Lunch with the Graceful waterflower and secret of the last riddle

After getting seated and ordering their food, Vali asked the red head, "So Grace, what are you doing in Cinnabar and where is Mister Walter?"

"Walter is back home with Misty and the others," Grace replied with a light smile, "Taking care of the gym and facing what challengers are coming our way at this point, it won't be long until the yearly rush starts up. I'm in Cinnabar to meet up with a representative of the Hoenn league,"

"I assume that means the Spheal in your gym wasn't working out?" Steven asked earning a sigh.

Grace nodded with a slight frown, "Unfortunately nothing we've tried to do has made Spheal happy or interact with anyone, we would've sent him back to his home before, but none of the Hoenn gym leaders were able to send anyone to come get him."

"That isn't a surprise, the Hoenn League ended last month," Steven commented as their food was delivered and they were able to eat, "With how busy things were especially with the Conference, they were probably too swamped with trainers or getting things ready for the Conference,"

"Well, at the very least Spheal will be able to go home," Vali offered up not really knowing what else to say.

"Very true," Grace smiled a bit before focusing on Vali, "So what were you two doing by that clinic?"

"On our way over here, an unusually large pod of Gyarados attacked the ship we were traveling on," Vali explained as she picked up her glass of lemonade, "No one got seriously injured, but I ended up with a fractured arm. Thankfully, the fracture wasn't bad. I was at the clinic getting my arm checked out and it's fully healed,"

"You were lucky it wasn't worse," Steven commented with a shake of his head.

Vali nodded with a grin, "I was bruised all over. I'm surprised Empress didn't manage to break my ribs."

"Empress?" Grace asked with a raised eyebrow.

Vali's grin widened, "My Bagon. I caught her, my Numel Pele, and my Luxio Pippin in the Safari zone while we were in Fuchsia city. Pippin was a Shinx at the time."

"Have you caught any water-types?" Grace asked with a raised-eyebrow.

Vali shook her head, "No, I haven't found any that really click with me though I'm not exactly looking."

With that said, Vali and Steven told Grace about what they'd gotten up to since their last meeting over the course of lunch. By the time they finished, Grace was looking between them in disbelief, "You two have certainly gotten into quite a few interesting situations since we last met. Definitely a lot more interesting than my own pokemon journey."

"It's been pretty unforgettable," Vali said as they walked out of the restaurant after paying for their lunch.

They hadn't mentioned anything about Vali's dreams, her inner flame, or anything along those lines. They still had quite a bit to say though even when omitting certain facts. Grace shook her head as they walked towards the pokemon center, "I do not doubt that. Walter and the kids won't believe just what you two have gotten up to since the last time we saw each other," She smiled warmly at the two traveling trainers, "That being said, I'm really happy to hear that you two are doing well despite what's been thrown at you."

"Well, we wouldn't be able to reach our goals if we aren't able to roll with everything," Vali nodded along to Steven's words.

Grace let out a laugh, "Good to hear it, you'll definitely go far with that attitude. So just Blaine and then Giovanni, right?"

"Yup," Vali grinned at the thought, "Battling Blaine is going to be a bit difficult given that we both use fire-types and none of my pokemon have anything really effective in this situation, I'm looking forward to it though. It's going to be awesome and we're going to win,"

"I have to know how you're going to battle Blaine, Steven," Grace looked at him curiously, "Seeing as you are a steel-type trainer,"

"It'll be difficult, but it isn't the first time we've face a fire-type gym leader," Steven radiated confidence, "My pokemon and I have things in place to work around our disadvantages just like any champion would,"

Grace grinned at that, "I'll have to make sure we watch the recordings of your battles."

After reaching the Pokemon Center, Grace gave Vali the number for the Cerulean Gym and also the Waterflower families' personal home-phone with the request to keep in contact. The Gym Leader headed off to meet the Hoenn League representative while the two traveling trainers when to go train with their pokemon. Once everyone was released, they all seemed to notice that Vali no longer wore a sling, "Guys, my arm is healed," Cries of happiness sounded from the gathered pokemon, "Granted, I do need to take it easy with this arm for the next week just to make sure everything fine, but the point is that I'm not one handed anymore. This means I'll be picking up the grooming sessions again," She laughed at the cries of joy from her pokemon though some were quieter than others, "Now Steven and I still haven't found the answers to our last riddle, but that doesn't mean we're not going to keep up with our training."

With that, Vali and Steven set their pokemon to work while they looked over the last riddle. She murmured, "A place where fire-man fear to tread and Magmar love to swim. Liquid fire burns brightly, water has no place here."

"Vali, any clue what this means?" Steven asked with a frown.

Vali was about to say no when she thought about the riddle. Specifically the part about Magmar and liquid fire. Magmar couldn't swim because their bodies would evaporate any water it came into contact with unless the amount of water overwhelmed their natural abilities. Liquid fire could mean Greek Fire or Napalm, she doubted that Blaine would have either of those things especially since Greek Fire didn't exist in this world. Closing her eyes, she muttered under her breath, "Magmar swimming and liquid fire. What can Magmar swim in?" A thought hit her and she opened her eyes to look at the volcano as realization hit her like Empress decided to headbutt her stomach again, "I got it! A place where fire-man fear to tread and Magmar love to swim. Liquid fire burns brightly, water has no place here."

"You know the answer?" Steven asked and Vali pointed at the volcano, "The volcano? What about it?"

"Where would fire-man fear to tread? A place where water is useless," Vali grinned at Steven, "Magmar can't swim in anything other than liquid fire which burns brightly. In a volcano, water is useless because the heat from the magma would evaporate it. The magma is basically liquid fire and Magmar are often found swimming in it because it helps heal their wounds," She jabbed her finger towards the volcano, "This means that Blaine's gym is inside the volcano,"

"Inside the volcano?" Steven muttered softly giving her a look.

Vali wondered what the problem was before she realized it. She looked at the volcano as her hand dropped and muttered, "Blaine's gym is inside the volcano."

Sweet mother Mew, what the actual fuck was Blaine thinking? All it would take was a single wrong move and the whole thing could explode. Vali had known that Blaine was a bit off, but that was every pretty much any master level trainer once they reached that age. To think he would actually have the balls to make his gym in a goddamn volcano, he must've taken one too many hit to the head when he was younger to actually think this was a good idea. How in the name of Arceus did he get this past the gym inspectors?