Searching Far and Wide - 114

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 VII

[Pierce Lawson]

When he’d been taken to a hospital room – finally –, Pierce had been a little nervous, admittedly. The school of Water types didn’t have anywhere to go, but between some supervision and the reassurance that Pierce could be teleported in at any moment, they’d let him leave, and by they he meant both the pokemon and the League. He’d already begun making plans on how to deal with that situation, but nothing all that great so far.

It was nice to be able to lie down though.

However…

“You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah, I imagined that’d be your opinion on things,” he commented with a wry smile. He really had seen that coming, actually. “It’s not my fault it was a good idea and worth doing.”

“It was a terrible idea and completely debatable on how worth it the whole thing was,” Daisy hissed at him and it was telling that her sisters were standing at arms length from her. She was angry in a way that he was pretty sure he’d never seen her. However, the reason why he wasn’t afraid was that he knew it all came from a place of care. She was angry because she’d been worried.

He wasn’t sure why worry transformed into anger at some point, but he knew that it happened. He’d gone through that himself plenty in the past. So, he just smiled at her and relaxed against his hospital pillow.

“Are you comfortable, Pierce?” she asked, eyes narrowed and the hissing tone evidently set her sisters on edge, if the way Lily and Violet stepped away a little more was any indication. For his part, he took a deep breath in and closed his eyes as he slowly let it out. “Are you ignoring me?”

“Not at all,” he answered, opening his eyes and looking at her, smile still in place. “If the idea had been terrible or not worth it, I wouldn’t have been allowed to go through with it, Daisy,” he added and it seemed to anger her more. He knew there’d be no point trying to placate her. Or, at least, not if he just let her walk all over him to get to that. He might even make her more angry that way, really. “Now, could we have a moment to ourselves? I appreciate you two coming for a visit, but I have a feeling that it’s for the better,” he added, turning towards the other two.

Both sisters looked at Daisy and then back at him before nodding in unison.

“Glad to see you’re fine, Pierce.”

“Try not to get killed after surviving that disaster, yeah?”

“Thanks and I’ll do my best,” he replied with a grin before sighing when both of them left. “I know you’re angry, Daisy.”

“You don’t say,” the woman told him, glaring daggers at him. He thought that should classify as a move all on its own, to be perfectly honest. “What was your first clue?”

“Not sure, it was somewhere between the glare and the hissing,” he commented casually. He wasn’t doing himself any favors, of course, but he might as well try and make light of the situation. For his own benefit, if she was going to be difficult anyway. “I’m sorry for worrying you, for what it’s worth.”

“It’s not worth much, considering what you did,” she told him, but he could see her facade cracking the smallest bit. “Just… I’m… I can’t believe you…”

“Daisy,” he interrupted, because it was more painful seeing her anger turn to worry and uncertainty. He’d rather her be angry at him, to be honest. At least then she looked like herself. However… “You know, I was worried about talking to you,” he commented, snorting to himself.

“You should be,” she grumbled, mustering some anger again.

“I mean, before this whole thing,” he clarified and she paused, growing confused and… hurt, although that last one was a guess of his. “Sabrina made some comments on my last lesson,” he added and she blinked at him. “That woman has no filter, you know? She just says stuff, no care at all.”

“What’d she say?” Daisy asked, half confused and half wary.

“Something about a conversation with you and her being romantically interested in me?” he threw back at her and she stiffened, some color creeping up her neck. “It was a fun conversation, let me tell you,” he continued. He noticed that she seemed to be going to say something, but he interrupted her. “She also mentioned something about you being odd when you talked about it,” he added, raising an eyebrow at the woman.

“... Are you trying to distract me?” she asked, but there was no accusation getting through her nervousness and embarrassment.

“A little bit,” he admitted with a grin. However, that was far from all there was to it. “I also thought this was as good a time as any to get it over with, you know? I’m feeling oddly at ease right now and I’d rather not put it off and chicken out.”

“... Get it over with?”

“Oh, come on. You’re not this much of a scaredy cat, Daisy.”

“Excuse me?”

“That’s more like it,” he replied, looking at her fondly. Whatever fight she’d managed to muster in that moment of annoyance abandoned her instantly though. She was being an emotional mess, but Pierce could hardly blame her. He was the odd one, with the strange Zen state he’d achieved after the disaster was over and he got to sleep a bit. Besides, she probably hadn’t gotten to sleep, so that probably didn't help either. “I like you, Daisy.”

“... I like you too,” she mumbled, and he decided not to point out how cute she looked, acting all shy school girl like. It was absolutely adorable, but she probably would take offense to that somehow.

“What I said during that first date is still true. I’m not sure I’m… ready for much of anything. I’m better than I was back then, but I’m still getting my life together, honestly,” he explained and he tried not to think too much about how intently Daisy was looking at him. “Still… I do like you, Daisy. I don’t know if you wanna end this… arrangement or take it a step further, but I’ll respect it if you want to do the former and I’d be glad to do the latter, if you’ll have me.”

“... I’m supposed to be angry at you for your stunt in this disaster,” Daisy grumbled, looking like she was trying to make good on that as she spoke and failing. “This is not fair, not at all.”

“I know, sorry,” he replied with a slight smile.

“I think I like you a little too much,” she admitted then, sighing, deflating and moving to take a chair close by to sit by his bed. “And I… I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I didn’t expect to like you this much. It’s been eating at me, I guess, and I didn’t even realize until Sabrina made this comment when we were talking,” she explained to him, and she sounded nothing like the confident, strong and calm Gym Leader he knew her to be. At that moment, she was just a woman with doubts and insecurities like any other.

And he was moved that he got to see this hidden side of hers, if he were honest.

“I think I’d be fine with another step, is what I’m getting at,” she told him and he grinned at her. He’d made the right choice, he decided then and there. Because he was way more happy than he’d thought he’d be when he considered them having this talk. Now that it seemed to be over with, and rather easily at that, he felt much more happy and free than he had before. He also felt like he’d gotten rid of a weight he’d been carrying, lighter, stronger.

“Neat,” he replied simply, dumbly, but he was fine with being dumb. He was happy, he was alive, Vermillion was safe and pokemon were… Well, better than they could otherwise be. All was well in the world, as far as he was concerned. He could have done without Daisy giggling at his likely dumb expression, but he could hardly blame her. “Again, sorry for worrying you, but I… couldn’t not do anything. I had an idea and I presented it. I’d have been fine staying at the Center like I was supposed to if I’d been told off.”

“That makes me feel a little better,” Daisy replied and he found it reassuring, even if she sounded weary. “I just… This kind of thing is dangerous, even for us. You’re… not us.”

“Believe me, I know that. I’m not delusional enough to think I’m anywhere near you all’s level,” Pierce told her.

“I… Thank you,” she said, sounding like she couldn’t mean that more. “For not being an absolute idiot,” she added and he chuckled. “I think I’d have reconsidered my answer if you were, for my own peace of mind.”

“Good to know I passed that hidden test.”

“Be prepared for more of those,” she added, giving him a half teasing smile. However a second later, Daisy’s expression fell once more. She didn’t look worried or angry though. She just looked… vulnerable. “I’m glad you’re fine. I thought… I thought you might have died out there.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you like that,” was all he could say to that. It was weak, useless. Those words meant nothing. He knew – and she likely did too – that he’d do it all over again if he had to choose. He was, as he said, sorry that he’d worried her, but he wasn’t sorry for what he did, not at all.

“You… how are you, really?” she asked and he looked at the splint on his arm.

“I’m fine. This thing will stay for a bit while the swelling goes away,” he commented before nodding towards the corner of the room where a kadabra sat, spoon arm extended towards him. “Same with my little friend over there. He’s here to prevent my bones from moving around inside me. In a few days, they’ll put my arm in a cast and they’ll give my healing a good kick so that the bones at least stick together, even if the whole thing is still fragile.”

And wasn’t that neat? Sure, it’d have been much more preferable to just be sprayed with some potion like with pokemon, but that didn’t work on humans. For one reason or another, pokemon medicine didn’t work the same with them. Some of them didn’t work at all, really. It was likely for the same reason why berries didn’t have on humans the same effect they had on pokemon.

Some energy shenanigans going on there that he wasn’t knowledgeable enough to understand, but he knew it was the case, regrettable as it was.

“From there, well, the cast will remain while I wait to be able to get my next dose,” he continued. Ineffective as the pokemon medicine was, there was some fantasy medicine that the pokemon world could apply to him, thankfully. He hadn’t been looking forward to a regular recovery period for his whole arm full of shattered bones. That sounded like a nightmare. “I should be fine in a month, being optimistic. Three in the worst case scenario.”

“Ouch.”

“Very,” he agreed with a snort. “At least I don’t feel like my arm’s getting stabbed from inside every time I make any movement at all, so that’s nice,” he added and Daisy grimaced again. He appreciated the empathy, truly, because that had sucked a whole lot.

“Does that mean we can still go on dates?” she asked, some of her usual self coming back to her with the mock coy tone.

“Sure thing. I just can’t use my arm for anything, so options might be limited,” he replied, grinning wider at the woman. “But if you can think of anything that doesn’t involve straining it, we can do whatever you want.”

“Well, I can think of plenty things,” she said, her own smile turning from fake shyness to something much more… playful, to put it mildly.

“I have a feeling that I might re-break my arm.”

“I have a feeling you’d find it worth it.”

“I have a feeling you’re right.”

[}-o-{]

“You know it’s going to be over before you learn how to do it, right?” Pierce asked, raising an amused eyebrow at the objects floating mid-air in front of him. Then he glanced towards the corner of the room, where there were one two kadabra instead of one. One of them had a very distinctive “spoon” though and a just as “special” personality to boot.

“You say that like you’ll never get another broken bone, Protector-Voice,” Cygnus told him, unimpressed. “We both know it’s likely to happen again. We might not have the luxury of outside resources like we do now. I’m the only one that could do this for you, so I shall learn,” his kadabra explained bluntly and almost angrily, but not quite.

Pierce guessed Daisy wasn’t the only one transforming worry into anger. The silence that followed that thought was telling. So, he decided not to comment further on his Psychic pokemon’s latest training endeavor and left him to his Psychic lesson on how to hold bones in place.

That was something to think about though, the fact that they might find themselves in a similar situation in the future. The entire disaster situation had been… harsh, in a number of ways. Not only in the fact that he’d gotten very injured, but in the fact that he could easily have died. He hadn’t been ready for that mess at all, kind of just winging it to the best of his ability.

He’d been lucky though.

He might not be lucky the next time.

So, Pierce decided to take the entire thing as a lesson and be more prepared for a possible next time. Cygnus knowing how to keep him together – literally at that – was a good first step, but there were other things they could do. He’d need someone that could protect him in those situations. None of his pokemon could learn Protect though, which was the obvious choice, nor Barrier.

He’d checked already, since those were crazy good moves.

Orion and Bellatrix could tank a hit like they were made for it, but they were slower and might not adapt well to certain circumstances. Although, they did cover for each others failings in that regard, he supposed. Maybe Andromeda and Regulus could cover in the speed department. Narcissa was too fragile and Cygnus wasn’t far behind-

(Pierce resolutely ignored the mental exclamation that came from his Psychic type.)

-and there was also the fact that his kadabra was much more suited for other duties. Like what Sabrina had been doing during the whole thing. Having someone keeping eyes out was key and the overseer role the Psychic Leader had played was even more so. Cygnus likely could pull that off with some more “eyes” like Narcissa.

Yeah, it was all coming together.

A knock on the door to his room snapped him from his plans and he turned to see… someone he didn’t expect to visit him, honestly. Although, on second thought, it was likely that he should have expected him. He’d just participated in the efforts to protect the city under his protection, after all.

“Good to see you’re still in one piece and recovering,” Surge told him as a way of greeting. “You worried plenty of people back there.”

“I was plenty worried myself,” Pierce replied with a wry smile. If nothing else, his comment seemed to amuse the lieutenant, if the barked laugh was anything to go by.

“Well, there was plenty to be worried about. You pretty much are the best case scenario for that situation,” the man told him, not at all caring for how terrifying his words were. Pierce knew he wasn’t exaggerating though. He could have easily lost the entire arm with a move like that. Or just as easily lost his life, for that matter. “So, thank you, for putting yourself out there for my city,” the Leader said, whatever semblance of humor leaving his voice and his expression.

In its place, Pierce saw only a soldier at that moment. The man was standing straight, shoulders tense and expression solemn. His voice left no room for misunderstanding how serious he was at that very moment. He meant every word and he did so earnestly. So, he could only respond by imitating him to the best of his ability.

He straightened where he laid on his hospital bed, as much as he could that is. He looked straight into the man’s eyes, despite how imposing he was. Then he picked his words carefully, despite the simplicity of the exchange, and spoke.

“There’s nothing to thank me for. I did what I thought I should for the sake of this city and those pokemon,” he replied, before relaxing the smallest bit and offering a weary smile to the man. “And I don’t think I’d have been fine just sitting in the sidelines when I could, possibly, be out there doing something. I’d have felt guilty. I’d have regretted that.”

“Ah, selfish selflessness, the most annoying reason in the world for people to do something,” Surge replied, but Pierce was fairly sure he was joking… at least for the most part. The half-grin hinted at that, at least. “I guess I can’t complain though, if it worked in my favor. I owe you a lot, however, so I hope you’ll allow me to repay you.”

“I mean, I won’t say no to free stuff,” Pierce replied. Sure, he hadn’t done any of that for the reward, but if Surge wanted to throw some nice, shiny somethings his way, who was he to say no?

“Not exactly free if you had to work for it, is it? But no matter. After that last response, I thought you might be one of those “helping is its own reward” kind of guy,” the Leader commented with a chuckle, shaking his head as if the mere idea was baffling. “Now, the League is going to reward you with more money than you’ll know what to do, I can guarantee that. Lance will make sure of that. That’s impersonal though, so I’ll take it upon myself to do something else, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Did you have something in mind? Because, not to be annoying, but I can’t think of anything that I’d need right now,” he commented. He already had more money than he knew what to do with, after all. Sure, evolving Orion would take quite a bit of money and there were a number of other expensive things that would be neat to get, but those things weren’t pressing or anything. Hell, most of them were rather unnecessary. As for his onix evolution requirement… Well, that was for sometime in the future, when Orion was ready for that step, not then and there.

“Hm, annoying, but I guess I should have expected that. I’ve seen your file. You’ve already been getting plenty of money and you don’t seem too materialistic,” Surge commented and Pierce found himself a little unnerved that the guy apparently knew quite a bit about him. “You can keep the IOU, I guess, but I hope you don’t mind if I throw an idea or two in the meantime. I don’t like owing people.”

“That’s fine,” he replied simply, getting a firm nod from the Leader.

“Again, thank you for your support. Without you to smooth things over, half the city would probably be gone, at best,” the lieutenant told him and he stiffened. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known that a lot had been at stake, but hearing it said like that… It was… It made him feel so very small.

Maybe it should have been the opposite, considering he was being told he stopped that. However, he had no delusion that he’d been merely a pebble in the grand scheme of things. It just so happened that, as small as that pebble was, it’d have been enough to tip the scales in their favor.

“Do recover quickly, alright? I hear you were going to come and challenge me, and now I’m very curious as to how you’ll do as a battler,” the man commented and Pierce chuckled nervously.

“Not nearly as well as you imagine, probably. I’m better talking to pokemon than battling with them,” he commented, sending an exasperated look towards Cygnus when the kadabra protested. “I’ll do my best though.”

“Hm, we’ll see how true that is,” Surge commented, glancing between him and his pokemon. “Now, there’s a lot of things to deal with still, but I had to drop by sooner rather than later. Do let me know if you need anything,” the man told him, taking a card from his pocket and passing it to Pierce. “I might drop by, but I make no promises. It’ll be a busy time around here for the time being.”

“No worries. I appreciate you taking the time to come at all,” he replied, watching the Leader move towards the door and chuckle at his words.

“Don’t mention it,” the man told him, waving over his shoulder. “See you around, Lawson.”

And then he was gone.

And Pierce was left with some new things in his mind.

He wasn’t sure what he could use a favor from a Leader for, but he guessed if it came to it, there was always Orion in the future. It was a possibility – although he rather doubted his onix wouldn’t want to evolve, it was something that could happen –, but it was something that was there. There was also the chance of some new team member having evolution requirements or special needs.

If all else failed, he guessed he could ask for property. Being a trainer and traveling around was great and all, but Pierce would like to have a place to call home too, even if he didn’t need it. Being a nomad had its appeal, but it made him feel even less grounded in the new world, in his new life, knowing that he didn’t belong anywhere. Having a house somewhere to drop by during the time when the League wasn’t running sounded nice.

Then again, maybe Grace would have ideas? Was that the kind of thing he should discuss with her though? He wasn’t sure, but he guessed he could ask. Not like he’d lose anything by doing so. Maybe he could ask the Sisters for advice too, or Lily whenever she got to Vermillion.

There was no rush, he supposed.

And considering he was going to be fairly limited in the range of things he could do while he recovered from his injury… Well, he’d have time to think about things. For the time being tough… ‘Cygnus, if you would?’ he asked, bringing his thighs up as he leaned back.

When his kadabra floated a notebook and a pencil up to him, he set the former against his legs and took the second in his hand. He didn’t need both hands to write, after all and he might as well try and use his time productively. There was a lot to note down for later consideration.

“Fighter-Watcher is likely to be well rested already,” Cygnus reminded him before he could get to it and Pierce simply nodded. Reaching for the pokeballs on the table by his bed was a bit of a stretch – literally –, but he managed. Letting out Andromeda, he watched as she looked around the room and then proceeded to jump on the bed, curling up at his feet.

“So, you finish your nap and immediately lie down?” he asked, peeking around his legs at his vaporeon. In return, he got a look asking him “what about it?” and a tilt of his Water type’s head. “Fair enough,” he replied, more than a little amused.

As far as first days after a disaster like the one he was putting behind were concerned, Pierce thought it’d been a pretty good one. He’d stepped forward in his new life and further moved along the path of recovery, or so he thought. He’d also made a powerful… friend, of sorts?

Yeah, it was a good day.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

More aftermath, but I think that’s to be expected. Vermillion was not at all a small thing. (Which is a concern, considering now I have to come up with other plot lines that won’t feel lacking. Pain.) So, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to spend quite a bit of time here and getting the hang of things.

What’s the worst that could happen? Cerulean 2.0?

Why are you looking at me like that?

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Mightyena or Houndoom? Mightyena is one of my favorite pokemon over all, so… yeah…

See you.