Slateport Joy

Location: Slateport City
Episode: AG 34 / 308: Having a Wailord of a Time
                    AG 35 / 309: Win, Lose or Drew!
Occupation: Pokemon Nurse, Lab Researcher, Starter Giver, Contest Judge
Pokemon: Chansey (assumed)

Cap Color: Apple Green(#7DAC39)
Hair: Light Coral(#D96F75)
Eyes: Lapis Lazuli(#1761A0)
Personality: Standard, Evasive

Known Family:
N/A

Canon

May and the rest of the gang stay over at the Slateport Pokemon Center for 2 weeks, preparing for May's first Pokemon Contest. They're not the only trainers practicing while staying, while the fancy beach resorts nearby host capable new rivals like Drew.

With May and Beautifuly doing last minute training preperations, Max worries that May is paying too much attention to Beautifly and wonders if she even gives Torchic a thought. Ash and Brock both reassure him that since Torchic is May's first pokemon, it has a special bond by being May's first partner. As Max wonders what his first partner will be, Nurse Joy walks by and praises the Torchic, Treecko, and Mudkip that belong to the group.

Nurse Joy: "What stunning Pokemon! Well, you've done a great job of raising them!"

Brock offers to help Nurse Joy with her rounds at the center, but she politely declines the offer, explaining she needs to give a check-up to her own Hoenn trio starters before a new trainer arrives. It seems as though she receives them from a breeder, as she hopes they've been raised as well as the ones in Ash's group. Brock doesn't give up, as he offers to help with the check-ups as well! But with 2 weeks of Brock staying over, this Joy has had her own practice of turning down Brock herself...

Brock: "Nurse Joy, I'd be happy to give you a hand with the check-ups so WE can get to know each other better..."
Nurse Joy: "Oh! Well, maybe ALL of you could give me some help?"

Joy has her own laboratory built into the center, since there's no lab in Slateport to house a professor. Beginning trainers start here with Joy giving them a starter instead! The starters are in perfect health, so Joy decides they should be out of their pokeballs for some exercise. She asks if the older starter trio could teach the younger ones "a thing or two" and they happily agree with head nods and trills.

They don't know what they're in for, and will be sorely underpaid like your favorite teacher.

Joy lets Max release the trio, and he's excited! They're all smaller then our heroes' trio, with a NO TALK ME ANGY Torchic, a crybaby Mudkip, and a feminine awestruck Treecko. However, the phone rings, and May explains a giant Wailord has been washed up on the beach!

Nurse Joy: "I'm going to entrust these important Pokemon to you, even though you're not at the legal age to do so!"
Max: "Wowee! Thanks!"

Joy tells Ash and friends to watch over the starters while she goes BY HERSELF TO GET THAT WAILORD OFF THE BEACH! How the hell is she supposed to do it if May can't?! She warns them not to let the starters outside because they're not used to it. It's like... if you let a 4 month old puppy go out on its own. Look, it's not a good thing, alright?!

Nurse Joy: "Guys, take care of these pokemon for me, but don't let them leave this building, please! They're not used to being outdoors yet."

Brock: "I think I should come with you, Nurse Joy; we really belong TOGETHER~!"

Ash: "Good grief, hope I'm never like that..."

The asexual aromantic hero talking, folks. I'm talking to you, M rated Ash harem fic writers!

Now that the most reliable people are out of the way, how do you think Ash and Max handle babysitting? C'mon, take a guess.

Brock does end up helping out by holding a first aid kit in hand while Joy makes sure Wailord is at least on the healthy side. The wailord just needs some rest for a while, most likely from struggling to get back into the sea on its own. We don't see exactly how Wailord gets... unbeached... so it remains a mystery.

(At the time I was watching this part... *Ahem!*)

Nurse Joy: "Yo Momma so fat people thought she was a Wailord on the beach! Haha!"
May: "That joke is so 2004!"

The very angry Torchic makes its way outside, going so far as to feign crying towards Pikachu, pecking out of Max's arms, and not beating Corphish once in a face off but TWICE! Eventually they all catch up just as Torchic evolves into a Combusken! The best laid plans of Pikachu and men have gone astray, so now Ash's and Max's noggins are in thinking mode... They decide to switch Combusken with May's Torchic and convince the new trainer to pick Mudkip or Treecko at all costs!

But May isn't fooled by Max's attempt at keeping her at bay in a different room, knowing she'd recognize her own Torchic right away. (Oops, that rhymes!) Nurse Joy wonders aloud just what is that BANGING noise, and out comes Combusken out of the closet by smashing through the door! The jig is up, and Ash and Max explain the situation and apologize. Ash looks behind Joy and Brock out the window to see...

Wailord is being airlifted by a propeller-enhanced air balloon belonging to Team Rocket! OH MY GOD, NURSE JOY LEFT IT BEFORE IT GOT RESCUED??? I'm surprised! Really! She begs Team Rocket to let Wailord back into the ocean, but of course they're gonna somehow fly it all the way to Kanto. (News flash: whales often die from being beached, and it may only take 6 hours for one to die then start to deteriorate. Lovely.) Quicker then you can say "Quilava using Quick Attack over a Qwilfish on quick sand"... Combusken fires a Flamethrower on the propellers, then uses a swift kick to cut the rope that's somehow holding a 877 lbs/398 kg whale! Wailord lands in the ocean with a splash, and Pikachu finishes off with a Thunderbolt.

Often in Hoenn, Team Rocket have been equipped with an anti-electricity contraption to render Pikachu's attacks useless, but not this time! They blast off with quite a memorable quote of the ages:
"IT PAYS TO HAVE PROTECTION~!" *ding*

In the end Mudkip is picked by the young Stephanie, and seeing Treecko tear up from disappointment makes Stephanie's father ask Joy if he's too old to become a Pokemon trainer. She happily replies, "Of course not!" and Stephanie's father picks Treecko as his partner. Ash apologizes to Combusken for letting it evolve and not get picked, but Joy has a better idea: Combusken will be her Pokemon as a guard for the center! Considering all the mischief it got into just in this one episode alone, does Joy end up having a hard time training Combusken?

The next day Joy learned that you CAN judge a book by its cover. In this case, the dick-shaped Combusken was truly a DICK.

AG 35 / 309: Win, Lose or Drew!:

Headcanon