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

#149 Dragonite

Dragonite, the Dragon Pokémon. The evolved form of Dragonair and the final evolution of Dratini. Despite its bulky build, Dragonite is capable of flying faster than the speed of sound. It can circle the globe in sixteen hours, which is about three times the speed of an average airplane. A kind-hearted Pokémon with human-like intelligence, Dragonite shows signs of altruism: it is said to save humans from drowning and lead lost or foundering ships to safety. However, it will go on an uncontrollable, destructive rampage if its environment is threatened. Dragonite is very rare in the wild, typically living near the sea. Some claim that there is an island somewhere in the ocean that only Dragonite inhabit.

With only a few days to go until they'd leave for Johto, Nurse Isabelle was missing. She did not pick up her phone, she did not answer emails. Dominic Whitewater was frantic. As he visited the Pokécentre she'd been last at, the male lobby nurse told him she had not checked out. However, when he came to her room, that's when he realised something was dreadfully wrong. Her backpack was still laid on the bed and most worryingly, her Pokéballs were there. She was gone and she had not taken her Pokémon with her. For someone as devoted to her little family as she was, this was unthinkable. That's when the fear crept in that something had happened to her. She'd never leave them willingly behind. Without wasting any more time, he called the police.

Seeing the poster of her likeness, which hung in every Pokémon centre in the region, hurt Dominic more than he could handle. Every officer was as close to their Pokémon as he and Izzy were, so the notion of leaving wilfully had been discarded quickly. They currently feared kidnapping or a fatal accident. An officer had tried to warn Dominic for the option of her being dead, but he would not hear anything of it. She was alive. She had to be.

That night, he could not sleep. He was entirely alert, filled with concern for his gorgeous girlfriend. He had been afraid something might happen to her and, now that such a thing had happened, he could not forgive himself nor let himself rest. He dressed, took both his own and her Pokémon, and left the centre in the dead of night. The police had his number. If there was any news, they knew how to reach him.

His wandering brought him to the sea, as though drawn by the salty breeze. The air churned with thunderclouds and rough waves broke against the pier. It fitted his mood, Dom thought. Despite the fact that nothing could be seen in this weather, he remained standing there. Perhaps it was the force of nature, normally so calming, that soothed his internal turmoil. Or perhaps he had seen something, for the idea was almost ridiculous. Barely any Pokémon known could withstand such a storm. But, impossibly, there it was again. Something shooting in and out of the clouds. Before Dom could make a guess as to what it was, it came right for him.

Startled, he leapt aside when a Dragonite descended onto the pier next to him. The first thought Dom had was that it made sense; Dragonite were one of the strongest fliers known. But then he noticed something much more worrying: the dragon was injured. His wings were slightly bent in a way that suggested an old fracture. He was thinner than he should be and old, poorly healed cuts marred his scales. In his eyes, Dom could see fear. Yet when he withdrew a hologram picture from his mailbag, a determined glint covered up the fear.

The image was both familiar and foreign to him. It portrayed a person with a feminine face and a blank look in her eyes. Her hair was hidden under a black cap. Yet he recognised her immediately and without a shadow of a doubt. This face had appeared to him both in and out of dreams. It was his Isabelle! A glance at Dragonite told him that the Pokémon understood.

"Take me to her," he demanded. Despite his emaciated frame, Dragonite allowed Dominic to climb up his back and then they were off. With what could have been an amazing flight, even in spite of the whipping winds and lashing rain, Dom's head was mostly filled with worry. Worry for Izzy, but also for this Dragonite. The way he sometimes lost altitude was extremely concerning. He knew his pretty nurse would go mad if she knew a Pokémon was treated this way.

They landed on an island, in front of what seemed to be a laboratory. All of the windows were shattered and it was in a horrible state of disrepair. No one could be seen. Dragonite left, possibly fearing to get caught transporting the ranger to this island. As he checked his phone, Dom saw his signal was jammed by something. Someone really did not want to be found.

Stepping through the doors which were barely holding onto its hinges, he set to exploring. He did not look at the paper lying on the ground. Old files of days past did not concern him. He was on a mission: find Nurse Isabelle and get out. It was the only thing giving him the apparent courage he mustered.

He found her in the main laboratory, where most of the experiments seemed to have been done. There she stood, on the other side of the room, wearing a floor-length black dress. Her hair was done up in the cap he had seen earlier and her face kept the same blank look. There was not a single sign of recognition.

Behind her stood a man in suit, clasping Isabelle's shoulder with a firm hand. The message was clear: she is not going anywhere. Just like his nurse, Dominic had no problem recognising the man; it was one of the wealthiest men in the Kanto region and the Viridian Gym Leader. Giovanni stood there, with his hand on Dom's girl, grinning as if he had already won. He beckoned to a Pokémon off to the side, which Dom did not recognise. It detached from a machine and approached the ranger at an ominously slow pace.