#060 Poliwag

Poliwag, the tadpole Pokémon. There is a black and white swirl on its abdomen, which are its internal organs showing through its semi-transparent skin. The swirl looks clearer after it eats, and the skin is very elastic so that it will not break if the Pokémon is bitten. The direction of the belly spiral differs by area, with the equator being thought to have an effect on this. It has newly developed legs that are poor at walking, and no arms. Its long, mostly transparent tail makes it a powerful swimmer. Because of its ineptitude on land, Poliwag is more likely to be found swimming in small freshwater ponds and lakes – Nurse Evergreen.

Nurse Isabelle was travelling from one city to the next by bike, as she usually did in between jobs. Spring was finally beginning properly and with it the Pokémon behaved differently. Metapod evolved into Butterfree. Unfortunately, the Kakuna evolved, too. Speaking of Butterfree and Beedrill, Izzy had read an article about them last night: it was remarkable how trainer's influence changed these Pokémon. Normally, wild Beedrill and Butterfree did not survive the winter. They lay eggs and pass away during the cold months. However, captured Butterfree and Beedrill could live up to five years. Maybe because of their training, maybe because of the protected environment of the Pokéball. Either way, it was incredible.

Wearing some capris and three-quarter shirt, Isabelle had begun wearing her clothes more freely. When she started, last September, she'd worn her 'uniform' every single day, believing she would not be recognised without. However, people seem to know about her by now and her identification worked as well. She still had a cloth armband around her upper arm with the crest of the profession of a Pokémon nurse.

Passing through an area with a lot of ponds and lakes, Isabelle stopped at one, surprise; there, in the middle of a pond, stood her good friend Wendy Foxglove. She had her trousers rolled up to her knees and seemed to be searching the bottom of the pond for something. On dry land, just at water's edge, her Wigglytuff was collecting weeds from a Poliwag who gave them to her. Judging from the stack nearby, they'd been busy for a while.

"Hey! Wendy! What on Earth are you doing? What do you need all these plants for?" Isabelle called out.

The girl with the dark afro stood upright again, stretched her back, and waved excitedly at Izzy before coming her way. In light clothing like that, Isabelle was pleased to see Wendy had gained a bit of weight since they were sixteen. That girl had always been much too skinny, too distracted to eat.

"I'm harvesting salveyo weed. The Vileplume are walking around again now that the weather is nice, and salveyo weed tea is one of the best cures for it. I promised to get some in exchange for a good meal and some herbal medicine for my bag." Wendy pointed to her own medical bag near Wigglytuff.

"Oh, that sounds really nice. I'll help. Shall I get my own stack or shall we just share?" As Isabelle spoke, more Poliwag came to the surface of the pond.

"Are you kidding? We'll share, of course, but don't slack off," Wendy said, causing both of them to laugh. When Wendy turned back to the water, Izzy couldn't help but smile fondly at her friend. The years had done her good; she seemed so in her element like this, away from the academy and knee-deep in water for some herbal medicine.

Soon, they were wading through the pond up to their knees, picking the weed and giving it to Poliwag who brought it to Wigglytuff. As they worked, Isabelle complimented her on Wiggly's (for that was her name) gentle and helpful behaviour. They've been known to be rather temperamental, but this one was absolutely adorable. But then again, like trainer like Pokémon: Wendy was mild and loving herself.

By the time the sun went down, both had their arms entirely full of the moist weed. Wigglytuff was resting in her Pokéball, which she entirely deserved. The herbal medicine lady was absolutely delighted with so much of the weeds, explaining her body could not endure the labour anymore. It frankly didn't matter: if someone needed help for whichever reason, both girls said they'd be more than willing to help.

Sitting outside, enjoying one of the best meals Isabelle had recently had, she caught up with her friend Wendy while nursing a glass of white wine, laughing as they brought up good memories. Isabelle couldn't resist taking a photo of the two of them. Venomoth fluttered by as they talked. After dessert, the old lady came back with two stacks of medicine. Loads of berries were included and also other pills and potions. Isabelle actually recognised a lot of this as the herbal form of centre medicine. They thanked the lady, who bowed to them in gratitude, and then went their separate ways after hugging each other tightly and promising to call.
Unable to resist the urge any longer, she sent the photo of the two of them to Dominic. The desire to show him what she was doing was foreign to her, but very satisfying in a whole different way than upkeeping her blog was. It was sort of sharing her life with him. When his reply came, something glowed inside of her, making her smile fondly.