Ari watches Dulse walk out the lab and says, “Pffft, he can be kinda cute.” She then looks down at the device Dulse is building. “Now, how is this going to work?” Ari pokes the contraption and suddenly wires and bolts fly everywhere. “Ah!” She screams.

Dulse barges through the door. “What happened? Why did you scream!?” He runs up to Ari.

“I-it was an accident!” Ari, scared,  looks at Dulse, then gestures to the table.

“What? What was -” Dulse looks down to the table and sees wires and bolts all over the place. “What happened?”

“I-I was looking at it… then I touched it slightly… and uh…”

“You touched it?” Dulse’s voice raises.

Ari flinches. “Y-yes?”

“It wasn’t done! Why would you touch it!?” Dulse glares  at Ari.

“I-I don’t know… I just sorta… then I- and then- I uh.” Tears start to fall rapidly. 

Dulse is brought aback by Ari’s tears but he looks to the ground and says, “I think you should leave.”

Ari gasps and stumbles back towards the door. She then runs out of the lab sobbing. “I’m sorry!” Eve follows after her.

Dulse looks at the door for a long white then he goes to fix his work.

—

Dulse finally gets the contraption back to the way it was. He thinks to himself for a second. -If this fell apart as easily as Ari said… then I must have put it together wrong somehow… which means…- Dulse sighs. “It wasn’t Ari’s fault that it broke… Dammit…”

Dulse gets up from his seat and heads out of his lab to find Ari.

—

Dulse arrives at the Pokemon Center and he walks through the automatic doors. 

“Look who finally decided to show his face!” Nurse Joy’s tongue is rough.

“S-so she told you…”

“She didn’t need to tell me, I put two and two together!” Nurse Joy walks out from behind her desk. “She was, probably still is, bawling. Now tell me, how does knowing that make you feel?”

“Oh… I definitely don’t feel good about it…” Dulse clenches his fist.

“Mhmm, go on.” 

“I, uh, I realized it was wrong of me… to yell at her that is… not to mention, the Pokefinder falling apart was my error, not hers.”

“Even if it WAS her error, you never raise your voice at a lady! Got that!?” Nurse Joy glares at Dulse.

“Y-yes ma’am!” Dulse freezes in place, startled by Nurse Joy’s tone. 

“Now,” Nurse Joy calms, “Room 3, go make things right.”

“G-got it!” Dulse understands what he needs to do and he makes his way down the hall. He gets to room 3 and hesitantly knocks on the door.

Through sniffles and sobs, Ari is heard. “Coming.” She opens the door, and through closed eyes she says, “Nurse Joy, I appreciate you being worried but I’ll be fi- Dulse?!” She blinks her tears away.

“H-hey...” Dulse says.

Ari whispers, “Hi…”

They both stand still, silent for a few seconds.

“I’m sorry!” They both say. 

They look into each other's eyes and then both look away.

“W-what?” Ari looks down. “Why are you sorry?” She takes a peak at Dulse’s face. She sees him with a sad expression. “Dulse?”

Dulse, once again, clenches his fist. “I’m sorry… because… I yelled at you… I shouldn’t have done that… you didn’t… you didn’t do anything wrong!”

“B-but I-”

“Ari… you were curious… and that’s okay. Plus… I think I built it wrong the first time… It shouldn’t have fallen apart like that… I’m really sorry Ari, none of this was your fault.”

Ari looks Dulse right in the eyes and starts crying again.

“A-Ari…” Dulse feels his chest tighten. “I understand if you don’t accept my apology…”

Ari continues to cry.

Dulse frowns. “I’ll take my leave…”

“N-no! Wait!” Ari grabs onto Dulse’s shirt.

Dulse turns around and Ari wraps her arms around Dulse’s neck. “Oh Dulse!” She hides her face in his shoulder. “It’s okay… I’m just glad that you’re not mad at me anymore!”

“W-woah!” Dulse steps back, surprised by the sudden impact. “Ari…”

“Ari nuzzles Dulse’s neck. “Thank you.” She says.

Dulse’s heart skips a beat. He puts one arm around Ari’s waist. “No… thank you…” He closes his eyes and rests his chin on Ari’s head.