Nova found it hard to believe that an ordinary criminal could simply wander across regions and catch Pokémon that had no business being there. Only a large-scale poaching organisation — one that actively raided Pokémon from multiple regions — would have the resources to pull that off.
The Ariados had taken down the Electrode in quick succession, and that was enough to silence most of the passengers. The cabin had gone very still. Sensing the moment, a second criminal seized on it. He stepped forward and threw a Poké Ball of his own, clearly intending to stamp out any remaining thoughts of resistance.
What came out was a blue-green Pokémon with a humanoid build — lean, sharp-eyed, and dressed in what looked like a martial arts uniform. It was a Medicham.
At its Trainer's command, the Medicham crossed the cabin in an instant and put the hot-tempered man from earlier on the floor with a single, clean strike.
"Medicham, use Leer!"
Medicham's gaze swept across the passengers. The intense pressure of that stare hit like a physical force, and the people it landed on instinctively stepped back, a cold dread crawling up their spines.
The two criminals exchanged a satisfied look. Things were going exactly as planned. The security officer was locked outside. The passengers were too frightened to move. All that was left was grabbing their target and getting off the airship cleanly.
Their one concern had been Nova's Nidorino — its sheer size made battle awkward in a cramped cabin, but that was exactly why they had chosen this setting. The only thing that had not been accounted for was the Corvisquire. And since Nova had not made a move yet, they figured the bird had probably only just been caught and was not yet ready for battle.
What they had not considered was that Nova had no intention of playing by their plan. He was simply waiting for the right moment.
The passengers, rattled by Medicham's Leer, had shuffled back toward the rear of the cabin, leaving a wide open stretch of floor between them and the criminals.
Now.
Nova understood exactly why the poachers had chosen an airship. They had counted on the narrow cabin restricting Nidorino's movement. And they were right — but they had made one mistake. They had assumed a Pokémon's only purpose was to battle.
A Pokémon that cannot fight can still do other things. And when your Pokémon is the size of a small car, it can, at the very least, block a door.
"I choose you, Nidorino!"
The Poké Ball burst open, and Nidorino materialised — its large, heavy body wedging itself snugly between three rows of seats, completely unable to move forward or back.
It was an absurd sight. And yet, in that absurdity, it was effective. Nidorino became an immovable wall of pink and purple between the criminals and the passengers, and the poachers who had been so confident a moment ago were now faced with a very inconvenient obstacle that had not been in any of their planning.
"Everyone! Get down behind your seats! If you can't find one, lie flat on the floor!"
The passengers, already wound tight with fear, responded to Nova's clear voice immediately. They ducked and scrambled into position.
Nidorino, wedged firmly in place, seemed to understand exactly what was needed without being told. On its own, it raised the dense thicket of poison needles covering its hide — and fired them all at once.
The sound was like a sudden downpour hammering against the cabin walls. Thin, sharp Poison Sting needles scattered in every direction.
The Ariados and its Trainer fared better than most. The Spider Web stretched across the emergency exit caught the majority of the needles before they could reach them, and they came away with little damage. Medicham, however, had no such protection.
Poison needles buried themselves into both the Medicham and its Trainer. Purple venom began spreading through them, dulling the nerves, dragging at their focus with a drowsy heaviness — but the burning that came with it kept them awake and struggling. The combination of poison and pain was deeply unpleasant.
Through a narrow gap beside Nidorino's bulk, Nova took stock of the situation. Nidorino had done everything it could from its fixed position — wedged between rows of seats, it had no useful angle for anything except that wide, indiscriminate burst of Poison Sting. Its role here was done.
Time for the next move.
Nova recalled Nidorino and threw out a second Poké Ball.
"Corvisquire— use Peck on the blue one!"
This was their first real battle together. Nova and Corvisquire had not yet built the natural back-and-forth he shared with Nidorino, so he kept his instructions as clear and specific as possible. He even used colour to point out the target, half-worried Corvisquire might not immediately distinguish between the two oddly-dressed opponents.
He was not lowering his guard just because Medicham was poisoned. It was still two-against-one, and Corvisquire was only around level eighteen — a significant level gap against either opponent. He needed to remove one of them quickly.
There was no room for Corvisquire to build up speed for a powerful Brave Bird, and in a two-on-one situation there was no time for it either. He fell back on Peck — sixty base power, straightforward, and critically, a Flying-type move. Flying-type attacks were super effective against both Medicham's Fighting type and Ariados's Bug type. Without that type advantage, Nova was not sure the odds would be in their favour at all.
The poisoned Trainer, still reeling from the Poison Sting, had no time to react. Corvisquire's beak came down hard on Medicham's blue-tinted head.
Ariados, which had been setting up its next Spider Web to lock down the safety door again, was forced to abandon that and redirect its silk toward Corvisquire instead.
A volley of sticky threads flew across the cabin.
"Corvisquire, use Defog!"
One of the moves Corvisquire had come with, Defog proved far more useful than Nova had expected. A sharp beat of its wings scattered the incoming webbing and sent it drifting apart in the rush of air.
The brief pause in Ariados's attack gave Nova the opening he needed. Corvisquire cut through the gap between the criminals and their Pokémon with a clean mid-air turn and reached the sealed safety door. There, on Nova's command, it used Defog again — driving the layered webbing away from the door in a strong, sustained gust.
"No — stop it! Ariados, use Bug Bite!"
With no space to manoeuvre and Defog still on cooldown, Corvisquire could not dodge cleanly. Bug Bite connected.
But Flying-type Pokémon have a natural resistance to Bug-type moves, and Corvisquire's Steel-hardened feathers gave it an extra layer of durability. The hit landed, but it was far less damaging than it would have been against any other Pokémon. Corvisquire shook it off and slipped out of the range of Ariados's following Headbutt.
On the surface, the situation still looked poor for Nova. Medicham was badly hurt, but Ariados was completely fresh, and Corvisquire had taken real damage. By most measures, the field was against him.
But Nova had already achieved what he set out to do.
Between Nidorino's Poison Sting and Corvisquire's Defog, he had forced Ariados away from its defensive post and cleared every layer of webbing from the safety door.
He would not need to do anything else. The next step would take care of itself.
The Ariados's Trainer had just worked out what had happened. The colour drained from his face. He had no time to give Ariados a command. His mouth barely managed to form the words before what was coming arrived.
"Oh no..."