*It shouldn't, surely.*
Vance said it inwardly. They say that when a Magikarp evolves into a Gyarados, the structure of its brain cells is reorganised, which is why the temperament turns savage — savage enough to attack its own Trainer.
"Hahaha, I did it, I evolved! Aaargh—"
The Gyarados was feeling the power in him, stronger than before by who knew how many times, and he let out a great roar to vent the excitement in him.
"Tch. Boss, how did you get so small?"
Looking around, the Gyarados caught sight of his Trainer and his eyes went wide, his savage face full of confusion. His Trainer had gone and got this small, and it took some getting used to.
Before he evolved, he had had to look up at him, and in his eyes the man had seemed so tall.
*Thank goodness for that.* Seeing the intelligence in those eyes, Vance's mind settled, and he offered his congratulations.
"First of all, well done on the evolution. I suppose I should be calling you Gyarados now."
"And it's you getting bigger after evolving, not me getting smaller. How is it? Looking at the world from up there, it must be a different view."
"Tch. It is different."
For a Pokémon so newly evolved the sight in front of him was something entirely fresh, a great feeling of a sky wide enough for any bird and a sea wide enough for any fish. He was not a feeble Magikarp any more, he was a mighty Gyarados!
There was no accounting for that confidence.
"Boss, the way I am now, I'm strong. Very strong. Leave the fighting to me from here on."
"All right. I'll be counting on you, then."
Over the mental link, hearing the Gyarados say it, Vance nodded with a smile and let him have it his way.
After so much effort the Gyarados had evolved, and having evolved he had not changed. He was still his partner, still as close as ever, and that made Vance feel it had all been worth it.
The Magikarp was the first Pokémon he had had since he transmigrated here, and Vance knew he had given a great deal to him — resources and feeling both.
Vance opened the system at once and looked over the Gyarados's data.
> **Name:** Gyarados (male)
> **Type:** Water, Flying
> **Ability:** Moxie
> **Aptitude:** Elite-Four-class
> **Level:** 21 (Intermediate)
> **Moves:** Bite, Tackle, Leer, Twister, Flail, Whirlpool, Ice Fang, Brine, Dragon Dance, Scary Face, Waterfall, Hyper Beam, Outrage, Water Pulse, Dragon Tail
"Very good."
Vance's face showed his satisfaction. He was thoroughly pleased with how the evolution had left the Gyarados.
The force of the evolution had carried his level up to 21, and beyond that it had lifted his aptitude to Elite-Four-class as well. The road ahead of the Gyarados now ran much further.
He had picked up a good many moves, too. Perhaps that came of his aptitude, and it was a pleasant surprise in itself.
"Hm?"
Vance looked toward the river. A Pokémon was coming closer, and from what it was giving off, it came with ill intent. In his ear, though, was the Gyarados's voice.
"Ohh. So this is what power feels like. I can feel it welling up. I could really do with finding a Pokémon to fight."
*Tch.* Seeing the Gyarados so pleased with himself, Vance clicked his tongue.
"You want a fight, do you."
"I do."
"Over there, then. A Pokémon's coming. Are you in or not?"
Vance pointed toward the river, at the source of that presence.
"What?"
"Rooaar—"
Following where he pointed, the Gyarados spotted it too and roared toward that stretch of water. There was something there, and it had his attention.
A Pokémon shaped like a jellyfish surfaced, watching them with an unfriendly look, energy stirring around it, gathered and held back.
That was a Tentacruel, a Water- and Poison-type Pokémon.
"It's a Tentacruel. We've probably disturbed it. By the look of it, it hasn't come to be friendly."
Vance had picked the Tentacruel out as well, and from the way it carried itself he could feel the malice in it.
"Not friendly? Then I'll let it feel how unfriendly I can be!"
The Gyarados said it haughtily, without giving the Tentacruel across from him the slightest regard. Newly evolved or not, from the feel of what it gave off, he had it comfortably in hand.
"Shoo, shoo, shoo—"
Before the Gyarados could do anything, the Tentacruel across the water struck first, and poison needles glinting with a purple-black sheen came at him thick enough to blot out the sky.
"Aaargh—"
A fierce wind rose around the Gyarados and scattered the needles out of their flight.
"Scum. Die!"
Faced with the attack the Gyarados flew into a rage. Points of light gathered in front of his mouth, and a beam with a terrible force in it shot straight out and landed on the Tentacruel, throwing up a great explosion.
A curtain of water went up across the sky, and the weeds and mud from the riverbed were flung everywhere by the blast.
"Rooaar—"
Taking the opening, the Gyarados slid into the water and closed on the Tentacruel at speed.
Over the mental link, Vance told him what that strike had done. The Tentacruel had not lost its ability to fight, and it still had strength to hit back with.
The moment he came in range, a thick draconic power wound about the Gyarados's tail, and he swept it across, snapping through several of the tentacles raised to block him and sending the Tentacruel flying. It came down to one side in a great sheet of spray.
Before the Tentacruel could react, the river around its body began to turn, forming into a spiral.
Another of the Gyarados's moves. Whirlpool.
"Aaargh—"
Like a dragon rising out of the deep, the Gyarados drove in again.
In the fight between the two of them, it was the newly evolved Gyarados who had the upper hand.
Vance was not surprised. It seemed only reasonable to him. On the system display in front of him was the Tentacruel's data.
> **Name:** Tentacruel
> **Type:** Water, Poison
> **Ability:** Clear Body
> **Aptitude:** Advanced
> **Level:** 26
> **Moves:** Poison Sting, Water Gun, Acid, Supersonic, Water Pulse, Screech, Bubble Beam, Endure, Haze
Its aptitude was lower even than that Golbat's, and looking at its body, it had the appearance of something underfed.
Even with a few levels between them, Vance believed that with what the Gyarados had behind him, beating it would not be difficult.
And the fight was going as he had expected. The Gyarados had it pinned down.
"Bang—"
After a few exchanges the Tentacruel was knocked flying once more, and came down hard to one side.
This time the Tentacruel realised as well that it was no match for the Gyarados. In moves or in build, it was outmatched either way.
It did not strike back after that. It threw up a great cloud of Haze, sank under the water and made to get away.
"Rooaar—"
Seeing his prey about to run, the Gyarados was not letting it go so easily. Points of light appeared at his mouth and he used the great move of the Gyarados line again: Hyper Beam.
"Five o'clock."
The Gyarados nodded and fired where Vance told him.
A beam shot out of the Gyarados's mouth and landed squarely on the fleeing Tentacruel.
"Boom—"
An explosion went up loud enough to shake the heavens. Under the Hyper Beam the stretch of river where the Tentacruel had been was churned into waves and wreckage.
The Tentacruel floated to the surface with its eyes spinning. Under that one Hyper Beam it had lost the ability to fight.
"Ding. Tentacruel defeated. 15 Battle Points awarded."
"Ding. Intermediate Trainer achievement reached."
"Ding. Mission complete: 100 Pokémon defeated."
"Aaargh— Trash. Who gave you the nerve to fight me?"
Having beaten his opponent, the Gyarados threw his head up and roared, thoroughly pleased. As expected, he was strong, and this Tentacruel had been easy work.
He had this power in his hands at last. He had waited far, far too long for it.
He could not even remember how many times he had been beaten bloody, defeated, looked down on. But now he was on his feet.
"Aaargh—"
In his high spirits the Gyarados rolled and thrashed in the river, letting out everything he felt.
*Isn't this Gyarados a bit too sure of himself? How is he so different from before he evolved? Was it all that pep talk I gave him?*
Watching the Gyarados carry on, Vance did not stop him. He stood on the bank and watched him with a smile, while at the same time projecting his psychic sense to keep an eye on their surroundings.
After a while the Gyarados stopped, turned back and looked at him, waiting for his orders.
"Into a Poké Ball with it, of course. It can be traded for something once the assessment's over."
Vance took out a Poké Ball and drew the Tentacruel in. It was worth a fair amount.
"Aaargh—"
The Gyarados took the Poké Ball gently in his teeth, swam to the bank and set it down on him, the savagery quite gone out of his face now.
Privately the Gyarados counted himself very fortunate to have met this Trainer. Without him he might still be scraping a living in some stinking ditch, taking every humiliation going.
"Hahaha, this makes things easy for me. No more fighting with an iron bar. From here on you're the main force."
Vance laughed out loud, looking up at the towering Gyarados in front of him.
"Rooaar—"
The Gyarados gave a low roar and straightened up, in high spirits. He was not a Magikarp any more, he was a Gyarados.
A dragon, not a fish — that was how the Gyarados saw it.
"Boss, can you sense any Pokémon nearby that mean us harm? I can't wait!"
The Gyarados asked again. He could fight some more!
"Nearby?" Vance looked into the distance. In that direction he could just make out three powerful presences, and they were coming closer.
From the feel of them, those Pokémon could not be below level 30. He had felt the like before at the Team Rocket base, from the Pokémon of certain Team Rocket officers.
"I have good news and bad news. Which do you want?"
"Good."
"I can sense three Pokémon heading this way."
Vance said it to the Gyarados with a smile.
"Heh heh heh. Good. Very good. Three? What of it?" Confidence spread across the Gyarados's face. He was not frightened in the least.
"Watch closely, boss, and see how I beat them. Three is about right. That ought to be enough for me to go all out."
"Oh? That confident?" Vance raised an eyebrow at him.
"You must be joking, I'm extremely confident. Didn't you say it yourself, boss, that I should have faith? You told me all about having faith before I evolved. So what's the bad news?"
"Those three are most likely a good deal stronger than you. Advanced strength, I'd guess. One against one you could give it a try..."
"Say no more, boss, let's pull back." The Gyarados's face straightened, all his earlier swagger gone, and he cut Vance off.
"Hm? Weren't you feeling brave? Go and take a few swings at them."
"Run, run. I'm confident, not deluded. We're off, we're off."
While the two of them were talking, the three powerful presences drew close to where they stood.
"Hahaha. Off we go, then."
Vance did not linger either. He took the Gyarados with him, Teleported, and vanished from the spot.
"Sploosh—"
Two sturdy red lobster-shaped Pokémon leapt out of the water and came up onto the bank, looking left and right. They found nothing.
Crawdaunt, a dual Water- and Dark-type Pokémon.
Besides them, a Poliwrath floated at the surface, looking around, and plainly it found nothing either.
"They all look like trouble. Nothing to do with me, though."
In a corner some way off, Vance lowered his binoculars and walked into the deep sea of trees.