Now that the next leg of the journey was decided, Nova saw no reason to linger any longer.
Most of what remained in the trio's tent was worthless and could be left behind; only a handful of valuable items were worth carrying off.
His biggest prize by far was the Beach Off-Road Supply Vehicle. Until Growlithe finished evolving, driving this across the desert would beat grinding along the sand at Corviknight's pace.
Still, despite being called a supply vehicle, Nova had little use for most of what the trio had stocked inside. The piles of emergency rations, for instance, were so unappetizing that even the Mightyena standing guard refused to touch them. Nova couldn't picture a situation where he'd ever need them.
So aside from loading some fresh water onto the vehicle, the only things he took along were the two Mightyena themselves. He still hadn't located their Poké Balls, so for now he simply had them climb into the vehicle's rear compartment.
The two of them had, after all, done him a real service, leading him to the hidden supply vehicle in the first place. He wasn't about to leave them stranded in the desert to fend for themselves.
Once they were clear of the desert, he'd ask what they wanted to do. If they were willing to guard the front gate, he planned to settle them in the stretch of land between his villa's back garden and South Mountain.
There, they could help keep stray wild Pokémon from wandering in and nesting in the yard, which would take some of the patrol burden off Purrloin.
The supply vehicle ran on electricity, which was convenient, since trainers could recharge it almost anywhere.
Electric-type Pokémon weren't rare, after all, and most trainers who traveled brought one along if they could, if only to keep their outdoor gear charged.
At the moment Rotom was Nova's only Electric-type, but Nidoking had picked up no small skill with Thunderbolt. If the battery ever ran dry, all it would take was feeding Nidoking a meal, and the vehicle would be back in business.
With that in mind, Nova didn't bother conserving power. He pressed the accelerator to the floor and set off on what amounted to his first real speed run.
It helped that this stretch of desert was uninhabited land, so there was no traffic to worry about. He didn't even need much driving skill, just point it in the right direction and keep the pedal down, barely touching the wheel, which left one hand free to wrestle with the cat beside him.
He covered the four kilometers in under two minutes.
Even that was slower than it might have been. Loose sand cut down on speed, and on a paved highway he'd have gone faster still.
The hill that Nidoking had flattened earlier was now ringed by a small crowd, a Rhydon and more than thirty Rhyhorn of assorted sizes, using the horns on their heads to dig through the loose soil and pull out the Pokémon buried underneath to eat.
The two human bodies hadn't been spared either; they'd already been picked down to the bone.
It was simply the way of the wild, and Nova had no grounds to judge it.
This particular group of Rhyhorn clearly held a grudge against the three robbers. Now that the trio had been dealt with in one stroke, there was little reason to spare the ones who had tormented them for the past week.
Nova noticed something else: the Rhydon had tracked down the very Barbaracle that had given it so much trouble. The trio's prized fighter, the one they called the Blue Headscarf's ace, had already been chewed down to half of what it once was.
It was a strange twist of fate. This same Barbaracle had, under its trainer's orders, worn Rhydon down again and again, only for their positions to flip entirely, turning the Barbaracle into the meal instead.
Seeing Nova barrel toward them in the vehicle, Rhydon tossed the half-eaten Barbaracle aside, let out a roar to call off the others still picking through the sand, and gathered them close, bracing as though facing a serious threat.
Wild and unruly as it had been out here, that didn't mean Rhydon lacked intelligence. Where Rhyhorn, before evolving, were mostly reckless brutes who only knew how to charge straight ahead, Rhydon had grown into something far more cunning and dangerous.
It understood clearly enough that the three humans who had driven it and its kin hundreds of kilometers from home, hunting them without letting up, had just been wiped out by the young man standing before it now. If this stranger meant harm, there would be little chance for the rest of the clan to escape unscathed either.
Nova stopped the vehicle about half a kilometer from the collapsed hill. Once he climbed out, he called out Nidoking to stand guard before he dared approach Rhydon, Meowscarada following close behind.
"Listen, I'm short on time and I'd rather not waste it here. I've got one question for you: are you willing to face my Pokémon in a one-on-one battle? Lose, and you come with me. Win, and all of this is yours."
With that, he tossed down the valuables he'd taken from the trio, letting them fall in front of Rhydon.
Among them was a Moon Stone along with a handful of rare minerals gathered from the desert, including a Scarlet Stone and a Hard Stone, both prized for strengthening Rock-type Pokémon.
Nova wasn't worried about losing, so the stakes he had offered didn't concern him much.
Rhydon, on the other hand, felt uneasy. It suspected it stood no chance against the towering Pokémon at Nova's side, but refusing outright would leave it powerless if the man forced the issue anyway, and its clan would suffer regardless.
All it could do was let out a low roar, its meaning lost on the young man in front of it.
Fortunately, Nova's small translator was quick to step in and bridge the gap.
Rotom broke in, explaining that Rhydon wanted to know what would become of its kin if it lost the fight.
Nova thought it over for a moment before offering what he judged to be the most reassuring answer he could give: "I won't touch them. Honestly, you're the only one I'm interested in here, since you're clearly a cut above the rest. What happens to the others doesn't matter to me one way or another.
That said, if I take you away, your clan won't have another leader as strong as you for a good while, and things out here could get rough for them without you.
So I'll take your kin along as well, and you can keep leading them same as before. If any of them would rather stay free and not come with me, I won't force the issue.
But truthfully, coming with me wouldn't be a misfortune for you or the rest of your clan. If anything, it might turn out to be the best thing that's happened to any of you."
Rhydon didn't doubt the confidence behind Nova's words. Every Pokémon at this young man's side was clearly powerful, and he had been straightforward from the start, issuing an honest challenge instead of resorting to tricks.
It was nothing like the three cowards who, unable to beat Rhydon head-on, had resorted to underhanded schemes to wear it down instead.
Rhydon slammed its fists together, the sound ringing out, a clear sign that it had accepted the challenge and was ready to fight.
Nova, for his part, stayed perfectly calm. He simply raised a hand, signaling for Nidoking to step forward and get ready to battle.