Sonic Battle

== Overview ==
Sonic Battle is a game that was released on December 4, 2003 in Japan and on January 5, 2004 in the US. Many don't know exactly where Sonic Battle takes place in the Sonic timeline, but due to it being referenced to in Shadow's Japanese bio on Sonic Channel (Sonic Team Japan's website), it can be taken as official/canon in some manner. The reason why many are not sure where this game takes place is due to it being released after Sonic Adventure 2, but around Sonic Heroes release and before Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). In this game, Shadow does not have amnesia and remembers everything. But in Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), Shadow has amnesia and doesn't remember his time before Sonic Heroes until he does at the end of Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). Some speculate that there could have been a mix-up of some sorts when these games were released. But since it was referenced to and made by Sonic Team Japan, it seems that things in this game can be taken as official/canon. Meaning that how Shadow and other characters are described in this game can be taken as official to their characterizations.
Characters that appear in this game are Sonic, Shadow, Emerl, Eggman, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Cream and Amy.
According to the official Sonic Channel website, the real Shadow (or to see his true character) appears in this game. (To find out more, you can read the Observations page.)
== Summary ==
thumb|257x257px|Playthrough of Sonic Battle by LongplayArchive
Eggman has discovered one of Gerald's projects; a reprogramming and discovery of an ancient ultimate robot weapon called a "Gizoid." The government has also learned of this and sends Rouge to investigate, who accepts due to personal interests. Shadow also discovers the Gizoid when he hears the Gizoid's voice, pleading him to prevent a tragedy. He follows the source to Eggman's hideout and finds the Gizoid. There, Rouge appears and explains the situation before they are jumped by Eggman's robots. After getting injured, Shadow is helped by Rouge to escape. 
Some time later, Eggman gets angry at the Gizoid for not listening to his commands and not giving back a Chaos Emerald it was given. Due to this, Eggman beats it up and discards it in the ocean. It washes up the beach where Sonic finds it. The Gizoid starts saying strange things related to it being a weapon and Sonic mistakes it for asking him to show it his power. He does so and successfully establishes a "link" with it. The Gizoid now will only listen to Sonic's commands and to whomever Sonic says for it to listen to. Sonic assumes the Gizoid is broken because it doesn't respond much, so he decides to take it to Tails to fix it. Before he does, he spots and calls out to Shadow. Shadow tells Sonic to hand over the robot, to which Sonic refuses. Since Shadow is too injured, he loses and instead, tells Sonic to keep the robot safe from Eggman. After bringing the Gizoid to Tails to fix it, Tails explains that the Gizoid is powered by Chaos Emeralds and can record attacks. Because of this, Sonic decides to call the Gizoid, Emerl.
Throughout the story, Sonic and his friends discover more of who and what Emerl is and help him train as Emerl copies their techniques. As he gains more Chaos Emeralds, he becomes more powerful, sentient, and smart being that is eventually capable of full speech. With Shadow, Emerl also learns that he is also a weapon with a heart, as Sonic points out. (Gerald created and changed weapons to have hearts because he was more interested in bringing hope to humanity rather than destroying it) When traveling with Shadow, Emerl learns from him the fate of a weapon after they defeat one of Eggman's robots. What he learns is that a weapon's fate is to just destroy whatever they are made to destroy or told to destroy. This makes Emerl sad, to which Shadow sympathizes with him. Shadow later gives his own Chaos Emerald to Emerl in order to become the "master" to imput the command: "Bring hope to humanity," (which was implemented by Gerald) so that Emerl can be free.
After being set free due to Shadow, Emerl then goes to fight everyone to show off his maturity. When he comes back to fight Shadow after fighting him once, Sonic comes to join Shadow and they fight Emerl together.
At the end, Eggman boasts that his Final Egg Blaster weapon was complete and that he will use it to conquer the world. He uses this to lure Emerl into his lair, the Death Egg. Once there, Eggman overloads Emerl with power, making him in pain and out of control. He loses his thoughts and becomes the weapon he was intended to be. He hits Eggman out of the way and is set to destroy Earth with Eggman's weapon. Sonic is given the difficult task to stop him. Once Sonic beats Emerl to his senses, Emerl realizes that he doesn't have much time left. He thanks everyone and talks about how he had fun. He asks Shadow, "Should I be glad that...I was born?" Sonic desperately tries to tell him to come back and that they'll have fun again to no avail. After a countdown of pings, Emerl disappears. Shadow sadly explains that if a weapon goes out of control, Gerald placed a program to make it terminate itself. He can't stand the situation because of how sad it is and because of the irony of how his, Emerl, and Gerald's desire is to bring hope to humanity, yet humanity (Eggman) with its selfish and greed, dashes that hope. Cream cries. Sonic tells Cream not to cry for he claims that Emerl would be in the Emerald shard left behind. Tails asks that if the world would truly learn peace, would they be able to play with Emerl again. Sonic pauses before replying with, "...Yeah! Definitely!" And the story ends.
== Sonadow Moments ==
(Note: This is from the English translation. The original Japanese text may differ a bit.)
When Sonic reaches Tails’ house, he notices Shadow nearby and calls out his name. Shadow replies, “Huh? Sonic the Hedgehog…Sorry, but I don’t have time to play with you now.” He proceeds to talk to the Gizoid, asking if it could hear him. To Shadow’s dismay, it had already established a link with Sonic. The Gizoid remains silent. Sonic calls out to Shadow again. Shadow ignores Sonic and calls out to the robot again, focusing on preventing the Gizoid from causing harm. The robot doesn’t respond. Shadow then says, “Won’t listen to me, eh?” and says that in that case, he will destroy it with his own bare hands. Sonic tells Shadow to stop. But Shadow tells Sonic to get out of the way and to give him the robot. Here, two options appear: Yes or No. If the player picks “Yes,” Sonic says, “You didn't think I would simply say "Yes," did you?” If the player picks “No,” Sonic says, “And if I say no?” In both responses, Shadow replies reluctantly, “Then…I will destroy you too…”
After Shadow gets defeated, he tells Sonic, “Gah…I still haven’t regained my full power yet. Listen to me! Whatever you do, don’t let Dr. Eggman get hold of the Gizoid. I’ll be back… Until then, take care of it…Sonic the Hedgehog!” He leaves the Gizoid in Sonic’s care and then leaves. Sonic calls out “H, Hey! How’s Eggman involved in this?” But Shadow is already gone.
When Shadow is unconscious, he dreams. In his dream, some parts of his past, like Maria, flashes by as well as what he was doing before he went to sleep. After recounting his recent encounter with Sonic, he next sees Sonic in his dream say, “Looks like you both have one thing in common…Persistence.” Shadow then thinks, "Sonic the Hedgehog..."
thumb|249x249px|A partial playthrough of Shadow's story by MaskedMetaKnight4 that shows Sonic saying that both Shadow and Emerl have a heart despite being created as weapons.
Shadow heads to Emerald Beach and there, he meets Sonic who exclaims, “Shadow?!” Shadow asks Sonic where is Emerl. Sonic answers that he’s at Tails’ place and asks Shadow why was Shadow after Emerl. Shadow says that he’s not there to steal him, but to welcome him as a fellow weapon of war. Sonic questions this. Shadow asks if Sonic has noticed that the Gizoid, a weapon, awakening is near. Sonic further questions. Shadow then asks if Emerl already has six Chaos Emeralds. Sonic confirms. Shadow says that with his own, it will make seven. He then says that its true power lies dormant, but he can feel a greater power that is dormant, a greater power than Sonic can imagine. Sonic replies saying that he heard that he who collects seven Emeralds will be granted unlimited energy. Sonic then asks if Shadow was telling him that awakening Emerl is dangerous. Shadow scoffs saying that he’s a weapon that’s strong enough to destroy the world. Awakening him is sheer madness! Sonic says in response, "I don't think he has it in him. The Emerl I know would never destroy the world." Sonic then asks "What about you?! You say he's the ultimate weapon, but weren't you supposed to be the military's ultimate secret weapon?!" Sonic further adds, “Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I seem to recall you saving humanity at some point.” Shadow slowly says that that was for Maria. Sonic then says, Shadow responds with a tsundere “Hmph!” and says "No, you are wrong. We were created as weapons. If the people of this world ever want peace, they must destroy us.” Sonic calls out Shadow’s name, taken aback by such a thought. Sonic adds that Rouge said that there’s a key word that can free Emerl. If they can figure out what it is, Emerl can become a normal robot. Shadow replies, “Ha! Such hopeless dreams… Weapons have no need for a conscience. Freedom? What use is a weapon that does not follow orders?! I have a different kind of “Link” with Gizoid. Like me, he’s a weapon! No doubt about it! He’s a weapon to be used by his “Master!” Sonic sadly replies, "Shadow..." Sonic then gives in and tells Shadow to just take Emerl already. If he wasn’t going to listen to him, then he can do whatever he wants. Shadow replies with a simple, “…Yeah.” Shadow then asks if Sonic didn’t care if he exterminated Emerl. Sonic comes back with a “I’d like to see you try!” Shadow asks "You don't think I could?" Sonic replies with, “ Maybe you guys should just play games together or something?” Shadow stays quiet. Emerl then arrives, saying that he senses a Chaos Emerald. Sonic asks what Emerl was doing here. Shadow says that he probably felt his Chaos Emerald, and that he can feel it resonating with him. Emerl points out that Shadow has an Emerald. Emerl demands that Shadow hands over his Emerald for he wanted power. Sonic tries to snap him out of it by calling his name. Emerl snaps out of it and asks Sonic what’s wrong and why he was looking at him like that. Shadow states that perhaps now Sonic would believe him that Emerl was created as weapon and says that Sonic was lucky that he met Emerl before he awakened, but he cannot deny the Gizoid’s true identity. Emerl questions Sonic. Sonic then tells Emerl to go with Shadow because he wants Emerl to find out who he truly is. Emerl asks how. Sonic says to get Eggman to tell him. Emerl replies, “That chubby old guy? That sounds like fun! I’ll be right back then!” Sonic says okay and to see if he can find out more about Eggman’s weapon and plan that Knuckles was talking about. “You can never tell what that old man is planning!” Sonic says. Shadow adds that he, too, has things that he would like to speak to Eggman about. Shadow then says, “Let’s go, Emerl. So begins our path to ruin.” Before leaving, Emerl tells Sonic to tell Amy that she has to exercise and eat a specific way for her training regimen. Sonic laughs and says, “Some ultimate weapon you are!”
Due to both Sonic and Shadow having a type of established "link" with Emerl, one could say that they are both Emerl's "dads." Sonic activated a link with his power while Shadow has a telepathic link and later on, becomes Emerl's new "Master" from inputing Gerald's code to free him.
After Shadow inputs the code, "Bring hope to humanity" into Emerl to free him and Emerl processes it, Emerl says “Hey, now! Don’t go and get all serious on me like that, Shadow!” Shadow responds with, “Hmph. Look who’s talking. You remind me a little too much of a certain spikey, smug little…” Emerl stops him with, “Watch your mouth!” Shadow stops and tells him that he’s free now and that Eggman will no longer have any control over him.
After Emerl beats Shadow in a test of strength, Shadow says “Heh…I shall concede that you are my equal." Emerl replies with, “Hey, man! I’m just getting warmed up!” Shadow comments, “Hmph. You’re just as mouthy as him, too.” He further says, “Looks like we’ve got a guest. Come back later.” Sonic appears and greets Emerl. Emerl responds by calling out Sonic’s name. Sonic says, “I figured Shadow wouldn’t be able to give you enough of a challenge by himself, so I came!” Shadow comes in and says, “Yep, you sound exactly alike.” Sonic then says, "Whaddya say, Emerl? You wanna take us both on at once? It’ll be tough!” Emerl says “No problem! No problem! … … … No holding back! I hope you two don’t get hurt!” Emerl fights both Sonic and Shadow together.
After Eggman tricks Emerl in order to control him, the scene flashes to Sonic and Shadow who are standing next to each other. Sonic is shocked, saying “Hey, Emerl…, oh no!!” Shadow then says, “No! Now I understand what’s going on. The Doctor planned this all along!!” Emerl speaks in binary, causing more concern from Sonic. Emerl then starts to speak like a weapon again. Eggman explains that there was one link they didn’t know about. The link is activated when faced with someone with overwhelming power. The power is overflowing within Emerl and he can’t contain it. He calls out to Sonic and Shadow first for help, saying that he’s in pain.
After thinking of using the Master Emerald to calm the Chaos Emeralds in Emerl, Tails tells Sonic that the transporter is ready. Shadow, overwhelmed, sad, and feeling that he's no longer qualified, says, “I am…no longer… You must go…Sonic…” Sonic sympathetically says, “Shadow…”
After defeating Emerl, Emerl questions where is here. He asks who is himself. Next, he says “Sonic…the pain…” Next, “Shadow…Dark…” Emerl then asks if he is going to die. All the while sparking and shaking. Sonic tries to call out his name. Emerl weakly calls out Sonic’s name. Sonic asks if he’s all right, but Emerl says nothing. Sonic asks if he can walk and for them to return to Earth. Emerl instead says that it has been fun and thanks Sonic. He says that it is goodbye and that he’s glad that he got to see everyone one last time. He pauses before asking if Tails had gotten stronger and that he knows he tried his hardest to protect him; to thank him for him. He then says he had so much fun with Knuckles even though he was gullible, but that he’s such a good guy so don’t tease him much. He then says Mom (a title Amy forced him to call her) and Cream, looks like this is goodbye. He doesn’t want to go and he’ll miss all of them. He then asks Shadow if he should be glad that he was born. Sonic tells him not to play around and get so serious on him, if he thinks that this is goodbye. In desperateness, Sonic tells him, "Let’s go play." That everyone is waiting for them back home. “Tails! And even Shadow and Knuckles!” Sonic starts breaking, saying that they’ll go mess with Knuckles again and that they’ll go home and laugh and all have a good time. He tries to ensure Emerl. Emerl is silent before countdown of pings goes off. He disappears, which Sonic states. Shadow then states, “This was Gerald’s final program. Should a weapon go out of control, the weapon will terminate itself…” Shadow pauses and then sadly adds, (What Shadow means by these lines is that it's ironic that Shadow, Emerl, and Gerald's desire is to bring hope to humanity, yet humanity itself dashes that hope with its greed and selfishness; that greed and selfishness of humanity is what he can't stand.)
Category:Japanese Content
Category:Video Games
Category:Sonic Battle