After renting a room in Layered Rock Town as a temporary base for his training, Nova rode his Corviknight into the Uninhabited Area early the next morning.
With a proper base to fall back on, Nova no longer needed Nidoking to haul a full month's worth of supplies for the entire team. Nidoking, who had served as the team's pack carrier for the past four or five days, was finally allowed to return to his preferred pace. He settled comfortably inside Nova's newly purchased Moon Ball, sleeping soundly and without a care in the world.
For this training session, Nidoking was not Nova's main focus.
As the eldest of the team, Nidoking had grown to Level 62, leaving a wide gap between him and the newer members. At this point, Nova's priority was to bring the whole team up to a better standard. He no longer needed to pour every training resource into Nidoking alone.
Corviknight flew northwest for roughly half an hour before Nova spotted a stretch of terrain that looked suitable. He gave the signal, and Corviknight began its descent.
The spot Nova had chosen sat between two small mountain ranges. At its lowest point was a lake with murky, dark water, its shores completely bare of any vegetation. The flatter areas nearby were scattered with rocks that had not yet broken down into sand.
After landing, Nova found a sheltered section of rock wall to set up his tent and leave his pack before starting a proper survey of the area.
The lake in the middle was clearly a saltwater lake, though given its small size, calling it a pool would have been more accurate. It was most likely fed by groundwater rising to the surface. Because of the dry climate and constant evaporation, a layer of white salt crust had formed over the rocks along its edge.
There was no question that this pool could not be used as a water source. It was not just a matter of saltwater being undrinkable. Nova was also concerned that harmful minerals might be dissolved in it, and he knew that prolonged exposure could cause problems.
However, for a Pokemon like Nidoking, it was an entirely different story.
Ground-type Pokemon naturally take in minerals as part of their diet. For Nidoking, drinking from this pool was roughly the same as Nova sitting down to a bowl of Nshima. Not exactly pleasant, but it counted as nourishment.
On top of that, Nidoking was already part Poison-type. Even if the water contained genuinely toxic substances, his body would likely process them without any trouble. It would probably just add a little extra flavour to the meal.
Drinking it would both quench his thirst and top up his mineral intake at the same time.
The open, flat ground on the left bank of the lake was another key reason Nova had picked this spot. Since one of his main goals was to help Growlithe develop battle skills quickly, the rocks scattered across the area could serve as practice targets for move training.
That said, once Nova took a closer look at the rocks, he was not entirely pleased with what he found.
The rocks were similar to sandstone in composition and had been worn down by weathering and erosion over time. What looked like solid boulders from a distance were actually quite soft. They crumbled easily at the slightest impact. As training targets, they were not really fit for purpose. They could perhaps be used for accuracy drills, but they would not hold up under any serious move practice.
It was little wonder that no one had set up a training ground here, despite it being a short distance from Layered Rock Town.
Still, Nova was not the type to turn back once he had made up his mind. He had already pitched his tent, and if the conditions were not right, he would simply make do and push on regardless.
Before leaving town, Nova had picked up several Technical Machines to round out his team's move sets.
Since none of these moves were meant to be core parts of his Pokemon's battle strategies, he did not expect mastery. As long as they could call on them when needed in everyday situations, that was good enough for him.
This was the moment for Nidoking to make use of one of those new moves.
Nova needed him to help out his teammates by reshaping the training ground into something more useful.
Nidoking had barely been asleep any time at all when Nova called him out to get to work. His expression made it perfectly clear he was not happy about it. Even so, he followed the instruction and used his newly learned move.
Stone Edge!
Nidoking let out a slow, lazy yawn, then drove his fist hard into the ground. Cracks spread out from the point of impact, and sharp stone spikes erupted from the earth in every direction, rising like a sudden growth of bamboo shoots after rain. After four uses of Stone Edge, the open space in front of Nidoking was filled with a dense cluster of jagged stone pillars.
It looked like a small forest of standing stones.
Nova gave Nidoking a word of praise before he could slump over.
"Good work, Nidoking. You're done. Go rest."
Nidoking had no interest in wandering off to play. He lay down right where he stood, curled his large tail around himself, and closed his eyes to nap on the spot.
Nidoking had been sluggish like this for a while now. If Nova had not pushed him to help carry the gear earlier, he would have slept through most of the day without complaint. Outside of eating, he had no motivation to move at all.
Nova understood, though. He knew exactly what was behind Nidoking's low energy lately.
Spring had passed, and with it, the season that had kept Nidoking running on full throttle.
Nidoran families in the wild typically enter their breeding season around April each year. During that period, males across the line, whether Nidoran-M, Nidorino, or Nidoking, enter a heightened state of excitement and restlessness.
Male Nidoran become noticeably more irritable during this time and are quick to pick fights with other Pokemon over even minor provocations.
Residents living near Nidoran habitats have learned to keep a close eye on things every April and May. If a Nidoking was spotted within twenty kilometres of a residential area, it was treated as a serious incident and handled accordingly.
Back when they had been dealing with the Team Origin poachers on Purple Lychee Mountain, Nidorino had been especially wound up. He was rarely calm before that evolution to begin with, given his nature, but April and May had always been the most demanding stretch for Nova.
That period had its advantages, of course.
On the positive side, Nidoking's eagerness to battle made training sessions easy to run, and Nova could bring him into high-intensity matches against other Trainers without needing much convincing. The downside was that Nova had to keep a close eye on him during battles, constantly reminding him to hold back and not lose control.
Once May ended and early summer set in, however, the energy that had fuelled Nidoking through the breeding season would catch up with him. He would fall into a period of fatigue that usually lasted somewhere between a month and a month and a half.
Nova's own Nidoking was holding up reasonably well, all things considered. Despite the low energy, his appetite had not dropped at all. He was still eating full meals, which meant he was putting on weight and continuing to level up steadily even through the tired stretch.
Nova had come across plenty of posts on the Trainer forums where people mentioned that their Nidorino or Nidoking would barely eat anything during the post-season burnout, and how much it worried them.