Searching Far and Wide - 133

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

Vermilion City XXVI

“I think I get it,” Cygnus mused, staring rather intently at his non-spoon-holding hand. Occasionally, there’d be a flicker of white-red energy around it before it started becoming more and more frequent. “Yes, that certainly helped,” his Psychic said, evidently to more people than just Pierce, since he turned to look at the arcanine mother.

They’d gone back to visit her, to bond some more, spend some time having fun and also get some training done.

Granted, the main idea was the latter one, but Pierce wouldn’t have needed much convincing even without that, really. Although, admittedly, he’d have a lot less time to stay around if he weren’t multitasking. As it was, Cygnus got some help with Fire Punch and Bellatrix – now with the moves she’d been working on well enough in hand – could get started on her next move to learn. They were actually working on two fronts with her again though, one of them fairly simple and the other decidedly not, again.

Pierce's idea was to continue to give her something tough to work with and something easy to balance out things and not have her too frustrated. That’s how Bellatrix found herself taking lessons from Arcanine too in order to learn how to use Flamethrower. Not an easy move to learn for a gyarados, at all, but that’s why she’d be working on Hydro Pump too.

The Water type move was the one that actually mattered, considering their next destination was likely to be Cinnabar Island. Flamethrower would be something to add for Bellatrix’s general repertoire, the kind that saw more use in regular battles than Challenges. He rather doubted he’d pit her against Erika, after all. Although, it was good to have the option if it was ever necessary too.

“Happy to hear that,” Pierce said, walking behind his kadabra and giving the Psychic a pat on the back. “Thank you for the help,” he added towards the arcanine, who just nodded, glancing off to the side. There, he saw Regulus playing around with puppies. The meowth was supposed to be working on Water Pulse, admittedly, but Pierce decided to let the cat be for the moment. If their Fire type teacher wanted a playdate for her puppies, then Regulus was doing perfectly. “... No luck, girl?” he asked, turning and walking towards Bellatrix.

His gyarados was having a lot less success than Cygnus was, by the looks of it. Then again, the kadabra had been working on Fire Punch for a while already and she was starting on Flamethrower that very day, so it was really no surprise. If anything, Pierce would have been shocked beyond belief if she were already getting stuff done. That’d have been ridiculous.

This was further evidenced when the gyarados growled, deflating and sulking.

“Come on, you’re too adorable to be this sad,” he said, almost laughing at how effective the a-word was with his Water type. It just made her more adorable, really. Just when one thought a pokemon’s cuteness is already unfair… “Maybe some more Hydro Pump training and then try again?” he suggested and he could see Bellatrix was tempted. She’d been at it for all of an hour and she already knew which one of the two moves was her favorite.

No surprises there though, of course.

Surprisingly though, he saw her resolution solidify before Bellatrix shook her head. Apparently, she wanted to stick to Flamethrower a little more. Maybe he was wrong and she really wanted to get that one move done, no matter how annoying. That was an interesting possibility. He’d have to ponder on that, but that was for later.

At that moment…

“Ok, keep at it a little more, but don’t push yourself too hard, alright?” he told the gyarados walking up to her and patting her side. The last thing he wanted was for Bellatrix to frustrated herself and grow annoyed because she was too stubborn. ‘Why are so many of my pokemon like this?’ he lamented, watching his adorable gyarados become less so as she ignored his words and got to work.

It made Pierce sigh.

“They are too determined for their own good,” Cygnus said, and he wasn’t wrong. His pokemon were all way too strong-minded. Once they set their minds on something, they didn’t let go. Even Regulus was like that, even if he was also less inclined to take strong stances like those. When he did though, he was just as bad as the rest.

Although…

‘You realize that includes you, right?’ Pierce asked and the mental silence that followed spoke volumes.

With a roll of his eyes, he decided to check on the last two members of his team. Predictably, Narcissa continued working on Brick Break, showing no sign of anything but determination. One could say whatever they wanted about his beedrill, but she was not easily frustrated or discouraged. No matter how much she struggled with a move, she’d keep pushing, especially with a move she liked.

And Brick Break was certainly up her alley.

Then, last but not least, he saw Andromeda…

“Looks like you’re almost done,” he pointed out, getting a somewhat proud, somewhat weary yip. “You’ve been working for a while. Do you want to take a break?” he asked, mostly because she’d been working harder than Narcissa and that was worrisome.

Then again, Andromeda was almost done with Aurora Beam, admittedly. The vaporeon likely wanted to just get it over with and then take a break. Alas, sometimes the goal wasn’t as close as it looked. That seemed to be one such case, considering that the Water type seemed close to managing the Ice type move, but at the same time, she just wasn’t getting there.

Predictably, she didn’t see things the same as he did.

“Come on, let’s go for a walk,” he said with just enough firmness in his tone to make it clear it wasn’t a question. The vaporeon turned to protest, but Pierce was having none of that. He just stared at her and raised an eyebrow.

A few seconds later, Andromeda sagged and dragged her feet to follow after him.

Way too determined indeed.

Every single one.

[}-o-{]

“I’m gonna get gray hairs at the rate this is going,” Lily whined loudly, to the point that Pierce felt like it might be worth considering lowering the volume of the call. All the same though, he grinned as the girl complained. As it turned out, Red and Blue were getting more and more restless as time passed. They had more freedom by then, but not much. The fact that they couldn’t really separate themselves from the other also didn’t seem to help matters, considering how aggressively competitive they were towards each other.

“Or go bald,” he pointed out, receiving a look that made him glad there were entire cities of distance between them. Pierce would never have dared to say that otherwise, admittedly. “How’s training going? Is Erika within sight?” he asked, leaning back.

He didn’t expect it’d take her long to challenge the woman, even when her whole training schedule had been upended. Cinder alone should be able to do plenty in Celadon’s Gym. Talon would likely do well too and even Root could pull plenty of weight in the right matchup. Lily had a good team for Celadon, basically. The same way Pierce had a good team to face Blaine.

“I’m taking my time,” Lily replied calmly with a shrug. “No rush, considering we’ll be trapped here anyway. So, I’m just training as much as I can. No need to force an early Challenge for no reason,” his ex-traveling companion commented, leaning back. “Lot’s to do. I don’t need to take a risk, so I won’t.”

“Smart,” he replied with a nod. Then he grinned. “It’s good, isn’t it? This way you won’t get lost-”

“Ugh! I thought it had been a while since you pulled your usual bullshit,” she cursed, sending him a very unkind look and even more unkind gestures. “Why are you like this, Pierce? Why?”

“I just can’t help it,” he answered mock seriously. “It’s a condition I have, you see, it’s called-”

“Being stupid?” Lily hissed.

“How’d you know?” he asked, perking up as if he were impressed by the feat. The girl on the other side of the screen, for her part, dragged a hand over her face. “That said, maybe you’ll still be there by the time I get to Celadon,” he joked, getting a roll of her eyes. “Not that I’m one to talk. What’s with these cities, taking way more time than I think they will?” he asked as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Here’s hoping the other four don’t take this long, or I’ll really need to wait until next year for the Conference.”

“Told you,” Lily said with a giggle, obviously happy to be on the other side of things for a change. “Your luck is like that, I guess,” she added, half fondly and half pitying. “How’s the arm, by the way?”

“Healing,” he answered, shrugging. “I could probably get the cast off sometime soon, but I’m gonna wait until we’re more sure it’s not just gonna break again if it’s feeling cute,” he explained, scratching at what he could of his arm. He really didn’t want to wait more to get the thing off of him and be able to move more freely. Alas, he also really didn’t want to have to go through the whole process again, but worse.

After all, he’d have to wait a while to use the same procedure with the special “magic” medicine. If he broke something again, especially his arm, then he’d have to go through something more mundane, which translated to something more inconvenient and painful. Pierce wasn’t a fan of that possibility, understandably.

“It’s a pain in the ass, but it’s what it is,” he mumbled, sighing and leaning back on his chair. “Almost as bad as all the paperwork for the sanctuary. I don’t even want to know how it’d be without Grace to help me out.”

“Can’t say that I know what that’s like,” Lily replied, amused. “Neither do I want to.”

“Pray that you never do. Pray that you never do,” he grumbled, reaching to the side and picking up his almost forgotten coffee. It wasn’t cold, but it was getting there, with how distracted he’d gotten. “And that’s without all the deals I had to make so that we could have all that we need. I’m this close to having to sell my soul.”

“Benefits are good, at least?” Lily asked and he hesitated for a moment.

“Yeah, between the League and other contracts, things are great. I’m just not a fan of how much responsibility I’m picking up,” he answered with a grimace. “Like, the League’s gonna be calling me for situations like here in Vermilion, likely similar to Mt. Moon and Cerulean. There’s this association of farmers and ranchers that are going to be calling for jobs like the ones I’ve been doing as regular trainer jobs. It’s stuff I was already doing, yes, but it’s… It feels different,” he tried to explain as best he could. “And Grace and I will be checking merch that I might need to use for the association if I want some extra benefits,” he added and Lily barked out a very unlady-like laugh.

“Merch?” she asked in between giggles and chuckles.

“Merch,” he confirmed gravely. “Granted, I saw some pictures and they don’t look as awful as other merch I was offered to wear, so that’s good. We’ll see. I might not take it. I don’t need those benefits that badly. At least not right now,” he explained, stretching his arms over his head. “Can we talk about something less traumatic though?”

“Drama queen,” Lily mumbled, shaking her head with a smile. “But sure.”

[}-o-{]

“They are a delight. Everyone wants this post,” Misty commented with a giggle and Pierce didn’t have a single reason to doubt her. All it took was a glance at the school of very happy, very adorable and very friendly Water types to understand. Who wouldn’t want to work with those? “I don’t see a single issue that anyone could have with your idea, by the way. We’ll pass the inspection with flying colors, I imagine. From there, I’m sure we can get some money flowing.”

“Good to know,” he commented, taking a deep breath in. Not everything was about profit, of course, but cash was needed to get anything done and they wanted to get a lot done. So, he’d have to deal with the economy-induced bitter taste in his mouth for a while, he supposed. “How are you doing though?” he asked then, turning his attention away from the goldeen that insisted on rubbing her body against his leg in the water.

“... I like this,” Misty commented, a content smile on her face that widened when she turned towards him. “Thank you for letting me work here. It’s not the same as back home, but it’s… very nice. I think I’m liking having some time away from my sisters.”

“I should keep that to myself, shouldn’t I?” he asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

“You can tell them if you want,” the redhead told him with a giggle. “But yeah, I… it’s very peaceful here and what I do helps pokemon, helps people. There’s no show to prepare or… It’s different from back home and I’m liking it,” she continued, hesitating for a moment there towards the end. “I miss home though, I’ll admit, but…”

“You can go visit, you know? You don’t have to be here all day every day. I know things are kind of tight at the moment, but you can take a day off if you want to visit your family.” God knew Pierce understood what missing family was like. Misty could actually go and see them at any time though, so he’d be damned if he didn’t encourage her to do so. “Family is important,” he added, a slight smile on his face as he reached down to pet the friendliest goldeen ever.

Misty remained silent for a long moment then, ultimately humming a vague agreement.

“You’re not wrong, I guess,” he heard her mumble a little later. “Say, how do you want to do this though? Not like we have a space for people to visit and play with the pokemon, you know?” she asked and he sat back up, grimacing. His injured arm really made all sorts of movements awkward at best.

“We’re kind of adapting the design of the wharf we had in mind so that we can use it for this,” he commented, gesturing vaguely towards where the aforementioned structure was supposed to go. Another idea he’d had for making money was, after all, organizing visits so that people could play around and such with the friendliest pokemon in the sanctuary. He imagined children would love it, although he wouldn’t be surprised if adults did too.

God knew he did, after all.

For the moment, it was mostly for entertainment and such, but once things were more stable, he imagined there could be some lessons and lectures too, for both kids and adults. That was an issue to address much further in the future though. For the moment, he just wanted to get things underway as best he could. Good thing the entire idea didn’t add too much to their workload, really, which was probably why Grace hadn’t gotten on his case about adding it to their other plans.

“I was only going to build one extra wharf, but we think we might make a third, considering that plan,” he added, which was the part that had added the most work. It wasn’t too bad though. They could make do with the wharf they had and one extra one for the new project. They just had to plan ahead for the third one, which wasn’t too bad. Hell, Pierce had even brought up the idea of planning for a fourth.

The sanctuary was going to have a lot of presence in the water, with most of their pokemon being Water type at the moment. For all he knew, the situation could get “worse” in that regard with time, so it was best to cover themselves just in case. He was trying to plan ahead in regards to a lot of things, really. Plenty of those were a little more uncertain than the rest, since they required all, or at least most, of the neighboring land to be purchased.

Grace had already told him that it was unlikely they’d manage as much as they wanted, since prices were likely to go up, but he had hopes.

With some luck, he’d be able to make good money and get those anyway, even if they were more expensive. Was that wishful thinking? Probably, but Pierce preferred to call it optimism. Considering his journey so far, he thought it wasn’t too crazy to think like that.

He’d gone from only having a backpack of trainer equipment to now owning a business. Some might even call it a company. Pierce didn’t think it was out of the realm of possibility that he could keep climbing the ladder a little more. If worse came to worst, he was sure Grace and him could come up with something to help.

It was then that Pierce paused… and realized that despite all the hassle and problems and work, he liked it. He liked working in the sanctuary and thinking about the future. He liked that he had goals and something to work towards. He wasn’t just following along with his pokemon’s goals of strength and recognition anymore. The sanctuary and all that he was building was entirely his own.

And he quite liked the sound of that.

[}-o-{]

“Surprisingly good, don’t you think?” he commented, looking down at the jacket he’d been given to try.

It was one of the options he’d been given for sponsorship from the association of farmers and ranchers. The deal was that he’d use something of what they’d suggested (or suggest back something that they would have to agree to) during big events, like Gym Challenges, tournaments, shows or otherwise big public situations. There was some leeway here and there, of course, but that was the gist of it.

In exchange, they’d increase the support they gave to the sanctuary. It wasn’t necessary at the moment, of course, but if the amount of pokemon grew, it’d be a different matter. Beyond that, there were also a number of other benefits for him, like places to stay at in any city in Kanto and even some cities in other regions, or them covering a percentage of his trainer expenses, such as tutors or equipment. All in all, Grace thought it was a great deal, and they were even settling for a fairly minor advertisement deal, compared to what other companies had offered him.

Looking at the light green – or was it sea green? Mint green? He’d never been good with colors – jacket with some subtler details in colors like black and cream here and there, he thought it wasn’t too bad. Not at all. The thing looked like something he might have chosen to wear, honestly, which was more than he could say about anything else he’d been offered before. The only sign of it being merch from someone was the embroidered badge on the shoulder and a logo over the heart, but that wasn’t too bad, in Pierce’s opinion.

“What do you think?” he asked, turning towards Grace, but he did glance towards the interns and other staff members around. Generally, they seemed to agree with him that it looked good, which was great. Because Pierce wasn’t really all that confident in his fashion sense, so the reassurance that he wasn’t making a terrible mistake was neat.

“It does look good,” Grace answered, having taken a moment to consider the question and the jacket fully. She was overly serious even for that, but that wasn’t a bad quality to have, in Pierce’s opinion. At least he’d always know she gave things her all. “I take it you’re gonna take that one and agree to the deal?” the woman asked him and he nodded slowly.

It was the best piece from what he’d been sent, in his opinion, and he didn’t have any better ideas to suggest back at the association so…

“Yeah, let’s go for it. The sooner we have this contract done, the better, right?” he replied, taking a deep breath in and nodding once more, this time firmly. “What do I need to sign this time?” he asked, but the look Grace sent his way told him that no, he wouldn’t get away with just signing. The woman was obsessed with trying to teach him the ways of paperwork, explaining the papers and making him at least skim through them.

Not even her best efforts had managed to make half of the stuff not fly over his head, but he appreciated the dedication… even if he’d still complain about it.

It was halfway through that “lesson”, when his brain was already turning to mush, that they paused. There was a commotion outside, with people talking and exclamations reaching their ears. For a second, Pierce was worried that something bad could have happened, but after a moment of paying attention, he felt like that wasn’t quite it.

Sharing a look with Grace, both of them stood up and walked towards the entrance of the tent they were working in.

“Grace,” he mumbled, eyes finding the source of the ruckus. “I didn’t have a meeting with the Champion today, did I?”

“You did not, sir,” she replied, sounding about as surprised as he did, which was very telling.

Neither could say much else, considering the aforementioned very important figure started making his way towards them. Pierce couldn’t say he’d ever been approached by someone so important. Sure, they’d interacted during the whole Vermilion disaster, but that was different from the Champion deciding he was important enough to visit on a normal day.

It was also a little worrying that he hadn’t been contacted previously.

“Pierce Lawson,” the man greeted, his tone downright friendly. Yet, despite that, there was an edge of power there, of pride, not unlike the dragons the man commanded. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he added towards Grace.

“My accountant… amongst other things. She makes sure I don’t make terrible life choices,” Pierce said, his nerves getting the better of him a little bit. Despite that though, he did his best to keep his calm. “Speaking of, did I forget about a meeting or something, Champion Blackthorn?”

“Please call me Lance,” the man said with a grin. “And no, you didn’t. There’s been a… development that required some haste, so I decided to communicate it to you myself, in person.” What kind of development required that kind of response? Now Pierce was even more nervous than before. “You don’t need to worry, it’s not serious. It is important, however,” the Champion told him and Pierce gulped, trying to swallow the knot in his throat.

“What can I do for you… Lance?” he said, and it was exceedingly strange to call such a person by their first name.

“Someone very important wants to meet you and it’d mean a lot to me and to them if you could make time in your schedule. I know it’s not a convenient time for this, but… As I said, it is important, or I wouldn’t have come,” the Champion said and Pierce wondered if that was supposed to answer any of the million questions he had in mind.

So, a little helplessly, he turned towards Grace as if the woman could give him answers. Predictably though, she couldn’t, but that gave him a second to think. It was not, indeed, a very good time, but things were mostly calm. And he did say it was important so…

“If it’s too inconvenient, we’ll reschedule, of course,” Lance said, but Pierce didn’t really feel like he could say no. Maybe it was all in his head, in his nerves, but still…

“Where do I need to go?” he asked, taking a deep breath in trying to calm himself.

“Rota,” the Champion said and Pierce frowned a little. That name didn’t sound familiar to him. Not at first, at least, but what followed definitely was. “More specifically, Cameran Palace. Queen Ilene wants to meet you.”

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well… That happened.

I’d say more, but I think I’ll leave most of my commentary on the ending for the next chapter.

Other than that, we got some more training, sanctuary development and Lily. Now, it seems we’re entering Cerulean territory again, because I’ve got people once more talking about pace and not caring about the sanctuary or Daisy and blah blah blah. Don’t worry though, I’m not gonna complain about that. I’ve decided to try and ignore those comments, since many people have told me they enjoy the sanctuary stuff already.

The keyword there is try though, but I’ll do what I can with what I have.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Any guesses what this queen wants from our boy? I promise Pierce isn’t about to become a king though… or is he?

See you.