After battle talks

Vali walked into the cottage and found Lance sitting on the couch. He looked up and smiled at her, "Hey, Vali. Have a nice battle?"

"It was good. Felix is a great trainer and probably would've been better off against someone else," Vali replied as she dropped onto the love seat as Aragorn hopped onto the couch beside Lance, "You?"

"It was great," Lance eyed her as he scratched behind Aragorn's ears earning a groan of pleasure from the fox, "You don't seem so great though. What happened?"

Vali groaned softly, "Nurse Joy's not exactly happy with me, but when is she ever happy when you're working on new moves with a pokemon."

"Ah," Lance gave her a sympathetic look, "No wonder you look worn," He grinned suddenly, "Steven should be back from his match soon enough. Do you want to go wander around together until it's time for them to announce our opponents for the next round?"

"I'm supposed to be watching Gary and Ash," Vali told him, "Otherwise I'd say yes,"

"We can take them along," Lance assured her, "They're cool kids and it's not that much trouble to have them around,"

Vali considered it for a few moments before nodding as she decided it would be a fun idea and she could get some good pictures for Delia. And Professor Oak, she added as a mental note. Pulling out her pokenav, she told the grinning red head, "Alright, I suppose we can do that if you're sure," She picked out Delia's number and the Ketchum matriarch answered moments later, "Hey, Delia."

"Vali, what can I do for you?" Delia asked with a warm smile, "We saw the match and everyone thought it was amazing. You're moving onto the next round!"

"I'm eager to find out who my next opponent is and Nurse Joy says that the boys should be out of her care by Tomorrow morning," Vali told Delia earning a grin, "Anyway, I was calling to tell you that I'm definitely okay to take the boys with me today. Lance offered to wander around with me while I watch them and we're going to see if we can rope Steven into it as well,"

"Oh that sounds like so much fun," Delia let out a soft laugh, "I'm glad to hear it. I was worried you wouldn't be able to. I know you'd be busy, but the boys have been wanting to spend time with their big sister as well,"

Vali felt a bit bad even if she'd spent a lot of time with Ash and Gary while in Pallet Town. She'd be spending time away from them once the Conference was over regardless of what happened. Inwardly shaking those thoughts from her head, she said, "Well, they'll be able to spend some time with me now. You can enjoy the rest of the day doing what ever and even drag Professor Oak out of wherever he's hiding."

Delia's smile turned sharp as she laughed, "Very true. I'll tell the boys. We'll make our way over to your cottage soon. See you soon, Vali."

"See you soon, Delia," Vali replied and the screen went dark.

Vali put her pokenav away as Lance said, "Delia is definitely one of the scarier women I've met that aren't among my clan."

"Well, she's had to raise Ash pretty much alone until she met Sirius and then had to keep him in line while dealing with my issues," Vali shrugged lightly, "There's also the Oak's being added into the mix, she's had to be scary. You just haven't seen her scariest yet. You don't want to,"

Vali shuddered as she remembered those league representatives that decided to voice the option of taking Vali away to be raised elsewhere or treated like a lab rat. Lance looked slightly concerned at her visible shudder, "Do I want to know?"

"Let's just say Delia has made a name for herself in the League," Vali released Houndour and Litwick earning happy greetings before the two began to play, "She's the reason I wasn't raised away from Pallet or treated as a lab rat," She stood up and headed for the kitchen, "I'm going to get a snack and something to drink,"

Wandering with Ash and Gary was more exhausting than Lance realized, the red head hadn't quite understood just how much he was underestimating the two boys. Even his younger clan members around the same age didn't get into so many things despite having certain dragon-like senses due to their bond to the mythical beasts they lived so closely with. Despite how much he underestimation, Vali and Steven seemed to easily keep the boys in line while looking upon him with amusement whenever he failed to. They settled in a park with their pokemon taking over watching the boys. Lance flopped down underneath a tree as he asked, "How do you two do it? Not even the younger clan members back home are this difficult."

"Probably because they're in awe of you," Vali said with a soft chuckle as she slipped onto the ground beside him and leaned against the tree, "I'm used to the boys and I've taken them to Viridian a few times,"

"I'm following Vali's lead for the most part and using my pokemon to help me," Steven said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Lance understood Vali's answer since the boys were her siblings and she knew how to deal with him. Steven's answer was bullshit save for the first part. Giving the silvery blue haired teen a look, he called the other male on it, "That's bullshit on a whole other level and you know it."

Vali snorted and Steven had the audacity to smirk at him, "It works, doesn't it? And it isn't bullshit, it's merely an intelligent decision that ensures the boys won't get into trouble that we cannot get them out."

"Anyway," Vali spoke up with a shake of her head and amused grin on her face, "Who do you think our opponents will be in the next round? I know one of you will be mine, but who?"

"No idea," Lance eyed her and noticed the far away look in her eyes, "You okay, Vali?"

Vali wrapped an arm around her legs, "The next round will be the last one for my team," Those green eyes of hers followed each members of her team and something flickered through the iris' almost like a flame, "I know it. It isn't something you can tell me won't happen. I can feel it that this is where we'll find our end in this League, but we'll show off our best," The flicker brightened making the green burn bright and her lips peeled back into an almost bestial grin, "Show the world just how brightly our fires burn."

"Vali," Steven spoke reaching out towards her on the left as Lance did the same on the right.

As Lance touch her, a flare of heat sank into his palms almost burning him. He barely kept from hissing as alarm shot through him. Before he could wonder what the hell was going on, Vali broke from whatever trance she was in and shook her head as her arm dropped down. She turned her head towards him, "Lance? Something wrong?"

"Are you okay?"

"Just thinking about the battle ahead is all," Vali said as she eyed him, "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost,"

"Vali, you were in a trance," Steven told her earning a shocked look as her head swung around to look at the steel-type trainer, "And when we touched you, I could feel the heat this time. It was almost hot enough to burn,"

"I hurt you two?" Vali shook slightly, "I-I didn't mean to. I-"

"We know," Steven spoke in a gentle voice filled with understanding, "Vali, it isn't your fault. In fact it was better than the first time you went into a trance like that,"

So it'd happened before? Lance filed that away for later as he focused on the now. Vali swallowed heavily, "But I didn't even notice I was in a trance."

Steven frowned at that, "Do you remember what you said?"

"I said that the next round will be the last one for my team," Vali told him as she frowned, "I know it. It isn't something you can tell me won't happen. I can feel it that this where we'll find our end in this League, but we'll show off our best..." She trailed off and her nose crinkled a little as she focused, "After that, I said..." She closed her eyes, "Show the world just how brightly our fires burn," She frowned softly, "That last part, it was slightly fuzzy,"

"Fuzzy?" Lance asked as her eyes opened.

"The words are there, but coated in something making them slightly hazy unless I focus on them for some reason," Vali shook her head lightly, "It's strange since there's no reason for that,"

"I don't know, Vali," Steven said with a sigh, "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm okay," Vali told him with a light smile, "Maybe it's all the stress from the Conference getting to me is all,"

"Maybe," Steven and Lance shared a look as Vali turned to watch her brothers as they raced past.