FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Author's note: Inner thoughts are shown in italics. Alright! finally got chapter three out and I hope it is miles ahead of the first two chapters :D And if not miles then at least noticeably better. Sorry about the long wait, I procrastinated alot and then all my free time was sucked away by friends and family for the past week due to birthday dinners, celebrations and the like.

Also, I want to give a huge thanks to Arcane Reno for giving me some really good constructive criticism. Using what he told me, I went back and re-wrote pretty much the entire chapter, hopefully resulting in something you guys will enjoy reading. If you did enjoy it, please watch, fave, comment and vote. If there is anything I still need to work on, please let me know. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

And now for the legal jargon: Zam Alaka Alakazam Kaz Kazam Ala Ala Kaza Akazam Alak Kaza Kaz Azam Ala Alaka Alakaz Alakazam...What? you're reading a Pokémon story and you don't speak Pokémon? You really need to work on that. Guess I'll translate for you then. "I do not own Pokémon or any recognizable locations or anything like that. Those things belong to Nintendo and Gamefreak and whoever else owns them. Original characters and plot are mine however."

Without further ado, Chapter 3

"Yes. Yes. No. Yes," Brow furrowed and lips pursed in concentration, Nurse Joy mumbled to herself as her fingers flew across her keyboard. Sitting in one of the chairs in the reception area was a man, a man who was wringing his hands and biting his lip while he watched the nurse do her work. Standing, floating really, next to Nurse Joy as she registered her patient as a Pokémon trainer was an Alakazam, an Alakazam who was still desperately trying to change Joy's mind. The normally calm and collected Pokémon was articulating wildly with his hands, pointing several times at the human waiting in the lobby.

After a few minutes, the Alakazam with his eyes wide and his mouth open told Nurse Joy "Very well, if you are that intent on going through with this course of action, so be it. Just don't expect me to be a part of it." And with that, he floated out of the lobby and down the corridor on the opposite side of the room from where the patient had been kept. It was the horror which had been visible on the psychic Pokémon's face, not the prospect of becoming a trainer, which made the man's stomach churn.

In an attempt to calm his nerves, he looked all around the lobby of the Pokémon Center, trying to take it all in.This room feels pretty bare, he said to himself as his eyes roamed the room. There were the alabaster white walls, the desk Joy was at, a few chairs in the waiting area, the cream colored tiles that adorned the floor, the red and white ball motif in the direct center of the lobby, and a few pictures of random scenery hanging on the walls.

Hmmm, wonder what's with that motif? It's pretty big and takes up most of the floor, so it has to be important. Probably the nation's symbol or something. I'll ask Joy anyways though.

While he was attempting to figure out the significance of the ball motif on the floor, Nurse Joy squinted her eyes in frustration and ceased typing. "Umm," she said. "What name should I put on the card? It is a form of ID as well, you know."

The man stopped staring at the floor and gave Nurse Joy a blank stare. "Honestly," began the trainer-to-be, "I was hoping you would just pick one for me. I have no idea what a "normal" name around here is. I mean, is everyone named stuff like "Joy," or are you an odd ball? I have no idea."

Joy cocked her head at him, trying to decide if he was serious or not. After he made no further comments or expressions, she chuckled and said, "Around here, there really is no such thing as a "normal" name. Go ahead and call yourself whatever you like. A few of the more sheltered people might look at you funny if you pick something they aren't used to, but they will be few and far between. Unless you name yourself after something. No one is named after Pokémon. Sure, some might take one as a nickname, but not usually and even then they get funny looks when they use it. So, what will it be?"

"Well, how about..." he paused for several minutes with his elbow in one hand and his chin in the other trying to think of a name that he wouldn't mind having for the rest of his life. After pacing around the lobby of the Pokémon Center for a good ten minutes, he stopped, looked directly at Nurse Joy and said in a dramatic voice, "Shaw, Mathias Shaw."

"Sounds mysterious," giggled Joy. "I like it!" Her fingers danced across the keyboard for another couple of minutes before she finally said, without looking at Mathias, "Alright, wait here, I'll go get your Pokémon."

She stopped in the doorway to the hallway marked "employees only" and turned around to say, "By the way, your trainer ID card might finish printing before I get back. If it does, take it and put it in your bag somewhere. Just don't lose it. I'd have to charge you for a replacement if you do, and I don't think you could afford it, being broke and all."

And with that, she left, leaving the newly christened Mathias Shaw alone in the lobby. Now that the moment of truth was almost at hand, Mat could feel the butterflies in his stomach change their flight pattern from one of nervousness to one of excitement. The trainer card was hardly half way done printing when Nurse Joy returned, holding an incredibly small red and white ball in one hand and a hiking bag full of supplies in the other.

_ _

So that's why that ball pattern is on the floor, to match this...thing. What is this thing though? Mat wondered as he accepted the ball from Nurse Joy.

As if reading his thoughts, Joy began to explain, "That," she stated, pointing at the closed ball in his hand "is a Pokéball. It is capable of expanding and shrinking on command for easier transportation. Furthermore, Pokémon can be stored inside of one for any number of reasons. Some Pokémon don't like being inside the ball all that much and might ask you to let them stay outside of it. Others find it comforting and prefer to sleep and/or travel inside of it.

Nurse Joy's eyes never once left the Pokéball in Mat's hand. It was as if she was trying to make it explode by staring at it intensely. "One thing all Pokémon agree on though," she continued, "is the ability of a Pokéball to slow and numb the effect of most wounds. If," at this point she glared at Mat quite sternly, "And when your Pokémon becomes injured, return it to its ball. Doing so gives you more time to get it to a Pokémon Center. Like this one."

"I don't think you ever told me what the point to having Pokémon is. It still seems like some sort of slave...thing," Mat said, furrowing his brow in uncertainty.

Nurse Joy sighed and slowly began to explain. She began with the idea of trainer battles, explaining how trainers pit their Pokémons' skills against each other on the field of battle. The topic then naturally shifted from random battles to Gym battles and acquisition of badges, and from there to the Pokémon League. Then the conversation did a complete turn around and focused on contests. Contests lead to the idea of collections and pets which lead nowhere else, even though there was one final reason for a person to have a Pokémon at his side.

"Lastly," droned on Nurse Joy, "people can have Pokémon with them because they are friends with their Pokémon. This last purpose is not seen at all anymore but it still exists, even if only in technicality. What you and your Pokémon do is up to you, though I recommend you ask her for her opinion on the matter."

"And what's in the bag? Now that you've explained everything I could possibly need to know about a Pokéball, it's probably going to become rather boring, but that bag..." It wasn't until Mat asked his question that Nurse Joy's attention was brought to the fact that his eyes had not left the backpack she was holding in her right hand during the entire "conversation."

"In the bag," she said, starting to empty it. "Are the essentials. You have your restorative items to heal your Pokémon if she gets some minor injuries as well as paralysis, burns, poison and the like, those berries work just as well as the medicines by the way. There's some Pokéchow that was specifically manufactured to be as appealing to grass types as possible."

Nurse Joy paused for a moment to smile warmly at Mat and say, "Make sure not to miss a meal, she won't be very appreciative of that, in fact, she might attack you if you do," before continuing to clear the bag of its contents.

"Anyways, besides the items necessary to keep your Pokémon healthy, I gave you a sleeping bag for when you have to sleep in the open, a fire starting kit, trail rations, several re-useable water bottles, a flashlight and extra batteries, Pokédex complete with map and telephone capabilities, extra Pokéballs so you can catch more Pokémon, and a small knife to use to cut branches, gut fish, whittle, you get the idea."

"Well, most of the things I would use for myself I already have, or did you forget I got here by walking for hours on end through a cave?" Mat said, frowning at Nurse Joy.

I'm seriously beginning to doubt her ability to think about anything that doesn't revolve around healing someone Mat thought to himself as he shook his head slowly.

Nurse Joy beamed at him nonetheless and said cheerfully, "I know that, but it never hurts to be extra prepared, now does it? Unfortunately, I don't have a tent, so if it rains, you're out of luck."

I should keep my bag. I don't know why but it seems sturdier than Joy's. On top of that, it's one of the few things I have from my past. Maybe if I keep it with me I will remember something about it. Mat said to himself as he carefully and methodically put everything Joy had given him into his old backpack.

As he hefted the bag onto his back and tried to settle it into a comfortable position, Mat looked at Nurse Joy and asked, "So where should I be headed? Or was I supposed to just wander the wilderness and hope my memory returned?"

"Oh!" the pink haired woman brought her hand to her mouth before she continued, "You are going to want to find Professor Oak. He is the only person I can think of who might be able to give you some information on that emerald. His lab is in all the way in the Kanto region though, and that's a long ways away from Hoenn. Plane tickets aren't too expensive though, so if you are lucky, you might be able to find him within a couple of months. Have fun and good luck!"

Mat's feet had nearly carried him out the door and onto the sandy beach outside the hospital when Nurse Joy's clear, high voice rang out one last time. "Oh and Mathias? She's sleeping right now, so don't wake her up until dinner time or she will be REALLY cranky. And she probably would never listen to you after that. She'd use it as an excuse to continue to be antagonistic at best. Downright hostile at worst. Good bye!"

The thought "Just what did I get myself into?" and others like it danced around inside Mat's head as he headed towards the docks. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he had to get to the mainland first, and that everything else would hopefully begin falling into place once he got there.