Yeah, I noticed things were getting off track even for my plans so I'm aiming to fix that right now. Thanks for confirming I'm not just crazy for thinking that.

Darkness and Light, Into the Chaos!

Ash walked through the halls with his friends close behind. "What do you think Andre needs us for?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm not sure." Clemont replied. "All he said was come to his office since he had something important to tell us."

Ash knocked on the door and heard the call to enter. Both he and Serena pushed the door open to be greeted with a surprising, and mostly unwelcome, sight. "What's she doing here?" Ash demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Dawn.

"Before I answer that, I want to ask you a question Ash. All of you can think on this if you want." Andre replied evenly, waiting for reactions. When no one seemed to be ready to put Dawn in an early grave he continued, "Let's say someone close to you was in an accident that left them on life support and you couldn't keep up with the bills. You're presented with two options. One, you do what the presenter says and the bills are paid to keep your loved one alive. Two, the presenter uses his influence to make the life support vanish. My question is, what would you do in that situation?"

Serena, the Lumiose siblings, Brock, and Paul all realized what Andre was saying. Alain and Ash took a moment before the latter responded. "I'd do whatever it took to save my loved ones." he finally admitted. Looking to Dawn, he asked, "Your mom?"

Dawn stood and nodded, her eyes beginning to mist. "I'm so sorry, Ash. I never wanted to hurt you, but my mom needed me." she said, slowly advancing on her former-friend. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." she repeated.

Ash brushed by Serena and wrapped Dawn in a hug. "No, I'm sorry for not finding out why you did it. Had I been in your situation, I don't know if I'd have done it differently." he whispered in her ear. That statement broke her as Dawn cried into Ash's shoulder.

Everyone just stood there, waiting for the coordinator's tears to dry. After a few minutes, Andre spoke again. "Well, in light of recent events, I think it's safe to say we can take her off the hit list?" he asked casually. Everyone responded with an affirmative and the black-clad boy smiled. "Good. Now tomorrow, as I'm sure everyone is aware, is a resting day for everyone in the tournament. I just got word that the new ride on Resort Island is up and running."

"Resort Island?" Dawn asked.

"Oh yeah, you don't know huh?" Ash realized. "Well the Paradise Archipelago has six major islands. The first is the Black Island, where we are now. There's Research Island, which is where a lot of scientists stay to study the Pokémon and plant life. Then there's Resort Island, basically the place everyone goes around here to relax and have some fun." Ash explained.

Serena took over from there. "Next up is Dungeon Island. That's where a lot of trainers and Pokémon go to test their skills and get treasures. The catch is that no two dungeon trips are alike, the areas always changing. Some of the scientists on Research Island are trying to figure out why that is. Anyway, the fifth Island is Tradewinds Island, where the Archipelago does all it's trading with the other regions."

"And what about the sixth?" Dawn asked. Everyone grew quiet and she wondered if she had asked something forbidden.

"The sixth is Vault Island." Andre explained. "It's where we keep very dangerous things locked away. It's also the one you can see from the balcony behind me." he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. Dawn looked to see a giant tower maybe a stone's throw away from the edge of the island. She shivered at the thought of what could be locked in there. "That's the one place no one is allowed to go under any circumstances baring the Vault's breaching."

"I understand, no going to Vault Island." Dawn assured.

"Good." Andre smiled, the friendly nature returning to the room. "Now, Resort Island is filled with fun rides, games, and Ash's personal favorite, great food stalls." Everyone laughed at the jab taken at the ravenette trainer. "Why don't you all head over tomorrow? I think you have some catching up to do."

"Sounds great!" Ash cheered.

"Agreed!" Pikachu added.

"Oh, and before I forget." Andre said, pulling a drawer open and pulling out a necklace. "Dawn, you may want this. The others will explain what it's for." he said, handing the trinket over to the blunette. "Now everyone get out of here! You have a trip to plan." Everyone but Andre and Tails vacated the room.

...

The next day, Ash's group was on the ferry to Resort Island. They were all laughing as they shared stories of their adventures over the last five years and beyond. "Did Ash really do that?" Dawn gasped out between laughs.

"You should have seen it! I was so scared I wouldn't see him again!" Serena replied, slipping her hand into her boyfriend's. "But when I did, I made sure to tell him how I really felt."

"AWWW!" both Bonnie and Dawn cooed as Ash and Serena shared a smile.

"Me next, me next!" Bonnie cheered. Suddenly the whistle blew, signaling their approach at the dock. "Aw. I wanted to tell a story." the blonde teen pouted.

"You can share later." Clemont assured his sister. The group departed as they continued talking, none noticing the figure watching them go.

...

May stretched as she entered the park. "Man, am I glad this place exists right now!" she sighed.

Gary nodded as he joined her. "No kidding. With everything that's been going on we really needed this." he agreed.

"And why did you drag me along?" Iris asked angrily, stalking up to them. "This is more Misty or Cilan's thing. I should be on Dungeon Island."

"Axew ew!" Axew added, popping out of his trainer's poufy hair.

"We put it to a vote and Resort Island won. Besides, you may enjoy some of the stuff here, Iris." Cilan reminded, walking past her.

"Although I'm not sure the loser squad should have gotten a vote." Barry added. Both Cilan and Misty flinched at the slight as the blonde Sinnho native smirked at them.

"Guys, look who else is here." Gary called, pointing his thumb at Ash's group. Gary's group bristled as they saw a familiar head of blue hair with them. "Guess we need to talk to Gramps later." he said with a dark chuckle from all but May, who was more focused on a certain young ravenette standing a little close to a certain bratty blonde. "Come on, let's follow them." Gary ordered, leading his group.

...

"Guys," Max warned.

"I saw them." Paul replied, placing a hand on Electivire's pokeball. "Just ignore them until they cause a problem." he suggested.

"Roller coaster first?" Serena asked, pointing to the nearby attraction. Everyone agreed and ran for the coaster, Clemont of course behind the rest.

"Five years and I'm still the slowest in the gang." the blonde inventor groaned.

Everyone was soon boarding the coaster taking things in pairs. Ash and Serena were together, behind them it was Max and Bonnie, Paul and Dawn, then Alain and Celmont, and finally Brock and Sawyer to finish off the coaster seating. As the coaster climbed the first incline, hands found each other, anxious looks were cast toward the ground, and as the coaster fell, everyone minus Paul screamed in a mixture of fear and delight.

The day went almost without incident. Ash and Max won a plushie for Serena and Bonnie respectively while Dawn was trying to get some sort of conversation out of Paul.

"Hey, where did Alain go?" Clemont asked, looking around for their missing friend.

"I saw him with some girl with a Quilladin a little while ago." Paul informed.

"Marin." the Kalos group guessed with a humorous eye roll.

"I forgot she was due to arrive today." Sawyer chuckled. "Well, we won't see him any time soon now."

"Hey losers." came a very familiar and equally unwelcome voice. Hands came to rest on pokeballs as Ash's group turned to confront the Sell-Outs. "What's happening?" Gary asked.

"Leave us alone, Gary. We don't need you ruining our day." Ash spat in reply, his vengeful side beginning to surface.

"Hey, calm down Ashy-boy. We're just seeing how our competition is doing." the brunette replied, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

"Well we're doing just fine. Now we're going to go this way." Brock snapped.

"Hey Dawn, how's your mom doing?" Barry asked, snickering.

"Thanks to Andre, she's doing just fine, thanks." Dawn retorted, turning on her heel and walking off. The two groups separated, leaving only the Maple siblings in the area.

"Max, listen." May began, her tone slightly pleading.

"Unless Oak was threatening Mom and Dad, I don't want to hear it." Max replied, waiting for his sister's reply. May could only hang her head and turn away. "Yeah, that's what I thought." Max hissed, turning to catch up with his friends.

I really screwed up. May realized, finding her way back to Gary's group.

"Well that was annoying." Pikachu declared. Everyone nodded their agreement.

"Hey, where's Max?" Bonnie asked, looking around the immediate area.

"Hey, sorry!" Max called, walking toward the group. "Ran into Alain and I have to say, he can sure pick em." he explained. The rest chuckled, a few making mental notes to tease the mega-evolution trainer later. It was a few hours and lots of games and rides later, as well as a few snack stops, but eventually everyone found their way back to the ferry by the end of the day.

"Thanks for letting me come, you guys." Dawn said on the way back, catching everyone by surprise as the blunette hadn't spoken much on the trip home. "I know I don't deserve any of you treating me so nicely after what I did, no matter the reason, but I'm glad we had this."

"What do you mean, Dawn?" Ash asked, confusion all over his features. "Like I told you before, I would have done the same thing. The important thing is you're back on our side because you really want to be. That's why we can start over." Dawn smiled at Ash's words and nodded as the group headed back to the Black Island."

There. That was my best foot forward, all out fluff, and character development attempt. Everything went more or less how I wanted it to, so what do you guys think of Ash's gang just getting to have some fun. If you guys like it, I may be persuaded to make more as the story progresses. Well, now it's just a simple matter of how will Dawn's turning to Ash's side affect the group? And will May follow behind? The answers to come, as the journey continues.