imgur com/a/fcOfvZ2 - Type this in with the dot added and it will take you to the map of the Xendar region that I made!
Anyways howdy friends, I hope everyone is doing okay with the virus peaking it's head out everywhere. My last semester at college and I get to graduate through mail, amazing! Anyways I did tell you the last chapter that 2020 would kick our asses and I never lie.
Anyways new chapter, enjoy! The chapter is subject to change, Eq12122 my beta reader might give feedback that results in changes!
The group marched diligently through the crowded alleyways. The stench of the sewers pounded Harvic in the face, causing him to gag. The cloud of steam he had walked through stabbed at his throat. He had never cared too much for cities, but he couldn't help but visit them from time to time, especially since Jeremy loved the crowded streets and the smell of the food carts lining the walkways.
Thinking of this, Harvic looked to his Pignite companion. His small legs waddled under large stomach. The sight always lended Harvic a smile, and he took it gladly, especially in sadder times.
A pain shuffled down his back, causing him to shudder and stop walking for a moment. The stab at his spine hit him so suddenly that he lost his breath. Ever since he got up and started walking this morning, the pain had drearily snuck up on him. It had grown to a point where the pain leant to a tight pressure forming in his chest, an expression of his pain.
His friends hadn't noticed his falter and continued walking, pointing aimlessly at different buildings and stopping in front of a large bronze statue imbued in the center of entrance to the nearby green-way park that had made itself evident as they had gotten closer. Harvic leaned against a nearby lamp post, stepping to the side to let those behind him scurry past with their suitcases and handbags.
His eyes shifted among his companions. Angelica had grabbed a tour guide at the hospital they had stayed in the night prior and was shuffling through it quickly. She finally found her mark and quickly held it up to the others to see. He couldn't make out what the page was showing, but he figured it had to do with the statue in front of them. She was so inquisitive and organized, and he couldn't think of his team coming together like they do without her. He could see her shepherd them into a huddle, pointing between the statue and the pamphlet.
His eyes shifted to Joey, the small canine-like Pokémon was jumping around, trying to view the pamphlet in the taller Gothorita's hands. His rambunctious nature was always evident, and drove everyone forward, he was fearless, and thus Harvic kept in him in his Pokéball if he thought they were in trouble. Joey would just charge in headfirst if he could, and he couldn't bear thinking of the small Zorua getting hurt.
He noticed the group's structure change as they quickly began looking around before Angela's eyes crossed on him. Clearly the tallest of the group, she peered over the others and looked directly into Harvic's eyes. Or at least it seemed as if she was, he couldn't make out the details of her face from that far. He could make out her figure, the thin woven sweater that she was wearing over her dress, the curls of her hair that wisped past her ears. As his eyes scanned her body, he recognized what he was doing and forced himself to stop, looking down at the pavement instead.
As the group returned to his side, he relinquished the pole and attempted to stand tall, causing a thin stream of pain to ache across his shoulders. He couldn't let them know he was in pain, he had to lead them, he had to be the one to build them a life.
"Are you alright Harv?" Angela asked. He could see the gleam of worry in her eye, no matter how hard he tried to keep it from her, he knew she could feel his pain, but was too proud to ask her to use her newfound ability to heal him. He had to lead them; he mustn't look weak. As these thoughts became apparent in his mind, he noticed the worry grow, she was reading his thoughts again, as well as his emotions.
"I'm fine Angela, just tired is all," he said in reply, "But thanks for keeping your eye on me, one of these days I'll really need that."
He smirked saying this, knowing that was probably fully true.
He could see a small smile flash across her face too, though it wasn't the same, her face didn't rise with it. She looked sad. He wanted to hug her and tell her it was alright, but he didn't want to lie. Something felt off with the day, and everyone felt it. The passerby rushed through the alleyways and past the park. People were cutting through the streets in front of honking cars and angry faces, not running, but certainly moving quickly.
The park was empty except for a few trainers who were using the open areas to battle Pokémon in a training fashion. Chalk lines marked the stone tiles of the park in the shape of a Pokémon battle arena.
"Hey guys, I think we should take a break here in the park for a bit." He spoke as he attempted a confident walk towards a nearby park bench, each step making the ache ever more evident in his legs as well. What a mess. "Why don't you guys spar for a bit, I know you've been dying to do it for a while now, go for it. Just don't hurt each other, please."
As he sat on the bench, hunching forward slightly, Joey and Jeremy looked at each other excitedly before looking back to Harvic and scurrying to another nearby empty playing field. Aware of what that entailed, Angelica rushed after them, likely to play the referee and overseer.
He watched them for a moment, letting his mind wander away from the aching pain and towards the 'battle' before him. Jeremy's snout burst with flame, shooting outwards towards the spot where Joey was a second prior. Before the Pignite knew it, he was on the ground, scrambling to his feet as he had been struck from behind. Joey was fast, he had to give him that, and Jeremy resilient.
As he watched this and his mind wandered, he noticed a cool sensation emanating from his arm and across his body, the aches that had made him wary slowly crept back and he was able to sit straight again. Knowingly, he looked to his left and saw a pair of beautiful red eyes looking at him. Beautiful? He caught himself thinking this and felt a pressure rise in his chest.
"Oh, uh, thanks Angela, was I that obvious?"
"More than you'd ever admit," she smiled sincerely, the tinge of sadness from before still evident. "What's wrong? Your thoughts are all jumbled."
She leaned closer to him, he just noticed she hadn't let go of his arm, her hands were soft, and he wished he could hold them and that thought alone jumbled around in his mind even more.
"I, well uh, I don't know. I really don't know. I wish I did. If I can't make sense of my thoughts, I figure you couldn't do much better could you?" He spoke hopefully, not sure what she meant by his thoughts being jumbled.
"I get glimpses…" he could feel her hands tighten on his arm slightly, "but it's hard to tell what you feel exactly sometimes, especially when you look at me."
Harvic could feel a heat rise in his face slightly, his heart knocked at his chest. Why was he having this reaction? This felt so surreal, he hadn't noticed until now that he had placed his own free hand on hers, and this only made the feeling worse. He thought he could see color in her face too, but while she looked intently at him, he found he couldn't keep his gaze on her. Was he embarrassed? Why?
"I uh, I'm…heh what was the question again?" he laughed nervously, not entirely sure what they were talking about, removing his hand from hers.
Not removing her gaze from him, she slightly rubbed at his arm to get his attention. "I know it's not easy knowing how you feel about things, believe me. Why don't you have a peek at my feelings and emotions?" she cooed.
"Wait, you can do that? Seriously? How?" He gazed at her intently, his hand returned to hers, though he paid no attention to it.
"Yes, it's a two-way door. When I look and feel your emotions and thoughts, you can feel mine if you try and look for them…if you want to look for them."
"O-oh, well yeah I would love to feel how you feel…I mean I would like to know how you feel" He stuttered over his words, becoming self-aware of how awkward he must be seeming to her.
With his confirmation, she took his hands into her own, squeezing them gently. His heart began beating faster. Maybe her own thoughts and emotions would give him confirmation. If she felt what he was feeling, then something could become of it. If she didn't feel it, then he could back off, throw the emotions away forever, and everything would be back to normal. Would it be a good thing if she felt the same way? Everything would become so complicated. All these thoughts raced through his mind in the time that she brought his hands to her horn.
Her horn was sleek and hard, but at the same time, warm and inviting. He had touched it before on rare occasions, mostly accidentally. She always acted adversely when it did happen, so he always tried to avoid it. It wasn't just warm to the touch, it was warm to the mind, warm to the feelings. He began to feel his body melt away as he looked into her eyes, she hadn't taken her eyes off him, she looked so determined, yet he couldn't tell why.
A shrill blaring sound assaulted his ears, tearing him back to reality by force. His hands returned to his side and he quickly scanned around for the source, Angela following suit. Some people were running towards the sound, Pokémon at the ready, ready to battle? Others ran away from the sound, it was coming from outside of the park, past the statue they had passed on the way in.
One of the nearby trainers who was running through stopped and ran up to them on the bench, she looked familiar. Why did she look so familiar? It took him a moment, but as she reached them, he recognized who she was. It was Rose!
Angela leapt to her feet, hovering menacingly between himself and Rose. It was clear that she was not welcome. She was wearing the silver and red suit that the Ditto from yesterday portrayed her in.
"Harvic! You need to get out of here! Get your Pokémon and get out! We're about to start our demonstration, you need to take your Pokémon and leave!" She exclaimed, trying to weave around to plainly protective Gardevoir between them.
"Wait, what? Demonstration? Who? Hey, wait you're wearing that outfit! Rose…are you actually a part of that Orion nonsense?" he spoke, each word gaining voice as he went on.
"Tch, so you know. Listen I'm trying to help you because I like you! What are you doing in the city anyways! You hate cities, get out of here before- "
As she spoke, the blaring sound grew ever nearer before it fell silent, and with-it Rose did as well.
"I tried helping you. Your only chance is if you walk the other way," She spoke plainly, and before he knew it, he was tuning in to a public announcement seemingly emerging from the commotion. Quickly corralling his friends together, the group trailed Rose from a distance and gathered to where the ruckus was coming from.
As Harvic rounded the corner of the park, a small crowd could be seen gathered around in a circle in the open plaza. Shouting and commotion became more audible as they walked closer. Harvic took one quick look towards Rose, noticing as she ran around the circle and into the crowd.
Slipping his way through the outer rim of the crowd of people and Pokémon, he could notice a relatively large group of people wearing the same red and silver suit that she was. They looked like tracksuits, and he would have believed them to be marathon runners if it weren't for the dangerous Pokémon surrounding them, along with the picket signs displaying anti-Pokémon sentiment.
He could hear outrage in the crowd around him.
"Screw off! You bastards have done enough!" One bald man yelled.
"Pokémon are our friends! It's you guys that are the terrorists!" One woman shouted, hefting a Psyduck in her arms.
"I'm calling the cops!" One citizen yelled from the back of the crowd.
A loud shrill squawk silenced everyone. Looking back to the terrorists, Harvic could see a Corviknight being ridden by a much older man holding a Pokéball in each hand.
"If you will not let us speak and warn you of the dangers to come, then we will show you! Pokémon are tools and should not live in society with us. You force them to fight each other and expect them not to attack us? I will show you your ignorance!" The man shouted, presumably some sort of leader of the group.
"What did he say?" The bald man asked, "He's too high up, I can't hear him!"
"More propaganda! I'm getting tired of this!" The man next to him yelled, pulling out his own Pokéball.
The older man's face was hardly visible from his height, though Harvic could sense malice emanating from the group. Before he could react, each of the groupies threw out their own Pokémon. A Gengar and a Blastoise appeared before the crowd, a few citizens began backing away, pulling out their phones. He could hear at least one of them calling the police. With quick thinking Harvic pulled his smaller friends into their Pokéballs, leaving Angela close to him.
"Blastoise! Use your water cannons!" One of the groupies yelled.
"There's no way." Harvic muttered to himself.
Watch out! I can feel its emotions, it's going to do it!
With a roar the Blastoise blasted huge amounts of water from the canons on its back, the sheer pressure from the force of the blast slammed into the right section of the crowd. People began falling and screaming as the sheer force of the blast began tearing at people's clothes and they and their Pokémon were blasted to the floor.
The Man on the Corviknight threw one of his Pokéballs to the ground, releasing a Tyranitar that towered over the crowd in height. Multiple trainers in the crowd began corralling people away, yelling for them to move.
"We can't fight these guys with you in the way! You'll get hurt!" One man yelled.
One older woman broke free from the struggle and pulled out her own Pokémon, an Alakazam, but before she could do anything, the Tyranitar slammed its huge foot into the ground, shattering the floor beneath everyone in front of it, and throwing the entire group off guard.
"Angela!" Harvic yelled, having been slammed to the floor violently as the stone patterned floor caved in ten different directions at once. "Use Psychic and move us out of here!"
Almost in the middle of his thought, he found himself hovering off the ground. Disoriented both he and Angela were levitated to a distance. Done in such a rush that he was quickly dropped to the ground when they reached safety.
"Fuckin' hell!" he exclaimed. Looking up he could see that the trainers of the group had managed to rush others out of the blast. He could see people crying as they were escorted into the nearby buildings. The owners of the homes nearby had opened their doors to find badly injured elderly and kids in front of them and offered them refuge inside. The Orion grunts didn't seem to care about those without Pokémon.
Meanwhile the other trainers had riled a counterattack. A number of Pokémon had been released from both sides. He couldn't tell whose Pokémon was whose. A hyperbeam quickly shot out of the crowd, nearly missing a younger girl and slamming into the park's concrete wall, causing it to explode. Loud commands became overlapped as various opponents paired-up to take each other on.
He could see the Psyduck from before being lifted into the air by some psychic force before being launched into the crowd, knocking over several of the trainers.
"Angela! We have to help!" He gasped, witnessing the crazy destruction before him. "From a distance see if you can provide support! If that damn giant dinosaur does another earthquake see if you can levitate some people out of there! And also see if you can use your Psychic to throw that Blastoise off it's balance!"
"I haven't forgotten about you! Trying to run with your Pokémon?" He heard a shrill voice reach him from a distance. "You! What's your name? Rose! Get that trainer!" It was the leader on the Corviknight who had been yelling, with the fight having broken out, the man flew higher into the sky and began correlating efforts among the Orion faction.
It hadn't occurred to Harvic for a moment that the man was talking about himself, until he felt a searing pain in his stomach, and he was knocked off his feet. The punch came so fast, and out of nowhere that it had to be the move sucker punch, and boy did it really fucking suck.
The wind was knocked out of him and he gasped desperately, trying to catch his breath. "Ah fuck, what the hell man!" He yelled through a coughing fit. The explosions that came from the nearby brawl had gotten much closer, he could hear more explosions and the ground and air quaked with the various fire and water moves searing the air with steam, and the various air and ground types destroying the area around them.
Harvic looked up before him, expecting to find the culprit of his attack ready to strike him down in an act of terror as he had seen just a minute prior.
A long white dress became focused in his view, Angela stood between him and the Gengar from earlier, Rose stood on the other side of the Gengar, facing them.
"Angela, fuck. Thanks. Damn that hurt." He grunted, rising back to his feet, stumbling slightly.
Angela didn't react to his words, her stance was tense and though he couldn't see them, he could only imagine that her eyes were glowing with psychic energy.
"Give up Harvic! Gengar has a type advantage to your Pokémon! You're done for! Turn over your Pokémon and you'll be fine!" Rose yelled over the nearby commotion and explosions. She had to pause partway through as the sound of an awning being torn to the ground was too loud.
"I thought we were friends! Come on! And where the heck did you even get a Gengar? They aren't local to the Xendar region!" He yelled back, "Also you above anyone knows I'm not handing over my friends!"
"Shut up! With Orion I can have any Pokémon I want! With that, as I rise the ranks I can beat the Champion!"
"What? How does that make any sense? You know these guys are against Pokemon right? If it were up to them there wouldn't be a championship at all!"
"Oh shut up! You don't know the first thing about Orion Initiative or about me! All you ever talked about with me was about your crummy hiking life with you oh so beloved Pokemon friends!"
"Why are you so mad? Why for any reason would you join a terrorist organization in the first place? Are you crazy!? What the hell?"
"Yeah, well so what if I am? At least I don't fuck my Pokémon!" She screamed, her voice getting shriller with each word.
"Uh. What?" Harvic spoke after a long pause, shocked by what he just heard.
"You're a single guy who has turned me down at least five times over the past year by saying you don't like eating without your 'friends.' You ignore women and your favorite Pokémon is a female Gardevoir who never lets go of you like some-" Before she could finish she was lifted off of the ground by a strong psychic force.
"Angela no!"
As if not hearing his words he could see Rose quickly get slammed backwards with extreme force as Angela raised her arms. The look of sheer panic on Rose's face said it all as she was shot and held into the brick wall of the house behind her. He noticed her slump and a strong fear lumped in his chest. Did Angela just kill her? Is she knocked out? He had never seen her hurt anyone before like that. The Psychic force wading off of Angela was so fierce that the sheer pressure of the force rippled her dress and the air around her.
Angela then quickly turned toward the Gengar and attempted to do the same to it, though it seemingly was unaffected by the psychic force, unable to be grabbed.
Almost as on instinct, the Gengar quickly lunged forward and in a seemingly act of vengeance or malice formed a shadow ball from its mouth, slamming it directly into the horn of the distracted Angela. The blast immediately sent her flying backwards, and with him standing behind her, he was quickly taken along for the ride. Slammed into the opposite house of Rose, Harvic found himself once again having the wind knocked out of him. He felt a searing pain in his chest, and the weight of the now fainted Gardevoir laid on him solemnly, the back of her horn having cut into his clothes and skin.
It took a few seconds for his eyes to readjust, and he was just barely able to lift his arm to wipe his eyes. The Gengar stood a few meters in front of them menacingly. The sheer dark presence standing before him sent chills down his spine. "Stay back, we're beaten. Don't hurt her anymore." Harvic spoke pleadingly.
The Gengar didn't seem to register his words, it looked almost feral as the drool fell from its constantly open mouth. Its pupils were far smaller than seemed natural, and it posed, ready to strike.
Use my power, it is yours after all. Rightfully yours. Let me help you. The familiar voice tuned into his mind and time seemed to slow. He could see the Gengar leaping forward at him, a fresh shadow ball forming from its open mouth. It moved slowly in the air, and time felt thick. He couldn't explain the feeling, but he knew it was completely unnatural.
"Don't pretend to be my friend now."
Don't forget, I am 'you' fool. Do you truly want to die like this? Like some worm? And what of the girl?
"Angela? I, well, of course I don't want her to-"
You must make a choice; I can assure you with great certainty that no one will notice. I have slowed time just in this very moment that no one is looking. You have nothing to fear. But your choice must be now.
"What does it mean if I do? What does that do for you?"
Choose!
Time returned to normal and the Gengar lunged forward towards its prey with the shadow ball primed. Instinctively Harvic lifted his arm forward, trying to lean to cover Angela though e found he could not move.
As the shadow ball was released it swirled through the air towards them.
"No!" The voice inside merged with his own as a red searing hot energy emerged from the skin of his arm. It burned like hot oil yet left no marks or damage. Lifting his arm again as the shadow ball hit them, he found himself gripping the shadow ball itself with his hand, the energy swirling around him caressed the dark energy.
If one could corrupt dark energy, this was how. Whatever he was doing was working as the red energy seeped into the dark core and morphed it into a bright red light. He hadn't noticed how fast it had occurred until he realized that the Gengar was still reeling from seeing its attack fail against a human. The energy that he was holding was shooting heat in all directions and vibrated heavily, it looked like a small star.
With a slight movement of his hand the ball was sent flying and directly slammed into the unsuspecting Pokémon. Instead of exploding the ball splashed and slammed into the creature like liquid, spreading the red energy across its body. Almost instantaneously the Gengar began screeching as the liquid seemingly seared on its skin. As Harvic watched in horror as the Pokémon began running towards the park's fountain to cool itself, he looked to his arm. The Energy had dispersed, and as he watched the nearby crowd, he noticed no one had seen, as the inner voice had said. The screeching continued with the splash of the crazed Pokemon reaching water, though it only seemingly became quiet when it eventually fainted from the trauma of the attack and pain.
"What the absolute shit did you do to it? It was screeching!" He said to himself, aghast at the strange event that had just occurred.
I saved you. You have no worries, the attack will leave no physical damage, though it will permanently remain on that beast's mind, burning for as long as I please.
"Yeah. I don't know if that's better, pretty sure it's worse."
Would you rather I had physically burned it?
"Shut up."
With that command the voice receded back into his mind. The pain returned to his body and he grunted from the sudden rush. Angela still lied on top of him, her horn firmly pressed into chest. He could tell them separating would hurt badly, so he didn't bother moving her. Grabbing at his side he was able to grab a hold of his Pokéballs one by one, letting his Pokémon out.
Jeremy quickly got into a defensive stance, turning towards the crowd of explosions and battles.
"Jeremy no! Don't go over there! Just keep an eye out if any one of those guys comes close!"
He could see the Pignite huff but stay where he was.
Angelica emerged and quickly her eyes widened. Are you two okay?!
"Not really, make sure Rose is alright if you can, she's over there." He replied with a worn voice, pointing towards where Rose had slumped over.
Angelica didn't move for a moment, glancing worriedly at Angela before finally moving to where Rose was.
He then released Joey in front of him, "Joey, there are some potions in my pack, you know the ones, I need you to nudge into it and grab one of them and spray Angela if you can.
Joey stared at him for a moment before seemingly nodding slightly. The small Zorua then nudged into his backpack, putting pressure onto his back and causing him to groan and Joey to stop.
"No no, keep going, I'm fine I promise," he spoke, "Just got a sore back is all."
The Zorua stayed paused for a moment before he continued his rustling. He was the only one small enough to get into the pack without having the move the two of them entirely, and Harvic was hoping the potions hadn't been cracked or destroyed in the damage.
As he waited his eyes wandered to the continuing battle nearby. Several trainers and grunts had retreated, pulling their Pokémon back and either sending out new ones or going to chant on their friends. He noticed the man on the Corviknight began a descent near the wounded trainers that had backed out from the battle and were tending to their fainted Pokémon.
He wanted to yell out and warn them, but he knew he was too far to make a difference. The man was likely going to attack those poor guys and there was nothing he could do. Against his thought the man on the Corviknight instead swooped and released several strange black Pokéballs in rapid succession among the unsuspecting fainted Pokémon.
Only two trainers noticed the attack coming and deflected them. "Snag balls!" One of them yelled out, but it was too late. The Pokéballs reached their targets and the fainted Pokémon were taken against their will, being trapped inside the balls which then returned to their new owner.
"If you fools won't give them willingly, we will take them." The man announced. The currently battling trainers looked back and noticed what had happened though could only tear their gaze for a second before their opposing Orion grunts attacked once again.
Sirens became apparent in the distance and several more trainers became apparent running towards the commotion, releasing their Pokémon ready for battle.
"Release those Pokémon bastard!" One of them yelled, "Give them back!" It was a younger woman who was wearing some strange elaborate yellow suit. She stuck out like a sore thumb and quickly released a Pokéball as she sprinted forward. She looked like some sort of pro the way she threw it.
Out of the Pokéball rose a Lucario and almost immediately it was on the attack. Within seconds it had several aura spheres flying through the air towards the Corviknight and attacking Orion grunts.
"Orion! Fall back." The man yelled over the commotion, pocketing the snag balls of stolen Pokémon into the sack on his own Pokémon's back. "Tyranitar, distract it! Destroy everything!" With is words in the air he quickly flew back away from the commotion. Grunts quickly retrieved their Pokémon and retreated after him. The Tyranitar began slamming into the ground once again, halting any pursuers to the group.
Harvic's sight returned to right in front of him, Joey had returned and was holding the potion in his mouth.
"Ah jeez, thanks Joey, you're a life saver." He said, patting his friend on the head before weakly grabbing the potion and turning his arm slightly to reach the front of the unconscious Angela on top of him. Carefully attempting his best to aim the bottle he squeezed the trigger and the spray misted out over her body. He hadn't noticed until now but her body had been tense, and only the spray just now eased her muscles and her body became limp. Her chest rose and fell more easily now with her breathing, and Harvic felt much better now that he had witnessed the change.
He noticed Angelica wearily return, she had checked on Rose, but stayed hidden when she noticed the snagging of Pokémon by the Initiative.
She's okay, but really hurt.
"They left her behind?"
Yeah, none of them ever came over.
"Ah jeez. Rose. She's probably going to get arrested. I'll see if I can talk to the authorities and do something," he spoke mainly to himself.
The sound of sirens blared nearby before stopping as multiple police cars rushed in from different directions. He could see the woman from before speaking to a few of them before they ran back to their cars and chased off in the direction the Orion grunts ran. The Tyranitar lay unconscious and defeated where it had caused so much damage to the roadway. Looking around he could see that several medical vehicles pulled up as well, Chansey were released from them along with several workers carrying medical supplies. They each rushed to the various wounded Pokémon, trainers, and civilians in the vicinity. It took a few moments before they noticed Rose and himself.
Once they did he was swarmed by medical personnel.
"Are you alright sir? Do you feel lightheaded or nauseous at all?" One of the EMTs said.
"The Gardevoir is stuck to him, the Chansey can't raise her." The other announced, peeking at Harvic's chest and the horn.
"Yeah, looks surface but we better be careful, he might have broken ribs, don't separate them until I get the gauze ready, I see some blood."
Harvic looked dazily between the two, they wore medical masks and he couldn't make out their faces or answer any of their questions that they asked. The horn he felt on his chest grew warm and many emotions began flooding his mind. Confusion, guilt, sadness, fear and more confusion. The EMTs must have noticed a change in his face because they quickly looked between them.
"The Gardevoir is waking, the horn is interfering with the trainer, remove the Pokémon."
"You have the gauze?"
"Yeah, do it."
A sharp pain pulled at Harvic's chest as the man pulled at Angela's body, separating the two and revealing a surface-level gash vertically where the horn had been. The emotions pull away along with the horn, however, they did not entirely disappear, he could still feel a small tinge inside. He could still feel her emotions swirling around as she drearily opened her eyes, and the confusion that she felt when she hastily began looking around.
The other EMT jumped on the opportunity and quickly cut open the rest of Harvic's shirt, providing a clear view to the wound of which he quickly dressed in a layer of gauze and some medical tape. The tape was pressured on his skin and the slight pain made him jump.
"Now check the Gardevoir, looks like its conscious." The EMT turned to Angela.
"I'm fine." She spoke weakly, looking around before locking eyes with Harvic.
"Oh. It- uh, she talks." The EMT looked at the other, eyes wide, "Alright, now the girl." He spoke, the two then went on and rushed to Rose.
As their eyes were locked, he could feel her relief pour over him.
"Harvic, I'm glad you're okay."
"I can say the same for you."
Angelica helped Angela to her feet and embraced her in a hug in which Angela replied eagerly.
Climbing to his feet, Harvic groaned from the ache in his back. Hearing this Angela swiftly moved to support him, placing one hand on his back. He slowly felt the pain drain away as she heal-pulsed his spine, "Thanks Angela."
"Don't mention it." She smiled, looking at him before looking down to the floor, "About what Rose said-"
"It's okay Angela, let's not worry about it."
"But we should." She grabbed his hand, catching him by surprise, "When are we going to talk about it? I know you know what I'm talking about."
Harvic's mouth fell open slightly but before he could speak a loud voice caught him by surprise.
"You guys! How are you guys all doing over here?" The voice said, turning towards the approaching figure he found it was woman with the yellow suit. He noticed that various people from the crowds stared after her even as she left them.
"Hey, we're doing fine, thanks for your help, you and Lucario are awesome!" Harvic replied.
"Ah well, thanks. We do train a lot don't we Gunner?" She beamed, turning to the Lucario at her side.
The Lucario beamed a similar energy, "You bet!"
Harvic's eyes widened at what he had witnessed, "Did he just talk?" he asked.
"Yeah, Gunner here grew up with me and he's worked hard learning to talk like he does. He's a rarity!" The woman continued beaming, and Harvic could only wonder how her face could uphold such a large smile for so long.
"Well that's very cool." Angela smiled politely, knowing exactly what she was doing by talking to the pair.
"Woah hey! You can talk too! You know Gunner and I hardly ever get to talk with other Pokémon! Did you train to talk too?"
"I was raised in a human family as a Ralts and they taught me."
"Awesome! Well my name is Anastasia, I'm the Champion of the Xendar region. You might have heard that we've very recently decided to pause the championship because of the Orion issue. This is my partner Gunther, but I just call him Gunner."
"Wait you're 'the' Champion, the greatest trainer of the entire Xendar region?" Angela asked, quickly noticing Jeremy gawking over the woman and Lucario, clearly a big fan.
"Wait, so you would know more of what's going on! Is there anything being done about Orion? The police said they pulled out from their territory and are hardly doing anything about it anymore, what's going on?" Harvic asked, glancing at the multiple ambulances loading in various trainers and a few unconscious grunts. He also though he saw Rose too but couldn't make the figures out in detail too well.
"Yes. We have a plan; we're looking for volunteers and having a meeting at the professor's lab up in Villbow city past the Castem mountains. You interested stranger?"
"Oh, yeah. My name is Harvic and this is Angela, Joey, Jeremy, and Angelica," he spoke, waving to each of his friends, "Sorry I forgot to introduce us. But yeah we're interested."
"Great Harvic! Here, take this card, the meeting is tomorrow is no other attacks happen. If it gets pushed back it'll be the day after," she said while handing him a small business card with the details. "The tram system knows about it and they'll give you a free ride to Villbow if you show them this card."
"That'll help a lot, trying to walk around the Castem Mountains would take like a week."
"Yeah, you're not kidding. We got lost just trying to get to Neva one time. It happens!" Gunner chimed in, laughing at the memory.
"You're not the only one, Harvic is a one of a kind navigator." Angela couldn't help but laugh herself, Harvic's face blushed and he smirked.
"Hey Anastasia-" Harvic interjected.
"Oh, you can call me Anya, if you're gonna be at the meeting I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other."
"Alright, Anya, is it true that some people are actually turning on Pokémon because of Orion?"
There was a small silence hanging in the air upon the question, and Anya sighed. "Unfortunately, a lot of people have been adversely affected. A lot of people have been majorly injured or, well, even died because of the terror attacks Orion has done. They used to be a small gang back when I was young, they were arsonists and petty criminals. Since they use Pokémon to do all of their attacks a lot of people have grown uneasy because of it."
"The Xendar region is supposed to be the prime region of Pokémon friendship, families, and well, love isn't it?"
He could see Anya glance to Gunner before nodding, a sad expression on her face. "It was, and I like to still think it is, but it's hard to say nowadays. A lot of people have travelled to certain parts of Luthworth or Acren in the south to form Human-centric communities focused around anti-Pokémon clauses. Meanwhile the ETP has surged forward to push their propaganda that Pokémon fighting should be illegal."
"Damn, what the hell is the ETP?"
"The Ethical Treatment of Pokémon, they started small, but they've grown much bigger here since the attacks. Thankfully the attacks haven't traveled outside of inner Luthworth, but if they grow any more support, they might travel everywhere else."
"And I figure that the meeting is for everyone who wants to stop that from happening?"
"Yes! I try to help stop any attacks that I can get to with the help of Gunner and I tend to find people willing to join."
"Did you see that old guy on the bird steal those Pokémon? He stole them with a Pokéball! How is that even possible?"
"Yes, I saw it. I tried to stop it, but I wasn't fast enough. I will be next time though," He could see her clench her fist, clearly distraught. "That man is Thaddeus, he's the lieutenant of the infamous V."
"Infamous V?" Angela interjected into the conversation.
"Yes. Though we've been trying as hard as we can we haven't been able to find the name of the leader of the Orion Initiative. Anyways you'll find more about that stuff at the meeting, the professor might know about the Pokéballs, or at least that's what I'm hoping. I'm going to have to head out to the local gym and talk with the leader there." He could see her give him a nod before turning to leave. "C'mon Gun."
The Lucario quickly followed her as she rushed out as quickly as she had rushed in.
Harvic stood still for a moment before something came to his mind, "Ah jeez, Rose is gone already. I can't even vouch for her, I completely forgot."
He felt an arm placed on his shoulder lightly and turned to face Angela who looked into his eyes, "Don't worry about her Harvic."
After a few seconds Harvic smirked, "You know Angela you've gotten a lot more outgoing than you used to be."
He could see her pause and blush slightly, "I've learned it from you. And Jeremy of course."
Harvic couldn't help but laugh and Jeremy flexed and puffed smoke from his nose in response.
"Ah yes, of course, Jeremy is the most outgoing of us all," he laughed for a moment before looking between his friends, "Do you guys want to head straight to Villbow City or camp out here in Luthworth for today?"
Angelica chimed in this time, "I think we've had enough of Luthworth for now, that and I want to see the snow!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot Villbow was that far north, I think we still have our winter clothes but we can always shop for some at the Villbow terminal, they gotta have some good quality stuff there, it's been a while so I can't remember," he smiled and looked to Angela, offering his arm "Ready to head out?"
"Are you sure I should take your arm? What about-"
Grabbing her arm gently, he quickly pulled her closer, placing her hand on his free left arm and squeezed it. Without saying a word, he began walking forward, presumably heading north towards the tram station. Angela wrapped onto his arm, blushing madly and unable to say a word. He could not notice, but Angelica was giving Angela two thumbs up with excitement and Jeremy was smiling ear to ear. Joey quickly bounded after the two, followed by the others as they continued.
Now boarding 3'o clock tram to Villbow City. Please have your tickets ready upon boarding, conductors will perform a pass during the ride. Any Pokémon who weigh more than 500 Ibs are required to stay in their Pokéballs.
The tram was slick and patterned red and white, it looked like a Pokéball. The windows were tinted black and no wheels were apparent at the base. When the tram stopped, a small metal ramp pulled from each door and covered the gap from the platform.
The boarding process started and various people and Pokémon began boarding the train. Harvic took the lead and stepped onto the train from the platform, his friends following him.
"Alright guys, let's see if we can get one of our own cabin things." Harvic spoke, looking up and down the tram. Various compartments lined each side and he then realized just how big the tram was.
Harvic checked between various compartments until he found one that wasn't labelled 'In-use,' and corralled his friends in. He put his backpack on the railing above his seat and closed the compartment door behind them. Harvic sat at the window with Angela sitting to his left. Angelica and Jeremy sat on the seats opposite them and Joey looked out through a window made for shorter Pokémon towards the floor.
The train shifted slightly, and he could see the view outside begin shifting slowly, then faster and faster. Despite the speed of the tram, the ride was seamless and moved very quietly.
Half an hour had passed with little event. The group sat in the tram and viewed the bustling city recede behind them and the massive mountain range approach. The mountains were the tallest in the region and its biggest mountain, Mt. Court, was almost 1000 feet taller than Hoenn's own Mt. Chimney. It was named after the founder and first hero Khan's Pokémon companion.
As the mountains approached, Harvic thought of Mt. Chimney. He had seen various pictures and artist representations of it but thought it would have been nice to see in person. Maybe one of these days he'd travel to the various Pokémon regions.
"Angela, what do you think about us getting involved in all of this?" Harvic asked, turning to look at her.
"I think it's a good thing, and if more people are gathering at the meeting then we'll have a lot of help. These guys sound bad, and they need to be stopped."
"Well yeah, but one of us could get hurt."
"That's a chance I'm willing to take. Not to mention if we don't do something then other people will get hurt. The Xendar region is the region of Pokémon and Humans being equals. They can be friends, family, or even lovers. These guys are taking it all apart."
"Alright Angela. I'm not sure how much help we can be, but we'll do our best, right guys?" He turned to his other friends to see they had gotten comfortable and fallen asleep, they had nodded off after being too busy looking at the countryside. Harvic sighed lightly with a small smile, "I wonder how long the ride is anyways."
In approximately 10 minutes we will be passing through the Castem Mountain tunnel. The ride will then continue for another 15 minutes before we reach our destination.
"Wow, this train is really fast, no wonder the tickets are normally so expensive. Good thing we got this card." He spoke to himself, playing with the card in his hands.
Just as he said this the compartment door opened and a man in what could only be described as a Conductor's uniform stood before them, "Ticket please."
"Here, we're headed to the Pokémon Professor's lab." He replied, handing over the card.
The conductor looked at it for a moment before pulling out his hole-punch and punching the card, "One of these eh? The meeting? I'm not much for Pokémon but ever since those Orion guys have been around the tram has lost a lot of business. Good on you." The conductor handed back the card and closed the door behind him as he left.
Angela must have been nodding off because her head fell on his shoulder. His heart and chest tensed, and he couldn't place a reason for it. Her hair was soft and brushed on his neck and he could feel her body raising and falling with each breath. Why was he focusing so hard on her?
He began questioning himself as his mind wandered, but his attention was pulled back as her head moved slightly and her hands squeezed his arm. Was she awake? He didn't want to turn and look, fearful that he might wake her up by moving, especially if she had just fallen asleep now.
He sat silently and still as he could for a few moments before his mind wandered again. Her grip had loosened on his arm, she must be fully asleep now. He thought back to what Rose had said during their battle, if you could call it that. He had never seen Angela react so angrily or attack a human before. Why did she get so mad, especially at that?
His mind wandered back to his hand, her grip was gone, and he could move his hand freely, though restricted. Without thinking, he slowly moved his hand over and placed it on her leg. Her skin was soft. He didn't realize but his face was blushed red and heated. Why was he reacting this way? He had slept next to her plenty of times, she was constantly holding onto his arm, they had been best friends in what felt like forever at this point.
He subconsciously moved his thumb, sweeping it across her soft pale skin, his entire body was tense and only just now began to relax. This is something couples did isn't it? They weren't a couple, why was he doing this? Could Pokémon even be together with people like this? He had seen several romantic couples as such, but it always seemed so surreal.
He forced himself to stop and move his hand back to his own leg, slowly, hoping not to wake her. What would have happened if she woke up? What would she have said?
He could feel her shuffle next to him, "It's okay." Her soft voice spoke, causing him to jump.
"We're you awake this whole time?" he asked, all the pressure and tenseness revived in his body.
She remained silent and gripped his arm tightly again. The two sat silently until the tram finally reached the mountain tunnel. The entire room was filled with darkness and the rhythmic quiet sounds of the tram were all that was heard. The sound of the tram and their heartbeats.
I hope y'all enjoyed, lemme know what you think and make sure you kick the ass of any virus you see, nice.