Reworked this chapter a bit. - May 2021

Italics are thoughts and signs/documents!

Italics are also memories when indicated!

And bold Italics are Psychic Communications!

Vivid images flooded through Harvic's mind. They flashed by too fast for him to comprehend, but still a chill ran down his spine. A shining lab, A strange looking Pokeball, a white mountain. Harvic tried making sense of it all, but as fast as they came, the images receded.

Awakening slowly, Harvic opened his eyes, wiping away his grogginess with his free hand; It had been two long years since the day he awoke in the world of Pokémon. After a moment of staring at the ceiling and counting the marks on it, he slowly regained his senses and ability to think, giving a slow look around the trainer room of the Pokécenter. Closing his eyes and sighing, Harvic pulled the covers over his head with his free hand. The light flooding the room was too bright for him to fall back asleep. Grumbling, he threw the blanket back off his head.

Turning to look at the second bed, he saw a few of his Pokémon companions that he had become friends with recently. Joey his Zorua was curled up on the bed's edge, his legs slightly running in his sleep. Harvic laughed groggily at the sight. He met the poor little guy with an injured leg. The little dog-like Pokémon hobbled into his camp one night while he was busy cooking, ultimately scaring the shit out of him. He still had a burn on his leg from spilling some of his stew from the shock. Harvic inspected Joey and saw his back left leg was dislocated and fractured; Harvic rushed him to the nearest Pokécenter he could find. The nurse there suggested that the small Zorua should go under Harvic's care as a travel companion. At first he was worried that he couldn't take care of him, but relented at the thought of having more company. Joey's fit right in with everyone and his leg made a full recovery. It's been a few months since then, and he's fitting in nicely around the others. When he first offered the Joey the option, the small Zorua made his decision clear, by laying down beneath Harvic's feet.

Shifting his eyes along the edge of the bed, Harvic rested his eyes on a rotund red pig. Jeremy, who was a Pignite. Each exhale out of the Pignite's sizable nose let off tiny puffs of heat into the room. Sometimes if he had a nightmare, Jeremy would puff smoke out too. Harvic cringed at the thought that Jeremy could cause a fire if he had a bad enough dream. And it also caused him to question Pokémon physiology. Jeremy actually challenged Harvic in the wild, assuming he was a sort of trainer. When Harvic kept ignoring him, the Pignite followed the group indignantly for a few weeks before Harvic suggested he'd join the group. Reluctantly at first, the Pignite travelled with them, continually trying to fight Harvic's other friends, but later on became a rather helpful cog of the machine. Jeremy still wanted to be led into the glorious heat of battle and somewhat resented Harvic's lack of care for Pokémon fighting. Jeremy has been a part of the team for a good year now, growing especially close with Joey the past few months as the only other male Pokémon to bond with.

A mass of white caught Harvic's attention out of the corner of his eye, causing him to turn to a large pillow and sheet fort in the corner of the room. Laughing at the sight, Harvic grinned as he recognized the craftsmanship of his Gothorita, Angelica. She was the second companion of the group after Angela. Harvic was given the egg after he gave some food to a beggar. At the time he had only had Angela as a Pokémon, but he couldn't just abandon an egg that was given to him. She was a lot more outgoing that Angela started out to be when she was a little Gothita. She hatched only a few months after he had met Angela, and she evolved a year ago. She got along very well with Angela, and could whip the boys into shape if she needed to.

Guess it's time to wake up, fuckin' hell this bed is comfortable.

He moved forward to sit up but realized his left arm was constricted. Chuckling to himself he remembered Angela sleeps holding onto his arm. He always woke up with a numb arm, and dreaded the pin and needle feeling that followed. Angela had offered to stop, but when she did she only found out that she couldn't sleep without holding onto him. She had, since she was a Kirlia, hugged onto, and cuddled his arm to fall asleep, causing her to sleep near him normally. This was fine until she evolved into a Gardevoir, making Harvic feel a bit awkward due to her body's similarity to a human. He eventually grew used to it.

Poking her cheek with his free hand playfully, he attempted to wake her.

"Come on…wake up… come on!"

He watched as she twitched and her arms loosened, letting blood flow through his arm again.

"Oh God, here it comes, the pins and needles, ahhhhhHHHHHH" He let out as he took his loose arm and stretched.

Slowly and begrudgingly, her eyes opened and moved to be staring at him in curiosity. After his stretch, Harvic looked back at her. They both continued Staring into each-other's eyes, an awkward silence grew over them as Harvic tried of thinking of things to say, only getting lost in those huge red eyes of hers. Snapping from the trance, Harvic looked away; embarrassed.

"Oh hey…uh…Good-morning sleeping beauty! About time you woke up!" he let out, clearing his throat. Smiling cutely with a slight blush at his thoughts, Angela giggled and rolled herself around, taking all of the blanket from the bed, leading the cold air to envelop Harvic.

"Hey hey hey! No fair!"

He could hear her muffled laughter and he couldn't help but smile as he jumped out of bed.

They've had multiple talks about 'mind-reading' and 'privacy' but Harvic eventually came to the verdict that since she had the powers, she might as well use them; despite the possible embarrassment that could arise from his mind. If he wanted to have private trains of thought, he would simply tell her, and trust that she wouldn't peek. Their link had gotten so strong and he had gotten so used to them being in touch that he couldn't tell when she actively read his mind.

He just hoped that she hadn't poked too far into his head when he was embarrassed to sleep next to her.

Once everyone was awake, bathed, and ready for the day, Harvic gathered his backpack and supplies together. He went to call for his friends to move out, only to stop. He looked around and noticed two of his companions were speaking hurriedly to each-other in Poke-speak; leaving Harvic clueless. It was Angela and Angelica.

He let out a big yawn. They started to do that a lot more recently. It almost seemed like they were bursting with energy and gossip. He tried to pry a few times but they grew quiet whenever he got close to them in that state.

They're definitely making fun of me or something. He thought to himself.

Harvic sighed, instead turned to the others; his two ready-and-waiting friends. Since those two had become such good friends, even Joey was getting into the idea of battling. Harvic didn't care for the idea, but didn't actively oppose it. It was an easy way to make money, and his team was pretty good at it. Hell, Angela had fun doing it sometimes too.

I feel like sooner or later there's gonna be a coup and everyone is gonna tell me we're gonna be joining the League or something. Those two are constantly watching it when it's on TV, Nerds.

Chucking at the thought of the chubby Pignite and tiny Zorua fighting in some sort of competition, he caught their attention; waving them from the room. Then, with a small wave, he gained Angela's attention; and with a quick mental note, told her they'd be getting breakfast in the lobby downstairs.

With a quick nod, Angela went back into the conversation with Angelica, though silently, and clearly through psychic ability; because, to Harvic it looked like they were just staring at each other blankly, yet he knew better.

Angela was the only one who 'could' talk to him, yet she hadn't been as much lately, making Harvic feel a bit distant from her. Yet she would never leave his side, she almost seemed clingy, like she wanted to tell him something.

Through telepathy, Angela expresses the thoughts and poke-speech of his other companions to him in English. Joey rings out like a young child and Jeremy gives off the energy of a warrior. Angelica is more mature but can be a bit crass and doesn't offer much to a deep conversation. Angela was great to converse with, he could swear that she was ten times smarter than him, but would dumb herself down so that he could understand her at times. She was kind and strangely philosophical for a Pokémon, she entertained all of his thoughts and reasonings as to why he got sent to this world, and even believed that he wasn't from here. She was the only one he could open up to truly.

"Alright guys, lets let the girls be girls and get some food huh?" He questioned, leading his smaller companions to the lobby as Jeremy lit up at the thought of food.

With companions returned into their respectful pokéballs, despite Angela; Harvic set foot onto route 14, a direct northern route to Luthworth, with Pentra directly on the way. Angela loomed gloomily behind, a tinge of sadness emanated off of her like a heat lamp; and Harvic couldn't help but get depressed himself from it.

"Angela, I couldn't help but notice you shooting off sadness, what's up?" He asked, slightly turning his head right to acknowledge her directly, slowing his pace. Gliding forward, Angela looked shocked.

"I've been projecting again?" She stammered.

"Oh yeah, I can feel it."

"Oh, sorry Harv."

"What? Don't be sorry, just tell me what's up, maybe I can help."

"You can never understand."

"Well… that's a bit…depressing, Come on, give me a shot, I'm smarter than I look!" He paused for a moment before adding, "well maybe that's a lie, but come on Angela, talk to me."

Angela glanced from side to side, her eyes following a young couple walking past them. Sighing, she resorted to sending him a mental thought directly, I think I'm in love.

Oh shit. She was right, I'm clueless about that. I haven't even had a girlfriend before. He thought instantly, keeping it to himself, trying to keep the thought away from her. "Well…I mean, don't be depressed about it! Isn't love a good thing? Y'know, huggin' and kissin' and...other happy stuff and whatnot?"

Not if they don't love you back…

"Oh, you got rejected?" Harvic paused and put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sorry Angela, I didn't know."

After noticing how loud he was speaking, Harvic noticed all nearby eyes were on him; realizing he must look like a dickhead for airing her dirty laundry out while she was clearly trying to be discreet.

"It's okay Harvic, but no I didn't get rejected. I haven't told him how I feel."

This must be important to her, she's super serious right now, I don't know when the last time she even called me Harvic instead of a nickname was.

"Why not?"

"You know I can read minds."

"Sooo, you know they don't like you that way?"

"...No, not really."

"Well Angela, what's the problem then?"

He could see her face welling up, her face turning a deep shade of pink in embarrassment. "Okay, so I've been reading his thoughts for a long time and sometimes his thoughts make me think that he 'does' like me that way but then he feels embarrassed or goes back to thinking of me as something else and I'm scared that he won't like me the way I like him and that we won't be able to stay friends anymore if I ask because of how awkward it'll feel." She said aloud, blurting it out as fast as she could.

This stuff is way out of my league, I have no idea how to help her with this. He thought to himself.

He stared at her for a moment, blinking a few times before realizing he should respond out loud.

"Well, I mean, you won't know if you don't try amiright?" He said, offering two finger-guns.

Her face grew red and he could see her going through the entire spectrum of stages of grief. Suddenly, her face returned to normal and he could see a smile cross her lips. After a few seconds she began giggling before fully laughing out loud. Harvic uneasily joined in the laughter before he too was laughing uncontrollably.

As she finally began to slow down, Angela wiped tears from her eyes, "You are just clueless aren't you?" she said with a cute giggle.

"Yeah, yeah, you caught me, I don't know what I'm talking about to be honest. But boy is it nice to see you smiling again."

After walking for about a half hour, they made it to the town of Pentra to the north.

Mostly known for its massive economic boom years ago, the town was comprised of business ranging from family-owned, to strip malls and hard-metal industry. The town, despite being bigger than most cities in the region, was a mass center of trade; and it kinda reminded him of Venice. There were canals running through the outskirts of the town that led to one of the biggest rivers on the region, The Natu River.

A short concrete wall separated the town itself from the dense forest that surrounded it, high trees loomed over the wall and branches reached out, as if trying to touch the buildings within its boundaries.

Reaching the southern gate, they both scanned the area; what was once just a hole in the wall, was now a grand arched entrance, with a bulletin board nailed into the concrete perpendicular to it. Both Harvic and Angela had been here before; in fact this is where they took Joey to be treated for his leg injury, which worked out pretty well.

Walking up to the bulletin board, he scanned the many papers organized neatly onto it with staples poking from each one; however, one specific sheet caught his eye, looking like an official document twice the size of the others

Pentra Petition

Reaching the proud population of over 20,000 citizens, this petition calls out in regards to achieving official city-status in the courts of The Xendar Region.

Signatures:

"About time they did." Harvic mumbled, I've seen smaller countries than this place…not in person but…" He trailed off, looking for any familiar names in the signature, catching one familiar to the eye. "Hey look Angela, Rose signed! Eh?" He laughed turning to Angela, knowing she didn't care for Rose at all, despite her friendly relations to him. Letting off a sigh and a blush, she glided away from the entrance into the forests surrounding,

"I'm going to get berries…"

Harvic watched her glide away and smirked, "Jeez, does she think I'm gonna replace her with Rose? She does realize I'm horrible when it comes to dealing with people."

In her absence, Harvic simply scanned the many papers, lining from cruddy advertisements to lost Pokémon signs. "Ooooh boy, Fancy Lad Snack Treats, a Pokémon's best friend, I bet Jeremy would hounding me right now if he were out."

With Angela returning berries in hand, Harvic turned to her with a grin, "Ready to re-stock on food at the market?" feeling her annoyance radiate off her, he could tell she was still simmering about him bringing up Rose, "Oh come on…why do you not like her anyways? Jealous? Think she's gonna steal your role as best friend?" He teased, his grin turning to a smile. Feeling a tinge of annoyance radiate from her, he dropped the whole act and held up his hands, only to realize she had already left.

"Ech! Where the-" He cut himself off with a sigh, "Aaaand she's gone. She'll probably meet up with me or something, best give her space." He confirmed with himself.

Turning his attention back to the board, and taking out a pen, he quickly signed his name on the petition before heading off into the soon-to-be official city. Nodding to people walking around, he smiled as he felt the atmosphere of society flow over him; he didn't spend too much time in cities, but it was a nice change sometimes, but not for a permanent change. Eventually reaching the substantial market district, he was stopped by a grabbing of his shoulder and a sharp voice,

"Hey!"

Flipping out, Harvic twirled around, hands up in a comically awful attempt at a martial arts combat stance.

"Ha! Gotcha!" It was Rose, she was a trainer about his age, shooting for the Xendar Pokémon League championship. Scanning her, Harvic found she looked different from their last meeting; she had let her dark brown hair grow to her shoulders, as well as changed into some weird trainer-based get-up of clothes. Based around the colors silver and red.

"Ah! It's you; sorry, took me a minute, you've changed a bit…"

"You noticed!" She squealed with delight, bending forward as she scanned him, he couldn't help but notice she had even more especially with the cleavage glaring at him as she was bent over; "You didn't change at all Harvey! But wait…something's different…where's that Pokémon that's always with you?"

Twitching inwardly of annoyance, Harvic sighed. She freaks out when she figured out Angela could talk, and can't remember her name..? He thought to himself.

"Well." He cleared his throat, "She kinda left for a bit to cool off, Yeah."

Clearly not bright, or simply playing dumb, Rose grinned and shrugged, "She got a little hot huh?"

After a short pause, Harvic nodded in agreement. "Say, I know you live here…come back to visit the parents?" He asked

Nodding, she smiled before looking east, "Yeah and I better get going, and I'm needed home; just needed to run an errand. Cya Harvey!" She chuckled, giving him a hug before walking off. He couldn't help but notice her chest pressing against him as she had held on for a little longer than would be considered a normal hug.

Either she's awkward or I am, Pretty sure it's latter, just not a 'touchy' person when it comes to people in general. He thought to himself, before turning and heading off further into the market district, having noticed he looked weird just standing idly by in the middle of the wide walkway.

Having spent an hour gathering food, and spending far more money than he thought he would, Harvic walked from the market district, heading towards the northern entrance; or exit, in this case.

"No wonder their doing so good here…ripoffs." He mumbled to himself. "Guys have got to be hungry by now; gotta' head out and feed 'em before Jeremy has a seizure from his blood glucose falling below 500, dear lord." Chuckling at his own witty and intelligent thought for several minutes, he eventually reached the entrance. "Now to Luthworth!" He announced to himself, seeing the ornate metal sign hanging from the arched exit, reading:

Route 15: To Luthworth City

Walking through the arches, he turned his head to the sky, "Angela! Angela!?" He called, looking around, before realizing she was literally directly behind him, nearly causing him to drop half of his body mass into his pantaloons. "G-Gh-ff! Don't scare me like that!" he stumbled out as he tripped over pure oxygen and nearly sent all of the food he just bought into the dirt, only to be saved by a laughing Angela. Thanking her, and noticing her largely improved mood, Harvic promised himself he'd never tease her about Rose again, still unsure as to why Angela disliked her in the first place.

Grabbing ahold of his harm, Angela and Harvic both began heading further north, to the grand city of Luthworth. And something of notice caught Harvic's attention, and he saw a chance to turn it into fun.

"Aha!" He exclaimed with inflection, causing Angela to twitch at his sudden loud voice, and hold onto his arm tighter. "I know who you're in love with missy!" He said in a mock tone, yet she took it serious, a deep red covering her face as she blushed. Allowing just enough pause for alarm before speaking, Harvic grinned; "You're in love with my arm aren't you!?" exclaiming in such a fake voice that of which Angela caught on at last and began giggling uncontrollably from the awkwardness. Hearing her laugh, Harvic couldn't contain himself either, laughing heartily as they continued forward, unaware that Angela was inwardly sighing of both relief and sadness all at once.