Numel and a vision

After dropping off the packages and paying for same day shipping, they returned to the Pokemon center with Vali going to retrieve her pokemon. Nurse Joy had finished with Balto, but wanted to keep Numel over night to be thorough as they did with all pokemon that came from the Safari-zone. Thankfully, Balto only had a few bumps and bruises that were easily treated with some potions. Collecting Balto, she headed to one of the training grounds and called out her pokemon. Everyone looked at her with eager curiosity and she told them, "We have a new member of the family," Everyone looked around to see if they could find the new comer before looking back at her in confusion, "They're currently being checked over by Nurse Joy. I want to make sure they're healthy like I did with each of you. Now, I wanted to talk to you a bit about the newbie before you meet them, okay?" Everyone settled down, "The new comer is a Numel which is a pokemon species from Hoenn like Steven's older pokemon are. They're a fire/ground-type and only evolve once," She took out her pokedex and looked up Numel before showing it to everyone, "This is Numel."

Everyone crowded around her and Idril made a confused sounding chitter while pointing at the hole on Numel's back, "That's there to allow them to give off the extra heat their bodies produce, they have magma inside of them," Vali smiled at their surprised looks, "They can do it due to their dual typing though it makes them a bit more vulnerable to water-type and ice-type attacks. The reason being is that if the magma cools, Numel slow down until it heats up again. I'm going to need all of you to help Numel keep warm during the winter to ensure they don't get too cold to move," Determined nods were given, "Now, Numel is a bit slow compared to most pokemon. The best comparison is Slowpoke though Numel are a bit better than them. I need you guys to be nice and explain things if Numel gets confused which brings me to why I'm telling you all this," Everyone got serious, "While I doubt Numel will attack anyone, they were a wild pokemon up until now and I don't want you guys to startle it. Do not crowd around them, I'll introduce you to them one by one, okay?" Everyone nodded slowly, "Do not be aggressive with them, I don't want a fight," She relaxed when they nodded again, "Good, I'll introduce you guys later. For now, I just want to spend some quality time with you all and relax a bit since today has been pretty interesting."

At their curious looks, Vali told them about everything that had happened today with Balto offering his own opinions. She ended up settled back against Smaug's side while he curled up behind her and she leaned into his warm body with a smile as her pokemon settled down around her.

Flashes of fire and glowing bluish green crystals turning fiery red...

A black staff that stood taller than she was topped with the crystal that had been carved into a perfect circle...

A woman with bright red hair and silvery green eyes...

An army of people and pokemon marching forward...

The woman extending a black staff topped with a sun made of the crystal forward...

A screeching cry echoing through the air as a form enveloped in flames flying forward...

A battlefield engulfed in flames...

Plants slowly growing from charred earth...

A musical cry echoing through the air

Vali choked back a gasp as her eyes snapped open and she pressed a hand to her chest. What the hell was that? A new vision? If so, what the hell did it mean?

Vali collected Numel from Nurse Joy the next morning. Other than a few nutritional issues that could be corrected with some vitamins and time, Numel was in perfect health. She headed to one of the isolated training grounds to make sure Numel wouldn't get too startled by the change in scenery and no one would likely end up stumbling on them. She released everyone and they knew what to do thus resulting them settling down in various areas around the training ground without being to close to her or the place she'd release Numel. Once everyone was settled down in various areas around the training ground, she released Numel for the first time since leaving the Safari-zone. Numel shook its head for a few moments to clear it before focusing on her, "Hey, Numel," She bent down to pet Numel's head earning a coo of enjoyment from the humped pokemon, "I wanted you to meet the rest of my family, okay? They're not going to attack you, so please don't attack them," She spoke slowly and clearly to ensure that Numel understood, "Okay?" Numel nodded and she pointed to each member of her family, "You already know Balto," Balto barked in greeting and licked Numel's cheek earning a surprised look from the fire/ground-type, "This Charizard is Smaug," Smaug spat a few embers towards the ground after eyeing the slow creature, "That big Pidgeot is Celina," Celina hopped up and cooed down at the Numel before backing away, "The next is Pikachu," Pikachu walked over and patted Numel's cheek prompting Numel to lick Pikachu's cheek much the electric-types disgust, "The Eevee, is Eevee," Eevee looked at Numel for a few moments before nodding his head, "The shiny Sandshrew is Idril," Idril shyly waved in greeting from beside Terra, "The Ponyta is Arwen," Arwen nickered as she trotted over to nuzzle Numel earning a coo from the fire/ground-type, "The Larvitar is Terra," Terra waved at Numel, "We have one more family member, but they haven't been born just yet," Vali took off her bag and pulled out the incubator before taking the Vulpix egg out, "This is our other family member, they're going to be born soon," Numel came close to the egg with wide eyes and nudged it lightly before cooing in delight, "I'm glad you're happy. It's nice to have another member of our family."

Vali sat down with the egg in her lap as Numel was drawn to each of it's new family members. Eevee quickly settled beside her clearly not feeling up to socializing with Numel at the moment. She reached out and gently began scratching behind Eevee's ears making him stiffen for a moment before he relaxed. It was a testament of how far they'd both come that he was even allowing it. She sighed softly earning a look from Eevee prompting her to say, "I'm really glad that you're healing, Eevee. You've come really far since the day I rescued you."

Eevee nodded slightly before looking back towards Numel.

With her curiosity burning through her, Vali took out her pokedex once everyone had gotten to know Numel and scanned it:

Numel, the Numb Pokemon. Numel is extremely dull witted—it doesn't notice being hit. However, it can't stand hunger for even a second. This pokemon's body is a seething cauldron of boiling magma. The magma in its body reaches 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit. Its hump gets smaller when it uses Fire-type moves. If it gets wet, the magma cools and hardens. In that event, the pokemon's body grows heavy and its movements become sluggish. It is a hardy pokemon that can transport a 220-pound load. It has served humans at work since long ago.

This Numel is Female and has the ability Oblivious. This Numel knows the moves Growl, Tackle, Ember, Focus Energy, Magnitude, Earth Power, and Heat Wave.

Vali looked at her newest family member with some surprise, "Not a bad move set to work with, Numel," Numel blinked at her for a few moments before letting out a satisfied coo, "Do you want a nickname?" Numel slowly registered her words before nodding with an excited look in her eyes, "Okay lets see..."

Eventually, they settled on Pele mostly because it was simple enough for Numel to remember and Camerupt were known for being able to set off volcanoes if they were pissed off enough. Vali didn't think any names from Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit fit Numel very well besides Pele was a goddess associated with volcanoes as far as she remembered from that one mythology class they'd had back in primary school. Either way, Pele liked her new name quite a bit and would probably never listen to another one.

Vali had the newly named Pele show off her abilities while making plans for her to teach Heat Wave to some of the other pokemon. She was surprised that the Safari-zone managed to get a Numel of all pokemon with Heat Wave as its egg move, but probably shouldn't be. After all, it was the only place to get Dratini in Kanto unless you managed to get to the Celadon Game Corner during the few times they had them and manage to win enough coins to buy it. Then again, it is the same place where some stupidly released a colony of Durant in Kanto without any Heatmor around to keep the population somewhat in check, so some surprise was warranted. Though it did make her wonder how the Rangers haven't noticed, it was pretty damn obvious that Durant were present in the mountain zone, so why hadn't they noticed.