Begin Part 9

“Do you need anything else, Nurse Joy?” you ask.

Once you’d beaten Brooke, you intended to only take a single day off before continuing your journey. Yet, somehow… it’s been a week. Taking care of pokemon has been so much fun, you haven’t wanted to leave. In fact, even though you’re talking to Nurse Joy, all your attention is on the Ninetales you just fed. You gentle stroke the back of her neck as you wait for Nurse Joy’s reply.

“That’s all for today, Emilia. Thank you for your help! If you keep this up, I might try to recruit you away from your Pokemon Master adventure to work here full-time!”

“No way!” you answer, sticking your tongue out at the nurse.

“I know, I know. I was only kidding. Oh, but there is one thing. That Ninetales you’ve been taking care of… It’s really taken a liking to you…” Her sentence drifts off as Joy retrieves a manila folder and starts flipping through some pages. “The person who dropped her off hasn’t returned, and we haven’t been able get a hold of them, either…” You nod, continuing to pet Ninetales. “Normally, if a pokemon gets abandoned here at the Pokemon Center, we can either put it up for adoption, or let it into the wild. Ninetales was in the wild to begin with, and adoption facilities can’t even accommodate a Ninetales.”

“Oh… Sounds like we’ll have to let her back into the wild, huh? I’ll be sad to see her go…”

“I thought you might say that,” Nurse Joy continues. “That’s why I think you should have her!”

You respond, “Yeah, I guess it’s for the be- wait what?”

“You should have her,” Nurse Joy confirms. “The two of you get along great. You’ve been taking care of her so diligently, day after day, and her mood always perks up when you come around. I’ll bet she’d be happy to join you in your journey!”

“R-Really? I don’t wanna push her when she just got over being injured. Do you really want to come with me, Ninetales? There’ll be battles ahead.” Ninetales licks your face, then rests her head on your shoulder.

“That looks like a ‘yes’ to me,” Joy chimes. She retrieves a pokeball from a nearby drawer and tosses it to you.

“Okay, are you ready Ninetales?” you ask. You hold the pokeball out, and before you can even toss it, Ninetales boops it with her snoot and vanishes inside.

Pokemon Gained: Ninetales!

So cute! You’re really happy to have a new pokemon, and you feel way more of a bond with her than with any random pokemon you could catch in the wild, but you still have to wonder… “Are you sure it’s okay for me to ‘catch’ a pokemon that was being taken care of in the Pokemon Center?”

“Of course!” Nurse Joy replies. “Who would you get in trouble with? The paperwork? Papers are very easy to fool, Emilia.” That sounds like the same way that Brooke was following the rules… Which was not following the rules at all… “Regardless, don’t you think you should be continuing your adventure? Not that I mind you working here, but you’re not the type to stay in one place too long.”

“Uh, r-right. Th-This is all just a part of my plan to become a Pokemon Master! But also…” You walk over to the nurse and give her a hug. “Thanks Nurse Joy. You’re nicer than I gave you credit for. Caring for pokemon is lots of fun and really satisfying.”

Your ears must be whistling or something, since you hear a sort of high-pitched squeal that couldn’t have come from Nurse Joy. “Y-Yes, well, hopefully you’ve got some other role models in mind besides a dubious professor or some silly old cop. I’ll take care of things here and meet you in Viridian City.”

“Oh yeah, how do you always know where I’m going, anyway? And how do you get there before-”

“Run along now, Emilia!” She pushes you out the door, and you find yourself standing outside. Sigh… You’re never gonna figure that woman out.