Teams:
Pierce Lawson:
- Narcissa, Beedrill
- Orion, Onix
- Cygnus, Kadabra
- Bellatrix, Gyarados (Shiny)
- Andromeda, Vaporeon
- Regulus, Meowth
Lillian Dale:
- Root, Bulbasaur
- Talon, Spearow
- Gem, Geodude
- Star, Cleffa
- Cinder, Vulpix
Title
"I'm kind of glad that I decided not to go to those classes," Lily commented cheerfully… little shit that she was. "They look tiring," she added, looking at him, slightly wide-eyed. "Call it a hunch."
He just grunted at her, slumped on the table with his head resting on his arms.
The Psychic classes/exercises certainly took their toll on one. It left him feeling just as spent as his physical exercises, actually, but mentally. He was left with no wish to think and no energy to do much of anything. Funnily enough though, one of the things he didn't mind afterwards was doing his physical exercises. After all, those were things he could do while just turning off his brain.
Thus, he'd decided that day to add that to his morning routine. First, he worked on his mind at Sabrina's Gym and then he worked on his body in a nearby training ground while his pokemon did their thing. He wasn't the greatest help for his team at that moment, but he side-stepped that issue by having them just work on moves they already knew. Then they could tackle new moves when he was feeling less dead on his feet in the afternoon, after a post-lunch nap.
That was the plan his half-dead brain had come up with though, but he was yet to test it.
A nap sounded heavenly at that moment though, so that part certainly appealed to him. He could think deeper into things after he woke up, but he didn't think he could make a more productive schedule for his time in Saffron. Either way his mornings were basically dead time other than exercising. The only doubt was if he'd be a functioning human being in the afternoon… and he really hoped so. Otherwise he'd have to apologize to Sabrina and drop the Psychic thing. Because he wasn't going to compromise his team's training more than he already did with his softer approach.
"You think entirely too much for how tired you are," Cygnus told him. "And for how small your brain is."
Pierce didn't even have it in him to shoot back, that's how spent he was feeling.
"Man, you're really dead, huh?" Lily commented, reaching forward and poking his forehead with her finger, making him grimace. Her nail wasn't appreciated. "You alright?"
"Tired," he all but grunted. Then he sighed, pushing himself into a more proper sitting position through great effort. "How'd things go for you?" he somehow found the strength to ask.
"Great, business as usual though, training, battling, taking a page from your book and playing a bit," Lily commented, looking all happy and shit. She had no business looking so chipper when he felt like death warmed over, honestly. It made him want to sigh again.
He also felt Cygnus mentally rolling his eyes at him.
"I…" Lily continued then, catching his attention once more. Mainly because she hesitated, suddenly looking a little unsure. That wasn't something that happened a lot. "I was thinking about what you said, about me having a section in the channel," she explained, poking her food around her plate. 'Right, I'm supposed to be eating,' Pierce thought, looking at the plate he'd pushed aside to slump on the table.
Taking a deep breath in as if to gather strength, he pulled it back towards him and started half-heartedly eating.
"Offer's still there," he commented, not managing to put any real encouragement in his words. He considered it a win that he did say that though. He was that done with life at that moment, seriously. "If you want to, go for it," he added, because if she was bringing it up, it was because she was almost sure or already sure.
"You sure it's fine?" Lily asked, and Pierce wondered if this was what he was like when he got all nervous before a challenge. If so, then damn was he exasperating. "You think people will like that?"
"Lily, you've so far been the best trainer I've met," he commented, taking another deep breath in and deciding to pull on energy reserves he didn't even have. "Not counting, you know, Gym Leaders and such. Arguments can be made though. So, it's absolutely fine. If you can't make training videos and such, then the bar's pretty fucking high."
"Language!" Lily exclaimed, placing her hands on both of Star's ears while the cleffa looked at them confused. "Don't ever say that word, alright?" she asked her fairy type, who agreed without even knowing what to do. Did pokemon even communicate with actual words in a different language though? Pierce got the feeling that they were more… Just communicating meaning without words.
"We do, but curses can be communicated through meaning just fine too," Cygnus supplied.
'Huh, the more you know, I guess,' Pierce mused.
"Either way, the point is that you're fine. You even seem to do well on camera. You just need to relax a little, but that'll probably be something you do with time," Pierce continued, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "And about the people, well, they seem to like you well enough in "my" videos. I'm sure you'll have an audience. It might take a bit longer, since it's a different kind of thing from what my channel provides, but I'm sure it'll be fine. It might even be the opposite and do better than my videos."
"Highly doubt that," Lily commented dryly, but there was a smile on her face, so he counted it as a win. "Thanks for the encouragement though. You can go back to dying."
"Thank you," he replied before immediately slumping on his seat and starting to move slower as he finished his meal. His traveling companion snorted at the exaggerated display, finishing off her own food and excusing herself to pick up a fruit salad for dessert. He half wanted to just leave it and go to sleep, but Andromeda was probably staring at him to make sure he didn't.
"She is," Cygnus confirmed, obviously amused.
Pierce sighed.
[}-o-{]
"And let me tell you, Pierce will never recruit a pokemon himself. Ever," Lily commented, rolling her eyes with a fond and amused smile on her face. "The pokemon just come and say, "you're my human now" and that's it, they are in the team. I can tell you all the stories-"
"Funnily enough, she wasn't there for any of them though," Pierce commented, rolling his own eyes, but he was decidedly unamused. "Except Regulus, which is probably why she's acting all smug," he added, his entire team nodding and making sounds of agreement, even though Regulus probably didn't even know what he was talking about. He'd catch him up on that after the video was done.
"Way ahead of you, Helper-Voice," Cygnus told him and he saw the meowth on his lap turn his head towards the kadabra. It seemed his Psychic had decided it was a good moment to show off and share the information silently while they did other things. He was a child like that, even if the mere thought annoyed the pokemon.
"Anyway, I just wanted to share the news with you, guys," he commented, turning to look at Cygnus himself, if only because he was holding the camera. "It's an important piece of news too, of course, but not the only one," he continued, petting his new team member. He'd blended in pretty well with the team, but then again… His circumstances had kind of made it all a bit underwhelming, in a way.
Regulus already knew the team through the initial job and his visits. Narcissa had already gone through a bunch of additions to his team. Bella had almost gotten a little jealous, but some attention, some snacks and Regulus not really having any kind of antagonistic behavior took care of that. All in all, Regulus had come and joined like he'd always been part of the team.
Not an unwelcome development, but one that Pierce found… worth noticing.
Well, the meowth did still get some stink eyes when he climbed on him from almost his entire team. Apparently, Pierce's body was prime resting material, because everyone wanted to be on him, even Lily's team on occasion. He wasn't too sure, but he thought even Cygnus would feel jealous at times, even though he was too big to ride on his shoulders after evolving.
'You're denying a little hard there, buddy,' he commented in his mind when his kadabra reacted to his thought.
"We have a few more announcements to make too. One of which is… Actually, I'll leave this to you, Lily," he started then, before shooting a smile to his traveling companion, who smiled shyly at him and then at the camera. Oh, that was sure to earn her some points with the audience. She looked pretty cute when she wanted to, and even when she didn't sometimes. Much as he always said it as a joke, she was pretty good eye candy. Pierce wondered if she was doing it on purpose at that moment though.
After all, with how unsure she'd been to take this step…
"Well, another announcement is that I'll be starting my own section in this channel," she said, her smile turning more genuine, beaming with excitement. Yeah, she really wanted to do this. It was a wonder it'd taken her that long to make the decision, Pierce thought. "Of course, I don't have Proxyman's superpowers, but I do know a thing or two more than him when it comes to training, I think," she commented jokingly, but Pierce still rolled his eyes.
"What she means is that she's a great trainer and wants to share some of her own superpowers with you," he commented with an exasperated grin. "Seriously, her battlegrounds win ratio is crazy. I can attest to that much. And if you don't believe me, check out her Gym challenges. I'm sure they'll be up."
"Either way, I also plan to make a battle video series too, on top of training tips," Lily continued, visibly torn between arguing the compliments or continuing with her announcement. Evidently, the latter won in the end, which was great. "Maybe even go over them with post-battle commentary and explanations."
"That's gonna be hell to edit," Pierce commented, since this was the first he heard about that.
"Well, that's what I have you for. You'll help me out."
"Now, wait a minu-"
"I did help you with your videos," she pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "And you're the one that convinced me to go for it."
"... I regret all my life choices," he said, deflating where he sat and dropping his back on Orion's side, who patted him with his tail. Those were going to be long edit hours, he was sure. Normally, the videos they posted didn't really have much editing, if any at all. That though? That sounded like they'd have to put actual effort into it.
'Oh well…'
"So, I hope you'll give me a chance, guys."
"They better, considering how much work we'll put into that. And Star would be sad too," Pierce commented, getting a confirmation from the cleffa. "And nobody makes the lil' one sad, is that clear?" he threw at the future audience of theirs. "In seriousness, do give her a shot, alright? I know she's kind of annoying-"
"Excuse me?!"
"But she's good at what she does… including being annoying."
"I don't think you're helping, Pierce," his traveling companion hissed at him, eyes narrowed and lips pursed.
"Moving on," he said, decidedly not turning away from her. Around them, he heard several of their pokemon chuckling and giggling. "I have another announcement and I'm gonna ask you guys to give me a chance to explain, alright?"
"Ominous," Lily pointed out, some of her annoyance evidently still remaining as she delivered that dryly.
"Yeah. I know you people aren't fans of this kind of stuff and, honestly, neither am I. However, I want you guys to know that this is not gonna be like most of the cases you know," Pierce explained, running his fingers through his hair. He really hoped this wouldn't go too badly with people, because not only did he want them to not be angry at him, he also wanted them to give this additional content a chance, even if it didn't really affect him all that much. "What am I talking about? Well, that'd be paid promotions," he decided to say, getting it over with.
Now, there were a lot of opinions on the matter, in that world and in his, but few of them were ever good. Some people just skipped them. Some people got angry at them. Some people actually enjoyed them, if the content creator did a good enough job at it. He strived to generate this latter case as much as possible, personally.
"Now, I know what you're thinking, "Proxyman sold his soul to the corporations!" or something of the sort. That's not the case, alright?" he told the camera, trying to be serious but casual at the same time. He didn't want to be too serious, because his channel was more chill, but he also didn't want to be too dismissive, because it was kind of important for him. "I'm being very clear with the people that've offered me deals in regards to this kind of stuff and my main point is always gonna be that I want to be honest about my opinion on any product or service I promote. I'll tell you exactly what I feel about something, nothing more and nothing less. After all, everything I've gotten offers for so far are pokemon products of some kind, so I'd hate to be the reason pokemon all around get subpar products, alright? What I'm trying to say is that I hope you'll give me a chance with this and not just skip the ad segments or promotional videos nor rant at me about them. Who knows, you might find something useful in them, alright? And if you do, I'm sure your pokemon will appreciate that."
After that long speech, Pierce took a deep breath in.
"I just wanted to let you guys know ahead of time, so you don't come at me with torches and pitchforks, alright?" he said with a chuckle. "It'll probably be a while before we can get that underway. As I said, I'm not gonna take just any sponsorships and they'll be on my terms, which means that they might not even agree. This is just a heads up in case it happens though."
It had been Grace's idea to do things like that, actually. Pierce himself had been reluctant to just… come out with an announcement and such, considering he didn't have any confirmed sponsors yet. However, the woman was convinced at least one of them would agree eventually. And, if he wanted to go forward with his "honesty" approach, then it'd be better if he took full advantage of it. After all, people would love that – according to Grace, at least – and, in turn, that might give him some leverage with the sponsors, even if they wouldn't like that.
It was a little paradoxical, if you asked him, but he had Grace for the deep business thinking.
"If they don't agree, I guess this will just make me look like an idiot-"
"Nothing new, let's be real," Lily chimed in, definitely feeling vindictive there. Pierce would allow her that though. He could see some signs of nervousness in her still, even though she played it off well. If she was channeling that into teasing and such, he'd let her get away with it.
"Better safe than sorry though, right?" Pierce finished with a shrug. Before he could say more though, something touched his leg and he turned down to see Star patting his thigh. "I'm kind of in the middle of som-" a yip interrupted him this time, and he turned to give a flat stare to Andromeda, who raised an eyebrow at him and then looked at the cleffa by his side.
Pierce sighed.
"Well, announcement time is over because the gluttons-" A Water Gun hit him right in the face. He continued undeterred. "-can't wait for one more minute."
"I blame your cooking," Lily commented, looking entirely too pleased with the situation. "And you did promise them pokepuffs, remember?"
"I guess," he grumbled. "On that note, the last announcement, I guess," he continued, rolling his eyes as Star started tugging at his pants. "Ok, ok, stop pulling on me. I'll get to it," he said, picking up Regulus and placing him on the ground so that he could stand up. Once that was done, he went to take out everything he'd need to start cooking… And he could almost feel the stares of all the pokemon around. "Anyway, the last announcement is that I've started experimenting with pokepuffs and I'll be sharing whatever I learn with you once I feel like I've got the hang of it and everyone starts enjoying themselves. I know you guys don't believe it, but I did have to learn and I did prepare bad things at times that the pokemon didn't like," he commented, rolling his eyes again.
"Can confirm," Lily chimed in. "Talon is still wary of anything new Pierce makes," she added unnecessarily. She really was going all out that day. He'd get his payback later, he supposed. For the moment, he was determined to be a good friend and let her vent… even if he was having second thoughts here and there. Besides, people loved banter, apparently.
"So, the point is that it might be a while before the first video on the matter, but I thought I'd add that here, since I was already going through announcements," he commented with a shrug. "Besides Regulus though, the next thing you can look forward to is Lily's videos."
"I'll be uploading something within the next few days," Lily said, apparently feeling a little more sure of herself.
"Then, things are kind of up in the air for the other two subjects," Pierce finished with. "I think that's about it. Please leave a comment for Regulus, yeah? We'll be reading them to him, I promise. Beyond that," he said, continuing with his usual video ending speech until the thing was done. "Well, that's that."
"Yeah," Lily said, going back to being a bundle of nerves that made him roll his eyes again.
"Come help me out, alright? Your pokemon are going to eat everything. The least you could-"
"It was one time, Pierce!"
[}-o-{]
[Video: A Meal With Announcements]
Lightning55Turbo
He calmed down a gyarados!
HE CALMED DOWN A GYARADOS!
CrystalMorgan9655
Reggie didn't even do much of anything but I already think he's the cutest of the team. Sorry, Andy, it's not that you aren't cute anymore, I swear.
AndromedaFan#1
Excuse you?! I'll have you know the sea noodle is the cutest!
AndromedaFan_1st
I'm deeply insulted by the name of the guy above me, but he's right.
ChompChomp
I'm looking forward to the trainer videos! Maybe I'll even go and see if I can get that fourth badge. I didn't manage back in the day and now it feels like it's not worth the effort, but if it goes well I might even push for the fifth while I'm at it.
Ps: Regulus looks like a good addition. Normal types are always good for any kind of team, really, even as outliers for specialists.
DanielDadford35
Proxyman sold his soul!
In seriousness, anyone that says you're like that clearly hasn't seen your videos, man. Don't worry. Ready to get some actual product reviews instead of just mindless promotions.
And to see more of Regulus, of course.
ForestEnjoyerClub
Coming from the man that sold me a pokeblock blender without even trying? You can bet I'll watch those "ads".
I also wanna give a warm welcome to Reggie! Already happy to have him here.
SharpenadoStan
And another good creator down the drain, I guess. The power of money, guys. Unsubscribed.
Pokepuffpuff
Good luck on your way out, Stan. Don't let the door hit you.
CorphishOutOfWater
Daniel put it the best, honestly. I'll eagerly await some Water type pokemon product recommendations, Proxyman. Can't say I'm a fan of promotional content and all, but at least you'll be honest if you do any, so that's nice. I'll see if anything interests me.
I have to admit though, Lily's videos will be interesting. She's nice and all, but she doesn't talk all that much, since Proxyman is the star of the show. It'll be nice to see how she does in her own element and with the spotlight to herself.
Edit: Also wanted to say welcome to Regulus, of course. Can't believe I forgot. Don't come for me, mighty meowth, please.
NamelessStacey3213
Same, man. I thought she was kinda good from peeks in shorts and videos, but I checked her challenge battles and she is good. There's even some battleground videos online too.
SnowflakeMeowth_Gifs
Proxyman, the murkrow food recommendations might have gone too well…
They won't leave me alone.
Halp
Pokepuffpuff
Suffering from success, huh?
SnowflakeMeowth_Gifs
There's one on my shoulder right now.
ForestEnjoyerClub
… Good luck?
johnyoung4733
May the Proxyman help you, brother, because I doubt anyone else will.
Pierce – Pokemon Proxy
Snow, pokemon aren't usually very persistent. I think it's their battle instincts that don't let them focus for long on many things unless it's really important. So, just make a deal to humor them and then have them leave at least for a while, give them some food, play for a bit, have them search for something shiny. It'll entertain them, they'll be cute and then you can have time for yourself.
CrystalMorgan9655
Such a scary picture and he still manages to call them cute. Sasuga Proxyman-sama.
MasterPoffin1111
Not only do we get recipes and cooking tips, but we're also gonna get product recommendations? And pokepuffs?! If I could super subscribe, I would.
Nevermind the adorable pokemon (of which there's one more now permanently added) and Lily (who we'll get more content about soon, it seems).
Truly, what's there not to love?
SnowflakeMeowth_Gifs
Thank you, Proxyman. I'll try that!
A little late, but I'm super glad for Reggie's addition!
… Obviously.
Poison_Sniffa
Am I the only one getting bad guy on a chair with a cat pokemon on his lap from Pierce?
Shi89
You're not and I have to say… Actually. I'll leave it to Ruxlay. Hot though, very much so.
Lily – Pokemon Proxy Proxy
I'm glad you guys are excited, because I certainly am.
QuiteMyPath
We are too, ProxyProxy. You can bet on that. I've been struggling with my third badge for a month and I think I might need the extra help.
Ruxlay
Very much would.
ForestEnjoyerClub
Oof
ThePokemonMan19-70
I have a spearow myself, so I can say I'm looking forward to some training tips. Between you and Proxyman, I might even make a half-decent trainer.
NamelessStacey3213
The ultimate internet power couple is going to be a thing, guys, I can feel it.
Poison_Sniffa
No, they are friends! Platonic! Pierce is single! They've said so!
Shi89
What she said!
NamelessStacey3213
slow blinks
Ruxlay
:c
SphealWithoutHat
Now you've done it, Stacey.
NamelessStacey3213
I'm sorry!
Turtwiguy38
Am I the only one that's kind of excited about all announcements? Because new team member is nice. More videos is nice (I have hopes Lily's section will be good). Some honest product opinions from someone that knows their stuff is nice. And pokepuff recipe ideas are nice (even if I'm pretty sure I could ruin a berry salad).
Pierce – Pokemon Proxy
Now, that's an idea. I'll make some suggestions for the kitchen-challenged members of the community. God knows I'm not great at preparing food for humans and I was even worse when I started to learn. Thanks, Turtwig.
SphealWithoutHat
All hail the walking mini-island!
Turtwiguy38
Happy to help! :D
0DarkestType0
Ugh, ads, of course. Guess I'm leaving.
NamelessStacey3213
Looking forward to that too!
Edit: Nice to see idiots like the Edgiest Type leaving. The announcement acted as a culling device, it seems.
Shi89
We are watching you, Stacey.
And the edgy guy too.
NamelessStacey3213
D:
NoSkillJustLuck
I might finally be able to change my username! If you manage that, I'll start worshiping you, Lily!
Berry0Chaos
You mean you weren't already?
NoSkillJustLuck
I didn't mean… I was talking about… I guess…?
Lily – Pokemon Proxy Proxy
O.o
NamelessStacey3213
Run, Lily, run!
ChompChomp
Proxy Followers might be more crazy than Proxyman himself. Not a good realization, I gotta say. Or maybe madness is infectious? Scary thought too.
SomeoneSomethingSomewhere
Well, there went the quality content, I guess. Proxyman became Promotionman. Sadge.
Nice speech though. Almost believed it.
NoSkillJustLuck
Some people just really don't like being happy about stuff, huh?
ForestEnjoyerClub
Keep it nice and wholesome, guys. Like Proxyman and his journey!
Lightning55Turbo
He calmed down a gyarados!
HE CALMED DOWN A GYARADOS!
ForestEnjoyerClub
… Right. I forgot.
… Carry on.
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How's it going?
Video heavy chapter, I gotta say, but it's what it is. I'm actually happy with it, other than the fact that I think the comment section went on for a little too long. Do tell me if you agree or if think it's fine like this, alright? This is the longest comment section I've done so far, so… yeah.
It's fun to write though, honestly.
I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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 poke-people online nicknames you can think of? Yes, I'm picking you all's brains for this. Honestly, the most tedious thing about writing comment sections is the fact that I need to come up with random nicknames.
See you.