Vermilion's Gym Leader

Steven's pokenav chimed repeatedly as they reached the room they'd be sharing for their stay in Vermilion city. Steven answered it after setting his bag down on the bed he was claiming, "Hello?" Vali looked at him curiously as she set her own bag down, "You're in Vermilion? Good, I've arrived as well. Where are you? I see," Steven smiled lightly, "I'll meet you there in a few minutes. See you then."

"So whoever you're meeting is here?" Vali summed up as she released Vulpix.

"Yes," Steven nodded as Vulpix immediately began looking around the room, "I need to go. Will you be fine going to see Surge alone?"

"Of course," Vali picked up Vulpix, "Seeing as it's barely 1 in the afternoon, do you want to meet up at 6 for dinner in the cafeteria?"

"Sounds good," Steven held out the package, "I'll introduce you to the one I'm meeting with then,"

After shifting Vulpix to rest against her shoulder, Vali took the package, "Okay."

Steven put his pokenav back into his pocket and moved to go through his bag, "You better get going since the Professor likely informed Lt. Surge about us coming to see him."

Vali inwardly laughed since Lt. Surge can be impatient at times, "Right. I'll see you and your friend at 6," She left the room with Vulpix looking around the strange area curiously, "Let's go see Lt. Surge, Vulpix."

Vermilion city was even colder than Pallet town, but there was less snow on the ground. The city was alive with travelers from all over the world either visiting family or on the various 'Holiday' Cruises that visited Vermilion at this time of year. It would be a few weeks before it all died down until the traveling trainers began the final rush to get ready for the Conference either getting their last badge or doing some last minute training. She was glad that the Conference wasn't until May this year which gave her 4 months to get the last three badges she needed and the intensive training she'd be doing to get ready for it. Heading for the gym, she reached it rather quickly and entered the heated lobby with some relief.

Vali had to stare at the small crowd in the room before shaking her head and making her way towards the front desk. The same woman from her first visit, Monica, looked a bit harried. Probably from having to deal with a lot of people, the fire-type master-in-training could understand that feeling. She cleared her throat and Monica bit out, "The line for battles is-Vali?"

"Hey, Monica," Vali greeted the beautiful magenta haired woman with a warm smile, "Mind telling Lt. Surge that I've arrived?"

"Of course," Monica glanced at the crowd of people, "You might want to stand here since there aren't many chairs left,"

"I don't mind standing," Vali said as she glanced at the crowd, "Let me guess, you guys have been overrun by tourists in hopes of battling one of the greats?"

"Happens every year," Monica shook her head lightly as she began typing on her computer, "Makes Surge more than a little annoyed,"

"I don't blame him," Vali shifted Vulpix out of her coat and set him on the desk earning a look of surprise from Monica, "Monica, this is Vulpix. He hatched around two weeks ago,"

"He's adorable," Monica grinned a bit as she looked back the screen, "He looks like he's growing just fine too,"

Monica finished sending the information to Lt. Surge before focusing on the baby Vulpix who was looking at her with confusion. Vali spent the time until Lt. Surge finished whatever he was doing and came to greet her talking about what she'd been doing since leaving Vermilion. Lt. Surge slammed open the door much like last time and came stomping out scaring the crap out of everyone in the room as he barked, "Kid! It's about time you came to see me."

"Sorry for the wait, Surge," Vali replied with a light grin as she picked up both the package and Vulpix, "Though are you sure you've got time to meet with me?"

Lt. Surge snorted at her before barking at the tourists staring at them, "Scram! I ain't got time to deal with the lot of you today. Either schedule a battle or get the fuck out!"

Most of the people scrambled from the room with a few grumbled, the ones that stayed quickly moved to talk with Monica. Vali let out a soft laugh as she soothed Vulpix, "Guess they've been getting on your nerves, huh?"

Lt. Surge rolled his eyes as he opened the door, "Come on, Kid."

Vali followed after him well aware of the stares burning into her back. The door closed behind them and they walked towards Lt. Surge's office, "Is it like this every year?"

"It's worse around Christmas and New Years Eve," Lt. Surge glanced at her and caught sight of Vulpix, "That the runt?"

"Hatched around two weeks ago," Vali answered as she shifted Vulpix into a more comfortable position that allowed the Gym Leader to get a better look at Vulpix, "His tail hasn't darkened yet, I'm not worried especially since he's growing just fine,"

Lt. Surge nodded as they entered his office, "Take a seat, Kid. Where's Stone?"

"Steven's friend arrived a bit early, so he's meeting with them," Vali explained as she sat down after greeting Jolteon and Raichu, "I'm going to be meeting them at 6 in the Center cafeteria for dinner," She set Vulpix down before placing the package onto Lt. Surge's desk and the letter on top of that after fishing it out of her jacket, "Here is the stuff Professor Oak asked us to deliver,"

"Thanks, Kid," Lt. Surge picked up both and set them off to the side, "So what's this I heard about your Pikachu becoming an Alolan Raichu?"

Vali tugged Vulpix back to keep the fox from attempting to chew on anything and pulled out a chew toy for him, "Elrond, Raichu finally chose a nickname, evolved after Balto faced his Sire. Rather than evolve into a Kanto Raichu like we were expecting, he became an Alolan Raichu. Professor Oak suspected that he might be from Alola based on the fact he has Electric Terrain in his move-set, but it wasn't until Elrond evolved that his suspicions were realized."

"I had the same thoughts, but didn't think he'd evolved into an Alolan Raichu outside of Alola," Lt. Surge sat down in his chair and leaned back against the leather, "Then again, it isn't actually surprising since Pikachu from Kanto have been known to evolve into regular Raichu even in Alola," Lt. Surge gave her a look, "I'm guessing you're hoping I might be able to help you figure out a way to train your Alolan Raichu, right?"

"Yes though I know I'll have to talk with Sabrina about his psychic abilities," Vali leaned down to pet Jolteon when he walked over, "I also wanted to talk to you about Eevee. He's decided to stay with me and become a battler,"

"Thought he might," Lt. Surge commented as he reached down and picked up Vulpix who'd decided that his chew toy wasn't very entertaining compared to the big man his mother figure was speaking to, "That Eevee has the fire of battler in his eyes, it's why he didn't fully break underneath those bastards. I'll help you come up with a training plan, but have you scanned him yet?"

"Not yet," Vali looked at Vulpix who was sniffing at the man now holding him, "I haven't scanned him either,"

"Might as well do both," Lt. Surge smirked lightly as he stood up, "Let's go to my indoor training grounds, what kind of pokemon do you have now?"

Vali stood up and took Vulpix back when Lt. Surge walked around the desk, "I have Balto and Smaug with me. Both of them are fully evolved, Balto is still alpha of the pack. Celina evolved as well, but she's staying at the Corral. Elrond is with me at the moment as is Eevee since I'm asking you for advice when it comes to their training. Idril, Arwen, and Terra are staying at the Corral," Jolteon and Raichu followed them as they left the room clearly wanting to see what was going to happen, "While I know that Celina, Terra, and Idril are doing it because they don't really like the cold, I'm not too sure about Arwen other than wanting to spend more time training against fellow fire-types."

"That makes three able to battle and two on your inactive team," Lt. Surge glanced at her pokeball belt as they made their way into the indoor training ground that Vali had used a few times during her first time in Vermilion, "Who are the other three?"

"My female Numel that I've nicknamed Pele," Vali began as Lt. Surge moved to the keypad on the wall, "My female Bagon that chose the name Empress. And lastly, my male Shinx that I nicknamed Pippin or Pip for short. I got them all in the Safari Zone,"

"Which means you also found those Durant and that cave full of crystals," Lt. Surge put in a code causing the ground in the center of the room to split open and a plain looking battlefield appeared, "Interesting luck you have there, Kid," He grinned a bit as Raichu climbed onto his shoulder and Jolteon sat beside his feet, "You have good tastes in electric-types. The Shinx-line are definitely good pokemon especially when they're trained well. Release your team, I want a good look at them. How long are you and Stone planning to stay in Vermilion?"

"A week maybe two depending on the weather," Vali began releasing her pokemon who all looked around the indoor training ground with interest, "Guys," Everyone looked at her after a few moments of scanning the room, "Smaug, Balto, Elrond, and Eevee know who this is due to our time here in Vermilion. Empress, Pippin, and Pele, this is Lt. Surge," She waved a hand towards him as Empress eyed the man with disdain earning a smirk from the Gym Leader, "He's the Gym Leader of Vermilion City,"

Lt. Surge looked over her pokemon with a trained eye before nodding, "Not bad, I assume you haven't trained the newer ones much?"

"Not as much as I should have mostly," Vali admitted as she offered the three an apologetic look, "Between giving Professor Oak what information I could get on the Safari Zone and getting ready to face Koga, I didn't focus on them like I did everyone else,"

"Considering that you got all three of them so close together, I'm not surprised," Lt. Surge bent down and pointed to Pippin who rushed over only to trip on his paws halfway there, "Clumsy, isn't he?"

"Yeah. I'm try to figure out how to deal with that," Vali watched as Lt. Surge began examining Pippin, "Nurse Joy said there isn't anything physically wrong with him or mentally,"

"Hmm," Lt. Surge picked up Pippin and touched his tail making the Shinx squirm a bit, "Come over here, Kid,"

Vali walked over to him, "What's up?"

"It's this that's causing him to be clumsy," Lt. Surge gestured to the star on the end of Pippin's tail where Vali could see just a small patch of discolored fur, "Sometime soon after he hatched, something caught around just before the star and probably stayed there for the first few months of his life until somehow being removed, I'm guessing the person that brought him to the Safari Zone probably removed whatever it was,"

"So his sense of balance is off due to the weight that was on his tail being gone?" Vali summed up earning a nod, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Not really, it'll be something that'll fix itself by the time he evolves into a Luxray," Lt. Surge put down Pippin who looking at the man with wide eyes, "Just keep an eye on him and do some exercises that will help with balance, I'll dredge some up," He pointed to Elrond who floated over and looked at the Gym Leader carefully, "Not bad coloring, you're a bit darker than most, but given the fact you're in Kanto rather than Alola, it isn't too surprising. Got bad headaches?" Elrond nodded and Lt. Surge frowned a bit, "Try to spend more time in the sun, it'll probably help with it some since most psychic-types do thrive best in the sunlight,"

"So have him travel outside of his pokeball more often?" Vali asked earning a nod.

"Though be careful during the winter months, Alolan Raichu don't have a very thick layer of fat compared to regular Raichu," Lt. Surge reached out as Raichu sniffed at Elrond who eyed the two carefully, "Has he tried to speak with you yet?"

"No," Vali shook her head, "Is it possible?"

"Yeah, but it'll take a lot of intensive training in his psychic nature to do it. You visiting the witch is a good idea," Lt. Surge rubbed around Elrond's cheek pouches and nodded to himself, "I can drum up a training schedule for him, but seeing the witch about training a psychic-type is a good idea,"

"Do you have an Alolan Raichu?" Vali asked wondered why Lt. Surge was calling Sabrina a witch.

"I've got a breeding pair. I'd introduce you, but my male pretty much hates any other males right now save for me since my female is pregnant," Lt. Surge let out a bark of laughter at her startled look, "Alolan Raichu breed this time of year,"

Making a mental note to keep that in mind, Vali asked, "Any advice you can give me?"

"That hit and run fighting style is best for Alolan Raichu since they don't loose much speed upon evolution compared to other Raichu," Lt. Surge finished looking over Elrond who moved to keep Vulpix was getting into anything, "But they don't have as much bulk or muscle as other Raichu do, they actually lose out on physical defense like most psychic-types. Keep working with him on that, you'll probably find some difficulty in getting him to use Dig until he gets a better grip on his psychic powers. Try to find a work around for that, I might have a few techniques he can learn, but your best bet is to look for psychic-type TMs. You'll find the most in Saffron considering how big they are about psychics especially the witch being their Gym Leader,"

"Why do you call Sabrina a witch?" Vali asked earning a snort from Lt. Surge.

"Long story, Kid. Let's just say that witch and I have never seen eye to eye," Lt. Surge gestured for Eevee to come over to him, "Mostly when it comes to rehabilitating pokemon, we probably won't ever really get along,"