C023 - Spending the day with the twins

"A day or two of rest and Nidorino should be fit as a fiddle once more. Your first aid and generous use of miracle berries have made sure Nidorino will make a full recovery shortly," Nurse Joy said as she handed over the empty luxury ball back to Pete.

Nidorino was freshly bandaged and looked a lot better than before. After getting his okay, Pete balled the pokemon and looked around for Solosis.

"Where's my girl Solosis then? I hope she didn't trouble you," Pete asked when he couldn't find her in the room. He knew she was close thanks to his psychic affinity and bond, but it didn't work yet to pinpoint a location.

"Ah, not at all. She is very polite and very hardworking. There's a Blissey from the family currently in town teaching the move Heal Pulse to a Chansey that the family has recently acquired. I asked Blissey to explain it to your Solosis, too and they immediately took a liking to each other. This Blissey likes hard working pokemon especially well," Nurse Joy happily explained with a wide smile.

"I see, uh... can I leave her here then? She should feel me through our bond but stayed with Blissey anyway. Maybe she's on the verge of grasping the move?"

"Oooh, that would make a terribly talented pokemon indeed. But yes, you may leave her here. I already said Blissey has taken a liking to your Solosis," Joy agreed with a warm smile.

"Thank you very much!"

"Yes, do you think Solosis can make it back to you on her own or do you want me to call you once she indicates she's ready to go back? The day is slow enough that I wouldn't mind either way."

"Oh, I haven't thought of that. I'd like to think she is smart enough to get back. But here is my number just in case she is unsure. Tell her if she wants to go back on her own, she should come to camp. She should know what that means," Pete answered with a kind smile of his own. This Nurse Joy was very pleasant to talk to.

"Ah, before I go. You know I'm a researcher, right? Have you ever heard of the Alolan fairy pokemon Comfey?"

"Oh hmm, no, I don't think I'm familiar. Why do you ask?" Joy asked with a tilted head and her hand covering her mouth in a pondering expression.

"You know fairy pokemon are much more likely to allow kind people like yourself to see or even catch them, right? Well Comfey is a pokemon that knows the move Floral Healing, which is Heal Pulse but with Fairy typing. Both moves have their pros and cons, but you'd have to figure it out by yourself. I've only heard rumors of the pokemon. They appear in Lush Jungle by route 5 in Alola," Pete explained as a thank you to Nurse Joy for being so accomodating.

He knew it was an inevitability for the Joy clan to move to Alola, but if they had an incentive to do it earlier because of knowledge about a very elusive pokemon that should flock to most of the Joys, they would do it much sooner. That would help the region become a safer place and have a few more subtle benefits.

Joys eyes were shining as Pete finished his explanation.

"Are you sure? They sound like lovely pokemon, I'd love to meet one!"

"Yeah, I'm not from Alola but I was once close enough to hear the rumors plenty of times. You should know that fairy pokemon are often considered rumors in more rural regions, so the rumor apparently didn't travel very far," Pete doubled down with a shrug.

"Ah! Thank you so much," Joy said as she jumped to hug Pete.

"I always wanted to apply for the Alola expedition of the family next year, but competition is fierce. If I bring back this information I should be rewarded with the opportunity! Thank you so so much," Joy happily exclaimed as she swayed back and forth, left and right with Pete still in her arms.

"Uh, no worries, Nurse Joy," Pete spoke up with a wry smile.

"Call me Betty," Joy, no Betty Joy or just Betty, said as she released Pete with pink cheeks. She didn't realise how forward she was just now.

"Well, uh. You have my number, so if you need anything else you can call me. And uh... let me know if I need to pick up Solosis," Pete spoke to ease the awkward atmosphere.

"Un!"

The twins, Pete and Zorua left the pokecenter.

"What was that all about?" Sophie asked with narrowed eyes and a mischievous grin.

"What do you mean?" Pete asked because he didn't know what else to say to deflect.

"The long hug? The rosy cheeks on both of you?" Sophie teased.

"We're just both very excited about kind pokemon and their ability to heal."

"Uh-huh~"

"She is a very kind person."

"Uh-huuuh~"

"Did you want a hug as well?"

Instead of continuing to tease Pete, Sophie suddenly stopped at a store to stare through the window at a few dresses on the mannequins.

"Hehe, nice job shutting her up," Jasmine giggled from the side when Pete stopped to see where Sophie had run off to.

The three took in a few more sights like the Sprout Tower that housed monks and Bellsprouts and its evolutions mostly. The monks' decision to celebrate Bellsprout was just as weird in reality as it was in the game, so Pete didn't engage much with them.

When they got back to the mansion, they were a little bit late for lunch but Isabelle had already started cooking. It wouldn't do after all to keep having the guest making food for your entire family.

Isabelle didn't get the portion right, but it didn't matter. Some of his pokemon were okay with treats or simply a some nutritous water.

After lunch, Pete joined Jasmine for training and saw Onix for the very first time. The giant rock snake lived in a cave on the far side of the garden and had a very gentle temperament. Just to be sure, Pete looked at the cave while Onix was using his rock and ground energy to throw around heavy rocks and changing the terrain.

And like Pete thought, there were metal deposits in the cave. The evolution from Onix to Steelix in this world didn't happen with a poketrade and a held item but when an Onix ate a certain amount of metal.

Since Jasmine's Onix would eventually become a Steelix which resulted in Jasmine even changing the typing of her entire team and gym, Pete was sure there had to be something in this cave.

Done inspecting the cave, Pete watched the training and gave his opinion from time to time. He didn't overdo it because Jasmine didn't ask for tips, but she also didn't ask him to stop.

Once Pete saw Corsola training her water moves, Pete noticed he had an obvious lack of water pokemon in his team so far - especially for a farmer. A pokemon's water typing energy would create water and most of it would stay as real drinkable water. Something he would probably appreciate for a large farm.

But since it was water pokemon he needed, Pete also didn't stress the point. What this entire world had more than anything was water pokemon. Though, unless he found a spot next to a river in the Meadow to settle down, Pete's choices were also cut short.

Unless he managed to find a fish with such good accuracy and long range that he could train a pokemon to water his berry orchards and fields from the coast line.

A few Mudkip or Quagsire were still on the top of his list, but he wouldn't be picky. Slowpoke or Lotad would also be greatly appreciated and he would need to see what was available to begin with. Exeggutor's Teleport would greatly help him expand his search radius, but he'd also need to convince a wild pokemon to live on a farm.

Unless his luck would keep up with finding young and impressionable or injured pokemon, Pete had his work cut out for him.

"Are you okay?"

A sweet and quiet voice roused Pete from his musing.

"Jasmine, sorry. I got lost in my own musing on what water pokemon I'd likely want to raise on my farm," Pete excused while scratching the back of his head.

"You'd want to look for something docile in a land dweller or fierce in a sea dweller, right? On land you have others for protection, but for sea pokemon you need something that can defend itself," Jasmine said while pondering.

"If only you could find one of the mythical Milotic. They are strong, gracious, and pretty. I hear they are also fine to live on land if its close to water and they apparently have a weak dragon heritage which scares away pokemon who only bully the weak," Jasmine continued, absorbed in her musing just like Pete was before. She did look very cute doing that, Pete thought.

"Well, did you know Milotic aren't as mythical as believed? They are a rare evolution of the fish pokemon Feebas. The ugly little fish only needs to believe itself beautiful enough once it gathered enough strength for an evolution," Pete explained with a warm smile.

"Is that really true? Oh, how I wish every Feebas would evolve then. They have their own charm about them. Everyone does," Jasmine said with glittering eyes.

"Yep, they are pretty unique in that sense. At least, I don't think there are many other evolutions that are dependent on a state of mind. Primeape's evolution to Annihilape maybe. But they first need to know ghost type energy and then get angry enough... which to be fair is probably way easier a condition than getting a Feebas to think itself pretty," Pete narrated.

Pete continued listing a few unique evolution methods he is aspiring to 'prove real' through his research to a Jasmine who was listening very intently. Especially when Pete revealed the condition for Onix to evolve did Jasmine hang on every word of his.

Dinner later was once again prepared by Isabelle with Sophie helping while Jasmine and Pete lost their sense of time as they talked about unique evolutions and moves. They had a surprise guest during dinner though. Solosis, who had returned from her training session from the pokecenter. The surprise? Solosis teleported herself to the mansion.