Somber turns happy as the birthday occurs and talks with the grim

Steven clenched his fist as he struggled to steady his breathing despite the rage boiling through his skin. He heard footsteps coming from behind him and spoke, "I had to leave."

"I figured," Vali said as she came to his side with Balto trotting beside her, "Though I'm having trouble understanding why exactly," She looked at him in concern, "I get being afraid of the Teams and being angry at what they've done. I get the feeling there's more to it than that,"

Sometimes Steven hated how observant and intuitive Vali was, he latched onto the calming presence of Metagross. Despite knowing that Vali would forgive him if he lashed out, he didn't want to take a chance of doing something like that. He looked at her, "One of the Team that appeared in Hoenn killed my mother."

Vali's eyes went wide with horror before softening into understanding. No hint of pity filled her gaze unlike the many others who'd heard of it happening. Steven felt a strange sense of gratitude towards his traveling companion. She brushed her fingers along Balto's fur, "That would make sense, do you know which one?"

Steven shook his head, "No, Hoenn was dealing with three Teams at the same time and none of them ever admitted to killing her," He swallowed thickly pushing back the burning in his eyes, "I..."

"You hate any Team because of what they did to you," Vali finished for him, "That's okay, Steven. No one could blame you for hating the Teams. I bet a lot of people feel the same,"

A question that had burned inside his mind since hearing the story about Vali's own parents dying popped up as Steven looked at her, "Do you hate him? The one that took away your parents?"

To Steven's surprise, Vali shook her head as she gripped Balto's fur, "No, I don't think I do. Despite the fact Voldemort killed my parents, he did it when I was too young to actually know them. I hate that he killed them, but don't personally hate him. Had I been older and able to remember them, I probably would hate him," She frowned slightly, "I don't know why he did it either and that makes hating him even more difficult. All I really feel towards him is anger and pity. A lot of it, but no true hate."

"You pity him?" Steven couldn't believe his ears.

"Considering the fact he was a shade the last time I saw him, I'd say pity is pretty much the only think someone could feel towards him," Vali's lips twitched into a slight smile, "Evil guy that he is, is stuck unable to truly interact with the world around him unless he convinces some poor idiot to let him posses them,"

Hearing her explanation, Steven could see Vali's point. Letting out a soft if a bit hysterical laugh, he said, "I can see it," He rubbed at his eyes, "I'll go apologize to Sirius."

"How come? You didn't say anything bad or make any false accusations," Vali looked a little confused.

"For getting angry with him and leaving like that," Steven answered as he dropped his hands, "I shouldn't have done it,"

Vali eyed him for a moment before nodding, "Alright. Do you want to head inside now?"

Steven nodded and they started walking back inside. He looked at Vali, "Vali?" She hummed lightly, "Thanks for coming after me."

"No problem, it's what friends do," Vali grinned at him.

Despite all the seriousness and dark talk last night, Delia's birthday party was happy and bright with everyone enjoying themselves. Ash, Gary, and Vali got to meet Delia's pokemon properly. Aria and Maggie greeted the three humans happily before paying quite a bit of attention to their dear trainer. In light of the fact it was Delia's birthday, the woman was kept out of the kitchen with the resident fire-type master-in-training taking over cooking for the day. Delia allowed it with a light laugh and a few jokes before introducing Sirius to her beloved pokemon.

With the help of Professor Oak, Ash and Gary got Delia a cook book on Unovian style cooking in addition to the hand-made card they'd made for her. Professor Oak had gifted her with a few baggies of berry seeds that weren't normally grown in the region. Daisy had sent along some t-shirts from Hoenn through her Grandfather. Steven merely wished her a happy birthday not having known if he should've gotten her a gift. Sirius and Vali presented Delia with the jewelry that the fire-type master-in-training had gotten on Cinnabar. Seeing the look of shock and delight on Delia's face made it all the more worth it for her, she was glad that she'd gone searching through Cinnabar rather than stayed in the more populated areas.

Vali snapped quite a few pictures making sure to capture the look on Delia's face whenever she opened a present. Delia looked at her in shock as Sirius admitted that she'd gotten both gifts, "Where on earth did you buy these, Vali?"

"Cinnabar," Vali launched into the explanation of how with a slight grin.

Professor Oak let out a laugh and patted Vali's shoulder, "You've definitely got some odd luck, Vali. Not many would have managed something like that."

Vali handed her camera to Elrond before announcing, "Cake time!"

Laying on her stomach, Vali was looking through her pokedex trying to figure out how she'd battle against Giovanni. Giovanni mainly used Ground-types with an occasional other pokemon being thrown in like Persian. The pokemon he tended to use were usually the bulkier ground-types like Rhydon, Nidoking, and Nidoqueen. He used Dugtrio as well which would mean an underground battle was likely in her future. Ryhorn were smarter than their previous evolution, but it was heavier than before not to mention a lot slower. Underground it was a lot faster, it practically swam whenever underneath the earth's surface. Nidoking and Nidoqueen weren't that quick either, but they packed a serious punch especially given just how powerful their poison was. Given that Giovanni only accepted battles from those with 7 badges, it meant he didn't need to pull his punches.

Frowning slightly as she thought carefully about what she'd be able to do, Vali knew that Elrond could learn Grass Knot which Steven had in his TM case. Solar Beam was also an option if she set things up which meant Smaug and Balto would be covered alongside Arwen though the fire-type master-in-training didn't know if she'd actually end up using the Ponyta. It would be a valuable move to have regardless. Hyper Beam would also work even if there wasn't much of an advantage and it would prepare her pokemon for higher level battles though finding a spot to train them to use it was going to be difficult. Ariel Ace would be possible for Balto and Celina. But that would only help so much, she would need to practice battling against ground-types and work on increasing her pokemon's ability to utilize their longer range attacks more effectively.

Vali's train of thought broke when a knock echoed on her bedroom door. She saved what she'd written while calling out, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Sirius, "You busy, Pup?"

"Just trying to figure out ways to fight Giovanni," Vali answered as Sirius walked into the room, "Which is going to be a lot more difficult than it had been with Flint," She looked at him curiously, "What's up, Padfoot?"

Sirius closed the door behind him, "I wanted to apologize."

"About what?" Vali frowned in confusion.

"About not letting you enjoy your time home worry free," Sirius answered with a tired smile on his face, "You've already got a lot to worry about and didn't need anything added to it,"

Vali shook her head, "It's okay, Padfoot. I needed to hear that stuff and it's better to learn now than later," She set down her pokedex and pushed herself up to sit properly, "I'm glad that you told me then especially since you're probably going to be called back to duty soon enough," She looked at him curiously, "When are you going to be going back anyway?"

"I've got a few more days here, why?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If Professor Oak agrees, we could take Delia, Ash, and Gary to Celadon City for the day," Vali suggested earning a slight smile, "I need some new TMs and could probably get some more clothes. I know Delia would probably enjoy a day away probably shopping for some things she can't really get here in Pallet. Ash and Gary would probably love the chance to explore. You could probably take her somewhere nice for dinner while Steven and I take the boys around,"

Sirius grinned a bit, "That sounds nice, we should definitely do it. I'll talk to Delia and Professor Oak."

"I'll talk to Steven," Vali grinned back at him, "And if you feel bad about the whole 'ruining' my time home, you could chip in for some of the stuff I need to buy,"

Sirius let out a bark of laughter before pulling her into a hug, "Sounds good, Pup."

Vali hugged him back tightly, "I'm glad we get to spend some time together, Sirius. Even if it isn't for very long."

"Me too," Sirius released her, "Make sure you get some sleep tonight, Pup. You're a growing girl after all and a pokemon trainer at that,"

"I will," Vali rolled her eyes, "Now go talk Delia into coming with us to Celadon,"

Sirius left without any more prompting and Vali resettled on her bed. She picked up her pokenav when it went off, "Hello?"

"Hello, Vali," Rodrick smiled at her, "How are you this evening?"

"I'm doing pretty good tonight, Rodrick," Vali smiled lightly as Vulpix pulled himself onto her bed, "Just trying to strategize for my last Gym battle and plan a trip to Celadon with Padfoot, Delia, Steven, Ash, and Gary,"

"Sounds like fun," Rodrick commented as he shifted his gaze to the right and Vali heard the clacking of keyboard keys, "Have there been any problems since we last talked? Any nightmares? Any problems being on the ferry?"

Vali shook her head, "Not really, no. I think I'll be fine on that front until there's a storm or a Gyarados attack."

"That's good. Empress?" Rodrick asked glancing towards her.

"She was a bit clingy, but eventually relaxed enough to play a bit," Vali rubbed between Vulpix's ears, "So long as there isn't anything serious, I think Empress will be completely fine eventually,"

"We can only hope," Rodrick smiled lightly, "Is there anything you wanted to talk about?"

"Nothing I can think of," Vulpix leaned into her with a low sigh.

"Next time then, I'll call again in a few days," Rodrick told her, "If you need anything, do not hesitate to call,"

"I know. Thank you for this, Rodrick. It's really been helping me," Vali shifted her pokenav around as Vulpix rolled over and crushed her arm underneath him.

"I'm glad to hear it," Rodrick flashed her a smile, "See you in a few days, Vali,"

"See you then," Vali ended the call and dropped her pokenav before picking up Vulpix, "Rolling onto my arm?" Vulpix barked at her as his tail wagged and she rolled her eyes, "No extra cuddles tonight,"

Vulpix gave her a wounded look that made Vali giggle and hug him to her chest.