Nurse Isabelle and the Kanto Pokédex: the Diary of a Travelling Nurse

#016 Pidgey

Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction and homing instincts. It can locate its nest even when far removed from familiar surroundings. It is a docile Pokémon, and generally prefers to flee from its enemies rather than fight them. By flapping its wings rapidly, it can whip up dust clouds and create whirlwinds to protect itself and flush out potential prey. Pidgey is very common throughout its range and can often be seen in meadows and forests.

Sometimes, Nurse Isabelle did not find the Pokémon in need. Sometimes, they found her.

Coming from Cerulean City, Isabelle found herself on Route 24, walking a gorgeous wooden bridge over a river. This path would lead to the sea, where she would visit Bill the Pokémon researcher. He was always interested in what she did and what she encountered on her journey.

Her thoughts of what she would tell Bill about Ivysaur's evolution were interrupted by something falling down and landing heavily on the wooden bridge with a painful sounding 'thump'.

Jogging towards the fallen object, Isabelle could see it was a bird. An unconscious one. Cradling it carefully in her hands, she saw the Pidgey's wing was broken, possibly from the fall but not excluding an attack. However, as Isabelle looked up, all she could see was the calm sky after the storm from last night.

"Pooh," it softly cooed, opening its eyes briefly before shutting them again. It was obviously exhausted. What was most striking about the bird was the little cap on its head and the cylinder on its back. This was obviously a mail-Pidgey.

As Isabelle carried it back to Cerulean City to take it to the Pokémon centre, she reflected on how she loved these birds. Being docile, they were popular with young kids but anyone could raise them.

At Cerulean City Pokémon Centre, an adult man was at the desk, inquiring about something. He seemed quite agitated from the volume of his voice.

"Have you seen my Ace? Have you seen him?!" Without much success, Nurse Joy tried to calm him down. He could, however, not be soothed. Behind him, Isabelle held up the injured bird to show Nurse Joy and she nodded, moving to ask for a treatment room through the computer. However, the man saw the nod and turned around.

"That's my Ace! What have you done to him, you terrible woman?" He made a grab for the injured bird. Furious, Isabelle pulled the bird out of his reach, cradling it against her chest

"Woah! Calm down, you! I found the Pidgey when it fell from the air. I didn't do anything to it so calm down! Joy, the stretcher? Ah, there it is. Thank you," she said, laying the bird on the stretcher and watching it being rushed away. Then she turned to the man who was fuming that his Pidgey was carried away, though he seemed to realise it was safe in the Pokémon Centre.

"How dare you talk to me like that?" Isabelle demanded to know, placing her hands on her hips. "How dare you jump to conclusions without even pausing to ask what's going on? First, you are rude to my colleague, and then to me? Go home and return when you're calm, or send someone else who can identify ownership over this mail-Pidgey. Pidgey won't be going home anytime today, so return tomorrow morning at the earliest."

To her surprise, he nodded, turned around, and left. Joy behind the counter sighed in relief. Isabelle had to smile at her.

"Sometimes, you have to be firm with them."

The following morning, the man returned and calmly asked to see his Pidgey called Ace. He did not mention the previous day and that was fine with Joy. Showing the contract of the Mail Carrier Service, Ace was identified and returned with the man with his wing bandaged yet awake and looking much better than he did before.