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

Chapter 49 -- Piers' POV

The time flew by when I was with Gia. She was so interesting, with her background and life and friends. Outside of Spikemuth, she was a born entertainer. No wonder she was amazing onstage.

"So, lemme get this straight," I said, as we sat at a little diner as the sun started to go down. "You mean you're tellin' me you an' yer friend Tiana--"
"Toni," she corrected.
"You an' Toni infiltrated a Pokemon Coordination match in Sinnoh, hid in the lightin' fixtures, an' fell into the pool with Champion Wallace?!"

"Yep," she sighed. "Headfirst. Actually, we didn't even fall in the pool; Toni fell into the pool with Milotic, and I fell right onto Wallace. Once she was dumped out and thoroughly soaked Wallace and I trying to help us up, we had to lie and say we were rookie light repair people--stop laughing! It's not funny!" I couldn't help myself; I was howling at the image of the cool, suave Wallace plastered to some pool tiles with a dazed Gia lying on top of him.

"And then, to make matters worse, Andy charges in, in full Team Rocket uniform with platform heels clicking, and ends up chewing us out for being sloppy operatives in front of the entire Sinnoh region!!! We ended up having to alibi that I was their adopted sister and he ended up dragging the both of us back to the airport by our elbows!! We didn't get the Milotic, and to make matters worse, the entire thing was on live television!"

"Ouch," I winced, trying to hold in my laughter at Gia's death glare that didn't have any fire behind it. "That sounds...wow."
"'Wow' was one word for it," she sighed, leaning her head on her hand. We talked all through the evening, even when the sun went down and the waitress kept giving us death glares until we finally got up and left.

I felt like I could never get bored chatting with her. Every new story was unfurling another piece of her story; a story that I never wanted to end. Our hands had interlocked again, and it felt nice to have that comforting warmth next to me. She didn't drop them as we walked down the now darkened streets, the streetlamps and shops illuminating them with varying shades of yellow light.

"I really enjoyed today, Piers," Gia smiled up at me, stopping suddenly. "Really. I needed...this."
"This," I tested the word.
"This." She smiled. Her eyes were in Gemstone Mode right now, glittering like two black diamonds in the streetlamp light.

Was I hallucinating, or was Gia's face a lot closer to mine than it was five seconds ago? And was that the faint shimmer of lip gloss on her lips that were inching closer and closer to my face with every passing--oh.

I was so close; so tantalizingly close to kissing her, all the anticipation in me was bubbling out and wrapping my arms around her and pulling her closer and swooping down to meet her lips with mine and--

The pavement groaning and vibrating beneath my feet shocked us apart. Everyone around us was gasping and shouting in surprise as the city groaned and swayed. Then, someone screamed as the nearest electric billboard went crashing down to the ground.

"Run," Gia yelled, dragging me down the street. Dodging falling chunks of buildings as we went, we raced through Wyndon to the closest subway, where everyone else was frantically stampeding. "There's too many people," I shouted over the commotion, freezing in my tracks. "Back t' the stadium; should be enough t' keep us safe from the earthquake!"

I changed directions, pulling Gia in the direction of the hot pink stadium that stuck out like a sore thumb on usual nights, but now was the granter of our salvation. We had almost made it out of the main walkway before Gia screamed as a large chunk of building crashed in front of us. "Back this way," I shouted, changing directions.

We raced back down the street, ducking under a billboard leaning against a crumbling building. "Shelgon, Espeon, help us find a way out of here," Gia released her partners. "Malamar, you too," I called. "You an' Espeon use Psychic an' find a way outta this city, y'hear?" Both creatures cried, eyes glowing blue as they levitated off the ground and out of the rubble around us.

"Why'd ya let out Shel...gon," I asked, pausing when Gia had wrapped both arms around the round little dragon and was sobbing into its shell. "What are we gonna do? What are we going to do?" she whispered hysterically into the milky carapace. Shelgon was her rock right now; her anchor in times of need. Then I remembered how Gia had told me how Dragon types were always used as Team Rocket grunt's first Pokemon.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," I said slowly, squatting and wrapping an arm around her sobbing figure. "It'll be alright. I promise. We'll get through this together." Gia sniffled, looking up at me with her tear-stained face and eyes that glimmered with fear. It was strange to see Gia come undone because of an earthquake, but it wasn't my place to judge. Right now, she needed comfort.

I sat there and held her, counting the seconds between pieces of falling rubble. The ground was still shaking, to my surprise; most earthquakes lasted a few seconds at most, but this one had been going strong for almost ten minutes. Shelgon's eyes snapped open suddenly, grunting and shoving Gia and I out from under the sign. I was confused for a split second before an avalanche of bricks fell and crushed the billboard we had been sitting under moments before.

Gia screamed in agony, scrambling to get out of my grip to run to her Pokemon. I kept a vice on her, even as she beat my arms and screamed and flailed wildly. "Gia, ya need t' focus," I yelled in her ear, and she stopped. "Use that brain o' yers an' think!"
"Shelgon," she gasped, sinking into me. "He--he's; no. He can't be."

"Shelgon are sturdy little buggers," I coaxed, frantically scanning the sky for more falling architecture. "If Obstagoon can't crack his shell then nothin' can." Gia paused for a moment, then whispered, "Okay. Okay. Let's go." With one last tear-streaked glance at where Shelgon had fallen, she turned to the streets piled high with rubble.

"ESPEON," she screamed into the night. "WE NEED YOU!! PLEASE, COME BACK!!" Said Pokemon floated ethereally from the sky a moment later, with Malamar in tow. "Did you see anythin' that could've gotten us out?" I asked. Espeon shook her head slowly and Malamar shut his eyes.

"Okay, then," Gia sighed, eyes flicking around the city that was still falling apart around us. "We've got to find some sort of shelter. Anything could work, but--"
"Look out!" I shouted, pushing her out of the way of a falling sign. Now, we were boxed in; trapped between the sign where Shelgon was, and part of the wall of a department store.

"We're trapped," Gia whispered hoarsely. Then, at full volume, "Get under something! NOW!" She didn't have to tell me twice; I dragged her under the fallen billboard and huddled together. She curled up close to me, burying her face in my shirt and sobbing. The metal above us groaned as bricks thudded against the makeshift roof above us. Espeon was huddled by her feet, and I returned Malamar to his dusk ball. No use in making him witness our deaths.

"Gia, if this really is the end an' all that," I whispered into her hair. "I just want ya t' know you're the most amazin' person I've ever met. I mean that." Dropping a small kiss on her head, I curled my arms around her and waited for the end to come.