Nina and Justin looked on in concern as Kerry administered first aid treatment to the feeble looking Poliwag.

The apprentice nurse had immediately secured the Pokemon in a Pokeball and swam back with Tini once she determined that there was little she could do on the other shore without any of her medical supplies.

Kerry was so frantic that she didn’t even bother to put on her clothes when she got back, and went straight to rummaging through her backpack in just her underwear.

After admonishing the crudely staring Justin, Nina grabbed a towel from her own luggage and covered up her friend who muttered a curt thanks before continuing to work on the Poliwag.

Nina looked up at the lightly stained sky and made the executive decision to set up camp for the night. “Justin, go and get us some dried twigs for firewood,” she ordered. “I don’t think we’ll be able to make it back to the clearing in time.”

The boy nodded and ran off into the woods, while Nina started unpacking her camping gear from her Silph Co Backpack. They had portable stoves for cooking, but given how thoroughly soaked both her companions were, she figured they could use a warm fire.

“How’s Poliwag?” Nina asked as she handed a cup of hot tea to the exhausted Kerry.

Kerry groaned and warmed her ice cold hands against the steel mug. “She’s stable, but she’s lost a lot of blood. I’ve put her in full stasis for now, but we’ll need to make our way to a Pokemon Center soon.”

Nina wrapped an arm around her friend and gave her a tight squeeze. “It’s getting late now, so let’s head out first thing in the morning. Do you think your Pokeball can last for that long?”

Kerry nodded and showcased what seemed to be a regular looking Premier Ball but with a red cross on the top. “This is a special Pokeball that us nurses use to transport Pokemon. It doesn’t impose a psychic registry, similar to Safari Balls, and is overall more sturdy and higher capacity. Also stops Pokemon from breaking out on their own as well, out of necessity,” she explained.

Nina’s eyes sparkled at the unfamiliar gizmo but chose not to press for more details out of consideration for Kerry’s emotional state. Instead she nodded and laid Kerry’s head against her shoulder. “When you’re feeling up for it, wipe yourself down and put your clothes back on. Can’t have you fall sick on us too.”

Instead of responding, the young Joy simply relaxed her body and leaned further into Nina’s embrace, wanting to just shut down and rest for a bit.

***

“Right, the first thing you need to know about Carvanha is that they possess Rough Skin,” Nina said to Justin, over the campfire they had built.

Kerry ended up falling asleep in Nina’s arms, so she had asked Justin to grab her another towel to double wrap the girl in before carrying her into Nina’s own tent that she had set up.

Afterwards, she and Justin heated up some MREs that they packed for the trip and ate while chatting about the boy’s latest catch. Nina even helped to feed Peppy the Happiny who was left out in neglect after her trainer fell unconscious.

“And I don’t mean rough skin like Carvanha needs to moisturize or anything. I mean Rough Skin as in the ability. If you run your palm through its skin, you’re liable to shear off all the skin on your palm,” continued Nina, causing Justin to shiver in disgust at the imagery.

“That same ability is the species’s greatest strength — imagine being able to harm your opponent through sheer touch alone. But that also means you need to be very careful when you’re handling your new Pokemon.

“There’s a reason why we don’t keep their species in our Gym. In fact, I suspect the initial outbreak of Carvanhas in this area was due to some callous trainer releasing theirs because they couldn’t handle it anymore. As you saw, Carvanhas have very few natural predators out here in fresh waters. So don’t make the same mistake,” lectured Nina in her stern Gym Trainer tone.

Justin gave the girl a grave nod, having already learned that his classmate was a much more competent and experienced trainer than he was. “I promise I’ll be careful. And If I’m not cut out for training Carvanha, I’ll hand it over to the Rangers to be relocated.”

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Nina gave the boy an approving smile. “Good. Once we get back to the city, I’ll take you shopping for protective gear. I know you don’t have money right now so I’ll front the costs and you can pay me back next month.”

Justin looked at Nina with tear filled eyes like she was Arceus incarnate. “Thank you!” The boy’s voice quivered as he expressed his gratitude. “I’ll make sure to pay you back. Promise!”

Nina chuckled in amusement. “I believe you. Professor Oak might be getting on in years, but I trust his judge of character. By the way, I never asked. Are you from Pallet Town?”

Justin sniffled and rubbed his nose before shaking his head. “Nope, Viridian City. But gramps lives in Pallet Town so we visited all the time. That’s how I got to know Lucy and Professor Oak.”

“Lucy’s your childhood friend who went on a journey?”

“Yeap! Lived right next door to gramps. She’s a real brat, always saying that she was better than me and that she was going to beat Lance and take his place as Champion.”

Nina chuckled at the pot and kettle dynamic between the two. “Don’t you wanna battle her in the Indigo Conference? I imagine she’ll rush to compete this year.”

“Probably,” Justin scoffed. “And she’ll lose and try again next year. I’ve still got time to train up Squirtle, and with an actual Gym Trainer giving me advice as well,” he grinned.

Nina gave a wry smile at the boy. “I can only do so much. At the end of the day, you’re solely responsible for your own Pokemon. But I’m sure you already know that.”

Justin nodded with a determined glint in his eyes.

“One thing I will say though, try to build up your team while you’re still in the Vermillion Flame,” Nina continued. “They’ll have all sorts of events and stuff you can take part in to raise your carry limit. And it’s not just me you can seek out for advice either. From what I can tell, the teachers in the school are all pretty competent trainers in their own right.”

***

The next morning, the trio had a light breakfast and disassembled their camping gear before setting out. Kerry was quite eager to get a move on immediately, but Nina reminded her that Happiny needed to eat as well.

It was approaching noon by the time they reached the Ranger outpost, since they beelined straight back to Route 11 without dallying.

Nina told her two friends to head to the nearest Pokemon Center without her, while she went into the outpost to give a report on their encounters. She was met with the same Ranger from the day before, who had a brief scare when he saw that Nina came back alone.

“Hmm… An aggressive Mankey troupe in the forest and a stray Carvanha in the river.” The Ranger sighed and rubbed his tired eyes.

Nina gave a weak smile in return and held herself back from apologizing on behalf of Justin. After the Carvanha incident, she had a suspicion that their encounter with the Mankeys was probably the boy’s fault as well. No doubt it was one of his desired Pokemons.

“Do you know if the Carvanha was male or female?” Asked the Ranger.

“No idea, I told my friend not to release it since it was quite aggressive and we had to beat it up real badly before being able to subdue it. I had him put the fish into full stasis as well just to be doubly sure.”

The Ranger nodded in approval. “A Ranger’s work never ends… You said they’ve gone ahead to the nearest Pokemon Center right? I’ll call in later to request for more details. And we’ll send someone to check on the Mankey as well. Probably just some beta and their lackeys who got kicked out of a larger troupe cause they failed to usurp the alpha. Happens all the time.”

After a few more pleasantries, the man thanked the girl once more for the info and Nina left the outpost to rejoin her friends.

***

Nina walked up to the Nurse Joy standing behind the reception to hand in Tini and Espy for a full check up, Tini in particular had lost a few scales during his fight with the sentient sandpaper that is Carvanha. And when she asked about her friend’s whereabouts, she was directed towards the cafeteria — which Kerry had access to because she was a Joy.

“They have Chansey’s egg on the menu!” Exclaimed the excited Nina, but best of all, her status as a Pokedex holder meant that she didn’t have to pay for her meal in the Pokemon Center. “So you’re saying that I could’ve had free Chansey’s egg all this time!”

The realization hit Nina like a Focus Punch as she listlessly wandered over to her two companions with a tray full of various Chansey’s egg menu items in hand.

“Are you okay?” Asked a concerned Kerry.

Nina slowly faced her friend with wide eyed astonishment. “Kerr, did you know? I could’ve gone to Pokemon Centers to eat free Chansey’s egg all this time!”

The pink haired girl giggled in amusement. “You have to be either staff, patient, or visiting patients to gain access to the cafeteria, not that they check of course,” the girl winked suggestively at that last part.

Nina could tell that the young Joy was looking much more cheerful than she was this morning, which is quite a relief. “Do they do take outs?” She asked, sending her friend into a fit of laughter.

“So are both Poliwag and Carvanha, okay?” Nina asked once they’ve all settled down a bit.

Kerry was the first to respond. “Yeah, Poliwag had lacerations and wounds all across her body, and lost quite a fair bit of blood. But it was a good thing that there wasn’t much internal damage aside from some punctured intestine, so overall she’ll be fine. My cousins said that it’ll take about a week or so for her to fully recover.

Justin looked down in remorse, feeling guilty on behalf of Carvanha who was technically his responsibility now. “Sorry…” He muttered.

But Kerry just waved him off, saying that it wasn’t his fault. “Just don’t let Poliwag catch sight of that killing machine in the foreseeable future. At least until I can help to dispel some of her trauma.”

“Not like I’ll be able to let him out of his Pokeball in front of other people anyway,” Justin shrugged. “At least not until I can get through to him… Oh, and Carvanha’s fine by the way, just a bit beaten up. The nurses said they had to put him to sleep before they could do anything though.”

Nina hummed in acknowledgement. “So you’ll be keeping Poliwag then?” She asked Kerry.

Kerry lowered her gaze. “I’ll try, but I don’t want Poliwag to feel like she owes me or anything. So if she wants to go back to her home then I’ll respect her wishes.”

Nina squeezed the girl’s hand in assurance. “It’ll be fine, just show her how much she’ll be loved in your company. It beats going back into the wild and potentially getting munched on again.”

After their lunch, Nina convinced Kerry to go shopping with her and Justin. Since Poliwag was still unconscious anyway. The girl ultimately agreed, albeit reluctantly.