Yes, this is a Pokemon fic I just made. I have great ideas for it.

For those who don't know, it is after the episode "Love Petalburg Style", and before "Balance of Power".

Enjoy! Please tell me what you think.

"Ah, great sleep." Ash whispered as he woke up. He tried his best to slick his black hair back, but to no avail. It was still as messy as usual. In any case, today was the day he would get his next gym badge! His Pokemon had been healed yesterday, so they would be in tip-top shape. Norman would be a tough opponent to defeat, but Ash had faith that his Pokemon would be triumphant.

"Pikapi!" his favorite electric mouse chirped as he fetched his master's hat and gave it to him. "Pichuu pi pikachu pikapi." Pikachu jumped on the sleeping bag letting his friend/trainer pet him.

Ash petted Pikachu and put on his hat. "Are you ready to beat Norman Pikachu?" Ash fired his Pokemon up.

Pikachu smiled, and did a small jab forward. "Pichaa!" Pikachu replied confidently.

"All right Pikachu lets go get something great before our match." And with that, he and his Pokemon walked out of the room to find get some breakfast.

"Your not going to win you know." Max told Ash for the umpteenth time.

Ash tolerated this only because it was Max's own father he was about to battle. While this fact didn't make it any less annoying, it did give Ash a reason to just eat his pancakes quietly.

Brock protested though. "Now Max, we don't know that yet because they haven't-"

"Of course dad is going to win. Ash may be good, but Dad is good enough to be in the Elite Four." Max cut Brock off. He had been bragging about his dads accomplishments all morning.

May was not to be heard in the conversation. She had been having a hard time thinking whom she should root for. Ash would probably need the rooting more than dad, and she had been traveling with him for a while now, but the thought of rooting against her own father seemed like an about-face. Norman's own daughter turning on him, and turning on a Hoenn League Gym Leader no less! The press would have a field day on that. On the other hand, She didn't want to let Ash down, but it was her dad he was going up against, so he could use all the help he could get. Besides, he was the one who mentored her when she was just a beginner. He even still gave her some tips from time to time, but her dad was the one who wanted him to do that in the first place…

'…Too confusing…' May thought with the confusion showing in her eyes now.

Max noticed this in between gloating for his father; "Hey May, are you all right? You look like a Zubat used Supersonic on you."

"Oh, it's nothing!" May replied only too quickly. "I was just thinking about err, uh…today's match toda-um, where did Brock go?" she asked her brother and friend.

"Well, you must have been really focused on how dads going to kick Ash's butt today if you didn't notice him leave after he finished his breakfast. He finished it kind of fast too. Anyway, I can't blame you for being distracted; imagining dad winning can be pretty distracting." Max grinned at his ability to get praise for his dad in there.

"Well, where did he go?" May asked Max and Ash, trying to change the subject. She didn't want Max to know that she had mixed feeling about the match. He wouldn't let her live it down!

"I dunno. He did whisper something to Ash before he left though. Ash, what did he say?" Max asked the Pikachu-equipped trainer.

"Oh, he went to the Pokemon Ce-" at that time Ash covered his mouth. Brock had told him not to tell Max or May for fear that his ear would get in the way of his "beloved" Nurse Joy.

"Oh, so that's how it is! Trying to protect his ear from my hand? Not on my watch! Come on May let's catch him. If we hurry, we can still make it to the Pokemon Center before he has a chance to escape my hand!" Max suggested loudly, while running out of the campsite.

"Max wait! You food is going to get cold!" May shouted while running after her nimble brother.

"Hey what are you guys doing? You can't just leave me here!" Ash's voice echoed through the darkness. "Oh man, I'd better go after them." Ash muttered as he tried to get up.

Hopefully, nobody would try to steal what was left of their food.

Hopefully.

-------

"So Nurse Joy, what do you say we go out for a night on the town tonight. I can be just a charming as Norman you know." Brock spoke with a sparkle in his smile.

"Uh, I have shifts tonight." Joy lamely replied.

"Then how about tomorrow?"

"Um, I have shifts tomorrow too…?"

"Well then-AHHH! Not the ear, not the ear!" Brock cried out as Max pulled his ear in the opposite direction from Joy.

"Don't make me shift your ear today." Max pun-ished Brock.

May and Ash got inside the Pokemon Center ad saw the horror that was Max's hand. They both sweat-dropped as Brock crawled to Ash saying, "You promised you wouldn't tell!"

"It was an accident I tell you! I wasn't paying attention!"

"Well, there's something new." Max muttered underneath his breath. Ash ignored that.

"So now that we are in the Pokemon center, what are we going to do now? It's still a couple of hours before Ash's battle with dad." May asked innocently.

"Well, you could give your Pokemon a quick checkup. Our Nurse Joy can do it pretty fast." Max suggested.

Ash however, was bewildered at this statement. His Pokemon were healed of injury last night. "What do you mean? My Pokemon have already been healed."

"True. But remember whom you are going up against. I'd suggest a quick checkup to see if my Pokemon were in tip-top shape before going up against my dad." Max gloated. Now, Ash was starting to get a little annoyed.

"My Pokemon have never needed to go to the Pokemon Center before a match in the past, why would they need to now?" Ash bounced back.

"Well, you probably didn't need to because the gym leaders you faced in the past weren't as good as my dad." Max told his taller friend.

"I've fought some of my toughest battles in Pokemon Gyms without going to a Center even when they already did some kind of work before the match. Like against Clair or Blaine, my Pokemon had already been doing something active!"

"Was it your Charizard that did the battling?" Max inquired.

"…Yes, but that's not the point!" Ash retaliated.

"Look Ash, I'm just saying that your Pokemon would need to be at top condition to get through half of my dads-"

"Hey Max." Ash coyly asked in a sort of creepy way. "How would you like to talk to Professor Oak?"

"What? Really? That would be awesome, can you do that?" Max asked getting exited. The thought of seeing Professor Oak made him ecstatic. He loved him almost as much as he loved his dad.

"Ur, yeah, I was just about to call him. So what do you say?" Ash proposed while thinking in his head 'And I won't have to take these insults!'

"Definitely! Lets go to the phone now!" Max cheered as he grabbed Ash's arm and headed toward the videophone.

Ash dialed Oaks number, and sure enough…

-------

It was a nice spring day outside.

Professor Oak was inside.

Of course, he knew what he was doing. He had already fed the Pokemon outside, and was now feeding the Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander he might need to give to Pokemon trainers just starting their journeys.

'It's a good thing I could get along fine without anyone else before Tracey came along, or this would have been hard work' Professor Oak thought to himself while getting out the Pokemon food. Of course, he could use some food as well, seeing as his stomach was growling.

"I'd better go to Delia's later, I'm getting hungry myself. I should finish this up quickly." He said to himself as he put the Pokemon food in the bowls.

Ring-ring-ring! Ring-ring-ring! Phone Call! Phone Call!

Professor Oak had just finished putting the food for Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander in the bowls when he had heard the phone.

"I wonder who that could be?" Prof. Oak wondered to himself as he picked up the phone. When the viewing screen turned on, he saw the smiling face of Ash Ketchum!

"Why hello there Ash! How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great Professor! Look at the badges I have!" Ash exclaimed while showing Oak the case where he kept his badges. "And I'm going for my fifth today." He finished.

"That's great Ash! I wish you lu-"

"You should wish him all the luck you can Professor Oak. He's going up against my dad. Going up against my dad is going to be tough.

…

HIYA PROFESSOR OAK! I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN" Max gushed at the celebrity/Research Mogul in front of him.

Professor Oak just stood where he stood a bit dumbstruck. "Err, thank you, and who might this be?" he asked Ash.

"This is Mays brother Max." Ash told his older mentor.

"I'm a huge fan of yours!" Max continued to gush.

"So I've heard Max." Oak sweat-dropped as he saw the little boy gushing at him. This incident didn't make him feel uncomfortable, as he had gotten this reaction many a time before. It was however, a bit annoying.

After looking at Oak and Max, Ash made a sigh of relief and said "Well, it looks like you two are hitting it off great. I'll just leave you two alone now."

"Wha, what? Ash what do you mean?" Oak stuttered. He remembered that this thing could go on for hours on end!

"I'll talk to you later Professor Oak! Have fun!"

'Sorry Professor Oak, but I want to have some time without the criticism. Please understand' Ash thought frantically as he went to join May and Brock wherever they were.

"Ash, wait! I-"

"Wow, are those Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander! I've heard so much about them, I'd love to inspect Bulbasaur's bulb, and I…" Max continued on and on.

'Help me…' Professor Oak thought with tears going down his face.

-------

1 Hour Later

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"Alright, I'll put him on. Aaaash!" Max called out. Professor Oak looked like he could eat Pokemon food now.

"Yeah?"

"Here's the phone Ash, I'm finished talking with…Professor Oak" he gushed out the name of his favorite celebrity.

"Okay then…Hey Professor Oak. Did you enjoy the talk?" Ash asked him smiling.

"I would have enjoyed eating some food a lot more." He whined. "So Ash, your gym battle is soon?"

"Yep, in about a couple hours. Why?" Ash asked him, genuinely confused.

"Well, I figured since I'm going to be eating at your moms today, I might as well tell you that I was able to get out what Pokemon Max's father Norman has! I was able to get out some information from Max because he loves me so much!" Oak grinned in triumph. He could help Ash, and getting back at Max for that long "chat" even a little bit was an attractive option indeed.

"Um, that's really nice Professor Oak, but I already know what Pokemon he's going to use. Norman told me last night." Ash broke to Prof. Oak.

"Oooohhh. Back to the drawing board. But how about you switch some of your old Pokemon?" he suggested raising his hand.

"Huh?"

"I mean it Ash. I could send you back a couple of your Pokemon you left with me! I bet Noctowls Hypnosis attack is an attack Slakoth would welcome! Or how about your Heracross? Being Bug-type and Fighting-type, it could be advantageous against Vigoroth. And your Snorlax! A Battle between Snorlax and Slaking would be a real Clash of the Ti-"

"Whoah, hold on Professor Oak, I don't need all of this!" Ash sheepishly cut off his mentor. It was all very nice, but Ash had already had a strategy against Normans Pokemon.

"Hm? Why not? Your other Pokemon have more experience than your newer ones." Oak offered the young trainer. Ash however, shook his head.

"No, I'm going to use the Pokemon I caught here. I left all of my Pokemon at your lab for a reason. I wanted to start off anew. I wanted to see if I could win the Hoenn League using Hoenn region Pokemon. That's what I wanted then, and I'm not back down. Besides, I have great Pokemon with me. I have faith in them, that they will win." Ash told his very proud Professor.

"Well Ash, it's nice to see that you're really sticking to your promise." Professor Oak encouraged him. "However, I will say this." he continued. "Your Pokemon really miss you. Every since you left with only Pikachu, they've been kinda trainer-sick if you know what I mean." he revealed. This came as a shock to Ash. He came a bit closer to the videophone and said:

"...You mean their sick of me?"

"NO! Oh dear Ash, all these years, and you still don't get it! What I mean is that your Pokemon miss you. It was a play on words using the slang homesick."

"Well jeez, tell me next time!"

"Anyway, if you ever wanted yo switch out your Hoenn Pokemon with your older Pokemon, you can always do so. I'm sure that your other Pokemon would welcome seeing Hoeen region Pokemon. Now if you will excuse me, there's something yummy waiting for me at your mothers house!"

"Okay then. Say "hi" to Tracey for me!" Ash replied as he was ready to hang up the phone.

"Well, I can't do that Ash. Tracey isn't here right now." Oak revealed to him.

"What? Where is he?" Ash inquired. It was very unusual for Tracy to not be at Oaks lab. He wondered where he might be.

"Oh, I can't tell you Ash. It's a secret. You will know very soon though, I'm sure." Prof. Oak smiled as he picked up his hat, and put it on.

"Hm…well, okay. Later Professor Oak!"

"Goodbye Ash! Take Care!

-------

Back at the campsite, a certain trio was eating like crazy.

"I can't believe they left all this food out here Jess!"

"I know James, no wonder the twerps are so strong when they fight us, they eat so well!"

"Less talkin', more eatin'! We'll need all da enegy we can get if were gonna capture Pikachu!"

Jessie, James and Meowth all yelled out at the same time: "Looks like Team Rockets stuffing up again!"

"Wobbuffet!"

End of Chapter 1

So, did you all enjoy it? Was it good? Bad? I hope you will all reply and give me a review.