Home for a brief moment then gone

Pallet Town was a welcome sight when Vali returned and she could be forgiven for almost immediately crashing upon returning with her pokemon. She barely stayed up long enough to set up a kiddie-pool for Seel to be comfortable in and fill it with water before finally going to sleep. Everyone save for Aragorn, Houndour, Eevee, and Seel ended up sleeping for an entire day with a little bit of the next before finally waking up for more than the necessities. Delia found it amusing as Vali stumbled into the room with her pokemon following though she quickly sent most outside with their food bowls being levitated by a helpful Elrond. Delia served her some breakfast while commenting, "Feeling refreshed?"

"We needed that," Vali told Delia with a yawn as she rubbed at her eyes, "Did Blaine send anything yet?"

"Professor Oak said that the package has arrived for you at his lab and your welcome to pick it up whenever you're ready," Delia answered after kissing Vali's cheek, "Steven called yesterday, but was rather understanding when he found out what was going on," Vali inwardly cursed and made to get up only for Delia to push her back down, "Eat, get dressed, then go call Steven. He's not going anywhere until tomorrow,"

"Right," Vali flushed lightly and resumed eating her breakfast.

A knock sounded at the door and Delia blinked lightly, "Huh? I'm not expecting anyone at the moment. I'll go answer it. You keep on eating while I go see who it is."

"Yes, Delia," Vali answered after swallowing her mouthful.

Delia left the kitchen and Vali focused on her food while keeping an eye on the pokemon that were outside. She inwardly snickered as Seel stole some food occasionally to taste it only to spit it out since the flavor was apparently horrible. The seal-like pokemon hadn't learned that not every pokemon had similar tastes to him just yet and most of her pokemon preferred spicier berries much to his horror. She heard a familiar chuckle as Seel came waddling up to her on the floor with his tongue sticking out and looked up to find Steven. She looked at him in surprise, "Steven? What are you doing here?"

"I did say that I'd come visit before I left," Steven answered as she bent down to pick up Seel and offered him one of the strawberries out of the small dish set up near the middle of the table, "Just eating breakfast?"

"I woke up not too long ago," Vali flushed lightly, "I didn't expect to crash so badly,"

"My first conference left me pretty bad off too," Steven offered as he moved to sit down and Delia made him a plate of food much to his surprise, "You don-"

"Eat, I won't be able to do this for awhile after all," Delia told him sternly earning a nod, "Now, Vali, remember to get that package Blaine sent from the lab today. We need to get everything done as soon as possible,"

"Yes, Ma'am," Vali saluted her earning a snort and a kiss to her forehead.

"Cheeky brat," Delia shook her head, "Have fun today, you two. Steven, I might not see you before you're departure tomorrow, so goodbye for now. I hope your journey through Hoenn goes well. Please tell your father that I wish him well and that I will be keeping you in my prayers to both Mew and Arceus,"

"I will," Steven promised as Delia headed out of the room.

Vali continued to eat her breakfast with a light smile as she listened to Delia leave the house, "She'll be heading to Viridian to get some groceries for the house while the boys at the lab helping out."

"Huh," Steven turned to the food he'd been given and began eating while peering at Seel, "So you were given a Seel?"

"Yup. He's adorable though I haven't begun training him yet," Vali said earning a nod of understanding, "You?"

"A Magnemite," Steven answered earning a confused look, "It'll definitely be an interesting pokemon to work with and not one I was expecting to deal with," Vali put Seel down after giving him another strawberry, "So you've got a water-type to train now,"

"And no idea what to do with him," Vali replied with a chuckle, "I'll be using my resources though. I'm glad I won't have to go hunting for one even if it is a bit disappointing,"

After getting her package of paperwork from the lab, Vali and Steven spent a large portion of the afternoon with their pokemon in the forest around Pallet Town simply spending time together eventually ending up in her special spot by the waterfalls. Eventually though, Steven left and she went back home to work on the paperwork with Delia's guidance. When the next day came, she went to Vermilion with Ash and Gary via Professor Oak's Alakazam to give their farewells. They ran into Lance who was also leaving though he'd be flying to Johto on his Dragonite. Ash and Gary hugged the two teens who were awkwardly trying to comfort the boys much to her amusement. Vali turned away from their plight to Joseph Stone, "Joseph, I'm glad that we were able to meet. While I'm sad that this is the end of the meeting, I am really glad for the time we spent together."

"As am I," Joseph surprised her with a hug, "You're welcome to come visit Devon Corp in the future at anytime, Vali. I will happily take you on a personal tour any time. You've made quite the impression on me,"

"A good one I hope," Vali said almost jokingly earning a laugh, "I'll take you up on that offer some time though I can't promise when,"

Joseph nodded and gestured to Steven, "I'd suggest saying your goodbyes now, we'll need to be boarding soon."

With that said, Joseph called the boys to him and Vali moved over to her friends. She sighed lightly, "Looks like this is it, huh?"

"Pretty much," Lance grinned at her, "But I'll make sure to drop in, I'm only going to be in Johto after all,"

"Just make sure to call, so I can warn Blaine, okay?" Vali told him earning a laugh and a nod, "Good," Vali hugged him lightly, "Be safe, Lance. I'd hate to hear that you ended up getting hurt,"

"I'll be careful," Lance hugged her with a surprised look on his face, "You be careful too. Blaine's kind of insane,"

"Don't I know it," Vali laughed as she let him go, "But I'm kind of stuck with him,"

Lance grinned brightly, "That means you'll get stronger though, it's why we, Blackthorns, are so strong."

"I wonder if Dragons and Insanity are the official words of your clan," Vali quipped earning a pout, "I'm only kidding Lance,"

"Still mean of you," Lance told her before heading over to Joseph and the boys.

Vali shook her head lightly and looked at Steven, "Be careful in Hoenn, okay?"

"I will be. You be careful on Cinnabar and try not to be driven insane by Blaine," Steven told her earning a laugh as she hugged him tightly and bit back the urge to release the tears burning against her eyes, "I'll make sure to call you on my pokenav when I'm in a city or find something interesting,"

"I'll call you as well or send a message when I can," Vali forced back the tears, "If something happens during my time with Blaine that interesting or I'm really frustrated, I'll probably send a message,"

"Okay," Steven told her.

Vali eventually pulled away and swallowed heavily as she carefully rubbed at her eyes, "I guess this is a 'See you later' huh?"

"Yeah," Steven rubbed at the back of neck as his dad called for him, "See you later, Vali,"

Vali waved at him as Ash and Gary joined her. She waved as Steven and Joseph made their way onto the ship along with a few other people. Once the ship took off, Lance left as well and it felt like a weight settled in her chest. Ash and Gary looked up at her with tears in their eyes. She pushed down the tightness and heaviness knowing they needed her more, "Let's go get some ice cream, I know a shop here that sells some good stuff and we'll head home, okay?"

When Vali was supposed to leave for Cinnabar, Ash and Gary threw a gigantic tantrum leaving her feeling horrible. The two completely shut Vali out once they'd calmed down, but neither came to see her off the more of her departure. Vali was feeling low at this, but Delia explain it was normal behavior especially with the boys just seeing Steven leave the region not even few days before along with Lance. Delia assured her that they'd calm down in no time and be ready to apologize when she'd return home at some point. While semi-reluctant to believe it, Vali had to take Delia's word for it and headed off to Cinnabar to meet with Blaine.