Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Harry Potter
BloodyKitsune: Well this chapter came out of left field, I had a few things planned that did happen and a couple others that didn't though I fully blame it on my internet acting funky. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
Reviews: Huh none that have questions that need answered, sooo, onto the story. Remember that anytime you've got a question, I'll answer it right here.
Chapter 23
"Vali," Grace called out to her as Vali walked into the gym for her last training session with the triplets, "Do you have a moment?"
Pausing midstep, Vali nodded as the door swung shut behind her, "Of course, Grace. What's up?"
Gesturing for her to follow, Grace began to walk deeper into the gym. Vali followed after the older woman noting that things had begun to look far less like a contest hall though there were still some elements. They walked up a small set up stairs hidden away in a hallway off to the side and into rather large control booth that had it's door hidden behind a Dewgong poster. Grace took a seat on one of the seat prompting her to slowly started to follow after. Just as she was about to sit down, she noticed that the booth overlooked the inner pool of the gym.
While construction had finally finished, Vali and the triplets hadn't decided to move their training inside as they were finished after this final one. She felt her eyes widen at the sight of Misty standing below in the pools center clearly attempting to train her pokemon. Attempting being the key word, the ginger haired teenager had clearly pushed them and herself to the point of exhaustion multiple times over. The only question was why? She frowned heavily at the sight only to jolt as Grace spoke, "She's been like that since you spoke to her."
"Since-But why?" Vali hadn't expected this.
"Pardon my phrasing, you lit a fire under her ass so to speak," Grace crossed her arms with a sigh, "And as much as I hate to say it, Walter was right," Vali looked at Grace in confusion, "Misty needed to hear what you said no matter how both of us would have preferred it put in a different way. It wouldn't have reached her," The woman sighed and looked down towards her youngest with a sad expression, "While I might give anything to change it, we made more mistakes than I wish to say raising her,"
"Grace-" Vali tried to protest.
Shaking her head, Grace held up a hand, "No, Vali, I can admit when I'm wrong and as much as I love my children...As much as we love our children, we've done wrong by them," she rubbed at her eyes which had started to tear up, "Walter and I always wanted one of the girls to follow our footsteps. The triplets? They've never really wanted to become gym leaders for all that they have the talent for it. Out of all our children, Misty has been the only one who actually wanted it and even then, we messed up by not helping her how she needed it."
"Grace..." Vali hesitated before setting a hand on her shoulder, "You can't blame yourselves..."
"But we have to, Vali," Grace gave Vali a sad look, "While the girls should've said something, we as parents should have noticed something, anything, was wrong. In our carelessness, we hurt them,"
"You're trying to fix things though," Vali hated that she couldn't really help her friend with this kind of thing.
Letting out a soft laugh, Grace patted Vali's hand, "We are." She stood causing Vali's hand to fall away, "But I didn't just call you in here to talk about Misty for all that I thought you'd like to know how she was doing," She nodded lightly, "The triplets are doing well with their training, but we still need to work with them a bit more," Vali raised an eyebrow at Grace, "And I know that you want the boys to have a proper experience with their first year for all that things haven't exactly been going to plan."
"Does it ever?" Vali countered while tilting her head, "So what do you suggest? Not having us come back I hope,"
"Mew no, I wouldn't want to make their journey any rougher," Grace smiled brightly, "How about a repeat of our first battle? The double battle between Steven and You Versus Walter and I? Only the boys will be Walter and I's opponents,"
Cupping her chin, Vali considered that option, "That would make more sense than coming all the way back to Cerulean when the girls are actually ready to battle trainers again," She eyed Grace, "You've been preparing a proper team for this, haven't you?"
"Of course," Grace's smile widened, "So is this a yes?"
"Yes and I'm not even going to tell the boys," Vali grinned as Grace let out a laugh, "After all, they can't always prepare for their opponents especially when it comes to the Conferences. So," She winked at Grace, "Why not start them early?"
"I see you haven't lost your sense of mischief," Grace giggled softly while moving towards the door, "Let's get you down to the triplets while I go pull Misty from her training,"
"Still kind of surprised you're hanging around," Vali commented as she slipped out onto the roof.
"Despite being irritated over the whole Sonezaki situation, I won't miss the boys' gym battle if I'm able to help it," Gold held out his own pack of cigs only to be waved off as Vali produced her own, "Heard about what happened to the kid's father awhile back though didn't know it was that bad,"
"Yeah," Vali's lips pulled back into a grimace even as she tapped out a cig and lit it up.
Gold was quiet for a bit before asking, "So is it really a sickness or did someone fuck around?" Vali coughed sharply as the smoke went into her lungs the wrong way, "After all, people get sick and things take a turn quick a lot though for him to still be lingering on that threshold..."
"Fuck," Vali felt like she was coughing a lung, "You're an ass, but," She breathed out a breath of smoke, "You might be onto something,"
"Especially with what happened to our newest champion," Gold snorted at Vali's sharp look, "You have your resources and we have ours. Don't forget who we are, Kiddo,"
Rolling her eyes, Vali leaned against the railing, "Hard to fucking forget," She rubbed her right shoulder where a slash from one of Silver's knives, "Where is Silver by the way? I would have thought he'd be rushing to Kanto at the thought of finally getting the chance to dig up dirt on his dear old Dad."
If there was one thing Vali still had trouble believing, it was that Giovanni of all people was related to a dex holder. Not just anyone, Silver of all people was apparently related to the bastard. Gold let out a low snicker, "Oh trust me, he's around though I doubt he'll be revealing himself any time soon. Not when there's things to do," He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thumb drive, "Like this."
Eyeing the drive, Vali didn't immediately reach for it. Despite the fact that she trusted Gold not to reveal important information to anyone outside of the other Dex Holders, she didn't trust him to not give her something that may fuck something over in the future. She raised an eyebrow at Gold, "What's on it?"
"Even if we've sworn to stay out of things for the most part and let the newer generations take care of shit, we aren't above stacking things in our favor," Gold waggled the drive in his hand, "Green dug this up with Blue,"
"That doesn't answer my question," Vali slowly took the drive since she trusted Green to a greater extent than Gold mostly because the woman wouldn't screw over someone Gary cared about.
Looking more than a little amused, Gold tossed his cig onto the ground and stamped it out, "Why don't you check it out? All you need to know is that Green and Blue went for a very interesting walk."
Eyes narrowed at the man, Vali pursed her lips as Gold headed back into the Pokemon Center. Elrond spoke as she looked at the thumb drive, "What are you planning on doing?"
"Letting this just sit isn't something I want to do," Vali clicked her tongue, "And it won't give us answers. On the flip side, I loathe letting Gold lead me around by my nose," She took a deep drag of her cig, "Tomorrow is the boys' big day. We can't be fucking around," She inwardly groaned, "Calling Green or Blue won't work, they're probably in the middle of something,"
"So?" Elrond eyed her.
"Fuuuck," Vali tossed down her cig and stamped it out, "We're going to the Plateau and seeing what the fuck is on this thing,"
Calling for her usual psychic transport, Vali was whisked away to the Indigo Plateau in moments. Darting up the stairs that led from the transport area, she ducked and dodged around those that were lingering inside the halls at this late hours. She soon reached the computer room where the IT techs were working practically non-stop and slipped inside with a swipe of her dex. Heading over to her favorite, she slid into the vacant seat beside the woman who was practically slumped over her keyboard, "Kitty."
"Erg," Came the groan as the purple haired woman slowly shifted about, "Vi? What're you doing here?"
"I got a present for you," Vali produced the thumb drive from her pocket, "Don't know what's on it, I don't trust the person that gave it to me, but they got it from someone I trust apparently,"
Letting out another groan as she shifted into a proper sitting position, Kitty turned revealing bright orange eyes. She rubbed at her neck with a yawn, "And you thought to bring it here? Why not have Balin check it out?"
"Cause he's busy doing something for me and if this is what I'm hoping it might be," Vali would be very irritated if it wasn't, "My present will be a very good present indeed," Kitty frowned at her, "I'll even get you your favorite coffee and energy drinks. The expensive ones,"
"Fine," Kitty held out her hand and Vali handed over the drive, "This is definitely going to have a decent bit of data, it's not an expensive brand, but it's one that lets the user store a lot of data," She typed things into the computer and made it flash a bit before finally plugging in the drive, "I'll take two cases of Vaporeon Crush and three bags of Komalalola,"
"Can I steal a can?" Vali asked earning a snort.
"Sure though I thought you preferred Flareon Drive?" Kitty began typing out a mess of code as screens began appearing on the computer screen.
As Vali took out her Pokenav to put in the order, she admitted, "That was for a sponsorship, it tastes okay, but I much prefer Vaporeon Crush. Thorin loves the Flareon Drive though which is why I keep getting the cases."
"Huh, I never kne-" Kitty sucked in a harsh breath, "Mother of Mew and Son of Arceus, you weren't kidding,"
Raising an eyebrow, Vali looked at the computer and frowned as she tried to decipher what was on it. It took a bit of time before she was able to make out even half of what was rushing past. Eyes widening, she muttered a curse, "Those are-"
"Whoever you got this drive from found something big, Vi," Kitty's computer beeps as it suddenly stopped on a file and opened revealing what looked to be a dna sequence, "Wait, that-" She scrolled through the file carefully, "This is-" she slumped back with a wide eyed look, "They-Whoever found this thing, they did it, Vali,"
"Did what?" Vali glanced between the computer and Kitty for a few moments.
"I need to send this file to the doctors," Kitty told Vali earning a wide eyed look, "This is the exact thing they poisoned Lance with, Vi. You-" She shook her head, "Of course you managed it, the luck you've got," She typed rapidly as Vali slumped into her seat feeling shock course through her veins, "Once I send this off, they can finally start figuring out how to properly treat him other than the stop-gap method they've been using,"
"I-shit," Vali's head tilted back, "I...wow..."
Looks like she was going to be sending Green and Blue a thank you present as well as giving Gold something to say thank you, Vali mentally grinned. She shook her head as Kitty cracked her knuckles, "Now, I am going to start looking through this and see what else is in here. You sticking around?"
"For a little while though I'll have to leave soon, the boys have their second gym battle tomorrow," Vali finished setting up Kitty's order, "And your order's in. It should be delivered by tomorrow morning,"
"Sweet," Kitty grinned brightly, "Now let's start digging into this shit,"
Walking downstairs as he rubbed at his eyes, Ash yawned as he tried to push away the lingering tug of sleep that still tried to pull at him. Pikachu was slumped across his shoulders and let out low sounds that told him the mouse wasn't far off from falling back asleep. Wandering into the Cafeteria, he waved to Gold and Brock before making a beeline for the line. It took only a few minutes to grab his and his pokemon's breakfast before he headed over to where the two were settled. Letting out his team, he sat down once they were all settled with their bowls. Brock spoke as he drowsily began eating, "No Gary?"
"He'll be out soon. Ziggy got a bit sick this morning," Ash felt a bit bad for Gary though it was his best friends own fault, "He let her have sugar last night and it didn't sit well,"
"Oof," Gold clicked his tongue, "Considering the meds she's on right now, I can bet she's definitely not feeling her best. At the very least, it won't cause any actual damage," He eyed Ash, "You didn't stay to help him out?"
"I only made sure Ziggy was cleaned up and got some water into her system," Ash shrugged lightly, "While normally I would've stayed around, I knew that she'd be alright considering..." He let his eyes go to Electrike before slipping back over to Gold earning a light nod, "With Ziggy being Gary's, she's his responsibility and with what you've all been teaching us over the years..."
"True enough," Gold waved him off.
Ash took a bite of his oatmeal as Brock asked, "Speaking of teaching over the years, where is Vali? She's usually up earlier than any of us."
Jerking a bit at that, Ash began looking around and even extended his senses to see if he could find his older sister. Feeling a bolt of panic when she wasn't even within the Pokemon Center, he frowned heavily though had to wonder if she'd just stepped out into the city early this morning. After all, he couldn't extend his aura sense past the Pokemon Center and it's training grounds without meditating just yet. Gold spoke as his thoughts began to spiral just a bit, "Guess that answers my question," He looked at the man with a frown, "I gave Vali a...Let's just say it was an interesting bit of information, I didn't know whether she would actually look into it though seeing as we don't fully trust one another."
"Huh?" Brock and Ash looked at Gold in shock.
That was the first Ash had heard of such a thing, Vali had never mentioned any of the dex holds not being fully trusted by her. Shrugging his shoulders as he ran a hand through his shaggy black hair, Gold leaned back against his chair, "Guess we never really did mention that, huh," He hummed lightly while looking at Ash, "Look, Kid, it's more of a...well, I can't really say why because of where we are, but let's just say the reason deals with the past."
"The past...?" Ash frowned slightly for all of a minute before his mind conjured up the likely answer and he sucked in a harsh breath, "Oh..."
So the Legendaries had a hand in why neither Gold nor Vali trusted one another? Ash didn't understand it though he knew there were a lot of things that he didn't know about the original Dex holders. But it was about time he found out or close to it, he had pokemon now and his own pokedex. He frowned a bit as Gold nodded, "Whatever you're thinking right now is probably hitting the nail on the head," The man turned his head and smirked, "Aw, did a baby pokemon puke on you, Gare-bare?"
"Fuck you," Gary grumbled at Gold as he stomped over to the table carry his food.
"Ouch and here I thought you loved me," Gold snickered while shifting a bit to dodge the fist aimed for his arm, "Easy, Kiddo, I'm just playing around. So you know better now about giving a little one sugar? Well, not natural sugar?"
Rolling his eyes, Gary nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I kind of already knew it, but Ziggy just gave me those puppy dog eyes and I couldn't really resist, ya know."
"Yeah, I do," Gold smiled softly, "It's hard with baby pokemon. They're so damn cute that you just want to give them the world even though their systems can't really handle it,"
Gary plopped down, "But I'll try to do better-" He paused and glanced around, "Huh, I thought Vali would've been scolding me by now. She not here?"
"Nope. Pretty sure she's looking into something I gave her last night," Gold picked up his cup of coffee.
Gary let out a whistle, "Hope she got some sleep otherwise she'll be sleep deprived today."
"Poor baby," Gold rolled his eyes, "Anywho, you two ready for your gym battles? They're after two today, right?"
"Yeah," Ash felt that bolt of anxiety from last night rear its ugly head once more, "We're more than ready,"
"Can't wait!" Gary grinned brightly though it dimmed, "Uh...Should someone call Vali? Remind her of our match?"
"Eh, I'm pretty sure she's got an alarm or something for it," Gold waved them off, "She'll be there,"
Ash shared a look with Gary though didn't open his mouth to argue.
Rubbing at her eyes as she moved away from the computer screen and grabbed another can of Vaporeon Crush, Vali grinned slightly, "This was more than worth it, we've got more confirmation on the Rocket plans than I expected to get for the next couple months. Even if some of it might've changed with Ariana captured, it'll still work in our favor. We'll be able to start hitting bases in both Johto and Kanto."
"Not to mention start cracking down on the damn poaching rings properly," Kitty stretched out, "I'll keep digging in since there is bound to be more that we can use. Even when this thing starts to become obsolete, we'll still have things we can do with it,"
Humming in agreement, Vali checked her pokenav and sighed in relief though mentally cursed at the fact she'd stayed up the entire night, "Good, I've still got three hours before the boys' match. I'm going to go check in on Lance and see how he's doing. You good?"
"Yup," Kitty waved her off, "I'm going to go get some actual food and crash for a bit before taking another crack at this damn thing," She took out the drive, "This puppy is coming with me even if we sent a copy of this over to your Typhlosion, I ain't risking it going missing,"
Waving her off, Vali chuckled as they began leaving the computer room together, "You're good. I expect nothing less," She pulled open the door and let Kitty open before following her, "I-Shit."
There was utter chaos outside the computer room as League employees rushed about with high ranking Ace Trainers and Rangers joining them, it was like a combee and Beedrill hive had exploded inside of a Durant colony. Kitty shoved herself against Vali's side as she hissed, "The fuck is going on?"
"No idea," Vali lashed out a hand and grabbed someone, "Oi, what the fuck is going on?"
"Let me-Oh!" The ranger she'd grabbed quickly fell into an awkward salute and flushed furiously as he looked at Vali, "Elite Potter-Black, I didn't see you, Ma'am-"
"Cut the crap and tell me what is going on," Vali's eyes narrowed as she felt a faint headache bubble up.
While she'd normally feel a small amount of regret for speaking this way to anyone underneath her, the lack of sleep and sheer unneeded chaos was not helping Vali keep her regular composure. Clearing his throat, the ranger quickly explained, "Champion Lance gave us orders, Elite Potter-Black. New information has come out and he wants us to prepare things to utilize it."
Mentally facepalming, Vali inwardly groaned since Lance shooting the gun especially since he wasn't healed just yet told her he was definitely feeling better than before. Whatever the doctors were doing, it had definitely improved his mood. She released the ranger, "Go and do your duties, I thank you for the information."
"Yes, Ma'am," The ranger saluted her quickly before scampering off.
"Guess that means the doctors are starting Lance's treatment," Kitty muttered dryly earning a snort.
"No doubt," Vali shook her head, "I've got an idiot to go reel in. Have fun eating actual food,"
"I will," Kitty slipped off into the crowd carefully with a Mismagius following after her.
Moving through the crowds, Vali steadily made her way towards Lance's rooms and twitched a bit as she saw several Rangers in a row leaving them in a hurry. Grabbing the door before it could close, she entered it and let the thing slam shut behind her as she took in the sight of her friend. For the first time since finding the poison, Lance was on his feet and pacing by the windows with Diaval matching his steps. Not only that, Primo and Alumo were also in the room watching their trainer though they seemed more amused than the elder of the three Dragonites. Crossing her arms as Lance barked out, "Karen, we need to send out three teams of Ace Trainers to Celadon-"
"How about no?" Vali cut in and watched Lance's back stiffen while Alumo let out a soft coo and immediately rushed over to hug her, "Dragon boy, I get wanting to rush in now that we've got the information, but using it immediately will only render everything useless,"
"Vali!" Lance spun around to grin at her as she hugged the smallest of his Dragonite and rubbed between the only female's antenna gently, "I didn't know you were here,"
"Who else would have the luck to come across this kind of bullshit?" Vali asked while gently pushing away Alumo, "But seriously, Dragon boy, I mean it. You need to calm the fuck down if we're actually going to use the information I found,"
"But Vali-" Lance started as his lips pulled into a frown.
Shaking her head, Vali pulled out her pokenav and clicked over to the page that she'd outline every part of her plan so far before tossing it to Lance, "That is my plan, Lance. Considering what I've done involving the Rockets so far and the successes I've managed, are you planning to go against it?"
"I-Shit," Lance moved to sit down as Diaval happily wrapped his arms around the man's shoulders, "This is...Fuck, you really planned for everything around this new information?"
"As it came out," Vali confirmed as she crossed her arms, "Lost an entire nights worth of sleep over it, I've still got a lot of work to do with those plans especially as more information comes out. Both from this new information source and my old ones,"
Lance scrolled through her pokenav for a little bit longer before nodding, "Alright, I...Yeah, I've got to call certain things off. Some of this, I've already started with even if it was accidental."
Both of them looked towards the door as it opened revealing Will and Karen, they both looked a bit startled to see Vali. Will grinned brightly, "Vali! Joining in?"
"Convincing this one to actually follow a plan," Vali walked over to where Lance was sitting and stole her pokenav back, "Otherwise we'll be back to square one within weeks if not days,"
Lance pouted at her while Karen snickered and Will shook his head in amusement. Karen looked at Lance, "Want me to start calling everyone back?"
"Most of them, I want Harrison's squad, Blake's squad, and Furret squad to continue what they're doing though ask them to proceed with more caution," Lance told Karen earning a nod, "I also want all heads of the Ranger Union and Ace Ops to come here. If we're going through with Vali's plan, I want to ensure it,"
"Will do," Karen and Will waved while moving to leave.
"Vali," Lance spoke once they left, "Will you stay for the meeting?"
Vali hesitated a bit, "How long will it be? The boys have their gym battle today."
"Thankfully all the heads are in today so it shouldn't take too long for them to gather," Lance frowned a bit, "It shouldn't take more than a few hours, but I can't guarantee it. Vali...I need you here there as much as I hate to pull you away from them,"
"I..." Vali sighed heavily as her fingers clenched into a fist, "I knew this might happen at some point and so did the boys even if we never really wanted it to happen," She nodded to Lance, "I'll stay and hope that this meeting won't drag too long,"
There were only two thoughts running through her mind, the main one thought about the fact that at least she hadn't missed the boys' first gym battle. And if she did miss this battle, she wondered over how she'd make this up to them.
Walking towards the Cerulean city gym, Ash couldn't stop himself from scanning the area around them as Vali hadn't showed up even as it got close to the time they needed to depart for the Gym. But no matter how close they got, she never appeared even on the edge of his sense. He felt his stomach drop just a bit even as Pikachu nuzzled into his cheek and Electrike nudge his leg. He bent down to pat Electrike's head as Gary leaned over to whisper, "Any sign?"
"No," Ash whispered back as his eyes flickered towards where Gold was leading the way to the Gym, "Any idea what he could've given her?"
Shaking his head, Gary's lips pulled into a firm frown, "No, I just...No."
With that question still hanging in the air, they made it to the Cerulean city Gym and Gold pulled the door open with a grin. Grace met them with a gentle smile that slipped a bit as she scanned the group, "Ah, no Vali today?"
"Ah, she's probably going to be a bit late today," Gold replied in a light tone, "Though thankfully the boys aren't, right?"
"True," Grace shook her head before looking at Ash and Gary, "Now, I know that you two have been preparing for a battle against at least one of the triplets, right?" Ash and Gary shared a look while nodding to Grace, "Well, my husband and I wish to let them train a little bit more. It would be disappointing if they weren't up to snuff as gym leaders when they battled you,"
"So we aren't getting our battle today?" Gary asked with a grimace, "That bites,"
"Actually," Grace grinned lightly, "A few days ago, I spoke with Vali and we decided it would be in rather poor taste to let you leave Cerulean without a proper gym battle," Ash perked up with Gary though he narrowed his eyes, "And as your sister is a dear friend of ours, my husband and I decided that we would give you that battle,"
"Seriously?" Gary grinned brightly, "Ash, did you hear that? We both get to fight one of the old gym leaders-"
"No, we don't," Ash crossed his arms, "We're battling them in a double battle," He stared right at Grace, "Aren't we?"
Grace let out a soft laugh and nodded as Gary sucked in a sharp breath, "Vali wasn't kidding about you being quick on the uptake at times. Yes, you two will be battling us in a double battle. If you decide not to go through with it, you can always come back to Cerulean another time though with your travel plans that might be a bit hard."
"I-Ash?" Gary looked at Ash with a frown, "What should we do? We've never really double battled together outside of the practices Vali had us do and that was awhile ago,"
"I know," Ash cupped his chin, "Let me..." He paused before looking at Pikachu, "Pikachu," He bent down and his eyes met Electrike, "Electrike," Pikachu hopped down to stand beside Electrike and gave Ash a curious look, "What do you two think? Pikachu, you've never really been in a double battle while Electrike, you've seen Pidgeotto do it a few times. So...What do you two think?"
Pikachu shrugged while letting out a few coos before gesturing to Electrike. Electrike began barking and pawing at the ground as his tail wagged. Pikachu's head tilted as the electric dog explained what a double battle entaled. Slowly Pikachu nodded to Electrike and let out a low sound before looking at Ash with a determined expression, he held out a paw as Electrike nodded. Together the two cried out, "Battle."
Nodding to them, Ash held out an arm to Pikachu who hopped back onto his shoulder, "Alright," He looked at Gary, "We're willing to give it a try though," He looked over at Grace, "What would the terms be?"
"Each of us will use two pokemon," Grace explained earning a nod, "Otherwise the rules are the same as any gym battle barring the fact that we're in a water-type gym, we will not be stopping the battle if the floating islands are destroyed,"
"Alright," Ash gave Gary a look, "We're fine with it. Are you?"
"I...If it's only two pokemon each, it does make things a bit better and we'd be helping each other out," Gary cupped his chin, "Part of me doesn't like the idea of possibly relying on you for anything though it could be vice versa," He tilted his head back, "But if we don't do this, we won't have another chance for weeks or months not to mention we'd have to deal with other challenges once we finally do get the chance," He groaned, "This is really our best chance, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Ash gave Gary an encouraging smile, "'sides, we can always try again,"
"True though I doubt we'll lose even if we're not facing one of the triplets," Gary grinned slightly, "Alright, I think I'm okay with this. But," He looked at Grace, "Nothing not on our gym badge level, alright? I get that you two were gym leaders, but you've been out of the game for what? Two years or close to it," He crossed his arms, "I like the idea of sparring against Vali's pokemon, but neither of us want to fight an actual team member for a gym leader right now,"
Letting out a laugh, Grace shook her head, "Trust me, we wouldn't dream of it. I think only Vali has ever been willing to face a Gym Leader's actual team within her first year," Ash and Gary both gave the woman wide eyed looks, "If you two win, I'll give you the story,"
"Definitely need to win this!" Ash and Gary chorus earning peals of laughter from Grace.
Waving them over to follow her, Grace said, "C'mon then, we've got a battle to start. Gold, Brock, you two will be sitting in the stands with everyone else. I hope you're fine with that."
"Sure thing," Gold shrugged as Brock let out a low sound of agreement.
As they followed Grace into the Gym's anteroom where the battle's were held, Ash's stomach twisted as he saw that Vali still wasn't present though he forced himself to focus on the matter at hand. Gold and Brock separated from them after they entered the anteroom, the two quickly settled in the stands as Ash and Gary moved towards the trainer's platform which was clearly built to hold two people. Taking his place beside Gary, he spoke softly, "No matter what happens even if Vali doesn't show up, I know we'll win this."
"Yeah," Gary nodded as he held out a hand and Ash clasped it in his own, "Besides if we do win this with Vali not here, we can always get her to buy us a TM or two,"
Snickering softly, Ash shook his head while turning to face Grace and Walter as he pushed down his anxiety. Even if they weren't facing the triplets, they could do this.
Ash's Team:
1. Pidgeotto
Female
2. Electrike
Male
3. Pikachu
Male
4. Blitzle
Female
5. Clefairy
Male
Gary's Team:
1. Weepinbell
Male
2. Squirtle
Male
3. Spearow
Female
4. 'Ziggy'/ Galarian Zigzagoon
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