I work as a Pokemon breeder, but recently my Parasect has been giving me a bit of trouble… She’s unusually protective of the eggs we keep, and considering what they’ve been known to do with their eggs, I’m a little worried? Is there any chance of them being infected by the Paras fungus?

Quite honestly, no. The tochukaso mushroom (that is, the one that grows on paras backs) requires a very specific host.

Allow me to explain with an example. The fungus O. unilateralis is a rather unassuming-looking organism, consisting of a single fruiting body (bit that reproduces and releases spores) in the form of a tiny stalk. However, the problem that O. unilateralis faces is that the floor of the forests in which it exists do not harbor the right conditions for it to thrive. The moisture there isn’t optimal, and never mind releasing spores when you’re surrounded by tall plant life.

Thus, the spores of the O. unilateralis make do … by infecting the ants it shares its habitat with. Over a matter of days, O. unilateralis’s signature stalk will grow out of the infected ant while its mycelium reaches inward and seizes control of the ant’s body. It then drives the ant to crawl up a stalk of grass or other plant, clamp down hard onto the stem, and stay there until it dies. Meanwhile, O. unilateralis draws in the moisture it needs to release its spores, and its spores travel much further than they would have if the fungus were stuck on the ground. Yet all other wildlife is more or less unaffected by O. unilateralis’s presence. Birds can eat infected ants without being infected themselves, pokémon can brush up against entire fields of it without feeling any effects whatsoever, and even humans—who are admittedly less equipped to survive the deadlier parts of nature than animals or pokémon—can touch the fungus without any ill effects (for the most part).

In the same way, tochukaso is to paras and parasect as the O. unilateralis is to the ant. It thrives on the backs of that evolution line and only that evolution line; any other organism that touches it is completely unaffected by it (assuming they’re not allergic to mold, anyway). So while it comes as no surprise that your parasect is protective of the eggs in your care (she is following her own/her parasite’s instincts, after all), it’s very, very unlikely that any of the hatchlings are actually infected.

However, it is very likely that she’s spraying your eggs with spores anyway (as per her instincts), so it’s important that you wipe each egg shortly before hatching and try to keep your parasect from spraying the newborns.