Chapter 1 - His Miracle Cure, One-Shot

Author - Chibi / Warlordess
Author - Chibi/ Warlordess

Disclaimer - I don't own Pokemon. Or Ash. Or Brock. Or May. Or Max. Or Jessie. Or James. Or Nurse Joy. I admit toall of that, but. . . can I please keep Misty?

Notes - God, this is thethird AAML one-shot I've started in celebration of Valentine's Day. I don't know which one to use for theactual holiday gift to you all, but I think it'll be this one, because itseems simpler to write up than at least one of the others. And the other one is too mushy, even for this. Anyway,enjoy, and review splendidly! Lol.

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Title - His Miracle Cure

Summary - Ash has got foodpoisoning while the group is traveling through Sootopolis,including the fever, nausea, and all other symptoms. He doesn't feel compelledin any way whatsoever to take place in any of his usual activities; eating,training, or watching his friends train. Is there any type of remedy for thisillness? Pokeshippy. Happy Valentines Day!

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"Ugh,god, I never wanna see another hamburger ever, everagain." Ash moaned for the fourth time that morning, tossing onto hisside in the twin-sized bed of the Pokemon Centerroom he and his friends were renting. He felt another one of the continuouspangs of sharp pain jolt at him and cuddled his chest against his knees inmisery.

"I'm realsorry, Ash." Max said, patting him on the arm, "I guess it was kindof my fault, since I'm the one who suggested the restaurant."

Ash glared atthe boy, feeling almost strong enough to get up and chase after him in a fury,but two seconds later the feeling was gone, replaced, once again, by the urgeto throw up. Max, realizing this, jumped away, hurriedly tossing a bucket intothe Pokemon trainers face and standing back againstthe wall as the business was done.

"Here,Ash. . ." May said kindly, handing him a glass of water to try and washaway the taste of vomit, "I know it's not something you want to do, butyou should drink all of it, no matter what. We don't need you to getdehydrated, too. Oh, and maybe you should. . . eat something.. ."

"I don'twant to have anything to do with food! I don't even want to hear anything to dowith it, including any terms of digestion, or any mention of the things I mightlike to have!" Ash shouted as loudly as possible, but that wasn't veryloud, seeing as for the past four hours, his throat had been used for othermeans, "Don't say 'hamburgers', or 'pizza', or 'French fries'! I don'teven want to hear you guys talk about what you're going to have today!" Thenhe coupled over the edge of the mattress and emptied another former meal intothe bucket in his hands, "I don't feel good. . . Why doesn't someone just Thunderboltme and get it over with. . . ? I'm miserable. . . pity me?" He pleaded with his friends.

"We'realready there, believe me." Brock said, waving athermometer in the younger boy's face. "Now slip this under your tongue, lay down, and stop making such a racket. It'll only make youfeel worse." He explained, pushing the boy against his pillow and takingthe bucket away from him to empty it.

Ash placed thethermometer to the right underside of his mouth, feeling somehow worse as hedid.

"And youknow we can't let Pikachu Thunderbolt you."May scolded, as though thinking he'd been serious about that.

"I know,I know. . . you'd rather see me suffer." Ashsmiled grimly through the stick protruding between his lips.

"Notalking." Brock reprimanded, placing the freshly Pine-Soled bucket besidehim, "We want as accurate a reading as possible." This was said justin time for the small thing to beep, and the breeder picked it up and read it,his brow creasing as he did so, "Damn, it's at 103.4 degrees. What did youeat?" He asked, only to have a pillow thrown athim.

"I saidno mentioning it!" Ash moaned again, turning to face the wall so that theydidn't catch sight of how truly horrible he felt. Unfortunately, the groans andshuddering that coursed through him every few seconds didn't leave them muchchoice but to embrace the obvious.

"Awe,c'mon, Ash. . . It's not that bad. . ." May said, though she really didn'tknow anything about it. "I mean, maybe if you watched a battle orsomething, you'd feel a bit better. . ." Ash only groaned again inresponse and buried his head deeper under his comforter, "You mean youactually don't want to?" She asked, mortified.

"Too much excitement. It'd probably.. . send me reeling, make me collapse or. . . something like that." Ashmuttered, but it was most-likely the truth.

"Well, doyou at least want Pikachu to stay with you?" Max asked, holding up the small, yellow mouse, who quirked its earat its trainer.

"Don'tyou remember. . . ?" Ash asked, turning to glaredaggers at the boy, "The last time you suggested something, I ended up here,incapacitated, like this." Then, as though hoping to make an even greaterpoint, he stuck his tongue out at the younger of the two Beech siblings,"I just want. . . to be alone, I guess. There'snothing much you guys can do for me until it's out of my system, right?Besides, I'm sure you all have more important things to do. . ." Hefinished lamely, and, for some reason, he didn't feel the faintest bit upsetwhen they all nodded their heads in agreement.

"I havesupplies to buy." Brock sighed, turning away with a glint in his eyes thatsuggested he wouldn't mind the lovely Nurse Joy that stood just a while downthe hall accompanying him on the trip.

"I haveto study. I want to learn the map-way to the next town ahead of time so that wedon't end up getting lost. Again." Maxconcluded, holding up his PokeNav.

"I guessI should train for my next competition. I hear that there's a smallCoordinators hut around here that offers lessons and practice rounds. Maybe I'dbetter go check that out." May nodded, saying this loudly and clearly asthough hoping to gain Ash's attention. He merely grunted carelessly and didn'tturn to face them all. She allowed the slight frown on her face to deepen.She'd hoped that he wasn't so bad off that he was serious about not wantinganything to do with Pokemon that day. The fact thathe wasn't the least bit excited for her, or upset that he couldn't attend themeet also, made it all the more apparent just how awful he was feeling.

He waved themall off, ignoring Pikachu's sad murmur of his name asit left in Max's arms, then gripped at his comforter and pulled it up on himhigher. It was like a very bad case of the flu. The sharp pangs that ricochetedthrough his stomach seemed almost like knives trying to force their way throughhim from within, and because of all of the pain from his abdomen, he wasgaining a massive headache. He was perspiring from the fever, but he still feltquite chilly, and no matter how much he cuddled against his sheets and hisblankets, they didn't seem to help.

He didn't wantto eat, or think of eating, ever again. As strange as it sounded, Ash Ketchumfelt no hunger for any type of food whatsoever. He had no appetite, he hadn'tfor the entire morning so far, and he felt that, given the choice, he'd ratherlike to simply stay in his bed and feign sleep the rest of the day, because healso didn't want to be bothered by his friends trying to wheedle some food downhis throat.

How could hehave gotten sick, anyway? What was wrong with him all of a sudden? Food poisoning. Ash had spent the last fifteen years of hislife eating every type of food he'd come across, and not once had he evergotten sick from it. He was supposed to be the man with the stomach of steel.He was supposed to be impenetrable. He was supposed to be training today, andeating just like every other day of his life, but. . .at this point, he never wanted to touch any of his things ever again. He feltso sick, that he just wanted to lay in bed until hedisappeared.

The worst partabout it, was that food poisoning wasn't necessarilycurable with an aspirin, or any antibiotic. He just had to wait until it passedthrough him. And, well, another thing about food poisoning was that itpreferred to pass through both ends of the human body.

As though thethought of it had convinced him, Ash felt the urge to rush to the bathroom forthe third time that day. He jumped from his bed, feeling dizzy enough tocollapse again and, still managing to stay on his feet, he made a dash for thebathroom extension of their rented room at the Center.

Disgusting. That was the word that went through his head as he satthere and waited for the troublesome nausea to vanish. Foodpoisoning. He'd never thought that that would be how he went from thisworld. He expected something more cool, maybe evenheroic. He at least expected to make it through a couple more leagues before hemet his maker.

But, then, hesupposed he deserved it. Ash hated to admit that, but really. . . He'd spentevery day of his life sporting a love for anything edible, and now that lovethat had bothered so many people, friend, foe, or stranger, was finally gettingthe better of him. And the bite in the @$$ that ensued was killing him far tooslowly.

Why hadn't helet Pikachu Thunderbolt him? Oh, right.Because his friends - or so they called themselves - thought that itwould make his condition worse. Because they cared forhim. They cared enough to let him lay there for hours on end without anytype of consolation, in what felt like the worst pain imaginable. Pfft, friends. Yea.

He crawleduselessly back into bed again and groaned, agonized. He whimpered at the nextthought that came to him. He couldn't even fall asleep. This morning, when he'dwoken up from the horrible pangs emitting from his abdomen, it had been aftergetting just so much sleep so that he would still be exhausted, but not be ableto fall back into a peaceful slumber just yet. So he had to wait, wait untilthe pain lessened enough so that he could get up again for more than to use thebathroom, so that he could make himself do something that he actually wanted,or needed, to do that day.

Unfortunatelyfor him, the hours seemed to creep by even slower the faster he wanted them togo. A couple of times he felt like he'd dozed off for a few hours at a time,but it turned out to only be ten minutes or so. Aggravated, injured, and nowfeeling just a bit delirious, Ash almost kicked himself when Max came burstinginto the room, clutching a tray with something that smelled positivelyrepulsive and with Pikachu leaning overtop theyoungest boys shoulder.

"It'slunchtime, Ash. You need to eat something, no matter how useless you think itis to try," was the explanation. Ash heard the clatter of the tray of disheshootting the bedside cabinet.

"N - noway. . . I'm not touching. . . anything." Ashwhined, turning his nose up and away and stuffing his face into his pillow toavoid whiffing whatever his youngest traveling companion had brought him.Whereas, under normal circumstances, he'd be starving enough for anything, itseemed now that every kind of cuisine was accompanied with the worst ofstenches. "Leave me alone, Max. . . I'm resting. Isn't that.. . what I should be doing?"

"Like you would know. For your information, Brock made thisespecially for you before he got. . . caught up insomething." Max finished in a mutter, and it was obvious that thesomething had been a pretty girl, "I brought it to you out of the kindnessof my heart when I could still be studying, so hurry up and eat it so that Ican--" Ash interrupted him.

"The onlyreason you're here is 'cause you're feeling rightfully guilty." He said,sticking his tongue out at him once again, "Eating is what got me here. . . to begin with. I'm not touching anything rightnow."

"Fine;I'll respect that. Still. . ." Max now turned to thetray and picked up a cool, soaking rag from a bowl of chilly water, "Here.Brock said this would help with the fever, even if aspirin won't."Although Ash already felt as cold as he could stand, he allowed the boy toplace the damp cloth against his forehead, "And now I'll leave you aloneso you can get your sleep."

Not that he wouldbe getting any.

The next fivehours were spent alone. Ash lay there, hissing every time his stomach gave aplunge, and listening for the sounds that took place beyond the closed doorleading out into the main part of the Center. At some point, he heard Mayreturn as she called out a hello to Max and Brock, and then knocked on the doorto let him know that she was back, but he didn't reply because he didn't wanther to come in and do a check-up on him, like her brother had done earlier. Sheassessed from his silence that he was finally sleeping and left him to it.

It was laterin the afternoon that it happened. Ash, who was indeed finally taking a chanceto doze off peacefully, was abruptly reawoken by thesound of distantly cracking glass. He heard loud voices, and a couple of boomsfrom a large barrel, but he still felt too weak to get up and see what wasgoing on for himself. Then, just when he'd thought things had started to cooldown, Brock came bounding into the room, looking grim.

"Ash! It's Team Rocket! They've got Pikachu!Come out here and blast them off, like you always do!" The breeder shouted,picking up the quilt from Ash's body, but the younger trainer just shook hishead, groaning again, "Remember, all of our Pokemonare still being healed!"

"Look. .. Tell 'em to come back tomorrow. I don't feel wellenough to deal with 'em today. . ." He saidexhaustedly, yawning and gripping as his stomach gave yet another jolt of pain.

"Excuseme!" Jessie shrieked furiously from beyond the widely open door, havingheard his response, "Hey, Twerp, we don't put our escapades on hold foranyone! Now get out here and accept defeat properly before I do somethingdrastic. . ." She came stomping into the bedroom and lifted him up roughlyby the collar of his shirt.

This, however,was the wrong thing to do.

As Ash felthis world tilting upside down at the aggressive motion, something foul camecreeping up his throat. . . And the next thing Jessie knew, she was covered inhis vomit.

She screamed.She screamed loud. Ash, who felt another need to use the bathroom, ran offbefore she could hit him, and she stepped back, mortified at how her uniformwas so completely ruined, and how she smelled. And so, feeling that stickingaround would only give her a chance to make more mistakes, she took off backthrough the door.

Brock followedafter her, and caught a glimpse of her tripping over Meowth,who'd been holding Pikachu in his arms inside of alarge electric-proof cage, having been prevented from leaving by May and Max,who were standing protectively in front of the main entrance to the Center,where James had also just removed a Pokeballthreateningly from his waist to force them away. Pikachutumbled from Meowth's grip and the door to the cagebroke open, allowing him to escape.

Meowth and James, scenting danger, took off after their partner (who, inher rush, had knocked May and Max to the floor), knowing that a Thunderbolt attackwasn't going to be too far off otherwise.

"Huh. . .I guess that's one way to earn a victory. . ." Brock murmured, then followed after the other two currently healthy kids asthey went to inspect the mouse Pokemon and ensurethat he wasn't hurt in any way.

Back in thebedroom, Ash seemed to have forgotten about the evil deed he'd committedagainst Jessie as he found his way into bed once again. He was growinginexplicably tired of everyone's butting in on him while he was trying to gainsome rest. He felt that the next person to walk in without his permission wouldsurely face a dearly-departed wrath. . .

. . . And asthough he'd been channeling some type of mischievous spirit, he felt an awkwardknock on the door and then May cracked it open, catching sight of his deadlyglare and almost backing out immediately.

"Er, Ash. . . I know that you probably don't care, and. . . if you want, I'll tell her tocall back later, but. . . Misty's on the phone. She said she really wants to talk to you. .." The glare disappeared, but so did every other emotion on the Pokemon trainer's face. As though this was somehow worse,May quickly attempted to excuse herself, "But, I mean, I know you're sick,so I'll just tell her to get back to you tomorrow."

"Misty. . . on the phone?" He asked almost dazedly.

May had twoseconds to wonder what the expression on his face - or lack thereof - meant, whenshe suddenly realized that something had bowled into her and sent her crashingto the floor. She blinked, confused and slightly pained, looking up andrealizing that the bed Ash had been laying inresolutely all day was empty.

"What. . . ?" She asked herself, thoroughly confused andjust a bit irritated, then got back to her feet, dusted herself off, and ranback down the hall, skidding to a halt just outside the threshold to the PokeCenter Lobby. She could see Ash from where she stood,standing in front of the public video-phone and chatting merrily with who sheassumed was the same redhead she'd greeted only a few minutes ago.

She saw, also,that Ash didn't seem to be letting on at all just how sick he really was.

As she madeher way towards Brock, shaking her head in wonder, she heard Misty in thebackground, her voice just slightly hazy over the connection as she asked ifAsh was really feeling well enough to talk to her. Ash waved her off andgrinned as he always did at her, and started a conversation relating to hislatest gym battle before she ended up having to go. It seemed that he didn'tmind the suffering he had to go through, so long as he could talk to her whilehe had the chance. . .

"What isgoing on with him. . . ?" She asked, taking a seatnext to Brock, who was handing out some special Poke-Chow to Pikachu and half-staring in the direction of Nurse Joy. Shewas chatting merrily with Max, who was holding out his Navto her and seemed to be asking her to confirm something for him. At May's inquiry,however, he turned to glance at Ash, and grinned cheekily.

"Hethinks he's got everyone duped about it, but really, we're all on to him. . .He's a fool." The breeder stated wisely.

"Er, and that means. . . ?"May questioned. All she was really curious of in the beginning was why Ash hadbull rushed her so suddenly. Now she knew that she was in for a long revelationabout something.

"Well,think about it, May. All through today, Ash has complained about all of hisfavorite things. He didn't want to eat, he didn't want to socialize with Pokemon or human, he didn't want to train, he didn't wantto watch any of us train, he didn't want to save theday, and his own Pokemon or the Center, from TeamRocket when they attacked. . . But then, Misty calls, and he suddenly acts likenothing's wrong with him." Brock took a moment to chuckle again, as thoughit was truly a humorous experience to watch, "And he acts like he doesn'tmiss her, but he really hates it when she's gone, and he can't seem to agreewith managing to miss one of her phone calls, no matter how sick he may be atthe time. . ." At this point, the breeder became more somber, "Hethinks he's subtle about it, and when anyone tries to ask him why he acts acertain way towards her, he just blows it off. . . But, really, Ash cares forMisty more than anyone else he's ever met."

May blinkedagain, but she was finally beginning to understand. She let a small smile graceher features at the sweetness of it all and sighed blissfully before turning toface Ash's back, "Do you think he gets it, though.. . ?"

"Mmm, that's something about him, isn't it? Ash is so densesometimes, that it wouldn't surprise me if he never caught on. But, somehow. . . I think that he's getting there." Andthen Brock allowed himself another laugh, "There's only so long you can gobefore you realize how many loops you're jumping through for that certainsomeone alone. Even Ash will be sensible enough to question himself tonightabout why he could only gain the strength to make it out of bed just oncetoday, and only to talk to her."

"Yea,you're right. . ." May responded, "I think that he'll get there soonenough. Misty's the only thing that could get him tomove, like a miracle cure. How weird. . . but that'sso cute, too. The one-of-a-kind remedy for any pain or ache he'll ever feel.It's strange how love does that for people."

"Too right."

Then the twoturned to stare at their friend, reaching an understanding and making sure thathe didn't end up upsetting his
"remedy" by collapsing in the middle of the phone conversation. Maycould tell that it would be a long discussion, if not because Ash and Misty hada lot of catching up to do, then simply because he didn't ever want to let hergo.

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Notes - Gods, what is up withme? Really; it seems that every time I write a PokeshippyValentine's Day fic, I end up doing something awfulto Ash. Last time it was laxatives, and now it's foodpoisoning! Still, at least Misty wasn't intentionally involved this timearound. YAY! And it was fluffy. Man, I needed to write something like this,after working on "Illicit Saints" for so long. I can't wait until I'mdone "Herbal Remedies" or "Blind". . . I have quite a few fics lined up after those, and two of which will be cutebeyond belief.

Anyway, I havea question for you all. How many of you went into insulin shock after readingthis?

Reply in yourreviews, or just grace me with a few unrelated comments about what you thought!Whichever suites you!
 

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