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

#047 Parasect

Parasect, the Mushroom Pokémon. The evolved form of Paras. The insect has been drained of nutrients and is now under the control of the fully-grown tochukaso. Parasect can thrive in dank forests with a suitable amount of humidity for growing fungi. Swarms of this Pokémon have been known to infest trees. The swarm will drain the tree of nutrients until it dies, and will then move on to a new tree.

With her legs crossed, Nurse Isabelle leant against a mossy, stone wall. She'd been dragging her feet a little all day, feeling somewhat off, when she discovered these two children in the back garden, clearly about to hold a Pokémon match. When Isabelle asked if she were allowed to join, they had run to their mother, who had been absolutely pleased to see her. So, supplied with a jug of lemonade and a platter of sandwiches, Isabelle rested up here during the kids' match.

The two children that had attracted her attention were obviously twins. They even dressed perfectly similarly, aside from colour scheme. One was in a Rattata purple dress, and the other in a Paras red dress. When they summoned forth their Pokémon, Isabelle sighed, smiling softly. Just as she had expected, they owned a Rattata and a Paras. Weak, common Pokémon for young kids wasn't such a bad idea.

Maybe the mother had a say in it, but the Pokémon looked pretty well taken care of, in the way the mother had taken care of Izzy. The Rattata was on normal weight, which was a refreshing sight to see, after all those thin, wild Rattata. The Paras was okay, she guessed. She did not really look at it. There wasn't anything glaringly wrong with it, at least.

"This is the battle between Em and Cee. Em has chosen a Rattata. Cee will be fighting with Paras. No time limit. Begin!" Izzy announced it for them, making her smile in glee. It felt exciting to say it. As the girls set their Pokémon to each other, Isabelle thought about what their mother had said to Izzy earlier when she was given all this food.

"They've been trying so hard to make them evolve. All the kids in their class have an evolved Pokémon. So they've been training all day and night. Can you make these Pokémon evolve?" When Isabelle had shook her head and explained that Pokémon evolve at their own time, the mother had sighed. Isabelle had been able to suggest battle experience usually helped.

So that's why the girls were having a Pokémon battle right now. It was clear Rattata-Em was the oldest of the two. She seemed more self-assured, though a bit hasty, as she ordered her Rattata to Bite. However, Cee's Paras was a tricky one. It was quite speedy, making it hard to hit. Cee seemed to be the calmer one, who observes first and then makes a move, such as when she ordered Paras to use Stun Spore. It hit the Rattata full in its face and it crashed to the ground.

"Rattata is defeated. Paras is the winner. The round goes to Cee!" But no one was listening to Isabelle anymore, because Paras had lit up with a bright light. By now, Isabelle had seen this often enough so she was the only one who didn't stare open-mouthed at the morphing Paras. When it was finished, Isabelle dryly corrected. "Parasect is the winner. The round goes to Cee."

While Parasect were actually rather creepy once you knew that the mushroom has fully taken over Paras' body and that they were basically undead now, Cee did not seem to care. With a delighted squeal, she flung her arms around Parasect's mushroom, and bragged a little to Em, who seemed to be happy for her younger twin sister. Smiling softly, Isabelle brought the jug and the platter back to their mother and said her goodbyes, not wishing to disturb the two who seem to have forgotten all about Izzy.