The choice and a look into Eevee

By the time Vali was finished giving Lt. Surge all the information he wanted and realizing that she knew more than she realized, her mouth felt like she'd swallowed a pound of salt and her jaw felt like she'd attempted to chew through Hagrid's rock cakes. Lt. Surge gave her a bottle of water, "You've done good with him so far and managed to avoid making a lot of mistakes too. I don't have too much to offer in the way of advice other than keep up what you're doing."

"Nothing?" Vali was glad to hear that Lt. Surge thought she was doing good, but she knew she could be doing more.

"Try slowly getting closer to him during the times you rest or eat," Lt. Surge suggested earning a nod, "Word of advice, do not try to give him a soothe bell,"

"How come?" Vali hadn't been planning on try to get one seeing as they were almost as expensive as evolutionary stones.

"Abused pokemon do not react well to them. Soothe bells are calming to pokemon, right?" Lt. Surge said as Vali nodded slowly, "To an abused pokemon, soothe bells make them vulnerable. It makes them panic and go into a berserk state in an attempt to get rid of the soothe bell,"

Vali nodded as she took out her pokedex and made a note in Eevee's entry to never let him near a soothe bell, "I'll do my best to keep him away from them."

Lt. Surge looked pleased, "Good. I would also advise trying to spend one on one time with him even if it's just sitting near him. It'll let him know you're there."

"Kind of like what I'm doing with Terra, my Larvitar," Vali added that last part at his confused look.

"How is it setting in?" Lt. Surge asked her curiously, "Sometimes it can be hard on bred pokemon to fit in with their new trainers,"

"Fairly well especially since my pokemon are doing their best to make sure she knows that they accept her," Vali was proud of her pokemon, "They're still deciding who's going to head to the ranch when the time comes,"

Lt. Surge grinned a bit, "I'm liking you more and more, Kid."

Vali ended up heading to the Pokemon center with Lt. Surge for dinner. They had ended up talking about the Pichu-line and everything pretty much went from there considering the man was an expert. She now had a better idea of how to train Pikachu up before she evolved him and what to do afterward. She also had a better idea of how to get her pokemon faster and would be putting it into action especially with her slower pokemon. While Idril and Terra were naturally slow outside of the ground, she planned on ensuring they both got as fast as possible especially before either of them evolved.

Steven looked a bit surprised when she showed up with Lt. Surge before offering the electric-type gym leader a warm smile when she explained what had happened. Lt. Surge and Steven ended up spending the entirety of dinner and an hour after it discussing electric/steel-type pokemon mostly the Magnemite-line since it was the most common in Kanto. Vali found that she liked the gym leader and didn't find him as scary as most did. Oh, he was someone to fear on the battlefield given some of their discussions today and the videos of his battles on the web. There wasn't a doubt in her mind about that she would have to work her ass off to get her team ready to face his, she didn't find him scary outside of the battlefield. If anything, she respected him even more if only because of how easy it seemed for him to seperate the side he used for battles and the side he used for everything else.

Vali found herself spending time around Lt. Surge's gym either to use the facilities to help Pikachu get his electricity stronger or to pick the man's brain about how to better help Eevee. She found herself laughing a bit one day when she realized that her relationship with the various Kanto gym leaders she'd met so far was pretty odd though mostly after Pewter city. Somehow, she'd managed to be on friendly terms with them thus learning a lot more about pokemon then she actually thought she would. She could wait to see what happened when she met the other gym leaders, but hoped it went almost as well.

Finally, the day was on them and Vali's pokemon had to pick who to send home. Vali ended up using the pokemon center's kitchen to cook breakfast for her pokemon to ensure that no matter who went home, they all had one last good memory with everyone around them. She felt sad about sending someone to the ranch despite knowing that this wouldn't be the last time she saw them or that she could always have Professor Oak send them back. She hated the idea of being without a single one of them. Of her pokemon, Balto, Smaug, Pikachu, and Celina were the only ones that could go home. Idril, Arwen, and Terra were still too new and needed her attention. Eevee was on her inactive team and wouldn't be sent back until the end of their deal if he decided that he didn't want to be with her. As a result, she would be sending home a pokemon that had been with her since the beginning of her journey which sucked.

After breakfast, Vali looked over each of her eldest pokemon, "It's time for you guys to decide."

Vali had made it clear that she hated the idea of sending any of them away and they knew that it was killing her to even think about doing it. They looked at one another before Celina stepped forward with a determined look on her face. Gently hugging the Pidgeotto, Vali promised to check up on her when she could. She outlined a training schedule for Celina and asked the Pidgeotto to do her best to stay healthy. After returning Celina to her pokeball, she headed to the video phones to contact Professor Oak. Professor Oak offered her a sympathetic look, "She'll be fine, Vali."

"I know, Professor. It just hurts knowing that she isn't going to be with me unless I send someone else back," Vali sighed deeply, "Does it get any better, Professor?"

"No, but at the very least, you know she'll be in good hands and it isn't forever," Professor Oak replied before they got down to business.

Professor Oak released Celina the moment she came to his lab and allowed Vali a few more minutes to say goodbye.

Eevee stared at the female, Vali, and her pack of odd pokemon actually feeling concerned. It was an odd feeling to have especially when it was directed at a human which only made it clear that somehow he was beginning to get attached to them. He looked towards Vali and felt a small amount of wonder at how she was acting. Unlike his former trainer, she actually seemed to care about one of her pokemon being gone even if it was only at the laboratory. She seemed to be feeling the separation as keenly as all of her pokemon. Did she really miss the Pidgeotto?

A tiny voice in his mind that he'd been trying to snuff out since Vali had rescued him spoke up again. She did care about the Pidgeotto. Why else would she be as listless as the pack? He tried to argue that it could just be a show only for the voice to snap that their nose could smell her sadness. He had to admit that the voice was right. She smelt just as sad as everyone else save for the Larvitar who didn't really know the bird pokemon. The voice was a bit smug as it reminded him that she'd never smelled of deceitful emotions. Looking back at when they'd first met, he realized that the voice was right. The only negative emotions she'd smelt of were directed at his former trainer and that gang of cronies he had.

As Eevee peered at Vali as his chest began to burn a bit with the small embers of hope surging, he wondered if maybe he should trust her a bit more. Maybe just maybe, Vali was worth his trust.

When Vali woke up the morning, she was surprised to find Eevee sleeping on the pillow right next to her head. Smiling at the sight, she slowly sat up trying not to disturb him. Eevee's eyes slid open as she sat up fully and he peered at her. She offered him a smile and murmured, "Good morning, Eevee."

Eevee dipped his head lightly in reply before closing his eyes again. Vali began extracting herself from the bed that had been almost completely taken over by her pokemon feeling hopeful that just maybe Eevee was actually beginning to trust her. She carefully moved Terra's head off of her right leg before doing the same with Idril who clutched her leg like a koala bear would clutch a tree branch. When she finally managed to get free without waking up anyone, she glanced back at the bed and had to laugh a bit. Pikachu had managed to wedge himself between the pillow and the headboard. Balto was sprawled out on across the foot of the bed with Smaug's head on his side. Smaug was dangling halfway off the bed with his tail just barely avoiding touching the ground. Arwen was sleeping standing up with her head on Balto's side right next to Smaug. She grabbed the fire proof mat laying almost off of the bed and placed it underneath Smaug's tail. Once that was done, she took a picture of the rather cute sight before going to take a shower.

When she finished her shower and got dressed in her clothes, Vali found Steven leaning against the wall across from the bathroom. Steven offered her a sleepy nod as he moved past her to get into the bathroom for his own morning routine. Walking over to her bed, she found everyone in almost the same exact place she'd left them only Idril and Terra were curled up together with the Sandshrew using the Larvitar as a teddy bear. Taking another picture knowing Delia would love to see this, she began the process of waking everyone up well aware of Eevee observing the process. Once everyone was up, she returned them so they could go outside and do their business without having to wait very long. She looked at Eevee and asked, "Do you want to be returned as well or would you like to walk with me?"

Eevee jumped down from the bed and moved to stand beside her. Understanding what he wanted, she grabbed one of her journals, a pen, and her pokedex before heading to the door.