Decisions

Sirius woke up the day after Vali's first conversation with Professor Oak though he was too weak to move. After making sure Vali was alright, Sirius had spent time speaking with Oak both about their world and the new world they'd found themselves in. Daisy spent time introducing Vali to various pokemon around the Professor's lab though Vali's personal favorites were the fire types. They were so warm and she felt a connection to them though she couldn't really explain it. Growlithe was a constant companion alongside Daisy when the female Oak wasn't helping take care of her two year old brother. It was about two days after Sirius woke up that the other person that had found them came to the Oak residence with her two year old son.

Vali was cuddling Growlithe as Daisy played with her younger brother, Gary. Gary was kind of sweet though he seemed a bit jealous of Vali for being so close to Growlithe. The TV was broadcasting the latest news in Hoenn region's contest circuit. Vali could see the appeal of contests though admitted she liked pokemon battles a bit more. Daisy looked up as the doorbell rang, "I'll go get it. Gary, Stay."

Daisy got up and rushed towards the door as Gary walked over to the couch. Gary pulled himself up and reached towards Growlithe. The puppy pokemon blinked at Gary before yipping and padding over to the toddling child. Vali watched the boy with a slight smile as she asked, "Gary, what's your favorite pokemon?"

"Growlithe," The boy answered as he hugged the puppy pokemon, "I love his evolved form Arcanine too,"

After meeting Professor Oak's Arcanine, Vali could understand. Vali looked back at the screen as it showed a reply of a rising star in the contest circuit. Daisy soon returned with a woman following after her. Vali took her eyes off the screen to look at the woman as Daisy spoke, "Miss Ketchum, this is Vali. She the kid-"

"You're alright!" Vali flinched at how loud the brown haired woman's voice was before finding herself being pulled into a tight hug.

Vali stiffened at the contact before beginning to try and push away from the woman. Panic at the surprising touch filled her as she found herself trapped causing a whine to slip from her lips. Vali found herself across the room as a loud pop sounded. Ignoring the feeling of her stomach rebelling and her sudden tiredness, Vali ran from the room as fast as possible as memories of the last time an adult had gotten that close to her when she was last this age. By the time her panic began to fade and she fell to her knees to puke up the food she'd eaten, Vali found herself in the indoor fire-type enclosure Professor Oak had. As she finished puking, she heard a whine and turned her head to find Arcanine standing there with a few other fire types. She stumbled to her feet as she murmured, "I'm sorry for startling you."

Black spots invaded her vision as she began to topple over.

Delia looked up at Professor Oak as he placed a cup of tea in her hands, "I didn't think I'd startle her. I just wanted to express how glad I was that she was okay..."

"I know, Delia," Professor Oak sighed deeply as he sat down across from her, "But from what Alakazam could glean from the memories of her childhood, the reaction she had was justified. Give her time,"

"I'll try," Delia flinched as she remembered the fear filled eyes that had stared at her before the girl had darted from the room like a frightened Rattata, "I just...Professor, she looked so scared,"

Professor Oak took a sip of his tea, "To be honest, Delia. I think the fact she ended up transporting to another world so diffrent from her own just after facing creatures that could have eaten her soul is hitting her. The fact she was deaged to seven years old isn't helping."

Delia closed her eyes and drank some tea before asking, "What do we do?"

"For now, she needs to get an understanding of the world around her and be introduced to new things slowly," Professor Oak began as he leaned back against his seat, "She needs to be around Sirius as well. He's the only staple from her former world other than their wands,"

Delia nodded slowly, "Do you think that if I took things slow that she wouldn't react badly?"

Professor Oak nodded slowly, "Yes, but don't try to touch her. Treat her like an abused pokemon only less volatile."

"Is that why you allow Growlithe to stay with her?" Delia asked earning a nod from the pokemon professor.

"It's also due to the fact Growlithe likes her," Professor Oak replied with a small smile.

Vali and Sirius stayed with Professor Oak for the rest of winter learning about this new world. Sirius spent much of his time speaking with league officials and doing most of the tests Professor Oak had. Delia was a constant and Vali slowly warmed up to her. Vali did have to go through some tests, but they weren't too bad especially since she got to meet more pokemon. When spring came, Sirius and Vali were granted identification for this world with Kanto listed as their home region and Pallet Town their home. Sirius didn't like the idea of capturing pokemon, but wanted to work with them. The Kanto sect of the ranger union offered to allow him to join them and he took the offer at Vali's prompting. He was given a Houndour as a partner and began training to become an effective ranger.

Delia offered to take Vali into her home and with a bit of reluctance, the witch accepted knowing that Sirius would feel better about it. Delia made sure that Vali felt at home with her and didn't attempt to act like Vali's mother. She was patient and let Vali move at her own pace which allowed the displaced witch to get comfortable. With Vali's interest in pokemon and the young girl needing to catch up to those in her age group, Delia taught Vali when she didn't have to be at her restaurant before dropping her off with Ash at the Oak residence. Sirius had done a spell to figure out their ages a bit after they'd arrived and they had discovered that Vali was eight and Sirius was 30.

Life was better than ever and Vali could honestly say that she was thankful for what had happened. About a year after they arrived, Vali and Sirius discovered that their wands no longer functioned though they could still use their magic even if it was harder. Vali took apart her wand with the help of Professor Oak and created a necklace out of the phoenix feather that had been it's core. Sirius merely kept Remus' wand as a memento to his old friend in a case that he always carried with him. Vali loved Sirius' Houndour which the man had named Regulus though the man hadn't said why he'd chosen that specific name. Regulus loved Vali and spent most of the time when Sirius was in Pallet town with Vali alongside Growlithe whenever the puppy pokemon managed to get out of Professor Oak's lab to find her.

Everyone was gathered at the Oak families dinning room two month's before Vali's tenth birthday eating dinner. Daisy looked at Vali curiously, "Hey, Vali. What are you going to do when you turn ten?"

"Oh, right!" Delia snapped her fingers, "You're turning ten in two months."

"Do I have to do something?" Vali asked in confusion putting down her fork.

"Well, you have managed to catch up with your age group fairly quickly," Professor Oak said looking at the witch with a slight smile, "The only thing you're missing at the moment is a bit of technical and practical knowledge,"

Sirius spoke as Vali fidgeted slightly at the attention, "Pup, what do you want to do?"

Vali frowned as she thought about it, "I think I want to become a trainer, but I don't think I want to travel alone with just a pokemon. Or at least, not at first. But I don't know how I can get a traveling partner since most of the other kids around my age don't really want to become trainers or don't really like me."

Sirius frowned at her words, "They don't like you?"

"They think I'm odd especially since I've only recently started going to classes with them," Vali's nose scrunched up, "Not to mention, most of them are immature,"

Professor Oak spoke after a few moments, "I might have a solution for your problem, Vali," Everyone looked at the Professor save for the two three almost four year olds, "The pokemon leagues of Hoenn and Kanto are trying to increase the amount of skilled trainers for each league. To do so, they're offering trainers that place within the top ten of the conferences a chance to travel to another region. I won't go into many details other than the trainer that accept are being given a few perks such as an increased limit of the pokemon they're allowed to carry, a starter from the region they're traveling to, and some extra money on their trainer account," Professor Oak looked pleased about it, "One of the trainers will be arriving a day after your birthday and might be willing to travel with you. From what I've seen and heard about him, he's a rather pleasant young man with a powerful team."

Sirius had looked okay with the idea until he heard the word man. He went to say something only for Delia to elbow him before she turned to Vali, "I think that would be a nice idea, Vali."

"I don't know..." Vali frowned slightly.

"How about this," Delia smiled at her in encouragement, "We get you ready to go on your journey and on the day the young man arrives, you meet him. If you don't like him, you don't travel with him and wait until you feel ready to travel alone. If you like him and get along with him, you start your journey with him,"

Vali thought about it before saying, "Alright."

Delia beamed at Vali making the young witch's chest feel warm. Vali slowly smiled back before looking at Daisy as the girl asked, "So what starter do you want?"

"I want a fire type," Vali decided earning a snort from Sirius and amused looks from the other adults, "A Charmander though I kind of want to go to Johto at some point to get a Cyndaquil," Vali smiled as she thought of the fire mouse pokemon, "I really like them,"

"Do you want to become a fire-type master, Vali?" Professor Oak asked her with a raised eyebrow.

Vali flushed while shaking her head, "No. I love fire types, but I like a lot of diffrent pokemon too."

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh and said, "Well, I can tell you that fire types definitely love you."

As if agreeing with his statement, Growlithe entered the dinning room and got onto Vali's lap earning a few laughs from the table. Vali scratched behind the puppy pokemon's ears with a soft smile.

A few days before Vali turned ten, Ash walked into the room Delia had gifted her. She was getting her bag prepared for her journey, but paused when she spotted Ash. Looking at the little boy she often helped Daisy watch, Vali asked, "What's up, Ash?"

"You're really going to become a pokemon trainer?" Ash asked her curiously earning a nod, "Why?"

The question struck a cord in Vali and she actually thought about why she wanted to become a trainer. She resumed putting her things into her bag, "For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to travel. Back in my old world, it was a way to become free. Here, I want to see what this world has to offer and maybe see if I can find out just how Sirius and I ended up here. I also want to see how far I can go and what kind of pokemon I'll end up getting on my team."

"Will you come back?" Ash asked her curiously.

"Of course," Vali was baffled about why Ash would even ask that, "Why wouldn't I?"

Ash flushed slightly as he said, "Because you never call this place your home."

Vali put down the shirt she had been folding and looked at Ash, "Ash just because I've never said it out loud doesn't mean that Pallet town isn't home."

"What if you find someplace else you want to live?" Ash asked with a frown.

Vali's eyebrows pinched together at that question, "Even if I do, I'll still come back. What's wrong, Ash?"

"I don't want you to leave," Ash admitted after a few moments, "I want you to stay here with mom and I,"

Smiling softly at Ash, Vali reached out and pulled him into a hug, "Ash, I can't stay here forever since there's a big world out there with so many things to offer. When you turn ten, you'll understand and want to leave too. It's a part of growing up."

"I don't wanna grow up," Ash muttered earning a soft laugh from Vali.

Vali shook her head lightly. She glanced at her bag and said, "Ash, how about I make you a promise?" He looked at her curiously, "When you turn ten and become a trainer, I'll be your traveling partner. In the mean time, you have to study hard and be good for your mom."

"You'll really travel with me?" Ash asked with wide eyes earning a nod.

"I'll even give you a pokemon," Vali promised earning a grin, "But, in order for me to give you a pokemon, you have to do well when you start going to school, okay? If you do that, I'll give you a pokemon,"

"Promise?" Ash asked earning a nod.

"Pinkie promise," Vali held up a hand and Ash linked their pinkies, "Now, I need to continue packing,"

"You still have a few days before you're going to start your journey if you like the person Professor Oak talked about," Ash protested earning a laugh from Vali.

She picked up her shirt again and began folding it, "If I pack now, I can make sure I have everything I need. I also have this list," Vali finished folding the shirt and put it into her bag before picking up the list, "Everything Professor Oak, your mom, Sirius, and the message boards say any good trainer needs is on here. The pokemon food and the trainer meals will wait until the day before I go on my journey so that I can make sure they're as fresh as possible."

"Aren't trainer meals icky?" Ash asked with a scrunched up nose.

Vali thought about the simple meals. They were kind of like granola bars from her old world only bigger than the thin bars she remembered. They were specifically created by the Pokemon Leagues to make sure a trainer could stay healthy while outside of populated areas. They were somewhat bland, but not as bad as some of the things she'd eaten before. Vali shook her head, "While they're a bit bland, they aren't the worst possible thing you could eat. I read on one of the message boards that you can make them taste better with honey, berry juice, moo moo milk, or pieces of berry. Professor Oak let me try one a few days ago."

"Do you think he'd let me try one?" Ash asked her curiously.

Vali thought about it before shaking her head, "I don't think so. They're meant for older kids and adults rather than kids around your age."

Ash pouted making Vali laugh earning a scowl and elbow to her side. Vali caught him around the waist and began tickling him earning shrieks of laughter from the boy. Vali looked up as Delia asked, "What is going on here? Ash, you should be asleep."

"I wanted to see what Vali was doing," Ash said as Vali stopped tickling him.

"He was pouting," Vali replied earning a smile from Delia.

"You should go get ready for bed," Delia advised earning a pout from Ash.

Ash put up some protest, but eventually left. Vali smiled softly as she watched him go before turning back to her packing while feeling glad about the technological advances this world had. There was no way people could pack enough food to last a month for not only a human being, but multiple pokemon especially if said pokemon had monstrous appetites. Noticing that Delia hadn't left, Vali asked, "Is something wrong?"

"You've grown a lot since you came to this world," Delia said making Vali flush a bit, "Seeing you getting ready to go on your journey just makes it more evident,"

"Everyone has to grow up sometime," Vali commented before saying, "Thank you...for everything. I know it can't be easy to look after a kid like me along with Ash even if Sirius is sending money to help out. I know that I caused a lot of trouble back during those first few months..."

"I would do it all over again," Delia told Vali as she walked into the room, "You're an amazing person, Vali. I'm just glad that I got to see you become this person,"

Vali smiled softly as she looked down at the shirt in her hands, "It's strange to think that so much could have changed since Sirius and I arrived."

Delia wrapped Vali in a hug and the girl only stiffened for a few moment before accepting the warm embrace. Closing her eyes, she wondered not for the first time if her mother would have acted like Delia if they'd lived in the pokemon world rather than the wizarding world. Delia pulled away after a few moments and looked at Vali seriously, "Vali, you're always welcome in this home. It's as much yours as it is Ash's and mine. No matter what."

With stinging eyes, Vali replied, "I-I know."

"Now, I've got to get Ash in bed. Do you want me to come help you pack?" Delia asked and after a moment of hesitation, Vali agreed, "Good. I want to take a look at your list to see if I can add anything. While I wasn't much of a trainer, I do know some of the things you'll need,"