Searching Far and Wide - 124

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 XVII

Idly, Pierce considered his team.

Most of their preparations for Vermillion were ready. They felt meager by that point though, admittedly. A fourth badge wasn’t an easy thing to attain and having a single – for the most part – effective move for each of his team members felt lacking. He didn’t have time to get more than that done though, unless he wanted to stay there for close to a month.

While his recovery might take that long, he didn’t want to stay in Vermillion the whole time. If that happened, all those jokes that Lily had made saying that it would take him two years to get to the Conference would be true. Now, he didn’t necessarily have a problem with that, not really. However, he’d be sad to not be there with his friend and traveling companion for most of his journey up to that point.

He was sure he’d feel like he missed out if he didn’t make it.

So, he had to try to make it in one year.

Easier said than done, admittedly. Most people didn’t manage to get to the Conference, let alone in a single year. However, he’d been repeatedly told that he wasn’t most people and maybe it was time to show that. Granted, most of the time people were usually talking about his non-trainer capabilities, but still. His team was anything but normal, as far as he was concerned, and he’d be damned if he didn’t let them show the world that.

“If we fail, we fail, Protector-Voice,” Cygnus told him and he figured that was right. Still, he hadn’t failed any of his Gym Challenges so far and he kind of wanted to keep that streak going for as long as he could manage. Nevermind the fact that it’d likely be quite the hit to his team’s confidence. “We shall survive and grow stronger from the experience.”

‘Do you actually believe that?’ Pierce asked, deadly serious. Because he knew that it was one thing to know the appropriate approach and thought process and it was another entirely to follow it. Similar to how people seemed to have all the answers when it was someone else that had the problem instead of themselves, he supposed.

“I don’t know how I’ll react, but I know we’ll pull through all the same. We are no ordinary pokemon and you’re no ordinary trainer,” his kadabra told him and he grinned. That confidence was… as inspiring as it was humbling, somehow. All the same, Pierce took those words in, processed them and then nodded.

“We are mostly ready,” he said, pulling the attention of all the other members of his team. They had been resting for the moment, even Narcissa, after a long training session. Every single head perked up at the sound of his voice though, and Pierce found himself very flattered by that, for some reason. “Everyone’s got their moves down, some of you even more than that,” he added, looking at Orion in particular.

The onix had managed to not only finish working on Dig but also Twister, even if the latter was still a little rough around the edges. It was usable in battles though, and that was what mattered. They had started working on Earth Power from there, but they had barely gotten to that and it wouldn’t be ready for some time, that was for sure. All the same though, it would be a nice bit of range added to Orion’s repertoire, at least.

Narcissa had a firm grasp on Drill Run and had gotten started on Brick Break, if only because there was a decent chance that they’d face a magnemite line pokemon. Although, there was just as much chance of anything else, really. Pierce didn’t expect Surge to stick to regular Challenge pokemon when it came to him. He had a feeling the Gym Leader wasn’t going to make things easy for him no matter how grateful he was. If anything, that might work against him.

Cygnus had finished his Kinesis training and was now starting working on Fire Punch for much the same reason as Narcissa. That is, beside the fact that it was the only elemental punch move that he was lacking. They’d decided that they might as well close that off. Besides, Erika was somewhere in their future, so it wasn’t going to be a waste to train that, obviously.

As for the rest of his team, they were less ready. Bellatrix was getting there with both Ice Fang and Bulldoze, but neither was quite battle ready. Andromeda was in a similar boat when it came to Dig, let alone Aurora Beam. Regulus was even further behind than the vaporeon with Dig. Not that Pierce thought it was likely that he’d use the Water types in an Electric type Gym Challenge. He might be an unconventional trainer, but he wasn’t completely insane.

“Narcissa, Cygnus, Orion,” he said, focusing on his team and he could almost see all three of them shaking in excitement. Hell, the beedrill and the onix were actually shaking. The kadabra wasn’t so outward with his expression, but Pierce could nevertheless feel it through the always present mental connection. “You three are the main fighters here,” he announced, but he was far from done. “As for you three,” he continued, turning towards the other half of his team. “I don’t expect to call on you for this Challenge, but it might happen,” he explained to them and he got determined nods from all three.

He nodded back at his team and took a deep breath in.

“We are going for it tomorrow. So, I imagine you’ll want to train extra hard today,” he commented, grinning wryly when all six expressed their agreement with that. “We won’t be doing that,” he told them mercilessly. “The last thing we need is for you to push too hard and not be able to give it your all tomorrow,” he explained firmly.

There was some grumbling to that, but they settled once he started pulling out berries.

[}-o-{]

“At least you’re somewhat prepared,” Lily told him through the Pokemon Center computer, her voice more complaining than reassuring. “I have to adjust all my training plans for a different route,” she whined, finishing with a pout for good measure. Pierce just leaned back and grinned at her. He already felt better about his situation and they’d just started talking. “What’s with the smug look, Mister? I’ll be extra prepared for whenever I drop by Surge’s. You can’t say the same for Erika, can you?”

“Fair enough,” he acknowledged with a chuckle. “Good luck with your training, by the way.”

“Good luck with your Challenge,” she replied and he nodded. He was going to say something after that, but he hesitated for a moment, unsure if it was any of his business. That was enough for her to beat him to the punch, apparently. “... Things are going well over here, by the way,” she said, answering his unasked question. “Red and Blue keep complaining about being let out of the hospital and getting back to their journey,” his ex-traveling companion informed him, rolling her eyes exasperatedly.

“To be fair, being trapped in a hospital bed sucks,” he commented, getting a flat look from Lily. “What?”

“Nothing. It just seems I can only befriend a certain brand of crazy,” she answered and he grinned at her.

“Takes one to know one.”

“Ha, ha, very funny,” the girl replied flatly. “Anyway, they won’t be let out for a bit yet, Sabrina and her people are still looking at all the victims. There’s way too much Psychic energy on them, apparently. But so far what they remember matches with what was found, for the most part. I think they reported it an hour or so ago, by the way.”

“Didn’t see it,” he told her with a shrug. “I just got back from the training grounds I got for the day.”

“Well, there was a Rocket attack, because of course there was,” Lily all but growled, very obviously pissed off. “They were after some big shot that was on the ship, but they also attacked basically everyone while they were at it, trying to steal pokemon and resources.”

That was good to know, he supposed. He’d been curious about that, especially with all the mystery that surrounded the whole thing. Granted, that Psychic phenomenon that affected the victims was concerning, but other than that, it was good to have some answers. There was also the fact that Pierce could think of at least one reason for why there’d be so much Psychic residue to be found.

He didn’t know what to think of that one theory of his…

“At least things are… getting better, I guess,” Lily finished, sounding very weary all of a sudden as she sighed and deflated where she sat. “How’s the sanctuary thing going?” she asked. Admittedly not the best segue, but he’d humor it anyway. He’d gotten to know what he wanted anyway, so it was fine to switch topics, as far as he was concerned.

“Well, all things considered. Grace should be hammering the last details of the deal for the piece of land we picked. Then it’ll be hiring people to run the place and for her team,” he answered, leaning back. He’d already more or less told Lily how things were going, but messages and an actual call weren’t the same thing. “We also have to talk about what specifically Misty will be doing over here, so there’s that. The obvious is to put her in charge of the calmer Water types, of course, but I thought we could have her overseeing the entirety of the school situation. Not directly, but more of a supervisor, sort of.”

They were still discussing that. Misty was a very capable woman, even if she was young. She was basically almost a Gym Leader, which meant she was more than qualified for a lot of things, actually. It didn’t reflect very well in her CV, of course, but neither Pierce nor Grace would be fooled by that.

“Do you guys have a plan for how you’re going to move all those pokemon from Vermillion to the sanctuary?” Lily asked and he could tell that she was relaxing a little. Evidently, having something else to focus on other than the SS Anne and what had happened to her friends was helping her. He could very much indulge her curiosity for the sake of offering her a measure of peace, that was for sure. He would have even without that, anyway.

“Surge is going to help us. Lots of Gym Trainers, lots of Psychic teleportations. Might have to camp by the shore for a while though, while the school gets used to the new place,” he answered, taking a deep breath in and considering that situation. “From there, it’ll be a matter of getting the staff and the building up to snuff.”

“Do you see that taking long?” Lily asked, reaching to the side of her own screen to pick up a paper cup that he imagined was filled with coffee. “That sounds like it would.”

“I mean, the building would need some patching up, but we should be able to get it running fairly quickly if we focus on what’s absolutely necessary,” he explained, reaching for his own drink and already feeling tired just thinking about all the work they’d had to put into that. Alas, it was for the sake of pokemon. Pokemon that needed him, that were his. “The staff is what might require the most effort and time, since I’ll have to give them and the school a crash course on how to get along.”

“Creating an army of mini-mes, huh? God help us all,” she joked, to which he rolled his eyes.

Well, at least she seemed to be in a better mood.

[}-o-{]

“Am I going to have to be moral support tomorrow?” Daisy asked, a joking but also teasing tone bleeding into her voice.

The woman had sent him a message to see if he’d be available for a call when he’d been going to the cafeteria to see about getting a refill for his drink. He’d been preparing to do some more studying while waiting for Grace, really, so that worked out well for him. It was confusing, considering they had a date planned that same night but things made sense once more when she explained that something had come up for early the next day, which meant that she couldn’t really do much that night.

Gym Leaders led busy lives, but then again, he already knew that.

“Will you even be around at that time?” he asked and the woman grimaced. Her reaction was much stronger than he’d expected, which made him roll his eyes. He knew exactly what that was about. “I told you that it’s fine, by the way.”

“People lie all the time, Pierce.”

“True enough,” he acknowledged, giving her that point. People said things they didn’t mean all the time for the sake of reassuring others or themselves. “I mean, it sucks, I’ll admit, but I understand that you’re busy. I can wait for tomorrow or the day after or whenever you’re free. We talk all the time, I don’t need to go on dates every day. If it becomes a problem, I’ll try to tell you so we can… you know, talk about it.”

“I’d appreciate that,” she mumbled, looking away from the screen of their video call and fidgeting with the end of one of her blond strands. There was also a disappointed expression on her face, sad and dejected, that kind of reflected how Pierce himself felt. He was trying not to show that too much though. Daisy was feeling guilty enough for having to cancel at the last minute.

“So, yeah, it’s fine,” he said, as if trying to reinforce his point. There probably wasn’t much more he could do on that front though, so he decided it might be better to focus on something else. “And I guess I’ll have to try and get over my nerves by myself-” He grimaced when he felt a sharp poke to his mind. “-and with my pokemon,” he amended, shooting his annoyance towards Cygnus. “Can’t always rely on others for that, can I?” he asked.

Granted, he was feeling a lot less confident about that than he made it sound. He was actually feeling rather nervous already, since he knew there wouldn’t be anyone to help him. As if his usual nerves weren’t enough, his mind had decided to torture him ahead of time.

‘Wonder if this will ever not turn me into a mess,’ he thought to himself. Because he knew, himself, that it was ridiculous how much he crumbled under that… He wasn’t even sure if it was pressure or what. He just knew that official matches made him very nervous. He didn’t want to fail his pokemon, make them look bad or weak. He knew he was the weak link of their entire team and that was something that didn’t really help.

“We believe in you, Protector-Voice,” Cygnus told him, and Pierce could almost see the eye-roll that accompanied those words. He wondered if his Psychic type knew that such sentiment just made it all the worse. Because that piled onto the list of things that he didn’t want to fail for. “You’re impossible.”

“It’ll be fine, Pierce. It’s not even the end of the world if you guys lose,”  Daisy reassured him, but there was a glint of something that showed on her expression. “I’ll admit though. I can’t wait to see this new style you’re trying to create. I’ll be waiting for the recording to be uploaded.”

“No pressure,” he mumbled, running a finger through his hair.

“You’re going to be a mess anyway, might as well, right?” Daisy replied jokingly with a beaming smile. “But honestly, you’ll be fine. We’ve seen you battle and you’re good, Pierce. It won’t be your fault if you guys fail.”

“I know that, it’s just,” he said, cutting himself off with a groan. He wasn’t even sure if he really believed that. Did he know that it wouldn’t be his fault? One way or another, there was a corner of his mind that constantly whispered the fact that he wasn’t a good enough trainer, no matter how good he was at other things. It just so happened that Pierce was fine most of the time but the voice grew overwhelmingly whenever there was a serious battle on the horizon.

“If it helps, you should be more confident with this new style you came up with,” Daisy continued and he appreciated the fact that she didn’t grow exasperated or annoyed or anything of the sort. He knew he was ridiculous. He was annoyed by the whole thing. So, having her there seemingly all support and reassurances helped all by itself. “After all, it’s you turning a non-battling skill you’re good at into a battling one, right?”

“That was the idea, yeah,” Pierce answered with a nod and a sigh. “Problem is that I don’t know if it’ll work. If I can make it work though… Well, I hope you’re right and it’ll make me feel more confident,” he added, shrugging. “As it is, I just have to put up with the nerves and manage.”

“You poor thing,” the Sensational Sister said, clicking her tongue and shaking her head. “I’ll give you a hug to make you feel better whenever we manage to meet up, alright?” she followed up with, adding a wink at the end for good measure, in case he hadn’t understood the “subtlety”, if one could even call it that.

“I’ll hold you to that,” he replied with a smile.

“Please, do,” she told him with a “smile” of her own.

[}-o-{]

“... Some of these people look good on paper, maybe even very good,” Pierce commented, looking through the sheets that he’d printed from what Grace had sent him. Digital documents were great and all, but sometimes it was better to have physical copies of stuff, if only so that he could highlight, draw and note down stuff more easily.

“I feel like there’s special emphasis on the “on paper” part. Am I wrong?” Grace asked, looking up from her own papers from across the screen. She looked… perfect as usual, no hair out of place and no blemishes anywhere that he could see. It was kind of impressive, the way the woman almost always looked the same, especially those days with all the work she likely had to get through.

“No, you’re not,” he answered, leaning back and running a hand through his hair thoughtfully. “I mean, these people obviously know their stuff and all, but I’m not certain how well they’ll mesh with the pokemon, you know? Even if you know everything there’s to know about gyarados, that doesn’t mean you can act like you have to with them in order not to create issues,” he explained as best he could and Grace hummed, nodded and noted something down on whatever she was checking before looking up at him thoughtfully.

“We could set up a probation period. That might discourage some of them though, since we’d need to lower the pay, accounting for the increased number of applicants. We’d need to make sure that even if we have to let go of some of them, there’ll be replacements,”  Grace explained and he considered that for a long moment. Most problems boiled down to money, he realized, not for the first time. He had enough to get the project underway, but every little issue meant more money, one way or another.

That, or making concessions, but he hated the sound of that.

He didn’t want to settle for a lower quality of life for the pokemon. They had suffered enough as it was. Pierce wanted to give them a place to recover and feel comfortable, and live a life worth living. He didn’t want them to swap a bad situation for another, even if his was a slightly better option.

The obvious answer was to take the sponsorships that he was offered, but those felt like traps. People knew that he needed money, after all. The news of his sanctuary project meant that it was public knowledge that he was burning money like nobody’s business. Companies weren’t so eager to pay him for less now that they had a fairly good – and accurate, unfortunately – guess in regards to his economic situation.

Not all deals he was offered were bad, necessarily, but the ones that weren’t, weren’t what he’d call enough. Evidently, people wanted to risk as little as possible or milk him for all he was worth, no middlegrounds around. Understandable, in a way, but also very, so very annoying.

“Always money,” he groaned, dragging a hand over his face.

“Welcome to life, Pierce.”

He held back a second groan.

It wasn't like he could do something to change his income situation and prospects, unfortunately. He’d done all that he could. Short of just waiting for it to change somehow or long term ideas to shift it, Pierce would just have to work with what he had. The companies that were being stingy wouldn’t change their minds if he just let things be and did nothing. Worse even, the sanctuary could be delayed in some way and that’d be bad on several fronts.

So, he needed to make sure things kept moving, kept progressing.

How though?

What could he do to change things in a more immediate matter.

‘Even if I upload a video with some promotional content for one of the reasonable deals to entice the companies, effect would be minimal,’ he thought to himself. He’d already had that conversation with Grace, after all. There was a reason why companies were only willing to go so far in a reasonable approach. A middleground had the potential to backfire on them or not get as many results as they thought “worth it”, so it was better to risk less.

“Sorry, Pierce, but you might have to sell your soul at least a little,” Grace told him and he acknowledged that she was probably right. He was just grasping at straws and seeing if he found an answer somehow. Alas, there wasn’t much he could do. Waiting wasn’t feasible and his options were limited. Other than sponsorships, what else could he profit from? His only source of income so far had been the League and the rewards he got from incidents he became involved in. That was neither reliable nor something he could get involved in with the state of his arm anyway.

The only other way he’d earned money so far were regular trainer jobs and…

“I’m the stupidest dumbest idiot in Kanto,” he groaned, facepalming as hard as he could without actually hurting himself.

“Had an idea?” Grace asked, looking up and raising her eyebrows inquisitively.

“Sure do,” he answered with a self-deprecating grin. How had it taken him that long to figure that out? Honestly. “I’m sorry to say, Grace, but I need you to make projections for something entirely different from the usual,” he started with, drawing a sigh from the woman. “That team can’t come fast enough, huh?”

“You have no idea,” she grumbled. “Tell me, what crazy new idea do you have now, Pierce?”

“No new ideas over here,” he told her with a shrug, a little amused by the confused expression on the blonde’s face. He took some heart in the fact that, evidently, he wasn’t the only one that had missed the obvious. “More like recycling an old idea, really.”

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

A bit of a pre-Challenge chapter, if you will. Our boy and his band of misfits are facing Surge and he’s expectedly a wreck. Dunno where that facet of Pierce’s character came from, admittedly, but I find it kind of nice. I know people hate it though, or at least there’s a group of readers that do. I guess people don’t want to read about an MC with insecurities and such or something. Understandable, to an extent, but it’s what the Muse decided, and I’ve long learned that I can’t win an argument with her.

Thus, you’ll have to put up with that, guys, sorry.

With that said, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you know what your next meal will be? Over here, we’ll be having a salad with a bit of everything we could come up with.

See you.