"Moltres, Sky Attack!"
Having taken Gyarados's Hyper Beam, Moltres used the gap that followed to bring out Sky Attack: a body of energy in the shape of a divine bird settled over it, and with that blazing force behind it, it came straight down.
Gyarados had recovered before it was halfway. With the Viridian Power nourishing it, a great move like Hyper Beam put no heavy load on its body.
Waterspouts rose in ring upon ring, and Gyarados, standing in the middle of them, went up alone to meet it.
Gyarados was in for a hard fight; Slaking and the Zweilous, paired against the Slowking, were doing a great deal better.
The two of them together looked by now to be gradually getting the upper hand.
Perhaps because the Slowking had not long been a Near-Champion.
The Slowking was Gerald Farrow's Pokémon. It had stood at Elite-Four-class for many years, and with Elder Vayne's backing had broken through to Near-Champion only a little while ago; in fighting strength and in what it had behind it, it was naturally no match for the three sacred birds fighting up in the sky.
Aerodactyl was set against Raikou. On the competition ground before, this thing had made a sorry sight of it and sent it off in disappointment.
Now it, Aerodactyl, was an Elite-Four-class Pokémon as well, no weaker than the other; this time it would pay the thing back, old scores and new together!
"Roar—"
The Raikou too had recognised the foe it had beaten before, and stood on no ceremony but went alone to meet it: what it had beaten once it could beat twice!
Raikou and Aerodactyl were at it.
"Blaziken—"
Blaziken drew its brows tight, facing the dreadful thing before it, pitch-black all over with eyes of a peculiar blood-red.
What it felt off the creature was danger — and no less so now that its Trainer had strengthened it!
Vance hung in the air behind his Pokémon, watching them and directing them at once, ready to come to their help at any moment.
Vance was well satisfied with the way the battle was going.
In fact Vance could have chosen not to fight at all. He could have put the whole of his strengthening into Alakazam and had it, at something near Champion strength, carry him away; this lot could not have stopped him.
If he did not want to go, it was because he had his eye on them!
The line-up they had brought out made excellent sparring, an excellent thing to fight — he could go at it with everything he had and give Gyarados and the others as much honing as they could take.
And the Darkrai was another of his reasons for staying.
He had not forgotten the faint murmuring he had heard at the Conference. This Darkrai in front of him had been aware, and had been asking him for help.
There had been nothing he could do then, and he had meant to let matters take their course; but here was the Darkrai turned up in front of him, and did that not prove that the thread between them ran deep enough?
Then he would act.
"Have you any Pokémon left? Throw in every one of them!"
Elder Vayne said it sharply.
Things had gone beyond what he had reckoned on. As it stood, all four of the Near-Champion Pokémon were pinned down; there had been no sweeping the field clear as he had pictured it, and he did not like it at all!
Matters were moving in the direction of slipping out of his hands!
"Yes, yes."
Wren and Gerald Farrow sent out several more Elite-Four-class Pokémon to join the field.
They closed in on Vance.
"Blaziken—"
"Roar, roar—"
Blaziken, Aerodactyl and the rest looked back once and then went on with their own fighting; there was no need to worry about their ganging up on Vance.
Their boss was stronger than they were. If that lot really went at him, there would not be enough of them to keep him busy.
These last few days above all, what they felt off him had been stronger still; the state they were strengthened into now was proof of it.
With several Elite-Four-class Pokémon converging on him, Vance was in no hurry. He loosened his limbs. He would take a hand himself, and it happened to be a good chance to see just how far his own strength had come.
This was no competition ground; there were no rules of any kind here, and Pokémon attacking a Trainer was nothing out of the way.
All that mattered was winning.
"Boom—"
A still vaster wave of force burst out of the place where Vance stood.
"Hrrk—"
The Manectric whimpered low, lying in a crater it had smashed into the ground.
One exchange and Vance had settled it.
Having disposed of the Manectric that had come at him in front, Vance looked round at the remaining Pokémon, and a smile came onto his face.
The Pokémon ringing him all started, and fell back a few steps.
"Hey. Since you've come, you can give me a bit of practice."
Vance said it with a laugh, and then in one flicker was standing in front of an Electivire, and threw a punch that cracked the air with a report.
Today he would take a hand himself!
"Fwup—"
Under that enormous force the Electivire went flying backwards like a torn rag.
Vance brought his hands together, gathered a ball of energy between them and hurled it after the thing.
"Boom—"
Aerodactyl, hard at it with Raikou nearby, was caught by the edge of it, beat its wings and put a little distance between them.
Their boss really was too strong. If he had not wanted to season them, he could have done the whole thing himself.
The dust cleared, and the Electivire had lost the power to battle.
"Your turn."
Vance turned to the rest of them, and his shape went flickering in among them like a ghost; what he did in that fight was more than Blaziken and the others were doing in theirs.
"This... this......"
Watching what Vance did, Elder Vayne and his people were numb with it. It was bloody absurd — a Trainer fiercer than the Pokémon!!
Call him a Pokémon and it would pass.
No, wrong — no Pokémon was as good as he was.
"What are you standing there dazed for? Give your orders, quickly. Gather their strength together and there is still a fight in it."
Elder Vayne shouted
"Right, right, right."
Gerald Farrow and Wren pulled themselves together and directed their Pokémon to fight Vance.
That the thing they were fighting this time was a human being still felt odd to them.
Elder Vayne, for his part, kept his eyes on the fighting in the sky: the two Legendaries Alakazam had tied up, and the Moltres fighting Gyarados head-on. They were the key to breaking the deadlock!
But could they win?
Elder Vayne was no longer sure of it.