Pewter City XIII

Pierce was once more sitting at the stands for the tournament battles with Cygnus sitting on his shoulders. There wasn't a whole lot of conversation going on, however. Since the abra had been training the previous day, he'd been exhausted that day. Especially considering he'd pushed off his sleep quite a bit. Truly, having only around six hours of activity in a day was a bit limiting, but it was how it was. Pierce was certainly not gonna push his psychic companion unless he needed to.

So, for the moment, Cygnus was sleeping, resting his head on top of Pierce's. The trainer would wake him up whenever it was Lily's turn to compete. For the moment, it'd be just him, but that was fine. Pierce was kind of curious about how it would go for the psychic type, however, when he tried to relay to him the battles he'd missed through telepathy. That was bound to be interesting one way or another.

As it was, Pierce just sat there and witnessed the battles that would take place before Lily's. They'd been given the name of her opponent that morning and they'd worked on a few strategies. Apparently, she'd be going against the flying type specialist. Or who they theorized was a flying type specialist. They'd seen a grand total of two pokemon, so it wasn't like things were set in stone on that front.

For all they knew, she could pull out a rhyhorn or something, after all.

Lily and Pierce had come up with several plans for the girl still. Many of them hinging on her actually being a flying specialist, but even if she wasn't, they'd fit well enough. She had two flying types, after all, and she wasn't likely to have that many different options. Besides, everyone was likely to try what Lily was doing, which is to say hiding pokemon that they hadn't shown yet unless they really needed them.

For example, Lily was unlikely to use Narcissa in at least a few battles unless she came across someone with a strength against her pokemon or someone with a weakness to bug typing that she might have trouble defeating with her other pokemon. Well, either that or if things were looking bad for her. After all, the beedrill was the strongest member on Lily's temporary team, with her being fully evolved.

'Poochyena guy has a nuzleaf, dark type specialist?' Pierce noted down after one of the fights. That wasn't all, of course. He went on the jot down a few more lines, mainly regarding what the aforementioned grass type had seemed capable of doing and a few more things, like how it seemed pretty damn aggressive, even by dark type standards. The thing was likely to fight Narcissa if they came across it, what with the double weakness to bug type and a normal one to poison.

He made sure to look out for the specific match that would decide who Lily's opponent would be. He'd have done that before, of course, but they hadn't really released the matchings until that day. They'd taken the previous brackets and re-randomized them for the second tournament day, apparently. He wasn't sure if that was how tournaments usually went but it was interesting. It prevented people from researching their opponents too much. Or maybe there were other reasons, he was certainly no tournament organizer.

Regardless, he noticed that the next opponent was someone… That he didn't have notes off. After seeing the fight, he knew why. Maybe it was mean or hypocritical or ironic of him to say, but they weren't very impressive. Their pokemon were alright and their fighting were alright, but they were just that. There was nothing that stood out, really.

He noted the person's pokemon and what they could do as best he could, but it wasn't very… Well, it'd give Lily a heads up on what to expect, but that was about it. There was nothing to really be concerned about, nor was there anything to worry too much about either. The extra advantage would be welcome though, and that was reason enough to put actual effort into it.

Even if the opponent wasn't impressive or anything, if Lily could get an easy win, then that'd be great. There were several fights happening that day, and even if the pokemon participating would be treated for wounds, they'd still carry the exhaustion from previous fights. Having an easier time with a win could make the difference later down the line.

"The fight is coming now, Cygnus," he mumbled, patting his psychic type on the leg. The pokemon didn't answer, but Pierce felt the grogginess brush against his mind. That was all he needed to know that the abra was up, even if it'd take him a moment to be fully awake. That was the whole point of waking him up slightly ahead of time, after all. "What do you think? Easy win or really easy win?" he asked.

Instantly, he felt foreign amusement in his mind, making him grin.

"Really easy, huh? Makes sense," he mumbled mock seriously, still smiling. "You think she'll use Narcissa in the first battle?" he asked then, receiving a slow feeling of doubt. "Yeah, probably gonna save her for later. Unless something unexpected happens."

They knew that, of course, but he was just making idle chatter, really. Pierce wanted to make sure his friend was fully awake when the time came, just in case. Also because he was getting a little hungry but he didn't have time to go get something, so he'd have to wait until after the fight to do that. Fortunately, once that happened, he could take advantage of that and go talk with Lily regarding her next opponent and such.

The picture of a berry appeared in his mind.

"Sure thing, Cygnus," he replied with a snort. "I'll get something for you too. Fairly sure I have some of those back at the Center… Wish I had brought our stuff with me but bringing the backpack felt like too much. Guess I'm gonna have to pay for an overpriced one at a stall," he commented before sighing.

Well, at least the appreciation he felt from his pokemon made up for it a little, he supposed.

Soon enough, the two contestants stood on each side of the field. Once there, the referee called for the first one to release their pokemon. Unfortunately, the one chosen for that was Lily, which was less than ideal, but so was the nature of battles. Sometimes you were lucky and could see what the other person would send first, and sometimes it was the other way around.

Hesitating for a moment, Lily released Talon first. It made sense, considering that Root was weak to flying type and so was Narcissa. Sure, the latter could definitely make up for that with her higher power level but there was also the fact that Lily wanted to keep her as an ace up her sleeve. Thus, her own flying type was chosen.

Pierce grimaced then as her opponent let out her pokemon.

A butterfree.

That was less than ideal too, considering that meant Talon was up against a fully evolved pokemon. Depending on how well trained that pokemon was, it could be troublesome. Pierce was betting on that being the case even. Especially considering how butterfree were weak against flying, which meant that the girl had to have a reason for that choice instead of going with her hoothoot. After all, that would mean at least type neutrality between it and Talon.

"Lily might be in a bit of trouble," he mumbled, feeling concern coming from Cygnus too.

The starting call was made then and both trainers shouted their orders instantly. It seemed that this particular fight would be decided really quick. Lily commanded an Aerial Ace and the other girl called for Stun Spore. Pierce was fairly sure that would be on the former's side, that is until the thing actually played out.

Normally, Talon would use Aerial Ace to mostly get over the advantage Narcissa had on him, and it worked. The only reason Pierce's partner hadn't started losing fights after that move was added to the flying type's repertoire was because of her defensive options, mainly Iron Defense. Evidently, there were other ways of dealing with the move, as demonstrated by the butterfree. Instead of taking the move, however, it adjusted his flight while using its own move and bathing the place with orange powder.

As it did, Talon only seemed to hit partially. It was better than nothing at all, but the bird pokemon ate the full brunt of his opponent's move. That was bad for Lily, that was for sure.

Regardless of that, his friend commanded another Aerial Ace, clearly wanting to end this battle as fast as possible. Pierce couldn't say there were better options, especially when Talon was liable to drop at any time after Stun Spore. Her opponent wasn't just standing there, however, immediately calling for Confusion.

That made Pierce grimace and Cygnus twitch. Yeah, that was bad. Talon swerved violently to the side, barely avoiding hitting the ground as if he had been hit by a strong gust of wind. Fortunately, the spearow held up, but this fight wasn't going as Lily wanted, that was for sure. That's when the girl rephrased her order.

"Aerial Ace!" she called again, baffling Pierce for a moment. "Treat Confusion as if it were wind, Talon!" she added, not really clearing up any of the man's doubts, but he guessed he'd see how things went.

Pierce's confusion lasted only for a moment before he saw it in action. It meant not trying to push past the psychic force, but instead making it less meaningful. When it pushed Talon away, he simply flew to the side circling a bit instead of trying to power through or getting thrown back. It seemed to work out fairly well. The spearow was at least making progress towards the butterfree, which was certainly a win of its own.

He was going slower, however, and that was concerning. Stun Spore was doing its job and that meant that Lily needed to end the battle fast, otherwise she would be out. Her opponent knew that too, because she ordered her bug type to literally buy time with Confusion until Talon fell. That was bad-

"Leer and Aerial Ace!" Lily called then, making Pierce's eyebrow fly up. 'Why Leer of all moves?' he wondered. That is, until he watched the results. It seemed that the move had somehow broken the hold of Confusion for a moment, allowing him to hit the butterfree. "Peck, keep it up until they're out!" Lily ordered then, and Talon followed that to the letter.

Sure enough, her opponent was out.

'Mental note,' Pierce mused, narrowing his eyes a little. 'Don't forget that there can be more to a move than meets the eye,' he thought, taking a deep breath in. Sure, Leer's effect wouldn't help much in the fight, but it held an intimidation factor that could also be usable. He'd need to keep that in mind for future reference. That was for sure.

On his shoulders, Cygnus nodded his agreement with that, letting him know that he'd also try to remember that. Regardless, Pierce also noted it down in a corner of his notebook. That one was mostly for Lily's possible opponents, but… Oh well, he couldn't pass up the chance of learning something.

Lily retreated Talon after that, which made sense. There was no need to waste more of the flying type's energy when it was suffering a status effect. Better to save it for after it was treated and use it more efficiently in the next battle. As for her opponent, she let out zubat. It was a fortunate choice for Lily, considering that hoothoot would probably know one or several psychic moves and those were effective against bulbasaur.

As it was, the bat pokemon was a much better option for Pierce's friend.

Still complicated, as evidenced by the fight that followed. Root had trouble catching the flying type with his attacks, understandably. The bulbasaur had experience against such opponents though, considering he had two of those in his team, but it still took some time to finally nail the zubat with a Vine Whip.

It didn't take the pokemon out, of course, especially since the flying type knew Leech Life. However, it got the snowball moving downhill for her opponent. Root didn't finish the battle unscathed though, considering how many moves he'd had to tank and how much he'd had to dodge, but he finished victorious, which was the important part. Still…

"That was more even than I thought it'd be," Pierce mumbled, receiving agreement from Cygnus. So far, he'd seen Lily win a whole lot of battles as a trainer. Not all of them, but enough to make him think that she was a very good battler. That wasn't even mentioning that she was sponsored by Professor Oak himself, which meant that she was probably a big deal.

All in all, Pierce had thought she'd mostly coast through most things, maybe struggle here and there but mostly come up on top. Like a main character or something like that, that was the view he'd had of her. It had been unrealistic, he knew, but that was the impression he'd gotten and nothing had really gone against that until then and there.

Seeing Lily struggle midway through the tournament was a bit of a wake up call. 'If she has this much trouble, what's left for me?' Pierce wondered, nervousness growing inside him. That's when he felt something pull on his hair before a wave of reassurance hit him. It was soon followed by encouragement and contentment.

"Thanks, buddy," he mumbled, giving one last glance towards the battlefield before standing up from where he sat and moving off the stands. Time to get something to eat and go give a little report to Lily. Sure, being a trainer wasn't an easy thing, but that was something he'd known already. He just needed to do his best. It was all constant reminders that he needed to try harder, really.

Determination filled him twice over, his own and his pokemon's. His team seemed intent in going down the battling path and… Pierce didn't find himself as against it as he did during the first few days after waking up in Viridian Forest. Each training session, each battle participated in, each match witnessed…

It reminded him of old times, when he'd had to play a sport for one reason or another. He'd never been a fan, because he wasn't a very physically inclined person and because he wasn't good at them. However, once he was in the field, he'd always try, he'd always get the smallest bit into it. Enjoying the experience for some reason before going back to being indifferent once the thing was over.

Now, however, he felt more and more drawn to it. He wanted to battle and win. He wanted to stand there, victorious, with his pokemon by his side. He'd always been fine being a nobody, but he didn't want that for Narcissa, Orion and Cygnus. The abra on his shoulders pulled on his hair lightly, but that didn't deter his thoughts.

No, he wanted them to be known. He wanted his team to shine. He wanted to give them the chance to do so. And, contrary to many similar resolutions he'd had through his life, Pierce was going to do something about it. He'd continue to learn, he'd continue to train them, he'd continue to get better together with them.

If he had any say in the matter, his team would rise.

As he walked, that decision solidified more and more in his mind. He didn't feel the usual hesitation, the usual need to find an out for himself, an excuse or a reasonable reason why his wishes weren't realistic. He didn't want to find any.

"Guess it's decided for me, huh?" he mused out loud, receiving a sharp affirmation from Cygnus. "We'll definitely go down the battling path, at least as long as it takes us to get to that point, huh?" he said, and he felt his determination burn alongside Cygnus's.

Was that how Narcissa felt all the time? If so, suddenly a lot of things made sense. With some luck, not everyone in his team would be like that though. Things could get out of hand if that was the case. The doubt that reached him at those thoughts wasn't very reassuring, but for once it wasn't as frightening a thought anymore.

Pierce grinned.

[}-o-{]

"Congrats on the win," Pierce said, walking up to where Lily sat by herself and making her look up. "That looked like it was harder than expected," he added, drawing a grimace from the girl. She still grinned, however.

"Yeah, it was," she replied with a shrug. "We pulled through though and I didn't need to use Narcissa, which was nice. Thanks," Lily added then, accepting the snack and drink Pierce bought for her. "Anything I should know?" she asked then, before moving to take the notebook Pierce took from Cygnus and extended to her.

"Not really. Your next opponent didn't look very impressive, really, as you probably noticed," he said, taking a seat next to her. "Granted, maybe they've got a few aces up their sleeves, but if so, then they do a good job acting the part of a run of the mill trainer," he explained with a shrug, considering what else to tell her. "I'm fairly sure the Self-Destruct guy is coming your way after that one though."

"Ugh, I really hope not," she muttered, reading through his notes with a focused expression. Then she sighed and looked up. "With some luck, he'll get disqualified because of pokemon endangering. Self-Destruct isn't against battling or tournament rules, but overuse of it can really affect a pokemon. If he uses the move with every pokemon for every battle, he's bound to injure them seriously."

"Well, I definitely want him to be disqualified then," Pierce said. He hadn't known that. He just thought it was a move with a lot of backlash and that was it, not that a pokemon could actually get injured with it. Surely someone would stop the guy, right? He'd used the move with both pineco and geodude in his last battle. If he was using that move from the very beginning, Pierce didn't see a reason why he would stop…

Although he wished that'd be the case, if only for the pokemon's sake.

"So, average one, Self-Destruct, anything else?" Lily asked, looking around as if that would give her clues too. Pierce followed her eyes, seeing other trainers waiting for their battles and looking at the battles on the screen. He'd been checking on things while he was out there, but Lily didn't really pay all that much attention to it. She'd said she didn't want to focus all that much on fights further than the next one. That was why he was taking note of stuff for the future for her. Even at that moment, as they discussed the several possibilities, Lily was mostly concerned with the next one and the notes Pierce had taken on them.

"The guy with poochyena, he has a nuzleaf too," Pierce told his friend, drawing a narrow-eyed look and a stiff nod.

"Narcissa is definitely making an appearance there, it seems," Lily decided, pursing her lips. "If that one is as strong as the poochyena seemed to be, she'll be the one to deal with either of them. Maybe both, if things go well," she continued. "The man seemed to be a good trainer with strong pokemon. I don't think I want to risk trying to hide Narcissa there."

"Fair enough," Pierce nodded.

"So, average, Self-Destruct, strong dark types," Lily mused, reading through his notes intently. "Maybe someone else other than that one, but unlikely."

"Yep," he agreed with a nod. "And then you are through for tomorrow's semifinals and finals," he finished for her. "Which means you really won't know who your first opponent will be, since they'll roll again. I'll try to get information from as many people as I can."

"Thanks, Pierce," Lily told him, smiling softly at him. "This is a lot of effort you are putting into helping me win the tournament and I appreciate it," she said, looking down at his notebook. Suddenly feeling awkward, he brought a hand up and rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's nothing," he waved off. "I mean, we already agreed to share the prizes and this will be good for Narcissa," he said, shrugging. "Besides, this is actually helping me a lot. Catching up with a lot of trainer knowledge I should have. It's like a crash course."

"If you say so," Lily mumbled, fidgeting with one of the pages of his notebook. "Still, after you helped me through Viridian Forest, the thing with my birthday and now this… Way to make me feel like a shitty friend, Pierce," she accused him lightly with an uneasy smile.

"Don't think too much about it, yeah? You've been helping me a lot too. Friends don't keep track of that kind of stuff anyway," he told her with a chuckle. "With that said… I should go and continue watching the matches, if you are done with the notes. I need to check the ones that went after you. I must have missed at least one match already."

"Right, give me a second," Lily mumbled, reading through his notes once more before nodding and passing him the notebook. "Don't think this is over though. I'm gonna find a way to repay you, just you wait, Mr. Lawson."

He just laughed.

"Sure you will, Ms. Dale," he replied as he stood up. "Good luck on the next few matches, yeah? And don't forget to eat," he told her, reminding her that he'd brought her food and a drink too. Fortunately, it wasn't anything that mattered overly much if it got cold.

"See you later," Lily called after him, making him turn slightly and wave at her before he left to go to the stands again. She might think he was doing her a great favor or something, but that wasn't how he saw it. Narcissa was in the tournament, after all, and Pierce wanted to help her win it as much as possible. Sure, it was for Lily too, but if the girl didn't want to receive too much help he wouldn't have done it. For his pokemon partner though? You could bet he would force Lily to accept the help if he needed to.

A wave of appreciation reached him from Cygnus, who had remained mostly silent.

"We'll also have lots to tell Orion after this, which is a plus, huh?" he commented idly, drawing amusement from the abra. "The kid sure gets excited easily. Shame he's young and still recovering to really battle or train very hard," Pierce mused, clicking his tongue. "I'm sure he'll be very impatient once we start actually traveling and all that."

Cygnus readily agreed with that assumption.

"I don't think he'll like the fact that the next Gym isn't gonna be for him, even if he's grown enough to actually participate anyway," Pierce said then, drawing even more amusement from the psychic type. "Somehow, I don't think the water type Gym will be for him," he added dryly, and he was fairly sure he was receiving the abra version of a laugh to his mind. "I'll let Orion and his mother know how much that amuses you."

That gave the psychic pause.

"Not so smug anymore, huh?" Pierce asked with a grin that the abra couldn't see but likely could feel. "Besides, you aren't much better, are you, Mr. I-can-only-teleport?" he added, getting a slight feeling of annoyance from Cygnus. "Yeah. Lots of work to do all around, evidently," he said as he continued walking.

Somehow, he didn't mind. It even sounded fun, if he was honest.

They'd get there eventually.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

I know I'm taking my time with the tournament stuff, but it's an important event, even if Pierce isn't actually part of it. Even if he's just a witness from the outside, it's still the first competitive pokemon event he's seen, and I feel like that's important. It's part of our MC's eternally developing determination and the foundations for his future.

Or so I think. Do you agree with me?

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: Do you think our boy, Pierce, will meet a Legendary? If yes, which one? If not, why?

See you.