Searching Far and Wide - 121

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 XIV

It was odd.

He’d been by himself a lot through his life and he’d been fine, but when he’d lost the ability to reach out to the people he knew, Pierce had really been hurt like never before. Similarly, he’d been without Lily plenty of his time in the Pokemon world. They trained separately, they didn’t talk all that much while trekking through routes after a while and they got separated plenty, like when he had to teleport to Cerulean for the Water types emergency or the days after the Wave. There was a lot of time when he was by himself, really, and he’d been fine with that.

Yet, somehow, the knowledge that he’d be traveling without Lily hurt. It left him feeling sad and lonely, even though he still had his team. Hell, he could call the girl at any time, yet it didn’t feel like it was nothing. The distance, the fact that they weren’t just waiting to meet up again, it all hit him a lot harder than he thought, and he’d already thought it’d suck.

“Companionship is about more than just talking, doing things together,” Cygnus commented, sounding a lot wiser than he really was. The kadabra ignored that thought though. “It’s about knowing that someone is by your side, trust and reassurance… And if you must know, my mother told me that before I left.”

‘... Do you miss them?’ Pierce asked and he didn’t think he’d ever quite put it in so many words. He had often looked out for him and Orion, trying to make sure they weren’t homesick or anything. Maybe he’d been projecting a little, but they were young and they had never been away from their families. Apparently, he’d worried for nothing, mostly. Orion had had a moment or two where he’d needed to be cheered up or comforted, but Cygnus had seemed mostly fine.

“I do, but I know they are there and that I can go whenever I want,” his kadabra answered and there was a certainty to his mental voice that made Pierce feel proud. Because he knew that it meant Cygnus knew without a shadow of doubt that if he ever asked, Pierce would get them to Pewter as fast as he could. Maybe it was a given for everyone, but there was a difference between that and being so sure it was downright fact. There was also a difference between knowing that and being told that. “You are silly, Protector-Voice. You’re also a pushover, so we know we can get whatever we want.”

‘You didn’t have to say it like that,’ Pierce replied, eye twitching as his shoulders dropped.

“I didn’t,” the kadabra acknowledged with a nod, but his voice sounded entirely too smug. Pierce almost wanted to exercise some discipline, but that was not the point of the conversation, not really. “It’s not. The point is that it’s understandable that you are affected by Trainer-Supporter’s departure,” Cygnus told him, a comforting nudge brushing against his mind. “We are here if you need us, Protector-Voice.”

‘Hm, thanks,’ he thought back at his pokemon before looking down as Andromeda approached him and curled up by his side, resting her head on his lap. Idly, he wondered if she was trying to comfort him or had just wanted to be closer because she felt like it. Either was possible. If the former was true though, Pierce further wondered if Cygnus had informed her of his state of mind or if she’d noticed by herself.

The kadabra’s sudden radio silence was suspicious though, but he would never underestimate the observation abilities of a pokemon with a pseudo-title like Watcher.

Regardless, he brought his hand to the vaporeon’s head and petted her absentmindedly as he considered whether to go back to his studies. His mind wasn’t quite on it though, admittedly. He couldn’t work on his Psychic Arts for much the same reason, really. So, instead, he settled for doing nothing and just lazing about with his pokemon. Might as well try and see if he found himself in a better mood after taking it easy for a bit.

“You do like to do entirely too much. Taking a break can’t hurt,” Cygnus said, in an uncharacteristic show of softness and care- “Hey!”-that moved Pierce. Which was funny, because he’d been a very lazy person in his old world, but now, he had reasons to push himself beyond… Well, himself. His team needed him to try. The school needed him to try. And they all tried so hard themselves that giving things less than his best seemed wrong.

Admittedly, the fact that he’d had plenty of time to do nothing those days didn’t really help. With so much – sudden and somewhat new – determination to do stuff, being cooped up in a room had gone from very nice to a nightmare. Pierce even found himself missing his workouts, shockingly enough. Alas, the world and its ironic humor had decided that no, he had to be lazy.

His inner complaints were interrupted when Regulus decided that it’d be fun to climb on his shoulders. Thankfully, more on his good shoulder than his bad one. The distraction was more than welcome though, Pierce thought as he looked up at his meowth’s eyes.

“Hey there,” he greeted with a slight smile and he replied with a meow and a playful swipe of his paw at his cheek. “Feeling playful, huh?” he commented and the response he got to that was Regulus climbing further up and draping over his head. “Yes, you are,” he added, a little exasperated but mostly fondly.

It also gave him an idea though.

“Say, how about we go to a park, I remember there being one close by,” he suggested and he got a fairly positive reply. Even Andromeda seemed interested, if the way she perked up was any indication.

Moving around was always a tense affair, what with his arm and the amount of people that approached him, but it still beat brooding in his room.

[}-o-{]

“So, I can have a kitty too?” a little girl asked him, looking up and blinking her big blue eyes at him. It was entirely unfair, truly. She reminded him of Star a little bit, if he were honest.

“Of course you can,” he reassured, glancing at the girl’s mother to make sure he wasn’t messing up, but she seemed perfectly content with all that was happening so far. “Just remember to be nice and respectful and I’m sure you can get one to join you whenever you go on your journey. They do like to do their own thing though, so you might have to watch out for that.”

“Do they like to be petted?” she asked, just as curious and hopeful as before and he chuckled.

“They sure do,” he answered, shaking his head. Then he turned towards where Regulus was playing with the mother’s exeggutor. “Reggie!” he called and the meowth perked up and turned towards him. “How about you play with someone that actually wants to play with you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and almost laughing at the relieved look on the Grass type.

His meowth seemed to ponder that for a moment, looking amusingly serious as he regarded the positively vibrating girl by Pierce’s side. Then he seemed to come to the decision that yes, she’d be fun enough to play with. The ensuing excited squeal made him grimace, but Pierce thought that was a small price to pay.

“Sorry about that,” the mother told him and to her credit, she did look apologetic. He just waved her off though. Children were nice, they were easier to deal with than adults, really. Much more similar to pokemon, in a way. Teenagers were too, even if they could be problematic. More akin to dealing with gyarados and such difficult pokemon, those were.

“Don’t worry. She was the least troublesome kid I’ve had to deal with,” he said, exaggerating the smallest bit. There had been plenty of kids that were a little more of a hassle, admittedly. Most of the time though, the parents were the issue, admittedly and unsurprisingly. “You two might be stuck here for a while now though,” he added wryly before turning to look at his meowth and the girl.

“At least she’ll be too tired to stay up tonight,” the mother added and he chuckled.

Dealing with people had been less of a problem than he thought, actually. It was still plenty awkward, yes, but Pierce thought he might be getting used to it. After all, as he talked to people, received thanks and praise and so on, he found himself… happy. It wasn’t quite pride, he didn’t think, but he was just glad that he’d been able to help people, to entertain them or otherwise had a positive influence on them.

Just the fact that some people loved to meet him and talk to him was enough to make him happy. If he focused on that, the awkwardness was a lot more manageable, he learned. Then there were also the people that wanted help with pokemon issues, kinda like what he’d come across in his videos’ comment section and he was able to at least give them some advice. Generally, it was a very encouraging experience all around.

“Hey, girl,” he greeted when Narcissa latched onto his back out of nowhere, snapping him from his thoughts. “Got bored of flying around?” he asked, although he imagined it was more that she got frustrated with the fact that she couldn’t challenge any of the pokemon she came across while flying around the park. They were there to relax for a bit, after all, so he’d rather not have to deal with a battle. Especially in that place. “Don’t worry. I think we can add a visit to the battlegrounds after this,” he reassured her.

After all, it wasn’t like he was the one that had to fight.

Narcissa seemed to like that idea, if the pleased clicking of her mandibles was any indication.

“Yeah, I thought you’d agree to that,” he commented idly, rolling his eyes fondly. “We’ll have a few battles each though and that’ll be that. We’ll be going to the beach to visit the school afterwards. Orion and Bella will appreciate the chance to be let out.”

Technically, Pierce could have let out his onix in the park. He had the permit for that. He just had a feeling that letting out a gigantic rock serpent in a place full of people, especially children, wasn’t a good idea. Orion was harmless, of course, but he was big, heavy and still not quite dexterous enough with his body. Pierce had a feeling that someone would get hurt in a crowd with Orion in the middle.

So, he’d decided to err on the side of caution in that regard.

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll have to be patient for a bit, alright?” he commented when his beedrill buzzed excitedly. She seemed less pleased with that request, but she’d have to wait either way. Regulus was having a good time and Cygnus and Andromeda were resting in their pokeballs, so they could very well stay there for a while waiting for the cat to get tired of being the center of attention…

A very long time indeed.

“Excuse me,” a voice called from the side and Pierce turned to see a woman around his age, maybe younger. He always had a difficult time telling ages, really, so he could be wildly off the mark with his guess there. “Do you have a moment?” she asked and he smiled politely while pushing back a grimace.

He knew that face, it was the face that meant a lot of teasing in his near future.

There was a good side to Lily not being around anymore, he guessed.

He’d still have rather she was though.

[}-o-{]

‘One would think Lily is an ex-girlfriend that just broke up with me, with how everything seems intent in reminding me of her,’ he thought, more annoyed than sad by that point as he sat on the edge of the platform facing the field in the battlegrounds. Narcissa was already out and so was their opponent, who happened to let out a vulpix. Not only that, but Regulus had been extra hyper before, after getting so much attention, so he’d wanted to go first for a battle to see if the meowth could spend some of that excess energy.

The plan had worked, to an extent, but the opponent’s geodude had kicked his ass before getting taken out by Narcissa.

Not only were the pokemon annoyingly familiar, but there was also the fact that the guy across the field was a better trainer than him and it showed. Either that or he’d been at it for longer than he had and his pokemon were just stronger. All the same, that was ironically the part that reminded him of Lily the most, not the team members. Still though…

‘I think that’s been enough depression for today,’ he told himself, deciding that annoyance was better than sadness. With that in mind, he looked at Narcissa and then at the enemy. He recalled how he’d seen him command his geodude. He also focused on how his beedrill liked to fight. Pierce wasn’t a great strategy guy without time to prepare a fight like it was the case in Gym challenges, he’d admit. However, what Pierce had on his side was an apparently very good empathy capability.

So, he’d been noticing that he could apply that to his battling style. Where Lily and normal trainers focused on efficiency of moves and strategy, he could focus on something that’d fit his pokemon the best and counter his opponent’s. It might not be the most efficient, but so far, every attempt he’d made had worked fairly well. It wasn’t the best way, but it was a way that his pokemon could get the most out of and he liked to think that it had its own flavor of efficiency.

“Ready,” he said and it seemed that something showed in his tone because Narcissa stopped swaying in the air and held position right in front of him instead. Taking a deep breath in, he settled on what would be their way forward in that battle. Strong, direct and domineering, just like Narcissa herself. So, when the referee called for the fight, he spoke immediately and without hesitation. “Move.”

And move Narcissa did, already starting to boost her speed in between dodging the vulpix’s attempts at nailing her with Fire moves. Godspeed to them, because hitting Pierce’s beedrill was no small feat. He said nothing else for a good minute, waiting for his pokemon to build the foundation well enough and for their opponents to grow impatient, restless. With their previous pokemon, they had liked to get the upper hand quickly and that carried over to the vulpix, apparently.

That worked for Pierce.

“Drill Strike,” he said when Narcissa flew close enough to him that she could hear him without him having to raise his voice. He could tell his pokemon liked hearing that without being a proper Psychic. Just the way she went even faster than she already was pointed to that, really.

Not two seconds later, Narcissa had already sharply changed directions towards the vulpix and her stingers shone light brown with the energy spiralling around them. Drill Run plus great momentum, the same combination Narcissa and him kept using with every different move type they had in their arsenal. Simple, obvious even, but if it worked, then why change it?

It also suited Narcissa like nothing else, such a straightforward approach.

Considering the battle had just started, the move wasn’t enough to take out their opponent though. It was enough to weaken them, however. From there, some Fury Attacks, a normal Drill Run and a final Drill Strike did the trick. Narcissa ended the fight with some burns here and there, but she was satisfied and so was Pierce. The fight might not have been absolutely one sided, but it had been close enough to that to please his very proud Bug type.

“Good job, girl,” he praised when his pokemon flew up to him. She tried to latch onto his back, but he was having none of that. “We need to treat those burns. Then I can carry you around, come on,” he urged her, nudging her with his good hand before going to take out a potion bottle. It wasn’t very comfortable to treat his pokemon with only one working arm, but he made do. He didn’t want to pawn that work onto someone else.

He did have to be extra careful, but it was a small price to pay for the closeness to his team that treating them meant.

“Did you like that approach to the battle?” Pierce asked, once they’d said their goodbye to their opponent and moved to a bench off to the side away from the fields. “Felt more your style,” he added when she clicked her mandibles affirmatively, and that seemed to please her even more. “I guess we can keep working on that.”

She seemed to agree with that.

“What say you, buddy? Wanna give it a try?” he asked, turning towards a very interested Cygnus. The kadabra didn’t even deign that with an answer. Instead, he stared at him very intently. Pierce thought he caught a hint of passion brushing against the outside of his mind. If his pokemon was trying not to express himself, then he was failing miserably

All the same, Pierce grinned back at the Psychic type.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he replied, cracking his neck and standing up. “Let’s go look for someone to battle, yeah?”

As they did though, he was already pondering what Cygnus approach should be. Strong too, much like Narcissa, but his kadabra didn’t need to be direct nor domineering. He was more technical, more subtle. He wanted to test himself, explore his limits and try new things. A mastermind and a mad scientist rolled into one, as it were.

Yeah, Pierce thought he already knew what to do with Cygnus.

And he was already liking this outlook on battling too.

[}-o-{]

“I’m not always going to be around, you know?” he commented, sitting with his legs crossed on top of a gyarados. It was a little tense of a sitting arrangement, but the school seemed much more comfortable if he was with them in the water instead of sitting on the wharf. Contrary to what people would likely think, his nerves had nothing to do with the pokemon themselves.

Floating around meant a lot of movement and that was kind of dangerous for him. If he slipped off to the side, something could go wrong with his arm. If the gyarados moved too abruptly the same could happen. All in all, it was a dangerous situation…

But the pokemon were happier like that.

Thus, Cygnus had been posted right behind him, sitting with his back to Pierce’s. He had the sole duty of making sure to teleport him safely somewhere else if something happened. Not easy, but the guy had offered and been very determined, so that eased some of Pierce’s nerves, admittedly. He hadn’t even snarked anything at him while at it, which was a small miracle on its own.

“I don’t hate you, you know?” the kadabra grumbled in his mind.

‘Could have fooled me,’ Pierce replied, before focusing back on the present.

“Don’t give me that,” he said out loud when the gyarados and other pokemon around whined. Well, some of them tried to be “dignified” about it, but it translated to the same thing in his mind, really. “I can’t travel with all of you on my belt, you know? It’s just not practical. There would never be enough water anyway, unless we were on the coast, and no, we can’t always be next to the sea.”

Really, they were so mature about so many things, why did he have to choose to be childish about that?

“The plan is that I’m going to buy a piece of land next to the sea that you can live in. There’ll be people looking after all of you and I’ll be visiting plenty. You’ll be free to do whatever you want and we can have a good time every so often,” he said and he could tell that they weren’t that happy with the arrangement. They didn’t hate it though, which was good. “I know it’s not ideal, but I want to explore more of this region and my team all have goals to achieve, all of us do, really. So… I hope you guys will understand. Once that’s done, I’m sure we’ll be able to spend a lot more time together,” he almost promised.

At that point, Pierce himself was kind of looking forward to seeing what else Kanto had to offer. The rest of the world too, for that matter. Kanto specially though, because at the end of it all was the Conference, the place where his team wanted to test their might. Their goal was to shine there and Pierce wanted to help them do that.

“Hell, if you’re good, maybe I can take you to some other places too, where there’s enough space for you guys, so we can all explore together,” he added and he could tell plenty of them liked that idea. “I mean, not all of you need water to roam around, so I can take those of you anywhere, really. And the rest I can show some other beaches and maybe lakes,” he continued, kind of liking that idea himself.

Some of those pokemon, after all, had been fairly limited in what they could experience. They had been victims of the Rockets, after all. And the rest… Well, he imagined they’d seen plenty, those that came from the wild. Maybe those were the ones that weren’t that interested.

All in all though, Pierce was happy that they seemed to be coming around to the idea. Not that he wanted to convince them of a bad thing, but the sanctuary was the best he could do without making himself and his team unhappy. A middle point had to be met, and he thought he’d found it. Besides, he didn’t think he’d be roaming around for very long. Once he’d finished exploring the main parts of Kanto and competed in the Indigo Conference, Pierce thought he would be happy settling somewhere – the preserve, probably – and only going on a trip once in a while to see other places.

He thought the school would be happy with that, honestly.

In the meantime though, they wouldn’t be, and Pierce didn’t think he could make the deal any better than he already was.

“I promise, guys, if you aren’t happy with the arrangement, I’ll see what I can do to make it better,” he told them, and he meant that. If worse came to worst, he’d just stop roaming around until the school allowed him to do so. His team didn’t need him to travel around, really. It’d help and it would allow him to keep recruiting members, but all they needed to achieve what they wanted was to get stronger and they could do that in a single location such as the preserve.

Pierce didn’t want to sacrifice his own wishes, not really, but he would if it meant everyone else would be happy.

He could get what he wanted later down the line.

“Nobody wants that though,” Cygnus said firmly and he saw the rest of his team perk up. He could see it coming though, his team trying to strongarm the school into compliance through guilt-tripping. However, Pierce had another plan before it came to that.

“Say, maybe you guys can help me find a place you’ll like. One of our options has plenty of sea, but there are a lot more cliffs than beaches and I don’t know…” he started, smiling slightly when he saw everyone pay close attention. At least he had confirmation that they were interested in the sanctuary. It was the being without him thing that didn’t sell them on it, but maybe he could reassure them that he was, indeed, going to be around all the same.

He thought it could work, and he was pleased by that.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Would anyone believe me if I told you guys that Pierce was supposed to be a normal trainer? Maybe an above average one, but that was the extent of my idea when I began writing this. Now here he is, the furthest thing from a normal trainer he could ever be.

At least he’d managed to be a normal trainer even if he wasn’t a normal anything else. Alas, he’s decided that he won’t even be that anymore. Now he’s some kind of method acting trainer, battler? Method battler? Whatever. I don’t know what’s going on there either.

I know nothing and that’s… I don’t even know what that is, that’s how lost I am.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed the chapter and are enjoying this wild ride of a story, I guess.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: So, I thought I’d try something slightly different from the usual with today’s question. Can you come up with a pokemon from Pierce’s newly formed school? Like, what pokemon species it would be and what kind of personality would it have? I know it sounds like I’m picking your brains (and I kind of am, a little), but this is mostly because I’m curious to see what you guys can come up with. No promises about using said ideas in the story, but also no promises about not using them. 

See you.