Author's Notes:

Part nine of ten. I blame Aus for that ending bit. His fault entire for everything beyond the last linebreak.
There may or may not be spoilers located within any of these textwalls for Ausbrony's story A Brave New World.
I have had it with these motherfucking spoilers in my motherfucking story! Everyone strap in, I'm gonna open a window!

Luke took Vincent aside once Lucy was fed and tended to, intent on teaching Vincent a technique that was long overdue for him to learn. And now, my son, it is time you learned the move Calm Mind.

Vincent almost automatically reached for his spoon, but Luke gently took a hold of his hand and shook his head. No...for this you should need nothing but your focus.

"Okay," the Kadabra replied. "What do we do?"

Join me in meditation, the Gallade responded, before sitting on the couch. His breathing slowed as he traveled inwards, and Vincent shrugged. Seating himself next to his father figure, the Kadabra deepened his breathing as he turned his focus upon his own mind.

Yes, like that. Look for your inner, peaceful glade. Focus on it...focus on the feelings of serenity and calm. Remove all outwards distractions from your mind. They do not matter, only the peace does.

Vincent breathed in, and all the grass in the glade wavered, leaning in towards him as he did. He breathed out, and a small rush of wind blew out from his form, causing the grass to ripple again. He smiled slightly, and the sunlight overhead grew brighter. This...this was peace. This was calm. He could get used to this.

Unknown to him, his form glowed slightly as the effects of the move boosted his abilities. But then again, he wasn't focused on that at the moment...

Earlier, once Fritter and Rika got home from their date, the pair had decided to help Christine with her room. Rika probably just wanted to spend time with her, but fortunately Fritter knew a few things on making a home feel homely. To be honest, the dragon was glad for the help: she didn't often have the time...or inclination to decorate her dens back on Earth.

The three of them had just gotten to the living room itself when there was a few knocks. Not a moment later, a familiar Luxray peeked in through the door. “Hey,” he said. “I’m back.”

“Welcome back,” Christine greeted. “So how’d it go?”

“Urgh, that mare is really a stallion in disguise,” the Luxray muttered. “But, at least I have a better understanding of how things work in Equestria now.”

Fritter spied the bundle he had tied across his chest. “What do you have there?” she asked, then yelped as the bundle moved!

A pair of pink ears popped out of the satchel and Seth opened it to reveal a small Whismur. "I found her in a back alley,” he explained. “She doesn't know where she is, nor where her mother is.”

“Aw, she’s so cute~” Rika cooed. The Whismur took one look at the Sylveon and scrunched up it’s eyes.

“Aw crap, not again,” Seth muttered as the tiny Pokemon let out an earsplitting wail, the windows rattled and a nearby glass shattered into dust! Rika backed away, while Fritter grabbed her ears. It took a few moments, but Seth finally calmed the Whismur down again and sighed. “Yeah... she does that.”

“Oh that had better not be Wendy,” Christine muttered as she shook the ringing sensation from her head. “That girl loved to put us to sleep as a prank sometimes and draw all over our faces.”

Seth shook his head as he placed the Whismur on his back. “No, she says her name is Aster, and that she hasn’t been able to find her mother since coming to Equestria...”

“Poor little thing,” Fritter said as she petted Aster. Surprisingly, the Whismur didn’t wail again, instead she purred lightly and drifted off to sleep.

“Whoa! Fritter makes an awesome mommy!” Rika giggled, causing the mare to steam and cover her red face with her hooves.

“Okay, point to Fritter, and yeah, if she actually talked to you, then it can’t be Wendy...or isn’t bloody likely, anyways.” The dragon looked around her apartment at the broken glassware and sighed. “Gonna need to replace this…”

“Yeah, my fault, I’ll replace these too,” Seth sighed. “And if her mother isn’t here in Las Pegasus, then we might bring her back to Canterlot with us, maybe try and get in contact with Arceus.”

“I’ll get the dustpan,” Fritter said as she went to sweep up the shattered glass. Another knock on the door revealed Lala, along with a large Earth Pony.

“It seems your new refrigerator is here,” Lala said. “You have to sign for it as well.”

“Ah,” the dragon said, picking up Rika scooting her to in front of the pony, as it had been her who wrote the check originally. “So, together then?”

Rika nodded as the two signed for the new appliance. Another two Earth Ponies brought the heavy device up the stairs, grunting as they moved it through the front door.

“Uh, w-where do you want it?” one said.

“Just through there, in front of the recently-patched wall,” Christine pointed.

“No problem,” the stallions nodded, then nearly passed out when Fritter gave them a hoof. By taking the entire fridge onto her back and walking calmly into the kitchen with it.

“W-well uh...” the stallions just looked at each other while Seth and Rika shared a giggle.

“Yeah, she does that,” Christine said with a smile.

“Noted,” The first stallion nodded. “I wonder if she needs a job?”

“Nope, Fritter is allll ours,” Rika giggled. The stallions sighed, disappointed that they couldn’t get a cute mare to work with them and once the paperwork was done, they were on their way.

“Ah put it in the kitchen,” Fritter said, walking back out. “Pretty fancy-lookin’ too if ah must say.”

“Oh, did we tell Vincent about our little ‘deal’ we worked out with that guy?” Rika asked her draconic friend.

“Don’t think we did,” Christine said, scratching her head. “We probably should, right?”

“I wonder if he’s still busy?” Rika asked and then projected her thoughts. “Hey Vinny, you still banging Lucy?”

You caught me between sessions, was the reply. So why do you need me?

There was a giggle from Rika, before her voice turned seductive. “You caught me, I want you, you sexy Psychic Fox! Why don’t you come over here and I’ll show you a few tricks of my own~”

...Yeah, nice try. I have more than a few things that tell me you’re not being serious, if you ever are, so why do you really need me?

“Geh, Selly is so much better at this,” Rika sighed and continued. “When Christine and I were out shopping, we got a great deal on a fridge... with the promise that you guys would kinda make this retailer your exclusive white goods dealer...”

...Was he at least an honest slash nice guy?

“Seemed to be,” Rika replied. “He was quite grateful to you in particular actually, something about a group called PegasusAir giving him trouble?”

...Thank you for the information, Vincent’s voice had an edge to it before it brightened considerably. And I suppose they would be grateful...maybe I should look into making more such deals. Though I do ask that you not abuse my name to get yourself deals like that again without consulting me first.

“Yeah, sorry,” Rika apologized. “While I have you on the line... I have something for you. A repayment I believe?”

Ah yes! Thank you for reminding me. Though I have to wonder based on your earlier comment if you intend to repay me in bits or with something else...

“Well there’s that~” Rika cooed. “But I don’t think Sethy would approve, so we’ll have to settle with bits... though, you sound a little disappointed~”

Apprehensive, actually. I fear the day Seth or Fritter actually take you to bed and up on any of your offers. I only hope it doesn’t happen here.

“Well, you could fear for Seth maybe,” Rika replied with a smirk that Vincent could feel from his end. “Though, the showers here are wonderful, just enough for an Earth Pony and a little snugglefairy~”

Aaaand that would explain the sounds I heard earlier. Almost thought there was a perverted Ghastly hanging around. So where are the bits then, or did you intend to make good on your earlier teasing?

“The bits are in my room, second drawer in the bedside table,” Rika said, “I’m so leaving the pervy stuff to Selly, I suck at this...”

Seth has something I’m sure he’d appreciate you sucking at more, Vincent shot back. And found and grabbed, thank you Rika.

“GODDAMIT VINCENT!” Rika’s Hyper Voice echoed through the link. “I swear, I’ll sneak into you room and untie Lucy!”

And then I’d make her think you were me, Vincent thought back. That’d last all of an hour, I think, before you’d give up.

“I’m already done,” Rika muttered. She walked over to a corner of the room and sulked, having lost that round miserably.

“What’s her deal?” Seth asked. Vincent decided to fill his friend in on what had just happened.

She just got schooled in the art of dirty-talk, the Kadabra's voice echoed into the Luxray's head.

“I have no idea how to respond to that,” Seth sighed. “And I’m too tired to care either. I think I’ll have some dinner and then I’m going to bed early.”

Fritter nodded as she pet the little Sylveon. “I’ll make you something soon. Let me finish up here first okay?”

“No rush,” Seth said. “Or I’ll cook if you want. You’re always cooking for us.”

Fritter paused, and an expression of dread slowly crept over her face. “Um, iffn’ y’all don’t mind Sethy, ah think you should let me cook.”

Seth shrugged and padded towards over to his room, muttering the whole time about never getting to do anything.

“Whew!” Fritter breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh Seth, before you leave!”

“What is it?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Bit said he could use a charge for some gener-thingy. Reckon you could help ‘im out?”

Seth nodded, “Alright, could you watch Aster for me please?” He placed the satchel around Fritter’s neck and headed downstairs.

Bit had been in the middle of disassembling his computer when a few knocks sounded at the door to his lab.

“Yo Bit, you in there?” the familiar voice of Seth called out.

“Yes,” the program responded. “And it is safe to enter at the moment if that is your desire.”

“Cool,” Seth nudged the door open and walked in side. He looked around and whistled appreciatively. “Whoa, someone’s been busy...”

“Today’s earlier failed test showed me that some of the components I fabricated on my own will likely require replacement or repair.” The computer had been partially disassembled, the offending parts removed and circled in chalk.

“Huh,” Seth looked over the parts, some of them looked a little crispy. “Do you have sufficient heat sinks or cooling?”

“...I had wondered where those parts went,” Bit said, checking his memory and sighing. “It would appear the backup parts were lumped in with the air-conditioning for the apartment during its construction.”

“Well there’s part of your problem, not enough cooling and the motherboard gets fried.” Seth poked at a part idly. “How about water cooling? Would use less energy than a fan and would be a lot easier to fabricate. Plus you have Ice Beam right?”

“The downside is simple to spot: should even one miniscule hole be found, the coolant system will become as much of a problem as this was,” the Porygon-Z responded, picking up a piece of chalk and writing in the need for something to cool the computer with next to it.

‘That’s true, and I doubt ponies could make seamless pipes with their technology...” Seth seemed to think about the dilemma for a moment, before he seemed to get an idea. “Crystals!” he suddenly shouted. “That could work!”

Bit turned towards the Luxray and tilted his head a bit more, wondering what he was talking about. Seth began to explain. “Okay, so when I was in Canterlot, I had a run in with some Carbink that were living in the Crystal Caves. I noticed it was pretty cool in there, but since it was a cave, that was to be expected. However...” Seth took some chalk and drew something up on the board. It looked similar to a cooling unit on a refrigerator.

“Crystals can be enchanted you see, to do various things. Some noble ponies in Canterlot have these Crystal lattices laced in the walls of their homes. These crystals can be charged with heat or cold spells...”

“Intriguing notion,” Bit commented. “I may very well do so...once I understand magic better. I would prefer to be able to do such things myself if possible, so as to keep costs as low as possible during the fabrication of these computers.”

“Cost effective as well...” Seth seemed to ponder for a little longer before shrugging. “Dang... I got nothing now.” He scratched at his head and sighed. “Oh yeah, Fritter said you needed a charge or something?”

“The generator is over there,” Bit pointed in one corner to the generator-capacitor-fuse box setup. “It is modified to accept electricity from electric-type moves, store them, then feed the energy into the apartment house when it is needed. Simply aim at that metal plate.”

“Right here then?” Seth placed a paw against the plate. “Before I start, how much should I pour into it? I’m afraid I don’t quite know my own limits yet.”

“There is a safety feature,” Bit said, turning back to the corpse of his computer. “If it starts to beep at you, then it cannot take any more at this time. I built it in when I was modifying it, and hopefully, that feature works better than this one.”

“I’ll take it slow,” Seth decided. “So, how’s your day been?” he asked idly.

“Disappointing, but fruitful. Before I was forced to freeze my creation, it worked for a moment. I am on the right track, I merely require more cooling...and replacement parts,” Bit said, looking at several charred pieces.

“You’ll get there,” Seth replied. “Don’t try and rush it. Kanto wasn’t built in a day after all.”

“...True,” Bit said as he considered the words. “Still, I have come quite close in a matter of a few days of solid work. To be thwarted this close to the finish line is...irritating.”

“I’ll bet,” Seth replied. “Reminds me of when I had to build a model for a science project at school. But on the day, some kid tripped me, smashed the whole thing that i had spent weeks building... used a lot of glue and tape to fix it, but I couldn’t fix it in time...” He chuckled, “I doubt it really compares to what you’re doing though...”

“At least some of the materials I need can be found or purchased, so I am not doing it entirely from nothing,” Bit commented, dislodging another burned piece and sighing. “Still, the amount of damage inflicted by one careless oversight…”

“Hindsight is a bitch,” Seth quoted. “You’ve learned and now that mistake won’t happen again.” The panel gave a ding as the capacitor was fully charged.

“That seems to be the motto for not only the Nurem family, but many of the ones we run into as well,” Bit commented.

“New world, new rules, can’t be expected to adapt overnight,” Seth said. “All we can do is try and hope the world doesn’t explode.”

“I highly doubt the world is sentient, or knows the Self-destruct move,” Bit mused.

“...I can’t tell if that’s sarcasm or not,” Seth replied.

“Considering the presence of Legendaries such as Groudon and Kyogre back on Earth, it is not outside the realm of possibility,” Bit stated.

“Don’t remind me,” Seth replied dryly. “Anything else you need help with Bit?”

“Not at this time, though thank you for the charge,” the program responded. “That should keep the building and myself powered for some time.”

“No problem,” Seth replied. “Go nuts for tonight and I’ll give it a quick top up before I leave tomorrow.”

“Appreciated,” Bit said with a smile in his eyes. “Take care, mister Crescent.” Seth nodded and left Bit to his own devices.

James and Jessie were looking at a large, tourist-department approved map of Las Pegasus, planning their first real date on the town. "We could go here, see the Crown Jewel once it's repaired," Jessie said. "It sounds high-class."

"And I promise to give over any Bits to you," James said. "I know you'll keep an eye on them and not let me gamble."

"You're darn right I will," Jessie said with a mock-glare. "Honestly, I don't know why you keep allowing yourself to be suckered into such poor investments."

"I'll...answer that one later," James replied, a small blush on his cheeks, before turning back to the map. "Hmm, there are quite a few places we could get dinner at around there...perhaps we should ask Vincent which one is the best option?"

“Some bugs are raiding the berry garden,” a familiar voice called from the stairwell, loud enough to pierce through the walls.

"Oh Arceus-damnit!" James said, jumping down from their couch and stalking to the doorway.

"James, wait for me! I can handle them a lot better than you!" Jessie said, jumping to her paws and racing after him.

"Together then?" he asked as they raced up the stairs.

"Of course, but let's put on a show as well," Jessie said, giving him a kiss on the cheek before he opened the door to the roof. "Give me an introduction, won't you?"

"Gladly," James said, and opened the door to see the swarm of Ledyba, along with their older, Ledian siblings.

"I'm warning you all now," James said, brandishing his bouquets. "Leave, or you will be dealt with."

"We aren't afraid of you!" one of the Ledians stated.

"Yeah!" the rest of them chipped in. James merely sighed and lowered his arms.

"Oh, it wasn't me that was going to deal with you," the Roserade said idly.

"You mean that Nurem brat? You got him up here? We aren't afraid of him either! No matter what he ended up as, we outnumber him!"

James raised an eyebrow at that before laughing and shaking his head. "Oh no, not him either. After all, you've messed with me enough. I'd say it was high time you prepared for trouble, as this garden is mine to look after."

Jessie's voice came from the stairwell then. "Indeed, and they'd best make it double, as I'm not letting you handle this on your own anymore."

The form of the Pyroar walking out got the attention of all the Bug-types up there, and several of them gulped as they realized the situation. None of them could match up against a Fire-type favorably. One of them seemed puzzled for a moment. "Hang on," the Ledian said. "Those words...I swear I've heard them before..."

"To protect our Berries from devastation," James led, a smile on his face.

"To unite all people within this nation," Jessie rejoined, smiling as well, prancing next to her boyfriend, her mane's colors dancing wildly as she fell back into her old, hammy role.

"To denounce the evils of gluttony and greed," James continued, causing Jessie to look at him with shock for a moment. He changed the tune?! Then again, she considered, they'd changed their lives and weren't real members of the team anymore...they could have a different tune.

"To give to those who have true need!" Jessie said, thinking up a rhyme quickly, before naming herself. "Jessie,"

"James," the Roserade replied striking a pose where he brandished both of his bouquets at the invaders. "Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" the Pyroar finished with a roar. Just like the old days!

"Meowth, that's right!" Meowth pitched in, riding atop Wobbuffet's form as they emerged from the stairwell.

Silence reigned for a moment...and then the bugs flew off again, clearly not wanting to put up with Jessie's new form, or the team...Or both.

"Well," Jessie said, blinking a few times. "That was easy."

Atop a cloud above a small hamlet, a pair of eyes watched as a Gardevoir and a Gallade walked hand in hand, a pair of familiar shining stones set in rings adorning their fingers.

“Humanity is destined to follow the path of ruin once more... I must put a stop to this, to preserve this pure and gentle world...”