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

#043 Oddish

Oddish, the Weed Pokémon. Known by the scientific name Oddium Wanderus, Oddish lives in grasslands. A nocturnal Pokémon, Oddish buries its sensitive body in the ground during the day to avoid the sun and fool predators. If its leaves are pulled in this state, it will respond by shrieking horribly. It starts to move when its leaves begin absorbing moonlight, which it uses to grow. Oddish will wander up to 1000 feet (300 meters) during the night to scatter its seeds and find a nutrient-rich patch of soil in which to plant itself. The more fertile the earth, the glossier its leaves will be. It is thought that its feet become like tree roots while planted.

On a gorgeous autumn day, Isabelle and the other aspirant nurses were chattering excitedly in the few minutes they had before their class would start as they pulled on their gloves and wrapped their scarves around their necks since they would be working outside.

Wearing a warm, woollen sweater with Butterfree on them, Isabelle was one of the first to be outside. She observed their assignment as the leaves wiggled above the ground. It'd be winter soon, and the Oddish needed to be put into pots inside or else they'd freeze to death. Grass types didn't like ice much. While some of the girls, childishly, pulled up their noses at having to dig in the soil, Isabelle was actually rather pleased with the task. She liked Oddish. Their little squeaks and optimism never ceased to make her smile.

Inside, in the greenhouse, lots of flower pots were on the ground, in which the Oddish would have to be placed. The objective was simple, the elderly Joy said; pull up an Oddish by its leaves, gently, carry it inside, place it in a pot, and cover it with the fertilised soil from the bags. The girls were warned that the Oddish did not like being pulled up since the earth was warm and the outside air was rather chilly.

As Isabelle knelt down near the foliage, she smiled at Wendy Foxglove who immediately chose the wiggling leaves next to Izzy's. The girl's chubby cheeks and nose were pinkish with cold, but her eyes were glistening like seasonal lights. General Pokémon care was something Wendy excelled at.

At Joy's command, Isabelle gently wrapped her hands around what she hoped were Oddish's leaves. It'd be rather embarrassing to pull up carrots or something similar. Next to her, Wendy did not pull hard enough and did not manage to extract the Weed Pokémon from the ground. Isabelle was a bit firmer in her handling and soon she held a squealing, blue Pokémon by its leaves in the air. It kicked out its little feet as it screamed its lungs out. Surprised by the sheer volume, Isabelle nearly dropped it, but managed to hold on. Sending Wendy a quick smile, she wrapped her arms around the dirty Pokémon and hurried inside.

Kneeling yet again on the ground, Isabelle placed the Oddish in a large, Raichu-orange pot. Holding her left hand on its head, Isabelle scooped handfuls of soil into the pot to subdue it. Only when its head was no longer visible, it finally stopped squealing. Sighing in relief, Isabelle wiped her forehead and flashed a grin at the Joy that was grading them, receiving a kind smile and nod in return.

As Isabelle had been covering her Oddish, Wendy came in with her own. This one was particularly big, explaining why Wendy had trouble pulling it out and had a low, throaty cry, like an adult man's. Since Wendy would be okay, Isabelle stood in the door opening to the greenhouse to watch how her classmates were doing.

One of her classmates was messing up pretty badly. How it happened, Izzy did not know, but she had been bitten by the toothless Oddish, dropped it, and was now chasing it all over the yard. Oddish were pretty fast, or at least, this one was. Along with the other girls, Isabelle laughed as she saw the flustered young Joy run after a frantically screaming Oddish.

These were the kind of memories Isabelle had of her time at the Nursing School.