Knuckles' journey began at Scourge Bay, home of Mobius's pirate element. From here, Knuckles acquired a boat to cross the Mobian Channel. After two days of rowing without any wind, he found himself in dire straits. Halfway across the channel, his boat was attacked and destroyed by the mercenary Captain Claw, who wanted to collect on the bounty that Robotnik had put on the echidna's head. Knuckles fought against Claw's Octonaught mecha near a large circle of rocky pillars, which collapsed and fell on the Octonaught, crippling it. With the mecha reduced to nothing more than a rowboat, Knuckles forced Captain Claw to row them both to the other side of the channel. After making it to shore, Knuckles let Claw go and continued his journey.