Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and Harry Potter
BloodyKitsune1997: Another chapter so soon? Wow the last chapter really had me in a depressive spiral. But here you go!
Chapter 18
Hearing that familiar and much missed voice for the first time in year, Vali found herself laughing and turning to the source with a slight grin on her face as she replied, "That is has, Orion."
Ignoring the way Lance had stiffened beside her, Vali moved to hug the large man as Elrond greeted the scarred Lucario standing beside him. Orion let out a bark of laughter as he spun her around, "You've gotten some muscle in."
"Working as an Elite does require it," Vali noted the new scar that went through his left eyebrow, "That scar on your eyebrow, did you piss off a pokemon or some woman?"
"Stray Razor Leaf from a Grovyle in Hoenn," Orion set her down with a grin, "Where's Thorin? I half expected that surly little bastard to be nipping at my ankles by now,"
Snickering at that, Vali shook her head, "He's with his mate," She saw his raised eyebrow, "Disa. She's a spicy little Jolteon that I know you'd love to play with. They're currently celebrating the birth of their newest batch of eggs."
"Congratulations," Orion shook his head, "I honestly didn't expect it,"
"Trust me, we were all surprised ourselves, but they work well together," Vali turned her head at hearing a throat clear behind them and spotted Lance, "Oh, right..."
There was an odd expression on Lance's face, Vali's head tilted he reached out and grabbed her wrist. She blinked in a bit of surprise when he pulled her to his side before wrapping an arm around her waist. Orion made a small sound at the action, "Ooh, so you've definitely had an interesting couple of years, huh, Vali?"
"I-" Vali started.
"Vali, who is this?" Lance asked with a forced grin and that strange look in his eyes.
"Names Orion Russel," Orion answered as Vali finally got her senses back and began pushing away from Lance, "And you are?"
"I'm-" Lance grunted as she finally elbowed him in the gut to get free.
Giving Lance an odd look for the move he'd pulled, Vali spoke, "Orion, this is Lance. The second one of my guy friends that weren't part of the gym."
Snapping his fingers, Orion nodded with a laugh, "Right, the red head obsessed with dragons. I remember now," He tilted his head, "So is there something going on between-"
"Mew no," Vali snorted as she rolled her eyes, "I don't have any fucking time to date anyone much less keep up a stable relationship. This idiot is lucky that I don't kick his ass for the shit he pulled not even a couple days ago," She saw Lance flinch a bit, "Speaking of dating," She smirked a bit at Orion, "Find anyone, Mister Battle Hungry?"
"Ah-" Orion opened his mouth.
"There you are, Or-" Came from behind Orion and Vali's smirk widened at the flush gathering on Orion's grin, "Vi? Is that you?"
"Allen," Vali grinned as the familiar green haired man walked into view, "How's goes the studying?"
"If it isn't my favorite fire-type trainer!" The short man rushed to pull her into a tighten hug as his long braid whipped about, "It's been going well and I've recently picked up playing the flute. I'm not very good, but-"
"I want to hear it," Vali hugged him back with a laugh before releasing the man to greet his Blissey partner with a bright grin, "Evi, it's good to see you as well. Taking care of everyone?"
Humming in agreement, Evi nodded while rubbing their cheeks together as Vali practically sank into the Blissey's hold. Allen let out a laugh, "Still the same as ever I see when it comes to Evi, Vali. I see your travel bag which means Orion just ambushed you. Do you want to get a room then come eat with us?"
"Sure," Vali nodded as she reluctantly released Evi, "I'll bring my brothers along since I know you guys will probably be wanting to meet them,"
"Definitely," Allen nodded with a soft grin, "And you can come as well," He turned to Lance with that same soft grin that had eased her into joining the group during that first day, "We honestly don't mind and you are a friend of Vali which proves you're good people,"
"I..." Lance looked hesitant.
"It'll be fun," Vali promised as she set a hand on Lance's arm, "I promise,"
Lance eyed her for a moment before nodding, "Alright...When are we meeting up, I need to do something real quick."
"An hour should be good," Allen suggest while tapping his chin, "This is give everyone time to come back from doing whatever they've been getting into and Vali time to get her things into order,"
Lance nodded before looking at Vali, "I'll meet you back here in an hour...alright?"
"Sure," Vali nodded and Lance quickly disappeared.
"He's an odd one, isn't he?" Orion shook his head.
"A lot is going on and Lance has to deal with it," Vali shrugged her shoulders, "I do as well to a lesser extent," She smiled at them, "But I've got to go grab a room, I'll see you guys in an hour,"
"We'll meet you in the cafeteria," Allen waved at her as he began pulling Orion off.
Nodding as she waved back to him, Vali moved to get a room and check her pokemon in for a bit though doubted they actually needed any care.
Looking over at the group of friends that Vali had apparently made before she'd returned home all those years ago after her training trip, Lance felt something bubble up in his chest and found that he didn't like any of these people. He disliked how easily Vali fell back into swing with them as if she'd never left their sides unlike each time she'd returned from a mission and needed to take time to reset herself. There seemed to be a freeness with these people that she didn't have with him and it left something in his chest twisting, he didn't like it.
Practically draping herself over Orion's shoulder as she laughed at something one of the women said, Vali grinned as she clapped her hands, "Man, do you remember that one fireworks show Orion did?"
"Oh Mew's pink ass I do!" Ellen grinned brightly revealing a missing tooth as she shook her head flaring out the short pink hair she boasted, "Fucker pissed off all those Lucario back in Rota, it took four hours for them to be calm,"
"Wait, seriously?!" Ash and Gary looked at Orion as if the man was their new hero.
Feeling the claws of that strange feeling burrow in deeper, Lance finally stood up and left without a word. He leaned back against the pokemon center's wall and breathed out only to flinch as someone said, "It's okay," He spun around to see Allen looking at him and almost flinched at the way those red eyes stared into his soul, "To feel envious."
"I'm not-" Lance started to deny even if that honestly sounded like a good name for the feeling currently carving it's way through his heart.
"You are," Allen smiled in that same way Vali did when she knew something and was going to explain it even if you didn't want to hear it, "Everyone get envious for different reason. Orion's envious of those that spend more time with me and anyone that's battled someone that he can't. Corri's envious of those that will never have to worry about not being able to travel anymore. Marco is envious of those that have the time and money to waste on frivolous things when he just wants to make pokeballs that might one days help new trainers in each region. Even I'm envious," He looked towards the sky for a moment, "After all, how can't I be when someone I care for can understand her pokemon and actually know what they're saying?"
Startled and alarmed, Lance started to shake his head, "I don't-"
"Don't try to deny it, Vali admit it to us back during that week we spent together," Allen smiled softly, "They weren't very good at keeping it a secret back then,"
"I..." Lance hadn't known that, "I didn't..."
"So..." Allen sighed as he looked at Lance, "You're envious of us. The bond we have with Vali," He tilted his head, "You want that,"
"I..." Lance's throat felt tight and he had the desire to hit Allen, "She just...why?" Why were his eyes burning? "She looks so at ease with you all...Why can't I have that?"
"To be honest? I can't be sure since we haven't met before now and I don't know all the details," Allen shook his head, "And I can't exactly say much anyway since I haven't seen Vali in years either, we haven't been in contact during that time,"
"So...how is..." Lance waved a hand at the other man.
Shoulders shrugging, Allen looked out at the sky, "Vali's giving us what we've always given her. And from what I can tell, you two...it might've been there once, but something might've happened at some point if there was an openness to change that fact. All you can really do is try to be open with her."
"Open...?" Lance had been open.
But as he thought about it, Lance realized just how many things he hadn't been telling Vali. He felt himself slump against the building and pressed a hand to his face. He jolted as a hand pressed to his shoulder and removed his hand to see Vali looking at him in concern. Guilt welled up in his heart all the more harshly, he didn't deserve to love this woman if all he'd do is keep secrets form her. Tears well up in his eyes at that thought making her eyes widen, she spoke softly, "Lance? What-"
"I'm sorry," Lance murmured as he began pulling away, "I just...I need to-"
With more strength than he realized she had, Vali pulled him to her and she murmured, "Not until you either calm down enough to talk with me or calm down enough to actually get some sleep, Dumbass."
"Vali..." Lance's heart twisted in his chest.
Trying to pull away from her hold, Lance found Balto curling around them with Diaval joining them. Realizing with a jolt that he wasn't going anywhere, the tears started to curl down his cheeks as all the stress and emotions that he'd been feeling finally overwhelmed him. The hug tightened and he heard Vali start to sing softly as Diaval began to croon in sync with her.
Looking at Lance's passed out form, Vali mentally frowned at how worn out he looked and had a niggling feeling it wasn't just from her not being there to assist. She looked up at Allen as he approached with Evi, "Hey, Allen. Would you mind having Evi take a look at Lance? She might be specialized to take care of Corri, but-"
"She can though why?" Allen asked as Vali moved away allowing Evi to get close to where Lance was curled up against Diaval's side, "Is that Dragonite-"
There was a low growl from the Dragonite, Vali saw the dragon's eyes narrow in on the Blissey and his tail curl around Lance. She moved to Diaval's head and spoke softly, "Dia, please let her check Lance out. I promise that she's not going to hurt him. I trust her since she's looked after me in the past."
Diaval's narrowed eyes stayed on the Blissey for a second before moving away as he nodded to Vali. He moved his tail off of Lance as the growling went silent and Evi finally moved to begin looking over Lance. Allen spoke as he stayed by Balto's side not wishing to push Diaval's temper, "So Vi, what's wrong?"
"I've just got a feeling, one that I hope is wrong, that this," She waved a hand over Lance, "Was caused by something more than the stress of me being away," She licked her suddenly dry lips, "I might do a lot of background things, but not to the point that it'd cause this,"
Lips pulling into a frown, Allen shook his head, "I had thought he looked a bit pale though supposed that was just how things normally were. This close up though..." He gave Vali a look, "Things aren't okay in Kanto, are they?"
"Without risking League secrets?" Vali looked at Allen with a frown, "We're sitting on a boiling pot,"
"Fuck. Cipher style?" Allen's eyes were hard and Vali was reminded that he had come from Orre.
After a moment of hesitant, Vali nodded and Allen's lips pulled into a snarl as the normally soft man looked about ready to kill. He spoke as his fingers clenched into fists, "This isn't good, I'll need to speak with Orion...Vi, we'll be exchanging contact information. You do have a working communication device now, right?"
Nodding as she'd gotten her pokenav fixed after her visit to Hoenn all those years ago, Vali took it out and tossed it to Allen. He typed rapidly for several long minutes before tossing it back. She put it into her pocket as Evi let out a low whine making Allen curse. Muttering a small curse of her own, she looked at Allen, "She found something?"
"More than one something, you need to get him to a doctor," Allen gave her a look as Evi quickly moved to his side, "From what I can tell, it's some type of poison among other things,"
"Mother fucker," Vali set a hand on Diaval as he let out a growl, "Dia, not now. I need to get Lance to the League hospital,"
After some convincing, Vali managed to return Diaval before extracting a promise out of Allen to keep an eye on her brothers while she was away.
Eyes feeling like someone had taped them shut, Lance struggled to open them for a long time before managing it. It was blissfully dark when he opened his eye though there was still a pounding feeling in his head as if someone had slammed a hammer repeatedly against his skull. Head shifting as he looked about, it took a moment to realize he was in a hospital room. Specifically, it was the same private hospital room he usually landed in when he'd been badly hurt though strangely enough he couldn't remember how he ended up here. As he began to scan the room again, the door opened flooding the room with that stale light hospitals always had and his eyes burned until the lights vanished again.
Raising a hand slowly to rub at his eyes, Lance heard a soft snort and blinked to see Karen walking towards his bed. Part of him felt a bit disappointed at seeing her rather than Vali, he understood though given the fact that she was supposed to be on vacation. Karen spoke as he dropped his hand, "Finally awake, Dragon-boy?"
"I am," Lance's tongue felt heavy, "Karen, how did I end up in the hospital?"
"Puppy figured out someone was drugging you without anyone's knowledge," Karen answered making Lance jolt at that, "We're currently analyzing what was circulating through your system and-"
"While she was on vacation?" Lance shook his head, "She was supposed to leave work behind-"
"The fuck?" Karen muttered, "Dragon-boy-"
"No, I am not letting anyone argue with me on that," Lance looked at Karen with a frown as he felt more feeling come back to his face finally, "I thought that we talked about this weeks ago while Vali was on that one mission. Did something happen while Vali and I were in Hoenn to make it so we-"
"Lance," Karen cut him off and he finally noticed the way she was looking at him, "What's the last thing you remember?"
Startled by the question, it took Lance a bit before he was able to answer. He spoke slowly, "I...Vali and I were going to our hotel during the second day in Hoenn. She separated from me after we left the lobby since she'd been invited to speak with a young class of promising trainers and I..." He felt a bit of pain running through his skull, "I headed to my room. I was going to lay down until it was time to eat with Steven. I..." He pressed a hand to his head, "Why can't I remember...?"
There was a black hole where his memory should have been, the blurs that followed it made his stomach sink and twist. Lance felt a hand press against his shoulder as Karen spoke in a softer tone then he ever remembered her talking to anyone other than her pokemon, "Lance, I think...I think you were attacked in Hoenn. I don't know why, but we're going to figure this out."
"What happened?" Lance murmured as he looked at Karen and he saw her wince, "What...what did I do?"
And that was how Lance learned that the plans he'd had to let Vali actually enjoy the first vacation she'd had since becoming one of his Elite Four were ruined, the sickening feeling in his stomach increased with each word Karen spoke especially as he learned of what had happened in Viridian. He actually wanted to puke at hearing about how he'd betrayed Vali's trust not even a few days ago. When Karen finally left him, he felt worn out in every aspect and just wish he was able to actually remember everything if only to figure out the proper way to apologize to Vali. To apologize to everyone, he had been an asshole.
Hearing the door open as he'd begun to doze, Lance jolted a bit before feeling himself freeze at seeing Vali walk into his darkened room. She closed the door behind herself with a heartbroken expression and tears in her eyes. Starting to shake himself out of it at the sight of those tears, he began to speak, "Val-"
"Lance," Vali's voice was soft, "I..." A choked sob left her, "I should've left someone with you. Gladi-Naz-I-" Another sob as she stepped forward, "I'm so-"
"It's not your-" Lance started to protest.
"I'm your Elite," Vali shook her head as tear drops went flying, "I was there to protect you. Not for leisure," She clenched her fists, "I...I should've noticed something was wrong, but-"
"You couldn't have known," Lance pushed himself up with some effort, "Vali," He saw her flinch a bit, "I'm sorry for every-"
"You don't-" Vali started to protest.
"I do," Lance stated firmly, "I might've not been sane, but it was all done by me still," Lance pressed a hand to his heart, "I gave you my word before your vacation started that you'd be left alone, but it didn't happen," He gave her an apologetic look, "I am so sorry,"
"I..." Vali's chest heaved, "It's not your fault,"
"It is...it's not your fault what happened either," Lance shook his head with a slight smile, "How about we agree to disagree?"
Low laughter left Vali as her lips started to pull into a smile and she nodded while reaching up to wipe away the tears, she murmured, "Y-yeah...Idiotic Dragon-Boy."
"C'mere," Lance held out his arms to her and Vali hesitated before moving to hug him tightly.
Despite the hesitation sending a pang through his chest, Lance knew it would take time before they could be on the same terms as before. He laid his head on Vali's shoulder as she murmured, "I'm going to kick the ass of whoever did this bullshit. Promise."
"I know you will," Lance chuckled tiredly, "You're my badass of a shadow after all. I'll make sure to cover up anything you do and make it look like an accident,"
There was a huff of laughter and Lance felt wetness against his shoulder, Vali pressed a bit tighter against him, "Needed this over a week ago."
"So I heard," Lance felt so pissed off at himself for not being more careful, "I need more lessons on being aware of my surroundings,"
"Among other things, Asshole," Vali pulled away from him, "Ash and Gary got their gym badges. Surge owes them both a one use hyper beam TM,"
Snorting at that, Lance shook his head, "How the fuck did your bet with him about their first gym badge turn into that?"
Letting out a low giggle as she shifted to sit beside him, Vali launched into the story and Lance slowly settled back into his bed.
Feeling his pokenav vibrate, Steven answered it, "Hello?"
"Stone," Steven's spine stiffened at hearing Karen's voice, "Normally, I would let Vali give you the news, but she's currently getting some rest same as Lance,"
Blinking at that since he hadn't known that Vali and Lance were on good terms again, Steven frowned a bit as he turned on the camera option while setting his pokenav in front of him. Eyeing the woman, he asked, "What happened? I thought they were still fighting."
"Without breaking League confidentiality, Lance was poisoned. Vali figured it out though how we are still unsure," Karen crossed her arms, "From what we can figure out, Dragon-Boy was poison sometime during the days he was in your region,"
"What?" Steven felt himself pale and his stomach drop as if a lead weight had been dropped within, "Are you certain?"
"From what few memories Lance was able to drum up, yes though we'll be doing a more thorough investigation when Gym Leader Sabrina is free," Karen's expression turned a bit soft, "We aren't accusing you, Stone. Arceus knows that you love Lance and Vali too much for this shit, but-"
"You have to know what happened," Steven ran a hand through his hair, "But Lance..."
"He has no memory of anything after being in Hoenn," Karen murmured and Steven's stomach dropped further.
"I...Everything going on..." Steven couldn't imagine what could be going through Lance's mind though so many things now made sense, "All of the shit that didn't make sense when it came to him..."
"It does now," Karen muttered softly.
Shaking his head, Steven was a little bit bothered about Vali being asleep knowing that Lance was poisoned. Knowing her as he did, he doubted she'd willing go to sleep right now, "Vali's actually asleep?"
"Mhmm," Karen smirked a bit which was somewhat startling, "I'll show you,"
"Show me?" Steven started to shake his head, "You don-"
There was the sound of a door opening seconds before Karen shifted the pokegear around to reveal a darkened room with small amounts of moonlight filtering in from the window. It took a few moments for his pokenav to focus in enough for him to see the bed where Lance lay. The red head looked absolutely exhausted though much better than when he'd last seen him. Curled up against Lance's side was Vali, her head was settled on Lance's shoulder with a hand underneath her chin. Much like Lance, she looked absolutely exhausted and worn though much less so than when he'd last seen her.
After a few more moments, Karen pulled away from the room and closed the door behind her as she said, "I'd gone to check on the Puppy earlier since she hadn't come back to see me after checking on Lance. Found them knocked out just like that, I decided to leave them be."
"I...they need it," Steven felt somewhat relieved and sad, "All things considered,"
"You aren't wrong about that," Karen shook her head, "I've got to go kick Will in the ass and get him to help me work on a few things while we wait on those lab results. I'll call you later if the puppy isn't awake to do it,"
"Thank you," Steven ended the call and leaned back as he ran a hand through his hair.
Eyes going to the crystal Aggron statue sitting on the shelf beside a picture of Vali, him, and Lance after their conference together, Steven heard Metagross asked, "You're contemplating going to them, aren't you, Master?"
"My region is where Lance was attacked. He will need time to fully remember everything and get reorientated especially with everything going on," Steven's eyes were on their grins and the arms wrapped around one another, "Vali will need help on the ground even if she can handle it without any. She'd appreciate it,"
"We'll need to make arrangements...Especially with the Frosted one to ensure the idiotic chaotic doesn't cause too much trouble," Metagross offered earning a small smile from Steven.
"Shall we?" Steven asked earning a low hum of agreement.
"If we begin now, we'll be able to begin our journey to Kanto within two days and barring any major problems arrive within two weeks at the most," Metagross began to move about his office as Steven turned to his paperwork and began looking for the specific ones he'd need for this endeavor.
"Then let's begin, we've got a journey to prepare for and friends to surprise," Steven smirked a bit at the thought of surprising Vali and Lance, "To Kanto,"
Waking up in a hospital room was her favorite thing to do even if she wasn't a patient, Vali had to take a few minutes before her mind remembered what the hell had happened and everything still felt far too fresh. She didn't even know how to tell the boys let alone Delia or Sirius. Getting up very carefully as Lance had begun to use her as his personal teddy bear some time during the night, she left the room and made her way from the medical wing after giving orders to Nazgul and Galadrial to keep an eye on him. She slipped into her rooms for a shower and morning cuddle session with all her pokemon. It was there that Karen discovered her and rather than interrupt, the other woman slipped slowly through the mount of pokemon to join in. Rather than speak, Karen waited patiently for her to break silence.
When she did, Vali only said, "Telling them...how will I do it? I failed to protect him, Karen," She felt her eyes burn as the lingering shame rushed back to the forefront, "He forgives me, but...but how isn't this my fault if-," She gestured around them since Lance wasn't there, "If everything that happened wasn't a result?"
"Because you couldn't predict that it would happen, Puppy," Karen reached out and grabbed Vali's extended hand, "And no one can predict everything no matter how much the psychics may argue it. We just have to work on helping Dragon-boy recover and figure out who did this to punish them,"
"I just-" Vali felt a tear run down her cheek, "I feel so helpless, Karen,"
"I know," Karen curled her fingers around Vali's, "I feel that way more than I'd like especially when it comes to when you've gotten hurt," Vali's eyes widen and she felt her cheeks flush, "But like you always say. We keep moving forward because there isn't going back," The silver haired woman pulled her up, "C'mon, we're eating breakfast. You're going to check on the Dragon one more time and hand over those antsy dragons to him then head back to the boys,"
"But-" Vali started to protest.
"We've got this," Karen tugged Vali behind her as a few snickers started up from the various pokemon, "We might be a bit helpless when it comes to some shit, but taking care of the League is something we can definitely do. So C'mon, we've got food to eat,"
Realizing that Karen wasn't going to let this go, Vali eventually decided to go with the flow and began to smile softly as she shifted her hand to curl around Karen's earning a small smile. That shitty feeling in her chest would stay for a long time, Vali knew that she needed to follow her own advice and keep moving forward. After all, a path once walked would never bear the same steps even those bound in stone. So she would move forward starting with breakfast and a visit to Lance, she'd return to the boys after grabbing everyone that'd be going with her to the Mountain and figure out how to explain her absence if Allen hadn't figured something out.
Walking into the Pokemon Center, Vali grunted as Ash slammed into her with Gary not far behind. She opened her mouth to speak when he about shouted, "Vali, are you alright? Did you get hurt going to help those pokemon?"
Eyes lifting at that, Vali spotted Allen walking up and he asked, "Yeah, Vali, are you alright? Lance did say that the Dragonite leading them was pretty strong despite being peaceful."
Coughing a bit, Vali rubbed the back of her neck while inwardly glad that Allen had covered her ass, "I'm fine. Lance did get a bit beat up because he decided to pull a stupid stunt, but he'll be just fine."
Ash made a small sound as Gary groaned, "So he's not coming back here?"
"No," Vali shook her head making Gary pout a bit.
"Will he really be okay?" Ash asked earning a nod.
"He just needs to be in the hospital for a bit," Vali bent down to pat Ash's shoulder, "But he did get knocked in the head a couple times, the tests were inconclusive, but we found out that he is missing a few memories. Just some recent ones,"
"Oh shit," Gary murmured as Ash gasped, "That's bad..."
"A bit," Vali gave the two a look, "So if you two see him or you're talking, you've got to talk like you haven't seen one another in over a year just to be safe until we've managed to figure things out, alright?"
"Okay," Ash frowned a bit, "Will you need to go back?"
"Oh right," Gary frowned deeply, "You can't exactly travel with us if he's in that condition,"
Vali shook her head, "Lance doesn't want me to miss out on your journey and neither do the others. We decided that I'd pop back every week barring the ones we'll be spending in Mount Moon," She stood up straight, "But when we're in town, I'll probably be making more frequent visits to ensure everything is alright,"
The boys looked between one another before Ash said, "If you're sure...I guess it's alright."
"But if you need to go back, you should," Gary told her firmly earning a soft laugh.
Vali quickly pulled them both into a hug, "I'm glad you two are such amazing little brothers. Now, how about you two get ready for a small training session? Ash, I also want to talk with you about possibly switching out Pidgeotto with one of your other pokemon because we are going into the Mountain..."
As Vali began making her suggestion, they walked deeper into the center with her shooting Allen one last grateful look.
"Memory loss, huh?" Orion shook his head from where he sat against the railing with Allen against his chest, "A poison?"
"Three separate strains with a potion the mixing and concealing agent," Vali sat atop the air conditioner, "There's more, it's was so scattered through his system that they're having trouble piecing it together,"
"Shit," Corri murmured with a pale face, "They gave him a damn cocktail.
"A fucking cocktail that mind controlled him since fucking Hoenn," Vali's fingers clenched into fists around the air conditioners edge, "Because I'm an idiot that decided not-"
"No," Orion barked making Vali scowl at him, "You're no idiot. If I've got to beat the fuck out of you, I will, Miss living fire,"
Vali's scowl deepened before disappearing as she felt the metal between her fingers disappear and grimaced. Snapping her fingers, she repaired the damage and moved to stand while taking a deep breath, "I can't help how I'm feeling-"
"It's valid," Allen raised a hand as everyone opened their mouths, "But Vali, you can't change what happened-"
"I know, I know," Vali roughly ran a hand through her hair, "No taken step can be retraced even through stone for each path has been laid and will only be crossed once, I can only keep moving forward because there are new paths to take," She breathed out and looked at Allen, "I never noticed that something was wrong. I'm...I'm angry and theres nothing I can direct that anger at. It's-"
"Frustrating," Allen moved away from Orion and smirked, "But that's where we come in," He waved a hand around them, "After all, we are just 'travelers' from other regions that don't have a stake,"
Letting out a low laugh, Vali grinned back at Allen as she murmured, "And people wonder where I got my idea for my shadows."
Ash's Team:
1. Pidgeotto
Female
2. Pikachu
Male
3. Blitzle
Female
Gary's Team:
1. Weepinbell
Male
2. Squirtle
Male
3. Spearow
Female
Vali's present team:
1. Balto/ Arcanine
Male
2. Smaug/ Charizard
Male
3. Elrond/ Alolan-Raichu
Male
4. Eowyn/ Houndoom
Female
5. Aragorn/ Vulpix-King-Gene
Male
6. Pele/ Camerupt
Female
7. Celina/ Pidgeot
Female
8. Thorin/ Flareon
Male
9. Arwen/ Rapidash
Female
10. Galadrial/ Chandelure
Female
11. Nazgul/ Gengar-Shiny
Male
12. Irmo/ Pyroar
Male
13. Ortho/ Furret
Male
14. Noldor/ Smeargle
Male
15. Terra/ Tyranitar
Female
16. Empress/ Salamence
Female
17. Idril/ Sandslash-Shiny
Female
18. Pippin/ Luxray
Male
19. Bombur/ Dewgong
Male
20. Balrog/ Magmar
Male
21. Khione/ Aurorus
Female
22. Rosie/ Meganium
Female
23. Balin/ Typhlosion
Male
24. Disa/ Jolteon
Female
25. Absol
Male
26. Noibat
Male