Review Response!

Whywhywhywhy: Will do ;)

The black blur: Lol. Thank you for your continued support!

The black blur: You really like to comment don'tcha? XD Hmmm... I might put Shadow in here... Idk...

The Speedy Blue Pokémon!

Chapter 9

By: Soniclover28

(Sonic's P.O.V.)

"W-we were just talking!" Amy stuttered, blushing madly.

"Uh, huh…" Tails replied, crossing his arms.

"We were!" Amy exclaimed.

I heard a rustle in the bushes behind us, and I turned as my ears pricked. I saw movement this time and I said, "Who dere?"

'Ugh, my speech is still wonky…'

I yelped when I suddenly saw a net fire out of the bush, and since I was still a little slow from earlier, the ropes fell over me. I tried shaking it off, but an electric shock suddenly pulsed through me, forcing me back down. I howled in pain, but it didn't cease the least bit.

"Sonic!" I heard the voices of Tails and Amy, and I cracked an eye open to look at them. The net tightened around me, making the shock more intense.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, dat's right!"

"Let him go, Team Rocket!" Tails demanded.

"Nah, I think we'll keep him!" Jessie giggled. I sighed in relief when the electricity ceased, but I found myself unable to move. I felt my muscles jerk painfully, and I suddenly felt my body being lifted. I realized the net I was in was being hauled into the air; it was attached to a rope that was tied to the bottom of Team Rocket's hot air balloon.

"T-tayes…" I saw the fox standing with his fists clenched as he glared at the balloon. He suddenly flew up in the air and grabbed Amy's hand, the other was occupied with her hammer. Tails sped towards the balloon with Amy in grasp. I watched as they zipped past me and met the basket of the balloon with a crash.

"You rat!" Jessie screamed, "Arbok, take care of them!"

"I choose you, Weezing!" James shouted. I then heard the Pokémon hiss at Amy and Tails.

"Arbok, use poison sting!"

"Weezing, use sludge bomb!"

"Ha! Missed me!" I heard Tails taunt.

I saw him swing Amy downwards; making her land on the net, and she began untying it. "Don't worry, Sonic, you'll be outta there in no time," She told me.

"Oh, no you don't!" I looked up to see Meowth with his claws unsheathed, leaning over the edge of the basket. He suddenly brought out a gun of some sort, and fired it at her.

"Amah!" I yelled. The gun fired a dart of some kind, and it whizzed past her ear.

"Hah! Missed me!" Amy laughed.

"It wasn't meant for you," Meowth chuckled darkly. Amy then looked behind her in alarm and saw that the dart had actually lodged in my shoulder.

My vision started to grow hazy, and everything started to twist and spin rapidly. My stomach started to grow queasy and the sound around me was blaring in my ears. "Ack!" I gasped as pain seared through my head. Everything started to fade to black, then red, then black again.

( Amy's P.O.V. )

My fur prickled in unease as I watched Sonic shift and twitch painfully. I untied the last of the knot, jumping downwards to catch Sonic. Once he was in my arms I felt how cold he felt. His skin was pale and his breathing rapid yet shallow. I ran into the deeper woods for cover, holding Sonic closer to me. I glanced down at him as I was running, and saw that his eyes were glazed and hollow. It unnerved me…

I ran as hard and fast as I could back to the Pokémon Center, stumbling over roots and rocks as I did so. When I arrived at the hospital, I called Nurse Joy and watched her burst into the room with Chansey. Gasping, the pink haired nurse quickly took Sonic from my arms and rushed into a different room, shutting the door before I could enter behind her. Just moments afterwards, Ash and the others came through the doors, and for some reason Brock had gone completely gaga over Nurse Joy before Misty had to drag him off by the ear. They'd been gone shopping in town for more supplies, while Cosmo, Knuckles and Rouge had been looking for rare healing herbs.

"Amy…?" Misty asked, "What's wrong?"

I started to get teary eyed as I overheard Nurse Joy yell, "Clear!"

Ash immediately looked alarmed and went down the hall to look into the room Sonic was being treated in. A large glass window allowed view of the room, and once he and Pikachu saw Sonic desperately trying to be revived, Ash turned away and clenched his fists.

"Pika…"

"Who did this…?" He asked, not looking up.

I lowered my ears and told him, "Team Rocket…" When Ash lifted his eyes, I saw a bright fire of determination burning in them.

"C'mon, Pikachu…" He muttered, walking out the door.

Later that night, we were all silent at the dinner table. Sonic still hadn't woken up, and Tails had come back saying that the dart was only something to sedate Sonic so that he'd be easier to catch. That gave us all reassurance, of course, but then why had Nurse Joy have to try and revive him? Well, the pink haired woman said that the tranquillizer was way too strong for him, and it had almost stopped his heart. Once it was out of his system, though, he would be fine.

The next day had been quite uneventful, except that Sonic had twitched his ear in his sleep; the first sign that the tranquillizer was weakening. Other than that, Ash had finally been curious enough to ask why Nurse Joy wasn't overwhelmed by the fact that Sonic and the rest of us were from an entirely different world.

"You wouldn't believe the things that go on in this Pokémon Center!" She had replied cheerfully. Ash seemed to just chuckle at the answer in understanding.

Right now I was sitting outside against the backdoor of the Pokémon Center, daydreaming. "Hey, Amy…?" I looked up upon hearing my name, and saw Tails walking up to me.

"Yeah, Tails?" I replied, scooting over so that he could sit beside me.

"I was wondering, and I realized that we still haven't found Vanilla, Cream or Cheese yet… I'm getting worried," Tails told me sadly, sitting down.

"I'm sure we'll find them soon!" I smiled, "Plus, Cream and Cheese know how to take care of each other, and never doubt the luck of a rabbit's foot."

"I guess you're right," He smiled, "But I still miss them."

"We all do, Tails…" I sighed, "We all do…"

"Alright everyone, you have to be extremely quiet; he might be a bit confused when he wakes up," Nurse Joy whispered, turning the door knob, "His brainwaves are picking up, so he should rouse any second now."

We all nodded in understanding and followed her inside. After about five minutes, I had to hold myself back from squealing in joy when Sonic's nose twitched. His ears swiveled this way and that for any signs of danger, and his hand rose to meet his encrusted eyes.

"Mmh…" He grunted softly as he opened his eyes to the light of the room, and I was relieved to see his lively emerald eyes finally reveal themselves after so long.

"Sonic…?" Nurse Joy spoke as soft as she could to him. The groggy hedgehog looked up at her as she walked to the side of his bed, and he started to blink the last bits of sleep out of his eyes.

"Son?" He yawned, "Sonic, -ic Son…" I caught the sound of Pikachu, Tails and Chansey giggling, and wondered if Sonic had said something silly.

"What'd he say, Tails?" I asked quietly.

Tails just shook his head and replied, "Nonsense; complete nonsense." I caught the first real smile on him in days.

"Pika?" Sonic's head turned to us, and his eyes immediately lit up.

(Pikachu's P.O.V.)

"Sonic?" Sonic's head turned to us, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"Hey! Long time no see!" Sonic greeted, slowly trying to sit up. Excited, I jumped off of Ash's shoulder and sprung onto the bed Sonic was occupying. I playfully hugged him, and he hugged me back, laughing.

"Sonic, y-you're speech…!" We both turned our head to see Tails looking wide eyed.

"What do you mea-" Sonic slapped a hand over his mouth, looking surprised himself. "I-I can talk normal again! Yes!" He exclaimed in triumph. I giggled and backed off of him to give him some space.

"You… You can understand him…!" Nurse Joy was looking at Tails now.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you…" Tails replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Can you understand other Pokémon as well?" The pink haired nurse questioned.

"I'm sorry, no… Only Sonic for some reason," Tails explained.

"That's amazing! A bond so strong that not even language could weaken it!" Nurse Joy exclaimed. Sonic then smiled and looked at Tails fondly.

"You got that right," The fox agreed.

"Sonic…?" We all turned our head to see Amy trying desperately to hold back tears.

"Amy…? Amy what's wrong?" Sonic asked worriedly.

The pink hedgehog suddenly burst in tears and exclaimed, "I-I'm sorry this happened! It was all my fault! If only I would've gotten you out of that net quicker!"

"Amy…" Sonic sighed, lowering his ears. He abruptly made a move to get up, and started taking the wires and tubes out of him. "No, Sonic; let me do that or you'll hurt yourself," Nurse Joy quickly finished the task with haste, and Sonic jumped off of the bed somewhat clumsily. I hopped down to support his still sleepy body, and together we walked over to the sobbing hedgehog. Sonic stopped leaning on me and nudged Amy's leg with his muzzle.

Amy removed her face from her hands and knelt down to Sonic's level. The blue hedgehog smiled softly, reached a hand up, wiped away her tears, and wrapped her in a reassuring hug. "Thank you for forgiving me, Sonic… It means the world to me coming from you…" Amy finally sniffed and smiled.

We all glared at Ash as we suddenly heard a loud growling noise.

"Sorry… I guess all this drama is making me hungry…" He explained sheepishly. Sonic laughed and pulled out of Amy's hug as his stomach growled as well.

"Man, how long have I been out, exactly?" Sonic asked me.

"About three days… Your friends were really sad about it, too…" I replied.

"They're the best friends anyone could ever hope for," Sonic smiled.

"Hey, Sonic…" Knuckles suddenly spoke up. Sonic looked up and cocked his head in acknowledgement. "Where are your clothes…?" Said hedgehog's eyes widened as he studied his hands and feet.

"Gah!" Sonic suddenly started blushing furiously and looked at Nurse Joy when he heard a nervous chuckle.

"I guess I forgot to mention; Sonic's accessories are far too big for him, his foot is only about half the size of the actual shoe. They were rubbing his hands and feet raw, so I took them off of him," she explained. Sonic's ears drooped at the new information, but he just shook his head and shrugged it off.

The dinner table was no longer quiet with Sonic around. He was literally the 'life of the party.' He kept making everyone laugh and stay smiling for as long as he could. Ash laughed so hard he almost choked on his chocolate cake. Sonic eventually stopped joking around to eat his own meal, and I couldn't help but notice that his movements were a bit lazy and sluggish. When I was sure no one was listening, I went over and asked, "Hey, are you feeling okay?"

"Hm…? Oh, yeah, I'm fine... Just a little tired…" He replied, popping another piece of Pokémon Food in his mouth. Nurse Joy wouldn't let him eat what Ash and the others were eating for health reasons, so he ate the same stuff me and the other Pokémon usually eat.

Looking closer, I realized that he was actually trying really hard to stay awake, and I started to get a bit concerned. "Hey, I can take you back to your room if you want to rest," I offered. Sonic yawned and looked back over at me, pushing his bowl of food away.

"Sounds like a plan…" He said. He got up on all fours and we both made our way out of the dining room and into Sonic's room. He hopped onto the bed and got under the covers instantly. I sprung onto a little table near the entrance and switched the lights off, then jumped onto the bed with him.

"Comfy?" I asked. Sonic nodded half-heartedly, already slipping into a doze. He curled up on his side while facing the wall, and I couldn't help but giggle. I sat still until I heard soft snoring, and I went out of the room as quiet as I could.

I searched around for Nurse Joy and spotted her carrying a few boxes down the hallway and got her attention. "What is it, Pikachu?" She asked. I pointed towards Sonic's room and she immediately put the boxes down and jogged to said hedgehog's room. "Oh, you're worried because he got tired so fast, aren't you?" Nurse Joy asked, observing the sleeping heap of blue fur. I nodded looking up at her.

"It's quite alright. The tranquillizer is still trying to exit his body completely, so he will get tired easier and sleep longer for a while; a week at the most. The longest he should stay active, tired or not, is only about five to eight hours a day. He was just sleepy now because it was his first time waking up for a while," Nurse Joy explained. I cocked my head at her on that last part.

"Think of it as waking up from an unfinished nap. You still feel drowsy afterwards for the rest of the day until you fall asleep again," Nurse Joy told me. I nodded in understanding and smiled as Sonic twitched his ear in his sleep. "You should go join the others before we wake him up again, dear. And thank you for coming to get me when you got concerned, that was very nice of you," The pink haired girl told me. I smiled at the praise before bounding of to the dining room again.

"Hey, there you are, Pikachu," Ash greeted, "Where's Sonic?"

"He's back in his room," I replied, jerking my head backwards to get my point across.

"In his room?" Ash asked. I nodded to him. Yes, sometimes having to repeat myself got annoying, but I've gotten used to it for the most part.

"Hey, Ash, are you going to help with clean up, or what?" Misty suddenly snapped at him, carrying a few plates back to the kitchen.

"Oh, yeah, I'm coming!" Ash exclaimed, going back to the dinner table.

"Pikachu! Use iron tail!" Ash yelled. I summoned energy to my lightning bolt-like tail and jumped up into the air. I flipped once, but missed as Staru dodged.

"Staru, use swift!" Misty shouted.

"Counter it with bolt-tackle!"

The starfish-like pokémon's red jewel suddenly lit up as its whole body started spinning. It shot little stars at me, but I ran straight towards it, enveloping my own body in an electric current. I rammed straight into the stars, feeling only tiny blows as the field of electricity protected me. I grunted multiple times as I bounded harder and harder towards the pokémon. I collided with it head on and sent Staru flying.

Staru hopped right back up and I jumped back when Misty smirked and shouted, "Use rapid spin!" Before I could blink, Staru started spinning horizontally and slammed straight into me with great force. Panting, I stood back up and waited for another command.

"Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled confidently. I gathered as much electricity as I could in my cheeks and hurled it at Staru as hard as I could. The water-type pokémon didn't stand a chance. It collapsed after it was electrocuted, and its red jewel started blinking in defeat.

"And the winner is Pikachu!" Brock announced, stretching his arm out towards Ash.

"Yes! Great job, buddy!" Ash told me as I sprung into his arms.

"You did great, too!" I replied cheerfully.

"Return, Staru, you deserve a good rest…" Misty muttered, pulling out a pokéball that sucked Staru in.

"Good job, Ash," Misty replied optimistically, "But next time you won't get so lucky!"

"Same to you!" Ash laughed.

"Ash! That was awesome! And Misty, your Staru is amazing! You too, Pikachu!" Amy exclaimed, running up to us.

Knuckles, Sonic and Tails came over a bit slower, and both of them were smiling. "You were great!" Sonic told me.

"Thank you," I replied. Sonic's eyes suddenly lit up, and he bounded to the other side of the field, taking a good fighting stance.

"I wanna try, now!" He challenged.

"Sonic, you can't battle right now, you're still a little weak," Tails told him.

Sonic rolled his eyes and replied, "I feel fine! Now, let's do this!"

"Hey, Tails, if we battle, why don't you be Sonic's trainer this time? You two would make a great team!" Ash suggested.

"I-I dunno… I mean-"

"Oh, oh! I'll do it! I'll do it!" Amy exclaimed, "Brock and Misty are already teaching me a few things about battling; I'm sure one time wouldn't hurt!"

"How about it, Sonic? Are you ready?" Ash asked. Sonic nodded excitedly and Amy ran to the other side of the battle field.

"Shouldn't we ask Nurse Joy-?!"

"I said, I feel fine!" Sonic interrupted, "Now let's do this!"

"Okay, this battle is between Amy and Ash! The first pokémon that is unable to battle loses, and the last one standing will be the winner! Begin!" Brock shouted.

"Okay, Charmander, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed, throwing a pokéball onto the field. I watched as the salamander-like pokémon came out.

"Are you ready, Sonic?" Amy asked excitedly.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" He replied.

"Okay, Charmander, use tackle!" Ash shouted.

(Sonic's P.O.V.)

Just as Charmander was about to ram into me, I dodged to the side and listened for Amy's command. "Use-! Um… What are your moves again…?" Amy asked, rubbing the back of her head. I did a face palm and decided to choose my own move this time. Planting my feet on the ground, I took a deep breath, held it for a second, and pressed as hard as I could to emit an earsplitting shriek. Charmander was sent flying as the sound waves hit him head-on.

"Charmander, are you alright?!" Ash shouted. The pokémon replied by getting up and straightening his figure. "Great! Now, use scratch!"

Charmander's claws grew a couple of centimeters, and he ran at me as fast as he could. I dodged easily.

"Sonic, use…um… That spinny thingy!" Amy commanded unsurely. Rolling my eyes, but smiling, I ran around the battle-field once and curled into my infamous ball of quills just as I slammed into Charmander.

"Nice hit!" I heard Tails call.

I uncurled and smiled, feeling slightly less energetic, but nonetheless pumped up.

"Charmander, use flamethrower!"

The salamander-like pokémon puffed out his chest, took a deep breath, and unleashed a fury of flames straight at me. It scorched my fur and a bit of skin just as I dodged, yelping in surprise.

"Sonic!" Amy exclaimed. I turned and gave her a determined smirk, and she immediately calmed herself. "Use-! Oh, what's it called…? Oh! Use double team!"

I chuckled and performed the move without much difficulty, and kept moving so that the images would last longer. Charmander looked around frantically, obviously put off by the move.

"Now, use hyper voice!"

I took a deep breath and let loose another ear-splitting scream, which knocked the weakened pokémon clear off of his feet and into a nearby tree. He slumped down, exhausted, and fainted right there in his spot under the tree.

"Charmander is unable to battle! Sonic is the winner!" Brock announced, stretching his arm toward Amy.

"Yes! Great job, Sonic!" Amy exclaimed, running on the field and giving me a bear hug.

"You… did good… too…!" I laughed breathlessly. She set me down, smiling, as Tails and the others walked up to us.

"Awesome job, Sonic," Tails praised, "That was pretty cool."

"Nice job, 'hog," Knuckles smirked.

"Couldn't 'a done it without Amy," I smiled. I yawned, as I felt my adrenaline dying down, and I sat on the ground.

"Ahem…" We all froze as we heard someone clear their throat behind us, and I lowered my ears. I slowly looked behind my shoulder to see Nurse Joy with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot. I laughed nervously as she sent me a glare.

"Sonic, I told you not to be wasting your energy. It's not even lunch yet and you'll have to go to sleep for the day soon!" She scolded.

"I told you, Sonic," Tails smiled matter-of-factly, "I told you we should've asked Nurse Joy first."

"Whatever," I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"C'mon, Sonic," Nurse Joy said, "I'm taking you back to the room."

"Aw…" I sighed, following her as she led me to the Pokécenter.

(Tails' P.O.V.)

"So, tomorrow we'll be heading out again?" Ash asked.

"Yes. As soon as Sonic wakes up you can leave. Just make sure he doesn't do anything too exhilarating for a while, or your trip will take a very long time," Nurse Joy explained.

"Right," I nodded.

"Oh, and make sure he eats plenty of chesto berries a day."

"'Chesto berries'…?" Amy echoed.

"Chesto berries bring pokémon out of sleep and give them a bit of energy to run on," Nurse Joy explained.

"We have plenty of those; we got some at the market no too far from here," Brock chirped.

"That's good," Nurse Joy smiled.

"Oh, Nurse Joy; what a beautiful smile you have!" Brock's eyes suddenly lit up and he surprised everyone by kneeling down and taking the girl's hand. "Words cannot explain the joy that fills my he-arrrrrt!" Brock yelled in pain when Misty came up and yanked Brock out of the room by his ear.

"Uh…" Nurse Joy blinked, dumbfounded.

"Is…he alright…?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, it happens," Ash shrugged casually.

"Pika-pika…" Pikachu seemed to shrug as well.

"Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy, please help me!" We all snapped our heads around to see a teenage girl burst in with some type of pokémon in her arms.

The girl looked beat up and dirty, and was panting heavily.

"Oh, my! What happened?" Nurse Joy exclaimed, running up to the girl—whom looked to be about sixteen.

"Th-this man-! He-he was big! Th-they attacked us-! So many-…! And-…and-…!" The girl suddenly collapsed into the pink haired nurse.

"Chansey!" Nurse Joy called, trying to support the girl and pokémon at the same time.

"Chan-Chansey! Chansey!" The pink pokémon burst into view with a gurney and waddled faster than thought possible over to the nurse. She took the pokémon from the nurse and placed it on the gurney. She wheeled it back into the spare room by Sonic's, and was caught out of view.

"Ash, help me take her to the spare bedrooms in the back," Nurse Joy ordered. Ash did so and we all stepped out of the way to let them pass.

"What happened to you out there?" Ash asked softly.

"We were attacked… All my pokémon… They're gone…" The girl sobbed quietly. She had beautiful, deep red hair that fell to her back in a ponytail, and bright green eyes. She wore a black baseball cap backwards, and black tank top with ripped jeans. She wore no shoes but seemed to take great care of the high-tech wristwatch she wore.

"What's your name…?" Nurse Joy asked.

"My name is Ruby…" She muttered, wiping her tears.

"Very well, Ruby," Nurse Joy nodded and picked up her phone, "I'm calling Officer Jenny. Can you give me a description on your missing pokémon? First things first."

"I have four pokémon in all; one is the Houndour Chansey took. The three that are missing are a Riolu, a Kirlia, a-and my Shinx… He's only a baby…" She whispered, as she seemed to stare off into space.

"We'll get them back, I promise," Nurse Joy assured her softly, dialing a number on her phone. "Plus," she added cheerfully, "Those pokémon aren't usually found around here. Where are you from?"

"Johto…"

"Ah… Oh, yes! Officer Jenny, I have something to report…" Her voice trailed off as she walked away.

There was an awkward silence as she left.

"Do you think she's noticed us yet…?" Amy whispered to me.

Just as she said that, Ruby's head whipped around to see us. Her green eyes widened and her hands were slapped over her mouth.

"You-! You're-…!"

"Please don't freak out!" Ash exclaimed.

"Mobians!"

"Please understand, we-! Wait… wh-what did you say…?" I stuttered, replaying her sentence in my head.

"Tails…? Is that you…?" Ruby asked, her mouth hung open.

"H-how do you know my name…?" I asked, startled.

"You don't remember me…? I'm the girl that you and Sonic saved way back when! I was…um… thirteen, I think… Hey where is-"

"What?! Girl, I've never even met you! What are you talking about?" Amy snapped.

"And I've never met you, hedgehog. You see, my father used to be a scientist, and one day he was testing out chaos control back on Mobius, and-"

"There are humans on Mobius?" Ash interrupted.

"Well, no, but that has nothing to do with the story. Anyways, my dad was testing out chaos control, and he'd taken me to his laboratory in Mobotropolis for my birthday, and-"

"Wait, wait, wait… Are you saying… You're not human…?" Tails asked carefully.

"No, I'm a mobian! Well, was one… Anyways, something went wrong and the machine my dad was using exploded and the building was caught on fire. That's when a huge part of the ceiling fell on me, but Sonic lifted it up… He was so… So brave… So strong… Then, Tails, you grabbed me and pulled me out from under it and Sonic carried me outta there in his arms… I'll always remember that day…" Ruby was staring blankly at the walls again, and Ash had nudged her and asked if she was okay.

"Hm…? Oh, yes, sorry! After that I went back into the building and-"

"Why…?" Knuckles interrupted.

"Why what?"

"Why did you go back in?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I was looking for my dad. He didn't get out, so I went in and looked for him. I found him, but when I moved him… h-he…" Ruby stopped and cleared her throat, "He… had… He had already passed… I-I had backed up really fast in shock, and I fell into this capsule thingy… There was a bright flash… and then I woke up in the middle of the forest in Johto… That's where Houndour found me, and we've been together ever since…" Ruby finished.

The room was silent.

"Wow…" Tails breathed, "Who was your dad…?"

"I… I can't remember… I've been having memory lapses lately… and yesterday I found that I couldn't remember the name of my mom either… Or my sister's… I-I think I had a sister…" Ruby looked up at me with sorrow and grief in her eyes.

"Do you remember the type of mobian you were…?" Cosmo suddenly asked softly.

The girl froze. "N-no… No! I just thought about it yesterday! What was it?!" Ruby cried, burying her face in her hands. Her head suddenly shot up, and she asked, "Where's Houndour?!"

"Calm down, dear." We all turned to see Nurse Joy again. "Right this way," she smiled. Ruby stumbled out of the bed and followed her. We all did. The girl gasped as she saw her pokémon through the glass window.

The pokémon looked dog-like with a red muzzle, a black body, and a skeletal plate sitting on its forehead and back.

"Houndour will be perfectly fine; all he needs is a good rest and a good meal," Nurse Joy explained.

"Thank you so much…" Ruby sighed in relief.

"Don't think anything of it," Nurse Joy smiled. Ruby nodded.

"Oh, one other thing… May… May I ask where Sonic is? Is he here with you or back on Mobius...?" Ruby turned to me.

"He… He's here… But…" I started.

"Well, show him to me!" Ruby smiled brightly.

"He's… different…" I finished.

"So am I! Now I must see him!" She squealed, adjusting her black cap.

"Alright…" I sighed. I led her to Sonic's room while the rest of the group got ready for dinner. I turned the door knob to his room and led her inside. I motioned her to be quiet and I turned on a dim lamp beside his bed.

"What happened to him?" Ruby whispered.

I shook my head and told her, "As long as you've been gone; you wouldn't understand."

"Oh… M-may I stay with him…? It's quiet in here, and I need some time to think…" Ruby looked at me with such an innocent and childish manner, that I could only nod and walk back out of the room, shutting the door behind me.

(Third Person P.O.V.)

A malevolent grin appeared on Ruby's face as she gazed upon the completely defenseless hedgehog sleeping in the bed. She chuckled darkly and flipped open her wristwatch.

"Master…? Do you copy?" Ruby spoke quietly.

"Loud and clear."

"I have the location of the hedgehog. I will implant the tracking device on him now. Make sure Jessie and James get notified."

"I'm the one giving orders around here!"

"And I'm the one doing the work," Ruby rolled her eyes, "The police are on a wild goose chase for 'my pokémon,' so they'll be busy with that as well."

"Well done. Stay with the group as long as you can but don't blow your cover. Did they buy the back story?"

"Every word."

"Excellent. Keep up the good work."

"Yes, Dr. Eggman."

The communicator shut off, and Ruby walked out of the room.

Sorry if the next chap takes 500,000 years :( This chapter has been almost done for a while and the one before was just overlooked when I was uploading them all at once ^^; Forgiveness! I ask for forgiveness!...

and maybe reviews...