Fenny was eager to be caught up and relentless with her questions as she led them back to the lab. How Mercury had been messing with minds to keep her secrets, Lenna's infatuation with her princess, and everything about Cassidy and the flock. Brandy's gym badge was pulled off her bag and admired. Congratulations came thick and fast as Brandy and her Partners got pulled along after whirlwind Fenny. 

It was embarrassing, but not so much Brandy couldn't get a little enjoyment out of it. She'd been through a lot lately, and while Fenny crashed through conversations like a wrecking ball, she was family, and it was good to get the affirmation. 

"Maple's just my girlfriend," Brandy smiled with a blush as she tried to stop Sparky from lying too much about their adventures. Her ideas of what Maple was to Brandy made Brandy's ears burn. "Which is still the best thing ever."

"I don't know her well, but Willow is very focused and hands-on." Fenny nodded enthusiastically. "I'm not surprised she raised a lady worthy of my little Larvesta."

Brandy gagged. She could hear the titters her nickname got every time. "I'm going to grow taller than you. Then you'll be my little Larvesta." 

"Don't worry, Fenny," Sparky grinned. "I'll make sure to keep her down!"

"You truly are my Dhelmise," Brandy growled, getting her arms under Sparky's armpits and picking her up. Blowing sparks off her fur to fizzle out in a sparkling stream. "The anchor around my neck." 

"Sadly, inheritance is rather slanted towards improving the relationship, and it's clear Brandy loves being the taller one." Fenny sighed.

"It's mutual," Calcine said, "Sparky would be heartbroken if Brandy got shorter."

"Well, unless she can find someone taller to Partner with, I still think I'm safe," Fenny said, turning to hip-bump open a set of swing doors. 

"I'm hearing a lot about a Rapidash," Morgan said, holding her hat as she slipped through the closing doors. "But she can catch up to us in other ways before that. I'm rather interested in some Volcarona hips at last."

"Don't get her started," Brandy groaned. "Mom's an inheritance specialist. She'll get her tape out and measure me."

"You're a little old for that," Fenny smiled. "And I've got more than enough data from you growing up."

She wasn't kidding. Brandy had to be the most well-documented child on the planet. It had been a little annoying at the time, but Brandy remembered Fenny hadn't started the recording until Brandy had complained about rapid height gain compared to her classmates. Then Fenny had made time every day to measure her and help ease Brandy's fears about it. It was normal, and Fenny could pick out inheritances showing in all her other classmates to prove it, like Maeve's golden eyes or Cherry's gorgeous hair, which changed depending on how sunny it was.  

*clonk*

Fenny rapped Brandy on the head with her knuckle. "You're cute when you're thinking."

"They're both cute," Calcine huffed. "I don't know if I can handle two of them. This is like a dream."

 "A good dream," Sparky said. "I wonder if-"

"Experiment!" Brandy cut in before Sparky could voice whatever terrifying idea she had in her head. "What are you doing this time, Mom?"

Brandy was familiar with the Cage. The massive metal lattice that dominated the center of Fenny's lab. She'd seen it a few times while growing up, though never actually in use. She was a bit too young for that, and she was more interested in playing with Pix anyway, chasing her around the building or trying to wheedle adventure stories out of the big-headed Rotom. She'd probably made most of them up, but she sold them so confidently it was still hard to tell. 

The metal lattice was more of a mesh than an actual cage and made of metal even shinier than polished silver. It glistened brightly, adding dazzle to the edges of the pair inside, who could only be seen as glittering silhouettes. Who were also very clearly fucking right now. One of them sat down with an arm bracing themselves on the ground to keep their body up while the other held the hip of the woman in her lap. Two long ribbons of hair fluttered from the figure sitting, the enormous thick shape of a tail also waving behind her as she very vigorously bounced her partner on her lap. The cage muffled the noises, but the moaning was still unmistakable.

Fenny rolled her eyes and grabbed a microphone from a desk. "Tips! I said to wait until I got back."

The lab's speakers picked up the reply, making a silky smooth voice roll over everyone. "Couldn't wait, sorry, Fenny sweetheart. She's just too hot." 

The voice was louder than it needed to be. Tips had to be practically swallowing the microphone. Considering what she was doing, it was probably on purpose to tease Fenny. 

"Claire," Fenny said, rolling the name about in her mouth to hammer home how in trouble she was. Brandy was very familiar with that tone. "You're responsible too."

The reply was just an exultant moan that made everyone but Morgan shiver. Morgan just covered her mouth with her fingertips. "Do I get a go in there? It sounds fun."

"Not until they're done. It's a sensitive bit of equipment and very expensive to run!" Fenny yelled, not that the pair inside it seemed to care. She sighed and gestured to the wall, "Pix, please tell me you're getting readings."

"Of course, Fenny!" Pix said, appearing on the screen of a machine that looked like a cross between a lifting arm and some kind of suction pump. "I knew they'd be at it the moment your back was turned."

"You're a lifesaver," Fenny said, blowing a kiss to Pix.  

"You'd all get nothing done without me." Pix nodded, spinning her head around on the screen and blowing Fenny a kiss back before disappearing again. 

"Brandy's mom makes porn?" Sparky said, completely heedless that she was in Brandy's arms and could be choked so easily right now. 

"She's measuring something to do with bonding." Calcine said, "That makes sense, doesn't it?"

Fenny pinched Calcine's cheek. Calcine's head tugged as Fenny got a handful of her hardened skin. "You are a clever one. Not many guess that right away."

Calcine clasped her hand over Fenny's hand and squeezed to stop her pinching, orange eyes heating up as she stared Fenny down. 

"Goodness," Fenny bit her lip. "Exciting too."

Brandy broke them up with Sparky's face, the bug Pokémon cackling as she was used as a pillow to beat the two apart. 

"Mom! No flirting with my Partners." Brandy pleaded as Sparky wriggled out of her grip and tickled Fenny. 

"It's not flirting! Ahaha! It's a reward for being a good girl!"

"This explains so much," Morgan said, tugging Calcine out of reach of Fenny. "You've both inherited a knack for getting in trouble."

"Not inheritable!" Fenny laughed as she tried to press Sparky away, a hand on her face to hold the bug away at arm's length. Sparky had Bug Bite, but if she did that to her mom, Brandy would work very hard to find a way to punish Sparky that she wouldn't enjoy. "Well, you can inherit luck. We've done coin flip trials that prove that, so it is theoretically possible, but I've never seen it."

"Perhaps you both just enjoy then," Morgan said, fielding Sparky with a grab of her collar. Brandy was very thankful for her taking everyone in hand, giving Morgan a nod. How was the Dark Type the one most in control here? 

The Cage rattled again as the figures inside shifted position. A high-pitched gasp rang out as one of the occupants was pressed up against a wall, and the other set about mauling her with vigor. 

"Why are you measuring bonding?" Calcine said as Brandy took a spot between her Pokémon and her mother. It was probably best not to let them mix, or they'd blow the lab up. "Not that it isn't interesting, but businesses are usually more than just curious about things."

"Ah!" Fenny turned to the cage. "Well, Tips and Claire can introduce themselves once they're done, but they're long-term partners I've been monitoring. A powerful Ice Type and her partner. The Nexus Corporation's mission is to research inheritances powerful enough to go to places we've barely touched. Tips and Claire might help us work out how to foster enough ice inheritance that someone could go deep into the Crown Tundra or maybe even colder places. I've got a Gyarados and her two partners who also come in for deep sea experiments. Brandy hasn't met her before. She's a Shiny, so it's quite an interesting study."

Shinies were any Pokémon whose looks differed a lot from their kin. Usually, it wasn't that big a deal, often just a unique hair color that anyone could copy with a bottle of dye and some contacts. Though a few were famous, Kit the Shiny Ninetails was practically a massive fashion brand all by herself. 

"You can get a Gyarados in here?" Brandy said, looking at the door suspiciously.

"There's a cargo lift out the back." Fenny said, "It's really slow, but that just gives her a chance to wear herself down on her human partners a little before they arrive. When she's all worked up she's, well, you know?" 

Fenny trailed off, grabbed the back of her neck, and grinned. Brandy didn't need to read minds to know exactly what Fenny meant. She was as bad as Scoria when it came to pushing people into a bed, and a Gyarados with an appetite enough for two human partners would be irresistible to the relentless flirt. 

Speaking of relentless flirts, that reminded Brandy that she had some news. 

"Scoria says she's coming to Motostoke."

"I know!" Fenny said, "You think she wouldn't have told me? You're unlucky. If you'd come in a day or two, we'd have both been here."

Thank Arceus, that didn't happen. Brandy wouldn't have survived them both together with her Partners egging them on. She'd need a hose to spray them with to stand any chance of getting through it unscarred. 

"But since you're here, do you want to see your bonds? I've got a reward in it for you! It's a good one." 

"You can do that?" Calcine said, grabbing Brandy's arm. Sparky got the other one, and Morgan put her wings around them all, trapping Brandy thoroughly in her partner's grip. 

"Absolutely!" Fenny said, "Reading the details is still kind of an art, but we got some of the best imaging equipment grant money can buy. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't abuse that to spoil my daughter?"

A more responsible one, that's for sure. But from the tight grips her Partners had on her, Brandy knew she wouldn't get out of doing this. Heck, she was curious herself. Feeling the bond in the back of her mind was comforting, being able to actually see how they were growing? 

Maybe her mom's job was cool, even if Fenny herself was a hot mess, even by Joyce standards.