Ash leaned over the railing that lined the deck of the ferry. He held a soda in one hand and sipped at it lightly, staring into the churning waters below. It was late afternoon, and the trio had been on the ferry for a couple of hours. So far Ash had not been bothered, but then, he didn't have a watch to tell how long he'd been on his 'walk'.

Finally pulling his eyes away from the water, Ash took a look around the deck. A few people were still lounging around, catching the last of the sun's rays before it was dark. Turning away, he headed silently back to his cabin, gulping down the soda and chucking it into a trashcan before he entered.

It was dark in the cabin. "Pikachu? May?" Ash said, feeling along the wall for the light switch.

He flipped the switch and light flooded the small room. May was wrapped up in the covers of one of beds – there were two, one on each side of the room – shivering. Pikachu was on the end of the bed, spread out on his back. Ash quickly flipped out the light and fumbled through the darkness, searching for his sleepclothes.

He walked over to May's bed, planning to scoop up Pikachu, but he stopped in mid-scoop. The covers were so thin and May's shivering had increased. Ash sighed and, feeling unhappy with himself, went over to his bed and pulled the cover off. He spread the cover over May's shivering body, making sure not to trap Pikachu.

Carefully, he slipped under the covers next to her. Seeming to only be half conscious, she turned over and nuzzled up to Ash, searching for warmth.

These movements woke Pikachu. The Electric-type crawled up and joined them. He slept on the pillow close to Ash's head.

"THE FERRY IS ARRIVING IN PALLET TOWN, KANTO. ALL PASSANGERS FOR THIS STOP PLEASE COME TO THE LOWER LEVEL."

The intercom woke the pair and they fell off the bed in a tangle of sheets and limbs. After separating themselves, they gathered their belongings and headed to the lower level. A few other people were there but not many. Then again not many people were headed to Pallet Town in the middle of the night.

They walked down the bridge from the ferry to the port. Pikachu took his place on Ash's shoulder as they began walking towards Ash's house.

After a few minutes of walking, Ash said, "Do you really like Drew?"

May looked at him, curiosity in her eyes. "Why do you care if I like Drew or not?"

"Well…he's so…stuck up. All he cares about is himself…"

"What makes you think that?"

"…"

"Well?"

"The way he's always putting you down. You see the ways he treats girls, don't you?"

"…"

It was Ash's turn to demand, "Well?"

"Yeah, I see the way he treats other girls."

Ash sighed, agitatedly. "I didn't think you could be so…" He trailed off, and Pikachu gave him a questioning look.

May placed her hands on her hips. "So what, Ash Ketchum?"

"Shallow."

"You think I'm shallow?" She demanded angrily.

"No…but how you talk…it sounds shallow. How do you know he won't treat you the same way?"

"I don't," she admitted. Not that she had had any real romantic interest in Drew – she knew his pretty boy ways, knew not to fall for it. She was sixteen after all. But Ash was being so difficult, and her showing any interest in Drew seemed to rub him the wrong way. So, as is the way with girls, she was pretending to ruffle his…hair.

"Then why do you like him?" Ash pressed, spying his the roof of his house in the distance.

May saw the roof too but didn't say anything about it. "Honestly…Ash…why does it matter to you?"

This quieted him for a few moments. Finally he came up with, "You deserve so much better, May."

"Do you know how old that saying is?"

Ash sighed, lifting his hat off his head and running his hand through his black hair. "You know what May, forget it. Just forget it." He sped up and left her behind, not caring if she caught up or even followed at all.

He threw the door open and angrily marched through his living room. His mother, May's little brother Max, Misty, and Dawn were seated on the couch. "Ash, how did the trip - " Misty began.

"It was fine," Ash snapped, throwing the package into his mother's lap. He remembered too late that it was fragile and heard the breaking of glass. "Damnit!" He shouted, and stormed up the stairs to his room. After a moment he called down, "I'm sorry."

May observed all of this from the doorway. She sighed and walked over to their friends, taking a seat next to Max. She leaned back into the couch and folded her arms across her chest.

Mrs. Ketchum sensed that something was wrong and shooed everyone out. She sat down next to the teenager and asked gently, "What's wrong, honey?"

May huffed angrily. "He thinks I'm shallow."

"Oh, I'm sure he doesn't - " Mrs. Ketchum began.

"He does," May said sadly, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. "He said so."

"Well, why, dear?"

May swallowed the lump in her throat and held back tears. "I was rubbing him the wrong way."

"What?" Mrs. Ketchum asked in alarm.

May sat up quickly. "Not like that! I mean I was pretending to be interested in that pretty boy Drew to…I don't know, make him jealous I guess." She sighed and leaned back again. "I think all I did was make him mad at me. I bet he hates me now."

"Oh, I don't think so. He'll forgive you."

"How do you know?"

"He has told me he will never forgive me, never talk to me ever again so many times when he was a little kid and talked to me five minutes later, I think I know. He can't stay mad at you." She insisted.

May sighed but she was smiling inside. "OK. Thanks, Mrs. Ketchum. How badly did he break it?" The turned their attention to the box.

"Not too badly. I think we can repair it."

"I hope so. I don't want to give him a broken birthday present. Does he even know it's his birthday?"

"It'll ring sooner or later, I'm sure."

Ash leaned against his window, looking out at Pallet Town. He was angry – more with himself than with May.

"I finally figure out I like the girl and then I make a fool of myself," Ash muttered to himself. Pikachu was on the sill, looking out into the night, following his gaze. "She probably thinks I'm a jerk. That was so stupid, calling her shallow, Pikachu. But the way she was talking…it sounds like she's just falling for him because he treats her like she's special." Ash leaned his forehead against the cool wall.

"And when he gets tired of her he'll treat her just like he does every other girl," he continued on angrily. He straightened up and walked to the other side of the room and looked at a few pictures on his dresser. There were some of him as a child, but most of them were with Misty, May, Brock, Pikachu, Mrs. Ketchum, and/or Dawn.

His hand brushed the half-ribbon he'd won with May. He sighed again and went slowly back to the window, feeling like a fool and a jerk. He sat down on the bed and held his head in his hands. "I even broke whatever my mom had bought for herself."

"Now I don't even have a chance with her," he concluded to Pikachu, who had jumped onto the bed and was now beside him. "Pika, pika," Pikachu comforted his Trainer, patting his arm with a paw. "Chu."

"Ash?"

It was Misty. Not someone he wanted to see. "Go away."

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just leave me alone, Mist. Please."

He heard slow footsteps head away from his door. Ash let out a long breath and fell back on the bed, resorting to staring at the ceiling. He hoped the other girls wouldn't come to bother him either. I'll just make an ever bigger jerk of myself.

Of course, they did. First was Dawn. She opened the door and peered in at him. "Ash?" she said, sweeping her gaze around the room before settling on him.

"Go away."

Dawn frowned. "Well, if that's how you're gonna be." She slammed the door on her way out.

Ash waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, break my door down, that'll make me happy."

A few hours later, Ash was still in his room; however he had let Pikachu go free after awhile and the Electric-type had joined his friends and family in the living room. He sat on May's lap, who was stretched out on the couch. Most of them looked glum, impatient, or angry. "Is he ever coming down?" Misty finally broke the silence.

"I'll go get him," May said before anyone else had a chance to. She set Pikachu on the couch and headed up the stairs.

It was slowly growing light outside. May stood before Ash's door, fighting back anger and tears. She lifted her hand shakily and rapped her knuckles on the door. There was the sound of cloth against cloth and a thump. "Uh…Yeah? Who is it?" Ash's voice came.

"It's me." She said. "May."

Ash hesitated and then said, "Come in."

May opened the door and slowly walked in. Ash was sitting beside his bed. The covers were arranged in such a way it looked like he'd slid off the bed and hit the floor. His hat was on his dresser, the light was on and other than that the room was orderly.

"What is it?" Ash asked, looking up at her with a curious expression. In his hands he held a magazine that he had obviously been reading.

"I was wondering when you were coming down," May said, putting her hands behind her back.

Ash set his magazine on the bed and stood up. There was a moment of silence as they looked at each other, and then Ash said, "Do you want me to come downstairs?"

"Actually, all of us do."

"'All of us?'"

"Misty, Dawn, Pikachu, Max, your mother and me."

"Well…I guess I'll come down…"

"Great!" May grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his room and down the stairs.

When the reached the landing, May grinned and took a step back towards the group. "Do you know what today is, Ash?" they asked him all at once, and the boy merely scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Um…Wednesday?"

Dawn lifted an eyebrow. "Well…yes. What else?"

He thought a moment. "The twenty-second?"

They all sighed. "Ash, it's your birthday."

He looked surprised. "When did that happen?"

"Today, silly. We got you something." May handed a small box to Pikachu, who went over to Ash and extended its arms up to its trainer with a smiling face. "Pika, pikachu!"

So that's why May wouldn't let me see what she'd bought, Ash thought as he bent and took the box from Pikachu's paws. It was my birthday present…man, I can't believe I didn't remember it was my birthday…I'm 18!

Ash ripped open the pink wrapper covering the box.