Saddles

Now that Celina was fully healed and finished her major growth spurts, Vali took her Pidgeot to the pokemon center recommended saddle maker. While not exactly the best of the world, they lasted for at least a year with hard use and were in the general budget of rookie trainers. Unfortunately, it wasn't close to the pokemon center at all which meant she would have to go to a part of Celadon which she hadn't been too before. With Steven and Zaria doing their own things, she would have to try and navigate through the city alone which would be fun considering just how lost she could get in a city.

Balto walked beside her along with Smaug. They would hopefully keep her from getting too lost though sometimes they were just as bad as her when it came to not getting lost in cities. While Nurse Joy had given her a paper with written directions on it, they would likely get lost at least once if not more during their trip to the saddle maker. Thankfully, the citizens of Celadon were relatively friendly and would probably point her in the right direction if asked. With any hope, they'd find the place before it closed and Balto would be able to follow their scent trails back to the pokemon center.

Thankfully, the weather was pleasant which meant the walk wasn't unpleasant. It was actually nice taking a break and getting to explore the city further. Balto seemed to enjoy the walk greatly if only because the scents of the various flowers. Smaug liked it as well though he disliked the amount of people and pokemon around them. Vali found a few places that were perfect to take pictures in which meant she'd give her pokemon some real time to play around and relax while she indulged in her favorite hobby. She was sure that they'd enjoy the break as would Steven and Zaria if they wanted to join her. With all the training they were going to do, they would need some time to relax and decompress otherwise they'd end up wearing themselves out.

After an hour, they managed to find the saddle maker with some help from a few helpful people and an older trainer that had just left the shop. Entering the saddle maker shop, she was surprised that by the general homely feel of it. It mixed fairly well with the scent of leather and some kind of oil that smelt kind of nice. Balto and Smaug sniffed the air before letting out sounds of pleasure as their eyes went half-mast. Vali bent down, "You two okay?"

"They'll be fine," The man at the counter said, "The special oil we use to make our saddles weather resistant tends to make any pokemon that smells it act like that. It's helpful when we need a pokemon to relax in order to properly measure them up for saddles and make any adjustments we need to for their saddle," Vali sighed in relief and stood up properly, "My names Jacob Barnes and welcome to Barnes and Blues Saddles,"

"Valkyrie Potter though I prefer Vali," Vali introduced herself as she walked towards the counter with Smaug and Balto breaking out of their stupor to join her, "I'm actually here to get a saddle,"

"Not for either of these two right?" Jacob asked earning a snort.

"Not for a long while though I doubt I'll get a saddle when I finally evolve Balto," Vali had ridden Professor Oak's Arcanine multiple times and definitely preferred 'bare back' riding when it came to Arcanine, "My Pidgeot evolved during the last flying competition and she's finally finished healing up. Nurse Joy recommended that I come to your shop since I'm still in my first year and you're saddles are apparently reasonably priced,"

Jacob snapped his fingers, "You're the one who's Pidgeotto evolved during the last round, weren't you?"

"Yes," Vali looked at him in surprise, "Were you there?"

Jacob nodded with a bright grin on his tanned face as his dark brown eyes turned bright, "Yup! I go every time they have that contest since I'm a big fan of flying types. This year was pretty good though that part with the Fearow..."

Vali grimaced alongside Jacob at the reminder, "Yeah, I almost pulled Celina out when I saw that, but I knew that she would benefit from the experience."

"And that she did," Jacob's grin returned full force, "So your Pidgeot's name is Celina?"

"That it is," Vali laid a hand on Celina's pokeball, "How does this work?"

"Since I'm the one in charge of all flying-type saddles, I'm your man," Jacob answered as he took out a pad of paper and a pen, "My brother-in-law is the one you would be going to with a land based pokemon though my little sister is the racer of the family," Vali nodded slowly while making note of who to ask for when Smaug and Arwen evolved, "Now, I need you to answer a few questions before we even begin making the saddle. Has Celina grown at all since evolving?"

Vali nodded after thinking about it, "A couple of inches in height after a few days, but that's pretty much it."

"Which means she's done growing for now though you'll probably have to adjust the saddle next year since Pidgeot tend to grow a bit larger every year though it tappers off a bit after the first six to seven years," Jacob wrote something down on his pad of paper, "Has she learned Agility or Tailwind?"

"Not yet, but she is trying to learn Agility at the moment with Tailwind next on the list," Vali answered as Balto and Smaug leaned into her, "Why?"

"It'll tell me if I have to treat the materials in a certain way to prevent the finished saddle from failing due to quick changes in speed," Jacob patiently explained as he wrote another thing down, "Do you know how old she is?"

"No, but I did catch her not far out from Pallet Town," Vali would have to pay extra to find out how old her wild born pokemon were making it not really worth it until she managed to place high in a Conference, "Since she only knew two moves at the time and it wasn't long after July, I think she's probably 6 months old if not a bit more,"

Jacob wrote that down, "Not too surprising, do you know if she's allergic to anything?"

"Nothing that can found in regular pokemon food or any berries I've found," Vali answered earning a nod.

"Which means we won't have much to worry about for the most part," Jacob smiled as he wrote that down, "That's all I need from you, so let's get started on measuring Celina,"

Jacob led the way to a large room filled with various tools though Vali only recognized the ones that Professor Oak usually used to measure and weigh the pokemon that came to his Corral though far less complicated looking. Vali released Celina when Jacob asked her to and the Pidgeot looked a bit surprised to find herself inside, "Celina," Celina looked at her curiously, "We're getting you fitted for the saddle like I told you about," Celina focused on Jacob and gestured with her wing, "He'll be measuring you and making your saddle."

Jacob spoke as Celina nodded slowly, "My name is Jacob Barnes. I must say that you're one absolutely gorgeous looking Pidgeot," Celina preened at the compliment which pretty much placed Jacob into her good books until he did something stupid, "Now, can you walk over here and stay still so I can get started?"

Celina did as he asked and settled in the place he asked her to. Vali sat down in the chair Jacob pointed out to her with Balto and Smaug settling down beside her. They watched as Jacob went about measuring and taking down the data he needed to properly fit Celina. He fawned over the big bird and made sure they all knew what he was doing. When he finished, she asked, "So how long will it take for the saddle to be finished?"

"We'll need to do a few fittings, but it should be done in a week and a half," Jacob answered which wasn't that bad considering the quality she'd be getting, "It'll also come with its own carrying case that won't weigh more than two or three pounds,"

"How much do you think the saddle will cost?" Vali wanted to make sure she had the money ready and wouldn't have the temptation to use it.

Jacob looked over the information sheet he'd made, "Hmm, it shouldn't be more than three thousand to four thousand poke."

Inwardly wincing at the price, Vali knew it could have been worse, "Well that's not too bad."

"Of course not, I mean if it was for a pokemon like a Rhyhorn, we'd be talking about something close to ten thousand since we'd have to make it extra durable," Jacob snorted as she visibly winced at that price, "Not something anyone other than a serious Rhyhorn racer would go for. Now, give me a few moments to get the Standard Contract,"

Because the League didn't want to get sued by anyone when it came to faulty saddles or other custom made pokemon items, they created what's known as the Standard Contract. It basically said that both parties signing the contract were aware of the risks and agreed to deal with the fallout should there be any. It meant that the League wouldn't have to deal with the paperwork and legal headaches that came from human stupidity. Since only those backed by the League and Nurse Joy approved had the contracts, the people trying to scam unassuming rookies or naive people couldn't lay the blame on the League. More than one idiot decided to try going after the League only to end up in hot water for not having the Contract, it never paid to be greedy.

Vali had no trouble signing the contract after she'd read it. Since the Contracts were all written and tracked by psychic-types trained by the League, they couldn't be faked since the signature on them couldn't be copied by anyone since each one was unique. Jacob handed her a copy of the Contract that she'd be sending home tomorrow with the souvenirs she was planning to send. Once that was done, she left the shop after returning Celina.

"So pretty much four thousand poke?" Zaria asked with a raised eyebrow, "That's a lot, but you do have that prize money you won from the tournament back in Vermilion,"

"Yeah not to mention the money I've been winning during my battles," Vali could make the money back if she battles often and checked out more of the activities that Celadon had to offer, "It'll be worth it since the place is known for saddles that last over a year even with heavy use,"

"So worth it though I don't envy you in the least," Zaria shook her head.

"Envy who?" Steven asked as he walked up with a lunch tray.

"Vali," Zaria answered earning an eye-roll.

Steven looked at her with a raised eyebrow as he sat down beside her and she said, "Celina's saddle is going to cost around four thousand poke. I have more than that which means it won't be too big of a hit. I'm going to be looking into more of the activities available and see if I can make the money back. While I don't think I'll make everything back before it's ready, I'll hopefully make back at least half of it."

"How long will it take for the saddle to be made?" Steven asked as she took a bite from her 'turkey' sandwich.

After she chewed and swallowed her bite, Vali took a drink of her lemonade, "A week and a half."

"You should be able to manage to make back half in that time if you adjust your schedule to fit in a few battles a day," Steven picked up a forkful of what looked like spaghetti though she didn't really recognize what kind of noodle they were.

"By the way, I actually found a few decent parks that aren't too crowded and have a wide range of pokemon in them," Vali said as she remembered the things she'd come across during the walk to the shop.

"Really?" Zaria looked at her in interest, "Any trainers?"

"Not too many and the ones I saw were there to relax," Steven looked interested.

"It would be a good idea to take a break during our training if only to give our pokemon time to recover properly," Vali nodded as that was the main reason she'd mentioned it.