Journey to Mount Moon

"Smaug use Dual Claw!" Vali called out.

It was their last day in Pewter and Vali wanted to give Smaug a bit more practice with his dual Metal Claws. Dual Claw was what they were calling the technique. It might not be the best name, but it was one they both agreed on. The Geodude that Smaug was battling let out a cry of pain before fainting. Smaug turned to her with a smirk and she grinned at him as the trainer they had been battling groaned, "Damn it."

"Nicely done, Smaug," Vali told Smaug making his smirk widen a bit.

She turned to their opponent as he walked over and held out the money she'd won, "Thanks for the battle. You two are really good."

"Thanks though Smaug did most of the work," Vali took the money, "Your Geodude was a lot quicker than we expected. I doubt we would've won if Smaug wasn't as fast as he is,"

The kid smiled, "I guess. Nice meeting you, Vali."

"You as well, Travis," Vali replied and he headed off to the pokemon center, "You really did a good job, Smaug," He trotted over as Balto barked in agreement, "We have a lot of work ahead of us though. Charging both Metal Claws at the same time takes too long, so we're going to have to speed it up," Smaug nodded and she bent down to rub his scaly head earning a small groan of pleasure from him, "Now, we should probably go to the pokemon center. Steven's probably waiting for us there,"

Smaug actually pouted at her when she stood up fully making her giggle softly. They headed to the pokemon center as she began looking down at Smaug again. He was getting stronger and actually growing a bit. He was still a bit away from his evolution, but she could see his scales starting to gain a reddish tint mostly around his tail and head. The softer scales of his stomach were also beginning to get the slight rosy color of a Charmeleon. That was about it since his claws were getting longer nor was he starting to gain the horn on the back of his head. She was somewhat sad if only because she would miss being able to carry him in her arms like she currently could.

Reaching the center, Vali found Steven waiting in the lobby, "Did you get what you needed?"

Vali nodded as she pulled out the extra dark grey scarf she'd picked up from the Poke Mart. Steven took it with a raised eyebrow and she said, "I wasn't sure if you had one and considering how often Smaug's going to be using Smokescreen in our battles, I figured you would probably need one."

"Thank you," Steven smiled lightly, "I will admit that I had forgone bringing one with me on this journey since I hadn't really needed one before, but I suppose having one is a good idea especially for when winter comes,"

"It's no problem," Vali had also picked up a new pair of black gloves and a league sanctioned flash light with more than enough batteries to get through Mount Moon, "I picked up a league sanctioned flash light and batteries that the clerk at the Poke Mart suggested when I said that we would be going through Mount Moon. While I do have a flashlight, it isn't one that should be used in caves like Mount Moon,"

Steven nodded with a pleased smile, "Good. I was hoping you would pick one up so we don't have to use my collapsible lanterns as often."

"So we'll stay here for tonight and be on our way tomorrow?" Vali asked earning a nod, "I'm going to be dropping off my pokemon for one last check,"

"It seems we're of the same mind though I also switched out Skarmory for one of my other pokemon who will do better in the caves," Steven told her earning a curious look, "I'll introduce you tomorrow. She doesn't enjoy being surrounded by people,"

"Duly noted," Vali wondered what type of pokemon she was.

Vali headed up to the front desk and Nurse Joy looked up from her book, "Hello, Vali. How can I help you?"

"I would like to have my pokemon looked over since we're leaving tomorrow," Vali said prompting Nurse Joy to take out a tray and she began putting her pokeballs into the spots on it after returning the fire type duo currently out, "I would also like to have Smaug and Pidgey checked to see how soon they'll evolve. Smaug's starting to get a bit of red scaling and he is getting a bit bigger, but that's about it. Pidgey is a bit larger than before,"

"I'll check though it will only be a rough estimate," Nurse Joy warned her earning a nod.

"I'm aware, but it would ease my mind," Vali replied as Nurse Joy picked up the tray.

"Balto and Pikachu should be ready to go in about thirty minutes since it'll be a basic health check," Nurse Joy said as a Chansey appeared with a rolling cart, "As for Smaug and Pidgey, it may take a few hours. I'll call you on the intercom when I'm finished,"

"Thank you," Vali told her before heading over to where Steven was waiting, "So what do you want to do?"

The dinning hall wouldn't be serving dinner for another two hours and Vali wasn't feeling hungry so she wouldn't have eaten if it had been serving dinner. Steven hummed lightly, "We should probably go watch the news."

Smaug would probably evolve within the month while Pidgey could evolve anywhere between next week to next month. Both of them would probably evolve faster if they battled frequently enough which suited Vali just fine, they would be battling as much as possible during the trip to and through Mount Moon. The Pidgey species as a whole didn't have many telling signs about their evolution until they started to gain their red crest, their dual colored tail feathers, and their large tail feathers began forming. While their increase in weight was a bit telling, they didn't get larger until they're on the cusp of evolution. At the very least, Pidgey had finally reached the proper weight for female Pidgey.

Steven and Vali left Pewter not long after dawn as both wanted to get to Mount Moon as soon as possible. Vali didn't mind getting up so early especially since she was getting a bit antsy staying in Pewter. According to Steven, it was something most trainers experienced during their journeys as they got used to traveling. She would admit that it was more than worth it as the country side was beautiful to look at. Balto, Smaug, and Pikachu spent time running around though they made sure to stay close enough to the two trainers so as to not lose sight of them. Pidgey flew above them and would be their warning system if either wild pokemon or trainers were nearby.

So far, they hadn't encountered any pokemon save for a few Rattata that merely darted away. Pidgey let out a harsh cry and dove down to land on Vali's shoulder as her other pokemon appeared. A pair of trainers, twin boys from the look of it, walked up the path. They both had blonde hair and tanned skin. The one on the right had brown eye and the one on the left had hazel. They paused before smiling and jogging up. The brown eyed one spoke up, "Hey, do you two want to battle?"

Steven looked at her curiously and she nodded since a battle would be a nice way to kick off this section of their trip. Steven turned back to them, "Sure. Are we double battling?"

"Yup!" The one with hazel eyes grinned, "Name Jake Champ and this is my brother John. We're from Cerulean city,"

"My name is Steven Stone and my friend here is Valkyrie Potter," Steven introduced as they moved off of the path towards a flat area, "I'm from Mossdeep City in Hoenn and she is from Pallet town,"

"Where you two headed?" John asked as they took off their bags, "We're heading to Pallet town to visit our cousins and spend some time at Professor Oak's Corral with our pokemon while we catch a few lectures,"

Vali had Pidgey settle on them to keep the wild pokemon that might try to steal them when the humans were distracted. Vali answered as she stood beside Steven, "Steven and I are heading to Mount Moon then Cerulean City. We're doing the badge run."

"Already got one badge?" Jake asked earning a nod, "Nice. Bit far from home though, Steven?"

"I figured that if I wanted to become a champion, I should probably get as much experience as possible," Steven replied earning grins from the two, "Terms?"

"How about a one per person since I have a feeling its the ladies first double battle?" John asked earning a nod from Vali, "And fifty from the losers?"

"That sounds fair though don't take it easy on me since its my first double battle," Vali said earning smirks.

They all sent out a pokemon with Vali choosing Smaug for the battle and Steven choosing Squirtle. John sent out a large looking Nidorino and Jake sent out an Meowth which was another pokemon that she hoped to one day add to her team. They had a decent move pool especially once they evolved into Persian especially when it came to TM's. Smaug growled narrowing his eyes at the Nidorino showing that he definitely remembered the male Nidoran from Viridian Forest. The Nidorino jerked back a bit at the animosity as did Meowth and the two trainers. John looked at her with a startled expression, "What's up with that Charmander?"

"On our way out of Viridian Forest about three weeks back, we came across a rather foul tempered male Nidoran," Vali explained as Smaug spat out a burst of flames a her other pokemon glared at the purple pokemon, "We managed to get away after knocking it out, but it managed to hit me with some of its Poison Sting needles. Smaug and my other pokemon are just a bit sore about it,"

"Understandable," John shook his head lightly, "Well, I suppose this means we'll have a good battle,"

Vali looked at Smaug and spoke, "Smaug," He turned his head, "Do your best, but don't take your frustration towards that Nidoran back in the forest on this Nidorino. They're two totally diffrent pokemon," Smaug let out a low grunt and turned back to glare at the Nidorino showing that while he'd heard her, he probably wasn't going to listen making her inwardly sigh, "Use Ember on that Nidorino, Smaug."

Smaug spat out the charcoal-like projectiles as the other three trainers gave out their own orders. He darted forward with his dual metal claws and managed to land a devastating hit on the poison-type earning a squeal of pain. He stumbled back a bit as his skin took on a purplish tint and he flinched earning a curse from her. It would seem that this Nidorino had the most common ability of the Nidoran line, Poison Point. Steven spoke as Vali grimaced, "Looks like we'll need to finish this up quick."

Vali nodded as she called out, "Smaug, we have a time-limit now. Be quick and make sure Squirtle doesn't make contact with Nidorino," Smaug grunt and bared his tiny fangs at the Nidorino that growled at him as its poisoned barbs extended, "Hit it hard."

Smaug nodded and began spitting out Embers as often as possible. She frowned as a plan began working through her mind as Steven gave Squirtle the order to withdraw when Meowth used fury swipes. She tugged on his sleeve as John shouted, "Nidorino use Fury Attack!"

"Steven," He looked at her, "If I have Smaug cover the field in Smokescreen, can you have Squirtle fire Bubble Beam into the smoke towards Meowth?"

Steven thought about it before nodding, "I can do that. We'll have to work on team maneuvers at some points just in case we run into more double battles," Steven turned back to the battlefield, "Squirtle get out of there now!"

Squirtle scrambled to do as Steven ordered and Vali called out, "Smaug, Cover it!"

Smaug grinned before spewing out clouds of smoke that quickly covered the field. As Jake and John cursed, Steven called out, "Squirtle, aim for where you last saw Meowth!"

Cries of pain echoed through the air as Smaug and Squirtle began their onslaught, John and Jake attempted to help their pokemon out. While it might have worked if it was another pokemon using Smokescreen, Smaug kept on supplying more. Smaug must have also been going after Meowth in an attempt to keep the scratch-cat pokemon from moving out of Squirtle's range if the numerous cries of pain from the cat pokemon meant anything since she doubted it wouldn't stand still if it were being pelted with water. Soon enough, Meowth fell silent, but Vali didn't have a chance to celebrate as Smaug let out a sharp cry of pain as Nidorino roared and the Charmander was sent flying out of the smoke. Smaug slowly got up only to wince as the purple aura of poison covered him for a few seconds. He was panting hard and Vali knew they needed to end this quick which made the fact they only had one opponent to deal with easier, "Smaug, use Ember towards where you last saw Nidorino."

"Squirtle, do your best to hit Nidorino," Steven ordered and their pokemon nodded.

Smaug started spitting Embers as Squirtle followed with Bubble Beam though they were at diffrent angles which would ensure that neither attack canceled the other out. It wasn't long until Nidorino began crying out in pain and randomly shooting off Poison Stings. Vali and Steven had to move out of the way until Steven released Metagross to cover surround the battlefield in a psychic shield. Soon enough, the battle was over and she was able to have Pidgey clear away the already dissipating smoke. Nidorino and Meowth laid unconscious not far from one another completely drenched with a few burn marks on each of them. Nidorino had quite a few deep scratch marks that were bleeding from Smaug's Dual Claw with Meowth having a few similar wounds though they were very few in number. John and Jack returned their pokemon as Smaug slowly stumbled his way over to her. Vali rubbed his head lightly earning a groan of pleasure, "You did a very good job, Smaug, especially when you helped Squirtle. It makes me really proud of you and I'm definitely giving you a few extra berries tonight."

He nuzzled into her hand as her other pokemon darted over to congratulate their teammate. John and Jack walked over with both taking out fifty poke-dollars. Vali stood up fully and took her side of the winnings as John said, "That Charmander of yours is pretty strong, I definitely didn't expect it to use Smokescreen."

"I honestly have no idea why most people don't use it since it's dead useful in a battle," Vali was going to turn it into the best strategy she could.

They shook hands and the twins left after vowing to find the traveling duo again for another battle. Steven and Vali stay to heal up their pokemon with Vali using a whole bottle of antidote on Smaug after pulling out the Poison Sting needles knowing that he needed it. Squirtle luckily only needed half a bottle since he'd only gotten hit by a few of the needles. Steven spoke as they finished fixing their pokemon up, "We should probably set up camp a bit early if only to allow Smaug and Squirtle a good rest tonight."

"Agreed," They were about three to four days away from the Mount Moon pokemon center.

Vali started having both Balto and Smaug try to learn how to use Fire Fang. The pokedex didn't really have much information, but she didn't let that bother her. She had both Smaug and Balto charge up an Ember before holding it in their mouths as long as possible. Squirtle was keeping an eye on them and putting out any fires that they accidentally started when the two released the Embers onto the ground. Sometimes they hit grass, they mostly managed to hit rock by aiming at the road in front of them. Steven had watched the practice in amusement since Vali had them increasing their jaw strength at night. Smaug was given one of the hard lava rock chunks that she'd bought from the Poke Mart while Balto was chewing on an Stantler horn which she'd gotten from the Poke Mart in Viridian City. Smaug didn't like it at first until he managed to scrape off a bit of dust from the rock chunk. Apparently, fire-type pokemon really loved lava rocks which actually made the whole lava cookies thing make more sense.

Steven was teaching Squirtle how to use Rapid Spin and Lileep Ancient Power. Lileep had an easier time if only due to Claydoll knowing it. He also introduced Vali to the pokemon that he'd swapped Skarmory with and found herself cooing at the pretty little pokemon. He had a Mawile and she was absolutely adorable.