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Taylor's safe was a standard model the kind used by most businesses. It had two security layers: a combination dial on the left side that required entering a sequence of numbers in the correct order, and a keyhole just below it. Under normal circumstances, the key could not be turned at all. Only after the right combination had been entered would the keyhole become active, allowing the key to finally release the lock.
To open it, you needed both. One without the other was useless.
Nova had neither no combination, no key. And even though Purrloin's reputation as a lock-picker was hard to argue with, he still had quiet doubts about whether this particular safe would give it trouble.
Purrloin did not share those doubts.
It extended a single claw from its left paw and slid it smoothly into the keyhole. Its right paw went to work on the combination dial above, moving with quick, precise little adjustments. Nova stood and listened. A series of soft, measured clicks came from inside the safe, one after another and then the heavy metal door swung open with a low creak.
Nova stared at it.
He had no words. The ability really was something else. If it was a lock, it was going to open. No exceptions.
Still caught up in the moment, and not stopping to think about it very carefully, Nova reached down and scooped Purrloin up with both hands, cradling it against him. He ran a hand along the smooth fur on its back and said, with complete sincerity, "Purrloin, that was incredible. Well done."
Purrloin went stiff.
Its ears went back. Something between surprise and distress crossed its face, and then moving with considerably more urgency than it usually showed it wriggled free of Nova's hands, dropped to the ground, hopped across the floor in three quick bounds to where its Poké Ball was sitting, pressed the button on the front of it with its own paw, and vanished inside in a flash of red light.
For Purrloin, that level of closeness with Nova was still a little too much, a little too soon.
It was not that it disliked him. Quite the opposite, in fact it liked him rather a lot, and had even caught itself thinking thoughts that probably belonged to Sprigatito more than to it. Being held by him was not unpleasant. But when the moment actually arrived, something in it just seized up.
Nova allowed himself a small smile. A Pokémon this easily flustered was not difficult to handle. Compared to his own little troublemaker, Purrloin might be more calculating and full of tricks in everyday life, but it could not take straightforward affection head on. As long as he kept that in mind, it would be easy enough to work with well-behaved and, in its own way, quite endearing.
Sprigatito was a different story entirely. It had grown up with both Nova and Aresdra pouring attention and warmth into it from the very beginning, so receiving affection felt entirely natural to it. Expected, even. There were moments when it gave off the distinct impression that being loved like this was simply its due because of course it was, it was that adorable, and everyone around it should know it.
That thought made Nova pause.
Sprigatito usually had something to say whenever he so much as glanced at another Pokémon. It had been unusually quiet.
He turned to look at his shoulder. Sprigatito was lying there without moving.
Nova lifted it with one hand. It was completely limp.
The sudden sight of Nova sweeping Purrloin up for praise and affection had hit Sprigatito without any warning. The emotional impact had been, apparently, enough to overwhelm it entirely. It had gone still where it sat and had not recovered since.
Some Pokémon look perfectly fine on the outside. Inside, they have already been gone for several minutes.
Nova looked at the unconscious cat in his hand. "Seriously? That's all it took?"
He tickled it gently until it stirred. Sprigatito blinked open its eyes and immediately burst into tears.
Not angry. Not hissing. Just completely, genuinely devastated.
It took Nova a good while, and quite a lot of hugging, before Sprigatito's feelings came back to anything resembling calm.
As difficult as the whole scene was, Nova still believed that Purrloin joining the team was ultimately good for Sprigatito even if it did not feel that way right now.
Sprigatito was still young. Its battling ability had already reached the point where it could handle most Pokémon trained by casual Trainers without much difficulty, but its emotional habits had not caught up. The jealousy, the possessiveness if those were left to grow unchecked now, they would not look like crying fits once it had fully matured and grown into its real strength. By then, they would be something much harder to correct.
A fully evolved Meowscarada, confident in its own power, would have the means to make its displeasure felt in ways that went well beyond sulking.
If that happened, Nova would be left with two bad options: give all his attention to Meowscarada alone, or keep his distance from it to protect the rest of his team. Neither outcome was good for either of them.
It was part of why he had always thought that Ash's Pikachu, despite sharing something in spirit with his own Sprigatito, was a far more settled partner to have. Pikachu had started out indifferent, but once it had bonded with its Trainer, it became the steady centre of the team. It never competed for attention. It led by example. And when things were serious Legendary Pokémon, Champion-level battles, it did not matter Pikachu showed up. No hesitation.
Sprigatito had been with Nova since it hatched. The bond between them ran deep from the start. But the flip side of that was exactly this the jealousy, the fragility, the way it took every moment of divided attention as something personal. If he handled it badly, it would become the most unstable thing on his team.
Letting it feel some competition now letting it sit with the discomfort of knowing other Pokémon were also cared for might sting. But it was far better than raising a Pokémon that had never been asked to share, only to find out too late what that had cost.
Nova's job was not to shield it from that discomfort. It was to be there through it to keep showing Sprigatito, through every small action, that no matter how many partners joined the team, it held a place that nothing could touch or take away.
With that kind of trust between them, Sprigatito would grow into something exceptional. The sharp, reliable partner Nova needed if he was ever going to reach the heights he was aiming for.
After spending a full ten minutes settling Sprigatito down, Nova finally turned back to the safe and pulled the door open properly.
The contents stopped him cold.
The safe had five shelves inside. Nova had half-expected it to be stacked with cash from top to bottom but the league coins were only on a single layer. Even in maximum-denomination notes, the total was not impressive. He counted roughly 150,000 coins at the most.
Going by the money alone, the risk he had taken to come here and dig this up would barely have been worth it.
But the cash was not the point.
The important things were on the shelves above.