Delia spent the rest of the weekend looking for another apartment. To her dismay, she discovered that she couldn't afford most of the apartments that she looked at (graduate students didn't make a lot of money), and the ones in her price range were pretty shabby.

Her mind was still on the past weekend's events when she showed up at work on Monday morning.

"Morning, Delia," said Spencer cheerfully. "How was your weekend? Your husband didn't get too upset when you showed up Saturday after spending all morning…" His voice trailed off. At the word "husband", Delia's face fell and she looked like she was ready to cry.

"Delia? What's wrong? Did you and Will have a fight?"

Delia nodded sadly.

"Oh, Delia. I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Delia shook her head.

Professor Oak came into the lab. "Spencer, could you leave me and Delia alone for a few minutes, please? There's a new batch of Kabutops fossils in the back that you might be interested in."

"It'll be okay, Delia," Spencer said reassuringly as he left the two of them alone.

Once Spencer's footsteps had faded down the hall, Professor Oak turned his attention to his other lab assistant.

"How are you doing, Delia?"

Delia smiled sadly. "As well as can be expected, I guess."

"Did you talk to your husband about what happened?"

"No. He wasn't there when I got back. He's not…he's not coming back," she said quietly.

"Oh, Delia, I'm so sorry."

"But that's not my main worry now. I've got to find another place to live soon. I can't afford the apartment where we were living on just what I make. Not that I really want to stay there after what happened," she sighed. "All the other places around town cost too much. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Professor Oak was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I'm sure you don't want to listen to my troubles. I've already burdened you enough with them as it is." Delia turned away.

"No, it's not that. I was just thinking about something. Delia, would you be interested in the apartment above the lab?"

"I didn't know you had an apartment above the lab."

"Well, it's not much. Just a couple of rooms and a kitchenette, but I keep it for visiting professors and graduate students. If you'd like, I could show it to you."

Delia nodded and the two went upstairs.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked after he had finished giving her a tour of the small apartment.

"It's very nice, Professor. But I don't think I'll be able to afford a place as nice as this."

"That's just it. There is no rent."

"What? Oh, no, Professor, I don't want to stay here without paying my way."

"That's part of the deal. In exchange for room and board, you'll be in charge of attending to the Pokémon on nights and weekends."

"Huh?"

"Normally I have several graduate students to help me out on weekends, but this semester has been very unusual in that it's just you and Spencer. Most of the time I've been attending to the care of the Pokémon on the weekends, but I'm not as young as I used to be," he said with a slight smile. "It's hard on a middle-aged man like me to keep getting up all hours of the night to take care of a sick Pokémon. But a young woman like you could handle it. And it's not as if you'd be alone. If you needed my assistance, you could always come wake me up; my room's just down the opposite hall. This would be a good way for you to learn about the care of other types of Pokémon besides the grass-type ones that you're interested in."

Delia couldn't believe her good fortune.

"Please say that you'll at least think about it," said Professor Oak hopefully.

"My mind's already made up," said Delia. "I accept."

"Wonderful," he said as he shook her hand to seal the deal. "Do you need any help moving your things?"

"No, that's all right. I don't really have much. Um, Professor…"

With some embarrassment, Professor Oak realized that he was still holding onto her hand.

"Oh, sorry." He quickly released her hand from his grasp. "Well, then, I'll let you get back to your work."

"Thanks, Professor Oak. I really do appreciate this." With a grateful smile, she headed down the staircase and back to the lab.

Professor Oak sat down on the bed and stared out the window at the mountains that surrounded Pallet Town.

Did I do the right thing?

Even though he had offered her the apartment to help her out, he began to question his motives for asking her to move in. He enjoyed having Delia around, talking to her. Having her around had brought some joy back to his life. He looked forward to seeing her every morning, watching her eyes light up as he guided her through her research, teaching her about the mysteries of Pokémon.

Samuel, stop it. She's not only married, but she's also too young for you, and you're her teacher. Give it up. It can never happen.

But he could dream, couldn't he?

---

"Delia, what in the world are you doing?" Spencer was surprised to see Delia going up the staircase with an armful of clothes. As several of her shirts dropped to the floor, Spencer bent down and picked them up. "Moving in," she replied as she tried to balance the remaining clothes in her arms.

"Moving in? I thought you and your husband had an apartment in town."

"Not anymore," Delia responded as she and Spencer went up the stairs and opened the door to the apartment. He was surprised to see that Delia had already moved several of her things in.

Something didn't make sense here. "Delia, what's going on?"

"Will and I….we're separating."

"Separating? Oh, Delia, I'm sorry. Why?"

Even though Delia knew she could confide in Spencer, she didn't want to discuss the details of her breakup with him. It was still too painful for her to talk about it.

"I don't want to talk about it, Spencer."

"Well, okay, if that's how you feel. But if you do want to talk about it, let me know."

Delia smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Spencer. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do to get this place in shape. Whoever had this apartment last didn't exactly believe in cleaning."

Spencer grinned. "That was me. I lived here for a couple of months when I first came here."

"Honestly, Spencer. You really are a slob," Delia said as she grabbed a bottle of bleach and a scrubbing brush.

As he shut the door, Spencer heard hear her humming a tune to herself.

Poor Delia, he thought as he headed downstairs to the lab. On one hand he was truly sorry for his friend's misfortune, but in a strange way he was also glad, too.

Maybe there's hope for me yet, he smiled.