He, the Aerodactyl, was a Pokémon with a Trainer now. Anything wrong with calling for backup?
No. Nothing whatsoever.
Once he saw Vance nod, the Aerodactyl rallied himself, beat his wings once, and shot up into the air again to meet the Fearow. This time he meant to hit back properly.
The Aerodactyl had reached level 40 by now; the next step was to break through to Elite.
Fighting this Fearow above his own tier would sharpen him, for one thing; and for another, the team had grown far too competitive — every last one of them could fight above their tier, and win at it, and if he, the Aerodactyl, did not put a few results of his own on the board, how was he to hold his place among them?
When he first joined he had been one of the strongest on the team. And look at things now.
He, the Aerodactyl, had his own wish to grow stronger; he was not content to be nothing but a flying mount. He could fight above his tier too.
Today he was going to hammer this Fearow flat, and nobody who came could save it. He, the Aerodactyl, said so.
The moment he charged up, the Fearow came swooping down, its fierce eyes full of contempt, as though it were mocking him.
That made the Aerodactyl furious. Looked down on by this scruffy bird, of all things. He would show it something presently, and let it see the majesty of the Aerodactyl, tyrant of the skies.
With Vance behind him, he felt he would have no trouble at all.
"Combusken, combusken—"
"Roar, roar—"
The Combusken and the rest were cheering the Aerodactyl on as well. He was their companion, after all, even if the fellow had no eye for anything and was forever misjudging other Pokémon.
By now the Aerodactyl had closed with the Fearow again.
A fight in the air has more room to it than one on the ground, and nothing in the surroundings to make use of.
"Feeearow—"
A thick layer of energy gathered abruptly over the Fearow, and it put out a Sky Attack, flying across the sky and touching off a sonic boom.
"Aerodactyl, Double Team."
Vance's voice came at the Aerodactyl's ear at just the right moment. The Aerodactyl carried it out at once, and a dozen and more Aerodactyl appeared in the air, the real and the false past telling apart.
"Fwoomp—"
The Fearow's attack struck several of the images one after another and did the Aerodactyl no harm at all.
The Fearow saw as much, and tried to turn its body about and come in again.
And at the very moment it turned, Vance's order reached the Aerodactyl's ear.
The Aerodactyl on the Fearow's left opened his mouth and let out a dark green Dragon Breath.
"Bang—"
The Dragon Breath landed squarely on the Fearow without any error and did it a certain amount of damage.
"Feeearow—"
But in making the move the Aerodactyl had also told the Fearow where he was; having eaten the Dragon Breath, it came on in a fury, the Sky Attack still not worn off, and charged straight at him.
"That Fearow really does have a temper on it. Still, that's the purpose served. Aerodactyl, up you go."
Vance said it with a slight laugh, seeing how furious the Fearow was, not even pausing to collect itself.
A move with great force behind it puts a great load on a Pokémon's body as well.
"Roar, roar—"
The Aerodactyl did as he was told and flew away up into the sky, with the Fearow following behind.
"Roar, roar—"
Flying in front, the Aerodactyl looked back at it and pulled a face at it into the bargain.
"Feeearow—"
At the mockery the Fearow's rage rose up; it put on speed, set on hammering this Aerodactyl to pieces.
The two Pokémon raced one another through the sky, the Aerodactyl always in front and still jeering from up ahead, which set the Fearow burning with rage.
Little by little the Fearow's stamina gave out and its speed dropped away.
"Heh heh. Out of stamina, are you? Then it's my turn."
The Aerodactyl doubled back all at once, gave the Fearow no time to gather itself, and launched an attack on it.
Blades of rock formed one after another around his body and came smashing down in a mass that blotted out the sky.
"Bang, bang, bang—"
The Fearow wanted to dodge, but its body had gone stiff and it could not get its speed up; unable to get out of the way, it had to beat its wings and block the attack.
The Aerodactyl came flying out of the dust again and took it full in the face with a Dragon Pulse, blasting it down.
The Aerodactyl's wings shone; he followed it down with Wing Attack, beating left and fanning right, every blow landing on the Fearow.
The Fearow did not simply take it; it hit back as well, its wings taking on the sheen of steel — the move Steel Wing.
Who would have thought it: the Aerodactyl watched the Fearow make the move, considered it a moment, and then used Steel Wing himself.
"Roar, roar—"
Having got hold of Steel Wing, the Aerodactyl seemed rather excited, and by way of thanking the Fearow he gave it a beating like a storm of wind and rain.
Where the two of them met there rang the clanging of steel on steel.
The longer the Aerodactyl fought the better his form grew, until for a while he had the Fearow pinned.
"Boom—"
An Elite-class presence appeared from him all at once. He had entered the Elite realm.
"Oh — the Aerodactyl's broken through." Vance felt it the instant it happened. That was good news indeed.
There were four on the team in the Elite-class now.
Down on the ground the Combusken and the rest were surprised for a moment, then thought no more of it; a thing like that was nothing very remarkable.
Roar, roar. He, the Aerodactyl, was a genius after all, to break through in the middle of a battle. Once through, the Aerodactyl felt he had got hold of a few moves as well, and this Fearow was just the thing to try his hand on.
"Roar, roar—"
The Aerodactyl grinned at the Fearow. He would not be holding back now; even face to face he could hammer it flat.
And besides, the rhythm of the fight was in his hands by now.
"Feeearow—"
The Fearow felt that something was wrong too. The opponent in front of it had suddenly grown a great deal stronger, and there was no less force in his blows than in its own; even now that it had recovered, it was being held down.
It used Aerial Ace to try to open the distance, only to find the Aerodactyl right on it, no slower than itself.
The two of them were very close; the Aerodactyl's mouth opened and his teeth, flickering with lightning, came biting in.
The Fearow dodged smartly aside, avoided the Thunder Fang, and paid him back in kind with a Drill Run, driving at him.
The Aerodactyl was not the least afraid and came to meet it, and just as the two were about to touch he swerved, shaved past its edge, and came straight in with an Iron Head.
What filled the Fearow's eyes was the Aerodactyl's skull, coming closer and growing larger.
With a dull thud the Iron Head landed, and the Fearow saw stars and went dizzy on the spot.
When it came to itself the Aerodactyl was nowhere in front of it; above, a terrible presence was building, the Aerodactyl gathered about with layer upon layer of force, until a shock wave with the Aerodactyl at its centre came driving down.
It was the powerful Normal-type move, Giga Impact.
It wrapped the Fearow up inside it and bore it straight down to the ground.
"Kraboom—"
At the great crash the ground shook several times over.
"Whoosh—"
The Aerodactyl came flying out of the dust and shook his head; he was a little dizzy, and his body had stiffened up as well.
But the Aerodactyl's spirits were good enough, because the Fearow could no longer get up; it lay in the crater, out cold.
After a hard fight he had brought this Fearow down; and the best of it was that he had broken through as well — a piece of luck he had never looked for.