A/N: Mizz Nikki from the SPPf Shippers' Truth or Dare Thread dared me to write a drabble that involves orange juice of any pairing I wished. I was taking a psychology class when I wrote this, hence the title and subject matter. ^^
"Hey, Professor Oak," Red said, turning to the elderly Professor as he sipped the glass of orange juice, "This may seem really weird, but… I'm thinking of Leaf all of a sudden!"
Professor Oak stopped organizing his papers and looked up, smiling at the skilled Trainer. "Hmm," he said. "Is Leaf associated in any way with orange juice?"
"What kind of a question is that?" Red asked, laughing. "Well, to answer it, Leaf's mom used to make the best fresh-squeezed orange juice. Back in the day, before we became rivals and Trainers, we used to sit on her front porch and drink that delicious orange juice." Red took another sip of his beverage. "We'd talk about everything we'd do as Pokemon Trainers when the time came, and have a great time."
"Ah," Professor Oak murmured after a spell of silence. "You know what my theory is? You've been classically conditioned to associate Leaf with orange juice!"
Red stared at the intelligent researcher and chuckled softly. "What's this 'classical conditioning' you're talking about?" he asked.
"Well!" Professor Oak exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. "It's a psychological phenomenon that's shared by all creatures, from the smallest Caterpie to the mightiest Dragonite, to us humans. I can go on and on about it, but in your case, since you learned to associate orange juice with Leaf and the wonderful experiences you had with her, now that you're drinking orange juice here in my lab you're thinking of her!"
"Hmm, interesting," Red said, impressed by Professor Oak's breadth of knowledge. He sat up straighter in his chair. "Those were good times… I wonder where she is now!"
"She's traveling in Sinnoh at the moment," Professor Oak answered. He sighed, smiling as he ruffled Red's black hair. "You would have known that, had you not holed yourself up in Mount Silver and shut yourself away from everyone."
Red looked down. "I guess I took my training too far," he said sadly. "I shouldn't have stopped contacting everyone. I hope I didn't hurt Leaf's feelings."
"Well, Red," Professor Oak said, sitting down in the chair across from Red, "You can't change what you've already done. But you can make amends. Do you happen to have Leaf's number in your PokeGear?"
"Maybe," Red said, brightening a little. "I never touched my PokeGear for ages. I think her contact information is still in there. Do you… think I should call her?"
"Sure!" Professor Oak exclaimed. "Let her know that you've been thinking about her, and that you miss her. She's a kind and understanding Trainer. She'll understand."
"Yeah, I'd love to catch up with her," Red said earnestly, smiling.