Looking at Team Meanies' departing back, Dante always had a feeling of familiarity.
"Dante, I'm sorry about earlier."
Pikachu apologizing with his head down stopped Dante's further thinking.
"What are you sorry about? It was my order for you to look for help in town."
"No, no, not that. It was because I'm too weak and I had to leave you alone against Drowzee..."
Seeing Pikachu about to revert back to his insecure self, Dante hurriedly explained to him about type matchups, Drowzee's stats, Pikachu's stats, and his own stats. Etc.
"That's why we're partners. In the future, if we ever face someone whose Defense is very high, then it would be me who won't be able to do anything. In that situation, I can only rely on you."
"But what about if the opponent has high Defense and Special Defense? How do we beat them?"
"In that case, we'll follow what Bidoof taught and throw Blast Seeds at them hahaha!"
With Pikachu regaining his vigor, the both of them laughed and talked as they headed inside the Treasure Town.
The first store they headed to after going in was Kecleon's shop. Looking at the Shock Wave that was priced at 7500, Dante could only reluctantly look away. '
"Boss Kecleon, is there still no Escape Orb?"
"I'm afraid not, young explorers. Everytime a new batch of Escape Orb comes, it's mostly bought right away."
"Sigh, I see. Thanks, we'll just buy these four Apples then."
Dante and Pikachu still haven't found any dungeon that contains many Apples for sustainable food. Dante only remembered that they will explore a Forest Dungeon for a Perfect Apple in the future.
That Dungeon may be their stable source of food in the future. For now, after securing their food for lunch, storing the blue Gummi from the previous dungeon, and depositing their money at Duskull's Bank, the two headed back to the guild.
As the two arrived at the second floor, they saw Team Meanies communicating with Magnezone while handing over Drowzee.
"Hohoho, thank you Officer Magnezone. If there's nothing else, we'll take our leave."
Team Meanie walked past Dante and Pikachu. Gengar and Dante just looked at each other for a second before the both of them turned their heads away.
"ZZZT! Outlaw Drowzee, you'll have to serve a week in jail for all the crimes you have committed. ZZZT!"
"Wait Officer Magnezone! Can I ask what crime did Drowzee commit?"
Just as the Magnezone team was about to take Drowzee away, Dante stopped them.
If Dante remembered correctly, the dungeon where Drowzee will take Azurill contains a treasure at the end. In the PMD game, it was never explored what the treasure really was. After the team rescued Azurill, that 'treasure' was never mentioned again.
"ZZZT! Team Omnipotent Travelers, apprentices of the Wigglytuff guild, may I ask what you plan to do with this information?"
"Oh, I'm just curious. You know, Drowzee was also apprehended with the help of our team."
"ZZZT! Is that so? Seeing as you're from the Wigglytuff guild, I can tell you some information. Drowzee was wanted for a crime of unwarranted attacking of Official Exploration Teams in the dungeon. ZZZT!"
"Oh? Which dungeon is that?"
"*ZZZT! It's Mt. Bristle. If you want further information regarding the dungeon, you can ask Mr. Chatot. ZZZT!"
With that, the Magnezone force left. While leaving, Drowzee gave both Dante and Pikachu an intense look, especially when Dante asked about the dungeon.
"Hey, Dante, is there anything special with Mt. Bristle?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Let's go ask Chatot for the location of the dungeon. It'll be our first real dungeon exploration for treasure!"
Hearing about them exploring for treasure, Pikachu's eyes lit up.
"Hey, you don't have to ask Chatot. While I was umm..hesitating about joining the Wigglytuff Guild, I already studied the location of many Mystery Dungeons! Let's go, I can take you there."
Now that Pikachu mentioned it, Dante remembered that it was Pikachu who led the way to get to Drenched Bluff.
At that time, he thought that the location of that dungeon was common knowledge among the residents of Treasure Town. As it turns out, it was just because Pikachu had more knowledge regarding Dungeon locations.
On the way to Mt. Bristle, Pikachu was humming a tune about treasures and exploration.
"By the way Dante, won't we get into trouble for not completing a task from the Wanted lists?"
"It's alright. We've helped with capturing Drowzee, haven't we?"
Amidst their chatter, the two of them finally arrived at the base of a mountain.
"Remember what I said, Pikachu. We'll try staying in the first room first to get a feel of how strong the Pokemons in this dungeon are first."
Dante still remembered that the PMD world he chose is in Expert Mode. In addition, except for some Apples and an Oran Berry, the two didn't bring any notable items.
'Oh yeah, we also have the rewards from Spoink. Let's see, Protein boosts Attack which I'll need. The Calcium boosts Sp. Atk for Pikachu, and Iron boosts Defense.'
After some thinking, Dante gave the Iron to Pikachu. He already has the Def. Scarf which boosts his Defense by 8. After the two of them drank the Stat drinks, their stats are currently:
Dante (Hisuian Zorua)
Type: Normal/Ghost
Abilities:
Super Luck (Increases the critical hit ratio)
llusion (Can disguise as another Pokemon)
Level: 13
HP: 43/43
Attack: 36 Defense:36
Sp. Atk: 34 Sp. Def.:29 Speed: 34
Item: Def. Scarf (Defense +8)
Moveset:
- Leer
- Scratch
- Astonish
- Copycat
- Fake Tears
- Quick Attack
- Fury Swipes
Pikachu
Type: Electric
Abilities:
Static (Can paralyze attackers that made physical contact)
Lightning Rod (Draws Electric-type attacks and boosts Special Attack)
Level: 13
HP: 53/53
Attack: 28 Defense:29
Sp. Atk: 31 Sp. Def.:26 Speed: 29
Item: Sky Blue Bow (All Stats +1)
Moveset:
- Thunder Shock
- Growl
- Grass Knot
- Tail Whip
- Thunder Wave
- Quick Attack
The Stat drink boosts the respective stats by 3. Thanks to it, Pikachu's Special Attack finally broke through 30.
Taking a look at their stats, Dante felt a little satisfied. Unlike other Pokemons, their stats grow with a much more balanced distribution. However, when looking at their HP, Dante was a little confused.
In the main Pokemon games, the base stat can reach a maximum of 255 including the HP. However, in the PMD games, while the other stats also cap at 255, only the HP can reach up to 999.
The HP, as Dante read from the Alliance website, corresponds to a Pokemon's endurance, energy reserves, and life span. It is the most difficult stat to break through the racial limit.
Dante doesn't know whether the HP just grows faster in this world, or can he and his Pokemons really surpass the 255 limit in the future?