〔Pokémon: Chansey ♀〕
〔Type: Normal〕
〔Ability: Healer (Helps allies recover from status conditions)〕
〔Moves: Minimize, Pound, Sweet Kiss, Charm, Life Dew, Sing, Soft-Boiled〕
〔Status: Somewhat tired (Why isn't my shift over yet?)〕
〔Affection: 60 (As a nurse, this is basic professionalism)〕
Lumiere glanced at Chansey's information and found it pretty decent, though he had no improper thoughts about it.
Just then, a pink-haired young woman wearing a pink nurse's uniform walked over. She was very pretty, with the standard Nurse Joy face.
Strangely enough, she wasn't wearing a nurse's cap, and her hair was loose, which made her slightly different from the Nurse Joy he remembered.
"Is there anything I can help you with? I'm about to get off work and go rest. If it's not too urgent, you can wait two minutes for my sister to come over."
Although Nurse Joy's tone was gentle, Lumiere could hear that she was clearly in a hurry to get off work and go home to sleep. No wonder she was dressed like this.
"I just came in from the wild. Can I stay overnight at the Pokémon Center?"
"Staying the night? I'll take you to the front desk to register."
As she spoke, Nurse Joy led Lumiere to the counter directly across from the entrance. This was where she usually worked, repeating the same routine every day—healing Pokémon for Trainers.
"May I see your ID, please?"
"Uh… I accidentally lost it when I was being chased by Beedrill in the forest."
"Then I'm sorry, but you'll need to go to the police station first to have Officer Jenny reissue it, and then come back. Their lights stay on at night."
Nurse Joy looked up at him. Her delicate face still wore a smile, but her meaning was already perfectly clear.
"This… sigh…"
Lumiere let out a long sigh. Sure enough, there was no such thing as that kind of luck.
Just as he was about to turn around and try his luck at the police station, Nurse Joy suddenly noticed the small blue round Pokémon in his arms and quickly stopped him. "Wait— is that a Rowlet?"
Lumiere turned back, a little confused. "Yeah, why?"
Hearing his confirmation, Nurse Joy clasped her hands together, instantly excited. "Wow! It really is a Rowlet! This is my first time seeing one in person. But why is it wearing Snorlax's clothes?"
"..."
Did everyone really have to ask the same question?
"Isn't that a bit of an overreaction? It's just a Rowlet. Is it really that big a deal?"
In response, Nurse Joy instead looked puzzled. "You don't know? Rowlet has taken first place as the cutest Pokémon for five consecutive years among over 900 Pokémon species—beating even Legendary Pokémon!"
"What kind of ridiculous award is that?"
Lumiere didn't even feel like complaining anymore. Still, from her casual remarks, he could tell that this world likely had over nine hundred Pokémon species.
He didn't know whether regional forms were included in that count, and it also seemed that Legendary Pokémon weren't considered all that rare here—rare enough to be included in popularity contests, at least.
"Can I take a photo with Rowlet?" Nurse Joy suddenly asked.
"Uh, my—"
"You can just find a sofa and sleep there."
"No registration needed?"
Nurse Joy waved her hand and explained, "It doesn't really matter. This place is meant to provide free rest for Trainers anyway. Registration is just to make sure we can find people if they damage public property."
"Alright…"
In the end, he traded Rowlet's body for a night's sleep.
After being hugged by Nurse Joy, Rowlet suddenly woke up, lifted its head blankly for a moment, then shifted its gaze to the Chansey beside them—more specifically, to the egg in Chansey's pouch.
"Rowlet!"
"Chansey?"
"Are you hungry?"
Noticing Rowlet's state, Nurse Joy had Chansey take out the egg from its pouch and hand it to Rowlet.
Chansey could produce four to five eggs a day. These eggs were rich in nutrients and protein, and long-term consumption was good for the body. Many Pokémon loved eating them.
Rowlet hugged the egg and happily began eating, finally getting its fill of eggs.
The way it looked while eating made Nurse Joy's eyes light up instantly. She grew even more excited, pulled out her phone, and started taking photos—it was just too cute.
After that, she typed out a line of text on her phone and sent the pictures together.
Out of curiosity, Lumiere stood on tiptoe and took a look…
Thanks for the invite. Ran into a Rowlet today wearing Snorlax clothes. The way it eats is just too cute~ Note: this is a real Rowlet, not a plush!!!
"..."
After taking the photos, Nurse Joy returned Rowlet to him, thanked him, and left right away.
Lumiere carried the well-fed Rowlet over to the sofa area, but noticed that there was still a bit of eggshell stuck to the corner of its beak from earlier.
After hesitating for a moment, he removed the eggshell and tossed it into the clothing machine. A freshly made Chansey outfit popped out.
There was no time to try it on now—he was too sleepy. He found a sofa slightly farther away from the miniskirt girl who was resting and lay down.
Little by little, his eyelids grew heavier, and he drifted off to sleep…
He didn't know how much time had passed when a faint fragrance filled his nose. Lumiere slowly opened his eyes and saw a graceful figure standing with her back to him.
That silhouette was hazy, like a first love, stirring endless imagination.
Lumiere subconsciously reached out to touch the woman's shoulder, but she seemed to sense something and suddenly turned around—oh, it turned out to be a green female Machamp wearing a wig and lipstick…
"Damn it!"
Lumiere jolted awake from the nightmare, panting heavily, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
After sitting on the sofa for a long while to calm down, he realized it was already daytime. The electronic clock in the Pokémon Center read 9:30 a.m.—he had slept for nearly ten hours.
"A brand-new day… but why don't I feel happy at all?"
Lumiere felt a bit existentially troubled. When he saw Rowlet still sleeping soundly in his arms, a smile finally appeared on his face as he looked around.
The miniskirt girl from last night had already left with her Bibarel. The Nurse Joy at the counter was neatly dressed. Although she looked exactly the same as the one from last night, she gave off the feeling that she wasn't the same person.
At this moment, several Trainers with their Pokémon were already inside the Pokémon Center, waiting for their Pokémon to finish recovering and chatting to pass the time.
Lumiere stood up, planning to go find where the police station was to see if he could get an ID made, and maybe look for some berries to fill his stomach—it was starting to feel empty.
But just as he reached the door, his gaze subconsciously shifted toward the distance, to that strange white screen he had noticed yesterday.
Standing in front of it were two people wearing black-and-white uniforms. On the backs of their clothes was a golden emblem resembling the character "Galaxy"!
"Team Galactic?!"