Searching Far and Wide - 113

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 VI

[Pierce Lawson]

His arm hurt more and more as the time passed, yet he had to hold on.

The fight was over and Lance Blackthorn was right there ahead of him. So, whenever there was a stray pokemon that for whatever reason hadn’t reached them at any point during the wave, the Champion dealt with them swiftly and without issue, as was expected. This, however, didn’t mean that Pierce could go away just yet, because the man could have to go away at any second and someone had to be ready in case that happened to cover for him.

That someone was Pierce.

His arm wasn’t too badly injured, at least. Sure, it was broken, but so long as he didn’t move it – or himself, since he kind of needed to shift his arm for even the smallest of things –, he was fine. The worst of it had been through the disaster, when he’d had to gesture and command with that same broken arm. Sabrina’s Psychics had done their best, but there was only so much that they could do to keep his arm from hurting like hell. They weren’t even her best pokemon, but he wondered how effective those would have been anyway.

It sounded to him like keeping the bone pieces inside his arm in place while he was waving the limb around and in the middle of a disaster zone would be kind of complicated.

Just a little bit.

He was distinctively aware of the mental roll of every Psychic’s eyes around him. Pierce ignored them all though, running the fingers he could actually move without suffering through his hair. Even that sent pangs of hurt through his broken arm, but there was no escaping that. It wasn’t like he could do much of anything without moving that arm even the smallest bit.

“Your help here was priceless,” a voice said and Pierce turned a little too sharply, according to the stabbing pain in his arm. However, he forgot about that pretty quickly, considering this was Kanto’s Champion that was addressing him. “Vermillion would have suffered without you here. It’s not guaranteed that it’d still be standing, to be perfectly honest.”

“That… might be giving me too much credit. And that’s not even me being humble. I saw what you guys could do, you know?” Pierce replied dryly. In other circumstances, maybe he’d have been more polite or otherwise cared more for the fact that he was talking to the Champion. Still though, he hadn’t said anything untrue, that was for sure.

“And yet, my opinion remains the same,” Lance told him, apparently not bothered by his words nor his tone. “Maybe you weren’t as strong as us, but you still helped all the same. You gave us necessary back up, little as it might have been and you bought us time when we needed it. Sometimes, a rock can stop a river, I guess, when it’s used correctly.” And now Pierce was feeling embarrassed, because being praised was great and all, but he’d never done that well with it. This though? This felt like a whole new level of awkward for him. “Anything we can do, just say the word and we’ll make it happen. Kanto owes you.”

Ok, that was a whole other new level of awkward.

Pierce was learning the limits of his awkward tolerance that day, it seemed.

“I’ll… keep that in mind,” he replied and somehow he didn’t think he managed not to let it show how out of his depth he felt. It might have had something to do with the fact that Lance chuckled, apparently highly amused by his response. However, before anything else could be said, his expression turned to stone and he stood straight.

“... It seems I’ll have to leave for now. Some of my pokemon will remain, but do remain alert,” the Champion said and then he was teleported away with the dragonite that he’d been riding and a bunch of other dragons. What did it say about the man though, that the whole time they’d been talking, Pierce barely noticed those? His presence had been overwhelming enough for that, he supposed.

Or maybe Pierce was just that out of it.

At that moment though, alone again and facing the vast ocean, he felt… oddly discomforted. It was strange for him, he realized, after all the chaos of the disaster. After all that fighting and the pressing danger and the world shaking moves… It was odd to sit there, gently rocked by the waves and with no pokemon around except friendly ones. It felt like he’d stepped into a whole different world in the span of a few minutes.

“We won,” he commented, but the words felt just as odd as the atmosphere. It was like he was repeating foreign words someone else said without understanding what they meant. Had they won? Was that it, after that whole thing? Was it just going to be over like that?

He wasn’t sure what he expected, but he was left feeling like it was all… anticlimactic, somehow.

“We won, didn’t we?” he asked, because maybe someone replying would make it more real that it was all over? Yet, when the Psychic and Water type pokemon around voiced their confirmation, each in their own way, a part of Pierce remained skeptical.

How vexing.

“We have, indeed, won,” a voice in his head, much stronger than the abras and other Psychics that were there to keep an eye on them and Teleport them if necessary. This one sounded clearer, older, imposing. And then the Alakazam appeared and it looked ancient. “We have won and you should be proud, Protector-Voice.”

And finally, it sunk in that it was, indeed, over.

“If it’s all the same to you, guys,” he mumbled, dropping back to lie down on top of his gyarados mount. He was so tired, all of a sudden, that even the stabbing pain was barely acknowledged with a grunt. “I’ll just… rest for a bit. Yeah? You can keep an eye on things for me, right?” he asked, leaning back and hoping he wouldn’t fall asleep. He was just so tired though…

He received a low growl from Gyarados that made his whole body vibrate. It’d have been fun if not for his arm, but oh well. Nobody said anything negative about his request, so he just remained there, looking up at the clear blue sky.

And the peace of the cloudless sight made it that much more real that it was all over.

[}-o-{]

[Daisy Waterflower]

‘Anywhere else we have to go?’ she asked, taking a deep breath in and trying to gather the will to keep herself going. She managed, but barely. It hadn’t been that long a day, speaking in terms of strict time. How long had the whole thing even lasted anyway? A few hours? If that. It felt like a lot longer, for sure, but she wasn’t sure and such situations tended to distort the perception of time.

And the perception of energy, because she felt dead on her feet.

“Not at the moment,” Sabrina informed her and Daisy almost dropped down on the ground right there on the beach that was Zone 4. “Things are settling down.”

Finally, the Psychic didn’t say and neither did she, but both of them thought it. Or, at least, she was sure they did. She certainly did, of that there was no doubt, and her sisters would too, as soon as they heard, if they hadn’t already. The only reason Daisy wasn’t asking if she could just go and sleep for a year was-

“Everyone is gathering back at the main point,” Sabrina informed her and she nodded slowly, taking a deep breath in and stretching. None of that helped with the bone deep exhaustion she was feeling, but it was what she could do. “Ready when you are, Daisy.”

‘Let’s get this over with,’ she said, as if it were a great chore to move at all. It kind of was, to be fair, but she wanted to enough to do it without dragging her feet all the same. There was something she needed to do, after all. Someone she needed to see.

So, when she teleported, her eyes immediately moved to where she’d last seen him… And he wasn’t there. The pokemon were though, so Pierce had to be somewhere there, right? She was sure they’d have taken all the pokemon away too, if he was truly gone. So, where was he? And why was she feeling so anxious all of a sudden when she knew he was fine. She’d have been told if something had happened, right?

Right?

And then she saw him. Not far from where Daisy had first checked, actually. It was just that he was lying down and she’d missed him, in her haste. But there he was. In fairness, she supposed he was likely just as tired as she was. Still though, she could have done without that mini-panic attack, thank you very much.

“Your boyfriend,” Surge said and he sounded more tired than she felt. Not that she blamed him. She’d used mega evolution thrice and all of those times she’d been on the verge of passing out right afterwards. Hell, the first time she had passed out, even if it had been because she pushed it. “He’s something.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she replied almost on instinct, only to feel blood rush to her cheeks when everyone turned to give her skeptical looks, even Agatha. Ok, so maybe she got where they were coming from, but the fact of the matter was that Pierce was not, indeed, her boyfriend. It was a matter that still needed talking, after all, and she couldn’t say she was looking forward to that, admittedly.

Still though…

“Believe it or not, she’s not lying,” Violet said, drawing the skeptical looks towards herself. “They are this weird lovey-dovey friends with benefits kind of couple right now.” That… wasn’t helping, Daisy decided, but she didn’t know why she expected differently.

“So, not your boyfriend yet?” Erika asked, giggling when Daisy turned to glare at her. She was probably blushing up a storm though, which probably didn’t help either. “Maybe I should try while I still can, because wow. You said he had four badges, right? That was impressive.”

She was not liking how she was talking about Pierce. Furthermore-

“Three badges,” Lily corrected wryly and Bruno whistled.

“Ok, so maybe I should have paid more attention when Daisy was gushing over the guy,” the Fighting specialist said, looking between them as if someone was going to give him more information. She desperately wanted to protest that, but she had gushed a bit, in hindsight. Not her proudest moment, she guessed, but in her defense, Pierce was really fucking goo- “For now though… I guess we have to finish wrapping things up here. And then the SS Anne,” he added then, all levity leaving them as they went back to business.

Vermillion was still in a state of emergency, after all. And the SS Anne was still… They still didn’t know what the fuck had happened there, but they had to find out. That and they’d need to send out rescue parties to help the survivors, if there were even any survivors left. All the same, it was another shitshow for them to deal with after what happened. She wasn’t holding her breath though, terrible as that sounded.

Daisy swore, if Team Rocket was behind that mess too, she’d have to do something drastic.

“Right,” Lance said, his voice steady even though everyone could pick up the weary undertone of it. “Here’s what I think everyone should do,” he started, phrasing it like he was making a suggestion. Everyone knew his word was all but law though. Not that he wouldn’t listen to advice or anything, but Lance was a respected Champion for a reason.

So, they were sent to different places, all of them having a different job to get done.

And Daisy lamented the fact that she couldn’t go and talk to Pierce just yet.

Then again, she wasn’t precisely looking forward to that conversation.

[}-o-{]

[Pierce Lawson]

“There’s an ambulance on their way,” Sabrina told him and he took a deep breath in. “The situation is considered under control now. You may release your pokemon if you so decide.”

‘Thanks,’ was his succinct response.

He was tired, so very tired. Yet, he couldn’t just close his eyes and sleep. He needed to remain aware so that he could control the school if he needed to. Although, they were surprisingly calm, all things considered. They were probably more tired than he was though, so there was that. It was a wonder none of them had passed out, honestly.

‘No hospitals for me, right?’ he thought after what felt like a full minute or maybe more. Again, he needed to stay there, after all, so he imagined the ambulance wouldn’t be taking him anywhere. At least not until the situation with the school was resolved. Speaking of the school, Pierce had no idea what they’d do about it. Was there some kind of protocol for massive schools of wild pokemon that had tried to attack a city but had ended up helping defend it?

He rather doubted there was something that specific, but one never knew, especially in the pokemon world.

“No hospitals, I’m sorry,” Sabrina said and he twitched. He hadn’t known she was still peeking into his brain. He’d assumed she was too busy, honestly, and that she’d turned away as soon as she told him what was going on. “I am currently coordinating everyone’s efforts in the different situations that have to be dealt with. That means I have to be on standby a lot while people take care of things.”

‘That… makes sense, I guess.’

“As for the school, it’s likely that they will be relocated somewhere in the ocean once they are deemed in good health, physically and mentally.” That sounded nice. The pokemon probably couldn’t wait to be done with it all now that the frenzy was over and the situation was calm. Going back to familiar waters probably would help them recover a lot more than anything they could do. “There’s some recently evolved gyarados there, however, and those will have to be more carefully handled.” That sounded about right too. Those would need help dealing with their new very much not controlled rage. Sending them out would likely cause problems for someone, be them pokemon or people. Then again…

‘Nothing we can do to try and afford them the same treatment as the other pokemon? Some of them might benefit more from just being released. Magikarp evolve in the wild all the time and not always make it everyone’s problem,’ Pierce reasoned slowly, not sure if his words would have any effect. He was a three badge trainer, after all, regardless of what he’d done that day or at any other time. He didn’t have any degrees or documentation or anything to certify that he knew what he was talking about. Hell, even Pierce himself didn’t know if he knew what he was talking about.

Maybe he was a little more out of it than he thought, he mused as he considered what he’d said.

“I’ll pass the message along,” Sabrina said and he wondered if that was the polite way of dismissing him. It certainly felt like when parents said they’d think about it in relation to something their children wanted to buy. Ultimately though, he’d done what he could and he was fine with that. He was too tired to do more than that too.

‘You said I could release my team, right?’ he asked, closing his eyes for a moment. Oddly, while the water was now calm and the area was almost in silence, the smell of the fight still remained. All the different moves that had been thrown about had left their different marks in the air and he could still pick up on it.

Sighing, he reached with his good hand towards his belt, grimacing as he moved. All the same, he soon started using his pokeballs one by one, releasing his team around him. All but Orion, at least, since he was still floating in the water. Maybe he could have him “stand” on top of some Water types, but that’d be uncomfortable for everyone involved. The rest of his team was fine though, even if Regulus was a little more caught off guard by the situation they arrived to than the rest.

“Hey, guys,” Pierce greeted weakly, eyes half closed while his team looked around, but mostly at him. “Sorry for hogging all the action.”

“You’re hurt,” Cygnus said, flatly and blunt. His voice ranged, Pierce found, somewhere between frustration, fear and worry. It was an odd tone, really.

“Just a little bit,” Pierce replied with a wry smile. “People are coming to help me out with this.”

“They better,” his Psychic hissed in his head.

His attention was taken away though, when he saw Andromeda and Regulus approach him. They patted him with their paws on his good side and he found that kind of adorable on both parts. It was like they were making sure he wouldn’t crumble to dust in front of their eyes, for some reason. Was it odd that he found it… odd that they were so concerned?

He was fine and the whole thing was over.

“We worry, idiot,” Cygnus told him, evidently reading everything he was thinking. Was his mind more open than normal? “You barely can string your thoughts together through the exhaustion. You couldn’t hide a thought without using your Block if your life depended on it.”

‘Huh… that sucks,’ he mumbled blandly in his mind. ‘But thanks for worrying though. It’s… nice, I think.’

“... Don’t mention it,” was the soft voiced response he got.

Then Narcissa moved to latch onto his chest, as if she were trying to cuddle him and he heard Bellatrix hold a grunted and growled conversation with the gyarados around. He really hoped nothing would happen. There were some recently evolved pokemon around and there was still some unpredictability to his gyarados when he wasn’t there to help her out. If something happened…

“We’ll take care of it. Your group is solidly organized, Protector-Voice,” Cygnus told him.

‘There’s that name again…’ Pierce noticed, but then he closed his eyes and pushed the thought for later. He was too exhausted and he couldn’t even sleep. So he’d do the next best thing and practice that “clear mind” thing he’d been training on. As good a time as any, he figured.

[}-o-{]

“You’re scaring the poor woman, everyone,” Pierce commented flatly, but the gyarados and some of the other people in front of the wharf he was sitting at didn’t stop glaring and growling. They’d been like that ever since the ambulance arrived and he had to move there to get treatment. Everyone seemed to be set a little on edge, but he could hardly blame them for that.

All in all, Pierce had kind of expected that. Not in regards to the medical personnel that had arrived, but in regards to… well, anything. These were pokemon that had just been through a lot in the span of… not that much time, however long the whole thing had lasted. Pierce was actually kind of surprised that they had waited until then to start causing issues in their understandably disturbed state.

If he’d taken a bit to wrap his head around the fact that the disaster was over, then he didn’t blame the pokemon at all for being even more twitchy about the whole thing. He’d be surprised if they were able to go back to normal that quick, honestly. Still though, the poor woman that was setting his arm in a splint didn’t deserve to have a school of gyarados glaring at her. So, he needed to do something about it.

Fortunately, he wasn’t alone in his efforts to keep the calm.

His pokemon, for one, moved quickly to “talk” to the school of pokemon. There was no fear in any of them as they started what was likely a very stern rant at them. Narcissa most of all, buzzed around like a beedrill possessed. Bellatrix stood out too, growling aggressively at the biggest gyarados in the school. Regulus wasn’t quite as brave as them, he noticed, or maybe he just didn’t feel like it was necessary to join in, but he did meow a few times from where he sat to Pierce’s side. Orion didn’t quite join in either, but that was more understandable, considering he was likely a little unnerved by the presence of so many Water types of considerable strength. Cygnus and Andromeda were more controlled, but they certainly didn’t stay silent.

Watching all that, Pierce straightened and locked eyes with some of the biggest gyarados in the school. Every single one of them went from glaring and growling at his team to looking away from both them and Pierce himself. Furthermore, after a few moments, they joined his team in their efforts to keep the school under control. So, that was one problem averted… for the moment, that is.

“What’s your name again?” the medic asked and Pierce turned to see her looking at him with wide eyes. She looked kind of odd too, like she was gaping at him or something. But why would she… Oh, right. Gyarados are scary and the school was probably terrifying.

He wondered if he’d get the hang of that eventually.

“Pierce Lawson,” he commented, looking at his arm. Both, his forearm and his arm, were held in place by it and it left him feeling… stiff, sort of. Uncomfortable, for sure, and he was sure there were going to be a lot of complaints in his foreseeable future. “And you-?”

“Proxyman?” the woman asked him, somehow widening her eyes even more. Pierce was kind of surprised, but also not really. With every day that passed, he came to expect people to recognize him or his name more and more. “My son loves your channel. We watch it during meals.”

“Glad to hear it,” he commented with a grin. “I can still give autographs if you want. I’m right-handed,” he added jokingly, wiggling the fingers of his good hand. “If he wants one from my pokemon though, that might be tricky depending on who is his favorite.” Because Andromeda and Cygnus could be particular in that regard, nevermind Narcissa. Bellatrix, Orion and Regulus usually jumped at the chance though, happy with the attention.

“Can we get one from Regulus? He’s such a cat, we both love him,” she commented, turning to look at the now perked up meowth.

“Sure thing,” he said… before blinking. “We’ll need, you know, ink or paint or something. But I’m sure that can be arranged,” he explained, suddenly on the back foot a little. He hadn’t expected her to be so forthcoming about that, honestly. “Also, about this thing?” he asked, gesturing towards his arm. Then the woman nodded, all professionalism once more.

“You should be fine with that for a few days, then you’ll have to get it checked. If they think you’re ready for it, they’ll put it in a cast and it’ll go from there. The Psychics prevented it from getting much worse and held all the pieces in place. You’re lucky, not everyone has such capable and numerous helpers readily available,” the paramedic told him, grinning.

“They are great like that. I’ll have to make sure to give them a treat or two,” Pierce replied, drawing a laugh from the woman. “And the whole school. Hopefully I can get some help, because with one less arm, it’ll be difficult to make that many snacks.”

Suddenly, his whole team and the core members of the Water type school turned to give him horrified expressions.

Pierce just rolled his eyes at them. What did they expect?

“You’re Proxyman indeed.”

And what was that supposed to mean?

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

A bit of an aftermath chapter. Our boy is going to be on his way to recovery and the gang is back with their trainer and helping out. Shame that they couldn’t be out during the whole mess, but… Well, nobody wants them dead, I think. There might be a hater or two for each of them in the audience, I guess. Not everyone has been a fan of the Muse’s choices, I’m aware.

All in all though, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: If you were in the Pokemon world, would you be a Proxyman fan? I probably would, considering I already follow a bunch of fishkeeping and other such nature video channels. Nevermind the fact that I was super into documentary TV channels when I was a kid.

See you.