Time went by quickly, and half a month soon passed.
In that half-month nothing much happened in the wider world, and nothing much in Celadon City either.
The League's strike last time seemed to have put the fear into Team Rocket; after it one seldom heard of Team Rocket people making trouble.
Vance made perfect use of the half-month, building himself up quietly, raising his Pokémon, training himself, working to get stronger.
Over that half-month, on top of getting his own power in hand, Vance learned a great many techniques for using it.
And every one of his Pokémon had grown as well.
The Torchic had reached level 16, the Vigoroth had broken through to 36, the Gyarados was at 34 and the Aerodactyl at 37.
All of them well up on where they had been, and the Gyarados most of all: from level 31 to 34, three levels gained.
"Level 16 already. About time you evolved, I'd have thought."
Vance was talking to the Torchic in the training room.
"Torchic?"
The Torchic was curious as well. What was the matter with him? Why was his Trainer looking at him like that?
"It's nothing. Only that you're close to evolving — in the next few days, I should think. Once you do you'll be stronger than you are now, and you'll know more moves."
Vance answered.
Real Pokémon did not evolve the moment they hit some particular level the way they did in the games. The Torchic was a case in point: level 16 and still not evolved. It would not be long, though — an ordinary Torchic evolved somewhere in this band of strength.
"Here. Drink this. It'll do you good."
Vance brought out a bottle of potion and had the Torchic drink it.
The Torchic did not hesitate, and drank it straight down.
"Torchic—"
He felt wonderfully comfortable all over, with wisps of a fiery warmth winding about him.
"Right. Off you go and train."
With the potion down, the Torchic was sent back to his training.
Vance got up and went over to give the Vigoroth some pointers.
He had booked two training rooms in all: the Torchic and the Vigoroth in one, the Gyarados and the Aerodactyl in the other.
The Torchic's demand for a training room of his own had come to nothing yet again.
This time it was not Vance's doing. There genuinely were no spare training rooms in the base: lately Team Rocket's members had been training constantly, far more often than they used to.
Even getting two had taken his standing as a Squad Leader.
So they would have to squeeze in together.
That night, in Cerulean City, a battle broke out on an enormous scale.
For reasons nobody understood, Team Rocket attacked Cerulean City.
The Chief Investigator stationed in Cerulean and the Cerulean Gym Leader met them at once, and a fierce back-and-forth broke out through the city.
In the confusion the Cerulean Gym Leader was gravely wounded, and Cerulean's position grew desperate.
"Roooar—"
Just then a long, majestic dragon's cry came from the edge of the sky. It was a Dragonite, and on its back stood a handsome young man, the cape behind him cracking in the howling wind.
The League's people saw who had come, and their spirits rose enormously.
"Elite Four Lance is here! Hold on!"
"Charge!"
"Damn Team Rocket. Don't think you're getting away."
The League's side threw itself into the fight and pulled the situation back.
"Lance of the Elite Four is here, and an investigation corps behind him. We should withdraw."
"Yes, we can withdraw. The objective is met, and we crippled a Gym Leader into the bargain — that one may not even see out the day, ha."
At the rear of Team Rocket's force, two men of striking bearing were talking.
"Come on. Help me hold off this Lance of the Elite Four."
"Right."
The two of them called out Pokémon, rose into the air and placed themselves in Lance's path.
"Archer. Proton. You have a great deal of nerve!!"
Lance roared it, both hands clenched.
"If we hadn't the nerve we'd be dead by now. It's because we have it that we get to meet you here at all, Elite Four Lance."
Archer said it with a broad smile.
"Then since you've come, you can stay! Dragonite!"
"Roooar—"
The Dragonite beneath him let its whole presence out at once. A terrible pressure came down over the two of them, and the ground below felt it as well.
"Boom—"
Brilliant flowers of colliding moves opened in the sky over Cerulean City, and for several seconds the whole city was lit up.
Several terrible presences wove together in the air, lights of every colour flickering, and the backwash coming off them was more than even a Gym-class Pokémon could stand against.
...............
"Shattering news!! Team Rocket raided Cerulean yesterday — the Cerulean Gym Leader died a hero's death!!"
"Hot off the press, hot off the press: Team Rocket's senior officers Archer and Proton raided Cerulean yesterday and fought Lance of the Elite Four in the air; what came of it is unclear......"
"The League has stated officially that it will strike back hard, with Lance of the Elite Four leading and Lorelei of the Elite Four in support........."
Vance woke to reports of it everywhere he turned; phone and television alike carried nothing else.
"What's this......"
He went through a number of the reports before he had a rough idea of what had happened.
The day before, Team Rocket had run a major operation and attacked Cerulean City. This had been no small affair of Division Commanders and Branch Chiefs; two senior officers had led it.
In the fighting the Cerulean Gym Leader had been killed and Cerulean's defensive strength had taken enormous losses. Lance of the Elite Four was now holding the city at the head of an investigation corps, and League headquarters had announced publicly that it was redeploying its forces, with the Elite Four leading, to keep the cities safe and come down hard on the dark organisations headed by Team Rocket.
"Those two big men going out in person — what were they after, to bring Lance of the Elite Four down on them?" Vance murmured, rubbing the space between his brows. A job at that level was nothing he could put a hand to.
"There'll be no peace after this. With the Elite Four leading, the strength involved is nothing like the usual sort. No telling how many are going to die this time."
Vance sighed. Lance of the Elite Four leading it — the man's competence and his fighting strength were acknowledged by everybody, and no straw-stuffed fool could be compared with him.
The League was rotten, but it was not short of usable talent.
"I'll have to be careful."
Vance got out of bed, washed and dressed and went out.
Outside, Emery and Ambrose were watching the reports and giving their opinions on them.
"Boss, you're up. Come and see the news — Cerulean City was raided, and even the Gym Leader was killed."
Ambrose called over to him.
"Don't be too pleased too soon. It's bad news as well. The next thing we have to face is that terrifying man, Lance of the Elite Four."
"Ah. I suppose that's true..."
Ambrose heard it and went a shade paler, and muttered it to himself.
Reminded of it like that, he had thought of it now too.