Chapter 97; Pride and practicality
"So it's official?" Jet asked Tails as they walked "you're going back to Johto?"
"Yeah. I had a talk with Cosmo and… it's just what I want. Sonic is in Hoenn right now so…"
"So where you are won't make much of a difference on how you can offer help to Sonic" Jet finished his sentence.
"I know. It sounds like a selfish choice. I don't want you and Wave and Knuckles to think I'm abandoning you but… I don't want to lose Cosmo either. We have been apart for a month. She can't stay any longer. And to be honest… I want to also hunt some poachers with Raikou again".
"Hey relax. There's no hard feelings. It's not like you're leaving forever right?"
"We're still working on it but as of now… no I'm not".
"Then it's good enough for now. Just so you know you have hit the lottery. The amount of understanding Cosmo has displayed is out of this world. Don't you dare lose her. She is a keeper".
"Thanks" Tails smiled.
"Sonic would say the exact same thing" Jet simply added.
A few seconds went by until Tails brought up another question.
"Did Sonic tell you… that he ran into Shadow there?"
"Yes".
"And did he tell you…"
"That he gave Shadow a piece of everyone's mind?"
"You agree with him punching Shadow?"
"He had it coming. He literally came out of nowhere and messed us all up, Sonic most of all".
"I know but… both us and Sonic have seen how dark he has truly become because of our war with team rocket. He is literally on a redemption journey to make right of his mistake to Ash which is a result of this darkness. How can he hope to be redeemed if he continues to embrace this darkness against those he hates?"
Jet couldn't help but agree. Sonic was stepping on eggshells already. And Ash's stubborn nature wouldn't make it any easier whenever they met.
Not that Sonic hated Ash but Ash just knew how to push his buttons and everyone knew where that had led them.
"We need to trust my brother. It's all we can do either way. The change has to come from within".
"When you talk" Tails said, disagreeing with the sentiment as he believed Sonic needed positive pushes "do try to convince him to not get angry with Shadow again. Catch him if he can but not hurt him. You're his brother he'll listen".
"You and Knuckles are like brothers to him too. So I don't know. What we're trying to tell him, he needs to understand on his own".
Tails went silent. Sonic had an near impossible task to complete.
How does one master their emotions if said emotions were corrupted by darkness for such a long time?
Far away, in Hoenn, Sonic and Raichu were back to their rigorous training. They would be ready if they ran into Steven again.
After the fight, Wally's excitement made its way into Sonic and he decided he would continue training further with Raichu to get even stronger and be able to tank the damage together. At the same time Raichu helped in the training of their new team member Aron.
With all 3 pokemon leaning on the hand to hand combat style, Raichu was in its element, helping them spar while also serving as a bit of a punching bag for them. Torchic had managed to actually make Sonic feel something through his bond with Raichu which made him smile.
"It must be close to evolving" he hoped.
Aron on the other hand had a long way to go. It was able to learn headbutt which, although a normal type move, was going to be extra effective due to aron's weight and also could flinch the opponent. Sonic had smiled at this realization.
Wally's Ralts also participated in the training but was going to be a late bloomer as it still was only knowing confusion. It managed to learn double team and practiced with Sonic's pokemon at dodging, using its psychic powers to become really good at it. But its offensive capabilities were still very low.
Sonic comforted Wally by promising to eventually give Ralts a chance to learn from his Alakazam. Wally was excited at the prospect.
Sonic, remembering Mewtwo had barred him from calling his Kanto pokemon, made a mental promise that he would be redeemed enough for Mewtwo to allow this to happen. He wouldn't let Wally down.
Ending their training session, Sonic reminisced on the two weeks the two had spent training.
Wally had been tempted to talk to his parents and let them know he was ok but doing so could lead them to finding out where he was and coming to get him. One look at Sonic had Wally remaining steadfast in his choice and declared he was not going home until he felt like it. Sonic couldn't help but be impressed. Wally was slowly growing out of his timid self.
With all that in mind the two decided it was time to challenge the second gym leader, Brawly. Wally followed, excited to observe the battle.
When they arrived at the gym, they walked in to find the place equipped with fitness equipment, quickly hinting at the typing they would face. Immediately Sonic knew he couldn't use Aron due to its typing and need of more training.
But the more pressing matter was that the gym leader wasn't there.
"Where is he?" Sonic wondered aloud.
"Hey Sonic! There is a note here" Wally called him.
On a bulletin board was pinned note.
"Out on a challenge. If you seek me come to the islet on the middle of the bay. Stay cool, Brawly".
"To the beach" Sonic immediately declared.
The two trainers reached the beach and observed their destination.
"Isn't it… a little far to get at by swimming?" Wally asked Sonic.
"It is. We need to find another way there".
"Looking for Brawly?" a girl's voice asked them.
The two turned and were met with the image of a blue haired girl in a surfing suit. Wally couldn't help but blush.
Before Sonic could reply however, the girl identified him.
"I was wondering when you would show up".
"I'll never get to introduce myself aren't I?" Sonic joked causing her to giggle.
"Brawly has been anticipating your challenge for a while. I've known him for a while and he is very chill so for him to have such anticipation is new. I'm Shauna".
"Sonic. This is my friend Wally".
Wally awkwardly shook her hand.
"So… how do we get there?" Sonic asked her.
"Same way Brawly gets. By surfing".
"Surfing?" Sonic exclaimed in surprise. Wally hesitated.
"Yes. Also the same way his challenger met him there today. I wonder how their rematch will go".
"Would be cool if we could see that rematch" Wally spoke, mostly referring to Sonic.
"Would be, but they've probably started".
"Nah you definitely got time. Just grab a board and go".
Sonic was all about it but Wally wasn't very excited about it.
"I don't know if I can come. I don't have any swimming trunks".
"Nonsense. Follow me" Shauna excitedly took him by the hand and they rushed off, leaving Sonic to follow.
Before either of them knew it, they were brandishing surfing suits.
"Well that took an interesting turn" Sonic commented.
"Here I can carry your backpacks if you want. I'm experienced at surfing so no chance of your stuff getting ruined".
"Mine's waterproof so I'm ok" Sonic said.
Wally ended up handing her his bag.
The three then rode a surfing board each and headed out. Wally ended up remaining close to Shauna as he wasn't very good with water, especially this deep.
Sonic on the other hand, quickly found himself relaxing and going with the flow. It was surprising to him that such calmness could be attained.
"I can't believe how much I've been missing out on" he thought as he experienced the freedom and the open air.
The waves were not big but riding along them was very pleasant. Wally had trouble maintaining his balance and ended up falling into the water a couple of times.
At a point in the distance Sonic noticed another surfer who was seemingly looking for a bigger wave.
"Good luck. The wind is not strong enough right now" he joked silently.
Despite the pleasant ride, it had to end.
They made it the islet and Shauna directed them to a small cave which had a natural arena inside. Sonic hoped he would get to battle Brawly in that arena. Adapting to an environment was one of the best factors in battling. He had trained heavily on that with Tails and Knuckles in Johto.
Shauna ended up joining them as she also wanted to observe that battle. The kid challenging Brawly had lost to him the first time and she was present so she wanted to see how it would turn out this time.
Upon walking into the large room containing the arena, Sonic saw 3 back turned alongside a red outfit.
"Oh no" he thought.
"Please don't tell me the kid's name was Ash" he said to Shauna.
"How did you know?"
Brock, May and Max turned around at the sound of their voices.
"Sonic?" May exclaimed in surprise.
"Hi" Sonic tried to greet pleasantly, although it was obvious they were not very glad to see him.
Ash and Brawly were standing on the arena getting ready for their battle.
Immediately upon spotting Sonic, Ash got visibly upset. Brawly on the other hand looked ready to bail on the rematch. Not that he would but Roxanne had hyped him about battling the hero of Kanto.
"Came to watch me triumph this time?" Ash called out.
"I didn't know you were rematching but since we're all here… feel free to entertain me if that is what you want".
"Watch me" Ash said turning back to Brawly. The latter asked the unexpectedly arriving Shauna to act as the referee for the match.
"Been quite a while since last time" May tried to chat with Sonic "what have you been up to?"
"Training with my friend here" he casually said pointing to Wally who was quick to greet them.
Max pointed out Wally was the kid Sonic had helped catch a ralts with the help of a zigzagoon rented to him by their father and Wally confirmed it was the case. Max asked Wally why he hang out with Sonic to which Wally answered that he would be dumb not to. A fan hanging out with their idol was a dream come true.
May stopped their conversation before things spiralled out of control. Although she was mostly neutral in the matter of Ash and Sonic, Brock and Max were on Ash's side although without hating on Sonic like Ash did. So putting them and Wally together was like adding fuel to an already unstable fire.
Therefore Sonic and Wally stood a little further away as Ash and Brawly sent out their first pokemon.
"Go Machop!"
"Treecko! I choose you!"
Sonic remembered how agile and durant Ash's treecko was. This was going to be interesting.
"At least I hope it will" he thought.
"Machop! Use karate chop!"
Machop jumped, going for a quick one.
"I didn't notice but this guy's voice is actually similar to mine. Go figure" Sonic thought.
"Treecko dodge it!"
Treecko effortlessly dodged the attack.
"Again machop!"
Machop tried striking again but again the attack was dodged.
"Don't let it off! Karate chop!"
Treecko stood its ground, as the move came for it.
"They're gonna clash!" Wally said excited.
He was proven wrong as Ash ordered Treecko to dodge again. The grass type did more than that, jumping off the arena into a field of stalagmites. Machop followed karate chopping all the way but Treecko hopped from one stalagmite to the next as if they were trees.
"Look at Treecko go!" Brock commented.
"It's not fighting back though" Wally spoke his mind.
Ash heard him.
"Treecko now! Quick attack!"
Treecko took advantage of a missed cross chop by machop, landing a quick attack.
Machop was sent back, looking very roughed up.
Sonic couldn't help but be impressed. If Treecko could do so much damage to a fighting type like machop which had good defense, was so durant and so agile, he could only imagine what actual power training would make it.
Brawly however smiled.
"You forgot the geysers Ash".
Ash gasped.
Machop took a cross chop pose as the ground rumbled.
A geyser fired machop straight at Treecko.
"Machop! Cross chop!"
"This is it!" Wally said, still eager to see and actual clash.
This time he wasn't just proven wrong but let down. Ash recalled Treecko right before the clash occurred.
Sonic was shocked at this. He felt his anger rising again.
Ash kept calling him out for building power while all he did was run?
Machop's move ended up smashing a rock instead.
"Woah did you see that?" Wally said in shock.
"That was so close. Machop is so strong" May sounded relieved.
"That was a big rock" Max commented.
"And it would have been Treecko if Ash hadn't returned it in its pokeball".
"So you're ok with it?" Sonic spoke up.
They all looked at him.
"You're ok with Ash just avoiding all the attacks?"
"What else can he do?" May inquired.
"Haven't you heard the saying no pain no gain?" Sonic countered.
"That's not his style" Brock disapproved.
"Maybe but this style will not get him too far. That much I can tell you".
"You sure can" Brock roasted him.
Sonic gritted his teeth. After what he had done it was indeed not cool to try and give pointers but Ash just pulling tricks and dodging instead of fighting head-on just pissed him off.
"Had he fought against the actual rockets we faced, he wouldn't have lasted more than a minute with this style. These people wouldn't hold back" he thought frustrated.
What was even more frustrating was no one was on his side apart from Wally but Sonic couldn't exactly count him because of his massive bias.
Meanwhile Ash chose his second pokemon.
"Alright! Corphish I choose you!"
A red crab like pokemon appeared.
"Hm" Sonic hummed as he scanned it with his dex.
"Corphish, the Ruffian Pokémon. Corphish lives anywhere, adapting to its surroundings. Its pincers hold on tightly when it catches prey".
"Huh, a fascinating catch. A water type. Adaptive huh? Let's see what he does".
"Corphish, bubble beam!"
The attack came down on Machop hard as its special defense wasn't great.
"Machop karate chop!"
"Counter with crabhammer!"
"Crabhammer?!" Sonic exclaimed, not expecting the powerful move on this pokemon.
The crabhammer landed, brutally damaging machop, leaving it on the brink of fainting.
"Don't let up corphish! Another crabhammer!"
The second crabhammer was the final nail. Machop toppled, fainting.
Brawly recalled Machop.
"Well dude I gotta hand it to you. You have gotten better since last time. But the battle is far from over".
With those words he took out his second pokeball.
"This must be his Hariyama" Brock said.
"His what?" Sonic thought.
"Now fresh from the surf! Hariyama ride it dude!"
A massive thud shook the cave as a gigantic pokemon stood opposite of corphish. Sonic himself was shaken mentally by the massive fighting type wondering if even his Raichu could go toe to toe with this.
His eyes then examined Corphish. It still seemed to be in prime condition. And crabhammer was certainly not a move to laugh at.
"Alright Hariyama!" Brawly went on the offensive "arm thrust!"
Hariyama charged Corphish.
"Let's see how he puts crabhammer to use" Sonic thought with the hint of a smile. There was no way Ash could mess this up.
But as they say, never say never.
"Corphish! Harden!"
"HUH?!" Sonic's cry of shock echoed in the cave.
Corphish's body became extremely hard. Arm thrust came down on it but it stood its ground, taking every one of the attacks.
"Hang on Corphish! Hariyama is heavy! It will get tired eventually!"
Sonic's jaw hang open. That was his big plan? To just let Corphish get beat up until the opponent stopped?
"Are you insane?! Don't just take it! Fight back!" he called out to Ash.
"Mind your business!" Ash fired.
Brawly grinned.
"You'd like it if Hariyama got tired. Keep up the arm thrust!"
Hariyama did just that, not slowing down an inch.
"What's happening? Why isn't Hariyama slowing down?" Ash troed to assess the situation.
"You should have listened to your friend. You were not the only one to train after all".
Ash got annoyed at being called Sonic's friend.
"Corphish jump in the water!"
Sonic at first believed Ash was still running but when Hariyama followed Corphish in, he understood why Ash had done it. He had obviously taken a note from his battle with Silver in the Johto league.
Corphish jumped and used crabhammer on Hariyama when the fighting type least expected it before retreating back in. The advantage was massive.
Sonic felt both satisfaction that Ash was fighting back and annoyance that he didn't fight Brawly head-on. He just never seemed to want to resort to that with any of his pokemon. Maybe that was just because of the earlier failed attempt to use treecko when it could have obviously been so much stronger if trained properly.
"A special opponent requires a special treatment! Hariyama let's try something special! Arm thrust the water!"
Hariyama's hand made an arch and slammed into the water. Physics took over as Corphish was forced out.
"Corphish?!" Ash exclaimed.
"Now seismic toss!"
Hariyama jumped, grabbed ahold of Corphish and span 3 times before throwing it at ground. The brutal attack signaled the end of the battle for Corphish who fainted.
Ash recalled and thanked Corphish before taking out Treecko's pokeball again.
"It's all up to Treecko now" Brock said in a serious tone.
"Let's hope it ends better than last time" May hoped.
"What do you mean like last time?" Sonic couldn't stop himself from asking.
"Treecko was defeated by Hariyama in their previous battle. It evolved from its previous form, Makuhita mid battle and fought back".
"Ok… so why isn't Ash using Pikachu then?"
"Simple!" he replied for May "Treecko and I have a score to settle with Hariyama. We trained for this!"
Sonic processed his words.
"So wait… let me get this straight… you can only use two pokemon… you KNOW what Brawly was going to use… and you still choose to forgo the optimal choices for your party… to prove a point?!"
"Exactly!"
Sonic walked off, signaling to Wally to not follow him for a moment.
"What's with him?" Max asked.
"I don't know" Brock shrugged.
May followed Sonic. She found him facing the wall and grabbing his head, taking deep breaths.
"You ok?"
"No".
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Can you find a brain for him? Cause he is brainless!"
"Look, I understand you do not agree with his battle style…"
Sonic punched the wall, accidentally harnessing his bond with Raichu creating a small hole on the wall, startling May.
"I tried proving a point once and it almost got me killed! I had to learn to adapt flawlessly and forgo my pride to survive! That is why my pokemon have grown so strong! How can he expect me to respect him… when all he does is run, dodge, pulling tricks and not fighting head-on?!"
"It's just not Ash's style ok? Please there's no reason to be upset".
Sonic took another deep breath and went to walk back into the arena.
Before passing by May he stopped
"If that is his style, then he needs to be ready to embrace its limits. Because it has limits. A lot of them" he said before walking away.
To his surprise he found Treecko actually keeping up with Hariyama. Ash's strategy quickly became apparent when Sonic analyzed Treecko's movements.
Treecko kept pounding at Hariyama's legs to slow it down. Sonic was again immensely disappointed.
Ash claimed to have trained for this and his Treecko only still knew pound and quick attack. All he did was just develop a specific attack pattern against Hariyama.
"In two weeks he made this much progress. Close to zero" Sonic thought.
Hariyama tried using vital throw but Ash's strategy made it fizzle due to the pain in its legs and allowing Treecko to get a few more pounds in before jumping away.
With both pokemon exhausted it was obvious the next attack would end it.
The ground rumbled again.
Treecko and Hariyama both got into position.
Two geysers launched them at each other, Treecko spinning to pound and Hariyama preparing to use knock off.
The attacks collided.
The two pokemon passed by each other and stood there kneeling.
In the next moment, with a huge thud, Hariyama fainted.
"He did it!" Max exclaimed.
"Way to go Ash!" Brock cheered for his friend.
"He did it" Wally spoke after a long while, having gotten that clash of attacks he was awaiting.
Ash hopped back next to his friends, accepting the congratulations before standing before Sonic.
"So? Were you entertained?" he gloatingly asked.
"Honestly?"
"Yeah".
"I'm disappointed".
Everyone was shocked. Especially Brawly and Shauna. They weren't expecting this kind of reaction after what they saw as an epic battle.
"Of course. Why do I even bother? Why did I expect a jerk like you to not look down on me?" Ash coldly stated.
"You admitted yourself you trained for two weeks. What have you got to show for it? Treecko has learned no new moves. So it hasn't gotten any stronger overall".
"You say that. All you care about is power".
"It's not only the power part. You battled so well with your corphish at first and then stupidly chose to shift gears completely and just tank attacks from a much stronger pokemon. Why not just immediately retreat in the water?"
"The plan was to tire it out!"
"By blocking with corphish's face? And you wonder why I every time we battle we end up arguing?!"
"You know what? I don't have to listen to you. Your opinion is the last thing I need. Especially after what you've done".
"Would you like a more objective opinion then?" a voice echoed through the cave.
The clicking of heels came from the entrance of the cave.
In walked…
"Blaze?!" Sonic was shocked to see her there.
With a dead calm expression, Blaze locked eyes with Ash.
"Well? Would you like an objective opinion?"
"H-how did you get here?" Sonic managed to ask her.
"Same way you did. I saw you heading here too".
"Who are you?" Ash asked her.
"Someone who observed this contest just now and doesn't know either of you two well enough to be biased in any way or capacity".
"Sonic called you by name" Brock pointed out.
"We met two weeks ago once, when Sonic delivered a letter to my cousin from my uncle. I wouldn't classify that as sufficient time to consider myself close to him".
"Wow, she talks all fancy" May couldn't help but be kind of impressed by the formal tone.
"Ok then. Let me have your opinion then" Ash confidently invited Blaze to share her opinion.
Blaze wasted no time.
"You are inadequate".
"What?!" Ash stepped back in shock.
"You are inadequate. Your battling style is impractical and your need to prove a point in your battles is your greatest flaw. You select the pokemon you use in battle based on sentiment and deny yourself other possible advantages. Yet you don't try to cover up for those disadvantages with adequate training, instead simply creating temporary and improvised tactics to win the battle at hand. So yes. In one sentence, you are an inadequate trainer".
Ash took the opinion in with shock at first before getting into Blaze's face.
"Just who do you think you are lady?! What gives you the right to have this opinion of me?!"
Brawly and Shauna didn't speak. They knew.
Blaze slightly smiled.
"I am Blaze the cat. Cousin of Hoenn champion Steven Stone".
Ash and his friends were shocked beyond belief.
Ash tried to bounce back.
"Even so… you're wrong. I'm not inadequate! You don't know me! I am not what you describe".
"Your behavior is identical to the way you organized your pokemon and matchups in the Johto league. You set yourself up in impossible situations where no trainer would ever stand a chance to fight back and against a trainer of Sonic's caliber no less, and proceeded to get upset when things did not go your way. The only time this behavior did not occur was against Sonic's friend Knuckles the echidna".
"I beat Knuckles! I should have beaten Sonic too!"
"Should have, could have, would have" Blaze roasted him and then decided to hit Ash were it would hurt the most.
"You claimed during those battles you want to be a pokemon master. Yet you don't work for it".
"I am working for it! I trained and beat Brawly after losing the first time".
Blaze scoffed.
"As a champion's cousin, I can tell you with absolute certainty that to become a champion or even just a champion level trainer you need power. And all you have is average playground tricks. Your style is inadequate, your pokemon are not strong and unless you change that, you will never get you as far as you desire to go. That is not just my opinion. It is the undeniable truth".
She then got into Ash's face.
"You told Sonic he was wrong to push his pokemon to evolve so they could become stronger. By extension, everyone who does this is wrong. Including my cousin. Yet if he didn't he wouldn't be champion. Think about it".
And with those words Blaze turned around and left, her boot heels clicking as she walked away.
Ash turned to Brawly and Shauna with a hint of need for affirmation.
"You don't believe what she says right?"
Both gym leader and apprentice hesitated.
"I don't think you are inadequate. But… she is right. Power is necessary. Your strategies alone can't cut it in the big leagues".
Ash entered a funk, not responding, as if he had a processing bar over him.
To avoid further clash, Sonic and Wally snuck out, using the boards to return to Dewford town. They needed a long rest after that and more importantly Sonic had to calm down. The battle with Brawly could wait.