"I want to see you."
The ethereal, clear woman's voice sounded again.
The scene in front of Vance twisted, dazzling lights drifting through it, as though he were being dragged into some bizarre, shifting world.
In there was a strange world already woven for him, and a person hypnotised might sink down into that world and never come back to the real one.
"Gastly. I know it's you. Stop pretending."
Vance said it out loud, and the moment the words were out the pulling sensation stopped short, and then drew back like a tide.
Vance's eyes cleared and his awareness came back to the real world.
The thing in the shape of a girl of blue light gave him one long look, and just as Vance was about to speak it slowly dispersed and was gone.
"Gone?? What's all this about?? For its own amusement, or to make sport of me?"
Vance let out a breath. He had been played with by the Gastly. He had given it no offence since coming to Maiden's Peak, surely — he had not exchanged a word with it, and it had come to his door.
Was there something about him that drew it, or was this Gastly doing it deliberately, and he simply the unlucky passer-by who had run into it?
It had appeared too suddenly; Vance had not even had time to look at the Gastly's data, and did not know how strong it actually was.
Going by the original, a thousand-year Gastly, with over a thousand years of accumulation behind it, should be no weakling at all.
That he had fallen into the illusion just now without being aware of it was proof enough.
Even though he had broken free of it afterwards.
Vance himself carried two great psychic powers, trained up to the Advanced level, and stacked together they were a match for Elite-Four-class.
Anything that could pull him into an illusion before he was even aware of it was therefore something greater than Elite-Four-class.
A pity he had not got hold of the Gastly's information just now; he did not know what it really was.
To live a thousand years was a wonder in itself, and a thousand years kept to a promise made to a girl was precious.
Thinking of that Gastly holding to its post for a thousand years, Vance looked into his own shadow, at the Haunter in it gnawing at an energy cube with both hands.
"Hss-kek—"
Found out. Being looked at made Haunter a little embarrassed, but eating could not be stopped; it tossed the cube into its mouth, chewed it round, patted its belly and looked thoroughly pleased.
Oh — was there something the Trainer wanted, looking at it like that?
"Hss-kek-kek—"
Haunter looked over with its head on one side, and those grim eyes of its were, just then, quite clear, and puzzled.
"It's nothing. Learn a bit more from what other Pokémon do well."
It was his own Pokémon; what more was Vance to say?
"Hss-kek—"
Haunter did not quite understand, but seeing the Trainer behave so it answered all the same: tomorrow it would certainly work hard; today would have to be let go, it was too full.
"Burp—"
Vance tapped lightly at one of the Poké Balls on his belt and, as usual, fed the Viridian Power into it.
A moment later the Poké Ball gave a shake.
Inside that Poké Ball was Alakazam, who had fallen into a deep sleep after the last time it had acted, and whom Vance would not ordinarily disturb.
But having run into this Gastly out of nowhere, and with safety in mind, he had better let Alakazam know.
After a long wander through the streets, buying his Pokémon a few small presents, Vance came to the Pokémon Center at Maiden's Peak.
In this thriving port, with its great flow of people and no small number of Trainers coming and going, a Pokémon Center was provided, staffed by a Nurse Joy and a team of medical people.
"Trainer Vance, your room is all arranged. Curfew is at eleven at night, and the Center closes after that, so do mind the time."
Nurse Joy smiled gently and passed over a room card; once he had taken it and she had established that there was nothing else, she went on to attend to another Trainer, with a Chansey in a nurse's cap following at her side.
"Not bad luck at all — top floor, and a sea view too."
He opened the door with the card and came into a room fully fitted out, built facing the sea.
Looking out of the window now, the water showed orange-red in the sunlight, the ripples glittering, gold moving over the surface, and the setting sun could be seen at the horizon staining the sky fiery red, sea meeting sky, boundless and vast, with a grand kind of beauty about it.
Vance went in, poured himself a glass of water, sat down in the reclining chair and took it in quietly.
"Hss-kek—"
"Kirl—"
Kirlia and the others came out of their Poké Balls as well and kept him company.
Haunter among them was very pleased indeed, the corners of its mouth drawn right back.
Arriving here meant no hard labour today.
Delightful. Another rest.
It went off to a dark corner with a Berry from who knew where and set to gnawing at it. Mm... very nice, very sweet.
Vance lay back in the chair with his eyes half closed. With that warm sea wind blowing, a man could easily doze off.
Half asleep, he found himself in a place seething with people, and those below, old and young, men and women alike, were cheering wildly and shaking the flags in their hands for all they were worth.
"Champion! Champion!..."
Vance stood in the champion's place, holding the Conference's championship trophy, facing the crowd and taking their cheers.
"Very good, very good. This is the scene I want. Only I'll get it for real, not in a dream."
Vance said it with a cold laugh, the trophy still in his hands, and the scene in front of him shattered all at once, thousands of fragments flying up and turning into twisted light.
Vance's awareness gathered itself back in, and he was in the reclining chair again, looking out of the window, where a Gastly hung in the air.
"You are a very unusual human."
The Gastly drifted in unhurriedly from outside the window, came to a halt in the room and spoke to Vance.
"How did you know it was me? Hss-kek—"
The Gastly spoke in human speech, its two eyes fixed on Vance.
It had never seen him before; this should have been their first meeting, and it had been seen through all the same, which drew its enormous interest.
It had begun by seeing that there was something out of the ordinary about Vance and putting out a hand to tease him a little; it had not expected to be found out so quickly, and that left the Gastly with no sense of achievement at all.
And the surpassingly beautiful girl it had taken the shape of — by the look of him he had not been drawn in the least. Other people were not like that; at the sight of that phantom their very souls were all but hooked away, and they sank into its hypnosis and could not pull themselves out.
"Kirl—"
"Hss-kek—"
Kirlia and the rest exchanged a glance, came out in front of Vance and put him behind them. This Gastly was very strange: not the least trace of power could be felt off it, and yet it could speak in human speech.
"Blaziken—"
"Rraah, rraah—"
The situation being urgent, Blaziken, Slaking and the others came out of their Poké Balls as well and looked straight at this Gastly that had appeared out of nowhere.
Off the Gastly, Slaking felt an extremely dangerous presence. This was without question stronger than any opponent they had met, something there was no matching by force.
"Kek-kek. All of you out, are you? And one of my own kind, too. You've raised it well."
The Gastly said it in that strange cry of a voice. So many Pokémon before it did not frighten it in the least, and at the same time it had seen the Haunter at the side; by the look of it, it was fed uncommonly well as a rule, and very well looked after too.
"The few of you can't stop me, you know. Luckily for you, I've no wish to hurt you either."
The Gastly floated there in front of them and glanced over the Pokémon a few times. They were very good, but their strength still fell far short; they were no match for it at all.
"So, human, will you tell me how you recognised me? We don't know each other, surely — we've never met before."
The Gastly's gaze settled on Vance's face, asking him the reason he had known it for what it was.