"Clunk—"
The Poké Ball with the Sandslash in it gave its sound. Caught.
Catching the Sandslash was an unlooked-for piece of luck; the object this time had been the Onix, and by a turn of chance the Sandslash had been caught as well.
Its aptitude, its temper and how it had performed all suited Vance's eye, and that was why he had caught it.
A Sandslash is a very common Pokémon as well, which was just the thing to balance out the rare line-up on his team.
The Kirlia, Zweilous and Zoroark were already very rare Pokémon indeed.
So Vance had decided: a good deal of the work from now on would go to the Sandslash.
How common a Sandslash was — there was a great deal of room for error with one, and it was a good choice too.
Especially in a position like Vance's, turning toward the League later on and taking up an official standing with the League, that was worth some thought.
Not like being inside Team Rocket, where one could be freer and simpler about it.
If he was to get on in the League, he would have to be more careful and take more trouble than in Team Rocket.
"Oo-oo—"
Zoroark came running over to Vance's side to ask what was to be done with the Nidoking.
"The Nidoking."
Vance looked at the Nidoking, still lying where it had fallen and not stirring.
"Let it be. Let it go."
Vance's temper was good, and he chose to leave the Nidoking alone. Being able to catch the Onix here, the Nidoking had its own small share in it, so let it be.
As Vance had grown steadily stronger, his horizons had risen with him, and his hunger for money was not the craving it had been.
When his temper was good he would let some of the Pokémon he beat go, and this Nidoking was one of them; there had been a good many before this.
A Pokémon of that sort, on in years, in its third form, aptitude only at the Elite level — it was more or less set by now, and for Vance it no longer held any value worth raising.
Vance, in high good humour, took up the two Poké Balls and let out both the Sandslash and the Onix.
"Rooar—"
"Ssh-ssh—"
"Welcome, both of you. Sandslash, Onix — from now on we're companions."
Vance said it warmly, and then introduced Gyarados and Aerodactyl and the others to them and got them acquainted.
Meeting for the first time, there was bound to be a little stiffness, but that was natural enough.
That feeling of strangers would pass after a while together.
With two new companions joining, Gyarados and the rest were of a welcoming mind as well.
The team was livelier still now — though the new fellows looked a bit weak; they would have to find an opportunity to take the pair of them through some proper practice.
That was what Gyarados thought, and its eyes went to Aerodactyl and Slaking and the rest, and they were all of the same mind.
"Hiss-heh—"
"Roar, roar. You'll have to put your back into it too, Gastly. Don't think of getting out of it."
"Hiss-heh??"
"Evolve, and quickly. The boss is going to enter the Conference, and you'll be wanted to show what you can do."
Gyarados delivered itself of that.
These three underlings wanted a great deal of drilling.
As Vance's first team of Pokémon, having been with him so long, they could naturally grasp what Vance meant.
They, the "old hands," would fight the "top-tier bouts"; the various competitions and so forth could go to these "young Pokémon."
As a companion, the Sandslash still bobbed and scraped, the more so once the boosting effect of the Viridian Power had left it and it had dropped back to its former level of strength.
It looked weaker than ever.
Even the Onix's eye on it had a wrong look to it now, and that gave the Sandslash a sense of urgency.
It would have to build up its strength properly, and truly surpass the Onix, and not need Vance's support to do it.
"Look at me — I'd quite forgotten to heal you."
Vance gave his own head a slap, and the Viridian Power rose off him and wrapped the three Pokémon round.
That rich Viridian Power healed the injuries on the Sandslash and the others with great speed, and what was left of the Viridian Power stayed inside their bodies, promoting some growth or other.
They could feel that it did them some good they could not name.
After a while Vance stopped the flow of power.
The Onix and the other two were fully recovered now, restored to their best.
By the look of them they were still lingering over the warmth of that power. Zoroark was all right, but the Sandslash and the Onix had never much felt anything of the kind, and found it strange and comfortable.
After that Vance found a suitable place and sat down with the Pokémon in a ring to eat.
The Sandslash and the Onix felt again the good of having been caught. Even the food was different.
It showed the pair of them what Pokémon food meant, and what good eating meant.
The Sandslash had thought that energy was fine eating enough, and had never imagined there could be food better than those energy cubes.
What was this thing, so very good to eat?
Watching Vance, with a turn of his two hands he could always turn out one fine dish after another.
Held up by his power, they came before them.
It would not stand on ceremony, then.
The Sandslash set to eating, quick as anything, at great speed.
"Rraah, rraah—"
Watching it eat, Gyarados shook its head. This Sandslash really had never tasted anything fine. Was there any need for that?
Good food was to be savoured slowly, its flavour brought out, its taste tasted.
And while it was shaking its head, the Slaking beside it, very fast indeed, scooped its portion over with both hands, dragged it across, and puffing away, put the lot into its belly.
By the time Gyarados came to itself, Slaking had finished the job.
"?? Slaking!!"
"Bang, bang, bang—"
The two Pokémon fell to scuffling, and the ripples of power the scuffle gave off left the Sandslash feeling the pressure.
And just as it looked over at Vance, thinking that this Trainer would surely step in and stop it, it heard him say:
"Off, off, off with you. Go and do that over there. Don't spoil the meal on this side."
And Gyarados and Slaking were very obedient, and went off to one side to have it out and discuss the matter of the food.
"Really quite childish. Blaziken."
Blaziken gave a small laugh, took up the "hamburger" in front of it and bit into it, then casually picked one up and passed it to the Zweilous beside it.
Now that was how it should be done.
See how steady it was, and how well it understood sharing.
Zoroark and the Kirlia looked well-mannered by comparison, and would even come over to where Vance was busy to lend him a hand.
By now the Pokémon in Vance's hands came to as many as ten, and with all of them in a ring to eat the scene was a lively one.
They went through food at a great rate as well; fortunately Vance had stored up enough, and his means were ample, so there was enough for them and none of them went hungry.
This Onix was a great eater too, and ate no less than Gyarados.
Though as big as it was, it had to eat more, which was understandable enough; for all anyone knew it was still growing, still adding height, and had to eat a great deal.
"Eighteen days more and the Conference begins. There's still time for a round of special training."
He could use this stretch of time to run the Sandslash and the Onix in and build up fighting strength enough for the Conference.
And in the Conference there would be more Pokémon to choose from, so that Gyarados and the others need not always be the ones to take the field.
Noisy and chattering, they rested and refitted there, and the sky darkened, and they passed the night in that place.