Chapter 35; the adventure begins again

Team Sonic exited the airport and took the bus to new bark town, intending to get something good to eat before getting started with their journey to track down and finish off team rocket.

Selecting a burger joint, the trio ordered their lunch. As raichu waited anxiously for the lunch as it was starving, Sonic narrated his adventure on New Island to his friends, all that had transpired between him and Mewtwo, as well as his gruesome act of killing his deformed clone.

"Mewtwo's cloning machine must have been programmed to clone pokemon specifically. Identifying an unknown dna sequence and yet proceeding with it could cause a kind of catastrophic result like that and it did" Tails explained.

Sonic furthermore told them of Ash's heroic act of jumping between Mewtwo and Mew's blast, turning to stone afterwards, essentially dying in the process and that the tears of the pokemon had saved him.

"That's a local myth" Knuckles commented "I read about it once but didn't pay it much attention as it was only a myth of a small town like Old Shore Wharf".

"So that's why you said that Ash has potential and the bravest heart" Tails said.

"Exactly. If only he didn't hold himself back. His statement during the indigo league is his biggest drawback. He isn't willing to change himself for the better to attain victory".

"His charizard was certainly strong" Tails added "being able to go toe to toe with your Moltres and end in a stalemate. But not evolving any of his other pokemon…"

"Do you remember that battle of his Bulbasaur and your Blastoise? Bulbasaur could literally do nothing despite the type advantage".

"Type advantage is a good advantage to have in a battle but there are a lot of other factors that can lead to victory. Too many to count them down right now but you get my point. His Bulbasaur stood no chance".

"Yeah. You know since we're in Johto I wonder what kind of pokemon we will meet" Tails inquired "Crobat was a new one I saw online. And you saw Lugia. Who knows how many other new species can be encountered here".

"You know I remember another one" Sonic said "a giant flying type pokemon. After my 2nd encounter with my Moltres, the unknown pokemon appeared and healed us both my pokemon and the then wild Moltres" he explained remembering that night, missing his Moltres.

"Who knows. It could be a local species. Maybe even a legendary".

"I know all about the legends of Johto" Knuckles said proudly "but I will recount the stories when we have a good chance. Maybe during a ruin visit".

"That's all nice guys but let's not forget to keep eyes on the price ok? We're here to end team rocket".

"And we will. But a little fun never hurt anyone" Knuckles shrugged smiling.

At that moment a window breaking sound was heard. Team Sonic looked around in surprise for the source of the sound.

"Thief!" someone screamed.

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles nodded and immediately rushed off to see what was happening.

Reaching the source of the scream, they found a man wearing a lab coat coming out of a lab facility frantic.

"Stop that thief!"

Sonic only managed to see a wave of red hair before the thief took a turn and disappeared. He and his friends approached the man.

"Sir what's the problem?" Sonic asked.

The man looked at Sonic and a look of gratitude was sketched on his face.

"The hero of Kanto! Right on time! That thief stole one of my pokemon!"

"Stole?" Sonic repeated in surprise. That was low even for a thug.

"What did he look like? Where did he go towards?"

"Red hair, dark clothes. Stole my water type totodile. He went that way. Take these and use them to bring it back" he said handing Sonic 2 pokeballs.

Sonic tossed one to Knuckles.

"Wha…?"

"We need to trap the thief. Spread out. Use whatever moves the pokemon can use. Tails go with him and help him out. Raichu with me".

"Rai".

"Sonic wait! I'm not a…" Knuckles yelled but Sonic had already darted away "trainer".

"Come on Knuckles the thief can't have gotten far" Tails said taking a different direction as Knuckles followed hesitantly while observing the pokeball in his hand.

The duo run forward for a little while until Tails stopped, unsure where to go from here.

"How do we find the thief Tails?"

"Don't ask me. Sonic made the plan".

"Damnit" Knuckles said in frustration throwing the pokeball down.

The pokeball opened and a small green and yellow pokemon appeared. Flames erupted from its back.

"Woah" Knuckles jumped back "what is this?"

Tails quickly scanned the pokemon and looked it up online.

"A local one. Fire type. Its name is cyndaquil".

"Fire… what does it know?"

"It must be a starter pokemon. It probably knows something along the lines of tackle, growl and ember".

Cyndaquil observed Knuckles silently.

"Why is it looking at me like that?" Knuckles asked.

"I think it thinks you're its trainer".

"But… but I am no trainer".

Before Tails could answer, Cyndaquil jolted away. Knuckles instinctively chased after it, followed closely by Tails.

Entering an alleyway, they came across another duo of trainer and pokemon. A red haired boy and a totodile.

"The thief!" Tails said identifying totodile from the starter page he used to identify cyndaquil as well as the description of the thief.

"Damnit! Don't you people have better things to do than badgering me? Let them have it totodile! Water gun!"

Totodile unleashed water gun. Cyndaquil hid behind Knuckles who got wet from the water gun but it didn't damage him at all since it was merely a weak water attack. Angry and wet he walked to the red haired boy, passing by totodile and grabbed him by the shirt.

"Have I told you that I hate thieves?"

The raid haired boy smiled menacingly.

"Has anyone told you it's rude to not battle back? Scratch!"

Knuckles barely ducked away from the scratch attack from totodile. Unlike water gun that would actually damage him. Totodile lunged again.

Cyndaquil suddenly tackled Totodile out of the way. Knuckles and cyndaquil's eyes met and Knuckles felt an unspoken understanding. The only way to catch that thief was to knock out the pokemon, take it from him and then catch him.

"Cyndaquil use tackle!"

"Water gun!"

Cyndaquil was blasted in the face with water. Though its tackle attack went through unimpeded, totodile took it a lot better than cyndaquil did the water gun. The flames on its back became shorter as it struggled to get up.

The red haired boy thinking they had won, made a run for it. Tails warned Knuckles the kid would escape but Knuckles unexpectedly went to check on the cyndaquil.

"Knuckles he is going to escape!"

The red haired boy was almost to the exit of the alleyway until an iron tail knocked him backwards. Sonic appeared out of the corner, raichu and the chikorita that was in the pokeball he kept by his side.

"Nice work raichu" he said scratching its head.

Totodile lunged at raichu intending to use scratch on it.

"Chikorita vine whip!"

Chikorita grabbed totodile and slammed it down hard. Totodile took heavy damage but just like cyndaquil tried to get up.

Sonic grabbed the kid by the shirt forcing him to get up.

"Game over kid. Time to give that pokemon b…"

He froze as he looked at the face of the kid. That face. The traits. The eyes. Everything apart from the red hair. It was like he was looking at…

"Giovanni" he whispered.

The red haired kid's eyes widened in shock. Quickly punching Sonic who was caught off guard, being too busy being shocked seeing the similarity between this kid and his old nemesis, he made a break for it.

"Sonic!" Tails and Knuckles shouted running to their friend.

"What happened?" Tails asked Sonic.

"You let him get away?" Knuckles asked him.

"No… I… I froze".

"Why did you freeze though?"

"I don't know. I just looked into that kids eyes… and his face… and it was like being face to face with Giovanni".

"Don't tell me you're scared of a kid" Knuckles waved his head disappointed.

"No. I mean it literally. His face was exactly the same as Giovanni's".

"Weird. In any case the kid escaped with totodile" Tails said looking towards the direction the thief escaped towards.

"I'd like to see how you explain that to totodile's owner" Knuckles reminded Sonic.

"By telling the truth. I let him escape regardless of the situation. Let's go".

Team Sonic left the alleyway and headed back towards the lab facility. During the walk there, Knuckles was carrying the wounded cyndaquil which was curled in his hands, injured but with an obvious sense of safety.

Sonic too found the chikorita he had used to hold totodile down quite cute. His raichu had also taken a liking to the small grass type pokemon.

Eventually reaching the lab facility they headed inside. The man who lent them the pokemon looked up.

"Oh you're back. Did you catch that thief?"

"We did but he managed to trick us and escape. And I also kind of let him get away".

The man was disappointed but recovered quickly.

"It's a pity. That tododile was to be picked today".

"I'm really sorry. We can still try to find him and take it back for you".

"No it's ok. Don't actively look for him. But if you do run into him, take totodile from him if it's hurt in any way by him".

While Sonic was conversing with the man, Knuckles and Tails were busy petting the cyndaquil. Knuckles had started warming up to it. It wasn't that he didn't like pokemon he just didn't know earlier how to handle cyndaquil but he'd expect someone like Sonic to wield it in battle. Now he thought he could pet it all day.

"Well sorry again mr…"

"Elm. I'm professor Elm".

"Professor? As in a pokemon professor?" Tails asked intrigued.

"Yes. In fact I knew of your identity as the hero of Kanto from my colleague and good friend professor oak. He informed me of your achievements during the previous tournament conference gym challenge as well as during the tournament itself. Taming a legendary pokemon like Moltres? That is unheard of to me. Do you happen to have it with you right now?"

"No".

"Shame I'd love to have a look at it".

"Maybe one day professor. Well here's your pokemon back" Sonic motioned to give Elm chikorita's pokeball.

"Do we have to give them back?" Knuckles asked Tails quietly and hesitantly "I kinda like this little guy".

The chikorita put its front legs on Sonic, crying out its name as if it was saying no.

"I think it got attached to you. And I think same goes for your friend and the cyndaquil".

Sonic looked at Knuckles holding the cyndaquil. It did seem like it. But they were here for a reason, not to start another badge quest.

"Guys a quick fyi?" he said approaching them "I don't know how good of an idea it is we're here to end team rocket".

"Yeah but… this little guy".

Cyndaquil curled inside Knuckles' big hands was one of the most adorable things in the world. Sonic couldn't disagree but he didn't know if taking that cyndaquil and the chikorita along would be a good thing.

"I do tend to agree with Knuckles Sonic" Tails interjected "Plus… I don't know if your raichu will be powerful enough to beat team rocket alone. Your kanto team chose its path so… I think you will need to build a new team".

Sonic rubbed his chin. It was true. Just raichu and the 3 of them wouldn't be a good enough force to tackle team rocket. He didn't consider that.

"Hm… Ok. Since we essentially have no plan I have an idea. Knuckles how would you like for us to start a new badge quest?"

"You mean tackle the gyms?"

"Exactly. Team rocket is in hiding. Whatever their plans are can't really be region-wide. So why not make this an official trip through Johto? Meet new pokemon, visit the ruins like you wished and in general do whatever the heck we want while also looking for team rocket wherever we go".

"That does sound like a sweet plan" Tails agreed "as I said earlier I do want to visit a couple of places myself".

"Good" Sonic said "Knuckles?"

Knuckles remained silent. It was indeed a promising idea and the trip would certainly be something worth remembering for their entire lives. Especially since he had the chance to follow in Sonic's footsteps if possible.

"I'm in".

"Perfect" Sonic concluded and turned back to professor elm "we'll keep the pokemon professor".

"Splendid. I'm sure you and your friend will make excellent trainers. I mean I'm sure your friend will. Your reputation precedes you after all".

Sonic scratched his head saying thanks and the trio walked out of the lab.

"Ok so where to first?" Tails asked.

"Well first of we need a map of Johto" Sonic declared.

"I have one" Knuckles said taking one out of the massive mountain of supplies he was carrying.

"Knucks are you sure you can carry all that? Like throughout the journey?"

"That and maybe about another half more of this weight. In other words easily" Knuckles said giving Sonic a thumbs-up "here".

"Alright" Sonic said opening the map "ok… we're here in new bark. Tails do me a favor. Could you find the gym badge quest guide online so I can locate our first destination?"

"On it" Tails said immediately getting to work.

While Sonic was looking through the map, he looked at Knuckles observing the cyndaquil play in front of him.

"Hey Knucks, you know you should have cyndaquil practice its moves when we make camp later today. If we are to tackle the gym challenge, it will need the practice".

"Yeah. But… how do I do that? I have no idea".

"Is everything ok?" Sonic knelt next to his friend "ever since you got your hands on cyndaquil you've been acting weird. More reserved than usual".

"It's nothing. Honest".

Sonic remained silent but eventually got back up. He patted Knuckles on the shoulder.

"I believe you. But if anything bothers you, or if you need any advice with the training, we're here, me and Tails. We're team Sonic right?"

Knuckles smiled.

"Right".

"Got it" Tails finally said "first gym is in Violet city".

"Colors again? What is wrong with the people of both regions?" Sonic joked half joking half actually wondering why they named the towns after color.

The team burst out laughing for a few moments. Their friend had developed a unique sense of humor during his Kanto journey.

Chikorita in the meantime was rubbing its head at Sonic's feet, clearly liking him already. As it went towards raichu next to also cuddle with it, it tripped and rolled on the ground for a moment.

Raichu, knowing that since Sonic would build a new team it would have to be the big brother for the new team members, took on the big brother role and lifted chikorita up with its tail. The two pokemon rubbed their cheeks, chikorita getting a small shock from raichu's cheek.

"Back on track" Tails got them to focus again "Violet city is actually quite a way from here. We have to go from here west towards cherrygrove city –huh not all towns are colors here "he commented smiling "then follow the path north towards Violet city. It's a long way there so you guys will have time to practice for the gym battle".

"Awesome" Sonic said "hey we should actually buy some pokeballs. You never know what we could encounter".

Team Sonic immediately headed towards a market to buy supplies and pokeballs. Knuckles stashed the supplies into his giant backpack while Sonic stocked up on pokeballs.

"Aren't you buying a little too many?"

"You never know what we may encounter or how many pokeballs it could take to catch a pokemon. Most of my kanto team was caught under special circumstances so I want to be prepared for the chance we run into something hard to catch. Plus there's two of us who will have pokemon teams this time".

"True I guess" Tails agreed seeing Sonic's point of view.

With their supplies collected and ready to begin the adventure, Team Sonic left New bark heading west towards cherrygrove.

The road there was much longer than they expected. Sun eventually began setting. Deciding it was time to make camp, Sonic and Knuckles sent out chikorita and cyndaquil respectively. Sonic seeing limited potential for the time being in chikorita as it only knew vine whip, decided to use vine whip as a mobility tool. He hadn't had a grass type before so he theorized they would have to wait and see as it learned moves.

Knuckles on the other hand immediately got to having cyndaquil use ember after ember in quick succession. Cyndaquil was strong for its level. And the ember looked like a good move for start.

After the quick training session, which involved raichu also helping chikorita get better at using vine whip as a grappling hook to maneuver around fast, the team sat down to eat. Knuckles who lived by himself back in their hometown, had become adept at cooking so he prepared them a good dinner.

"Knucks this rocks!" Sonic said with his mouth full while digging in.

"That's so cool. Did you really learn to cook on your own?"

"All on my own" he said proudly.

"You know we so often hang out in your place but never saw your parents" Sonic commented "how come they're never home?"

Knuckles for a moment looked clearly uncomfortable at the question. Before either Sonic or Tails could notice, an idea came to mind.

"Hey Sonic what do you say we have a battle? Chikorita versus cyndaquil".

"A battle? Sure" Sonic shrugged smiling. That would be an interesting battle to say the least.

As they stood opposite each other, Sonic looked to the trees on the side of the path. He had a plan on how to combat the type disadvantage and the low levels of the pokemon.

Knuckles immediately went to the offensive.

"Ember!"

"Chikorita use vine whip to jump!"

Putting all of its strength on the move, Chikorita propelled itself a small amount from the ground dodging the move and landing closer to the trees.

"Don't let it get away. Tackle!"

"Chikorita growl".

Chikorita growled at cyndaquil, lowering its attack. The attack still connected shoving chikorita back.

"Ha take that! Now ember"

The attack was launched.

"Chikorita use vine whip to dodge again!"

"Not this time! Rapid fire ember!"

The attacks came in quick succession though not at the intensity Knuckles imagined. The attacks furthermore, being partially charged didn't cause as much damage as a fully charged ember. Chikorita was hit by the barrage but quickly recovered.

"Don't let them escape! Ember!"

However Knuckles failed to notice Sonic had deliberately pushed the battle towards the trees for a reason.

"Now chikorita! Vine whip!"

Chikorita used vine whip, grabbing from the branch of a tree and jumping over the ember, catching cyndaquil off guard.

"Now tackle!"

Chikorita used its move. In combination with the momentum it had built using vine whip and its own weight pulling it back down, it slammed hard into cyndaquil. Cyndaquil collapsed and attempted to get back up.

"Come on cyndaquil get up you can do this!"

Cyndaquil managed to get up.

"We're not out yet! Ember!"

Cyndaquil unleashed its move. Its weakened state however left it unable to knock chikorita out.

"Chikorita use vine whip to end this".

Chikorita wrapped its vines around cyndaquil and raised it on the air intending to slam it down.

"Wait!" Knuckles reached out "don't hurt it".

Sonic was impressed by Knuckles forfeiting to keep cyndaquil from being hurt. Chikorita realizing this as well, gently placed cyndaquil in Knuckles' hands. He pet it gently.

"You were great little one".

Sonic took in the sight remembering several moments from his Kanto journey. He never expected Knuckles to be this gentle and caring with a pokemon. He was always the tough, brave and adventurous echidna he remembered. Sure he was a loyal friend and an amazing person, but Sonic had never seen him being gentle and caring like that.

Shoving the thoughts aside, he approached Knuckles.

"Nice rapid fire idea there. It still needs some work but it has potential".

"Thanks. That move you pulled by swinging from the tree was crazy. And the way you managed to move the battle towards the tree to use it. You've become quite adept in battling".

"And I'll be happy to give you advice while we're on this journey" Sonic patted him on the back "but not all of my tricks. After all a trainer's power comes from their connection with their pokemon and their shared, attained power. And I can't attain that power for you and cyndaquil now can I?"

"Haha. No certainly not".

After the battle the team reconvened and relaxed for the night. Eventually they all retreated to rest inside their big shared tent. Knuckles commented before they sleep that he couldn't wait for tomorrow's training session before immediately falling asleep, snoring a bit.

Sonic smiled as he too was excited. If travelling alone with your pokemon was as fun as it was for his Kanto journey, despite all the challenges and bad times, he couldn't wait to experience a journey with his best friends. And to bury team rocket once and for all when he got the chance of course.