A talk with Delia and

Vali handed over Smaug's pokeball to Nurse Joy and went to take a seat with a low sigh. The battle had been exhilarating and difficult in a way that the others hadn't been. Sure Arthur hadn't pushed her to use more than one pokemon, but he had still been a difficult opponent using pokemon she hadn't battle before save for Nidoking. She grinned brightly at just how quickly her heart had been beating through the entire match. Every single moment even when battling Nidoking had been heart racing while the others hadn't been, she couldn't be calm for even a single moment while Arthur had continually kept her guessing. This was what it meant to be here in the Indigo Conference, the higher you went the more difficult it became and the higher risk everything became.

"Vali," Vali opened her eyes at Delia's familiar voice while wondering when she'd closed them, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just had a really exciting battle is all and needed to take a moment to calm down is all," Vali noted the lack of Ash, "Ash?"

"Currently heading to watch what's left of Steven's battle alongside Gary with Steven's father seeing as I doubt Nurse Joy would like to hear them shout in here," Delia smiled softly at her, "That was an exciting battle, you didn't lose a single pokemon from what I saw,"

Vali nodded as Delia took a seat, "Yeah, it's the first battle where that happened, but then again I didn't exactly take a chance by sending out one of my newer pokemon," She ran her fingers over the pokeballs on her waist feeling each pokeball warm underneath the pads of her fingers, "I'm trying to figure out who to send out tomorrow. We'll be on Grass Field, but there won't be any information on our opponents unlike if we were in the next round of the tournament."

"You'll figure something out. You always do," Delia told her, "Besides, you've made it this far which is more than most first year trainers get,"

The reminder made Vali grin a bit, "True. Smaug's going to be a smug brat for being able to carry us into the next round alone."

"Just let Professor Oak's Charizard play with him for a bit when you get home," Delia suggest earning a choked laugh.

"Delia!" Vali said sharply with a giggle earning a cheeky grin.

"It was soooo cool!" Ash shouted as they sat down together in the Oak residence at the Indigo Plateau, "Smaug was like 'you want beat me? Ha! Fat chance!'"

Ash and Gary were explaining the battle to Steven, Zaria, Lance, and Sirius as they had been unable to watch for obvious reasons. Lance snorted into his soda as Ash made a whooshing sound with his mouth, "Seriously? He zipped around the field? Charizard don't do that kind of thing."

Ash's cheeks puff up and he pointed at Vali, "Vali's Smaug does."

"I don't believe it," Lance shook his head and he looked at Vali, "Tell me that the kid's just bluffing,"

Vali shook her head as Steven smiled lightly, "He isn't. You forget what kind of battling style I've got, Lance. Don't get me wrong, Smaug's got all the key flavoring of the classical Charizard battling style, but he also has my favored antics. For all that tanking hits and full assaults work, you've got to dodge and be sneaky as well."

Lance looked at her with wide eyes and opened his mouth before glancing at Ash then Gary before saying, "It doesn't seem like something that would fit a Charizard, Vali."

"It works for me," Vali replied with a shrug, "And won my match which is the important part, Lance,"

Steven spoke up as Lance opened his mouth, "So Delia, where's the professor?"

"Still in Pallet for the moment, They're busy with research," Delia's smile was one filled with fond exasperation, "But he'll be here tomorrow, he wanted to have one more day to work,"

"Must be some project for Professor Oak to not come to the Indigo Conference," Joseph commented with a curious look on his face, "What exactly is he working on or is this project a secret?"

Vali shook her head lightly, "I don't believe we're allowed to say at the current moment, so I'd leave that question for Professor Oak."

"Of course," Joseph inclined his head, "So Vali, Steven mentioned that you were writing a research paper on the evolution of Lileep and Cradily. How has that gone?"

Vali groaned at the reminder of her paper earning a sympathetic look from Lance and Steven as her head hit the table with a thunk. Delia let out a soft giggle as she grumbled unintelligible insults under her breath, "Vali's working very hard on the paper when she can, but Samuel is being very hard on her. So was Houndour after the little one hatched, we tend to avoid mentioning the research paper usually as a result."

"So much red ink," Was the only thing anyone could make out from where Vali's head was pressed into the table.

Steven patted her on the back, "You just have to get through it, Vali. Everyone goes through it at some point."

Vali gave him a small glare when she raised her head earning a light grin in reply. The fire-type master-in-training was very tempted to smack the steel-type master-in-training. Zaria giggled softly, "Steven, I'd back away since Vali looks like she really wants to hit you right now."

"I won't hit him," Vali denied with a shake of her head as she sat up properly and resumed eating, "Today was a difficult day though,"

"Says the one who didn't even lose a single pokemon," Zaria said with a slight frown, "But you're right, it was difficult. I barely managed to scrape by today and with tomorrow being the last round there's no telling if I'll actually managed to pass the prelims,"

Vali remembered that Zaria's Zorua barely managed to kept consciousness long enough to win the battle. She frowned softly not liking how close her friend had come to losing. She gave Zaria an encouraging look, "You'll make it through, Zaria. You've worked so hard for this and for so long, you just have to keep on believing that you'll make it through tomorrow. So long as you believe that you'll win the battle, you'll be able to make it through," She grinned brightly thinking about her bond not only with Elrond but with all of her pokemon, "After all even without a psychic pokemon, you share a bond with every single pokemon you've got and they'll be able to feel whatever you do to some extent. So long as you believe in them and give them strength in spirit, they'll be able to find hidden wells of power within themselves that might just make the difference."

Zaria perked up with a grin, "You're right, Vali."

"Those are some wise words, Vali," Joseph commented with a raised eyebrow as both Ash and Gary gave Vali confused looks, "Just where did they come from?"

"Nowhere exactly," Vali flushed a bit as Elrond floated over from the doors where the pokemon had been eating, "Just something I've found to be true as my journey's progressed, Elrond's evolution and Sabrina's tips not to mention Steven's helped me to realize that further," She looked at Ash and Gary, "Ash, Gary, I'm going to tell you something that you'll need to keep close to your hearts for when you become a trainer," She smiled at them, "No matter how far you go nor what goal you end up choosing to pursue, you must never ever forget about your bonds. You've heard all of us talk about the bonds between pokemon and humans more times then we could count, right?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded with a curious look on his face, "It's important though, right?"

"Right," Vali grinned lightly, "It's why we keep saying it. Pokemon like Eevee can evolve through bonds of friendship as you know, but it goes a lot deeper than that. You've heard me say that Balto and everyone else are like family to me," She reached up to rub Elrond's side as he settled on the table beside her plate, "But it goes a bit deeper than that in some cases, Elrond especially allows me to see just deeply those bonds go thanks to our connection. They're my brothers and sisters just like you. The bonds that we share let us move forward with the confidence needed to face everything that comes our way," She looked at her human brothers, "Pidgey and Bellsprout will be with you every step of your journey just as Balto has been with me, they'll be your partner in ways that your starter cannot be. They'll be the bridge between your pokemon and you. Without a psychic-type pokemon, they'll be the only one that can truly understand you. The bond you share with them is irreplaceable,"

"Vali, how come you haven't battled with Balto yet?" Gary asked with a frown, "He's your brother and partner, right?"

"Because I wanted to give everyone else a chance first and due to the fact that there was a good time to bring him out yet," Vali replied with a soft chuckle, "But soon enough, Balto will be making his debut," She frowned softly, "Though I do have to wonder how tomorrow will go given that we'll be on Grass Field,"

"Balto and Arwen are the only pokemon that haven't battled at all too," Delia commented earning a slightly grim smile.

"Terra hasn't either," Vali reminded her, "But yes, they're the only ones that haven't battles. Tomorrow will definitely be interesting,"