Chapter 119; Adventure in the sea, part 2 – pirates underwater
"Alright. Let's start with the easy bit" Sonic suggested after the trio rested a bit.
"Wailord is a rare species but we have one advantage over it; We know its cry. Therefore we can incorporate a tactic our friend Tails used during our Johto journey to get his Lapras".
Knuckles grinned. Steven raised his eyebrow in question.
"We can load its cry on our phones and play it repeatedly underwater. We will probably mostly attract wailmers but eventually a wailord should also answer the call".
"That's only half the trick. The reason it worked for us is because Tails had help from his Espeon which telepathically transmitted the cry through the water in the form of sound waves. I currently have no psychic type on my team. And unless Knuckles has caught something new since last I saw him, then neither does he. Therefore I will need your help with that champ. More accurately the help of your Metagross".
Steven thought it over for a moment before nodding in understanding.
"Alright. But how do we go about Relicanth?"
"We need to dive to the ocean floor. Once we're down there we will figure something out" Knuckles explained.
"Alright" Steven said, sending out his Metagross "take care of my partner until we're back will you?"
"Have no worries" Sonic said, once again mesmerized by the beauty of the silver shiny Metagross.
Knuckles and Steven then rode Suicune and once again dived underwater, beginning their quest.
Sonic gave Metagross a pet before calling Tails.
"What's up man? How are you guys doing?" Tails' cheerful voice answered the call.
A roar followed, a greeting from Raikou.
"We're on an adventure if you can believe it".
"I sure can. I assume you need some tech help?"
"Oh we do. Both us and champion Steven".
"Champion Steven is with you?!"
"Yeah. We'll fill you in once we're done. As for that tech help I need you to work your magic and find me the cry of a wailord".
"Ok give me a sec" Tails said as he was heard mumbling and making weird sounds as his brain was racking, looking for the answer.
"Got it. But I gotta ask. What are you planning to do with this… giant?"
Truth be told, Sonic hadn't thought of what would come for the two pokemon they caught afterward. Steven would probably take relicanth with him, after all he had looked for it in the past. But wailord…
"We would need a big space to keep it. A place like…"
He smiled. His new comrades would be happy to take wailord in after this.
"I got a place in mind for it. It will be happy there".
"Ok. I hope you know what you're doing. Here".
The vocal archive was received by Sonic.
"Thanks pal. Gotta go. Got a big fish to catch, literally. Say hi to Cosmo for me".
"Good luck. Do fill me in afterwards" Tails said.
"Me and Knuckles together pal" Sonic assured him, hanging up.
Sonic then turned to Metagross as he prepared to play the archive.
"Metagross. Whatever sound comes out, transmit it through the water with psychic ok?"
"Meta".
"Good. Let's do it" Sonic said, pressing the play button, putting it in a loop and leaving the phone on Metagross.
A deep cry was heard over the surface, fairly faintly.
Sonic and sealeo dived underwater and to their shock, the cry was echoing so loudly thanks to Metagross that it felt like a wailord was actually there with them.
In the bottom, Knuckles and Steven were carefully scanning the ocean floor with their eyes as Suicune kept swimming through the trench.
The loud cry of wailord spreading through the water ,thanks to the work of Sonic and Steven's Metagross inspired the duo to search harder.
As they kept searching, the noticed the water types surrounding them all react to the cry, others by just looking around for the source, a few – mostly Magikarp – by swimming away, and the rest swimming around aggresively, looking probably to attack the Wailord.
"Sonic will have his hands a bit full" Knuckles thought.
The search continued for the pair, leading to no results.
The two returned to the sealed chamber to catch their breath.
"This isn't working. Blindly looking around won't find us a relicanth" Steven pointed out the obvious.
"We need to think it through from the beginning. Knowledge is power. What is known about relicanth to the region champ?"
"Well, as I said it is believed to be more ancient than the era of the great war, more ancient than even the golems we seek to unseal. It is a fossil so like most fossil pokemon it is part rock. Since it lives on the ocean floor we can assume the other type is water. But that's pretty much it".
Knuckles shook his head.
"No there's got to be more. What about its biology? What does it eat? How does it move?"
"Scientists have adjudicated that relicanth feeds off of microorganisms like phytoplankton and pokeplankton. It is also believed to move on the ocean floor by using its pectoral fins to push itself forward".
"It moves on the ocean floor…" Knuckles mumbled "that means if something was to lift it off the ocean floor it would lose its camouflage advantage. I think I got something".
"You do?"
"Yes. You see, we tried to visit some ruins in Johto called the embedded tower".
"The embedded tower is real? I thought it was just a tale" Steven said in amazement. The Hoennians' idea that Rayquaza would appear somewhere away from Hoenn sounded ludicrus from the get go.
The embedded tower had been built 400 years after the end of the great war, 200 years following the completion of the sky pillar. A sect of Hoennians from different tribes that refused to believe Rayquaza would abandon them, calling themselves the draconids, left the region and built the embedded tower in Hoenn, seeking to summon Rayquaza there and come to Hoenn's aid when – because it was when for them, not if – the gods of land and sea returned.
"It is. No signs of the tribe that built it of course. Probably lost to time. In any case that's not my point. The tower could only be reached by water. And whirlpools were blocking my way. Suicune learned the move whirlpool to pass through the whirlpools but that also gives it the ability to create them. We can fire whirlpools on the ocean floor…"
"And literally pull relicanth off the ground! Of course! How did I not think of it myself?!" Steven completed Knuckles' phrase in excitement.
"Let's go!" Knuckles rode Suicune again, with Steven behind him as they dived again.
When they exited the cave they were almost frightened by the sheer amount of pokemon that had arrived. Tens of wailmers were swimming around in circles, with several predator pokemon like gyarados and sharpedo circling them trying to secure some lunch.
And all the while, Sonic and sealeo were swimming through the school of water pokemon, defending the wailmer from the predators while awaiting for the big fish to arrive.
Determined not to fall behind, Knuckles and Steven started firing whirlpool at the sea floor, knocking up some coral and a couple of krabbys but no relicanth.
"Again" Steven instructed Knuckles. It all came out as bubbles from the mask but Knuckles nodded in understanding.
Sonic noticed the whirlpool being fired and wondered what Knuckles was up to.
Another round of the cry transmitted by Metagross' psychic roared through the water.
And then another cry. A louder cry.
Sonic, sealeo and even the predator pokemon turned around and saw a massive pokemon heading their way.
Wailord was so big that the predators began scattering and even Sonic almost gasped which would have almost certainly resulted in a watery death.
"That's our target" he thought taking out a pokeball and instinctively throwing it.
The pokeball covered a little bit of distance before being carried towards the surface by the buoyancy.
"Oh damn I forgot" Sonic thought we're underwater. Physics is different here. I need to get closer".
Further down, Steven and Knuckles were looking in awe at the arrival of the float whale pokemon, the sight filling them with eagerness to get their own part of the quest done, firing more whirlpools on the ocean floor.
"Come on Suicune put your back into it!"
Suicune responded by firing even more powerful whirlpools, almost trapping some of the surrounding pokemon in the move.
The wailord above them disappeared for a moment in Sonic's attempt to catch it, only to suddenly reappear as the pokeball failed to catch it.
The sudden re-emergence sent ripples through the water.
Steven quickly signaled to Sonic to weaken it first before attempting to catch it again. Wailord breaking out of the pokeball could probably cause a tidal wave. Pacifidlog town wouldn't survive something like that.
Sonic figured the same thing out even without Steven's signal. Only choice he had was baiting it to the surface. From there he had a pretty good idea as to how to weaken it.
"Question is, how do we bait the biggest species alive today?"
He racked his brain, trying to think of anything.
His attention was momentarily taken by another fired whirlpool that knocked up a few more krabbys
Sonic then remembered something; A documentary he had seen years ago about the krabby species; they had the uncanny ability to communicate by clicking their pincers.
The documentary had also stated that several other water types could communicate like that or understand clicking.
"Could it help?" Sonic wondered as they dived, swiftly grabbing a krabby as it was sinking back down to the ocean floor.
Being gentle with the krabby despite it pinching him once, Sonic brought it closer to the wailord.
The clicking of the pincers did the trick; the wailord let out a loud cry before turning towards Sonic.
"Well we got its attention. To the surface sealeo" Sonic said the last words instinctively before remembering where he was. Sealeo raced to the surface in an instant, allowing the hedgehog to breathe again.
A massive wave was raised as wailord also emerged, almost sending Sonic and Sealeo on a one way wavy journey back to Slateport.
"Dive sealeo!" Sonic instructed it as he placed Krabby on the water and ice type and jumped towards the wailord with his powers, landing on it somewhat roughly which surprising didn't seem to upset the giant of the sea.
"Alright. One chance" Sonic thought as he called out Raichu.
"Thunder punch!"
Raichu charged its fist with a cry and zapped the float whale pokemon.
The ensuing cry was so loud, Sonic was sure the entire Hoenn region heard it.
He felt the massive pokemon sinking again.
"Come on please work" Sonic thought. If wailord retreated underwater again, the danger of causing a tidal wave would return.
Thankfully luck was on their side today.
Electricity crackled on Wailord's body, indicating the massive water type had been paralyzed.
"Now we're talking" Sonic thought shoving a pokeball down on wailord'w body.
The gargantuan pokemon was absorbed, resulting in Sonic and Raichu falling into the water where they were joined by Sealeo which had returned krabby to the bottom.
Sonic felt the pokeball wiggle once before realizing a scary detail.
If Wailord broke free, it would do so right on top of them.
"Oh crap. Please be caught, please be caught" the hedgehog prayed, as the pokeball wiggled for a 2nd and then a 3rd time.
The catch sound allowed him to exhale in relief.
No tidal waves today, therefore no danger for Pacifidlog or Slateport.
"And best of all, we have half the key to the temples" Sonic thought in glea.
Thr capture of wailord was witnessed by Knuckles and Steven who had still not found relicanth.
"He did it" Steven thought in amazement. An actual wailord caught.
And as if that wasn't already good enough, lady luck smiled upon the underwater pair next.
The whirlpool was fired and amongst all the rocks and coral uprooted from the seafloor, a pokemon was also knocked up.
Covered with hard, brown scales that looked similar to craggy rocks.
A tan head with protruding cheekbones.
A triangular spike protruding from the back of its head.
Tan patches covering its body and a red spot located on both sides.
And for the cherry on top, the two pairs of pectoral fins on its underbelly were unmistakable.
It was a relicanth.
"We found one!" Knuckles exclaimed through his mask, creating a ton of bubbles of air.
Steven immediately took out a dive ball. Those were able to travel through water as pokeballs normally travelled through the air so they were set.
Steven winded his hand and threw his dive ball.
Out of nowhere came a robotic hand. The hand was wrapped around the longevity pokemon, grabbing it and moving it, causing the dive ball to miss.
Knuckles and Steven were shocked at the development as they followed the robotic hand to a huge submarine travelling past them with the robotic hand still holding firmly onto relicanth.
Sonic saw it too as he looked down and saw the submarine steal their relicanth and slowly retract it towards the body of the vehicle.
"Sealeo after it!"
Sealeo dived with Sonic holding onto it, aiming for the submarine which was retracting the mechanical hand, with the relicanth still firmly gripped.
Suicune tried to catch up to it with Knuckles and Steven on its back but it was just not the fastest swimmer.
Sealeo reached the hand and Sonic grabbed onto it trying anything, from using his bond with Raichu to force it open to severing the arm with his homing attack. The arm wasn't even dented.
Instead it was pulled into the submarine, closing the compartment and splitting Sonic from Sealeo.
The submarine then slowly started turning around.
"After it" Knuckles pointed forward, as Suicune and Sealeo started following the submarine.
The water was drained from the chamber Sonic found himself in, as relicanth was released.
"What is going on here? What is this place? Who is in control?" he wondered looking around.
He heard voices and steps coming from the door in the side of the room.
"They are coming for Relicanth" he thought.
He looked at the ancient species. Hesitation overtook him.
"I don't want to keep this thing. A rock and water type? Too many weaknesses".
The voices and the steps grew louder. Sonic knew instantly possession of Relicanth was something he would have to solve later.
He quickly shoved a pokeball against Relicanth. The longevity pokemon was absorbed and shook twice.
Just as the door opened, Relicanth broke out of the pokeball.
Sonic turned and instinctively stood in front of Relicanth which was laying on the floor motionless, no reaction from its rock-hard body.
In walked 3 young people, surprisingly dressed in military-esque outfits.
"What the… who is this scallywag?" one of them exclaimed.
"Someone who wants our booty" another claimed as they took out a pokeball.
The third one's eyes widened after a second.
"That is no scallywag. That is the hero of Kanto".
The other two looked at him in shock before the 2nd one grinned.
"Well this an interesting payday. Team Magma will pay handsomely for you".
Sonic's lip curled though he stood firm between the 3 crewmembers and Relicanth.
"That is some confidence. But what pokemon gives it to you exactly?"
"This!" the man declared sending out a Parasect.
Sonic would have bursted out laughing if not his captive in a submarine status.
"Combusken" he called out his fire type "ember".
"Counter with fury cutter!"
The ember easily engulfed the bug and grass type, knocking it out so easily that Sonic wondered if he was even in any danger.
The 3 crewmen retreated and locked the door without further resistance.
Sonic knocked on the door.
"You have to the count of 3 to open the hatch and let me out or i am breaking the door down".
No response.
"One".
Still silence.
"Two".
Again nothing.
"Three. You asked for it".
He span in place, charging his homing attack.
Combusken stood in front of Relicanth, intending to protect it.
Sonic launched himself to the door. His attack didn't even dent the dense steel.
"Ok this is a problem" he grunted.
The crewmen fled the corridor leading to the room Sonic was now sealed in and into the bridge of the submarine.
"Captain Phantom, sir. We have a problem. We accidentally captured the hero of Kanto with our target sir".
Captain Phantom processed the information for a moment before smiling maliciously.
"The hero of Kanto? As in Sonic the hedgehog, the trainer the enforcer is said to have been looking for for a while?"
"Yes sir" one of the crew members confirmed.
Phantom's grin grew larger.
"I call that a jackpot mateys. Once we deliver the fossil pokemon to our employer, we can make a fortune by handing the hero to the enforcer. You gotta think big to get ahead" the Phantom explained with a slightly mocking tone to his underlings.
Outside the submarine, Knuckles and Steven pursued Sonic's captors from the surface, with Suicune diving its head often to make sure they were on the right track.
"What's the deal with that submarine? It came out of nowhere and stole Relicanth" Knuckles said as he also took a look at the submarine before getting his head out of the water again.
Steven, who had been following on his Skarmory to give Suicune some rest, wasn't entirely sure.
"I don't know for certain. It can't be a military submarine, they would have no reason to capture a pokemon. And expedition submarines are kept tabs on at all times for research purposes. This one is not" he paused.
"What?"
"I think I know who this submarine belongs to, but I can't believe it myself. Everyone thought the guy was only a rumor".
"Who are you talking about?"
"The Phantom. He is said to be a mercenary for hire, and a very dangerous one at that. Many land dwellers claim to have seen the Phantom so but there was never much proof so he has become more of a bedtime story for kids".
"Bedtime stories are often based on truth. What can rumors have been going around about this Phantom exactly?"
"A lot but most have got to be exaggerated. One worker in Slateport said that the Phantom once lifted a steel beam with his bare hands and pushed it out of the way. Another detail is that he once broke through a wall with a mere punch".
"He can't be that strong. It's not possible".
"Whether he is or not the stories always say that if the Phantom sets his eyes on something he doesn't stop until it is his. Though it never made sense to me why someone like that would be a mercenary for hire. Someone as selfish as him, you would thing he would have a goal".
"Whatever his goal is is none of my concern. My goal is to get my friend back even if it means sinking that submarine" Knuckles declared.
Steven shook his head.
"That could endanger Sonic's life. And plus it's not the wise choice. If this really is the Phantom, then we should try to learn more about him. He is not enforcer level of dangerous but I would rather one less villain terrorizing my homeland".
Knuckles hesitated agreeing.
His phone then buzzed.
It was Sonic.
"Sonic! Can you hear me?!"
"… bbzzzt… trapped... Bzzzt… get me out… bzzzt… sink it".
"I don't know if you can hear me but don't worry, we're in pursuit! When they emerge we will swoop in and get you out man don't worry!"
Before he could hear any confirmation, the line died.
Sonic, still trapped, sitting with his back against the submarine wall, cursed.
"Now what? Who even are these people? What do they want with Relicanth?"
Not sure if he could carry Relicanth out, after all it is as quite heavy, Sonic had decided to catch it for now.
The longevity pokemon was now stuck in its pokeball which had shrunk and been rendered unusable as Sonic already had six pokemon on him.
"At least they will have a hard time getting their hands on it".
Thr door then was unlocked.
Reacting quickly, Sonic prepared to charge and homing attack whatever poor crewmember had thought it was a good idea to give him an escape road.
The door opened.
Sonic launched himself.
He felt his body meet a hard hand as if made of steel before being punched back into the room still in his ball form, landing on the mechanical hand and smashing it to pieces.
Sonic groaned as he opened his eyes and witnessed a short man with long blue beard dressed in a red overcoat and a red pirate hat.
"I didn't know Halloween came early" Sonic teased the captain as he stood back up.
The Phantom chuckled.
"That hand cost us a fortune to acquire. But no matter. With two paydays we will acquire a brand new far better one".
"Payday? Who would pay that much for a Relicanth?"
"This isn't about that fossil pokemon anymore scallywag. After we deliver it to our employer, we are going to make a fortune selling you to the enforcer".
Sonic's eyes widened.
Shadow had placed a bounty on him? Or was it just a coincidence?
"Yeah I don't think so" Sonic said as he tried homing attacking the Phantom again.
The Phantom merely raised his left hand and held the homing attack in place for a moment before throwing him back inside.
"You got some nice abilities there, freshwater fish. That means double if not triple the price of your bounty".
Sonic channelled his speed to try and escape the room.
His attempt to run past the Phantom was met with the latter raising his hand to block Sonic's way at the last second.
Sonic felt as if he ran headfirst into a steel beam before getting knocked out cold.
"Simple as that men. Galen, relieve him of the Relicanth and toss him in the brig".
Galen, the Phantom's first mate, searched Sonic until he found tthe shrunk pokeball.
"Captain we got a new problem. He has caught Relicanth and already caught 6 pokemon previously. The Relicanth is sealed in the pokeball".
The Phantom turned around so fast it felt mechanical.
"Say what?!" he exclaimed before composing himself again "that's undoubtedly a problem".
"What do we do captain? That treasure hunter won't take kindly to this".
The Phantom rubbed his beard in deep thought.
"We will proceed with the meeting as planned. It's not like we're not ready for the chance she will try to screw us over. Remember what I always tell you Galen. Never trust women completely".
"What do we do with this scallywag captain?" the crewman helping Galen carry the unconscious Sonic asked.
"Toss him in the brig. But first tie him up. And take his phone. We can't have him calling for help somehow".
The Phantom watched them take Sonic away as he walked to the bridge.
That was an unexpected development.
Although they would be ready to counter their employer's possible trap, it didn't take away from the fact they would have to present the captured Sonic to her so they could explain the intricacy of the shrunken pokeball containing Relicanth.
A small part of the Phantom told him she had no reason to screw them over. All she cared about was treasures lost to time.
"But then again, the money for the hedgehog is a lot. One would be a fool not to keep him for themselves" the captain accurately guessed.
The submarine continued on its way, with Knuckles and Steven close behind, eventually arriving on one of the many uninhabited islands existing in the Hoennian archipelago.
The submarine docked in a quiet bay, emerging from the sea and floating on the calm surface of the water.
Suicune hid amongst the rocks protruding from the water.
It along with Knuckles and Steven observed as the hatch opened and the Phantom emerged.
"That's him. The Phantom. He is real after all" Steven murmured.
The next moment, they witnessed two crewmembers, one being Galen, carrying the unconscious Sonic outside.
"Oh no! They got him! Let's go!" Knuckles almost charged even though they were still in the water.
"Wait" Steven held him back.
"What do you mean wait?! Wait for what? For them to sell my best friend to someone?!"
"Exactly".
Knuckles smacked the sides of his head to make sure no seawater was inhibited his hearing ability.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"No. I'm just seeing ahead. You said it yourself. They probably plan to sell Sonic. Yet they only captured him accidentally. Can't you imagine one person who would hire mercenaries to catch Sonic for him?"
"Shadow" Knuckles blurted out in rising anger. For a moment he almost agreed with Sonic's reasoning of pursuing Shadow before the events of Forina.
"Ooook… I guess two people. I was thinking the enforcer".
"We're thinking of the same person pal".
Steven was taken aback.
"You know the enforcer's name?"
"I do. He and Sonic have bad blood before he became the enforcer. I thought you knew. Sonic told your cousin about him".
"What?! Then why hasn't Blaze exposed him?"
"None of us have tangible evidence against him. But maybe now we can get it at last".
Steven shook his head.
"Who exactly are you going to convince and how are you going to convince them that some guy you caught in the middle of a dirty deal on a remote island is the notorious enforcer?" Steven asked Knuckles rhetorically.
Knuckles smacked his hand into a rock as he couldn't help but agree with Steven.
While they were debating about how to proceed, the Phantom and his crew had brought out a rowboat and were rowing towards the shore.
"They're heading to the shore! We need to act now! Whether it is Shadow or not doesn't matter!" Knuckles tried to act again.
"Wait. Think about it. They're on guard right now, possibly waiting for an ambush. Let's let them meet with their employer or employers and swoop in to save Sonic when they are busy. That will also give us the chance to find out who exactly we're dealing with here".
Knuckles begrudgingly agreed as he, Steven and Suicune quietly swam to the shore as well.
Once at the shore, they once again hid amongst the rocks, with Knuckles recalling Suicune as the beast of water wouldn't be able to hide due to its size.
They witnessed as Phantom and his crew waited patiently, Sonic still carried by Galen and another crewmember.
And then a few seconds later, flapping of wings was heard.
From above the treeline, a Crobat emerged.
As it landed in front of Phantom and his crew, Knuckles identified the rider. A young woman, skimpily dressed, With piercing teal eyes gleaming with mischief and framed long lashes adding to her already undeniable charm.
And that annoying smirk Knuckles had already seen before, playful yet knowing, a most successful trap for the unsuspecting.
"Are you kidding me? That bitch again?" Knuckles said in frustration.
"Wait I know her" Steven said in realization "that's Rouge the bat. Famous archeologist and first class treasure hunter".
"More like treasure smuggler" Knuckles countered angrily as he almost instinctively moved in.
"Don't intervene just yet" Steven held him back again "let's be patient. The more we can learn about this deal and about Rouge the bat, the more power we will have over them. You never know. Maybe she is in cahoots with the enforcer".
"No chance. She is too self serving to work with someone else. Trust me on this" Knuckles didn't even give Steven's suggestion a chance.
"How can you be sure?"
Knuckles gritted his teeth.
"I have heard rumors about her. They say she double crossed one of her old partners. Sealed him in an ancient tomb to make away with the treasures they had hoarded".
Steven was shocked.
"She killed her partner?"
"It's only a rumor. But I have encountered her before. I didn't have my pokemon back then so she sent me packing back to my and Sonic's hometown. And it was a good treasure I was chasing too".
With that quick exchange over, they observed quietly as Rouge confidently but professionally approached Phantom.
"What is this? I am pretty sure I hired you to bring me a Relicanth, not a pokemon trainer".
"Matter of fact we have missy. He has the Relicanth you desire".
Rouge's eyes widened for a moment before she smiled. Her smile on the outside looked flirty and mischievous but Knuckles knew it was her charm about to do its work.
"Did you now? Well I am not too surprised. After all I did hire the most feared mercenary in the Hoenn region".
Knuckles was disgusted to see the Phantom grin. Even he wasn't impervious to the bat's charm.
But he would be proven wrong the next moment.
Rouge knelt and searched Sonic's body for his pokeballs.
She found them with ease and examined them one by one.
She found stuff like a shiny combusken which she imagined would fit her well as she liked anything that glittered, a sealeo which was impressive in itself and even a Tropius.
But when she realized one of the pokeballs contained a Raichu she quickly realized who the Phantom had actually captured.
"The hero of Kanto" she thought in silent shock.
Shock which doubled when she realized Sonic also had a wailord. In other words both halves of the key required to unlock the temples.
But there was no Relicanth on him.
"Are you messing with me?" Rouge stood back up "where's the Relicanth?"
"Right here" Phantom said as he revealed the shrunken pokeball.
Rouge's eyes narrowed.
"I see. Give it to me then".
"Not yet missy. This kid broke the submarine's robotic arm. Add that to your target being out of reach… I'd say this doubles the price of my services".
Rouge scoffed, still wearing her charming smile.
"That's not the deal cap. We shook on it. And such deals are to be honored".
She had spoken the last phrase with a hint of threatening, which even made Knuckles and Steven flinch.
"We did. But deals change doll. If you don't want this little thing there are other wealthy fools who will pay handsomely to get it… and him" he concluded as he looked at the fainted Sonic.
Rouge nodded slowly as he smile widened.
"Then I guess… you're right… the deal's off".
Performing a crazy backflip she kicked the pokeball out of the Phantom's hand. The pokeball flew to her hand as Rouge grabbed it graciously.
At the same time the treasure hunter called out another of her pokemon, a Claydol.
"Claydol psychic!"
The Claydol lifted Sonic off the ground and away from the pirates before they had any chance to react.
Rouge completed her backflip as she landed on the back of her Crobat.
"Sugar, you're not the first one to try and double cross me. And you should have known better than to try and do as such. Crobat! Air cutter!"
Crobat sent a wind current towards the pirates. The hacks of razorlike wind knocking the pirates down.
"Now or never!" Knuckles declared as he hopped out of hiding and sent out his Ampharos and Suicune.
"Thunderbolt! Hydro pump!"
The two attacks were expertly dodged as Rouge smiled charmingly at Knuckles.
"Hey there handsome. So we meet again".
"Let my friend go you thief!"
"Sorry honey but your pal here has got both halves of the key required to unlock the ancient temples. I can't have you and your friend stealing my booty".
"You can't do that!" Steven tried to reason with Rouge "whatever treasure is in there is the birthright of the people of Hoenn. It's a part of Hoenn's history. You can't just take it for yourself!"
"Sentimentality doesn't work on me champion. Money is tight thanks to red here thwarting my work lately".
"Maybe if you were a decent person you wouldn't need to loot everything thief".
Sounds of groaning could be heard as the pirates were slowly getting back up after the air cutter struck them.
"I'll keep them busy! You make sure she doesn't escape!" Steven instructed Knuckles as he sent out his Metagross and his Aggron, the final form of the aron line which ironically Sonic would find out about much later, and engaged the pirates and Phantom in battle.
With Suicune and Ampharos by his side, Knuckles turned to Rouge.
"I'll give you one chance bat. Let my friend go or else".
Rough chuckled, trying to sound cute.
"Little word of advice cutie. Never say or else. You make yourself look soft without an actual threat".
Knuckles scoffed. It always had to be the hard way with this girl.
"Suicune! Hydro pump!"
Suicune fired hydro pump towards Claydol. The ground and psychic type dodged the attack, with Sonic following, still unconscious midair.
"As much as I'd love to stay and chat…"
The attack proved to be a distraction as Knuckles called out his Victreebel.
"Victreebel vine whip!"
Vines wrapped around Sonic's wrists as they dragged him down, fighting against the power of psychic holding him up.
"Crobat! Air cutter!"
Crobat fired the flying move towards the victreebel only to be blocked by Suicune, which countered with an ice beam.
The ice beam landed on Crobat, damaging it greatly and knocking Rouge off.
The bat landed on her feet, facing the echidna.
"Have it your way babe. Let's dance!"
With a sly smirk, Rouge kicked up a cloud of dust into Knuckles' face, using the brief distraction to launch a spinning kick aimed at his head.
But Knuckles was ready.
His massive fist shot up, catching her leg mid-air and holding it firm.
"Not this time," he growled.
With a powerful sweep, he yanked her off balance, sending her crashing onto her back with a hard thud.
"Suicune, help Victreebel! Get Sonic down!" Knuckles called out, his voice sharp as his opponent recovered.
Knuckles didn't hesitate. He raised his fist high, aiming for a decisive knockout blow. He didn't care how much it would hurt her —Rouge had more than earned equal treatment in their past battles.
But for all his brute strength, Rouge was faster.
She twisted at the last second, dodging the strike, and before Knuckles could react, she hooked her legs around his arm, locking herself in place.
Then—wham!—her boot slammed into his face.
Then again.
And again.
Knuckles gritted his teeth, feeling the impact rattle through his skull. With a frustrated growl, he yanked his arm free and flung her off him, rubbing his aching cheek.
"At least she's not wearing those damn heel boots this time." He thought.
He wasn't about to let her get the upper hand.
The moment she hit the sand, he charged.
Rouge tried to leap back, aiming to strike from the side, but Knuckles had seen this move too many times before. Anticipating her, he slid low, intercepted her kick mid-air, and sent her sprawling onto the ground once more.
And this time he wasn't letting her back up.
In an instant, he was on top of her, pinning her wrists down as she squirmed beneath him.
"Gotcha," he said firmly. "Let my friend go. Now."
Rouge only smirked.
"Bet you wish we were anywhere else right now," she purred, eyes half-lidded. "Like a bedroom, maybe?"
Knuckles scoffed.
"That trick won't work three times, bat." His grip tightened. "It shouldn't have worked twice to begin with. Now, let. My. Friend. Go. Before I resort to hurting you."
Rouge chuckled, the sound sultry and shameless.
"Ooooh, do so, please. I like it rough."
For the first time, Knuckles hesitated.
A faint blush dusted his cheeks before he could stop it.
"What is wrong with this woman?"
But before he could shake it off, a sudden splat—
A stray Sludge Bomb from one of the pirates' Parasects splattered against his shoulder, burning through his fur with its toxic ooze.
"Argh—dammit!" Knuckles flinched.
That was all Rouge needed.
With her Crobat too weak to fly, Rouge called out another flying type, a pidgeot, and once again attempted to flee with Claydol and the still unconscious Sonic, only for Suicune to block their escape with another ice beam which Pidgeot dodged.
Rouge cursed at this, especially when she saw the sheer number of pirates beginning to wear down Steven. Even a champion couldn't resist such a barrage of attacks forever.
"Claydol retreat!" Rouge recalled it, allowing Victreebel to safely retrieve Sonic.
"Don't think this is over sugar. We're just getting started here" she warned Knuckles before flying away on her pidgeot.
With the bat gone, Knuckles turned back to find Steven on the verge of being overwhelmed by his adversaries.
"Steven get out of the way!" Knuckles called out to him.
Steven and Metagross floated above the battlefield with Steven on top of his ace pokemon, while recalling his Aggron.
"Suicune! Surf! Victreebel! Razor leaf! Tyranitar! Rock slide!" Knuckles called out the attacks after sending out his Tyranitar.
The three pokemon unleashed the barrage of attacks. Both the pirates and the pokemon found themselves overwhelmed and outmatched, fainting one by one against the might of the Johto league semi-finalist.
Scarily enough, Phantom merely covered his face with his arms and took the barrage head-on, one of the rock slide rocks even getting deflected when it should have broken every bone in his arms if not his body.
After the attacks ended, Steven landed next to Knuckles who taunted the pirates.
"Had enough?"
The Phantom snarled.
"They're not worth it. There's always more booty elsewhere" Phantom said before retreating on the boat alone, forcing his crewmembers to frantically follow him by swimming, begging their captain to wait.
Knuckles and Steven watched them leave with a smile on their faces.
"I'd call that a mild success" Knuckles commented.
"Mild? I see this as an absolute win. Pirates and treasure hunter defeated. And Sonic is safe".
"But Rouge got away".
"Hey it's ok" Steven placed his hand on Knuckles' shoulder assuringly "she has nothing on us. Both Sonic and the key to the temples is safe".
"You're not seeing the big picture champ. If we had saved Sonic but failed to retrieve the two pokemon we will use to unlock the temples, the result wouldn't change much. Rouge would just unlock them herself. She is right. We're just getting started here".
Steven nodded in realization after a moment. Knuckles was right. Opening the temples would grant Rouge access too.
"So how do we proceed?"
"We open the temples as planned".
"But what about Rouge?"
"Don't worry. I can handle her" Knuckles assured the Hoenn champion this time.
Groans coming from Sonic were then heard.
"Ouch… my head… what happened? Where am I?"
"Wakey wakey mate" Knuckles lifted Sonic up before the hedgehog could even process Knuckles was there.
"Knux? What happened? Where are the pirates?"
"They're on the run" Steven said, giving Sonic more questions instead of clarity.
"Ok. I will sound like a broken record but… what happened?"
Knuckles and Steven looked at each other and laughed a little bit.
Afterwards, Sonic was given a detailed explanation of what transpired with Knuckles, Steven, the pirates and Rouge who tried to kidnap him.
Sonic on his end explained that the pirates wanted the Relicanth which gave him a light panic attack as he thought they had taken it before Steven revealed the shrunken pokeball, having taken it back from the Phantom while battling the pirates.
"Good going champ" Knuckles gave Steven a side jab.
"Good work indeed but what now? Both wailord and Relicanth are technically mine but the latter is not part of my party. And we need both in a single party".
"No worries. This simply requires a rather large detour. We can leave one of your pokemon with my family for an hour or so, just so we can unlock the temples".
Sonic wondered if there was a quicker way but in the end just shrugged.
The three took off, with each riding their respective pokemon, towards the Stone mansion.
"What about later? Wailord I have a place for since I won't be training it. But Relicanth… it is extremely rare. Shouldn't we find a place for it where it can safely live but also be studied?"
"I've been meaning to ask" Steven replied to Sonic "I would really love to be the one to have Relicanth at the end of the day. I don't plan to train it either but… it is a dream come true for a rock enthusiast like me".
"Problem solved then" Sonic quickly agreed with a smile.
The trio flew to Rustboro city. Steven couldn't get enough of seeing Suicune racing through the land, its majestic mane billowing with the wind.
When they arrived both Sonic and Knuckles felt their jaws drop.
The Stone mansion looked to be more of a palace than a mansion. Its grand stone facade bathed in the glow of the windows reflected the light while Ivy curled lazily along the edges of the balcony railings. A long winding path of smooth white stone led to the entrance, flanked on either side by an immaculate garden. Said garden was full of trimmed hedges in the form of several pokemon species, one even in the form of a metagross. Spread throughout the garden where roses blooming in careful clusters, filling the air with a sweet heady fragrance, while a marble fountain was located a small walk away from the entrance, its waters casting shifting patterns of the trimmed hedges around it.
Just like their trainers, Raichu which had come out of its ball for the first time since Sonic and Knuckles met up, Tropius and Suicune took it all in with open mouths.
"It isn't much but it's home. Kinda".
"Not much?" Sonic looked at Steven with his head tilted as if he was screaming 'are you joking right now?'
"I am joking of course. I'm not that big on appearances".
A flapping of wings then caught their attention.
A Charizard was heading to their direction.
"Well what a surprise" Steven said with a smile.
"Who's that?" Knuckles inquired.
"Blaze" Sonic accurately guessed, remembering her mentioning to have a Charizard.
Indeed, Blaze landed and dismounted. Charizard.
"Steven? Done so soon with that lead on the temples? Oh hi there Sonic".
"Long time no see Blaze. Let me introduce you. This is my friend…"
"Knuckles the echidna. I recognized you from the footage of the Johto league".
Knuckles was surprised to hear that but shook Blaze's hand regardless.
"What are you all doing here? Done with that lead on the temples already?"
"Not a chance. It was a crazy sequence of events in fact but we just need a place to drop one of my pokemon for a while, since we need two open slots in one party for both a wailord and a Relicanth".
Blaze almost choked in her own breath.
"Say what?! You actually found a Relicanth?!"
"We did" Steven nodded as Sonic revealed the shrunken pokeball.
"It's stuck in here as long as I have 7 pokemon on me".
"I absolutely must see it. Please" Blaze said in a hyped tone before realizing she broke character and adding the please in a formal tone.
"Sure. But first Sonic needs to choose which pokemon to leave here for a while" Steven slowed his cousin down.
Sonic wasn't exactly sure which one to leave behind. Sure he would return for it after they unlocked the caves and Steven formally adopted Relicanth but what if he needed what he would leave behind?
"You have an aron right?" Blaze suddenly asked.
"I do. It has become Lairon now but I do".
"Then I suggest you leave it behind. One of our housekeeping stuff is a pokemon tutor. He helped raise our pokemon in terms of learning moves when we were younger. He could teach Lairon the very powerful rock move rock slide which Lairon cannot learn naturally".
Sonic knew of course of rock slide as his shiny Tyranitar had learned it but was stunned to learn a rock type like Lairon couldn't learn a move that was literally all about its type.
"Sure. I would love that. I've been meaning to find a move to replace take down for a while".
"I feel you" Steven agreed "metagross was hard to raise as its first form, beldum. It only knew take down. But I wouldn't change my partner for anything in the world".
Sonic nodded as he remembered Blaze explaining that to Wally during their boat ride with Mr Briney.
"Alright then. It's settled. Let's go find Mr Prescott" Blaze declared.
The inside of the stone mansion was just as fabulous as the outside. Huge carpets decorated with elegant colors and figures stretched across every corridor, increasing the vibe that they had entered the palace of a king in another era tenfold. Throughout the entrance hall hang many portraits of the Stone family ancestors with gold laced frames of various but beautiful patterns, spanning back who knows how many generations. And of course just as Blaze said earlier, there was stuff all over the place busy with housework, but immediately wearing a warm smile and bowing upon noticing the presence of Steven and Blaze.
"Young masters" the butler, the very Mr Prescott they were looking for immediately came to greet them "what a pleasant surprise. The lady wasn't anticipating your visit. Shall I sent for her?".
"The lady?" Sonic whispered as he exchanged a look of question with Knuckles.
"No need Mr Prescott. I'm the only one who's to stay. Steven and our two visitors are to depart immediately. But we do require your assistance with a Lairon that is in need of your tutoring on rock slide".
With those words, Sonic sent out his Lairon.
"Ah yes" Mr Prescott said in a nostalgic voice "I am very familiar with this species. Just like young master Steven's. Leave it to me and it shall be ready by the afternoon".
"Good to hear. Thank you sincerely" Sonic thanked the butler although he didn't feel very confident leaving his steel type there when they were going to challenge a rock type legendary.
After leaving Lairon with Mr Prescott, Relicanth's pokeball became active. Heading outside, Sonic called Relicanth out and into the fountain to the amazement of both cousins who couldn't stop marveling at the ancient species.
"You really willing to part with this?" Steven asked Sonic again.
"Yes. I already got both a rock and a water type. Plus… this thing can't really fight out of water. It'll be kinda dead weight against Shadow".
Despite the overly practical description of Relicanth everyone present couldn't help but agree. That was how big of a problem Shadow was.
Afterwards Sonic recalled it and they prepared to return to the sealed chamber, Blaze witnessing the great Suicune appear before her as Knuckles rode it.
"Wait. I just realized" Steven suddenly remembered "what are you doing here?"
"I'll tell you later. Go and Godspeed" Blaze wished them, knowing the battle ahead would be rough.
Sonic, Knuckles and Steven departed and after another hour returned to the sealed chamber.
Standing in front of the scripture describing the key, Knuckles turned to Sonic.
"Alright. It said first comes Wailord, last comes Relicanth. Place wailord on the pokeball slot closest to your hand and Relicanth to the farthest".
Sonic sorted his pokeballs, holding his breath as he did so.
Knuckles and Steven also held their breath.
The moment Sonic placed Relicanth in the final slot the earth started shaking.
"What's happening?!" Sonic's yell of shock echoed in the chamber.
"What have we done?! Is it collapsing?!" Knuckles looked around frantically trying to understand what was happening.
Before Steven could speak his mind, the rumbling stopped as suddenly as it began.
Then a distant thud was heard.
And then a second thud.
And then a third thud.
"What was that?" Sonic looked to the two archeology experts in the room for clarity.
"I think it worked" Steven spoke his mind.
"How do you know?" Knuckles looked at him in question.
"Three thuds were heard. And there are known to be three golems. We must have succeeded in unlocking the temples".
Sonic and Knuckles exchanged a look of question mixed with excitement.
Regirock's temple was unlocked. All they had to do now was find it.
The trio left the sealed chamber and surfaced again, intending to compare notes on the location of the golem and head there immediately.