Special chapter; the power of one
The calming sounds of the sea waves crashing on the shore and the warm feeling of the sun's rays were engulfing Sonic as he lied on a beach chair, sunglasses on, hat on and eyes closed taking all the sensation in.
On the side of his beach chair raichu was sleeping peacefully finally getting a chance to rest after all the crazy adventures they had been through in their Kanto journey. It was a well-earned rest.
Inside the water his blastoise was swimming peacefully, with pinsir on its back enjoying the boat ride. Nidoking was also swimming alongside them, as Sonic knew it was viable to learn surf so it had that ability. Alakazam was meditating nearby. As for Moltres, Sonic had let it soar to the skies and enjoy the freedom and beauty of the orange islands' climate. Moltres of course never flew too far away but relished in the simulated freedom of being a wild pokemon again.
Jet came out of the water soaking after his swim.
"Man I'm never leaving this place" he said as he laid on his own beach chair.
"Yeah" Sonic agreed "it's literally heaven on earth".
Jet looked at his phone.
"Mom says she wants to go to the festival tonight".
"Festival?"
"Yeah. It's a Shamouti tradition. Didn't read the mythology behind all that much but I gotta be honest it sounds rather interesting".
Sonic didn't answer right away.
"Still wanting to avoid the crowd I presume?"
"I mean… everyone literally wants a piece of me after my triumph at the indigo tournament. I literally battled 3 opponents at once while you, mom and dad where checking into the hotel. I came here to relax not to battle".
"True. I mean you can just say you don't want to battle".
"True. Still getting used to saying no to battles".
"I understand. Wanting to be gentle and all. You know I might just read the mythology behind the festival before we attend".
Sonic nodded and got back to relaxing.
"Do you have any idea why that guy said when we first arrived I performed a blasphemy by catching Moltres?"
"Lol no idea. It's just funny. He treats Moltres like a deity or something. Who would do that?"
"I guess a madman but I can't get out of my head why it happened here of all places. Like literally I'm known as the chosen one of Moltres in Kanto and here that guy called me a blasphemer. Go figure".
Moltres then landed nearby raising a small cloud of sand.
"Speak of the devil. Had a good flight Moltres?"
Moltres cried out and laid down to relax closing its eyes ready to take a nap.
Sonic followed suit. Naps were his best friend now.
After a good amount of time – not actually knowing how much time had gone by – he felt a water drop falling on his forehead. He ignored it assuming Jet was about to prank him or something. But then another drop fell this time on his chest. And then another. And another. And another.
"Jet I swear if I open my eyes and…" he began saying but gasped once he opened his eyes and taking his sunglasses off to verify.
The sun had disappeared. Clouds had engulfed the sky. And powerful wind currents were slowly but steadily beginning to blow.
"Jet wake up!"
Jet woke up roughly.
"Why are you screaming? Wait… where is the sun?"
"No idea" Sonic said as his quills were billowing with the wind.
"We have to the return to the hotel! Now!"
Recalling his pokemon, the duo rode Moltres and flew back to the hotel just as the rain began showering them. As they arrived at the hotel, they quickly dismounted Moltres, Sonic recalled it and they went up to their room. Their parents were already there.
"Oh thank god you're ok" their mother said hugging them.
"What is happening?" Jet asked "the weather forecast when we came said there would be sunshine and a strong heatwave all week long".
"No idea" Sonic and Jet's father said "but we should stay in for now".
Sonic in the meantime believing it wasn't a coincidence or a wrong weather forecast called Tails.
"Yo champ. How's the vacation?"
The sound of thunder echoed in the room as a lightning bolt struck on the courtyard of the hotel.
"Was the lightning?" Tails said unprepared.
"Yeah. Something's going on. A storm appeared out of nowhere. Me and Jet where at the beach with my pokemon and in what I believe was 5 minutes the sun was gone and the storm appeared".
"I see" Tails said in deep thought "let me look into it. I'll call you when I got something. Stay inside just in case".
"Not like we have a choice" Sonic commented as Tails hang up.
The next two hours passed very slowly as the family was bored inside the hotel room. Sonic was playing with raichu to pass the time while Jet was watching the storm outside wondering if he could possibly see a zapdos somewhere in the dark clouds, the strong winds and the many drops of water falling from the sky.
Eventually the storm did clear and Sonic and Jet walked outside. The clouds were not entirely gone but for the most part Shamouti seemed unaffected. The people were once again setting up the festival, a fact that genuinely made Sonic's mom happy and she hoped the storm wouldn't restart and the clouds would lift.
Sonic however heard someone say that a ship was caught in a storm outside Shamouti. Feeling that he couldn't just sit idly by while someone was possibly fighting for their life in the waves, he took out Moltres' pokeball and approached Jet.
"Where are your binoculars?"
"Umm in the room why?"
"A ship was caught in that storm. That was no ordinary storm. I want to go and see if anyone needs help. So I'm gonna need to borrow your binoculars".
"Ok. Chill. I'll go bring them".
"I am chill".
"Then why is your hand shaking?"
Sonic looked down and noticed that indeed the hand the held Moltres' pokeball was shaking.
"What the… I'm not shaking it. It's shaking on its own".
"What? That's so bizzare. Why would it shake?"
"No idea. Regardless…"
"Yes. Be right back".
Moments later Sonic was soaring to the skies, not as high as the clouds but still very high. Using the binoculars he and Moltres headed to look around the perimeter of Shamouti. The sea was still rough from the storm. Sonic cursed as he knew it would be hard to locate anyone in the water.
After a full patrol of the sea around Shamouti, Sonic concluded there was no point to keep searching. He had tried but had found nothing. Turning back towards the mainland, he was about to take the binoculars off his face until he saw a mast floating in the water.
"The wreck!" he thought in a panic.
Looking around in the water he saw nothing. No body in sight. But turning his sight to the beach close to the floating mast, he saw 3 people face down on the sand.
"Oh no! Moltres down to the beach!"
Moltres reacted a second late as it was busy looking at one of the 3 islands opposite Shamouti. Afterwards the legendary bird flew down to the beach. Dismounting it and recalling it Sonic approached the trio of people that seemed to be the victims of the wreck. He also noticed a Pikachu next to one of them. And a particularly familiar hat.
"ASH!" Sonic screamed in realization.
He rushed to his side.
"Ash! Ash! Can you hear me?"
"Pika pika?" Pikachu looked at them caught off guard by their sudden arrival.
"Rai, rai" Raichu spoke to Pikachu who looked back at his fainted trainer.
Sonic took Ash's right hand and looked for a pulse. None. He took his left hand. Still no pulse.
"Damnit! Don't be dead you moron" Sonic said as he put his fingers on Ash's throat.
The throbbing of the pulse was felt. Sonic's pulse also calmed. And after that Ash's body slightly moved.
"P-pikachu?" he asked slowly raising his head.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu cried out in happiness hugging Ash's face and accidentally zapping his with lightning.
"Thank god you're alive" Sonic said.
Ash looked at him.
"Sonic?"
He now wished he had died in the shipwreck.
"Don't tell me you saved us".
"No you were lying in the sand. Wait. Us?"
The other two people which Sonic had ignorantly not checked for pulse started awakening.
"Misty?" Sonic said confused "and… who are you?"
The other boy with Ash and Misty looked at the direction of the voice. Once he met Sonic's eyes, his widened in shock.
"Oh my… oh my… you are Sonic the hedgehog, the hero of Kanto!"
"Not a hero" Sonic said getting bored of having to explain that part over and over.
"Oh… I see…" the boy said as he cleared his throat "I'm Tracey Sketchit".
Sonic resisted the urge to laugh. Not in a mocking way but he just thought Tracey's name was funny.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.
"We were on our way to the orange islands" Tracey explained "I was sent here to study the climate and the pokemon living here by Professor Oak. I work at his lab as his assistant".
"Sounds nice" Sonic said.
"And I came here to challenge the orange league champion drake. But that freak storm sank our boat" Ash said.
"We must have been very unlucky" Misty guessed.
"Nah that was no ordinary storm" Sonic said looking up at the clouds "my friend Tails is already researching it on my behalf".
"What could be strange about a storm?" Tracey asked confused.
"Well nothing except for the fact that storms don't usually appear out of nowhere. There are signs. The storm caught me and my brother at the beach. In like 5 minutes since the moment I began napping" Sonic explained.
"Napping. Instead of training? You asking for a defeat?" Ash teased Sonic.
"You of all people should be telling yourself that Ash. I stomped on you at the league" Sonic teased him back.
"Well yeah but now I'm stronger!"
"It's only been a week".
"Enough!" Misty interfered deciding to stop them "as much as I would love to see you boys roast each other all day I want to go and dry myself from the seawater. Is there any civilization on this island?"
"Yes there is. Follow me" Sonic said leading them towards a path which led them to the main town.
While they were walking Sonic noticed again that Moltres was shaking in its ball.
"What is going on? Why is Moltres shaking?" he thought.
After reaching the town the trio looked for a place to stay while Sonic returned to the hotel to rendezvous with his family and let them know of his discovery. Jet was caught by surprise that Ash was here too and wondered if their coincidental meeting was more than a coincidence.
Later that afternoon, despite the cloudy weather the festival started taking place. Sonic and Jet were strolling around looking at all the local dances and the decorations. Sonic's parents were dancing together, with Sonic and Jet giving them some space.
The duo met Ash, Misty and Tracey and Jet got the chance to properly meet Ash. There was a little bit of teasing at Ash's defeat but unlike Sonic, Ash's Pikachu actually took a liking to Jet. The latter wished his parents would have let him travel with Sonic.
"Maybe someday bro" Sonic patted him on the back.
"Travelling with your friends and partner is amazing. It's honestly an experience for a lifetime" Ash said "wasn't it buddy?"
"Pika pika!" Pikachu cried out in joy.
A young girl then asked for everyone's attention.
"Welcome everyone to Shamouti's festival. Me and the residents of our island thank you for coming to honor the titans".
"The titans?" Sonic thought surprised.
While that girl kept talking, Sonic received a call from Tails. Moving away from the crowd he answered.
"Hey how's everything?"
"Mostly ok. The festival is taking place normally. And Ash is also here".
"Ash? How so?"
"He came to challenge the orange league champion. But the weirdest thing is I found him cast away on the beach. He, Misty and a guy named Tracey were caught in the storm from earlier".
"Oh man. This is more serious than I thought".
"What do you mean?"
Tails pulled up a printed piece of paper.
"It's a lot so will try to be clear. So you see the orange islands just like a lot of island complexes out there have their own microclimate".
"Yeah I'm aware of that".
"What you're probably not aware of is that microclimate of the orange islands is controlled by the titans of fire, ice and thunder".
"Yeah. A girl who I think is some sort of festival maiden said something similar".
"Well I'll tell you, you are already familiar with two of the titans".
"Me?"
"Yeah. The titans are in all actuality the legendary birds of Kanto".
"What?! Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres?"
"Exactly".
"Woah wait. So basically that confirms first of all that there are multiple legendaries of each species".
"I mean yeah. They're a species of pokemon. If only one existed, the moment it died it would be gone for good. And there are legends about pokemon from a long time ago".
"So those species of pokemon have been around for a very long time" Sonic concluded.
"Precisely".
"Ok but what does that mean about the recent storm?"
"I'm getting there. You see the titans are kind of heralds of the seasons. Not officially but they control the weather so… yeah. Moltres and Articuno are the heralds of summer and winter respectively though it's more complicated than that. I'm merely simplifying it. Now Zapdos, being the strongest of the 3, balances everything out as it causes storms and rain, which usually take place during the transition from summer to winter, aka during fall, and vice versa".
"Ok so essentially together they create the tropical climate with Moltres usually in control and Articuno and Zapdos sometimes interfering".
"Exactly. And if we take that logic and apply it to the recent storm… this is where things get a bit worrisome".
"Why?"
"You see, it's summer so rains should be very rare. For even though the titans have their balance, there are also territorial pokemon and sometimes fight over territory. That's when strong winds blow during summer, storms during summer or during winter the list goes on".
"So wait. You're saying that there is a high chance the storm was cause by the titan Zapdos and Moltres fighting?"
"No. It's not that. For you see, if it really was just a territorial struggle and Zapdos won, the climate wouldn't shift so drastically. And certainly the storm wouldn't be so bad in the middle of summer. I did find reports of unusual weather in the orange islands on specific seasons but nothing that severe".
"So... wait. The storm is abnormal I get it…"
"Before you continue are there cold wind currents? Doesn't matter whether they are strong or not".
Sonic licked his finger and raised it in the air. He felt a cold sensation of the wind blowing.
"Yeah. The air is a bit cold for a tropical paradise".
"Then it's the worst case scenario. Storm and colder weather can only mean one thing".
"That only 2 of the titans affect the climate at this very moment" Sonic said putting the pieces together.
"Yes" Tails said grimly.
"So something bad has happened to the titan Moltres" Sonic said "this is why my Moltres' pokeball won't stop shaking. It feels that the titan Moltres is in peril".
"Exactly. You might need to go to Moltres' island to investigate".
"I will first thing tomorrow. I need to verify if Moltres is ok or not and if not what the problem is. Ash almost drowned in that storm. And that was just the beginning. We can't let things spiral out of control".
"And we won't. There are more stuff about the titans in myths, but that's outside my field of expertise".
"Myths huh? Maybe Knuckles can help".
"Yeah! He is obsessed with myths and ancient history. Maybe he knows something. If not he will know where to find such answers!" Tails said excitedly.
"Ok it's settled. Let him in on everything and ask him if he has time to research the myths of the orange islands".
"Got it. Call you back when I got something champ. Have fun at the festival".
"Hehe. Talk soon pal" Sonic said hanging up.
Returning to Jet he saw Ash had been approached by the festival maiden and was talking to her.
"You missed the best part" Jet informed Sonic.
"What part?"
"She spoke in general about the myth of the islands and said something about a chosen one tradition. She selected Ash to be this year's chosen one!"
"What? That moron is the chosen one?" Sonic said in disappointment.
"Yeah as crazy as it sounds. The myth spoke about the chosen one taming the titans so they won't unleash their might upon the world or something".
Sonic felt a small pinch of jealousy. Ash was dubbed the chosen one even though it was Sonic who had tamed a Moltres and even made it a member of his team.
"Ash could barely stand up to my Moltres. How can he possibly be the chosen one?" Sonic wondered silently.
But then he reminded himself of the adventure on New Island. Ash wasn't the strongest trainer and his pokemon were not the strongest. But he had a good and brave heart. That was a thousand times more important.
"You know what? She picked right" Sonic said in the end smiling catching Jet off guard.
"Wait a minute" a voice belonging to the festival maiden reached their ears.
Sonic and Jet looked as the festival maiden walked through the crowd and approached them, followed by Ash and Misty. The festival maiden eyed Sonic top to bottom.
"How peculiar. Ash here is undeniably the chosen one. But I sense you" she said pointing at Sonic "will also play an equally important role in this year's festival tradition".
"Sonic is a chosen one too?!" Ash said in frustration.
While Sonic hadn't witnessed him being dubbed the chosen one, and Ash was a bit surprised, he was happy that he had the chance to one up Sonic by being Shamouti's chosen one. Now that chance was gone.
"No. There can't be two chosen ones. But he will play an important role. Maybe an equally important one".
"The sinner will play an important role?" another familiar voice said.
Sonic immediately identified the voice belonging to the middle aged man who scolded him for catching Moltres.
"This kid dared catch the titan of fire and you call him equally important to the chosen one?"
The maiden looked at Sonic.
"Is it true? You caught the titan of fire?"
"No. I mean yes. I mean… I have caught a Moltres but not the one you call the titan of fire".
Everyone was speechless. Sonic looked around confused.
"Don't tell you believed the titans were one of a kind" he said trying to explain himself.
The festival maiden then took his hand causing him to step back in surprise.
"Regardless of the circumstances it is unmistakable you will play an important role. Follow me both of you" she said referring to Ash and Sonic.
She started making way through the crowd. Jet attempted to follow them down a path leading away from town.
"I'm sorry but from this point forward only the chosen one can proceed. The only exception that can be made is for… your name?"
"Sonic".
"Sonic. I'm Melody. Only you and the chosen one can follow. The rest must wait at town".
"No way" Misty disagreed "we're coming with Ash".
"I assume you're the chosen one's girlfriend?"
Misty's cheeks grew redder than strawberries. Sonic held in a small laugh. He hadn't noticed or even considered that chance but Misty's reaction to Melody's probable correct guess was hilarious.
"Look ms Melody".
"Just Melody" she said.
"Ok. Melody. Look a lot of things are out of the ordinary so just let my brother, Misty and Tracey tag along. Whatever it is that Ash and I are meant to do we are capable of doing it with or without help. No offense" he said referring to Jet, Misty and Tracey.
"Hmm.. fine. Follow me".
Walking down the path, the eventually arrived at a shrine overlooking the 3 islands. Inside the shrine there were 3 small pedestals.
"Are these the islands the titans reside at?" Jet asked Melody.
"Correct. The chosen one needs to venture to the islands and collect the treasures of the titans. Then bring them back here where I will play the festival's song with this conch shell" she said revealing the shell "to end your task".
"And what is my purpose here?"
"I do not know. I just told you all I knew".
"I see. And what are those treasures Ash has to collect?"
"3 spheres. Each containing the essence of fire, ice and thunder".
"I see" Sonic said taking out Moltres' pokeball noticing it to be shaking somewhat faster than before "alright then. Step back Ash and get ready cause we have some treasure hunting to do".
"WAIT!" Melody screamed causing everyone to flinch "you can't fly to the islands. You need to travel there by boat. And certainly you mustn't bring out your titan of fire against our titans. They will not react kindly to its presence".
Sonic remained silent. He considered revealing Tails' discovery about the titan Moltres being in trouble but decided he would investigate himself.
"Alright then. We'll go by boat. I suggest we get to the island of fire first. I know how to battle Moltres best so if it gives us trouble I can limit the trouble".
"Agreed" Ash said eager to begin, even forgetting his earlier frustration.
The group returned to the main town where Sonic asked for a moment. Returning to the hotel, he took his map, his compass and the rest of his pokemon. Sonic's parents asked what had happened and he explained what had transpired and his upcoming visit to the islands of the birds. His mother, albeit worried wished him luck and to be careful on Articuno's island as it was the only bird Sonic didn't have an actual experience with. Sonic's dad also wished him luck but declared Jet would stay with them. Jet tried to argue back but their parents were adamant. Sonic consoled and Jet and assured him he would embark on his own journey sooner than he imagined. Afterwards with raichu following they arrived at the docks where Ash and Pikachu were waiting.
"At last. I thought you backed out".
"No way I'm backing out from this one. I was planning to go to the island of fire regardless".
"What for?"
"I have my reasons" Sonic said hiding his real reason for visiting the island.
Boarding the boat of a man named captain Maren. During the ride, Pikachu and Raichu were constantly arguing in their own languages and Pikachu even tried to zap raichu which Sonic asked raichu to just tank so that they wouldn't cause any damage to the boat. After a berating from captain Maren and the rest of the short ride, Ash and Sonic were dropped off on the island of fire.
"Alright! Let's go find the treasure!"
"Wait" Sonic stopped him taking out his map and putting it on the ground.
"What are you doing?"
"We can't just walk deep into unknown territory. We have to prepare. Ok so… did Melody give you any clues on the locations of the treasures?"
"She said they were at the shrines of the titans".
"And where are those shrines?"
"I don't know. She didn't say".
"I see. Ok" Sonic said looking up "from what I see there is a path there. The map doesn't contain it, though I'm not surprised. After all it is not too detailed. Alright plan b. We are on this beach here" he said pointing to a beach on the island of fire, the only one on the island ironically.
"From what I can assume the shrines will be at the center of the islands or close to it. In our case here… it must be in the volcano. Huh talk about déjà vu. I caught my Moltres on a volcano and now we're about to venture into another one to find another Moltres" he commented and refraining from adding "hopefully".
"To get to the center of the volcano we have to go…" he said looking at his compass "southwest, eleven degrees away from a pure west direction to the south".
Ash looked at him confused. Sonic face-slapped.
"Just follow my lead ok?"
"Why don't we just follow the path?"
That's the main plan. I needed to find the direction in case the path doesn't lead to the volcano or leads us astray".
"Why would it? What other purpose could it have?"
"Don't know and frankly we don't have to find out. Let's go".
Ash looked at him, his frustration returning. He felt Sonic was doing everything in his power to look better.
Started walking down the path, Sonic kept looking at the compass, making sure they were going the right direction. To his relief they were.
"How did you know all that about navigation?" Ash asked.
"Had to learn to navigate to travel through Kanto" Sonic explained "unlike you I was on my own with raichu".
Pikachu and raichu who were with them the entire time were struggling to get along as Pikachu was still sour regarding its defeat at the league to raichu.
"And just because you traveled alone I assume you think you're better than me?"
"My victory at the league is your answer" Sonic said making his way through a bush of leaves hanging by the nearby trees.
"I just don't get it. We started our journeys at around the same time. My mom told me how you got your squirtle from professor oak. Days later I got Pikachu from him. So how is it…"
"You got pikachu from the professor? How come? I thought usually trainers receive Bulbasaur, charmander or squirtle" Sonic said looking over his shoulder.
"I overslept and missed getting either of the 3. But professor oak had Pikachu still. And now I'm glad I overslept".
"Everything happens for a reason" Sonic said seriously.
He wholeheartedly believed that statement. His entire Kanto journey had begun due to his heartbreak from back home. And it had led to the present.
"So how is it we travelled at the same time maybe a few days apart in the duration of our journeys and your pokemon are so much stronger?"
Sonic sighed.
"Did you really expect us to be equally powerful when our journeys were so different? I will admit that…" he went to say his almost death at Mewtwo's hands was a really serious predicament but remembered Ash wouldn't remember it "that those 3 idiots of team rocket stalking you could give you some battle prowess but I literally tackled their boss 3 times, raided their bases 3 times too, trained every day. That's our difference. You talk the talk. But you haven't walked much of the walk. I did".
Ash heard all of it but still didn't believe the distance between them should be this big.
"So you went through harder challenges. I get it. But still… for your Blastoise to beat my bulbasaur in one move".
"Well let's see. Final form vs first form, hit you with a super-effective move and your bulbasaur barely scratched my Blastoise. Yeah I'd say Blastoise had the edge".
"But we trained hard. And we had the type advantage".
"Type advantages are not everything. Battling has more variables than just your bond with your pokemon and type advantages".
"I don't believe that. If you believe in your pokemon you can beat anyone".
"Like you beat…" again he almost revealed their adventure on new Island "like you beat my Moltres with your charizard? And to think I had hope that your charizard would give me trouble. But it was only evenly powerful with my Moltres".
"Perhaps you want a rematch to verify it!" Ash said getting in front of Sonic.
"Maybe another time. We have work to do here" Sonic said putting them back on track.
"Hm. You're still a total chicken" Ash teased him again.
Sonic then turned angry. Not at being called a chicken but at Ash's childish behavior.
"Alright, I've heard enough Ash. You claim you want to be a pokemon master right?!"
"Yeah".
"Then start owning up to your failures. You undertrained for the indigo tournament yes or no?"
"No".
"… Ok fair enough. Maybe you didn't undertrain for the others. But you did hear of my battles, of the challenges I had to tackle. Did you or did you not consider that you would have to cross a greater threshold of power to defeat me?"
"I… I know I can beat you ok? I just…"
"No. No just. No excuses. Answer me with the facts. Both of our battles. Our compared journeys. Do you really believe you were my equal in battle at the indigo tournament?"
Ash clenched his fist. He remembered his feelings during the break in their battle at the indigo tournament. How he couldn't accept that he hadn't worked hard enough yet. He knew back then that Sonic was way stronger but couldn't accept it.
"I'm going to be a pokemon master one day. I know I am. And that means I will beat you one day".
"And I believe you have that potential" Sonic answered "but that's all you have. The potential. And it can only be realized through hard work and training. I hope you understand that" Sonic said as they proceeded on their way, having spent enough time chatting already.
After about 5 more minutes of walking the path they reached the foot of the volcano. The path led them inside the volcano. After entering they saw that the volcano from the inside wasn't as deep as it looked. It wasn't filled with lava but rather, a small valley where the titan Moltres probably lived.
At the center of the small round valley, was a small shrine with a glowing sphere containing an orange to red shining energy was located. Ash went to grab it immediately as Sonic received a phone call which surprised him as he had no signal ever since getting the island.
"Hello?"
"Sonic… bzzt.. Sonic… bzzzt".
"Knuckles?"
"…ig problem…. a prophecy… the titans… guardian of the seas will appear.." the signal was cut. Sonic barely made anything out of it.
"Knuckles must have found something" he thought as he looked around looking for any signs of Moltres.
Looking closely to a small opening on the inner wall of the volcano he saw a bunch of familiar feathers on the ground.
"Moltres feathers…" he said picking one of them up.
Feeling one of the pokeballs on his belt shaking he was now sure, something bad had happened.
"I got the treasure!" Ash called out to him.
Sonic didn't answer as his mind was racing. Where was the titan Moltres? If the titans were supposed to be tests for the chosen one, why wasn't it here to guard the treasure? And that storm. Moltres' mere presence would have kept it from happening.
"Everything ok?" Ash asked approaching him.
"No. Everything's not ok".
"What are those?"
"Moltres wings. The freak storm from earlier was caused because something happened to the titan Moltres. The fact that it wasn't here to test you proves it. The damn weather proves it" he said pointing upwards.
Suddenly a net came out of nowhere, trapping Pikachu, Raichu and Sonic. Ash was left dumbfounded as team rocket appeared in their hot air balloon pulling the net upward.
"Ahahaha. Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation".
"To unite all people's within our nation".
"To denounce the evils of truth and love".
"To extend our reach to the stars above".
"Jessie".
"James".
"Team rocket blasts off the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight".
"Meowth that's right!"
"Team rocket?!" Ash said in shock not expecting them.
"You 3 idiots again?" Sonic said calmly but annoyed from inside the net "don't you have anything better to do now that your boss is in exile?"
"Oh he won't be for long. Once we deliver you, your raichu and the brat's Pikachu to him, we will be greatly rewarded".
"Yes. What you achieved means nothing" James teased Sonic "team rocket will blast off again".
"Oh it certainly will if I'm not out of this net within the next 3 seconds"
"Yeah or else what?" Meowth asked gloating finally feeling powerful against Sonic.
"Or I will just let my Moltres feast on you, kitty cat".
Meowth's face became yellow in fear and he hid back inside the basket of the balloon.
"So I will count to 3".
"Ash!" Misty's voice was heard.
Sonic looked and saw Misty, Tracey and Melody arrive.
"Huh how did they get here?" Sonic wondered.
"Team rocket has caught Pikachu, raichu and Sonic" Ash said taking out a pokeball "Charizard free them!"
Charizard flew out.
"1. 2 more seconds team rocket I don't need Ash to free me".
"M-maybe we should let the hedgehog go" Meowth said in fear.
"Oh please or else what? He is all talk right now Meowth" Jessie said hitting on the back of the head.
"2"
Charizard flew towards the net only to be stopped by the James sending out his weezing to buy them time.
"3" Sonic said running out patience "raichu use…"
A thunderbolt came out of nowhere and struck the balloon causing it to lose air and crashland in front of Ash and his friends. Sonic came out of the net calm but confused wiping out the dirt from himself. Pikachu rushed back to Ash while raichu approached Sonic. Sonic then turned to meet team rocket's eyes.
"No please anything but Moltres!" Meowth dropped to his knees in fear.
"That was a quick escape as much as I hate to admit" Ash complimented Sonic.
"What are you talking about? That wasn't raichu that freed us. Neither was Pikachu".
"What?"
At that moment a powerful cry engulfed everyone. Sonic recognized the cry.
"What? No. That can't.. it shouldn't be here".
A Zapdos flew over the mouth of the volcano and then inside landing in front of the trio majestically.
"The titan of thunder" Melody said worried "what is it doing here?"
Pikachu and raichu immediately started communicating with Zapdos with electric shocks just like raichu and Mike's Zapdos had done during the indigo league.
"Hey" Sonic said looking at Meowth "translate now".
Meowth gulped.
"Pikachu is saying 'Zapdos what are you doing here? And where is Moltres? Raichu is saying that it shouldn't be here and it should go now".
"More".
"Zapdos says 'Moltres who used to rule the island of fire is no longer present. Therefore the island has no ruler and I have come to claim it".
Raichu then send another shock towards Zapdos.
"The island is not yours to take. Leave now".
Zapdos answered.
"And who are you who will tell me what to do, puny raichu?"
Raichu was offended by this and took a battle stance.
Sonic meanwhile was torn. He had come up with the idea to send Moltres out and scare Zapdos away but Melody had specifically instructed he does not call it out in front of the other titans.
And just as it seemed raichu and Zapdos would clash, a huge airship appeared over them. Square rings emerged from it, encasing Zapdos which screeched. Raichu tried to use iron tail on the rings but was thrown back.
"Oh the heck with it!" Sonic said and called out Moltres.
"No! You must not bring it out!" Melody warned.
Sonic not listening mounted Moltres as Zapdos was beginning to be lifted towards the airship.
"Raichu come quick!"
Raichu mounted Moltres alongside its trainer as more rings came out of the airship coming for them. Dodging them they soared fast. The rings instead trapped Ash and co. lifting them up towards the airship as well.
"Ash!" Sonic said as both the party and Zapdos were lifted towards the airship.
"Moltres quick! Use flamethrower to free them!"
The flamethrower however was deflected and struck them explosively. Sonic, raichu and Moltres were flung out of the mouth of the volcano. They crashlanded on the beach they had first arrived, Sonic losing his consciousness.
Ash and co were brought inside the airship looking down to see Sonic crash on the beach.
"Is he ok?" Melody asked.
"He is a tough one. But where are we?"
"Welcome" a disembodied voice welcomed them.
Ash looked around in surprise. He witnessed the titan Moltres trapped in a cage made off the square rings that had trapped Zapdos. As for the latter, the rings trapping it also had taken the shape of a cage. Both the cages were holding the birds in using electromagnetic, repelling forcefields.
"Sonic was right. Moltres was in trouble all along" Ash said in understanding.
A small floating cockpit was lowered from above. On it was a young man with green spiky hair dressed in a purple outfit combined with a sea blue jacket.
"Welcome aboard my humble airship. I assume you have already acquainted yourselves with the legendary titans of fire and thunder, Moltres and Zapdos?"
"You creep! Let them go!"
"Oh I am afraid I can't possibly do that. For I need them".
"Well we're freeing them right now!"
"If only you could. But perhaps if you listened to my reasoning you would understand my actions".
On the island of fire, Sonic started regaining his consciousness after the combined efforts of raichu, Moltres and the ringing of his phone got through to him. Getting up and thanking his pokemon, he observed the airship as he answered the phone.
"Sonic!"
"Knuckles?"
"Thank god I got through! Why weren't you picking up?!"
"No signal. Brrr.. what's going…" he said until he saw the clouds thicken and felt the temperature dropping. The weirdest thing was that the sea had turned to ice.
"Ok this might sound strange but I was out for a few moments and the sea turned to ice".
"WHAT?! TELL ME YOU'RE JOKING!" Knuckles said in a bit of panic.
"No why?"
"This is bad. Tell me all that happened in the last minutes".
"Well we were heading me and Ash to get some treasures from the islands and we began with Moltres' island where me and Tails had figured out something had happened and then Zapdos showed up trying to claim the island".
"Oh no it's worse than I thought".
"What is?"
"The titans Sonic! The titans' balance of power! Ever since Moltres disappeared the balance tipped towards the other two. And now the sea turns to ice?! Articuno has all the control right now!"
"That airship!" Sonic said remembering Zapdos was trapped and brought in "someone from in there captured Zapdos. And I bet they are also responsible for Moltres disappearing!"
"You need to free them quick! For if Articuno tries to claim any of their islands before they return, they will start fighting! And the prophecy will be fulfilled!"
"Wait. I have to go to that airship! Moltres!" Sonic said as Moltres allowed him and raichu to mount it and it soared towards the airship.
"Now tell me about the prophecy quick".
"The prophecy says that when the titans inevitably clash again for control over the islands, the guardian of the seas shall awaken again to quell their rage".
"What is the guardian of the seas?"
"A legendary pokemon. From the faraway Johto region. A pokemon named Lugia".
"Lugia?"
"Yes. It is said that its species was the ancestor of the birds' species. It is also able to control the sea currents and winds. So you must realize you can't let Lugia awaken. The risk of all 3 titans plus their creator colliding is too great. You need to free them before that happens!"
"On it! Sonic out!" he said hanging up "Moltres quick to the airship!"
Moltres cried out and flew fast towards the airship.
As Ash and co were hearing Lawrence's explanation of the prophecy of Lugia, they were all caught by surprise as Sonic, raichu and Moltres flew inside the hangar majestically. Sonic climbed off Moltres which immediately rushed to the cage of its captured titan counterpart. Sonic took a moment to look around, seeing the trapped titans and then turned to Lawrence.
"I don't know who you are, but I will only warn you once. Let the titans go now! You can't possibly hope to control them or Lugia!"
"Sonic you know about Lugia too?" Melody said confused.
"I am well connected" Sonic explained.
"Oh I recognize you. Sonic the hedgehog, hero of Kanto, chosen one of Moltres. I am Lawrence the pokemon collector. And I terribly sorry to disappoint you but I can't possibly release them. Not when I am so close. So close to fulfilling the prophecy. So close to meeting and capturing the legendary Lugia. So close to…".
Sonic while Lawrence kept monologuing, made gestures towards the controls to raichu and Moltres. The two pokemon slowly made their way around Lawrence who was too caught up in his speech to pay them any attention.
"So close to finally achieving the glory I rightfully desire. And that glory is upon me now!"
"Heh. Such a novice" Sonic thought about to give the order to attack until he heard an unknown screech coming from behind him.
Turning, he and everyone saw another bird approaching. Sonic noticed it was blue. When an ice beam was fired, he knew his time was only seconds.
"Articuno!" he thought terrified "RAICHU MOLTRES NOW!"
As Lawrence fired the square rings towards Articuno, raichu and Moltres attacked. Moltres used air slash to knock Lawrence away, while Raichu destroyed the controls freeing the other 2 titans but damaging the airship in the process.
"Sonic what have you done?!" Ash said as the airship started plummeting towards the island of thunder.
As the airship crashed and everyone roughly rolled out, with Ash obtaining the treasure of thunder in the process, Sonic thought he had done it. But he was dead wrong.
The now freed birds all saw the state of the islands and began attacking each other viciously, unleashing their most common moves like thunderbolt, flamethrower and ice beam towards each other but also taking opportunities to physically harm each other any chance they got. For a moment Sonic saw Articuno being ganged up by Zapdos and Moltres, Zapdos drill pecking it and Moltres using wing attack though Articuno bounced back up to continue the fight.
"No… I was too late" he said in terror.
Everyone retreating to the beach away from Zapdos' shrine, they were all suddenly engulfed in a giant water spout.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sonic screamed as everyone including raichu and Moltres as well as Ash and co were engulfed and lifted of their feet spiraling through the water spout.
Sonic closed his eyes as felt he would be sick and that any moment they would either drown or crash land so roughly they would die on impact. However he felt gently touching the ground instead. Opening his eyes, he and everyone found they had teleported back to the Shamouti shrine where Ash was meant to bring the treasures. Sonic saw a weird pokemon standing on the temple overlooking the battle of the titans. Furthermore he was the water spout that had teleported them dissipate. From inside emerged a beautiful white and blue pokemon which let out a very good hearing cry. Sonic thought it to be a song for a moment until the pokemon flew towards the birds and began fighting with them.
"Lugia" Sonic whispered.
"I see you are aware of the identity of the guardian of the seas" another voice said.
"Huh?" Ash looked around "who said that?"
"Me of course" the weird pokemon overlooking the battle said and turned around.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" Sonic said taking a step back and instinctively taking a crane stance, recalling a movie he had seen as a kid "what are you?!"
"Show some respect" Melody berated him.
"I am Slowking the guardian of this temple. I am the one who oversees the tradition fulfilled every year. Chosen one" he said turning to Ash "do you have the treasures?"
Ash silently walked up to the pedestals.
"The island of fire" he said as he put the fire treasure on the pedestal overlooking Moltres' island.
"The island of thunder" he said as he repeated the process with the other treasure.
"You still miss one" the slowking said.
"Yeah I know".
While they were talking Lugia was being overpowered as the birds were all striking it, choosing to ally first against the common enemy then continue destroying one another. Lugia plummeted and broke through the ice into the cold sea.
"NO!" Ash said seeing this development "we have to help it! We need to do something".
"We can't" the slowking said "only the guardian of the seas can quell the wrath of the titans. That is the prophecy".
"Yeah whatever Slowking" Sonic said heading to his Moltres "I'm not about to just let the islands be destroyed because of some prophecy".
"You can't possibly best the titans in battle alone" Slowking said again.
"And what am I supposed to do? Let them wage war? Kill their own creator? Everyone on the islands?"
"Still. You can't beat them alone" Melody warned him.
"If I have to I will".
Melody knew Sonic was going to head into a hopeless battle. Choosing to break tradition for once, she blew her conch shell.
The same song Sonic had heard coming from Lugia echoed through the air.
"What the… Lugia's cry? How?"
At that moment Lugia broke once again through the ice and approached the Shamouti shrine while still flying.
"The song has restored my health. But it alone cannot quell the rage of the titans".
"It talks… just like mewtwo. Is it a psychic type?" Sonic wondered.
"Then how do we stop them?" Ash asked Lugia.
"When all 3 treasures are placed on the pedestals my song will be able to calm the titans and end their conflict".
"One treasure remains" Sonic said "Articuno's".
"And it has to be the chosen one who gets it" the slowking clarified.
"So I have to go to Articuno's island and find the treasure" Ash summarized.
"And how will you get there with the titans obliterating everything they see?" Misty asked him worried.
"Maybe you can keep them busy. Or maybe even call your friend to come with his Zapdos and help you" Ash said referring to Sonic.
"Oh that's a great idea. Call Mike to come here in minutes from Kanto which is hundreds of miles away. Why didn't I consider it earlier?"
"Well at least I am considering an option this time".
"Just forget it. I will go to the island, get the treasure and you put it on the pedestal".
"The chosen one has to physically bring the treasure back" the slowking reminded them.
"Ash has to go? No other way? We're doomed" Sonic commented.
"Why exactly?"
"You cannot even stand up to my Moltres. You expect to go to the island unscathed by the battle of the titans and return still unscathed before they end up destroying the whole island complex?"
"Well I'm not the one who recklessly freed them!"
"Maybe one of you can keep the titans busy" Tracey suggested trying to calm them.
"And of course it has to be me because Ash is the so called chosen one" Sonic said frustrated "Some chosen one. I could go to the island and bring the treasure back in minutes but no. The fate of the entire orange island complex depends on this moron".
"Who are you calling a moron?!"
"You! You might have a brave heart but you are reckless and don't think before you act!"
"And you are too calculating and arrogant!"
"At least I can back up my words with actions!"
"You're an idiot!"
"You are a bigger idiot!"
"ENOUGH!" Melody screamed getting everyone's attention.
"I don't know what the history of the two of you is. But it doesn't matter. You Ash are the chosen one. But Sonic also has an equally important role to play. I know what I sensed. And I am never wrong in this regard".
Sonic looked down considering her words. His attention was brought back to Lugia who was still waiting for them to finish planning as well as the birds who were still trying to destroy one another. Sighing he decided it was time for them to stop acting like children.
"Melody's right" he said to Ash "whatever we believe of each other doesn't matter right now. What matters is saving the islands, the people and the pokemon living here. And whether we like it or not we have to work together to end this titan war".
Ash closed his eyes and sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, it was the truth.
"Ok then. We work together".
"Alright then first and foremost, we need to find a way to get you on that island. Now that I think about it… you all followed us to the island of fire. How?"
"With my multi-purpose boat. Unfortunately it's back on the island" Melody explained.
"Doubt it would be useful this time. The sea is frozen" Sonic said looking at the frozen surface.
"Frozen… that's it! Sonic you're a genius!" Ash said coming up with a plan.
"Excuse me?"
"I know what to do. There is a way to get to the island of ice".
Sonic would have loved to see the plan take shape but knew someone had to be the bait. He turned to Lugia.
"Lugia. Will you allow me to assist you against the titans?"
"Yes. We shall take them together this time. Your Moltres will prove a most useful ally".
Sonic's Moltres cried out in agreement, stretching its wings so Sonic could ride it.
"Then we have a plan" he said riding Moltres alongside raichu "good luck Ash. We're all counting on you".
Pikachu and raichu shared a nod of understanding.
"We will save the islands" Ash declared as he sent out Chrizard bulbasaur and squirtle "go and buy us time".
Sonic nodded and patted Moltres on the sides with its legs. The legendary bird soared fast and flew alongside Lugia towards the clashing titans.
"Lugia if I may ask?" Sonic ask loudly to be heard above the screams of the passing cold wind "what type are you and what moves do you know?"
Lugia was perplexed as a human asking a pokemon what type it was wasn't all that common but answered nevertheless.
"Flying and psychic type. I know the flying type move aeroblast, the water type move hydro pump, the psychic type move psychic and the water type move whirlpool".
"A pokemon known as guardian of the seas and is not a water type?" Sonic asked before he could refrain "sorry for that. Ok. Our main target will be articuno and Moltres. Take them out first then fight Zapdos together. I take articuno you take Moltres. If Zapdos gives you trouble try to dodge as much as possible and I will come to get its attention!"
"Understood. Your name?"
Moltres cried out before Sonic could answer.
"Sonic. I see your Moltres trusts you greatly. I will trust you too then".
"Good let's go!" Sonic said determined as they approached the clashing titans.
The titans immediately noticed the new arrivals including the non-titan Moltres. Immediately they rushed to attack the newcomers, aiming mostly for Lugia.
"Moltres! Get articuno's attention! Flamethrower!"
Moltres immediately unleashed a jet of flames that struck articuno. The legendary bird of ice changed its direction as a dogfight between them started.
"Moltres I know this is risky but try and use air slash while barrel rolling. Raichu hold on tight!"
Moltres immediately obeyed and started spinning unleashing a barrage of air blades that continuously struck Articuno. Several of them however went rogue and struck Zapdos instead getting its attention.
"Oh boy" Sonic thought as the two birds started attacking with thunderbolt and ice beam while pursuing them.
"Moltres we need to knock out Articuno quick!" Sonic said as they dodged a thunderbolt "flamethrower!"
Moltres turned around and fired another jet of flames at articuno which damaged it greatly. But it also left them vulnerable against Zapdos.
The legendary bird of thunder unleashed a powerful thunderbolt but before it could strike them, Raichu raised its tail and absorbed all the electricity as if it had lightning rod. Sonic did feel some of raichu's pain and grabbed his side. Moltres turned its head and looked at them concerned.
"We're fine Moltres. Don't worry about us. Focus on the battle at hand".
Looking down while in pain, he saw a pair of familiar orange webbed wings pulling some sort of makeshift sleight.
"Ash you maniac" Sonic said smiling.
While Lugia was doing its best to keep the titan Moltres busy, articuno noticed Ash and unleashed a powerful ancient power. The rocks landed in front of the sleight, causing Ash and his pokemon to stop their progress. Sonic cursed as he asked his Moltres to attack articuno again, considering the chance they would have to fly Ash to the island.
Caught up in their thoughts they were zapped again by Zapdos albeit raichu again absorbed the blast causing itself and Sonic some pain. Sonic decided that they had to try and take out the strongest opponent first. Articuno's ice beam could be tanked but not thunderbolt.
"Moltres fly close to Zapdos and burn it down!"
Moltres darted towards Zapdos dodging its attacks as best as it could, while Sonic and raichu did their best to hang on.
Finally reaching a breath away from Zapdos, Sonic ordered the flamethrower fired. Moltres' jet of fire hit Zapdos head on causing it to fall to the frozen surface. Sonic turned around to face the Articuno again when he saw it fleeing towards his island.
"What the… oh no Ash!"
Following Articuno over to its shrine on the mountain in the middle of the ice island, Sonic came across a very weird scene; Ash was there with Pikachu, Jessie James and Meowth. Thinking they were trying to catch Pikachu again, he ordered Moltres to attack articuno with air slash momentarily sending it plummeting down. Moltres then landed in front of Ash and team rocket with Sonic looking at them threateningly.
"Moltres take them out! They have annoyed us for the last time!"
Team rocket cowered in fear.
"Wait!" Ash stopped them "they are on our side. They brought me here".
Sonic was taken aback by the turn of events. He wished to question them further but the re-arising of articuno as well as the arrival of Zapdos changed his plans.
"Get back to Shamouti quick! I'll hold them off!"
Soaring back up, followed by Zapdos and Articuno, Sonic and Moltres flew towards Lugia and titan Moltres who were still clashing.
"Lugia!" Sonic screamed "Ash needs a ride!"
Lugia turned its head and saw Ash running down the side of the mountain of Articuno's island. Sonic saw the titan Moltres preparing to fire a jet of flames towards Lugia and had his Moltres counter with its own flamethrower to cancel out the effect. Doing so however had all 3 birds now on their tail.
Lugia flew towards the island of ice and flew side by side the running Ash.
"You got the sphere?"
"I did" Ash said revealing it.
"Good. Get on quick. Your friend won't be able to hold them off forever".
Ash witnessed Sonic, raichu and Moltres getting swarmed by the titans, doing their best to dodge, fire back and raichu specifically tanking Zapdos' electric attacks. Nodding he jumped on Lugia and rode it with Pikachu as did team rocket grabbing hold of Lugia's tail.
Sonic saw it happen looking sideways momentarily and smiled before having to help his Moltres dodge an ice beam from Articuno.
The titans however quickly figured out what was happening and charged Lugia together. Lugia did its best to dodge but the combined weight of Ash, Pikachu and team rocket was severely lowing its agility and flighty maneuvering ability. Sonic looked at Shamouti and saw it was still very far away.
"Shit they need more time!"
A crazy idea then came to his mind. Not exactly crazy. More like suicidal. But Ash needed time.
"Moltres I need you to get me above Zapdos ok?"
Moltres and raichu looked at him in question but Moltres regardless followed through.
Soaring above the other flying types, Sonic saw team rocket letting go off Lugia and falling down below losing them from his sight.
"What the..? Did they slip? Or did they… sacrifice themselves?"
Having no time to think about it as he saw Lugia getting swarmed, he looked down making sure he was right above Zapdos.
"Be ready to catch me ok?"
And before either of his pokemon could react, Sonic jumped off of Moltres and skydived through the air. His eyesight became blurred as the cold wind was burning his open eyes due to the speed of his fall. Eventually he achieved his target, falling onto and grabbing onto the Zapdos which lost its balance and started plummeting.
"GET TO SHAMOUTI!" Sonic managed to scream at Ash as Articuno and the titan Moltres followed the plummeting Zapdos.
Zapdos quicky regained its balance and flew back up only to be hit by an ice beam from Articuno which was aimed at Sonic.
Sonic's plan was working. The titans had forgotten about his Moltres and Lugia. That was all he could think. Making them attack each other.
As Articuno's wings glowed and it began darting towards Zapdos, Sonic balanced on it and jumped off, landing on Articuno. Articuno's steel wing slammed hard into Zapdos damaging it.
Sonic, now flying on Articuno's back as it tried to shake him off felt confident at his plan. He however had forgotten one very important factor; raichu was no longer with him to absorb Zapdos' attacks.
Zapdos unleashed another thunderbolt that hit Articuno head on. Sonic felt the electric current go through his body as his skin started roasting.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed in pain while Articuno screeched in pain.
Raichu who was observing the ordeal with Sonic's Moltres felt the searing pain course through its body as well, crying out in pain.
Ash who was still on Lugia's back heard the scream and the screech of pain and looked over his shoulder. He could tell even though he couldn't see that Sonic had just been zapped by Zapdos and was getting the attention of all 3 birds at once alone without his pokemon.
"Lugia hurry! Sonic's in danger" Ash told Lugia, surprised at himself that he was actually worried about Sonic.
Lugia increased its speed, the shrine of Shamouti now visible. Melody, Misty and Tracey alongside the guardian Slowking were observing concerned.
Zapdos stopped its attack as Articuno fired an ice beam towards it while Sonic panted heavily trying to collect himself after that shock. Having been zapped by Mike's Zapdos before he could tell the titan Zapdos was much stronger.
Looking back up, he saw Moltres and Zapdos preparing to attack Articuno, their aim being Sonic himself.
"Damnit! I got to jump!"
Whistling, hoping his Moltres would take this as a signal to come to his aid, Sonic jumped off just as the attacks hit Articuno. Skydiving this time much more chaotically, he closed his eyes ready to crash onto the hard ice and be torn apart.
A familiar cry reached his ears. Opening his eyes he saw his Moltres, with raichu on his back diving next to him. Reaching for Moltres' back to ride it again, he managed to position himself on it.
"MOLTRES SOAR QUICK!"
Moltres opened its wings to increase its wind resistance, break the fall and soar again.
But it was too little too late.
Crashing hard onto the ice and falling into the freezing water, Sonic looked around through the water as raichu was swimming towards the surface. Moltres on the other hand had fainted and was slowly sinking.
When articuno was struck by the other birds' attacks, it accidentally unleashed an ice beam. Lugia was hit and plummeted down crashing into the freezing water. Ash surfaced to catch his breath. He was just quick enough to witness his rival skydiving, trying to be saved by his Moltres and then crashing through the ice.
"SONIC!" he screamed in terror. Instinctively he and Pikachu who was just next to him swam towards the temple shore. Misty came to help him out worried.
"Are you ok Ash?"
"I am… but I need to get to the shrine. Sonic just…"
"I saw it".
Ash, followed by Pikachu and Misty started walking up the steps towards the Shamouti temple. Halfway through he knelt in exhaustion and pain.
"You alright? Let me help you".
"I'm fine Misty" Ash said in gratitude "thank you. But it falls to me to end it. I am the chosen one".
"You are" Misty nodded while thinking how amazing he was.
"I will save the islands" he said getting back up in determination and continuing his climb towards the temple where Tracey, Melody and Slowking were waiting anxiously.
"And Sonic".
Speaking of him, Sonic was swimming down towards Moltres despite the freezing cold water burning every fiber of his body. Grabbing Moltres by the body he hit it a couple of times until it regained its senses enough to swim and float back up towards the surface. Rising and breathing heavily taking in the oxygen, coughing as well to get the sea water off their mouth they slowly but steadily climbed out of the frozen sea and onto a steadier piece of frozen surface. Sonic helped Moltres whose flaming wings were now almost entirely out of flames out of the water but it was too weak to move.
He took out his pokeball to recall it, but Moltres cried out looking up. Sonic looked up as well and saw all 3 of the titans flying above them like vultures ready to attack.
Looking at each of the titans he tried to come up with a plan to escape but couldn't think of any. His only method of fast transportation was Moltres which was now too weak to move.
Moltres cried out at Sonic as if it was telling him and raichu to run. Raichu instead got to Moltres' side and hugged it as best as it could.
Sonic followed suit. They weren't going to abandon it. No matter what.
Looking back up to the titans he saw them charge their attacks and closed his eyes.
"I love you guys" he said hugging both of his pokemon waiting for the attacks.
Suddenly the song of Lugia echoed through the air. The titans immediately stopped their attacks and witnessed their creator flying towards them, singing its song. The birds all cried out in unison as the clouds began slowly lifting.
"HAHA! YES!" Sonic exclaimed in joy "ASH YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT!"
The frozen sea surface under them melted returning to liquid state, causing them to fall back in. As the sky appeared again and the air got warmer and warmer again, Sonic, raichu and Moltres were lifted by Lugia's psychic and raised to the level he and the titans were. The titan Moltres flew closer to Sonic's Moltres. The two Moltres exchanged a few cries before the titan Moltres shared its flames with Sonic's Moltres restoring its flaming wings and its health. Lugia's song also restored Sonic's injuries as well as raichu's as the duo was helped to ride Moltres again and flew along with Lugia towards the Shamouti shrine.
Ash waiting on the shrine seeing Sonic and his pokemon return alongside Lugia.
Sonic dismounted Moltres and approached.
"Well I owe you my life. Congratulations chosen one".
Ash grinned with a hint of gloating.
Melody also approached them.
"You saved the islands and helped the guardian of the seas restored balance. I was wrong to be so absolute".
"Wrong?" Sonic said confused "but you weren't. Ash did manage to fulfil his task".
"But not without your help. You risked your life to help him do it. I said he was the chosen one and you had an equally important role. But it wasn't the case at all. You two together were this year's chosen one".
Ash and Sonic looked at each other. They smiled at each other.
"I guess we were kind of absolute about each other before" Ash admitted.
"Yeah. I keep forgetting that real power comes from the heart. And I know first-hand you got the biggest heart man" Sonic responded.
"How do you know?"
Sonic face-palmed in his head as he also kept forgetting Ash's memories had been wiped by Mewtwo.
"I just know. And I know that one day you will reach your full potential".
"On that day I will beat you".
"I'm counting on that" Sonic said smiling.
The next moment, Delia and Professor Oak, having arrived on Shamouti on a chopper, albeit through a not very pleasant landing finally made their way to the shrine. As they started talking to Ash, Sonic excused himself and rode Moltres to return to his family.
While on the air his eyes met Lugia's and then roamed towards the middle of the archipelago were the titans were now peacefully and graciously flying with each other.
"It was nice meeting you Lugia" Sonic said.
"The pleasure was all mine Sonic. You are as powerful and brave as your Moltres claim you to be. I wish you the best of luck".
"See you around" Sonic said and flew off.
Returning to the hotel, Sonic was reunited with his parents and Jet. He narrated every last bit of the search for the treasure and the fight with the titans. Remembering while narrating that Lawrence was still out there and had crashed on the island of Zapdos, Sonic made a quick trip to the island.
He found Lawrence had already left, leaving his wrecked airship behind. As they had no way to find him, he could only hope that he would not repeat this crazy plan anymore and continue his life normally. Afterwards Sonic, raichu and Moltres returned to Shamouti, intending to continue spending the rest of their vacation peacefully.