Results of the captured poacher

For all that everyone was glad that they made it back with a live Poacher, Vali was chewed out about leaving the group. She took it with a straight face and kept her mouth shut even if every part of her wanted to shout at the commanders of this place that there hadn't really been another option. When she left the tent, she'd been marched over to the bunk after having her pokemon confiscated to be checked over and held until Blaine or Surge returned from their own missions which pissed her off. She continued to keep her mouth shut even if it made her even angrier. She sat down on her bunk and immediately began making notes about what she'd learned through the mission since it was better to stay occupied. Stella came in with two trays of food two hours after she'd been essentially grounded and placed one down beside her, "It sucks that they're doing this to you, Vali."

"Especially when I didn't have another option," Vali replied as she set down her notes and dug into the food, "Thank you,"

"No problem," Stella looked at the notes, "You're working?"

"Half keeping busy," Vali replied with a shrug, "I learned a lot while out there with you guys, so I'm making notes on it," She missed the food back on Cinnabar since this stuff didn't taste very good even if it was made to be very nutritious, "I'll use this to create the basis for new techniques and tactics for my pokemon. I'm also partially working on ideas for my next research paper mostly due to something Cullen said. By the time we get back to Cinnabar, I'll probably be fielding my idea to Professor Oak. With any luck, I'll be working on the second paper needed for my mastery and only have to do the third later on,"

"To have one done already is a surprise," Stella commented as she picked up her mug, "But why the rush for your next one?"

"The idea popped in my head and I can't get rid of it," Vali stated with a wry smile, "When it comes to my photos, I just take a picture. When it comes to things like this, I need to go through with writing it. Professor Oak will probably be happy since he's been having quite a few people call him about my last paper wishing to talk with me,"

Stella looked a bit stunned, "I'm kind of glad I never wanted to become a Master."

Vali snorted softly as she took a bite of her sandwich. If becoming a Master was all research papers, a lot of scientists could call themselves such. The door opened again allowing Surge to enter. The blonde man looked amused, "So you go out on a mission, are told to observe, lead a Poacher on a chase, and trap him, Vali?"

"In my defense, I didn't have a lot of options short of letting all the other Poachers in the area know I was there," Vali replied as Raichu jumped off his shoulder and ran over to her bunk, "I solved the problem of not catching one alive, didn't I?"

Surge let out a booming laugh as Raichu began snuggling into her side, "You did, Kid. Sent the Commanders into a tizzy, they can't believe some upstart kid managed to do what their Ace and Rangers couldn't. Nice job."

"I'm just glad Anthony and the others aren't so cold anymore," Vali replied earning an amused look, "So my pokemon?"

Surge walked over with her belt, "Here you go, Singerly in particular didn't want you to get them back until Blaine returned, but I reminded him you're under my charge as well."

"Thank you," Vali quickly secured her belt after gently moving Raichu away and felt whole, "So I take it they're not going to be letting me out of here willingly?"

"Eh, I'm going to be dragging you with me for a training session in an hour," Surge told her, "Finish eating, I've got some stuff to do before we start," He reached over and patted her head, "I really did mean it, Vali. You did a good job considering how briefly you've been trained. We'll be working with you on situations and scenarios like this later on,"

Vali swatted at his hand, "Thanks, Surge. I was really just trying to keep my pokemon and I from getting too badly hurt while also staying out of the majorities attention."

"A good idea. You basically took a classic hunting tactic and twisted it to your advantage," Surge nodded his head as he moved away, "We'll have to see what other ideas your pretty head has and if they can be worked into this situation,"

While Surge repeated what Blaine usually did with her pokemon, he also drilled her in hand-to-hand though carefully shifted it down to her age-level. Age level or not, Vali was still getting thrown around just like her pokemon much to the enjoyment of those that didn't like her. She still got up each time her body was sent to the ground and went right back into the lesson. By the time Blaine returned and went looking for her after finding everything out, she was a giant bruise alongside her pokemon. Blaine took one look at her and let out a deep sigh, "Surge, she wasn't supposed to start hand-to-hand for another three weeks."

"Getting an early start isn't a bad thing, Blaine," Surge replied as Vali shifted slightly on her feet trying very hard to keep from falling over, "Vali, you can relax now,"

Vali promptly collapsed into the pile her pokemon had made earning a groan from Balto, but merely began to cuddle into him. Blaine shook his head slightly, "Beating her senseless is not a good foundation."

"You have your ways of doing things and I have mine," Surge replied with a shrug, "So anything on your end?"

"Nothing concrete. Vali's prisoner will be helpful," Blaine looked at Vali with a small smirk, "All things considered, Surge's training is enough of a punishment,"

Vali rolled her eyes with a slight huff, "So what now?"

"Now we work out a plan once we break that Poacher," Surge answered as he grabbed a water bottle and held it out to Vali, "Drink it, Kid," Vali took the water bottle and slowly sipped it earning an approving look from both gym leaders, "It'll be slow going even with the Poacher in our hands. They'll most likely assume he's dead, but we can't really bet on that. The patrols will continue on as normal to make it seem like the Poachers had been killed off,"

Vali looked between them, "So what am I going to do?"

"Train," Blaine stated rather bluntly, "You'll go on some patrols, but a majority of the time will be spent training. You're not at the level for us to do much else,"

Vali nodded in understanding, "I get it."

"For now, you're going to get your ass back to the bunker and shower," Surge told her, "I'll get your pokemon healed up. We'll be going over scenarios like I said in an hour,"

Vali nodded as she slowly pulled herself up with a small huff of exhaustion.

Vali's days at Delco 2 were slightly rough even with the team of Ace's she'd been stuck with coming to like her. With Surge pummeling her team into the ground or working on various scenarios with her, Vali was often dead tired when stuck at the base even when the blonde Gym Leader needed to leave and she was given a break. When running patrols with Anthony and the others, she learned a lot and was exposed to much violence due to Marcus' bloodthirsty side starting a battle with the Poachers almost immediately even if he managed to sneak up on them. Sometimes these patrols were overnight and she was often forced to be up the entire next day, the other Ace and Ranger Teams seemed intent on targeting her team for battles during those times. Despite the tiredness she felt, Vali managed to pull off unexpected wins due to surprising combinations and bad pairings though those were outweighed by the amount of wins the elder trainers managed to pull.

Through a surprisingly willing Surge, Vali gained permission from the League to take pictures. It came with stipulations mainly to avoid the base or anything confidential. Stella was quite happy to help Vali out with finding good places to take pictures and dragged Anthony along for reasons to eluded Vali. It was while they were out that Vali managed to spot something that made her pause and do a double take. She quickly called over Anthony and Stella while motioning them to be quiet. They were on a cliff side looking over a large valley. Anthony dropped down to her level alongside Stella, "What is it, Vali?"

"Look through my spare camera," Vali handed it to him.

Vali had brought it on a whim today even if she hadn't used it since Sirius had bought her the one she current used. Anthony used the camera and let out a soft sound that was half a growl, "I see. Vali, do you mind-"

"I barely use it," Vali cut him off, "Take the picture, we'll need to mark the area on our Dexs,"

Stella looked between them in confusion as Anthony took the picture and they quickly began moving backwards. After each of them marked it on their dex, Stella asked, "What was that?"

"A Poacher base. With any hope, it'll be the one we're looking for," Anthony answered with a grin, "Thanks to Vali, we've managed to find it,"