Medical Care: Volunteering

Iris knew better than to leave her Pokemon home alone, especially Penny. For some reason, the Drifwick insisted on trying to teach Portabella how to fly, or on going on adventures the latter didn’t want to go on. Instead, they were all cozy in their Pokeballs, except for Babbu, who insisted on fluffing up on her head like a cottony hat. This early in the morning it was brisk, with an early day wind cutting inland off the ocean as she made her way to one of the Pokecenters in Rivertide. She’d volunteered to help do some repairs on some of their equipment, and the earlier she got in, the sooner the machines would be back up and running properly to help other people and Pokemon.

Brown eyes scanned over the brightly colored garlands and banners that lined the street, a smile spreading over her face as she entered the PokeCenter. Even this early, it wasn’t entirely empty, and she made a note to tune up and recalibrate the healing systems first. She walked over to the nurse on duty and introduced herself, and after she explained what she was there for, the list she was given of everything that needed fixing made her eyes widen and her small crest fluff up. Tiny talons shifted and readjusted as Babbu’s perch moved and she glanced up at him before she turned her attention back to the nurse.

“Alright. This in order of most important to least?” She asked, and the nurse shook her head.

“No, it was just a tally of everything that could use some work or at least looked at. You obviously don’t have to do it all, especially not in one day!”

Iris smiled reassuringly before she tucked away the list, her eyes going to the machine behind the counter with an ‘Out of Order - Sorry for the inconvenience!’ sign taped to its front in large font for trainers and others to see. “I’ll start with that and see what I can do.”

“Thank you so much!” The nurse stepped out of her way, letting the other woman through to behind the counter. Iris pulled the machine away from the wall and unplugged it before searching for the maintenance panel that they usually had. It took a while to figure out what was wrong, but the cheerful tune when it properly booted up was worth it. Getting something to properly work was something that always filled her with pride. 

Babbu busied himself with sweeping up the dust and dirt from around the machine as his trainer pushed the healing station back into place against the wall before taking the sign off its front with a slight flourish. “There.”

“Thank you again! Let me know if there’s anything else you need.” The nurse glanced over at her briefly as she finished setting a series of Pokeballs on one of the other stations, before focusing back on her own task. Iris nodded as she ducked out from behind the counter, not surprised when her Spoiblu settled on her head again.

“How do I get up to the roof so I can check the solar panels?” 

“Chansey can show you the way. Again, thank you so much.” She gestured to the Pokemon in question, who called happily before starting to walk away. Iris waved off the thanks before following after the pink assistant. Chansey led her to a set of stairs at the back of the building, away from all the patients and other nosey types. The Pidgey fused trainer thanked her guide before she made her way up the stairs. She popped open the hatch that led to the roof and poked her head out. Time to get to work.

By the time lunchtime rolled around, Iris and Babbu had cleaned, realigned, and did minor fixes for the solar panels, repaired and cleaned out the back up generator down in the basement (and chased off an errant Ghastly fusion that had set up shop down there), and had just finished replacing some of the older light bulbs that were failing or outright burnt out when her Spoiblu started pecking and tugging at her. His wings were dirty, and he thwacked the back of her head with his curly, fluff-covered tail. 

“What? Ow. What?” The Pokemon chirped and trilled in annoyance about something and she got the gist of it. She knew his behavior well enough after all these years, even if some of it was newer because of the fusion with a Spoink’s DNA. “OK, OK. We’ll head home for lunch and so you can bathe, you little brat.”

She knelt down, carefully making sure all her tools were in their rightful places in her toolbox before she scooped it up and slid the strap over her shoulder to avoid hitting her living hat. Iris had wanted to work longer, but what was she to do if her little starter began being a pest? She waved a goodbye to the nurse on her way out.

“I’ll be back later to work on more of the list. Gotta get some lunch first.”

“Blu!”