Carry On, Blissey

Butch's Shuckle

It was another long day at work. The hospital seemed to be a lot colder than usual. I'm not sure if it was just me, but my hands were freezing in the morning. The first thing I noticed when I entered the staff room was Domino's face overloaded with make-up. Nurse Joys are permitted to wear makeup, but they look so much better without hideous blue eye-shadow and scarlet lips.

After discovering the truth about Domino, I could no longer call her Nurse Joy. She's a member of Team Rocket in disguise. She found it much easier to keep everything to herself, she said it was simpler that way. I'm still not sure if I could trust her enough to be my trainer. I've spent many years without a trainer, and I'm confident enough to spend a few more without a trainer.

As soon as my shift started, I left the staff room and made my way through the corridor that lead to the A&E ward. It was time for me to make my rounds. Checking each ward to see if the patients were happy. I personally find the rounds a little bit boring. I don't like going into the human wards either: they're full of drunk people.

Just as I was about to enter the A&E ward, Domino approached me. "I want you to help me out with this patient."

"Okay, what's the problem?"

"Shuckle's trainer works for Team Rocket," Domino told me. She faintly smiled then turned to face her watch. "I must ask you not to be judgmental."

I found it strange that it was coming from the most judgmental woman I had ever met. I already knew that I shouldn't hold any judgement against patients and visitors. It doesn't matter if they were a murderer or a teacher. Patients were patients and we had to treat them. Does she remember what we treated Giovanni's Persian yesterday?

"So what's ?"

"Shuckle has been shot in the shell."

"Take me to him." It could have been serious. Shuckles, like any pure rock pokémon they have great defences, but their health points. If the shell has permanent damage then Shuckle should no longer be allowed to battle. I need to have a look at him.

"I think he might need an operation," Domino told me while she lead me to Shuckle's room. "The healing machine keeps saying he's got the hacked syndrome. I checked the hozuchecker and it was all green."

"Did he have any signs and symptoms that might have triggered a misdiagnosis?" I asked. When a shuckle has the hacked syndrome, we'd be looking for signs such as a soft shells and wonky legs. "Can he walk? Is his shell soft? Does it feel gooey when you touch it?"

"He seemed to be just like any other shuckle apart from the fact that there's a crack in his shell."

"So he can walk fine and his shell is still hard?"

Domino faintly nodded. That wasn't particularly helpful, but she's not a real nurse so it's understandable. When I entered the room I instantly recognized him as a member of team rocket. He wasn't even wearing their uniform. He was wearing some lose jeans and a white buttoned up shirt. "Good morning," I said to him. "Are you Shuckle's trainer?"

"That's me," the man replied. How could I forget that husky voice and short temper. He always snapped at other people because they kept on getting his name wrong. Maybe there's something iffy about the trainer's information. I know many patients have been misdiagnosed with the hacked syndrome because the trainer ID is invalid, blacklisted or inconsistent with the data chipped in a pokémon.

"Can I have a look at your trainer card?" I asked.

"Sure," the man said. He pulled a reluctant grin on his face as he dug into his pocket. "I know for a fact that my shuckle is healthy."

"Thank you," I responded as soon as he gave me his card. From a quick glance there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the trainer card, apart from the name. I know when the machine scans swear words from the microchip that it can cause the healing machine to mess up. I returned the back to him. "There appears to be a problem with your trainer card Sir, " I told the man.

The man chuckled. "There is a typo on the trainer card, the I is meant to be a U."

"When pokémon are taken to the healing machine they also scan their microchips," I explained to Butch.

"Shuckle's never been chipped!" Butch roared.

"Nothing to worry about," Domino told him. "Uhm... carry on, Matron."

"When pokémon are caught, the ball gives them an automatic chip. With those microchips we can view most of the pokémon's data. With these chips, trainers can see the pokémon's gender, nature, stats, ability and health."

"Amazing what technology can do huh?" Butch said. "I didn't know half this stuff." He chuckled and patted Shuckle on the head. "I think you're going to be just fine."

"Okay Butch. Which region did you come from?"

"Kanto."

"After your Shuckle's healed, I suggest that you need to go back to Kanto and issue a new trainer card. And I do apologize for any distress caused from my colleague's misdiagnosis."

"What about Shuckle?"

"There were no signs of hemorrhages and any subsequent injury has been cured in the machine. We will have to operate on him to remove the bullet. It's a very safe operation, but we will have to remove part of the shell. But we cannot do this without your written permission. Joy will pass you a consent forum and once it's been signed, we'll book him to theatre for three o'clock."

Butch frowned. "How long will it take for Shuckle to recover?"

"If the operation is successful then it will take between five weeks."

"And if it's not?

"It depends of what your idea of successful operation is," Domino interrupted.

"I mean what if he doesn't make it?

"Operations like this has an outstanding survival rate," I assured Butch. "Rock types can quickly recover from these sorts of operations. Now Mr..."

"THE NAME IS BUTCH! IT CLEARLY SAYS IT ON THE TRAINER CARD!"

"I'll go get a consent form." Domino tip-toed out of the room. Shuckle looked just as confused as me.

After a brief moment of silence Butch asked me, "So what you saying?"

"I was saying that the operation would be beneficial to prevent the risk of infection. And after the operation I would say that Shuckle should refrain from competitive activity such as contests and battles until he gets the all clear."

"It's for your own good Shuckle," Butch said as he saw his pokémon sulk. "I don't like it either."

"Well have a little chat with Shuckle and Joy will be with you shortly," I said. Shuckle and Butch waited for Domino and the consent form as I left the room to continue my rounds.

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