Journey Through Johto |Discontinued|

Chapter 2.33: Swinub Springs

After being joined by their old friend Todd, the group makes their way onwards in their search for Articuno.

"Wow! Look at the size of that mountain." Emmy exclaimed as they stopped on top of a cliff, seeing an extremely tall mountain in the distance. "Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking, Zia?" Todd asked. "That it's going to be really cold up there and that I'm hungry? Yeah, actually." She mumbled, already feeling both the temperature and the hunger.

"No, I meant that's where we'll most likely find an Articuno! It'd be my most prized picture." The male said dreamily. "Yeah, well, this looks like a nice place to stop. Anybody else interested in lunch?" Zia asked as the other three voiced their interest.

The group sat down on some rocks to eat onigiri as a snack. Zia felt a nudge on her leg as she looked down to see Sky holding the water canteen in her mouth, looking at her expectantly. "Thirsty? All right, hold on." She sat as she used one hand to open it up.

"Swinub!" A cry from behind them said loudly, startling Zia, who dropped her onigiri. She turned around to see a small brown-furred Pokémon with a pig nose as it began eating the fallen rice ball.

Swinub: The Pig Pokémon
If it smells something enticing, it dashes headlong off to find the source of the aroma.

Two more Swinub popped out as they feasted on the onigiri as well. While they were distracted, Todd took the opportunity to snap some photos of them. "I think they like eating more than Emmy." Sky gasped in mock-horror, making said Serperior glare and push her.

"Hey, quit stealing food from strangers! Cut it out right now!" A little girl appeared from where the Pokémon came from, running down to them. She had purple shorts, an orange shirt, and blue hair in pigtails.

"That's very rude." She scolded them as she kneeled down, them running up to her. "I hope they didn't cause too much trouble for you." The little girl turned to the group. "No, they're fine. Just startled me was all. They're quite cute." Zia complimented.

"These little guys are hard to control when they're hungry and they smell stuff to eat. Where are your manners, Su, Ine, and Ub?" The girl asked her trio of Pokémon. "Su, Ine, and Ub?" Zia said questioningly as she walked closer.

"Yeah, those are the names of the Swinub. This is Su, that one's Ine, and this one here's Ub! Oh yeah, and my name's Peggy." The little girl introduced. "Hi, Peggy. I'm Zia. These are my Pokémon, Sky, a Luxray, and Emmy, a Serperior." Zia introduced. "My name's Todd." The photographer piped up.

Peggy smiled and waved at them in greeting. "Do Su, Ine, and Ub belong to you?" Zia asked another question. "No, they all belong to my father." She corrected.

"Right. They all belong to me!" A man said to them after Peggy took them to her and her dad's cabin. They were stood at the side of the house, where said dad was sitting in a chair. "This is my dad, Rory!" Peggy introduced him. "We've been working in these mountains for a month." Rory told the group. "What kind of work are you doing?" Todd questioned.

"My dad's a professional hot spring digger." Peggy said proudly. "The big hotel companies hire me to find the hot springs. I dig them out and they build resorts." Rory explained in detail. "I go all around the world with daddy and Su and Ine and Ub." His daughter said.

"The company that hired me for this job wants to build a resort up here, but first, I've gotta find them a hot spring." Rory told them. "That shouldn't be too hard, with you're experience." Todd stated.

Rory crossed his arms and looked away solemnly. "Uh, all my experience hasn't helped us much for the last few months, I'm afraid." He muttered. "We can't seem to find hot springs anymore." Peggy mumbled sadly. "Now, don't worry, little princess. We'll find ourselves a hot spring." Her father comforted.