Nurse Isabelle and the Kanto Pokédex: the Diary of a Travelling Nurse

#010 Caterpie

Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon. Caterpie will shed its skin many times before finally cocooning itself in thick silk. It can also spit this silk in order to entangle foes. Its primary diet is vegetation, and its voracious appetite causes it to eat leaves larger than itself. Its favourite food is the Vermilion flower. Caterpie lives in forests.

Walking through the main road of Viridian Forest, Nurse Isabelle did not keep her attention on the road. She was familiar with the peaceful forest and could walk this blindly if she had the desire to try. With her hands in the pockets of her white trousers, Isabelle looked up. The sun filtered just perfectly through the leaves of the trees, not too much to make its glare too bright, nor too little to make it too dark to see. Isabelle loved the forest in the daytime.

"Miss! Miss! I need your help! You're a nurse, right? Oh please, miss!" A panicky voice called out, disrupting the silence and chasing away several of the forest Pokémon. A kid came running with a gagging, green worm in his arms. She recognised the worm as a Caterpie, a Pokémon quite perfect for a beginning trainer. However, she had rarely seen a Caterpie breathe that weirdly. It seemed as if it was dry-heaving or had something hot in its mouth.

"What happened to the little guy?" Kneeling down, Isabelle took the Caterpie from the boy. As if it was in severe pain, it rolled its body up. Gently, with her fingers, she opened its mouth. It became clear the Bug-type had been eating something that caused this reaction because it had not swallowed what remained in its mouth. It must have started to get stomach cramps somewhere during the second or third bite of whatever was bothering him so.

"What was it eating?" Isabelle asked next. The boy gave Izzy a red, warty berry with some bites taken out of it. The soft flesh matched the red residue in Caterpie's mouth. Isabelle looked up at the young trainer, sternly.

"Kid, this is a Spelon berry. One of the spiciest berries in existence. Did you not know that Caterpie hate spicy food? They usually only eat sweet berries. How come you did not know this?" The kid had the decency to look ashamed, making Isabelle sigh.

"Give it a lot of water to rinse and then go look for a berry that says 'sweet' on its tag. Feed it tiny bits. A few Pokéblocks tonight, and a normal portion tomorrow morning. Your Caterpie should be fine then, but do take it to Nurse Joy to be sure. And make sure this never happens again, okay? You need to know the taste preference of your Pokémon, too, to be a good trainer. It's not just remembering their attacks." With that, she gave the Caterpie back to the kid.

"Nurse Joy, tomorrow morning. If the water and the sweet berry does not help, I want you to take your Caterpie in today. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," He replied dutifully. "Thank you. It will not happen again."