Eevee interlude and a battle with the Rival

"So can you help me out?" Zaria asked Vali as the fire-type master-in-training was going through the information that was known about Erika.

Vali looked away from the computer and asked, "What do you need my help with again?"

Zaria pouted at her, "Aren't friends supposed to listen to each other?"

Vali gestured to the computer screen, "I'm doing more research on Erika since I still have to battle her," She ran a hand through her hair, "So what do you need my help with?"

"Since we're in Celadon and the game corner is open, I was hoping you'd help me get an Eevee," Zaria bounced a bit in her seat, "This will probably be my only chance especially since their changing out the pokemon in a few days. Please! Think of it as a way to pay me back for teaching Pikachu Double Team,"

"Didn't I already do that by helping your pokemon get used to electric-type attacks?" Vali leaned back in her seat.

Zaria groaned, "Please, Vali."

Vali thought about it while looking back at the computer. She supposed it wouldn't hurt even if getting pokemon from a place like the Game Corner felt cheap to her. How do you know the pokemon was meant to be one of yours? She rubbed at her eyes and figured that a bit of mindless gambling might be a good idea since she was getting a headache from trying to come up with strategies. If anything, it might be good for her to take a break from researching for a little while. Finally, she logged off the computer and grabbed her pokedex before standing up to stretch. She looked at Zaria, "Alright, but don't try to convince me to get any pokemon."

"Sure, sure," Zaria grabbed her hand and began dragging her out of the pokemon center, "Though I don't know why you don't want one,"

"It feels cheap to me," Vali shrugged as best she could, "Not battling a pokemon or ended up in a situation that leads to you catching them, it just seems wrong. Besides, where do the pokemon come from and where do they go if the game center doesn't give them away? Sure, they probably come from breeders, but still,"

Zaria faltered a bit before resuming the light jog, "True, but it at least gives us a chance to get pokemon we normally wouldn't."

"Ever heard of the safari zone or Kalos?" Vali retorted earning a snort.

"That costs more money than I have at the moment," Zaria replied as they made their way to the game corner, "Besides, who says no to some mindless gambling?"

"Steven," Vali answered earning a snicker.

Eevee stared at his cousin as the kit enjoyed the affection Vali's 'friend' was lavishing on him. He didn't really care for the other. The kit was too...perky in his mind. He knew that the kit hadn't been through what he'd been through, but that didn't mean the kit should act so damn cheerful. Of course, he acknowledged that the kit bugged him because Vali was paying attention to it. Nothing more than a smile and a few scratches behind the kit's ears, it still bugged him greatly. He understood that he was jealous of the kit getting her attention even if he logically shouldn't be. After all, it wasn't like the kit would be tagging along on their journey.

Eevee paused at his last thought. When had it become 'their' journey? Probably about the same time as he began to accept the fact that Vali was diffrent from his former trainer. But it wasn't their journey, he couldn't claim that. While she was his trainer for now, he still had a few months left before he could make the decision to stay on as a member of her team permanently. A big part of his still resisted the idea of being anyone's pokemon even if it was becoming smaller with each moment he spent around Vali and her team. Could he truly become a part of the team?

Vali looked at him and smiled as she patted the seat beside her. Eevee hesitated before jumping up beside her and relaxed as she began to pet him. He supposed that he could especially since they wouldn't be a 'team'. If Vali was telling the truth, they would be a family which meant pack and that was something he could get behind. Especially if it meant being able to bask in the warmth coming off of her that helped chase away his nightmares and brought him a sense of peace.

Vali looked over the saddle a week and a half later with a pleased smile. The saddle was a dark red with little black swirls printed on it. Celina's name was sown into the saddle which was exactly what she wanted. She lifted it up to test the weight and found that it barely weighed a pound. Looking at Jacob, she asked, "Light weight to keep it from affecting her balance or slowing her down too much, right?"

"Yup especially since this is her first saddle," Jacob confirmed her thoughts, "Just make sure you don't go attempting to fly to another region on her back unless it's Johto,"

"Will do," Vali wouldn't risk Celina's life just to avoid paying for a boat, airplane, or Balloon to another region, "Let's do a final check with Celina then talk payment,"

The final check was merely a formality with how many times Jacob had her bring Celina to do various checks. Soon enough, Vali was handing over 3,895 poke with an extra 105 poke for the fully stocked saddle care kit plus manual. The kit was designed to fit into the same storage device as the saddle which was nice as it kept her bag relatively uncrowded.

Vali and Celina took the saddle out for a spin which quickly made both of them quite happy with the purchase. Celina could do as many tricks as she wanted without worrying about her trainers safety outside of the normal. Vali could enjoy just how fast and skilled Celina was in the air without worrying about falling to her death if she lost her grip. As a result, the two didn't leave the sky until Celina was exhausted. Despite the painful cramps in her legs and how windburned her face was, she couldn't stop grinning due to just how light she felt.

If there was one thing Vali knew, it was that she was born to fly.

Before Zaria left, they had a one-on-one battle between Balto and Zorua. Steven was acting as their referee, "Are you guys ready?"

"Yup!" They answered.

"Then begin!" Steven threw down his hand.

"Balto, let's start off with Flame Wheel!" Vali ordered as soon as Steven spoke.

Zaria smirked as she called out, "Fake Tears then Dark Pulse!"

Zorua began to cry causing Balto to falter a bit though he still plowed on earning a yelp of pain as the tricky fox pokemon was sent flying a bit. Zorua picked himself up as Balto came out of his Flame Wheel and released a beam of dark energy surrounded by dark purple rings. Balto dodged it using Dig and popped up behind Zorua with an Iron Tail. Zorua with Payback earning a yelp of pain from Balto. Balto used Reversal which caused quite a bit of damage due to the damage inflicted by Payback and the natural weakness dark-types have to fighting-type moves. Vali called out, "Balto, Morning Sun!"

Balto's fur gained a golden glow as Morning Sun began to work its magic. Zaria cursed as Zorua pushed himself to his paws with a growl as he favored his left front paw showing that his right had gotten hurt at some point during the bout. Zaria called out, "Zorua, can you continue?" Zorua barked with a nod and focused on Balto with a glare, "Alright, use Double Team then Payback!"

"Into the ground Balto, we're playing wack-a-chu," Vali had them practice this maneuver as much as possible while Pikachu was still with them.

Pikachu would use Double Team as much as possible and her pokemon would attempt to find the real one as quickly as possible without being knocked out by the attacking electric-type. It would probably mean the difference between winning and losing once she reached the League Conference. While Pikachu remained the only pokemon on her team to know Double Team at the moment, it didn't mean they were going to stop practicing the technique whenever possible. Balto disappeared into the hole he'd dug earlier causing Zaria to grimace. It didn't take long for Balto to begin taking pot-shots at Zorua though he missed half the time. Between his earlier injuries and his inability to properly dodge, Zorua fainted before Balto's stamina gave out. Zaria groaned, "Where on earth did you come up with that?"

"I wanted my pokemon to be able to compete against it before they learned how to use it," Vali explained earning a sigh, "Thanks for teaching Pikachu,"

Zaria rolled her eyes, "Let's get these two to the pokemon center, I don't know about you, but I think Zorua needs it."

Vali winced a bit, "Sorry about that."

"Hey, I challenged you to the battle and it showed us that we have a lot to work on especially if we're going to be proper rivals," Zaria shrugged lightly, "Besides, Zorua's going to be motivated to train harder and will probably kick your puppies ass next time we battle,"

"Maybe, maybe not," Vali said as they began making their way to the pokemon center, "By the way, where are you headed next?"

"I'm going to Lavender Town rather than Fuchsia to train up a bit," Zaria replied earning a surprised look, "I'm going to try facing Sabrina before Koga. My Dad also wants to meet up and he'll be coming to Lavender Town to help with the population check the League does on the ghost-types. I figure that I might as well earn a bit of extra money helping out since they need all the dark-type pokemon they can get to help out,"

"Maybe you can show your dad the badges you've won so far and see if that convinces him to keep your mom from trying to keep you home?" Vali suggested after a moment.

Zaria nodded slowly, "Why not? It's not like I have anything to lose."

"Tell me if you end up finding anything interesting," Vali wanted to go to Lavender Town at some point if only to see if the rumors about ghost-types from other regions being seen in the tower were true.

"Sure, sure," Zaria agreed as they reached the pokemon center.