Eevee's decision

Delia treated Vali's heavily bruised stomach after Professor Oak made sure it was nothing more than some serious bruising, "Vali, most trainers wouldn't keep a pokemon after that."

"I'm not most trainers," Vali winced a bit as Delia placed just a bit too much pressure on the bruises, "Besides, Empress and I are going to have a better relationship after this," She sighed as Delia began rubbing bruise balm into her skin, "Any trainer that gives up on a pokemon just because they get a bit bruised is despicable. Training is more than catching a pokemon and battling with it, you have to actually train it, work alongside it, help it become stronger through more than battle, help it become wiser, and help it reach it's greatest potential," She rubbed behind Vulpix's ears when he let out a whine, "It takes blood, sweat, and tears from both parties. Empress and I have had a rocky relationship so far," She glanced over to where one of Professor Oak's aids was fixing up Empress, "It doesn't mean that I'm going to give up. She's a member of my family after all,"

Delia let out a sigh, "I just hope that things work out better now and you don't end up in the hospital again."

Vali grimaced at the reminder that she'd been in the hospital twice since her journey started, "Neither times were mine or my pokemon's faults."

"I know," Delia finished tending to her bruises and began bandaging her stomach, "But Vali, please be a bit more careful,"

"I'll try," Vali knew that Delia was worried about her especially with the whole thing at Christmas.

Delia finished bandaging the bruises, "Vali, it's almost been three months since you and Eevee made that deal."

Vali lowered her shirt with a small sigh at the reminder, "Yeah, I know...We're a bit late in making that decision. I'm going to talk to him in two days since we're going to be leaving a couple days after that."

"What do you think Eevee will decide?" Delia asked as she began putting away the medical supplies she'd used to tend to Vali's bruises.

Vali thought about it carefully as Vulpix moved to settle in her lap. Smiling down at him, she rubbed behind his right ear earning a soft purring sound, "I'm not sure, but I'll stick by whatever decision he makes. I'd love to have Eevee choose to stay with us and I know the rest of our family does too. Being without Eevee would be difficult to get used to, we'd probably be off kilter for a long while and likely never fully recover since he's as much a member of the family as anyone," She sighed as Vulpix nuzzled into her, "But that's a price I know we'll all be willing to pay if that's what makes him happy."

"And if he chooses to stay with you?" Delia prompted with a smile.

"I'd give him the choice to remain on my inactive team or train him to become a battler," Vali thought about battling with Eevee and a grin spread across her face, "I'd love to battle with him. It makes my heart race just thinking about battling with him," She hugged Vulpix gently to her chest making sure to avoid putting too much pressure on her bruised stomach, "But just being around him would be nice,"

Eevee listened to Vali's words and his ears drooped as he began walking away once the humans changed their topic to what they'd be eating for dinner. Sure, Vali had always said those things when she knew he was in ear-shot, but the part of him that refused to accept that any human could be kind to him had convinced the fox-like pokemon that it was an act she'd put up in front of him. His original trainer had done that at first, the boy had acted as if Eevee was everything he'd ever wanted in life before turning around and badmouthing the young at the time pokemon to those 'friends' of his. Then when he'd refused to evolve into the psychic or dark-type evolution, the boy had become angry an dropped the act.

But Vali wasn't like the boy, Eevee knew that both from her words and actions. The fact she'd forgiven Empress for daring to attack her made that quite clear. The part of him that had been whispering doubts about Vali began to shrink as the one that whispered about how diffrent she was from the boy became louder. He'd given Vali his trust and she had yet to break it. Vali had taken what he'd given her with a smile and never asked for more than he was willing to give. Vali knew the same pain he'd gone through and was willing to help him as others had. Vali was willing to give him his freedom even if it hurt her. So absorbed into his thoughts, he hadn't noticed that he'd walked into the lab where all the strange pack he'd found himself in was resting outside of Vulpix and Empress.

Balto noticed his distress and asked why with a concerned bark. Eevee hesitated as the rest of the pack focused on him before he relayed the problem. Each member of the pack was quiet as they mulled over the information he'd given them. When they began to speak, he wasn't as surprised to hear their opinions on the matter as he'd thought he'd be. While they wanted him to stay within the pack, they were willing to let him go if he so wished no matter how much it would hurt them all. They couldn't stop a member of their pack from being happy even if it meant leaving. Balto let out a low rumble and nudged him stating that he'd be a member of the pack no matter the choice he made. Looking into the eyes of Vali's eldest pokemon and the alpha of their make-shift pack, he understood just what choice he was going to take.

Vali headed to her favorite spot in the Corral with Eevee sitting on her shoulders while Balto and her other fire-types kept Vulpix occupied. She took a seat on the fence after clearing away the snow there and Eevee slipped down to sit beside her on the fence post. After a few moments of silence that she used to gather her thoughts, the fire-type master-in-training spoke, "Eevee, the deadline for our deal past almost a month ago...I'm sorry for not really noticing. Can you please forgive me?"

Eevee slowly nodded his head and let out a soft bark. She continued to speak, "I think the extra time was good for us though and you're able to make a clearer decision," She smiled weakly, "I think it's time you make your decision on whether or not to stay with us. No matter your choice, I'll accept it," She swallowed harshly and looked at Eevee, "Will you stay with us, Eevee? With me?"

Eevee offered her a hard stare as she held a hand out to him. She kept her eyes open and tried to figure out what he was looking for. Eventually, he placed a paw on her hand and let out a bark. She let out a breath and grinned, "So you're staying with us?" Eevee nodded and she grinned, "I'll make sure you don't regret it."

Vali made sure he could see her movements as she reached out to pick him up. When he didn't reject the touch, she brought him to her chest and hugged the normal-type gently as warmth filled her. She knew that Eevee could choose to leave her down the line and that was okay since it was his choice. She'd just have to do her best to show him that he'd chosen right.