Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned anything related to Nintendo's Pokémon franchise.
Legend:
"A human or a Pokémon is talking."
'A human or a Pokémon is thinking.'
"A machine is being used."
Chapter Eight:
(Pewter City—Pokémon Center—Lobby)
As soon as Officer Jenny had mentioned 'Pokémon Abuse', the lobby had become deathly silent. Pokémon Abuse was a very serious topic and one not to be taken lightly.
Pokémon Abuse was the infliction of suffering or harm upon Pokémon, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, Pokémon Abuse can be harm for specific gain, such as killing Pokémon for food or for their fur.
Broadly speaking, there were two approaches to this issue.
The Pokémon Welfare Association (PWA) holds that there is nothing inherently wrong with using Pokémon for human purposes, such as food, clothing, entertainment, and research, but that it should be done in a humane way that minimizes unnecessary pain and suffering.
Pokémon Rights theorists criticize this position, arguing that the words "unnecessary" and "humane" are subject to widely differing interpretations and that the only way to ensure protection for Pokémon is to end their status as property, and to ensure that they are never used as commodities.
Laws concerning Pokémon Cruelty had been designed to prevent needless cruelty to Pokémon rather than killing for other aims such as food, or they concern species not as eaten as food in the region involved, such as those regarded as pets.
In Kanto, the 1894 Pokémon Welfare and Management Act stipulated that "no person shall kill, injure, or inflict cruelty to Pokémon without due course", and in particular, criminalizes cruelty to all Pokémon possessed by Pokémon Trainers.
So, for Damian Flats to be accused of Pokémon Abuse meant that he had broken Kanto law. In addition, from Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy said, Damian Flats' Pokémon had 'long-term' signs of abuse.
Officer Jenny stepped closer to Damian, her usually kind blue eyes as hard as steel. Damian looked around himself as his heart-rate increased. He knew that the jig was up.
"If you don't come with me quietly, then I'll have to add resisting arrest to your current list of charges, Damian." Officer Jenny warned as she approached. "It would be best if you just came with me now…"
"I haven't done anything wrong!" Damian protested, backing up.
Damian had now backed himself up against the western wall of the Pokémon Center, near the wall of Video Phones. Seeing this, Officer Jenny sighed before she pulled out a Poké Ball from the pocket of her skirt with a white glove. Throwing it into the air, Officer Jenny released her Pokémon.
It was a bipedal Pokémon that resembled a tapir. Its eyes were tired looking and it had a trunk above its mouth. Its arms were quite short in length and its hands each had three fingers. The upper half of its body was yellow and the lower half was brown, with a wavy line separating the two halves.
It had a round belly and its legs were quite stubby. Its feet were brown, except for its two toes, which were yellow. The bottom of each foot had a small, round, pink colored pad in the middle of it.
The Pokémon yawned tiredly, "Drow-zee…"
Damian suddenly froze, looking at the Pokémon—Drowzee—as it began to wave its arms around, eyes glazing over slightly. Unaware of what was going on, Drowzee used its control over Damian to make the boy walk over to Officer Jenny before extending his arms out.
Officer Jenny quickly cuffed one of Damian's wrists before she pulled the arm behind Damian, followed by the boy's second arm. This was followed by a faint series of clicks as she cuffed his other wrist before tightening them to make sure Damian wouldn't escape.
Only a moment later, Damian's eyes cleared up before he began to look around himself confusedly. He soon realized his predicament as Officer Jenny recalled her Pokémon.
"What? No!" Damian shouted angrily, shaking his head as he tried in vain to remove the hand-cuffs binding his hands behind his back. "This can't be happening!"
Officer Jenny grabbed hold of Damian's bound hands before she spoke, "Damian Flats, you have the right to remain silent. Anything that you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." By now she had forced the struggling boy near the lobby's entrance. "You have the right to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at the government's expense."
XXXXXX
(Later—Pokémon Center—Lobby)
After Officer Jenny had arrested Damian, it had taken Nurse Joy thirty minutes to sufficiently calm everyone down. She had to do this because of the numerous questions that exploded out of people's mouths.
"How could this have happened?"
"What will happen now?"
"How long has this been going on?"
Nurse Joy had answered all of these questions to the best of her abilities and as calmly as the situation allowed. Soon, however, Nurse Joy had managed to answer everyone's questions before sending them on their ways.
At the moment, both Ash and Brock were approaching Nurse Joy—each holding a tray containing their Pokémon's Poké Balls—as they each needed to get their Pokémon healed.
Hearing their footsteps, Nurse Joy looked upwards and forced a smile onto her face. "What can I do for you today?"
"Could you heal our Pokémon, Joy?" Brock asked.
"Of course I can. Just hand me your trays and I'll be right on it."
Without any further ado, both Ash and Brock handed their trays to Nurse Joy. Taking them, Nurse Joy placed Brock's tray underneath Ash's—as Eevee was sitting on top of Ash's tray—before she began walking away.
Brock sighed, "… I hope that Joy will be okay…"
"Huh?" Ash asked, turning to the older male. "What do you mean Brock?"
"Usually, when I come here, me and Joy will engage in some idle chit-chat… However, as you saw, she Ldidn't seem in the mood to talk." Brock answered with a frown. "She only never wants to talk when she's not feeling well…"
Frowning, Ash nodded. He hadn't quite noticed anything was wrong but if Brock—somebody that knew this Nurse Joy—could tell something was up, then it could be.
Ash wondered if he could o something to make Nurse Joy feel better, if only a little bit.
XXXXXX
(Sometime later—With Nurse Joy)
After she had given Ash and Brock their recently-healed Pokémon back to them, Nurse Joy had left to go check on Damian Flats' former Pokémon. Walking through the halls, she passed a couple of her Chansey before she had reached the observation room.
Opening the door, Nurse Joy silently walked into the room. The first sight she glimpsed was of the poor, emaciated, and abused Pokémon sleeping on beds. Around each bed was an array of medical equipment that was monitoring their health.
Looking at all of them, Nurse Joy felt like she could cry. It wasn't fair for these Pokémon to have suffered as they had. In addition, what made this worse was that all of these Pokémon were children.
"F-Fairy…"
Spinning around, Nurse Joy's eyes widened as she saw that—despite having been sedated—one of the Pokémon was getting up.
It was a small pink creature that was slightly rounded in appearance with dark-brown ears. It had two small black eyes, a small mouth with an elongated left canine. It had stocky arms with three digits on each of its hands. Each of its feet had a single clawed toe.
This Pokémon also had a large curl on its forehead, just above its small black eyes. It also had small wings on its back, which were incapable of flight but would allow it to jump higher than it normally would.
Nurse Joy watched as the poor thing looked around the room, a mixture of confusion and fear in its eyes. When it spotted her, the Pokémon's eyes widened in fright before it backed up on the bed, repeating its name over and over again in pure terror.
It broke Nurse Joy's heart to see such a young Pokémon react like this.
"It's okay, Clefairy." Nurse Joy said with a soft, tender tone in her voice as she slowly approached the abused Pokémon. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Clefairy's back hit the edge of its headboard, shaking its head from side to side. "Clefairy! Cle Fairy Cle-Fairy Fairy!"
Nurse Joy closed the distance separating her from Clefairy before easing herself onto its bed, whispering sweet nothings to the terrified Pokémon. Then, she carefully reached out and grabbed Clefairy before pulling it close to her chest. She ignored the pain that Clefairy's little fists caused her as it tried to escape her grasp, instead beginning to rock it in her arms.
"Cle… Clefairy!" Clefairy cried as she raked her nails against the arms that held her desperately, slowly tiring herself out. "Clefairy Cle! Clefairy Fairy… Clefairy…!"
"Hush, little one. Everything is going to be okay."
Nurse Joy continued to sit there rocking Clefairy until sleep had taken hold of it. Careful not to disturb Clefairy, Nurse Joy got up before she walked out of the observation. She had thought about leaving Clefairy with her sleeping, sedated companions but had dismissed the thought soon afterwards.
Now that she had fallen asleep, Nurse Joy didn't know how Clefairy would react if she wasn't there when it woke up.
Nurse Joy made her rounds—checking in on all of the other sick Pokémon in her care—smiling as she passed one of her Chansey. Then, exhausted, she made her way back to the lobby, once to be met with a blinding, bright flash as she opened the door.
"SURPRISE!"
Blinking the dark spots out of her vision, Nurse Joy looked around, only to see that her lobby had been transformed.
A multitude of streamers and balloons hung near the ceiling while beautiful pink sheets covered tables that had been moved into the room. Littered on the tables were small party favors, refreshments, and hors d'oeuvres.
There was even a banner that read:
Thank you Nurse Joy! You're the best!
Nurse Joy's eyes widened even further when she caught sight of her younger sister standing on the right side of Ash. Her sister smiled before she rushed over and embraced her in a loose hug—careful not to disturb or jostle Clefairy—which relieved her greatly.
However, despite how nice this all felt, Nurse Joy was still confused. "What's going on?"
The younger Nurse Joy laughed before she motioned for Ash to come forward. Seeing this, Ash walked forward until he was only a foot away from the two Nurse Joys.
"Ash contacted me in Viridian City this afternoon." The younger Nurse Joy explained before frowning a bit. "After what he told me, I figured that I could pop over for a bit." She laughed softly. "I didn't plan on throwing a party but… everyone here convinced me."
"Ash, is this true?" Nurse Joy asked, touched.
"Well, yeah… I guess." Ash nodded, looking down. "You just looked so down earlier and I thought—"
Ash was unable to finish his sentence as, in the next moment, Nurse Joy drew him close and hugged him with her only available arm. She held him there for a minute or two before letting him go, tears prickling in the edges of her eyes.
"Thank you, Ash."
XXXXXX
(Later—Kanto—Pewter City)
Once Nurse Joy's surprise party had officially ended, Ash had retreated back to his room to get some well-needed rest. He slept until 2:00 in the afternoon before he actually looked at the clock, realized what time it was, and got out of bed.
After taking a shower and getting dressed, Ash picked up his backpack from the foot of his bed and left his room. He ran down the hallway, down the hallways and staircase, and burst into the lobby.
Fortunately for him, it appeared that neither Nurse Joy was here at the moment; he wouldn't get scolded.
"No running in the Pokémon Center."
Turning around slowly, Ash cursed to himself when he saw that Nurse Joy was standing right behind him. He then rubbed the back of his head, said he was sorry, and then promised her that he wouldn't do it again.
Nurse Joy looked at him suspiciously for a couple of moments—mirth shining through her mock-serious expression—before she shook her head. "I'm sure you won't." She waved her hand towards the door to the lobby. "Now, off you go! And no running!"
XXXXXX
Twenty minutes later found Ash standing before the entrance to Pewter City's Museum of Science. He had heard about how cool the museum was supposed to be last night and intrigued, he wanted to experience it himself.
Walking into the museum, Ash was stopped by a brown-haired man sitting behind a desk on the left side of the entryway.
"If you want to see the museum, it'll cost you ¥50." The man stated.
Nodding, Ash reached into his pocket as he walked over before he gave the needed money to the brown-haired man. The man took the money, put it into the nearby register, and then handed Ash a blue ticket.
"The museum closes in an hour. So, until then, enjoy yourself."
Ash grinned, "Thanks! I will."
Walking away from the desk, Ash wondered why it was right next to the entrance of the museum before he turned around a corner. There, he came face-to-face with the first exhibit; a large glass case in which fossilized remains of Kabuto and Kabutops stood.
At least, that is what the plague to the case said.
Either way, it was still pretty cool. Ash stared at the two fossilize Pokémon for a few minutes before the wonder wore off and turned to leave. It was then that a seemingly random thought struck him.
Unclipping his Poké Balls from his belt, Ash then released his four Pokémon. Ordinarily, Eevee would have been on his shoulder, though he had recalled her back to her Poké Ball last night when it was getting late.
Ash then watched as his Pokémon looked around the room they were in wonder, eyes darting to the exhibits that caught their eyes. He looked down when Eevee looked up at him with somewhat begging expression on her face before he offered her his shoulder.
That done, Ash then addressed his other Pokémon. "We're in the Pewter City Museum of Science!" He pointed to the Kabuto/Kabutops exhibit behind him. "This is a display holding the fossils of Kabuto and Kabutops; Pokémon that became extinct hundreds of years ago."
"Pidgey."
"Ratta Rattata."
"Na."
"Eevee, Ve Eevee."
Soon after, Ash led his Pokémon away from the Kabuto/Kabutops exhibit. He didn't know where the other exhibits were but finding them was half the fun!
"Hey, look at this guys!" Ash called out as he stood before yet another display. "This fossil is supposed to be that of an Aeodactyl!" He grinned. "It looks so cool!"
"Eevee Ve Ee-V-E, Ve Eevee!" Eevee yipped in agreement.
Pidgey recoiled in fear, "Pidgey!" Pidgey turned before he ran behind Ash's legs, shaking. "Pidge Pi Pidgey!"
"Don't be silly, Pidgey." Ash laughed. "Aerodactyl went extinct hundreds of years ago."
Rattata looked awed as he sat before the glass, looking up at the fossil of the Aerodactyl. "Rattata… Ratta Tata Rattata..."
"Kakuna Na. Kakuna"
Five minutes later, Ash left the Aerodactyl exhibit after he had finally convinced that the Aerodactyl wouldn't eat it as there were all extinct. He then led his Pokémon up the stairs and onto the second floor.
There, they saw something that instantly captured everyone's attention: there was a gigantic space-ship in the middle of the room! In fact, it looked like the ship that humans had first used to travel to the moon.
Ash grinned, "Awesome! I should've brought a camera. Mom would love to see this!"
"Ve!" Eevee yipped.
Pidgey chirped excitedly, "Pidge."
"Rattata!"
"Na Kakuna."
"Oh, look! We can actually get on it! C'mon, guys, let's go see what it's like to sit in it!" Ash said as he raced towards the space ship. "I bet it'll be awesome!"
Ash's Pokémon Team:
Eevee (Female): Level 13.
Attacks: Growl (Normal), Helping Hand (Normal), Sand-Attack (Normal), Scratch (Normal) Tackle (Normal), Tail Whip (Normal).
Pidgey (Male): Level 10.
Attacks: Sand-Attack (Ground), Tackle (Normal),
Rattata (Male): Level 11.
Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Tail Whip (Normal), and Quick Attack (Normal).
Kakuna (Male): Level 12.
Attacks: String-Shot (Bug), Poison-Sting (Poison), Bug-Bite (Bug), and Harden (Normal).
(Pewter City) Officer Jenny's Pokémon Team:
Drowzee (Male): Level 20.
Attacks: Pound (Normal), Hypnosis (Psychic), Disable (Psychic), Confusion (Psychic), and Headbutt (Normal).
A/N: Author's Note; This chapter was updated as of 05/31/2012.