Professor Oak knocked on the door of his assistant's room and then stuck his head inside the door. "Feeling any better, Tracey?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders in reply. "Okay, I guess."

Professor Oak examined the boy's arm. "Except for that small red sting mark, your hand appears to be back to normal. Feeling up to helping me out in the lab? I need your help with something very important."

Tracey's face brightened. Finally. Professor Oak needs me.

"Sure, Professor Oak," Tracey said eagerly he sat up and kicked off his blanket. "What do you need help with?"

"I want you to help Gary learn his way around the lab. Show him where everything is. And teach him how we do things around here. That way he'll be able to help us out the next time there's an emergency."

"Oh," Tracey replied flatly.

Gary again. It's always about Gary.

Tracey leaned back on his pillow. "On second thought, Professor, I don't feel so hot. Maybe I'll just rest a bit longer."

"Still not feeling well?" Professor Oak said, concerned. "You shouldn't be having any aftereffects from the Weedle sting by now." He lifted the boy's wrist and began taking Tracey's pulse.

"Professor, I'm not…"

"Shh, Tracey," Professor Oak said, looking at his watch. "Hang on for just a…twelve times six is…"

"Seventy-two."

"Perfectly normal," Professor Oak said, putting down Tracey's wrist. "So why don't you tell me what's really the matter?"

"Really…? Professor, there's not…"

"Don't try to fool me, Tracey," Professor Oak smiled, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I might be old, but I'm not blind. Ever since Gary came back, you haven't been acting like yourself. Care to tell me the reason why?"

Tracey's heart began pounding wildly. "I…uh, I'm just worried about Bayleef, that's all," the boy replied uneasily, hoping that Professor Oak would buy his story.

But the older man knew better. "That's not the entire reason, is it?"

Tracey didn't answer. How in the world could he tell his boss that he despised his grandson?

But before Tracey could come up with another convincing story to explain his behavior, Professor Oak correctly deduced the real reason. "Tracey, are you upset because I've been spending most of my time with Gary lately?"

"Yes…I mean, no! No!"

"You can be honest with me, Tracey. I'm not going to fire you for speaking your mind. Is that the real reason why you've been acting so odd lately?"

Tracey nodded slowly.

"Well, I will admit that I have been spending quite a bit of time with my grandson. I haven't seen Gary in a long time, and I'd like to get caught up on all his adventures and travels. But there's another reason why I've been taking more time to show Gary around the lab."

"Because you want him to take over your lab someday," Tracey answered gloomily.

"Well, it would be nice to have another Professor Oak in the family," Professor Oak admitted.

"You don't have to continue, Professor," Tracey said, reaching under the bed for his backpack. "I get the picture. I'll be out of here as soon as I…"

Professor Oak took the backpack out of his assistant's hands. "Tracey, put your backpack away. I don't want you to go."

"Come on, Professor Oak…now that Gary's back, you don't need me around."

"But I do need you around, Tracey. Where am I going to find another lab assistant of your caliber?"

"You've got Gary now."

"Gary doesn't know his way around the lab. That's why I've been spending extra time with him. That's why I've been hoping that you would help him out."

So he can replace me, Tracey thought glumly.

Professor Oak read the boy's mind. "Tracey, do you want to know the real reason why I want you to help Gary?"

Tracey shook his head.

"Tracey, you've been the best lab assistant I've ever had. I don't know how in the world I ever got along without you."

Tracey smiled slightly. "Thanks, Professor Oak."

"But I know that you're not going to be around here forever. It won't be long before you'll be heading off to college and starting your own research career. And I want to have someone of your caliber to replace you, otherwise everything around this place is going to go straight to hell the moment you leave."

Tracey chuckled.

"And that's why I want you to help Gary. That way, by the time you go off to college, Gary will be familiar enough with the lab that the transition from you to him will be seamless. Otherwise, I'm going to have to keep you here forever."

Tracey couldn't keep from laughing at that ridiculous remark.

"That's better," Professor Oak smiled. "So you see, Tracey, I really do need your help."

Tracey's smile faded, and his face grew serious. There was still one more question that needed to be answered. "Professor…can I…can I come back here someday and help you run the lab when I get my Ph.D.?"

"You'll always be welcome here, Tracey. And I'd love to have you back here when you're finished with college. But maybe you won't want to come back here."

"Huh? What do you mean, Professor?"

"Don't limit your options, Tracey. That's what college is all about. Perhaps you'll decide that you don't want to come back here. Maybe you'll decide that you'd rather work with one of the other professors. Or maybe you'll decide to teach or start a lab of your own. Maybe you'll even decide that research isn't for you after all and do something totally different with your life. But no matter what you decide, you'll always be welcome here."

Tracey's smile returned. "Thanks, Professor Oak."

"You're welcome, son," Professor Oak said, patting the boy's shoulder. "Now come on downstairs and let's get Gary up to speed on how things work here at the lab."

"In a minute, Professor. Let me put my backpack away." As Tracey returned his belongings to underneath the bed, there was another knock at his door.

"It's open," Tracey called out.

Gary stuck his head inside the door. "Tracey? Where are…?" Tracey emerged from under his bed. "Oh, there you are. Feeling any better?"

"Hey, Gary. Yeah, I'm okay now. What are you doing up here? I thought you were downstairs in the lab."

"Gramps told me to run up to the attic and see if I could find one of his old sketchbooks. He said he wanted to show me some old drawings he did of Pokémon when he was my age."

"I know where those are. Come on, I'll show you."

"Thanks, Tracey," Gary said as the two boys climbed the stairs to the attic. "I didn't realize there was so much stuff around here. But then again, I haven't been around here much since I was ten."

"Well, your grandpa's pretty glad that you're back," Tracey said, opening the door to the attic. "And he's thrilled about you wanting to become a researcher."

Gary suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Uh, Tracey, can I talk to you about that?"

Tracey was puzzled by Gary's expression. "Sure, Gary. What gives?"

Gary seated himself on one of the trunks in the dusty attic. "Ever since I got back I didn't have a clue as to how much work Gramps – both you and Gramps – did around the lab."

Tracey leaned against one of the bookcases along the wall. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually. I'll show you what to do."

"Thanks, Tracey, but I'm not sure that's what I want now."

"I don't understand, Gary. I thought you wanted to be a researcher."

"Don't get me wrong, Tracey. I do want to go into research. But I'm not so sure I want to spend all my time hanging around a lab all day like you and Grandpa do."

"Well, we're not in the lab all the time. There's plenty to do on the preserve." Tracey pointed out the window to the Pokémon moving about the grounds surrounding the Oak house.

"That's not what I mean, Tracey. I'm not so sure I want to stay in one place and do research."

"I'm not following you, Gary."

"Look…I think Pokémon are really fascinating creatures and I know I want to spend my life studying them, but I also like getting out and seeing the world. That was one of the best things about being a trainer – going to new places, seeing new things, having new adventures." The boy sighed wistfully and looked past Tracey's shoulder out the window. "I'm not so sure I want to stay in one place all the time."

"You don't have to, Gary," Tracey said, looking through the bookcase for Professor Oak's sketchbooks. "There are lots of scientists who spend most of their time in the field doing research."

"There are?"

"Sure. Like Professor Hale in Greenwood. He spends most of his time traveling to different parts of the world learning about the different types of legendary Pokémon. Like this one." He opened a sketchbook to display a drawing of a Suicune.

"Really? Now that's what I'd like to do. But…"

"But what, Gary?"

"But Gramps will be pretty disappointed. I know he's got his heart set on me taking over the lab someday."

"Maybe you should talk to your grandpa and tell him how you feel."

"Yeah, I guess I should. You know, if anyone should take over Grandpa's lab, it should be you, Tracey. You know this place from top to bottom. Gramps thinks you're some kind of superhuman."

Tracey stared at Gary in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yeah. When I was on the road, every time I called to talk to him it was 'Tracey this' and 'Tracey that' and 'Tracey did so and so'. Man, I got so sick of hearing of hearing your name that I was ready to scream."

Tracey's faced brightened with surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. Grandpa thinks you're the greatest thing since the Poké Ball Transfer System. Not to mention that you don't get queasy around needles."

"Huh?"

"I hate needles. When Grandpa gave you that shot of Weedle antidote, for a moment I thought that he was gonna have to scrape both of us off of the floor."

Tracey chuckled. "I didn't know you hated needles."

Gary nodded. "Yeah. And I'm not keen on blood either. I don't see how you do it -- giving Pokémon shots, drawing blood, patching up Grandpa's forehead."

"Well, it just takes practice, that's all. You'll learn."

"Nahh, I know that part of research isn't for me. I'm not interested in studying Pokémon physiology like Grandpa. I'm more interested in how Pokémon behave and interact with each other."

"We do some behavioral studies here. We're currently studying how Bulbasaur is acting as the overseer of the Pokémon here on the preserve."

"Well, that does sound kind of interesting. But what I'm really interested in is endangered Pokémon. I want to see what I can do to keep certain types of Pokémon from going extinct."

"Wow, Gary. That's a pretty awesome goal."

"Thanks, Tracey. It's just I don't know how I'm gonna tell Gramps that's what I want to do."

"Just tell him what you told me and I think he'll understand perfectly," Tracey smiled.

Gary smiled back. "You know what, Tracey? You're right. Thanks."

"Come on. Let's head back downstairs. The Professor is probably wondering what happened to us."

To be continued…