"I think we've been misunderstood."
Vance said it mildly. Reading the feeling coming off them, he had guessed the truth of it.
This new swarm of Beedrill must believe that he had destroyed the colony, and had come for revenge.
He and the Blaziken were taking the blame meant for the Ursaring.
The only ones left on the ground now were the two of them — the two of them, and nobody else.
The Beedrill's fury was such that even with the Viridian Power in him, Vance could not dissolve their intent to kill.
Of course, Vance had not let the Viridian Power out; only a trace of it showed now and then.
"Beedrill!!"
At a furious cry from the lead Beedrill, every Beedrill there raised its twin lances together, a dangerous light rose along them, and attack after attack came down thick enough to blot out the sky.
Pin Missile, Poison Sting, Venoshock and several Solar Beams, all of them at once.
"Boom—"
A roar far louder than any before it went up on the spot.
And there was no sign of Vance where he had been. He had used Teleport and pulled out.
To be safe he did not linger either; there was no telling what this would draw in if it went on, so better to play it steady.
Under a towering tree, Vance and the Blaziken appeared.
"Blaziken, blaziken—"
The Blaziken was squawking away, still registering his dissatisfaction with him over what had just happened.
"They aren't worth anything. And with the honey gone they're worth less still."
At that the Blaziken shut up at once.
No value, then. Nothing to worry about. Blaziken.
"Beedrill are a very common sort of Pokémon. There are huge numbers of them in the wild, and their life cycle is shorter than most, so they aren't worth much. Understood, Blaziken?"
"Blaziken—"
Up ahead the Blaziken nodded to show that he understood.
After that their luck did not hold and they met no suitable opponents, though they did see several scenes of the strong eating the weak.
The Beedrill themselves went about in packs, taking Grass-type Pokémon — Oddish, Bellsprout and the like — and tearing the flesh off them with their sharp twin lances, after which a swarm of Weedle set to gnawing at the remains, with a few of the Beedrill joining in.
Crobat were running down a flock of Pidgeotto, drinking their blood, draining them dry, or else gnawing at the meat.
Other scenes of the same sort, all of them bloody, kept appearing.
Even in a place like this there were weak Pokémon at the bottom of the order surviving, and in no small numbers.
The strong ones, by comparison, were rather fewer.
And Vance and the Blaziken were being chased by a flock of Crobat that had been worrying about where the next meal was coming from when the two of them conveniently turned up.
So Vance and the Blaziken had the Crobat's attention. Out in the wild there was no reasoning with anything.
"Screee, screee—"
The flock of Crobat flew closer and closer and were about to catch up, and up ahead Vance came to a stop.
That puzzled them a little, but not much, and the Crobat decided to press on; that red chicken, and that warm blood, had them craving already.
"Blaziken, Flamethrower."
A rope of fire appeared all at once in the gloom, and the heat coming off it made the Crobat uncomfortable.
"Screee—"
Blue sound waves came one after another and met the flame.
There were so many of them that they broke the fire apart, and it burst outward.
"Screee, screee—"
The Crobat shoved past one another into the smoke of the blast.
And what met them there was one fierce Pokémon after another.
The Gyarados, the Zweilous and the rest were on the field, terrible energy attacks already gathering on them.
There were odd smiles on several of their faces, as though welcoming the visitors in.
"Roar, roar. Have a Hyper Beam."
The Gyarados went first and opened with Hyper Beam, his heaviest move, and Dragon Pulse, Fire Blast and the rest came straight after.
The gloom of the place was lit up in an instant by all those colours.
Under that barrage the pursuing Crobat dropped to the ground in a rush, like dumplings going into the pot.
After one wave of moves a dense black mass had become a scattered few.
And those few now had the Gyarados and the others looking at them.
"Leave this one to me."
The Aerodactyl flew out and took one of the Crobat away with a single diving strike, and then the Slaking and the others moved in turn and divided up what was left.
The flock, so fierce a moment ago, did not last a minute before it was wiped out.
It happened faster than anyone could react to.
The strongest few in the flock were only Gym-class, and could not hold out long at all.
"Blaziken. Animals, the lot of you. That fast, and I only got one."
The Blaziken grumbled and cursed.
Vance paid no attention, took out a few Poké Balls and picked out which of the Pokémon on the ground to collect.
Then he took his Pokémon and left the spot quickly, heading elsewhere.
In a corner Vance had not noticed, two figures appeared, one large and one small.
They watched him go with thoughtful expressions; a closer look showed an aged Alakazam and a very young Ralts.
"Those Pokémon were so fierce, Grandpa Alakazam."
The Ralts said it softly over telepathy.
"Fierce? Isn't that only what strength looks like? Ralts, did you feel it? That human has the presence of us Psychic Pokémon about him as well. He must be a Psychic."
The Alakazam smiled as it said it to her.
There was a great deal of weathering in its eyes. It had seen a great deal, and naturally did not think the way a blank page of a Ralts did.
"A Psychic. Is he as strong as you, Grandpa Alakazam?"
The Ralts looked up at it guilelessly.
"Not now. Later, who can say. If I have not sensed it wrongly, there is another power on him besides — the Viridian Power."
"What's the Viridian Power? Can you eat it?"
"Ha ha ha. No, you cannot eat it. But it is better than eating."
The Alakazam laughed at how innocent the Ralts was. She really was too innocent.
"Let me take you to have a look. Perhaps I can find you somewhere to go as well. I... haven't much longer left in me."
"Grandpa Alakazam, are you all right?"
"I'm all right."
And then it took the small figure with it and followed after, in the same direction Vance had gone.