AdrianKing
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Searching Far and Wide - 105
🕑 Added 2025-02-26 17:52:23 +0000 UTCTeams:
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
Route 6 III
“ParasTheThought asks,” Lily said, her face twitching and unable to hold back her amusement much as she tried. She was a child like that, he supposed. That was a terrible name. Alas, Pierce was a child like that too, which is why he snorted. “Omg, the way Narcissa clings to your back is so cute! How can I get my Beedrill to do that?”
‘What number is this question? There were a lot more this time,’ he thought to himself for a split second before focusing back on the task at hand. They were going to be there all day if things continued as they were.
“No idea, buddy. Sorry,” he replied, getting himself under control as best he could. “My pokemon just love clinging to me, sitting on me, making me hold them and a bunch of other things. They just do. I don’t think I’ve done anything to cause that. If you want yours to do the same though… Well, refer to the bonding question from before… I’m doing that a lot, right?” he commented, turning towards Lily for the last question.
“It’s a very multifaceted answer, evidently,” she commented with a wide grin. “Dog-Type asks, what species of Pokémon that you’ve already worked with would you want to work with more? Magikarp/Gyarados aren’t valid answers for this question.”
“Well, you just made things very difficult for me, you know?” he commented wryly, leaning back and looking up thoughtfully. That was a hard question. He enjoyed working with all the pokemon he’d met so far. Was there any that he’d want to work with again more than the others? He didn’t think so. Although… “The weedle-line, definitely. They were the first pokemon that I actually “worked with” as you put it. I’m fond of them for that, I guess. I’m definitely looking forward to visiting Viridian again. They were very friendly.”
He’d have continued, but Lily breaking into giggles kind of interrupted that.
“I’ll take this moment to… make another reminder that Pierce is not normal and you guys should be careful when or if you think about imitating him,” Lily commented in between laughs. He’d said something funny, it seemed. Not like he didn’t know what he did was kind of dangerous at times, for people less inclined to that stuff, but surely people were smart enough to realize, right?
Then again…
Maybe not.
“Puff the Magic Meowth asks,” Lily continued after a moment, still not quite getting her giggling under control. “Well, that’s a very long question… Ahem,” she mumbled before clearing her throat. Pierce, for his part, leaned forward, his curiosity definitely rising. “Have you noticed if a Pokemon being shiny has any effect other than changing their color? By this I mean, does it affect their skills in any way, but also does it come with any physical effects like albinism can cause a sensitivity to light. Do the other gyarados treat Bella any differently because she is shiny? If the answer to all of these is no and being shiny does not affect the Pokemon at all then do you believe that the only value a shiny has over another member of its species is the value people place on its unique coloration compared to others?”
“That is, indeed, a long question. Although, I’d say it’s more like a bunch of questions that work together,” he commented, blinking as he processed that onslaught. “Hm, from what I know, being shiny doesn’t really change anything from the pokemon except the obvious. Bella’s not stronger or better with a Type or any better than one could reasonably expect from a normal gyarados, as far as I can tell. Nor is she different in some other way either. I haven’t seen very many shiny pokemon, so I wouldn’t know, but pokemon themselves don’t seem to care much for the difference either. If I have to guess, I imagine it might draw some attention, but not all that much.”
After that, he paused, leaning back and thinking over the last question. The answer was obvious, but… Maybe he could add some extra? Was he missing something? Well, it wasn’t related to that, but…
“Pokemon focus a lot more on strength. Mothers will be more protective of their weaker children. The weaker pokemon will be picked on. The stronger pokemon will be respected. Their entire focus is on battling and battling capability, from what I’ve seen. There are outliers, of course, but that’s most of what they care about,” he explained, not knowing how he felt about that, but… Well, that’s how pokemon were, he supposed. Trying to change that felt wrong. “I do believe the answer to your last question is obvious. Shiny are rarer, and people just love to have something others don’t. We like that exclusivity, I guess. It bothers me, of course, to know that we’ll discriminate pokemon like that, as if a shiny were any better than the rest or, worse yet, like the rest are somehow worse just because they are common. I’ve seen that happen and I hate it,” he said, trying not to get too worked up and probably failing.
Lily wasn’t looking uncomfortable though, so he guessed he didn’t go too far.
“Ditto,” his traveling companion said. “Please be mindful of how you treat pokemon and how you see them. Because even if you don’t act on it, they have ways of knowing. Don’t make pokemon feel less than alright?”
“And on that note, we’ve gone on for longer than I thought,” Pierce said, turning towards the camera and grinning. “Don’t stop sending questions, yeah? But also, try and don’t make them so… You know what, nevermind. I’ll just have to be careful what questions I accept when,” he added, changing his mind midway through. He didn’t want to put too many rules or people wouldn’t bother, or so he felt.
So, he went through the ending ritual of his videos and cut the recording.
He thought that had gone well, despite how long the video was likely to end up being even after editing.
[}-o-{]
“You’re coming over more than you said you would,” Sabrina commented and he opened his eyes slowly, turning towards her. Then he gave her a flat stare. “What?”
“I wonder, sometimes, if you just want someone to talk to. Because you interrupt my meditation a whole lot, you know?” he commented, leaning back and relaxing a bit. He’d go back to trying to feel his mind and such after the conversation, he supposed. No great loss. It was a weird day when he wouldn’t take any chance he got to stop the exercise of frustration that were the Psychic Arts.
“You appreciate it, Pierce. Don’t pretend otherwise,” the woman pointed out, but he was fairly sure she hadn’t read his mind. Which meant that he could pretend she didn’t know that for sure. She did and she was right, but that wasn’t the point.
Thus, he just stared at her and raised an eyebrow.
And, much to his surprise, she turned away.
“I do like talking to you,” she admitted and it was kind of hard for him to process that. The flat tone she said everything made those words difficult for him to wrap his head around, he supposed. “Most people find me unnerving or odd or… just difficult to talk to. And those that don’t… I find it difficult to connect with people, is what I mean,” she said and while she wasn’t stammering or rambling, she was doing what he imagined was her version of it. She kept pausing mid sentence, her eyes darted around and he’d almost swear he saw her twitch when she changed her mind about saying something. “There are few people I find interesting and easy to talk to. You’re one of them, Pierce Lawson.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” he replied with a half-smile. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Aren’t I?” she asked, turning to look at him and raising an eyebrow.
“I mean, I do think you’re different,” he admitted, but that was far from it. “But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Honestly, I’ve grown fond of that, even if it makes it difficult for me to understand you most of the time,” he told her, tilting his head as he considered his words carefully. “I’ve found that I quite like you, Sabrina. I do believe we can call each other friends… or at least I can call you that.”
“Friends…” the woman said, leaving the word floating in the air for a moment. He tried to get a read on her, but he should have known it was a lost cause, really. “I think I can agree to that.”
“Neat,” he replied with a grin. “As for your first comment, Cygnus is getting better at long distance Teleport. He’s great like that.”
“Why thank you-”
“Don’t let it go to his head though. It’s big enough as is,” Pierce continued, earning himself a glare from his kadabra. “So, I guess I might keep coming for a little longer. Might even keep coming even from Vermillion, which would be nice, if I do say so myself.”
“It would, indeed, be nice,” Sabrina said and he found it slightly humorous how she said even that rather flatly. He almost wanted to poke and prod until she showed some emotion. Well, if she was his friend now, then he’d have time for that to happen at some point.
“Right?” he picked up, realizing that he’d have to be the one to talk the most in the new friendship. “So, things going well over here? Not much to talk about on our end. Just training, videos, traveling and so on. Lily and I are already missing civilization. Shame it’d probably be too much pressure on Cygnus to teleport all of us every day.” And boy had they considered it. Alas, as it was, Pierce had to leave his team with Lily just to alleviate the burden, because they were there even if they were in their pokeballs. Cygnus could teleport the whole team no problem, but that was only once in a while.
For an everyday thing though?
They were already kind of pushing it with just him and Pierce.
“I’m not that fragile, Helper-Voice. Don’t worry about me,” the kadabra said in his mind, but Pierce was having none of that. He was sure Cygnus would say he was fine even if he were collapsing. His pokemon were unreasonable like that. “Like trainer like pokemon, right?”
‘Shush you. I’m being the reasonable one for once.’
“For once, very accurate.”
‘Shut up.’
“Shame indeed, but I’m sure you’ll manage until he gets strong enough,” Sabrina reassured, although it didn’t quite work that well when said like she spoke. “As for things here, fairly normal too. I have been speaking with the Sensational Sisters a lot more than usual though, I suppose. Having something in common seems to help, especially with Daisy.”
“I don’t know if I want to know what you girls talk about,” he commented wryly, but he was happy that his friends were all getting along, he supposed. He was a little worried that he didn’t seem to have many male friends. ‘Actually, do I have any? Does Brock count?’ he wondered at that moment. He didn’t think the Rock type Leader counted, which made everything all the more concerning.
“You probably don’t,” Sabrina said and Pierce was shocked to notice a hint of amusement and even a light pink dusting on her cheeks. He might have imagined both of those though, but he was pretty sure they actually happened. “I do wonder if some of the things Lily said are-”
“Nope. All lies, I’m sure. Daisy is the trustworthy source, I assure you,” he said quickly, because he really doubted the pink-haired woman had said anything remotely nice or non-embarrassing about him.
“Oh, is she?” Sabrina said, raising an eyebrow.
And Pierce realized that maybe he’d made a slight mistake.
[}-o-{]
His fist flew forward in the air.
Then the other.
Rinse and repeat.
Pierce found himself standing beside Cygnus, bouncing on his feet and punching the air. Occasionally, he’d break stance and throw a kick, or a knee or an elbow. All the while, his kadabra did much the same beside him, but much better. At least, if the Psychic’s word was to be believed.
“I heard that,” Cygnus hissed in his mind, but he was kind of focusing on not messing up… too much. “And failing, by the way,” his pokemon told him mercilessly. “Oh, stop being so dramatic.”
‘Never,’ Pierce thought, but he did try to focus back on what they were doing. It probably didn’t help his focus and determination that the rest of the team was watching the two of them like they were a circus act. Even the absolute training addict that was Narcissa had stopped to look at them, that’s how much he’d caught their attention.
Alas, considering what he’d been told by Sabrina – and even other people – in regards to his safety and how people might come for him for what he could do or for what he’d done or for something he could do in the future… Well, Pierce felt like maybe knowing how to fight could come in handy at some point. Besides, there's nothing wrong with knowing how to throw a punch in general. Not like he could win a battle against a pokemon, but maybe he could keep himself alive long enough for help to arrive. Or maybe he’d have to fight a human for some other reason.
Besides, he’d kind of gotten bored of regular exercising and looking at Cygnus training his fighting moves looked fun.
“You’re so dumb.”
‘Who’s dumber, the dumb guy or the pokemon that followed the dumb guy?’ Pierce told his Psychic pokemon and then proceeded to grin when the kadabra didn’t have a comeback for that. ‘Yeah, that’s what I thought,’ he added, continuing to follow the mental directions that were being shoved in his brain. Cygnus had grown a little less kind with the orders, but that was a small price to pay to continue their usual bantering.
“Not like that,” his pokemon told him, sending him the mental equivalent of a groan. Pierce almost wanted to remind him that no, he hadn’t trained with expert teachers like he had. All he had to go off on were lessons he’d gotten a lifetime ago and what he’d half learned while teaching and having Cygnus be taught.
Which was a lot less than one would expect.
“Like this,” his pokemon told him, going the extra mile trying to teach him the motions and demonstrating. He tried to follow as best he could, but… “Better… but not much.” Pierce rolled his eyes at him, but he did try to get better.
Either the pokemon world was turning him into a different person entirely or his team was. Because Pierce had never been one to do well with challenges. Now there he was, actually putting effort into studying, exercising and having a solid goal for the future that wasn’t just having a comfortable life. He was basically already a different person, actually.
He’d been turned from a lazy, comfortably mediocre guy into… Whatever it was that he was now, he supposed.
‘A lot can happen in a few months,’ he thought to himself, continuing going through the motions. At some point though, his mind started listening to the “orders” Cygnus gave without him even having to process them. His fists punched and his legs kicked and so on, all with barely a thought, just listening to the voice in his head.
Which sounded a lot worse when actually considered and in those words.
“I can see why Leader-Mind-” A picture of Sabrina flashed through his thoughts. “-thinks you have talent.”
‘I’ll take your word for it,’ he said, having a feeling that Cygnus mentioning that would ruin whatever the Psychic had noticed about him. Maybe he’d been doing well understanding and following the mental nudges?
“Something else… but I don’t think I’ll tell you. You might be right about ruining it,” his kadabra commented and Pierce decided to just shrug and keep going. No use dwelling on that, he supposed, but maybe some other time. For the moment, he had fighting training to get done.
On that note though…
“Back to training, all of you,” he said, taking a short break and looking at his team while trying to catch his breath. “You all need to train yourselves. So, chop chop. Remember that I’m still choosing the battlers for the next Gym,” he said and that seemed to work well enough.
With all but Andromeda. Not that he blamed her. There was very little chance that he’d use her for the challenge, same as Bellatrix. He liked to keep his options open though. Who knew? There might be some kind of situation he hadn’t considered where they could work as a viable choice.
“You too, girl. And keep an eye on everyone for me, yeah?” he commented, patting the vaporeon’s head. With a roll of her eyes, the Water type huffed, but ultimately did as he said. She was like that, always having to make it seem like she was reluctant or dragging her feet. Pierce knew that she cared though and that she wouldn’t half-ass it.
She was, maybe, the most dependable of his team, very narrowly beating Cygnus.
“I heard that,” his Psychic type commented dryly in his mind.
However, if he thought Pierce was going to change his mind, he was sorely mistaken. Aloof as Andromeda could be, at least she wasn’t a brat like Cygnus. Pierce found it fun, of course, but it did take a point or two from the kadabra. Still though, he had said “narrowly”.
He pretended not to notice the mental grumbling coming from his kadabra and instead got back to work.
As one both trainer and pokemon turned around, as if in synch, and got back to their exercises.
[}-o-{]
“Vine Whip, Root!” Lily called and Pierce watched as the Grass type move slashed through the air towards the voltorb that his traveling companion and her pokemon were facing. They’d come across a traveling group and decided to stop for some battling. They had readily accepted and it had become obvious why, considering two of them, a boy and his sister, had stuck to him immediately.
They had also never stopped asking questions, even though he was supposed to be the referee of the match.
It wasn’t common for them to come across someone that knew about him, but it also wasn’t uncommon either. It felt like there was a one in ten chance of them finding a fan, although it wasn’t like he was really counting. He didn’t care for the exact numbers that much, after all. However, it was both flattering and… awkward too, admittedly.
“Roll Out, buddy!” Lily’s opponent called, bringing Pierce’s attention back to the battle. Not like being a referee was overly complicated, really. Especially in unofficial battles. Most of the time, you only had to make a call when a pokemon was out. Other than that, one might need to point out one of the many dick moves that were either banned in sanctioned matches – but people still felt the need to try in casual battles for some reason – or those that were frowned upon.
Like this one time Lily had to tell an idiot that no, the entire forest wasn’t the battlefield. Why the guy thought they were going to start chasing his rattata into the woods just for the battle was still a mystery. Some people just thought they were smart when they really weren’t, he supposed.
Back to the battle, again, Lily’s opponent didn’t have much to do, but neither did Lily herself. Neither of them had effective moves, by the looks of it. However, his traveling companion had better neutral options. In turn, Root was resistant to Voltorb’s main moves. That was an edge of its own, really, and it was showing.
So, Pierce watched, only half paying attention, while the woman next to him and her brother threw some questions here and there. Mostly though, the boy seemed intent on looking through his videos and sharing his favorite moments. Pierce had expected that to be tiring or something, but there was something very nice about hearing him talk. He knew people liked his videos and all, but there was something extra in having specific things being pointed out, he supposed.
“Sleep Powder!” Lily called and her ivysaur – which still felt odd to think and even odder to see at times – seemed to take the opening her trainer had seen. Thus, Root landed the cloud of spores or pollen or whatever that was all over the voltorb’s round face/body. That was basically match, really, even if Pierce had to wait for a few more moves to hit to call it.
“Voltorb is unable to continue. Lily wins,” he said, barely managing a half-serious tone. Casual battles were just that, after all, casual. There was no need to be all official.
“Gee, great refereeing, man,” the guy that Lily had faced commented dryly, bitterly. ‘Someone’s a sore loser,’ Pierce though, rolling his eyes. “We done here then?”
“Can we stay a bit more, Susan?” the younger boy, pulling the puppy dog eyes on his sister. Pierce had to feel bad for the boyfriend – that’s the guy that had just battled –, because his girlfriend caved instantly. Sometimes, it was a little awkward for the loser of a battle to stay around.
That was one such case, evidently.
“Fine, but only for a bit more. I’m sure Pierce wants to continue traveling, Edgar,” the woman said with a smile. Despite her words though, she didn’t seem inclined to leave either. Rather the opposite, actually. “I have to ask though, I have a pikachu and I was wondering-”
“You two do know that we’ve been here for like, half an hour, right? We do need to cover some ground,” the boyfriend – Pierce hadn’t bothered to learn his name, or any of theirs, really – commented dryly. He really hadn’t been left in a good mood, it seemed. Then again, maybe he shouldn’t have been so impatient that he challenged Lily.
“This is why everyone thinks you suck, Justin,” the boy – Edgar? – said ruthlessly, drawing an annoyed twitch of the guy’s eye. To prevent any problems though, Pierce decided to step in. Last thing he needed was to deal with that kind of trouble. He was not feeling in the mood.
“Are you ever?”
‘Not the point, Cygnus.’
“Just a few more questions, yeah? We kind of want to find a good spot to camp too,” he told the trio, smiling his best smile. “So, what’s this about a pikachu?” he continued, drawing a huff from the boyfriend. He didn’t say much more though, which to Pierce felt like a victory.
After answering some more questions – he kind of had to hazard a guess about the pikachu thing, but the woman seemed happy –, all of them went their separate ways.
But that was far from the end of it, because Lily just couldn’t let it be.
As for what she couldn’t let be… Well…
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, again, howling in laughter while Pierce shuffled on his feet. “From one with a boyfriend no less,” she added, again, and Pierce looked at the piece of paper in his hand like it might bite him.
Why oh why had that woman – Sophia? Sarah? – thought that slipping him her number was a good idea? He was kind of gathering that he was somewhat good looking and women in the pokemon world thought he was a catch, probably because of the pokemon whispering thing, but still. He wasn’t that attractive, right?
Right?
“I have to write this one down. The Sisters will love it!”
Pierce just growled, turning to look gratefully at Orion when the onix patted his shoulder comfortingly.
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How’s it going?
So, yeah, I felt the need to continue the Q&A from last chapter. There were some really long questions and I didn’t want the section to be so few questions. So, this time, I separated the part in two, but I’d appreciate if you guys gave me some shorter questions to throw with the long ones next time.
Anyway, as for the rest of it, just regular traveling scenes, but I like them. All of them seem fine to me and that’s not something I achieve often. Maybe they suck, but I don’t think so, and that’s a win in my books.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ
Random Question: What’s a random digit of your phone number? Mine would be… 3.
See you.
