Out of the sky, men and Pokémon came falling one after another.
"Look out!"
Talbot shouted it, and just before he hit the ground let out another Pokémon.
The others with experience let out Pokémon as well and shielded themselves before they landed; but some of them were too late and went straight into the ground, flesh torn and bloody.
"Team Rocket's leavings, is it. They really don't know their own measure."
The man came slowly on with the Suicune, looking at Talbot and Rufus and their party, and said it with contempt.
"It's him."
Rufus had recognised the newcomer as well: the officer commanding the place where he had been undercover, the man with a Legendary Suicune in his hands.
"Hold on, all of you. Our support will be here soon."
Rufus shouted it to put some heart into them, while he quietly looked about to see whether there was any way out.
"Don't wait for it. Somebody has already gone to head off the Cinnabar people. That old wretch Blaine will not be coming."
The man in the black robe beside the Suicune said it in his hoarse voice.
The one who had gone to head him off was stronger than he was, and the Suicune in that man's hands was stronger than his own.
"Hssss—"
"A Legendary — a Suicune!!"
"There's no measuring that strength. Its presence is heavier than any Gym-class Pokémon I've ever seen. How are we supposed to fight it?"
The Suicune's appearance set the crowd in an uproar. A great many of them had their hearts in their mouths and no stomach left for fighting it at all.
How were they to fight? The strongest men present were a few Elite Trainers, and the other side had a Legendary Pokémon!
And strength beyond measuring at that, put at Elite-Four-class. How could they stand against it?
The only thought in anybody's head now was to run.
"I'm giving these to you. In a moment we split up and run."
Rufus knew there was no waiting any longer. He took out several black parcels — what was in them, nobody knew — threw them to several of the men, and then they scattered like startled birds and ran off in every direction.
It was the only thing to be done now, and better than all of them huddled together.
It gave them a better chance of getting clear, too. Say what you like, the man was only one man and the Suicune only one Suicune, and a few of them might really get away.
"How simple you are. Where do you imagine you can run to?"
The Suicune at his feet moved. Every Water Gun turned a man into a burst of blood, and the Pokémon that put themselves in the way could not hold it: they were punched straight through and died horribly where they stood.
After a few of them he stopped, and stayed where he was, entirely at his ease, doing nothing.
And while he had been at it, the men who had fled came running back again, with a body of people behind them in pursuit.
The pursuers were dressed head to foot in black, with a badge on them in the shape of the character for "god".
"Damn it."
Talbot swore. He had thought that scattering might get one or two of them clear; now they had been driven back again.
And behind them was a Suicune of terrible strength, watching them the way a tiger watches.
"Commander, what do we do? Is there any way to reach the Branch Chief, get him to come and save us?"
One of his men came up beside him and asked it.
"The Branch Chief... even if the Branch Chief came, I don't suppose it would help."
Talbot said it with a bitter smile. Vance's showing had been a startling one, and to be at the level of a Gym-class Psychic so young was remarkable; but that was potential, not fighting strength. Even if he came, against that Suicune he would very likely only swallow his regret on the spot.
One of them was terrible in strength, the other terrible in potential. Which would win and which would lose was plain enough.
"Awoo—"
The pursuers behind them struck. The Mightyena gave a cry of pain and went with Rufus into a great leafy tree.
"Creeeak—"
The tree, which several men together could barely have got their arms round, snapped and came down; and at the critical moment it was Talbot who caught hold of him and pulled him out from under it.
"Thank you. I'm the one who's dragged you all into this."
Rufus said it with some shame. Say what you like, they had come to rescue him; they simply were not strong enough, exactly as he had feared.
"Ah, well."
Looking up at the Suicune, high above them like a lord of creation, Talbot shook his head. There was no running. No running at all.
"There's no telling how things will go."
Rufus said it helplessly. Faced with all this, he had fallen back into despair. A moment ago he had been marvelling at his own fortunes and calling himself a man of great luck and a long life, and now, before he knew it, he was in despair again.
Only this time, would anybody come for him?
Would they?
He thought not.
Unless Blaine and his people came, nobody could save him. Nobody could match that Suicune.
As the ring closed they drew together, as though standing near their fellows could give them some feeling of safety.
A feeling called despair was passing among them. They could smell death already.
Just then the man beside the Suicune seemed to sense something, and raised his head to look.
"Aerodactyl, Giga Impact."
"Roar—"
A streak of light came down out of the sky, and the Aerodactyl fell like a star and struck the ground.
"Craaash—"
A huge noise, and it came down into the block of the enemy opposite.
The next second the Gyarados, the Slaking, the Blaziken and the Zweilous appeared one after another and joined the fight, and with them in it the situation opened up at once.
"The Branch Chief's here. It's the Branch Chief."
"We're saved."
Vance's arrival brought some of their spirit back.
Only Talbot still had worry all over his face. He was not as hopeful as the rest of them.
"So the Branch Chief has come. A pity."
Vance came out from behind the Pokémon.
"Is this all that's left of you?"
One look had shown him a great many men missing, and Vance asked it.
"Yes, sir. Branch Chief, be careful. The real enemy isn't them. It's that man."
Talbot pointed at the Suicune in the distance.
Following the line of his finger, Vance saw the Suicune.
"A Suicune!!"
In the rush he had not seen it at once. He had never expected to come across one here.
"How interesting. Another one come here to die. The Branch Chief, is it? As young as that and already a Branch Chief — a prodigy, I suppose. Ha ha, I do love you prodigies! Grinding you into the ground is such fun."
Out from under the black cloak came a face, ghastly pale and old.
The cheekbones stood out, and a pair of small eyes narrowed, glittering with ill intent.
Prodigies. Prodigies were what he hated most. Happily he now had the power to grind prodigies into the ground, and would never be overtaken again.
It had cost him something, but it had been worth it.
His face looked old; in fact he was only a little over forty.
He counted himself fortunate, too. Getting out of that sea of misery and joining the Sacred Order was what had brought him to where he stood today.
His name was Korran. He had once been nothing but a Trainer who got nowhere and was forever being trodden on, of no more than Advanced strength.
Yet within seven or eight years of joining the Sacred Order he had come on by leaps and bounds, and now had a Legendary Pokémon and a whole region of his own to open up.
He watched his men driven back by Vance's Pokémon: beaten at the same level of strength, and beaten with the greater numbers on their own side.
He cursed them for useless, and then meant to do it himself.
"Suicune."
The Suicune beside him understood, opened its mouth and shot a Hydro Pump at the approaching Vance.
The Hydro Pump tore at the air hard enough to set off a cracking report.
The Slaking Teleported to a spot a little in front of Vance, blazing now with everything it had, and took the thing across its own body.
"Roar, roar—"
Driven back by the Hydro Pump, the Slaking gave ground step by step, its feet ploughing two furrows in the earth; and just as it looked about to fail, the Gyarados came forward and brought its Dragon Tail down.
"Bang—"
That took a good deal of the pressure off the Slaking, and it used the moment to bring a Hammer Arm round and blow the Hydro Pump apart.
The move had been taken.
The Slaking was soaked through and breathing hard.
Taking a move like that had plainly not been easy for the Slaking either.