Chapter 3: Sun and Moon
The mysteries of this universe reach into the deepest space. We have tried for centuries to solve them all and have always come up terrifically short. But the dark energy Eggman unleashed is something we think may be beyond even the deepest space. We may never understand its purpose. Then again, perhaps there are some things men are not meant to know. We strive for information that doesn't belong to us. Maybe, in due time, we will be granted the secrets we desire.
But I have delayed this story's continuation long enough.
Sonic and his new friend found themselves in a large metropolis. The sun shone high in the sky as they strode into town. Sonic looked around, curious.
"Where are we?" he wondered.
"I don't know," Hoopa shrugged. "We should ask someone. I'll hide in your shadow."
"Why's that?"
"Because there might be mean people who want to kidnap me," he replied. With that, he flew into the ground and hid himself in Sonic's shadow.
"Fair enough," Sonic said, smiling. With that, he began inquiring about.
"No! I said I needed the six, not the eight!"
"That is the six! See? It's got the number 6 on it!"
"That's the label! It has eight sides on it! I need – UH-OH!"
"NOT AGAAAAAAA–"
The ground suddenly shook a little, startling the people. Sonic also started at this.
"What was that?" he wondered.
"Must've been a small earthquake," Hoopa said from his shadow.
"Earthquake, hm?" Sonic scratched his head.
"No," a bystander said. "That was probably the Prism Tower."
Sonic turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Prism Tower?"
"Yup. It's this city's gym. Clemont, the gym leader, is quite the nut about inventing."
"Huh," Sonic muttered as the bystander walked away. "I wonder what he's up to." With that, he headed towards the tall building in the center of town.
Clemont, as it turned out, had a face covered in soot at the moment. His eyes were wide, and he blinked twice.
"So, uh," his companion said as she grew red in the face, "how many explosions is that, now?"
Clemont shook his face and cleaned it off. "By my count? That's the sixth."
"Great. One more and then comes the moon!"
"Bonnie," Clemont groaned, "this is an important invention. If I can get this right, it'll be able to harness energy from deep underground: energy that's never been uncovered before! It'll save lots of money and help so many people."
"Since when did we care about money?" Bonnie folded her arms.
"You know what I mean," he replied. "Lumiose City is widely known as the center of Kalos. If I can save energy here, the effects will ripple like a drop in a pool. All of Kalos will benefit!"
Bonnie giggled. "You're gonna be spending months getting this right. But then, what should I expect from my big brother?"
"Am I hopeless?" he asked dejectedly.
"Yup! Now let's try again!" she said cheerfully.
He shrugged. Having a little sister can be a pain, but at the end of the day, what are you gonna do?
Sonic looked around the first floor of the tower and found three elevators in front of him. "What's with the elevators?" he said.
"Dunno," Hoopa said, coming out of his shadow. "We should try each of them one by one. Sound like a good idea?"
"Well, I guess that's all we can do," he shrugged. With that, they entered the first elevator.
But as it turned out, the elevators were a maze, with each one going to a specific floor. Naturally, Sonic got hopelessly lost and spent the rest of that afternoon trying to figure it out. Throughout that time, Clemont and Bonnie continued to work on his latest invention, with numerous explosions plaguing their work.
Finally, as the sun began to set in the west, Clemont pulled it together. "Okay," he said. "Let's try this one more time." Bonnie pulled a lever. The machine hummed and sputtered.
But there was no explosion.
"It's working!" Bonnie exclaimed, reading a meter showing the energy levels and sources.
"It is?!" Clemont gasped, looking at the same meter. "It is! We did it!" He picked up his little sister, hugging her while they laughed. "I couldn't have done it without you," he smiled as he put her down.
"Hey, that's what little sisters are for!" she winked. He chuckled.
"Bravo, you two. I must commend your ambitious undertaking."
The two of them froze at the voice that came from all the speakers surrounding them. "Who's there?!" Clemont said.
"You built this to harness energy for people to use? How quaint. You owe them nothing, you fool!"
"Hey! What's going on here?!" Bonnie called, frowning. I don't like this!
"Your hard work has served me well," the voice sneered. Suddenly, the ceiling above opened, the dome-like doors above splitting down the middle.
"What?!" Clemont exclaimed. "I didn't authorize that!"
"Someone's hacking the system!" Bonnie realized.
A singular figure descended from the orange sky above, chuckling malevolently as he did so. "Your new machine will be a great asset to my plans. There's no need to thank me for stealing it. It's just what I do."
The siblings' eyes widened. "It's Dr. Eggman!" they exclaimed.
"Hahaha!" Eggman laughed. "Don't worry about your precious machine, Clemont. I'll take good care of it. I'd return it to you in one piece when I'm finished with it, but I won't be able to do that." A robotic arm began dismantling the machine from its perch.
"No! Stop!" Clemont cried. He threw out a Pokeball. "Luxray! Stop him! Use Wild Charge, now!"
The Pokeball unleashed its energy, which materialized into the gleam eyes Pokemon. "Lux! LuuuuuuxRAYYYYY!" it cried, charging at Eggman's pod. It struck its target, knocking Eggman back.
"Ngh!" Eggman grunted. "You little brat! You'll pay for that!" With that, he fired a laser from his pod that struck Luxray and instantly knocked him out.
"Luxray!" Clemont exclaimed.
"You big bully!" Bonnie shouted. "You give back our machine right now!"
"Shut your mouth, shrimpy!" Eggman snapped back. "I've got big ambitions, bigger than your brother's, and unlike him, I'm going to succeed where he fails!"
The sun may have been setting in Kalos, but in Kanto it had just reached its peak. As it blazed in the sky, a sweat-laden trainer dragged himself to his quaint home.
"Boy, that was some training session, huh, Pikachu?" Ash said to his best friend.
"Pikapika," Pikachu agreed.
He walked into his house. "Okay, how about some lunch?" He headed straight for the refrigerator, only to find half the food gone. "What?! Who – MAY!"
"Hm?" came a voice from the adjacent room. May poked her head out, her face stuffed with food. "Whphmphmphm?"
"Did you eat all that food?!"
"Nmm, mphmphmphmph –"
"I can't understand a word you're saying."
May chewed her food and then swallowed. "Sorry," she blushed sheepishly. "No, I didn't take all that food, just the essentials."
"Essentials?" Ash raised an eyebrow, puzzled by her interesting choice of words. "Whataya mean by that?" He started walking into the room to see what she was eating.
"It's nothing, Ash!" she frantically tried to push him away. "I was just a little hungry, no need to peek in, I was just –"
Her frantic pleading got cut off when Ash's jaw fell to the floor. The entire dining table, which had enough room for six people, was covered with dishes of all shapes and sizes. Remains of various meats, bread loaves, and even some candy wrappers were strewn all over the place.
"– a little...hungry…" May finished, defeated.
Ash looked at her, eyes still wide, though his jaw was off the floor now. "Oh," was all he said. "These are the essentials, are they?"
"Um," May stammered, trying to find something to say.
"I overpacked!" he said, starting to laugh. "I brought a sleeping bag, a picnic blanket, and Pokemon food while I traveled, but all I needed was this! THESE are the essentials!" He was laughing pretty hard now, with May and Pikachu joining in as well.
After that little fiasco, they made a relatively simple lunch with some of the leftover bagels. Ash went into the living room with his bagel.
"You're eating out there?" May asked.
"Yeah," he said, getting comfortable as he took a bite. "Wanna join me?"
"Is that a question?" she winked. She followed her boyfriend into the room and sat next to him while he turned on the TV. "Any good shows on?"
"Probably not," he shrugged. "All the good shows stopped airing some time after I started traveling."
"Do you like Wheel of Fortune?"
"Sure."
May took the remote and turned it to that channel. To their dismay, the guessing contestant was stumped on a fairly obvious puzzle.
"What's so hard about that?" Ash wondered as he took a bite from his bagel. "Isn't it 'Celebrity-something-Mara Bean?'"
"Celebrity Chef," May said. "But yes, that's right."
They continued to watch, only to facefault when they saw the contestant make a ridiculously stupid guess.
"How did he not know the first word was 'celebrity?!'" Ash cried.
"Maybe we should change the channel," May said with a mouthful of bagel in her mouth, clicking the remote. They shuffled through a few more shows before coming to the Noon News. "What a dumb name for a news show," May muttered.
"I told you there weren't any good shows on anymore," Ash replied after swallowing some bagel.
They watched a story about a typical celebrity scandal, a car chase in Johto, and an update on the weather.
"We now turn our attention to Lumiose City in Kalos, where a frightening turn of events is taking place."
"Lumiose City?" Ash said, his eyes growing wide. "Oh no."
"The entire city is caught in a blackout," the reporter went on. "Only Prism Tower remains lively. However, it's recently been confirmed that this is not because of a backup energy source."
"What's going on?" May wondered, swallowing.
Then the reporter got straight to the point. "The authorities have confirmed that none other than Dr. Ivo Robotnik, or, as many people know him, Dr. Eggman, has seized control of Prism Tower and is using it to draw energy out of the city."
"Eggman!?" Ash and May exclaimed at the same time.
"Pi Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed likewise.
Ash clenched his fists in anger. "Back at it again, is he?"
"Come on!"
He looked up in surprise to see that his girlfriend was scampering about, gathering her stuff. "May?"
"What are you waiting for?!" she snapped. "Hurry up and get some Pokemon! We gotta help them!"
Ash and Pikachu looked at each other, then smiled. "Right! Let's go!" Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. "To answer your question from the other day, that's why I love her so much."
"Pikachu," Pikachu smirked.
"Ugh!" Clemont groaned. "Bonnie! See if you can reach the knot!"
"I'm trying!" she replied, trying in vain to grasp the knot that tied the two siblings up back to back.
"Try all you want, shrimp," Eggman sneered. "Even if you succeed, you'll be too late to get your precious machine back!"
"No!" Clemont cried as Eggman started to take it away. "Stop! Please!"
Eggman rolled his eyes. "Why do they always say 'please?'" he grumbled to himself. "Do they think pleading for mercy's going to change my mind?"
It was at that moment that the light above the door to that floor's elevator suddenly flashed with a ding sound. Everyone turned their heads that way. The elevator doors opened.
"Whew!" the inhabitant muttered, wiping sweat from his brow (or whatever he had). "Finally! I thought we'd never – WHAT?!"
Clemont's eyes widened with a smile.
"It's Sonic!" Bonnie cried.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Eggman bellowed in rage. "I had a hunch that fall from space wouldn't finish you off, but then you have to show up right as I'm about to seize control of a powerful weapon! How'd you even know I was here?!"
"I didn't," Sonic snapped. "I was trying to get up here so I could talk to Clemont. Looks like I came in the knick of time."
"Not this time," his nemesis grinned evilly. "I've already disconnected the weapon from Prism Tower. You're not going to catch me before I get away with it! Hahahahaha!" With that, he started to fly away.
"Ugh!" Sonic cried. "Hang on, you guys. Let me untie you real quick."
"No!" Hoopa suddenly popped out of his shadow. "Let me! You go stop Eggman!"
"Hoopa!?" Bonnie and Clemont exclaimed.
"Thanks, Hoops," Sonic gave him a thumbs-up and ran after Eggman. "Hey, Egghead! How 'bout we play a little game of 'Sonic Jump?'" he taunted.
"What, do you think that putting your name in front of something automatically makes it cooler?!" Eggman shot back, his scowl illuminated by the sun, which by now was almost gone. The moon was starting to rise. "Don't even think about it! I have the high ground!"
"Never stopped me before!" Sonic cheered. With that, he jumped onto Clemont's machine and started pulling himself up. Eggman, however, was prepared for this and discharged energy from his pod through the machine, shocking Sonic. He lost his grip for a moment, but he managed to grab the edge of the machine before he fell back down. He started climbing again, only to meet the same result. He tried a third time. This time, Eggman upped the outage, shocking Sonic so much, he didn't recover in time to grab the machine again. With that, he fell helplessly to the top of the tower, illuminated only by the last light of the sun as it descended below the horizon.
"Hahaha!" Eggman laughed. "Better luck next time, you pesky hedgehog!"
"Ugh," Sonic grumbled. "He's been practicing. No time to be cocky. I gotta get serious. UNGH!" He suddenly clenched his stomach and began convulsing violently.
"Sonic!" the now freed Bonnie and Clemont exclaimed, rushing up to him. "What's wrong?"
"No!" Sonic cried as dark energy violently crackled around him. "Not again! G-Get away from me! You'll get hurt!"
All of Lumiose City was dark and quiet as the moon shone in the sky. The only other light was that of a Charizard's tail as it zoomed over the city. But no one noticed that this Charizard had two riders on it, one holding the other for safety.
"Ash, look!" May pointed to the top of Prism Tower.
"Huh?" Ash exclaimed. "Aha! There they are! Charizard, you know what to do!"
Charizard grunted in agreement and rocketed towards the tower.
"You won't get away with this, Eggman!" Clemont shouted from below in a desperate attempt to intimidate the doctor. Naturally, it didn't work.
"Idiot," Eggman retorted, but he was so high up now that Clemont couldn't hear him. "I already have, and now nothing is going to stop me." He chuckled malevolently as he adjusted his mustache.
"Not so fast, Eggman!"
The sudden voice caught him so off-guard that he pulled a hair from his mustache. "Yowch! What the –?!"
Eggman and his pod immediately found themselves on the receiving end of a Charizard's Flare Blitz. He was so disoriented that he lost control of his pod. Clemont's machine broke free and started falling towards the tower.
"Clemont, look!" Bonnie exclaimed.
"It's cut free!" Clemont cried.
"Oh no you don't!" Eggman snapped, recovering himself and suspending the machine with a tractor beam.
The Charizard descended and landed next to the siblings while its riders hopped off. "Word on the street was you needed a hand," Ash grinned.
"Ash!" Clemont and Bonnie cried in joy.
"Uh, guys," Hoopa said. "I hate to interrupt this reunion party, but we got trouble!"
Everyone looked up to see Eggman drawing the machine back towards himself with the tractor beam.
"Oh no you don't!" Ash shouted, mounting Charizard while leaving May and Pikachu below. They took off after Eggman and rammed into his ship with another Flare Blitz.
"Ngh!" Eggman grunted, holding fast this time. "You stupid brat! Why do you and Sonic always have to foil my plans?!"
"Everyone's gotta have a hobby," Ash winked at him. "Charizard! OVERHEAT!"
Charizard quickly unleashed a massive torrent of flames, swallowing Eggman in them. When they dissipated, Eggman was flying into the sky.
"Curse you, Ketchum!" he shouted as he blasted off. "You're going to pay for this!" Then, with a twinkle, he disappeared.
The machine, freed from the tractor beam, plummeted towards the tower below. Clemont and Bonnie's eyes widened when they realized it was heading for them.
"Uh-oh!" Clemont said.
"Get out of the way!" Bonnie snapped at him, pushing him away.
"What?! BONNIE!"
Time seemed to slow down as Bonnie looked back up to see the machine fall towards her. Her eyes widened, then she shut them tightly, holding her arms up to brace herself. But before she felt anything, something shoved her out of the way, tumbling across the floor. Then, with a horrible slam, the machine hit the ground.
Ash descended and, after recalling his Charizard, ran over to Bonnie. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Ungh," she grunted. "My arm hurts."
"I'm sorry," Ash said.
"Um, Ash?" Clemont said with a trembling voice. Ash turned in his direction. He was looking at the machine...and who it was laying on.
"Oh no," Ash said, his voice barely above a whisper. "MAY!" He began pushing and pulling at the machine, frantically trying to get it off of his girlfriend.
"Hang on!" Bonnie cried, rushing over to help. Clemont and Hoopa quickly joined as well, but their combined strength couldn't move it.
"No!" Ash grunted. "No, please...not like this." He fell to his knees, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Please, May..."
Suddenly, the machine started moving. Someone was moving it! Surprised, Ash and the others backed away and watched in awe as a frightening creature lifted it up.
"GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Sonic the Werehog roared, throwing the machine to the side. It rolled and clattered, then came to a stop. A tinkling sound could be heard, indicating the machine was broken. Clemont's expression fell a moment before he turned back to the situation at hand.
Ash's eyes were wide. "What the…"
Sonic's breathed heavily and angrily, but his expression softened when he saw his friend.
"Baseball Head..."
"Sonic…"