Today we get further into the head of the Cerulean Joy, starting with a flashback from her. How will this scene play out?
My first chapter fully typed at college! Yay! Go me! Enjoy, folks!
"I can't believe that punk passed!" An infuriated teenage Joy pouted. "With a higher grade than me, even! A man does just does not fit as a Pokémon Nurse! Who does he think he is?" she complained to another, more conservatory dressed Joy walking beside her.
"Well, you know that a lot of stereotypes are being brought down," the calmer Joy told her, "We might see a lot more male nurses using a wider array of Pokémon."
"I can't stand the fact that he's made it, though. He's such a sissy, but now he's upstaged me!" the rouge Joy whined. "He's made a mockery of me! My own younger cousin is undermining my authority!"
"Don't you think you're blowing this thing out of proportion?" the calm Joy asked.
"What do you know?" the rouge Joy spat. "You're probably gonna take his side, anyway!" She then turned and marched out the door, heading for her first assignment.
A few years passed, and she got an invitation to a wedding. She read the names and tossed it aside. She later got pictures, which she also threw away, and was asked by her sisters why she couldn't make it.
"Work related," she lied.
It was a couple years down the road before she heard of them again.
"Great news!" her older sister had come up on the screen. "Joseph's a father now. He's got a beautiful baby girl." The Joy in the hospital moved the camera to see a very small, dark blue haired baby girl, sleeping quietly in her mother's arms. Many other Nurse Joys had gathered around, smiling and telling the mother how cute her baby was. The watching Joy's male cousin had fainted on the floor, his Skarmory tapping him on the head with her beak.
"Yeah," said the Joy watching the event, "real great news."
The Joy inside the monitor turned to her. "I'm sorry you're in the Orange Islands right now. I'm sure you'd like to be here in person."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," said the Joy outside the monitor. She hit the Emergency Siren with her foot, causing a loud noise to reverberate through her center. "Oh, looks like there's an emergency. Talk to ya later, sis." She hung the phone up and disabled the alarm. I'll get my revenge, she thought. I'll get it someday.
Many more years have passed, and that same Joy has found herself working in the Cerulean Pokémon Center, a mere two or three days travel from her estranged cousin. But she made no effort on her part to see her cousin or the in-law. She did, however, manage to meet her niece when she visited the Pokémon Center. She earned the young girl's trust and even broadened her vocabulary. She took little interest in the girl and her idol. Some wandering trainer named 'Ash' or something.
That was until Misty's sisters had began distributing posters of an upcoming battle. She recognized the name from some of the e-mails the young girl had sneaked to her, knowing full well that her mother would disapprove of the Pokémon Nurse, citing her as a bad influence. She clicked over to the registration of Pokémon who had come through the center recently. Sure enough, two trainers, named Ash and May, had their Pokémon healed here not too long ago. She saw that May had 4 Pokémon and Ash had 5. But she faintly remembered a sixth Pokémon with them. Donphan, Sceptile, Swellow, Aipom, Corphish… she thought to herself. Who was that last one… They took it with them, and didn't register it with the center…
"Auntie Joy!" she looked up with a smile on her face as the young girl ran to the counter. "Auntie Joy!" he repeated. A small, yellow Pokémon chased behind her.
"What is it, suger?" Joy asked Cyndi as the girl caught her breath.
"Can… can… you heal these Pokémon for me?" She placed two Pokéballs on the table, panting from running so hard.
She took them from her and placed them in the registration machine. Corphish and Squirtle's Bios appeared on the screen. Joy smiled a vile smiled. Her chance to strike had come.
"Tell me, Cyndi, where did you get these Pokémon?" Joy asked her slyly.
"Oh!" Cyndi leapt up. "I never told you. Ash is staying with us at the house! These Pokémon belong to him and his friend, May."
"Ash is staying with you, you say?" Cyndi restated while the gears turned in her head.
"Pipi!" Pikachu had caught up to the counter. He hopped from Cyndi's head to the countertop.
"This is Ash's Pikachu!" Cyndi gleefully cheered. "You know, the one I told you about. Isn't he cute?"
"My goodness, yes, he certainly is cute," Joy falsely agreed. She picked up the electric type and placed him on the counter. As she began manual registration of the Pokéball-less Pikachu, she slid her foot to the silent alarm and tripped it.
"Okay, Pikachu," she hid her motives behind a mask of cheerfulness, "I guess I can heal you, too." She placed Pikachu on a tray with the Pokéballs of Squirtle and Corphish.
"Cyndi!" the Pokémon nurse heard coming from the door. Five people had just barged into the Center. A young boy in a cap, a girl about his height with a green bandana, a really little kid, and an older boy stood in front of her cousin's wife.
"Ash! You're here!" Cyndi ran up to him. "Aren't you proud? I brought your Pokémon to the center for you!"
That's Ash? Joy thought. That punk who's friends with Joe and wouldn't listen to me? This Pikachu is his sixth Pokémon? Well, just let them wait until Jenny arrives.
"Thank you Cyndi, but next time, wait for the rest of us, okay?" Ash said to her, smiling at the young child.
Cyndi smiled and looked at the small boy next to Ash. She and Max pointed at each other. "Who are you?" they asked simultaneously.
"Oh yeah," Ash began to introduce them. "Max, this is Cyndi, Raine's daughter. We've been staying with them. Cyndi, this is Max. He's May's little brother and has been traveling with us for a while."
"Oh wow!" She smiled at Max. "You get to travel with Ash?" she giggled as she hopped up and down. "You've gotta tell me about what it's like to travel with him!"
"Huh?" Max was confused. "What do you mean? Ash is a pretty regular guy."
"You've never seen her room, huh?" May giggled. Ash looked at May wondering what she meant by that.
"Freeze! Everyone to the floor!" A woman police officer leapt into the Center, her gun in the air.
Brock leapt up to her. "Officer Jenny!" Love filled his eyes, and he came down on one knee in front of her. "I'd let you walk all over me any day!"
"I said everyone to the floor!" Jenny shoved him down with her foot.
All of the trainers in the center covered their heads as they ducked to the floor. Jenny stepped over them to the counter. "What seems to be the problem, Joy?" she asked, lowering her gun.
"These Pokémon were stolen by that little punk!" she declared pointing at Cyndi.
"Which Pokémon?" the officer asked.
"A Squirtle, a Corphish and a Pikachu. She brought them here, thinking I'd heal them, but what that criminal didn't think was that I would check where these Pokémon came from." Joy looked down her nose at Cyndi. "Especially from such a little girl." She leaned over and picked up the tray hold Pikachu and the two Pokéballs.
"Pikachu!" the Pokémon leapt up, running over to one of the trainers who were lying on the floor.
Jenny turned to the group. "Does that Pikachu belong to you?" she asked May.
May stood up and held Pikachu in her arms. "No, he belongs to my friend Ash," she explained. Ash looked up at the officer, who nodded, signifying that it was okay for Ash to stand up. The boy stood up, and Pikachu leapt to him. "I asked Cyndi to look after our Pokémon for us. We just came here to catch up with her. She hasn't done anything wrong," May continued.
Jenny wrote down the account into her notepad. She looked over at the small girl who by this time had hidden her head inside Max's green shirt. "Pull your head out of there, young lady. That's not appropriate for someone your age." the officer warned her. Blushing bright red, Cyndi took her head out from inside Max's shirt and stood up. The small boy also came to his feet after having Cyndi invade the back of his shirt. "You're Cyndi, right?"
The girl nodded, embarrassed and tearful.
"Do you want to press charges?" Jenny turned to Ash and May, who where helping Brock and Raine up respectively.
"Of course not!" Ash shouted. "Her family's been really good to us. All that happened was a little misunderstanding!"
Jenny flipped her notepad closed. "Well, then my work here is done. I'll file the report, but nothing should come on anyone's criminal record."
"But why, Auntie Joy?" Cyndi walked up to the counter. "Why did you think I was stealing those Pokémon? I told you who gave them to me."
"Because your father's pissed me off ever since we were little!" Joy shouted. "Ever since he was little, he's always playing with his sister's dolls, talking about how he wanted to be a Pokémon Nurse, when he should have been doing boy things!" She turned to Raine, whom Brock helped stand after Jenny had taken her notes. "He never got a chance to toughen up because of that broad right there! Your mother continued to baby him, and then he got into the Nurse's school. He never even caught his own Pokémon, for crying out loud. That Skarmory was your mother's only Pokémon, and she practically gave it to him!" Her gazed turned back to Cyndi. "But that wasn't all. He graduated at the top of the class, that year. Even beating me. And not even that was good enough. He got married to that bitch and had you. You've been a reminder of your father to me ever since I met you. I could see his spirit in you, and I wanted to crush it ever since I met you." She clenched her fists and shook them at the shocked girl. "And when I finally get the chance to put in your place, your hero has to come to the rescue! You all make me sick!"
Joy's tirade was brought to a halt when Raine, out of nowhere, had punched Joy square in the face, sending the nurse tumbling behind the counter. Blood from Joy's nose remained on Raine's hand and on the desk. The Pokémon Nurse held her nose to try to slow the flow. "Did you see her assult me?" she whined to Jenny. She bled on her white apron, staining the delicate material.
Jenny looked at Joy scornfully. "I'm turning the other way on this one. If she hadn't done it, I'd sure have."
"Give me your badge number!" Joy screeched, "I'll get you off the force!"
"I've got many eye witness accounts of you badmouthing a little girl," Jenny looked down her nose at the raging nurse, flipping her notebook closed again after jotting down notes from Joy's outburst. "Enough to put your character into question. If you push this, you might end up the one out of a job. Cerulean's known for its police force, not just because of our skill, but because we uphold justice for all. And I'd say justice has been served today."
Joy looked back at Raine, the former coordinator's eyes glazed over with rage. She picked Joy up by the collar, lifting her off the ground. "If you ever say anything of that nature around my daughter again," Raine threatened, "more than your nose will be broken."
"I'll ignore the terroristic threatening, but you're gonna have to set her down." The mother complied, dropping Joy back behind the counter. Chansey had come out of the back room smiling, holding bandages. Chansey began to carefully wrap Joy's wound. The Pokémon joyfully wrapped her partner's bloody nose, and then grabbed Ash and May's Pokéballs and handed them to their respective trainers. They smiled and thanked the Egg Pokémon for her assistance.
"Chansey's a much better nurse than that Joy'll ever be," May whispered to Ash, causing him to chuckle.
"But why did Pikachu run over to you?" Ash whispered back, still thinking about that instand
"Maybe he likes me more?" May winked at Ash, giggling.
"Way to play favorites, buddy," Ash sarcastically told Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon sighed, not even attempting to explain.
Cyndi sat on the ground, her legs spread far apart. She was stunned at her aunt's words. How could she treat her family this way? the distressed girl pondered, the thought echoing through her head.
"Need a hand?" a voice asked her. She looked up to see Max smiling at her from behind his glasses. She slowly nodded, and took his hand. Max pulled her to her feet. Cyndi began to dust herself off. "Are you alright?" Max asked her.
Cyndi felt her face heat up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just startled, is all."
"You'll be fine," Max assured her, a smile on his face. "People can say some pretty mean stuff, but you can't let it get to you. Ash taught me that." He smiled and began to crack jokes to ease the tension. "Just please don't stick your head up my shirt again. I'm not a very good hiding place."
Cyndi felt herself smile as the rest of the group called the two youngsters over. "Can you tell me more about you're travels with Ash?" she asked him.
The group left the Pokémon Center to find a mob outside, waiting for Ash and May. The group began to blind the trainers with their flashing camera lights, but a quick Thunder Wave from Pikachu shorted out their cameras, forcing them to leave with no footage. The party of six began walking down the road. When they got to the fork that would lead out of the city or to the Gym, Brock opted for the Gym. "I wanna try and talk to Misty," he said. "She's my friend, and I hope she'll listen to what I say." Ash wished him good luck, and told him that they would be at Cyndi's house later in the evening.
"Hey, wait," May remembered, "you said you could help us with our training?" She turned to Raine, who had since returned to her calmer self.
"Yes," she said, removing her glasses and wiping them off. "But Joseph's got our Skarmory right now. So I could only offer advice. I couldn't battle."
"Hey, wait," Ash recalled, "someone in this town owes us!" He turned to May. "Remember?" he asked. The idea clicked in the girl's head as well.
"We're going to the ice cream parlor!" May smiled. "I can get a hot fudge sundae!"
"Wait, what about ice cream?" Max asked. "Who owes you?"
May grabbed Max by the arm and began to run down the street, with Ash, Raine and Cyndi following.
May and her brother waited in front of the now familiar ice cream parlor for the rest of the group. After the rest of them had caught up, the group went inside.
"Hey, isn't that-" the youngest boy said before his sister and her friend covered his mouth.
"No, now shush!" Ash and May said, each placing a hand on Max's mouth. May caught that she was holding Ash's hand and shot a wry smile up to his auburn eyes before letting go. Ash blushed slightly and released Max's mouth. The boy silently witnessed the scene between the two, but said nothing right now.
May proceded up to the counter and looked at the menu. "What do I want this time?" she pondered to herself. She almost giggled with anticipation.
"May, we're here to ask for help, not to eat," Ash reminded her. "I don't think we'll be getting anything."
May put her puppy dog eyes on. "Please, Ash," the girl cutely begged him, leaning on his shoulder, "can we stay and get some ice cream? Only a little…"
Ash's resolve against May had dissolved. "Alright," he gave in, "we'll get some ice cream."
May nuzzled her head against Ash's shoulder and giggled. "Thank you, Ash," she told him, walking back up to the counter to order something from the blue-haired man working the register.
"You two make a cute couple," Raine whispered to Ash.
Ash felt his face turn redder than May had made it with her antics. "Do you really think?" he whispered back.
Cyndi and Max pushed passed the two and ordered something from the blue-haired man. Max shot a knowing gaze at familar face, but the worker smiled it off, silently thanking Ash and May.
"It's obvious she's interested in you. Are you afraid?" Raine continued.
"It's not that," the trainer whispered back, "there's this other guy…"
"That Drew from earlier today, is he the one?" Raine asked him.
"Geez, you make it sound as obvious as when Brock does something," Ash pulled his hat down over his eyes, embarrassed
"I'm just good at reading people in love," she smiled. "The only advice I can give you is to try your hardest and be yourself, Ash. Don't ever try to be anyone else."
Ash smiled, the thought of him dressed as Drew making him laugh inside in his mind. "Thanks, Raine. Now we need to get some ice cream and go sit with the others."
"Oh, and by the way," she told Ash while scanning the menu, "I think the reason Pikachu went over to May was to protect her. Pokémon often take on the characteristics and behavior of their trainers. Pikachu was just doing what he knew you'd want him to do."
"Really?" Ash looked at the small Pokémon sitting on his shoulder.
Pikachu nodded and laughed, motioning toward an ice cream sandwich that he wanted as a reward.
How was that? In the next installment, Brock visits Cerulean Gym. What can he uncover about the motives behind the coming battle? Just wait until next time to find out!
Until then, everyone, get Pokémon!