Call's home to family

Vali's head was pounding and her body felt sluggish as she slowly came to. She groaned softly and slowly reached up to press a hand to her forehead. She felt almost as weak as two years ago. It was disconcerting and made her wonder what happened. She opened her eyes only to groan and close her eyes against the bright florescent light. Once her eyes adjusted, she opened them and found herself looking at what seemed like a hospital ceiling. She grimaced in confusion and turned her head when she heard, "Vali?"

"S-steven-" She started coughing.

Steven held her sit up and drink some water, "Easy, you've been unconscious with a fever for a few days."

"Thank you," Vali murmured after he took the glass away and let her lay back against the pillows, "Why did I have a fever?"

"The Poison Sting was more powerful than we first thought," Steven explained as he sat down on the chair next to the bed, "Your body has been fighting the poison which is why you had the fever and more than likely feel weak,"

Vali remembered them reaching the pokemon center, but that was about it, "Are my pokemon okay?"

They had been hit by the Nidoran's Poison Sting as well and unlike most of Steven's pokemon, her's didn't have an real resistance to poison. Steven nodded lightly, "They're fine and should be leaving Nurse Joy's care by tonight," Vali sighed in relief earning a smile from Steven, "How are you feeling?"

"Weak and my head feels like someone decided to use it as a drum," Vali closed her eyes for a moment feeling tired, "What have you been doing since I fell unconscious?"

"I've gotten all of our clothes washed, I restocked your antidotes as promised, and I also informed your family about what happened," Steven answered making her eyes snap open, "Miss Delia was very relieved to hear that you would be okay though she wants you to follow Nurse Joy's orders as best you can. After realizing you were going to be okay, Ash began asking if you'd have a scar from it," Vali's eyes rolled since of course her little brother figure would ask about scars since they were 'cool', "Miss Delia also mentioned that she would be telling Mister Black as well as ensuring that he wouldn't charge over here the moment he could to check on you. She wants you to call her as soon as you can,"

Vali smiled and shook her head, "Thank you, Steven. I doubt I would've been able to tell them everything."

Steven chuckled softly, "No problem, Vali. I should go tell Nurse Joy that you've woken up."

Vali remembered the boy's body in the forest and asked, "D-did you send the pokemon off to Professor Oak?"

Steven paused in the middle of standing up before continuing, "Yes and he told me a bit about the boy," He sighed softly, "His name was Grant Fuller and he was a student at one of the pokemon academies up until a month ago due to the fact he got frustrated due to not progressing as fast as he wanted. He took his Shellder and Pidgey and left the academy. No one knew where he'd gone, but now they know where he ended up. Nine years old and already dead."

Vali and Steven both grimaced at that. Clearly, the academy he'd gone to hadn't prepared him enough. Nothing would ever really prepare someone for a pokemon journey which was why things like that could happen.

Vali was out of the recovering trainers wing within two days of waking up with the warning to take it easy. While she didn't really mind the place, she didn't like sitting around and doing nothing. Even going through her pokedex and going over strategies for her first gym battle only kept her mind occupied for a little bit, she did spend a good bit of those two days sleeping to regain her strength and bonding further with her pokemon which was nice. The first thing she did after leaving the recovering trainers wing was go to the room she'd gotten and take a long shower. She also took the time to give all of her pokemon a bath though Smaug didn't get into the tub. He sat on a stool sitting inside a rather large metal tub holding his tail up while she scrubbed his scales clean. While Smaug's species could bathe themselves by breathing fire onto their scales, they couldn't always get everything.

Vali headed downstairs to get some lunch and found Steven waiting in the cafeteria. He looked up and smiled at her, "Have a nice shower?"

"Yup and I pampered everyone a bit," Vali said while gesturing to Pikachu.

Pikachu sparked happily which showed of the sheen to his fur. A proper cleaning had really helped the cautious pokemon get closer to her which was the whole reason she did it. Steven let out a laugh and they went to go get food, "That's good. Have you decided what you're going to do?"

"I think I'm just going to call my family to check in and spend a bit more time relaxing with everyone," Vali answered as she chose a bowl of spaghetti, a small bowl of mixed fruit, a few rolls, and a bottle of water, "I think we're all still a bit worn down from the forest,"

Steven nodded as they headed towards a table after getting some food for their pokemon, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea."

Vali made sure her pokemon were satisfied with their meals before asking, "How long are we going to be in Pewter?"

"Three weeks," Steven answered earning a surprised look from Vali, "I had planned on staying here that long before we encountered that Nidoran, so it didn't really mess up any plans. You'll need at least a week and a half to fully recover according to Nurse Joy. Since this is your first gym battle and you don't have any pokemon that have an advantage over rock types, I felt it would be best to give you more time to train," Vali nodded as she began eating, "I also thought that would give me ample time to learn more about the Museum here and Mount Moon,"

Vali's mind went back to one of the pokemon she'd been hoping to catch at some point, "Sandshrew can be found at Mount Moon, right?"

"Yes. Did you want to catch one?" Steven asked her curiously earning a nod, "May I ask why?"

"To be quite honest, they're my favorite ground-type outside of Tyranitar, Camerupt, Flygon, and Garchomp," Vali admitted with a sheepish smile, "I've always loved how they and their evolved form battle. They may not be as powerful as some pokemon, but they're experts at battling especially once they're under ground. They're also really cute,"

Steven chuckled at her last comment, "I will admit that they're an interesting pokemon and that I was hoping to catch one as well," At her curious look, he explained, "They're excellent diggers and can easily extract stones from rocks with far more precision than most humans are capable of. They're said to be better than even Drilbur and Excadrill though I'm still going to try and find an Excadrill as they are a steel-type,"

Vali took out her pokedex as she remembered one of the facts that Professor Oak had told her during his lecture on the Sandshrew line about six months back, "Here we are," She read over the extended entry, "Sandshrew and Sandslash are rather unique among ground types. Much like the Swinub line, they have an incredibly sensitive nose which helps them avoid underground water springs while tunneling. They can be trained to find specific types of stones though only in their first form," Vali looked up at Steven, "I suppose that's why you want one right, you like finding precious stones."

"Yes," Steven held out his hand and she handed over the pokedex, "Interesting, I didn't know about that particular ability though I suppose it explains how the leagues are able to procure evolutionary stones for both the league trainers and those that win them in league sponsored tournaments. I don't remember seeing this in my pokedex before,"

"Professor Oak does lectures on certain pokemon every few months and so long as you're there for it, he'll upload an extended entry for said pokemon into your pokedex though he only does it for those that won't abuse the information," Vali explained earning a surprised look from Steven, "I used to sit in for all the lectures that I could both because they're interesting and because it would help me work with any pokemon that I may end up meeting," She flushed lightly as she admitted, "It also got me out of having to do some extracurricular activities with my classmates which was a boon to me since most avoided me on principle due to the fact I was new to Pallet and I was weird," Vali took her pokedex back when he handed it to her and resumed eating her lunch, "Professor Oak didn't mind letting me sit in for the lectures even when school was going on since I would be working with the pokemon that call his corral home whenever I could,"

"You don't really connect with people, do you?" Steven asked earning a nod as shame ran through her.

Vali set down her fork as she admitted, "I never have and most of it was caused by my cousin deciding that he didn't like any of the other kids coming near me growing up. He did it on the orders of my aunt and uncle because they didn't want anyone to find out that the rumors they spread about me were wrong or that I was being abused," She stared at her food, "Connecting to people even without their influence is hard for me."

Vali looked up at Steven expecting to be mocked only to earn an understanding look, "Some people can't connect well with others. I have trouble connecting with people as well though I've managed to overcome my difficulties mostly due to my father and some of the trainers I've become friends with," Steven smiled at her, "I suppose you connect better with pokemon?"

"Yeah. They're a lot easier to understand then again so where the animals that I used to encounter back in my old homeland," Vali had honestly preferred the company of animals back in her old world, "They never had any ulterior motives. Not all of them liked me, but they never hid behind masks and facades. The same can be said with pokemon for the most part,"

Vali called Delia after lunch, "Hello-Vali!"

"Hey, Delia," Vali greeted her with a grin, "Sorry I couldn't call you before now,"

"It's fine since Steven explained what happened. It sounds like the last few weeks haven't been very fun," Delia replied with a sad smile and Vali shrugged lightly feeling her right side twinge slightly in protest, "An abnormally cold rainstorm, territorial pokemon, and wild pokemon attacks,"

"It sounds like a bad movie title to be honest," Delia laughed softly at Vali's attempt to lighten the mood, "I'm better now though I'm going to take it easy for the next week or so. We aren't planning on leaving Pewter for three weeks,"

"That's a good idea," Delia seemed a bit relieved by her words which Vali could understand since the last two and a half weeks really had sucked, "How are you feeling?"

Vali sighed softly, "I'm still really tired, but I'm definitely feeling a lot better than I did after I first woke up," Delia looked relieved making Vali feel guilty, "Have you told Sirius yet?"

"Not yet, he's currently on a mission near Mount Silver and can't talk to anyone at the moment," Delia answered making Vali wonder what he would be doing around there, "Oh yeah, Regulus finally evolved into a Houndoom,"

"Really?" Regulus had been a Houndour since she'd first met him back when Sirius managed to pass enough classes to get a partner from the ranger union, "I was wondering when it would happen since he's been with Siri for a year and a half now,"

"He's absolutely gorgeous too," Vali would bet on that since Sirius kept Regulus in excellent conditions.

Vali hoped she'd be able to see them at some point if only to congratulate Regulus on the evolution. She pushed that thought out of her mind, "So are you off today or is it a lunch break."

"A lunch break. Ash is currently at the corral," Vali was surprised since she thought the boy would be at day camp, "Mary finally had her baby, Travis took the day off to spend time with his family in Viridian, and Luca's still on her sabbatical which means there is anyone to that can take all the kids,"

"Well at the very least, Ash won't be bored and will be learning valuable skills," Vali offered.

"True," A bell sounded in the distance, "That would be my lunch, Vali..."

"I'll call you before we leave Pewter and again when we reached the pokemon center before Mount Moon," Vali promised earning a grin, "Tell Ash I said hi if he isn't there when I call Professor Oak,"

"I will. Be safe and good luck with your gym battle," Delia told her before they hung up.

After everyone had gotten a day to relax and be pampered, they went back to training. Vali spent a lot of time on Flint's trainer page making note of the pokemon he commonly used during first badge battles. He usually used two of three pokemon. He switched between Geodude, Rhyhorn, or Onix. Of course, he did sometimes pull out an unexpected pokemon like Nosepass though it depended on the amount of trainers he usually battled against during the day. She hoped that it would be Geodude and Rhyhorn as those two would be the easiest ones to counter; however, she was aware that she would probably only face one of the two and Onix. She would need to prepare as much as possible for any of the three during the next two weeks. Two weeks should be enough to allow her pokemon to become strong enough to get over type disadvantages leaving the rest to recover from their gym battle. If she lost, she could always come again at a later point in the season even if it meant the battle would be a full six on six.

They would have to do their best regardless and Vali knew they could win. With that determination, Vali had them practicing the moves they could use. They needed to be able to charge them up faster and make them more powerful if they were going to win. She also looked up teaching Smaug Smokescreen which would benefit them in a battle since it could provide him cover. She began making plans on how to teach it to him since it was in his natural move set. She looked up from her pokedex when Steven sat down next to her, "Hey, Steven. Done raiding the library for the day?"

"For now," He looked at her pokemon which had been joined by his, "What are you guys doing today?"

"I'm mostly having them work on charging their attacks faster. While they have them down, they're charging them at a slow rate which isn't going to win us any battles in higher tier fights," Vali looked at Smaug charging up his Metal claw and noted that it took less than a minute which was better, "I'm also trying to figure out who to use in my first gym battle. Since none of them have an advantage, I'm having a lot of trouble deciding. I know that I want to put either Smaug or Balto out despite their disadvantage, but that doesn't help me decide since Pikachu and Pidgey have been working hard too. While Pidgey won't be affected by any of Flint's ground-type attacks, she'll end up losing if she gets hit by a rock-type attack due to her fragile body. The same could be said for Pikachu especially since he doesn't have the advantage of not being affected by ground type attacks," She pulled up her notes on Flint and showed Steven, "Flint usually uses Geodude, Ryhorn, or Onix with a few others like Nosepass though it depends on the amount of trainers he's battling during the day. I can't use Pikachu against Ryhorn simple because his electrical attacks will be absorbed by Ryhorn's horn which acts as a natural lightning rod,"

Steven looked over her notes with a critical eye, "Maybe you should use Balto and Smaug? Both are fast and don't have fragile bodies not to mention Balto is an experienced pokemon. From your notes, you're planning on teaching Smaug Smokescreen which will definitely be a great help in dealing with the rock types. Flint will also not be expecting to face two fire types in a row especially not one that isn't usually found near here."

Vali thought about it carefully before nodding, "I think you're right plus I can always use Pikachu and Pidgey in the next gym battle especially since the leaders use water type pokemon."

Steven handed back her pokedex, "How are you planning on teaching Smaug Smokescreen? It won't be too easy to teach despite being a part of his natural move set."

"There are videos online and in the pokedex," Vali returned her pokedex back to the page she'd been looking at, "It shouldn't be too hard especially since he already releases a minor amount of smoke each time he breaths. Charmander and many other species capable of using the move produce small amounts of potassium nitrate which is the main ingredient used to make smoke bombs. All Smaug has to do is release the chemical from wherever its stored within his body and release it into his inner flame which he will then be able to breath it out thus creating Smokescreen. Of course, it won't be very dense as his body isn't storing much of it both due to him not knowing the technique and because he doesn't really need much,"

"Where did you learn that?" Steven asked with a raised eyebrow.

Vali hummed lightly, "Professor Oak has a Charizard and didn't mind telling me about his species especially since he was reviewing the material for his lecture on them about a year and a few days ago."

"I should definitely sit in on some of his lectures when I have the time," Steven decided making her giggle, "So other than that, what will you be teaching Balto?"

"Reversal. Rock-types are weak against fighting-type moves," Vali had marked it down earlier when she was looking for moves her pokemon could use, "I'm also planning on teaching him Retaliate at some point,"

"A good plan though it'll be tough for Balto to learn Reversal since he both isn't a Fighting-type and doesn't have any arms," Steven noted earning a shrug from her.

Reversal was a move Balto could learn and she'd be damned if she didn't help him learn it.