Here it is! The final chapter! Thanks for the reviews and enjoy!

Chu For a Day

Chapter 3

Pikachu frantically went about the machine in a vain attempt to figure out why it wouldn't work. Unfortunately, between the two of them they didn't have any chance at figuring it out. Pikachu had little to no knowledge of human technology and Ash...well Ash had little knowledge period. Neither of them could make heads or tails of the machine.

"Damn it! Why won't it work!" Pikachu cried out in frustration.

"(Pikachu! Keep your voice down or you'll wake everyone up!)"

"Eh heh...whoops... I don't get it though. Bill said the repairs were done so why isn't it working?"

"(Maybe we're not doing it right?)"

"Not doing it right? The only button is the 'on' button..."

"(Oh yeah...hmm...well all we can do is keep trying I guess...we need to get switched back before morning!)"

"Yeah...I know..." The two of them continued frantically trying to figure out what was wrong with the machine.

Meanwhile, May was starting to wake up. As she slowly opened her eyes, she could hardly tell where she was. Although she was awake she felt like she was still asleep. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she realized she was still wearing her regular outfit.

"I must have fallen asleep..." May thought to herself. Then she remembered where she had been earlier and bolted upright.

"Oh no! I fell asleep on Ash in the middle of our date! I hope he's not mad at me..." May could remember leaning on Ash's shoulder, and feeling safe in his arms.She didn't get much sleep the past two days, so when she closed her eyes she quickly drifted to sleep.

"Ash must have carried me here...wow...that was sweet of him... I wonder if he's still awake?" May hopped off her bed and quietly walked out of her room and made her way to the room Ash was staying in. The door was open, but when she looked in she could there was no one there. Even Pikachu wasn't there.

"Wonder where he is?" May thought to herself. "Lets see...if I was Ash...I'd either be in the kitchen emptying the fridge or off training somewhere..." May decided to check the kitchen first, but when she got downstairs she noticed there was a light on in the hallway. Then she overheard someone arguing. It sounded to her as if Ash was arguing with Pikachu.

"(You know, if we just told Bill in the first place we wouldn't be having this problem...)"

"Don't start that again..."

"Is Ash arguing with Pikachu...?" May wondered, watching them from the doorway leading upstairs. "I knew he could understand Pikachu a little, but not enough to have an actual conversation with him...or at least I didn't think he could understand Pikachu that well..."

"(If you weren't trying to run my life we wouldn't have to worry about switching back without anyone knowing we were switched to begin with!)"

"I said don't start that again. Besides, if it wasn't for me you'd never have gotten a girlfriend, Ash." May looked on in shock.

"Did Ash just call Pikachu...Ash!" May then remembered what had happened when they first arrived at Bill's lighthouse. Ash and Pikachu were both in the machine when Pikachu used Thunderbolt. They were both unconcious for two days, then suddenly they both seem to be acting a bit odd.

"They...they must have switched bodies...which means...I wasn't dating Ash...I was dating Pikachu...and that wasn't Pikachu I admitted my feelings to...it was Ash!" May could hardly breathe as she came to this realization.

"But...does Ash even like me...? Are they both just...toying with me? Was Ash in on the whole thing? I'm so confused...why would they do this!" May was both confused and upset. She felt as if her best friend, who she had a crush on, and his pokemon had betrayed her. She was sniffling sadly and fighting back tears as she thought about all this. Ash and Pikachu stopped arguing when they heard her.

"Hey Ash...do you hear something...?" Pikachu inquired.

"(You mean like...someone sniffling?)" The two of them looked around the machine and saw May standing in the stairs. They could tell she was upset, and had a pretty good idea of why too...

"Eh heh...hey May...how long were you standing there?" Pikachu asked nervously.

"Long enough to know whats going on..." May replied sadly. "I thought...I thought I could trust you two..." May ran out of the lighthouse before Ash or Pikachu had a chance to respond.

"Guess my plan backfired..." Pikachu muttered, hanging his head in defeat. "I hope she doesn't decide to leave..."

"(You know, I think this is the part where I say...)" Pikachu glared at him.

"Don't say it... Besides this is hardly the time!"

"(Well what do you suggest we do then?)"

"Well...at this point things would be so much easier if she could understand you...none of this is really your fault...but you can't..." Pikachu didn't get to finish his sentence before Ash took off after May.

"Hey! Wait a minute! She can't understand you!" Pikachu called after him, but Ash either ignored him or didn't hear him. Pikachu sighed.

"I see little to no pokemon treats or ketchup in my future..."

May kept running after she got outside, not even paying much attention to where she was going. Eventually she stopped in the middle of the forest, exhausted from running and lack of sleep. She slumped down at the bottom of a tree.

"I can't believe this is happening..." She sobbed quietly to herself. "Everything was so perfect...but it turned out to be a lie...I thought I could trust those two...after all we've been through together...but they just turned out to be jerks!" May reflected on her travels with Ash through Hoenn, and remembered how he seemed to be such a great guy and how Pikachu seemed to be such a powerful yet cute and kind hearted pokemon. Now she wasn't sure she could trust either of them.

"Maybe I should just go home..."

"(No!)" May looked up and saw Ash standing in front of her. He had apparently caught up with her.

"Go away..." May muttered coldly. Ash could tell she was just trying to cover how hurt she was.

"(I know your upset but please listen to me!)" May didn't pay much attention to him. Of course, she couldn't understand him either.

"(I know what Pikachu did was wrong, but he didn't mean to hurt you!)" May still wasn't paying attention to him and turned away from him.

"(May, please! Pikachu made me realize something...)" May couldn't understand Ash, but she could hear the sincerity in his voice. She turned back towards him and looked into his small, black eyes.

"(If none of this ever happened, I never would have realized I like you May. Not just as a friend...)" The two of them stared at each other in silence before it finally dawned on Ash.

"(Oh right...you can't understand me now...)" Ash sighed, hanging his head in defeat.

"...Ash? Do you...like me?" May inquired. Ash looked back up at her. He blushed slightly then gave a slight nod. May then grabbed Ash and hugged him to her tightly.

"Ash why couldn't it have been you? Why did it have to be Pikachu? Why did all this happen!" Ash didn't respond, and his face was turning a very deep shade of red. May looked down at him and quickly realized her mistake and dropped him, blushing deeply as well.

"(That...was awkward...)" Ash said, still blushing.

"Umm...we should head back..." May said, not even looking at Ash. "Its umm...hard to talk to you...maybe Bill could help you and Pikachu switch back...its his machine afterall...and it'd be easier for us to talk when your back in your body..." As May finished speaking, Ash suddenly cried out. She looked up and saw Ash disappear into the trees in the grip of a...red glove? She ran through the trees after him, and found a clearing where someone had apparently set up camp for the night...

"Prepare for trouble! Its a midnight attack!"

"Make it double! We have Pikachu in the sack!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight tonight!"

"Meowth, thats right!"

"Team Rocket!" May exclaimed, clenching her fists tightly.

"Expecting the boogeyman?" Jessie asked, then gave a somewhat evil laugh. James was looking around expectantly.

"Hey, isn't the other twerp supposed to be with Pikachu?" He asked.

"I don't need Ash to take care of you two!" May yelled, reaching for Combusken's pokeball. The pokeball seemed to be missing, however.

"Oh no! I left my pokemon back at the lighthouse!" May realized.Team Rocket laughed.

"Looks like da twerp came unarmed!" Mewoth exclaimed. "Now's our chance to make off wit Pikachu!" Team Rocket hopped into their Meowth balloon and started to take off into the sky. May, without thinking, ran towards it and grabbed a rope that was hanging down from it.

"Whats that twerp doing!" Jessie demanded. May held on to the rope tightly as the balloon continued to ascend.

"May! Get out of here while you can!" Ash thought to himself, unable to see what was going on since, as James stated before, he was in a sack...

"Don't look down..." May thought to herself as she started climbing up the rope. The balloon was at a height now that if she fell she probably wouldn't be moving for a while. They were still going up too. She managed to make it up to the basket and pulled herself in. Team Rocket as standing on the other side of the basket and James was holding the sack that Ash was in.

"Grr! Your as much of a pest as the twerp!" Jessie said through clenched teeth as May climbed into the basket.

"Like I said, I don't need Ash to deal with you losers! Now give back Pikachu!" May replied, then grabbed the bag Ash was in and tried to pull it away from James.

"Hey! Let go!" James cried.

"I'll make da brat let go!" Meowth said, extending his claws.

"(You better leave her alone!)" Ash said from inside the bag. Mewoth laughed.

"What are you gonna do about it? That bag is Pikachu-proof, as always! Now enough stallin'!" Mewoth lunged towards May, aiming to scratch her hand. She tried to move out of the way, and in the process the end of the bag she was holding ended up in the way instead. Meowth ended up striking the bag and cutting it open, and Ash fell onto the floor of the basket, looking pretty mad and his cheeks were sparking. Team Rocket backed away from Ash in fear.

Ash was shocked, excuse the pun, when he noticed.

"So thats how Pikachu does it..." Ash thought to himself. He got up on his feet, standing between May and Team Rocket.

"Looks like the tables have turned now!" May called triumphantly. "Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"

"(You don't have to tell me twice! ...Or once for that matter!)" Ash tapped into the electricity sacks in his cheeks, causing sparks to erupt from them.

"(THUNDERBOLT!)" He cried out, sending a blast of electricity towards Team Rocket. The electricity struck the balloon's small furnace as well, however, and caused it to explode. Team Rocket was sent flying in one direction while Ash and May went the other way.

"I thought we finally won that time too..." James whined as he flew through the air with Jessie and Meowth.

"Maybe we should just stay in bed next time..." Jessie replied.

"Looks like Team Rockets blasting off again!" They all called out in unison as they flew over the horizon.

"This must be how Team Rocket feels everytime we meet them..." May stated. "This isn't good! This is going to hurt!" She cried, flailing her arms wildly.

"(Maybe I should have thought this through...)" Ash muttered. "(Something usually comes up at times like this, though...)"

Just after Ash had said this, the two of them landed on a large, feathered creature.

Ash soon realized he had landed on a Pidgeot, and Pidgeot weren't exactly common in the wild.

"Eek! We landed on a giant Pidgeotto!" May cried.

"(Pidgeot? Is that you...?)" Ash asked the pokemon he was riding on. Pidgeot gave a nod.

"(Figured that was you, since your the only electric mouse Team Rocket would go after. Who's the girl? And doesn't she know a Pidgeot when she sees one?)"

"(Uh...sorry...can't understand you. Me and Pikachu kinda switched bodies. Anyway can you fly us to that lighthouse over that way?)" Ash said, pointing towards Bill's lighthouse. Pidgeot sweatdropped.

"(Either you're telling the truth or you've completely lost it...well hang on then.)" Pidgeot turned towards the lighthouse and started flying faster. It wasn't long before Pidgeot was landing in front of the door and Ash and May climbed off. May had figured by now that Ash must know the 'giant Pidgey', since it seemed to listen to him.

The three of them entered the lighthouse and saw Bill standing in front of Pikachu holding a notebook, and Pikachu was trying his best to answer the millions of questions Bill was throwing at him. Pikachu was overjoyed to see Ash had returned, and with May.

"Ash! Your back!" Pikachu said way too enthusiastically. "Is that...Pidgeot with you?" Ash nodded.

"(Yep...we kinda had a run in with Team Rocket and Pidgeot saved us.)"

"(Wait...so you two...have really switched bodies?)" Pidgeot asked incredulously.

"Yep. I'm in Ash's body." Pikachu replied.

"So...is this a Pidgeot, and not a giant Pidgey?" May asked, pointing towards Pidgeot.

"Indeed." Bill replied. "I had no idea your Pidgeotto evolved, Ash...anyway, since your here we can use the machine to switch you two back. It appears I made one minor miscalculation in the machine. It takes a great deal of power for it to operate. When Pikachu used Thunderbolt, that gave it the power it needed. If Ash uses Thunderbolt to power it it should work."

"Well there's a small problem with that..." Pikachu said. "Ash doesn't know how to..." Before Pikachu could finish, Ash's cheeks began to spark and he grinned widely.

"(I think I managed to figure it out...)"

"...Oh. Err...lets get to it then!" Ash nodded and the two of them entered the machine. Bill hooked a wire to the two red dots on Ash's cheeks. Bill then turned the machine on.

"Whenever your ready, Ash." Bill stated. Ash nodded.

"(Here goes...THUNDERBOLT!)" Ash's cheeks sparked and electricity began to flow through the wires and into the machine. The machine activated, and both pods were filled with a bright white light. Unlike last time, there were no sparks flying since Bill had already considered the possibility of it overloading again, and instead excess electricity was being stored in a battery.

When the light finally cleared, Ash and Pikachu were still standing as if nothing had happened. They both looked themselves over.

"Alright! It worked!" Ash shouted. May ran over and hugged him.

"Your back!" Ash blushed slightly, putting his arms around her and hugging her back.

"(Pikachu...are those two...?)" Pidgeot began to ask.

"(If my plan worked, they should be.)" Pikachu replied, grinning.

"(Oh, should have known. The Ash I knew wouldn't know love if it hit him in the head with a mallet...)"

"(Nope...what are you doing here anyway? Thought you were in Viridian Forest?)"

"(Heard there was a troublesome flock of Pidgeys over here so I was considering taking them under my wing, so to say. I think they could benefit from my great leadership qualities...)" Pikachu rolled his eyes.

"What are you all doing up so early...? And who owns the Pidgeot?" Max said with a yawn. Apparently all the commotion had woke him and Brock up. Max didn't seem to take notice of his sister and Ash hugging, since he was still half asleep. May quickly let go of Ash, blushing deeply.

"I think I have a pretty good idea of whats going on here..." Brock stated matter-of-factly.

"Mind explaining it to me then?" Max asked sleepily.

"Uh, May? Can I speak to you...outside?" Ash asked nervously.

"Sure Ash..." She replied, and the two of them went outside as Brock and Bill started to explain to Max what had happened yesterday. Pidgeot and Pikachu followed them out.

"May...about yesterday...I'm sorry about what Pikachu did." Pikachu rolled his eyes.

"I'm over it...yesterday was...kinda hectic."

"No kidding! I was chased by a flock of wild Pidgey, captured by Team Rocket and saved by you, and then we were both saved by Pidgeot...but I guess all that is just another day in my life..." Ash said with a laugh.

"Well you would have done the same, Ash..." May replied. "In fact, I think you would have done the exact same thing I did..."Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarassment.

"Guess your right..." Ash looked off into the horizon, where the sun was just starting to rise.

"So what were you trying to say last night, Ash...?" May asked him.

"Last night? ...Its not important May. I think the message got across..." May smiled.

"So you really...like me then?" Ash nodded.

"Maybe even more than that, May... The next chance I get I want to make this up to you. I want to take you on a date myself..."

"You don't have to Ash, really...besides, do you know the first thing about dating?" Ash blushed slightly in embarassment.

"Well...uh...not really..." He replied, glancing towards Pikachu, then Pidgeot. Suddenly, he got an idea.

"Hey, Pidgeot! Think your up for another ride?" Pidgeot nodded.

"(Anytime!)"

"Great! Come on, May!" Ash took her by the hand over to Pidgeot then climbed up onto its back. May hesitated.

"Are you sure about this Ash?" Ash extended his hand to her, offering to help her on.

"Come on! It'll be fine!" She nodded and took his hand, and Ash helped her up onto Pidgeot's back.

"Alright, Pidgeot! Lets go!" Pidgeot gave a nod and took off into the air. May put her arms around Ash as Pidgeot took off. Soon they were soaring high above the ground and over the ocean. May looked down towards the ocean and saw a shoal of Goldeen swimming about. and the rising sun was casting an orange glow over the water.

"Wow...what a great view..." May said as she watched the sunrise.

"I thought you might like it..." Ash said, smiling. May leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush slightly.

"I love you, Ash..."

"I love you too, May..."

The End

Again, credit to Butterknyfe, from the forums, for proofreading. Hope you all enjoyed it!