Gotta admit, this is the fastest I've done a chapter in a while! All thanks to motivation gained from reviews, follows, and favorites. Also from the edits and beta-reading provided by TheRandomind!
A thank you to all of those who wrote reviews, followed, etc. And to Answer Species Unknown's question: Nope, it's not weird at all in my book. Thanks for checking out the reboot!
Enjoy!
Harvic's mind was assaulted by the loud chirping of pokémon from the forest, managing to stir him from his sleep. The dreams that may have been there were quickly gone as he rubbed the weariness from his eyes. Giving a glance around, he noticed he wasn't the only one awake; Angela wasn't anywhere to be seen, nor were Joey or Angelica. Jeremy was happily snoring a few feet away, likely adding to the symphony of sounds that had woken him up.
"Oh yeah, kick me out for snoring, that's rich." He spoke with a humored grunt, carefully walking outside. The early-morning sun rose from the east, the trees shading the campsite from its blinding rays. Smiling, and scanning for his friends, he noticed they were gathered under the shade of the trees, talking lowly nearby. His curiosity grew, and he guessed as to what they were talking about. He wondered, however, how exactly Joey could add to a conversation, but pushed the thoughts aside and walked to them, stretching his legs on the way. He watched as the conversation halted and eyes were turned on him, causing him to stop.
"Whatcha guys talking about?" Harvic asked with open arms, trying to sound casual.
The silence continued for a long moment before Angela spoke up, "I-It's nothing, just talking about…where to go to eat when we get to Luthworth, that's right!"
Harvic crossed his arms at the terrible attempt of an excuse, "Alright, continue whatever top-secret planning that you're doing later..." He gave in with a frown and a wave of his hands. Mumbling to himself he turned away before they could respond.
Pausing and waiting for Harvic to be a safe distance away, they turned to each other again, promising to continue their conversation later.
Harvic watched as they trudged back into the campsite slowly, his paranoia rising as he studied them walk almost in question of something. "Alright guys." He called out, "we'll head out after we wake up Jer'." He called out, walking back to the tent.
Reaching back to Jeremy, Harvic bent down to a safe angle away from the Pignite's nose, knowing the danger from experience. Poking Jeremy repeatedly with his hand, he noticed him squirm. "I swear, if you set me on fire again…" Harvic mumbled under his breath, the others watching in amusement. "Alright this isn't working, but I've got an idea…" He spoke with a grin crawling onto his face.
A few minutes later, all of the equipment was packed and Jeremy was floating a few feet off of the ground, still snoring and oblivious. A nod from Harvic was given, and the psychic powers that had lifted the heavy Pignite from the ground were ceased.
The second Jeremy hit the ground, his eyes flew open in panic and fire spurred from his nostrils. Open flames shot five feet into the air. The others, a safe distance away, could still feel the heat of the flames, it was dangerous, yet they laughed and chuckled as Jeremy regained his composure.
Once the Pignite regrouped with the others, he pouted lowly as they failed to hide their laughter in front of him. The laughter eventually subsided, and Harvic pulled out three pokéballs, "Alright guys...and girls." He spoke after a brief pause. "It's time to head on out. But before we go…" He let tension build as he made it seem like he was announcing something of great importance. "Does anyone remember which way the route is?" He asked in a clueless voice.
There was a long, awkward pause, and no fingers were pointed. "Oh, come on, you two are psychic…aren't you supposed to remember things like that easier?" Harvic asked with mild disappointment, gesturing to the two psychics of the group.
That's racist! Came a mental shout from Angelica.
Harvic held both hands up in disbelief and silently pressed the buttons of the pokéballs, returning each of his them with the exception of Angela to his left. "Okay! Now that Madame Offended-By-Everything, is gone, any ideas on which way to go?" Angela looked around, but only responded with a shrug. With his good mood now defeated, Harvic began leading the two of them to what he believed looked familiar. "We were so close…" He muttered under his breath, realizing he could be walking in a countless number of wrong directions.
After around half an hour of walking, he paused, Angela had resulted to floating a few inches above ground to give herself a break, and she paused along with him, reading his movements.
"You would have thought that I would be smart enough to buy a compass, or a pokédex or something, those things have maps built-in don't they? I mean, we've gotten lost in the Xendar marshes, we've gotten lost finding Villbow City, and we've gotten lost…" He trailed off. "It's my responsibility, I shouldn't really complain, but…Auuuuugh!" He sighed lowly as he felt Angela probing his mind again, he didn't bother blocking his thoughts, and he wasn't necessarily thinking anything anyways.
Angela smiled, "Maybe we can get one when we get to Luthworth…a pokédex I mean."
Harvic nodded knowingly, absentmindedly pointing a finger in her direction, "Good idea, remind me when we get there…if we get there." Harvic felt a wave of stress pour over him, he wasn't good in pressure situations, especially in front of the others. He felt a strange urge to try to be a role-model to them, and couldn't if he got lost every other step he took.
Reading his mood, Angela walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, pouring reassurance and peace of mind into him, causing him to smile and relax his shoulders. Not even having to thank her, he watched as she nodded knowingly.
"Alright, okay, we are definitely not going back the way we came, so we'll just try a different direction this time, we'll be bound to find at least something!" He spoke with a vigor that had been missing since they've been lost.
Walking for an hour in another randomly-selected direction, they made it to the bottom of a tall cliff, dwarfing over the forest below it. It made Harvic remember how small he was, and also how lost he was. The cliff was far too tall to climb, especially without equipment. He couldn't even see the top. Harvic examined the cliff for any signs of a pathway. But there was nothing.
"…I'm not even mad right now, that's just unfair. Seriously unfair." He huffed with a frown. "I guess we could follow the cliff and eventually find a route, or a way around but who knows how long that would take!" Looking up at the sky, he noticed the dark clouds that had glided above them over the past thirty minutes. "Or we could find shelter…" He trailed off. No sooner were those words spoken, did the rain start flowing. Noticeable at first only as a few drops padded against the ground nearby. "Oh balls." Harvic flinched as the rain droplets became more frequent and struck him, he noticed Angela react in a similar way.
"Yeah, no. Shelter sounds nice about now." Looking around quickly, he panicked, he knew not only did Angela fear thunderstorms, he did a bit as-well, ever since he was struck by lightning. "Cave!" he shouted as the sprinkle turned to a downpour, washing over them like a vertical tsunami. "Over there!" Pointing slightly to his right, there was a circular cave hidden behind a pile of rocks and other rubble, he could just see it from the angle where he was standing. "Get to it!"
The two of them rushed to the cave, panting and gasping as they made it to safety. Pulses elevated. Sitting down a safe distance within the cave, Harvic sighed as Angela walked up to him. He noticed water was dripping from her dress, which was matted together and against her skin. He could feel his own clothes doing the same to him.
"Angela. You're soaking wet, it'll take forever for your dress to dry, and I know you don't like thunderstorms so…" He paused after a moment and pulled out her pokéball. "…so, I want you to stay in your pokéball until this rain stops and I can get us somewhere to heat us up." Angela stood still and silent for a long time, expecting him to shout, "Just Kidding!" After waiting a silent minute her eyes slowly widened, and she looked taken-aback.
"…Are you serious? You're just as soaked as I am! And I know you hate thunderstorms too, you try to hide yourself away from us, but I know everything! You can't hide yourself away from us forever!"
"I'm not hiding anything." He remarked back to her, his tone defensive. Hearing this, she flared, becoming eager to prove she was right. She quickly walked over to him, and before he could object, grabbed his hand and touched it lightly to her horn, which almost seemed to glow as it reflected far-off streaks of lightning. She watched as he went rigid, she had done this many times to him when he was asleep, allowing herself into his mind to figure out his past, but he almost always had some sort of blockage in the way. It almost felt like it was blocking Harvic himself.
"Hey! Hey! Stop…" He began to protest, but was cut-off from a low chuckle emanating in his mind. Angela heard the chuckle, and her eyes widened. Silence drew out after the laughter paused, and Angela hadn't noticed Harvic's pupils had dilated to an insane size. Just as she looked to him, a wave of pain washed over the both of them. The pain died off just as she pulled his hand away from her horn. She had only managed to prod at his memories, but whatever was blocking it was clearly awake now, and kicking. Harvic recoiled and glared at Angela for a long moment. "Don't. Do. That." The words were said with emphasis on the ending of each word. The voice that spoke, however, didn't seem like his, it lacked the empathy and inflection. There was a pause, and the only sound that was heard was the heavy pouring of rain and occasional thunder.
Harvic's pupils constricted to their normal size, and he shook his head harshly. "Oh god, whatever you did gave me a headache, what was that all about?" He asked, voice back to normal. Angela opened her mouth to speak, but found the words had fled her. She walked forward as he stood to his feet, grabbing ahold of him and hugging him. The headache disappeared with the hug, and Harvic realized she had caused the pain to go away. "Hah, oh alright then. Forgiven…what were we even talking about again..?" He only remembered feeling pain, but couldn't remember the conversation before that. He shrugged the loss and blamed having a bad memory.
Breaking the hug after he realized she wasn't to answer, he sighed, pulling a small flashlight from his backpack and switching it on, heading deeper into the cave. "…Come on then…If you won't let me keep you safe in your pokéball, then we'd best get a move on before we get sick from the cold." He spoke as Angela worriedly following directly after, the both of them flinching slightly as the sound of thunder echoed from the entrance of the cave. She wondered if he was simply ignoring everything that just happened, or didn't remember.
Without the sun to judge the time, the concept became lost to them, but it felt like it had been hours. Harvic kept to himself, counting his footsteps to keep Angela from reading his mind. He felt another wave of stress wash over him, but hid the effect. His legs ached from walking so long, and he felt a familiar whisper in his mind. Yet, with a quick shake of his head, and a new placement of where he aimed the flashlight, the whisper was gone.
Their clothes eventually stopped dripping, but remained damp and matted against their skin. Their legs grew wearier, and the cave was too short for Angela to glide and rest her legs. The sound of the thunderstorm reverberated off of the cave walls. How could he still hear it? Had he made no progress or were the sounds simply echoing all of this way? These questions wracked his mind until he realized he was tired of walking.
Neither of them grew accustomed to the sound of the storm, it was seemingly organic, sounding at different times with no known rhythm or pattern to be discerned. They flinched with each sound of thunder, and sometimes had to stop to regain their bearings. With a sigh, Harvic suddenly stopped, causing Angela to bump into his back, emitting a cute noise and a sniffle. They both sounded like they were catching something from the cold wind that passed through the caves and brushed against their damp clothes.
Walking up to the wall of the cave, Harvic first leaned, then slowly hung down to sit against it, leaving a bewildered Angela to watch him curiously. "You can't be giving up now. We're almost there! I'm sure of it!" she exclaimed, only to be silenced by thunder that would sound shortly after.
Cringing from the sound, Harvic paused and grunted, "You have to admit, you've got to be tired by now Angela." He was right, whereas she could normally read his thoughts, feelings, and emotions readily at any time, it seemed to her at times that their link had grown to be both ways over the two years they had been travelling together. Her legs ached, her eyelids were heavy, and the sound of thunder kept her on edge at all times. Harvic fiddled around with the flashlight, "Besides…This thing is dying, get comfortable so I can turn it off, in the meantime we can rest and save the battery."
There was a long pause as Angela debated whether or not to retort to go on, but she eventually decided against it and bobbed her head in reply. He predicted where Angela would sit, but Harvic was surprised as she climbed to be next to him, and lied her head over his shoulder. There was a long silence before Harvic turned off the flashlight. The darkness eagerly flooded in around them, consuming them entirely as they lied there under the sound of thunder. He wasn't comfortable, but he wasn't planning to fall asleep. Angela spoke up after a short moment,
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you, but…you never let me into your mind! You never open up to us…or me. And when I heard that…" She paused as Harvic coughed and cleared his throat.
"It's fine Angela. Go to sleep. Get some rest." He spoke lowly, lying his head against the cave wall. "We can talk about it in Luthworth." She lied silent for a long moment, but eventually let her eyes close. Her eyes obliged happily with ease and she drifted off to sleep but within a few minutes, no longer flinching at the sound of thunder.
Harvic sat waiting until he heard her breathing slow and set into a rhythmic steady pace. Knowing she was asleep, he gently pulled out her pokéball and recalled her inside it. She couldn't object if she was asleep, he thought. He also knew she would stay not only warm, but safe in the pokéball. He wasn't going to let her get sick. His mind drifted as he thought of his other companions, he knew he would have to get them food as soon as he could, and explain the situation to them. Knowing there will be a lot of questions.
With a sigh, he pressed Angela's pokéball against his forehead, and held it there for a long time before placing it away. Then, with a long sigh and pause, Harvic stood up with the switching-on of his flashlight, and trudged on, knowing he needed to get his friends somewhere safe. The darkness backed away reluctantly from the flickering light, but made sure not to back off too far.
The whispers returned after a time, but almost felt like they were keeping their distance, holding back to study prey before the strike that would make it a day's meal. Ignoring the thunder that eventually died off, and the wind that rustled against his clothes, he sighed. The wind is getting much stronger, I have to be getting close. He thought to himself. His legs were annoyed with his choice to move on through the caves, and occasionally tumbled over rocks or crevices in the cave floor. I'm lucky no wild pokémon live in here, wouldn't want that…
Another half-hour passed, slowly, he began to hear sounds echoing from the outside world. The cave was strangely linear, explaining the ease of wind to pass through. It was clearly man-made the more he thought about it. Which is strange because no one obviously uses it anymore. Pushing on, he was suddenly jut out into an open space, looking up he could see the endless ocean of stars that flooded the skies. The knowledge of just how big infinity is, once again returned to him realizing once again, how small he really was.
A shout was heard as Harvic walked sullenly onto the route that had been visible from the cave. It was a figure of a person...As to why this person was simply standing on the route calling out people was a mystery to him. "Whoa hey are you alright?" The form called out, it being too dark to make out any features, and he couldn't place the voice. He was far too fatigued. "You just came out of the 'Artnes cliff tunnel?' No-one's used that tunnel in years…You don't look well either, let me take you to the city and get you cleaned up. Harvic stared at the shadow for a second before nodding. The figure had promised to take Harvic to the city. Harvic still had no clue exactly where he was, making it an obvious decision. They talked casually, Harvic, almost automatically. The figure wanted an explanation, but realized Harvic's mind was elsewhere, he hadn't even spoke. They walked on, and eventually, passing through some trees, a bounding city was seen, not far off, the elevated train system came into view as-well.
A set of electric bolt trains connected the major cities of the Xendar Region, from thereon roads connected town to town. The old highway systems were still in use, though not as busy since public transportation became such an important asset, helping grow newly-formed towns in the far-off corners of the island. The steel beams that held up the tram grew as they walked on, and soon, visibly diverged into the city. Harvic had been staring at the ground, and was surprised to see the billowing lights so close. The city was vast, expanding forward into the sky. Slowly leveling out the farther you got from the center. Like a dome almost. The skyscrapers formed in different shapes as architects battled to out-do each other with a bigger, and better building. As realization hit him, Harvic began to hear the sounds of the city, car horns and loud chatter, as if the city itself was alive, breathing and talking to those coming near.
Harvic suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline, he no longer felt the fatigue and weariness of a minute past. He felt exhilarated at the sight of Atlas in front of him, holding the sky from falling down on the Earth below. The tall steel buildings fell well above the clouds, and he wondered just how strong the steel was. Man had created that. Breaking into crazy laughter with his new burst of strength and adrenaline, he ran onward, leaving the shadow calling from behind, eventually racing after him.
"We made it, I did go the right way! Haha!" He yelled out, his backpack crunching with each bounding step.
Yay! Hope you all enjoyed!
Who's the shadow I wonder? I don't know myself! Maybe you can come up with a character! I'm open to suggestions! :D