Chapter 3: The Silver Storm

It had been a couple days since the whole "Festival Fiasco," as the papers were calling it, happened. Misty was still missing, though nobody knew she had just returned to town. As Sonic and Misty strode into town, they felt relieved that the situation was over.

It was at this moment, however, that a sudden green blast of energy struck the area in front of them, stunning them so that they jumped back. "What –?!"

"I've been looking for you."

They looked up and saw a new face staring them down. "You're the Disturbance that will upset all harmony. Your actions will condemn us all!"

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed, confused. "What are you talking about? Who the heck are you?!"

The white hedgehog stared him down menacingly. "My name is Silver! For the sake of the future and for all people, I will destroy you!"

Sonic instantly kicked into defensive mode. "Misty, stand back." She nodded and moved, ready at a moment's notice to intervene.

"I don't know what you want," Sonic snapped to the white hedgehog called Silver, "but I don't think you'd be willing to discuss it over a chili dog."

"Oho, a wisecracker, huh?" Silver growled. "We'll see who's laughing when I'm done with you!" Suddenly, a small chair glowed a mysterious green and floated towards Silver.

"What –?!" Sonic gasped.

"Take this!" Silver shouted, throwing it at him. Sonic was too stunned to think to dodge, but as soon as the chair hit its target, his senses came back. He fell back, shook his head, and jumped back up. Silver grabbed another chair with his power and was about to throw it at him when the blue blur rammed into him, knocking him over. "Ungh!" But Silver leapt back up, fazed but not undone, and glared at Sonic. Sonic charged him again, but as soon as he got within punching range, his body glowed a strange green.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?!" Silver growled.

"Uh-oh," was all Sonic said.

"Ha-RAH!" Silver grunted, throwing him into a building. The blow hurt Sonic, but he recovered quickly and readied himself for another attack. Silver rushed at him, but Sonic, knowing what he was thinking, dashed away. "You can run, but you can't hide!"

"Hiding wasn't the plan!" he called back, grinning.

Silver clenched his fists in anger. "You think this is a game?!" he shouted. "All right, but you're the one who's gonna lose!" With that, he lifted a table with his power. "How about this?!"

Sonic just snickered as Silver prepared to throw the furniture and charged at him again, knocking him down while the table fell on his head. "Ungh!"

"Ha! How's that for a good move, huh?" he chuckled as he watched Silver push the table off him. His grin faded when he saw the mysterious white hedgehog groan in pain as he struggled to get up. Uh-oh. I think that hurt more than I intended. Well, maybe now he'll be willing to talk. He cautiously walked over to him. "Hey, you okay? Listen, I don't know what's going on, but –"

"RAH!" Silver suddenly grunted, thrusting his palms out in front of him. Sonic glowed again, and felt himself get thrown violently backwards and into another building. He fell to the ground, weak.

Oh no! Misty thought. I've got to help him!

"Good grief!" Sonic groaned, struggling to get on his hands and knees. "What are you trying to do, throw me to the moon or something?!"

Silver walked over to him, standing over him. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" he spat. "How can someone as weak as you cause the destruction of the world?"

"Wha...What do you mean?"

Silver shook his head. "It doesn't matter. As long as you live, the future is in peril. I will not let you destroy my world!" With that, he raised his hands to finish the job.

"STARYU, GO! USE BUBBLEBEAM!"

A sudden flurry of bubbles slammed into Silver, knocking him down due to shock. "What?!"

"Huh...Misty?" Sonic grunted.

"What is this?!" Silver shouted angrily.

"Stay away from him!"

When the bubbles ceased, Silver looked up and saw Misty standing behind one of her signature Pokemon.

"Get out of my way," he growled. "The Disturbance must die."

"You're not getting anywhere near him, you creep," Misty growled back, her temper growing.

"Then I guess we'll do this the hard way," he nodded, using his telekinetic power to throw Staryu back into its trainer. Misty grunted in pain as she and Staryu fell to the ground. Silver turned back to Sonic's struggling form, although he was on his feet now. "Now, where were we? Oh, that's right...saving the world from you!" But before he could finish Sonic off, another blast of water knocked him over. "How –?!"

"I told you to stay away from him!" Misty shouted as her Corsola sprayed Silver down.

The white hedgehog neutralized the water gun attack with his power and threw Corsola onto Misty. Just as she was getting up, two robotic arms suddenly appeared and snatched her. "Augh! Not again!"

Sonic immediately perked. "Misty?! No, wait!" He started to run after her.

"Don't you turn your back on me!" Silver nearly screamed, freezing Sonic in place with his power. Sonic struggled to get away, but to no avail as the white hedgehog advanced on him. "It's time I finally put an end to this!"

"ONIX! USE IRON TAIL!"

A sudden thrust of power knocked Silver down and freed Sonic from his grip. Sonic looked up and saw Brock standing there, a frightened look on his face.

"Thanks Brock," he nodded before he ran off.

"Hurry, Sonic! Eggman got Misty again! He's headed towards Johto!"

Sonic took in this information and set his sights on going West.

"Wow, May, that was fantastic!" Ash said as she finished showing off her Pokemon's new moves.

"You think so?" she winked at him.

"You bet! That was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen!"

"Aw, Ash," she blushed, smiling sheepishly. "You're embarrassing me."

"Get used to it," he smiled. "I can't wait to see the look on Drew's face when he sees that one."

"Me neither!" she giggled. "And to think, after all this time, he still thinks he's better than me!" She huffed, suddenly annoyed. "I'll show him. I'll –"

"May," Ash put a hand on her arm. She looked at him, curious. "You don't have to get riled up about him. He doesn't know you. I do. And I know you're fantastic. Heck, if you don't place at least second at the festival, I'll assume it was rigged!"

May was laughing before he even finished his statement. When he saw this, he started laughing, too. For a moment that's all they did: laugh with each other for sheer happiness. Finally, when they calmed down, May pecked Ash on the cheek again.

"You're the best, you know that?" she sighed as she embraced him. "It really doesn't get any better than this."

"Oh, yes it does," he grinned.

She looked back at him, puzzled.

"Follow me."

"Sonic!"

Sonic skidded to a stop on hearing the familiar voice. "Tails? What's up?"

The two-tailed fox flew down to him and beckoned him. "You might want to see this." Sonic nodded and followed him into the back lawn of Pewter City's museum. There, a familiar red echidna was standing, arms folded across his chest.

"Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed pleasantly. "What brings you here?"

"Word on the street is that Eggman's up to something," Knuckles said, holding a hologram to his blue friend. "Check this out."

Sonic activated the hologram and saw Eggman's figure. "This message is for Sonic. If you want me to release Misty, then I'll make you a deal. You bring me the Silver Wing she gave you. Then, and only then, will I release her to you. No fight, no hidden fees. It's as simple as that. You have thirty-six hours. Meet me at Viridian's Underground." With that, the message faded.

"Sounds like a trap to me," Knuckles scratched the back of his head. "He never gives up without a fight."

"I agree," Tails nodded. "But how else will we get to Misty in time?"

Sonic looked at them and smirked. "With our feet, our tails, and our fists. Whataya say, guys?"

"I'm sure you already know our response," Knuckles grinned, punching him lightly in the arm.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Tails grinned.

"Time to rock and roll!" Sonic cheered.

"You were right," May smiled as she rested her head on Ash's shoulder. "It does get better."

"Doesn't it?" he grinned. They were on top of the Indigo Plateau, taking in the magnificent view of Johto.

"Everything looks different from up here," she sighed. "So much smaller, but it all fits together to form a masterpiece."

"You can say that again."

She looked to their right and saw a dark mass swirling. "But what's that?"

Ash looked up and watched with a sad look as the swirling mass continued its violent assault on an old favorite place of his.

"It's Mt. Silver."

May looked at him, perplexed. "Mt. Silver?"

"And Silver Town," he nodded. "It was where I competed in the Silver Conference. I was hoping I could take you there for our anniversary." He sighed sadly. "But it's been abandoned for five years. Those blizzards drove everyone away."

She looked at his crestfallen face, a sympathetic look on her own. "Ash...it's okay. This is more wonderful than anything I could have imagined for an anniversary celebration. Don't feel bad just because it didn't work out exactly the way you wanted it to."

He looked back at her, a smile on his face. "Thanks, May." With that, they embraced. May rested her head on his shoulder, while he held her as tight as he could.

There's something over there...