An elegant walled compound on the Indigo Plateau, spacious, something like six or seven thousand square metres of it, was Vance's now, one of the rewards for becoming tournament champion.
"A trophy, a certificate, a billion Poké Dollars, and one chance to go into the League Vault and pick out a single treasure?"
Afterwards, Vance was going through what the tournament title had brought him.
What he had in hand so far came to that; and the compound counted as well, he supposed.
Of course, what a tournament champion could come by went a great deal further than that, and most of it showed itself in what he now was rather than in what he had been handed.
Vance had received invitations from the investigators, from League administration, from League headquarters and from other bodies besides, any one of which he could choose and take up a post in.
The terms, naturally, would not be poor.
At the very worst he could be the man holding one whole region of the map.
Great cities like Saffron and Vermilion had sent invitations too.
Fame and profit both, and nothing wanting. No wonder so many people threw themselves into these competitions.
He put the trophy and the rest away. These were things outside himself, and Vance set no store by them; what he did set store by was that one chance to go to the League Vault and choose a treasure.
The League Vault was sited at Mt. Silver.
And after so many years of the League's existence, a treasure that had got itself taken into the vault would naturally be of no ordinary quality.
Only one of them, though. Vance felt that was rather few.
The thought made him laugh at himself. He was being greedy. One was one.
If he came across the right one, a single piece would do the work of several.
Besides, with the system in him he would never be short of treasures and resources of that sort; it was only a question of putting in the work.
A great many Battle Points had built up in the system by now, waiting for him to exchange them for resources.
And the grinding of the tournament had brought the Pokémon on as well.
At present the Gyarados and the Slaking were the two in front, having broken through into Elite-Four-class at level 61.
Next came the Zweilous at level 60, not yet through into Elite-Four-class, though not far off it.
After that the Aerodactyl at 58 and the Blaziken at 57, the Onix at 50, Zoroark at 41, the Sandslash at 40, and the Haunter and the Kirlia at 38.
That was where his Pokémon stood.
Two of them had entered Elite-Four-class; though if one spoke of which could fight at Elite-Four-class, there were more than two.
The old hands were out in front and the newer ones coming up behind, all of them growing together.
Vance was well satisfied with that. His partners were all coming on, and so was he.
If anyone had got the most out of this and come on the furthest, it was him.
The Master-class Viridian Power stood comparison with Near-Champion strength, and though it was not a fighting sort of ability it was not to be taken lightly.
It gave Vance one more powerful card to hold, and more ground to stand on.
That ground was precisely what made Vance mean to enter the Elite Four Tournament three months from now.
Train hard through those three months, bring the Gyarados and the others up, and with his own Viridian Power behind them he would have Near-Champion strength. There was something to be done with that.
Just then Vance rose from his seat. Over at the gate three people were standing.
One of them Vance did know: Kai Farrow, with whom he had already clashed. Behind him were two who had the look of old men, one of them well-fed and smiling and easy enough to get on with by the look of him, the other with a shadowed face, pale skin, and something savage in his narrow, three-cornered eyes.
*What have they come for?*
One of the old men Vance knew of — Kai Farrow's grandfather, he thought; he had read what was on file about him. As for the other, that one he did not know.
Did not know him, and felt danger coming off the man besides.
His own senses were not wrong about that.
"Come in."
They had come as far as his gate already, and Vance was not afraid of them, so he let them in.
Here, in the city where the tournament was held, a great many senior League people kept houses, and the security was naturally as heavy as it could be made.
"Forgive the intrusion."
Gerald Farrow answered very politely, and stepped forward; the two behind him came in with him.
"Ha ha ha. Congratulations, congratulations, Champion Vance."
Meeting Vance in the hall, Gerald Farrow greeted him with a practised hand.
Vance nodded slightly and looked at the shadowed old man.
"Oh, yes. This is Elder Vayne, of the Sacred Order, who can do a very great deal indeed. They are working closely with our League at present. Wren, your opponent in the final, is a young man he thinks highly of."
Gerald Farrow explained.
"Mm. And is there something you want?"
Vance nodded, and said it looking at the three of them.
"Ha ha. We have come to make amends, naturally. This is my grandson, Kai Farrow. There was a misunderstanding between him and Champion Vance a while ago, and here we are to clear the misunderstanding up."
Gerald Farrow said it cheerfully.
"Heh. A misunderstanding? It was no misunderstanding to me."
Vance said it with a cold laugh. The man had sent people to attack him, and with a Gym-class Pokémon along with them.
How was he to be let off as easily as that, with the word "misunderstanding"?
If he really had been weak, would he not have been in real danger?
"Just so. That is exactly what we have come about."
Gerald Farrow said, still smiling.
The choice they had made originally had not been this one; it had only changed after he took the tournament on sheer strength.
If this would answer, so much the better; if it would not, that was another matter.
Vance did not speak, and the room went quiet all at once.
"To show that we are sorry, of course, the Farrow family is willing to put up 500 million Poké Dollars, along with three evolution stones of the highest quality — Water, Fire and Thunder — by way of compensation. The Farrow family will also treat you as an honoured guest, with preferential terms and first call in any business of ours. If there is anything you need, put it forward as freely as you like. The Farrow family would be very glad indeed to turn an enemy into a friend, sir, and settle this trouble between us together."
Gerald Farrow knew as well as anyone that bare words would not do, so he laid out something to bargain with.
"Generous of you."
Vance said mildly, and then looked at Kai Farrow, who made no move.
"Oh — Kai. Apologise to Champion Vance, and mean it. Your grandfather has come on a little lately and become a Near-Champion Trainer; that is no reason to forget how you were brought up."
Gerald Farrow gave him a slap and told him to apologise, and let his own standing be known inside the words while he did it.
"I'm sorry. I was reckless before, and I am very sorry for it. I won't pester Cerise again. I hope you can forgive me."
Kai Farrow bent from the waist and said it full of apology, without a trace of his earlier arrogance.
He knew as well what a tournament champion was worth. Before, he had taken Vance for an ordinary Gym-class Trainer, to be squeezed in his hand as he pleased; that would not do now.
So he would apologise. That way, with his grandfather a Near-Champion Trainer and himself taking a step back and apologising, surely the business could be got past?
When he heard that the man was a Near-Champion Trainer, Vance smiled, and said nothing, and let him stand there bowing while he looked at his own hand with no interest at all.
"Mr. Vance, I think we might have this over with sooner. What I am about to discuss with you is a great matter — great enough to change the whole of your life."
It was Elder Vayne at the side who spoke in the end.
"Oh? And what great matter is that?"
Vance said it with some interest, and paid no attention whatever to the bowing Kai Farrow.
"Let us all talk. It does not look well, leaving him standing there."
Elder Vayne said mildly, and Kai Farrow straightened up and sat back down in his seat.