AdrianKing
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Searching Far and Wide - 83
🕑 Added 2024-08-28 17:52:28 +0000 UTCTeams:
Pierce Lawson:
- Narcissa, Beedrill
- Orion, Onix
- Cygnus, Abra
- Bellatrix, Gyarados (Shiny)
- Andromeda, Vaporeon
Lillian Dale:
- Root, Bulbasaur
- Talon, Spearow
- Gem, Geodude
- Star, Cleffa
Route 5 VIII
Training was going well, by the looks of it.
Pierce was pretty sure Andromeda would have Shadow Ball ready in a matter of a few days. Orion and Cygnus had made plenty of progress despite their struggles with Curse and Foul Play respectively. It’d take those two a little longer, but still well within the estimated time, really.
Then there was Narcissa, who was a little further from her goal, but that was because she’d started later and not because of any problem of her own. Despite that, his best guess was that she’d, at most, learn Pin Missile a little after everyone else was done. However, that was the pessimistic view. If he had to bet on it, he’d say she’d be done sooner than them. Bug type energy wasn’t going to be a struggle, after all. It was all a matter of finding the right way of circulating it, which simplified things plenty.
As it was, nothing was ready yet and Saffron was in sight… figuratively speaking. It’d take them a day or two to get there, after all… Probably two, considering their pace and their alternative pathing. That was fine though. It wasn’t like they had to challenge Sabrina right away. They could take a few more days to train without issues in the city.
It’d probably be for the better if they sped things up a little, actually. Sure, taking their time traveling was all well and good. They could face a lot of different pokemon in the wild and it was more fun because of them too. They could just enjoy nature and its inhabitants, but… The city had its own good points.
They wouldn’t have to worry about covering ground traveling. They could just focus on training without reservations. The Battlegrounds would have plenty of adversaries to face. They could also, maybe, find tutors to teach them. Although… maybe not.
They could train those difficult moves on their own, he supposed. It’d been sort of fine in Cerulean, because he’d been very busy with the recovering pokemon. Now though, just sending them off to train with someone else – even if it was a better option, objectively speaking – felt kind of… bad. He’d check with them, he supposed. He wanted to help them to the best of his ability, so maybe it was kind of selfish to want to hold them back like that.
It made him feel guilty just thinking about it.
Taking a deep breath in, Pierce looked around and nodded to himself.
“Everyone! Training is over!” he called while placing his hands around his mouth for effect. He’d never been too sure that actually helped, but whatever. Might as well, right? “You are all doing great,” he commented, his arm reaching towards Bellatrix when she approached the river bank. When she growled something shyly, he rolled his eyes. “Yes, I saw that.” Apparently, she was a little self-conscious about a move that she messed up. “You are still very adorable. Don’t worry,” he affirmed in fond exasperation.
Sometimes Pierce felt like that might as well be his default greeting for the gyarados, honestly.
“We are making great progress, guys. You can take it a little easier if you want to,” he said, but he got exactly the response he expected. Some huffs, some rolls of eyes and very negative answers all around. “Of course,” he commented with a grin. “Anyway, do you want to rest or play around some?” he asked, his hand still patting Bellatrix absently.
Now that got a less unanimous answer.
Andromeda and Cygnus opted out, but Orion, Bellatrix and Narcissa definitely wanted to play. Well, he suspected that his beedrill was just seeing it as more training, but so long as she didn’t push too hard and had some fun, it was fine. The other two would be around to make sure it was the case, but Pierce himself would be playing too. It’d be nice to have some more eyes on things, just to be sure.
“Definitely needed,” Cygnus commented. Idly, Pierce wondered if that was a jab at his ability to notice if something was going on or at the others’ ability to get in trouble. “Why not both?”
‘Fair enough,’ Pierce thought with a wry smile. As he moved to take out the ring to play with, he glanced towards his abra. His time sleeping was getting shorter and shorter. Not quite what one would think normal – for a human, of course –, but definitely less than when they’d first met. Both of them were feeling pretty excited about his evolution and his friend’s apprehension had gone away almost entirely by then.
“I want to be more,” Cygnus told him, leaving it at that, but Pierce understood what he was trying to say. Not the sentiment, of course, but the idea. He was looking forward to what his evolution would bring, despite the change it’d mean.
‘Hm, I’ll have treats ready for when it happens,’ he thought, more to himself than to his Psychic type, but he put no effort in making his mind “quiet”. Excitement or not, there was no telling how Cygnus would react to evolving, so it was better to have things at hand to make him feel better. Or, at the least, to make the transition smoother and more of a happy event.
“Thank you, Helper-Voice,” the abra told him and he sent back the mental equivalent of waving him off. It was his duty as a trainer to take care of his pokemon, first and foremost. They would get strong one way or another, whether he was there or not. He was probably average at best when it came to that.
What Pierce could do, however, was make sure they were healthy and happy.
So, that’s what he would do.
[}-o-{]
[Vulpix, the Curious Child]
What an odd gathering she’d stumbled across.
Similar thoughts had gone through her mind through the days that she stuck around them. There were several reasons for both, her thoughts and her decision. However, ultimately, both things led to her own curiosity. She’d wanted to know more about them. Were they as they first appeared or were they different? What made them as they were? Why? How?
So many questions, but at least she’d gotten some answers.
“Thanks for litting the fire, Vulpix,” Trainer-Supporter – otherwise known as Lily – told her, a smile on her face as she patted her head. Much of her fear and nerves had washed away through their time together, the Fire type had noticed. That wasn’t precisely weird, but it was still something of note.
She’d been the first one to truly catch Vulpix’s attention.
Because sure, she’d come across trainers and their teams before, but she had never truly bothered with them all that much. Many of them wanted to get her on their teams, after all, and it showed a little too much for her liking. Lily wanted her too, but she was… more subtle, sort of. She had also been more open, more calm, than many of the others. Because Vulpix had seen trainers react in a number of ways when she displayed the smallest bit of apprehension or annoyance.
Lily? Lily reacted too, of course, but it was so little that it might as well be nothing in comparison.
Then again, poor Lily didn’t stand a chance next to Helper-Voice – otherwise known as Pierce – and his baffling peace of mind. She’d had time to observe the man and it was actually a little scary, how he seemed to always be in control of any given situation. She’d seen him interact with angry pokemon, calm pokemon, annoyed pokemon, lazy pokemon and many others. All of them, he found ways to interact with and to do so in a way that they appreciated.
Odd, very odd.
So, she’d stuck with Lily. At least the female human made more sense than the male. Fortunately, that seemed to suit them just fine. Lily liked her and wanted her on her team and Pierce wanted to support his friend. Meanwhile, Vulpix avoided being perturbed by the man.
Everyone won, really.
“You think too much.” Well, wasn’t that hilarious coming from a Psychic type? She certainly thought so, as she turned to look at Fighter-Explorer – otherwise known as Cygnus – and gave him her flattest stare. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as impressive as Fighter-Watcher – otherwise known as Andromeda –, but she liked to think it was pretty good all the same. “Keep thinking that.” Now her look turned into a glare.
“You are being a little shit again, aren’t you, Cygnus?” Pierce asked out loud, making Vulpix turn towards him. Surprisingly – or maybe unsurprisingly, by then – he hadn’t even turned to look at either of them, continuing to prepare snacks for everyone. How did he do that? “Stop, please,” he added, calmly and kindly. Yet, Vulpix could almost see the weight of his words in the way the abra shifted subtly.
She could also see several of the other pokemon around showing their amusement at the abra’s expense. That certainly helped her get back in a good mood. Nothing like someone annoying getting in trouble.
“You really do think too much,” the abra told her, his voice more annoyed, which only made her more happy. For good measure, Vulpix stuck out her tongue.
“Both of you stop,” Pierce told them and his voice became the smallest bit more firm, which was all that both of them needed to hear. Vulpix adjusted her position and looked away. Better to actually do as told. Especially because- “I’m taking a pokeblock off your portion for both of you.”
While the Psychic radiated his dejection, Vulpix clicked her tongue in annoyance. She’d gotten carried away, but at least she had the excuse of being new. Not like the abr- No, she needed to stop that. Else, she’d get even less pokeblocks and that was unacceptable. Pierce was an intriguing, confusing man, but there was no denying that he prepared some great food.
“That’s more like it,” Pierce told them. “Honestly. You are supposed to be part of the mature group.”
“Everyone’s entitled to their childish moments, Pierce,” Lily said, the voice of wisdom that she was. Maybe she’d be able to convince the unnerving man to-
“You’d know, right?” Pierce asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” the woman asked, frowning and pouting… Which probably was basically proving his point, Vulpix realized with a sigh. This was further confirmed when he looked at Lily with a very amused smile. Yeah, nothing to do there, she supposed.
She’d gotten her hopes up for nothing.
Still, childishness aside, Lily was pretty dependable in a number of other ways. Vulpix supposed it made sense that she had her weak points too. However, she made up for them in other ways. Like her training, Vulpix had participated in hers and watched Pierce’s and there was a clear difference there. No offense to the provider of pokeblocks, but that was the truth.
“Also, there’s no need to be mean just because you are extra sore from exercising, Pierce,” Lily continued, a teasing grin on her face as she recovered from her own annoyance. “They barely did anything.”
“Say that when you go through what I am,” the man replied flatly. “I want to eat dinner in peace,” he added, glancing around. That was his first mistake, because for once, Cygnus and Vulpix worked together to give him their best pleading looks. “You are all such children. I swear, if it weren’t for Root and Gem…” he muttered under his breath before sighing. “Fine.”
Ah, the sweet, sweet taste of success.
“See? You need to think less,” Cygnus told her, sounding supremely smug.
And Vulpix had to hold back a reaction… other than the twitch of her eye.
[}-o-{]
[Pierce Lawson]
Orion twisted his body this or that way, intense focus carved into his stone-like face. There was a resolution that was hardly ever seen in the usually fairly innocent and carefree onix. Then again, this was an important matter. For Orion, it was probably very high in his list of priorities and Pierce respected that.
Turning towards Andromeda by his side, he gave her a half-smile. The vaporeon, for her part, rolled her eyes at him. Then the two of them faced Orion once again as he seemed to reach a conclusion.
Then he took the rock on the side of the river in his mouth and started chewing it.
“Good?” Pierce asked, forcing his amusement down and instead displaying only curiosity. A lot could be said about Orion, but nobody could say he didn’t take his food seriously. What people could say was that he might take it too seriously. Then again, Pierce was starting to suspect that what he’d wanted to experience of the world outside Pewter was the cuisine… which was rocks, in his case.
A very… unique goal, to be sure, but he wasn’t one to judge.
So, when the onix gave so-so response with his serpentine body, Pierce nodded. ‘Not gonna take any of these for snacks then, it seems,’ he thought. Because he’d started making it a point of collecting the rocks that Orion seemed to like. Anything from the coast seemed to work for him, but he was a lot more picky when it came to rocks next to fresh water. He had entire notes about that next to his berry preferences.
He was half starting to wonder if he needed to study some geology, quite honestly, but that sounded like too much of a hassle… Maybe later.
“Maybe the next one, buddy,” he comforted, patting Orion’s side. “Or are you tired of trying? I see some that you said were okay,” he added, looking around the river bank and spotting several rocks like that. Then again, no two rocks were the same, but he’d pretty much found that if they were roughly of the same color and structure, then they were more or less the same for Orion’s taste… For the most part. “Then we are done there,” he decided when the onix shook his head.
Andromeda yipped something at him and he turned to the side.
Then he sighed.
“Bella!”
Immediately, the red gyarados stiffened and the crabby she’d been circling fled like the devil was on its back. Which was… fair, he supposed. Bellatrix was adorable, but she could also be pretty terrifying for those that didn’t know her. Like at that moment. Pierce was pretty sure that she’d just been curious and wanting to play… Poor crabby had definitely not seen it like that though.
“What have I told you about approaching pokemon?” Pierce asked, leveling the gyarados with an unimpressed expression. At the mumbling growl Bellatrix used to answer, he raised a questioning eyebrow. So what if he couldn’t understand pokemon speech? That didn’t mean he couldn't demand she speak clearly anyway. When she did, he nodded. It seemed she remembered, at least. “You have to be careful, girl. Not everyone knows how adorable you are right away. You have to let them realize that,” he told her, watching her approach him.
Andromeda yipped her own scolding for good measure. Pierce would have called that unnecessary, but maybe that was because Bellatrix had him almost perfectly wrapped around her little finge-... Fins? Whatever. So, yeah, the vaporeon could be a little harsh, but he was sure she was better at disciplining than him.
So, he tried not to get in her way and fold like a cheap suit when Bellatrix made a whining sound and sagged, moving her body a little more underwater to make herself seem smaller. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into a hug and tell her it was all fine, but alas, he couldn’t do that. He was trying to help her get better and enabling her bad habits was certainly not the way.
“You are really better leaving it to literally anyone else, Helper-Voice,” Cygnus said, like the absolutely savage little thing he was. “Not little for long,” the Psychic added, as if him evolving would make a difference. He’d always be a little gremlin in Pierce’s eyes, just like his little brother and cousins would always be children, nevermind the fact that most of them were teens and adults by then.
Cygnus didn’t like that, but tough luck.
Nothing was gonna change Pierce’s mind.
“Well, we are done here and we gotta go before Andy-,” he started, getting a Water Gun to the face but the only thing he did was close his eyes so the water wouldn’t get in them. Then he blinked. “-has to chew out Bella again, yeah? Come on, come on,” he continued undeterred, clapping to get everyone following. “That means you too, Narcissa! No more training!” he called.
He just rolled his eyes when the beedrill zoomed to latch onto his back and gave him her version of a grumble. Because really. He’d let her train a little extra time, but she’d go for the whole day if he let her. It’d never be enough for his very determined Bug type.
“I know, I know,” he said, not quite managing to be patient. Instead, he waved off her annoyance. She’d have to get over it. He’d really gotten the most battle maniac beedrill in the entire Viridian Forest, hadn’t he? Just his luck, he supposed. “Come on, it’s been a while since I used the wipes and the brushes, right?” he commented idly and everyone paused and turned to look at him.
Pierce, for his part, just continued walking, a smile on his face.
Truly, dangle some spoiling in front of pokemon and they became like children with candy. It was honestly very amusing, but also adorable… and a little exasperating. It made it difficult not to spoil them, but he also knew he couldn’t do that. A balancing act, like many things in a trainer’s life.
[}-o-{]
[Lillian Dale]
“There it is,” Pierce commented, bringing a hand up as if to block the sun from his eyes. Which was useless, since the rays weren’t getting through the treetops over their heads. Neither did it help him see further, but such was the nature of weird quirks and habits such as that, Lily mused. She couldn’t really judge. She’d done more silly things in her life. “We got here faster than I thought,” he added absently.
It seemed like they’d finally reached the end of Route 5. Further away, the shadow covered ground of the woods gave way to much more lit plains… fields, really. The fields outside of Saffron, to be specific. They had reached their destination.
“We did,” Lily replied, a slight smile on her face. She’d have been more excited about that, normally, but not at that moment. The reason for her dampened enthusiasm was walking beside her and it was difficult to miss, with her colorful fur against the much more tame colors of the forest.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Pierce looking at her. He didn’t say anything, of course, but he didn’t need to. She could almost hear everything he’d say. The reassurances and the encouragement reached her all the same, even without Cygnus gently touching the outermost corner of her mind to share those messages through emotions.
‘I know,’ she thought, taking a deep breath in and feeling the abra pull away. She wasn’t very used to the Psychic interactions, admittedly, but she managed well enough. Or so she liked to think, at least. Neither Cygnus nor Pierce had told her anything in that regard.
‘And I’m avoiding the problem,’ she thought, almost chiding herself. Because she knew this moment would come, just like it had with Gem. However, she couldn’t help but wait until the last moment. She wanted to hope and she wanted to try and improve her chances as much as possible. Maybe waiting those extra seconds would make the difference.
Except, maybe it wouldn’t.
Maybe it’d work against her.
Yet, even knowing that, Lily just continued walking in silence. She tried not to think Pierce was disappointed when he started talking about his plans for Saffron. His tone was casual, light and calm, with a slight smile on his face. One wouldn’t know he was aware of the inner turmoil Lily was going through, but she knew there was no way he didn’t.
He was, after all, one of the most empathetic people she’d ever met.
Maybe that was why he gave her an excuse and a distraction? He probably knew, better than her, that she’d put it off as long as possible. Or maybe he’d just guessed it from her reaction to his “announcement”. Maybe he had done the whole thing just to check what she’d do?
She didn’t know.
She had other things in mind, really.
So, she pretended not to notice the glances Root sent her way. She pretended not to notice Talon staring at her whenever he perched himself on a branch ahead of them. She pretended not to notice Star’s confusion, with her being the only one that didn’t know what was going on. Most importantly, Lily pretended not to notice the vulpix walking beside her.
She was a fucking hypocrite, she realized, not for the first time.
Because she’d teased Pierce a lot about how nervous he got with gym challenges, but there she was, too afraid to talk things out with a pokemon. It didn’t get any easier, she realized. Root had been given to her, Talon had more or less challenged her and then stuck around, Gem had been nerve wracking and Star had practically been dropped on her lap. So, what Lily gathered from all that was that she sucked at recruiting pokemon, what with Gem and now this.
Ultimately though, she knew she’d have to go for it.
She also knew that she was a coward and would wait until she couldn’t wait anymore.
‘God, sometimes I hate myself,’ she thought despondently. Almost like he could read her mind, which she wouldn’t have been surprised if he could – would explain a lot actually –, Pierce said some stupid joke and bumped his shoulder against hers. ‘Get it together,’ she read from his actions and the look in his eyes that didn’t match neither what he said nor the rest of his expression. ‘I know,’ she tried to whine at him with just her face.
Lily told herself that the responding look wasn’t exasperation.
She was also lying to herself.
Eventually, she ran out of time. The edge of the woods was right in front of them. Further away, there were only the farmlands outside of Saffron, each plot marked by fences and scattered houses here and there. In the distance, she saw fields with not crops, but trees and bushes. Berry farms, she knew. She didn’t see any open land for pokemon ranches, but she knew there’d be some, just not within view at that moment.
With a sigh, Pierce seemed to give up and decide to get things going.
Lily didn’t know if she was grateful or scared.
“Guess this is it,” her companion said with that same kind but sad smile he gave all pokemon they had to say goodbye to. She hoped it wasn’t the case this time. “It was nice having you around. I know we’ll miss you whenever we have to start a fire,” he commented jokingly as he crouched and patted Vulpix’s head.
The Fire type huffed at him, letting out the smallest Ember in the world, which was basically a breath that was a little too warm.
“He deserved that,” Lily said, finding her voice somehow. Even still, she felt her insides tie themselves into knots. “So, I guess-” she started, until to be interrupted by a yip from Vulpix. “I was just going to say that I’m glad you stuck-” Another yip stopped her. The Fire type just stared at her and Lily pretended not to notice Pierce snickering to the side. “What do you want me to-?”
Before she finished the question, Vulpix stood up and moved to rub her head against her leg.
“Well, guess that’s that,” Pierce commented, amused. “She got tired of you beating around the bush, it seems. Good on her. Although God only knows why she chose to stick around after that mess,” he said and Lily didn’t know how to feel. On the one hand, he was an idiot and she should be angry or annoyed.
On the other… she was overjoyed.
“I guess that’s fair,” she told the vulpix as she knelt beside her and started petting her. She got a happy yip in response that made her grin even wider than she already was. “Welcome to the team, Cinder.”
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How’s it going?
We all have those dumb nervous moments where we worry about dumb things, I’m sure…
What do you mean it’s just me?
Why are you all looking at me like that?
Anyway, yeah. We are at Saffron now and it only took us eight chapters! And nothing happened! More rare than one would think, especially for our boy, Pierce. Wonder how many chapters we’ll spend here though. Fifty? Sixty? Triple digits? One can only guess.
Fairly chill chapter, but that’s what I’m here for, really, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ
Random Question: Any guesses as to what Saffron has in store for our band of misfits?
See you.
Comments
Ranma_Leopard
As always this is just really awesome and I can't wait for more
