Pewter City XIV

"Really glad about that," Pierce mumbled, getting an agreeing feeling from Cygnus. There had just been an announcement that the guy that had been using Self-Destruct nonstop had been disqualified and that their pokemon were fine and being looked after by the Pokemon Center staff for the moment. It had been very reassuring to hear but Pierce couldn't help but wonder if it would have been better for them to intervene before it got to that point. Then again, maybe they had given the guy some kind of warning and he'd ignored it?

From there, followed by a few more matches that he noted down everything for, even if some of it was repeated stuff. Even that could be useful, after all. Maybe one of the participants went for the same strategy a lot or had a habit of some kind? Pierce was pretty sure that could be used too.

That's when Lily's turn came, but quite honestly, he almost felt bad for her opponent. It had to be embarrassing to lose so thoroughly. Pierce's friend had dominated that battle from start to finish, really. Not that the thing had lasted very long anyway, but that probably made things worse.

When that happened, he'd have gone to talk to her but her opponent had just been disqualified, so there was no rush. He'd wait for another round of battles to go by before that, he mused. It was a bit of a hassle to move from the stands to where the participants were, after all. It'd have been easier if he could have Cygnus teleport him there and back, but that was a bit out of their hands. For one, the psychic wasn't very good with teleporting him just yet – 'Which is fine,' he reassured when the little guy felt bad about that. – but there was also the fact it was… not well liked to be teleporting around in public areas, especially where there were a lot of people.

It wasn't precisely illegal, but it could land you in trouble in a lot of places and people would get very annoyed with you if you did. Generally, it was better not to unless you really had to, basically. He was fine with that, but it did make some things slightly more inconvenient than they had to be.

'One more fight, and it'll probably be against the dark type specialist with Narcissa,' he mused, feeling Cygnus very present in his mind. The pokemon wasn't really… projecting anything, but somehow he seemed to make his presence more noticeable than other times, it was strange. That distracted him for a moment from his previous line of thought.

Psychic telepathy was strange and interesting, he'd found. For one, he'd learned that Cygnus's archaic version of it tended to happen with young psychic pokemon when they were young and usually in first stages of three-staged lines. He was apparently supposed to get better at getting things across with time and eventually he'd start "talking" as it were. It could happen that he'd have to evolve into a kadabra to get there, but it was unlikely, supposedly. Pokemon that lived around humans got a lot more practice with the more complex thought process of humans, which would let them progress faster.

Or so the sources he checked said.

While looking through information regarding that though, Pierce had gone on a bit of a tangent to check how one could become a psychic, since he knew those were supposed to be a thing in the pokemon world. That had been an even more interesting read, to be honest, but the gist of it was that it was Difficult, with capital D and emphasis. People spent their lives training that shit to get anywhere. It took literal years of very hard work and barely doing anything else to get any sort of progress.

Hell, Sabrina, the Leader of the Saffron Gym, was considered a prodigy in the art and it had taken her two years to have something to show for it.

Pierce had decided then and there that as cool as it would be to have psychic powers, that was a bit too much commitment for him to really go for it. Maybe he could delve into it in his free time or maybe Narcissa would let him pass that as an exercise for himself too when it was training time for everyone. However, that was about it for the moment, really. He didn't have the money nor the time to put into such a thing, especially if he wanted to get anywhere as a trainer, which he kind of did, if only for his pokemon's sakes.

Then and there, Cygnus sent a message to him. The images weren't very clear, showing kadabra, Pierce and an abra that he was sure was Cygnus himself. It took a bit of insistence and some emotion projections for him to get it but it seemed his pokemon would like to help him if he wanted to dabble in the psychic arts. It would be neat, and he might take him up on that offer, but it would certainly not be a focus for him, really.

As if to bring his attention back to his previous thoughts, the dark type specialist came to the field. He was the important one to look out for, although, really, he only needed to really look at that fight. It would decide who Lily would face, after all. However, the guy was likely the one that was gonna win, and he'd also be the one to force Lily to call Narcissa to the field.

So, Pierce watched intently as the trainer got through the first battle with his poochyena. That was expected and there wasn't much new there. However, the second battle was where the true surprise came. After all, he called a third pokemon he hadn't used before.

He sent out a houndour.

[}-o-{]

"So, if I go first, Talon. If not, it depends on which pokemon he lets out…" Lily mused, her brows furrowed. "If he makes me use Narcissa in the first one, we might go against the houndour later. Narcissa is fast and has good defenses but a fire attack might still be too much, you know?" the girl pointed out, to which he nodded, his lips pursed.

"It could, but I trust Narcissa. She also would hate it if you pulled her out of the fight before she's truly done with it. Treat it as if she were your own pokemon, not mine," he reassured her. Truly, he wanted to take her up on the offer of going easier on Narcissa, but his beedrill would never agree to that.

"If you are sure…" Lily replied hesitantly, to which he nodded. He might not like it that much, but it was what his pokemon wanted. He might be their trainer, but he wasn't their master. He couldn't – wouldn't – make that kind of decision for them. Not unless it prevented serious damage. Besides, he trusted Lily to be a good trainer and not push his pokemon too hard.

On his shoulders, Cygnus reassured him as best he could. He apparently agreed that Narcissa would prefer that, if he was understanding the series of mental pictures he sent right. He knew it was the right choice too, he just couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"I am," he said more firmly, more to himself than to Lily, but the latter nodded regardless. "Good luck, yeah? I'll go keep an eye out and take some more notes. Although, things are almost done," Pierce added, standing up and taking the notebook that Lily returned to him.

"Ok, thanks again for this, Pierce," she told him again, which had him rolling his eyes. He didn't even try to argue with her. He'd lost count of how many times they'd had that conversation already, really. Judging by the grin on her face, she knew she'd won that "battle", which almost made him want to keep going. Almost.

"You can thank me if you win by giving me an even bigger part of the prizes," he commented with a smirk before chuckling as she giggled and then leaving. The deal had been that he'd get a proportional amount of stuff with the amount of help Narcissa gave in the tournament. Sure, it didn't sound like much when one considered that Lily hadn't sent the beedrill in what was more or less two thirds of the tournament so far but if Narcissa helped with a semifinals or even the final battle, then that'd mean a lot more, really. After all, those were guaranteed hard battles, really.

It wasn't like he was really interested in any of the rewards though, really. They'd be nice, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if he didn't get any at all. Besides, they were traveling together now, so she was bound to share at least some of the stuff she got with him anyway.

[}-o-{]

The time had come for Lily to face her last opponent of the day. Pierce wouldn't say he was precisely nervous or anything, but he was sort of… impatient for it. He'd kind of been looking forward to it ever since he realized that Narcissa was more likely to come out for this fight, really.

That was why he was a little disappointed when the guy was the first to send someone out and it was his houndour the one that appeared. Now it was unlikely that Lily would choose the beedrill for this. If Talon could take out the fire type, then the others would likely face Root instead. Hell, the bulbasaur would have an advantage against the nuzleaf too so there was that.

With the dog and the bird already in the field, the match started.

Pierce narrowed his eyes instantly, feeling Cygnus focus too, as the trainer called for Smog before Lily could call her own command. Instantly, the houndour opened its mouth and let out a cloud of thick black smoke all over. 'Shame spearow doesn't learn Gust,' Pierce thought to himself with a grimace. The battle had just started and things had already gotten complicated for Lily.

Still, she called for a simple Aerial Ace to begin things with. It'd be good to get up close and personal before anything else happened, Pierce guessed. Besides, the extra mobility that the move gave would help Talon if the reduced visibility complicated things too much. The houndour, for his part, didn't let up at all with Smog, starting to really cover a great deal of the battlefield with the smoke.

It didn't even dodge, really, tanking Talon's attack with the skull-like thing on its head. Before that, however, the canine had made sure to point its mouth straight at Talon so he'd get completely hit with Smog too. After the attack though, the poison type attack was stopped and the dark type's trainer called for an Ember attack that missed, but that wasn't the end. No, instead, more fire type attacks were sent Talon's way.

As for Lily, she called for another Aerial Ace, this time to be followed up with Fury Attack. Probably a good combo, Pierce mused. It'd get Talon up close and then keep him there. Considering the rest of the battlefield was covered in poisonous gas, maybe it was better to try and rush the fight. Besides, he didn't have any range and the houndour certainly did. When Talon got close though, the other trainer called for another attack, Bite.

Frowning, Pierce looked on, the fight seemed to be going evenly so far, even if it probably looked like Lily was doing worse. After all, the field was covered in smog and her pokemon had his options reduced. However, houndour had eaten an Aerial Ace to the face, skull plate or whatever, that had to have hurt quite a bit, Pierce was sure.

Unfortunately, Lily's luck abandoned her as the canine pokemon got his jaws around Talon's wing after taking another Aerial Ace. Surely the fire type was pretty hurt by taking both attacks head on, but now Talon couldn't fly. That was bad. Lily called for Peck and Fury Attack, but the houndour and its trainer weren't going to leave things easy for her. They kept Bite up and the canine started twisting its head from side to side repeatedly, swinging Talon around like he was a ragdoll.

And thus, Talon was out and Houndour was more or less fine.

"This could be bad," he mumbled, receiving concerned agreement from Cygnus. Root would have a hard time against houndour, after all and even if that fight didn't last long since the fire type was already more tired and had been hit… Chances were that it'd get one or two hits in before going down. Lily was on the back foot now.

Pierce saw her hesitate as the referee called for her to release another pokemon and that was all that he needed to be able to guess what was going through her head. Narcissa would be a good choice now. She was fast enough to maybe get through the fight without getting hit. Even if she did get hit, she would fare much better than Root would, being more evolved and not having actually participated in the tournament yet.

'Do you think she'll go for it?' he thought to himself. He'd found himself interchangeable thinking stuff to Cygnus and talking to him too. It was a bit… strange, and he often forgot that he could just do that. His first instinct was to just speak, after all. Sometimes, even if he remembered that he could just think stuff, he felt like it was a bit too weird, really. Maybe it was like an acquired taste, he supposed.

The abra replied with uncertainty, which was fair.

When the referee called for her again, warning her to release a pokemon already or she'd lose by default, Lily finally revealed her choice. Even far away from the stands, Pierce could see as Narcissa appeared over the smoke that remained. She was ready and eager to have a go in a fight already. He saw it in the way her stingers shifted, as if she were already about to charge at something. He saw it in the way her abdomen was pulled back and even in the way she flew from side to side, like she couldn't wait to get started already.

He grinned and he felt Cygnus give him the mental version of that expression too.

Yeah, that trainer and his houndour were in for a surprise. Especially with the way he smirked as he saw Narcissa. Like her being there meant he'd already won. And then he opened his mouth. Pierce couldn't hear him, since he spoke lowly instead of the shout that he used for commands. If Lily's hand balling into a fist and Narcissa's posture shifting to one much more aggressive were any indication though…

The referee called for the start of the match and Lily beat the dark type trainer this time.

"Twineedle!" she shouted and Narcissa all but blurred as she dashed towards the houndour. The trainer of the fire type called for Embers, and Pierce would give it to them, the attack was fast. Fast enough to almost hit his beedrill. Almost, but not quite. Narcissa didn't even change her trajectory all that much, shifting a little to the side and letting the ball of fire fly by her harmlessly. "Fury Attack!" Lily called then once the first attack landed and Narcissa sent a barrage of attacks at the poor fire type.

Its trainer tried to get a call in, Ember again. However, Narcissa was dashing from side to side too quickly as she continued hitting the canine. The poor houndour had no chance of even zeroing on her, really.

It didn't take long for the pokemon to be taken out after that and Pierce grinned widely at the sight. Narcissa hadn't even been hit at all. Oh, he was going to give her something nice after she won the next fight. Because she would win the next one too, he was sure. Even if the dark type specialist had something else under his sleeve, his beedrill would win regardless.

The referee called for the trainer to send his last pokemon and, expectedly, he released his poochyena. With as confident as he was on Narcissa, Pierce was the smallest bit relieved that it was that choice the one that was made and not some other surprise like the houndour. He'd prefer his beedrill not have a hard time just yet, even if he knew she would likely struggle or even lose in the semifinals or the final.

"Twineedle!" Lily called immediately.

"Tackle!" her opponent ordered, making Pierce blink. Then again, in his notes, the poochyena hadn't used anything other than dark type moves, he was pretty sure. Still, the good training of his pokemon shone through even with such a basic attack. The canine somehow got under Narcissa's stingers and hit her straight on the abdomen, making Pierce grimace a little.

"Hug its back!" Lily told his beedrill, to which he tilted his head. Then he realized where she was going. Right, the dark type also didn't seem to have ranged attacks or anything like that, so… "Bug Bite," she called then, when Narcissa had sort of gotten into a piggy-back ride position on top of the poochyena.

And like that, the battle was done.

Of course, the dark type struggled and fought. However, no amount of rolling on the ground and shaking would get Narcissa off of its back. There was nothing the poochyena or its trainer could do now and against an effective attack to boot. The battle was over soon enough.

Lily seemed to look to the stands for a bit, trying to find him, but she didn't manage. That was fine, they'd celebrate later in the Pokemon Center. He honestly couldn't wait, especially to meet Narcissa.

'Let's go,' he thought, with Cygnus readily agreeing with that. Although, the abra also sent him the message that he'd be going to sleep soon enough. To be fair, he'd been up for a while already, while the tournament thing was going on and such. That was fine, they just needed to congratulate their team member and he could sleep to his heart's content.

Cygnus liked the sound of that, it seemed.

[}-o-{]

"Congratulations," Pierce called with a wide grin. "Almost guaranteed to win at least something. Only need one more win tomorrow," he said as they all took a seat on the grounds behind the Pokemon Center. Abra was sitting next to him while Narcissa clinged to his back. In front of him sat Lily with her two pokemon next to her.

"I know, right? I like our chances, honestly," she said with a wide grin. "At least of getting to second place. That girl with the geodude and the growlithe kind of worries me."

"Same," Pierce agreed with a nod. "I get the feeling that she has a third pokemon too. Everyone else that reached this far and before seems to have had one. It'd be weird if she didn't. Especially considering she seems to be good."

"Let a girl dream, Pierce," Lily whined, Root pulling up a Vine Whip to pat her shoulder reassuringly. "Narcissa tell him something. He's doubting us!" she demanded, but the beedrill simply tightened her hold of him, which made him smile.

"Yeah, I don't think we are doing this again, Lily. Narcissa seems to really not like it," he commented, turning slightly to regard his bug type team member. "You aren't angry with me, right?" he asked hesitantly, receiving a shake of the beedrill's head. "Good. Did you at least have fun with the fights?"

To that, Narcissa replied with some sort of clicking-buzzing. Fortunately, it sounded happy enough to reassure him. Pierce sighed in relief at that. He'd have felt really bad if he'd forced the beedrill to do something she hated entirely.

"I'm sorry, ok? If you were so against it, you could have said so," he told her, but he received a negative to that one. "So, you aren't against it but you miss me anyway, is what I'm getting?" he asked, unsure. When she nodded, he nodded back.

"Ah, maybe I should have said no when you suggested the idea?" Lily said then, looking nervous. He shook his head, however, since it really wasn't her fault at all.

"I'm her trainer, Lily. I'm responsible for whatever problem this caused. I might have been a little too enthusiastic with the idea myself," he admitted reluctantly. "It sounded good on principle and maybe pragmatically but… That's not all that needs to be taken into account," he mused. "Something to keep in mind, I guess. For the moment, I promise we'll fight as much as you want after this, Narcissa."

That seemed to shake the bug type out of her little funk, if the way she relaxed and perked up were any indication.

Pierce chuckled.

"For the moment, congrats again, guys. You did really well," he repeated, this time more towards Lily's pokemon than their trainer and Narcissa. Root preened at the praise, but Talon gave a somewhat angry squawk before turning away. "Oh come on, a loss isn't the end of the world. That's what Lily's here for, right? To train you so you can be stronger. If you could win all fights then what would be the point?" Pierce asked, making the bird give him a side-eyed glance before the pokemon tilted his head from side to side as if considering those words.

Then Talon chirped something that didn't precisely sound happy, but neither did he seem as angry either.

"You gotta tell me your secret one day, Pierce," Lily said, looking between him and Talon a few times. "I was expecting to have to spend all night to get him out of that mood of his."

To that, the spearow squawked indignantly.

"Oh, don't give me that, mister. You know I'm right," Lily told the bird, rolling her eyes.

"I just… try to see things from their perspective as much as I can and guess what would be the best thing to do or say, that's all," Pierce answered with a shrug. He didn't think it was that complicated. He'd always done that, really. Didn't the media back in his world always teach people to put themselves in each other's place and all that? Was it different in the pokemon world? Was he the only one that had taken those teachings to heart?

"You make it sound so easy," Lily mumbled with a pout. Then she took a deep breath in and sighed. "Anyway, I think I'll go over your notes for a bit longer, see if I can think of anything new. Maybe think up another strategy or something," she mumbled, fidgeting with the notebook in question.

"Good luck with that," Pierce said, looking up and then towards Cygnus. When the psychic type tilted his head at him, he grinned. "You feel up to a few teleports, buddy? I wanted to go see Orion and tell him about today's battles and all that. I can walk if you are not up to it though."

His response was to float slightly towards him, already moving towards Pierce's shoulders.

"Ok, girl, I'll recall you and bring you back over there and then we come back, yeah?" he said to Narcissa, who chirped something before letting herself be put back in her pokeball. "See you later, yeah?" he told Lily, who waved at him at the same time that her pokemon gave their own goodbyes. "Ready when you are, Cygnus," he said, to the psychic who was already on his shoulders.

A second later, he was somewhere else entirely and he felt weak all over, his stomach feeling like it wanted to do a bunch of flips and expel all that it contained. Cygnus definitely needed to get better eventually. It wasn't his fault though, and he'd feel fine soon enough.

As it was, he swallowed and started walking towards the onix den, where he saw Orion and Mama Onix.

"Hey there, little one, I bring new stories," he said, his voice weak from the still somewhat dizzying feeling of the teleportation. "You've been good for your mother, right?" he asked then, receiving a scoff from the bigger rock type and a sheepish look from the smaller. "What'd you do now?"

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Eh, not much to comment about this chapter, which probably says something about how many comments about this I'm gonna get. Which is sad, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it… *sniff*

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: Do you have a favorite character in this story, be it human or pokemon? If so, can you tell who it is and why, please?

See you.