#014 Kakuna
Kakuna, the cocoon Pokémon. The evolved form of Weedle. When it comes close to evolving, its body gives off heat that makes it warm to touch. Kakuna remains virtually immobile and waits for evolution often hanging from tree branches by long strands of silk. When attacked, however, it can extend its poison barbs. Kakuna nests in forests and misty wooded areas. Occasionally, it will also nest at the mouths of tunnels and caves - Nurse Evergreen.
Even nurses deserved a day off, occasionally. At least, that's what Nurse Isabelle told herself. When no emergency calls have been made and no wild Pokémon seem to be in trouble, Isabelle took the rare free time to relax. As was the custom, Ivysaur and Wartortle were released from their Pokéballs. After all, why would she keep her closest companions locked up while she could take some time off?
There was a tiny stream nearby. Not deep enough to bathe in, but Wartortle enjoyed herself none the less. The water seemed to be pure and so, sitting on a rock in the sunlight, the vain turtle began washing and grooming herself, taking extra good care of her gorgeous tail. With the sunlight shining off her polished shell, Wartortle looked so beautiful that Isabelle could not resist taking a photo of her to post on her blog later.
Ivysaur, on the other hand, stayed close to Isabelle. Sitting cross-legged with Ivysaur on her lap with his eyes closed in bliss, Izzy searched through her Pokédex for more information on Ivysaur, as she scratched his head absentmindedly. The leathery touch of his skin was smooth to the touch, no longer as dry as it had been when she adopted her starter. She had a vague memory that her grass-type starter could learn something around this stage.
"Aha! Take down!" Isabelle exclaimed triumphantly. Ivysaur merely opened one eye at the noise.
"Let's learn take down, Ivy. That should be useful to be able to take down a Pokémon after you put it to sleep. Some remain standing, you see? Come on, silly sleepy head! We'll nap later, okay?" Isabelle lifted him a tiny bit off her lap and put him back down again, just to coax him into action.
Reluctantly, Ivysaur stood up from her lap, allowing the young nurse to get up as well, but before doing so, Isabelle rubbed her Pokémon over the belly, affectionately.
As Izzy and Ivysaur searched for a proper target to practice on, Wartortle merely glanced at them before continuing what she was doing. Isabelle didn't mind as long as her water-type Pokémon did not run into trouble. She would work on Wartortle's moves another day.
Just a bit further was a massive apple tree. The apples were big and red and looked juicy. Isabelle really wanted one.
"Let's try to get those, shall we, Ivysaur? Take down is basically a harder tackle. Rather than bumping into your opponent, you try to take it down to the ground with you. You may receive some recoil so let's not try it too often, okay? I don't want you to get hurt. Ready, Ivysaur? All right. Try to take down that apple tree!" Isabelle called out the last part, pointing at the tree she wished her Pokémon to attack.
Eagerly, Ivysaur dashed towards it, charging at full speed. As he bashed against the tree, Izzy was happy the Bulbasaur line had tough skulls, because it sounded a tad painful. They were rewarded with a load of apples that came crashing down, perfectly ripe and edible.
Proudly, Ivysaur took one of the apples in his maw and ran towards his trainer, fully expecting her to be happy with him for successfully getting them some apples. But instead of pride, horror was to be seen on Isabelle's face.
This horror was caused by what else had shaken loose by the attach on the tree. Several cocoons slid and fell from the tree, laying on the ground among the apples. They were not green like the harmless Metapod. These were beige and, therefore, they were Kakuna. To make matters worse, one of the Kakuna had cracked from which some light shone, signalling an evolution.
"Nope. Nope. We're out of here," Isabelle decided. Without explaining herself, she recalled her Pokémon to their balls, grabbed her backpack and ran as fast as she could. Because the evolved form of Kakuna were known to attack humans and Pokémon with the slightest cause and disturbing their tree and young ones was reason enough.
Isabelle did not look over her shoulder to see if she was being followed. She ran to Viridian city as fast as she could, not resting until she was in the Pokémon centre. Panting, she stopped there against the counter. One did not even have time to get fat and lazy around here, living among Pokémon. Bursting a giggle, she greeted the startled Joy on duty – a short little girl with even shorter hair – and asked for a room.