A deafening explosion went up through the forest, and the Pokémon all around bolted in every direction, thoroughly panicked.
Where the Golem had stood there was now a deep, blackened crater, everything around it swept bare — which gave some idea of the force of that explosion.
In the crater the Golem lay flat on its back, its eyes going round and round, its body covered in wounds; there was no telling how long it would take to mend.
"Lucky the boss stepped in. A move that strong, we'd have got off lightly with serious injuries."
the Gyarados muttered. At the critical moment Vance had warned the three of them and Teleported all three to safety.
"That was Explosion. The last move a Pokémon like a Golem has."
Vance answered unhurriedly and took out a Poké Ball to draw the Golem in. No surprises at all: the ball gave a thunk and the catch was made.
Held by his psychic power, the Poké Ball came back to him through the air, and he took hold of it and put it away in his pack.
"Torchic, Torchic—"
The Torchic chirped away in delight. If anyone there was the happiest, it was him.
Another enormous haul into the books. The boss said Elite-class Pokémon were worth an absolute fortune.
Vance smiled and rubbed the Torchic's head. He was about to take his Pokémon and leave when his brow furrowed and he stopped.
"Hahaha, the Aerodactyl is here after all. Let's see where you run this time!"
A crowd of men rushed out, several Mightyena on the ground and several Pokémon in the air, sealing off Vance's retreat from both ground and sky.
"Oho, a bonus on top. Hahaha, we're rich — and a starter too. Boy, you've nobody to blame but your own bad luck."
one of them said, full of swagger, his eyes burning as he looked at the Torchic on Vance's shoulder and the Aerodactyl beside him.
He was already thinking about how he would live it up afterwards.
The boy looked like a fat sheep himself. Take his Pokémon first, then tie him up — there might be another large sum to squeeze out of him.
His companions around him were looking at Vance with no better intent.
"Boy, you're surrounded. If you know what's good for you, hand over everything you're carrying and all your Pokémon, and don't resist — or in a minute you'll be dead!"
The threat left the Gyarados unmoved. He and the other two moved in front of Vance, the Torchic with them, all of them squaring up to fight.
"Well, well, well. So you'd actually put up a fight. No respect for the Blood Axe Hunters at all. Get ready, lads."
"Hahaha, one charge and this one folds. Try not to wet yourself, boy."
"Hahaha."
Laughing, the men called out Pokémon one after another; between the six of them they put more than twenty on the field.
The leader's were the strongest — two of them Elite-class, a Mightyena and a Scizor; of the rest, ten were of Advanced strength and the remainder Intermediate.
In quality and in numbers alike, set against Vance's side, it was overwhelming.
"We wore out our shoes hunting for it and got nowhere, and here it is for nothing — the Aerodactyl, of all places, with a bonus thrown in."
Hunter Z led the charge, out in front of them all.
As the band's boss he was also its strongest. Both Elite-class Pokémon were his, and he had three more of Advanced strength besides.
"The Blood Axe Hunters — now I remember. This lot are on the wanted list, and a big job at that: six men, fifteen hundred contribution points." As he said it Vance's eyes lit up. That was it. That settled everything.
He had been wondering where he was going to find the contribution points to get himself confirmed as a League-Certified Trainer, and here were people delivering them to his door. There really were a lot of good people in this world.
If that was not a willow planted without thought growing into shade, what was? Many thanks to the lads for the free kills!
Back when he had still been an Intermediate Psychic this might have meant a hard fight, or running for it.
But things were different now. He was a Psychic of Advanced strength, a match for anything at the Elite and Gym-class tiers.
Elite-class Pokémon might be strong, but in front of him they were nothing much.
The tables had turned.
"Leave him to me. The rest are yours to practise on."
Vance's voice sounded in the ears of the Gyarados and the other two, and then he moved.
He appeared all at once directly in the path of Hunter Z's charge, smiling at him.
Who doesn't love a mate who hands you free kills?
Vance loved them very much indeed.
"What the—!! He's a Psychic!!"
Hunter Z's eyes nearly came out of his head, and so did his men's behind him. From the presence coming off the boy he was no weakling either — but there was no way back now, and all they could do was grit their teeth and go in.
He could only hope the Dark-type Mightyena would hold the advantage.
Vance moved fast, cutting the two Elite-class Pokémon away from the rest, and the Gyarados and the other two charged in.
At the same tier the Gyarados and his companions were afraid of nobody; outnumbered several times over, they still were not afraid.
"Smack—"
Vance brought a palm down out of the air and drove the Scizor, the fastest of them, straight into the ground. Its shell broke open in several long cracks and it was out cold.
"Scizor!!"
Hunter Z shouted. He had never imagined one move would finish off the strongest fighter he had, his Scizor.
Just what level had this boy's power reached?
He had no way of knowing, never having met a Psychic this strong. Weaker ones he had met, ones who could not even Teleport — but there was no way back, and all he could do now was pin his hopes on the one Dark-type he had left, the Mightyena.
"Mightyena, Dark Pulse!"
Hunter Z shouted.
"Hoooowl—"
The Mightyena gathered a Dark Pulse at once and sent it straight in.
What happened next left him in despair. The Mightyena's Dark Pulse was caught and held by some powerful force, stopped halfway, and blew apart with a roar.
It did Vance not the slightest harm; and from that one exchange it was clear the other side's power went far, far beyond the Mightyena's.
Then came a punch out of the air — a giant fist of gathered psychic power, smashing down onto the Mightyena. There was a single long wail, and the Mightyena was hammered into the dirt. That one move had crippled it!
Dark types were immune to Psychic types, but only up to a point; past that point, Psychic moves could still hurt a Dark-type Pokémon.
Nor was it only those two types. The same held for every other matchup.
Vance was using Gym-class psychic power against an Elite-class Dark-type Pokémon. It was a fight on another plane entirely.
At the same tier there would have been nothing to be done, and he would have had to find some other way to fight.
For the moment, though, he really did not need one.
Another punch, and the Mightyena was left unable to fight.