Ash sighed as he stood at the railing of the ship, Pikachu perched on his shoulder. Unlike the last time, he was on time when he left for the ship. After he called his mom to inform her that he was leaving and after May and Max got their parents' consent, they met with Gary around seven just as he had suggested. They each had their own money, so they could have paid for breakfast themselves, but Gary insisted that they save it for when they get to Orre and that he'd pay for breakfast, much to Ash's chagrin.

So, after they ate, they boarded the ship, settled in, and relaxed. It wasn't long until Ash realized that his number one fan was coming along for the ride. He could have sworn his blood pressure rose the minute he saw the ten year old board the ship. The little monster just wouldn't leave him alone!

His anger instantly melted away and was replaced with sheer joy when he went into the cafeteria to get a little snack before going back to his cabin. He saw a tall ochre-skinned man with seal-brown spiky hair trying to woo a woman with bright emerald green hair.

Ash, as well as Pikachu, found themselves laughing with amusement when the man got a faceful of lemonade splashed into his face.

He walked over to go greet the man, who was now wiping his face with a napkin.

"Never was that good with women, were you Brock?"

The tall tanned man paused at hearing his name mentioned, especially at hearing it from a familiar voice.

"Ash? Is that really you?" He said, turning around.

Ash handed Brock another napkin. He took it and went about to wiping is face once more. After he had finished wiping the flavored water off his face, Brock extended his hand towards his friend. Ash only shook his head and opened up his arms for a hug. With a smile, the two friends embraced each other. Pikachu got his share of love once his trainer was done.

"Whatcha doing on a ferry towards Orre, Brock?" Ash said as he started back towards the lounge area of the ship.

"Same reason I always travel to different regions. To continue my research into pokémon breeding compatibility, I mean, shouldn't that be expected? I am going to be the world's greatest breeder," Brock said with pride.

Ash rolled his eyes.

"So, are you alone, or are there other familiar faces here I should know about?" Brock asked.

"Well, May and Max are back."

"Like old times, huh Ash?" He replied with a smile.

"I wish. Gary's here too."

"Oh boy."

"And he also happens to have a girlfriend who will be joining us as well."

"What? Gary has a girlfriend?" Brock said with expectant shock.

Ash just sighed. "Yeah. And as if the awkwardness between the two wasn't enough, I have a little ten year old monster trailing me and they won't just leave me alone."

"Oh c'mon, Ash. I don't think Max is that bad? At least not to us."

"Not Max! This newbie trainer named Melanie. I met her in Pallet Town. Brock, this girl is evil."

"Oh, c'mon, Ash. I think you're exaggerating."

"Not enough, Brock. I mean, as if the fact that she's a crazed out fangirl isn't enough, she practically ruined every moment I had with May to tell her…"

"Whoa, whoa. Back up," Brock said, raising his hands, "You have feelings for May?"

Ash paused when he realized he may have gone too far with his excessive rattling. "W-What?"

Brock shook his head. "Never mind, Ash. As if I didn't already see this coming."

"You knew?"

"For a long time. Just thought it'd work itself out."

"So, all this time…"

"I wanna hear more about how this Melanie girl ruined, what did you say? 'Every moment you had with May?'"

Ash shook his head and started walking again.

"You could ask her that yourself, Brock. I'm done with Melanie. Just don't be surprised to go deaf the moment you step into the lounge."

Although Ash's remark confused him, he was far from wrong. The moment Brock stepped into the lounging area of the ship, Melanie's high-pitched screams probably deafened over fifty percent of the passengers onboard. Immediately, she tackled Brock, knocking him to the ground as she began talking nineteen to the dozen about how she wants to be a great pokémon breeder like Brock. After Melanie finished her rant, which was about twenty five minutes since no one cared to intervene, Brock got to sit down with the other's and talk about the long journey that awaited them.

As Ash stood at the railing, Pikachu on his shoulder, he sensed the presence of someone else there. He turned around to see Brock.

"Hey, Ash. Couldn't sleep?" Brock asked, walking up beside him.

"Nah, not really," he said as he turned back to watch over the horizon.

"Thinking about, May?"

Ash chuckled dryly. "Man Brock, nothing gets by you."

Brock laughed slightly.

"So you really knew all this time?" Ash asked.

Brock shrugged, causing Ash to sigh in response.

"Brock, I don't know. I mean, everyone's trying to push me into getting into a relationship with May before I really know how I feel about her myself."

"Sooo, you don't have feelings for May?"

"I don't know Brock. That's the point I'm trying to make. I don't know how I feel. I'm contemplating on whether this is just a crush or…if…if it's something more. I just…I just I don't know," Ash said as he began pacing.

Sometime while Ash was talking, Pikachu had hopped off of his shoulder and onto Brock's, looking at his trainer with a worrisome expression.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Ash."

"Calm down? How can I calm down, Brock? For the past few days, my life has been a nightmare. First of all, my mom practically called everyone I know, telling them I'm going to visit 'the nice sweet brunette girl who stopped by two years ago', not to mention the fact that she told Professor Oak something about grandchildren…"

"Whoa, grandchildren?"

"Then I have Gary showing off the huge promise ring he gave his girlfriend…"

"Promise ring?"

"And to make things worse, the little ten year old monster I met in Pallet Town is about to put me over the edge with her crap! She's so close to putting me over the edge!"

"Whoa, Ash, man, you need to calm down," Brock said as he began to feel nervous all of a sudden. Ash spun around and began approaching him the same way he had approached Tracey in Kanto.

"I can't, Brock! I can't! I think I'm going mentally insane!"

"Ash, get a grip of yourself!"

"Pika!"

"What's going on out here?" A voice called from behind

Ash and Brock turned to see a confused and slightly troubled May.

"May?"

"Is everything all right out here?" She asked, stepping warily up to the two of them.

Ash walked back over to the railing once he realized he had backed Brock and Pikachu up against a wall.

Brock straightened up and began heading back towards the inside of the ship. Pikachu hopped onto May's shoulder.

"It's nothing, May. Ash was just telling me about his journey over here." He said, placing his hand on her shoulder before heading inside the ship.

May nodded but didn't look completely convinced. She approached Ash.

"Are you okay, Ash? You look troubled."

Ash turned around to face his friend. He saw the concern in her blue sapphire eyes and for a moment, he found himself lost in them.

"Ash?"

Shaking his head to snap himself out of his trance, Ash faked a smile. "It's okay, May. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh-Huh."

May smiled. "Okay. Well, good night. Wait, technically its still afternoon. Well, you know what I mean, Ash. Good night."

"Good night. Next time you wake up, we'll be in Gateon Port."

May smiled. She felt Pikachu jump off her shoulder and back onto Ash's.

"See you in the morning…or…evening. However soon we get there, Ash."

"See yah."

Still smiling, May went back inside the ship towards her cabin, leaving Ash and Pikachu to stand outside.

"Pika?"

"I don't know, Pikachu. When the time is right, I guess," he said as he petted his pokémon.

Looking back out towards the afternoon sky one more time, Ash turned and walked back inside the ship and up to his cabin to get the rest he'd missed so often since Melanie accompanied them.

It was late evening when the ship finally reached Gateon Port's harbor. The seaside city seemed to glow with a shimmering light as the stars reflected off the water. The group headed straight towards to the pokémon center since they were flat-out exhausted.

After checking in and depositing their pokémon, they went to bed.

Well, most of them.

Ash remained seated on the loveseat sofa in the lobby, drinking a can of cola. He felt someone sit down beside him and turned to see that it was May, whom he greeted and smiled at.

"Hey, May. What're you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep." She said.

"That could be because you slept the whole time you were on the ship."

"Not the whole time," she said as she playfully nudged Ash.

"For the majority of the time."

"Unlike you who spent the majority of the time outside by the railing. What were you doing out there anyway?"

He starting staring at the half empty soda can he held in his hands "Just… thinking."

"About what?"

"I don't know. A lot of things. Mostly of all the things we could now that we're here."

"Well, I'm wide awake. And you don't look so sleepy yourself."

"I'm not." He said, straightening up and facing her.

"So what do you want to do?"

A small smile lit up on Ash's face. "We could talk?"

"About what?"

"I seem to recall a few years ago when we played a certain…"

"No, I'm not gonna do it." May quickly replied, cutting him off.

"You didn't even let me finish?"

"Ash, no. I know what you were about to suggest and I'm telling you right now, I'm not gonna do it," She crossed her arms.

Putting his can of soda on the coffee table, Ash sat back. "Okay. How 'bout you tell me you're deepest, darkest, secret?"

May instantly sat up. "You already know my deepest, darkest, secret."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. Max blurted it out that one time when we were in Hoenn a few years ago."

"I don't remember."

"You know you're gonna have to owe me for making me relive what happened."

"What are you talking about?" He said, visibly confused.

May sighed.

"Okay Ash. When I was four, I went swimming in the sea. I wore this blue swimsuit with a matching swim cap was in a red and white flotation ring, you know for safety and stuff so I wouldn't drwon. All of a sudden, a pair of Tentacool came up beside me. So I start to play with them. Before I knew it, there's a whole swarm of them surrounding me. I screamed to my parents for help. I saw my mom lock eyes with me. She's smiling. Why was she smiling? I was about to be attacked by a bunch of wild jellyfish pokémon. And to make matters worse, I then saw a bright red pokéball flying in my direction a few seconds later and hit me on the head. My mother, my own mother, thought I was a Tentacool!"

Smiling behind his fist, Ash held his side as he pressed his fist into his nose to keep from laughing out loud. He tried stifle the fits of laughter he felt coming on.

"It's not funny, Ash! I was scared out of my mind, and my mother threw a pokéball to try and capture her own daughter!"

At this point, it was too much for Ash. He burst out laughing, falling out of the loveseat and dropping onto the floor, holding his sides. May to scowled and crossed her arms in annoyance. Pikachu laughed, hard, but he didn't fall out of the seat like his trainer.

"It's not funny, Ash Ketchum!"

Ash tried desperately to calm himself down as he got back up and sat in the loveseat. Breathing loudly, he tried to slow down his already fast beating heart rate.

"I…I'm sorry, May. It's just…she tried to capture you…" He felt more laughs trying to fight their way up his throat but he fought it and forced it back down.

"I had never been so embarrassed in my life. I thought I was gonna die. All Mom did afterwards was the occasional 'I'm sorry' and 'It will never happen again' thing and bought me an ice cream cone. Why do parents feel that buying kids ice cream will make them forget about all the horrible things they put them through?"

"Maybe because it does?"

May crossed her arms even tighter. A small grin spread across her lips moments later. She began to formulate revenge.

"Sooo?"

"So?" Ash said, confused.

"I told you my deepest, darkest, secret. Now you…"

"Oh, no. I can see where this is heading. No, May."

"Why? You made me tell you mine?"

"Yeah, but like you said, you already told me that story before."

"So, by default, you have to tell me yours." She said quickly.

"No…"

"C'mon, Ash. It can't possibly be worse than what I had to tell you."

"Oh, yes it is!" He said, getting to his feet and standing erect.

"Ash…"

He shook his head. "May, no. I'm not gonna do it."

"Please, Ash?" May started pouting her lip as she stared into her friend's eyes.

Ash saw what she was doing and immediately clasped his hands over his eyes. "No! Don't do that, May! That's not fair!"

"Please, Ash?" She stood up slowly and began approaching him.

"May, I'm asking you as a friend to…"

"Please?" she said as she began wrapping him up in a hug.

"Ah! Alright! Alright! I concede! I concede!" Ash cried out as he began flailing his arms.

A large smile spread crossed May's face as she pulled back. "Really?"

"Yes! Yes! I give! I give!"

"Yes! Now spill!" May said excitedly as she plopped down on the couch.

Ash sighed heavily. He slowly sat back down. "Okay, but if I tell you, you gotta swear you won't tell anyone."

"I promise," May said as she held up three fingers with her right hand for Ash to see.

He looked towards his pokémon."You too, Pikachu. You can't tell a living or nonliving soul."

With his paw, Pikachu made a motion as if he zipped up his mouth and tossed away the key to opening it.

"Now, please tell us, Ash?" May prompted.

Sighing again, Ash closed his eyes as he began to recall the dreadful secret. "Okay, since I was a baby…my mom…"

"Yeah, your mom?"

"…my mom…"

"Your mom?"

He began shuddering."…m-my mom…"

May rolled her eyes. "Oh, would you just say it, Ash."

Ash clasped a hand over his eyes. "My mom used to dress me up like a girl."

May and Pikachu started at him in disbelief. And after a moment's silence, the two doubled-over in laughter. Ash slumped down in his seat and crossed his arms in annoyance.

"That's right. Go ahead and laugh. Get all your laughs out."

"Are you for real, Ash?" May asked, sitting back down.

"I'm serious, May! From the time I was a baby up until I was like three, my mother passed me off as a girl! She'd run around and tell all her little girlfriends about me. 'Oh come look at my precious little baby girl. Isn't she so adorable! Oh, I'm so glad I had me a little baby girl.'"

May doubled-over in laughter as she fell out of the seat once more.

"Ash…please…stop with the voice…"

"What voice?"

"The voice you're making right now," she said as she struggled to get back on the couch.

"What, my mom? That's how she sounds. 'Oh, everyone, come watch as I drag my big booty self around and pass my only son off as a girl, not even caring of the future complications it would lead to later on in his life, or how I'm suppose to potty train a child all my friends think will use the bathroom like they do. I don't even care that I have scarred him for life by the things I've done. But maybe he'll get a big booty like my big booty self. Wouldn't that be a plus for my precious little Ashy?''

That did it for May. She couldn't take it. She fell on the floor once more gripping her sides as she rolled around on the floor in the lobby. Ash smiled as he too started to laugh. He was pleased that his light-hearted joke was making May laugh, or rather his horrid impression of his mother was.

He didn't care. It served her well too. She forever scarred her son by playing him off as a girl for the first three years of his life. She deserved to be laughed at. Her and her big booty self.

Once they'd both stopped laughing, they caught each other in their eyes. Feeling slightly nervous, both trainers turned their heads away the other to keep them from seeing their slowly heating face.

"W-Well, I guess we better go to bed, huh?" May asked once she finally found her voice.

Ash had yet to find his, so he just nodded in agreement. Saying good night, May made her way upstairs to her room.

Ash stared in her direction for several seconds, before it was interrupted by Pikachu. Ash looked down at his pokémon, who had long since stopped his uncontrollable fits of laughter and was now looking at his trainer with crossed arms and a raised brow.

"What's wrong, Pikachu?"

"Pika. Pika Pika, Pikachu?"

Ash sighed. He looked back to where May stood only moments ago. "No, Pikachu. It wasn't the right time."

"Pika?"

"I'll tell her. I promise." he said as he stood up. He picked up his pokémon and began heading towards his room.

"When the time is right, I'll tell her."