Are you sitting down? You're about to get a mind full of fun information :D

Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic universe or the Pokémon universe…however, I am totally claiming this method of connecting the two, as I have put a lot of thought and research and reasoning into this. It's my brain baby, and you can't have it. :p

Chapter 16

Guardian of…

"I'm not sure I understand," admitted the professor. Oak lay propped upon a mountain of pillows on one of the beds in the infirmary on strict orders to rest by Nurse Joy. "You say this Chaos creature that has taken over Ash is supposed to be the guardian of your, er, Chaos Emeralds?"

Knuckles nodded solemnly. "We had an encounter with him a while back, but he wasn't acting like much of a guardian at first."

"Nor is he now," Professor Oak pointed out, rubbing his bruised ribs with a wince. "In fact, I would argue that he seems more like a destroyer."

"He can be," Tails said, "when he's upset about something. See, Chaos Emeralds contain unlimited power, but that power is a careful balance between negative energy and real energy. Chaos is made up of pure Chaos Energy and is directly connected to the power of the Emeralds, and when he's upset, he absorbs the negative energy. It kind of…corrupts his programming."

"So…" Dawn ventured, "what you're saying is that, somehow, Ash has absorbed the negative energy of your Chaos Emeralds, which are scattered around this world now?"

Sonic bit his lip and knit his brow. "Maybe," he said, "but that's not really how it worked last time. Chaos—the monster—bonds with Chaos Emeralds to grow more powerful…but I've never seen him bond with a person."

"And for that matter," Shadow added, "how is it that he came to be in this world at all?"

"He wasn't with us when Chaos Control went off, was he?" Rouge asked.

Knuckles shook his head. "I doubt it. We would have known if he was."

Brock frowned. "Something is not adding up here. There has to be a missing piece somewhere that we are not seeing."

A moment of silence passed before Sonic suddenly exclaimed with a huge grin, pointing to Brock, "Oh, I get it! Because your eyes are all squinty!" He laughed, but the rest of the company simply groaned. "Seriously though, how do you even see, dude?"

Brock stared (kind of) blankly, at a loss for words. "Was that a racist joke?"

"We're getting off the point here," Tails interrupted impatiently. "If this Chaos creature was not with us during Chaos Control, then there is only one explanation."

His matter-of-fact statement drew the attention of the infirmary's occupants and the kit looked to Sonic, whose serious face conveyed that he understood what his friend was saying.

"It means," the hedgehog said, "that Chaos was already here."

For several minutes no one said anything—they just allowed this conclusion to sink in. It seemed impossible, but there was no other explanation.

"Professor Oak," Tails said, "and Dawn and Brock…you say that Ash has never acted the way that he has been in these last couple of days before, right?"

The three nodded.

"What are you getting at, little buddy?" Sonic asked.

"I have a theory," the kit began, "but I need your help. Dawn's too. I want you to try something"

"Oh?" the professor said. "And what is that?"

He looked to Dawn, serious but unsure. "I need you to try to…catch him."

…

"I don't like where this is going," the blue hedgehog complained.

The company had migrated from the infirmary to beyond the doors of the Pokémon Center and stood now in the wide-open space under the morning light. With the exception of Professor Oak and Nurse Joy—the former of which being confined to his bed by the latter's no-nonsense policy—the group had gathered together in front of the building, where morning dew glistened like diamonds in the open field. Most were spectators. Two were performers.

"What am I supposed to be doing, exactly?" Dawn called to the kit. She stood several yards from Sonic and the two faced each other as jousters entering battle.

Tails was sitting comfortably on the back of the larger fox-like creature Ninetales, which stood alert and curious. "I'm…not entirely sure," Tails admitted, scratching the back of his head. "Just do whatever you would do if Sonic was a Pokémon. And Sonic?"

"Yeah?" the hedgehog answered uneasily.

"Just, um…do what you would do if you weren't Sonic."

"What does that mean?" Sonic asked.

"Er…Don't dodge."

"Oh this should be good," Rouge grinned, nudging Shadow to offer some popcorn.

Dawn, still unsure, obliged. "Okay. Right. Well, um…First, I would choose one of my own Pokémon to do battle." She reached in her pocket and withdrew a small red and white ball, pressed a button in the center that caused it to grow, and threw it into the air. "Buneary, go!"

A red beam of light shot to the ground as the sphere opened and in a flash the tangible shape of a bunny-like creature formed before the eyes of the onlookers. Knowing it had been called to fight, Buneary had entered the scene in a battle-ready stance.

Now, if there was one thing that Sonic enjoyed more than chilli dogs, it was a fight. The hedgehog smiled, jaw set and eyes fixed on his new opponent, until—

"Tails, I can't fight this thing," Sonic said suddenly, straightening from his defensive position and turning towards the kit. "It's way too cute!" His tone was incredulous and his movements exaggerated as he gestured towards Buneary.

"You don't have to actually fight it," Tails replied, rubbing his forehead. "We're just going through the process. What next, Dawn?"

Dawn continued, "Then we, um, battle…So…Buneary, use Dizzy Punch!"

The furry creature obliged immediately and sprang forward like a bullet, its tiny fist gathering energy as it sailed through the air towards the blue hedgehog.

To Sonic however, as one who can break the sound barrier at a light jog, the Pokémon seemed too cute to be a threat as it approached. And, since it was still adorable and since he had the reassurance of his little buddy, Sonic did not move.

BAM!

Sonic saw stars—or perhaps they were little chirping birds—as Buneary's fist met his jaw and he stumbled backwards, nearly losing his footing. He groaned and blinked and looked around, strangely dazed and seeing triple. "I thought you said I don't have to fight it!" he complained.

Dawn reached in her pocket and retrieved yet another red and white ball. "Then, when the, um, Pokémon is weakened," she explained as the Mobians watched intently, "you use a Pokéball and just—throw it."

Tails leaned forward to watch the sphere as it arched through the air with perfect precision, leaving Dawn's hand and flying towards the confused hedgehog until it reached and bounced off of his head. This was the moment that the kit had been looking for, and he had to witness every single detail of what would happen next.

The ball bounced on contact and for a brief moment it seemed that nothing would happen. But suddenly it opened and, before the Mobians could wrap their minds around what was happening, Sonic disappeared in a burst of red light that shimmered and shrank and was absorbed back into the ball, which promptly closed and fell to the ground where the hedgehog had stood a moment before.

Before anyone could panic, however, the ball burst open less than two seconds after it had settled and Sonic reappeared—in exactly the same place, in exactly the same position, in exactly the same confused state.

"What…just happened?" he asked, shaking his head to dispel the lifting cobwebs. His mind had been muddled, but he still knew enough to realize that he had just lost two seconds of his life to a blank nothingness. To a hedgehog with his speed, two seconds of nothing can seem like a very long time indeed.

"Aha!" Tails exclaimed, leaping from Ninetales' back and into the air, where he twirled his two tails to stay aloft. "It's exactly as I thought!"

"I don't get it," Brock said. "We saw the same thing happen with Shadow when we first met him. You know," he said, turning apologetically to the ebony hedgehog, "when Ash tried to catch you."

"I remember," Shadow muttered, rubbing his left shoulder that still ached from its brief dislocation due to Charizard's attack.

"But if you're not Pokémon," Dawn spoke up, "why does the pokéball work at all? It shouldn't even recognize you."

Tails' eyes shifted as the wheels in his head turned. "I think…hold on."

He zipped back into the building and was followed tout suit by the crowd. Professor Oak had managed to push past Joy and had hobbled his way to the lobby in time to see Tails lifted off the ground by his rear end and flying through the air to the PC, where the kit settled into the seat and set quickly to tapping away at the keys.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked.

Tails never looked up. "I'm using the modified PC to analyze the energy that is expelled from the pokéballs as they capture, contain, and release Pokémon. Whatever it is, it has to be compatible with the life energy of the Pokémon themselves, or else the two energies would simply not recognize each other." He tapped away.

Brock furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't see what that would have to do with anything."

"I'm also comparing the data with what I've already learned by studying Chaos energy back on Mobius."

Numbers and figures and technical mumbo-jumbo flashed over the screen faster than any but Tails could even pretend to understand, and within the minute Tails was smiling one of his genius smiles.

"Corresponding energy signatures, that's it!"

The company exchanged glances. "That's what?" asked Knuckles.

Tails turned to the expectant crowd. "Everything." He flew into the air and landed on two feet in front of them. "Our two worlds are very different—I think we all are aware of that by now. But there's something else about this place that has been bothering me for a while, and I couldn't put my finger on it until now.

"You see," he explained, "The Pokémon world, along with most worlds including ours, are teeming with an unseen force—an energy, or an essence—that flows within every living creature. On Mobius, it's Chaos. So what is it here?"

"That's easy," said Oak. "It's Aura."

"That's right," Brock added. "A while ago, Ash and I and our friends May and Max were visiting Pewter City in the Kanto region. We met a Lucario there who taught us about Aura—the essence inside of each living creature."

Tails turned to him seriously. "Then, to put it in terms that you'll all understand, this Aura…is like Chaos. More than that, though, Aura is Chaos."

Shadow stepped forward. "Are you saying that this world and Mobius are parallel dimensions?"

"Hmm, more like they're two parts of the same dimension…a shared reality, but made of two separate pieces. The corresponding energy is Chaos energy…but the two energies at work here, though similar, aren't the same."

"Wait a second," Rouge broke in. "I thought you just said that this world and Mobius are a part of the same reality."

"I said they were a shared reality, not the same."

"My head hurts," Sonic complained.

"It's complicated," Tails admitted, "and there are still a few pieces missing…like Chaos—the being, not the energy. The shared reality does not explain how Chaos is possessing Ash."

A moment of contemplation passed before Oak said, "Perhaps it does."

The company turned to him, awaiting an explanation.

Professor Oak scratched his chin. "You said earlier that Chaos was a guardian, correct?"

Knuckles nodded. "Of the Chaos Emeralds, yes."

"So, essentially, a guardian of Chaos energy itself?"

"Technically, yes."

A few beats went by and Brock said with a slight smile, "I think I understand what you're getting at, Professor."

"I don't," Dawn admitted.

"Me neither," added Sonic.

Oak smiled. "That shared reality you were talking about, Tails?" His words were quick, his voice rising in excitement—despite the gravity of the situation, this was still pretty cool. "I think I'm beginning to understand it. You see, you have guardians of Chaos on yourworld—and here, we have guardians of Aura. There are some who are able to sense Aura—humans and Pokémon alike—but Aura Guardians are able to sense and manipulate the Aura around and within themselves…much like your Guardian of Chaos!"

"And as we learned in Pewter City," Brock added, "Ash is an Aura Guardian!"

There was a collective gasp.

"So Ash isn't just possessed by Chaos," Sonic observed. "He is Chaos."

Tails scratched his chin and looked to the floor, thinking hard and frowning. "It seems to make sense…but we still don't know why this happened. We don't know why Ash's Aura has taken the form of Chaos, and we don't know why it's been corrupted. It shouldn't have even happened, really. Aura and Chaos, I keep saying they're not the same, but it's not that simple. They are the same, but…I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Does it matter?" Shadow asked. "While we stand around trying to figure it out, Ash is already out there, dangerous and deranged, searching for the Emeralds. If what we've learned so far is correct, then his getting a hold of those right now is a problem for all of us."

Rouge turned to him. "How do you know he's looking for the Emeralds?"

Shadow crossed his arms. "Because he told me. Right before he left, he looked straight at me and said, 'The hunt is on.' He's going to find them, and if he really is a guardian of both Aura and Chaos, then I would say he has an advantage."

"Well then," Rouge winked, "I guess it's a good thing I'm here. Treasure hunting is what I do best."

Oh, and by the way, this story just reached its hundredth page in Microsoft Word.

Wow.