The ranch

"So what do you think will happen?" Vali asked as she handed Steven a drink, "You're headed back and will be taking on your first Elite in a month after that, right?"

"Yeah," Steven took the drink as Vali slowly sat down, "You're headed to that ranch, right?"

"Tomorrow," Vali looked at him, "So I've got a question, it's about that Durant you caught back in the Safari Zone. I've been following your battle page and haven't seen it pop up,"

Steven hummed softly as they both sat together on the porch of Professor Oak's house, "He's not much of a battler. I worked hard with him and it didn't work out too well. Eventually, we worked something out. He prefers digging and working in the mines. So I've trained him to defend the Stone mines as part of my contribution to the family, he works with the pokemon and people there,"

"So basically, he and your Sandshrew are mining pokemon?" Vali asked with a laugh, "They're perfect for you,"

"Agreed. Have you found one that you'd have specifically for taking photos?" Steven asked earning a snort.

"No, but one of my repeat clients keeps telling me I need invest in a Smeargle," Vali grinned at Steven's surprised look, "Yeah. Apparently they don't just like painting, they do sculpting, photography, music, and a lot more,"

"Sounds like the perfect pokemon for you," Steven mused with a chuckle.

Vali shook her head, "Yeah, but getting one is tough. They're sneaky little guys and attempting to find one is troublesome."

"I might keep an eye out for one if you do the same for any steel-type pokemon you come across that seem interesting," Steven said earning a small laugh.

Vali nodded with a shake of her head, "Agreed."

"Going to set out?" Delia asked as Vali hefted her bag into the living room a couple days after the wedding.

"I've got a photoshoot," Vali told Delia as she set her bag down with a soft grunt, "I've almost finished my work on your photos from the wedding. I should have them in three days,"

"Oh, good," Delia looked relieved at that, "I'm glad to hear it," She looked at the bag Vali set down in the living room, "Are you just going for the day or a couple days?"

"Two days," Vali answered as Aragorn ran into the room carrying her scarf earning a smile from her, "Thank you, Aragorn,"

Aragorn wagged his four tails happily. Delia pursed her lips as Vali bent down to grab her scarf from him, "Two days in an unfamiliar place?"

"It'll be fine. Apparently the ranch is really beautiful and there is enough space out there that Arwen can run properly," Vali grinned as she thought about that part of the deal she'd worked out with the people at the ranch, "Besides unfamiliar places can be fun and are normal for me,"

"True," Delia sighed deeply, "I just wished that you would've stayed a bit longer,"

"I'll be back in two days," Vali assured her, "Granted, it will only be for a couple days before I have to head to the Plateau with Siri for my meet up with Blaine, but I will be back,"

"I know," Delia looked a bit awkward, "I am sorry, Vali. For putting so much work on you during the wedding and the craziness I inflicting on you,"

Vali laughed softly and quickly hugged Delia, "Already forgave you, I figured it was wedding stress and I didn't mind the experience of wedding photos. It was nice."

Delia hugged her back, "Thank you. Did you really enjoy it?"

"It was an interesting experience and I'm definitely going to be looking into getting a Smeargle," Vali commented as she pulled away, "Since they have artistic talents and have the ability to use cameras, it wouldn't be hard to teach one to be a photographer,"

"That's an interesting idea," Delia said with a raised eyebrow.

"Steven said he'd keep an eye out for one while I did the same for any interesting steel-types," Vali moved to grab her bag, "We'll do a trade once we both have them,"

Delia shook her head as Vali grabbed her bag, "That sounds like an interesting trade, I didn't think you'd do something like that though. You usually go out and catch the pokemon yourself."

"Normally, yes, but Smeargle are difficult to find on a good day," Vali heft her bag onto her shoulder, "I'm heading out though. If I'm going to make it to the ranch in time, I need to leave now,"

Delia nodded as Vali headed towards to the door, "I'll tell Ash that you said goodbye. Just be careful."

"I will," Vali waved as Thorin and Aragorn walked with her, "See you when I get back,"

The Purpleheart Ranch had a nice grouping of acres and beautiful grasslands. They had a gigantic barn and large corrals. The fields were filled were beautiful and heathy pokemon that had room to roam free. It was a wonderful place that Vali immediately found herself adoring. She got off Celina's back as a gray haired young woman popped out of the barn. The woman walked over as Celina flared her wings slightly, "Wow, that's Celina, right? She's so much more beautiful in person."

"Thank you, I'm Vali Potter," Vali said as she patted Celina on the side as the Pidgeot preened at the compliment, "And this is Celina as you guessed. The not-so little fox hopping down from the saddle is Aragorn,"

Aragorn hit the dirt with a slight thump. The gray haired woman smiled at the sight, "He's handsome and big for a four tailed. I'm Amalie Flemine. My sister told me you'd be here today. How are you doing?"

"I'm wonderful. I just had a wedding photoshoot with my Godfather," Vali replied as she grabbed her bag from Celina's back, "So where is this sister of yours?"

"Currently she's dealing with something in town, I can show you to your room," Amalie answered as Thorin released himself and Vali returned Celina, "And who's this?"

"Thorin. He was the Eevee I had with me during my tournament," Vali answered earning a soft hum.

"He looks wonderful. You groom your pokemon?" Amalie asked earning a nod.

"I groom them every day and every other week I tend to give them this 'spa' day," Vali follow Amalie towards the house that was on the property, "I totally pamper them and ensure they're relaxed to the point all our training washes off their backs. They look forward to it especially since the hardest training sessions always come right before the spa day,"

Amalie grinned at her, "It definitely looks like it works."

Loumine was a dark honey blonde haired woman. She was on the short side, but had a fire in her dark green eyes. Loumine had a sharp eyed Espeon for a pokemon partner. Vali offered the woman a light smile as Thorin gave his fellow Eeveelution a small nod, "Loumine, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Vali."

"Wonderful to meet you," Loumine offered her a warm smile, "I'm so glad you made it. So would you like to get started?"

"Sure thing. Amalie already took me on a small tour when we set my Ponyta, Arwen, out with the other Ponyta," Vali replied as she held up her camera, "I've been taking a few shots already and just getting a general feel for the place. It's really beautiful here,"

"I'm glad," Loumine smiled at her as Elrond and the Espeon had a stare down, "Now I thought we could start with the front gate and pastures then some of our pokemon. Specifically the ones my sister has rehabilitated and our star pokemon, we could work out some other details later,"

Vali nodded as Loumine started leading the way towards a jeep, "So I'm thinking that I'd get pictures of all the people that work here, I'd have them alone then do a group shot with their pokemon, the pokemon alone, and one of them with their pokemon. I'd do the same with you and your family as well."

"That's a lot like what I was thinking," Loumine commented as they reached the jeep, "I thought we'd put a little blurb under each picture. Maybe you could talk about your experience here as well, it might convince other people to take a deeper look into us,"

"Sure, it might be fun," Vali nodded to her, "I could use a break from research paper,"

During Vali's photoshoot at the Purpleheart ranch, she met the two stable hands, Lucas Wright and Perry Dou. Lucas had retired from being a trainer at eighteen after failing to get higher than the top 64 in the Conference. Perry still tried her hand at the Conference, but was planning on changing regions next year. Lucas was a generalist while Perry specialized in Electric-types with a side hustle of in Ground-types. Vali offered to battle Perry before she left, but was turned down for the current moment. Amalie didn't actively train on the gym circuit, but had five badges with plans to get another should the opportunity come up. Eric Drom was the grandfather of Amalie and Loumine. He was also the owner of this ranch and had raised many equine pokemon in his many years. Despite his initial reluctance to allow a photoshoot, he was a warm man that cared for the pokemon of his ranch and any rescue pokemon that came into their hands.

Vali watched Arwen run with a group of Ponyta and Rapidash as they raced across the pasture. It was a beautiful sight and reminded her of the herd she'd gotten Arwen from. She heard the crunch of gravel behind her and Eric's voice call out, "It's a beautiful sight. My family settled here because of our pokemon being able to run like that. Your Ponyta is well taken care of. All of your pokemon are, but I'd notice a Ponyta above all else."

"Thank you," Vali said as she continued to watch Arwen run to her hearts content, "She and Balto can only really run at Professor Oak's ranch. When we're at the gym, it's hard to find place for them to run, but we work it out,"

"At the very least, you try," Eric replied as he reached her side, "Vali...I will admit that I'm not exactly the biggest supported of new things. It something that runs in my family, but I can see things from my granddaughters perspective," Vali looked at Eric and saw him offer her an apologetic smile, "I'm really sorry if I put you off on taking your photos,"

"You're good," Vali waved him off, "I've had worst receptions,"

Eric shook his head and looked back at the herds of pokemon, "That Ponyta definitely is a quick one even for a wild born, she looks like she'd be a good racer."

"Blaine's been telling me I should look into it," Vali replied as she spotted Arwen easily keeping up with the various Rapidash, "When I find the time, I'll consider it. Now that she's big enough for me to ride without straining her, I could do that,"

"Blaine? Gym Leader Blaine?" Eric goggled at her.

Vali nodded with a slight grin, "My 'master' so to speak. I'm training to become a fire-type master and he took me on as an apprentice."

"Well I'll be," Eric chuckled softly, "I hadn't known him to be able to teach,"

"He doesn't often apparently," Vali replied as Arwen decided to race over for an ear rub, "Enjoying yourself?" Arwen nodded with a soft huff of pleasure and nuzzled into her touch, "Good. Make sure to be nice to them too and listen if they tell you not to something, okay?"

Arwen nodded before bolting back over to the Ponyta and Rapidash. Eric laughed as he said, "You've got a good bond with her."

"With all of them save for Magby though I'm working on it," Vali said as she leaned against the fence, "He and my Houndour have a rivalry going that I'm struggling to deal with a lot. But they've got to work through it, they're the babies of the group. I'm just glad my Vulpix stopped joining in,"

Eric when to speak when Amalie came running up with a grin, "Hey, Vali! Want to come for a ride? We can go along some of the trails close by.

"Sure," Vali wouldn't mind seeing more of the ranch.