I'm back! And hopefully better then ever! Sorry for the long delay. I had governor school, then a move to deal with. I could barly get access to a computer. But it's all okay now. Thank you all for bearing with me bows to audience Now for the personal thank yous…
SuliMike23: A pupitar bounces? I had never even thought of that! I must put more bouncing in future chapters, thanks for the info!
Raza: thanks for reviewing! I'll try to keep the posting regular after this, and I'm glad you think my story is good
Hiei's flaming koorime: thanks for the review! Houndour's one of my favs to, but I bet you could tell lol. I hope you keep reading!
Tomboy, Master of Water and Ice: I shall continue with the story, even if my updating gets hampered lol. I'm glad you like Robin! I put a lot of work into her .
Question to both Tomboy, Master of Water and Ice and Hiei's flaming koorime: Who is Hiei? What show is he from?
Heeheehee: I'm glad you like the story! Yes I always got peeved with Pikachu won so easily. I hope you continue to like my fic!
Ali: Thanks for the review and I'm glad you'll continue reading. I'm also glad you like the pokemon. I tried to make them more like characters and not just things. Bo especially is someone I'm very fond of. I hope you find a way to post your fic. It would be cool if I could read it and see similarities and differences and stuff you know?
Bluegriffon: Thanks for reviewing. I shall try to update more frequently. sighs I hate it how little things like school get in the way though… (winks) . Thanks for explaining about the pikachu thing. I had forgotten about the electric/ground relationship in the older games. I'm always so surprised and please when my reviewers help me out and tell me stuff! Thanks again!
Liz: lol! Thanks for reviewing so many times! Even if they did sound like a teacher's sticker . I still appreciate it, and I hope you'll keep reading!
And last but certainly not least, a big thank you goes to my beta reader Dracobolt!
Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. Never have, never will.
Phew! Now that that's out of the way feel free to read the chapter! o
Chapter 27
Michelle released Chansey from her pokeball and dug around in her backpack for her medical supplies. She took out a stethoscope, blood pressure monitor, thermometer, reflex mallet, tongue depressor, otoscope, and a bunch of bottles. Matt watched all this in bewilderment.
"I thought you were a Pokemon healer?" he asked hesitantly. Michelle fitted the stethoscope in her ears and rubbed the metal end in it between her hands to warm it up. Then she placed it on Amphy's chest.
"I am," she replied as she listened to the pokemon's heartbeat. Matt cleared his throat.
"When you say healer I was thinking herbal remedies. Not ah…" he glanced at all the stuff Michelle had taken out of her bag, "new age equipment." Michelle glanced up and flashed a smile at him.
"Just because I use herbal medicine doesn't mean I shouldn't welcome the new age with open arms. Chansey, could ya put the blood pressure cuff on Amphy? Thanks." And with that Michelle proceeded to ignore everyone else and focused totally on her work. Matt was about to ask her another question, when Jasmine nudged him and shook her head.
"Michelle's gone into "healer mode"," she whispered to him holding up her fingers and making the quotation mark signs. "She won't hear or see anything else until she's through." She motioned for him to sit on the couch behind them, then sat down next to him. Eevee leaped and lightly landed in Matt's lap, deciding that this was the perfect time to take a nap. Pupitar was clinging to Michelle's shoulder.
Matt and Jasmine watched silently as Michelle and Chansey examined Amphy. She was very thorough. She checked Amphy's ears, nose, eyes, and throat first. She took the Pokemon's blood pressure, height, and temperature. She even had a collapsible scale, which she used to take Amphy's weight. She did all of this with Chansey's help, and recorded everything in her note book. Matt saw her compare her notes with others several times. She looked very professional with a stethoscope hung around her neck and all the equipment. Michelle was very focused on her work, and Matt doubted that if a bomb went off at that very moment, if Michelle would even notice. She almost looked aloof, untouchable. Not like the fiery healer/trainer he had been traveling with, but someone way too good for a just another Pokemon trainer like himself. But then Matt noticed that Michelle gave Amphy little affectionate rubs and treats that Amphy accepted happily. Also while Michelle worked, she hummed a pretty little tune that was slightly off key. Matt found these traits endearing, and relieving. So she was still his Michelle after all. Matt made a mental note to tease Michelle about the humming later.
After a long while later, where Michelle spent most of the time giving Amphy's stomach particular attention, and Matt and Jasmine talked about Pokemon in general, Michelle finally started to pack up her things. Jasmine watched anxiously as Michelle removed the stethoscope from her ears and walked over to them. Michelle took Jasmine's hand in her own and shook it with a big grin.
"Congratulations!" she exclaimed, "You're going to be a grandma."
"You mean she's pregnant?" Jasmine asked in disbelief.
Michelle laughed."Yep! Not only that, but she has two eggs inside her belly, instead of the usual one. Come here and feel for yourself!" And with that said, she pulled a very shocked Jasmine to her feet and over to the Pokemon. Matt followed, leaving Eevee to watch from the couch.
Michelle placed Jasmine's hands over one of the lumps in Amphy's belly."Feel here? And here? Those are the outlines of the eggs. From the way their pressing against her stomach, I say she'll be ready to hatch pretty soon. Two weeks at the most, a week at least."
"That's great!" Matt said as he gave Jasmine's shoulder a friendly pat. "Congrats!"
Jasmine shook her head in a daze. "But I don't understand! Who could the father possibly be?"
Michelle shrugged. "You might not know until the eggs are laid and hatched."
Matt looked thoughtful. "Was there a time when she was outside and you weren't with her recently?"
"Well," Jasmine said, her brow furrowed as she tried to remember, "I take her out for walks daily, and sometimes I leave her at the park for a little bit while I run some errands…" Jasmine shook her head, then flung her arms around Amphy's neck. "Oh I don't care! I'm so happy! You're gonna be a mom, Amphy!"
"Arroo," Amphy crooned as she nuzzled her trainer's cheek.
Michelle cleared her throat. "However" she started.
Jasmine looked up, worried. "There's nothing wrong, is there?"
Michelle shook her head. "Well, no, not really. But because of Amphy's already weakened health, and the fact that she has two eggs inside of her, not just one, I am a little worried about how well she will give birth." Jasmine squeezed Amphy tighter. "But don't worry, I'll stay here until she gives birth, to make sure everything will turn out fine."
Matt nodded. "Right. We couldn't leave Amphy in her condition. Besides it's just a couple of weeks and it'll be nice to have a bit of a rest."
Michelle turned to Matt and cleared her throat delicately. "I said I will be staying. You however, will not."
"What?" Matt asked confused. Michelle smiled sweetly and Matt gulped nervously. Taking out her notebook, Michelle flipped through a couple of pages and pointed to a plant she had sketched there.
"This is the rare Blossoming Rangeric bush. It only grows in one place, Cianwood Island. Its leaves, crushed and mixed with berries of a Potan plant and sprinkled with the sleeping powder of a gloom, works wonders for Pokemon giving birth." Michelle gave her prettiest pout and tried to look mournful. "But unfortunately, I haven't been down to Cianwood in a very long time, and I don't have any leaves from that plant. I'd go down there right now, but I couldn't leave Amphy. There's still more tests I need to give her, and I should be here in case something happens, like you just said." She looked up at Matthew with wide, hopeful eyes. "Do you think that maybe you could go and bring some back to me?"
"Wait a minute-" Matt began, but was cut off as Michelle took a step forward and grasped Matt's hand in both of her own. She lifted his hand up and pressed her cheek to it, looking up at him through her lashes. "Please?"
Matt could have sworn he felt his brain turn to mush. He did know his heart was pounding about a million times a second. He tried to think of something dashing to say, but the best he could come up with while she was holding his hand to her soft cheek and looking at him with those beautiful eyes was, "Uh…..(gulp) yeah."
"Perfect!" Michelle exclaimed, dropping his hand and getting down to business. "Now, here's where to find it and how to get the leaves. Make sure to preserve them in these bags so that they don't turn brown and go bad. Take these clippers and follow my directions exactly. Don't worry, it's all on the sheet. You can use Gyarados to get to the island. You can't miss it." Michelle stuffed the equipment he would need into his arms and started to push Matt the door. "Better leave now before the sun sets! Don't want to hit high tide, right? Feel free to battle the gym leader while you're there! You've got plenty of time. Here's your back pack. Come on Eevee! See you when you get back!"
Michelle stood on tiptoe and gave Matt a kiss on the cheek, then before Matt could respond, closed the door behind him. Matt looked around and saw that he was outside the tower room, and facing the elevator with his backpack, clippers, bags, and papers crammed into his arms. Not to mention an Eevee who was trying and failing to hold his laughter in. Matt had the distinct feeling he had been played. But he grinned as he put the stuff into his backpack and touched the spot on his cheek where Michelle had kissed him. Then he walked down the hallway whistling, with a still laughing Eevee trotting behind him.
