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Silvercoal: Since they're probably still accelerating, we likely will never find out XD
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LAST TIME on Catch Them If You Can...
Well, Sonic and Co still need to get home, and for that, they need that DAMN FOURTH...I mean, ONLY...Chaos Emerald that came with them. Which has apparently been found and put in a museum in Brock's Home city! So, our heroes are travelling there and have just stayed the night at Viridian City in a Pokécenter, where their human friends even got, like, almost an hour of sleep...
xxx
Chapter Fifteen: Gotta Catch Them All!
"Oh man. Maybe this is one mission we should have sat out, Ash." Brock mumbled as he was sitting on the edge of his bed in the morning, groggily pulling on his socks. "I mean, Sonic and his friends, they're nice enough, but also...kind of insane."
"Yeah...but, you know." Ash sighed. "Without us, they would have a bit of a problem, with everyone trying to capture them all of them time."
"Well, then they sure could show themselves more appreciative," Brock grumbled. "Now they have taken off and we have no idea where they've gone." He nodded toward the empty bed. "And they probably expect breakfast when they get back or something. I swear, they're worse than my kid siblings combined..."
As he spoke, there was a knock at the door. Ash opened it carefully. "Yes?"
"Hey hey, awake?" Sonic poked his head into the door, closely followed by Tails. "Hey, uh, listen, we wanted to say sorry for the noise yesterday night. Me and Knuckles...eh, Tails is used to it, but I guess we can be a bit much, yeah." the hedgehog rubbed the back of his head, right before raising a bag he held in his hand - "Soooo, as a peace offering how about some leftover pizza pies?" He asked with a grin. "Me and Tails just raced down to Pallet Town and got them from your mom. Anyone up for breakfast?"
xxx
"Ugh. Do we have to go through there? That forest looks like it could have even more insects than the last one..." Tails had his ears folded flat as they approached the Viridian forest outside of town, the little fox sticking closer and closer to Brock and Sonic as they neared the green wall of trees outside the city.
"Only way that leads to Pewter City, sorry," Ash replied cheerfully. The pizza pies had definitely helped in lifting the spirits of the humans, and it was a much more relaxed group that had left the town this morning. Curiously, there seemed to have been even more thefts of various building materials during the night, judging by the commotion in front of the police department, but for the moment at least, it for once didn't feel like it was their problem.
"Nah, you'll be fine, Tails," Misty smiled at him. "Remember, just stay on the paths and the insect Pokémon won't attack you."
"You really got attacked by insects?" Knuckles asked. "I thought that was a joke."
"No it wasn't," Tails replied with a scowl. "And I nearly died, okay? So, not funny."
Knuckles looked at him.
Then:
"How?"
"THEY WERE REALLY BIG OKAY?" Tails protested. "And there were a lot!"
"Oh really. Were there," Knuckles commented remarkably casually. "Say, incidentally, did anyone of you think of bringing a salt shaker or maybe some ranch dressing for any reason...?"
xxx
"Hey, Sonic?"
"Hmm?" Sonic opened one lazy eye where he was lying on the branch of a tree. They had stopped on a small clearing when midday arrived, sharing out the last pizza pies while Misty, Ash and Brock had let some of their Pokémon out for a bit of playtime. Sonic himself had chosen the time for a well-deserved post-gluttony nap, enjoying the sunshine and light breeze, which was always just as nice no matter which planet you enjoyed it on. Now he looked down at Ash who had been knocking on the tree's trunk.
"What's up?"
"All of your friends have wandered off. I'm a bit worried they'll run into trouble again." The boy looked at him, brows creased in light concern.
Sonic waved a hand. "Eh, nah, they'll be fine."
"SONIC! HELP!"
"Oooor not."
xxx
"Hmm. Tails said he saw the caterpillars somewhere around here..." Knuckles was walking through the undergrowth of Viridian Forest, moving through the thick bushes like a furry red shark through a swampy sea.
"Come here, come here...well, hello there." Knuckles' expression became marginally pleased as he spotted a tree a few yards away, which had a footlong, juicy caterpillar Pokémon crawling up on it. As it noticed Knuckles, it turned its head and twitched its stubby pink feelers.
"Ronk?" it enquired.
"Oh, nothing to worry about. You're just about to join me for lunch," Knuckles replied pleasantly, moving forward. (He wasn't actually a chatty person by nature. But, spending most of his life alone on an island with nothing but feral animals and plants for nature, you were bound to talk to your food eventually. And while the feral insects on Mobius were tasty, but usually not big enough to really fill your stomach once you were older than two, this was really the first aspect of this Pokémon world Knuckles was whole-heartedly approving of and he intended to make the most of it.) The caterpie, for what it was worth, in its tiny insect brain now actually seemed to start to catch on to what was happening.
"Reee!"
"Oh no. Forget it." Knuckles swatted the paralyzing stream of sticky webbing that was shot toward his face out of the air like an afterthought. The large eyes of the caterpillar bugged for a terrified moment as a large, boxing-gloved hand now closed forcefully around it, and for a second it seemed like the last thing it, like quite a few insects on Angel Island, would ever see were two rows of shining echidna teeth nearing its head like a black hole with morning breath, but, exactly at that moment -
"CHAN!"
Knuckles whirled around. It had sounded like a human calling out, but he was too far away from Sonic by now to still be in the range of the translator. If someone wanted to capture him, he would have to fight-
"Chan! Monchan!"
But then the caller emerged and Knuckles relaxed. Marginally. It wasn't a human. It was...well, if Sonic or Tails had been there, they would likely have described it as the lovechild of Groot and a sporting goods store. As it was, the four feet tall creature now glaring at Knuckles would have been described by the echidna as vaguely humanoid, with brown skin and a head resembling a pinecone, dressed in a purple tunic and wearing two bright red boxing gloves.
"Hit-mon-CHAN!"
And apparently, also a giant chip on its shoulder. Its eyes narrowed as it growled, still staring down at Knuckles and the desperately struggling caterpie he held in his hand. The echidna paused.
"...this is your territory, huh?" he ventured.
"CHAN!" In response, the Pokémon bashed its fists together and took another step toward Knuckles. The guardian of Angel Island briefly calculated the possible outcomes of this.
"Fine," he finally said, calmly. "This is your home. I won't fight you or take your food when I have no need or right to be here." Not taking his eyes off the Pokémon, he casually put the caterpillar back against the tree trunk, where it scuttled off into the canopy with small frantic noises.
This did not seem to appease the brown creature in the slightest.
"Hitmon! Hitmonchan!" It only snapped louder, beating one of its fists against a tree next to it with surprising, bark-splittering strength. Knuckles regarded it, unimpressed.
"I said I won't fight you. Don't make me."
Not waiting for more displays of threats or animal posturing, the echidna simply turned around – he would have preferred a fresh insect meal to the human fast food, yes, and it had sounded like a fantasy come true to find insects on this world that were actually large enough to satisfy his appetite, but he respected someone else defending their home. He wouldn't encroach on another's territory if he wasn't forced to.
Most of those thoughts went straight out of his head the moment the Pokémon's fist connected with the back of his skull.
"HIT!"
"AGH!" Knuckles cried out as he was punched to the ground, skidding through the dirt and coming to lie on his belly with his head pounding and his chin scraped raw. But he was back on his feet in an instant.
"This," he informed the Pokémon with purple eyes blazing, "was a mistake."
xxx
"Heh. I don't know why Tails was so worried about going through here, I think it's really nice," Amy said to no one in particular. She had also sauntered off into the woods a little, leaving Sonic to his midday nap, and was currently sitting in a meadow, enjoying the smell of the wild flowers and the sight of the giant, cute butterflies at the other end of the clearing. Her skirt splayed around her, with the grass tickling her bare legs, Amy smiled as she picked another unknown flower next to her, sniffing at it a little. Maybe she could pick enough for a bouquet later...
Then she immediately froze as there had suddenly been a very definite bump from beneath in a very private area.
"What the-?!" her gaze snapped immediately downwards to stare at the earth covered by the fabric of her dress, in a panic to see whether, somehow, some sort of animal or Pokémon had somehow managed to crawl under it - "AH!" Amy yelped again as there came another nudge against her from below, this somehow more forceful than before. With a squeak, she tried to get to her feet as fast as possible, planning to scramble away and get her hammer, but before she had managed to get her legs under her, there was a third slam, this one straight into her behind, and it catapulted her tail over snout onto her belly into the grass.
"Ow! What the heck-?!" Amy twisted herself, blushing fiercely as she tried to get upright and to discern what on Mobius had just rammed into her – and then, hammer already in hand, froze and stared.
Because, right where she had sat, was now a thing.
"Diglett?" the little brown freak creature asked.
xxx
It'll be fine...it'll be fine...if they try to attack you again, you can just fly away, it'll be fine...
Tails was walking along a narrow, but well-trodden path in the forest. He was still a bit nervous to venture out on his own, but kept telling himself that a) this time he was prepared, knew what to watch out for and b) he would heed Misty's council and keep out of the tall grass and that should be enough.
Heh. They do have interesting plants here, Tails thought, examining the bushes he had passed with curiosity. In truth, though he was a bit wary of the fauna by now, he was still unabashedly curious about this new planet. So similar on the surface in terms of civilization and climate, but still so incredibly different as soon as you looked at the details -
There was a noise and Tails immediately whirled around with a paranoid gasp.
"Who – who's there?!" he squeaked, his namesakes bunching up instinctively for a flight reaction. If he saw so much as another pink feeler twitching at him he was SO out of here -!
"Huh? Oh!" The bushes rustled again and from them emerged a human girl, making a surprised noise as she beheld Tails. The little fox immediately relaxed in relief.
"Oh. Thank the gods, I thought you were a Pokémon-"
The girl blinked at him, but then immediately reached to her belt, taking out a device not unlike the pokedex Ash possessed and pointed it at Tails. Its light blinked blue as its mechanical voice spoke. "Unknown species. Insufficient data."
She didn't seem to be much older than Ash or Misty, wearing sporty red clothes and the same belt with pokeballs on it like the boys, marking her clearly as a trainer. Tails held up his hands, trying for a friendly smile.
"Oh no, sorry. I'm already travelling with a trainer. I know, I know, it's weird that I can talk, but -"
He interrupted himself. Namely because he had just noticed something. Which was...
"A new SPECIES?! WOW! I NEED to have you!"
...that he hadn't actually understood what her pokedex had been saying at all. Tails swallowed.
"...Sonic with the translator is too far away and you have no idea what I'm saying, right?" he asked the girl, but of course, she had already reached for one of the spheres on her belt, shouting,
"SHELLDER! GET IT!"
Tails screamed and ran.
xxx
"What the heck are you?" Amy asked, staring at the brown poke-creature which appeared to be blinking at her in equal curiosity. It looked, indeed, much like the first segment of a giant, brown and furry finger poking out of a freshly dug hole in the ground, except for two large, shining black eyes and a pink button nose. Remembering what had just happened a moment ago, the hand Amy not holding her hammer then also immediately went to the skirt of her dress, smoothing it down self-consciously. "And anyway, you should know it's not nice to poke underneath other people's clothes, okay?" she informed it somewhat peevishly. The Pokémon cocked its...only visible body-part.
"Diglett?"
"I hope for your sake that was a 'yes'," Amy said, giving it a distrustful stare. "What kind of creature are you anyway, are you gonna come on out properly or-?" she asked, taking a cautious step toward the strange mole-like Pokémon. This, however, seemed to have been the wrong decision.
"Diglett!"
With a yelp that sounded almost panicky, the thing had immediately vanished underground again the moment she had reached its hole.
"Hey!" Amy called after it, bending slightly over to stare down into the burrow it had left. "Where did you g-AH!"
And then yelped immediately when something bumped into her very intimately for the fourth time that day, and flipped her straight face-first into the ground again.
"Oh NO, I swear-!" She snarled, at least catching herself somewhat and smoothly rolling to her feet this time, blush on her cheeks now bright red and complimenting her bared white teeth nicely. Jade eyes narrowed instantly right at the spot where she had stood...
"Diglett! Dig, dig, diglett!"
And she could have sworn that the thing, currently bobbing back and fourth like a drunk buoy as it watched her rage, was laughing. Her hammer appeared back in her hand as if by magic.
"I think," she growled, "It's time I introduce you to a particular carnival game..."
xxx
Being hit by Knuckles was not like being hit by tonne of bricks. Being hit by Knuckles was like being hit by Knuckles, which was worse.
"Mooooon-chan!" The Pokémon gasped out the last syllable of its cry in a pained scream as it impacted against a tree a good three yards away with enough force to dislodge at least a dozen caterpies that had currently been sitting on it. It collapsed against its foot bonelessly, not moving any more but for weak, pained twitching.
"I hope you let that be a lesson to you." Knuckles had stepped up to it, calmly and brushing off some dirt from his chest. After he had gotten back to his feet, it had been almost easy – too easy – to defeat the strange Pokémon. Its attacks had been quick, but not nearly as quick as Sonic's, and the shocked look on its face as Knuckles had casually dodged them, only then to deliver the right uppercut that had sent it crashing straight into the tree, had been at least a bit of gratification. Now the echidna looked down at his defeated opponent and gave it a curt nod. "I'm going to leave now. I would advise you not to attack anyone you don't know from behind again." So saying, he had almost turned around, but it was at this moment that the Pokémon opened its eyes again and blinked at him somewhat blearily. And then its face had immediately assumed the most dreamy expression possible.
"Hit...mon...chaaaaaaaan..."
Knuckles stared. "Did you just...croon at me?" he ventured.
"Mon...chaaaaaan...!" Now the Pokémon rose. And slowly extended a trembling hand toward Knuckles' face. It puckered its lips.
"Mon...chan?"
Knuckles turned tail and fled.
xxx
"SONIC! HELP! GET IT OFFOFFOFF-!"
"Tails!" Sonic cried, green eyes wide as his little brother burst through the bushes of the side of their clearing, blue eyes large and terrified and glistening with tears.
"It huuuurts! Take it OFF!"
"Take what – uh, what the hell...?"
"SHELLDERRR!" the weird giant oyster currently clinging stubbornly to the tip of one of his kid brother's namesakes informed the hedgehog angrily. Sonic shot a side glance at their humans.
"Uh, Ash...?"
"You GO, Shellder! Don't let it get away!" There was a cry from the direction Tails had come and a young girl burst through the undergrowth, triumphantly waving a pokeball. "You can take it! Don't give – oh, er..."
"Hello," Ash said, nodding at her. "I'm sorry, but I think you attacked one of my Pokémon."
"Take it oooooooofff!"
"I'm trying!"
"Uh..." the girl stared at the display in front of her, which was currently Tails holding onto a little tree and wailing, while Sonic was pulling at the growling mollusc attached to his little brother's namesake. Ash winced.
"Can you...maybe...tell your Shellder to let go? Please?"
"It does have very amazing jaw strength for a Shellder. I wanted to congratulate you," Misty said, nodding at the new girl.
"Oh, um, sure – wait, are your Pokémon talking?" the red-clad trainer asked, still obviously confused. "They do act...kinda weird..."
"Sooooonic! It's eating me alive! I think there's already half of me gone!"
"It barely has the tip of your tail, if you would hold still for a minute-!" Sonic tried, still pulling at the freak oyster, right until something was suddenly rushing at him and he froze.
"COME BACK HERE YOU PERVERT!"
"Dig! Dig! Dig!"
"Amy?!" Sonic flinched, but couldn't move out of the way in time, especially since from his other side, there was also a pair of Pokémon and Mobian rapidly approaching .-
"Leave me alone, you freak!"
"Hit-mon-chaaaaaan...!"
It was at this point, of course, that both Amy (furiously whacking at a continuously popping up diglett that seemed to be having the time of its life) and Knuckles (currently being chased by a hitmonchan that appeared to have hearts for eyes) both stormed onto the clearing at the exact same time, and then there was a rather loud WHOMPH!-noise, as approximately four Mobians, three Pokémon, and one heaping amount of worst timing ever collided.
Comedic tradition dictated that of course, as soon as everyone lay on the floor in one giant, groaning heap, Shellder also finally let go with a silent, little pop.
Ash looked at the other trainer.
"Yes," he said. "They are kinda weird."
To be continued...
Well, chapters continue to be released at a bit of a glacial pace, but it's starting to look up! I'm about to finish Burning Arrow, Wildfire Heart with the next update, which shortens the cycle of fics I need to write chapters for :) Yayyy! Anyway, hope you're all still here and still enjoying, and if you read, please review!