Battling

Vali spent the day with Sirius pretty much strolling around Cinnabar taking pictures and enjoying the day. She ended up showing him her favorite places on the island which included the abandoned Pokémon Mansion. It was one of the few places where Vulpix and Ninetales could often be found by trainers though even then it was a struggle to get any of them to come up to you. Vali often spent her time off there simply enjoying the presence of the fire foxes and various trainers failing to get one of the rare vulpines as their pokemon. One of the more interesting things to happen was a trainer deciding to challenge her to a battle not long before they were due to back the gym. After a few moments of talking to Sirius, she agreed to a three on three.

Vali's opponent was a ten year old boy with short brown hair and muddy hazel eyes. He wore a red flannel shirt and black cargo shorts. On his back sat a bright orange travel bag, a pair of pale brown hiking boots sat on his feet. He grinned at her from across the battlefield and thumbed his silver stud earring, "Let's do this!"

Both of them release their pokemon onto the field, the boy sent out a Furret with Vali deciding to send out Arwen. Arwen stamped her hoof upon appearing on the field while the Furret chittered out a greeting. Sirius held up his hand before slashing it down as he cried out, "Begin!"

Arwen launched a volley of Ember mixed with Swift which earned a shocked look from the boy though he quickly snapped out of it by calling out, "Furret, dodge and send out a Swift of your own!"

Furret squeaked as it's lithe body dodged out of the attacks path though a scattering of embers burnt it's fur earning a squeal of pain from the ferret. It managed to keep moving though and quickly launched its own Swift at Arwen. The stars were far faster than Arwen's, but not even approaching Eevee's speed. Arwen dodged it as she slipped into a Flame Wheel that launched towards the Furret who broke out of it's attack in order to try and dodge. Arwen kept on the ferret-like pokemon though and slammed into it as she overwhelmed it's speed rather easily. The boy let out a shout of dismay as his pokemon was flung outward and burned by the attack. Furret managed to right itself just before it hit the ground. It let out an angry chitter while giving Arwen a determined look as the Ponyta slowed to a stop before Vali. Vali didn't even speak to Arwen as the Ponyta shot off another Ember laden Swift towards Furret. She looked at the boy curiously, "How many badges do you have anyway?"

"Three," The boy answered as he watched his Furret dodge the attack somewhat belatedly, "I'm heading for Blaine a bit early. I've already faced Surge, so it's not like he'll be limited. I still figured I'd hit him early enough to get a battle that wasn't almost impossible for my team,"

Vali nodded in acknowledgement while making note to tell Blaine about this boy, "Smart."

Furret managed to dodge Arwen's next Flame Wheel and scored a decent hit with Fury Swipes. Arwen retaliated with Ember infused Swift followed by High Horsepower once Furret was back peddling. Furret was once again sent flying backward though it didn't manage to correct itself midair this time. Furret was slow to raise itself up and the ferret-like pokemon looked rough though still determined. Arwen let out a loud whiny before racing forward with the flames of Flame Charge coiling around her. Furret slipped into Quick Attack becoming a slight blur leading to a chase between the two though Arwen was quick to add a couple of Swift stars that fluctuated rather rapidly. Between the two attacks and it's growing exhaustion, Furret quickly found itself being unable to keep up with the chase. One of the unstable Swift stars exploded against Furret's back followed by Arwen slamming into it's stumbling form. With a shocked cry, Furret was once again flying though this time it didn't rise from the ground.

"Furret is unable to battle," Sirius called out.

The boy returned his Furret with a sigh, "Dang I guess you're a bit too strong for Furret, huh?" He shook his head, "And you didn't even give your Ponyta a single order."

"When you reach a certain level, you don't really need to give one anymore," Vali replied as the boy took out his next pokeball.

The boy ended up sending out a Psyduck that looked to be a bit on the lean side and a little blue telling her it might evolve soon, "Let's see how you deal with this then."

Vali returned Arwen before carefully selecting Empress' pokeball. The Shelgon appeared with a soft groaning croon that became a slightly lilting grunt at the sight of her opponent. The boy stared at the Shelgon in slight shock as Vali said, "Dragon vs Water. While not an Electric-type, it's still not weak against water. Empress, begin the bout please."

Empress immediately released a gout of bluish purple flames that streaked towards Psyduck. Psyduck released a loud squawk and quickly moved to avoid the flames while spitting out a Water Gun towards Empress who moved to the side while stopping her attack. An orange aura coiled around Empress as she used Focus Energy before sending out another wave of Dragon Breath. The boy spoke as he watched his Psyduck dodge the attack, "So a Ponyta and a Shelgon? You're Valkyrie Potter-Black, aren't you?"

"I am," Vali replied with a light nod, "And you are?"

"Tomas Keys of Mulberry Town in Johto," The boy, Tomas, answered with a soft laugh, "Can't believe I didn't recognize you, I loved watching your matches especially the last one during the Conference. Man, it was awesome,"

"Thank you," Vali said smile was almost serene.

Psyduck suddenly let out a cry causing both of them to focus back on the battle fully revealing that Empress had steadily been using her new favorite technique to it's fullest. Psyduck was covered in burns caused by Dragon Breath and barely conscious with Empress barely showing any sign of strain. With a soft croon, Empress lept forward into Dragon Rush and slammed into Psyduck knocking it out without another word.

Tomas returned his pokemon with a slightly stunned look while Vali did the same. Tomas released a Bayleef that was somewhat small though no doubt healthy. It had likely only evolved a couple weeks ago and just started battling again not long ago. She considered her options before finally deciding to release Aragorn. He'd battled against a couple of pokemon trainers though most of them had younger pokemon and none of them had provided much of difficulty. Despite the Bayleef being a Grass-type, Aragorn would definitely have a difficult time against the elder pokemon.

Aragorn shook himself lightly as he appeared on the field. He gazed at Bayleef calmly though his tails twitched a little bit in excitement. Vali spoke to direct him, "Aragorn, Quick Attack. Ember where you can."

Aragorn yipped in acknowledgement before rushing off in a Quick Attack. Bayleef reared a bit as it released a rather large amount of Razor Leaves that Aragorn was hard pressed to dodge. Aragorn sent out his scattered Embers that slammed into Bayleef earning a loud hissing cry of pain as it's vines extend to slap him away with Vine Whip. Aragorn let out a yip of pain though he managed to right himself thanks to their training. He growled softly before racing forwarding with Quick Attack once again. Tomas quickly called out, "Bayleef, Poison Powder."

Vali's heart clenched as she called out, "Aragorn, you need to burn it away with Ember!"

Aragorn tried his best, but the purple aura and shivers wreaking his body told her that it wasn't successful. Vali grimaced at the time-limit suddenly imposed along with Bayleef sending Aragorn flying with yet another Vine Whip. Quite honestly, Aragorn needed this battle since he was getting somewhat big headed, but it still didn't make it any easier to swallow for her. She ordered Aragorn, "Heat Wave and Quick Attack!"

Aragorn obeyed with some struggle since they'd just begun chaining some attacks though he did manage it. Bayleef let out a shrill groan as the attack hit, but it's vine slammed into Aragorn once again. Soon enough though, Vali had to recall Aragorn, "That's enough, Aragorn. You did a good job," She called out Arwen who immediately attacked with an Ember laden Swift, "Arwen let's end this quickly. Aragorn ended up getting poisoned and we need to get him healed up."

With those words, Arwen quickly used Flame Charge and slammed into Bayleef before using Flame Wheel. Bayleef cried out in shocked pain and attempted to attack with it's vines only to find Arwen dodging easily. And it showed how seriously Arwen took her teammates health when Bayleef fell unconscious not even three minutes later, Tomas recalled it as Vali did the same with Arwen. She quickly administered an antidote to Aragorn to hold him over until they got him healed. Tomas spoke as he slowly walked across the battlefield, "That was amazing even if we lost, it just makes me want to train harder in order to ensure we become stronger."

"I'm glad," Vali scratched behind Aragorn's ears as the medicine began to work it's magic and she stood up properly, "You're fairly strong, but you'll need to get stronger if you want to have a chance against Blaine,"

Tomas nodded with determination in his eyes, "We'll train for a bit longer before trying to go against him though you haven't faced my full team," He looked at Aragorn with some shock, "How is he so big? He doesn't even have more than three tails."

"He's a king," Vali returned Aragorn, "My little king,"

"So this is where you ended up coming after the Conference," Tomas commented noticing that she didn't want to continue the conversation's line of thought, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm Blaine's current apprentice," Vali answered earning a wide-eyed look, "Best position for a fire-type master in training,"

"Damn," He muttered softly.

Vali's pokenav alarm rang and she quickly silenced it, "I've got to go. Nice meeting you, Tomas."

"Same to you, Vali," Tomas looked at her with a wide grin, "Thanks for the battle and the advice,"

Vali nodded and left the area with Sirius. Sirius spoke up as they started walking, "So do you think reporters are going to start showing up?"

"Maybe. It's a large possibility considering the fact I'm the only one of the top 3 that's semi-visible currently," Vali shook her head lightly, "I'd prefer not to deal with them, but if I have to, I will,"