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

#095 Onix

Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. Onix has a magnet in its brain. It acts as a compass so that this Pokémon does not lose direction while it is tunneling. As it grows older, its body becomes increasingly rounder and smoother.

Life went on. Even with such an unpredictable lifestyle as Nurse Isabelle's, normalcy can be found. Visiting the gyms, for example, felt very comfortable by now. Brock's Onix was back from wherever it was when Izzy visited before, so she had some more Pokémon to check out. Graveler, Brock's Geodude that evolved, was looking great. Brock mentioned he ate a lot and was so much happier than he had been before.

Just as Isabelle was about to approach the Rock Snake that laid docilely a bit further away, the Rock-type Gymleader received a phone call.

"Hello. Oh hey, honey." He grinned like a lunatic. "You're in the hospital? Why?" A moment of silence again as Brock's brow wrinkled in worry. "I'll be right there!" He shouted into the phone before dashing out, just like that. He then came back for a moment, wearing his coat inside out. "Watch my Pokémon for me, Miss Nurse!" And then he was gone again.

A bit intimidated, Isabelle looked at the gigantic Pokémon. At over 9 meters long, it was even longer than Onix usually were. "Hey there, big guy. Will you let me check you out?"

He roared softly and laid his head down. Starting at the tail, Isabelle climbed on top of the long Rock Pokémon. She was careful to spot any discomfort but Onix seemed perfectly okay. When she approached the head, she sat down against the rocky spine on top of his head. "So... what do you think could have happened? I hope Joy's okay. The hospital..." Isabelle sat up swiftly. "She was pregnant! Onix, do you think...?"

Onix made a grating sound. "Only one way to find out: by being patient.

As the nurse and the Rock-type Pokémon waited, Isabelle watched a couple Zubat in the ceiling beams of the building. They probably had a nest there. Zubat and Geodude usually lived together in harmony, so it was not surprising a couple had nested here.

Isabelle's phone rang. "Hello?"

"Miss Nurse, we're on our way back. It's a boy!" The guy sounded like he was crying rivers in happiness.

"Congratulations," Isabelle told him with a smile on her face. When she hung up, she leapt off Onix's head. "Alright, everyone!" She summoned the lazy Geodude, the Graveler, and the Onix. Maybe the Zubat were listening, too. "Your trainer is coming home soon with a baby. Young humans are especially frail so I want you to be very, very careful. No tossing around with it," she told the Geodude with a stern look. "No Tackles. No loud noises, or else it'll wail. The baby means a lot to Brock and Joy, so please, be careful with it."

Just as she finished her speech, the two entered the Gym. Brock had his arm wrapped Joy's waist as she seemed exhausted and had a basket in his other. Just before bringing Joy to bed, Brock handed over the cradle with the baby to Isabelle.

The little one had Brock's complexion and hair colour. However, he had his mother's eyes. It was rather odd to be able to look someone of Brock's family in the eye, since their eyes usually were very narrow.

Brock returned with tears in his eyes. Izzy returned his son to him. "He's gorgeous," she told him. Brock could only nod.