Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and Harry Potter
BloodyKitsune1997: I could have added more, but I felt that this was a good way to end it especially since I wanted to get this out before Christmas. I hope you guys enjoy it.
Reviews:
Twister60: Thank you!
AyameKitsune: Here it is.
comodo50: I'm glad you liked it. Any and all questions should be answered at some point in the future. I meant 'bugs' as in glitches for the pokenav.
Goldenfightergirl: That's something you'll have to find out later.
frankieu: We'll have to wait and see.
the lil witch: Glad to see that you liked it.
Hollydoor: Always glad to hear that.
akinomatis: Here it is.
Lady Kaiki: Here it is
Poseidon93: Here it is.
Jostanos: Sounds interesting. Maybe in a couple of months or when I get to the pokemon league we can talk. It's a pleasure to meet you Matsuo.
AnonChan1: Nice to see you again. Question 1: I think my favorite part of writing this story is Vali's close bond to her pokemon and seeing how I can flesh out their personalities. Question 2: Seeing as she'll be traveling with Ash, all of them eventually though Oblivia and Almia might happen before then though I'm not quite sure. Question 3: Yes, but I won't have them be the focal point. At least, in this story. Maybe in a sequel or one-shot...in the future.
jiongu-naruto: You'll have to wait and see on that stuff.
xirons20: Glad to hear you liked it.
Dark Wolf of Teros: Glad to hear you liked it. I agree though I haven't really played the Alolan games or any of the new ones. I will soon hopefully!
HistoricasLP: I'm glad to hear you're liking the story. To be honest, I don't think we'll be traveling to another region in this story. We will definitely see Ash's journey with Vali though it will be its own little story. I promise you guys will see it though it might be a little while before that point once I finish this story where I do.
Grunt Lord Ryan: An interesting concept for sure, maybe someone should write a fanfic about that at some point.
LStilwell24: Once a month is the update schedule. Eventually yes, but not for awhile since Vali is still physically ten.
Emerald Time: Here's the next chapter. Yes, Eevee's decision is coming up. Yes, but I'm still debating on what to name him.
Queen of Darkness O. o: Here it is.
BioHazard82: Glad to hear it.
Guest: I'm glad to hear that you like it and I'm trying, but sometimes it gets away from me since I don't have time to work on this until either after work or before it. Both times occur when I'm really tired.
Words: 18,878
Chapter 12
"Double Team, Balto!" Vali commanded as she stood across from Steven on the battlefield.
Vali had finally gotten down to having Pikachu teach her other pokemon Double Team. To help perfect it and smooth out her skills, she had asked Steven for a few battles. Steven had agreed and here they were. Currently, they were facing against Steven's partner, his shiny Metagross, and Balto was doing fairly well against the older pokemon. Balto barked as copies of himself began to form around him and she was glad to see that they were forming within a few seconds of each other rather than every five seconds. With any luck, Balto would have the move down pat before their battle with Koga in a week and a half. Steven called out, "Not bad, he's getting faster. Metagross, let's get rid of the copies with Bullet Punch."
"Keep using Double Team, Balto," Vali commanded as Metagross began destroying the copies.
By continuously using Double Team, Balto was increasing both the speed used to create copies and the amount of copies that could be created during a period of time. It increased the pokemon's ability to to use it's latent psychic-type energy used to create the copies. While the move was considered and marked down as a normal-type move, it wasn't purely a normal-type move as it utilized the pokemon's latent psychic-type abilities in order to fully copy the pokemon as well as form the clones. Every pokemon had the ability to use psychic-type moves, but for some, it was a struggle to learn/use those moves due to lacking the potential. It all came down to how a pokemon utilized the pool of energy within them which is why a pokemon like Magikarp could turn into a Gyarados despite how weak it is during its first evolution. This is where trainers come in, they're supposed to help their pokemon reach their full potential through various methods. Of course, every pokemon had limits especially when it comes to their newest moves.
The copies that Balto was creating were beginning to become see through and fade out of existence after a few seconds. Steven halted the training battle as Balto's latest copy disappeared almost immediately upon appearing, "I think that's enough for Balto."
"Yeah," Vali agreed as Balto flopped onto the ground with a whine, "Got a headache?" She grabbed one of her persim berries earning a groan from Balto, "I know you don't really like these, but it'll help with your headache,"
"A persim berry to help with headaches?" Steven asked as Balto began eating the hard berry.
"Professor Oak's Alakazam told me about it," Vali took out an oran berry which Balto liked a lot better mostly because it wasn't a hard berry, "While they may curse Confusion, they also help relieve headaches in pokemon. It was something Professor Oak learned when observing some Psyduck in the wild. They tend to congregate in large groups in areas with persim bushes. They also do the same with Lum berries come to think of it," She fed the oran berry to Balto and scratched behind his ears, "They don't keep the big blasts of psychic-type energy from happening, but they do help ease the pain their headaches cause,"
"You learn something knew every day," Steven commented with a chuckle, "I'm definitely going to have to remember that,"
Metagross followed after Steven slowly. The shiny pokemon was still a bit leery about Vali despite the assurances that she was good friends with their master and the fact they'd met before on the way to Viridian City. Even the mental link between Steven and the steel-type master-in-training's pokemon, the shiny wasn't sure about her. While a bit off putting, she understood since it would take time for the pokemon to trust her. Vali mentally sighed before asking, "By the way Steven, what do you want to do once we're done in Fuchsia? I know that I want to be back in Pallet by Christmas, but what do you want to do?"
Steven blinked at her question before saying, "If you guys will have me, I think that I'll stay with you guys. My father is never home for Christmas and doesn't really expect me to be back."
"I'll need to ask Delia, but I think that she'll probably agree," Vali replied as a plan formed in her mind, "She likes having a full house from what I can tell though there is a chance we'll end up staying with the Oak's since the power can be pretty fickle in Pallet Town during winter especially when it's cold. There is also more room too," She noticed Steven's confused look, "Since the town is pretty small and mostly made of berry farmers outside of Professor Oak's aids, they don't have a big power plant. The power plant is pretty old too since it was built back when the Professor first settled down in Pallet town and no ones really gotten around to renovating it,"
"So sometimes the power cuts out randomly?" Steven asked earning a nod.
"Professor Oak's been meaning to have it renovated, but tends to forget since he's so busy," Vali saw the frown on Steven's face prompting her to say, "Professor Oak is pretty much in charge of Pallet Town since it only really became a town when the professor set up shop. No one really minds since most people have a few electric-types running around to power the houses when it happens," Vali bent down to scratch behind Balto's ears when he finished off both berries, "I mean it can be dangerous sometimes, but Pallet Town still manages to get through the winter,"
"I thought Pallet Town was small, but didn't know it was so new," Steven commented earning a small laugh.
"Most of the residents of Pallet Town would argue that it isn't new since it's technically been around since the first group of Kantoians got access to the ocean from the bay area," Vali grinned at Steven's raised eyebrow, "Delia, Professor Oak, and the other adults from Pallet Town are very proud of how well it's endured through the years despite it's small size," She went back to the plan she was slowly figuring out, "Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how we're going to get to Pallet Town. How good is Claydol at teleporting with multiple beings across a long distance?"
"Not very good since they don't have much experience with it, we could reach Pallet Town within a week of teleporting both to give Claydol some rest and give ourselves some time to recover from being teleported if we left from Fuchsia," Steven said as she took out her pokedex and began trying things down, "While Claydol are good at teleporting themselves, it isn't so easily done with others,"
"With that in mind, we would probably have a month to relax in Pallet town give or take a few days," Vali commented earning a slight nod from Steven, "Which would mean we'd be able to train a bit more extensively while also avoiding some of the worst weather. Of course, I could see if Professor Oak would be willing to lend Alakazam's teleporting services which would mean we'd be there quicker..."
"We could do that," Steven said when she trailed off.
An impish smile spread across her lips, "I have a fun idea."
Steven looked at her curiously as Vali began working out the idea.
Professor Oak nodded as Vali finished explaining her plans for the gym battle and why she needed Celina to be on her inactive team, "I can do that. I take it she's agreed to it?"
"Of course, I wouldn't have voiced it otherwise," Celina had actually be happy to not battle.
With the days growing colder, Celina had become somewhat sluggish and more than a little nippy when someone bothered her. It was actually a common trait observed in the Pidgey-line. Despite their bigger bodies and somewhat thick feathers, the Pidgey-line were a little more vulnerable to the cold than most flying-types and it took them quite awhile to build up the resistance needed to be able to fly during winter. Because of this, they migrated more often than most flying-types and often disappeared off into warmer areas of the regions they lived in to get away from the worst of the cold. It took years for a Pidgeot, even a trained one, to build up the endurance needed to be able to withstand the colder areas of the atmosphere. Of course, the Spearow-line were the exact opposite as they've evolved to withstand the colder areas of the regions most likely out of spite and the need to be better than the Pidgey-line.
It was also around this time of year that Celina would normally be bulking up as much as possible since mating season would kick in right when the Spring Thaw began. She would also be searching for a territory to call her own which would be visited by males during mating season in hopes of becoming her mate. Thanks to how well Vali had taken care of her friend, the Pidgeot would likely have quite a few males attempting to win her favor come mating season if she was old enough for it which would be a question she'd have to ask Professor Oak when she actually went home for Christmas.
Professor Oak nodded with a smile as he began typing on a nearby computer, "It'll take an hour for the process to be completed. Would you like to send her to the lab before you leave Fuchsia?"
"Actually, Professor..." Vali began explaining her plan and Professor Oak began laughing once she finished.
When the laughter died down, Professor Oak said, "You truly are a devious person, Vali. I'll definitely send Alakazam to pick you and Steven up once you're done in Fuchsia."
"Thank you, Professor. Make sure you don't breath a word about it to anyone since it does need to be a surprise," Vali winked at him earning a chuckle.
"Of course," Professor Oak shook his head, "Now, the stones you found,"
Vali sat up full, "Was I right?"
Professor Oak nodded as he shuffled around some papers, "Yes, but Sirius has mentioned that it is more difficult for the magic to flow in ways that he's used to."
"So it's likely we'll have to recreate the spells we know," Vali mused earning a nod from the Professor, "That's definitely something we can do though it will probably be a bit more difficult on me if it draws on my inner fire, we'll need to test it at some point during my time home along with whatever tests you plan on doing with my inner fire,"
"I'll try to limit them in some way so you can enjoy your time home," Professor Oak grinned slightly, "I have news that Gary is definitely going to enjoy though I've been asked to keep quiet about it,"
"Daisy's finally coming home?" Vali asked as she reached up to scratch behind Pikachu's ears.
"Yes and she'll definitely be apologizing to Gary when she sees him," Professor Oak looked very pleased, "I'm very thankful that Ash brought this to your attention and you brought it to mine,"
"I'm always glad to help, Professor," Vali replied as Pikachu nuzzled into her cheek, "After all, I do owe you a lot for taking Sirius and I in among other things,"
Professor Oak shook his head though didn't say anything since they'd had this conversation before and he'd had it with Sirius as well. Professor Oak changed the subject, "I'm surprised Balto isn't with you."
"He's been practicing Double Team for a while, so I'm having Nurse Joy look him over," Vali replied as Pikachu dropped into her lap, "He's really getting strong, Professor. I'm actually hoping that when we come home that you might be able to check him over and see how close he is to reaching the limit of what he can do as a Growlithe,"
"I don't see why not. Do you want me to do the same with Pikachu?" Professor Oak asked making Pikachu jolt and look at the Professor in shock.
Vali nodded as she smiled down at Pikachu, "Yes, I'm actually hoping to evolve him soon especially if he does well during the gym battle."
Pikachu looked at her in shock before grinning and letting out a happy cry. Vali giggled as she hugged the excited mouse pokemon and Professor Oak chuckled at the sight. Professor Oak said, "I see that he approves of it. I'll definitely check both of them over. I do hope you won't mind Arcanine battling Balto before you evolve him. He'd want to see how powerful one of his children have become."
"I think Balto would enjoy it especially if we gave them their heads for the battle," Vali knew that it would give her a good idea of just how good Balto was as a Growlithe compared to how he would be as an Arcanine.
"I'll speak to Arcanine later. Do you want to see how your pokemon do against mine, Vali?" Professor Oak offered earning a wide eyed look, "While my pokemon might not be quite in their prime anymore, they've still got it,"
"I'd love to Professor," Vali was surprised by how calm she sounded.
Excitement filled her as Vali barely held herself back from squealing. Battling a champions team, a former champion with one of the shortest terms in current existence or not, was a dream come true especially when you considered the fact their trainer is Professor Oak. The man not only managed to train a Charizard, but a Dragonite as well on top of other pokemon. He was one of the first people outside of the Blackthorn dragon tamer clan to raise a Dratini into a powerful Dragonite that's still loyal to him even now that he isn't actively battling. Even if they're considered one of the friendliest dragon-types in existence, Dragonite are some of the most powerful creatures on the planet and deserved respect.
Professor Oak snickered at the likely awestruck expression on her face, "I think Gary and Ash would enjoy watching those battles, don't you?"
Vali coughed as she forced herself to calm down, "I do. They'd probably enjoy it."
"Though you might want to be careful bringing Smaug around," Professor Oak warned her.
Vali nodded in understanding, "I will though it might prove to be a good idea to have your Charizard battle mine. Might motivate Smaug a bit more and knock down some of his arrogance."
Smaug was a Charizard which could be pretty arrogant if not knocked down a few pegs especially if they were males. Professor Oak nodded as he gained a concentrated look on his face, "I'll fix up a battlefield for them to use. How is the Vulpix egg?"
"Healthy. I have been tempted to try meditating with it in my lap, but I don't want to accidentally harm the unborn pokemon," Vali would hate herself if she did that.
"I can understand especially since we don't know exactly what your inner flame can do," Professor Oak sighed deeply, "I really wish we could find those answers,"
"They lay with whoever is giving me those visions and dreams," Vali's good mood disappeared at the reminder of her visions.
Professor Oak offered her an apologetic smile, "We'll figure things out, Vali. I promise."
Vali nodded, "If you'll excuse me, I need to go talk to Delia."
"Of course," Professor Oak replied, "I will hopefully see you soon,"
The call cut and Vali ran a hand through her hair feeling a bit of irritation. Pikachu nuzzled into her with a worried expression. She offered the mouse pokemon a tired smile, "I'll be fine, Pikachu. I'm just a bit frustrated right now with the whole visions and stuff."
Vali's dreams had been filled with the shattered pieces of the vision that she'd seen that first night after the safari zone alongside the dreams she'd had before. While they didn't completely dominate her dreams, they often caused her to wake up in the middle of the night. Part of the reason she was so eager to return home was because of Regulus and the other dark-type pokemon at the ranch, they would hopefully give her a reprieve from the visions. She rubbed underneath Pikachu's electrical sacks earning a coo of delight from the mouse pokemon as the worried expression vanished. Pushing her troubled thoughts away, she dialed her home number and smiled at Delia when the woman answered, "Vali! This is a surprise, I didn't think you'd be calling for another few days since you do have training to do."
"We're taking a small break while my pokemon learning Double Team get checked over by Nurse Joy," Vali explained earning a look of understanding, "Anyway, I talked with Steven about returning home for Christmas and some much needed R&R since we've been pretty much going non-stop since leaving Pallet Town. Steven's dad doesn't really expect him back for Christmas and isn't really home for it anyway. We were kind of hoping you wouldn't mind him coming to stay with us for the month off we're taking,"
Delia beamed at her, "I don't mind at all though did you tell him about the chances of us staying with the Oak's?"
"Of course, I didn't want to throw him off the deep end," Vali felt the tension she'd been feeling ease up, "Is Ash there?"
Delia shook her head, "No, He's with Sirius and Gary at the corral. Why?"
Vali offered the woman an impish grin, "Well, you see..."
Delia giggled with a grin, "Oh that sounds wonderful, I can't wait to see their faces."
Pikachu hit Pele with his tail gaining a pale grey sheen causing the Numel to go skidding back on her hooves with a surprised expression on her face. He lept back as she released some Ember at him and looked at Vali as she called for the practice match to end. She looked into her pokedex before grinning at him, "Looks like you managed to learn Slam, Pikachu. Let's practice it a bit more then work on Wild Charge, okay?"
Pikachu nodded and turned to Pele with a grin on his face. The faster he mastered the attacks Vali wanted him to learn, the better his showing during the next gym battle would be. He had to show his trainer just how worthy he was of becoming a Raichu.
Vali looked over the tutorials that she'd found for Wild Charge one more time before saying, "Alright, so the basis of it is similar to slam where you use your innate non-elemental energy to slam your tail into whoever you're battling at high speeds and heavy force. Instead of focusing your non-elemental energy into the attack, you need to use your innate electrical energy," She bent down to show Pikachu a video of a Raichu racing forward covered in a cloak of electricity, "What I'm going to have you do, is use Quick Attack while also charging up your electricity. This should give you a base for using Wild Charge, okay?" Pikachu nodded as he watched the video carefully, "For now, I just want you to get used to having your electricity charged up while you're going at fast speeds. Everything else can wait until you get it down."
Pikachu watched the video two more times before he went to start training himself too use Wilde Charge. Vali watched him start running around slowly with his cheeks occasionally sparking before slowly beginning to increase his speed. When his cheeks stopped sparking, he slowed down and waited a few moments before restarting. She looked down when she felt Eevee lean against her legs and showed him the videos Pikachu was watching, "He's learning Wild Charge. It's one of the moves he has to learn before evolving otherwise he'd never have the ability to learn it," Eevee looked at her with a bit of confusion in his eyes, "During evolution, Pikachu's body gains mass and muscle which reduces their speed in exchange for an increased electrical storage, defense, and attack. If they learn speed attacks such as Agility, they'll be able to use them due to the fact their body already knows how and will compensate for the speed via extra energy to the muscles needed for it," Eevee nodded slowly and looked at Pikachu with a small frown, "Pikachu wants to evolve and I'll give him that chance even if a Raichu isn't exactly suited for my battling style. A Charizard of all things isn't exactly suited for it either, but I'm not going to prevent any of my pokemon from evolving if they want to."
Eevee looked up at her with a question burning in his eyes. She bent down to get mostly eye-level as she said, "Eevee, if you choose to stay with me, I'd love you no matter what evolution you chose or even if you choose to stay like this. Evolution is a choice after all though most would probably disagree."
Pikachu let out a surprised yelp and Vali looked at him to see the mouse pokemon rolling around with Pippin. Taking a quick picture with her camera, she rushed over to seperate them. Clearly, Pippin had thought this was a game rather than training and wanted to play too.
The date of Vali's gym battle with Koga drew ever closer with her pokemon working their asses off to get ready for it. Vali had decided on Pikachu, Balto, Arwen, and Idril to be her battlers this time around. It was high time for Idril to have her first gym battle. If it weren't for the fact Terra still needed a lot of work, she would have been on the roster alongside Idril. Smaug was still getting used to his bigger body and wouldn't do well in an enclosed space for his first gym battle as a Charizard. Celina wasn't suited for the battle and everyone else needed a lot more training before she deemed them anywhere near ready for an actual battle let alone a gym battle. Of course, Empress looked about ready to bash her skull in when she'd made that announcement. Over-confident dragons for the win and all that, she really needed to see if Lance had a pokegear if only so she could pick his brain about how to deal with her Bagon.
Pikachu, Balto, Arwen, and Idril were put through their paces with the latter two getting the most attention of the four. Idril especially getting her attention as the shiny Sandshrew began to shed her timidness. With her added attention, Idril managed to learn Rollout and Poison Sting with the former leading to the Sandshrew learning Rapid Spin. It wasn't long until she noticed parts of Idril's back scales beginning to shift slightly and small dark red spots beginning to form in those areas. With that in mind, she took Idril to Nurse Joy. Nurse Joy announced that Idril was in the beginning stages of evolution and depending on what Vali did from now on, the shiny Sandshrew would likely be evolving in a month. The pink haired nurse advised the fire-type master-in-training to keep Idril inside as much as possible after the gym battle because the snow that would soon begin falling would harm the ground-type. With that in mind, she passed along the warning to Steven.
Arwen wasn't showing any sign of evolution though that wasn't too surprising since the Ponyta-line grew a bit more slowly compared to most fire-types. It was mostly due to their genetics and how their bodies had evolved over time. Ponyta took longer to evolve due to their bodies being built to withstand the wear and tear of keeping up with their herds. Even when a Ponyta worked with a trainer, it took them upwards of a year to evolve if caught wild. If bred, it took even longer especially when the Ponyta was newly hatched. Despite what most trainers would believe, Vali was actually happy that it would take Arwen longer to evolve.
Vali wasn't ready to be forced to have multiple pokemon sleep in their pokeballs because there wasn't enough room in her pokemon center room. It was difficult at the current moment to figure out where Smaug and Celina were supposed to sleep on top of where her newer pokemon slept. Pippin had a habit of sleeping on her chest with Pele somehow managing to end up on halfway on top of her left leg from where she usually slept next to the wall. Empress tended to migrate in her sleep to lay on her right leg despite falling asleep beside Smaug. Despite the fact she ended up with numb body parts by morning, she loved not having to use a blanket due to her pokemon providing more than enough warmth to not need one.
Relatively speaking, Vali sometimes woke up sweating heavily mostly due to the fact Pele's body radiated quite a bit of heat. Not as hot as the magma inside the Numel's body, everyone probably would've been burned at some point if that had happened. Pele's body naturally sealed in a majority of the heat save for when something actually managed to piss off the Numel which hadn't happened since she ended up capturing herself. She was both looking forward to and dreading the day it happened. Numel may be some of the more even tempered pokemon, but when they lost their temper, it was scary especially since they tended to evolve when that happened. Before that happened, she was going to ensure that Pele loved and cared for every member of their family if only to prevent any accidents from happening once the evolution occurred.
Vali looked over each of her pokemon who would be participating in the battle and smiled at their well-rested forms the morning before their battle with Koga, "Are you guys ready for this?" Excited nods and slightly nervous trills were given, "I know we'll be able to win this. Idril," Idril looked at her, "Depending on what pokemon Koga sends out, I'll be having you battle first. I know that you'll be able to win it, Sweetheart," She bent down to Idril's level and rubbed the Sandshrew's slightly rough skin, "I know it's a bit daunting especially given how important these battles are. I'm always a bit nervous when it comes to these battles," Idril looked at her in shock, "I hide it pretty well. I know Balto and the others are nervous too. Aren't you?" Balto barked as Pikachu nodded and Arwen whinnied, "See, we all nervous, but we're not going to let it get to us. Do your best, Sweetheart. Our family is standing behind you every step of the way."
Idril nodded with a determined expression on her face. Vali smiled softly and returned everyone before joining Steven at the doors of the pokemon center. Steven looked at her curiously, "Everyone alright?"
"Yeah," Vali bent down to Eevee's level and he jumped onto her shoulder, "Idril needed that pep-talk," They left the pokemon center, "I'm going to be sending her out first depending on who Koga sends out,"
"Do you think she'll be able to handle it?" Steven asked with a slightly worried expression on his face.
Vali nodded with a light smile, "I know she can. She's been training so hard along with everyone else. She deserves the chance to show off her strength."
They soon reached the gym and headed inside. The gym trainer looked up from her computer, "Valkyrie Potter?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Vali said before gesturing to Steven, "Steven's watching my battle today,"
"Traveling partners?" The Gym Trainer asked as she typed something into the computer.
"Yes," Vali walked over to the desk.
"If you'll follow me, we'll head to the battlefield. Gym Leader Koga will be there," The Gym Trainer stood up and led them through the ninja school.
Steven spoke as they passed by an open door which showed some students learning how to throw shuriken, "I wasn't aware that weapons are legal in Kanto."
"Only those who go to our school and pass the required tests are allowed them," The Gym Trainer glanced back at Steven, "If a student leaves, any weapons they have are taken from them and their names are blacklisted from our suppliers. If the student returns, they have to go through the tests once more,"
"You need a special license for them," Vali added earning a raised eyebrow from Steven, "Sirius told me since he needed to get one and learn the rules about them to become a pokemon Ranger. They're only allowed to be used in extreme circumstances though and there's a lot of red tape involved,"
"Here we are," The Gym Trainer said when they reached a pair of shoji doors with the Fuchsia city symbol and the League symbol painted on the them.
The doors slid open and they found the battlefield waiting for them. Vali looked over Koga who was one of the few gym leaders that didn't often appear in public outside of certain league events. He was assessing her the moment she entered and didn't seem to dismiss her as a threat immediately showed that the man understood one of the many Slytherin phrases she'd discovered while at Hogwarts: Don't assume someone is weak or useless by appearance alone. Internally smiling a bit, she called out, "Gym Leader Koga?" The man dressed like a ninja inclined his head, "I'm Valkyrie Potter. I will be your challenger."
"Then stand in the trainers box, your companion may sit in the stands," Koga replied with a somewhat blank expression.
Vali moved to the trainers box as asked while Steven headed to the stands. A referee appeared as Koga moved to his own position, "This is a four on four battle between Gym Leader Koga of Fuchsia city and Challenger Valkyrie Potter of Pallet Town. Only the challenger may make any substitutions. Trainers, please release your first pokemon!"
Koga released a Ariados and Vali replied with Idril causing the gym leader's eyes to widen, "A shiny Sandshrew? So you are the trainer that Lt. Surge spoke of."
Vali looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Surge spoke about me?"
"Indeed," Koga's lips twitched into a faint smirk, "He spoke highly of your battling skills despite the fact you do not rely on brute strength as he does,"
Vali shrugged as the referee called out, "Begin!"
"Idril, Hide and seek," Vali ordered immediately and Idril disappeared into the ground.
"Ariados, Sticky Web," Koga ordered in reply.
Ariados began layering the battlefield with sticky silk that Vali would need to get rid of via fire-type attacks the moment she was able to. She focused on Ariados noting that it was fairly small and it's movement not quite as smooth as they should be which meant the spider had evolved not too long ago. She knew that Koga was probably using this as a test to gauge her strength. She spotted the small holes forming in the ground making her mentally smile. Out of all her pokemon, Idril fit in the best when it came to her strategy. Due to their body type and instincts, the Sandshrew-line would never be able to tank hits no matter how hard you tried simply because they weren't built for it. Instead of becoming tanks, they were perfect to become the assassin of the team.
Ariados let out a startled shriek of surprise when glowing purple needles struck the bottom of it's abdomen where the thick exoskeleton was thinner due to the spinnerets being there. It lept up and spun around to strike the pokemon that had attacked it only to find nothing. Even though poison-types couldn't be poisoned, poison-type attacks still did damage. Idril popped up to hit it with Mud-Slap before disappearing back into the ground earning a shriek of surprised pain. Vali reached up to scratch behind Eevee's ear as she whispered to him, "Idril's way of using hide and seek is diffrent from the others, don't you think?" Eevee nodded slowly, "She's a lot more effective at it because she can do a lot inside the ground. It's basically water to her and like any aquatic pokemon, she can sense the vibrations in the ground allowing her to find her opponents."
Koga spoke before she could continue her explanation, "So you're taking the natural skills of your pokemon and utilizing them rather than attempt to transform it into a tank."
"Sandshrew aren't meant to tank hits same with Pikachu and quite a few other pokemon," Vali replied as Idril kept peppering Ariados with attacks as the spider began to fling poison-type attacks back though none of them seemed to hit, "Ariados aren't meant to tank hints either,"
"True enough," Koga looked at the battlefield with a slight chuckle, "You've already noticed that my Ariados is fairly young, did you not?"
Vali eyed him as she nodded, "I noticed it's movements weren't as smooth as they should be and it is small for its species even for a female."
"She evolved a week ago," Koga confirmed her thoughts.
"You're attempting to gauge my skills and react accordingly," Vali watched Idril pop up and take a chance with using Shadow Claw causing a high pitched screech of pain to leave Ariados as a deep cut appeared on the spider's exoskeleton.
Vali felt a bit of bile rise up in her throat at the sight of Ariados' blood leaking out of the cut. It was a thick slimy greenish purple substance that made an unpleasant plopping sound when it hit the ground. She felt Eevee stiffen a bit and reached up to calm him down. Koga spoke as Idril disappeared back into the ground, "You are not used to fighting bug-types are you?"
"No, not on this level at least," Vali hadn't faced many bug-type trainers since not long before they left Celadon, "Will she be okay?"
"She will be fine," Koga replied making Eevee relax a bit, "Bug-type pokemon are rather resilient. Unless their exoskeleton is completely crushed or destroyed, they will always manage to survive for the most part," Idril used Shadow Claw once more and Ariados was showing signs of weakness as another deep cut appeared on the spider's exoskeleton, "Ariados, Bug Bite,"
Ariados managed to catch Idril before she could go back to ground and bit down harshly. Idril squealed in pain and retaliated with Scratch. Ariados held on tight as Idril used Scratch over and over again pumping poison into her Sandshrew. Ariados finally let go when Idril scored a decent hit with Shadow Claw. Idril disappeared back into the ground and resumed her old tactics until the spider passed out. Idril pulled herself from the ground as Koga returned his knocked out Ariados. Vali bent down as Idril stumbled towards her looking ill and shaky as a purple aura ran over her body. Vali took out Idril's pokeball as she reached down to gently scratch under Idril's chin, "You did a very good job, Idril. I'm going to return you now."
Idril nodded with a pleased expression and Vali returned her while mentally promising the shiny pokemon a good pampering session once Nurse Joy got done with her. Standing up fully, Vali watched as Koga released a Koffing which prompted Vali to release Arwen. Koga eyed Arwen as the Ponyta danced a bit making sounds of annoyance at the webbing which caught on her hooves and legs, "So now I get to see your fire-types."
"Mhmm," Vali spoke to Arwen, "Arwen, get rid of the webbing as much as possible,"
Arwen began releasing Embers which caused the webbing to burn away quickly showing that the sticky fluid that coated the silky strands was highly flammable. Vali made a mental note to remember that for when she battled any other web-spinning pokemon. Koga ordered his Koffing, "Koffing, use Smog."
"Arwen, Flame Wheel," Vali needed to see if Ponyta were able to learn Flamethrower since that would be a useful move right about now.
Hopefully, Koga wouldn't use that thrice damned Explosion or Self-Destruct because that would suck. Arwen took off into the poisonous smoke with flames coating her body which would hopefully keep the poisonous air from getting to her. Koffing had floated a bit close to the ground while releasing the smoke and Arwen managed to hit it. Fortunately, it caused Koffing's flammable gases to ignite and explode thus knocking the poison-type out. Unfortunately, Arwen was too close and ended up taking almost the full brunt of the attack.
Arwen managed to get to her feet while Koga returned his knocked out Koffing, "Arwen, do you want to take a break?"
Arwen looked at Vali then at the Weezing Koga released and nodded with a tired whinny. Vali returned her and sent out Balto. Balto immediately disappeared into the ground upon seeing Weezing causing Koga to ask, "Is he going to be hiding the whole match?"
"No," Vali had planned this out with Balto on the off chance he'd end up against one of Poison Gas pokemon, "Balto, we only need to knock out Weezing and another pokemon to win. Idril and Arwen won their battles though aren't in the best shape,"
Koga called out, "Poison Gas, Weezing."
"Light it up, Balto," Vali thanked Arceus that most poison-type moves were flammable especially the ones involving gas.
Balto began releasing Embers which looked like it might turn into Flamethrower fairly soon if they spent a bit more time on it. The gas immediately ignited and due to the fact Weezing was still releasing it, caused the flames to enter the floating poison-types body thus causing it to explode. Thankfully, Balto was under ground and far enough out of the blast radius to avoid getting more than a few scratches. He popped up carefully and shook the dust off his fur with a bark. Weezing was surprisingly still conscious, but a quick Iron Tail took it out pretty quickly after that. Koga spoke with a pleased gleam in his eyes, "It has been awhile since one of my opponents has managed to defeat my pokemon without any real loses in awhile."
"We're a pretty good team," Vali replied as Koga released his last pokemon which wasn't one she recognized right away, "What is that?"
"He is a Whirlipede," Koga answered making Vali's eyes widen in surprise before she inwardly cursed as it began releasing purple spikes.
"Unova," Vali knew that it had to be a bug/poison-type like Ariados if only because of it's outward appearance, "A bug/poison-type. Balto," He glanced at her while eyeing the curled up pokemon with distrust, "Don't get caught by it or try to touch it. We have no idea what abilities it might have,"
Balto nodded with a bark and lowered his body closer to the ground though made sure to avoid getting near the Toxic Spikes on the ground. Koga actually chuckled as he caught her words, "You have good instincts. He is one of my newer pokemon that I received via the gym pokemon exchange."
Vali was definitely going to be branching out with her pokemon knowledge to prevent getting flat-footed after this. It would be a good idea for when the League Conference came around since there were always a few pokemon trainers bouncing around the various Regions. She should see if Professor Oak might be able to update her pokedex's database if only to safe time later on. Balto started off the battle with Ember and began moving around the battlefield in a slow walk being careful to avoid the array of Toxic Spikes littering the ground around Whirlipede. Based on the small amount, it was quite clear that Whirlipede hadn't practiced the move long enough to cover an entire battlefield which was lucky for them. Whirlipede released some Poison Stings in retaliation which Balto quickly dodged as he continued releasing Embers. She spoke as Whirlipede released a spray of poisonous liquid that Balto quickly moved away from, "Balto," Balto looked up at her, "Divide and Steel."
Balto used Double Team and began racing around causing Whirlipede to let out a confused shriek as it tried to find the real one. The Balto's darted forward and slammed into Whirlipede with Iron Tail sending it flying. Koga spoke as Balto continued slamming into Whirlipede with Iron Tail and spitting Ember at it while pulling off some impressive acrobatics to avoid the Toxic Spikes littering the ground, "You're hoping that the steel-type energy of the Iron Tail will keep any poisonous conditions from affecting your Growlithe which actually deals with my Whirlipede's Poison Point ability quite nicely."
"So that's the ability he has," Vali murmured as Balto broke away from Whirlipede when it released a loud Screech after using Protect, "Balto, take a break. I think I've got a plan,"
Balto nodded and let her return him knowing that she wanted to give Pikachu a chance. Pikachu appeared on the field and looked around only to pause at the sight of Whirlipede. Koga looked a bit confused at her switch over, "You're using a Pikachu rather than your Growlithe?"
Vali didn't reply to him, "Pikachu, that is a Whirlipede from Unova which is a poison/bug type. It has the Poison Point ability, so try not to touch it without Iron Tail," Pikachu nodded as his cheeks spark, "He also has Toxic Spikes littering the ground. Avoid them as much as possible otherwise you'll get poisoned," Pikachu nodded again while taking in the battlefield with a frown, "Start off with Electric Terrain and Thunder Wave."
Koga blinked as the battlefield became charged up with electrical energy, "I wasn't aware that Pikachu born outside of Alola had the ability to use Electric Terrain."
"Me either, but I'm not questioning my luck," Vali replied as Pikachu used Thunder Wave which promptly slammed into Whirlipede stopping it from releasing anymore of that poisonous liquid from earlier, "Pikachu, Divide and Shocker,"
Pikachu began using Double Team to a greater extent than Balto or any of her other family members were currently capable of due to how long he's been able to practice the move. Koga's eyes widened at the sheer number of copies Pikachu created before seemingly shaking off his surprise as he shouted, "Whirlipede, use Protect and wide spray Poison Sting."
Vali eyed the battlefield carefully as Whirlipede's body was shielded from the Thunder Shocks Pikachu was releasing before it began spitting Poison Sting in a wide ark. To the surprise of everyone observing the battle, the battlefield became empty of all inhabitants save for Whirlipede earning a confused clicking sound from the bug/poison-type as it's green shield disappeared. Pikachu appeared behind Whirlipede and hit it with a high powered Thunder Punch that sent the curled up pokemon skidding away. Pikachu followed up his punch with a Thunder Bolt that caused Whirlipede to shriek in pain as it paused in it's efforts to get up. Pikachu created more copies of himself and disappeared into the sea of Pikachu as Whirlipede picked itself up and whirled around with shriek as it began spraying Poison Sting again. Showing that it had learned something, Whirlipede didn't drop the Protect it covered itself in this time when the sea of Pikachu's disappeared.
Too bad for Whirlipede, Pikachu had finally learned Feint yesterday. Whirlipede's Protect shattered like glass allowing Pikachu to slam an Iron Tail into it's back and send it skidding back. Pikachu released another Thunder Bolt before creating more copies of himself and disappearing. Whirlipede righted itself with a pissed off sounding shriek as it once more used Poison Sting to get rid of the copies. Instead of using Protect, it disappeared from sight leaving Pikachu blinking in shock when his opponent wasn't standing nearby when he came back above ground. Vali hurriedly called out, "He's using Agility!"
Pikachu was slammed into by Whirlipede and sent flying with a cry of pain. He managed to right himself before he landed though the purple aura that enveloped his body moments later showed that he had been poisoned. Mentally cursing at the fact they now had a time-limit, Vali was pleased to note that the use of Agility had cost the bug. It was panting heavily and shaking slightly as electrical discharge slid across its body. Pikachu used Electrical Terrain again as Koga said, "It would seem that you're now on a time-limit."
"We'll see about that," Vali noted the determined look on Pikachu's face, "Pikachu, use that move!"
Pikachu nodded with a growl as Koga gained a frown, "What are you planning?"
"You'll see," Vali watched as an electrical aura engulfed Pikachu's body.
Thunder was going to exhaust Pikachu, but with the additional power of Electrical Terrain, it wouldn't knock him unconscious. Pikachu released the pent up electricity into the sky which came down upon Whirlipede too quickly for the curled-up pokemon to react. When the electricity faded, Pikachu was panting heavily and clearly on his last legs while Whirlipede was unconscious. The referee called out, "Whirlipede is unconscious. Winner Challenger Valkyrie Potter of Pallet Town and Pikachu!"
Vali quickly made her way over to Pikachu and bent down to pick him up, "You did very good, Pikachu," Pikachu licked her cheek, "I'm going to get everyone to Nurse Joy as soon as possible. Get some rest, Pikachu."
Vali returned Pikachu and turned to Koga as the gym leader approached her, "That was a very interesting battle, I have much work ahead of me."
"It was a pleasure to battle you," Vali said as Koga held out the badge to and she took it from him.
"Once the League Conference is over, it would be a pleasure if you'd come back and train here with us for a little while," Koga told her as Steven joined them from the stands, "It is not often those in their first year of training choose a battling style other than brute force even when they reach my gym. It would be a pleasure to see how far you can go with our methods,"
"I'll consider it," Vali promised him feeling a bit shocked at the offer.
Koga nodded and turned to Steven, "I assume you're my next challenger?"
"My battle is scheduled for tomorrow," Steven replied earning a nod.
"I look forward to it, Mr. Stone. It isn't often that I have a chance to battle against a Steel-type user," Koga smirked a bit before disappearing.
They left the gym rather quickly and headed straight to the pokemon center. Steven let out a soft laugh earning a confused look from Vali, "That's two gym leaders that have offered to teach you."
"I know," Vali couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face anymore than she could quell the excitement burning through her, "I'm not sure I'll take him up on his offer though,"
"It'll be an option that you can fallback on if Blaine doesn't decide to take you under his wing," Steven commented earning a nod, "That makes 5 gym badges for you, you'll only need to beat Sabrina, Blaine, and Giovanni in order to qualify for the Conference,"
"Is it odd that I'm having a bit of trouble believing it?" Vali asked as she looked at the shiny new badge she was holding, "I mean, we just won it, but..."
"But the knowledge that you managed it within a few months as opposed to the full year it sometimes takes people to gather their badges makes you wonder if it's a dream," Steven finished for her and patted the shoulder the didn't contain Eevee, "You deserve it, Vali. With all the hard work you're putting in with your pokemon, you definitely deserve the acknowledgement of that skill,"
Vali smiled at him, "You helped us along as well, Steven. While we would've reached this point eventually, we couldn't have gotten here without your help too, so thank you."
Steven let out a light laugh and shook his head, "It's no problem. We should probably hurry to the pokemon center."
Ash looked at her array of badges in awe alongside Gary through the video phone, "That's so cool, Vali! Now you just need three more, right?"
"Yup," Vali put down her badges on the desk beneath the monitor, "I can't wait to get to Cinnabar Island and face Blaine,"
"He's the fire-type gym leader, right?" Ash asked earning a nod, "How are you going to battle against him? You don't have a water-type,"
"I don't need a water-type, Ash," Vali saw the boys confused expressions, "You've been taught that type advantages will always win, right?" The two boys nodded, "That isn't always true in real-life, it will always come down to the pokemon themselves, their experience, their individual power levels, skills, and how they battle. Gym Leaders for example will always have plans for dealing with type advantages and tend to win if someone just focuses on their type advantage," Vali could tell that both of them were still lost though Gary seemed to be beginning to understand, "Okay take Balto battling against Steven's Metagross. Who would win?"
"Balto," Ash answered automatically.
"Metagross," Gary retorted earning a confused look from Ash.
Vali nodded at Gary, "That's correct, Gary."
Ash looked at her in confusion, "Huh?"
Vali thought about how to put this in a way that Ash could understand, "While Balto is powerful for a Growlithe, he's still a Growlithe that only really began training when he became my pokemon. Metagross is a fully evolved Pseudo legendary pokemon that Steven's been training since he was my age. Despite Metagross' Steel-typing, they are still an older pokemon that has been around for quite a while. Steven is going to become a Steel-type master which means he'll have to figure out ways to deal with his type's weaknesses."
"So despite his type-advantage, Balto would lose against Metagross because it's stronger and more experienced than him?" Ash had a concentrated look on his face.
Vali nodded feeling proud that Ash understood her, "Yes, but eventually, he'll end up winning against Metagross so long as he continues to train and develop his battling skills."
"So does this mean I don't have to learn theory?" Ash asked with a slight grin.
Vali felt just a little sad for bursting his bubble, "No, you need to learn theory, Ash. It's very important alongside practical skills if you're going to become a great trainer," Ash's face fell, "I understand why you don't like theory, Ash. I've always been better at practical skills rather than theory."
"Really?" Ash asked as Gary looked at her in surprise.
Vali nodded lightly, "Hands on learning is easier for me than book learning, Ash is a lot like me in that regard. Gary on the other hand finds book learning easier. Everyone learns differently even pokemon."
"So Ash isn't stupid for not getting our book lessons down while I'm not stupid for having trouble with the practical portions?" Gary summed up earning a glare from Ash for calling him stupid.
"Neither of you are stupid and anyone that calls you that is an idiot," Vali picked up Pippin when he pawed at her legs and set him in her lap, "It's actually a good thing you two learn differently," They looked at her in confusion, "Ash can help Gary understand the practical lessons,"
"While I help him understand the book lessons?" Gary asked more than answered.
"Yup," Vali nodded and saw comprehension dawning in their eyes, "And the stuff neither of you understand can be brought up to one of the adults after school, the lab has quite a few people able to help you out,"
Ash's eyes found Pippin, "What pokemon is that?"
"A Shinx," Vali answered with a light grin, "His name is Pippin or Pip for short. Pip," Pippin looked up at her curiously, "These two are my adoptive little brothers, Ash and Gary,"
Vali spent a bit more time talking to the two before getting off of the video phone. Steven looked up when she approached where he was sitting in the trainer's lounge area, "That took a little awhile, is everything okay?'
"Everything is fine, I was just talking with the boys," Vali sat down with Pippin in her lap, "They're really eager for when we get home,"
"Did you tell them when we were going to arrive?" Steven asked her with a raised eyebrow.
Vali shook her head, "Nope~I'm keeping that a secret. You're fine with the plan though, right?"
"Sure, it sounds like a lot of fun," Steven looked at her in amusement, "I didn't think you'd be the type of person to prank someone,"
"I'm a woman of many facets," Vali replied before looking down at Pippin who butted his head against her chest, "How's Blastoise?"
Wartortle had finally evolved during a practice battle with Smaug. Smaug was torn between being happy one of his usual sparring partners was now stronger and annoyed that the battle had ended before he could win. Steven sighed deeply, "According to Nurse Joy, he won't be able to battle for the next two weeks due to his shell being too weak. He apparently needed more iron and calcium in his diet than what I was giving him."
"Well it does happen, but at least he'll be fine in the end, right?" Vali asked earning a nod, "It isn't something you would've known since the Squirtle-line aren't something your familiar with at least in concerns of their evolution,"
"True," Steven still looked annoyed with himself, "I should've been doing more research,"
Vali patted his shoulder in sympathy, "At least now, you'll know to do so in the future. Beating yourself up about it won't help Blastoise," Steven's expression lightened a bit as a determined gleam entered his eye, "Besides, you need to focus on Lileep anyway. He's edging closer to his evolution and it won't be long until he does."
"I should have Nurse Joy do a deep check on him," Steven stood up, "Thank you, Vali,"
"No problem," Vali stood up as well after transferring Pippin to the ground, "I should go see her about everyone's conditions and maybe have her check on my egg,"
"Your egg should be hatching in about little more than a week and a half," Nurse Joy said as she read the information off of the scanner she was using on the egg, "It should beginning moving in the next two days. I would advise keeping a closer eye on it during this time,"
"Will do," Vali felt excitement fill her at the fact she'd have a baby pokemon to take care of soon, "So can you tell the gender now?"
"That I can," Nurse Joy looked at her with an amused look, "Would you like to know?"
"Yes, please!" Vali had trouble keeping herself from bouncing around.
Nurse Joy let out a warm laugh and moved the scanner around a bit before saying, "You're going to be having a male Vulpix."
Vali grinned brightly at that news. Of course, she would've been happy with a female one, but a male was actually the better option. Males of the Vulpix-line were generally more even tempered and more forgiving especially towards newer trainers, they also didn't demand to be groomed every single day unless it was mating season though that wouldn't affect her little one until he was at least a year old and had become a Ninetales. She took the egg gently from Nurse Joy when the pink haired healer handed it over, "Thank you for this, Nurse Joy. Are there any tips you can give me at the moment?"
"Just keep it out of the cold as much as possible," Nurse Joy told her, "When the egg starts moving, you should let it keep it in a padded area where it can move about though not too big of an area. It should be about the same size as this crib," Nurse Joy pointed to the padded crib where a small Teddiursa was sleeping, "In the last few hours before the egg hatches, it will stop all movement save for a gentle rocking motion. When it begins to hatch, you should make sure there are hot towels and the like around you to clean up the baby pokemon and make sure you're the first thing it sees to ensure it imprints on you. Make sure you give it moo-moo milk laced with fire-type formula,"
"How long should I wait before catching it?" Vali set the egg into her egg-case and began writing down what Nurse Joy had told her so far.
"Wait until the day after, it'll make sure that the baby won't be harmed in the catching process," Nurse Joy looked at her note taking with approval, "Tell Professor Oak immediately after it hatches, it can't be sent to the lab for a period of four months to ensure you bond with it properly. It can begin training within a month of being born though nothing serious until after the four month marker. Talk to a Nurse Joy before you do battle with it, we don't want to accidentally hurt the poor pokemon,"
"Yes, Ma'am," Vali wrote that down before asking, "Is there anything specific I should do after it hatches?"
"Hold it as much as possible and make sure to introduce it to all your pokemon so it will associate them with pack," Nurse Joy warned earning a nod, "Other than that, you should be fine. I would advise getting some teething toys since it's teeth will grow in pretty quickly,"
Vali would see if Professor Oak had any extras laying around the lab, "Anything else?"
Nurse Joy cupped her chin lightly, "Keep it out of the snow for three days after its born, you should also avoid using water on it for about two weeks. Other than that, you should put a bit of ground up charcoal into it's food until it is about six months old which will be when it'll do that on its own."
"While I'm not planning on evolving it for a long time, when would be a good idea?" Vali asked earning an approving gaze.
"When it's a year old, it shouldn't be evolved before then even if it reaches the limit of what it can learn as a Vulpix," Nurse Joy advised, "Any other questions?"
Vali thought carefully before shaking her head, "No, Ma'am. Thank you for everything."
"It's no trouble," Nurse Joy smiled warmly, "It isn't often that young trainers around your age take the time to get their eggs checked and make sure they're prepared for when it hatches,"
Vali promised herself to talk to Professor Oak about ensuring the kids of Pallet Town at least understood what went into taking care of an egg among other things. If nothing else, she would ensure Ash and Gary understood it. Ash probably knew at least a small bit what with his Pidgey.
Steven's battle with Koga went by fairly quick and showed just how much trouble a poison-type had with steel-types. Koga had still given a good showing when he managed to take out Mawile and Lileep only to fall in the face of Metagross. The Scolipede Koga had, had managed to get the match to a stand-still for a little while before ultimately falling. It was an amazing match that caused quite a bit of damage to the battlefield that resulted in Koga having to use his outside battlefield until the League was able to make it safe again. Due to the fact winter was closing it's icy grip on Kanto, Koga would probably be postponing his gym battles after the new two weeks due to the conditions outside being too unsafe.
Vali made sure to take pictures of the battles and went through them once they left the gym, "That was amazing, Steven."
"It was a good battle. I hope to come back at some point and battle his true team," Steven grinned a bit, "It isn't often I get a good battle against a poison-type user,"
"I have to wonder if Koga will look into getting a Salandit or Salazzle," Vali noted the confusion on his face, "They're a fire/poison-type from Alola and are a female only evolution. I looked them up while I was researching fire-type pokemon and Professor Oak has a database about the pokemon of Alola due to his cousin living there. It's a pretty cool pokemon though finding a female Salandit is like searching for a needle in a haystack since they're a lot like Eevee where the species is pretty much male,"
Vali wasn't going to mention just how expensive it would be to import a female Salandit from Alola. They were even more expensive than Eevee especially when you went into all the red-tape owning one outside of Alola was. If you caught one in Alola, you didn't have to go through as much red-tape, but it still existed. Poison-types were a bitch and a half to get permits for if you went out of your home region since they were a pretty big threat to the environment. While poison-types were fairly cool, she preferred fire-types which rarely involved needing permits and going through red tape to own outside of a few specific instances such as the Magby-line.
"I'll have to look them up at some point," Steven murmured looking interested at the idea of a fire/poison-type.
"Just know that it'll be rare to find any trainer with one outside of Alola," Vali shook her head lightly, "They're hellishly expensive to import especially the female Salandit. The amount of red tape you'd have to go through to get one isn't worth it unless you're a serious poison-type master or really, really, really want one,"
"That seems to be how it is with most poison-type pokemon," Steven eyed her for a moment, "You wanted one, didn't you?"
"Yup," Vali wasn't going to lie about it, "But there isn't a chance I'm going to go through all that unless I get lucky or become a high level member of the League,"
They got all kinds of special passes and the like that made almost all the red tape go away. Steven patted her shoulder, "You'll get one eventually."
"Maybe when I retire from being a trainer and decide to live out the rest of my days in Alola," Vali would probably get bored fairly quickly if she did that.
Once all their pokemon were released back to them from Nurse Joy's care, they gathered what supplies they would need which mostly consisted of pokemon food and other pokemon care items that they needed. They didn't want their pokemon to eat Delia out of house and home. Vali also picked up the extra things Nurse Joy recommended for taking care of her baby Vulpix when he hatched. Once everything was packed away and they checked out of the pokemon center, she made the call to Professor Oak, "Hello, Vali. I take it that its time?"
"Yup!" Vali grinned at him, "I can't wait to be back in Pallet town for a little while,"
"She'll be waiting outside for you and Steven," Professor Oak told her.
"Thank you for this, Professor," Vali told him.
"It's no trouble," Professor Oak replied, "You've done a lot to help with my research so far and even helped me start some new projects. Now hurry up, Alakazam doesn't like to be kept waiting,"
Vali nodded and ended the call. Steven handed over her bag when she reached him, "Ready?"
"Yup, Alakazam should be waiting for us outside," Vali shouldered her bag, "So let's get going,"
They waved goodbye to Nurse Joy and left the pokemon center. Alakazam was waiting just like Professor Oak had said, "Vali."
"Hey, Alakazam," Vali grinned at the psychic-type, "You're looking well,"
"As are you, you're stronger now," Alakazam replied with a pleased tone, "Let us go, I do not like being out of my meditation room for long,"
Vali and Steven quickly approached Alakazam. The psychic-type placed a hand on their shoulders and teleported them to Pallet Town. Alakazam released them when they landed in front of the Ketchum-Black-Potter residence. She hugged the psychic-type gently, "Thank you, Alakazam."
Alakazam patted her head, "Go on, Miss Delia is very excited to see you."
Vali released Alakazam and the psychic-type teleported away. Steven smiled as she moved to open the door, "Happy to be home?"
"Definitely," Vali opened the door and stepped inside, "Delia, we're home!"
"Vali!" Delia beamed at Vali as she walked out of the kitchen, "Welcome home,"
Vali hugged the brunette haired woman tightly, "I'm glad to be back."
Delia released her before smiling at Steven, "Welcome back, Steven."
"Thank you, Miss Delia," Steven told her.
"Now," Delia clapped her hands, "I know you two have things to do, so why don't you get your bags settled in your rooms. Vali, your room is through that hallway," Delia pointed to the hallway that Vali hadn't noticed before, "The guest room where Steven will be staying with us is on the left and your room is on the right,"
"You got the house renovated?" Vali asked as Delia led them down the hallway.
Delia nodded with a soft laugh, "We figured it would be for the best since you do have a family of pokemon with you."
Vali pushed open the door to her room and whistled at how big it was. It would definitely hold everyone at the current moment, "How didn't I notice this before?"
"A misdirection ward, we wanted it to be a surprise," Delia told her as Vali walked over to the big bed that would definitely be able to hold more than just her even when she got older, "Do you like it?"
Vali nodded as she put down her bag, "Definitely," She noticed the padded crib near the center of the room, "Did you get that for me?"
"Professor Oak thought it would be a good idea since you decided to come home for Christmas," Delia said as Vali looked around the room with a soft smile, "Your evolutionary items are right over here," Delia walked over to one of the cupboards set up and opened it to pull out a glass case, "The present you sent is in there as well,"
"Thank you, Delia," Vali hugged the woman after she put the case back, "For everything,"
"It's no trouble, Vali. You are my daughter after all," Delia hugged her back and only smiled while Vali tightened her hold.
After a few more moments, Vali and Steven left her home. They headed to the school in Pallet Town which catered to children of all ages. It was a wide-spread building with multiple levels and varying designs. Walking past the gate and the children running around the playgrounds on either side, Steven could tell they were getting a lot of attention from both the adults and students. He looked at Vali as they entered the building, "Professor Oak and Miss Delia told them about us coming, right?"
"Mhmm," Vali hummed sounding a bit distracted as they walked to what looked like the main office.
Vali pulled open the door which revealed a rather homey looking entrance room. A woman with graying brown hair and pale teal colored eyes looked up from the computer she was working on. She beamed at Vali, "If it isn't little Valkyrie Potter-Black, back in town for Christmas?"
"Of course, it would suck if I couldn't eat some of Delia's famous Christmas cookies," Vali replied earning a bark of laughter from the woman, "How have you been, Mary? My little brothers not causing too much chaos?"
"Nothing we can't handle," Mary replied before catching sight of him, "Who is this fine young man?"
"Steven Stone," Steven walked forward to shake the woman's hand, "I'm her traveling partner,"
"It's wonderful to meet you," Mary replied before looking at Vali, "Let me go inform Principle Hue that you two have arrived,"
Vali waved her off and Mary stood up to go to the Principles office. Steven looked at Vali as she observed the office with a light smile on her face, "Happy memories, Vali?"
"Yeah," Vali shook herself lightly and offered him a sheepish smile, "Sorry if I seem a bit distracted, I really did like this school outside of my fellow students,"
"You always did get along better with us adults, Vali," A warm voice said from nearby.
"Hard not to when most of the others were immature brats," Vali replied with an eye-roll, "You're looking well, Principle Hue,"
"You are as well. You're not quite as short as you were," Principle Hue replied with a chuckle as Vali rolled her eyes again, "I'm Principle Michel Hue,"
"Steven Stone," Steven replied as he shook the rather imposing man's hand.
The man was taller than Lt. Surge and just as built as the Vermilion City Gym Leader. He had a bright shock of violet hair and deep brown eyes that glittered with amusement. Instead of wearing a suit, he wore blue jeans, a t-shirt, and boots. He smiled warmly at Steven, "It's nice to meet you. Now, we should get going if we're going to have time before school lets out."
Principle Hue led the way out of the office and Vali asked, "How are Ash and Gary doing?"
"Not bad, Ash is actually doing a lot better than he had been back in the beginning," Principle Hue answered with a soft chuckle, "He's also a lot more patient since he got that Pidgey of his,"
"That's good," Vali smiled lightly, "They don't know about this, do they?"
"No, we kept it a secret from the students just as you asked," Principle Hue grinned, "The kids are going to love it," The man pushed open a pair of double doors, "Here you are, I'm going to go get the kids and bring them here,"
With that, Principle Hue left them in an empty gym and Vali moved to the center of the room with a light grin. Steven followed after her at a sedated place.
Principle Hue returned with Ash and Gary's class. Ash and Gary froze mid-step before shouting, "Vali?!"
"Hey, Brats!" Vali grinned at the two, "Are you going to hug me or what?"
Two blurs slammed into her while Ash's Pidgey left her human's head. Vali hugged the two tightly as murmurs exploded from the kids. The boys pulled away with Ash asking, "What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn't be back yet."
"I wanted to surprise you two and everyone was happy enough to help," Vali answered with a grin, "Now, go sit with your class, we've got a special treat for you guys,"
With great reluctance, the two did as she asked. Principle Hue spoke once the kids were seated, "Kids, we've got a special treat for you all. Two traveling trainers have decided to give us a little demonstration and one of them is a former student from here, Valkyrie Potter-Black!" Vali waved at them, "With her is Steven Stone who placed high in the last Hoenn Conference," Steven waved as well, "Now, I'm going to let them get to."
Principle Hue went to stand with the teacher for the class. Vali grinned at them, "First off, I prefer being called Vali. Ash and Gary are my adoptive little brothers in case you guys don't know. They're the reason we're doing that, so be sure to thank them," She saw their excited expressions, "Now, who wants to see some real-life pokemon?!"
Cheers exploded outward as Vali and Steven released their pokemon. All of them had been warned beforehand with Eevee immediately moving to settle on her shoulder's to stay away from the humans he didn't know. Empress had decided to stay in her pokeball mostly because most humans were beneath her notice. Steven spoke once everyone had calmed down, "Now, we're going to be doing a few attack demonstrations among other things. Does anyone have questions?"
One of the little girls raised her hand and Steven pointed at her, "What pokemon is they?"
The girl was pointing at Metagross'. Steven smiled lightly, "They're Metagross with one of them being shiny. They're a pokemon native to my home region of Hoenn and are a psychic/steel-type."
Awed gasps exploded from the kids, Vali spoke up again, "Any other questions?"
"What's with that Sandshrew?" One of the boys called out pointing to Idril.
"Idril is a shiny Sandshrew and is beginning to go through the process of evolution," Vali explained earning a confused look.
"What do you mean by 'process'? Isn't it a quick thing?" The boy asked.
Vali shook her head, "No, it doesn't happen all at once save for pokemon that require evolutionary stones or bug-types like Caterpie. It happens over time to give the pokemon's body time to get ready for the evolution. The full evolution of a pokemon is usually that ball of white light," Vali bent down to call Idril over to her and pointed out the spots where her spines were starting to come in, "Some pokemon like Idril will have physical signs of evolution show up first while others like Charmeleon start to show an increase in aggression."
Vali and Steven spent most of their time at the school answering questions while allowing their pokemon to be looked at by the kids. Many of the girls wanted to pet Eevee, but she convinced them it was a bad idea. They showed off some pokemon moves that were more showy than anything else. At the end, Vali and Steven decided to have a practice battle. They had agreed to keep things light to avoid doing damage to the school. Vali chose Pippin while Steven chose Mawile. Principle Hue was acting as the referee, "This is a one on one battle between Pallet Town's own Valkyrie Potter-Black and Steven Stone of Mossdeep City in Hoenn. The battle will end when one trainer's pokemon is either unable to battle or they return them. Trainers release your pokemon!"
"Pippin," Vali called out and Pippin raced onto the make-shift battlefield.
Everyone had a small laugh when he tripped up and ended up sprawled on the ground. Pippin got back up as Steven called out, "Mawile."
Mawile walked onto the battlefield with a small smile on her face at Pippin's antics. Pippin mewed at her earning a small laugh. Vali grinned slightly at their antics, "Pippin," He looked at her, "Start off with Tackle."
Pippin darted forward and attempted to slam into Mawile only to be dodged. Mawile replied with Iron Head causing Pippin to go flying. Pippin managed to correct his body to soften the landing and shook himself before darting forward again. Steven called out, "Mawile, Play Rough."
Mawile tackled Pippin and began to roughhouse with him causing a few scratches to appear when she got her fake mouth to grab him. Vali spoke as the kids whispered to each other, "You've probably noticed that Steven and I don't call out attacks too often, right?" Everyone looked at her and nodded, "In battles, you won't always have a chance to call out an attack which means that your pokemon will have to attack on its own otherwise it might get hurt. Can you think of where you've seen stuff like this?"
"In the Conference battles," One of the girls called out.
"Correct, do you know why?" Vali asked as Pippin managed to free himself and used Charge.
The girl had a concentrated look on her face as she said, "Because the battles are too fast placed for the trainer to be able to give their pokemon too many commands."
"Correct," Vali grinned lightly before calling out, "Pippin, Spark and Ice Face,"
Pippin used the electricity he'd charged up and sent sparks towards Mawile. Mawile brushed them off and grimaced when Pippin sank his icy fangs into Mawile's fake mouth. Mawile shook Pippin loose before hitting him with Iron Head again followed up by Crunch. Rather than continue the battle, Vali returned Pippin earning shouts of confusion while Principle Hue called out, "Winner Steven Stone and Mawile."
Vali spoke once everyone had calmed down, "I ended the battle there because I knew Pippin wouldn't win the battle despite having a type advantage. He is a younger and weaker pokemon than Mawile who's been with Steven for awhile now. Rather than push Pippin and get him badly hurt, I saved him the pain while ensuring he'd be able to fight another day," She looked at them seriously, "Pokemon battles aren't fun and games kids. The pokemon will get hurt especially during high level battles. The pokemon that you will one day call your partner is going to be counting on you as much as you'll count on them."
One of the kids spoke up, "Ash's told us that you're going to be a fire-type master, how come you have non-fire-type pokemon?"
"Just because I want to be a fire-type master doesn't mean I can't have non-fire-type pokemon," Vali smiled at her pokemon, "When you find a pokemon that's meant to be yours, you won't care if they're not the type of pokemon you want or even a pokemon you considered catching. You'll know somewhere deep down that they're yours and you're theirs,"
Vali and Steven left with the two boys amid stares of awe from the students of the school who were eyeing their visible pokemon with excited eyes that struggled to take in every detail possible. Balto walked happily beside Vali with Pikachu sitting on shoulders. Steven had his first Metagross floating on his right. Ash and Gary were both strutting a bit while Ash's Pidgey was taking shelter in her pokeball. Snow was starting to fall slowly to the ground, she glanced at the clouds and commented, "It looks like it's just going to be a light dusting."
"Hey, Vali," Ash spoke up as they passed the gates, "Do you think we can see everyone closer up once we get home?"
"Sure though remember that Eevee isn't a big fan of most humans and Empress isn't either now that I think about it," Vali warned him earning a nod and she looked at Gary, "Are you coming home with us?"
Gary nodded lightly, "Gramps prefers it when I stay with Delia and Ash after school."
"I don't blame him. That big house probably isn't fun to be in when you're alone," Vali commented as she patted his shoulder, "It'll be nice to spend a bit more time with you. By the way, how much homework do you two have?"
"Just a few worksheets, they aren't giving us so much with the winter holidays coming up," Gary replied as Balto shifted to walk between them and butted his head against Gary's hip, "Hey, Balto," Balto nuzzled the boy and wagged his tail when Gary scratched behind his ears, "He feels a lot warmer now,"
Vali let out a soft laugh, "That's because he's a lot stronger now, it won't be long before I evolve him."
"Can we be there when you do?" Ash asked almost hesitantly.
Vali looked down at Balto, "What do you say, do you want them to be with us when you evolve?" Balto paused in his steps for a moment before nodding with a bark of agreement, "Looks like you two are going to be in for a treat then, it'll be a little bit longer before I do. Professor Oak mentioned his Arcanine wanting to battle Balto before he evolved to gauge how strong he is. You two can be there when we do it."
"Awesome!" Ash jumped up and down with an excited expression on his face, "I can't wait to watch it!"
"Have you been to the lab yet?" Gary asked her curiously.
Vali shook her head, "Not yet, we're going to wait until tomorrow to head to the lab."
"Vali, you went home before you came to see us, right?" Ash asked her.
Vali nodded with a small smirk already knowing what he wanted to ask, "Yes, we had to get our stuff settled. Before you ask, Delia is making cook-"
Ash promptly took off running with Gary yelping and shouting, "Oi! Don't eat all of them you glutton!"
With that, Gary took off after the other boy. Vali burst out laughing almost sending Pikachu falling off her shoulders. Pikachu jumped onto Steven's stable shoulders with a huff. Calming herself down, She looked at Steven when he asked, "I take it that that's normal?"
"Delia's Christmas cookies are the best and everyone tends to rush around attempting to get some before they're gone," Vali shook her head lightly and took Pikachu from Steven once she finished giggling, "Delia makes sure we all get an equal amount of cookies, so I'm not in a rush to get them. She's probably making more this year so you, your pokemon, and my pokemon can try them,"
"So that's one of your Christmas traditions?" Steven asked as they got closer to the house.
Vali nodded as Pikachu moved to settle on her shoulders again, "Yeah, it's a lot of fun making them," She glanced at Steven, "Do you have any traditions of your own?"
"Calling my father is pretty much it," Steven shoved his hands into his pockets.
Vali bumped the shoulder not occupied with Pikachu against his earning a startled look, "Don't look so down, Steven. It's nice that you can at least call him during Christmas and talk. It's more than I had before I was eleven and learned about my magic," She offered him a warm smile as he looked at her, "Enjoy your time with us, you might find a few more traditions you can share with your father."
"Maybe," Steven shook his head and smiled at her, "I really can't thank you enough for this,"
"Hey, you're my traveling partner and friend. It would be horrible if I didn't invite you over for Christmas when you didn't have anywhere really to go," Vali grinned at him, "Besides, I get to see how well you're aim is in a snowball fight,"
"I haven't really had a snowball fight before since Hoenn is usually a bit too warm for snow outside of a select few areas," Steven said making her gasp in mock-horror.
"You poor unfortunate soul. We'll have to remedy that immediately," Vali opened the door to her house and called out, "Ash, Gary, we've got a problem. Poor Steven has never had a proper snowball fight,"
"What?!" Was shouted from the kitchen.
"Seriously?" Gary looked at Steven in horror alongside Ash as they appeared.
Vali nodded with a stern face, "Yes, I am afraid so," She patted Steven's shoulder trying to keep a straight face at his rather lost look, "Once the snow is perfect for a fight, we'll have to show him the ropes."
Gary and Ash nodded with solemn determination, "Of course, Vali."
"Now, are those cookies I smell?" Vali watched their eyes widen.
"Mine!" Was shouted in chorus before the two rushed back in the direction of the kitchen with Balto racing after them and Pikachu following at a sedated pace with his nose twitching.
Vali turned to Steven and snickered at the expression on his face as Metagross recalled themselves due to not fitting through the door, "Steven, you okay?"
"Just a bit thrown," Steven shook his head as he shut the door, "I wasn't expecting that,"
"In this place, you have to push your expectations aside since two magicals live here alongside Ash and Delia with visits from members of the Oak family," Vali took off her coat placing it onto the coat rack and taking off her boots which were put into the cubbyhole with her name over it, "Once you do, you'll be just fine,"
Steven followed her example and they moved towards the kitchen, "I have a feeling that our time here is going to be very interesting."
"Probably," Vali smiled lightly, "Just be glad you have someone to help you understand everything that goes on here, I don't intend to leave you to the sharks so to speak,"
"So Ash and Gary were telling me all about your demonstration at the school," Delia said as they entered the kitchen, "Are you going to be doing more?"
"Yes, but not on such a small scale since there isn't a lot of time before winter break starts," Vali picked up one of the pine-tree shaped cookies and handed it to Steven before grabbing the Santa-hat wearing Growlithe head that Delia had obviously made for her, "We'll be going near the end of the day so that the kids can still get their regular classes just with some added fun afterwards,"
Vali took a bite and let out a pleased sigh as the sweet goodness of a freshly baked Christmas cookie hit her tongue. Delia let out a laugh at her expression before turning to Steven, "How did you like it, Steven?"
"It was interesting, I'm looking forward to exploring Pallet Town while I can," Steven followed Vali to take a seat at the kitchen table since Ash and Gary had taken the island seats that didn't have anything sitting on them.
"You'll have to be careful once it really starts snowing," Delia warned him, "It can pack onto the ground rather thickly and turn to ice in some places,"
"I'll keep him safe," Vali promised earning a light nod from Delia, "Where's Siri?"
"He had to go take care of some things at Headquarters," Delia answered as she put another tray of cookies into the oven, "He should be home at some point tomorrow or the day after depending on how things go," Delia smiled lightly, "As for your Houndour egg, Professor Oak is watching over it at the lab,"
"I'll grab it tomorrow," Vali got up, "I'll be right back,"
Vali went to her room and grabbed her Vulpix egg with the case before returning. She set it on the table, "Ash, Gary, want to see my Vulpix egg?"
"It's kind of small," Gary commented as the two boys got closer.
"He is supposed to be the runt of the litter, Gary," Vali explained as she gently took the egg out of it's case and began cleaning the surface.
"He? How do you know it'll be a boy?" Ash asked her curiously.
Vali looked up from the egg as Balto walked over and jumped onto the seat next to her to get closer to the egg, "All pokemon centers in the major cities have these scanners that can tell Nurse Joy all about it's health including the gender though you'd have to request it."
"Cool," Ash reached out before hesitating, "Can I touch him?"
"Go ahead, but gently," Vali looked at Gary and nodded to him showing that he could touch the egg too.
Ash breath out a gasp of awe, "So warm, it's kind of pulsing."
"That's it's heart beat, isn't it?" Gary asked with bright eyes.
Vali nodded lightly with a laugh, "Yup. He'll be hatching pretty soon. Once he's old enough that I don't need to constantly keep an eye on him, would you two like to play with him?"
"We have to be gentle, right?" Gary asked as he removed his hand, "Baby pokemon are fragile,"
"Yes though I'll have one of my other pokemon watching over you guys to make sure everything is okay," Vali told them as Ash removed his hand.
Vali resumed cleaning the egg up as Ash asked Steven, "Have you ever had an egg?"
Steven nodded with a light smile, "Yes. I received an Aron egg from a tournament that was going on. She's very dear to me though sometimes she acts a bit too much like an overly affectionate puppy. I'm lucky my other pokemon can keep her from hurting me when she gets too excited."
"Is she still an Aron?" Gary asked him curiously.
"No, she evolved all the way into an Aggron two months before my last conference," Steven smiled lightly, "She actually helped me get my spot in the top eight,"
"How long did it take her to fully evolve?" Ash asked as the boys moved to sit back at the kitchen island.
Vali looked at Steven in curiosity as she hadn't heard this before. Steven took a bite of his cookie with a thoughtful look on his face, "It took her almost a full two years even with constant battles. Steel-type pokemon grow fairly slowly just like Dragon-type pokemon after all."
"Two years? You have a lot of patience," Gary grimaced slightly.
"You need it in order to properly raise certain pokemon, Gary," Vali finished cleaning up the egg and returned it to the case, "It will always be worth it in the end. It's going to take my Larvitar, Terra, awhile to fully grow, but when she does, she'll be a powerful Tyranitar,"
"Do they really eat dirt and rocks?" Ash cut in before Gary or Vali could say anything else.
Vali nodded with a light laugh, "Yes. It's a big part of their food source same as any rock-type, ground-type, or steel-type."
"Vali," Vali looked over at Delia, "Why don't you release your pokemon in the living room? I'm sure they'd appreciate being out and about. You two, Steven," Delia added sternly, "It doesn't make any sense why they should be sitting in their pokeballs when they don't have to,"
"Right," Vali stood up and moved towards living room after picking up her egg case.
Steven followed her and they released their pokemon. Thankfully, it seemed that Sirius had added a few expansion charms to the house, so they didn't have to worry about the bigger pokemon being cramped or not fitting. Everyone looked around curiously save for Smaug who eyed the room with a smirk. Clearly he remembered the last time he was here as a Charmander. Walking over to him after placing the egg case down on the low coffee table, Vali reached up to scratch under his chin, "Brings back memories, huh?" Smaug nodded with a smug grin, "You were only a little Charmander back then, but now you're a big strong Charizard."
Smaug preened under her words and leaned down to nuzzle her lightly. Yeah, it was a little nostalgic to be back here after Smaug had reached his final evolution and her pokemon family had expanded past its two original members.
Vali had trouble not giving into the urge to just ignore her table manners and gobble up her dinner as fast as possible. It was the first time since leave Pallet Town all those months ago that she'd had a home-cooked meal. It was also the first time outside of pokemon center food that she could actually eat as much as she wanted. Everything was absolutely delicious, she was definitely going to have a little bit of trouble eating trainer meals once they got back on the road again after their break. She looked at Gary when he asked, "How long will you two be here?"
"A month," Vali answered after swallowing her bite of pot-roast, "We all could use a good rest from traveling,"
"That will also give your baby Vulpix time to mature enough that being on the road won't be too dangerous," Delia added as Vali went for seconds, "Have you thought of a name for them yet?"
Vali shook her head, "No. I decided that I'd wait until my baby pokemon have had their first few battles before I give them a name if they want one. By then, I usually have some kind of thoughts on what they could be called."
"What about Pikachu?" Ash asked causing said pokemon to raise his head, "How come he doesn't have a nickname?"
"He didn't want one last time I checked," Vali answered as she reached down to pet Balto's head, "I'm planning on asking again when I evolve him,"
"When are you going to do that?" Gary asked looked at her curiously.
"After I have Professor Oak check him over to make sure any lingering poison in his system is gone," Vali drank some of her moo-moo milk, "It's very dangerous to evolve a pokemon if they're poisoned,"
Gary gained a look of comprehension on his face, "I remember reading about that in one of Gramps' books. It's because the poison can weaken a pokemon's body during evolution to the point it can die or become malformed. Right?"
Vali nodded lightly, "Yup which is why you need to keep an eye on any pokemon you have and take them to Nurse Joy if they're showing any signs of evolution. Nurse Joy can tell you a lot about what your pokemon needs when it evolves and its a good practice to make sure your pokemon are checked over any time you can."
"It can get expensive though," Gary pointed out.
"If you have a trainers license, it's actually free to have your pokemon checked over and healed by the pokemon center," Steven spoke up earning a confused look, "The fees start to pile up when you have deep examinations done on your pokemon. Even then, they're at a discount,"
"Of course, it's easier when you work for the League since they're pretty big on making sure every pokemon you have is in the best state possible for when they need you," Vali added on, "The League cuts down on a lot of costs when you work for them. Its why so many trainers do their best to get chosen for the various training programs offered,"
Ash frowned slightly, "But what if someone were to become a Pokemon Master, how would that work?"
Vali took a bite of pot roast as she tried to figure out a way to answer that question. Steven managed to work out an answer for that one, "Well that isn't something we can answer since there hasn't been a Pokemon Master in years. No one has managed to become a Master of all types not to mention place first in all the Leagues, beat all the gyms, beat all the elite fours, and beat all the champions."
"But it can be done, right?" Ash asked looking at Steven with a desperate expression on his face.
Steven nodded lightly "Yes, but it's a very long road to the point. It took the last Pokemon Master until almost the end of his life to reach that point after all."
"I'll do it," Ash vowed.
"But to do it, you'll need to grow up first which means eating your dinner and finishing up your homework," Delia told him earning a pout.
Ash grumbled softly, but resumed eating his dinner. Gary shook his head and asked, "Vali, what do you plan on doing anyway?"
"I want to become a fire-type master and eventually become a member of an Elite Four," Vali answered after swallowing what she had in her mouth, "I want to discover the mysteries of this world too,"
"I plan on becoming a steel-type master and becoming the champion of Hoenn before I turn 16," Steven told Gary when the boy turned to him, "I also want to explore every cave system in the world and take over my father's company eventually when he retires,"
"That'll be a lot of work, Steven," Delia commented earning a light shrug.
"I've been working my way towards it since before becoming a trainer, Miss Delia," Steven told her, "It might be a lot of work, but I'm willing to do it,"
Professor Oak came by not long after the boys had finished their dinner and homework. The aged Professor took Gary home after telling Steven and Vali to come by the lab after they got up in the morning. Ash had the two trainers tell him stories behind every picture that the witch had taken until it was time for him to go to bed. Delia smiled as Vali left Ash's room after the boy and his Pidgey had fallen asleep, "He really missed you."
"I really missed him too," Vali bent down to pick up Pippin when the Shinx stumbled into her, "I missed everyone a lot,"
"Do you regret leaving on your journey?" Delia asked as they headed downstairs to join Steven in the living room.
"Despite some parts of it, no," Vali shook her head with a soft smile as she scratched behind Pippin's ears, "I think it's really helped heal me from what happened in my past,"
Delia smiled softly, "It's easy to see it. You're eyes are brighter now than they were when you left," They reached the landing, "Go get settled, I'm going to go make hot-chocolate."
"Ash is going to be put out when he finds out we're drinking hot-chocolate without him," Vali teased with a slight grin.
Delia winked at her, "Better not tell him then."
Delia headed off into the kitchen and Vali moved to the living room. She sat down against Smaug's side as the Charizard snoozed a bit by the fire-place and Steven looked up from his pokenav, "Ash and Pidgey asleep then?"
"Yup," Vali released Pippin as Smaug lazily raised his head to look at her, "Falling asleep, Smaug?" Smaug snorted softly and shifted to let her lean back against his stomach, "I don't blame you, it's nice in here,"
"I'm not surprised you'd say that since you've been falling asleep in here since you first came to stay with Ash and I," Delia walked in with a tray of mugs and handed one to Vali.
"I can't say I'm surprised since it really is comfortable in here," Steven commented as he accepted a mug of hot-chocolate from Delia, "Thank you,"
"It's no problem," Delia replied as she set the tray down on the coffee table and picked up her own drink before settling down on one of the two couches.
Balto and Pikachu joined her moments later to cuddle up against the brunette haired woman earning a smile. Steven took a sip of his hot-chocolate, "This is really good, is that peppermint I taste?"
"Mhmm," Delia hummed lightly as she scratched behind Balto's ears, "Ash loves it,"
"Miss Delia, thank you again for allowing me to join your family for Christmas," Steven told Delia as Mawile curled up against his side and Lileep drowsily drooped against his legs.
"It's no trouble. No one should be alone on Christmas," Delia told him, "Have you talk to your father lately?"
"Yes. He wishes for me to thank you for allowing my pokemon and I to stay with you," Steven replied as he put down his pokenav to rub the base of Lileep's head earning a gurgling hum from the odd-plant-like creature, "He's happy that I'm not alone this Christmas with only my pokemon to keep me company,"
"Not that pokemon aren't good company," Vali added earning a light laugh.
"Very true," Steven drank some more hot-chocolate, "May I ask if there is anything I can do to repay you?"
"You've done enough already by traveling with Vali and helping to keep her safe," Delia waved off his question, "All I ask is that you try to avoid damaging the house and help keep the boys from getting into trouble when you can,"
Vali woke up in the morning feeling a steady ache in her neck and side. She carefully got up and figured out why when she opened her eyes. She'd fallen asleep in the living room curled up against Smaug and her other pokemon. Looking towards Steven, she found him in much the same position as her only he was asleep on a couch rather than the floor. Biting back a yawn, she began the daily task of getting out of her pokemon's clutches and going about her morning business. When she got out of the bathroom and headed for the kitchen, Delia was up and making breakfast already.
Delia turned her head when Vali entered the kitchen and smiled, "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah though I really regret passing out on the floor," Vali rubbed at her sore neck, "Remind me not to do that again if I have a chance,"
"I will," Delia giggled at her, "Now, would you like to help make breakfast?"
"I'll take preparing the pokemon food," Vali decided earning a small laugh, "There will be a lot of hungry pokemon getting up soon,"
Vali spent almost an hour preparing breakfast with Delia. Steven joined them not long after Vali started preparing the pokemon food and after getting a cup of coffee, he began helping out where he could. Once breakfast was made, a loud thump sounded from upstairs followed by a rather large racket causing Steven to ask, "What's going on?"
"Pidgey must have woken up Ash," Delia let out a soft laugh, "She's taken it upon herself to keep him from getting up late,"
Ash walked into the kitchen with Pidgey on his shoulder looking more than a little roughed up. He hugged Vali tightly when he saw her causing Pidgey to abandon ship for her breakfast. She hugged him in return, "Morning, sleepy-head."
"Morning, Vali," Ash yawned softly, "Did you help mom make breakfast?"
"Just the pokemon food and bacon," Vali answered as she pushed him to sit down, "So I heard quite the racket a few minutes ago, what happened?"
"Pidgey woke me up," Ash answered as he filled his plate of food while Vali took a seat next to Steven at the kitchen table, "What are you planning on doing today?"
"Steven and I are going to be at the lab until it's time for us to do our demonstration at the school," Vali answered as she began filling her plate, "Once you get done your homework, we should show Steven around town together,"
Ash looked a bit disappointed, "You won't be battling Professor Oak today?"
"Not today," Vali ate some of her breakfast, "We're going to wait until Saturday when you don't have school so you and Gary can watch,"
"I guess waiting two days won't be that bad," Ash muttered softly.
Vali rolled her eyes at him before going back to eating her breakfast.
After getting dressed for the day and seeing Ash off to school with Gary, Vali and Steven headed to Professor Oak's lab once they'd collected their pokemon from around the house. An aid greeted them when they entered, "Vali! Professor Oak's in the back. He said to send you two right on back when you'd arrived."
Vali felt a bit nostalgic as she made her way towards the back rooms where she'd spent most of her time in Pallet Town other than the Corral. She knocked on the door to his office and opened it when Professor Oak called out, "Come in."
"Morning, Professor," Vali held out the plate of cookies that Delia had sent them with, "Delia sent these along,"
"Oh bless her heart," Professor Oak took the cookies and put them on his desk, "Now, how about I check over your pokemon?"
"Sounds good, Professor," Vali said as they left Professor Oak's office.
Professor Oak led them to the part of his lab where the various pokemon in his care were given their check ups. Professor Oak took Balto, Pikachu, and Lileep's pokeballs to check them over himself. Lileep was being checked over to see just how much longer it would take for the prehistoric pokemon to evolve as well as if Steven needed to adjust the fossil pokemon's diet during this time anymore than he already had. All their other pokemon save for Eevee were given over to the Professors' aids to be checked over. Eevee would be checked over by Professor Oak himself in a few days once the League sponsored pokemon psychologist arrived to do the evolution pokemon's psych-evaluation. While Vali was curious about what Eevee's results would be, she dreaded them too since there was always a chance that she hadn't done enough to help him.
Professor Oak set the pokeballs into a holder, "Steven, would you mind us studying Lileep while you're here?"
"Not all, my father was actually hoping that you would seeing as there is still a lot we don't know about fossil pokemon and any knowledge you can give us will definitely help with the research," Steven answered as Professor Oak turned on a machine and set the pokeball holder into it, "All I ask is to keep me informed,"
"Of course," Professor Oak began fiddling with the monitor attached to the machine, "Now this will tell us their overall health, it will give us a base to work with,"
The morning hours were whittled away by Professor Oak's rather in-depth examination of all three pokemon. Vali didn't quite understand everything, but she was able to understand that Balto and Pikachu were at their peak health which was the perfect time to evolve them. Lileep was on the verge of evolution though he required a bit more water in his diet. Mineral water would be the best, it would give Lileep a boost in nutrients that would ensure he was at peak health for his evolution. The only pokemon that had anything worrying about them was Idril, but it was a problem that could easily be dealt with. A few of her spines were coming in a bit crooked which was taken care of by a small tool that Professor Oak had laying around the lab. It corrected the spines slowly over the course of a few hours. At this stage in their development, the spines weren't quite set in Idril's back allowing them to be moved without any pain. While it was a bit uncomfortable for the pokemon, the spines weren't attached to any nerves just yet.
Vali and Steven left to do their demonstration which was pretty fun though some of the students reminded her of Draco with his guard dogs back at Hogwarts. Despite that, the day was rather enjoyable. Ash and Gary accompanied them around town with Steven stopping at the local market to pick up some mineral water for Lileep. They headed back home so the boys could do their homework and eat dinner before Gary was picked up by Professor Oak.
The next few days consisted of similar activities with Vali showing Steven around Pallet Town and the surrounding farmland as well as the Corral. She showed him her favorite spots which were mostly focused around the corral and lab since that was where she spent a majority of her time in Pallet Town. Ash and Gary helped her out with the two trainers having to step in a few times to keep the boys from wreaking havoc. Nights were spent usually telling stories about their journey to Ash or going through pictures before the boy went to bed. When Saturday came, Vali and her pokemon were woken up by Ash shouting, "Vali! Wake up!"
The door slammed open allowing Ash to enter though thankfully he didn't try to jump on her bed. Groaning softly as she carefully sat up, she asked, "Ash, why do I have to wake up? It's," She checked the time and goggled at the fact it was six in the morning, "What are you doing awake at six in the morning on a Saturday of all days when it isn't even Christmas?"
"You're battling Professor Oak today, right?" Ash asked as he trotted closer to the bed with Pidgey sleepily preening his head.
"Not until after lunch, Ash," Vali rubbed at her eyes, "Go back to sleep, Ash. It's too early to be awake,"
"But Steven's awake," Ash said earning a small huff.
"Steven is doing work for his father, I am not," Vali told him, "Now either join us or go bug Steven, I didn't fall asleep until late last night because my egg began to move,"
Ash pouted a bit before climbing onto her bed. Everyone grumpily made room for the boy with Celina stealing Pidgey from Ash. Once they settled down, Ash let out a yawn and dropped his head down next her, "It's really warm in here, Vali."
"Fire-types, Ash," Vali said as Eevee moved to settle away from the boy.
Pippin, Pikachu, and Balto snuggled up to him pretty quickly while her less tolerating pokemon moved away from him though they still stayed on the bed. Eventually, they all fell back asleep and didn't wake up until a more reasonable time which was three hours later when Delia had them get up for breakfast.
Okay ladies and gentlemen, I have a question. What name do you think fits Pikachu? Nothing like Sparky or Thunder. Something unique and please give a reason why you think it fits him. I'm looking for some inspiration. Whoever I end up picking will be credited with coming up with the name on my profile where all information about Vali's pokemon is listed alongside my stories. Please and Thank you.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and all the other holidays this season plus a happy new years to you all. Be safe and responsible for the most part.