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

#086 Seel

Seel, the Sea Lion Pokémon. Seel hunts for prey in the frigid sea underneath sheets of ice. When it needs to breathe, it punches a hole through the ice with the sharply protruding section of its head.

Because the Joys were usually too busy to leave their centres unattended, Nurse Isabelle took the house-calls from various people with sick or injured Pokémon. When she was in Cerulean, the Three Sensational Sisters called from Cerulean gym. Despite the fact that the girls were rather shallow, they did care about their Pokémon. The Gym always so awfully humid, though.

Upon arriving at the Water-type Gym, she was greeted kindly. They invited her to release her Water-types and to join them for lemonade at the massive pool as they sat on the bleachers. Isabelle could see why she'd been called, though, as the girls chatted along. In the middle of the pool floated a white shape upside down in the water. Wartortle, who had been released, swam around it, seemingly worried despite her usual aloofness. A Poliwag and a Poliwhirl trod water nearby, too, watching over their sick friend.

The three girls did not even notice as Isabelle walked down the bleachers to kneel down at the edge of the pool. Behind her, the Sensational Sisters were talking about an event that was going to happen in Cerulean, today. Starting in the afternoon, there would be a festival which focussed on the beauty of Pokémon. That got Wartortle's attention, who peeked up from the water to listen to the sisters.

"Wartortle." Isabelle called for her Water-type. No response.

"Wartortle!" Still nothing. Her Wartortle was almost hypnotised by the talk of the beauty competition.

Isabelle made a splash by slapping her hand on the water, which actually hurt. Startled, the Poliwag fled, the Poliwhirl called out its name before swimming away, and it even got Wartortle's attention who swam over to her. The Seel in the middle of the pool did not respond, though.

"Wartortle. Let me make a deal with you. You help me with Seel over there, and we'll go to that fancy fare later, okay? Now, push Seel over to me and keep him in place. I don't want it floating off."

Wartortle has never helped her so well. This is what their partnership could have been had things not gone differently. She pushed Seel to the edge where Izzy was sitting, with her medical bag open. Using a stethoscope, she checked Seel's heart and lungs. When she came to her stomach, though, she heard something out of place. It seemed the little guy had eaten something weird and felt really, really sick now. If only he could throw up what it was, he could feel better instantly.

With her face scrunched up in distaste, Isabelle gave it one of the pills she preferred not to use. The body absolutely hated it and made whoever took it throw up immediately. While Wartortle held it still, Isabelle cradled his head and fed it the tiny pill. It worked miraculously quick. Within a few seconds, she had the Water-type barfing all over the place. It got in the pool, it hit Wartortle, and even Izzy's trousers and pants reeked of puke and chocolate. It had been chocolate what the Pokémon had eaten.

"Ew!" The sisters behind her supplied. Seel, however, seemed to feel totally fine again, started clapping its flippers while excitedly calling.

"Daisy, can you turn the extra filtering in the pool? Lily, you should call the janitor to have this cleaned up. Violet, I'd like a shower. Could you show me the way to one?"

The girls did not dare to defy a woman covered in barf. As the girls cleaned up their Gym, Isabelle and Wartortle shared a shower. They were both girls, anyway, and being a travelling Nurse had long since eroded Izzy's modesty around her team. After Izzy's clothing was dumped in the laundry, to be done in a few hours, Isabelle knelt down to wash Wartortle's shell as the water ran over both of them. They stayed in a bit longer than usual, taking great care not to smell foul anymore.

Dressed in jeans and a three-quarter sleeved shirt in Rattata purple, Izzy checked on Seel one more time. The little guy was swimming around excitedly - in a clean pool, fortunately - as he ate for the first time in days.

"No more chocolate," Isabelle told the girls sternly.

"I have no idea where he got it from but indeed, no more chocolate."

"Now, Wartortle, are you ready to go to that fair? Girls, we'll be back later to pick up my clothing from the washing. Thank you, again." And then Isabelle left with Wartortle excitedly walking behind her.