Back in Sinnoh, Dana was sitting at her desk in the back room of the Eterna lab. She had the latest edition of the Sinnoh Geological Journal opened in her lap as she read an article on the effects of microbes on minerals in the polar regions. Contrary to the untrained eye, she wasn't slacking off—keeping up to date on the latest research was a part of her job. Besides, she never went anywhere without Gabite, and he was busy.

Just behind the redhead, Arno was making his latest adjustments to his invention. He placed a new chunk of excavated rock on the bench-top and watched the screen of his device as he scanned it over the sample. A few moments passed before he retracted his hand and pursed his lips.

"Alright, Gabite," he called out. "Point out the gems."

Dana glanced back and watched as her pokémon stopped admiring his jewels and pointed to various spots along the sample. Arno seemed fairly pleased at first, though she caught his furrowed brows at a few hits that his device had clearly missed. He chewed on his pen cap for a few moments before taking notes and grumbling to himself. Gabite fidgeted in his spot as he scratched at the rock sample, though the analyst was so engrossed in his work that he didn't even hear the sounds.

Soon after returning her attention to the article, Dana heard the telltale snap of Gabite's jaw, followed by Arno's familiar yelp.

Furrowing her brows, she turned around to face her pokémon. "Hey! What did I tell you about nipping?"

As per usual, Gabite simply pouted and scratched at the hidden jewels.

The geologist rolled her eyes and gestured to his resting area. "You have gems right there."

A low growl emitted from his throat as he scratched at the sample again.

Fully turning around, Dana folded her arms. "Knock it off. I said no. If you nip again, I'm taking someone else into the caves. Got it?"

The cave pokémon snorted before licking his thumb and wiping the saliva on Arno's arm, prompting the man to shudder as he leaned back and wiped the spit on his pant leg. Gabite snickered to himself as he returned to his resting area and picked up a handful of crystals from his hoard.

"Thanks." The lanky man adjusted his glasses as he assured Dana, "The Dig-O-Matic should be ready soon. I'll need you to do a field test and compare it to Gabite's abilities."

She raised an eyebrow as she cracked a smile. "You know that's not going to be the name on the patent, right?"

He jokingly placed a hand on his chest. "It'll always be the Dig-O-Matic in my heart."

The redhead let out a chuckle as she shook her head. "Yeah, yeah. So what's your scale when you say 'soon'?"

Arno turned back to the device and started making adjustments as he told his coworker, "The radar should be ready for testing in the coming weeks. I want you to start with the Underground since that's what you know best, but you'll have to fan out and test it in caves around other regions. I'm gonna work up a schedule based off what's left in the budget."

"Alright. Just let me know when."

With that she turned her attention back to the article. She had only made it another few words in before Maria burst into the room, a rolled-up magazine in hand. She stormed right up to the geologist and placed her hands on her hips as Dana warily eyed her boss and slowly lowered the journal.

"I knew you were meeting with a guy for lunch every day, but I can't believe you didn't tell me it was Steven Stone—the Steven Stone!"

Dana frowned. "We were just going over what I missed at the other tables. I really don't see what the big deal was." She folded her arms as she leaned back in her seat. "And why are you only confronting me about this now?"

The brunette folded her arms. "Sure it wasn't romantic... Then, how do you explain this?"

She opened the magazine and turned it to face the redhead. Right on the centerfold was a picture of Dana and Steven eating lunch together. He was smiling, and she was bobbing her head mid-laugh over a plate of steaming food, red curls flying everywhere. What they had cropped out was the context of Metagross holding Gabite's plate out of his reach after the Ground-Dragon-type decided that stealing his meal was okay. To the left of the image was the title in bold lettering: "Steamy Secret Date between Steel Master and Scientist."

Dana's cheeks immediately flushed as dark as her hair as she read through the clearly inaccurate—and, quite frankly, overly dramatic—tale of her supposed star-crossed romance with the former Champion.

Smacking her hand against her head, the geologist grumbled, "Arceus help me. I have no clue how you've managed to be successful when you believe tabloids like these."

In the meantime, Arno had come over and snatched the magazine to read the "article" for himself. It wasn't long before he doubled over in guffaws so loud that no other conversations could be had. Maria huffed as she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at the man.

Tears were streaming down his face as he quoted one of the cheesier lines. "...Gazed into his steely Steel-Master eyes..." Another bout of laughter filled the room. "Is this trash what you're always reading in your office?"

"Hey, I'll have you know, that was very tame compared to—" Blood rushed to her cheeks. "I mean: yes."

Dana slyly grinned as she teased, "She probably spends more time thinking about Roark than actually reading."

Maria narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you hush."

The redhead snickered. "So was there actually anything you needed or can I get back to reading real articles?"

Maria relaxed as her cheeks returned to their usual hue. "Sycamore may have a real lead on our aerodactyl fossil. We need to check that day's haul for something like one of these." She pulled out two rainbow-colored stones: one the size of a marble, and the other several times larger. "He's calling the big one a mega stone and the small one a key stone."

Gabite tensed and hunched over his small pile of gems as he growled.

Dana shot her pokémon a warning glare before reminding him, "Professor Sycamore said it wouldn't be something you'd be interested in." Turning back to Maria, she explained, "I left all that in a bin. It should be in the basement at the museum."

The short woman nodded. "Okay. I'll need you to deliver them to Sycamore in Kalos. He's too busy to come out here—he barely had time for the conference—and I'm too busy helping Roark work on hiring a security detail for the museum."

Dana smirked. "Anyone could help him do that—heck, he could probably do it himself."

The brunette straightened her posture as she argued, "As head of the research division, the safety of the museum is half my responsibility."

"Yeah, yeah. And as head of the mining division, it's half Roark's too." Dana waved a hand dismissively. "I know. I was just joking." As she closed the journal, she added, "I'll do it."

Arno scowled. "Not yet! I need you to test the radar outside Sinnoh when you're done doing the Underground field test, and we only have the budget for a limited number of round trips. Maria, you know this'll bring in a big paycheck for the lab, so we can't waste a trip like this. Just send the stones by mail."

Their boss put her hands on her hips as she looked up at the tall scientist. "These samples could be crucial to Professor Sycamore's research, and that is not something I trust the postal system with."

Putting a finger to her chin, Dana tilted her head as she suggested, "Why don't I just wait and take it out after the field test? If he's so busy without this, he won't have time to analyze them for a while. If he does happen to get everything done before we're ready to send me out, then he can just come out and get the samples himself. Win-win."

Arno nodded. "Anything's better than wasting the budget."

Maria pursed her lips for a few moments. "I suppose that could be alright. I'll call him up."