After exiting the top floor's office and riding the elevator down to a lower level, Flash and his friends walked out into a hallway. As they did this, the girl known as Cozy Glow turned to them, "Before we go to the lobby, I need to grab something from my lab."
"You have a lab?" Spike asked as they made their way through the building.
"Of course," Cozy replied while skipping through the hallway. "Everyone who works here gets their own lab, where they're able to work on whatever project they want in their spare time."
"Wow," Twilight whispered, "So how did you end up working here at such a young age?"
"Oh, my grandpa was an experienced Pokémon trainer. He travelled all around Equestria and competed in a lot of tournaments. He even won the Equestria League once, but lost to the champion. After that, he got hired by Horizon Incorporated to field test their inventions. One day he brought me in and I wandered off and found a device in one of the labs that the scientists couldn't figure out how to get to work. But then I managed to figure it out. After that, they always asked me how to fix things up."
"Huh," Doc added, "That's impressive."
"Of course." Cozy giggled before gesturing to them, "We're here. Give me one second." She opened a door and walked in before coming back out with a strap bag around her shoulder. "Alright, I'm ready." She started skipping again, only to trip. "OH!" She yelped as she hit the ground, causing her bag to fly open. Several items flew out, books, pens and notepads....but one particular item hit the floor.
"Are you okay?" Flash asked as they helped Cozy up, others picking up things she had dropped.
"I'm okay," she replied before taking everything they handed her thanking them till Spike walked up to her.
"Hey, what's this?" They all turned to Spike as he picked up a Pokeball, this one being purple on the top with a white M on the front and pink circles on either side of it. The older teens saw it and gasped.
"A Master Ball?!" Twilight exclaimed as Cozy quickly took it off Spike and put it back in her bag. "Where did you get that?!"
"It...was my grandpa's. He got it shortly after winning the Equestria League, but never got the chance to use it."
"You know that's a restricted item, right?" Doc added as he pointed at her, "there's a reason it's not mass produced!"
"I know," Cozy winced, glancing away as she tightly held her bag, "But...it's the only thing I have of Grandpa to remember him by. I promise I don't have any intention of using it." She glanced back at them, "So could you maybe, not tell anyone about it?" The four stared at her, only for Cozy to give them the biggest puppy dog eyes they had ever seen.
"Alright," Flash rubbed the back of his head, "I guess there's no harm in it." He turned to the others and they nodded, then looked back to Cozy. "Alright. Just...don't get us in trouble if you get caught."
"I won't." Cozy replied before the group began to make their way back to the elevator, soon getting to the ground floor. They reached the lobby as the tour returned, the four quickly returning their visitors badges before Cozy offered to take them to the cafeteria. There, they got some drinks and waited for Starlight and Sunburst to show up.
Eventually, the pair arrived and they all headed out as Spike asked, "So where are these ruins?"
Sunburst then pointed to the mountain that overlooked the crater, "Right there. It's built into the side of the mountain." As he said that, Starlight typed something into the gauntlet on her arm. A moment later, a large hover platform flew over and they all climbed onboard.
Once on, the platform began to hover over to the main road. "So what's so special about these ruins?" Flash asked as they flew through the city, Starlight smirking back.
"It was built by the people who first created Horizon City. It took place after a great battle between three incredibly powerful Pokémon. The battle was so great that the force of their attacks created a massive hole in the surface of the earth."
The four and their Pokémon glanced around, now realizing what the hole was. "This crater was created during a Pokémon battle?" Spike added, the others nodding as Sunburst continued.
"Afterwards, the Pokémon that attacked was sealed away inside a hole in the mountain. The people who saw this chose to stay here and keep an eye on it, wanting to make sure nothing like what happened could ever happen again. So they built the temple and formed a village in the crater. That village evolved into a town, then into a city and finally into the great metropolis you see before you."
"Wow..." Twilight whispered as they arrived at their location.
"Here we are," Starlight chimed in as the platform came to a stop.
When they got off, Spike pointed at the staircase, "Wait, you want us to climb that?!" Starlight, Sunburst and Cozy started laughing. "Hey! That's not funny! Why can't we take an escalator or something?!"
"It's tradition," Cozy replied, "When you go to see the temple, you have to climb these stairs." Spike let out a major moan, Twilight and the others shaking their heads. "Come on, there's not that many."
"Only three hundred a seventy four," Sunburst responded, Spike letting out another moan before the group began to make their way up the stairs, climbing around the edge of the crater. By step one hundred and nine, they were standing higher then many of the buildings in the city, the teens starting to get winded, Spike panting heavenly as he did so. And by step two hundred and fifty, the other three, Springer and even Peewee were starting to pant along with him. After this, the last few dozen steps made them almost fall over, Spike actually doing it as he then crawled up to the top.
"Aaah," Starlight sighed, "Nice little work out is always good." She turned to the others, "How are you guys doing?" She then saw them all bent over, tongues out in exhaustion. "Don't worry. You get used to it."
"I doubt that," Flash moaned as he forced himself to stand up straight. Once the others had recovered, they looked up at the temple, "So this is it? The ruins that contain an ancient Pokémon?"
"That's right," Starlight nodded. "Sealed within the stone, a great beast of destruction that once rampaged across the land."
The visitors all glanced at one another, only to turn to the temple, now seeing someone they all knew at the building's front doors, "Lightning..."
Lightning Blitz turned to them and sighed, "Just my luck. Dork-fest continues."
They moved over to him, Starlight, Sunburst and Cozy staring at him before Starlight asked, "Is this a friend of yours?" She then flinched as Lightning gave her a death glare.
"Not...exactly," Twilight replied, "But what are you doing here?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but the last I checked, this place was free for anyone to come and look at. Besides," he turned to the doors, "there's supposed to be a super strong Pokémon inside here."
"And there's a reason for that," Sunburst stepped up and pushed the doors open. As he did, Twilight stared at the surrounding stonework in awe, all soon walking in as they saw multiple carvings and murals on the side walls. But then something caught their attention, and the four who had visited the Crystal Empire's eyes went wide.
"Is that what I think it is?" Flash asked as the group walked to the back of the temple, all staring at a giant statue of a Pokémon they had only seen before in stained glass.
"Yup," Cozy nodded as they took in its full image. "That's the Legendary Cataclysmic Pokémon."
"Centirek," Twilight whispered with wide eyes. The creature looked different from how it had looked in the window, but it was definitely the Pokémon in question. "What happened to it?" She turned to Starlight, who gestured to one of the walls.
Everyone turned to an image of Centirek, looking much buffer than the statue. "No one knows where Centirek came from, but it once ravaged the land, searching for the one thing it didn't have of its own. Power." Another image showed the Pokémon attacking a bunch of other Pokémon, then another that showed those Pokémon surrounded by a strange light that was either coming from or going into Centirek's mouth. The next image then showed the Legendary looking even stronger than before.
"Instead of trying to build up its own power, Centirek simply stole power from other Pokémon and added it to its own. It did this to any Pokémon that crossed its path, eventually becoming a monster that only cared about showing off its power." Sunburst commented as the next image showed Alicormony and Dischaos, both appearing out of the sky and charging at Centirek. "It got so bad that even the Legendaries decided to put aside their differences and attempt to stop him." Another image showed the three doing battle, their attacks combining and hitting the ground. The next image then showed a great crater between them.
"So they beat Centirek?" Spike asked, but Starlight shook her head.
"No. They were at a standstill. Centirek could match their power, and if they got too close, it would have stolen their power to."
"So what happened?" Twilight added before Sunburst pointed to the mural on the other wall. On it showed a cloaked figure watching the battle from afar. They were holding some kind of crystal, which they lifted up in the next image. The image after that showed a bright light, followed by the image of the figure fused with what looked like the legendary Zekrom.
"What just happened?" Lightning asked, Sunburst chuckling.
"That's an ancient form of using Pokémon that's been lost to time: Burst Evolution. The fusion of a person and a Pokémon."
"What?!" Doc gasped, "Isn't that like-"
"Yup," Starlight nodded, "That's where we got the idea for the Poké-Arms system. Pretty impressive, huh?" The others nodded as they turned to the wall, the next image showing the Burst Trainer flying at Centirek. "For some reason, Centirek couldn't steal the power of the Burst Pokémon. This allowed them to fight head on and weaken Centirek." The next image showed the Legendaries firing a blast at Centirek and pushing it into a mountain. "Alicormony and Dischaos then drained its power away, sealing it and putting an end to Centirek's reign of terror."
"That's amazing," Twilight whispered before turning to the statue. "So this isn't just stone. It's a real Pokémon?"
"No one's sure," Starlight replied while shaking her head, "Some believe it's really Centirek, while others think it's just a story somebody made up to make the place sound impressive. Honestly, there'll probably never be any proof of the truth. I mean, I doubt anyone's stupid enough to try and free Centirek just to see if it's true, especially after hearing that legend."
The four and their Pokémon blinked before slowly turning to glare at Lightning, the teen growling at them, "What?!" He grumbled before turning away, "Oh grow up. There's no way that thing is actually real. It's just a stupid stone statue!" He turned to the door, "I can't believe I wasted my time here."
He began to exit the temple, only for a voice to call out, "Hey!" he turned to see several people running up, "Is Flash Sentry in there?! We heard he was heading for the ruins!" Lightning growled at this, not answering as the trainers ran past him and mobbed Flash. He glared at the sight, Twilight noticing this before Lightning turned to leave.
That night...
When the sun set and the city was blanketed by darkness, everyone went to bed, all fast asleep. All except one person.
Standing in front of the temple, the cloaked figure was looking over the city. It took out several glass containers, along with a device that was cube with a small satellite dish on it. They placed it on the ground and attached one of the containers to the side of it, then started fiddling with the gauntlet on their arm. As they did this, the machine switched on and the satellite moved in the direction of the Pokémon Center.
In the center, many Pokémon were resting underneath a special kind of lamp that looked like the top of a tanning bed. Each Pokémon had their own tanning bed, which was unleashing a green light down onto the Pokémon, including all the Pokémon that had been used in the tournament that day, such as Venomega, Dusknoir and other strong Pokémon.
In that moment, the light began to stop...only for a new green light to appear...and began to take a light from the Pokémon. They all flinched at this, the light flying up into the lamp, draining them instantly. As this happened, the Center's radio transmitter turned to the direction of the temple and began to transmit something that couldn't be seen by the human eye. The energy drained away from the Pokémon was transferred to the machine the caped figure was holding before going into a glass container, where it morphed into a familiar green liquid.
The container was soon full, the figure removing it from the machine before connecting another to the side of it. This one also filled up, the figure repeating the process until every one of their containers was full to the brim. "Perfect," they whispered before getting up and carrying the several full bottles to the temple. "With this much energy, you'll soon be awake and ready to follow my commands."
The next morning...
When they woke up that morning and went down to breakfast, Flash and his friends were met with a large crowd all hollering at Nurse Redheart.
"What did you do to my Quagsire?!" One of them asked.
"My Pipple was only supposed to be in for a brief rest! Why is he suddenly more exhausted than when I gave him to you?!"
"I wanted to use my Raichu in the tournament today!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Nurse Redheart bowed over and over, "We don't know what's going on, but we're looking into it!"
Flash and the others glanced at each other before seeing Lightning staring at the sight. "What's going on?" Twilight asked him, Lightning barely acknowledging them before speaking.
"For some reason, every Pokémon that was left under the Center's care was found completely drained of energy this morning. They didn't even have the strength to use any attacks."
This made them all go wide-eyed, only for Starlight, Sunburst and Cozy to walk out from the emergency room. Starlight moved over to Redheart, "I'm sorry. We checked the system, but we can't find anything wrong with it. The system's in perfect working order."
"Then why is my Musharna completely exhausted?!" One of the teens cried, Sunburst holding up his hands at this.
"We're still gonna look into the system, but please try and stay calm." Cozy nodded at this, using a cute expression as she also asked them to stay calm.
"Enough of this," Lightning turned to leave. "I wasn't planning on using Venomega anyways."
As he began to leave, he heard someone speak up, "Hey Flash." One of the trainers ran over to him. "Maybe you can find out why this is happening!"
"Me?" Flash asked, "Why me?"
"You were able to stop Team Shadow from conquering the Pokémon world, so figuring this kind of thing out must be a piece of cake for you!" Flash scratched the back of his head, unable to reply. As this happened, Twilight turned to Lightning and saw him glaring at Flash before leaving.
And while the situation continued, Twilight ran after the teen, "Lightning!" She called out once outside, Lightning coming to a stop and glaring back at her.
"What?!"
"Are you alright?" She asked while coming to a stop, "You've been acting...grumpier lately."
"I'm fine," Lightning hissed.
"So the death glare you were giving Flash was just...what, your usual amount of anger toward him?"
Lightning growled at this, proving Twilight's point. "I just don't see why everyone's suddenly going gaga over that loser."
"Well, he did stop Sombra and save Equestria."
"He would have been blown to smithereens if I hadn't save his sorry butt."
"True."
"The only reason he's being fawned over is because the champion gave him that stupid spear to stab into that giant's heart. If he had given it to me, nobody would even remember his name. Heck, the way they're talking, it's like he's the only one that fought against that monster." He fully glared at her, "But I know the truth. He barely did a thing."
"You know that's not true. It was Flash who got everyone in Equestria to come to help. It was his idea to ask for help, because he knew he couldn't do it on his own."
"Ha!" Lightning laughed, "Of course he asked for help! I could have taken that guy down without a problem. I saw his battle. It was six on one and he couldn't do a thing against that guy. I would have obliterated him."
"I doubt that." Twilight chimed in, Lighting hissing back.
"I could have done it!" he barked, "I am better than that loser! He's a nobody, a weakling that had to ask for help! A true trainer would have stood their ground and beat Sombra and that giant monster he became."
Twilight just shook her head, "You know that's not true." Lightning growled at her again, but she just continued, "That's why you didn't finish Sombra. All you care about is winning, and that's all you focus on. But Flash doesn't care about winning, and is willing to put other things he sees as more important ahead of what he wants. If he was given a choice between beating someone and helping them grow stronger, then he'll pick helping them. That's why people gravitate toward him. It's why Shining trusted him with ending Sombra."
"Right..." Lightning rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that. It'll mean nothing when the Equestria League comes around. I'll crush him again without trying and then your brother will be next." He leaned down with a giant grin on his face, "So tell your friend to enjoy his fifteen minutes of fame. Because when I'm done wiping him out, no one will ever remember his name again...well, except for the nobody that challenged and lost again to the strongest trainer that ever existed: Me."
"Maybe." Twilight shined a small smile, "Or maybe he'll be remembered better than you ever will. After all, this isn't the first time he's saved the day." She pointed at the teen, "He's Flash Sentry, the boy chosen by Pegasoar who saved the Legendaries Eclixie and Sirenity from psychopaths that wanted to use their powers for themselves, and who led the charge against Team Shadow in the final battle." She turned to walk back to the Pokémon Center. "Honestly, Flash has done so much for the region that it doesn't even matter if you beat him in the Equestria League. He'll always be a real hero."
"Him?!" Lightning laughed again, "A real hero?!"
"Why not?" Twilight replied before glancing back at him. "Real heroes aren't always the ones who land the finishing blow or get the flashiest victories. They're the ones that put everything on the line so that the final blow can be landed. That's what it takes to really be a true hero."
With that, she headed back inside the center, Lightning glaring at her as her words flow through his head, "A true hero?!"
When Twilight arrived back in the Center, she found the crowd had dispersed and her friends were gone. She asked Nurse Redheart and she stated they had gone with Starlight and the others to check on the Pokémon healing equipment. Leading her to the back room, she found Flash and Spike watching Doc helping the others.
"I see," the gym leader nodded as he and Sunburst stared into the open machine, "So this machine was designed by reverse engineering draining moves and reversing the process?"
"Exactly," Sunburst nodded. "We studied the move Absorb, Mega and Giga Drain and determined how the energy taken is transferred into the Pokémon using it. After much hard work, we found a way to mimic the energy and developed these lamps to give that energy to the Pokémon underneath it."
"But for some reason they didn't work properly last night," Starlight added as she used her gauntlet to scan the inside of the device. "In fact, according to the trainers and Nurse Redheart, the Pokémon were in worse shape this morning than they were when they were placed under the lamps. Did something happen when we connected it to the new generators?"
"Weren't you the one who connected this system to it?" Cozy asked, "It's not like you to make a mistake." Starlight hummed as she continued to scan the device, unable to find anything.
"Maybe you just put a single wire in the wrong place," Twilight suggested, "With how complicated this kind of machine is, it wouldn't be surprising that you miss a single wire in it all."
"It's possible," Starlight nodded as they continued to work.
Flash and Spike kept watching for an hour or so, only to get bored and walk out of the room. There they saw a TV by the reception desk, showing the city colosseum. "And Lightning Blitz takes down another Pokémon." The pair then saw Lightning's Pitchawk flying above a downed Movine. "What will his opponent use in its place?"
"Blazard!" He yelled before unleashing the flame lizard Pokémon, the battle starting as Pitchawk flew up into the air. "Flame Burst!" The Fire-type fired a blast of flames, Pitchawk easily dodging it.
"Night Slash!" Pitchawk's wing glowed purple as it dived down and slashed at Blazard's stomach, making it cry out. "Now, use Shadow Ball!" Pitchawk swung back around as Blazard staggered back, the bird firing a sphere of dark energy.
"Dodge it!" Blazard leapt back and the sphere struck the ground, "Fire Spin!"
"Blaze!" Blazard spat out a fireball, which struck the ground and exploded into a tornado of flames that wrapped around Pitchawk.
"Looks like Lightning's in trouble," Spike smirked as he and Flash sat down.
"No," Flash shook his head, "Lightning's winning."
"Really?"
"Check out the corner of the screen." Spike turned and went wide-eyed as he saw that the bottom two corners showed three boxes. His opponent's side were full of the faces of Blazard, Movine and a Bloxx while Lightning's side only had Pitchawk with the other two empty. "Lightning's beaten his other two Pokémon with just Pitchawk. Even if it's beaten, he has two other Pokémon while his opponent only has Blazard."
In that moment, Pitchawk managed to break out of the flame tornado and flew over to Lightning. His trainer held up his Pokeball, returning it before throwing out a Dive-Ball. "Thrashark, Battle Ready!" In a flash of red light, the giant shark Pokémon appeared before letting out a roar that terrified Blazard.
Back in the medical wing, Twilight and the others were still working. "Maybe we need to run a stronger diagnostic," Starlight suggested before she, Twilight and Cozy left the room to grab some equipment. As they did this, Sunburst reached into his toolbox and took out a device.
Doc needed only a simple look to tell what it is, "A diagnostic receiver?"
"Yup," Sunburst placed it inside the bed. "This device is connected to my gauntlet. Once it's connected to the system, it'll tell me everything this bed does." He placed it inside and started typing away at his arm, the connection completing and allowing him to follow everything the system did as the girls returned with the equipment.
"Flame Burst!" Blazard unleashed another fire missile, which shot at Thrashark as the sea predator raised its arms and blocked the flames.
"Aqua Jet!" Thrashark was consumed by water a it charged into Blazard, making it cry out as it was thrown back. Blazard's feet skidded across the floor, almost falling back as Thrashark exploded out of the water. "Crunch!"
Everyone watched as Thrashark charged again, its fangs beginning to glow until the other trainer yelled, "Metal Claw!" The Flame Lizard Pokémon swung its now glowing claws at Thrashark's face, making it cry out as it staggered back, only for Blazard to also cry as it held its claws.
"Looks like Thrashark's Rough Skin ability got it some payback for that attack."
"Enough of this!" Lightning yelled before pointing at Blazard. "Tsunami Surge!" Thrashark swung its arms around, water exploded out from beneath it before firing at Blazard like a wave. The Fire-type gasped at the sight and tried to run away, but was struck by the wave instantly.
"Blazard!" It cried as it was washed down the field. And when the water vanished, it revealed Blazard laid out on the ground with spirals in its eyes.
"Blazard is unable to battle," the ref called, "Thrashark is the winner! All of Cinnamon Crunch's Pokémon are unable to battle, so the winner is Lightning Blitz!"
The crowd cheered as Lightning returned Thrashark and left the field, Spike sighing at the sight, "Another win for him. How many rounds does this tournament have?"
"Four," Flash replied, "That means he has to win twice before he's made the tournament winner...which will probably happen." As he said that, Twilight and the others walked out, the teen turning to her, "Manage to figure out what happened to the beds?"
"No," Twilight shook her head, "They seem perfectly fine."
"I would like to do a test run on it," Starlight added, "But I doubt anyone would let their Pokémon use it until we're sure it's properly working."
As she said that, Flash felt Springer pull on his leg. He glanced down, "You sure?" Springer nodded back, "Alright." He turned back to Starlight, "Springer says you can test it on him if you want."
Starlight smiled at this and nodded, the group returning to the recovery bedroom and putting the Riolu on it. They activated the device and Springer was soon bathed in the healing light that the lamps began to unleash on him, re-energizing him while the others ran a diagnostic. But no matter what they did, they couldn't find anything wrong with the system.
Once Springer's nap finished and they found no issues, they were forced to conclude that last night was likely an isolated incident. They told Nurse Redheart this and when they did, she was worried that the same thing might happen again. Sunburst promised he would find the cause of this if it did happen again, Redheart nodding and addressing the trainers that had returned to get their Pokémon looked at. This included Lightning, who didn't talk to anyone and simply dropped his three tired Pokémon off before heading to train with the others.
Meanwhile, the others decided to spend the rest of the day exploring the city again. They had agreed that they would stay until the day after the tournament, since that's how long they would have stuck around if Flash had been in the contest, giving them three more days to enjoy themselves.
And so, Starlight, Sunburst and Cozy continued to show them all the amazing places in Horizon until the sun began to set and they all returned to the center.
That night...
As the city was once again bathed in darkness, many Pokémon were once again asleep on the recovery beds in the Center. They were all soundly asleep, enjoying the rays that were helping them heal and recover from their long hard day of battle.
This included Trashark, Pitchawk and Venomega, who were all fast asleep. And as they slept, none realized the danger they were all in. Over at the ruins, the cloaked figure stood outside the temple again. They took out the device and placed it on the ground, then took out several containers that they connected to the side of the machine.
Once done, they started typing away at the gauntlet on their arm. As they did this, the device came to life and began connecting to the recovery beds. And once again, the Pokémon felt themselves being drained of energy instead of receiving them. But unlike last time, this event wasn't gonna be done without getting caught.
Inside the top office of Horizon Incorporated, Sunburst was in his and Starlight's lab. Starlight had gone home, but Sunburst had stayed behind. He was busy trying to readjust the Poké-Arms system, hoping to get it properly working for once.
"There has to be a way to make this work..." he told himself as he let out a long sigh, "I know this thing can work, but we're missing something." He pressed a few buttons on the side, but found the synchronization system hadn't changed at all. "Maybe the problem isn't the system. Maybe we just need a trainer and Pokémon with a strong enough bond...but we got no one like that."
He slumped in his chair, only for a beep to ring out from his wrist. The teen pulled his sleeve back, now staring at his gauntlet, "Huh?" He pressed a button, only to see a message from his diagnostic receiver. "No way."
The message told him that something had hacked into the recovery beds and had reversed them, switching them to drain instead of heal. He ran over to his computer and began typing away, logging into the bed's systems and locating the signal from where the hacking was coming from. But when he couldn't, he decided to go a different route, instead trying to follow the energy that was being stolen.
"It must be getting sent somewhere..." he whispered as he locked onto the energy. Latching his signal onto the energy pattern, he watched as a map of the city appeared, and a red line came off the Pokémon Center and moved across the city until it reached the edge of the crater, in front of the temple. "Gotcha."
He moved over to the window and grabbed some binoculars from Starlight's desk, then looked out at the temple. There he saw a cloaked figure standing in front of the ruins with some kind of machine. "Oh, I don't think so." He started typing on his gauntlet, sending a message to the temple's security team.
The figure had filled the last container, causing them to switch off the device and return the recovery beds to normal. But as they began to put the containers away, the sound of a door slamming open caught their attention. "HEY!" They turned to see the guard house located near the temple, which the guards had just leapt out of. "Freeze!" The figure got up and tried to run with the device in hand, but accidently tripped and drop the device.
It hit the ground and broke apart as the guards ran over. The figure managed to get back to their feet and run to the stairs, running down them as fast as possible. The guards followed, but couldn't catch up to the assailant as they made their way down the steps until they reached the bottom.
Once there, the figure rushed into the closest alleyway and vanished before the guards could get to them. Up in the skyscraper, Sunburst watched as the figure disappeared before looking back at the edge of the crater. The remains of the damaged machine sat there, waiting for someone to collect it. He sent a message to the guards, asking them to pick it up and keep it safe until he arrived.
"What are you up to?" He asked the cloaked figure as he prepared to leave. He placed the Poké-Arms back into the case before leaving them on the desk. "Let's find out, shall we?"