Searching Far and Wide - 14 (Patreon)

Pewter City VIII

“Both, Narcissa, at the same time!” Lily called and Pierce looked on in interest, holding a cup of tea in his hand. On his lap was a notebook and next to him a small pile of books he’d gotten to study from. Most of them were what he’d picked up for his First Aid License but there were a few others that held very interesting information too.

As he studied a bit before having to go check on the onix, Pierce had decided to sit on the sidelines while Lily, her pokemon and Narcissa got a little training underway. There was some hesitation from both his pokemon and his trainer friend when it came to commands, but that was to be expected, he supposed. Lily’s voice would more often than not be unsure when calling an order, Narcissa would take a moment to process the commands, sometimes the calls would be misunderstood…

There was room for improvement there, that was for sure. However, they were making progress, it seemed. Pierce was fairly confident that the two would get things under control for the tournament, which had him looking forward to it, really.

Still, Narcissa didn’t let a single opportunity pass by to make it known that she’d much prefer to have him in Lily’s place. He’d already had to assuage her apparent worries that no, he wasn’t gonna give her up. Maybe this had been a bad idea in that regard. Interesting and convenient as the whole thing was, it seemed to have shaken his pokemon a little.

‘At least we’re unlikely to need to do this in the future,’ he mused. He’d told those same words to Narcissa too, which seemed to have calmed her down a fair bit. It was even the truth, since with some more time, Lily and him were more likely to get more pokemon in their teams, and they wouldn’t need to share pokemon to have better odds.

Narcissa following Lily’s order brought him back to the present. Interestingly, the girl’s command had been to use String Shot and Poison Sting at the same time. Which the beedrill did her best to pull off… With pretty good results, Pierce guessed. The white thread of the former shot from the stinger on her abdomen. At the same time, one of her arm-stingers’ tips shone purple before shooting the poisoned needles.

“Oh, I liked that,” Pierce commented, drawing the attention of the people that were training. He waved them to continue then, grinning and a little uncomfortable with the attention he’d unwittingly broughton himself. He should be more careful about that, Lily and Narcissa were already having enough trouble working with each other out of nowhere.

With that out of the way, Pierce pulled out his Training Book –  a notebook he dedicated for notes on training and such, obviously – and made a note of that move “combo”. It was simpler than most of the ideas he’d come up with. It made him feel pretty dumb, honestly.

“Need to come up with a name for that, make it an actual move in the arsenal, maybe…” he mumbled to himself as he made a note of that too. He’d probably have to check with Narcissa.

As stated, he had already been brainstorming personalized moves with what Narcissa had in her arsenal and even some options that were next in the list to learn. However, he’d wanted to focus on the moves they were already working on and the ones the beedrill already knew. Building a solid foundation was what he wanted to dedicate their time to for the moment. However, what Lily had called for was simple enough not to really do anything to affect the training he was putting Narcissa through.

It was just using a simple two move combo that didn’t really require adjustment besides having to… Well, use both moves. It wasn’t like trying to mix Harden and Iron Defense, which both needed to cover the whole body of the pokemon, since Poison Sting and String Shot could be used through different parts of Narcissa’s body. ‘Yeah, that was a good call. Should have thought of that myself,’ Pierce mused to himself, wondering if there was anything else like that he could think of.

‘Bug Bite might work with Fury Attack or Twinneedle. It needs very close combat though, which is a bit of a problem,’ Pierce thought to himself. Being close enough to use Narcissa’s stingers for attack was already dangerous enough, but being close enough for her to use her mouth? That sounded like asking for trouble, in his opinion. ‘But maybe having it as a last resort might be useful though,’ he decided, taking a few notes on that.

For now, he’d leave Lily to it. No need to make things more confusing than they already seemed to be by getting involved in the training. It’d be just a few days anyway, and then things would be back to normal. He could wait that long, yeah.

With that out of the way, he went back to his studies, taking a sip from his tea that was getting colder by the second. Good thing he didn’t mind if it got cold, he supposed. As it was, his attention was pulled quite a bit by the texts he was going over, keeping him constantly distracted. It was all he could do to focus on the information that was most pertinent at the moment without taking in everything else, really.

For the moment though, he had to manage. The main priority was to learn what he needed to keep the onix child well on his way to recovery. After that came learning how to treat Narcissa, Root and Talon if it came to that. From there, going a little lower in the priority list, came those pokemon Pierce was more likely to meet soon in his travels, as opposed to those that were further away from where he was in the region… nevermind those pokemon from other regions.

[}-o-{]

“And there you go,” Scott, the ranger, told him in his mind as Pierce appeared near the onix mother and son. “You know what to do, right?”

‘Sure thing,’ he thought with a nod. ‘Check the wounds, re-dress them, feed the three of them and then use the wipe on the child,’ he listed in his head.

“Don’t need to feed all three of them, just the child, but you got everything else right,” Scott told him, sounding amused. Which Pierce guessed was fair, really, all things considered. However, the tried and true method of getting in pokemon’s good graces through their stomachs had worked well for him so far, so why not keep it up, right? “You are weird, Pierce, but you are alright.”

‘Thanks, man,’ the man replied wryly as he reached the hole on the side of Mt. Moon where the onix were. Little seemed to have changed since the last time he was there, from what he could see. The mother and son duo seemed to be in much the same position, having shifted a little at best. The abra was sitting on another rock, but that was about it.

“Hello there,” he greeted softly in order not to wake up the psychic type in case it was sleeping. It was difficult to tell with the slits it had for eyes, but Pierce felt better staying on the side of caution. “Did anything happen while I was gone? Was the little one alright?” he asked, already pulling out the Preserving Box and opening it.

There was a rumbling response to his questions that he guessed sounded positive enough. It had a tinge of worry, but that was to be expected. Mama Onix probably wouldn’t be able to calm down until her son was alright. Pierce could only offer her reassurances and do his best as it was.

“He’ll be fine,” he reassured with a smile as he moved to set a berry in front of abra and then towards the onix child. “You heard? You’ll be fine,” Pierce repeated, rubbing a hand on the younger rock type when he noticed that it was awake. “Now, I’ll have to look at all the wounds once more and check that everything’s fine before re-dressing them, alright? It might be uncomfortable and hurt a little but it should be better than yesterday, okay?” he told him with a sad smile.

The poor thing let out a pitiful whine at that while his mother rubbed her head against the side of his.

“Come on, I’m sure you can handle this,” Pierce encouraged with a grin, trying to instill some courage into the wounded creature. “I brought some berries that you guys are supposed to like. If you do well, I’ll give you one after each wound we check, ok?” he asked, smiling wider when the onix perked up a little, even if it seemed to make it flinch a bit.

“If you don’t get a nurse degree at the least, I’ll eat a pokeball,” Scott said in his mind, making him chuckle.

‘That’d be nice, not gonna lie… Needs a lot more studying though,’ Pierce commented. Of course he’d checked regarding that but… Well, he’d probably settle down before trying to approach that route. It’d need a lot of studying, expectedly, and if he was going to do that, he might even take it a step further and become a proper doctor… Those were thoughts for the future, however.

“Ok, little one,” Pierce said, clapping. Not for the first time, he felt it pretty ironic that he called the onix that, and especially that nobody seemed to find it as funny as he did. “Let’s get started, yeah? The faster we finish, the faster you get your berries, right?” he asked, getting a hesitant nod from the rock type. “Great, now, raise your head a little, please?” he asked.

From there, he checked under bandages and plasters, applying more potions and antidote and other medicines when necessary. To the berries he gave as prizes, he also had to add some other things that the pokemon needed to ingest instead of being applied at skin level. Scott still kept whispering in his mind, reminding him of each step and every procedure, since Pierce’s memory was nowhere near good enough to remember everything and many things were different from the previous day.

Despite the fact that having the ranger almost literally in his head still made him a little uncomfortable, Pierce was getting used to it. It seemed that, for whatever reason, either they didn’t care or didn’t pick up on the things he shouldn’t know. He didn’t know for sure what was up with that, but he was still grateful for that. Maybe Saffron City wouldn’t be the nightmare he thought it’d be if his mind was safe enough.

As it was, he had good reason to be fine with a ranger in his head. Not only were Scott’s instructions pretty much necessary, but the man also went out of his way to explain things to Pierce that he didn’t really need to. A step by step would have been fine, the man knew, but the ranger still explained the whys and hows of every single thing he had to do. It was like studying but in a practical setting.

Pretty nice, Pierce would admit.

What wasn’t as nice were some parts of the process of taking care of the onix child. Especially those that were a bit… troublesome to do by himself. It was in one such case that Pierce paused and gave Mama Onix a look.

“You sure you don’t want some other people here to help? It’d go much better with other, more capable people, you know? I’m… I’m doing my best here but it’s not enough,” Pierce explained, drawing a frown from the mother. For a long moment, the pokemon regarded him with what he imagined was a conflicted expression. ‘Pretty expressive for a creature whose skin is basically made of rock, huh?’ he mused idly, taking a break as he let the mother think it over.

He tried to put himself in her place for a moment, wondering why she was so… reticent to let someone else treat her child. He guessed it made some sense. She wasn’t human, so there was a level of distrust to humans there, probably. That wasn’t even considering she might have a worse opinion of humans than most pokemon. On top of that… Well, this was her child, not herself, that needed help. She probably was extra nervous and extra wary.

In the end, he resigned himself when the Mama Onix didn’t seem to be able to reach a conclusion.

“It’s fine,” he breathed out, wondering how to best go through the process. The previous day he’d managed as best he could, but he wanted to do as good a job as he could manage and for that he needed… extra hands… Pierce narrowed his eyes then. “You wouldn’t happen to be awake, right?” he asked softly as he turned towards the abra, still sitting in the same place he’d been when Pierce arrived. “Thought so… Well, if you see him wake up or something, tell me. I could use some help. I’ll do what I can by myself in the meantime, no need to wake him up,” the man said towards the older rock type before looking at the younger one and giving him a pat on his stoney plates. “You are doing great, buddy, we are already more than halfway through it.”

“Nice try, man,” Scott told him wryly, to which Pierce grinned in much the same way. “Pokemon mothers are very wary of who they let close to their children though. Especially in regards to humans. Not that we can blame them. People will throw a pokeball at anything that looks good enough and the younger the pokemon the better their training potential becomes,” the ranger explained and Pierce suddenly felt like punching a few people. “I get it, believe me. You are doing good, keep it up. We’ll keep an eye on the abra ourselves so that it can lend you a hand. Good thinking there.”

‘Thanks,’ Pierce replied with a sigh as he started working again.

For the time being, the man continued treating the onix as best he could, sometimes asking Mama Onix for help. The stone serpent couldn’t do all that much, seeing as she didn’t have limbs to speak of, but sometimes she’d be able to assist him just with her head. That was good enough for a good hour or so until he was done with everything that he could do by himself or with her. Fortunately, a few minutes before he reached that point, the abra had woken up, teleporting on top of Mama Onix and munching on the berry Pierce had brought for him.

“Did you like it, buddy?” Pierce asked, receiving a feeling of contentment from the abra directly to his mind. ‘Wonder if that’s ever not gonna be weird,’ the man mused before shaking his head. “Well, can you help me with some of these things? I promise we’ll be done with it in a bit and I’ll give you another berry.”

That last comment made the psychic perk up a bit… and the young onix too.

“Yes, our deal is still up, you get one after every wound, like I said,” he commented, drawing a pleased rumble from the rock type. Shaking his head, he traded a look with Mama Onix, who looked pretty amused, at least to his eyes. “Children, am I right?” he asked, drawing a snort from the gargantuan stone serpent. The children in question though, didn’t seem overly pleased with his comment though, if the glare he got from the young onix and the annoyed feeling he got from the abra were anything to go by. “Yeah, whine at me all you want, you two. Now, come on, we have things to do and injuries to treat.”

And thus, he continued working. Most of the time, the abra seemed to use his psychic powers more than his actual hands, which Pierce guessed made sense. From what he’d read, the line wasn’t known for its physical prowess, that was for sure. It still was a little weird for him, but oh well, it was how it was. If that’s how the species worked, then who was he to try and make the psychic develop some muscle? For all he knew, it might even be a bad idea.

“... Ah, you heard that?” Pierce mumbled, noticing how the abra switched approaches then and there, taking a hold of the onix’s plates with his hands instead of his powers. “It’s fine if you want to use your powers. I don’t know that much about your line,” the man commented. When the psychic type stubbornly continued to use his limbs, he shrugged. “Suit yourself,” he mumbled, continuing to work.

Over him, Mama Onix snorted.

“If it makes you feel better, the line is fine with physical activity. They are no athletes, of course, but they are fine with a bit of it. Abra should know where his limits are,” Scott reassured in his mind before continuing with the medical instructions.

‘Good to know,’ Pierce thought to the ranger. However, he still made a mental note to read up on the line. Since it seemed the abra was going to be around for the time being, it seemed prudent enough to up its priority in studies. ‘Man, wish I had been this motivated in college,’ the man mused wryly as he continued working.

“Nice job, guys, you are doing great,” Pierce called then, leaning back as he finished setting a plaster over a wound that was already in the process of healing. Then he stood up, cracking his neck and moving towards the Preserving Box to pick up two berries for his patient and helper. “Here you go. We are almost done, buddy,” he said, rubbing a hand on the plate that was behind the young onix’s head. “After that you can get a big meal and I’ll be out of here to leave you to rest, ok?”

All he got from that was a vague huff from both the child and the mother. He guessed that was fair, both must have been getting tired of him after a good two hours of having him around. So, he focused on continuing what he was doing and leaving it at that.

[}-o-{]

“Had fun training with Lily today?” Pierce asked, drawing a grumble from Narcissa, who was sprawled on his lap as he used the wipe he’d bought on her body. She seemed to be a fan, so he guessed he’d made a good purchase with that particular item. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he commented, drawing more grumbling from the beedrill as she shifted on his lap. “If you really don’t wanna do this, you know you can tell me, right? Lily’s not gonna get angry either. This was just a convenient idea I had but it’s fine either way.”

Narcissa just grumbled more, pressing her abdomen against the wipe.

“Very eloquent, young lady,” Pierce said, rolling his eyes. “You interested in coming with me tomorrow for a visit with the onix family and the abra? I’ll ask Lily later but it’s fine if you wanna come regardless. We can spend some time together for a few hours and the poor onix child could use some company, considering nothing seems to get close due to his mother and he can’t move.”

The beedrill gave a non-committal response to that.

“I need an actual yes or no, Narcissa,” Pierce replied with a sigh. After a second, he got what he assumed was a positive answer. “Great. Thanks. Honestly, I feel bad for the little one. Can’t be nice to be stuck in one place like that, especially for a pokemon and especially for one that’s young,” he mused out loud as he continued pampering his pokemon partner.

Narcissa chittered something at him but he wasn’t very sure what it meant, or if it was supposed to mean something at all. Communication with pokemon was like that sometimes. It could be very clear at one moment and then make no sense whatsoever at another. Pierce’s only reassurance was that it seemed that other humans seemed to be roughly in the same position as he did, which meant that he wasn’t the weird one out.

There was silence then as he continued rubbing the wipe over his pokemon’s body. From what he was getting, it was like giving her a massage or something of the sort, which was neat. He’d need to look up equivalents for other members of his team when he eventually got around getting more of those. He was in no rush, of course, but it was kind of a given.

Despite the lack of conversation though, both Pierce and Narcissa seemed to be comfortable anyway. After days and days of traveling together, there were bound to be times when there wouldn’t be all that much to talk about. Both seemed to be fine with that though, especially now that they had something to actually do instead of just sitting together.

“So, how are the moves coming along, any progress or business as usual?” Pierce asked after a while. Not because he wanted to fill the silence but because he was curious. She was his pokemon, after all, so he kind of needed to be updated on her progress.

Narcissa gave what almost could pass as an excited chitter to answer that question, which made him smile. It was always nice when his beedrill companion broke away from her grumpy mood. It didn’t happen often, or for long, but it was still nice.

“You’ll have to show me that progress then,” Pierce mused out loud, drawing a sharp nod from the beedrill. “Maybe this will be good. Lily has a better idea of how to train than I do, that’s for sure. I need to put more effort into that, actually…”

And wasn’t that the truth, he realized. His plans were already getting away from him, considering that he was investing a lot of time on learning medicine and such. He needed to focus on what was his actual job for the moment, which was being a trainer. ‘I need to organize my time better,’ he thought with a grimace.

Meanwhile, Narcissa didn’t seem too pleased with his statement, if the angry chittering was anything to go by.

“Girl, it’s fine,” he spoke soothingly. “I’m not the best trainer in the world, just like you are not the best beedrill in the world. That’s fine though, we’ll get better with time, both of us,” Pierce explained to her, putting the smallest bit more pressure on the wipe to try and make the beedrill relax.

It seemed to work, because she relaxed on his lap once more. Once more, there were no words or chittering between them, but that was fine. Pierce simply continued spoiling his sole pokemon with attention that she seemed to enjoy. It was a peaceful night, which was very appreciated, even a few days after the mess that had been Mt. Moon. ‘If we never have to deal with something like that again, it’ll be too soon,’ Pierce thought to himself, very aware that things were likely to get dicey again sooner or later.

No way he’d be lucky enough to avoid such situations. He’d learned that much in his time in the pokemon world. The only thing he could do was try and be prepared for it. Get better, learn what he could and hope it’d be enough.

With a sigh, Pierce decided to think about something else for the moment.

“So, you up to test some more pokeblocks or have you gotten tired of them already?” he asked, chuckling as Narcissa perked up. Yeah, the way to a pokemon’s heart was definitely through their stomach.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well, not a whole lot to talk about I think. I think this might be a good chapter for people that don’t follow my other fics to know, sometimes my stories just have more slice of life than anything else. Hope it’s not too much of a problem.

Also hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: How’s the weather over there? Here it’s cloudy and the temperature is going down lately, which are both great things.

See you.