Dinner talks and Returning to Cinnabar

Vali followed Delia out into the kitchen where everyone was waiting to eat dinner and heard Sirius' voice call out, "And I'm still trying to figure out how to get a more consistent schedule."

Not able to help herself, Vali commented, "Maybe if you didn't prank your superiors or at least didn't use magic in the pranks, you would have a more decent schedule."

"But some of those people suck," Sirius whined earning a snort, "You know that! You've had to deal with those guys,"

"And yet, I'm able to contain myself," Vali replied as she walked into the kitchen yawning softly, "One would think you would as well,"

Sirius whined at her much like his animagus form would. Professor Oak smiled at her, "Did you have a good rest, Vali?"

"I did," Vali replied as another yawn left her, "Still tired though, it'll be nice to get some days to actually sleep before I have to head back,"

"So you're not going to help Ash and me train our pokemon?" Gary asked with a slight pout.

"Come now, Gary. You know how busy League season is even during the Holidays especially for the gym trainers," Daisy scolded her brother, "I can easily help you two train,"

Vali snorted softly, "I can do it," Gary perked up, "Just don't try to wake me up before ten, okay?"

"We promise," Ash and Gary chorus.

Vali gave Daisy a look, "Don't make assumptions."

Vali took a seat next to Sirius as Daisy said, "I was merely attempting to ensure you were able to get some proper rest-"

"You needn't do anything," Vali cut her off earning a look from Delia, "I'm able to take care of myself,"

"Hey," Sirius cut in looking between the two female trainers with a rather careful look, "I was wondering how things were going at the gym anyway, Vali?" Vali glanced at him, "I know you mentioned the trainers were managing to get in more frequently and all that,"

Vali groaned softly, "Don't remind me," She ran a hand through her hair, "Blaine only changes the riddles every three weeks with a couple new ones being tossed in occasionally. Apparently a some stupid," She glanced at Ash and Gary before censoring herself, "Person decided to post that on one of the forums linked to the gym. Before we realized it, we'd gotten three times the volume of trainers slipping through the cracks. Granted, they all pretty much got creamed by Blaine or Jackson depending on who was looking after the gym."

"Oh dear, it's no wonder why you've been so stressed," Delia murmured with a frown.

"Blaine has everyone coming up with riddles now to help alleviate the problem until we can fix it," Vali grabbed her cup with a sulky look, "And even though we tried to get the post taken down, the idiots keep putting up new ones and threading others alongside it. So the admins have to go through and look at each one just to ensure they're not deleting something useful for the trainers, it's insane,"

"It is," Daisy shook her head as Vali glanced at her, "It makes me wonder why Kanto doesn't have Hoenn's gym trainer system in place,"

"Blaine's putting one in place soon enough," Vali replied earning a surprised look, "I suggested it. He's been working on it with Jackson and Martha. If it works well with us, he'll propose the League use it,"

Vali was smug by the surprised look she was given by Daisy. Professor Oak grinned at her, "That's brilliant, Vali! It'll definitely help the gym's deal with the increasing amount of trainers and ensure that the quality of the challenges increases."

Nodding lightly, Vali grinned at him before taking a bite of her dinner.

When Vali returned to Cinnabar after Christmas was over, she was dropped off in front of the Gym by Professor Oak's Alakazam. The area was surprisingly barren of trainers, but she quickly realized why when she spotted the sign sitting on the door declaring the gym closed for renovations for another three days. Frowning softly, she took out her pokenav and called Jackson. He answered almost immediately, "Vali! Are you back?"

"Just arrived via teleportation, the gym's closed?" Vali asked as Elrond released himself from his pokeball, "I haven't tried the door yet, but could you let me in?"

"Oh, right," Jackson flushed slightly, "I'll be right there. Sorry about that, Vali,"

It took Jackson five minutes to appear during which Vali had released Thorin and Aragorn from their pokeballs with Galadrial releasing herself to settle within her shadow. Jackson opened the door once he reached it and offered her a warm if slightly strained smile, "Hey, Vali. How was your break?"

"It was nice," Vali replied as she walked inside once Jackson held open the door, "I spent time with my brothers and family,"

Jackson nodded as he closed the door behind Vali, "I'm glad you got to relax."

Vali smiled lightly before asking, "And you?"

"As well as it could given Blaine needed me to cut my break short," Jackson revealed with a soft sigh, "The joys of being Head Gym Trainers. I do have good news though," He grinned at her, "Blaine has almost everything set up. We should have everything set up within the next two days,"

"So the renovations are a cover?" Vali asked earning a soft snort.

"Nah, Blaine is getting some renovations done, but they'll be done in two days. The last day marked on the door is basically so we all can relax and enjoy a day off without any trainers whining at us," Jackson looked happy despite the stress he was no doubt under, "So go get settled in while I go tell the Boss you're back, He'll probably want to see you in an hour,"

Vali nodded as she shifted her bag, "Sounds like a plan."

"You called for me," Vali walked into the room and headed for one of the chairs.

"Glad to see you, Brat," Blaine didn't bother looking up from his paperwork, "How did Magby do in the snow,"

"He was interested for about the first five seconds before absolutely hating it," Vali replied as she took a seat and Thorin leaned against her leg, "Poor thing attempted to burn away the snow every time it touched him,"

Blaine looked up at her after signing a paper, "Ah that's how it usually happens with the Magmar line, you have some who enjoy snow and some who despise it. One of my Magmar who sadly passed a couple years ago loved the stuff."

Vali felt bad for the old man as losing a pokemon was never fun no matter the circumstance, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Blaine waved her off, "She wished to attempt evolution and it's always a chancy thing with their line even if you manage to get a Magmarizer."

Swallowing heavily as she acknowledged that, Vali moved the conversation onto what she'd been working on during the break, "Since Thorin's finally got a grasp on his body's limits, I've put together an improved training plan since Thorin is now adjusted to his body and Magby's become almost fully integrated into the team."

Blaine held out his hand and Vali handed it over. He read through it quickly through ease of practice before handing the device back, "They're a good base. We can definitely work with them," She pushed her dex back into the pocket, "Now, I've started to settle on everyone's roles during this little venture. While you all will be facing a mixture of trainers of various levels, Vali, you will be facing mid-level trainers and occasionally the ill-prepared low-level trainer that needs to be better prepared."

"And will I have a chance to face any higher up trainers?" Vali asked earning a nod.

"Occasionally just with the low level-trainers," Blaine replied as Vali scratched behind Thorin's ears, "The League has decided to side-line us for the next few weeks in order to discover just how well we adjust to this change in dynamic,"

Vali was a little surprised though thankful for the break, "I guess that'll be a nice break. It'll at least give Thorin a chance to get more used to his new body before we actually need him to participate in anything to do with the League."

Blaine dismissed her without another word.