The mission Pt. 2 and Blackthorn

"This way," Elrond urged rather gently.

After two days of searching through various areas, they'd finally found something. Vali had sent a message to Ulric, Blaine, and Lance while heading towards where her pokemon had found whatever it was. She climbed up the rocks carefully, "Mind helping me climb a bit faster?"

Elrond's psychic power wrapped around her and immediately boosted her up. She grunted softly while hefting herself on top of the cliff. She paused for a moment to relax her muscles and breath. Elrond radiated anxiety though let her relax for a moment. When she was ready, they began moving towards a cave and she felt a bolt of anxiety. She steeled herself though and kept moving. Moving into the cave, she immediately grimaced and covered her nose with a scarf as a sickly sweet stench mixed with something rotting wafted towards her. As soon as she made it a couple steps into the darkened cave, she spotted the rotting corpse of a someone impaled with a mixture of earthen spikes.

A nauseous feeling filled her stomach though she pushed it down as Elrond urged her further, "It's further in. Sorry for not warning you, Vali. I just... It's hard to concentrate on protecting you and also ensuring that whatever this thing is won't effect any of us."

Vali shuddered softly, "It's alright, but next time, I'd like to be warned."

They soon reached the caves back. Within it, a few other corpses rested. Vali barely kept down the food she'd eaten. It was only the machine in the center of the room that kept her from puking. It took up almost the entire center of the room and looked rather ugly. As she walked further into the room, a low humming sound emanated from the machine alongside a rather piecing whistle that made her ears ache. Vali's head hurt more and more as she slowly stepped closer to the machine. As if to rebel against the pain, the fire within her rose up and coiled around the tips of her fingers.

Vali slowly reached out towards the machine and watched as the fire slowly began to waft towards the machine. She concentrated on it and felt the fire actually responding for once as she willed it to move towards the machine a bit faster. It reached the machine and began to burn melt the outer portions of it slowly. The hiss and spitting of melting metal echoed through the air. She closed her eyes feeling the fire move within her body in a way it hadn't before. The way it moved to basically burn the machine was rather amazing. Much like her magic, it followed a set of paths within her though they didn't seem fully established just yet which is probably why her body had reacted the way it did during the tests.

As soon as she broke the machine and the pain it caused died off, the fire immediately receded back into her body. Unlike before though, Vali could feel the pathway it had taken within her. It felt just like her more mature magical paths did meaning she'd be able to use it to a point. Though she'd have to be careful, it would be dangerous to train it. If she ended up damaging it, she didn't want to think of what could happen.

Elrond's anxiety faded, "That feels much better, Vali."

"Good though where did that thing come from," Vali asked with a frown, "And what is it doing here?" She looked at her partner in concern, "Can you contact the others and tell them we're here?"

Elrond nodded lightly, "They're almost here and I warned them of the bodies. They're worried, Vali. Blaine and Ulric especially. This place, they seem to recognize it as something special though I cannot tell you how."

Vali shook her head lightly, "I do not know, Elrond. It's an important place, but for now, let's head into the open air."

Lance arrived first with Blaine and Ulric following after. Lance looked at her in concern as Blaine and Ulric lanced, "Vali, are you alright?"

"I'm fine other than feeling a bit strained. I managed to melt the machine that was causing the disturbance enough to shut it down," Vali told them as she leaned against Balto, "It's in there at the back of the cave,"

Blaine nodded to her as he and Ulric rushed into the cave. Lance walked towards her, "Are you okay?"

"I feel sick," Vali told him, "Seeing those dead bodies plus the machine giving me a killer headache, it hurt. I'll be fine, but it was a lot to find just by myself,"

Lance laid a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Vali."

Vali shook her head, "You couldn't have known."

Soon enough Blaine left the cave and looked at Vali, "I'm going to be contacting the League at once, but this is exactly what we were sent here to find. Nicely done, Vali."

"Thank you," Vali said softly.

Rather than head back to Cinnabar immediately, Blaine decided that they'd head to Blackthorn to recover from their time on Mount Silver.

Blackthorn city was an interesting mix of ancient and modern. As you go deeper into the city, the more ancient it got especially when you reached the inner city where the Blackthorn clan rested. With the large amount of dragon types and special reserve meant for them specifically, the very mountains that the city sat on teemed with their energy due to the years that they've lived there. Spending even a second in the city felt amazing, Vali loved it.

Vali wasn't the only one loving it. Empress' strength was rapidly increasing at an insane degree. It wasn't to the point she became a Salamence within a few hours. But her power growth was unexpected and showed Vali that she'd hit a plateau before coming to this hallowed place to dragon kind. It made her uneasy, but also happy to see Empress grow strong once again. With some advice from Lance now that he was able to be there, they were able to refine Empress' techniques greatly. Smaug got into so many fight and became stronger as well though it wasn't quite as noticeable. Unlike Empress, he ended up pissing off quite a few dragon-types in the process though they were soothed by their trainers who were quite amused by the fighting and the fact they their pokemon lost to her Charizard.

Making his way through the halls of his family home, the Drake's Hold, Ulric thought once again of his two guests. Blaine and his young apprentice Vali had been granted leave to stay within the ancient walls of his home. Blaine seemed content to let Vali go off on her for the moment while he got things done. Vali seemed to be keen to explore most of the time before seemingly deciding to bunker down in one of the few gardens that his family had managed to grow within this harsh place. It was Vali that his thoughts lingered on and even after studying the books within his library that he was sure had the knowledge he'd found once before, he was no closer to figuring out what exactly he'd been sensing from the child. As if summoned by his thoughts, Ulric found the young fire-type master-in-training.

Much like how Lance had discovered her the few times he'd found her within the gardens, Vali was absolutely covered by a wriggling mass of Dratini and Dragonair that tended to call these areas home when not within the Dragon's den. The serpentine pokemon were gently coiling around and nuzzling into the giggling girl who was petting them where she could. Vali's pokemon were resting within the garden and seemed content to allow this to happen though it was clear they were ready to intervene should the wild pokemon go too far with their dear partner. He inwardly chuckled at the sight while slowly stepping into the garden. Almost immediately feeling a sense of peace fall over him though it felt slightly strained as the eyes within the area fell on him, he met Vali's bright burning emerald green eyes and felt almost compelled to be the first to speak. A frown wanted to form on his face though he pushed the urge down as he made note of it, "Enjoying yourself, Vali?"

Vali nodded with a warm smile on her face and gently began moving the wriggling forms off of her, "I knew they were friendly, but not to this extent. I suppose that this is what comes with being so close to the Blackthorn clan."

"To an extent, yes," Ulric couldn't believe how much they were whining at having to move themselves, "Not usually to this point, they rarely take to an outsider and even some clansmen,"

Vali shushed them gently and the pile dispersed though a Dragonair he recognized to be one of Lance's newer pokemon remained within the garden close to the girl, "Lance said as much both times he found me like this. I've mostly figured it out though," She peered at him, "They can sense that I don't want to catch them. Only those that wish to come with me or feel like they're supposed to be mine will ever find themselves battling me, it's the only reason they mob me like this."

Ulric knew that was a half-truth almost immediately. Oh, he didn't doubt it was a big reason for why the dragon's mobbed her. No, it was the air about her that they sensed just as he did. Ever since they had found that odd machine that the League techie's were still picking apart, the air about her seemed to become increasingly charged at a low level though not to an extent that a normal person could sense. Ulric didn't doubt Lance knew something was going on which was why at least one or two of his pokemon were guarding the girl while she was here. Inwardly snorting at the thought, he commented, "I'm surprised you aren't training."

"Blaine said this was a time to rest and relax," Vali replied with a small shrugging motion, "Training is good for many things, but it isn't quite that relaxing for me," She sat up slowly and began to stretch, "The garden offers peace, quiet, and some semblance of privacy that I can't really get anywhere else," She eyed him, "So why did you seek me out?"

Had it been anyone else, Ulric would have protested. The knowing look Vali gave him and the words Lance had told him previously told him it would be useless. Soft chuckles left him, he slowly sat down on a garden bench. A slight tingling spike of pain ran through his back as he did though it was a normal feeling to him by now. It reminded him that it wouldn't be too long now before Lance needed to take up the title whether the teen was ready or not. Blackthorn needed a Drake to lead it and a dead Drake could not do so. He shook that though from his mind and gifted the girl a look, "To be truthful, my feet led me here rather than I intentionally seeking you out."

A look of mirth flashed through her eyes, "Wouldn't be the first time it happened, it's sometimes better to let your feet guide you. Sometimes the heart directs you through them when the mind is too clouded with thoughts, you merely have to take a leap of faith when you've reached the destination."

"And if that destination is unclear?" Ulric asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Leap of faith," Vali's gaze was calm and clear, "Make a decision and go with your gut, it tends to work. Overthinking things is usually costly in the end, I've come to find,"

"Indeed," Ulric didn't dwell on the many decisions that often threatened to leave him a hallow man if he only let himself wallow in them, "You're a wise young woman, Vali,"

Vali shook her head, "No, I've just made stupid decisions that cost me and ended up leaving me with knowledge to pass onto others."

"Wisdom often is that, Vali," Ulric replied earning a snort, "I believe that I've figured out why I ended up seeking you out though, Vali,"

Vali eyed him with half-sharp eyes and lips quirked into a slight grin, "Oh?"

"You're not exactly an eleven year old, are you, Vali?" Ulric asked making Vali's eyes widen briefly before narrowing, "So you're one of the World Travelers that the League let slip about?"