Vance gave the Mega Stone to the Aerodactyl to carry, went off a little way and brought out his Key Stone as well.
"Ready, Aerodactyl?"
"Roar, roar."
"Then let's begin. Mega Evolve, Aerodactyl!"
"Roar, roar—"
Several streams of brilliant light met, and the Aerodactyl began to Mega Evolve.
Nothing went wrong along the way, and the Aerodactyl's Mega Evolution was complete.
The light drew in, and Mega Aerodactyl stood on the ground.
"Just as I thought. The bond between the Aerodactyl and me is enough, too."
Vance said it quietly. The Aerodactyl had not been raised from small; he had been caught out in the wild, by chance.
It made no difference, though. After the catching, and all this time together — training, fighting, living side by side — the two of them had come to have bond enough between them without either of them noticing.
"Aerodactyl, you......"
Looking at an Aerodactyl as imposing as that, Vance was about to say something when he heard the noise from its stomach, and the Aerodactyl's own inward voice as well; they were in a state of bonding just then, and he heard it perfectly clearly.
"Grrrowl—"
"I'm so hungry. Oh no, the Boss is looking at me......"
"Didn't you eat enough, Aerodactyl?"
At that the Aerodactyl's old face went red. He really had not eaten much today, because it had not been good; and now, at this great moment of Mega Evolution, along came his stomach being hungry, and Vance had felt it too.
Vance could hear the Aerodactyl's inward voice; and the other way about, the Aerodactyl could feel what Vance was thinking.
"Never mind. It doesn't matter. How does it feel now?"
Vance waved it away and said it gently.
"Roar, roar." The Aerodactyl felt carefully into this violent surge of new power. Strong. Very strong. Extremely strong!
At that moment even he was muddled by the sudden flood of it.
> **Name:** Mega Aerodactyl (male)
> **Type:** Flying, Rock
> **Ability:** Tough Claws
> **Aptitude:** Elite-Four-class
> **Level:** 58
> **Moves:** Fly, Wing Attack, Bite, Supersonic, Thunder Fang, Fire Fang, Ice Fang, Roar, Agility, Ancient Power, Double Team, Flamethrower, Rock Slide, Aerial Ace, Stone Edge, Rock Tomb, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact, Dragon Claw, Steel Wing............
Mega Aerodactyl's data showed on the system display. After the Mega Evolution he had gone straight from 48 to 58.
And Mega Aerodactyl looked very different from the Aerodactyl as well.
After the Mega Evolution, on top of his former shape, he was covered all over in sharp black rock — the two horns on his brow, his lower jaw, his wings, his body, all of it.
It made him look more imposing still, and more powerful.
The story goes that this shape of Mega Aerodactyl's is his original one, and that the Aerodactyl of the ancient world looked exactly so.
With the turning of the ages they changed by degrees into the Aerodactyl of today.
"Roar, roar—"
The Aerodactyl gave an excited cry. Ha ha ha — he, the Aerodactyl, had a Mega Evolution too.
He flew up into the air and threw out a casual blow at the ground below.
And blasted out an empty stretch of it. Gym-class power!
He had that now as well.
"Whoo-hoo—"
The Aerodactyl flew about the sky in his delight, tasting what it was to be strong.
After the Mega Evolution he had passed the Zweilous and the Slaking at a stroke and entered the first rank. Ha ha.
Below him Vance watched him show off, smiling. The sky above was black just now; the moon had hidden itself in thick cloud and did not come out.
"Roar, roar—"
When he had shown off a while, Mega Aerodactyl flew back down in front of Vance.
"Not bad, this chance of yours."
"Awooo, awooo. It's good, it's good, it's very good indeed."
The Aerodactyl nodded and nodded. This Mega Evolution was splendid.
A pity, that was all, that it could not be permanent.
He was the same as the Gyarados had been at the time: sorry that this Mega Evolution could not be permanent.
And it was precisely because he had seen a Mega Evolution before that he knew it was a temporary state and not a lasting one.
"That's enough. I'm releasing it. All that noise of yours has woken the others up."
"Roar, roar—"
The light burst out, and Mega Aerodactyl came out of the Mega Evolution and went back to his own shape.
When they got back to the camp, sure enough, the Blaziken and the rest were all awake, roused by the racket the Aerodactyl had been making.
"Roar, roar—"
The Aerodactyl apologised, rather embarrassed. He had been too excited just then.
The Blaziken and the others understood it well enough; they had been much the same in their day. Who is not muddled by a sudden flood of power like that?
"Ralts—"
The Ralts got to her feet muzzily too, still half asleep.
"So the Ralts is awake as well."
Vance put out his arms and lifted her up, and she settled into them as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Everyone's awake, then. Let's have a late supper."
"Oh, good. Blaziken."
That meal in the daytime had been too ordinary; there had been no enjoying it.
There was no help for it. Vance had spoiled their palates, and ordinary food was genuinely hard to get down.
Vance set the Ralts down, brought out his pots and pans and bowls and set to work on a late supper; before long the smell of it was spreading, and the Aerodactyl and the rest caught it — mm, that was the smell.
That was it. That was good food.
"Now, you lot, you mustn't be like this. If something ever goes wrong, you'll have to eat whatever there is to eat — you can't go on this way. Whatever can be eaten, eat it and fill yourselves and keep your strength up for whatever trouble may come."
Vance said it, so that his Pokémon would understand the thing.
The Pokémon understood it, and one after another said they agreed.
It was only that it did not suit their taste, so they ate little of it; and besides, there was not much energy in that food. It was not like Vance's, and it was digested away far too soon.
Out in the wild they would certainly eat whatever there was.
"Whoo, whoo, whoo—"
Vance went at it, with his psychic power helping the work along, and had it done in no time.
The Pokémon gathered round in a ring and fell to with a will.
That tempting smell drew the eyes of the Pokémon round about as well, though the strength of the presence of the Gyarados and the others kept them from coming nearer, and they could only watch from a distance, quietly.
Vance let them be. So long as they did not come closer he could not be bothered with them; and as for handing food out, that was beyond him, with so many of them.
The supplies he had laid in during the day were nowhere near enough for it.