"Boom, boom, boom—"
Several explosions went off inside the forest, thick smoke rolling up, sand and dirt flying.
"Damn it, that was frightening. How are these two-legged beasts so strong? Not worth it, not worth it. Better go and find an easier two-legged beast."
The Vigoroth came scrambling out of the dust in a sorry state, using the undergrowth around it to move fast.
Behind it, Cerise and her people were still giving chase.
"After it, faster. That Vigoroth is out of the ordinary, well worth catching. Quickly!"
The group went after it in a great squawking, scrambling rush, and lost it anyway; they could only hunt around the area, unwilling to let it go.
"Whew. That was frightening. Next time, never provoke a two-legged beast with that ripple of power on it. Lucky I'm so clever and quick-witted, so handsome and so nimble, or I'd have gone down this time."
The Vigoroth said it with the fright still on it, wriggled furtively out of a crack in the ground, looked about in every direction, then picked a bearing and ran.
Before long it came across two people, one fat and one thin. It watched from cover first, and once it had made sure there was no ripple of power on either of them, a wild grin spread across the Vigoroth's face.
"Roar—"
It flickered forward, arriving in front of the two of them, and let out a great roar.
"Trouble — come out, Machop!"
Emery took out a Poké Ball and sent his Machop out.
"Quick, Fatty. Get ready to fight."
The fat man beside him put out a Beedrill and a Tauros.
The three Pokémon faced the Vigoroth, all of them grim.
"Heh heh heh."
"Thud, thud, thud—"
A few exchanges later, Emery, his companion and all three Pokémon were lying on the ground, bruised and swollen-faced.
The Vigoroth did not kill them. It "robbed" them thoroughly and then strolled off.
"Just what you'd expect of me. That's how I'll do it from now on. What a level-headed fellow I am. This stuff won't go far, though. I'll be hungry again soon."
...............
The finest ingredients are usually prepared in the plainest way.
Out of the smoke and the heat came a roast done to gold — something in the shape of a sheep, its skin golden, brushed with a coat of oil, hissing and spitting over the charcoal beneath it, the gold of it brighter now, the smell of it richer.
A scattering of the prepared seasoning and the fragrance spilled out in every direction; with the charcoal working on meat and spice together, the two smells came mingled straight at the nose.
Chef Vance, who had been busy at it a good while, cut off a piece with a small knife and ate it, beginning the evening meal.
Tender and smooth, crisp at the edges, fresh and salty, hot and numbing — all of it turning and dancing in his mouth at once, the taste reaching the very tip of his tongue, his whole mouth full of the smell of the meat; a little of the juice ran from the corner of his mouth and was wiped away.
"Mm. Not bad. The cooking hasn't slipped."
Vance said it with satisfaction after the first taste.
"Can we eat yet? That's all mine, isn't it?"
Gyarados pressed him from beside the fire.
"Mm. It's yours."
"Aroo."
At that Gyarados opened his huge mouth and set to with a will, and the roast was soon finished.
"Heh heh, that was good. A bit small, though. Another three — no, five would about do it. Hurrp—"
"That sort of thing is only for the pleasure of it. For real nourishment you want energy cubes. Chill this bottle for me."
Vance said it, picking up a bottle of wine.
"Oh, oh — then why not just mix the energy cubes in with the meat?"
Gyarados lifted his tail and tapped it lightly; a chill spread out from it, and the bottle was cooled in no time, the temperature judged exactly right.
"Fair point."
Vance poured the chilled wine into a stemmed glass, swirled it a few times, took a small sip, then picked up his knife and fork and put a piece of the roast from the table into his mouth.
"Mm. Very good indeed."
On the bank of a lake in a beautiful setting, Vance sat in his chair with a pleased look on his face, watching the water glittering in front of him.
The great lake was like a blue gem set into the green earth, its banks a meeting of grass and trees, thick with green.
"That Wilder boy knew how to live, I'll give him that. Cheap enough for me, though."
The seasonings for the roast had all come from Wilder's supplies.
The man had been one for his comforts. Bringing delicacies like these to Trial Island marked him as someone both extremely confident and extremely full of himself.
Though he was a dead man now.
"What's that two-legged beast eating? It smells wonderful."
Off in a corner where Vance was not looking, the Vigoroth crouched furtively, watching from a distance; the smell coming to its nose had its mouth watering harder still.
"There's no ripple of power on that two-legged beast either, so he must be an ordinary human. Good. I'll be getting plenty of the tasty stuff out of him." Feeling no energy off Vance cheered the Vigoroth, and it studied the surroundings more closely.
"That Gyarados is weaker than me, but stronger than those few humans, so this one must be carrying a fair amount. Heh heh. A nice cheap haul for me."
It wiped the drool from the corner of its mouth and set to work.
Flat in the grass, it crept slowly toward where Vance and Gyarados were. A layer of Psychic-type energy rose over its body, hiding its presence so that it would not be found.
"Why do I feel watched? There's nobody about."
Vance frowned, feeling something, and stood up at once to look around him. He found nothing.
"No. Something's wrong."
Vance trusted that instinct of his, and searched the area more carefully; this time he did find one place that would not sit right.
There was something wrong with that spot. Without meaning to, he had picked up a thread of life-force there, which meant something was hiding.
"Gyarados, we've got company. Over there — Hyper Beam!"
Vance pointed at where the Vigoroth was as he said it.
"Roar—"
Gyarados gathered power at once, and a Hyper Beam tore through the air and came down on the spot he had pointed out.
"Boom—"
Out of the dust that filled the air a nimble figure came at them, leaping high, clawing at Gyarados where he stood in front.
Gyarados's tail moved, and a heavy, powerful Dragon Tail met it.
The two struck together with a dull sound. The huge Gyarados was driven back several steps, and the nimble figure also gave a little ground and dropped to the earth.
"A Vigoroth! No — a Vigoroth isn't like this."
Vance recognised the attacker's shape. It was that Normal-type Pokémon, Vigoroth, right enough, but this Vigoroth was not the Vigoroth he knew from books.
In the move it had used a moment ago, Vance had felt a familiar Psychic-type power.
"Could this be one of that batch of strange Pokémon from the 'airdrop'? It must be."
The thought stirred, and his mind went back to the airdrop of a few days before.
"Roar—"
Being driven back by a "little thing" like that left Gyarados feeling shown up, and he spat out a Water Gun at once.
A look of contempt, human as anything, came over the Vigoroth's face; its body swayed aside, avoiding Gyarados's Water Gun, and it closed on him like a ghost.
"Gyarados, use Whirlpool."
At Vance's order, a great wash of water surged up beneath Gyarados, rising and spinning with him at its centre, wrapping the Vigoroth up inside it along with everything else.