#076 Golem
Golem, the megaton Pokémon. The evolved form of Graveler and the final evolution of Geodude. Golem is known for rolling down from mountains. To prevent them from rolling into the homes of people downhill, grooves have been dug into the sides of mountains to serve as guideways for diverting this Pokémon's course - Nurse Evergreen.
Having spent the night at Pewter city Pokémon centre, Nurse Isabelle walked through the doors entirely invigorated, holding a bagel between her teeth as she made sure the tie on her braid was secured tightly. Just through the automatic doors, someone leapt out in front of her with a loud shout.
"Hey there! Going somewhere?"
It was Dominic, that sly son-of-a-Bellsprout. He was grinning smugly at Isabelle, who had nearly choked in her bagel when he startled her.
"Damn you!" She glared at him when she recovered the possibility of death by bagel. He laughed and kissed her cream-cheese flavoured lips.
"I'm sorry. Is that better?" Smiling fondly, Isabelle nodded, before taking another bite. "I'd like to show you something while you're around here," Dominic said as he walked with her out of town. "I really like the mountains. It's much more untamed out here because frankly, it's hard to control mountains. Grass can be controlled, woods and even rivers can be moved. But not mountains; you can't move a mountain. People have to submit to nature here, whereas nature seems to play a secondary role in the cities or on the plains."
As they walked, they saw Machop play-fighting by throwing rocks and a singular Geodude at each other, the latter merely taking this with a sullen frown and crossed arms. However, this was not what Dom wanted to show her, as he led her deeper into the mountainrange, hiking as they breathed in the fresh air. At first, Isabelle heard them before she saw them, but when Dominic pointed them out, she watched in awe.
Golem were climbing a steep mountainside. Whenever they lost their footing, they withdrew into their thick shell and rolled noisily down the hill. At least four Golem were at it, who stayed together like a pack or a family. It was a rather rare sight, so Izzy enjoyed every moment of it.
As they walked along, Dom took a printed email from his pocket and showed it to Izzy so she could take a brief look. It was written slightly sloppily with some spelling errors, but nothing major. What was cute was the fact it started with "Yo nerd!"
"You've got a younger brother?" Izzy guessed as the sender had the same surname as Dominic did.
Dom nodded, smiling. "Yeah. His name is Hal - Hamilton actually, but he prefers Hal - and he's still back home in Johto. He says he's going to try for the Johto League soon. Getting all the badges and so on. It's a solid plan."
"Oh nice! How old is he?"
"15, now. Father made us wait before we could set out into the world. I do believe he already picked up his starter, though. I can't remember what it was…"
Isabelle nodded. "I was sixteen when I went to the nursing school and had worked with mother in the Celadon centre since I was a young girl."
They talked some more about their youths and continued walking, downhill this time, till they came to a nice place with water and grass, like a little oasis among these grey mountains. Unfortunately, Dom's phone rang. He walked away as he took the call, which was probably just a habit. When he came back, his face was grim.
"I have to go. There's been an emergency," he said. Isabelle couldn't suppress a whine.
"Ugh really?" It sounded more annoyed than she had intended. "We only just got here."
Dominic frowned at her. "When duty calls, I have to go. These Pokémon need help. You of all people should understand. You ruined our date because the Abra needed help."
"Excuse me? Are you holding it against me I rushed to their aid? They were sick!" Izzy stood up, angrily, to match his height, somewhat.
"No! Argh," He fisted his brown hair. "I'm just saying that we both put our work first. I'm not accusing you of anything. Oh, you're frustrating! Look, I've got to go, urgently." With that, he stormed off.
Too upset to go after him, Isabelle sat down in the grass near the pond, watching a Psyduck float on its back, totally uncaring of the screaming fight that just happened nearby. Only when storm clouds came rolling in did Isabelle return to Pewter, hoping not to run into Dom. She didn't want to tell him she had realised he was right. Nevertheless, it sucked not being able to spend much time together.
