"Bzzzz, bzzzz—"
A sound of beating wings, and two Beedrill came out from between a stand of tall trees, red eyes sweeping the area for intruders.
But in the one place neither of them was watching, on a trunk above them, stood a Torchic, all but itching to go.
"Target sighted. Torch—"
Torchic sprang straight down off the trunk and raked a claw at one of the Beedrill: Scratch.
The Scratch caught one of the Beedrill squarely, and then, off the Beedrill's own body, Torchic spun neatly in the air and landed, following it up with an Ember that caught the Beedrill again.
"Beedrill—"
Taken completely unprepared, that Beedrill was badly hurt at once, propping itself on its lances and half kneeling on the ground.
"Torchic—"
Torchic pressed his advantage without mercy and charged again, a faint glow gathering at the front of his beak: the Flying-type move Peck.
"Beedrill—"
The other Beedrill reacted as well, swinging both lances up to meet Torchic, meaning to stop his attack and protect its partner.
Torchic and the Beedrill closed on each other, Peck met the twin lances with a dull thud, and both of them fell back.
Torchic was small, and he used the recoil to help him, leaping into the air with a smug look on his little face and spitting out an Ember that went only for the Beedrill behind. At that moment the other Beedrill had no time to react at all; all it could do was watch a streak of flame pass over its head and strike its companion behind it.
There was a scream, and that Beedrill went down on the ground with a thin smoke rising off it, eyes spinning, out of the fight.
"Torchic—"
Torchic was satisfied, and looked smugly at what he had done. His Trainer's advice really was good. He had hardly been at it any time and the weaker Beedrill was already dealt with; next came the one-on-one stage.
Even if the opponent was that little bit stronger than he was, Torchic was sure there was no real problem here. He had the confidence to deal with this one.
"Beedrill—"
The Beedrill gave a furious cry and brought its strength to bear on Torchic: both wings beating fast, its speed rising, both lances raised and swung wildly, the paths of them all over the place, slashing across, chopping down, stabbing straight in — the move Fury Attack.
Torchic dodged left and slipped right, his small body threading through the shadows of the lances, evading the attack perfectly. He had practised this evasion too.
"Take a Peck from me."
Torchic seized an opening and rushed in with Peck again. Seeing it, the Beedrill changed its own move: the two lances stopped their wild flailing and came at Torchic from both sides at once, stabbing in.
As the two of them closed, Torchic gave a sly little smile. The Peck at the front of his beak dispersed, he drove down with both feet and used Sand Attack as well, flinging up dirt from the ground straight into the Beedrill's face; then he ran fast, came in from another angle, and put another Ember into the Beedrill before it could defend itself. It was super effective, and did no small damage.
"Beedrill—"
"Torchic—"
Hearing the Beedrill's furious cry, Torchic only smiled. This Beedrill was stupid, he thought, and the way it fought was inflexible. Really, hopelessly dim.
A few exchanges later, after one more Ember, there was an explosion, and the Beedrill too lay on the ground without moving, out of the fight.
"Torchic—"
The battle over, Torchic shook his head with a calm face. Too easy, far too easy. If this was the sort of thing the wild had in it, then the wild was not nearly as dangerous as the Trainer said.
"That Torchic isn't doing badly at all."
Behind them Vance had been watching Torchic with a smile. The lad understood changing up his moves.
There was a stir from up ahead, several figures approaching fast, drawn by the noise just now, most likely.
"You two get ready, there's work. Torchic can't handle this lot."
Vance patted the two Poké Balls on his belt as he said it.
"Ha, I've taken two more Beedrill. That ought to be a fair bit of money."
Down on the ground Torchic's face was eager as he walked round and round the two Beedrill. The feeling of a haul was wonderful.
Two more to the tally. The longer Torchic looked at the two Beedrill the better they looked. That was money, all of it.
And just as Torchic was enjoying himself, several red eyes lit up in the undergrowth not far off, watching him coldly.
"Torchic?"
Torchic felt a chill run over him, and turned to look: several pairs of red eyes.
"Torchic—"
Torchic jumped, stopped his celebrating and took up a fighting stance.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"
One after another, Beedrill came flying out of the undergrowth and onto the field, six of them in all, and the one at their head had a far stronger presence about it. Just now it was fixed on Torchic.
"Six of them. I don't think I can win this."
Torchic looked, did the sums, and discovered that he could not win — especially not against the one at their head, whose presence felt very dangerous to him. And there were six of them, and none of them seemed to be beneath him.
"Beedrill—"
One of the Beedrill used Pin Missile, and they all came flying in together.
"Watch my dodging technique. Footwork, footwork."
Torchic shifted position fast, and here was where all that ordinary training showed itself.
When that wave of Pin Missile had passed, Torchic was still hopping about untouched, only looking rather the worse for wear.
"Heh heh. Perfectly dodged."
Slipping the last of the Pin Missile, Torchic came to a stop on another patch of ground, rather pleased with himself; but when he turned to look back, nothing about him was fine any more.
Across from him all six Beedrill raised their twin needles together, and in the sunlight a cold gleam ran along the lances.
In a situation like that, no matter how slick his footwork, no matter how tricky, he was done for.
There was nothing else for it. Seeing that the Beedrill were about to launch their move, Torchic could only bring out his last card, his ultimate art, the Great Technique of Calling for Backup, and shouted at the sky.
"Boss! Help!"
"Shhk, shhk, shhk—"
The Beedrill attacked as one, wave upon wave of it blotting out the sky, about to bury Torchic under it.
"Bang—"
It was no small commotion, and where Torchic had been was already covered in smoke and dust.
"Roooar—"
Gyarados rose up out of it, a pair of savage eyes fixed on the lead Beedrill.
The Beedrill were cowed by the force of his presence and drew back a little.
"That's the one, it was keenest of all to hit me."
Torchic was lying on top of Gyarados's head, jutting his beak at the Beedrill, telling on them to Gyarados.
"Rrraaah—"
Gyarados sent a Hydro Pump straight over, breaking the six Beedrill apart, and followed it with an Ice Beam that froze the lot of them.
A Thunderbolt got there ahead of him. There was a crash of thunder, and the Beedrill came down along with the chunks of shattered ice and lay still.
The Thunderbolt was Vigoroth filling in, taking the last hit for himself.
"Hmph. Vigoroth, that wasn't decent of you."
"Ha ha, if I hadn't moved I'd have had no chance at all. I wanted to get a bit of payback for Torchic too."
Vigoroth came out from behind as well.
"Torchic—"
On top of Gyarados's head, Torchic called out happily. Gyarados lowered himself and set him down, and Torchic ran straight for the Beedrill.
"The little fellow is true to himself, that's all. A grudge gets paid on the spot, whether they can still fight or not."
Watching Torchic go over, Gyarados said it.
Vance came out from behind as well, and hearing what Gyarados said, he smiled.