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If anyone were to ask Professor Sycamore who his best employee was, he would, without a doubt, say it was Sophie. Sophie had been working at Sycamore Pokémon Lab since the day it had been purchased and the only room fit to work out of was what is now the break room. She had been at the Professor’s side through building renovations, equipment malfunctions, and many disastrous experiments, and was always there to calm him down, cheer him up, and reassure him that he was not a failure. Even when things smoothed out and started happening more to Professor Sycamore’s liking, Sophie had a keen eye for reading him.
She didn’t do it on purpose. There was no grand plan in action to steal his heart or his job. Though he was an incredibly attractive and charming man, Sophie thought of him more like a brother than anything else and knew he felt the same way about her. He relied on her for a lot, even going as far as to leave the lab in her hands when he’d leave for business trips. He confided in her his insecurities and his joys, always seeking her opinion when his inner voice was quiet. She was his hardest worker, and there wasn’t much that went down at Sycamore Pokémon Lab without Sophie knowing about it.
So it was no surprise that she knew things that she probably shouldn’t know. Though Professor Sycamore had a reputation as a flirt, he never brought any of that into his haven of pokémon research. However, Sophie, the omnipresence that she was, had accidentally overheard phone calls and private conversations. She knew when last night’s date went well, or very well, and she knew when it went bad. With the subtle changes in demeanor and the set of his jaw, Sophie knew whenever her beloved boss was struggling with his personal life.
When his most recent relationship had failed, he spent much of his time in his office, quietly working with soft music turned low. Sophie felt bad, but she knew there was nothing she could do. The last time she tried to set him up with a friend, that friend nearly stopped talking to her because after a few months of dating, Professor Sycamore refused to make it an official relationship. For all his love of romance, he resisted commitment. He loved love, Sophie knew it. She knew how badly he wanted a family of his own, but he only ever admitted it if he’d had a few drinks first.
One day, while he was upstairs sulking, Sophie hovered in the lobby, adjusting books and wiping dust off the shelves. All the other assistants and interns were busy working, and the receptionist had gone on her lunch break, so Sophie stayed put, just in case any visitors arrived.
A visitor did arrive, but not one that needed to be told where to go.
The young woman that walked through the door sent Sophie’s mind back four and a half years ago to when five teenagers under the young Professor Sycamore’s tutelage saved all of Kalos from the destruction of Team Flare. One of them managed to tame the legendary beasts of the region, and she then went on to conquer the League and become the Championne. She went away to Unova shortly after to attend university. And now, Sophie thought, she was back, looking very much the beautiful woman that she had expected her to become.
Serena stood in the doorway, looking around with doe-eyed excitement. She was taller, and had certainly filled out, but the doll-like face and golden hair were the same. “Is Professor Sycamore here?” she asked in a hushed voice, as if she didn’t want him to hear her and ruin the surprise. Her old PokéDex was in hand, a clever excuse to visit the man she hadn’t seen in years.
Sophie looked appraisingly at the girl, noting the pretty dress and bare legs. She knew that this would be the end to the professor’s sullen mood. “He’s in his office,” she said, feeling strangely apologetic towards the man upstairs who was still blissfully ignorant of his former student-turned-stunner. Whatever existential crisis he wallowed in now would soon feel like heaven compared to what was coming.
As Sophie watched the blonde beauty ascend the staircase with the regality of the Championne she was, she wondered how long it would take before she came back downstairs. She wondered what their reunion would be like; out of the five students from that year, she was the one he got on best with. He seemed fascinated by her effortless talent with pokémon, and she certainly looked at him with stars in her eyes.
Sophie waited perhaps fifteen minutes before they both reappeared, the Professor and the Championne. She wouldn’t have said it at this point in time, but she noticed that they looked good together. He was perhaps half a foot taller than her, and the breadth of his shoulders balanced out the width of her hips. Serena walked by his side as if she belonged there, and Professor Sycamore’s body language screamed that she absolutely did.
“We’re going to lunch, Sophie,” he said, more cheerfully than he had sounded in a long time. He met her eye over Serena’s golden head and Sophie saw it - the look of pure terror mixed with unmistakable desire that confirmed her suspicions. “We’ll be back soon.”
“Have fun,” she replied, watching the heavy doors shut behind them.
They didn’t return for four hours.
When Professor Sycamore bid Serena adieu, he came to find Sophie, who was shutting down some of the equipment for the night. He hovered around her, watching, but saying nothing. The nervous energy he gave off could probably have run the Prism Tower. Sophie normally waited for him to speak first, but her curiosity got the best of her.
“Did you have fun with Serena?”
“Oui,” he said. Sophie raised an eyebrow at him. He ducked his head sheepishly. “She graduated summa cum laude,” he explained. “Studied pokémon anatomy and physiology, with a minor in state changes and evolution. Or something like that.”
“You weren’t paying attention,” Sophie accused mildly.
“I was! But the specifics, you know… She’s a very charming girl…woman.” He trailed off and shook his head. The professor sighed heavily and slumped against the wall. “Sophie.”
“Don’t say it Augustine.”
“I’m in trouble, Sophie.”
“Then don’t see her anymore.”
“How can I not see her? That would be cruel after all we’ve been through.”
“That was the past. She’s not a part of your life anymore,” she said gently.
Professor Sycamore was quiet. He shoved his hands into his lab coat pockets and looked away into the shadows of the half-dark room. Sophie stopped fiddling with an incubator and crossed her arms. “You didn’t.”
He cleared his throat.
“Tell me you’re not that stupid, Augustine.”
“Before you say anything…”
Sophie rubbed her forehead in fatigue and frustration. “Tell me you didn’t offer her a job.” She stared him down until he met her eyes. “You did.”
“I did.”
“Augustine,” she moaned with exasperation. “Are you completely insane?”
“It will be fine, Sophie.”
To his credit, it was fine. Serena worked as an independent contractor, assisting Professor Sycamore with any research including battling, mega evolution, or training, and using the facilities for her own work with pokémon rehabilitation and conditioning. She was a beam of sunshine in the lab, smiling at and charming the pants off everyone who passed her. She reminded Sophie of someone, but she couldn’t put her finger on who. It wasn’t until one afternoon when Serena danced around the greenhouse with a very clumsy Psyduck that Sophie realized who the girl reminded her of.
Professor Sycamore.
The two were alike in many ways, both beautiful and amiable and funny, but where they differed, they complemented each other. Serena could be a bit of a spitfire, while Professor Sycamore could be laid back to a fault; over time, she reignited his passionate side, while he mellowed her out. Sophie knew what was happening in Sycamore Pokémon Lab; slowly, in brief glances, whispers, and secret smiles, the professor and the prodigy fell in love.
Gone were the worry lines from Professor Sycamore’s forehead, the heavy sighs from his downturned lips. Sophie was glad of that, truly, she was. But what replaced the frowns and the sighs were winks and stolen kisses, and she wasn’t so sure that was much better. To all eyes but Sophie’s, they were as professional as could be. Serena was a hard worker, and perhaps in an attempt to impress her, Augustine worked harder than he had in a long time.
However, Sophie knew more than the others working in the lab, and she saw more. She never intended to eavesdrop, but the secret lovers often rendezvoused in places Sophie frequented, like the supply closet and incubator room. Every time she walked in on them springing apart as if nothing was amiss, she wanted to ask them why they didn’t just go to his office. But after thinking about it, she realized she already knew the answer - either the heat of the moment was too strong to travel far, or the thought of a locked office meant too many things neither were ready for. As far as she knew, they hadn’t done more than kiss and perhaps cop a feel or two, but the relationship between them seemed only to gain momentum as time went on, with no hint of an end in sight.
There was one morning that Professor Sycamore showed up to work later than he usually did, positively glowing with happiness. Sophie figured they must have finally consummated their feelings for each other; her suspicions were later confirmed when Serena showed up for her shift, looking very pleased with herself as well. When they stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the counter in the break room later that day, Augustine pouring coffee and Serena washing an apple, the sexual tension pinging between them was so obvious, Sophie couldn’t believe that no one else noticed.
The two of them revolved around each other like twin satellites in orbit, growing closer and closer until they finally outed themselves to the rest of the lab and then to the rest of the world. Sophie braced herself for the inevitable backlash and public outcry about the impropriety and age difference, but surprisingly few people spoke out against them. Those that did were fiercely quieted by the rest of Kalos, who were delighted with the romance between their Professor and their Championne. They were so beautiful, so in love, and so deliciously scandalous (and therefore, so very Kalosian).
Even without the secrecy, they clung to each other in shadowed corners and empty rooms, whispering desperate pleas and earnest declarations of love, which Sophie slowly began to find endearing instead of annoying. One more than one occasion, she slammed into his office door, which had never been locked before Serena. The professor would find her later on to apologize sheepishly, but the self-satisfied grin on his face as he turned away reminded her of a naughty little boy that hadn’t yet learned his lesson. There were always locked doors and hitched breaths in corners and suppressed giggles in front of other colleagues.
But even with the full blown love affair, Professor Sycamore and Serena didn’t slack off. Even Sophie, his oldest, most trustworthy employee, couldn’t deny how incredibly well they worked together. She, the trainer, he the scientist, both of them, the dreamers and the innovators. Listening to them speak about their work was like watching a tennis match; the ideas and hypotheses bounced between them were nothing short of genius. Sophie felt a great pressure lift off her chest as she listened to them speak. Void of any cutesy talk or flirtation, their conversations reassured her that what thrived between her dear friend and his beloved girlfriend was genuine. She stopped trying to warn him that Serena could leave him for someone younger (which he vehemently denied, yet worried over anyway), and instead embraced the miracle that perhaps Professor Sycamore had met the woman of his dreams.
They got engaged and bought a townhouse together. The tenderness with which they looked at each other made Sophie want to run home to her own husband (though realistically, he would be at work, and even if he were home, their two-year-old son would also be, negating any hope of a lunch break quickie). There was one morning when Sophie came upon Serena watching the professor tinkering with a diagnostic machine. He hadn’t been doing anything out of the ordinary, but the blonde’s angelic face was touched with an expression that resembled pain. Sophie paused and asked the younger woman if anything was wrong. Without looking away from her fiancé, she answered, “Every time I think I can’t possibly love him more… I do.” Sophie patted her shoulder and went on with her day. Professor Sycamore was quite well taken care of by his fiancée, and she realized she didn’t need to keep worrying about him so much.
Serena, however, was another story. Just as Sophie had decided to stop bracing for a disaster, a different kind of storm appeared to rock the boat the happy couple floated in, and she was the only one who seemed to notice it. It began when Serena came down with a cold one summer day. “I’m fine,” she said, waving off concerns. “I always get sick this time of year.” She yawned a lot and stared off into space, and one time she fell asleep while taking notes in the greenhouse, pen still in hand.
Augustine, of course, was oblivious to any change in Serena, but Sophie (and everyone else in the lab) saw how he couldn’t keep his eyes (or hands) off his beautiful and very tired fiancée. He even acknowledged it to Sophie one afternoon when she scolded him for grabbing Serena’s butt in full view of people visiting the lab. “Je ne sais pas,” he said, frowning. “I’ve never wanted her more in my life.” It was interesting, she thought to herself, watching the professor wrap his arms around Serena, who was washing dishes in the break room sink, that for all of his scientific brilliance, he was completely blind to the fact that his own fiancée was pregnant with his child. What surprised Sophie more was that Serena, a girl mature beyond her years, didn’t realize it either.
“What’s wrong?” Sophie asked one day in the ladies room, after walking in on Serena holding her breasts and wincing.
“My boobs hurt,” she replied flatly.
“Any reason why?” Sophie prompted, hoping for a realization on the younger woman’s part.
“Maybe…” She shot Sophie an embarrassed look. “Augustine…lately he’s been…more affectionate…” She shook her head, blushing, and walked out the door in a daze.
The next week, Serena experienced morning sickness for the first time. Thankfully it was only Sophie with her in the incubator room when she lunged for the wastebasket. She apologized, mortified, and ran out of the room before Sophie could offer anything more than mere comfort. Later that day, Sophie received a phone call from the young woman.
“Sophie, do you know where Augustine is? He isn’t answering my calls.” Her voice sounded weak and afraid.
Sophie glanced into the greenhouse, where Professor Sycamore was currently trying (and failing) to get a Fennekin to stand still long enough for him to take its vitals. “He’s working with the babies,” she said, putting a slight emphasis on the last word. “Do you want me to go get him?”
“N-no,” Serena sputtered. “I’ll just wait until he gets a chance to call me back.”
“Is everything okay? How are you feeling?”
“I have to go, Sophie, thank you!”
Sophie waited for nearly half an hour, debating on whether or not to interfere. While she didn’t want to step on Serena’s toes, she knew the girl was desperate and terrified. Just as she had decided to march into that greenhouse on behalf of the newly-pregnant woman she had grown to sort of love, Serena herself appeared.
“Hi,” she said shyly, her face scrubbed free of makeup and tears and already sporting that fertile glow. “I need a moment alone with him, if that’s alright.”
“Of course,” Sophie said, releasing the door handle and stepping aside.
Sophie had every intention to walk away and give them privacy, but she couldn’t help but watch through the glass walls as Professor Sycamore stood up to greet his fiancée. She watched Serena speak to him, wringing her hands nervously, as if she wasn’t aware she was making his dearest dreams come true. She saw the professor’s eyes widen as he clapped a palm over his mouth. His hand fell away as he seemed to confirm what he just heard from her. When she nodded emphatically, he picked her up and spun around before placing her gently back down. Joyful tears sprang to Sophie’s eyes, and she walked away once the professor collapsed into Serena’s chest, his shoulders betraying his sobs of pure happiness.
He and Serena confided the pregnancy in Sophie before anyone else except their families. Serena reasoned that Sophie already knew, and it would be an insult not to tell her officially. They moved their wedding up a few months, which, according to Professor Sycamore, was not so difficult since they had planned for a small celebration anyway. With the two of them being near celebrities in Kalos, their wedding had to be either intimate or enormous; being as humble and private as they were, a big wedding was never an option anyway.
It was a beautiful ceremony, with Serena in a soft ivory gown that cleverly concealed her hint of a tummy, and Augustine in a dark medium grey suit that matched his eyes. The staff at the reception were well-informed about the pregnancy, and kept its secret by ensuring she had non-alcoholic beverages brought to her throughout the night. The night was touched with love so strong it felt like magic. The happy couple couldn’t keep their eyes off each other, and spent much of their downtime whispering into each other’s ears. When they left for their honeymoon, Serena’s belly could still pass as only a full meal eaten; when they returned, she had popped and was obviously with child.
Serena’s pregnancy became quite a novelty in the lab. Once she was out of the constant fatigue and vomit stage, she went back to all her work with the vigor and determination of the teenager she once was. It was endearing to see the young woman, beautiful and stylish and fierce, rushing around with her growing baby bump. All of the pokémon at the lab flocked to her, even the ferocious-looking ones she trained and worked with. Professor Sycamore got a kick out of it, and took pictures to preserve the memories of Garchomp gently nudging Serena’s belly, Linoone curled up on her lap, and Froakie dumping an armful of pulled flowers on her head when she sat to rest one day.
As her due date approached, the professor grew more distracted than his wife was. More than one time, Sophie asked him a question to which he replied, “I’m going to be a father, Sophie,” as if it was still news to him seven months later. Sometimes he changed it up and said, “There is a little person growing inside my wife and I put it there.” He’d shake his head in a daze. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“It makes a lot of sense, Augustine,” she’d say.
“I know. Biology and all of that. But still. A baby. A baby boy. Je ne peux pas le croire.”
“You’ll believe it when he arrives and keeps you up all night covered in poop and your wife’s regurgitated breast milk.”
His blissful smile didn’t dim with reality, but Sophie knew he was ready to be a daddy anyway.
Serena was certainly ready to be a mommy. She still waddled around happily with her pokémon, but her patience with the discomforts of the third trimester was worn down to almost nothing. It came to a head when Professor Sycamore asked to take a picture of her with her hand in an incubator. She went along with the joke, because it was funny, and then she burst into tears. “I just want him to come out already!” she sobbed into her husband’s shoulder. “I hate this!”
Sophie, who was there in the room with them because she was monitoring the slowly hatching eggs (which most likely prompted Serena’s tears), could have smacked the professor for what he said next.
“But just yesterday you said you loved this, chérie!”
The room was silent as the very pregnant woman’s rage built to an extent she probably didn’t know she had within her. She pushed her husband out of the room, closed the door gently as to not disturb the eggs, and practically screamed at him. How dare you? You have no idea what I’m going through! You try gaining thirty pounds and having to pee all the time! No, don’t you DARE touch me! This is all your fault! All I want is a glass of wine and some coffee but I can’t because I care about our BABY and you sit there with your caffeine every morning and your stupid cocktails out at dinner and UGH! No, I will NOT calm down! She went home pretty quickly after that and decided that she was ready to be on maternity leave.
The lab did throw her a baby shower though, an adorable little party with all their friends and family. She cried happy tears through every gift she opened, and even sobbed a bit when Sophie gifted her an infant-sized lab coat. It was a wonderful afternoon. Serena showed pictures of the nearly-completed nursery, decorated in soft shades of blue and yellow and green. There was a stuffed Gible in the crib, which Professor Sycamore pointed out to Garchomp with delight. When the shower ended, Serena approached Sophie and quietly thanked her for everything. She gave her a hug and squeezed her as tightly as her large belly would allow. Though Sophie was not one to get emotional, she found herself choked up by the girl’s sincere gratitude.
After the young woman rejoined her husband by the lab’s grand staircase, Sophie reminisced about the fateful day when Serena returned to Sycamore Pokémon Lab. Though Sophie had had her suspicions that the professor would fall for the beautiful protégé, she never really believed this would someday be waiting at the bottom of the stairs when Serena climbed them that first time. But as she watched Professor Sycamore lovingly press a kiss to his wife’s forehead, Sophie couldn’t be more happy that it worked out to be so.
The day little Henri Sycamore was born, Sophie received a picture of the baby swaddled tightly, his little black tuft of hair crowning his tiny pink face. He was 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and 20 inches long, a little string bean of a boy like his father was. She visited the next day and stayed for two hours, holding the little Sycamore and offering his mother advice on latching on and breastfeeding. Serena looked well for just having given birth, but Augustine looked as if he stuck his finger in a socket. His eyes were wild with panic and his hair was a mess from the nervous hand compulsively running through it.
“He hasn’t slept in two days. He won’t go home to sleep,” Serena whispered. “Can you please tell him to? He always listens to you.”
Sophie pulled the professor aside, looked him straight in the eye, and said, “Go home, Augustine.”
“But-”
“Go home.”
“…Alright.”
It took another 20 minutes before he managed to pull himself away from his wife and newborn son. When he finally left, Serena let out a sigh. “You’re a saint, Sophie.” She adjusted the bundle in her arms and sank her head into her pillow. “Thank you.”
The lab was left in Sophie’s care when Professor Sycamore spent two months at home with his new little family. He’d come in occasionally to say hello and check on things, sometimes alone, sometimes with Serena and little Henri. The first time the three of them came together, the happy and tired parents introduced their boy to everyone, including the pokémon. It was a mark of how incredible the creatures were that even the rowdiest ones knew to be gentle and quiet with the tiny infant.
And while everyone cooed over how cute Henri was when he grabbed at Garchomp’s inquisitive snout, Sophie was more touched by the look exchanged between Augustine and Serena. It was pure, raw, tearful love and pride.
Before they left to return home, Professor Sycamore stayed behind to talk to Sophie while Serena took Henri to change his diaper. He lingered like he had that first time he confessed to offering Serena a job out of lust, but this time it was peace and not nervousness that radiated from him.
“How are you doing, Augustine?” Sophie asked.
“I’ve never been happier in my life, Sophie. But you were right about never sleeping and always having some form of my wife’s breast milk on me, digested or otherwise.” He laughed sheepishly. “I want to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being the truest friend I have ever known. You’ve always been there for me, and then for Serena too. I can’t say how much I appreciate it.”
Sophie patted the professor’s shoulder. “You’re welcome,” she said with a smile.
“We’d like you to be his godmother.” He looked at her with the same look of hopeful anticipation that she had gotten quite used to in her years at Professor Sycamore’s side. He was the dreamer, while she was the realist with the power to boost or crumble his hopes with her pragmatic hand. The past two years had taught her not to narrow her vision to what was realistic; had she tried to temper his dreams of a certain doll-faced blonde, she would not have just become godmother to the most precious little boy she had seen since she gave birth to her own.
If anyone were to ask Sophie what her favorite part of her job was, she would, without a doubt, say it was researching the mysteries of the incredible creatures known as pokémon, but what she would really mean that it was working alongside her best friend.