It was now summer. Nearby, Chris, Danny, Frances, Hikaru, Tails, Y/N, Amy, Cream, and Cheese are waiting for the bus.

"What city?" Danny asked.

"It says it's a town located deep in the mountains. ... I guess we'll have to transfer here. It should take another hour." Chris explained.

"What? How far do we have to go?" Amy asked, feeling annoyed.

"It's not that far, Amy. Why not just think of this as part of the adventure?"

"Camping is not my idea of an adventure."

Frances turns around and begins massaging Amy.

"Oh, we're going to have lots of fun, I promise!"

"Alright, if you say so."

"I do!"

The girls giggle.

"Hey Chris, so, you know a good place to set up camp when we get there?" asked Tails.

"I hear there's a great place near a river morth of here. It's nice and peaceful, and it's good for fishing too." Chris replied.

"Hey, that sounds like a perfect spot! And maybe you and I can go for a swim, Cheese. Sound fun?" Cream said.

"Chao!"

"I hope I can travel to Japan and learn about their culture and maybe learn how to speak and write in Japanese. I want to try some sushi." Y/N said.

"No way! Same!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"Wow! Awesome!"

Nearby, Mr. Stewart is studying the bus routes and timings.

"Uh... Bus service to Hot Springs Village..."

He activates his communicator watch and started talking to it for a moment as Y/N noticed what he was up to now. Soon, he waves a yellow flag for his group.

"Alright, students, line up! The bus'll be here any minute now."

He blows a whistle.

"Mr. Stewart sure is excited." Danny said.

"I'll say." Chris agreed.

"Hey Frances, how come Mr. Stewart's coming? Wouldn't this trip be a lot more fun if it was just us kids?" Tails asked her.

"Dunno. Maybe he wants to have some fun too."

"All I can say is this this whole camping thing better be fun, or they're gonna hear it from me." Amy grumbled.

"No worries, Amy. It will be fun." Y/N patted her back.

"Where's Sonic, anyway?" Chris asked.

"Sonic's not much for camping. He says he's gonna explore the city. He's on his way there now."

Meanwhile, Sonic is running alongside a train before breaking away from it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon, the bus is on the move. They are all enjoying the scenery.

"Look at that!"

"Chao chao!"

After a while more of riding, the bus arrives at Tanaka's hometown.

"Mr. Tanaka, we're here."

He and his friends disembark from the bus.

"I trust you had a safe trip."

"Your homeland is really beautiful, Mr. Tanaka."

"It really is." Y/N agreed.

"Thank you, Master Chris and Miss Y/N. I hope you and your friends will enjoy your stay here. It certainly was a wanderful place for a boy to grow up."

Chris beams.

"I can see why."

The bus drives away.

"Where do we go from here, Mr. Tanaka?" Amy asked.

"Well, just follow me and I will take you."

"Now hold on just a minute there, sir!!" Mr. Stewart shouted.

After frantically flailing his arms, he pulls out his flag.

"Just let me get out my flag here... I will be your official guide!"

Waving his flag, he leads everyone onward.

"Step lively, kids!"

"Look at the mountains!"

"And all the nature around us."

"Nothing but blue skies, trees, grass - sure is pretty, huh, Cream?"

"It's the most beautiful place we've ever seen, isn't it, Cheese?"

"Chao chao!"

The tents having been set up, Tanaka, Mr. Stewart and Amy are busy cooking a meal. Amy holds up what appears to be chopped onions. Danny and Chris are hunting for bugs with Tails tagging along who's looking at the pillbug with fascination. France, Y/N, Hikaru, and Cream are wading in the stream with Cheese just floating on the water.

"Wow, look at all the fish, Cream!"

"Yeah, here's some!"

Cream runs toward them, but the fish leap out of the way.

"It jumped!"

Hikaru tried to grab the fish that leap away from Cream and almost caught it, but it slipped out of his hands.

"Aw!!"

Y/N giggled at the cute scene when she noticed Cheese is floating away.

"Cheese!"

"Come back! No!"

Y/N grabbed Cream to stop her before she can get too far.

"Don't, Cream! We have to tell the others! We'll get Cheese back!"

Everyone is reunited at the camp.

"Cheese must be at the river somewhere." Stewart said.

"About a mile from this spot, the river splits off in two different directions. There is no telling which way the current was traveling." Tanaka pointed the direction.

Cream begins to cry.

"Cheese..."

Y/N leans down to her level and hugged her.

"Don't cry, Cream. We'll find him."

"Yeah, Cream; it'll be okay! Remember, Cream, Cheese is a very good swimmer." Amy nodded.

"Yeah, Amy's right." Tails chimed in.

"Mhm." Cream nods.

"I feel so bad. I should have done something." Frances looked down.

"If only I was a fast swimmer. I would have been able to grab him." Hikaru sniffed.

"Don't feel bad; it's not your fault." Chris said with Danny nodding in agreement.

"The current may be rapid, but there are many areas where the water is shallow. Cheese may very well be stuck in a patch of sand somewhere." Tanaka said.

"Let's all search, right away!" Danny declared.

"Okay! We'll start an official search party!"

Everyone raises their fists into the air.

"Yeah!"

Not too far away is the river. Mr. Stewart, Chris, Frances, Danny, Hikaru, Y/N, Tails, and Cream are calling for Cheese.

"Cheese, we're coming to get you!"

"Hey Cheese!"

"Where are you?"

"Answer if you can hear us!"

"Cheese, are you there?"

"Cheese? Cheese!"

The group has arrived at a cave that part of the stream enters.

"What if Cheese is inside that tunnel?" Cream questioned.

"I'll look."

Mr. Stewart bends down to look inside the cave, then stands up and shrugs.

"I'm afraid I can't fit."

"I'll bet we could all fit no problem. You wait here while we check it out."

"Alright. Promise you'll be careful."

"Okay."

Chris, Danny, Frances, Hikaru, Y/N, Tails, and Cream start to head into the cave.

"Just make sure you don't lose your way."

"We won't." Frances assured.

With the group gone, Mr. Stewart activates his wrist watch. Little does Chris know there is a tracking device attached to him.

"Hey! They're coming in loud and clear!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris' group reaches the other side of the cave.

"Guess this is the end of the tunnel. I wonder what's out here?"

They become surprised at the sight that meets their eyes.

"What?"

Cream, Tails, and Y/N are especially surprised.

"Is... this real? It... can't be!"

The sight that meets their eyes is a beautiful pond with a Chao colony.

"Hey, they all look just like Cheese!"

"I can't believe it! It's a Chao colony!"

"Oh!"

"Wow!"

They head over, and soon interact with the Chao.

"Aww, they're all so cute!" Frances awed.

"Hey look, Chris, they really like us!"

"Yeah, I guess they can sense that we're friendly."

One Chao fiddles with Tails' face fur. Another Chao was snuggling up Hikaru's cheek, who started giggling and hugged it.

"Hey, this one wants to go for a swim!"

Cream runs up to the pond's edge.

"Cheese!"

A Chao flies over.

"Is that you? ... I guess not."

Another Chao flies to Cream.

"Oh, Cheese! ... Sorry..."

She looks over and sees Cheese floating over.

"There you are!"

She runs over.

"Cheese!"

She picks up Cheese and hugs him.

"Oh Cheese, you're okay!"

"She's so happy. Come on out of that water, Cream; you're getting your feet all soggy." Frances smiled.

Cream walks over to the others.

"I don't mind. All that matters is that Cheese is okay."

Y/N patted both Cream's and Cheese's head.

"I'm glad." she smiled.

"She sure is. Are you happy?"

"Uh-huh."

"Looks like Cheese made some friends."

"Chao-chao!"

Suddenly, the other Chao begin vocalizing.

"What's up?" Danny asked in confusion.

"They're all excited about something." Tails answered.

"I'll bet they're just happy that Cheese found her friends again, that's all." Chris guessed.

"I think you're right."

"It really is pretty here, don't you think?" Hikaru said.

The Chao surround Cream.

"Sure is. Let's look around."

They stayed for a little while as they started playing.

"Come on! Throw the ball, Danny!"

Danny throws a yellow ball to some Chao. One of the Chao catches the ball.

"Hey, nice catch!"

"Chao!"

Chris, Hikaru, and Frances feed berries to some other Chao.

"Ah, these look great. Here."

"Here you go."

"Here's some berries."

The Chao eat the berries.

"Look how they gobble them up."

"It's cute."

"Hey Tails, do the Chao on your planet have little colonies like this too?" Chris asked.

"Yup. They have colonies in a lot of places, but there has to be fresh water. And since the water has to be kept clean, most of the Chao colonies are kept a secret."

"I guess they're kept a secret here too. I've never seen anything like this. It's like a whole different world!"

"Yeah, a secret world."

Soon, the group is ready to leave.

"Goodbye, you guys."

"Chao chao!"

The chao vocalize their goodbye as the group heads into the cave.

"See you later!" Tails and Cream waved.

"Bye!" Y/N waved.

"Chao chao chao!"

Later, as they are walking, Cheese looks sad.

"Chao chao..."

"You feel lonesome, don't you, Cheese?"

"Maybe we can come back here next year."

"Sure. We can pack some sandwiches and maybe play some baseball, and Cheese can play with their new friends again." Danny said.

"Yeah. Cheese, that sound good?"

"Chao chao!"

Suddenly, Da-Dai-Oh flies overhead.

"Aahh!"

Da-Dai-Oh hovers nearby. Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe are atop. Eggman is holding a megaphone.

"Good day, my little explorers."

"Him again."

Da-Dai-Oh lands, crushing a few trees and sending a flock of birds scattering.

"Okay, kiddies, let's have it. Hand over that Chaos Emerald or else!"

"What Chaos Emerald?"

"What are you talking about?"

"We don't have an Emerald."

"Don't play coy with me! What else would you scavengers be snooping around here for? Now hand it over!"

"Huh?"

"He must have seen us looking for Cheese and thought we were hunting for a Chaos Emerald."

"So that's why he's so upset."

"Hey! There aren't any Chaos Emeralds around here!"

Eggman elbows Bocoe and Decoe away.

"You can't fool me, you Emerald snatchers!"

"Do not get overexcited, Doctor." Decoe said.

"You are beginning to perspire."

Bocoe proeeds to wipe off Eggman's sweat, but the doctor grabs the cloth from him.

"Well, if you mite-sized meddlers won't cooperate with me, perhaps my friend E-66 will convince you!"

Da-Dai-Oh raises its arms and takes a step forward, causing the children to cower. Eggman laughs... until Da-Dai-Oh topples over and hits the ground, shaking it. The river starts to become polluted.

"How did that happen?" Danny asked.

"I guess the soil around here must be really soft. Maybe that's why that big thing tipped over." Tails said.

"It serves him right for sicking his robot on us!"

"Guys! The water!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"Oh no! The water! It's all muddy!" Cream gasped.

"Chao chao!"

Sure enough, the water has become completely polluted.

"Hey, you guys. That river runs into the Chao colony."

"Come on. We have to do something." Danny said.

"We gotta go fast! Hurry!" Y/N said.

"Let's go!" Chris said.

They begin heading back toward the Chao's oasis. The group are removing the mud using a makeshift scoop make of sticks and leaves.

"We'll carry the mud out with this."

"I don't think we can get it all, you guys."

"We have to at least try, Chris. Otherwise, all these little Chao will get sick."

"That's right, Frances. And if we all work together, it'll be a cinch." Tails agreed.

"Now that's what I like to hear!"

Sonic is standing there among the Chao.

"So all we gotta do is get rid of that mud."

"It's Sonic!" Chris happily exclaimed.

"Where have you been?" Y/N asked.

"A little sightseeing. Might wanna let me take care of this."

Everyone but Sonic backs away from the oasis.

"Here goes!"

He begins running around the oasis at supersonic speed, draining the mud and splattering the others in the process. Once finished, he slows to a stop.

"Okay, gang! It's all cleaned up!"

Everyone cheers as the Chao head into the newly-cleaned water, Chris, Danny, Frances, Hikaru, Y/N, Tails, and Cream head over to Sonic.

"Sonic, you did it!"

"You're all muddy!" he pointed.

The others look down at themselves.

"Wow, we really are dirty!"

"Guess I need a bath."

"Aw, man!" Hikaru pouted.

"Thanks for doing that, Sonic."

"Hey, my pleasure."

"Grrr!!!!" Y/N tickmarked in anger, glaring at him, and Sonic backed away, waving his hands in defense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone are seated around the campfire that night.

"Bet you knew about the Chao colony, didn't you, Mr. Tanaka?" Chris said.

"Of course I knew, Master Chris. I stumbled upon that colony when I was a boy."

"Don't worry; we'll keep it a secret. Thanks to Sonic, maybe it'll still be here when I'm grown up."

"Or perhaps even beyond, Master Chris."

Y/N looked up to where Sonic is reclining in a tree above them.

"Who knows..."

https://youtu.be/rvqqp8vH0ok