Plotbunny fic! Herbal supplements are great and all, but beware of overdosing and substituting them for modern medicine. Also, the side effects have never been clinically tested… unfortunate, isn’t it?

Disclaimer: I don’t own pokemon; it belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics! This is non-profit fanwork written by me, no copyright infringement is intended, and since I wrote it I own it

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics for pokemon talking

Title: Too much of a good thing

Phantomness: *waves*

Lance: Well, it’s a more unique bunny

Emerald: Might be humorous too. *Grins*

Kairo: Or serious!
Shoyko: Dark? I hope not, but angst seems okay.

Started 3/11/04

Prologue

Delia Ketchum was a paranoid woman. So when she found out she was pregnant, she obviously took steps.

Not only did she eat only organic foods, despite her husband’s urging that a big Mac once in a while couldn’t hurt anyone, she also took Echinacea to boost her immune system, Garlic to stave off heart disease, Ginger dealt with morning sickness while helping cardiovascular and digestive health, plus this unique plant also staved off pathogenic attack, Royal Jelly for energy and reducing nervousness, Gingko to reduce the symptoms of aging, and Black Cohosh just in case any new ‘women’s problems’ popped up.

The child was not born premature, as Juniper Ketchum had feared. No, watching his wife pop a pile of pills with her orange juice, nonfat milk, and vitamin supplements each morning was quite worrisome.

The boy was healthy enough; he weighed 7.6 pounds, had all the necessary limbs and organs, wasn’t born with cerebral palsy or Down’s syndrome or PKU, and was sent home after two days.

Juniper was quite relieved. Delia waved off his worries about her herbal medicines. Really, they did no harm, and hadn’t the baby been fine?

Indeed, so Juniper made no further query to his wife’s actions. They both played kind, loving parents to baby Ash.

Everything was perfectly normal, so neither of them thought to worry.

End Prologue

Still, as a four-year old he still proved a handful.

Juniper, although he was a Pokemon Master, did not live in Indigo Plateau. No, he preferred staying in the quiet town of Pallet.

There was little to stress him there. Motherhood suited Delia. She was kind and patient with the child.

Ash, of course, loved pokemon. Who didn’t? It was the foundation of their world. So of course, Juniper let Ash play with his pokemon, carefully and under supervision.

Ash’s dark green eyes were always happy when he played with Juniper’s team. He would chatter in a mixture of baby talk and real words, and Juniper knew they wouldn’t hurt his son.

Ash spent many sunny afternoons in the grassy yard playing tag and hide-and-seek with the elemental creatures.

There was nothing wrong with that.

Delia liked it; it kept him out of her hair for a few hours while she played the consummate housewife.

Juniper was often gone with his team, fighting trainers for cash, but it made good money, and he did have a part-time job as a clerk just in case the economy slumped.

Currently, Ash was carefully brushing his Beedrill with a special brush, and the bee was humming, carefully keeping its stingers away.

What a smart animal.

“Daddy?”

“What is it, Ash?”

“Beedrill’s lonely.” Ash said, continuing his brushing. “He says he misses his family in Fuschia.”

“He does, does he?” Juniper said sounding amused.

“Hai. He wants his wife.”
Juniper raised his eyebrows. Ash often ‘talked’ to the pokemon and made up stories about them, so this was nothing special.

But…

How did Ash know he had caught beedrill in Fuschia? There weren’t many in that area, most just frequented the Viridian Forest.

“Ash? Did your mom tell you a story?”

“Nope.”

“Then…”

“Beedrill told me of course.” Ash said, as if that were the most obvious fact in the world. He finished shining the appendages and gave the pokemon a hug.

Beedrill buzzed warmly and hugged back.

Juniper raised his eyebrows. * Strange… *

Maybe Delia had told him and Ash had forgotten? He was still just a kid, and liable to play games.

Yes, that was it.

The next day, Juniper returned from a training match to find Delia white-faced and shaking.

“Something happened to Ash?” Juniper asked immediately.

“Well, yes…”

“What’s wrong!?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not that bad. But I think you should be wary.”

Juniper frowned and quickly ran upstairs to his son’s bedroom. “Ash?” He found the boy with one arm wrapped in String Shot, forming a cast.

“What happened?!”

“I’m sorry!” Ash said, crying. “But a Rattata came, and…”

He burst into tears as Juniper sighed. Wild rattata? Well, they were everywhere, surviving in all habitats.

So it must have just been a wild pokemon attack.

Poor kid.

“Shh, it’s all right now, Ash.” Juniper said, as he stayed by the bed until Ash fell asleep half an hour later. He told the boy a story about a Pikachu, and that worked.

Delia was waiting downstairs.

“How did he get hurt?”

“What did he tell you?”

“A rattata attack.”

Delia shook her head. “He was flying to get away though.”

“WHAT?!”

“He climbed onto Beedrill’s back and the crazy bug actually flew him around, but he fell off.”

“That’s awfully careless. But he’s still a child, so he probably didn’t know.” Juniper sighed.

“Maybe…”

“We’ll have to keep a closer eye on him then.”

“We can’t exactly prevent wild pokemon attacks.”

Delia sighed. “What about Repel?”

“There’s no guarantee. I thought the pokemon would protect him.”

“Well, they did, in their own way…”

Juniper consented the argument, it was true, but flying? That was dangerous…

End Chapter

Completed 3/13/04, created 3/11/04