Searching Far and Wide - 125

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

Vermillion City XVIII

Just as predicted, Pierce found himself very nervous the morning his Challenge was scheduled.

All the same, he’d managed – with some nudging from his pokemon – to drag himself to the Gym. Once there though, he still had to wait until a few battles were over. Battle appointments weren’t always very accurate… hardly ever were, really. After all, battles could be dragged out or end shockingly quickly. So, Gyms did their best to average times and called it a day. If they tried to predict match lengths, that’d be a nightmare for whoever tried.

That’s how Pierce found himself pacing back and forth in the waiting room of the Gym. There were other challengers waiting too, but there was only one that was ahead of him in the line. Fortunately, none of them called him out for being annoying or anything, even though he imagined he was. Well, one of them looked like he really wanted to, but he was keeping his mouth shut all the same and Pierce appreciated that.

Idly, he contemplated getting a glass of water, but then decided against that. The last thing he needed during his match was needing to go to the bathroom. ‘I need time to go faster for a bit, come on,’ he thought to himself, starting to pace once more. It wasn’t like he wanted to bolt or anything, but he’d be a liar if the idea didn’t sound tempting all the same. He would never, but the thought was there.

He clenched his hand.

Then he opened it as much as he could.

Taking a deep breath in, Pierce tried to focus on something else as he came to a stop once more. His mind went over his team and the pokemon Surge could use against him. He went over his ideas for strategies to implement during the Challenge, possible approaches and how to best synchronize with…

‘Actually…’ he thought, pausing and closing his eyes.

Maybe Pierce Lawson was a wreck when it came to facing the challenges, or at least waiting for them, but… Maybe he didn’t need to be Pierce Lawson then and there. Wasn’t he trying to get in his pokemon’s heads during battles? Wasn’t that the edge he was trying to sharpen for his training career?

Might as well try to use it outside of battles too, right?

Could be good practice.

So, he stopped to consider that idea for a long moment before deciding that it was worth a try. ‘Which of them though?’ Bellatrix was out immediately, too childish. Regulus was out almost as fast, too lazy. Andromeda was out next, too disinterested. Narcissa went afterwards, too intense. Cygnus was the next to be scratched off the list, too cold. Orion…

Orion could work.

The onix would be excited for the chance to prove himself. He’d manage a semblance of calm, but he’d be just nervous enough that Pierce could use his own nerves to help him get into the right mentality. Orion would be looking forward to his battle without letting it get to him. Yes, he was perfect. There’d be a sprinkle of childishness too, and other things that’d kind of make it more complicated, but Pierce could work with that.

Thus, Pierce tried to think like his onix, taking his time to slowly nudge his own thoughts. He tried to better understand what his pokemon would feel at that very moment if he were outside his pokeball. He tried to understand and empathize, feel what he’d feel as he let his imagination take over. It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but he did feel like he achieved something when some of the tension bled away from him.

He was still nervous, but he was excited too, a little bit. He was excited for his pokemon, all of them, because he knew they’d be excited. Orion certainly would be, and he was the star of the show that day. He’d be the strongest against Surge’s pokemon, after all, or should be at least.

He didn’t feel as confident as his pokemon did, didn’t have that confidence in himself, but maybe Pierce could draw some confidence from his pokemon, from that trust they put on him. ‘If they can trust me like that, maybe I can trust myself like that,’ he thought… and it was easier said than done, but he did feel better. The knot in his throat loosened the smallest bit and-

The challenger that was right before him was called.

That simple moment, when the speakers rang and the woman stood up, ruined Pierce’s mental exercise completely. He didn’t let that stop him though. Moving to take a seat instead of just standing there, he closed his eyes and rested his elbows on his knees. There, he started again, building the emotions as best he could. Even if the whole thing was far from perfect, it was better than doing nothing, so he’d do it anyway.

‘We can do this,’ he told himself, taking a deep breath in and letting the smile he knew Orion would wear if he could. ‘This will be fun,’ he thought, even though fun was the furthest thing from his mind… sort of. He imagined it would be interesting to test his new approach in what was literally a Challenge. So, he grasped at that feeling and used it to relate to his pokemon more, pushing aside the nerves, the fears. ‘We’re going to win,’ he thought afterwards, focusing on his own desire to win, his confidence in his pokemon, to triumph one more…

… And he was still scared, still nervous, but now he didn’t feel like a wreck, and he’d take that personal victory.

‘Much better,’ he thought, taking a deep breath in. ‘Much, much better.’

Then he let the air in his lungs out and waited.

[}-o-{]

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Surge said once it was finally Pierce’s turn. “It’s good to see you well, all things considered,” the Gym Leader added, and he was sure it wasn’t his imagination that saw the man’s eyes dart towards his arm. “You ready, Lawson?”

“As I can be,” he answered simply, wearing a tight smile. “And thanks for the warm welcome.”

He meant that too. He’d prepared by watching Surge’s battles in his badge level and… Well, the man had a deserved reputation of being somewhat of rough. Some even called him a bully, but Pierce didn’t think he was. Maybe he’d just had more pleasant experiences with him than most, but he thought it was safe to assume that was just how he was when in the middle of a battle.

Considering the guy had participated in literal war battlefields, Pierce didn’t feel it was too much of a stretch to think he might be a little too… tough.

Furthermore, he never took it too far when the challengers seemed particularly soft, but many a person had cried due to the man. Softies, as he called them, didn’t deserve to get very far as trainers. He proved that by being extra harsh the more badges his opponents had and the more strong personality his opponents had.

So, Pierce had kind of expected a much more… unpleasant welcome.

“No worries, I’m not gonna trashtalk the guy that saved my city. The people would riot,” Surge said, evidently realizing what was going through his mind. To that though, Pierce smiled wryly. The man didn’t even seem to be joking about the last part, which was… a little concerning. ‘Or is that just me?’ Pierce wondered, taking a deep breath in. “Now, since you’re ready, we can get started right away. Whenever you’re ready, Proxyman.”

‘Is everyone going to end up calling me that?’ he wondered, eye twitching a little. At least Surge said it jokingly. There were some people that said it with entirely too much awe for such a silly nickname.

All the same, Pierce found himself a little grateful for the informal attitude the Leader seemed to have for his challenge. It helped him relax that little bit more than his mental exercises had before. So, glancing towards the referee to the side, who was watching him rather intently, he nodded.

“Gym Leader Robert will release his first pokemon!” the referee called and wasn’t that a little jarring to hear? Pierce couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Surge had a first name at all, quite honestly. Something to get used to though. Either way, he didn’t have a lot of time to ponder on that, because the man released his first pokemon.

‘Voltorb, certainly not the worst thing in the world,’ he noted to himself immediately. ‘You’re not mad enough to use Self-Destruct or Explosion on me, right?’ he added, because that was the first concern that came to his mind. The pokemon was infamous for those, after all. He didn’t like that he couldn’t read an answer on Surge’s face, he’d admit.

All the same, he took a deep breath in and let out his first fighter.

‘Just in case he decides blowing up is a valid strategy,’ he voiced in his mind immediately when Cygnus appeared in front of him. ‘Be ready to teleport at a moment’s notice, buddy.’

“Always am, Protector-Voice,” his Psychic type answered, which was… true, he supposed. If he wasn’t ready to teleport at any moment during a battle, then there would have been something wrong with him. “What’s the plan?”

‘Hitting hard and hitting fast,’ he thought, as their time ran out. Good thing conversations at the speed of thought were… well, very fast. Was that a very basic strategy? Yes, yes it was. However, the good thing about Electric types was that they weren’t resistant to a lot and they also weren’t weak to a lot, so someone with as many options as Cygnus could do whatever he wanted. Especially since he also didn’t have any Ground type moves to focus on. ‘Let’s test out your new combo, yeah?’

He grinned as much from his own excitement as he did from the excitement of his kadabra.

“Begin!”

‘Paliokinesis,’ he called and Cygnus teleported immediately-

“Discharge,” Surge ordered just as fast and the voltorb was surrounded by electricity in a split second. Electricity that exploded outwards and hit a just teleported kadabra square in the face. “Didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?!” the Leaded called loudly and Pierce’s grin turned a little more stiff.

‘Ok, I see. Feints and fake outs are going to be our friend here for a bit, Cygnus,’ he projected in his mind, narrowing his eyes at the same time that he felt Cygnus doing so. Taking a deep breath in together too, both got ready to tackle the battle once more, and they were starting with a disadvantage already.

“Charge Beam.”

‘Teleport to its side, then twice and get started again,’ he ordered immediately. That turned out to be the correct course of action, because the command had been bait, it seemed. Voltorb showed no signs of even trying to shoot Charge Beam.

“Disch-” Surge started, before narrowing his eyes when Cygnus teleported again. “Now!” Pierce grinned triumphantly when the third teleport dodged the Discharge. His kadabra flashed right on top of the Electric type and delivered a swift, clean Ice Punch. “Tricky!” the Leader exclaimed, but he sounded more excited than annoyed…

Which was concerning.

‘You know what to do,’ Pierce said, clenching his hands into fists and twitching when Cygnus teleported. It was a little jarring to try and connect the way he wanted with his Psychic type, he’d admit. After all, he couldn’t read him perfectly and it never showed quite as much as it did when Cygnus teleported somewhere completely different from what he would have guessed.

One would be excused to think that it was the opposite though, that the kadabra being the Psychic that he was would make it easier. They could just connect deeply in their minds and call it a day, right? Wrong. Such a deep connection wasn’t normal on a good day, especially in a sustained manner. In a battle, it was even less so. They had tried too, but that’d only ended up with both of them very confused and out of it.

So, the annoying way it was.

Two teleports later and a missed actual Charge Beam later, another Ice Punch was delivered. Foul Play and Focus Punch were left aside for the moment, evidently. Besides that… ‘You can actually try Paliokinesis now, buddy,’ he urged, narrowing his eyes. He knew his guess was correct when Cygnus paused for a split second.

Evidently, that start had spooked his kadabra a little bit, but there was no need to panic.

Paliokinesis was, basically, Melee Barrage with Kinesis added into the mix. Teleporting all over the place, messing with the opponent’s senses and all flavors of elemental close combat attacks were sure to be a combo to fear, he knew. Was it basic? Yes, but there was nothing basic in Cygnus doing it. Because any member of the kadabra line could pull it off, yes, but Cygnus was the only one that had honed his body for the sake of it. His punches hurt at least twice as bad as any regular kadabra’s would. On top of that, he was the one that trained in that specific battle style too, learning where to teleport and where to aim his punches. He’d learned the most effective ways to use his body to empower his attacks too and now…

Now he had Kinesis to create even better openings for himself.

“Discharge,” Surge called and this time he timed it right, unsurprisingly. He was a Gym Leader, after all, and even if he had to hold back a lot for challenges, that didn’t mean he had to cripple himself and hand over victories. They were called Challenges for a reason, after all. If someone was looking like they’d have too easy a time, Leaders usually tended to look for ways to make them struggle anyway.

Leaders like Surge most of all.

“I’m fine,” Cygnus said immediately. That was two Discharges and one Charge Beam that had managed to land… sort of.. They hadn’t landed as many hits as they’d like either, with all the tricks they had to pull just to get a hit in. Furthermore, Voltorb might not be the tankiest of pokemon, but it could certainly take some punishment.

So, considering all that and the slight frustration building in Cygnus. Pierce could see the way forward. Voltorb was a relatively calm pokemon, if they could break that calm, then that’d be a great boon for the fight. Cygnus, on the other hand, liked to show off his physical might and while he could fight smart as much as the next pokemon, he liked simpler displays, funnily enough.

All that told Pierce what the way forward should be.

And he went for it.

‘Let’s go with a proper Barrage, yeah? Push things a little.’

He grinned at the same time that Cygnus did… mentally, that is, in the case of his pokemon. Because he knew that he’d hit the nail in the head. The kadabra teleported right over Voltorb with his fist pulled back and a Foul Play was delivered almost instantly. Maybe Pierce's hopes were getting the better of him, but he thought both of those moves had been pulled off faster than normal. Same for the next two teleports and Ice Punch.

Voltorb and Surge certainly reacted like it, considering the way the Electric type became a lot more twitchy and the way the Leader’s orders became a little more pressing. Pierce focused on Cygnus though, feeding ideas and observations but mostly keeping to himself. He’d let his pokemon loose for a reason. If he interfered too much, then he might break that state of mind they had pulled off.

Instead of giving orders, then, Pierce tried to keep up with Cygnus mentally. He thought of how satisfying each hit was, how each move that hit him was only fuel for the next attack. He tried to predict moves, teleports, sometimes being right, most of the time being wrong. He was learning though, and he was getting better, or so he thought.

‘This might work,’ he thought to himself, noticing how Voltorb started slowing down, struggling to keep up with both Cygnus and Surge’s orders. He noticed the Surge was growing a little frustrated, if understanding. And with all that, he knew there was one last trick they could use. Would they use it, maybe, maybe not…

He decided to err on the side of caution though.

That’s why, when he saw Surge’s mouth open for the next command, his posture different from before and his expression almost grim, he went to give his own order.

“Explosion!”

‘Move!’

It was a trap, he realized a second too late. Why? Because Voltorb didn’t explode. Instead, he dashed towards where Cygnus had teleported and then exploded. It was quick, too quick for Pierce and Cygnus to react, but also not quite quick enough for the Electric type to get as close as it probably wanted to. Still, that was already too close for Pierce’s comfort.

Surge had gotten the last laugh there, that was for sure.

Less than a second afterwards, the entire field was covered in dust and smoke. ‘Crazy bastard actually went for it,’ he thought, an uneasy smile on his face. ‘Cygnus, buddy?’ he called then, trying to feel his pokemon in his mind. It took him a moment, but he tried – and failed, really, but he did try – to keep his mind calm. The mental connection was always cut off when the kadabra teleported and that was without the big ass explosion being thrown into the mix.

So-

‘There you are,’ he thought, relieved, before grimacing. It seemed that while his pokemon had dodged the worst of it, he still had taken some damage. Maybe he’d only been able to teleport a short distance before it was too late, maybe his energy drain had been worse than expected or maybe it was something else. The fact of the matter was that Cygnus was very hurt, but-

“Voltorb is unable to continue,” the referee called and Pierce tried not to be too happy that the Electric type was out. That was a harsh way to go, but Surge was a Leader and so far seemed fairly cool, under all the prickliness he was known for. Moves like Self-Destruct and Explosion weren’t banned, after all. They were frowned upon, but mostly for the true damage that they could deal to the pokemon that used them if they were used too much too. Constant use could really mess up a pokemon and people didn’t like that. Who’d have thought?

Somehow though, he doubted Surge would be that irresponsible.

“Gym Leader Robert will release his next pokemon,” the referee announced then and Pierce took a deep breath in while communicating with Cygnus.

‘You’re out,’ he said simply, firmly. He wasn’t going to entertain arguments on the matter and his Psychic type better not even try arguing.

“... I’m in if I’m the last one though,” Cygnus couldn’t help but demand… and Pierce had to concede that much, he supposed.

‘Fine.’

First though, they had to see Surge’s pokemon. Fortunately, it didn’t take long, probably because the Leader knew the damage was pretty bad. It was blatantly obvious that Cygnus was barely keeping himself standing as it was. So, in but a moment, a pikachu appeared on the other side of the battlefield.

“Narcissa?”

‘Narcissa,’ Pierce confirmed.

“Challenger Pierce, you can switch your pokemon now.”

“I’m switching,” he announced immediately, recalling Cygnus with a quiet thank you whispered in his mind. Then he took a deep breath in and let out Narcissa. It was the only choice, after all. No way he was pitting Orion against a pikachu.

Not because he thought Surge would use the Ash strategy on him – he was sure that was actually rather impossible in the world he was in –, but because pikachu were small and fast, both things that Orion struggled a lot again. His onix would have trouble even getting a hit in. All the while, their opponents would be free to chip away at him. No, Orion would hate that fight, even if he managed not to lose it.

“Hey, girl,” he greeted and he got an excited buzz right back. “One down, two to go. Cygnus can still fight, but he was pretty injured. Orion is still waiting,” he informed and Narcissa nodded. He wondered how much of that she actually cared to notice though. Her battle maniac mind was probably too focused on the pokemon across the field, he imagined.

“Start.”

““Move.””

Pierce’s eyes widened as the orders were delivered… and he noticed that both of them had commanded the same thing. On his side, Surge burst into laughter. At the same time, both pokemon dashed, fortunately to different sides of the field. Pierce imagined it’d have complicated matters if they went to the same side, forcing them into a quick confrontation that it seemed neither of them wanted.

He rather doubted Surge had the same command shortcuts though, so he had to assume his Move either meant something else or it was just an order to do just that. The latter seemed plausible, considering that Pikachu wasn’t doing anything other than running and keeping Narcissa at a distance. The beedrill, for her part, was also boosting herself, stacking buffs as best she could without stopping her flight and getting faster and faster.

Surge was the first to break the situation, likely having noticed that it wasn’t going to end well for them.

“Thunderbolt,” was the Leader’s simple order and the Electric type stopped immediately to shoot literal lightning at Narcissa. And it was too damn close for comfort, even if it still missed. With all that his beedrill had going for it while flying, he was a little unnerved that the shot was so close.

‘That would have hit if Narcissa wasn’t boosted,’ he thought, a little unnerved… But mostly annoyed, because that’s what his beedrill would have felt, annoyed, insulted. She liked being fast, she liked being untouchable as long as she was flying. So, that couldn’t stand. She needed to do something about the little rat.

They needed to do something.

So, clenching his fists, Pierce decided to use all that aggression.

“Fury Attack,” he ordered.

He could have gone with Drill Strike, or even just Drill Run, but he was sure that the pikachu would be able to get out of the way. It was fast enough for that. If it also had the necessary reflexes or Surge read them fast enough, then they’d waste the attack. Besides, Fury Attack allowed Narcissa to get up close and personal and smack around their opponent.

She’d love that.

Sure enough, he grinned as he saw her fly faster than she had been before, diving right towards the Electric type.

“Thunderbolt!” Surge called, but Narcissa had locked in already. His beedrill dashed sideways before continuing her charge and the attack flew past her harmlessly. Pierce wondered if the pride that coursed through him was his own for his pokemon, the one he knew Narcissa was full of or both.

He hoped it was the second. That would mean he was in her head already and that’d help plenty. As it was he reflexively pulled his fist up when he saw one of her stinger stabs hit the pikachu, who was trying to get away from her.

“Spark!” Surge called, and he could have reacted to that… but Pierce and Narcissa were fine with the plan they were working with, smacking the rat around. ‘Let it try to fight back. We’re stronger,’ he thought, mimicking what he imagined Narcissa was feeling.

“Keep it up, girl!” he called after the Electric type move hit, just to keep her focused and reminding her that he agreed with her. That was all his beedrill needed to get right back to it, maybe even more enthusiastically than before. Maybe she was pleased to see that they were of the right mind, on top of wholeheartedly agreeing with the plan.

He liked that idea.

Pierce’s eyes then focused on their opponent, trying to read it and trying to read Surge. It was struggling a lot and Surge was trying to- Trying to get it away. It was a distance specialist. No wonder that Thunderbolt had been so precise. It didn’t do well in close combat, evidently.

And that’s what Narcissa specialized in.

So, Pierce grinned a very wide grin and gave his order at the same time as their opponent.

“Don’t let it get away!”

“Quick Away, Pikachu!”

Surge met his grin with a scowl immediately afterwards, especially when Narcissa hit his pokemon with a Drill Run. A move that landed right when the Electric type was trying to use Quick Attack to get away. And suddenly, Pierce could relate in a whole new level to Narcissa’s pride.

Because that had been all him.

He’d read Narcissa.

He’d read Pikachu.

He’d read Surge.

‘Yeah, this works.’

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Fourth Badge Challenge started!

And we’re in chapter 125… But let’s not focus on that, yeah?

I actually quite liked this chapter, even though I know people might not be great fans of the nervousness. I kind of talked about that in the last chapter notes, so I won’t go into that again. Instead, I’m gonna say that we also see some development in that area, among other things, in this chapter, which I hope you guys liked.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the entire chapter, really, but still.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you guys like going to Malls? I actually kind of do. There’s always something interesting to look at while window shopping.

See you.