Summary: Ash wants to find out who his real father is by going on a live TV show. But his only chance of finding him turns out to be a little more disastrous than he originally planned as Flint, James, and another surprising character get involved. Please R&R!

Hey, this is my first Pokemon fic. So…enjoy! (I'm these bad at entries XD.)

Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters. They belong to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, 4-Kids, and whoever else. Also, the Larry Splinger show I made up is NOT the Jerry Springer show. I don't own that either. (And I really don't want to.)

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"Who's Your Daddy?"

"Waaa! What the heck is going on!" Ash yelled as he fell down through a hole into a huge, dark dungeon. The dungeon had a weird bluish tint to it. Ash started to walk slowly until he came upon a large metal door. Just then, he heard VERY heavy breathing behind him.

Ash turned around to see a shadowy figure. "Ash, I am your father." The dark figure told him in a muffled voice.

"Isn't it supposed to be Luke, or something?" Ash was confused. But before he could say anything else, the ground under him opened up. Ash started to fall once again.

"Just open the… locket Ash. Open your… locket."

***THUMP!***

Ash had fallen of bed at the Pokemon center. Pikachu was standing on the top bunk staring down at him. Pikachu gave him a confused look and went back to sleep. Misty looked at Ash. "Ash, you're dripping in a cold sweat. What's wrong?" Misty's voice had a worried tone. Ash sat back down on his bed and shook his head. Misty crawled across the room and sat next to him.

"I, I had a dream about my dad." Ash said solemnly.

"Oh. Whatever happened to your dad, Ash? Did he, ummm, die or something?" Misty was afraid to ask. She didn't want to make Ash feel anymore depressed than he already was.

Ash glanced over at Brock, who appeared to be sound asleep. He took a deep breath and began telling Misty his story. "My mom used to tell me stories about my dad when I was little. My mom divorced her first husband, but her second husband I think was my dad. He was in a secret spy organization and only came home on weekends. But my mom still loved him. Then, only a month after I was born, the leader of the organization died. My dad had to take his place." Ash pulled out a locket from inside his backpack. Its golden colors sparkled and Pikachu jumped down to take a look.

Ash continued, "My dad gave me this right before he left to run his organization. Mom told me that his last words to me were, 'When you are old enough to open this locket, my son, you will know who I am and where to find me.'"

Misty sat on Ash's bed for a while. Ash stood up, put his vest on, and brushed his hair. "Hey Misty. Are you coming or not?" he asked. Misty just sat.

"Hellooooo? Earth to Misty?"

"Ash, we need to find out who your father is. Otherwise, you may never know. I say we take a break from your journey to find out. Your next badge can wait I'm sure." Misty blurted out. Ash thought for a minute. This was NOT going to be easy. And Misty wasn't aware of how many times Ash had stayed awake, night after long night, trying to pry open his locket. Just then on the other side of the room, Brock emerged from his sleeping quarters.

"I think I have an idea of how to find your dad. And we won't have to struggle with the locket either." Brock announced. Brock seemed pretty sure of himself.

"Oh no. Don't tell me that Ash has to be on one of those talk shows! The ones where ladies are trying to figure out who the real father of their baby is. Then when the mothers find out the truth, it's always the wrong guy and they end up screaming and carrying on. Ash would have to have weird DNA tests done." Misty shivered as she spoke. Brock started laughing.

"You know Misty, children aren't supposed to watch those shows." Brock snickered.

"Yeah, well I don't think children should be on those shows either!" Misty shot back. Ash nodded. He knew that it was the only way to find him. Ash really wasn't sure who either of his mom's husbands were, but he wasn't afraid to ask.

Ash told Misty and Brock that he would call his mom right away. He walked out into the lobby to find the telephone. "RING RING RING… RING RING RING… PHONE CALL…PHONE CALL!" Mrs. Ketchum answered the phone right away. "Oh hi Ash! How is everything? Have you been changing your underwear? You forgot to brush your teeth this morning I bet!" Mrs. Ketchum blurted out.

Everyone in the Pokemon Center turned around to stare at Ash. He blushed.

"Hi, fine, yes, and no… I brushed. But that's not what I called you about. Mom?" Ash asked. Mrs. Ketchum answered with a "yes?" Ash continued, "Can you find my dad and your first husband and bring them here so we can go on a talk show? I wanna know who my real dad is." Ash knew he was taking a risk.

Mrs. Ketchum sat at the videophone for a while. Finally she answered. "Well Ash, I guess it is about time we figured out who and where your father is. I know where my first husband Flint is… but it will take me a long time to contact my second husband."

"Thanks mom. So you have no idea which of your husband's was my dad?" Ash asked with a sad look on his face.

Mrs. Ketchum looked down at her feet and spoke. "For the longest time I thought it was my second husband. But I only knew him for a year really. So your father may have been my first husband Flint. I was always planning on telling you. But I wanted to wait for the right time." Ash nodded.

They chatted on the phone for only a couple minutes after that. Mrs. Ketchum would arrive in Johto in the afternoon. While Ash was arranging this, Brock called to set a time for the talk show. When Ash came back into the room, Misty told him that the show was going to be live at 5:00pm that day.

Great! Ash thought. This will give me plenty of time to find my real father. He's gotta be somewhere. I just know I'll find him.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket was hiding under the table in the lobby, listening to everything. "Hey, did yous twos here dat? Dere gonna be on a talk show. Just think you guys! If we were ta help da twerp find his dad, we could be on TV, and we'd be famous!" Meowth fantasized out loud.

Jessie's eyes started to sparkle. "Famous movie stars!" Jessie flips her hair. "I was made for television." Jessie sat fantasizing as well.

"Ummm, sorry to burst your bubbles, but how would we have better luck finding him than the twerps?" James interrupted. Meowth scratched his head. Then Meowth's eyes became big and he grinned.

"All's we gotta do is find some adult dat looks a little like da twerp. It doesn't have tur be his real father. We just need to find some guy from da streets and we'll be on TV!" Meowth cheered.

All of a sudden, Jessie jumped up, knocking the table to James's side and he whacks his head. "The boss!" Jessie yelled. James and Meowth were startled. "Doesn't the boss look just like the twerp!? We'll hire him to come and pretend to be Ash's father. We'll tell the boss that we'll pay him ten percent of the money we get when we're rich!" Jessie grinned an evil grin and they go off to call the boss.

"Hello? This is the boss. What do you numskulls want? You got your weekly pay check." Jessie, James and Meowth explain the situation to the boss. "What's this boy's name?" The boss asked.

"Ash, sir. He's the boy with the rare and valuable Pikachu. Ash Ketchum." James replied. The boss lowered his face until Jessie, James and Meowth could actually see his eyes. He sat as still as a statue for a solid five minutes.

"Hey, uhhhh… Boss? Are yous okay?" Meowth looked over at James and Jessie.

"I think he's sleepin' wit his eyes open." Just then the screen went blank and the boss was no longer visible. James, Jessie and Meowth gave each other dumbfounded looks. "Maybe dis isn't a good idea."

Meanwhile, Ash, Misty, and Brock were getting ready for their debut on the Larry Splinger Show. "Man, we haven't found a single person that could be Ash's father. And we need three candidates!" Brock sighed and went back to tying his shoes.

Misty looked up from the magazine she was reading. "No, it's two candidates, they changed the rules. And we already have one… some guy named Flint… hey wait a minute!" Both Misty and Ash looked over at Brock, who shook his head.

"They must mean some OTHER Flint." Brock announced. Just then one of the Larry Splinger crewmembers opened the door.

"Ash Ketchup, you, your mom, and your three possible fathers are on air in five minutes." The man said energetically.

"Ketchup? …Hey wait, I thought it was two candidates!" Ash yelled.

"We changed the rules. Now it's four… I mean three. Anyway, you're on air soon Mr. Ketchup." The man tipped his hat and sped out the door.

"Wait! I only have one possible father right now!" Ash called down the hall.

The man answered back, "Then drag in two from the streets really quick so that we can make the show interesting!" With that, the man turned the corner and was gone.

"Ketchup?"

"Ash! What are you going to do? Two men aren't just going to pop up out of nowhere!" Misty was becoming frantic. Her big television debut could be ruined if Ash didn't do something fast. But before Ash could say a word, he was pulled on stage and sat in a chair next to his mom.

"Larry!…Larry!…Larry!" the audience chanted. Ash watched as Brock and Misty sat themselves down in the front row. He turned and looked at his mom, who gave him a "I can't bear the excitement" look. Well his mom sure was happy, but he felt as though something just wasn't right.

"We need front row seats pronto, or else!" Jessie demanded at the front desk.

"I'm sorry, the show has already started. You'll have to wait until commercials start." The woman at the front desk told them. James sighed.

"How many minutes until commercial break?" James asked, hoping it wouldn't take too long.

"Commercials are in five minutes… there are eight commercial breaks." The woman announced as she turned on a little TV.

James was surprised. "Wow! That's a lot more than our show.

"So Flint… tell me why you think you are Ash's real father." Larry asked him, handing over the microphone.

"Well Larry, I was married to Delia for 3 years and then we were divorced because I…"

"… Was seeing another woman. You were seeing another ***BEEEP*** woman, Flint!" Mrs. Ketchum interrupted him, yelling at the top of her lungs.

"Booooo!" The audience (except Brock) jeered at Flint.

"You ran away from me, Flint! Off to Pewter City and to that girlfriend of yours, who apparently you were already married to for four years!" Mrs. Ketchum nearly blew up with rage. Wow… Ash thought. My mom must have seen this show before.

"Hey mom? Is ***BEEEP*** all of this ***BEEEP***BEEEP*** Ahh! What on earth ***BEEEEEP*** but I'm not even cursing!" Ash was furious.

"We know. We just do that to make the show interesting." Larry said, yawning.

"I don't know what the ***BEEEP*** you're talking about, Delia." Flint said in a shaky voice, "I married again AFTER we were divorced." The crowd stared at Flint, who was sweating a great deal. But the longer Mrs. Ketchum kept quiet, the more Flint wanted to run and yell.

But just before he was about to stand up and throw something, Mrs. Ketchum shot up out of her chair and went straight over to her ex-husband. She shouted, "Then why does that child of yours have his eyes closed like you, you ***BEEEP*** fool!!!!?" The security guards stepped closer to them.

"Eyes closed?" Brock said confused.

The security guys dragged Flint off the stage and behind the curtain. "Umm, okay… according to Delia Ketchum, it seems pretty doubtful that Flint would be Ash's father because he doesn't resemble him. Also, Flint was not married to Delia when Ash was born. We'll bring out our next possible father after the break." Larry wiped his forehead and sat down next to Delia in a silk armchair.

"This is a VERY confusing you know. Where is the next possible father? We need him on stage now!" Larry was anxious to keep this interesting cliffhanger going.

Delia sighed and told him that she hadn't found her other husband, or anyone else that could have been Ash's father. But before Larry could get angry, Jessie, James, and Meowth rushed in and sat in the front row next to Misty and Brock. Larry looked down at James, who was yawning, and said, "Hey you…"

"Who, me?" James pointed to himself and a confused look struck his face.

"Yeah, you. Do you know this boy or his mother?" Larry asked him. James thought a moment… Yes! He must want me to go on the show and be interviewed! They do interview friends on this show, right? Oh… this is my big chance to be on TV!

"Yes, I know a lot about the twerp, I mean, Ash." James nodded his head.

Larry grinned and shouted, "Then come up onto the stage. The show's commin' back on in 30 seconds." James climbed up on the set, and one of the cameramen waved his hand. Almost automatically, music and lights turned on and Larry was handed a microphone.

"We're back, with our next man that could be Ash's real father." Larry announced to the audience. James jumped back.

"Me?! I haven't had any relationships with Mrs. Ketchum!" James yelled.

"Sorry, dude, but we need one more guy, and judging from what you just said here, you seem to know him. You MUST have been married to Delia." Larry told him. From Ash and Delia's point of view, this made no sense. But Larry seemed to sort of know what he was doing.

"Hey… I always thought that you and Jessie would get married." Misty blurted out, with a laugh. James blushed beet red.

"I… Well, um…" James stuttered.

"J-James…?" Jessie said, looking into his eyes and blushing.

"Awwww!" the audience cried.

"Umm… I always thought that James was gay…" Brock said suspiciously.

"WHAT?! THAT'S PROPOSTUROUS!" James said aghast.

"Well, were we supposed to think? You always dress up like a girl, James." Brock recoiled back.

"Umm, sorry dude…the Drag Queen episode was last week." Some guy in the audience said.

Delia shook her head and James was sent back to his seat. Jessie looked suddenly lovestruck, and Meowth was rolling with laughter from the escapades.

Larry dismissed the show with another commercial break.

"Well, at least the audience is enjoying this. But we STILL need another man that could be his possible dad. Especially since that last guy didn't quite cut it." Larry sighed and looked around at the audience. "Isn't there anyone else that either of you know?" He asked Ash and Delia. They looked down at the floor and shook their heads. "Than why did we put you on this show today!? It's obvious you're not ready!" Larry exclaimed, as he stomped his foot.

"Sir, we're on the air again in 30 seconds."

"Great… I guess we'll just have to run the blood tests." The cameraman waved his hand and they were on air once again.

"Okay, so let's hear what the audience had to say," Larry announces with a sweatdrop. He walked to a lady in the third row.

She stood up. "Yes, this is for the guy with the freakin' closed eyes…why don't you go back to the stone-age where you came from! You look old enough to be the boy's grandfather!" she hollered into the microphone. A series of clapping and shouts followed the remark.

Larry continued going to various people in the audience, half of which wanted to take their shirts off, along with some that wanted Mrs. Ketchum to. Ash felt like he wanted to cry. This certainly wasn't going well. He glanced over at Larry, who was about to announce that there would be no third candidate.

Larry Splinger began, "I'm very sorry ladies and gentleman, but it looks like the third possible father…" before he could finish his sentence, a woman yelled in the back of the room. The camera turned to the doorway, as a dark figure slowly made his way to the stage. Security bounded for this strange man, but he knocked them all to the ground. (Woah, that's pretty incredible.)

"What the heck is going on? How did you get in here?" Larry shouted at the stranger.

The man said nothing, but he walked up to the stairs and stepped on stage. He grabbed the microphone from Larry's hands. "I am Ash's father." was all he said. His voice sounded oddly familiar to Ash. Ash thought back to when he might have heard this guy's voice.

Suddenly, Ash stood up and blurted out, "Your voice! I heard your voice in my dream last night!" But before Ash had a chance to say anything about the locket, Jessie, James, and Meowth jumped out of their seats. Ash stared at them, confused.

"It's the Boss!" the three of them whispered, so nobody else could hear them. Once they had said that, the man took off his hat and coat, revealing who he was.

"I am Giovanni Ketchum, Delia's current husband and Ash's father. I have been very busy these past thirteen years, but I still searched for my wife and son, hoping that someday I would be reunited with my family. I hadn't ever been close to finding you, until…" Giovanni pointed at Jessie, James, and Meowth, "… until these three numskulls called me up this morning telling me about a talk show and Ash Ketchum." He smiled at Ash.

Wow… dat's da first time I ever saw da Boss smile when he wasn't plottin' an evil plan. Freaky! Meowth thought.

"Well ladies and gentleman, it looks like we don't have to hear the results of the tests." Larry announced as loud as he could without a microphone, shaking. He walked off to the far back of the stage and sort of cowered in the corner. The audience was hanging on every action taking place on the stage. They cheered in confusion. Some called out stuff about him being a bad father.

Meanwhile, Ash walked up to Giovanni and pulled the golden locket from his vest pocket. "D-Dad," he stuttered. He wasn't sure how to talk to his newfound father, "Why did you give me this locket?" Ash asked him, his eyes sparkling with delight.

Giovanni cleared his throat. You see, inside the locket is a symbol. A symbol that once you see it you will realize why I left you and your mother. Haven't you been able to open it, my son?" Giovanni questioned him. Ash shook his head.

His father smiled. "Hand it to me Ash." With that, Ash handed his locket to Giovanni, and Giovanni opened it without any problem. Huh? How could he open it when I couldn't? Ash thought, a bit confused and dumbfounded about this whole experience. Giovanni gave the open locket to Ash.

Ash looked at the symbol inside the locket. He looked up at his father and froze. The whole world froze…the audience, Larry, his parents, his friends. Inside the locket, was a small letter R.

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Ya like? Review! I'm thinking about writing a sequel, because I wanna know what happens next! ^__^ Well anyway, happy 2004!