Rules and restrictions are what make the world go round.

Kibe slowly opened his eyes. The morning light shone through the window into an unfamiliar room: his bedroom at home. It's been over a year since I've stayed the night here… And what an odd night it was: after trouncing Arienne and Virizion in a battle, his sister had quickly accosted both of them to her room, where she did a painting of Virizion on the spot. Virizion had been entranced by the process, curled up around her-yes, they had learned that Virizion was a female specifically-Trainer while watching Lynn paint. The two girls had become fast friends, and Kibe was forced to stay there until the wee hours of the morning while they chatted about various topics; life at the university, fashion, and so on. He sat up, and looked around his bedroom.

It was several times larger than his apartment bedroom; it had a much bigger bed, for one, as well as enough room for a couch, multiple dressers, a large desk complete with a computer workstation, and so on. The exact sort of comfort that he was trying to avoid. Kibe sighed. The entire reason why he moved out was because he wanted to be independent and live his own life. After his father had essentially snatched Kibe's previous life away from him, he decided that he would never have someone so one-sidedly interfere with his life again. As Kibe mused, he heard some thumping as someone walked to his bedroom door and knocked. Before he could say anything, a barefoot Lynn barged into his room, wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

"You know, you're supposed to wait for me to respond…" Lynn scoffed.

"Oh, please. You don't have time for that. You've slept in way too much; it's nearly 10AM already! You're lucky Arienne is spending so much time getting ready. Dad called earlier; he's sending a car to come pick you guys up, and take you to the Gearframe building." Neither of their parents had come home last night; their mother also worked at Gearframe, but in the financial division. She would regularly help their father when big projects like this would come up, however.

"And whose fault is that, anyway?" Kibe grumbled as he got out of bed and ran to the bathroom to get ready. Garchomp was seemingly immune to their ruckus. He would have to dress formally today, as he was visiting a major company. Arienne's maid-yes, she had a maid named Lyanna-had visited the house late last night, picking up Arienne's things and giving her some clothes for today. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lynn pad out of the room, and then peek her head back in.

"What do you want for breakfast before you go? I'll make you something."

"The usual, a cheese omelet with black coffee. Thanks." Kibe managed to get his request out while brushing his teeth.

"Got it!" An excited Lynn ran out of the room. Kibe smiled. Even if he didn't want anything to do with his father, he probably should visit home more often. I should hang out with her more often when she comes to the University this fall. He finished washing up, and stared at his closet. He ended up deciding on a white shirt, black trousers, red tie, and a blue vest over top. He would not wear a jacket in this heat. He picked up his bags and a pair of dress shoes from his closet, and walked towards the bedroom door. Without turning around…

"You know full well that you can't drag yourself over the floor in this house. Get up." Garchomp growled, and begrudgingly got to his feet. While the bedrooms and a few other rooms in the house had carpeted floors, the main living rooms, kitchen, and hallways were wooden. Garchomp would leave massive scrapes on the ground if he tried to employ his usual method of intrahouse transport.

They left the bedroom, went downstairs, and entered the main area of the house: a massive united kitchen, dining room, and living room. The living room was where Kibe and Arienne had watched the Pokemon World Championships match last night. The restoration machine that Kibe's father had insisted upon was off in the corner. Lynn was in the kitchen, rushing around and preparing what seemed to be several different dishes. As one would imagine, both Kibe and Lynn were left alone at home quite a bit while growing up, especially in their later years. Both of them were proficient in cooking as a result.

"You can just sit down at the table, Kibe. All the food will be ready in a moment." He obliged, setting his stuff down closer to the front entrance of the house and sitting at the dining table. After a few minutes, Lynn finished plating the food and brought it over: the aforementioned omelet and coffee for Kibe, an egg sandwich and coffee for Lynn, and a croissant and tea for Arienne. Lynn sat down next to him as if it were natural. Speaking of Arienne…Several pairs of footsteps were heard as Arienne and her Pokemon entered the main room.

"That smells amazing, Lynn." Kibe froze while raising his cup of coffee. Arienne had always been pretty, sure, but this was the first time she had really looked stunning. She was always wearing, well, normal clothes one would expect a student researcher would wear, and he'd never seen her all done up like this. Arienne was wearing a gorgeous white summer dress, with a pair of sunglasses perched on her head. She was cradling a very expensive-looking purse in her arms. Her aura was completely different. Before, she had seemed merely like a nerdy indoors computer girl who liked fancy restaurants. But now…she looked confident in a way she hadn't before. Kibe swallowed and managed to correct his posture before either of the girls noticed. Arienne, meanwhile, took one look at him and sighed.

"Haaaah…I am definitely giving you a fashion boot camp when things die down. We're going shopping for a new wardrobe too. My treat." The pair of siblings had vastly different reactions; Kibe bristled, while Lynn's eyes shined.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Can I come?!" Arienne laughed, and gracefully sat down in front of Kibe, where her food had been placed. Audino set down Arienne's bags next to Kibe's by the entrance, and joined the other Pokemon where they were eating at a specially made floor table for Pokemon.

"Sure, you can come! You can help me knock some sense into this nitwit." She raised her tea and gave Kibe another once-over. "A light blue vest and a red tie? Really?"

"This was the only vest I had here. I don't want to hear it."

"That's the problem! Look. Nimbasa is the fashion center of the region, true, but if we want to get you some nice nice clothes, we'll need to go to Lumiose." Kibe froze again, his fork poked into his omelet.

"You seem really intent on draining away my life savings. Does it even register in your head how expensive a roundtrip plane ticket to another region would be? Not to mention that we would probably have to stay the night at Lumiose City of all places." Arienne rolled her eyes, taking a prim bite of her pastry.

"I said my treat, didn't I?"

"There's no way I would let my coworker "treat" me to a vacation." Arienne scoffed, and turned her head.

"Coworkers, hmm? Have it your way, then." They were quiet for a while, and wrapped up their meal. Lynn's phone buzzed; she had a home security app on her phone that notified her when someone rang on the front gate.

"Oh, your ride's here." Kibe nodded and stood up, walking over to their bags.

"Let's go, Garchomp." He returned his Pokemon, put on his shoes, and stepped outside first.

—

Arienne watched Kibe carry their bags outside, and then looked at Lynn, who had a downcast look on her face. She sighed. I swear, this guy…He can't even stay at home during summer vacation?

"Don't worry, Lynn. I'll knock some sense into him and get that idiot to come home more." Lynn smiled, and nodded.

"If you want to get my brother to go on that trip with you, you have to entice him with something. Stuff related to Pokemon usually does the trick." Arienne walked over to the entrance and slipped on a pair of white sandals. For Arienne, fashion was like a set of armor; it helped her be more direct and confident in herself.

"I'll think of something. Alright, you three, time to go!" Arienne returned her three-yes, she had three Pokemon now-and walked outside, tucking the Poke Balls into her minipurse. Lynn put on some flip-flops and followed her. The warm morning sun shone down on them; there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The front of the house featured a large front yard and quite a long driveway, with a gate at the end. A wall went around the entire property. Pulled up in front of the home was the same large luxury SUV that had brought them here yesterday: Kibe and the driver were finishing loading the bags into it. He glanced at Arienne.

"You can just get in, Arienne. We'll be done in a moment." As Arienne opened the door, Lynn called out to them.

"Have a safe trip, you two! Come back soon!" Arienne stiffened as she got into the car. Fond as she was of Lynn, the idea of visiting Kibe's house multiple times gave her pause. It would start giving off the wrong impression. Kibe got in next to her, and the car started on its way to Castelia City proper. The cabin was quiet; Arienne gave Kibe a side-eye. He was staring out of the window. Unlike Arienne, or honestly any normal person their age, he never really used his cell phone while idling: he preferred to read a book, or just sit and think. Arienne had learned a lot of trivial things like this about him in the past week or so.

However, she wasn't quite sure what she'd thought of him just yet. There were some things she liked about him: his frankly dashing skills as a Trainer, his earnestness as a researcher, and his intensity. But on the other hand, she disliked how condescending he could be sometimes. He also had pretty extreme notions about people, and had seemingly assumed Arienne's entire life story despite barely knowing her. I probably wouldn't say no if he actually asked me out, though…Wait, huh?! Her musing was halted by a certain post that should NOT be there.

"K-Kibe! People Look at this!" She shook his shoulder, and showed him what the social media post she had seen:

Association insiders confirm that the Grassland Pokemon, Virizion, has been captured by an unnamed Trainer in Unova. Virizion is a Grass/Fighting Legendary Pokemon. (Anyone who knows more about this Trainer, please DM us!) Kibe regarded the message, shrugged, and looked back out the window. They were now passing through the Skyarrow Bridge, back into Castelia City.

"It got leaked, huh? Well, that's about par for the course. The capture of Legendary Pokemon is something that many Association members and affiliates have access to, as it's a matter of security. But what do you want to do? You're something of a celebrity, aren't you? Do you want to publicize this information, or not?" Arienne considered the thought. It'll inevitably be publicized once we write the paper anyway, so… She smiled, and typed up a social media post. Sure, she hadn't made up her mind on Kibe yet, but teasing him was an entirely separate matter.

—

The Gearframe Corporation headquarters came into Kibe's field of vision. It occupied an entire 80-floor skyscraper on the prestigious Castelia City waterfront; one of the highest property value locations in the world. The company originally got its big break with the C-Gear, a popular communications device that was widely adopted before the advent of the smartphone, which Gearframe was also a premier manufacturer of. They had leveraged this success to deepen their relationship with the Association, becoming the primary supplier and distributor of Pokemon Centers and Poke Marts in the Unova region, as well as maintaining the Association's regulations. The group had now become the most influential company in the Unova Region, and naturally, its front entrance and lobby were closely watched by both bystanders and the press.

However…it's busier than usual today. A veritable crowd of people had gathered on the famous beachfront sidewalk, many holding their phone cameras out. Kibe even saw a television crew for a station linked with the Association. The SUV began to slow as it approached, and Kibe uncharacteristically began to panic, and tapped the driver's shoulder.

"H-hey, maybe we should use the back entran-" Arienne interrupted him and pulled his arm down.

"Keep going. We'll go through the front." Kibe sulked and mumbled:

"I'm not great with crowds…Where did they even come from?" Arienne just smiled, put her phone in her purse, and flicked her sunglasses down as they approached the entrance. There were dozens of people and Pokemon there, and nearly as many cameras. The car slowed to a stop. While Kibe was contemplating just how to get out of this situation, he felt a tug on his arm. He turned to find Arienne just inches away from his face.

"Escort me."

"Excuse me?" He leaned back, and she leaned forward, not letting him escape. He couldn't see her eyes behind those wide-rimmed sunglasses of hers.

"Escort me in. We have to put on a show." Kibe hissed at her.

"You want me to roll out a red carpet for you too?" Arienne giggled and shoved him away.

"Not today, at least. Just do it! I'll explain later." Kibe scowled, and got out of the car. He walked over to Arienne's side of the vehicle, and opened the door. So now I have to… Kibe plastered a smile on his face as he held out a hand to help Arienne out of the vehicle. She waited as he poked his head inside and instructed the driver to take their things to Dr. Foxglove's lab. He turned around to see Arienne sending out Virizion. He mentally threw up his hands. If she wants to turn this into some exhibition, so be it. I don't care anymore. He sent out Garchomp as well.

Arienne slipped her hand into his left arm, and the pair began walking towards the entrance, Garchomp leading the way. Virizion followed directly behind them, warily looking at the gaggle of people who crowded them. Fortunately, the crowd had the good sense to at least leave a path to the entrance. Cameras flashed. Kibe could hear people talking into their phones, likely giving commentary on the event. A few people shouted out questions:

"Ms. Walters, are you planning on returning to the fashion industry sometime soon?"

"Are you planning on becoming a competitive Trainer? There are rumors that you've become involved in Pokemon research…"

"Did that Trainer help you capture Virizion? What's your relationship with him?" This was the only question Kibe personally noted. It was common for celebrities and the wealthy to employ assistance in order to capture Legendary Pokemon as status symbols. The idea disgusted him; while Arienne was a celebrity, sure, she would never be so callous as to do something like that. He had at least that much faith in her. He glanced at her. Arienne seemed in her element, practically strutting as they made their way to the entrance. She had a radiant smile on her face, waving into some of the cameras. She certainly seems like a celebrity right now. Kibe unconsciously straightened his back.

Eventually, they got inside the lobby, and away from the crowd of onlookers. Very few had the courage to enter the Gearframe Corporation's lobby uninvited: their "regulatory force" of veteran Trainers was famously strong. Leading that force was one of Sato Uehara's duties as the Vice President of the company's Pokemon affiliated branch, the PTRB. The lobby was a five-story tall atrium, with impossibly clean tile floors.

To Kibe's right was the front desk, while across from him was a set of five balconies for the corresponding floors that made up the atrium. To his left were the elevators. There was a fountain in the middle of the room. Groups of people were visible moving around; the company headquarters alone employed well over ten thousand people. There were many Pokemon moving about everywhere; crawling on the walls, flying on the atrium, walking on the floor, and frolicking in the fountain. Kibe thought he even saw a Celebi up towards the ceiling for a second, playing with another Pokemon before seemingly winking out of existence. Arienne noticeably powered down; she became more reserved once they entered the building. Kibe led her over to a couch; she didn't object. They sat down, with Garchomp and Virizion standing behind them.

"Fans of yours? How did you attract so many people?"

"I just made a social media post saying that I'll be visiting the Gearframe headquarters this morning. Oh, and I may or may not have added a leaf emoji to the post…" Kibe sighed, tempted to smack those fancy sunglasses off her head.

"I'm not sure I want to ask this, but…how many followers do you have?"

"... About one hundred and twenty thousand…" Kibe gave Arienne the brightest smile he possibly could, and then pinched her bare shoulder. Arienne yelped and smacked his arm away. Kibe began looking around as she started to explain herself. There were still some gawkers among the employees of the company who were milling around, but on the whole the company staff seemed used to the presence of Legendary Pokemon. He wasn't surprised; of the seven registered Trainers who owned Legendary Pokemon in the region, two of them were known to be Gearframe employees. That was why the Celebi had surprised him; it wasn't one of those seven registered Legendaries.

"Ow! Look, I'm just turning our weakness into a strength. If I show myself off as being a confident Trainer of Virizion, and also use the social clout I have to gain notoriety, it'll be that much easier to write that paper and garner support for the Inner Forest." Out of the corner of his eye, Kibe could see Virizion vigorously nodding in assent; he got the feeling that he could convince that Pokemon of anything as long as he said it would help the forest. Wait, was that Nathan who just turned the corner on the second floor? Kibe didn't know he worked here.

"You sure you just didn't want to show off your outfit? What about me? There's going to be half a dozen articles speculating on if you paid me to catch Virizion for you; or worse, that I'm your boyfriend."

"Why is the second part worse? Anyways, don't underestimate Nimlucid's PR division. We'll figure something out. Don't we have a meeting to get to?"

"I'm not your damn butler." Kibe begrudgingly got off the couch and walked over to the front-or well, side-desk. A receptionist with an Emolga on her shoulder manned the station. She gave him a pleasant smile; they had met before, but protocol still had to be followed.

"Welcome to the Gearframe Corporation. What's your business here today?"

"I'm Kibe Uehara, and the girl behind me is Arienne Walters. We have an appointment with Vice President Sato Uehara." The secretary checked something on a computer, and then nodded.

"He left a memo stating that he's ready for you at any time. Please take the elevators to his office on the 75th floor."

Kibe thanked her, and beckoned Arienne from the couch. As opposed to the bubbly energy she had given the crowd outside, Arienne was now exuding a more refined atmosphere that Kibe personally approved far more of: she had perfect posture, and a cool, reserved expression suitable to the professional area she now found herself in. Arienne and their Pokemon joined up with Kibe as he walked across the room towards the elevators. They didn't link arms again; that apparently wasn't necessary here. He murmured to her.

"So you were just putting on a performance outside?" They had to sort of pick their way across the lobby, walking around roving groups of Pokemon and people.

"This is a performance, too. You know me well enough by now. Is this how I usually am?" Kibe supposed not.

They rode the elevators to the 75th floor. The elevators in question were quite large, extended in size such that one wouldn't have to recall their Pokemon when using them. Pokemon-friendly office building design was a relatively new concept, but Gearframe had taken it in full stride when renovating the building to occupy it. This was evident in the atrium they had just been in, as well as these elevators. Kibe knew that the office space of the PTRB was the same.

—

The elevator door opened, unveiling perhaps what was the oddest office space Arienne had ever seen. Cubicles had overhangs and perches for Pokemon; there was something like a jungle gym hanging from the roof as well. That roof was also suspiciously higher than it should have been: it seems that the "75th floor" actually occupied two floors at once. There was even a tree in the center of it. We have some Pokemon at the Nimlucid company building, sure, but nothing like this…no wonder Kibe's the way he is about Pokemon. His father had created a practical ecosystem in a skyscraper. Some of the employees here gave her and Virizion a brief glance, but not a single stare. This made sense; Mr. Uehara had probably informed the entire department of the capture. The Pokemon, on the other hand…seemed strangely reverent of her new partner.

Kibe led her and their Pokemon off to a door in on of the corners of the main room. It led to a hallway with various single offices breaking off from it; clearly this was for some of the higher-ups of the branch. At the end of the hallway was an auspicious set of double doors. Made of wood, depictions of the Sinnoh legends were engraved on the panels. The group stopped in front of them. Arienne gave Kibe a flat stare.

"...This is it, isn't it. Mr. Uehara's office." Kibe gave a pained smile.

"My dad imported these from Sinnoh…at my suggestion." Arienne's eyes went wide. "I was somewhat obsessed with the legends of Sinnoh when I lived there. Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime." Kibe brushed past her, going to open the doors. That must be a touchy subject for him. Oh well. It's not like I'm not hiding my own secrets from him either. Her sister's face flashed through her mind; Arienne briefly closed her eyes, then reopened them and strode into Mr. Uehara's office after Kibe.

The office was of a similar height to the main staff room they had just left; that is to say, two stories tall. The walls were adorned with numerous art pieces, as well as some book shelves. The far wall of the office was made entirely of glass; it faced the ocean south of Castelia City; Liberty Island was faintly visible in the distance. A rectangular wooden desk was set up close to that window: Mr. Uehara was seated at it, facing the window. The Rhyperior Arienne had seen before as well as a Braviary were off to the side of the room. A woman was standing next to him, holding a tablet. Kibe walked up to them.

"Vice President Uehara, I've brought Arienne Walters as per your appointment." Mr. Uehara laughed at his stiff protocol.

"Relax, son. Your mother will be serving as the only witness." Arienne watched as Kibe relaxed, and walked over to hug the woman standing next to Mr. Uehara. So that's Kibe's mom, huh… Arienne refocused as Mr. Uehara addressed her.

"That's Noura, my wife and Kibe's mother. She works in the Financial Resources Branch of Gearframe, but she helps me out as my assistant when there's a major workload…like the one you've brought us with that survey of yours." He eyed Virizion behind her, then turned his eyes back to Arienne.

"Well? Sit down. I have the Legendary Pokemon Ownership form here, as well as a release for you to have Virizion out and about in public spaces…"

—

Kibe watched as Arienne signed the various forms affiliated with being an official Trainer of a Legendary Pokemon. There were many restrictions; she couldn't bring Virizion on a plane, for example. She would have to have the Pokemon shipped to whatever region she wanted to visit with it. Trains and other public transport were ok, as long as Virizion was kept in its Poke Ball. His mother talked with him while they were waiting for his father and Arienne to finish.

"So, you visited home, didn't you? How was Lynn?" Kibe knew she wasn't asking about Lynn's general well-being-his mother at least tried to go home every day, after all-but rather Kibe's impression of her maturity.

"She was good. Earnest. Snubbull seemed to be in great spirits as well. I think she'll do just fine at the University." His mother relaxed.

"Good. As you know, she's always had trouble adjusting to life, so please help her out when she enrolls this fall." Kibe didn't fail to notice that his mother didn't ask a single question about Arienne. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure what he thought of her at this point, especially after her "performance" today. Which personality is the real her?

"You don't even need to ask. By the way, I believe that I saw a Celebi in the atrium earlier. What's that about?"

"Your father is taking care of it while its Trainer prepares to move to Unova. Managing particularly rare Pokemon that need to be put in transit is one of Gearframe's responsibilities, and ultimately your father is the one who carries that burden." Kibe nodded in response; that made plenty of sense.

Eventually, Arienne finished signing all of the paperwork, and the pair left the building. There wasn't a vehicle to pick them up; their plan was to get lunch somewhere, and then take the subway back to Castelia University. Arienne ended up dragging Kibe to a newly opened high-end Kalosian restaurant. Their formal attire ended up being perfect for the atmosphere; the other patrons were people like Gearframe employees and politicians. Kibe took the opportunity to grill Arienne over the trial she had put him through that morning, nearly driving her to tears. …She then later coerced him into buying her a Casteliacone for her "mental distress". Eventually, they arrived back at the University. Dr. Foxglove and Lewis greeted them.

"Welcome back! You had quite the wild trip, didn't you? Also, congratulations on your new partner, Ari! Can I take a look at it? Please?"

"Glad to see you back here in one piece, Kibe. Good work out there." Dr. Foxglove and Arienne shared a joyful hug; Kibe was left dumbstruck in just how close the pair had gotten in one week while he gave Lewis a firm handshake.

"It was a bit harrowing at times, but we managed to pull through. What have you been up to while we've been gone?" Lewis actually smirked. That was the first time Kibe had seen him make a face like that.

"Oh, you have no idea, do you? You see, I decided to test out a certain Pokemon's abilities in live combat…"