#091 Cloyster

Cloyster, the bivalve Pokémon. The evolved form of Shellder. Cloyster is capable of swimming in the sea. It does so by swallowing water, then jetting it out toward the rear. This Pokémon shoots spikes from its shell using the same system – Nurse Evergreen.

As time went on, Isabelle came closer and closer to having the necessary experience to finish her degree in field medicine. She needed to treat a few more different Pokémon, as well as in several habitats before she could graduate. In the canteen of the Vermillion city Pokémon centre, Isabelle had posted a request for help to complete one more requirement: underwater treatment. Within two hours, she had received response. Lorelei, of the Elite Four, had commented, asking Isabelle to call her.

Feeling nervous, the young nurse dialled her official number and asked to speak to Lorelei. She'd be expecting her, Isabelle told the one who had picked up. It took a while to be put through, but eventually, she arrived at the right person.

"Lorelei."

Isabelle's stomach did a little leap. "Ah, hello. This is Isabelle Evergreen. I was calling about ... well, you see…" She stammered before taking a deep breath. "Could you help me with an assignment for my degree? I am in need of a guardian for the underwater treatment aspect."

"Certainly. I assume you are in the possession of a suitable partner?" Came the cool answer, strangely befitting the Pokémon Master specialised in ice-types.

"Yes, ma'am. I have a Dewgong."

Lorelei made an approving sound for the first time that call. "Splendid. I shall bring mine as well. Meet me at the Vermillion docks tomorrow morning at dawn. Bring a wetsuit. We're going out to sea."

"Thank you, ma'am," Isabelle exclaimed, and Lorelei promptly hung up. Too relieved to be bothered with it, she sat back in her chair and smiled. Then she shut down her laptop and got to work. She needed to find a wetsuit, after all.

The following morning, Isabelle stood on the docks before the sun had even risen, packed more heavily than usual. She wore her loaned wetsuit and was double checking her diving equipment. Rebreather, goggles, flashlight, knife, Dewgong's Pokéball. Her hair was pinned to her scalp, properly fastened. One of the nurses at the Pokémon centre was passionate about diving and had helped her tons with her equipment. Despite the early hour, Isabelle wasn't yawning much, or smiling at all. Her stomach was an uncomfortable mess of nerves as she kept an eye on everyone on the docks, unsure if she could recognise Lorelei. She did not wish to look like an idiot, even though her inexperience made this a hard task.

"Miss Evergreen," came a voice behind her, causing her to jump. It had come from one of the smaller ships docked at the pier, where a small crew stood. Most were doing their own checks, but one lady stared at the young nurse. There was no sign of her signature red hair, pinned as tightly as Izzy's own hair. Even her glasses had been replaced with what Izzy assumed were contacts.

"Ms Lorelei? Good morning. Thank you for having me," Isabelle spoke so fast the words came out in a blur.

"Good morning to you too. Well, come on, we don't have all morning. Get on board." Lorelei turned away to talk to her crew, talking coordinates and other technical terms that meant nothing to Isabelle.

With her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, she gathered all her stuff and shakily stepped into the boat, feeling awfully out of place.

Paying Isabelle no mind, the crew got to work, discussing habitats and courses amongst themselves as the boat began to move, out to open sea.

When Vermillion was no longer visible, Lorelei came to sit next to the girl who felt miniscule right now.

"So, we're heading out to sea. A Cloyster colony has been spotted by fishermen nearby, and we're going out to tag them. There's a chance their nets have damaged these beautiful creatures. If so, we're going to treat as many as we can."

Isabelle nodded, grateful for the information. It helped knowing where they were going. "Are we bringing any of them with us?"

"Goodness, no. They weigh as much as an adult man, if not more. No, they're staying where they are."

"What will the tags be for?"
"So the fishermen can avoid their nest. Cloyster tend to stick together, so their nest won't migrate elsewhere."

Isabelle made a little noise, like 'ooooh…'. The rest of the ride proceeded quietly. Despite it being spring, the air overseas was chilly, making Isabelle rub her arms to stay warm. To pass the time, she stared out onto sea and hoped to see any Pokémon breaching the water. It was always a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, the water was still, which made sense as they were securing a trade route.

The boat slowed to a seemingly random spot on open water. Nothing Isabelle could see marked it as any different from where they had been before. Hence the tags, likely.

One advantage of growing up in Celadon was that her mother had allowed her to try out whichever hobby she wished. Money was no issue, as 24h shifts at the centre paid pretty well, as well as her father's life insurance. She wondered, quite randomly, what he would say if he saw her here.

Lorelei commanded her to hurry up, so she shook off the nostalgic memories and got to work. Prepping diving equipment, after practicing in lakes and swimming pools, was the first familiar thing for her all day. Within no time, Lorelei, Isabelle, and two companions were in the water. Her Pokéball was left in her bag on the boat, as Dewgong had already been released.

It was beautiful underwater. The windchill was gone, replaced by the water's refreshing temperature. Tentacool and Tentacruel floated past, undisturbed by the visitors. Dewgong seemed as cheerful as ever, darting around Isabelle, calling out playfully. Her new Dewgong was a big boy, longer than Isabelle was tall. As her Dewgong tried to entice Lorelei's into playing, Isabelle noticed just how much bigger it was than a regular sized one, like Lorelei's. Unfortunately, the other Dewgong was not interested in playing at all, waiting patiently for Lorelei to hold on and indicate where to go. Lorelei's companions had equally well-trained Tentacruel. Isabelle refused to feel ashamed for her own Pokémon's enthusiasm but gestured to Dewgong to come back and get to work. With her arms around his neck, they followed Lorelei and her team, descending deeper into the water.

Near some underground rocks, the nest could be seen. Dozens of Shellder and Cloyster, attached to the rocks, as far as she could see. Most had their shells closed, revealing the damage that had been done. Large scrapes were visible on their shells, which was impressive as Cloyster were incredibly hardy creatures. There was a gap across the nest, where the damage was greatest. It seems the net had snagged onto several Cloyster and Shellder and yanked them loose. Gesturing towards it, unable to speak, Isabelle tried to communicate her findings. Then she indicated she wished to look further, in the direction the ship most likely had gone, to seek for the missing Cloyster, in case they had destroyed the net and had been separated from the colony. Lorelei gestured her to go ahead and that she would follow. Her companions with the two Tentacruel were placing tags on some of the larger Cloyster.

Feeling a bit intimidated to go first, Isabelle and Dewgong slowly followed the trail of damage. It became obvious some Cloyster had been dragged off from the large scrapes in the bedrock. About half a kilometre further, they found the destroyed net. Lorelei did not seem to find it very interesting, but Izzy hesitated. She encouraged Dewgong to get her closer and took out her knife to cut away some of the net. Something hard could be felt underneath the net. It could have been a rock, and Lorelei will have been right. But still, Izzy wished to check it out, as her instinct (however inexperienced she may be), told her to. Painstakingly slowly, she cut away layer and layer of net. From the layers, other sea creatures emerged: fish, either flitting away swiftly or falling limply to the ocean floor, several crustaceans including one Shellder who had gotten stuck. This gave Izzy hope there really was something here.

The final layer peeled away, revealing a heavily damaged Cloyster. Its shell was shut tightly for protection, leaving Izzy with little to determine whether it had survived. Izzy could not exclaim to Lorelei she had found something, but Dewgong certainly could. His cries echoed over the sea floor, making Lorelei's own Dewgong perk up and come closer. Lorelei noticed the Cloyster, swam closer and nudged Izzy to move over. She knocked on seemingly random places on the shell and listened for a response. Izzy didn't hear anything. Whatever response Lorelei got, it was enough for her to make a decision. Her own Dewgong was sent away with a gesture of her hand, and Lorelei began cutting the Cloyster out and gestured to Izzy to help her free the Cloyster.

Dewgong returned with the two other researchers and their Tentacruel. When a Dewgong swims, it's all fluid motion with the elegance of an arctic mermaid. Tentacruel just floated forward, as their tentacles propelled them forward like dozens of little legs. Lorelei and her companions worked together often, as they did not need words to communicate what they needed. Izzy was nudged aside again, an easy way to get a diver to move over a little as the water carried her. The three of them uprooted the damaged Cloyster and the Tentacruel wrapped their appendixes around it and began lifting it up, together. From underneath, Lorelei's Dewgong helped push to carry the weight. Izzy's Dewgong liked the sight of this game and rushed to help, bonking his head heavily against the underside of the Cloyster. That earned him a rather painful looking swat from the Tentacruel and a bite to the tail from the smaller Dewgong. Izzy flinched at the sight of it and swam over to comfort Dewgong and hold him back. It was evident that they needed to train a lot more together to understand what they need from each other, and where to help.

Up on the surface, Lorelei boarded the boat first, reached for her pack and withdrew a blue-looking Pokéball. The net ball had no problem capturing the scarred Cloyster, which somehow made the team sigh in relief. It wasn't until later, on the boat, that Lorelei explained that a dead Pokémon cannot be caught. The ball will just bounce off and get ruined in the water. On the way back, Lorelei and Isabelle discussed their findings for Izzy's report. Lorelei helped with a more exact location, some history on the spot, and some technical explanations. The draft was a rough one, but with some work back at the Vermillion Pokémon centre, it would shape up to be a decent report to submit.

Back on shore, Lorelei shook Izzy's hand with a small smile.

"Good work, Isabelle."