Chapter 19; travelling in group
"Raichu thunder punch!"
Raichu delivered its attack flawlessly knocking out its opponent, a charizard with ease. Charizard's trainer stomped his foot on the ground frustrated.
"This can't be! I raised charizard so well why couldn't it beat you?"
"Defeat doesn't mean the end kid" Sonic said smiling "just learn from it and keep going".
"Learn what? I lost".
"First of all. Both of you lost. Both you and charizard. There is no I in a team. Second. See what you did wrong in this battle and don't repeat it next time" Sonic said and motioned to leave.
"Easy for you to say. You didn't fail".
Sonic smiled with his back turned to the trainer.
"You shouldn't make assumptions without knowing the full story kid. Just heed my words, toss aside your pride and learn. Come raichu" he said as they went on their way.
On their slow progression towards Fuchsia city which both agreed they should enjoy and not rush it, they had battle a total of 9 trainers and overpowered all of them with relative ease. The only one of those 9 who had given him a challenge was Mike.
"3 against 4 and we almost lost. I can't wait for the rematch" Sonic said as he remembered the moon stone in his backpack.
"I guess if we manage to beat the 5th gym nidorino will be able to evolve. Holy! I forgot" he thought in excitement "if nidorino evolves it will be strong enough to learn earthquake properly. That will be such a useful move" he spoke the last phrase smiling.
As they stopped for a while to rest and just take in the sunlight and the view of the ocean Sonic once again laughed at his conversation with Amy he had just that morning.
"Now she'll think twice before bothering me again".
His phone buzzed as he received a facetime call. Same number.
"Spoke too soon" he said annoyed "mind your business" he commented as he rejected the call.
Not 1 minute later though he received a text.
"Really now? Text too?" he thought as read it.
"Answer your damn phone!" was written on the screen.
Sonic texted a response immediately.
"Mind your own business little girl" no exclamation mark so it would seem he was calm. And he was.
The effect was greater than expected though. His phone began ringing again. Rejecting the call again and choosing to put it in silence mode for now, he sat down and observed raichu playing in the grass as he took in the fresh air.
Around 30 minutes later deciding they should continue on their way Sonic found his phone bombarded with texts from Amy as well as missed calls. Most of them were from Amy but one of them was from Tails who was asking if Sonic knew what had gotten into her. Sonic burst out laughing as he opened the conversation with Tails and saw the screenshot Tails had sent him from the texts Amy had sent Tails. She was ballistic. And that could be seen from her texts to Sonic.
"EXCUSE ME? Who are you calling a little girl! You softie loser! Don't ignore me! Who do you think you are?! Answer your goddamn phone! I'm talking to you!"
Sonic thought he could read the texts and laugh all day but giving Amy the time of his day was not something he would do any longer. Typing and sending a quick LOL, he silenced the contact, placing a bet with himself there would be about a hundred texts next time he checked. As he got up to leave he heard a voice call out to him.
"Hey Sonic!"
Turning to see he saw 3 familiar phases. Brock Misty and Ash.
"Oh great" he thought hoping this time that Pikachu would behave.
"Hey Brock. What are you all doing here?"
"Heading to Fuchsia city of course. Well at least at the Fuchsia gym?" Ash answered for Brock.
"Isn't the gym inside the city?"
"No. Koga, the gym leader has built it outside the city. Poison type trainer you see. And trained in ninja arts. He avoids the city mostly".
"Oh I see" Sonic said not seeing it though "a ninja? Seriously?" he thought holding a laugh.
"You're gonna challenge him too right?" Misty asked Sonic.
"That's the plan" Sonic answered.
"Well then why don't we all travel there together? After all we're on the same path" Brock suggested.
Sonic considered it but having not travelled with companions yet, not including Tails as they had mostly hung out in Vermillion instead of actually travelling, he agreed.
"Sure".
They all started walking towards the city which was still about a day away, as Sonic got into a conversation with the trio about their dreams.
"So Brock how come you can travel now? I thought you had to stay home to care for your siblings".
"My father returned. After Ash challenged me for my badge my father returned. Ash had met him in disguise but he revealed himself after I gave my badge to Ash".
"I see. What other pokemon did you use to beat Brock?" Sonic asked Ash.
"My pidgeotto" Ash said with a small amount of pride in his voice.
"A pidgeotto and a Pikachu against 2 rock and ground types?"
"Technically he didn't win" Misty added.
"Hey I would have won ok? I just had to resign because of circumstances" Ash fired back.
"Yeah let's forget the technicality" Brock said to defuse the situation "point is my father revealed himself, apologized and encouraged me to follow my own dream".
"I was so surprised when I learn someone I had come to know as a nobody was my friend's good for nothing father who left home and never came back" Ash added with his hands on the back of his head. Sonic looked at him in shock.
"Yup still as savage" he thought "but now you're free. That's great".
"Yeah. There's no ill will towards either of my parents. I'm just glad I can make my choice".
Sonic smiled remembering that conversation with Brock.
Pikachu in the meantime was again challenging raichu even fiercer than before.
"Ash. I already asked that of you last time. Discipline your Pikachu. Or I will have to again".
"We're not afraid of you. Question is are you still a chicken? Spike?"
Sonic raised his hands with the sudden urge to lunge at Ash but refrained with a forced smile.
"No,no,no,no. Not this time" he said smiling eyes closed "I'm not losing my cool".
Brock and Misty looked at their friend disappointed that he was still thinking with his pokeballs.
"What about you Misty? What's your dream?"
"To become the world's greatest pokemon master".
"Same as Ash's but for water types?" Sonic asked "could you both be more specific? What does it mean for you to be a pokemon master?"
Ash went to answer but instead got into a deep thought.
"Honestly I have not considered what it means. I started thinking I would catch all the pokemon in the world but now I desire to battle the strongest trainers in the world".
"Like the elite 4 of the region?"
"Yeah. And any other powerful opponents. Like that pokemon I saw when I started my journey".
"What pokemon?"
"I don't know. It was a flying pokemon. The dex had no info on it".
Sonic's eyes widened momentarily.
"Did he see the same pokemon I saw yesterday?" he wondered.
"That was the same day I met Misty too. Had it not been for her bike we would have been swarmed by those spearows" Ash said.
"You still owe me a new bike!" she said in a threatening way.
"I know. I'll get you one. Eventually".
Sonic held in a laugh.
"Eventually means most certainly never" he thought.
"And what about you Sonic?" Brock asked "when I asked you the first time you were just figuring it out? Did you?"
"Not really. For now I'm walking this path because of the war I started with team Rocket".
"They are badgering you too?"
"Badgering me? They are on my tail. After raiding their base…"
"Wait you raided their base?" Ash said in shock.
"Yeah".
"You beat them right?"
"It wasn't easy. Their numbers were huge. And their boss' power was almost unrivaled. I still have a long way to go".
"Their boss? They're have a boss?"
"Um yeah? A criminal organization usually needs a boss to function" Sonic said wondering what Ash meant.
"What kind of boss would hire them?" he asked petting Pikachu.
Sonic was now left dumbfounded once again. Ash was showing team Rocket so little respect it made no sense.
"Yeeeah. Ok. Anyway, how many badges do you have?"
"4".
"So you beat Erika. Nice".
"Um actually he didn't" Misty intervened again.
"Excuse me?"
"He didn't. Team Rocket caused a fire and Ash saved Erika's gloom so she gave him the badge in gratitude".
"Gave him the badge?" Sonic said in surprise "So Brock gave you his badge, Erika gave you hers. Did surge gave you his too?"
"No. I beat him fair and square. Without evolving my Pikachu".
"That's your choice. A foolish choice but still yours".
Why is it a foolish choice?" Ash said rushing in front of Sonic and stopping him.
"Because you're inhibiting yourself from reaching your full potential".
"I'm not gonna become like surge in the pursuit of power. And neither like you".
"Like me?"
"Did you even wonder if your Pikachu wanted to evolve?" Ash asked as Pikachu cried out at raichu as if it was saying "yeah did he ask you".
"Guys no need to argue we're all friends here".
"Not just yet Brock" Ash said "I want to hear what he has to say. Surge's raichu was arrogant and mean. I won't ever let Pikachu turn into that unless it's its choice".
Sonic was honestly surprised that Ash desired to stay as he was. The two of them were kind of opposites but he decided to test the waters.
"My raichu desired to evolve from the first moment I met it. Its personality is still like it was when it was a Pikachu. I see no problem with growing. And trust me when I tell you. You become arrogant and mean only if you let yourself become. I was like that for a while but no longer. I choose who I am not my abilities and same goes for raichu and my other pokemon. They have all evolved from their first stages and their personalities haven't changed".
"Well then fight me and my pokemon! I will prove to you I don't need to evolve to beat you?"
"Like last time?" Sonic said with a smiling expression of "result will be the same".
"No it will not be like last time".
"Guys enough" Misty said "let's just move for now or night will arrive before we arrive the city. Let's go Brock. Brock?"
In the midst of their argument, Brock had approached a passing girl in a pink dress and her oddish and was holding her hand on his knee.
"Oh vision of beauty I'm Brock. Let us sail into the endless beauty of the… ouch ouch!" he yelled as Misty pulled him from his ear while apologizing to the girl who was clearly uncomfortable. Ash laughed.
"Yeah same old Brock".
Sonic however was processing the sight with his mouth hanging open.
"What the fu…" he tried to say only for raichu to close his mouth his its tail bringing back to reality.
"That might have been one of the weirdest things I've seen. With all due respect" he said as Brock was mourning.
"My heart is in a million pieces".
"Don't worry Brock you'll find plenty of other girls to reject you" Ash said patting his on the shoulder. Sonic turned to his raichu.
"Buddy, it's official. I'm dreaming. Zap me so I can wake up" he said closing his eyes.
Raichu obeyed confused and Sonic felt the current coursing through his body. Though it was a huge shock and his hair started pointing upwards, he opened his eyes to see his was actually awake.
"Oh my god this is painful to watch" he thought as Misty was pulling Brock from the ear to move as Ash followed with a small laugh. Sonic followed regardless of the cringe.
As he walked past Ash, the latter noticed the wing dangling from Sonic's backpack.
"Hey what's that?" he asked intrigued as he looked closer.
"Spoils of battle" Sonic said trying to sound cool and mysterious.
"A battle with what?"
"What could possibly be the pokemon I fought to receive a wing from?"
Ash thought about it for a moment as Brock and Misty also observed the feather.
"An orange-to-yellow feather. Strong pokemon. OOOOh I see!"
"Wasn't that hard to figure out was it?" Sonic said with a hint of pride on his face.
"You must have fought a wild pidgeot!" Ash said with confidence.
Sonic tripped from the shock and landed head first to the ground to raichu's concern and Pikachu's laughing.
"A pidgeot?! Are you dense or something? Do you really think I would keep a pidgeot feather?"
"Why not? It is a powerful pokemon" Ash replied with a seemingly innocent voice.
Sonic slapped his forehead.
"This kid's an idiot I swear" he thought "alright I'll give you one more try. You can touch the feather if you want to get another clue".
Ash went ahead and touched the feather feeling how hot it was.
"A hot feather? Oh I see now!"
"Finally" Sonic said in relief.
"You fought a charizard!" he said with even more confidence than before.
Sonic slapped his forehead stronger this time and lunged at Ash, being held back by Brock.
"Let me at him Brock please! He is too dense to exist!"
"Calm down Sonic" Brock said holding him back as Ash looked in confusion.
"I'm wrong again? You fought a flying type and the feather is hot so it must have also been a fire type. Charizard fits the bill".
"Yes" Sonic said in disappointment stopping his effort to attack "except Charizard has webbed wings. They don't have feathers".
Brock then gasped in shock.
"Wait! There is one other fire and flying pokemon" he said observing the feather again. He then stepped back in shock.
"Is that a feather of the legendary moltres?!"
"Thank god at least you figured it out" Sonic said in relief.
"You fought Moltres?!" Misty said in surprise.
"Yes. I forfeit the battle to protect raichu from it after we were overwhelmed but it did leave me this feather afterwards".
"It acknowledged you. This is a huge honor for a trainer" Brock said in awe.
"It sure is" Sonic said with pride as they continued on their way.
After a while he could see the city buildings protrude from the woods next to the coast.
"Hey look we're almost there" Sonic said.
Raichu cried out in joy and Pikachu who had just climbed down to challenge it again agreed before trying to goad it into a fight. At that moment however a net came out of nowhere and captured the two mouse pokemon.
"Pikachu!" Ash said in terror as Sonic looked for the owners of the net.
A duo of laughters occurred as they saw the net being raised onto a meowth hot air balloon.
"Team Rocket!" Ash said in anger.
"These 3 idiots again?" Sonic said in disgust.
"Ahahaha! Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation".
"To unite all peoples…."
"Alright we get it!" Sonic said in anger "you're evil. Now let go of our pokemon or this time I won't be so kind!"
Team Rocket went to answer but meowth remembered Sonic.
"Gah! It's him! The twerp who threatened to have me ripped apart!"
"He is the twerp who destroyed the Celadon base!" James said remembering when Giovanni was fuming in the last meeting of the higher ups.
"All the better" Jessie said in excitement "the boss will be so pleased we bring the raichu he hates and this powerful Pikachu back!"
"Let them go team rocket! Go pidgeotto!" Ash ordered sending out his pokemon.
Sonic who was not in the mood for this, took out blastoise's pokeball.
"This is your only warning. Let them go, or you won't make it back to your boss!"
"Oh yeah what are you gonna do twerp! Give me here James! Go weezing!"
A weeing came out of the pokeball and floated down towards Sonic.
"Blastoise!" he shouted sending it out "water pulse!"
Blastoise easily knocked out weezing to team Rocket's horror.
"Last chance! Let them go!"
"N-never! Go Arb.."
"Ice beam!"
Blastoise fired ice beam at the net cutting it in half as the ice broke from the weight of the 2 electric types sending them plummeting to the ground.
"Alakazam! Use psychic to save them!" Sonic shouted sending it out.
Alakazam emerged and slowed the fall until Pikachu and raichu touched the ground gently.
"Ash will you do the honors of destroying these 3 idiots?"
"With pleasure! Pikachu thunderbolt!"
"Pikaaaaaa…. chuuuuu! Pikachu cried out as it unleashed its attack zapping team Rocket and causing the hot air balloon to explode sending them flying. Sonic heard them screaming in horror as they launched away.
"We're blasting off again!" was all he heard as they disappeared into the sky.
"I wonder where they will land" Ash said with a smile.
"Hopefully somewhere where they can be taught a lesson" Sonic replied,
Team rocket crash-landed in the middle of the woods on top of a pile of berries.
"This is not fair we were so close!" Jessie went into a tantrum.
"As if one twerp was bad enough now, there's two of them".
"And the second one is worse than the first" Meowth replied "at least I won't be ripped apart today".
At that moment the 3 were ensnared in string shots as they looked around to see they had landed into the nest of a pair of scythers.
"Spoke too soon" Meowth said in horror.
"Mommy!" a scream was heard far away from the nest but never reach Sonic and the trio who reached the city. Sonic decided he would find somewhere to spend the night before visiting the safari zone as Reina had suggested. After bedding farewell to the trio and begrudgingly accepting a full battle with Ash next time they met, he found a room at one of the pokemon center in town. After a good dinner from the full day that consisted of sandwiches as they hadn't had any in a while Sonic checked his phone. He had a text from his mother asking how he was, which he quickly replied everything was going smoothly. Switching to Amy's chat he thought he had won the bet. There were 103 texts all of them being angry texts, challenges and her being triggered in general. Leaving her on read he went to sleep satisfied and beat at the long day he and his pokemon had had.