Treecko and Zigzagoon ran up ahead into Petalburg City, the latter barking and zigging after the Wood Gecko Pokémon through the roads. Sonic ran after the two with three PokéBalls wiggling on his belt.

"Hey, you two!" he said, calling after the pair, looping around the Pokémon Center after them. "Slow down! Wait up!"

The two Pokémon were oblivious to their Trainer's commands and ran off in the direction of the Poké Mart, going towards the back of it, then turning around following the edge of the lake and running around the legs of two other hedgehogs, who laughed and watched the Pokémon chase each other while Sonic caught up to them.

"Gosh darnit, you two-" he began, before panning up to see the faces of the pink and green hedgehogs.

"Well, well, well, bro!" Manic the Hedgehog laughed, "Looks like ya finally joined the Trainer club!"

Sonic snickered as he felt Treecko climb up his back while Zigzagoon yipped at her Trainer's heels. "Manic!" he said, hugging his triplet brother, "It's been so long!"

"If you ask me, it hasn't been long enough," Sonia remarked, "Have you any idea how far it is from Lavaridge Town? Barely settling in when I hear Manic's the new Petalburg Gym Leader!" She shot a glare at the shrugging hedgehog before continuing, "I mean, Manic! I would've guessed you would be Champion over Manic being a Gym Leader!"

The three hedgehogs laughed together as Zigzagoon barked at the Treecko on Sonic's head. "You are way too energetic," Sonic remarked, returning the Tiny Raccoon Pokémon to her PokéBall.

"Pokémon sure take a lot of work, huh, bro?" Manic said. "How long have you been a Trainer?"

"Oh... just got Treecko here yesterday."

"Let me guess," Sonia said, hands on her hips, "Professor Prower gave you that Treecko and a Pokédex, huh? Wants you to go and collect data on all of the Pokémon in Hoenn?"

"Well... sort of? Tails gave me it and said that's what his dad would have wanted."

"All of them?" She snorted playfully, "I'd like to see you try to catch the Legendary Pokémon."

"Wha-" Sonic shook his head, "No- I mean, I couldn't catch 'em with the Pokémon I have right now, Sonia!"

"Don't be ridiculous," she said, turning up her nose. "Nobody ever thinks about disturbing the Legendary Pokémon, no matter what. Have you any idea how powerful they are? Remember the stories Mom told us as kids?"

"Yup," Sonic nodded. "They raised the land and seas, and made the sky. I don't think any Pokémon Trainer could stand up to them in a battle."

Manic rubbed his nose with a smirk, "Speaking of battles... I betcha you're just itching to challenge me to a Gym Battle, bro!" He turned to the Gym to go inside-

"Oh no you don't!" Sonia yanked her green brother back towards them. "I refuse to let you be the first of us to challenge Sonic to a Gym Leader Battle!"

"Wha-Sonia!"

"Sonic, you're not stepping a yard near that Pokémon Gym until you've challenged mine in Lavaridge town, you hear me?"

"Wha- why not?"

She crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip. "Because I worked too hard to earn the position in Lavaridge Town, and my slacking brother is not challenging you first! Understood?" She whirled around to face Manic who flinched. "You should be happy; you'll get a chance to brush up on your skills before Sonic comes to your Gym."

And without another word, Sonia ran off to the west, leaving dust in her wake. "Sheesh," Manic huffed. "What a kill-joy. Gym battles are half the fun of Pokémon journeys." He turned to Sonic with a smile. "But don't worry, bro; northwest of here is Rustboro City, and you can challenge Roxanne there!"

"Are you sure Sonia won't talk to her, too?" Sonic asked with a chuckle.

"I'm sure. Anyway, you should be okay with your Treecko; Grass-types are more effective on Rock-types."

"Oh really?"

"Yup. Didn't Tails tell you about type matchups?"

"No, not at all."

"Let me show you a thing or two, bro!"

Manic and Sonic walked through the Petalburg Woods, a dense forest with an abundance of Bug- and Grass-Pokémon; Bug Catchers with their nets waded through the tall grass like predators.

"Just like when we were kids, huh, Manic?" Sonic said, resting a hand on a tree trunk, recalling running around with his siblings and kicking up leaves. "Hasn't changed in the slightest."

"Yeah. It still feels kinda spooky, too," he added. "Like something out of Red Riding Hood." The hedgehogs laughed.

"Watch out for the Big Bad Mightyena!" Manic warned, oooo-ing like a spooky Ghost-Pokémon. A shaking bush announced the entrance of a small band of Poochyenas yapping and running around the woods, causing some Taillows to fly off into the trees out of the grass. Manic watched one little Poochyena hang back and sniff cautiously at the two Trainers.

"Oh, perfect," Manic said, pulling out a PokéBall and throwing it in front of the Pokémon. A ditzy-eyed panda Pokémon with red blotches on its fur appeared- the PokéDex called it Spinda.

"All right, Sonic, take notes! Spinda, use Psybeam!"

The Pokémon intensely fired a pink-purple beam at the Poochyena, but the wild Pokémon didn't react.

"What'd you do to it?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing happened. That's the point," he explained. "Psybeam is a Psychic-type move, and Poochyena is a Dark-type Pokémon. Dark-type Pokémon aren't affected by Psychic-type moves; they're immune to it."

Sonic let out an oh in understanding. "So, if you used Psybeam on a different type Pokémon, it would do damage?"

"Yup. And the amount of damage depends on the type of Pokémon you use it on."

"Are there other types of Pokémon that aren't affected by certain moves?"

"Uh-huh, and there are certain Abilities that make Pokémon immune to moves that would normally hit them, too. You know what Abilities are, right? You've got a Zigzagoon?" Sonic nodded. "Did it ever seem to have stuff that you don't remember giving it?"

"Oh, yeah! One minute I turn around, and then she's got something in her mouth like a Potion or something!"

"She's got the Pickup Ability," he explained. "She'll find items lying around from time to time- it's pretty neat, huh? I remember my Zigzagoon. He'd pick things up, too."

"Are you sure you didn't teach it to pick things up?" Sonic jested, remembering little Manic's treasure hunts. The green hedgehog laughed and returned his Spinda back to its PokéBall.

"It's nice now that you've got your own Pokémon, bro," Manic said. "I hope you'll have plenty of adventures to tell me about when you come back to Petalburg to challenge me."

"You leaving?"

"Yeah. Being a Gym Leader's not all fun and games, you know. I have to get back in case there's someone waiting to challenge me. It was nice seeing you, bro," Manic said, backing away, waving. "Take care!"

"See ya, Manic!" Sonic called after the green hedgehog, who soon disappeared among the foliage of the woods. Treecko made a noise, calling Sonic's attention to the pair of bright yellow eyes peeking from behind a tree.

The white-faced Mobian poked her head out a little more, revealing her red hair in two long pigtails. Some of it on her head stuck up looking like ears, or fins. She opened her mouth in a small smile at Sonic.

"Hi there," he offered, and the girl let out a giggle as she stepped out from behind the tree. She wore a red halter dress with a big red bow in the back, and red fingerless gloves. A triangle-shaped pendant hung around her neck. She took a hesitant step forward, tilting her head at the Trainer and his Wood Gecko Pokémon.

"Do you like my Treecko?" he offered, and the girl stuck her head out towards him, as if sniffing them. Then she ran around Sonic in a circle a few times before running further into the forest, stopping to look back to see if he would follow.

"Hey! Wait up!" he called after the strange girl, chasing after her. He zigged around the woods, chasing after her. Deeper into the woods, though, he lost sight of the red and white Mobian, and was stopped by another Mobian in a lab coat like Prof. Prower wore whenever Sonic met with him.

"Excuse me," the man asked. "Have you seen any Shroomish in these woods?"

"Oh- sure! Plenty. Just go down this path and-"

Then, a strangely dressed, gruntish-looking figure ran up behind the researcher, wearing a black and white striped shirt and tattered blue-gray pants- he looked like a pirate out of a storybook to Sonic.

"All right, let's get this over with!" he growled at the man in the lab coat, grabbing his arm. "You take too long- I was waiting to ambush you, but you kept dawdling!"

He thrust his hand out at the shocked researcher. "Hand over the papers, now!"

"Hey!" Sonic barked at the pirate man, and the researcher freed himself from the grasp of the startled grunt, only to cower behind the hedgehog.

"What, are you going to protect him?" the strange man puffed. "No one who crosses Team Chaos gets any mercy, not even a kid!" He pulled out a Pokéball and threw it at Sonic's feet. "Go, Poochyena!"

"Treecko! Show 'em what you got!" The Wood Gecko Pokémon leapt off of his Trainer's shoulders to face the opposing Bite Pokémon.

"Poochyena! Use Tackle!"

"Treecko, use Absorb!"

The Poochyena charged at Treecko, knocking the little guy back, but it was just a bump- Treecko opened his mouth as little balls of energy flocked to it from the Dark-Type Pokémon, healing the bump it had made with Tackle.

"Good boy, Treecko! Now use Leer!"

The obedient Pokémon gave the Poochyena a disarming glare, and the Pokémon's fur flattened.

"Poochyena! Use Sand-Attack!"

"Use Quick Attack, Treecko!"

Before the Poochyena could kick up any dirt, Treecko slammed into it, knocking it out.

"Gah!" its Trainer exclaimed, then he glowered at Sonic, who was giving his Pokémon a thumbs-up. "Grr... You've got some nerve meddling with Team Chaos! I'd battle you again if I had more Pokémon, but then again, Team Chaos are also after something in Rustboro. You better be lucky, you blue hedgehog brat!" And the strange pirate Mobian turned tail and fled. Sonic looked back to check on the researcher behind him.

"Thank goodness he didn't take these papers," he said, then he reached into his pocket and handed Sonic an empty blue Pokéball. "Here, for your trouble; it's a Great Ball. It catches Pokémon even better than a normal Pokéball-

"Oh!" the Mobian gasped as something seemed to hit him. "Rustboro! I have to get there fast!" And he darted off to the north, as the Team Chaos Grunt had prior.

"Sounds like trouble, Treecko," Sonic said to his partner. "Whatever this, Team Chaos wants, if they're attacking people to make ends meet then they have to be up to no good, right?"

His Pokémon nodded as he climbed back up on his Trainer's shoulders. "Well, then, let's get going! We gotta stop 'em!"