From what Nova remembered about Ghost-type Pokémon — pieced together from horror films he had watched in another life — a Banette was never truly gone when it faded away like that. It was more accurate to say it had been scattered, or at best, temporarily sealed.
It would return. Maybe in a few years. Maybe as soon as tomorrow. Somewhere close to where it had dissipated, a Shuppet would appear out of nowhere, as if it had always been there.
But that was no longer Nova's problem.
He had originally released the Pokémon belonging to the criminal organisation's members as a way to stir up trouble in Lune Town — but the level of chaos that followed had grown far beyond what he had intended. It was affecting even him, the one who had set things in motion.
In the time since, these Pokémon had fought one another, hunted humans, and in doing so had grown considerably stronger. A few had become genuinely dangerous, like the Banette he had just dealt with.
Even so, if Nova could go back and face that choice again, he would likely do the same thing.
The situation at the time had left him no room to be careful. He had been in the middle of a long chase after Taylor across hundreds of kilometres and had no time to deal with over thirty Pokémon on top of that. Handing them over to the local law enforcement would have meant abandoning the pursuit entirely — the Bureau's investigation procedures alone would have kept him tied down in one place for days.
And in the end, stirring up a place like Lune Town — a town that had always sheltered criminals and ignored the law — could be seen as a fitting consequence for the people who chose to live that way.
After dealing with three more Pokémon that tried to ambush him on his way through the streets, Nova finally reached the ruins of the organisation's former sub-base.
It felt like returning to a place he had been before, but Nova felt no ease at all. He did not even walk toward the ruins straight away.
Ever since he had learned from Safest that the organisation had gone quiet and shown no movement, the question of what they were actually planning had sat in the back of his mind like a splinter. Being on the visible side while the enemy stayed hidden was a frustrating position to be in.
Still, his team was much stronger than it had been a month ago, and the Pokémon he had with him now gave him enough options to handle whatever came up.
Growlithe — his most reliable tracker — was naturally the first one Nova counted on for this kind of work.
Nova crouched down and spoke quietly into Growlithe's ear, laying out what he needed it to do. Then he let it enter the ruins to begin searching. Above, Corviknight climbed high into the sky to watch over the whole of Lune Town from the air.
Nova released Nidoking from its Poké Ball next. Its role was fire support — as the heaviest hitter on the team, it would step in immediately if Growlithe ran into anything dangerous near the ruins.
Nova's own safety he left to Meowscarada, which had settled itself onto his shoulder.
The little Sprigatito had come a long way. Opponents without a meaningful strength advantage really could not handle a well-timed Sucker Punch from it anymore.
As for Purrloin — the one Nova privately thought of as his master lock-pick — it was not a battle partner, and its combat ability was limited, so it stayed inside its Poké Ball where it was safe.
Growlithe made two wide sweeps around the ruins, nose close to the ground. After a nod from Nova, it carefully climbed up over the broken concrete and began picking through the rubble.
When it came back, something about its expression was off. It sat down in front of Nova and let out a low, uneven string of sounds — somewhere between a whimper and a bark — its brow furrowed as if it was trying hard to work something out. Nova had no way of following dog language and could only tell that whatever Growlithe had found was not simple.
"Here's what we'll do," Nova said. "Bark twice if there's danger. Bark once if there isn't."
Growlithe let out a single "Woof." Then, after a short pause, a quieter "Whimper."
Nova stared at it.
One and a half barks?
"I just finished off a Pokémon that was practically a ghost," he said flatly, "and now when I ask you a yes-or-no question, you give me that?"
Growlithe could not help it. The state of the ruins was genuinely hard to put into words — or barks. Whatever it had found in there, its instincts would not let it label it simply as dangerous or not dangerous. Even if it could speak, it would not have been able to give a straight answer.
So instead, it took Nova's sleeve gently in its teeth and led him to a corner of the ruins.
Nova stood where Growlithe had stopped and studied the area carefully. Nothing looked wrong to him. He glanced down at Growlithe with a frown. Growlithe spun in a small, tight circle — then seemed to realise that was not helping — and jumped up onto the debris, pawing at it rapidly with both front paws.
Its strength was nowhere near enough to shift heavy concrete. It would probably need to evolve before it could manage that. But the action itself got the message across clearly enough.
Something is buried underneath.
Nova understood immediately. He turned to Nidoking and gave the order. Nidoking, to its credit, did not drag its feet — it got to work without complaint.
The blocks it could lift, it tossed aside. The ones too large or awkwardly placed, it broke apart with Horn Drill. After only a few passes through the rubble, it uncovered something unexpected.
A rock that was breathing.
Nova looked at it. His eye for detail caught the faint rhythm of shallow respiration. He took a closer look and the information settled into his mind clearly.
It was a Graveler. Low level. Completely and deeply asleep — not stirring in the slightest, even with all the noise around it.
The situation was strange.
There were only two ways to make sense of it. The first was that this Graveler was one of the Pokémon Nova had released. Since its diet consisted of rocks and minerals rather than living prey, it had simply wandered back to familiar ground and gone dormant in the rubble. If that was the case, Nova was overthinking things entirely.
But that explanation had a problem it could not get past — why was it sleeping so deeply it could not be woken?
Graveler was not a Pokémon known for hibernation. And it was late May. There was no seasonal reason for it to be like this.
The second possibility was more unsettling: someone had deliberately put it in this state, then buried it here.
That raised a different question. A person always acts with some purpose in mind. Who would go to the trouble of coming to Lune Town — a place crawling with dangerous people and dangerous Pokémon — just to put a Graveler to sleep and hide it in a collapsed building? What could they possibly be trying to accomplish?
Growlithe was not finished. It tugged Nova's sleeve again and led him to another part of the ruins. Under its direction, Nidoking dug out a second Pokémon in the same condition.
A Pineco, sleeping just as soundly.
A third spot turned up a Magnemite — motionless, deep in the same unnatural sleep. Nidoking moved all three out of the rubble and laid them side by side in the open. Nova stood over them and turned the problem over in his mind.
One Pokémon in an unusual state could be explained away. Three, all found in the same location, all in the exact same condition — that was deliberate. Someone had chosen these three specifically, which meant there was something about them, some shared quality, that made them useful to whoever had done this.
A shared characteristic.
Nova's thoughts stilled for a moment — and then it clicked.
Graveler. Pineco. Magnemite. Three Pokémon with nothing obvious in common. Different types, different habitats, different evolutionary lines.
But there was one thing they all shared — something easy to overlook entirely.