#028 Sandslash

Sandslash, the mouse Pokémon. The evolved form of Sandshrew. Sandslash has two large claws on its paws and feet. These claws are its primary weapons and are used for slashing. They can also be used for burrowing. Its claws and spikes can both break off and are shed regularly but grow back quickly. It can curl into a large ball to protect its white underbelly. In this position, it can roll to attack or escape and protect itself from heatstroke. Sandslash can mostly be found in deserts – Nurse Evergreen.

Somewhere near Pewter city, Nurse Isabelle's help was needed again. A couple of miners were doing maintenance on the rock tunnel, removing rocks that are in the way, fortifying the ceiling, and other stuff Isabelle had never been interested in. But that wasn't why she was there. One of the Pokémon helping the miners had fallen ill.

Sitting in the small, but cosy house of one of the miners, Isabelle was kneeling on the ground next to the sick mouse Pokémon. The poor thing had a harsh fever, probably from working too hard and not resting enough. Pokémon tended to go far for their trainers and sometimes too far. The heat from the fireplace made the cabin nicely warm. The Sandslash preferred heat over cold so this should make it feel better and help it heal easier. Even though Sandslash did not generally need to drink a lot of water, it was important that this one stayed hydrated, even more than usual.

While Isabelle was doing her best to bring the Sandslash's fever down, her Ivysaur helped the miner whose Pokémon she was treating. Ivysaur could dig a little and could use the training, having napped way too much over the last weeks, growing a bit pudgy and more than a bit lazy. Izzy had been going a bit soft on her affectionate starter.

Meanwhile, Pidgeotto was out to fly to the Pokémon centre to get some medicine for this Pokémon. All Nurse Isabelle could do now was make sure the Sandslash drank enough and kept warm.

Izzy's heart melted for this Sandslash. Even delirious with fever, it constantly sought praise and recognition. Its trainer had apparently raised it with a lot of positive reinforcement. Izzy had noticed he treated it this way from the way he said goodbye to his Pokémon, leaving with her Ivysaur. The man had been twice as broad as Isabelle is, yet he handled his Sandslash with such care. He had knelt in front of the mouse Pokémon and whispered to it to take it easy and rest up. He had said that Sandslash was his champion and even champions needed rest occasionally. To be fair, the man did not look that great either and Izzy told him so. Instead of blowing it off as he seemed to usually do, he nodded sadly and mentioned that maintenance week was the roughest for all of them. He needed the money, however.

While waiting for Pidgeotto to return, the Sandslash had left its place in front of the fireplace and crawled up against Izzy, so she got herself comfortable in front of the fireplace and allowed the spiky mouse to snuggle against her chest with its chin on her shoulder. In this position, his white underbelly rested against Izzy's chest, rather than his spikes. Because it had so many of these spikes, Isabelle could not pet it but that Sandslash didn't seem to mind this. Like this, the Pokémon finally fell asleep. It said a lot about the Pokémon that its preferred sleeping position, and the one he returned to when sick, was cuddling up against a human.

By the time the sun set and the miner came home with her Ivysaur, the Sandslash had napped for hours and even had had a potion to regain strength. The spiky mouse was feeling much better. Ivysaur, however, wasn't as pleased. It was tough work, working for a miner and he was entirely covered in mud. His mood brightened a lot when his human brushed and moisturised him until he was all clean and shining, fed him an amazing meal with the tastiest Pokémon food, and then allowed him to sleep on her bed with her in the Pokémon centre tonight.

The following morning, Isabelle returned to the miner's house. Ivysaur was too sore to come with her and slept in, buried in the Pokémon centre's herb garden. The Joy on duty, a woman as broadly built as the miners and probably as strong as one too, knew about this. Apparently, miner's Pokémon had a status of honour in this town and would be treated with the most tender loving care. After all, without them, the miners would not be able to work as efficiently, if at all.

That day, the Sandslash's owner had also taken the day off. He seemed fine to her, just severely overworked. She recommended a very hot bath and good food to him, both of which could be found at the Pokémon centre if needed. The Sandslash was doing pretty well. Up and about, still slightly weakened but finally eating again. Both of them should be right as rain the following day.

On her way out of the house, Isabelle was stopped by the miner. He pulled her into a tight hug that smelled of coal and pressed a little something in her hands. It was a Sandshrew made of yarn, fashioned into a keychain.

'For on your backpack, you know?' The miner said, gesturing to the soft-pink bag. 'It's so empty. Just let me … yeah, here we go!' He had fastened it to one of the zippers so the little Sandshrew bounced along with every step. 'Me wife loved to make em. She would have liked you to have one, for what you did for me Sandslash, and for me'.

For the longest of time, until it fell apart from lots of use, that Sandshrew hung from the same zipper on her backpack. Izzy was rather fond of it.