Birthday Pt. 2

Looking over the trade machine as Professor Oak revealed it, Vali was surprised how sleek and compact it looked compared to the ones she'd gotten glances at in the pokemon center. She looked at Professor Oak while pulling out Cufant's pokeball, "This looks really cool, Professor. Where'd you get it?"

"In addition to working on the new improved pokemon transferring system, Bill has also been working on improving the trade systems," Professor Oak grinned at her, "Of course, he gave me one that will allow me to scan pokemon as they get traded. Granted, it'll need to be improved like any piece of technology, but it allows for a wonderful base of information to work with,"

"Interesting," Steven hummed as he looked over the machine as well, "I'll have to speak with my father and see if we can't contact Bill soon. The trade technology in Hoenn is behind after as is the transfer system,"

"I'll inform him to expect contact soon," Professor Oak replied as the machine was powered up, "Now get your Pokedex's ready and the pokeballs, I expect that you both know how this works?"

Vali placed her pokedex into the slot for it and Cufant's pokeball into the place indicated by Professor Oak. Steven did the same beside her and the machine let out a soft whirring sound as Professor Oak tapped the green button on the top. The pokeballs began to glow a soft white light that pulsated softly like a heartbeat. It took only a minute for the trade to happen and the white light disappeared revealing that the pokeballs had changed sides. She picked up her pokedex and the rather nice luxury ball that held Smeargle. She smiled warmly at the pokeball in her hands, "Well, this is a nice start to my birthday. How about we go meet our new pokemon?"

"Sounds like a plan," Steven agreed as he held up the Love Ball that held Cufant.

Vali headed over to a private room where she could meet Smeargle properly. She found one that would hold Balto and a few other pokemon before heading inside. Aragorn and Thorin settled down on the ground as the Vali released Balto. Balto let out a soft yawn before gently nudging her. She smiled softly and rubbed behind his ears as Elrond spoke, "He's ready when you are, Vali."

"In a moment," Vali murmured as she moved to hug Balto, "Hey, Balto. After this, I'm going to do a flight with Celina and Lance. I might do something with Steven as well. But no matter what, we'll do our Birthday run. I promise," She nuzzled her face into his warm neck, "Just you and me, Buddy,"

Balto leaned into her with a soft whine as Elrond spoke, "He says to take what time is needed. He'll be happy to wait for your run."

"Thank you, Balto," Vali pulled back to kiss his cheek before holding up Smeargle's pokeball, "Ready to meet our new friend?" Balto barked with a wagging tail, "Alright," She released Smeargle after moving away from Balto a bit, "Hello, Smeargle,"

Smeargle appeared in a burst of light and Vali took in the difference it had compared to the one she'd seen in the pokedex. Often times when Smeargle came from different regions, they had different colorings to them and more interesting shades of color to the paint on their tails. The Smeargle in front of her had a couple curl marks around the eyes and coils going up its tail. The paint on its tail was a rather wonderful shade of purple with a slight blue tint at the base. What took her off guard was the almost pure white color of Smeargle's fur that made the dark black-brown marks stand out, the paleness was surprising, but also very beautiful.

Smeargle looked around for a moment before focusing in on Vali. It's eyes narrowed for a moment. Elrond spoke softly in her mind, "She wonders who you are."

Vali offered Smeargle a warm smile, "My name is Valkyrie Potter-Black though I prefer Vali," She gestured to the pokemon around her, "The Arcanine with me is Balto my partner and Alpha of my pack. The Alolan-Raichu is Elrond. The Flareon is Thorin. The four tailed Vulpix who's getting pretty big for his size is Aragorn."

Smeargle looked around her curiously with a frown, "Why do you have me?"

"Steven, the one who had you before, traded you to me," Vali answered as she got down on Smeargle's level, "According to him, you're talented with photography," The Smeargle nodded with suspicion, "I'm a photographer when not battling. With my last couple of gigs as a photographer, its become clear I've needed a pokemon with an eye for it. Elrond's good and my other pokemon do their best, but they cannot replace someone that has the passion for photography I do," She took out camera and held it out to Smeargle, "Here, you can look over the photos on this if you like. These were taken recently by me,"

Smeargle took the camera carefully and began scrolling through the pictures. Vali watched Smeargle as she began to pet Aragorn. Aragorn was almost double the size of a Vulpix right now and would probably be the size of a Ninetails when he gained his sixth and final tail as a Vulpix. She wondered just how big he was going to get at this rate as a Ninetails. Smeargle broke in her thoughts with Elrond's help, "These...these are wonderful."

"Thank you, Smeargle," Vali told the painter pokemon, "I am hoping that with your help I can make even more wonderful pictures,"

Smeargle looked at her carefully, "I will not have to battle?"

"Not if you do not wish to," Vali promised as she felt her shadow shift a bit, "I have a Litwick that dislikes battling though she does train to ensure she can protect herself. If you want to train to ensure you can protect yourself, I don't mind ensuring it. But no battling is needed, I have packmates that love to fight,"

"Then yes," Smeargle nodded with a smile and held out the camera to Vali, "I will happily join you,"

Grinning at Smeargle, Vali took the camera and held out a hand, "Welcome to the pack, Smeargle. It'll be wonderful to have you!"

Flying on Celina's back was wonderful, the feeling of air flowing across her body and the twisting currants boosting their flight path. Lance ensured their flight was interesting with the games he and Diaval pulled. Steven joined them with Skarmory not long after they got into the sky. They stayed in the sky for a good few hours before finally coming down for lunch. They met at the lab where Professor Oak greeted them with a chuckle and some lunch. Vali separated from them after she finished eating and grabbed Balto before taking off on his back.

Balto slowed to a stop after an hour of running though he could go for much longer. She slid off his back and waiting until he laid down before curling up against him. She spoke after a few moments, "Another year, Balto. I'm twelve years old though if we were back in my old world, I think I'd be what, twenty something? It's honestly fuzzy. Details like that are fuzzy now," She looked at her hands as the magic within her veins buzzed slightly and the fire warmed, "I remember important stuff and the big moments. The small stuff is getting fuzzy though. It's a strange thing to remember on your birthday, huh?"

Balto nuzzled into her and she smiled with a low sigh, "I shouldn't be too worried though. It's nice to forget things like Petunia's face or Vernon's," She flexed her fingers letting the magic come up and fizzle a bit, "I wonder how everyone back there is though."

Vali continue to talk with Balto about her fading memories about her old world which helped to keep them alive. She also talked about what had happened since the year before. It was what they came out here to do on her birthday. It was both to begin the next year with a clear conscience, but to also ensure that she could commit her old world to memory. Balto was happy to listen to her and offer comfort when needed even if it was just to listen as she spoke. By the end of it, she always felt lighter and ready to take on the year ahead.

Vali rode up to the house with Balto starting to walk, "Well, we're home."

Balto let out a soft woof as he stopped in front of the house and she slipped off. She returned him and headed inside. She heard voices coming from the kitchen and walked towards it after releasing Balto again. She found Delia, Ash, Steven, Lance, Professor Oak, Gary, and Sirius speaking with one another. She smiled softly at the sight of Sirius, "Hey, Siri. Long time no see."

"Pup!" Sirius swung around and pulled her into a hug, "I didn't hear you come in,"

"Just got back from my yearly birthday run with Balto," Vali explained as she hugged him tightly and noticed that he had some bandages hidden under his clothes, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Sirius offered her a tired smile, "Last mission was a bit rough, we got through," Vali eyed him for a moment before deciding to let him be, "Happy Birthday, Pup,"

Vali smiled at him as she pulled away, "Thanks, Siri."

"Before anything else is said, I want everyone to sit down!" Delia told them earning nods.

Vali quickly took a seat after getting a hug from Gary. Delia put a plate of food in front of her as she said, "Happy technical 12th birthday, Vali."

"Thank you," Vali told her with a warm smile, "This is wonderful,"

"It's no problem," Delia continued to place food on the table with some help from Ash and Gary, "I love having you home even if it'll only be until tomorrow,"

"Tomorrow?" Ash and Gary both looked dismayed by that, "You're leaving so soon?"

"With my apprenticeship ending so soon, I've got loose ends to finish up not to mention ensuring the battle goes well on our end," Vali gave the excuse that Blaine told her to as guild welled up within her even stronger, "With all of our preparations, we can't stay as long as I wish we could. Once the apprenticeship is over, we'll come back and spend some time here before we head to Vermillion,"

Ash frowned at her while Gary nodded, "Promise, Vali?"

"I promise," Vali offered Gary a light smile, "I should be able to give you guys some training time when I home next,"

"Great!" Ash perked up, "I can't wait!"

Delia giggled softly at the quick turn around. Sirius frowned at Vali, "You're not pushing yourself too hard, are you, Vali?"

"Only as hard as my pokemon," Vali replied as she grabbed her fork, "It's exhausting work, but worth it in the end,"

Sirius opened his mouth only to close it moments later after Delia gave him a look. While curious about it, Vali just wanted to enjoy her time left with everyone here.

After dinner, they all went into the backyard to play around a bit with their pokemon while Vali groomed the various mon starting with Sirius' Regulus. The Houndoom was putty in her hands within the first few moments. She could tell based on the amount of hair and excess bone that she needed to trim off that he hadn't been groomed since the last time she had done so which was at least six months ago. Lance and Steven thankfully kept up on their pokemon's grooming though all of them were very happy to get groomed by her apparently talented hands. When she got to Gary and Ash's pokemon, the two boys were taught how to groom their pokemon properly.

Vali took a small nap after packing her things and getting ready everything ready. She woke up to Elrond's gentle mental nudging and whispering to get up. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment with a mental sigh before carefully getting out of bed and beginning the process of waking everyone up and returning them. Only Irmo refused to get up, she just shook her head with a small smile before returning him. The only ones left out of their pokeball were Elrond and Thorin both for companionship and because Elrond was keeping an eye on where Blaine was. Grabbing her bag, she carefully left her room and began to walk through the house as quietly as possible.

The only ones awake were Regulus, Metagross, and Diaval who were laying within the living room. Vali shushed them before they could wake anyone up. She handed them the berries she'd prepped and spoke in a soft voice as Elrond immediately began muffling the sound, "I've got to go now. A thing has come up back at the gym requiring my attention."

The berries were accepted though Regulus whined at her softly. Metagross spoke in her mind as Vali began heading towards the door, "Is this why you felt guilt today? Why you radiated it?"

Vali hesitated before nodding as she paused by the door, "No," She wasn't surprised that Metagross had felt her emotions, "There was another reason, it is something I cannot say. If I'm allowed to, I will immediately."

Metagross let out a low groaning sound, "Very well, we wish you safe travels, Vali."

Vali left the house and carefully locked the door behind her. She made her way towards where Elrond said Blaine was. It took her only a few minutes to arrive. Blaine looked at her when she arrived, "Happy late Birthday, Brat."

"Thanks," Vali murmured tiredly, "Where are we going?"

"We'll be heading to North Pastel," Blaine answered earning a confused look, "It's the last town before the Wilde North. It's also a Ace and ranger base,"

"The last town?" Vali murmured in confusion, "How can it be a town and a base?"

"The rangers and Ace's have their families their," Blaine answered as he began walking away from the town, "The other residents are either trusted members of the League or former members,"

"Ah," Vali supposed that made sense, "And what's the plan exactly?"

"We'll get settled there and everything will be explained in the morning," Blaine replied earning a nod, "C'mon, Brat. Let's get going,"