"Yes, hahahaha ... wait, huh, didn't you say we shouldn't blast him with holes before?", Chestnut asked with a dumb expression on his face.

The dwarf leaned on his partner's side and whispered impatiently:

"I know what I said, idiot! I just wanted to threaten him a little!"

"Ohh, is that so, hahah ha ... did you just call me an idiot?!"

"Don't talk to me, attack him!"

They turned their gazes back towards Arthur like hungry beasts. Ready to scare and beat the shit out of him they saw him holding something red in his hands.

"Hey, what are you doing there, babyshit! Hazel, he is tryin' to call a Pokemon!"

"No, that can't be. Our client said he didn't have any Pokemon with him. He is poorer than us, kyakakaaka!", Hazel assured him confidently.

"Ah, is that so, hahaah, Homey, Razor Leaf towards him! Lets end this shit right now!", Chestnut ordered boisterously.

"Damn!", Arthur cursed and tried his best to avoid the green sharp projectiles. He had seen what force these leaves could bring about on mud and wood, he didn't want to test it on human flesh though!

Those hooligans already mentioned that they weren't after his life, a fact which relieved him slightly, but if he didn't dodge their attacks he might as well just forfeit his life right on the spot.

He also didn't want to get crippled and make his family worried again either. Escape was his only option, especially when considering the numerical advantage his enemies possessed.

The only issue was that damned Bellsprout! In the beginning the Bellsprout made rotational movements with its sides each time when throwing out its leaves. They were targeted at him and Arthur could predict their trajectory and dodge them with timed jumps and side steps.

The Bellsprout needed a short break of a couple of seconds after every couple shots, maybe to regenerate Arthur speculated, and the throwing speed was also rather slow. Comparable to a good frisbee throw at best.

But as the distance shortened between the two parties the attacks arrived too fast to cope with!

Arthur tried using the short breaks every time to retreat and enlargen their distances towards one another or to find a good shielding tree. But his enemies didn't rest either and advanced with him!

"Huh huh, urgh!", Arthur's breathing grew heavier with every second especially after every jump that saved his live by a hair's breadth

He fell on the muddy ground and as he watched his hands covered with dirt and sweat it reminded him of his time in the Viridian Forest again.

Cold shivers ran up his spine as the hopelessness and the impending doom were overwhelming him and grabbing at his heart. Disabling him from taking any actions. But then ...

"Stand up!", a familiar voice suddenly rang out in his head. A warm feeling showered his body and suppressed the negative thoughts from his mind. A newfound courage rose up in his heart and gave him the resolve to continue! Arthur gathered himself again to seek for shelter.

Returning to the situation at hand, the other problem was that even if he could see where the attacks were going to hit him, he still couldn't dodge every single one of the shots in succession! His perception was excellent but his reaction speed suffered because of his exhausted weak body!

"Aaaaarg!!!", Arthur suddenly shouted loudly and fell onto the ground. His arms and legs took on most of the impact but the greatest pain came from his back region.

With clenched teeth he pulled out a flat crusty object stuck on his back on the left side.

It was one of the leaves the Bellsprout had attacked him with, blood stained its corners with success. This time it got its target right.

The shape of it reminded him slightly of a boomerang with a certain angle in the middle enabling special curving trajectories. Instead of a fresh green colour, Arthur discovered a faint yellowish pattern slowly spreading across the leaves' surface. Along with the visual change he felt the object crumbling, turning from a solid disc-like shard into a brittle cookie!

He didn't have time to contemplate more as his situation was still highly insecure. He swiftly stood up, mustering up his remaining strength to continue fleeing.

After several minutes had gone by, his clothes were already torn on many sides and qualified for the trash!

"Chestnut! Why does it take you so long! Has your Pokemon gone blind?!"

"Shut Up! That babyshit is as sneaky as a rat! But that won't be the case for long now, hahaha! Homey, don't shoot at him, cut of his path of retreat instead!"

As if the Bellsprout had understood its human partner's intentions it suddenly stopped attacking Arthur directly.

Arthur took advantage of this rare peaceful moment to take a deep breath of oxygen.

He was hiding behind a lonely tree, and his wider surroundings didn't offer anything that could have been used as a cover.

Even worse, he couldn't take chances to make a sprint forward either.

The Bellsprout had changed its target and directed its leaves so that they would hit the path in front of him. Getting blasted by a wave of green shuriken was a fate he couldn't resist!

Another shot and he would be down for good.

"This is the end mothafu$¥a!!! End of our little game and your little life hahahaha!"

"He is right, young one! Why be so stubborn? Just come out and take it like a real man. We promise, we will leave you your most precious organs intact, kyakakaka!"

The two ruffians mocked and intimidated Arthur now that they had grasped victory.

"If you surrender peacefully, we could negotiate a bit. We aren't monsters are we Chestnut?", Hazel suggested with a pseudo professional tone in his voice but the most hideous smile possible combined.

"Listen to me kid, I will crush your nuts and turn you into a goddamn pussy when I catch you! Hahahaha!!!"

Just when everything seemed certain and without any room for doubts to appear something unexpected happened.

Arthur emerged from his hiding spot but contrary to the gangsters initial amused ideas, he didn't come to surrender.

He came to fight.

"Aaaaaarrr!"

Arthur gathered all his courage and turned his direction back, directly towards the Bellsprout.

"Pfft, hahahaha, his mind has gone nuts, having a death wish, ehh?", Chestnut exclaimed astounded.

"Poor young mind, couldn't handle the stress and lost all reason.", Hazel commented sympathetically. There wasn't any other explanation for why the boy who was constantly running away before had changed his mind to tackle on a direct confrontation.

But if they could read Arthur's mind and understand his actions, they would be dumbstruck instead!

"Homey, silence that bitch and teach him some manners yo!", Chestnut ordered.

As expected, the next round of shots flew all towards Arthur's body. Without any hindrance they would hit him hard several times in a row!

Yet when the two clowns saw the scene playing out in front of them,

they might have slapped themselves to consider waking up from this dream. But it wasn't a dream!

The sound they heard didn't resemble the ripping of flesh. It was more like, the smashing of cups!

And Arthur didn't look like a porcupine or swiss cheese. He looked like an elephant in a glass house!