The Pokémon Anime has shown these creatures to be surprisingly intelligent over the years, with some, such as legendary creatures, having the ability to speak or communicate telepathically. However, even normal Pokémon have incredible brightness, and Chansey’s work at the Pokémon Center is the ultimate proof.
In the anime, the Pokémon Center nurses have Pokémon assistants to help them care for and treat injured Pokémon. Chansey is the most common Pokémon seen in this role, but others, including Comfey and Audino, have taken on similar roles in other regions. These Pokémon aren’t just personal partners to nurses, though — they’re actually specially trained to take on these roles, as demonstrated in an early episode of the anime.
Chansey, the literate Pokémon?
In the episode “Ignorance is Blissey”, there is an extended flashback to when Team Rocket’s Jessie hoped to become a Pokémon Center nurse. However, instead of attending a school for humans, Jessie goes to a school where Chansey is trained to work in the Pokémon Center. Chansey received training in techniques such as dressing and treating wounds and the use of medical tools, and learned to identify items Nurse Joy might need. At one point, it was seen that this school for Pokémon even had a library, with one Chansey even shown holding and trying to read a book – despite the book being upside down. However, it’s more about a particular Chansey, who frequently makes mistakes; implies that Chansey is perfectly capable of reading, and therefore hypothetically also able to write.
Aside from Team Rocket’s Meowth, no Pokémon has actually been shown to read, and Meowth is said to have sacrificed a lot of her combat potential to learn how to walk, talk, and read like a human. While many Pokédex entries talk about the intelligences of certain Pokémon (specifically, the Psychic type), Chansey is never considered particularly intelligent, suggesting that this quest may well be within the reach of the Psychic. many other species of Pokémon, if not most of them. Of course, many Pokémon don’t have the ability to write, but there doesn’t seem to be any reason why they can’t read, at least, no matter what kind of body they have. That fact alone raises all sorts of difficult ethical questions, but at least in Chansey’s case it gets a lot of respect and proper treatment as a Pokémon nurse.
The fact that Chansey is not only able to read, but also regularly attends a formal education program shows that Pokémon are generally much smarter than they get.