"Whoa."
"Where did this boy spring from? That's a fierce line-up. Whose family is he from?"
"Good grief. Never mind a starter like a Combusken — he's even got an Aerodactyl. Well, well, well."
The appearance of the Gyarados and the rest startled the people around him, who took him for the son of some great house, with that many rare Pokémon to his name.
The Gyarados and the Vigoroth were ordinary enough, but a Combusken and an Aerodactyl were very rare indeed.
Vance paid no attention to their astonishment. He set his own power working, drawing more of the energy the giant Moon Stone was giving off and binding it around his four Pokémon.
He could feel that the Aerodactyl and the others were able to absorb this energy, and that it did them real good.
It worked best on the Vigoroth, who took in the most. That strange power inside him swept up the greater part of the energy, and once it was absorbed some change for the better took place.
Having absorbed it, the strange power would also send part of the energy out through him, to every part of his body.
Vance could sense that much.
Next came the Aerodactyl, which absorbed a good deal as well; and its aptitude was climbing slowly, until it had actually broken past Gym-class and entered Elite-Four-class aptitude.
Since being caught, the Aerodactyl had regularly eaten energy cubes made for it and potions mixed for it, and now, under the power the giant Moon Stone was giving off, its aptitude had risen too. A good thing all round.
The Gyarados's aptitude rose somewhat as well, though it stayed within Elite-Four-class. Vance knew it; the system's display showed it plainly enough.
The Combusken rose slightly too.
In that field of energy, the presence of all four Pokémon was swelling.
The sight delighted Vance still more, and he took some potions out of his pack at once and had them drink, to get as much out of it as he could.
Then he set his psychic power working again and drew more of it to the four of them, to help them up another level. He did not need it himself; the strength he had was enough for now.
Only a few people there noticed how singular a thing Vance was doing. Officer Jenny among them saw him drawing the power in, but she only smiled and did not stop him.
In a situation like this it was every man for himself; if you could not outdo the others, you accepted it and bowed out.
*So the boy is a Psychic as well.*
Officer Jenny said it inwardly, and made a note of Vance. With her eye for these things, of course she could see it.
Vance was not afraid of people knowing he had powers either; he simply preferred that they did not, and it would be no great matter if they found out.
There was nothing shameful about having powers.
Half the power in the place was drawn over by Vance for the Gyarados and the other three to absorb.
Before long their rising presences steadied. The Combusken had gone up to level 23, the Gyarados to 38, the Aerodactyl to 39, and the Vigoroth had reached 39 as well.
Then, all at once, every scrap of power around them was drawn into the Vigoroth. His presence surged, carried him to level 40, and a dazzling light of evolution broke out over his body.
The Vigoroth was evolving!
"Look, look — a Pokémon's about to evolve."
"What luck. It looks as though he'll be getting a great deal out of this."
The onlookers saw the Vigoroth evolving and all turned to watch. The evolution of a Pokémon is a thing people are always glad to see.
"So he's evolving. I wonder what the Vigoroth will be like afterwards."
Vance said it in anticipation. In his senses, the several powers within the Vigoroth were merging into one under that gentle force, their conflict gone, wholly unified.
It was not only the energy inside him; the same went for the Vigoroth's body and muscle. What had been flawed was restored to normal, and the Vigoroth was now a wholly healthy creature with nothing wrong with him.
The evolution went on. Inside that dazzling light the Vigoroth's shape was drawing out longer.
A powerful Elite-class pressure rose out of the light, plain for anyone outside to feel: on the strength of the evolution, the Vigoroth had entered the Elite tier and become an Elite-class Pokémon.
"Ding. Become an Elite-class Trainer: achieved."
Vance let that wait for the moment and watched the Vigoroth evolving.
"Roar—"
The light broke apart, and a tall figure stood in front of Vance.
The Slaking he had become.
A Slaking looks something like a baboon crossed with a gorilla, with a pink nose and cream-coloured skin. The rings around its eyes are brown; there are two tufts of white hair on its head like shoots, a ring of white fur about its neck and shoulders, and brown fur on its limbs.
The system brought up his data as well.
> **Pokémon:** Slaking (male) (mutated)
> **Type:** Normal, Psychic
> **Ability:** Huge Power / Truant (switchable)
> **Aptitude:** Near-Champion
> **Level:** 41
> **Moves:** Scratch, Encore, Yawn, Sucker Punch, Amnesia, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Take Down, Hyper Beam, Focus Blast, Focus Punch, Confusion, Psybeam, Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, Counter, Double Team, Protect, Teleport, Brick Break, Giga Impact, Shadow Ball, Thief, Body Slam, Fling
"The Vigoroth — no, the Slaking. The evolution has actually turned out this well!"
Vance was stunned once he had read it through. What was he looking at? A Slaking with the Huge Power Ability. It carried Truant behind that, true, but even so this was a very clear difference from an ordinary Slaking.
And to his delight, Vance found that the Slaking had learned Teleport as well!
A Pokémon built like a Slaking, using Teleport to get right in an opponent's face and unload on it — the picture was a beautiful one.
"Roar, roar—"
Under the Huge Power Ability the Slaking looked full of life, nothing like the usual Slaking, which lounges about and drops down to sleep where it stands.
"Slaking, how do you feel? Is anything uncomfortable?" Vance stepped forward and asked in concern.
"No, nothing. I feel all right. Don't worry about me, boss."
The Slaking felt his way through it before answering, and then thought a little longer.
"I think I can go into a sort of dormant state. In that state my body recovers very quickly."
"How do you mean?"
"Like this. I'll show you."
All at once the Slaking's presence changed. He went slack all over, lay down on the ground, propped his head on one hand and yawned.
Vance looked at the system again and found that the Slaking's Ability line now read Truant / Huge Power.
The important part was that the Slaking could control the switch himself.
He could turn the Ability to Huge Power in a battle and fight with it, and out of battle turn it to Truant and go dormant to recover his strength. That was a very good thing indeed.
"Ha ha ha. Rest like that for now, then."
Vance said it with a laugh, now that he understood.