#036 Clefable

Clefable, the fairy Pokémon. The evolved form of Clefairy. Clefable is a timid creature that flees when it senses people approaching, and is one of the world's rarest Pokémon. Its sensitive ears can distinctly hear a pin drop from half a mile away. Because of its acute hearing, it prefers to live in quiet, mountainous areas of which it is protective. Using a bouncy gait, it is able to walk on water and sometimes appears to be flying using its small wings. It's native to Mt Moon – Nurse Evergreen.

Usually, at the nursing school, Sundays were calm and quiet because all the teenagers tried to sleep in. Not today, though. Even though the sun had barely risen, excited chatter could be heard all over the hallway as students talked among each other, even to those not of their own dorm or year.

Sleepily, Isabelle and Wendy came out of their beds, standing in the doorway while rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Izzy's hair nearly reached her waist when wet but since it was awfully curly this morning, it hung somewhere between her shoulders and elbows. Wendy's black hair was an uncontrollable afro on her head, around which she was currently tying a floral scarf. Neither of the girls looked as well-groomed as all the dressed Joys and other nurses in the hallway.

"What's up?" Isabelle asked groggily, inquiring after the reason of this loud chattering. "Why is everyone making so much noise? It's Sunday, not Monday."

"Didn't you hear?" A Joy in her final year at the school asked. Her pink hair was a dark shade and tied in a knot on her head. "Clefable have been seen nearby!" Then she rushed off with her camera. Some Joys carried sketchbooks, while others merely seemed to bring their photographic memory. Isabelle looked around for Petra, who was another non-Joy around here, but Wendy yanked on her arm.

"Clefable, Isa! Clefable!" She said excitedly, looking as chipper as all the other girls. It hadn't taken her long to wake up, but that was nothing new.

"Yes, I heard that, unless you're trying to imitate their call?" Izzy snapped, unable to muster her level of excitement so soon after waking up, especially this early. Wendy merely laughed.

"No. I'm gonna find one! And you're coming with me." She decided. Isabelle groaned.

"Do I have to? It's so early. It isn't even seven yet."

"Yes!"

In a group of many young nurses in casual clothing (half of them with pink hair), the girls of the nursing school headed over towards the closest mountain ridge where the Clefable allegedly had been seen. Wendy was chatting animatedly about how she loved their gentleness and kept telling Izzy about the useful skills they could learn, such as something that might be called something with healing. Izzy wasn't really paying attention; she didn't feel as surefooted as she normally was.

At the place where the latest rumour said they were seen, all girls split up, to not to startle the possible Clefable with too many people at once. Isabelle followed a couple of older Joys, teachers of hers, who were just as excited to find these odd and rare Pokémon as Isabelle was. None of them believed Clefable were actually here. Textbooks did not have much on them, except for the fact that they were shy and unused to humans. After an hour or two, most girls went back to the school. None of them had been able to find any sign of the Clefable. Feeling hungry herself, Isabelle looked for Wendy, knowing she'd be the last one to leave. That girl simply did not give up hope. Izzy loved her for it.

While full of faith, Wendy Foxglove was definitely the clumsier one of the two. Finding out where she had gone wasn't hard for Izzy since the path was marked by broken branches and trampled flowers.

In quite a lovely, secluded place, Isabelle found her friend Wendy, surrounded by large, pinkish Pokémon. Her dark skin contrasted quite lovely with the soft, radiant pink of those Clefable. Upon hearing her approach, they all looked at her and chanted as one, "Clefable!" After that, they ran off. Well, ran? They made big, exaggerated steps as they bounced away, as if gravity did not apply to them.

Wendy was still sitting on the stone where she had been, as if she had been having tea with the Clefable. Upon Isabelle's curious look, she merely smiled, got up, brushed her trousers off, and started walking back. Isabelle looked at her receding form for a long time. What a curious girl. She did seem to have a real gift, though.