Interlude - New Base and New Members
At the top of Sharpedo Bluff, Dante pushed aside a boulder, revealing a stairway leading downwards. This was Pikachu's former house, now serving as their Omnipotent Travelers' temporary base.
He smiled as he led Riolu and Mawile inside. After returning from their task, he didn't expect to encounter such a pleasant surprise.
"Come in and take a seat. Do you prefer Apple, Cheri, or Oran juice?"
"Hmph. Apple Juice."
Mawile snorted and turned her head, still irritated by Dante ignoring her earlier. Seeing this, Riolu scratched his head in confusion. Didn't Sis say they had to act politely to blend in. What is she doing now?
"How about you, Riolu? What do you want to drink?"
"Ah, I'll also have Apple juice."
Riolu fidgeted in discomfort under Dante's warm gaze. What is up with this guy? He's making it hard to justifiably hate him!
"Hmph!"
Mawile pouted, her mood turning even more sour. From the beginning, she had noticed how Dante's attention was almost solely on Riolu. Why is he only paying attention to her stupid little brother? Doesn't he know how much she's wanted to see him?
Dante took out three Apple juices, a Cheri Juice, and two Oran juices from the storage bag. He gave the siblings an Apple juice each, while the other drinks he gave to Pikachu and the others who were sitting beside him.
"So, why do you two want to join our team?"
"We want to become stronger. And we heard your team is the strongest."
Mawile forced away her vexation and answered. With Riolu's slow-wittedness, he would expose the two of them if he opened his mouth. Besides, Dante just hasn't gotten to know her yet. Once he does, he'd realize how much more interesting she is than her stupid brother.
"Is that so? What do you three think?"
Although Dante's primary recruitment target was only Riolu, it wouldn't hurt to have his sibling join along. With the tent from the human world selling like hotcakes among Exploration Teams, they would have no shortage of Gummies in the foreseeable future.
"I have no problems with it."
"Yeah! I also want to get strong like Dad and big brothers!"
"Hmm. I support whatever your decision, Dan."
Pikachu, Teddiursa, and Azumarill's approval made Mawile and Riolu smile to themselves. Their plan to blend in appeared to be working.
Meanwhile, Dante pondered as he looked at the two siblings. Although he was glad a Riolu voluntarily joined their team, he can't quite shake off the feeling of something wrong about the two.
If he ever saw such an odd combination in Treasure Town, or anywhere in the wild, he would have definitely remembered. The only time he encountered a Riolu was in the first dungeon on their way to Fogbound Lake. And if he recalled correctly, a Mawile was there, too…
"Are you two dungeon Pokemon? From Craggy Coast?"
"Eh!! Yes…is that a problem?"
Mawile fidgeted. How did they get exposed!? It's already been more than a week since they left the dungeon. Other Pokemon in Treasure Town can't even distinguish them from other outsiders.
She hopes Dante doesn't hate her because of this. However, after knowing their origin, their chances of joining the team must have plummeted.
"Of course…there is no problem. Haha, welcome to the team."
"Really!?"
Dante chuckled as he looked at Mawile who was dejected one moment, and cheerful the next. He knew he felt something wrong. Were these two Pokemon beaten by them back then and were awed by their strength? Or did they have other agendas for joining?
Anyway, whatever the reason, he doesn't care. As long as they joined the team, Dante was confident he could win them over. After all, unlike humans, most Pokemon are not as capable of scheming.
After finalizing the sibling's decision to join, the Omnipotent Travelers decided to go to Spinda's Cafe for a celebration.
On the way, Dante opened the team menu and glanced at Riolu and Mawile's stats. He didn't expect the Emit Ring and Riolu Card he'd set aside for the future to come in handy so soon.
Because of leaving the dungeon for a long time, the stats of the two had regressed compared to the usual 1 star dungeon Pokemon. Even so, Dante smiled at getting two promising new teammates.
Riolu (Male)
Type: Fighting
Abilities:
Steadfast (Increases Speed by 10% each time the Pokemon flinch)
Prankster (Increases the casting speed of status moves)
Level: 34
HP: 102/102
Attack: 50 Defense: 51
Sp. Atk: 58 Sp. Def.: 50 (+3) Speed: 54
Item: None
Exclusive Items in Bag:
- Emit Ring (Increases damage inflicted on Ghost-type Pokemon with Normal- and Fighting-type moves)
- Riolu Card (Sp. Defense +3)
Moveset:
- Copycat
- Quick Attack
- Screech
- Force Palm
- Endure
- Foresight
- Counter
- Bullet Punch
- Feint
- Reversal
- Power-up Punch
Mawile (Female)
Type: Steel/Fairy
Abilities:
Intimidate (Reduces the Physical Attack of opponents)
Sheer Force (increases the power of moves that have beneficial secondary effects by 30%, but removes those additional effects.)
Level: 32
HP: 99/99
Attack: 52 Defense:40
Sp. Atk: 52 Sp. Def.: 40 Speed: 38
Item: None
Moveset:
- Thunder Fang
- Baton Pass
- Vice Grip
- Faint Attack
- Astonish
- Metal Burst
- Ice Fang
- Fire Fang
- Poison Fang
- Fake Tears
- Bite
- Sweet Scent
- Knock Off
- Guard Swap
- Power-up Punch
Interlude - Furina's Mission
"I understand, Uncle."
Furina's face twisted as she hung up the phone.
"So…that's why."
Lying down on her soft bed, she looked at the empty one next to hers, the occupant practicing with her Dragonair in the Training Grounds.
"Sis, why didn't you tell me?"
Furina placed a hand over her eyes, replaying the events of the past month in her mind.
On their first day at the university, after the party, she'd thought she was hallucinating when she saw her sister and Dante hugging each other on the porch. After all, as far as she knew, her sister hadn't expressed much interest towards the opposite sex.
When she saw how the two were a little estranged the following day, she began to doubt that maybe what she saw was not just a product of her drunken mind.
Then two weeks ago, after the party in Mualani's mansion, she finally confirmed her suspicions.
After Focalors came back from the bathroom, she noticed that her face was a little flustered. She didn't think much of it at the time, attributing the reason to alcohol intoxication.
However, while helping her lie down on the bed, she noticed the red mark on her neck. As an actress, even though Furina herself has no experience in that aspect, she still knew a hickey when she saw one.
When combined with her previous suspicion, Furina instantly knew who the culprit was. In the morning, before everyone woke up, she dragged her half-awake sister to an empty room and confronted her.
Flashback starts
"What happened, Focalors? Did Dante pressure you into doing this?"
"W-what? What are you going on about?"
"Don't play dumb. I saw the mark!"
Focalors paused when she finally realized what her sister meant.
"No. I-it's complicated. Just pretend you didn't see anything."
"What? Are you hearing yourself? If you don't tell me, I'll tell Shinobu what her boyfriend is doing to you!"
"Wait! I like Dante, okay! I was the one who took the initiative!"
"Huh!?"
Flashback ends
In hindsight, maybe she shouldn't have believed her so easily. But transferring to a school in another country, as well as her subsequent actions; everything made sense if she really fell in love with Dante.
Furina also knew that Focalors had been pursuing power since they were young, so she assumed she took an interest in Dante after he defeated their Dad.
However, the call from her Uncle just now gave a much more probable explanation.
As it turns out, the family had assigned a mission to her, a world-famous actress, to seduce Dante and find out news about the Diancite. And if the conditions were right, she would even be tasked to convince Dante to marry into their family.
Furina was no stranger to this operation- assigning a woman of Fontainian blood to marry and bind a promising young trainer to their interest. After all, that was how her father married her mother.
Focalors was supposed to pass the message to her. But it was only today, a month later, that she found out about it; after their uncle asked for an update regarding the progress of her task.
Furina stared at the ceiling in a daze, her brain still trying to process everything she had just learned.
"Marin, what am I supposed to do?"
"Horsea!"
"Heh, if only it were that easy…But yes, I do need to have a talk with my stupid sister."