"It seems this dungeon is about 1-star in difficulty."
Entering the dungeon, Dante and his team first tested the strength of the Pokemon inside. And after careful study, he determined that their stats are at least 70, a benchmark for 1-star dungeons.
"Oh my~ I knew you were strong, but..."
Sunflora held a leaf near her mouth, her face full of doubts about life as she looked at her three junior apprentices. As the most senior apprentice in the guild, she had planned to show off after they entered the dungeon, attract Azumarill's attention, and make him fall for her strength.
But seeing how they casually defeated every opponent that came in just one move, she was the one who was surprised instead.
"Haha, of course! By the way, how do you usually go about exploring 1-star dungeons, Sunflora?"
Dante looked at Sunflora with a curious expression. From the Alliance Database, he knew that Sunflora has a racial limit of 75 HP, 75 Attack, 55 Defense, 102 Sp. Attack, 85 Sp. Defense, and 35 Speed.
In A-rank dungeons or below, her stats wouldn't pose any problems. But in S-rank and above? That middling defense, paired with her slow speed, is a very fatal weakness.
"Well~ in addition to using Blast Seeds and other items, I have this."
Sunflora slowly condensed a ball of white light between her leaves and let it float. It stayed in the air for a few minutes, slightly increasing the temperature inside the room before disappearing.
"My Ability allows me to increase my speed under the sun. I also have a move that can boost my attacks with the help of sunlight. It took me more than a year, but after learning Sunny Day with Ninetail's help, my strength quickly soared."
Sunflora's petals fully bloomed as she smiled proudly at the trio. However, remembering the earlier scene, her petals slightly retracted and she covered her mouth in embarrassment.
"However, I can't be as effortless as you three when defeating them. The last time I explored a 1-star dungeon with Dugtrio and Chimecho, we had to rest after every two floors because of how much energy we spent."
After that, she proceeded to tell the three of them about her adventures while slowly looking for the stairs to the next floor. On the way, they encountered a Nidoran, Machop, Phanpy, Mawile, Aron, Starly, and Riolu.
When Dante saw Riolu, his eyes lit up.
Lucario, which is Riolu's evolution, is one of the candidates he had for his Fighting-type Pokemon. If there had been a Riolu egg in the Breeder House back then, he would have surely picked it instead. After all, Riolu requires intimacy with the Trainer to evolve.
Sadly, however, Lucario is a race with a much lower fertility. Unlike most Pokemon, even if Lucario was put inside a Breeding house, they would only mate with the opposite sex if they had a compatible Aura.
This leads to the eggs of Riolu having a price comparable to Pseudo-Legendaries.
Now Dante was in a bit of a dilemma. Just like all the other dungeon Pokemon, every Riolu they met had an innate hostility for their group. And unlike Azumarill who was ostracized due to his different color, the Riolu here are content living among their people.
However, he soon stopped thinking about it. Since they were on an expedition, he wouldn't be able to recruit them anyway.
Besides, with his money in the human world, maybe he could chance upon a Riolu egg for sale one day? That would certainly be much easier than recruiting the stubborn ones here.
—
'Is the outside world really as lifeless as Gramps said?'
Dangling her feet upon the water, Mawile looked listlessly at the rocky walls while munching on an apple.
After eating all the juicy pieces, she spit the seeds into the air. As the seeds were about to fall, a massive black blur hit them across the water.
"Yosha!"
Mawile smiled, stroking her massive jaw with pride as she watched the seeds splinter after bouncing on the water and hitting the wall on the opposite side.
Soon, however, her eyes returned to their lifeless look as she laid her head on the rocky ground, with her hands spread-eagled.
"It's so boooring!! Ugh, if only that stupid Riolu hadn't told on me, I would be exploring the outside world right now."
Remembering the blue and black-haired Pokemon who ruined her plan, Mawile pouted in displeasure. Because of him, she was now grounded for a month and not allowed to leave this floor.
'Sigh, and that was the only Decoy Orb I had secretly hidden. Ugh, I have to think of another way to fool Gramps and the others next time.'
While contemplating her next grand escape, Riolu's head entered Mawile's vision, looking down at her with a furrowed brow.
"Sis, be careful. Starly came from the lower floors and told us that an outsider invaded again."
"Outsiders!?"
Stars glittered in Mawile's eyes after hearing the words of her younger brother. However, remembering that she was still supposed to be angry about his betrayal, her face quickly shifted into a frown.
"Hmph! With Gramps and the other's strength, those outsiders won't even be able to reach us. Why are you telling me this?"
"...that's it. They also beat Gramps and are heading this way now."
"Really!?"
Mawile stood up, a look of disbelief on her face. Their Grandpa Machop was one of the most talented and strongest Pokemon in their tribe.
He had taught both of them his fighting skills. Even when she and her younger brother teamed up, Gramps could take them down without even getting hit. And that was without using his signature Bulk Up move, a move that increases his strength and hardness.
That strong, invincible Grandpa was taken down?
Thinking of this, a sense of curiosity and fighting intent bubbled within Mawile. Is this the reason why Gramps doesn't let them go out? Because the Pokemon outside are stronger?
"Come on sis, there's no time to dawdle. Starly had told us to group with the others so we could ambush the outsiders near the stairs. It's the last chance we have before those outsiders escape with the items in our dungeon."
"Fine. Come on, then."
Mawile reluctantly nodded as the two began running towards the ambush area. On the inside, however, she is very curious about those outsiders. If they are friendly enough, maybe she can help them escape the siege and join them in getting out of the dungeon?
Mawile was left with little time to ponder her decision as soon, she saw other familiar faces.
"Shh! Phanpy is luring them towards us right now. Remember to stay out of sight. And as soon as they get inside, launch your strongest attacks."
Starly's plan was met with nods of agreement. All the Pokemon in the room began to hide. Some stuck to the wall beside the entrance, and others like Aron dug under the ground.
For Mawile, she used her strong jaw and clamped onto the ceiling, right beside the flying Starly.
"Psst. Hey, Starly, Riolu said that you saw Gramps get knocked down. How strong are these outsiders?"
"Very strong. Machop didn't even get to release a single move and he was already knocked down in one hit."
"That's amazi-I mean, that's horrible!"
Mawile thought about that information while eagerly looking at the entrance. With those outsider's strength, they should have no problem getting out of this dungeon as long as she lent her aid, right?
Just as she was thinking so, she finally saw Phanpy rolling inside the room. And right behind him, she saw a figure that she would never forget for her entire life.
A Pokemon with lustrous white and red fur stepped inside the room. Even when he saw all the Pokemon that came to ambush, his mesmerizing ruby-like eyes only showed a casual disinterest.
Mawile unconsciously released her grip from the ceiling, causing her body to fall and for him to stare in her direction. As soon as their eyes met, Mawile felt a jolt of electricity running through her body.
She didn't even notice the Pikachu, Azumarill, and the Sunflora behind him, nor the signal to attack shouted by her companions. However, she did see the red and white Pokemon release a black miasma from his body that began to spread towards the entire room.
Mawile suddenly woke up. By the time she did so, however, it was too late. The black wind reached every corner of the room, causing those Pokemon who were hit to slump onto the ground.
She wanted to scream, to shout that she was not one of the attackers. But when she opened her mouth, no voice came out. Her body felt lethargic, her eyes being only able to reluctantly look at the blurry figure at the entrance before blacking out.
—
"Room clearing moves are really crucial in dungeon explorations, whether in-game or in reality."
Dante smirked as he looked at the fallen bodies of more than 10 Pokemon in the room. Only the Starly on the ceiling was able to escape unscathed from his Ominous Wind, but with a Thunder Shock from Pikachu, he also fell quickly.
With his special attack of 91, he normally couldn't cause all of these Pokemon to faint in one hit. He would have needed to equip a Special Band and then use Nasty Plot to achieve the same result before, but now…
Dante (Hisuian Zorua)
Type: Normal/Ghost
Abilities:
Super Luck (Increases the critical hit ratio)
Illusion (Can disguise as another Pokemon)
Level: 44
HP: 87/87
Attack: 94 Defense: 93
Sp. Atk: 91 Sp. Def.: 88 Speed: 92
Item: Scope Lens (Increases the critical hit ratio)
The last time at Mt. Thunder, Dante realized how weak he was compared to Pikachu and Azumarill. To not hold them back, he began looking for methods to strengthen himself. Finally, he homed in on one of his Abilities.
Super Luck, an Ability that inadvertently causes his attacks to land on an enemy's critical spot. Its effects are usually not so noticeable, happening only occasionally. However, with the help of the Sharpshooter IQ Skill and the Scope Lens, hitting enemies in their critical spots just became much more reliable.
Scope Lens is a held item he bought in the human world. After a Pokemon holds this item, they can see red spots on a Pokemon's body, which is their critical spot.
With the more perceptive vision due to Sharpshooter, along with the effect of his Ability, Dante had been able to more consistently land a critical hit.
Critical hits cause 1.5 times the damage to the opposing Pokemon. Not only that, they also ignore any boost in defenses by the opponent. Therefore, even if not as pervertedly strong as Pikachu's Light Ball which caused his attacks to double, it was still a decent power-up.
In a one-versus-one fight, he can make use of his Illusion to confuse his opponent before emerging from their shadows and hitting their unguarded critical spots.
However, this was the first time he tried to use Ominous wind to focus on hitting the critical spots of more than 10 Pokemon at once. If he tried it a week ago, he wouldn't have had enough control or proficiency to succeed.
But after using Spectral Mist, the treasure he got from Zapdos, his control over the Ghost-type energy has become much more profound. Not only that, Dante can more easily flit through the shadows, and his Ghost-type moves have also been strengthened by around 10%.
If they tried climbing Mt. Thunder again, Dante is certain he could defeat all the Pokemon there in one hit like Pikachu and Azumarill. Of course, the Pokemon he is talking about does not include Zapdos.
A/N: With a total of 42 votes, Lucario has won the Fighting-type Poll. And with a total of 30 votes, Mawile has won the Steel-type Poll. Honestly, I didn't expect to see both of them while playing through the Guild Expedition part in the Craggy Coast.
Expect some shenanigans to ensue between Mawile and her younger brother and Dante and his team…in the future, of course, after the expedition.
And as another reminder, there will be NO Pokephilia in this fic. The most that could happen is like the relationship between Ash and Chikorita in the anime.