Leaving Vermillion

Even with the modified potion that had been used on Vali and her magics natural propensity to heal her, it had taken a full week for the graze from the bullet to heal. The scar that had been left behind was quite tender, but that would fade after awhile according to the doctor that had been treating her. The nightmares from the incident were still present, but that likely wouldn't start to fade until after leaving Vermilion. Lt. Surge had 'helpfully' informed her that the would-be mugger had also been a druggie and wanted for several charges that included pokephilia leaving the fire-type master-in-training quite disturbed. The Raticate was going to be placed under evaluation in an attempt to see if it could be rehabilitated after the Joys were through with it. Medically speaking, it was unlikely the poor thing would survive since it's former trainer hadn't taken very good care of it and even subjected it to multiple drugs.

When the time came to leave Vermilion, Lt. Surge gave Vali two rather priceless TMs and a nice nest egg of money she'd be putting away for a rainy day. The TMs were one use for Zap Cannon and Rest. He also stole her pokenav to input both the number for his gym and personal phone-line. He gruffly informed her to call him if any of her pokemon needed help learning electric-type moves. Rodrick also gave Vali his personal number and told her to call if she needed anything. Ryner told her to stay safe while Stella cheerfully wished her luck in the pokemon league. With that, she left Vermilion city behind with Steven and their pokemon after getting supplies for their trip to Saffron.

Steven looked at Vali when she stopped walking once Vermilion City was firmly behind them. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. When she let it out, he was surprised to watch as if almost all the tension in her body drained out. When she opened her eyes, she looked at Steven with a light smile and eyes almost as bright as they had been before she'd almost been mugged, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Steven smiled lightly, "Feels good to be on the move again, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Vali nodded with a light grin.

Vali released Vulpix who was finally starting to lose the white bits of fur. The young fire-type looked around at the area in surprise and confusion. She also released Balto and Smaug who looked around with remembrance in their eyes. Steven spoke as Vali bent down to pet Vulpix, "Do you want to walk or run?"

"Walking for now," Vali answered as she scratched behind the growing fox pokemon's ears, "Vulpix, do you want to walk beside me for now?"

Vulpix yipped and wagged his tail earning a smile from his mother figure. Vali stood up fully and began walking with Steven quickly moving to follow. He wasn't going to release any of his pokemon right now since none of them really appreciated the cold too much and Vali's pokemon were more than enough to ward off any temperamental wild pokemon. He noted that the area was recovering quite nicely from the fire and even a few signs of new pokemon having moved in though he wasn't sure what they were. As they walked, he commented, "I was expecting the snow to be a bit more prevalent."

"A few of the local pokemon probably know Sunny Day and are using it to keep the snow from getting too thick," Vali answered as she curled her fingers through Balto's fur, "Hey, Steven?"

"Yeah?" He looked at her curiously.

Vali smiled a bit shyly at him, "Thanks for helping me with my nightmares. I know you probably haven't been sleeping very well because of me and it means a lot that you're willing to help me out.'

"You don't have to thank me," Steven shook his head at her as he wondered what brought this up, "You're my friend and traveling partner after all. Besides, I had more paperwork to do than I thought and wasn't going to sleep much anyway,"

"Still, thank you," Vali replied in a slightly firm tone.

Steven inwardly shook his head, "We should be in Saffron a week or less if we're traveling using our pokemon. Other than the whole mental shield thing Sabrina offered and getting advice to train Elrond's psychic-type side, what do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure," Vali admitted as they walked, "I'm going to be spending a lot of time training everyone since we're battling Sabrina. I don't know as much about Saffron as some cities mostly because there aren't very many fire-types around it,"

Chuckling a bit, Steven teased her lightly, "Are fire-types all you think about?"

"No, I think about a lot of things," Vali protested with a mock pout, "It's not my fault fire-type pokemon are awesome,"

Smaug let out a roar of agreement and grinned at his trainer while Balto puffed his chest up with a loud bark. Vulpix looked a bit confusion about why both of his elders were reacting like that. Vali and Steven shared at laugh at the two.

Riding on Balto's back was as amazing as with Celina, it brought Vali a sense of peace that she'd only ever thought would come from flying. There was a sense of otherness and power that hadn't been present when she'd ridden Celina for the first time, the movements of Balto's powerful muscles shifting beneath his skin and fur left the fire-type master-in-training almost breathless. This was an Arcanine, the only pokemon that could even hope to match the legendary dogs when it came to running. The sheer heat coming off of his body ensured that she barely felt the cold wind nipping at them and the smoothness of his gait ensured she'd be able to ride him without much complaint as long as he was able to run. Keeping a grip on Balto was easy, the heat from his body and the softness of his fur kept any ache in her fingers at bay.

Smaug flew overhead beside Skarmory who was carrying Steven. When he began to lag, Vali would return him and they'd stop to take a break once a viable clearing was found. It was fairly good endurance training for her starter since he was a bit more vulnerable to the cold compared to most fire-types due to the diluted dragon typing in his DNA. She kept a close eye on him as well as Vulpix who was currently adding to the heat against the front of her body due to being inside her shirt. He hadn't wanted to be returned when they'd started this and she hadn't had a very good idea of how she'd keep him from falling off Balto. Steven ended up suggesting to keep him underneath her jacket. While it was a good solution, Vulpix had decided that he wanted skin contact and to be close to the feather leading to his current place beneath her shirt. Awkward as it might be, it was doable and not as uncomfortable as one might think though that was mostly due to the fact she wasn't starting to develop a chest just yet.