"Torchic—"
The Torchic thought it over. A little more food would not affect the training, apparently. It came running over and put away another meal.
"Torchic—"
A satisfied cry from the Torchic; the gist of it was that the food was good.
"Cheeky little thing." Vance laughed and stroked the Torchic. Its feathers had a good bright colour to them; it had been well looked after before this.
As for putting together food as good as that, for a Vance with the skill of an Intermediate Breeder it was a thing done in passing.
The habits of the Torchic line, and how one ought to be raised, Vance had clear in his head.
Raising a Torchic was no great difficulty for him; he could manage it one-handed. It was only this Torchic, silly creature, who thought he was not up to much.
"Torchic. My name is Vance. I'm your Trainer from now on."
Hearing it, the Torchic looked up from its food, gave a nod to show it had understood, and went back to shovelling.
"Call yourself what you like. Anyone who cooks this well gets looked after by the great Torchic from now on."
So the Torchic told itself.
"Here, let's wipe you off."
There were a good many crumbs stuck to the Torchic's little face, and Vance wiped them away.
"You have two partners as well. I'll introduce you in a moment. The pair of them count as your seniors, I suppose."
"Eh?? Seniors?? Are they as good as me? I was unbeaten in the whole Day Care."
The Torchic said it proudly, with no small contempt.
"They're certainly better than you." Vance laughed in spite of himself and stroked its head. "And another thing — I can understand what you say."
"Torchic!"
"Haha. Come on, I'll take you to meet those two partners of yours."
Then he picked up the Poké Ball, recalled the Torchic and went out of the door.
He went to the desk at the treatment room, collected Gyarados and the other, found a training room and threw out all three Poké Balls.
Gyarados, Vigoroth and the Torchic appeared together.
"Torchic—"
The Torchic still had its head up and its chest out, and had not seen Gyarados and the other behind it.
"Now, let me introduce you two. We have a new partner on the team. This is Torchic."
Vance made the introduction to his Pokémon.
"Torch—"
The Torchic gave a dignified nod and turned round at its leisure.
The next moment it had a fright that nearly sat it down on its backside.
"Torchic!"
What in the world was this enormous thing in front of it — this vicious-looking face with its great mouth open, that it had to tip its head right back to take in?
The other one was smaller in build, but it too had a fierce face, every muscle taut, full of an explosive kind of strength.
Gyarados and the other were looking down at the rather frightened Torchic on the floor and thinking that the child was still small, that they ought not to be so stern about it, that they should be gentler. They had taken the new partner for something on their own level; it had not occurred to them that the newcomer would be this small and this young in the face. Its nerve was not bad either — stared at like that by the two of them, it had not backed away.
"Hey. So you're Torchic."
Gyarados lowered himself down and his eyes softened. A new partner, and this small — he would have to look after it.
He was the big brother of the group, after all; he had that much generosity in him.
And after all this Torchic was not like Vigoroth, rebellious to the bone and forever eyeing his place as big brother.
"Torchic! Just call me Cinder." Faced with this enormous creature, the Torchic decided a change in its manners might be in order, and put away the swagger of the Day Care's unbeaten champion.
"Hello. I'm Vigoroth. Welcome, Torchic."
Vigoroth crouched down as well and put out a hand to welcome the Torchic, showing it some friendliness too.
"Torchic, torchic—"
The Torchic answered again and again.
The presence coming off the two Pokémon was far, far stronger than its own.
The Torchic had a feeling that the strength which had left it unbeaten in the Day Care would be finished in a single move in front of these two "seniors".
"Right. I want the three of you to get on well from now on. Torchic is small, so when you two get up to your nonsense, don't drag him into it."
Vance said it aloud. With a frame that small, the Torchic would never stand up to joining in those two's quarrels.
"Don't worry, boss. I'll look after the little fellow. If I weren't a Water type I'd help you teach him myself."
Gyarados answered. He liked the look of this little brother Torchic; small he might be, but at least he had manners.
"Same here."
Vigoroth put in from beside him.
"Hmph, hmph."
Gyarados snorted coldly, and this time Vigoroth did not snap back. He only glanced over, with no real reaction, and did not squabble with him the way he used to.
Perhaps the battle had changed something in Vigoroth.
"You two are tired today, so no training. Torchic, come with me — let's see how well you've got your moves."
Vance took the Torchic aside with him.
"Torchic—"
The Torchic came over on its two short legs and stood in front of Vance.
"Start with Peck."
Vance said it. He already knew which moves the Torchic had; he only wanted to see how well it handled them.
"Torchic—"
The Torchic planted itself, raised its head slightly, a faint light came up in front of its beak, and then it stabbed sharply forward.
"Left."
"Right."
"Up. Down."
...............
He went through the lot, and found the Torchic's moves solidly learned and well practised. Its standing as the Day Care's "overlord" appeared to be real, and the pride it had shown earlier was understandable.
Going by the fighting strength it showed now, among the Rookie ranks of levels 1 to 10 it stood well out from the rest.
"Very good, Torchic."
Vance praised it and gave it a thumbs-up.
"Torchic—"
Praised, the Torchic raised its head and put out its chest with pride. It might not match those two for fighting strength, but it was a genius all the same, and of course it got praised — that was standard.
Give it time and it would grow strong faster still. That was how the Torchic saw it.
"Torchic, a certain amount of pride is fine, but you mustn't be satisfied with yourself. There's always a higher sky and a better man — or in this case a better Pokémon. There are a great many Pokémon in this world stronger than you." Vance crouched down to say it, then pointed at Vigoroth and Gyarados.
"And there are a great many stronger than Gyarados and Vigoroth, too."
"Torchic—"
The Torchic's dark eyes went to Gyarados and the other, and then back to Vance.
"So you're to train properly, understand? Your gifts are considerable, and you'll be better still in time. I'll work at it alongside you."
Vance put out a hand and rubbed the Torchic's head again. It had to be said, it felt rather good.
"Torch— what should I do, then?"
"Beyond training properly, you must keep a careful mind. Take everything seriously. Even facing a Caterpie, take it seriously."
"Torchic—"
The Torchic nodded thoughtfully.