N – Nurse Joy

A high level of nostalgia means that this year my chosen theme for the 2016 A to Z challenge is Pokemon. Whether you yourself have a similar level of sentimentality or you’ve never really gotten into it, I hope that you enjoy this month of posts as I indulge myself.

Welcome to your Pokemon Centre! We heal your Pokemon back to perfect health! Shall we heal your Pokemon?

Nurse Joy is a character that is primarily in the anime, they are the nurses who take care of Pokemon, healing them back to full health, also running the Pokemon centres in which this happens, and young travelling trainers are allow to stay nights.

One thing which you will notice first is that all of the Nurse Joy’s in the anime look exactly the same. At first, you might think that’s just because of the nature of the children’s cartoon, but actually, it’s revealed that they are all related to each other, and that Joy isn’t their first name, it’s their family name (This has been revealed by the creators to be a play on the Japanese word joi  which means women doctor). Each Nurse Joy has a different colour cross on their hat (or a badge) which indicates which location they work at, and they are able to tell each other apart as they insist they are not identical. However, in the anime, only Brock seems to be able to tell them apart, every other character can’t.

In the games they are known as Pokemon Centre Nurses, and man the Pokemon Centre’s where the trainer can go and get their Pokemon healed. This service is provided for free, and is a pretty big staple of the Pokemon world, since battling your Pokemon gets them hurt.

Healing at the Pokemon Centre restores all lost hits, all move PP (power points, aka, how many times you can use the move before it runs out) and removes any and all status conditions that they might be suffering from.

There tends to be a Pokemon Centre in every town that you find, and sometimes they can be placed out in routes that are particularly long or wild, so you know that you’re never all that far from one. That, and sensible trainers stock up of medicine items to see them through from Centre to Centre.

Nurse Joy’s don’t tend to work alone – they have Pokemon helpers! Commonly a Nurse Joy will have a Chansey, Wigglytuff or Audino working with her as an assistant or helper. This isn’t exclusive, and sometimes they will have other Pokemon, but generally, depending on the region you are in, one of these three Pokemon will be helping out around the Pokemon Centre.

Considering the service that they provide, always for free to trainers, you can see that Pokemon Centre’s, and the wonderful Nurse Joy’s that run them, are a pretty big part of the Pokemon world, and are well loved because of the work that they do.

 

Pokemon of the Day

N is for Ninetails

Evolving from Vulpix when it is exposed to a fire stone, this fox like four legged Pokemon is covered in thick golden-white fur, and as it name suggests, has nine long tails, each of which are tipped in orange which match it’s gleaming orange eyes. It’s elegance hides a vengeful nature, especially to those who mistreat it. Each of it’s nine tails are said to hold a different mystical power, which is can use to curse those that have wronged it, and considering it can live for up to 1,000 years, it will remember.

I think I’ve said before, but I really like graceful Pokemon, and Ninetails definitely falls into this category. That, and it’s based off some really cool myths involving a Japanese creature called a Kitsune (the nine tails thing is the key here). It also curses people and is the kind of Pokemon that will go out and make a bad day for someone who has wronged it, and I can get very much get on board with that kind of behaviour 😉

 

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