Chapter 2

Barry sat in the shade of a pine tree to block the glare of the setting sun. On his phone, there was a little blue light that meant his camera was on. It was probably still morning in Michelle's time zone, he thought to himself. She might be preparing a late breakfast for the kids. Imagining this only made him homesick, so he wasted no more time in calling her.

He was afraid she wouldn't pick up until he heard her voice on the fourth ring. "Hello."

"Good morning, Michelle. How's life in the United States?"

"Well, everything is all right here at home. If you're asking about the current president, let's just say he could use some of your experience. I didn't know how impactful he could be until I experienced it myself." Just thinking of his duties as president made Barry more tired. "Anyways enough about me tell me what you've been up to?"

"Well, I just had a chat with the professor about the Pokémon I caught. Turns out it is rare. He wanted to keep it for himself."

"Oh it wouldn't be fair if he just took it for his research, would it? Anyways, it'll be nice when all this magic and Pokémon business is sorted out. I hope you'll come home and visit after this next tournament."

Barry wasn't listening. He was distracted by the smell of beef stew coming from Joe's cooking pot. "Uh, yeah, right" said Barry.

"Well, I look forward to it. Hope all goes well. See you, Barry." Michelle hung up and left Barry wondering if he had unknowingly agreed to something. Barry figured it was the same thing she always said: after the tournament he should come back home. Of course, he would only be able to do this if he lost. Truth be told, he really wanted to become champion of the UK region. That way he could set things straight. Currently, he didn't know what to expect. If he was champion, though, he would have almost unfathomable power to create his ideal world. His chest tightened a little bit when he thought about what might happen if this power fell into the wrong hands. This tournament was theoretically the best way to decide a leader. He felt that the right decision was made by the Ministry of Magic in that regard.

"Hey, Barry! Food's ready!" Barry was pulled out of his fantasy by Joe's voice. "This stew is really good!"

"It looks like it was made on a budget," said Barry half joking.

"That doesn't matter, just taste it."

"You're right. Of course it's good." said Barry, slurping.

Joe took out two Pokéballs and threw them into the air. Suddenly, a Pikachu and a Jigglypuff appeared. "You going to let yours out as well?" asked Joe.

"Yeah, I was just about to." Barry took his Pokéballs and tossed them. Then, four Pokémon stood before him: Machoke, Wartortle, Rapidash, and the blue Pokémon they had come to know as Sonic the Hedgehog.

"You like beef stew?" Joe inquired. Both Sonic and Machoke silently took a bowl. "Not trying to run away this time eh?" Joe said to Sonic who responded with a blank look.

"You said I couldn't catch you because I didn't know anything about Pokémon," said Barry.

"Well, you still caught me" said Sonic finally. "Of course, you still don't know anything about Pokémon if you think I'm one."

"Ah, you're from a different dimension, an ultra beast," said Joe clarifying. "That's closer to the truth" admitted Sonic. "Now I'd like to ask something of you," said Sonic finishing his stew. "Your world is in danger."

Joe almost spit out his soup. "What? How?"

"I was brought here from my world by someone known as Eggman. I have to stop him, or else you'll end up his slave."

Barry was stunned. Joe questioned sonic "You expect us to believe this? I bet this is a trick to get us to release you."

"Just how is this Eggman going to make us slaves?" asked Barry.

"The chaos emeralds. They grant you enormous power. They are artifacts from my world."

Joe looked to Barry. "Do you believe this guy?"

"Yes. If he's telling the truth, it should become obvious soon enough."

"You're not telling me that you're going to release him, are you?"

"No," Barry turned to Sonic. "We are going to work together."

Sonic made a disapproving sort of gesture "Looks like I don't have much of a choice. We'll have to get started looking right away."

"We just need to find one right? Then we can set a trap if Eggman is looking for them," suggested Barry. "No, that will make our job much more difficult. We want Eggman to obtain as few chaos emeralds as possible." Joe chimed in.

"How about we ask the Ministry of Magic if they know anything?"

"What's that?" asked Sonic.

"The authority on magic and our next destination." replied Barry.