"Do you kids always eat this well?" Professor Oak asked as he finished his third bowl of stew.

"You bet. Brock always feeds us well," Misty grinned. "He's a fantastic cook."

"Unlike Misty," said Ash. "Remember the one time Brock got sick and you made that mystery stew?"

Misty gagged. "Yuck. That was pretty bad, wasn't it?"

"But I know my stew's not that bad, Ash," said Brock. "You barely touched yours."

"That's okay, Brock. I'm not too hungry tonight." Ash gave his nearly full bowl to Pikachu, who began to slurp down the flavorful soup.

Misty gave Ash a funny look. She had never known Ash to turn down food before.

"Well, this is fantastic, Brock," said Professor Oak, holding out his bowl for a refill. "I could stay here all night eating this delicious stew."

"If you do that, Professor, all the Rapidash will be gone," Ash reminded him. "I thought that's why you came here in the first place."

"You're right, Ash." Professor Oak put his bowl down. "But first, since Brock went to all the trouble to cook dinner and you and Misty collected the firewood, it's my turn to pitch in with the chores. I'll do the dishes."

"Oh, don't trouble yourself with those, Professor," Brock insisted. "You came here to do research, so you go research those Rapidash." Brock gave the older man a push in the direction of the path leading up the hillside. "Besides, cooking and doing chores is our way of saying 'thanks' for inviting us along. Right, guys?"

Misty nodded. "You bet. Just seeing one of those golden Rapidash made it all worthwhile."

"Well, all right then." Professor Oak reached for the bag containing his research equipment. "Who wants to join me?"

"I will!" Misty volunteered, leaping up from her seat. "What about you, Ash?"

"That's okay, you go on ahead. I'll catch up with you guys in a little while." Ash leaned his head (which was beginning to ache) against a tree trunk and closed his eyes.

"Is your leg bothering you again, Ash?" Brock asked, concerned.

"No…it's not hurting. It's just that it's been a long day, that's all. Just let me rest for a bit and I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

Now Misty that knew Ash wasn't the type to tire out so easily. If anything, he would be bouncing off the walls while she and Brock were dead tired.

"Um, I kind of changed my mind, Professor." Misty said, putting down her backpack. "I think I'll stay here with Ash and Brock. You go ahead and do your research on the Rapidash."

"Are you sure, Misty?"

"Yeah, that's okay, Professor. Like Brock said, that's why you came here in the first place." Misty sat down next to Ash.

"Well, all right then. I'll be back in a little while. If you need to come and get me, I'll be at the same spot where we were earlier where we first saw the Rapidash." Professor Oak picked up his equipment and started up the hill.

"How come you didn't go with Professor Oak, Misty?" Ash asked. "I thought you really wanted to see the palomino Rapidash."

"Because I'm more worried about you," Misty said. "Are you sure you're all right? You don't look so good."

"I'm okay, Misty. Why do you keep asking me?"

"Because you're shaking, Ash. That's why."

Pikachu leapt into Ash's lap and huddled against its trainer, trying to warm Ash's body with its own.

Misty felt Ash's forehead. "Ash, you're ice-cold. You're not all right, are you?"

"Misty, when you got stung by that Tentacruel, did it make you feel sick?"

"Sick?"

"Yeah, kind of shaky and sick to your stomach…blurry vision? That sort of thing?"

Misty's eyes widened in alarm. "Ash, is that how you feel now?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. It's been coming and going all day, but now it's not going."

"Ash, why didn't you say something earlier?"

"Because I know how much you and Brock and Professor Oak wanted to come here and see the palomino Rapidash. I didn't want to ruin everything."

Brock, finished with the dishes, came over to where Misty and Ash were sitting. "What's going on, guys?"

"I think Ash is having some kind of reaction to the Tentacruel sting," Misty told Brock, anxiety evident in her voice. "But I didn't get sick like this when I got stung by the Tentacruel,"

Brock was alarmed at how pale Ash was. "Ash, how's your leg? Is it bothering you?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. The stuff you sprayed on it is wearing off. It's been kind of burning and throbbing all day."

"You'd better lie down, Ash." Misty unrolled Ash's sleeping bag and spread it out on the ground. Together, she and Brock helped Ash lie down atop it. Pikachu located a pillow in Professor Oak's tent and gently placed it under Ash's head.

"Thanks, Pikachu," Ash murmured to the worried Pokémon. "Don't worry, buddy. I'll be okay."

"I'd better look at your leg again, Ash." Brock carefully pushed up the leg of Ash's jeans and gasped when he saw that not only was the Tentacruel mark an angry red, but Ash's entire lower leg was swollen and covered with fiery red streaks. "His leg feels like it's on fire," Brock whispered to Misty. "Hang on, Ash. Let me put some more of that spray on your leg." Ash visibly relaxed when Brock applied another dose of the pain relieving spray to his wound.

"Brock, do you think we should go get Professor Oak?" Misty whispered anxiously to her friend.

"I don't know if he's going to be able to help, Misty," Brock whispered back. "He's a Pokémon researcher, not a physician."

"Yeah, but you remember that one time he helped treat Pidgeotto when it got poisoned by Arbok's Poison Sting attack? If he can treat injured Pokémon, maybe he can treat injured people, too."

Brock looked over at Ash, who was shivering violently. "It's worth a try, Misty. Maybe he can help Ash."

"I'll go get him." Misty ran up the path leading up the hill as fast as she could until she reached the site where they had first spotted the golden Rapidash herd.

"Ah, there you are, Misty," Professor Oak smiled at the panting red-haired girl. "I was hoping that you and your friends would come. I've just made a rather interesting observation and…"

"Professor, I didn't come up here to see the Rapidash," Misty explained as soon as she got her breath back. "I came up here to get you. Ash is sick."

"Sick? What's wrong?"

"His leg – it's all red and swollen. He's real pale and shaky. He said he's been feeling sick to his stomach and that his vision's been blurry. Professor, I know your specialty is Pokémon, but please, isn't there anything you can do to help Ash?"

Professor Oak grabbed his backpack. "Come on, Misty. Let's head back to camp. I'll see what I can do."

Misty led him down the hill to where Brock was kneeling next to Ash's shaking form.

"How is he, Brock?" Misty asked worriedly.

"Not too good," Brock replied. "The medicine helped his leg, but not the rest of his symptoms."

Professor Oak knelt down next to the boy and was shocked by Ash's appearance. The boy was deathly pale and his forehead was beaded in sweat. "Ash? Ash, it's Professor Oak. Can you hear me?"

Ash slowly opened his eyes. "Professor? What are you doing here?"

Even though he was frightened by the rapid deterioration in the boy's condition, Professor Oak knew that he had to remain calm to avoid upsetting Ash any further. "Ash, I understand you're not feeling well. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"My leg," Ash moaned. "It hurts. Hurts a lot. Like when Charizard used his Flamethrower attack on me."

"It looks real bad, Professor," Brock whispered. "His whole lower leg is red and there are red streaks on it. He won't let me put a blanket on it because he says it hurts too much."

"Is anything else hurting you, Ash?"

"My head hurts and my eyes are all blurry. My stomach feels kinda queasy, too. And my whole body feels kind of itchy."

"Ash, I want you to listen to me carefully. Are you having a tough time breathing? Chest tightness? Wheezing? Anything like that?"

Ash shook his head. "No."

"Does your heart feel like it's racing? Skipping beats?"

"My heart's beating a little fast, but not real fast. It's not skipping beats or anything like that."

"That's good. All right, Ash, I want you to lie there quietly and try to relax, okay?"

"Okay, Professor." Ash shut his eyes.

"What's wrong with him, Professor?" Misty asked anxiously. "When I got stung by the Tentacruel I didn't get sick like the way Ash is."

"He's having some sort of reaction to the Tentacruel sting, no doubt about that," Professor Oak told the worried teens. "I've seen similar reactions in Pokémon that have been stung by Beedrill on my preserve. The problem is that we don't have any Tentacruel in Pallet Town, so I'm not certain if the venom acts in the same way as Beedrill venom does."

"Is there anything we can do for him?" asked Brock.

"Do you have any Benadryl? Any kind of antihistamine? That would stop the allergic response."

Brock shook his head. "My allergies were acting up last week and I used the last of it. I was going to get some more the next time we were at a Pokémon center."

"There must be something around here that would act as an antihistamine." Professor Oak thought for a second. "Wait, I know! A piece of mushroom from either a Paras or a Parasect has some antihistaminic properties. One of those would help alleviate Ash's symptoms."

"Are there any Paras or Parasects on Mangrove Island?" asked Brock.

"Come on, Brock. We're going to find out." Misty started in the direction of the path leading out of the campsite.

"Now wait just a second, kids. I'm not certain that there are even Paras or Parasects on this island. Not to mention that it'll be getting dark soon and you're not familiar with this island."

"Don't worry, Professor. We won't get lost." Brock took out one of his Poké balls and a large purple bat with four wings appeared in a flash of light. "Not as long as Crobat and its Supersonic ability is around. Crobat will watch us from above and lead us in the right direction – dark or light."

"All right, then. But be extremely careful, you two. The Pokémon on this island aren't used to having humans around and I'm not certain what they'd do around the two of you."

"Don't worry, Professor. We've got some pretty strong Pokémon of our own." Misty knelt down next to her sick friend. "Don't worry, Ash. We'll find a Paras or Parasect mushroom and you'll be feeling better soon."

"Thanks, Misty," the boy replied in a weak voice.

"Come on, Brock," Misty said determinedly. "Let's get going before it gets dark."

"If there are any bug-type Pokémon on this island, the likely place to find them would be in the woods on the central part of the island," Professor Oak called out as Brock and Misty headed down the path.

"Then that'll be the first place we look," Brock shouted back.

Just hurry back soon, thought Professor Oak as the two teens disappeared into the foliage.

To be continued…