Talking over lunch and Bond between partners

"Zaria," Steven looked at the mocha skinned girl with some surprise, "What brings you to Viridian?"

"Checking out Giovanni to see if I want to battle him or not," Zaria answered as she took a seat across from him with Vali, "Saw Vali on my way to the gym and decided to catch up,"

"I see," Steven noted the bandages on Vali's fingers, "What happened to your fingers?"

Vali used her left hand to pick up a spoon, "Zaria's got a Sableye that she hatched a bit ago. Vulpix startled him and since I was letting the little one play with my fingers, he dug his claws in."

Steven winced at that as phantom pain jolted around his left ankle where a Sableye had once gotten his leg in one of the caves he'd been looking through. The Sableye hadn't been serious which meant he'd gotten away with his life, but his ankle bore the scars of the event. He gave Vali a sympathetic look, "That had to hurt, you're alright though?"

"Won't even scar if I'm careful and avoid breaking the stitches," Vali replied before beginning to eat her soup, "Zabbi's claws are sharp. He's going to be a good fighter once he's old enough,"

Zaria nodded looking a bit guilty, "Definitely. He's got a good move-pool and Nurse Joy's given me the go ahead on training him. I'm having Nuz train with him alongside Sneasel. Mostly Sneasel with Nuz acting as the supervisor, Sneasel and Zabbi have similar body types after all plus their species' rely heavily on speed. It just makes sense."

"Just makes sure you do a lot of endurance training too," Vali suggested after taking a drink of soda, "Not too much while he's still young, but some since his body isn't exactly built to take a bunch of hits,"

"I'm planning on it," Zaria reached into her pocket and pulled out a notepad, "By the way, I made a list of pokemon that I saw while in Lavender Town. That Pokemon Tower is really creepy, my pokemon got put through their paces in it while helping out my dad's ranger team,"

Vali took the pad and began looking through it with interest. Steven smiled a bit, "What exactly was it like? I've heard a lot about it, but haven't really thought of going to visit it."

"Creepy, but also really sad," Zaria's crimson eyes dulled a bit, "So many pokemon are buried there, I've never seen so many graves in my life and knowing that they belong to pokemon, it really puts things into perspective," She laid a hand on the pokeballs at her waist, "It just shows how dangerous battles can be even if some of those pokemon died outside of it,"

Vali looked up from the notepad, "I'm going to visit it at some point," Steven looked at her in surprise and she offered him a small smile, "It's pretty much a Kanto trainers tradition. You've got to go at least once to Pokemon Tower even if it's only to go ghost hunting. It's also Agatha's hometown."

"Oh yeah, Agatha of the Elite Four, right?" Zaria asked with a slight grin, "I remember hearing that. I don't think I saw her there though,"

"You probably wouldn't have," Vali's eyes went distant, "Agatha doesn't like most people and tends to keep them from seeing her until she wants to be seen," The smile on her face brightened a bit, "She loves scaring people too. No wonder her ghosts love the old woman,"

Zaria eyed Vali as the fire-type master-in-training came back to the present and resumed eating, "It almost sounds like you know her."

"I do," Vali admitted earning a wide eyed look from Zaria, "She came to the lab after I came to Kanto and stayed for a bit,"

"No way," Zaria breathed looking a bit star-struck, "Seriously?" Vali nodded with an amused gleam in her eyes, "So cool," Zaria paused a bit as confusion slid across her face, "Wait, you aren't from Kanto?"

Smile dropping, Vali shook her head, "No, Sirius and I came to Kanto a few years ago. I can't remember much of how we ended up in Kanto, but considering the dangerous situation going on back there, we didn't exactly have much choice," She shrugged a bit, "Regardless, Kanto and Pallet Town are home."

"Wow, I never really guessed," Zaria's expression remained curious, "What was your old region like?"

"Dull. No pokemon," Vali held up a hand stalling Zaria's likely outburst, "Zaria, I know it seems impossible, but back there, we didn't have any pokemon," She smiled a bit, "Kanto is so much better than back there. I love pokemon especially my little family,"

Zaria nodded slowly looking a bit unsure, "I can't really see any kind of place without pokemon. So you can't remember how you ended up in Kanto?"

Vali shook her head, "Not really, I just remember it being really cold before I fell unconscious. Woke up in snow with Sirius, we ended up in Pallet Town though I can't remember how since Sirius was carrying me and I was really tired."

It was as close to the truth Vali was permitted to tell anyone. That any of those in the know were allowed to say, Steven mused as Zaria began asking Vali questions about England though the fire-type master-in-trainer didn't have much to say. She never did even when magic was involved though he didn't blame her. With everything she'd told him and the picture he'd gotten of her 'childhood', he doubted she had many good memories of that place.

Running through the forest surrounding Viridian away from the normal paths, Balto moved quickly feeling free as he pushed himself go faster. Vali clung to his back radiating a sense of joy and contentment pushing him to further his natural speed. In moments like this since his evolution, he had found himself growing ever closer to his partner. It was a chance to just be with her without their pack running amok or needing guidance. A chance to enjoy the peace and closeness they'd had before their journey began. And for this reason alone, he loved to run as far and fast as possible with no true direction in mind.

Balto loved each member of his pack from the raging fire of Smaug to the ball of flickering flame known as Vulpix. For all that he may love and care for them, he just craved some moments of peace where it was just Vali and him. Each of them required a diffrent amount of focus and guidance especially the young kit that had hatched into their pack. With another pup on the way who was Regulus' kin, it wouldn't be long until his time with Vali would be even more limited. He didn't mind most of the time since as Alpha, it was his duty to ensure each of them were safe and as content as possible. But with the battle approaching them, he felt like being a bit selfish since this portion of their journey would be ending soon.

Vali tightened her grip on him and Balto slowed after catching the scent of water. He headed for it and found a small river with a small clearing. Bending down, he felt Vali jump off his back and stood back up before padding over to the water. He scented it again ensuring it was as clean as possible before taking a drink. He kept an ear out for danger, but the forest pokemon were content to leave them be which suited him just fine. He felt a hand on his side and looked towards the source causing water to drip from his chin earning a giggle from Vali. She scratched under his jaw at the point where it connected to his neck earning a low groan from him. She spoke in a gentle tone, "Things are getting so busy that we can't spend time together like we used to huh, Balto?" He grunted in agreement, "I promise once everything is said and done, we'll take some time for ourselves," She let out a soft laugh, "Funny how I barely had any friends before coming to this world only to find everything I've ever wanted," The light in her eyes dulled a bit and her smile dropped, "I wonder how they're doing back there. I hope Hermione and Ron made it out alright."

Balto let out a small whine not wanting Vali to be sad while with him. He nudged her hard enough to send her falling to the ground earning a surprised yelp from Vali. Vali pushed herself into a sitting position and he began to lick her face earning a shriek of protest. She pushed at his face and he stopped licking after ensuring her face was completely covered in slobber. Vali glared at him, "What was that for, Balto?" He gave her a look and she kept up the glare for a few moments before her eyes softened in realization, "It's because I was becoming sad, wasn't it?" She sighed reaching out towards him and he settled down with his head in her lap, "Sorry, Balto. I didn't mean to get sad, but sometimes thinking about back then..." She shook her head, "I'm glad that I have you, Balto. You're sometimes the only thing really keeping me on track and out of the darkness."

Balto let out a low rumble nuzzling her earning a soft smile. Vali rubbed his ears, "Thanks, Balto. I'm really glad you're with me."

They definitely needed to spend time like this a bit more often. Sometimes his trainer overworked herself, Vali got too caught up in helping them and forgot about herself. It was a good thing he was a sensible pokemon otherwise who knows what his human would get up to especially since their pack didn't really seem to notice things on a deeper scale outside of Smaug, Celina, and Elrond. Perhaps he needed to take the cub of their pack aside and start teaching him, Vulpix was definitely old enough to start learning and intelligent enough for the knowledge to actually be usable. Their human needed all the help she could get, the amount of trouble they'd ended up in since leaving the pack territory said everything.