Little Chao Lost
Summer Vacation! Chao Observation Diary
Tanaka was praying to a statue for Chris and his friends to have a safe trip.
Nearby, Chris, Danny, Frances, Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cheese were waiting for the bus.
"What city?" Danny asked.
"It says it's a town located deep in the mountains. ... I guess we'll have to transfer here. It should take another hour." Chris said.
"What? How far do we have to go?" Amy said annoyed.
"It's not that far, Amy. Why not just think of this as part of the adventure?" Danny said.
"Camping is not my idea of an adventure."
Frances turned around and started massaging Amy.
"Oh, we're going to have lots of fun, I promise!" she said.
"All right, if you say so."
"I do!"
"The girls giggled.
"Hey Chris, so, you know a good place to set up camp when we get there?" Tails asked.
"I hear there's a great place near a river morth of here. It's nice and peaceful, and it's good for fishing too." Chris said.
"Hey, that sounds like a perfect spot! And maybe you and I can go for a swim, Cheese. Sound fun?" Cream said.
"Chao!" Cheese said.
Nearby, Mr. Stewart was studying the bus routes and timings.
"Uh... Bus service to Hot Springs Village..." he said then activated his communicator watch. "This is Stewart Do you read me? ... Listen carefully. The bus to Hot Springs Village leaves every hour on the hour from bus stop number three. Have you got that?"
Soon, he waved a yellow flag for his group.
"All right, students, line up! The bus'll be here any minute now." he said and blew a whistle.
"Mr. Stewart sure is excited." Danny said.
"I'll say." Chris said.
"Hey Frances, how come Mr. Stewart's coming? Wouldn't this trip be a lot more fun if it was just us kids?" Tails asked.
"Dunno. Maybe he wants to have some fun too." Frances said.
"All I can say is this this whole camping thing better be fun, or they're gonna hear it from me." Amy said.
"Where's Shadow, anyway?" Chris asked.
"Shadow's not much for camping. He says he's gonna explore the city. He's on his way there now." Tails said.
Meanwhile, Shadow was running alongside a train before breaking away from it.
Soon, the bus was on the move. Shadow's friends were enjoying the scenery.
"Look at that." Cream said.
"Chao chao!" Cheese said.
After a while more of riding, the bus arrived at Tanaka's hometown.
"Mr. Tanaka, we're here." Chris said and they disembarked from the bus.
"I trust you had a safe trip." Tanaka said.
"Your homeland is really beautiful, Mr. Tanaka."
"Thank you, Master Chris. I hope you and your friends will enjoy your stay here. It certainly was a wonderful place for a boy to grow up."
"I can see why." Chris said as the bus drove away.
"Where do we go from here, Mr. Tanaka?" Amy asked.
"Well, just follow me and I will take you." Tanaka said.
"Now hold on just a minute there, sir!" Mr. Steward said and pulled out his flag. "Just let me get out my flag here... I will be your official guide!" he said waving his flag and lead everyone onward. "Step lively, kids!"
"Look at the mountains!" Cream said.
"And all the nature around us." Amy said.
"Nothing but blue skies, trees, grass - sure is pretty, huh, Cream?" Chris said.
"It's the most beautiful place we've ever seen, isn't it, Cheese?" Cream said.
"Chao chao!" Cheese said.
Elsewhere Shadow leapt over a pagoda, and ran past a gate, but stopped and returned to the gate.
Later the tents having been set up, Tanaka, Mr. Stewart and Amy were busy cooking a meal. Amy held up what appears to be chopped onions.
"What's this smelly thing?" Amy asked.
"An onion. Mr. Tanaka is fixing us some lunch." Mr. Steward said. "You do that just like a real chef, Mr. Tanaka."
"It takes great concentration." Tanaka said.
Then Amy showed up with a bowl.
"Would you like to help me mix the dressing for the salad, Mr. Stewart?" she asked.
"Uh, well..." he said and took the bowl from her. "Sure, why not?" he said. "This camping trip won't be so bad after all. I have to keep an eye on Chris, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun." he said to himself.
Amy brought another bowl to Tanaka.
"Here's a bowl to put the vegetables in, Mr. Tanaka." she said.
"Perfect." Tanaka said.
"I think I'm beginning to like this..." Mr. Steward said to himself.
In the forest Danny and Chris were hunting for bugs. Danny attempted to catch a bug with a net, but it flew away.
"Got it! ... Aww..." Danny said.
"You just missed." Chris said.
Nearby, Tails poked a pillbug with a twig, causing it to curl into a ball.
"Whoa! That's the coolest thing I've ever seen!" he said and picked it up "I'm gonna put it in a jar and take it home!"
"I thought we were only collecting bugs that fly."
"Mm." Chris said.
Then they started walking away.
"Hello there, little guy." Tails said.
Meanwhile Frances and Cream were wading in the stream.
"Wow, look at all the fish, Cream!" Frances said.
"Yeah, here's some!" Cream said and ran toward them.
The fish leap out of the way.
"It jumped!" Cream said.
Frances giggled... until she saw Cheese floating away.
"Cheese! Watch out!" she said and ran after Cheese.
"Cheese!" Cream said.
"Come back! No!" Frances said and stopped Cream before she could get too far. "Cream, we have to tell the others!"
Later everyone was at the camp.
"Cheese must be at the river somewhere." Mr. Steward said.
"About a mile from this spot, the river splits off in two different directions. There is no telling which way the current was traveling." Tanaka said pointing.
"Cream started crying.
"Cheese..." she said.
"Don't cry, Cream; it'll be okay! Remember, Cream, Cheese is a very good swimmer." Any said.
"Yeah, Amy's right." Tails said.
Cream nodded. "Mhm..."
"I feel so bad. I should have done something." Frances said.
"Don't feel bad; it's not your fault." Chris said.
Danny nodded.
"Mhm."
"The current may be rapid, but there are many areas where the water is shallow. Cheese may very well be stuck in a patch of sand somewhere." Tanaka said.
"Let's all search, right away!"
"Okay! We'll start an official search party!" Tails said.
Everyone raised their fists into the air.
"Yeah!" Chris, Danny, Tails and Amy said.
Meanwhile Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe were making their way through the forest. They were wesaing exploring gear, and Decoe and Bocoe carrying the supplies on their backs.
"My feet are killing me." Bocoe said.
Eggman turned around and threw his cap on the ground. It bounced up into Decoe's face, causing him to stumble into Bocoe, and they both fell.
"I can't take any more! It must be a hundred and twenty degrees out here!" Eggman said.
"Actually, Doctor, it is exactly 95 degrees Fahrenheit." Decoe said.
"Mine says 35 degrees Celsius, which is really the same as 95 degrees Fahrenheit." Bocoe said. "Either way, we are talking hot stuff."
"Be quiet! I didn't ask you for a weather report. Decoe, my chair! Bocoe, my fan!" Eggman said.
Decoe set up a chair for him to sit and wiped away his sweat.
"Ah... All right. There we go." he said.
"Nice and cool." Bocoe said and started fanning Eggman.
"Pretty please, Doctor, can we have our vacation back in the Egg Fort where it is nice and cool?" Decoe said.
"No. The theme of this vacation is roughing it, and like it or not, that's what we're going to do." Eggman said and Bocoe stopped fanning.
"Oh well. At least mosquitoes don't like robots. I just hope you brought enough calamine lotion." he said.
"Quiet!" Eggman shouted out causing Bocoe to be blown backward.
Bokkun flew in and floated in front of Eggman. He was adorned in flowers.
"Hi!" he said.
"What are you doing here? I gave strict orders not to be disturbed." Eggman said.
"Heheheh, I know, I know. But I thought you should know about this!"
Not too far away was the river. Mr. Stewart, Chris, Frances, Danny, Tails, and Cream were calling for Cheese.
"Cheese, we're coming to get you! Hey Cheese! Where are you? Answer if you can hear us! Cheese, are you there?" they said.
Eggman and his hench-bots were watching them wearing twigs for camouflage in the undergrowth.
"What are those clowns doing here?" Eggman said.
"This sure is a coincidence." Decoe said.
"Perhaps they are looking for a Chaos Emerald." Bocoe said.
Eggman raised his head higher.
"Well, so am I!" he said.
But Bocoe and Decoe pushed him back down.
"Get down! They'll see us!" Decoe said.
"In order to observe, we must remain incognito." Bocoe said.
"Oh, I'll remain incognito all right. As incognito as a snake in the grass!" Eggman said.
Mr. Stewart's group continued their hunt.
"Cheese! Are you there?" Chris said.
Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe were still hiding in the bush, mere yards away. Eggman swatted at a mosquito that landed on his head.
"Yow! That pesky mosquito just stuck its stinger into my soggy wet noodle!" he said.
"It is not like we did not warn him." Decoe said.
"Uh-huh." Bocoe said.
Eggman turned around.
"All right, you lazy leeches! I want every mosquito here insecticide!" he said.
"Couldn't we just use bug spray?" Bocoe asked.
"Oh! Behind you!" Decoe said.
Eggman turned to see a giant flying insect swoop down at him. Then it left stinging welts all over his face before flying away.
Soon, Decoe applied cream to Eggman's bite wounds.
"That cursed insect..." Eggman said.
"Hey, was that a voice coming from over there?" Chris said.
"Huh? Was it Cheese?" Frances asked.
"Uh-uh. It sounded like a man.
"Maybe someone else is camping.
"Maybe.
The group resumes their search.
"Cheese! Hey Cheese! We're on our way!" everyone said.
Later the group arrived at a cave that part of the stream entered.
"What if Cheese is inside that tunnel?" Cream asked.
"I'll look." Mr. Stewart said and bent down to look inside the cave, then stood up and shrugged. "I'm afraid I can't fit."
"I'll bet we could all fit no problem. You wait here while we check it out." Chris said.
"All right. Promise you'll be careful."
"Okay."
Chris, Danny, Frances, Tails, and Cream started to head into the cave.
"Just make sure you don't lose your way." Mr. Steward said.
"We won't." Frances said.
With the group gone, Mr. Stewart activated his wrist watch. Little does Chris know there was a tracking device attached to him.
"Hey! They're coming in loud and clear!" he said.
At an outside the booth Shadow was watching the preparation of fortune cookies.
"Hey..." he said.
The mixture was poured into every other spoon, then combined with the empty spoons, before being placed in a container.
"Wow!"
"Shadow!" woman 2 said.
Shadow looked up to see another woman holding a tray of fortune cookies.
"Try a pastry." she said.
"Thanks." he said then took one and ate it.
"You like it."
"It's good!"
A few people clapped.
Meanwhile Chris' group reached the other side of the cave.
"Guess this is the end of the tunnel. I wonder what's out here?" Chris said.
Then they became surprised at the sight that meets their eyes.
"What?" Frances said.
Cream and Tails were especially surprised.
"Is... this real?" Chris said. "It... can't be!"
There was a beautiful pond with a Chao colony.
"Hey, they all look just like Cheese!"
"I can't believe it! It's a Chao colony!" Tails said.
"Oh!" Cream said.
They headed over, and soon interacted with the Chao.
"Aww, they're all so cute!" Frances said.
"Hey look, Chris, they really like us!" Danny said.
"Yeah, I guess they can sense that we're friendly." Chris said.
One Chao fiddled with Tails' face fur.
"Hey, this one wants to go for a swim!" Tails said.
Cream ran up to the pond's edge.
"Cheese!" she said and a Chao flew over. "Is that you? ... I guess not."
Then another Chao flew to Cream.
"Oh, Cheese! ... Sorry..." she said and looked over to see Cheese floating over. "There you are!" she said and ran over. "Cheese!" she said and picked him up and hugged him. "Oh Cheese, you're okay!"
"She's so happy. Come on out of that water, Cream; you're getting your feet all soggy." Frances said.
Cream walked over to the others.
"I don't mind. All that matters is that Cheese is okay." she said.
"She sure is. Are you happy?" Chris said.
"Uh-huh."
"Looks like Cheese made some friends." Tails said.
"Chao-chao!" Cheese said.
Suddenly the other Chao started vocalizing.
"What's up?" Danny said.
"They're all excited about something." Tails said.
"I'll bet they're just happy that Cheese found her friends again, that's all." Chris said.
"I think you're right." Frances said.
"It really is pretty here, don't you think?" he said as the Chao surrounded Cream.
"Sure is. Let's look around."
Meanwhile people were watching Shadow as he stood on top of a temple.
"There he is! Up there on the roof!" they said.
"Hi, Shadow!" a girl said.
Shadow waved at the people below him.
"Heh-heh-hey! Hiya, girls!" he said.
The people were about to take pictures of him, but he leapt away.
"Oh, now I won't have a picture..." the girl said.
At Chaos Colony.
"Come on! Throw the ball, Danny!" Chris said.
Danny threw a berry to some Chao.
One of the Chao caught the berry.
"Hey, nice catch!" Cream said.
"Chao!" Cheese said.
Chris and Frances fed berries to some other Chao.
"Ah, these look great. Here." Chris said.
"Here you go." Frances said and the Chao ate the berries. "Look how they gobble them up."
"Hey Tails, do the Chao on your planet have little colonies like this too?" Chris asked.
Tails nodded.
"Yup. They have colonies in a lot of places, but there has to be fresh water. And since the water has to be kept clean, most of the Chao colonies are kept a secret."
"I guess they're kept a secret here too. I've never seen anything like this. It's like a whole different world!" Frances said.
"Yeah, a secret world."
At the forest.
"How much longer do we have to keep this up?" Decoe asked.
"Please, can we go home now, Dr. Eggman? My bearings are killing me!" Bocoe said.
"Quit your whining, will you?! I refuse to spend my week's vacation listening to your excessant bellyaching!" Eggman said.
"I think he has heat stroke." Decoe said.
"Never mind him. If we don't stop roughing it soon, I'm going to overheat." Bocoe said.
"Decoe, I order you to empty that knapsack." Eggman said.
"Right away, Doctor." Decoe said and promptly unzipped his knapsack.
"Oh?!" Bocoe said.
Inside is a portable slot machine.
"While I know this camping trip is all about getting back to nature, there are certain amenities one cannot do without, and this is one of them." Eggman said and inserted a deck of cards into the slot machine. "In we go."
After pulling the lever, the slots spin, then landed on one choice: E-66 Da-Dai-Oh.
"A perfect choice. And now to wake up our little friend E-66." he said and pulled out a remote control, then activated it sending a red signal laser to the sunken Egg Fort II.
Then Da-Dai-Oh emerged from it and leapt high into the air.
At camp Amy and Tanaka were preparing the meal. Amy looked up from the salad she was tossing.
"Do you think they're okay, Mr. Tanaka?" she asked.
"I'm sure they are just fine. When I was a boy, I would play in those mountains from sunrise to sunset. They will be back soon." he said.
"You mean once you were a young boy like Chris, Mr. Tanaka?"
"Certainly. I'll have you know I was not always a grown-up. Everyone is a child once."
"Children!" someone said and Mr. Stewart came. "You mean they haven't come back here yet?"
"But we thought they were with you." Amy said.
"We were looking for Cheese and we found a small tunnel. The children went in to look, and I haven't seen them since! Where could they be?"
"They must have gotten lost." Tanaka said.
"Well, at first I was tracking Chris' whereabouts with this monitor, but soon after they entered the tunnel, I lost contact." Mr. Steward said and rolled up his sleeve, revealing the device he has been wearing.
"I hope they're okay." Amy said.
Suddenly the shadow of Da-Dai-Oh came flying over the tent. Amy covered her ears due to the noise of its engines. Tanaka and Mr. Stewart looked up in surprise.
"It's Eggman!" they said.
Meanwhile the Choa colony was ready to leave.
"Goodbye, you guys." Chris said.
"Chao chao!" Cheese said and the chao vocalized their goodbye as the group headed into the cave.
"See you later!" Tails and Cream said.
"Chao chao chao!"
Later, as they were walking, Cheese looked sad.
"Chao chao..." he said.
"You feel lonesome, don't you, Cheese?" Cream asked.
"Maybe we can come back here next year." Chris said.
"Sure. We can pack some sandwiches and maybe play some baseball, and Cheese can play with their new friends again." Danny said.
"Yeah. Cheese, that sound good?" Cream said.
"Chao chao!" Cheese said.
Suddenly, Da-Dai-Oh flew overhead.
"Aahh!" Danny yelled.
Da-Dai-Oh hovered nearby. Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe were atop and Eggman was holding a megaphone.
"Good day, my little explorers." he said.
"Him again." Chris said.
Da-Dai-Oh landed, crushing a few trees and sending a flock of birds scattering.
"Okay, kiddies, let's have it. Hand over that Chaos Emerald or else!" Eggman said.
"What Chaos Emerald?"
"What are you talking about?" Frances asked.
"Don't play coy with me! What else would you scavengers be snooping around here for?" Eggman said pointing. "Now hand it over!" E
"Huh?" Danny said.
"He must have seen us looking for Cheese and thought we were hunting for a Chaos Emerald." Chris said.
"So that's why he's so upset." Tails said.
"Hey! There aren't any Chaos Emeralds around here!"
Eggman elbowed Bocoe and Decoe away.
"You can't fool me, you Emerald snatchers!" he said.
"Do not get overexcited, Doctor." Decoe said.
"You are beginning to perspire." Bocoe said and kept wiping off Eggman's sweat, but the doctor grabbed the cloth from him.
"Well, if you mite-sized meddlers won't cooperate with me, perhaps my friend E-66 will convince you!" he said.
Da-Dai-Oh raised its arms and took a step forward, causing the children to cower. Eggman laughed... until Da-Dai-Oh toppled over and hit the ground, shaking it. The river started to become polluted.
"How did that happen?" Danny asked
"I guess the soil around here must be really soft. Maybe that's why that big thing tipped over." Tails said.
"It serves him right for sicking his robot on us!" Frances said.
"Oh no! The water! It's all muddy!" Cream said.
"Chao chao!" Cheese said.
Sure enough, the water had become completely polluted.
"Hey, you guys. That river runs into the Chao colony." Chris said.
"Come on. We have to do something." Danny said.
"Let's go!"
They started heading back toward the Chao's oasis.
Meanwhile, Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe one-by-one unburried themselves from the mud caked on Da-Dai-Oh.
"Whoever heard of a mushy mountain?" Eggman said.
"I have a feeling that E-66 and rugged terrain do not go hand-in-hand." Decoe said.
"It might be more effective on hard land surfaces." Bocoe said.
Eggman pushed them back down.
"Keep quiet! Now help me dig out this cast-iron klutz. We've got some Emeralds to snag!" he said.
Soon, a newly-cleaned Da-Dai-Oh was standing on flat ground at the base of the mountain. Bocoe and Decoe were holding brushes.
"The cleaning is completed, Doctor." Bocoe said.
"Well... Let's get going." Eggman said.
"Doctor Eggman, look!" Decoe said pointing. "Shadow!"
Shadow was standing in front of Da-Dai-Oh holding a white bag.
"Fancy meeting you here." he said.
"Well, Shadow! I... er... I mean we... We were just doing a lovely bit of sightseeing." Eggman said.
"Yes." Bocoe said.
"For our vacation." Decoe said.
The large line of missing earth on the mountain did nothing to prove Eggman's claim.
"Ah... You're on vacation," Shadow said.
"Yes, vacation! See, I've been such a gloomy Gus of late I thought perhaps some leisure time in the fresh air might do me a bit of good." Eggman said.
"He so needs it." Decoe said but Shadow didn't buy it.
"Is that so?" he asked.
"Let it fly!" Eggman said.
Da-Dai-Oh attempted to impale Shadow with one of its spiked fists, but missed. Shadow leapt into the air.
"He's gone!"
Shadow landed next to Eggman.
"Hi there. ... Haven't you clowns learned yet you'll never be fast enough to catch me?" he said and tossed the bag away. "Later, kids."
Then he ran down Da-Dai-Oh's arm and out of sight. Then he came spinning back and home attacked Da-Dai-Oh's head, causing it to explode. Eggman and his hench-bots were sent flying into the air and disappeared with a twinkle.
"Shadow!" someone said.
Shadow turned to see Tanaka, Mr. Stewart, and Amy running toward him.
"Shadow, you have to do something! - Oh, I see you've already done something." Mr. Steward said.
Shadow nodded.
"Mhm."
"Cheese got lost down by the river. They all went looking, but they haven't come back." Amy said.
"I'll find 'em. Hold this, will ya?" Shadow asked then tossed the bag behind him and ran.
Mr. Stewart and Tanaka caught the bag, but its contents spilled out anyway. The three were surprised to see that it was full of souvenirs from Shadow's travels.
Meanwhile the Chao colony group were removing the mud using a makeshift scoop made of sticks and leaves.
"We'll carry the mud out with this." Danny said.
"I don't think we can get it all, you guys." Chris said.
"We have to at least try, Chris. Otherwise, all these little Chao will get sick." Frances said.
"That's right, Frances. And if we all work together, it'll be a cinch." Tails said.
"Now that's what I like to hear!" someone said.
Shadow was standing there among the Chao.
"So all we gotta do is get rid of that mud." he said.
"It's Shadow!" Chris said.
"Might wanna let me take care of this."
Everyone but Shadow backed away from the oasis.
"Here goes!" he said and started running around the oasis at supersonic speed, draining the mud and splattering the others in the process.
Once finished, he slowed to a stop.
"Okay, gang! It's all cleaned up!" he said and everyone cheered as the Chao headed into the newly-cleaned water and Chris, Danny, Frances, Tails, and Cream headed over to Sonic.
"Shadow, you did it!" Chris said.
"You're all muddy!"
The others looked down at themselves.
"Wow, we really are dirty." Danny said.
"Guess I need a bath." Frances said.
"Thanks for doing that, Shadow." Chris said.
"Hey, my pleasure." Sonic said.
Later everyone was sitting around the campfire that night.
"Bet you knew about the Chao colony, didn't you, Mr. Tanaka?" Chris asked Tanaka.
"Of course I knew, Master Chris. I stumbled upon that colony when I was a boy." he said.
"Don't worry; we'll keep it a secret. Thanks to Shadow, maybe it'll still be here when I'm grown up."
"Or perhaps even beyond, Master Chris."
Shadow was reclining in a tree above them.