Retrieval and returning to base

"Yes, Sir," Vali called over Celina and gave her orders.

Celina took off and quickly ascended over the trees until she was circling the clearing. Anthony spoke again, 'We can see her. Stay there and don't move.'

Elrond spoke as Vali ended the call, "He did not seem pleased."

"No, he didn't," Vali shook her head lightly.

Vali had a feeling that things were likely not going to go very well at first even if they'd be able to prove themselves useful to the Aces. Stella appeared first on the back of her Swanna and quickly began checking over Vali with wide concerned eyes, "Are you okay?"

"He didn't even touch me," Vali told the silver haired Ace, "The only one who actually engaged them was Smaug and he's barely even got a scratch on him," The Houndour had likely been trained to track people down leaving everything else up to the Poachers real team, "I'm fine, Stella,"

"Thank Mew," Stella surprised Vali with a hug, "When you didn't come out after the fighting was done and we couldn't find you around the battlefield, everyone assumed the worse. You proved us wrong not even five fucking minutes after that,"

Vali slowly hugged Stella back just as Elrond protected them as Pele used Yawn again earning a surprise gasp. She smiled a bit as Stella pulled away with a confused look, "I don't have any better moves to use on humans at the moment. Yawn doesn't do any damage and will keep him asleep without me needing to physically act."

"Nice," Stella smiled in understanding, "Once the boys get here, you'll need to explain what all happened. Will you be okay with doing that?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Vali nodded as she bent down to rub Terra's head again, "By the way, I want you to meet some of my pack members," Vali gestured to Terra, "This little lady is Terra," Terra gave a soft cry and waved, "Elrond is the Raichu," Elrond nodded and based on the slight jump Stella gave had likely greeted her, "The Numel is my dear Pele," Pele let out a gentle coo and moved to nuzzle Stella earning a laugh, "The smug looking Charizard is Smaug my official starter and the beta of my pack. Celina is the beauty flying above us. You met Balto my pack's Alpha earlier on,"

"It's nice to meet you all," Stella told everyone honestly, "The handsome devil with me is Darry. He's my wings for most distances,"

The Swanna let out a deep cry and Vali noted he was bigger than the one she'd seen at the Conference. The next to arrive in the clearing were Marcus and Cullen with Anthony on their tails. All three took in the clearing rather quickly, Marcus was the first to react by letting out a dark laugh, "You could easily crush his body like that or have the earth swallow him whole leaving nothing behind."

Vali grimaced a bit at that and Stella scowled at Marcus, "The Poacher needs to be kept alive. He can be used to gather information, Marcus."

"Enough," Anthony cut in with his eyes trained on Vali, "You captured him. How?"

Vali looked into Anthony's eyes noting the harsh unforgiving coldness within them. She knew that whatever answer that came out of her mouth would effect how the rest of their relationship would go. Steeling her spine, she spoke while keeping her eyes locked with his, "I stayed in the spot you'd left me in with Elrond to watch my back while observing alongside me. It was a chance to further our knowledge while gaining an understanding of just how far out of our depths we were. As we were doing so, Elrond sensed that someone was approaching with a void that we later discovered was a Houndour."

"How is that possible?" Cullen asked with a frown.

"It's due to Elrond's unique biology as an Alolan Raichu that allows him to sense dark-types so long as their mixed with another-type and he has familiarity with their species," Vali replied before continuing her report, "The Poacher had realized we were there thanks to his Houndour and wanted to investigate. I realized that things were about to get bad and began attempting to think of a plan. I immediately discarded the option of bringing this to your attention as you were busy with the other Poachers and more were likely arriving. Going into the fight with the Poacher on my tail would immediately cause things to get even worse, I decided to move away from the fight. If the Poacher didn't follow, I would get close enough for Elrond to keep an eye on the fight while staying out of range to prevent a repeat. If he followed, I'd create a trap," She waved a hand at the clearing, "As you can see, he followed me and I set the trap,"

Vali explained her trap as thoroughly as possible. Anthony continued to stare at her with those cold eyes, "And if that plan failed? What would you have done? We were at least a mile away."

"Balto knows Teleport and can use it with some success," Vali replied as her hand dropped to rubbed Terra's head, "I would've called for help and explained the situation immediately after returning my pokemon which is why I had a limited number out. We'd head back to the battlefield and meet up with you guys. You probably would've been done with the Poachers by then and would be ready to deal with that guy,"

"And if we weren't?" Anthony asked in a tone that was probably meant to make Vali angry or annoyed.

"I'd do my best to hold him off until you were," Vali replied in as calm a tone as possible, "My pokemon might not be up to Ace standards yet, but Blaine has been putting us through training every day since we came to Cinnabar after the Conference. It should be enough to ensure we'll make it until you're able to take over,"

"And if it isn't?" Anthony asked once more using that tone that was meant to make her angry.

"Considering the fact that my pokemon would be out of commission, I would have to run, but that isn't the answer you're looking for, is it?" Vali asked and was met with silence as a small smile formed on her face, "I already know that these Poachers would probably try to kill me. Will try to kill me considering what some of my pokemon are, I don't need anyone to sugar coat it for me," She barely kept herself from touching the bullet graze scar from Vermilion, "I'm not scared of that, Anthony. I know the risks. I was in Lavender Town and the Vermilion City wild fire. I know how dangerous and life threatening things can get. My pokemon and I know that this is not a game, Anthony. My life has been in danger more than one since my journey has begun. Don't assume that I'm some privileged kid here for kicks, I actually know what the cost is,"

"Have you ever had a pokemon die on you?" Anthony asked making Vali's heart grow cold.

Vali swallowed harshly, "Not one of my own, no, but one I was close to. A Flareon back at the ranch. Two months before my Journey there was a break-in at the lab while I was there, Balto, Flareon, and I were spending time in one of the rooms playing with the baby pokemon. The robber came to steal the baby pokemon and some research and decided to come for the pokemon first since they weren't as heavily guarded at the time. Flareon killed him, but took three bullets. One of which to protect me," Vali's fist clenched as her eyes stung at the memory and by Arceus did she miss Flareon, "I tried to stop the bleeding and keep her alive long enough for them to save her. I did everything I could, but it wasn't enough," Balto curled his body against her and she realized she'd begun shaking a bit, "I know what it's like to have a pokemon die on me, Anthony. I never want to lose another pokemon. I'm not so foolish as to assume it won't eventually happen to me, but that's why we train so damn hard,"

Elrond once more protect everyone from Pele's Yawn jolting them a bit. Anthony's eyes lost their coldness as he spoke, "Get the Poacher out, I want to head back to base."

hey began moving immediately with Pele carefully pulling the Poacher up with Terra assisting. Marcus and Cullen secured him before attaching the man to Marcus' Hydreigon. Stella patted Vali on the back with a sad look, "Sorry about Flareon, Vali."

"Don't be, Stella," Vali shook her head lightly, "Flareon was protecting me even when she didn't have to. I still have a piece of her with me," She grinned a bit at Stella's confused look, "A bit of Flareon's ash's are in a Flareon toy that I keep with me. The only time I parted with it was back when I found my Eevee and realized he needed it more," Stella looked a bit speechless, "He doesn't know and I haven't told him the story just yet. I figured it wasn't time for it. Perhaps I will soon,"

"He'd probably like to know," Stella finally replied with a shake of her head.

Vali got onto Balto's back after returning her pokemon save for him. Anthony spoke as they began their return to Delco 2, "We had you pegged wrong, Kid."

Rather than show the surprise she felt, Vali merely said, "So long as we can work together properly from now on, I'll be happy to forget about it."

A rough chuckle left the man, "Sounds like a plan, Kid. I'll see if we can get that Arcanine of yours up to speed and maybe train your Houndour a bit."

Vali perked up at that, "Really? That sounds good, I was planning on doing it after we went back to Cinnabar."

"I'll show you how to train them," Anthony offered with a slight smile, "Heard from the Stella you've got a Luxray too, we'll see about working with it as well. But it'll depend on time. Balto first then the other two,"

"No problem," Vali hugged Balto who's tail wagged softly.