Hearing Ange's cry for help, Nurse Joy came up right away.
Looking at Gardevoir's swollen belly, she asked, "Was she about to give birth?"
Ange explained fast, "She had been hurting for a long time, but the baby still could not come out."
Nurse Joy nodded. "I understood." Then she waved at Chansey. "Chansey, push Gardevoir into the delivery room." After that, she turned around and comforted Ange and the anxious Kirlia. "Do not worry, nothing will happen with me here. Wait outside, the baby will be born soon."
"Nurse Joy, please." Ange held Nurse Joy's hand. He acted like he was the father.
Nurse Joy gave Ange and Kirlia a calming look, then she followed Chansey into the delivery room quickly.
Ange held Komala and waited with Kirlia in the lobby for a while. Then he suddenly remembered Honchkrow was still outside. So he told Kirlia, "Kirlia, I will go check on Honchkrow. Will you wait here or go with me?"
Kirlia shook her head. It pointed to the delivery room. It wanted to stay; It would not leave until Gardevoir was no longer in danger.
"Alright, wait for a bit, I will be back soon," Ange said.
Kirlia nodded. This was the first time it had seen so many people. It was nervous and scared, but would still stay here. Gardevoir was still in surgery.
Honchkrow was uneasy too. Outwardly, he looked calm. With his head raised, he looked proud and strong, but his heart was a mess.
This mighty Honchkrow was standing at the entrance of the Pokémon Center. Of course, people looked at him when they passed by.
This made Honchkrow panic even more.
He had not met many humans, and he feared them. The Honchkrow who lived in cities were not like him. They were bullies in the Pokémon world.
Cunning, bossy, cruel, cold. That was humans' first impression of Honchkrow. A stereotype that didn't apply to him.
"Honchkrow!" Ange ran out and shouted. In that moment, Honchkrow felt Ange was like a god from heaven.
"Hon~~~"
Honchkrow hopped forward quickly. That nervous feeling finally showed on his face.
Ange saw that Honchkrow was nervous, so he patted its wings softly and comforted it. "Do not worry, everything will be fine."
In this moment, Honchkrow really felt safe.
Then Ange thought of something. "Right, Honchkrow, are you hungry? I can buy you something to eat."
Honchkrow shook his head. He would not eat human food.
But Ange ignored his refusal. "Come on, even if you did not eat, Kirlia must be hungry after being scared all day. And when Gardevoir comes back later, she must need to eat too. Giving birth uses a lot of energy."
Ange said so much already, so Honchkrow could not refuse anymore.
Ange asked around in the Pokémon Center and found a Pokéshop nearby, a place that sold Pokémon food.
"Welcome." A pretty lady came up as soon as Ange pushed the door. "What do you want?"
"Let me look around first." Ange waved his hand.
"Alright, call me if you need anything." The lady smiled.
Ange nodded and looked at Honchkrow. "Wait for me."
Honchkrow nodded.
Ange walked around and soon found the Pokémon food section.
After observing for a bit, Ange found that Pokémon food had two main types.
One type was for traveling trainers. The best example was Pokéblocks. They had a high energy value. One tiny piece was enough to make a Pokémon feel full, so they were easy to carry around.
The other type was for eating at home. The example was Pokémon cookies. They tasted good, and came in many shapes. Basic ones were round cylinders, thumb-sized. Fancy ones were square, diamond, round, heart-shaped, and some were even in the shape of Pokémon. Very attractive.
Price-wise, the first type was usually more expensive.
Ange picked both.
one palm-sized box of Pokéblock costs 500p. The lady at the cashier said one box could feed a Pokémon for two or three days.
So expensive.
For Pokémon cookies, Ange bought one big can. One meter tall, one meter wide, and it cost 800p.
Not cheap either.
Ange hugged the food and left the shop. Then he said to Honchkrow, "Come, let's go back to the Pokémon Center and eat."
Honchkrow nodded. He slowly flapped his wings and followed Ange.
Ange held the giant cookie can, put the Pokéblock box on top of it, then put Komala on the lid.
So heavy.
He walked and said to Komala, "Komala, were you full? If not, try the Pokéblock. It was super expensive, but I do not know if it tasted good."
Komala rolled over, opened the box, took one piece, and stuffed it into its mouth.
The Pokéblock looked good, like a colourful piece of art.
Ange thought the taste must be good.
But Komala ate only one piece and covered the box. It did not want to eat any more of them.
"You were full already?" Ange was surprised. "Looks like the lady did not lie."
When they walked into a dark alley, a shadow rushed out. It stole the Pokéblock on top and ran back into the darkness.
"Hon~~~"
Honchkrow cried. He wanted to fight back. Komala also raised its glowing log and was ready to throw it.
But Ange stopped them. "Forget it, it was only one box of Pokéblock." Ange was lenient to Pokémon. He loved them.
Honchkrow and Komala stopped. Honchkrow looked at Ange differently now, he felt closer to him.
The thief was a Pokémon.
Ange looked at the dark alley for a long time, then he left with Honchkrow and Komala.
After he left, a Haunter popped out of the darkness with the Pokéblock box. This Haunter looked different. Normal Haunter were deep purple, with a red tongue, but this one was gray purple with a light purple tongue.
Haunter stared at Ange's fading back for a while, then returned into the darkness.
Ange went back to the Pokémon Center with Honchkrow and quickly found Kirlia, then all of them went to the Pokémon dining area. Ange spent a few Happiness Points and bought three bowls from the System Store. He filled each bowl with Pokémon cookies for the three Pokémon.
"Eat," Ange said.
Honchkrow ate a lot happily. Komala felt bored. It rolled to Ange and slept again.
But Kirlia had no appetite.
Ange persuaded Kirlia, "When Gardevoir gives birth, both she and the baby will need care. If you don't eat well, how will you have the strength to take care of them?"
Hearing that, Kirlia finally began to eat, one bite after another.
As for Komala, who refused to eat, Ange didn't force it. He simply gave Komala's share to Honchkrow, letting him finish it.
After the two Pokémon ate their fill, everyone continued waiting anxiously. Time passed slowly, and Kirlia grew more and more impatient.
Just then, the light above the delivery room suddenly went off. Nurse Joy came out, holding a green-and-white Pokémon Egg.
Ange and the others rushed forward.
"Nurse Joy, how is Gardevoir?"
Kirlia's head kept turning toward the delivery room.
"Congratulations, both mother and child are safe." Nurse Joy smiled as she handed the Pokémon Egg to Ange.
"That's great." Ange, Honchkrow, and Kirlia all breathed a sigh of relief. Ange gave the Egg to the eager Kirlia and explained to Nurse Joy, "Kirlia is the baby's father."
Nurse Joy smiled and nodded in understanding.
"Nurse Joy, may we go see Gardevoir now?" Ange asked.
"Of course." Nurse Joy nodded. "But the delivery was a bit difficult, Gardevoir suffered some internal injuries, so she'll need good nutrition for a while, or she might not recover easily."
Hearing that, Kirlia looked troubled. Food was scarce on the Nebel Plateau now. Even if he wanted to help, he couldn't do much.
Ange crouched down, patted Kirlia's head, and looked up at Nurse Joy. "Of course. We'll take good care of her."
Nurse Joy nodded with satisfaction. "Then go see her. If you need help, just call me or Chansey. If everything's fine before sunrise, she can be discharged."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy. You've worked hard."
After seeing Nurse Joy off, Ange was about to take Kirlia and Honchkrow to visit Gardevoir when Kirlia tugged at his sleeve.
"Kiru~ Kiru~"
It was thanking Ange.
Kirlia could sense emotions. When Ange had touched the red sensory organ on its head, it instantly understood that Ange's help was sincere and selfless.
Even the promise he made to Nurse Joy had been genuine.
Feeling Kirlia's warmth toward him, Ange smiled.
"Come on, let's go see Gardevoir. She must really want to see you now."
"Kiru~"
Kirlia nodded and followed Ange into the delivery room.
Gardevoir was lying weakly on the bed. When she saw Kirlia, she gave a bright smile.
Then, when she noticed the baby in Kirlia's arms, she reached out her hands, wanting to hold it.
Kirlia used Teleport to move beside her and carefully handed over the baby.
Gardevoir cradled the fragile life in her arms, gently stroking it with her palm, her face full of love.
"Voir~ Voir~"
Gardevoir then expressed heartfelt gratitude to Ange. Without his help, her baby might not have been born.
"Gardevoir, just rest for now. Don't worry about anything else," Ange said softly.
"Voir~" Gardevoir nodded gratefully.
Then Ange told Kirlia, "Stay with Gardevoir. Honchkrow and I will step out. Call me if you need anything."
He knew they wanted some time alone.
"Kiru~ Kiru~"
Kirlia nodded and tightly held Gardevoir's hand.
Before leaving, Ange gave the Pokémon cookies to Kirlia, telling him to make sure Gardevoir ate well.
After leaving the delivery room, Ange went to Nurse Joy to settle the medical bill.
"The total is 5000 Pokédollars," Nurse Joy said with a smile. "Do you have a registered Trainer ID? You'd get half off."
Ange shook his head. "I'm not a Trainer." Not only that, he didn't even have legal status here.
He paid the money quickly.
"Oh, right!" Nurse Joy suddenly remembered. "We have Incubators that protect and help Pokémon Eggs hatch faster. Would you like one?"
"How much is it?" Ange asked.
"500 Pokédollars."
"Alright, I'll take one." Sure enough, anything related to Pokémon wasn't cheap.
Of course, that also showed how developed Pokémon culture was in this world.
After paying, Ange returned to the delivery room holding the Incubator. He handed it to Kirlia but didn't mention how much he had spent, nor that the Incubator had cost money.
However, Honchkrow, who had been watching, noticed everything and later quietly told Kirlia and Gardevoir about it.
That night, Ange leaned against Honchkrow with Komala in his arms and spent the night in the Pokémon Center lobby.
Though autumn nights in the Azoth Kingdom were cold, Ange felt warm in Honchkrow's soft feathers and slept soundly. When he woke the next morning, he felt refreshed.
Early in the morning, Nurse Joy and Chansey were already busy. Ange greeted them warmly.
"Good morning, Nurse Joy."
"Good morning, sir."