At least that explains why Sonic couldn't outrun it. He was probably planning on slowing down to grab Pikachu before fleeing together at top speed.

…huh, that does make sense. That, and he could have actually saved a lot more and himself if he had the Emeralds at hand at that moment to go super.

Well, at least people cannot say Sakurai pays no attention to characters' personalities, because this right here definitely sounds like something Sonic would do.