Another call home

Vali quickly made her way over to Pikachu and bent down to pick him up, "You did very good, Pikachu," Pikachu licked her cheek, "I'm going to get everyone to Nurse Joy as soon as possible. Get some rest, Pikachu."

Vali returned Pikachu and turned to Koga as the gym leader approached her, "That was a very interesting battle, I have much work ahead of me."

"It was a pleasure to battle you," Vali said as Koga held out the badge to and she took it from him.

"Once the League Conference is over, it would be a pleasure if you'd come back and train here with us for a little while," Koga told her as Steven joined them from the stands, "It is not often those in their first year of training choose a battling style other than brute force even when they reach my gym. It would be a pleasure to see how far you can go with our methods,"

"I'll consider it," Vali promised him feeling a bit shocked at the offer.

Koga nodded and turned to Steven, "I assume you're my next challenger?"

"My battle is scheduled for tomorrow," Steven replied earning a nod.

"I look forward to it, Mr. Stone. It isn't often that I have a chance to battle against a Steel-type user," Koga smirked a bit before disappearing.

They left the gym rather quickly and headed straight to the pokemon center. Steven let out a soft laugh earning a confused look from Vali, "That's two gym leaders that have offered to teach you."

"I know," Vali couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face anymore than she could quell the excitement burning through her, "I'm not sure I'll take him up on his offer though,"

"It'll be an option that you can fallback on if Blaine doesn't decide to take you under his wing," Steven commented earning a nod, "That makes 5 gym badges for you, you'll only need to beat Sabrina, Blaine, and Giovanni in order to qualify for the Conference,"

"Is it odd that I'm having a bit of trouble believing it?" Vali asked as she looked at the shiny new badge she was holding, "I mean, we just won it, but..."

"But the knowledge that you managed it within a few months as opposed to the full year it sometimes takes people to gather their badges makes you wonder if it's a dream," Steven finished for her and patted the shoulder the didn't contain Eevee, "You deserve it, Vali. With all the hard work you're putting in with your pokemon, you definitely deserve the acknowledgement of that skill,"

Vali smiled at him, "You helped us along as well, Steven. While we would've reached this point eventually, we couldn't have gotten here without your help too, so thank you."

Steven let out a light laugh and shook his head, "It's no problem. We should probably hurry to the pokemon center."

Ash looked at her array of badges in awe alongside Gary through the video phone, "That's so cool, Vali! Now you just need three more, right?"

"Yup," Vali put down her badges on the desk beneath the monitor, "I can't wait to get to Cinnabar Island and face Blaine,"

"He's the fire-type gym leader, right?" Ash asked earning a nod, "How are you going to battle against him? You don't have a water-type,"

"I don't need a water-type, Ash," Vali saw the boys confused expressions, "You've been taught that type advantages will always win, right?" The two boys nodded, "That isn't always true in real-life, it will always come down to the pokemon themselves, their experience, their individual power levels, skills, and how they battle. Gym Leaders for example will always have plans for dealing with type advantages and tend to win if someone just focuses on their type advantage," Vali could tell that both of them were still lost though Gary seemed to be beginning to understand, "Okay take Balto battling against Steven's Metagross. Who would win?"

"Balto," Ash answered automatically.

"Metagross," Gary retorted earning a confused look from Ash.

Vali nodded at Gary, "That's correct, Gary."

Ash looked at her in confusion, "Huh?"

Vali thought about how to put this in a way that Ash could understand, "While Balto is powerful for a Growlithe, he's still a Growlithe that only really began training when he became my pokemon. Metagross is a fully evolved Pseudo legendary pokemon that Steven's been training since he was my age. Despite Metagross' Steel-typing, they are still an older pokemon that has been around for quite a while. Steven is going to become a Steel-type master which means he'll have to figure out ways to deal with his type's weaknesses."

"So despite his type-advantage, Balto would lose against Metagross because it's stronger and more experienced than him?" Ash had a concentrated look on his face.

Vali nodded feeling proud that Ash understood her, "Yes, but eventually, he'll end up winning against Metagross so long as he continues to train and develop his battling skills."

"So does this mean I don't have to learn theory?" Ash asked with a slight grin.

Vali felt just a little sad for bursting his bubble, "No, you need to learn theory, Ash. It's very important alongside practical skills if you're going to become a great trainer," Ash's face fell, "I understand why you don't like theory, Ash. I've always been better at practical skills rather than theory."

"Really?" Ash asked as Gary looked at her in surprise.

Vali nodded lightly, "Hands on learning is easier for me than book learning, Ash is a lot like me in that regard. Gary on the other hand finds book learning easier. Everyone learns differently even pokemon."

"So Ash isn't stupid for not getting our book lessons down while I'm not stupid for having trouble with the practical portions?" Gary summed up earning a glare from Ash for calling him stupid.

"Neither of you are stupid and anyone that calls you that is an idiot," Vali picked up Pippin when he pawed at her legs and set him in her lap, "It's actually a good thing you two learn differently," They looked at her in confusion, "Ash can help Gary understand the practical lessons,"

"While I help him understand the book lessons?" Gary asked more than answered.

"Yup," Vali nodded and saw comprehension dawning in their eyes, "And the stuff neither of you understand can be brought up to one of the adults after school, the lab has quite a few people able to help you out,"

Ash's eyes found Pippin, "What pokemon is that?"

"A Shinx," Vali answered with a light grin, "His name is Pippin or Pip for short. Pip," Pippin looked up at her curiously, "These two are my adoptive little brothers, Ash and Gary,"

Vali spent a bit more time talking to the two before getting off of the video phone. Steven looked up when she approached where he was sitting in the trainer's lounge area, "That took a little awhile, is everything okay?'

"Everything is fine, I was just talking with the boys," Vali sat down with Pippin in her lap, "They're really eager for when we get home,"

"Did you tell them when we were going to arrive?" Steven asked her with a raised eyebrow.

Vali shook her head, "Nope~I'm keeping that a secret. You're fine with the plan though, right?"

"Sure, it sounds like a lot of fun," Steven looked at her in amusement, "I didn't think you'd be the type of person to prank someone,"

"I'm a woman of many facets," Vali replied before looking down at Pippin who butted his head against her chest, "How's Blastoise?"

Wartortle had finally evolved during a practice battle with Smaug. Smaug was torn between being happy one of his usual sparring partners was now stronger and annoyed that the battle had ended before he could win. Steven sighed deeply, "According to Nurse Joy, he won't be able to battle for the next two weeks due to his shell being too weak. He apparently needed more iron and calcium in his diet than what I was giving him."

"Well it does happen, but at least he'll be fine in the end, right?" Vali asked earning a nod, "It isn't something you would've known since the Squirtle-line aren't something your familiar with at least in concerns of their evolution,"

"True," Steven still looked annoyed with himself, "I should've been doing more research,"

Vali patted his shoulder in sympathy, "At least now, you'll know to do so in the future. Beating yourself up about it won't help Blastoise," Steven's expression lightened a bit as a determined gleam entered his eye, "Besides, you need to focus on Lileep anyway. He's edging closer to his evolution and it won't be long until he does."

"I should have Nurse Joy do a deep check on him," Steven stood up, "Thank you, Vali,"

"No problem," Vali stood up as well after transferring Pippin to the ground, "I should go see her about everyone's conditions and maybe have her check on my egg,"