May winked several times when she heard from Ash' incident. It was as if Ash said that he hit her father with his fist in his face, but there was something else that caught May's attention.
"What did you do?" May asked to get the answer once more.
"I'm sorry, May. Really! I thought he forgot you completely and I ticked off. I'll apologize, of course …" Ash lowered his head in shame, knowing that it wasn't a good idea to punch the father of your best friend, let alone 'girlfriend'.
"I don't mean that! I mean the tournament part." May said hectically and Ash was confused. Seconds ago, he told May that he hit her dad in his face and she didn't care.
"Uh … I defeated your father in my qualifying round?!" Ash said with an unsure voice.
The brown-haired coordinator almost pushed Ash of his feet, but she didn't try to force him down. Once she wrapped her arms around him, May snuggled once more into his chest and she had the feeling that she had known it all the time.
"Thank you so much, Ash!" May thanked the boy for her bet that she had won through his victory, but she exploited the situation to cuddle with him.
"You aren't mad?" Ash was slightly shocked that he was more important for May than her own father.
"It's just a punch, Ash! He's a strong man and I'm sure that he won't mind it, because he trains often with his Vigoroth and it should surprise me when he wasn't used to it." May was happier than ever, but she eventually gave Ash the opportunity to stand up again.
Still slightly confused, Ash nodded at that girl and he was relieved that she wouldn't be mad at him.
It seemed that Ash was alright again and the trainer left the basement on his own. Next, he had to find his clothes and his Pokémon, but something was still on his mind. The whole see again with May had distracted him from the reason why he was here at all.
"I wonder how I get here at all …." Ash wondered aloud, so that May could hear it as well.
"You don't know anymore?" May asked carefully. "You were kidnapped, Ash …"
"Really?" Ash scratched his head and he couldn't remember anything. After he heard May's voice on Charizard's back, he blacked out before he saw her image when he opened his eyes again. Everything that happened between these two scenes wasn't 'available' for Ash's mind.
"It was really scaring for me, Ash. There were those Rockets and they attempted to steal your spot in the tournament." May explained fearfully.
"Rockets? You mean Rockets like Team Rocket?" Ash exclaimed loudly.
"Yeah, but don't worry, Ash!" May waved with her hands. "Mew, Pikachu and the others helped me to fend them off.
The circumstance that Mew helped her didn't make it better, because Ash didn't want May near any Rocket ever again. After that incident with Tem Rocket four years ago, Ash was determined to keep this organization away from his friends. It seemed that those Rockets appeared again when Ash was near and the Chosen One hated it.
Ash's mood changed within a couple of seconds and the concerned look on his face reappeared again. The comforting smile on his face faded away and he felt more than uncomfortable that the brunette had contact with those guys.
"You'll stay with Dawn and the others for the rest of this tournament, May!" Ash demanded with a convincing voice.
"Why?" May asked hurtfully. It was almost as if Ash didn't want her to be with him all the time.
The raven-haired boy looked through the room and fortunately, he found his clothes and his Pokéball-belt. Of course, it was weird that those Rockets didn't take them with them, but Ash couldn't care less right now.
"I don't want to see you alone on that island, May!" Ash repeated, ignoring May's question. There was no way that she could change his mind right now.
At first, Ash put his pants back on before he sat down to get his boots back on as well. Ignoring May's hurt gaze, Ash was determined to keep May save long enough until he would beat those Rockets up once and for all.
"What do you plan to do, Ash?" May asked with some tears that ran down her cheeks.
After Ash was dressed up completely, he approached May and he put his hands on her shoulders before he looked into her eyes. Every time he did that, he was sure to tell May the whole truth and he hoped that his love could live with his decision.
"Those Rockets are dangerous, May! I don't want you to get hurt and I demand that you stay with Dawn and Paul all the time! I promise you that you won't need to be afraid the whole time, because I'll finish it today!" Ash finished his 'speech' with a comforting smile.
"But … but Ash! Why can't we beat them up together?" May pleaded.
"No, May! I couldn't concentrate when I would need to worry about your safety." Ash shook his head before he wrapped an arm around May's shoulder. Escorting May to the door, Ash caressed her shoulder, so she wouldn't be sad that he would do this chase alone.
"I don't want you to do this, Ash. Please!" May wrapped both of her arms around his torso and the brunette knew that Ash intended to attack those Rockets on his own, but she wouldn't let him.
The group of Pokémon and trainers waited in front of the hideout, but Dawn felt as well more and more uncomfortable. It had been quite time since she arrived on the scene, but May was still within the house and it could be that she needed help.
"Shouldn't someone look if they are alright?" Dawn said casually, but everyone heard that she was concerned.
"To be honest …" Paul started to explain slowly. "I don't want to know what they are doing in there."
"PAUL!" Dawn yelled in embarrassment and her face heated up at the thoughts of her 'soon-to-be-boyfriend'. "They aren't like that, but I'm sure that they need some time to realize it. They haven't seen each other in years …"
"Come on, Dawn." Paul smirked. "Ash's sixteen now and May's almost sixteen, therefore it wouldn't be weird if they start to think about something like that."
The blue-haired girl looked puzzled at Paul, but she soon followed 'his' gaze and unfortunately, it was directed to her skirt. With a face as red as a Charmander, Dawn walked to Paul before she gave him another slap across his face.
"You shouldn't even think about it now, Paul!" Dawn clarified harshly, but the boy didn't even know what she meant right now.
"What's your problem?" Paul said, being annoyed that the girl treated him like a toy at times.
The blunette just crossed her arms and was stuck-up.
"Mama! …. Dada! ….. "
Paul and Dawn looked to the house before they saw a small blue Pokémon that ran towards two teens. Being confused, Dawn didn't know where that Pokémon came from and 'Blaziken' wouldn't tell her the secret. Moreover, it was strange that the small Pokémon could talk and just called May and Ash mama and dada.
Ash was surprised as well when the small prince of the sea jumped into his arms and he had quite a few problems to keep his balance when there was a brunette that wrapped her arms around his torso.
"ASH!"
Moreover, there was the next problem and the problem approached in the form of Dawn. She had already seen him, but now she would probably ask him questions over questions, although he intended to extinguish those Rockets at first.
"Pathetic …."
Of course, this guy shouldn't miss at this scene and Ash's rival looked at the nice, little and naïve boy.
It became uncomfortable for the Kanto native and three 'reunions' at one point were too much. At first, he motioned to Dawn to stop in her attempt to hug him and seconds, he placed Manaphy into the arms of his mother.
Everyone was excited to see Ash and even the Pokémon group of Mew, Pikachu, Glaceon, Charizard and Beautifly gathered around Ash.
"I'm glad to see you again, but at first I have to apologize to Mew and Pikachu …" Ash said, but there wasn't any Mew, only a Blaziken that waved with its arms.
"Uh … I mean I have to apologize to Blaziken and Pikachu." Ash corrected himself before he turned to Dawn. It had been quite some time, he knew what Dawn wanted to do, and he shouldn't let her wait.
He spread his arms before he gave the blunette a big hug. Unlike the reunion with May, Ash wasn't that emotional right now, but it was because of the fact that he had known all the time that Dawn was alright. Enjoying the hug of her friend, Dawn noticed as well that Ash had become manlier and she could see that May wasn't very happy about the 'long' hug between her and Ash.
Nevertheless, Dawn cried some tears of joy and she hoped that everything could be like the old times. It seemed that the four years didn't matter any more, because the group was reunited again and the blue-haired girl smiled big time. On the one hand, because of Ash's survival, but on the other hand, the fact that May got her crush back.
"Let's go to our house! I'm sure that Max will be happy as well to see you again." Dawn said happily, but the raven-haired boy didn't looked convinced.
May looked to the ground as well, because she knew what Ash wanted to do.
"Why are you so depressed?" Dawn asked carefully, hoping that this was just a bad joke.
"It's nothing, Dawn." Ash said, shrugging. "I'll come to your house, but I have to do something first. There's something that I need to end until this evening …"
Dawn raised an eyebrow and she couldn't believe that there would be anything that was more important than meeting his old friends again. Looking to May to get a better answer, she noticed that the brown-haired girl knew that Ash said the truth.
"What?" Dawn said with disbelieve in her voice while Paul assumed what Ash wanted to do and he had to admit that he liked this new side of the trainer.
"There's some unfinished business that I have to take care of, Dawn. You should await me at evening and …." Ash was cut off by May and the brunette couldn't hear it any longer.
"NO! Ash, those Rockets aren't Jesse, James and Meowth, therefore you don't have to seek for revenge!" May pleaded the trainer and Manaphy helped her, because the prince wanted that, his mama and dada were together, at least for a longer period of time.
Ash knew that, but he was still determined to make this island a safer place for all of his friends.
"Paul? Could you please take care of May and Dawn?" Ash asked his old rival and Paul had to suppress a chuckle when he heard Ash's request towards him.
"Did I miss something, Ketchum?" Paul looked to the trainer that cost him his victory in the league four years ago. "I can't remember that we have been friends since your disappearance."
This time it was Ash who chuckled. "I knew that I can rely on your help, Paul."
Paul was slightly confused when he heard this 'answer' to his question. Normally, Ash should tick off because of Paul's behavior, but the Kanto trainer kept his cool and walked slowly away, but not before, he turned to Pikachu and Charizard.
"Do you want to help me?" Ash asked with a big smile.
The fire-dragon shot a big flamethrower into the air as a sign of approval and Pikachu was happy that his trainer asked for his help. Although, he worried as well, Pikachu sighed in relive that he could help his trainer on that quest.
Without being noticed by anyone, Ash turned quickly to 'Blaziken' and gave Mew a sign that he should follow them as soon as possible. It was probably better if Dawn and Paul didn't know about the legendary.
"Can't you wait until tomorrow, Ash?" May pleaded once more and Manaphy was confused what happened right now. "We can inform the police about them and I'm sure that they can handle the situation."
"It won't take very long, May. I promise!" Ash gave her one of his trademark smiles. "I'll be back for dinner."
May saw the determined look in Ash's eyes and she knew that there wasn't a way to convince him to stay with them. It seemed that Ash was traumatized by the incident four years ago and the raven-haired boy didn't want to split up with May again, but he had to.
Again, there were several tears that ran down at May's cheeks and she hoped that there would be a possibility to convince Ash somehow to stay with his friends.
"Dada? …" Manaphy wasn't happy that his father would leave so soon.
Ash was slightly surprised that the prince of the sea called him dada, but he didn't mind it. It seemed that there was one more Pokémon that he had to promise that he would come back.
"Don't be sad, Manaphy." Ash said with a smile. "Tonight, we'll play some games and Pikachu will join in as well."
"Pika!" The yellow rodent gave a paw-up and he would make sure that his trainer would keep his promise.
Ash turned around and the yellow rodent took his spot on his shoulder, something that he had missed to do for several years. It wasn't easy for Ash to walk away from May, not after he finally saw her again, but he couldn't let Team Rocket do something to his friends.
Watching his father walk away, Manaphy became restless within May's arms and he wouldn't let him leave again.
Pointing one of his tentacles at his father and one at his mother, Manaphy had a rare evil grin on its face before he started to shine in a bright-red color and sent a red beam that sneaked over the ground, towards Ash.
It happened too fast and the two teens didn't even noticed what happened. Out of the whole group, it was just Mew who knew what his fellow legendary intended and Mew would do a facepalm if it wasn't too suspicious to the others.
As soon as Ash was hit by the 'beam', Manaphy's heart swap came into effect and the result of it was well known.
After several seconds of silence, Dawn looked to 'Ash' and she wondered why 'he' had stopped in the middle of his way. Moreover, it was Pikachu who was slightly confused and the rodent tilted his head to ask 'his' trainer what was wrong.
"Pikapi?" The rodent looked into the eyes of the trainer, but soon Pikachu had to realize that something was wrong.
"What are you doing on my shoulder, Pikachu?" 'Ash' asked, but what was creepy was the voice of the trainer. It wasn't the mature voice of the Chosen One and Pikachu slowly got it. Several years ago it happened before when Ash and 'Jackie' where in a similar situation.
Assuming where his trainer was, Pikachu looked over his shoulder to see 'May' and an overjoyed Manaphy in 'her' arms. This small, blue joker did it again and it became once more obvious that you shouldn't mess around with Manaphy's wishes.
'May' was confused when she spotted 'Ash' in front of 'her' before 'she' looked down onto the Pokémon that was in 'her' arms right now. It took several moments before 'she' realized that Manaphy prevented 'Ash' to leave.
"Don't tell me that you ….?" 'May' asked carefully, but 'her' voice also sounded different. Enjoying himself, Manaphy moved happily in the arms of the stunned Chosen One.
Several clothes were thrown onto the floor and after a few seconds it became even more. In front of the cupboard was a furious mother and the woman knew exactly how she could torture her son. Like every mother, she knew that sons always hated it to clean up, therefore she messed everything up.
"You'll clean everything up, Max!" Caroline demanded harshly. "At first, you'll fold the clothes before you put them back into the cupboard. After that, you'll vacuum the whole house. Once you finished that, you'll also clean up the bath."
The small Maple listened in horror, because it was just too much for a single kid.
"Mum, it wasn't even my drawing and shouldn't some other people clean up the house? It's a holiday house after all!" Max hoped that he could sneak out of the punishment, but Caroline wasn't in the mood to be a forgiving mother.
"No way, Max! You'll do that and I'll come this evening to see if you did it right!" Caroline said her final words before she smashed the door of Max' room. Still slightly red in the face, the brown-haired adult left the house.
The qualified Maple sat on his bed and sighed. After all, he could have used that time perfectly to get his sister together with Ash, but 'Crazy Max' messed everything up and his mother thought that he was a pervert.
"Thank you very much!" Max said to no one particular.
"You're welcome!" Max answered to himself, but he knew that it was Crazy Max.
"You know that you can't stop me to hook my sister up with Ash!" Max said with a convincing voice, but his 'crazy halve' already had a suitable answer for that.
"Probably! However, I don't have to do anything when your mother prevents you to do so…. Ha-ha!" Crazy Max had a point; however, Fearful Max wouldn't back down, even if he had to beat this crazy guy up.
"You aren't even real!" Max countered.
"Do you think so? You call me crazy, but you are the one who talks with himself." Crazy Max answered.
Max thought about this statement, but it wasn't easy for him to admit that he had gone completely insane. Shaking his head, Max started to pick some clothes from the ground before he folded them together. It could take up to three hours to clean everything up and the young trainer didn't have a lot of time until his mother would show up again.
"Maybe you could ask Drew for help?" Crazy Max suggested.
"Shut up!" Max didn't want to hear that name and the boy cleaned up faster to free his mind from that voice. Once he put all the clothes onto the bad, Max remembered that his mum left the house; therefore he could get a certain penguin.
Running down the stairs, Max spotted the lazy Pokémon on the couch and Piplup watched the newest episode of 'The world of water Pokémon'. Of course, Piplup liked this series, because it showed how superior water Pokémon were against all the other types. Probably Piplup should work together with Misty instead of Max ….
"YOU!" Max pointed at the traitor.
The penguin pretended to be innocent and he rolled over the couch, enjoying the warm feeling of the textile.
With a quick move, Max grabbed the Pokémon by its neck before he took him to the bath. It was Piplup's fault as well that Max had to do so much, therefore it would be the best when the water Pokémon would take a part of the punishment.
"You'll clean up the bath, Piplup!" Max demanded, but the water Pokémon answered this request with a powerful water gun into Max' face.
"You'll do that!" Max demanded once more before he left the room. Once he tried to smash the door, Max noticed that Piplup tried to keep it open with a water gun that the penguin shot against the door. No way that this kid would lock him up into the bath.
"I'm sure that I have more stamina than you!" Max used his whole body to close the door, but Piplup wouldn't give up.
That test of strength lasted for over a minute and it seemed that they would cause more and more damage. The water of Piplup's water gun streamed out of the bath and into the living room where the carpet was soaked.
Max noticed this situation and he didn't want that they would need to clean up more and more.
"Truce!" Max shouted to the water Pokémon.
Not being convinced by the other one, both of them slowly reduced the power of their 'attacks' until it was over. It surprised Max again and again how much water was in such a Pokémon.
Piplup scratched the back of his head when he saw the water chaos, but it wasn't his fault, at least in his opinion.
"Listen, Piplup! My mum will kill you AND me when she sees that! " Max clenched his fists and he almost pleaded for Piplup's help.
Looking at the poor boy and at the floor, Pilpup had to admit that it was partially his fault.
This time the penguin would help the trainer and it was partially Dawn's house, therefore it shouldn't be a mess when she would return.
Max and Piplup knew that they had the biggest problem of the group right now.
It had been an awkward silence since Manaphy's little joke, however, there were still several individuals that didn't know what happened. Dawn, Paul, Beautifly, Glaceon and Charizard were confused and they needed answers.
"What's wrong, May?" Dawn asked confused.
It seemed 'wrong' that 'Ash' turned around to answer her question and the 'boy' was stunned when 'he' saw the brown-haired coordinator with Manaphy. Once 'he' looked onto his hands, 'he' realized what happened. Manaphy had used his heart swap to switch May and Ash, probably because of his wish that Ash wouldn't leave them.
May in Ash's body only knew it from the incident between Jackie and Ash, but now it happened to her and the boy.
Not knowing what she should answer, May felt a bit uncomfortable that she helped Manaphy to prevent Ash from leaving.
On the other hand, the raven-haired boy in May's body was everything, but happy about the switch. After he looked at the prince of the sea, Ash was determined to explain the whole thing to Manaphy again in hope that the water-type would reverse the effect.
"Could you please switch us back?" Ash tried to be polite to the Pokémon, although he was slightly pissed off.
"Mana … Mana … Nope …" Manaphy answered happily, knowing why he did it in the first place.
"Why? …" Ash couldn't understand it right now. "I promised you to come back, but I need to extinguish Team Rocket, so they won't get the prize of the tournament! I'm the Chosen One after all!"
"Mana …. Mana …. Nope …" Manaphy answered once more, but the little prince of the sea still had something to say. "Dada not Chosen One …. Mama is Chosen One …."
"Just because she's in my body doesn't mean that she's the Chosen One!" Ash clarified, but it seemed that someone had something against that statement.
"(In that case she is, Ash.)"
Ash turned to Blaziken and he couldn't believe that the legendary was on Manaphy's side. Moreover, Ash was furious when he saw how 'Blaziken' suppressed his laughter.
"What's so funny?" Ash demanded to know. However, the other individuals couldn't 'hear' mew, therefore they were more than confused at that point.
"(Nothing …. It's just the circumstance … that you are in a girl's body, although you always showed off how manly your are ….)"
Mew couldn't hold it any longer and the 'Blaziken' busted out into laughter.
Ash almost exploded, but he was interrupted by Dawn who still wanted to know what the heck was going on here.
"Can please someone tell me what's wrong with you?" Dawn asked loudly.
May and Ash realized that they had to explain the whole scenario to Dawn and Paul, although Ash would prefer if Paul didn't know about it. Looking at each other, May and Ash thought about an explanation, but strangely enough May didn't seem to mind this switch.
"It's not easy to explain it, Dawn …" May started, but Dawn already noticed the 'slight' difference in 'Ash's voice'.
"What's with your voice, Ash? It's a way too high pitched for you …" Dawn noted and tilted her head.
"Uh … That's the reason, Dawn … I'm not Ash … I'm May …" May explained, but she already knew that Dawn wouldn't believe it after the first time.
"What? …" Dawn asked with wide eyes.
"It's one of Manaphy's abilities and it's called heart swap. How you can see: Manaphy switched Ash and me …!" May finished her explanation and Ash facepalmed.
Dawn was buff and even Paul raised an eyebrow at that.
"When you're May …." Dawn pointed to 'Ash'. "Then that means that you're Ash, right?" Dawn pointed to 'May'.
Ash nodded before Dawn started to giggled, because of obvious reasons.
"Why do you laugh?" Ash was annoyed.
"It's too funny really … Ha-ha …. You always yelled at me, because I take too much time for my hair and girl stuff. However, to see you in May's body is just to perfect … Ha-ha …" Dawn didn't hide her pleasure with the situation.
The next thing was even scarier, because the group heard how Paul started to laugh at the misfortune of Ash. It was so damn rare that the Sinnoh-trainer laughed, but this time Paul couldn't suppress it.
Ash's face turned red and he felt so embarrassed like never before. Once more he looked at Manaphy before he 'pleaded' him again to reverse it.
"It's embarrassing, Manaphy! Please reverse it!" Ash said once more.
"Mana …. Mana … nope …" Manaphy had a very limited vocabulary today.
Ash turned to May and he hoped that Manaphy's mother could convince the prince to stop this joke.
"May, please tell your 'son' to reverse it!" Ash asked with a hopeful voice.
"I don't think that he'll listen to me, Ash. I'm sure that he won't reverse it until you agree to come with us to our house …" May said, but she knew the whole time that it was Manaphy's intention to force Ash to come with them.
Ash crunched with his teeth, but it seemed that there wasn't another way.
"Deal! I'll come back with you to your house and you'll reverse the heart swap effect, okay?" Ash said, sighing in defeat. After all, he could spent some time with his friends, although he had to be careful that no one of his friends would encounter Team Rockets during that time.
Manaphy smiled, however, there was a information that Ash won't like.
"Mana … mana … not reverse it until … mama's house …." Manaphy still said with a happy tone.
"Don't you trust me?" Ash said with a hurt voice.
"Mana … mana … Manaphy trust dada …. But … it's so funny …" Manaphy had the same problem as Mew, Dawn and Paul.
Ash sweatdropped, but he wasn't in the position to threat the small Pokémon.
"Let's go back to the house! Come one, May. I'm sure that you want as much as me that Manaphy reverse it and …. HEY MAY!"
The Kanto trainer looked to May and the brunette hadn't anything better to do, than to peek under his shirt. Normally it would be the guy who would peek, but this time it was the girl and Ash didn't like it that May exploited the situation in that way.
"Oh … sorry Ash …" May said sheepishly.
With a laughing Blaziken, Dawn, Paul and Manaphy, the group walked towards the house and Ash would curse the water Pokémon if he fooled him. It was a bit complicated to return the Pokémon, because Ash had to recall Beautifly and Glaceon while May had to recall Charizard into his Pokéball.
It seemed to be better when May would hold Manaphy while Ash allowed Pikachu to use 'May's shoulder' for the trip.
The prince of the sea smiled, because his plan worked and his parents were together. Next time, Ash would make sure that he wouldn't start a conflict with Manaphy.
After a small walk, the group reached the holiday house. Due to their shared reason to laugh, Paul and Dawn had a lot to talk about, especially about Ash. May's and Ash's switch was the best thing that could happen to Dawn and the blunette had a good conversation with the Sinnoh trainer.
"Finally, we are here!" Ash sighed in relieve. "Could you switch us back, please?"
Ash turned to May, but the 'girl' had an unsure facial expression right now. There seemed to be something that wouldn't be nice for Ash.
"What?" Ash asked puzzled.
"Uh … " May stuttered a bit . "He fell asleep!"
"You have to be kidding me!"