"Hngggh! It's finally over."
Dante sighed in relief. He and his team are now walking out of the guild- a bit exhausted after that long conversation.
In the end, everyone agreed with Dante's decision not to tell the townspeople and the Federation about Darkrai and his organization. Instead, they decided to first conduct an initial investigation themselves.
The biggest problem they are facing right now is that they have no way of identifying which Pokemon are members of that organization. And without solving this problem, they had no way to make further progress.
"Although it's a pity we can't take the initiative, in this way, we'll be more prepared when Darkrai and his cronies take action."
Dante mused. He conjured a platform under their feet and began heading towards Spinda's cafe.
"Yeah. But I'm still puzzled. Why did you insist on paying 500,000 Poke for the damages, Dan? Even after Chatot said there was no need?"
"Hahaha, let's just say it's a PR move. Besides, that's less than a week's worth of our expenses. We could easily cover it by selling the miscellaneous items we got from Cofagrigus."
Dante said with a smile to Pikachu. For their team now, reputation is more important than Poke. After all, in addition to defeating Dialga, their next goal is to increase their Exploration Rank and gain access to the Impossible Dungeons.
"Well, you're the bossman. I'm only glad we escaped further punishment."
Pikachu gave Dante a thumbs up. Among everyone in the team, he had been the most fearful of being labeled as an outlaw. Watching Dan not only solve that dilemma, but also shift the blame to their enemy almost had him shed tears of relief and awe.
"I told you, you don't need to worry about it. However, everyone will have to be more careful in our sparring sessions next time, alright?"
""Aye aye/yes!""
Dante chuckled and landed the platform at the entrance of Spinda's Cafe. The sun was already starting to sink from the horizon. At this time, most of the Exploration Teams had returned. Thus, they weren't surprised to find the cafe almost being fully occupied.
"Really? Such a powerful earthquake hit Treasure Town?"
"It's true! According to what I heard, it was caused by a rift suddenly opening at the bottom of the Town!"
"No way!"
Walking to the bar counter where Spinda was making drinks, Dante greeted some of their acquaintances while listening to the surrounding conversation.
As expected, most of them were talking about the earthquake at noon. And from the looks of it, the other Explorers from the initial meeting had spread the information about the 'real' cause of said earthquake.
Dante shook his head and ignored them. Sitting in front of the counter, he flashed Spinda a smile.
"Hey, Spinda."
"Ah! The Travelers~ My favorite customers finally arrived!"
"Favorite? Don't you mean your most demanding customer?"
"Hahaha, I would never think of a customer like that~"
With a final shake of his body, Spinda poured the content of the drink he had been making into a glass. Octillery, who was waiting at the side, took it and tipped one of her tentacles in thanks. Then, she winked at Dante before slithering to the rest of her team.
"Tsk! That slimy bitch."
Dante ignored Mawile's mutter. Instead, with a smile, he and Spinda had a cordial chat as he placed the Gummis in his bag on the counter. It piled up into a hill, almost touching the ceiling.
"This time, we've brought a lot more than usual. You don't need to mix all of it though, we'll just have as many as you can make until closing time. And if there are other customers, you can attend to them first."
Dante tentatively proposed. This time, the amount of Gummis they had brought was more than any previous time. His request was basically asking Spinda to keep making Gummi drinks for countless hours, non-stop. He was worried this bartender would finally snap at their team.
However, Spinda's reaction was quite contrary to what Dante expected.
"This is great! I'll finally be able to use my recent gadget!"
Spinda rubbed his hands together in anticipation. With a skip, he walked to the backrooms, returning shortly after with a metallic basin which was bigger than his own body.
"Tada~ meet my new Gummi mixer Ultra-plus sized version!"
"Woah!"
Dante's gaze moved back and forth between Spinda and the new machine in his hand. After being 'tortured' by them for so long, did this red panda bartender finally choose to adapt?
"Hehehe, for the first batch, let me add the Blue Gummies…"
"That's right!" (Wobbuffet)
Spinda placed all the Blue Gummies inside the metal mixer. Then, he sealed it shut with a lead.
"Shake it this way, shake it that way~"
Watching the tiny, orange-spotted, red panda effortlessly lift the container almost twice the size of his body made Dante not know whether to feel amused or impressed. On the side, Eevee and Pikachu clapped enthusiastically, cheering on Spinda.
"And it's done!"
After more than a minute, Spinda stopped the high-intensity shaking. With a pop, he opened the mixer, revealing a goopy, blue liquid inside. He poured it on an aquarium-sized glass container under the table, until not even a single drop was left.
"Whew~ Just 17 more to go!"
"Aha…ha. Thanks, Spinda. However, there's no need to rush. All that shaking must have been tiring, you can rest if you want first."
"Hehe, it's fine~ This is what I love~"
Spinda waved off Dante's concern. With practiced ease, he placed all the Gold Gummies inside the mixer. In the meanwhile, except for Victini, everyone in the team took a glass from the table and filled it with the finished Blue Gummi drink.
"Here, Victini. Have a taste as well."
"Thank you, Dan."
Victini stared curiously at the drink in his hand. He was curious. Why does everyone seem to treat this drink with so much preciousness? Wasn't it just made of crushed Gummies?
He took a tentative sip. A slushy feeling mixed with a hint of coolness poured down his throat. At the same time, he felt his mind become more refreshed, a typical effect of ingesting a Gummi. But other than that, Victini didn't notice anything special.
"Do you wanna know why we're so excited to drink this?"
Dante's voice broke Victini from his contemplation. He stared at the white fox, who was already on his 2nd glass of the blue drink.
"Yes?"
"Haha, it's an Exploration Team secret~ I'll tell you when you officially join us."
Dante chuckled at Victini's disappointed look. He took another sip of the drink, lightly savoring the taste. However, when he saw the aquarium-sized container in which the liquid barely dropped in level, Dante felt a foreboding feeling.
After more than 20 minutes, Spinda completed the other 17 types of Gummi drinks. Dante and the team thanked him, and then proceeded to sit at one of the empty tables in the cafe.
"And so it begins."
Eevee said, her tone deepening. The other members of the team also had a serious look, as if they were about to face another Legendary enemy.
"Huh? What's beginning?"
Victini tilted his head in confusion.
"It's the start of the struggle- of pushing the body's limits to achieve our ultimate dream."
Pikachu replied in a similarly dark voice. Then, under Victini's incomprehensible gaze, as soon as Dante took out the glass containers containing the Gummi drinks from his inventory, everyone sprung into action.
Pikachu, Azumarill, Mawile, Dante- they filled their glasses with a different drink each and proceeded to chug it in less than a second. Then, as if in mutual understanding, they filled their glass with another type of Gummi drink and did the same again.
Once. Twice. Thrice.
They repeated this action countless times, like a robot programmed to do the same task over and over again. The 18 aquarium-sized glasses, which were filled to the brim with different colors of Gummi drinks, slowly depleted. And soon, after more than an hour and several bathroom breaks, all the drinks were consumed.
…
"Ugh, I don't feel so good."
In the human world, back at the University mansion, Eevee held her bulging belly as she lay unmoving in Dante's arms.
"I told you, we should have just left some for tomorrow."
"But getting stronger feels so good~"
"Then you're reaped what you've sown."
Dante chuckled as he stroked Eevee's belly in comfort. At normal times, they only had enough Gummies for everyone in the team to drink 20 glasses each, everyday.
That only changed on the day of the week when they assisted the other Pokemon's evolution- when they received more Gummies as compensation. Depending on the number of Pokemon that came, that usually amounts to 50-60 glasses for each of them.
But this time, they all had more than 100 glasses each. However, although all of them now have a stomach ache, the increase in their stats made it more than worth it.
===
Dante (Hisuian Zorua)
Type: Normal/Ghost
Abilities:
Super Luck (Increases the critical hit ratio)
Illusion (Can disguise as another Pokemon)
Level: 54
HP: 98/98
Attack: 148 Defense: 139
Sp. Atk: 149 Sp. Def.: 137 Speed: 142
Item: Scope Lens (Increases the critical hit ratio)
===
Pikachu
Type: Electric
Abilities:
Static (Can paralyze attackers that made physical contact)
Lightning Rod (Draws Electric-type attacks and boosts Special Attack)
Level: 54
HP: 116/116
Attack: 196 (+5) Defense: 134 (+18)
Sp. Atk: 198 Sp. Def.: 134 (+15) Speed: 140
Item: Light Ball (Doubles Attack and Special Attack)
===
Azumarill (Shiny)
Type: Water/Fairy
Abilities:
Huge Power (Doubles the power of Physical Attacks)
Sap Sipper (Absorbs Grass-type moves and boost the Pokemon's Attack stat)
Level: 53
HP: 128/128
Attack: 147 Defense: 133 (+9)
Sp. Atk: 149 (+10) Sp. Def.: 132 (+9) Speed: 135
Item: Power Band (Attack +12)
===
Ursaring (Male)
Type: Normal
Abilities:
Guts (Attack increases by 50% when inflicted by a major status ailment)
Quick Feet (Speed increases by 50% when inflicted by a major status ailment)
Level: 52
HP: 121/121
Attack: 144 (+20) Defense: 137
Sp. Atk: 131 (+10) Sp. Def.: 135 (+6) Speed: 136
Item: Power Band (Attack +12)
===
Riolu (Male)
Type: Fighting
Abilities:
Steadfast (Increases Speed by 10% each time the Pokemon flinch)
Prankster (Increases the casting speed of status moves)
Level: 51
HP: 118/118
Attack: 139 Defense: 134 (+6)
Sp. Atk: 138 Sp. Def.: 132 (+6) Speed: 135
Item: Dauntless Shield (Increases Defense by 10% every time an attack is blocked. Maximum of 200%.)
===
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: 51
HP: 112/112
Attack: 134 Defense: 127
Sp. Atk: 132 Sp. Def.: 130 Speed: 128
Item: Mawilite
===
Alolan Ninetales
Type: Ice/Fairy
Abilities:
Snow Cloak (Grants Camouflage Ability in the snow)
Snow Warning (The Pokemon can easily summon hailstorm)
Level: 50
HP: 115/115
Attack: 127 Defense: 124 (+3)
Sp. Atk: 128 Sp. Def.: 122 Speed: 125
Item: Light Clay (Increases duration of moves like Reflect, Light Screen, and Aurora Veil)
===
Eevee
Type: Normal
Abilities:
Adaptability (Powers up moves of the same type as the user)
Anticipation (Sense threats within a certain distance)
Level: 50
HP: 99/99
Attack: 129 Defense: 122 (+3)
Sp. Atk: 132 Sp. Def.: 122 (+3) Speed: 124
Item: Special Band (Sp. Attack +12)
—
Just after Dante and his team slept with their bulging bellies, a private plane landed at the Philippines Alliance Headquarters' Airport. A pair of beauties stepped down from the landing stairs, their silky white legs forming a contrast against the dark night.
"Junior Sister, that's the wrong direction. The reception area is here."
One of the beauties said in a soft and soothing voice. She had fair skin and cerulean blue hair that naturally bunches in the middle and fades into a darker shade at the ends.
"Hmm."
The junior sister, a white-haired woman with opaline eyes nodded blankly in response. She walked beside her senior sister, the red rope tied around her waist shaking with her movement.
As they were about to leave the airport's landing pod, a humming sound from behind made the two simultaneously look back in curiosity and vigilance.
There, in the distance, a silhouette rapidly approached. It landed right beside their plane, revealing the figure to be a Garchomp. And from behind, a woman wearing a long and heavy black coat, with long curly platinum blonde hair that is decorated on both sides with something akin to two black teardrops with a gold stripe on each tear, jumped down.
Seeing the appearance of this woman, the more senior of the sisters relaxed. She walked over with a smile and gently greeted.
"Miss Cynthia, what a coincidence."
"Hmm? Ganyu, Shenhe, you accepted the invitation, too?"
"Yes. After all, this ruins is very suitable for us."
Ganyu said with a smile. Meanwhile, Shenhe, her junior sister, just nodded blankly at Cynthia when their eyes met.
Cynthia didn't pay this any mind. After all, she was already used to the cold personality of this fellow Champion from China. Instead, she and Ganyu chatted as the three of them entered the reception area. And there, they were greeted by a red-haired Elite Four member.