Entering the Mountain ahead

Steven looked at Vali as she entertained their pokemon using a bit of magic. Moving her fingers like a Puppeteer, she molded the fire into some stick figures and began telling a story. At the current moment, she was telling the story of her first Quidditch match which earned wide eyes from the pokemon. He watched the show with a slight smile as he leaned back against Metagross. She truly was a good story teller once she became relaxed which he noticed was outside of populated places and surrounded by nature where pokemon could walk freely. Seeing her with Mawile showed him just what kind of person she was, Mawile never got close to any humans besides him and those she'd known for a while; And yet, she loved Vali not even thirty minutes after meeting her.

When the story finished, the younger pokemon began falling asleep and Vali got her sleeping bag ready. He spoke softly, "You're a good story teller."

Vali ducked her head lightly and her cheeks flushed which always happened when she was complimented, "I guess."

"Can I ask a question?" Vali looked at him curiously with her head tilted slightly to the right with Balto doing the same thing which made for a rather cute sight, "Do you prefer being away from cities?"

Vali blinked in surprise before nodding as she went back to get her sleeping bag ready, "Yeah. I mean at first it was a bit startling since I've never been anywhere that didn't have a lot of people, but I've grown to like it. It's quieter in many ways and the air smells better," She pointed up at the sky where the stars were coming out, "There's also the sky. Back during Hogwarts, my favorite class was Astronomy. Not only were we high up, but we got to look at the stars for over an hour. While they're diffrent here, they still have stories and stuff attached to them," Vali flushed lightly and dropped her hand, "I also like it out here because it lets me be away from a lot of people and be closer to pokemon. So to answer your question, yes," She offered him a sheepish smile as she rubbed the back of her neck, "I'm sorry if I kinda started rambling."

"It's fine," He assured her as they both got ready for bed, "It's a bit refreshing to be honest. Do you ever wish to go into space?"

Vali shook her head, "Nope. There isn't any air up there and it's supposed to be freezing cold, it doesn't sound like my kind of place."

Steven chuckled softly, "To each their own."

Silence fell over them for awhile and Steven wondered if Vali had fallen asleep only for her to speak up, "Hey, Steven. Can I ask you a question?"

"What's up?" He turned his head to look at her.

She looked at him from across the camp with her pokemon curled up around her, "Do you ever regret traveling with me?"

He didn't even need to think of the answer, "No. Traveling with you so far has been amazing and I doubt my travels would be quite so fun. Why?"

"Just wondering," Vali sleepily smiled at him, "I'm glad you're traveling with me, Steven,"

"Me too," Steven watched as her eyes closed and she fell asleep.

He wondered where that question had come from.

Vali's first look at Mount Moon in person left her a bit speechless at how large it was even from this distance. The terrain got progressively rockier, the grass started to thin out, and the trees almost totally disappeared. Soon enough, they reached the Mount Moon pokemon center which was the largest she'd seen yet though it made sense since Mount Moon was a tourist destination for Mountain Climbers, Scientists that wanted to study the mountain, and Rich people that had nothing better to do. It was the latter part of summer which meant there weren't as many people there allowing Vali and Steven to get rooms for a few days. They planned on finding a guide due to how easy it was to get lost within the Mountain even when using the League created pathways. While Steven was fairly experienced when it came to caves, he didn't want to chance either of them or their pokemon getting hurt because he didn't know the mountains.

The Nurse Joy here was a rather stiff lady that had dealt with too many rude people. They didn't bother her too long after dropping off their pokemon and getting their room keys. Finding a guide wasn't that hard, it was finding a good one among the bad ones that was difficult. Steven was being very picky which is a good thing even if no one seemed to reach his rather high standards. Considering the fact he'd be the one paying for their guide as Vali definitely didn't have the money for it, she was willing to let him go crazy when it came to getting their guide.

She used the extra time looking at maps for Mount Moons known sections, working with her pokemon, and looking up more information about the mountain. She also spent some extra money on some great balls since she really wanted to catch a Sandshrew. She felt close enough to her current team that adding another pokemon didn't feel wrong. She did take the time to get her pokemon's opinions on the matter and all four agreed that adding onto the team would be a good idea especially since it would given them someone that was strong against Poison types. As long as she didn't try to add a Nidoran or any of its evolutionary line, they didn't mind her adding onto the team.

Smaug was having a lot of trouble learning Fire Fang, but Balto was well on his way especially since he'd started using Bite while he held an Ember in his mouth. It was likely that Balto would learn the attack sooner than Smaug if only due to how often he uses his jaws. Balto was attempting to help the Charmander though there wasn't much the puppy pokemon could do at the moment since he didn't know how to use the attack yet. Pikachu was teaching Pidgey how to use Quick Attack when he wasn't trying to learn Thunder Wave. Once he did that, she would have him learn how to use Electro Ball.

Walking down the stairs on the day they were leaving, Vali was running a hand through her hair to help it dry with a small bit of magic. She yawned softly as Balto trotted beside her looking just as sleepy as her. Smaug, Pikachu, and Pidgey were all in their pokeballs since they didn't feel like getting up just yet. She reached the bottom floor with her room key in hand and turned it in to the sleepy looking Nurse Joy. She went to grab some breakfast and released her pokemon to let them get some grub. All of them ate a bit more than they usually did since it would be a while before they would be able to do so again. Even the shortest path in Mount Moon took a week and a half to get through, they were also going to be trying to catch Sandshrew which would only add on time not to mention Steven would probably want to get a good look at the rocks in there for when he finished his Kanto badge run and could spend time properly exploring the mountain.

Vali looked up from her second plate when she heard two pairs footsteps and found Steven walking up with a man dressed like a mountain climber. He had dark brown hair that was cropped close to his head, a scruffy looking beard, and beetle black eyes much like Hagrid. He was a portly fellow though he didn't compare to Vernon which helped to ease the anxiety that shot through her at the sight of him. She swallowed the bite of hash-browns she'd been chewing, "Good morning, Steven. Who's your friend?"

"Good morning, Vali," Steven offered her a light smile as he set down his own breakfast tray next to her while the mountain climber took a seat across from them, "This is Marko Grain, he'll be our guide,"

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Grain," Vali told the man relaxing a bit as Steven settled in the seat next to her and her pokemon crowded a little closer, "How long have you been a guide?"

"I've been a guide for around eight years and I've spent a majority of my life since gaining my trainers license," Marko explained earning a slow nod from Vali, "Please call me, Marko," He smiled lightly, "I have helped numerous people through the mountains and have rarely had any trouble. Luckily, you two are heading through during summer which is the best time other than early fall to go through the mountain,"

Vali had read as much, "So I suppose we'll be leaving after breakfast?"

"Yes," Steven nodded as she returned to eating, "We'll be taking one of the paths off the main one for a little while since we'll be attempting to catch some Sandshrew,"

"If I may ask," Vali looked at Marko, "Why do you want to catch Sandshrew?"

"They're a decent ground-type and one of my favorites of that typing," Vali didn't know why but this man unsettled her.

Entering Mount Moon, they began walking with Balto sticking to her side. Pidgey, Pikachu, and Smaug chose to stay in their pokeballs though she would be releasing Smaug once they got deeper into the tunnels. Marko spoke as they walked deeper into the mountain, "It'll take a day to reach the path we're heading for. We'll be able to follow it and end up back on the main path in about a week. After that, it won't take longer than another week to get through to the other end."

"So two weeks in a mountain?" Vali said earning a nod, "It can't be as bad as Viridian Forest,"

"Agreed though we'll have to be careful since there are many pokemon that call this place home and won't like us intruding on their territory," Steven said as they turned a corner and the light from the entrance to the mountain cut off almost completely.

The only light came from some League sanctioned lamps hung on the walls of the main path. The light was a slightly weak soft blue glow which wouldn't bother the wild pokemon while offering trainers the ability to see. The lights hung in a majority of the tunnels off the main path though there were some that didn't have them simply because the wild pokemon that called those tunnels and caves home didn't like the lights. Balto pressed against her knee creating a comforting warmth that eased the anxiety that suddenly kicked up as she remembered the last time she was in a place like this. Taking a deep breath, she listened to the sounds of the pokemon and felt the anxiety ease further though it didn't go away completely.

Steven caught her hand when she stumbled on a rock causing a nearby Geodude to growl in anger and glare at them though it didn't attack as Balto growled at it in return. He helped her regain her balance and she apologized, "Sorry."

"It's fine," Steven let go of her as Marko paused to look at them, "You seem a bit distracted,"

"Bad memories of the last time I was in a place like this," Vali admitted bending down to run her fingers over Balto's head, "So long as don't run into any gigantic poisonous snakes, I'll be fine,"

Steven looked at her in concern, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Vali would have to tell the story at some point.

Steven didn't look convinced, but seemed willing to let it slide. They began walking again with Steven sticking closer to her which she was a thankful for as it eased her anxiety to almost nothing. While there was no doubt in her mind that she'd eventually be comfortable in caves like these, she wasn't even close to that point at the moment. Sometimes, she really wished that she could see a therapist or something about stuff like this, but with the League keeping a majority of the information about who Sirius and her were under an intense amount of security, she kind of couldn't. Oh, the League has a few therapists that were high up and trusted enough to have access to that information, but only those that did extremely dangerous and traumatizing jobs for the League. As a ranger, Sirius was given access to those therapists and they were extremely good at their job which made sense since the League had them on the payroll. And after his therapy sessions, everyone in the know agreed on two things: Dementors were monsters that needed to be culled and Azkaban should have never been used as a prison.

Vali understood why the League didn't want much if any information about Sirius and her getting out there. People like Vernon and Petunia would probably be screaming for their deaths. Scientists without morals would be after them in an attempt to find out why they could do what they did. Evil people that would use them for their own gain without any concern for their safety. Scientists that would treat them like guinea pigs and attempt to breed them like a pokemon in order to have more examples of what they could do. And so many more, she didn't really want to think about it.

Some information about them had already found itself in public ears which was one of the reasons that the League had kept them in Pallet Town while conducting their investigations. People like Steven were trusted with the barest amount of information so long as they went through a psychic screening. Professor Oak had been allowed to give Steven a bit more information, but it was mostly up to her what he learned. Since Steven had proved to be someone that she felt could be trusted, she was somewhat free with her information especially since Metagross could protect the information as could Claydoll.

Quite a few swarms of Zubat with more than one Golbat leading the charge attempted to bother them, but Balto, Mawile, and a Golem that Marko released were able to combat them. Walking into the dens of territorial pokemon no matter how docile they maybe is suicide without proper protection, it was generally considered a good idea to avoid doing so regardless as even a swarm of Zubat could kill a Dragonite if there was a high enough number of them and they were pissed off enough. Those attacks, while slightly provoked due to their trespassing, convinced Vali to never get a Zubat. The slight headache she was getting from their constant use of echolocation and the fact that Balto seemed to be in quite a bit of pain ensured that she would probably never own one. Then again, the future was unknown to her and she might end up catching one even if she didn't want one now.

Balto stuck even closer to her after the last attack due to one rather fast Zubat almost managed to latch onto her and would have if it weren't for Metagross deciding to intervene. Metagross appearing had disorientated everyone, but they were thankful since the swarm of Zubat with three Golbat leading them had been the largest they'd encountered. Metagross had decided to stay out of their pokeball for now which none of them decided to argue against as the constant attacks by Zubat swarms was getting more than a little annoying. Balto occasionally stopped to sniff a particular rock as Steven did the same now that Metagross offered them a bit more protection. Vali spoke up, "Do you think the League is going to come in and get rid of some of those swarms?"

"They should be doing it soon since it is that time of year though I don't know where they would put them," Marko answered earning a curious look from Vali.

"Why do they do it during the summer?" Vali asked as they paused in a cave to eat lunch and get some rest, "Wouldn't it be better to do it around Spring?"

"Zubat mating season occurs towards the end of summer and the beginning of fall," Steven explained as he leaned back against Metagross, "Most cave born pokemon are born around this time. The only ones that aren't are those like Onix, but that's mostly because they spend all their lives underground save for the short time they spend above it or if they're captured. As far as I'm aware, they can breed at any time, but they do not do it often as they're a solitary breed and one that only matures after ten years,"

"Are you planning on getting an Onix at some point?" Vali asked earning light smile.

"I already have one," Steven told her earning a curious look, "She is currently back home with my father as she recently had her first clutch of eggs though there are only two. My father is attempting to find out if the rumor about shiny Onix not existing is true," He noticed that he had not only her attention but Marko's as well prompting him to explain, "According to the rumor, an Onix will take on the shade of whatever stone they're around while incubating and what stones they eat while growing up. My father isn't going to use any precious stones or metals. At the moment, he's using granite and white travertine. I'm interested in the results and my Onix only wishes to see her eggs hatch before she lets me evolve her as per the deal we made upon her capture,"

"Can Steelix not have children?" Vali hadn't really studied Onix and their evolved for much besides finding out the best ways to fight them.

Steven hummed softly, "I'm not exactly sure, but I think the females are much like Nidorina and become sterile upon their evolution."

"Though its not like they can really study it since Steelix are rare even with the invention of the Metal Coat," Marko added before taking a drink from his canteen, "It takes decades for an Onix to evolve in the wild and that's by going as far down in the earth as they can without accidentally eating an everstone. Wild Scizor are far rarer considering there's only ever been a single sighting in the last thirty years,"

Evolution items like Metal Coat, Electirizer, Magmarizer, Reaper Cloth, Protector, Sachet, and Whipped Dream were man-made items that made the rather rare and often times life-threatening dangerous evolution easier if not exactly common. Of those seven, the Sachet and Whipped Dream were the easiest of the items to obtain along with being the affordable. You wouldn't find either of those things outside of Kalos unless you were willing to spend an even larger amount of money importing it from Kalos along with whatever pokemon evolves them. To be honest, it was not only easier, but more cost effective to just go to Kalos and buy them. Metal Coat was the next easiest to buy though it was hellishly expensive. The last four? Forget it unless you're either part of the League or are willing to shell out hundreds of thousands of Poke-dollars. It was easier doing the suicidal options or hoping one of the gym leaders would take you on as a gym trainer which meant spending years working under said gym leader who might not actually give you one of them. The Reaper Cloth was the hardest to find and the only ones that actually seemed to have them were the Elite Four members and they never gave them out to anyone. You were better off risking your soul attempting to catch a Dusknoir or hope to hell your Dusclops somehow managed to achieve that evolution. As it was, Evolution for some species of pokemon was an impossible task unless you were either insanely lucky, bound to the League, or insanely rich.

Vali hoped that if and when she got a Magmar, it wouldn't want to evolve or was willing to wait until she could get a Magmarizer. If she caught one of those other ones? She would have to hope they were understanding. She definitely wasn't planning on trying to get an Onix or a Ryhorn at any point in time. Feeding them was hard even with their mainly mineral diet, she did not envy Steven when it came to feeding his team especially Aggron. She wasn't looking forward to how empty her wallet and bank account were going to be once she got her own Aron not to mention when her team fully evolved. Of all the things that had been stressed in her last months of schooling and by Professor Oak, the being careful with money and making sure you didn't spend all the poke-dollars you won on stupid things stuck the most. Vali would always make sure her pokemon had food and if she had any trouble, she would be willing to let them follow their inner natures.