Chapter 94; The enforcer
"What went wrong?" the metallic voice from the communicator spoke, audibly worked up.
"Sonic the hedgehog went wrong. That researcher just had to run into him".
Silence for a few moments.
"What did he use against you?"
"Just his Raichu".
"You mean to tell one average Raichu managed to fight back against your Salamence? The Salamence I provided you with?"
"Yes".
"Hm… I do not take kindly to failure. But if you're telling the truth then I can forgive your hopefully one-time inadequacy. I will make sure team Magma begins preparing for his future interference".
"What is my next task?"
"Your task hasn't changed, merely adjusted. I want you to get the remaining parts. Parts that could be vital to executing the grand plan. Locating the final piece for the original version of the grand plan could take a lot longer than anticipated. Therefore we will use the energy extractor on the meteorite as our first attempt. Get the parts by any means necessary. And under no circumstances is anyone to get hurt. With the hero of Kanto around, team Magma will need to move even more swiftly and under the radar to achieve our goal".
"What are we going to do about the pathetic scums of team Aqua?"
"Just as you said, they are pathetic scums that hold no real power over us. Ignore them and stay focused on your mission, Shadow the hedgehog".
"Understood" Shadow signed off as he returned to his post.
Remaining quiet and not drawing any attention to himself, Shadow the hedgehog observed the Devon corp building, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. He knew where the parts were located but if he was to go under the radar, he would need to wait for just the right moment.
As he waited and continued his stakeout, Shadow wondered if he would run into Sonic again. He wanted very badly just one chance to make right of a clash with him.
Ever since being forced to leave Green Hills, life kept spitting in his face, just as it did before he first arrived there. It was only thanks to team Magma he was not out on the streets surviving.
And in his eyes, Sonic had caused that by suddenly growing a spine and Amy falling for him.
"When I get my hands on him, I'll make him regret he was ever born. That son of a…"
He shook his head to return to the present, realizing he was losing focus. His feud with Sonic could wait. The mission was the priority.
"I will not let him down" he thought with determination.
Looking at his watch, he noticed the pointers being at the right points. The opportune moment had arrived.
"Time to get to work" he stood up and headed to towards Devon corp.
While one hedgehog headed for his target, another wrapped his training session with his Torchic and his Raichu.
Torchic had grown a lot more adept to using its moves but had yet to learn anything more than scratch or ember. Focus energy and growl wouldn't do much good against Roxanne.
In other words, Sonic could either use Raichu and be done with it, or could go find a grass or water type.
He started leaning towards the second option as he actively looked around for anything that could help them. The Petalburg woods were bound to have grass type species.
After a few minutes of searching, he saw a small pokemon. It was yellow with green spots and green tiny legs.
"Hm" Sonic hummed as he scanned it with his dex.
"Shroomish, the Mushroom Pokémon, a grass type. Shroomish is mild-tempered and inhabits piles of rotting leaves inside of forests".
"Right on que" Sonic smiled "alright. Torchic, fire an ember and once it's distracted we catch it".
Raichu tapped him with his tail, wanting to do something to help.
"Raichu you're too strong. You'll scare it away. Better let Torchic do this".
Raichu sat down with a jealous frown.
"Ready? Now!"
Torchic fired ember. The ember struck Shroomish.
As Shroomish tried to stand up again, Sonic made his move, throwing a pokeball.
The pokeball wiggled twice and Shroomish broke free, making a run for it.
"No! After it!"
Torchic and Raichu both pursued the Shroomish. Torchic fired another ember but Shroomish was able to dodge.
Shroomish then jumped into a bush. Sonic and his pokemon crawled through the bush only to find the Shroomish was gone.
"Damn. Lost it. Now we got to find another one".
"Rai!"
"Or we could just go and I could get it over with in minutes" Sonic heard in his head.
"I said no. You're too strong for this. There is a reason I refrained fron using you for gym battles in Johto".
"Rai! Raichu rai!"
"So I'm too strong for our average battles but good when it comes to battling tough opponents llike that guy from yesterday".
Sonic sighed and sat down. Torchic jumped on his shoulder.
"What if Johto happens again? How can I know… how can I know that I won't have you do that again?"
Raichu jabbed him with its tail.
"Rai rai".
"Because while you were out there alone, leaving me and our other friends behind, I trained severely to control my strength again. Mewtwo saw to it personally".
"What?! Why didn't it or you tell me about it?"
"Raichu!"
"Where were you so we could tell you?"
Sonic again felt shame for leaving his pokemon behind and isolating himself to suffer in depression.
"Rai. Rai rai" Raichu hugged him as Torchic also joined in.
"I too want to fix our mistake. But to do that I need you to trust me again. I need you to trust that I will not go that far even if you order me to. Please. We can only fix this together".
Raichu looked at Torchic.
"All of us".
Sonic felt his confidence restoring. Raichu was right. And besides, if Ash only had treecko when it came to Hoenn species and it didn't know a grass move, he had to have used Pikachu. And Pikachu knew iron tail.
"Come on. We got a battle to win".
The trio made for Roxanne's gym.
Upon entering, she was already in the arena as if she was expecting them.
"At last. I seriously thought you would have been here by now".
"Had to screw my head back in place" Sonic answered with a smile "ready to get this show on the road?"
Roxanne took out a pokeball.
"Go Nosepass!"
Nosepass came out.
"Raichu! You're up!"
Raichu dashed into the arena. Sonic also quickly scanned Nosepass with his dex and quickly realized it was not a ground type, only a rock.
"Battle start!" the referee declared.
"Nosepass! Use thunder wave!"
Nosepass attempted to stun Raichu.
"Dodge then iron tail!"
Raichu sidestepped and launched itself towards Nosepass. The iron tail was brutal and for a moment Sonic was filled with anxiety that Raichu had gone too far again.
Nosepass didn't faint but was clearly damaged. Thankfully it still looked fine for the most part.
"Again!"
"Ash used that already on me! Nosepass rock tomb!"
Raichu tried fighting off the rock rain but was soon trapped by it.
"Now Nosepass! Zap cannon!"
Nosepass charged a ball of electricity, aiming to blast the rock entombed Raichu.
"Let's see how you scurry out of this" Roxanne said as Nosepass fired the attack.
"Raichu! Thunder punch the boulder towards Nosepass!"
The zapping sound made the hair on Roxanne's neck stand tall as the boulder was fired like a cannon ball towards Nosepass. The compass pokemon was thrown out of arena fainting upon impact with the wall.
The referee was just as shocked at the display of power as Roxanne and forgot to announce the fainting.
Roxanne snapped out of her funk and recalled Nosepass with an impressed look on her face.
"Now this is a battle! Ash was an interesting opponent but you are something else! A challenger like you calls for special treatment!" she said taking out another pokeball.
"Let's see how well your Raichu fights against this!"
A thud shook the ground.
Golem.
"Woah. I take it this is not something you use on average challengers".
"As I said. You're a special occasion. Golem! Rollout!"
Golem retracted its limbs and head into its body and began rolling.
"Spin to dodge and iron tail it!"
Raichu span counterclockwise, dodging the rolling Golem. Golem lost its balance due to the damage and stopped rolling.
"Golem earthquake!"
Golem slammed its foot on the ground sending waves of power through the ground.
"Jump with quick attack!"
Raichu used all of its energy to propel itself upward, surprising Golem.
"I saw that strategy from you in the Johto league! Golem protect!"
Golem shielded itself from the incoming brick break before trapping Raichu by biting its tail.
"I may not be able to defeat you and prevent your acquiring of my badge but I can knock out your Raichu! Golem! Explosion!"
Golem's ball form cracked at several points as glowing energy came out.
"Raichu brick break your iron tail!"
Raichu acted fast,hoping it would work. The force applied to its tail moved to either end and caused its body to move upwards as the tail was still in Golem's mouth and therefore its main body moved instead.
Golem exploded, letting go of Raichu. The force sent the now freed Raichu upwards, its quick thinking allowing it to go with the energy flow instead of taking it head-on. The damage was still massive and Sonic felt his body melt under the force of explosion.
Braving it, he stood strong as Raichu landed somewhat roughly to the ground while Golem toppled with a loud thud.
Roxanne was amazed.
"That was… wow. I've never seen a crazier tactic. How did you know it was going to work?"
"I didn't. I only hoped physics would make the iron tail act like a trampoline".
"And it did. Wow. Well here you go then. You've earned the stone badge".
"Thanks" Sonic took it with a smile as he thought "1 down. 7 to go".
"I think your Raichu will have just the most amazing battle with Brawly, the next gym leader. He just LOVES hand to hand battles".
"That will prove interesting" Sonic nodded.
After bidding goodbye to Roxanne, Sonic left the gym.
As soon as he walked out of the gym he was hit with a gut feeling that something was amiss.
Looking around, everything seemed normal until he saw a pokemon on a roof. But that Pokemon had something disturbing about it. It was white with a black face and black claws. But the what bewildered Sonic the most was that its very presence gave him a feeling danger was nearing.
And then he heard it.
"Help! Stop him! Thief!"
Sonic then noticed someone run towards the north part of the town.
No. Not someone.
The enforcer.
"Shadow" he whispered.
As soon as the enforcer fled, the white pokemon also fled.
Ian saw him and quickly came up to him.
"Oh thank goodness you're here!"
"What did the enforcer steal?"
"Mechanical parts. I don't know what for. But we need to stop him before he escapes with them".
"Stay here and call the police! I will go after him!"
"Do so quick! Before he escapes on his Salamence!"
Sonic then rushed off, following the path the enforcer had taken.
A small part of him wondered why didn't Shadow just fly away on his Salamence right away. But if his whole M.O. matched his name, it made sense.
Along the way he asked several passerbys if they had seen someone dressed in a funny outfit run. All of them directed him to route 116.
And there amongst a small bunch of trees he saw him, trying to ride his Salamence.
"Hey!" Sonic yelled.
The enforcer saw him and patted Salamence on the sides, telling it to take off.
Sonic got on his knees and span really fast, homing attacking on Salamence, clipping it on the right wing and causing it to plummet.
The enforcer looked at Sonic in hate and fear before jumping off and recalling Salamence before it crash landed. He then made a break for it.
"Oh no you don't!" Sonic harnessed his speed, catching up to the enforcer with ease.
The latter, despite the immense shock of suddenly seeing Sonic appear in front of him, attempted to plow through.
Sonic dodged him but that allowed him to just rush into a nearby cave known as the Rustuff tunnel.
Sonic followed him in.
The enforcer found his path quickly blocked by a couple of boulders.
"Fuck. Dead end".
Footsteps made him turn.
The two hedgehogs faced down each other.
"End of the line. Shadow".
Shadow smirked despite the fact he was literally up against the wall. He lowered the magma costume hood and removed the mask covering the area around his eyes.
"I'd say it's nice seeing you face to face after all this time, Sonic. But that would be a lie".
Sonic also smirked.
"So this is what has become of you. Stealing and hiding in the shadows like a coward".
Shadow's face twitched for a moment.
"So you finally grew a spine. Still. For Amy to ditch me to chase you… I'm disappointed".
"So predictable" Sonic smirked "trying to get under my skin with anciemlnt history".
"Well living in the same town as you and your loser friends rubs off on others".
Sonic felt like snapping, in the span of a second. Shadow insulting him was one thing but insulting his friends was another.
"Keep my friends out of your filthy mouth!"
Shadow grinned.
"So I can still strike a cord. But then again how could I not? After all all trash can do for each other is stick together".
"I'll make you eat those words!" Sonic charged attempting to punch Shadow.
Effortlessly, Shadow sidestepped and delivered a devastating kick in Sonic's belly, sending him sprawling back next to Raichu.
Raichu experienced the feeling of having the wind knocked out of it, which Shadow noticed but couldn't fully comprehend.
Sonic looked up in anger.
"Now you've done it!" he said as blue lightning bolts crackled on his body.
"What the..!" Shadow managed to day before Sonic moved too fast to see, shoving Shadow against the boulders, causing him to drop the machine parts.
Sonic, with his left arm pressed against Shadow's throat, winded up his right hand.
"I'm going to make you regret everything you did to me and my friends!" Sonic prepared to turn's Shadow's face into mush.
"Yeah right. You don't have the guts".
Sonic gritted his teeth and delivered a powerful punch on Shadow's cheek.
The black hedgehog groaned in silent shock as searing pain burned his left cheek. Sonic was really not as he remembered him.
Sonic winded his hand again, preparing another punch.
Shadow quickly blocked it and kicked Sonic away, hopping over the boulder and fleeing, being forced to leave the parts behind.
"Run coward!" Sonic yelled, fuming and shaking his palm.
"At least I got him good" he thought somewhat pleased as he noticed the parts.
"Huh. He really did try to steal machine parts. What would this jerk want with machine parts? Maybe for team Magma?" Sonic wondered before shrugging and heading back, taking the parts with him.
The way back was calm but Sonic's mind was a whirlwind.
The mocking look on Shadow's face made him want to smash stuff with his homing attack.
"I can't believe I let that jerk get away twice. I swear next time I see him I'll…"
"You got him?" Ian's voice brought him back.
Sonic had arrived back without realizing.
"No. He escaped. But I got the parts back".
"Oh thank you! They were part of a delivery for a big project. You saved the company's skin".
Sonic didn't feel like a hero in the moment so he didn't reply to it.
"Well… here take them. I got to go. Need to plan how I can get to Dewford town".
"Wait did you say Dewford?"
"Yeah. Next gym is there".
"Then you must absolutely follow me. Mr Stone is in dire need of assistance with something. Plus I believe he should know you helped us again".
Sonic again didn't feel like meeting Mr Stone. But something else popped up in his mind.
Mr Stone had mentioned Devon corp having a cordial relationship with Socexp corp. In other words a corporation serving as a possible link to team Magma.
In other words, a possible lead to Shadow.
"Alright. Lead the way".
The two made their way back to Devon corp. Ian went to take care of the parts being delivered for the project as Sonic rode up to Mr Stone's office, the latter having already been informed by Ian about the incident.
As Sonic was about to walk in he weighed the words he use to would try to pass his request to Mr Stone.
Normally it wasn't like him to ask for a favor like that, certainly not from the CEO of a corporation as big as Devon corp but all he could think was the possibility he could get to Shadow that way.
He knocked on the door.
"Come on in".
Sonic walked in.
Mr Stone greeted him with a warm smile.
"And here I thought the company was indebted to you before. You have no idea how much you have helped us by stopping the enforcer this time".
"I only did what I thought was right" Sonic said believing it.
"By the way, Ian said something about you requiring some assistance about something in Dewford town?"
"Why yes I do. Are you heading there soon?"
"Tomorrow. I haven't figured a way to get there yet though".
Mr Stone smiled although it quickly faded.
"Speaking honestly my boy, the assistance I need is actually in Slateport city".
"Slateport?" Sonic repeated in surprise.
"Yes. You see, the parts that were almost stolen were to he transported to captain Stern, owner of Stern shipyards".
"He is the manager of the project Ian spoke about?"
"Yes. He calls it project Moby-Dick. It's a very advanced submarine he has been dreaming of building for a long time. His lifelong dream is to shed more light on the mysteries and pokemon species of the Hoennian seas".
"I see".
"Unfortunately the enforcer attempted to steal the very parts we were going to send to him. I know it's not right of me to ask, especially after all you have done for no reward… but could I entrust you with the parts? Clearly the enforcer is having trouble with you. Your path will lead your right to Slateport after Dewford. So you'd be doing the company a huge favor if you accepted".
Sonic couldn't have asked for a better chance.
"I can do it Mr Stone. But if you don't mind… I would like to ask something of you in return".
"Anything my boy, anything".
"I would like you to use your contacts with Socexp to try and get any lead on team Magma. Whether they are on Socexp's payroll or not, they are acting for them and therefore there must be something there".
Mr Stone was taken aback.
"What you ask is not easy to accomplish. Chairman Maxie may be an open book for the police but if he found out someone is spying on his company…"
"Could you at least… I don't know, have people near his facilities, reporting any abnormal behavior?"
Mr Stone thought about it.
"I'm not proud to agree to this, but ok. As long as you can also deliver this to my son Steven as a personal favor".
He took a letter out of his suit's pocket.
"He is in Dewford with his cousin, my niece. You will probably find them around town either marveling over stones or researching the history of the region".
Sonic was surprised to hear Mr Stone talk so disapprovingly about his son but nodded and took the letter.
"As for how you get there, there is an old man leaving by the beach near Petalburg town. His name is Mr Briney. He is a fisherman and often commutes between Rustboro, Petalburg, Dewford and Slateport. He could probably give you a lift".
Sonic nodded again as the two shared a handshake, affirming their deal.
"Anything suspicious I discover about Socexp, regarding to team Magma at least I will pass onto you. But be aware that if you get into any kind of trouble, this conversation has never happened. You will be on your own".
"I understand. Don't worry. All I want is to get even with the enforcer" Sonic assured him.
Mr Stone nodded and Sonic left, the mechanical parts in his backpack and the letter on the backpack's side pocket.
Leaving town he reached out to Alakazam with his mind. He wasn't going to travel all that distance by boat.
But he got a response from Mewtwo instead, who used his connection with Alakazam as psychic types to reply.
"I know what happened. Your Raichu told me. Until you fix your mistake, you two are on your own".
Sonic's mind flatlined. Now both his Kanto and Johto pokemon were out of reach.
The Johto ones he had left behind on purpose. But the Kanto ones he believed he would still be able to utilize as training partners.
But no. He and Raichu were alone in Hoenn.
He looked down, reminding himself that maybe it was for the best. If Entei was hostile for that reason, then Mewtwo who was literally the world's most sentient Pokemon, undoubtedly would also need to see real change from him to trust him again.
As he went out for one final training session with his pokemon in the afternoon, Sonic called Tails. They hadn't talked in a while.
"Still on this behavior?" Tails immediately asked him upon picking up.
Sonic sighed. Tails and Knuckles were not the type of friends to sugarcoat a problem.
"A lot happened. Like way too much".
"I have time".
Sonic narrated everything. His recently revealed to be shiny Torchic having joined him, meeting Wally and their interactions, running into Shadow, getting himself acquainted with Mr Stone, his battle with Ash and the aftermath of it, his gym battle with Roxanne and lastly his standoff with Shadow.
Tails was receptive at first and even agreed that even though Ash was right to be mad at Sonic, fighting bad matchups on purpose to prove a point and then accuse Sonic of overtraining when he lost to him was immature and stupid. In his eyes that was the message Knuckles tried to pass to Ash in their battle in Johto and Ash reverted back in the finals for no reason.
But when he heard Sonic had used his powers to hurt Shadow, even if it was just one punch, Tails was mortified.
"You did what?!"
"I know pretty sweet right?"
"Pretty sweet?! Pretty sweet?! Sonic this is the exact reason you're on this redemption journey!"
"Shadow's bullying?"
"No! Your dark tendencies! Every time you have come face to face with someone you see as your enemy you were ready to hurt them! Team rocket, Giovanni, the marauder and now Shadow!"
"Seriously? Are we going to have this discussion again?!"
"No Sonic. I'm not saying they didn't deserve it. But don't you see that the more you choose to resort to hurt those who hurt you the worse you end up becoming? You snapped against Ash because his lack of understanding of your point of view made him an enemy in your eyes! Like what you said to him after your battle yesterday…"
"You just said you agreed with me".
"I do. But you were still in the mindset to vehemently oppose him, despite claiming you want to earn his forgiveness".
"What should I have done? Let him walk all over me?"
"I'm not saying that".
"Then what the hell are you saying?!"
Tails sighed.
"Look. I'm exhausted and I have an online meeting with professor Oak soon, to discuss your bond with Raichu more. Just try to calm down and we'll talk more later ok?"
Sonic sighed.
"Fine. Talk soon. Got to train".
The two hung up and even though on the outside Sonic seemed focused on overseeing Torchic's training, he was not focused at all.
He didn't know what was what anymore. All he knew was it felt good getting some of his frustration with Shadow out on him. The jerk had literally been making his life hell for no reason.
How could Tails expect Sonic to just let him off, when he was right in front of him and he never had a chance to confront him before? Especially with his new powers.
The dilemma followed him back to bed as he tried to get some sleep. There was a long voyage ahead of him to get to Dewford town.