Today I discovered one of the fringe benefits of working with Professor Oak.

The next morning held promise of being better than the previous one. For the first time since his arrival, Professor Oak didn't snore, resulting in the best sleep Tracey had had in days. And since Dodrio had discovered the new female Dodrio Professor Westwood had sent over, the bird Pokémon's sunrise serenades had now ceased. A refreshed Tracey woke up to the delightful smell of apple cinnamon muffins and followed his nose downstairs to the kitchen where he found Mrs. Ketchum in the middle of making breakfast.

"Hi, Mrs. Ketchum," Tracey said as he sat down at the kitchen table. "What are you doing here?"

"Good morning, Tracey," Delia smiled as she placed a plateful of scrambled eggs in front of him. "The muffins will be done in a few minutes."

"I didn't hear you come in this morning," Tracey said as he wolfed down the eggs.

Delia's face reddened. "Uh…would you like some orange juice, Tracey?"

"Thanks. And thanks for bringing over the cake last night too. It was great," Tracey told her as she handed him a glass of orange juice.

"Good morning, Tracey," his bedraggled boss greeted him as he came into the kitchen and began whistling a little tune.

"You're pretty happy this morning, Professor," Tracey said as Delia handed the groggy Professor Oak a cup of hot tea.

Professor Oak said nothing, but smiled in Delia's direction.

Tracey then figured out why his boss was so cheerful and why he hadn't heard Mrs. Ketchum come in the back door that morning.

"Tracey, since you did such a fine job taking care of Snorlax yesterday, you can take the rest of the day off as soon as you finish feeding everyone," Professor Oak announced as he sipped his tea. "Which reminds me…I'm going to go check on Snorlax right now."

As Tracey watched his disheveled boss head outside, he turned to the woman who was responsible for Professor Oak's good mood. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to seeing him like that first thing in the morning."

"I still can't," Delia replied. "I keep telling him that he's going to scare the Pokémon to death one of these days."

---

Tracey went about his morning chores with renewed vigor. If having Mrs. Ketchum around meant that his boss wouldn't snore, Tracey was all in favor of her and Professor Oak spending their nights together.

Just as Tracey was getting ready to go catch the afternoon show at Mimic Mansion, there was a knock on his bedroom door.

"Oh good, you're still here," Professor Oak replied as Tracey opened the door. "Could you come downstairs for a minute? There's someone here I'd like for you to meet."

Tracey followed his boss downstairs to the living room and saw a pretty brunette girl a few years older than him sitting on the couch.

"Tracey, this is my granddaughter, May Oak. She'll be spending part of her spring break here with us."

"Grandpa, you told me your new assistant was smart, but you didn't tell me he was cute, too," May smiled flirtatiously as she stood up and held out her hand. Tracey started blushing as he took her hand in his and shook it.

A loud munching noise outside the window made Professor Oak whirl around. "Darn it, I told Muk to stay out of my flowers!"

As Professor Oak hurried outside, May smiled prettily at Tracey.

"Grandpa tells me that you're an artist. Do you sketch people as well as Pokémon? I'd love to have someone sketch my portrait."

"Uh…uh…sure," Tracey stammered eagerly.

"Oh, good!" May squealed excitedly. "I'll go upstairs and put on my bikini and then you can sketch a picture of me while I sunbathe!"

Tracey watched her go upstairs and then smiled to himself. Mimic Mansion could wait.

THE END