A few days later, Delia had everything settled and was ready to spend the first night in her new apartment. As she turned out the light, she heard a noise coming from downstairs.
That's odd, she thought as she turned the light back on. Who in the world would be downstairs at midnight?
Pulling on her robe, she decided to go downstairs and investigate.
It's probably one of the Pokémon, she reassured herself. But to be on the safe side, she picked up the baseball bat that sat next to her bed.
As she crept silently downstairs, she heard the sound again.
"Ni-ni-ni-ni."
It's just one of the Nidoran, she sighed in relief.
As she turned to go back upstairs, she heard another noise. This time it wasn't one of the Pokémon. This voice was definitely human and definitely male. Clutching her bat, she tiptoed down the darkened hallway. A dim light was shining from under the door leading to the main section of the laboratory. Delia slowly opened the door and saw the shadowy figure of a man, flashlight in hand, bending over what appeared to be a Pokémon.
He's trying to steal one of the Pokémon, Delia thought in horror. What should I do?
If she screamed, then the Pokémon thief might try to hurt her, too. But if she was able to sneak up on him, then with the element of surprise on her side she might be able to overpower him. Shaking with fear, Delia tightened her grip on her bat and silently crept up behind the intruder.
"What the..?"
Professor Oak ducked just in time to avoid being decapitated. Her swing missed his head, but continued onward into the computer that was sitting on the bench next to him. The computer crashed to the floor and broke into several pieces.
Realizing who it was that she had nearly attacked, Delia dropped the baseball bat. "Professor Oak?"
He slowly raised his head. "Delia?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought you were trying to steal one of the Pokémon." The startled Zubat that Professor Oak had been bending over fluttered upward to the ceiling.
Professor Oak reached for the light switch. "I'm sorry, Delia. I should've warned you. I tend to stay up late whenever I have an interesting bit of research that I can't tear myself away from. Although…" He looked at his destroyed computer.
Delia bent down and made an attempt to piece together the scattered parts of the machine. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll pay for it."
Professor Oak knelt down beside her and started picking the pieces off of the floor. "No, that's all right. It's my fault. I should've told you. My wife used to get upset with me whenever I did this. Sometimes I wouldn't come to bed until three or four in the morning."
"Spencer told me about your wife, Professor. I'm sorry."
He handed her what was left of the computer's hard drive. "Thank you, Delia. That's very kind of you."
They spent several hours trying to put together what was left of his computer. As they worked side by side, they spent their time talking about different things: most of their conversation was about Pokémon, but as the evening wore on they started sharing details about their lives.
"What made you decide to become a researcher, Professor?"
"Hand me that screwdriver, will you please? Thanks." He replaced yet another screw in the computer. "Well, my father was also a Pokémon professor and he used to take me on expeditions with him, even when I was a small baby. When I was about six, he took me to the museum at the university where he taught and showed me the exhibit of Omanyte and Omastars. Those Pokémon fascinated me so much that I thought that I wanted to become a researcher. But soon thereafter, I caught my first Pokémon."
"What kind of Pokémon was it?"
"A Charmander. For a while I couldn't decide if I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer or a researcher. But you can see which one won out."
"I'm glad," Delia said as she handed him another screw. "You have a knack for teaching. You've helped me learn so much since I've been here."
He reddened slightly at her compliment. "Thank you, Delia. Why don't we try out the monitor now and see if it works?" He plugged in the computer's monitor. It crackled, popped, and then started smoking.
"I may have taught you some things, but unfortunately, how to repair a computer wasn't one of them," he said as he quickly pulled the plug out of the wall. "Rose always said that I wasn't exactly mechanically inclined."
"What was your wife like, Professor?"
"Rose? She was wonderful." He smiled at the memory. "We started dating when we were teenagers and got married right out of high school. We had nearly twenty-five wonderful years of marriage together."
"That's wonderful," Delia said admiringly. "You were lucky to find the right person so young."
Professor Oak noticed the sad expression on her face. "Don't worry, Delia. You'll find love again. You're still young. Not to mention very nice, intelligent, and, if I may be bold enough to say so, quite pretty. "
Delia blushed. "Thank you, Professor."
"Besides, Spencer seems to think a great deal of you."
"Spencer? Oh, he's just a friend."
"The best relationships often start as friendships, you know." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Goodness, it's nearly four in the morning! You'd better get to bed or else you're going to be exhausted tomorrow."
"So will you."
"True. Let's leave this computer alone and get some sleep." Together they walked upstairs. But instead of going to his room, Professor Oak stayed by Delia's side until she got back to her apartment down the hall.
"Well, thanks for the interesting evening, Professor."
"Believe it or not, I actually had a rather enjoyable time."
"So did I. I'll see you in five hours. Good night."
Instead of the usual dreams he had about Rose, when Professor Oak fell asleep he dreamed about the pretty young woman with the auburn hair and lovely smile.