Chapter Text
"Brock! Come quick, I need your help right away!"
The sound of Ash's frantic yelling made Brock's heart catch in his chest, almost causing him to drop the knife he was slicing veggies with right onto his foot. He sped over to his side, Misty curiously following close behind. Tension quickly formed in the air. Ash was a trouble magnet, after all. This could be anything.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"It's…" Ash huffed, seeming to have trouble catching his breath. "Bayleef, she's badly poisoned. I… I don't know what to do, Brock!"
Brock had to bite back a sigh. He was really hoping this wouldn't be something serious. They were low on even day-to-day essentials like Pokemon food and Potions right now. A sick Pokemon was the last thing they needed.
He rested his palm on Ash's shoulder, in an attempt to quell his (slightly contagious) anxious energy. He knew how Ash could go from carefree to neurotic in seconds when one of his Pokemon was in danger. "You can start by letting her out of the ball, I'll take a look at her and see what I can do."
Ash nodded, shakily unclipping the capsule from his belt. Bayleef materialized in a luminous aura, flopping lifelessly onto a soft patch of grass. Her lack of response to stimuli worried Brock, but the cold pallor of her scales worried him even more.
Ash watched intently, lip pursed, as Brock gently scooped her up and deposited her still form onto the folding table where they'd eaten breakfast. He tried to keep a cool head as he examined her, but he couldn't help but feel somewhat annoyed with Ash. He had told Ash and Misty, just that morning, that they were running low on supplies and needed to battle and train sparingly. As it stood, there was no significant civilization closer than a two-days walk.
Yet, Ash insisted on doing some special training with Bayleef out in the woods, believing that the overgrown environment might bring out her natural strength. Brock didn't disagree, and it was an astute idea (Ash could be very clever, when Pokemon battling was involved, anyway), but one that callously disregarded his warning.
But, what could he do? He wasn't Ash's keeper. Yet, here he was, expected to do damage control for one of his mistakes.
Not that he wouldn't do it. He would always help any Pokemon in need. He would always help Ash.
Still, that didn't mean he couldn't be a little upset about it.
"She's very feverish… off color, too. How did this happen, Ash?"
"We met some Paras and Parasect out in the woods, I guess they didn't want us in their territory…"
Brock waited for more, but this was the only explanation it seemed Ash was going to give. He was a bit pale and seemed awfully shaken up by this. Beads of sweat formed on his temple, but Brock stifled his concern, attributing it to the exertion of running all the way back to camp.
Knowing how much Ash cared for his Pokemon, Brock felt for him, he really did, but Ash would have to learn his lesson at some point. While the boy only ever had good intentions, he was reckless to a fault.
"Hmm…" Brock thought for a moment before lifting his bag onto the table next to Bayleef, fishing around in the various compartments.
"What are you looking for, Brock?" Misty asked, softly petting one of Bayleef's overheated limbs in a soothing manner.
"Pecha berries," Brock set the small bag of pink berries down near the Pokemon's head, whose nostrils twitched slightly at their smell, "but what would be really good is if I could find some- ah ha, now we're talking!" With a pleased hum, Brock pulled a translucent yellow spray bottle from his bag. "Antidote is much stronger than Pecha berries! It's actually a more concentrated form of the active ingredient that makes these berries effective against poisoning."
"That's great and all," Misty replied to his rambling, "but…" She picked the bottle up and shook it gently, and it became apparent that there was only liquid remaining in the bottom quarter.
"That's gonna be enough, right, Brock?" Ash shouted frantically.
Brock nodded solemnly, pulling out a mortar and pestle. “Just enough, if I mix in the remainder of the spray with the berries, and we keep our fingers crossed.” He said, somewhat gruffly. “You’re beyond lucky, Ash! If you’d gotten poisoned, too, there wouldn’t have been enough for either of you. This is why you need to be more careful! What were you thinking, Ash? I told you not to go looking for dangerous Pokemon to battle!"
Ash frowned, not meeting Brock’s eyes. His voice was too loud and the blood that rushed to Ash's face in embarrassment and anger from being scolded made the pressure behind his eyes double. All he wanted to do was shut them and stay horizontal for a while, but he couldn’t. Not until he knew Bayleef would be alright. He'd been meaning to let them know about his own poisoning as soon as Bayleef was settled, but how could he, if there was only one antidote? Brock would insist on splitting it, and Bayleef would suffer needlessly. “Alright, alright, I get it…”
“No, Ash, I don’t think you do!” Misty angrily cut in, “We’re miles away from a Pokemon center, in every direction. At least a two-day walk. You wanted to meet a strong Pokemon? Well, you did, and now Bayleef has to pay for your ego.”
“Just shut up already!” Ash barked, drawing a glare from Brock and a look of shock from Misty. Pikachu looked up from Bayleef with wide, confused eyes, his ears falling sadly against his head. “Look, I know I messed up, okay? But can we please focus on curing her? She needs to get better now, so we don’t have time to argue!”
Brock still looked a bit upset, but he nodded in agreement, continuing to mix his meager supply of ingredients. Misty walked towards the river, a large bowl in hand, grumbling to herself the entire way. Ash knew he was being bratty and demanding, but he didn’t care. He knew they were right, but they could talk down to him all they wanted after they’d administered Bayleef’s antidote.
He walked over to where she lay, gently rubbing a hand down her scaly neck. She was warm, far too warm, yet still clammy, and her leaf and the buds on her neck had begun to turn brown at the tips. Ash was no expert on grass Pokemon, but that couldn’t be good. Silently, he willed Brock to hurry up with the medicine.
Pikachu waddled up to him, worriedly looking up at his face. Whether he was just concerned for Bayleef or could tell that something was wrong with Ash, he didn’t know. "Pikapi?"
"What is it, Pikachu? Are you worried about Bayleef?"
Pikachu nodded, but his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
He felt Bayleef twitch beneath him and failed to bite back a gasp of relief, both at her waking up and the escape from his partner's scrutiny. "Y-you're awake!"
"Pikachu!"
“Bay… bayleef…" She whined, leaning into his cool touch. It twisted his heart.
"M'sorry, Bayleef… I couldn't protect you, but I'll do better next time… I promise…"
Rather than having the desired effect of comforting the ailing Pokemon, this seemed to only add to her distress. Ash wasn't quite sure why, until she shakily extended a vine to Ash's torso, lightly poking at the spot where Cross Poison had hit him earlier that morning. He winced and nearly doubled over as just the slightest touch sent a pulse of throbbing pain through his body.
Ash swallowed back a groan, taking a deep breath to compose himself. He gently smoothed down the leaf on Bayleef's head and leaned in close. "I'm fine," He whispered. "It's more important that you get treated first." And it was. After all, Ash, was the one who had insisted she go out in the woods to battle. If he hadn't selfishly been thinking only of his upcoming gym match, then she wouldn't have to be in this position at all.
Bayleef murmured sadly, shaking her head. Her eyes were beginning to get glassy- something which Ash hoped was due to her being her emotional and overprotective self, rather than the fever worsening.
"Pika?" His partner murmured, in an irritated tone. Ash knew Pikachu saw himself as his right-hand man (which, truly, he was) and didn't take kindly to being left out of the loop. Ash felt bad for blatantly having a hushed conversation just out of his earshot, but what else could he do? Pikachu was loyal, but he was protective first. He would tattle immediately, complete with as many of his iconic mimicries as it would take for Brock and Misty to understand. Ash simply pretended not to hear. An angry Pikachu could be easily dealt with later with a couple scratches behind the ear, though he may have to take a Thundershock or two first.
"Here, Ash," Misty held out a well wrung cloth to Ash. It felt soothing on his hot, chapped hands; he had to fight the sudden urge to put it against his own face to dull the heat of his sweltering skin.
Instead, he draped it across the top of her head, eliciting a sigh of relief from the feverish Pokemon. "Please get better soon, Bayleef." He murmured weakly, "You just have to..."