#087 Dewgong

Dewgong, the sea lion Pokémon. The evolved form of Seel. Dewgong loves to snooze on bitterly cold ice. The sight of this Pokémon sleeping on a glacier was mistakenly thought to be a mermaid by a mariner long ago. Its body is covered with a pure white fur. The colder the weather, the more active it becomes – Nurse Evergreen

With Wartortle at her side, Nurse Isabelle walked through the streets of the Cerulean city centre. At the major square, dozens of stalls had been erected. Among them there were, of course, food stalls that offered all kinds of snacks for both humans and Pokémon. With her team in mind, Isabelle purchased small bags of food, specialised for their types. She offered to get Wartortle some, too, but the water type was too excited to eat. She kept looking around as if straining to find someone. With a sigh, Isabelle paid for the Pokéfood and moved on.

Other stalls sold ribbons, dresses, and other clothing for both human and Pokémon. There was shell polish, rock polish, brushes, and anything else one can imagine in Pokémon care. Being a nurse, she had most of the essentials already, so she did not need these fancier ones; much to Wartortle's chagrin.

The fair seemed to be quite popular. There were people everywhere, bumping their sweaty shoulders against hers as she strained to keep an eye on Wartortle. Her Pokémon did not mind her much and explored on her own pace, which happened to be a particularly swift one. Feeling hot and sweaty (some of which wasn't even her own sweat), struggling to keep an eye on one single member of her team, Isabelle did not feel too great. Maybe it had been a mistake to come here.

Ahead, there were advertisements of the main event of the beauty convention: a beauty competition. That drove Wartortle entirely wild. She kept gesturing to Izzy to show her the pamphlet she had seen being handed out. As soon as Isabelle read the poster to her, she started yanking on Izzy's sleeve and exclaiming excitedly while pointing at the competition and herself.

"Don't tell me you want to join?" Wartortle nodded furiously. "I don't know how to be in a competition, especially a beauty competition! The best I can do for you is to buy us tickets so you can watch, maybe even meet the contestants. As a nurse, I can possibly get inside. This is not something I've ever done before, Wartortle, and definitely not something to do blindly."

Although Wartortle was very disappointed in the fact that she would not be joining today, the idea to get behind the scenes was enough to keep her from moping. As they walked on, towards the stadium, they passed a fountain. There, a girl was shrieking as if she was set on fire or doused with cold water. Upon approaching the ruckus, it appeared to the latter. In the fountain was a gorgeous Dewgong. He was in the water, enjoying the spray from the spouts. The water made his pure white fur glisten gorgeously. The girl standing near the fountain looked furious. She was dressed in a pastel ball gown, which was, quite unfortunately, soaking wet.

"Come on, Dewgong! Stop playing! We need to get ready for the competition!"

"Dew gong-gong-gong!" He cried out happily,

"What's going on?" Isabelle asked as she approached, lifting Wartortle on the edge of the fountain where she sat primly. Behind her, Dewgong was still enjoying the torrent of the waterspouts.

"Dewgong and I were supposed to enter the beauty competition but he never listens!" The girl stomped her foot and blew out a frustrated breath. "He'd rather play in the water or chase others than sit still and look pretty or do as I ask."

The girl did not look much older than 16. But with her soaked dress and her uncooperative Pokémon, she looked close to tears. Not a feeling Isabelle was unfamiliar with, considering she had a difficult Pokémon of her own. That brought her on an idea…

"Let me tell you what. My Wartortle here would love to join, but I'm no coordinator. I'm just a Pokémon nurse. What if I watch over your Dewgong for you and you go win this competition with Wartortle? Is that possible? Okay with you, Wartortle?"

Both the girl and the turtle gasped in unison.

"Really? That'd be great!"

"Wartortle! Wartortle!"

That's how Isabelle found herself holding a Pokéball that was not her own in the audience of some stadium. It was surprisingly fun to watch. While some treated their Pokémon in a questionable manner, most coordinators had given their Pokémon lots of love and care and it showed. Most Pokémon used were of the naturally pretty kind: Meowth and Persian, Vulpix and Ninetales, Ponyta and Rapidash, among others. Popular ones for being beautiful to look at and not that hard to raise. Then the girl and Wartortle were up. She had polished Wartortle's shell, brushed out her tail, and even gave her a very pretty ice-blue ribbon. But the thing that made Wartortle look the prettiest was the look of intense happiness on her face. It charmed the judges, too, since some other Pokémon looked like they'd rather not be there.

As Isabelle watched the girl, who the announcer revealed to be Rosalind, she reflected on Wartortle's future. It was very clear Wartortle was much happier with Rosalind than she'd ever been with Izzy. Pensively, she stroked Dewgong's Pokéball. After the competition, which Rosalind and Wartortle had won, Isabelle approached her with a smile, still holding the ball.

"Congratulations! Rosalind, right?"

"Thank you so much! Your Wartortle was amazing!" The girl gushed.

"Yes, I had wanted to talk to you about that. This might come as a shock, but I'd like to propose a trade. Wartortle hasn't been happy as my Pokémon. As a nurse, my life is not very glamorous. More often than not, it's filthy and hard. Wartortle does not like that. She prefers to be pampered and beautiful, so to say. However, your Dewgong is very useful for that. He's very healthy and strong enough to carry me as I work in the water. So will you trade me your Dewgong for my Wartortle?"

The girl looked down at Wartortle for a moment, who actually looked rather hopeful. Little traitor. Then Rosalind faced Izzy and nodded. "Let's do it."

After they'd traded at the Pokémon centre to make it official, both Pokémon were released in the lobby. Isabelle knelt in front of Wartortle to give her one last hug.

"Farewell, Wartortle. It's been good having you. I hope Rosalind treats you well. Do you want to say goodbye to any of the team?" Wartortle shook her head. "Not even Dominic's Raichu?" Wartortle shrugged, refusing to meet Izzy's eyes. Saying goodbye might make it harder to go, especially if Ivysaur or the others would try to convince her to come back. "All right then. Maybe we'll see you soon." Isabelle sighed and stood up. "Rosalind. Let's exchange email addresses, so we know where to find each other if we feel the need to visit old friends again."

Rosalind, who had been hugging Dewgong, wiped her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, let's. Please take care of Dewgong for me. He might not have shown his best side today, but he's a sweetheart. I promise."

Isabelle smiled. "I believe you. Farewell, Rosalind. Dewgong, return."