Searching Far and Wide - 115

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 VIII

Being trapped in a room sucked.

All in all, it wasn’t the end of the world though, of course. Pierce was absolutely fine just lying down on a bed and watching TV with Regulus and Andromeda like they were slightly odd cats. It was interesting to see what there was to watch too, because he had admittedly not checked all that much lately… or at all. Not even in the internet video department, to be honest, despite him having delved in the area himself.

One thing he’d taken to watching that day, however, even though it filled him with dread, was the news. And boy was there stuff to watch in those. Most of it was barely any better than the news back home, which he hadn’t cared all that much about. The only thing those had in their favor was that being from the pokemon world made them slightly interesting.

However, what sent a cold shiver down his spine were the news on Vermillion and the fact that he was mentioned in those.

He hadn’t expected for there to be footage of what had happened, especially after he was asked to keep mega evolutions secret, but he had evidently been wrong. There were plenty of aerial shots from drones. Image wasn’t too clear on him, they weren’t that close nor that high quality, and during the mega evolution moment the cameras seemed to have been outright jammed, somehow. However, it had been enough, he knew. And that was before the League stepped forward and confirmed it.

He’d agreed to that, but that was because… Well, it had already been out, really.

Still, hearing people talk about it made it all the worse. It was exceedingly awkward for one. For another, Pierce wasn’t sure why but it made him really nervous. Kinda like stage fright, but not really. It was a confusing set of emotions, but the fact that it was uncomfortable was very clear.

‘Too late, I guess,’ he mused, lips pulled into a smile that reflected how he felt at that moment. He was too afraid to check his channel too, let alone the short he’d posted shortly before after the announcements were made. He’d done that mostly… he didn’t know. To let people know what was up with him? He’d just felt a little… obligated, he supposed. Like with friends, sort of, just that it was like the audience itself was a friend of his.

It was a time of confusing thoughts and emotions all around, Pierce realized.

Beyond that though, the actual reason why he hated being trapped in his hospital room while they waited for his arm to be ready for the cast was that he couldn’t very well let out Orion and Bellatrix inside the place. The two serpentine pokemon were just entirely too big and the gyarados wouldn’t be able to sit still if her life depended on it. Pierce also wouldn’t be able to control her if she got fidgety.

“They are fine in their pokeballs. I’ve been reassuring them,” Cygnus informed him with that half-exasperated tone of his as if Pierce was being silly. He wondered if the kadabra would feel the same if he were the one trapped in his pokeball. Would he be fine with Pierce just brushing that off? “... Touché, Protector-Voice,” the Psychic admitted.

‘Am I allowed to ask about the title thing’s change?’ Pierce asked then, leaning back and tilting his head curiously towards Cygnus and away from the TV. He’d been curious about that for a bit already, but he’d been a little overwhelmed before. Now, after a full day and having gotten most of the initial chaotic mess of emotions out of the way… Well, he was curious.

“You are, but is there anything to be said?” Cygnus replied and he blinked at the kadabra.

Thinking it over, he guessed… not really? It wasn’t like the reason for the change was a mystery or something. Protector was fairly straightforward, especially considering the protection of Vermillion that he’d participated in right before the change. It was just that the whole thing left Pierce feeling like he should ask questions, despite-

“It’s also because you protected people, homes, pokemon, not just the city,” his pokemon corrected his apparently wrong thoughts. “You protected your own and even the wild pokemon. You protected everything and everyone, and you did so from the core of your being. Protecting is, as far as the pokemon around were concerned, part of who you are, what you are,” the kadabra explained and Pierce took that in and wondered if he was worthy of being perceived like that. Because there was a difference between protecting someone or something and protecting being part of who you were. That sounded… grand, impressive in a way that he had trouble thinking about himself as.

He was, after all, just… just some guy. Sure, maybe he had a talent for interacting with pokemon and such. He’d been nobody back in his world though. He’d been another face in the crowds and little else. Furthermore, he’d been fine with that, the same way he’d been fine being a mediocre trainer in his new life.

How had he even managed to end up being… Protector-Voice?

“You always have had this touch of delusion to you,” Cygnus commented, pity reaching through their connection. Pierce just stared blankly at him. His pokemon liked to think he was hilarious, but he was really not. “You love me, Protector-Voice.”

‘This and that are completely different and unrelated matters, Cyg,’ Pierce replied and his lip tugged upwards at the spike of irrational anger. ‘What’s the matter, Cyg?’

“Don’t call me Cyg,” his kadabra all but hissed. Which was funny, because he remembered the guy being amused by Andromeda and her hate of the nickname Andy. “And now I understand the error of my ways.”

‘Good job, Cy.’

“... Better, I suppose. I still hate it though.”

“Sure you do, Cy.”

[}-o-{]

‘Still nothing,’ Pierce thought to himself, taking the pokegear away from his ear and looking at the screen on it before turning it off. He’d tried calling Lily several times already to no avail. His traveling companion’s device just wasn’t working for whatever reason and he was growing worried by the day, he’d admit. ‘Hope everything’s fine on that end.’

“Hello hello!” a voice called then, snapping him out of his thoughts and he turned up to see Daisy coming through the door. At that, he forced a smile on his face. The least he could do, he supposed, when the woman had been doing him a favor.

“Hey there,” he greeted and he hoped the words didn’t come out as weak as he imagined they might. “Did they behave themselves?”

“They were great, don’t worry,” Daisy reassured him with a wide smile. “I can see why you call Bellatrix adorable all the time. Now that she’s calmed down, at least. She was a little put off that you weren’t there, but the rest of your team helped calm her down. She was a sweetheart from there,” the Sensational Sister explained to him and he smiled down at the pokeballs in his hand, one of which was Bellatrix’s.

He had, eventually, decided to bite the bullet and ask the Sisters’ for a little help letting his pokemon stretch their legs, metaphorically in some cases. None of them had been fans of the idea, preferring to stay with him, but Orion and Bellatrix couldn’t do that. So, they’d reluctantly agreed to go with the Sisters to keep an eye on them. Mostly the gyarados, admittedly, but still.

Well, everyone but Narcissa. His beedrill had been chosen as the one to keep him company in the meantime. Although, it had been because Pierce worried she’d try and pick up a fight with the Sisters’ pokemon. He wouldn’t put it past her to try and get some training underway, after all, and without him there to keep her calm, she could be even more troublesome than his gyarados.

“Thank you, Daisy,” he replied, grinning right back at the woman. “And you two. Violet, at least. I don’t know if Lily helped, after all.”

“Excuse me?!”

“If you guys need anything, let me know,” he told the three of them. “I kind of owe you,” he added, because that was the truth. Between Grace – who he’d likely have to contact some time in the near future – and now helping him out with his confinement, Pierce-

“Don’t exaggerate, Protector-Voice.”

-felt like he should do something nice for them.

“Well, now that you mention it,” Violet commented, a glint in her eye as she regarded him with a half-grin. Suddenly, he felt like he was a piece of meat in front of a predator and not in the fun way. “We did talk about a certain idea, the three of us.”

“Why do I feel afraid to ask all of a sudden?” he replied warily.

“Vi’s intensity aside,” Daisy started before the blue-haired Sister could get a word in. “We did have an idea and I think you’d be fine with this, if that helps.” It did, a fair bit, he’d admit. “The idea is basically you doing another show at our Gym at some point.”

“Oh, just that? Sure, I can do that,” he said, blinking and feeling rather relieved. The show had been fun, once he shook off the nerves and all that. Now that he was more used to the spotlight? He imagined it’d be even better. Furthermore, he rather doubted he could ever be nervous after all the exposure he got, especially after what had just happened in Vermillion.

“Great!” Violet cheered, all smiles immediately after his confirmation. “I’d comment how this will mean a lot of money for you without donating it for the pokemon like last time, but I have a feeling you won’t know what to do with all the money you’ll have soon,” she added and he looked at her with curious eyes and raised eyebrows. “I’m sure you expected quite a bit of money, but Lance is feeling super generous and Surge is enabling him like crazy. Not that you don’t deserve the money, of course, but I have a feeling that you’ll be uncomfortable with it.”

Well, that was ominous.

“Don’t worry too much about it. No such thing as having too much money, right?” Daisy tried to reassure him, but now he was left feeling like there might, indeed, be such a thing. Never had he thought he’d have that problem, of course, but now he was doubting. How much money were Lance and Surge trying to throw his way if the Sisters’ thought it might be too much? His payments so far had already been plenty generous. Surely it’d be within that ballpark, right?

… Except, it didn’t really sound like that was the case.

“Moving on,” Lily commented, and the smile on her face did little to reassure Pierce of his new worries. “How are you settling in here after so much moving around?” she asked and he was actually kind of surprised that she did switch topics. He’d half expected her to poke at him some more.

She was probably waiting to use that at some other point, he was sure.

“You’re thinking mean things about me, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t dare,” he replied immediately, lying through his teeth. That was his story and he was sticking to it, no matter how unimpressed Lily looked. “And it’s been… Meh. I mean, the only problem I have with this is that my pokemon are trapped in here with me. Which is why I asked you guys to get them to stretch their limbs a little… and their bodies, of course.”

“Huh, most trainers feel kind of trapped in this kind of situation, after being able to go wherever they want,” Violet commented and he took a moment to think that over. Sure, he missed moving around, but that was the same as missing the roads when in a city or the city when in the roads. One had advantages the other didn’t and it wasn’t a great loss either way. His inner lazy bastard was happy to lie in bed all day watching TV. 

He did wonder if he would get restless eventually though, because what Violet said made sense.

“I don’t disagree. I’d like to be able to move around, but this isn’t so bad,” he replied with a shrug that made him grimace. “It’ll suck whenever I finish healing and I have to go through physical rehab though.”

“I’m sure Daisy will help you exercise,” Violet pointed out and he just gave her a flat stare. The fact that the blonde’s only response was to giggle and look away didn’t really help matters, but oh well. It wasn’t like arguing would help them much, he supposed.

“Here’s hoping,” he said dryly, making Daisy blush even harder than she already was and faint pink dusting to appear on the other two Sisters.

[}-o-{]

“You’re a very… unique client, you know that, Mr. Lawson?” Grace asked him through the call they’d just started and Pierce had to chuckle. That was one way to call him, he supposed. He couldn’t say he hadn’t expected something to that effect from the woman, to be honest. “And I mean that both positively and negatively.”

“How come?” he asked, a smile on his face. He could only watch so much TV before getting bored, so he found himself welcoming even the business talk he was going to have with Grace. Even if he didn’t care for it, the whole thing would be a break from the dull hours lying on the hospital bed.

“Well, I’ll start with the complaints, if it’s all the same to you, Mr. Lawson,” she said, almost grumbling, and it amused him to no end. It was rare for Grace to be informal in any way. Even her previous attempts at such were awkward, stiff. He felt like this might be the most open she’d ever been with him. “It’s not appreciated that I do all this preparation work and modeling for the future only for you to completely change the picture on me before I can properly apply things,” she commented and he considered that for a long moment.

He guessed that was fair. She’d been working in preparation for his arrival at Vermillion in order for him to start taking some deals and other such matters. However, just as he arrived there – however unconventionally –, Pierce had done something that completely changed his public image. With the whole thing, Grace could likely get a lot more money, but she’d need to rework a lot of what she’d prepared, he supposed.

“Sorry about that,” he commented, almost sounding like he was asking a question. He wasn’t sure how complicated what she’d need to do to adjust would be. Maybe it wasn’t that bad?

“On the positive side,” she grumbled – no almost at all this time – before letting out a huff. “I’ll be able to get a lot more money out of the clients we had before. And that’s without taking into account the new ones. It’ll just take time for me to draw drafts for the deals, considering the new information. We can’t use the current ones. They are too cheap now.”

“Hm, or maybe not,” he commented absently, looking up and considering that. There was a semblance of an idea forming in his head, but…

“Mr. Lawson?”

“Say, Grace. Do any of the possible clients we already have look good? As in, the products and the companies, do they look good? The products like they’ll actually be good and the companies like they’re not… Actually, I imagine you wouldn’t even consider them if they looked bad,” he started explaining before realizing that he was being an idiot. “The point is, is there any of them that stand out as particularly good?”

“... There might be one or two,” Grace hesitantly answered and he nodded, encouraged.

“Great. What I have in mind is this. Since they are some of the first to offer, how about a special deal for them. I’ll record something as agreed and for the old price,” he started explaining.

“Mr. Lawson, I don-”

“Wait, let me finish,” he said quickly, because he knew that sounded bad. “I’ll throw in an extra favor and not post the content if I don’t think the product is good. That probably sounds awful for them, but they already have to trust my integrity, don’t they? I don’t think it’s impossible that they might agree to that,” he finished with, running the fingers of his healthy arm through his hair. “I’m not going to lie. I kind of want to get started. Besides, this way other people can get an idea of what the deal entails, since I imagine what we offer can be kind of difficult to understand.” He knew that last point as a fact because Grace herself had had a hard time wrapping her head around it.

It sounded silly even to his ears, but ever since the whole thing had been proposed, Pierce hadn’t been able to shake the thought from his head. Trying out new things sounded fun, for one. For another, he might be able to stumble on something really good and if people could pay him for that, it’d be great. Who knew? Maybe he could get Grace to get him a deal for something that he might use anyway.

For all his distaste for ads, he was kind of excited to do his own version of them, really.

“That… doesn’t sound terrible.”

“Gee, no need to sound surprised,” he replied dryly, but it wasn’t like he didn’t get it. He was kind of surprised that she thought that. “I feel like we’ll keep kicking it down the road if we don’t strike a deal or two soon. Besides, there’s no need to try and squeeze all the juice out of these first few ones, right?” he proceeded to ask rather than state. “Won’t look good if we never actually get to it, right?”

“There’s some truth to that, I imagine. Yes,” Grace replied hesitantly. Maybe she wanted to do good in her first job and that’s why she was trying to get the most out of everything? Rather unfortunate that she had to work with him then.

Although…

“Speaking of profits, is your thing just this or are you good at investing and that kind of thing?” he asked, another idea popping in his mind.

“... Any reason why you bring that up, Mr. Lawson?”

“Well, I have plenty of money and I hear Lance and Surge are going to throw a lot at me soon-ish,” he explained, only after the fact realizing that he’d called the Champion by his first name. In his defense, the Sisters always did, so he’d kind of picked up on that. “So, I thought it’d be good to look for something to do with that rather than leave it sitting in my account. If you can’t, maybe you can find someone that can do something with it? Maybe an ex-classmate or something?”

“I’ll see what I can do, Mr. Lawson.”

“Great, thanks.”

[}-o-{]

“This is really just right up your alley, isn’t it?” Pierce asked, giving Regulus an amused smile as he reached to scratch between the meowth’s ears. The Normal type, in turn, looked back at him and meowed, rubbing his head against Pierce’s hand. “What you wouldn’t give to just lie down and do nothing all day forever, huh?”

Regulus readily agreed with that read on his character.

Andromeda, lying on the bed on the other side of Pierce, rolled her eyes at the young one. For a second, he had the mental image of the vaporeon being an old lady complaining about the younger generation. Pierce was smart enough not to voice any of that, but Cygnus seemed to find the thought hilarious and almost gave the game away by audibly snorting.

Alas, they were safe for the moment, since Andromeda didn’t really seem to take notice of that.

“You know we’ll have to get back to it eventually, right?” Pierce commented and Regulus whined. “Yeah, complain all you want. This is what you signed for,” he commented, petting the cat pokemon a little more roughly and making the meowth hiss at him. He didn’t so much as swipe at him with his paws though. “Maybe we can set up some spars with the Water types,” he thought out loud then, making Narcissa perk up from where she’d been peeking out of the window while resting on the backrest of a chair.

His school of Water types had apparently remained at Vermillion’s beach, although they’d been taken to a spot further away from the city. Apparently, none of them wanted to go back to the reserves they’d been taken from, nor did the wild ones want to leave for the sea just yet. Well, some of those latter ones did, but most of them stayed.

Fortunately, Surge was feeling extra generous all around, apparently, because the guy had not only allowed the Water types to stay, but he had organized for them to be delivered food and generally be taken care of. He even went as far as having some of his Gym trainers keep an eye on the school. It could very well be so that they’d know if the school grew restless and problematic, but Pierce was getting regular updates on how they were doing and it seemed that the trainers actually cared that the school was doing well.

Pierce had sent plenty of replies back, telling them what to do to keep the pokemon the most content and comfortable.

“You guys like the sound of that, huh?” he commented, seeing that not only his beedrill was interested in that. Regulus was an odd one, but also not really. The meowth was lazy to train, but he liked battling as much as the next pokemon. Cygnus likely wanted to have a go at the poliwhirl line pokemon that were around. He didn’t remember if there was anything else around to his Psychic pokemon’s tastes, but there might. Andromeda though…

Now, she was the most surprising. She battled, sure, but she didn’t crave battling. If he never asked her to, he’d thought she never would go for it. She wasn't entirely indifferent, but she wasn’t motivated enough to seek battles, or that was the impression he’d gotten.

“The school is yours, ours,” Cygnus told him and he blinked. “Fighter-Watcher cares for those that are hers, and thus, those that are yours,” he explained and Pierce felt like he understood more and less at the same time after hearing that.

The perception was the thing that caught him the most off guard. Why would they think the school was his? Sure, he’d commanded them, but that didn’t mean they were his pokemon. Their pokeballs were the leagues and they had united with a goal, at least the wild ones.

“Silly Protector-Voice. You commanded them, they followed you, you chose them and they chose you. They are your school and you are their leader,” his Psychic continued and Pierce paused to consider that. He still didn’t quite understand, at least not the how. However, he did understand that the pokemon were seeing the situation that way and that… That tugged at his heart.

It wasn’t just his team anymore, apparently. It was his team and his school now. Or had it been that way ever since Cerulean and he’d just been too clueless to notice? The glint in Cygnus’ eyes told him that it was likely the second. And that… that left a bitter taste in his mouth, because then it meant he’d abandoned his pokemon, sent them off to different parts of the world and all but forgotten about them.

That didn’t sit well with him, at all.

“What are you going to do about that, Protector-Voice?” Cygnus asked him and Pierce paused to consider that. What could he do about that? It wasn’t like he could take the whole school with him. Not only was that hilariously impractical, it would also be a bother for everyone involved. Nevermind the fact that he was pretty sure the League would have an opinion in regards to that. He’d been told that he could increase his carry limit if he wanted, but he had a feeling they’d draw the line somewhere before whatever number of pokemon the school had.

He’d likely need to send them all back to the reserves, ranches and so on. He just didn’t have the means to take care of all of them. The wild ones would need to be sent off to the ocean or to the reserves too, but he rather doubted there was much space for those. It had been troublesome to relocate all the gyarados back in Cerulean, after all.

So…

‘Actually,’ Pierce paused and it seemed all the boredom of staying in his hospital room had made his brain work extra, because he had yet another idea, flash through his mind. Then he grinned and reached for his phone.

“... Yeah, Grace?” he said, grinning as the woman asked if he’d forgotten to tell her something during their last call. “Not really, but I have an idea to run past you, say…”

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

A bored Pierce is a Pierce that has time to think. Wonder if that’s a good thing or a bad thing… Oh well, we’ll find out, I guess. There’s no doubt that he’s a lil’ bored though, that’s for sure.

Still, I hope you didn’t find the chapter boring though.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you get bored if you have to stay inside? Me? Not at all. Hell, I wouldn’t have been affected by lockdown a few years back if not for the face masks. I’m that much of a shut-in.

See you.