A New Journey - Ash Ketchum {2}

Chapter 61 - Tunnel Vision

As the sun was setting down, Emma and her friends were still on their way to Goldenrod City, on a path but stopped as Brock spoke while looking at the guide book, "The map says we can take the Onix Tunnel right through this mountain."

"Why's it called the Onix Tunnel?" Misty asked. "It's a cave where a lot of Onix are supposed to live," Brock said. "A cave full of Onix doesn't sound too safe to me," Misty said. "Onix are weak against water Pokémon," Emma reminded.

Misty smiled, "You're right, Emma. And, I've got plenty of water Pokémon here who can do the job to help out with yours."

"It's getting too dark to go in there anyway," Brock said, "Maybe we better save the tunnel for tomorrow."

"Good idea," Ash said. "Yeah, let's find a spot to have dinner and rest for the night," Emma said and they walked to the side by the forest. They found a nice spot by a river and decided to camp there for the night.

...................

In the morning, the kids woke up and while Emma and Ash were cleaning their faces in the river, Brock was busy exercising with his Pineco, who hopped around. Emma then started to clean Togepi, to its delight. Misty looked at her Psyduck, raising an eyebrow, "Psyduck, if you're going to hold your head all day, at least hold it in the water so it'll get clean."

"Psyduck," the Duck Pokémon said, making the redhead girl sigh. Togepi then jumped from Emma's arms and onto the grass, walking around happily. Brock took Pineco into his arms as he smiled at it, "How ya doin' today, Pineco? Ready to have some fun?"

"Pineco!" it said and exploded happily. Brock coughed before speaking, "We're already having a blast."

"Pineco!"

"Togy?" Ash, Emma, and their Pikachu immediately turned to Togepi who was behind Ash, watching the forest when it saw a Snubbull sniffing the grass. They followed it gaze to the Pokémon. 

"Hey, there goes a Sunbbull," Ash said and they stood up. He frowned when he noticed pink ribbons on it. "Uh, guys. Don't those ribbons look kinda familiar?"

Brock was surprised, "Did you say ribbons?" Misty smiled, "Of course they do! It's the same Snubbull from Madame Muchmoney's house."

"Well... she's pretty far from home now," Emma pointed out as she took Togepi into her arms. "Yeah, I wonder what she's doing so far away from home," Ash said. "Maybe she didn't like living in a big, fancy mansion so she decided to run away," Misty suggested.

"That sounds plausible," Brock said. Ash frowned, "But it kinda looks like she's might be trying to pick up some kind of scent or something."

"You think Snubbull's trailing something?" Misty asked but before anyone can say anything, Snubbull picked up a scent and ran off. "Hey, Snubbull, come back here!" Brock said. "Snubbull, wait up!" Misty said as the kids quickly grabbed their backpacks and started to ran after Snubbull.

They slowed to a stop when Snubbull did. "Snubbull sure looks determined to find something," Misty said. "Tell me about it," Emma said before they heard rustling in the bushes. When they all looked to them, Jigglypuff stepped out happily, "Jiggly-puff!"

Emma and her friends looked startled. "Oh no!" Ash said, "Jigglypuff and its microphone!" Jigglypuff hopped on a log and started to sign, slowly making everyone feel tried. 

"We just woke up an hour ago," Misty muttered. "I guess it's early," Emma muttered before they all laid on the grass and fell asleep.  

...................

Emma and her friends woke up to find Jigglypuff gone, but had left markings all over their faces. They all rubbed the marks off of their faces before they continued on. "At least we got that ink scrubbed off," Ash said.