Teams:

Pierce Lawson:

- Narcissa, Beedrill

- Orion, Onix

- Cygnus, Kadabra

- Bellatrix, Gyarados (Shiny)

- Andromeda, Vaporeon

- Regulus, Meowth

Lillian Dale:

- Root, Ivysaur

- Talon, Spearow

- Gem, Geodude

- Star, Cleffa

- Cinder, Vulpix

Saffron City XVII

"Nothing glaringly wrong with him," Pierce announced, patting Root's side. The newly evolved ivysaur had needed a check up after his evolution to make sure that everything was alright. "Should still get checked at the Center, obviously."

"I know how it goes, Pierce," Lily told him, rolling her eyes and sitting down beside her Grass type. "You look amazing, Root," she praised, petting the ivysaur, who looked very clearly ecstatic. "That idea was great."

"Of course. It was mine," Pierce replied, plastering an exaggeratedly smug look on his face.

"We're ignoring how you were just spouting random stuff, huh?" Cygnus commented, but he resolutely ignored the grumpy kadabra. It was a win in his books and that was all that mattered. "Dumb Helper-Voice."

"I don't even want to call you stupid for saying that," Lily told him happily and he took that to mean she knew he was right. No matter how delusional Cygnus said he was being. But oh well, he had other things to worry about at that moment, so he might as well let Lily have her moment with Root.

"Good that you finally decided to notice."

Rolling his eyes, he looked to the side and saw Narcissa buzzing. His Bug type was, evidently, very much annoyed by the fact that the battle had been interrupted. After all, the battle had been midway through, she'd have loved to keep going, especially after her opponent got even stronger. Alas, even though they could have kept going, Lily and him had decided it was better to play it as safe as possible.

It wasn't like it was an official battle or anything, where they'd be expected to finish the fight unless something was seriously wrong with things. There was no need to be unreasonable in any way. Better to err on the side of caution. Besides…

"Come here, girl," he said, making the beedrill click her mandibles annoyedly at him. "Lily has other pokemon, alright? Maybe she'll want someone to fight Talon or Gem after they are done enjoying the moment. Those need to be pushed too," he commented and the Bug type immediately perked up. She was predictable that way.

He rather doubted either the spearow or the geodude were that close to evolving, but this was a new routine they were trying out, so they might as well get some more fights underway all the same. Talon would be happy to fight anyone too, so there was that. The Flying type was almost as crazy about fighting as Narcissa herself was. There was also no reason not to, really, and Root could wait for a bit in his pokeball before they went to the Center to get him checked out and then for the proper party. In the meantime, Pierce would have to mentally go over the celebratory feast that he'd have to prepare for everyone.

A meow made him turn and raise an eyebrow at the pleading look coming from Regulus.

"You're kind of a spoiled lil' guy, aren't you?" he asked, his face flat. Andromeda, off to the side, yipped while Cygnus hummed, both of them nodding. The meowth, for his part, didn't even try to argue against that. "I think it's Andromeda's turn, actually," he commented and he immediately got a betrayed look from the Normal type while the Water type yipped again – this time happily, making her look adorable – and skipped over to his lap before curling up on it as best she could.

She was a little too big to fit properly, but that wasn't a deterrent for her.

"No idea why you guys get so excited about being on me. Am I particularly comfy or what?" he asked, having never found a proper answer to that mystery. All the team members that were around at that moment acted like he hadn't spoken though, which told him that no, he wasn't going to get one that day either. They could at least have the decency to tell him they wouldn't answer, honestly.

'And yes, I'm talking to you, Cygnus,' he said, but the Psychic resolutely continued ignoring him.

"Anyway, anything in particular you guys want me to prepare later? I'm preparing everyone's favorites, but I might as well be mentally prepared if I need to add something," he asked, only half joking. As he'd somewhat expected, Cygnus started bombarding his mind with requests from his whole team and even Cinder, who had apparently heard him from all the way over where Lily's team gathered. He wasn't even surprised. "Hmm… I'll have to check if I have enough for everyone, now that I think about it," he mumbled, getting a low growl from Andromeda. "Later though," he added and the Water type settled down.

He chuckled to himself as he petted the vaporeon.

"You go back to celebrating," he said after a moment, waving away Cinder when she glared at them. She could cry him a river if he wasn't focusing on the food. Lily and Root weren't focusing on that, so the Fire type shouldn't either, greedy lil' thing.

Pierce decidedly ignored the fact that every pokemon on Lily's team would have joined the vulpix if they'd known what was going on. He wanted to keep the illusion that his impending doom wasn't a thing. He could fool himself into thinking that he wasn't going to be all but tackled with demands of food in the near future. That was something he was allowed to do.

"And then you say you don't have Psychic talent. That's some impressive Hypnosis work right there, Helper-Voice," Cygnus told him and Pierce once more pondered the pros and cons of just kicking the Psychic type out of the team. "As if you could live without my reminders."

'Fair enough, Cygnus. Fair enough. You'll stay in the team for some more time, I guess.'

The kadabra just rolled his eyes at him.

[}-o-{]

"Nice, isn't it?" Pierce asked, lying lazily on top of Bella. The party had gone on for quite a bit, but their not so little anymore traveling group had splintered a little as usual. Lily was sitting beside the evolved boy with Star on her lap, watching a battle between Narcissa and Talon. Orion and Gem were together playing with the ring. Cygnus was taking a nap, considering he'd been part of the entire celebration and also helped them record a Short for their channel, and Regulus had joined him.

Surprisingly, Cinder had decided to join him and Andromeda on top of his gyarados at the water feature of the Center. It was surprising because… Well, she was a Fire type. They weren't great fans of big bodies of water. He'd expected her to react kind of like Orion and Gem did to being near rivers or the ocean. Although, maybe it had something to do with the fact that Bella was barely moving, just floating and enjoying their close company.

Or maybe she'd just felt like it and that was that.

Weird things could happen from time to time without any reason, after all.

Either way, Andromeda yipped an answer to his idle question and he hummed, even though it wasn't supposed to mean anything other than a noncommittal response. After all the cooking he'd had to get through to feed the band of gluttons that were their combined teams, Pierce didn't have any energy in his battery. Fortunately, they were pretty much done by then, so he could be lazy and do nothing until they called it a day.

Or so he thought, at least, because his pokegear started ringing.

"You've called Pierce. He's currently dying. Please call some other time or leave a message after the groan," he mumbled and just barely managed not to try and fall asleep when he heard a giggle through the speaker. "Hey Daisy. How's it going?"

"Better than over there, it seems," the Gym Leader commented idly before her voice took a more concerned tone. "Everything alright? I know you were struggling with Sabrina's stuff, but it's not this bad, right? Day is almost over and you go in the mornings."

"That doesn't help, for sure," he replied, reaching to the side to pet Andromeda, who shifted closer to him, pressing against his thigh. "But it's mostly because Lily and I organized a more serious battle between our pokemon to try and push her bulbasaur to evolve… and it worked."

"Ah, evolution party, huh? And I'm guessing you had to cook most of it," the woman accurately guessed, which made him groan. "Poor Pierce, suffering from success again. At least you had fun though, right?"

"Yeah, but still," he grumbled. "At least Lily helped a little."

"And nothing blew up?"

"She's not that bad," Pierce defended, a little amused. Some of his energy was coming back, if only because he was having fun. He'd crash once the call was over though, he already knew. "Something the matter or did you just feel like calling?"

"The latter," Daisy replied leadingly. "I was also wondering if you could drop by one of these days before leaving Saffron? You won't be coming over until you reach a city afterwards, after all."

"That was the plan," he told her, wondering if that was reassuring. It was nice to know that they'd been more or less on the same page. Cute, in a way. Or maybe it was just him? Still. "I guess I can teleport there tomorrow. We'll probably leave in a day or two, so, yeah," he mumbled, thinking it over. "Anything you want to do?" he asked, because his brain was drawing a blank when it came to date plans.

Or… maybe not?

Something came to mind, simple, but…

"Maybe something simple? A cafe, see some places in Cerulean – I didn't see all that much, despite how much time I spent there – and then a restaurant at night?" he asked, thinking it over. He liked the sound of that, really, but maybe it was just his exhausted brain?

"Sounds great to me," Daisy answered, shortly but not curtly. He couldn't quite tell if she liked the idea though, which was a little worrying. Pokegears were great pieces of technology, but they had more or less the same limitations as regular phones from back home. Maybe even worse, considering they didn't have a video call function. They were more worried about making them resistant, considering… Well, pokemon.

"We can do something else if you want," he said, giving her an out if she wanted it.

"No, that sounds great!" she exclaimed and she sounded like she meant it. Maybe if he could have seen her face, he'd have been more sure, but… It wasn't the case. "Seriously. I like that idea, don't worry. I just… Doesn't matter. Just know that I like it."

"Alright…" he said hesitantly. But well, he could take her words at face value, he supposed. He didn't feel like dealing with guessing games. He didn't like those on a good day, nevermind at that moment. "So, how are things going over there?" he asked, glancing off to the side and watching Orion tossing the ring Gem and him were playing with at a napping Regulus.

The meowth didn't appreciate this, but he somehow took his frustration out on the onix by… joining the game?

Well, so long as there weren't any issues…

"Misty is doing great and we're thinking we'll ask her to start working on a routine with us," Daisy told him excitedly and he was happy to hear that. A little envious of them too, he'd admit, but Pierce couldn't begrudge them for having something he'd lost. That'd be shitty. It was just… a little painful a reminder.

He wondered if he'd ever not feel so down when thinking about his family and friends from before his… displacement.

He wondered if he wanted that to happen.

He wondered if it would be bad to want that to happen.

He had lots of questions, doubts, and no answers. Instead, he was left there, feeling conflicted, sometimes hurt and guilty, sometimes calm and sad, sometimes he didn't even know how he felt. It was confusing, to say the least, and just when he thought he was getting better he'd get smacked down once more. He guessed things couldn't be that simple for him.

"Maybe you can check how she's doing if you come?" Daisy asked, snapping him from his thoughts.

"Sure can. I have to check on my student anyway, right?"

"Thank you."

"No problem."

[}-o-{]

"So, you're leaving," Sabrina said out loud, sitting next to him once more at the garden area.

"Yeah, we decided we'll be leaving tomorrow," he replied with a nod, his eyes closed as he tried to keep his mind focused even as he talked. Easier said than done, but he was having an unusual day where he didn't get frustrated by failure, so he was just going with the flow. "Might as well, most of our business here is done and let's be real, a few days aren't going to change anything about my progress with the Psychic Arts," he commented, taking advantage of his good day to talk about that small "issue" more freely.

"Understandable," Sabrina mused out loud. There was a change in her voice, but Pierce couldn't begin to guess what it meant. "Can't expect you to put your journey on hold, especially when it's going well for you. I do hope you'll still keep up with your training."

Somehow, even without inflection and without Pierce even opening his eyes to look at her face, she managed to convey a sense of judgement. He could almost picture her thinking he'd get all pessimistic and self-deprecating before dropping the Psychic Arts. As if his pokemon would let him give up that easily, honestly. Besides, if he had days like that one once in a while, he thought he might stick to it even without prompting.

"I will," Pierce replied with a slight smile, taking a deep breath in and then letting it out with a smile. "Besides, you'll be stuck with me for a few more days even after I leave. I'll have Cygnus teleport me here so I can bother you some more," he added, opening his eyes and turning to look at the woman by his side.

"Not a bother at all," the Leader reassured him with the same flat tone. "I'll be happy to have you here. You're a refreshing student." Well, that was… somewhat news to him. Happy wasn't something he'd call her, when he dropped by or otherwise. Then again, he wouldn't call her much of anything when it came to emotions.

"Refreshing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and getting a nod before Sabrina started talking once more.

"You are dedicated enough not to be a waste of time," she started with, which already had him wincing a little internally. Good to know he hadn't reached those lows, he supposed. "But you aren't dedicated enough that it consumes you and takes away from you. Extremes are hardly ever good and even less so in the confines of one's mind," the Leader continued, which had him considering that.

Pierce guessed his lukewarm approach to things had worked well for him for once. That was a bit of a surprise, he supposed. Didn't sound like it, but if Sabrina said so… He could take her word for it, right?

"If you say so," he replied noncommittally.

"You doubt, again," she commented, and she seemed to stare at him a little more intently. There was some accusation there that warned him he might have messed up… or be about to mess up, either or. However, his eyebrows shot up when he saw her lip twitch up in the tiniest almost smile ever. "I don't know if I should be annoyed or amused."

"Both, probably, if you ask my traveling companion," Pierce told her with a smile of his own. "I'll try not to doubt too much."

"You won't manage."

"Probably not," he acknowledged with a nod and a chuckle. "Sorry about that. Doubting myself is what I do, at least when it matters."

"I know many people that would very much disagree. Probably first of all being your traveling companion and Daisy," Sabrina commented, to which he had to nod once more. He supposed what he did with pokemon could be counted as that, but it was something that came so naturally to him that he could hardly count it as a… Well, a situation in which he felt pressured, he guessed. "She talks about you a lot, by the way," the woman added idly, and it came across so casually instead of that cold and monotone voice she usually used that it caught him off guard for a second.

"I'm not sure I want to know what she's telling people," he replied, only half joking.

"Good things, for the most part," Sabrina mused, looking away and up in that distracted manner that had Pierce wondering if she was communicating with some pokemon or person. "When someone like a Leader speaks so highly of an individual, it means something, Pierce Lawson. Or would you call Daisy a liar?"

"I know a trick question when I hear one," he commented flatly with a wry smile. "Why'd you set me up like that, Sabrina? I thought we were friends," he joked, before realizing that maybe it was kind of risky/awkward to joke with Sabrina. She didn't strike him as the kind of person that appreciated humor, assuming she understood it.

"We are, but isn't teasing part of being friends?" the woman asked him, making him blink. "Besides, I wanted some payback for the embarrassment."

"Embarrassment?" he asked, tilting his head.

"One could say Daisy talks too much," was all Sabrina told him, still looking away. However, he was even more surprised than he already was when he saw that there was the slightest tinge of pink on the Leader's cheeks.

'Ah,' he thought eloquently as he realized what had happened.

"Sorry?"

"You should be."

He wasn't sure how that was his fault, but he had a feeling arguing wouldn't be a good idea.

So, he just went back to his Psychic exercises.

[}-o-{]

Pierce yawned, reaching for his paper cup full of coffee and not even bothering to pour any sugar in. Instead, he took a sip and let the very bitter drink shake him from head to toe. He could almost feel the beverage poking his nerves awake… even though it was probably some sort of shock from the taste. Still, it wasn't as effective as he'd have liked.

He took another sip before reaching for a piece of toast.

To the side, he glanced to see the team members that could be inside the Pokemon Center eating their own breakfast, just like Lily's pokemon. At least he wasn't the only one struggling to keep his eyes open. Was it bad that he seemed to have the same energy early in the morning that Star did? Did that mean he had the energy management of a toddler?

Because ouch.

"You're quiet," he commented, pushing those thoughts aside and turning towards Lily. Then he frowned and stared at the girl, confused. She was staring at him and her face was red. She looked very embarrassed for some reason. 'Is it something about me?' he wondered as he looked down. There wasn't anything wrong as far as he could tell. His clothes were fine. Sure, his white shirt was a little wrinkled but other than that… "Something the matter?" he asked, looking back at his traveling companion.

"Er… Um…" she mumbled, looking uncharacteristically shy and nervous. "It's just… You have a… You know?" she asked while she stumbled through the words. Pierce could only blink at her, uncomprehending. With a half frustrated and half nervous groan-sigh, Lily gestured with her hands towards herself and that somehow made even less sense to him.

'Hm, something on my neck?' he wondered, bringing a hand up and touching it before something occurred to him and his eyes widened, a little more awake. 'Ah, right… Daisy's little gift,' he thought, feeling some heat rushing to his face. Still though…

"Don't be such a child, Lily," he commented with a chuckle. "It's just a hickey."

"Shut up," she grumbled, huffing and looking down at her breakfast once more. Somehow, her face was even more red than before. "Shameless."

He just rolled his eyes at her.

At least he was feeling more awake.

"Ready to leave?" he asked, deciding he didn't have the energy to tease her. Considering that, it was better to just change the topic. "You think the way to Vermillion will be long?"

"Probably not," Lily mumbled, still getting her bearings after the small… whatever that had been. Maybe she was as affected by sleep as he was? Or maybe he was still too asleep to realize something? He wasn't sure.

More coffee might fix it, he supposed, bitter as it continued to be.

He really should have put some sugar in it, but oh well.

"My team is almost full and yours is full right now. I'm guessing you'll want to add some more pokemon, but not really all that soon, right?" she asked, some of her usual self returning with every word. At the end, she even smirked at him before adding: "Then again, you don't really get to choose."

"You're not wrong," he commented, taking another sip of coffee and picking up another piece of toast.

Truthfully, he really hoped there wouldn't be any new additions. He was still working on Bellatrix, after all, nevermind Regulus' addition. Hell, even Andromeda needed him to work more with her so that she'd have a better foundation in his team. Adding more new pokemon to the mix would only bring trouble, nevermind the fact that he'd have to start separating his team, considering he was at the legal limit.

Then again, Daisy had mentioned that he might get a permit for more if he really tried, but those weren't given easily. In a way, it might burn some of the favor he'd gotten with the League if he pushed them to increase his limit. At least he would if he did it without a proper reason to demand the privilege. Nevermind the many strings that were likely to be attached to the deal if he did that.

So, he'd refrain from doing that, if at all possible.

He had enough things to deal with at the moment without trying to butt heads with the fucking League. Besides, he had a plan as to what to do with his pokemon and he'd made a few calls to make sure it was actually possible at all. It'd suck to divide the team, but it wouldn't be as awful as he'd thought, at least. That was something.

"How about you? What do you want to catch next?" he asked, and it was his turn to smirk at Lily. "Or is it better to ask what you'll catch next?"

She had, after all, gotten all the pokemon she'd told him she wanted.

Star and Cinder were proof of that.

"Oh, shut up," the girl huffed, looking unimpressed. "I don't remember there being any pokemon that I'd be interested in at Route 6, but there's always pokemon outside their expected areas. Not enough for me to want to make the trip longer than it needs to be though. Not really worth it and I don't think I have that much luck left in me," Lily commented, running a finger through her hair. "So, I guess it'll be a quick trip to Vermilion, huh?"

"Sounds like it," he agreed, taking a deep breath in and finishing his coffee. "I should get another," he mumbled, looking at the empty paper cup. "Getting up sounds like too much work though," he mumbled, looking off to where he could get some more bitter elixir of awakeness.

He groaned when Andromeda slapped him with her tail fin.

"You're so mean, Andy," he grumbled, deciding to call it quits already when she glared at him.

The vaporeon should really give up with the nickname thing though, honestly.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

So, our time in Saffron comes to a close, it seems. A little faster than Cerulean, huh? Just a little bit. All the same, we've stayed here a while, but I'm glad to see nobody complained. Then again, maybe Cerulean culled all the people that would have.

… All part of the plan?

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: Any predictions for our duo of travelers on their way to Vermillion?

See you.