Teams:

Pierce Lawson:

- Narcissa, Beedrill

- Orion, Onix

- Cygnus, Abra

Lillian Dale:

- Root, Bulbasaur

- Talon, Spearow

- Gem, Geodude

Mt. Moon VIII

Pierce looked, half amused and half pitying, as Orion tried and failed to hit the flying zubat with Rock Throw. As he did, he considered the fact that maybe it was mean of him to just let the thing go on, since there was no way his partner would get a hit in. However, this was a nice lesson, he supposed, to let the onix know that he had things to work on.

Especially after the previous two spars.

When he'd asked some of the pokemon around the chamber that weren't injured if they could help him train his team, Pierce hadn't expected nearly as much enthusiasm as he got, really. However, he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he quickly set them up against Narcissa and Orion while Cygnus continued with his physical exercises and teleporting practice. That was also how his onix had found himself facing first a paras, then a sandshrew and now a zubat.

The first two of those hadn't done very well against the much bigger stone serpent. That didn't mean Orion was particularly strong though, he just had a physical advantage against weaker and smaller pokemon. Maybe Pierce's plan to pair the onix with pokemon that were around his own age/level had backfired. That was why he was eyeing a geodude for the next match that seemed to have more experience and some development. If he had to bet, Pierce was pretty sure the pokemon was close to evolution.

Maybe they could give the small guy the push he needed to become a graveler.

As it was, Orion was getting a reality check after two relatively easy matches. Granted, the zubat didn't have anything to really damage Orion with, but he could fly circles around his rock type partner and easily wear him down with attacks. Fortunately for the onix, the flying type not only didn't have effective ways to deal damage, but it also needed to get close for that, which was a bit of a no-no with a gargantuan stone serpent, really.

"I think we can call the match here, neither of you is going anywhere," Pierce called, drawing a protest from Orion while the zubat flew and latched to his arm, chirping something. "Here, have a berry, buddy. Good job," he commented, giving the flying type the aforementioned fruit, which it took before flying away. "You weren't going to get a hit in, Orion, don't give me that face," he told his partner then.

That didn't stop his partner from grumbling, however, as he turned to look at Narcissa fighting what was probably her… sixth opponent? The number was probably somewhere around that, Pierce guessed. She was making quick work of everybody so far, which was no surprise. The actually strong pokemon were either still injured or had left as soon as they were fine. None of them quite stuck around.

As Lily explained it, strong pokemon tended to stay away from each other as much as possible. Usually, if there were two strong pokemon from different groups in close proximity, there was sure to be a battle involved. Pierce guessed that was a nice tidbit to know, even if it meant that Narcissa wouldn't have anyone quite to her level around unless they went around looking, which he didn't want to do.

"Finish that fight and we are done, Narcissa!" he called out, drawing a buzz from his pokemon. With a nod, he simply watched her spar. He could have given her a command here and there, but he preferred to leave her to it. It wasn't like she was struggling, after all, so he wanted her to get some experience fighting on her own, just in case. In the meantime, Orion slithered behind Pierce, leaving his head at just the right height for the trainer to place his hand on top of it. "You are young, buddy. You have plenty of time to get strong. There's no need to rush things."

At that, Orion rumbled something that Pierce was sure was just unintelligible mumbling.

"Look at Cygnus, he can't even properly train moves except for Teleport and you don't see him complaining, right?" Pierce pointed out, drawing the onix's gaze towards his psychic teammate. Granted, the abra was a little frustrated, but he had his little yellow hands full with preparing his body for the training he wanted to undergo.

Orion, on the other hand, was still mostly waiting for his body to be ready for heavy duty training. 'Speaking of…' Pierce mused, turning his head to look at the stone serpent. He was fairly sure the onix was mostly recovered from the damage he'd received during the shitshow that was Mt. Moon's attack. Now, the only set back they had was that he was young, but that wasn't much of one, really. 'Guess I can start pushing him a bit now, else he might just rebel or something,' he thought with a slight grin.

"So, I have an idea, buddy," Pierce started then, drawing the onix's attention back to him. "How about we start working on some new moves?" he asked, immediately making the rock type perk up. "Yeah, I have a few in mind that you shouldn't have too much trouble with. You know Mud Sport, so we can try and use that knowledge to help you get started with Sand Tomb and Narcissa knows Iron Defense, so maybe she can help you learn Iron Tail. You shouldn't have too much trouble with those moves, considering they are learned naturally by Onix. We can look into more difficult things later… What do you think?"

The answer he got was an overly excited rumbling as Orion twitched this and that way, obviously very eager and unable to stay still. It was kind of adorable, really, to see the big, cold stone serpent wiggling like it was the biggest, roughest and happiest worm on the face of Earth. 'Pokemon are entirely too cute, even when they shouldn't be,' Pierce thought to himself.

[}-o-{]

[Lillian Dale]

"Hm," Pierce commented, visibly thinking things over, considering. His eyes narrowed, as if he were pondering the mysteries of the universe and the deepest pieces of knowledge. His lips were pursed and his body sat stiffly, wondering about the most important of things. "Not bad. I think it could use more salt. What do you think?" he asked her, bringing his fork up to his mouth once more.

"Eh, I think it's fine," Lily answered with a slight smile on her face as she continued eating normally. Pierce had offered to cook that night, and she hadn't been one to question her good luck. How bad could he be, really? She imagined it would take special circumstances for someone to prepare something worse than the regular rations she'd eaten from Pallet to Pewter.

It wasn't like those meals were particularly bad, but they were bland. That, together with the fact that she had eaten them for quite a while, meant that she'd grown tired of them to the extreme. Sure, there were some variations of them, but there was almost no difference between one and the other.

Besides, Pierce didn't look like the kind of guy that could prepare a disaster of a meal. Sure enough, the man had proven that observation right with what he had prepared. Evidently, he wasn't a chef by any means, but he was good enough to make something decent, which was about as much as Lily could say for herself, really. Maybe they could get better at that together, she mused.

"I think your talents lay on pokeblocks though," she added then, grinning as she saw the pokemon around them eating away at Pierce's creations. Then again, pokeblocks weren't particularly hard to make. It was just a matter of trying the right combination of ingredients in the blender.

"I know, right?" the man replied with a wry grin. "I'm actually considering looking into more pokemon food and how to prepare it. I've read a few things about that in my books and some research I made… A good diet can go a long way," he commented then, leaning back as he continued eating. He had decided to add a bit more salt to his meal though.

"If you do, would you teach me?" Lily asked, pulling out her best puppy dog eyes on the man. In turn, he gave her an unimpressed expression and a raised eyebrow. Damnit, it had worked just fine with her father before she left on her journey and even with Red and Blue. Was she losing her touch?

"I mean, sure. What I'm not so sure about is why you felt the need to do… that," Pierce said, his expression turning amused as he waved his hand in front of his face. Then he paused as the cleffa on top of her head giggled, leaning down to point at her face, and making her half-heartedly glare up at it. "You two really hit it off, huh?" he asked.

"How could we not, she's adorable," Lily replied, making the fairy type squeal happily, which only made her smile wider.

"And you are not," Pierce, the absolute meanie, finished for her. "Yeah, that checks out."

"Idiot," Lily muttered. Judging by the amused look the man sent to the top of her head, she imagined the cleffa was doing something incredibly adorable in regards to that comment. Maybe pouting, or glaring, or something like that. Lily wished she could see it. "See if I prepare your food next time."

"Anything but that!" Pierce exclaimed dramatically, placing a hand on his chest as if her comment had mortally wounded him. Lily just rolled her eyes at him. The clefairy that sat next to him shook her head and gave him a slap on the arm. "Fine, ruin my fun, why don't you?"

"You hit it off too," Lily pointed out then, signaling her traveling companion on the fairy type next to him with her fork.

"I mean, we are siblings-in-arms of a sort," Pierce replied with a grin. "She had my back and I had hers while we treated this lot," he added, waving a hand to signal the rest of the chamber, now with less pokemon than before as more and more pokemon recovered after the man's treatment. "It was nice to have some help around and someone to keep an eye on things while I focused on the pokemon."

"I can guess," Lily replied, still looking between them. Maybe he would try and get the fairy type to come with them once things were said and done? She had heard him talking about that with one of the rangers that had provided them with supplies, but she hadn't quite gotten what his answer had been.

"I don't think she's coming with me, if that's what you were wondering," Pierce commented, as if reading her mind. "She likes being here and helping the pokemon in the mountain too much, I think," he explained, looking towards the clefairy who babbled something and nodded, probably confirming his guess. "See?" Pierce said, adding credibility to her assumption.

"I guess," Lily commented, unable to fathom how Pierce didn't even seem interested in asking one of the clefairy if they wanted to tag along. She herself had some plans to do just that once everything was done and they were about to leave. She didn't expect that to amount to anything, but she'd try regardless. No way she'd let that opportunity pass her by, after all. In the meantime-

"You know Cleffa is getting pokeblock crumbs on your hair, right?" Pierce asked, making her eyes widen.

"Cleffa!" she exclaimed, bringing her hands up. Too little too late, however. The fairy type jumped off her head towards Pierce, who caught her, and giggled, pointing at her with her little arm. As for Lily, she could feel the aforementioned food remnants on her hair. "I'll remember this," she told Cleffa.

There'd be hell to pay for that, she swore.

[}-o-{]

[Pierce Lawson]

"You are good to go," he told the golem once it was healthy enough to move around. The rock type wasn't completely healed, but that would come with some time now. For a big, resilient and more importantly strong pokemon like that, it was better to release them sooner rather than later, according to the rangers. They could get antsy, after all, and nobody wanted to deal with an antsy pokemon, much less a powerful one. "Take care of yourself, yeah?" he called behind the golem.

He received a rumble in response while the pokemon moved away through the tunnels.

"Almost done here, huh?" he mused out loud, receiving an agreeing hum from the clefairy next to him. He turned from that exit tunnel back to the chamber, giving a passing glance to all the remaining pokemon, most of which were probably going to go their way too, either that very day or the day after. "A day or two and we'll be on our way, I guess," he said then, not sure how he felt about that.

On one side, he wanted to move on. There were places to visit and the interesting part of being inside a mountain had passed already for him. He wanted to keep moving, keep improving, keep training. Cerulean would be where he used his training vouchers to give his team some moves that would hopefully improve their chances, after all. For that, however, they needed to continue traveling.

On top of that, the dull cave walls were getting old fast.

On the other hand, Pierce had grown fond of the clefairy family. Furthermore, if things were tense, maybe he should stick around in case he was needed. Through the days they had stayed in the chamber, several new patients had arrived, either by their own means or brought by clefairy. He'd talked with the fairy types and the rangers though, and he was told that wouldn't be necessary since things were mostly calming down now.

All in all, they were probably going to be leaving soonish, he supposed. Even if there was no real rush on their journey just yet, they'd been delayed quite a bit in Pewter and when they didn't know if there might be more incidents like that in the near future, it was better to try and not lose too much time. Who knew if they might get stuck somewhere else due to the Rockets? Better to err on the side of caution, he supposed.

"Yeah, I'll miss you too, partner," he commented as the clefairy looked at him sadly. "But hey, I'll make sure to visit whenever I can get some free time to come over here. As it is, I already have to visit Viridian Forest and Pewter nearby."

As he said that, however, Pierce wondered if he'd have to make a full round through the Kanto region after his journey was done. Everywhere he went, he seemed to make promises of visiting. 'Maybe I should stop doing that?' he wondered before scoffing in his mind. 'Yeah, nah.'

Regardless of his inner musings, the fairy type let out a cheer at his words, which honestly made the whole thing worth it. So what if he'd have to basically make a repeat of his journey to visit everyone he came across after all was said and done? That just made things better, really. Sure, it might be a bit of a hassle, but it'd be worth it too.

It wasn't like he had plans for after the Indigo League's year was over. Pierce literally didn't have anything to do besides the circuit at the moment. Once the league was over… Well, he guessed he could try again or something and see if he did better, but that was about it. He didn't have a family to go back to or anything like that. He had some professional prospects in mind but nothing too solid either…

So, yeah, he'd see how things went.

"Let's look around and see that none of the idiots are harming themselves, yeah?" he suggested to his clefairy partner, who nodded and voiced her agreement. With a plan for the immediate future, he pushed aside the sad thoughts in his mind. He needed to stop reminding himself that he had almost nothing but what he carried with him and the friends that accompanied him.

He knew he was building a new life for himself as time passed but… It was too little. How long would it take for it to come even close to all that he had in his old world? How long would it take for him to stop feeling like a castaway, stranded in a foreign world where he had nothing and no one. Maybe it was unfair and insulting towards his companions and the things he'd accomplished since he woke up in the Viridian Forest, but that's how he felt whenever he stopped to think about it.

He had possessions that he never would get back.

He had friends that he never would spend time with again.

He had a family that he never would see again.

All of that had been taken from him in but an unfortunate moment. How long had it taken, a few seconds? A minute at most? A desperate person, some shouted words, a sharp blade and then… Puff, Pierce Lawson was no more.

A hesitant babble pulled him back to the present, turning to regard clefairy. The poor pokemon seemed rather concerned and Pierce realized why a second later. Bringing his hand up, he touched his cheek, his finger getting wet with the tear that had been running down his face. Wiping his face with his hands, took a deep breath in through a knot in his throat.

"Sorry," he breathed out, his voice sounding strange to his ears. "I just… I got lost in thought. I'm fine."

The clefairy babbled something else, not looking very reassured.

"I know, I just… I need to distract myself, yeah? Let's check on everyone," he repeated, starting to move before his partner could question anything. He really needed to stop thinking about those things. It didn't help any to delve into such topics.

[}-o-{]

[Lillian Dale]

Off to the side, she could see Pierce saying his goodbyes to some of the pokemon that had come to bid them farewell and the clefairy family. Even some of the injured pokemon had been brought to the chamber's entrance too, or had dragged themselves there in some cases. It was always a bit moving to see how much Pierce – and her too, Lily supposed – could affect the pokemon they came across.

As it was, Lily was mostly focused on one pokemon.

"Come on, little one. Don't cry," she told the cleffa that was bawling in front of her. "We'll come to visit, I promise," she told her, as she had a number of times already.

It was about as effective as she expected, which is to say not at all. Instead, the fairy type started crying harder, leaping forward to cling to Lily. That just made her feel worse though. How was she supposed to pull her away and go on with her journey? As if saying goodbye wasn't hard enough as is.

Looking to the side, she noticed Pierce sitting on the ground with a bunch of cleffa climbing on him. The man himself seemed to be focused on Lily and her own fairy type though. It seemed that the cleffa she had spent most of her time there with was the only one that was that affected by their departure. Which was all sorts of unfair. Why wasn't Pierce suffering like her?!

'Help,' Lily mouthed to her traveling companion. He was the best when it came to dealing with pokemon. He'd surely have a way to calm down Cleffa and make their goodbye easier, she knew. Once he did that, they'd-

"Take your time," Pierce told her simply, grinning at her. The absolute bastard was going to abandon her in her time of need! Lily swore, at that very moment, that he'd pay for that. How dare he?! When she got her hands on him-

Whatever her mind was coming up with was interrupted as Cleffa pulled harder and continued sobbing into her clothes.

"Come on, little one," she whispered, trying not to let too much of her sadness into her voice. It wouldn't do for both of them to start crying. "We won't be going away forever, I promise."

Cleffa was far from reassured by that, however, starting to babble something into her chest that she couldn't hope to understand. With the way the fairy type's voice was mixed with sobs, she wondered if the other pokemon could understand any more than she did. Still, Lily did her best to calm her down, hugging her against her chest as she had through their days there.

"There, there," she mumbled softly to the fairy type. "It's fine, little one. It's fine."

Cleffa didn't calm down, however, instead babbling something. This time it wasn't between sobs, however, coming out much clearer. Then the pokemon pulled away slightly, and "saying" something else to her fellow fairy types. There was a reply, by one of the clefable and then the two started a conversation that only they could understand.

Confused, Lily turned towards Pierce.

"It's going to be fine, Lily," he told her, grinning as if he knew something she didn't. She had half a mind to ask him what that was, if there was actually something of the sort going on. Unfortunately, Cleffa and the clefable were still talking and she didn't want to interrupt that by speaking herself.

Instead, she had to conform herself looking between the two fairy types as they discussed whatever it was that they were talking about. Eventually though, something was said that made the clefable smile a sad smile while the cleffa sniffed. The conversation seemed to reach an end and the young pokemon in her arms let go of her.

That was when, with a sad smile of her own, Lily went to set her down. However, she didn't expect the pokemon to make a sudden, sharp motion midway through that. The girl couldn't help but let go of Cleffa then. Fortunately, nothing happened other than the pokemon falling on her feet.

Then Lily froze. Cleffa hadn't only made her let go, after all. No, the pokemon had also managed to snag something from her bag too. There stood the fairy type with a pokeball in her grasp. For a long moment, Lily didn't move and neither did the pokemon, even their surroundings seemed to have stopped.

"Well, go on, Lily," she heard Pierce urge her from behind her. His voice snapped her out of her frozen state as she knelt down in front of Cleffa.

"I… Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly. The response she got was a firm nod while the fairy type seemed to struggle to keep a serious expression while holding back from crying. It was honestly both adorable and heartbreaking. "If you are sure then…" Lily said, extending a hand and taking the pokeball before expanding it in his hand. Giving a hesitant look at Cleffa, she activated the device before the pokemon was absorbed in a red beam of light.

"Congratulations," Pierce told her, still grinning. "Told you it could happen, didn't I?" he added, reminding her that he was the whole reason she'd even tried to get a clefairy at all. If not for him, she might have just gone through Mt. Moon without even looking further. She'd have missed a lot of things without him, she realized.

"Thank you," she told him, smiling back, holding the pokeball in her hands for a moment before letting Cleffa out. The fairy type wasted no time before jumping on her so she could hold her as she had before. "Welcome to the team, Star."

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

And so, this mini-arc comes to a close and Nurse Lawson is given a break once more. Wonder how long it'll take our boy to start treating pokemon again though. We all know it's a matter of time, don't we?

Yeah, yeah, we do.

Also, Lily gets a cleffa! Many people guessed that though and I hope the ones that wanted Pierce to get one, or a clefairy, aren't too disappointed. It was just not to be, I guess.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, or if you just feel like supporting my writing, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Can you cook? I can… sort of. I usually prepare the most basic shit I can manage to get my hands on, more out of laziness than anything else though. I've tried my hand at some other things and so long as I have a recipe I can do a decent job… I think, at least.

See you.