After getting everything ready, Dante and Pikachu entered the dungeon.
As mentioned in the beginning, the both of them stayed in the first room for some time in order to gauge the strength of the Pokemons in this dungeon.
"Hmm, the Pokemons here seems a bit stronger than the previous dungeons. I think we should grind in this room first before proceeding deeper. As it is now, we'll likely be overwhelmed if more than 4 Pokemon are present in the same room."
"Huff, yeah. I think they are just a little weaker than me before I drank those drinks."
Pikachu was right. In Dante's estimate, the stats of the Pokemon's here should be around early to late 20s.
According to Chatot, Mystery Dungeons are called Mystery due to many unanswered questions regarding their existences.
One of the mysteries regarding these dungeons is the strength of the Pokemons contained within.
Unlike Pokemons outside of the dungeons, dungeon Pokemons do not grow according to their racial limits. Depending on the dungeon, their stats also grow in a balanced manner similar to Dante and Pikachu's but with a limit.
Just like the limit of the Pokemon's stats in the Beach Cave and Drenched Bluff was around 18-19, the stats of the Pokemon here can grow to around 28-29.
These phenomena should be related to the dungeon as, when dungeon Pokemons decide to escape from the dungeons, they will feel weaker but at the same time regain the capability to grow past their previous selves.
Chatot even told the two of them regarding mystery dungeons that can affect Pokemons that came from the outside, with some dungeons returning all Pokemon that enter to their initial strength.
Dante and Pikachu decided to stick to the plan, waiting for the Pokemons to come to the room and then swiftly ganging up on them. Among the Pokemons they encountered, there were Ekans, Spearow, Tauros, Snubbull, Shinx, Bonsly, and Mime Jr.
After a while of fighting, the both of them reached level 14. Pikachu gained +2 in all stats, resulting in most of them getting past the 30 threshold. Dante also gained +1 in all stats.
Feeling that defeating the approaching Pokemons was easier, the both of them proceeded to slowly head deeper into the dungeon.
Because their goal was the treasure on the deepest floor, the two decided not to explore the other branching pathways and try to head to the stairway directly to the next floor. After getting sidetracked one time, the two finally found the stairs to the next floor.
"Whew, this reminds me of the second time we explored the Beach Cave. After this dungeon, we'll definitely become much stronger again!"
Looking at the confident Pikachu, Dante smiled and agreed with him. While getting stronger through leveling up becomes much more inefficient at the later stages, it is undeniable that it is faster in gaining stats in the early stages.
Pikachu and Dante slowly climbed higher and higher into the dungeon, making sure not to enter a room with more than 4 Pokemon inside. When that is the case, they usually try to stick their backs to the wall, preventing the Pokemons from attacking them in all directions.
Dante and Pikachu's main reliance to easily defeat other Pokemons without getting harmed was Pikachu's Thunder Wave. However, Thunder Wave can only target a single Pokemon after all.
If they were ganged up on, Pikachu can only restrict one of the attackers with Thunder Wave. Dante would have to hold off the others while Pikachu readies himself to either use another Thunder Wave, or assist Dante in dealing with the other attacking Pokemons.
During their climb, Dante and Pikachu encountered a dangerous situation when they entered a large room and faced two Ekans, two Tauros, a Spearow, and Mime Jr.
Dante was hit by Ekans' Bite and Pikachu by Tauros' Payback and Tackle. The two of them desperately ran out of the encirclement using Quick Attack and quickly ate the two Oran Berries in the bag.
The Oran Berry can restore 100 HP after being eaten.
Dante's situation at this time was especially dangerous. With Bite as a Dark-type move dealing double damage to him, his HP had fallen into a single digit.
Luckily, after Pikachu defeated Spearow with Thunder Shock, he leveled up to 15 and learned the move Electroweb.
Electroweb is a special group attack Electric type move that has a base power of 55. At the same time, the target hit by it will also have their Speed reduced.
After Pikachu learned Electroweb, his strength gained a qualitative change. Under Dante's command, he used Electroweb at a distance, hitting the remaining Ekans and the two Tauros, dealing damage and slowing both of them down.
After that, the two weaved around the remaining opponents, taking them down one by one with unparalleled ease compared to when they were first chased around the room.
After that battle, both Dante and Pikachu were exhausted. With their current status of having no more Oran Berries and their energy running low, the exploration team protocol was to quit the exploration and proceed to get out of the dungeon.
But Dante and Pikachu didn't do that.
Not to mention Dante was also close to leveling up, but Pikachu learning Electroweb just made him a whole lot stronger, surpassing even Dante in strength in a head-on battle.
Electroweb not only has a higher base power (55) than Pikachu's previous only Electric type move Thunder Shock (40). In addition, its most important aspect is its wide range and the ability to reduce the target's speed.
Although it does not incapacitate the target temporarily like Thunder Wave, with Dante and Pikachu's Speed stat already higher than the Pokemon's here, reducing their speed is almost the same as paralyzing them.
It was just like during Pikachu's battle with Scyther at the time, where his Speed was higher than Pikachu's by 15 or more and then further boosted by Agility. At that time, the only move Pikachu can hit Scyther with was Growl.
It was only because Scyther's movement was so predictable that Pikachu had the chance to interfere with his movement. Otherwise, Scyther can defeat Pikachu without taking any damage.
The situation in the dungeon is the same now, except the situation was reversed. Dante and Pikachu had a higher Speed, and their opponents had their Speed further reduced.
After resting for a while, Dante and Pikachu proceeded to climb to the next floor. As expected, the two of them can now take on the opponent's more easily. Dante gained a level and learned Shadow Sneak, also improving his combat power.
Shadow Sneak is a Ghost type move with a base power of 40. It allows the Pokemons to temporarily move within the shadows, allowing them to attack the opponent by surprise by emerging from their shadows.
After learning Shadow Sneak, Dante's combat style changed from a warrior to an assassin. After familiarizing himself with how to use the move, he can not only use it to sneak attack the opponent, but just like Quick Attack, he can instantly escape into the shadows and then emerge from another shadow just like teleportation.
Both Dante and Pikachu proceeded to sweep the rest of the floor while getting more familiar with their new moves. They only took a break another time in order to eat Apples on the stairway before the 6th floor.
Dante thought they would continue to steamroll the rest of the floors, but the sixth floor shattered that expectation.