At the Paras Ranch, the most prized individuals were those born with the Dry Skin ability. Paras with Effect Spore were considered the next best, acceptable but not ideal. Those with Damp, however, were the black sheep of the operation. The moment one was identified, it was sorted out and removed from the main group without delay.
These unwanted Paras were typically handed over to the Luma Gym, where Charlie took responsibility for raising them. The stronger ones received some training and were put to work in Gym battles or gifted to interns as a reward for their effort. But not every Pokémon was cut out for battling. Even if a Pokémon with a hidden ability had a slight edge in raw talent over its peers, that did not mean it could hold its own in a professional match.
And so, over the years, the Luma Gym had quietly accumulated dozens of Paras, and even a few Parasect. They were not quite good enough to serve as official Gym Pokémon, yet nobody wanted to take them off Charlie's hands either. He had little choice but to treat them as an unfortunate side effect of the family business, quietly setting aside money each year to feed and house what the staff had taken to calling "the mushroom crowd."
This was the reason Nova had always found the number of Paras roaming around the Luma Gym so striking. They truly were everywhere, turning up in corridors, training rooms, and storage areas alike, blending into the Gym's daily life like furniture nobody remembered buying.
Grass-type Pokémon were not expensive to feed, especially when no one was investing in competitive training for them. But they took up space, and the numbers kept climbing. At one point, Charlie had seriously considered releasing them into Purple Lychee Mountain, framing it as a return to nature.
The idea did not last long. As a regional Gym Leader, he had a responsibility to the local ecosystem, and releasing that many Paras into the wild at once would have been reckless at best. More than that, if he set that kind of example, the Trainers of Goldenlight City would feel justified doing the same whenever a Pokémon stopped being useful to them. The consequences for Purple Lychee Mountain's ecosystem could have been serious. So the mushrooms stayed, and Charlie kept paying for their upkeep.
When word reached him that Nova was looking for Paras with the Damp ability specifically, Charlie's first reaction was something close to relief.
Nova had asked for four or five. Charlie could have given him forty. He would have happily sent every Damp Paras currently wandering the Gym straight to Nova's backyard if he thought the offer would be accepted. The ranch produced a fresh batch of Paras every year regardless, so it would not be long before a new generation of Damp "little mushrooms" filled the Gym again anyway.
As for payment, Charlie did not even entertain the thought. Nova was not asking him for a favor. Nova was doing him one. Putting a price on that would have felt like treating a friend like a stranger.
The two of them came to an agreement without much fuss.
The only complication was that Charlie was not at the Luma Gym. He had headed south into the Hundred Thousand Mountains for training and could not return to meet Nova in person. In his place, he sent Mr. Max.
He had a talent for explaining basic Pokémon knowledge in a way that was clear and patient, walking interns through the finer points of battlefield mechanics with care. The trouble, at least from Nova's perspective, was that his lessons tended to stay on the beginner side of things. Nova had not attended many of his classes and had not had much reason to spend time with him beyond what was strictly necessary. Still, he had always struck Nova as a genuinely good-natured person.
Mr. Max exchanged a few friendly words with Nova before presenting him with a standard Trainer's belt. It had six slots, each fitted with a Poké Ball, built for the most common format in professional competition: six-on-six battles.
That particular design had shaped the habits of plenty of Trainers over the years. Many professionals chose to travel with exactly six Pokémon, no more. Keeping a larger team meant more time spent on daily feeding, care, and training, and most Trainers simply could not manage that without it affecting the quality of attention each Pokémon received.
Of course, not everyone operated under the same constraints. Wealthy Trainers could hire a skilled Breeder to handle the day-to-day responsibilities while they focused on battles. Others were simply gifted enough that training felt effortless, their bond with their Pokémon coming so naturally that the usual limits on time and energy did not apply in the same way. Thelma was one of those people, though she could have easily qualified for the first category too, given her background.
Then there were Trainers with abilities that went beyond the ordinary: a touch of Psychic power, or something like the rare Viridian Force, which made everything from bonding to training faster and more effective. Nova figured he probably fell somewhere in that group. From the outside, what the Cultivation System gave him would likely look like an unusually strong Psychic aptitude for training. Nothing that would raise many eyebrows, but enough to set him apart from average.
He had asked Charlie for four or five Paras. The belt held six Poké Balls. Nova almost laughed. It reminded him of a market vendor who, when you asked for four or five apples, quietly added a sixth while your back was turned and called it a fair deal.
Mr. Max, still smiling, offered an explanation before Nova could even ask. "Along with the five Paras, Mr. Charlie also included a Parasect. Five individuals together form a small enough group that competition for leadership can become a problem when they have nothing to keep them busy. A stronger evolved individual helps keep things stable."
Nova found himself thinking that this was exactly why Charlie had earned the title of Grass-type master. He knew his specialty Pokémon the way other people knew old friends, instinctively and thoroughly.
That said, Nova doubted the Parasect would even be necessary for keeping order. The Purrloin he had left to watch his place back home was more than capable of handling a group of low-level Paras. It was not a high-level Pokémon by any measure, but it was streetwise in the truest sense. It had grown up navigating life on its own terms, and that kind of survival experience counted for a lot. Clever, cautious, and more than a little cunning, the Purrloin had a way of commanding respect that had nothing to do with base stats or level.
Still, the Parasect was a gesture of goodwill, and Nova accepted it graciously.
The Parasect was Level 23. For a professional Trainer, that was a modest level, the kind you might expect from a beginner's team. But for a wild-raised Pokémon, Level 23 was genuinely impressive. Having it stationed in his backyard would serve as a quiet but effective deterrent. Any wild Pokémon with the poor judgment to wander onto the property uninvited would think twice after getting a look at it.
Between a Level 15 Purrloin and a Level 23 Parasect, any Rattata bold enough to cause trouble at his new home was going to regret the decision.
Mr. Max ran through a few key points about raising Paras, covering feeding habits, temperament, and a couple of things worth watching out for as the group settled in together. Then he made ready to leave. Before heading off, he extended a casual invitation for Nova to come by Goldenlight City sometime for a meal, nothing formal, just a friendly get-together.
Nova appreciated the offer. He also knew, without needing to think about it too hard, that walking into Goldenlight City right now was not something he could do. Thelma had stirred up every Trainer in the area looking for him, and stepping into the city would be like walking into a net he had already watched being set. Even if Mr. Max had been offering a five-course dinner, the answer would have been the same. Nova smiled, declined politely, and promised they would find a time in the future.
Mr. Max did not push the point. He gave a cheerful wave and headed off down the path.
Nova stood there a moment after he left, looking down at the belt in his hand, six Poké Balls lined up in their slots. Then a thought surfaced, quiet and a little amused.
Did this mean he finally had what people called "Rare Candy freedom"?