Rumors had begun to surface that an illness was starting to sweep through parts of Hoenn, presently incurable. When Josh heard about it, his first thoughts went to his children, who were still young and very much vulnerable to this kind of thing. Easily so. It didn't take much for him to decide to head out and pursue the additional rumors of a cure. It was an old legend, really, nothing to take at face value, but... It was worth looking into, no matter the risk.

To his surprise, another was searching for this "miracle cure". Someone who had been afflicted by the illness himself, to his surprise. Josh happily agreed to help, though he was concerned that the young man that accompanied him might collapse before they find something. Walking through the woods wasn't the best idea while you were sick, after all.

"I have kids" He admitted as he looked to the young man. "Can't let it spread."

He hadn't really given much to introductions or motivations until now, so the best he could do he thought was give some insight into his own motivations. Something to comfort the sick young man into confidence that he would be doing his absolute best to find this cure. "Try not to talk too much unless it's important. Save your strength" Josh advised gently when the man spoke up. "We'll find your cure. Do you remember where they said it might be? Anything about this legend that I might be forgetting?"

He knew he had just suggested toning down the talking, but if he remembered something that he hadn't... Well, the sooner they found this cure, the better.

[attr="class","merrkI"]
at the mention of kids kazimir did his best to stifle a grimace at the thought of this guy's kids sick in bed with whatever he had. heck it was a miracle that he himself wasn't passing out or collapsing from how horrible he felt. then again the symptoms weren't as bad as other people reported but that probably meant the man was a ticking time bomb. if kazimir didn't get healed quick then this was just going to get worse and worse.

so he would take the guy's advice and conserve as much energy as he could with minimal exertion on his part. that much he could do at least to make sure he didn't worsen his condition. talking was probably going to be a problem however, kazimir was the one with more knowledge about thise so called cure so he was the designated guide on this trek. wonderful.

"ok well...they said it had something to do with bulbasaurs. like...'the fruit given to the bulbasaur children...contains nourishment for all'...i think. maybe we just find a bulbasaur nest or something?" it was the only thing he could really think of. for some reason "fruit" was the magic ingredient even though the grass types they were looking for produced some kind of sweet nectar. it could possibly be something that they eat specifically that no one has ever seen before. "i think its just a bit further in, i spotted some tracks that looked like a bulbasaur heading down east."

The thought of his son and daughter getting sick didn't sit well with him either, and it had motivated him starkly to pursue this as soon as possible. He refused to risk it. He would find this cure or he wouldn't be home anytime soon. Sure, his reasons might seem selfish, and he did really want to find it for others too... But his top priority was ensuring that his kids were not exposed to this kind of thing. And he would do whatever it took to do just that.

He felt bad for making this guy talk though when he had just advised him to conserve his energy. But they had to do what needed to be done. Once he gave the bit about Bulbasaurs, Josh nodded his head as he looked to Lightning. The Raichu seemed to understand the conversation and began sniffing around, trying to get the scent of Bulbasaur tracks.

"Rai!" Lightning called to the two of them before rocketing off. Josh growled lightly, knowing that Lightning hadn't realized that their company was sick and wouldn't be able to move as quickly. "Slow down" Josh called to Lightning, and while the Raichu pouted a bit, he obliged. Josh looked to Kazimir as he started to head to the way the Raichu was leading. Hopefully they would be able to find the Bulbasaur... And the cure.

[attr="class","merrkI"]
kazimir was grateful that the guy had some sort of way of tracking for bulbasaur's other thank looking for footprints. among the forest floor prints were sure to get covered up pretty quickly so having a pokemon help them search was a boon. when the raichu indicated that it managed to find a trail josh had told it to slow down, all the while kazimir was a bit too eager to follow it as he himself slowed down his pace. hopefully josh didn't notice, he didn't want to seem like he didn't appreciate the concern but right now getting himself back to full health was eating away at him. or that could have been the virus inside of his body, either or.

"hey don't worry man, i can power walk at least." kazimir reassured the other man as he followed. it only took a while before the sound of something familiar reached the group's ears.

"'saur"

"did you hear that?" kazimir didn't even give josh and his raichu a chance before he charged ahead, not at a walk, but at a half run as he breezed past the two and dug his way into some bushes only for his body to seize up in a coughing fit and his legs turn to jelly as he fell to one knee. "crap!"

his chest felt like it was on fire, a big fire as it burned and tightened hard enough for him to clutch it and suppress a cough from escaping when he felt a bit of phlegm come up his throat. through all that he was greeted with something good, a bulbasaur that came out and gazed at him with a curious look. following it was a large venasaur with strange growths underneath its petals that looked just as curious at this newcomer to its territory.

"I know. But you shouldn't have to" Josh responded curtly when the other man spoke up that he could power walk. It was far easier to deal with a gingerly walking Kazimir right now than to deal with one that had collapsed and needed immediate care. If he crashed now, they would have to abandon the mission for the time being. That was not something that Josh wanted to do. So to him, taking this at a ginger pace would be the way to go.

And then he took off at a run and Josh just stood there with a deadpan expression for a moment. He let out a sigh and plucked at his hairs a bit before he and Lightning ran off after him. Just as Josh predicted, Kazimir went down. Though not before they discovered a Bulbasaur, and then following it, a strange looking Venusaur.

Could this be the one?

Josh looked to Lightning, motioning toward the Venusaur. "Ask the Venusaur if it can heal ailments. Tell it our friend here is sick" He instructed, keeping it as simple as possible for the Raichu. Lightning nodded as he approached the Venusaur, and began to parlay the same point.

[attr="class","merrkI"]
as the raichu went about trying to get some answers out of the venasaur kazimir did his best to help himself up to his feet. unfortunately he could only bring himself to get into a sitting position as he watched the exchange. he was definitely out of breath so even if they found what they were looking for or even needed to do a little more before getting their hands on it he was probably at the end of his rope. that was unless this josh guy would carry him, or had a pokemon that would be willing to let kazimir sit on its back.

the venasuar let out a grunt as from its back vines appeared and plucked a berry off of its back and handed it to kazimir. the man had to double take between the large reptile and the fruit before accepting it. looking it over in his hands he was a bit hesitant to really try it, you can never be too careful eating stuff found in the wild. yeah it was given to him so he was certain it was ok...but the texture of the berry wasn't something that gave the impression that it was tasty.

"well...bottoms up." taking a big bite out of it the juices began to flow, trickling down his chest and shirt as he continued to bite. the flavor was pretty good and intoxicating, and even half of it was enough to make him feel full. "oh man...that...that's good medicine. i think i'm...well i got energy again." with that he forced himself to stand up with ease as he wobbled around at first but seemed pretty fine for the most part. "dude...i think we found it!"

He sure hoped they could get it. Otherwise they would have to deal with the fact that Kazimir had winded itself. Especially if the Venusaur up and attacked instead... That would be a problem. So he held his breath a little bit during the exchange. He flinched a bit when the Venusaur's vines would come out. He had a Venusaur of his own outside the region, and knew exactly what the vines could entail.

Bu instead, the Venusaur would pluck a berry from its back and hand it to Kazimir. Josh took a deep breath, as he looked to Kazimir. It seemed that it was now or never... Moment of truth time.

It worked.

Letting out a sigh in relief, he grinned wide. "Good. At least we know there's a cure now" He remarked as he looked to the Venusaur. "There are a lot of people sick from something serious" He explained to the Venusaur. "Do you mind if we take some more berries to give to some people that are really sick? And maybe let them know the berries are here in case others need to be cured? People and Pokemon are potentially going to die if we don't."

Lightning would chime in to ensure to the Venusaur it understood his meaning.

[attr="class","merrkI"]
the venasaur gave josh a smile as it plucked more berries from its back and handed it to the trainer. "oh i'll hold some!" kazimir interjected as he finished off the last of the berry he was given and slowly walked his way over and held out his arms to carry a few. the large pokemon let the raichu know that if they ever needed more then they could plant the seeds to grow a few bushes of these types of berries. or wait till a bulbasaur eats one unexpectedly.

"man guess that was real lucky of us huh? kdidn't think the cure was actually growing on a venasaur. then again weirder things have happened yeah?" kazimir took another berry and examined it before taking another bite out of it. its flavor was just something that he couldn't ignore, or pull himself away either. they were just so good! the venasaur also mentioned that the berries were a bit addictive, so they should be careful when handing them out to people.

Josh smiled brightly as the Venusaur began to pluck even more berries from its back to hand to them. He would bow his head gratefully. "Thank you. Your generosity will save many lives" He promised as he would take the berries handed to him. Lightning would take some as well, as did Kazimir. While the Raichu was alerted to being able to plant them, it remained to see how Lightning would communicate that to them. But it would manage, somehow.

As they bade the Venusaur farewell and began to head back, Josh looked toward Kazimir with a quizzical look as he began to bite into one of the berries. Was he just really hungry? Or was there addictive properties to these berries? That was something that Lightning wouldn't be able to tell them.

"Save some for the sick" He pointed out calmly as they headed back to town. Hopefully these berries would be able to stop the spread of the infection. And then his kids would be safe.