Pokémon behind the wheel

Heath stared blankly at the Blissey ahead of him. The Pokémon was sitting in the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel with a nervous expression.

And the car was hurtling toward Heath at tremendous speed. He even began to wonder whether this Blissey meant to run him over and then show off those superb healing skills.

As Blissey drew closer, Heath recognized the terrified Nurse Joy sitting beside the Pokémon.

"Let's hope this thing has an automatic collision avoidance system," Heath said with a sigh. He couldn't drive either. What was he supposed to do?

Fortunately, the food truck's self-driving system was pretty good. It swerved straight out of Blissey's path, letting Heath breathe a long sigh of relief. He had no desire to test how sturdy his truck was.

"It's coming again!" Zorua shrieked. Heath instinctively glanced back, only to see the same familiar scene.

Somehow, Blissey had swung the car all the way around and was charging toward Heath again. If Nurse Joy hadn't been screaming with her face drained of color, Heath might have wondered whether this Blissey had a grudge against him.

"Nurse Joy Xue, you and Blissey have failed this test. Who drives an ambulance like that?" A familiar voice rang out, and Heath's face immediately went pale. That was Officer Jenny Aya's voice.

Fortunately, Officer Jenny Aya's arrival put a timely stop to Blissey's charge toward Heath. His truck stopped as well, and only then did he realize he had arrived at the Driving School.

"I'm so sorry. Huh? Is that you, Heath?" Nurse Joy Xue clambered out of the car, deathly pale, and ran over to apologize repeatedly. Only when she saw that it was Heath did surprise appear on her face.

"Nurse Joy... you really are something." Heath didn't even know what to say. This was the first time in his life that a Pokémon had chased him down in a car. It had certainly been a thrilling experience.

"Aww, little Heath, are you disappointed? If I'd known, I would've given you a hand. You could've been hit by the car and happened to hurt yourself down there. Then you could've had Xue help you with those little hands of hers~" Officer Jenny Aya slipped an arm around Heath's neck with a broad smile.

Heath stiffened all over. This dirty old flirt was definitely doing it on purpose! Sure enough, the moment she got out of the car, she started taking the conversation for a dirty ride. And why was she picking up speed?

"Heath, did you hurt yourself somewhere?" Nurse Joy Xue clearly hadn't caught Officer Jenny Aya's innuendo. She looked at Heath with concern.

Heath hurriedly waved his hands. Nurse Joy Xue was very innocent, but her medical skills were exceptional. She was a renowned medical ace in Viridian City, and her Blissey was outstanding too.

There had even been a news report about Nurse Joy Xue and Blissey working together to heal a Pokémon that had accidentally been hit by a train. That Pokémon had originally been declared highly likely to die.

But now Heath had discovered something Nurse Joy Xue and her Blissey couldn't do: drive.

Putting that together with what Officer Jenny Aya had just said, Heath understood why Nurse Joy Xue and Blissey were here. So they were planning to drive their own ambulance.

"Sister Aya! Sister Feng sent me here to study for my driver's license. Sorry for the trouble, but could you take me over?" Heath smiled at Officer Jenny Aya, cutting off her attempt to steer the conversation into dirty territory. She immediately understood what he meant.

"Hmph, you little tattletale. One of these days, I'm going to eat you alive." Officer Jenny Aya grumbled indignantly, but the thought of the imposing Officer Jenny Feng still made her swallow nervously.

After saying goodbye to the embarrassed Nurse Joy Xue, Heath followed Officer Jenny Aya into the Driving School. He had to admit that Viridian City's Driving School was quite large, and it had plenty of students. Besides the humans, there were Pokémon there too.

Chansey, Machoke, Kadabra, and other Pokémon were all studying diligently inside. Heath thought it was perfectly normal for Pokémon to study for driver's licenses.

The Joy family had a virtual monopoly on Chansey, so these Chansey were most likely learning to drive ambulances. The Machoke studying for their licenses, meanwhile, would serve as drivers for moving companies, handling both the hauling and the driving.

As for Kadabra...

Heath figured they were probably there out of curiosity and excitement about learning something new. For these Psychic-type Pokémon, new knowledge was always enticing, which made Kadabra remarkably versatile Pokémon.

Some Kadabra even went off to become taxi drivers, and they drove very smoothly. The most impressive example Heath knew was an Alakazam who worked as a captain for Kanto Airlines. That Alakazam had never had an accident while flying, and the flights were exceptionally smooth.

Some Alakazam had even become directors, with their films and television shows winning major awards in Kanto. How were those hack directors supposed to live that down?

"When studying for a driver's license, you generally need to pay attention to the size of the headlights and whether the exhaust pipe is well lubricated..." Watching Officer Jenny Aya unconsciously veer into innuendo again, Heath silently took out his phone. He was going to report her to Sister Feng.

"Don't! I was wrong!" Officer Jenny Aya instantly covered Heath's phone, then leaned closer with a beaming smile.

"Little Heath~ If you're willing, I can make a man out of you~" Officer Jenny Aya brought her lips close to Heath's ear and spoke in a tone so embarrassing that merely hearing it could ruin someone's social life.

"You've got some nerve, Aya." At that cold voice, Officer Jenny Aya froze completely. She stiffly stood up, stiffly turned around, and saw Officer Jenny Feng standing there with her arms folded.

Officer Jenny Feng stared at Officer Jenny Aya with a look so icy it could make someone want to put on a down jacket in the blazing heat. Cold sweat broke out on Officer Jenny Aya's forehead.

"Five laps around the Driving School!" Officer Jenny Feng waved a hand. Officer Jenny Aya immediately dashed off, running away with a resentful expression.

Heath watched Officer Jenny Aya's retreating figure, unsure whether to laugh or cry. She really was far too brazen. Thank goodness Sister Feng was here. Otherwise, who knew what he would have had to endure?

"Hmph, that awful woman, trying to steal him from me... no, I mean, that woman is awful." Zorua lay on Heath's shoulder, glaring indignantly at Officer Jenny Aya's retreating figure.

Ever since earlier, Zorua had been constantly muttering in Heath's mind about what an awful woman Officer Jenny Aya was. Heath had heard it so much that his brain was practically developing calluses.

Fortunately, his brain didn't actually have that ability.

"Come on, Heath. I'll take you to the classroom for the first theory test. Study properly, and no cheating. Of course, I trust you wouldn't cheat anyway." Officer Jenny Feng smiled at Heath, then waved him along.

Heath smiled. Sister Feng really did understand him.