Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and Harry Potter

BloodyKitsune1997: This chapter was an interesting one to write especially since I decided to tie up some loose ends, I will admit that I could've put some more details in some places, but things didn't happen like that especially since my muse wanted things to go a certain way. I hope you all enjoy it. I also updated a bit early this time. Some of you might have complaints, but remember I'm the author and may write as I wish and everything happens for a reason in my story even if it isn't quite as apparent as some might like.

Reviews:

Dark Wolf of Teros: No need for the names since Elrond had been named.

syphiralae: The list is updated a few days after the chapter is posted to prevent spoilers for those waiting for the update.

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frankieu: Hope this chapter gives you the answer.

BioHazard82: thank you.

Sn: Mostly being mauled, I mean there is a reason dragon-types aren't given out as starters unless they're part of the Blackthorn clan like Lance or Clair.

reptoholic: More pokemon will be waiting for now, but I do have plans. You'll just have to wait and see.

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ulquiorra31: thank you.

BloomOutOfSeason: I just get a bit tired about being bugged for a list and don't want to bog down the chapter. I hope you enjoy this one as well.

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amerdism: Once a month. Because she doesn't want to forget her parents.

Confections: Lots of reviews:

Review 1) Yeah I kind of messed up there and will likely go back at some point to fix it when the story is complete.
Review 3) It's actually a lot like that for me. I'm a middle child as well and my siblings pretty much treat me as a welcome mat pretty much and drown out my voice if I talk. Bill in my mind would probably be more interested in Vali who came from another world rather than Steven who he's probably met a few times in the past considering the fact they're both heirs to important corporations in the pokemon world.
Review 4) Agreed, but I needed to introduce the inner flame in a pretty big way and this was the best one in my mind. I'm fairly sure I explained it or implied it at least that he was drawn to Vali via her inner flame. Yes, she'll try to keep the promise.
Ending questions: Will all be answered eventually.

Words: 18,791

Chapter 14

After saying their goodbyes with Delia giving the two some snacks, Vali and Steven went to Professor Oak's lab. An aid led them to one of the side rooms in the laboratory where Professor Oak was fiddling with a pokedex. The aid cleared her throat, "Professor, Vali and Steven are here."

Professor Oak looked up from the pokedex and beamed, "Right. Thank you for bringing them to me, Annie."

Annie nodded lightly and took her leave without another word. Vali watched her go for a second somewhat surprised at the rather unhappy seeming aid. Generally, Professor Oak's aids were usually in various states of being tired/harried/scratched up, but generally cheerful since they got to work with a lot of diffrent pokemon all day while also increasing their scientific knowledge. She wondered if Annie wasn't feeling well before inwardly shrugging since it wasn't really her problem. She looked at Professor Oak curiously as Steven asked, "So what are you having us deliver, Professor?"

Professor Oak put down the pokedex he'd been fiddling with and moved towards the shelves where a plain looking brown shoe-box sized package sat, "As you know the wild fire that occurred the last time you were in Vermilion was created due to the actions of a young trainer somehow slipping a Magmar through our security, the League has tasked many of the scientists within Kanto and Johto to find a way to ensure it won't happen again," He picked up the box and brought it over to the table, "This is my answer to that, I am unsure if it will work which is why I'm sending this to Lt. Surge."

"Because Vermilion's port is typically the only one to really see any travel from outside of Kanto and anyone going to Cerulean bay are usually sailors rather than travelers/tourists," Vali looked at the package in interest, "Is it a scanner of some kind, Professor?"

"Yes, it is," Professor Oak pushed the package across the table to Steven who picked it up, "With any hope, it'll be able to find any pokemon like Magmar that require a more experienced hand allowing the proper authorities to confront the trainer and discover if they're at a level where they can properly deal with said pokemon," Professor Oak radiated a sense of pride as he looked at the package, "If it can, we might be able to prevent another incident such as this from happening or at least, on such a large scale," Professor Oak dug a letter out of his desk and handed it to Vali, "Please give this to Lt. Surge as well,"

"Of course," Vali placed the letter into one of the inside pockets of her jacket, "Professor, what happened to that Magmar? They never mentioned it,"

Professor Oak grimaced with low sigh, "Due to the way it was captured and released in a place far from it's home, the rage it felt was too great resulting in it's death."

Vali winced at that though she could understand. Magmar weren't pokemon that could be reasoned with once they got pissed off enough. She sighed deeply feeling a flare of anger towards the stupid brat that had forced such a powerful being into a situation that caused it's death. At the very least, the Magmar had died in battle which fit it's species to a T as they lived and breathed for battle. Pushing away her anger, she murmured, "I hope this scanner works."

"Now let's send you both on your way, Vali it would be best for Vulpix to be returned," Professor Oak warned the witch, "Teleportation on young pokemon isn't a good idea unless they're shielded via a pokeball,"

"Right," Vali took out Vulpix's pokeball, "I'll release you soon, Vulpix,"

Vulpix seemed to pout at her, but didn't resist being returned to his scarcely used pokeball. Vali had only ever recalled him into the pokeball three times after capturing him since the fox was small enough to be easily carried without any trouble. Not to mention, she really liked being able to cuddle with the baby of her family. Professor Oak smiled a bit, "He's definitely adjusting to the bond if he is willing to be returned."

"Somewhat, he prefers being outside which I don't mind since it is a way to bond with him," Vali secured Vulpix's ultra ball to the necklace that carried Fawkes feather, "So are we being taken to the pokemon center?"

"Yes. I would suggest checking into a room before doing anything else since Vermilion is rather crowded this time of year," Professor Oak warned them as they left the room and headed towards the front of the lab where Alakazam would be taking them to Vermilion.

"Right, it's the high point in Vermilion's winter tourist season," Vali thought about the pokedex Professor Oak had been fiddling with, "Professor, are you going to be updating the pokedex soon?"

"Not very soon, I am playing around with the next few features I plan to add," Professor Oak replied as they made their way through the lab, "I hope to have it finished for the next batch of trainers,"

Vali nodded slowly, "Professor, I have a small suggestion for a new feature."

"Oh?" Professor Oak looked at her curiously alongside Steven.

"Perhaps a transfer option, I know Bill is working on it since we discussed it a bit when Steven and I checked on him for you. I wasn't sure if you were as well, so I thought it might be a good idea to bring it up if you're working on some new features for the pokedex," Vali said immediately gaining Professor Oak's full attention and she began to explain the option, "One that doesn't require going to a pokemon center to transfer a pokemon or two for people like me who don't like being separated from their pokemon. Obviously, it would be a feature available only to higher ranking trainers and League personnel. The League would obviously get the option to transfer around more pokemon than anyone not with them once it proves viable and the system can sustain the strain without a problem. Maybe a badge limit? You'd need like four or five to be able to access this feature,"

Professor Oak grinned brightly, "We have been thinking of something like that with Bill doing the brunt of experimenting with it, but haven't quite found a way to sell the idea to the League in order to gain funding for such a project. If we expand on your idea a bit further while explaining it and perhaps..." Professor Oak began muttering to himself as they exited the lab and Alakazam appeared making the Professor shudder a bit as a wave of psychic-type energy radiated from the powerful pokemon for a few second, "Right, it's time for you two to leave. Vali, Steven, I wish you both luck and will contact you if there is a problem. Vali, you have the lab's number, right?"

"And your house number along with mine," Vali answered as she took out her pokenav to show him, "I also have numbers for the Ranger stations, the generic police number, the League's various numbers, Bill's number, and Steven's number,"

Professor Oak nodded as she put away her pokenav, "Just wanted to make sure, I want to be the first to know if you discover something like that cavern."

"Did you ever figure out who was responsible for the Durant?" Steven asked as Alakazam moved closer to the humans she'd be transporting.

"The Ranger's and League are doing a joint investigation into it," Professor Oak grimaced as he said that, "There are some speculations, I don't have much information about it though thankfully, the colony of Durant was small enough that the Rangers were able to remove them. A small group will be ensuring that they're completely gone and haven't managed to leave any eggs behind,"

"Good," Vali shuddered to think about what could have happened if there were more Durant, "Did they figure out how long the Durant had been there?"

"Around two months at most, the damage done is repairable," Professor Oak smiled in relief, "Apparently, one of the few Steelix that were in the Safari zone knew Fire Fang and had gained a taste for them which is mainly why the population was still small despite Durant being able to have multiple clutches of eggs during that time period,"

"Must be an experienced one if it was able to get it's Fire Fang hot enough to melt a Durant's outer shell," Vali shook her head with a small snort.

Steven cleared his throat, "What is going to happen to the Durant?"

"They're being sent back to their native Region save for one that found a home with one of the Ace Trainers that were assisting with capturing the Durant," Professor Oak looked at Steven as Alakazam placed a hand on Vali's shoulder, "If you want, I could see about getting one for you though you'd have to do quite a bit of paperwork and obtain a license for it,"

Steven thought about it before nodding, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I would love to have one. It will be interesting to see just how diffrent it's hive mind is compared to a Beldum."

"I'll see what I can do," Professor Oak looked at the two, "Safe travels, you two,"

"Try not to overwork yourself, Professor," Vali replied with a smile.

With that, Alakazam teleported them to Vermilion City.

Steven's pokenav chimed repeatedly as they reached the room they'd be sharing for their stay in Vermilion city. Steven answered it after setting his bag down on the bed he was claiming, "Hello?" Vali looked at him curiously as she set her own bag down, "You're in Vermilion? Good, I've arrived as well. Where are you? I see," Steven smiled lightly, "I'll meet you there in a few minutes. See you then."

"So whoever you're meeting is here?" Vali summed up as she released Vulpix.

"Yes," Steven nodded as Vulpix immediately began looking around the room, "I need to go. Will you be fine going to see Surge alone?"

"Of course," Vali picked up Vulpix, "Seeing as it's barely 1 in the afternoon, do you want to meet up at 6 for dinner in the cafeteria?"

"Sounds good," Steven held out the package, "I'll introduce you to the one I'm meeting with then,"

After shifting Vulpix to rest against her shoulder, Vali took the package, "Okay."

Steven put his pokenav back into his pocket and moved to go through his bag, "You better get going since the Professor likely informed Lt. Surge about us coming to see him."

Vali inwardly laughed since Lt. Surge can be impatient at times, "Right. I'll see you and your friend at 6," She left the room with Vulpix looking around the strange area curiously, "Let's go see Lt. Surge, Vulpix."

Vermilion city was even colder than Pallet town, but there was less snow on the ground. The city was alive with travelers from all over the world either visiting family or on the various 'Holiday' Cruises that visited Vermilion at this time of year. It would be a few weeks before it all died down until the traveling trainers began the final rush to get ready for the Conference either getting their last badge or doing some last minute training. She was glad that the Conference wasn't until May this year which gave her 4 months to get the last three badges she needed and the intensive training she'd be doing to get ready for it. Heading for the gym, she reached it rather quickly and entered the heated lobby with some relief.

Vali had to stare at the small crowd in the room before shaking her head and making her way towards the front desk. The same woman from her first visit, Monica, looked a bit harried. Probably from having to deal with a lot of people, the fire-type master-in-training could understand that feeling. She cleared her throat and Monica bit out, "The line for battles is-Vali?"

"Hey, Monica," Vali greeted the beautiful magenta haired woman with a warm smile, "Mind telling Lt. Surge that I've arrived?"

"Of course," Monica glanced at the crowd of people, "You might want to stand here since there aren't many chairs left,"

"I don't mind standing," Vali said as she glanced at the crowd, "Let me guess, you guys have been overrun by tourists in hopes of battling one of the greats?"

"Happens every year," Monica shook her head lightly as she began typing on her computer, "Makes Surge more than a little annoyed,"

"I don't blame him," Vali shifted Vulpix out of her coat and set him on the desk earning a look of surprise from Monica, "Monica, this is Vulpix. He hatched around two weeks ago,"

"He's adorable," Monica grinned a bit as she looked back the screen, "He looks like he's growing just fine too,"

Monica finished sending the information to Lt. Surge before focusing on the baby Vulpix who was looking at her with confusion. Vali spent the time until Lt. Surge finished whatever he was doing and came to greet her talking about what she'd been doing since leaving Vermilion. Lt. Surge slammed open the door much like last time and came stomping out scaring the crap out of everyone in the room as he barked, "Kid! It's about time you came to see me."

"Sorry for the wait, Surge," Vali replied with a light grin as she picked up both the package and Vulpix, "Though are you sure you've got time to meet with me?"

Lt. Surge snorted at her before barking at the tourists staring at them, "Scram! I ain't got time to deal with the lot of you today. Either schedule a battle or get the fuck out!"

Most of the people scrambled from the room with a few grumbled, the ones that stayed quickly moved to talk with Monica. Vali let out a soft laugh as she soothed Vulpix, "Guess they've been getting on your nerves, huh?"

Lt. Surge rolled his eyes as he opened the door, "Come on, Kid."

Vali followed after him well aware of the stares burning into her back. The door closed behind them and they walked towards Lt. Surge's office, "Is it like this every year?"

"It's worse around Christmas and New Years Eve," Lt. Surge glanced at her and caught sight of Vulpix, "That the runt?"

"Hatched around two weeks ago," Vali answered as she shifted Vulpix into a more comfortable position that allowed the Gym Leader to get a better look at Vulpix, "Still hasn't gained any white to his tail, I'm not worried especially since he's growing just fine,"

Lt. Surge nodded as they entered his office, "Take a seat, Kid. Where's Stone?"

"Steven's friend arrived a bit early, so he's meeting with them," Vali explained as she sat down after greeting Jolteon and Raichu, "I'm going to be meeting them at 6 in the Center cafeteria for dinner," She set Vulpix down before placing the package onto Lt. Surge's desk and the letter on top of that after fishing it out of her jacket, "Here is the stuff Professor Oak asked us to deliver,"

"Thanks, Kid," Lt. Surge picked up both and set them off to the side, "So what's this I heard about your Pikachu becoming an Alolan Raichu?"

Vali tugged Vulpix back to keep the fox from attempting to chew on anything and pulled out a chew toy for him, "Elrond, Raichu finally chose a nickname, evolved after Balto faced his Sire. Rather than evolve into a Kanto Raichu like we were expecting, he became an Alolan Raichu. Professor Oak suspected that he might be from Alola based on the fact he has Electric Terrain in his move-set, but it wasn't until Elrond evolved that his suspicions were realized."

"I had the same thoughts, but didn't think he'd evolved into an Alolan Raichu outside of Alola," Lt. Surge sat down in his chair and leaned back against the leather, "Then again, it isn't actually surprising since Pikachu from Kanto have been known to evolve into regular Raichu even in Alola," Lt. Surge gave her a look, "I'm guessing you're hoping I might be able to help you figure out a way to train your Alolan Raichu, right?"

"Yes though I know I'll have to talk with Sabrina about his psychic abilities," Vali leaned down to pet Jolteon when he walked over, "I also wanted to talk to you about Eevee. He's decided to stay with me and become a battler,"

"Thought he might," Lt. Surge commented as he reached down and picked up Vulpix who'd decided that his chew toy wasn't very entertaining compared to the big man his mother figure was speaking to, "That Eevee has the fire of battler in his eyes, it's why he didn't fully break underneath those bastards. I'll help you come up with a training plan, but have you scanned him yet?"

"Not yet," Vali looked at Vulpix who was sniffing at the man now holding him, "I haven't scanned him either,"

"Might as well do both," Lt. Surge smirked lightly as he stood up, "Let's go to my indoor training grounds, what kind of pokemon do you have now?"

Vali stood up and took Vulpix back when Lt. Surge walked around the desk, "I have Balto and Smaug with me. Both of them are fully evolved, Balto is still alpha of the pack. Celina evolved as well, but she's staying at the Corral. Elrond is with me at the moment as is Eevee what with me asking you for advice when it comes to their training. Idril, Arwen, and Terra are staying at the Corral," Jolteon and Raichu followed them as they left the room clearly wanting to see what was going to happen, "While I know that Celina, Terra, and Idril are doing it because they don't really like the cold, I'm not too sure about Arwen other than wanting to spend more time training against fellow fire-types."

"That makes three able to battle and two on your inactive team," Lt. Surge glanced at her pokeball belt as they made their way into the indoor training ground that Vali had used a few times during her first time in Vermilion, "Who are the other three?"

"My female Numel that I've nicknamed Pele," Vali began as Lt. Surge moved to the keypad on the wall, "My female Bagon that chose the name Empress. And lastly, my male Shinx that I nicknamed Pippin or Pip for short. I got them all in the Safari Zone,"

"Which means you also found those Durant and that cave full of crystals," Lt. Surge put in a code causing the ground in the center of the room to split open and a plain looking battlefield appeared, "Interesting luck you have there, Kid," He grinned a bit as Raichu climbed onto his shoulder and Jolteon sat beside his feet, "You have good tastes in electric-types. The Shinx-line are definitely good pokemon especially when they're trained well. Release your team, I want a good look at them. How long are you and Stone planning to stay in Vermilion?"

"A week maybe two depending on the weather," Vali began releasing her pokemon who all looked around the indoor training ground with interest, "Guys," Everyone looked at her after a few moments of scanning the room, "Smaug, Balto, Elrond, and Eevee know who this is due to our time here in Vermilion. Empress, Pippin, and Pele, this is Lt. Surge," She waved a hand towards him as Empress eyed the man with disdain earning a smirk from the Gym Leader, "He's the Gym Leader of Vermilion City,"

Lt. Surge looked over her pokemon with a trained eye before nodding, "Not bad, I assume you haven't trained the newer ones much?"

"Not as much as I should have mostly," Vali admitted as she offered the three an apologetic look, "Between giving Professor Oak what information I could get on the Safari Zone and getting ready to face Koga, I didn't focus on them like I did everyone else,"

"Considering that you got all three of them so close together, I'm not surprised," Lt. Surge bent down and pointed to Pippin who rushed over only to trip on his paws halfway there, "Clumsy, isn't he?"

"Yeah. I'm try to figure out how to deal with that," Vali watched as Lt. Surge began examining Pippin, "Nurse Joy said there isn't anything physically wrong with him or mentally,"

"Hmm," Lt. Surge picked up Pippin and touched his tail making the Shinx squirm a bit, "Come over here, Kid,"

Vali walked over to him, "What's up?"

"It's this that's causing him to be clumsy," Lt. Surge gestured to the star on the end of Pippin's tail where Vali could see just a small patch of discolored fur, "Sometime soon after he hatched, something caught around just before the star and probably stayed there for the first few months of his life until somehow being removed, I'm guessing the person that brought him to the Safari Zone probably removed whatever it was,"

"So his sense of balance is off due to the weight that was on his tail being gone?" Vali summed up earning a nod, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Not really, it'll be something that'll fix itself by the time he evolves into a Luxray," Lt. Surge put down Pippin who looking at the man with wide eyes, "Just keep an eye on him and do some exercises that will help with balance, I'll dredge some up," He pointed to Elrond who floated over and looked at the Gym Leader carefully, "Not bad coloring, you're a bit darker than most, but given the fact you're in Kanto rather than Alola, it isn't too surprising. Got bad headaches?" Elrond nodded and Lt. Surge frowned a bit, "Try to spend more time in the sun, it'll probably help with it some since most psychic-types do thrive best in the sunlight,"

"So have him travel outside of his pokeball more often?" Vali asked earning a nod.

"Though be careful during the winter months, Alolan Raichu don't have a very thick layer of fat compared to regular Raichu," Lt. Surge reached out as Raichu sniffed at Elrond who eyed the two carefully, "Has he tried to speak with you yet?"

"No," Vali shook her head, "Is it possible?"

"Yeah, but it'll take a lot of intensive training in his psychic nature to do it. You visiting the witch is a good idea," Lt. Surge rubbed around Elrond's cheek pouches and nodded to himself, "I can drum up a training schedule for him, but seeing the witch about training a psychic-type is a good idea,"

"Do you have an Alolan Raichu?" Vali asked wondered why Lt. Surge was calling Sabrina a witch.

"I've got a breeding pair. I'd introduce you, but my male pretty much hates any other males right now save for me since my female is pregnant," Lt. Surge let out a bark of laughter at her startled look, "Alolan Raichu breed this time of year,"

Making a mental note to keep that in mind, Vali asked, "Any advice you can give me?"

"That hit and run fighting style is best for Alolan Raichu since they don't loose much speed upon evolution compared to other Raichu," Lt. Surge finished looking over Elrond who moved to keep Vulpix was getting into anything, "But they don't have as much bulk or muscle as other Raichu do, they actually lose out on physical defense like most psychic-types. Keep working with him on that, you'll probably find some difficulty in getting him to use Dig until he gets a better grip on his psychic powers. Try to find a work around for that, I might have a few techniques he can learn, but your best bet is to look for psychic-type TMs. You'll find the most in Saffron considering how big they are about psychics especially the witch being their Gym Leader,"

"Why do you call Sabrina a witch?" Vali asked earning a snort from Lt. Surge.

"Long story, Kid. Let's just say that witch and I have never seen eye to eye," Lt. Surge gestured for Eevee to come over to him, "Mostly when it comes to rehabilitating pokemon, we probably won't ever really get along,"

Before Vali went to go meet up with Steven and his friend, she had finally scanned both Eevee and Vulpix at the urging of Lt. Surge. Needless to say, the two pokemon were full of surprises:

Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon. Eevee has an unstable genetic makeup that suddenly mutates due to the environment in which it lives. Radiation from various stones causes this Pokémon to evolve. It has the ability to alter the composition of its body to suit its surrounding environment. Current studies show it can evolve into an incredible eight different species of Pokémon.

This Eevee is Male and has the ability Adaptability. This Eevee knows Covet, Growl, Tackle, Sand Attack, Bite, Swift, Stored Power, Endure, and Shadow Ball.

Vulpix, the Fox Pokemon. At the time of its birth, Vulpix has one white tail. The tail separates into six if this Pokémon receives plenty of love from its Trainer. The six tails become magnificently curled. Inside Vulpix's body burns a flame that never goes out. During the daytime, when the temperatures rise, this Pokémon releases flames from its mouth to prevent its body from growing too hot.

This Vulpix is Male and has the ability Flash Fire. This Vulpix knows Ember, Secret Power, and Heat Wave.

Warning: King gene present.

Admittedly, Vulpix was a bit more surprising than Eevee considering the fact that he had the King gene despite being a runt, but both of them had surprising moves that could only have come from their parents. Endure and Stored Power were probably the only reasons that Eevee had managed to survive the abuse of his former trainer even if it had only been used subconsciously. Both of their parents had to be pretty powerful for two egg moves to be passed down, she wondered which of their parents passed down each move. Obviously Heat Wave came from Ninetales, she wondered who Vulpix's father had been, but doubted she'd ever find out. Not only was Ninetales unlikely to be in the area, Ninetales tended to be secretive of their mates with only a scattering of known mated pairs being recorded.

Lt. Surge commented at the list with a raised eye, "Well that explains your Eevee surviving, but damn the King gene present in a fucking runt..."

"Professor Oak is going to be kicking himself for not having me scan Vulpix earlier," Vali knew he'd be calling her fairly soon.

Lt. Surge clapped her on the shoulder, "Kid, I stand by what I said about your luck. It's interesting."

"And I'm going to be waiting for the other shoe to drop," Vali wondered what else was going to happen.

Lt. Surge let out a bark of laughter, "Good luck, Kid. Get going though, it's a quarter to six."

"Thanks for the help, Surge," Vali returned her pokemon, "What time do you want me to come back tomorrow?"

"9:30," Lt. Surge replied as they left the indoor training ground, "I might have some jobs for you to do when we're not working your pokemon into the ground,"

Vali looked at him curiously, "What kind of jobs?"

"Nothing big, I'm mainly planning on having you take pictures of the pokemon that are being put up for adoption. Professor Oak sent in those pictures you took of the Safari Zone and despite not being done using a profession camera, they aren't half bad," Lt. Surge replied as Vali pulled on her jacket, "They're mainly to pokemon not able to battle anymore,"

"The kind people hope to get as pets?" Vali offered earning a nod, "Not a bad life considering where they came from, I don't mind doing it. Anything else?"

"I'll come up with something. You'll get paid for the work you do for me and it'll look good on your record if you're planning on becoming an Ace," They reached the lobby, "You up for it, Kid?"

"Sure," Vali smiled a bit, "Sounds like a plan. See you later," She waved to Monica, "See you, Monica,"

Steven's friend was a rather tired looking guy by the name of Ryner Moss. His pale cyan hair was long and shaggy, he had tired brown eyes hidden beneath a pair of wire frames with heavy purple bags beneath them. He wore a thick black sweater and some jeans that had definitely seen better days. He had a white messenger bag and beside him a cheerful Kirlia. Considering how tired he looked, Vali wondered just how much sleep the poor man actually got. Ryner offered her a tired smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Potter. Steven's told me a lot about you while we were working."

Vali glanced at Steven as she offered the man a smile and her hand, "I hope it's all good. Please call me Vali, Mister Moss."

"Ryner then," Ryner replied as they shook hands, "This little girl is my partner, Stella. She helps me stay on track and keeps me from losing things,"

"It's nice to meet you, Stella," Vali greeted the cheerful psychic/fairy-type, "I'd introduce my pokemon, but they're all being looked over by Nurse Joy. Lt. Surge really worked them over today,"

"It's alright. I'll meet them tomorrow," A light almost melodic voice chirped, "It's really nice to meet you, Vali! You're really pretty,"

"Thanks..." Vali flushed a bit before looking at the two guys, "Let's go get dinner,"

They got their food rather quickly and found an unoccupied table. After they got settled, Steven asked Vali, "So I guess Surge is helping you out while we're here?"

"Yup. I'm going to be training with him from 9 in the morning till whenever he has to start battling," Vali ate some of her stew, "After that, he's got some jobs for me to do that'll give me some form of income since my pokemon will likely be a bit too tired to battle much once we're done training,"

"Like what?" Steven inquired as Ryner looked up from his own bowl of stew in curiosity.

"Not really sure other than taking some pictures of pokemon that'll be going up for adoption," Vali grabbed the salt shaker on the table and shook some out into her stew, "I'm fairly curious what else he's got in mind considering the fact that it'll look good on my record if I'm going to try for Ace,"

"That's pretty lucky," Ryner commented as Stella nodded beside her trainer, "I mean not everyone gets that kind of offer from a Gym Leader like Lt. Surge,"

"I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop especially given what we found out when scanning Vulpix and Eevee," Vali dreaded what kind of chaos could happen and hoped that no one got hurt because of it, "So what about you two? What did you do today?"

"Mostly working on some paperwork from some parts of the company that Father is having me oversee," Steven picked up his glass of water, "It is kind of interesting if a bit dull at times,"

"Vali, may I ask you something?" Ryner requested as Vali picked up her glass.

"Sure," Vali looked at him curiously.

"What exactly do you plan on doing once you compete in the Indigo Conference?" Ryner offered her a measured look, "Do you plan to travel to another region?"

Vali was a bit surprised by the question and didn't really have an answer. Sure, she had a few things she could possibly do, but most of them depended on other people. She wasn't sure about traveling to another region just yet since she was physically ten years old. She could go looking for whoever the 'Lord of Flames' was, but something told her she wasn't ready yet. She saw Steven giving her a curious look and knew he wanted to know as well. Looking at Ryner after taking a drink of her water, she said, "I'm not sure at the moment especially since I have a few offers on the table that either depend on someone else or how I place within the Conference. While traveling to another region seems interesting, I'm am a bit hesitant seeing as it would be more difficult to return home if I needed to."

"I see," Ryner nodded slowly, "Perhaps if you do choose to travel to another region, you might come to Hoenn,"

"I plan to at some point especially since I don't intend to lose contact with Steven," Vali smiled lightly as she looked at Steven.

Steven grinned at her, "Agreed."

After that, the conversation at the table was mainly Steven and Vali sharing stories about their travels through Kanto so far. Ryner and Stella offered a few stories of their own though it was manly the Kirlia. Ryner and Stella left after dinner not wanting to be walking to their hotel once it got too dark. Vali collected her tired pokemon from Nurse Joy and went to go take a shower after getting them all fed. Steven took his turn in the shower while Vali began grooming Vulpix. When she finished with Vulpix, a slightly reluctant Eevee took his turn. She looked up at Steven when he left the bathroom, "Who exactly are you bringing along with you?"

"Metagross, Claydol, Blastoise, Lileep, Mawile, and Skarmory," Steven answered as he moved to sit down on his bed, "My older Metagross. They're more familiar with psychic-type battles. Aggron is as well, but the cold doesn't quite agree with him. I am hoping Lileep will evolve before we arrive in Saffron,"

Vali recalled Professor Oak comments about Lileep's growth, "You'll probably need to battle with him a few more times before he evolves. Do you want me to see if Surge is willing to help out?"

Steven thought about it before nodded, "That would probably be the best idea."

"I'll talk to him about it tomorrow," Vali finished grooming Eevee, "There you are, Eevee. Who's next?"

Empress pulled herself onto Vali's lap and demanded attention. Reaching into her grooming kit, she pulled out the dragon kit that Professor Oak had gotten for her and pulled out the oil that was supposed to help make a Bagon's head that much stronger. She looked up at Steven as he asked, "Vali, when do you plan to look for..."

Vali paused in rubbing the oil into Empress' head before continuing as the Bagon let out a small growl, "I'm not sure. I know it isn't time for me to look, but when it is, I don't think I'll be able to resist especially given just how much I really need to find out what's going on," She looked up at him, "I'll let everyone know when it's time since I don't want you guys worry so much."

"I'm glad," Steven's shoulders relaxed a bit, "But do you have any idea when that time will be?"

Vali was quiet as she let herself fall into a slight meditative state to get an answer to that question. Funny thing about her inner fire, it was diffrent compared to her magic. With her magic, it went with the flow and generally responded to her will as she got older. With her inner fire, it was playfully chaotic and had to be coaxed into do what she wanted it to do. Both were sentient in a way, it took some time to figure that her inner fire was sentient considering how new it was to her. Generally, she had an instinctive understanding of her magic, but it took awhile for her to learn how to use that to her advantage. While her inner flame on the other hand refused to cooperate for anything, it only gave her vague impressions of things that were rarely ever clear. The only thing it seemed to be willing to give was a sense of anticipation when she thought about meeting the 'Lord of Flames'. After a few moments of 'poking' at it, she got her answer and told Steven, "A year or two."

"A year or two?" Steven frowned a bit, "That isn't very specific,"

"My inner flame doesn't really care about specifics," Vali retorted with a shrug as she focused on Empress who was releasing a low crooning sound.

Steven offered her a sheepish smile, "Sorry. I know this is hard for you especially given everything that happened with those tests."

Vali offered him a weak smile that was barely more than a slight twitch of her lips. She forced herself not to shiver as phantom pain raced through her body at the memory of those tests. Vulpix let out a low whine and pressed himself into her right side as Pele trotted over to nudge her legs. Smaug and Balto both looked at her with worry. Elrond floated over to press a paw to her shoulder. Eevee's gaze carried concern as he looked at her from his place on the pillow. Empress stopped crooning to look at her in wary curiosity. She pushed those memories from her mind as she murmured, "Yeah."

Vali calmed her pokemon down as Steven winced, "Sorry for bringing it up."

"It's okay, but let's just stop about this for a little while, okay?" Vali asked once she'd gotten everyone mostly calmed down and finished up Empress' grooming.

"Sure," Steven agreed with a slight frown.

Silence fell over them as neither of the trainers knew what else to say at the moment, the heavy note of the conversation they'd just had was difficult to shake. Eventually, Vali finished grooming her pokemon and got ready for bed. She glanced at Steven who was looking at something with his pokenav, "Hey, Steven?" He looked up at her, "When I do travel to Hoenn, will you show me around a bit? If you're not too busy being a Champion, that is."

Steven looked towards where Vali was sleeping with a frown on his face. Despite both of them going to bed on a high note, he couldn't seem to fall asleep and it all had to do with his traveling partner. Knowing that Vali had maybe a year if not two before she'd finally meet the 'Lord of Flames' was disconcerting, he was going to be the Champion of the Hoenn league by then or at least on his way to doing that. They were going to part once the Indigo Conference was over with maybe a few days after together, but he'd be going back to Hoenn. And Vali would be in Kanto, they'd be an ocean apart and like she'd told Ryner, it wouldn't be an easy thing to travel back to Kanto meaning he wouldn't be there to help her if she needed it.

Ryner was a good friend despite the fact Steven was somewhat tempted to strangle him right about now and he'd brought up a good question to Vali. What was she going to end up doing? A fire-type mastery was quite clear and she'd commented about wanting to become a member of the Elite Four multiple times during their journey. While he knew she could do it especially if Blaine decided to take her on, he wondered at what she'd do before then. An Ace trainer? It was possible and probably the most probable. He knew she'd keep up her hobby of taking photos, but what else was she planning on doing? So many questions though he supposed his biggest one was, where did he fit in her plans?

Steven didn't want to lose contact with Vali and knew she'd keep that from happening. The thing that unsettled him the most was not being able to see her as often once he left Kanto. The thought of not being able to turn his head and see Vali's reaction to whatever he'd said left him feeling a bit hollow. Sure, he'd be able to call Vali and ask for her opinions if he really wanted to now that she had a pokenav. But it wasn't the same, he wouldn't get to see the way Vali eyes darkened with thought as her mouth quirked into a slightly frown or how her nose scrunched up when she was thinking about something complicated. He wouldn't get a surprise hug from Vali when she managed to win a difficult battle or thanked him for helping her pokemon figure out how to do some new move. All those thoughts left him unsettled though he supposed it was due to Vali being his first real female friend.

Arriving at the gym right on time, Vali was sent to the indoor training ground where Lt. Surge waited. When she got there, the Gym Leader was pounding into a punching bag while his pokemon were working around him. Lt. Surge spotted her and barked, "Get your pokemon out and have them warm up! Get warmed up too, they're not the only ones getting a work out today."

Vali was somewhat glad that Lt. Surge had suggested she bring a change of clothes and wore ones she wouldn't mind getting dirty. Setting down her bag and taking off the jacket she was wearing, she called out her pokemon, "Everyone, I want you to start warming up. Vulpix, I want you to watch us, okay?" Vulpix nodded slowly with a curious tilt of his head, "You'll be doing this too once you're old enough."

All her pokemon had a specific warm-up though her fully evolved ones had changed theirs a bit, Vali mainly stretched for her warm ups and went through a small routine that Steven had cooked up with her. Smaug's routine involved stretching his wings and other muscles before going for a run in an attempt to up his ground speeds. Balto stretched his muscles and doing a small walk that would evolve into a run. Elrond's warm up had mainly become levitating things as he did a few other things that usually depended on his mood. Pele mostly ran around with Empress as they were her slowest pokemon outside of Terra and Idril. Pippin did his best to run while trying to keep from tripping up.

Lt. Surge called it all to a halt after ten minutes and they gathered around him, "Alright. Smaug, you'll be working with my Electivire to increase your power and get a better defense against electric-type attacks."

Smaug looked at her as Electivire let out a low whirling sound as it beat it's fists together. Vali nodded lightly and reached up to scratch under his eye like he liked, "Go on, Smaug."

After nuzzling his trainer lightly, Smaug moved to stand beside the powerful electric-type. Lt. Surge looked a little amused, "Balto," Balto peered at the man, "You'll be working with one of my Zebstrika to kick your speed up further. You'll also be working on aiming your attacks and hitting targets while moving at high speeds,"

A monster of a Zebstrika moved forward and nickered at Balto as it stomped a hoof. Vali patted Balto's side, "You do need help with that, Balto."

Balto nudged her and bent his head to nip lightly at Vulpix's ear before going over the the Zebstrika who eyed him. Lt. Surge snorted a bit as the Zebstrika flicked its tail almost dismissively, "Elrond, you're with Raichu. You've got less power than a regular Raichu which means you'll have to work harder if you want to pack a punch. Raichu'll walk you through it," Elrond nodded and floated over to Raichu with a small frown on his face, "Pippin, you'll be working with my female Luxray. She'll basically get you up to speed with your attacks and work on your balance."

The female Luxray let out a gentle purr as she walked over to Pippin. Pippin hesitated for a moment to glance at Vali for permission before rushing at the female when she nodded to him. She smiled softly as the two began to exchange some sparks and purrs. She looked back at Lt. Surge, "What about Empress and Pele?"

"They need to pick up their speed. Power won't mean shit if they don't have the speed," Lt. Surge replied causing Empress to growl at him earning a snort from the Gym Leader, "My Manectric will be working with them on that,"

The Manectric that stalked forward from the group of gym pokemon was absolutely beautiful. He was absolutely regal and clearly well-taken care. The golden fur around his head and legs was almost glowing in the fluorescent lights. The sleek blue fur coating the rest of his body was a bright and healthy almost neon sky blue. The three claws on each of his feet were razor sharp and perfectly shaped. The only thing that marred the beautiful pokemon was the long scar over his right eye that left the crimson coloring a pale pink. Vali looked into his eyes and knew that he was proud of the scar. She looked at Lt. Surge after a few moments, "He's absolutely beautiful. You take great care of him."

"He's been with me for a long time," Lt. Surge smiled as he ruffled Manectric's golden fur a bit earning a playful nip from the proud electric-type, "Seen hell with me,"

Vali offered Manectric a smile, "Thank you for your help, Manectric."

Manectric's gaze was measured as he peered at her before finally deigning to nod. Lt. Surge grinned a bit, "That just leaves Eevee and Vulpix, the runt can just sit back a bit since we're going to be working mainly with Eevee today. Jolteon here is going to help us."

With that said, everyone broke up with Pele taking a few minutes to follow after her apparent teacher. Lt. Surge led Vali, Eevee, Vulpix, and Jolteon over to a section of the indoor training ground covered by two obstacle courses. Looking over them, she had to ask, "Are we running those?"

"Yup," Lt. Surge turned to give her a grin that was all teeth, "All higher up trainers have to be physically fit especially if the League needs to call on them. Since you plan on becoming a Elite at some point, you're gonna need to work your ass off. You'll be going through these courses with each of your pokemon save for the runt at least once. Seeing as you'll be running them twice a day until you leave or I feel you're ready for the next level, you better get ready to be pushed to your limit,"

Vali looked at the obstacle courses which didn't seem that scary. They were comprised of a few simple platforms, a beam that obviously required some balance to cross, a set of monkey bars, a rock wall, and a pool of water that's obviously meant to be swam in. The pokemon side of the course had a some tilted platforms instead of monkey bars that ground based pokemon needed to cross. She narrowed her eyes at it since this seemed a bit too basic, "This isn't all there is to it, is there?"

"Good instincts, Kid," Lt. Surge pulled out a remote, "This lets me play around with the obstacle courses and make it harder, I'll be doing some basic stuff since you've never done anything like this before,"

"Right," Vali looked at Eevee who was eyeing the courses with distrust, "Eevee, let's get through this together, okay?" Eevee looked at her before nodding with narrowed eyes, "Though Surge would it be possible to nix the water on Eevee's side?"

Lt. Surge looked at Vali with a raised eyebrow before his eyes narrowed, "Tried to drown him, huh?"

"From my understanding, yeah," Vali replied was Lt. Surge fiddled with the remote and an icy platform appeared on the pokemon course, "We're going to work through it,"

The platforms they had to jump across shook and generally weren't very stable for long. The beam was stable, but a few sand bags randomly swung out. The monkey bars moved and weren't very easy to grip onto. The rock wall was missing some hand holds with some of them reappearing and disappearing randomly. The pool wasn't filled with regular water as it was too thick and weighty to be regular water. Getting out of the water was a little difficult as it didn't seem keen on letting go of her, Vali grunted a bit as she pulled herself out eventually. Once on dry land, she almost collapsed onto the ground feeling her muscles burn and protest.

Vali looked over at Eevee to find him slipping and sliding as he tried to get past the ice segment of his course. Taking the towel that Jolteon offered her, she began to dry off while walking over to the end of Eevee's course to offer some encouragement and suggestions. She called out, "Take it slower, Eevee. One paw step at a time, you'll learn how to be quicker later on."

Eevee looked at her before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as he stilled his body. Once he wasn't in danger of falling over, Eevee began moving though at a much slower and more stable pace. When he reach Vali, she picked him up, "Good job, Eevee."

"Not bad, you two managed to finish the course in twenty minutes," Lt. Surge commented as he showed them a stop-watch, "Now, let's get down to some actual training. Eevee, I want a good look at your attacks considering the fact we focused on your base stats yesterday. Best way to do that is in a mock battle, Jolteon will be your opponent and you'll be working with the kid,"

They took their places on the battleground that Lt. Surge had appear. Jolteon seemed to smirk at Eevee who eyed the electric-type Eeveelution with some distrust. Vali took her place in one of the trainer boxes with Lt. Surge doing the same. Eevee glanced back at her with trust in his eyes, "Ready, Eevee?" Eevee nodded and turned forward as she pulled out her pokedex, "Let's start off with Swift, Eevee. Get Jolteon up and moving."

Eevee lept upward and released a rather decent amount of stars that streaked towards Jolteon. Jolteon lept out of the way with an easy grace to his movements and retaliated with a Swift attack of his own. Eevee used Shadow Ball to block the stars so he could land and let out a loud Growl that caused Jolteon to jolt back a bit. Lt. Surge let out a laugh, "Not bad, a bit sloppy, but considering where he came from, he's definitely better than I expected. Jolteon, Pin Missile!"

"Eevee, Endure!" Vali didn't really want Eevee to get hurt but she needed to see how well he could use it, "Dodge the attack as best you can while keeping up Endure,"

An almost impossible to see light green sheen covered Eevee's body as Jolteon released a ton of pin-like projectiles that flew towards him. With a move like Endure, it depended on the pokemon how it could be used. For some pokemon, it acted like an aura that absorbed some of the damage from an attack. For others, it deflected some of the attack. For more pokemon, it created a fragile shield that did it's best to take some of the damage. One time Vali had seen a match where one of Champion Timothy Carter's Venusaur tanked a full powered Blast Burn from his rival's Charizard without fainting. Eevee's Endure seemed to be acting as a mix between an aura and deflective shield from the way some of the pin's seemed to bounce off without being noticed as Eevee darted around the field. Eevee used Swift to get Jolteon to let up on the attack before going in close with Tackle and latching on with Bite. Jolteon let out a low yowl and used Discharge making Eevee let go with a cry of pain. Eevee released another Growl and rushed to create distance between them. Lt. Surge called an end to the bout before it could go any further, "That's enough."

Vali walked over to where Eevee was standing and bent down to check him over. Other than a few pin-like projectiles that needed to be removed and some electrical burns, Eevee was fine besides the usual exhaustion battle could cause for pokemon that aren't used to it. Carefully, she removed the pins quickly trying to keep from making the injuries worse. Eevee growled softly, but stayed still. When she finished, Lt. Surge handed over a potion for her to spray his injuries with, "Nurse Joy'll take care of any lingering electrical damage."

"Thank you," Vali sprayed Eevee's injuries making sure that each of the small wounds caused by the pins had closed up and that his electrical burns were treated though the one on the inside of his mouth was a bit difficult, "So what do you think?"

"Like I said during the battle, he's sloppy, but a lot better than what I expected," Lt. Surge tended to the bite wound that Eevee had given Jolteon, "My advice is make sure he can get all those attacks off properly and start having him store up power for Stored Power. Have him bask in either moonlight or sunlight, they'll both work since he's an Eevee rather than a Clefairy,"

"How exactly does it work anyway?" Vali wasn't very familiar with the move.

It was mostly due to how hard it was for any pokemon outside of the Cleffa-line to learn the move even if it was possible. Adding onto how rarely it was actually used even in Conference battles, it wasn't something that most trainers were even remotely prepared to deal with. Vali liked the idea of having a move that no one would be readily prepared to deal with outside of a select few trainers. Lt. Surge snorted as he probably guessed what was going through her mind, "Simple, a pokemon like Eevee stores the power somewhere inside of them like how a grass-type stores up sunlight for a Solar Beam only less of a one use kind of deal and without the whole being unable to move outside of special circumstances. Needless to say, it's a pretty damn hard move to go up against. If Eevee trains hard enough, he'll even be able to shatter both Protect and Light Screen though be careful of Reflect otherwise you'd be pretty damn screwed."

"So basically it's like Hyper Beam?" Vali asked feeling just a bit eager with Eevee looking a bit eager too.

"Yes, but it's a bit more limited since the pokemon using Stored Power doesn't exactly have unlimited space for that energy," Lt. Surge looked at the two in amusement, "And it's a lot like flexing a muscle,"

"Which means we'll have to train it," Vali looked down at Eevee, "Sound good?" Eevee nodded, "We'll figure out a schedule around it. I want to see the difference that sunlight and moonlight have on your energy,"

Eevee nodded with a determined look on his face. Lt. Surge clapped his hands, "Let's let Eevee rest, we should go check on your other pokemon."

By the time Lt. Surge was done with them, they were all exhausted and Vali was just a bit leery about doing it all over again at five. At the very least, it would only be for an hour and they'd be able to get dinner afterward. Vali returned her pokemon save for Vulpix and gave them to a Gym Trainer. Lt. Surge pointed her in the direction of a shower, "Just get rinsed off, Kid. You'll be doing it all over again later, so don't worry about getting in a real shower right now."

Vali only did a quick rinse since the water was almost icy cold and she could get it to heat up. She returned to the indoor training ground where Lt. Surge was waiting with a Gym Trainer and a rather pretty looking man. The Gym Trainer was one that she vaguely recognized from one of her past visits though she wasn't sure about the name. The man was rather feminine looking with a petite and slim build that probably got him bullied a lot when he was a kid. He had long almost to his ass caramel colored hair that coiled randomly near the ends. He had dark purple doe-like eyes and pale skin that probably burned horribly in summer. He wore a black full length duster that nearly brushed against the floor, a white dress shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, a pair of black knee high boots with a heel, and a black pokeball belt sat on his waist. Rather than comment on just how pretty the guy was, she offered him a light smile as Vulpix peered at him curiously from her arms, "Hello, Sir. I'm Valkyrie Potter from Pallet Town though I prefer Vali."

The man's eyes gleamed with pleasure probably thinking she thought he might be a woman and if they'd passed one another on the side walk, she probably would've assumed he was. It was surprising to hear the rather rich baritone voice come out of his mouth, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Vali. My name is Rodrick Cross and I work with Lt. Surge on getting our abused pokemon ready to be adopted out. Today, we'll be working together."

"Rod is one of the best behavioral therapists that the League has to offer and one of my Cousins," Lt. Surge announced with a grin causing Vali's eyes to go a bit wide as Rodrick rolled his eyes, "His mother is a Joy,"

Which would explain why he's so feminine looking, Vali realized as she took a closer look at the man. Members of the Joy family almost always ended up quite feminine even if they weren't female, it also stood to reason that anyone related to them tended to go into medical related jobs even if they didn't become part of a pokemon center. Rather than comment on the obvious and likely earn the ire of a member of Lt. Surge's family, she asked the man, "Mr. Rodrick, may I ask if you specialize in a certain type of pokemon?"

Lt. Surge let out a low snort obviously having hoped she'd say something and get a show out of it. Rodrick looked pleased, "Just Rodrick, Miss. I don't specialize, but I have a tendency for psychic-types both for their talent at reading minds and because they can stop a patient from harming themselves without physical force being required."

"Just call me Vali then," Vali replied as she wondered at his team, "Do you have a Chansey or a Blissey?"

"A Blissey. She's actually my partner," Rodrick smiled as he reached for a pokeball from his belt, "Would you like to meet her?"

"Yes!" Vali grinned since the Chansey-line were awesome and a non-fire-type that she definitely hoped to get at some point.

Rodrick chuckled and hit the release button on the pokeball once he grabbed it. A Blissey appeared and promptly gifted her trainer a warm hug earning a laugh from the man. Rodrick hugged her back, "Bliss, a trainer we're going to be working with wants to meet you."

The Blissey turned towards her and promptly squealed before racing towards Vali. Vali and Vulpix promptly found themselves being hugged to death by a very adorable pink pokemon. Bliss the Blissey let go after a few moments and promptly stole Vulpix from her to coo at the adorable fox. Rather than feel offended, the fire-type master-in-training took out her camera and captured the cute sight before rescuing her rather confused little one from the affectionate happiness pokemon. Blissey pouted at her earning a laugh from the trainer, "He's far too adorable and fluffy for his own good, isn't he?" Bliss nodded with a bright smile, "My names Vali, Bliss. This is my little one, Vulpix. He doesn't have a nickname just yet since he's a little too young, but he will eventually. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Bliss let out a squealing trill in agreement before bouncing back over to Rodrick who was laughing warmly. Rodrick patted his partner on the arm, "You'll get to play with the little one later, Bliss," Rodrick looked at Vali with a pleased smile, "My partner is a very affectionate pokemon and a very good judge of character."

"I don't mind," Vali walked over as she grinned at the man while feeling glad that she'd apparently passed a test, "I've been wanting to meet a Blissey for awhile now,"

Lt. Surge cleared his throat, "I've got to get going, so Rod get down to business since I'm going to be grabbing the kid at five for another training session. Kid, your pokemon'll be returned in an hour. I've got to go tear into some tourists and hopefully get an actual challenge."

"Right," Rodrick grimaced a bit, "Try not to crush too many dreams today,"

Lt. Surge just smirked at his cousin before patting Vali's shoulder and heading off. Vali called out, "Good luck!"

Rodrick shook his head as Lt. Surge let out a bark of laughter, "I don't need luck with this group of babies!"

The door shut behind Lt. Surge and Vali looked at Rodrick curiously, "So how is this going to work?"

"Follow me to the facility where we keep those that are ready to be adopted or close enough," Rodrick answered as he began to follow after Lt. Surge to leave the room.

Before leaving the gym, Vali was made to sign a psychic contract basically stating that she wouldn't talk about it or disclose the location to anyone without League authorization. She understood and didn't mind signing the contract because it was to protect the pokemon within the facility from being harmed again. She walked about two blocks from the gym to a set of office buildings that worked as the local Ranger/League branch that every major city/town had. After signing in with Rodrick flashing a badge and a visitors pass being gifted to her, they got into an elevator and began heading downward. She set Vulpix down since he was beginning to squirm a bit, "Rodrick, how did you get into this kind of job?"

"I've always been good at figuring out how people behave and wanted to help everyone," Rodrick explained as Vali began checking over her camera, "My mother saw my gift and decided to help me find the perfect job not long after I got my Happiny. Together with Bliss and the pokemon that I began to gather together, I managed to find my perfect job and 24 years later, here I am," He looked at her curiously, "What about you, Vali? Do you have a job in mind? Surge mentioned becoming an Elite Four and a fire-type mastery,"

Vali looked up at Rodrick with a slight shrug, "I really do want to become a member of the Elite Four someday. If that doesn't work out, I'll stick with the data collecting job for Professor Oak. My photographing will probably stay a hobby."

"Any other plans?" Rodrick asked with a raised-eyebrow.

Vali shook her head, "Not really, I don't see myself becoming a desk jockey. I don't really want to become a Ranger though I know I'd have a place as one if I wanted it since my godfather is one," She looked at Vulpix who walked towards Bliss, "If I had to, I'd become an Ace."

"So you like the idea of having a job that offers freedom to you," Rodrick summarized as Bliss picked up Vulpix and began to chitter happily at the little fox, "That isn't a bad thing, it'll be dangerous though,"

"We work with beings that can spam elemental attacks and kill us if they so desired," Vali stated in a bland tone.

Rodrick let out a light laugh, "True."

"But to be honest, I don't mind the danger especially since I know my pokemon will have my back," Vali smiled as Vulpix licked Bliss' cheek, "They're family after all,"

"Family, huh," Rodrick smiled softly.

"Mhmm," Vali hummed lightly before showing Rodrick her camera, "This'll be fine, right? My godfather gave it to me as a gift,"

"Yeah," Rodrick looked over the digital camera for a few seconds, "I'm surprised you're bringing that on your journey,"

"I have a case for it," It was the only reason Vali decided to bring it along.

The elevator dinged and Bliss handed Vulpix back to Vali. They got out and Rodrick led the way through a sterile looking hallway to a metal door. Rodrick placed his badge onto the scanner and entered a code. A smooth female voice echoed through the hallway, "Welcome back Dr. Cross and guest."

The door slid open with a soft hiss as the faintest sound of gears moving reached Vali's ears. Rodrick led the way inside to reveal what looked like a modified hospital ward mixed with a pre-school playroom. A few people were in the room either playing with a pokemon or checking it over. One of them looked up, "Welcome back, Dr. Cross!"

A similar statement came from the others inside the room. Rodrick smiled at them all, "Hello, everyone! I would like you to meet, Valkyrie Potter. Vali here is going to be taking pictures of our adoptable pokemon. I think you'll all remember the Eevee from Viridian that ended up with Professor Oak?" Everyone nodded while shooting Vali curious looks, "She's the one that save him and is currently his trainer."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Vali offered them all a bright smile, "Please call me Vali. This is my Vulpix, he's around two weeks old,"

"Adorable!" One of the female workers squealed.

Rodrick led her over to a section in the play area, "With this area work?"

"It should be fine," Vali set Vulpix down, "Don't wander,"

Vulpix settled down beside her feet as Rodrick said, "Get settled, I'll go get our first pokemon and the list of the ones you'll be photographing. We'll take a break in an hour and a half for lunch."

Vali took ten photo's of each pokemon with some being a close up and others being a bit further. She took some photos with certain pokemon paired up. She also took some with the various volunteers that worked for some of the more relaxed branches of the Ranger Corps/League. Some of the photo's contained the pokemon all playing together. She made sure it all looked as natural as possible while also looking cute to encourage people to look into adopting the less physically appealing pokemon. Many of the pokemon bore physical scars of their past abuse, they carried them with pride.

Almost all of them were a bit timid including a rather small Meowth that was blind in one eye, Vali tried her best to get each of them comfortable with her which worked for the most part. One of the Rattata apparently decided that it was in love with Vulpix's tail and attempted to chew on it only for Vulpix to release his first ever Ember which was more soot than anything else. The Rattata got away with some singed fur and a few missing whiskers. Vulpix decided to curl around her shoulders which wasn't that bad though he wasn't going to be able to do that in a few more weeks. Needless to say, the various pokemon decided not to bug the fire breathing fox after that despite his new position.

At 12:30, everyone took a break with Vali's pokemon being returned to her. They ate their food before deciding to all take a nap with Vulpix joining them. One of the volunteer rangers asked, "So Vali, did Sirius ever manage to get you that Houndour egg?"

"Houndour egg?" Rodrick wasn't the only one looking at Vali in confusion.

"Siri, my godfather, made a bet with me," Vali explained as she ran her fingers across a sleeping Pippin's fur head, "He bet that I couldn't beat Pewter with two fire-types. If I lost, I'd have to let him pull a few pranks without a single counter. If I won, he'd have his partner, Regulus, breed during the next mating season and give me one of the Houndour eggs that came from it. This was before I got Vulpix's egg,"

"How long until it hatches?" The volunteer asked her curiously.

"About two months if not a bit longer, Vulpix will thankfully be out of the baby stage by then and won't need as much guidance," Vali picked up her soda with a smile.

"Two eggs in your first year as a trainer is pretty damn lucky," One of the volunteer Ace's commented, "I only ever got a single egg and that was during my third year,"

"Trust me when I say that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop," Vali wasn't looking forward to see what happened when the luck scales reversed and she got hit with bad luck.

Vali was inwardly muttering about stupid Potter luck as she stared down the barrel of a gun. She'd just left Lt. Surge's gym and was heading to the pokemon center to get her team checked over when not even three blocks away a mugger decided to make her his target. Everything had been fine until he surprisingly drew a gun. Considering the fact that guns were strictly controlled by the League and barely had enough to equip the police force, she was allowed to be surprised at the sight of it. The person holding it towards her had a snarling Raticate beside him that looked like it might have rabies. The man sneered at her and held out a bag, "Pokeballs and valuables in the bag unless you want to be shot, Brat."

Vali tried to think of a way out of this without anyone getting hurt. She wasn't giving up her pokemon or anything that belonged to her. She eyed the gun wondering if it actually had any bullets in it. She felt a slight prickling sensation before a slight unfamiliar voice spoke in her mind, "Friend-Vali, why do you feel fear?"

Inwardly relieved to hear Steven's Metagross speaking in her mind, Vali tried to be polite, 'A man is attempting to threaten me with a gun and a rabid looking Raticate. Considering the fact that I'm not sure if the gun actually has bullets or not, I'm quite unsure what to do.'

"Stall," Metagross ordered before falling silent.

Vali refocused as she heard the safety on the gun click off and the man snarled, "Are you an idiot?! Give me your pokeballs and valuables!"

How do you stall someone trying to mug you? Vali took a small step back as she said, "You really don't want to do this. Do you know the trouble you'll get in with the League?"

"Fuck the League!" The man snarled at her as the gun shook just the slightest bit, "Fuck them! Those arrogant son of a bitch fat cats don't give a fuck about anyone so long as their pockets get lined,"

Is this guy serious? Vali knew there were corrupt people in the League. It was actually something to be expected with any type of government even one that majorly catered to pokemon. She glanced towards the Raticate that was slowly beginning to edge forward while mentally cursing the fact that none of her pokemon were exactly in a state to battle right now. She was very glad that Vulpix was inside his pokeball right now too otherwise things would be a lot worse. Taking a deep breath to keep herself calm and hope to hell the mugger didn't actually try to shoot her, she said, "Not all of them are like that."

The mugger snorted, "Kids like you would never understand. Now give me your valuables and pokeballs!"

"Technically, pokeballs are valuables," Vali backed up another step as the Raticate took a step forward, "By the way, your Raticate looks like it has rabies. You might want to take it to Nurse Jo-"

"Shut the hell up!" The mugger roared at her, "I won't ask again! Give me your valuables and pokeballs right now!"

Metagross spoke as the mugger steadied the gun, "Duck and be ready to run, Friend-Vali."

Vali didn't hesitate to follow that order and quickly ducked close to the ground. The mugger began to snarl at her as his Raticate jumped forward only to be frozen in a psychic hold. Vali quickly backpedaled as she twisted to get out of the gun's sight line which proved to be a good idea since it went off seconds later. She felt a searing pain rip across her right side like someone decided it take a red hot piece of metal and press it there. She forced herself to ignore the pain as she ran toward where Steven was standing with Ryner looking more than a little angry. She slammed into her traveling partner, "Steven!"

"Vali, are you hurt?" Steven asked as Ryner had Stella knock the mugger and Raticate out.

"M-my side," Vali could feel herself trembling, "I-I t-think the b-bullet just g-grazed me,"

"Steven, get Vali to the hospital and have them check her out. I'll be taking these two to the police," Ryner looked more than a little pissed off.

Steven nodded as he called out Claydol, "Metagross, help him out."

Steven looked up as Sirius and Lt. Surge entered the waiting room. The grim animagus immediately making a bee-line towards the steel-type master-in-training, "Steve-"

"I don't have all the information, but Vali's going to be fine according to the doctor's thoughts," Steven cut the worried man off, "The police are going to be speaking with her once the doctor is done treating the injury,"

Lt. Surge frowned darkly, "How the hell could this have even happened? Not even a few blocks from my fucking gym."

Steven frowned at the Gym Leader feeling no small amount of irritation at the man. Sirius turned to the Gym Leader with a scowl, "Maybe it wouldn't have if you didn't rely on your reputation to scare people away."

Lt. Surge bristled in a way that reminded Steven of the man's Jolteon, "Maybe you should shut your trap, Black."

Before a fight could start, Steven cut in, "Sirius, I'm surprised you made it here so quickly."

"Professor Oak was very helpful with lending his Alakazam for me to use once alerted to what happened," Sirius answered as he forced himself to take a deep breath, "Damn it, of all the things to happen not even a day after she leaves home again. Fuck, we were worried about pokemon attacking her not humans,"

"Sometimes humans are the more dangerous creatures," A cool voice replied from nearby, "I assume you're Mister Black, Miss' Potter's legal guardian?"

They all turned to find a doctor standing nearby with a clipboard. It was the same one that had been treating Vali causing Steven to straighten out of his slight slouch. Sirius nodded as he focused on the clipboard, "Yes. Is Vali alright?"

"She is currently very shaken up," The doctor answered as Steven set a hand on Metagross' pokeball, "The bullet thankfully only grazed her side. While I did have to give her a few stitches, the wound should heal fairly quickly thanks to the modified potions I used. Mister Stone, I am aware that you're worried for Miss Potter, but please inform your psychic-types to leave my head alone,"

Steven offered the doctor an apologetic look while dropping his hand, "Of course, Doctor."

The doctor inclined his head while Metagross and Claydol withdrew themselves from the man's mind, "Thank you. Now, I am prescribing Miss Potter some antibiotics as a precaution against any infections that might develop. I expect Miss Potter to come back in a few days to have the wound checked over and the stitches removed."

"Of course, can we go see her now?" Sirius requested as he took the prescription from the doctor.

"Yes though you will likely have to wait outside the room while she is being questioned," The doctor shook his head, "For one so young to be forced into a situation like this, what is the world coming to?"

After giving them the room number and writing up Vali's discharge papers, the doctor headed off to see his other patients. Steven looked at the two men and cleared his throat when Sirius opened his mouth, "Leave any arguments outside, Vali has been through enough tonight and none of the hospital residents need to be stressed out."

Without waiting for either of the adults to follow, Steven headed towards the room that Vali was in. He was thankful Metagross had a clear picture of the room and how to get there since hospitals could be far too confusing. Metagross spoke softly in his mind, "Master Steven, do you wish for me to monitor Friend-Vali's dreams tonight?"

Steven mentally nodded to his oldest pokemon, "Yes and for a little while after tonight as well, I have a feeling she's not going to be sleeping easily for awhile or at least, until we're out of the city."

Metagross gave a mental hum before falling silent and Steven knew he was once again contemplating the enigma that was Vali. The amusement from that thought helped calm his nerves allowing the Devon Corp heir to focus on the here and now.

Vali watched as the two police officers left and slipped off the bed feeling her side ache a bit despite the numbing solution that the doctor had used. She internally mused that it must be wearing off which wasn't exactly a good thing. The door opened to reveal Steven who quickly made his way over to her, "Vali, are you...?"

Steven trailed off and Vali offered him a slightly weak smile, "I'm trying not to break down right now," She swallowed thickly, "C-can we head to the pokemon center now?"

"Of course," Steven held out a hand to her, "Sirius is here as is Surge,"

"Really?" Vali was more than a little surprised to hear that.

Vali hadn't thought Sirius would be able to come since he was due to be recalled by the Ranger Corps any day. Though she probably should've known, Sirius pretty much dropped everything when it came to her. Lt. Surge was a surprise since last she saw, Lt. Surge had been busy with Rodrick and Monica. Then again, he'd probably been informed that something like this had happened since he was pretty much in charge of all Law Enforcement inside Vermilion City being the Gym Leader. Him rushing to check on her felt nice, she hadn't thought they were that close. Using the warmth and happiness the thought brought, she pushed back the need to break down even further and took Steven hand. She was grateful to have something to hold onto since it helped ground her. Steven squeezed her hand as he led her out of the room, "Yeah. Sirius got Professor Oak to lend him Alakazam though I'm not too sure about Surge. Vali, is it alright if Metagross monitors your dreams tonight?"

Vali hesitated for a moment before nodding feeling a bit relieved, "Yes."

Steven squeezed her hand again as they left the room and began heading down the hallway.

It took Vali over three hours of arguing with Sirius to keep him from trying to drag her back to Pallet Town and to prevent him from fighting with Lt. Surge. Lt. Surge was already pissed off about the fact something like this had happened in his city and that she'd been the one to bring it to his attention. Keeping the two adults from fighting quickly exhausted the already stressed out fire-type master-in-training, the two men didn't really seem to notice much. By the time the two left with Sirius promising to come back in the morning, she was ready to collapse, but forced herself to stay awake. She took one of the antibiotics that the doctor had prescribed for her, ate something from the cafeteria, picked her pokemon up from Nurse Joy while thanking Steven for having them seen to after the doctor sent him from the room, and informed them all about what happened. Needless to say, they were not happy in the least and were heavily tempted to go after the person that had attempted to mug her.

After calming them down and finally letting herself breakdown, Vali finally ended the day by giving into her exhaustion. Steven woke her up as images of the mugger and his rabid Raticate began swirling through her mind. Steven didn't try to ask her about the nightmare and instead talked about the things he'd gone over that day until she'd fallen asleep again only this time it was a restful sleep without any dreams.

Lt. Surge looked at Vali with just a small amount of shock when she walked into the indoor training ground, "Kid, I'm surprised you're here given what happened."

Vali shrugged as she released her pokemon and set them to training, "If I let something like yesterday break me down, the stuff I went through and survived before will mean nothing."

"Alright then," Lt. Surge shook his head, "You'll work on strategizing and figuring out how to use your favorite strategy with those two," He pointed to Smaug and Balto, "I'll be doing some personal training with Elrond. In thirty minutes, you should go oversee everyone's training before returning to what you're doing,"

"Right," Vali nodded feeling glad that Lt. Surge was letting her try to make things as normal as possible, "What about Eevee?"

"He'll be working with Jolteon," Lt. Surge answered as he gave her a look of understanding, "Now get to work,"

Vali wasn't surprised when Sirius barged into the indoor training ground much to Lt. Surge's annoyance not long after she started working on her strategies. She'd been expecting him to come by at some point today to check on her, but she would admit to expecting him earlier. Like closer to dawn, she guessed that Delia had probably convinced him to wait until a more reasonable time which the fire-type master-in-training was very grateful for. She did have to wonder how the man knew she'd be here, but supposed Steven had probably said something. She put down her pokedex as Sirius shouted rather unnecessarily, "What the hell is going on here?!"

"Training obviously," Lt. Surge glowered at Sirius looking quite ticked to be interrupted in the middle of explaining something to Elrond who looked just as annoyed as the Gym Leader, "What are you doing here, Black?"

"Checking on my Goddaughter," Sirius replied with a growl as Vali wondered why he was stressing the 'my', "What the hell are you doing?"

A part of Vali was tempted to see where this went, but the rest of her wasn't especially since Lt. Surge's pokemon were giving the grim animagus the evil eye. None of them appreciated the way Sirius was treating their trainer. Considering just how nasty electric-type pokemon could be despite their generally more cheerful dispositions, the man was likely to find himself in quite a bit of pain via electrical attacks if he didn't change his tone. Clearing her throat, Vali said, "Surge is helping me train my pokemon," Sirius opened his mouth, "Siri, I want things to be as normal as possible today. Please just stop."

Sirius' mouth closed and he seemed to take a closer look at Vali. She saw him wince likely seeing how tired and drawn she was. Despite the more restful sleep she'd had after Steven woke her up from the nightmare, she was still very tired and in pain despite the graze on her side being closed up. The antibiotic that the doctor had prescribed had left the fire-type master-in-training both sleepy and nauseous which she would be mentioning to the physician next time she saw him. Sirius ran a hand through his hair as he sighed, "Sorry, Pup. Yesterday just scared the hell out of me."

"Me too," Vali offered him a strained smile as she picked her pokedex back up, "Which is why I want things to be normal while I work up the energy needed to mentally right myself and not suffer a break down,"

Which was actually quite hard to avoid when not distracted by doing something, Vali knew it wasn't the best way to deal with her problems, but it worked for the most part. It was her best coping mechanism which was better than just wallowing in some corner and flinching at every passing shadow. She refocused on what was going on in the world around her when Sirius asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Lt. Surge snorted, "No, we've got it all handled Black."

Sirius scowled at Lt. Surge causing Vali to sigh deeply wondering what was going on with the animosity. She knew there would be some considering the fact that she'd nearly been mugged and actually been shot in the city that Lt. Surge was supposed to be protecting. But this level of animosity went beyond that, the question was why? She eyed the two with a small grimace before asking Sirius, "How is Delia?"

"Worried about you same as Professor Oak," Sirius answered as he walked over to the bench she was sitting on, "It was scary getting a call from Steven saying you were in the hospital after nearly being mugged," He offered her a hopeful look, "We'd all feel better if you came home for a little while longer,"

"If I do that, I'd probably end up never leaving again," They both knew Vali was lying when she said that because staying in Pallet Town for a month had left the girl restless in ways she had experienced before.

Seeing everyone had been nice, Vali would love to do it all again at some point, but staying in Pallet Town for longer than a month wasn't something she'd be able to do anymore. Going on this journey had opened her up to a part of herself that had been locked up tight by the Dursleys and the wizarding world, the part of her that desired to wander the earth and discover new things would never let her be comfortable with staying in one place for long now that it'd finally been able to breath. Sure, she'd end up finding a place to settle down eventually, but that was in the future once she was older. Sirius let out a low chuckle, "Lying doesn't suit you, Pup."

Vali nodded as she fiddled with her pokedex feeling glad that Lt. Surge was letting them have this moment, "Siri, don't get me wrong, I do kind of want to come back to Pallet Town for a little while, but I can't," She looked at her pokemon who were training even harder than normal given what had happened yesterday and Vulpix who was sticking close to her despite not understanding anything other than the fact something was wrong, "I know that it would probably help me, but I can't go back. Not when I'm scared that I'll start making excuses about why I have to stay. Some part of me thinks that if I go back to Pallet Town, I'd be quitting and rendering everything that I've done to this point moot."

"A part of you believes that you're a weakling and nothing up to this point will have mattered if you don't keep moving forward," Sirius finished her line of thought when she'd stopped to think, "I get it, Pup. I'm not exactly happy about it, but I get it," He shook his head, "I won't try to drag you home, but please call us if you need to talk,"

"I will," Vali promised him.

Sirius probably wouldn't stop worrying no matter what Vali said.

Sirius stayed with Vali the whole time Lt. Surge had allotted to help her in the morning leaving the Gym Leader foul tempered for reason that the fire-type master-in-training really wasn't too sure about. The man shot a glare towards Sirius while she was handing her pokemon over to the Gym Trainer that would be taking them to get healed up. She cleared her throat as Sirius met that glare with one of his own, "So what's on the agenda today?"

"Rodrick wants you to help him out with the adoptable pokemon today," Lt. Surge answered without breaking the glaring match.

"Okay," Vali heard the door open and spotted Rodrick as he walked inside, "Do I need my camera?"

"Not today," Rodrick answered as he eyed the two glaring men with a small amount of amusement, "How are you today?"

"Trying my best to be okay after yesterday," Vali admitted earning a light nod from Rodrick.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm all ears," Rodrick cleared his throat breaking the staring contest, "Mister Black, it's good to see you again."

"Doctor Cross," Sirius looked a bit pale making Vali wonder if Rodrick was the demon therapist that her godfather had complained about before, "N-nice to see you too,"

Rodrick's smile was all teeth and gums making Vali wonder what exactly Sirius had done to piss the man off. Though given the man's more feminine features and body type, she could probably make a guess and mentally shook her head at Sirius' antics. More than likely, he'd hit on Rodrick before the man could even say a word and probably protested quite a bit about the man's actual gender despite the voice. In any case, Sirius likely deserved whatever 'torture' Rodrick subjected him to, "How have you been since our last session ended?"

Sirius opened him mouth before closing it without a sound. Vali looked at her godfather with some concern before saying, "Siri proposed to Delia."

"Oh?" Rodrick's smile turned gentle as he took his eyes off Sirius and focused on Vali, "That's excellent,"

Lt. Surge cleared his throat looking more than a little amused about how pale his cousin had made Sirius, "I'm going to get to work. Kid, you and your team are off the hook for tonight's training session. I've got things to do."

Vali inwardly groaned as she tried to figure out what she'd do at that point while outwardly nodding to Lt. Surge, "Alright."

Lt. Surge patted her shoulder before heading off. Rodrick smiled at Vali, "Shall we get going?"

"Yeah," Vali rubbed between Vulpix's ears as she moved to follow Rodrick.

Sirius finally spoke as they were leaving the indoor training ground, "Wait up!"

Rodrick looked at Sirius with a raised eyebrow, "May I ask where you plan on going, Mister Black?"

"I want to spend time with my Goddaughter," Sirius answered as they began walking out of the gym together, "Is that wrong?"

"No, but you do not have the clearance for where we're going," Rodrick replied earning a frown from Sirius, "Vali has been granted temporary clearance. If you had gone through the training that had been offered, I wouldn't have had a problem with you tagging along. Seeing as you do not and I am not able to grant you temporary clearance due to not being affiliated with the Ranger Union, you are not able to accompany us,"

Vali was a little surprised at the fact she'd been granted any form of clearance since she hadn't done much for the League outside of the whole forest fire incident. Then again, Professor Oak and Lt. Surge had probably pulled some strings to get that clearance especially since she'd exposed the whole Durant issue. She pushed down her surprise to ask, "Rodrick, you aren't affiliated with the Ranger Union?"

"No, I'm strictly League affiliated, but Surge is affiliated with the Ranger Union since he was one until he turned sixteen. One of the best, but he found his true calling with being a pokemon trainer," Rodrick answered making both Sirius and Vali look at him in shock, "It's one of the main reasons he's been granted his position with abused pokemon,"

Which actually made sense, a former pokemon ranger would know how to deal with pokemon in just about any situation. Abused pokemon wouldn't be that difficult to deal with especially if you were used to befriending pokemon without a styler which had only really been given to all Rangers fifteen years ago. Vali's respect for Lt. Surge promptly went up while she began forming questions that she'd be asking him at some point soon with this new information. Sirius let out a small grumble, "I guess I need to go bug Lt. Surge."

"Siri, you could head home and spend time with Delia," Vali suggested earning a slightly hurt look from the Grim animagus, "It's not that I don't like spending time with you and I'm grateful that you've taken the time to come see me. I really am, but you only have a few more days until you're pulled back to duty. Shouldn't you be spending time with your fiancee?"

Sirius frowned at her, "Are you sure, Pup?"

"I'm sure," Vali offered him a weak grin, "Just tell her that I'll be calling later on via my pokenav,"

After quite a few assurances and promises to call home, Sirius left via Alakazam allowing Vali and Rodrick to get going. Rodrick looked at her as he said, "You're holding up well despite what happened yesterday."

"Mostly because I don't want to worry anyone," Vali admitted as they walked together, "I've also been through worse. At least with this, I knew Steven was coming to help me," She glanced at Rodrick, "So what exactly are we doing today?"

"Mostly getting the pokemon bathed and groomed," Rodrick answered not seeming to mind the change in conversation, "You'll mostly be doing the grooming,"

"Sounds like fun," Vali genuinely enjoyed grooming pokemon and making them feel good.

Not to mention, it would give her something to do that required focus and soothed her nerves.

Even with the modified potion that had been used on Vali and her magics natural propensity to heal her, it had taken a full week for the graze from the bullet to heal. The scar that had been left behind was quite tender, but that would fade after awhile according to the doctor that had been treating her. The nightmares from the incident were still present, but that likely wouldn't start to fade until after leaving Vermilion. Lt. Surge had 'helpfully' informed her that the would-be mugger had also been a druggie and wanted for several charges that included pokephilia leaving the fire-type master-in-training quite disturbed. The Raticate was going to be placed under evaluation in an attempt to see if it could be rehabilitated after the Joys were through with it. Medically speaking, it was unlikely the poor thing would survive since it's former trainer hadn't taken very good care of it and even subjected it to multiple drugs.

When the time came to leave Vermilion, Lt. Surge gave Vali two rather priceless TMs and a nice nest egg of money she'd be putting away for a rainy day. The TMs were one use for Zap Cannon and Rest. He also stole her pokenav to input both the number for his gym and personal phone-line. He gruffly informed her to call him if any of her pokemon needed help learning electric-type moves. Rodrick also gave Vali his personal number and told her to call if she needed anything. Ryner told her to stay safe while Stella cheerfully wished her luck in the pokemon league. With that, she left Vermilion city behind with Steven and their pokemon after getting supplies for their trip to Saffron.

Steven looked at Vali when she stopped walking once Vermilion City was firmly behind them. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. When she let it out, he was surprised to watch as if almost all the tension in her body drained out. When she opened her eyes, she looked at Steven with a light smile and eyes almost as bright as they had been before she'd almost been mugged, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Steven smiled lightly, "Feels good to be on the move again, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Vali nodded with a light grin.

Vali released Vulpix who was finally starting to lose the white bits of fur. The young fire-type looked around at the area in surprise and confusion. She also released Balto and Smaug who looked around with remembrance in their eyes. Steven spoke as Vali bent down to pet Vulpix, "Do you want to walk or run?"

"Walking for now," Vali answered as she scratched behind the growing fox pokemon's ears, "Vulpix, do you want to walk beside me for now?"

Vulpix yipped and wagged his tail earning a smile from his mother figure. Vali stood up fully and began walking with Steven quickly moving to follow. He wasn't going to release any of his pokemon right now since none of them really appreciated the cold too much and Vali's pokemon were more than enough to ward off any temperamental wild pokemon. He noted that the area was recovering quite nicely from the fire and even a few signs of new pokemon having moved in though he wasn't sure what they were. As they walked, he commented, "I was expecting the snow to be a bit more prevalent."

"A few of the local pokemon probably know Sunny Day and are using it to keep the snow from getting too thick," Vali answered as she curled her fingers through Balto's fur, "Hey, Steven?"

"Yeah?" He looked at her curiously.

Vali smiled a bit shyly at him, "Thanks for helping me with my nightmares. I know you probably haven't been sleeping very well because of me and it means a lot that you're willing to help me out.'

"You don't have to thank me," Steven shook his head at her as he wondered what brought this up, "You're my friend and traveling partner after all. Besides, I had more paperwork to do than I thought and wasn't going to sleep much anyway,"

"Still, thank you," Vali replied in a slightly firm tone.

Steven inwardly shook his head, "We should be in Saffron a week or less if we're traveling using our pokemon. Other than the whole mental shield thing Sabrina offered and getting advice to train Elrond's psychic-type side, what do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure," Vali admitted as they walked, "I'm going to be spending a lot of time training everyone since we're battling Sabrina. I don't know as much about Saffron as some cities mostly because there aren't very many fire-types around it,"

Chuckling a bit, Steven teased her lightly, "Are fire-types all you think about?"

"No, I think about a lot of things," Vali protested with a mock pout, "It's not my fault fire-type pokemon are awesome,"

Smaug let out a roar of agreement and grinned at his trainer while Balto puffed his chest up with a loud bark. Vulpix looked a bit confusion about why both of his elders were reacting like that. Vali and Steven shared at laugh at the two.

Riding on Balto's back was as amazing as with Celina, it brought Vali a sense of peace that she'd only ever thought would come from flying. There was a sense of otherness and power that hadn't been present when she'd ridden Celina for the first time, the movements of Balto's powerful muscles shifting beneath his skin and fur left the fire-type master-in-training almost breathless. This was an Arcanine, the only pokemon that could even hope to match the legendary dogs when it came to running. The sheer heat coming off of his body ensured that she barely felt the cold wind nipping at them and the smoothness of his gait ensured she'd be able to ride him without much complaint as long as he was able to run. Keeping a grip on Balto was easy, the heat from his body and the softness of his fur kept any ache in her fingers at bay.

Smaug flew overhead beside Skarmory who was carrying Steven. When he began to lag, Vali would return him and they'd stop to take a break once a viable clearing was found. It was fairly good endurance training for her starter since he was a bit more vulnerable to the cold compared to most fire-types due to the diluted dragon typing in his DNA. She kept a close eye on him as well as Vulpix who was currently adding to the heat against the front of her body due to being inside her shirt. He hadn't wanted to be returned when they'd started this and she hadn't had a very good idea of how she'd keep him from falling off Balto. Steven ended up suggesting to keep him underneath her jacket. While it was a good solution, Vulpix had decided that he wanted skin contact and to be close to the feather leading to his current place beneath her shirt. Awkward as it might be, it was doable and not as uncomfortable as one might think though that was mostly due to the fact she wasn't starting to develop a chest just yet.

Vali leaned against Balto's warm body with Steven as they stopped for a lunch break and a bit of a rest. Empress had shoved herself underneath Balto's head to get away from the cold. Pele and Pippin were settled together beside Smaug who was carefully keeping the Numel from getting too cold. Eevee was curled up on top of Balto's side with Vulpix and Elrond. Steven's pokemon had pretty much fled to their pokeballs the moment they could save for Skarmory and Mawile who were actually enjoying the snow. Claydol didn't mind it nor did Metagross though the two had decided to stick to their pokeballs for now. She jolted a bit when her pokenav rang and quickly pulled it from her pocket, "Hell-"

"Vali!" Professor Oak nearly shouted much to the shock of everyone in the clearing, "Your Vulpix is a King!"

"Yeah," Vali offered him a sheepish smile, "I apologize for not informing you earlier, but it slipped my mind with everything going on," She looked at him in concern as she noticed how sleep deprived he was, "Professor, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Professor Oak waved off her concern, "I can't believe your Vulpix is a carrier of the King gene,"

"Everyone was pretty surprised," Vali shifted a bit and winced a little as the skin around her newest scar tugged a bit.

For all that she might be lucky, Vali's bad luck could be just as bad sometimes. She refocused on Professor Oak as he asked, "Vali, could you document Vulpix's growth for me? With how rare the King gene is, we have no idea just how it affects the pokemon other than their increased growth and the subtle power increase as well."

"No problem, Professor," Vali had decided to do so before talking to the professor since she knew he'd ask that, "Professor, aren't the Alolan totem pokemon carriers of the King gene as well?"

"Not quite," Professor Oak shook his head as Steven gave her a slightly confused look, "The totem pokemon of Alola are abnormalities. My cousin Samson's been studying them for years alongside various other pokemon professors such as Professor Kukui," Professor Oak fell into what his lecture mode, "The totem pokemon of Alola start out as regular pokemon, but upon the passing of their predecessor gain what we, in the scientific community, tentatively term as the totem aura. No one is quite sure how it is passed on or even what causes the newest totem pokemon to gain the aura. When the new totem pokemon gains it's aura, it begins to rapidly change via increased stats, size, and weight,"

"Basically making it like a King, but not," Vali summed up.

"Just so," Professor Oak nodded to her, "However, it also gains some new abilities that no other pokemon of it's species King gene or not has. The ability to find Z-Crystals as well as find those worthy of using them. There is also some thought that the Legendary island guardians play a part in all this, but we cannot be sure since it's rare that they show themselves to anyone,"

"That would explain why they're not called Kings by the locals," Vali muttered softly.

"Anyway," Professor Oak shook his head lightly, "I'll see if I can get into contact with Lorelei,"

"The newest Elite Four member?" Vali clarified though Lorelei technically wasn't new since she'd been a member of the Elite Four since the current champion had taken his place and been sworn in, "Why do you say that?"

"One of her pokemon, a Dewgong to be precise, is one of the few known Kings currently alive," Professor Oak replied as he fiddled with some papers on his desk, "You'll need her help in order to find ways to feed Vulpix once he gets older and starts battling since King pokemon tend to eat quite a bit. Granted, it wouldn't be as bad as say a Dragonite king or a Tyranitar. It'll still be a bit hard,"

Vali inwardly winced at that thought and admitted that it would probably be a very good idea while hoping Vulpix didn't end up becoming a picky eater, "Thank you, Professor."

"It's no problem," Professor Oak waved her off, "Now, I should probably let you go. Are you heading to Saffron?"

"Yes, we should be there in a couple days rather than a week since I'm riding Balto and Steven is riding Skarmory," Vali answered and looked towards Steven for confirmation.

"Did you need something from us, Professor?" Steven asked after giving her a light nod.

Professor Oak shook his head, "Not at all though Steven, has Lileep evolved yet?"

"No, but he's getting fairly close," Steven had been a bit too busy to battle anyone.

Professor Oak went to say something when the sound of something heavy slamming into one of the filing cabinets filled the air, "Oh dear, I really need to get better doors."

"Is something wrong, Professor?" Vali asked in concern.

"Just some of the younger rock-types currently in my care playing around," Professor Oak sighed deeply and shook his head, "Safe travels you two,"

After a few goodbyes, Professor Oak hung up and Vali sighed softly, "I really hope Terra wasn't involved with that," She stood up and stretched carefully after pocketing her pokenav, "So ready to get moving?"

"It would probably be for the best," Steven stood up as well while Vali began recalling her pokemon, "We should be able to travel for another four hours before we should be worried about setting up camp,"

"Sounds good," Vali finished recalling everyone save for Balto, Smaug, and Vulpix, "Ready to go you three?"

They all nodded as Smaug began to stretch his wings and Balto stood up. Vulpix jumped off Balto before the larger fire-type fully got up and walked over to Vali. Once Balto was standing and everything was packed away again, Vali picked up Vulpix and set him onto Balto's back before climbing up when her oldest pokemon bent down to make things easier on her. Once she was settled, Vulpix quickly wormed his way back into the position he'd been in before their break. Steven pulled himself onto Skarmory's back after checking his saddle and asked, "Ready to go?"

"Yup," Vali confirmed after digging her fingers into Balto's scruff and Smaug let out a small roar.

"Then let's be off," Steven said as Skarmory and Smaug got ready to take off.

Reaching Saffron city, Vali could appreciate how the rather large city looked when covered with snow. She got off Balto's back and returned him along with Smaug once the Charizard had landed. Steven landed and returned Skarmory after thanking her for the ride. They looked at the city then at one another. Steven waved a hand, "Shall we?"

"Might as well, I could really use a shower and warm meal," Vali took the first step towards the city.

Updates: Once a month so long as my job allows.