"So what's the name of this place, Brock?" Misty asked as she and her friends stood atop a hill overlooking Pallet Town.
"It's called Mount Masara," replied Ash, glancing over the edge of the cliff to see if he could spot his house in the valley below.
"Mount Masara? You mean 'Make-out Mountain'?" Brock said eagerly.
"How did you know that this was called 'Make-out Mountain'?" Misty replied mischievously. "Have you ever been up here before, Brock?"
"Well, of course I…uh, no." Brock admitted reluctantly. "But I've heard all about it. It's a great place to take a date."
"Speaking of which, look over there." Misty pointed to a black SUV parked in the bushes a few feet away.
"Hey, isn't that Professor Oak's car?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, I think it is," said Misty. "Who else would have a license plate that says 'POKEPROF'?"
"Other than maybe Professor Ivy, I…" Ash, realizing he had said the wrong thing, turned around and saw that Brock was now lying on the ground in a fetal position.
"No…don't say that name…"
"Way to go, Ash." Once he had stopped trembling, Misty helped Brock to his feet.
"Wonder why Professor Oak would be up here?" said Ash. "Do you think he's doing some research up here?"
"He might be doing some research, but it's not with a Pokémon," Brock grinned at the sight of the two people sitting in the backseat of the SUV.
"I didn't know Professor Oak had a girlfriend," Misty said, surprised. "I wonder who she is?"
"Well, let's go find out." Before Brock and Misty could stop him, Ash took off in the direction of the parked car.
A feminine giggle came from within as Ash crouched down next to the car.
"Wonder who that is?" Misty whispered as she and Brock caught up with Ash.
"Oh, Tracey, that's so good!" squealed a female voice enthusiastically.
Misty's jaw dropped. "Did she just say 'Tracey'?"
Ash nodded while Brock stood up to get a peek at what was making the girl inside the car so happy.
"Brock!" Misty hissed, pulling Brock back down.
"Wait, May. There's more," said the other occupant of the car. "Just wait 'til you see this!"
"What's Tracey doing with Professor Oak's granddaughter?" wondered Ash out loud.
May's head shot up from the backseat. "Tracey, did you hear something?"
"Ash, shut your big mouth! They're gonna hear you!" Misty hissed.
"I didn't hear anything, May," Tracey replied. "Come on. Let me show you something I know you're really gonna like."
Brock smiled devilishly. "Tracey, you smooth talker…you must've been taking lessons from me on how to woo women."
Ash gagged while Misty rolled her eyes.
"Oh, Tracey!" gasped May from the backseat. "That's amazing!"
Brock, Misty, and Ash exchanged shocked glances.
"I don't get it," said Ash, confused. "What are they doing in there?"
"I'll explain it to you later, Ash," grinned Brock. "It goes along with the birds and Beedrills talk we had a couple of months ago."
"Come on, guys," whispered Misty. "I don't think we should be eavesdropping on Tracey and May while they're…busy."
"The one thing I can't figure out is how come Tracey can get such a hot babe like May Oak while I can't even get Nurse Joy to examine me," Brock said. "Wonder what his secret is?"
Before Misty and Brock could stop him, Ash jumped up and pressed his face against the back window of the SUV. "Hey, Tracey? Brock wants to know what your secret is for getting girls."
At the sight of the dark-haired boy peering in the car window, May shrieked.
Tracey jumped in surprise. "Ash? What in the world are you doing here?"
"Ash, you idiot!" Misty pulled him down and swatted the back of his head with her hand.
Tracey opened the window and looked down. "Misty? Brock? What are you guys doing here?"
"We're sorry, Tracey. We shouldn't have been eavesdropping, but we were wondering why Professor Oak's car was up here," Misty apologized.
"But I think we figured it out for ourselves, right, loverboy?" Brock winked conspiratorially at Tracey.
"Brock, Tracey was showing me some of his sketches," explained May, handing him the sketchbook that was sitting in her lap. Brock took the book from her and saw that what had been making May so excited was a drawing of an Entei.
"Yeah. May asked to see some of my Pokémon drawings, and I was showing her some," Tracey explained, opening the car door. Several sketchbooks fell out and tumbled to the ground. "What did you think we were doing?"
Brock and Misty's faces turned bright red. "Uh…nothing."
"How come you're driving Professor Oak's car, Tracey?" asked Ash. "I thought you only had your learner's permit."
"I do, but Professor Oak kept insisting that I drive it," said Tracey. "He also gave me his credit cards, too."
"That's strange," said Misty. "That doesn't sound like Professor Oak at all."
"Actually, Professor Oak has been acting a little strange ever since he got bopped by Cubone's Bonemerang attack this morning," said Tracey. "I kept insisting that I should stay with him if he wasn't feeling well, but he shoved the keys and credit card into my hand and pushed me out the door. Since he nearly knocked my head off earlier, I figured it'd be best to humor him."
"Knocked your head off? That definitely doesn't sound like Professor Oak," said Brock.
"Maybe we should go back and see if Professor Oak is all right," said Misty, worried.
"That sounds like a good idea to me," agreed May.
"Come on, you guys. Let's go!" Ash was already heading back down the hill.
To be continued…