In the dead of night, when most souls would be sleeping in their beds, save for the nocturnal ones, two teenaged (roughly) Pokemon lay in bed together. One was just on the cusp of dozing off, and the other was waiting for this moment.

"Vincent," she said, and the Kadabra next to her grunted something unintelligible.

"Vincent," she repeated, a bit more insistently. This time, the psychic opened his eyes and turned to look at the Lucario next to him.

"It is. The middle. Of the night," he stated slowly, in a voice that could freeze lakes solid. This did not deter the fighting-type, however, from giving him a lick across his muzzle. This caused him to sputter a bit and glare, but it was a light one. He sighed and nodded once, briefly. "I suppose I did promise you."

"Darn right you did. I don't care if it takes me weeks or months to get you feeling comfortable with that again, but there will come a time when this bed is used for something other than sleeping."

"Just...ease into it, okay?"

"I'll try."

The sounds of one teenaged, hormonal Pokemon exploring another would barely escape into the night, as Vincent was being quite quiet, but escape they did past the door...to the ears of a certain Bellossom, who scowled before stalking back to her room, muttering darkly.

The next morning brought a wave of warm, delectable-smelling breakfast to the siblings, now that someone who could cook had been found to take up residence with them. The proffered step-stool had been found and placed near the counter closest to the stove, and Jeanne had proven herself an adept cook with what ingredients the trio had. Bit didn't quite count, not having to eat normal food and all. While three of the participants of the early-morning meal were their in their normal 'early morning zombie' states, the newest addition was not.

She was too angry for that.

While it was true she had been a Pokemon rights activist, it was secondary to her real goal: finding Vincent again and bringing Rupert to justice for his crimes against decency and sanity. She hadn't been as big on legalizing some forms of love between humans and Pokemon, but she still paid lip-service to the idea.

She hadn't been quite aware how little she believed in it until she heard the sounds of her son and that Lucario last night. She'd suspected they were a bit closer than siblings from the way they acted around one another, but to be at that stage?

Something about it set her blood boiling.

"You two sleep well?" Sam asked, stirring his coffee gently before taking a sip.

"Never better," Lucy said with a smirk that set Jeanne's right eye twitching.

"I think I'm finally over the worst of my love of naps," Vincent said while munching on some of the breakfast his mother had made him. "How about you, Je-...sorry. How about you, mother?"

"I slept well, though I think we might need to look into proper soundproofing," the Bellossom said in a voice that was more acid than words. "I heard the strangest noises last night."

Vincent and Lucy had the good grace to blush a bit at the accusation in her words, and Vincent leveled his fork to point at the Lucario. "Her idea entire. She saw I was drunk one night and took advantage. Now she's on some sort of mission to get me comfortable with that level of intimacy again."

"Yes, well, we've known each other for so long, this is a natural step," Lucy said, closing the few feet between them and giving Vincent a quick peck on the muzzle. "Granted, we may have skipped a few here and there, but this...this just feels right."

"Well at least it wasn't you that instigated it," the Bellossom began, her eyes screwed shut in anger as her words spilled forth, each one causing a similar expression to grow on Lucy and Vincent's face, "but the fact that you're choosing to continue it, Vincent, makes you no better than a Pokephil-"

"Releasing Psychic Seal!" the Kadabra bellowed, his anger unleashing his full strength against the one that gave birth to him. A wave of blue blasted through the apartment, and the sense of psychic pressure increased drastically in the nearby vicinity. Vincent's eyes blazed blue as he glared at the Bellossom across from him.

"Finish that sentence. I dare you."

Jeanne could barely focus on forming a coherent thought, she was so overcome with panic and fear. She felt like an angry Alakazam was in the room with her, and her mouth flopped uselessly open. "I...I..."

"I had enough of a time talking with Hastings about this in Manehatten, I don't need it from YOU as well!" The Kadabra looked at Lucy, and she gulped, but nodded softly. Sweeping his gaze back to Sam, Vincent spoke in a slightly less harsh tone.

"We'll be finishing this breakfast elsewhere."

The psychic and the fighter vanished in a flare of blue light, leaving Jeanne and Sam alone in the apartment. The Scizor finished off his breakfast and coffee before placing his dishes in the sink and giving the Bellossom a look of disappointment. "I would have expected better of you," he said softly.

"Better?" Jeanne reflexively asked.

"Vincent's a saint for keeping his heart intact after what he's been through. I had hoped he'd gotten that from somewhere."

The Bug left the mother alone as he walked off to his job.

Sam smirked as he hit the ground floor again, ready for round two already. Lucy and him had swapped a few ideas from their training with Checkmate, and he was considerably more ready for the Bishop this time around. He held both Quick Attack and Agility in his mind, focusing on the very essence of speed. He would need it for the upcoming bout, he felt.

The Leavanny was behind the desk again, with the daily paper in her claws once again. She perked up a bit as Sam came around, and the Scizor prepared his improvised move. "Well, oh vision of beauty, I dare say I didn't get your name last time, nor did I get the chance to give you mine. Perhaps we could remedy that?"

He saw, barely, her form twitch, and he jerked his whole body back a step in response. His ploy was successful, earning him no scratch on his armor today. She blinked in response to his success and looked at both her claws, then his armor where she'd been aiming. "That should have worked."

"Little tip for you, beautiful," Sam said, walking up to the desk and giving her a wink. "You're not the only one Char trained."

He was halfway out the door before she spoke up again.

"Lala."

The Scizor paused and turned around, his head cocked to one side. "Pardon?"

"My name. Lala."

Sam grinned and put a claw to his chest before giving her a half-bow. "And mine, dear lady, is Sam."

Whistling all the way to work, Sam mentally ticked off one box on his list.

Step one, get the name of the stunning beauty. Check.

Lucy and Vincent appeared on the roof of the building, looking at the sunrise and catching their breakfast as Vincent pulled it to them from the table. "Reform Psychic Seal," he muttered, and there was an implosion of blue light on his body. His power was thusly restrained once more, and he sighed before sitting down and eating his food. "How could she be so...short-sighted?"

"Hastings," Lucy muttered. "Who's to say his views were limited to him? Others could have listened to him back on Earth. Your mother clearly did." She picked up a forkful of egg and bit into it, saying something under her breath all the while.

The psychic of the duo shook his head. "Be they god or mortal, nobody and nothing is keeping me from you. You're one of the bright things to have come from that hell, the one shining star in all that darkness. I would let the world burn if it meant being with you." He took a sip of his juice and nodded once, firmly, as he finished his sentiment.

"Funny," Lucy replied, drawing his head closer to her and giving him a peck. "I said the same thing to the Aura. Nothing is keeping me from you."

The two fell into an embrace, their breakfast forgotten.

Jeanne muttered to herself, wondering where she had gone wrong. Hastings...he was right, wasn't he? Had to be.

But it wasn't Hastings that brought you all here, a part of her mind said from the depths. It wasn't even him that brought you to your son. He's a mortal, like all the rest, and mortals can be flawed.

But those cases! Those Pokemon! That horrible, horrible abuse that had been heaped on them by-

'Outliers exist in any data set.' Rupert said that often enough when you asked him if his work looked good enough to go forward. If the cases that Hastings touted as his reason for fighting Pokephilia so hard were the outliers...

...Then there were plenty of normal, healthy, loving relationships just below the surface that nobody talked about because...because why?

Because of people like him. And you. People who would break up true, genuine love, because of their beliefs. Beliefs that can't apply in the face of true love, because the heart wants what it wants, and damn anyone else.

...Oh Arceus, what had she just done?

The Bellossom fell to her knees and wept as she realized that not only was she wrong, but she had just tried to tear her son apart from one that he truly loved, all because of her beliefs. Her grossly erroneous beliefs.

Vincent stood in front of his opponent, his Twisted Spoon at the ready. "You're not fooling me. There's a reason you said what you did, and I intend to find out what."

"Wobbuffet," his foe replied, not budging an inch.

"Have it your way," Vincent replied, his spoon now between the two of them and glowing as the Kadabra pushed his power towards the Wobbuffet.

I say, is that really necessary? Trying to force your way into my mind like a brute with a battering ram. Granted, your power lends you one of the larger battering rams I've ever seen, but it is still rather uncouth of you!

The voice was highly unfamiliar, and Vincent smirked, knowing it could have only come from the other one in the room. Wobbuffet blinked a few times as he realized he'd talked 'out loud' to a fellow psychic. Oh damn.

"Yes, quite," Vincent replied. "Now. A few questions for you, and then I'll leave you be."

Fine, ask away. It's only fitting if you are our new benefactor.

"First and foremost, why do you only say your name?"

The Wobbuffet smirked a bit while it answered this question. To mess with the other three, of course! It's all I've said for years, even to Meowth, because I didn't quite like them thinking they knew best as to what I should do. As a result, they let me use my best judgement, and it's saved them on more than one occasion, even if they won't admit it right away. I am a master of deflecting attacks with Mirror Coat and Counter. I even know Bide, something many of my kind cannot boast.

"So a defensive powerhouse," the Kadabra summed up, "One with their best interests at heart. Which would explain why you jumped between them and my little leak downstairs so readily."

There was the sound of a sigh from the form in front of him, and the Wobbuffet nodded once, his entire body bobbing along with the motion. To be more accurate, I jumped between Jessie and you. My priority is to defend Mistress Jessie first and foremost. She was my trainer on Earth, and I always thought highly of her for encouraging me to use my best judgement in battles. Goodness, I'm surprised she used me for as many battles as she did, with my lack of offensive moves. As such, not even my Pokeball could hold me when I thought they might need me. That, and it was fun to figure out the lock from the inside.

"Anything you would like to tell me about the others before I assign you the same sort of duty as Lala?"

The Wobbuffet seemed to think for a moment before nodding once more. They have good hearts buried in them. They just...sometimes need a good, sharp poke to their rears to remember it.

Vincent blinked, but shrugged. "Fine. Should anything happen that results in the apartment being attacked, which is unlikely, but still within the realm of possibility, then it will fall to you to defend us while Lala goes on the attack. Otherwise, a general, non-invasive monitoring of the mental state of the apartment is all I request of you."

Easily done. Take care, master Vincent.

The two psychics nodded a final time at one another before the Kadabra left Rocket's apartment.

Figure out what intrigued him about Wobbuffet, check. Next on his list, Meowth.