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

Chapter 53 -- Piers' POV

Time passed too quickly after that. The money was moved from Gia's separate account to Spikemuth's official one. The Wishing Stars were all sent back to their original owners. My agreement with the Special Operative was at its end, and now, it was time to see her off. She was to take a train from Wyndon to Motostoke, to catch her flight back to Kanto. So, I decided if she was going, she was going with a bang.

We threw a wild concert that lasted eight hours, with Meowsie using Copycat to sing some of Gia's songs. She even got up and whispered a few notes with me, voice unconfident but still talented. Salazzle slept with the Zigzagoon one last time, the center of a giant black and white cuddle pile. Salamence curled his entire body around the couch that last night; a terrifying, scaly Stufful that watched over Gia as she slept.

On the day Gia was set to leave, we decided to call Maddie for one last Flying Taxi ride. I rode in the same carriage as her, pressed knee-to-knee, as Maddie rambled on about all the things she'd been up to since I'd been in the hospital. "And then of course Rai-Rai's been trying out this ace style of battling without Dynamaxing, in honor of you being in the hospital and all, Piersy," Maddie's bubbly voice blared through the speaker. "In fact, all the gym leaders went without Dynamax while you were getting better!"

"That right?" I asked, surprised. "Surprised anybody even noticed."
"Don't talk tosh; 'course we all noticed!! You've still got friends in the League, mate. Melony kept checking in on little Marnsie in Spikemuth while you were in that coma. Hanny and Gordiekins made sure you had new people coming to see you, and Gigi--"

"Just Gia," she interrupted. "Please."
"Alright," Maddie said, and I could hear the shrug in her voice. "Gia made sure you weren't lonely. Held your hand the whole time."
"Really?" I asked. Gia flushed. She hadn't talked much about my time in the hospital; I assumed because it was somewhat traumatic.

"Yes," she admitted reluctantly. "I did."
"I was there when the doctors had to make her leave to do some surgery on your ribs," Maddie explained. "Saw her refuse, saw them grab her, and saw how she sent them arse over tits trying to get her out. This one old nutter in a doctor's robe tried to stick her with a needle, 'till she decked him nice and proper. Poor bloke's probably still sore."

I laughed hard, remembering Molly's same retelling of the fight. "Did you seriously punch him that hard?" I asked, once I'd regained the ability to breathe properly.
"He had a weapon, and I was entitled to defend myself," Gia said simply, though a smile tugged at her lips. "Besides, that man was operating purely on caffeine and instinct. Actually, not quite unlike my friends from Kanto."

We laughed and told jokes the entire ride to Wyndon, trying to keep spirits light despite the dreary implications the city held. Gia told her stories from Team Rocket; how she and her friends put on spectacular dance routines to steal from large crowds at once, the solo missions she'd been on to all the different regions, and more.

Looking at her smiling and laughing when she talked about her family from Kanto, I couldn't help but wonder if she would miss me at all once she was gone. "We're here," Maddie sang as we touched down with a rough thud. Gia and I left the coach, while Maddie hopped down from Braviary and pulled off her goggles.

Suddenly, she wailed and collapsed into Gia, sobbing hysterically. "I-I-I...I'm gonna m-m-miss you so-o much, Gia," she blubbered. "Y-y-y-you're o-one of m-my, my b-b-best friends here i-in G-G-G-G-Galar!!!"

"It'll be okay, Maddie," Gia said, hesitantly patting the taller girl's shoulders reassuringly. "Really. We still have each other's numbers, right?" Maddie sobbed harder, before pulling away and blowing her nose into her scarf. "Y-yeah, I s'pose we d-do," she sniffled.
"You see? Now we'll only be a FaceTime call away from each other. Okay? Please don't cry."

"O-o-okay," she said, honking into her scarf again before tossing it aside and giving Gia a big bear hug. "Promise to text?" I heard her whisper.
"Every day," Gia smiled, pulling back with watering eyes. Maddie grinned, tears streaming down her face as she grabbed her scarf off the ground and mounted Braviary, taking off into the sky.

After Maddie left, we walked to the train station, the glass doors sliding open effortlessly. "You can keep cell phone numbers?" I asked, slightly hopeful. Gia sighed, shaking her head. "No, not really. Operatives only. I have to get my phone wiped every time I go on a mission and add back numbers, otherwise people could trace the cell signal." I deflated instantly.

Gia walked to get her train ticket, while tons of people milled around us. I caught faint whispers of Is that Piers? I thought he was hospitalized. Who's that woman he's with? Is she his girlfriend or something? "Got it," Gia's voice interrupted me from the whispers.

"Ah, right," I said, feigning enthusiasm. "Guess it's almost time, then."
"Yeah." Her eyes were downcast, focusing on her Dark-type high tops (which I took pride in seeing her wear). "I guess it is."
"All passengers of Train A4 headed to Motostoke, please report to the station immediately," a woman's voice over the loudspeakers announced.

"Well, that's me," Gia said softly.
"Right," I cleared my throat. "So...guess this is goodbye, then." I offered my hand. Gia studied it for a moment, before grabbing it and pulling me in for a hug.

"Goodbye," she whispered, squeezing me tight. She pulled away, leaning in close for a moment, as if to kiss me again. I waited, staring into those black eyes that were glimmering with the beginnings of tears. With a choked back sob, she squeezed her eyes shut, pecked me on the cheek and ran to her train.

I was frozen as the distant whistle signalled the train's departure, the chugging and screech of the wheels growing quicker and fading as it left the station. I left the station in a daze, my feet moving with no serious destination in mind. I found myself sitting at the fountain in the center of town; ironically, where Gia and I had first met, though unknowingly.

"Piers? That you, mate?" I looked up through my curtain of monochromatic hair to see Raihan jogging towards me. "Haven't seen you out and about since...well, I can't remember! How're you holding up?"

"T' be honest, I ain't great," I admitted with a sigh. Raihan was one of those people whose positive energy forced the truth out of you. It was an admirable, although annoying quality. "Gia just left on 'er train back t' Kanto."

"Oh, yes, the girl who spent so much time with you in the hospital," Raihan grinned, Rotom Phone zipping around him like a trained Yamper. "You know, she's quite the catch."
"You're tellin' me," I chuckled darkly. "I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but I think I might've got it."

"Oh, mate, I know," the Dragon-type user grinned, taking a seat by my side. "You got it bad; this isn't your usual 'Leave me alone, I have issues' mope. This is a 'My heart's been broken by the woman of my dreams' mope."

He dodged the punch I aimed at his shoulder, before sitting back down and looking at me seriously. "Piers, if you really like this girl, you should go and get her. I mean, it seems to me she likes you too. It's not like you'd get rejected or anything."
"I know," I groaned, pulling at my hair. "But she's gone now. It's too late t' even do anythin' 'bout it. Should probably just forget I even met her--what in Zamazenta's name are you doin'?!"

Raihan was typing away furiously on his Rotom phone, grin growing larger and larger before he burst into maniacal laughter. I felt a strong urge to move away from him, before he turned and shoved his phone in my face. "Being on your phone so often has its perks," he smirked. "My good friend Rotom has just hacked every single screen in Galar to broadcast my live streams."

"And this helps me because...?" I asked slowly, though the gears in my head were starting to turn. "We're gonna get your girl back, mate," he smirked as his Rotom Phone's screen started to mirror every billboard and screen in Wyndon. "One way, or another."