You have nothing else to do, so sure

You follow Nurse Joy, past all the stretchers, to a door leading to the back of the Pokemon Center. You’ve never been in here before… You assumed this was staff only, but Nurse Joy seems pretty lax about bringing you back here.

“Hey, am I allowed to be here?” you ask timidly.

“Yup! Because I said you are,” Nurse Joy answers with a wink.

The doors open up to an expansive, square-shaped room with bookshelves and manila folders lining the walls. It’s pretty big on its own, but you already spot a set of double doors leading to yet another room. More importantly, though, there’s a Bulbasaur sitting on an examination table on the opposite side of the room. “Bulbasaur!” he declares as you enter.

“Good morning Bulbasaur!” Nurse Joy responds. “How are you today?”

“Bulba!”

Joy turns to you and explains, “Bulbasaur is here for a general health checkup. If you’d like, I can show you how to examine a Bulbasaur. Would you find that interesting?”

“Oh. Y-Yeah, that would be cool! I didn’t know you were gonna let me watch you work with pokemon.”

“So… you don’t mind?” Nurse Joy asks pensively.

“I don’t!” you reply.

The nurse smiles, then beckons you over as she begins her examination. She starts by taking Bulbasaur’s temperature through his mouth. Then she moves to inspecting his eyes and ears, explaining as she goes. She talks about what she’s seeing, and any potential signs of problems that she’s looking for. That all seems pretty typical, but you’re surprised when she takes out a color swatch and holds it up to Bulbasaur’s seed pod. “The seed pod is a good indicator of a Bulbasaur’s health. If it’s too pale, it can indicate poor nutrition or illness. This Bulbasaur’s seed pod, however, is a beautiful shade of green. Isn’t it?” She pets Bulbasaur, concluding the exam. “Your owner will be here to pick you up soon. Stay healthy, Bulbasaur!”

Nurse Joy leads you through the double doors to the next room. “Do you like pokemon, Emilia?”

“Of course,” you answer on reflex. “I’m a pokemon trainer, obviously I like them.”

“That’s good, I’m glad to hear that. You’d be surprised how much the answer can vary, even among trainers…” Really…?

The next room is a lot like the last one, but it has a shallow tank of water on one end, where a Horsea swims around cheerfully. “So what’s wrong with this Horsea?” you ask.

Joy replies, “Oh, nothing too serious. Horsea have a tendency to shoot ink from their snouts if they’re scared. The young ones might do it if they’re too excited, too. Aside from causing a mess for their owners, it can also leave a residue inside the Horsea’s snout, leading to irritation. This excitable Horsea is here to have her snout cleaned. It’s not a difficult procedure, but her owner is new, and is afraid of hurting her, so we’ll take good care of her. Would you like to help?”

“Help? You mean, with the procedure?” you ask, trepidation in your voice.

“That’s right! Her owner’s just being a big baby. Just don’t be too rough or go too far back, and it’ll be fine. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Your nurse mentor puts a towel on the floor next to the tank so you can both kneel down and reach Horsea. She demonstrates the process first, running a soft cloth, slowly and gently, within Horsea’s snout. Horsea is surprisingly cooperative, making no mystery of the fact that she enjoys the cleaning. It feels relaxing just to watch, but the spectating period ends far too soon, and your stomach drops when Joy turns to you and says, “Okay, your turn.”

Despite your nervousness, you take the cloth in hand and reach out to Horsea. She looks up at you happily, seemingly far braver than you at the moment. You put the cloth a mere millimeter into her snout, not reaching anywhere near the remaining ink, and try to replicate the rubbing motion Nurse Joy used. “That’s fine, Emilia. Get used to that, and then try going further back.” Joy continues advising you, her instructions patient and precise. Eventually, you reach the point that’s still dirty, and you can feel the ink lifting up. Huh, Nurse Joy was right. You really don’t have to use any **** at all, it just gets removed on contact. You continue cleaning until you reach the back of Horsea’s snout, and you don’t really feel the cloth picking anything up anymore. “There, that does it. Good job, Emilia.”

Did Nurse Joy just say you did a good job…? The same nurse who usually expects you to fail and delights when you do? “Uh, th-thanks!”

“Bye Horsea! Maybe we can get your owner to wash you next time,” Joy says, patting Horsea’s head. After depositing the cloth in a nearby bin, she leads you to yet another room.

Along the way, Nurse Joy asks, “How did you like taking care of that Horsea, Emilia?”

“I liked it! I-I was a little scared at first, but Horsea really seemed to enjoy it!”

“Is that why you liked it? Because Horsea liked it?”

That’s a pretty weird question. “Well… Y-Yeah, I think so. I just kinda like taking care of pokemon in general. I like pokemon, so I like them being happy too.”

Nurse Joy smiles like your answer itself is a gift. “You like taking care of pokemon in general… Well, let’s keep going.”

The next room is a lot more lively than the last two, featuring multiple pens lining the perimeter. A Chansey with a nurse’s cap is tending to the left pen, so Nurse Joy brings you to the pen on the right. The pokemon inside are two Eevees who don’t look to have anything wrong with them. You stare at the pokemon suspiciously.

“Is everything alright?” Nurse Joy asks with concern.

“Eevee’s rise in popularity always seemed… unnatural. It’ll never be a mascot pokemon.” Nurse Joy and the Eevees give you equally quizzical looks. “But it’s cute, so I’ll overlook it!”

“R-Right. Well…” Nurse Joy continues, “these two were brought in for a loss of appetite. We changed their food, and they perked right up! Their owners should be here to pick them up soon. Would you like to pet them?”

“Yes!” you answer on reflex.

Both Eevees are as friendly as can be, nuzzling against your hand and mewing affectionately. Their coats are thick, shiny, and smooth, making it all the more pleasant to pet them. It takes all your willpower not to claim one for yourself. But you can’t! These are someone else’s pokemon. They don’t belong to you! Unless…?

“I know that look,” Nurse Joy interrupts. “These Eevees aren’t for sale or adoption. Let’s keep going, Emilia.”

“Awwwww…”

Joy leads you to a similar pen on the other side of the room. “These Growlithe are here for general health checkups, like the Bulbasaur we saw before. They’re part of the Kanto Police ****, so they’re here pretty often to make sure they’re in peak condition. They’re an essential part of keeping us all safe, after all. Unlike a certain someone…”

There’s that bad blood between her and Officer Jenny… You’re about to ask if you can pet the Growlithe, too, but you notice something else in the back of the pen. “What’s that Ninetales doing back there? Do the police use them too?”

Nurse Joy follows where you point, them jumps in surprise. “Oh my! Nurse Chansey, where’s the file for that Ninetales?” The Chansey hands a manila folder to Joy. “It seems it was brought in with a nasty laceration on its ankle. The owner is… none? It has no owner?” After a brief exchange with Chansey, Nurse Joy reaches an understanding. “So this is a wild Ninetales that someone found. They brought it here because it was injured, but there’s no owner… Emilia, would you like to learn a bit about wound care?”

“Th-That sounds a little bit over my head…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do the hard parts, so just watch closely.”

Nurse Joy gets Ninetales into a separate pen, then begins working on its wound. She starts by removing some bits of wood and foliage from the surrounding area. It must have hurt itself on a tree or bush… Next she disinfects the wound, making the Ninetales flinch in pain. Ouch. It reminds you of the times you got hurt when you were younger. It hurts, but it’s necessary.

Nurse Joy states, “Fortunately, the cut isn’t so deep that we need to stitch it up. She’ll be fine with a bandage for now. Here, you can wrap it up. Make sure it’s snug, but not so tight that it hurts.”

“Me? O-Okay.” Nervous as you are, you try to bandage the Ninetales’s ankle just like you would your own. You’re probably a bit more cautious than you need to be, but you really don’t want to hurt her. Once you’re done, you look up at Nurse Joy for her evaluation.

“Good job. That will do nicely. Thank you for your help Emilia! That’s all I have to show you for now, but you’re welcome to join me again sometime.”

“Thanks Nurse Joy! But… what’s gonna happen to that Ninetales?”

“We’ll have to wait for the person who brought her in to return. Somehow, I don’t expect they’ll want to take her in. Ninetales aren’t very manageable as household pets. They also shed like crazy. There’s no need for you to worry about it, though. She’s already better off than she would’ve been without your help. There’s still some hours left before the Gym opens, so why don’t you look around Pewter City? Just don’t get into too much trouble!”

You stare at the nurse wide-eyed. “Did you say don’t get into trouble?”

“Oh! I-I mean, do get into trouble! Get fucked by strangers and such, so I have the pleasure of carrying you on a stretcher yet again!”

“That’s what I thought. Thanks for showing me your work, though. Taking care of pokemon is fun! I didn’t know you did all of this. Maybe you’re not as mean as I thought… Uh… but you’re still lewd! Okay bye!”

You march off, leaving a grinning Nurse Joy in your wake.