Rotten.
For his assessment of the Cerulean Gym, Vance had only that one word.
"Right. The assessment ends here."
Having briskly beaten Daisy, Vance announced it.
"So, Inspector, sir — what's to be said about our Cerulean Gym's assessment?"
It was Bertram again who came forward to ask him.
"Rotten."
Vance delivered the verdict flatly.
"Ah, well......"
The verdict left them all embarrassed, and yet there was no arguing with it. On the battling side of it, measured against the standard for a Gym Leader, it truly was rotten.
Hearing the verdict — true though it was — made Misty burn with mortification all the same, her face red, her head down, not daring to look at him.
So shameful.
*I can't let this Gym go on like this.*
With her head down, at the same time as she was ashamed, Misty made up her mind!
She would never let anything as embarrassing as this happen again.
Since her sisters were no good at it, she would do it herself.
To grow up — Misty longed to grow up quickly.
She would catch the Water-type Pokémon she loved, set out on the road of a Trainer, become a formidable Trainer.
She would restore the Cerulean Gym, she would become a famous Water-type Trainer, she would make sure this embarrassment never happened again, she would make Vance change his impression of their Cerulean Gym, she would......
In an instant, one goal after another rose up in her heart and took root there.
She would be strong!
Vance shook his head, said nothing further, and turned to walk out.
By now Daisy and the others had got the Gym back in order, and the crowd from before had cleared out.
"Ha ha ha, so it's Champion Vance come to visit. Forgive us for not coming out to meet you."
Before he had even got out of the Gym, a party came walking up to meet him, and the moment they saw Vance they spoke to him warmly.
"How do you do, how do you do, Champion Vance. I am Rutherford, mayor of Cerulean City. Welcome, welcome indeed."
The rest of them behind him then introduced themselves in turn.
"Phew. They've come at last."
Bertram wiped the sweat from beside his forehead. With this many of them here, the Cerulean Gym ought to be saved.
And if it genuinely could not be saved, then it could not be saved.
That was what Bertram thought, privately.
Now that they had made their positions known, Vance stopped and talked with them a while.
"How did the inspection go, Champion Vance? Things may be a little poor, but there are reasons for it that can be understood — you must know the story of it too."
"Yes, I know it. But my verdict is still the same. Rotten."
Vance nodded, the verdict unchanged.
"Ah, well, now, surely it isn't so bad as that."
Rutherford looked over at Daisy and the others and felt his heart grow tired.
Then he thought of how the former Gym Leader had been the closest of friends with him while he lived, and could only go on.
"Yes. That is my verdict. As to what comes of it, the League will issue its own orders."
Seeing that the man meant to speak again, Vance said it straight out.
"Very good, very good, that's settled then. Now that the inspection is finished, might we offer you a plain meal?"
Rutherford heard him out and did not press it further, but proposed a meal instead.
"No, thank you. I have business to get on with, so we'll leave it there. Next time — next time without fail."
Vance declined his invitation, nodded to them all, then called out Aerodactyl and swung himself up.
"Rraah, rraah—"
Aerodactyl beat its wings, rose into the sky, and then flew off in a particular direction.
"Uncle Rutherford, about this......"
Once Vance had gone, Daisy and the others crowded round Rutherford.
"I don't know either. All I can say is that I did my best."
Rutherford pinched the bridge of his nose, genuinely at a loss for what to say.
He looked at the several of them and spoke in the tone of a man let down.
"Look at you. Making a mess of it like this, and even with someone here to inspect, you still let it turn out this way? You can't manage even the basics. And I hear there was an incident besides, wasn't there?"
"Yes. Just as he arrived, the Gyarados in the Gym went wild, and it was he who saved Misty, at that."
Daisy told him the truth of it.
"You...... do the best you can for yourselves."
Rutherford did not know what else to say, and turned round and went back.
...............
"The League will handle it that way too, no doubt."
On Aerodactyl's back, Vance murmured it.
Pemberton had said as much: the League propped the Cerulean Gym up, and even with this verdict of "rotten" from him, it would very likely come to nothing much.
Inside the League everything was tangled root and branch, and there was a great deal of that sort of consideration to observe.
This kind of thing was one of the roots of the League's corruption, surely — far too much weight given to all that.
Still, it was just as well. To Vance's mind, a half-derelict Cerulean Gym was better than a strong one.
That was from the standpoint of Team Rocket's own development.
By evening Vance had reached Vermilion City.
Vermilion City he counted as familiar ground; his friend Nolan, and Lt. Surge, the Gym Leader here, were both people he knew.
"Whoooo—"
From far off came the long note of a ship's horn. Today was also the day the S.S. Anne arrived at Vermilion City, which was a happy coincidence.
"The S.S. Anne."
Vance looked at that enormous liner, remembering what had happened aboard it before, and a nostalgic look came over his face.
Zweilous, too, had been got aboard that ship.
He had no idea how things there had gone on afterward.
But however they had gone on, nobody would ever trace it back to him; and even if they did, he had nothing to fear from it now.
The Aerodactyl beneath him sensed Vance's mood as well, and made a point of flying.
"Ha ha, Vance! Vance!"
Nolan came flying up to meet him, shouting happily as he drew near.
"Nolan."
"Ha ha, come on, come on, let's go to the Gym first. Tomorrow we'll go aboard the S.S. Anne and take another cruise on her. What a coincidence — you come, and she comes too."
Nolan hailed him warmly.
"All right, let's go. Business first, though."
When they reached the Gym, Lt. Surge, the Gym Leader, was already there waiting for him.
The two of them shook hands cordially, and then went strictly by the book and carried out the inspection.
Lt. Surge felt real admiration for this young man who was flowering on both sides at once. How long had it been since they last met?
Within Team Rocket, Vance was now the equivalent of a senior officer, the same as Archer and the rest, answering to no one but the Boss, Giovanni.
And within the League he was a man from headquarters, the number two of the Inspection Department, while Lt. Surge was only a Gym Leader — and now had to submit to being inspected by him.
Vance went through it quickly, and there was nothing wrong anywhere.
In fact the Gym Lt. Surge ran had developed very well, no worse than the Pewter Gym or the Celadon Gym.
Even had Vance gone strictly by the standards throughout, it would have come out excellent.
"Right, that will do. There's no need for you to demonstrate, Gym Leader."
The inspection over, Vance could not be bothered with the rest of it. There was no need to fight Lt. Surge a round and assess the Gym Leader's battle strength; on that score there was no question at all.
Never mind that there was nothing wrong with him — even if there had been, Vance would have passed him on Team Rocket's account.