Conference Ends

Watching the tournament was somewhat boring for Vali, she admitted that some of the pokemon and their trainers had great techniques that she really wanted to try out for herself. She was definitely going to be mixing things up and playing around with things in the future thanks to this. But the main point for her was that it got boring very quickly and rarely did she see anything truly interesting, it was somewhat irritating until Blaine helped her get permission to take photographs of the battles. When that happened, she spent most of her time taking photos of each match which was a lot of fun.

By the end of the tournament, Vali had improved her skills when it came to taking pictures of pokemon mid-battle and more often than not they came out amazing. She had a special section of her website set up for the tournament and found out a lot of people were requesting pictures already which was amazing. Blaine had only shaken his head and muttered about Brats needing to focus on techniques not money making schemes though he did ask for some photos of certain fire-types. She gave them immediately while offering the same to each gym leader much to their enjoyment. Each of them had their favorites from the many photos she took, it was nice for her to see just how much they enjoyed the pictures.

Vali looked at Balto then at the rather well-behaved Eowyn and Magby. She knew it had to do with what had happened a few days ago and the fact that Smaug was in a rather wonderful mood during the last couple of days. She hugged him around the neck and murmured, "I might not be happy that you're not allowing them to work it out by themselves, but you guys are wonderful for getting them to this point. Thank you, Dear One."

Balto huffed softly and nuzzled into her with a soft whine. Elrond landed on his back, "He's happy your glad they're behaving and sad he couldn't let them work it out alone. It was stressing you out too much."

Vali giggled softly into Balto's soft fur, "Stress doesn't cover it, Darlings. But thank you, both. Hopefully they'll have a better relationship in the future. For now, I think it's time for some food and maybe a nice spa-day for you all."

The Conference ended with a rather one-sided victory at the hands of a rather gruff water-type trainer. She took her pokemon and winnings with a scowl. Blaine huffed softly beside Vali, "She's one of those that got her badges last year. Didn't think she'd make it this year, I was wrong."

Surge snorted softly, "Good team that one, she's got a rotten attitude."

Vali frowned a bit as she pulled out her camera and went through her photos of the last match. The girl's pokemon were well-taken care of and strong. Vali could admire them, but there was a deadened look in their eye. As if they didn't have much going for them beside the battle, it shook her to the core. She bit her lip and showed Blaine. Blaine looked at the photo with a confused look, "Vali?"

"Their eyes," Vali told him in a soft tone, "No spark despite being in battle,"

Blaine's eyes narrowed and he quickly took the camera to show Surge. Surge looked at the camera and swore softly, "That look, I can't fucking believe it. No wonder she disappeared. I'll go talk to the champion and Goodshow."

Surge quickly disappeared into the crowd with her camera in hand. Blaine frowned softly, "Go to the pokemon center and check on those two pokemon you saved, I'll make sure that camera gets back to you."

"Bu-" Vali went to protest.

"Go," Blaine's voice was hard, "You've done enough. If we're right, we might have a lead on certain aspects that have been slipping through our fingers,"

Vali's mouth clicked closed and she nodded while heading towards the pokemon center.

Nurse Joy led her to the Manectric's room where both it and the cub were being kept. Nurse Joy spoke as they reached the door, "Be careful, Vali. Manectric's quite volatile unless we're very clear about what we do and even then, she still needs to be sedated most of the time."

"I'll be careful," Vali promised as she carefully opened the door.

Elrond floated beside her as they entered the room and Thorin padded at her side. Both tensed as growling filled the air, Vali caught sight of Manectric laying on the plush pokemon bed with her Electrike cub curled up beside her. The Manectric's red eyes glare at her though it softened slightly. She spoke softly, "Easy, Manectric. You know I'm not going to harm either of you. I got you away from that beast of a man. He's going to prison and if were lucky, they'll catch more like him. Relax, I'm not going to be doing anything to either of you."

Manectric's growls faltered before slowing to a stop. Elrond spoke softly in her mind, "She's confused as to why you're here."

"Your choices have never been your own," Vali told the Manectric, "So I'm going to tell you what's going to happen now and what your choice will be once it happens, alright? Once you two are healed up enough, you'll be taken for therapy, it's another type of healing. It'll help you recover from what that bastard did to you both," Manectric stared her down, "After that's over, they'll bring you to a place where my pokemon usually rest when not with me. It's a lab with this amazing field where you both can run free and be happy. There's also my human family that lives in the town where this lab rests, they can take care of you as well,"

Manectric's eyes narrowed, "She's unsure what any of this means about choices."

"The choice could be staying at the lab, with my family, or even getting transferred to a place where you'll be able to find trainers that'll be able to battle with you," Vali told her in a soft tone, "Maybe even a reserve if you so wish. But that choice is only after the therapy,"

"Alright," Manectric nodded to her.

Vali smiled sadly at her, "I'm glad to have save both of you and I'm so sorry that I couldn't have done so sooner. Rest easy now and please remember that not all humans are complete shit, Manectric."

With that, Vali left the mother and cub alone. Elrond spoke softly to her, "What do you think she'll decide."

"No idea, but whatever it is, she'll be happy," Vali told him with a soft sigh.

After the conference was over, it seemed like Blaine had a Beedrill stinging his ass since Vali suddenly wasn't given a moments rest between training and studying training techniques. The other gym trainers were also feeling the pressure by being being more tasks than normal for this time of year and were being thrown through the ringer by Blaine's team as well. No one could figure out what was going on, but Vali knew it had to do with that girl from the Conference though she wasn't sure how. Whatever the reason he was pushing them so damn hard, she was couldn't focus too hard on finding out why as Blaine was thoroughly exhausting her most of the time.