I really hope this bunny lives a long and useful life… like a roll of toilet paper!
Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. This is non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanwork written by me so I own it.

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Disclaimer: I don’t own pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan comics! This is non-profit fanwork, no copyright infringement is intended, and since

Chapter 7: Confusion – and sickness

Do I like her?
Ash stared up at the ceiling of the Pokemon Center as he tried to puzzle out the answer. He wasn’t even sure he knew Cat well enough yet.

Sure… she was a good trainer, she had all the badges now…

She worried about him, Xatu said she had been frantic after he had fallen off the cliff and might have dived after him, useless as the action may be.

She was a good cook!
Well… she wasn’t scared of bug pokemon like Misty, and she didn’t chase guys… she was a pretty good friend.

Right?

However, there was a blurry mark between friendship and love, if what his mom said were true. When did one end and the other begin?

And… what if he did love her, but not in that way?

So confusing…

Ash sighed and pulled the blankets over his head. He’d figure it out later.

Much later.

“Dratini, Surf please…”

Hiker Barry fainted as his Golem was KO’d.

Lance tsked, collected half his money, and then walked on.

No challenge at all… even if Dratini was first form, she was still very powerful… pity no one accepted that.

It was their loss.

Ash looked gloomy, though, so she decided to ask what was wrong.

“Silver?”
“Oh! Sorry, Cat, I wasn’t paying attention.”
“You almost tripped over that stump.”

“Oops.”

“Is something bothering you?”

Ash sighed. “I feel lonely.”
“That’s normal.”

“Yes, but It hurts a lot…”

“It hurts?”

“It’s almost like someone is hitting me in the chest…” Ash confessed.

“What? And how long has this been going on?”

“Just today.”

< Liar! > Xatu said. < It’s been almost three days. >

“That might actually indicate you’re sick, not suffering from loneliness.” Lance said. “Well then…”
She grabbed his arm and began dragging him towards the hospital.

“I’m not sick!”

“We never know.”

Ash would have complained, but a feeling of sudden weakness spread through his legs and he decided not to complain.

Lance noticed, and Xatu quickly teleported them to the hospital.

The doctor checked him over, and then pronounced his sentence. He was immediately incubated.

This was no ordinary infection.

“It’s MRSA.”
Lance looked worried. “Are you sure?”
“Can you contact his parents?”
“Hai!” Lance said, going to the phone and dialing. Will and Karen were most displeased.

“How did he contract the illness?”

“I have no idea.”

“Hmm…”

“Well, recover won’t work. Let’s hope Vancomycin still kills that…” Will murmured. “Call us if anything else pops up.”
Lance promised and then hung up.

She waited.

The clear dripping liquid continued down the IV.

Yes… MRSA, a strain of staphylococcus aureus bacteria that was resistant to more than eight types of antibiotics, all somewhat penicillin base. [1]

They could only be killed by one drug, Vancomycin. But…

What if that failed also?

Then, death was a sure deal.

If Vancomycin-resistant bacteria invaded his body next, then it was up to the body to fight off the infection itself.

Wasn’t that impossible?

Lance sighed. * We’ll just have to wait to see how this plays out… because Softboiled will not work to cure diseases. *

Yes…

If the Vancomycin failed also…

That was their last step of defense…

At least he had MRSA, and not VRSA, the Vancomycin-resistant species. Still, there were already reports of a new species of Staph that combined both characteristics, thus being immune to _all_ antibiotics.

Thus, what once brought health could bring death. That was the problem with overusing medicines.

It was lucky that he would not die if she could help it… but the same could not be said of all the other children who had already succumbed.

Thus so, to children pay for the sins of their fathers.

The blades of the Dragon’s Dance rested comfortably in her many pockets, and she knew how to save him if she had to.

But she could not save anyone else.

That was the way of the Chosen.

End Chapter

[1] MRSA is an actual strain of bacteria, and many countries including the US and UK is dealing with the problem of these drug-resistant bacteria right now. MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, a generic term applied to any strain of staphylococcus resistant to one or more common antibiotics. VRSA is Vancomycin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, which can cause death because no antibiotic can treat it. Also, cases of GISA, Glycopeptide-intermediate staphylococcus aureus are popping up also, combinations between the two above that are resistant to every available antibiotic used to treat staphylococcus now…

Information was taken from the BBC News, the CDC, CNN.com, and the Akron General Medical Center. It’s accurate last time I checked.

Completed 5/5/04