Searching Far and Wide - 134

Teams:

Pierce Lawson:

- Narcissa, Beedrill

- Orion, Onix

- Cygnus, Kadabra

- Bellatrix, Gyarados (Shiny)

- Andromeda, Vaporeon

- Regulus, Meowth

Lillian Dale:

- Root, Ivysaur

- Talon, Spearow

- Gem, Geodude

- Star, Cleffa

- Cinder, Vulpix

Rota Town I

“Here we are,” Lance announced after they both teleported to Rota Town. The man then looked at Pierce and he must have noticed something because he grinned. “You don’t need to be so nervous.”

“You didn’t tell me what we’re here for,” he pointed out and the Champion seemed to nod at that. “Something important sounds like something I should be nervous about.”

“Fair enough,” the man told him and that only made him more nervous. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know what the Queen wants,” the Champion continued, turning to start walking. Pierce started to follow immediately. “I have a fairly good guess though, if I do say so myself, and you don’t need to worry about that,” the man reassured and Pierce did find himself feeling a little better after that.

“And this guess is…” he tried to urge.

“They are much more knowledgeable than me about the topic. And…” the Champion started explaining, glancing towards Pierce for a moment but then turning back to face forward. “It’s kind of a secret, so I wouldn’t wanna assume and then be wrong,” he added and Pierce nodded slowly.

Well, he had more questions than before, he had to admit.

Nothing he could do though, other than hope he wasn’t in trouble. That and hope that nothing bad had happened. Trying to remember Rota from his franchise knowledge wasn't very helpful. The setting kind of helped jog some memories though.

It was kind of… like stepping into one of those European cities with very old neighborhoods and buildings. Everything had that noticeably old and downright historic architecture and vibe. In the distance, he could see the castle in the middle of the lake from the main street that Lance and him were walking down.

They were drawing a lot of attention too, but Pierce tried not to focus on that.

‘This is from that lucario movie, right?’ he thought, frowning a little. ‘The one where Ash puts the Aura Guardian costume on and… Was he like a successor or something?’ he wondered, feeling more and more frustrated by the second. Suddenly, he wished he’d paid more attention to the stuff, because he remembered almost nothing.

And that was one of the few movies that he even remembered anything about. The only one he remembered more about was the Mewtwo one and he really hoped he wouldn’t be involved in that mess. Much as he was confident in his ability to get along with pokemon and such… Yeah, Mewtwo was a bit too murder-happy before Ash managed to mellow him out.

Back to the situation at hand, he didn’t remember much of anything about the movie based on Rota other than Lucario being involved and the old Aura Guardian being a thing. Didn’t even remember what the conflict was, or how it got resolved. What he did know was that nothing should happen during his visit. He had honestly not known Rota was in Kanto, considering the movie came out during… What, the Hoenn time? Sinnoh? He’d thought the whole thing was from back then.

Apparently, he’d been wrong.

‘This might not be related to that at all,’ Pierce mused, but if it really wasn’t, then he had no idea what it was about. The unknown wasn’t something the human mind liked to face, at the best of times. Alas, there was no avoiding it this time. As the surprise wore off and he thought about it some more, he did think Lance was right though. What trouble could he have possibly gotten into with Rota and its Queen?

“I really do hope I didn’t come at an inconvenient time,” Lance commented when they were about to reach the bridge that led to the castle. “I know setting up your… sanctuary can’t be easy. Doing that kind of thing is not easy normally, nevermind with the pokemon waiting and what pokemon you had waiting,” the man continued and Pierce considered that for a moment before shrugging.

“It’s not how I’d have liked to go about it, but it’s going well. And it wasn’t inconvenient per se, just… surprising,” he replied, wondering if the Champion was leading to something or if he was just making small talk. That latter option was… bizarre, he felt, but maybe that was just the part of him that couldn’t believe the Champion was walking by his side. “Things are going fairly well, honestly. Makes me a little nervous.”

“Too good to be true?” Lance asked, a slight smile on his face. Pierce was noticing something though. While the man didn’t seem as serious as one would think for the position he held, he also seemed… distant. He showed emotion, but not a lot of it in any one way, like his mind was somewhere else. “I know how that feels. I hope it stays that way though. God knows Kanto’s pokemon need all the help they can get, just with the Rockets, nevermind everything else,” the Champion said.

That’s when they reached the start of the bridge towards the castle and Pierce idly wondered why they hadn’t teleported there instead. Maybe that kind of thing wasn’t well received? Maybe there was even a rule or law in place for that. Pierce wasn’t too sure. Maybe he’d look into Rota when he managed to find some time.

“And we also need people like you too, I’ll admit,” the Champion said, staring straight at him.

“I already have a contract about that, Lance,” Pierce replied wryly, although the last word came out a little awkwardly still. That’d definitely take some getting used to. Still, back to what he was saying, he didn’t know why the Champion was making it sound like a recruitment pitch when he’d already signed papers and all about answering the call if he – or his school – were needed in the future in order to get a lot of the funding necessary for the sanctuary.

“I know that, but I think contracts and business and all of that… It doesn’t really work, not when it comes to important things,” the man told him, a bitterness to his smile and an intensity that fit the Champion a lot more as he looked at Pierce. “I work with Dragons, Pierce. None of them would be caught dead being held down by a leash, a “contract”, and neither would I,” Lance told him and Pierce almost felt like taking a step back. “I believe you’re the same. You agreed, but you can decide to drag your feet, or outright refuse. You can do that and you likely know it.”

He couldn’t do it without getting into loads of trouble, but yes, he could do it. His school was too big, his influence was too spread and his name too well known by then. Grace had explained it all when he’d been a little reluctant to sign the League’s offer. If he played his cards well, he could get away with ignoring stuff like that. Not that Pierce felt very confident in doing that, but it was nice to know that the option was there if he absolutely needed it.

“So, I believe in more… direct negotiations,” Lance told him then. “If you need anything, anything at all, Lawson, feel free to tell me.” Was it just Pierce, or was hearing that from such a person kind of… surreal.

His first instinct was to immediately ask for money, because that was what he needed to do a lot of things. It was simple, really. Yet… He felt reluctant to do so. He felt like he had the entire thing under control at the moment. He was taking steps and he had plans and… He thought they’d be enough. If they turned out not to be, then maybe he could ask Lance.

As it was though…

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Pierce replied, trying to convey that he meant that. He felt the need to, considering Lance was… feeling a lot more like the Champion he was and less like the weird laid-back-ish man that he’d been before. Apparently, his answer was good enough, because the man smiled, nodded, and turned to start walking through the bridge towards the castle.

Pierce followed, feeling a little on edge, but slowly relaxing again.

That had certainly been a conversation of all time to have. ‘More in line to what I expected dealing with the Champion would be, I’ll admit,’ he thought, wryly. ‘Can’t say I appreciated that though.’ Because he really hadn’t. He’d much rather deal with the strangely chill guy, if at all possible, even if that one also set him on edge.

The silence that followed wasn’t a bad option either though, he supposed.

In a way, he appreciated it, because the sights from the bridge were beautiful. The lake underneath was absolutely breathtaking on its own. The cliffs in the distance, with forests painting the top of them under the sky, were nothing to scoff at. Even the castle was amazing, even though Pierce had never been one for historic or architectural tourism.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Lance asked, and Pierce could hear the smile on his face before he looked at the man. “It’s a shame that there’s no official Gym here to visit more often. The Hero’s Festival is always nice. Have you been here for it?”

“Can’t say that I have,” Pierce answered idly. “I’ll have to come for it though,” he added with a slight smile. He meant it too. He wasn’t sure what the Festival was all about, but if Lance said that, then it couldn’t be that bad. And the place certainly looked like somewhere he wouldn’t mind visiting. If nothing else, there was bound to be a tournament or something for pokemon to participate and his team would love that.

Little else was said after that though, especially once they arrived at the castle. Pierce limited himself to just the minimum responses that were expected of him and followed after Lance. The guy knew the way and he was the one that talked with staff and security and God knew who else, after all. Pierce felt like he didn’t even know what was happening half the time, really.

“Ready to meet royalty?” Lance asked and Pierce all but grimaced. He managed to turn that into an uneasy smile instead. “Well, in name only, these days, but still. A queen is a queen, right?” he added, and it struck Pierce as more cheerful than he’d been so far. Maybe the guy liked the Queen? Or maybe the guy liked the Queen.

‘Am I about to be a third wheel?’ he wondered as Lance pushed the door open and they walked into a throne room. At the end of it, sitting on the throne, was a blonde woman with a lavender, medieval-looking dress, a somewhat simple but yet somehow still opulent crown on her head and a Mime Jr. on her lap. Queen Ilene, if Pierce had to guess.

He gulped down his nerves and followed after Lance.

“Queen Ilene,” the man greeted and Pierce did his best to mimic both the greeting and the slight bow. “Fond of your traditions as always, I see,” the Champion added and the woman smiled at him.

“That I am,” she replied, patting non-existent dust off her dress. “It’s good to see you again, Lance,” she added, but not a second later she turned away and towards Pierce. “And this must be Mr. Lawson. I am Ilene Cameran, but you can call me Ilene. Queen Ilene if you must,” she said then, stepping down the stairs that led down from the throne to where they were.

“Pierce Lawson, Queen Ilene,” he said, because he really felt like he had to. Lance was already awkward enough, but a queen? One that he had never interacted with? Hell, he didn’t even remember anything about her from the movie. “I prefer just Pierce though.”

“Pierce then,” Ilene said, still looking straight at him. It made him feel the urge to kneel or something. He also felt like that’d just make everything awkward… So, instead he was left just feeling conflicted. “I’m sure you’re curious about my reason to call you here.”

“I am,” he admitted with a slight smile. For as nervous as he was, the queen didn’t seem too bad. So, he found himself at least trying to relax a bit. It seemed to be a good decision, considering the way the woman’s own smile widened a little bit.

“That’s because Lance here brought some things to our attention,” Ilene said, gesturing towards the Champion, who just acknowledged her words with a nod. The man’s stance shifted though and Pierce had a feeling that the guess he’d previously mentioned had been right. “That and footage that apparently has not been released to the public.”

Now that was… interesting. He’d seen footage of the Vermillion Incident – which was what he guessed she was talking about – and nothing had stood out to him. Was this footage also hidden from him? He hadn’t thought so, considering he’d even gotten to see the Mega Evolutions. Had he missed something? He suddenly wished he had paid more attention to his own appearances instead of keeping his eyes on the megas and the general mess.

“I believe you haven’t learned of this yet, especially seeing your expression right now,” the queen continued then, apparently amused. Pierce tried not to be too offended by that, but it wasn’t hard. She seemed like a hind person, for one. For another, he was a little too confused to react. “We believe you are an Aura Guardian, Pierce.”

…

He blinked.

‘...What?’

He blinked again.

‘What?!’

“What?” he asked, barely getting his voice out to say the one word that had suddenly taken over his mind. Aura Guardian… like the guy from the movie? Like Ash? Hell, he wasn’t even sure if Ash had been one. Was there ever any mention of other Aura Guardians?

And what did the queen mean that he was an Aura Guardian?

He wanted things to make some sense, but his mind was kind of… really struggling. It felt like that moment when he’d first seen a pokemon. In a way, it might even have been worse, because at least that had been one time even if it had been bigger. Now, his world was turned on its head all over again and…

He didn’t know how he felt about that.

“Indeed, like legends of old, like Sir Aaron himself, we believe you are an Aura Guardian, Pierce,” Ilene told him, snapping him out of his stunned state, at least a small bit. “Or, at least, we believe that you have the potential to be one with the right guidance. You could even achieve it by yourself, considering what we know and have seen.”

“... Me?” he asked, getting the word out at the same time that he pointed at himself. Everything the woman said, he could understand, it was just that it made no- ‘Well, does it make no sense?’ he wondered, thinking about some of the things he’d done. Even he would admit, in hindsight at least, that they weren’t normal. He’d even begun accepting that he could do special things.

But there was a leap between that and accepting what the queen was saying.

“Yes, you,” the queen told him, smile firmly in place, widening, if anything.

[}-o-{]

[Lance Blackthorn]

With how chaotic his region had been as of late, it was nice to get good news once in a while.

Pierce Lawson had been one of those, several times, in fact.

The first time he appeared in Lance’s radar, he was but a blip. A mention in passing during one of the regular meetings of the Elites. Brock had brought him up when talking about the aftermath of the Mt. Moon issue. A regular trainer with no badges helping treat an onix and then a group of pokemon in the mountains, apparently with the favor of the fairies. That last part was what made him stand out and be mentioned, instead of just being in the written reports.

Then there was a more definite appearance, when he calmed down the evolved gyarados. That got Lance's attention for real. He’d trained several of the sea serpents himself. They were basically Dragons in all but name and typing and that was why he liked them. The same way that he did charizard, basically.

That meant that Lance knew a thing or two about gyarados, if he did say so himself, and it made him aware of the true implications of such a thing happening. The general population found it shocking. Lance? Lance had gotten word from his clan in Johto about the incident when it became viral. Dragon and Water specialists all over the world had heard of Pierce Lawson by that point.

You don’t just… talk down an evolved gyarados just because they liked you, no matter how much. They weren’t in the right state of mind to even realize who you were to begin with. There was nothing one could do to snap them out of their rage… except Lawson had done just that.

The Sisters’ report had cleared some doubts at the same time that it made others pop up. Because supernatural people might not be unheard of, but they were far from normal. That was when Lance first started suspecting aura too, considering the details the Sisters had shared.

And now, after some of Sabrina’s comments and what he’d seen himself during the Vermillion Wave? Lance had had no choice but to seek out “professional” help, because as reluctant as he was to admit it, he was no expert on aura. Rota though? Rota held the best records and studies on the matter. Ninety percent of the aura users and Aura Guardians that had appeared in Kanto and Johto had been to Rota at some point. Hell, a chunk of those were from Rota.

So, he’d reached out to them, seeking answers… and advice.

That’s how Lance found himself where he was, watching Queen Ilene talk to Lawson.

The evidence must have been more clear to them than it was to Lance, if the man was called so quickly. He’d initially thought they just wanted to confirm and were being a bit overzealous, but it looked like Rota was sure that Lawson was a Guardian. That was… not surprising, per se, but very interesting.

In a way, it would change a lot about the way the League looked at Lawson. He was already considered a great asset for pokemon control even before the stunt he pulled in Vermillion. After that? With the command over those Water types that he could exercise and how he seemed to be able to pick up more wild pokemon on the fly? He was considered almost on the same level as Gym Leaders. Hell, the weaker ones of those might have to watch out, because Lawson had just made a huge jump in the power ranking of the region.

At least, the non-official one.

Lance could honestly and very confidently say that he’d never seen such disparity between one’s official ranking and the unofficial one. Lawson had four badges and he was somehow still considered to be just below the Elites off the records. Not that Lance thought badges were perfect measures of one’s talent and power, but they certainly helped and, again, it wasn’t often that there was such disparity.

‘We need to make sure he stays on our side,’ he thought to himself, ideas already forming in his mind. Because Lawson might not be quite there yet, but no Aura Guardian had ever been normal. And Lawson was certainly not shaping out like that either.

Lance had work to do as soon as he got back.

[}-o-{]

[Pierce Lawson]

“I’m sorry,” he said, feeling very awkward and nervous once more, if for different reasons than before. “But I can’t stay here,” he added, gulping down his unease, because he was not changing his mind.

Queen Ilene had laid things out fairly simply, going over, mostly, what it meant for him to be an Aura Guardian. At least, what it meant in terms of what Rota offered him. She offered him a place to stay and the true offer, education and training in his… Aura Guardian skills. She hadn’t gone in detail about those, other than mentioning how his empathy was likely related to that.

Somehow, that little tidbit that the woman had thrown in between other things made it all feel more real.

“I understand,” Queen Ilene replied, seemingly completely unbothered and unsurprised by his refusal. It made Pierce think that she’d expected that. “People in their journeys are often reluctant to leave them unfinished,” she continued then, as if answering his unasked questions. “Guardians, even more so. They have duties, responsibilities and, most importantly, paths to follow. Few are those that can stay here when we find them.”

Well, he could honestly say that it was a relief to hear that, because he’d been very worried that his answer wouldn’t be well received. He couldn’t afford to just… drop everything and stay in Rota though. The sanctuary still needed him and beyond that, he had a journey to get back to. He had enough delays on that. Once it was all done though, he didn’t see why he couldn’t go to Rota. Hell, he wanted to. Not only would it give him answers on many things, but it’d also just be a nice place to spend some time at, he bet.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Ilene replied, clearly pleased when he shared his thoughts on the matter with her. “Could I convince you to stay one day, however?” she insisted afterwards and he paused. One day wasn’t much and he’d already talked to Grace to keep an eye on things in the sanctuary. If they needed him, they’d call.

“I could do that,” he answered with a slight smile.

“Great, because we have a lot to talk about. One day won’t be much, but we can get the important parts across until we meet again,” Ilene told him, squaring her shoulders. Pierce blinked at her, realizing that she’d relaxed a fair bit at some point and his nerves had gone away. Now though, she was in full Queen Mode once more and he was taken aback by the change. “Lance, I’m sorry for ignoring you like this. It’s just not often we see someone of Mr. Lawson’s potential.”

“One other in Indigo that we’ve seen, if I recall correctly,” the Champion said, a somewhat stiff smile on his face. Pierce just hoped he wasn’t angry or annoyed at him. Or worse, jealous. “What was it? Ten years ago?”

“Indeed,” the queen confirmed with a nod and Pierce was left kind of… reeling by that information. Who was the other Aura Guardian? Was it someone he knew? Oak? That should be more than 10 years in the past though. It obviously wasn’t Lance. Maybe someone else? Some unknown character that hadn’t been part of canon in any way? Some character in a piece of media that Pierce was unaware of?

So many questions all of a sudden…

“Well, don’t mind me,” Lance continued then, turning to look at Pierce and nodding. “I’ll leave Lawson in your care then. If you don’t need me, I’ll take my leave,” the man added and Pierce wondered if he’d ever find it so easy to just… talk to someone like the queen, or Lance himself. As it was, he felt like he’d been walking on eggshells ever since he was picked up.

“I won’t hold you here, Lance. I know you’re likely busy,” the woman said, standing and sending off the Champion… properly, or so Pierce supposedly. He wasn’t very knowledgeable in etiquette in his old life, nevermind in the Pokemon world. “Now, as for you… Well, initially, the first thing I was going to do was offer you to use these,” she commented, stepping away a bit and going to one end of the room they were in.

They had moved out of the throne room to what looked like… some flavor of study mixed with a proper library, from what he could see. Where the queen went, there was a display with… ‘Those are Aaron’s gloves, right?’ he thought to himself, following after the woman a bit. He was pretty sure he was right in his guess. He remembered Ash having to put those on for… reasons that escaped him at that moment.

“They helped Aaron channel his powers, or so the tale goes. We offer them to new Aura Guardians to help them connect with their powers better,” Queen Ilene explained, tracing one side of the glass box around the gloves with her fingers. “You could see them as training wheels, as it were.”

“... But?” he asked, because the way she’d phrased all that made it sound like she wasn’t going to give him the gloves. At his question, Ilene turned to look at him with a smile. Then she pulled her hand away from the display and faced him fully.

“But you already seem to have found your own focus, Pierce,” she answered, reaching forward with her dainty fingers…

… to the rock that hung over his chest.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Boom, baby!

Alright, so I don’t think many people were really all that into the mystery of the rock, but some of you were and here’s the answer. I did consider making it hold a mega stone or a key stone inside for a while, but those felt like cheap options. I was going to make it a pokemon friendship token after deciding not to do those, but then Pierce kept getting more and more insane and I came across the Aura stuff and… the rest is history, I guess.

Reveal aside, I don’t feel like I did this chapter justice, but try as I might, I can’t really find what I could do to improve it. I guess my Muse is not skilled enough to get Lance’s and Ilene’s characters quite right or something. Shame that.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter all the same.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Already asked this in GoM, but… Would any of you be interested in a K-Pop Demon Hunters story or three? They’ve been living rent-free in my head since I watched the movie and I’ve got plotbunnies for days. I might even be able to work it on top of my current stories, since my plot bunnies don’t sound too long when it comes to this fandom… I know, I’m shocked too.

See you.