"Is this related to the reason for your small trip into the forest?", he asked Arthur.

Arthur took the ball in Blue's palm into his own hands. He could feel the old rust on its surface and he smelled a certain scent ... the scent of blood!

Suddenly countless images flashed through his mind. Ever since his accident, his memories had been in a mess. He could remember most of the events that had occurred in the forest but the chronology was wrong and disordered. It was as if a film tape had been torn to shreds, some parts went missing while the rest remained in a chaotic order.

He was in a forest, panting heavily and out of breath. He stumbled forward and only had the thought of escaping in his head.

"Auuuuuuuu!", loud shouts constantly sounded out from behind and gradually closed in on him.

He laid there on the ground, leaning against a tree. His breathing slowed down, more and more blood trickled down his body. He took out a small Pokeball from his pockets and a mouthful of a red liquid spurted out of his mouth onto the ball. Tear droplets ran down his eyes and mixed with the red. And then, the memories just ended in the dark.

Arthur had started shivering uncontrollably since taking the ball on his hands and his teeth were clenching against one another.

"Hey, Buddy, are you alright?", Khali asked with concerned eyes and patted him on the back.

"I-I am fine, huh.", Arthur told him weakly when he found himself back in the room and took a big breath of fresh air. The memories felt so real to him, even though three weeks had already passed by now.

"Don't worry, I have my fair share of experiences with these kinds of problems, trust me, it will get better!", Blue also patted him on the shoulders.

"Yes, it's mine. The Pokeball, it belonged to my dad a long time ago and I kept it with me ever since he died. And then, I heard my brother being bullied because ... because we couldn't afford to keep any Pokémon at home.", Arthur explained with a sad expression on his face.

More of his memories got unlocked or recovered to a better condition. The sad truth was that since his father had died, his mother was barely able to keep their current living conditions in tact.

And keeping an additional Pokémon, aside from her own, consumed too much time and resources. That's why even though Arthur was way past his tenth birthday, the time when children usually get their first Pokemon, he still didn't have a Pokémon he could claim as his partner.

His brother Brendon got mad at people making fun of Arthur and his family and he got into some small fights in school.

Arthur blamed and hated himself for his incompetence to protect and help his family get out of their predicament.

He decided to sneak out from the Berry fields where he was working and go into the Viridian Forest and catch a Pikachu, Brendon's favourite Pokémon, to make him proud and help him gain more respect from his classmates. He would either present it to Brendon or sell it off to someone else. Pikachu's were relatively rare and cute so the demand was high while the supply was rather low, which made each and everyone of them very valuable.

He had only heard of Pikachus existing in the Viridian Forest and wanted to try his luck. He didn't know or foresee that his small trip in the wilderness would end up with him on the brinks of death. He didn't realize that venturing into the forest would be this dangerous for him.

The Pokémon he saw in the city were always harmless and friendly towards him and everyone else. But the creatures he met in the forest, they resembled ferocious wild beasts instead! They attacked him upon sight and he barely managed to get away from one encounter before he made another dangerous encounter with a group of wild Pokémon again!

Otherwise he would have never dared to step into the forest, even if he was told to do so!

He only possessed the one Pokeball his father had left him. Pokeball's were very costly and only Pokémon Trainers could afford them in a larger amount. Adventure and Pokémon Trainer equipment in general was very costly which is why he couldn't bring anything with him.

Fortunately, that one Pokeball was enough for him to succeed in his goal to catch a Pikachu! Like a godsend gift, he found a Pikachu after a while of running and escaping from the dangerous Pokémon. And as if he was blessed by his father in heaven, on the first try he threw the rusty old Pokeball immediately at the wild Pikachu, it got caught as well!

He was overjoyed at that moment and that joy only got overshadowed by the looming danger of wild hungry Pokemon which were on his heels.

"Oh man! This is unbelievable! It almost feels like you are wearing some kind of Plot Armour?! Meeting wild Pokémon without any equipment or Pokémon on your side and managing to get out alive?! This feels like a story from a novel instead! You would become famous if people found out!", Khali exclaimed extremely shocked at this revelation.

It was only now that he heard and understood the full extent and severity of his friend's little expedition. Khali wasn't sure if he could have done the same without any form of life-saving equipment in his hands. Without Webster by his side, he might have even broken down mentally, all alone in that dangerous situation.

A new-found feeling of respect grew in Khali's mind towards Arthur. Someone like that was just awesome!

Blue's eyes gleamed brightly and his mouth wrinkles had curved up slightly when he heard Arthur tell his tale.

He had only found him almost dead on the spot, but he didn't realize that Arthur had fought constantly for survival before that moment in the woods! He somehow reminded him of another strongwilled person ...

"Well, there were some reporters that wanted to interview me during my time at the hospital. The director of the hospital and my mum as well didn't allow them to, but my mum explained them the situation and articles were made public online. I also think that they will print it out in the newspapers soon.", he told them.

When he got wind of the situation, he fully supported going public with it, but his mum rejected it, as it might negatively influence his recovery process.

They compromised instead, and Arthur turned down TV or Live interviews but interviews that were written down were okay. Arthur's mind only revolved around one thing, money! The remuneration they received for his participation was generous and helped them out greatly, lightening the burdens on Arthur's mum.

"I am telling you man, once those go out, you will become a star!"

Arthur didn't care about that, as long as it helped his mum out and shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Well boy, I might have underestimated you a little! To have survived all alone in that forest, you were practically born to become a Pokémon Trainer! And you sure are lucky as well! Not only did you accurately strike the Pokémon with the ball to activate the mechanism, this old Pokeball you have here, it's a miracle it even worked properly!

Others in the same conditions would malfunction and not even absorb the Pokémon inside, not to mention capturing them successfully! These defect Pokeballs would land in a special waste disposal site instead and be recycled.", Blue explained.

Arthur felt happy and honored to gain the recognition and compliment of such a high esteemed figure in the Pokémon World, even if he knew that becoming a Pokémon Trainer wasn't a possibility for him.

"Wow, hey Arthur! Release the Pikachu, let's take a look at it!"

"Yeah? Is that ok here, Sir?", he asked Blue.

He was also a little excited and wanted to find out more about the first Pokemon he had caught in his life, but that didn't cloud his mind and make him forget that they were still on the property of another person here. Releasing a Pokémon in somebody else's house without permission was very impolite, after all.

"Yeah, no problem! I am also anticipating it, if I am being honest, hahaha!", he told him with a nod of his head.

After gaining Blue's permission, Arthur turned around and stretched his hand holding the Pokeball onto the ground and pressed on the round rusty button and triggered the release of the Pokémon.

Weird small crunching screeching sounds toned out from the object, as if the cogs in a machine which hadn't been oiled for years, were suddenly forced to move and function.

The ball opened slightly and Arthur felt how a slight warmth spread from the contact surface his hand was touching. A red light spread out from within the ball and shone in a particular manner onto the ground.

The light grew more and more solid and seemingly out of thin air, the shape of a small creature came into their view. The light then faded away and revealed a yellow body, the size of Arthur's knees.

The Pokéball in Arthur's hand had become scorching hot and he let it fall down as he couldn't bear the heat on his hand anymore. A red round mark was still visible on his bright skin.

The ball let out 'puff' sound out when it hit the ground, a small spark followed by a little bit of smoke arose from its opening and it laid there silently after that.

Their attention turned towards the creature that came out from within the Pokeball, a Pikachu.

"Wow!", Arthur mumbled under his breath. He had never seen the process of a Pokémon being released from its Pokéball so close, as far as he could remember. Mr.Nyao, his mum's Pokémon, always stayed outside in the open. Arthur felt a sense of incredible happiness when he saw the Pokémon before him. He unconsciously took some steps forward and had the sudden urge to storm at the Pikachu and hug it in his arms.

But what happened next shocked him greatly!

The Pikachu looked around suspiciously and noticed how Arthur was closing in on it. It stood on his little feet and growled threateningly at him with its high-pitched voice, and when Arthur didn't seem to stop moving, the Pikachu rushed with all its four limbs towards his face and opened its small mouth that was filled with razor sharp teeth!