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 XI

It was early in the morning, but the temperature was already pretty high.

Pierce wasn't a fan.

As he walked through Saffron, he already felt kind of sweaty, if not much. It was uncomfortable and the coffee he was drinking as he moved through the streets wasn't helping. It was all shaping up to be a very much not enjoyable morning. Alas, such was the drawback of summer. Swimming was a great plus, for sure, but hot weather was just plain worse than cold weather.

He really didn't like sweating.

Taking a deep breath in, he held back the urge to tell Andromeda, who was walking beside him, to hit him with a Water Gun just to cool him down. It was a close thing though, truly. If it weren't for the occasional breeze hitting him with air that was at least a little cooler, he might have actually gone for it.

It seemed he'd woken up with one of those moods that day.

That wasn't ideal, but it was what it was. Pierce would have to make do, because he didn't have all the time in the world and he had things to do. They were done with Saffron, after all, so he needed to get everything that remained done so that they could move on. He didn't want to stall Lily's journey more than he already had. So, there was no waiting to be in a better mood or whatever.

He really had woken up in a picky mood, huh?

Pierce sighed, drawing a look from Andromeda.

"Don't mind me, girl," he said, taking another sip from his coffee. "I'm just being more stupid than usual today," he added, rubbing his face with his free hand. Andromeda yipped at that, looking exaggeratedly confused. "Ha, ha. Very funny," he muttered, although he had a half-smile on his face.

It wasn't like he couldn't take a little teasing himself…

But…

"I seem to remember someone being extra silly this morning. Something about not wanting to get up or some such," he commented idly, as if speaking to nobody in particular. Beside him, Andromeda started walking more stiffly and she was doing her best not to look at him now. Yeah, if you want to tease, you should be prepared to be teased back.

They continued walking like that until they reached their destination.

"Here we are, again," he commented, finishing his coffee and throwing the paper cup in a nearby bin. Andromeda yipped her confirmation, apparently not in any hurry to get inside, much like he was. "Well, no point delaying," he added, pushing open the door to the Saffron Gym and walking inside.

Why were they there?

Because he wanted to assist at least a few of Sabrina's lessons on Psychic stuff for humans. Much like with the Dojo, they were open to whoever wanted to join them and Pierce was definitely interested in learning a bit about it. Who knew, maybe there was a chance of him having at least some aptitude for the stuff and getting to do something with it? He didn't hope for much, honestly, but being able to do anything at all as a "Psychic" would be nice.

However, the surprises would start even before he could properly join the class.

Why?

Because, as Andromeda and him walked into the Gym, they were met with Sabrina, of all people, standing beside the entrance desk. She looked the same as when he'd battled her, although she always looked the same, in fairness. Her impassive expression directed firmly towards him, which he'd admit was a little unnerving. 'Ok, this is how today's gonna go, huh?' he thought wryly to himself.

"Pierce Lawson," the Gym Leader greeted with a slight nod, almost a twitch of her neck really. "I've been waiting for you."

"Good morning," he replied, trying and probably failing to put on a casual expression. He considered using his mental block technique – if it could be called that, really – to keep her out of his mind, but that sounded exhausting, really. The gym challenge had been bad enough for him and he'd be happy not to go through that again, at least not soon. "Sorry for making you wait," he added.

"No need to be sorry," the woman told him flatly. "You're here for my classes," she stated more than asked, to which he blinked. "We can be on our way if you are ready."

"... Sure," he replied, feeling a little weirded out. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was all just… odd. Like a sort of Uncanny Valley thing where it all looked normal enough, but just off somehow. However, before he could think that over, Sabrina nodded and turned to walk away. Pierce glanced towards the secretary behind the desk and gave her an awkward greeting before following after the Gym Leader.

Well, that day had gone from mildly irritating to weird real quick. He wasn't sure that was an improvement, but it was definitely a change. So, Pierce followed after Sabrina like that, remaining awkwardly silent as they moved through the Gym and eventually found themselves at the door of a rather spacious room. He hesitated to call it a classroom though, despite the fact that it was.

It was just a little… weird too. It was sort of divided into several different areas, one of which was full of cushions and puff seats. There was another that had tables and chairs spread around like it was some sort of cafe or restaurant. There was another that was empty except for the floor mats covering the area. A different one seemed to be some kind of garden space with a skylight over it. And then there were some others, but he didn't dwell on them much. All areas had at least a few people in them though, he noticed.

"Do you mind if I form a link with you?" Sabrina asked, to which he blinked and refocused on her. He was a little surprised by the question, mostly because it had been a question at all. Although, maybe he shouldn't have been. Psychic pokemon had an etiquette in regards to touching others' minds in that they tended to ask for permission to delve any deeper than surface level unless the situation was dire. Hell, even a shallow connection was treated seriously.

However, Pierce had spent so much time worrying about Sabrina peeking into his mind for the challenge that he'd kind of gotten a little paranoid. A battle might offer a semi-acceptable chance for such a thing to happen though. There were records of not only Sabrina but other Psychic humans mind reading during battles and it was "accepted", sort of. It was just that things were a little more serious for Pierce, considering the secrets that he held. Still though, he imagined it was some of that pokemon logic bleeding onto humans too, in that battles were just that important and rules bended a lot easier for them.

"If not, that's fine," Sabrina said, apparently taking his silence as an answer. "It'll make things harder and more complicated, but there's nothing wrong with that. We are all entitled to our minds," the Gym Leader told him, turning to look around the room. "Do any of these areas call to you as a place that'd allow you to think clearly? Maybe you have a preference for something else?"

"... The garden works," he answered after glancing around. In truth, he imagined being underwater in a pool would do much better. Maybe it'd even be an option, considering that last question, however… Things were looking like they'd require more talking and such, which being out of water would help with. "About the linking, I… Could you see anything during the battle?" he asked, more nervous than he probably should be.

Surely something would have keyed him to the fact that she did if it had happened, right? No way nothing had happened if she got so much as a single look at his old world. Or, at least, that's what he thought. For all he knew, his understanding of things was completely off and he was missing something obvious.

"Not much," Sabrina replied, which caused him to stiffen a little. "Barely some glimpses here and there," she added, which was a little more reassuring. Maybe his concentration on the "block" had slipped here and there? That wouldn't surprise him one bit. "I have to say though, you're the third person to keep their minds to themselves against me without special training that I know of."

"Third?" he asked, blinking. He was doing that a whole lot that day, Pierce realized. Still though, that number felt so very small. Surely there were others, right? On top of that, it made him quite curious as to- "Can I know who the other two are?"

"Samuel Oak and Lance Blackthorn," she answered, just as flatly as she had every time that day… or ever, really. Pierce, for his part, almost stopped walking towards the garden. Those were certain names to drop on him. Then again, with such a small number of people that had achieved what she said, he guessed it made some sense.

Still, being told that he was part of that list of names was… something.

"... I guess I don't mind the link, then," he said, deciding that he'd process the bomb Sabrina had just dropped on him at some other point. Especially when he felt her presence in his mind, not unlike Cygnus' but also very much so at the same time. It was an odd feeling, almost like it was the same thing but he could just tell that it was different, somehow.

It had really gone from a generally annoying day to a generally odd one, evidently.

Pierce wasn't sure he preferred it like that.

"Your mind is… peculiar," Sabrina said, speaking in his mind. Even with all the practice he'd had with Cygnus though, it was like it had all vanished into thin air, because seeing her mouth completely closed while hearing her voice was very odd. "Matter of getting used to it. Everyone has to get over their little hang-ups when dealing with Psychics. We go, after all, against what one would consider "normal" and that disturbs people."

'Fair enough,' he replied, playing things off as if her picking up on thoughts he hadn't meant to "voice" hadn't thrown him off a little. God, it was like all the way at the beginning with Cygnus. 'Doesn't matter though, or does it? I'd rather get started.'

"It matters and at the same time not," Sabrina answered… without really answering. He really hoped she wouldn't play the cryptic-sage-master role, because that'd be annoying. "I do not, but it's often better to leave certain things for the students to figure out."

'Sure thing,' he replied, taking a deep breath in as he took in his surroundings. At the center of the garden space, he could barely see the other corners of the room. It was all that big, he supposed, or maybe it was the garden's layout that helped give that illusion that he was in the middle of nowhere surrounded by plants. Ultimately, it didn't matter.

Instead, Pierce took a seat on a rock bench and settled his hand on top of Andromeda's head when she jumped and lied beside him. She'd been following him around all the while, but she'd decided to thoroughly honor her "Watcher" title and just blend with the background while keeping an eye on things. With a friend by his side and a nice sight around him, Pierce thought he was in a good spot to delve into his mind, which was probably the point.

Now, it was just a matter of getting used to the presence in his mind so that he could, hopefully, move on to dealing with his own "presence", as it were.

"Well put," Sabrina told him, making him turn towards her. "The first thing you need to do, after all, is get a feel of your own mind. It might sound nonsensical, but this is the first step… and one of the ones that people struggle the most with."

'Encouraging,' he thought wryly, taking a deep breath in and readying himself for a weird and frustrating morning.

[}-o-{]

"No, buddy, you can't keep digging that way," Pierce said, looking at the sandshrew in front of him with an unimpressed expression. The little shit tried to look cute, but he was having none of that. This was the second time he'd had to come and deal with him. "Don't give me that," he continued, keeping his look the same. "I really will have to take you away from here and I don't wanna. So, behave, alright?"

The Ground type's response was to whine and try to look pitiful.

Which he did, but it still didn't work.

"Yeah, no," Pierce told him flatly. "Stop it, or I'll set Bellatrix on you," he threatened. He could have gone with Andromeda, which was actually behind him. However, his gyarados was a little more intimidating, even without being present. Who'd have thunk, eh? "What's it going to be, buddy?" he asked.

The sandshrew finally dropped his act and glared at him. Pierce didn't much care for his annoyance. He'd tried the reasonable approach and the pokemon had still decided to be a little shit, so he didn't care anymore. If he was determined to cause trouble, then he'd deal with him in a completely different manner. He wasn't a fan of the traditional "beat the pokemon until it stops bothering" approach, but it was so used because it was effective. So, he'd resort to that if the pokemon in question didn't leave him any choice.

Ultimately, the Ground type grumbled something and nodded.

"I'm warning you. Follow our agreement or I won't be nice the next time I have to come around," he added for good measure. If he had to teleport back from wherever he might be in the future, then he'd do it. At that point, it'd be a matter of feeling guilty about leaving a client with a problem that was supposed to be solved and wasn't. "Honestly," he huffed, standing up and cracking his neck.

He loved pokemon, he really did, but there would always be exceptions to every rule. Little shits that were determined to be little shits was one of those things. What the sandshrew was doing wasn't just a little mischief. His burrow was literally threatening to impact the structural integrity of a building and Pierce would be damned if he didn't take that seriously.

As such, he pretended not to notice when Narcissa made a threatening sound and hit the pokemon with the most underpowered Giga Drain.

It wasn't about the damage, after all, but about sending a message.

"Behave yourself, buddy," he repeated for good measure, fixing the sandshrew with what he hoped was an effective intimidating look. Either Narcissa was great at threatening pokemon or he'd done a good job, because the pokemon shrunk back and scurried back to its burrow.

For the sake of his pride, Pierce decided to think it was the latter option.

"I'm sorry," he said as he walked away to the man that had sent the request for that job. "If you notice anything again, send me another message and I'll deal with it more… firmly," he promised, hating that he had to say that at all. It was shameful, to have to say that after having said the issue was solved. Alas, it was what convincing pokemon – or people for that matter – was bound to cause at some point.

Just because he tried to be reasonable didn't mean everyone else would too.

"Don't worry about it," the man told him, waving off his words. However, even though he tried to put on a smile, it was evident that he was far from happy. Pierce didn't blame him one bit. "God knows I had to give my children a few scoldings before a lesson finally sunk in. This doesn't look any different."

"Well, you're not wrong," Pierce replied wryly. "If you need anything, in regards to this or anything else, just give me a call," he added, rubbing the back of his neck. His head was still hurting a little from his lesson with Sabrina and dealing with a frustrating pokemon hadn't helped. Maybe he could take something for it?

"Will do," his client told him, this time his smile looking a little more genuine, if amused. "You look like you need some rest, by the way."

"You're not wrong," he replied with a weary chuckle.

Shortly afterwards, he was walking away from the place, with Cygnus beside him. Narcissa's turn had finished, or something along those lines. Apparently, his team had taken to heart an idle comment he made about it being better to have only one of them out at a time accompanying him in public. They were now taking turns or something like that. Or, at least, they seemed to be switching between each other without any input from him… Other than asking to release the next one in the cycle or whatever.

It was interesting, but Pierce didn't have the emotional bandwidth to deal with that at the moment.

Maybe he'd ask later.

A sound from beside him made him pause and turn to the side… and then pause again. 'That's who I think it is, right?' he asked in his mind, wondering if he should feel annoyed, happy or more tired. It was a weird, unexpected moment like that, he supposed.

"It is," Cygnus confirmed, making him take a deep breath in.

"Hey, buddy," Pierce greeted, forcing a weary smile on his face. "What are you doing all the way over here?"

As an answer, the meowth moved and rubbed his body against his leg before meowing something at him.

It was going to be a long day, Pierce guessed.

"You're probably not wrong."

[}-o-{]

"You like it?" he asked the meowth after passing it a bowl of kibble mixed with some berries that he thought would work. He hadn't had the chance to try out many options with the little one before nor with others of his species so… Might as well. "Glad to hear it," he commented with a smile when the Normal type made his approval very clear.

Sitting at a park with a cute pokemon, nature around and his team members out seemed to be just what he needed. Since he wasn't moving around or in places where people circulated a lot, Pierce had decided to let out everyone, even Orion. Sure, that'd meant he had to move out of the paths of the park and onto an open grass area, but that worked just fine for him.

It was all peaceful, he had good company and he didn't need to think very hard about anything in particular.

It was perfect.

That's why he dropped back and just laid on the soft grass, closing his eyes. At least he was relatively sure that his team would wake him up eventually or if anything happened. That reassurance helped him relax even more and he could almost feel sleep reaching for him. He didn't fall into its embrace though. Mostly because he was enjoying the atmosphere plenty.

Also because Andromeda seemed to have decided to lie down and press against his side. The coolness of her soft scales further anchored him to the realm of awakeness, but he didn't mind. A smile tugged at his lips though, when he felt something equally as soft but in this case warm press against his other side.

Idly, he moved his hand to pet the meowth.

"Rest, Helper-Voice. We'll keep an eye on things here," Cygnus told him and he almost protested, but he didn't muster the will to even in his mind. Instead, he just relaxed. If he was to fall asleep, so be it, if he didn't, that was fine too. What mattered was that he was having a nice time after stressing about the challenge – even if he'd unwinded quite a bit during the celebrations afterwards – and the less than ideal day he'd had.

In the end, he didn't fall asleep, but he did enjoy a rather nice, lazy afternoon and that was more than fine by itself. Some people gave them a wide berth on account of Orion, mostly, but he didn't have a problem with that. It just meant more time to play with his team and have fun.

He did get some people approaching him to chat and comment on his internet channel though. One of them even asked for a picture with his team and him, which was… awkward but nice. Some people even wanted to challenge him for a friendly fight in the arena of the park – because of course the place had a battlefield –, but he'd turned those down. He was trying to relax, after all, and besides, the battlefield wasn't conducive to the kind of all out battles the members of his team that would appreciate it would want.

"Go back to your place now, buddy," Pierce told the meowth with a smile, petting his back. "And don't wander off too much, yeah? I took you there for a reason. Don't cause trouble or I'll be upset," he explained. What was up with the pokemon of Saffron and giving him more trouble than necessary?

At least Meowth had just been a harmless whim and not like the sandscrew.

Thank God for small mercies.

"Don't whine at me, Meowth," he said, grimacing as the Normal type did just that. He was being mean. How was he supposed to resist the attack of the cute cat-pokemon? He had a weakness of all things adorable, after all, as Bellatrix could attest to. "Fine, we'll make time to visit you tomorrow. How does that sound?" he asked, getting an enthusiastic response. "Just remember that you need to stay there. We won't be around in a few days and you can get in trouble if you move around the city. You know I'm right."

That seemed to dampen the mood a little, but it needed to be said. Pierce didn't want the pokemon he helped to get in trouble, nor did he want his clients to either. That's why he always tried to reach a happy medium. Not always succeeding, as Saffron seemed intent on showing him, but that was still his goal.

The meowth's response didn't fill him with confidence, but he decided to leave it at that with a sigh.

Maybe he could continue trying to convince the Normal type with his next visit/s. For the moment, he didn't think he had the energy for that, so he just walked the pokemon to the area where he'd left it previously and then went to a training area with a water feature to spend some time with Bellatrix. The Pokemon Center had space to let her out, but she – understandably – could disturb other people and pokemon around over there. Pierce didn't like it, but that was how it was. So, it was better to get a private space to let her out.

It wasn't like he lacked the money to afford that, after all.

"Speaking off…" he mumbled under his breath where he sat on top of Bellatrix as she floated in the pool/artificial pond. "Do you mind if I read for a bit, girl?" he asked, getting a relaxed response from his shiny gyarados. Apparently, she was feeling about as lazy as he'd felt in the park. That suited him just fine though.

Thus, he took out the folder that Grace had given him in Cerulean and started reading it over again. He didn't want to miss anything and he needed to double check some facts with either the Sisters or the internet, to make sure that everything was in order. It wasn't that he didn't trust the woman, considering she came recommended by very good friends of his. If Pierce couldn't trust the Sisters, then that'd just leave him with Lily again and, no offense to her, but she just wasn't enough.

He was barely finding his feet under him in that world, he wanted to trust what little there was anchoring him.

However, the whole manager thing was important, so it was just as important to treat it seriously.

'Even if all this is very boring,' he thought with a sigh before getting to reading.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Well, Saffron will stick around a little more, by the looks of it.

It won't be longer than Cerulean though, guys, I promise. Probably. Maybe.

Anyway, I know not much happened in this chapter, but you should all be used to it by now. And it's not even the worst chapter in that regard either. There were some things here and there, mainly with Sabrina and such. No idea where that's going though.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway.

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: How's your day going? Mine… Could be better. I woke up late, I'm not in a great mood and the weather is kind of hot. Not much, but humidity is high, which really doesn't help. All in all, an annoying day, if not quite a bad one. I guess I synched with Pierce a little there, even though I'd already written this chapter a while back.

See you.