Time moved on, and the matches taking the last 16 into the last eight began.
When Vance stepped onto the field, the face of the girl opposite him was white all over, nothing but defeat in it.
"That's that. I've drawn this man."
She let out a sigh of lament and sent out her Pokémon. However it went, the thing was to fight first and talk afterwards, so as not to waste her own work and her Pokémon's.
She would certainly work at it to the last, small as the chance of winning was.
"Sandslash, it's you."
"Ssh-ssh—"
Sandslash's small figure appeared on the field and waved to the crowd like an old hand, and got a warm answer for it.
These last days Sandslash had been out to battle a good many times and had won a great deal; it was used to this by now.
"We must give it everything, Bellossom."
"Mei—"
The fight between Bellossom and Sandslash was joined, and in under three minutes Bellossom lay on the ground, unable to battle.
Another Pokémon was sent out, and in less than five minutes it had lost as well.
After that a Gym-class Pokémon came out too, and they were beaten one after another.
"Venusaur is unable to battle. Zoroark wins. The winner of this match is the competitor Vance."
The referee announced it.
The girl in front of him had red rims to her eyes, and when she shook his hand Vance felt a small twinge of awkwardness, though it passed quickly.
This was a competition ground; there must be winning and losing in the end, and it was no more than a question of strength. When your skill falls short of another's there is nothing to be said.
Red eyes meant more or less that she was crushed, and finding it hard to accept.
No great matter. Time heals everything; she would go home, lie about for a few days and be herself again.
By the last 16 only sixteen people were left competing, so with the numbers down the ground was set to a single field.
That way more of the precious time for healing Pokémon could be left free, and those still in could get a good look at their opponents.
On his way down he clapped hands with Cerise and gave her an encouraging look, wishing her the win.
Cerise had three Gym-class fighters in hand, and was herself a Gym-class Psychic besides, able to produce a boosting effect with Psychic-type Pokémon.
Only by this stage the sixteen who were left all had some trick of their own. Who among them had no card up his sleeve?
Out on the field Cerise was soon on the losing end of it, her Pokémon dwindling one by one until only the Alakazam was left, while her opponent still had two.
She could be seen putting everything she had into it, laying her own psychic power over the Alakazam to strengthen it.
Grappling with the opponent, and at considerable cost, she brought it down at last.
And the Alakazam was in no very good state either, panting hard, plainly having spent too much of its strength.
"Alakazam, hold on."
Cerise spoke to the Alakazam over their mental link.
But the next thing to happen turned her face white and took her confidence away.
The Pokémon the other side sent out was an Elite-Four-class Pokémon!
There was simply no winning this.
That was how Cerise saw it.
Never mind the state the Alakazam was in — at its very best it could not have beaten the thing.
Elite-Four-class can already beat a Gym-class Pokémon easily.
"Cerise is going to lose this one."
Vance said it flatly. There was no need even to watch. As she was now, against Elite-Four-class fighting strength she could only lose.
Still, to have got this far was very good of her.
It was rather unexpected, too, that this man should have hidden himself so deep, with an Elite-Four-class Slowbro for his hole card.
He had never used it before.
Producing it now was enough to shake any opponent.
Though he was not hidden as deep as Vance, of course, and Vance was much the same — Gyarados and the rest had not been out either.
It would not be long now, though. The next few were none of them weak.
Sure enough, against this Elite-Four-class Slowbro, a few moves saw Cerise beaten; nothing was left her but to recall her Pokémon with bad grace and walk down.
"I misjudged it. I underrated the talent of the world after all."
Cerise sighed it out. The high spirits of the day she broke through to Gym-class were nowhere to be seen.
At this Conference she could not even reach the last eight.
Kanto is a wide place and there is no lack of talent in it. She had more work to do.
"It's over, so let it be over. The last 16 is a good result too, and your luck was a bit out this time."
Among those who reached the last eight there were still two Trainers without Elite-Four-class strength; if she had been drawn against either of them, Cerise might well have won.
At present, of the last eight, five had Elite-Four-class strength — six, if you counted Vance.
The remaining two were Gym-class throughout.
The last 16, Vance thought. In the story, when Ash entered the Indigo League Conference, that was exactly his result, the last 16; and she too had stopped at the last 16.
Put that way, was she not at Ash's standard?
"What sort of a look is that? Laughing at me, are you?"
Cerise saw the look in his eye and thought he was laughing at her, and could not help snapping.
"I wasn't. I only thought of something funny, that's all."
Vance answered her.
"Never mind, laugh if you want to. It's my own fault for not knowing how high the sky is and showing off in front of you. Speaking of which, everybody else is probably long since knocked out; of our organisation there's likely only you left. Good luck to you."
"Mm."
Vance nodded, looking at the results on the big screen above.
Then he grinned and said.
"I can get your revenge for you."
The information on the big screen showed that his opponent was the very man who had knocked Cerise out: a young man by the name of Ronan.
"Then you had better get my revenge for me."
Cerise laughed too.
...............
That day the arena was busier than ever, people pressed against people, every seat filled and the aisles full of those standing.
Everybody knew it had come to the last eight, the most brilliant stage of it.
And there had been the Legendary Raikou out there the last few times, which was reason enough.
Vance stood on the field, took out a Poké Ball, and at the referee's word threw it out.
The other side threw a Poké Ball at the same moment.
"Ssh-ssh—"
"Dong, dong—"
The Pokémon on Vance's side was Sandslash again; on the other side it was a Bronzong, a Pokémon seldom seen in the Kanto region, Steel and Psychic type.
Its presence was no small thing, with an energy level of 55 — no weakling among the Gym-class either.
"Ssh-ssh. This won't be easy."
Sandslash's face was serious. It felt the threat.
That Pokémon opposite had every bit of the strength to beat it.
It must not give the thing a chance to take hold.
"There's my opening. I knew you had that habit, and it looks as though we shall have to break you of it."
Seeing that Vance had sent Sandslash out again, Ronan wore the look of a man who had expected nothing else. His odds had gone up another notch.
Once he had beaten this Sandslash he would have the advantage from then on, able to send out a Pokémon to counter whatever Vance put in, as Vance put it in.
"It's only Zoroark that changes about much, and by the look of it Water and Electric for the most part, so I must guard that well. As for the Onix, that's a nuisance, though not a great one. And last of all, if anything goes wrong, I can put the Slowbro in — that's as near certain as makes no difference."
Ronan reckoned it up in his mind.
Zoroark and the rest, every one of them provided for?
Now all he had to do was beat this Sandslash, the starting point of every advantage.
This Sandslash was Elite fighting strength at the very most; with his own Gym-class Bronzong going in, Gym-class against Elite, and with his own direction as a Trainer being no bad thing either, the advantages were there by the handful.
So he was full of confidence.
"Bronzong, watch your surroundings. Mind his interference."
He gave the warning. By the intelligence he had, this opponent was a Psychic as well, strength estimated at Gym-class, and that had to be guarded against.
"Bzzz—"
Bronzong vibrated slightly, answering him.
An advantage was an advantage, but Ronan was a steady man; until the result was in he was not easy.
He would not be careless, he would meet it coolly, and his Pokémon would give everything they had.
This match he would take, without fail. One of the places in the last four had his name on it.
*Lucky for me I drew you. My luck isn't so bad either. If I had met Wren or Aurelian or one of those, I'd have had no chance at all.*
*Thank you for your pains, then. And now I'll be taking this place in the last four!*
"Bronzong, Flash Cannon!"
Bronzong tilted its body, and out of the underside of it burst a Flash Cannon!