"Uuugh..."

Lumpy groaned as he lay in his bed, wrapping himself in some of his blankets. He was feeling terrible all over. One part of his body felt hot, the other cold, but he also felt achy and sensitive all over. His nose was running constantly, no matter how much he sniffled or wiped his nose. Apparently, taking off those flu masks that Dr. Mario had given him after he had come home wasn't a good idea. Aside from the comparatively smaller amount of spots than the rest of his body, his nose was a blushing red and dripping with small amounts of mucus. And his throat felt like a burning desert. Lumpy could bet that even the largest amount of cold water he could drink wouldn't soothe that hot sensation.

But despite his tedious symptoms, Lumpy tried to see the positives in his illness. First of all, he didn't have to go to work. Instead, he got to relax in his warm, cozy bed. And Meowth had agreed to take care of him, and cater to his every whim. Meowth wasn't willing to do that, but he didn't have much of a choice. After all, Lumpy was sick with something that wasn't a cold or flu for once. But besides those things, being sick was just the worst.

"Aaaaaah..." Lumpy tilted his neck back as he inhaled. His nose twitched and his nostrils flared up. He was going to sneeze. "AaaaaaaaaAAAAH... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Lumpy shot his neck forwards as he released the sneeze, with a good amount of mucus spraying out of his nostrils. But that one sneeze wasn't going to provide enough relief. Without much time to recover his breath, Lumpy gasped and exploded again, more mucus escaping from his nose.

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Ugh..." Lumpy sniffled loudly as he rubbed his nose slowly with his forefinger. He had to do it slowly, lest he cause himself any more pain than he already was. Luckily, the nose rubbing didn't feel bad on his nose, but on his finger instead. Not long after he had started, the door to his bedroom opened and Meowth poked his head through.

"Lumpy?" he called.

"Y-yeah?" Lumpy asked, sniffling again.

Meowth walked into the room. He was holding a tray with a bowl of soup, a plastic spoon and some napkins on it. "Your soup is ready," said Meowth.

"Oh, thank you!" Lumpy said as he smiled appreciatively. "How'd you know what I wanted for lunch?"

"What makes you think I'd know?" Meowth asked back. "Anyway, here you go."

Lumpy sat up in his bed as Meowth placed the tray on his lap. Lumpy gave a couple of sniffs of the contents in the bowl, followed by a deep nasal inhale. It was chicken noodle soup, just like his mother used to make. It smelled wonderful, but the steam from the soup tickled his nose, making him need to sneeze. Lumpy exhaled, and then turned his neck away from Meowth as he inhaled.

"Aaaah, aaaaaaaaah... " Lumpy covered his mouth with his hand, and then sneezed. "CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Gesundheit," Meowth said as Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

"Thank you." Lumpy sniffled again, then took a napkin from the tray and rubbed his nose with it. Meowth sighed to himself and handed him a box of tissues.

"Here, these'll do better on that sneezy snout of yours," said Meowth.

Lumpy put down his slightly used napkin and took the box of tissues. He pulled out a tissue and blew his nose loudly into it for a second. But a massive pain surged through his nostrils, causing Lumpy to pull his tissue away from his nostrils. He put his hands over his nose, waiting for the pain to go away.

"It hurts when I blow my nose...!" Lumpy whimpered.

"You shouldn't blow it that much, anyway," Meowth mentioned. "Not when you're sick like this."

"Okay..." Lumpy wiped his poor nose with his tissue, and then balled it up and put it aside.

Meowth then picked up the spoon, dipped it into the soup to collect a little, and then offered the spoon to Lumpy. Knowing what he wanted him to do, Lumpy opened his mouth and let the spoon enter his mouth. He swallowed the soup with a smile on his face.

"This is so good..." Lumpy mentioned.

"By the way, when you're finished with this, I'll probably make you more for dinner," Meowth pointed out.

"I'd love that," said Lumpy. Meowth then fed him another spoonful of soup.

Bit by bit, they emptied the bowl, with more and more warm and delicious soup making its way down Lumpy's throat and into his stomach. By the time Lumpy was finished, he was feeling much better, though he could tell he was still sick. He smiled gratefully at Meowth as he tossed the spoon into the empty bowl.

"Thank you so, so much for making me that soup," said Lumpy.

"Hey, as long as it makes you feel better..."

Meowth then put on some rubber gloves - seriously, how many of those gloves did he have? - and took Lumpy's tray off his lap. He walked out of the room, with Lumpy watching him go and retaining that grateful smile on his face. Suddenly, Lumpy's nostrils quivered and he sneezed loudly into a tissue.

"AAAAAH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The edges of the tissue fluttered as Lumpy sneezed into it. He then sighed as he wiped his nose, ever so gently.

"Meowth can be a really nice cat once you get to know him," thought Lumpy.

Meanwhile, Meowth took the tray into the kitchen, removed his gloves, and loaded the dishwasher with the spoon and bowl. He started it up, sighing with relief.

"The next thing I know, he's gonna want me to..."

Before he could finish his idle thought, he heard Lumpy call his name, causing his eyes to go wide. "Meowth!"

Meowth left the kitchen and retreated back into the bedroom. Lumpy was still in bed, looking at him expectantly.

"It's a little hot in here. Would you please turn on my fan?"

Meowth looked up at the ceiling fan above Lumpy, and then at the light switch connecting to the fan. He inhaled and sighed. The switch was just inches from Lumpy's grasp... But regardless, Meowth placed his forefinger on the switch and flipped it on. The fan spun slowly, then faster, sending cool air towards Lumpy. He smiled in satisfaction as he lay back down in bed.

"That's better. Thank you, Meowth," said Lumpy.

"Yeah, sure," Meowth replied as he rolled his eyes.

"But I should warn you, I might get cold soon." Lumpy then coughed a few times into his hand.

"I figured that. But let me know when you do, okay?"

Lumpy nodded in understanding. Meowth went over to the bathroom close to Lumpy's bedroom to wash his hands. Meowth hated water, but if it was cleaning any residue off of his paws, how could he be mad at something that saved him from illness? Lumpy, meanwhile, stayed in his bed, enjoying the cool air until he thought it had done its time. When he was finished drying off his paws, Meowth went back into the bedroom.

"You had enough yet?" he asked.

Lumpy nodded, and Meowth switched off the ceiling fan. The ceiling fan slowed to a stop.

"Thanks." Lumpy gave a small sniffle. "And Meowth, would you please put some lotion on my spots?"

"WHAT?!" Meowth cringed as he heard that. "Me, touch YOUR measles?! No way!"

"But I think that if I put some lotion on my spots, they won't tickle when I touch them," said Lumpy.

Meowth rolled his eyes again, then sighed. "Okay, but I'll need a radiation suit."

"Why?" Lumpy asked.

Not long afterward, Meowth was applying lotion to every one of Lumpy's spots. Meowth was wearing a full-body radiation suit, having taken extreme measures not to catch Lumpy's illness. Lumpy sighed as Meowth rubbed the soothing lotion into his spots.

"Ah, this feels so much better than it did earlier today," said Lumpy.

After a few minutes, all of Lumpy's rashes had been lotioned. Meowth left the bedroom again, cautiously put the lotion back in the bathroom, removed his radiation suit and washed his paws again. By the time he had made it back to Lumpy's bedroom, Lumpy had fallen asleep. Presumably, he had decided to take a nap.

"Ugh, thank goodness..." Meowth said to himself with a sigh of relief. He looked over at the little plush chair in Lumpy's room, a few inches from the front door. Instinctively, he jumped onto the chair, then curled up into a ball and began to drift off to sleep. "I could use a nap myself..."

For quite some time afterward, the room was quiet, with little more than the soft snores of the sick moose and the tired cat Pokemon.