Chapter 92; Journeying to Rustboro
"Seriously?! You met May?!" Wave almost stuffed her head through the camera.
"Yeah. You actually got it wrong. She is the daughter of gym leader Norman and has actually moved here with her younger brother Max from Johto around the time your father probably asked for transfer back home" Sonic explained.
"I see. Makes sense why we could never hang out in her place" Wave said in understanding "if they were still moving and stuff. Well, that and her brother".
"What about her brother?"
"Well, he tends to be a little… insufferable at times. Not in a bad way, just in an annoying way".
"Elaborate a little" Sonic asked her as he waited for Raichu and Torchic to awaken.
"Well May told me once that during the first days their father had taken up his duties as gym leader, Max would dress up with adult clothes and pretend he was the gym leader. Most who didn't know him found it adorable but to me and May it was kinda cringy. Oh and he tends to be a know-it-all at times".
"He did seem like a smart kid. Though from my experience, knowledge without experience is nothing. Knuckles, Tails and I thought we would run over team rocket and almost ended up dying, at least once each".
Wave giggled as she remembered Max arguing with their father once about how to better wield Vigoroth in battle. Once her giggle stop she turned serious again.
"You know, they've been worrying about you. You haven't contacted them or anyone for that matter after your encounter with Ash. They didn't reach out because they understood you needed the solidarity..."
"I understand. I promise I will call everyone later today. I got a lot to explain".
"Wouldn't it be better if you returned home and told us yourself?"
Sonic merely turned the camera to reveal Torchic.
"Wait. I know this one. Torchic. One of the region's starters. Why are you going for the gym challenge?"
"As I said, I wasn't in the state of mind to explain everything before. I'll explain everything later today though,I promise. But for now I got to go. I got somewhere to be soon and those two" he threw a pillow on Raichu to wake it up "are a bit of sleepy heads" he raised his voice tone, attempting to joke after a long time.
"Rai!" Raichu cried out.
"No enemies! Let me sleep!" Sonic heard in his head, chuckling.
"Oh great. Got to go Wave. I need to be a dad now. Sorry if my joke was bad".
Wave laughed.
"At least the Sonic we know is slowly returning. Talk soon".
She then hung up, her words echoing in Sonic's head.
"Was he ever even here?" the voice of doubt whispered "or was he a front the entire time?"
Leaving the Pokemon center, with Raichu on foot and Torchic on his shoulder, the small golden pokemon refusing to budge and stop rubbing its head against him, Sonic made his way for route 104.
He found Wally there already, tending to some obvious injuries on Ralts.
"What happened here?" he asked in concern.
"I… I couldn't wait to train with Ralts so I came earlier… but it hasn't been able to fight. All it does is growl as if it is afraid".
Sonic immediately looked up about the Ralts species and saw it was a psychic type. Immediately he got suspicious of what was the case.
"Well having trained a psychic type myself, I think I know what's going on. But let me verify. Raichu, please ask Ralts what attacks it knows".
Raichu did so. Sonic heard the thoughts.
"None".
"Just as I thought. It knows no aggressive moves. All it knows it to growl".
"What? Then how do we train?"
"Don't worry. We'll stay here and help it learn its first move so you can work from there".
"Really?! You'd do that?!"
"Of course. I relate to the struggle and I can tell you it's well worth it".
"Oh my gosh! Learning from Sonic the hedgehog! I can't believe it!"
Sonic chuckled at Wally's enthusiasm.
"Alright. Usually a psychic type's first aggressive move is confusion. My Alakazam learned it by evolving into Kadabra which as my friend Tails explained is natural because they tend to evolve fast and build their power from there. I don't know how much of this applies to Ralts though. So I think best we can do for now is have it observe Raichu and Torchic train".
"Couldn't we call your Alakazam here?"
"No. It's training off the grid" Sonic lied "I don't have access to it right now".
"Pity. Would have been so cool to learn from the best".
"Hey cheer up, Ralts can still learn by observing. How pokemon grow is unique for each species but even just desiring power can put them in a state of mind to learn an attack".
"Really?"
"Yes. You see right before my Raichu evolved from Pikachu, I was holding on until it learned thunderbolt. For a long time it couldn't muster the power. But when I was attacked by a Zapdos, coincidentally the same Zapdos I fought at the end of the Kanto league, Pikachu not only mastered its power enough to learn thunderbolt but also evolved".
"So cool! You say Ralts can do that too?!"
"Certainly".
"Alright let's do it then!"
Ralts got to observing as Raichu and Torchic got to practicing. Once again Torchic preferred using scratch instead of ember. And the behavior reminded Sonic a lot of a pokemon species eerily similar to Torchic.
"Woah wait a minute… could it evolve into… Blaziken?!" he thought remembering Harrison who had stated his Blaziken was his first pokemon.
That thing was crazy strong. He remembered how it almost defeated Ash's Charizard. If Torchic really evolve into that then it was already an amazing pick though Torchic had actually chosen Sonic and not the other way around.
After a while Ralts joined in, getting closer to the fighting pokemon and while they were occupied with a wild wingull, it fired confusion.
"It did it! You did it! You did it Ralts!" Wally exclaimed jumping up and down before suddenly stopping and beginning to choke and suffocate.
"Wally? Wally!"
Wally grabbed his throat and reached for his bag which he had taken off but dropped on his knees!
"Wally!" another voice called out.
Sonic looked up and saw a teenage girl rush to them.
"His inhaler! Where is his inhaler?!"
"Inhaler?" Sonic asked confused.
"He has asthma!"
Sonic rushed to Wally's bag and emptied it instantly handing the girl the inhaler. The latter basically shoved it in Wally's month and pushed the button, with Wally taking over after the first few breaths as his breathing returned to normal.
"What where you thinking Wally?! Aunt and uncle told you not to stray too far!"
"I was…" *cough* "training with Ralts".
"That's not helping your case! And who are you exactly?!" she shouted in Sonic's face.
"Woah woah. Calm down please. My name is…"
The girl didn't even need to hear his name to identify him. She sighed in frustration.
"Great. Just what the family needed. Wally meeting his idol".
Despite believing he deserved the criticism for his actions, Sonic was offended.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that Wally's getting ideas".
"Wanda would you stop talking about me as if I'm not here?" Wally complained.
"Wally just go home. Your parents are worried sick!"
Wally huffed but obeyed.
"As for you" Wanda turned to Sonic again "stay away from my cousin! He doesn't need to take unnecessary risks".
"Wha… hey wait a minute!" Sonic followed them.
"I said stay away!"
"Just please tell what's going on! Who are you? Is it true Wally has asthma?"
"This is my cousin Wanda" Wally quickly explained "and yes I do have asthma".
"Which you triggered because of your overexcitement! Can you even imagine what would have happened if I hadn't arrived?"
Sonic realized in silent horror what that would mean. There was no way to be sure he would figure it out alone unless Wally would somehow communicate it to him or manage to do it himself.
"Hey leave him alone already! It was my fault for not telling him! I didn't expect it would be triggered!" Wally protested.
"It doesn't matter Wally. We are responsible for your safety" Wanda shut down the conversation as they arrived at Wally's house.
His parents were outside and not very happy.
"Wally why did you sneak out like that?!" his father berated him.
"I wanted to train with Ralts".
Wally's mother identified Sonic.
"I know you. Was it you who encouraged this behavior?!"
"N-no. I did agree to help him train but…"
"Aha! The truth comes out! Get out of here! Wally doesn't need role models like you!"
"Listen I didn't know Wally had asthma" Sonic tried to explain "and certainly I did not know you all were against him training".
"Doesn't matter whether you knew or not. You need to leave".
"Mom will you listen to me please?" Wally tried to protest this whole time only to be ignored.
"Go inside Wally. And pray I don't decide to release the Ralts you're carrying around" his mom sharply said.
"Now just wait a minute" Sonic tried to protest. It wasn't his place but having seen how happy Ralts seemed to be with Wally, it wasn't fair to split them up.
The angry faces of Wally's parents and Wanda silenced him.
"Alright. I relent. I'm going" he said and turned around, looking at Wally apologetically.
Wally and by extension, his Ralts were very sad to see them go.
With a heavy heart Sonic headed back to route 104, sitting by the beach. In the distance was a small shack.
As he gazed at the endless sea, he found himself wondering what he could do to help Wally. He also wondered why he was wondering something like that.
The answer came to him with Torchic rubbing its head on his leg.
Both Torchic and Wally were seeing the good in Sonic when all Sonic could see was what Carrie Morrison had had him believing.
That he was no different than Giovanni.
He picked up Torchic and hugged it, grateful it had chosen him.
"Thank you Torchic".
Raichu zapped him with its cheek as it rubbed on his side.
"Hehe, come here you jealous you" Sonic smiled as he laid back on the sand and pulled both his pokemon in.
The three spent around 10 minutes there just looking up at the sky. Sonic was overcome with peace which as he predicted, felt surreal and unfamiliar.
While relaxing Sonic allowed himself to imagine a team he would build in Hoenn even though he knew very little about the region.
This team would be drastically different than his previous two. They were built with the intent to fight. And they had graciously followed him to it.
But now, even though they were still going to fight, Sonic knew he would have to create a new dream with his team. Chasing redemption wasn't something his pokemon would embrace enough to evolve.
They would need to do a lot of bonding and introspection to build power this time around.
"Is that Ash's point of view too?" he wondered.
It was certainly a possibility. Ash didn't have to battle dangerous enemies all the time, the three idiots not even counting as danger in Sonic's eyes.
"It does explain why his pokemon are not as strong as they could be. Maybe he is not actively inhibiting his power" he thought.
But it was more than that. Sonic's realization that he would have to bond with his new team over a new goal to achieve was connected to Ash's dream.
"This dream has been his goal in both journeys. So what does this mean about his pokemon?"
It was too vague a topic to reach a conclusion. If he did it would be biased. So Sonic let it go, although he made a side note to ask Ash about it if they got on talking terms throughout their Hoenn journey.
Deciding it was time to move on, he got up and, followed by his two pokemon, made for Petalburg woods.
Along the way he was challenged by a couple of trainers, one of whom recognized him. Sonic used Torchic for training but also because he was still unsure about using Raichu.
Just as he was about to walk into the woods, he heard his name called out.
"Hey Sonic! Wait for me please!"
It was Wally.
"Woah what are you doing here?"
"I snuck out".
"YOU WHAT?!"
"Shhh! I snuck out. You're going to Rustboro right?"
"Yeah?"
"No worries then. I can accompany you there, then take the bus back home. They'll never even know is skipped town for a while".
"Look I appreciate your enthusiasm but that's a little…"
"Come on! What could go wrong? You're THE Sonic the hedgehog! Your Raichu is literally with us. So let's do it!"
Wally was almost begging.
"Please just let me accompany you! It's maybe the closest I will get to actually going on a journey".
Sonic felt bad for Wally but didn't want trouble.
"Come on please".
"Alright fine. But once we get to Rustboro I will see you off back to Petalburg by bus personally. Am I clear?"
"Yes absolutely!"
Ralts was also excited to go on this small trip.
The two trainers set out through the forest. The trees were quite thick and it was very shady.
Several bug and grass pokemon tried getting in their way many times but Torchic and Ralts, both mentored by Raichu fought them off, Ralts confusion attack being impressively strong.
"Way to go Ralts!"
"Looks like it's getting stronger. You two are quite the pair. Reminds me of me and Raichu at our beginning".
"Really?! Do you think we could become like you one day?!"
"Hehe. I wouldn't suggest it Wally. The path I chose was a dangerous one".
"I'm not afraid of danger. With Ralts by my side especially when it grows stronger I know we could…"
His words were choked when he started coughing again.
"No not again!" Sonic tried reaching out but Wally was quicker this time. He quickly pulled out his inhaler and began breathing.
"Phew. Close one. Must have been the pollen".
"Is your asthma so bad? How often do you choke?"
"When I was a kid almost constantly. It's been better lately. But my parents are still too protective of me" Wally said, frowning at the end.
"Well… I mean…" Sonic tried to say "they are trying to keep you safe".
"I know that. And I love them for that. But it suffocates me more when they do that. Especially when they treat others how they treated you. They don't usually scare others away but try to inform them about my condition, everything I need to avoid, stuff like that. It just annoys me so much. And of course others are overwhelmed and leave. I know I'm just a kid but still…"
"They worry" Sonic comforted him "and it's understandable. Though… I have to admit shielding you from everything is not the right move. You won't be a kid forever after all".
Wally looked at Sonic in gratitude for the understanding.
"I wish I could tell them that".
"What's stopping you?"
"I… I don't want to make them sad".
"But is it better if you're constantly sad?"
Wally wrestled with this idea.
"Another thing too" Sonic remembered something "they looked like they hold a grudge against me in particular. Why is that?"
"Before you became known, I was much more reserved. Too shy to even speak sometimes. But when you started coming into the spotlight, a rising star in battling and then a hero… I don't know it… it just inspired me. You inspired me. And my parents didn't like that, especially when tales of the dangers you faced surfaced. My uncle, Wanda's father does understand a bit but won't go against my parents".
"Ok… is it ok if I ask you something?"
"Sure"
"Do you just strive for freedom or is there something deeper that drives you? A dream maybe?" Sonic asked Wally.
Wally wasn't sure what to respond. He had never had the freedom of dreaming before as his asthma was basically the restraining factor in everything.
But before he could conclude in anything, a man dressed in a green suit holding a briefcase, ran into them.
"Oh thank god! Please help me! He is after me!"
"What?" Sonic asked, taken aback.
"Who is after you sir?" Wally asked him kindly.
"The… The enforcer!"
"Who?" Sonic asked before steps could be heard.
A silhouette dressed in a red costume with a hood brandishing horns as well as a mask over the eyes stepped in front of them.
"Enough running! Hand over those papers, before I take them from your sorry beat-up ass!"
"Hey! Back off pal!" Sonic warned him as Raichu growled with lightning crackling on its tail.
The silhouette's eyes widened under the mask momentarily.
"You dare get in the way of team magma?! I'll teach you respect!"
With those words he took out a pokeball and sent out a massive pokemon.
"Salamence!" the suited man shouted hiding behind Wally.
Both Sonic and Raichu were bewildered by the massive pokemon but stood their ground.
"Salamence! Dragon claw!"
"Thunder punch!"
The attacks collided, shaking the forest.
"Is this thing a dragon?" Sonic asked over his shoulder.
"Yes. A dragon and flying type" Wally confirmed.
"Great" Sonic thought but wasn't too worried. The woods were not optimal for a flying type.
"Salamence! Crunch!"
"Counter with iron tail!"
Raichu's tail slammed into Salamence's mouth, driving the dragon back.
"Idiot! Flamethrower!"
Raichu's tail was burned as it cried out in pain. Salamence took the opportunity to throw Raichu into Sonic.
"Still the same loser" the silhouette laughed.
The voice and the tone were so familiar they triggered a painful memory in Sonic. And then he remembered where he was.
In Hoenn.
His desire for victory growing exponentially in the moment, he and Raichu jumped back up. Before the enforcer could react, Sonic had Raichu quick attack Salamence before striking a tree with iron tail.
The tree came down on Salamence knocking it out.
Taking the opportunity, Sonic shoved the enforcer to another tree and took off his mask.
The face that stared back at him was exactly the one he knew it would be and yet prayed it wasn't.
Realizing he was identified, the enforcer shoved Sonic back, quickly recalled Salamence and fled.
Wally was amazed.
"That… was… AWESOME!"
"You… actually fought off the enforcer?!" the suited man said in disbelief.
But Sonic wasn't replying. He still looked at the direction the enforcer had fled towards.
Wally approached Sonic cautiously.
"Hey you ok?"
Sonic nodded but still didn't reply.
The green-suited man also approached.
"The enforcer acted like he knew you. Who are you? " the suited man quickly pointed out.
"Do you know him?" Wally asked Sonic.
He again didn't reply. But in his mind he did.
"A shadow from my past. Shadow the hedgehog".