The next day Vance set out on the road to Pewter City.
Ambrose and Emery saw him off on the edge of town, and once the three of them had parted Vance followed the highway away.
Highways had been built between the cities, joining each of them to the others; the highways were patrolled by men assigned to them, and had been constructed by the League itself.
The danger on a highway was therefore far lower than out in the wild, and for the many Trainers travelling who wanted the pleasure of a journey while avoiding the risk, following the road was the best answer.
There were already a good many people on either side of the road, and even pedlars working their way along it, selling gear for the field.
Plenty of boys and girls with young faces walked straight past with their Pokémon beside them, the longing and anticipation of the journey on their faces.
There were also people got up as samurai, in classical armour, watching the Trainers coming and going; when they met a suitable one they would issue a challenge to battle, with some article or a set number of Poké Dollars staked on it, and fight it out.
And there was a crowd of those with their silk nets, sticks and hammers and the like in their hands, all striding off together toward the forest.
"The Black Dragon Gang was wiped out by me, and then Lance's crackdown came on top of it. They're in luck, really." Seeing the scene, Vance smiled.
There had been a time when he too had wanted to be like them: with no Pokémon of his own, he would get his gear together and go out and catch one himself.
Even a Caterpie would do — a net thrown over it, then a beating with sticks, and the odds of a successful capture were good. The danger was high as well; if it did not come off, the consequences were serious.
But at that time nobody was willing to take along an unlucky wretch the Black Dragon Gang had their eye on, and when one of their minor chiefs put out word that nobody was to help him, fewer still were willing.
It was a good deal better now. The Black Dragon Gang was gone, and the odds and ends of the rest had gone with them in that round of the crackdown; they would not be back for a while yet, and it was just the right time to be getting on.
There was no need to pay those organisations their so-called "wilderness insurance" any more. The place looked livelier for it.
"Still, this is pretty good as it is."
Vance said it to himself, and had just made to walk on when someone called out to stop him.
"Hey — how about a tense, exciting battle? Three hundred Poké Dollars on it, what do you say?"
A boy in the manner of a samurai blocked his way and issued him the challenge.
"Nothing doing. You'd better be on your way. You're no match for me."
Vance said it with a faint smile and refused the challenge.
"How infuriating. We samurai are very strong. Don't look down on people."
Spoken to like that by Vance, the boy would not have it, and his face flushed somewhat.
"All right, then. One battle."
Vance shrugged and said it as though it made no difference to him.
That attitude only stirred up the anger of the samurai boy across from him.
The two of them then marked out a patch of ground at the side of the road and stood at either end of it, one on one, with no referee.
In the meantime a good many passers-by came over to watch the fun, and before long there were rings of people around them.
Watching a spectacle really is human nature.
"Ah, how can that be? Three moves and it's over. That Combusken is far too strong."
A little while later the crowd let out a cry of surprise and fell to talking it over.
"Could it be that the samurai lad is simply too weak, that he can't take a hit?"
Someone raised the doubt, and the words were barely out before another contradicted it.
"No. That's Barrow, and his Butterfree has a bit of a name — it's no weakling. It's the other one that's too strong. A Fire-type starter, and it shows: they have the Bug-types beaten."
...............
"I... lost."
Barrow seemed to find the outcome a little hard to accept, but he held to the samurai spirit all the same and offered up the three hundred Poké Dollars in both hands.
Vance did not decline them, and took them straight away.
"Your Butterfree's reactions aren't good enough. Against fast-attacking Pokémon it can't cope. A Butterfree has a certain amount of psychic power in it; you could develop that side of it and use it to meet an opponent."
Vance took the Poké Dollars and offered the advice offhandedly.
"Thank you for your guidance, sir."
Barrow heard it and his eyes lit up; now he had a direction for his training. He bowed at once in thanks, and no longer felt the loss of the three hundred Poké Dollars at all. To be given advice like that — those three hundred Poké Dollars were worth it!
"Can I ask you something?"
"Please, sir, go ahead."
"Why do you people wear those clothes? In this heat, aren't you hot?"
"Not at all. It's a trial for a samurai."
As he said it, Barrow wore a resolute expression.
"What's the point of it?"
"Because it looks magnificent!"
"All right......... I don't feel it."
The corner of Vance's mouth twitched, and he walked away into the distance.
Giving the boy that advice had been nothing at all to Vance, but to the boy it might well be a lamp showing him the road, a piece of advanced knowledge about training Pokémon.
Without his advice it might have taken a long time to work out. Knowledge about Pokémon was precious, and people like them had no way of coming by it; they had to work it out for themselves.
Along the way Vance found himself in a rare easy mood, stopping and starting like any ordinary Trainer, taking in the scenery around him.
Along the way he also met a great many Trainers, some in small parties, some travelling alone; being in the area of the highway, perhaps, they all looked fairly relaxed, and not on their guard the way people were out in the empty wild.
It gave Vance a taste of what travelling felt like in the world of the anime. He had said as much — how could there be no such thing? It was only that he had been going about it the wrong way.
Before, when he came out into the wild it was to hunt, or else to cover ground, and a man had to keep a careful watch for fear of an ambush. Where was there anything like this in that?
Vance treated it as a holiday: he was a travelling Trainer, and all he had to do was travel with an easy mind — which also made good the imaginings he had had watching the anime in his previous life.
That evening he stayed the night at a small town along the way, and the next day set out again, reaching Pewter City a little after three in the afternoon.
After booking the next day's Gym battle with his Pokédex, Vance came to the Pokémon Center.
He found that a fair number of people had come there, and that the staff were not all Nurse Joys; just then there happened to be a Nurse Joy at the front desk.
"Hello, Nurse Joy. These are my Pokémon — if you would, please."
Vance set down his four Poké Balls and took out his Pokédex to swipe it.
"Certainly. Leave them with us."
Nurse Joy gave a gentle smile and took the four Poké Balls from the tray.
"Chansey—"
Beside Nurse Joy there followed an egg-shaped creature, calling out softly. It had a pink, egg-shaped body, hair-like growths on either side of its head, short arms and a short tail, and a lower body that was rather plump; on its belly was a pouch, and in the pouch was an egg.
Chansey, the Joy family's great helper, with a gentle heart beneath that endearing exterior.
Chansey is a Pokémon of gentle nature, and one of the Pokémon best suited to medical work.