He listened to her breathing as he lay there. She sounded so… peaceful. What if I catch it and don't survive? He thought. Will she still be this peaceful?

She turned onto her side to face the wall. His chocolate brown eyes darted to his partner. Its chest slowly rose and fell, and its paws twitched due to whatever it was dreaming. What will Pikachu do? Will it go to another trainer? Or will it stay with Brock and Dawn?

He looked up to the breeder in the bunk above Dawn. He appeared as if he was having a nightmare. Brock… He's so worried about Happiny… I can't catch it… If I catch it I'll probably die; how would he deal with it? I know that he's smart, and will try to be strong, but…

His eyes caught a swift, orange movement outside of the window. He glanced over and sat up. What the…? Was that…?

He got up and walked out to the balcony, where a little girl with long, orange hair in pigtails and bright blue eyes sat in a curled up ball. Her cream colored nightgown that was a size too big for her dangled over her knees, and her bare feet were red with the coldness of the snow.

"Victoria!" Ash hissed. "What are you doing?"

She looked up and grinned, her eyes lighting up. "Ashy!"

She jumped up and ran over to him, hugging his legs. His eyes widened, and he smiled, but then he pushed her away.

"Don't come near me…!"

The little girl looked hurt. "W-Why?"

"Just… Don't. Go home. Mom and Dad are probably worried sick about you, not to mention Zorro."

Her head tipped towards the ground. "But… I wanted to see you. I miss you."

"I know, and I miss you, too. But right now is probably the worst possible time to come. I'll come visit sometime, okay?"

"…okay…"

He smiled gently. "Besides, you should be asleep right now. That's what I'm going to do." He headed towards the door. "I love you, Tori."

"I love you too, Ashy."

He slid the door shut, and there was a flash of light from behind him. When he turned to look at her once more, she was gone. He sighed and crawled into bed, feeling sicker, and tried to fall back asleep.

-_-"

Ash trudged down the stairs and slowly walked over to the other two. It was almost two o'clock in the afternoon; he was extremely tired. He hadn't even bothered to get dressed. The gray fabric of his sweatpants shifted as he walked, and he pulled his gray sweatshirt tighter around his body. They both turned and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you feeling okay? You look like you're sick," Brock pointed out. Ash's shoulders fell as the thought crossed his mind.

"…No, I'm not. I do feel sick. I'm starting to wonder if I didn't catch PokeRus…"

He scoffed. "PokeRus? Come on, Ash, only Pokemon can catch that. Be serious. It's probably a cold. I'll go make you some tea; that'll clear it up." He turned and headed off to the kitchen, and Ash sighed. Dawn smiled gently at him as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Ash. Brock is right, humans can't catch PokeRus. Why don't you go back to bed? I'm sure it will help, and we can bring your tea up to you when it's ready."

He shook his head. "Too much to do… Training, cyber school, keeping up with my family…"

She crossed her arms. "I'm not going to let you train today. You're sick; stressing over that will just make you worse, let alone going outside. Your teachers will let you go for one day without doing your lessons if you're sick, right?"

"…I guess… But you'll let me call my family, right?"

"Of course I will," she giggled. "Just take it easy. Don't fight with anyone, okay?"

"Alright." With that, he headed to the phone room, dialing the number and waiting for someone to pick up.

"Ketchum Resi… Whoa, Ash, you look sick!"

"Nice to see you too, Zorro."

The older teen raised an eyebrow. "What do you have? Do you know?"

"Not yet… But I'm guessing PokeRus…"

His black eyes widened, with a look of horror upon his face until he started laughing nervously. "…Ahaha… Good one, Ashy-Boy… You're funny! I thought you were actually serious…"

Ash looked at the ground, and his older brother slowly stopped laughing.

"You're… not joking, are you…"

"…Don't tell Victoria yet, okay…?"

"…What about Mom and Dad?"

"…You'll need to tell them. I already told Dad that I have the chance of getting it…"

"Okay. What?" The teen looked off screen suddenly, his short, spiky black ponytail bobbing with the jerky movement. "Oh, gotcha! Look, Ashy-Boy, I gotta go. We're going to Professor Oak's. Take it easy, alright? If you do have it, I don't want you to die from it because you were stressing."

"Zorro, either way, I have a 95% chance of dying if I catch it!"

"Really? Never would have guessed!...Feel better, okay?"

"I will. See you…"

The phone shut off, and Ash immediately turned and headed upstairs, crawling into bed and pulling the covers over his head. He was starting to feel weak, but he wasn't actually… tired. He shut his eyes in thought. What if I have it…? What will Tai-Lee do? What will my friends and family do? What will Tori do? How will she deal with it? What about Azzy? Oh, Azzy…

The door opened and shut quietly. "Ash? Are you awake?"

He groaned slightly and pulled the covers down to his chin. "Yeah…"

Brock set the plate down and kneeled next to his bed, putting his hand on Ash's forehead. "You're a little warm… It must be a cold."

Ash bit his lip. That's how it starts…

"Ah, don't worry, Ash," Brock comforted, "If you rest for today, I'm sure it'll be gone by tomorrow."

The thirteen year old looked up at the bottom of the top bunk, sighing. This… Isn't going to end well…

What isn't going to end well?

He gasped in shock, and Brock pulled his hand away quickly.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Um… N-Nothing! Everything's fine, I just thought of something I forgot to tell my brother! That's all!" He laughed nervously, trying to shake it off of the fifteen year old in front of him.

Arceus, Tai-Lee! Don't do that! Send me a tiny jolt or something before connecting with me!

He felt a small electric jolt, and he nearly groaned.

Okey-Dokey, Cuz!

I didn't mean now! I meant when you're about to start connecting with me!

Oh… You feel like you're weak. Are you sick?

I think so… Brock says it's just a cold, but… I'm 95% sure it's PokeRus.

That's great! Now you'll be stronger as soon as it's over!

Are you an idiot? ! Oh, wait, yeah, you are!

What are you talking… err, thinking about?

PokeRus will kill my string of the family!

What? !

Well… there's a 95% of a chance of dying if I catch it.

Oh, my Arceus… I'm coming! I'm coming right now! Where are you?

The Pokemon Center in Snowpoint City. Why do you ask?

…Seriously?

Oh, wait… Just don't come to my room, alright? Brock is still here…

I won't. Be there in a tick!

A what?

There was a rather loud knock on the door, and Brock handed Ash his tea as he sat up. "Here- drink this. You'll feel better if you do." He got up and opened the door. "Can I-"

"Ash!" The girl burst by him and ran to the new teenager's bedside. "Are you okay?"

He pulled the cup away from his lips. "Did we not go over this, like, two seconds ago?"

"So?" She pushed her sky blue hair behind her shoulders and raised an eyebrow.

He sighed. "Anyways… What's a tick?"

"A clock tick."

"…Oooooh…"

She snorted. "Slow enough?"

"He has a fever."

She turned to look at the brunette standing behind her. "Well, yeah, I know that."

"How?"

She froze up. "Um… Well…"

"Hey, Tai-Lee, great outfit!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, trying to make Brock forget about his question.

Her face turned red. "Oh my Arceus! I didn't even think of what I was wearing when I came here!"

He chuckled. "It kind of shows."

The girl was wearing a pink and black zip-up sweatshirt, a pair of purple sweatpants, and a pair of white socks. Her sky blue hair was pulled up into a long ponytail, and her face had a tinge of pink on the cheeks.

"Who are you, anyways?" Brock questioned.

Ash sighed, pulling the cup away from his lips again. "Brock, this is my cousin. Tai-Lee, this is Brock," he said quite dryly. She stood up and held out a hand.

"Nice to meet you."

He seemed skeptical, but he shook her hand anyways. "The feeling's mutual."

Azelf swerved through the trees, around the forest Pokémon and over and under branches, quickly trying to get to Lake Acuity as fast as she could. Mesprit had said she had urgent news, and to get there as soon as possible. Uxie had already gotten there from Snowpoint by teleporting; Azelf hated doing that so she usually avoided doing that unless absolutely necessary.

Finally, the scent of water filled the air, and she flew onto the lakefront where Mesprit and Uxie were. The two Pokemon waved and flew into Mesprit's cave, Azelf quickly following. Once in a circle, they all glowed a bright, white light. They grew to about five and a half feet tall, their legs and arms grew, their tails disappeared, and the attachments on their heads suddenly began to flow. The bright light faded.

Mesprit had long, pink hair in two pigtails on either side of her head. She wore a small, strapless pink dress and pink high heels. Her golden eyes sparkled, and her eyelashes had mascara. On her head was a red headband.

Uxie had short, blonde hair that came to the bottom of her ears. She was wearing a white shirt with black short sleeves and a pair of bell bottom blue jeans. She also wore a pair of gray tennis shoes. Her golden eyes were half shut, and she wore a red rose tucked behind her right ear.

Azelf had her blue hair in two buns on the top of her head. She wore a purple t-shirt, a black, short-sleeved jacket, and blue jean Capri pants. On her feet was a pair of Running Shoes from Silph Co. Her golden eyes were filled with excitement. She also had on a red ball cap.

"What's the news, Mess? Why did you bring us here?" Azzy asked quickly. Mess sighed.

"Honestly, do you have to be so impatient?"

"Yes, considering I'm missing a slip-slapping-tastic battle near Lake Valor! Let's move it!" She snapped her fingers at her triplet for emphasis.

Ux stared at the girliest of the three for a few seconds. "Zorua has PokéRus."

Azzy froze. "W-What? !"

Mess nodded. "Mewthree told me just a couple of hours ago. You both know that Uncle Zekrom and Aunt Reshiram can die from it, and the same with their kids, right?"

"Of course I do."

"Are you serious? ! Oh, my gosh, Ash might die…!"

Mess raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't like him?"

"Not in that kind of a way… but he's family. Even if I don't want to, I have to like him."

Ux stared at the ground for a moment or so. "…Girls… What's going to happen if he does die?"

Azzy glared at her sister. "Don't talk that way! It's Ash; of course he'll survive! He'll think of reasons to, and that'll keep him going!"

"Azelf…" The pink haired sighed and shook her head. "We can't pretend that this is better than it is. Zorua is probably going to die. Even if he doesn't, we all know that he won't be the same afterwards. All we can do is wait for updates…"

The tomboy of the group crossed her arms. "You guys are hopeless! Ash is a strong kid; he'll figure out a way to live! And if he doesn't… then I will!"

With that, she shut her golden eyes, transformed back into Azelf, and teleported away.

Tai-Lee sighed and silently shut the door. It pained her so much to see her cousin, her best friend, worrying about his health so much. On any other occasion, he'd just ignore it and do what he normally did. But when it was life threatening like this…

"Oh, you must be Tai-Lee!"

Her head shot up, and she looked at the blunette quietly. She had long, dark blue hair and Oran berry blue eyes. On her head was a white beanie with a pink PokéBall symbol on the front. She smiled and pulled her pink skirt out a little bit further from her black tank top so that it wasn't too high up. Her pink boot was silently tapping against the floor; her black socks were sliding down slowly because of this action.

"Yeah, that's me," she mumbled. "You're Dawn, I assume?"

"You bet!" she laughed. "And this here is Piplup!"

"Pip, Piplup!"

"Piplup? But didn't Nurse Joy take all of your Pokemon to test them for PokeRus?"

Dawn nodded. "That's why I came up here. She's only going to release them if their trainer is there, or a close relative."

Tai-Lee stared at her for a minute, but soon let a small smile form on her lips. "Don't wake Ash up yet. He just got to sleep, and since he's sick, I figure he'll need all the rest he can get." She started towards the stairwell and waved her hand. "I'll go get Pikachu. I doubt that little guy will want to be cooped up in there all day. See you later, Dawn."

"Bye, Tai-Lee!"

As her feet padded down the stairwell, she couldn't help but eaves drop on her cousin's dream.

It was a bright and sunny day at the beach. Ash was in his human form, sitting next to Azzy. They were both in their swimming suits. Victini, in her human form, was playing in the water with Shae and Sally. Mess and Ux were playing volleyball, laughing, carefree.

Tai-Lee pulled out with a smile and left the stairwell. Good for him, she thought, at least he's getting her in his dreams.

She just hoped that it wouldn't be long before it happened in real life.