Searching Far and Wide - 128

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 XXI

‘Back to the grind with no issues, huh?’ he thought, unable to shake off the awe he felt at his team.

He knew them well by then, he really did, but he was still amazed by the fact that they could just… go right back to it. They’d just gotten through a literal Challenge, with capital C and all. Granted, half of them hadn’t participated, but they’d still trained like they would. He’d at least expected the ones that actually fought to want to take it easy for a bit. Even though they’d gone through that song and dance four times by then, Pierce was still surprised.

‘Guess I’m lucky that way,’ he thought, not nearly as wry as he thought he’d be. He might not be the best trainer in the world, but he was growing to appreciate battling all the same. He blamed his team though, because their love for the sport was what drove him for the longest time and he guessed it had kind of rubbed off on him. Kind of like when his father watched football matches on TV and he got dragged into the energy.

‘Everyone’s doing well,’ he thought, somewhat surprised. Normally, there’d be at least one of them struggling and needing him to drop by for some advice or to help ease their frustration or even just to give some encouragement. Apparently, that day was one of the rare few where everyone was just… doing really well. He hadn’t been needed in the entire training session, after he set them to their tasks.

It was impressive, but a little disappointing too. Pierce liked helping them, after all. ‘I’m glad for them though,’ he thought to himself, going to turn his attention back to his book. Before he could start reading again though, his eyes darted to the side and checked on the other group that he needed to watch out for.

The school.

They were currently being fed under the watchful gaze of Misty, Boss, trainers Surge had lent him and other gyarados. Human and sea serpents worked in harmony to keep the peace without him around. Several of the people that had gathered were… not entirely at ease with the situation, but he could hardly blame them. Even experienced people were wary about working with a group that was new to them, nevermind a group with so many gyarados and one that had – or at least a good part of it had – attacked a city. 

That unease was causing some friction on top of the usual expected struggles, but things were working out so far, Pierce noted with some relief. Maybe things would work out well on that front and he’d be able to leave things in capable hands sooner than expected. He wasn’t holding his breath though, but it’d be nice. ‘Going better than I feared, that’s for sure,’ he mused, taking a deep breath in and nodding.

Then he turned his attention back to his studies, for real this time.

Lots to do those days, so he had to do his best to organize his schedule to make the most of it. Which Grace had helped him with, funnily enough. Or, maybe it was better to say that she’d hooked him up with someone that could help him. He apparently had a personal assistant at the moment, might even become a permanent thing. Officially though, the guy was on probation for the administration side of his new sanctuary.

Grace, the beautiful, cunning creature that she was, had come up with the idea of having a bunch of roles probate like that before being thrown as cogs into the machine that was taking form. Not that he was complaining, it was nice to have someone keep track of everything he needed to do. It was becoming a little much to do that by himself, especially with only Cygnus able to even help.

‘Focus,’ he told himself.

Once the training session was over, he’d go and help people with the school some more, just like he had that very morning. He’d also be discussing with Grace on staff decisions and other things. The construction crew also apparently needed to talk about a thing or two with him, from what he’d been told. ‘Setting this up is more work than expected,’ he thought, but he regretted not a single thing.

Maybe it was annoying and boring and confusing, but if that was what it took to help the school, to help pokemon, then it was a small price to pay. Pierce had the means of doing all that and he wasn’t even struggling as much as other people might in his shoes. So, he shouldn’t complain too much. Furthermore, he’d never have been able to forgive himself if he didn’t do anything.

‘I think I might have all of this down soon to be able to take the test,’ he thought to himself, turning a page in his book. He was being entirely too thorough with his studies and people had told him as much before. He’d waved them off in an effort to be a bit of a perfectionist. Pokemon he’d treat in the future deserved the best, after all.

Alas, he was running out of time in his days.

So, he’d have to settle his standards on that front a little lower. He could further his studies on his own later down the line and maybe get another license or degree or whatever. As it was, it’d be nice to scratch something off his list of to-do stuff. ‘One step at a time,’ he thought to himself, sighing and continuing to read.

Even with lower standards, he still had a few books to get through, after all.

Just because he’d said he’d lower his standards, it didn’t mean he’d done that a lot, after all.

He was trying though.

[}-o-{]

“He’s a bit of a handful, I know, but he’s not so bad once you get used to his attitude,” Pierce commented, although the fact that he had to dodge a shot of ink didn’t really help his argument. “Just don’t actively criticize him when he can hear you. He’s kind of sensitive that way,” he added, tilting his head and watching a Water Gun fly by. It almost made him nostalgic. It’d been a while since Andromeda had shot him…

He was clearly not teasing her enough.

He’d have to do something about that.

“Just be patient and he’ll behave, even if he’ll look very reluctant about it,” Pierce finished, resolutely ignoring the grumblings coming from the water. When the people he was lecturing nodded – at least some of them did, most just looked like they were processing the sight before them –, he nodded back and grinned. “Best way to entertain him is to set him up in a whirlpool competition. Horsea love those in general, but he’s extra competitive and driven about it. Competitions in general are the way with this one,” he commented and he was happy to see some of the probationary staff members even taking notes.

Funnily enough, that particular horsea might be a great example of how to handle gyarados without… Well, the major risks of the sea serpents. He had a very similar personality. ‘Found our tutorial, I guess… Until he calms down, if he ever does,’ he thought, asking Cygnus to make a mental note so he could share that with Grace, Misty and whoever else was going to be keeping track of things at the sanctuary in his stead.

He’d shared a few similar things while going around the place and introducing people to the pokemon properly. So far, they’d been doing things in a somewhat detached way. Looking after them, feeding them, checking on them, but not really interacting with them. Nothing on their part that caused that though. No, what’d happened was that Pierce had decided – or maybe it was more accurate to say he’d agreed when the idea was brought up – to let people keep a safe distance until he’d had a chance to smooth the process over.

He didn’t mind, not really. If these people had a better idea of things, then the pokemon would have a better time getting the care he was trying to offer them. Furthermore, he’d feel better when he inevitably had to leave, since he’d be leaving them in the best hands he possibly could, with all the knowledge he had and the insight he could give. Not that he thought his instructions were somehow better than what veterans knew or what someone else could teach them, but…

But that was his school.

Those were his pokemon.

He knew them. Like how this horsea had a slight attitude problem. Or how the poliwag that was “stealthily” hopping behind him was a bit clingy and sensitive. Or how one of the feebas needed a bit of extra encouragement and reassurances. Or how this one wooper would shoot harmless Water Guns at people as his idea of a game and how it was better to laugh it off with him. 

There were a million things that he knew about his school, even though most of them he’d only just recently met. He’d been there for them, to try and get them to relax after the whole ordeal that had ended with them being there. Pierce had been with them, talked with them and worked with them. He’d spoken to them and now he was speaking for them and he took that duty very seriously.

‘Voice, wasn’t it?’ Pierce thought with a smile as he reached down to pet Horsea.

“Indeed,” Cygnus agreed.

“Now, I think that’s enough info dumping for the moment,” Pierce said, taking a deep breath in and standing up after one last pat on Horsea’s head. “Everyone that has no or little experience, please go do the rounds, yeah? And I want most of the management people to keep an eye on them. Misty and veterans in both fields, please follow me,” he ordered and he still felt weird about that. It was even weirder to see people actually listening to what he said though. “It’s time for the real challenge you all will have around here,” he said then.

Although, contrary to his words, he was grinning widely as he walked.

Maybe they were the most troublesome, but they were also incredibly… exciting. It was impossible to get bored with them around, that was for sure. Glancing behind him on his way though, he saw that almost nobody shared his excitement. If anything, they looked stiff, twitchy, nervous, afraid. They’d have to learn, or they’d be out.

Misty, to her credit, looked amused more than anything.

“Here we are,” he announced, reaching a rock that stuck out towards the ocean. There’d be another wharf reaching out towards the sea soon enough, but for the moment, there was only the one and it was currently occupied by the “safer” pokemon and their care staff. “Don’t be too scared, yeah?” he said as a way of warning, but that was all he did.

After that, he reached out with his good arm and then brought it up in a sharp motion.

Immediately, he heard the water behind him move, very different from the almost soothing waves that constantly caressed the sand and the rocks. This sound came a lot more chaotic, harsh and almost angry. Just like the creatures that caused it, Pierce supposed. All the same, he grinned, because he loved the absolute menaces.

“Hey, Boss,” he greeted before he even turned around. As he did though, he reached out with his good hand and patted the gyarados’ head when he leaned down closer to him. “Nobody’s given you too much trouble, right?” he asked, getting a so-so grumble from the gigantic sea noodle. Interestingly, he saw a pair of gyarados at the back stiffening at that. “I see,” Pierce added, narrowing his eyes.

It seemed he’d have to educate some gyarados on top of the humans behind him.

Well, two birds with one stone and all that.

[}-o-{]

“What was the verdict?” Daisy asked on the other side of their call in between eating snacks. Apparently, she’d just gotten out of some show rehearsal and now she was feeling peckish. Pierce, for his part, just took a sip from his cup of tea before answering.

“The short answer is that it’s progressing well,” he said, tapping his injured arm. “Recovery is going roughly as scheduled, maybe even better than that. I’ll be good as new in about two more weeks. Sort of, at least. They said I should still be careful even when they take the cast off. Might even be able to get it off earlier than that, provided I don’t, like… use it for anything, which might be difficult. I might keep the cast if it’s gonna be that fragile.”

“Hm, smart. Especially if you can’t hold yourself back-”

“I think you’re talking about yourself here.”

“- and do something dumb,” she finished, narrowing her eyes at him. In response, Pierce just raised an eyebrow at her. “Anyway,” she started then, apparently deciding to move on. He allowed that with a snort and a slight smile. “Does that mean you’ll be hosting the first show when you get cleared for actual effort?”

“Yep, two weeks should be enough time to get a good amount of people,” he commented, running his fingers through his hair. Would it be better to have more time before the show? Probably, but he hadn’t known for sure when exactly he’d be good to go. The timeline he’d been given for his arm hadn’t been very specific at first. With more time to look at how his progress went, the number was more decisive, and thus more reliable.

“Pierce, if the tickets aren’t sold out when you make the announcement, I’ll be very surprised,” Daisy commented flatly and he blinked back at her. “Honestly, sometimes it feels like you’re finally understanding your… everything, and then you act like this,” she said, exasperated but somewhat fond all the same. Pierce considered himself lucky that last part was added into the mix. “Well, at least Grace should have the good sense to know this stuff. Lucky you.”

“Thanks, I think,” he commented, earning himself some giggles. “On a different topic,” he said, deciding to be the one to change subjects then. It was only fair, since she’d gotten away with it before. “You free tomorrow?” he asked and he smiled when the woman perked up across the screen. “I thought we could just go to that mall you told me about in Cerulean, there’s bound to be stuff we can do, right?”

“You’re aware that you’ll suffer the whole day, right?” she asked, somewhat teasing and somewhat confused.

“Probably not the whole day,” he said with a grin. “Besides, you can’t use the bag torture on me. You wouldn’t make your crippled boyfriend carry stuff, would you?” There was a reason he was suggesting that while he was in the state he was, after all. He may be an idiot, but he wasn’t stupid.

“I guess you’re right,” Daisy replied, clicking her tongue playfully. “Well, played, Mr. Lawson. You won’t have a broken arm forever though. You won’t be able to escape pain forever.”

“That’s what you think,” he followed along, only just barely holding back a chuckle. “Anyway, yeah, I thought we could just walk around and see what we find. I actually kind of like it, so long as you don’t spend an hour in each store,” he commented before taking another sip from his drink.

“That’s the fun part though!” Daisy whined. “Although,” she started then, sobering up a little. “I thought you’d be busy with the sanctuary and the pokemon, especially to have, what? Several hours?”

“You’re not wrong,” he acknowledged with a nod and a sip from his drink. ‘Almost finished,’ he lamented looking at what little beverage was left in his paper cup. “But the pokemon are behaving surprisingly well after I introduced everyone. There’s a few pokemon that are even helping keep the peace. Failing that, there’s Misty,” he explained, feeling very happy with that. It’d been nice to see that everything went much more smoothly than he’d expected in the sanctuary.

Granted, several of his probationary staff members chaffed here and there with the pokemon, but those edges could be smoothed over. Or so he hoped, some of those would have to go, he imagined, but all in all things had gone way better than he’d thought. So much so that he thought he could leave them be for a bit and see how it went.

“If all else fails, I’ll have to teleport back though,” he commented, grimacing a little. “So, if you don’t wanna risk it, that’s fine. We can put that off for another time and have a normal, shorter date,” he continued, running his fingers through his hair. It would be kind of shitty if he had to disappear on her during the date, he knew. So-

“Don’t worry about it,” Daisy said, a soft, calm smile on her face as she regarded him through the screen. “I know all about responsibilities getting in the way, remember? We can go tomorrow and another day. If you get a call, it’s fine. I could get a call any day at any time too and you’ve been very understanding when it’s happened,” she told him and he found himself smiling without even realizing when it’d happened.

“You’re awesome, have I told you that?”

“A lot, but I don’t mind if you say it some more,” she replied with a wink.

“You’re awesome,” he said, getting a giggle from Daisy. After that, they shared a silent moment, one that was filled with something warm and carefree. He appreciated it as much as he did Daisy’s smile or sitting across from her in a restaurant or walking between places during a date. It was… nice, even if that felt like a very lacking description. It was still the best he could come up with.

The silence didn’t last forever, but he didn’t feel bad when it was broken, because he knew there’d be other such moments for him to enjoy.

“So, back to what you said, how’s Misty doing?”

[}-o-{]

“Somehow, I’m still surprised every time there’s more proof that people like me a lot,” he commented, leaning back on his chair and taking a moment to process what he’d just been told.

“I think it makes more sense that people would get merchandise related to you than paying for tickets to see your shows, don’t you?” Grace asked, raising an eyebrow at him from where she sat across from him.

They were discussing a number of things, but at that moment she’d brought up the idea that had been dropped in his comment section some time before and that was to sell his own merch. She’d commented on it mainly because she’d managed to find a pretty good deal with a clothes company. So, she’d brought up the idea with him, also asking if he had any ideas for designs and such. Before that though, he had to take a moment to wrap his head around the fact that the matter hadn’t just been crazy talk in the comment section and was now becoming a thing.

It wasn’t like he didn’t understand where she was coming from either, but it was just… things pilling up. Just the show would have been a thing. Just the merch would have been another. But everything that was going on, between those two and the appreciation of Vermillion and Surge’s help and the League and… There was a lot going on and Pierce felt like he was much too small for the big deal that everyone seemed to make of him.

‘But this is good,’ he told himself, trying to find a rock to ground himself. ‘This can help the sanctuary, the pokemon,’ he thought and the idea helped solidify his resolve. Because sure, he was overwhelmed and he felt awkward about the whole thing. However, he could deal with that if it was for the sake of pokemon that really needed any help he could give them.

Pokemon that were his; pokemon that he needed to protect.

“I get that,” he said with a sigh before squaring his shoulders. “Alright, I’ll see what I can come up with. Something more special than just my name or the channel’s name on it and boring logos or pictures,” he thought out loud, considering that. He’d always found such merch to be… lacking.

The same way he’d found the idea of using the clothes companies offered appalling, he’d never subject people that looked up to him and liked him to wear something just as bad. He wanted people to look at his merch and wear it for the clothes themselves, not just because it had his name on it. He wanted it to be something that they’d buy even if they didn’t know about him at all.

Although, maybe he was thinking about it too deeply?

“We can put that aside for now while I think about it and you see what the company has to suggest, yeah? But yeah, we can do that if you think it’s a good idea,” he finished with, running his fingers through his hair and looking at Grace. “Anything else we needed to talk about?”

“Hm, hiring has been going well, posts are being filled and the sanctuary is… semi-functioning. The construction crew is bound to start preparing things tomorrow, but the architect isn’t done just yet,” she listed off, although the woman seemed to be talking to herself more than to him. “All in all, things are going well so far, but there’s plenty to be done. Tomorrow should reveal any issues that might be present on the human-pokemon front and you’ll be able to address those. I think it’s a good idea to let them be by themselves though, especially since things seemed to go smoothly today.”

“Really? I thought it might be too soon, but-” But he’d let his emotions get the better of him. It’d been a bit since he’d gone on a date with Daisy. And he’d also kind of wanted a break. Not to say he wanted to ditch the pokemon, far from it. He’d have stayed if he felt like they really needed him there.

“It’ll be fine. We can’t know what needs to be worked on or improved if you’re always here,” Grace reassured him and he felt tension he didn’t know he was feeling unwind. “We’ll have a teleport agency on speed dial just in case, but otherwise things should be fine, unless tomorrow is radically different from what we saw today.”

“Makes sense. I just feel like I’m rushing things.”

“You kind of are, but that’s normal. You have a lot to get done and you’re in the middle of your journey, sir,” Grace said and he almost flinched when she called him “sir”, but he was getting better at dealing with that. He imagined it’d take a while for it to stop being awkward, if it ever happened. “A lot of things are being rushed, but we’re making sure that they are done well all the same, right?” the woman reassured and he took comfort in the serious, proper way she spoke. The way she sat right in front of him, looking the picture of professionalism and composure made him think that everything was truly alright.

Maybe it was an illusion of appearances, but he appreciated it all the same.

“Ok,” he said, taking a deep breath in and considering things for a second. “You didn’t mention your team there,” he pointed out and she somehow managed to straighten herself even more. He hadn’t thought that was possible.

“I’m considering some options and I’ll probably follow your example in that matter with probationary members, if it’s alright with you, sir. First of all, I wanted to start with-” Grace started and he sat back and listened as attentively as he could. It wasn’t easy, considering much of what she said flew over his head, but he did his best all the same.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Maybe it’s the management game enjoyer in me, but I’m having fun writing about the sanctuary stuff. Is it just me? I know some of you like it, but I’m not sure how much. Like, maybe you like the idea, but you’d like less focus on it, or maybe you want more focus on it, or maybe you think it’s fine as I’m going? Some more feedback on that front would be nice.

Little else to really comment on regarding this chapter, I guess.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter though.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: What’s the last game you played? I checked in Arknights a few hours ago.

See you.