Call's home

"That's wonderful, Vali," Delia beamed at Vali as the fire-type master-in-training explained what was going on in Fuchsia, "It's a shame I can't make you a yukata in time,"

"It's fine," Vali waved off Delia's concern, "I don't really want one right now since I'll likely out grow it with my next growth spurt,"

"True enough," Delia shook her head lightly, "Anyway, are you going to be sending a package home soon?"

"Within the next few days, I want to pick up a few souvenirs before I do," Vali leaned back in the seat and sighed, "I can't believe it's already November. We only have a month and a few weeks before Christmas," It felt like just yesterday she had started out on her journey with Steven, "We've all grown so much in the span of a few months. I mean I've battled my way past four gym leaders and am on my fifth. Smaug's fully evolved alongside Celina. Balto's growing so much stronger. Pikachu is stronger too. Eevee is trusting me and we're becoming closer. Idril's becoming less timid and shy. Arwen's tempering her high energy. Terra is getting stronger every day. The egg is still a bit far from hatching, but soon I'll have a little Vulpix running around as well," Vali ran a hand through her hair, "My family is growing bigger and stronger with each passing day,"

Delia smiled softly, "You're growing too, Vali."

Vali nodded with a tired grin, "Yeah. They're all helping me become stronger and better than before. I'm so glad that I decided to become a trainer. It might be a hard road, but it is fulfilling."

A ding sounded in kitchen and Delia let out a laugh, "I've got to get those cookies out of the oven and then head over to Professor Oak's. I assume you'll be contacting him next?"

"Yeah. I need to tell him about how our trip through Cycling Road went," Vali needed to ask him about the Safari Zone and Pikachu as well.

"Alright, I'll let you go. Have fun with the festival, Vali," Delia told her with a warm smile, "We miss you,"

"I miss you all too," Vali replied before cutting the connection and dialing up the Professor.

Vali's talk with the Professor ran a bit long as they discussed the things she'd noticed about the Cycling Road. The discussion of the Safari Zone ran a bit long as well due to the amount of information that Professor Oak wanted to get. He would send her some funds for multiple trips into the Safari Zone since there was so much he wanted to take a look at. Since she didn't fit the usual requirements Professor Oak had for those that worked under him, the Safari Zone wouldn't think to monitor her more than any other trainer thus allowing her to get as much detail as possible. If any problems were going on that the people running the Safari Zone failed to report, Professor Oak would know once she sent her findings to him and the League would get involved.

Professor Oak yawned a bit, "Well that's about all that I need right now, Vali."

"Professor, I have a request of you," Vali said as she closed the notebook she'd been writing Professor Oak's requests down in, "Would it be possible to place Pikachu on my inactive roster and send him to me? I'm aware that it isn't normally done especially with first year trainers outside of those with a newly hatched pokemon and that the whole Eevee situation is unique. Everyone misses him and I don't want his training to suffer,"

"I see," Professor Oak ran a hand over his face, "Vali, how long would you want him on your inactive roster?"

"Until a few days before we leave Fuchsia," They were planning on staying in Fuchsia for three weeks, "Which means three weeks to a month depending on my gym battle,"

Professor Oak hummed as he turned to the computer that sat beside the monitor, "I suppose I could allow it. Would you like me to do the same for any pokemon you might end up catching in the Safari Zone?"

"Yes, Professor," Vali sighed in relief, "Thank you, Professor,"

"Just promise me that you won't abuse this privilege especially since your trainers license is likely to be suspended if you do," Professor Oak told her sternly, "I'm placing a lot of trust in you, Vali,"

"I know, Professor," Vali swallowed around the lump that formed in her throat, "I won't ever abuse the privilege you're giving me,"

Professor Oak nodded and began to type something on his computer, "It will take me about a day to get everything set up. I'll send a message via Pokedex once everything goes through and I send Pikachu over."

"Understood, Professor," Vali smiled as the lump disappeared, "I won't make you regret this,"

Professor Oak nodded to her, "I'll talk to you later, Vali. You've given me quite a bit to work on."

"Sorry Professor," Vali apologized with a wince, "I'll send my journals to you as soon as possible,"

"It's fine. Enjoy the festival, Vali. Fuchsia is one of the best places to be during the Lantern Festival," Professor Oak waved off her apology, "I'll speak with you again soon,"

The connection cut and Vali took her pokedex from the machine before getting up. She stretched feeling the stiff muscles caused by sitting in one place for too long ache a bit. Grabbing her notebook and pen, she left the private booth she'd chosen and decided to see if any of her pokemon were finished being checked over. Nurse Joy offered her a warm smile, "Ah, Valkyrie. I was about to call for you."

"Call me Vali, please," Vali looked at the pink haired woman curiously, "Is everything okay?"

"At the current moment, everyone is in relatively good health outside of the usual traveling/training exhaustion," Nurse Joy replied easing the minor amount of tension that had developed at Nurse Joy's words, "I'm going to be keeping Smaug until tomorrow due to the small infection I found. While it could have been worse, you did a very good job preventing that,"

"I just did what Professor Oak showed me during my trips to the lab before I set out on my journey," Vali would have to recommend Ash and Gary doing the same things she had since a lot of the stuff ended up being useful, "So other than Smaug's infection, everything else is fine,"

Nurse Joy nodded as she placed the tray of Vali's pokeballs onto the counter, "Yes though I would recommend having your fire-types curl up around your Vulpix egg. Due to how small it is, I think it will need more heat to properly form its inner flame sacks which are developing at the moment."

"For an hour or two every night?" Vali clarified as she opened her notebook and watched Nurse Joy nod before writing it down, "No problem. How much longer do you think it'll take for the egg to hatch,"

"Based on how far it is in its development, I believe you only have a month left before it hatches give or take a few days. Before you leave Fuchsia, I can check it over and give you a better estimation," Nurse Joy replied earning a light grin as she marked that down in the notebook.

"I'll definitely have you check it out before then. Any idea if you can check it's gender just yet?" Vali asked as she took her pokeballs back feeling a bit uneasy without Smaug's pokeball on her belt before taking the incubator as Nurse Joy set it on the counter.

"Not yet, but I should be able to before you leave Fuchsia," Pokemon eggs had to be close to hatching before things like gender could be revealed mostly due to how thick the egg sack around the baby pokemon was.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Vali told the nurse before heading off to her room.

Vali wondered if maybe she should try meditating with the egg and wondered how it would affect the baby inside. For now, she would meditate with the egg close to her, but not actively holding onto it since there was no telling how her inner flame would affect the baby.