"Bayleef, go back!"

"Bay?" The confused Pokémon halted in its tracks.

"No, Bayleef," Ash said, pointing in the direction of the Oak laboratory at the top of the hill. "You're staying with Professor Oak now."

"Bay?" The Pokémon's eyes began to fill with tears.

"Aww, Bayleef, don't make this any harder than it already is." Ash drew his faithful Pokémon friend to him in a huge bear hug. "I've told you already…you have to stay here with Professor Oak and Tracey now," Ash said, stroking the Pokémon's head lovingly. "This is gonna be your new home. Professor Oak and Tracey are gonna take good care of you and Cyndaquil and Totodile and Noctowl and Phanpy. You're really gonna like it here."

"Bay-bay!" ["But I want to come with you!"] cried the distraught Pokémon, burying her head in Ash's jacket.

"Bayleef, I told ya' already…you can't come with me. It's just gonna be me and Pikachu in Houen. That's just how it is."

"Bay! Bay-bay!" ["I don't care! I want to come with you!"] The Pokémon began crying even harder.

"Look, Bayleef. It won't be so bad here. Professor Oak has lots of land for you to run around on. Tracey will feed you all the Poké Chow you can eat. You can run and play and do whatever you want with the other Pokémon here. And I promise that I'll call you and see how you're doing, okay?"

"Bay," the Pokémon sniffled.

"Okay, then," Ash smiled, giving his Pokémon friend one last pat. "Let's not say goodbye. How about see ya' later?"

Bayleef's lower lip began trembling once more.

"See ya' later, Bayleef."

Ash turned and started heading down the hill to his house.

"Bay!" Bay!" ["Wait! Wait!"]

But Ash kept right on going, not bothering to look back. He didn't want Bayleef to see the tears in his eyes.

---

"Here you go, Bayleef," Tracey said, putting a dish filled to the brim with Poké Chow in front of her. "This flavor is a favorite of all the grass-type Pokémon here. I think you're really gonna like it."

The Pokemon sighed listlessly and turned away.

"Oh. Guess you're not hungry, then." Tracey said, picking up the bowl of Pokémon food. "Well, if you get hungry later, let me know."

The Pokémon curled up into a tight ball and shut its eyes.

Poor Bayleef, Tracey thought as he headed back up the hill to the laboratory. As he passed by one of the ponds that dotted the landscape of the Oak Pokémon preserve, he saw Totodile entertaining the other water Pokemon with tales of his travels with Ash.

"Totodile!" the Pokémon cried enthusiastically, leaping up into the air to demonstrate one of the many exciting battles it had been in.

Tracey smiled. It was good to see that at least some of Ash's Pokémon were happy being at the lab.

"Bayleef is still refusing to eat?" Professor Oak said when Tracey came into the lab with a full bowl of Poké Chow in his hands.

The boy nodded and put the bowl down on a nearby lab bench. "Yeah. I'm getting worried about her, Professor."

"So am I, Tracey," Professor Oak said, putting down his scientific journal. "All of Ash's other Pokémon have made a smooth transition to life here at the lab…except for Bayleef."

"I knew she'd miss Ash," said Tracey. "But I didn't think she'd miss him that much. Do you think that maybe she's sick?"

"I'll take a look at her this afternoon to make sure there's no physical reason as to why she's not eating, but I think the real cause of her loss of appetite is the reason you just mentioned. She's missing Ash terribly. Bayleef was always very attached to Ash, probably more so than any of his other Pokémon."

"Yeah, but if she doesn't start eating something soon…" Tracey flicked aside one of the brown Poké Chow nuggets sitting in the bowl.

"I know, Tracey. I know. Just keep trying to tempt her appetite with…hello, Gary."

"Hey, Gramps," replied a teenage boy with spiky brown hair who had just entered the lab. "Hi, Tracey."

"This is a nice surprise, Gary," Professor Oak smiled at his grandson. "Come to say goodbye before heading off to Houen?"

"Uh…that's what I wanted to talk to you about, Grandpa." Gary drew closer to the lab bench where his grandfather and Tracey sat. "I'm not going to Houen."

"I don't understand, Gary," Professor Oak said. "Aren't you going to continue your Pokémon training?"

The boy shook his head. "No. On my back here from Mount Silver, I realized that as much as I like training Pokémon, I think that being a Pokémon Master isn't what I want to do with my life."

"Gary, just because you lost at the Silver Convention, it doesn't mean that you have to give up training," Professor Oak said reassuringly. "Everyone loses sometime. You can't give up on your dream just because of one loss."

"The Professor's right, Gary," Tracey chimed in. "You can't give up on training just because Ash…"

"That's not the point," Gary interrupted. "Losing to Ash in the semifinals isn't the reason why I'm giving up Pokémon training. Besides, Ash and I buried the hatchet. We're friends again." Gary smiled knowingly. "I've got a lot of respect for that guy and his training skills. He's gonna be a Pokémon Master someday, no doubt about that."

"But what about you, Gary? I thought that was your dream too," said Tracey, confused.

"It was, for a while. Matter of fact, my rivalry with Ashy-boy was one of the things that kept me going. But during my travels I realized that I was more interested by the Pokémon themselves and all the amazing things they could do -- not just their attack skills. Their ability to evolve, to adapt, just the fact that there are so many more out there waiting to be discovered…Pokémon really are fascinating creatures. But I'm sure you guys know that as well as I do."

"I don't understand, Gary," said Professor Oak, who was just as confused by his grandson's words as Tracey was. "If you're not going to Houen to train, then what are you going to do?"

"That's why I came here, Grandpa," Gary replied, putting down his backpack. "I want to go into research. I've decided that I want to spend my life studying Pokémon just like you."

After the initial shock of Gary's surprising announcement had worn off, Professor Oak leapt to his feet and embraced his grandson heartily.

"Isn't it wonderful, Tracey?" Professor Oak said, smiling broadly at his lab assistant. "Now I'll finally have someone to follow in my footsteps."

Tracey, who was still numb with shock, gaped open-mouthed at the pair until the weight of Professor Oak's words had sunk in. Someone to follow in…but what about me?

"Tracey? Tracey, are you all right?" Professor Oak said, looking over the top of his grandson's head at his stunned-looking assistant.

"I…uh…" Tracey forced a weak smile. "Yeah. Guess I'm still in shock at Gary's announcement."

"I think this is the happiest day of my life," Professor Oak said, embracing his grandson once more. "I'm so proud of you, Gary."

"I love ya' too, Gramps," Gary smiled back.

"Now look at what you've done," Professor Oak smiled, wiping away a tear. "You've made an old man cry! You know what? This calls for a celebration. Tracey, go get us some of those chocolate chip cookies Delia brought up earlier. Let's have a party to celebrate the next Professor Oak!"

Tracey, still wearing a forced smile, slid down from his lab bench and headed down the hallway to the kitchen. Once he was out of earshot of the pair in the lab, the boy slammed his fist into the wall, making the Caterpie that was sitting nearby jump in surprise.

Damn you, Gary Oak.

To be continued…