Chapter 1: Breakout
"Aw, come on, Sonic!" Amy groaned. "You said you'd do anything!"
"When I said that, I didn't mean I'd go on a date!" Sonic replied irritably. "Look: I'm not exactly down for a date right now. And hey! Tails wouldn't mind hanging out with you, I'm sure."
"I don't want to hang out with Tails!" Amy groaned. "I want to be with you!"
"Well, sorry, but I'm going running." With that, he dashed off, free from the pink hedgehog's clutches...and dreaded Piko Piko hammer.
"You're always running," she grumbled.
But he knew that already. His red shoes pounded the pavement as he dashed through town and made his way to the park. There, he found a nice spot of grass next to a tree and laid himself down, hands behind his head, and rested. The sky was blue as could be at 3 in the afternoon, and any clouds in sight only added to the sunny atmosphere.
"Just chilling out, huh?" a gravelly voice smirked. He sat up and saw a raven-haired teen walk up to him. He wore a red and black hat with a green Pokeball in the middle of it, a blue, sleeveless hoodie over a black t-shirt, black and green fingerless gloves, and jeans. A yellow, mouse-like Pokemon with red spots on its cheeks perched on his shoulder like a parrot.
"Yep," Sonic smiled. "It sure beats running from Amy all the time." The teenager chuckled and sat down next to the blue hedgehog. "So, what brings the great Ash Ketchum to the park today?"
"Same thing that brings you here," Ash smiled. "I'm just looking for some chill time."
"No kidding. You done watching the Little Leagues?"
"Har har," the aspiring Pokemon master laughed dryly, pulling the brim of his hat over his eyes jokingly. His yellow Pokemon, Pikachu, lifted it back up. "I guess every day's like this for you, huh?"
"You mean either stopping Eggman or running from Amy? Heh! I rarely get a day off."
"I guess Pikachu and I are a little luckier," Ash sighed. "Team Rocket doesn't bother us every day – at least once a week, sure – and we don't have to run from some crazy-obsessed love interest."
"Pika!" Pikachu looked at Ash with a puzzled look.
"Well, don't push your luck; it's bound to run out." Sonic stood up. "I think I'll go running through town."
"You do that," Ash nodded. "We'll be right here if you're looking for us."
"Heh! Don't worry. I'll be back in two minutes!" With that, he was gone.
Ash leaned his head against the tree, his smile turning neutral. "I didn't have to push my luck for it to run out," he sighed. "It just ran out on its own."
"Pika," Pikachu sighed somberly.
Sonic made sure he didn't run through town too fast; he'd gotten frequent complaints about him accidentally throwing things off balance, making people trip, and other stuff. He contented himself with the speed of a car, even though it was painfully boring for him.
"Well, you can't have it all," he sighed.
Suddenly, he tripped and rolled over, tangled up in something. "Whathe –?! What's going on here?!"
"Hah! Didn't expect to get away with that so easily, did you, ya little thief?" A boy and girl fell seemingly out of the sky: they wore black shirts with a big, red "R" plastered onto them.
Sonic knew immediately what that meant: "Team Rocket!"
"That's right, you little scum! Brick! Help me out!"
"It's BUTCH, ya moron!"
"Whatever! Work with me, here. The boss wants this one nice and ripe for questioning," Cassidy had an evil sneer in her eye when she said this. When the boss wanted to see someone for "questioning," it usually wasn't a good thing.
Sonic was confused. Questioning? he thought. I've been wanted for other things before, but not questioning. I think I'll let this play out. If it gets out of hand, I'll ditch.
Ash's eyes opened sharply. He looked around, confused. The sky's blue had turned into a mix of blue and orange, and the shadows on the ground were longer. He sat up. "Did I fall asleep?" he wondered aloud. "I must've. It's probably been a couple of hours. No sign of Sonic. Maybe he came back, saw me sleeping, and then ditched." He couldn't help but smirk. "Typical."
Then he heard a humming sound overhead. He looked up: a large, black helicopter with a red "R" plastered onto it was soaring over Celadon City. He stood up, a frown lining his face. "Team Rocket," he growled. Pikachu, who had been sleeping through all this, instinctively woke up and jumped onto his best friend's shoulder, his face mirroring his. "What are they up to this time?"
"Pika pikachu!" Pikachu nodded. They started for the city, keeping an eye on the helicopter. As they ran, they noticed a familiar blue shape fall from there, a large piece of metal in his hand.
Ash gasped. "Sonic?"
Saffron City was going crazy. The police were surrounding the Silph Company building which held a prized possession that was in there for safekeeping. Unfortunately, someone had broken in and stolen it, causing panic all over town.
Why so much panic? Simple: the stolen item was a Chaos Emerald. And the thief? Sonic the Hedgehog.
At least, that's what everyone thought. In reality, while the thief's figure was nearly identical to the blue blur's, his particular traits could easily distinguish himself from Sonic anyday: black and red fur, white hair on his chest, gold bands on his wrists and ankles, white and red hover shoes, cold red eyes, and a perpetual frown on his face made it clear that this was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog.
But because people are stupid, they all thought it was Sonic.
"Is this supposed to intimidate me?" the black hedgehog sneered to himself as he looked down from the top of the building.
"Stop whatever it is you're doing and bring back the emerald!" an Officer Jenny from below snapped into her Megaphone.
Shadow just chuckled. "How pathetic. They can't do anything but sit there and wait for the end to come." He closed his eyes for a moment, as though reminiscing, and then opened them again.
"Yes," he nodded. "I will do it. For all the people on this planet...I promise you…"
"REVENGE!"
With that, he leapt down and made his move.
