Ari, Eve, and Dulse all leave the hardware store, each carrying one bag.

“Wow! You got a lot of stuff, Dulse. What’s it all for?” Ari asks

“Well, I’m going to build something.” Dulse blankly responds.

“Uh… yeah… I can see that.” Ari rolls her eyes and then smiles. “What are you building?”

Dulse smiles a bit, amused by Ari’s sarcasm. “It’s going to be a tool, a Pokemon finder to be exact.”

“A Pokemon finder? Why?” Ari looks to Dulse, waiting for an answer.

“Well, it’s mostly to find Ultra Beasts. Like locating where they’re going to show up. But it’ll be able to be used to find missing Pokemon too.”

Ari walks in front of Dulse, stopping him in his path. “That’s amazing! How will it work!?” Her eyes are sparkling. 

“It’s, uh… complicated…” Dulse's eyes wander away from Ari’s, suddenly nervous from all the questions.

Ari, noticing Dulse’s uncomfortableness, backs away and gives him some space. “Sorry, got a bit too excited, hehe.”

Dulse looks back to Ari, puzzled. “Y-you’re good.”

—

The group makes their way to the lab. Dulse opens the door, allowing Ari and Eve to enter. He then enters after them.

Ari takes a good look at the lab and sees that it’s, once again, a mess. “Dulse! How in the world did your lab get so messy again!?” Ari looks to Dulse shocked, jaw to the floor. 

Dulse puts his hand on his neck, a little embarrassed. “I just get absorbed in my work I suppose.”

“I-I see.. Well,” Ari sets her bag down onto a desk, “Guess I’ll get to work again!”

“Wait, no, that was a one time thing. I couldn’t possibly ask you to clean for me again.” Dulse puts his hand up as a motion to decline. 

“But, Dulse, you’re not asking. I’m volunteering!” Ari walks up to Dulse, a smile on her face. “Now, you can start working on your Pokefinder thing and I’ll take care of everything else!”

Dulse sighs. “If you insist then, sure.” Dulse grabs all the bags and takes them to a metal table.

Ari gets to work on cleaning while Dulse starts working on his project. Ari picks things up, organizes papers, puts tools in their proper places, dusts and sweeps. After a little while, the lab looks clean again.

“OOOkay! I think I’m done!” Ari looks to Dulse and notices him jump in his seat. “Hehe, you good?”

Dulse looks back at Ari, a bit flustered. “You’ve just been so quiet up until now, the sudden change in volume startled me.”

“I see! So Dulse can be jumpy too!” 

“Of course, I am human after all…” Dulse looks at Ari for a brief moment and then back at his project.

“Of course~” Ari repeats. “Soooo, how’s it going?” Ari walks up behind Dulse and looks over his shoulder. She sees a mess of wires and bolts.

“It’s a goin.” He answers.

“That looks more like a mess than something that’ll find Pokemon.” Ari stares at the contraption blankly.

“It’s just the innards right now, it’ll look better when I put it’s body on.”

“Ah, I see!” Ari takes a seat on Dulse’s desk.

Dulse looks up at Ari through the corner of his eye. “What are you doing?” He asks.

“Watching.” Ari responds.

“Can you do something else?” Dulse now looks at her directly. 

“But what you’re doing is so interesting!” Ari pouts.

Dulse stares at her for a long moment, then he stands up. He grabs Ari’s face, specifically her cheeks and turns her to face him. He looks into her eyes and says, “I can’t concentrate when you’re watching me like that. You need to find something else to do.”

Ari stares into Dulse’s eyes.

Dulse feels himself getting nervous.

Ari stares more.

“W-what?” Dulse averts his eyes. 

“Ya know,” Ari starts, “You’re pretty handsome.”

Dulse lets go of Ari’s face and steps back. “W-where did that come from!?” He starts blushing hardcore.

“Well, I just got a good look at ya and I came to the conclusion that you’re pretty good looking.” Ari winks.

“Uh… um…” Dulse is at a loss for words. “I’m going to go get some fresh air!” He then heads out the door and slams it when he leaves.

“Pffft! He can be kinda cute too~” Ari says to herself.