Vance took the Golduck into a ball and called the Slaking back.
Only in the fight with the Golduck had the Slaking felt he was really battling; it had cost him nearly half his stamina, but he thought it well worth it.
Wild Pokémon have no Trainer to guide and drill them; their presence is fierce enough, but their way of fighting is comparatively wooden, and they are easier to handle than Pokémon under a Trainer's direction.
On top of that, Vance's Pokémon were strong to begin with, their aptitudes extremely high, their training thorough and their feeding generous.
Which was why they could fight above their tier.
Defeating the Golduck earned Vance 55 Battle Points; after all these days of fighting he was 500 short of the 8,000.
The Aerodactyl and the others had each made progress as well.
The Gyarados had now risen to level 43, the Slaking to 44, the Aerodactyl to 42 and the Combusken to 31.
The Deino, having settled his strength, had broken through to level 42 as well, and there were signs of an evolution coming.
A newborn consciousness was forming inside the Deino, and perhaps thanks to that earlier "remnant will" it was growing remarkably fast; by now it was near enough complete.
The Deino's evolution might well come within a few days. It would not be as in the games, where he must reach level 50 before he could become a Zweilous; in fact an ordinary Deino evolves somewhere in its forties, and there are even some that evolve in their thirties — only those are rarer.
Reality is not a game. Everything in it shifts; nothing stays fixed once and for all.
...............
In Saffron City, inside the Team Rocket branch, Cerise was saying something to the middle-aged man in front of her: ordinary features, several scars across his face, short and stout, in a leather coat that made him look bloated.
"Division Commander Grady, whatever it is you want, say it. By rank you're my superior, after all."
Cerise set down her teacup and said it evenly, telling Grady to state plainly what he had come to her for.
"Heh. Squad Leader Cerise is a plain speaker. Then I won't keep you waiting either. I've come to ask how my nephew Wilder came to die on Trial Island. If you know anything of it, I'd be grateful if you'd tell me."
Grady did not dare put on airs either, and came straight to his business.
He was a Gym-class Trainer, but the woman across from him was nothing to sneer at: a Psychic herself, and already an Elite-class Trainer while still young — a prodigy, you might call her.
Barring accidents, in a few years this prodigy would leave an "old hand" like him well behind.
Given time there was every chance she would rise into the senior leadership, so naturally Grady did not dare offend her too far.
And he had only just been transferred back to Saffron City in Kanto from the Johto region; this was no time to make an enemy of her.
"Wilder?" Cerise's brows drew together slightly. She remembered that there had been such a person among the crowd on the trial: a bully who traded on the little strength he had, fond of leaning on the weak, of picking on new Rocket recruits with nobody behind them. His character seemed poor as well, rash and impulsive — though he had a certain low cunning and an eye for people, and knew who was not to be crossed and who could be pushed about.
Among that intake of Rocket recruits there were several he had crippled or badly hurt.
"I know nothing about it. After we landed on Trial Island I never ran into him again, and I've no idea what happened in the end."
Cerise said it slowly, after a moment's thought.
"Is that so." Grady was not satisfied with the answer, and asked again.
"Then, Squad Leader Cerise — do you know who Wilder had a grudge with? Someone who keeps himself well hidden, who holds himself in?"
"Keeps himself hidden?" At that Cerise did think of Vance — a man who had survived Trial Island with nothing but a Magikarp, and had not even looked the worse for wear when she saw him. A man like that must have something to rely on. That would count as keeping himself hidden, wouldn't it.
"That's right, Squad Leader Cerise. By the look of you, has something come to mind?" Grady asked eagerly.
"No. Only that it put me in mind of something else."
Cerise shook her head and gave him an excuse.
Grady had experience enough; seeing her like that, his instinct told him she knew something, and that it might well have to do with the man he was asking about.
"I'd be obliged if you'd tell me the truth. I won't let you lose by it. Take these Advanced energy cubes as a gift for the trouble of my asking." Grady brought several boxes of energy cubes out of his storage space — Psychic-type ones, at that, chosen to suit her taste.
"I'm sorry. I really don't know. You can go and ask somebody else." Cerise shook her head and refused again.
Seeing Cerise refuse again and again, giving him no face at all, Grady grew displeased; his expression soured and his tone grew heavier.
"Is Squad Leader Cerise like this because she's afraid of letting some secret out? All I want is to know about Wilder."
"Commander Grady, I've told you, I really don't know. There's no need to keep sounding me out. I have work to do now. Kindly leave." Cerise said it flatly. She had been polite, but she was not afraid of him. Who did he think he was pulling that face at, in her own office?
"That isn't—"
"About Wilder, I know nothing. And to speak plainly, a man who is only good at bullying the weak isn't worth my noticing. Do you understand me now?"
"I was out of line. My apologies. I'll go at once."
Seeing her temper up, Grady did not dare go on, and apologised.
"Wait. Take these with you." Cerise pointed at the boxes of energy cubes, and added, "In any case it has nothing to do with me. If you want to believe Cerise did it, please yourself."
"No, no. Of course not."
Grady said hastily. This woman was not to be trifled with either; better not to offend her.
By the look of her she really had nothing to do with Wilder's death. Rule her out for now, and go and look at the others.
Out of the office, Grady held a list with several names written plainly on it. First on it was Cerise, then Nolan, then Vance, and after them the other recruits who had taken part.
"This Nolan — Lt. Surge's nephew, is he..."
"Vance. Had a grudge with Wilder, by the look of it, and took the top place with a Magikarp. There's no small suspicion on this one."