The day before the tournament, Selene called a meeting with her trainees. When they were all there and she had their attention, she said, "I'm going to be in charge of Pallet Town's Temporary Centre for a couple of days, and I'd like you, Adaline, Edrea, to come with me."

Edrea said, "But, what about the other two, Lydia and Fiona?"

"You only just got here, so you'll be working as their assistants, just while the tournament is ongoing, since they know what's what and where everything goes in the Pokécentre that they've set up.

"Alright Nurse Joy," the two Apprentice Joy said.

Selene said, "Now, come with me," and led them outside, leaving the rest of her trainees to work under her sister while she was away. When they were all outside, Selene drew three pokéballs from her apron and said, "I choose you three!" tossing them into the air. When they were released, her two Apprentice Joy, gaped at the sight of the three flying types.

Edrea said, "These are…"

Selene said, "Skarmory, Aerodactyl and Charizard," as she walked over to Aerodactyl. She said, "I'll take Aerodactyl. The other two are relatively stable flyers, so you should have no problems staying on them."

"Hold on! When you say 'staying on them'…you don't mean that we're actually going to have to ride those things…you know…in the air, right?"

Selene said, "Of course I do. What else could I mean?"

"Well, you see…" Edrea gulped. "Adaline and I…we believe that humans should stay where they belong. On the ground."

"Well, too bad. You're going to have to get over that at some point, and right now, it's too late to get there by foot in time for the tournament that we'll be working at."

The Apprentice Joy looked at each other and sighed, resigning themselves to their fate as Charizard and Skarmory let out sounds of encouragement. When they had mounted the flying types, they took off with ease and headed straight for Pallet Town, having made the trip many times before, when they delivered medical supplies for Professor Oak.

Selene's flying types being much more powerful than either Lydia's or Fiona's meant that it took them just over an hour to get to Pallet Town. When they were, they landed outside the tents that had been set up in a type of Y-formation and Selene returned her flying types to their pokéballs. She then went in, followed by her two apprentices. Seeing Lucario standing behind the desk, Selene said, "Lucario! It's been a while." Lucario responded with a grin and a few welcoming sounds. When Lucario had finished, Selene asked, "So, where's Lana?" Lucario let out a few sounds before pointing at the opening behind it. "And my two apprentices?" Lucario told Selene that it would be better to ask Lana. So Selene asked, "Can we go and see her then?" Lucario nodded, letting out an accepting, "Lu ca!" and slid the bit of wood covering a gap in its bench to let them through.

When they went into the tent, Lana looked up and said, "Aunt Selene!" with a smile. "You're here!" and stood up and threw her arms around Selene.

Selene smiled and returned the hug, saying, "That's right Lana."

They both let go and Lana said, "I thought that you said that you couldn't make it?"

"There's a meeting of the Kanto Pokécentre Committee tomorrow. When I said that, I thought that I had to attend it myself. Apparently, only the attendance of one Ranking Joy is needed, so I got Raylene to fill in for me. That aside, do you mind telling me where your Apprentices are?"

"They're helping out at Pallet House right now."

"They're…Huh?" Edrea gasped, knowing that 'Pallet House' was basically a regular Bed & Breakfast joint, even if it did have a good reputation. "Why are they working there? They're Nurse Joy!"

Lana grinned and said, "Maybe so, but, here, I'm the one in charge and I determined that that was the best way to get their skills up to where they should be."

Adaline said, "But, as my cousin said, they're Nurse Joy, so what good would cleaning sheets really do?"

Lana smiled and said, "They're not parlour maids, if that's what you're thinking."

"Then…"

"Why don't you pair go and ask them? I think that I should probably talk with Nurse Selene for a bit."

"Alright, Nurse Joy," the two Apprentice Joy said.

Lana rolled her eyes at the echoed reply, causing Selene to smile. When the two Apprentice Joy were gone, Selene said, "So, Lana, exactly why are they working at Pallet House, and what are they doing?"

"Learning how to cook."

"How to…"

Selene sighed and said, "Please tell me that you had a reason other than punishing them?"

"Of course I did! Although, to be fair, that was certainly at least a small part of it."

"Why? What did they do?"

"Lydia thought that she could question me about 'how I could possibly consider myself a Nurse Joy'. But, mostly, it was that after that was settled, I tried to teach them one of my Poffin recipes, and they messed them up royally, so passing on any of my other tricks, like what I've got set up here…" Lana motioned around the tent. "…would be nigh on impossible."

"I see. How have they responded to your…more unusual training methods?"

"Surprisingly well. After the first couple of days, they got into the routine that I'd set them, and got to work without much fuss. Though they did balk at the battle training that I was putting them through, after viewing that video of Jayce and I battling against Ash Ketchum. The pair of them ended up forcing me to go to Professor Oak to arrange someone else for them."

"I see. Who did he arrange?"

Lana grinned and said, "Delia Ketchum."

"Was that your idea?"

"No. I had nothing to do with it. They tried to ask for another, but Professor Oak convinced them that Delia would be perfect for them to train with at their level."

Lana then stood up and said, "So, do you want to see their workspaces?"

Selene said, "If that's alright," as she followed Lana from the supply tent.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, the two Apprentice Joy had reached Pallet House and went inside. Seeing no one there, they rang the bell at the counter and waited until someone came out to see to them. About a minute later, Fiona came out and saw two Trainee Joys that she didn't know. She said, "So, are you the ones that Nurse Selene was going to organise to come with her?"

"That's right," Adaline said.

"So, what can I do you for? Although it'll have to be quick."

"Why's that?"

"I need to get back before Delia starts to get annoyed."

"Uhh…who's 'Delia' and why would she get annoyed?"

"Because, she's teaching me how to make stuffed meatballs to serve for dinner tonight."

"I…see. Wait! No I don't! Why are you doing that?"

"Nurse Lana has some rather…unusual methods when it comes to training. This started out as one of them, and it's only been a few days since my sister and I started, but I think that it's actually kind of fun."

"It's…huh?" Adaline exclaimed, unable to comprehend what she was being told.

"Besides, it's not like a lot of pokécentres don't have eateries attached to them."

"If…you say so."

"So, how has your training been under Nurse Selene so far?"

"Rather steady. She's tough, but she tries to be as fair as she can. Although it would appear that she doesn't really like it when we try new techniques that we've learnt without her being there."

Fiona said, "Yep. That sounds about right. You wouldn't believe the number of times that she's taken Lydia and I to task over that."

"So…do you need to get back now, or…"

"Yeah. You can go and help either of our Chansey with their work if you want to do something while Lydia and I are working here."

"Work with your…are you sure that that's alright?"

"Yeah, of course it is!" Fiona said. "We're all Nurse Joy here, right?"

"Right!" the cousins said, happy to be referred to as such, despite having just finished their theoretic training at the Kanto Nurse Joy Academy. As Fiona started to walk back inside, Adaline called out, causing her to turn back around and ask what she wanted. Adaline said, "Uhh..when will you be finished tonight?"

"Around eight o'clock. Why?"

"Well…can we ask you some stuff about training at Viridian Pokécentre?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

"Great!" Adaline said with a wide smile. She waved farewell, as she chased after her cousin with a spring in her step.

When Adaline and Edrea entered the Pokécent, Selene was saying, "So, you're thinking of moving on after the tournament, are you?"

"Yeah. I reckon I can stay on here for another week or so, but I've really got to get underway."

Selene smiled and said, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, really. Even as a kid you couldn't sit still."

"Aunt Sele-ene!" Lana whined, before they both broke out laughing. Lana saw the looks on two apprentices faces and laughingly said, "I think we might be scaring your trainees."

Selene looked at the entrance as she got her laughter under control. When she had, she said, "So, how were they?"

Adaline said, "We only got to see Fiona for a couple of minutes before she had to go back into the kitchen."

Edrea said, "But, she said that she and Lydia would be available to talk after they were done at around eight."

"So, why are you back here?"

"Nurse Fiona suggested that we could work with their Chansey while they were busy."

Lana said, "Huhn. Well, would you like some one-on-one teaching with Selene and I?"

"Uhh…I'm not sure that that would be very…beneficial…Nurse Lana."

"Oh? Why's that?" Lana pointedly asked.

"Well…this is a tent, so I don't see how it could…"

Selene said, "Lana, calm down," as she saw her eyes narrow.

Lana let out a breath before saying, "So, you've been out of the academy for how long now?"

"Uhh...well…"

Selene said, "Adaline. Nurse Lana is a Roving Nurse Joy. They don't have a dedicated pokécentre to work at, so they tend to get more creative with their treatments and work areas than regular Nurse Joy typically need to. That doesn't make their methods any less valid, or useful, than any other." She then turned to Lana and asked, "So, do you have any spare?"

Lana grinned and said, "You know me too well," and reached around her back to her pokébelt and took out a pokéball. She gave it over to Selene and asked, "Who are you going to take?"

Selene turned to the apprentices and said, "Adaline, you're with me. Edrea, you go with Lana." The two apprentices hesitantly nodded.

Lana said, "Here, you'll probably need this too," handing her pokédex over to Selene."

Selene looked at it and smiled. She said, "I'm not sure that I need something like that," only very slightly less than insulted that Lana thought that she needed it.

"No," Lana said, "Not you," her eyes flicking to Adaline.

Selene said, "Ah. Right." She took it and handed it over to Adaline as they went into the room on the left.

When Selene and Adaline were gone, Lana said, "Alright, you can come with me." Edrea silently followed Lana into the other medical tent, surprising the Chansey that was in the middle of using Heal Pulse on a Nidoran that Professor Oak had brought to her that got transferred to the Oak Lab after being caught earlier in the day. Lana nodded at it and said, "Keep going. We can wait until you're done."

Chansey let out a thankful tune and nodded before focusing on one spot, intensifying its healing energies. It didn't take too much longer to finish healing it and Chansey let out a satisfied, "Chaa-aaan," when Nidoran jumped up and thanked it before going over to the pokéball that it had come in in. It tapped it, letting itself get sucked into the ball.

When Nidoran was back in its pokéball, Lana asked, "So, was that your last one for the day?" Chansey nodded. "Alright then." Lana faced Edrea and said, "So, you're probably better with working alongside Chansey, than I am, so I'll let you take the lead for this," as she drew another pokéball from her belt and placed it on the table.

Edrea hesitantly said, "Actually…you'd be wrong there."

"Really?" Lana blinked. "I thought that all City Joys used them, or pokémon just like them."

"They do. But, I couldn't find one. I did find myself a Gothita that could use Heal Pulse though, so she became my healing partner."

"I see," Lana said, blinking. "I'm sorry, I just assumed that…"

"No, it's fine. Really," Edrea said with an apathetic smile.

Lana said, "Then in that case…" Then, in a loud voice, she called out, "Lucarioo!" and Lucario came rushing in. Lana said, "Looks like we'll be operating together on this one, buddy." Lucario's entire visage lifted as it smiled and rushed to Lana's side as she moved around the table. Lana nodded at Edrea and said, "Now, you call out your partner."

Edrea reached into her apron and drew out a Dusk Ball. She said, "Come on out, Gothitelle!" releasing it next to her.

Lana blinked and said, "Damn, Edrea! With a Gothitelle as strong as she is, you'd probably make a pretty good Roving Joy." Lana saw a strange look quickly pass over Edrea's face and thought, 'So, is it that she does want to and there's some reason that's stopping her from doing it, or is it something in her past that is holding her back? Either way, I'd like to know a bit more about her situation before I broach it with Aunt Selene.' Lana shrugged as she thought, 'In any case, that can wait. For now…' she tapped the pokéball that she'd put on the table, releasing a Garchomp that was heavily bruised, but still awake.

Edrea blinked at what Lana had released. She thought, 'What the?! That's a…a…' and staggered backwards. She looked up at Lana, and thought, 'What in the world was she fighting that could have reduced a GARCHOMP to the state it's in? There are no pokémon around Pallet Town that should be capable of…wait! Nurse Selene asked if she had 'any spare'. Does that mean that she did this in order to capture it?!'

She said, "How did you capture it in the state it's in?"

Lana blinked and said, "You think that…" and started to actually laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Garchomp and I have been together since just before I enrolled in Sinnoh's Academy." She rubbed Garchomp's neck and said, "Haven't we girl?" Garchomp slowly shifted its head in a nod.

"Then how did…no. What did…no. What could do…this?" Edrea asked, pointing along Garchomp's body.

Lana grinned and said, "That would be the pokémon that Aunt Selene is working on now with your cousin."

Edrea blinked and said, "Then…are you trying to say that this was training!?"

"That's about the gist of it," Lana said.

Edrea sighed and said, "I'm not sure that I could do that to my pokémon."

"Oh. Right. Yeah. I'm not training them because I'm a Roving Nurse Joy, if that's what you're thinking."

"Then…why are you doing it?" Edrea asked as she and Lana started to work with their respective healing partner.

As she worked, Lana said, "When I was on my first pokémon journey, I ran across a really stupidly strong trainer that challenged my brother and I to a battle."

"Really? Who was it?"

"That doesn't really matter. He has a Garchomp of his own, though he didn't use it and still totally decimated us. After that, he granted me entry to the Battle Frontier within the Hoenn Region. I was about to take up that challenge before I found out the Mk IV Healing Machine that Professor Oak owns is a dud."

"But wait. You're a Joy! How can you work your pokémon this hard, let alone take part in pokémon battles, where the sole intent is to inflict harm?

"Hmmm…" Lana said. "You know, I've never really thought about it. I suppose that, ultimately, there's nothing to heal if there are no injuries that have been inflicted. So, in a sense, I'm just making more work for myself," Lana laughed.

"You…was that a joke?"

"Not entirely." Lana sighed and said, "Look, I know what I say and do may seem contradictory. Believe me, many, many, of our fellow Joy have gone to some rather ridiculous lengths to point it out. But I, for one, am happy to be a living contradiction."

Edrea started to laugh at the announcement. When she was done, she came to an injury that she needed a potion to accelerate the healing of and looked to the dispensers that Lana had prepared. She blinked when she saw the names. She looked to Lana and said, "These potions are weird. Which one should I be using?"

"That's probably because I had to make them from some berries from the orchard that I planted out the back. I labelled them with the healing berry used. What do you know about pokémon natures and how they affect the berries that they can eat?"

"We were taught that certain berries have effects that will bring either beneficial or detrimental effects. But, that was as far as it went. There was nothing mentioned about products made from them."

"Well, the potions that I make, I mix in berries that balance out the effects of the main healing ingredient, as well as one that can counter the confusion that can occur from a pokémon consuming the wrong type of berry."

"In that case, it shouldn't matter which type of potion that is used, so why name them differently?"

"Because, if I got the ratio even a little off, the effects of the main ingredient can still make their way through the balancers. If that does happen, not only would the pokémon heal, but it would also go out of control and start attacking blindly. If it was suffering from being poisoned as well, then…well, I don't think I need to tell you what would happen then."

"No," Edrea said, thinking, 'that means that the measurements must be very exacting. Almost too much for a set up like this. So…does she make use of the implements at Pallet House, or Professor Oak's Lab?'

Lana, seeing the thoughtful look, asked, "What are you thinking?"

"Well…it's just that the ratios of the berries would need to be very exac…wait! Is that why you've got Lydia and Fiona working at Pallet House?"

Lana grinned and said, "That's right. I tried teaching them a basic poffin recipe, but they ended up with a doughy mess. I don't have the luxury of time to teach them the proper method while I'm here, so, I figured that working in Delia's kitchen would be an acceptable compromise."

"But then their work here would be…"

"Nurse Selene wouldn't give me apprentices that were completely incapable of working by themselves, so I let them take care of the healing, whilst I make the supplies that they'll need to do so. That said, if there's anything that Lucario doesn't think that they can handle, I step in and it turns into a session much like this one."

"I see. That's different to how Nurse Selene does it."

"Yeah. I know. It's also the difference between a Roving Joy and a City Joy."

"What do you mean?"

"We Roving Joys tend to be rather individualistic and, to a large extent, loners. City Joys, well…aren't. That said, we still enjoy working alongside others. Our healing team also tends to include two 'head' healers."

"What do you mean?"

"You have Gothitelle as your head healer, right?"

"That's right. What's your point?"

"Well, Lucario here, is mine. But, he's also one of my more prominent battlers. So, I also have a Gothitelle that can take over when Lucario and I are defending them, and the pokémon that we are healing at the time."

"I see. Wait! Why are you telling me this?"

Lana said, "Heh, who knows."

"You must. Otherwise you wouldn't have said it."

Lana sighed and said, "Well, you seem to be a bit different to the other City Joys that I've met before. Also, just before I started my training, someone pointed out to me that there are multiple paths that can be taken, even for Nurse Joy."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how there's City Joys and Roving Joys?" Lana waited until Edrea nodded before going on. "Well, apparently, Registered Joys, of any sort, are automatically able to act as judges for Frontier Battles."

"Really?!" Edrea exclaimed.

"Of course, there's also the PIA Joys as well."

"Oh yeah. I might try out for that. Actually…how do you become a PIA Joy?"

"I've no idea. I've always wanted to be a Roving Joy, so mostly ignored the other types. You could probably ask Nurse Selene about the other paths."

"I see. I think I'll do that. Although…"

"What's the problem?"

"Adaline and I have always wanted to work together, and she's never expressed an interest in being anything other than a City Joy."

Lana sighed and said, "I know how difficult dealing with stubborn relatives can be. But, ultimately, you need to make the right decision for you. besides, I've never heard of any Joy having any problems with having a side job." Lana rolled her eyes before saying, "Arceus, just about every Roving Joy has at least one herself."

"What about you?"

"Me?" Lana questioned. Edrea nodded. "Usually Coordinator and Aura Guardian, but currently Frontier Challenger."

"What's an Aura Guardian?"

"Urk!" Lana blanched. "I…actually said that. Didn't I?"

"Yeah. You did."

Lana sighed and said, "It's basically someone that can make use of their aura that does all sorts of good stuff to keep the world in balance when it goes out of whack, or is about to anyway. We also tend to have a partner pokémon that can also use aura."

"A pokémon that can use aura too? You mean like Mienshao?"

"That's right. But Lucario here is mine. Why ask about Mienshao?"

"Well, I have one."

Lana raised an eyebrow and asked, "Have you read Melania Joy's book on spirit healing?"

"No. What is it about?"

"That can serve as a pretty good introduction to the use of aura. Of course, our abilities extend very far past what is talked about in that book. If you do have the gift, and can make use of the methods identified in that book, you might want to visit the Sinnoh or Hoenn Region. Apparently there are masters that can teach you the more advanced techniques there."

"What about you?"

"I've got no idea where I'll be by the time you could use those techniques, but those two can pretty much always be found in the same spot. Besides, I trained under the one in the Sinnoh Region."

"Then how do you know about one in the Hoenn Region?"

"That, is the one that told me about there being multiple paths for Nurse Joy."

"I see. Thank you for telling me of this, Nurse Lana."

Lana said, "Now, back to what we were talking about earlier. Garchomp has a Serious Nature, so none of the potions that we've got here will inflict confusion in it."

"Right!" Edrea said, having almost forgotten about what she'd asked about due to the nature of their discussion.

XXXXX

After they'd finished healing Lana's pokémon, Selene and Adaline met Lana and Edrea in the central tent, where Selene handed Lana her pokéball. As she did, she said, "Flygon is going to be fine. But…" Lana raised a questioning eyebrow. "…exactly how did it come by those injuries?"

"Battling against Garchomp."

"Ah. That explains it. I'm sure you know this, but even a strong Flygon is far weaker than the average Garchomp, so you probably shouldn't be pitting the two against each other. And, from what your mother has told me, your Garchomp is far from average."

Lana said, "The thing is, Flygon wants to fight against a speedster like Garchomp so that it's ready when it comes time to face off against Ketchum's Noivern."

"Well, if that's all it is."

Lana grinned and said, "They'll be fine. Trust me, I never put them through anything that they couldn't handle."

"Well, so long as you keep that in mind when training them, it should be fine."

"So, do you want to have some dinner?"

"Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"How about we go and see how Lydia and Fiona are doing at Pallet House?"

"Sounds good," Selene said. She turned to her two apprentices and asked, "So, do you two want to come too?"

Adaline shrugged and said, "Sure, I guess."

Edrea said, "It's not like we've got any better ideas."

With that decided, they went to Pallet House and ordered their dinner. Lana and Selene were pleasantly surprised by what they got. Adaline and Edrea, not having known the twins very long, were unaware of their issues in the kitchen, weren't surprised, but still enjoyed their meal nonetheless. When the service was done, Delia came out and gave the new Joys access to one of the empty rooms for the night, though she was booked out until the end of the next week, so they would need to find somewhere else to stay going forward. After that was organised, Selene asked, "So, how has Lana been while she's been here?" Delia sat down in a chair opposite while Lana tried to object to the line of questioning. As the barrage of questions started to come, Lydia and Fiona asked the cousins if they'd like to come up to their room to talk, while the others talked.

When they were upstairs, Edrea faced Lydia and asked, "So, what do you think of Nurse Lana?"

Lydia said, "She's a sadistic bitch, who shouldn't have been allowed to enter the academy, let along graduate." The statement caused Fiona to laugh as the cousin's faces twisted into stunned disbelief.

Edrea said, "I don't think that…she's that bad. Well, from what I just saw anyway."

Fiona asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, we just finished healing up two of her pokémon and Adaline worked with Nurse Selene while I worked with Nurse Lana. She seemed more than capable enough to have graduated, probably at the top of her class."

Lydia said, "Well, I don't know what happened when you were working with her, but, the very first thing that she did when we arrived, was send us out to pick some berries in the woods. When we didn't get the right ones originally, she sent us back out there, in the dark, to get some more. Then, we thought that she'd locked the tent on us! When we got to the Pokécent the next day, she had made potions out of them! Then, she had us go out and catch a pokémon, just so that we could heal it. After that, the sanctimonious bitch had us join Delia in the kitchen! Oh, that's after her version of 'battle training'!"

Edrea said, "The way she explained it to me was that she pointed out where you went wrong, found a method so that it wouldn't happen again, and then had you do something that would get you to the point that she could teach you the method to make the potions that she was using, as well as pass on some kind of recipe for something."

Lydia sighed and said, "That's one way of looking at it, I suppose."

Adaline asked, "What's the other?"

"That she's a sadistic, vindictive bitch that likes to issue cruel and unusual punishments."

Adaline looked to Fiona and asked, "What do you think?"

Fiona sighed and said, "To be quite frank, I'd say that it's probably a mixture between the two; well, minus the sadistic bit."

Edrea said, "Nurse Lana said that Roving Joys tend to be individualistic loners, so it could just be that she's unused, or has problems with, working with others."

"Maybe," Lydia admitted, though the other Apprentice Joys could hear the doubt in her voice.