Vermillion Tournament Pt. 1

When Vali went to collect her pokemon, she was given Arwen and Sandshrew before being told that the others would take until tomorrow before they would be fully healed. She understood and thanked the Nurse Joy. She also got Steven's pokemon before heading to get something to eat. With how crowded it was, she merely picked up her food and headed back up to the room where Steven was just leaving the shower. He offered her a raised eyebrow and she said, "It's a bit too crowded."

Steven offered her an understanding look and they began eating after releasing the pokemon that could fit in the room. Eevee and Arwen weren't very pleased by the close quarters. It took a few treats and Metagross confirming how crowded it was downstairs for them to accept it. Eevee decided to eat his food in one of the corners as far from Steven and Vali as possible. Arwen tossed her head a bit and snorted before settling down for her food. She promised to take the Ponyta for a run once she found a place that wouldn't be too crowded or close to the water.

Vali talked to Delia and an eager Ash who was starting school next week with Gary. She greatly enjoyed catching up with the two especially when it came to hearing about Ash's latest exploits. After awhile, they ended the call and she made the call to Professor Oak. One of the aid's answered, "Hello-Oh hey, it's Vali."

"Hey, Trent," Vali greeted him, "Mind patching me through to Professor Oak?"

"Sure, sure," Trent agreed with a light nod, "The Professor's pretty eager to talk to you. Something about an interesting note in your pokedex data,"

"Thanks, Trent," Vali leaned back in her chair while she waited for the call to transfer.

Professor Oak answered ten minutes later looking more than a little burnt, "Ah, Vali. It's nice to see you."

"Are you alright, Professor?" Vali asked eyeing the burnt edges of his hair and the ash coating part of his face.

Professor Oak nodded with a tense smile, "I'm fine. One of your classmates picked up an Elekid that didn't take too kindly to them and sent it over to the lab. It recently annoyed some of the Growlithe pups. Everyone is fine, but..."

"Foul tempered pokemon are difficult to deal with," Vali finished earning a nod, "I was calling both because I wanted to tell you about my progress with Eevee and to talk about my new Ponyta,"

Professor Oak perked up at her words, "Let's start with Eevee as the conversation about your Ponyta will probably take longer."

Vali nodded and began explaining what she'd been doing with Eevee. She mentioned the deal that she'd made with him which Professor Oak approved of. When it came to pokemon that distrusted humans, it was best to make deals with them. In Eevee's case, it would do wonders towards helping him recover from his abuse. She talked about Eevee's attempted attack on Steven and that she'd managed to prevent any accidents from occurring by reminding Eevee of his promise. Eevee still didn't like Steven or Vali, but he seemed to tolerate them both. She mentioned what her pokemon had been doing as well, "They give him their favorite berries and try to include him even if it's just by sitting next to him. I think he likes Sandshrew the most at the moment and he tolerates Pikachu fairly well. He stays away from Arwen, my new Ponyta, but I think that's because he doesn't know how to deal with such a hyper active pokemon."

"At the very least, it seems like he's settling in," Professor Oak offered earning a nod, "Now about, Arwen, that's your new Ponyta's name correct?"

"Yeah, it was the only one she accepted out of all the ones I offered. For such a carefree pokemon, she was hard to find a name for," Vali shook her head, "So what exactly is a hidden ability, Professor?"

"Much like the shiny gene or the king gene, the hidden ability of a pokemon is a quirk hidden within the DNA of a pokemon," Professor Oak explained earning a nod as Vali took out the pad of paper and pen she'd brought along to write the information he'd given her down, "Much like with the shiny and king genes, we do not know what causes the pokemon with the hidden ability to have it instead of one of the normal abilities. What we do know is that a pokemon with a hidden ability will more often than not have offspring with that ability,"

"So it's likely one of Arwen's parents has that ability?" Vali asked earning a nod, "I wonder if the Elder has that ability,"

"The Elder?" Professor Oak looked at her curiously.

Vali launched into the story of what happened when Steven and her had found the herds. By the end of it, she was glad that she'd had the foresight to get a private booth as well as bring a bottle of water with her. Drinking some of the water, she said, "My pokemon are fine if a bit beaten up. I didn't let Sandshrew fight since I knew that she'd likely get killed if I had."

"I've never heard of a Rapidash like that," Professor Oak muttered with a frown.

"It's likely that my inner fire drew him to us," Vali flushed lightly, "I'm still trying to figure out how I didn't burn anything,"

"I definitely want to see this ability of yours when you come back to Pallet," Professor Oak commented earning a nod, "Did anything else happen?"

Vali hesitated before saying, "When the thing with Sabrina happened, I had some kind of vision. I can't talk about it because something causes me a lot of pain when I try."

Professor Oak looked alarmed at the prospect, "Have you had more visions like it?"

"In my dreams, but they only happened while we were with the herds," Vali pressed a hand against where Fawkes' feather was settled beneath her shirt and felt a sense of calm roll over her, "While I may be wrong, I think that if I'm around a lot of fire types, I'll have visions,"

"I don't like the sound of this, Vali," Professor Oak looked worried.

Vali offered the old man that was quickly becoming a grandfather figure to her a warm smile, "I don't think whatever is sending me these visions is doing it to hurt me. I think...no, I know that whatever is doing this knows what exactly is going on with me and wants to help me," She closed her eyes as Fawkes' feather seemed to pulse slightly, "I have a feeling in my gut that I need to follow those visions and find whatever is calling me."

Professor Oak sighed prompting Vali to open her eyes, "I still don't like the sound of this, Vali."

"Professor, if it helps, I'm not going to try and find the source of these vision for awhile," Vali offered earning a slightly relieved look, "I want to finish my badge run and compete in the Indigo conference before I do anything. I'm not going to rush in especially when I don't know all the facts,"

"Keep me posted, Vali," Professor Oak told her earning a nod, "I take it your in Vermilion now. Have you signed up for the tournament?"

"Yeah, Steven did too," Vali was actually eager to see how she did, "It'll be a great way to get used to crowds of people and battling in front of them. It'll give my pokemon and I a good chance to face strong opponents especially if we manage to win in our division,"

Professor Oak smiled at that, "I wish you the best of luck. I'm going to warn you that there will be participants from other regions as well. Make a note of any interesting pokemon and scan it with your dex if you have a chance. I haven't uploaded the national upgrade into your pokedex, but I'll be happy to identify any pokemon you come across during the tournament."

"Noted," Vali looked back down at her note pad before asking, "Professor, do I need to do any special training with Arwen?"

"Not to my knowledge, but I would enjoy it if you made note of her growth. With how rare it is to fine a pokemon with a hidden ability especially in Kanto, I can't pass up the chance to study her," Professor Oak replied earning a soft laugh from Vali before grimacing as a low boom sounded, "And it looks like I need to go take care of things here. Be careful and call me if you need anything, Vali,"

"You too Professor," Vali replied and the call ended.

The morning of the tournament dawned bright and early. Despite the early hour, Vali was excited for the coming battles and couldn't wait to see how she matched up with everyone. Steven was eager as well though he hid it with a small smile as he watched her practically skip as they made their way towards the arena. Despite the anxiety she was feeling, she was eager to battle new pokemon especially if Professor Oak was right and there were pokemon from other regions in the tournament. The possibility of what the main prizes could be only increased her eagerness. If she could manage to get at least third, she would be happy since it would mean she had a fire stone to evolve Balto when the time came. While he was still far from reaching his peak as a Growlithe, she wanted to have a fire stone on hand if only to motivate him even more when training/battling.

Even at eight thirty in the morning, the city of Vermilion was still fairly active though it looked like most of the activity was firmly at the docks where ship workers were working. Upon reaching the arena, they joined the forming lines that led from the check in area. It didn't take long for Vali to reached the front of the line and she handed over her pokedex as when the worker asked for it and said, "Valkyrie Potter of Pallet Town."

"Hello, Valkyrie," The worker smiled warmly at her, "Just take this pass and head through that door," The worker held out the pass and pointed towards the double doors that led into the arena, "Another worker will be there to show you to the waiting room for your division. Good Luck and have fun,"

"Thank you," Vali took the pass and her pokedex before heading towards the doors she'd been pointed to.

Steven joined her halfway to the doors, "What number are you?"

"24. You?" Vali glanced at him.

"30," Steven answered holding up his pass.

They reached the doors and walked inside where two workers were waiting. The female worker smiled at Vali, "If you'll follow me."

"Good luck, Steven," Vali told him as she began to follow of the worker.

"Good luck to you as well, Vali," Steven replied as he followed the male worker.

Vali was led to an area that had two large doors and the worker asked, "Let me see your pass," Vali showed it to her and was pointed to the door with a paper three on top of it, "That's your waiting area. The League asks that you avoid causing any fights while in the waiting area and to keep your pokemon in their pokeballs until you're on the battle field."

"Right," Vali pulled the door open, "Thank you,"

"No problem," The Worker offered her a cheerful smile, "And good luck!"

Vali walked inside and found a small crowd of girls around her age already inside. She walked towards an area near the back that was relatively empty only to pause as she heard, "Valkyrie Potter, is that you?"

Vali inwardly groaned at the slightly high pitch voice before plastering a smile on her face and turning to find one of her former classmate, "Ellen, I didn't expect to see you here."

"I didn't expect to see you either," The dark green haired girl eyed with a little disdain, "I thought you weren't taking your journey just yet,"

Vali shrugged lightly, "I found a good traveling partner."

"Who? Max?" Ellen sneered a bit reminding Vali a bit too much of Draco Malfoy, "That geek with the Bidoof teeth?"

"No, someone else," Vali yawned softly, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit down,"

With that, Vali headed to the area she'd been planning to sit in only to sigh when Ellen followed her, "How many pokemon have you caught? I've caught thirty four already."

"Seven," Vali grimaced as Ellen let out a laugh.

"Seven? You failed to catch more than seven?" Ellen shook her head with a mean smile on her face, "That's pathetic,"

"Seeing as I'm going for quality rather than quantity, I'm doing better than you," Vali took her seat and offered Ellen a cold look, "Have you even seen the first pokemon you caught lately? Or checked to see how their doing? It's very likely that Professor Oak released them or found them a trainer that won't abandon them once their use is over,"

"How dare y-" Ellen raised her hand as if to slap Vali only for it to be grabbed by an older girl with mocha skin.

The older girl's crimson eyes and white hair had Vali wondering here she was from as the girl said, "I believe we were told not to start fights. If you truly wish to settle whatever differences you have, wait until you're on the battle field or battle once the tournament is over."

Ellen scowled and yanked her hair from the older girl's hand before glaring at Vali, "This isn't over, Potter."

Ellen stalked off to a corner where Vali could see a few more of her female classmates sitting. They all glared at her making the witch roll her eyes before she looked at the older girl, "Thank you for that."

"It's no trouble," The older girl smiled a bit, "I am Zaria Warner. I'm from the Oblivia region. You?"

"Valkyrie Potter and I'm from Pallet town," Vali introduced herself, "Call me Vali,"

Zaria's eyes widened a bit before her smile became a bit mischievous, "You wouldn't happen to be related to Sirius Black, are you?"

"He's my godfather though we are related somehow," Vali looked at her curiously, "How do you know Sirius?"

"My cousin's a ranger that works with him sometimes," Zaria explained earning a nod, "So is it true that you're a fire-type master in training?"

"Trying to be," Vali answered as Zaria took a seat next to her, "Why?"

"I'm trying to become a dark-type master in training," Zaria explained with a small laugh, "If we don't battle during the tournament, would you mind battling me later on?"

"Sure," Vali agreed with a slight grin, "I'm always up for a battle. Are you just here for the tournament or are you here to battle Surge as well?"

"I'm going to try battling Surge soon though it'll definitely wait until the tournaments done and the city empties of all these people," Zaria answered with an eye roll, "Honestly, it gives me a headache,"

Vali was starting to like her, "Definitely, I don't really like being in huge crowds of people, so this is a bit much for me."

Zaria and Vali talked while the room slowly began to fill up. Vali learned quite a bit for her new companion. Zaria was thirteen, but had only started her journey this year because she managed to escape her over-protective mother's clutches with the help of her rather busy father. Zaria had a Zorua for a starter that had been with her since it had hatched when she was ten. Zaria hated spicy food, but absolutely adored bitter foods. Zaria was a lot like her in how she took mostly after her father.