Reunions and Career talks

Despite the fact that she likely had quite a few questions, Delia didn't press Vali for answers after Sabrina left instead she told the fire-type master-in-training to go get some rest. Rather than stay home after emptying her backpack of everything inside and starting her laundry, she grabbed her incubator and placed it inside her backpack before heading back to the lab. Skipping the lab itself, she headed into the Corral and founded a semi-secluded spot before releasing the pokemon she had on her. All of them looked around curiously for a moment before focusing on their trainer who smiled lightly, "We're in the Corral. I need help finding everyone else so we can talk and catch up. While staying home might've been smarter, I wanted to check on everyone and tell them the good news."

Celina took off while Balto released a howl that echoed through the air and Elrond settled into a meditative position floating close to the ground. It took ten minutes for everyone to converge on where Vali had chosen for them to meet up. Each of them greeted everyone else a bit differently. Idril popped out of the ground and hugged her trainer around the knees letting out a gentle coo before moving towards Terra. Empress slammed into her trainer sending the fire-type master-in-training to the ground as she let out happy shrieks. Pippin followed Empress' example though made sure not to accidentally bruise their trainer and purred when she hugged him. Smaug flew into the clearing with Celina and pushed away the two pokemon currently cuddling with their trainer. Lowering his head, he sniffed her lightly before snorting and laid his head on hers.

Vali grinned softly as she reached up to rub the base of Smaug's horns, "Smaug, that wasn't very nice," Smaug snorted as he withdrew slightly to peer at her, "But I missed you too," She looked away from him at the rest of her pokemon, "I missed everyone while we were away," Balto and the others that had been with her let out cries of agreement, "I've got some news so gather around," Everyone moved to surround her with Smaug dropping down to sit in front of her with Empress clambering into her lap and Pippin settling against her side prompting Idril to do the same, "We won our last Gym Battle," Everyone cheered with congratulations being tossed around alongside demands for the story of the battles, "We have Elrond to thank for playing the biggest part, but everyone did their best allowing us to win against Giovanni's pokemon. We're going to the Conference which means we'll be training quite a bit up until that time."

Sunset was swiftly taking hold of the sky when Vali left the Corral, she'd spent most of the day with her pokemon and explaining the basic training plan she'd cooked up. Ash rushed towards Vali when she entered the house, "Vali, you're finally home!"

"I had to go visit my pokemon," Vali said as she hugged Ash, "How was school?"

"It was awesome!" Ash began to babble about his day while Pidgey landed on Vali's shoulder to nuzzle her.

Vali kicked off her shoes and set down her backpack. Removing her incubator, she walked with Ash into the living room. Delia called them in for dinner and they settled down together, "Ash, did you tell Vali about what happened in your battle class?"

"Oh, it was awesome!" Ash grinned as Vali gave him a curious look, "One of Professor Oak's aids came in and showed us his Scyther. It was so awesome and scarred up in some places,"

"Oh, you met Cyrus," It meant Justin had been on the school visit roster since Professor Oak had some of his aids visit the school every week to talk about various pokemon and how to treat them, "He's an awesome pokemon and Justin's partner back when they were part of the Trainer track,"

"Justin was part of the Trainer track?" Ash looked at Vali in surprise, "What happened?"

Vali set down her fork and knife, "Same thing that usually happens with most trainers. He hit a snag at some point in the road and ended up in a slump never finishing within the top ten no matter how hard he and his pokemon worked. After awhile, he did some soul searching and ended up becoming one of Professor Oak's Data Collectors during a visit to the lab in hopes of finding something new to do that would give his life some form of meaning," She grabbed her glass of Pinap juice, "And hit his stride finally finding something he was truly good at and found a lot of joy in,"

"What do you mean by 'usually happens with most trainers'?" Ash asked with a frown.

And hearing that question told Vali one thing, the school wasn't telling its students what exactly trainers faced. Inwardly sighing at the fact she'd be breaking some part of the rose-tinted glasses he wore, she looked at him with a serious expression, "Most of those starting out on the trainer tack don't stay trainers, Ash. They always find a reason why it isn't for them. For some, they can't handle higher level battles where anything could happen," Being forced to bury a pokemon because it'd died due to a battle would turn any trainer off of it, "Money is also an issue for trainers that don't battle well," You can't fund a journey if you don't have money and finding jobs that require no work experience isn't easy especially for ten year olds, "Some just can't handle being on the road for long," Spoiled rich kids and those that loathed the outdoors among them, "And for those like Justin, they hit a point where growth isn't possible which means becoming an Ace or part of the Elite just isn't possible. It takes a certain kind of person to become a high level trainer."

"Why?" Ash looked confused, "Why does it take a certain kind of person?"

"It how the world works," Delia answered as Vali took a drink, "Ash, everyone dreams of becoming a trainer, but many people find their true path somewhere else. I used to be a trainer, but I found my calling somewhere else,"

"It's why having other options like my photography and data collector job is a good thing," Vali told Ash, "Find something you enjoy, a hobby that you'd be able to fall back on if being a trainer doesn't work out,"

"But I want to become a Pokemon Master," Ash protested earning a soft giggle.

"Than think of it as a way to ensure your pokemon will always be fed," Ash gave her a blank look, "Pokemon, especially the bigger ones, eat a lot, Ash. Vulpix is going to be eating as much as Balto when he's fully grown not to mention Terra needing practically a mountain of food by the time she's fully evolved. Having an extra flow of money during time when you're not able to challenge trainers or win battles is a good idea,"

"What would you suggest?" Ash asked with a slight frown, "I don't like taking pictures,"

"I'll set up some classes for you to try," Delia offered as she ladled some more mac and cheese onto her plate, "You'll do two weeks at each to find something or multiple things you're good at,"

"Try some music classes," Vali suggest remembering how some trainers played various instruments in the cities, "Like the flute or something,"

Something about Ash playing an instrument seemed right, it made something within Vali perk up and thrum in approval though she couldn't figure out what. All she really knew was that Ash needed to play an instrument, it was important.