Author's Note

To honor Ash's May 22nd birthday, I'm going to try to publish the three chapters of his birthday special in the next ten days - here's the first! Let me know how I do!

Thank you to FanficFan920, Hashirama 1710, mohidafzal458, Brightwizard21, goldenfox444, GA Pokemon Fan, chobobo, magic135, ultimateCCC, crazydude13, jagujetas72, and Reader for your feedback since the last chapter!

"Pika, pikachu!"

Ash's eyes opened slowly to see his most faithful Pokémon licking his cheek; Ash gave him a pat on the back and stretched, wondering what'd woken Pikachu up.

"About time," a gruff voice shot from off to the side. Ash turned to see Kiawe leaning against the doorjamb of his room, in usual shirtless form. Beside him, Sophocles was clutching Togedemaru, surveying the bedroom curiously. Kiawe's remark drew the boy's eyes to Ash.

"Alola, Ash! Happy Birthday!" Togedemaru yipped its name from Sophocles' arms to second the wishes.

Kiawe stepped forward and uncrossed his arms, his stoic exterior relenting slightly. "We wanted to be the first to wish you, face-to-face. Happy Birthday, Ash."

Ash blinked and looked toward the wall clock, the date having completely slipped his mind. He sat up in bed, touched that the two boys had made it to Professor Kukui's house so early just for the occasion. "Thanks, guys!"

"Birthday: the anniversary of the day on which a person or Pokémon was born," Ash heard from the hallway as Rotom Dex zipped into view. "Happy Birthday, Ash!"

Professor Kukui followed Rotom Dex into the room. "Good morning, Ash, and Happy Birthday! I hope this Sunny Day shines on you!"

Ash jumped out of bed, pumping his fist. "With all of you here, I know the perfect way to celebrate. Let's battle!"

Kiawe's eye twitched, but he sighed. "I wish, but you're booked today, Ash."

"Booked?"

Professor Kukui nodded. "Notice anyone missing?"

Ash scratched his head. "I guess I'd have expected the girls to be here, too."

Sophocles snorted. "Don't worry, they didn't forget. In fact, I gained some valuable data yesterday on how well girls remember these sorts of occasions."

Ash raised an eyebrow as he followed the group out to the common area. Kiawe shrugged. "They each wanted to do something special for you today. We're all going to meet up around dinner time to have a group party – maybe we can battle then – but before that we were told pretty strictly that you were on a schedule."

Ash bobbed his head, glad there was still the chance of battling later. For now, his interest was piqued by the "something special" the girls were apparently planning. What could it possibly be?

Professor Kukui clapped his hands. "Alright, why don't you go wash up, Ash? Kiawe and Sophocles, let's get breakfast going. We don't want to be late giving Ash over to the girls, do we?"

Sophocles shuddered and Kiawe rubbed his shoulder, both seeming to agree. Ash suspected they'd been detailed specific instructions and clear repercussions if they didn't follow through. He freshened up and joined the guys in the common area, where they had fresh malasadas: Kiawe seemed to think they were a bit heavy for the morning, but Ash and Sophocles agreed they hit the spot perfectly.

"Ok, Ash," Professor Kukui said, glancing at the clock. "As much as we'd like to hang out with you more, you're supposed to meet Lana at the Hau'oli City beachfront at 10. Rotom Dex will stay with us today, so you and Pikachu better get going – we'll see you tonight!"

Ash had barely registered the professor's words when Sophocles, Togedemaru, and Kiawe were ushering him and Pikachu out the door, supposedly afraid of incurring the girls' wrath. Ash took their cue and made a quick pace toward the beachfront, eager to be on time and find out what Lana had planned.

"Lana!" Ash called, waving as he ran up to the girl on the beach. The bluenette was dressed in her usual clothes, her bell-bottoms brushing the sand as she knelt down to observe the shore. She sprung up upon hearing her name.

"Ash, Pikachu! Alola!" Lana called, jumping and waving. She clasped her hands in front of her, her dark blue eyes brimming with excitement as he reached her. "Happy Birthday, Ash!"

Ash beamed. "Thanks, Lana! It's a beautiful day to be at the beach, isn't it?"

"Every day's a good day to come to the ocean." Lana held her hands behind her back, looking out over the water. "But today is going to be particularly special with what I have planned."

Ash recognized the mischievous twinkle in Lana's eyes; it told him she was about to do something unexpected. She jogged forward a few steps, cupping her hands around her mouth to strengthen her normally soft voice.

"Primarina!"

Within seconds, the Soloist Pokémon broke the surface of the water, hugging its Trainer happily. Ash ran down to greet it, and Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, eager to play with his friend.

"Are you ready, Primarina?" Lana asked.

"Pri-ma!"

"Ready for what?" Ash asked, unable to restrain his curiosity any longer.

Lana turned to him, excitement in her voice. "A deep-sea exploration!"

As if on cue, Primarina began blowing a water balloon from its pink snout. Ash and Pikachu had to keep backing up to give it space, watching as it reached human size. Eventually the balloon released from Primarina's nose, coming to rest on the sand in front of it.

"How's that?" Lana said proudly, puffing her chest out proudly as Primarina did the same.

"It's as cool as always," Ash admitted, marveling at the balloon. "But you know you've shown this to me before, right?"

"You're thinking the balloons we've gone in on the surface of the water," Lana replied. "But these are a little different."

The petite girl motioned toward the balloon, and Ash realized she wanted him to see for himself what was different. He motioned for Pikachu to wait on the sand and reached a foot inside the water balloon like he always did.

"Woah!" Ash exclaimed, unexpectedly being bounced away, landing in the sand on his backside. "That's a much tighter balloon than before, it bounced me off like a trampoline."

Lana ran over to help him up. "Exactly. It's tighter and denser. Primarina and I have been working on it for a while."

Ash dusted his pants off, pausing as he put two and two together. "No way. When you said deep-sea exploration, you meant we were going diving in Primarina's balloons?"

Lana grinned widely. "Yup!"

"That's awesome, Lana! I mean, this is your dream, isn't it? To explore the deep sea alongside Primarina, in one of its balloons?"

Lana scratched her cheek sheepishly. "Yeah, that's the idea. To be honest, these balloons are far from perfect. Primarina and I have a lot of work to do before I could get in one of them and go so deep underwater that I could discover unknown Pokémon and new underwater landforms. But we practiced really hard to get them this far, and they should be good enough for a short dive. I wanted you to be the first one to try it out with me."

Lana's freckles dusted red as she said this, and Ash rubbed his neck, touched by her words. "I'd be honored. This is such a cool birthday present."

Primarina slapped its fins together happily at his comment, and Ash turned his attention back to the Pokémon to see it had blown a second human-sized balloon as well as one appropriately sized for Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon used its tail to push its way into its balloon, laughing as Primarina pushed his balloon around playfully.

"Pikachu made that look easy," Ash said, looking back at his own balloon.

"It is easy," Lana declared, sticking an open hand into the side of her balloon. "Watch!"

Ash watched the girl slide her arm in, then lean sideways and push her shoulder through. After that she used a bent knee to slide her leg through, and simply shifted her weight until half of her body was floating inside the balloon. Then, with a simple push of her oversized slipper on the sand, she vaulted her entire body into the balloon with a BOING!

Ash clapped, and Lana somersaulted inside the balloon. She pressed her hands against the side of the bubble, her voice slightly garbled as she spoke. "Now you try!"

Ash copied Lana's movements, noting the differences between this balloon and the ones of old. The resistance against things entering the bubble was only one side of the coin; the other side was that as soon as he passed half his body through, he was essentially sucked in the rest of the way. And once he was inside – in contrast to previous bubbles which were mostly empty – this bubble actively kept him inside with pockets of water on the inner surface that pushed him toward the center of the balloon. He could tell it would take great effort to try to exit the bubble without it being popped from the outside, which he supposed was a great attribute for going deep underwater.

Ash heard a muffled voice from outside the balloon, and looked to see Lana giving him a thumbs up. He smiled and shot the motion back to her, Pikachu, and Primarina. Lana made an OK sign to Primarina, and before Ash could react his bubble was rolling down the sand and underwater.

"Woah!" Ash involuntarily put his hands up to stop the advance of the waves, but they lapped harmlessly over the surface of his balloon as it submerged. Ash's jaw dropped as he saw he was underwater and descending at a quick clip, while still fully able to breathe thanks to the integrity of his balloon.

Ash looked over to see Pikachu enjoying himself, running in his balloon excitedly as they descended. On his other side, Lana was pressed up against the side of her balloon, giggling at his reaction. Ash remembered to pick his jaw up, flushing lightly.

Ash swiveled his head upward, seeing sunlight at the surface of the water above. He blinked in surprise as Primarina's mermaid-like form passed above, and he realized the Pokémon must somehow be the one controlling their movement. He would have to pick Lana's brain on that later – he was really impressed by the amount of work she'd done to bring the balloons this much closer to serving her dreams.

Ash's thoughts were silenced as his balloon apparently entered another layer of the ocean. Sunlight from the surface no longer illuminated the surrounding waters, and Ash couldn't see anything, even inside his own balloon. He felt a shock of momentary panic. Had something gone wrong? Were Pikachu and Lana ok?

That's when Ash heard it. It started as a single, high pitched note, before increasing in volume, undulating, taking on a melody. From its quiet ring, it gently increased in volume until it permeated his balloon clearly, the sonic waves rippling through the darkness powerfully.

It was a song, Ash realized. Primarina's song.

Almost as soon as he realized it, the sea around him lit up, and his breath caught. Chinchou, Lanturn, Staryu, and Starmie had congregated, sending their self-generated light through the dark waters; interspersed throughout their ranks, Tentacool and Tentacruel twirled gracefully, scattering the light beams further with their reflective red crystals. In the soft light, Ash was suddenly privy to the world of the sea the way the Pokémon experienced it. Schools of Mantyke, Remoraid, and Wishiwashi zoomed by in staccato bursts, alternatingly filling his view and leaving it empty; Kingdra, Seadra, and Horsea chugged by in neat lines, following one another closely; Buizel and Floatzel shot around haphazardly, accelerating and pivoting with untraceable beats of their strong tails; a Milotic cut through the water in an ethereal blur.

When Ash remembered to breathe again, he quickly found Primarina above him, still singing, and Pikachu to his side, cheeks flushed with wonder. He turned to his other side to see Lana's head darting around, trying to memorize every ripple of the water. Eventually she met his eyes, and Ash wasn't sure what expression was on his face that encapsulated his reaction to what he was seeing. Whatever it was, Lana just smiled softly, nodding; she understood.

They kept descending in the balloons, accompanied by the Water Pokémon. After a few minutes, Ash thought he could see the sea floor below them. He wasn't sure, but suddenly Pikachu's balloon was no longer dropping with his, and he looked up to see Primarina stationary, holding Pikachu in its flippers and allowing Ash and Lana's balloons to keep falling.

Their bubbles circled one another, dancing as if controlled by Primarina's melody. The luminescent Water Pokémon had also stopped above them, their dim light just illuminating enough for Ash to see Lana's bubble next to his.

Ash was suddenly jostled by the impact of his bubble on the sea floor, and he floated around in his bubble a bit, looking around. He couldn't see much besides Lana's bubble and some Shellder and Kingler scattered around them. After a few seconds, Ash gravitated towards the wall of his bubble closest to Lana's and she reciprocated, the two eventually standing with their hands separated only by two thin layers of water.

Pink filled Ash's periphery vision, and out of nowhere tens of Luvdisc rushed in, circling the outsides of his and Lana's balloons. The circular formation progressively tightened, pushing the balloons together. Lana held one hand in the other, her cheeks red in recognition of the connotation of the Rendezvous Pokémon. Ash watched as the layers of his and Lana's bubbles fused, and he stepped back as the circle of Luvdisc tightened once more, merging their balloons and sending Lana stumbling forward into him. Ash caught her by the waist as their now singular balloon, twice the size of each of their original ones, fluctuated and stabilized its shape.

"Um... hi, Ash," Lana said quietly, and Ash realized she'd spoken the first words he'd heard since they'd been at the surface. Somehow, it hadn't felt like that long since they'd spoken.

Ash helped the girl right herself. "Hey, Lana. That was... incredible."

Lana stood on her own, holding one arm in the other. "Yeah, the ocean never disappoints."

The Luvdisc continued to circle their balloon, and Lana stood quietly, her eyes darting toward the pink creatures every now and then. Ash cleared his throat, not wanting to allow the pleasant situation to turn awkward.

"So, how'd you do it? Train Primarina to make these new balloons and control them, I mean?"

Lana perked up, always happy to talk about training with Water Pokémon. "Well, I can't take all the credit. I've been writing Ida, you remember her, right?"

Ash thought back to the encounter in Hau'oli City. "Yeah, she was performing with her Brionne when we met her, right? And you became her apprentice?"

"Yeah, exactly," Lana affirmed. "I asked her for more tips on strengthening Primarina's balloons, and she got me to a good jumping off point. We also discussed how it can control the balloons by singing."

"Ahh," Ash said, understanding more of what he'd experienced now, "so that's how we were able to get down here."

"We complemented the singing with some Surf, and it worked like a charm," Lana said proudly. "Like I said, it took a while, but we got a good test run in yesterday so I felt like I could bring you today."

Ash nodded, trying to gather the words to thank Lana for the experience. Before he could though, she spoke again, looking through the top of the bubble in wonderment.

"It really is different, though."

"What is?"

"Being down here with someone else. Yesterday, I came with Primarina, and it was incredible. But having you here is incredible, too, in a different way."

Ash felt heat rise to his cheeks as Lana let her words sink in. She took a deep breath.

"There's another reason I brought you down here, Ash." Lana's eyes were trained on him more intensely than he was used to. "Being all this way underwater, surrounded by nothing but the sea, it gives me courage. I feel like it lets me say things I can't say normally."

Ash listened quietly, knowing if he said anything it might interrupt Lana's resolve.

"I've always loved the water and Water Pokémon more than most people understand. I feel lucky to have friends who've always accepted me fully for who I am, but nobody shared my depth of love for this world," Lana said, motioning around them. "And that was ok, I thought this would just be... my own bubble. Something I'd experience with only my Pokémon. But then you showed up. And you love Water Pokémon as much as I do, and we've seen and done things together I never imagined. I mean, we met a Kyogre!"

Lana's voice reached a crescendo as she said this, and Ash chuckled at the exciting memory. Lana grinned, bringing her voice back down to its normal level.

"I always thought experiencing this world was the greatest joy I could ever have, but sharing it with you made it even better. So, I brought you here to say thank you, Ash. For being a part of my world."

Ash rubbed a finger under his nose, moved by Lana's words. "No. Thank you, Lana, for letting me into your world. It's beautiful."

Ash said his words firmly, and Lana blushed again. This time, though, she didn't look away.

"Ida told me about this, too."

"What, too?"

"How meeting Kanoa and letting him into her world made her a stronger, happier person. And how that eventually led to..."

Lana trailed off, looking at him, and it was Ash's turn to blush as he realized what she meant.

"Lana, Kanoa is Ida's boyfriend. Are you saying..."

Lana continued to stare at him until Ash wondered whether he should just come out and say it. Just as he was about to speak, Lana put a fist against her head playfully, making a funny face.

"Kidding!"

Ash exhaled deeply, covering his face with a hand. When Lana had said the water gave her courage, he hadn't realized that applied to her jokes as well.

Ash looked up and almost jumped. In the moment he'd looked away, Lana had closed the distance between them, now standing an inch away from him. With astonishing fluidity, she leaned forward on her tiptoes, counterbalancing herself by stretching her arms back, and she touched her lips to his. She didn't linger, and the moment passed so quickly that only the skip of his heart's beat and her flushed face were the proof it'd happened.

Ash grinned, raising his hands in half-joking exasperation. "Lana, I thought you said you were kidding."

Lana's face was still red as a tomato, but she didn't skip a beat, winking and sticking her tongue out. "Maybe I was kidding about kidding."

Before he could say another word, Lana jumped backward and whistled. The Luvdisc responded immediately, circling their balloon vertically this time and tightening their formation. The balloon pinched along the middle between him and Lana, and Ash was forced to step back as their single balloon turned into two again, Lana's floating back towards the surface with his not far behind.

She continued to watch him as she rose, and Ash stared back, transfixed by her eyes, two dark blue pools that suddenly seemed deeper than the expansive water around them.

He could get used to living in Lana's world.