"Blue, did you miss me?", a deep male voice resounded from within the hazy fog,

"I knew it from the moment we met Blue, that you were a promising Trainer. So it isn't surprising to me that we would have to settle scores like this here ...", the figure that stepped out turned out to be a man in his thirties or fourties similar to Blue right now. His hair was combed back and his black suit gave him the aura of an important business guy. His smug smile just enforced that impression further.

"Have you finally decided to join my side? Take the reign over power into your own hands?", he smiled confidently making a stark contrast to Blue's grim looks.

"No, I guess not. I also foresaw this ... somehow.", the man's smile lessened a bit but then regained his colours again,

"Maybe I can change your opinion with this fight. What was our last score huh, 399 to ... 0?

Well, maybe this day the apprentice will finally surpass his master, hehe hahaha HAHAAHAHAH!", the man's laughter turned crazy and without further hesitation he stormed towards Blue's position.

Blue just looked coldy at the robot wearing human skin rushing to him. He couldn't help but whisper:

"I have long since surpassed you ... old man.", and he then solidified his cold resolve once more and summoned his flash-light emitting arm again before the battle arrived!

.............

"His Pills?, Blue is a grown man, I'm sure he can take care of himself.", Arthur tried to reassure her.

"I am not worried about him Arthur but about those he is going to confront *sigh*. Well forget it, as long my aunt and uncle are with him he will probably be fine.", Cecile said while sighing.

Arthur separated the tubes and needles from his body and tried to move away from the bed. At least he wasn't wearing some kind of gown from the hospital, although the dirty clothes on him didn't make him feel nicer. Looking at one specific corner of the room he went straight towards the glass-casket that contained his Sniebel inside.

Cecile also came to his side and commented:

"My aunt said it's being kept in a near-comatose state right now with some special gases until it has healed up some of its severe wounds, otherwise it might pain him too much while being awake.

By the way, what's its name actually?"

"Its name ... he doesn't have one ...yet.", Arthur looked worriedly through the glass to see his Sniebel lying asleep on its back. It looked already much better than before ... but he could see that its arms were highly wounded, several crusts and slight scars already formed up on them.

He touched the cold surface and mumbled quietly under his breath:

"Was it you, I got those memories from...", he still clearly remembered having been a Sniebel. Living a wild life and then getting captured by a human ... was that all just his fantasy or was there more to it? But he wasn't ready yet to share that experience with anyone else though.

"Huh, what do you mean, it doesn't have a name, it's your Pokemon Partner right?", Cecile didn't understand and looked confused.

*Sigh* And then Arthur began to tell the tale of his first meeting with the Sniebel, the chase after that and the reconnaissance in the Green Garden.

"Wow, you mean to say you haven't formed a pact yet?", Cecile asked further.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Oh ... Arthur, there is another possibility my family hasn't talked to you about ...", she looked at him unsurely of what exactly to say.

"What?", he had a questioning look on his face.

"Well, you could ... just release it actually. I mean you haven't even formed a pact yet so there wouldn't be any consequences ... and then you could just get a new Pokemon which isn't ... ehh ..."

"Crippled?", Arthur helped with an unsatisfied expression on,

"What do you mean with release?"

"Urgh", Cecile saw she had again stepped on someone's toes but didn't cave in and stated her point,

"I mean releasing it back into the wilderness. It's been a wild Pokemon from the very beginning, it didn't look like attaching any importance to you except for, except from when it mysteriously showed up and rescued you for some reason."

Arthur still had an angry look on his face but that didn't affect his mind yet. He understood her point and kinda also agreed to it. This Sniebel hadn't been willing to become his Partner in the beginning and he wasn't someone to force his will on others. The problem was ...:

"Thanks for your ... kind intentions. But I can't do that right now. I owe him too much as too let him go back in this state!", Arthur explained firmly. The Sniebel was currently in a heavily injured state, releasing it into the wild like this would mean its sure death!

He had been in the wilderness himself, though it was only a small distance away from the Viridian City, Arthur knew how ruthless and deadly the Pokemon outside could become when showing any form of weaknesses.

"*Sigh* Alright, it's your decision after all.", she had tried to help him, but that was all she could do for him.

"How long will it take for me, us, to heal up and be able to leave this area?", another thought suddenly came into Arthur's mind and he spoke it outloud.

"You mean when you're fully healed? Em, as far as I got told-", as she could hear from eavesdropping,

"-it should take you as short as a few days or as long as two weeks."

"Two weeks?!", his eyes widened when he got this news.

"Yeah, I was also a bit astounded when I heard this. It looks like your bad ability to attract the Infinity Particles affects this balance-thing in your body and thus delays the healing.", she tried summarising the facts she remembered.

"No, that's too long ...", Arthur had to close his eyes for a second, he felt a headache coming ...

"I get it, you want to go home, but this is quite serious Arthur, you could die because of this, I'm sure we can somehow bring your mother to ...", seemingly oblivious about Arthur's troubles, Cecile just spoke her mind out and suggested some things.

Arthur started gritting his teeth and then suddenly his head snapped to the side and he spoke loudly:

"Arthur, we don't have two weeks, we need to get there immediately!"

"Huh?", Cecile turned her attention back to him and asked him puzzled,

"What did you say?"

Arthur had a bewildered look on his face:

"No, I-I didn't say a-"

"Arthur we don't have time for this, we need to go to the Green Garden ASAP!", again his head snapped sharply around and he spoke with a hurried voice to himself.

Cecile thought something was wrong:

"Ehh, Arthur are you ok?", did he just mention himself in the 3rd person?

"I, ehh ...", Arthur's eyes swept into all directions but he couldn't see any other human being besides himself and Cecile just now,

"I might need to, could you tell me where the toilet is?", he requested as normal-looking as he could with a small smile on his face.

It didn't look convincing, but maybe he had to do it urgently Cecile thought to herself:

"Yeah ... sure.", she walked out into the hallway and pointed the way for him,

"Thanks", he said quickly and hurried his way into the direction shown to him.

"Boys.", that was Cecile's conclusion and she quickly forgot about his weird behaviour.

Arthur held his head with one of his hands and mumbled while walking:

"What's wrong with me ...", he didn't understand his actions, why did he say that to himself outloud?

It felt like someone had forcefully taken control of his body for a second ... but then again it felt like he had wanted to say it himself! Was he going crazy now?!

He arrived in a bathroom, more like a bath-apartement, and stood in front of a row of basins and mirrors. Arthur picked a random one to quickly get himself cleaned for a bit, some water-splash on his face wouldn't hurt and maybe even energize him.

But when his face was all moistered up and he wanted to grab a towl to dry, Arthur noticed something weird going on in the corner of his eyes!

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Slowly turning his head around he found an unkown face staring at him in the mirror!

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

He stepped several meters back in fright and held his hands in front of himself, was it going to be another fight now?!

The person in the mirror looked at him amused and a voice came out from it:

"Hey, hey, hey, we just met not long ago, so why are you so jumpy Arty? Hahaha!"

"W-who are you?! I don't know you!", Arthur responded a bit shakely.

The guy in the mirror still looked amused and started grabbing the edges from the mirror from his side and ... jumped over the glass onto Arthur's side!

"N-no! D-don't come closer or I-I will ...!", Arthur got even more scared now! Was it normal for people to step out from mirrors now?! No, this must be a dream! He had never truly woken up, right?!

"Chill out Arty, it's me! Atiqo! Don't you remember?", Atiqo realized his sudden appearance must have been a bit too much for that young boy to take and thus changed his tactic to a softer approach.

"A-atiqo? You ...", Arthur squinted his eyes and focused on this 'Atiqo' more. His lean brown tanned face, that pair of slim arms, those clothes also appeared familiar in Arthur's eyes .... Realisation then dawned upon him:

"It's you! It's really you! B-but how did you, why are you ...-", it was the same person from his dreams!

"I am really sorry Arthur but I don't have time for these questions now.", Atiqo replied shortly but with a slight smile now that they got on the same page things would become easier,

"I can't stay here for much longer. I am already feeling the weakness coming back to me ...", Atiqo closed his eyes a little and needed to concentrate for some time,

"It's seems like ... we can't exist both at the same time, Arty."

"Huh? Both at the ... same time? What do you ...?", Arthur's face turned puzzled.

"It's like, we are fighting for the same position Arty, but there can be only person at one point in time to hold the job. Right now I have to resist your mind to able to appear in front of you but I can't hold on for much longer!", Atiqo regained his spirit and briefly told Arthur about his speculations regarding their current situation.

"What? Fighting for a job? I still don't understand ..."

"You will, I promise, trust me! But one thing after another Arty. Have you looked at your Pokedex yet?", Atiqo asked him friendly.

"No, I just woke up."

"Well, the thing is that our answers to our both questions probably lie somewhere in the Green Garden and that Pokedex looks like it could lead us there!", Atiqo emphasized the last few words.

"But Cecile said-"

"I know what she said, and then I told you we didn't have time for this!"

"Huh? You said that? How-"

"Arty, we are running in circles like this. You just need to know right now that we have to get there fast! Who knows what happens in two weeks time? Weren't we on the brink of death just some hours ago? We have to go there soon or we might miss this chance!", Atiqo got a bit impatient.

"We?", Arthur noticed something weird in his speech but when he saw the looks in Atiqo's stares he understood that things seemed very urgent,

"Ok, I get it. I will ask her and maybe we can do things faster, I hope."

"But, just to be sure ... you aren't a ghost Atiqo, right? One that has possessed my body, right?", Arthur asked hesitatingly. He needed clarification on this matter otherwise he would always question his sanity and actions as time progressed. Even right now he wondered if he was still sane talking to someone who literally walked out from a mirror!

"I...", Atiqo's face became complicated when he heard this,

"I don't know Arthur, I really don't. I don't want to lie to you, but I am also having the same issues that you are facing Arthur. Wether I am still sane, if I can still be considered a person ...*sigh*"

Arthur saw the troubles and the anxiety in Atiqo's face appearing and got relieved for a weird reason. It felt kind of good knowing ... that he wasn't alone in this mess.

"It's fine for now, we can talk more later, first things first!"

"Right.", Atiqo agreed.

Arthur moved towards the exit and then turned back to say something but ... Atiqo was already gone. Arthur was gritting his teeth and forced himself not to screaming out again, he couldn't do that all the time when something weird happened or his lungs might explode otherwise!

When he got back to his room he found Cecile still inside playing with Eevette.

"Hey, you are back. Is everything all right?", Cecile remembered his weird actions from before.

"Y-yeah, it's alright now. *Cough*, Cecile I have a request please!"

"Ehh, ok. What is it?", she asked surprised.

"I need to get out of here! Out from the mansion and into the city again!"