"It's hard to explain exactly..." Aresdra's brows drew together slightly, as though she were searching for the right words. But whatever uncertainty showed on her face, her voice carried no doubt at all.
"It's true that I've stopped waiting in one spot for news about my parents. I feel like I could go anywhere now — but that kind of courage didn't come from me alone. These past few years gave it to me. And the reason I can't leave for Asgard right now is because of that, too. I can't face life on my own anymore. I don't know how to."
"Who said anything about living alone?" Mataja said quickly. "If you came back to Asgard, you'd be with us. You wouldn't be by yourself —"
She was plain-spoken by nature and meant every word of it. But Sharif, as he so often did, had already seen past the surface of things. He placed a quiet hand on his wife's shoulder, and she trailed off.
Sharif's eyes had shifted in a particular direction. Following his gaze, Mataja saw it too.
While Aresdra had been speaking, her left hand had reached back and found Nova's right hand, closing around it without a word.
Nova's heart gave a startled lurch.
It wasn't as though the two of them had never been close — after years of living side by side, small moments of contact had become natural between them. But Nova had always sensed that whatever existed between him and Aresdra had quietly grown into something beyond ordinary friendship. He had told himself, more than once, that things would find their own shape in time, and that he could face whatever that shape turned out to be.
Even so, when Aresdra reached for his hand in front of her only living relatives — as openly and naturally as if it were the most obvious thing in the world — Nova felt every bit as flustered as a new Trainer fumbling with their first Poké Ball. And just like that Trainer with their first partner, he found himself holding on a little tighter than he intended to, quietly grateful for the warmth of her fingers against his palm.
Does this count as meeting the family?
With everything out in the open, the rest of the afternoon settled into something much more comfortable.
Mataja's insistence on taking Aresdra back to Asgard had never really come from stubbornness — it had come from worry. She had been afraid that Aresdra was alone here, without anyone to look after her in a region that wasn't her home. Now that she could see for herself that Aresdra had found her footing, her place, and her people, there was nothing left to argue about. She could only offer her blessings.
After paying their respects at the monuments of Aresdra's parents, the four of them took the bus back to Harmony City together. Nova and Aresdra, as locals, naturally took on the role of guides and spent the rest of the day showing the couple around the city.
They had hoped to convince Sharif and Mataja to stay for a few more days. But Sharif was a scholar whose schedule rarely had room to breathe. On the afternoon of the second day, he and Mataja boarded an airship bound for a city, where an important academic conference was waiting for him.
After seeing them off, Aresdra's leave came to an end and she returned to school. Nova, for his part, went home and tried not to go out of his mind with boredom.
There was also reason for some relief on the financial side. The funds he had been setting aside for a Moon Stone were already spoken for, which meant his savings were in better shape than expected. Over those two days, Nova had made good use of that breathing room. First, he finished paying off Aresdra's Starter Fund in full. Then he made a trip to the Alliance's Pokémon Mart and picked up three TMs he had been planning to get for Nidorino ahead of its Evolution.
Because Nidorino carried the Hidden Ability Hustle, Nova knew that once it evolved into Nidoking, that ability would become Sheer Force — boosting the power of moves with secondary effects at the cost of removing those effects entirely. For a Pokémon with that kind of ability, moves with secondary effects became far more powerful, making them well worth investing in.
Nova had already used a TM some time ago to teach Nidorino Thunderbolt. This time, with enough funds on hand, he bought three more coverage moves in one go: the Fire-type Flamethrower, the Water-type Surf, and the Ice-type Ice Beam.
His vision for Nidoking was a heavy artillery role — capable of setting entry hazards with Stealth Rock, wearing opponents down with Toxic, and tearing through them with a wide range of Special moves. The goal was a Pokémon that could dismantle an opposing team's defenses steadily and with overwhelming firepower.
The three TMs together came to nearly 20,000 Poké — no small amount. TM prices worked a little like market rates; while the base price for any TM sat at around 5,000, actual prices shifted with supply and demand. Moves that saw low demand — like Normal-type coverage moves such as Body Slam or Take Down — often sat well below that. A patient Trainer could sometimes talk a Mart clerk down to 2,000 or even 1,000.
But Flamethrower, Surf, and Ice Beam were different. These were reliable, versatile moves of their respective types — exactly the kind that Trainers tended to want sooner rather than later, even if their Pokémon could learn them eventually through leveling up. The logic was simple: why wait for what you could have now?
With all three TMs secured, Nova settled in at home and turned his attention to what mattered most: the Moon Stone.
It arrived on the morning of the fourth day.
A round, cheerful Delibird appeared at Nova's window, tapping the glass with one small wing. Nova opened the window and let it hop inside. The Delibird spread its distinctive tail feathers — which doubled as a delivery pouch — and carefully pressed the package into Nova's hands with an air of practiced professionalism.
Inside was a stone as dark as a clear night sky, shot through with faint veins of pale gold and rimmed with a soft, silvery glow the color of moonlight.
A Moon Stone — and a letter.
The letter was short and written in a familiar, no-nonsense hand.
"Nova,
Greetings.
I have successfully located a Moon Stone at 87% purity. It is enclosed with this letter.
— Charlie Tucker, Luma Gym."
Exactly what Nova had expected. Concise. Direct. Every word serving a purpose. He closed his fingers around the Moon Stone and held it for a moment. Nidorino and he had both been waiting a long time for this.
Still, he composed himself. There was one thing to see to first.
Nova reached into his wallet, pulled out two higher-denomination bills, and held them out to the Delibird. Charlie Tucker had certainly covered the postage — but tipping the delivery Delibird and offering it a meal had become something close to an unspoken tradition in the delivery trade. The amount varied from person to person, but today Nova was feeling generous. He handed over 200 coins without hesitation, happy to share the mood with anyone who happened to be around — even a round little bird with no idea what it had just delivered.
Then he went to the kitchen.
Following a recipe from his Cultivation System tailored specifically for Delibird, Nova cooked a proper meal suited to the Pokémon's tastes. The Delibird ate with an enthusiasm that was frankly alarming for something so small. By the time it waddled out to the balcony and attempted to take off, the angle was noticeably off, and its flight path dipped before it managed to level out.
Nova watched it disappear over the rooftops, shook his head with a quiet smile, and went to tidy up.
Then he picked up two Poké Balls and headed out.
Letting Nidorino evolve inside the apartment was simply not an option. A fully evolved Nidoking had the size and presence to pose a serious risk to the floor, the ceiling, and everything in between, and Nova had no interest in finding out which would give first.
He jogged to a small park nearby and found an open stretch of grass away from the paths. He tapped the Poké Ball and released Nidorino in a flash of white light.
The Pokémon materialized with a deep, rumbling cry — and immediately drew every nearby eye. A little girl out for a walk with her grandfather stopped in her tracks, pointed with great enthusiasm, and declared, "Grandpa, look! A big rhinoceros!"
The grandfather squinted kindly in the direction she was pointing. "That's not a rhinoceros, sweetheart. That's a... hmm. Is that a Nidorino?"
Nova let the murmuring around him fade into the background. He crouched down in front of Nidorino and met its steady gaze.
"All right, Nidorino," he said quietly. "Are you ready?"