Taylor stood at the entrance of the orphanage, while Kuro stood on his shoulder, tidying its feathers.
The treatment for Teddiursa would take more than an hour to complete, so he could take this opportunity to come and greet Dratini.
"I wish I would never stand here again." Taylor looked at the road in front of him and yawned.
"Huh?" Kuro turned its head to look at Taylor, tilting its head with curiosity in its little eyes.
Taylor looked at Kuro, smiled, and stroked its black feathers.
"Because if that were the case, no Pokémon would ever be sent over," Taylor said sincerely.
Although he had opened the orphanage, his deepest hope was that it would have no reason to operate. But he knew that was impossible.
The orphanage would continue to operate because the abandoning of Pokémon was an issue that could not be eradicated.
Just as crime could not be eradicated, they could only try their best to reduce the crime rate.
"Gah!" Kuro cried out again. Taylor couldn't understand it, but he roughly understood what Kuro meant; Kuro was trying to comfort him.
This made Taylor want to laugh a little; this little guy was also...
Taylor patted Kuro's head, then looked ahead.
The power of Viridian told Taylor that ahead lay a restless, desperate soul.
Soon, Officer Jenny arrived riding her motorcycle.
"Taylor!" Officer Jenny waved enthusiastically, and Taylor waved back.
Officer Jenny also knew him; she was in charge of delivering Pokémon. Basically, all the Pokémon that were to be delivered to him were delivered by this Officer Jenny.
"Dratini's condition isn't good." Officer Jenny's expression was grim as soon as she came down. Taylor nodded, his gaze falling on a Poké Ball. Although it wasn't open yet, he could already sense the despair emanating from it.
"Although Nurse Joy and the others treated Dratini quickly, the problem is that the wound on its fin is too contaminated, and it hasn't fully healed since the amputation." Officer Jenny sighed, then handed the Poké Ball to Taylor.
"So…" Taylor wanted to ask something, but then he saw Officer Jenny shake her head, and Taylor didn't continue speaking.
Nurse Joy obviously didn't know whether Dratini's injuries could be healed after evolving or not.
"Thank you for your trouble." Taylor's smile was a little forced, and Officer Jenny also rode away on her Arcanine.
Taylor looked at the Poké Ball in his hand, then took out his Pokédex and entered some information.
Now that Dratini's hand over is completed, the Alliance would be able to find him directly when searching for Dratini.
When Taylor brought Dratini into the orphanage, he saw Dratini's current situation.
*Dratini
Dragon-type Pokémon
[Disability]
[Due to physical disability and excessive fright, it has developed severe psychological problems and exhibits self-harm tendencies.]
Taylor looked at the prompt in front of him with a grim expression. Just as he had thought, this precious dragon was in a terrible mood, and Taylor could feel the deep despair in it.
"Hmm... It shouldn't be a problem to have Dr. Locke work an early shift occasionally, right?" Taylor took out his phone.
He hadn't originally planned to contact Locke, since Dr. Locke's work hours were from nine o'clock onwards, not now.
However, there was no way around it; Dratini's situation was rather unique.
So Taylor dialed the phone.
The call was quickly connected, and Taylor briefly explained the current situation. Locke listened quietly, said "Wait a moment," and then hung up.
In fact, Locke didn't keep Taylor waiting for long. Almost immediately after hanging up the phone, Locke hurriedly pushed open the door of the orphanage and walked in.
"How is the situation?" Locke was still wearing his pajamas, which were cartoon-themed and pink.
"This isn't good. This little guy's emotions are a bit unstable." Taylor looked at the Poké Ball in his hand. The Pokémon hadn't moved an inch and hadn't made a sound.
The intense feeling of despair grew even stronger, almost to the point of being suffocating.
"Let me see," Locke said, and Taylor handed over the Poké Ball.
As Locke opened the Poké Ball, a Dratini appeared in front of Taylor.
A hard skull, blue skin, dead eyes, and...
The missing left fin.
Dratini's left fin was completely gone, leaving only its right fin. The Dratini, having lost its left fin, was lying on the ground like a corpse.
Locke crouched down to examine it.
"Based on preliminary assessments, this Dratini exhibits tendencies toward self-denial, self-harm, and self-isolation, and has also shown a significant lack of reaction to its environment." Locke's expression was very serious.
Taylor listened quietly.
Locke was the real expert in psychology.
Puffin's attempts to curry favor hadn't improved much, but that's related to the fact that Locke was currently focusing his treatment elsewhere.
With Locke's encouragement, Lucy's condition had improved a lot and she smiled more often, although sometimes she seemed to be thinking about something.
Locke had told him yesterday that he planned to begin psychological therapy for Puffin today, but before Puffin's psychological problems could be resolved, Dratini arrived.
In terms of severity, Taylor felt that Dratini's situation was undoubtedly more serious.
Therefore, Puffin's treatment might have to be delayed again.
"It's very troublesome to deal with…" Locke rubbed his eyebrows.
"I'm counting on you." Taylor patted Locke on the shoulder. Luckily, he had hired this psychologist beforehand. Without Locke, it would have been very difficult for Taylor to properly arrange things for Dratini.
"I will try my best." Locke looked at the Dratini in front of him and nodded.
Although he felt something was not right.
After all, he came here to alleviate the mental problems caused by his previous research, but who knew that he would not have a chance to rest since he arrived.
And...
Locke glanced at Taylor; he hadn't even started writing his new paper yet.
Taylor had already arrived at the infirmary. Dratini's problem was serious and needed to be addressed slowly. Taylor planned to check on Teddiursa first, hoping that the little guy didn't have any other problems at the moment.
Taylor planned to let Dratini lie down in the medical pod to see if it could be treated.
As soon as Taylor pushed open the door to the medical room, he saw Teddiursa sitting in the medical pod, looking curiously at the various instruments and probes around him.
After a period of treatment, Teddiursa had recovered from its illness. The only problem now was that its skin was still the same.
Patches of skin, each one horrifying to look at, were stuck to the small bear's body and wouldn't go away.