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

#131 Lapras

Lapras, the Transport Pokémon. Lapras is a gentle, helpful Pokémon that enjoys ferrying people across bodies of water. However, this docility has made it an easy target for hunters, who have nearly driven it to extinction. An intelligent Pokémon, it is able to understand human speech. It has been known to travel the seas in large pods. To keep in touch with other of its kind, it sings enchanting melodies. It was shown that Lapras is able to develop psychic abilities such as telepathy. Lapras is native to the seas.

Somewhat bored, Nurse Isabelle sat in one of the offices of a Pokémon centre. She'd already forgotten the name of the town she was in. Golden evening light shone through the window on her right, colouring the entire room something other than the dreadful white that was everywhere in the center. To her left, on a pillow she snatched off a couch in the break room, Izzy's light blue egg laid. She had asked it back from Chansey now that it had begun twitching. It wouldn't be long now.

As she watched for it to hatch, the blonde was flicking through her journal, scowling at it, as she digitalised her adventure since leaving her home. However, her handwriting was illegible at times, and at other times the information was not very useful. She seemed to forget to place a date or location with many notes or stories, making them rather hard to file and assemble into a coherent diary. Apparently, thoroughness was not one of her talents.

The worst thing was that when Dominic had joined her for the day, all her notes were on how he smiled at her or when and where he had kissed her. Nothing of the Pokémon they had visited that day. Not even a mention of that red Gyarados from not long ago.

A crack drew her attention. The egg, on the pillow, shook so violently that Izzy feared it would roll off. Swiftly, she grabbed it and cradled it on her lap, stroking the forming cracks and cooing at it. Then it burst further open and a surge of water fell out, staining her white trousers. With a curse, she grabbed the egg and leapt up, grimacing at her soiled trousers. The nature of the egg was very clear now and so Izzy rushed off towards one of the Water-type treatment rooms. Since the hatchling had been in water during its time in the egg, surely it required water once outside of the egg as well.

The egg cracked further as she ran and burst open just as she got to one of the treatment pools. Whatever had been in it slid in the water with a splash. Tossing the eggshells away, Izzy knelt at the basin to see what it was. The creature was no bigger than a Squirtle. It was obviously native to the sea since it swam upwards to the surface without any problem. The light-blue Pokémon broke the surface with a cry so adorable it melted Izzy's slightly hardened heart. A baby Lapras looked at her with an expression so eager Isabelle couldn't help smiling at her.

As she lifted it out of the water to cradle on her lap, Izzy did not notice her soaked trousers anymore. The baby Lapras was so light, she weighed no more than Bulbasaur had when she had first adopted him. Her shell, instead of being hard and knobbly, was soft and lumpy. Stroking this little one's head, she was aware she would not replace Ivysaur. Instead, this little helpless being required so much care and love that Izzy needed to move on. Ivy was fine; he was healthy and fed and loved where he was currently. Lapras here depended on her now. Misty had entrusted this egg to her.

Also, Izzy thought amusedly as she fed Lapras some mashed, boiled berries, when Lapras had matured enough, she would be really useful to work from. Much more comfortable than Dewgong. Glad that the hole in her heart was slowly mending, Isabelle spent the rest of the evening feeding and playing with the baby Lapras.