Arriving in Saffron City

Balto happily ate his pokemon food which really hit the spot after a good training session. He glanced at his newest pack member and felt a bit sad that the hurt one wouldn't join them. He understood that they needed to give the fox time, but it didn't sit right with his instincts. Growlithe were pack animals and very social when it came to said packs. He finished his food save for his last grepa berry. He paused glancing from his berry to his newest pack member before making a decision. Picking up the berry, he made his way over to his newest pack member well aware of the eyes on him. Once the hurt one began growling, he stopped moving and put the berry on the ground before rolling it towards the hurt one. The hurt one glanced down at the berry before looking at him. Barking gently and wagging his tail, he mimed eating the berry before making his way over to his trainer.

Seeing the pleased smile on her face, Balto knew he'd made the right decision even if he'd given up one of his favorite berries. He watched as each member of his pack did the same thing even the fire-lizard though it was grudging on his fellow fire-types part. The hurt one looked shocked at the gifts before shooting them a glare. He was pleased when the hurt one ate the berries. A hand settled on his head and he turned it towards his trainer as she murmured, "You did a good thing, Balto."

Balto wagged his tail and licked her cheek.

It took Steven and Vali four days to reach Saffron city. During those four days, they ended up facing more than a few trainers and earned quite a bit of cash though Vali ended up losing about seven times. She took the losses as hard as her pokemon who threw themselves into their training just a bit harder. Eevee stayed on the fringes whenever she let him out which was every time they took a break. He watched them with an unreadable expression as they trained and he seemed baffled by the exercises that the trainers did alongside their pokemon. Given who his former trainer was, she doubted that he'd seen a human train alongside their pokemon before.

Vali made sure Eevee had the Flareon plushie anytime he was outside of his ball and made sure it was put away before they moved on. Eevee seemed to be in a better mood whenever he had the plushie which was a relief to her. Eevee didn't try to attack Steven again, but he continued to watch the male trainer with a hostile glare. He didn't like Steven's pokemon either, but he made no move to attack them. Every time they stopped, she took the time to talk to Eevee like she did back at the pokemon center. Depending on her mood or the time of day, she talked about a wide range of things including her dream.

When they finally reached Saffron city, Vali was glad at first due to the promise of a hot shower and having her pokemon healed. Once they stepped into the city proper, her head started to hurt and the pain only got worse the further they got into the city. By the time they reached the pokemon center, she had to hold onto Steven in an attempt to keep her balance and to keep herself grounded. It felt like there were millions of hot pokers stabbing at her skull. The Nurse Joy looked at her in shocked concern as Steven helped her into the pokemon center, "What on earth happened to you?"

"Vali's had a headache since entering the city," Steven explained as he took out their pokedexs, "Can we get two rooms and our pokemon checked out?"

"O-of course," Nurse Joy took their pokedexs after setting two trays onto the counter, "Give me a moment to get your keys,"

Vali shakily put her pokeballs onto the tray as Steven did the same with a worried expression on his face. Nurse Joy returned soon with two room keys and their pokedexs. Taking the offered items, they headed up to their rooms. The moment Vali reached hers and got inside, she collapsed onto the bed in unconsciousness.

Steven headed to Vali's room carrying her pokeballs hoping that she was alright seeing as she hadn't come downstairs to get her pokeballs. He knocked on the door only to receive no answer. He tried the handle and found it unlocked. Opening the door, he walked inside spotting Vali laying on haphazardly on her bed. The headache she had must've tired her out. He placed Vali's pokeballs onto the bedside table and moved to place Vali into a more comfortably position. A gasp left him at the sheer heat radiating off of her skin when he touched her. Metagross popped out of their pokeball asking, "Master Steven? What is wrong?"

"Vali's burning up," Steven said as he moved Vali to lay on her back after removing her shoes, "Metagross, please have Nurse Joy send for one of the doctors,"

Metagross let out a metallic grunt, "Of course."

Due to Vali's temperature being over 109 degrees, she was put in the hospital while they attempted to bring down the fever as well as find out what had caused it. Steven was questioned heavily on Vali's heath during their travels together. Unfortunately, it seemed like nothing that the doctors did would bring down Vali's temperature and it kept increasing though it was thankfully a slow increase. By the time Steven had answered all the questions he could and called Vali's family to tell them what had happened, he was exhausted. Sitting by Vali's bedside, he ran a hand through his hair wondering what the hell had happened. He froze as Metagross spoke in his mind, "Master Steven, I sense a powerful psychic human approaching. She is interested in Friend Vali."

The door to the ward they were in opened to reveal someone he recognized to be Sabrina Hino, the Saffron city gym leader and one of the most power psychic humans to date. She has dark green almost black hair with dark purple streaks that blended into the green almost perfectly. She has dark amethyst eyes that focused on Vali the moment she entered the room. She wore a red and black dress with yellow cuffs over black tights/leggings, white gloves and red and yellow knee-high boots. She was slim and pale. Steven spoke as she approached, "Gym Leader Hino-"

"Steven Stone, heir of the Devon Corporation in Hoenn and prospective Steel-type master," Sabrina's voice was a soft monotone as if she didn't speak often, "You are traveling with Valkyrie Potter-Black,"

"Yes, I am," Steven frowned at her, "May I ask what brought you here?"

"I sensed your arrival in the city or rather," Sabrina looked at Vali as she reached the bed, "Her arrival. I fear it is my fault that she is in this state,"

Steven's frown deepened, "Why would you be at fault?"

Sabrina looked away from Vali, "I have been interested in Valkyrie since she arrived in this world two years ago. When she finally arrived within my city, I immediately sought out her mind to find answers to the questions that she brought up. In my eagerness, I used more force than I should have," Sabrina frowned as she looked at Vali, "Her current state-"

A whimper cut Sabrina off and they both looked at Vali. She was panting softly as she twisted on the bed. Steven grabbed her and forced her to lay still on the bed not wanting her to do any damage to herself. The heat rolling off of her made him want to hiss, "Can you fix whatever you did?"

Sabrina walked over and placed a hand over Vali's head as her eyes slid closed, "I will try."