Episode 377: Pinch Healing
A week has passed since Drew and Harley's arrival to the Fennel Valley Pokémon Center and Brendan's battle against Drew.
During the week, Sora, Roxas, Brendan, Chase, Elaine, Wes, Michael, and Trace have been training for the Pokémon Stadium Cup finals, wanting to be prepared.
Riku, Ash, Leaf, Ethan, Kris, Lyra, and Rei helped with the training for the finals.
Meanwhile, Kairi, Rui, and Angel are walking down the hall to the kitchen to make some breakfast for everyone.
"I take it that you want Wes to eat what you make for him, right?" Kairi asked.
"I do. I wanna be able to fix a meal I know he'll love," Rui said.
"You sound truly dedicated," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Just like you and Sora, right?" Rui asked. Kairi giggled.
"Yeah, it feels that way," Kairi said.
"Chansey!" Chansey's voice exclaimed from the kitchen. They heard the sound of someone falling over and they rushed to the kitchen and they saw Nurse Joy laying on the floor and her cheeks flushed pink.
"Nurse Joy, are you okay? Nurse Joy?" Kairi asked.
"We better get her to bed," Rui said.
"Yeah, and we have to get the others involved," Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel said.
After getting Nurse Joy to bed, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Naminé, Roxas, Xion, Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Ash, Leaf, Ethan, Kris, Lyra, Brendan, May, Chase, Elaine, Wes, Rui, Michael, Trace, Rei, Ryuko, Professor Oak, Pikachu, Angel, Eevee, Azurill, Xipak, Celeste, Blossom, Sparky, Thor, Eclair, Marill, Volt, Maple, and Chansey have gathered around the sick nurse.
"What's wrong with her, professor? Is she alright?" Ryuko asked.
"She's perfectly fine. She happens to have the flu," Professor Oak said.
"Well, she was working so hard ever since we got here. She did get all excited," Terra said.
"The best thing for her is rest. And knowing her, that won't be easy to do," Professor Oak said. Nurse Joy then sat up.
"I can't rest. There's so much work to do around here," Nurse Joy coughed. Professor Oak, lays her back down.
"Please, just calm down," Professor Oak said.
"You'll only make your illness worse if you overdo it," Xion said.
"She's right. You gotta rest and save your strength," Kris said.
"But..." Nurse Joy tried to argue.
"No arguments. You're too sick to do anything," Karen said.
"Pika," Blossom said.
"I have a duty as a nurse to tend to the Pokémon Center. I-" Nurse Joy coughed again.
"Don't worry, we'll run it until you get better," Leaf said.
"And we'll make sure everything goes smoothly," Ash said.
"I am in full agreement. I insist you stay in bed," Professor Oak said.
"The professor's right. Rest is all you need and since it's just us, we'll be able to take care of things," Rei said.
"So, all you gotta do is feel better," Ventus said.
"Well, thank you for all of your help," Nurse Joy said.
"It's the least we can do," Elaine said.
"I mean, what could happen with us in charge?" Chase asked.
Meanwhile, a couple of Mankey were throwing around a stick. One threw it too hard into the air and it came down and hit a Diglett in the head, and then it hits a Gloom, angrily unleashing a Sleep Powder, making an Electrode occupying a tree right to sleep. Electrode fell off the tree and rolled its way off a cliff. A bus comes driving on the road when the Electrode struck the hood of the bus and explodes. Waing up, Electrode saw it wasn't on the tree it was sleeping on and bounced away.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Ryuko, Professor Oak, Rei, Blossom, Sparky, Thor, and Eclair were watching over her as she fell asleep.
"She's finally asleep," Ventus said.
"Good. She's going to need some peace and quiet while she sleeps," Professor Oak said.
Over to the lobby, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Namine, Roxas, Xion, Ash, Leaf, Ethan, Kris, Lyra, Brendan, May, Chase, Elaine, Wes, Rui, Michael, were doing their part to make sure Nurse Joy wasn't disturbed and get the chores done around the Pokémon Center. Sora and Pikachu are at the lobby as the phone rings. Sora answers it.
"Hello, Pokémon Center," Sora said, answering the phone. "Where's Nurse Joy? She's under the weather at the moment, but how can I help you?" He listened in. "What? An accident? What happened?" Sora listened in. "Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. Just calm down, and we'll be right with you." He hangs up.
"Something up, Sora?" Michael asked.
"Just got off the phone with someone named Matt, and he's a Pokésitter. The Pokémon under his care got injured in a bus he was driving when it was smashed into by an Electrode. They were heading for Fennel Falls," Sora said.
"What happened?" Wes asked.
"A Pokésitter got involved in an accident," Michael said.
"And we need your vehicle to pull the bus and bring them here," Sora said.
"Sure thing," Wes said.
Meanwhile, the Pokésitter is trying his best to calm down the six crying Pokémon. The Pokémon consisted of a Wooper, a Seedot, a Whismur, a Makuhita, a Larvitar, and a Swinub. They were crying over their injuries. The seventh Pokémon is a Bagon standing on a pole. The young man wore a green jumpsuit and he has green hair. This was indeed Matt the Pokésitter.
"Wooper, Swinub, it's alright! And Seedot and Larvitar, you gotta be brave!" Matt said, trying to calm the Pokémon down. He hears the sound of an engine hum and he saw Wes's vehicle come. Wes and Michael stepped out.
"Are you from the Pokémon Center?" Matt asked.
"We are," Wes said.
"We came to help," Michael said.
"Thank goodness," Matt said. Wes and Michael calmed the crying Pokémon down and gestures them to the vehicle.
"Okay, one at a time. Plenty of room for everyone," Wes said.
"The Pokémon do look like they're okay. No serious injuries, but we're gonna have to take them to the Pokémon Center just to be sure," Michael said.
"Thanks," Matt said as Wes attaches a grapple to his vehicle.
"This bus doesn't look nearly as lucky as the Pokémon were. That Electrode sure did a number on it," Wes said. A flock of Fearow flew by. "That Bagon looks okay."
"Bagon, we have to go!" Matt said. Bagon jumped off, but a Butterfree flies by, so the Rock Head Pokémon goes after the Butterfly Pokémon. "No, not again!" He was about to go after them, but the Pokémon pleaded him not to leave them. Matt was having a hard time choosing what to do.
"You go after Bagon! I'll take these Pokémon to the Pokémon Center," Wes said.
"Are you sure? I can't leave them alone!" Matt said.
"Trust me, they're in good hands," Wes said.
"I'll go with you. Just to help you out," Michael said.
"Thanks for the help," Matt said.
With that said, Michael and Matt went off to get Bagon back. Bagon found a place to try to fly, so it flapped its arms and then fell on the ground. Michael and Matt caught up with the Rock Head Pokémon.
"There you are, Bagon. Did you fall and hurt yourself?" Michael asked, touching Bagon.
"No, wait! Don't!" Matt exclaimed.
"What?" Michael asked. He got his answer when Bagon headbutts him. "Ow! That really hurt."
"I'm sorry, I should have warned you sooner. Bagon is really shy, so whenever a stranger touches it, it gets aggressive," Matt said.
"It's okay. I got hit by worse things that. I take it Bagon tried to fly, right?" Michael asked.
"Yes. That's exactly right," Matt said.
"If I remember right, Bagon can only be able to evolve after evolving from a Shelgon. I thought it was the case when it went after that Butterfree," Michael said.
"Well, we should get to Bagon before something happens," Matt said.
"That's why I'm here," Michael said.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Wes brought the injured Pokémon back, so Naminé tended to Wooper.
"Okay, Azurill, try using your Water Gun, but do it gently," Naminé said.
"Azurill," Azurill chirped. She gently spewed Water Gun on Wooper's injuries, healing it completely. "There you go. Why don't you go play, okay?"
"Wooper," Wooper went off to play.
Over to the lobby, the others did their best to keep the injured Pokémon entertained. Sora was feeding Makuhita and Whismur some Pokémon food Kairi had prepared for them.
"Here, you must be pretty hungry," Sora said. Makuhita tasted some of the food and the Guts Pokémon instantly liked it. "Is that good, Makuhita?"
"Maku!" Makuhita said.
"Okay, Whismur, you have a taste, too. Yum-yum," Sora said.
"Whismur, Whismur, Whismur!" Whismur cried.
"Hey, what's wrong? Don't you like it? Okay, try this PokéBlock. It's made fron Nanab and Pinab Berries," Sora said.
"Whismur, Whis!" Whismur kept on crying.
"Don't cry. Try to calm down. Hey," Sora said, trying to calm Whismur down. He then pets the Whisper Pokémon and it calms down instantly. "Oh, I get it. You just wanted to be petted, huh? Okay, try this PokéBlock. Open wide." Whismur compies with Sora as he placed the PokéBlock in Whismur's mouth. "Is that good?"
"Whismur," Whismur said.
Over to Roxas, he was playing with Swinub and Seedot by tossing a ball to them. They bat the ball back to Roxas until he noticed Larvitar hiding in the corner. He goes over to the corner Larvitar was hiding.
"Hey, are you feeling left out, Larvitar? Come on, you can play, too," Roxas said.
"Larvitar," Larvitar said.
"Don't be shy. It's more fun when there's more to play with," Roxas said. He gently took Larvitar by the stub, but the Rock Shed Pokemon responds by giving Roxas a blast of Sandstorm. "WHOA!" Roxas lands right on his face. Seeing the commotion, Sora went over to Roxas out of concern.
"You okay, Roxas?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay. That was sure a powerful Sandstorm from such a shy little Pokémon," Roxas said as Larvitar still hid out of shyness.
In the hangar, Wes was doing some repairs for the bus. Rui came in with some lemonade for him to drink. Wes wiped off some sweat.
"How's the work going?" Rui asked.
"That Electrode might have given it a bad dent, but I'll do what I can with this baby. And before you know, it'll be purring like a Litten again in no time at all," Wes said.
"That's good," Rui said. He noticed the lemonade Rui is carrying for him.
"Did you make that for me, Rui?" Wes asked.
"Yeah. I thought I'd make you something nice to drink. Nurse Joy being sick didn't help with breakfast this morning," Rui said.
"Well, there are things not even a Psychic-type Pokémon can control. We should know more than anyone since, well, you know," Wes said.
"I get what you mean, Wes," Rui said. "Anyway, I thought you might be thirsty, so I made this lemonade for you."
"I appreciate it, Rui," Wes said, drinking the drink. "This is actually delicious."
"I'm glad you like it, Wes. If you want to, I could bake you some cookies for you later," Rui said. This made Wes beam.
"I'll gladly eat anything you make me, Rui," Wes said.
"Really? You mean it?" Rui asked.
"I mean it," Wes said as the two of them kiss each other, lost in their own world. They parted lips as they look into each other's eyes in a very loving manner. They then realized they still have a task to do. "Thanks for the lemonade, Rui. I don't think that bus is going to repair itself."
"Yeah, and I think I'll go see if anyone needs a hand with anything," Rui said.
Rui stepped out as Wes went back to work on the repairs and he lovingly smiled. He wouldn't know what do do if Rui hadn't come into his life.
Back with Michael and Matt, they were looking for Bagon.
"That little Bagon couldn't have gone too far. It had to come this way," Michael said.
"I drove this way because I thought the Pokémon would enjoy seeing thos great view of this awesome valley. I never thought it'll end up like this," Matt said.
"Hey, it's not your fault, Matt. There things that happen and you have no way of knowing they would happen. I would know. It happened to me before," Michael said. Before he could ask what happened, they both heard a loud cry.
"Bagon!" Bagon shouted.
"Over there!" Michael said.
"Come on!" Matt said.
They raced to see Bagon standing on a tall rock pillar.
"Bagon, come down from there!" Michael called out.
"That's dangerous, Bagon!" Matt called out. Bagon then jumped off to flap its little arms.
"No!" Michael and Matt exclaimed. Bagon then plummets to the river. Bagon struggled to stay afloat.
"Hang on, Bagon! We'll get you!" Matt said.
They raced to help Bagon. They saw a horn come out of the water. It belonged to a rather large Seaking. This Seaking is just the size of a Wailmer.
"Aah! A Seaking! And a big one, too!" Michael exclaimed.
"And it's swimming right for Bagon!" Matt said.
"Well, that Seaking isn't going to have its way!" Michael said, taking out a Pokéball and threw it. "Ampharos! Let's go!" His Pokéball opened and his Ampharos came out. "Use Thunder Punch!" Ampharos lands a Thunder Punch on Seaking. Angered, Seaking sets its attention on Ampharos and attacked with a Hyper Beam. "Ampharos! Dodge it and use Thunder!" Ampharos avoids Seaking's Hyper Beam and fired a Thunder, shocking the giant Goldfish Pokémon. Seaking than swam away, scared of the Light Pokémon. "Nice save, Ampharos. Take five for right now." He calls Ampharos back. He took out another Pokéball and opened it. "Okay, Gardevoir, come out." His Gardevoir emerged from inside. "Use Psychic to help Bagon." Gardevoir uses Psychic to lift up Bagon and it over to Matt.
"I got you, Bagon," Matt said. He catches Bagon in his arms. "There, you're safe, now."
"Great job, Gardevoir. Thanks for the help," Michael said. Gardevoir smiled as Michael called Gardevoir back. He walked over to Matt and Bagon. "You sure gave us quite a scare, Bagon." The Rock Head Pokémon then started to feel weak and its cheeks turned red. "What's wrong?" Matt placed his hand over its forehead and felt how warm it got.
"Oh, no! It's a fever!" Matt gasped.
"Bagon must have caught it while in the river. We gotta head back to the Pokémon Center!" Michael said.
"Yes, I agree. We gotta hurry!" Matt said.
With that said, they rushed to get the sick Bagon back to the Pokémon Center as fast as they could.
In the Pokémon Center, Ethan had just finished moping up the floor. It was so very clean, he could not only see his own face in the reflection, but he could eat off of the floor.
"There. Nice and clean," Ethan said. Just then, Chase walked down the halls with his dirty shoes, messing up his hard work of cleaning. "Chase!"
"What?" Chase asked.
"Look what you did! I just cleaned this! Come on, man!" Ethan exclaimed.
"Well, sorry, I was outside doing my training. I thought I'd get that done since you guys were busy around here," Chase said.
"You couldn't just rub your feet before coming in, at least! I mean, really!" Ethan said.
"Jeez, you sound like my mom whenever she gets on my case about not rubbing my feet before coming in," Chase said.
"Maybe she didn't want you being a total slob like a Muk!" Ethan said.
Hearing the argument, Riku came out to stop it before it got out of hand.
"Calm down, you two! Remember why we're going this? It's to keep the Pokémon Center until Nurse Joy recovers from her flu. And you two are yelling at each other like two Loudred in a shouting contest," Riku said.
"He started it!" Chase said, accusingly pointing his finger at Ethan.
"I don't care who started it, because I'm ending it. Chase, you go and help Brendan clean the bathrooms. Ethan, just clean the floor again," Riku said.
"Fine," Ethan and Chase said at once. Chase went off to give Brendan a hand as Ethan started over again.
Over in the lobby, Michael and Matt arrived to the Pokémon Center.
"Michael, good of you to come back," Sora said.
"Sora, we got an emergency. Bagon fell in the river and got a fever!" Michael said. Sora felt the Rock Head Pokémon's forehead and felt how hot it was.
"That's not good. We gotta get some help," Sora said.
Over to Nurse Joy's room, Roxas is giving his report that things are going smoothly.
"I feel very bad. You're all here when you should be training, but you're working instead," Nurse Joy said.
"It's okay, Nurse Joy. We're more than happy to help out. Besides, we got everything under control," Roxas said.
"You're all doing a great job together," Rei said.
"Thanks," Roxas said.
Ryuko then noticed Larvitar at the doorway.
"Hello there," Ryuko greeted the Rock Shed Pokémon. Roxas, Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Professor Oak, Nurse Joy, Rei, and the Pikachu noticed Larvitar.
"Hey, did you follow me here?" Roxas asked.
"Hello there, Larvitar. You're a fascinating Pokémon," Professor Oak said, reaching out his hand.
"Professor, no!" Roxas exclaimed, trying to warn him.
"Huh?" Professor Oak asked. Larvitar blew him away with Sandstorm, sending back backwards.
"Professor, are you alright?" Terra asked.
"I'm okay. That was a very healthy Sandstorm," Professor Oak said.
"I tried to tell you, professor. Larvitar did the same thing with me when I tried touching it," Roxas said.
"Hard to believe that little Larvitar packs quite a punch," Karen said.
A few moments later, Naminé came in Nurse Joy's room.
"Everyone, we have an emergency situation!" Naminé said.
"What's wrong?" Aqua asked.
"Michael and the Pokésitter Matt had just come back retrieving Bagon, but it has a fever!" Naminé said.
"A fever?" Ventus said.
"Oh no," Ryuko said.
"You did the right thing by telling me, Naminé," Professor Oak said.
Down the hall, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Xion, Ash, Leaf, Ethan, Kris, Lyra, Brendan, May, Chase, Elaine, Rui, Michael, and Trace rushed Bagon on a stretcher as Matt, Makuhita, Seedot, Whismur, Swinub, and Wooper followed. Just then, Roxas, Naminé, and Professor Oak came to the scene.
"What's the situation?" Professor Oak asked.
"Bagon's temperature is rising and rising rapidly. It'll get worse we don't act quickly," Ash said.
"Bagon fell in a river and there was a giant Seaking that was closing in on it," Matt said.
"Bagon had taken some injuries from the falls when it tried to fly," Michael said.
"I see. I'll have to take charge. Naminé, I'm gonna need your help," Professor said.
"Okay," Naminé said.
With that said, the needle sign flashed, indicating they were doing what they can with Bagon's illness.
"I can't believe this happened. I was responsible of caring for those Pokémon and I let this happen anyway. I'm a failure as a Pokésitter," Matt said.
"Don't beat yourself up too hard, Matt. Professor Oak and Naminé will make sure Bagon will break its fever," Michael said.
"He's right. Bagon is in good hands," May said.
Just then, Kairi, Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Ryuko, Rei, Angel, Blossom, Sparky, Thor, and Eclair came out with their dinner.
"Dinnertime, everyone," Kairi announced.
"Here you go, Makuhita," Sora said, placing the Pokémon food in front of the Guts Pokémon. He placed his in front of Whismur. "You too, Whismur." He pets Whismur, making the Whisper Pokémon beam and eat.
"Incredible. You figured out Whismur liked to be petted before eating. How did you find it out?" Matt asked.
"I found that out by accident when Whismur was crying, so I had to calm it down," Sora said.
"Well, I found out Swinub and Seedot likes to play ball while Larvitar is a bit on the skittish side," Roxas said, placing Pokémon food in front of Larvitar.
"Well, it's because Larvitar doesn't know you. You gotta let Larvitar get to know you better before it'll eventually warm up," Matt said.
"It's amazing that each one is really different from one another," Kris said.
"That's because they all have different Trainers, and each one of them has different ways of raising them. It's important for me to know all those facts and to remember that," Matt said.
"That's good advice to live by," Rui said.
Just then, Naminé came out, taking off the rubber gloves.
"How's Bagon?" Xion asked.
"Bagon's doing okay, for the most part. The got the fever down a little, but Professor Oak is still keeping tabs on Bagon's health. Afterwards, Bagon just needs to sleep it off, and it'll be a hundred percent in the morning," Naminé said.
"Sounds like good news is spreading like the plague," Wes said, showing up. He's wiping off his hands.
"Wes, how's the bus?" Brendan asked.
"I managed to get it going again. Took me all day, but I never turned away a challenge," Wes said.
"That's good to know," Leaf said.
"Anyway, I'm go and check on the patient," Naminé said. When she gets back, Professor Oak sees the monitors going up. He knew Bagon's fever was growing worse and worse. Naminé came back and she gasped. "How bad is it?"
"Really bad. Bagon's fever just spiked even higher than before," Professor Oak said.
"No!" Naminé gasped.
"Don't worry, Naminé. I'll take it from here," Nurse Joy said, suddenly appearing.
"Nurse Joy!" Naminé exclaimed.
"Are you feeling up to this?" Professor Oak asked.
"You're sweet to be concerned, but I'm fine. It's time for me to get back to work," Nurse Joy said.
Nurse Joy does her thing as Naminé and Professor Oak assisted her.
The Pokésitted Pokémon waited anxiously for Bagon to feel batter. Larvitar started to warm up to Roxas just enough. The same with the others as they all waited and waited.
After some hard work, Bagon's fever was now broken, and sleeping soundly. Everyone came in to the observation room, so Professor Oak gave a thumbs up, confirming Bagon's completely healthy. Matt's face lit up.
On the next morning, Matt and the seven Pokémon were gathered with the rest of the group.
"Thank for everything you have done for me. And, Nurse Joy, I'm glad you're feeling better," Matt said.
"Thank you. You drive carefully," Nurse Joy said.
"I will," Matt said.
"Well, Larvitar, it looks like it's goodbye, so try to be more confident, and maybe you'll make some more friends, okay?" Roxas asked. Larvitar nodded. "Glad you got it memorized."
With the goodbyes completed, the seven Pokémon said their goodbyes to their new friends, and they waved goodbye to them as well.
It was quite an experience, but they all learned a lesson about the differences of how a certain Pokémon likes to do certain things, and I doubt they'll be forgetting it anytime soon.
Meanwhile, a dark figure is heard laughing evilly.
"It is nearly completed. Very soon, I will exact my revenge on the small-minded fools who shunned me and my work. The entire world will suffer for every second I had to wait. And I will have the last laugh at last," the dark figure said.
Ooh, if this isn't a foreshadowing of something big, then I don't know what is. Who is this mysterious person, and what sort of evil plans does he have in store for the world? I have a bad feeling we're gonna find out as we press on. Stay tuned.