Next morning, deep in the jungle, there were bursts of noise like explosions.
Vance walked in the middle of it, Zoroark in front, the Onix on his left, the Sandslash on his right, Gastly behind and the Kirlia at his side, and they rolled over everything as they went.
Gyarados and the others had met no Pokémon worth their while and stayed in their Poké Balls to rest; this was Zoroark and company's time.
"Pick up anything worth picking up, and then we go."
Vance called it out. A fight had just finished.
"Ssh-ssh—"
The Sandslash was holding a honeycomb and eating away at it happily.
So sweet. So very good.
It had never got any before, because the thing was too dangerous, and it got hurt over it, and then those Beedrill were not to be trifled with.
Even passing by it would take a sting or two; never mind wanting to eat their honey — not eating stingers was doing well.
It ate its fill and licked its claws. What a pleasure it was.
"We're off. The journey goes on."
Over there, hearing Vance calling it, the Sandslash hurried across.
And so Vance took the Kirlia, Zoroark and the other three, the new first team, and put them through their paces here.
"Sandslash, your build is small and your speed is nimble. For now we mainly build up your attacking power — the force behind your Fury Cutter, for one. And then speed: speed that's fast, and your presence hidden with it, so that you can strike by surprise..."
Vance was telling the Sandslash the direction of its training, and the Sandslash's direction was to go the way of an "assassin."
For a Sandslash built like that it suited very well; whereas for something like the Onix it would not have suited at all.
For the Onix, Vance's advice was to raise its own defence, to prepare for fights aimed at its joints, and to handle close-quarters work so that it could answer effectively, and then to use moves like Sandstorm, Sand Tomb and Stone Edge to build up what it could do against an enemy and serve at a distance.
In that way, guarded in attack and defence both, a great many shortcomings were made up.
This time, matched against the Sandslash, that was exactly the problem that had been exposed.
If Vance could see it and direct the Sandslash at those weak points, other Trainers naturally could as well.
Naturally, then, those had to be made good and given the weight of the training.
As for the rest, Zoroark and Gastly each had training of their own.
The five Pokémon trained and fought at the same time, and the effect was a good one.
Seven days running, they stayed out in the wild.
Five days later Vance crossed the long stretches of wild country and came to the outskirts of Celadon City.
As it happened, the supplies in his hands were nearly used up, and he could restock in the city.
Each of the five Pokémon had improved: Zoroark was now level 34, the Kirlia 26, Gastly 25, the Sandslash 33 and the Onix 46.
Gyarados and the rest had improved rather less. Their strength now stood at Gyarados level 58, Zweilous 57, Slaking come to 56, Aerodactyl 53 and Blaziken 53.
Only Blaziken had broken through a level and caught up with Aerodactyl; the others were still grinding their strength down fine, quietly storing power up before making their own breakthroughs.
"Celadon City."
Vance said it with some feeling. The last time he had come here from headquarters he had been a small figure, with no certainty of the next day.
Now, he was back.
The strength in his hands was a match for an Elite-Four-class, and the rest of it was nothing like what it had been then; he had greater power, he had more choices, and he was far more at his ease.
At the very worst, he still had the Alakazam living out its retirement.
Since it had acted last time the strain on it had been too great; after coming back it had slept deeply inside its Poké Ball, and Vance had not disturbed it and let it rest at its own pace.
It was well on in years.
The Chief Investigator in Celadon City was only Elite-Four-class, and the guard here in the ordinary way of things would not be very strong either; which is to say that as long as he did not go courting death, there would generally be no trouble, and a Pokémon like the Alakazam would not be needed.
Last time had been something of an accident — running into those people from the Godbeast Gang.
Out on the busy street Vance saw the shop where he had once stayed with Ambrose and Emery. The sign had changed; it was running as a restaurant now.
He had spent no little time here as well, back when he was weak, and had some feeling about it.
After a few glances Vance left. He had changed; so had that place. Everything had its own arrangements.
As it was now, he was sure, was the best arrangement of all.
He came to the Game Corner in the centre of Celadon City, worked the button with the ease of practice, took the lift and came down to the Team Rocket base underground.
He had only just come out of the lift when he ran into Sylas.
"Hello, Division Commander."
Vance greeted him with a smile.
"And you are?"
Sylas too was startled by this man appearing out of nowhere; there was something vaguely familiar in his face, and he was wearing Team Rocket credentials.
"It's me. Vance."
Vance let a little of the psychic work on his face fall away, and only then did Sylas see it clearly.
"It's you!! Come, come, we'll talk in my room."
Sylas said it at once, and took Vance to his office, and the two of them sat facing one another.
"Last time I went to headquarters looking for you I couldn't get sight of you, and I couldn't get any word of you either. Where have you gone and made good, you young devil?"
Once they were seated, Sylas spoke first.
After Vance went back to headquarters he had come under Giovanni and answered to him directly; information about him, his movements and the rest of it were at a very high grade, and Sylas simply could not get at them.
"I went to Dark City. Rotten luck, as it turned out — not long after I got there the Dark City branch was wiped out as well, so it was back to headquarters for me. There are new arrangements at the moment; I was passing through Celadon today and thought I'd drop in on the way."
Sylas had treated him well in the old days, and Vance remembered it.
Besides dropping in, he also wanted to restock a batch of supplies here at the base, which was quicker and more convenient.
"That's good, then." Sylas nodded, and then a troubled look came over his face, and he said:
"That time — I never knew what had happened to you. By the time I got back from my assignment, you'd gone back to headquarters."
Whatever else might be said, his own subordinate had been attacked by outsiders and he had been unable to help; other people might not know of it, but it sat badly with him.
"It doesn't matter, Commander. I came out of it all right, didn't I?"
"So tell me — how far has that Gyarados got by now? Have you caught any rare Pokémon?"
"Naturally I have. The Gyarados is Gym-class now."
Vance said it with a smile.
"What!! Gym-class??"
Sylas was astounded. That was far too quick.
His first thought was that it could not be true, but looking at Vance's face, the thing was no lie. It was true.
"It beggars belief."
Sylas said it in his astonishment. Could power rise as fast as that? Gym-class already — it was hardly to be credited.
"Is our Branch Chief still here?"
Vance said it with a narrow smile. That great Branch Chief had given him a good deal of annoyance in his day.
"Branch Chief Bram? He's been transferred to Hoenn. I'm acting Branch Chief of the Celadon branch now, waiting for headquarters to send someone."
"Gone to Hoenn, has he. Nothing to be done about it, then."
With him gone to Hoenn, Vance had no interest in going after him; and come to that, the score between him and this Branch Chief Bram was not a large one.
The old devil knew how to read a situation too, running off as fast as that.