Nova was the local mascot for an electrical appliance store that was run by an old man. His cuteness and friendliness helped attract customers, and his ego inflated due to this. He cared for the old man and helped as much as he could, because he was convinced he could do anything. Once, he helped a biker fix his vehicle, and the biker gave him a leather jacket, one that fit his small Pikachu body perfectly.

One day, when Nova woke up, he found the old man refused to waken as well. Frightened, he knew somewhere inside him that he was dead, and his happy times as mascot to the store were over. Overcome with grief and confusion, Nova ran from the store, trying to find some way to release his sorrow.

This took form in a swarm of Scyther attacking a young boy who resembled his previous owner perfectly in his younger days. With a flash of electricity, Nova vanquished the Scyther and saved the boy's life. Still grief-stricken from his experience with his dead owner, he turned to leave, but the boy talked to him, asking him if he would like to join him. Considering that he had no life left, and the boy looked so much like the old man, he accepted and became Radic's second Pokémon.

Nova helped Radic gain the other members of his team, but found that almost none of them seemed to appreciate him. Accident and Callima were kind to him, but there were two members of his team he grew to hate...Kitsune and Ruby. Their constant mockery hurt his inflated ego and brought him down some needed distance, but he hated them as a result.

While walking down a path, Radic and his friends encountered a Raichu leading a gang of Pikachu. Nova confirmed he knew the Raichu from before when he had been a member of a Pikachu gang. Now the Pikachu who had usurped his authority was a Raichu. Desperate to get past, Nova agreed to evolve to help Radic get through, and defeated the enemy Raichu. Sadly, during the evolutionary process, his jacket was torn to shreds by his larger body and finally confirmed the fact he had lost what he once was. Radic, knowing the jacket meant something but not what, gave Nova a pair of sunglasses as a replacement, which made Nova feel slightly better.

While helping Radic defeat the Team Rocket outpost in Saffron, Nova was captured while attempting to defeat a lone Rocket by himself. Once captured, he was taken to the leader of the establishment. They found that he belonged to the boy who was causing them so many troubles and decided to teach the arrogant Raichu, who had made several pompous remarks, a painful lesson. Tying Nova down, they planned to scar his entire body, but they only managed to injure the areas underneath his eyes before Radic and the others came and saved him. The damage, however, was gruesome, scars of all colors giving the impression of seeing his skull through scraps of flesh. Before Radic and the others could see what had happened, he put his sunglasses on and after that never took them off in their presence. He didn't want to endure their mockery for his scars.

This experience began Nova's full-scale fall into self-hatred. Despising his fat body for destroying the one relic he had from being a Pikachu, Nova yearned for the days when everyone loved him and he was the reason for success, instead of being mocked daily by his team-members. He became extremely sensitive about his weight, although he never admitted how bad he felt about himself.

Nova is arrogant and rude to most other Pokémon, saving those on his team who treat him courteously. He is loyal to Radic, but not completely, and always wears his sunglasses. He intensely dislikes Ruby and Kitsune and despises other Pikachu. He hates them for being weak and for being cute and for being what he isn't. He'll attack any Pikachu almost on sight and will not listen to one, no matter what it has to say.

Nova is been in fics where Radic has his Pokémon, mainly.

He's been seen in a few other fics as well.