"Hey, is that…?"
"It is! It's the Omnipotent Travelers!"
"Hey, hey! The rumors were true. They really returned in just one day!"
As they neared the Wigglytuff Guild, Pikachu puffed his chest in pride and flicked the sunglasses at the tip of his nose. Beside him, Eevee, Riolu, and Ursaring did the same with theirs.
The four strutted inside the Guild like they owned the place, looking like the mafia from those gangster movies. After having their identities verified, they climbed down to the 2nd floor.
"What are you four even doing?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. My boy, Azumarill, your lack of culture is showing. This…is avant-garde fashion! It's required for every famous celebrity!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Eevee echoed from the side. She shook her head as she stared condescendingly at her sister, who refused to wear the same accessory. In response, Ninetales threw a disgusted look.
"That's not fashion. That's just posturing."
"Heh, whatever. Catch you normies later~"
""See ya, normies!""
Pikachu, Riolu, and Eevee, swaggered towards the mission board, leaving Azumarill, Ninetales, and Ursaring at the stairs.
"Pikachu's gone. He wouldn't know if you took off the sunglasses now."
Azumarill said as he glanced at Ursaring.
"Err, don't I look cool in this, Brother Azumarill?"
"...it does suit you more than the three of them."
Azumarill sighed. Whatever. Dante gave them the sunglasses. So he must have approved what they were doing.
"Let's just go."
He went to the third floor with the other two. And right at the entrance, they found Chatot staring intensely at a piece of parchment.
"Chatot."
"Hmm? Ah, Azumarill! I've heard the news. You've really finished exploring the dungeon already?"
"Yes."
"Hahaha, that's good! That's good! As expected of your Team!"
Chatot laughed in delight. Being able to conquer a 5-star dungeon is the benchmark of a Master-Rank Explorer.
After their team submits the dungeon's information to the Federation and its veracity is confirmed, their Rank would definitely jump from the current Super Rank to Ultra, or maybe even Hyper Rank!
Of course, such information must include the number of floors and the Pokemon found in each of them. Just reporting the location, while giving them merit, wouldn't reward as much as the former.
"You came to contact the Federation, right? Follow me. Guildmaster Wigglytuff would be surely delighted to learn the news!"
"No. We'll submit the info tomorrow. We came to do the usual today."
"Huh? Why tomorrow?"
"...Dante said he needs to make some preparations."
Chatot tilted his head before shrugging. Well, if that's what they decided. It's only one day, anyway. Since their team is not in a rush, who was he to force them?
Azumarill nodded in thanks for his understanding. In fact, the reason for the delay was because of Cofagrigus.
According to Dante, Cofagrigus has a boss who gave him the Regis. And that boss has many more subordinates as well. With how long their organization has been established, most probably, one of them holds a position in the Exploration Federation.
Pikachu agreed with this hypothesis. If someone pulled the strings, Cofagrigus may be acquitted. So, Dante would first make sure Cofagrigus was interrogated. And depending on what he divulges, they'll base their action from there.
After making some more small talk, Chatot hurriedly left. As the Vice Leader of the Guild, he needs to take care of many things. This was especially true in the recent period where the Guild is trying to find Grovyle.
"Ursaring, Ninetales, wait for me at Croagunk's. I'll go ask around for information."
"Hehe, sure Brother Azumarill. Take your time with Sister Sunflora."
Azumarill's face turned slightly red as he glanced at the grinning Ursaring and Ninetales. With a shake of his head, he left and headed towards said Pokemon, who was fidgeting nearby and waiting for his talk with Chatot to end.
"Azumarill!"
"Sunfl-"
Azumarill stiffened as the Sunflower Pokemon crashed into his chest. Her grassy scent seeped into his nose, making his heart beat violently.
"Sniffle. I'm so glad you're back. I was so worried I couldn't sleep last night."
"...It's fine now. I told you, you don't have to worry about me."
Azumarill smiled and held Sunflora in his arms. He ignored the surrounding gazes and led her towards a more private location of the Guild.
"I wonder what it's like? To fall in love?"
Ninetales whispered. Her eyes followed the retreating figure of her Big Brother Azumarill and Sunflora.
"Err, I wouldn't know. And I think we're still too young to think about this topic."
"I didn't say I wanted to fall in love. I was just wondering how it could change someone so much. Brother Azumarill is always easily flustered when it comes to Sister Sunflora. And Sister Mawile is always so flattering to Dad."
Ursaring awkwardly played with his sunglasses. How should he respond to that? Something like love or crush hadn't even crossed his mind yet.
Instead of that, isn't it more fun to think about how to get even stronger? or how to beat Riolu and Brother Azumarill in Pokken 8?
The two made their way to Croagunk's Shop under this atmosphere. Here, they finally found a common topic as they scanned list of Exclusive Items. Unfortunately, Croagunk didn't have anything useful for their team.
"That's such a pity. It would be great if I can also find something for Ursaluna."
Ursaring shook his head with regret.
"You're too greedy, Brother Ursaring. You already got another set from the latest exploration."
"Ehehe, isn't it better if we find all our Exclusive items earlier?"
Ursaring said with a wry smile. The two chatted idly while waiting for Azumarill to return. However, this wait took longer than expected. It reached the point where Pikachu, Riolu, and Eevee came down to check what was going on.
"Ehh? He and Sunflora disappeared together and still haven't returned until now?"
"Yes, Brother Pikachu. Should we check up on them?"
"Nonononono. Let's just leave. Croagunk, when Azumarill returns, please tell him we've gone ahead."
"Sure~ Hehehe, leave it to me."
Pikachu and Croagunk smiled and winked at each other, the meaning of their action lost to Ursaring and the rest of the Omnipotent Travelers.
…
"So…you left Azumarill there?"
"Yup."
"Nice!"
Dante nodded in approval to Pikachu while conjuring a mini thumbs-up. It seems he trained his Pokemon well.
"How about you? How did the interrogation go?"
"About that…Cofagrigus is dead."
"What!?"
Except for Mawile and Victini who came with him, everyone's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Yeah. He's more resolute than I expected. When it came to the mind-reading session, he suddenly used Curse to drain all his life force."
"Ehh?"
"And he even had the gall to target Dan! Hrrghh! He's lucky he died. If he didn't, I'd have clobbered him to death myself!"
"Ehhh!? Are you alright?"
"As you can see, I'm perfectly healthy."
Dante said while shrugging.
Curse is a Ghost-type move that works differently when used by a Ghost-type. For said Pokemon, after using Curse, half their energy would be used up to constantly drain the target's energy.
But in critical situations, a Ghost-type can use up their life force to empower the Curse. This was what Cofagrigus did just much more extremely. And as a Pokemon that had lived for more than three thousand years, the power of the Curse he casted can be imagined.
Fortunately, Dante had the system. With one Heal Seed, no matter how dire the status condition he was in, he can instantly return to normal.
This led to how, in the final moment of Cofagrigus' life, he saw his most hated enemy casually shrug off his all-out, suicide attack.
"Anyways, for the time being, everything is over. Although it's unfortunate we couldn't gain further intel, what we have for now is sufficient. Besides, there's a more pressing concern we have to deal with."
Which was, of course, Dialga's rampage. Darkrai is just a 2nd-level Legendary. Even with Cofagrigus' statement about him matching Eternatus (which is very questionable) and him being the final boss in the game, he wouldn't prioritize him over the literal God of Time.
After sorting it out, Dante led everyone inside Xatu's hut. He greeted the bird-head Pokemon then took out the treasure boxes and laid them on the table. However, everything couldn't fit due to how many they got.
"Hehe, Xatu, we'll trouble you again. It'll likely take three batches this time."
"That's no problem. Hmm. Such high-quality boxes. And so many, too. As expected of a 5-star dungeon."
Xatu held a treasure box in appreciation. After staring for a moment, he returned it to the table.
"Well then. Let the appraisal begin! Kwee…Kwee…KWAH!"
With a flash of white light, the treasure boxes transformed into various items. Dante expertly collected them into the bag, before once again placing the second batch on the table.
The same process repeated. However, just as Dante placed the third batch on the table, he felt a tug on his fur.
"Dan, I-…I think I can do something similar."
"Hmm? Similar to what?"
"Similar to what Xatu is doing."
Dante turned to the fidgeting Victini. After processing his words, his eyes grew wide. He swiped one of the unopened treasure boxes on the table and quickly brought it in front of Victini.
"Are you sure? Can you try it with this one?"
"Hmm!"
Victini nodded then closed his eyes. From within, a small trickle of Psychic energy poured out of his body, seeping into the treasure box. Suddenly, the box started to glow. It melted into a liquid-like substance, shifting into different shapes, before solidifying into a Violent Seed.
"Woah!!"
The team gathered around Victini. Even though they saw this process many times before, this was different. It was done by their (tentative) team member!
"Hehe, Xatu. It looks like this might be the last time we would avail of your service."
"Kwee…KWAHH! That's a pity. You have been one of my most frequent customers thus far. Nonetheless, I suppose congratulations are in order for obtaining an appraiser in your team."
Xatu said as he glanced at this unfamiliar Pokemon Dante called Victini. From when he first laid his eyes on him, he had felt something special about him. It seems, once again, his intuition was correct.
"Hehe, thank you. We'll trouble you to appraise the last batch of boxes then."
"Hmm. Kwee…Kwee…KWAH!"