Ash, Pikachu, Brock, May, and Max were once again a group as May decided to take a vacation in Sinnoh. Dawn was still traveling alone, and was to meet up with Ash in two more weeks. Just a few days before, at the Couples Carnival, Ash and May discovered their love for each other. They felt it would be a little awkward if Brock and Max found out, so they decided to hide their love from Brock and Max. The only problem was, all they wanted to do was hold each other and kiss, but they couldn't find any time to be alone from Brock and Max. They both were longing for that time intensely.

The group was walking away from the trail, looking for a place to set up camp. Ash and May were so miserable that it was starting to show, no matter how hard they tried to hide it. There were still Pokemon couples all around. Starly, Bidoof, Butterfree, Beautifly, you name it, were paired everywhere. As the group passed, the happy couples, once seeing Ash and May's misery, would put sad looks on their faces, as though noticing the glum mood. Even Pikachu seemed sad for his master, after Ash told him.

"Even the Pokemon feel bad for us," Ash thought to himself as they walked past all of the Pokemon.

They kept moving, until they reached what seemed to be a mountain. They had stopped next to a medium-sized, round pool of water. Ash immediately proceeded to jump in, but before he could, Max yelled,

"Don't go in there yet! It's a hot spring!"

"Oh…whoops, hehe…almost burned myself then, huh?" Ash said, embarrassed.

"Yeah! Smart move, Ash!" May said jokingly.

Shortly afterward, the group set up camp, a tent for each of them, and started a fire. Brock proceeded to cook a meal. He called it a "surprise" as he put it, but it was very tasty nonetheless. After they ate, Ash went to pretend battle Max. Max nearly won with Sceptile, but through sheer experience, Ash won with Corphish. While they were battling, May helped Brock pack away the cooking supplies.

After they were done, the group decided to take a dip in the hot springs. When they started to get in, they realized at once that it was far too hot to get in.

"Come on out, Skitty!" May called as the cute, pink Pokemon came out of its pokeball. "Skitty, use Blizzard, as weak as you can make it," May commanded, and the pink Pokemon obeyed, cooling down the water to a reasonable temperature for a hot spring.

"Good thinking, May!" Ash said.

"Hehe, thank-you, Ash," May said, blushing, until she realized she was blushing and stopped.

Everyone was grateful they had found the hot spring. It was sooo relaxing. Almost all of their troubles washed away. It was the perfect temperature. The only problem was, Ash and May's romantic feelings skyrocketed because of the relaxing hot springs! They were longing to hold each other for hours! But, alas, they could not! The group stayed in there chatting until dusk, all the while Ash and May's longings turned into agony! They felt they would explode with pain if they could not release some of their pent-up love for each other! Finally, Max got out of the water, and said,

"It's getting late guys, I need to get to bed!"

"Me too," Brock said as he got out.

Ash and May's eyes got bright and opened up wide as they watched Brock walk around the corner. They patiently waited until they could hear Brock start to snore. They stared at each other, waiting a while longer, just to make sure Brock and Max were definitely asleep, and then May scooted closer to Ash. Very close. So close that their shoulders were gently touching, and they both stared into the stars for a while. Ash then took hold of May's hand. She blushed for a while after she realized what he had done.

"Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?"

"Yeah…" his voice trailed off, "And so are you." He said boldly.

May's face turned a very deep shade of red, blushing highly after she heard what he said.

"Yes! He truly does love me! No doubt about it now!" she thought in her head excitedly.

May immediately went for Ash's lips, only to find that he was going for hers too. Their lips met gently, and they both put their heart and soul into that kiss. After about two whole minutes they slowly retracted, and leaned back onto the edge of the springs, contemplating what to do next. May put her hand over his, and got closer to him again. She put her head on his shoulder, and Ash put his head on hers. They sat there and stared into the stars for the rest of the night.