Given the situation, however, Nova had no choice but to put thoughts of home aside. The first stage of his training journey was not yet over, and flying back just to tidy up the backyard was simply not an option.
Deep within the Uninhabited Area, Nova was completely cut off from the rest of the world. There was no comfortable furniture here, no warm bed to return to, and worst of all, no signal. His phone had been nothing more than a paperweight since he left the outskirts of Layered Rock Town. The last time he had managed to reach Aresdra was through a brief video call two days ago, back when they were still in the city. That call had one purpose: to settle on a name for his newly caught Lapras.
Aresdra had been just as busy as he was these days, if not more so. The auditions hosted by Ninetales Fox Entertainment Company had gone exceptionally well, and the organizers had placed great expectations on both Aresdra and Thelma. With their debut spots nearly confirmed, the two girls had already begun a strict, closed-off training regimen.
Thelma's battling strength was more than adequate, so her training was focused almost entirely on performance and artistry. She needed to shift her Pokémon's power output away from battle-ready strikes and toward the graceful, flowing style that Pokémon Contests demanded. On top of that, she herself had to refine her own stage presence from the ground up. Singing, dancing, gymnastics, and acting were all on the curriculum, and the sheer workload had left the young woman in a foul mood. Nova had wisely kept his distance since then.
Aresdra, on the other hand, had the opposite challenge. Her artistic sense was already well-developed, so her focus was on building up her Pokémon's strength and battle-readiness. Just before Nova had headed into the Uninhabited Area, he had received news that Aresdra's Torchic had evolved into Combusken. The two were now hard at work developing new stage routines together, so Aresdra's schedule was packed as well.
As for Lapras's name, Nova had spent quite a while going back and forth between two options: "Aqua" and "Camus." The first was a nod to Lapras's remarkable purification ability, a power that could cleanse even heavily contaminated water. The second came from Lapras's trait connected to freezing abilities, which Nova had quietly nicknamed the "Goddess of the Dawn" trait. He had been curious about what kind of personality might emerge if that trait was ever fully awakened.
In the end, as expected, his wife had the final say. Aresdra felt that since Lapras was a girl, "Aqua" was the better fit.
Nova had accepted the decision with a small, private prayer to Arceus. The purification ability was one thing, but he sincerely hoped that little Lapras would not end up with the personality that came to mind when he heard that name. If she did, he was going to have a very long road ahead of him.
His team was now complete. Six Pokémon in total, split evenly: three males and three females. It felt almost too perfect.
There was still a good amount of time left in the afternoon, so Nova turned his attention to Aqua. He asked, carefully, whether she felt well enough to try purifying the nearby water hole. Aqua responded with full confidence, letting out a cheerful cry and diving into the water without a moment's hesitation.
Nova watched from the shore, half-expecting to see the murky, Toxic water clear up in a matter of seconds.
For a while, it did seem to be working. The water around Aqua began to clear noticeably wherever she swam. But then, something felt off.
Aqua was slowing down.
Her graceful strokes became sluggish. Then she came to a full stop, floating motionless on the surface. Nova leaned forward, squinting. Aqua's eyes were spinning, and a thin trail of foam was forming at the corners of her mouth.
She had been poisoned.
Nova stared for a moment, too stunned to move.
"Aqua! Hey, pull yourself together!"
He snapped out of it quickly. There was no time to stand around. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and called for Corviknight immediately.
Nova had set clear rules for Corviknight after entering the Uninhabited Area. While the Steel-type bird was allowed to fly freely and enjoy the open sky, it was not permitted to go further than a one-minute flight from camp at any time. This was not a suggestion; it was an order. To make sure Corviknight could receive commands no matter what, Nova had strapped a modified walkie-talkie to its head before they set out. The device did not rely on the League's signal towers, which were practically useless out here. Instead, it connected through a portable base station that Nova carried himself, the same kind of police-grade equipment used by Officer Jenny's unit when operating deep in remote areas.
Corviknight, who had been enjoying a lazy glide through the afternoon sky, received Nova's call and immediately went into a steep dive. It plunged toward the water hole and scooped Aqua out with its talons in one smooth motion.
By the time Aqua was safely on solid ground, her light blue skin had turned an alarming shade of purple.
Nova was already reaching into his bag. He had come prepared for exactly this kind of situation. Among his supplies was a full-restore antidote, a broad-spectrum formula sold at official Pokémon Centers and League stores. It was strong enough to counteract a wide range of toxins, including the effects of moves like Toxic from a Pokémon as powerful as Nidoking. For mineral-based poisons found in contaminated spring water, it was more than sufficient.
He administered it quickly, and after a tense few minutes, Aqua's eyes blinked open. She let out a small, weak cry.
Nova sat back and took a slow breath.
Once Aqua was stable, he examined the water hole more carefully and thought through what had happened. His conclusion was straightforward.
The Purify ability itself was not the problem. It was Aqua.
Had she simply stayed in one place and let the ability work at its natural pace, the Toxic substances in the water would have been gradually neutralized. It would have taken time, but it would have worked safely.
Instead, Aqua had decided that staying still was far too boring. Confident in her abilities, she had started swimming laps, diving to the bottom, surfacing in a burst of spray, and generally putting on a little performance for Nova. All that movement had caused her body to come into contact with far more Toxic water than her purification ability could keep up with. The contamination built up faster than it could be cleansed, and the result was what Nova had just witnessed.
In short, Aqua had not been defeated by the poisoned water. She had been defeated by her own overconfidence.
Nova looked down at her as she pressed her head against his side, using Charm and looking up at him with wide, apologetic eyes. He sighed and gently held her head still.
He could not help but wonder, quietly and with no small amount of dread, whether that name really did carry some kind of unseen Curse. One that stretched across time and space, and had somehow already taken hold.
He muttered to himself, almost under his breath.
"Arceus help me... she really is an Aqua."
After getting Aqua settled in the tent to rest, Nova noticed the sun had begun to dip toward the horizon. His team had finished their daily training, so he turned to the camp stove and started preparing dinner.
As he cooked, his thoughts drifted to his three female pokemon. Each of them had their own remarkable qualities, and each of them gave him a unique kind of headache.
One was sharp-tempered and dangerously clingy. One was brilliant but completely scatterbrained. And the third...
He glanced toward the tent where Aqua was resting.
He could not even find the right words to describe her. She really was something else entirely.
She really was an Aqua.