Hello readers, at last we're back! Sorry for the unexpected break from this story, I just couldn't seem to get this chapter written. I finally pushed through and got it finished though, so yay : )
Now, for those of you that can cast your minds back, last time I asked you guys to vote on which Pokemon will be added to Nolan's team in the story. Well, the winner was... Voltorb! I honestly was not expecting that - I was actually hoping you guys would vote for Meowth, but at least I didn't get the Rattata so I won't complain ; ) I don't think I've ever used a Voltorb in a playthrough of any Pokemon game, so this'll be interesting : )
Finally, I'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone that has supported this story by reviewing, following and favouriting it. The support is great motivation to keep writing, so thank you and please keep it up : ) Please also remember that Pokemon is not mine, but my OC is.
I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
Pokemon Emergency - Part 2
It felt like an eternity since Ash and Nolan had been sent to the waiting room, and exactly as expected, the wait for news on Pikachu's condition was utterly excruciating. They'd not had even a single update yet, despite being there for well over an hour, and the lack of news on the little electric type's wellbeing was quickly becoming unbearable.
Ash could barely sit still due to his fretting. The raven haired trainer kept getting up to pace, despite the fact that it made his body ache from his own injuries, which forced him to sit down again, then the cycle would repeat. He honestly couldn't help it though. Pikachu had to be okay. He just had to be.
Anything else simply wasn't an option.
Nolan was trying to be a reassuring presence for his best friend, but if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't dealing with this horrible situation much better than Ash was. Never in a million years had he imagined that something like this would happen on their very first day as Pokemon trainers, and he honestly had no idea what he could do to help. It wasn't a feeling he particularly enjoyed. In an attempt to take his mind of things, he had picked up a magazine and was flipping through it. The blonde boy wasn't really taking any of it in though. His mind was just too preoccupied.
The silence in the room was heavy, since both boys were so thoroughly wrapped up in their own thoughts, but it was quickly becoming rather stifling. It wasn't long before Nolan couldn't stand it anymore, and so he was the one to break it.
"I'm sorry".
The words were said in such a low tone, that his best friend barely even heard him. Once the raven haired boy processed what Nolan had whispered, he looked over at the despondent blonde boy in shock.
"Why should you be sorry?" a perplexed Ash wondered, his face a picture of confusion, "It's my fault that Pikachu's in the hospital right now, not yours. If anybody should be apologising it should be me".
Nolan waved his words off, shaking his head.
"I mean I'm sorry for how I've been treating you today" the blonde said in a tone so genuine that Ash couldn't help but be slightly taken aback, "I've been really hard on you, and I shouldn't have been. I'm so sorry Ash"
The raven haired boy was silent for a couple of moments. He looked at Nolan with an unreadable expression on his face, one that made the blonde boy squirm uncomfortably.
"Where's this coming from?" Ash asked in a confused tone, "You were right to be upset. I messed up a lot of things today"
"But you didn't do it on purpose" Nolan stressed, wanting Ash to understand his point of view, "You were just having a really bad day, and I should have been more understanding. I yelled at you over every little thing that didn't go quite right and that was wrong of me... It's just... We've been building this day up in our heads since we were toddlers, since we were old enough to understand when we'd get our own Pokemon... I guess I kinda expected it to be a perfect day".
"Nothing wrong with that" Ash shrugged at his best friend reassuringly.
"There is, because it isn't realistic to expect that" Nolan calmly refuted, "It's like you said before, we're both really new to this, so mistakes are going to be made. We shouldn't hold them against each other, so I'm sorry for the way I've acted today. I'll make more of an effort to rein it in in the future, I promise".
Whilst he still wasn't sure the apologies were warranted, Ash certainly still appreciated them.
"It's okay Nolan, and from now on I'll try harder as well" Ash grinned at his friend, who smiled back at him in return, "I can't promise not to make mistakes, but I will try not to let them snowball like I did today".
Nolan's smile widened even further, and he nodded. Both feeling that the air had been cleared between them, the two boys fell back into silence, only this time it was much more comfortable. Obviously they were both still very concerned about their Pokemon, but both of them knew that their friend had put this awful day behind them, and were willing to start afresh. And for that, both of them were grateful.
It was only five more minutes until the silence was interrupted again however, but this time it was by the ornate cuckoo clock on the wall.
Nolan nearly jumped out of his skin when it went off, and he barely looked up in time to see a small stylised mechanical Pidgey disappear back into the body of the clock. The time on its face read eight o'clock. The blonde boy could scarcely believe it. It felt more like two in the morning, they had been waiting so long. A heavy sigh drew itself from his lips. He prayed that they would hear news on Pikachu's condition soon. This really was starting to get unbearable.
"Let's call home" Ash said suddenly.
Nolan glanced over at the other boy, and found him gesturing at a group of vacant video phones, each separated from each other by thin booth walls, obviously to offer the users some privacy. How Nolan hadn't noticed them before was beyond him.
"I wanna talk to my mom" Ash elaborated, misinterpreting the blonde boy's lack of a verbal response, "And I know you're probably itching to talk to your dad".
Nolan thought about it for a second before he nodded. He knew that his dad would want to hear all about his first day as a Pokemon trainer, and despite how lousy it had been, the boy still found himself wanting to share the experience with his father. Getting up from their seats, the two boy each picked a both, and slid into the seat before the phones.
It was time to call home.
Delia Ketchum was not a woman that believed in self pity and wallowing. When life gave you lemons, you make Lemonade. That was a philosophy she believed in and chose to model her life on. So even though her son was departing from home for the very first time ever, and her heart ached over it to the point where she was sure it was breaking, Delia refused to let herself fall into a depression over it. Her little boy was happy and fulfilling his life long dream after so many years of waiting.
That was enough to keep the smile on the young mother's face as she went about her day.
Of course she was going to miss Ash terribly, not to mention she was going to worry about him every single day, but she couldn't afford to fall apart over it. It just wasn't who she was at heart. So after spending most of the day cleaning the house from top to bottom, Delia had ran herself a nice hot bath and lit a few scented candles to help her relax. After she was done, she extinguished the candles and got out of the tub, changed into her pyjamas and dressing gown, before applying a face mask to really make the most of her 'me-time'.
The young woman was now settled in her chair in the living room for the night, catching up on one of her favourite soap operas, when an unexpected noise suddenly broke through the gripping plot being played across the television screen.
"Ring, ring, ring... Ring, ring, ring - Phone call! Phone call!" the phone on a small side table chirped in the voice that always made Delia giggle, "Ring, ring, ring... Ring, ring, ring - Phone call! Phone call!"
Wondering who could possibly be calling at this late hour, Delia got up from her seat and walked over to the ringing device. With a hint of curiosity in her smile, she answered the call, but kept it on voice mode for the moment.
"Hello?" she said in greeting to the person calling, "This is the Ketchum Residence"
The voice that answered shocked her to her core.
"Hello... Mom?"
Delia's entire face lit up so brightly it could actually rival the sun. Beaming in delight, the young mother gasped before quickly tearing away the hot pink towel she had wrapped around her wet hair and removing the face mask to make herself slightly more presentable. She then quickly changed the device's setting to video mode and took a step back.
The sight that greeted her on the screen was a most welcome one.
Sitting before the screen on his end of the connection was her son, a little dirty and tired-looking, but it still did Delia's heart good to see his handsome face. Her smile widened even further, if that was at all possible at this point.
"Oh hi Honey!" Delia chirped cheerfully, "Is everything okay? Where are you Ash?"
"The Pokemon Centre in Viridian City" Ash smiled back at her.
Delia couldn't help but notice that the smile on Ash's face was somewhat strained, like he was simply making an effort for her benefit whilst her little boy was actually preoccupied by something that was deeply worrying him. Before Delia could voice her concerns about that however, the words her child had spoken actually registered with her, and her eyebrows flew up her forehead in surprise.
"You're already in Viridian City?!" Delia cried, before a proud smile overtook her face once more, "It took your father four days to get there when he started Pokemon training".
Ash's eyes widened a little out of shock.
It was very unusual for his mother to speak about his father. Ash had never known the man growing up, his parents having divorced when he was just a tiny baby. His father had never looked back, all but abandoning his ex-wife and son. His mother had been a single parent ever since, and any mention of the man usually upset her deeply. Ash had always been curious about his father, but he never wanted to hurt his mother's feelings, so he tried not to bring up the subject. So to hear his mother so casually mention the man in conversation was a little jarring for the young raven haired trainer.
Something must have shown in his face, for Delia's smile softened on the screen.
"Oh, he'd be so proud" she continued, forcing her expression to remain cheerful for the little boy that was practically growing up right before her eyes, "You're the apple of his eye".
Ash barely managed to refrain from scoffing in disbelief.
'If that were true, he wouldn't have abandoned us both' Ash thought bitterly in a dark corner of his mind.
Instead of voicing those hurt and rejected words however, Ash found another way to express his less-than-thrilled emotions that had been building up over the course of the entire day. After all, he'd had such a terrible experience over the last few hours that it wasn't really surprising that his self-esteem was pretty low right now.
"Yeah, a rotten apple" Ash sighed forlornly.
Sensing from her child's tone and expression that his first day as a Pokemon Trainer hadn't exactly panned out the way he'd always imagined, and that he was obviously disappointed over it, Delia's first instinct was to comfort her young son.
"Oh Ash" she said in a soothing tone, one that had always bucked him up in the past, "Don't get discouraged. You're going fine! Honey, you're growing up right before my eyes. Spreading your wings and soaring like a Spearow".
"I feel more like a fallen Pidgey" Ash couldn't help but sigh miserably.
Then he internally winced at his own words. After his disastrous attempts at catching the Pidgey earlier that day, only for his best friend to step in and succeed where he had failed... well, it wasn't doing his mental-state any favours. He was very happy for Nolan of course, and didn't begrudge his best friend his achievement in the slightest, but it was still a sharp reminder that out of the two of them, Nolan was the one that knew what he was doing. That was the way that Ash saw it at least.
His mother's next words, or more the anger tainting them, snapped Ash back to the present.
"I won't let you talk about yourself that way!" Delia snapped, and Ash gulped slightly as he refocused his attention on to the woman on the screen, the woman that had raised him and had always been there for him, and no doubt always would be, "Just be confident! You can do anything that you set your mind to! Do you understand?"
Although he didn't really agree, Ash wasn't about to tell his mother that. The wrath was Delia Ketchum was always a sight to behold, and the boy wasn't too keen on invoking it today, thank you very much.
"Yes" he hastily nodded in an attempt to appease her.
"Good" Delia nodded approvingly, before finally allowing her stern expression melt away back into a reassuring smile, "Okay... goodnight Ash. I love you!"
"I love you too Mom, bye" Ash replied, before he hung up the phone.
The moment that the call had ended, the raven haired trainer couldn't help but sigh for what seemed to be the millionth time that day.
Ash had honestly thought that calling his mother would make him feel better, and yet somehow, he felt worse. It was just... his mom had so much confidence in him, and normally Ash did too... he just couldn't seem to feel any of it right now. It was very confusing for the boy, and he didn't like it one bit.
The raven haired boy forced himself to take a deep breath before he shook his head, as if to dispel those depressing thoughts away as he tried to pull himself out of this funk he had dropped himself into. Being upset and dejected wasn't going to help anyone after all, and certainly not Pikachu, whom he was still desperately concerned about.
With that thought in mind, Ash stood up and walked back over to the chair he'd been sitting in previously as he resume his waiting for news on his partner's condition. Only one thing was for certain right now.
Ash was in for a very long night.
Meanwhile, in the booth right next to where Ash had been sitting and several blocks away from Delia's house, another telephone conversation was taking place between two close family members.
Nathaniel Locke was not afraid to admit that today had been one of the hardest days of his entire life. His little boy, his baby, had set off into the world today, and whilst the man was happy for his son, not to mention so, so proud of him, it was still heart-breaking to watch him go. It was what Nolan had to do though, so he would support him no matter his own feelings on the matter.
That was a father's job as a parent after all.
So after Nolan left, Nathaniel had tried to focus on his work on writing a new technique manual to print and sell on his business website, thinking that a distraction would be good for him. It didn't really work, but he finally managed to get it all done. He was just settling down in front of the television, trying to ignore how empty and quiet the house seemed without Nolan's presence, when the home phone began to ring.
Nathaniel let out a sigh of utter exhaustion.
The man was seriously not in the mood for a conversation right now. He just wanted to sit in his chair and reflect back on happier times spent with his son. Knowing that a call coming in at eight o'clock at night meant that it might be important however, Nathaniel sighed again and begrudgingly climbed to his feet. He went over to the ringing device and pressed a few buttons to answer the call.
"Hello, this is the Locke family home" he answered dully, hoping that this would be quick, "Nathaniel Locke speaking, can I help you?"
The voice that answered knocked the wind out of him.
"Hi Dad! It's me, Nolan!"
Nathaniel's entire body jolted in shock, his whole face lighting up in joy. He couldn't help but wonder if somehow by just thinking about his son had been enough to summon him up. Either way, Nathaniel had never been quite so happy to hear his boy's voice before. He quickly changed the call to be on video mode, and there on the screen, looking dirty and exhausted but grinning like a loon was his baby boy.
The joy in Nathaniel's heart surged at the sight of him.
"Nolan!" he couldn't help but cheer, feeling truly happy for the first time today, "This sure is a nice surprise Kiddo. I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon, not that I'm not happy about it of course! How's everything going?"
Nolan's smile twisted slightly, and for a brief second Nathaniel felt worried by his son's reaction to his question, but then Nolan smiled again.
"Not too bad" the boy eventually answered.
Nathaniel couldn't help but feel like there was something that his son was holding back from him, but he didn't want to call the boy out on it, not yet. He was just so happy to see him, so he decided to change the subject, for now at least.
"So where are you calling from Nolan?" Nathaniel asked, genuinely curious about that, "I didn't think there were any payphones out in the Pallet Woods".
"There aren't" Nolan answered in confirmation, "Me and Ash are in Viridian City. I'm calling from the Pokemon Centre here".
Nathaniel's eyebrows flew up his forehead and almost disappeared into his hair in disbelief.
"Whoa!" the man said in awe, pride burning in his eyes, "You got to Viridian on foot in one day?! Nice work Kiddo! It took your old man over a week without a car to do that!"
Nolan couldn't help but smile mischievously.
"Yeah, but that was because you kept getting lost and going round in circles" he teased, giggling as he recalled the stories his dad used to tell him.
"Ha, ha! Very funny" Nathaniel playfully narrowed his eyes at his child, "But seriously Nolan, tell me, how in the world did you and Ash get there so quickly? I hope you didn't get in a car with some stranger young man! I warned you about that!"
Nolan sighed but shook his head, much to his father's relief.
"No..." Nolan wrung his hands nervously, worried about how his dad would take his news, "We just... We kinda ran into some trouble... Trouble that caused us to have to run out of the woods and all the way here..."
Nathaniel quirked an eyebrow, a silent demand for his son to elaborate.
Nolan sighed deeply, suddenly feeling the immense weight of the day upon his shoulders again, but wearily began to explain everything to the man that had raised him.
He told his father the general gist of the story, doing as best as he could not to make it sound as terrifying as it truly was. He didn't want his dad to worry after all. Nolan told him how Ash had gotten Pikachu as his starter from the professor, but that the electric type Pokemon wanted nothing to do with him, that he refused to obey Nolan's raven haired best friend. He explained how that caused Ash to try catching Pokemon on his own, which escalated into them being chased by the Spearow flock. He told his dad about their swim through the river and their run-in with the girl. How Ash had 'borrowed' her bicycle, and how he had chased the other boy on foot through the woods, only to catch up with Ash and Pikachu in the aftermath of their showdown with the Spearow.
"... And then we arrived on the outskirts of Viridian City where we met a really nice Officer Jenny" Nolan finished giving his surmised version of the events that had taken place that day, "At first she thought we were trying to steal Meadow and Pikachu, but once we cleared that up she apologised and gave us a ride on her motorcycle to the Pokemon Centre. Now Nurse Joy is taking care of our Pokemon, so we figured we would call home whilst we wait for news on how they're doing".
By the time Nolan was finished, Nathaniel's face was a ghastly shade of white. He was completely silent as he struggled to process everything that his son had just told him.
"Dad?" Nolan questioned when his story received no verbal response.
Nathaniel still made no move to reply to his bewildered son.
"Hello?" Nolan said, perplexed, "Did the picture freeze? Hello? You still there Dad?"
"Y-yeah" the stunned man managed to croak out when he saw his son move to hang up the call, "Yeah, I'm still here... Just... Wow".
Nathaniel couldn't deny that he was deeply concerned about what his son had just shared with him. He was under no illusions that Pokemon training wasn't necessarily safe all of the time, and that his son might be in danger on occasion. He hated the thought of it, but he accepted it, purely for his son's sake.
Never in a million years however would he have thought that his baby would get into such a dangerous situation on his very first day.
Nathaniel dreaded to think what could happen to the boys in the future. It made him wonder if he had potentially made a mistake in giving parental consent for Nolan to go on this journey. Unable to help himself, the man had to question his son's decision.
"Nolan... Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this?" Nathaniel tentatively asked.
Nolan swallowed hard. This was the part of the conversation that he had been dreading the most when he had explained everything to his father. The part where his dad would want him to go back home, where it was safe. Safe and boring.
"Dad, we talked about this" Nolan reminded him, his tone little more than a whine.
"I know, I know..." Nathaniel raised his hands in a calming manner before the boy could get upset, "I just didn't expect you to end up in such a dangerous situation on the first day. I'm really not sure this is a good idea anymore Nolan".
Nolan felt his stomach drop uncomfortably as his heartbeat started racing worriedly.
"You're not going to force me to come home are you?!" the newbie trainer exclaimed in panic, "Dad, you can't!"
Nathaniel took in how terrified his son looked at just the idea of being made to return to Pallet Town, and couldn't help but feel a dejected pang in his heart. He knew that although it would ensure his child's safety, it would also make the boy completely miserable. That wasn't even taking into account the damage it would do to their relationship as father and son.
No, his boy was right, he couldn't do that to him.
It would be cruel to let Nolan have a taste of the adventure he'd been craving for years, only to snatch it away after one day. It was with this realisation that Nathaniel let out a low groan.
He really was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"It's okay Kiddo, I won't withdraw the consent I gave for you to do this" he eventually assured the boy, who looked ready to fall over with relief, "But you've gotta promise to be more careful in the future. I don't want anything bad to happen to my baby boy, you hear me?"
"Yes Sir" Nolan nodded earnestly, "Thank you".
The blonde boy was so relieved by his father's words, he honestly could've done a somersault right there in the hospital's waiting room. Just the idea of being forced off the path he had barely taken a few steps down made his blood feel cold. He was so grateful that his dad chosen not to inflict that pain on him.
He really did have the best father in the whole world.
"Good" Nathaniel nodded, although he didn't really feel overly reassured just yet, "Now, let's change the subject to something more positive before my hair turns completely grey".
Nolan couldn't help but giggle at that.
"Did anything else happen on your journey to Viridian City?" his father asked, before hastily adding, "And I mean something pleasant, not something that will absolutely terrify me as a parent".
The blonde haired boy smiled widely as he knew the perfect answer to give.
"Well, I managed to catch my first Pokemon!" he said cheerfully, still very proud of Meadow and himself for taking that important first step in his goal of becoming a Pokemon Master.
Shock registered on Nathaniel's face for a split second, before pride overtook the man's entire face. He beamed at his son in delight.
"Nice work Kiddo! I'm proud of you!" he cheered, and Nolan's heart warmed with affection for the man, "What kind of Pokemon was it?"
Nolan grinned cheekily at him.
"Try and guess" he teasingly demanded.
Nathaniel playfully narrowed his eyes at his son on the screen.
"Ah, playing that game are we?" he teased, smiling more genuinely at how his little boy laughed and nodded, "Okay... let me think... well, I'm honestly hoping to every legendary Pokemon I can think of that it wasn't one of the Spearow that hunted you down?"
"Gosh, no!" Nolan paled at just the thought.
"Okay... well, was it a Rattata?" Nathaniel guessed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "I know that they live in the local area".
"Nope, but we did see one" Nolan informed him.
"Hmm... well, the only other Pokemon that I can think of that usually lives around Pallet Town are Pidgey and their evolutions" Nathaniel mused aloud.
The smile on Nolan's face instantly gave the game away.
"Ha! I'm right, aren't I?" Nathaniel cheered and Nolan couldn't help but laugh, "You caught a Pidgey, didn't you?"
Nolan earnestly nodded his head, and his father beamed with pride once more.
"That's actually pretty impressive considering that Meadow is a grass type Pokemon" Nathaniel rubbed his chin thoughtfully again, "She must have put in a lot of effort for you Nolan, so make sure she knows that you appreciate it".
"She did Dad" Nolan nodded seriously in response to the man's wise words, "And I think she knows that. I hope she does at least".
"Good" Nathaniel smiled, pleased that his son wasn't taking his partner for granted, as so many other young trainers were prone to doing, "So, have you come up with a name for your new friend yet?"
Nolan's eyes widened as he remembered the promise he'd made his new Pidgey. With all the chaos that had happened since he'd managed to capture the little guy, Nolan had almost completely forgotten that he was meant to be thinking up names for the small flying type Pokemon. He'd have to get back on that really soon. The blonde boy was so caught up in those thoughts that he completely failed hear the sound of a door opening behind him, as well as the footsteps that walked into the room...
"I have a couple of ideas" Nolan admitted, "But I haven't given it too much thought yet. I'll think of a good name for Pidgey soon though".
"I'm sure you will" Nathaniel nodded in agreement, "So, is there anything else you need to do today? It's getting pretty late after all Kiddo. I don't want you up all night and throwing off your sleep pattern if you don't need to".
The somewhat stern reminder did not go unmissed by the young blonde haired boy.
"No, me and Ash are just waiting on news about how our Pokemon are doing" Nolan assured his father, who nodded his understanding, "Once we've had news we'll probably just go to bed for the night. Then I think we'll be setting out for Pewter City tomorrow morning, but that really depends on if Pikachu's okay. I'm not sure, I'll need to talk to Ash about it".
"Alright son" Nathaniel smiled lovingly at the image of his child on the screen, "I won't keep you then. Goodnight Nolan and remember, I love you very, very much".
"Love you too Dad" Nolan smiled back, "Night".
He hung up the call, and his father's face vanished from the screen. Nolan was about to turn around to go see if Ash had finished with his own call to home, but before the blonde boy had the chance to, a new voice spoke out, causing him to jump in surprise.
"I might have a suggestion for a name for your Pidgey, if you're interested" a female voice said.
Almost startled out of his wits, Nolan jumped and spun around in his seat, surprised to see Nurse Joy standing before him with a kind smile on her face. Nolan quickly recovered from his shock however, and he couldn't help but beam in delight when he saw a smiling Meadow in her arms and his Pidgey perched upon her shoulder, cooing happily.
"Meadow! Pidgey!" he cheered, laughing as Meadow leapt from the nurse's arms into his own, before Pidgey softly fluttered off the woman and landed on Nolan's shoulder instead, "How are you guys feeling now? Are you both okay?"
"Saur!" Meadow happily nodded, nuzzling against his chest.
"Gey!" Pidgey cawed in agreement, gently brushing a soft wing across Nolan's cheek.
"Both of them are just fine" Nurse Joy confirmed to the young trainer, who looked up at her as she spoke, "In fact, they're both in very good health considering the ordeal that your group suffered through today".
"That's wonderful!" Nolan said gratefully, finally feeling like some of the weight on his shoulders had been lifted, "Thank you so much for taking care of them for me Nurse Joy. I really appreciate it".
Nurse Joy gave the boy another kind smile.
"It was my pleasure Nolan" she replied earnestly.
"Nurse Joy?" a new voice spoke up, and Nolan and Nurse Joy both looked over to see that Ash had got up from his seat across the room and had walked over to join them both, "How's Pikachu doing?
There was no denying just how worried the raven haired boy sounded about his own partner Pokemon.
Nurse Joy's face morphed from happy to sad in the blink of an eye, although the woman was quick to try and cover it up. She didn't want to cause any unnecessary panic after all.
"I'm afraid that your Pikachu is still very weak Ash" she informed him honestly, "But try not to worry. I promise you that we're doing everything we can to make him better again".
Ash's shoulders slumped dejectedly.
Seeing this, Nolan shifted Meadow so that he was holding her with one arm, and used his free hand to reach out and give his best friend's arm a comforting squeeze. Ash glanced at him, and although it did little to make him feel better, he still smiled to show Nolan that he appreciated the gesture.
"I need to get back soon since we're monitoring him very closely" Nurse Joy continued, "I just wanted to give Nolan's Pokemon back to him since they're fine now and to let you know that I promise I'll give you another update on Pikachu when I can".
"I'd appreciate that" Ash gave her a grateful but strained smile.
Nurse Joy nodded, and was about to leave again, but before she could take more then two steps towards the door, Nolan spoke out, halting her in her tracks.
"Hold on Nurse Joy... did you say that you might have a suggestion as to what Pidgey's new name could be?" he reminded her. On his shoulder, Pidgey's head perked up in interest.
"Oh yes!" Nurse Joy rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "I know it might not be my place to offer up suggestions, and I'm very sorry, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop on your conversation. I just happened to walk in right as you were talking about it".
Nolan merely waved those concerns aside to show that he didn't mind.
"Well, if you're looking for ideas" Nurse Joy continued, relieved that the boy hadn't taken any offence by her actions, "Perhaps you'd like to consider the name Welkin".
The blonde boy's eyebrows flew up his forehead in sheer curiosity.
Despite not giving the topic as much thought as he probably should have done, all the names that Nolan had come up with to run by his Pidgey had all been sky or air based suggestions. Aero, Skyden and Atmos were some of the ones he liked the best, he just hadn't had the chance to suggest any of them yet. But the word 'Welkin' was totally unfamiliar to him, both in the context of a name and in language in general.
"Welkin?" he repeated curiously.
"Yes" Nurse Joy said as a small, almost wistful smile crossed her features, "You see, many years ago - long before the leadership of the gym changed hands, Viridian City's gym leader was a renowned Flying Type specialist called Welkin Stormheart".
Nolan, Ash and even the Pokemon all listened with rapt attention, all of them sensing that this would be an interesting piece of history to know.
"The man came from a long bloodline of talented Flying Type specialists, but Welkin was in a league of his own" Nurse Joy explained to the two young boys, "There was rumours that he could have achieved a position amongst the Elite Four of Kanto, or even become our Champion, he was so gifted".
Nolan was rather impressed by the picture she was painting of this trainer.
"So what happened to him?" Ash was the one to ask.
Nurse Joy sighed, before she continued with the story she was telling.
"Well, as a flying type expert, Welkin felt that his place was up in the sky, and that he had been keeping his team in one place for far too long" she informed the young trainers, who could understand the logic, "So after stepping down from his position as gym leader, he set off travelling all around the world. I think some people use to say he was off hunting the Legendary Bird Trio of Kanto, but I couldn't say for sure".
"Whoa, the legendary flying types of Kanto" Nolan marvelled.
The blonde boy had heard the legends about the supposed titans of fire, ice and lightning after all, but he had no idea what to think of a guy supposed trying to hunt them down, no doubt to capture them in an attempt to create an epic flying type team. It was really interesting either way though.
"Anyway, I simply thought I'd suggest the name since it still carries a great deal of meaning for the citizens of this city" Nurse Joy finished her tale, smiling down at Nolan, "It would be a wonderful name to bestow on any flying type Pokemon, since the word Welkin itself literally means 'Sky'. His parents clearly named him with his future in mind".
"Gey! Pidgey! Pidgey! Pid!" Pidgey began cawing in earnest from his spot on Nolan's shoulder.
"Huh? What's that Pidgey?" Nolan glanced at his newest Pokemon.
"Pidgey!" Pidgey chirped excitedly.
"Are you saying that you like Nurse Joy's suggestion?" Nolan asked to be sure, "That you'd like your name to be Welkin from now on?"
"Gey! Gey!" Pidgey rapidly nodded his head eagerly.
Nolan couldn't help the grin that lit up his entire face. That sure was a lot easier than when it had come down to trying to figure out Meadow's name. Welkin... yeah, Nolan liked it. It flowed off the tongue easily and it matched with Pidgey's personality, since the little guy had already made it clear he wanted to be the best, just like Nolan did. And if this trainer, this Welkin Stormheart, was as talented as Nurse Joy claimed he was, well then, Nolan found it extremely fitting to name his flying type Pokemon after him.
"Okay then, Welkin it is!" the boy agreed.
"Pidgey!" the newly christened Welkin cheered happily in his excitement.
"Oh, I'm so glad you like it" Nurse Joy beamed in a satisfied manner, "It really is a very special part of Viridian City's history and culture after all".
"It is a pretty cool name to give your Pidgey" Ash nodded in agreement.
"Saur" Meadow smiled as well.
"Yeah" Nolan said, gently scratching under his flying type friend's chin, earning a happy coo from the newly named Pidgey, "I like it a lot too. Thanks for the suggestion Nurse Joy, we both appreciate it, don't we Welkin?"
"Pidgey!" Welkin happily nodded at the pink haired nurse.
"Oh, think nothing of it, I was happy to help" Nurse Joy waved their gratitude aside, before she checked her watch and gasped, "Oh dear, I'm afraid I really must be getting back to work now though. Ash, I'll be back just as soon as I have any news for you".
"Thanks a lot Nurse Joy" Ash said gratefully.
Without another word, Nurse Joy then hurried away again, and both the young trainers hoped that the next time they saw her, she'd have some better news in regards to Pikachu's condition. Smiling widely down at his own Pokemon friends, Nolan noticed that although they were in good health, they did seem pretty tired.
"Hey guys, you both look pretty tired. Maybe you ought to get some rest" he suggested, and both Meadow and Welkin nodded sleepily in agreement, "Meadow, why don't you settle down on one of the chairs? Welkin, would you like to go back inside your pokeball?"
Welkin accepted his trainer's suggestion, and after nodding, was quickly absorbed in a beam of scarlet light. Meadow also found his idea to be a good one, and so Nolan set her down on one of the seats where she promptly curled up and closed her eyes.
Sleep found her in moments.
Smiling once again, Nolan took the seat next to his little green partner, and gently patted her bulb. Ash took the seat next to him, and their waiting resumed. After this latest turn of events, Nolan was hopeful that perhaps their string of bad luck was finally at an end.
If only he knew how wrong he was...
And that's another chapter down : )
I'm honestly not too sure about how much I like this chapter, but it was needed to progress with the story. And yay! Pidgey's name is finally revealed. I came across the name Welkin when looking up names ages ago and have been eager to hear what people think about it, and the little backstory I came up with for Nurse Joy suggesting it : ) Fun fact, it really does mean Sky.
Anyway, let's move on to another topic I need you guys to vote on : )
For those of you keeping count, in real-time I have already defeated Misty in my Nuzlocke and have earned my second gym badge, and with that - the chance to evolve another Pokemon : )
I purposely waited until this chapter to have you guys vote, since I wanted to include as many Pokemon as possible in this vote to give them all a fair shot at being picked. Anyway, the choices are Pidgey, Geodude, Abra or Voltorb. To make your vote, simply leave it in a review : )
Truthfully, I think I already know how this one is going to go down, but you never knew, you guys have surprised me in the past ; ) Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Until the next time, keep on reading : )