Sam had gone to Mary and told her about the sudden family reunion that had taken place, and the Shiny Sandslash waved off his attempts to explain with a smile before sending him back home. The Scizor returned to the apartment to see that Vincent had taken a seat in some of the lobby furniture, the elderly Bellossom sitting in his lap and smiling at both him and Lucy. "Funny, I only recall giving birth to one, but it would seem I have a few more children now."

Sam was puzzled for a moment before he picked up on what Jeanne had said. "Huh...so you don't mind that he calls us his brother and sister?"

"Absolutely not, dear," the Grass-Type said with a shake of her head. "From what I've heard, you could use a little love, and I have plenty to give."

"While we still don't know how she got here," Vincent said, holding up a glowing blue hand, "She did let me look to confirm that she is who she says she is. I say we take this miracle and roll with it."

Lucy's smile grew by another notch before she awkwardly coughed to get the attention of the others. "So! Now that you're here, what would you like to see first, ma'am?"

The elder of the group frowned softly. "Can't I just sit here with my son after so long spent searching for him?" With that, she turned around and hugged the Kadabra, causing a fresh wave of smiles to erupt from the three siblings in the lobby.

Vincent gently pushed his mother back before smirking. "While I would love nothing more than to catch up with you, I have half a breakfast upstairs growing cold. So why don't you let Lucy and Sam show you around our place of residence and business?"

The Bellossom sighed before nodding her acquiescence to her son's wishes. "Fine, but the last stop will be your place, young man, and we are going to catch up when I get there." With that proclamation, the grass-type jumped down to the floor, her one foot of height suddenly even more obvious. She looked up at the two taller 'mon and smiled. "So which one of you two is carrying me?"

Bit dinged a few times as he hovered outside the apartment he had been informed that held his new assistant. He already had been told a few things about her, namely her name, form, and that she had once been human. Frankly, even if she had been, a Pyroar assistant was something that could not be underestimated. Their breath could superheat some metals in an instant, and they were far stronger than he was. Welding and carrying things back to weld was no longer an issue.

Slightly perturbed by the fact that his assistant had yet to make an appearance, Bit did his best impression of a Staravia looking for insects and began tapping his beak into the door multiple times. Approximately twenty-three seconds later, a male Meowth answered the door. "What?!" he all but demanded.

Bit tilted his head to one side and ticked as he considered the Pokemon in front of him. "My apologies, I was informed that Jessie was here."

The female Pyroar he'd been looking for came out from one of the bedrooms, yawning widely. "I'm here. Why are you knocking so loudly? Who are you, even?"

"I am identified as Bit," the Porygon-Z said, "And I came here looking for you, as I was informed you were to be my new assistant."

Jessie blinked a few times before nodding once. "Right, that Kadabra said something about you...wasn't expecting a Porygon-Z, but it makes sense in retrospect."

She then turned to the Meowth before stating something. "Tell James that I'm off helping Bit when he comes down, then."

The connections were made with a speed that would have put most computers to shame. Jessie, James, and a Meowth companion? There were several news files in his memory banks that correlated. Bit's voice turned even more dead and emotionless, and unknown to him, his eyes flickered red for a second. "Jessie, let us away, we must purchase some more supplies for this home."

The Porygon-Z turned and floated off, and Jessie followed after him. Meowth shuddered briefly, as he had seen the Porygon-Z's eyes change.

"That guy ain't normal...are any of them?"

"Yeah I got filtered glass," the Earth Pony stallion said. "Perfect for the sorts of gardens you're talking about. How much you need?"

Bit ticked for a moment as he calculated the area of the garden. "The garden at the moment takes up one hundred square feet. Should we need to expand, we can return to purchase more, but that is the amount we require, and soon."

The pony let out a low whistle at the estimate. "Jeeze...I think I can set you up with enough to cover it, but it's not going to be cheap."

"Oh come now," Jessie said, all but purring. "Surely a skilled craftsman such as yourself can procure such fine goods with a minimum amount of fuss? This is a matter of survival for those plants."

The orange stallion turned a deadpan gaze to the Pyroar, unimpressed with her attempts to get a deal. "Lady, it's because I'm a fine craftspony that I know the value of my work." He paused for a moment and rubbed his chin with a hoof. "Still, if you really need it, now, I suppose I can knock off a few Bits...Eighty-five sound good?"

Bit ticked, running the current budget against this newest expense. "This will work. If you could place it in the wagon attached to my assistant, we will be most grateful."

The red-maned stallion nodded and walked into the shop, yelling for an assistant himself before the door swung shut. "So," Jessie began.

"I know who you are," Bit stated, looking at her with his full force.

Jessie gulped, suddenly very nervous. "Ah, really? Don't know what you're talking about. Just a normal Pyroar, heh..."

"Do not lie to me. Jessie, James, and a Meowth. Three names that turn up frequently in my archives." The program paused for a moment, and when he spoke again, it was like the temperature in the air dropped five degrees. "Tell me, how has this new world been treating you, Rocket member?"

Jessie sighed. "Found out already? It's not a record by any means, but-"

"Allow me to inform you: I care for Vincent more than any being in this world or any other. He helped keep me sane in the dark times. Should you be planning anything that would harm him, I will not hesitate to load up Hyper Beam for use on you."

Jessie looked to Bit and saw his eyes had turned red and gone cross-haired. She suddenly had a vision of Bit stumbling across them in the middle of their planned Berry heist and turning the three of them to ash with nary a thought. "Noted," she said.

Just then, the stallion came back, and his assistant with him, a load of wrapped glass on a pallet they were carefully moving. Fortunately, the assistant was a unicorn, and could move it, one pane at a time, into the wagon attached to Jessie. Each one merely reminded her that this position could be permanent...or very, very temporary.

"And this is the rooftop garden," Sam said, gently setting the Bellossom down. She stretched a little bit and looked at the pots with Berries in them, taking it all in with a small sense of wonder.

"And where did you get so many Berries?" She asked. Lucy shrugged.

"Ask Xerneas," she said, and a Roserade popped its head up from between two rows of plants, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? Did Xerneas herself really give you these Berries? I thought I was hearing things the first time, but you truly mean it?"

The Lucario nodded. "Said something about trusting Vincent with them, or something to that extent."

The Roserade put one of his bouquets to his chest, suddenly feeling very faint. "Oh dear me. This is such an honor."

At that moment, a Meowth walked up the stairs behind the small family and over to the Roserade. "Hey James, Jessie is out helping Bit at the moment. Thought you should know."

James nodded once before returning to the plants, his doubt suddenly amplified. Jeanne, however, seemed to stiffen and glare at the pair near the plants before turning back to the siblings. "Why don't we move on, dears. I think I've seen enough for right now."

Even as Lucy took up the duty of carrying her down to their apartment, Jeanne did not lose any of her cold fury.

She knew those names, and she'd be damned if she just let them be...

Of course, once the glass had been delivered to the apartment, Bit had gone to a local construction crew, and they had assured him that not only could they have a water tank for the roof that could last for at least twenty years and be easily accessible for maintenance installed, along with all the requisite plumbing to make it their primary water source, but they could get it done in two days. Three if the delivery company dragged their hooves on the parts.

Thus assured and paid, Bit took Jessie with him to a gardening store for sprinklers, so that watering the Berries would not be as much of a chore. Once they were loaded into her wagon, they were off again, this time in search of lumber to hold up the glass. She took this chance to speak up to the Porygon-Z. "I don't suppose sorry would be enough?"

He paused at that, nonplussed for a moment. "For what are you apologizing?"

"For my first impression being...that. I've been a Rocket member for quite a while, and it rarely occurred to me how infamous I was becoming." She sighed and shook her head. "Quite often, there have been times when I didn't know when my next meal would be, or where I could safely lay my head. To be offered this much charity for so little is...more than a bit jarring."

Bit turned to look at the female Pyroar, and those that knew where to look could see actual sorrow in his eyes. "I...apologize as well. For quite a while, Vincent has been the only thing keeping me sane. To know that there was a former Rocket member nearby, with his naiveness...I acted preemptively to deal with a shadow of a threat that you represented, and I should not have done that. In the words of Arceus, only the worthy found their way here to this new world...so despite your association, you must have been worthy in some respect."

Jessie actually smiled at Bit's apology, glad she didn't have to worry about a guardian that did not sleep anymore. "Where to next, then?" she asked, genuinely happy to be doing something that would be helpful to her new benefactors.

"And this is where we stay," Lucy said, letting the Bellossom walk freely once more by lowering her to the floor.

Jeanne looked around the apartment and smiled softly. "So you've been here the past few weeks?"

"On and off," Vincent said from the couch. "Here the first week, gone most of the next on a tour around Equestria, and when we came back we bought a good portion of the place and began to renovate it so that Pokemon could help run it and still have ponies live in it."

Jeanne walked over to the couch and pulled herself up before hopping into the Kadabra's lap and hugging him again. "Meanwhile I wander a jungle that is just full of both Pokemon and native creatures. Thank goodness I learned a few things about my new body. Stun Spore and Sleep Powder have never been more useful, I'll wager."

Vincent laughed and just hugged his mother close before making motions that Lucy could sit on the other side. She joined the pair on the couch, hugging Vincent softly, something that caused a slight dark look to pass Jeanne's face for a moment. Once that passed, she was all smiles again. "So mother, what about you? I know so little, even with that peek."

Jeanne sighed and just held a hand up to her head. "Where do I begin...well, before you vanished I was a Pokemon Coordinator. A darn good one too. Once your father took off with you, I became a Pokemon rights activist." She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes for the next part.

"I just knew that if enough people were looking for not only you, but all the ones he was hurting, he had to be found sooner or later. And you with him."

Sam was suddenly there as well, and the couch groaned from the effort of holding them all. "Well...you got your wish after a fashion," the Scizor said.

"I would have preferred it if it happened back on Earth," Jeanne said simply, "But I'll take what I can get. Anything else, dear?"

Vincent smirked. "Yeah...any chance you're a decent cook? None of us had to learn, and eating raw food is only so good for so long."

Jeanne chuckled before nodding. "Yes, I can cook. But this form...it's not exactly conducive to culinary masterpieces..."

"How about a step-stool, to help you get on top of the counter?" Lucy suggested, and the family shared a laugh.

It was whole and larger than it had ever been, with a member they had never had but needed for a long while, and for the moment, they were content.