Season 01

Episode 02

A Muddy Problem

Crystal woke up from her night's slumber to find Arcanine at the side of the bed and Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur curled up at the foot. She looked over at the other bed to see that Heather was still asleep. Arcanine's ears twitched and he looked up at Crystal. Crystal's movement on the bed also stirred the other Pokemon. With the help of the Pokemon, she managed to get dressed.

The commotion also woke Heather up. 'Good morning.'

'Morning.'

Heather patted Arcanine on the head before getting herself dressed. 'Shall we go down for breakfast?'

'Sure.'

'Would you like a hand getting onto Arcanine?'

'Sounds good to me.'

Heather helped her onto Arcanine's back so she was sat sidesaddle. Leaving the room they locked the door and went down for breakfast. Nurse Joy was happy to get them the food even though Heather offered to give her a hand.

After they had eaten, Heather patted her belly. 'Well then, I will just go and grab our things from the room. Charmander, Squirtle, would you care to come and help?'

They responded cheerily and ran after Heather.

'You don't have to do that for me Heather.' Crystal called after her.

'Don't worry about it.' she replied before vanishing up the stairs. It wasn't long until they returned. 'So, shall we start preparing to leave?'

'Sure. Let's do so.'

As they were preparing Nurse Joy came over with a large envelope. 'Crystal, you received this last night. I didn't want to disturb you so I thought to wait for this morning and I almost forgot about it.'

'Oh. OK. Thank you Nurse Joy.' Crystal accepted the envelope. She opened it. 'Ah, I see.'

'What is it?' Heather asked.

'Oh this? It's just a report for the Devon Corporation. Do you remember the shop where I bought my PokeNav? Well, the lady was interested in me training Pokemon for Disability Support. She wanted to do a report for the company. This is a copy of the report for my review.'

'Sounds interesting.' Heather continued to prepare their things.

After a short while Crystal filled out a form and placed everything back into the envelope. 'Well everything looks fine with it.' she climbed onto Arcanine and went over to the main desk where Nurse Joy was working away on the computer. 'Excuse me Nurse Joy, but when you have a moment would you be able to send this to the Pokenav store?'

'I sure can.' she accepted the envelope.

'Thank you.' Crystal returned to Heather. 'So, are we ready to go?'

Heather fastened up her bag. 'We are now.' she helped Crystal to put on her bag.

'So, to get to the Safari Zone, which route do you think we should take?'

Heather pulled out her PokeNav and checked the map. 'The most direct route would be to cut across and head along Route 17 and 18 towards Fuschia City, but it would be dangerous. I would recommend heading through Viridian Forest for Pewter City, then across too Cerulean City. If we stick to main routes, we shouldn't have too many problems. Plus the journey would be fun.'

'I agree. No point in rushing.'

Heather put her PokeNav away. 'Shall we go then?'

'Of course.' Crystal cheered. 'We're going Nurse Joy! Thanks for the time here!'

'Take care in your travels. Bye.' Nurse Joy replied.

'Bye.' Heather called out.

The Pokemon called out their goodbyes and they all left.

They had a steady walk as they headed out of the City towards Viridian Forest. They talked about one thing or another to pass the time so that they would get to know each other better.

Depending how you travel, it could take days to get through Viridian Forest. However, Crystal and Heather would taking it steady. Crystal was looking around for any potential Pokemon when they realised they were a quarter of the way through.

'Let's set up camp.' Heather spoke up.

'Sure. We can have a bite to eat and do a bit of training.' Crystal looked around. 'It appears that Caterpie and Weedle are the only Pokemon in this area.'

'There were a few but they were flying too high for any of our Pokemon to challenge.'

'I noticed. Shame really. A Pidgie would have been of great help in the long run.'

Just then Arcanine's ears twitched and he turned his head. Ponyta did the same.

'Did you hear something?' Crystal patted Arcanine on the side of the neck. 'Lead the way.'

Arcanine carried Crystal into the woods from the small clearing that they were in. Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander followed her. After a few minutes they came across a Pokemon laying on the ground.

'I've never seen a Pokemon like that.' she pulled her Pokedex out.

'Pokemon not listed.' the Pokedex responded.

Crystal observed it. It tried to stand up and collapsed in pain. Crystal could see that its hind leg was injured. 'Arcanine, it needs help.'

Arcanine slowly walked closer but the Pokemon shot some mud at them. Arcanine backed up. 'Charmander. I need you to go and fetch Heather.'

'Char. Charmander.' Charmander responded before running off.

'It looks like we need to earn its trust my friend. Put me down.' Arcanine laid on his belly. Crystal slumped off him and landed on the ground. She removed her rucksack from her back. The mysterious Pokemon watched her. 'Please listen. I am not going to harm you. I will be coming towards you. I only want to help you. My Pokemon will stay back. If you attack me I cannot defend myself. Just like your injured leg is preventing you from walking, my legs do not allow me to walk at all. Do you understand me?' the Pokemon blinked. 'Very well. I am coming to you now. Arcanine, Bulbasaur and Squirtle. Stay back. I don't want to scare it.'

Laying on her belly, Crystal pulled herself closer to the Pokemon. It kept watching her. Crystal was halfway too it when Charmander returned, closely followed by Heather. Their sudden appearance startled the Pokemon and it fired mud at Crystal. She covered her head.

'Crystal! Are you alright?' Heather called out.

'I'm fine. Please leave this to me.'

'What Pokemon is that? I don't recognise it.'

'Neither do I. It's not in the Pokedex.' Crystal continued to crawl closer to it. 'However, it is injured.'

'I understand. What do you want me to do?'

'Just wait a moment.' she finally arrived at the Pokemon and sat herself in front of it. 'There now. Would someone that wants to harm you willingly harm themselves to get to you?' the Pokemon sniffed her before suckling on her dirty clothes. Crystal stroked its head. 'See. I am not going to harm you.'

'Wow. You're willing to go that far to help a Pokemon. I'm impressed.'

'I'm willing to go further if I have to.' she looked over the Pokemon. 'Heather. I need you to call Officer Jenny in Viridian City. She needs to get here with Nurse Joy. I think this Pokemon is from another region that I am not familiar with. Because it is here, I wouldn't be surprised if it was captured by a Pokemon Hunter and brought here. However, it managed to get away but got injured in the process.'

'Now that's a scary thought.' she pulled out her PokeNav and a Holo Caster.

'Hello. Which emergency service do you require?' A voice came from the Holo Caster.

'Can you put me through too Viridian City Police?'

'Viridian City Police. Officer Jenny here. How may I help?'

'Officer Jenny, it's me Heather.'

'Heather? What can I do for you?'

'I am in Viridian Forrest. We have found an injured Pokemon that is not native to Kanto. We believe it was brought here by a Pokemon Hunter. Please bring Nurse Joy.'

'Where exactly are you?'

Heather gave her the coordinates from her PokeNav.

'Right. We'll be right there. Please be careful.'

'Thank you.' Heather then hung up and put the devices away. She then slowly walked over too Crystal and the Pokemon.

'Now now. Don't worry. She will not hurt you.' Crystal stroked the Pokemon on the head. 'Arcanine. Be alert, the Pokemon Hunter may still be in the area looking for this one.'

Arcanine gave a low bark and started patrolling around them.

Heather calmly knelt next to the Pokemon where she started examining the it. She found the spot where it was injured. She looked the Pokemon in the eyes. 'I have found where you're injured. It is not a major problem but I can see why it would be painful for you.' she reached into her bag and pulled out a few items. She held up some fruit. 'This fruit will give you some strength to handle the pain.' she handed it to Crystal.

Crystal offered it to the Pokemon. 'Here. Please eat.' the Pokemon wouldn't eat it so Crystal took a bite out of it. 'Whoa that's sour. Still refreshing through.' she offered it to the Pokemon again and this time it ate it. 'That is good.' she offered the second fruit and it happily ate it.

Heather showed the Pokemon two more items. 'Before I wrap your injured leg with this bandage, I need to use this spray on it. When I use it, it will sting for a moment, so please do not be scared.'

Crystal pulled the Pokemon into a hug. 'Don't be scared, I am right here with you.' she nodded to Heather. She sprayed the injury and Crystal felt the Pokemon flinch for a moment but never panicked. 'That's a good Pokemon. Nice and brave.'

'OK, the spray is on. I will now bandage it.' Heather worked away wrapping the leg up.

Crystal released the Pokemon from its hug. 'There you go. See, we are not going to hurt you.' she stroked its head again.

'I need to return to camp to pack things away. No doubt that we'll be returning to Viridian City with this Pokemon.'

'That is true. I won't leave it until I know that it's at least fully healed.'

'I will try not to be too long.' Heather headed back to camp.

Crystal stroked the Pokemon. 'Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere. I am staying with you.'

Time passed by almost slowly. Arcanine continued to patrol listening out for danger. Even Charmander started following him as backup. Bulbasaur calmly sat next to Crystal. Squirtle stood there watching with vigilance.

It didn't take long before the Pokemon fell asleep. After 20 minutes Heather returned with Ponyta and closely followed by Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. Crystal quickly signalled for them to be quiet.

'We came as quick as we could.' Officer Jenny spoke up.

'Thank you.' Crystal replied.

'So this is the Pokemon.' Nurse Joy knelt down next to it. 'Well it certainly isn't from or Kanto or neighbouring regions like Johto and the Orange Islands.'

'So, you definitely think that this is the work of a Pokemon Hunter?' Officer Jenny asked.

The Pokemon woke up and started to be scared now that more people are around but Crystal quickly calmed it down.

'From what I can tell, yes, I will agree.' she looked over the Pokemon. 'From what I can tell, this Pokemon is just a baby. The best I can tell is that just after it was born it was soon taken away and brought here. With the way that it's acting, I would say that it hasn't had long with its mother before someone came along and taken it. I cannot tell if the herd that it came from was wild or domesticated. I recommend that we bring it to the Pokemon Centre for care and observation.'

'OK, but do you have any suggestions on how to get it there?' Officer Jenny asked.

'The easiest way would be with a Pokeball, but we don't know if it's already been assigned one.'

'So what you're saying is that you don't know if it was sold to someone who has already captured it with a Pokeball, or if it had escaped from the Hunter?'

'Exactly.'

'There is one way to find out.' Crystal spoke up. She pulled out a Pokeball and showed it to the Pokemon. 'We need to get you too safety. The best way to do that is for you to enter this Pokeball. Do not be scared. While inside you can rest easy.' the Pokemon nuzzled her. Crystal gently tapped the Pokemon on the head with the ball and it vanished inside.

'Well, that is certainly good news.' Nurse Joy stood up.

'Arcanine.' Crystal called him over where she promptly climbed onto his back. She looked at Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur. 'I am sorry, because this requires speed, you need to go back into your balls.' they replied their understanding and promptly returned into their balls.

They all returned to the area where Officer Jenny had left her bike. As it didn't have a sidecar, Nurse Joy climbed on behind Officer Jenny and held on. Heather climbed onto Ponyta and they all rode as quickly as they can while remaining together. It didn't take long for them to return to the Pokemon Centre.

'Crystal, I need you to follow me. I noticed that the Pokemon had become attached to you. With your help to keep it calm, I can do my job easier.' Nurse Joy spoke up.

'I will do what I can Nurse Joy.' Crystal replied.

'Unless I am called away, we will wait here for your report.' Officer Jenny spoke up.

Crystal followed Nurse Joy down a corridor and into a treatment room. Crystal let the Pokemon out onto an examination bed. It looked around nervously but when it saw Crystal it calmed down.

'Don't be afraid. Nurse Joy here is going to help you and I will be right here.'

'I can already see that it is not in danger from the injury, so the first I need to do is to take a picture. I have to ask around to find out if anyone can tell me what they know about this Pokemon.' Nurse Joy grabbed a camera and took a picture. She then worked away on the computer. 'OK, so I am sending this picture off to all the Pokemon Centres in Kanto, Johto and the Orange Islands along with Professor Oak. Hopefully someone can point me to who can tell me about it. Done.' she turned back to the Pokemon. 'Now then, let's see if we cannot make you comfortable.' suddenly the phone rang and she answered it.

'Viridian City Pokemon Centre. Nurse Joy speaking.'

Another Nurse Joy appeared on the screen. 'This is Nurse Joy from Olivine City in Johto. I received your message.'

'Thank you for your quick response. Do you know anything about this Pokemon?'

'Yes I do. You have a Mudbray from the Alola region.'

'Alola? It is from that far away? No wonder I didn't recognise it.'

'I only know about it because someone from the Alola came to our City a few years ago. As they didn't stay long I didn't get to learn much about it. I recommend that you get in touch with a Pokemon Centre from the Alola region.'

'Thank you Nurse Joy. I appreciate the help.'

'You're welcome. Take care.' she hung up.

'So you're from Alola.' Crystal spoke to the Mudbray. 'Well, if the place is a good as you, then it would be a wonderful place.'

'Bray bray.' the Pokemon sounded happy.

Nurse Joy worked away on her computer and it wasn't long until a Nurse Joy in the Alola region answered a call.

'This is the Heahea Pokemon Centre. Nurse Joy speaking. How may I help you?'

'Hello. I am sorry to bother you. I am Nurse Joy from Viridian City in the Kanto region. I have a problem and require your help if it's not too much of a problem?'

'This is certainly a surprise. Me being called on for help all the way from Kanto. So, how may I help you?'

Nurse Joy stepped aside. 'Are you familiar with this Pokemon? I was told that it is a Mudbray from the Alola region. Is this correct?'

'You are correct. That is certainly a Mudbray which is native to our region. Is everything alright with it?'

Nurse Joy explained the situation.

'I see. That is sad news indeed. I will help the best I can.'

She explained how to deal with the Mudbray from treating the wound to nutrition.

'Right. I think I have everything. I appreciate the help Nurse Joy.'

'You're welcome. Enjoy your day.' she hung up.

Nurse Joy proceeded to treat Mudbray.

A while later Crystal and Arcanine returned to the waiting area closely followed by Mudbray and Nurse Joy. They found Heather sat at a table giving Jigglypuff a groom. She saw them coming.

'So, how did it go?' she asked.

'As you can see, Mudbray is fine.' Nurse Joy replied.

'Mudbray? So this Pokemon is a Mudbray?'

'Yes. Apparently it is native to the Alola region.'

'Alola? That's a big surprise.' she knelt down to Mudbray 'So Mudbray. How do you feel?'

'Bray mudbray.' it responded happily.

'I take it that Officer Jenny had to leave?' Crystal spoke up.

'Yes. She left about 10 minutes ago.'

'Well then, that means I need to write up a report for her.' Nurse Joy spoke up.

Crystal climbed down to the floor. 'Well then Mudbray. Now that we know where you came from, you can stay here with Nurse Joy. She will make sure that you return Alola safely.'

Mudbray looked sad and went in to get a hug from Crystal.

'I would say that Mudbray has become attached to you Crystal.' Nurse Joy spoke up.

'I get the impression as well Nurse Joy.' she stroked its head. 'So Mudbray, would you like to travel with me?' Mudbray was very happy. 'Heather, it would appear that we are staying here for tonight.'