Alola, on your average map, seems like a minuscule addition compared to the monstrous continents that surrounded it. Still, within the region's borders, there's a large number of people living all sorts of different lives. Kukui's class of eight is only a small piece of a much larger picture.

Yet, though they might inhabit a vast home, there is always the chance that people might unexpectedly cross each other. The paths they travel might be completely independent of one another, they might not even know each other, but they could cross each other nonetheless. As they say, "It's a small world."

But that isn't important, not yet.

Residing on the island of Ula'ula was a corporation that wasn't well known to the public. By those few who actually knew of its name, it was recognized as a business with the ambitious goal of "Saving the Environment", and a proud supporter of the efforts to protect the earth. However, those who were actually involved with the corporation, even on the most surface level, saw straight past the bold faced lie. Yet, only half of those employed completely understood the true motivation behind their workplace.

On the top of the pyramid was a man with a true drive, the one who started everything; The leader, the boss, the one in charge. His mornings were simple; Wake up, brush teeth, get dressed. Things usually escalated afterward.

One morning, after preparing to return to the Cosmos Corporation, that man brushed his hand through his well-trimmed beard. He wore a satisfied smile as he looked down to his small companion.

"I feel like today will be rather productive. Don't you agree?"

"Chuuu..."

The man's Pikachu peered to the side with a crooked smile, it's voice simultaneously flat and shaky.

"You don't look very convinced. I know things are usually pretty... lively. But something about the air this morning just seems calm." The man picked up the electric mouse with his dark hands. "Besides, what's the craziest thing that could happen?"

He began to walk forward, ready for his day to officially start. "C'mon. It won't be long until everyone starts their shifts."

Though it was only early morning, the Cosmos Corporation was already bustling with frantic workers. There were plenty of tasks to be done; Papers to file, tech to develop, things to hide. After all, the first rule of running a shady business was to keep your tracks covered.

A little girl slipped past the working grunts with a hurried pace. At first glance, she would have seemed completely out of place with her tiny stature. However, she was well known throughout the office, being one of the ten individuals who were granted the title of "admin."

Many found the fact that she wore such a title a difficult pill to swallow. She both appeared and acted younger than she actually was, and she was only ten years old to begin with. Regardless, her brain power couldn't be overlooked. That girl, her name being Molly, was a true anomaly when it came to her intelligence.

Still, there were higher-ups she was meant to listen to, and she was still given her limits. In particular, she was told to stay away from one of the backrooms. She had come across that specific room plenty of times, as the location was nearby the laboratory she worked in. She always thought nothing of it, until she was given that command. She instantly became curious and made a mental note to pay that room a visit.

When she reached the backroom and unlocked the door, her breath was taken away.

"Holy cow, what on earth is this thing?!"

A giant mechanical wonder towered over the small girl, several of its fragments glimmering silver in the light. The main body of the machine was white and cube-like in shape, but there were many different pieces extending outwards in a fascinating display. So many knobs, so many buttons, so many attachments that she couldn't even recognize! It was all woven together with an extremely intricate design. The machine's purpose?

Well, she didn't know, but she could find out.

Her two pigtails perked up in her excitement. "Woah! They've got me solving stupid, boring equations while this thing is being built? So not fair!"

Her smile was large as she placed her hand on the machine's surface. It was cold to the touch. "Golly, it looks so... complicated! Arc must be leading its construction... he may be a big meanie but he knows what he's doing. This is gonna be so fun to figure out!"

She squealed with anticipation, as she ran around the machine, observing all the mechanics. She found herself drawn to a lever on the machine's side, one in which was attached to the main body. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, she skipped her way to that lever and wrapped her palms around it.

"Maybe this will do something cool!"

She pulled down the lever with all her might, expecting the machine to respond to her action. She thought that if she were lucky enough, perhaps it would even switch on.

What actually happened was far less satisfying. The lever snapped off of its base, the sound resembling that of a breaking twig. Molly held the stick in amazement, shocked by how easily it broke off.

"Oh... okay then. Guess it'll just decide to break on me..."

Molly took a closer look at the base still attached to the machine, trying to understand what just happened. "Looks like the lever... was real loose. Doesn't even look like it was secured properly..."

She looked back at her hand, holding onto the broken piece. It hit her at that moment.

She went somewhere she wasn't supposed to go, and broke the thing she wasn't supposed to have even seen.

"...Uh oh. "

"Good morning sir."

"Good morning, ladies."

On the opposite side of the building, two of the other admins reported to their boss's office. The boss was completely organized, per usual, with all of his papers neatly stacked on his desk. Alongside those papers was a desk plate with his name etched across it: "OZone."

"Thank you for taking the time to come in." OZone folded his hands. "Belle, Mitsuki, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Anything."

The taller of the two women, Belle, spoke firmly. She stood with a straight back and wore a confident look. Mitsuki, who was much tinier in comparison, stood behind her silently. Her eyes were glued to the floor.

"Could you both handle the routine inspection this morning, please?" OZone asked.

They both nodded their heads. The task he has requested of them was simple. All they had to do was wander around the building, and make sure everything within the corporation was running smoothly. However, being asked to do the morning inspection was uncommon. The two were usually responsible for the afternoon inspection.

"Yes... sir. But..." Mitsuki began to speak, putting her hand on her throat. Her voice was meek and quiet, only barely able to be heard by those around her. "The morning inspection... isn't that usually the responsibility... of—"

"The two boys? Yes." OZone took a heavy sigh. "I told them not to bother with the inspection today. They have a tendency to miss the most obvious of problems..."

"No surprises there," Belle said as she rolled her eyes. "Forgive me for asking this, sir, but why would you just let them off the hook when they are failing to do their jobs?"

"Oh no, they are still very much on the hook about that. I will talk with them later, I don't have the time right now." OZone stood up, grabbing a large file stuffed with papers and sliding it under his shoulder. "Things are developing quickly, I have to speak with the scientists."

"I understand, sir. We'll gladly take care of the morning inspection for you." Belle bobbed her head down, as if she were about to bow before the man. When her head lifted, her face was that of a diligent soldier.

OZone smiled. "Great. I could always depend on you, and I appreciate that. You both really are two of my best workers. Here, before I forget."

OZone handed Belle a clipboard. On the clipboard was a white sheet, where several locations were printed. Next to each written location was a box to be checked, the check confirming that everything was running properly.

"Thank you, sir."

"No, thank you. Call me if you need me."

With that, OZone left in a bit of a hurry. Belle handed the clipboard to Mitsuki, who wore a peppy grin.

"Hm? What's gotten into you?" Belle asked.

"'Two of my best.'" Mitsuki repeated OZone's words, beaming like a happy little child. Her cheeks turned a color pink, contrasting against her incredibly pale skin.

Belle nodded her head, her expression as stern as ever. "That was a nice thing to hear, but there's no time to waste. Let's go get this done."

"Yes," Mitsuki agreed.

The two proceeded to walk through each section of the building, paying close attention to everything that surrounded them. As they scanned each area, they found that everything was running well, almost flawlessly. With everything properly placed, the inspection went by incredibly quickly, and soon the two women had only one remaining place to check.

"Mitsuki, where are we going next?" Belle asked. Her composure remained consistent, being as tightly wound as the stiff, silver hair bun she wore on the top of her head.

"Last place." Mitsuki kept her sentences brief, as usual. "Machine."

"Ah. Of course."

As they both walked towards the backroom, Belle took note of Mitsuki's stature. Her posture was poor, as she hunched over the clipboard she tightly clung to her chest.

Belle promptly grabbed Mitsuki's shoulders and pulled them back, straightening out the woman's stance.

Mitsuki lightly gasped in surprise, her back remaining straight as Belle released her shoulders. Belle dropped her usual stiff manner, shaking her head with a hint of a smile.

"You need to walk with more confidence. Stand tall, you have no reason to shy away from pride. I'm sure you realize that you have a high status here."

"Um... y-yes." Mitsuki avoided making eye contact, struggling to find a proper response. "I... I just..."

She stopped mid-sentence, her face twisting as she grew more and more flustered. Belle patted Mitsuki's blonde head.

"Ah, you are too much of a worrier," Belle sighed. "You need to relax."

Mitsuki blinked twice, and tilted her head. "R-relax...?"

"Yes. Relax. No need for such nervous energy."

Mitsuki couldn't help but to scratch her head at Belle's advice. It wasn't quite the advice itself that puzzled her, that alone made sense. The source that the advice was coming from, however, boggled her mind.

"Belle... you are never relaxed."

For an instant, Belle stopped. After a short pause, she responded with a huff and a shrug. "...Well, you have me there. But then again, I don't have the right to relax."

"...Why not?"

"It's a long story, not that it really matters anyway. Telling you would only be a waste of both of our time." Belle folded her arms and lowered her head. She began walking forward once again. "But I will tell you a tip, a bit of advice about something that actually matters."

"A tip?" Mitsuki asked, quickly trotting after her like a little pet.

"Yes. You need to act like you own a spine Mitsuki, or else people will walk all over you and make you their fool. Things will go well for you if you carry yourself with assertiveness and self-assurance. It's not as hard of a role to play as you might think." Belle peered down at the short woman with a sly grin. "Just think of yourself as someone who could take and claim the whole world if they wished. With your work ethic and your looks, you probably could."

Mitsuki flinched, startled by both the words and the behavior of her peer. Her face felt hot as it began to brighten into a red hue. She grabbed onto her own throat with both of her hands, and responded with the calmest tone she could muster. "T-thank you... Very kind..."

"Don't be so shy. I'm just telling it like it is."

Shortly after Belle's ending statement, the two arrived at the backroom that contained the ambitious invention of the Cosmos Corporation. The door was meant to be kept locked, securing the advanced tech away from low ranking grunts and intruders. Yet, to the surprise of both women, the door was wide open.

Mitsuki looked to Belle with a raised eyebrow, wordlessly communicating her confusion. Belle narrowed her eyes at the room's entrance, before quickly storming through the door to see the situation at hand.

At first, everything seemed normal. The machine was dormant, as it should be. The room appeared absolutely empty. Nothing made a sound.

"Strange..." Mitsuki muttered.

"Strange indeed. Perhaps someone just left the door open by mistake?" Belle grumbled at the thought. "What an irresponsible mistake that would be."

"Hm."

Mitsuki took several steps closer to the machine, and bent her knees. Kneeling down, she noticed one of the smaller mechanisms was missing. She pointed to the remains of what was once a lever, and turned her head back towards Belle.

"Broke," she simply said.

"What the...?" Belle approached the machine and kneeled beside Mitsuki. She noticed the damage the machine took, and although it was relatively minor, she quickly grew agitated.

"Arceus. This isn't going to be good news. It's going to get OZone upset, and it's really going to piss off Arc." She stood up. "But that can't be helped. We must report this to our boss right away. After that... we'll go fetch the culprits for him."

Mitsuki stood up as well. "Culprits?"

"Think about it. The lever was obviously ripped off, and do you see the lever here?" Belle asked.

Mitsuki shook her head.

"Exactly. Whoever broke it clearly panicked and took the evidence with them, which only incriminates them further. They weren't thinking. Whoever broke it also must have known about the machine, must have had the key to access the machine, must have been extremely reckless, and must have no sense of responsibility." The more Belle spoke, the more tense her body grew. Her face was scrunched up in her annoyance. "There are only so many people who fit that description. I think we know exactly who's to blame for this."

"Oh." Mitsuki grasped Belle's line of thinking quickly, and couldn't argue against the assumption. She took a breath, knowing that things were going to take an unpleasant yet familiar turn. "Let's... go speak with OZone."

The two walked out and shut the door behind them. Unbeknownst to them, there was a heavy sigh of relief coming from the girl crouched down at the other side of the machine. Never has she felt so lucky to be unnoticed, surprised she was able to hide right behind the scene of the crime.

"Oh geez, what a miracle that was." Molly wiped away the sweat on her forehead with her arm, her hand still grasping the broken lever. "That would have been baaaaaad."

The relief was short lived. Her mind began to race as it took every worse case scenario possible into consideration.

"But... what if I'm found out? Oh no... this is going to cost me my job, isn't it?! I already have two strikes to my name!"

Within her head, a game of "Cosmos Corporation baseball" began to unfold.

"Strike one, accidentally turning a pencil into an explosive! Strike two, accidentally making a potentially lethal gas out of crayola markers! This will definitely be strike three, and as the rules say, three strikes you're out! I won't ever work again, will I? I'll spend my adult life in a cardboard box! B-but that'll happen only after Arc throws me out the window! I'll probably land all the way in Kanto, he'll chuck me so hard! I'm totally total toast!"

She dove further and further into her own panic. Suddenly, breaking through her frantic thoughts, the realization that she was not the one suspected came to her.

"Wait... wait, they weren't suspicious of me at all, were they? They couldn't be! I'm not even supposed to have the key for this room!"

She peeked at her lab coat pocket, seeing the key she has 'borrowed' sticking out of it. She replayed the conversation the two women had shortly before in her head, particularly the conclusions made by Belle.

Molly knew exactly who Belle blamed for the mishap, and she realized that she had a potential way to bail herself out of trouble. There was a way to make sure of it, too.

"... I've got it! I know exactly what to do! I'm going to get out of this! But... Imma feel so bad about doing it!"

Molly took in a deep breath of air, trying to strengthen her conviction.

"But I have to do this! I gotta! For my job's sake!"

She shoved the broken lever into her pocket, and dashed out the door.

As Molly hurried through the halls, determined to 'save her job', she noticed everyone within the building was hard at work with extreme dedication and perseverance.

Well, not everyone exactly.

When Molly arrived at her destination, one of the smaller work rooms, she peeked inside from behind the door. She heard a pair of young voices.

"Alright! Prepare to be amazed, Roz! Time to throw this thing with all my super arm strength!"

"Hate to break it to you, but you kinda have noodles for arms."

"Don't underestimate the power of noodles!"

Within the workroom, two teenage boys tossed a paper airplane back and forth. The shorter of the two possessed a head of fluffy red hair and thick glasses. The other had mid-long dark hair, which was worn tied back. They both laughed as they slacked off, seemingly unconcerned about the large amount of paperwork they were supposed to be filing.

The redhead pulled his arm back and threw the paper airplane forward. With the power of bizarre chance, as well as impeccable accuracy, the flying plane's tip flew right into and poked the dark haired boy's eye. He threw a hand over his struck eye as the plane floated to the ground.

"Ow!"

"Oops..." The redhead approached his friend in concern. "Are... are... are you all good?"

"Nah. It's over for me, Daichi."

The dark haired boy flopped to the ground and laid on his back. Still covering his eye, he spoke with a straightforward tone, though his words didn't carry an ounce of seriousness. "I couldn't handle your noodle strength. This is it. My finale. It's all over now."

The redhead, Daichi, shook his head and puffed his cheeks. He approached the boy and grabbed his sleeve, attempting to pull him back onto his feet. "Oh no you don't! You aren't going to die on me now, Rōzu! We're in this together, you can't just ditch and let me get yelled at all alone! I'd crack like an egg! Get up!"

The dark haired boy, Rōzu, cracked a smile as he insisted on laying on the ground. "Sorry, but my fate has been sealed. Besides, the floor is surprisingly comfy."

Daichi stopped tugging, shook his head again, and spoke with a laugh in the back of his throat. "Oh, I get it. Your fate is sealed only because you're too lazy to get up now, is that it?"

"Pretty much," Rōzu answered.

Motionless, Molly continued to wordlessly listen to the playful conversation, struggling to force herself into interrupting and completing her task. For an instant, she thought of simply turning back and finding another solution. That thought was interrupted by the sound of a bark, and she came to realize her hiding spot was about to be exposed.

"Jolt!"

From the corner of the workroom, a bright yellow Pokémon darted past both the boys and towards little Molly. With no hesitation and no mercy, the Jolteon tackled her to the ground. It licked her cheek repeatedly with its small tongue.

"Ack! Ack! Get her off of me!" Molly cried out as she tried to push the Pokémon away. "Get her off!"

The boys jumped in surprise at Molly's sudden presence as she struggled against the Pokémon's display of affection. Rōzu pulled himself up and went to assist the trampled girl, wrapping his hands around Jolteon and lifting it up into his arms.

"Good Arceus, how many times am I going to have to tell you not to tackle people?"

"Jolt." Jolteon simply responded by nuzzling it's head against the boy's cheek in a cat-like fashion.

"..." Rōzu sighed. "You're too cute for your own good."

"It's cute... but it made my face all wet," Molly grumbled, standing up and dusting herself off. "And it tackled me like a football player..."

"Jolteon might like you a bit too much, huh? Wouldn't you say?" Daichi asked, scratching the back of his fluffy head. The lack of a response he received from the girl began to make him nervous. "...You're not hurt, are you? Right?"

Molly didn't answer him. Instead, she took a deep breath, reminding herself of her mission. She stepped forward, facing Daichi directly as she reached into her lab coat pocket. She pulled out the broken lever, and extended it out to him.

"Ha... ha... happy birthday, Daichi!"

"Huh? What's that thing? ... And it's not even my birthday—"

"Take the thing! Just take the thing!"

She pushed the lever onto his stomach as with a pout, forcing Daichi to give in and grab it from her. He held it close to his face, squinting his eyes as he tried to figure out what he was just gifted.

"Molly, why—?"

Daichi stopped mid-question once he looked back at the girl, her bottom lip trembling while her baby blue eyes grew large. Tears began to well up as she whimpered. She appeared to be only moments away from breaking down into sobs and wails.

Daichi panicked. "W-wait! Don't cry! Please don't cry! What's wrong!? Was... was it something I said?!" His hands began to sweat as he looked side to side. "Crying child! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! Roz, what do I do?"

Rōzu simply shrugged. "Don't look at me. I don't know what to do."

"Wow, that was really helpful. I've never heard such great advice in my life."

"Just... I dunno... try to calm her down or something."

"How am I supposed to do that?! Uh... uh... let's see..." Daichi kneeled on the floor, meeting Molly's eye level. "Um... please don't cry. It's okay, it's okay. You could tell me what's bothering—"

"Take this back! Just take it back!"

Molly reached into her lab coat pocket once again, this time pulling out the key she previously used. Opposed to handing it to him, she threw it straight at his face, striking him right in the forehead.

"Um... ow?" Daichi rubbed his forehead as he raised an eyebrow. "What was that for—?"

"I'm sorry!"

As hysteric as ever, Molly shouted an apology before aborting her mission. She twisted around and dashed out the door, not looking back. As she ran down the hallway, before she completely left the scene, she shouted:

"I'm super duper sorry!"

With that, the two boys were on their own again, extremely confused by what just happened.

"...Welp," Daichi said. "That was kinda weird."

"No kidding," Rōzu agreed as he lowered Jolteon onto the ground. "What did she just chuck at you?"

"A key. Looks familiar, I feel like I should know what it's for, but I can't put a finger on it." Daichi stood back up, now holding both the broken lever and the key in his hands. "Weird."

"Yeah. Weird."

"I hope Molly's alright," Daichi said. "She seemed really worked up about something..."

"She gets worked up pretty easily. But still," Rōzu said as he twirled a loose strand of his hair. "We should probably go check on her. Make sure she's fine"

"Yeah, let's—"

"I knew it! It was you two! You're the ones who did it!"

Once again, Daichi was interrupted, this time by another unexpected visitor. In the doorway, Belle stood, Mitsuki standing right behind her. Neither of them seemed happy. Belle's face scrunched up in anger. Mitsuki seemed withdrawn, looking away, knowing that the situation at hand was not about to be a pleasant one.

"U-um..." Daichi froze. "We're... very sorry for what we did! I guess!"

Rōzu patted Daichi's shoulder. "Don't apologize, you've got no reason too. It's only, like, first thing in the morning. We didn't even have a chance to do anything wrong yet." He looked to Belle and crossed his arms. "So what exactly are you yelling at us about?"

"Don't play innocent!" Belle shouted. "You know exactly what you did!"

"We honestly don't," Rōzu said.

"Yeah Belle, you're not ringing any... Belles. Get it?"

Everyone fell silent, all eyes falling on Daichi due to his pitiful attempt at a pun.

"Dude," Rōzu said with a flat tone. "That was so lame."

"I know, I know." Daichi sighed. "I was just trying to lighten the mood..."

"Forget about the mood! How dare you pretend like you have no idea what I'm talking about!" Belle pointed her finger at the broken lever Daichi held. "You're holding the evidence right there in your own hand! A broken piece of the ID3I!"

The two boys paused, glancing at each other, before studying the lever. Their brains slowly processed what the object was, where it came from, why it was given to them, and what it meant.

"Oh dang..." Daichi started to stumble over his words. "It's... it's n-not what it looks like!"

"Save it," Belle snapped. "I'm not the one you have to explain yourselves to. Come on, we're going to the boss's office. Now."

Belle stomped forward, her patience nonexistent. She grabbed onto both of the boys' ears like a pro, pinching them tightly, and dragged them out of the room. Mitsuki stepped out of their way, uncomfortable watching the whole scene unfold as she listened to both Daichi and Rōzu complain.

"Ow, ear! Ow, ear! Ow, ear!"

"Let go, let go, let go!"

Mitsuki went to follow the three down the hallway, but stopped when she felt something begin to tug at her pant leg.

"Jooooolt..."

She looked down to see Jolteon, clearly hungry for attention, biting at her ankle. Its big, sparkling purple eyes looked up at her with yearning. Mitsuki grinned lightly as she exhaled, shaking her head.

"You... never change, girl."

Mitsuki picked up the affectionate Pokémon, allowing it to nuzzle against her. She felt content as she walked after the others, heading straight towards OZone's office.

The atmosphere was far from warm and friendly. The broken lever sat on top of OZone's desk, the man tapping his fingers on the wooden surface as he aimed his glare straight ahead. The two boys stood before him, both of them silent and tense, waiting for their boss to make some sort of statement. The two women watched the interaction, or lack thereof, from the sidelines, Mitsuki's grip still wrapped around Jolteon.

The air was quiet and stale. No one moved. OZone's intimidating stare made everyone within the office uncomfortable, nervous anticipation spreading like wildfire. The long silence was finally broken once Rōzu opened his mouth.

"Uh... is someone going to say something or can we just leave already—?"

"Zip it."

OZone huffed, folding his arms as he shut Rōzu down and returned the room to its previous silence. He took a heavy breath and, at last, begun to speak.

"Do you two have any idea what you have done?"

"Well... not exactly..." Daichi admitted. "We kinda didn't—"

OZone's sharp eyes shot directly at Daichi, instantly making him freeze up and slam his mouth shut. Sweat rolled down the boy's face as he held his breath.

"'Not exactly', you say. Fine, I'll clarify." OZone spoke in a low tone, the sound of restrained anger peaking within his voice. "You two, for starters, abused your access to a restricted area. Then, you proceed to break my property, which just so happens to be a machine immensely difficult to develop, not to mention costly. And then, and only then, you two refused to take responsibility and fled the scene without notifying anyone."

The boys spoke in sync. "But we didn't—"

"I don't want to hear it," OZone said.

"But we really didn't—"

"I said, I don't want to hear it!" OZone snapped. "I'm not in the mood for excuses. Don't you know how hard the scientists work on that thing? You think they could afford setbacks?"

"...Er... is the damage that bad?" Daichi asked. "Sorry, but that broken piece looks really small..."

"Couldn't they just reattach it or something? Can't be that hard," Rōzu said.

"..." Suddenly, OZone stood up, and slammed his hands on the wooden desk, causing everyone to jump. "That is not the problem here! The problem here is irresponsibility! You two cause such havoc!"

There was a long pause. Daichi, with a shaking, nervous voice, spoke in attempted defense. "Uh... I mean, we're not that bad, right? We don't cause that much mayhem, right?"

"Wrong." Belle spoke up from the sidelines. "It's just absolutely comedic hearing that coming from you, Mr. Prankster. Did you just conveniently forget about the time you put bad 80s music on the intercom? Or the silly string incident? Oh, and do I even need to mention that mishap with the pies?"

Daichi wore an anxious smile, laughing awkwardly. "Well... um..."

"Don't be like that, Belle," Rōzu said with a wave of his hand. "He was just having some harmless fun. You need to take things less seriously."

"Oh, don't go acting like you're not on the hot seat! You helped him with all those things!" Belle shouted, slamming her hands on her hips.

Rōzu rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... of course I did. It was pretty fun, too."

"Yeah, well, having fun is not what the boss is paying for!" Belle folded her arms and shook her head. "Seriously..."

OZone himself took a heavy sigh. "You two are nothing but trouble."

Attempting to charm his way out of the situation, Rōzu struck a little pose and playfully winked at the man. "A little trouble in your life is a good thing, boss man~. Isn't it amusing?"

OZone was extremely unamused. "Stop trying to be cute with me, it ain't working. And for the last time, like everyone else, you will address me with a respectful term. Got it?"

Rōzu cringed. "...Okay then, Boss man."

"...Of course you ignore what I just said. You need to learn how to just listen already," OZone said, before shifting his attention. "And Daichi. Stop doing that."

Daichi flinched. "Stop doing what?"

"The puppy dog eyes. Just... stop that."

Without his intention or awareness, Daichi wore sad, large, shining eyes. They were similar to that of a helpless child, or that of a sad, lost little Lillipup. He asked, completely oblivious, "Whaddya mean?"

OZone groaned a tad, letting his face fall into his palm. "Forget it. Just forget it."

With a heavy breath, OZone regained his composure. He sunk back into his chair, returning his focus to the main topic. "I can't allow you both to just get away with this behavior scot-free, especially when you are titled as admins. Perhaps Arc would be willing to give you another lecture—"

"No!"

Daichi and Rōzu both grew frantic, immediately shouting out in protest. They grabbed onto each other in their terror.

"Not that! Please, not that!"

"Anything but that! We didn't even break the damn thing!"

In the background, Mitsuki tilted her head with a hint of concern, worried by the extreme reaction. She looked to Belle, who narrowed her eyes at the scene.

"Seriously?" Belle asked. "Arc just giving you a simple lecture can't be that bad—"

"He threw a effing chair at us last time!" Daichi shouted. "I don't want to go through that again!"

The two, in their panic, continuously begged OZone to reconsider the idea of involving the head scientist. They barely gave OZone the chance to speak, forcing him to stop their pleas with a different method. He stuck two fingers in his mouth, and loudly whistled, silencing the room and grabbing everyone's attention. The two released each other, looking back to the man of authority.

"Quiet down! Quiet down! I won't bring Arc into this, alright!? Be grateful." OZone remained stern in his demeanor. "But that doesn't mean there won't be consequences for your actions."

"Uh... but... um..." Daichi began to say, stumbling over his words.

"... I think it's worth saying that we seriously didn't—" Rōzu began to say.

"Enough!" OZone's patience grew thin. "We're done talking! I'm just going to tell you what's about to happen next. For the next two weeks, expect extra assignments daily. Oh, and you'll also be working overtime, which you won't be paid for. Consider that your payment for the damage you've caused. Do you understand?"

"...But—"

"But—"

"But is not the right answer!" OZone snapped, cutting both the boys off. "I asked you, do you understand?"

Daichi and Rōzu both relented, taking somber sighs of defeat. They were left with only one phrase to say:

"Yes."

"Good," OZone said. "Now, I highly suggest you get your asses back to work, or the next thing you know, you'll be spending all your time in your room looking for a new job on your mom's laptop. Meanwhile, she'll be shouting at you from the other room to get a life. Do you want that?"

Both of the boys immediately gained uncomfortable expressions.

Rōzu wore a crooked, awkward grin. "Er... I don't see that happening. My mom kinda refuses to acknowledge my existence..."

Daichi scratched at his cheek, speaking with a little nervous laugh. "I don't see that happening to me either. My mom's kinda... incarcerated."

For once, OZone was speechless, unsure how to react to that response.

"...I..." The man paused. "... Just... just get back to work before I fire you both."

He didn't need to say that twice. The boys promptly ran out of the room, stumbling over each other as they dashed through the exit. Jolteon leaped from Mitsuki's arms, and chased after them.

OZone was left with the two women, as he took a relieving breath. Belle stepped forward, her eyes soft with sympathy. Mitsuki followed her like a shadow, seeming quite unsure in her disposition despite being completely silent.

"You're quite the patient man, sir," Belle said. "I admire that."

OZone lightly chuckled. "Please, there are plenty of people out there who are more patient than I am..."

"Not really," Mitsuki said softly, though there was a firmness to her statement.

"Most other people would have imploded by now. I honestly would have imploded by now, dealing with such... situations," Belle admitted. "I truly do admire you."

"Well... I do need to make sure everything is in order no matter what the situation may be. It's my job as a leader, after all. But sometimes, I do wonder, what the hell am I supposed to do about those two?" OZone slumped his shoulders slightly.

"I... might have something that could help you."

Mitsuki's timid voice spoke up, as both OZone and Belle turned their heads in her direction. Her body shook a bit when their eyes met hers, but she proceeded with her offer. She reached into the purple bag she had strapped around her shoulder and pulled out a book. She held it out, displaying the cover.

"I... found it at a bookstore."

On the cover was a fancy, well dressed old man, giving a thumbs up. The title read: "The Age of Rebellion: Dr. Scott's guide for dealing with your out of control teenager."

Belle didn't say a word, but OZone extended his hand.

"Give me the damn thing, I'm just about desperate enough to read it."

The day passed, and slowly darkened into evening. Most of the employees of the Cosmos Corporation gathered their things and headed home for the night. Of course, that couldn't be said for everyone.

OZone asked the two boys to perform a simple job that was practically just busy work: Tidy up his office. He left them to the task, leaving to take care of other minor things around the corporation before he himself headed home. He informed them that he would be back to check on them within the hour.

The pair, not exactly enthusiastic for the chore, walked inside of the office after grabbing proper cleaning supplies. Though they both expected a dull experience, it didn't take very long for an unanticipated twist to appear.

On the office's rug, Molly was, oddly enough, laying face down. It was almost like she was "planking" in the middle of the room, as her arms were to her sides. Rōzu stood and stared at the girl, baffled. Daichi, on the other hand, failed to notice her. He continued walking forward, only to trip over the child and fall face-first on the ground.

Molly lifted her head. "...Smooth."

"..." As Daichi regained his footing and stood up, his face beginning to glow pink with embarrassment. "That wasn't my fault! Why are you just laying in the middle of the floor like this?!"

"I dunno. I just thought it might be kinda fun! Plus, you guys were taking too long to get here, and I got really bored," Molly said, not moving an inch from her comfy spot on the rug. "Sorry about tripping you! But then again, you should try being less of a klutz."

"Please, go ahead and tell me something I don't know." Daichi reached into his pocket and pulled out a band-aid. He stuck it on his already band-aid covered face, appearing pretty unhappy about the fact that he just fell over for the fourth time that day.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. You were waiting for us? Here? The place we gotta clean because you framed us?" Rōzu folded his arms as he peered down at Molly. "You were hiding from us all day, and now you show up?"

"Yeet. I'm going to help you guys out tonight!" Molly jumped onto her feet, standing straight and giving a thumbs up. "From the kindness of my heart! And my extreme sense of guilt! Will you forgive me after?"

Daichi looked away. "Uhhhh..."

"Hell no," Rōzu said.

Molly looked back at the boys with a straight face. "I'm not afraid to start crying, you know. Really, I'll do it."

Without waiting for a real answer, Molly sucked in a gulp of air and got down on her knees. She cupped her hands together, and proceeded to beg and wail.

"Forgive me! Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me!

For a solid minute, her high-pitched pleas echoed through the air. Her eyes were watering, shining with an earnest sense of regret. It didn't take long for the boys to crack.

"Fine! Fine! We forgive you! Could you stop please?" Rōzu shouted, covering his ears.

"Yeah! It's fine," Daichi said, before pointing towards OZone's desk. "But the boss's files aren't."

Molly wiped away the tears in her eyes, turning her head back. "What?...Oh geez!"

On top of the desk, exactly where it didn't belong, Jolteon was seen chewing apart the files and papers OZone left behind. It had a content expression on its face, wearing a huge smile as it unintentionally caused mischief. The three, upon seeing its destruction, stared at the Pokémon wide-eyed.

"... I think we could all agree that this is a very bad thing," Molly said. "...I think we could also agree... that a certain someone needs to get their Pokémon under control."

"Really slick, really slick Mol'," Rōzu said as he lifted Jolteon from the desk and lowered it back onto the floor. "...I should've kept an eye on you. Man... what are we going to do about this?"

"Have no fear!" Daichi threw a finger up in the air like a performer. "The great Daichi is here! And for my next trick, I will make this problematic problem disappear!"

Three minutes later, all the half eaten papers were swept under the rug, literally. The office's throw rug laid flat, hiding away what used to be presumably important documents under its coverage.

"There we go! Problem solved!" Daichi beamed.

"You do realize we could have just thrown it all away in the trash, right Chichi?" Molly asked, tilting her head to the side. "And you do realize OZone will totally notice that all the stuff he left on his desk vanished into thin air, right Chichi?"

"...Drat. Why do you have to be so smart? Wait..." Daichi stopped. "Did you just call me Chichi? Twice? I keep telling you, stop calling me that!"

"Too bad. I like that name, so I'll use it." Molly said with a shrug.

"Molly—!" Daichi began.

"Save it for later! I have a motivational speech to give!"

Molly climbed on top of OZone's desk, standing on the object as if it were a pedestal. She placed her hands on her hips, holding her head high. She grinned. "The time has come, my friends! We must make this office sparkle like no office has sparkled before! We must make this office so super duper clean, that it shines brighter than the sun! Know why?"

"Because we can't afford to lose our jobs?" Both boys asked.

"Bingo! We'd be screwed! Thing is, we already have a strike in this game... the destroyed files. But, if we hit a home run, and impress OZone with our cleaning skills, the strike won't matter!" Molly threw her fist into the air, her pigtails perking up. "So let's get to work and make Ozzy happy! Who's with me?!"

"...Yeah," Daichi said, raising his own fist with enthusiasm. "Yeah! Let's do it!"

"Sure," Rōzu said, smiling and raising his own fist as well.

Ten minutes later, after a legitimate effort to make the office as pristine as physically possible, everything was a mess. Half the objects that were previously lined up on shelves were on the floor, there was a new, dark, large stain on the wall, and there was a bleach stain on the rug. The incompetent three leaned against the wall, looking at the disaster.

"...We are so fired," Rōzu sighed.

"How are we so bad at this?!" Daichi shrieked.

"I'm telling you, it's Murphy's law," Molly mumbled.

"Well," Rōzu said. "At least things can't get much worse."

It was that moment, exactly that moment, that a little insect began to crawl across the floor right in front of the three. It was a smug little Spinarak, who spotted the group and began to creep towards them . Both Molly and Rōzu looked to Daichi, whose face was drained of all of its color. His eyes widened as he became drenched in sweat, his heart beat racing as the Spinarak moved closer and closer.

"...You know guys," Molly said as she wrung her hands. "This was super fun and all but I think I should leave—"

"Oh no you don't!" Rōzu interrupted. "You aren't leaving us here to get 'let go' when you were the one who got us into this!"

"Forget about getting 'let go!' We're dead! The boss is going to be so mad at us! We're so dead!" Daichi shouted, tugging at Rōzu's arm as he panicked. "We're so dead!"

"..." Rōzu's face softened as he looked to the ground. "I bet he's going to hate us after this..."

"Hey, hey hey. Remember who we're talking about here. It's OZone!" Molly said, trying to console the two with her positivity. "He tries to act super strict and all, but really, he likes us all! He wouldn't just ditch you guys!"

"But—"

The door suddenly squeaked open, and everyone within the room froze. A booming voice spoke from behind.

"Yo, so I just found out—"

When OZone fully opened the door, and saw the disaster that laid behind it, his jaw nearly dropped to the ground. "...Holy shit."

The three didn't move a muscle. For an instant, OZone stood still. When he went to open his mouth and speak, Molly dashed over to him and grabbed onto his leg.

"I'm the one who broke it! I'm the one who broke the thing! I did it! I did it! I did it!"

Once again, she was a absolute teary mess. OZone tried his best to gently push her off of him. "Calm down! Calm down! I know!"

Hearing the words 'I know', Molly ceased her crying and looked up at the man. She released his leg. "Oh... wait, what?!"

"A security camera was installed in that room the other day, which I completely forgot about. I wanted to know exactly what happened, so I looked at the footage. Wasn't quite what I was expecting," OZone said, before looking up at the boys. "Why didn't you two say anything?"

"...You're... not seriously asking us that, are you?" Rōzu asked.

"You... kinda didn't give us much of a chance," Daichi said.

"You know... you're probably right. I would apologize, but..."

OZone began to chuckle, before it escalated into a hefty laugh. The three paused, unsure of how to react.

Daichi bit his lip. "... I think we finally broke him."

"Not yet, not yet." OZone wiped a tear from his eye as his laughter slowed down. "Ahhh... I suggest the three of you get out of here."

The three were shocked. They went to voice their confusion, but OZone spoke again before they had the chance.

"Get out of here while you still have your jobs."

With that, Molly, Daichi, and Rōzu made a mad dash for the door, tripping over each other as they fled. OZone was left on his own. He dropped himself down into his chair, leaning back, ignoring the mess surrounding him. He opened his drawer, and pulled out the book Mitsuki gave him earlier that day. He opened it, and read aloud:

"Chapter One: Your teenager and you."