Talks

"Wow it sounds like a lot of fun," Lance grinned at her as Vali leaned against the railing by one of the paddocks, "I might have to come by at some point and actually see the place,"

"It's beautiful and my pokemon love it here," Vali smiled at Balto as he flopped on the ground in front of her, "It's relaxing when I'm not taking photos. I think that I've decided something for my future photoshoots. Whenever I go a place, I'll take the time to relax and enjoy it once I've finished my work,"

"Sounds like a good plane," Lance replied before letting out a sigh, "Man, I feel like I haven't relaxed in awhile even when my team takes a few days off,"

"I mean you're putting in as much time and training to face multiple Elite Four in a span of a few months," Vali offered earning a soft groan, "When you schedule your battles against the champions, you come to Cinnabar. You and your pokemon can relax for a few days. I'll give all of your pokemon spa days and ensure they are completely relaxed,"

Lance perked up at that, "That sounds good, it honestly sounds better than half the things I could do during the time I'm going to be spending in Blackthorn," Vali shook her head softly, "Before I forget, Vali," Lance grinned at her, "For my next break, I'm heading to the Charicific Valley with my Uncle on Clan business. Would you like anything?"

"If you could grab any fangs or claws, it would be awesome," Vali told him, "I finished my last research paper and Professor Oak is proof reading it for the final time,"

"So you're doing a paper on fangs and claws of Charizard?" Lance asked curiously.

Vali shook her head lightly, "More like studying the evolutionary line, I'm specifically using their claws and fangs to measure their growth."

"That's interesting," Lance looked at her curiously.

"With a Charmander, it has multiple of sets of sharp fangs at the front of it's jaws that grow and replace themselves constantly," Vali told him as she bent down to pet Balto, "You can tell how old they are by the rings in their teeth," Lance looked surprised, "Same with Charmeleon only they don't have as many sets of sharp teeth to pull and their teeth rings become more defined," Vali grinned bright, "Charizard only have a few sets of teeth. The rings become even more defined. Charizard also have longer teeth as well. The same can be said for their various claws well,"

"Wow," Lance shook his head, "I wouldn't have guessed,"

"It's amazing," Vali told him, "Just thinking about it, I might actually try to do papers on other pokemon,"

"I can't believe they're like trees with their teeth and claws measuring their growth," Lance commented with a laugh.

"Mhmm," Balto nuzzled into her, "So please get me quite a few teeth and claw samples, I'm going to need them,"

"No problem, Vali. I can probably grab you a few dragon-type teeth too. To do a comparison and maybe another paper later, ya know," Lance offered earning an eager nod, "I better get going though. I still need to pack,"

"Get packing then, I'm probably going to relaxing with Balto for a bit then head in to get some sleep," Vali replied with a slight grin, "Talk to you later, Lance,"

"Thank you so much, Vali," Loumine smiled largely at Vali, "It was wonderful to have you here and those pictures look amazing,"

"I agree. I look forward to seeing your updated website," Vali told her with a grin, "Once I get time, I'll put together an album and send it to you,"

"That'd be perfect," Loumine sighed in relief as Vali pulled herself onto Celina's back, "And you're welcome to come back anytime provided you call first,"

"I'd love to," Vali replied as Celina stood up with a slow trill, "We greatly enjoyed it. Balto and Arwen especially. They haven't been able to run so much unless we're at the ranch and even then, they can't do much,"

"Well just call me and we'll set something up," Loumine told while backing away a bit to give Celina more room, "Be safe on your way back to Pallet Town though. The summer isn't exactly the safest to be flying around these parts,"

"Trust me, I'll be safe. Celina's going to watch after me," Vali patted Celina's back as she pulled on her goggles, "See ya later,"

Vali held on tight as Celina tensed slightly before taking off. Vali was forced into the saddle for a few moments as Celina gained altitude. Celina leveled out after a few moments before once she'd reached cloud level and Vali smiled warmly as they sped toward Pallet Town. She closed her eyes for a moment to absorb the feeling and enjoy it.

"That's quite an undertaking, Vali," Professor Oak commented as they sat together at one of the lab tables, "It's a good paper to write and the fact you're already get samples is good,"

"Smaug's teeth samples are the first ones I have," Vali said earning an amused look, "I was wondering if you had any teeth from any Charizard, Charmeleon, or Charmander that have come into your care. Same for the claws,"

"I do have some," Professor Oak answered with a smile, "I can grab you some though make sure to return them,"

"I will," Vali promised as Professor Oak stood up and headed over to one of the cabinets, "Thank you for this,"

"It's no trouble. You're doing amazing well, Vali. You'll be able to obtain your mastery no problem," Professor Oak grinned at her, "Have you been planning on when you'll enter the conference?"

"In about two years," Vali answered causing Professor Oak to frown a bit, "I know what your thinking about my badges expiring. I don't mind it. The upgraded challenge will be more fun for my pokemon and me not to mention I've been really thinking about the delay rather seriously,"

"Oh?" Professor Oak came back with a jar of teeth and a jar of claws that Vali recognized to belong to the Charmander-line.

"Getting to train longer before we hit the conference again will be nice," Vali took the jars and carefully placed them into her bag, "I keep thinking about Steven's battles during our gym circuit and I'm just...I want to battle at that level. I know we can reach that level if we try hard enough,"

"You're already reaching towards it from what I saw towards the end," Professor Oak commented as he sat back down.

"We're getting stronger," Vali felt Thorin rub against her leg leg lightly, "Blaine's making sure of it. Professor, if we take the time to actually train awhile before hitting the circuit again, we'll be able to tackle the first two Elite's no problem,"

"If you're sure, Vali," Professor Oak looked concerned, "But the gym leaders will fight a lot harder this time around,"

"I know," Vali smiled lightly, "But that will be a lot more fun,"