Project: Titans -- A Pokemon Story (OC x Piers)

Chapter 45

The next few weeks were, to say the least, complicated.

I found it awkward to be around Piers for long periods of time nowadays; which was problematic, considering how much time he spent with Team Yell while we were fixing up the stadium. The Gym was our last big project before we could invite large groups of tourists in; it would be the piece de resistance, doubling as a concert arena and a place for official battles.

So far, Spikemuth had attracted more and more curious Galarians by the day. Now that the Gym Challenge was over and done with (Leon still reigned undefeated), former challengers liked to revisit some of the places they had been on their travels. Gossip traveled fast around the region, and I couldn't help my beam of pride whenever someone walked into Spikemuth with their jaws slack, gaping at the town's new look while they remembered the old.

Instead of flickering lamp post lights and sagging buildings, there were now fairly lights strung between complexes that twinkled in the colors of Team Yell. The buildings had been given a fresh coat of paint, and some of the windows had even been fixed. The debris that used to be scattered throughout the streets was nowhere to be seen, and the Zigzagoons were more than happy to curl up on some stranger's lap (provided they were fed afterwards).

Souvenirs, like leather jackets and the horns Team Yell used, were being sold at an alarming rate, which poured loads of money back into businesses--and the end goal of restoring the stadium--and created a demand for more workers, which had people moving into Spikemuth and slowly raising its population into the 30s and eventually the 40s.

But, to earn enough cash to have a nice budget, we would need something more. A functioning mode of transportation from other cities to Spikemuth. So far, the only ways to get there were through the Route 9 tunnel by bike or walking, swimming Circhester Bay or calling a Flying Taxi to Route 9. We needed to bring an easy and comfortable mode of transportation to the little seaside town. What we needed was Maddie.

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Anxiously, I held my phone in my hands as I waited for Maddie to pick up. Piers had allowed it back to me for a few minutes while I worked out a deal with my 'friend', but it was hard to tell if we were friends at all any more. I nearly went into cardiac arrest when her bubbly voice sang, "Hello~! Madeline Amaterasu from the Flying Taxi Company at your service! What can I do for you?"

"H-hey, Maddie," I said nervously. "It's-" Instantly, the line clicked dead. Panicking, I pulled up her number on my phone and hurriedly texted, Wait! Maddie! Please, just hear me out! Nothing. I sighed, pressing my palms to my eyelids. Great. Now I'd lost my one lead to getting Spikemuth the help it needed.

Suddenly, I heard a small ping. I thought I was hallucinating when I saw the one word, four-letter message Maddie had sent back. Fine. Bubbles signalled she was typing something else, and I held my breath. But you'd better explain absolutely everything to me, unless you want me to deck you next time we meet in person.

That's fair, I typed back, a goofy grin spreading across my face. Instead of the quick, in-a-nutshell story, I painstakingly wrote down every detail of my journey so far. How I'd been sent here from Kanto by my father to collect Wishing Stars, how I'd been caught at the Chairman's masquerade ball, how I had spent the last six months restoring Spikemuth, and not forgetting to layer in countless apologies for everything.

I almost fainted when the phone buzzed with the caller ID, Maddie. Hurrying to answer it, before I could say anything close to an apology, Maddie cut me off by shouting, "For the love of Zamazenta, mate! You were a top secret spy and you didn't bloody tell me about it?!"
"I think the reason why is in the name, Madz," I smiled, glad she was back to her regular self.