Chapter 4

When the group arrived at Mt. Alp, it was a crisp day. Sonic had led the way, always complaining that no one was going fast enough. Joe and Barry's faces read "please shut up" but Sonic didn't comprehend the thought of slowing down. Barry let him run on ahead and Joe accepted this new speedy annoyance was now part of his life. At the base of Mt. Alp, the path lead to the mouth of a cave.

"Hold up" said Joe. "Let's climb the mountain. It's dark inside so we won't be able to see anything."

Barry sighed. Sonic looked at the steep mountain face incredulously. "Screw that idea. I'm not even sure we can climb that."

"Look, I'll show you." Joe ran over and started climbing. With each step he launched fist sized rocks to the ground below him. He made it ten feet before he turned around and huffed. "See? Perfectly fine."

Sonic protested. "We have a straightforward path inside the mountain and you want me to climb it instead?!" he turned to Barry pleadingly.

Barry grumbled. "He's afraid of the dark."

"No I'm not!" Shouted Joe from above.

Barry looked up at Joe and gave his command "We're going through. It doesn't matter if we can or can't climb. We're looking for the chaos emeralds and we don't have time for a huge detour."

Joe took a moment before meekly responding "Fine."

The inside of Mt. Alp was eerily quiet. Joe's Pikachu knew Flash, and the light from that cast shadows on the walls of Zubat. There was the ambiance of a calm before the storm. The group had gone off the beaten path in search of chaos emeralds, but no one was yet ready to admit that they were lost. At about the time they were going to give in and find a way out, they heard voices.

"Ow, ow, ow that red one was feisty," said an unknown voice.

"Yeah! I say we cut our losses; one of these gems is enough," said another deeper voice.

"Yeah, we'll just tell the boss we only found one."

"He might only be able to hold one," the other laughed.

From around a corner, the duo came into view. Two men dressed in black stopped in their tracks. Their Voltorb gave Joe an angry look. Joe shrugged as if to communicate an apology. Meanwhile Barry and Sonic had their gazes fixed on two red R's on the men's outfits.

"Team Rocket," said Barry under his breath.

"Get lost, Knuckleheads." said the shorter deep voiced man.

"Ye yo gonna be a flat toast but how we are busy right now but if we weren't busy!" The tall man gave a manic look, and before the group could unbeffuddle themselves, he threw out a Koffing. "Koffing smokescreen!"

The scene was quickly blotted out by a thick cloud. Barry, Joe, and Sonic dropped to their knees and gasped for air.

Suddenly, Joe opened his eyes. The smoke was gone. Had he been sleeping? "Pikachu, Flash." A faint glow started to reveal the cave. He looked around to see Sonic and Barry were coming to. Joe turned around and gave a yelp. "Yeuchaa!?" He quickly took a karate stance. Before him stood a red, angry dog looking thing with gloves. Its arms hung from its shoulders in a way that gave the impression that the small gem it was holding actually weighed a ton. Its whole body was covered in scratches and it moved slowly.

"Knuckles?" said Sonic weakly.

"Sonic!? I—I can't belie—" but Joe had taken his chance. A Pokéball bounced off the creature's head and swallowed the thing. One. Two. Three. Click. Joe beamed and giggled as he picked up the Pokéball.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Sonic was livid. "How-?! Why-?! What are you doing?!" Sonic stammered.

"I was catching a Pokemon?" Joe responded innocently enough.

"Whaagrrr" Sonic wailed.

"Hey, I found something." Barry hunched over the spot Knuckles was moments before.

Joe's eyes widened "A chaos emerald! Good work, Barry!"

Sonic looked like he was about to learn the move Explosion. "I can't believe you just did that."

"And I can't believe you are still complaining nonstop." said Joe. "Maybe it's time for a break" Joe said to Barry.

"No you-!" but Sonic was recalled before he could say another word.

"I'm tired of him trying to boss us around too," said Barry. And so Sonic spent the rest of the uneventful trip through Mt. Alp inside his Pokéball.