Parasect

Mush the Parasect looked over his right claw. Yesterday, it had been in a lot of pain. It had happened in a battle when he had tried attacking a Steel Pokemon with that claw. It might have worked, but he was an old Pokemon and his claws ached with a mild arthritis every morning already. That attack had popped the joint out of place and ripped a muscle. As even a Hyper Potion couldn't fix a torn muscle like that, Mush had endured horrible pain.

Today, his right claw was numb. He'd just returned home from a surgery to correct the problem and the anesthesia they'd used was still affecting him. The doctor had put exoskeleton cement on the surgical cuts, then bound it tightly in white gauze. As a result, his claw was stiff enough that he couldn't move it.

There was something unexpected and odd there, though. On the edge of the bindings, there was a black marking which formed a 'J. L.' on his claw. Those would be the initials of the surgeon. Why had he done it? Was he particularly proud of how this operation had gone? Or was it so that the Pokecenter would recognize it as surgical scars?

"You need to take it easy today, Mush," his Trainer said as she arranged his freshly cleaned bedding. "Don't move that claw too much. In fact, you should just nap to help yourself heal faster. There you go, buddy."

Mush clicked an agreement. Even though his claw wasn't hurting now, he felt off-kilter from the anesthesia. Plus, he hadn't been able to sleep well since that battle. Now he could rest freely. He clambered into the shallow box that made up his bed, stomping down the yellow blanket to his liking. Then he snuggled down and prepared to sleep.

After making sure he would rest, his Trainer went into her office to get some work done. The small house grew quiet then. The window was open, letting in the sound of bird Pokemon singing and other Bug Pokemon chirping. It was relaxing. Mush could close his eye sand just fall into dreamland…

This place is too dry, too bright.

Mush opened his eyes back up. Too bright? It was like normal. But then, he often got impulses to avoid sunlight. In a way, it was good because he tended to have dry skin that burnt easily. He was inside, so it shouldn't be a problem. And it really wasn't too dry.

Too bright, too dry.

Feeling somewhat irritated, the Parasect got out of his bed and crawled over to the window. He reached out with his right claw… no, he couldn't use that now. Even if he could move it, he shouldn't. He reached out with his left claw and grabbed the bottom of the curtain, then pulled it across. There, that blocked the light. This room wasn't too bad when he usually slept here, but that was usually at night.

The pinstripe brown curtain cut out a lot of light, darkening the room considerably. It also stopped the breeze and lessened the relaxing outdoor sounds. But that was okay. Now, he could rest. He got back into his bed, spent a moment settling again, then dropped down and closed his eyes.

This place is too dry. And it could be darker.

Huh? It was good. With his favorite blanket clean and the air quieter (and darker), he should be able to sleep easily. But something in his mind was not satisfied.

In fact, the dissatisfaction was all too familiar. It came from the large spotted mushroom that encased most of his body. That mushroom contributed a lot to his powers, especially when it came to status spore attacks. But from time to time, it was enough of a hassle that he would wish it wasn't there.

You need me. It is too dry.

Grumbling, Mush tried to snuggle deeper into his bed. He needed to be resting after his surgery and the mushroom was stubbornly fighting it. And why? Because it couldn't stand any humidity level under fifty percent! And sometimes it even complained about moisture levels higher than that, as not high enough. Mush himself wasn't picky, but his mushroom was.

You need to be in high humidity. It will help you.

That would help it not me, he thought defiantly. Then he tried to block out the mushroom's prodding thought.

After a moment, he found himself getting up and leaving his bed. Not again… Mush ordered his legs to stop moving. They slowed at first, only to pick back up. On leaving the room, the mushroom wasn't happy with the sunlight streaming in the windows. It was bugged enough at the dry air that it moved through the sunny room into the kitchen.

Mush recognized where it was headed. Not there! He tried to regain control of his body more forcefully. He had cloth bandages on his claw! If those got damp or dirty, then an infection might get in past his exoskeleton. And that wouldn't be good for him or the mushroom, so they should go back to the clean bedding and sleep there.

The mushroom wouldn't listen to reason, of course. It wasn't even a true plant, he thought bitterly. Just a simpler fungus. However, the simple mushroom didn't even understand insulting thoughts. It was only obsessed with keeping conditions optimal for it and nothing else. It didn't even care about his well-being and comfort.

Past the kitchen, they came to the basement door. The mushroom at least had the sense to use his left claw to pull the door open. Then it brought him downstairs. Although some repairs had been done in the past, the basement wasn't perfectly sealed. That let in the dampness that the mushroom adored. Plus, the scattered small windows kept it very dark. The mushroom poked about until it came to a worktable. It decided the best place to rest was right underneath.

The floor was hard concrete, dusty and cool. Around the table, there were large tools and plastic storage containers. It was all gray, brown, black, or ugly green, not like the nicely decorated main floor. There was nothing of comfort here, save for the mushroom's lack of complaints.

Mush sighed. He had already had a bad day; the surgery had made him all nervous, while having his claw broken had been terribly stressful. Now that the ordeal was over, he wanted to relax in his comfy bed with his favorite blanket. Instead, the mushroom had forced him down to this dingy and mildly threatening basement.

What could he do about it? The mushroom would just overtake him again and bring him back down here. Mush settled down, but didn't feel happy.

Before he got to sleep, he heard footsteps on the stairs. Tensing, he tried to creep back into the shadows. His Trainer turned on the light, though, and quickly spotted him. "Mush! You're not supposed to be down here."

He whined. It wasn't his fault! It was the dumb mushroom who ruled so much of his life. Even if it was strong and helped make him powerful, he still hated it at times like this.

The woman shook her head. "I'm not supposed to do this, but all well." She returned him to his Pokeball.

Inside, he found himself in the shade of a tall dying tree. The ground was damp and almost marshy. Again, this would be the mushroom's doing. The smell of the weakened wood stirred his hunger, even though he knew it wasn't real. The mushroom didn't realize that and made him snip off a bit to eat.

When he came back out of his ball, he was back in the bedroom by his bed. This time, his Trainer had plugged in a humidifier and closed the window. "I figured the dry air might be bothering you," she said. "I didn't think you'd go down to the basement so fast. This should fix that problem. So please, stay in your proper bed and rest."

Mush paused for a moment, to see if the mushroom would be unreasonable as usual. But it seemed that the humidifier had appeased it some. After taking a moment to tap his left claw on his Trainer's shoe, he climbed back into the shallow box. It was so nice to snuggle into his yellow blanket, which always reminded him of better days. Once he closed his eyes, he was fast to fall asleep.

…

Parasect Heart Gold entry: It stays mostly in dark, damp places, the preference not of the bug, but of the big mushroom on its back.

This was partly inspired by a friend of mine who recently had surgery on her hand.