and Brycen on a bench, waiting for their boat to arrive. He glanced again at Brycen's outfit, feeling a bit strange seeing him in something so different. He had only ever known the veteran actor in his signature blue kimono or in costume for a film. Harper never thought that he would see Brycen with a hoodie, jeans, and sneakers of all things in his entire second life. How he had managed to overlook them in the wardrobe filled with identical kimonos, he didn’t know.

  Despite the oddity of it all, Harper couldn't deny it.

  It somehow… worked.

  “Is something the matter, Harper?” Brycen asked, noticing his lingering gaze and the way his ears flicked uncertainly.

  “Everything’s alright. It’s just your…” He waved around his clothing “I— It’s just— I’m not used to it.”

  On top of taking a step further to hide his identity with a scarf, he also packed his whiteboard away with Brycen’s belongings. Even though communication with other people would be tough without it, he wasn’t going to reveal his writing skills to the rest of the world so carefree.

  “Don’t worry, kid. It freaks me out just as much as you,” Beartic reassured with a grin, patting his head with a pretend shiver. “I’ve been with him years longer than you, and it still looks weird to me.”

  “Are you two talking about my attire?” Brycen raised an eyebrow at the polar bear, then shifted his attention to Harper. “I wear this in public when I prefer to have privacy and to hide from prying eyes.”

  He didn’t say anything else after that, instead folding his arms again as he looked out over the water.

  Brycen wasn’t the only one with a wardrobe change, as Harper also had something to wear when out in public. Despite how he had his usual black makeup on to hide his scar, he also wore a loose scarf around his neck as an extra precaution. If he was going to travel around Unova, he needed to hide the most revealing part of his identity from the public.

  Looking up from his scarf, Harper followed Brycen’s line of sight, watching as the nearby Juniper shifted her hands inside her lab pockets as if holding on to something.

  “Caleb, Claire,” she called out loud enough for them to hear. “May I talk with you for a moment?”

  The twins, curious about what she wanted, approached her with their pokémon at their side.

  “What’s the matter, Professor?”

  “Nothing’s the matter, Caleb. I only wanted to ask the both of you if you remembered the time you wanted to delay becoming Lab Trainers?”

  The two of them briefly glanced at each other before answering Juniper with a slow and unsure nod.

  “The reason why I’m bringing this up is because I made my final decision on it,” she reached into her coat pocket and fished out two rectangular devices, one gray and one pink. “I’m declining your declination.”

  She handed the pokédexes over to the stunned twins, who ogled at the new pieces of tech and the professor back and forth with gaped mouths.

  “P-Professor Juniper!”

  “But we said—”

  “I’m giving these because you two deserve them,” she interrupted, offering a small smile as she watched their astonished expressions. “If you want to travel around Unova in order to find Zorro, do so as the Lab Trainers of the Unovan Research Team. You may start your journey whenever you wish to do so.”

  Caleb and Claire stared at each other, their pokémon, and at each other again before cheering loudly. As they celebrated, they roped Bianca into their little party, holding her hands and spinning in circles.

  “They were so stoic when they decided they didn’t want to be Lab Trainers,” Juniper sighed with amusement. “They’re young, so they’re quick to change their minds.”

  "You also gave the Pokédexes to them to study Zoruas and Sylveons as well, right?" Brycen coldly remarked as he stood beside her, speaking quietly enough so the children didn't hear. "I noticed that you left that part out…"

  “I-I planned to explain it to them in detail later,” Juniper quickly replied, her voice slightly catching in her throat.

  Brycen tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. “Yes, of course. I know you won’t forget to inform them.”

  Juniper stood silently, unable to respond as Brycen crossed his arms, staring somewhere else now that their conversation was over. Gazing over to the shores, she clapped her hands together once as she made out two boats in the foggy distance.

  “O-Oh, it seems that our boats are almost here,” she remarked, and without another word, the professor left, her footsteps dodging the puddles on the concrete as she made her way down the dock.

  Harper took notice of Juniper and the twins greeting Bianca goodbye. She wasn’t planning on returning to Nuvema Town yet, instead choosing to visit Aspertia City first for unexplained reasons. After finishing her conversation, the assistant professor slowly approached the three, hesitant to speak up.

  “I… I guess this is goodbye…” Bianca whispered, forcing a small smile as her fingers fidgeted at the hem of her sleeve.

  “Indeed so,” Brycen stood up from his seat, offering a handshake. “Goodbye, Bianca. I appreciate your help throughout the show’s production.”

  “Y-Yes, thank you as well…”

  After Bianca awkwardly returned a handshake back, she crouched down in front of Harper, her hands on her legs pinned together.

  “Harper, I…” she trailed off, unable to look at him in the face. “I’m… sorry for everything. Even though we deleted all the data on you, it still hasn’t made things feel any less better.”

  Bianca then turned her head to the twins, who were talking with each other and their pokémon by the edge of the dock, playfully watching the wingulls in the distance.

  “I also want to thank you for helping out Caleb and Claire for everything, Noir and Eve as well. Ever since we arrived, they’ve changed and grown so much for the better. Thank you for everything. I wish I could’ve done better for you—” she shook her head and glanced at the three of them. “—for you all.”

  With a final bow, she greeted them goodbye and left, taking a turn around a building and disappearing from their line of sight.

  Harper wished the circumstances of their farewell were better, as even though she had an ulterior motive throughout their time together, he still enjoyed the time he spent with her and the group. He saw that she was capable of being compassionate with how much the twins loved her, but the lingering fact of that secret attempt to research him continued to cling to his head.

  He forgave her, sure, but it was going to be hard to talk with her the next time they ever met, if at all.

  Sometime later, he noticed that two boats were now docked at the far end of the pier. Juniper was speaking with the captain of one of the boats, so the other one must've been theirs. Taking a closer look, he realized that the other captain was a familiar face, one he had seen long ago.

  “Hey Beartic, isn’t that…?” Harper pointed at the approaching figure.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” the polar bear muttered with a chuckle, tilting his head for a better look. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen him, but I’m not surprised that he’s our ship’s captain.”

  "Hello!" Liam greeted the three, taking off his captain's hat and placing it on his chest. "My name's Liam O'Connor and I'll be the one taking you to Castelia Cit— Say…" he rubbed his chin as he squinted, discerning Brycen. "Haven't I seen you all somewhere before?"

  “We were colleagues in Pokéstar Studio when we were filming Riolu-Man,” Brycen answered.

  “Brycen?!” Liam gasped, straightening with wide eyes. “Oh! Beartic! And the riolu! I should’ve known sooner! I hardly recognized you without your— what you usually wear!”

  “So I’ve heard,” he grunted, eyeing Beartic and Harper before turning to Liam. “So, how have you been?”

  “I’m doing well! I’m still waiting for my opportunity to return to Pokéstar one day, but as of now, it’s not the right time to do so. Roxie’s still angry about last time…” he awkwardly chuckled, readjusting his hat and coat.

  After a moment of silence, he gave a casual salute with a wave of his hand from his temple.

  “A-Anyways, we can continue our discussion on our ride to Castelia. I’ll get the boat ready, so now’s the best time to say your goodbyes to your friends over there.”

  The cheery captain left for the boat as the twins came over with Juniper behind them. As Brycen began to talk with them, Harper and Beartic said their goodbyes to Noir and Eve.

  “I’m off to find Zorro, Mr. Harper. I… I never thought that it’d be like this, but I’m ready,” Noir declared as bravely as he could, though Harper heard a slight tremble in his voice.

  “You'll find him,” Harper assured the fox, holding a fist out. “Don't stop looking, no matter what. You have Caleb, Claire, and Eve to help you, so never forget the help you can get around you.”

  Noir raised his paw, completing a fist bump. “I won’t, Mr. Harper.”

  Eve’s ears slowly drooped down. “Can't you come with us? We can find him together…”

  “I'm sorry, but I can't,” Harper replied gently, his gaze dropping for a moment before meeting hers again. “As much as I want to help you and Noir find Zorro, I… have my own challenges to face. The two of you will be fine, even without me.”

  Suddenly, her ribbons wrapped around him and she brought him into a hug. Like the night she and Harper helped Noir, her ribbons began to emanate a warm sensation, this time a mix of gratitude and tenderness.

  “Thank you, Mr. Harper. I’ll never forget you.”

  Harper leaned into her hug. “Me neither.”

  For a moment, he swore he saw the sylveon’s cheek blush underneath her fur, but with the amount of pink on their body, he wasn't sure.

  Once Harper let go of Eve, Beartic crouched down to the two with a grin, trying to cheer up the two young pokémon.

  “Hey, this is no time for feeling sad! It's time for one last ride on the ‘Polar Express!’”

  Without any wasted movements, Beartic picked Noir and Eve up and secured them on his shoulders. He spun them around, pretending to slip in place while leaning forward and backward. He let out a hearty laugh as the two joined along, their giggles lightening up the atmosphere. As the twins showed up, also asking for a ride, Harper couldn't help but laugh along with them.

  From the day he first met them up to today, there was never a dull moment.

  Full Metal Cop), an entirely new PMD fic (Check it out on Ao3 and PMDFF if you're interested!), and a discord server for people interested in my writing, all in almost a year . Thank you to everyone who has helped and read this weird fic of mine. All your encouragement motivate me to continue, and even the smallest of comments make my day.