DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon.
Hear
"So, you're saying she can't hear us at all?"
"As far as I can tell, no."
"I'm gonna double check: MISTY! MISTYYYY! HELLOOOO- OW!"
"Ash, she may not be able to hear you, but she can still see you screaming in her face!"
The 13-year-old pokémon trainer fell backwards onto the grass to nurse the foot his ailing companion had just stamped on, sticking his tongue out at her and receiving a gesture of equal childishness straight back. Brock just tutted to himself at the pitiful scene before turning back to inspect the embarrassed girl's red and swollen ear.
"Yep, looks like an ear infection to me." He frowned. "My little sister, Cindy, used to get this kind of thing all the time."
"Is it bad?" Ash asked as he made his way back over to them.
"Not at the moment," Brock replied. "But we will need to take her to a doctor once we reach the next town."
The older pokémon breeder then produced a small torch from his backpack, shining it against the side of Misty's head and revealing a rather disturbing sight to his young friend.
"Whoa! What is that?!" Ash recoiled, his disgusted expression causing Misty to growl in annoyance.
Brock rolled his eyes. "It's a cyst, Ash. I'm assuming that's why she can't hear anything."
"Well, can't you just, you know…" He performed a quick forward stabbing motion with his index finger.
"Lance it? Not unless we want the infection to spread."
Despite the explanation, Ash still appeared confused. "Hang on a minute. How come she's totally lost her hearing if the infection's only in one ear?"
"I don't know, Ash, I'm not a doctor." Brock sighed. "Although, I can't imagine the barrage of Supersonic attacks she took when she fell into that zubat nest the other day did her any favours."
As the inquisitive teenager let out a short "ohhh" of understanding, Brock returned to his backpack, rummaging right down to the bottom before pulling out a small tube of red and white capsules.
"Well, we're still nowhere near Olivine City, and not all of the smaller towns in-between show up on the map," he stated. "But the closest one's still probably a couple of days away. Until then, these are all I've got. They'll keep the pain at bay, at least."
He held the tube out to Misty. "Just take one of these every four hours or so and…oops, sorry, I forgot you can't hear me."
Quickly locating a pen and paper from his seemingly bottomless rucksack, he jotted down the necessary instructions, sticking them neatly with some tape to the side of the tube and placing the tube in the disgruntled redhead's hands. She gave a small smile of thanks before looking back down at the ground.
"So, what do we do now?" Ash asked.
"Nothing we can do but keep going, I guess," answered Brock. "I'll take care of Togepi in the meantime. You keep an eye on Misty, okay?"
The pokémon breeder decided not to wait for his younger friend to respond (or, more likely, complain) before he took Misty's chirping egg pokémon into his arms and continued on without another word down the sun-drenched dirt road.
"Err, okay…?" Ash mumbled, confused by the matter-of-factness of Brock's exit. He then turned around to face his red-faced friend, beckoning with a slight grin and a flick of his wrist for her to follow.
"Hmph," she huffed, looking down and not moving an inch. Being so vulnerable left her feeling too humiliated to act civilly.
But it was during this fleeting moment of silence that Ash's eyes landed on a small, green, insectoid presence near Misty's right foot. Its six legs made a slight clicking sound as it scuttled closer to the unsuspecting girl, and the markings on its back gradually stretched into something resembling a smiling face. Despite the 'duty' thrust upon him by Brock only moments ago, the young boy had to turn away quickly to hide the devious grin that spread across his face.
"Suit yourself." He sniggered, knowing full well that his friend could not hear him. "I guess I'll just leave you alone with that nice spinarak on your shoe…"
Slowly, Ash began to walk forwards, but kept his head cocked to one side to listen out for the inevitable shriek of terror from behind him. Misty's fear of bug pokémon was something he would never understand, but always managed to get a kick out of nonetheless, and if he were to guess, hilarity would ensue in exactly three, two, one…
"AYYYYYEEEEEEEEKKKK!"
Before the scheming pokémon trainer had a chance to look over his shoulder, the frantic Misty tore past him at a breakneck speed, almost knocking Brock over further ahead and disappearing up the road so far that she was virtually out of sight. Brock looked back towards Ash with a decidedly unimpressed look on his face, whereas the boy in question was doubled over with laughter, his eyes watering from the sight of the impromptu prank he had just orchestrated.
"I tried to warn you!" he shouted along the road, still chuckling to himself.
Of course he would look after Misty – he did not need Brock to tell him to do that – but there was nothing to say that he could not have a little fun while doing so.
It was not deafness, per se; rather, everything sounded blurry, indistinct, a feeling not unlike being deep underwater. Misty Waterflower knew that feeling extremely well, but it was not one she had ever particularly wanted to feel while on land – and certainly not accompanied by all the sharp pains shooting around her head. The sensation was nauseating, almost to the point of being physically sick, but she persevered in silence, not wanting to be mollycoddled any more than she already had been. That, and she could not exactly take part in any of her companions' conversations, so the solemn young girl tried to keep her distance – at least, as much as one could when travelling with someone like Ash Ketchum.
"Here you go, Mist." The very person smiled down at her, placing a bowl of hot soup on her lap. She jumped slightly at the unexpected contact, but soon gave a bashful smile and turned her attention to her meal.
"You okay?" He continued to stare at her, the light of the campfire dancing in his deep brown irises. "Your cheeks are kinda red."
Like he had watched Brock do earlier that day, Ash instinctively raised his hand up to Misty's forehead and planted it gently against her pale skin. The unprepared redhead's eyes opened as wide as they would go, and she shuddered at the touch. After only a few seconds, however, she roughly shook him off, grunting as her eyes snapped back down at the ground.
"Hey, I'm trying to help you!" Ash exclaimed, a somewhat hurt tone to his boyish voice.
It was clear by now, though, that there was no getting through to his prickly friend, and with a sigh of frustration, the young boy shuffled back over to his side of the log he and Misty were sitting on.
The rest of the meal passed by in silence, despite Misty's belief that Ash and Brock must have been positively living it up without her. Nobody seemed in the mood to talk, as if the current predicament among the group had cast an impenetrable, unreachable cloud over things. It was only when Brock stood up to gather his cooking apparatus that some energy appeared to seep back into the scene.
"There's some more soup if anyone wants it," he called over to his two friends as he stirred the remains at the bottom of the large cooking pot. "Probably only enough for one person, though, so you guys are gonna have to fight over it."
The ever-ravenous Ash's stomach growled at the prospect of more food, and when he suddenly remembered that he was the only one to have heard Brock's offer, another devilish idea sprung into his mind.
"I've got a better idea," he crooned slyly. "Whoever wants the last helping, raise your hand!"
Aware that his 'opponent' was facing the other way and thus had no idea what was going on, Ash stuck his hand firmly up in the air, then gave himself a congratulatory pat on the back.
"Oh well, looks like it's mine, then!" He laughed as he made his way over to the pot.
Brock just shook his head in exasperation, running a hand through his coarse, brown hair. Teenagers could be such a handful at times like these.
The following morning, the trio were back on the rural roads of Johto, travelling together in a peaceful silence after their hearty breakfast à la Brock. The two boys were leading the group, Ash idly trudging along with his hands behind his head and Brock consulting the map as he walked. Misty, as usual, was trailing behind, and although Pikachu had made a point to keep her company ever since she woke up, her current feeling of helplessness was still boiling her blood beyond belief.
Eventually, they came to a fork in the road, with one path leading to a thick brush and another seemingly sloping uphill towards the mountains. Ash bit his lip in uncertainty as his eyes darted between the two routes.
"Aww, man." He sighed. "How are we going to know which path leads to town?"
But Brock appeared from behind him, tapping him on the shoulder with the corner of his map as a reminder.
"Oh, yeah." He grinned sheepishly. "Well, which way is quickest?"
"Six and two threes, from what I can gather," said Brock without looking up from the map. When his naïve young friend did not answer, he made sure to add, "It means they're the same."
"Ah," he muttered. "Well, in that case, let's take the forest path. Maybe we can find a shortcut!"
"Fine with me," Brock shrugged. Only a few steps down the aforementioned lane, however, Ash stopped in place as a bizarre thought occurred to him.
"What's that, Misty?" he grinned, cupping his hand around his ear. "Don't you want to go down the other path? Am I not a total idiot for going this way? You sure you don't want to yell at me and hit me with something heavy? No? Well, alright then, this way it is!"
Once again, the taciturn redhead was staring blankly off into space, missing the entirety of her teasing friend's spiel.
Marching proudly down his chosen road, another rascally smirk made its way onto Ash's face, and he whistled a triumphant melody to himself in celebration of his uncontested victory.
"I could get used to this."
A few hours passed, and a slightly calmer Misty sat alone by the edge of a small stream deep in the woods, trying to keep her mind off the searing pain in her ear with some simple washing up. A stone's throw away, a trio of miscreants observed her carefully from behind a thick patch of shrubbery.
"Look, Jess, it's that redheaded twerp," remarked the soft-spoken, blue-haired man.
"Yes, but what's she doing all alone?" the crimson-haired woman to his right pondered.
"And ain't she da one what looks after Togepi?" said Meowth, squinting his feline eyes for any sign of the Spike Ball Pokémon he had played a part in raising.
"Well I say we strike now!" Jessie declared. "We've seen how strong her water pokémon are; imagine the boss's face if we bring him the whole set!"
James appeared unconvinced. "Shouldn't we wait until the other twerps arrive?"
"Yeah," Meowth agreed. "Dat way we can swipe all their pokémon too!"
"I'm not waiting around any longer!" Jessie shrieked at them, causing them both to shrink slightly. "Besides, the other twerps always show up one way or another. The main one can't be away from his little girlfriend for more than five minutes; it's so saccharine that it makes me want to throw up."
"Well, I think it's just adorable!" James squealed.
Meowth growled. "Will you guys getcha heads in da game! If we're gonna nab deez pokémon we gotta do it now!"
Jessie and James both nodded, and, on the count of three, the duo leapt dramatically out of the bushes, taking their places as their pokémon companion cued the music.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
To their surprise, Misty kept her back turned, not so much as flinching at their arrival. The two Team Rocket members looked at each other curiously before shrugging and carrying on.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
Again, nothing. The pair was beginning to get annoyed.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!" Jessie purposely over-enunciated.
"To extend our reach to the stars above!" James responded in kind.
At that moment, Misty let out a small yawn, infuriating the conniving pokénappers to no end.
"JESSIE!"
"JAMES!"
"TEAM ROCKET…BLAST OFF AT THE SPEED OF…LIGHT!" panted Jessie, her eyes bulging in frustration.
"SURRENDER NOW…OR PREPARE TO FIIIIIIIGHT!" James finished on a piercing falsetto.
"Meowth, that's…huh?"
Once the Scratch Cat noticed the outrage of their beloved motto being snubbed, he, too, was shaking with anger.
"Just what is the meaning of this, twerp?!" Jessie snapped, taking a step forward.
James also edged towards the unaware girl. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to sew this dress?!" He gestured towards the frilly pink number he had slipped into during their fanfare. "The least you could do is look at it!"
"Enough chatter!" Meowth hissed, "Let's just get her pokéballs and skedaddle!"
Still growling under their breaths, the trio tiptoed forward towards the red drawstring bag at Misty's side. This twerp was usually the most dangerous out of the three, so to witness her acting so placid and nonchalant was just baffling. Still, they had a job to do, and, leaning in, James began to stretch out his hand, his fingers just grazing the edges of the bag, when…
"Team Rocket!"
Startled, Jessie, James and Meowth swivelled around to face an opening in the trees, where Ash, Brock and Pikachu were staring them down angrily. Even Misty was alerted by the commotion, almost falling into the water as she noticed the three insidious figures surrounding her.
The grinning Jessie instantly adopted her battle position, and after a quick nudge to the arms of her two team members, they both quickly followed suit.
"Now that's more like it."
A rather worn-out Brock eyed the dwindling fire from his spot on the dry grass.
"I'd better go and find some more firewood," he droned, standing up straight and stretching his back. "Can I trust you not to start anything else while I'm gone?"
Ash did a double take. "Who, me? What have I done?"
A long sigh escaped from Brock's chest. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Just…be nice."
And with that, he vanished almost instantly beyond the fringes of the forest clearing. Ash leant back on the tree stump he was sitting on, glancing over at the snoozing Pikachu and Togepi by the fire before turning his gaze to Misty atop her red sleeping bag. The redhead was simply staring straight up at the starry sky, apparently lost in deep thought.
"Some day, huh, Mist?" Ash smiled over at her, a mere three seconds before his face fell and he muttered a weary, "Oh…yeah. I forgot again."
As the day had progressed, Ash had gradually come to realise that his many tricks and pranks had little lasting appeal when the person they were meant for was not even reacting to them. Of course, that had been the point at first, but this one-sidedness did not feel as satisfying as he thought it would, and over time, Misty's sullen and reserved behaviour began to seem more upsetting than amusing (not least because Brock had successfully shut down the boy's latest few attempts to trick her, including a repeat of the 'leftovers incident' from the other day).
"You know, these conversations are a lot more fun when there's actually two people involved in them." He chuckled sarcastically. With her head buried in her pillow, Misty could only hear the faintest, blotchiest traces of sound, but kept her eyes fixed on the stars above her, assuming it was just the wind or some other forest noise.
"Normally, we'd be having our nighttime argument by now," he continued. "Something about who has to wash the dishes tomorrow or whatnot. Hey, I just thought, this might be the longest we've gone without fighting since we first started travelling together! How about that?"
He took off his red cap and scratched vigorously at his matted black hair before turning to stare at the dying embers of the campfire. To his right, he could hear Misty groaning in pain and rustling in her sleeping bag, but the boy had learned to tune such sounds out over the past couple of days, knowing that there was very little he could do to help her. After about a minute, he took in a deep breath only to release most of it in a heavy sigh.
"Okay, I'm only saying this because I know you can't hear me," he began, "but the last two days haven't been the same without you there to talk to. It's just weird, you know? I mean, we're always talking about something when we're on the road, or laughing at one of Brock's crazy stories, or yelling at each other about which evolved form of eevee is the best, but there's been none of that for ages now, and I guess I didn't realise how much I, you know, liked it."
"And yeah, even the fighting, if you can believe that," he added. Some more rustling came from his silent addressee's direction, but Ash's gaze did not shift from the smouldering pile of sticks at his feet.
"I know you weren't even looking during most of them," continued the fidgeting young boy, "but I'm, er, sorry for all the pranks I tried to pull on you. I guess I was just bored, hehe. And yeah, yeah, I know what you're going to say…"
He raised his voice to an exaggeratedly high pitch. "Yeah, right, like you've ever been sorry about anything to do with me, especially my bike! Well, I am, so deal with it, Miss High-and-Mighty!"
When Misty let out a small cough, Ash shook his head jovially and then swiftly returned to his audience-less speech.
"But it wasn't all bad! Remember when I sent us into the forest instead of going up the mountain path? Well, I thought that'd be the best thing for your ear, 'cause Brock told me once about how high altitudes can make you lightheaded, and I didn't want you fainting on me or anything. Can you believe it? I used science! Aren't you proud of me?"
As his light laughter faded, the teenager's expression became darker, and his face suddenly conveyed a note of nervousness.
"The truth is, I've been kinda worried about you ever since all this started. You're not normally quiet like this; in fact, you're pretty much the loudest person I've ever met! I ought to be the deaf one…hehe, I'm so glad you can't hear this. Anyway, I know we act like we hate each other most of the time, but I do think about you a lot, you know, because, um…oh, man, I can't believe I'm saying this…"
Despite the fact that he was essentially talking to himself, the thought of his next words brought forth a warm blush across Ash's cheeks.
"I just hope you get well soon, Misty, because, well…you're my best friend."
His face still burning, Ash moved back from the fire and turned his attention to the night sky, admiring the sheet of twinkling white orbs staring down at him. The 'conversation' he had just had was a lot to open up about at once, even if no-one was listening, but the young boy found himself relieved that he had had a chance to air all of these thoughts and feelings that may never have surfaced otherwise. He did not have much time to ruminate, however, before he felt something warm and soft touch his hand, causing him to twitch in shock.
"Do you mean that?"
Ash's head snapped to the right, his eyes wide when he noticed Misty kneeling beside him, only about a foot away. The intensity of her stare coupled with the smoothness of her hand on top of his did little to quell the blush on his face.
"Waaahh!" he cried. "M-Misty…you can hear me?"
She nodded, and it was then that Ash noticed her other hand holding a ball of tissues up to her infected left ear.
"How? Wait, did it…?"
"Yep, all over my sleeping bag." She grimaced, a look that her friend soon mirrored. "Didn't you hear me writhing and squirming like crazy a couple of minutes ago?"
Ash's face flashed with guilt. "Oh, er, kinda, yeah, but I…"
"Oh, so you ignored me. Well, that's nice to know."
"No, no, it's not like that! I just didn't know what I could d-"
But when something truly harrowing crossed the young teenager's mind, his poor attempt at a validation was lost in the ether.
"Hold on a minute…" He shuddered. "H-How much of that did you hear?"
To his horror, Misty just smiled. "Pretty much the whole thing. Never would've figured you for such a bleeding heart, Mr. Pokémon Master."
Predictably, Ash raised his hands up in denial. "N-No, that's not it! I was just saying how much of a bore you've been these last few days, and how I wanted you to get better so you wouldn't have such a moody face on you all the time!"
"That's not what it sounded like to me," she teased. "And, by the way, that impression you did of me was just awful."
All Ash could do was scratch his head sheepishly as Misty scooted him over to join him on the tree stump. Her hand was still resting on his, and their closeness made his heart pound for a reason he did not quite understand.
"But I have to know," she spoke in a softer, more serious tone. "Did you mean that last bit? About me being your best friend?"
Her eyes were looking straight into his. There was something so inexplicably fascinating about them, intoxicating even, that Ash briefly forgot that she had even asked him a question. He nodded his head weakly, and took in a number of breaths before attempting to speak again.
"…I meant all of it."
Misty closed her eyes and looked away, her cheeks lighting up around the peaceful smile that adorned her face. "Thanks, Ash." She sighed contently. "And, well, I'm not sure I would ever have said anything either if we weren't in this position, but you're my best friend, too."
"Really?" Ash asked, stunned.
Though she knew they were having a moment of unprecedented intimacy, the young girl had barely spoken a word for two days, and was in a noticeably playful mood. "Actually, wait, no, it's Brock who does the cooking, isn't it?" She grinned. The boy's face drooped when she said this, and she quickly added, "I'm just kidding, you idiot! It's always been you."
It's always been you, she repeated to herself in her head. How beautifully fitting that phrase was on a number of levels. Of course, that was a discussion for another day.
A short silence passed, allowing the two newly christened best friends to take in the meaningful words of the other. Ash was content to sit like this for the rest of the night, but Misty was tired of silence, and wasted no time in starting the conversation back up.
"Then again," she began somewhat cryptically, "I'd just love to hear about all these 'pranks' you supposedly pulled on me when I was too ill to fight back…"
Ash recognised that tone, and it usually ended in pain – specifically, his. "Uhh, well, you see…"
"And I don't suppose you had anything to do with that spinarak that nearly crawled RIGHT UP MY LEG yesterday, did you?!" she growled.
The anxious pokémon trainer began to edge away from her on the stump. "Now, h-hang on, I can, er, explain everything. Th-The thing is, um…BYE!"
Without looking back, Ash slid off the stump and pelted across the clearing, unable to hide the laughter that made its way up his throat.
"YOU GET BACK HERE, ASH KETCHUM!" Misty chased after him furiously. The volume of her voice notwithstanding, her pursuit was mostly amicable, with the two good friends merely enjoying each other's company after the stress and tumult of the last two days. A few minutes in, Brock returned with two armfuls of tinder, dropping them to the ground when he spotted his two flailing young friends at the other end of the clearing.
"What on earth are you guys doing?!" he shouted over to them. "Do you know how late it is? Misty, you know you're not supposed to be running around in your condition! Is anyone listening to me?! Hello?!"
Yet, ironically enough, they did not hear him.