Special chapter; Celebi 4ever, part 1
A flock of pidgeottos and pidgeys led by a pidgeot flew in a V formation across the skies of Green Hills, passive over a house on the outskirts of the city.
Inside the house a very old echidna was sleeping, dreaming of his lost family.
Eventually however reality kicked in and Sabre the echidna's miserable existence continued.
Dressing up in rugs he went out to the town's market, buying pokemon food as well as some food for himself and bottles of alcohol. Many bottles.
Walking to the cash register to pay, he was greeted by the cashier, a young girl no more than 19.
"Good morning Mr Sabre".
"Hmph" the echidna acknowledged her without speaking as she began tagging his things.
As he was putting them into bags, assisted by the cashier, he noticed a TV playing. It was an interview of one of the hostages of Goldenrod city after the takeover as he talked about how one of the three Sonic heroes, Knuckles the echidna had first saved them and then rallied them against team rocket.
A picture of Knuckles, along with Sonic and Tails during the celebration following their victory was shown.
"That's our Knuckles. Our very Knuckles the echidna is a hero" one of the customers said with pride.
"All three of them are" another customer, coincidentally Sonic and Jet's mother added, proud of her son.
The cashier looked at the TV and then Sabre over and over.
"You and Knuckles really look alike Mr Sabre. If I didn't know better I'd say he's your grandson".
Sabre slammed his hand on the desk. His hand was trembling.
"I have no grandson" he declared with a trembling voice.
And without another word, he left with his bags despite the cashier's offer for someone to help him carry them home.
Sabre wished he had not seen that show.
The son of Locke, a hero?
"That boy shouldn't even exist" Sabre mumbled under his teeth.
Reaching his home, the small cabin he had built with his own hands with the love of his life, Jenna-lu, on the foundation of his childhood home, Sabre set the bags on the kitchen table, then took the pokemon food on the back room.
Inside were several pokemom cages. Filled with the pokemon he once wielded in his pursuit of Celebi.
A houndoom, a scyther and a tyranitar amongst them.
The moment the pokemon saw him they moved closer to the door of the cage, crying out in hunger mixed with a desire to be out of their cages.
Sabre, without even a hint of compassion pushed a bowl with food through a small gap between the cage bars of each cage and left without uttering a word.
Right afterwards, he returned to his living room, with a bottle of beer in his hand.
As he was about to slump onto his sofa, his eyes fell on a picture of his family.
Him, his wife Jenna-lu and their little girl, their daughter Lara-le.
Normally in such a case, happy memories would fill someone's soul. But this didn't apply for Sabre. His emotions raged like a whirlwind.
"Your father takes everything from me… and everyone treats you like a hero… you should have never been born!" his voice echoed in his empty house.
Slumping onto his sofa, he rubbed his slightly crooked nose. It still hurt after those two years. Knuckles had gotten him good that day.
Taking a sip of the beer, he prepared to spend another day of drinking his way into unconsciousness.
A sound coming from the cage room disrupted him.
"Darn creatures. Can't they leave me in my suffering?"
Heading to the cage room, Locke opened the door to see his pokemon unnerved in their cages.
"Quit your yapping!" he ordered them.
A tapping noise on the back wall then got his attention. Approaching it, he put his ear on the wall to listen closer.
Someone was banging the wall on the other side.
Sabre went to the door leading into his backyard. He unlocked it and opened it.
The moment the door was opened a huge fist grabbed him from the neck and threw him back inside.
Sabre crashed into the wall and looked up in shock to see a man with a dark suit and a mask.
"W-who are you?!"
The masked man approached him, each step a stomp.
"Listen closely old geezer. I know you once found the mythical Celebi once. You will tell me exactly where you found it!"
"H-how do you know about…"
"None of your business! Answer the question!"
Sabre, his mind already weak from the constant years of drinking, gave in.
"I-Ilex forest. Near… near a lake at the north of it".
The man gasped.
"You found the location of the mythical lake of life?"
"Y-yes".
The marauder remained there with his jaw hanging wide open for a second. Sabre the echidna was known throughout Johto for his attempts to locate Celebi 40 years ago but not even in his wildest dreams could he ever imagine Sabre had found the lake of life.
It wasn't really a big deal for him but he couldn't help but be impressed.
Right afterwards he let out an evil grin.
"Smart move, old timer. You saved your skin".
Looking to the cages, he noticed the Tyranitar.
"Aaah. This will prove useful".
"Huh? What are you doing?! Stay away from my pokemon!"
The marauder ignored Sabre. Opening the cage door he took a small round object from his vest. The object then took the shape of a pokeball.
"Stop please!"
The pokeball was forced on Tyranitar, absorbing it and catching it. The marauder then laughed again before sending it out.
Tyranitar's look was empty and emotionless.
"Hehehe. It works. Just as the blueprints suggested it would".
"What have you done?! What is this?!"
"A dark ball. A pokeball not only with the ability to capture any pokemon but also force them to reach unimaginable levels of power. Allow me to demonstrate! Tyranitar! Hyper beam!"
Tyranitar fired the powerful move, bringing down the entire house apart from the back room and inadvertently freeing the rest of Sabre's pokemon.
As Sabre crawled out of the wreckage, he broke down.
The last piece of his family was gone.
"WHY?! I GAVE YOU WHAT YOU WANTED!" he screamed to marauder who was merely observing.
"Because I can. And soon enough, after I get my hands on Celebi, I will be able to do a whole lot more. Thank you for the hospitality old fool. Ahahahaha!"
Sabre helplessly watched the marauder leave, until he remembered his pokemon.
"Houndoom…" he tried to get his once faithful dark and fire pokemon to help him.
But houndoom, scyther and the rest of his pokemon gave him a dirty look before taking off, escaping into the wilderness, leaving Sabre alone.
The pressure broke him at last and Sabre cracked.
"CELEBI! PLEASE COME TO ME! GIVE ME A CHANCE TO FIX THINGS! WHAT ELSE MUST I LOSE FOR THIS CHANCE?!"
His wind carried his voice all the way to Green Hills, and was actually picked up by Jet and Wave who were hanging out but shrugged it off as a game of the wind.
Far away, in the Johto region, the days were rolling by like a dream for team Sonic.
Even though the three friends were not together 24/7 each was having the time of their lives.
Tails was spending most of his time in Azalea town, essentially living with his now official girlfriend Cosmo. The two would often ride Raikou and sprint through the endless fields of Johto or find distant high grounds to enjoy the view. They would also take strolls through the Ilex forest, once even meeting one of Cosmo's friends, Diana as well as her grandmother Towa.
The elderly woman told them all sorts of tales about the Ilex forest and of course Celebi. Or at least what she referred to as the voice of the forest. Tails of course assumed she meant Celebi and therefore didn't question it, though he found it kind of unnerving that Celebi would randomly snatch people and force them into another time period.
Towa even had an example from her youth; a young boy named Sam had gone exploring with his charmeleon and had ended up missing after the voice of the forest supposedly made its presence known.
Furthermore she claimed to have even heard the roar of the North wind that day. When asked by Tails what the North Wind was, she explained it was none other than Suicune which she knew his friend Knuckles the echidna had caught and befriended.
Tails was fascinated by the story but forgot to ask when that story took place; with all their relaxing for over a week, and the Silver conference being delayed by a total of two weeks in order for Johto to get back to normal rhythms after team rocket's attack, he had considered researching the mystery of the legendary beasts with his friends but always postponed it in favor of Cosmo.
And honestly, who could blame him. Their time together was a dream come true.
Tails however also had taken up another habit; legit vigilantism.
After Silver's testimony of being Giovanni's son, and a very complicated process, detective Morrison was acquitted.
The Sonic heroes were there to witness his release and thanked him for his help while apologizing profusely for getting him caught up in that.
Morrison had no hard feelings for the heroes, having a proposal for them instead; to help the police with pokemon related crimes.
Sonic had respectfully declined, stating he wanted to take things easy for the time being. Knuckles also declined, wanting to visit more ruins in Johto, including the sinjoh ruins on the north and also prepare for the league.
Tails asked for a day to consider it and, after some encouragement from Cosmo, agreed to help in some cases. Morrison understood and handed him a file with leads on Pokemon poachers.
Tails and Raikou had since made a name for themselves, becoming terror incarnate for said poachers. They had become known as the duo of thunder.
Back in the present day, Tails was racing through Ilex forest, having just defeated another group of poachers and sending their coordinates to Morrison and Looker. Now it was time for some quality time for himself and his beloved.
Outside Cosmo's home however, he was met with a pleasant surprise.
"Knuckles?! What a surprise. What are you doing here?"
"Didn't you get the message?"
Tails nodded negatively but intrigued, took out his phone as he received a message from Sonic.
"Bad reception in the forest I guess".
The message read; Ash and co want to meet. I smell battles. You guys in?
Tails was torn. He wanted to be with Cosmo right now but truth be told he hadn't seen Sonic in over 3 days. After all the hedgehog spent all his time in Olivine, going in dates with Jasmine and training for the Silver conference as well.
Knuckles could tell what was bothering Tails.
"Hey we can arrange they come here to Azalea by bus or something foxboy".
"We could but we need to also take their location into account".
And with those words he called Sonic.
"Sup guys?" Sonic's cheerful voice came out of the phone.
"How's it going blue leader?"
"Oh you know the usual. Life is great".
"Awesome. So about this meeting with Ash, where exactly are they?"
"Ash said during our call, he just defeated Clair for her badge".
"So Blackthorn. That's actually kinda far".
"No worries. I can send Suicune to bring them here. Plus Ash has Noctowl so he can ride on it and Misty and Brock on Suicune" Knuckles quickly offered a solution.
"That would be perfect".
After informing Sonic to come to Azalea and sending Suicune to retrieve Ash and co the two friends then sat outside observing the horizon aimlessly.
"Hey so… there's something I've been meaning to talk to you guys about".
"I think Sonic already guessed it. You are thinking about not coming home right?"
Tails nodded. He was both surprised Sonic knew him so well and sad about it. Staying in Johto and not returning to Green Hills meant he would not see anyone in town for a long time.
But at the same time he didn't want to ask Cosmo to follow him to Green Hills. She had a life of her own here.
Knuckles realizing exactly what Tails was feeling as his grandmother, Jenna-lu had told him all about how she followed Sabre to Green Hills, because she couldn't imagine life without him.
Of course part of Knuckles wondered why his grandfather, Sabre didn't just move to Johto to start his family and look for Celebi. But the point to take from this was, Sabre and Jenna-lu talked about their relationship before going to Green Hills.
"Tails, this is not a discussion you need to have with me, but with Cosmo. You both need to find a common ground for your relationship in all aspects and that includes whether you stay here, she comes to Green Hills with us or something else. Just know that whatever choice you two make, I will support you all the way. And I'd bet money Sonic agrees with me".
Tails smiled.
"Thanks".
About an hour of sea gazing later, Cosmo joined them and suggested that they meet Ash's group in the forest as there was a place she hadn't had the chance to show them yet and believed they would like it.
When asked by Knuckles what place that was, Cosmo said it was the lake of life which almost made him choke on his saliva.
"You found the lake of life?!"
"Not exactly. My friend Diana and her grandmother Towa live right outside the section of the forest the lake is located at. It's surrounded by rocky terrain, kinda like a bowl for lack of a better word".
Knuckles was tempted to ask if that Towa person had met someone by the name of Sabre but refrained. No reason to ruin his own happy attitude by remembering him.
Informing Sonic to rendezvous with Suicune at the north section of the forest, the three rode Raikou and headed for Towa's home.
Upon arrival they were greeted by Diana who was happy to meet Knuckles. A little too happy in Tails' eyes.
Towa's reaction to Knuckles however was rather interesting. She claimed she had seen someone looking exactly like Knuckles 40 years ago run through the woods when she was a teenager.
Knuckles and Tails exchanged a glance of question in that moment. That aligned with Knuckles' story about his grandfather claiming to see a hunter looking like Knuckles' father.
Too much of a coincidence.
Eventually, they were contacted by Sonic they he had successfully met up with Suicune and Ash's team. Tails had to fly over the trees to get signal.
Arranging for everyone to meet at the lake of life, Towa telling them not to worry as Suicune would find it with ease, the two hang up and Knuckles, Tails, Cosmo and Diana began making their way to the lake.
Along the way they came across a small shrine made of rocks. Diana explained it was a shrine for Celebi.
While she was explaining it, Knuckles was hit by a powerful feeling of deja vu. As if he had literally been to this place before. And yet it was undoubtedly his first time here.
Straying a bit further away, lost in his thoughts as Diana kept explaining the history of the shrine to Tails and Cosmo, a loud cry echoed through the trees.
"What's that?" Tails wondered.
The treetops suddenly started emitting a blueish glow. Diana gasped.
"It's the voice of the forest!"
"Celebi?!" Tails asked in shock. Was he about to really meet a pokemon powerful enough to bend the laws of physics?
"Stand still or it will get you!" Diana warned them.
Only then did Tails notice Knuckles' absence.
"Knuckles?!"
"You guys hear this too?!" Knuckles asked from a bit further away.
"Knuckles stand still! If Celebi gets you…!"
Before Knuckles could reply however a white glow began surrounding him.
He attempted to move but found himself unable to. Furthermore he felt something wrapped around his right leg.
Looking down, confusion and fear crawled up on him; his leg was wrapped by vines.
"Tails I'm stuck!"
Tails took off immediately, despite Diana's warnings. He found Knuckles trapped by the vines, the glow growing brighter by the second.
"What happened?!"
"I don't know! Help me find a knife!" he said as he took off his huge backpack rummaging through their supplies, accidentally removing the belt holding his pokeballs.
"No time! Grab my hands!"
And without waiting for a reply, Tails grabbed Knuckles' huge palms and tried to rip his leg free from the vines.
But the vines were too strong. Which didn't make any sense in the back of Tails' mind. They were too thin.
Cosmo and Diana arrived to witness the scene.
"Get out of there! This is must be Celebi's power!"
"Those damn vines won't let go!" Tails yelled as he groaned, going beyond his limits in pulling Knuckles.
Sonic, Raichu, Entei, Suicune, Ash and co could hear the commotion as they were approaching.
"What's happening?" Misty asked worried.
"Trouble! Go Entei!" Sonic instructed it as Suicune and the others followed.
The glow was now almost fully white. And Knuckles was still stuck.
"Tails please get out of there!" Cosmos begged him.
The fox instead started spinning his tails so fast, lightning bolts crackled on them.
"Tails let go! Get away!"
"No way! I'm not leaving you!"
Knuckles gritted his teeth and pulled Tails down, forcing him to stop flying before throwing him away.
Sonic, his pokemon, Suicune and Ash's squad arrived just in time to see the silhouette of Knuckles being engulfed in the light.
"Knuckles!" Sonic reached out.
And the next moment, with a huge flash, Knuckles was gone.
The cry stopped and trees returned to normal.
Where Knuckles stood only a second ago, was now a young boy with brown hair around Ash's age, curled to the ground dressed in old fashioned clothes.
"What in the world?" Sonic managed to say.
Suddenly a small green being emerged from the boy's embrace and flew away before anyone could get a good glimpse at it. The boy didn't react as it was unconscious.
"Who is that boy?" Ash asked, getting off his Noctowl as Misty and Brock dismounted Suicune.
"And more importantly" Sonic also said while dismounting Entei "what happened to Knuckles?"
Knuckles slowly opened his eyes, finding himself alone in the woods.
"Tails? You ok?" he called out wondering where his friend had gone.
His leg now free, Knuckles took a few cautious steps forward, wondering where the others had gone.
"Guys if this is some elaborate prank, it's not a funny one. Show yourselves".
No response.
"Guys?"
Still nothing.
"Where did they all go?" he wondered silently as he walked around.
Slowly but steadily the echidna began noticing something was off.
His backpack was gone. And so were his pokeballs.
Of course Tails could have stolen them to mess with him but he knew his fox friend well. He wouldn't create some elaborate prank when he could spend time with his girlfriend. And certainty he wouldn't be able to get everyone in on it.
"But if this isn't a prank… what is this?" Knuckles looked around in confusion.
Suddenly the area around him was lit as if something flashed behind him.
Turning around, Knuckles came face to face with a small pink being that looked like an onion fairy.
The shape looked all too familiar. He had seen that being before in his mother's stories.
He stumbled back.
"It can't be… are you… Celebi?"
Celebi flew circles around him, crying out in joy.
Knuckles tried to process this. He was actually standing before a Celebi.
Sabre was right. It did exist.
"But… the myths had described it as green. This here is pink… is it a shiny Celebi?"
He dropped the subject, remembering that his grandfather or just unsubstantiated legends weren't exactly the most reliable source. But he was still right.
But before he could decide whether to try to find the others and show them Celebi or just make an actual thought, he heard the distant sound of a motorbike approach.
"A bike? Here?"
The sound got louder. Celebi instinctively hid behind Knuckles.
A Houndoom and a scyther appeared out of nowhere, followed by the aforementioned motorbike.
As the Houndoom and the scyther growled to Knuckles, he noticed the bike was equipped with a side-car.
He then tried to get a good look at the riders' faces. But the googles they were wearing made it hard to see their faces.
"Houndoom did you find it?"
Houndoom barked back at the rider.
"Interesting. Alright chump. Where are you hiding that boy?"
"What boy?"
"Don't play dumb with me! The boy that stole Celebi from me!"
Knuckles was bewildered. This guy was chasing a boy along with Celebi?
"Daddy I think I see Celebi behind him" a voice belonging to the little girl riding on the side-car spoke.
The rider took a better look and saw the Celebi peeking just over Knuckles' head towards the little girl.
"Hehehe. Great work. I'm proud of you, Lara-le".
Knuckles gasped. Lara-le?!
His mother?!
He took a good look at the girl's face as she took off the googles, pushing them a bit upwards towards her forehead to see without them.
Her face clearly belonged to Knuckles' mother. Even as a little girl, he could tell it was her.
Memories flooded Knuckles' entire being, overwhelming him for a moment. His mother's angelic smile, her lullabies, her tales of Johto's legends.
Knuckles quickly regained his composure remembering where he was and reminding himself this was the child version of his mother.
And if that was his mother… then the rider was…
"Sabre" he mumbled accidentally.
Sabre's eyes widened in shock behind his googles. Knuckles covered his mouth reactively but it was too late. He had messed up.
"You know of me. Of my quest. No doubt you're a rival hunter! Well news flash buddy! That Celebi is mine! So hand it over or I will take it by force!"
Knuckles stumbled back, accidentally revealing Celebi.
Sabre took a better look at it and understanding washed over him.
"How fascinating. It appears this is not the same Celebi my daughter and I were after earlier. Hehe. Little guy must have jumped to another time. No matter. I don't care which Celebi we catch! Houndoom bite!"
Houndoom pounced. Knuckles without even thinking got in the way and shoved the pokemon back.
"Knock it off! Celebi isn't yours to catch!"
"You really think I will let the one thing I have been pursuing my entire life go to you? I don't think so. Now get out of my way".
"No!"
"Fine then! Scyther slash!"
Scyther swung at Knuckles who barely dodged.
"Papa don't! You're going to hurt him" Lara-le pleaded with her father.
"I don't want to do this Lara-le but we can't stop now. Celebi is right before us".
Knuckles took advantage of their little back and forth.
"Please trust me ok?" he whispered to Celebi.
Without awaiting for a reply, Knuckles pulled Celebi into his arms and took off, running away from his grandfather and mother.
"Hey! Get back here with my Celebi! After him houndoom!"
The hunt was on.
In the present, Sonic, Ash and the rest of their parties and friends took the unconscious boy back to Towa's house.
"I can't believe it. It's him" she muttered the moment she laid eyes on him.
"Who's that?" Ash asked her.
"The boy I saw 40 years ago walk through these very woods before he went missing when the voice of the forest was last heard around these parts".
Tails had an epiphany.
"Your story! You told me and Cosmo!"
"I did" Towa nodded.
"Wait wait wait. So this kid travelled through time because of Celebi from 40 years ago? And if that's the case what happened to Knuckles?" Sonic asked again, wanting to know where his friend was.
Diana who was there when Tails tried to save Knuckles connected the dots.
"Your friend vanished and this kid appeared right after… I'm afraid he fell through the time ripple".
"The what?" Sonic and Tails asked simultaneously.
"When Celebi travels through time, it rips a hole through time, the so called time ripple. Whatever the reason it travelled through time, this boy and your friend must have been standing in the range of area affected by the time ripple".
"So that means… if this boy was pulled from the past here…" Brock scratched the surface of the truth.
"Knuckles was pulled into the past?!" Sonic completed the thought in absolute horror.
"I'm afraid so" Towa confirmed their thoughts.
Tails' expression was already horrified, before suddenly turning to terror.
"What is it?" Cosmo took his hand to comfort him.
"We need to wake that kid up. Learn as much as we can about the circumstances he was in before being pulled through time" he explained still terrified.
"What do the circumstances matter?" Ash asked him.
"Just do it" Tails insisted.
Towa nodded and began gently shaking the boy.
The boy groaned for a moment, half opening his eyes before jolting up, catching everyone off guard.
"Celebi!" he screamed.
"Shh. It's ok. You're safe" Towa comforted him.
The boy looked around at all the faces present, sizing them up for a moment.
"Where is Celebi? What happened to Celebi?"
"It took off when you were unconscious".
"Wait that green thing was Celebi?" Sonic asked in surprise as he hadn't realized it was actually there.
"I need to find it. Before that hunter" the boy tried to get out of the bed.
"Take it easy" Towa stopped him "it's ok. There is no threat".
"But… there was a hunter… he was pursuing Celebi. I…"
"You saved Celebi. Just not the way you think" Towa explained.
The boy looked at her in question.
"Hey what do you say we start over? Hi I'm Ash and I'm trying to be a pokemon master. What's your name"?
Sonic wanted to object and remind them they had no time for pleasantries but refrained from doing so for the moment.
"Hi Ash. I'm Sam".
"Nice to meet you. These are my friends Misty and Brock. And this is my rival Sonic, his friend Tails and Tails' girlfriend…" Ash stopped as he didn't know her name.
"I'm Cosmo" the green haired girl introduced herself.
"Good to meet you all but I'd like to head out now. I need to find Celebi, make sure it's ok".
"Of course. We'll help you" Tails offered, intending to question Sam while they were searching.
The two groups headed out, leaving Towa and Diana at their treehouse and looked around the woods, splitting up to cover more ground but not too far.
Along the way, while Ash and Sam were chatting, with Sam lamenting that even though it would be nice to live here, he would miss his own time, Tails interjected.
"Sam I had a question for you earlier. You said there was a hunter pursuing Celebi before you were pulled to this time period. Could you describe him?"
"Huh? Why do you want to know?"
"Personal reasons. So could you…"
"Sorry but no. I didn't get a good look at him. He was chasing me with his motorbike along with his houndoom and scyther".
"I see. Was there anything that caught your attention? Anything at all?"
"Why's that important?" Ash asked as well.
"It is in more ways that you can imagine. Sam please".
Sam racked his brain and remembered something.
"Yes. There was something weird. The hunter had a little girl with him, no more than 5 years old".
Tails held his breath.
And furthermore, Sam beat him to his next question.
"I think she was his daughter because he called her by name. Lara-le".
Forcing himself to remain calm, Tails thanked Sam and rushed back to Sonic, no longer caring about looking like panicking.
"We got a big problem! And by that I mean we are fucked!"
"Woah" Sonic looked at him worried. Tails cursing meant it was something really bad.
"Give it to me. How bad is it?"
"Sam was being pursued by a hunter with a little girl around 5 years old named Lara-le".
Sonic was so shocked by the revelation he tripped and fell.
"Tell me you're joking!"
"I wish I was".
"So… you mean to tell me… Knuckles is about to, if he hasn't already that is, meet the younger versions of his grandfather and mother?!"
"Yes".
Sonic slumped against a tree.
"You're right. We are fucked. Any action Knuckles takes or doesn't take could literally mess up the entire timeline. And himself and us with it!"
"We got to do something!" Tails said with an urgency in his voice.
"There's only one thing we can do. We need to find Celebi and have it take Sam back to his era AND bring Knuckles back. And we need to do so quickly. Before the timeline breaks".
"Are we going to tell this to the others?"
Sonic weighted their options for a moment.
"No. Not yet. Sam had just been time displaced. He has enough to process already. We need to find Celebi, get it to trust us and then have it do what we just said".
"And we have to do it quickly. Time is our enemy. Literally" Tails agreed.
Knuckles was racing through Ilex forest, not paying attention to where he was going anymore. Celebi was now flying besides him, placing its trust in him.
The sound of the motorbike was still audible. And so they were not safe.
"Dammit! If only I had Suicune and my team or my gear with me!" Knuckles thought, having to solely depend on his survival skills now.
A growl made them stop.
Sabre's houndoom was blocking their path.
Knuckles got in front of Celebi instinctively.
The motorbike carrying Sabre and Lara-le arrived.
"There's nowhere for you to run rival. Just surrender Celebi already!"
"What are you going to do to it?! Why are you even pursuing it anyway?!"
"That is none of your business! Surrender!"
"No! You're not having Celebi!"
"Houndoom! Flamethrower!"
Houndoom unleashed a jet of flames.
Knuckles turned around and hugged Celebi, feeling the flames searing his back as he screamed.
Celebi looked at the echidna in utter shock. They had never met before and Knuckles was taking a flamethrower to protect it.
"Daddy you're hurting him!"
Sabre gritted his teeth and ordered Houndoom to stop.
"Why did you make me do this in front of my daughter?! Just surrender Celebi already! That's all I want!"
"N-never!"
Sabre spat.
"Whatever! Scyther bring me that Celebi!"
Scyther attempted to slash at Knuckles before being blasted by a hydro pump.
An elegant cry followed.
A cry Knuckles knew all too well by now.
A huge figure jumped out of nowhere between him and scyther.
"The North Wind… Suicune" Sabre mumbled.
"So pretty" Lara-le said with glowing eyes and a huge smile.
Suicune turned and looked at Celebi alongside the hurt Knuckles.
Suicune approached and grabbed Celebi with its mouth gently before preparing to leave.
"No!" Knuckles thought as he fought against the pain and jumped. If Suicune took Celebi away he would be stuck in the past.
He managed to grab a bit of Suicune's mane. Right before the beast sped off through the woods.
"No! Give me back my Celebi North Wind!" Sabre's voice echoed as the motorbike also sped off in pursuit of the aurora pokemon.
Suicune was fast but in the woods it couldn't pick up the pace. That caused the motorbike to slowly gain ground on it.
Suicune unleashed a loud roar through the woods before noticing Knuckles had climbed on it by hanging from its mane.
Suicune was pissed but would deal with this stowaway later. Right now he needed help to escape the hunter.
Sabre and Lara-le both wearing their googles could tell they were getting close to Suicune.
"Lara-le! When I tell you, order houndoom to use flamethrower on Suicune!"
"Daddy that will hurt Suicune"
"Not if it stops and dodges! I'm counting on you!"
Lara-le hesitantly obeyed.
"Now!"
"Flamethrower!" she ordered the houndoom as it was running besides them.
Houndoom unleashed a flamethrower aiming for Suicune's back.
Another, more powerful flamethrower countered houndoom's flamethrower.
Before Sabre could realize who had fired that flamethrower, a thunderbolt came out of nowhere and struck Scyther, knocking it out cold.
Two more roars were heard.
Suicune stopped running as it was joined by its brethren, Entei and Raikou.
And they were not happy with Sabre.
"Legendary pokemon please get out of my way. I just want that Celebi!"
Entei and Raikou responded by attacking with their basic moves, scaring Lara-le.
"Stop! We need to get Celebi out of here" Suicune ordered them.
"Then let's go!" Raikou turned to follow.
"Ditch that guy first" Entei told Suicune, reminding the aurora pokemon of Knuckles' presence on its back.
Suicune tried to buck Knuckles off.
"Wait Suicune stop! I'm your friend!"
"You know him?" Raikou asked Suicune.
"No I don't! Entei, get him off me!"
Entei however was too busy fighting off Sabre's other pokemon.
Sabre, unwilling to give up, sent out another pokemon. A tyranitar.
"Rock blast!"
Tyranitar started throwing rocks towards Entei, damaging it a great deal and allowing Scyther to sneak past it, only for Raikou to intercept.
"Take him with us" Celebi pleaded with Suicune "he saved me".
"He's with the humans. He can't he trusted" Suicune countered.
"Yes he can. I told you, he saved me from him. Please".
Suicune, still holding Celebi gently in its mouth, relented.
"Leave them! Let's go!" it instructed before speeding off with Celebi and Knuckles still as a stowaway.
"Get back here!" Sabre yelled before recalling Tyranitar and initiating pursuit once again.
Knuckles heard the bike sound from Suicune's back despite the wind screaming around him due to the high velocity. Sabre was just not giving up.
"What else would an obsession have him do?" he thought disgusted. Witnessing Sabre's obsession at home was one thing but out here, pursuing all 3 legendary beasts, knowing what damage they could do, with his own daughter in tow just made him sick to his stomach. Like he didn't even care if she got hurt as long as he got Celebi.
Back in the present, the heroes had decided to use the legendary beasts in their search to find Celebi. With Tails riding Raikou, Sonic his Entei and Suicune mostly on its own with Sonic holding onto to Knuckles' pokeballs until his friend returned.
The results were immediate. The beasts quickly led them to a huge tree, from which a weak cry only audible to them was coming.
Entei and Suicune looked at Sonic when they arrived, confirming this was the place.
"We got it" he told the others "it's here".
Immediately Ash and Sam started climbing the tree by a vine, with Brock making a comment that Ash climbed like a mankey.
Sonic and Tails took their own approach to climbing. Meaning of course, Tails lifted Sonic up, causing Sam to almost fall on Ash from shock.
Once the 4 trainers arrived atop a huge branch, they saw moving vines in front of a hole in the tree.
Inside was the little green pokemon. Celebi.
Tails was in total awe. It was indeed real. A pokemon powerful enough to bend the rules of physics and travel through time itself.
"What wouldn't I give to be able to take this little guy back to my workshop in Green Hills and run some tests" he mumbled to Sonic who smiled at his friend's geekiness for science but needn't remind him that doing so could destroy all of existence.
"Is that really Celebi?" Ash asked Sam.
Sam nodded.
"Hey Celebi… you ok?" he reached for the mythical pokemon.
Celebi squealed in fear, bringing more nearby vines to life. The vines slammed Ash and Sam backwards, even sending Ash flying away from the branch.
Tails caught Ash with his flying and brought him closer, allowing him to climb back up.
"Patience" he told the two trainers "it's terrified. What it must have go through trying to escape that hunter…"
Ash nodded and approached Celebi again.
The vines struck him over and over as Celebi tried to defend itself.
Pikachu tried to intervene, only to be held back by Raichu.
Ash assured Pikachu it was ok, before pushing through the vines.
"Hey can you catch me again if…"
"No problem" Tails assured him.
"OK. Here goes. Celebi, we're your friends. We don't want to hurt you. We just want to help you".
Celebi looked up in hesitation.
Sonic then had an idea. Whistling, he motioned to Suicune to come up and talk to Celebi.
Suicune did so.
"Do not worry. They are good. You are safe. Let them help you".
Celebi, having met Suicune before had no reason not to trust it. Cautiously it came out and stashed itself in Sam's arms.
Climbing down, the heroes allowed Brock and Tails to examine Celebi for injuries while looking through Knuckles' stuff that Sonic had been carrying ever since the echidna's disappearance, for anything that could help.
Although Tails found some healing spray dubbed super potion and some berries to feed it, it didn't seem to get much better.
"Brock, it seems really weak".
"Yeah, there's not much we can do for it ourselves. We'll take it to a Pokemon center".
He was met with looks of hesitation from both Sonic and Tails.
"What's the matter?"
"Is it really wise? Bringing Celebi around other people? Especially with all the power it has?" Sonic asked him.
"It's going to be ok. We need to go. It needs our help" Sam pleaded.
Sonic looked at the small green pokemon. It did seem to be in need of actual medical assistance.
But if anything went wrong, if they lost Celebi…
"If we lose Celebi… we lose Knuckles" he completed his thought.
The destruction of the timeline wasn't even at the back of his mind. All he wanted was for Knuckles' return.
Entei got next to Sonic and gave him a stoic assuring look.
Sonic nodded.
"Alright. Let's go".
The group decided to head to Azalea for this. It was a bit further away than the original idea, Goldenrod city but team Sonic would not go unnoticed in Goldenrod. And for Celebi's good -and by extension Knuckles' - it was better they were under the radar.
Not too long into their walk however, they were interrupted by a smoke bomb.
"What the…" Sonic halted while outstretching his arms to signal the others to stop.
"Prepare for trouble. Your future looks grim".
"And we're not afraid to go out on a limb".
"To protect the world from devastation".
"To unite all peoples within our nation".
"To denounce the evils of truth and love".
"To extend our reach to the stars above".
"Jessie".
"James".
"Meowth".
"Those three clowns again?" Sonic thought annoyed "team rocket is done for good and they still can't get the hint".
"Team Rocket… blasts off at the speed of light".
"Surrender now or prepare to fight".
"Meowth—that's right".
"Wobbufett!"
"New recruit?" Sonic tilted his head slightly, reacting to Wobbufett.
"This is hard to watch" Tails whispered "those guys are insufferable".
"I know. Stun them real quick so we can be on our way".
Tails nodded taking aim at Jessie first.
But before he could pull the trigger, the branch the three idiots and their new recruit were standing on gave way, sending them tumbling to the ground.
"Huh. Guess that works too" Tails shrugged putting away his stun gun.
"Do you think they're gonna be OK?" Sam asked concerned.
"Unfortunately, yes" Misty replied grumpy.
"For now" Sonic added before raising his voice "but if they bother us again they won't be!"
On the forest floor nearby as team rocket was being cranky about this unfortunate development, Meowth heard Sonic's warning. Its soul left its body in response.
The heroes were ready to proceed but before they could, Sonic saw something huge coming from above, heading straight for Sam.
"Watch out!" he shouted pulling the time displaced trainer back, barely dodging the giant black machine that dug into the forest floor.
A menacing laugh was then heard. The black machine that almost stepped on Sam and Celebi belonged to a huge spider-like mobile. Above it was a masked man dressed in black.
"At last. I've been looking for that little Celebi".
"Who are you?"
"A Pokemon lover".
From the first moment the voice sounded familiar to Tails. The realization struck him like Raikou's thunderbolt.
"Sonic it's him! It's the marauder!"
Sonic looked at his friend in disbelief before crossing eyes with the marauder.
The marauder recognized them.
"Ah so we meet again heroes. Where is your red friend?"
"You're gonna pay for what you did that day!" Tails replied, his anger rising, his desire to bring him to justice stoking the flame in him.
"You know this guy?" Ash asked Sonic.
"Yeah. We got some unfinished business" Sonic said, just as angry as Tails.
"Things will not go so well for you this time heroes" the marauder said, emphasizing the last word sarcastically "I'll give you one chance. Surrender that Celebi or I will finish what I started that day!"
Sonic and Tails exchanged one look before reaching to the same conclusion.
"You might want to reconsider" Sonic said as he and Tails brought out the three beasts, partially shaking the marauder's confidence.
Only moments later however he smiled and took out a black pokeball.
"The hard way it is" he said sending out his captured Tyranitar.
The Tyranitar's roar shook the heroes to their very cores… including Sonic even though he had a tyranitar of his own.
"Tyranitar!" Ash exclaimed.
"Stay sharp everyone" Sonic instructed everyone with a calm voice "there's something funny about it".
Tails took notice of what Sonic was saying. The Tyranitar's look was devoid of emotions apart from feral instinct and its pupils had shrunk to a point.
The marauder made the first move.
"Hyper-beam!"
The heroes and the pokemon dodged the attack, with Tails flying Sam out of the way.
When he and Sonic however looked back they were greatly unnerved.
Hyper beam wasn't an attack they were unfamiliar with. After all Clair had used it against them before.
But her attack was never strong enough to decimate a tree.
"Suicune! Hydro pump!" Sonic called out the counter-attack.
Suicune's move struck Tyranitar head-on. The massive pokemon was shoved back but stood its ground and roared in battle rage. Sonic was unnerved.
"That was the same reaction Giovanni's rhydon had when Proton used it" he thought.
His eyes then found the dark ball in the marauder's hands. It gave him the same eerie feeling as the shadow gas canister.
"They must function the same way… everyone retreat!"
"What?!" they all looked at him in utter shock, calling for retreat being the last thing they would expect him to decide.
Hopping on Entei, Sonic had unleash a sacred fire in front of the marauder's spider like vehicle to stall just long enough for the heroes to flee.
The marauder chuckled.
"You can run hedgehog, but you can't hide" he commented, recalling Tyranitar before noticing Jessie, James and Meowth crawling into his vehicle.
"What are you three think you're doing?"
The three villains took a good look at him and gasped.
"I knew it! I knew I recognized the mask!" Jessie exclaimed.
"You're with team rocket! The legendary iron mask marauder" James said in awe.
"We are with team rocket too" Meowth explained quickly.
The marauder stared at the three with a cold expression.
"And what do you want?"
"To offer our assistance in destroying those twerps for what they did to team rocket" Jessie said with a voice reeking of vengeance.
"Hm… alright. What exactly can you do for me here? But before that… Go!" he sent out his scizor and his sneasel from 2 dark balls.
"Find those nuisances and bring me Celebi".
The two pokemon left before the marauder turned to face the three villains.
"You have until they return or until we find them to convince me you are worth keeping around. I'm listening".
As the three villains began making their case, Ash almost headbutted Sonic.
"Why did you have us run?! It was just a Tyranitar. You have one! You should know how to beat it!"
"It's not that simple" Sonic countered "that Tyranitar was somehow enhanced. And I think I know how".
"You do?" Tails stood next to him in question. Even he had not figured out any particular reason for that.
In the past, after a long run, the beasts stopped running. Raikou checked around to see if Sabre was still on their tail.
"I think we lost him" it informed its brethren.
"Good" Entei nodded turning to Suicune "now ditch that guy and let's get out of here".
Suicune nodded and kicked the already exhausted and still burned Knuckles off.
"Wait! We can't leave him here" Celebi objected.
"We can and we will" Suicune turned to leave.
Celebi racked its brain, knowing Knuckles didn't belong in this era and leaving him would have dire consequences for the timeline.
But at the same time, telling the beasts of this now could also damage the timeline. Its mission was very delicate.
"At least let me heal him".
Suicune looked at Celebi in shock.
"You want to help him? Don't you know what he and his kin have done to pokemon so many times?"
"I know. I have been pursued for my power many times. But even so, judging him like that without knowing him… or worse knowing him… it's just wrong".
"We have already asserted we don't know him!" Entei roared.
"Not personally. But he saved me. That is enough to at least give him the benefit of the doubt".
"That's a valid point there" Raikou interjected.
"Don't let your emotions cloud your judgement" Suicune berated Raikou.
"All Celebi asks is we heal him before going on our way. How is that clouded judgement?"
Suicune hesitated and looked at Knuckles.
The echidna looked back at the aurora pokemon.
Suicune felt a bizarre sense of familiarity coming from the echidna. As if it somehow already knew him.
"Alright. Make it quick" Suicune relented, partially because of that inexplicable familiarity.
Entei looked at its brother in disappointment before realizing something.
"Wait, how are you going to heal him?"
Celebi closed its eyes and started using one of its moves. A move known as heal bell.
Knuckles was covered in a green aura for a few moments and the beasts along with Celebi believed their work to be done.
But after the completion of the move, they were shocked to see Knuckles' wounds had not healed.
"Impossible" Celebi mumbled.
Knuckles managed to stand despite the massive searing sensation on his back.
He let his mind process his predicament. Burned by a flamethrower attack, stranded in the past, pursued by his grandfather.
It was only then he realized he wasn't stranded. Celebi was still there. He could ask it to return him to the right time.
For a moment he wondered how things were on Sonic and Tails' end. They were probably frantically looking for him.
As his mind was forming the decision to have him return to his own time, Celebi got an idea.
"Let's take him to the lake of life. With my heal bell and the lake's healing properties, there's no doubt his wounds will heal".
"We will not carry him around any longer" Entei strongly disagreed "he can't be trusted".
"How do you know that?" Raikou asked him "what if he is ok?"
Knuckles refrained from asking Celebi, believing it would be better if the beasts ended their discussion first, even though said discussion was just roars to him.
"He is with the humans. Need I remind you two how everyone has been treating us ever since father brought us back?"
"But times are changing" Raikou countered "maybe he's ok. Maybe the humans are ok too".
"Ask Celebi this then. Let's see if it agrees after being chased by a hunter" Entei dared Raikou.
"What do you think brother?" Raikou asked Suicune.
Suicune met the silent Knuckles' eyes again. The echidna had something undoubtedly reassuring about him.
"We'll take him to the lake. After he is healed he is on his own".
Entei disapproved but Raikou was very positive about this.
Suicune sat down, allowing Knuckles to mount it.
"You're seriously going to let him ride you?" Entei asked Suicune.
"Does he look capable or even able to keep up with us on his own? Unless you want to carry him".
"In your dreams" Entei retorted.
"Then it can't be helped" Suicune concluded as Knuckles rode it "let's go".
The sound of a motorbike was heard in the distance.
"Now!" Suicune barked as the beasts went on the run again.
While the past beasts were racing towards the lake of life, the present beasts were keeping watch as Sonic began his explanation.
"When we broke into team rocket's hideout in Mahogany, a rhydon was used against us. Also a canister containing something called shadow gas was used. The gas drove that rhydon completely savage, making it stronger, faster and insanely durable. That Tyranitar earlier exhibited the exact same behavior".
"You mean it's stronger? Like stronger than normal?" Sam questioned him.
"Exactly. Hyper beam is a strong move but this one decimated a tree. Last time I went against this kind of power, both me and my Raichu almost perished. We can't take this chance".
Ash's headstrong nature made him want to object, believing they could win. But if Sonic was spot on with his assumption, then it was indeed too risky to attempt this fight.
"We can't run forever though. The marauder will keep hunting us as long as Celebi is with us" Brock said.
"And if he finds us we will have to fight back" Ash got his chance to express his desire for battle.
"Maybe we don't have to" Tails interjected "if Celebi takes Sam back to his era the marauder will have no reason to pursue us. That could allow me, Sonic and Knuckles, once we retrieve him from the past, to take on the marauder on our own terms".
The Celebi however, still curled up in Sam's hands, didn't look ready to go through with it.
"It's too injured. There's no way it can open a portal right now".
"Then we need a way to heal it. And quickly. Time is running out" Sonic urgently said.
Ash was ready to ask Sonic to elaborate until he heard rustling from some nearby bushes.
A scizor and a sneasel emerged.
"Of course. No way it would be easy" Tails said as Raikou took a battle stance.
Sonic was quick to notice their opponents had the same empty look as that Tyranitar.
"Stay sharp. They are enhanced".
"Well no way we're retreating this time! Go bayleef!"
Sam followed up by sending out his own partner, a charmeleon.
"Alright. Ash, Sam you take out that sneasel. Tails and I are on the scizor. Brock, Misty, Cosmo watch out for Celebi" Sonic quickly devised a battle strategy.
"You got it! Bayleef razor leaf!"
"Charmeleon flamethrower!"
The sneasel's attention immediately shifted to the two pokemon, leaving the enhanced Scizor facing down Sonic, Tails and the beasts.
"Are we sure it's enhanced?" Tails asked while on his toes, ready for any sudden movements.
"Only one way to find out. Flamethrower!"
Entei fired a jet of flames towards scizor. The bug and steel type wasn't quick enough to avoid the attack.
The flamethrower damaged Scizor a little bit which terrified Sonic. A normal scizor wouldn't have been able to take it.
Scizor let out a loud screech and retaliated with slash.
The attack brought back painful memories for Tails as he realized this was the same scizor the marauder had used to torture Knuckles.
As the two friends dodged the attack, Tails immediately went on the offensive.
"Raikou! Thunderbolt!"
Raikou discharged its electricity on scizor. The attack merely tickled it.
"Tails get back!"
"Shadow ball!"
Raikou followed up with a shadow ball, inadvertently reducing scizor's special defense but allowing the enhanced pokemon to retaliate with a devastating slash against the beast of thunder.
"Groaaar!"
"Raikou no!"
Raikou stumbled and fell to its side as Scizor prepared another slash.
"Suicune! Hydro pump!"
Suicune fired its attack, getting the attention away from Raikou, allowing it to retreat to catch its breath.
"This isn't working! Striking it head on will only make it angrier and stronger!" Tails said in realization of what Sonic actually faced and survived.
Sonic gritted his teeth before looking at each of the beasts and getting an idea.
"I have a plan. It's a longshot but maybe the only way to defeat this scizor is to overwhelm it".
"How do we do that?"
"On my signal fire thunder! Suicune with me!" Sonic instructed as he rushed into battle, getting the attention of the scizor.
Suicune followed suit, using icy wind on scizor, slowing it down just enough for Sonic to dodge a slash.
This repeated a few times, with two near misses that had Tails sweating bullets.
Once scizor was slowed enough, Sonic gave the command.
"Hydro pump!"
Suicune blasted scizor with high pressure water, shoving it back. Despite the immense rage and fury that whatever was enhancing the scizor was causing, the effects of icy wind kept it from retaliating.
Once Sonic verified scizor was soaked top to bottom, he gave the signal to Tails who realized what his friend was aiming for.
"Thunder!"
Thunder came crashing down on Scizor, its soaked body acting like a super conductor, frying its inside.
The thunder dissipated and Scizor stumbled back, its body, less than a moment ago soaked, now fried and emmiting smoke.
"Entei! Sacred fire!"
The volcano pokemon's attack landed with earth-shaking power. And on top of that, Sonic's plan worked.
Overwhelmed by the combined onslaught, Scizor collapsed, knocked out.
Panting heavily, Sonic and Tails fist bumped.
"Good call" Tails complimented.
"Can't believe that actually worked".
"I think this year's tournament will be rather interesting".
"Don't count your pokemon before they hatch" Sonic reminded him before looking over towards Ash and Sam.
Surprisingly the two trainers had prevailed against Sneasel with some help from Ash's Pikachu and some even more unexpected help from the sentret Cosmo had adopted from Tails, which had since evolved into Furret. It wasn't strong by any means but it was incredibly agile and eager to help which had it dancing around sneasel's claws Pikachu, Bayleef and Charmeleon wore it down to the point of collapse.
"Hey, you're a very good trainer" Ash complimented Sam.
"As are you. We make a good team" Sam replied.
"Good job both of you but we got to move! If those two found us, the marauder can't be far behind!" Sonic urgently told them as they regrouped.
"But where do we go? If we go to the pokemon center that guy will follow us and innocents could get hurt" Cosmo warned them.
Distant mechanical sounds reached them.
"Flee first discuss later!" Sonic decided as he hopped on Entei.
The rest followed either on Raikou or Suicune to cover more ground.
Sonic was correct in his assumption. The marauder arrived shortly after with the three rocket stalkers in tow.
"Hehe. I expected the hedgehog and his little buddy to be tough but those kids that were with them aren't as wimpy as I thought they'd be. This makes things interesting".
Quickly recalling his scizor and his Sneasel he looked to the ground, easily finding footprints that could only possibly belong to the beasts.
"We're on the right track" the marauder declared as they continued following the heroes.
The latter eventually stopped to decide their next move.
"We can't run forever. We gotta find the way out of the forest" Ash said just as be climbed off Suicune, helping Sam off as well. The time displaced trainer was still holding Celebi.
"No. I'm not risking this. Anything happens to Celebi, not only do we lose Knuckles but everything goes to hell" Sonic strongly disagreed.
"What do you mean by that?" Brock asked Sonic.
Sonic looked at Tails as the two were torn between explaining to the others as to the amount of danger that loomed over all of reality and not wanting to panic everyone.
"Look what's important is, we find a way to heal Celebi and then have it return Sam and Knuckles to the right time periods" Sonic explained.
Celebi let out a weak cry.
"And by this sound, I'd say our time is really running out".
"We better keep moving forward then. If we stop now, we might be too late" Ash agreed with his rival.
The rustling of grass was heard nearby.
"Not again" Sonic uttered in frustration as he and Entei prepared for an attack.
But no attack came. Instead a big brown pokemon came up to them. Its expression was calm and collected.
"What in the world is that?" Sonic titled his head.
"It's an Ursaring" Sam explained.
"An Ursaring?!" Cosmo exclaimed in excitement "they are not common in the general forest. But there have been rumors of rare and powerful pokemon living by the lake of life!"
"Wait! The lake of life? As in…" Tails asked his girlfriend.
"The mystical lake in the middle of the forest, yes. Where we were heading before Celebi switched Sam and Knuckles' locations. The lake is said to have healing properties. That means…"
"It could heal Celebi!" Sonic completed her thought. He turned to Ursaring.
"Can you lead us to the lake of life? Celebi needs help".
Ursaring didn't reply, instead turning around and walking away.
"I think they're telling us to follow them" Misty correctly assumed.
"Should we though?" Ash questioned the plan.
"We are going" Sonic declared "If you want to stay behind very well. Sam you're coming with us. We need you to be there so Celebi can return you home".
Sam nodded, climbing onto Entei behind Sonic. Ash followed suit.
As the three beasts carrying the trainers marched, following the Ursaring and the other forest pokemon, Ash tapped Sonic in the back.
"That wasn't nice back there. It looked like you were deciding for Sam".
"Who wouldn't want to go home?" Sonic asked without looking back.
"It's not about going home. It's about making his decision on your own".
"Ash it's ok. I'm not offended" Sam assured Ash.
"Trust me pal, even if you were, you don't have a choice here" Sonic said seriously.
"What if he didn't want to go home huh? Have you considered that?" Ash replied annoyed by Sonic's supposedly bossy attitude.
"No more than you have considered the implications of his and Knuckles' time displacement".
"What implications?"
"Forget it. When we get there, we heal Celebi and it does what it needs to do. End of discussion" Sonic seriously declared, stopping Ash from continuing.
As the heroes and the beasts in the present headed for the lake of life, the past beasts were arriving there with Celebi and Knuckles.
"Alright. Let's get it over with" Suicune declared to Celebi. The latter looked at Knuckles.
The echidna looked at the lake.
"You want me to go in there?"
Celebi nodded.
"Ok" Knuckles said and walked in. The cold water irritated his burns before slowly soothing them.
"Do it" Entei told Celebi.
Celebi used heal bell as the healing power of the lake also began washing over Knuckles.
The echidna was amazed by the experience. But he was at the same time very confused about everything.
What was the lake supposed to do? He felt the burns still on his back although slightly less painful.
"It's not working" Celebi talked to the beasts with telepathy, this time also heard by Knuckles "the lake is not healing him. Neither does my move".
"Impossible. The lake healed me once when I was attacked by humans" Suicune retorted.
Celebi, knowing the truth about Knuckles, realized why.
"There is another way. But for that… I'm going to need you to protect him and me for a while".
"What do you mean?" Raikou asked confused.
Celebi started using heal bell again but this time a small blue-green glow came out of its body and flew straight into Knuckles' body.
The burns on his back were healed.
"Well I'll be. It worked" Raikou said amazed.
"What did you do?" Entei asked Celebi, smelling an unpleasant explanation.
"The lake couldn't heal him and neither could I. The reason is because he is time displaced and therefore his temporal aura is incompatible with our surroundings".
Knuckles looked at Celebi with a mix of realization and confusion. Celebi had healed him with some weird mix of his time travelling abilities and heal bell. But how?
"And how did you heal him if that's the case?" Suicune inquired.
"I put some of my own temporal aura into heal bell to heal him".
"You did what?!" Entei roared angry "that means you're stuck here until you gather enough temporal aura to open a time ripple again!"
"And if you're stuck here for a while so is he" Raikou said referring to Knuckles.
"I know. Which I why I need your help".
"Why should we help him?! Did you forget how the humans treated us?!" Entei roared, almost getting into Celebi's face before Suicune got in the middle.
"It can't be helped brother. We have to play by their rules now".
Entei looked at its brother in disappointment.
"You are in favor of this aren't you? You were always eager for something like this to happen, eager for the humans to grow fond of us again".
"This has nothing to do with it" Suicune denied it.
"Don't lie to me. Or yourself" Entei's eyes narrowed.
Raikou approached Entei with calm steps.
"Whether Suicune is lying to himself or not is irrelevant brother. Regardless of what the case is, one thing is crystal clear; he... Actually who is he?"
Suicune looked over towards Knuckles.
"What's your name?"
Knuckles only heard a bark-like cry until Celebi explained with telepathy.
"Suicune is asking what your name us".
"Knuckles. Knuckles the echidna".
Suicune stared into Knuckles with an inquisitive calmness before Raikou got its and Entei's attention again.
"As I was saying, Knuckles doesn't belong here. His mere presence here could alter the course of history. We need to make sure something like this doesn't happen. And that includes keeping him and Celebi safe from that guy pursuing Celebi".
Suicune nodded, understanding the predicament. Entei did too but wasn't pleased.
"How long will it take for your temporal aura to be fully restored?" it asked Celebi.
"About 3 days".
Entei growled.
"Fine. But don't expect me to be all buddy buddy with this… Knuckles. Once the three days have passed he's out of here" Entei said before walking a bit further away and lying down by s tree.
Raikou informed Suicune that it would look around, see if the hunter was nearby. Suicune instructed its thunder brother to take care before taking to observing Knuckles with great interest after the echidna thanked Celebi for vouching for him before giving the beasts some space.
Just as the group in the past settled around the lake, the group in the present finally arrived at the lake, guided there by the forest pokemon.
Sonic noticed, as he, Sam and Ash dismounted Entei that the three beasts looked around in an almost nostalgic way.
"Could this really be The Lake of Life… that Diana's grandmother was talking about?" Brock wondered aloud.
"Only one way to find out" Tails said.
On que, Sam walked into the lake and carefully placed Celebi in the crystal waters.
The water soon began glowing. As everyone looked on in awe, Celebi's injuries were healed and it cried out in excitement, flying around in joy and happily interacting with Ash and Sam.
"Such a beautiful scene" Cosmo uttered moved, as she and Tails held each other's hand.
Sonic too was moved. But it didn't change anything. He approached Ash and Sam.
"Alright guys. I'm happy for you but fun's over. Celebi please take Sam back to his own time and return my friend Knuckles here".
Ash was very annoyed at Sonic for immediately demanding Celebi to leave, seemingly only caring about Knuckles. Brock and Misty on the other hand exchanged a glance, believing something else was at play.
Celebi, using telepathy, spoke to everyone.
"I'm sorry. I can't. Not yet. My temporal aura is depleted".
"Your what?" Sonic said in confusion.
"What's a temporal aura?" Ash asked, equally confused.
"Tails do you got anything?" Sonic looked over to his friend, who was already on it.
"Yeah. Several myths about Celebi explain it. Though admittedly Knuckles could probably tell us a lot more… anyway basically, Celebi can't travel through time in quick succession. It collects a kind of temporal energy from its surrounds, the aforementioned temporal aura, to travel through time once it reaches a certain amount. On a side note, it says here when a Celebi departs from one point in time another Celebi arrives as one must always exist somewhere at any given point in time".
"What has that got to do with anything?" Misty questioned the fox.
"Nothing, just an interesting fact. In any case it means that because Celebi only recently travelled through time we need to wait until it gathers enough temporal aura naturally to open a ripple in time and send Sam back".
"But what about Knuckles? Does Celebi choose where and when to arrive?" Sonic again asked about Knuckles.
"Not sure" Tails looked at Sonic worried.
Silence ran through the lakeside. All they had was questions.
"Well in any case" Ash suddenly piped up "we got some time to spare right? You know, until Celebi recharges this temporal aura. So let's enjoy the time we have with Celebi right now. What do you say Celebi?"
The time travel Pokemon squealed in excitement and flew around the group giving them pure joy.
"Well it can't be helped" Sonic relented "alright. Let's set camp and wait it out" he suggested.
The others agreed and started helping him unpack Knuckles' massive backpack.
Further away from the lake, the members of team rocket were slowly but steadily searching through the woods.
"Don't you worry. We'll find Celebi" the marauder said, more to himself than to the group he had taken with him.
"I'd rather find some lunch" Jessie lamented.
James agreed "so would l".
The three then noticed a peach tree and attempted to grab a few peaches to eat. Their attempt caused them to fall off the vehicle, with the marauder less than amused.
"And then they wonder why no one takes them seriously. Whatever. One less distraction" he thought with an evil smile, ignoring their pleas to wait for them.
Hours passed and night fell in the Ilex forest. The lake of life and the surrounding area was dead quiet, with the exception of the cries of a few hoothoot and the occasional murkrow cries as the group relaxed.
While Brock, Misty, Sonic, Tails and Cosmo we're sitting around a campfire, with Cosmo's head on Tails' shoulder, Ash and Sam were bonding with each other over their love of pokemon.
At some point Sam mentioned liking the possibility of having to live in the future. Ash replied bitterly that he shouldn't count on it as his eyes found Sonic.
"Hey don't worry about it. I understand his concern. He's worried about his friend, whoever he is".
"I know that. But the way he was so quick to decide for you…"
"You think he is a bit take charge and disregarding of others?"
"Yeah. Well, a little bit".
"Did you ask him why he is like that right now?"
Ash contemplated Sam's words.
"You know what? Come".
The two trainers approached the campfire where Ash addressed Sonic.
"Why were you so quick to decide for Sam back there?"
"I already answered that question".
"I'm not blaming you. I just want to understand".
Sonic sized up his rival before deciding it was for the better he knew.
"I have to be this absolute here. We are all in grave danger".
"From that guy you called the marauder? We stood our ground just fine earlier".
"No. And I don't mean just us. Everyone. All of reality is at risk here".
"All of reality?" Ash's expression changed from interrogative to surprised.
Tails nodded, taking over from Sonic.
"There are dire consequences that could plague our reality at any moment because of Sam and Knuckles' time displacement".
"What consequences?" Brock asked Tails to elaborate.
"Sam is here. Meaning he's no longer in the past and therefore won't live the life he is meant to live whatever it is. Can you imagine what would happen if anyone of us knew Sam and he had an impact on our lives, even if just a random meeting?"
Sam nodded.
"Yeah. If I somehow influence anyone of you in this time but am no longer in the past to grow up and do it…"
"Exactly. Everything changes".
"But how can we know if we have met Sam here so we can be affected?" Ash questioned the logic.
"It doesn't matter if it won't be us. Someone will be affected. Probably hundreds. So it's a no brainer that Sam returns to his time as quickly as possible".
Ash however wasn't satisfied. Something was still missing.
"Ok. I get it. But why as quickly as possible?"
"Because Knuckles is also time displaced. And…" Tails exchanged a glance of concern with Sonic "we are absolutely certain his presence there can alter the course of our lives".
"How so?" Misty asked Tails.
Sam was quick to connect the dots.
"Does it have to do with the hunter that was after Celebi in my time?"
"Yes. Remember what I asked you?"
"Yes. All I could tell you is his young daughter was with him. Her name was…"
"Lara-le. In other words… Knuckles' mother" Sonic revealed shocking everyone.
"What?!" Ash stumbled back.
"Are you sure?!" Cosmo looked at her boyfriend and Sonic in shock.
"We are. Knuckles has told us about his family's history. We know his grandfather was taking his daughter to look for Celebi. Meaning that since Knuckles went to the time and place Sam came from…"
"He will meet them!" Sam uttered.
"But what does that mean for us?" Brock asked Sonic.
"A multitude of things. All beginning with the possibility of Knuckles seizing to exist".
Brock gasped but then nodded.
"I understand. Anything he changes could lead to his parents never meeting".
"And without Knuckles around so many things could change. I may never begin my journey. Tails and Cosmo never meet… but even if all comes to pass… without Knuckles, Tails and I fall to team rocket at the whirl islands".
Everyone was beyond shocked.
"And that's just the surface" Tails continued "imagine this. Knuckles seizes to exist. Therefore he never returns to the past to cause it. Therefore he once again exists and causes it again. The loop goes round and round and reality gets stuck eternally. In other words the grandfather paradox" Tails said seriously.
"And what would happen if that came to pass?" Cosmo asked him.
"Most probable scenario… reality collapses and we all perish".
The realization of what danger they were all really in hit everyone but Sonic and Tails like a ton of bricks.
"But how do we know it's not too late?" Ash pondered.
"We don't" Sonic revealed "we just proceed and hope all goes well".
Cosmo took Tails' hand and held it tight.
The fox took to caressing his girlfriend's hair to comfort her.
Ash looked at Pikachu who was playing with Raikou. Raichu was lying beside Entei. Suicune was simply staring at the lakeside.
All of them. His friends, their pokemon. All could be gone in a moment.
Sonic was right. As hard as it would be to say goodbye with Sam, they would have to do it.
One fact that eluded everyone was that Suicune was looking at the exact spot its past self was standing at that point in time, remembering what had unfolded back then.
Destiny was fulfilled on top of mount Tensei recently. But it had started at the lake of life 40 years ago.