"I hope your first ride in a vehicle won't be bothersome for you two," rang out a voice from the front seat of the van, "I'll make certain it's smooth sailing from here to the destination."

The Floatzel in the back seat, nestled in and buckled up next to Hisoka, responded with a brief chuckle. "I've been in more vehicles than you would think. For him, on the other hand..." He met the Zangoose's tense expression with a smile befotting of his water typing, as it seemed to wash all the anxiousness right off his face.

"Ah, I see. No worries, this spot isn't actually too far off from where we're headin'. I'd say around three hours or so." Not wasting any time, the driver began going steady along a road away from the wilderness, away from Hisoka's home. Even though Franz had managed to convince the RWAG conservationists to keep the normal type's territory protected while he was gone, the Floatzel still kept his focus away from the van's windows, with the hopes of keeping his nerves steady.

...

"Aaaaaaalright, you two. We're just a few minutes away now. Come on, rise and shine!" The driver made loud whistles to rouse the two Pokémon from their slumber, napping being the choice activity of them both on the ride over to the RWAG facility. They had the time to get extra sleep, and the seats were surprisingly of better comfort than the tent, so it only made sense. With Franz arising first, he gently shook Hisoka awake, and the excitement of nearly being there energized them enough to be ready when that moment finally arrived. The van finally stopped, and the two were freed from the constraints of their seats, to be met with the driver by the front doors of the facility.

The name of the place didn't matter; Franz hadn't even bothered to tell Hisoka what it was actually called. This was his childhood home, and the woman awaiting them inside the building, the one who raised him. The first person he considered to be family. Those were terms that the Zangoose understood.

"I have to break some bad news before you go ahead in there," spoke the driver, standing in front of the two with a phone raised to his face, "just got word that you can't spend the night in there anymore. A new rescue is taking up the last available space."

Hisoka beat Franz to the punch on a response. "Better them than us." The Floatzel nodded in agreement, silently patting the Zangoose on the back for such a simple, yet thoughtful answer.

"Heh, well aren't you sweet." The driver gave a warm smile as they slipped their phone back into the pocket of their jeans, then gestured to the front doors. "Pine's waiting. We got here earlier than expected, so just don't dilly-dally and we'll be able to get you back to where you were picked up nice and easy."

"Understood. I'm sure the professor will be all too happy to remind us." Franz gave a chuckle, lidding his eyes and shaking his head as he recalled what life was like within this place more vividly, now that he'd arrived back here. "She wasn't afraid to dive right into the water with me to finally get me to stop swimming and go eat whenever it was mealtime. Sometimes I just couldn't stop playing around, heheh. I'm sure she'll keep track of time and get us movin' when we need to."

With a nod, the driver stepped back into their van, and drove off to go about the rest of their day up until when it was time to deliver the Pokémon back to their original location. The Floatzel expressed his gratitude with a "thank you" and happy wave before they disappeared behind another building in the distance. Franz then turned his head to Hisoka, gesturing towards the doors himself, stepping ahead and leading the Zangoose up the stairs and in through the entrance.

What greeted the two was a curvaceous desk with a familiar acronym across its front half, and an attendant seated in the dead center, offering up a smile as she was approached by them. "Welcome in, may I have your names?"

Of course, the timid Zangoose just pulled a subtle smile of his own to his lips as the Floatzel did the introducing for him. Though, Franz was fine with doing so this time around; he'd likely never even been inside a building before in his life. "I am Franz, and behind me is Hisoka."

The secretary clicked and scrolled her way with methodical taps through the contents of her listed arrivals displayed on her monitor, spotting the two names after a few moments. "Ah, there we are..." She pulled her focus away from the screen and directed it at the Pokémon in front of her. "Go past the right side of this desk, and the door at the back of that hallway is where you're headed. If anything is out of order, come back over to me and I can help sort it out, okay?"

"Alrighty. Thanks much!" Franz gave a smile that he kept steady during that journey down the hall... of all the walking that he did in his life, this stride he took up towards the door he'd been directed to was one of the most joyous that Hisoka had seen... and although this environment was uncharted territory and a near sensory overload, the fact that the way the Floatzel walked towards that door was all too similar to the way he walked over towards him whenever they'd meet... it brought him enough comfort to keep up with his pace.

A knock of the water type's paw drew a voice familiar to the both of them out from behind the door.

"Come in!"

Franz began pushing aside the door, Hisoka taking notice of just how rapid his tails were swinging at the sight ahead of him... but until the Zangoose had entered the room, he had refrained from going up and embracing his caretaker, the two of them chuckling and gently swaying each other from one side to another before they would pull apart, and the middle-aged woman who Franz had hugged onto gave a gasp at the sight of Hisoka.

"Oh, so it IS true! I thought that what I'd heard had been a miscommunication, but you've got with you it, alright!" Professor Pine brought her hands together excitedly, drawing a perplexed glance from both Pokémon.

"Uhm, if I may, professor," chimed in Franz with a tilted head, "what's that reaction all about?"

She seemed a tad shocked as well, as if having not expected such a reaction from the two of them for forgetting that she hadn't informed either of what she was talking about. "Oh, pardon me, dears... allow me to explain for you." The professor crouched down to get on their level, gesturing towards Hisoka. "What he's wearing is actually the old prototype of something I've been developing. I lost it while out in the field a while back, and when I was informed of the appearance of your companion, Franz, I thought it was just impossible for that sweatshirt to resurface... and here I am, proven wrong!"

Franz was now thoroughly intrigued by what the professor was speaking of. "So this piece of clothing that's given Hisoka access to new moves, and a different form, is a work of yours? Never seen anything so fancy back when you were workin' with me, heheh!" The Zangoose was quite a bit flustered by having the focus put on him, as he'd expected the professor to be more attentive to her old rescue, Franz, though the talk of this project got his ears to perk up regardless.

"Ahh, it wasn't being developed back when you were under my care... it was only a simple idea I'd elaborated on in a notebook at that point." The professor stood herself up and stepped back, clearing her throat as she prepared to go in depth about her project. "As you may or may not be aware, the artificial island of Pasio has been a frontrunner for trials of outerwear designed for Pokémon trainers known as Sygna Suits. While still not much is known about their inner workings, studies have shown that they strengthen the bond of a trainer and their Pokémon, and have potential to draw out untapped energies within the both of them!"

Professor Pine halted her explanation for a moment, turning and tapping away on a keyboard before she would pull up an image of the very same sweatshirt that Hisoka was donning, with several notations on various aspects of the clothing listed on the sides of the screen. "It inspired me to attempt to develop a sort of Sygna Suit of my own; what if I could design one for a Pokémon rather than a trainer? Could their innate potential, holding abilities the likes of which have scarcely been seen by Pokémon researchers, be brought out without a trainer's bond using a similar outfit? Although I never did any official trials on it, I may not have even needed to; Hisoka here is living proof of its success! If I hadn't been told of his inexperience being in unnatural environments, I would be studying him nonstop... but I know when to be mindful, and now is the time to be mindful." The professor shut off her monitor, standing before them both with a smile blooming across her face.

The two Pokémon seemed to have understood Pine well enough, making Franz wish to hear more out of her. Hisoka, meanwhile, was still in a state of disbelief that the one who had left the sweatshirt behind for him was Franz's caretaker all along... however, there wasn't time to comprehend such a thing before the Floatzel responded to her and asked another question. "I appreciate the thoughtfulness, professor. Though, now you went and piqued my curiosity. Are there any other projects you've got that are also worth telling us about?"

The woman before them nodded with gusto, stepping over to a corner of the room where pieces of equipment were strewn about over a table, beckoning the two Pokémon over to her. "Come here, come here! Your visit got me so excited specifically because of this!" Franz would once again take the leading steps over to where they were beckoned, the Zangoose now having abandoned his nervousness temporarily in favor of curiosity. The Remagon professor pressed a button on a machine atop the table, and it lit up, powering on with a short chime.

"This here is a piece of tech that I've been waiting to be in every facility like this for years on end..." She rubbed one side of the machine delicately with her hand, as if it was her prized possession. "What I've got here has a long and complex name that I'm sure I'd put you to sleep with in trying to explain the meaning behind. Instead of that, I think I'll just tell you that this machine can look at simple genetic material and determine what species a Pokémon's parents were."

Hisoka seemed as flabbergasted as the water type beside him. Franz stumbled upon his words as if he was his Zangoose companion having a moment of pure embarrassment. "I, you... it can... it can tell... it's really gonna..?!"

Professor Pine simply raised a finger to the Floatzel's lips to quiet him down, letting off a rather lengthy series of giggles. "Yes, dear. All I'd need is a strand of your fur." Franz calmed himself down as the human's digit was drawn away from his muzzle, running a paw through his pelt to draw out a stray hair, passing the first that he could get a hold on over to the professor. She grabbed it from his paw and set it into a plastic containment vessel, popping it into the machine, letting it click into place. With the push of a button, the machine whirred alive, producing noise for a few minutes before the results flashed on a display that was currently only visible to the professor.

The reaction of Professor Pine wasn't a delighted gasp or happy announcement to Franz about the results. She squinted at the screen, frowned, then pulled the container out, grabbing another and then turning back to the two Pokémon, faintly chuckling. "My, how embarrassing; I believe the machine's made a mistake. Hisoka, dear, would you mind terribly if I tested you as well? I need to be sure the results are accurate..."

The normal type went slightly wide-eyed, though right after she'd requested a sample of him, Franz laid a paw on his shoulder, than addressed the professor. "It's only a strand of fur, nothing else... like mine was. If you want to test him too, go ahead, he shouldn't show up as anything but a purebred Zangoose. That'll be a sure sign things are working right." Hisoka gave a nod in understanding, a stray hair being pulled from the fur of one of his paws and getting passed to the professor.

In it went into the container, and in the container went into the machine. The same sounds and same reaction out of Pine. "One-hundred percent Zangoose, sure enough... Franz, be a dear and pass me a second sample of your fur?" The Floatzel was starting to get concerned, but handed over another strand. Once the third scan had been completed, the professor turned and held her hands together tightly, trying to figure out how to inform the two of the results.

"This machine has... never produced a result such as this before. I've never seen such a thing in all my years of research, though the results of the scan do seem to explain your above-average size for a Floatzel, Franz... according to the results..." She squeezed her hands more firmly than she had been before, letting off a long breath as the tension eased from them, and she gave the results.

"You are fifty percent Floatzel... and fifty percent Lugia."

Of all the Pokémon out there that could have had the potential to be one of Franz's parents... it was a legendary?

The three of them stood in silence. There was not a motion save for blinking and breathing. All who were in that room needed time to comprehend the completely unforeseeable news.

At last, one of them made a stir. Hisoka began to speak to Professor Pine for the first time. "Professor... what exactly... what exactly does that mean..?" The woman retreated to the monitor she'd just powered off moments before, and flicked it on again. Clacking keys sounded out in place of speech for a few minutes as she drew all of the data she had on hand up onto a larger screen. After giving off another lengthy exhalation, she composed herself enough to reply to him.

"The father is listed as a Floatzel, and the mother, a Lugia. Reports of Lugia with offspring haven't been rare, though what intrigues as well as haunts me the most is the implications of these results. Franz has the potential to use the signature move of Lugia, known as Aeroblast. I do not know yet how we may draw that capability out, but what has my focus at the moment is comparing this data to the report filed after Franz's rescue as a Buizel, which I just finished up reading through once more." She pivoted her chair around, her hands folded in her lap as Franz and Hisoka were focused solely on the professor's words.

"In a den near the lake where he was found, RWAG rescuers found and recorded the footprints of an apparent pair of Floatzel that were believed to have been his parents, yet no other traces were found of them. The storm that happened the night prior that led to the dispatch of our rescue team was listed at a severity matching the maximum capability of what a legendary Pokémon could produce." The professor took up an earnest look, trying her hardest to be as sincere as possible. "Now, I'm sure you can make assumptions on what all that can imply, but please, dears, do not hold those assumptions as true. What happened that night may very well remain unclear for as long as you live."

Franz was already beginning to think of the implications of what he'd been told, and yet... a scarlet-furred paw upon his shoulder drew his attention back to Hisoka. The Zangoose looked at him with an expression of faint sadness, as if to remind him of how he'd helped to ease the sorrow the loss of Hisoka's clan brought him. That alone seemed to comfort him entirely. He hadn't let Hisoka be alone when the shadows of his past loomed over him, and he wouldn't be alone if that would ever happen to him. With the normal type's paw remaining on the Floatzel's shoulder, the two looked back over to Professor Pine, and then Hisoka began to speak up with an idea, hoping to ease the negativity in the room with it.

"Professor, do you think that... that you could give Franz some piece of clothing like... like mine..?"

The woman raised her eyebrows, smiling softly as she stood herself up, keeping the data on the screen. "You're a professor in the making, Hisoka! Excellent thinking!" She clapped her hands together once, the reaction soothing the two Pokémon who were all too weary of the tension that had formed within the room. "If I can develop a second outfit like yours, it'll draw out new potential from Franz as well, thus leading to the chance that he could be able to use Aeroblast!"

A course of action had been decided upon. Once the outfit for Franz had been finished, it would be delivered to the mobile lab that they had been staying at during their nights before being brought to the facility, alongside additional clothing for Hisoka. After Professor Pine had said her goodbyes to the two Pokémon, she got right at work developing all that she had promised to deliver to them, as the RWAG van transported the Zangoose and Floatzel back to where they had came from.