The rest of the week passed by in a blur of training the team and hanging out with grandpa, with the addition of Ralts who was trying to learn how to use Baton Pass since Tabs could now handle getting hit with Thunder Punch from the likes of Woody and Chardon on a regular basis. Mom left at the end of Sunday after a family dinner since classes were back on; but not before forcing advising me to study since I had an agreement where I was a part of the school so long as I did any necessary tests online.
I also headed over to the Pokemon Center to use their battlefields and even helped with taking any emergency Pokemon they had to the Pokemon Center that was a little way's away from the city.
At the end of the week, I was always gonna post be heading back to Vermillion especially since it'll only be a week itself to actually reach the city. I placed a reservation to battle Surge in a timeslot that would give me maybe a couple days of prepping anything I may need in the city.
I managed to find a lady who was willing to spare some time with her Lilligant to teach Dee-Dee how to use Aromatherapy so she managed to learn how to use the move, unlike Pearl who only manages to make a very short range blast of Brine since she doesn't have any mentor to help her along the way. I also bought Disable for Ralts since it was gonna be a really crucial move for her and kind of a lynchpin to our plan that I came up with for Surge.
Speaking of Dee-Dee, I had gotten a confirmation call about Dee-Dee needing to be admitted to the Center so that they could do an analysis on her. If for whatever reason they found that I wasn't fit to be her trainer then I'd have to transfer ownership to a willing trainer; worst case I'd lose my trainers license. So as you'd imagine I am trying my best to not think about it.
I didn't need her to worry about it so I didn't tell her about all the consequences, just that if they don't think that I'm the right trainer then they'll send her to someone else. Now it was time that I handed her over to the Pokemon Center for her examination.
As soon as I handed her pokeball over to Nurse Joy I was ushered into a waiting room that wasn't in the main lobby.
Since the place is all traditional it doesn't have stuff like a TV to watch so I'm kinda wasting my time by drawing a few things from pictures I snapped on my pokegear.
I wonder how things are going?
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In a white room filled only with colorful posters some furniture, a pop hiss sound occurred before a white light coalesced and turned into a bipedal, pear shaped Pokemon. Her chocolate eyes analyzed the furniture and saw that the color scheme picked out was made specifically for easing a patient, from the color scheme right down to the scent of the place.
Dee-Dee could stand to have the place smell like less lavender, she already gets enough of it from her teammate.
She looked at the furniture in further detail and saw one padded chair behind a table which had a notebook, a pencil holder with some of its namesake, and a file holder. There was also a very comfortable looking couch.
Immediately after her observations, another pop hiss filled the room with another light coalescing into another bipedal, pear shaped Pokemon. His chocolate eyes didn't bother with surveying the room, only at looking at her.
It was after the second pokeball opened then that the only human in the room began talking. "Before we begin the physical, it is preferred that we examine your previous files as another medical nurse catalogues your mental health while ensuring you stay comfortable. If you have any issues please do inform the nurse Indeedee. We hope you have a comfortable stay while here."
Dee-Dee was only half listening to what the member of the Joy family was saying, she was too busy sharing information about how her life had been to the male Indeedee.
She showed him about her experience with her previous trainer, even sharing how she lost her hand to a Pinsir. She showed him the care her new trainer gives her and the weird crew that he picked up before catching her.
He showed her about his experience at nursing academy, even sharing about how he passed his exams and dutifully stayed with his designated Nurse Joy. He showed her cases where he comforted Pokemon and humans in abusive relationships.
She recoiled from their connection after the second case that was shown. Her male counterpart looked apologetic but his body language showed a different story. And to make matters worse, Indeedee placed an emotional barrier which prevented the two of them from conversing in their minds so as to prevent any mental influence from either side.
'So, things are probably going to be a load of tosh' Dee-Dee mused.
Indeedee then proceeded to sit down on the executive, padded chair before taking a notebook and pen that were on the table in front of him. He made a go ahead motion towards the couch and Dee-Dee took that as a sign that it was time to sit and face the music as the surroundings only mildly eased her anxiety.
A click of a pen got her attention as she rounded back towards her male counterpart.
He opened the notebook and placed his attention back to her. "Now as this is mandatory, I shall be asking you several questions regarding your current and previous trainers alongside any previous places of residency prior to any captures. But first I am inclined to inform you that for this current examination of health this entire conversation and anything said during the physical can and will be recorded for any future use."
He coughed into his hand before continuing "Now that we have officially started I would like to state on record that the Pokemon currently being examined has deigned to show past memories of her experience under her previous trainer and her current trainer. May the examined Pokemon please state their name, typing, and origin of birth so that we may begin."
"My former name was Mind Healer but it's now Dee-Dee, my typing is normal and psychic, and my origin of birth is Glimwood Tangle."
The Indeedee had his brow raised even as he jotted down the information "And was the new name given by yourself or a human?"
"It was given to me by my trainer Evandros."
Indeedee jotted something that she said before he continued. The wait was infuriatingly short.
"Can you please state any places of residency that you might have lived in for an extended period of time."
"Aside from Glimwood Tangle I used to live in the house of a man named John. He was nice and it wasn't until he gifted me to his son Peter that I went anywhere else. I mainly dealt with issues such as cooking, cleaning, and setting up the tent."
"And Peter is your former trainer."
"One of, yes." Indeedee made a 'go on' motion with the hand holding the pen, not taking his eyes of his notebook "I was traded for a Galarian Ponyta to the trainer before Evandros. I don't remember his name because he never told us- the Pokemon under his care I mean. He was the one who trained me as a battler but the eejit didn't know or simply didn't care that my strength lay in special attacks and not physical attacks. He came here to Kanto since nothing seemed to be working for him in Galar and made me use Feint Attack on an extremely strong, wild Pinsir that was using Vice Grip at the same time, and that's how I ended up losing my arm and pretty soon my second trainer; not like I actually considered him a trainer. "
"Sounds like a real daft sod." He muttered as he continued writing.
Dee-Dee eased up a bit after hearing that comment "After he tossed me to the wayside, I just simply couldn't trust humans but with my hand I knew that I'd never really survive in the wild again so I was stuck in the town he left me in; it's Hophophop town in case you were wondering. Stayed for more than half a year on those streets"
The sound of pen on paper continued as he never looked up, muttering apologies to her with halfhearted effort.
"So if you couldn't trust humans, why did you get caught?"
"His mind is so beautifully open enough that it's easy to see his thoughts. I knew that what he spoke was the truth because his emotions were like waves that I could tangibly see and considering that his Charmeleon, Beedrill, and Rockruff were so willing to protect the egg he has, alongside the fact that he gave them free rein unlike the other two I belonged to, was reason enough to accept our arrangements. He gave me the option to be given away if I ever want but I actually like our arrangement, proper."
He said nothing, merely writing down on his notebook.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
She had to sit in uncomfortable silence until he finally spoke up, his pen no longer etching words onto the notebook.
A question this time. "How would you rate all your trainers on a scale of 1 to 10?"
Dee-Dee couldn't really understand why exactly he wanted that information but she was willing to share it.
"Um, so Peter was nice and sometimes he and his Pokemon would help set the camp as well to take the load off me occasionally. Honestly, aside from the trading incident he was very cordial with me and never tried to force me to battle so maybe a 6 or a 7. My second trainer was a douche, simple as that, so its an easy 1 but if I could use more numbers I'd use -6 because if I had the chance I'd be the first one to put him six feet under." She joked. He just gave a glance and wrote down something while humming.
It was very annoying.
She continued after that awkward pause "Evandros is perfectly willing to set the camp up by himself, never makes me battle, and lets me hold the egg he takes care of so its an easy 9, 9.5 max."
"Not a 10?"
She could see that he had his pen close to the paper to write something before Dee-Dee realized that she misspoke, if she talks about the flaws of her trainer then there's the possibility that she might be taken away. Honestly, if Peter had traded her to her current trainer instead of that brutish Galarian then Evandros would have a full 10, her distrust with humans being the main reason she rated him a 9.
She couldn't say that though, more due to her worry about being placed away to deal with her distrust with humans, so she decided to tell a flaw.
"He hates onions." And left it at that, hoping that the Indeedee in front of her ends up thinking that she's an avid onion fan or was making another joke.
The male normal type hummed once more and wrote something else. Dee-Dee felt like she might've given the wrong answer, and that definitely didn't help her nerves.
The next few questions would be roundabout ones that she had already answered when she was first admitted into a Pokemon Center by Evandros. He kept on infuriatingly humming as he wrote something down, what exactly she didn't know but it was clear that it was about her and/or her trainer. There was no clock to see how much time had passed and whenever she looked he always wrote something down to the point that she stopped trying halfway through her sixth question she had answered.
It also didn't help that whenever she found her mind wandering that she would sense a second set of emotions close to her but whenever she focused it would be gone with the wind.
She had enough out of her male counterpart when he asked what moves she knew, as if she hadn't already informed the Nurse Joy and Chansey of this Center.
"Look, I get that you need to ask questions and try and see if I'm even me and to see my mental health, but unless this farce of a meeting gets somewhere then you better just hand me over for my physical."
The Indeedee raised his hand holding the pen into the air between them to give a placating gesture in an attempt to calm her down.
It was the left hand. It had the opposite effect.
He coughed into his hand when he finally looked up from his notebook and began addressing her.
"Look, I understand that you are uncomfortable during this procedure but you have to understand that this is all a standard mental evaluation. If we find that for whatever reason that either your physical or mental health has deteriorated from when you were first admitted to your trainer then in the worst case we will have to-" "I know, I know. You take me away from him and his team." "-review all his Pokemon and retrieve them and his trainer license from him indefinitely."
Her eyes bulged. "YOU WHAT!?!" She practically screamed.
His eyes for the second time this meeting looked at her with pity "He didn't tell you." He stated more than asked.
Dee-Dee felt like she had the lurgy. She barely heard him, she was too busy thinking about the new consequences about the evaluation. She knew that she was physically healthier than she was back when she first met him but it wouldn't matter squat if she managed to bungle up this mental check. She questioned each and every answer she gave to the one sitting in front of her, things like if she spoke too much or too little or if he thought she wasn't treating this seriously enough. Was the right answer to give Evandros a 10 instead of a 9?
She snapped out of her thoughts when he snapped his fingers. He didn't need to be an Indeedee to sense the emotions roiling through her, and the loud sound was enough to get her out of her spiraling thoughts.
"Listen to me, so far it seems like your answers will most likely appease the council that will review your case and unless you do anything too drastic you might even be able to stop anyone from reviewing him. Now, I hope that I have your attention for the remaining examination. And before you have any thoughts about embellishing your current trainer, please be aware that we can and will know when you lie about him as, you probably already know, I am an Indeedee alongside my many years of experience in understanding body language." The sarcasm placed in the last sentence wasn't really funny but it managed to ground Dee-Dee's thoughts.
'So that card is out of the deck' Dee-Dee thought before admonishing herself for even thinking it. It wasn't like Evandros was a crook you hanged before a copper. She just needed to be honest and get everything right. Honestly, she was more shocked by the severity of the worst case scenario more than anything else but, after giving it proper thought, had found it be quite a reasonable punishment.
The next few questions were answered with Dee-Dee's full attention since she had even more incentive to not mess anything up than before.
Her counterpart sighed after receiving the answer to the latest question, an act that made the female Pokemon's heart leapt out of her chest, before shutting his notebook and setting aside his pen.
If Dee-Dee had nails then she would be chewing on them due to the stress.
The male Indeedee only addressed her as he finished standing up. "Well, that appears to be all the questions that I can ask. Please head out of the room and a nurse available will review your physical condition."
Just as she began getting off the couch that she was on, a male- and human- nurse appeared and motioned for Dee-Dee to follow him for the physical examination. She tried her best not to slink away, worry clearly shown on her face.
As the door fully closed behind Dee-Dee, a fake wall opened to reveal a pink blob that waddled to the only psychic type in the room and handed over a piece of paper with notes written on it. If one looked closer they would be able to tell that each note had the letter Q and then a subsequent number before each note.
Though the two were working on the same case, it appeared that the blob was not happy with the Indeedee.
"That was a dirty trick you pulled on her. A council? The only people who'll review what you wrote is yourself and Nurse Joy. And what even was that with the whole cold asshole role you decided to take on?"
Indeedee took the notes from the only other Pokemon in the room before addressing her. "Well, I needed her to think that way so that I could see her response. And the asshole thing was because it's both fun and being angry means that a person's too busy to be panicking which we definitely don't want. But I'd really rather not have my methods questioned by a rookie fresh out of the academy."
Chansey face became noticeably flushed after realizing she overstepped but before she could say anything she was cutoff.
"Take this as a lesson instead of an admonishment. Now, I want you to look at the emotional readings you gave me today with the emotional readings of the Chansey who initially checked her." He said before giving her two different papers. As the questions themselves were the same, the only difference to note would be the written notes themselves, something that would be used as a major basis for the mental evaluation.
"Hmm, there's not much but she seems to be a little more nervous now than she was the first time, if the Chansey there properly categorized each emotional level. She seemed extra annoyed during question four to question nine and then there was an underlying note of dread, minor than anything else she felt, during the later questions. Other than that, there's more happiness during question two when asked about the trainer and became even happier during question three when asked about the Charmeleon, Rockruff, Ralts, and the egg."
"And did you feel it as well?" Chansey hesitantly nodded. "Then please inform on record of how many sources of love she has."
"Currently four, and all four felt different. I couldn't really determine who they were associated with but one shined brighter when she mentioned Glimwood Tangle while the other three definitely belong in the group of her current trainer, one might even be her trainer but that's up for discussion."
Indeedee nodded to no-one in particular, his thought process reviewing the notes taken by himself and the Pokemon that oversaw her initial mental examination. He looked at all the evidence in front of him and took knowledge from the memories shared to him; honestly this wasn't even a debate.
He had come to a conclusion the minute that they shared memories.
"I'll be writing her down as stable and give the acceptance paper to let her stay with her team. My best guess is that it will be the same designation from Nurse Joy. I'd also like to put a footnote on his trainer account as a potential trusted trainer for trauma Pokemon."
Chansey smiled at the happy ending the latest patient of the Pokemon Center would receive. Now it was simply a matter of her passing the physical examination before she could be handed over to her trainer.
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Thirty minutes later
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Man, drawing some of the team is pretty pebbles, I can't believe it's been since Pewter that I last drew anything. Granted, I'm drawing online and using overlapping pictures and not coloring them in but still. Since only the only new members after Pewter were Pearl and Dee-Dee that meant that they were the first thing I drew; the second being pictures that I had of Beedrill, Chardon, and then Woody.
I hadn't even finished with the sketch for Dee-Dee- since I was prioritizing drawing the new members before the old ones- before Nurse Joy, a Chansey, and an Indeedee came around with Dee-Dee. It was pretty easy identifying who was who since the other one had their horns up in the air while Dee-Dee has them downwards.
My palms are really sweaty right now and I may have almost dropped my drawing pen, since I am not a finger painter, before I stood up and waited for the results.
Nurse Joy easily assuaged my nerves by showing me a piece of paper.
It looked like one of those passport papers you get, except it was made with information about Dee-Dee. Although, unlike a passport paper it had a big stamped message that said 'approved'.
"We are happy to inform you that Dee-Dee is now a designated non-battler on your team. Please be aware that you may only have one or two non-battlers at any time." And with that, it became official.
I let go of the breath I wasn't even aware I was holding before putting on the biggest grin I've grinned this past week and gave Dee-Dee a hug.
The other Indeedee said something in Pokemon speak which caused my Indeedee to smack them upside the head, the Chansey next to them chuckling at the display before asking for a handshake. It was a pretty weird request but I'm fine with doing it.
"Oh my," I look at Nurse Joy who's looking at the Chansey with elation. She then rounded back to me to explain about her response "you see, Chansey here isn't really good with human contact. She always runs off when anyone that isn't a nurse here in the Center comes near her, so to see you not only shaking hands but her being the one to initiate it is a real surprise."
huh... neat.
Well, now that we didn't really have anything left in town we could finally head straight north and get ready to battle Surge.
I'm definitely getting that badge.