The Pokémon were none of them stupid.
Onix, drawn up against the Tentacruel, set its huge body on a heap of rock — it had already made a patch of "land" around itself — and from there, with its great strength, picked the Tentacruel off at long range.
Now the skills it had practised in ordinary training, for improving the accuracy of its attacks, could be put to use.
What had seemed obscure in training it now understood, point by point, and carried into practice.
Both Pokémon had found their footing; and pleased as Vance was, he began to think of making it harder for them.
He had the Tentacruel go down into the water and fight Onix from hiding; and on the other side a faint thread of the Viridian Power settled over the Kingler, whose strength grew a great deal, so that the Sandslash it was fighting, just as it had got the feel of the battle, found it hard going again.
In this way the difficulty of the seasoning went up another notch.
*That can't be right. How has it suddenly got stronger? Can this Kingler be a genius too, breaking through in the middle of a fight?*
The Sandslash, at grips with the Kingler, thought it had made a discovery.
*All the more reason to take you down, then, and let the boss see it.*
So the Sandslash thought; and Ground type though it was, it swam nimbly enough, and closed with the Kingler.
Swimming in water was much the same as digging through earth, was it not? Only the stuff it dug through was different, and what it gained from it was different.
In the earth it could feel a slight lift from everything around it; in the water there was none, and there was discomfort besides — though it was growing used to that as well.
"Bang, bang, bang—"
Bubble Beam and Stone Edge collided and sent up a gust of white smoke.
The Tentacruel dived, which gave Onix a certain difficulty: it had lost its target.
Under the smoke, on the clouded surface of the sea, the Tentacruel came in close, gathered its fire, struck at the base of Onix and then followed the line of it straight upward.
Onix was no fool either. The moment the Tentacruel loosed its move, Onix had fixed its position, and a Dragon Breath came down and caught the Tentacruel square.
And by now the Tentacruel was very close to where Onix stood.
Onix's face turned savage. Its whole body sheathed itself in a thick layer of rock, and it plunged into the water and showed the approaching Tentacruel a cruel smile.
Afraid of water as it was, in a situation like this Onix had the courage to go in and fight there.
With Onix striking out with all its strength, the Tentacruel found that at close quarters it was simply no match for it; and by the time it wanted to get free it was too late — Onix had coiled around it.
Onix's decisiveness did not escape Vance; he watched the whole of it.
Over on the Sandslash and Kingler's field, the Sandslash floated half out of the water and fought the Kingler.
Claw met pincer. The level-headed Sandslash understood the principle of avoiding the heavy and taking the light: each time they met it eased off its own force, so that the Kingler staggered; and in the instant it dipped toward the water the Sandslash went round its front and struck at it hard.
Several rounds of it and the effect was considerable.
It, the Sandslash, was level-headed; it had found the other's weak point early.
Presumably this Kingler could not yet control the strength that had come to it so suddenly; and it was fighting in water besides, where there was nothing to push against and nothing to hold you back — a yielding sort of place.
Fail to control your power and this is what it looks like.
Luckily, the Sandslash had learned a good deal from it.
"Ssh-ssh—"
The Sandslash's Crush Claw landed on the Kingler blow after blow, and when it saw its chance it followed with Fury Cutter; both did the Kingler great damage.
Likewise, the Sandslash knew that in the water Ground-type attacks had no advantage, and that it would have to go about it some other way.
That was something the Trainer had told it, and it, the Sandslash, remembered.
Vance rubbed his chin. There was good material in these two: even with the difficulty raised, each of them could find a way to win.
Onix going into the water to fight without hesitating; the Sandslash pressing its attack when the moment offered.
Both spoke to how good the pair of them were.
On the field the Kingler and the Tentacruel already had the look of defeat about them; the victory of the other two was as good as nailed down.
And the result was as he had expected: the Tentacruel and the Kingler were beaten one after the other.
Onix came dripping out of the water, climbed up the beach and shook itself to throw the water off.
"Rest a while. We go on shortly."
One or two fights meant nothing at all; there was more to come.
"Hss-heh—"
Gastly sniggered at the side of it.
But Vance turned round and said to it with a smile, "You'll be taking the field shortly too — and it will be a group fight."
"Hss-heh!"
Gastly could not laugh any more, because it was going out as well.
Vance healed the Tentacruel and the Kingler, and once the two of them were restored he let them go.
Because in the meantime Slaking had caught a dozen or so Water-type Pokémon, and was holding them some way off.
Gyarados and the others had gone over to help as well, and after a friendly exchange every one of them had agreed to take part in this battle.
Vance promised too that once the fighting was over he would let them go, and that those who performed well would receive a gift of energy cubes from him.
All of it had been arranged while the Sandslash and Onix were fighting.
"Come along, get in line there. One at a time."
Over there Gyarados was keeping order; overawed by the sheer strength of it, the situation stayed in hand, and the Pokémon Slaking had caught all stood meekly enough and waited to be dealt with.
Besides its ferocious looks, there was about Gyarados an air both mysterious and utterly powerful, which made them feel the weight of it whether they would or no.
"That will do, Gyarados. Two apiece."
Word came from Vance over there, telling them to send the Pokémon across.
Having had the word, Gyarados and the others at once told off four Pokémon — two of a strength near the Sandslash's and two near Onix's — and sent them over.
Over there, the fighting began again.
On the shore Blaziken and Zweilous were watching the fun as well.
Conditions had improved now, and they had this way of fighting; back then they had had nothing of the kind, and had run all over hill and dale for it.
Nothing like this business now, with the matches made up for you.