Yes, I know it's called Sonic Forces now. But I'm still calling it Project Sonic-Pokemon 2017 to keep continuity with the fact that the game hasn't been released yet. Anyway, here's a direct sequel to the oneshot I made almost a year ago for this game's announcement; this time I'm celebrating the new Custom Hero.

The blast from the Death Egg Robot sentinel barely missed Ash and Charizard, as they maneuvered out of the way. The abrupt maneuver, however, was too much for Pikachu, who lost his grip on Ash's shoulder and fell. Without thinking twice, Ash leapt off of Charizard and dove after Pikachu. The burning air made his skin burn, but he shut out the pain. He managed to catch Pikachu and contorted his body in time to shield his Pokemon from the impact, landing hard on his shoulder. He grunted loudly in pain, then looked down to make sure Pikachu was okay. When he confirmed that he was, they smiled a moment. Then he looked back up.

The Death Egg Robot sentinel was looking around, completely unfazed. Sonic and Greninja were doubtlessly still running towards it. Ash clenched his fist as he stared at the massive robot through the fire and smoke.

AS A WORLD FALLS…

Charizard landed beside him to check on him and possibly protect him from any more attacks. As the large draconic Pokemon helped his trainer to his feet, Ash suddenly noticed something in front of him: a silhouette. He squinted at the figure curiously. It looked like a creature from Sonic's world, but he had never seen it before. It appeared to be staring at the sentinel, fists clenched.

A NEW HERO WILL RISE.

The creature clenched its teeth and, before Ash knew what was happening, took off running towards the monstrous robots. Determined to see what was going to happen, Ash and Pikachu mounted Charizard and followed the creature a short distance away. It was running fast in a similar manner to Sonic. As he followed the creature, he saw Sonic and Greninja come and run beside it. They grinned at him as they prepared to take down the sentinels. As they continued running, a sentinel fired a blast at them. Anticipating this, they leapt up. Charizard, however, was caught off-guard and abruptly pulled up. The sudden move threw Ash and Pikachu off balance, and they fell. Charizard was swift to notice this and shot back towards him, catching him before they tumbled through the rubble of the destroyed Park Avenue. When the dust cleared away from them, Ash weakly opened his eyes and looked up, hoping Sonic and Greninja had better luck than he did. As he stood up and propped himself against a wall, clenching his hurting arm, he watched as they fought against the sentinel.

Their new ally fired a grappling hook at a sentinel. The sentinel looked up and prepared to fire another blast at him, but he narrowly avoided it. He then swung around toward another sentinel, going around it and towards a third one before returning to the first. The sentinels were tied together by his cable! Once he returned, he let go of his grappling hook and gave Sonic and Greninja a thumbs up. On seeing this, Sonic and Greninja curled into a ball, with Greninja surrounding himself in a large Water Shuriken, and shot straight through the sentinels. The force of their impact knocked the massive robots off balance and sent them falling to the ground. Sonic and Greninja landed in front of the ensuing dust cloud, followed shortly by their new ally. An explosion quickly followed. As Sonic and Greninja stood up, they looked towards Ash with a smile.

Ash weakly returned it. Although Eggman had seized control of the world, Sonic and his allies had just proven that they weren't ready to give up yet. The forces of the Eggman Empire were stronger than ever, and it was going to take more than the heroes of two worlds to stop them this time. But with their newfound ally's power, it was clear that even in the darkest of times, the forces of good would never give up until it was over.

Personally, I like the new customizable hero mechanic. Yes, I know Sonic fan characters have caused you poor unfortunate fans nightmares, but I really don't care. And hey, look on the bright side: at least it isn't Bubsy.

Now for a brief update on Pokemon: Adventures in Alola. I skipped updating the story this past Monday because I had finals, followed by an eventful (but disappointing) evening. The story will update as usual on Thursday.