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

#070 Weepinbell

Weepinbell, the Flycatcher Pokémon. The evolved form of Bellsprout. Weepinbell has a large hook on its rear end. At night, the Pokémon hooks on to a tree branch and goes to sleep. If it moves around in its sleep, it may wake up to find itself on the ground.

Whenever Nurse Isabelle found herself in Celadon City, there were two women she longed to visit. The first one was her mother, who had been a nurse in her own age, but now just took care of Pokémon that needed long-term treatment. Premature hatchlings, for example, or Pokémon that whose trust needed to be won again. Isabelle had the feeling her mother, Elenor Evergreen, was secretly wishing for a grandchild. Both women knew that their love for their job came first, though. Elenor had been rather old when she had her daughter, compared to the other mothers in her birth month. She was rapidly approaching her sixties and her blond hair had lost most of its golden colour and was streaked with grey. Sandy, Isabelle called it affectionately.

After tea at the zoo that was Mother's house, Isabelle headed over to Celadon Gym, where she would meet up with the second woman she longed to see in Celadon. Erika, the Gym Leader and a childhood friend of Izzy, had invited her over for dinner. Because Izzy had never been to Erika's house before, they had decided to meet at the Gym and walk the last bit themselves.

Erika lived very close to the Gym. Isabelle was told the Gym owned the park around the greenhouse that was the Gym, too, and in this park was a lovely house that may have served as a gatehouse in old times. What made Isabelle laugh was this little Meowth latch on the door, to let small Pokémon in. It was such an Erika thing to have.

Despite the warmth of a spring afternoon, Erika was still dressed in the traditional, eastern robes. As Isabelle was given a knife and told to chop the vegetables, they talked.

"How are things, Erika?"

"They're good, albeit slow. Not many trainers this last month. My Pokémon are getting restless. Now that you're in Celadon, would you like to battle me, tomorrow morning? Weepinbell here, for example, hasn't been trained in over a week. See how he's bothering those Oddish? He has too much energy."

Isabelle had indeed seen it. "Don't worry. I'll fight you. I have a Pokémon that'd love to fight. My Pidgeotto. Simple guard duty isn't enough for him, apparently. I'm happy you asked."

Erika smiled at her friend before serving dinner. As the girls ate at the table, they were surrounded by eating Pokémon. Oddish at their feet, eating from bowls. A Gloom, a Weepinbell, and some Bellsprout. Despite the crowd, Isabelle loved it. Being surrounded by Pokémon truly was a joy. It also helped that these weren't injured. It was satisfying to heal Pokémon, but it felt good to see them healthy, too.

Sitting cross-legged on a mattress on the floor, Isabelle had Ivy between her legs as she combed out her long, curly hair.

"Erika...," Isabelle started. "Have you ever been in love?"

That caught Erika's attention immediately. "Why...?"

"How do you keep a guy happy? I'm seeing this guy, a Ranger, and ... we've been kissing." Her freckled cheeks coloured a rosy colour, causing the older Erika to grin. "Both times, he was the one to kiss me. How do I keep him happy?"

Cradling Weepinbell on her lap, Erika took a moment to respond. "The first and best piece of advice I can give you is to listen to your heart. Your heart knows best. If you feel like kissing him, just do it. Of course, there are certain kissing techniques that are sure to get his attention."

After a lengthy talk about how and where to kiss, Isabelle laid down but was unable to sleep for a long while. A certain black-haired ranger was heavily on her mind. Whenever she tried to imagine her using some of Erika's advice, she'd get all bashful. She had been told, though, that the first time trying something new like that was always scary.