The Psychic gym

After finishing lunch, Vali got her pokemon back from Nurse Joy before handing over her egg earning a smile from the pink haired nurse. She headed over to the pamphlets on Saffron City and various activities one could find. She found a few sign up sheets for tournaments on the notice board, but most were for fighting-type pokemon of which she had none. One catered for pokemon breeders and one for a pokemon beauty contest. Between them, the only one she'd actually be willing to enter was the beauty contest since Celina probably would've loved it. Instead she ignored the sign up sheets, she found a few ads for some of the local business' including a move tutor and a daycare.

Steven joined her after getting his pokemon back from Nurse Joy, "Find anything good?"

"No tournaments going on that I can participate in since my pokemon aren't fighting types," Vali gestured to the sign up sheets, "There's one for pokemon breeders and a pokemon beauty contest that I would've considered had Celina been with us. Outside of that, the only interesting ads are for a local move tutor and a daycare," She looked at Steven, "I think we're going to be in for a lot of walking around if we want to find things to do,"

"That's fine with me," Steven shrugged lightly, "But we should probably go to the gym soon,"

"Yeah," Vali sighed kind of wanting to avoid going near the gym right now especially since it doubled as a school for psychics.

After getting her egg back from Nurse Joy and putting it into her room, Vali left with Steven towards the gym.

Saffron City Gym looked rather unusual and out of place in the city compared to the other gyms that Vali had been to. The structure resembled a rather unusual dome made of some kind of pale pearl color. She supposed that it was probably done like that to represent psychic powers or something along those lines. To be honest, she would've gone with a more traditional looking building with water features and rock gardens to make meditation easier. She felt a shiver run down her spine as they approached it and a slight prickling sensation near the center of her forehead. Steven reached over and grabbed her hand when she faltered a bit, "Are you alright, Vali?"

"I will be if the psychic currently picking at me would stop," Vali muttered feeling a bit angry.

The prickling sensation vanished immediately causing Vali to glare at the gym. Steven frowned as he laid a hand on Metagross' pokeball, "Do you want me to have Metagross shield your mind?"

Vali nodded after a moment of thought, "If they're willing, I would be grateful for their assistance."

A pleased hum echoed in Vali's mind telling her that Metagross approved of her words. Steven smiled a bit and let go of her hand, "Shall we go?"

"Might as well get this over with," Vali said as they resumed walking towards the building.

The door opened automatically when they reached it and the two walked inside. A man dressed up in a deep violet colored suit with a white lab coat settled on his shoulders greeted him. He was overweight with thinning brown hair and narrowed black eyes that were currently sizing the two trainers up. When his lips pulled back into a grimace, she could tell he wasn't impressed with either of them. He had a nasally voice, "I am Psychic Arron. We are not seeing trainers at the moment, so please leave."

"Gym Leader Hino requested that we meet," Vali said while wondering if he was one of those psychics that were arrogant because of their ability.

"And who are you?" Psychic Arron gazed at her like she was a particularly disgusting bug that he desired to squash beneath his boots.

Vali refrained from sneering back at the man who was reminding her of Petunia on a particularly bad day mixed with Snape. She spoke in a measured tone, "I am Valkyrie Potter-Black and my companion is Steven Stone."

"And why would Gym Leader Hino request a meeting with you?" The man's eyes narrowed further at them.

Vali felt a bit bad for Sabrina if she was surrounded by pricks like this guy. She pulled on all the Slytherin arrogance that she'd managed to copy from Draco Malfoy without the inability to actually back it up, "That is between us, Psychic Arron. Inform Gym Leader Hino of our presence as you are likely supposed to be doing at this moment."

The man opened his mouth only to shut it and pale when Sabrina spoke from a nearby doorway that Vali hadn't really noticed because of Psychic Arron demanding some attention, "There is no need for that, I was aware of your arrival. Arron, I would advise you to remember that you're already on thin ice. Do not make me reconsider your place here."

"My apologies, My Lady," Arron's skin paled further and he gave a grudging apology to the two trainers, "My apologies for my rudeness,"

Vali nodded while Steven replied, "You're forgiven," He focused on Sabrina, "Gym Leader Hino, do you know which of your psychics decided to try and breach Vali's mind?"

"No, but I will find out and punish them," Sabrina looked at Vali, "I must apologize for the rudeness my pupils have laid at your feet,"

"It's alright though can we move onto why we're here today as well as schedule Steven and I's gym battles?" Vali requested earning a nod while Psychic Arron bristled at her words.

Sabrina led them through the gym after dismissing Psychic Arron and Vali felt a bit uncomfortable at the rather sterile feel of it all. Sabrina spoke as they moved past a few classrooms, "You are uncomfortable here, Vali?"

"A bit," Vali shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, "It seems a bit...sterile,"

"I suppose so though most young psychics benefit from being in such a setting," Sabrina explained as she led them through a door into a rather traditional looking hallway that immediately leeched the discomfort out of Vali, "It assists them in letting go of distractions and prevents them from accidentally causing harm if their powers lash out," The gym leader smiled slightly as she led them into a rather comfortable looking sitting room, "Please take a seat both of you,"

Vali sank into one of the two plush couches in the room with Steven joining her after a moment. Vulpix chose to release himself from his pokeball and began looking around his new surroundings in interest. The white of his tail was nearly gone and he'd grown big enough that you couldn't really tell he was actually a runt. He stayed in her lap and would stay there until she gave him permission to explore as she'd managed to teach him. Sabrina smiled softly at the sight of the young fox, "He's a handsome one. I assume he came from that egg you received from the Ninetales?"

Vali nodded not feeling very surprised that Sabrina had heard of it, "Yeah. Sabrina, I would like to request some assistance in helping one of my pokemon. My Pikachu evolved and ended up becoming an Alolan Raichu. Would you be able to help with setting him up for some psychic-type training? Professor Oak's Alakazam helped, but I really want to cover all the bases considering the fact untrained psychic-types can harm themselves quite badly."

"I would be happy to," Sabrina sat down on the couch across from them with an Espeon appearing from somewhere outside the room, "I am glad that you asked," The Espeon jumped onto the couch beside Sabrina and began to nuzzle the Gym Leader earning a small smile, "Espeon, will you assist in this endeavor?"

Espeon peered at Vali for a moment before inclining its head. Smiling light, she told the cat-like Eeveelution, "Thank you, Espeon. Elrond will be thankful for any assistance you may provide."

Sabrina lost her smile after a moment, "Vali, may I ask if there has been any changes since we last saw one another?"

"More visions mostly," Vali hugged Vulpix to her chest, "Many of them have been quite violent in nature though none have threatened to burn me like the first one," Sabrina looked at her in concern, "I have managed to figure out that whoever is sending them will call for me to find them soon enough and that they're known as the Lord of Flames,"

Sabrina's eyes narrowed a bit, "I know that name though only vaguely. I believe that I saw it in one of my books back during my childhood."

"But whoever the Lord of Flames is, it's very unlikely any mental shields we manage to create will block them unless they allow it," Vali admitted one of the things that she feared.

"That may be true, but you do need mental shields especially given where this might end up leading you," Sabrina's tone was a bit firm, "While many psychics will be polite and avoid entering your mind, some exist that will not show you the same courtesy,"

"I'm aware," Vali was agreeing to this to prevent another incident like what happened during her first trip to Saffron City, "When should we begin?"

"Tomorrow if you wouldn't mind, I will need to gather some things," Sabrina told her earning a nod, "I assume you plan to only spend a month within Saffron?"

"Yes. That will not be a problem, will it?" Steven asked with a worried look aimed at Vali.

"Not at all, it should allow us to put together a decent barrier especially if your...Elrond is willing to assist," Sabrina murmured the unfamiliar name with a slightly perplexed expression on her face.

"The name comes from a story back in the other world," Vali offered up as an explanation for Elrond's name, "I'm sure he'd be willing. Will it help him speak to me?"

Sabrina nodded causing a wide grin to spread across Vali's face since that would make communicating with her pokemon so much easier, "Indeed though you will need to be patient as non-pure psychic-types have some difficultly with the skill at first."

"I don't mind," Vali would always be patient with her pokemon especially when it came to them learning a new skill.

Sabrina smiled lightly, "Now, would you two like information on Saffron? While I may not enjoy going out among the masses, I do have an idea of the more interesting places in Saffron that cater to pokemon trainers as well as areas that don't."

"That would be much appreciated," Steven and Vali were both grateful for the offer.

While it was fun to explore new places, the fact winter was still firmly gripping Kanto made it a lot less fun.