"So, how does this start?" Harry asked, laying down on the couch in the doctor's office. It was comfortable enough but not utterly so; he could manage on it but he wouldn't want to go to sleep on it. He doubted he'd be able to. Or that the woman sitting across from him, one hand scratching the head of her Audino, would want him to catch some shut eye when she was trying to talk to him.

"That all depends on you," Dr. Linda said with a slight smile. "And no, don't worry, this isn't one of those therapy sessions where you do all the talking and I don't say a word and then I collect a paycheck while you did all the work. I do like to have my patients work out things and take the lead, as it is better for all of us if you aren't forced to tackle an issue you aren't comfortable with. But I will step in and guide you if I feel that you are deflecting or not being honest, even if just with yourself. Okay?" Harry gave her a slight nod. "So, why don't we begin with why you are here?"

"Because Remus is forcing me to be here," Harry said before grimacing. "Sorry." He truly was. He knew that Dr. Linda Martin was one of the best psychologists in the entire world and while it had taken a lot of Remus' personal skills and Sirius' money to get her to come to Avalon for the summer to meet with him she had also come because she wanted to help. He could tell that straight away from just spending a few minutes with the woman. Just sense that she was a genuine person that cared for her patients and wanted them to get better. Though, considering that she was an attractive and brainy blonde he also couldn't help but figure that Sirius had decided to hire her in hopes of getting a chance to bang her; he just hoped it wasn't on the couch he was lying on or he'd need even more therapy.

"No, that's actually a good place to begin," Dr. Linda said. "Remus is your guardian?" Harry shot her a look and she shrugged. "I know he is but I like to go on the record with all the people my patients mentioned, so that they actually say the words. You wouldn't believe how many come to realizations concerning those around them and how close… or not… they are just by having to put into words who they are to them."

"I guess that makes sense," Harry said.

"So who is Remus to you?"

Harry was silent for several moments before finally saying, "He's what I guess a dad should be."

"You guess?"

"My first memories of a 'father figure' are of Vernon Dursley yelling at me because I wasn't working hard enough and 'work makes you stop being a sinner!'. So yeah… I can't really say I have a good idea what a father should be like. In real life."

"What do you mean?"

Harry sighed and rolled his hand about. "It would be easy to say that I know what fathers are supposed to be like because I've read about them or I've seen my friends' fathers. Mr. Weasley, my friend Ron's dad, for example." Ron was honestly, now that he thought about it, the only father he- his heart briefly clenched as he remembered Jack and their last parting but he forced those thoughts away; another time. Another time. "But… I know that just brief moments of seeing them doesn't mean I understand what it's like to have a dad." He paused, trying to find a way to put into words what he wanted to get across. Not because he thought Dr. Linda didn't understand but because he had the feeling, based on her own admission, that things would work out better if he actually did say them now instead of waiting for her to draw the comments out of him. "There was this story I read about this warrior who gets unlimited power and immortality. And he is trying to do all he can for his family except when his kid is like 15 he finds out his wife, who is mortal, cheated on him. And he's just… confused. And everyone can't really understand why he is confused. Not because of the cheating but because what she blames him for… her reasons why she did it… they make no sense to him. A friend has to explain it to his family because to them her reasons make sense. No… not make sense, as they are disgusted her cheated, but they at least can comprehend what she is saying. See this warrior, he grew up isolated from everyone else. Never really had strong parental figures. So what he knew about being a husband and a father came from what he saw other people doing. And in public he saw parents focused solely on their children. So he thought that was what being a family was: the child comes first, all focus on them. He never saw date nights or the moments where mom and dad would have a private conversation or a moment between them. And as a result his world view is utterly warped."

"And that spoke to you?"

Harry scoffed. "I can transform into a giant bird, when I get angry I gain fangs and claws, and apparently I can also use my soul to fuel magic attacks. Yes, at this point I won't be shocked if it turns out I'm an immortal." He chuckled at that and to his surprise the doctor did so as well. And that instantly made him like her all the more because she could see how insane his life was and didn't scold him for clinging to humor to keep himself sane.

"Believe me, I'm used to my patients saying their immortality. So because of that you can only say you think Remus is like what a father should be. No other reason?"

"You mean am I afraid of him replacing my birth dad?" Harry asked. "Not really… I don't say it around Sirius or Remus or really anyone else but I don't remember my parents. James and Lily Potter are just names that appear on plaques. I'm thankful that they had me, obviously, and I wish I could have known them, but I can't call them my parents because I have no memory of them."

The doctor nodded. "And that is completely understandable. In fact it is a very healthy view. Too many people in your situation would develop an unhealthy fixation of their parents, based their entire lives around them. 'What would they want from me?' 'Am I living up to their expectations?' 'I need to model myself after them.'"

Harry let out a frustrated grunt at that. "Avalon is doing that enough for me."

Dr. Linda pulled out a file. "Since I'm not from here I needed to do a bit of research on them."

Harry vaguely wondered, as the good doctor was looking over the papers, if that was part of the reason why Remus had hired her: not just how good she was as her job but because she wasn't an Avalonian, didn't have any of the connections someone from this region would have to the history of Avalon, and thus would be able to come at the problems with an open mind. He also quickly realized that had Remus actually tried to get him to go to an Avalon shrink it would have ended very badly due to his current opinion of the entire region. The phrase 'you aren't paranoid if they're really out to get you' kept flashing through his mind.

"Lily and James aren't merely popular because they stopped Voldemort but because they were just well respected people. Head Boy and Girl of their year, Lily received record high scores on her… M.U.K.S.," Dr. Linda made a crinkling face at that and Harry didn't blame her as it really wasn't the most pleasant name for a series of tests to determine one's future. "Rather popular with their peers… those would be rather big shoes to fill, especially if everyone kept trying to force you into them."

"And they do," Harry grumbled. "The first day I was at Hogwarts everyone kept murmuring that I was Lily's Heir. People keep telling me I look just like my father or I have my mother's temper or that I need to reopen the Potter family gym because that is what my parents would have wanted… I'm half ready for everyone to proclaim I have to date a red-head because my father married my mother so clearly I must have an Odepus complex!" He shifted up on the couch a bit so he could look at her easier. "Far too many people just see me as one of them returned again and how they can relive their memories of them or get over their guilt over not helping them when they could instead of seeing me for… me."

"And I suppose that having other people see you as some sort of savior for Avalon and weighing you against those standards doesn't help much either?"

Harry flopped back down on the couch and groaned. "I'm supposed to be the good little Avalon knight. Ride in on a proper mount, use only the most honorable of methods to win my battles, always offer my foes a hand up and quick words of forgiveness, and follow the Seven Rules of Chivalry. Or whatever other bullshit they

"You have a lot of anger towards Avalon."

"I hate most of its people, not the region itself. Though I could do without the winters. But otherwise it's a nice place. Its just infested with the most cowardly, spineless, two-faced backstabbers to ever infest a region. They are like lice." Harry grunted slightly and shifted on the couch, trying to get more comfortable. "Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if some other region had picked me up. What if I ended up in Unova or Kalos or the like?"

"Every region has their problems."

"Does every region expect me to fix all their problems and then want me to smile pleasantly when they bitch about how I do it?" Harry shot back.

The shrink bobbed her head back and forth. "Most likely not."

Harry snorted at that. "At least you're honest."

"I want you to explain something to me then," the shrink said, taking of her glasses and leaning forward in her chair. "You don't like Avalon. It's people, at least. You think they use you, don't see you as a real person, and will turn on you the first chance they get. Am I missing anything?"

"Not at all."

"Except I feel like I am because you still want to save it from Voldemort."

Harry though shook his head. "I don't want to save Avalon I just want to stop Voldemort."

"And there is a difference?" Dr. Linda asked.

"Very much so."

"And why is that?"

"Because Voldemort will never stop targeting me. Avalon is just something that's in his way. If we were in Kalos he'd be attacking them instead and not care at all about Avalon."

She pursed her lips. "Okay, let's back up a touch. Voldemort is a Spiritomb that wants to take over your body to be his new form, correct?"

"…I'm surprised you are so accepting of that," Harry admitted, puzzled. "Most of his followers still believe that he's the same guy my mom killed when I was a baby despite the fact that there was so little left of him after she was done that they had to use a Shop Vac to gather up his remains."

"Really?" the shrink asked.

"Or a broom and dust pan, I'm not for sure, I just know that my mom apparently decided with her last act on this earth to subscribe to the idea that there is no such kill like overkill."

"Sounds like a friend of mine," the doctor stated. "As for believing you… well, let's just say that compared to some of my other patients having an immortal ghost made up of several hundred tortured souls trying to wear you like a Halloween costume isn't all that strange."

"That is… kind of really sad."

"Pretty much," she admitted. "But let's get back to you. Voldemort is obsessed with you, correct?"

Harry nodded. Remus and Sirius and Tonks had vetted the shrink HEAVILY before allowing her to meet with Harry and he knew that she was someone he could trust with information. With so many of Voldemort's lackies running around still in the shadows, able to pretend to be normal people, he was far less trusting now than he had been only a year or so ago. He would rather be careful and offend someone by not telling them the whole story than blab important details to a spy Nocturne had sent to try and get close to him. But Dr. Linda had been grilled by Remus and Co and he knew that if there had even been an inkling that she was with those extremists he'd never have been left alone with her.

"Why is that?"

"He wants my body."

"But why you? What's so important about you?"

Harry let out a bitter chuckle at that. "I've been asking that for years," he admitted before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Okay, so apparently the host body he used for the longest, Tom Riddle? He's technically my cousin or something like that. Or was. And I don't know what the family dynamic really is. My mum's… mom? Dad? I can't remember, its been years since Voldemort spilled it all out. Anyway, one of them was related to Voldemort's mom. So I come from the Gaunt family that can trace themselves to Salazar Slytherin. And Salazar can trace himself to AZ, the last king of Kalos."

"The legendary king," Linda stated.

"Right. So I'm of 'The Blood of AZ'. And you'd think there were be a ton of people of that bloodline but turns out there are only a few that are considered direct and 'pure', in Voldemort's view at least: me and the Kenways thanks to the Ancient and Royal House of Ironside." He flicked his hand about lazily. "And the Blood of AZ is a powerful thing. Or at least it is viewed that way. At the very least Voldemort wants me because he's fixated on Riddle and wants another Gaunt descendant-" Harry paused and then began to laugh.

"Harry?"

"I… I just realized… there were two more people of AZ's bloodline and the Gaunt family that Voldemort could have grabbed. My aunt and my cousin. And that idiot had them killed!" Harry closed his eyes and held his hand against his head as he laughed at the foolishness of it all. "Voldemort could have taken over Dudley like that and it would have been game over! He could have gone after Dudley the moment Ron froze Quirell's head first year. Got into the Chamber and had full control of Zygarde, had command of the Unown, all of it. Instead he wasted time on me when Dudley was sitting right there! Could have offered him a pie and Dudley would have probably happily went along with being Voldemort's suit!"

His laughter lasted for nearly a minute but when he was done he looked over and saw the shrink staring at him with concern.

"Harry… I find it a bit… disturbing… that you are so flippant about your family being killed-"

"They weren't family they were my relatives," Harry snapped.

"You lived with them," she point out. "Were there truly no good times?"

"No."

One word. Two little letters. Yet loaded with so much meaning.

"Oh," the doctor said. "I… Remus and Sirius told me things were bad for you-"

"Saying that living with the Dursleys was 'bad' is like saying that Onix is 'slightly larger than the average Pokemon'." Harry rolled his eyes. "And it's not just that they were abusive… and all of them were, let's be clear on that. It was that I had no idea WHY they were abusive to me. I had no memories of Avalon. The first Pokemon I ever saw was Hagrid's Snubbull when he came to pick me up and get me the hell out of Little Surrey. I never expressed an interest in Pokemon because I didn't even know they existed! And yet my relatives decided to treat me like a slave and lambast me for every little thing I did out of some fear that just because I'd been BORN outside of Avalon that meant I was… infected with Pokerus." He snorted in derision. "So no, they aren't my family and I honestly don't feel all that much pain about them being killed by Nocturne. I felt worse that the Sons got blamed for it than them dying." He paused, gritting his teeth a little before he mustered out, "And that they died period. Like I would feel bad for any random stranger who I found out died. Its sad that someone died. That's about all I feel for them."

"And is that how you feel about the people of Avalon?" Linda pressed. "Bad that they might die because of Voldemort?"

"That's different."

"Why?" she asked. "You admitted that you don't like Avalonians. Two-faced and cowards, you called them. They hurt you like the Dursleys hurt you." She made a note in notepad and Harry just knew that she was writing down for them to go over his childhood in another session. And he also couldn't help but wonder if, by the end of this session alone, she'd have enough trauma to go over with him to last a lifetime. "Yet you have never once mentioned fighting Voldemort because of Little Surrey. You've mentioned Avalon… not just to me but to others… but never Surrey. What makes them so different then?"

Harry sighed. "I've thought about leaving. Of just picking up and moving someplace else. I considered Johto but… well, that's not going to happen. Not now. I… haven't spoken with the people there all summer and I don't think I will any time soon. But maybe someplace else? Galar is close to Avalon in terms of culture so I thought about moving there. Maybe find a patch of land near the Wild Area and just be by myself, you know? I wouldn't want the city… I don't like crowded areas right now and I'd need to build back up to that."

"And why is that?" Linda asked.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Because when you literally are looking over your shoulder wondering if a shop keep is part of the criminal organization that wants to rip out your soul and feed it to an evil ghost you tend to avoid crowds."

"Why not go someplace else?" Linda asked him.

"We covered that already; Voldemort wants me. He is obsessed. It doesn't matter if the perfect host suddenly appears and saying "Please, I want you inside me Voldemort-Sempei, split me in two!", he'll still go after me." He blinked at that, falling out of his angry rant for a moment as he replayed what he'd just said. The psychiatrist was also a bit puzzled by the comment and finally all Harry could do was shrug. "I'm basically the big brother to a pop-culture obsessed Veela. It rubs off." He tilted his head. "Unless Luna and I just swapped personas there."

"I don't believe that's possible."

~MEANWHILE…~

"Luna, what-" Hermione said, staring at her friend who had just suddenly burst into her room and was now sitting on her bed with a put-upon look on her face, glowering.

"Because I am tired of the world always relying upon me," Luna grumbled. "And my parents are dead."

"Yes, your mother is dead and it is sad," Hermione said slowly. "But your father is alive."

"Oh, really?" Luna tilted her head, her rage and frustration melting away.

The two girls jumped a little when they heard Hermione's father scream.

"MR. LOVEGOOD, HOW DID YOU GET IN OUR DISH WASHER?! WHY ARE YOU IN OUR DISHWASHER!"

"The truth cannot be hidden!" Xeno called out.

"Just a hunch," Hermione muttered. "At least this time you didn't burst in on me while I was in the shower."

Luna shook her head. "You say that but do you know how many people would pay to see us showering together?" She looked at Hermione for several long moments. "I'm being serious. I'm thinking of buying a car and need money to pay for it. Do you have a ballpark idea? Do you think us just lathering each other up would work or would I need to go down on you to-"

~MC~MC~MC~

"So… uh… sorry about that," Harry finally said.

The doctor merely waved him off though, a bemused smile on her face. "Oh, believe me, I'm used to patients saying random and strange things. You aren't the first person to begin using odd metaphors to describe your emotional trauma. In fact you might say that it comes with the territory. I'd rather you talk with me in a way that makes you feel comfortable than to bottle things up in fear that I will judge you. Here is a place where you can feel safe and discuss things how you wish. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"You were saying about Voldemort and his obsession with you?"

"Right," Harry stated, settling back down on the couch. "Voldemort… he has made up all these reasons why it has to be me that he has as his next host. My blood, my standing in Avalon, that I am young… hell, he's probably finding ways to twist my hatred of him and my utter refusal to be his skin-suit as reasons why I must be the perfect host." He began to make a hissing like voice. "Yes, Harry… hatred is something I feed on so it is perfect that you hate me! And your refusing of me shows you are strong willed, which makes for a better host! And you getting a tattoo that says "Voldemort only likes it here!" right above you ass shows that you understand me because I so do love getting it up the ass!"." He rolled his eyes.

"…I don't know if I should ask you if actually have that tattoo or if that is how Voldemort actually sounds."

"No to both. I get stuck with enough needles when I end up in the medical wing at school and he doesn't actually sound like that but that's how I hear it in my head whenever I think about him. I guess you can call it a coping mechanism?"

"I think that's a good way to put it," the doctor agreed. "And one of the healthier ones, to be sure. Compared to what other methods you could be using." She made a waving gesture with her hand, motioning for him to continue.

"The point though is that Voldemort is obsessed with me and if I go anyplace else he will track me down and he will try and get me. And that will mean he will attack which ever region I decide to live in. Better to have him stick with Avalon, frankly."

"Except you haven't considered all your options," Dr. Linda pressed. "If Voldemort is going to follow you why not simply go to an island, prepare a bunch of traps, and let him arrive?"

"What, like Home Alone?" Harry asked before groaned. "Seriously Luna? Are you invading my thoughts?"

~Meanwhile…~

"I am not!" Luna called out before turning back to Hermione, video camera in hand. "Now let's get that shirt off-"

"LUNA!"

~MC~MC~MC~M~

"no, I could never do that," Harry said with a shake of his head.

"Why not?" the doctor pressed.

Harry sighed and ground out, "Because while he is obsessed with me and I am the number one target he has… Avalon is number two." He rubbed his forehead. "How much did Remus and Sirius tell you about Voldemort?"

"He's a Spiritomb. I did some research…"

"I sometimes wonder what happened to his Keystone. Spiritombs are… odd." Harry had done his own research over the summer; he'd needed to in order to fill the quiet days at Remus' house. There had been no training during the break from school. No Hall of Speakers, no talking with the Pack… he'd met up a few times with his friends but otherwise it had been nothing but the quiet of the seafront cottage. It was nice and something that helped soothe Harry's troubled mind but after a few weeks he'd needed something else to do. Something to keep him occupied. Because while it was peaceful and quiet that same peace and quiet meant that his mind soon became empty… and he began to remember-

He violently shook off the memories. Of the blood. The knife. Seeing the light dim from their eyes…

Harry shut his eyes. 'This… this is why you are in therapy,' he reminded himself before continuing on. "They hate their keystones but also will always go to them fiercely. A Keystone doesn't allow them to wander off. It keeps them trapped and locked in one area. That's why if you want to catch one you need a Keystone. They will try and toss the Keystones away, get rid of them… but it seems to drive them mad after a while when they aren't around them. They need to be close to their Keystones, make sure they are okay, that they haven't been broken or cracked. Its like an… I don't know… OCD thing for them. They don't want to care for that rock but they do. Does that make sense?"

"Only in the sense that if I could bring a Spiritomb into therapy and actually get them to pay I'd be rich."

Harry managed a chuckle at that. "Anyway, I am beginning to wonder if, because he doesn't have his Keystone, he's made all of Avalon his Keystone. Or at least has transferred his obsession to it."

"That… is entirely possible," the shrink murmured. "People all the time will transfer obsessions onto other things, other people. A husband goes through a divorce and locks onto the first woman he meets that reminds him of his ex. People who try and quit smoking will switch to some other vice. It's actually rather common." She leaned forward. "But I don't understand what this has to do with you and staying in a region you hate. Unless you are trying to claim that somehow you and Voldemort are linked. His love, your hate-"

Harry scoffed at that. "No, not at all." The idea that he would be linked to such a monster was… disgusting. "I mean, yeah, we are completely different from each other, but there is no magical connection between us that is causing that." He shuddered; at least he hoped not. At this point, with his screwed up life, he couldn't be 100% sure Arceus wasn't screwing with him and doing just that. "I stay because I know that if I leave he will still go after Avalon. He wants to rule it… he needs to rule it. Me leaving only means that he has no one else to stand against him."

"But you admitted that you don't care about Avalon and its people. Wouldn't a rational response be that they get what they deserve?"

"Are… are you advocating for me to let Voldemort take over Avalon?"

"Not at all. I'm asking you why that isn't a rational decision to come to, from your point of view."

Harry scowled at her but when she remained silent he said, "My friends. I don't want them hurt."

"You are independently wealthy, you could move them easily from Avalon."

"I'm not that wealthy."

"Yes, you are," the doctor stated. "Remus filled me in."

Harry blinked at that. "Apparently more than he has me." Harry knew his parents had left him a lot of money but he didn't realize that he was rich enough to move a ton of people completely from one region to another.

"But the point is that you could do it," Dr. Linda pressed. "So why don't you?"

Harry frowned. "He'll hurt innocent people-"

"You've repeatedly told me, and others, that Avalon is full of cowards and traitors and two-faced monsters. What innocents are there to protect?"

"Not everyone is like that."

"But how many is enough to justify saving it?" Linda pressed. "If I have an apple it is completely rotten I throw it away. If it is only 90% rotten I still throw it away. I don't try and cut out the good 10%. So what percent justifies trying to save the good part of the apple?"

"I don't know-"

"You must know," Linda said firmly. "You said you hate the region. Do you only hate a few people? No, I don't think so. You hate most of Avalon. If you only hated a few people you could manage well enough. So it has to be a large number. So why are you trying to save the rotten apple."

"It's complicated-"

"It isn't. Why are you trying-"

"BECAUSE THEIR DEATHS WILL BE ON ME!" Harry shouted, his mask shattering. His claws ripped through the couch and he tasted blood in his mouth as his lips were cut by his extended fangs. The doctor leaned back in her chair but didn't appear startled, which clued Harry in that she had wanted that reaction. Been expecting it. Damn her. Damn her and bless her. "Their deaths will be on me," Harry said softer, nearly a whisper, but just as thunderous as his bellow. "That's why I'll save people I hate who don't give a fuck about me."

The shrink looked down at her notepad for a moment before continuing. "Have you ever heard of False Guilt Syndrome?" Harry shook his head. "It's a condition of depression. Also known as Overactive Empathy. Someone with False Guilt Syndrome is willing to make themselves miserable because they can't stand the feeling, or even the potential feeling, of hurting others. Except, just as the name says, it isn't real guilt… or deserved guilt for that matter. Because you can't save everyone, Harry. And you can't sacrifice your happiness just to give others happiness." She looked up at the clock. "And I think we'll leave it there for now."

That made Harry sit up in surprise, so startled that he actually allowed his Speaker form to retract. "But we haven't even discussed what happened at the Ministry. Isn't that why I am here?"

"Yes," Linda admitted, "but there are other reasons you are here, just like how what happened at the ministry is merely a condition of an overlying problem. One we'll have to work our way towards." She smiled gently. "I'm sorry but mental health… it isn't like medical health where there is an operation and everything is better. It takes time… a lot of time."

Harry nodded dumbly at that, having not expected that answer, and made his way towards the lobby to find out when his next appointment was.

~MC~MC~MC~

Author's Notes: So… Lucifer is now canon to this series, as Linda Martin is the Linda Martin from the show Lucifer and why yes, Lucifer does exist in this universe. Though now that I type this out and remember that Arceus is Pokegod I suppose that means Lucifer's real form is that of Giratina. And that would make Amenadiel Dialga.

The story Harry references is Legend of Link: Unlucky Number 13. A hard to find fic and a very interesting one… the author clearly suffers from being unable to plan ahead as plot threads are abandoned so quick it would make your head spin, and it is abandoned, but it does have some interesting takes on the idea of what would happen if an immortal married a mortal.

Harry's reference to having to marry a red-head because he must have an Oedipus Complex is based on a reviewer WAY back in the beginning of the series complaining when I said Ginny and Harry wouldn't get together because "They have to, she has red hair like his mom!" and didn't get my utter horror and disgust at that statement.