Most of the additional stats Azumarill gained were added to Special Attack. Although Dante positioned Azumarill's future position as the tank of the team, having more Special Attack wouldn't hurt. Especially since he can use the Focus Blast that was just sitting in their storage.
When they entered the guild, Azumarill was warmly greeted by everyone. He is now essentially the newest apprentice of the Guild.
"YOOM-TAH! Our guild has another member once more! For tonight, we celebrate!"
Guildmaster Wigglytuff came over and patted Azumarill 's belly in encouragement. Everyone cheered loudly in response to the Guildmaster's speech.
During the guild's dinnertime celebration, everyone was once again telling stories of their adventures during the day. And because Azumarill was the newest recruit, everyone was interested in how Dante and Pikachu met and teamed up with him.
Pikachu, whose storytelling became more and more dramatic because of watching too many movies, was the one in charge of telling the story.
"Although Azumarill constantly rejected us, we remained persistent! Day after day, rejection after rejection. We were discouraged. We were dejected. But we were not quitters!"
"...we only visited him a total of four times."
"Until one day! Azumarill was moved by our constant invitation. He came to us and asked "Why?! Why don't the two of you give up?!""
"Did something like that happen?"
"Don't mind him, Azumarill. He just watched too many dramas recently."
"In the end, he promised to join under the premise that we would win against him. Dante and Azumarill fought for three days and three nights. That battle caused the dungeon to almost collapse!"
"...I was defeated in an instant by Dante…"
"In the end! Dante landed the decisive attack and emerged as the victor and Azumarill finally joined! But just as we were about to return after a long and gruesome battle, we remembered the task we set out to do!"
"So there we were, exhausted and hungry, constantly looking for the mysterious treasure that the client requested but to no avail!"
"...We ate and rested in the middle of our search. And wasn't the treasure just an ordinary Orb?"
"Just as all hopes seemed lost, our new teammate Azumarill did not give up! He dove under the deep waters of the dungeon, tirelessly scouring every corner of the seabed until finally-!"
"It wasn't that exaggerated. I just returned to the tribe where I was raised and asked my father about the Orb. They gave it to me after I beat all of them."
"Wow! We didn't know something like that had happened. Why did you beat them up if they were your former tribesmen?"
At last, Azumarill successfully interrupted Pikachu from his storytelling.
Seeing everyone's curious looks, Azumarill seriously explained his life experience. About being ostracized from the clan and then being driven out by his father after his mother's death. The alienation from the other Pokemon in the dungeon. Them attacking him after he evolved.
Everyone in the guild became silent after Azumarill's narration. Some of the guild members were sniffling, and even the Guildmaster looked like he was about to cry!
"That's…horrible!"
"Oh, you poor child! Don't you worry! You can treat this guild as your new family!"
"Yeah! Master Wigglytuff is our father while Chatot is the mother!"
"*Squawk* What!? Why am I the mother!?"
"Then… the Guildmaster is the mother?"
"No!! No one is the father, or the mother!"
Chatot angrily rebuked everyone. After they fell silent, he nodded in satisfaction before turning to Azumarill.
"Azumarill, you need not dwell too much on your past. You can treat this guild as your new home. I'm sure you and your new partners will go through a much longer journey in the future, and when one day you look back, you'll see your time in the dungeon as a mere footnote in your life."
Everyone also voiced their support for Azumarill, telling him not to worry and hesitate to come to them if he ever needed help. For the second time that day, Azumarill cried.
—
At night, in Dante and Pikachu's room in the guild, a third straw pile was placed for Azumarill. The three of them were having some idle talk, mostly Pikachu and Dante telling stories of their previous explorations.
"By the way, Azumarill, don't be surprised if you are suddenly transported to an unfamiliar place later. It's a part of my power as a Pokemon Trainer. It's also one of the reasons why Pikachu and I can get stronger quickly."
This time, Dante didn't forget to warn Azumarill to avoid repeating what happened with Pikachu. With his strength, he may destroy the house if he uses a move like Earthquake in panic.
After hearing his words, Azumarill's interests were piqued. With so many things that happened today, he forgot to ask the two of them about the Pokemon Trainer. Dante confirmed that Azumarill was part of the team in the menu before choosing to return to the human world.
The moment he clicked the option, the three of them felt dizzy and blacked out onto the straw pile. When they woke up again, they were back in Dante's room.
Because of Dante's warning, Azumarill didn't have any violent reaction when he suddenly found himself in a different environment. He just warily looked around, especially staying away from the large bipedal Pokemon staring down at him.
"Azuuu?" (Pikachu, where's Dante?)
"Pika!" (He's here.)
Seeing the confused expression on Azumarill's face, Dante smiled and began explaining how he could travel to and from two different worlds and switch between different forms.
"I see…the outside world is really full of strange and amazing things."
Dante also taught Azumarill some of the common sense in this world. He explained what a Pokemon Trainer was, his goal to become the strongest Trainer, and how he needed Azumarill's help during Trainer battles.
After everything was settled, the three of them finally began to sleep. Luckily, both of Dante's current Pokemon are still small enough that the three of them can fit comfortably on the bed.
However, this also reminded him that he should use part of the money he will earn from the auction in order to buy a bigger land and house for his future Pokemon.
He knew that it was unrealistic to catch all Pokemon like in the games. However, Dante hoped to obtain at least one Pokemon from each type.
'And maybe Shinobu would also want to live with me in my new house?'
That night, Dante dreamt of settling down after years of dominating the Pokemon Trainer world with his green-haired wife, together with their Pokemon on some remote countryside villa.
When he woke up the next morning, the time was already close to 9 AM. He woke both Pikachu and Azumarill to have breakfast. However, he used his registered Pokeball to capture Azumarill first.
"Well, how did it feel inside?"
"...Azuuu, marillll." (...It feels strangely relaxing. It's like everything in the world is so calm and silent, just like the time when mother used to hold me to sleep. I think I like it.)
Dante was taken aback. Although the Alliance stated that they had made the inside as comfortable as possible, Pikachu and Accelgor, two Pokemon he was close to, clearly expressed that they didn't like being inside.
He therefore became skeptical that the Alliance's statement was just made to comfort the Trainer's mentality and not feel bad about putting the Pokemon in the Pokeball. But from Azumarill's words…maybe Pikachu and Accelgor were just special?
Dante decided to test it after he obtained more Pokemon in the future. For now, the three of them headed downstairs. On the first floor, sounds of chatting and laughter could be heard coming from the sofa.
"And this is him when he was 5. At that time, our close relatives came over and his aunt and I decided to dress him in one of the dresses they brought along."
"Awww, he looks so cute!"
Dante's eyes widened after hearing this.
While Shinobu and Mrs. Zulueta were squealing over the photo book, a gust of wind suddenly came from behind them, snatching the photobook and quickly taking away the photo they were looking at.
"Ma! What are you doing?!"
"Oh it was nothing dear, I was just showing Shinobu some of your photos when you were younger. Oh, how cute you were back then."
"Yeah, Auntie Althea just told me some of your childhood stories 'Master Magician' Dante heeheehee!"
Dante felt embarrassed being teased by Shinobu with the title he called himself during his chuuni phase. Luckily, he felt the presence of his Pokemon walking up to him.
The attention of the two women was successfully attracted away from teasing him and instead to the Shiny Azumarill that walked over.
"Dan? Is this!?"
"Ehem! Well, let me introduce my second Pokemon, Azumarill!"
"Azumarill." (Hello)
Azumarill calmly nodded to the two women after Dante's introduction.
Contrary to his lukewarm response, Azumarill was instantly surrounded by the two women. Mrs. Zulueta, who was the first to arrive, hugged him in her arms in excitement. Shinobu on the side just stared in amazement at the flustered Pokemon.
"It's a Shiny Azumarill! No wonder! No wonder you were so eager to obtain an official qualification from the Alliance!"
Shinobu finally understood the real reason why Dante kept rushing to get his first Gym badge. She was really curious about the second Pokemon Dante wanted to capture which made him rush so much. It turns out, it was a Shiny Pokemon!
"Hahaha yeah, I couldn't even sleep at night because of it. I snuck out and met up with Azumarill in the forest so I can quickly register him."
Dante once again used the forest as an excuse as a substitute for the PMD world.
"You're talking about Intra Forest, right? I heard there are so many visitors there every day. You're so lucky no one spotted Shiny Azumarill!"
"Well, he hid very well. If he didn't come out on his own initiative after seeing me, I wouldn't have been able to find him as well."
"First Pikachu and now Azumarill, Pokemon really like you Dan."
"Well, I guess you could say it's my high personal charm."
Shinobu rolled her eyes playfully at Dante's narcissism. She looked at the Azumarill curiously, wanting to see if there was any difference between this Shiny variant and the Azumarill she knew from the textbooks.
When Dante's father came back with Luna, he was accompanied by a white-haired old man. After seeing the scene in the living room, the two were stunned in place.
A/N: Get early access and vote for Dante's next Pokemon at: patreon.com/Ked2002