"Wow, so you found me, huh? Don't think you're that great!", or something along those lines.

It then turned around and all of sudden disappeared from a spot like a ninja!

"Damn, Mr.Nyao, I can't see him. Can you track it down again?", he asked Mr.Nyao gravely.

"*Sniff-Sniff*, Nyao!", the Pokemon responded enthusiastically.

"Alright, let's go!"

It turned into another hot pursuit, like the police chasing the criminals, Arthur and Mr.Nyao chased tightly after the Sniebel. They crossed streets, almost ran into cars and bikes, took several turns through small alleys but thanks to Mr.Nyaos sensible olfactory abilities they didn't lose the trail that easily.

Another good thing was that the Sniebel apparently wasn't able to use the Vanishing-Move very quickly in succession, always taking a break or slower pace after its mysterious disappearance. It turned into a war attrition!

Who would lose their stamina first, Arthur or the Sniebel?

Arthur wasn't used to this amount of stress and exercise and his fatigue was quitely accumulating in his body. The Sniebel on the other hand couldn't be in a better position as it hadn't been a long time since its escape, no chance it had recovered all of its strength already.

The only real difference was Arthur .... wasn't a Pokemon. A variable that could make a huge difference.

Their hunt had been going on for like 10 minutes already, this sounds very short but be aware that both Arthur and Mr.Nyao were currently stuck in a jungle called 'City' with all kinds of obstacles and objects they needed to avoid. At the same time they needed to lock onto the closest position of that wild Sniebel that moved like the wind while being careful no to create accidents or followe the wrong path! The Sniebel wasn't chained to the same rules, hanging and climbing from one building to the next as if it was Spiderman's reincarnation!

Then at the end of one road, the scene grew wider and the party entered a completely different hot spot! It was at an intersection north of the city center, a big traffic circle reserved for cars surrounded an even bigger area that people could use for cross-walking, taking a break or doing photos.

But currently a different kind of action was taking place in this place.

Two people stood across to each other within a certain distance, staring and shouting words Arthur couldn't quite hear and understand. Both had Pokemon by their sides, the left one (a boy) was with a Spinarak, the right person (a girl) revealed an Eevee.

Then the girl pointed at the boy angrily and her Eevee shot forward, was that an attack? Arthur was completely confused and got distracted for a second. He belatedly realized that the Sniebel was escaping right through the ongoing Pokemon battle!

Left with no other choice he headed straight into the same direction. And as he closed the distance between them Arthur noticed many more details about the fighters involved. To his astonishment, he knew the boy on the left already.

It was Khali Akiona, the guy who had visited him earlier. His dark skin and his alolan T-shirt clearly distinguished him from other people. On the other hand, he couldn't recognize the girl at all. Except for her red twin tails that made her look quite special, she gave off a vibe of superiority and power, hinting towards a great background.

He waved towards Khali, trying to get his attention. Khali noticed him and waved back. He tried saying something but the distance was still too great, Arthur didn't understand anything at all.

Then he turned his eyes back towards the Pokemon that were clashing with each other.

The Eevee was fast and attempted several quick dashes to get closer to its target.

Khali wasn't daydreaming and promptly told his partner:

"Webster, use String Shot to slow down its movements!", following which the Spinarak obeyed and shot out strings to prevent Eevee coming further. Its reaction was bit slower, but its precise and accurate aim compensated for this small disadvantage.

Most attacks didn't hit at all, the Eevee was quick to react and dodged the linear projectiles in a timely manner as if it was just a walk in the park. But this time it was quantity over quality!

Before the girl or her Eevee could respond or enact any countermeasures they were already surrounded by small area full of sticky strings. Wouldn't be easy to get out without being slowed down now! Every step could cost precious seconds wasted on getting rid of the strings. Time the opponent could use to inflict more damage.

The situation seemed hopeless at first but the Eevee was then throwing mocking looks towards the opponent's team:

"Is this all you can do? Hmpf, laughable!", it seemed saying.

"Evette, use sand attack!", the girl shouted out a command.

"Eerrrie!", the Eevee answered faithfully.

Arthur couldn't really see what was actually happening in that moment, but suddenly from one second to the next a whirl of sand and dust surged from the ground with Eevee at its centre!

The whirl wasn't big, only knee-level tall, but it was gushing out from a never-ending source and in a matter of seconds it had fully covered the former sticky surface!

"What the fuck ....", Arthur's mind couldn't keep up with reality. How did a small creature just summon something like that?! This was the first time he witnessed a Pokemon move that bordered on the supernatural realm far from reality. Or at least the reality his mind was comfortable with.

Anyway, the battle continued on. The Eevee was now capable to cross the field without worry and returned to confront the Spinarak.

Disinclined towards a close combat confrontation, Khali warned his partner not to get too close with the Eevee and gave another command:

"Use strings to swing from place to place Webster! Don't let that Eevee near you!"

His Spinarak understood and used a string shot from its mouth to pull itself towards a lamppost nearby. Up above the duo continued with their long-distance tactics. Sometimes changing from strings shots to smaller omnious looking projectiles. Poison Sting!

The Eevee avoided all of them, unimpressed.

"Don't think you are unreachable and safe in that high place, cowards!", the girl expressed with gritted teeth,

"Evette, Hidden Power!"

Suddenly the Eevee stopped with its movement for a second, and closed its eyes, frozen still. If Arthur had been standing there he would have seen a concentrated expression on the Pokemon's face appearing.

"Shit, did she say Hidden Power?!", Khali exclaimed anxiously,

"Wesbter, get away from there!"

The Spinarak realized from Khali's order the seriousness of the situation and hurriedly shot out another string.

Almost in the same moment, the previously calm Eevee opened its eyes wide and shouted loudly:

"EEERRIIIIIEEE!!!", Arthur wasn't sure if he could his trust his eyes, but it felt to him like the air was vibrating and moving in a wave-like motion slapping towards the upper lamppost!

The lamppost started trembling like crazy, a sound of blunt force crashing onto metal echoed in the surroundings:

Gooooonnnngggggggggg!

Luckily the Spinarak could escape most of the centre force hitting it. But it was still injured by the force at the corners, flailing it unpolitely which caused to swing wildly around during its flight.

"Damned, Webster!", Khali got worried.

Arthur realized in that brief moment how dangerous a Pokemon battle could turn out to be! All sorts of attacks were exchanged in short amount of time, and only experienced people with sharp eyes could cope with the ever-changing pace of the battle to come up with more and more plans.

"Wow!", he thought to himself silently. A feeling arose slightly from his back upwards, nibbling on his brain. Excitement, sheer excitement!

"Wait a sec... I have no time for this!", he noticed only now that he wasn't here to spectate a Pokemon Battle! He had a mission to accomplish!

His eyes swept the field looking for its target. And there it was, right on the opposite side of the area, the Sniebel watched the battle as well from a safe spot similarly dazzled by the might displayed in front of its eyes.

"There you are!"

Arthur evaluated his options, he could surround the Sniebel from the side, maybe a pincer attack with Mr.Nyao together. This would be a more careful approach but also a time consuming one, Arthur was still weak on his legs. In addition, they couldn't know if that Sniebel would still be standing there after the time passed by.

No, he couldn't risk it. The only other viable option was ...

Arthur gulped down heavily and turned towards the Glameow:

"Mr.Nyao, you are faster than me, and we can't take the same path or it will be too conspicious. You ... try to surround it from one of the sides and I will ...", he then transfered his attention back to the battlefield,

"the quickest path is always the most dangerous one, heh?", he chuckled lightly.

Why did he laugh, was there something funny about throwing yourself into a dangerous situation? Maybe the adrenalin was clouding his judgement and mind, but he felt really exhilarated!

Mr.Nyao just nodded its head, understanding the command and heading carefully towards the Sniebel.

He had already tried communicating with Khali, but the distance was too great and his attention was still mainly focused on the battle at hand. Rushing straight into the centre of the conflict was dangerous but the fastest way through the circle area as far as Arthur could tell.

He just needed to be cautious not to get hit by one of the Pokemon's attack, friendly fire was possible.

Easier said than done.

He slowly walked towards the innermost area, the two people and their Pokemon didn't notice him and were oblivious of his existence and actions. Arthur's heartbeat accelerated rapidly, reminding him to be wary of his environment.

He avoided the places full of sticky strings, and took on a lower posture, to prevent anyone but especially the Sniebel to see him.

The fight was currently concentrated on his left side near Khali and he wasn't in danger walking in the middle pathway. He felt blessed halfway-through and thought he could get cross this battlefield without any problems cropping up. Sadly ...

It was in that moment that the Eevee flew through the air, like a kite with its strings cut loose, and landed somewhere heavily on Arthur's right side onto the ground. The Eevee had successfully evaded all attacks during all this time. All but one.

In a moment of carelessness it got hit with a Poison Sting and the brunt force in addition to the close distance sent it in an arc-way over the field.

"YOU DARE!", the girl shouted furiously. After checking after her Pokemon and seeing it was alright she turned her attention back towards her enemies and announced:

"Time to end this child's play! Eevee Quick Attack!"

Khali returned her words:

"Yes, time to end our date! Webster, use your hanging force and attack head-on!", throwing caution into the wind, he also engaged into close-combat.

"Shhhhzzz!", the Spinarak shouted with anticipation. It threw some string onto a lamppost farther away and swung itself forward with all the power it could muster.

Both trainers were caught up in their rage or thrill and didn't see Arthur in the middle of their attack paths!

Arthur fell into a panic, he was getting attacked from both sides, if he didn't escape right this instant he would end up as a smashed meaty jam sandwiched between to Pokemon!