Chapter 23: A Cooler Construction Crew

'I could really use a break here. But no rest for the weary, let's get a move on.'

"Okay, so we need to move those last few planks out of here, then we can begin housing the displaced bird pokemon. I think we had some builders fixing together a makeshift nesting plank on top of those trees where the tops got blasted off. You know the place?"

-"Pidgey!" *salute*

'That's Dexter, the Pidgey I helped get away from Tentacool's rampage. As soon as we started rebuilding the destroyed habitats around here, they jumped in to act as my messenger slash info guy. She gets on pretty well with Chatty, but I think she's got some kind of hero worship going on for me. Weird.'

'But if she's willing to help out, I'm in no position to refuse! Rebuilding and expanding the... *sigh* The Cooler Crew's base of operations takes top priority. This disaster was super messed up and should not have happened at all, but it did drive recruitment through the roof, so at least one good thing came out of it.'

"I'll leave that part to you then. Can you let the Poliwhirl and Pidgeoto know where we left the building materials for me?"

-"Pidgey-Pidge!" They repeat their salute once more and fly off at incredible speeds.

"Alright, what mini-disaster do I need to address next on my to do list?"

-"King! Seaking?" A loud call comes from an opening in the construction.

"Woah, Emperor! You're back! Aw man, you wouldn't believe what's happened while you were away! This huge Tentacruel-"

*raises a fin* -"Seak. Seaking king."

"Already heard? Good, then I don't need to get you back up to speed. But we're in a bad way here. Please tell me you have good news?"

-"Seaking!" They wave over a troupe of pokemon, mostly consisting of Mantine and Mantike, but with a handful of Remoraid hanging on below their fins, all of which are carrying supplies.

"So the mission was a success! Great, that's so great. We need all the extra hands we can get. And the supplies are a huge bonus, given all that's happened around here. I'll have Chatty welcome the new mons. Let's see, I think the Corsola can take care of those berries and we've got a few Sentret who can stash those throwing items away in their burrows."

Emperor appraises everything going on, and the little Tentacool seemingly organizing everything. With a nod of approval, they say a few encouraging words.

"Wait wait wait, YOU were the one who told everyone I'm the leader?! Seriously? It's been no end of work since you left!"

-"King king king!"

"Yeah yeah, yuck it up. Honestly old man, don't go dropping everything on my plate without lending a hand yourself. I've got a piece of scrap with your name on it, buster!"

-"Sea king." They get one last chuckle in and swim off to put in a little work before the day ends.

'Jeez, weren't you the leader till now? What are you thinking leaving everything up to an outsider, and one that not everyone is comfortable around at that... But I guess those Goldeen from before haven't really been too afraid of me recently, come to think of it. Even that one flighty one was downright cordial. Was that Emperor's doing?'

Pushing aside those thoughts, Jessie takes a moment between addressing the workers to have a proper breather by the docks. There, a certain Pichu was waiting, taking him in with his massive eyes.

'Okay, one last job before my shift ends.'

"Hello! Need something?"

The Pichu holds up something of interest, a certain crest used to identify members of The Pokemon Ranger's Association, and launches into a speech. Jessie, socked, listens intently, staying silent for a long while after.

-"Pichu?"

"Huh? Yeah. Yeah! I know what the Rangers are! Sorry just... it's just been a long time since I talked to one is all."

-"Pi. Pichu pi, Pichu!"

"Okay, so a team up sort of thing? Or are they just scouting? I uh, I don't know how I feel about that capture stylus thing, but I'll help however I can. What do they need exactly?"

*huge smile* -"Pi-chu!"

"They wanna meet. Me? I'm nobody special, I'm just a-"

-"Magikarp!"

"Nobody asked you! And that leader stuff was decided without me, you know!"

-"Pichu~"

"Guh, I... can't deny that. Okay, if they want to work with someone these pokemon around here trust, I'm your jellyfish. But give me an hour to get ready, okay? I wanna check on my eggs."

-"Pi? Pichu!"

"No, they're not mi-... They're adopted, victims of what happened. I'm worried if they'll make it so, an hour please?"

Taken aback, they become serious. -"Pichu. Chu chu."

"Thank you. I won't be long."

"Hey, how are they doing?"

A Chansey cradles an egg covered in a mix of glue and seaweed.

-"Chan. Chansey chan!"

"Already adopted out the healthiest three? Nice! So you were able to find the parents, or at least someone of the same species?"

-"Chansey!" The nurse pokemon pulls out some papers, leftovers from the poke-center, covered in crude footprints from the new parents and Chansey's best attempt at human handwriting. Guess what they say about doctors and handwriting is true.

-"Chan Chansey!"

"Wh- no! I wasn't thinking anything rude, honest!"

-"Chansey..."

"Aaanyway, what about Jr here?"

They don't respond, a worried look passes over their face.

"Ah, I see... Well, that doesn't change things! I planned to adopt the lot of them before you came, now I can give all my attention to this one egg instead of four!"

-"Chan." She gives Jessie a tired smile and hands him the egg, as well as a long list of instructions for caring for an injured egg.

"Thanks Chansey, feel free to take a break. I'm here for an hour!"

-"Chansey!" The tired nurse hangs up her hat on a post and heads into the little boathouse we fixed up for her. The smell of coffee wafts out of her makeshift home.

"Well eggy, I guess I'll need to start thinking up baby names... Hey wait, IS THAT COFFEE?! I haven't had a cup of that in months!"

She pretends not to hear the Tentacool's cries and turns on an old cassette tape. Nurse Joy's favorite song plays softly as Chansey takes a well deserved nap in the boat's reclining chair.