Professor Oak awoke just before 5 AM. He had had a difficult time sleeping and had spent most of the evening tossing and turning. He missed Scyther, but he was also worried about Tracey. He slipped on a bathrobe and silently crept downstairs.

"Tracey?" he whispered softly as he peered into the living room. He then saw Tracey, sketchbook still in hand, sound asleep on the sofa. Being careful not to awaken his young assistant, Professor Oak tiptoed over to the couch, carefully pried the sketchbook from Tracey's grasp, and placed it on the coffee table next to the couch. He then unfolded the blanket that lay atop the couch and spread it atop the sleeping boy.

"Sleep well, Tracey," Professor Oak whispered as he tiptoed out of the room and headed for the kitchen for a cup of tea.

Two hours later, Professor Oak had finished attending to the Pokémon and was sitting down to eat breakfast when there was a knock at the kitchen door. He peeked outside the window and saw a pretty auburn-haired woman standing on the porch.

"Delia?" said a surprised Professor Oak as he opened the door and let her in. "What are you doing here so early this morning?"

"I saw your light on, and decided to take a chance that you might be up," she said as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Would you like something to eat?" he asked her. "I was just getting ready to have some breakfast."

"Some tea would be nice, if you have any," she replied. He poured each of them a cup and sat down next to her.

"So how's Tracey doing?" she asked as she took her cup from him. "Ash told me about what happened to Scyther yesterday."

"Much better than I expected," Samuel replied as he sipped his tea. "He's actually dealing with it surprisingly well."

"Did he get any sleep last night? I was worried about him."

Samuel nodded in the direction of the adjacent room. "He fell asleep on the couch. I'm not going to wake him for a little while."

"Poor Tracey," Delia continued. "It must be so hard on him to lose his friend."

"It is. But it wasn't as if Scyther's death was totally unexpected."

"What do you mean, Samuel?" Delia asked, confused.

"Delia, Scyther was old. Very old. Matter of fact, the oldest document Scyther lived to be twenty-three years old. I can say with certainty that Tracey's Scyther was at least twenty. Matter of fact, I would be willing to venture out on a limb and say that Tracey's Scyther was probably closer to twenty-five."

Delia gasped in amazement. "Samuel, are you saying that Tracey's Scyther was the oldest one ever?"

"Well, I'll never be able to prove it since I have no documentation. But yes, I would say that Tracey's Scyther was without a doubt the oldest one I've ever seen in my thirty years as a Pokémon researcher." He paused to take another sip of tea. "And with old age comes age-related problems. Scyther had several – stiffness in the joints, the beginnings of cataracts, some hearing loss -- but during Scyther's last physical, I discovered something even more serious than those."

"What?"

"Scyther was showing signs of heart failure."

Delia's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh no! I didn't know that Scyther was sick."

"I told Tracey that there were several things we could do for Scyther – medication, rest, keep a close eye on his condition."

"Couldn't you operate? Like a heart transplant or something like that?"

"I was reluctant to try surgery because I didn't think Scyther would survive it at his age. I told Tracey that even with the treatment, all we would be doing would be making Scyther more comfortable. Ultimately the heart failure would progress."

"So you think Scyther died of a heart attack?"

Samuel shrugged his shoulders. "Probably. But we'll never know for certain. I offered to perform a necropsy, but Tracey refused."

"Necropsy? What's that?"

"A Pokémon autopsy. Frankly, I didn't see the point in doing one either, but I thought that I should at least offer Tracey the option. I also offered Tracey the option of resuscitating Scyther after he collapsed yesterday, but Tracey turned me down. I think he made the right decision there."

"Do you think you would've been able to revive Scyther?"

Samuel shook his head. "I doubt it. Not at Scyther's age and with the heart condition. Even if I had been successful, Scyther would've likely died shortly thereafter. And Tracey knew it, too. That was why he chose not to revive Scyther."

Delia brushed away a tear. "That must've been so hard for him to do."

"Actually, I think it was harder for Ash."

"Ash? Why?"

Surprised and a little bit confused by her statement, Samuel looked up from his cup of tea. "Delia, didn't Ash tell you what happened yesterday?"

"All he told me was that Scyther died yesterday. He didn't tell me how it happened." Delia bit her lip. "Lately, he doesn't tell me much of anything."

Noticing that Delia was on the verge of tears, Samuel reached across the table and gently took her hand in his. "Delia, Ash is growing up. When boys grow up, there are some things that they don't want to share with their mothers."

"I know," Delia said with a quavering voice. "But Ash has always shared everything with me. He's always been able to talk to me about anything. But now…" Her voice trailed off as she tried not to break down in tears.

"Delia, you're a good mother," Samuel said reassuringly as he leaned over and gently pulled her close to him. "It's nothing you did. It's just that when boys get older, they tend to confide less in their mothers. It's part of growing up."

"I know," she sniffed as she leaned against his shoulder and buried her head in the warmth of his neck. "But that doesn't mean that I have to like it."

Samuel stroked her hair soothingly while Delia started to cry. "Shh, Delia. It's all right." As her shoulders began to shake, he buried his nose in the silky softness of her hair and murmured words of endearment.

"Delia, sweetheart, don't worry. Everything will be all right." Delia remained in the comfort of his arms until her tears stopped. As she sighed, Samuel hugged her closer to him. "Feel better?"

Delia slowly pulled away from his embrace and wiped her eyes. "I feel so silly. I should be crying for Tracey, not for me."

"Don't feel that way, Delia," Samuel reassured her as he brushed away one of her tears with his fingertip. "You have every right to feel a sense of loss as Ash grows up."

"But I wish he'd tell me what's going on with him. He was so upset yesterday and it was like pulling teeth to get him to tell me that Scyther died."

"Delia, did Ash tell you how Scyther died?"

"No."

Samuel sighed. "I think one reason why Ash is so upset was that he may be feeling as if he's to blame for what happened to Scyther."

"But why would Ash feel that way?"

"Because Tracey and Ash were having a Pokémon battle when Scyther collapsed. And Ash was apparently the one who suggested having the battle in the first place. I think he feels like he may be responsible for Scyther's death. Delia, I want you to tell Ash that he's in no way to blame for what happened to Scyther. Matter of fact, when I was talking to Tracey about it last night, I think Scyther was the one who started the battle. Tracey told me that Scyther provoked Pikachu."

Delia was shocked. "Scyther? But why would Scyther do that if he was so sick? Didn't Tracey try to stop him?"

Samuel nodded. "Yes, Tracey did try to stop him. And Scyther nearly ripped his arm off when he did."

Delia's mouth dropped open. "Scyther did what? Is Tracey all right?"

"Yes, Tracey's fine. Scyther missed." Samuel refilled his cup and Delia's with more tea. "And I think the reason Scyther wanted to battle was because he knew he was dying. Pokémon can sense when the moment of death is near. Scyther wanted to die doing what it loved best – fighting. And since Pikachu just happened to be near, Scyther chose it to help him die." Samuel smiled at Delia. "And isn't it better dying in the company of a friend?"

"I suppose so."

"I'll admit that I was a bit harsh with Ash yesterday. I think we were all upset. And I do apologize. Please tell Ash that I'm sorry about yesterday. If you'd like, I'll talk to him about it."

"Would you? Please? I think Ash might be more likely to open up to another man."

"I will," he said as Delia stood up.

"I've got to go get breakfast ready for Ash. He didn't touch a thing last night at dinner. I'm sure he's starving by now," Delia said as she made her way to the back door.

"Ash must've been quite upset last night if he refused food," Samuel said as he followed her to the door. "Now I feel terrible about having been so harsh with him yesterday. It's just that he wanted me to revive Scyther and I tried to explain to him that Tracey had to be the one to make that decision, not him."

"Don't feel bad, Samuel," Delia assured him as she reached up and delicately touched his unshaven cheek. "Like you said, all of you were upset yesterday." She looked into his eyes and noticed that they were slightly bloodshot. "How are you doing, by the way? You look pretty worn out yourself."

"I didn't sleep too well last night. I spent most of the night thinking about everything that happened yesterday. I was also worried about Tracey."

"You're a good man, Samuel," Delia smiled as she kissed him softly on the lips. "That's what I love about you."

"I love you too, Delia," he said as he returned her kiss.

"I'll see you later at the funeral," Delia said with a sad smile as she slowly pulled away from his lips. "What time should Ash and I be here?"

"Ten," he replied as he opened the door and Delia stepped outside into the morning sunlight.

"Looks like it's going to be a nice day," she sighed as a bird chirruped in the tree overhead.

Samuel watched her head back down to the hill to her house. Despite what lay ahead, Delia was right – it was a nice day so far.