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That's What Friends Are For
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"That's What Friends Are For" is the fourteenth episode of the anime series, Sonic X. It first aired on 6 July 2003 and 6 December 2003 in Japan and the United States, respectively.

Appearances[]

Characters:

Races and species:

Songs[]

Japanese version[]

English version[]

  • "Gotta Go Fast" - Opening theme (USA and CAN)
  • "Sonic X" - Opening theme (AUS, NZ and UK)
  • "Gotta Go Fast" (shortened) - Closing theme

Plot[]

Following Eggman's defeat, the episode opens up at the White House with Jerome Wise joyfully telling the President that the news of Eggman's defeat is sure to get him re-elected, but the President sadly retorts that Sonic is the one people see as the hero responsible for defeating Eggman. Wise notices Sonic's picture on the front page of every newspaper he can find and then turns on a TV to find that Sonic is on every channel. Wise panics about this and believes if they do not do something, the people might elect Sonic President. Wise suddenly comes up with the idea of hosting a victory celebration party at the White House with Sonic as the guest of honor and invite the media so that the public will believe Sonic and the President are friends to increase the President's popularity so that he gets re-elected. Wise personally takes all responsibility for the event and proceeds to get the preparations ready.

At the Thorndyke Mansion, just as Sonic rushes off on one of his hyperspeed walkabouts, Chris receives a letter addressed to Sonic from the President that he is invited to the celebration party in the White House, and Sonic's friends are excited because it also says that he is free to bring as many friends as he wants. When he returns seconds later, Sonic however declines the invitation because the party is inconveniently scheduled on the same day he is supposed to hang out with a new friend and another one of Chris' classmates, Helen. The scene then flashbacks to Sonic's first meeting with Helen by the lake where he was on one of his hyperspeed walkabouts and saw Helen's wheelchair stuck in the mud. Sonic proceeded to lend her a hand and after exchanging meet and greets, she told Sonic that she comes out there a lot to look at the island island in the middle of the lake. One where it is said to be home to a beautiful species of flowers, according to her father, Doug. She mentions that her father always promises to take the family to visit the island, but he has always been too busy working for long hours and has yet to fulfill that promise to this very day. To add insult to injury, Helen has no way of getting there herself due to the inoperability of her legs. Seeing the disheartenment in Helen's eyes, Sonic personally makes it his mission to take her to the island himself. The flashback ends and Sonic says that he made a promise to Helen first and refuses to break it for a party. Just then, he realizes he needs to get his preparations for his adventure and runs off.

The party begins with the guests and media at the White House expecting Sonic's visit, and Wise is pleased to see that things have fallen into place thus far. A limousine appears outside and when the passengers, Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Chris and Chuck step out, Wise is confused to see that Sonic is not present and horrified at the revelation that Sonic is not coming at all. Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Chris, and Chuck, rush to the party, but the photographers and reporters who are present turn to leave when they see no point in staying if there's no Sonic. But Wise asks them to wait at the buffet area, reassuring that Sonic will come, and orders three government agents to retrieve Sonic by force if necessary. The three government agents arrive at the Thorndyke Mansion only to find Ella vacuuming the foyer and demand Sonic. When she calls them out for their total lack of manners, they threaten to ransack the whole mansion. Luckily, they are confronted by Ella's call for Mr. Tanaka and he gives them the boot. After hearing about this, Wise connects himself to defense and with support from the military secretary, organizes an entire task force charged with finding Sonic and bringing him to the party. The task force has its eyes and ears open all over the country in search of Sonic, who brings Helen back to the lake.

Back at the Whitehouse, Wise keeps trying to stall for time while the task force continues their hunt. They manage to lock on to him when they spot him running back at Thorndyke Mansion to retrieve the boat and lifejackets. He rushes back to the lake after deflecting a smoke bomb attack from a Helicopter and finds his patience tested when the rest of the task force are in hot pursuit. However, the police give up pretty quick since they know they'll never catch him and Sonic returns to Helen with the boat at sunset. Back at the White House, the photographers and reporters complain about Sonic's absence again, but Wise keeps them company by serving food and drinks.

Sonic and Helen finally set sail towards the island and Helen can't begin to express her joy over finally visiting this island. The only thing she wishes is that her family could be there to share the moment. Just before they can reach the island, their boat is attacked by the army which forces Sonic to take drastic actions to escape with Helen in his safety onto the island. He manages to use the grappling hook to swing on over to the cliff with Helen in tow. They don't quite make it, but that doesn't stop sonic from motoring up the cliff. Despite all of the risks, Helen takes it as a thrill ride of an adventure, not something she'd ever expect to experience in her life due to her limitations. Sonic notices the helicopters are refusing to except defeat and he and Helen proceed with their quest.

Time passes by at the buffet of the White House. While Wise's stress over Sonic not showing up becomes abundantly clear, Chris wonders what he is doing out of boredom.

At the island, more army troops arrive on hoverscooters to find Sonic in the forest. While he and Helen take a moment to chill, she tells Sonic how much she greatly appreciates the effort of her parents to look after her health but admits all she really wants is to spend more time and have fun with them. She also admits to him that he's done nothing except show her the most thrilling time of her life today. Without much time to reflect on this, Sonic discovers that the army has dispatched a squadron of soldiers pursuing them, leaving Sonic and Helen on the run and ready to rock. They race through the forest and manage to outrun the soldiers to safety. When they come to a cliff, Sonic rockets his way up and they are shocked to discover they have finally arrived at the meadow of flowers which Helen's father mentioned about. This is an adorning sight to Sonic and Helen as they see nothing but beautiful flowers as far as the eye can see. With their quest complete, Sonic proceeds to pick some flowers for her. But she stops him from doing so to which he understands to leave the flowers as they are so that the beauty will be preserved, especially when Helen returns with her family eventually. The soldiers are still persistent enough to capture Sonic and he can't allow them on top of the cliff or they'll ruin the flowers, so he takes off with Helen again on the opposite side away from the meadow, to which they follow and the flowers are safe. Just then, they seem to be cornered against the edge of the cliff leading to the lake by the authority soldiers. An authority helicopter flies by as well.

Despite being vastly outnumbered, Sonic manages to trick the authority soldiers and the helicopter into firing their grappling hooks together so that they would tangle into an unbreakable knot, allowing Sonic to use the rope as a path to carry Helen himself into the helicopter. The helicopter pilot tries to grab Sonic only to miss and plunge into the lake. Sonic quickly grasps the ability to pilot the helicopter and uses one of its grappling hooks to retrieve Helen's wheelchair before they fly off. As they make their escape, Helen receives a magnificent view of the top of the island where the meadow is. And it turns out to be even more beautiful from the air.

As it is late, Sonic decides it's time to end their adventure and bring Helen home. However, Helen pleads for Sonic to visit the White House because the President has been waiting for him and she does not want to be the cause for not being able to meet with him. Sonic agrees and they set sail for the White House. Wise catches wind of all the transpired events just as Sonic and Helen finally arrive at the party. Sonic meets the President, and they exchange pleasantries just as Wise planned all along. Excitedly, he asks the cameramen and reporters to come document the momentous occasion, only to see they've all passed out from exhaustion because of the long wait. The event ends with everyone sharing a laugh when he goes completely haywire.

In the end, Helen tells the story of her exciting adventure to her parents at dinner. As Helen's parents excuse themselves to refresh their dinner plates, they have a private discussion. Helen's mother is tearfully touched by her daughter's excitement in which they had not seen for some time while Helen's father notes that he has been working too long and decisively plans to take the family on a trip back to the island soon. The episode ends with them returning to the dinner table to hear the rest of Helen's story (specifically the part where they escaped in the helicopter), and Sonic is revealed to be listening to Helen tell her story all the while resting on a tree in Helen's front yard.

Eyecatch cards[]

Regional differences[]

  • The following scenes have been cut/edited:
Gallery
  • In the original, the party was "in two days time". In the dub, it was on Thursday.

Title in other languages[]

Language Title Translation
Japanese 英雄ソニックを追え! Chase the Hero Sonic!
Chinese 追蹤英雄索尼克! Chase the Hero Sonic!
Dutch Sonic en de President Sonic and the President
French La chasse au héros Hunting the hero
German Echte Freunde Real friends
Greek Πού είναι ο Σόνικ ο ήρωας; Where is Sonic the hero?
Hebrew לרדוף אחרי הגיבור Pursue the hero
Italian Un vero amico / L'isola dei fiori A true friend / The island of flowers
Korean 영웅 소닉을 뒤쫓아라! Chase the hero Sonic!
Polish Po to są przyjaciele That's what friends are for
Portuguese (Brazil) Perseguição ao herói Sonic! Pursuit of the hero Sonic!
Romanian Unde e eroul Sonic? Where is the hero Sonic?
Russian Погоня за героем Соником! Seeking the hero Sonic!
Spanish (Latin America) ¡Buscad al héroe Sonic! Seek the hero Sonic!
Spanish (Spain) Para eso están los amigos That's what friends are for
Thai ล่าวีรบุรุษโซนิค Sonic hero hunt

Trivia[]

  • Excluding the title and headline, all the text on the newspaper Jerome Wise hands the President is copied directly from an article published by The New York Times in 2003 documenting the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.[2]
  • The Australian DVD gives the name of this episode as "Cream and Cheese".
  • This is the first episode to feature the new ending song "The Shining Road" for the Japanese version.
  • This is the second episode that Dr. Eggman does not appear in.
  • This episode is the second Sonic-related media to feature drunkenness, the first having been the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episode Hero of the Year, though the reporters and photographers getting drunk was edited out in the American dub, where they instead drink orange juice, eat salami, and fall asleep because they had waited so long for Sonic to arrive.
  • This is the first time the 4Kids Entertainment logo was no longer shown in the PAL version of the series after the ending credits. The TMS Entertainment was still shown after the theme has ended. It remained like that for the rest of the series.[3]
  • This is one of the few episodes that rarely uses the "Face Fault" anime effect.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Team Artail
  2. Thomas Crampton (May 21, 2003). China and Hong Kong see SARS cases drop. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved on August 15, 2023.
  3. https://youtu.be/ShS0UJyQE1s?t=19m57s
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