"Come on, Misty! The last flag is just ahead!" The enthusiastic young man from Pallet Town did not even give his partner a moment to respond before dashing off, eyes locked on the prize.
"Calm down! We won't be getting ANY more flags if I can't keep up!" A disgruntled redhead followed after her energetic companion, brushing herself off as she leaped over a log. When she finally reached him, he simply nodded at her before pointing up at their goal. A large blue flag stood proudly on a mountain crag, billowing in the breeze. It declared its presence very clearly with its bright color and rhythmic "snap" that sounded with each strong gust that passed.
Brushing her sweaty bangs out of her face, Misty reached into her back pocket to pull out their map. "The path that takes us up there should be off to our right…." She took a few steps toward the supposed location of the mountain trail, but suddenly an arm reached out to stop her in her tracks. With a sigh, she turned her perplexed gaze onto Ash. He wasn't looking at her, or even in the direction of the path, but rather kept his attention focused on the flag up ahead. "What's the matter?" she asked at last.
"We don't have time to find a path," he stated simply.
Misty raised an eyebrow at this. "Then let's move instead of just standing here talking abou-"
"I'm going to climb that rock."
That idea did not settle well with her. "Excuse me?" She folded her arms across her chest, hoping he would provide some sort of reasoning behind this absurdity.
"We lost time during the three-legged race," he began, which earned him a punch on the shoulder.
"Whose fault is that?" Misty snapped, although some humor edged her seemingly irritated tone. "You refused to match my pace!" She had told him that she would slow down so his legs could keep up, but her uncoordinated companion could not perfect his timing. It certainly wasn't her fault that she was taller than him.
"We're so close," he continued, almost desperately. "We have the flag you got from crossing the river, and the flag I got from the top of the bridge…." At last he turned to face her. "We have to take this shortcut! This is such a small cliff. I can do this!" The passion that burned behind his dark eyes was unlike anything that Misty had ever seen before. Many things stirred up a fire in Ash's heart, especially when related to Pokémon battles or to those near and dear to him, but some aspect of this flame seemed unique. Was it just a different facet of his competitive personality? Was he trying to prove himself? Maybe this was an opportunity for him to showcase his own fortitude, without his Pokémon. Why would he feel the need to show off to her? She already knew how powerful his spirit was; quite honestly, he was the only one who did not seem to realize his strength.
Misty didn't have time to contemplate this issue, though. Ash had already taken off towards the rock face. The sight of him becoming smaller and smaller snapped her back to reality, and she scrambled after him in a panic. "Ash, we're still too close to the river!" Could he hear her, or was he totally in the zone? "This is an awful idea!" She had to be blunt to get through his thick skull. "Dummy, we can run up the path really quickly!" He was already scaling the rocks. Her feet slammed against the ground harder, and her legs moved faster as adrenaline propelled her forward. "We're a team! You didn't even wait for me to say anything!" Her breath was coming in quick gasps now. She would either have to forfeit running or shouting to conserve it. "Don't step there! NO!"
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Her heart skipped a beat as Ash slowly opened his eyes and turned his gaze onto her. They made eye contact, and her heart continued its rhythm once more.
Ba-dump.
"You're awake," she breathed as relief washed over her like a wave.
"I was… asleep?" Ash slowly lifted himself to a sitting position. As his vision became clearer, he began to notice some unusual details in his surroundings. The room was white, Chanseys were scurrying back and forth, and Misty was… crying?
"You shouldn't have climbed that stupid rock," she muttered at last, her voice shaking. Laughter, anger, and fear all danced together in her tone. "What were you thinking? You slipped on a wet rock and came crashing down, you moron. We're lucky your injuries weren't worse."
Ash nodded slowly, probably trying to recollect the events that all took place before his little accident. "Does this mean we didn't win?"
She laughed and punched him in the arm again, very softly this time. "Is that all you can think about?"
He shrugged and laughed as well. "What can I say? I was afraid of losing."
Misty's gaze suddenly clouded with all of her previous panic and uncertainty, but underlying all of her negative emotions, care and compassion were clear as could be. "Well, for a while, I was afraid of losing you."
"I'm not going anywhere," he assured her with a goofy grin, and he reached out to take her hand. Gently, she accepted it, and couldn't help but notice just how warm he was, inside and out. When she finally forced a smile onto her face, Ash eagerly asked, "Now, what's for dinner?"