Nurse Joy (Japanese: ジョーイ Jōi) is (or are) kind nurses who take care of Pokémon. As revealed in Drifloon in the Wind!, Joy is not the first name of these women, but actually the family name. Her Japanese name is a play on 女医 joi, woman doctor.

In the anime

Nurse Joy is not a single entity. Rather, there are dozens and dozens of Joys working at Pokémon Centers across the regions. Nurse Joy's voice actresses are 白石文子 Ayako Shiraishi (EP002-EP229), 山口由里子 Yuriko Yamaguchi (EP245-DP022; on maternity leave), 井上喜久子 Kikuko Inoue (DP025-present; temporary) in the Japanese version. They are voiced by Megan Hollingshead (EP002-AG040), Bella Hudson (AG042-AG145), and Michelle Knotz (AG146-present) in the English version. The two young Joys from Drifloon in the Wind were voiced by 能登麻美子 Mamiko Noto (Sayaka) and 日笠山亜美 Tsugimi Higasayama (Mai).

As a rule, Nurse Joys are kind, earnest, honest Pokémon nurses who take care of sick and injured Pokémon.

They are not entirely identical, though aside from themselves, it seems that Brock is the only one who can tell them apart. However, each Nurse Joy will have a different color cross on her hat that indicates which location she works at.

Supposedly, they are all extremely similar-looking relatives - cousins, sisters, etc. However, fans have proposed various other theories has been suggested for the strange phenomenon - everything from time travel to cloning.

There are some notable Nurse Joys that are very different from the others: the muscle-bound kayak-riding Nurse Joy in the Orange Archipelago, for example. On top of that, all the Nurse Joys of the Orange Archipelago have a darker skin tone than the ones found in any other region, probably an effect of living in such sunny weather. Then, there is the Nurse Joy who led an excavation team made up of Machoke, Rhydon and archaeologists to find Kabuto fossils to revive them.

Although there are many exceptions, Nurse Joy will generally have Chansey to assist her. In fact, Chansey's evolution added in Generation II, Blissey, appears physically similar to Nurse Joy. Further driving home the connection, Blissey's Japanese name can be taken to mean "Happy Nurse".

There is a very distinct parallel between the families of Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. This may indicate some sort of relation or deeper connection, and fans have sometimes speculated about such. However, the only thing known about the two families is that they are apparently on good terms.

In addition, Nurse Joys give out Starter Pokémon to trainers in towns or cities without Pokémon Professors. Slateport City is one such town.

Pokémon

This listing is for Nurse Joy's usual Pokémon in the anime.

• Chansey

Other

This listing is for Pokémon various individual Nurse Joys have had during the course of the anime.

• Blissey
• Bulbasaur
• Combusken
• Sunflora
• Pikachu
• Jynx
• Piloswine
• Swinub
• Oddish
• Seedot
• Nuzleaf
• Meganium
• Magikarp
• Ponyta

In the games

A Nurse Joy and a Chansey operate every Pokémon Center in Pokémon Yellow, but other than that, Chansey does not appear. An old news page from Game Freak on Pokémon Yellow suggests her name is Joy (ジョーイ) the same as in the anime.

In the TCG

In E Card Set-Expedition, there's a Trainer-Supporter Card called Nurse Pokémon that resembles Joy from the anime slightly; all that differs is her hair, which is blue, instead of the anime's pink.

External links

• Jōi's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)