Chapter 31: A Phenomenal Phase-Off
"Um, Doctor?" James called.
"What is it?" Eggman asked, walking over to him. They were in the main control hub of Eggmanland.
"The twerps have arrived in Ferrum. They're on their way here right now."
Eggman looked at James' monitor and, seeing the evidence for himself, nodded. "Then it's time to launch our third wave." He turned to Jessie and Meowth. "Release Weapon 001!"
"Yes sir!" they saluted as they walked over to the switch. Jessie moved to press it, but hesitated.
"What is it?" Meowth asked.
"It's just," she said quietly, "the last time someone tried to capture the three birds, the world was nearly destroyed. Is it really all right to use them as weapons like this after the last time?"
Meowth shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is we got a job to do."
Jessie sighed in resignation and pressed the switch.
After crossing a small body of water to reach the Ferrum mainland, the group began making their way towards Old Ferrum Town. Nia walked in front of them as their guide.
"This place seems kinda chill," Sonic muttered. "I could get used to this."
"I suppose," Ash muttered, a grim expression on his face.
"Huh?" Sonic raised an eyebrow (or whatever he had). "Something the matter, Baseball Head?"
"Uh...maybe," he said. "Something just tells me that this region isn't the easiest place to live. Aura connects me to nature like that, you know?"
"An acute observation, Ash!" Nia grinned as they walked along. "Ferrum is known for a few things, including its abundance of iron. Iron is all over the place, which would usually make it fairly unsuitable for planting gardens, sustaining wildlife, and other natural processes."
"Then how do people get by out here?" Sonic wondered.
"Simple: there's a mysterious energy in the Ferrum region that allows Pokemon and humans to bond in a unique way and counteracts iron's negative effects: Gaia energy!"
"Gaia energy," Ash repeated. "Shadow told me about that a while back. Is this where it comes from?"
"Mostly, but there are rare sources outside the region as well. This is just the biggest of them all."
"Interesting," Ash mused.
"You think this is why Eggman wanted to set up camp out here?" Sonic suggested to him.
"Maybe."
"You mean he wants to steal the Gaia energy?" Nia asked in surprise.
"It's just a thought," Sonic said.
"Maybe not, actually," she replied. "We have monitors keeping track of the amount of Gaia energy in the region. As of late, the energy level's been declining at an alarmingly steady rate. It's causing everyone to become more sluggish, along with a myriad of other problems."
"Really?" Ash raised an eyebrow. "Then that probably means –"
GYAOO!
Everyone froze at the sound. "Did you hear that?" Tails said.
"I sense trouble," Knuckles grit his teeth.
Suddenly, an ice-cold wind blew through, sucking the heat from their bodies. "Ugh!" Dawn cried. "Where's this coming from?"
"Piiikaaaa," Pikachu shivered, shrinking back a bit from the heat.
"Hang on, Pikachu," Ash said, opening up his shirt and putting his best friend in. "There. Now we'll both be warm."
"Pikachu," Pikachu thanked him.
GYAOO!
"There it is again!" Serena cried. "Are we under attack?"
"I don't recognize the sound," Nia murmured. "Is it a foreign Pokemon?"
Ash's eyes suddenly perked. "Not to me," he replied with steely determination, fists clenched. As if in response to his words, a shadow suddenly blotted out the sun. It floated gracefully yet jaggedly to the ground, glaring at the group.
"It's Articuno!" Bonnie cried.
"Well that explains a lot," May muttered.
"Articuno!" Ash shouted, pointing at the majestic bird. "I know why you're here: Eggman's controlling you somehow, and he wants you to take us down. Well even if he can control your body, he can't control your will. I know you don't want to do this, and you don't have to. Fight back! Resist him! He doesn't own you! You don't have to fight us, and we can all go our separate ways without any needless battle. But if you do intend to challenge us, then you can rest assured we won't back down!" The legend stared down at the human in admiration as he lowered his hand. "The choice is yours," he finished. "But I think I know what's in your heart."
Serena blinked, frowning slightly. "How can he say that?" she muttered. "How can he claim to know what's in the heart of a Pokemon he may never have met?!"
"It's in his nature."
The blonde girl turned to Brock in surprise. "What?"
"He's always had the ability to see the good in everyone, even his enemies. If he thinks there's a way to convince them to abandon evil, he'll try to guide them down that path. But if not, he'll fight back with everything he's got." The Pokemon doctor smiled a bit. "He truly is one of a kind."
Serena listened, then nodded, though she still frowned. "That's also a weakness of his, if you ask me," she muttered to herself so no one else could hear.
Articuno looked at Ash as though considering his words, then shook its head and fired an Ice Beam at him. Anticipating this, he leapt to the side and somersaulted. Pikachu fell out of his jacket in the action.
"Pikachu!" he cried. Pikachu, however, was already on his feet. He ran to May and jumped into her arms to stay safe. Ash quietly thanked her and got back up to face their adversary. "I had a bad feeling you wouldn't be able to break free," he said sadly. "Don't worry. We're going to save you!"
"KAAAAAAAAAAAA!" was Articuno's response, as it flapped its wings and created another icy breeze. This time, Ash became numb and unable to move. Articuno raised its beak to fire another Ice Beam. But before it could unleash its attack, something grabbed its head and yanked it around.
"Let's see how long you can keep up that big attitude!" Sonic yelled as he pulled at its head.
"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed.
"Tails!" he called back. "Get everyone to Old Ferrum Town, quick! We'll take care of this bird-brain!"
"Okay," Tails nodded. "Come on, guys! Nia, can you take us?"
"Yes," she nodded. "But what about them?" she said, pointing to Ash and Sonic.
"I'll keep an eye on them," Dawn volunteered.
"Are you sure about that?" May asked.
"Yes! No need to worry! Go!" she smiled innocently.
No need to worry? May thought bitterly. Easy for you to say. You don't know that one of us is a traitor.
"May!" Amy called, tugging her hand. "Let's go, now!"
May nodded and, after giving Ash a farewell glance, ran off. Ash watched her go, knowing what she was thinking.
Don't worry, May he thought. If Dawn's the traitor, we'll still be okay.
"Whooaaaaaa!" Sonic cried as Articuno hurled him from its head. He fell flat on his face in the dirt.
"Are you okay?" Ash asked, rushing up to him.
"Yeah," he said, getting up and brushing himself off. "But we've got bigger problems."
Articuno attacked them again with another Ice Beam. They leapt to the side. "Try this on for size!" Sonic taunted. He leapt up, curling into a ball, and shot through the air towards the bird. In response, Articuno used Ice Beam to create a wall of ice. It was so strong, Sonic bounced off of it and slammed into the ground again. He quickly leapt back up as Ash ran up to him again.
"Dawn!" Ash called. "Can you lend us a hand?"
Dawn shook her head sadly. "My Pokeballs! That cold wind earlier must've made them malfunction!"
"What?!" he cried. He pulled out his own Pokeball. Sure enough, it was coated in ice, unusable. "Oh, no."
"Ash!" Sonic called. "Watch out!"
"Gah!" Ash cried, leaping to the side to avoid another Ice Beam attack. "That was close."
"We'll have to work together to take this bird-brain down," Sonic said.
Ash looked back at him and grinned. "I like the sound of that."
Sonic returned the grin. Then, suddenly, energy began swirling around them. "Whoaa!" they cried. "What's this?" Sonic said.
Dawn gasped in delight. "It's happening again!"
"What?"
"You're synchronizing!"
Ash's eyes widened. "Well, then," he grinned. "Let's see what we can do...together!"
The energy dissipated in a burst as Sonic stepped forward, once again in the form he took on when fighting Zapdos. He dashed forward and began spinning on the ground. Due to the ice Articuno created, he spun faster than normal, then shot straight at Articuno's beak. He scored a direct hit.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!" Articuno screamed, reeling back in pain. As it did so, its wings flailed wildly, creating icy cold gusts of wind. One of these sent a small shard of ice flying, nicking Ash's arm. He grunted and put his hand over the small scratch, hoping it wouldn't bleed.
"Ack!" Sonic grunted in sudden pain, clutching his arm in the same place. "What was that?"
Ash's eyes widened. That's right! he thought in alarm. If one of us gets hurt, the other one will feel pain in the same place. He began to worry a bit. Sonic's not as used to this transformation as I am. If something goes wrong –
"Come on!" Sonic taunted Articuno, running around it. "Show me some escape rope action!" Articuno followed him with a hawk-like gaze, spinning as rapidly as he was.
"Looks like the pain didn't affect him too much," Ash smiled to himself. "But we still need to be careful. A wrong move will cost us."
Sonic's strategy proved effective, as he made Articuno dizzy. When it was completely disoriented, he leapt up with a powerful force and kicked it in the back of the head. The freeze Pokemon roared in pain, involuntarily firing an Ice Beam into the sky as it began to fall to the ground. Sonic continued to bash it around, using his homing attack on it to weaken it more. Ash, however, could see that Articuno had lost its drive to fight. There was no more need for battle.
"Sonic!" he called, breathing heavily as the transformation began to take its toll. "Stop!"
"Can't stop!" Sonic yelled back. "Too fast! Gotta go faster!"
"No!" Ash shouted. "It's over! We beat him! Let it go!"
"No!" Sonic yelled back again. "Can't!...stop!...gotta!...go!...!"
Abruptly he stopped. He looked disoriented for a moment, placing a hand on his head before he tumbled down Articuno's back. He fell on the ground, unconscious but largely unharmed. Similarly, Ash placed his hand on his head and fell onto his hands and knees, breathing heavily in exhaustion. He looked up and saw Sonic's unconscious form.
"Sonic…" he whispered.