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

#039 Jigglypuff

Jigglypuff, the Balloon Pokémon. Jigglypuff uses its eyes to mesmerize opponents. Once it achieves this, it will inflate its lungs and begin to sing a soothing lullaby. If the opponent resists falling asleep, Jigglypuff will endanger its own life by continuing to sing until its lungs run out of air. It is able to adjust the wavelength of its voice to match the brain waves of someone in a deep sleep. This helps ensure drowsiness in its opponents. Jigglypuff can mostly be found in lush green plains and grassy meadows.

Nurse Isabelle spent most of the boat ride from Cinnabar Island out on the deck. It was a lovely day with only the slightest breath of wind and just enough sun not to feel cold. When the boat reached the harbour of Kanto mainland, Isabelle was one of the first ones to disembark.

Before doing anything else, Isabelle merely walked through town to get used to the change of motion. Having stood on the deck of a boat for several hours, her body still thought the ground was rocking in waves.

While the blond nurse was walking around, she found a kid sitting glumly on the playground in front of the Pokémon centre. There, he watched the trainers go in and out with their Pokémon, either chatting happily or with concerned looks on their faces. For a while, Isabelle simply leant against the monkey bars the gloomy kid was sitting on, silently.

"It's not fair," the kid eventually mumbled, signalling to Isabelle he wished to open up.

"What is?" Izzy merely asked in a soft voice, not looking at the boy yet. She kept her eyes on a young trainer who tried to convince his Beedrill to go in his Pokéball.

"I want to have a Pokémon, too."

"So, why don't you catch one?" Such a simple question yet the answer was rarely this simple.

"Dad won't allow me. He says it's too dangerous. That Pokémon are too dangerous. That I'm not grown up enough to tame a wild Pokémon."

Isabelle looked at the boy. He didn't look that young, maybe something like nine years old.

"You do not have to catch and tame a Pokémon in order to have one, you know?" The blond nurse said. That got the kid's attention.

"Really?!" His entire body language changed. From a slumped 'I hate the world' aura, he now seemed so much brighter. Isabelle smiled at him and nodded.

"The Pokémon centre has a shelter. Nothing big enough to have its own building, but occasionally Pokémon are brought in that cannot return to the wild. Either they've been abandoned or cannot fend for themselves anymore. Shelter Pokémon rarely are good fighters, but I doubt you want a Pokémon to fight with." Isabelle looked at him thoughtfully.

The boy shook his head so violently that he shook off his cap.

"No ma'am. I just want a friend. To play with and feed and have fun with."

Isabelle smiled, recognising her own young self in the kid. She wished to have a friend just like that when she was younger. She could play with the Pokémon in the centre, but it was never the same as having one for herself.

Standing up straight again and getting out of the sandpit, Isabelle held out her hand.

"Come on, then. Let's see if Joy has a friend just for you."

The child was skipping in joy, holding Isabelle's hand, as they entered the Pokémon centre. Nurse Joy behind the counter recognised Izzy (almost every Joy did, by now) and greeted her kindly.

"Hey there, Isabelle! Would you like to have a room? I have one free with a view of the sea." Isabelle smiled at the pink-haired nurse.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I just came from Cinnabar and am not staying here tonight. It's only morning. I've got something different today. Do you have any adoptable Pokémon, by any chance?"

Nurse Joy looked down into the hopeful eyes of the sandy-haired kid, recognising him as the merchant's son.

"For Jacky, I presume? I have two. The first one is an old Nidoking, which I doubt is suitable. But the second one might be just right." Nurse Joy said, mostly to Jacky. Then she looked at Izzy and said: "Long term treating room 5."

Isabelle thanked her and headed over to said room, wondering what could be in there that Joy thought suitable for the boy. Opening the door with the master key card every nurse had, they headed inside.

On the table in the middle of the room sat a pink Pokémon. Isabelle recognised it immediately and gasped. Surely, this wasn't a suitable Pokémon for a young boy? As Jacky rested his forearms and chin on the bed, Isabelle headed over for the description on this Pokémon.

"Jigglypuff," Isabelle read out loud. "While normally hard to handle because of their tendency to Sing, this male Jigglypuff has been born without much of a voice, the previous trainer said when she left it behind here. Jigglypuff is unable to cause anyone to fall asleep with his voice."

Hearing the nurse's voice, Jigglypuff woke up. With his appealing, large eyes, he glanced down at the child that looked up at him adoringly. Feeling his ego stroked, Jiggly puffed himself up and got ready to sing, but all he managed to bring out was a "Jiii~", it being only the first note of his characteristic song. Then he deflated, sadly, and turned his back on the two humans in the room.

"So, Jacky. This Jigglypuff is up for adoption. As you heard, he cannot Sing and, therefore, is unable to do many attacks. Be careful, it can slap you, though, but this Jiggly doesn't seem aggressive." Isabelle stroked the poor Balloon Pokémon over his head. "What do you think?"

"I love it!" Jacky shouted, startling Jigglypuff. Behind them, the door slid opened, revealing Nurse Joy and two people Isabelle did not recognise. Who they were wasn't hard to find out, since Jacky answered that for her. "Mom! Dad!" He held up the Jigglypuff in his hands above his head. Because Jigglypuff are basically air, they did not weigh a lot. "Can I puh-lease have this Pokémon?"

After a lot of begging by Jacky, explanation by Nurse Joy, and discussing between the parents, the male Jigglypuff finally had a new place to call home. Joy told Isabelle later she had called the parents as soon as the two of them were gone, having had a feeling Jacky would want to adopt the Pokémon. As the family walked out of the Pokémon centre, being one of the happy people Jacky used to envy, Isabelle and Joy high-fived each other. Another success story. It was good being a nurse.