A Caring Hand

"Why doll, I would've thought you had asthma because you take my breath away." Rilee's long legs stretched far behind him as he leaned precariously over the front counter. The Pokemon center was exceptionally busy--a long line of trainers standing behind the complimented figure rolled their eyes and scoffed. "Hurry it up already, would you?" One complained, annoyed that their Pokemon was scorched in their hands while the "desk clerk" was trying to flirt. Sitting on Rilee's left shoulder was his dear fusion Pokemon, half pidgey and mostly in form, but with the soft pink colors and the ears of a cleffa. 

"Rilee, dear, why don't we move you to work elsewhere?" An especially tired nurse gently gestured for the tall figure to step away from the counter. Rilee gave a furious pout like a toddler that had been scolded but lifted up onto her long legs and followed after her. The nurse carried them down a short hallway with white plaster walls and into a small doctor's office that had three small Pokemon huddled together on the covered bench. Rilee bit her lip slightly. "I'm not a nurse--" she protested, but the actual nurse gently corrected her.

"And you don't have to be one," she shook her head slightly. "These three--" she gestured to the eevee, riolu, and buneary, "Weren't hurt badly, but they were scalded a bit by the hot flames. All I ask is that you apply them burn cream and gently wrap their wounds." Angel's eyes fell empathetically on the baby Pokemon, finding perhaps some similarities between them. She, too, was considered weak because she hadn't evolved yet. "I'm still not so sure..." Rilee frowned and her eyes sought out the nurse for help, or better yet, to do it for her. But the woman in the white coat simply shut the door behind her as she left.

Angel picked up her wings and fluttered from her place on her brightly colored trainer's shoulder and onto the paper-covered patient bench. Rilee turned towards the three Pokemon and gave a meek smile. The buneary cowered back behind the cleffa next to it as the handler's long shadow cast over them. Realizing how tall he was, Rilee gently corrected this by sitting down into the nearby doctor's chair and folded his long legs one over the other. "Alright," he experimentally set a stethoscope around his neck and fiddled with the cold piece, trying to get used to the role as a nurse.

"Where are you three burnt?" He asked. Angel blinked at the Pokemon as they each turned to show their respective injury--across the eye, over one arm, and along the tail. Angel gave a sad coo at the painful but still minor burns. In the other rooms next door they'd be treating the Pokemon with more severe battle wounds, but these baby Pokemon needed some first-aid too!

"I really hope this won't hurt," Rilee's finely manicured fingers hesitated for a short moment before she poured some of the burn cream out onto her smooth palms. The bravest of the bunch, the eevee stepped up first to allow the handler to gently spread the cream over his arm. He winced a bit as the salve was applied, giving a light whimper. "This must hurt some, doesn't it?" Rilee realized with a sad, uneasy frown. Even if they were just purebred Pokemon and not deltas, he still felt sad about hurting them. 

Angel chirped at the Buneary, encouraging her to step up to the trainer next. One by one, Rilee gently applied the burn cream to their wounds, and at first it appeared to sting, but then the Pokemon looked visibly calmer after it had numbed their wounds: The riolu's tail began to wag again, the eevee was able to walk on all four paws, and the buneary's hurt eye was able to open back up. Angel was a big help in this, too--the pink pidgy comforted each of the Pokemon with her soft wings and cheerful short notes of song.

When the busy nurse returned, she was still glancing back over her shoulder to talk to a trainer as she entered the room. Then she saw Rilee with her elbows propped up on the patient bench and leaned over in the chair, smiling up at the three injured Pokemon. They were now not only bandaged up but even smiling--two bounced up and down excitedly. "I was able to help the Pokemon," Rilee smiled up happy at her. The nurse found it difficult to restrain her surprise, but she just broke into a relieved smile. "I think that the first-aid center is the best place for you and Angel to work," she replied aptly, referring both to the colorful trainer and his Pokemon.