Goodbyes again as Cinnabar comes into sight

After a bit more talking though it was mostly the Professor ensuring that Vali knew she'd be able to contact him even with the apprenticeship and that he really wished to hear from her, she headed out to find Ash and Gary. The two boys were easy to find especially when she'd been doing the same during the time before her journey. The assistant noticed her and after the boys were done with their current task quickly sent them over to where she stood by the door. Rather than speak inside the room where many of the baby pokemon were settling down for a nap, she led them to a small room off to the side that wasn't currently being used. Reaching it, she led them inside as Ash and Gary talked about the pokemon they were caring for with soft voices and beaming smiles.

Upon seeing her sad smile, Ash was the first to falter in his speech and fall silent with Gary following quickly after. Ash spoke after a moment of silence fell across the room, "Vali, is something wrong?"

"No, Ash," Vali shook her head, "Nothing is wrong. I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying this part of your lessons with Professor Oak so much. I'm proud of how mature you're both being," She knew that it was best not to put it off, "The day I'm supposed to leave is here, Guys. Blaine's arrived and he's currently talking to Professor Oak. I'll make sure to call you guys as often as I can like before, but that's the best I'll be able to do for the moment,"

The two froze before Ash swallowed heavily and nodded while Gary said, "T-that's fine, Vali. We don't like it, but we're going to keep our promise from before."

Vali smiled softly at them feeling a bit better and motioned to them both, "Come on, you two. Give me a hug, I need one. You can't hug me too tight, but still."

Vali led the way into the Ketchum-Black-Potter residence where she could hear Delia talking on the phone. She offered Blaine a small smile and led him into the kitchen where Delia was speaking on the phone. The woman glanced away from the phone slightly and beamed upon noticing her, "Vali! I was just talking about you to Sirius! Sirius, Vali's here."

Vali blinked feeling a bit started at the sound of Sirius' name seeing as she hadn't seen him since she'd been in the hospital. From what they'd talked about on the phone, Sirius had been on a mission and unable to come home since she'd been injured. The man was furious and had let it be known quite loudly. She walked over to peek at the video phone and found Sirius' face staring back at her. The slightly grainy quality of the picture told her he was at one of the older ranger outposts that didn't get updated often, "Siri?"

"Hey, Pup!" Sirius' eyes were slightly dark, "How are you doing today?"

"Other than numb? Stiff and achy," Vali answered doing her best not to shrug, "I'm heading back to Cinnabar today,"

"Really?" Sirius' eyes darkened even more causing Vali to feel slightly alarmed, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Yes," Vali answered without question, "Cinnabar is where my apprenticeship is and it isn't Blaine's fault I was in that position, Siri. We've had this conversation before," Though it hadn't caused him to become angry which meant the League must've done something to piss him off, "Can you quit trying to convince me otherwise? I'm bound my contract and I plan on sticking to it,"

"Fine," Sirius huffed at her with a shake of his head, "I'll be heading to Pallet in two weeks. I'll visit you a week afterward, alright?"

Vali nodded with a grin, "I'd love that, Siri! I've missed you."

"Missed you too, Pup. Reg's missed you as well," A bark sounded earning a laugh from Vali and Delia, "I gotta go, you two. My patrol's going to begin fifteen minutes and I need to eat something. I'll see ya soon enough,"

"See you," The two chorused together before the screen went blank.

Delia smiled softly, "It'll be wonderful to have Sirius home even if you won't be here, Vali. Blaine, You'll take care of you, won't you?"

"I will," Blaine promised with a nod.

"Good," Delia smiled warmly, "Vali, why don't you head over to your room? Your bags are ready for you,"

"Right," Vali nodded lightly as she eyed the two for a moment before heading out of the kitchen.

Delia watched her adoptive daughter leave before turning to Blaine with a stern expression, "Vali's still going to be involved with that man? That Poacher?!"

Blaine didn't even look surprised by her knowledge. He merely sighed deeply and nodded, "The League needs to know what exactly happened during their encounter. Once they do, Vali will never have to do anything with him again. She won't need to go near him. I'll ensure it."

Delia glared at him, "I know better than that, Blaine. I might not have made it further than the fifth gym, but you forget who Ash's father is. I know that the League won't stop there especially not when Vali will very likely encounter other powerful enemies. The fact she practically stumbled across a way for you to end the Poaching operation where all others failed? They won't let that go."

By the clenching of Blaine's jaw, Delia knew she was right. Blaine clenched his hand and said, "I said that I'd take care of her. I won't break that promise. The League won't get their claws into her any further until she's ready and by then, she'll be out of her apprenticeship and able to avoid having to make any promises to them."

Delia closed her eyes and felt tears burn at them, "I hope your right. By Mew and Arceus both, I hope your right."

When Vali returned to the kitchen, Delia was quick to wrap her into an almost too tight hug that made the fire-type master-in-training grunt slightly though she hugged the woman back. Delia spoke softly in her ear, "Please be safe, Vali. Come home to me, you need to make sure of that. You need to make sure all of your pack comes back to us."

"I will, Delia," Vali promised while wondering what had brought this on and feeling strangely spooked by Delia's attitude.

Delia nuzzled into her hair for a moment before pulling away. She sniffed softly, "Alright, I suppose it's time for you two to go."

Vali nodded as she peered at Delia with a sad grin, "I'll call you tonight and let you know how everything's going."

"I'll be waiting," Delia's lips quivered a bit, "Oh, Vali. I really don't want you to go even if this is what you've got to do. While you need to work hard, I want you to make sure you'll rest,"

"I will," Vali promised easily, "Balto and the others will make sure of it. Elrond's already making sure they know I've made that promise,"

Delia let out a laugh as Elrond nodded in agreement, "Oh dear, you all. Take care of each other, we'll be waiting for you here."

"We know," Vali murmured softly.

Vali hugged Delia one more time before leaving with Blaine. Blaine only spoke after they'd left the house, "Things won't be easy, Brat. Even once we get your body retrained, I'm going to be putting you through hell."

"Never asked for anything less," Vali replied with a determined look on her face as she looked across Pallet Town and the grassy green hill surrounding it, "I signed up to be put through hell when becoming your apprentice. My pokemon and I, we need to get stronger not just for us," She looked back at Blaine, "I'll take anything you throw at me. While I might bitch about it, I won't give in,"

Blaine nodded cracking the first grin she'd seen since that horrible last mission back at Delco, "Glad to hear it, Brat."

Therapy didn't start on Cinnabar, it started on the ship there since Blaine wanted to get some one-on-one time in. Vali's array of curses were used quite frequently as she struggled through the rather painful exorcises meant to bring back her flexibility. Balto and her other pokemon were quickly put through their paces by Blaine as well though Vali was often the one implementing his 'advice'. Seel greatly enjoyed a chance to swim in the water and the sailors were happy to offer tips in how to train him. All of her pokemon got more experience battling water-types though Empress was quite tense during this period. To offset this a bit, Vali spent much of the break time she had simply reassuring Empress and grooming the dragon-type as best she could.