"There, you see? Isn't that a coincidence? The Gyms we don't hold are exactly the ones you've already challenged. If that isn't a coincidence, what is?"
Nolan was smiling, stretched out on the soft sofa; then he sat up straight and gave him a warning in a serious tone.
"This — you just keep it in mind. Ordinary people know nothing about it. I'm only telling you on the quiet because you saved my life. Don't let it get out."
"Don't worry. I understand."
Vance agreed to it at once, and then put a question of his own.
"So this application — how does one go about applying?"
"Ha, that part's simple. I'll have the Gym Leader sign for you later and the application will go through."
Nolan answered generously and took the matter on then and there.
"Good. Thank you, then. That gives me more time to train the Pokémon instead of running from one city to the next."
"Oh, don't talk like that. If anyone's thanking anyone, it should be me thanking you."
Nolan waved it away.
It left Vance thinking that this was a man worth knowing.
"Thanking? Who's thanking whom?"
A loud, rough voice came from the doorway, and then a man walked in. He was very tall, over two metres, a green top worn carelessly over a powerfully built frame, a chain about his neck, and the whole loose-limbed look of him like some street gang's boss.
"Lt. Surge, the Gym Leader of Vermilion City."
Vance recognised the newcomer at a glance. It was Lt. Surge, Gym Leader of the Vermilion Gym and Team Rocket's Branch Chief in Vermilion City as well.
"Uncle, what brings you here?"
At that Nolan got up from the sofa.
*Uncle? So this Nolan is Lt. Surge's nephew.*
Vance understood it now. Nolan was one of the second generation as well. Back at the base he had thought there was something out of the ordinary about him, and Wilder had not dared go after him — and this was why: he had a Branch Chief for an uncle.
That was probably why he had picked Vermilion City, too. With an uncle like that looking out for him it was a great deal safer.
"Came to see how you are. All right, are you? Tolliver and the other one told me you were badly hurt."
Lt. Surge crouched halfway down, looked him over with a pair of ox-like eyes, and only when he found that he really was all right did he let out a breath.
"Your uncle was careless this time. Thank goodness you're all right."
"It's thanks to Vance. If it weren't for him I wouldn't have got back at all."
"Thanks are in order, then." Only then did Lt. Surge turn round, face Vance and say in that coarse, heavy voice of his, "So you're one of ours too, brother. Who's your superior?"
"Sylas."
"Sylas, is it. Then you're with that old rascal Bram."
One word and Lt. Surge had his background placed. They were all in Kanto, and a Branch Chief in one place naturally knew the Branch Chiefs in the others.
"Hahaha. How about coming over and working for me, then? If you've got six Pokémon of Advanced strength, I'll make you a Division Commander."
"No, thank you. I'm doing well enough where I am."
Vance declined with a light laugh. Things as they stood suited him very well.
"Don't go poaching, Uncle. Vance has work of his own. And as it happens there's something we want from you — put in for the four badges from Viridian, Fuchsia, Cinnabar and Saffron for him, so Vance doesn't have to make the trip."
Nolan stepped in, cutting his uncle off, and raised the matter he wanted help with.
"An application? No problem."
Lt. Surge agreed without a moment's thought. Applying for four badges was nothing difficult for a man in his position.
"Nolan, look after your friend properly and show the man some thanks. You're off work these next few days. Take him round some of Vermilion's sights — and there's something on aboard the S.S. Anne just now, you could go and see that as well. Leave the badges to me."
"Right. You two talk. I've things to do, so I'll be off."
After sitting a while, Lt. Surge left as well.
"Well, I'd never have guessed. The Gym Leader is your uncle. No wonder. So you're 'second generation' too."
Vance said it with a laugh once Lt. Surge had gone.
"It's nothing much, not worth talking about." Nolan made light of it. "Let me play host these few days. And as it happens the S.S. Anne comes in to dock in a few days with a big event on. We'll go and see what it's like."
"A big event on the S.S. Anne. That's convenient timing."
Vermilion City was a port, with a great many merchant ships coming and going, and the most famous of them was this S.S. Anne, an enormous luxury liner. With a large commercial event on top of that, it would be busier still, and Vance found himself interested.
For the next few days Vance stayed at the Vermilion Gym rather than checking in at the Pokémon Center.
Nolan warmly took Vance round a good many of Vermilion City's sights, and he got a taste of the local flavour.
"Here are the tickets for the S.S. Anne. We'll go and see it tomorrow."
That evening Nolan came with two glittering gold tickets and laid them in front of Vance.
Coming from him they were naturally not ordinary tickets but VIP tickets, good for sightseeing anywhere on the S.S. Anne without restriction.
"Word is a pseudo-legendary is going to turn up at this event. Any interest in having a go at it?"
Nolan let out a piece of inside information.
"Oh? Have a go how? Do you know anything about the buyer and the seller?"
Vance asked it with some curiosity.
"Not yet. It's on a fair scale this time, and the organisers have kept it well under wraps."
Nolan shook his head.
As things stood the S.S. Anne was not yet entirely under Team Rocket's control; it was still run jointly by several of Kanto's great houses.
It was only that Team Rocket members had worked their way in among them without anyone noticing, and their share of the upper levels was growing all the time.
While the great houses were not paying attention, their hold on the S.S. Anne was slipping away from them.
"Do you know which pseudo-legendary it is?"
Vance asked again. A chance at a pseudo-legendary would be no bad thing. His own Pokémon were not far short of one, but if the chance came he would not turn it down.
"All I know is that it's a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary. It isn't from the Dragon Clan; it comes from another League's territory, which is why it's being put on the market here."
"A Dragon-type pseudo-legendary..."
Salamence, Garchomp, Hydreigon — the Dragon-type pseudo-legendaries went through Vance's mind.
"Well? Tempted, aren't you."
"Tempted, yes, but I'll leave it there. Anyone who can put a pseudo-legendary on the table is no weakling. Better we let it go."
Vance said it with a rueful laugh, seeing the situation for what it was.
"True enough. Still, there's no harm in having the idea. In any case we'll go and take a look first, and if a chance does come we mustn't let it slip. We're Team Rocket — we're the villains, as far as everyone else is concerned. Isn't taking other people's Pokémon standard practice for us?"
"Ha. True."
Vance went along with it. Team Rocket were the villains, weren't they? Any case the League could not get to the bottom of, any case that looked bad enough, was said to be Team Rocket's doing.
From an old woman falling over in the street to an open attack on the League, anything with a whiff of wrongdoing about it was put down to Team Rocket with one voice.