It doesn't take you long to find Ace, Deuce, and Grim. They're all sitting in the mirror chamber and grumbling, with Grim furiously trying to pry the collar off and Deuce looking like he's close to another existential crisis.

"You three alright?" You ask, all the boys pausing and looking over at you.

"Y/N! You're alright!" Deuce stands up, with the brightest grin on his face, and runs over to you, tightly hugging you. The force of the hug nearly knocks you over.

"H- huh? Why wouldn't I be?" You ask, genuinely confused.

Ace stands up and shrugs. "He was worried about you being stuck with the Housewarden."

You tilt your head. "Well, one, Riddle seems to like me so I'm not in any danger around him. And two, even if I were to somehow get collared, it wouldn't affect me as I don't have magic. Anyways, I'm fine. I appreciate the concern, though."

"Y- yeah... I can see that now." Deuce grins sheepishly.

"Yeah, you're fine! Except I'm stuck with this stupid collar!" Grim yowls at you, hopping over to climb onto your shoulder.

Ace groans and kicks the floor, looking furious. "I hate that little ginger megalomaniac! Does he think he's the Queen of Hearts?"

"Ace, you're more ginger than he is." You comment, raising an eyebrow.

Deuce shakes his head, looking disappointed in himself. "Banished by the housewarden from my own dorm. My dream of becoming an honor student is slipping further and further away..."

"Stupid collar! It's so tight!" Grim growls as he struggles with his own collar.

An amused chuckle comes from behind you. "You're really racking up those collars. Quite the impressive collection~"

"Hm?" You turn around and make a quiet screech, immediately sending out your hand to bap the... floating head? "AH!"

The head laughs hysterically at this, amused that your hand is still on top of it.

You're Pokémon seem a bit startled, which is valid. Ace and Deuce seem panicked, and Grim is freaking out. "MYAH!? A ghost head!"

"Oh dear. It seems I'm not all here." The rest of the stranger slowly appears. You see he has short, choppy purple hair with his bangs cut in a curve, as well as three bobby pins pinned to the bang on the left side of his face. He has a pair of purple cat ears with a couple piercings on both of them and has yellow, cat-like eyes. He wears a baggy white button up over a striped purple t-shirt and blue pants, He has purple painted nails and wears a couple rings along his fingers. He also has a long, bushy tail that has purple stripes.

"...cat boy?" You ask in confusion, raising an eyebrow.

The stranger only laughs. "Haha. I like you, you're fun. The name's Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. Am I a cat? Am I a purrrson? A mimsy borogove, perhaps? A mome rath with a knack for magic?"

Ace lets go of your shoulders and steps beside you, "Uh, look, Ar... Arte... Run the name by me again?"

You roll your eyes at Ace in a teasing manner, before smiling at Artemiy, pulling your sunhat to your chest. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. My name is Y/N L/N, but you're welcome to simply call me Y/N."

Everyone- outside of your Pokémon- are startled. Even Artemiy. "Hm? You... actually managed to pronounce my name?"

You tilt your head. "Am I supposed to be unable to?"

"Oh, no." He shakes his head, his ears flicking. "It's just you're the first one outside of close family to pronounce it correctly, especially so quickly."

"Huh. I see..." You nod a bit.

"Y/N, how do you pronounce Ar- Arte- DAMMIT!" Ace groans as he fails to pronounce Artemiy's name.

People usually just call me Che'nya." Artemiy chuckles. "Let's just say I'm not from the other side of the looking glass."

Che'nya looks to you, a curious smile playing on his lips. "But it looks like you are."

You tilt your head curiously, trying to recall if you've seen Che'nya in school. He seems a tad bit... strange, to be honest. "What does that imply and what dorm are you from?"

Che'nya laughs and tilts his head like you did. "Why don't you try to guess?"

Grim peers from your shoulder, still looking skeptical. "Oh, I know! He's got animal ears, so he's gotta be from... uh... Bananaclaw, was it?"

"Bzzzzzt! Incorrect." Says Che'nya. "Bananas grow on trees, do they not? I, on the other hand, am a cat."

Deuce shakes his head. "And besides, other dorms have students with animal ears, too."

"Also, Grim..." You sigh and put your hat back on. "It's Savanaclaw..."

Ace rolls his eyes. "After the insanity that teapot tyrant put me through, I'm not in the mood for whatever this is. Just leave me alone."

"Riddle the teapot tyrant," Che'nya chuckles, looking very amused."Well, I can't dismiss that perspective as wrong. He's always been quite strict."

"Do you know something about him?" Deuce asks.

Che'nya tilts his head the other direction. "Perhaps there are things that I know, and perhaps there are things that I don't."

Grim glowers. "That's not an answer!"

"Is there something you wish to know about Riddle?" Che'nya asks, curious.

Ace folds his arms. "Yeah, what created such a control freak?" 

"I believe his four-eyed friend may have the answer." Che'nya crosses his arms behind his back.

"Four eyes?" You ask, confused. "I don't think anyone in this school has four eyes..."

Deuce puts a hand to his chin. "Four-eyed friend? You mean Trey?"

"Trey does not have four eyes! I... think." You say, concerned. "Trey has two eyes and glasses."

"Y/N..." Ace says, looking annoyed with you. "Four-eyes is a common insult to people with glasses."

"...wha?" You ask. "N- no. If you have glasses, you have two eyes and glasses. Not four eyes."

Ace facepalms at that. Seriously, though, you don't understand.

Che'nya nods, looking a bit amused with you but not commenting on it. "He's known Riddle since we were all little boys. If you want to know more about Riddle, I would begin my quest there"

"They're childhood friends?" Deuce scratches his head. "I didn't really get that impression."

"If you're so perceptive, then what are you asking me for?" Che'nya grins and gives you all a small wave. "Buh-bye!"

Before your very eyes, Che'nya fades and disappears, his laughter disappearing as he does. Deuce takes a step back at that, startled. "H-hey!"

"Ponyo?" Ogerpon asks, startled.

"..." Bangbang slowly raises her hammer to poke where Chen'ya just was.

All your Pokémon are confused now, but Walking Wake chirps at you.

"Oh, right!" You say, snapping your fingers. "Walking Wake, you're nickname!"

"Huh?" Grim and the boys look over, confused, as you keep talking.

"Walking Wake, I saw how you were interested by that peach cobbler thing, and I thought, "Peaches? That sounds like a Pecha berry", and I know how much you like Pecha berries. Except, I couldn't call you "Pecha", as that's too similar to Pecharunt, but..." You grin. ""Peaches" has a nice ring to it, yes?"

Walking Wake pauses, their pupils dilating as they excitedly stamp their feet. "RAAAAA!"

"Great! Walking Wake, I dub you "Peaches"!" You place your hands on your hips, smiling.

Peaches excitedly twirls, looking thrilled.

"Well, glad to see you're cheerful." Ace says bitterly, annoyed.

Grim shakes his head. "I tell ya, no one makes any sense around here, not even ya, hench-human."

Deuce sighs. "Well, we're not going to be able to do much in the way of schoolwork with these collars on. So let's go see what Trey has to say, and then..."

Ace glowers. "If you're gonna say apologize to Riddle, you can forget it!"

"Seriously, Ace?" You ask, annoyed. "...anyways, let's see if we can find Trey tomorrow during his free time. You two are allowed to sleep in my dorm again."

You feel your hat get plucked off your head, and you look behind you with wide eyes to see Che'nya's head grinning at you, your hat floating beside him.

"Am I purr-haps allowed to stay, too?" He slyly asks, looking amused as everyone- except you- is startled again.

"...am I allowed to decline?" You ask.

"You won't get your hat back." He says with a smile.

"...fine, I guess. Don't try anything, though."

"Deal." Che'nya purrs back.

------

Riddle stands above a cowering student in the Heartslabyul dorm foyer. Riddle glares down at the trembling student.

"The Queen of Hearts's rule 249: Flamingo caretakers are to don pink attire. It was supposed to be your turn to feed the flamingos today. Why aren't you wearing pink?"

"I'm sorry, Housewarden. My pink clothes were in the laundry... Please, sir, not the collar!"

"This is your second rule violation. I cannot forgive a repeated offense. Off With Your Head!" Riddle waves his pen and a collar appears on the student.

"Gaaaaaaah!" The student yelps in response, panicking.

"Write me a five thousand word apology and weed the garden for one week, and I'll remove it."

"But-" The student starts, but gets cut off.

"Do you think I enjoy having to do this?" Riddle towers over the sobbing student. "You're the one who broke the rules! As much as I would like to, I cannot ignore these infractions. It's for your own sake, understand? Trey? Cater? Remove him from the premises."

"...Yes Housewarden." They say hesitantly, sharing a glance of concern.