Aftermath

Despite no longer having the Conference battles to deal with, Vali had quite a bit to do. Despite losing her battle against Steven, the League would take care of her pokemon's health the same way they had the entire duration of the Conference, but they still needed to take it easy after such an intense battle. Without needing to focus on battles, she could focus on her business with Delia's helpful advice since it wasn't all about taking pictures and sending them out to whoever requests them. Professor Oak finally decided her paper was ready to be published, so they began the arduous process of publishing it. When Sirius decided she needed to take a break from that, he took Vali out for a day that was just the two of them only to discover the price that came with her placing in the top four as a first year trainer: Reporters.

Vali looked at the wall of flashing cameras and reporters while forcing herself to stay calm despite being pretty much ambushed by the group. She grabbed Sirius' arm to keep him from doing something stupid as she held up a hand and announced past the loud voices, "I will not tolerate any shouting or anyone talking over one another. I'm only going to answer a few questions before going about my day. You've interrupted what is supposed to be a day for my godfather and myself to spend some much needed time together," The reporters quieted down and she picked one out of the crowd, "You with the white shirt and black fedora."

"Vanessa Ilum of the Viridian Evening News," The reporter jumped up with a grin on her face, "Valkyrie Potter-Black, you're a first year trainer from Pallet town that started with a Charmander and managed to make your way to the final four in the span of a single year. This is quite the accomplishment, what's next for you?"

Vali felt slightly irritated at the lack of mention of Balto, "I would like to remind you that Balto, my Arcanine, was with me when I left Pallet though he was a Growlithe at the time. I have quite a few plans, but my biggest one is to become a Fire-type master and a member of the Elite Four. For the moment, my pack and I will be resting up after the Conference as we've gone through quite a bit. All in all, I think we all deserve it."

The next reporter stepped up when Vali gestured to him, "Alex Dark of Cerulean Gleam," He eyed her carefully as he snapped a picture of her, "You've said pack multiple times over the course of the Conference in Reference of your pokemon. What do you mean by that?"

Vali smiled as she thought of her team and leaned down to pet Aragorn as Eevee glared at the reporters from her shoulder, "It's simple really. They're my pack, Mister Dark. My family in all but blood. I consider them my brothers and sisters given that they're pretty much all I had during my journey besides my traveling companion," She shrugged lightly, "It's a well known fact that people tend to take on certain terms when it comes to their pokemon after spending so much time with them. Balto and I have spent quite a bit of time together even before I became his trainer. In the end, I started calling my pokemon family, pack, without realizing it. Why stop now when it's a term that's both comfortable and has so much meaning?"

The next reporter stepped up looking at Vali curiously, "Alicia Redtail of Evergreen Times. Miss Potter-Black, you have a team more in-line with that of a generalist than anything else. Why capture them rather than focus on fire-types specifically?"

Vali's smile softened, "Well, Miss Redtail, I'll tell you the same thing I told the kids that have asked me about it before and what I'm going to say to everyone that'll ask in the future. It's all about my connection to them. For some of my pokemon like Smaug or Balto, I felt an instant connect explainable connection to them. For others like Empress, it took a bit for the connection to form since there was reluctance on their side of things," She reached up to scratch behind Eevee's ears, "No matter what type of pokemon I catch is, she or he will always be one of mine because of the connection we share."

One of the reporters stepped forward next, "Vance Flowers of Celadon Highlights," He grinned into the camera before looking back at Vali, "Valkyrie the whole of Kanto was watching you're progress and hoping you'd make your way into the finals. What do you have to say to about what happened against Steven Stone? Are you angry? Sad? How is the Terrain Destroyer feeling?"

"First off is that really the nickname they're giving me?" Vali felt a little dismayed at the nickname especially since only Pele really destroyed any of the battlefields, "But it doesn't matter, everyone wants to know how I'm feeling right? Well, I'm actually proud of my pack and I for making it as far as we did against Steven. Sure, it sucks that we ended up losing against Steven, but in the end, we'll just train even harder to get to stronger for the next time we fight. We knew that we'd lose going in, but didn't let that stop us from trying anyway," The reporters looked at her in shock and she grinned at them, "What? Surprised? I'm not stupid and neither is my team. We traveled with Steven from the beginning of my journey and only stopped after my last gym badge. We knew how strong he was and that winning would be near impossible. Did we give it our best shot? Of course, we ensured that Steven worked as hard as he could. I'm proud that we took down three of his team members and did damage to two others though it sucks that we couldn't take at least one more out. I just wish we could've fought his Metagross if only to see where we'd stood,"

Sirius shook his head from beside her, "You're crazy, Pup."

"Am not," Vali grinned at him, "Balto's probably pouting a bit at not getting a chance at Metagross and you know it. Even if he's the most mature one of my pokemon, he does desire a good opponent and Metagross is someone he enjoys fighting," She turned back to the reporters, "Anyway, I wish both Steven and Lance the best of luck in their match. I'm not sure who'll win though the last time they fought Lance did, so this should be an interesting fight since Steven'll be interesting in evening out the score. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it and I advise everyone to keep an eye on this fight," She lost her grin a bit, "Now, I will answer one more question,"

She eventually picked someone out from the back of the crowd. The reported stepped forward, "Dennis Warren of Goldenrod Halo. With the new season starting up in about three weeks, what do you plan on doing then?"

Vali was quiet for a moment before saying, "Like I said before, I'll rest for awhile. After that, I'll start training in earnest and maybe look to fill up a few gaps I noticed in my team. I might even join the League at some point. I might end up traveling to Johto, but then again, I might not. It's up in the air," She clapped her hands, "Now if you ladies and gentlemen will excuse us, we will be going about our day."

With that, Vali began dragging away her godfather quickly much to his shock. Sirius snapped out of it quickly enough as they turned a corner and quickly took off running with her. When it was deemed safe enough to slow down and actually take a moment to rest, the two dropped down onto a park bench in a secluded area with a couple of drinks. Sirius looked at her as he said, "You were completely calm and took control of that situation within moments without any trouble."

"Steven taught me how," Vali told him with a weak smile, "Still can't believe I managed to do that on my second try,"

"That's the second time you've spoken to reporters?!" Sirius asked with wide eyes earning a nod, "Arcues' sweet ass, you looked like a natural doing that,"

"I was nervous as hell. Thankfully Aragorn and Eevee were there, I'd be a nervous wreak without them," Vali rubbed Eevee's ears as Aragorn snuggled into her side, "I will be glad when they forget about me,"

"I don't think the League will ever forget about the Terrain Destroyer," Sirius teased earning a groan.

"Only Pele really destroyed any of the terrains!" Vali complained earning a bark of laughter from Sirius.