That flash of brilliant blue in the desert sky was Corvisquire — and it had been building up power in the air for a full half-minute.
Brave Bird!
Corvisquire dropped from the sky like a blade, cutting through the haze of drifting sand. The strike was clean and sharp, aimed directly at the battered Arbok below.
The great serpent had spent everything it had. The Acid that had dissolved so many opponents over the years, the raw strength that had kept it fighting through this entire desperate escape — all of it was gone. Arbok had nothing left to counter a move like this, and it knew it. Rather than flinch, it raised its hood and held its head high, meeting the end with the only dignity it still had.
Corvisquire slammed into Arbok's flared hood with full force. The Steel-type energy that had been quietly building inside Corvisquire throughout these battles against far stronger opponents finally surfaced in that moment, sharpening the blow into something beyond a simple Brave Bird.
The impact was decisive. The Flying-type energy tore through Arbok's scales and cut deep. But in that same instant, Arbok's poison sac — the large internal reservoir it used to store Acid — was punctured. A surge of corrosive liquid burst outward, washing directly over the attacking Corvisquire.
Everything changed in a heartbeat.
Nova had not expected this. He had felt Arbok's Acid before — even a small splash on bare sand left a scorched pit. What it would do to Corvisquire's body was not something he wanted to think about.
The Flying-type energy still crackling across Corvisquire from Brave Bird collided with the sudden flood of Acid. The reaction was immediate and violent — like cold water hitting a pan of hot oil. The hissing was loud enough to hear across the desert.
Nova shouted for Corvisquire to get clear. Arbok had already lost consciousness; its injuries were too severe to say whether it would ever recover. There was no reason for Corvisquire to keep taking that Acid now.
But Corvisquire, sharp and clever as it was, had no intention of retreating. Not this time. Even as the Flying-type energy left its body and its feathers darkened to a corroded brown under the Acid, it held its ground without moving a single step back.
The Steel-type energy that had awakened inside it — faint and new just moments ago — responded to the punishment. Like a seedling that had been waiting beneath hard soil, it broke through. Corvisquire's body began to glow, and it was nothing like the blue light of Brave Bird. This was something different. Something brighter.
A burst of white light flared outward, so intense it seemed to bleach the sand beneath it. Within that radiance, Corvisquire's silhouette grew — its frame expanding, its wings stretching wider, its form reshaping into something far larger.
This was Evolution.
When the light faded, Arbok lay still on the sand, its great body overturned, all signs of life gone. The Acid it had spent a lifetime wielding had finally run dry.
But the opponent it had faced in its final battle had come out the other side changed.
With the Steel type now fully part of its nature, Poison-type moves like Acid could no longer touch Corviknight. The remaining traces of Acid that clung to its feathers could not find purchase on the smooth, mirror-like surface of its new armour. A single shake sent it scattering into the sand, where the desert wind buried it without a trace.
Corviknight stood before its fallen opponent and spread its wings wide. It thought back to the afternoon it had first met Nova — that overly confident trainer who had looked it in the eye and promised that its blue colouring would never hold it back. He had told it the world would see exactly how impressive it was.
They had taken the first step toward that promise today. Corviknight believed, without any doubt, that together they would reach the final one.
It would stand at the top someday. That much it was certain of.
Species: Corviknight Level: 38 Ability: Pressure Hidden Ability: Mirror Armor
Entries:
Clever — Exceptionally high intelligence. The more difficult the situation, the sharper its thinking becomes.
Body of Steel — Steel-type energy has been repeatedly tempered through battle, greatly increasing physical hardness. Prefers enduring attacks over dodging them. Defense significantly increased, Special Defense increased, Speed slightly decreased, Evasion significantly decreased.
Brave Bird — Steel-type energy has sharpened the impact of this move. Power of cutting-type moves increased.
Steel Heart — Each time it successfully endures an attack, it receives a short-term boost and recovery to HP, Defense, and Special Defense.
Moves: Brave Bird, Rock Smash, Tailwind, Defog, Roost, Air Slash, Steel Wing, Iron Defense, Metal Sound
Training Direction:
Expand the move pool — the lack of Steel-type attacking moves is the most immediate gap and should be addressed first. Suggested Method: Purchase TMs.
Strengthen Steel-type energy application. Once the required conditions are met, the entry Body of Steel can be upgraded to Steel Fortress. Specific training method...
After completing the above two directions, focus on strengthening the Flying attribute. Upon completion, the already-upgraded Steel Fortress entry can be upgraded again to Floating Fortress. Specific training method...
Nova wanted nothing more than to properly celebrate Corviknight's evolution. But there were more pressing things to deal with first.
Taylor was dragging himself through the sand on his arms, his ruined legs leaving two long, dark trails of blood behind him. It was hard to watch — not out of sympathy, but because it was pointless. He wasn't going anywhere.
Nova was not going to let him leave.
At Nova's instruction, Nidoking caught up to him and pinned him in place. Then, carefully and deliberately, it used Flamethrower to cauterise the open wounds on Taylor's legs.
Taylor screamed through the pain, shouting something about dignity and honour — demanding that Nova finish him off properly rather than drag it out like this.
Nova had no interest in making him suffer. Sealing the wounds was to stop the bleeding. At the rate Taylor was losing blood, he would pass out within two minutes and be dead within five. That was not a useful outcome.
Not that Nova had any particular desire to save a terrorist. But Taylor was still breathing, which meant he could be handed over to the authorities — and there was a bounty attached to that.
Executives of the Original Team carried bounties well over a million in League credits. Nova had not originally been chasing the reward; stopping Taylor had been the goal. But Taylor, through a combination of his own cruelty and Flygon's fury, had ended up half-alive on the surface of the desert. That gave Nova something he had not planned for — a live capture.
He checked Taylor carefully and removed the remaining Poké Balls from him. Two Pokémon left.
Both of them had bounties of their own. Once processed, they would most likely spend the rest of their lives in a Pokémon Detention Facility under League authority.
As for Arbok — it was unclear whether it would survive long enough to face any judgment at all. Its injuries were severe. The Flying-type impact had torn through its scales and damaged its internal organs. But more than that, its own leaking Acid had continued to corrode its body from the inside out after the puncture. The very weapon it had relied on for so long had turned on it in the end.
There was a certain grim irony in that.
Nova wrapped up what remained of the scene and turned back toward Corviknight, who was still standing in the same spot, wings half-spread, looking thoroughly pleased with itself.
"Oi," Nova called out, unable to keep the smile off his face. "Stop posing. We've still got work to do."
The flying mount he had been waiting so long for had finally reached its final form. Nova was eager — more eager than he was willing to admit — to finally have a Corviknight to ride. But before he could even take a step toward it, the sand beneath his feet shifted.
Then it began to sink, pulling inward like a slow whirlpool.
Something was drilling up from underground.