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

#072 Tentacool

Tentacool, the Jellyfish Pokémon. Tentacool's body is largely composed of water. If it is removed from the sea, it dries up like parchment. If this Pokémon happens to become dehydrated, put it back into the sea. Tentacool absorbs sunlight and refracts it using water inside its body to convert it into beam energy. This Pokémon shoots beams from the small round organ above its eyes.

Today would be one of the first days that saw Wartortle fully re-joined as part of the team, after the rejection from the time when the Poliwhirl needed help. Keeping a careful eye on her, Nurse Isabelle walked over the beach on her bare feet. Wearing her trusty shorts again, she also wore her t-shirt that had an image of a Meowth with an ice-cream cone on it. While she actually didn't have a whole lot of time to spend her days like this, strolling the beach, it was one of their last opportunities before they headed inlands again, towards the mountains and caves of Pewter City. So before they traded sand for rock and gravel, the nursing team would spend a day or two at the beach. Pidgeotto, far above, was riding the strong sea wind like how a surfer would ride waves. Wartortle was in the water, seemingly interested in something. With Ivysaur at her heels, Izzy approached the water.

There was another turtle around Wartortle, about the size of her, yet Izzy couldn't immediately identify what it was. It didn't have Wartortle's tail, so it had to be a Squirtle, yet the colouring was different. It had darker skin with splotches of a colour similar to Wartortle's. The shell was less refined than Squirtle's, too. Much wilder.

With a smile, Isabelle realised this was an actual wild Squirtle, not the domestic breed Oak gave out to young trainers. Isabelle longed to capture it and find out more about the differences between the wild and domestic Squirtle, but she was interrupted by Pidgeotto, who cried urgently, beckoning for her to come. Even Wartortle responded to the cry; she probably realised she needed to be on her best behaviour. Izzy wasn't as weak as Wartortle originally thought.

Leaving the wild Squirtle behind, the team ran after Pidgeotto until they came to a little inlet. There, the surf was coloured purple with unmoving bodies. Coming near, Izzy saw they were Tentacool, who probably have been washed up and dried up in the sun. A little hesitant to touch them herself, Isabelle ordered Ivysaur to get on Pidgeotto's back. He would carry the Tentacool with his vines and Pidgeotto would fly over sea where they would release them. As soon as they hit water, their parchment-like skin should soak up the water, leaving them able to swim away again. Wartortle was ordered to push them back into the water with her Water Gun.

Isabelle was very grateful for her team, whose members were effective enough that she didn't need to touch the Tentacool. They might be primarily Water-Types, but they were some of the more poisonous of the secondary Poison-Types.

As soon as the Tentacool hit the water, or were hit by water, they grew twice their size, having shrunk when they dried out. Within seconds, they started moving again and swam back, deeper into sea. Despite not liking their type, Isabelle couldn't help but admire their resilience. They had been basically dead, baking like that in the sun, and now they're swimming away like nothing really happened.