"Erk...It's not helping much. Maybe we should just stop here for the rest of the night?"

"Here? Isn't it a little...?"

"Well, I guess so, but I don't want to keep traveling like this."

The group was in Oreburgh City, near the construction zone. They had just taken a scenic detour through the mine that the town's infamous for. Soon before reaching the main part of the city, Shaymin began burning up. After attempting a few comforting tactics, nothing seemed to work. Lucas had removed his coat and handed it to Dawn to wrap around the creature, though, as noted, it wasn't doing too much. Snow was falling at a moderate pace, which wasn't helping the situation at all.

"I'd rather protect Shaymin," the girl said, bouncing the sick Pokémon in her arms to keep it amused. "We're way too far away from the Pokémon Center. If we keep walking, we can't protect her from the snow and wind."

"That's fine, Dawn, and I'd love to agree with you. But...here? How are we supposed to sleep here? Wherever there aren't broken boards, there's broken rocks. It'd be impossible to get comfortable."

"Comfortable? How about if you were Shaymin?! If you're so worried about being comfortable, then go on ahead. Go to the Pokémon Center and have a party if you want to. I'm going to stay here and make sure Shaymin stays comfortable."

"Agh..." Lucas put his hand behind his head and scanned his surroundings. He froze when his eyes landed on a small cabin. "...Or we could call a truce and get in there."

Dawn followed his eyes. After confirming the location, the two dashed off towards the abandoned log home. Dawn spoke comforting things to Shaymin the whole run over.

When they reached it, Lucas put his hand on the doorknob. He instantly came to a conclusion. "...It's unlocked."

"Quit complaining and get in there, then! Shaymin needs to get out of this cold!"

Lucas quieted and stepped inside, being tailed by Dawn. Finally out of the freezing cold and into a freezing cabin, albeit the latter being snowproof, Lucas rubbed his hand on the wall next to him until he found a lightswitch. He flicked it on, and the bland living space was illuminated. A couch, three chairs, and a fireplace were all that occupied the main room. A door leading to a side room was next to the smokestack.

Dawn walked forward and set Shaymin near the chimney. She found an unhidden box of matches. After igniting one, she hastily threw it on the pile of wood that was already in place. The flame caught, and the entire stack of logs enveloped in fire.

Satisfied, Dawn huffed a small sigh and made her way back to the couch. Since the fire had been lit, Lucas had shut the lights off and was already on the left hand cushion, so she sat down on the middle one. She rested her head on Lucas's shoulder, brought her legs up on the remaining cushion, and watched Shaymin pant from afar.

"Thank you," Lucas said, breaking the silence.

"For what?"

"For caring about Shaymin like that. Sometimes hard to believe that she's my Pokémon."

"Mm, hmhm..." she giggled. She shifted around and made full use of her living pillow. Becoming comfortable on Lucas's chest, she closed her eyes and already started to drift off. "I hope you'll forgive me for thinking of her as our Pokémon...C'mon, you got Shaymin, what, six months ago? Can't we take down the possessive barrier yet?" she wondered, half-asleep and not intending this to be a serious topic.

"No! Shaymin's mine! Mine, mine, mine!" Lucas comically pouted. Content with getting a small giggle out of Dawn, he lowered his head and kissed Dawn on the very top of her cranium. He put his arms around her, then also got into a comfortable sleeping position. He closed his eyes.

"Shaymin," Dawn called out, not being bothered enough to open her eyes. "if you need anything, just come get us, okay? Try to get some sleep, and we'll get you to a Center as fast as we can in the morning! You'll be fine, dear...Good night..." The latter part of her sentence was so tired-sounding, it barely carried across the small cabin.

"Shay, min..." the fevered girl panted out.

Things were quiet for another five hours. However, Shaymin's fever was taunted by the night. She woke up, short of breath. She wandered over to the couch and leaped for a cushion. She ended up landing near Dawn's knees. She began pushing them with her snout, all the while feeling quite guilty for being such a bother.

It didn't take very long for Dawn to also regain consciousness. Her movement caused a chain reaction to Lucas, which woke him up as well. Groggy, the human girl looked around until she noticed the small Pokémon prodding her kneecap. She reached down and took a hold of Shaymin with her hands, watching her with infinite worry. She sat up straight on the middle cushion. "Aw, Shaymin, what's wrong?.." she asked, forcing herself to stay awake.

"...Shay, min..." she complained, trying to snuggle into Dawn's sweatshirt.

"Mm..." Dawn hugged Shaymin tightly. "What time is it, Lucas?"

"Ugh, too early to be up..." Assuming that a bit of parenting would need to be done, Lucas accepted his fate and sat up straight. He tilted his arm towards the fire so he could make out the time. "About three..."

Snuggling with her closest inhuman friend, Dawn forced herself to come to an unfortunate conclusion. "...Shaymin needs medicine, Lucas," she stated, running her thumb over Shaymin's head. "She's really starting to burn up. Can't we call the Center and have them come pick her up?"

"Sure." Lucas rubbed his eyes on his way over to the lightswitch. He flipped the lights back on. "After we call them on our imaginary phone, we can tell them that we're south of Oreburgh...somewhere."

The wind pounded fiercely on the entire cabin. Dawn actually shuddered, thinking about having to be out there right now. It made her attach to Shaymin even tighter. "We can't go outside now...The wind would screw Shaymin over even more, poor thing..." When Shaymin began coughing, Dawn realized it might not be such a good idea to say things like that right now. "It's okay, sweetie...We'll take care of you..."

Lucas rubbed the back of his head. "What should we do?"

"Here...Here, Shaymin...You sit here for just a moment, and I'll be right back, okay?" Dawn gently set the Gratitude Pokémon on the cushion, then stood up and walked over to where Lucas was standing. She threw her arms around his back and put her head on his shoulder. This left her mouth conveniently close to his ear. "...I'm scared, Lucas. I don't know what we should do. If staying up and playing with her was all we needed to do to survive until morning, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"But..."

"...But even if we get her to feel better, it doesn't mean that she will be better..."

Shaymin nervously watched the two mingle. They were whispering quietly, so she couldn't make out what they were saying. Her fever tricked her into assuming the worst. "Shay! Shay!" she cried out, fear in her voice.

Dawn jerked her head around to look at the trembling Pokémon. She shifted back around to look at Lucas. "I think...the most important thing we can do right now is to be here for her. As soon as we notice the wind die down, we'll head for the Center, okay?"

Lucas nodded and shut the lights off once more.

The two got into their previous positions. Lucas was still being used as an awkward pillow for Dawn, though he didn't mind it so much. This time, however, Shaymin was placed on Dawn's chest. She was constantly being stroked on the side of her face by her female compadrae.

"It's no fun being sick..." Dawn absent-mindedly stated, starting conversation. "My mom took the best care of me, though. I remember--" She interrupted herself with laughing. "I remember that I had to drink three glasses of water before lunch, and I was practically shot at if I moved from my bed."

"Really?"

"Mm..." Dawn shifted a bit, but made sure to keep Shaymin's balance steady. "It was incredibly boring, but nobody could say that I didn't recover pretty fast."

"Eh...My dad would buy me a comic book, occasionally make something resembling chicken noodle soup, and let me watch TV all day..."

"What?! You got free stuff out of it? That's not fair..."

"Dawn?"

"Mm?"

"Shaymin...She...isn't awake anymore, is she?"

Dawn opened her eyes to check the condition of the Pokémon. As Lucas had predicted, the Grass-type was out cold. Dawn closed her eyes again and giggled. "I guess our pointless ramblings can even help the sick fall at ease..."

"We should start a clinic."

Dawn's laugh was the last sound that reverberated through the cabin for hours. Lucas soon fell asleep, and Dawn soon followed him. All three slept peacefully, considering their only pillows were each other.

The sunrise seemed to be the next thing that happened. When Dawn opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was no Shaymin. Somewhat panicking, she quickly sat up straight and glanced around the room.

It didn't take her long to find the creature. Shaymin was on the floor by her feet, beaming Dawn with a shining smile. "Shaymin, Shaymin shay!" she shouted energetically.

It was that yell that woke Lucas up. When his senses returned to him enough to understand what was going on, he smirked. "Well, look who's feeling better..."

"Shaymin!" the Pokémon quickly responded.

Dawn was the last to equip a smile. She picked Shaymin up into her arms. "Well, all right...but we're still taking you to the Pokémon Center for a checkup, just incase, understand?"

"Shay, min!" she nodded.

Dawn set Shaymin back down on the floor. She scampered over to the fireplace and watched the still-active flames closely.

The raven-haired girl leaned back in her seat and sighed. She had an odd amount of contentment inside of her. "Can you believe it? We got through Shaymin's first sickness...It was almost a little easy, too. Not that I'm complaining."

Lucas put his hand on Dawn's farthest shoulder from him. He pecked her on the cheek. "...Last night, you didn't need to tell me that your mother took good care of you when you were sick. I knew it already."

A little too shy to face Lucas directly while he was so close, Dawn simply watched Shaymin, trying hard to keep her blush under control. "Oh, really?"

Lucas gave her another peck. "You're going to be a great mother one day."

Dawn smiled, embarrassed, but happy with the compliment. She stood up and started walking over to Shaymin. "In a way..." She bent down and pet the Pokémon gently. "...it sort of feels like I already am." She took Shaymin into her grasp and stood back up. She turned to the boy in the room. "Anyways, let's get to the Center!"

The two exited the strange cabin. Both felt a little more fulfilled than when they had entered it.