The Pikachu jumped at his face with its wide opened mouth full of razor sharp teeth with an incredible speed! Arthur was frozen in fear and couldn't react or dodge in time! It seemed like his live was at stake here again, but unlike last time, he wouldn't be able to avoid this calamity with his life intact!

The Pikachu looked at its prey and was sure of its victory, but then before it even realized it, a sudden aura swept past its body and its fur stood on its ends!

The whole room was enveloped in this aura in a split second and a certain pressure pushed from all sides at the Pikachu! It was like a warning and a threat, as if to tell, that if it were to continue with its actions, its life was as good as forfeited!

The Pikachu glanced at the person standing behind Arthur and this person returned that glance with unmoving soulless eyes, the same eyes when one looked at a dead corpse!

The Pikachu knew it had encountered an enemy it couldn't resist against, it couldn't win against, and all the cells in its body told it to stop and surrender or else nothing but certain death awaited it!

Sadly though, it was already in midair and couldn't change the path of its trajectory anymore and a collision with Arthur seemed inevitable, at most it could curl up and avoid a direct head to head clash which would minimize the damage of the impact by a part.

However, before anyone could process what was happening, Blue disappeared from behind his desk and appeared suddenly out of thin air in front of Arthur, his arm stretched out to welcome the Pikachu in his stead.

Khali and Arthur couldn't believe their eyes anymore?! They didn't see how he had disappeared from his spot behind them but he did just appear out of the blue and protected Arthur from the incoming threat! How was that possible?!

They were afraid that Blue might hurt or break his arm when trying to catch the Pikachu with all its kinetic energy but what occurred next made them completely flabbergasted! Everything happened so fast, the boys weren't sure if they were imagining things!

The Pikachu flew into Blue's palm but instead of a direct clash, Blue moved his hand downwards and pushed his arm up towards the ceiling! The Pikachu changed its path up as well and hit the upper corner of the room!

"Crackk!", the ceiling cracked at the place of impact with the Pokemon, but it didn't look like anymore damage was done to it. The Pikachu fell down after some seconds and didn't budge for a while, except for some small twitching movements.

Arthur and Khali were still shocked and Blue walked over and did a quick check-up:

"Don't worry, it's just unconscious. Maybe a small concussion, Pokemon physiques are sturdier than humans and under the influence of the Energy Vein ... hmm ... it should be up and well in an hour or so.", after he was finished with his analysis, he cleaned up his clothes from fallen dust and saw the pale faces of the boys:

"What? Do I have something on my face? Hahaha!"

"N-no, no Sir! I am sorry, it was my fault that ...", Arthur said but Blue interrupted him:

"That the Pikachu went berserk and attacked you? No, no, if someone was at fault here then it should be me. After listening to your narration I should have realized sooner rather than later that you hadn't formed a pact with the Pikachu yet!

It slipped my mind and it acted on its own natural instincts, I have disregarded my supervisory duty, so I have to apologize instead boy!", he smiled apologetically.

"Pact?", Arthur asked stunned. He didn't know what that meant and what it had to do with their current situation. He looked at Khali but his friend didn't know much either,

"I've heard of it, but my parents didn't tell me much either. It's somehow linked to the relationship between a person and his Pokemon!"

"Not exactly but close enough!", Blue told them,

"Pokemon are sentient beings, right? Just like us humans, they have their own thoughts and feelings and personalities. They also build up their own societies and hierarchy in the wilderness, so how come these sentient beings are willing to obey the orders of us humans?"

What Blue said made sense, it's just that the boys had never cared to think about it or look at things from another perspective. Arthur was even more astonished, Pokémon forming their own societies? He could understand the first part but he didn't know that Pokémon were this ... smart?

Seeing their clueless expressions Blue elaborated further,

"This field of research is still rather unexplored and also a little controversial, and I will explain to you why that is so in a moment. It concerns the mental linkages that are being formed when humans and Pokemon form bonds together, or to be more specific they form 'pacts'.

There are different kinds of pacts that Pokemon can form with humans depending on the individual circumstances. The pacts allow us humans to work together with Pokemon while assuring our own safety in their companionship. Like the term 'pact' already implies, it is an agreement between both parties and allows seamless cooperation when needed as well as a connection of common interests. It restrains us from doing serious harm to each other and enables a more peaceful partnership.

What makes this matter debatable amongst researchers is that these pacts aren't formed on a material and tangible level. It's not possible to observe them physically even with the latest technology in our hands. Some say it is related to the soul, a hypothesis that most if not all scientists scoff at. They are more inclined to believe in what is known as the Energy-Resonance Theory!", his face turned serious when he came to this point.

But Arthur and Khali became even more confused than before. Pacts made with their souls? Was that even possible? And what was this so called theory about?

"I know, I can tell from the looks on your faces, it sounds hard to imagine, you can't verify them with our current scientific standards at least. It is a certain feeling that you can sense when your Pokemon are around you.

When it come to the origins of the pacts, myths speak of a common enemy in ancient times and humans and Pokemon took arms together and fought side by side to fend off that foe. This commitment lead to a sharing of souls between our species - in a literal sense as far as spiritualists or belivers in the supernatural claim it to be.

Some scientists speculate it to be an advanced survival strategy passed on from generation to generation. Weaker Pokemon joined forces with humans to survive against common enemies like the stronger Pokemon in pre-historic times and lived together in a symbiotic kind of relationship.

It is true after all that Pokemon are able to use their powers more efficiently alongside humans. Whatever it is and where it comes from, it is irrefutable that it does exist!

The theory I just mentioned talks about how the energy that permeats our world - the Infinity Energy - enables connections to form between certain individuals, Pokemon and humans due to similar intake of energy. The energy compostion in every individual is very different, and each creates a characteristic resonance frequency. And the greater the compatibility in terms of energy resonance frequency between a human and a Pokemon, the greater the chances for a pact to form!

At least according to this theory, hehe."

"Ehhm, but how does that really work? How does it guarantee that both sides hold on to their parts of their agreements? It doesn't really sound ... binding?", Arthur asked. Something like this was completely foreign for him and he couldn't understand it at all.

"Good question boy! Establishing and maintaining a pact with a Pokemon isn't necessarily an easy task depending on the pact chosen. It can drain your mentality, make you sick and even sent you to the hospital in serious cases! That is why most people don't keep more than two Pokemon in their households. If not handled well it could lead to irreversible damages to your mind and make you insane!

Of course the same goes towards the Pokemon involved which usually need a transitioning and adaption period. These pacts, Arthur, they represent risks for both sides! That's why you wouldn't thoughtlessly make a pact with a Pokemon. This mental connection goes both ways and damages dealt to the Pokemon can also hurt the owner or trainer mentally.

The death of your Pokemon can also cause heavy assaults on your body and weaken it either permanently or for a longer time at least. Both sides depend on each other so it's a necessity that they work together without any problems or the consequences could be quite severe otherwise."

"Ahh!", Arthur finally understood the concept now, even if he still couldn't imagine the real reason for it, he got the process now. It was also only now that he understood his mother's words when she told him about the Pokemon regulations in different regions and countries.

"But how can this be? Me and my Pokemon Webster, we have never had any problems and I am also not feeling any illness with him by my side?", Khali asked baffled.

"Webster? Nice name boy! I assume it was your first Pokemon when you turned ten. Like most children do, your first pact is the 'pact of harmony'! You grew up with your Pokemon over a long time which lead to you gaining its recognition and acknowledgment in the most harmless way possible.

Parents also give their children Pokemon that are weaker so as to not burden them too much mentally. They are almost always Rank 1 Pokemon. Those Pokemon are known to be the easiest to tame and control, you can find them all around the city and they are very docile.

This Pikachu on the other hand ...", Blue looked back towards the Pokemon still lying on the ground,

"it has grown up in the wilderness, where it constantly struggled for survival and resources. They fight and resist more against foreign control. It would be more difficult to tame it and form a pact with these types of Pokemon. Capturing and Taming Pokemon are completely different subjects after all, haha!"

Arthur looked sadly at the broken ceiling and a bad premonition grew in his stomach. As if having read his mind, Blue told him smilingly:

"Don't worry boy! Haha, I told you already that it was my fault, so you don't need to pay anything up! Anyways, it's not like stuff like this had never happened in this house before, whenever Cecile goes overboard with her training ..."

Just in that instant, the doors were forcefully swung open and two people entered the room.

"Dad!"

"Master Oak!"

It turned out to be Alfred and Cecile who had rushed to the study room after hearing the loud banging sounds.

"Speaking of the devil!", Blue said and looked at his daughter with a grin,

"Alfred you have come just at the right moment! The Pokemon over here, yes the Pikachu, fetch it up and treat it with some recovery medicine. Be careful or it might attack you otherwise!"

"Ehh, y-yes Master Oak! I will get it done, anything else? Have you been attacked, do you need anything?", he knew he wasn't in the position to ask about what had happened and just needed to get his orders done.

"No, thanks, that's all."

"Dad, what happened here? Are you ok? Did you two do something?! I swear if you have something to do ...", she looked at Arthur and Khali with a deadly glare.

"Cecile! How are you talking with our guests here! Don't worry about unnecessary things and return to your studies instead of threatening other people!"

"Hmph!", she harrumphed and wanted to turn around after making sure that her father was well when her eyes fell on the Pikachu that was being carried away by Alfred,

"This ... Alfred, wait!"

At first she only had a curios gleam but when she got closer to it, the gleam in her yes brightened up and she started panting heavily:

"This is ... this Pikachu ... it's ...!"

"What Cecile? What is wrong?", Blue noticed her weird behaviour and approached the Pikachu as well.