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In his past life, when Nova had been nothing more than a corporate slave, he despised superiors who spoke only of feelings while ignoring compensation. Now that he finally had the chance to be the one giving orders, he tried to see things from others' point of view. He felt he could not fall short in this regard, or people would start talking behind his back.
So even though Ramsey refused to accept extra payment, Nova insisted on transferring a sum of League coins to Master Ramsey, at a rate of five thousand coins per hour.
After all, the money he had just earned from his Martial Uncle was meant to be spent on breeding his Pokémon properly.
With Master Ramsey personally guiding Nidoking's training, Nova felt completely at ease. The man had already helped Gilbert successfully breed a Claydol, so there was no doubt about his skill in this field.
Professional work should be left to professionals. Nova would handle the training of the rest of his team himself.
Corviknight did not need extra training for now, and there was no urgent need to adjust its traits further. Its current priority was simply to keep absorbing Steel-type energy, so that its trait, Body of Steel, could evolve into the far stronger Steel Fortress as soon as possible.
Nova planned to take Corviknight to Stone City later, to have an old craftsman apply a metal coating to its body. This would greatly increase Corviknight's physical hardness and strengthen its affinity for Steel-type energy.
Meowscarada had only just evolved and did not need any trait adjustments yet, so today's training had little to do with the cat.
Growlithe's case was different. It was already Level 45 and physically ready to evolve, though the timing was still not quite ideal. Nova wanted to push Growlithe's level up a little more before letting it evolve. What trait adjustments would follow depended entirely on how Growlithe turned out after evolving.
That left Nova's main focus for the day: the little philosopher, Seele.
Marshtomp was the Pokémon on Nova's team most in need of the breeding system's help. Because of a natural shortage of Water-type energy, Marshtomp had never gained any Water-type traits, and in its early days it had even struggled to use certain Water-type moves at all.
After Nova strengthened Marshtomp's Water-type energy through careful diet and training, its Water-type moves finally became usable in battle, but their power still fell far short of what he had hoped for.
This time, Nova wanted Marshtomp to awaken the trait called Hard Vortex, offered by the breeding system. Since the trait was tied to whirlpools, he decided Marshtomp needed to experience the true power of a vortex firsthand.
Nova rented the aquatic battlefield at the Layered Peaks Gym to give Marshtomp and Lapras some special training. It seemed strange for a Ground-type Gym to own an aquatic battlefield, but the current Gym Leader, Gilbert, kept an old partner, a Whiscash, on his team. In the Gym Leader tournaments held among Ground-type specialists, having a Pokémon with both Water and Ground typing gave a clear advantage. Trainers at the Gym also used the aquatic field regularly, to prepare their Pokémon for battling under unfavorable watery terrain.
The battlefield was fitted with advanced equipment capable of producing effects like waves, whirlpools, and countercurrents. Today, Nova asked only for the whirlpool setting. He explained to the staff exactly what kind of vortex he needed. Hidden rods beneath the pool began to turn, faster and faster, until a powerful whirlpool formed at its center.
Marshtomp floated through the swirling water wearing its usual expression, the look of a creature that had already seen through everything. It spun slowly with the current, giving away nothing. Watching it, Nova grew a little anxious, since he could never tell whether Marshtomp was actually thinking about something, or whether it was even trying at all.
Lapras had only come along to keep Marshtomp company. Nova had not expected much from her to begin with. Still, watching her cheerfully weave through the raging whirlpool, only to choke on water moments later because she insisted on singing while diving, made Nova want to cover his face.
"Aqua, I know you're unusual, but could you try to be a little less unusual for just one moment?"
Even so, Nova could not really blame her. Lapras belonged in the open ocean, yet after following him for so long, she had spent most of her days wandering the northwestern reaches of the Norlandia Alliance, a land of nothing but desert and wasteland. The largest body of water she had ever seen was a salt pond in the Cengluan Mountains, one that had nearly poisoned her unconscious.
Whenever Nova returned to his Gym, he could at least find a hot spring for her to relax in. But out on the road, there was little he could do. Aside from battling and eating, Aqua could hardly leave her Poké Ball at all, since the dry desert air was harsh on her skin.
This was also why Aqua liked to stay close to Marshtomp whenever they traveled. Marshtomp's Ability, Damp, created a layer of moisture in the air around it, and staying near Seele always made Aqua feel more comfortable.
Thinking it over, Nova realized just how much Aqua had suffered these past months. Fortunately, she was a natural optimist, always laughing and singing no matter the circumstances. Otherwise, Nova might have started worrying about her falling into real sadness.
He promised himself that once they traveled south, he would search out every great river and lake he could find, so Aqua could finally swim to her heart's content.
By the end of the day, Aqua looked thoroughly pleased with herself, while Marshtomp, the true subject of the training, still wore its unreadable expression. To check its progress, Nova activated his scanning skill to review its breeding attributes.
There was still no trace of the long-awaited Hard Vortex trait. However, thanks to its Thinker trait, Marshtomp, who had spent the entire day deep in thought, had gained another level. It now stood at Level 39, nearly catching up to Growlithe.
By half past five, Nova decided to wrap things up and head back. He would prepare dinner for his partners first, spend time with them until nine o'clock, and then turn in early. He had no plans to continue training that evening.
Rest mattered just as much as training, both for Trainers and for Pokémon. Nova believed hard work was necessary, but a Trainer should never ignore a Pokémon's physical limits or overall condition. Anyone who forced their Pokémon to train twenty hours a day without pause was not raising Pokémon at all. They were running a gladiator pit.
After dinner, they returned to the hotel. Nova sent his larger partners to rest in the hotel's Pokémon lodging, while he brought the smaller ones back to his own suite.
Aresdra had taken the previous day off just to celebrate Nova's birthday at midnight. That morning, she had said a hurried good morning before returning with Thelma to the Nine-Tailed Fox family's secret realm, and she was currently out of reach.
With his girlfriend unavailable, Nova had little interest in doing anything else. He quickly washed up and went to bed.
But after Nova had fallen asleep, in a corner he had failed to notice, Marshtomp sat watching him with its small, round eyes. After what seemed like a very long period of thought, it finally appeared to have understood something.