Lightning and Fire Gym Leaders

Rather than put in some last minute training that would likely not do any good and exhaust her pokemon that needed to recover from their previous battles, Vali decided to use her day before the battle against Steven to wander around Indigo like before though this time with only her pokemon for companionship. Aragorn walked beside her along with Houndour who was quickly adapting to being around so many people. Eevee sat on her shoulder and gazed at the various humans with some suspicion though it lacked the open hostility it once held. As she wandered around, the camera hanging from her neck was used to snap new photos.

Vali found herself swarmed by a couple of little kids that had apparently been awed by her performance in the Conference and ended up introducing them to her pack. Eventually the kids were taken away by their amused if a bit wary parents that eyed her Charizard, she waved them off and returned her pokemon save for the three that had already been out as a familiar voice boomed, "Well if it ain't Vali. How ya doing, Kid?"

"Surge?" Vali turned to find the man walking towards her with a grin on his face and Raichu on his shoulder, "I'm doing pretty good. How've you been?"

"Good especially now that my gym ain't flooded with babies and tourists," Surge grinned as he bent down to pet Aragorn as the fox ran over to greet him, "Little shits getting big. You have to feed him as much as the others yet?"

"We've had to adjust his diet somewhat, but not to that point just yet," Vali replied as she smiled at the man as Houndour peered at him curiously, "You here for the Conference?"

"Yup," Surge stood up as Aragorn walked back over to her, "You've done pretty damn good getting this far, Kid," He congratulated with a chuckle as Raichu hopped down to greet her and she hugged the electric type happily, "Let's have some lunch together, I know a pretty good restaurant that'll let your team eat with you. It's on me,"

Vali hesitated for a moment knowing how much her team could eat especially given certain pokemon diets now, but nodded after a moment since it'd be nice to catch up, "I'd love to to."

Surge and Vali exchanged stories about what had been going on since they'd last seen one another. Vermilion had apparently been busier than ever during the last months before the Conference almost beating out Viridian which made sense since Surge was feared right behind the top three for just how brutal his main team could be. There had been a few instances of winter weather problems, the biggest happening during the spring thaw though it wasn't that big a deal apparently. A few severe storms had set off the electric-types rather severely, but it worked in the Leagues favor as they'd been able to power some new generators ups. Other than that, the Surge had to deal with some regular gym duties and stuff with abused pokemon which took up most of his time.

Surge let out a booming laugh as Vali described some of the stuff both her pokemon and brothers had gotten up to during her training period in Pallet Town, "Damn, Kid. I can't wait until those kids are old enough to become trainers especially that one boy, Ash, he'll be a riot."

Vali grinned in reply feeling light, "He's going to be an amazing trainer."

"So, Kid," Surge gave her a look, "What's going on with you?"

Vali gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"It's obvious somethings bugging you. I don't need to be a stuck up psychic like Sabrina to know that," Surge gave her a stern look and Vali winced, "I trained enough with you and your pokemon to know somethings up. You're hiding it pretty well and I probably wouldn't have noticed it if we'd only spent a couple minutes around you,"

Vali sighed deeply and put down her fork, "I've mentioned that if I did well during the Conference Blaine would take me as his apprentice, right?" Surge nodded with raised eyebrow, "Steven offered me the chance to travel to Hoenn with him and Sirius gave his consent."

"Fuck, Kid," Surge winced slightly, "That is tough, I get why you're having trouble,"

"Blaine still hasn't said anything," Vali said which she understood since the old man might be waiting until her final battle to see what happened, "I've talked to my pokemon and got their opinions. It was helpful especially since I know I'm not going to disappoint them,"

"I don't know what to tell ya, Vali," Surge shook his head, "You've probably been given more then enough advice on what to choose. In the end, I'm just going to say this. Whatever you end up choosing, you'll think of the what if's of the other choice regardless, Kid. It's a fact of life, but you've got to move forward with your life," He nodded to their pokemon who were eating around them, "They're counting on you after all,"

Vali looked at her pack for a few moments before nodding, "You're right. Thanks, Surge."

"No problem, Kid," Surge said as he grabbed his drink, "I'm glad to help,"

After Lunch, Vali and Surge went their seperate ways with the Gym Leader borrowing Elrond for the day. Surge promised to return him later in better condition than he left which she didn't doubt. Rather than question the man, she merely nodded and wished them a good day while hugging Elrond. With her pack's bellies full, she decided to head to the nearest park to laze about for a bit and ended up encountering the very Gym Leader that had been on her mind since the Conference began. She had been settled with Balto underneath one of the large trees and Smaug napping not far from them. Aragorn and Houndour played together with Litwick in the shade of some nearby trees under the watchful eyes of their elder pack members who lazed about in various positions. Much like with Surge, Aragorn was the one to alert them to Blaine's presence though he was preoccupied with greeting Ninetales.

Each of her pack gifted the gym leader a wary look as Blaine approached, the man seemed unaffected by the looks he was offered. Vali spoke as she rubbed Balto's side, "Blaine, it's a pleasure to see you again. How have you been?"

"I've been well, Vali," Blaine replied as he reached her, "Relaxing today?"

"Big match tomorrow," Vali replied as she reached into her bag and pulled out the journal he'd given her, "Unlike most, I know that I'm probably going to lose tomorrow, but rather than try to grasp a desperate win through last minute training which would end up doing more harm than good, I'll let everyone get some rest," She held it out to him, "The journal you gave me,"

Blaine took it most likely noting the dog eared edges of the pages, "Looks like its been through a lot of use."

"Well, you did say to use it," Vali replied as her pokemon slowly began to relax likely taking in the energy she was giving off, "I've been writing down a lot and going back to it. It's been really helpful like you said it'd be and I'll be getting another one in the future,"

"I'm glad to hear it," Blaine said as Ninetales slowly began to play with Aragorn.

"Would you like to sit?" Vali asked earning a chuckle and nod.

Blaine slowly took a seat on the ground by her and took in the pokemon around him especially the fire-types. Vali said nothing as she simply enjoyed being around her pokemon and not knowing what to say. Blaine thumbed through the journal for a few minutes before speaking, "You've done well in the Conference, Vali. Especially during your first one, I've seen many things that you can improve on, but I'm sure you have seen such as well."

"I have," Vali agreed as she looked away from where she was watching Houndour chase one of Ninetales' will-o-wisps, "I'm learning a lot from my competitors when I watch matches and look at the playbacks of mine,"

"It seems that you've still got a good head on your shoulders," Blaine nodded to himself with a light smirk and closed the book in his hands, "And your pokemon seem to be doing well. Have a name for your Houndour yet?"

"No, she's too young," Vali had wanted to wait a while longer.

Blaine hummed lightly as he handed over the journal and she put it back into her bag. The old man said, "In all my years of being an Elite Four then a Gym Leader, I've never taken an Apprentice as most masters do not unless someone special comes along that provokes an especially strong reaction in them. Some," Blaine grimaced here, "May call our gym trainers our Apprentices, but that is not the same as not all Gym Leaders are Masters especially among the younger generation though they're quickly hurrying to become one," Ninetales let out a yip of laughter as she caused both younger pokemon to trip over each other and Litwick began scolding the large fox before going to check on her friends, "But our Apprentices would do the work of Gym Trainers."

Vali knew that from what Professor Oak had told her, "Professor Oak mentioned something along those lines awhile back."

"Figures he would," Blaine snorted softly, "I'll be blunt, Vali. I'm an old man that prefers being alone and unbothered by the little brats that flood my island every year. Sure, I get a good battle from some, but it drags on me. When we met on that beach and then again during our battle, I felt a spark I haven't in years," He grinned lightly, "Between that and everything I've seen so far during the Conference, I've decided that if you'll accept it, I'll take you on as my apprentice,"

Despite knowing it was a possibility, the offer still took Vali off guard. She didn't know what to say and had trouble forming words for a few minutes. Balto raised his head and nudged her which helped quite a bit. Looking at Blaine, she said, "I...I'm honestly surprised your offering me this now before the battle tomorrow."

"While seeing the battle tomorrow will no doubt be a good look at your potential, I've already made my decision," Blaine told her with a grin, "So what do you say?"

Vali thought about it carefully as she ran her fingers over Balto's fur with Blaine watching the pokemon running around. The offer she'd been waiting for had finally come, so now she needed to make a decision. Everything that she'd thought about over time came to mind, the pros and cons of each choice especially. Everyone's words played through her mind. It was Steven's words from the night previous and Surge's words from earlier that helped her make the decision. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she slowly let herself breath out as the decision was made. Looking to Blaine, she said, "Blaine, I'm going to take you up on your offer. If I'm going to progress as a fire-type master, I am going to need help and you're the best person I can think of."

Blaine's grin widened, "Glad to hear it, Vali. Once the Conference is over, I'll give you a week in Pallet to recover then have you come to Cinnabar. It'll give me time to get the paperwork done."

Vali's eyes widened at that, "There's paperwork?"

"Of course there's paperwork!" Blaine grinned at her, "I'll need to put through the forms to make you my Apprentice, a full time Gym Trainer, make it so you'll be able to help run the gym with me once you're ready, and increasing your carry limit," He paused for a moments before snapping his fingers, "Oh, I'll be sending paperwork for you to work on. Mostly a consent and temporary change of residency form for the duration of your time under me, I'll get everything that you can't fill out settled before its sent to you, so you'll only have to worry about the parts you can actually fill out,"

"Alright," Vali was glad there was someone to guide her in this, "Once I receive them, I'll look fill them out after I've given them a once over and probably had Delia look them over too,"

"Good you're not stupid enough to sign something without looking it over," Blaine nodded lightly, "You're going to need to keep that up while working under me,"