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

"Hnghh, should we start heading back? The sun's already about to set."

At this time, Dante, Shinobu, Furina, and Focalors had just defeated a group of Mightyenas that ambushed them. As it was already getting late, the group decided to walk back to the exit.

"Honestly, how come both your Pokemon are so strong, Dante? I understand Azumarill's situation because he is a Shiny, but why is even Pikachu so powerful!?"

Furina hugged Pikachu tightly in her arms as she grumbled. 

When they entered the inner area, Pikachu finally began to show his strength to everyone. When they saw how Pikachu took out every Pokemon with only one attack, the two sisters began to wonder whether the data published by the Alliance were really reliable.

"Hahaha, as the strongest Trainer in the future, of course I have to train the strongest Pokemon."

"Pika-pi!"

"Look! Even Pikachu has rubbed off from your narcissism."

"Nah, as your fan, he rubbed off from yours."

"Wh- I am not a narcissist! Sister, I'm not, right?"

"...No."

"Why did you hesitate!"

The four became more relaxed as the number of Pokemon that attacked them decreased the further they were from the forest center. 

However, just as they reached the boundary between the inner and outer areas of the forest, Dante suddenly felt a sudden sense of crisis enveloping his whole body.

He instinctively looked around his surroundings, but he was unable to pinpoint where this sudden sense of danger came from. Only when he noticed the shadow on the ground getting larger did he look up at the s

ky.

At some unknown point, a Dragonite had hovered above them.

"Father! Why did you come here?"

After noticing Dante's reaction, the others also looked up at the sky and saw the flying Pokemon. When Dante and Shinobu heard that it was just the two sister's father, they breathed a sigh of relief. 

Neuvillette didn't respond. His eyes remained focused on Dante and Shinobu, studying both of them with narrowed eyes. 

Feeling the pressure contained behind that gaze, Shinobu subconsciously backed away in fright. Seeing this scene, Dante felt a little angry and immediately stood in front of her.

"If you have something to say, speak up! Or does a Champion like you like to bully rookie Trainers like us?"

Pikachu, who was in Furina's arms, also jumped back on Dante's shoulders, his cheeks emitting sparks of electricity. Azumarill already stood next to Dante and was getting ready to attack when he saw Dragonite in the air.

"...my apologies. It seems I may have made some rash conclusions."

When Neuvillette saw that his two daughters were fine, he already realized that he may have made a wrong assumption. However, he still had to be careful in case these two suddenly attacked his daughters when they saw him.

"It's fine, Dan. Thanks for standing up for me."

Shinobu tugged Dante's clothes from behind. When she saw him standing up for her even against a Champion, she felt a sweet feeling in her heart.

"Mouu Dad, why did you have to scare our friends! I'm sorry you two, dad has a very expressionless face but he is really, really kind inside."

Dante let down his guard after he felt the pressure around them slowly disappear. However, in the depths of his heart, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed for not being able to fight against a Champion.

"Why did you come here, father? Did something urgent happen?"

Focalors repeated her question once more. Neuvillette, who already landed and was walking towards them, paused for a moment before replying.

"It's nothing. I was just worried about the two of you."

"Geez, Dad. Me and Focalors are already adults. We can take care of ourselves just fine."

Furina put her hands on her hips as she complained about Neuvillette's overprotectiveness. Seeing this, Neuvillette gently smiled as he appeased her with practiced ease before turning to Dante.

"Young man, may I have a moment of your time?"

Dante already had a premonition about what Neuvillette wanted to talk about. If nothing else, he should have been able to find out his identity as the seller of the Diancite through some unknown means.

Sensing that he had no bad intentions towards him, he agreed. The two of them walked a bit further away from the group to avoid their conversation from being heard. Just as Dante was preparing to use the excuse he had told Shinobu and his parents, Neuvillette's first question confused him.

"Are you aware of the Harbingers?"

"Huh? The what bringers?"

Neuvillette stared closely at Dante's reaction. Seeing him being genuinely confused, he felt both a sense of relief and loss. Relieved that it really was just a coincidence they met with his daughters. At the same time, he felt a bit of a loss at losing one of the current best leads he has towards finding them.

"Then, can you tell me where you found the Mega Stone you auctioned?"

"...And I thought the Alliance was trustworthy. How much did they sell my information?"

"You have misunderstood. One of the Alliance's founders…is someone who has a strong distaste for breach of contracts. He's one of the reasons why the Alliance has a high credibility til this day. Your information was obtained through, let's say, some less conventional methods."

"I've heard Furina and Focalors say you're a judge in your country? Heh, knowingly breaking the law yet determining the guilt and innocence of those that do? How hypocritical."

Neuvillette looked at Dante passively after hearing his words, his face not even flinching from the insult.

"Perhaps. However, I believe my hypocrisy does not pose much interest for you. What is it you hope for in exchange for the information regarding the stone?"

"...You're a judge, right? Then help me convict this person. I was able to take a video here of his actions. I'm sure if your people dig deep enough, you will find that he committed countless crimes in the past."

Dante showed Neuvillette the video of his conversation with Richard. 

In all honesty, Dante wasn't really sure whether Richard coerced others before, or even if it was really him targeting his money. But from the malice he felt, he knew that he was not a good person. If he can successfully convict him, then he will have one less thing to worry about.

"I see...I'll investigate this later. If he really used his position within the Alliance to commit crimes, I can easily ask an acquaintance in your country to check the records. Is that all?"

"I also want to have a match with you. To see how huge the gap is between my current self and the world's top Trainers."

Neuvillette paused after hearing his request. Glancing at the young man in front who was looking at him with barely concealed excitement, he thought about it for a moment before agreeing. It won't take too much of his time anyway.

"Well, that's all of my conditions. For the Mega Stone, I found it in this forest while training with my Pikachu last month. It was near the place where I found my Shiny Azumarill."

Dante proceeded to tell the lie he had just carefully crafted. He doesn't know whether Neuvillette will believe it, but it's the story he's planning to stick with.

"In this forest, you say? Which particular area was it?"

"There, in the outer area near the rocky terrain. After Pikachu used Grass Knot, a hole suddenly cracked open and we found the stone inside."

Neuvillette looked at the young man in front of him with scrutiny. From his demeanor, he really doesn't look like someone that will be able to obtain the stone except through luck.

Just as he was thinking deeply, the phone in his pocket started to ring. Excusing himself, he walked a little distance away and took the call. The news he got made him sigh in frustration.

One of his most trusted subordinates, Clorinde, who left yesterday to bring the stone to Diancie, just informed him that Diancie said that the Mega Stone he just bought wasn't the one stolen ten years ago.

After confirming the information repeatedly, he hung up and walked back to Dante. 

"Uhh, are you okay?"

"Sigh, it's nothing. My apologies for wasting your time. It seems the stone you sold is not the one I was hoping to find, after all."

Neuvillette turned around, ready to return to the group when Dante suddenly stopped him.

"Wait, what about our agreement?"

"Don't worry. I will make sure to uphold my end of the bargain. For your challenge, you can inform me whenever you want as long as it's before I leave for France."

"Hahaha, then let's have a match right now!"

—

When the three girls heard about Dante's challenge, they were flabbergasted. Even Shinobu, who knew Dante the best among them, didn't think Dante would propose such an outrageous challenge.

That's a Champion! Not to mention, Mr. Neuvillette is also known to be in the top 10 of the strongest Champions in the world!

However, when she thinks about Dante's current strength, Shinobu is also curious about how much difference there is between him and the real Champions. 

Since Dante wants to see the strength of the top Trainers, Neuvillette decides to use one of the Pokemon in his main lineup. Of course, he'll hold back or else it may cause this young man in front of him to lose his confidence.

"Dragonite, this battle will be up to you. Remember to hold back your strength."

"Dra." (I promise I'll be gentle.)

Dante's face was a little solemn after seeing Dragonite was sent out. From the Alliance database, the recorded racial limit for Dragonite is: 91 HP, 117 Attack, 95 Defense, 100 Special Attack, 100 Special Defense, and 80 Speed.

And being a Champion's Pokemon, it had surely broken through its racial limits already.

"It looks like this is going to be a tough battle. Are you ready, bud?"

"Pika!" 

Pikachu nodded vigorously and jumped directly in front of Dragonite. Pikachu's current stats are: 104 HP, 131 Attack, 86 Defense, 131 Special Attack, 74 Special Defense, and 80 Speed. It could be said that Pikachu's stats already match that of a fully grown Pseudo-Legendary.

When Neuvillette saw Dante sending out Pikachu, he frowned. From his daughter's words yesterday, Dante has a shiny Azumarill that is 'very powerful' as his main Pokemon.

Even if Pikachu reaches its racial limit, with how low it is, this won't be much of a challenge even with him holding back.

"Sister, how long do you think Dante can last in front of Dad?"

"I'm not sure…hmm, probably less than a minute? It depends on how much Father holds back his strength."

Furina and Focalors began to whisper while looking at their Father with confidence. They knew Dragonite's strength. Even on the world stage, he can go toe-to-toe with other Champion's Pokemon.

Shinobu volunteered to act as the referee for this match. She looked left and right, and seeing that both sides were ready, she signaled the battle to begin.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Wave!"

"Dragonite, Slam."

Neuvillette completely disregarded Pikachu's Thunder Wave. With his Dragonite's defensive stats both exceeding 100, Pikachu wouldn't even be able to affect it. He had to teach this young man in front of him the meaning of high stats suppressing all tactics. 

However, he would soon later come to regret his decision.

When Pikachu's Thunder Wave hit Dragonite, it instantly caused him to lose control of his body. His wings became harder to flap and he barely kept his body from falling. Seeing this scene, Neuvillette's eyes widened in surprise.

"Now Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Dante didn't miss this opportunity and directly issued an order to attack. As it approached, a shimmering scale glittered around Dragonite's body, briefly blocking the attack before being broken shortly after.

Dragonite let out a grunt of pain after his body was hit. Neuvillette's expression became more solemn after seeing this. Even after breaking through Multiscale, his Dragonite still took so much damage. How can Pikachu's attack be so high?! 

Noticing Dragonite fighting through the paralysis and pain from the attack, Neuvillette calmed himself down. He had to think about it later. Right now, he had to focus and take this match seriously if he didn't want to lose.

"Dragonite, use Roost!"

Dragonite, who was struggling to keep himself afloat because of paralysis, finally stopped flapping his wings. His huge body fell to the ground and his wings curled around his body, speeding the restoration of his body's recovery.

"Pikachu, don't give him time to recover, use Draining Kiss!"

With Roost removing Dragonite's Flying-typing, he regained his resistance to Electric-type attacks. Therefore, Dante chose to use the Fairy-type move Draining Kiss which is super effective against Dragonite.

Because of his paralysis, Dragonite wasn't able to dodge the attack and was forced to take it head-on. His body was slowly drained of energy, and he began to feel limp.

"N-no way…is Dad going to lose?"

"...I don't know."

Neuvillette also stared intensely at Dragonite. He made a mistake. He shouldn't have let Dragonite take the Thunder Wave head-on. Now, the only thing he can do is wait. As long as Dragonite recovers from the paralysis in time, he still has a chance for a comeback.

When Dragonite was about to faint, the thing he was waiting for finally happened. The static surrounding his body disappeared and he regained the capability to move. But just when he was about to issue a command, Dante was already one step ahead of him.

"Quick Attack!!"

With Dante's keen eyesight, he had noticed Dragonite recovering from paralysis before Neuvillette. With Dragonite on his last leg, Pikachu only needs one decisive blow to end him now.

Pikachu wasted no time and his body, covered in white light, arrived in front of Dragonite.

Dragonite noticed the Pikachu already less than a meter away from him. With the current state of his body, he knew taking this attack would definitely lead to his defeat. He controlled the energy inside his body to use Protect and just in the nick of time! The green barrier prevented Pikachu's attack from reaching him!

Shinobu, who was watching the battle with rapt attention on the side, had a sudden sense of deja vu. Seeing the way Pikachu's movement suddenly changed, her eyes widened.

"Heh, that's right. Just like we practiced buddy."

The corner of Dante's lips raised when he saw Dragonite using Protect. After the battle with Shinobu and Accelgor, Dante and Pikachu began making a strategy with regard to using Feint. 

Among them, this was one of the scenarios they talked about. If he commanded Pikachu to use Quick Attack because the opponent was on their last leg, when the opponent defends with Protect, Pikachu will directly use Feint to bypass the barrier without waiting for his command.

Pikachu passed through the green barrier and hit Dragonite directly on the head. Dragonite's head tilted backward from the sudden force of the attack. His body fell and skidded across the floor for a few meters before remaining motionless. 

Seeing this result, everyone on the scene became silent.

.

.

.

Alternate Ending of the Battle:

Seeing Dragonite fighting through the paralysis and pain from the attack, Neuvillette calmed himself down. He had to think about it later. Right now, he had to focus and take this match seriously if he didn't want to lose.

"Dragonite, use Roost!"

Dragonite, who was struggling to keep himself afloat because of paralysis, finally stopped flapping his wings. His huge body fell to the ground and his wings curled around his body, speeding the restoration of his body's recovery.

"Heh, rest as long as you want. Pikachu, use Nasty Plot!"

With Roost removing Dragonite's Flying typing, he regained his resistance to Electric-type attacks. Instead of attacking in vain, it's better to further increase his special attack in preparation for when Dragonite was forced to fly again.

Dragonite recovered from his paralysis and recovered all his injuries, even gaining back the Multiscale. At the same time however, Pikachu gained a 20% increase in his Special Attack, reaching a total of 147!

The moment his paralysis disappeared, Neuvillette quickly issued Dragonite to use Safeguard.

Safeguard is a status-type move that prevents the Pokemon and his allies from being affected by status conditions such as paralysis and burn. Neuvillette clearly doesn't want his Pokemon to be constantly paralyzed during the whole match.

"Pikachu, let's finish this! Quick Attack then Draining Kiss!"

Just as a golden aurora enveloped Dragonite, Pikachu's body arrived with a flash of white light, tackling his body and breaking the Multiscale around his body. 

Then, following Dante's command, a lips made from pink fairy energy formed in front of Pikachu's mouth and headed straight towards Dragonite's body. Without the protection of Multiscale, as long as this attack hit, Dragonite definitely wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Just as the energy was about to hit Dragonite, a green barrier suddenly formed around his body. Unknowingly, without Neuvillette's command, Dragonite used Protect on his own.

"I admit, I may have underestimated you and your Pikachu. I don't know how you trained your Pikachu to become so strong at your age, but it doesn't matter. Let me show you the summit of this world. Dragonite, use Dragon Dance!"

Dante, who was beginning to get more and more confident of winning the battle, was confused by Neuvillette's words. However, when he saw Dragonite using Dragon Dance so blatantly, he didn't miss this opportunity.

"Use Draining Kiss again, Pikachu!"

Pink energy gathered in front of Pikachu's mouth and released towards Dragonite. Just as it was about to hit him, Dragonite's body quickly moved to the side and dodged the attack, his speed dramatically faster compared to before. 

"What?!"

Dante's eyes widened in surprise. Even if he was able to successfully use Dragon Dance, a 10% increase in speed wouldn't allow him to move that fast! 

"For Trainers at the top, their Pokemon has already mastered at least one move that can increase their stat."

"Dragonite, Extremespeed."

The next moment, Dante only saw a large orange blur before Pikachu flew across the forest.

A/N: Whew, what a long chapter. To be honest, I had a hard time writing this whole mini-arc in the forest. At first, my plan was for Furina and Dante to suddenly be caught up in a PokePortal where they'll have some development. 

But I scrapped that idea after writing about 200 words due to how forceful the plot is. Then there's Richard and his men attacking their group in the forest. But with how powerful Dante's Pokemon is now, I would have to make them a part of some force to even cause trouble to him.

I brainstormed many more ideas but in the end, I think this ending is the most satisfactory to me. The alternate ending was supposed to be the real ending, since you know, Dante isn't supposed to win against a Champion now. But as I was editing it, I noticed how stupid it was not to attack Dragonite when he was paralyzed and unable to move. Therefore, I had to write another scene where Pikachu instead used Draining Kiss. 

With Dragonite being unable to defend, being directly hit by a super effective move by a Pikachu with 131 Special Attack, I realized he'd have a hard time surviving. Therefore, I rewrote the ending to Dante winning instead. 

I debated on whether or not to even include the alternate ending where Dante lost but decided to finally include it. First, it's because there's some information there about how powerful the Champions really are. And secondly, it's to show everyone how any of them can win the battle as long as their opponent becomes just a little careless. If Neuvillette hadn't underestimated Pikachu in the beginning and avoided the Thunder Wave, he would definitely win this battle. 

Anyway, this should be the last arc of this volume. The next chapter or two will finally tie all the loose ends before Dante's university life begins! My current plan for the next volume will consist of the Gym Battle arc, the University Tournaments, as well as the Guild Expedition, not in any particular order.

Thank you all for reading! May the rest of your day be wonderful!