A/N: Decided to put this chapter in Amy's Point of View, if you haven't already guessed by the title! And watch out for the Zorua! *winks* Who knows what he'll do next?
Chapter 3: Sonic, Where Are You?
"Sonic! Sonic, where did you go? Ugh, I can't believe him! Running off like that!" I crouch down in the middle of the yellow trail, noticing not for the first time how much this looks like home. I hope he's even here, I think, wondering if he ended up on Earth instead, since this certainly isn't Station Square.
I walk further down the tree-lined pathway until I come up at a fork in the road. Which way now? I look back and forth between the two, when I notice a little brown rabbit making its way across the left path. "Hey, you! Rabbit!" I call after it, thinking it might be able to help.
It glances over at me curiously, and then turns to dart for cover in the peony bushes. "Hey, wait up! Get back here!" I scream after it, jumping in behind it. I land on my knees, scrambling to get up and chasing after it once more. "I said get back here!"
I follow it until I reach a gigantic oak tree, a tree it scurries inside of in a desperate attempt of escape. I whistle loudly. "Look at the size of that thing, Sonic," I say, forgetting for a moment that he isn't here. With me, like he should be. I crawl inside, realizing immediately that I'm not alone.
There are about ten pairs of eyes in this room, all staring straight at me like I'm some sort of alien. Which I kind of am, on their planet. I sigh, frightening a few of the smaller animals. At least, I think they're animals. They sure aren't like any kind of animals I've seen lately.
"Who are you?" a braver one asks, boring holes through me with his imposing red eyes. He's a few inches shorter than me, and looks awfully like a blue, two-legged dog.
"I'm Amy. Amy Rose the hedgehog," I answer, smiling brightly at the dog-like animal.
"I meant what kind of Pokémon," he answers, sighing in exasperation.
"Oh. Um, just one question: what's a Pokémon?" A bunch of the animals let out gasps of surprise or shock at my question, making me feel even more determined to get out of here. ASAP.
The dog raises an eye at me, unsure whether or not it should take me seriously. Finally, it answers, "You must not be from around here. Tell me, where are you from?"
"Well, I guess you could say I come from very far away," I reply, not very willing to reveal that I'm from a completely different planet. Now that wouldn't be a very easy thing to explain. "A place where there aren't any Pokémon. Could you please answer my question now?"
The animal nods. "Of course. Pokémon are the creatures you'll find living around here. There are many different kinds, as you can plainly see," he explains, gesturing to the other animals, er, Pokémon. "I'm a Riolu."
"Oh, that makes more sense," I say, nodding. "What kind of Pokémon was the rabbit that I chased in here?"
"You mean Buneary?" he asks, pointing at the rabbit.
"Yeah, her. Sorry for scaring you there, Buneary. I was only looking for some help. I'm trying to find a friend of mine. Have any of you seen a blue hedgehog just a bit taller than me, by any chance?"
Most of them shake their heads no, but one Pokémon in particular starts to nod enthusiastically. A feathery eaglet, sitting right in between a little brown dog and a black fox, looks at me, eyes bright as tiny stars, and says, "Yeah, yeah, I saw him! He was near Kaishi Town when I was flying over it earlier today! He was arguing with a Rattata when I stopped to get a closer look."
"That's wonderful, uh…" I glance over at Riolu, wondering what the Pokémon's name is.
"Oh, the name's Rufflet," it answers, puffing out its chest.
"Well, thanks, Rufflet," I reply, smiling at him. "Now, could anyone tell me where Kaishi Town is?"
"We could, but it'd be much easier to show you," the small black fox states, staring at me with a little mischievous glint in its clear blue eyes.
"If you would that'd be great!" I exclaim, looking back at the fox. "You are?"
"Oh, I'm a Pokémon with many names. Including yours," it answers, transforming right before my very eyes into an exact replica of me.
My eyes widen in disbelief as the Pokémon laughs hysterically. "What! How'd you…?"
"Stop trying to scare the poor girl, Zorua. She already has enough to freak out about," a tiny yellow rat says as she pulls the Pokémon's tail, changing him back into his normal form.
"Aw, Pichu, you know I's just playing with the girl! Honestly, do you got to be so serious?" Zorua asks in scorn.
"Well, when you put it that way…" Pichu answers, looking like she's deep in thought. "Yes, yes I do." Zorua sticks his tongue out, making the little brown dog step on one of its toes.
"You guys, we do have a visitor, in case you haven't noticed," it scolds the two Pokémon. "I'm Eevee, by the way."
"Ah, I see. Well, Riolu, could any of your friends be allowed to show me where Kaishi Town is? I really need to find it as soon as I can, if possible."
He sighs in disappointment. "Sadly, Rufflet and Zorua are the only two who know where Kaishi Town is, aside from me, and Rufflet needs to stay, I'm afraid." Great, I'm stuck with the trickster, I think as Zorua winks at me. "Don't think I'd let you go all by yourself with the crafty little Pokémon. Three others may go as well. You can pick them, if you'd like," Riolu replies, grinning empathetically.
"Well, I would like it if Buneary could come along, since we didn't get off to such a good start." Buneary nods shyly, agreeing to go. "And Pichu, I like your attitude, so I hope you'll say yes to coming with us."
"Do I really have to go with him?" she asks disdainfully, nodding her head toward Zorua in annoyance.
"Please?" I plead, hoping she chooses to come.
She thinks for a moment, and finally answers, "Fine. Just make sure Zorua doesn't do anything stupid."
"I can't promise that now, but I'll try. Hm, I'd really like it if you could go," I say, pointing to a little egg-shaped Pokémon.
"Oh, you mean Togepi?" Riolu asks curiously. "Why of course! Togepi needs the outside experience if he'll agree to it. Will you, Togepi?" The eggshell Pokémon nods happily, clapping its tiny hands in excitement.
"That settles it then! You guys ready to go?"
"Ummm…" Buneary trails off reluctantly.
"Time to eat!" a voice calls from deeper inside the tree.
"We got to have lunch first! Want some?" Pichu asks, gesturing for me to follow them farther inside.
"Uh," I say, realizing how long it's been since I've had any food. "Sure."
"Come on then! Or Munchlax will eat it all!" she exclaims, dragging me with her.
"Which one's Munchlax?" I ask, sitting down at their huge wooden table in between her and Zorua.
"FOOD!" I hear a Pokémon scream. I turn to find where the voice came from, and notice a stocky blue one walk in, swallowing an apple whole.
"That's Munchlax," answers Pichu, glaring at the Pokémon like she's going to hoard away all the food for herself. She probably could, I find myself thinking as they pass the bowls of fruits and berries around. She fills her extra-large plate until she's formed an enormous pyramid on it and immediately starts chomping away. More like she's inhaling the food, by the looks of it.
"I see," I say, taking a shiny red apple from a grinning Zorua. It doesn't look poisoned, I think, wondering just how far the trickster would go to scare me half to death. He hasn't killed me off yet, so I suppose it's okay to eat. I take a chance and take a bite.
"Not half bad, eh?" Zorua asks, still giving me that sly smirk of his. I shake my head. Surprisingly, it actually tastes pretty good.
"Definitely better than the ones from home," I answer truthfully, still wondering if he did anything to it.
"Ah. Tell me, where did you say you came from again?" he asks, either trying to annoy me or just attempting to make conversation. Probably the former.
"I came from…a place called Mobius."
"Oh, I see. Never heard of that place before. And you say there aren't any Pokémon there?" Yeah, he's definitely trying to annoy me. He's also trying to make me tell everyone that I'm literally not from here. I wonder why, though?
"Nope, none that I know of."
"Just a bunch of walking, talking hedgehogs?" he questions once more, recalling that I mentioned a certain special blue hedgehog earlier.
"Well, not really. There's also a two-tailed fox. And a rabbit. And, well, a human. Plus a bunch of—"
"Hold on, there's only one human there? How?"
"You never let me finish…" The truth is, I really don't know how Eggman and his cronies ended up there. Guess that's just another mystery of the universe, right?
"So? Are you sure there aren't any other humans?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty positive. I have lived there my whole life, you know." Except for the while we spent in Chris's world.
"Oh" is all he answers back. "Anyone else?"
"If you would let me finish, the human has a bunch of robots. And I'm sure there are a lot of other animals as well; those are just a few of my friends." He nods, and I just hope he's finished with his interrogation.
"You really aren't from here. You'd have to be from a completely different world in order for all that to be true." He's really beginning to get on my nerves.
"But you already knew all this, didn't you?" He slowly nods again, slightly impressed that I saw through his façade.
"Then why did you ask me all those questions?"
"I don't know. I was curious? Geez, take it easy there, hedgehog. I'm just a helpless little fox kid in your world, after all." He chuckles, annoying me even further.
"In my world maybe, but we're not in my world, now are we? Watch it, Zorua. Nobody messes with Amy Rose and gets away with it," I threaten, raising an eye at him.
"Nope. We're not. But we are in my world, and I could just as soon Bite you in the arm before you could so much as lift that hammer of yours that you're hiding," he answers back just as nastily.
Wait, how does he know about my Piko Piko Hammer? I've kept it put away this whole time…? "How did you…?"
"Let's just say it takes a master of disguise to know one when they see it. Trust me, I won't tell anyone. If you promise me something," he states, still grinning at me mischievously.
"Fine, let's hear it," I sigh, knowing I'd do anything for this tricky Pokémon if he'd just help me find Sonic. What I really want to do is play a little bit of Bop-A-Zorua, but that's not going to help me find Sonic any sooner.
"Promise me you'll take me away from here. Forever." I raise my eyes expectantly, ready to hear an explanation for his wanting to leave. However, he just turns to face the rest of the Pokémon, acting like nothing at all has happened between us.
"But won't Riolu miss you? And what about all the other Pokémon?" No answer. He's ignoring me on purpose, I realize unexpectedly. Well then, I'll give him something to ignore. I stomp his left paw with my right boot, making him yelp loudly.
"Oops," I say, feigning remorse. "Sorry."
"Oh, it's fine. Just fine," he replies through gritted teeth.
Seeing as how I'll probably never get anything else out of him, I finally whisper, "Okay, I'll do it."
"Great, I just knew you'd see it my way." Creepy much? Oh well, he's taking me to Sonic. Guess I can't complain too much. Luckily, it looks like no one's heard us, except maybe Pichu, who looks ready to zap the daylights out of Zorua.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure he behaves himself," she murmurs in my ear, her pink cheeks sparkling with unused electricity.
"Er, thanks," I answer, unsure of what else I could say to something like that.
"No problem. Ready to go? I think everyone else has finished their food, except maybe Zorua, who can't shut up long enough to take a single bite. But he'll be fine; he can go hungry if he wants, for all I care." Gosh, with a friend like this, who needs enemies? Almost makes me feel sorry for the little guy. Almost.
"Sure," I finally reply. "We should get going, before it gets too late." She smiles happily, grabbing me by the arm once again as she walks out of the room.
"Come on, Zorua! Don't make me have to drag you too! Bye, you guys! We'll be back soon, hopefully!"
"Yeah, 'bye, everybody!" Buneary exclaims, following behind us with Togepi by the hand.
"Buh-bye!" Togepi shouts over and over, laughing joyfully as he drags Buneary excitedly.
"Yep, see you chumps—I mean, see you guys later!" Zorua says, running past me out the door. The Pokémon wave farewell, all smiling as they watch their friends leave to help me. "Who's having trouble keeping up now, Pichu? Get a move on!" he screams behind him, irritating Pichu even more.
She jerks me as she makes a mad dash for him, and I can already tell this adventure's going to be awfully interesting, at the very least. Hold on, Sonic! I'll find you yet! Or my name's not Amy Rose!