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

#147 Dratini

Dratini, the Dragon Pokémon. As long as Dratini is filled with life energy, it is constantly growing, and can thus reach lengths of over six feet. As it grows, it sheds its skin regularly. Whenever Dratini undergoes shedding, it hides behind a large waterfall. Although this Pokémon was originally thought to be nothing more than a myth, it has been found in colonies living underwater. – Nurse Evergreen

Now that the hectic days of travelling were done for this season, Nurse Isabelle had settled somewhere to focus on her Pokémon. Ponyta needed to have exercise every day, Chansey needed training in fieldwork, and maybe most importantly, Izzy had a baby Lapras to raise. One of the safest places to do all this was the Safari zone. Maybe Dominic was rubbing off on her, but the young nurse began to see the charm of the wild area. Pokémon seemed to love it there, able to run freely without much concern of trainers. The Safari zone had limited opening hours to prevent over-hunting and was most of the time a wildlife sanctuary.

Deep in the Safari zone was a lake. Isabelle had ridden there on Ponyta's back and let her graze undisturbed. Chansey was not out. They'd do a night-shift with the rangers that night and she wanted her Pokémon to be well rested for that, since it'd be a long night. It was an idyllic place, that lake; a waterfall descended gently from not too high, foaming the water up with a pleasant sound. The lake itself was deceptively deep, which gave the water a deep blue colour. Furthermore, it was surprisingly cold; Izzy's toes were slightly numb as she splashed her feet in the water.

This was as safe as Isabelle could find and so she let her Lapras swim around here. The ice/water type had grown a little since it had hatched. No longer was her shield smooth. It had little nubs on it now which would later grow into hard extrusions to hold onto as that person was carried on Lapras' back.

There was something else in the water, Izzy noticed, as Lapras kept diving under and staying away for whole minutes. Yet the blonde was not worried for she had read up on what could possibly be in there. Magikarp, Goldeen: the usual Water-types. Maybe something more rare, but that was less likely. However, when a smooth head with purple eyes and a bump on its forehead appeared, Izzy sat up startled. Several Dratini surfaced at once, swimming around her young Lapras who seemed to be having the time of her short life. She kept squealing excitedly when one leapt over her shield.

When Izzy moved, however, they all shot away, only to appear a bit further away. Lapras called to them, maybe telling them not to be afraid? Eventually, the Dratini were convinced enough to get so near Izzy that the fins on their heads brushed against Izzy's toes, making her giggle.

"What did you tell them, Lapras?" she asked, still smiling. She did not expect an answer at all, so when Lapras turned around and glowed a bit, it came as an absolute surprise.

"Mama," she could hear in her mind. A child-like voice said it, female and young. When the glowing stopped, the voice faded away and Lapras swam away to play some more with the Dratini.

Isabelle could have fainted from shock right there. She had heard of the psychic abilities of Lapras, but since the species were so rare, little research had been done on it. Multiple thoughts and emotions filled her. She was on one hand excited to be able to communicate with her Lapras, yet on the other side, she feared something would happen to the species if she ever wrote about it. If the wrong people learnt that Lapras could bridge between human speech and Pokémon speech, they'd be hunted to extinction for sure.

No, Isabelle decided as she watched her innocent baby play. This secret must never be exposed.

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