They left with full bellies. Sprigatito was on Joe's shoulder. Absol walked by his side. They were off to see the professor. Joe grabbed his phone. Looked at a map. Saw where the laboratory was. Got a bad feeling. Followed the directions. His heart sank. Sure enough, it was the log cabin with Feraligatr. He should've known. Maybe that woman in the window wasn't here today.

Joe approached the door. Cleared his throat. Fidgeted. Acting like a boy about to ask a girl on a date. Absol poked him. That was right. He needed to pull himself together. He knocked on the door. A woman answered. Brown eyes behind smart glasses, framed on the sides and bottom. Long brown hair tied up in a ponytail. An oval amber necklace. Open lab coat over a white and blue shirt.

"I'm here to see Professor Elm, if he's available." Joe eyed a silver nameplate. The woman was called Nia.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No."

Nia nodded. Opened the door all the way to let Joe in. "You might have to kill some time." She directed Joe with a hand, palm raised. "This way." After Nia used her hands, they went back into the pockets of her lab coat.

The cabin opened straight into a lounge area. Even scientists relax. Shelves full of books, plants, and a television facing a long couch. He walked into a hallway. Heard the clacking of keyboards through a door as he passed by. Nia opened the second door on the right. Joe walked inside. Four black leather chairs around a coffee table. He sat down facing the door. Rectangle tables lined the wall. Some had papers on them. Chairs tucked into them. When it wasn't a meeting room, this was just another place for scientists to work.

"I'll go and inform Professor Elm that someone is here to see him. Sit tight, Flex."

The door closed. Joe exhaled deeply. Heard a chuckle on the other side of the door. It faded alongside footsteps. Nia was the woman in the window. How embarrassing.