"Gardevoir, you've grown up too."
Vance said it with a chuckle, looking at the Gardevoir standing slender and graceful in front of him; in his heart, as in Alakazam's, there was something of the feeling of a daughter grown up.
He measured her height off with his hand: a little over a metre seventy, up as far as his own head.
"Garde—"
Gardevoir answered gently. There was less of the bewilderment and fear she had had as a Ralts, and she carried herself more easily than she had as a Kirlia.
It was as though she had grown up all at once.
And so in fact she had: when a Pokémon evolves, there are some whose minds "evolve" along with their bodies.
Vance was glad that Gardevoir was one of them; had she not been, and had she stayed as artless as before, he would not have thought the less of her, but would have gone along slowly with her while she grew.
Is that not what a Trainer and a Pokémon are?
"Splendid. You've broken through to Elite as well. Wonderful."
Vance praised her.
With the evolution, Gardevoir's own energy level had gone up a stretch, from 38 to 41, and into the Elite range.
Gardevoir had a deep foundation under her, and that she should use the force of the evolution to break into Elite stood to reason.
Vance opened the system and looked at what she was now that she had evolved.
> **Name:** Gardevoir (female)
> **Type:** Psychic / Fairy
> **Ability:** Synchronize
> **Aptitude:** Champion-class
> **Level:** 41
> **Moves:** Growl, Confusion, Misty Terrain, Charm, Hypnosis, Heal Pulse, Draining Kiss, Teleport, Psybeam, Calm Mind, Moonblast, Reflect, Sleep Talk, Encore, Trick Room, Dazzling Gleam...
Gardevoir's aptitude had been very good to begin with, and that it should now stand at Champion-class did not surprise Vance.
With Gardevoir there were several Champion-class Pokémon on the team now: Gyarados, Zoroark and one or two more; and even the Darkrai he had just caught, damaged as its foundation was, had Champion aptitude once it had made a first recovery.
As for those that had not come up yet, Sandslash and the others, Vance was making ready for them as well: resources of every kind poured in, and the Viridian Power besides.
Raising their aptitude would be no trouble.
Having finished with Gardevoir's data, Vance turned to the Darkrai, and its information came up on the system's display.
> **Name:** Darkrai
> **Type:** Dark
> **Ability:** Bad Dreams
> **Aptitude:** Champion-class
> **Level:** 62
> **Moves:** Disable, Quick Attack, Hypnosis, Feint Attack, Nightmare, Dark Void, Dream Eater, Double Team, Dark Pulse, Swagger, Thief, Protect, Thunder Wave, Shadow Ball, Taunt, Swords Dance, Confide...
That was the Darkrai's data as it stood now.
The Darkrai was, moreover, the first Legendary he had ever caught.
But perhaps because Gyarados and the rest were so very good, and had beaten the Darkrai before, Vance was pleased enough without being beside himself with joy.
Legendary Pokémon are born strong; but, like any ordinary Pokémon, they must grow and they must develop.
Among them too there are the strong and the weak.
It is only that the point they start from — aptitude, understanding, the sense for the energies of heaven and earth — is far above an ordinary Pokémon's; add to that the unfathomable powers each of them has, and how exceedingly few they are, and that is what gives people their impression of a Legendary.
To a man of Vance's sort, apart from those few super Legendaries and a few special ones besides, a common Legendary is only somewhat stronger and somewhat better than an ordinary Pokémon.
Near-Champion put a man in the upper reaches of human Trainers; his eye, and the things he had to weigh, were no longer those of an ordinary man or an ordinary Trainer.
It was afternoon, and the sunlight was warm and soft.
In the courtyard the flowers opened gently in the afternoon breeze and gave off a fresh, penetrating scent, and the trees planted there were evergreen and full of green.
Vance sat in a deckchair, rocking it idly.
He had given the Darkrai its instructions, and the Darkrai would see them carried out; the training was left to it.
On the team, all but Gyarados, Slaking and the Zweilous could be seasoned inside the Darkrai's nightmares.
Training of that kind worked well, and was environmentally friendly besides.
It was only rather tiring for the Darkrai.
Still, for its own part, working with the others at their training was a way of training for the Darkrai as well.
When they talked, Vance explained a good deal to it at the level of life energy.
The Darkrai gained by it too, and worked what Vance told it into its own understanding.
Vance stayed on at the Indigo Plateau another day, and nobody came looking for him in that time.
Then one day he rode Aerodactyl and flew to Cinnabar Island.
He reached it about noon.
When he came down, Blaine was already waiting for him.
"Ha ha. So you've come, Vance."
Blaine came warmly to meet him, they exchanged a few civilities, and went in together.
"Why don't I see Rufus? Where is he?"
An old acquaintance had come into Vance's mind, and he asked.
"Him? He should be over in the Johto region now, on an assignment. Come, come, let me show you what my research has turned up lately; take anything you find a use for."
Blaine drew Vance into the laboratory and took him through it from end to end.
"That reminds me, Vance — you said you had four Legendaries taken off members of the Godbeast Gang, did you not?"
"Mm. Here, have these."
Vance tossed out four Poké Balls and threw them over to Blaine.
He had meant to give them to him in any case.
Had they been true Legendaries, Vance would have grudged them; but they were not, and several of them had not many days left to live.
In research of this kind he was far behind Blaine, and Vance knew it.
So it was better to hand the things over and let Blaine work with them.
Leave the specialist's work to the specialist.
"Ha ha, excellent. My work has been stuck lately for want of material to experiment on; you have come at exactly the right moment."
Blaine said it delightedly, passed the four Poké Balls to a subordinate, and went on showing Vance round the laboratory.
"This work of mine has to do with the Boss's latest orders. He wants a super Legendary created, no less. He has set me a hard task there, but the Boss has given it, and there is nothing I can do."
In the course of the conversation Blaine let out that shattering piece of news.
"A super Legendary?"
Vance looked at him in astonishment.
"Just so. A Pokémon that falls no way short of a super Legendary. So we old fellows have put a good many other projects aside lately and given ourselves to this."