That's What Friends Are For

"That's What Friends Are For" (英雄ソニックを追え!) is the fourteenth episode of the anime series Sonic X. It first aired on 6 July 2003 and 6 December 2003 in Japan and US respectively.

Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Power
 * Amy Rose
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Cheese
 * Christopher Thorndyke
 * Chuck Thorndyke
 * Helen
 * Ella
 * Mr. Tanaka
 * The President
 * Jerome Wise

Japanese version

 * Sonic Drive - Opening theme
 * Hikaru Michi - Closing theme

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, Sonic and his friends are invited to a party in The White House by the President, but he declines the invitation because he promises to take his new friend and another one of Chris' classmates, Helen to an island where it is said to have a beautiful species of flowers, according to her father. The scene then flashbacks to Sonic's first meeting with Helen by the river leading to that island, where after Sonic rescued her wheelchair stuck on the mud, she told Sonic that she wanted to visit the island. She mentions that her father at one point, wanted to take the family to visit the island but he has been too busy working for long hours. Disheartened, despite that Helen appreciates how much her parents have helped her during her life, Helen is desperate to go to the island. Sonic agrees to take her. Tails, Amy, Cream, Chris and Chuck go to the party without Sonic. Frustrated on not seeing Sonic, the cameramen and reporters who are present turned to leave but Jerome Wise, the President's secretary, prevents them for leaving and asking them to wait in the buffet area, reassuring that Sonic will come while ordering the army and police forces on a mission to retrieve Sonic. The cameramen and reporters still complain over and over again about Sonic's absence, but Jerome kept them company by food and drinks.

Sonic runs back and forth to retrieve both Helen, a boat and life jackets while some government agents arrive at the Thorndyke mansion to look for Sonic much to Ella's disgrace. Mr. Tanaka approaches and knocks them out, forcing them to retreat. Sonic and Helen finally started sailing towards the island, but their boat is attacked by the army which forces Sonic to take drastic, stunt actions to escape with Helen in his safety onto the island. Despite all of the risks, Helen takes it as a thrill ride of an adventure. The duo finally arrive at the garden with the flowers which is an adorning site to Sonic and Helen. Sonic proceeds to pick one up for her but she stopped Sonic from doing so to which he understands to leave the flowers as they are. The GUN forces are still persistent enough to capture Sonic so he takes off with Helen again until they seem to be cornered against the edge of the cliff leading to the lake by the GUN forces.

Despite being vastly outnumbered, thanks to the efforts of the hedgehog, Sonic managed to help Helen onto a helicopter while mopping out the military forces and fly away. Sonic finds out it is late and he decides to bring Helen home. Helen pleads for Sonic to visit the White House because the President is waiting for him there and she didn't want to be the cause for not being able to meet with him. Sonic and Helen finally arrive at the party and he meets the President. Excited, Jerome asks the cameramen and reporters to come but they are too tired from waiting for a long time and fell asleep. In the end, Helen tells the story of her exciting adventure to her parents. As Helen's parents excused themselves to have a private discussion with each other, Helen's mother is touched by her daughter's excitement in which they had not seen for a while; Helen's father notes that he has been working too long and hopefully wishes to take the family on a trip to the island Helen visited soon. The episode ends with Sonic resting on a tree not too far from Helen's house.

Dubbing Changes

 * The following scenes in the gallery have been cut/edited:


 * In the original, the party was "in two days time". In the dub, it was on Thursday.

Trivia

 * This is the first episode to feature the new ending song ("Hikaru Michi").
 * This is the second episode that Dr. Eggman does not appear in.
 * This is the only episode that Tails is seen wearing clothes.