@Scytherwolf; @Soups

Episode 78: Sick Daze

"It was a great idea to stop at this campsite by the lake..." Misty smiled as she waited for Ash to finish washing his hands. "I don't want to hear from Team Rocket for a good long while after chasing Sahana down a few days ago..."

"Me neither--but at least we took one notorious criminal off the streets, so there's that." Ash assured his companion as he dried his hands, then followed Misty into the cabin's kitchen, where Brock was stirring something in a pot on the stove.

He winced as Brock set a bowl of steaming hot oatmeal before him. "Oatmeal, again?"

"That's the fourth day in a row..." Misty mused. "But it's maple and brown sugar, so I can stand that."

"Can't we have something like pancakes for a change?" Ash requested.

Brock was about to reply when he unleashed a massive coughing fit. "Brock? You okay?" Misty asked as she hurried to her friend's side.

"Oh grade...I thig I'b cubbing dowd wid a code..." Brock replied.

"Ooh, you do feel a little warm..." Ash noted as he felt around Brock's forehead, just as Misty arrived with a touch sensitive thermometer.

After touching the thermometer to Brock's forehead, Misty winced at the readout. "Wow...Brock must've caught a nasty bug somewhere...the thermometer says he has a fever of 103.5."

"Come on, let's get you in bed." Ash suggested as he led Brock to a bedroom, hoping that Brock wouldn't unleash another coughing fit and pass the bug to him.

"If you've got a cold like this, you should rest for the day." Misty smiled as Ash tucked Brock into the bed, then hurried off to get some medicine.

"But, dere's a lot of worg to be dud!" Brock protested, stuffy head and all. "Dis place needs to be cleaned, da Pokemod need care, and I need to practice by Lore Stage material and by idstrumets..."

"It's not good to work or practice when you have a cold, and you should rest for the day." Ash explained as he arrived with the medicine Misty had left for him.

"Besides, it's not the end of the world if you miss one day of practice." Misty assured her companion as she arrived with a soda for Brock to wash down the two round pills Ash had given him.

A weak smile formed on Brock's face."Okay...I'b left sticky dotes on how to do da chores, but if you have addy queshuds, just ask be."

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"So, do you want to mop the floor and I'll do the dishes, or should I mop the floor and you do the dishes?" Misty asked as she and Ash studied the note detailing the kitchen chores.

Just then, Ash noticed Ethan and Lyra had walked in the room. "Oh, hi! Am I glad to see you guys!"

"Why?" Lyra was confused. "Usually Brock's got the kitchen clean by now..."

"That's the problem...Brock's caught a bad cold." Misty explained. "So we're the one's cleaning the kitchen today while he rests."

She looked up to see a familiar small rock being Pokemon and Argent peeking in the door. "Raquel? Argent? What are you doing here?"

[Did Brock forget today was polishing day?] the small rock Pokemon asked as she crawled into the house.

Oh yeah...today's usually the day Brock polishes the Rock-types! Misty remembered as she took a sticky note on the counter that was titled "How to Polish Geodudes and Steelixes."

"I can do Argent, while you do Raquel." Ash volunteered as he hurried outside with a rag and some dish soap.

"Come here, Raquel." Misty coaxed the Geodude into her lap before looking at the note. "Step one...line a small bowl with aluminum foil...."

Back outside, Ethan grimaced as Ash gently rubbed each of Argent's coils clean with a damp rag and the dish soap. "This is gonna take forever at this rate..."

"Well, Brock is very meticulous about it...that, and I think Argent likes what I'm doing." Ash assured Ethan as he listened to Argent purring happily as he scrubbed each coil.

"I know a way we can be done twice as fast!" Ethan smiled before heaving a Poke Ball skyward. "Come on out, Dundee! Use Water Gun to help us clean Brock's Steelix!"

Argent gasped when he saw the Totodile eagerly running towards him to spray him [Oh no...] was the first thing he could say before Dundee unleashed a huge spray of water, causing Argent to bellow in pain and lumber off across the grass.

"Ash!" Misty called as she emerged from the cabin, just in time to see Argent zigzagging across the plain, trying to avoid Dundee's attacks. "Have you forgotten that Rock Pokémon hate water?"

"It was Ethan's idea, not mine!" Ash protested.

Argent growled as Ethan corralled Dundee. [If you're going to polish me, than I'd prefer you do it RIGHT!] he grumbled before lashing his long tail at the others, knocking the boys and Misty to the ground.

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"We now return to 'Prince Photon and the Arcanoids'." the TV announced as Lyra arrived with a bowl of Combusken soup.

"Cad we change da chaddel? Dis show's borig." Brock requested, unimpressed by the robotic Arcanines battling an alien on the TV screen.

"Sure..." Lyra replied as she found the TV remote, naming the different shows as she flipped through the channels. "'Glimmering Summoners'...'Star Phantoms'...'Jewel Druids'..."

After completing a loop around the basic cable channels, Lyra noticed that Brock had fallen asleep. "Okay, I'll let you sleep for a bit." she smiled as she turned the TV off. "But if you want to watch something or use the game consoles, let me know."

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<i>In a fantasy dream world, Brock--now in a magnificent purple, red, and gold minstrel's costume--ran to meet three princesses dancing among the flowers. "A song for miladies?" he asked the princesses.

"Of course..." the eldest princess smiled as Brock took a silver harp with emeralds and ivy inlays.

But before Brock could play a note, he saw a meteor headed for the meadow--how did that get in here?[/i]

Brock woke up with a jump from his nightmare, but blushed when he saw Silver on his chest and Hitomi at his side. "You guys were worried about be? Thak you..."

He winced when he heard the sounds of Ash and Misty in the throes of another 'is not-is too' fight, from outside. While he couldn't tell what the fight was about from inside, he could hear Ethan trying to break it up. I'd better go give Ethan a hand...

A sudden wave sent him flying back into the bed. [Now now...your fever's not broken yet.] Hitomi gently reminded him. [You need to rest.]

"Thaks, Hitobi." Brock smiled. "I'll try ad get sub rest, ib odly for you guys..."

"Here you go..." Lyra passed a Super NES controller to Brock and turned on the familiar grey, white, and purple console, making the title theme to "Super Mario World" blare through the cabin...

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"I'm starving..." Ash grumbled some time later. "I'm gonna go see what wild berries we can find."

"Okay, just try not to get lost." Misty reminded him as he started off towards a wooded area with a Berry grove.

Ash nodded, then heaved his other five Poke Balls skyward "River, Luce, Cyndy, and Aina, come on out! Let's go on a Berry hunting expedition!"

[You called?] Luce asked.

[Yeah, is something wrong with Brock?] River asked. [He hasn't gotten out of bed, and has just watched TV and played video games all day!]

"Well...Brock has a cold at the moment, so we're all doing the best we can to pitch in until he gets better." Ash explained before motioning for his team to come with him into the forest...

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Back in the dream world, Brock found himself flying in a clear sky with a few Butterfree, in a fantastic version of his real world clothes and a pair of green angel-like wings. "Oh Brock..." the middle princess called. "Come land, and play with us!"

"Coming!" Brock wasted no time in circling around the meadow from earlier, which was miraculously unscathed. But he didn't count on losing his footing, and tumbling down...down...down...

"Oof!" Brock gasped as he landed on the floor seconds later, just as Ash and Misty arrived with Ethan and Lyra.

"You okay?" Misty asked as she gingerly helped Brock back in bed.

"Yeah--must've tossed and turned too much and fell out of bed." Brock replied as Lyra tucked him back in.

"If you're hungry, here's some Leppa Berries my team found in the forest." Ash offered, handing Brock a plate of cut up Leppa Berries.

"Aw, you shouldn't have." Brock smiled as Ash's Pokemon crowded around him. He munched on a few of the Berries as he moved his Mario over to the portal to the Special World.

"Good luck on the Special World--I've never gotten past Tubular." Ash noted. Surprised, Brock accidentally swallowed a slice whole, making him choke.

[HAH!] Aina jumped onto Brock's back and gave him the Heimlich maneuver, prompting Brock to cough up the Berry piece.

"Thanks, Aina." Brock smiled, petting the Machop. "You saved my life..."

"Brock must be getting better--he doesn't sound quite so stuffy, and he's eating a little." Misty smiled.

"It would still be a good idea if he stayed in bed the rest of the day, though." Ethan suggested.

"If you want to play something else, or watch something, I'm here!" Lyra smiled, seconds before the familiar Mario theme started to play through the TV, to the surprise of everyone else.

"I didn't know that the classic Mario theme was even in 'Super Mario World'..." Ash mused.

"I didn't either, but if you wait on the Special World map long enough, the Mario theme will in fact play." Brock smiled before resuming his game...

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"Okay, add a half cup sugar..." Misty read from the recipe book, before she realized she had accidentally put in salt and sweatdropped. "Oops."

[Here's the sugar...] Ami offered as she brought Misty a bag of sugar.

"Gah!" Misty gasped as she dropped the sugar bag, sending a little too much in the pot. "Where's the salt?"

[Here...] Michelle offered Misty the salt canister.

"Not again!" Misty sighed as she spilled a bit too much salt into the pot. "Forget this, I'm gonna improvise a little..." she grumbled as she tossed away the sticky note with the recipe on it.

Ethan wasn't so sure about Misty's cooking as he and Ash watched ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, soy sauce, cinnamon, and Worcestershire sauce go flying into the pot. "You call that improvising 'a little'?"

"At this rate, she's even added the kitchen sink..." Ash agreed as he watched the bewildering array of spices and other items go flying...

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"Come on, you guys, I worked hard on this!" Misty pleaded as the boys winced at her disgusting creation. "At least try it!"

[Do I have to?] Tintri wasn't so sure.

"I'm not sure I wanna eat it, bud..." Ash sighed. "You saw what went in it."

He then told Misty "Uh, I ate too many Berries earlier, so I'm not hungry..."

"Oh, don't give me that!" Misty snapped. "Here, I'll try some myself!"

Ethan tried oh-so-hard not to laugh at Misty's yuck face. "That's what you get for improvising 'a little'." he whispered to Ash, who stifled a giggle himself.

"Come to think of it, I think there's some TV dinners in the cabin..." Ash mused as he led the way back inside.

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"Guys, I'm sorry about the dinner disaster before..." Misty began as she and the boys settled in a tent near the cabin that night, so Brock and Lyra could sleep in the cabin in peace. "It made me realize how much Brock does for us..."

"That's okay...the TV dinners were delicious." Ash assured Misty. "But yeah, Brock does do a lot for us...I kinda feel bad for complaining this morning about the oatmeal..."

"He is a guy of many talents, I'll say that much." Ethan smiled. "Musician, storyteller, comedian, archer, trainer, cook, cleaner...and yet he never complains or boasts about it."

"Even if he makes maple and brown sugar oatmeal for two weeks in a row, I'd still eat it." Ash smiled.

"I wouldn't mind getting cooking lessons from him in case this ever happens again...as thanks for all he does for us..." Misty smiled before the threesome drifted off to sleep...

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"Mm...something smells great in here..." Ash smiled as he, Misty, and Ethan returned to the cabin for breakfast the next morning.

Misty heaved a relieved sigh when she saw Brock before the stove, flipping pancakes. "Brock, good morning!"

"Thanks for the pancakes!" Ash smiled.

"Well, luckily, I feel MUCH better today..." Brock smiled as he turned the stove off and brought the pancakes and a variety of toppings to the table. "I have butter, three different kinds of syrup, Berries, and whipped cream for toppings, so help yourselves!"

A moan snapped the group to attention as Lyra trudged in the room, sniffling all the while. "Brock...I thig id all by effords to help you feel bedder, I thig I got your code..."

"Here we go again..." Misty sighed as Brock led Lyra back to the bed and tucked her back in.

"Well, Lyra getting sick isn't so bad, because now Brock can help her in return for what she did for him." Ash noted as Brock arrived with a music stand, one of his vina tune books, and his vina case.

After tuning his vina, Brock told the others "Okay...apologies in advance for any mistakes, but I think some relaxing music should help Lyra sleep. So I'm gonna try playing what few tunes I know well...this is 'Blossoms on the Terrace'."

With that, he started a gentle lullaby-like melody that rang through the cabin and out into the forest as Lyra slept...

To Be Continued...