Searching Far and Wide - 117

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 X

“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to know every book in the recommended texts from front to cover, Pierce,” Lily – the Sensational Sister, that is. He was still waiting for his traveling companion to arrive and he was getting a little worried – commented, stabbing her plastic fork into the salad she’d gotten. “We have to take tests like that every so often and they mostly ask you to know some very basic things. It’s first aid, not a speciality in emergency medicine, you know? I’d know, we all looked into that and it was pain. Only Violet actually got through that, but she never got her license. She was just stubborn like that.”

“Good to know,” Pierce replied absently as he continued reading through the book on his lap. He was in a particularly interesting part and he wanted to enjoy it. Those were the parts that didn’t have him doing as he was told and skimming more. That and- “It’s just that I always hated when I got asked the exact questions that I didn’t know the answers to in tests, even when I knew everything else. It was frustrating. And I’m not gonna go through this test just to fail because of bullshit like that.”

“Such language, and in front of the kids too. How could you?” Lily commented, her voice flat as she looked around the room. Neither Cygnus nor Andromeda paid her any mind though. Regulus looked at her, but more out of amusement than anything else. “You’re a terrible influence,” she added after a moment, likely realizing that her attempt at levity had failed miserably. “So, are you gonna ignore your visit? That’s kind of rude.”

“Just another terrible example I’m setting for the kids, I guess,” he commented, turning away from the pages to give the woman a dry look. “And not really? I’m going to ignore your advice in regards to my studies, but I appreciate you coming here. I feel like I’m going crazy here,” he added, and he wasn’t even joking. He was growing more and more restless every hour he had to spend trapped in his hospital room.

Which was surprising, since he had never cared all that much. Alas, spending the better part of four months living like a nomad had changed his view of life a lot, he guessed. He yearned for the wild, or even just walking through the streets. Most of his time since he woke up in that forest had been spent moving around, going from place to place and having goals progressing with every step. Now that he was all but bound to his bed, Pierce felt like he was doing nothing, like he was wasting time.

Then there were his pokemon. He’d asked Daisy and her sisters to take them out for a bit of training while he was trapped in, but it wasn’t like they could completely take over his training for him. They had things to do too, after all. So, at most, what they could do was offer his pokemon the chance to stretch a little and not let their progress go down the drain. He didn’t need to ask them to know that they were frustrated with the current state of things. They wanted to get stronger, to grow better, and not being able to train properly wasn’t helping.

“We do not care, Protector-Voice,” Cygnus insisted, but he wasn’t as good a liar as he wanted to believe. Pierce could see right through him. It showed in the stiffness of his body and in the edge of his mental voice. He was frustrated and Pierce could tell. The same went for all his pokemon, sans Regulus.

“Don’t mention it. Besides, this is our break room now, more or less,” Lily told him and he turned to see her with a magazine in her hands. Since when did she have that? “There’s so much work to do, especially for us, since we’re Water specialists. It’s still a lot, even with Misty joining us now.”

“Did she stay in Cerulean, by the way? I don’t think I heard anything about her during the whole thing,” he mused out loud, frowning. Had they left the girl at their Gym to watch over things? That didn’t feel right. That’s what Gym trainers were for in cases such as those though, he was pretty sure.

“No, she was in a zone close by in case we needed back up. Same with Brock’s oldest sibling and Janine and… Ah, you don’t know them,” Lily explained before noticing his tilted head. He did know those, of course, especially Forrest, but he had vague memories of Janine existing… in the anime? Koga’s daughter, if he remembered right. He wasn’t too sure. Whoever else Lily was going to mention was a mystery to him though, he’d admit. “The point is that they were in close by zones to help with areas further from where he were. Not as bad as the center of everything, but still bad. They were also there in case we needed help. If you hadn’t been there, they’d have likely come to help us when things turned bad. Which I’m grateful didn’t happen. Misty is great and all, but that was a lot for us, nevermind her.”

“Hm, good to know they had it easier,” he replied with a smile as he pushed his book to the side and rested back against the raised bed and his fluffy pillow. That’s when he noticed Lily giving him an odd look. “What?”

“You’re really just the most…” she started, before chuckling and shaking her head. “Nevermind that, I guess. Just me being reminded that you’re far from a normal person.”

“What’d I do now?”

In response to that, Lily just burst into laughter.

[}-o-{]

“I should probably say something, shouldn’t I?” he mused out loud.

“No way. Why would you?” Cygnus replied sarcastically, but that was fair. Pierce was just very reluctant to get involved. His guilt was crippling his ability to make decisions. Not that anyone else was doing much of anything else. “As if anyone other than you would dare trying to stop Fighter-Challenger,” the kadabra pointed out, which was yet another fair point, Pierce guessed.

Way to put him on the spot though.

“Narcissa,” he called and his beedrill stopped zooming around. Apparently, she’d decided that a great training exercise would be to fly around his hospital room without crashing onto anything. Which… it probably was, but it was far from safe for the furniture, equipment and other things arrayed around the place. Pierce might be kind of rich at the moment, but he was not going to be so for very long if his idea about how to use his money went through. He’d go back to being a poor ass regular trainer real soon, if that was the case.

Even with Grace’s incredibly capable brain, he’d actually go into debt for quite a while, he was sure.

He didn’t need to add paying for broken things to that.

He really didn’t.

“I think that’s enough, girl,” he told his beedrill, who seemed to sag disappointedly. He didn’t want to stop her, but alas, it’d be a little too reckless to let her keep going. It did give him an idea though. “We can probably set up obstacle courses and such whenever I get out,” he commented, and that certainly had the Bug type’s attention. “Or maybe just have you flying between tree branches without crashing, something like that? Everyone else could join too.”

“Everyone?”

“Except Orion and Bella, of course,” Pierce added with a roll of his eyes. Although, maybe there was an equivalent they could come up with for those two? He wasn’t sure what, but he had nothing but time in his hands. Surely he could come up with something. Maybe some kind of grappling training? Or coiling training, he supposed was more accurate. Get them used to moving their bodies around in a fight. Maybe some kind of move-less sparring would do the trick in that regard. For that matter, it could also work on everyone else too, he supposed.

“Consider me intrigued,” Cygnus commented and Pierce took that as a seal of approval.

Something else to work on while sitting there doing nothing. Unfortunately, it wasn't a lack of things to do that was messing up with his mind. Between his studies, strategizing, brainstorming exercises and other things, he had plenty to do. It was just that he’d have appreciated being able to move around while doing them. Alas, he continued to be trapped there.

“Oh well… You want to watch some battles, girl?” he asked, realizing that a bored Narcissa was a dangerous Narcissa. Thus, he reached for his laptop and turned it on. While he was at it, he could check on his channel and other things. With any luck, things might have calmed down on the internet, he hoped.

People’s attention was usually fleeting, after all. They’d start talking about something else soon enough and they’d forget about his recent stunts. That was what he was banking on, at least. Because he’d been outside once since the whole thing went down and he’d had way too many people approach him to talk and sign stuff. Not that he minded overly much. It wasn’t annoying or anything of the sort. It was more… overwhelming than anything. It felt like too much attention, which he wasn’t used to at all.

Alas, it seemed that things were still way out of hand for him. Every site he checked had comments about him. There were more and more videos popping up and people had even taken to analyzing those or even improving the quality with some creative liberties. There was fanart about him and that felt even more shocking than anything else somehow. There were people out there willing to do more than just talk about him, after all. These weren’t some randoms gossiping on the internet like his grandma when the family visited.

No, there were people out there putting actual effort into something related to him. Granted, he was intellectually aware that this was nothing new. People had paid to see his Gyarados show and people seemed supportive of his ad project, but that felt less… personal, if that made any sense. People wasted money and attention on useless things all the time. But someone actually taking extra time out of their probably busy schedule and making an actual effort to draw him felt…

It hit different.

“Pokemon appreciate who you are all the time,” Cygnus commented and Pierce looked up to see that all the pokemon in the room were staring at him. Had he said something out loud without realizing? Was his expression weird somehow? Was his kadabra opening his big mental mouth on him? “Is it so difficult to believe that other humans would appreciate it too?” the Psychic type added, noticeably pushing aside his annoyance and leaving only patience.

“It is,” Pierce answered, but there was a weary smile on his face as he glanced again at the comment section on the fanart post he’d come across. “I’m not sure why, but it is,” he thought, closing the tab only to see a meme about him. Or, at least, it was listed as a meme. There was no need for people to find the notion that he’d call hydreigon friend-shaped so amusing.

They were kind of cool, after all.

“You’re simultaneously one of the easiest and most difficult people to understand, Protector-Voice,” Cygnus told him and Pierce decided to take that as a compliment. “It was really not though and at the same time it is.”

‘You woke up in a contradictory mood today, huh?’

“I hate you, so much.”

‘I’m gonna add that to your contradictions, if you don’t mind.’

“I do.”

‘Too bad.’

[}-o-{]

“You guys are such children,” Pierce commented flatly, raising an eyebrow as one of the gyarados pulled closer to him with a roar. The air hit his face and pushed his hair back – and was also all sorts of disgusting, admittedly –, but beyond that and the way the sound shook his bones and left his ears ringing, there was little else happening to him. “You done?” he asked, unimpressed.

The glare he was getting would have been a lot more effective if most of the other pokemon around weren’t giving the one gyarados a much more thorough cowing. The sea serpent quickly realized the error of his ways and pulled back. Pierce would have almost gone as far as saying that it was pouting, actually.

“You’re going to settle down and play nice with the most adorable gyarados this side of Kanto, or someone won’t be given snacks,” he declared, blunt and to the point. Because several pokemon hadn’t reacted well to Bellatrix, for some reason. He’d found that a little odd, considering that wasn’t the first time they met his pokemon, but he attributed that to the recency of the disaster fading into the past.

Now, they could better focus on in-the-moment issues, such as Bellatrix, who seemed to rub some of them the wrong way.

“Was I clear?” he asked, staring at every gyarados that had taken issue to his shiny friend. Especially the one that had roared on his face, because of course he did. He couldn’t be a pushover then and there, least of all in front of the whole school. “Because I can repeat myself no problem, or you can just skip on the snacks if you’re not interested,” he added, flexing his healthy hand.

‘Is this how people normally feel?’ he thought at that moment, because he felt nervous. His injured arm made him a little more aware of the danger, since he wasn’t perfectly ready for whatever might happen. Sure, having two healthy arms didn’t make much of a difference in the face of gyarados, he knew, but it was all in how it looked in his mind.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to stand his ground much more, because the gyarados finally relented.

“Nice,” he said then, able to relax again and smiling. Almost mimicking him, the school of pokemon and his team seemed to calm down too. Although, he saw several of them sending nervous glances around still. One step at a time though, he decided. “Thank you for being reasonable. I’ve had to deal with so many idiots before, you wouldn’t believe it,” he commented, running his fingers through his hair so that they wouldn’t be able to see his smile.

He’d confronted them, pushed them, now it was time for a bit of a softer touch. Gyarados might not be Dragons, but they were plenty prideful all the same. So, he could use that against them in more ways than one. Just as he could pull their competitive strings, he could stroke their egos. Because gyarados wanted to be the best, strongest, most badass pokemon around, so being validated worked wonders on them.

Admittedly, the biggest gyarados in the school – and Pierce’s team – seem to realize what he was doing, if the sly look he was giving him was anything to go by. Thankfully, that one was a gentle giant, because he kept his mouth shut on the matter. Pierce could only imagine the amount of social juggling he’d have had to pull in order to fix that. It was surprising to see a sensible gyarados, but certainly not unwelcome.

‘Remind me to give him something extra later,’ he thought to himself with a smile.

“Noted,” Cygnus replied from where he was, going through a mix of shadow-boxing and kata exercises. Apparently, his Psychic type had felt like training a little now that they were all outside and he could look. Adorable. “The poliwhirl insisted,” his Psychic pokemon insisted, but if he thought he was fooling anyone, he was very much wrong. “Idiot. The other people seem to be almost done, by the way.”

‘Oh, really?’ he replied, turning to the side. Sure enough, the people that had come to help him prepare snacks for everyone seemed to be mostly done. He couldn’t very well make pokeblocks and poffins for a whole school of pokemon, after all. So, he’d recruited some helpers with Surge’s help. The man had been surprisingly accommodating, but then again…

“It’s in my best interest to have those pokemon nice and calm, Lawson. Anything you need to make that happen, consider it done,” was what the man had told him and it wasn’t like he couldn’t understand where he was coming from, but still. It felt odd to have that kind of power just handed to him. Or maybe it was just him being odd once more? It was a possibility.

He had to put some effort into adjusting how he saw the situation to understand what was going on there. Because he didn’t, but he imagined people were quite nervous with the school staying around. Then again, there was also the possibility that they might not be behaving themselves well when he wasn’t around. He might have to ask people about that, he supposed.

“Hope you guys are hungry, snacks are almost ready,” he announced and many pokemon perked up. With any luck, the helpers had gotten the recipes he’d given them at least somewhat right. He didn’t know what he’d do if they had messed up. The ideal outcome was that they all tasted just like his own creations, of course, but he wondered about that. Pokeblocks and poffins weren’t what one would call complicated, but they did have their finicky details.

There was also the fact that there were many pokemon around that he had never got to test food for. That was a little worrying. Especially since, if the cooking process wasn’t the same when done by someone else, then any notes he might take in regards to his experimentation wouldn’t be very reliable.

That was a little frustrating, but it was what it was.

[}-o-{]

“Working for you might just be the most frustrating and exciting thing I’ve done in my life,” Grace told him through the pokegear. Pierce could almost see the very well put together woman utterly exhausted on the other side of the line. He wondered if her perfectly in place hair was disheveled or something at the moment, to better fit the mental picture. Somehow though, he doubted it. “Do you have any idea how much work will go on this alone? And you just dropped it on me like it was nothing.”

Pierce imagined Grace wouldn’t appreciate him pointing out that she seemed like she’d get along with Cygnus. He was not great at reading women, but telling a frustrated person that she wasn’t the only one probably wouldn’t help much, right? Then again… Maybe he’d try with that later.

“Sorry about that?” he said, not really sorry. Or, at least, not sorry that he’d done what he did. He was more sorry that he’d done it like he had. In his defense, he’d just gotten through a very rough moment and he could be excused for not being all that considerate. He was pretty sure he was still recovering from the whole Vermillion ordeal, and he didn’t just mean physically. “There’s no rush though, so don’t run yourself ragged. I’ll probably be staying here for some time while I’m healing. It’s only when I inevitably have to leave that things get complicated. As it is, don’t sweat it.”

“I will sweat it, if it’s all the same to you, Mr. Lawson,” Grace told him, some of her composure apparently returning to her. All the same, he almost huffed in exasperation. She was complaining, but telling him off for trying to make things easier on her. Yeah, Pierce definitely wasn’t good at reading women. “I’ve talked to both Champion Blackthorn and Lieutenant Surge. I’ve got some more information on your reward, even if they are still getting through the paperwork on top of everything. Do you want me to give you a rundown of it or would you prefer the summary and how this will affect your most recent project, Mr. Lawson?”

Idly, while he considered the question, Pierce wondered if she’d asked that entirely because it was him. Because skipping the details on that sounded heavenly to him. So he had to wonder if she’d tailored the whole speech to his person. If she had, he clearly wasn’t paying her enough. As it was, he wasn’t paying her enough, actually.

Hm, he’d bring up a raise after his latest project was done, if it went well.

“The summary would be fine, Grace. Thank you,” he replied and the way she went straight for it told him that was the answer she’d been waiting for. Yeah, she had definitely known what he’d want.

“Well, the short of it is that you’ll be getting quite a reward indeed. Not enough, not even with your savings, for what you want to do, but it’s enough that the project is more than possible. If you start earning money as I expect you will with promotions, sponsorships and other things, it should be easy to pay for it all,” Grace explained to him and he considered that for a single second before a relieved smile broke out on his face. She made it sound a lot more possible than he thought it’d be. “And that is, of course, provided the League doesn’t have to pay you another reward down the line, which considering your history…”

“Is unlikely,” he commented dryly. He wasn’t sure what the fuck was his luck, but then again, the entire Region was a mess at the moment, considering Team Rocket. Hell, there was that movie with the Legendary Birds going mad and what not, right? He didn’t remember what was up with any of that, but he remembered that being a thing. Nevermind Mewtwo, if he was a thing, which he had no reason to believe he wasn’t, since he appeared in all pokemon media.

Concerns for another time though.

“Exactly. As it is, I’m running some estimations and I think it’s perfectly within the realm of possibility to do what you want, Mr. Lawson. I will need your cooperation in order to make the money you need,” she told him in no uncertain terms. Pierce found himself nodding along with that. It wasn’t like he was against that. So long as he didn’t need to compromise the core of his principles in the matter, he’d be fine. Unless Grace was telling him that without really doing so…

“I was telling you that we could get to it even in unfavorable terms,” he pointed out, trying to pry out what the woman was trying to tell him.

“I know, and that should be doable. Tell me as soon as you feel like you can get started and I’ll start presenting options and talking to people more concisely,” Grace informed him and he nodded again. That sounded reasonable enough, yes. “On a different note, Lieutenant Surge has been a great help. He proposed something that I said I’d bring up with you, Mr. Lawson.”

“I’m all ears,” he replied, eyebrows shooting up and eyes wide. That was a little unexpected. Although, taking a moment to think it through, he guessed it made some sense. The man had told him that he’d try to find a way to repay him, hadn’t he? Maybe he’d found something.

Thus, with a deep breath in, he reached for the glass of water on his bedside table and took a gulp. He felt like he’d need to be at his best for the entire conversation, after all. Business wasn’t his forte, least of all in regards to the things that he’d have to discuss with Grace.

However, it was all worth it, if he could manage to achieve what he was setting out to do.

The right motivation always helped.

“He thinks he might be able to help us find a good place to build the sanctuary, Mr. Lawson.”

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Pierce just can’t do things that aren’t huge, I guess.

Also, a bored Pierce might just be a very dangerous thing, as far as poor Grace is concerned. Nevermind a bored Narcissa or a bored… Let’s just say this whole group is better kept entertained, for everyone’s well being. Alas, they aren’t right now, which is really showing.

People are still deciding if it’s actually a good thing or not.

Hopefully though, you guy decide that this chapter was, indeed, enjoyable.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: What’s the last thing you drank? I got a glass of water at the cafe I’m at right now after my cappuccino. I’m gonna be drinking a smoothie in a bit though.

See you.