Chương 26: 26-Investigation check

"And so I went downstairs, told my mom, then, after a few days to register with the league, I picked up Chansey this morning and here I am." Amelia says with a shrug as she concludes an abbreviated description of everything that had happened in the week and a half since she'd graduated high school. Dexter laughs as he walks backwards ahead of them on the trail, occasionally glancing backward to not fall." Wow, heck of a u-turn for a few days huh?" He half yells in his enthusiasm.

"Honestly, I was surprised you were planning on going straight to summer classes at Joy school in the first place. We just earned our freedom! You couldn't pay me to head back in right away."

"... It's not called'Joy school.'" She grumbles.

"And I am still in a correspondence school, plus it's not like we just jump straight into open heart surgery, the first few months are basically just learning the… customer service-y stuff." She says with a wave. Tanya blinks at the reminder, tapping her partner's leg to get attention before speaking.

"Could you find a copy of the owner's manual for the new Poke-care machines? The hospital's spare manuals were two versions behind." She asks. Amelia glances down at her partner as the other human pauses for the aside to conclude, tapping her backpack.

"Yep, it's with the other study material." She responds before looking back at the still backwards human. The boy glances between the two with a slightly envious expression.

"Man, I can't believe you can understand each other so well already! I can barely understand Torchic." Amelia gives a conflicted hum at the compliment, wobbling her hand in the air.

"Well, thank you, but I've actually known Chansey for months, and I'm still guessing half the time." The boy glances over his shoulder again and steps over an exposed, travel-worn root.

"Heck of a guesser." He laughs.

"Hold on, you said Customer service? As in…

'working the desk' customer service?" The nurse in training nods.

"Yes, working the desk, but also doing basic maintenance on the equipment, sterilizing and cleaning our workspace, and learning how to deal with 'mon that are aggressive or not used to close interactions with humans." She says, counting items off on her fingers.

"All the stuff we have to do other than heal." Dexter blinks a few times, seemingly trying to process what he'd heard.

"... Huh." He says eventually.

"I'm not sure who I thought was doing all that stuff, but I didn't expect…" Amelia gives a faux arrogant sniff.

"It's a full time job! And everywhere needs a Joy!" The Joy chirps, saying the last part as if quoting something.

"Needing to learn how to work with aggressive patients is one of the big reasons I wanted to enroll right away. The first few weeks of the league season has every center full of fresh 'mon." The boy nods with another considering blink, glancing around the forest.

"I guess that makes sense, they're certainly not here anymore." He laughs.

"You should have seen this place yesterday, just chaos. We were all grouped up fighting each other, half the 'mon weren't listening to their trainers, and when we weren't fighting other trainers, we were battling what felt like the entire forest choosing to challenge us." Amelia nods, half reaching toward her bandoleer of pokeballs and confirming Tanya's suspicion that she'd noticed the strange quiet of the forest as well, silent of almost any life.

"It's not been like that for us, it's been… quiet." She says.

"You think all the 'mon who were looking for a trainer found one already?" Dexter slows his backwards walk as he considers how to answer, almost tripping as his thoughts fall inward.

"... Well anyone who'd go for a zero badge trainer." He waves a hand at the forest.

"There are still tons of 'mon out there, but I only saw them from behind while they were clearing away from the route. Don't think they liked the noise. Torchic and I certainly didn't." Tanya blinks, glancing at the pokeball on the other trainer's belt and noticing for the first time the other odd absence in the scene. Amelia verbalizes those exact thoughts almost as soon as her partner finishes forming them.

"Oh! Where is your partner? I haven't met them yet." She asks. Dexter rubs the back of his neck with a slightly anxious smile.

"Oh, sorry. Torchic's resting." He says, gesturing into the forest.

"Then we had a bit of a scare last night with a wild 'mon. Torchic scared it off, but he took a few hits, so I gave him a potion and he's sleeping off the rest." Amelia gains a slightly concerned expression on her face, but before she can say anything Tanya sees a clearing appear just off the trail as they round a shallow bend, a bright yellow tent sitting proudly near the center. Glancing backward again, Dexter gives a pleased hum and spins around and begins speedwalking toward the clearing."

There's my camp, I knew I'd seen that rock before." He cheers, glancing back and beckoning them to follow.

"The trainer rush was a bit too much for us, so I dropped back and set up camp at the first spot we saw. Pretty good one if I say so myself." Entering the camp, Tanya tunes the humans out as their conversation continues, splitting away from the group as they slowly meander toward the fire pit at the center of the clearing. Walking to the edge where the clearly manicured grass gives way to wild forest, the former soldier slowly paces the perimeter.

Squinting off into the sun dappled shadows from the thick canopy cast over the thick bed of dried leaves. A roving eye scanning for evidence of potential or current threats. If something goes wrong, they are at least several hours away from being able to get to help themselves. More likely a situation requiring help would also need the help to come to them, which the forestry department claims has an average half hour response time. Much too long for a true emergency.

Thus, every risk vector must be carefully analyzed. Slowly circling the clearing, she notices signs of a fight on the south edge of the circle. Presumably, the 'scare' from last night that was scared off. Looking over the scene and picking it apart with careful consideration, she can see familiar burn marks on a few trees from embers, blackened grass from flares of heat, and furrows in the dirt that could only come from a torchic's claws.

What she does not see however, is almost any indication of violence from another party. Eventually, she slows to a stop before a seemingly random patch of browning grass. This is the only thing she can see that a torchic couldn't have done, but that doesn't rule out much. Bringing her face closer to the ground, Tanya discovers the dying greenery is coated with a dust-like glitter that flashes a dangerous dark purple in the sun.

"Amelia." She calls over her shoulder.

"Could you come here?" The request stalls the boy's energetic speech as Amelia's eyes flick to her partner, then back to the trainer.

"Sorry, Chansey wants something. Just give me a second." She demurs before making her way over to her partner. Stepping beside Tanya, the trainer gets a look at her partner's face and kneels down with an equally serious expression.

"What is it?" She mutters. Tanya points at a faint flash of purple.

"Poison powder." The sparkle means it's still potent, but without knowing the exact species, this variant's half-life is unknown. The rule of thumb is twenty four hours before any significant amount becomes inert. The nurse in training moves her head side to side so the powder can catch the light, before she nods and looks back toward the trainer.

"You said you were attacked. By what?" She asks.

"Where, precisely, is Torchic? And did you give him anything other than a potion for his injuries?" Dexter rubs the back of his neck with a confused and slightly anxious smile.

"Oh, sorry. Torchic's in his ball, and I'm pretty sure it was a duskull. We heard something in the treeline last night but Torchic scared it off before I could see anything but the big 'ol red eyes." He says, pointing at a spot just to the left of where the duo were crouched.

"And yea, just a potion, but it didn't heal him all the way so he asked to sleep it off in his ball." He takes a step closer, almost walking into the poison powder.

"What are y'all looking at?" Amelia gently puts her arm out in front of the other trainer's knees as she unslings her bag, placing it on the ground with a thud and unzipping the middle compartment..

"Poison powder. Would you mind bringing out Torchic? I'd like to take a look at him if you wouldn't mind, to confirm a theory." She asks, opening a fresh cardboard box of nitrile gloves and snapping them on. Dexter tilts his head, glancing between the two of them, then to the seemingly random spot the two are kneeling in front of.

"Ok, but… poison powder? Are you sure? Duskull dont– Oh!" He cuts himself off, rolling his head in exasperation.

"Did I actually fall for that? Dustox wing patterns? Really?" The trainer gives another half hearted groan at falling for the dustox's eye-shaped wing patterns before stepping away from the browning patch of grass and pulling the pokeball from his belt. As he fumbles with the ball, trying to get it back to full size, Amelia continues pulling the items of a basic first aid kit out of her pack.

Then, as Tanya steps alongside, unbuckling her own bag and pulling out a few specialty items that were missing, the nurse in training begins muttering to her partner.

"I've got a general antidote but I'd rather not use two healing potions on someone in a twelve hour period. You mentioned you were learning heal pulse. Do you think you can heal any residual damage?" The 'mon considers the question for a moment.

"Maybe." Tanya concludes, trying to recall what it felt like to use the move when she'd done it accidentally this morning.

"I've only succeeded in using the move once, so I might not– Ah!" Her explanation is interrupted as, the instant she tries to bring that memory to the fore, she's immediately hit by a bottomless ocean of love. That power overwhelms any attempt at control in less than a moment, and, growing too large to be contained within her body, it erupts into a massive burst of green healing sparkles all around.

The 'mon grunts as she struggles for a long few seconds to regain control of her energy, only cutting off the flow with great difficulty after several failed attempts to isolate and contain those feelings. Tanya takes a few deep breaths to center herself as the sparkles fade, despite the love's unrelenting force pushing even harder than before to break those restraints.

"... Yes. I believe I'll be able to heal any damage." She corrects, feeling her face heat up slightly with embarrassment at the loss of control. Thankfully, before Amelia can say anything about the amateur display she'd just seen, Dexter finally manages to bring the ball to its full size and calls attention to himself.

"If it's actually poison, I've got an antidote in my tent, I'll–""I've got one right here, don't worry." Amelia interrupts, adjusting her gloves slightly.

"I'm ready, release your partner." Dexter pauses for a moment, as if considering whether he should argue, then pops the ball open, revealing–" Ch-Chansey!?" Torchic screams. She recognizes the 'mon, he used to be one of the occasional challengers in the yard. But he'd begun hanging out on the exact opposite side of the central lake two weeks after her Rival stopped coming and left Tanya to the whims of the mob.

She nods, carefully observing the minor discoloration on his tongue as he yells, indicating toxins within the body.

"Good afternoon Torchic." The 'mon takes a step back.

"What are you doing here!?" He cries out, glancing first at both humans, then at the surrounding forest as if to ensure he's not back in the yard. Tanya tilts her head, considering how to answer the question. She could spend the next minute and a half explaining the intricacies of her and Amelia's plan to use cultural biases to gain a better position in society, but she's already getting tired of the whole process, so she simplifies the message.

"I'm going on a journey, same as you." Torchic blinks. Then takes another step back.

"…Really?" Tanya nods as Amelia kneels down next to him. But he doesn't seem to notice either event, seeming to zone out for a few seconds before jolting as the nurse in training carefully speaks in a soft voice.

"Hello Torchic, I'd like to take a look at you if that's alright?" She asks carefully, offering her gloved hand. Tanya nods, stepping closer to get within arms reach once again.

"We believe you have been poisoned. We are going to help you; your cooperation will be appreciated." Torchic takes a third step ba–"Please remain still, my partner is going to perform a basic diagnosis." Tanya says calmly. The chicken freezes, leg still halfway though a step.

Seeing her patient is holding still, Amelia shuffles forward on her knees and lifts a few feathers between his wings to check the down underneath, continuing the textbook field procedure to determine whether a 'mon with an avian base has been poisoned. Tanya would argue the entire process was unnecessary after the first step, as the thinning down underneath Torchic's adult feathers faintly sparkle with purple and his core temperature is elevated enough that his abnormally quick exhales waver with heat.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. But Amelia continues the procedure to the letter, finally looking back up at the other trainer after a few minutes of redundant checking.

"Torchic has been mildly poisoned, nothing serious, but I would recommend treatment to avoid unnecessary suffering." Torchic's trainer steps forward, reaching out to pat his partner with an apologetic expression on his face.

"Aw, I'm so sorry buddy, I didn't–" He stops as Tanya blocks the approaching hand with a glare, Amelia chiming in as she removes the safety cap on the nozzle of a bottle of antidote.

"Don't touch until the poison is neutralized." She says distractedly before holding the bottle toward Torchic.

"Would you mind flaring your feathers for me? This needs to get in contact with the residual powder to work." Torchic half puffs up his feathers in indignation, then seems to realize what he's doing and struggles against instinct to catch himself.

"Hey! I'm not going to just flare my feathers at someone just because they–" Tanya stills from her position a few steps away as she cleans and repacks medical supplies pulled from both bags for the checkup. Her eye flicks up from the work to meet Torchic's. The chicken makes a vague choking sound, then gives a hacking cough from the poison.

"... ok." He says in a small voice, turning around and –after a moment's concentration– hesitantly extends his wings and feathers.

"Thank you." Amelia nods, getting to work with precise spritzes of antidote underneath the feathers. The way the nurse in training carefully applies the spray means the job is taking three times as long as Tanya feels it should, and about halfway through, Amelia pipes up again to break the silent atmosphere.

"Dexter, for future reference, being inside a pokeball essentially brings a pokemon's metabolic functions to a halt, so they can't really 'sleep off' anything inside a pokeball." She lectures as Tanya finishes repacking both their bags. The trainer gives a considering grunt.

"Lucky me then, saved Torchic from a bad night of being poisoned." He offers.

"Silver linings." Amelia nods.

"True." She says, carefully spraying underneath a wing.

"You have a team comp in mind for beating Wattson's challenge?" The boy winces, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I'd planned on seeing if I could figure something out after I found out who'd be willing to join up." He says, waving at the woods around them.

"But honestly… I wanted to go on a journey for the excitement, and this is already pretty exciting." Amelia pauses, glancing at the other trainer.

"You're dropping out?" She half asks.

"Not a chance." The trainer retorts, fire flaring in his eyes at the idea.

"Current plan is to take it slow, do a little bit of shakedown training with Torchic for the next few days. Wander around here and see if I can find any 'mon to catch, then head up to Lavaridge for my first gym." He says, tracing his route on an imaginary map in the air.

"Still pushing forward, but we're not ready for any gym just yet. I'm betting the extra training on the hike up the mountain will do the trick." Amelia tilts her head, eyes not moving off her patient.

"What then, just back down the way you came?"

"Nah." The boy shakes his head.

"I'm thinking I'll just keep going, take 109 down, then go 14-15 east and end up in Rustboro."

"Oh, you're still planning on getting a train driving certification?" Amelia hums. The boy nods.

"Yep. Though I think I might try to get dual qualifications as a conductor. My grandad is friends with Mr. Coalnin and he told me the guy's thinking about retirement." Amelia blinks, eyes flicking off Torchic for a second with a surprised frown.

"Aw, really?" She sighs with another spritz.

"I guess he had to stop someday." The nurse in training pauses before she continues, holding the still half full bottle to the sunlight before looking back at Torchic.

"Ok, we're done with the topical treatment. Last step." She gently spins the bird around to look at her and holds the bottle up to his face, twisting the cap to the fine mist setting.

"Try to keep your eyes open and take a deep breath." Torchic has just enough time to blink before his face is blasted by a cloud of antidote. To his credit, the 'mon forces himself to breath in the violently fruit scented aerosol without complaint as Amelia lays down a few continuous seconds of spray, then recaps the quarter bottle of antidote and turns to her partner.

"Chansey?" Tanya nods, stepping closer to the still disoriented chicken before slowly, carefully, reaching back to that wellspring of powe–'I love you too.' Both 'mon explode in green sparkles and Tanya is forced to wrestle for control of that nearly uncontrollable power once again. After the green sparkles finally begin to disperse the former soldier makes a mental note on the absolute necessity of figuring out how to properly control this healing energy.

Especially considering every time she taps into the feeling it only grows stronger. As the sparkles covering the bird disperse Dexter takes a hesitant step forward, glancing between the pink duo as he half reaches toward his partner.

"Torchic? Feeling better bud?" The 'mon takes a second to ruffle his feathers, shaking off a mist of antidote and no longer sticky or shimmering dust.

"Yea." He says with a cough and a nod. But anything else he'd been planning to say is cut off with a squawk as his human partner picks the chicken off the ground in a hug.

"Hey!"

"Why didn't you tell me you were poisoned?!" The trainer shouts, hug transitioning to something between relieved and aggressive.

"We have antidotes!" Torchic struggles, but seems to be constantly holding back flares of heat to avoid burns." I didn't know! How should I? It was dark!" Dexter holds his partner out in the air and squints with a focused expression on his face.

"... You didn't see?" He half asks eventually. Torchic nods, then gives another squawk as the human drops the 'mon without fanfare.

"Well now you know what it feels like to be poisoned, so you've got no excuse." He says turning to Amelia as she finishes putting the used gloves in a sealed waste baggie and puts them in her backpack.

"Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver." He laughs with relief. Amelia dismisses the thanks with a wave.

"That's what Joy's are for." Dexter gives a hum suggesting he has reservations about that comment but doesn't comment further. Instead, he waits a moment for Torchic to ruffle his feathers before reaching to his bandoleer with its single ball.

"You know… now that Torchic's better, you feeling up for a battle?" Amelia's hand shoots to her bandoleer.

"Yes." She blurts out almost before the other trainer's finished speaking, then blinks, looking almost surprised at herself. Tanya takes a second longer to realize what's happening before stepping forward into the space between the two humans. It's been a little while since she last fought Torchic, but the estimated strength from the scorch marks on the trees shows that he's not that much stronger since last time. She'll win. The boy grins." Great!

Let's keep the buy-in low, does five hundred dollars work for you–" Torchic seems to snap out of some kind of stupor and wildly flaps his wings, looking up at his partner in shock.

"Not a chance!!!" He screeches, head flipping between a wide eyed stare at Tanya and up at his partner.

"What are you insane!? We can't fight her!" Dexter, caught flat-footed, looks down at his partner in confusion.

"Uh…" Tanya takes another step forward, making Torchic's head stop swiveling and lock on her. She understands the issue here, she'd had the same worries in the days prior, easily resolved.

"Torchic, you don't need to be concerned." She says calmly.

"I've learned to heal, and you have a pokeball now. I'm confident I can heal you of anything short of losing a limb and, should the worst happen, a pokeball can put you in stasis until you get to a pokecenter to receive more intensive treatment." Likewise, Tanya trusts her partner to be able to perform any immediate first aid should an accident occur and use a pokeball should the injury be too severe. But from everything she can tell, the likelihood of her being injured is… low.

Torchic, instead of being reassured, flattens his feathers tight to his body and runs behind his trainer's leg.

"No way! She's crazy! I–" He stops abruptly as his eyes lock onto the pokeball. Almost before anyone realizes what's going on, Torchic flails his way up his partner's leg and slams his head into the aperture of the ball, disappearing in a flash of red. Dexter blinks, staring at the now occupied pokeball with a kind of baffled incredulity. Pulling the ball from his belt and returning it to full size, he unlocks the aperture, then relocks it to ensure the lock works, before trying to extract his partner to no effect.

Amelia glances down at her partner with an inquisitive expression, to which Tanya can only splay her arms to either side with a confused shake of the head.

"I uhhh…. I don't…" He tries, looking back up at the other trainer.

"Sorry, I'm not sure what that was all about, but I don't think Torchic wants to come out." Amelia gives a slow nod, agreeing that yes; she did see what just happened.

"It's alright. I hope the poison fright last night didn't scare him off battling."

"No way." He scoffs, not looking up from the ball.

"He's tougher than that. I'll talk to him whenever he decides to come back out." He says, reclipping the ball to his belt before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a wallet.

"Well… I'd say you won by forfeit, but we dropped out before I could even make the challenge. Here, I'll pay you back for the potion and some extra for helping us out, how much?" Tilting his head down to open his wallet and start counting money, he does not see Amelia's face flash with a fiery mixture of outraged indignation at the offer of money, the half-second expression shocking Tanya out of her own mental math, trying to calculate a fair price for the service.

The nurse in training coughs firmly into her fist." No." She says, voice slightly strained to keep her tone cordial as she picks her backpack off the ground and slings it over her shoulder.

"No, I'm a Joy. You don't pay me for healing." The other trainer looks up from his wallet, confused, halfway through counting some bills.

"Are you sure? If you don't want money, I can give you one of the spare antidotes I have in my tent–" Amelia starts powerwalking back toward the trail, forcing Tanya to hurry slightly to catch up while still bucking her own bag.

"It's been great catching up Dex. But we're burning daylight and I've got a schedule to keep, best of luck." She says quickly, offering a quick goodbye over her shoulder as she reaches the trail and quickly continues where she left off. The boy gives a hesitant wave to the abrupt departure.

"Er– Well– I… Bye?" Walking alongside, Tanya watches her partner as she seems to be struggling to keep herself from saying something. Until finally erupting into an aggravated rant just as soon as they go around a bend and out of earshot." Pay me? Honestly. Who does he think he is!?" She bites out, wildly gesticulating in her anger.

"You can't put a price on health! It's everything! Being healthy is worth infinity dollars! You can't just do that!" She pauses to breathe, eyes wildly flickering around the trail in front of them as she puts her thoughts together.

"I'm just glad Torchic didn't see that. The idea that his health is worth however much his partner has in his wallet?" Amelia scoffs, and Tanya finds herself in an awkward position. Because she firmly disagrees with her partner's thesis, but she also knows that bringing up the simple realities of supply and demand for a finite number of medical resources and a professional's limited hours in the day will go over… poorly.

Likewise, after a bit of consideration, she'd guess that pointing out a full time nurse does have to get paid somehow in order to live and keep helping others will go over just as poorly. In that same vein, the argument that pokecenters are still paid for by their users through government subsidies and donations is just semantic, thus doesn't deserve to be spoken. But as she's trying to find a way to articulate her position in a way that won't upset her partner.

Amelia's head slowly begins to swivel downward, embers of disbelieving anger beginning to flare as she somehow realizes Tanya's internal struggle. Quickly, the 'mon abandons the first line of trenches for this argument and falls back to the second, presuming medical care does deserve to be absolutely free and working from there.

"I see your point, but I feel you're oversimplifying here." She starts, offering middle ground.

"Torchic was in no immediate danger and, should they wish to receive treatment, all they'd have to do is go to a pokecenter." Tanya gestures in the air as if holding the idea, then pretends as if she's holding a new idea to the left." We provided a service, conveniently cutting down on a few hours of wasted time walking back up the trail or figuring out the issue on their own. It's that time he was offering to pay for." Amelia splutters, staring down at her partner in abject bafflement.

"You too!?"