"Roar, roar—"
With that roar the Zweilous broke through into level 53 and drew level with the Slaking once more.
"Heh heh heh. A genius, that's what I am."
Black Two cackled away.
"Quiet. Show a little modesty."
Black One called a halt, telling him to stop shouting.
"We've got the strength for it."
That was what he said, but Black Two's voice dropped all the same.
"Impressive."
The Slaking opened both eyes and made a gesture of approval.
The Gyarados and the others alongside had seen it break through often enough by now to be quite unmoved, and went on with their training.
Even the Aerodactyl, the most easily rattled of them, only spared it a glance before going back to work. It was steady as a rock these days.
*No need to panic at all. He, the Aerodactyl, had a Mega Evolution. He was not going to be the one at the bottom.*
*Ever since the Mega Evolution his back had stopped aching and his legs had stopped hurting, and his spirits were uncommonly good into the bargain.*
*Woo-hoo. Taking off.*
Its shape swept past, move after move going out and slamming into the target ahead; then it doubled back, came round again, and put in another round of attacks.
Good results. Up to standard.
The Aerodactyl came down to the ground, folded its wings and looked over its handiwork, well pleased with it.
*Clear in the head and easy in the body. Training was efficient now, and even its aim was better than it used to be.*
Vance watched from beside them, nodding now and then. The Pokémon were all working hard.
At this rate it would be a wonder if they did not grow strong.
The communicator in his hand sounded. He picked it up and looked: Talbot calling.
"Hello."
"Branch Chief, sir. The League has taken that base out. Delaney led the operation."
On the other end, Talbot made his report.
"Mm. Understood."
Vance answered mildly.
"There's more. Our people have turned up something interesting as well."
"Oh? What sort of interesting?"
That did catch Vance's interest, and he listened.
"We've found that this Deputy Mayor Delaney is carrying on with the old mayor's younger wife, and we have solid evidence of it."
"Now that is interesting." Vance laughed when he had heard it. He had not expected Delaney to play so wild a game — going after the mayor's own wife.
It was a valuable piece of intelligence, and a small hold over the man besides; it might well come in useful later.
So Vance gave his instructions: Talbot was to keep his grip on it, and they were to pay closer attention to this Delaney.
Vance remembered the man well enough. Back in Celadon City he had squeezed money out of him, and lectured him about vision into the bargain.
Another of your men of vision.
Once the orders were given there was nothing else to report, so Vance hung up and went back to coaching the Pokémon through their training.
"Ralts—"
A dozen and more beads floated in front of the Ralts. The beads were for raising psychic power, and for improving its command of that power.
A fairly standard method of training.
The Ralts had reached level 16 as well, five levels up, which was no slow rate of progress.
Over these days together the Ralts had settled into the group, and the desolation it had felt at the Alakazam's leaving was gradually fading.
It had grown much livelier too, and often came to Vance to be fussed over.
As the smallest of the team it was looked after by the Gyarados and the rest, who gave way to it in a great many things and made much of it.
Vance had drawn up a breeding plan to suit the way it was developing.
By the time that Alakazam came back, the Ralts would probably have evolved into a Kirlia.
At level 16 now, it would not be long; evolution was not far off.
The Zweilous at level 53, at the rate it was improving, could hardly be far from evolving either.
Once it had evolved, the Zweilous's strength would reach a new height.
Vance was looking forward to it.
There was still time, so he would aim to get the Zweilous and the Ralts evolved before the Conference, and then, if the chance came, catch a few more Pokémon and raise them up, to make things easier to manage.
So Vance thought.
He caught his Pokémon as chance brought them.
This last time, for no reason he could name, a Pokémon had come to him of its own accord, and he had taken it in.
Not that he minded: with an aptitude like the Ralts's it would have been a waste not to catch it, and with an aptitude like that its parents were probably excellent Pokémon themselves.
...............
"Boom, boom, boom—"
On the trial ground stood a giant Meowth robot.
"It worked, meow."
Meowth said it in excitement.
"It did, it did. With this Meowth robot we'll have a much easier time of it."
James wiped off the sweat and said it with satisfaction.
After all that fuss, they had got it built at last.
*Hah. Now let anyone try to be a match for them.*
*He had said it: the three of them together were unbeatable in this place.*
The robot might look unremarkable, but it was proof against water, fire, lightning, explosions and the rest, with any number of functions gathered into the one machine.
The strongest of them was the Pokémon-catching function.
Part of the assessment was scored on Pokémon caught.
The rarer the Pokémon, the higher the score.
"Hah! I'd like to see how Cassidy and Butch mean to fight us now."
Jessie laughed out loud in her triumph. Looking at the robot, it was a sure thing.
"Mm, mm. There shouldn't be any trouble now, meow."
Meowth held a thick book in both hands, a book on the subject of robots.
Perhaps he, Meowth, had a gift for it: he had digested the whole of the theory, and had no real trouble with the practical side either.
"Go go go, off we go, off we go."
Then the two of them and the one Pokémon climbed into the robot and drove it off in a great rush.
A moment later Viper appeared on the spot, watched the robot dwindle into the distance, and his mouth twitched.
Those two and their Pokémon really were something. He had wondered what they wanted all that scrap metal for, and here they had made something of it.
Really, they were........
No wonder the Boss had given special orders about them. Talents, every one, and rare talents at that.
That was what Viper thought. In all his long time as an instructor it was the first time he had seen trainees do anything of the sort.