In the middle of a foggy forest, six Pokemon are standing in front of a grassy door. A silk string was wrapped on a tree beside them, with the other end stretching beyond the fog.
"With how much hidden this entrance is, coupled with the fog, it's a miracle Bidoof and Corphish were able to find it."
Dante said while feeling the soft, cold fog enveloping him. It had gathered in this place to the point it felt almost solid. He even had a hard time seeing Pikachu and the others who were only a meter away from him.
"Don't underestimate those two. While their strength may leave much to be desired, I daresay their exploration abilities are no less than any other apprentices in the Guild. After all, I was the one who assessed and trained them."
Chatot puffed his chest with pride. As the vice leader of the Guild, he feels more accomplished in being able to train the next group of Explorers than being able to explore a new dungeon himself.
"Guildmaster Wigglytuff, Chatot, what should be our strategy for tackling this dungeon?"
Dugtrio's serious voice came from the side, attracting everyone's attention. Looking at the brown three-headed Pokemon, Dante had a curious expression.
According to the other apprentices, Dugtrio is the most senior among them. He had already reached Diamond rank, which is one rank higher than Dante and his team.
"Ehem. Guildmaster, may I start the debriefing?"
"Hmm, sure~"
Wigglytuff still had his usual smile and sing-song tone in his voice. He kept waving his arms as if trying to capture the fog.
"Well then, based on my scouting and the information from Bidoof and Corphish, the Pokemon that can be found on the initial floors are Clefairy, Eevee, Chikorita, Girafarig, Beautifly, Happiny, Carnivine, and Sylveon. Most of them are Normal, Fairy, or Grass types. Therefore, our strategy will be…"
After Dante heard about the Pokemon inside, he was surprised. Clefairy, Happiny, and Sylveon are three candidates he had for his future team; more specifically, for the role of support.
All three Pokemon are capable of learning moves that can heal the team, as well as the move Heal Bell which can remove negative statuses. The only difference between the three is their specialization.
Clefairy leans more toward being a defensive support. With the Friend Guard Ability, she can provide additional defense to her teammates. Coupled with the move Follow Me, she can taunt all enemy Pokemon to redirect their attacks towards her.
Blissey, which is the final evolution of Happiny, is primarily focused on healing. With the Healer Ability, coupled with moves like Heal Pulse, Soft Boiled, and Wish, she can ensure her teammates can recover back to full health in a matter of seconds.
And lastly, Sylveon. Unlike the other two, she only had the move Wish to help her teammates recover their health. Her role is more of an offensive support, with her Pixilate Ability boosting the power of all the Normal-type moves she released, while at the same time turning them into Fairy-type moves.
And even though she is a Fairy Type, her role won't conflict with Azumarill due to her offensive moves being primarily long-ranged.
Another reason why Dante considers her is because she is one of the few Pokemon that can learn the brokenly powerful move: Skill Swap.
As its name states, Skill Swap allows the user to switch its Ability with another Pokemon. And because Sylveon is in the PMD world, she has two Abilities she can switch with the opponents at will.
'Hmm, with three of them being in one dungeon, maybe I can try recruiting here occasionally? As long as any of them accepts the offer to join the team, it would be worth it.'
Dante mused as he followed the team and entered the foggy forest dungeon.
Like the outside, the inside of the dungeon was also filled with fog. Fortunately, the fog was a little thinner. After squinting his eyes, Dante can see 10 or so meters forward.
According to the arrangement laid out by Chatot, Wigglytuff will lead the team. Dante will follow behind him. Using his Copycat, he is in charge of warning everyone if he sees any Pokemon. Chatot, who has the Keen Eye Ability, will scout from the air to cover their rear.
Meanwhile, Azumarill is stationed on their left side and Dugtrio is on the right. And between them, Pikachu is on standby, always ready to release long-ranged support wherever necessary.
...
'It seems all this preparation isn't really needed.'
"Yay! A treasure chest!"
Dante looked at their Guildmaster who excitedly ran at the treasure box beside the fallen body of a Girafarig. After reaching the box, it glowed for a moment before turning into a Max Elixir.
Yes, the Guildmaster is capable of appraisal.
And not only that. On their journey, Dante and the others almost had no chance to take action. Every Pokemon they encounter will be solved by Wigglytuff in one move, and the traps they run into, he will stomp and deactivate.
Most importantly, he did all this while humming and skipping.
For the first time, Dante got a glimpse of what it meant to truly become a Grandmaster-rank Explorer. From what he can observe, Wigglytuff should already have maxed his IQ and obtained all his IQ skills.
Trap Seer and Trap Buster are IQ skills that can only be learned at a high level. Trap Seer allows a Pokemon to see through any traps, while Trap Buster can let one destroy them.
In addition, Dante estimated that Wigglytuff had broken through his racial limit at least three times. Coupled with his mastery over Calm Mind which allows him to double his Special Attack and Special Defense, no Pokemon had been able to take more than a single hit.
Under the Guildmaster's lead, their team easily swept through the Foggy Forest dungeon. And because they didn't even have the need to stop and rest, their group reached the end of the dungeon before lunchtime.
"...is our presence here even necessary?"
Looking at the open space before them, Pikachu couldn't help but complain. In the end, he didn't even have the chance to release a single move!
"Don't let your guard down, the real battle has just begun."
Chatot chastised Pikachu and looked around the fog with a solemn expression.
According to the legend gathered by Chimecho, there is a Legendary Pokemon in this place. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have been so careful. With the Guildmaster's strength, he knew that they were capable of bringing the whole guild through the dungeon. But the problem was right after.
Wigglytuff also stopped jumping around. Although he still had a smile on his face, his eyes were constantly darting around, as if taking in every detail of the surroundings.
Seeing the two being so cautious, everyone else subconsciously increased their vigilance. They made their way through the clearing with only the splashing of the waterfall accompanying them.
Dante tried to trace the source of these waterfalls, but the thick fog made his effort futile. Still, he smiled. If his memory is correct, Fogbound Lake is a lake located on an island floating up above the clouds. Through the presence of these waterfalls, he can already confirm that the target of their expedition is just right above their heads.
"Prepare yourselves, there's a huge Pokemon ahead!"
Everybody stopped after hearing Chatot's call. Beads of sweat began to form on Dugtrio's three faces as he stared at the unchanging fog in front.
They held their breaths, their bodies tensing as they waited for what was to come.
Seconds turned into minutes, and the fog remained unmoved.
"Ehem. I may have made a slight error. It seems to only be a huge rock."
Chatot's face turned a shade of red in embarrassment. Who would place such a strangely shaped rock in there!?
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, chuckling at Chatot's mistake. Wigglytuff patted him on his head, comforting him and snickering at the same time.
After a brief respite, their team took a closer look at the appearance of the rock that made Chatot agitated.
There, standing at over 10 feet tall, was the statue of a Pokemon that had its base partially buried underground. Even though it was just a statue, it gave everyone looking a vague sense of pressure.
When Dante saw the statue, his eyes lit up.
"Psst, hey Dan. Is this the statue we were looking for yesterday?"
"Yeah. It's the remaining part of the puzzle needed to lift the fog."
A/N: With 69 (nice) votes for Sylveon, she overwhelmingly won the poll for Dante's Fairy-type Pokemon.
Also, I decided to remove the Skill Swap move disc in this world. Without the four-move limit like in the game, this skill became so broken that any Trainer worth their salt would ensure their Pokemon learned it if they could. And with so many Pokemon being able to learn it, I just find it redundant.
However, other Pokemon who can learn the move by breeding such as Alakazam, Chimecho, Gardevoir, etc. and some Legendaries will still be able to learn it.