Reunion's within the mountain

Sandshrew stuck to Vali's side like glue as they walked showing that despite her curiosity, she was as timid as the rest of her species. Vali didn't mind in the least as it allowed her to bond with her newest pokemon and allow Sandshrew to get to know Balto as well. Once her pokemon realized that it was a hungry baby pokemon that had wandered into their campsite, they had become fairly welcoming to the baby pokemon. Even Pikachu, her most cautious pokemon had warmed up to Sandshrew and seemed to like the little one a lot.

When they stopped for lunch, Steven broached a subject that Vali hadn't even thought about, "Are you going to give her a nickname as well?"

Humming, Vali turned to the little one currently enjoying some mashed up mashed up Oran and Razz berries. She thought about some names, "I think I'll offer her the chance to have a name once she's a little bit older. I doubt she'll understand the concept at the moment."

"You should probably keep a close eye on that Sandshrew of yours," Marko advised as they ate their lunch, "There are people out there that would try to steal her,"

"I know," Vali was going to need to talk to Professor Oak about the precautions she could take, "My Godfather is a pokemon ranger after all,"

Marko looked a bit surprised, "Really?"

"Mhmm," She wondered where Sirius was right about now, "I'm not sure where he is right now though, but there is a chance he might be coming around Mount Moon at some point. The Rangers are one of the main people that the League send out to relocate pokemon,"

Vali was torn between wanting to see Sirius and dreading it since he probably already knew about her little encounter with that male Nidoran. She hoped that he would beg her to go home since things like that were going to happen over the course of her journey same with that dead boy in Viridian Forest. She pushed those thoughts away as Steven commented, "I would be nice to see them in action. The Ranger Union has an interesting way of doing their jobs."

"That they do," Vali remembered Sirius complaining about how diffrent his capture styler was to his wand back when he first started training to become a ranger, "They have to train hard to use those stylers. Sirius let me try it once and I ended up making one of the Rhyhorn a trainer decided to catch pissed off instead of willing to listen to me," She pulled up the sleeve of her right arm and revealed the faint slash marks, "I got these as a present birthday present and Sirius ended up sulking for months,"

"You're not scared of Rhyhorn, are you?" Marko asked eyeing the fain scars.

Vali shook her head, "Nah, it was my fault for not trying it on a Pidgey or something. I'm just never ever going to attempt to become a pokemon Ranger," She looked at Sandshrew who sniffed at the scars curiously and began rubbing her face against Vali's arm, "They don't even hurt anymore. I'm very lucky I only got a flesh wound rather than a broken arm."

Or die. Yeah, she respected anyone that could train a Rhyhorn or any pokemon from that species especially those that raced them. It couldn't be easy even if they were rather dumb compared to other pokemon species. Speaking of that Rhyhorn, she dimly remembered it being sent to the League since its trainer never bothered to check on it in over six months. She wondered if Flint had it or someone else before deciding that it didn't matter so long as it ended up with a good trainer.

Steven jolted awake as he heard a low whimper and immediately began looking around only to find that the camp hadn't been infiltrated by any wild pokemon. Instead of trying to go back to sleep, he checked on everyone. Claydol and Metagross were standing by with Metagross sleeping at the moment. Mawile was curled up on his left side sleeping peacefully. Marko was asleep as was his Golem. Smaug and Pikachu were sleeping. Balto and Sandshrew were wide awake staring at Vali. Immediatly, he looked at his traveling companion as another soft whimper sounded and saw her pale face.

She was crying too and looked scared. Balto let out a whine as Sandshrew made a soft sound that he couldn't quite detect. Slipping from his sleeping bag, he moved the two feet it took to reach Vali and bent down. She let out another whimper and he froze slightly as he heard, "G-Ginny. Wake up, Ginny. You need to wake up."

As gently as he could, Steven shook her awake murmuring, "Wake up, Vali."

Vali jerked awake like she'd been shocked by one of Pikachu's Thunder Shock attacks and looked around wildly like she was waiting to be attacked only to relax when she realized that there wasn't any dangers. She looked at him and flinched, "St-"

"You had a nightmare," Steven settled down as she nodded slowly, "I suppose it involves that gigantic poisonous snake comment you made on our first day here?"

"Y-yeah," Vali looked down at her hands, "I'm sorry for waking you. I'm normally really quiet when I have nightmares if they do pop up,"

Steven wondered how many nightmares she'd had while they were traveling together, "Do you have them often?"

Vali shook her head looking a little less pale, "No. I used to get them a lot after Sirius and I came to Kanto, but it's gotten better over the years. I honestly don't know what caused me to have one..."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Steven asked her.

Vali looked like she honestly wanted to, but ended up shaking her head, "N-not right now."

Despite really wanting to know, Steven forced back that urge and offered her a warm smile, "We still have at least another few hours before we need to be up. How about you sleep next to me?"

Vali was a little hesitant, but eventually agreed to it. Soon enough, she was asleep along with Balto and Sandshrew against his right side. He peered down at her as he decided to keep a better eye on her. She shouldn't have to deal with this stuff alone when he could offer her some form of help even if it wasn't much. He inwardly sighed and decided to get some rest as Claydol spoke in his mind, "Master, do you wish for us to alert you if Friend Vali has any nightmares?"

"Yes," Steven closed his eyes as he moved to get comfortable.

As he slowly fell asleep, he realized that it was nice sleeping with someone beside him other than his pokemon.

Vali was a little embarrassed in the morning, but managed to push it back. Steven had been nice enough to offer and she fell asleep far faster than she normally would have after a nightmare especially when it dealt with the chamber of secrets. The dream also brought up something that she hadn't really thought of in awhile. Could she still talk to snakes? Would she be able to talk to snake-like pokemon? She was kind of hoping it was possible though she did wonder why she hadn't been able to understand any of the ones at Professor Oak's lab. Maybe she needed to concentrate? Well, it was a thought for later.

Steven ended up finding a Sandshrew that he liked not to mention one that didn't share the timid nature the rest of its species had. Surprisingly, the pokeball didn't disappear like she'd been told it would when a trainer reached six pokemon which prompted Steven to explain something that she wouldn't have learned until she either got into the top four of a League Conference or became an ACE trainer. Trainers of that level were shown to be responsible enough to have more than the regular six carry limit. Of course, you had to work up to getting more slots to your carry limit, but as soon as you reached that level, you were allowed to carry two more pokemon. Exceptions were made like when you had an egg hatch after getting a full team of six, you had to speak with your regional Professor and the limit was reinforced after around two months.

Steven's Sandshrew was bigger than usual, but it wasn't a King. From what Vali knew, which wasn't as much as she probably could know, places like Mount Moon likely had a small handful of King pokemon, but they were probably somewhere deeper down in the Mountain where they wouldn't be bothered. Some pokemon species, like Onix, were incapable of having the King gene due to the fact they never stopped growing. Pokemon do stop growing after they get past their prime save for those special few species that never stopped growing or those incapable of growing like Magnemite. She wasn't sure if Sandshrew was one of those capable of having the King gene or not. It would be something to ask the Regional Pokemon Professors as the ones that study this phenomenon are hermits that rarely leave the wilds unless its to pass on their research near the end of their lives.

They had almost made it out of Mount Moon when they encountered a Pokemon Ranger. Said Ranger recognized Vali almost immediately due to the trips that Sirius took her on to the union headquarters after he became a ranger, she pounced on the girl with a grin, "Vali! How's my favorite brat?"

"Stella," Vali was glad that Sandshrew was in her pokeball taking a nap otherwise she had no doubt her little one would be running away from the boisterous blonde, "I take it you're here to relocate some of the Zubat?"

"About half of them," Stella let her go with a pout when Vali didn't hug her back, "You're so mean to me,"

"You surprised me and I don't really give hugs," Physical affection wasn't something Vali was good at unless it came to those younger than her like Ash.

Stella shook her head with a sigh, "Honestly," The pink eyed woman turned to Steven and Marko, "And who are these fine gentlemen?"

"Steven Stone, my traveling partner," Vali gestured to Steven, "And Marko Grain, our guide through Mount Moon,"

"Steven Stone, the one who placed third in Hoenn's most recent season and the person that Sirius has been whining about?" Stella asked earning a nod from her, "Nice to meet you, Steven!" Stella beamed at him, "Anyone that can annoy that old dog is a good man in my book,"

Stella's partner, a Minun, darted up to Vali and began to nuzzle her after greeting Balto. Vali bent down and picked up the little pokemon, "Hello, Minun. Having trouble keeping up with your partner?"

Minun nodded with an eye roll earning a glare from his partner, "Hey! I am not that bad."

Vali giggled as the two got into a glaring match that ended with Minun shocking Stella. Steven said, "I suppose that answers the question about you knowing her."

"She's Stella. One of the pokemon rangers that work on my godfather's team most of the time," Vali informed the two before clearing her throat making Minun and Stella freeze, "I don't suppose it would be too much to ask for you to take us to base camp? I want to see Sirius and everyone else not to mention I heard Regulus evolved. I really want to see him,"

Vali, Steven, and Marko were greeted rather cheerfully by the group of Rangers though none tried pouncing on her. Sirius and a few others were currently checking various tunnels to see how many Zubat they'd have to relocate. Instead of leaving, the three decided to take a break in the Ranger's camp which sat in one gigantic cave that was only half a days walk to the exit of Mount Moon. Vali introduced her pokemon team and Stella tried to steal Sandshrew only to end up shocked by a protective Pikachu. Sandshrew didn't like the rather large amount of people and she took pity on her little one by returning her until it was time to eat. She spent time catching up with everyone who had all heard about her encounter with the foul tempered male Nidoran. Many offered Steven and her sympathetic looks since Viridian Forest was not a fun area to get through when the pokemon decided to be extra territorial.

One of the Ranger, a man by the name of Rick that had an Venomoth as a partner, asked, "Were you the two that found that kid?"

"Yeah," Vali's stomach turned at the reminder of the dead kid.

"Shame that you had to see something like that so soon, Kid," Rick shook his head lightly, "Our world isn't the safe place that the idealistic idiots say it is in those snob schools,"

"I know," Vali hugged Pikachu who tolerated the embrace knowing that she needed some form of physical contact, "Did anyone ever find out what killed him?"

"Not really. By the time anyone arrived to find the body, it was almost completely bone with some of the bones missing," Rick wasn't one to mince words as he was a fan of bluntness, "It's likely that he died due to both over exposure to the elements and being attacked by those Raticate,"

Stella smacked him upside the head, "That's enough Rick."

Rick grumbled and rubbed his head lightly though he made no other comments.

Sirius' arrival was signaled by a black blur deciding to slam into Vali, knock the air from her lungs, and give her a hell-hound tongue bath. It took a few minutes to get Regulus off of her before she was able to hug him properly. Regulus absorbed the attention with a happy groan and a wagging tail before moving back to let her get a good look at his evolved form. He was about the regular size of a Houndoom if maybe a few inches bigger, but other than that he looked fairly normal save for one specific thing. One of his horns was cracked and missing an inch off of the tip. When Sirius entered, she didn't greet him happily, but rather angerly, "Sirius Orion Black, what the hell did you do to Regulus' horns?!"

Sirius let out a yelp and looked sheepish as he said, "It was an accident?"

Vali glared at him making Sirius back away a bit and the various Ranger snicker at him. Eventually, she calmed down and Sirius was able to tell her the story while she was pampering his partner. Apparently, they had been relocating some Rhyhorn and one ended up evolving into a Rhydon which surprised everyone. The Rhydon managed to knock Regulus around along with a few other pokemon before the Drill Pokemon was subdued. Luckily, Houndoom horns could repair themselves so long as they weren't knocked loose. It would just take a year or two before Regulus' horns repaired fully. Vali rubbed around the base of Regulus' new horns and said, "At the very least, they'll repair themselves in a year or two. That actually reminds me," She pointed at Sirius as she remembered something, "You owe me a Houndour egg. I beat Flint with two fire-types."

Sirius gaped at her, "Seriously?"

"The video's on my trainer page," She'd checked it before they'd left the Mount Moon pokemon center, "So you owe me a Houndour egg,"

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius sighed deeply, "At least one of us is going to get some, eh Regy?"

Regulus offered his partner a 'And I should care why' look. Vali giggled softly as Steven asked, "You really bet on that?"

"Yup! It was while I was talking to Sirius before he left for the Ranger Union to get his next job," Vali answered and couldn't wait until she got said egg, "If I didn't, Sirius wouldn't have to give me a Houndour egg until my next birthday,"

"You're going to have to wait until Fall since that's when the Houndoom mating season is," Sirius said earning a shrug from her.

Vali didn't really care so long as she got one. Houndour were adorable pokemon and one of her favorites. Then again, almost all of her absolute favorite pokemon were fire-types. Why didn't she notice how fire-type oriented she was before? Pushing those thoughts to the side, she decided to enjoy her time with Sirius since they probably wouldn't be seeing one another for a couple of months if not longer.

Hugging Sirius, Vali said, "I'll see you in a couple of months at Christmas, right?"

"Yeah," Sirius hugged her tightly, "Be careful. I may not exactly like you traveling with Steven, but I'll admit he's not the worst option and it has eased some of my anxiety,"

"You too," Vali looked at him sternly, "I wouldn't be the only one worried about you if something happened,"

Sirius let out a laugh and pulled away reaching out in an attempt to tousle her hair. Vali side stepped the action with an eye roll and Sirius let out a soft laugh, "I'll see you, Pup."

"See you, Siri," Vali moved to join Steven and Mark.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Steven commented earning a laugh from Vali, "I honestly expected him to try and prank me in revenge for not keeping you safe from that male Nidoran,"

"He knows that I would do something worse in retaliation," Vali might not be a full on prankster like Sirius, but that didn't mean she didn't know how to prank someone, "He's already on thin ice for not keeping a better eye on Regulus," As they got closer to the exit of the cave, she turned back and shouted, "Siri, I better be hearing about you proposing to Delia soon! I want Ash as my official little brother!"

Vali giggled as Sirius shouted in denial about his attraction to Delia amidst the laughter of his fellow Rangers. Steven shook his head in amusement while Marko stared at her with a raised eyebrow. Seeing Sirius had done wonders for her anxiety on top of her getting used to being in a cave, she doubted that it would take more than maybe six more trips through caves and mountains to get over her anxiety to the point it didn't bother her. She spoke as they headed straight towards the exit which they should reach in a matter of hours though they'd probably be camping outside which would be a nice change, "I cannot wait to reach Cerulean. I don't know about you two, but I could use a shower."

Steven nodded in agreement while Marko commented, "I'm surprised you haven't complained about that before."

"I've gone longer without a shower," Yeah the Dursley rarely allowed her to take a shower save for once a month if she wasn't going to school, "I kind of hope there will be a river or something on the way to Cerulean. It would be nice to have some somewhat clean clothes,"