Chapter 26: Bad Day Babysitting
A while after walking through the forest, Ash was wondering if he was getting anywhere closer to the ocean. "Can you smell anything, Pikachu?"
Pikachu, who was walking in front of his trainer, sniffed the air. Then its ears drooped. "Pika." It said, sadly.
Ash felt a rustle in his backpack and Jaws poked his head out. "Awake, are you?"
Jaws chirped and licked Ash's face.
Ash chuckled softly, then heard a growling noise coming from Jaws' stomach. "You're hungry already? Well, you just hatched, so I guess I better find you something to eat." Ash looked around. He went up to a tree with green ferns and broke one off. "Here, try this." He held the ferns to Jaws and the baby Aerodactyl took a chomp out of them. Then he immediately spat them out. Ash sighed and frowned. "I forgot that you like meat. That could be a problem."
Jaws chirped sadly and his stomach continued to growl.
Then Ash asked Pikachu, "You're not hungry, are you?"
Pikachu shook his head.
"Then is it ok if I give Jaws the last of your food?"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.
So Ash pulled out the container of Pokémon kibble and opened it. He was hoping there would be more, but it would have to do. "Here, Jaws. It might not be much, but…"
Jaws took a sniff, then started eating the kibble with no complaints, and Ash sighed in relief.
When Jaws was done eating, Ash put Jaws back in his backpack and he and Pikachu continued walking.
"Let's stop for a break, ok?"
"Pika."
Ash sat down and took off his backpack. He wondered why there wasn't any noise coming from it, so he figured Jaws was asleep again. Ash decided to lie down for a bit and close his eyes. After all, the afternoon sun was making him sleepy. But he didn't want to fall asleep. "Keep me awake, ok, Pikachu?"
But when he started relaxing, Jaws woke up and crawled out of Ash's backpack. He was about to go up to Ash, when a small Yanma caught his attention. Because he couldn't fly yet, Jaws clumsily ran after the bug, in the hopes of catching it and eating it.
When Pikachu nudged Ash to tell him that break time was over, Ash yawned and got up. But when he picked up his backpack, it was lighter.
"Huh?" Ash opened his backpack and looked inside. "Oh no! Jaws isn't in here!"
Pikachu gasped.
Ash looked around frantically. "Jaws! Jaws! Where are you?"
No response.
"C'mon, Pikachu! We've got to find Jaws!" So Ash and Pikachu started to look for him. Jaws might be an Aerodactyl, but he was just a baby, and Ash knew that we could fall victim to any larger Pokémon. Ash just hoped he would find Jaws before anything else did.