Teams:

Pierce Lawson:

- Narcissa, Beedrill

- Orion, Onix

- Cygnus, Kadabra

- Bellatrix, Gyarados (Shiny)

- Andromeda, Vaporeon

Lillian Dale:

- Root, Bulbasaur

- Talon, Spearow

- Gem, Geodude

- Star, Cleffa

- Cinder, Vulpix

Saffron City VII

With nothing going on in his life, Pierce felt kind of odd.

Ever since he'd been dropped in that world, something had butted in on his days. The beedrill swarm had happened in Viridian Forest, the Rocket attack and the onix family situation had happened in Pewter, the mountain pokemon emergency had happened in Mt. Moon and then the water type emergency in Cerulean. There was always something happening that needed his attention, Pierce felt.

So, after Route 5 and a whole week at Saffron, he felt a little odd, having all the time in the world to dedicate to his own things. Not bad, obviously, but it was certainly a change of pace that caught his attention. It was an interesting feeling to experience, normality… for a definition of normality, considering he was in a fantasy world of sorts and had somewhat become some sort of celebrity somehow.

He wasn't complaining at all, of course. Especially since this had made it so that he had more time to work with his team, which translated into more progress being made without needing to resort to tutors. Not only did they get more training done, but they also got more battles done too, which translated into more experience and growth.

It was a good time for them training wise, basically.

That's why Pierce found himself at a table at the Pokemon Center with a cup of coffee in his hand and his notebook open in front of him. He was going over the information notes he had on his team and the training plans he'd come up with. He was at a bit of a crossroad spot, after all. Narcissa was almost done with Pin Missile. Orion had finished learning both Iron Tail and Curse. Cygnus had Foul Play down to pat and had started to learn Confusion although there was some time before that was usable. Andromeda had gotten the hang of Shadow Ball too, just the previous day.

All in all, they were all as good as they were going to be for some time.

Unless he wanted to put off the Saffron Gym for at least a week, he might as well start contemplating challenging it already. His options were limited and the battles for badges were getting harder, however. If he hadn't been confident before, he was even less so at that moment. Sabrina was tricky too, which didn't really help at all, paired with the other two things.

Sighing, Pierce took another sip from his coffee, noticing that it would get cold soon.

Setting the cup down, he massaged his eyelids wearily and pondered his options. He could challenge Sabrina and risk losing, which wouldn't be bad, but it could certainly impact his team. He could wait a little longer to have a few more options in their arsenal, like Narcissa's Pin Missile or Cygnus' Confusion. He could skip Saffron altogether and come back at a later point, continuing their trek with Lily, since the girl had already gotten the badge.

'Options are there,' Pierce thought, leaning back and looking at the ceiling as if looking for his answers there. Alas, the only thing he saw was the grid of panels over him and the lights. 'Well… I'm a pushover, so might as well be consistent about it, right?' he decided, a half-smile forming on his face.

His team wanted to go for it. He knew that without even having to ask them, even if he would, just in case. So, that's what they would do. Maybe it was rushed and not a good decision, but the worst that could happen was that they lost.

Sure, that might impact his pokemon, especially Narcissa, but losses were part of being a trainer and a team. It was inevitable that they'd face a loss even at an important battle. Taking that into account and the fact that Narcissa had trouble even dealing with normal losses… Well, it was concerning, but it wasn't like Pierce could avoid that forever. There was an argument to be made about waiting for a time when she was a little more used to losing, but that could just as well backfire, he thought.

'So… Might as well go for it,' he decided.

Otherwise, he knew he'd mull over that forever and never really reach a conclusion. He'd thought about the whole thing for a while already and there was no clear answer. So, it was time to go for one and be done with it. Of course, the obvious out was to delay, do something, anything other than challenging Sabrina…

But that was the cowards way out.

Admittedly, Pierce didn't consider himself a particularly brave person. Some people might think he was, considering the feats he pulled off with pokemon, but he was really not. He did those things because he was confident risks were calculated and low. He was confident that he could do things without there being actual danger involved.

This time though, he was faced with a danger that he couldn't avoid or mitigate. Maybe that was why challenges scared him in general, but especially this one. Alas, coward that he might be, Pierce couldn't back down or run away.

Because that'd be an insult to his team.

His pokemon worked tirelessly to improve themselves in order to battle and win. What kind of trainer would he be if he didn't respect that? What would it make him if he decided not to follow their example, give them the chance they trained for? Pierce didn't think he could look at himself in the mirror if he didn't at least do that much, if he didn't offer them the chance to prove themselves as they wanted.

'No way around it, I guess,' he thought, sighing and pulling out another notebook. This time, it was his challenge notebook, where he worked on preparations for Gym battles. Sabrina was about to put him to the test in a way neither Brock nor the Sisters had and he knew it.

'She can probably read the opponent's minds,' he thought, going to one of the biggest blanks in his notes. There were theories about that on the internet, but nothing was certain. 'Still worth considering. Wonder if I can do something about this…' he mused, tapping on the side of the page with his pencil.

There was a lot to work on indeed.

[}-o-{]

"Coward," Cygnus told him and he rolled his eyes.

'I prefer the word cautious,' he replied dryly.

Because yes, he'd decided not to put off the fight, something that his whole team had agreed to. However, he was going to wait a few days, if only just to get more data on Sabrina. He'd only gotten to see a handful of matches on the days they'd been there and he wanted more.

Gym matches were uploaded on the internet if the trainer allowed it with a consent agreement at the end of a match, something Pierce himself had agreed to without much issue previously and was unlikely not to in the future. Especially considering he was becoming kind of a public figure. Trying to hide that without a good reason was pointless and likely to be more annoying than anything.

The point was that he could check those, but not all of them could be found there, just the ones the Gym decided to offer. So, it left him feeling wary of the whole thing. Maybe there'd be something he missed if he trusted that too much. Thus, he'd started to spend an hour or two just sitting in the stands and watching the challenges happen.

A few days were nothing, really, and maybe Narcissa would get Pin Missile down.

He was less optimistic about Cygnus' Confusion, but it was what it was.

Maybe that was part of why the Psychic was annoyed.

"Of course not," was the scandalized response that came from the kadabra, which all but confirmed that he was actually right. "That's some twisted logic you are applying there, Helper-Voice. And entirely in the wrong."

If he thought he was doing anything to convince Pierce with the arguing, he was very mistaken.

He was pretty sure Cygnus' eye almost twitched then and there, just going by the annoyance. Which was music to his mind, really. With all the stress that came with preparing for the Gym challenge, Pierce needed some kind of outlet. That's where teasing came in…

And why Lily had ran away as soon as she could, probably having even gone out of her way to find a battleground that he was unlikely to go to after the job he'd decided to take.

Which brought him back to where he was, on his way to the address of said request. Someone had sent him a commission asking to help with a mystery pokemon that was causing a mess in their property. Normally, he'd be wary of a job so vague, considering the only one like that he'd taken had turned out to be an excuse to meet him and see him work on some peaceful pokemon nearby.

However, the person had added, separately, that their son was a fan of his and he'd appreciate meeting him. Surely they wouldn't have done that if the actual job was a lie, right? Call Pierce optimistic, but he wanted to believe in humanity a little bit. At least Pokemon humanity wasn't quite as far gone as the one from back in his world, so that was nice.

He'd like to keep some hope.

Just a little bit.

"You are thinking too much," Cygnus told him, to which Pierce turned to give him a flat stare. "It's already annoying that everyone looks at me," the kadabra grumbled, making Pierce roll his eyes and sigh. He could let it go, he supposed. They were still getting used to the stares his Psychic type got all the time and it was quickly becoming apparent that it was going to take a while. "Unfortunately."

'Well, you could-' he started suggesting, but he was quickly interrupted by a spike of annoyance.

"No," Cygnus said firmly. "I need to keep my body active, no matter how little. I won't give up on my goals just because it's annoying to be stared at. Let them. I'll show them that I'm not weird. They'll see," his pokemon declared, resolute as was befitting one of his passionate team members.

How had they ended up with a trainer like him, he'd never know. However, Pierce would always be in awe of them. They inspired him, he'd admit, even in his not so private mind. If it weren't for them, he probably wouldn't be half what he was at the moment. He likely would have settled somewhere and lived an unimpressive life.

Instead, there he was, allegedly high on the League's contact list for emergencies, with people telling him they were fans of him and he was friends with some rather important people. 'I'm never not gonna be surprised by all this,' he thought to himself, a little amused and a little intimidated. Because damn had his life changed over the last few months.

Then again, it all had started with him either dying or almost dying.

"Everything alright?"

'Just the usual,' Pierce projected at Cygnus, who was probably confused since half his thoughts were blocked and his mood had dampened quite a bit. 'Don't worry about it,' he waved off.

"You know I can't do that," the kadabra replied, sending his concern over and making him feel like shit.

'Just… thinking about how things have changed in my life,' he explained vaguely. That was as much as he could say, really. 'Back to this though, what pokemon do you think is causing trouble this time?' he asked in a blatant attempt at changing topics.

Cygnus, in a rare moment of being nice, allowed it with a nod.

His team was great, Pierce thought once again.

"Don't you forget it."

[}-o-{]

"He looks healthy and nothing seems wrong with his body," Pierce told his client's son – and his client too, he supposed, but mainly the kid – while looking at their pokemon. They'd asked for him to check, since he knew more than most about the subject, and to give advice, if possible. "Cygnus looked more or less the same. He just needs to be careful not to push himself too much or that'll cause problems. Doing what he feels comfortable with is fine, no need to push the limits, since their bodies are quite weak. No offense."

Indeed, the boy had an abra and the two of them were now training with Cygnus as a model. It had been a bit of a surprise, but it was also quite flattering, especially for his kadabra. Pierce was sure he'd deny it, but his Psychic had been standing a little straighter and puffing out his chest ever since.

Still though, both of them had made sure that the little abra had agreed to that training and Pierce had made extra sure to make the kid know not to force the Psychic. After all, the last thing he wanted to do was inspire someone to bully their own pokemon into a training and style that they didn't like. Cygnus was a special case, after all, in many ways.

It seemed that the kid was lucky to have a partner that agreed to go for it though.

"More than agreed," Cygnus corrected, his pride coming through the link in waves. "He wants to be like me," he all but exclaimed, which was rather adorable. He was like a kid being complimented.

Granted, that thought from Pierce ruined the kadabra's mood a little, but that was what Pierce was there for.

"Will he be like Cygnus when he gets stronger?" the kid asked him, looking up at him with big hopeful eyes and Pierce had to hold back from patting his head. He was acting like his younger cousins would back home and it was making him quite nostalgic. It hurt too, but Pierce was proud of the fact that it didn't completely ruin his mood.

"If you do a good job and are careful, no reason he can't be even better than Cygnus," he answered, holding back a roll of his eyes when he felt his kadabra's annoyance being projected at him and saw him all but huff as he turned away from him. Really, the Psychic couldn't let go of his pride for two seconds to please a child, huh? That was child behavior in Pierce's book.

"Did you hear that?!" the kid exclaimed, turning towards his abra and Pierce got some second-hand excitement from the Psychic. He did wonder why that was though, considering most didn't send stuff to anyone they didn't want.

"He's too young and too excited," Cygnus answered his unasked question, amused. "He's projecting too much, so it bleeds into the surroundings. Furthermore, we are related to what he's thinking about, so we are more likely to receive some too."

'Huh, good to know,' Pierce mused. He really needed to get in at least one of Sabrina's Psychic classes. She didn't teach many classes full time, but she'd hold courses every so often for people that were interested. According to the Sensational Sisters, she was trying to expand human Psychic culture, which was… impressive, he'd admit.

"Now, I believe I have a job to do?" he commented, glancing towards the father of the kid, who had been watching from the side throughout the little fan meet. This, however, prompted a rather whiny response from the boy. Alas… "We can continue later, ok, buddy?" Pierce said, giving in and patting the kid's head. "For now, I gotta solve your dad's issue."

"Fine," the boy mumbled, pouting.

"Kids, right?" the father asked him, evidently very amused by his son's behavior. "I almost want to tell you it's fine," he added, making the little one perk up. "Almost." And he deflated.

"It can be like that, yeah," Pierce replied with a chuckle. He was just going further and further down memory lane that day, it seemed. For once though, it wasn't all that bad. Maybe he was getting better, little by little. "Now, what can you tell me?"

The answer to that was… not much.

However, that was fine. At least it hadn't all been a lie to get him there to meet his son, Pierce supposed. He could work with what little the man could tell him. With that and some help from his pokemon, he thought he could find whatever was leaving scratches all over the place, moving stuff around and generally making a mess of things.

"Thanks for the help, girl," he said, after letting Andromeda out and asking her for assistance. She had a rather good sense of smell, after all, so he was hoping she could help him out. Between her and Cygnus, he thought they had a good chance of finding whoever was the culprit. And if they couldn't… Well, he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

"Woah, that's Andromeda," they heard the kid say from somewhere behind, which caused the vaporeon to preen a little at the attention. 'How'd I end up with such a proudful bunch of pokemon?' Pierce wondered, highly amused.

No wonder they had all agreed to participate in the videos. And if that hadn't been the reason, then Pierce expected they'd be much more enthusiastic in the future. Not that he was complaining, really. He did find the entire thing very amusing, however, and he'd be sure to tease them about it whenever he got the chance.

"Can we please move on?" Cygnus asked, but if he thought that'd get the idea out of Pierce's head, he was sorely mistaken. It seemed that had, indeed, been the idea, because the kadabra deflated.

"But yeah, we should get going. You can get all your praise after we are done," he told the two, getting a dual eye roll in return. They were just annoyed to have shown a childish side though, Pierce knew, which made the entire situation even better.

[}-o-{]

'Well… that was easier than I thought,' he mused to himself absently.

Sure, it had taken them almost an hour to track down the culprit with Andromeda's nose. They'd had to make quite the detour too, leaving the property and going through a few others that, when asked, reported to be having similar problems. It was just that they hadn't quite reached the point of calling for help like his clients had.

Eventually though, they'd found themselves in a park nearby, where Cygnus teleported to catch their target.

And then there they were.

"You want another berry?" he asked, getting an eager meow from the… Well, meowth. "Of course you do," he commented with a chuckle. "Gluttons, the lot of you," he added.

Amusingly, the meowth readily agreed.

"At least you are more honest than most," Pierce said, grinning. "Now, what to do with you though. Can't have you going back to causing trouble, can I?" he mused out loud for a moment. Not that the meowth paid attention, considering he'd already been distracted by the prospect of food.

From what he gathered, the meowth was young and was looking for a place to live, really. It was just that the city didn't offer many opportunities for food. So, he'd been a little rowdy when it came to finding some. Pierce needed to find a place where the Normal type could just go and have a nice life without worries nor bothering anyone else.

Fortunately, he had just the place in mind, and it was even nearby.

One of his previous jobs in Saffron had taken him to deal with a sick noctowl that had been disturbing people in the area. Everything had been fine after treating the guy though, and now Pierce had a sort-of friend that he could ask for a little favor. Which was letting the meowth live in his territory. Fortunately, noctowl weren't very territorial, so it should be fine so long as the cat pokemon didn't do something to get himself kicked out.

"Let's go, little one," he decided eventually, standing up with the meowth in his hands. This seemed to catch someone's attention though, and that was Andromeda. "What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Then he noticed staring not at him, but at the meowth in his arms and… 'Oh.' Well, that was amusing. His pokemon had decided to be extra adorable that day, for some reason. "I can carry you later, yeah?" he told the vaporeon, who huffed and turned aside.

If she thought he didn't catch her looking back a second after though, she was wrong.

Alas, for the moment, he was busy with something else, but he could spoil his vaporeon later. Together with everyone else, really. Maybe it was the rather adorable time he was having in the job, from the kid, to his abra, passing through Pierce's team members, but he found himself in a great mood. Something that was very much welcome after the rather stressful time he'd had that morning deciding what to do in regards to his Gym challenge.

"Weak."

'Shut up, Cygnus,' he replied, not even that breaking his smile. It was a good day, he decided. So, he might as well make the most of it and have just as good a time.

After all, after that, it'd be back to training and worrying about the battles to come. There was a lot to plan and train and prepare, all in the hopes that they'd be successful. He even had to prepare in case they weren't, considering how badly that could go.

"I preferred it when you were being obnoxious," Cygnus told him and he rolled his eyes.

"So, we are going to a little forest," Pierce said out loud to the meowth, who contorted his body to look up at him. "There's a noctowl there that's a friend of ours. He'll make sure you're fine over there. There's food and plenty of spaces for you to call a home," he explained, and the Normal type was definitely interested, by the looks of things. "Yeah, you'll like it."

After that, he got a questioning meow as the pokemon clawed lightly at his shirt. For once, he didn't know what he was being told by a pokemon, which wasn't as common as one would think. Alas, it was still mostly guesswork on his part, so sometimes it just couldn't be helped.

"Wants to know if he'll see us again," Cygnus supplied, being helpful for once. "What do you mean for once?!"

"We can visit, if you want," he answered, plastering a smile while he ignored his kadabra's glare. This response seemed to please the cat pokemon, who rubbed the side of his head against his chest. "We'll have to leave sometime soon, but we can visit while we are here," he added, just so that there wouldn't be any misunderstandings or hurt feelings later.

He almost added that they might come around whenever they decided to visit Saffron in the future too but… Well, Pierce had entirely too many promises like that already. He'd decided to be more careful with those, else he'd have to organize a schedule just to be able to go everywhere he'd need to in a year.

Alas, that last part made the meowth whine.

"Don't be like that. We are here now, right? We can have fun, you can meet the rest of my team, and we can play for a bit," Pierce reassured, petting the meowth as he continued walking towards the noctowl's home in the woods. "It'll be fine," he said, both to himself and the meowth.

The little guy would get over it after a bit. He was just happy to have someone in his corner, after all. He'd apparently been having a bit of a hard time, after all. So, now that Pierce had been kind and helped him out, he'd latched a little. He'd be fine once he realized that he didn't need Pierce.

Pierce would be sad to let go too, but that was the case with all pokemon he befriended while traveling.

Such was the problem of constantly moving around, but if he didn't, he wouldn't meet so many interesting creatures and people.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

What's this, things going well without anything unexpected and the gym challenge close by? Will Saffron actually take less than 50 chapters to get done? Say it isn't so!

In all seriousness, I find it as odd as Pierce does, honestly.

Still, I hope you guys 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: What part of Pierce's slice of life do you like the most? Free time with the team/Lily? The jobs? Training? Battles? No promises this will affect my writing, but I see answers leaning heavily in favor of one, it might… Again though, no promises.

See you.