After all, getting lost in a cross-country race and failing to qualify because of it would be more than a little embarrassing.
So for this race, Nova's main criteria when picking his team was simple: prioritize Pokemon with strong detection and scouting abilities.
Vibrava, who went by the nickname Azir, was an obvious first choice. As a scout and skirmisher by nature, Azir was practically made for a competition like this.
The second pick was Corviknight, or Little Blue. It was the only Pokemon on Nova's current team that could carry him across long distances. In a natural maze of that scale, relying purely on his own two legs could mean Nova wouldn't reach the finish line until next month. Even with the restriction on how high Flying-type Pokemon could fly during the event, Little Blue was more than qualified as a means of transport.
The only drawback was Corviknight's speed. If Growlithe had already evolved into Arcanine, this wouldn't even be a question. One use of Extreme Speed and the race would basically be over. But Nova wasn't about to throw off his training plan just for a single qualifying match. Little Blue was coming regardless. On top of everything else, Corviknight had plenty of experience as a close-range bodyguard, so this was really just a return to its roots.
The third pick, however, was where things got complicated.
Nova held out a Poke Ball and looked at Sprigatito, who was puffed up and fuming like it had been hit by a Blizzard it didn't ask for.
"Come on, get in the Poke Ball."
Sprigatito let out a sharp "Sprigatito!" that clearly meant: You get in the Poke Ball.
"Look," Nova said patiently, "you're just not the right fit for this competition. If I don't put you in the Poke Ball, what am I supposed to do with you out there?"
"Sprigatito!" Why can't I be the third one?
Nova held up his fingers and started counting through his reasoning, keeping his voice calm.
"Azir needs to fly ahead and scout the maze. He'll also keep other contestants off our trail while he's at it. Little Blue needs to protect me and make sure I actually reach the finish line in one piece. That leaves the third slot, and for that I need someone who can handle every challenger that comes at us, someone reliable enough to take on even a full team of eight Pokemon alone if it comes to that. So I have to bring Arno."
He paused, then added: "I really can't take you along this time. But here's what I'll do, if you can tell me which one of the three you can replace, that spot is yours. Deal?"
Sprigatito let out a low, frustrated cry, its tail flicking back and forth. Deep down, it knew Nova was right. It was a natural fighter, and maybe, just maybe, it could have taken Arno's place. But with its current small build, could it really stand in as the team's unshakeable anchor? Could it truly carry the match the way Nidoking could?
For the first time, Sprigatito found itself quietly doubting its own decision not to evolve.
It had swallowed the Everstone on its own, stubbornly, simply because it didn't want anything about itself to change, didn't want to risk losing its place at Nova's side. But now, because of that very choice, it was going to be left further behind than ever.
Watching Sprigatito shift uneasily, its usual sharp attitude giving way to something quieter and more uncertain, Nova felt a pang of guilt. But under that, there was also a small, private sense of satisfaction. His plan was working.
Sprigatito was not an easy Pokemon to handle. It was strong-willed, emotionally sensitive, and deeply guarded, the classic picture of a Pokemon that hadn't received enough affection and had learned to protect itself with attitude. Trying to force it into anything it didn't want to do was a guaranteed way to make things worse.
The Everstone was a perfect example. If Nova had simply demanded Sprigatito hand it over the moment he found out, would that have fixed anything?
No. The Everstone wasn't really the problem. Even without it, Sprigatito's resistance to evolving wouldn't disappear overnight. If anything, pressure from its Trainer would only make it dig in harder. Coercion would close every door that patience might otherwise open.
The only way forward was gradual. Steady. Nova had to change what Sprigatito believed, the quiet, unspoken fear it carried that evolving would mean losing something, losing Nova's attention, losing the closeness they had built.
Two things needed to happen. First, Sprigatito had to believe, truly believe, that Nova's feelings for it wouldn't change no matter what it looked like. Second, it had to reach the point where it could see for itself that evolving was better than staying the same.
The first part, Nova had been working on every single day. Anyone who watched how he treated Sprigatito in their daily routines would have no trouble seeing just how much he cared for it. The bond between them showed clearly in how freely Sprigatito expressed its affection, right up until the moment it decided to be difficult.
Today's team selection was the first step toward the second part.
Did Nova actually need those three specific Pokemon and no one else?
Honestly, no.
Against the average Professional Trainer, even Little Blue alone would likely be enough to hold the line. For the third slot, whether it was Arno or Sprigatito, the practical difference wasn't as wide as Nova had made it sound.
But Nova's mouth had a way of shaping things.
Even someone as sharp as Aresdra had been taken in by him before. And that was a fair fight between equals. A Pokemon as straightforward as Sprigatito just needed a gentle nudge in the right direction to believe that what Nova needed right now was an unstoppable battler, not a small, stubborn, deeply beloved cat.
Nova would not have called it manipulation. He would have called it guided reasoning.
Seeing that Sprigatito still had no intention of returning to its Poke Ball, he didn't push. Instead, he released Marshtomp so Sprigatito would at least have company while he was away.
Lapras wouldn't have fared well sitting outside in a dry desert environment for hours, so that was out.
Growlithe was completely out of the question. Nova wasn't releasing it anywhere unsupervised. If that particular house wrecker decided to go on a rampage while Nova was in the maze, there might not be a competition left to come back to.
Pokemon that contestants weren't bringing into the arena had to be left with the Layered Peaks Gym staff, who were used to all kinds of unusual situations. But this was a first, even for them.
A contestant whose Sprigatito refused to go into its Poke Ball, and who then asked to leave a second Pokemon outside so the first one wouldn't get lonely?
The staff member managing the handoff blinked. She had genuinely never encountered a Pokemon that flat-out wouldn't go into a Poke Ball before. Technically, there was no rule saying they had to. So after a brief, helpless pause, she accepted the two Poke Balls Nova handed over, along with the two very different Pokemon now standing beside each other on the ground. She watched them for a moment, then moved on.
With that sorted, the competition began.
The maze had eight separate entrances, and the contestants were divided into eight groups accordingly, each group starting from a different point along the perimeter.
Once the race was underway, the Gym staff who had been busy with pre-race preparations found themselves with little to do. The Layered Peaks Gym had also stationed four Elite Trainers at the venue as a precaution. Two of them were positioned above the arena to monitor the situation from the air, while the other two held their posts outside.
In theory, they were on standby. In practice, since no one was likely to come and cause trouble at a qualifying match run by a Gym, the two outside had already settled into a temporary tent with cups of tea in hand.
Their communication lines were still open, of course. They could receive reports from their colleagues monitoring the arena at any moment.
One of them had just raised his cup when a voice crackled through his earpiece.
"Entrance Number Three. Every contestant is down, except one."