It had gone too quickly. That was all Sonic could think as he looked out at all the strange creatures that he'd never get to understand in Professor Oak's garden, and the man had told him there were many more too... And so many different views he'd never see, so many different people he'd never get to talk to. The people he had talked to, he didn't know well enough to call friends. Except maybe Meowth.
Overall it had been disappointing and painful, for everyone involved.
Gary walked out onto the porch suddenly, and glanced over at Sonic. His face was still healing from deep scratches that his grandpa had promised wouldn't be scars.
"Hey, are you ready to go?" He asked gently. Everyone had been treating him like he was a bomb, about to go off at any moment, and they'd asked that he stayed by the house at all times, ensuring that nothing else stopped them from going home. His legs were begging and aching longingly for a run, but he kept his word.
"I thought Tails was still too weak?" The hedgehog replied, and found his voice was rasping slightly, with a slight edge to it that would have put most people off. Gary was different though, his mixture of self importance and professional manners made him immune to both Knuckles and Sonics brooding ways.
"He says he's well enough. He just wants to go home." Gary moved over and stood next to him, looking out at the Pokemon with the blue blur. "When you were with Giovanni, Dr Robotnik built it for a quick getaway. Tails doesn't need to be strong, it's just that grandpa wanted him to be able to walk at least. He says that you're probably tough for a reason, and we should send you back tough."
"How nice of him." Sonic didn't mean it, but he felt he probably should as he sighed tiredly "Are they going now?"
"In ten or twenty minutes." Gary glanced at him, and saw the pain on his face. The twisted guilt. The uncertainty. "He'll be okay." He told him.
"Probably. But what if he's still here? And then we've left him. What if Giovanni has him? And we're just about to leave. With the emeralds, too. I have everything except him, and I've never felt so empty." He closed his eyes and shook his head, not even understanding it himself.
"He's like your rival." Gary mused, and continued when Sonic frowned "When you start on your Pokemon journey, you have someone else who starts at the same time as you, and you compare yourself to them as you both grow. Sometimes you choose who your rival is, they could be an old friend or someone like that, but me and Ash didn't really choose." He glanced up slightly, as if his memories were dancing across the skies "We just went, and he was always behind me, and always ahead at the same time. Even though we were supposed to be better than each other and maybe even hate each other, I felt like I needed him, and I was protective of him. I needed him to be there so I could feel better about myself, and see how much I'd grown." Gary looked at him "That's like you and Eggman, I think. I heard that once he nearly died, taking your place so you could escape once. He needs you to feel better about himself, and you need him for the same reason."
"Rivals." He rolled the word around his mouth quietly. "But I need to beat him, I can't need him!" Sonic clenched his fists angrily.
"That's why I quit my journey. I wanted to need Ash more than I wanted to beat him, so I became a professor." Gary glanced at his watch, but said nothing, so the hedgehog continued.
"I can't quit. Eggman is power hungry. He wants to own a world that will worship him and make him feel powerful and rich. Even if he gets it, he'll still want more. You and Ash are different, you wanted the same thing. We want different things... it's like two dogs tied to a string, pulling against each other to try to get to the side they want."
"Dogs?"
"Er... just say Tauros. We're both too headstrong to quit. We'll fight till we die." Sonic sighed "Maybe I just like pulling. So now that I don't need to I feel empty, like my purpose is gone."
They were quiet again, staring at the fields and the skies and the Pokemon absently. "He'd better be alive." Sonic murmured, but Gary didn't respond. Eventually he turned and walked back inside, and the blue hedgehog followed him. Everyone was buzzing with excitement, but Professor Oak looked uncertain.
"I don't know if it works... I followed Eggman's instructions but-" He was telling Amy, but Sonic felt a flare of anger as he heard it.
"It'll work." The hedgehog said, calmly and clearly, his eyes begging someone to challenge him.
"Do you need some water, Sonic?" Amy asked "You sound rough." He shook his head firmly, annoyed and amused at the same time. He looked at their transport home, a platform with a hoop stuck to it, holding a strange looking substance that looked like water. He hopped up to it.
"Sonic wait!" The professor bit his lip "Eggman said that you have to be the last to leave."
"Why?" He snapped suspiciously.
"Th-the emeralds will be attracted to you, and you'll t-take them with you when you leave, m-meaning no one else c-can go through!" He stammered, before clearing his throat and standing a little taller "And anyway, if something bad happens it would be better if you were here to help your friends who didn't get back home." Annoyance flashed in the hedgehogs eyes. He wanted to go to Eggmans lab, and see if he'd already gotten back somehow, but he jumped back down and watched as Espio went through, then Vector, Knuckles and Tails and then Amy walked up, her hand held out to Sonic expectantly. He shook his head.
"I should be last. I don't want anything bad to happen to you." She looked shocked for a moment, but then pleased. She blew a kiss and giggled before she disappeared through.
"You're up." The professor nodded to him and Sonic hesitated, before holding a hand out. They shook hands.
"Thanks. Tell Ash thanks too, if you see him." He turned to Gary and nodded at him. He nodded back, and Sonic stepped through. The emeralds popped out of their sockets and followed him, closing the portal and banishing the Mobians from the Pokemon and the Trainers from the Mobians.
