The sounds of frustration that had overtaken Lucy's area of the quarry suddenly and quite quickly went silent. The male Lucario perked up at that and looked over to the direction where she'd been before closing his eyes and getting in touch with the Aura. What he saw stunned him.

The area nearest Lucy's form was being sucked clear, siphoned, of all the Aura. She was drawing it in with every breath, and compressing what she had with every exhale. Between her paws, a blue sphere began to form. She moved her paws towards the boulder, then thrust her right one at it. The sphere followed the motion, and the boulder detonated.

Shards of rock rained down, followed by gemstones of all shapes and colors. Sitting on the ground, glinting in the sunlight, was a silvery, steely container. Lucy opened her eyes, and looked from where the boulder had been, to her paws, to the object on the ground. She didn't seem to know what to talk about first. The male had no such compunctions and walked up to the object, poking it with one foot and feeling the power it contained.

"A Metal Coat," he commented. "Interesting. It appears that Arceus brought more than just Pokemon and humans with us."

"I could have told you that," Lucy said. "We found a Twisted Spoon back in town. Can I have that?"

The male turned and tilted his head. "Why do you want it? To power up your Steel-type moves?"

Lucy shook her head at that. "Nah, but I know someone who'd appreciate it for its other properties."

The male blinked a few times before nodding. "Ah, someone who requires it to Evolve. Very well. It is yours by right, after all. You did break the boulder, and I doubt the ponies will have much use for it."

Lucy smiled and put the Metal Coat within her sunhat. It'd do to carry it back to town with. The male wasn't quite done, though.

"When you formed the attack, what thoughts were running through your head? Knowing those might make it easier, faster, next time."

Lucy pondered with one paw to her chin. "Who I am. Why I was learning from you. What was most important to me. Those sorts of things."

The male nodded once. "Those are the sorts of things the Aura asks from those who would wield it: be sure of and true to yourself before it will help you in such a manner."

Lucy nodded again, but this time sat and closed her eyes. "In that case, I better get a head start. Until I can snap off an attack like that with as little delay as possible, then I need to keep at it."

The male smiled and nodded. "And thus, you search to define yourself. Take care, the journey may not reveal pleasing things."

Luke stared at the strip of cloth in his hands. It was green and red, patterned in square sections, and nearly three feet long, feeling rather thick, and it would probably be very warm. Vincent had placed it in his grasp with his powers while putting a blue and black one in the guest room.

The scarf was nearly a match for his chest spike and body, and that fact did not elude him. Nor did the sentiment behind the words Vincent had said when giving it to him.

Here you go, to keep your neck warm come winter. Sorry it doesn't go with your sweater, but at least it goes with you.

You... you didn't have to do that... I.... thank you Vincent. The Gallade ran a hand over the fabric, stunned that his student would do something like this.

Didn't have to, true. Wanted to, though.

I... I don't know what to say... it is a truly marvelous gift Vincent... thank you. Luke carefully wrapped it around his neck before smirking. Although...if you think you're getting out of training, think again.

Vincent groaned, but acquiesced. Fine...more sleep-training, then?

Luke nodded and pulled his chair out from the dining room, setting it near the bed the Abra had claimed. Indeed. Brace yourself, I will give you five minutes to form your wall...and then I'm coming in.

More than enough time, Vincent replied before nodding off. Luke merely smirked at his student's cocky behavior.

We'll see, he thought to himself.

A startled cry brought Maylene and Lucario running over to where Lucy had staked out her area to sleep at. The female was laying on the ground, curled into a ball, softly sobbing. Maylene grabbed her by the shoulders, causing Lucy to flinch away. "Don't touch me!" she screamed out before resuming her cry.

"What is it?" Lucario asked. "What happened?"

"I...I wanted to take a shortcut, so I looked at myself with the Aura Sight..."

Lucario winced at that, and Maylene noticed. "What? What's so bad about that?"

"Looking at one's self with the Aura reveals everything about you. Good and bad. It cannot lie. And you cannot forget it."

Maylene gasped and gently placed a paw on Lucy's shoulder. She flinched, but not away, and kept sobbing. "It's a lie, it has to be. There's no way I can be that...that..."

Lucario closed his eyes, then cocked his head as the organs on the back glowed slightly. "I see nothing wrong with you."

"But that's just it!" Lucy screamed. "There should be! I was a captive of that man for so long! I've had so much about me changed! I should be broken, shattered, there should be some flaw on me when I look at myself with the Aura! Instead, I'm this...this burning, shining star! That can't be right!"

Lucario smiled softly and placed a paw on Lucy's other shoulder. "A simple truth to the Aura, then. The souls that love, truly and completely, burn the brightest and are the most beautiful."

Lucy blinked at that before tilting her head to the side. "What does that...who could I possibly...?"

Maylene sighed. "You're sure you're not a full Steel-type? You're certainly as dense as one."

The female on the ground snarled at the insult. "What do you mean? You know?"

"Well gee," Maylene said in a mocking tone. "You've only claimed that you're here for him ever since you arrived. You've known him most of your life. Oh, and let's not forget that he said words to make you evolve. Simple words, but it was him saying them that made you realize how much he cared about you."

Lucy shook her head. "No. No, that can't be right. It can't be. I can't be in love with him. I just can't be."

Maylene bristled a bit at that. "Why? Is it because of that stupid Pokephillia law?"

Lucy blinked at that and uncurled before looking up at the former Gym Trainer. "What? What's that law?"

"A silly law that humans instituted," Lucario said. "One that prevents humans and Pokemon from having any physical relationships."

Lucy blinked again before frowning. "That sounds like a moronic, speciesit law. You can't place a law on the heart and expect it to listen. It's the most illogical thing in the body. The day a heart bows to the laws of the world is a dark day indeed."

The female Lucario shook her head to clear it before resuming her line of thought. "No, I can't love him because he's my brother. It would just be wrong."

Maylene and the male Lucario blinked once at Lucy's refusal of the Pokephillia law, and Maylene smiled. "Like you just said, the day the heart bows to the laws of the world..."

Lucy shook her head. "No, no no no..."

"Plus," the male Lucario added, "if I'm not mistaken, you're not actual brother and sister, you merely define your bond as such because you were brothers and sisters in captivity."

"As well," Maylene finished. "Bonds can evolve, just like you. Would you have Evolved if it were Bit or Sam saying those words?"

Lucy shook her head, both in response to Maylene's question and in denial. "No, but that's because I don't...care about them...as deeply..."

Lucy's voice trailed off as the point started to hit home and resonate within her heart. Maylene asked a set of simple questions then. "Vincent matters more to you than such ideals as rules or morals or laws, doesn't he? If it were him or the world, which would you choose to stay with?"

Lucy sobbed quietly and looked up at Maylene, who proffered a paw to the other female. Lucy pulled herself up and stared Maylene in the eyes. "You're right," Lucy whispered. "Because I would choose him. His heart is strong, even after everything that's happened to him. And that's what matters, and probably what earned him mine."

Maylene softly smiled, and the male Lucario nodded. "Then tell him," the male said.

"When?"

"Soon. Once you think yourself ready, then your training will be done, and you must return."

Luke appeared on the road outside the clearing to see a wall as tall as he was surrounding the formerly serene area. Ah, you have been working hard, haven't you?

There was no reply, and Luke merely shrugged. Very well, let us see how strong your wall is.

Luke extended one hand, and a block started to shift from the wall. Once it was an inch out, an image blasted its way into Luke's head. It was a memory of a young Vincent looking at a Ekans without a lower jaw. It appeared to have...melted off. And then the voice of the Doctor was heard.

"Poison sac modification was a failure. Far too acidic."

Luke focused and cleared his head, causing the memory to drift off. An impressive defense. Or is it an attack?

Why not both at once?

The Gallade smirked a bit. An interesting idea, it makes for a formidable defense indeed. Where did it come from?

Oh, from the day on the town. It was such a compelling concept, I had to apply it here. I'd be doing someone a disservice if I didn't.

Luke blinked, and then the smirk returned; time to teach Vincent the true rules. With a thought, he was floating, and hovering over the wall that Vincent had erected. The sight of the little Abra sitting in the clearing with a dropped jaw and a blank stare was amusing. Slowly, the little mind rebooted at the sight of a flying Gallade that just completely obsoleted his defenses.

...I think...I get it now. The only real rules here are the ones you impose.

Luke smiled and nodded. Indeed. Though a stronger Psychic will simply impose their rules over yours. However, when you Evolve, your powers will grow considerably. And considering the trauma you've been through...I'd be surprised if there was much besides a Metagross or a Legendary that could give you trouble in your final state, assuming you keep up with your training.

The smile that adorned Vincent's face then was nearly sharklike. Sam always did say I had an active imagination. Telling me that there are no rules...that was probably the wrong thing to say.

As the landscape shifted and changed, for a single, solitary moment, Luke was both very, very proud of Vincent.

And very, very afraid of what the little Psychic would cook up now. It wouldn't present a threat to him, but the boy had just been handed the mental equivalent of a match and a pile of oil soaked wood.