I Have a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon System in a World with Pokemon

At one of the largest private rooms in the Champion's Restaurant, Dante and Shinobu sat on one side of the table. Meanwhile, the opponents they had just battled were seated on the opposite side.

"How's Dragonair's condition?"

"Thank you for your concern. He has already regained consciousness and only needs to replenish energy. By the way, we forgot to introduce ourselves!"

"My name is Focalors, and this is my sister, Furina. We came from France to take a vacation here during summer break. Nice to meet you two."

"Huh, that's rather amusing. I'm Shinobu and he's my lover, Dante. I also came from another country. Dante's the only native among us then."

"Pika!" (It's her! It's Holly!)

Dante was just about to speak up when he was suddenly interrupted by Pikachu.

Pikachu was staring at Furina with an awestruck look, looking like he was about to faint from excitement.

"Umm, is there something wrong with Pikachu?"

"Sorry, he seems to have mistaken you for someone named Holly. Hey bud, snap out of it! You got the wrong person."

"Pika-chu! Pika!" (I'm definitely not wrong! I watched Holly Potter many times! I can recognize Holly's face and voice even if she has a different hair color!)

"…he said he recognized you from the Holly Potter movies? Were you the one who acted as Holly there?"

A look of surprise flashed in Furina's eyes. She held a hand in front of her mouth as she laughed.

"Hohohohoho! Even under disguise, my august self can still be seen through by my real fans. Indeed it is I! Furina de Fontaine! Who stands here before you!"

Pikachu clapped in excitement as he shook Dante's shoulders.

"Pikachu!" (Dante! Dante! Can you please ask her to sign me an autograph? Please please pleaseee!)

"Alright, alright, calm down. Uh sorry buddy, we didn't bring any paper and pen with us."

"PIKA!" (NOOOO!!!)

Pikachu's body went limp on Dante's shoulder, his paws covering his eyes as he dramatically slid down onto Dante's thighs.

Furina, who was watching all this, laughed out loud.

"Are you really able to talk to Pikachu? Not in the sense of comprehending what he means of course, but understanding his every word?"

"Yup, I was born able to understand what a Pokemon is saying."

"That's so enviable! C-can you translate what Marin is saying to me? Ah, it's my Horsea. Her full name is Surintendante Chevalmarin, but you can just call her Marin."

Dante sweatdropped at the long name she gave to her Pokemon. However, looking at the wide and innocent, pleading eyes of the girl in front of him, Dante felt his heart skip a beat.

Worthy of being a well-known actress, being face-to-face with her, Dante was almost captured by her charm. Her blue-colored wig that reaches the base of her neck as well as her short and petite body makes her look very cute and lively. 

The curved eyelashes and the slight smirk on her lips also make it seem like she is thinking of some mischievous things. Even though she looks like a spoiled brat, there's just something about her that makes Dante want to spoil her.

He began translating Horsea's words to Furina, his face subconsciously smiling as he looked at Furina who was laughing in delight.

On the side, Focalors and Shinobu watched the whole byplay.

"I apologize for my sister's lack of decorum. She can be a bit…childish at times, but I assure you that she has no other intentions towards your lover."

"I-it's fine! I've also watched several of the movies she starred in when I was younger, so you can say I'm a bit of a fan. I'm a bit ashamed that I didn't recognize her even after talking face-to-face."

"Is that so? Well, we do wear a different colored wig and contact lenses whenever we're out in public to avoid being recognized, so our skills in disguise have become proficient with time. By the way, if I may ask, both of you have no Gym Badges yet, correct?"

"Yes? I assume you're the same since we got paired for battle earlier."

"Indeed. But I'm curious why Dante has both Pikachu and Azumarill. Is Pikachu his pet?"

"Ah, it's because I won the Rookie Competition and got permission to capture my second Pokemon early. Pikachu here is my Starter Pokemon."

Dante answered her question. At this time, he is hugging Horsea in his arms while Pikachu is with Furina on the other side. After learning that Furina won't leave the country for at least another week, his disappointment vanished. 

In Pikachu's mind, he already made a decision to pester Dante to go to Furina every day for the rest of the week.

"By the way, do you two mind recommending some places to visit during our stay here? Something only locals would be familiar with? Furina and I want to make the best of our stay, and it would be a pity to miss something just because of a lack of information."

"Err, I'm not so sure I know something like that. Most of the time, I only visit the Intra Forest."

"The Intra Forest?"

"Yeah, it's a forest near here that's filled with wild Pokemon. That's mostly where I train Pikachu and Azumarill."

Hearing this, Focalors immediately became interested. To be honest, she is still a bit hung up regarding her earlier loss to Dante's Azumarill. She still couldn't figure out how Azumarill was able to react in time to her Dragonair's attack.

From watching countless battles since she was young, she knew that even if Azumarill reached the racial limit of his Speed, he still shouldn't have been able to react to Dragonair's Extremespeed attack from behind. 

Judging by Azumarill's age, he shouldn't have enough time to train to break through the racial limit. Therefore, she is very interested in visiting where Dante trained his Azumarill. Maybe she can find a clue there that can explain how this happened.

The four of them continued to chat, and soon, the food they had ordered arrived. Seeing the assortment of food on the table aroused everyone's appetite, and they began digging in.

On the table, looking at Dante only eating pork and chicken dishes, Shinobu felt distressed. She took some vegetables from the side and placed them on his plate. Facing Shinobu's reproachful look, Dante helplessly shrugged his shoulders.

In the PMD world, his whole diet for the day consists of Apples, Berries, and Gummies. And while it's delicious, there's just something missing. Therefore, every time he is in the human world, his meal mostly consists of meat. His 'unhealthy' diet had already become a point of contention between the couple.

"So, how long are the two of you dating?"

"We've only officially confirmed our relationship half a month ago."

"Wow! Who's the one that asked the other out? I bet it's you, Dante heeheehee!"

"Hey! Don't look down on my charm. I'll have you know it was Shinobu who asked me out first!"

"Really? Why do I remember that a certain someone immediately sent a message not even an hour after we added each other online?"

"Ehem! Well, it was all part of the strategy. It worked out in the end, didn't it?"

Looking at Furina who was giggling at him for having his lie exposed, Dante decided to take revenge.

"Why are you asking anyway? You got anyone you're interested in? If you beg me, I can consider giving you some love advice."

"Oh nonono, I have nothing of that sort! And even if I did, I definitely wouldn't ask advice from you, hmph!"

"I'm curious. What are the criteria of the world-class actress Furina de Fontaine for her future partner?"

Dante's question aroused the gossipy nature of Shinobu next to him. Even Focalors on the other side perked up her ears.

"Hmm, well they definitely have to look better than you, at least. And they have to be able to defeat Dad for me to even consider them!"

"Haha, you're so cute Furina. If your criteria remain like that, I don't think you'll be able to marry anyone in the future."

"Huh? Is your father strong?"

"Not only is he strong, he's the strongest Pokemon Trainer ever!"

"Oh? The strongest Pokemon Trainer!?"

Dante's curiosity was piqued after hearing these words. He thought of all the previous Trainers who won the Masters Tournament. From his perspective, only those who had at least won that Tournament were qualified to compete for the title of the world's strongest.

"Who's your father? If he's so strong, he must not be someone unknown, right?"

"Eh? You don't know their father, Dan? It's France's current Champion, Neuvillette."

"Ehh! It's him?! But wasn't he defeated in the last Master's Tour-"

Realizing how rude his next words were, Dante hurriedly stopped himself from continuing. However, it was too late. Furina on the opposite side was already pouting and scowling at him.

"It was because his teammates were defeated early and he had to face an Elite Four and Champion alone! Even then, Dad almost won!"

"Ah, sorry about that. It's just, when you said he was the strongest Pokemon Trainer, I assumed he at least won the Masters Tournament."

Dante's words only further aggravated Furina. Her face turned red and she was about to argue further when Focalors held her hand and stopped her.

"Calm down, Furina. Father will win the next Master's Tournament and prove his strength to the world. There's no need to be angry with the words of such people."

Although Focalors face showed no expression, judging by the tone of her voice just now, she also felt angry at what Dante said. 

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became awkward. Shinobu, who had been watching everything that transpired, hurriedly tried to defuse the situation.

"I'm sorry if my boyfriend's words caused you dissatisfaction. It's just that Dante's dream is to become the strongest Pokemon Trainer in the world. In his own words, that means being able to fight against the whole world and win."

"That's stupid! No one can become that powerful!"

"Well, it's what Dan aims to become."

Furina stared dumbfoundedly at Dante, who scratched his head in silent approval of what Shinobu just said. Focalors also finally learned a little about the craziness of this guy who defeated her. 

"I apologize if I may have overreacted. It's just that some people back in our country… harshly criticized Father when he lost last year. Dante's earlier words have just triggered some of those memories."

"Uh yeah, I'm also sorry. I know Mr. Neuvillette is very strong, I watched his battle last year and also felt it's a pity he wasn't able to advance further."

Shinobu heaved a sigh of relief after seeing the tension in the room disappearing. She smiled amicably at Focalors and suggested.

"As an apology for what Dante said earlier, why don't we take you two around the place tomorrow? We'll go to all the fun places Dan and I used to hang out!"

"Well, if you two aren't too busy, why don't we go to the Intra Forest Dante talked about? I'm quite curious about the unique Pokemon present there that can't be seen in our country."