"Bay! Bay!" Lesley's new Bagon greeted, having just been placed in front of her. He jumped once, an anxious look on his face.
A Bagon?? Lesley thought as she looked down at the dragon Pokemon. As she did, she saw that he had an air of toughness about him. Perhaps he was strong and he knew it, and wasn't afraid to prove it. He seemed like he could be a good fighter, especially in close combat. Lesley knew Bagons had very hard heads, so a Headbutt from one would cause a lot of damage. They could breathe fire as well, but physical attacks were their specialty, and they were quite the opposite of fragile. For a moment, Lesley understood how much this Bagon complemented her--for Lesley was fragile and quick, while Bagon was slow and tough.
"Hmm, time for a name," Lesley said to the Bagon. "How about Helmer?"
The Bagon merely nodded, as if in agreement. As long as it wasn't a cutesy or girly-sounding name, he was apparently fine with it.
At that point, Lividus told Taylor and Lesley (Lesley saw that Taylor got a Charmander) what their first task was--it turned out that their mission was to... help the nurses out at the hospital?
What?!? Lesley thought, a bit surprised. This wasn't the kind of mission I expected... in fact, I wouldn't call it a "mission" at all! This is a job, that's what this is. What in the world was all that ninja training for then? You don't need to be a ninja to help out at a hospital! My friend Tommy used to be an assistant there, since his mum was a nurse. He never even set foot in the academy! Why in the world are the teachers making us do simple things like this?
"Erm... sensei?" Lesley asked Lividus after he read the scroll. "...Are you sure you have the right scroll? This can't be our mis..."
Lividus gave her a look that suggested he knew what he was doing. Lesley took a couple of steps back, feeling rather embarrassed.
"Alright, if you say so..." she mumbled, almost inaudibly.
At that point, Lividus and Lacertis started running towards the hospital.
"Come on Helmer, follow me!" Lesley called.
Although Lividus got a twenty-foot head start, Lesley was soon able to catch up to him--within seconds she was right behind him. The only thing that disadvantaged her in this case was the fact that Lividus had longer legs than she did. Still, people had often said that Lesley was a very fast runner. In fact, within the next minute, Lesley was running right alongside Lividus, and could probably pass him if she wanted. But she decided not to, thinking that it was best if the students follow the teacher.
Helmer, meanwhile, was trying his best to keep up with Lesley, but being rather heavy and short-legged, he quickly fell behind, even though his legs were moving at the speed of light beneath him. He leaned forward, gave more push to his legs, and within a minute he was almost able to catch up with Lividus and Lesley. But just before he could get any closer, Lacertis' tail whacked him to the side.
"Bay!"
The hard-headed dragon flew a short distance to the side, and Taylor, who was not too far behind, tripped over him. Charmander skidded to a halt beside him.
"Char! Charmander char!" he called, alerting Lacertis as to what just happened. (The translated version was: "Hey, wait up! I think someone tripped.")
Five minutes later, Lesley entered the hospital. Just before entering, she saw that Lividus had somehow fallen behind her--but she hadn't noticed since she had been so focused on her destination and the general surroundings of the school. After all, she had a habit to not look at a specific person, which was her way of practising her trait. What's more, she often found herself involuntarily using her trait while running as fast as she had been, as such a run often accompanied a getaway from a spying place or a thieving spree. So the chances were that everyone except maybe Taylor thought she had just appeared at the hospital out of thin air.
"Why, hello again, Lesley," one of the nurses greeted. This happened to be the same nurse who treated Lesley's leg wound earlier. "I take it your leg is all better?"
"It certainly feels better," Lesley answered. "I ran all the way here without any problems."
"Hm, that's funny, I didn't see you coming."
At that point, the nurse showed Lesley to the counter where the sink was and where some of the medicine cabinets were. The area around the sink looked rather untidy--gloves and bandages and pieces of random herbs were everywhere. Lesley just barely had a few seconds to look over the scene when the nurse spoke again.
"Ah, looks like Master Lividus is here. Lesley, why don't you start cleaning up the sink area over there? Gather the herbs on a towel--we won't use them, but I can help you and Taylor identify them later on."
"Okay," Lesley replied in a cheerful enough tone, but she rolled her eyes while the nurse wasn't looking. She looked at the counter and saw that the sink was full of bloody bandages, and that there was a pair of gloves nearby which had some sort of strange pus on them. The sight of the gloves disgusted Lesley to a slight degree, but fortunately there was a sink... Therefore, Lesley decided it was best to start by cleaning out the sink. After all, a clean hospital is better for the patients, because fewer germs spread. Lesley saw a trash can nearby--she looked inside it to make sure that there was a plastic bag lining it. Then she took one of the bandages from the sink (holding it by the clean part, in case the blood had some sort of infection on it) and dropped it in the trash can. After doing so, she quickly returned to the sink and gave her hands a quick wash. She repeated this process for the next minute or so, until all the bandages were gone. After that, she washed the sink out with a disinfecting soap, then rinsed it out.
This is what I used to do when the kitchen sink had bugs in it, Lesley remembered. Mosquitos, especially, carry all sorts of germs. And mosquitos like blood, so...
Carefully, Lesley lifted the pus-covered gloves and dropped them in the trash can, quickly returning to the sink afterwards.
Whew, that part's over...
To finish it off, she took a nearby rag and wiped the pus off the counter, then rinsed it off in the sink. Putting some soap on the rag, she proceeded to wipe off the counter once more. As she did so, she found a few different kinds of herbs lying on it. She recognised one such leaf as being a peppermint leaf, and its scent confirmed it. The rest, though, she had no clue about--but these she placed these on a nearby towel which she folded up and placed on the counter. Finally, she finished cleaning off the counter and drying it with a dry towel--the whole process took about two minutes.
When all was done, Lesley turned around to find another of the nurses. At that point, Taylor walked in, giving Lesley a dirty look.
"Do you realise your Bagon just tripped me?" he remarked, in a casual yet slightly threatening tone. "This isn't a race, you know."
"Oh, come on," Lesley said back, sounding exasperated. "I wasnt trying to race. Besides, we have a mission here, hello? Talk to the nurses, not me."
Moments later, Charmander came along and tugged at Lesley's trousers. Lesley looked down at the fiery lizard.
"What?"
"Mander. Char!" Charmander pointed to the door. Then he made an angry face and cupped his hands over his head. Then he pointed to the door again.
"Sorry, but I have no time for this," Lesley mentioned as she walked past Charmander, observing the patients. "This mission will be over in ten minutes anyway."
Taylor smirked as Lesley said this.
"Oh, Taylor, you're late," a nurse greeted as Taylor walked in. "Why don't you help me lift that boy over there? He just wet his bed, you see, so I want to move him to another one."
This job was simple, though Taylor held the boy as far down on the ankles as possible, so as to not get any urine on his hands. The nurse had the boy by his back and shoulders, and within a minute he was moved to a clean bed.
"This boy is a bit disoriented, so why don't you watch over him for a while?" the nurse requested. "Be sure to bring him anything he asks for, except food. I don't think he's quite ready to eat yet."
After the nurse said this, she hurried over to another bed, where a girl with a broken arm was crying.
Lesley heard the cry and headed over to her as well.
"Why don't you get something to help the pain," Lesley suggested to the nurse, "while I stay here and talk to her?"
The nurse smiled and went to get a cast and some medicine.
"How did this happen?" Lesley asked the girl.
"I... was in the fight part of my exam..." the girl sobbed, "a-a-and the girl I was up against threw a hook punch at me... I blocked it, but the punch was so powerful it broke the arm I was blocking with..."
"Are you right-handed?" Lesley asked.
The girl nodded.
"Well, it's a good thing it was your left arm that was broken, wasn't it? Now you can still punch and write and throw shuriken!"
"Yah, but people... will make fun of me..."
"That's when you spit at them and make your getaway," Lesley offered. At least that's what she did when someone made fun of her.
"I can't run... that fast..."
"Do you lean forward while you run? That usually helps. Try practising it a bit more as well, and most importantly, don't be afraid. Fear will only slow you down while running."
"Huh? I thought it makes you run faster..."
"Well, yeah, but it also makes it easier to trip and get tired, and it makes you less aware of your surroundings, and less able to turn."
Meanwhile, Charmander turned away from Lesley and sighed. The he looked at Lesley, then at Taylor, then at Lividus and Lacertis. When none of them were looking, he ran out the door and turned a corner, heading for the exit to the academy. When he got there, he found a dizzy Bagon waddling towards him.
<"Oh there you are, Helmer!"> Charmander called to him.
<"Darn that Feraligatr,"> Helmer muttered. <"And darn that Taylor. I think he just kicked me in the head...">
<"Ohhh, no wonder you're dizzy.">
<"Are Lesley and Taylor already at the hospital?"> Helmer asked, holding his head and shaking it. Then he dashed towards the hospital. <"Come on, or we're gonna be late!!">
<"Ack, wait for meeee!"> Charmander called as he ran after him.
When the two Pokemon entered the hospital, the first thing they saw was Lacertis, who quickly caught sight of them.
<"Uhhhh... I can explain..."> Charmander muttered, hiding behind Helmer a little bit. The two Pokemon explained to the Feraligatr what had happened to them.
