"Wow, Mrs. Ketchum, I don't think I've eaten this good in years." Gary patted his full stomach. "You're a terrific cook."

"I hope you saved some room for some cake," Delia smiled, handing him a huge slice. "And you too, Tracey. Growing boys like you need to eat."

"What about us grown boys?" Professor Oak smiled in Delia's direction, holding out his plate.

"You know, when Gramps first told me that the two of you were dating, I thought it was a little weird at first," said Gary, taking a bite of his cake. "Especially with Ash and me being rivals and all. But I really like the idea now, especially if it means that I get to eat like this every day. Food at the Pokémon Centers in Johto sucked most of the time."

"Well, eat all you want, Gary, dear," Delia said, scooping up a huge blob of chocolate icing and plopping it onto Gary's plate. "There's plenty more where that came from."

"Mmm…when are the two of you gonna get married?" Gary grinned mischievously, licking the icing from his fork.

Both Professor Oak and Delia turned bright red.

"Um…well, we…Tracey, don't you want any cake?" Delia asked, noticing that the boy hadn't even touched his slice.

"No, I'm not really hungry tonight, Mrs. Ketchum," Tracey said, putting down his napkin.

"Is your head bothering you again, Tracey?" Professor Oak asked, concerned. "Maybe you should take something for it."

"No…I…I think I'm gonna go check on Bayleef. Good night, everyone." Tracey stood up and headed out of the dining room.

"Poor Tracey," Delia said as she watched the boy head outside. "He must be coming down with something. He looked like he didn't feel well."

"He's probably worried about Bayleef," Professor Oak replied, taking another bite of cake. "He's been spending extra time with her trying to get her to eat something."

"Bayleef? What's wrong with Bayleef?" asked Delia, concerned.

"She's been missing your son terribly. So much that she's refusing to eat," Professor Oak told her.

"Poor thing. Maybe I'll bring up something special for her to eat tomorrow and see if that helps," Delia said.

"I think she'll like that," Professor Oak smiled, holding out his empty plate. "Besides, I don't know how anyone can resist your cooking, Delia. Can I have another slice of that wonderful cake?"

"Me too, Mrs. Ketchum," asked Gary, eagerly holding out his plate.

Tracey glumly wandered down to the grass Pokémon section of the preserve. The dinner had been every bit as bad as he had figured it would've been.

Gary, Gary, Gary. If I have to hear about how wonderful it is that Gary's back one more time, I'm gonna scream.

"Hey, Bayleef," Tracey said unenthusiastically, plopping himself down next to the Pokémon that was still lying under a huge maple tree.

"Bay," the Pokémon replied softly, lifting her head.

"Want something to eat, Bayleef?" Tracey asked, holding out a dinner roll that he had picked up on his way out the door.

The Pokémon sniffed at the piece of bread uninterestedly and turned away.

"Yeah, I'm not too hungry tonight either," Tracey said, throwing the roll in the direction of a flock of Pidgey. The birds momentarily scattered, then returned a few moments later and began devouring the roll eagerly. "I've kind of lost my appetite, too."

"Bay?" the Pokémon asked curiously, laying her head on Tracey's leg.

"Yeah, Bayleef. I understand exactly how you're feeling," Tracey said as he began stroking the Pokémon's neck. "You're upset because Ash chose Pikachu instead of you."

"Bay," the Pokémon nodded, her eyes filling with tears once more.

"Yeah, it's pretty unfair, isn't it, Bayleef? You work hard, give it your all, pour your heart and soul into it, and you still get dumped. You probably hate Pikachu right now, don't you?"

Bayleef shook her head vigorously. "Bay."

"Come on, Bayleef," Tracey said, scratching leaf atop the Pokémon's head. "Be honest. Aren't you jealous of Pikachu? Aren't you angry at Pikachu because Ash chose him? Because he's been Ash's Pokémon longer than you've been? Because it's not fair that Ash should choose Pikachu just because he's been closer to him longer than you?"

The Pokémon shook her head hesitantly, paused, and then nodded slowly. "Bay."

"Yeah. It's not fair, is it, Bayleef? That someone should choose someone else over you just because they've known them longer? You're just as smart and important as they are, not to mention that you're a hard, devoted worker, but that doesn't matter in the long run, does it? All it comes down to is who's been around longer."

"Bay?" the Pokémon asked questioningly, looking up at Tracey.

"No, life's not fair at all, is it, Bayleef?" Tracey said, resuming his stroking of the Pokémon's neck. "It's not fair at all."

To be continued…