Chapter
17
"Secrets
revealed"
"How should I do it…." May thought to herself as she approached the lab, "…maybe I should….eh…I can't just say it like I'm telling the weather or announcing the end of a Pokemon battle…jeez…how did I talk myself into this?"
May frowned with uncertainty as she stood right in front of the labs' front doors. She struggled to find confidence in herself and the courage to explain her thoughts. Should she just tell them right away or should she wait until Max is returned to his normal age? Should she break the news to them before she turned Max back to normal? Would they be able to handle it knowing that Ash and Swellow have been injured and are resting in a Pokemon Center? Would the Professor be upset that they couldn't handle a simple request without getting themselves into trouble? Would her brother Max be able to take the news without bursting into tears?
May rubbed her forehead while she glanced at the labs electronic doors. She looked down at the ray gun she was holding, "I…gotta tell them somehow. I just don't want them to be all upset…" she frowned.
"Maybe I'll just explain everything right away," she said to herself, "It's better to explain what happened now rather than later. Yeah that's it….I'll…"
Suddenly, May looked up as the sliding doors opened and Brock stood in the doorway. Brock and May stared at one another in shock.
"MAY!" Brock exclaimed, noticing that she was holding the ray gun, "I thought I heard someone talking outside the lab."
"Wha…really? You mean I was thinking out loud?" May said, startled.
"Either that or you think too loudly. Professor!" Brock called back into the lab, "May's back and she has your ray gun! Hurry up!"
"Brock!" May motioned her hand to tell him to stop shouting, "I have something very important to tell you…it's about…"
"Where is Ash by the way? Is he walking up the hill back there?" Brock asked.
"No. That's what I want to tell you…you see we…"
"By golly! It took you long enough!" he said. The Professor barged through Brock and approached the girl, "You've been gone for over 8 hours, you know! Did it really take that long to find my stuff?"
"Well yea…but…" May stammered.
"My ray gun!" The Professor exclaimed as he snatched the gun out of her hands, "Nice going, girl, my invention looks safe and sound. Doesn't even look like there's a scratch on it. Looks like your baby brother will be back to normal in no time flat…boy am I thrilled that this baby business is over!"
"Ash and I ran into Team Rocket and we had to…"
"Did you get back my Tyranitar from those clowns too?" The Professor quickly interrupted her.
"It's in my fanny pack," May said, tapping her bag.
"Oh goodie," The Professor pranced behind her and started digging his hands through her fanny pack as it was still attached to her waist.
"Hey! What the heck do you think you're doing!" an annoyed May said, "I didn't say you could stick your hands in my bag?!"
May pulled away from the Professor as he looked a bit dumbfounded.
"Wha…what's the matter? What do you have a secret diary in there or some spare lingerie or whatnot? Don't worry miss, in my rather long lifetime I've seen it all. Nothing women carry with them surprises me anymore," The Professor said, smiling.
"I think you're nuts," May said bluntly, "Gee, I never heard of an old man who sticks his hands inside innocent little girls' fanny packs."
May snootily turned her back to him as she took her bag off her waist and started examining it. She brushed aside a few of her Pokeballs until she saw the Pokeball with a large dent on top of it.
That must be Tyranitar's, May thought, [/i] Maybe I should tell him about its injury as well. [/i]
May turned to the Professor, holding up Tyranitar's Pokeball to him. "Your Tyranitar battled…"
"Give me that!" The Professor said, snatching the ball out of her hands. He then started rubbing the Pokeball with his hand. "Oh my dear Tyranitar, thank goodness I didn't lose you to those three crooks forever."
"But…" May tried to say.
"Now, now, no need to apologize to me," The Professor said, holding both his possessions, "I know you're trying to apologize for coming back late and wasting all my time..."
"That's not it at all! I need to tell you something about your Tyran-"
The Professor slipped Tyranitar's Pokeball into his pants pocket as he grabbed May by the arm and pulled her with him into the lab. "No time for words! It's time to get your little brother back to normal!" he said excitedly.
"Hey…stop pulling…you don't have to yank so hard!" May grunted as the Professor pulled her along up the stairs to the guest room on the second floor.
"Wow, he must be really excited," Brock said knowingly as he followed behind them up the stairs.
The Professor pushed open the guest room door as he saw Pikachu and Max playing together.
"I have a surprise for you two!" The Professor exclaimed as he pulled May into the doorway, "The girl has returned!"
Max and Pikachu gasped with joy as they saw May standing in the doorway. Max got so excited that he let out various high pitched squeals and crawled toward his sister.
May hastily pulled her arm away from the Professor and bent down on her knees. She felt elated as she looked at her brother who was crawling toward her and smiled immensely.
"Max!" May said happily as she snatched her brother off the ground, "Hey there!"
"Haha…May!" Max said happily, hugging his sister around the neck.
"That's amazing," Brock said as he walked up behind them, "I've never seen Max so energetic and happy before. That's the most he's said in the entire day!"
"Oh, Max, I told you I'd find a way to turn you back to normal," May said, hugging her brother tightly.
"Alright let's get this over with quickly. You better lie the boy down on the bed, remember what happened last time when you were holding your friend and you toppled over with him in your arms?" The Professor asked.
Throughout all the commotion in the lab and the thrill of seeing her brother again, the thought to tell everyone about what happened to Ash and Swellow had slipped her mind.
"Yeah but…this isn't going to work, is it?" May asked uncertainly.
"What do you mean? I'll simply use the ray gun to reverse the process and turn your brother back to normal. It worked when we turned you back to normal, remember?" The Professor said.
"The ray gun…I thought it only had enough energy to work once a day? If Team Rocket used that ray gun earlier today to turn my brother into an infant…it wouldn't be able to work now, would it?" May asked.
"Not quite. It's true that the ray gun doesn't have the power to accumulate enough energy if its already been used in the last 24 hours…for example…" The Professor aimed the ray gun up at May and Max. "BOO!
The Professor pressed the button on the side of the ray gun as he aimed it at the two siblings.
"What the?!" May gasped, holding her brother in her arms.
The energy started to form on the dish of the gun before suddenly disappearing and fading away.
"HA! Scared you, didn't I?" The Professor grinned.
"You're a sick old man, you know that?" May yelled at him, gripping her brother in her arms.
"Heh heh. See? As I just showed you via demonstration, the ray gun only has enough power to work once a day…..HOWEVER…."
"There's a Plan B?" Brock asked.
"No…not quite. The ray gun will work however in the same day but only if it's reversing the process," The Professor said, looking up at May, "Didn't you get turned into a baby and then turned back to normal on the same day girl? My memory is a bit hazy, but I think that all happened in the same day, didn't it?"
May thought to herself, putting her finger on her cheek, "You know so much stuff has happened that I barely remember. I think it all happened in the same day but I can't recall for sure."
The Professor slapped his forehead. "My goodness, I see alzheimers is hitting people younger and younger these days. If a young girl like you can't remember something from one day to the next, then what luck does that leave me as I get older?"
"Eh…I don't think it really matters in your case, Professor," Brock said, "Considering you know, you keep de-aging yourself right at the age when you're about to croak and then live your life all over again from infanthood onward."
"Huh?" a confused May asked.
"Gah! Didn't I say that was supposed to be a secret! Secrets aren't meant to be shared, you know!" The Professor snapped at Brock, "Remember our deal about "having all the women" you could want?"
"Oh right!" Brock nervously stood still, remembering their talk earlier, "My lips are sealed!"
He took his hand and pretended to zip a zipper over his lips. Max laughed watching Brock who was uncontrollably drooling at the thought of women at his fingertips. May looked at both of them completely lost as to what they just said.
"Pikahu, do you understand any of this?" May asked the Pokemon.
"Pika…pikachu," Pikachu shrugged its shoulders.
"Well that's good. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks something is completely nutty around here," she said sarcastically.
"Anyway, as I tried to say before I was rudely interrupted, the ray gun may not be able to gather enough energy to de-age someone in a single day, but it does have the power to reverse the process in a single day. That is…as long as I have another batch of my #69 formula to attach to the ray gun so it disperses the formula in energy waves at the patient…"
"Which you don't have," Brock reminded him.
The Professor sniffed. "Which I don't have," he said sadly.
"Wait…you don't have what?" May asked frantically, looking for an answer, "What? What's wrong?"
"His formula, May," Brock said, "He told me a little while ago that he ran out of the materials needed to make it."
"Gah, looks like we'll be stuck with the little tyke a little while longer," The Professor said, wiping a tear from his eye.
Max smiled up at his sister, he was quite happy to be in her arms. May patted his head gently as she turned to the Professor.
"So what…what now? I know that secret formula of yours is what's able to turn someone back to normal. You can either attach the formula to the ray gun and zap the patient back to normal…." May said while making a zapping motion with her finger, "Zzzzap!"
The Professor stared at her dubiously.
"OR, you can simply put that formula into a needle and inject it into a person's bloodstream and have them turn back to their normal age that way," May said, quite proud of herself, "I don't want my little brother to get such a big bad needle, so I'm quite content with the ray gun zapping method. But…if you just said that you don't have the materials anymore to make the formula…then…that means you can just buy them or something and make up a new batch? Right?"
May frantically turned to Brock, "Right?
She turned back to the Professor, "Right? Just go off to the store? Eheh?"
"I'm afraid not," The Professor said with a stern face, "I'm afraid your little brother will be stuck like that forever."
"WHAT?!" May gasped frightfully.
"Oh wait…did I say that? Ho ho," The Professor jested, "I didn't mean forever, I just meant until I'm able to gather the materials needed to make the formula again. Ha ha…you should have seen the expression on your face…" he laughed, pointing at her.
May calmed down, breathing more normally and now looked completely agitated, "You're completely unbelievable! You nearly scared me half to death!"
"Uh…Professor…don't you think she has enough troubles on her mind already without you adding new ones?" Brock said in her defense.
"Oh sure, but I can't help it sometimes," The Professor scratched his backside, chuckling.
"Ugh, my parents would kill me if I brought my brother back home like this," May said looking down at him.
Max's innocent smile however gave her renewed hope and made her feel content. She couldn't stay agitated any longer upon seeing her innocent brother's smiling face.
"The materials come from Psychic Pokemon…I extract blood from said Pokemon and mix them with other ingredients, and that's pretty much all there is to it. As long as the Psychic Pokemon know the move "Recover" that is, I can pretty much use that to reverse the de-aging process," The Professor said.
"Hey, that sounds similar to what other scientists are doing nowadays…" May contemplated.
"Eh…so I'll just have to call the Pokemon Center across town and have Nurse Joy send one of them over," he continued.
"Pokemon Center?!" May gasped, pulling her hair above her forehead, "Oh damn, I almost forgot about what I had to tell you guys."
"What is it, May? You still haven't told us where Ash is either," Brock approached her.
"Pika, pikachu?" Pikachu's ears sprung up as it too was wondering where its trainer was.
"Its...about Ash," she said solemnly. She looked at Brock and Pikachu hoping that she wouldn't break the news to them too abruptly, "He's…in the Pokemon Center that's a few miles from here."
"Really?" Brock asked, "What's he doing there?"
May bit her lip, not sure how to proceed. She looked down at her brothers' face, she knew that he too would remember the news once he was turned back to his normal age. She reluctantly looked back up at Brock and Pikachu.
"He's…resting at the Pokemon Center," she said hesitantly.
Brock noticed that she seemed to be very uneasy with explaining the situation. Her face broadened and looked like she was being barraged by a complex wave of emotions.
"Is that all? Why didn't the boy come back here?" The Professor asked abruptly.
"He…" May struggled to say as a tear formed in the back of her eye.
Brock knew that something was wrong. In all the time he traveled with May, he knew that she would never hesitate to explain something to her friends, especially something about Ash, unless the situation was serious.
"May, let me take Max out of your hands for a second," Brock said sternly as he lifted the boy out of her arms. The infant fidgeted, obviously not content with being taken away from his sister, but quickly calmed down once Brock held him against his shoulder. "May, if there's something that happened…"
"There is….haven't you guys watched the news? Didn't you hear about the forest outside the lab?" May asked.
"Huh? No we haven't," Brock said, rubbing Max's back, "I've been so preoccupied with taking care of Max that I never turned on the TV."
"I haven't turned on the tube either or the radio for that matter, I was too busy pulling out whatever little hair is still on my head trying to figure out what took you kids so long. That ray gun took decades worth of research to develop," The Professor stated.
"Oh…so then you guys have no idea at all then," she said timidly, scratching her arm.
"Professor, can you give us a moment in private for a minute?" Brock said, turning to him, "There's obviously something she wants to say, but there's obviously something wrong. With all due respect, I think she'd be more comfortable if you weren't here."
"So that's how it is, huh? I thought we were bosom buddies," The Professor said as if he were heartbroken, "Can't even break a secret with the old fart still in the room, eh? Secrets are meant to be shared you know."
"Err, I thought you just said a little while ago that secrets aren't meant to be shared," Brock said.
"Oh for the love of….never mind," The Professor uttered, "If it's really that important, I'll give you time alone with your friend. I might as well make the call to the Pokemon center in the meantime anyway."
"Thank you," May said quietly.
"Hmph," The Professor opened the door and gently shut it behind him.
May breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out of the room. She then looked at her brother.
"Brock, I think it would be better if Max didn't hear this either. I don't want him to be upset."
"Really? This doesn't sound good May, something serious happened, didn't it?" a concerned Brock raised his voice.
Brock placed Max on the floor and instructed Pikachu to watch him. He then motioned for May to follow him outside the room and into the hallway on the 2nd floor.
"Pikachu pika pikachu chupika!" Pikachu called out.
May turned to Ash's Pokemon, "Don't worry Pikachu, you'll see Ash soon."
"Pika…" the Pokemon lowered its ears in disappointment.
Brock closed the door behind them as they now stood on the hallway of the second floor. May walked to the railing and pressed her elbow against it. She looked down toward the working machines on the first floor that were busy pumping out materials as usual.
"So what happened, May? What is it that you couldn't say in front of the others? Where is Ash?" Brock asked standing beside her.
"He's as I said, he's resting in the Pokemon Center." May looked up at him.
Brock listened intently as May explained the story in detail. She tried to explain everything that happened, no matter how painful some of the events were to reciprocate. She noticed Brock looked more and more pale as she detailed the events that injured Ash and his Swellow. She would pause at the end of each sentence, look away and stare down at the machines on the 1st floor, and then struggle to continue where she left off. Brock wouldn't budge an inch and stared her solely in the eyes as he heard the news about one of his best friends. She then finished detailing the events that occurred and waited for reassurance from Brock.
"I…I promised Ash that I would go sleep with him at the Pokemon Center tonight. I promised him that I'd be with him until he recovered…I don't want to stay here at the lab knowing that Ash is over there all by himself," she said softly.
Brock gripped the bar on the railing tightly, he stared down toward the 1st floor himself as he tried to absorb all the information that May had told him.
She continued, "That's…why I didn't want to say anything in front of Max and Pikachu. I…couldn't think of being the one to tell them such horrible news. I haven't even seen what Swellow looks like either, it's just horrible to think about the pain its in."
Brock loosened his grip on the handle and took a long deep breath.
"And you're sure Ash is fine now?" Brock asked, sternly.
"He still needs some time to rest, but thank god his injury wasn't that serious. He didn't even need stitches or anything. I'm sure Ash will be ok…it's his Swellow that I'm scared about," May uttered.
Brock turned and started walking down the long hallway scratching his scalp. He would then turn around and begin pacing the floor back toward May. This motion repeated for about five verses as she watched him timidly. The girl wasn't sure what to say, she didn't want to say something to him and disrupt his thought patterns as she knew this was tough to absorb all at once.
As Brock started pacing the floor back toward her, he finally stood still. He turned to her, she stood there not sure what to expect, but was relieved once Brock began to sympathize with her.
"You…did the right thing, May, I'm glad you told me this news alone. It's…quite a lot to take in all at once. I can't imagine how hard it's been for you, you've seen everything first hand," he said between breaths.
"Yes, and that's why I need to return there. I saved Ash and Swellows' lives, I have to make sure they recover all the way back to 100%. He has a very difficult decision ahead deciding on the type of surgery to give Swellow. I… need to be at his side."
Brock ran his hand through his hair still trying to grasp the seriousness of the situation, "True, Ash would certainly want your company. You've already retrieved both of the Professor's stolen items, so there's no obligation for you to be here at the moment. I'll promise you this though, once the Professor makes a new batch of his formula, I'll make sure your brother will be turned back to normal safe and sound."
"Max…" she said sadly, pressing her finger against her cheek, "Thank you, Brock."
"I'll tell the Professor some story as to why you had to leave, so don't worry about that either. I'll make sure to come to the Pokemon Center first thing after Max is his normal self again, I really wish I could see Ash right now too. He's one of the best friends I've known too, I kind of feel terrible that I'm not there right now."
May nodded, "Ash means so much to me, seeing him desperately trying to free Swellow from the collapsed tree is something that will always be burned into my mind. He tried so hard to save his Pokemon…and he only got himself injured and nearly killed while doing so. He got hurt twice right in front of my eyes, I can't believe I let that happen."
"May, the last thing you should do now is blame yourself. That's one of the worst things you could do, it only leads to more heartache and more guilt. Ash is still alive right now because you saved him. If anything, what you did for him was something incredible, you saved his life," Brock told her in a parental tone.
"I know…it's just that it still bothers me. I mean this is Ash. I've never met anyone quite like him. He's always there for me and he's not once let me down during the entire time I've known him. I don't want to leave his side again, and I know he wants me there too," May confessed, "I don't think I've ever felt this attached to someone before, but Ash is just different."
Brock said knowingly, "You share a strong bond with Ash, perhaps you're developing stronger feelings for him."
"Wha? No…I…" May gasped.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of May, I'm sure Ash feels the same way," Brock chuckled as he put one hand on the doorknob of the guest room, "Get going, May. I'll take care of everything here at the lab. Ash will need you there with him to reflect on his decision about Swellow. You mean a lot to him too, make sure you give him my regards."
May smiled gently, "You're a great friend, Brock. Thank you, again."
Brock opened the guest room door as May started to walk toward the stairway, she stopped in her tracks and turned to Brock one last time.
"I don't think I'm going to be coming back to the lab until Ash is ready to leave," May called back to Brock as he stood in the half open doorway, "Tell Max I'm sorry that I couldn't play with him more as a baby…and…tell him what happened to Ash and Swellow after he's his own age again. I'm…not sure how he'll be able to take it…but at least when he's older you guys will be able to come down to the Pokemon Center yourselves and see the two of them."
"I got it, May. I'll bring Max and Pikachu with me to the Pokemon Center as soon as the Professor finishes his formula and turns your brother back to normal. I'm not sure if that'll take another day or so, but I'm definitely going to be there to see Ash and Swellow. Take care," he said, waving good bye to her.
"Bye," May said quietly as she jogged down the stairs.
She thought to herself about Brock taking care of her brother, and that filled her with optimism. She left with the confidence that her baby brother would be fine, and that the next time she would see him he would be at his normal age again.
May continued to walk through the main floor of the lab and noticed the Professor talking on the phone in front of a circular machine. The machine was a Pokeball transportation device, similar to the ones the Pokemon Center's use to transport Pokemon. The Professor had his back turned toward her as he was busy talking away on the phone. She quickly walked passed him toward the entrance of the lab, hoping that she could reach the Pokemon Center again before nightfall.
The Professor turned and caught May walking out of the lab at the corner of his eye. He realized that she must have been leaving for the same situation he was being described to about on the phone.
"Yes, yes, Nurse Joy," he said turning back to the Pokeball transport machine, "So that's what happened to Ash and his Pokemon, huh? Yes, the boy and his friends have been staying at my lab for the time being. Thanks for telling me, looks like he'll need my help for his injured Pokemon. I'll probably end up using the same Psychic Pokemon that you send me over to help his Swellow recover..."
A flash of white light formed in the center of the machine, as a single Pokeball materialized on the surface.
"…yes I have the Pokeball transported here safely, thanks," The Professor said as he hung up the phone.
"Ugh…" The Professor said to himself, "I forgot to ask Nurse Joy what it was that caused that forest fire to being with….unless…"
The Professor raised an eyebrow as he reached into his pants pocket and took out Tyranitar's Pokeball.
"…Don't tell me old friend, it wasn't you, was it?"
The Professor opened the Pokeball as Tyranitar began to form before his eyes. The Professor staggered as his Tyranitar lie on the ground badly beaten before him.
"Oh dear…this doesn't bode well," The Professor said as he ran his hand gently along Tyranitar's face, "Looks like living forever isn't such a miracle if your mind ends up deteriorating in the process. You've been de-aged a lot more than I have my friend, I didn't know that it could have such a negative impact."
Tyranitar was on the ground gasping in pain, trying to look up at its trainer, only that it was unable to gather the strength to do so. The Professor sighed, recalled Tyranitar back into its Pokeball, and then slipped the ball back into his pocket. He turned to the Pokeball on top the transportation machine that contained the Psychic Pokemon. He walked over to it and reluctantly picked it up.
"Well…first things first. I might as well start work on another batch of my formula #69 to help turn the kid back to normal, then use the Psychic Pokemon to help the boys' Swellow, and then figure out what to do with my ray gun and my own problem," The Professor said to himself as he picked up the phone once more. He quickly dialed the number once again to call for help. "Hello, Nurse Joy? Yeah it's me again. I think I know what set that forest on fire in the first place…and…I think my Tyranitar is going to need to spend some time healing at the Pokemon Center. It's a long story, but I'm going to transport it over."
Nurse Joy held the phone close to her face as she spoke to the Professor. She glanced over at Ash's Swellow, which had many bandages over its body and was hooked up to a machine. Nurse Joy knew that Swellow would be in good hands if the Professor himself instructed the Psychic Pokemon to heal it.
"I'll take good care of your Tyranitar, Professor Latrommi, and I'm glad that you'll be overseeing the surgery of Ash's Swellow in person. If only the world could be filled with more caring people like you….we'd have a perfect world on our hands…truly…goodbye," Nurse Joy smiled contently as she hung up the phone.
~*~*~*~
Over the following night and the next morning, the Professor toiled in one of his workrooms to make another batch of his formula #69. He used Gardevoir, the Psychic Pokemon Nurse Joy transported over, to extract the blood from. He also told Gardevoir that he would need its help to heal an injured flying type Pokemon. Gardevoir agreed to help the Professor, as the psychic type was trained by the Professor himself in his younger days.
Brock spent the night caring for Max and changing his diaper once more, also reflecting on the events that befell his best friend. As Brock placed the covers over infant Max's body and wished him a goodnights sleep, Brock felt slightly more confident that everything would turn out alright in the end.
May spent the night sleeping in Ash's room at the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy had brought her a cot to sleep next to Ash's bed. Ash and May were quite happy to have each others company for the night, as the two spent the evening alone reminiscing about the first time they met each other back at Littleroot Town. They would banter, crack jokes, tell stories, share their love of traveling, and discuss their hopes and dreams for the future.
During that one night, Ash and May for the first time shared stories of each others' childhood days before they met. Ash would describe how he loved to climb on trees back in his hometown of Pallet, and May would counter by saying that she was scared of trees because she thought that they would turn into scary monsters when it was dark outside. Ash remarked that maybe as a little girl she saw some Sudowoodo that she thought were trees, and May would calmly deny it saying that it was just a childhood belief of hers.
They would share other stories as well about when they were living at home, such as May embarrassingly sharing the story of how her brother Max used to sneak into her underwear drawer and make fun of her for wearing bright pink undergarments. Ash would chuckle and say how he was glad that he was an only child. May also ended up bringing up the topic about her parents, and explained what her mother had told her, about how romantic the time was when her father and mother first met. Ash, never being one for romantic stories, felt that the tale was a little too boring and a little too "girly." May would then tease him for knowing so little about love and how he knew nothing about romance. Ash would comment about how romance was more a concept for girls and not for boys like him, and May would counter playfully by saying that someone needed to slap him for being so silly.
Both trainers managed to stay up well over 2 in the morning simply talking and jesting with each other. It wasn't until Ash mentioned how tired May looked that they both realized how late it was. They realized that they found themselves lost in each others conversations and after preparing themselves for bed, they wished each other a goodnights sleep and hoped that tomorrow they would finally get to see Swellow.
~*~*~~*
The next morning, the Professor had finished developing another batch of his #69 formula. He barged into the guest room in the wee hours of the morning which startled and scared Brock out of his mind. The Professor apologized and explained how it was time for Max to be reverted back to his original age. Brock questioned the Professor about how he finished it so fast, and the Professor responded by saying that he toiled all night working on it, and how he also knew that Ash and Swellow were injured in the Pokemon Center. Much to Brock's shock, the Professor revealed that he had lived with different alias' during the 269 years of his life, and how his current name was Professor Latrommi, which meant that he was a famous scientist who pioneered the research of long life in humans.
Without delay, the procedure was done quickly to turn Max back to normal. Brock sat infant Max on May's bed, and the Professor zapped the boy quickly with the #69 formula attached to the ray gun.
Max, now at his own age, screamed in embarrassment as he was still wearing the diaper Brock had put on him! Brock slapped his forehead for not remembering to remove Max's diaper before he was turned back to normal, and Max got so annoyed and embarrassed that he locked himself in the bathroom for a good 20 minutes.
After another hour or so passed, Brock explained to Max and Pikachu where May went, and what exactly happened to Ash. Brock received the reactions he was expecting, Max became hysterical upon hearing that Swellow needed surgery, and Pikachu looked depressed knowing that its trainer and one of its fellow Pokemon were injured. The Professor reassured the two of them, explaining how Ash would be fine and how Gardevoir would help with the surgery on Swellow. After another temper tantrum from Max not wanting to accept the fact of what happened to Ash, the lab received a call from May at the Pokemon Center. Brock answered the call and told her that her brother was back to his normal age, and also explained how the Professor would help with Ash's Swellow. May asked to speak to her brother in order to try and calm him down, but Max would not take the phone. Ash then told May that he should talk to Max, as he would be able to calm him down. Brock gave the phone to Max as the boy whimpered, listening to the reassuring words from Ash himself, and how he shouldn't overreact.
Another hour or so passed as Brock, the Professor, Max and Pikachu agreed to come to the Pokemon Center. They started gathering their belongings at the lab to get ready to make the trek through the forest and down the hill. Ash and May waited in their room for their friends to arrive, and also hoping that Nurse Joy would finally let them see Swellow.
Ash stood next to his bed, with one less layer of bandages on his head, peering out the window. He wore his black T-shirt and baggy blue sweatpants as usual, as his hat and sweatshirt lay on top the table. May, who was wearing her usual tight outfit of a red top and blue spandex shorts, had just finished combing her silky brunette hair in the mirror as she turned to Ash.
"Well, Ash, we're going to finally get to see Swellow today," May said contently, "Are…are you worried at all?"
Ash turned to her and grinned, "If you asked me this question a day ago I would have said yes, but now with the Professor coming himself to help my Swellow, I'm sure that everything will be fine. I can't believe that the Professor is really famous, and we didn't even know! I'm surprised he kept that a secret for so long, if Nurse Joy didn't tell us we might have never known."
"Yeah, why is it that the nutcases are always the famous ones?" May bemused.
"Heh, I guess everyone has something a little strange about them." Ash said, "At least it's better than being some goofy romantic."
"Hey!" May bantered, "One of these days you'll be eating those words, Ash Ketchum!"