Chapter 48; choice
Looker entered Ecutreak city's police headquarter, shaken and exhausted. And above all pissed off.
He had just returned from Azalea town. Where he had interrogated rocket executive Proton before his breakout.
His partner Jake was there waiting for his arrival.
"Finally. Did it take you that long to get that guy to talk?"
Looker didn't answer right away. He instead walked over to the table and slumped into a chair.
"Looker are you ok?"
"No".
"Why not? I thought the capture of a team rocket higher up would brighten up your mood".
"He was broken out a few hours after I left. But yes it would have if we made any progress. He didn't budge. Refused to even call a lawyer".
"Damn. Well still, at least now team rocket is falling in power once again. Daring stunt they pulled at the slowpoke well even under a calculated risk".
"Yes but they didn't account for one factor".
"What factor?"
Looker pointed to the center of the bulletin board. At team Sonic's picture.
"The hero of Kanto?"
"Yes. He and his two allies were spotted in Azalea the same morning team rocket was stopped".
"Seriously? I heard reports at least 40 grunts were there. 3 against 40 and they came out on top?"
Looker remained silent.
"Ok I see. But Looker… just because Sonic the hedgehog is taking the law in his hands to save the slowpokes doesn't mean he deserves to go to prison".
"Morrison" Looker said trying not to shout. Jake immediately stopped. When Looker used his last name he knew he was being utterly serious.
"Morrison… both of Proton's legs were broken".
"What?!"
"Doctors said the breaking came from impact with a rock. And that great force was applied".
Jake was mortified.
"The hedgehog has just shown he is capable of hurting them like I feared. But we can't bring him in. There is no proof of their involvement".
"Are you sure? Like are you sure the broken legs were result of aggression and not an accident?"
"Yes. The angle of the break showed the rock came from above. If he had tripped and somehow broken both of his legs it would be obvious from the injury".
Jake didn't know what to say.
"And the rest of the captured rockets were not in much better shape. A lot of them had been beaten up and many obviously didn't talk out of fear. The hedgehog has come here to terrorize them before ending them".
"Looker… I agree with you that if that's true they could be a loose end… but don't you feel like team rocket has kind of called for it?"
Looker looked at his partner so fast and intensely that Jake felt fear.
"Do not bring emotions into this Morisson. We uphold the law. Team rocket will pay for what they did but so will the hedgehog and his cronies. I did not spend 10 years of my life upholding the law even in unorthodox ways for nothing".
Jake couldn't disagree but couldn't fully agree either. If team Sonic had really beaten up team rocket so badly, they were indeed potentially dangerous… but who were they dangerous to exactly?
While this was taking place in ecutreak city, team Sonic had spent a total of 3 days training, all 3 of them. Tails was working to get eevee to grow stronger so it could be an asset to the team against team rocket one day while also making it his partner.
Knuckles was also trying to power up his team members to take on the next gym. He did try to the first day of their training. Sonic and Tails were there to witness his crashing defeat.
The gym leader whitney was a menace. Or rather her miltank was. A tanky normal type that had the ability to use a move called milk drink which worked a lot like the recover move healing it to almost full health in battle. At the same time it could use rollout and when it started it was nearly impossible to stop. Knuckles' quilava and bellsprout were completely run over. Heracross tried to stop the rolling and it did, but it took too much damage doing so. Before it could act, Miltank had used milk drink and Knuckles was back to square one.
Now knowing of course what they were up against, Knuckles was training heracross to knock out that miltank. Though no real progress was being made. Heracross just didn't seem to learn any actual fighting move.
Sonic was also working towards solving the problem. Or rather solving it without having to resort to use raichu. He knew his partner was so strong he would knock out miltank with a single brick break even though it wouldn't come out unscathed.
His original idea was training up the new member of his team, his shiny tyrogue but that proved harder than expected. Though tyrogue trained hard on its own to gain strength as this was the nature of a fighting type and had already displayed extreme shows of strength, it was still essentially just a baby in age. It would be hard for it to perform as well as required against such a menace of a pokemon like miltank.
Sonic then thought to resort to using chikorita as a wall to drain miltank using leech seed and poison powder as well as dodging to outlast it. But there was a slight problem with his plan.
Chikorita was not willing to evolve.
The glowing phenomenon a pokemon underwent when evolving took place 2 more times during their training but both times chikorita stopped on its own. All 3 members of team Sonic were taken aback by this development.
Now Sonic was thinking of a way he could understand why chikorita was so against evolving. But he just couldn't seem to find a reason. Outside of training chikorita was perfectly normally interacting with the other pokemon, not a single problem throughout their short team-up so far.
He had of course asked Tails to possibly get the voltmeter to actually function as translator again, wanting to raichu to act as the middle ground for Sonic and chikorita, but Tails made little progress. The compiler he had added to the voltmeter to actually function the way it did got messed up badly and needed a change. Problem was the new compiler now needed to be programmed again in the required sequence which could take days. Last time it functioned because Tails had worked on it during Sonic's Kanto journey and during the time Sonic was still back in their hometown, Green hills. Plus now Tails was busy being in love via the phone with Cosmo which didn't leave much mind for restructuring the algorithm.
In other words the team had to find the answer on their own.
While the team was considering their choices, both in the case of Sonic's team and of Knuckles' the latter came up with an idea.
"Hey Sonic. I think I have a solution to beat that menace of a gym leader".
"I'm all ears".
"She uses normal types right?"
"Yes?"
"And you have raichu on your party that knows brick break".
"I know but raichu will be my last resort".
"It shouldn't be. It should be one of our first resorts".
"Huh? You mean like we both use raichu as a member of our team? I fight whitney with it, then trade it to you for your battle?"
"No. That would be counterproductive. And also cheating. Wouldn't it be better if raichu taught tyrogue and heracross how to use brick break instead?"
Sonic's eyes widened in shock.
"Oh my lord I'm an idiot! Why didn't I think of that?! You're absolutely right!"
Sonic immediately called raichu and tyrogue to them, while Knuckles called heracross. Sonic filled the pokemon in on their plan, essentially giving raichu its first task as de facto leader of his party and big brother to their new team members. Raichu, albeit a bit disappointed it wouldn't tackle whitney itself, excitedly took on the task and, with Sonic's command, demonstrated brick break, smashing a rock with ease.
Heracross and tyrogue immediately got to work, as chikorita observed them from afar with a lot of curiosity but a serious expression.
After about 2 hours of practice, heracross managed to pick up brick break and Knuckles suggested Raichu and heracross try to use brick break against each other to see how well heracross would do. Heracross' resistance to the move would make sure it wasn't badly hurt and its low power level compared to that of the battle hardened raichu would make a balanced environment.
The two pokemon collided and surprisingly enough, even though raichu did overpower heracross with relative ease, it did take some damage as well. Knuckles was ecstatic and decided he would challenge Whitney again same afternoon.
Sonic told his friend he was confident this time he would come out on top and be done with that menace, though he would face her himself when tyrogue managed to pick up the move as well.
As team Sonic and the pokemon were having lunch, raichu walked around their party to see if all the other pokemon were ok. It noticed chikorita hadn't touched its food.
"You ok?" Raichu asked its teammate. To its trainer that would sound as raichu crying out its name but to the pokemon it would sound like normal dialog.
"I'm fine… just not hungry".
"You don't feel well? We should let our trainer know if that's the case".
"It's not that".
Raichu knew right away what was on chikorita's mind. Sonic hadn't noticed of course though that was to be expected. It wasn't like he could understand pokemon language.
"I noticed twice during our training you stopped yourself from evolving. Why?"
Chikorita contemplated what to answer but in the end decided to tell the truth. After all Raichu could possess the answer it sought.
"I'm not happy with the way he treats me".
Raichu was taken aback. Sonic had been nothing but kind to his pokemon.
"Why would you think that?"
"He doesn't accept me as I am".
"What are you talking about of course he does".
"If he did he wouldn't pressure me to evolve".
Raichu stared at Chikorita for a moment and then to the endless blue of the sea as if doing that would grant it the answer.
"I see how it is. To be honest… I can't relate. I evolved fairly quickly from my first form into my Pikachu form and about 2 weeks into my journey with Sonic, into my current form".
If Raichu of course thought that would clear things, it was dead wrong. For Chikorita had become even more confused.
"You evolved so fast? Why? What was so wrong with you as you were before?"
"Nothing. Evolving was just my desire ever since I was a pichu".
"You… you wanted it? You wanted to become… as you are now?"
"Yeah. Is there anything wrong with the way I am now?"
"No. But still… you can never be a pichu again. Don't you regret it?"
"Not at all".
"How can this be? How can you do this?"
Raichu felt Chikorita was reflecting its own problem onto it.
"What's this really about?"
Chikorita looked down.
"I don't want to evolve. I like who I am. If I evolve I will become bigger… and less cute than I am now. I know it sounds stupid but I like being cute".
"That's not wrong".
"Then why won't he accept me as I am?"
Raichu recalled Sonic's words to Ash during their Kanto league battle. Unbeknown to Sonic and Ash, Pikachu and Raichu had actually had conversations during Pikachu's repeated attempts to goad Raichu into fighting. Pikachu ran on its pride as a Pikachu to justify its desire not to evolve. Raichu had no real problem with it, but if Pikachu wanted to surpass it and its bond with Sonic it would have to find another way cause the Pikachu way just wouldn't cut it for now.
"He does accept you. Even if he doesn't seem to do. But that's because of circumstance you are unaware of".
"Like?"
"I told you when we met, but I originated from the Kanto region. I met our trainer there. I also had other teammates back then. We were a tight team. And we had one goal. To grow stronger together".
"Did they evolve?"
"Yes. 3 of them that could evolved. All the way to their final forms".
"…I don't get it. Why would they change themselves for someone else? I don't want to do that. I love myself as I am and refuse to change even if Sonic is really as kind as you say" Chikorita declared crying out its name so loudly that Sonic and Tails looked at it. Seeing Raichu with it, they passed it off as an argument between pokemon.
Raichu of course knew that even though Sonic couldn't understand them they could understand him and the only way for Chikorita to understand his point of view was if they told him their story together.
Raichu left Chikorita alone for now and returned to helping tyrogue learn brick break. Before the lesson began though, Raichu fell victim to a prank from tyrogue and wooper, spraying him top to bottom with mud shot.
After a while Knuckles returned and to everyone's surprise, triumphant. Heracross had dominated, using its giant horn to stop Miltank in its tracks and acting quickly landed a devastating brick break, earning Knuckles the win. Sonic congratulated his friend and felt confident that with a little more training and of course mastering brick break, tyrogue too had a chance.
Later that night after a hard day of trying, Tyrogue was able to pick up brick break and use it flawlessly as if it was in its nature. Tails theorized this was because unlike Heracross which was a bug pokemon and therefore living in the woods, Tyrogue was a human-like pokemon and that combined with the fighting type just made moves of that sort easier to master. Of course its young age meant it would still need to build its strength a lot more but Sonic felt confident in their victory tomorrow.
As Knuckles was narrating his epic victory against Whitney and her menace of a miltank, Raichu pulled Sonic apart from the rest and got him to Chikorita.
"Is everything ok guys?" Sonic asked them realizing they had isolated him for a reason.
"Chiko chiko rita" Chikorita cried out telling raichu "why's he here?"
Raichu using mostly gestures asked Sonic to tell Chikorita about their journey through Kanto. It of course started by explaining to both of them, talking to Chikorita and gesturing to Sonic, that Chikorita had an issue with him. Sonic took a while but figured it out when Raichu finally nodded at this accurate conclusion.
"Are you mad at me for pushing you to evolve Chikorita?"
"Chiko" Chikorita cried out and looked away.
Sonic sighed.
"I see. Heh. Who would have thought I would actually have to test the philosophy I explained to Ash back then" Sonic muttered.
"Chikorita… I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. That was not my intention".
Chikorita turned to Raichu.
"Not his intention? Are you kidding me?"
"Patience please" Raichu answered its teammate as it gestured to Sonic to take a trip down memory lane.
"I don't know if raichu has told you Chikorita… but it and I share a bit of history together. Good history. But… with a lot of dark points".
Chikorita looked up towards Sonic, who laid back and looked at the sky.
"A little while after I began my first journey, the same one during which I met Raichu, I came into conflict with an evil organization known as team rocket. They did horrible things to pokemon. I became determined to bring them down. Each member of my then team joined me for this goal. And to achieve that goal we all had to grow" Sonic spoke as he was fighting to hold back the tears as memories of his kanto team flooded his mind.
"Maybe… one or two of the pokemon on my team then didn't want to evolve… but they chose our team over their thoughts on that matter. I too went through a journey of improvement back then… we all grew together and eventually were able to accomplish our goal of bringing down team rocket".
Chikorita's attitude of anger had changed into silent interest but still couldn't understand why Sonic was telling it all of this and what it had to do with him pushing it to evolve so much.
"But that time is now behind us. Team rocket though is not. They are here, in your homeland. And they are planning to make a comeback. Me, raichu and our friends are here to stop them. And we are off to a good start already".
Chikorita looked at Raichu in question. Raichu explained the events of the slowpoke well and Chikorita asked frustrated why it wasn't called out to help. Raichu doing its best to mimic, got the message across.
"Because they are dangerous Chikorita. And your battle with Silver back then showed that soon the opponents will be too strong for you to fight".
"Chiko chiko!"
Raichu once again got the clear message of "but I want to help if that's the case" across.
"I know Chikorita" Sonic said turning his head to meet the grass type's eyes "but you can't. Not in your current form. You have a threshold of power than can be crossed by evolving. Evolution will grand you power, keep you safe… and help you keep others safe".
Chikorita looked down considering its trainer's words.
"I understand your hesitation about evolving. And I respect it. But… you need to understand me too here. We're dealing with dangerous people. And in your current form you just will not be strong enough to help us. Not now not ever. I know it's rough to hear" Sonic closed his eyes as Chikorita took on a sad face "but it's the truth. As your trainer my primary obligation is to keep you safe and happy. As Sonic the hedgehog, me and my friends are heading into danger. And I can't let you follow me into that danger. Not as Chikorita".
Chikorita felt betrayed beyond belief. Sonic was bluntly stating that unless it evolved, it would get left behind?
"The choice is yours to make Chikorita. I can't make it for you. You need to choose between your attachment to your current self and the desire to help me and your teammates into the coming conflict. And that conflict will affect your homeland. So I suggest you choose wisely" Sonic muttered obviously saddened as well and left the two pokemon alone.
Raichu tried to reach for Chikorita but the latter looked away using vine whip to redirect Raichu's hand away. Raichu saddened turned to leave.
"He does care you know. More than you can imagine".
"If he cared he would accept me".
Raichu looked back momentarily and then let its teammate think it over.
The next morning after team Sonic woke up, Sonic went to collect his pokemon to head over to Whitney's gym.
"Weird. Where's Chikorita?" he wondered as he looked around.
He started calling out to Chikorita, after a while waking up Tails and Knuckles.
"What's wrong?" Tails asked him.
"I can't find Chikorita" Sonic answered visibly worried.
"After what happened last night, it's understandably upset".
"I know but what should have I done? Lie to it? Tell it to take its time when any day could spell a dangerous confrontation with team rocket?"
"Relax. It's probably around here somewhere. Use the pokeball to forcibly recall it".
Sonic hesitated but relented wanting to make sure Chikorita was ok.
He took out Chikorita's pokeball and pressed the button. But nothing happened.
"Wha…?" Sonic muttered as he repeatedly pushed the button to no avail "Tails?"
"Yeah?"
"When does a pokeball not function?"
"If it's not being used, the signal is being jammed or the pokemon is out of range".
The feeling of understanding washed over team Sonic like a waterfall.
"Chikorita left" Sonic whispered in disbelief.
"What? Why would it?"
"I… our talk…"
"Sonic what did you tell it?" Knuckles asked to know.
"I told you last night".
"No you said you tried to convince it to evolve by explaining the dangers".
"…I told it that I wouldn't wield it in battle if it didn't evolve ok? I feel bad enough as is knowing that everytime either me or raichu get hurt the other feels the pain as well. Chikorita is slowly getting overpowered by our opponents and yet refused to evolve. What was I supposed to do? Sugarcoat it?"
"Sonic Chikorita must've interpreted it as a warning of desertion" Tails said seriously.
"I would never abandon it!"
"We know that. But it didn't".
Sonic refusing to give up, suggested they spread around and look.
They searched the fields and the edge of the forest for about an hour. Nothing. Chikorita was gone.
When the three friends reconvened and it was painfully obvious that there was no result, Sonic was overcome with emotion and dropped to his knees.
"What have I done?" he said as he tried to fight the emotions "I… I never wanted it to leave… I just wanted it to evolve so it could be safe".
Tails and Knuckles knelt on his sides.
"We know that Sonic. You told it to make its choice. It did. And maybe… maybe it's for both of your best".
Sonic couldn't find a reason to disagree with Tails' logic but the pain was still overwhelming. His pokemon had left him. What if his other pokemon were also unhappy?
"What if raichu also leaves one day?" he asked aloud.
Raichu came out of its pokeball on its own having heard the question. It stood in front of Sonic and then walked in against him trying to hug him with its small paws. Sonic hugged his partner back, treasuring it even more now.
"Partner do you ever feel like I don't care for you?"
"Rai" raichu cried out waving negatively.
Sonic was grateful for this reaction but was now also determined to have a talk with tyrogue and wooper after the gym battle regardless of the result. With support from Tails and Knuckles the three made their way for Whitney's gym.