Chapter 29: A Shocking Realization

As the sun rose the next morning, Sonic sat on the Ketchums' front porch, arms folded. With the light of the sun, his form returned to normal. He closed his eyes, breathed in the fresh morning air and sighed in content.

"Enjoying your rest?"

His eyes shot open at the sound of the dark voice. He turned and saw a familiar dark figure standing next to him, arms folded with a perpetual frown. "Shadow?" Sonic said, tensing up. "What do you want?"

"The day is young," Shadow replied, "but the darkness is slowly growing. Soon there will be no light left."

Sonic blinked, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you know where you're going?" Shadow asked.

"Uh...not exactly," the blue hedgehog shrugged. "We know we're going to find the last Chaos Emerald. Tails said it's in a region far away from here that's relatively unknown."

"I see," Shadow nodded. "Well, I'm afraid you're too late. The doctor's already got it. He has two emeralds, and that's all he needs to get what he wants."

"Eggman?" Sonic's eyes widened.

"He's built an amusement park called Eggmanland in the region of Ferrum, and he's using it to slowly seize control of that whole region. From there, he could easily take control of the world."

Sonic was shocked. "But...how is that possible? And why are you telling us?"

"I don't know how it's possible," Shadow shook his head, "but I do know that you are the only ones who can stop him. I figured you'd want to know."

"What about you?" Sonic asked. "Can't you help us?"

"Not exactly," the black hedgehog replied. "I lost a lot of my power to a dark being some time ago, and I still haven't fully recovered. However, I've been watching all of you from a distance to ensure your safety. That's why I came here to tell you."

Sonic was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded. "Then we have to fly to Ferrum as quickly as possible."

"No!" Shadow said. "Eggman's air defense is top-notch. The Tornado NX will be destroyed beyond repair. You have to go by sea."

"By sea? But doesn't he have defense for that, too?"

"Yes, but it's nowhere near as powerful as his air defense. He's expecting you to come by air. If you go by sea, you'll be able to get into Ferrum without him noticing."

"Under his Baldy McNosehair," Sonic chuckled. "Then it's settled. We set out for Ferrum by sea and storm Eggmanland."

"It's not quite that simple," Shadow stopped him. "There's something else: a dark foe you cannot defeat on your own. If you are found, you will be killed."

"Killed?" Sonic said, a bit more quietly. "A dark foe...I think I know what you're talking about."

"Then you know you must protect yourselves from him."

Sonic nodded. "So what do we do? Perhaps Tails has some sort of cloaking device to hide us from prying eyes."

"Technological cloaking is good, but it can only hide from so much. The darkness is not hindered by technology. You need to use Chaos to hide yourselves."

"Chaos?" Sonic raised an eyebrow (or whatever he had). "How can we do that?"

"You can't," Shadow said bluntly. "You need more experience with the power of Chaos to hide yourselves. That's why I will help you."

Sonic listened intently to his rival, then nodded. "Do what you must. Eggman must be stopped." With that, he turned and walked inside, as the sun was now high in the sky.

"If only you knew," Shadow whispered. "Our true enemy is far worse than the doctor could ever be."

It took a couple hours to rally everyone, but by noon everyone was ready to go. Misty and Brock joined the party (Tracey stayed behind as Professor Oak's assistant), along with a newly-revived Ash, now dressed in his Kalos outfit once again. After promising his mom that he would return, he and everyone else boarded Tails' armored boat. They headed to the center of the boat.

"I need a Chaos Emerald," Shadow said. Sonic handed him one. Shadow held it above his head, channelling energy through it, and dropped it onto a pedestal. It glowed a moment before returning to normal. "There," the black hedgehog said. "Now as long as this is here, you will all be invisible to anything outside the cloaking field. Nothing will be able to see you or find you."

"Thank you, Shadow," May smiled at him. "I don't know what we'd do without you."

"I wouldn't try to think about it," he replied. Then he turned to leave. "I'm sure you'll all be okay. When you get to Ferrum, use Tails' radar to follow the seventh emerald's location. It will lead you to Eggmanland. There, confront the doctor and shut him down."

"We will," Ash nodded, fist pumped.

"Pikachu."

"Very well, then," Shadow nodded, and left.

"Why doesn't he come with us?" Misty wondered aloud.

"His power is weak," Sonic said. "He's still recovering."

"How did that happen?" Brock wondered.

"I don't know," Ash shivered. "But I get the feeling that we'll be finding out very soon."

Shortly after Shadow's departure, the boat set sail. Things went very smoothly for three hours afterwards. The sky stayed clear, the sun shone brightly, and there were only a few white clouds dotting the sky. Three hours after departure, Ash was sitting in the sunlight, enjoying himself.

That was when he heard a faint but strange noise. His eyes opened, and he looked up, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him. Then he heard it again. Curious, he stood up and walked to the edge of the boat, craning his head so he could hear. The noise came a third time, and though it was still faint, he got a better idea of what he was hearing. It sounded like a roar, but not a savage roar of anger. On the contrary, it sounded more majestic and powerful than anything.

"Was that a Pokemon?" he murmured. "I wonder…"

"Wonder what?"

"Ah!" he exclaimed, startled. "Oh, jeez...really, Misty?"

"Sorry," the redhead shrugged. "You seemed lost in thought. Whatcha doing?"

"Nothing, really," he replied, looking back to the sea. "I heard a roar from far away."

"A roar?" Misty raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that concerning?"

"No," Ash shook his head. "It was really far away, and it didn't sound too threatening, really. It sounded more majestic than anything."

Misty blinked in confusion, then smiled. "Sounds about right for you: always looking for a new adventure. Say, that reminds me: how long has it been since you left Kalos?"

"Only a few days. After that whole fiasco with Eggman, I couldn't afford to –"

"That's not what I meant," Misty interrupted him. "I was talking about your journey out there."

"Oh," Ash blinked. "Well, it's...probably been about eighteen months, now. I've had a hard time figuring out where to go next."

"I see," she nodded. "So you've been on an extended hiatus?"

"I guess so," he shrugged. "Mom was talking about taking me for a vacation for my birthday. I liked the idea, but we haven't been able to finalize anything because of everything that's been happening."

"Well, when all this blows over, I guess you can figure that out, then," Misty smiled, patting him on the back. Then she walked away. Ash watched her go with a smile.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I hope so."

That was when another, much more ominous sound reached his ears: thunder! His eyes widened, and he looked up to a shockingly dismal sight. The sky had gone from being bright blue to being completely overcast in gray since he started talking to Misty! After a moment, however, he relaxed as he realized:

"We must be getting close to Ferrum."

You won't go any farther.

His eyes widened in horror. A flash of lightning blinded him a moment. When he could see again, a familiar figure hovered above him.

"You!" he cried.

Yes the figure sneered. I suppose I haven't properly introduced myself to you, specifically. I am the Messenger of the darkness, and I have a delightful message for you.

"What do you want?!" he shouted. "And how did you find us?!"

Hmhmhmhmhm the Messenger chuckled darkly as it lowered to his level. I could answer that, but I think Shadow already answered it for me: I've been watching all of you from a place where you cannot find me. You cannot hide from me!

Ash glared at the Messenger with anger. "Why are you here?" he growled. "What do you want?"

I want you to live the dark figure snarled. I want you to do what you have come here to do so that we may make you suffer. Then you will know true pain, and you will beg for death!

"NO!" Ash screamed. No sooner had he done so than the Messenger vanished from sight. He clenched his fists angrily.

"Ash! Are you okay?"

He turned and saw May run up to him. "I'm fine," he said.

"Did the Messenger say anything?"

His eyes widened. "You saw them, too?"

"Yes. They appeared to me before I came back to Petalburg and joined you guys. Looks like they're back again. What did they say?"

"They said they were going to make me suffer or something." He looked back to where the Messenger had been. "But how could they have found us? Shadow said we were invisible!"

"That's right," May nodded. "He said that as long as the Chaos Emerald stood on that pedestal, we'd be invisible." She looked towards the center of the boat. "Something must've happened!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the chamber with the emerald. What they saw astounded them:

The emerald was untouched, and Sonic stood right next to it, guarding it like a hawk.

"Sonic!" Ash cried.

"Huh?" the blue hedgehog looked up. "What's up?"

"Did anything happen in here?"

"No, why do you ask?"

Ash and May looked at each other, wild confusion in their eyes. "No reason," Ash shook his head. "Thanks." With that, they walked away. "That makes no sense," he said.

"The emerald didn't move at all," May breathed. "And yet the Messenger found us. How is that possible? Didn't Shadow say the emerald would protect us?"

"Yes," Ash nodded. "He said as long as the emerald was there, we'd be invisible to anything outside the field."

"Anything outside the field," May repeated quietly. Then her eyes widened in horror. "Ash…"

"Yeah?"

She looked at him with a pale expression. "The field protects us from what's outside...but not from what's inside!"

Ash blinked. "What are you saying?"

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head as the shocking reality of what was going on racked her mind: "No, it can't be true. Tell me it isn't true!"

"What?!" Ash cried. "May, what is it?!"

She relaxed a moment, then looked up at him, though her eyes were still filled with horror as she told Ash what she just found out:

"Ash," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "I think someone on this ship is betraying us!"