End of training and before the battle

Elrond's presence in Vali's mind reminded her of cool static flavored with whatever emotion he was currently feeling. She latched onto that feeling and slowly guided him to the wall she'd been forming with Sabrina's help. Elrond jolted for a moment when her own mental presence and magic touched him before relaxing as he followed her towards the wall. Reaching it, Elrond's presence expanded as he began to take in the wall before beginning to strengthen it. In the future once their bond was more solid and they were more experienced in guarding her mind, they would be able to expand the wall and its defenses even without her being a Psychic.

Slowly, Elrond withdrew from her mind after a few moments and Vali opened her eyes. Elrond floated over to settle in her lap with a tired yawn and she hugged him feeling a bit sleepy, "That was easier this time."

The first few times had been a lot harder and taken more out of them both. It was mostly due to the innate fiery nature of her magic due to the inner flame Vali carried and getting used to the thunderstorm that was Elrond. As they continued to work on it, the burning fire of her mental presence had turned into a soothing warmth and Elrond's thunderstorm had become a cooling static. She looked at Sabrina as the Psychic Gym Leader walked over with Espeon curled around her shoulders. Sabrina smiled warmly at the fire-type master-in-training, "I do believe that you two should have no problem so long as you meditate together once every day."

"Probably during the evenings until it doesn't tire us out so much," Vali was proud of them both for coming so far and she could feel a similar sense of pride coming from the Elrond's side of the bond that had developed between them since the first time their minds touched.

"Thank you for your help, Master Espeon," Elrond broadcasted in a slightly soft baritone that didn't exactly sound right coming from the Raichu.

Espeon inclined his head as an almost airy voice that seemed to deepen at random replied, "It was no trouble with such a determined students. So long as you ensure your trainer is protected alongside your...pack, it will be thanks enough."

Elrond nodded with determination floating through his side of the bond. Sabrina held out a hand and helped Vali stand up, "Now, you should take the next two days to rest as our battle will be soon at hand. I am looking forward to facing both Steven and you."

Vali nodded with an eager grin since psychic-type pokemon were tricky especially when they were part of the Abra-line. It would probably be as fun as fighting Koga had been despite the poisoning aspect of it all. Sabrina's warm smile grew a bit at her eagerness likely feeling some form of excitement as well. Despite the rocky start to their relationship due to Sabrina's actions during her first visit to Saffron, the two had become somewhat close especially given that they'd both seen bits and pieces of the others memories during the process of building up her mental walls. While they weren't friends, the two would probably consider each other an ally of some form with the potential to become friends later on in life.

Steven looked up as Vali walked into one of the trainer lounges that Saffron city's Pokemon Center boasted, "How was your morning?"

"Elrond and I had an easier time today," Vali flopped onto the couch beside him with a light smile, "So long as we meditate together once a day, we'll be able to keep up our progress and eventually not feel so tired when we work together,"

"That's excellent news," Steven looked down at his pokenav as a text came through.

"What about you?" Vali asked him curiously.

"Ryner and I have been discussing things via text," Steven answered as he typed out a reply, "He is mostly keeping me up to date about what's going on in Hoenn,"

"That's nice of him," Vali let out a soft yawn.

Steven smiled lightly, "Perhaps you should take a nap, we have another hour before we'll need to leave in order to catch that movie."

Vali hummed softly under her breath before shrugging and shifting to lay on her side, "Sounds like a plan."

It didn't take long for Vali to fall asleep which is something Steven had noticed since the first time this particular bit of training had happened. Considering the fact he'd had to pick up Vali and carry her back to the pokemon center the first time, it wasn't too hard to tell especially given Sabrina's warning about how likely it was to happen. He did have to say that while Vali being so tired wasn't something he liked, it wasn't something he minded especially since it'd cut down on the visions she'd been getting. Once Vali had really started to build up those walls, he'd noticed that Vali seemed a bit lighter as if some weight had been weighing down on her shoulders until that moment had fallen away. While he'd known that the visions had been causing some strain, he hadn't really noticed how bad it was until the weight they placed on Vali's shoulders began to lessen.

When an arm curled around his waist and a weight settle on his lap, Steven looked up from his pokenav to see Vali using his lap as a pillow. Fingers curled around and bunched up the fabric of his shirt, Vali's face was pressed close to his stomach. Brushing away some of the hair from her face, he turned back to his conversation with Ryner absentmindedly beginning to card his fingers through the soft strands of ash colored hair in between shooting off texts asking for more clarification or giving his opinion on the subject.

Taking a risk, Vali had decided against sending for any pokemon back home mostly due to the fact Pippin, Empress, and Pele had been working so hard. Not to mention, they alongside Smaug and Balto had been training heavily with Elrond, Metagross, and Claydol to fight against psychic-types. Pippin was also showing signs of evolution which wasn't surprising since the Shinx-line tended to evolve somewhat quickly alongside the usual regional starters. She was going to let him battle rather than Empress or Pele mostly because he had become a rather good battler thanks to Lt. Surge's assistance. He was less prone to either ignoring her orders or accidentally forgetting that they were in a battle. Unsurprisingly, Empress protested quite a bit about not being allowed to battle against Sabrina and it took Smaug beating the dragon up a bit to make her listen. While the fire-type master-in-training was put out that the little event with Dragonite hadn't quite gotten through to Empress, she was willing to be patient.

Sabrina was waiting in the battle ground of the Saffron City gym for Vali, "Good morning, Vali."

"Good morning to you as well, Sabrina," Vali replied with a light smile, "Ready to have some fun?"

"Indeed," Sabrina turned to Steven, "Please sit in the stands, Steven,"

"Good luck, Vali," Steven squeezed her hand before following Sabrina's orders.