You explain the Leona encounter as you and your little group as you all collect the spiky chestnuts and put them into the baskets as Poni helps and Koraidon watches from the side. Grim regularly buts in, and you decide to let him finish the last bit of the explanation because he deserves it.

"...and then he peaced out!" You nod in response to the cat-monster, Moonstone watching you from your shoulder.

"Yeah, no way was that guy the groundskeeper." Ace states as he tosses a chestnut into his basket.

"Y'know, now that I think about it, he WAS wearin' the golden vest of that Pajama-clog dorm." Grim grumbles as he struggles to use the tongs, and you quickly help him adjust his position to use the tongs better.

Deuce tilts his head confused. "Pajama... clog? You mean Savanaclaw? You know, I'm starting to think that there's an awful lot of delinquents here at Night Raven."

You nod in agreement with Deuce and gather more chestnuts and set your full basket next to Deuce and Ace's baskets. "Unfortunately, it seems you're right, Deuce..."

Ace lets out a sigh of relief and wipes the sweat from his brow, a grin on his face. "All right, that should be enough chestnuts. Let's get these baskets over to Trey!"

Grim excitedly rubs his paws together, dropping the tongs. "Myahaha! Now that we're all gassed up, it's destination Flavortown, baby!"

--------

"Welcome back." Trey greets as your group strolls into the Heartslabyul kitchen, carrying a good few large baskets nearly overfilled with chestnuts. "Looks like you got plenty."

Grim hops up from your shoulder and stands next to the baskets on the kitchen island as you set them down, grinning slyly. "Now you can make us some massive tarts!"

Trey laughs and shakes his head slightly, obviously not going to peel all the chestnuts. "Well, the bigger the tarts, the harder it'll be to peel all these nuts, so... good luck with that!"

Deuce's eyes widen in shock as he leans back slightly. "We have to peel all of these...? Suddenly the whole room is spinning."

Trey adjusts the rim of his glasses,  looking amused. "Preparation is the key to good baking."

Ace rolls his eyes, crossing his arms. "Yeah, yeah, I know. We've come this far. We're not giving up now!

--------

"There! Finally got 'em all pureed!" Ace grins as you take your hand off the food processor button, having pureed the last of the chestnuts. You and Poni were switching who was the one pureeing the chestnuts, and you both were smiling the entire time.

"My arms are killing me..." Deuce groans out, rubbing his arms with a frown.

Trey laughs a bit. "Nice work. It'll be all the sweeter for the pain!"

You tilt your head. "Hm. Interesting. Chestnuts are very similar in form to Chesto Berries, though I assume they most likely vary in taste..."

"What-now berries?" Ace asks as he looks over at you with an inquisitive expression.

"Chesto Berries. They wake up people and Pokémon who fall alseep. I have a good few, very useful..." You smile a bit.

"The smell alone already has me droolin'." Grim comments as he clambers onto your shoulder, staring at the food with large and hungry eyes. Trey mixes the chestnut paste with the other ingredients with a smile.

"I just need to add butter and sugar to the chestnut paste," Trey comments as he keeps working, "and a sensible splash of oyster sauce, my secret ingredient."

"Oyster sauce!?" Ace and Deuce yelp out in sync and you recoil in horror.

"Okay, one," You start, "I have like two friends who would immediately be traumatized by you just saying that, especially Katy. I think Katy would cry. And two, if it has Cloyster Sauce in it, then I can't eat it... I'm vegetarian."

Trey merely smiles and brandishes a bottle of oyster sauce. "That's unfortunate, Y/N, but it's true. The umami of oysters gives the cream a deep, savory flavor. I use this one here: Walrus-brand Young Oyster Sauce. All the best bakers use it in their tarts." Trey says matter-of-factly.

"I learned how to bake from the best baker I know and no! No-" You wheeze in internal pain at the idea, feeling close to vomitting at how much oyster sauce would mess up the dish.

Deuce looks confused at Trey and concerned at the horror you aren't bothering to hide on your face. "Really? But isn't oyster sauce like... super salty?"

Ace scratches his head, looking just as confused as Deuce. "Some folks put chocolate into curry, don't they? Maybe it's the same idea?"

Trey bursts out laughing, catching everyone off guard. He holds his sides with his hands, wheezing a bit. "I'm totally lying! No one in their right mind would put oyster sauce into a pastry."

"OH THANK ARCEUS!" You cough a bit in internal agony as you set Grim and Moonstone down on the table before flopping onto the floor.

"Are you... okay?" Deuce asks you, incredibly concerned for your mental wellbeing.

"...no..." You groan back in response. "I just... lay on floor... for like two minutes... Trey, you have put me in physical pain."

Trey barely manages manages to stop laughing. "Haha... sorry Y/N..."

Ace crosses his arms. "So you were just yankin' our chain?"

Trey grins. "I mean, if you used your brain like Y/N, you would've realized how ridiculous it was! Let that be a lesson to you. Don't believe everything you hear, and be intelligent like Y/N."

You raise an arm with a thumbs up as thank you, still laying face down on the ground.

Grim crosses his arms and scoffs, looking unimpressed. "Feh... and here I thought that this human was actually somewhat decent, like the hench-human."

You sit back up, shaking your head. "Grim, be nice."

Trey rolls his eyes at Grim's annoyance as he goes back to stirring the bowl. "Next, I'll put in the cream... Oh!"

"What's wrong?" Ace asks as Deuce helps you stand back up.

"You guys gathered so many chestnuts that we may have overdone it with the chestnut paste. I don't think we have enough cream to mix in." Trey frowns a bit, shaking his head.

Deuce steps forward. "Then I'll go buy some. Do they sell it at the school store?"

Trey tilts his head, eyes slightly scrunched up in thought. "They sell pretty much everything, so... probably. Can I have you pick me up a few other things?" Trey grabs a small notebook and a pen from his pocket starts writing a list. "I need two cartons of milk, two packs of eggs, some muffin cups, five cans of fruit."

"I don't think I'll be able to carry all that back..." Deuce looks to you with a polite smile. "Y/N, could you come with me?"

"Sure." You say with a similar smile. "I also need some things anyways, so it'd be a win-win for everyone involved. Poni, Grim, want to stay here?" You ask, already knowing Moonstone will come with you.

Ogerpon excitedly makes a, "Ponyo!" in obvious desire to come with me, and Grim huffs. "I'm comin' too! I'm getting dizzy from all this stirrin'. I need a break!"

--------

You hop off Miraidon's back, offering a hand to help Deuce and Poni off the Paradox Pokémon. Both take your hand and step off, Grim clambering onto your shoulder opposite to the one Moonstone's on.

You look at the small building in front of you, before you and Moonstone share a look. You shrug a tad bit, before returning Koraidon to their Pokéball and striding into the building. Deuce follows after you, close behind.

You can feel your eyes widen as you step in, seeing this place is packed. Hundreds of knickknacks line the walls, and it's hard to tell where one shelf ends and another begins.

Deuce steps forward to a cluttered counter and rings a little bell on it. "Hello, can I get some he- Woah."

His attention is immediately diverted to looking to the right of the counter, and you look with him. "This shop is wild. They have crazy skulls, grimores, taxidermied- uh, I don't even know what animal that is..."

You and Deuce stare at the creature, trying to make out what it is. You've never seen anything like it, that's for sure...

Deuce leans over to you. "Do you think they really sell cream here?"

You don't even get a chance to respond before a new voice cuts you off. "Greetings, my stray imps! How fare you, today?"

You look over at the center of the counter as Deuce flinches in surprise, seeing a twenty-ish someone now behind it staring at you two with a grin etched on his darker toned face. His hair is made up of black and purple locks flipped to the right side of his head in an undercut, and his magenta eyes glimmer with a mirth to them you haven't seen in most people here outside of a few. Beneath the maroon blazer he wears, you see a bright purple vest with skeletal motifs as buttons. You see a hat on his head- woo, hat buddies- made of sewn together of maroon and black colored parts, with a small skull affixed to a red sash wrapped around it. You note a necklace around his neck with tooth-looking bones attached to it around his neck, and an apron around his torso and tied together with a black-and-white ribbon.

He leans against the counter and chipperly greets your little group. "Welcome to Mr. Sam's Mystery Shop! What among my humble selection intrigues you? A charm from a secluded land? The mummified remains of an ancient king? A cursed tarot card?"

Grim tries to hide in your hair, eyes wide. "Myah! I wasn't expectin' this kinda selection!"

Deuce hesitantly hands the smiling Sam the list Trey gave him. "Um... we wanted to buy all the items on this list..."

You pull out your own list and also casually hand it to Sam with a smile. "And I would like the stuff on this list. Seperate check, please."

"Ring up two cans of tuna while you're at it!" Grim calls from where he hides in your hair.

"No, Grim! We're not here for tuna!" Deuce scolds the cat, huffing a bit.

"Grim, I already put tuna on our list, calm down." You roll your eyes at the cat-monster's antics.

Sam scans the lists with a raised eyebrow. "Whats this? Cream and eggs and..? Quite the sacchariferous and artisanal set of lists! I'll get everything for you."

Sam disappears behind a curtain located behind the counter. Deuce scratches his head and looks at you with a confused expression. "Woah. He really does stuck that stuff, huh?"

You nod as Sam reappears carrying a good half a dozen large bags. "Here you go. They're pretty heavy. Are you sure you can carry this? Luckily for you, our 1/100th size flying saucers are thirty percent off today! Perfect for carrying groceries!"

"Oh! Lemme see- MYAH!" Grim yelps as he immediately is stopped from hopping onto the counter by your grabbing him by the scruff, a fake smile plastered on your face as you pay Sam your paycheck Crowley gave to you earlier.

"No thank you. Grim, stop wriggling!" You scold the cat, slightly annoyed, but gratefully recieve your change.

You grab three of the bags, Deuce grabs two, and Poni grabs the smallest bag and holds it above her head.

Grim crosses his arms, an indignant look on his face. "Myah! I didn't realize today was national "No Fun Allowed" day!"

Sam waves at you as you leave the shop. "Very well. Then until next time, my little imps! Do come again! Ciao!"

-------

You walk side by side with Deuce, Poni walking a bit ahead of you guys down Main Street. You offered to let the group ride Ko or Mi back, but Ogerpon insisted on walking.

At a glance, the scene reminds you of two parents walking with their child. The idea makes you a bit amused.

"Wow, that store was amazing!" Deuce breathes out, looking excited.

Grim scoffs at Deuce from your shoulder. "Yeah, and you're amazingly cheap."

Deuce bristles and glares at Grim. "Who are you calling cheap?"

He huffs and glances over at you. "Y/N, looks like you got the bag with all the cans. That must be heavy, let me take that one. I've got a trick for carrying heavy bags."

Before you can resist, Deuce takes one of the bags from you. You giggle a bit, amused. "Ha... Deuce, thank you, but I promise I can easily carry those. You're quite the power shopper, though."

Deuce's cheeks tinge pink at your compliment, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah. My mom always used to stock up sales, and the bags would get ridiculously heavy. I was the only man in the house, so I do all the heavy lifting, and-" He pauses and glances away. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to monopolize the conversation..."

You giggle in amusement. "Heh, no need to say sorry. I like learning more about you."

You two stare in eachothers eyes, Deuce silent for a moment. "Do you... really mean that?"

"Yep! I promise I love spending time with you and learning stuff about you. Anyways, my mom's a single mom too. Single mom buddies!" You grin at Deuce, who looks very flustered, and Grim rolls his eyes.

Deuce grins sheepishly, looking at the floor. "Well, I..."

"PON!" Ogerpon yelps as she accidentally slams into another student, accidentally dropping the bag onto the floor. One of the carton of eggs rolls out of the bag, half of the eggs shattered and the carton dripping.

"Myah! The eggs!" Grim yowls out from your shoulder.

Deuce stares in horror at the eggs as Poni hops back with tears in her eyes and she runs up to you. Ogerpon tightly hugs you, and you pet her on the head to reassure her. "Th- the carton of eggs is totally smashed! And now the carton's dripping everywhere!"

"Ouch! Why don't you watch where you're- Hey! You're the jerks that broke the egg yolk on my carbonara!"

Oh dear Arceus no... You groan internally as you recognize the students from earlier you threatened for harassing Grim and you for 'ruining' their food.

"I've had about enough of you punks. You need to learn your place!" The student in the front- the one who had the carbonara- growls out.

Deuce furiously glares at the opposing students. "You're the ones who darted out at us from around a corner and made one of Y/N's companions drop the bag by accident! And you picked a fight with us at lunch over an egg that you were still totally able to eat! And now you've destroyed six of our eggs!"

Grim nods in agreement with an indignant expression. "Yeah, he's right!"

One of the boys took an intimidating step forward. "So what? You sayin' that was our fault?"

Deuce stands his ground, narrowing his gaze. "I am. Please reimburse us for the eggs. And then apologize to the chickens."

You give him a confused look, remembering what you read about chickens the other day. But those eggs weren't going to be chickens..?

Another student laughs mockingly and steps up beside his friend. "Ooh, looks who's got his big-boy pants on. You're sure makin' a big deal out of some stupid eggs."

Deuce's glower intensifies tenfold. "What?"

"They haven't even touched the ground, so they're still edible." Another student comments.

You step forward, Poni hiding behind you with tears as you do your best to comfort her. "Excuse me?" Do they even know how unsafe that could be?

"You should thank us for savin' ya the trouble of cracking 'em!" The students all laugh, and you want to maul them for just upsetting Poni.

"That ain't funny."

The student's laughter dies down at Deuce's cold and unfeeling tone, outside of barely contained rage you sense from a kilometer away. "Huh?"

"I said, that ain't funny!" Deuce steps forward, looking more terrifying than you when enraged. "You don't get to call my eggs stupid. You don't get to call any eggs stupid! Those eggs may not have gotten to be chicks, but they were gonna make delicious tarts! And you don't get to make any of Y/N's friends cry like that! Do you get it yet? Do you?"

Moonstone nudges you in an obvious, 'We should stop this, Y/N'. You, however, shake your head in a, 'nah. I want to see how this plays out' way.

"What is with this guy all of a sudden?" Another student asks in fear.

"You owe me six eggs. If ya ain't gonna pay me for 'em, then you're getting a bruise for each one!" Deuce says with a pissed-off grin as he cracks his knuckles.

"Are- are you serious right now?" A different student shrinks back in fear

"Buckle up, jerks."

---

You watch as the students run away from the seething Deuce, Poni and Grim watching with wide eyes.

"That guy is out of his mind!"

"He's scarier than the girl!"

"Let's get out of here!"

"Next time you eat an egg, you better apologize a hundred times! You buncha chumps!" Deuce calls after them as they disappear down Main Street.

"Woah..." Grim whispers in shock.

You set down the bags and approach Deuce, placing a hand on his shoulder as you hold Poni in your other arm. "Easy there... breaths to calm down."

Deuce tries to breathe, but his knees shake. He leans on you for support as he buries his head against the crook of your neck and almost growls in frustration.

Grim hops hops back a bit, claws digging into your skin, eyes wide. "What's wrong?"

"I did it again, didn't I?" Deuce lets out a frustrated yell as he shakes his head against you. "I was dead set on becoming an honor student this time too!"

You raise an eyebrow, placing a supportive hand on his back. "Easy... What do you mean?"

"When I was in middle school, I was pretty wild." Deuce shakes his head, staring at the ground as he keeps leaning on you. "I cut school all the time and got in fights. I called my teachers names, hung out with bullies, bleached my hair... I blasted around tight curves on my blastcycle, I'd show off my magic to kids who couldn't use it yet... I was a total punk."

Grim put his paws to his hips, looking unamused. "So you were only a little more annoying than you are now?"

"Grim..." You state, your tone threatening and quieting the cat down.

"But one night," He continues, ignoring Grim, "I saw my mom talking on the phone to my grandma. She was trying to hide from me, but I saw her, and I could tell she was in tears."

Deuce brought his hands to his head, covering his eyes. "She was saying how she must have been a horrible mom, and that maybe she never should have tried to raise me by herself. That had nothin' to do with it! She hadn't done anything wrong. It was all me."

Deuce sighs and stands back up, looking away from you in almost shame. "When the carriage came to take me to Night Raven College, she was so happy for me. I decided then and there that this time, I wouldn't do anything to make her cry. This time, I'd become an honor student, someone she could be proud of. And I already messed it all up!"

"You didn't mess anything up." You say as you take Deuce's hands with your free one.

"But I-" He tries to argue back, but you cut him off.

"Deuce, listen to me. Everyone makes mistakes. You, however, aren't messing up at all. Wanting to genuinely become a good person to make your mom proud? That's admirable."

You move your hand from his to his shoulder. "And I promise you this. You have my support entirely on your journey, that's what friends do. Steering yourself in the righr direction, that takes effort. And you're putting so much in, and doing great. If no one else is, just know I'm proud of you, Deuce."

Deuce stays quiet for a moment, staring into your E/C eyes with his cyan ones, before tightly hugging you.

"...thank you." He murmurs after a moment before sheepishly pulling back. "I just hope those chicks can rest in peace..."

You pause. "Deuce, I'm about to rock your world, but chickens don't live inside eggs. Those weren't going to hatch."

"Wha- WHAAAAT?" Deuce asks in shock, his jaw dropping. "Are you kidding me?"