Searching Far and Wide - 147

Teams:

Pierce Lawson:

- Narcissa, Beedrill

- Orion, Onix

- Cygnus, Kadabra

- Bellatrix, Gyarados (Shiny)

- Andromeda, Vaporeon

- Regulus, Meowth

- Sirius, Yamper

Lillian Dale:

- Root, Ivysaur

- Talon, Spearow

- Gem, Geodude

- Star, Cleffa

- Cinder, Vulpix

Route 7 IX

“Now, this is how things will go,” the first Rocket said and Pierce was only half listening, if that. He was too busy panicking, looking around at the rest of the group that was surrounding him and his pokemon. His pokemon, who were all in several stages of catching up and growing wary, readying for battle. Battle that they couldn’t go through. There was no way they’d win. Too many Rockets, and they had to know his team so they were probably prepared.

Pierce didn’t know how or why he’d been targeted like he had, but the fact was that it had happened. So, he had to assume that things were accounted for, that the Rockets weren’t fucking idiots. They looked too calm, too in control. Several pokemon were released and he saw most of them countered one or several members of his team, because of course. And that was without counting the Psychic pokemon that had Teleported everyone in.

“You’ll recall the kadabra and then the rest of your pokemon, before handing them over,” the leader – he had to assume he was the leader, at that point – told him and he almost recoiled at the idea, almost as badly as his team definitely did. He had no choices though, no ways out and nothing he could do. “After that you’ll leave with us and that’ll be that, Mr. Lawson. We’d appreciate it if you cooperated without causing issues. It’ll be easier for everyone involved.”

Pierce considered refusing on principle, but to what end? In case the League managed to have picked up on what was going on? Far as he knew, Teleport wasn’t infallible, otherwise every criminal and their mothers would pick up an abra and do whatever they wanted. Teleporting, especially long distance and especially in big groups, left a trace, a trace that could be followed and identified, even beyond the points of teleportation, Psychic energy clung to those that permeated themselves in it. However, deep in the route like he was? He wasn’t optimistic enough for that. Furthermore, his emergency beacon was already on, but that was likely how they’d found him in the first place, so that was probably useless.

“Mr. Lawson,” the leader pressed when he remained silent.

Pierce couldn’t just listen though. He couldn’t just… hand over his pokemon like that. The idea itself left him feeling nauseous…. Yet, what else could he do? Try to fight? That’d just hurt his pokemon. They’d beat them all down into the dirt and then they’d take his pokemon. Hell, that could anger them, could cause them to “discipline” him, show him what they could do to him and his pokemon.

Rockets were monsters like that and he couldn’t risk it.

“Protector-Voice…” Was all Cygnus said as Pierce pulled his pokeball and pointed it at him. The kadabra didn’t say anything else though, and he was grateful for that, because he didn’t know what he’d have done if his pokemon had said anything else. Seeing him disappear in a beam of red drove the point home that he was helpless, useless.

And he couldn’t hand over his pokemon though, no way.

So, he thought, because that was all that he could do. He glanced towards the Rockets, but they seemed perfectly at ease with waiting. ‘’League’s not coming,’ he decided, pulling out the second pokeball and recalling Narcissa, the most likely to do something drastic. His hands shook, but he went to recall the rest of his team all the same. He tried not to look at them, not to try and guess what they were expressing, thinking. He failed. He saw their frustration, their anger, their fear, their nerves. He saw it all, but he had to go through with it all the same…

Or so he was supposed to, but instead… he paused.

“Mr. Lawson?” the leader asked, sounding more curious than anything, although Pierce caught scowls and grumbles from the nearby criminals. He stood his ground as best he could do, with half his team still out and his hands readying to let out those he’d recalled.

“Let Houndoom and Houndour go,” he demanded as calmly as he could. “Let them go and we won’t have any problems,” he said, glancing towards the Dark types. “I’ll let my kadabra out, just so that nobody tries anything funny. They go and I do what you want,” he reasoned as best he could.

“The kadabra stays far away from you, Mr. Lawson, and I’d recommend not to try anything… brave,” the leader told him and he nodded. That’d been expected. He noted though, wryly, how the man said “brave”, but likely wanted to say “stupid”. In fairness, that wasn’t a wrong take, Pierce supposed. “Other than that, we find that agreeable,” the leader replied, barely giving the issue any thought. He looked pleased even. Further proof that all the time in the world wouldn’t save Pierce, he supposed. How? Surely that many Teleports had raised a flag or ten, right?

‘Then again, didn’t they get you through the Rangers?’ a part of his brain whispered and he almost crumbled at the realization. They had insiders everywhere. Nobody other than the Rockets was likely to know what was happening… ‘Fuck.’

“Go, we’ll be fine,” he told the houndoom as earnestly as he could. “I promise that we’ll be fine, but you have to go,” he said, putting as much force in his words as he could. “For your son, alright? Go.” That seemed to do the trick, even if it made him feel like shit. Houndour seemed very reluctant as his mother limped off, nudging him all the way.

Watching them go, he was grateful that they were so slow, because it allowed him time to think.

“You can recall your other pokemon, Mr. Lawson,” the leader pointed out, almost casually, but there was no hiding the cold order. Pierce nodded stiffly, doing as he was told, if it’d allow him to keep some control of what was going on. He had the starting of an idea, after all… He just hoped it’d work.

Besides, after a second of thought, that worked in his favor, really.

He was so grateful for all his work with Sabrina at that moment, because he was, at the very least, confident that nobody could read his mind at that moment. He’d slammed down the block of his otherworldly memories so hard that not even Cygnus could reach his mind beyond the barest connection that shared absolutely nothing. His pokemon didn’t say anything even then, but he likely figured that Pierce was thinking about something.

With any luck, it’d work… and his pokemon would forgive him.

“That far enough, Mr. Lawson?” the leader asked, eyebrow raised.

“They are out of my range,” Cygnus told him when he glanced his way and Pierce nodded slowly.

“Ok,” he said, not even having to fake the shuddering breath in his voice nor the trembling of his hands. “Ok,” he repeated, taking his belt off, where all his pokeballs were, sans Cygnus’ which was in his hand. “I’m sorry, Cygnus,” he said and he wished his kadabra weren’t staring so intently at him at that moment. His pokemon trusted him to have a plan, to have something in mind that’d solve everything.

There was no such thing, at least not in Pierce’s head.

He recalled the Psychic type and gulped, glancing once more around at the Rockets. Some of them seemed to have fun watching him just be… powerless. Others seemed annoyed, likely at how long he was taking. The leader was one of the few that looked pleased and nothing else.

Pierce fumbled with the pokeball in his hand, going to attach it to the belt. His trembling hands failed though, letting the marble-sized sphere slip out and away from him. In the process of trying to not let go, he caused the thing to expand and his heart almost froze in his chest. A lot of things could happen then and there, the Rockets could snap at attention, see danger in that clumsy action, they could-

They did nothing. Some of them chuckled. Some of them huffed. It was harmless. What could he do, right? A pokeball that was away from him was useless.

‘Perfect,’ Pierce thought, almost cheering.

“No, fuck,” he cursed under his breath despite his thoughts, reaching to try and catch the pokeball. He failed though. It went too far away from him. ‘Come on, come on, come on,’ he pleaded as he watched the pokeball just… fly a short distance away and fall on the ground… and it fell exactly as he wanted it. Or, better to say it rolled like he wanted it to, releasing Cygnus close to where it’d landed.

He imagined the Rockets weren’t too worried even then. Because their main worry was that Pierce might make Cygnus Teleport him away, to safety. They were wrong though, because they were misunderstanding what was going on in his head.

They were right that there was no escape for them all, but once that was decided, confirmed…

What was left after that?

‘Perfect,’ he repeated, throwing the belt in his hand at him. ‘GO!’ he shouted in his mind and a few Psychics around flinched, but not Cygnus. No, his kadabra snapped into action in a split second. He grabbed the belt and disappeared before anyone could do anything.

After all, if he couldn’t escape, then he could at least make sure his pokemon did.

“That was not smart, Mr. Lawson,” the leader of the Rockets said, for once his self-satisfied calm broken by annoyance and anger.

“It was smart enough,” Pierce replied with a grin.

[}-o-{]

[Cygnus, the Powerless Escapee]

He’d been useless.

They all had been useless.

For all their training, all their moves, what could any of them have done? Surrounded, outnumbered, outpowered, that’s all they’d been for those long, agonizing minutes. The only thing they could do was just… watch, be recalled and then be sent away.

GO!

A single word, one that Cygnus had fought with all his might, all his determination… and he’d crumbled instantly all the same. Because for all that he wanted to stay, to fight with Protector-Voice, he had known it was useless. Just looking at the other pokemon, at the pokemon the ambushers had on their side, let him know that they had no chance. He’d still wanted to fight though, he’d still wanted to at least stay by his trainer’s side.

Yet, he’d left.

GO!

How unfair of Protector-Voice, of Pierce. To tell him to leave, knowing that he’d have to, for the others if not for himself. Because he could decide to stay, if he had managed to fight off the intent, the Voice, but could he do that while knowing that he was making the decision for everyone else? They’d agree with him, he knew, but that didn’t mean he could just force the answer on them. Besides, the kids… Bellatrix, Regulus, Sirius… even Orion. They couldn’t be left there, made to fight like that, he couldn’t do that to them and he knew Pierce would never forgive him if he did.

So, he’d left.

GO!

And he hated himself for that, but that could wait for another time. Cygnus couldn’t just… wallow in that self-pity, in self-deprecation, in self-hate. No, he couldn't do any of that. He had to move, he had to do something. Pierce needed him; his trainer needed him.

Cygnus could feel sorry for himself, blame himself, at some other point.

“Cygnus?” the woman, Provider-Supporter, said as she looked up and took in the sight of him, with the pokeball belt and his very recognizable spoon. To her credit, she seemed to realize something was going on immediately, but then again, Pierce was always going on and on about how capable she was. Cygnus just hoped she’d be capable enough. Although, maybe it was the fact that she’d just gotten off a call with Protector-Voice before everything… happened. “Did something happen?”

“Rockets ambushed Protector-Voice,” he said, pushing through the exhaustion that had come from all the long-distance teleporting. “Several of them. He… He sent me away with everyone,” he explained and his heart felt like someone had taken it and wrung it as he looked down at the belt in his spoon-free hand. “He sent me away… I left him…”

GO!

Why?

Why did he keep hearing that?

Why did Pierce have to say that?

GO!

Because he was weak, was the answer Cygnus found.

If he were faster at Teleporting, maybe he could have gotten everyone out of there. If he were better at Psychic Arts, maybe he could have communicated with Pierce through the block in his mind. If he were stronger, maybe he could have fought off the Rockets. He was none of those things, however.

So, Pierce had sent him away.

GO!

Cygnus was weak, so he could do nothing.

Nothing but be sent away.

[}-o-{]

[Grace Stewart]

“Rockets ambushed Protector-Voice.”

The words kept repeating in her mind, even as she reached for her phone and immediately made to call-

“Not Rangers,” Cygnus told her before she could go through the call and she froze. “Rangers were supposed to come,” the pokemon continued and she got flashes of the houndoom and houndour that she’d heard about. “Instead, the Rockets,” the noticeably exhausted pokemon said and the puzzle pieces fell in place in her mind.

“Wait… Oh, I got a message from the Rangers. Seems like it’s today.” That’s what Pierce had told her before hanging up their call. It had felt so… normal at the moment and now it almost sounded like a nightmare.

How things could change in a matter of minutes.

Instead of the Rangers going to check on Houndoom, he got ambushed by Rockets… The Rangers were compromised. So, she’d have to change approach. She – and Pierce, really – had the contacts to make stuff happen around calling the Rangers, thankfully. So, with a sharp nod, she punched a different contact in her pokegear.

“Grace?” a voice answered after a few rings and, for a moment, she froze, unsure of how to say what needed to be said. “Did you need anything?” The casual tone made it so difficult. It was so jarring… yet, who could she blame? Grace herself had been going through just another day. Hell, she’d just gotten off a call with Pierce a few minutes before, not even an hour.

“Pierce was ambushed by Rockets,” she managed to say, pushing the words out of her mouth with strength that she didn’t know she had, didn’t know she could need. “Cygnus just Teleported here with his pokeball belt, said Pierce sent him away and… and…” And what? What else was she supposed to say? What else was she supposed to do?

Surely there was something she could do, right? Because… Because Pierce was in danger. God only knew what the Rockets wanted with him, but it could be nothing good, that much she was sure. So, Grace had to do something, right? She should call Surge after the call was over, maybe a contact or two in the League. Not the Rangers.

The Rangers!

“He told me he got a message from the Rangers, that they were going to check on the houndoom,” she blurted out, trying to rush the words out of her mouth faster while still making herself understood. “Cygnus said, confirmed-”

“The Rangers are involved, compromised,” Daisy finished for her and there was something in her voice that Grace had never heard before, in all the years she’d known her. They hadn’t really been friends, what with the few years of difference, but they knew each other, they were on friendly terms. Daisy and Grace had spent more than one afternoon together, when their relatives worked together and such…

Why did any normal thought feel so wrong though, she had to wonder?

How had her life turned on its head so sharply, so jarringly.

That was not the kind of crazy working with Pierce had gotten her used to.

“Leave this to me, Grace. I’ll be there shortly, after I make a few calls,” Daisy said and for once, Grace was treated to Daisy, the Gym Leader, rather than Daisy, the Sensational Sister. It was a privilege, but it felt like a curse at that moment, because for how impressive the woman managed to sound over a few words and through a call, Grace couldn’t get past the knowledge of why she was like that. “See you there,” the woman added sharply and the call was over.

In the silence of the tent, Grace was once more left wondering what to do. What could she do from there, other than waiting for people to do their jobs? Hopefully, actually doing their jobs, instead of whatever the fuck the Rangers had done for everything to happen as it had. How had that happened in the first place?

‘What a fucking mess.’ She wasn’t one for cursing, normally, but Grace thought it was warranted at that moment. Surely she was allowed to be a little unprofessional, considering everything.

Except, the thought made her grimace, because wasn’t Pierce always trying to make her relax, to be less cold and professional. Would he have been disappointed that the only thing that got her to let go was for him to get ambushed by Rockets? Would he have been flattered? Why did she feel like the idiot would have been flattered?

Oh, right, because her boss was an idiot savant.

How someone so detached from reality could be so… incredibly special, she’d never know. For as much as he went on and on about being lucky to have her, Grace was lucky to have found him, to have been recommended to him before his star could truly shoot to the skies. She’d gotten her foot in the door before he could show everyone who he truly was, how amazing he really was.

And now he was… he was…

Grace needed to do something, or she felt like she might break down and cry then and there. She needed to focus on something. She needed something to do.

“Contact Trainer-Supporter,” Cygnus said and she jumped. How had she managed to forget he was there? Embarrassingly, she didn’t know, but the next second Grace processed what he’d told her, the picture of a brunette girl flashing in her mind.

‘Lily, Pierce’s friend,’ she realized. The only friend of his that Daisy likely wouldn’t be contacting to help hunt down the Rockets and search for the man. Because apparently he’d had a single friend before Cerulean and while she’d have been curious about that more than once, she didn’t let that thought linger for long then and there.

Her prayers had been answered almost instantly and she had something to do.

She had a call to make.

Or, more like two calls, because she didn’t know Ms. Dale’s number.

[}-o-{]

[Lillian Dale]

“Professor?” she greeted as soon as she picked up the call on her pokegear. She thought her confusion made perfect sense, considering their sponsor wasn’t one for making calls. He was usually happy with a report whenever they arrived at a city, sometimes with a second call after they challenged a Gym.

Considering she had made one such call just a few days prior when she’d earned her Rainbow Badge, she didn’t know what the man could want from her or her friends. It wasn’t like he’d checked up on them much those days. After the entire ordeal with the SS Anne had passed and her friends had  started recovering, the calls had slowly gone back to normal.

So-

“I just got a call from Grace Stewart,” Professor Oak said, his voice grave, cold. Lily’s first instinct, however, was to ask ‘who?’, but she didn’t. Instead, she listened and tried to remember. The name rang a few bells in her head, yet she couldn’t quite place it… “Pierce Lawson was ambushed by Rockets in Route 7.”

All of a sudden, Lily was reminded of being alone at Route 6. She remembered what it was like, to worry about her friends after she heard what happened to the SS Anne. She could almost hear the news again, about Pierce and what he’d done in the waters just beside Vermilion.

The same feeling that had overwhelmed her back then came back with a vengeance. Maybe even worse, in a way. Because then, it had been a disaster, yes, and a freak one to boot, but there was something more… visceral, horrifying about the fact that Pierce was attacked by criminals. Not nature, not wild pokemon, no, humans had attacked her friend, again. Because she’d heard from Red and Blue about how they’d had to deal with Rockets before, in Mt. Moon, how them and other trainers had to hold out until the League came...

Except now it was all the worse, because there were no guarantees that things would be fine and Pierce… What was Pierce supposed to do when he was attacked? ‘Not attacked, ambushed. He said ambushed,’ her mind helpfully pointed out and that didn’t help, at all. Because it wasn’t a matter of her friend being in the wrong place at the wrong time like before. No, the Rockets had, apparently, targeted Pierce.

“What… how…?” she mumbled, feeling faint and like her brain was failing to string a thought into proper words. She was too busy processing the implications, what it all meant. Distantly, an unheard corner of her mind noticed how Red and Blue seemed to have picked up on things, leaving whatever they were doing to pay attention to her.

“The League has been made aware. Things are already in motion,” Professor Oak reassured and she almost deflated. Because the League wouldn’t leave Pierce to… to his fate, whatever it might be. Her mind had no business suggesting so many things about what his fate could entail. “Lily… tell the others…” the man continued then, but he seemed hesitant, nervous even. And Lily had no idea what could make a man like Professor Oak speak like that, especially after delivering such news so… straightforwardly.

He always seemed in control, calm and collected unless he was particularly excited about some study or piece of knowledge or-

“Don’t trust the Rangers,” Professor Oak said and her brain screeched to a halt for the second time in as many minutes. “Lawson was dealing with a situation and Rangers were supposed to check up on him. When he turned on his beacon and waited for them though… The Rockets were the ones that appeared.”

‘What… the fucking… hell?’ her mind deliberately, slowly hissed inside her skull. Pierce had been doing his thing, it seemed. He’d been helping pokemon, helping the Route even, one could say. Lily remembered a message about picking up some strays in need of help. That had to be it… yet, it had backfired on him?

What kind of world did they live in, where someone like Pierce was punished for being good?

“Be wary, alright? The League is going to be working on this, dealing with this… mess. But just in case, I’ll send you all some contacts of mine, so that you can call them instead of the Rangers themselves if you need anything,” Professor Oak said and it should have been reassuring, but Lily was only half listening. She was too busy trying to wrap her head around the fact that Pierce had been ambushed by Rockets because he’d decided to help pokemon and call the Rangers while he was at it.

He’d done everything right, because of course he had. The man was incapable of messing up when it came to pokemon, which was why pokemon loved him. Lily had no proof, but she also had no doubts. The pokemon just knew that he was a saint as far as they were concerned, she was sure.

“Lily?” Professor Oak said, unknowingly echoing her friends as they called for her. It would have been funny, if she had been in the right state of mind.

“Thanks for… thanks for informing me, Professor,” she mumbled, her voice sounding weak even to her own ears, especially with as distant as she heard it herself. “I… Could you…?”

“I’ll keep an eye on things and keep you informed, Lily,” the Professor said, obviously knowing what she wanted to say before she even did. Because of course he did, he was a genius in more than just Pokemon related things. “I’m really sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Lily,” the man said and she nodded, even though he couldn’t see her.

“Thansk for telling me, Professor,” she whispered, looking down. She didn’t know what else to do, however. What was she supposed to do then? At least after the SS Anne, she’d had a destination, a goal. She just had to get to Vermilion and… and see what she could do there. Things had been over before she’d gotten there, so she’d never had to figure it out, she knew then and there.

However, that was no longer the case for her, because there was nothing she could do at that moment.

And that was the last straw for her, what made her cry.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

So… that happened.

Surprise?

It’s kind of funny, I guess, that two of my stories hit so similar an arc at the same time, isn’t it?

Why are you looking at me like that?

Er… anyway… I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter? For a definition of enjoyed, I guess.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: When’s the last time you got a call that surprised you? I’m sure that’s happened to me, but I can’t honestly remember when or what it might have been about. Most of the time I get calls from close family or one of my few friends and it’s never too surprising or weird to get them.

See you.