Poison before Pewter

The rest of the trip through Viridian Forest wasn't as bad as those few days, but they did end up encountering quite a few more aggressive than normal pokemon. The plus side of the trip meant her pokemon not only learned their moves, but also managed to get every other move they knew down pat. Pidgey had also picked up Gust and Quick Attack which would only benefit her flying type in the future. It was as they were traveling out of the forest that they encountered an incredibly foul tempered and bigger than normal male Nidoran that seemed to have it out for them. Balto managed to take it down with Metagross backing him up, but Vali had ended up hit with a Poison Sting attack. Most of the needles missed her, she ended up with five sticking out of her side.

As soon as they were out of Viridian Forest, Steven had her sit down and began pulling out the poisonous needles with a pair of specialized tweezers. Vali grit her teeth as Steven got them out, "Let's never go in there again, okay?"

"Agreed," Steven finished pulling out the needles and began cleaning off the blood that had spilled from the wounds which wasn't much, "This will sting a bit," Steven pulled out a can of antidote from her bag and began spraying it causing her to hiss in pain even as it made the chill of the poison vanish, "I'm glad you got those extra poison resistance shots,"

"Me too," Vali closed her eyes, "I wonder what made it so angry. The storm happened almost a week and a half ago. They're usually docile unless challenged or their heard is under attack,"

Steven finished spraying the antidote and capped it before pulling out some bandages, "It was alone which isn't normal unless the pokemon was captured. Either it got separated from it's herd during the storm or it was kicked out for whatever reason."

Vali sighed as she opened her eyes, "Well whatever the reason, we should probably get out of here and get to Pewter since that Nidoran will probably come looking for us as soon as it wakes up," Steven nodded in agreement as he finished patching up her side and moved away from her allowing Vali to pull her shirt down again, "I'm definitely going to see one of the doctors in the Pokemon center just to be on the safe side," Balto whined softly and she reached out to pet him as she glanced down at her pokeballs, "I also want to get my pokemon checked out and get in a shower,"

"Let's get going then," Steven finished packing up and held out a hand to her and she took it allowing him to help her up, "I'm sorry for not pulling you out of the way,"

Vali shook her head as they began heading towards Pewter city which was a few miles ahead of them across some plains, "Don't worry about it, we're all tired from the last two and a half weeks not to mention I should've been a lot more careful," Steven looked like he wanted to argue, "Neither of us noticed him directing that attack at us since we were sure our pokemon had knocked him out. At the very least, the whole event will make sure I'm more aware of my surroundings even when I'm so tired," Steven still looked like he wanted to argue, "How about you restock my antidotes in return?"

"I can do that," Steven still looked like he was about to apologize.

Vali ran a hand through her hair and grimace, "I'm definitely getting a shower in the moment I can though,"

She had been lucky that Steven didn't mind her borrowing Squirtle to get rid of most of the dirt and sweat that coated her body. She still didn't smell very good, but at the very least, she was fairly clean. Steven made an agreeing noise after sniffing his shirt, "I think that makes two of us."

"I'm also going to be pampering my pokemon when I can. They definitely deserve it after everything," Balto let out a soft woof showing his agreement.

Entering Pewter city, they headed towards the pokemon center using Steven's map app on his Pokenav. The pokemon center was smaller than the Viridian City one, but then again, it usually only catered to trainers during the first few months of the season. The Nurse Joy offered them a kind smile, "Viridian Forest?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Vali offered her a weak grin beginning to feel kind of light headed, "Could we get two rooms and our pokemon checked out?"

"Of course," Nurse Joy nodded and Vali returned the only pokemon currently out which was Balto, "Anything else?"

"She got hit with around five Poison Sting needles from a male Nidoran that was far more aggressive than normal," Steven answered as they placed their pokemon onto the trays that Nurse Joy had set on the counter, "As soon as we got out of the forest, I took out the needles and provided field care for the injury. Can she see one of the human doctors on staff?"

Nurse Joy immediately offered Vali a look of concern, "Come into the back with me, Miss..."

"Vali," Vali said as she handed over her pokedex which held her trainer ID.

"Vali," Nurse Joy took the pokedex while looking at Steven, "Please wait out here, I will give you the room keys once I've gotten Vali taken care of,"

"Of course," Steven nodded as he looked at Vali in concern.

Vali would have said something if she didn't feel sleepy or light headed. Nurse Joy began directing her into the back only for her vision to go grey as her ears rang.

Steven looked at Vali's feverish form in worry, "Is she going to be okay?"

He had been extremely worried when she'd collapsed like a puppet with it's strings cut in the lobby. While he had noticed her getting a bit pale towards the end of their walk to the pokemon center, he hadn't thought much of it since they'd just spent two and a half weeks underneath heavy tree cover. Not to mention, he'd been sure that he'd gotten rid of the poison with the antidote.

"She will be fine," Nurse Joy assured him as she directed him to sit down on one of the guest chairs scattered through out the human recovery wing in the pokemon center, "That Nidoran must be close to evolving as it's poison was stronger than it usually is,"

"I suppose," Steven sat down in the chair, "When will she wake up?"

"It shouldn't be more than a day or two," Nurse Joy moved to Vali and began to mop up the sweat coating her brow, "Honestly, I'm not surprised this happened. Five Poison Sting needles is a bit much for anyone even with the double resistance shot she has. She is still young, so these things will happen," Nurse Joy looked at Steven, "I would advise against traveling for at least a week and a half. While she'll bounce back, she'll be fairly weak during that time even when her fever breaks,"

Steven nodded already planning on them staying in Pewter for three weeks. Vali's team would need as much time as possible to prepare for their first gym battle. He also wanted to explore the museum and talk to Flint about Mount Moon. He looked at Vali again and felt his heart drop a bit. He was the experienced trainer between them and should have been paying more attention. She should've never gotten hurt-Steven jerked back and looked at Nurse Joy in shock as his hand went to his forehead which had just been flicked, "Nurse Joy?"

"I doubt Vali would like you blaming yourself for what happened," Nurse Joy told him with a kind smile, "Accidents will always happen, they just occur more often with wild pokemon being involved. Instead of blaming yourself, I would advise you to think of ways to prevent it,"

Steven looked at Vali and decided that Nurse Joy was right.