NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: Third Dungeon Attempt!
Dante watched various Pokemon battles until the alarm suddenly rang. Looking at the time, it was already 12 midnight. He unknowingly became so engrossed watching the battle between the young Cynthia and Giovanni.
Dante turned off the computer and lay in bed. Holding his phone, he chose to open the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon app. Seeing the 'Continue' option, he clicked it and laid his head on the pillow.
Sure enough, the feeling of dizziness and darkening vision soon struck.
When Dante woke up, it was almost the same time as when he fell asleep. Looking at the dark sky and the sleeping Pikachu, Dante relaxed his tired body and continued his sleep on the beach.
Opening his eyes once again, Dante saw the black sky already showing signs of dissipating. At the side, Pikachu is still deeply asleep.
Listening to the waves on the beach and the various sounds of sleeping Pokemon, Dante continued to lay his body on the beach and enjoy this feeling of tranquility.
It wasn't until the sun began to rise that he woke Pikachu up from his slumber.
"Hey Pikachu buddy, wakey wakey. We got a whole lot of exploring ahead of us today."
Hearing this, Pikachu, who was still bleary, became fully awake.
"You're right, we've rested long enough. Let's go and get my treasure back!"
With the renewed vigor from having enough rest, Dante and Pikachu entered the Beach Cave once more.
With 4 additional levels compared to when they first entered the dungeon, Dante and Pikachu had a much easier time traversing through the series of rooms and hallways.
They stuck to the tactic they formulated yesterday, with Dante being the vanguard for Pokemons with Normal type attacks, and Pikachu dealing with Wooper.
Along the way, they encountered more Gummies and Poke. Due to being able to hold only one item in the inventory, any Gummies they found were eaten and treated as breakfast.
During the process, Dante and Pikachu became more and more at ease with cooperating between each other. Dante also found himself more and more proficient with the use of his moves.
In one of the rooms, they were surrounded by many Pokemons. Dante was hit by Makuhita while he was using Scratch on Skitty. It hurt a lot and his HP was reduced to a half.
After that, Dante became more aware of his surroundings when using Scratch. He also tried manipulating the energy he felt when using Scratch.
However, other than being able to use Scratch by himself, his body just felt more solid. Dante was puzzled and just concluded that Normal type energy has no characteristics which is the same as its typing.
On the side, he also gave Pikachu advice to try feeling the energy more when using his moves.
The both of them reached level 10 just in time to find the stairs to the second level of the dungeon.
"I can't believe we can't even pass the first floor just yesterday. Pokemon Trainers are amazing!"
Pikachu stared at the stairs leading to the next floor and looked in amazement at Dante.
Seeing Pikachu's look of admiration, Dante chuckled and proudly said:
"Heh, I said it before, this is my exclusive Trainer Ability. Not all Trainers can allow Pokemon to become stronger just by battling like me."
After a little more banter, Dante and Pikachu proceeded to head into the next floor.
Both of them decided to maintain more caution, fearing that the Pokemons in this floor are stronger than those in the first floor.
However, after some battles, other than the floor getting wetter, they realized that the Pokemons here are just as strong as those from the above.
Using the same tactics, they proceeded to demolish the rest of the floor. By the end of the floor, both of them leveled up once again to level 11.
From leveling up, Dante learned how to use Fake Tears, and Quick Attack. Meanwhile, Pikachu only learned how to use Thunder Wave.
While exploring, Dante tried to use Copycat in order to familiarize himself with this move.
Looking around, he saw various colors of energy flowing inside Pikachu's body but it was predominantly yellow. He himself has more purple and white energy in his body.
When he sees other Pokemon while using this move, he can clearly see how their energy flows when they attack and use moves.
After designating a target and using the move from the menu, the residual elemental energy that the target released was captured into Dante's body.
Then, the energy in his body automatically moves according to when the target used the move.
In the game, Copycat allows the user to use the last move used in the field by a Pokemon. Any move can be copied with only a few exceptions.
Dante then realized that, like how humans used the elemental energy released by Pokemons. Using Copycat allows him to also absorb that energy and use it for his own moves.
This move has so many potential future applications that Dante designated it as his next move to focus on.
Pikachu on the side was concentrating on using Thunder Wave and experimenting on how to make the paralysis last much longer as according to Dante's instruction.
After Pikachu learned Thunder Wave, their exploration just got a whole lot easier. Unlike in the main Pokemon games, Paralysis in this world isn't present until cured. It usually only lasts for a few seconds.
Conversely however, it's effect isn't just to half the speed of affected Pokemon. Instead, it'll make their movement so much more difficult. When they encounter a Pokemon other than Electrike, Thunder Wave makes it so they can freely attack the opponent at will.
"*Pant* *pant* let's rest for a while before heading to the next floor. Do you know how many floors there are in this dungeon, Pikachu?"
"*Pant* *pant* *pant*, yeah. I heard other Explorers say that this dungeon has six floors. We're almost halfway there."
Even though Dante and Pikachu weren't hurt on this floor, the non-stop fighting starting from the first floor had both of them exhausted.
While guarding the only passage into this room, Dante and Pikachu began resting.
After an hour of sitting and beating some Pokemons, the both of them finally had enough rest and proceeded to the next floor.
The third floor was the same as the previous two floors, and the both of them swept through it. After a half-hour rest in the final room, they proceeded to the fourth floor.
"Dan, which floor do you think Zubat and Koffing are staying on?"
"I guess it would be the final floor? Isn't it typical for villains to choose the deepest floor when choosing a lair."
"Hahaha, you're right! We'll show both of them how strong we've got and force them to hand over my treasure back!"
Looking at the enthusiastic Pikachu, Dante smiled.
Dante knew from playing the main series PMD Explorers of the Sky, Pikachu was a very cowardly Pokemon.
From the beginning of the game where he repeatedly failed to enter the guild because of fear, to various parts of their journey where Pikachu needed to use his partner as a crutch in order to do an act of bravery.
Dante hopes that he can train Pikachu so that he can stand on his own one day. And being a Trainer, it is his job to instill confidence in his Pokemon's own ability.
Pikachu's current confidence is temporary and is just caused by his rapidly increased strength. Facing a Pokemon very much stronger than him, that he can't hope to beat in the short term, Dante isn't sure how Pikachu would respond.
It's the reason why he never told Pikachu about Koffing and Zubat being part of an exploration team and possibly being stronger than the both of them.
If the two of them can beat Zubat and Koffing, then Pikachu will gain confidence from being able to defeat a previously unbeatable opponent.
And if both of them are beaten, they will just get transported back to the beginning of the dungeon. Dante is confident that, with enough time, he and Pikachu will become strong enough to crush them even if their boss Skuntank was present.
Whatever the result, Dante just wants Pikachu to gain a mentality of never giving up.
Because Dante knows. With enough time and the help of the PMD system, he can help Pikachu become stronger than even Arceus himself.