Chapter 3: Thorn in the Dykes

Ash and Max woke up after spending their first night at the Thorndyke Mansion after helping Sonic deal with Team Rocket and Eggman. After breakfast provided by Eggman, Ash and Max were guided around the mansion when they stepped outside where there were two pools, one massive while the other was only half the first's size. "And here, we have our swimming pools," Chris showed. Ash and Max gasped to the scene.

"Wow!" shouted Max. "You have two pools!? That's so awesome!" Chris laughed to Max's excitement.

"Thanks…" he praised before pointing to the giant rectangular pool. "The rectangular one is mostly for the adults like my parents while the other pool over there's where I use with my friends when they visit… and funny enough, I met Sonic in the adult pool." Ash and Max gasped to the information.

"Really!?" awed Ash. "What happened!?"

"Well, according to Sonic," Chris started. "Shortly after he arrived here in Station Square- and away from his friends- he was chased by the police before he encountered my uncle, Sam Speed." Ash and Max blinked to the detail.

"Is your uncle is part of the force?" asked Max.

"Well… he's a special kind of cop, you could say," Chris added. "See, Uncle Sam is the leader of an elite police squad called the Speed Team who uses Formula 1 race cars to chase and capture criminals." Ash scoffed at the thought of the cars used.

"Formula 1?" he repeated. "Those I gotta see."

"Unfortunately, Sonic was just too fast, even for those cars and especially with his Super Nirto activated," Chris continued. "Sonic went so fast, he soared across the sky for a while after he ran off the end of the highway, literally, where the chase occurred. However, Sonic's flight didn't last. He reached the mansion and fell…" he pointed an open hand to the bigger pool. "Into the adult pool." More awes came from the visitors while Cheese flew up and onto Max's head.

"And then what?" asked Ash.

"Things… just got worse for Sonic," Chris continued. "I learned that he couldn't swim, so he could've drowned without floating straight up. What did happen is that the splash woke me up in my room and went to investigate. I came out and dove into the pool, found Sonic and pulled him out. We've been best friends ever since." Ash whistled to the story.

"No question, I see it between you two," he smiled as Max held Cheese over his chest. "What about your uncle?" Chris began to giggle to the question.

"Ever since Sonic first outran him and the Speed Team," he continued. "Uncle Sam started a rivalry against Sonic, pledging to be faster than him. One thing led to another and now their rivalry is on friendlier terms after a big race that Sonic won." Max offered a whistle while the Chao giggled.

"That must have been one heck of a race," he gulped. "Any chance we'll see your uncle?" Chris scoffed to Max's question.

"Are you kidding?" he replied. "I'm positive that Uncle Sam saw the news about your involvement. He's probably as curious as everyone else." Ash stepped closer to the pool, a gaze into it. He pictured a blue horned plesiosaur with a spiked shell and curled ears.

"Seeing a pool like this reminds me of Lapras," he recalled. Max and Chris blinked to Ash's memory.

"You had a Lapras?" questioned Max.

"And… what's a Lapras?" wondered Chris. Recalling the family, Ash had nothing to offer.

"I could show you but your grandpa has our devices," he shrugged. "But Misty and I survived a crash that was hijacked by Team Rocket in the Orange Archipelago when we came across an infant Lapras being assaulted by three worthless trainers. After we scared them off and had help transporting Lapras to the Pokémon Center, he hid at the bottom of the pool scared of humans. Then, Team Rocket kidnapped Lapras and I assured his safety after breaking him free. Soon after, he was one of my Pokémon through the Orange Archipelago until I reunited him with his mother. Then while I was in Johto with Brock, we ran into Lapras again, grown up." Max and Chris seemed wowed.

"That's really cool!" chirped Max. Ash giggled when Froggy leaped out of the pool, landing on Ash's face. The shocked trainer was rocked by the arrival of Big's frog that he toppled over onto his back. Max and Chris became worried.

"ASH!" they gawked. Ash soon recovered and Froggy leaped down to see for itself.

"What is that!?" he wondered. Big soon rumbled around to the pool.

"FROGGY!" he called out. Seeing Big, Ash and Max blinked to who arrived.

"Good morning, Big," Chris greeted. Froggy leaped onto Ash's head.

"Oh, good morning, Chris!" welcomed Big. "Who are these two? Friends?" Chris giggled to Big's guess.

"They are," he confirmed. "Big the Cat, this is Ash and Max." Turning to Ash, Big extended his paw which Froggy leaped onto. Ash clasped Big's paw.

"Here you go," Big offered. He pulled Ash from the ground to his feet.

"Thanks," Ash praised. He patted himself from any dirt that might have been on him. Once tidied up, Chris brought Ash and Max back inside. Lindsey confronted the boys.

"Ash, there you are!" she voiced. Hearing the mother, the boys began to wonder.

"Mom, what's up?" asked Chris. Lindsey's focus was to Ash as Cream came up from behind her.

"There you are, Cheese!" she voiced. Cheese flew from Max's arms back to Cream's. "Did you wanted to see our guests?" Lindsey's focus was back to the visitors.

"Ash, I recall that Helen has Pikachu," she remembered.

"That's right, Mrs. Thorndyke," Ash allowed. "I still can't get over seeing someone in a wheelchair."

"It was hard for everyone at first the ordeal," Lindsey nodded. "But, back to the topic: when Helen and Pikachu come over, is it possible for me to hold him? I hadn't seen anything as cuddly as Chris when he was a baby." Chris gasped to the mention of him.

"MOM!" he whined. Lindsey giggled to her son's embarrassment.

"It's okay, Chris," Max sighed. "We've been down that road ourselves." Chris nodded, trusting Max about not being alone. Ash cleared his throat, recapturing the attention.

"Anyway," he voiced. "Mrs. Thorndyke, I'm sure Pikachu would want to. He likes making friends." Touched, Lindsey couldn't wait to hold Ash's Pokémon.

"Thank you!" she praised. "Also, you can call me Lindsey." Turning to Chris, Lindsey pondered about where the boys were walking to. "Chris, are you going to see your grandfather?"

"Yep," Chris confirmed.

"Sounds good," Lindsey approved. "When Helen comes by, I'll let you know." The boys nodded before they proceeded on.

"Chris, your mom is nice," Max noticed.

"She sure is," Cream agreed. Ash smiled, his arms crossed.

"I was going to say that she reminds me of my mom back home in Pallet Town," he pointed out.

"And mine back in Petalburg City," Max added. Chris and Cream blinked to the names of the cities.

"If I needed any proof that you're not brothers, there you go," Chris shrugged as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Though, what do your moms do?" asked Cream. "Mrs. Thorndyke is a movie actress." Ash and Max seemed floored with the detail of Lindsey's career.

"She's a what!?" screeched Max. Ash turned to Chris, shocked face.

"Are you serious, Chris!?" he gawked. "Your mom's a movie star!?"

"Yeah, I never got to tell you what my parents do," Chris said as he itched the back of his head.

"But that is so cool that your mom's a movie star!" awed Max. Chris nervously laughed to the claim. In a lab in front of a computer screen, Cream and the boys found Tails and Chuck looking at creatures like a brown fox with red tuff of hair on top and six orange-red tails.

"Now that's a beauty of a fox!" pointed out Chuck. Tails seemed a little disturbed.

"Chuck, I'm not falling for a creature that isn't like me or Sonic or Amy," he groaned.

"I know," Chuck eased, waiving his hand up-and-down. "I know. I'm just fascinated with all of these creatures stored in Ash's device." The boys saw the creatures with a cursor over the fox.

"Is there something special about Vulpix?" voiced Ash. Chuck and Tails turned to see the boys approaching.

"Hey, guys!" greeted Tails. "I wasn't but Chuck's trying to make me feel better by showing me some foxes from your device. I thought I was the only one with multiple tails until Chuck popped that one out. Don't get me wrong, those tails look gorgeous in picture."

"No arguments here," Max agreed. "Ash, didn't you say that Brock had a Vulpix once?" Ash nodded to the guess. Chuck noticed the missing member.

"Say, where's Pikachu?" he wondered.

"Helen has him," Ash replied.

"I see," Chuck smiled. "She did immediately have a soft spot for him." Max spotted something out of the corner of his left eye and turned. In a container were three diamond shaped colored emeralds: green, yellow and indigo. He walked up to them and observed closely.

"What the heck are these?" he pointed out. Tails came over while Amy entered from behind.

"Those are Chaos Emeralds," Tails briefed. "They're powerful gems that hold plenty of power by themselves, but when all seven are gathered… the power is unimaginable." Ash blinked and turned to Tails.

"There are seven of them?" he repeated. Tails bobbed a nod.

"Right now, we have these three and Eggman's got at least two from Sonic," he briefed. "There are two more out there and the last thing that needs to happen is Eggman using the power of the Chaos Emeralds to rule everything." Ash and Max could only wonder how the emeralds could offer that kind of power.

"I've seen Sonic wield the Chaos Emeralds before to stop Eggman," she claimed. "If you heard about him being faster than the Speed Team, it's nothing compared to him when he has the power of the Chaos Emeralds." Ash nodded, an idea of Sonic's speed from Amy and Chris.

"After hearing about Sam's speedy cars, I've got an idea," he summarized. "Still, could anyone use the Chaos Emeralds? I could imagine Pikachu's Thunderbolt being a million times stronger." Max irked and punched his arm.

"Ash, that would destroy a huge city, let alone Station Square," he warned. "Stop!"

"I was just saying," he winced. "By the way, Chuck." He paused himself before shaking and itching his head. Chuck turned to face Ash. "Sorry… I remember another Chuck in Cianwood City." Max gawked to the location.

"You mean Chuck, the Fighting-Type Gym Leader?" he guessed. Ash nodded. "Gotcha…"

"Anyway, have you been able to understand the Pokénav as well?" questioned Ash.

"I've been able to download the map after cloning the RAM to the computer," Chuck began. "I've been able to locate the last known whereabouts when you guys vanished. That's all I can do, but give me about a day to give you new maps for you guys to explore." Max nodded, hoping to see the results.

"Can't wait!" he sneered. Tails guided the group to the hanger where Helen was with Ella.

"Hey, guys!" greeted Helen.

"Hey, Helen!" welcomed Chris. "Did you know where we'd be, Ella?"

"I had a hunch and I was right," Ella snickered. Ash and Max looked to the two planes facing each other: a blue biplane with yellow wing tips and "SONIC" on the side and a white plane with wings shaping an X and jet propulsion engines in the back.

"Are these really planes!?" gasped Ash. Tails giggled to Ash's curiosity.

"They are," he replied. "The blue one is the Tornado 2. The white one is the X Tornado." Ash and Max marveled to the sight of the two planes.

"If you ask me, the Tornado 2 was made before the X Tornado," Max pondered.

"Not only that, but it was made by Sonic," Tails added. Ash stumbled in surprise to the information.

"Sonic did that!?" he shouted.

"He did, but when I found it," Tails continued. "I repaired it and made it go faster. It's… also where I met him for the first time." This made Ash more curious.

"This plane that looks like it's got plenty of miles in the sky is how you two met?"

"It is… See, I was bullied for building and repairing machines." Hearing Tails, Ash blinked.

"Your craft, not your… tails, Tails?"

"Yeah, because I wanted to see how they work. Then I met Sonic and we became friends."

"Hey, better that you found some great friends like Sonic and Cream and Big. Now, I doubt the X Tornado was something you built alone, right?"

"Yep, Chuck helped out. If you want, I can give you guys a ride on them." To Max, he'd like to see what it's like to fly.

"Hey, count me in!" he accepted. Tails giggled, friends building by the day.

"I can show you more of what the X Tornado can do, but not now," he advised. Ash and Max nodded before realizing Helen's appearance.

"By the way, what happened to Pikachu?" he asked. Helen giggled to the curiosity.

"Mrs. Thorndyke said she asked you if she could watch over Pikachu," she briefed. Ash remember Lindsey's request and nodded.

"She did ask me," he confirmed. "At least it's taken care of." Chris decided to proceed with the tour.

"There's one more spot to visit," he offered. Ten minutes later, they arrived in a garden full of large and wonderful flowers. There were some that even caught Ash's eyes.

"Some of these flowers…" he awed. "I'd like to give to my mom." Helen saw Ash studying the flowers.

"Do you have a green thumb?" she wondered.

"Not me, but my mom does," Ash denied. "She grows her own fruits and vegetables in the backyard of our house. I can only imagine bringing home some of these to show her how much I care." Someone else could sense the passion of flowers.

"Some of these flowers aren't from here," Sonic assured. Everyone turned to the hedgehog.

"Some?" repeated Max. Sonic turned, pointing his gloved finger to a patch in the back.

"Those flowers are from where some of us came from," he summarized. Seeing some of the wildflowers on the garden shrubs, Ash remained glued to the sight.

"You must miss home if these bring you here," Ash believed.

"Eh, sometimes," Sonic scoffed. "But not only am I having fun here, I have a purpose with the family and friends." Ash turned to Chris, Ella and Helen and nodded.

"Agreed… and Team Rocket going after us with Eggman's help," Ash added. "We may need to work as a team." The two bumped fists. They were there for each other.

"I also got word that you saw the Tornadoes in the hanger," Sonic brought up. "Maybe in a couple of days after your interview with Scarlet, we can take flight." Ash accepted the idea with a nod. Lindsey watched from the deck with Pikachu in her arms.

"I'm going to have a fun time bringing you to the set," she offered.

("Of your movie?") the Mouse Pokémon guessed. Ash and Max seemed to have a sense of what to expect at the Thorndyke Mansion. For Ash… it may be a place to stay for sometime.

TO BE CONTINUED…