A Journey's Link

Chapter 48 - Squishy

Clemont checked his watch, seeing that Ash and Sycamore had been gone for slightly longer than they had said they would. I'm sure it's not a big deal, Clemont reassured himself. Besides, Ash has Greninja on him. It's not like they can't fend for themselves. Bonnie tugged on his jumpsuit, causing him to look down at his little sister. They had been waiting in Prism Tower for a while now, causing Bonnie to become restless.

"Clemont, when are they getting back?" Bonnie asked, whining hidden within her voice. "I wanna go to the Ninja Village now! It was so cool last time we were there!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms as she did so.

Clemont sighed and kneeled to Bonnie's level. "When you're someone like Ash, you've got a lot of things you have to take care of and focus on." He grabbed his bag, which had been packed for the trip. "Besides, it's not like we're gonna leave the second he gets back," he explained. "Ash is still going to look for Squishy."

Bonnie groaned, earning a small sigh from Clemont. "I know!" Bonnie suddenly exclaimed, startling Clemont a little. "How about we go look for Squishy ourselves so that we can leave sooner!" Clemont rolled his eyes and said, "Bonnie, even if we were to go look for him, where do we even start?" He looked out the window, which revealed all of Lumiose City. "He could be literally anywhere in the Kalos region."

Bonnie shrugged and simply responded, "I don't know. I just think if we go looking for him, then we'll find him!" Clemont softly smiled at his sister's innocent and optimistic nature. "I guess we could go look for a little bit," Clemont murmured to himself. It would help Ash out, he thought. He has dealt with a few stressful things recently.

Sighing, Clemont turned around and said, "Ok, here's the deal," to Bonnie, whose eyes lit up briefly. "We'll go look for Squishy, BUT you have to stay with me at all times. Got it?" He said authoritatively. "Yeah! I promise!" Bonnie said happily, glad that her brother gave her the chance to not only go exploring, but to find a long-lost friend.

"Let's go now!" Bonnie exclaimed, running towards the elevator. "Bonnie, wait up!" Clemont exclaimed, reaching to try to grab his mischievous sister. "Too slow!" Bonnie teased, standing in the elevator and frantically pushing buttons to go to the first floor. Clemont ran into the elevator and scolded Bonnie. "We need to grab some stuff first before we-" He was cut off by the elevator dinging and closing its door, causing Clemont to sigh.

"I guess we can get our belongings later..." He murmured, causing Bonnie to giggle and cheer. "But if we're going searching, then I'm leading the way," Clemont commanded, with Bonnie nodding at him in return. The elevator stopped at the first floor and both siblings stepped out. "Look after the gym for me while I'm gone, Clembot," Clemont said to his close robot friend who managed the gym occasionally. "Of course!" Clembot responded obediently as Clemont and Bonnie walked out of Prism Tower.

Stepping outside, Bonnie began looking in every direction. "Where should we go, Clemont?" Bonnie asked, looking left and right rapidly. "Heh-heh, " Clemont chuckled mysteriously. His glasses shined as he declared, "I happen to have a solution for a situation just like this one!" Bonnie rolled her eyes and muttered, "Here we go..."

"Clemontic Gear, on!" Clement announced, bringing out a large-looking compass device. "I call this the Random Direction Chooser When You Don't Know Where To Go!" He exclaimed; Bonnie was incredibly unimpressed by the name. "By pressing this button," Clemont explained, pushing a green button. "This machine chooses a random direction to go! Watch as it uses a random generating algorithm to determine our path!" He passionately yelled.

As the machine began its process, Ash, who was still discussing his connection to one of the Zygarde Core, felt a sudden and unexplainable urge to whisper, "Science is so amazing..." Back at Clemont and Bonnie, the machine was spinning its compass in all directions, trying to choose a direction. Bonnie looked at a proud Clemont, who began sweating a little.