Before anyone quite noticed it, seven days of the tournament had gone by, and he had come to its later stages; at present it was the semi-finals.
For a competition with something over a thousand Trainers in it, taking so many days was normal enough.
Vance stood in his competitor's place and looked round the circuit of it. He had come this far after all. Very good indeed.
"Old friends, this time it's your turn."
The match began, and Vance sent out the Aerodactyl.
"Roar—"
The Aerodactyl was delighted. Its turn to go out at last.
On the other side was a Pidgeot, and by the presence coming off it, an Elite-Four-class Pokémon at that.
Energy level 62, while the Aerodactyl was 55. Fierce as it looked, full of force as its presence was, set against the other it came off rather worse.
That, however, was how it felt to everyone else present. Vance and the Aerodactyl did not feel it at all.
The moment the match began the Aerodactyl was off like a bolt out of a crossbow, straight at the Pidgeot.
Elite-Four-class, was it? The Aerodactyl had fought plenty of those, and had often enough felt out Elite-Four-class power through its Mega Evolution; it was tolerably familiar with it. It was only that its body's "energy saturation" had not reached the mark yet, and even that was merely a matter of time.
Breaking through to Elite-Four-class was no great difficulty for the Aerodactyl.
And the fight between the two of them left the crowd below flat with astonishment.
In its fierce fight with the Pidgeot the Aerodactyl was not, in fact, on the worse end of it. Several exchanges, and the Pidgeot had gained nothing; it had even been caught a glancing touch by a flick of the Aerodactyl's body and lost a few feathers.
"Whoo, whoo, whoo—"
A wild wind howled up above, the two Pokémon fighting hard in it, soaring and banking and turning, altogether at their ease, like two fighter aircraft carrying on a contest in the sky.
Wind blades cut past; from the Aerodactyl's side came a volley of stone blades, and Dragon Breath and Supersonic besides; and on the Pidgeot's side too the moves were many — Air Cutter, Twister...
"Roar, roar. It's been a long while since I enjoyed myself this much. Little bird, I've you to thank for today."
The Aerodactyl bared its teeth, the fangs at its mouth showing savage.
"Pidge—"
Provoked like that, the Pidgeot, Elite-Four-class as it was, naturally would not have it. Talk of that kind, as though it were the creature's inferior — and from a thing that had not even entered Elite-Four-class. How did it dare?
"Pidge—"
"Heh heh. Angry already, are you."
A flash and it was there in front, Steel Wing gleaming out, both wings folding in to strike; the Aerodactyl neither dodged nor gave way but swung a Dragon Claw and set to fighting it at close quarters, and by the look of it lost nothing by the exchange.
"Roar, roar, this is the thing—"
"Pidge—"
"Have some of my Dragon Breath!"
A Dragon Breath came full in the other's face and drove the Pidgeot back; and it, with an Aerial Ace, came again and rammed in hard, sending the Aerodactyl staggering.
Even so, the Aerodactyl went on grinning wide and provoking it, and the Pidgeot's temper burned hotter.
The Aerodactyl showed off its own flying skill too, working round to the side, and traded another dozen and more moves with the Pidgeot without being beaten. By the look of it, it was still exhilarated and did not appear in the least tired.
"Roar, roar. I'll not play with you any more. This is all you amount to."
"Pidge—"
The Pidgeot cried out in protest.
And the Aerodactyl's attacks after that grew fiercer, gradually holding it down.
"Pidge—"
The great bird swept past and rammed into the Aerodactyl hard, high in the sky, dragging a brilliant streak behind it.
As the Brave Bird lost its force the Aerodactyl came to a stop, folded both wings in and put out its strength on a grand scale.
Along the path the other had flown in on, it pushed it back the way it had come.
Brave Bird against Giga Impact: a new round of the contest between the two began again.
In this the Pidgeot came off badly time after time.
At the height of the struggle the Aerodactyl caught it full on with a violent Iron Head, and the Pidgeot's head swam.
A rushing of wind at its ears, and the ground was not far off.
"Aerodactyl, Giga Impact!"
The Aerodactyl pressed the Pidgeot down at tremendous speed and drove it into the ground.
The Aerodactyl rose again, turned back and sent a Hyper Beam down full on it, striking the Pidgeot square.
After that move the Pidgeot's eyes were going round in circles; it was no longer able to battle.
"Nicely done, Aerodactyl."
"Roar, roar. Naturally. I can't be losing to those young ones."
The Aerodactyl gave its wings a beat. What a thoroughly satisfying aerial duel that had been.
It had not met a fit opponent in a long while, and today this big bird had performed rather well — a great deal stronger than the ones out in the wild.
"Another Elite-Four-class Pokémon has turned up. It's the Aerodactyl."
"It's not Elite-Four-class yet, is it? How did it beat the Pidgeot?"
"I couldn't see it. The two of them were tangling up in the sky, and fast with it — I hadn't caught up with it before it was over."
"It was a fine thing to watch, all the same. The flying those two Pokémon did was superb."
The Aerodactyl's appearance, and the appearance of another Elite-Four-class fighter, lifted his reputation another notch as well.
After that, Emrys sent out an Altaria, elegant in its bearing and far stronger than the Pidgeot had been.
Ten minutes later the Aerodactyl and the other came down to the ground together, unable to battle.
"You, then, Blaziken."
Vance had Blaziken go out next.
The other man put out another Elite-Four-class Pokémon as well, much on a level with the Altaria.
After a contest, Blaziken and the other became unable to battle together as well.
"You, then, Slaking."
Vance sent out the Slaking.
That burly shape of its appeared, gave the other Pokémon a single punch, and then lay down to sleep without so much as looking back to check.
A proper male Pokémon has to have that kind of confidence.
Besides which, it was only a Gym-class Pokémon, nothing much to look at; if it could not be killed in one, that was the Slaking's own fault.
The two bouts that followed were both one-blow kills, without the least dragging about.
Fighting a Gym-class Pokémon was bullying the weak; if it could not kill even one of those in a stroke, Gyarados would laugh itself sick over it.
All six of the other man's Pokémon were beaten, and Vance went through to the final.
Vance walked down unruffled. Beating this Emrys had presented no difficulty whatever.
The real difficulty was those two.
Vance looked over at Aurelian and Wren.
The two of them happened to be looking over as well, and as their eyes met all three nodded slightly to one another.
One of the two would be his opponent in the final.
As to which, that would be settled shortly.
Vance walked down from the platform with an even face, and left the field to the two of them.