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

#056 Mankey

Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokémon. When Mankey starts shaking and its nasal breathing turns rough, it's a sure sign that it is becoming angry. However, because it goes into a towering rage almost instantly, it is impossible for anyone to flee its wrath.

One of the most amazing things of Pokémon was that a Pokémon's nature occasionally overruled its natural behaviour. There were docile Charizard and vicious Oddish. Another of those cases was back in Pallet with Professor Oak. Some of the rangers occasionally visited to keep an eye on the Pokémon, both to check that Oak wasn't becoming too old for this, and protecting them from poachers. Dominic, who was in the reserve at the moment, had called her when the report came in, so that's where Nurse Isabelle was headed.

Looking in her agenda, which also served as a notebook, Isabelle read up on the case. The basic outline was that a colony of Mankey needed injections. A virus was going around and it would protect them from becoming sick. Everyone knew that a sick Mankey was an infuriated one. Sighing, Isabelle closed her notebook. She was not really looking forward to this case. Subconsciously, she rubbed her left wrist, which had begun hurting again at the memory. While no blemish could be seen, the mark certainly was there in the manner that her left wrist was less agile than her right one. A result of an old wound, and a painful lesson that an enraged Pokémon was a dangerous one.

Upon meeting Dominic at the gate, Isabelle surprised him by wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and giving him a close hug. She rested her forehead against his shoulder for a moment as he rubbed her back, not asking any questions. When she was ready to pull back, she did so with a soft smile.

"Nice to see you too, Iz. How are you?"

"Not looking forward to this, but let's do it," she told him.

The colony wasn't very hard to find. The pig monkeys smelled intruders and were slightly agitated because of it. Frowning, Isabelle looked up the tree in which most of the Mankey sat. However, in another tree, a single Mankey sat. It looked smaller than the rest but not small enough to be a young one. Mankey would never even leave a young one alone like that.

"Let's start with this one," Isabelle suggested, still looking at the single Mankey. Not only was this female smaller than the rest, it also didn't seem agitated; her breathing was normal and her face resembled friendliness even. Taking a small risk, Isabelle called out to her:

"Come here, honey. Give me a hug."

Without even a single moment of hesitation, the Mankey threw herself out of the tree and into Izzy's arms. Those long arms of hers swung around the nurse's body while it made happy little sounds.

"Look, Dom. A gentle Mankey!" Isabelle exclaimed, smiling. However, when the ranger came near, the pig monkey made angry sounds at him, putting herself in between Dom and Izzy. "All right, all right, little one. Let's not do that," Isabelle said, pulling her away while Dom stepped back.

"Hey, I don't mean any harm," he promised the young lady, but he gave Izzy space to do her job.

"So, you don't like men, hm?" She cooed at the Mankey, while starting a report on her. "This one's below average weight. Maybe she doesn't eat enough? If this continues, she might need to be relocated. She doesn't seem to be part of the colony anyway." Isabelle told Dom, while looking at the colony of Mankey up in the tree, who did not seem at all worried she was touching one of them.

As Dom wrote it down, Isabelle swiftly gave the injection to the Mankey. This brave little lady didn't give a single cry, so she rewarded her with a big hug.

"That's a good girl. Yes, you're a good girl."

However, Isabelle was unable to get rid of the Mankey. She had to treat the rest of the Mankey with the smaller one wrapped around her shoulders on her back. Even lighter than she should be, she was still rather heavy when carried for a long time. The other Mankey, on the other hand, did not mind the little back hanger at all. They even seemed calmer because one of them accepted Izzy so much.

Dom stood a little distance away, writing the report while smiling at the nurse he was so fond of. There was nothing more attractive to him than a woman who knew how to work with Pokémon. He was also relieved he did not have to use the tranquiliser darts he had stored in his pocket. Those truly were a last resort.