Episode 11

"Distracted at the Wrong Time"

After Sonic got back, there appears to be something in his mind that he just couldn't get out of his head. While practicing for the major game between Emerald High and a rival school, he would frequently have his mind wander to somewhere else and would get himself hurt in the process.

With him being the sport team's greatest asset, they cannot afford him doing this to himself. The team must keep himself focused so that he can lead his sports team to victory. And with the news that several players will be unable to play due to injuries, Sonic becomes the very player that will determine the outcome of the upcoming match.

[Beginning of Episode]

So Sonic is thinking really deeply about this girl that he met the other day. Her hair was beautiful, her attitude is similar to his, and they generally have the same hobbies. He remembers her greatly. He simply cannot forget this girl-

"Hey Sonic!" he heard Manic yell out. "Watch out!"

"Huh?" Sonic said as he is snapped back into the real world. He is then hit in the head by a ball that's kicked toward him.

Oh, and he totally forgot that he's practicing a kickball game for his school's sports team.

"Ow..." Sonic said as he rubbed his head. A bruise spot appeared where the ball smacked him.

Manic and Knuckles ran up to the injured Sonic. "Are you okay?" Manic asked.

"Seriously Sonic," Knuckles said. "You are the best athlete the school has to offer! You are so skill at sports that even top level professional players feel a bit challenged. What's up with you? Why didn't you saw that ball coming?"

Sonic got up to his feet, still holding on to his bruise. "Look, guys," he said. "I didn't mean to. I was so distracted about...future games that I lost track about my currently location. By the way, where am I again? I lost track for a moment."

"We in the Emerald High sports field, Sonic," Knuckles answered. "Get it together man. Sports is part awareness, remember? Your coach told you so."

"Sorry," Sonic apologizes. "I was so caught up in my own thoughts for so long that I forgot that I was still in the school. Stupid brain size." Sonic knocks on his head. "Why do you have to grow along with my athletic skills?"

"By the way," Manic began to ask. "What are you thinking of?"

"Umm..err..." Sonic said before finding himself unable to answer. He just can't spill it out. "I...Like I said. Still thinking about future sports matches between this school and rivaling schools."

Manic and Knuckles glared at Sonic with a suspicious look. "Right..." Knuckles replied.

"Okay then," Manic replied. "I might have to rummage through your stuff just to verify."

This surprises Sonic. He is clearly in a panic. "Oh no..." he mutters.

"Oh no?" Knuckles asks. "What do you mean oh no?"

The sound of someone kicking the ball can be heard in the background. Suddenly, another ball smacked Sonic in the head, knocking him out to the ground.

"Hey! You three!" someone said in the distance. "If you're stop playing, you better get off the field!"

Manic and Knuckles looked at their coach as he approaches them.

"Oh, hey there Coach Alex," Knuckles greeted. "I hope you don't mind having an unconscious Sonic on your field."

"I was getting worried that this might happen if you continue to linger on the field without playing," Coach Alex said. "Say, what's gotten into Sonic lately? He's behaving quite strangely in recent weeks, getting distracted by...something in his mind I presume."

Suddenly, Sonic woke up from being knocked out. He appears to be quite dizzy. "Urg..." he groans out. "What happened? Why is my head spinning?"

Later in the day, the team is hanging out at the local youth center. It's the beginning of a new year, and patches of snow covered the ground. While everyone else is talking to each other, Sonic's a bit distracted.

Amy picks up on what Sonic's doing first. "Hey, Sonic," she asks. "Why aren't you talking to us? You've been awfully silent recently, and your fingers. They seem to be having a mind of their own."

Sonic is snapped back into reality once again. "Oh," he replies. "Oh, I was just...thinking about...someone. It's a girl."

Amy is suddenly heart struck. "Aww, are you thinking about me for once?" she asks. "After denying me the response that I desperately needed after all these years, you've finally admitted that you truly like me?"

Sonic stared at Amy with a bored look. "No," he replied, shocking Amy.

"Wh...what?" Amy asked. "You're not doing this for real?"

"Look, Amy," Sonic tells her. "It's not that I'm thinking about you. I'm just thinking about this...girl that I met a month ago. I have to admit. She's kind of beautiful. Shares my interest for once. She's the kind of person that...wait. Amy, am I bothering you?"

Amy's fist clutch on the table, her anger beginning to boil.

Espio caught wind of Amy's building up of anger. He tries to calm her down. "Amy, don't you dare do that thing," he tells her. "You know how much Sonic does not appreciate you doing that to him. It's the reason why your relationship with him is starting to crumble a little bit."

But Amy did not listen to Espio. She only listened to herself. As her blood boils, she starts to do the horrible thing that Espio warns her not to do to Sonic. And what Sonic fears the most at the moment.

"Wahh!" Amy cried as she and Sonic burst out the youth center. Sonic ran out the front door as Amy chases him down with her hammer.

"Amy! Calm down this instant!" Sonic demanded. "Put down that hammer, would you? You're just getting the wrong idea! I'm not saying that I have a crush on this new girl that I met. I'm saying that I've made a new friend that happens to be a girl!"

"Doesn't matter!" Amy cried back. "You're cheating on me!"

"What do you mean I'm cheating on you?" Sonic shouted. "I'm not your boyfriend, and I'm never will! Gosh, Amy. You're so clingy and obsessive. I wonder why I even allowed you to stay on the team after all those years."

"It's because you're afraid of me getting even angrier, Sonic!" Amy shouted in response.

"Yikes!" Sonic yelped. "Now I remembered!"

The two teens proceeded to be on the run for quite some time, providing an overly long gag to any witness they happen to pass by. Looks like Amy's jealous rage just hit its peak.

Back at Emerald High, Aleena is talking with Alex over her concerns over Sonic's performance over the past couple of days. It could that he's losing a bit of skill from not honing his techniques for days, but its been 21 days since he last practiced. Three weeks after the practice trials and he's starting to have his performance take a dip.

"So you're concerned about the performance of Sonic," Aleena asks. "Is that correct?"

Coach Alex nodded. "Yes," he said. "And its been going on for several weeks. It started around the second week of December, disappeared for two weeks due to the break, and has remerged the week after the new year has begun. Only this time, the problem is much worse. Sonic is the best athlete we have in this school, and we cannot afford to have him behave like this?"

"Like what?" Aleena asks. "Thinking about...uh...someone that he recently met nearly all the time?"

Alex was surprised by this. "He's...he's been what?" he gasped.

Aleena nodded. "Yes, I bet he's thinking about someone that he met recently," she continues. "There's a picture in his bedroom that has him and someone that I have never seen before together. It looks like they are just recently friends."

"Oh, Sonic has made a new friend?" Alex asks. "Okay. Who is it?"

"I believe that it's a girl that he just met," Aleena replied.

"What?" Alex said in surprise, leaning back on his chair. "He's found a new girl that he made a friend?" He sits up straight after he assures himself. "Well, okay. That is to be expected. Boys typically try to find themselves a partner to stick with at this age."

"I believe that the two are just friends," Aleena recalls, surprising Alex once again. "Sonic's usually adverse towards romance. Sure, he might understand it, he just prefers not to try it out. Might have something to do with his age. I believe that from the looks of thing, the girl that he just met is from another place, so it looks like he does not want to commit when someone lives far away from him and just don't see each other very often."

Alex ponders for a moment. "Well, if Sonic is still thinking about some girl from faraway, that might be bad for him as that will hamper his performance," he said. "And since he's our best player, we can't allow that to happen."

Suddenly, one of the other coaches bursts into Aleena's office without warning. He has some bad news to deliver.

"Coach Alex, some of the players on our kickball team has been injured!" the coach reported.

Ales turns his chair over to his fellow colleague. "What did you day miss?" he asks.

"I have terrible news to bring, sir," the coach said. "Some of our students have been attacked by some sort of monster. They can't practice for the next few days, and they certainly might not be able to participate in the upcoming match against Diamond City!"

"What?" Aleena gasps. "There's another monster attack going on? I thought that the threat all but disappeared when they didn't come for the last few weeks."

"How many were attacked, Miss Park?" Alex asks.

Park looks through the news on her device. "It said that six Emerald High students were attacked by a monster," she said. "And all of them are part of the sports team. We just lost a third of the team due to a monster attack."

Aleena stood up. "Oh dear," she said in a worrying tone. "We have much less margin of error when it comes to the upcoming game."

"Aleena, did you remember that your son is the best athlete that this school has to offer?" Alex asked. "Well, now that six teammates will not be able to participate, it seems highly likely that all the pressure will be placed on him. If he cannot do what six students can do together, we may lose this match against a rivaling school."

Aleena gasped in shock of this news. "Oh no, all the pressure is going to be placed on Sonic!" she said. "Now the outcome of the match is going to be decided by him! If he's unable to work up, if he's unable to clear his mind of distractions..." Aleena found herself in silence.

"Aleena, is there something wrong?" Alex asks.

"Sorry," Aleena apologizes. "I'm over thinking this."

Alex let out a sigh. "Well, it is stressful for you, Aleena," he said. "He's your son, and now he's going to decide the outcome of the upcoming match. Tell you what. Tomorrow, why don't you be along side me in getting Sonic into shape?"

The next day, just after gym class begins, Coach Alex gives the latest news in regards to the injured students.

"Alright everyone," he said as the walks in front of his class. "Listen up! You may have heard about this before, but I'll repeat it again. Notice the class that we have right now? Yes, we have a few students absent today due to a monster attack that happened yesterday. All the students that were attacked were a part of our kickball sports team. Six of our students are unable to participate in the next game against Diamond City, due to injuries such as dislodged joints, broken bones, and wounds. The injuries are expected to take weeks or months to heal up. We cannot let in new members until second semester. Which means that all of the pressure will be placed on one of your fellow students."

He then points his finger at Sonic. And everyone in the class turn their gazes toward them.

Sonic was busy playing in his mental world, when he notices that everyone is staring at him. He snaps out of his mind and back into reality. "Wait...me?" he asks, pointing to himself. "You're referring to me of all people?"

Amy looked at Sonic, remembering the incident from yesterday. "We missed the monster, didn't we?"

Sonic and the rest of the team went into the scene of the crime, only to find that they're too late. The monster has escaped and they saw several people laying on the ground with wounds in their skin. Several of the people are a part of the sports team.

"You were too busy chasing me for me to notice that a monster was attacking the city," Sonic complained.

"Only because you met another girl who you like better than me!" Amy yelled back.

"Now, calm down you guys," Alex said. "We don't want to fight now. Sonic out last hope right now. His performance will determine the outcome of the next match. And I need all of you to help him out. We'll do a practice game today, this time everyone is pitted against him."

Suddenly, a rumbling is heard somewhere outside the school. Realizing that another monster is coming to town, three of the students left the class to fight the monster. Except for Sonic, who found himself unable to leave right now.

"Scratch that," Alex said. "Everyone except the rangers will be pitted against him. Now everyone, get out of here before someone pulls the alarm!"

Later, Sonic found himself in a field, with 11 students standing between him and the goal he's aiming for. His only allies are the handful of students in his class who are in the kickball team. His parents and Alex are in the stands, ready to cheer him on. Sonic's in control of the ball now, but it seems that he is distracted by something in his head.

"Let the practice begin!" Alex announces before blowing the whistle.

Sonic snaps back into reality when the whistle blows. He starts the practice match by kicking the ball that's under his feet. Then, he sprints towards it.

As Sonic maneuvers the ball around the other students, he starts to develop thoughts about this girl that he met the other day. He begins to recall the times that they've spent together-

"Focus on the players, guys!" Alex yelled.

Sonic snapped back to the game just as he was about to collide with an opposing player. He skillfully moves out of the way of said student, moving the ball in a different direction. While he's moving the ball, he starts to make calculations on what teammate he should pass the ball to. It seems like he's taking a while to make a decision, when suddenly, Alex's words echoed. "Make quick decisions! You'll never know what happens in a single second!"

Knowing to stop pondering for way longer than expected, he makes his move. "Here!" he said as he passes the ball onto the teammate on his right. The other students did not expect such a move, and the ball continues on its way.

While the match is happening, Sonic's friends are passing by as they continue to fight against what seems to be a wolf the size of an elephant. It looks like they can handle the monster just fine. Sonic jot briefly distracted by his friends fighting.

Silver looks over the railings down into he field. "Don't you worry, Sonic," he said. "We've got this! Just focus on what you're doing!"

Sonic turns his gaze back on the field shortly before he had a near miss with an incoming student.

As the practice match progresses, Sonic found himself less and less distracted by the things in his head. Sure, he likes to think about this girl a lot, but he remembers that he has a picture of the two of them together in his bedroom. He doesn't have to worry about forgetting her. He still has that picture in his possession. At the same time, his parents and the coach cheer him on in the background. He could look towards them, but he decides not to. The game is much more important to him.

The ball takes an erratic path through the field, going from one side to another as it switches possession. Not once in the whole practice run did the ball ever reach the goal.

During the last few minutes of the school period, Sonic is once again in possession of the ball. Except this time, they're testing his scoring abilities. The rest of the students take a seat back for Sonic to make the goal.

"Go for it, Sonic!" Aleena cheers.

"Make us proud, son!" Chuck cheers.

"Don't let your team down, Sonic," Alex shouted. "You're both a leader and a professional."

Sonic makes the last stretch before the goal. As he approaches it, he thinks in his head one final time.

Alright Sonic, he thought to himself. Your skill will determine the outcome of the school's team match against the rivals. Don't disappoint them. This will either make or break the game.

Sonic winds his leg back and gives the ball a hefty kick towards the goal. The ball spins in the air and makes a turn in midair, flying towards the scoring area in the most amazing way players could think off.

The class congratulated Sonic for the effort that he's made today. Early on, he is distracted by the many things that are going on inside his head. But as the round progresses, he's found himself more and more committed to the game, to the point that distractions are no longer bothering him. In fact, he's ignoring them for now.

"That's the Sonic that we know and loved," Chuck shouted. "That's our awesome son!"

Everyone was having a great time, knowing that Sonic is able to lead the team to victory. Suddenly, an explosion kicked off somewhere in the side lot. Everyone turned their attention to the column of smoke that was coming from there.

Out of the smoke, Miles appeared and went up to the rails, along with the rest of the team.

"Hey, Sonic," Miles said. "We've defeated a monster. Again. Hey, how's it going down there?"

Sonic gives a sign of assurance. "Pretty good, my boy," he replied. "They once thought I was unable to lead the team due to me being distracted almost all the time. But now, they know that I can lead the sports team to victory. Even if six of the teammates are unable to participate due to injuries. I'll imagine the faces our rival team will have when they've lost even though they win in the numbers department."

The very next day, Sonic continues to prove his worthiness to his teammates by performing special maneuvers very few people can pull off. He even practiced things such as kicking the ball through the legs of those blocking him into a nearby teammate, allowing the ball to move on to the opponent's goal. Over time, he forgets about things not relevant to kickball as there's always a time for them, just not now.

As an expert on sports, Sonic even teaches his classmates on techniques that experts are able to pull off, training the team into something that resembles a professional league team. They might not be there yet, but at least they can increase their chances of winning the upcoming match with these maneuvers. That team from Diamond City Secondary School aren't going to expect their opponent performing professional maneuvers.

The schoolboard announced that the match against Diamond City will be held next week. Awesome! That's something to look forward too.

Sonic takes a stretch after looking through the school weekly news. "Well, they're going to be surprised to see us pull off some professional moves," he said. "They better adapt to those moves if they ever wanted to have a chance at winning. Otherwise, tough luck. They're going to have to rely on mistakes to score points."

Sonic then decides to open a new tab on his page to look through the news. While searching for an article, something juicy catches his eyes.

"What's that?" he asks. "'Hoverboard prototypes are ready to be released. A tournament will be held to demonstrate the new technology.'" he reads. "Well, the future seems bright. Let's see when the tournament will be held."

He looks through the list of all the tournaments that are being held throughout the world. He only found 6 countries where the hoverboards are being tested. All of them have a major tech company whose headquarters are located in a major city. Columbia included. He reads the location where the tournament will be held.

"Hoverboard tournament finals will be held in Snakewater the following week," Sonic reads. Then something hit him. "Wait a second, have I seen that before?"

Scrambling for answers, Sonic went into the district news and reads the following information. Sonic was...quite shocked to say the least. "The sports match between Emerald High and Diamond Secondary School will be held in Snakewater-" he reads before seeing the exact same date as before. "Next week?" he shrieks. "And it's on the same day as well! Is...is the city willing to have two competitions being held at the exact same time? Or is it back to back events?" His face and palms are really sweating.

Well, this is the absolutely worst timing. Not only is Sonic playing a sports match against a rival school, on the exact same day, the hoverboard tournament finals will be held in the exact same city. Did the city of Snakewater really have the infrastructure to support such an event? He's never been to the city before so who knows.

Something important is going to happen there, Sonic feels. And it might not be the match against his own school and his rival school that's going to happen there.

[End of Episode]

From the Author:

Well, Sonic's just feeling unlucky. After going through his problem of being distracted by his thoughts, now he's playing a sports match against a rival school at the same day and location as when the hoverboard tournaments are being held. Is somebody manipulating the schedule behind the scenes?

I don't know. I might be setting up things for the future. After all, what are the odds of that happening? Close to zero, unless somebody wanted to manipulate the events into their own favor.

I might have set off a chain of events that would lead to a meet up and an important event that Emerald High is involved in.

Written by TheAPPStore

Sonic the Hedgehog characters property of Sega

Series inspired by Super Sentai by Toei Company