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POSTED ON Jan 3, 2020 17:27:08 GMT

[attr="class","pierce"]

There’s something pleasant about feeling the cool water lapsing over his feet while the bright warm sun beams down against his back. The refreshingly cool breeze gently caresses his face while the roaring waves roll down crashing against the shore with a soft hiss, washing away the course wet sand below his feet. He can’t help but look further off in the distance, lost in the beautiful scenery – his gaze transfixed by the vast endless sea in front of him.

Losing himself in the scenery, he thinks back of his home region, comparing to the cold frozen beach of Route 9 to the cool yet warm beach here. There’s really no comparison. He slowly raises his right arm to his chest and tightly grips his shirt, his nose wrinkling in disappointment as his smile slowly fades away.

”Damn it.” he curses quietly. He wants to forget, but wistfully thinking about home only brings back the pain, the loss.

He remembered the excitement he had when he stepped into the stadium for the first time – the roars of cheers all around him as he competed against Gym Leaders. The adrenaline rush he had at that time was incomparable to anything he felt now. People used to adore him as he’d travel from town to town, challenging people in Galar’s greatest sport, but as time moved on, so too did the fans.

He stagnated whereas those he competed against either bettered themselves and reached higher levels or just moved on with his life. As the years passed by, he couldn’t help but feel washed up…

He felt a sharp pain stab against his heart mercilessly as his thoughts slowly tore away his spirit.

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POSTED ON Jan 4, 2020 11:39:37 GMT

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After the shark attack, the personal attack on herself, and the sabbatical, Ramsay and her had a lot of therapy to go through. Of course, Ramsay's was mostly physical, which is why Gemma finds herself at the beach during the most peculiar of times, when no one else is really around, and she can truly take care of his damaged shell and fin as he learns to swim with a prosthetic.

Since Ramsay's fin had literally been blown off by the hyperbeam of an overzealous trainer that was trying to save Gemma's life, he's been having some troubles working out how to actually swim with the fake one attached to the stump where his right anterior fin had been.

Taking her time with him, she gently guides him through the shallow waters, tugging on a small reign system she's hooked up to him in case she needs to pull him to shore. The last thing she wants is for him to drown.

However, a familiar face - someone whom she's met in the past two months - makes her raise an eyebrow and wander a little closer, just to inspect. To see if it's really him. "Pierce?" She blinks, before smiling softly. "Pearson Black?"

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POSTED ON Jan 5, 2020 5:29:46 GMT

[attr="class","pierce"]

The last year spent in Galar was the hardest life had ever gotten for him, especially since he couldn't progress any further in the sports season. In many ways, he wants to forget, but is unable to since a majority of his life was spent obsessing over the sport. That's the pain of growing up, he supposes. To never be able to grasp the dream and make it reality. Slowly his grip loosens as he stares off. The serenity he felt slowly turning to hatred towards himself.

He turns suddenly towards the ginger-headed girl behind him, his eyes wide, incredulous that he'd be seeing someone he actually knew, albeit briefly, back home. She suddenly called out his name, repeating it to confirm whether or not he was real.

"Gemma?" He asks back. "Gemma Waters? No way! How're, what're you-" He begins to stammer, losing his words as he feels a small sense of relief, the self-deprecation receding to the darker corners of his mind. "I can't believe that you're actually in Hoenn. What're you doing here?"

His demeanor quickly brightens at seeing her, but looking at the pokemon beside her his expression fills with worry instead as he walks over to the Lapras. His eyes locks onto it as he slowly raises his hand, putting it close to the Lapras' face. Seeing no real resistance, he rubs his hands against it, caressing it gently. He's suddenly disappointed in himself for thinking so negatively after seeing the prosthetic fin connected to the Lapras. He looks back to the girl apologetically.

"It's good to see you." he remarks, saying nothing about the matter as it would be insensitive to ask.

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POSTED ON Jan 6, 2020 1:08:41 GMT

Gemma grins a bit sheepishly as Pierce makes his way over to her, before holding up her hands. Wait! It was freezing! And he didn’t have a wet suit on... oh, nope. He’s already here and petting Ramsay’s face as she stands there awkwardly with her hands up and outstretched. Great.

She tucks her hands behind her back and wades closer to him, leaning to inspect him carefully. "I can’t believe you’re here. I live here, actually — this is where I was taking my holiday from... seems we’ve switched places." She gives him a coy smile and judges him with her elbow, the wetsuit making strange squeaking noises as it moves. "But, I suppose in particular... I’m helping Ramsay here with his new prosthetic! He had a bit of a run in with a mega sharpedo a couple months back, and he’s been in recovery since."

Placing her hand on Ramsay’s nose, beside Pierce's, she gives it a long, upward stroke. He was a good boy, he didn’t deserve to have his fun blown off. "He came back to save me." She murmurs softly, before breathing in. "Anyway! It’s great to see you... it’s been a couple of weeks." A hazy, drunken memory of hanging out in a pub before coming home flashes to her mind, and she covers her mouth as she thinks. "Last saw you at that pub, in Motostoke." She thinks back, but the memory is hazy. She doesn’t remember anything past midnight.

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POSTED ON Jan 7, 2020 6:06:48 GMT

[attr="class","pierce"]

Memories wash over him upon seeing her again. He's suddenly reminded of the small pub where he wallowed away his anguish, masquerading his pain behind hard liquor. The girl suddenly sat beside him, chiming that he seemed familiar - like she had seen him on the Telly. Oh how he fumed at that time. Yet despite his initially hostile disposition, the girl chipped away at his brittle shield with another drink. Slowly they bonded and spoke about their woes. Everything that happened after they left the bar was black, but he wouldn't forget the brilliant smile she had then.

"Wait, you live here?" His eyes are filled with bewilderment and astonishment, then he pulls back the hand that had been gently petting the Lapras and strikes his palm against his own forehead. "Oh, right! I forgot that you were only visiting Galar." It was easy to forget. They're only experience together had only lasted a single night after all. Everything had gone by so fast that they hadn't even shared each other's personal information.

Hearing about the Lapras' condition, his eyes squint and his nose scrunches in anguish. His chest tightens at the thought as the reality that is the world hits him. Suddenly, his own problems seem so small and he can't help but feel even more disappointed in himself for letting the anxiety eat away at him. Looking back at the Lapras, the pained expression on his face is gone again and he only has a warm smile as he pets it again. "Well, I'm sure with you around, he'll get the hang of things again. Speaking of which."

He pauses, turning back to the girl with an impish smile. "You never did give me your phone number. After loo~ong conversation in Motostoke..." he teases the girl as the Rotom phone in his pocket suddenly flies out, number pad and all.

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POSTED ON Jan 7, 2020 9:27:26 GMT

Laughter, which was a genuinely rare thing thing coming from Gemma, erupts in a short little burst, before she shakes her head and smiles at him fondly. Her arms cross her chest and she points to herself - to her mouth. "What, the accent didn't give it away?" She chuckles more, before stepping up closer, pulling out a pokeball.

Ramsay is put away as she starts to walk out of the water, glancing back when his rotom phone decides to pop itself out of his pocket - along with a smooth line about not getting her number. "Oh." She blinks and stares at the phone for a minute. Gemma's eyes flit to Pearson, and she takes a deep breath. She's been alone with him before, so it's not like she was in really... any danger.

Then again, she has thought those thoughts before.

"Ah - sure." Gemma smiles a bit nervously, and puts her phone number in, so that she can call herself. "I'll text you, hang on..." She points to the beach, where the rest of her - ( non-waterproof ) - things are, and dashes over to grab them, pulling out her phone. She quickly clicks on the missed call and texts him a short, "hello!," before returning the phone to her bag. "There."

Then, tentatively:

"What are you up to, today?"

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POSTED ON Jan 8, 2020 5:38:58 GMT

[attr="class","pierce"]

Seeing the girl's lips widen into laughter, his face flushes red in embarrassment wishing that he could bury his face in the sand beneath him like a Doduo. "Hey, don't laugh! I was drunk!" he excuses himself, but realizing the silliness of his words he can't help but chuckle along side her, his almost squinting in pain. Soon he wipes away the single tear in his eyes as the laughter calms, the tranquility of the sea crashing onto shore sounding over them once again.

It's easy to see the hesitance in her actions as she dials her number into the phone. Questions spring in his mind, yet he's inactive in asking. Seeing her flee a small distance to use her own phone, he smirks in amusement as the Rotom Phone soon turns its screen back to him with a single "hello" on display. He reaches out and slips the phone back into his pocket, clapping his hand once as he steps away from the water. He rubs his hands together before stretching them outwards - a long grunt exiting his lips.

"Nothing really, admiring the beach." he replies rather plainly. "We don't really have beaches like these in Galar. At least, we can't wear shorts like these unless we want to freeze our butts off. How 'bout you? What're your plans for today?"

He stares back at the girl, curiosity written all over his face.

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POSTED ON Jan 9, 2020 2:11:10 GMT

"Hmm, well." Gemma folds her hands together after grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "If you let me change..." A slender finger points over to the changing tents set up for beach-goers who bring a change of clothes to the beach, before looking back to Pierce with a smile on her face.

"Maybe we could go and do something with each other?" She shrugs nonchalantly, glancing at Pierce as she raises her hands, making weird hand gestures. Arceus, she was awkward as hell. "Like... Dinner, or... something?" Gemma shrugs and smiles softly, before moving to start walking towards the changing booths.

Regardless of his answer, she still needs to change out of her wetsuit, dry off, and get ready to leave the beach, anyway.

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POSTED ON Jan 10, 2020 19:19:39 GMT

[attr="class","pierce"]

Among all of his frustrations, anger, sorrow, and desperation the one night he spent with Gemma was genuinely one of the few positive things that he could remember. He never really opened himself up towards anyone, not after receiving his recommendation letters to participate in the league challenges. As a small public figure he stifled his emotions and feelings for the sake of the sport, his passion and dream quickly turning into obsession as he racked up rivals.

When his career came tumbling and crashing down he suddenly felt lost, unsure what to do with himself aside from drown in his grief. Hell, he’s still lost now. Yet somehow in that tiny ditch of a bar in Motostoke, he gravitated towards her, confided to her.

Having been asked out to dinner, his face flushes red upon her twirl trailing after her obediently. He’s unsure how to respond. What should he say? He’s so pathetic. His confidence drains away as he waits outside the changing room.

”Dinner sounds nice.” He says after sucking in a deep breath to calm his nerves. ”But uh… let’s not go crazy with the drinks. I can barely remember what happened after we left the bar back in Motostoke.” Thinking back to that night everything felt like a dream as he woke up alone in his bed the next day without any memory of what happened after leaving the bar.

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POSTED ON Jan 13, 2020 2:14:10 GMT

As Pierce accepts her invitation, Gemma smiles softly and nods, brushing out her blouse and pants to make sure that they were laying flat. She pulls free her phone and thinks for a moment, before laughing at his comment about the drinks. Images of a cab ride, laughing, a kiss or two goodnight — maybe seven — flittering through her memory, but she doesn’t bring that up. Lest he expect something. Lest he want to take something.

Although, he hadn’t done anything to harm her then... That put her a little at ease. But she was still unsure of how to go about any semblance of a relationship with anyone at this point, so her thumb scrolls through the map, and she stays quiet. Maybe staying silent would be her salvation — talking things out wound up with her neck being wrung.

”I don’t remember much, either. Bits and flashes, but nothing concrete. I think I ordered a cab and took you home. Someone must have poured you out of the cab and into your bed, because I woke up in my hotel with such a migraine." She flicks through some places on her phone, before settling her fingertips on the map of the beach. "Here are some places we can eat... you can choose." Gemma holds the phone out to him, standing at an arms length. "I have no preference, I haven’t been to a lot of them, so I’m open to trying any of the food."