In front of him was Kinich, Hine and Roxanne. Kinich already saw him from afar and nodded in greeting. Meanwhile, Hine and Roxanne only noticed him when they heard his voice.
After greeting him back, the four of them chatted casually as they waited for the assembly time.
"By the way, where's Ms. Mavuika? Didn't you two come together?"
"Ah. Sis is with the other members of the vanguard team. The scouts passed on new information and they were called over."
Dante nodded in understanding. Unlike them and the other exploration members who still needed an orientation, the vanguard team is composed of the more experienced Trainers and personnel.
They were the ones primarily responsible for diving into the depths of the ruin. It was only reasonable the initial info was passed on to them first.
"That reminds me, did your sister tell you who were the Champions and Elites who came for this exploration?"
"Ugh, no. She wanted it to be a surprise for me as well."
Hine pouted. She had pestered her sister all night about it yesterday, but all she got in response was a gloating smirk.
"Huh. If she's trying to surprise you, then maybe it's someone you personally admire?"
"Yeah, I've thought about that, too. But there's too many of them! There's Mr. Alder, Mr. Lance, Ms. Cynthia, Mr. Giovanni, Sir Neuvillette..."
As Hine continued to go on and on, the whole group fell silent. She listed almost all the Champions!
"...yeah. That didn't narrow it down. Like, at all."
"Tehehe~ That's because every Trainer who can become a Champion is amazing!"
Hine scratched her hair in embarrassment. At this time, Barry came over with a very energetic expression. He greeted everyone with a smile, and naturally joined in on the discussion.
The other members of their team slowly arrived as well. And when it was almost near the appointment period, they were all complete except for their team leader.
Speaking of...
Dante looked over at the hotel entrance. Walking from over there, was a group who exudes an aura palpably different than everyone present here.
And the ones leading them were even more extraordinary.
"That's-!"
"It's Sir Alder! And Miss Cynthia and Miss Shenhe as well!"
"Ah~ I'm so lucky! I can meet three Champions at the same time!"
The grass field suddenly became rowdy. Right beside him, Dante found Hine and the others also gazing over with shining eyes. But it was no wonder. Even he felt his blood boil in excitement when he saw these three.
With a tall and sturdy figure, long flaming red hair tied back in a spiky ponytail, tan skin, and dark eyes. This was Alder- Philippines' own Champion. He was also the Champion of the Unova Region in Dante's previous world.
Staring at the middle-aged man who was walking over with a calm smile, Dante clenched his fist.
He was the target he needed to replace in order to gain a position in the upcoming World Masters Tournament. Therefore, a fight between the two of them is inevitable.
Then there was Cynthia, another famous character from the Pokemon series.
He gazed at this beautiful lady who he once had a crush on. Still had a crush on. She appeared to be in her mid-to-late 20s, similar to her age in the anime. She was wearing the same black coat and pants, as well as the Garchomp-like ornament on her hair.
Dante was certain. If he didn't already have Shinobu and Focalors, he would have definitely tried his chance to fuck her. Though now that he thought about it…
He took out his phone and opened the group chat between their three lovers.
Dante: @Shinobu, @Focalors, you two done packing up for the trip?
Shinobu: We've just finished.
Shinobu: How about you? Isn't it almost time for your group to depart?
Dante: Yeah. Everyone's already here. I was wondering though…
Dante: If, theoretically, I managed to convince a Champion from another country to join us in a threesome or foursome, what do the two of you think?
Shinobu: …are you getting horny again? I knew blowing you before you left wasn't enough.
Shinobu: if you could convince them to share, then sure. Just don't do something dumb trying to impress them.
Focalors: Indeed. I am of the same mindset as Shinobu. But Dan, which Champion are you talking about?
Dante: Hahaha, I'll just leave it as a surprise when I succeed! Thanks you two! Love you!
Dante: Good luck on your trip later!
Dante grinned. Perfect. He was thankful he had made the make-Shinobu-accept-a-harem plan. Now, he didn't have to live with regret- knowing that he had the chance to sleep with one of the 2d girls he liked in his previous world but had to pass it up.
He pocketed his phone and looked up at the front of the grass field.
While he was talking with Shinobu and Focalors, Alder had been hyping up everyone as they waited for the departure time. Cynthia stood beside him, as well as China's Champion, Shenhe.
After staring at Cynthia for some more, Dante inspected the unfamiliar white-haired Champion who maintained a blank expression during the whole period.
With flawless white skin, opal eyes, and a devilish figure, Dante had to admit, she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Maybe he can try having her join them in bed as well? The thought of this expressionless beauty bouncing on his cock with her tongue out, or her giving him a boobjob had him rock hard.
…Shinobu was right. He was definitely getting horny again.
Dante took a deep breath to calm down. Although Shenhe wasn't a canon character from the Pokemon world, that doesn't mean he should underestimate her. After all, she was one of the confirmed Champions that possessed a superpower.
Getting her to accept a threesome would probably be just as hard, if not more so, than convincing Cynthia. And convincing the two together? Just during this exploration? Impossible.
Even just convincing one was highly unlikely. And if he had to choose who to pour his efforts more on, it would definitely be on Cynthia.
He focused his attention back on the Alder who was still speaking, then at the figures behind them- their country's respective Elite member.
Together with Shenhe is the Ice-type Elite Ganyu, another beauty with a gentle expression. Behind Alder was Mavuika. And following Cynthia, is a tall male with tanned complexion and navy-blue hair with streaks of lighter blue. He is Kaeya, Russia's Ice-type Elite.
"Hahaha! It's finally time. Everyone, let's set off!"
With a hearty laugh, Alder shouted then took out a Braviary and jumped on its back. Cynthia nodded encouragingly to everyone before taking out her Garchomp, and Shenhe followed suit with her Corviknight.
The field suddenly flashed with countless rays of light as everyone released their Pokemon. In addition to flying-types, there were also those who took out a Pokemon who can only travel on foot.
Dante himself took out Ursaring and jumped on his back, and Roxanne beside him rode on her Probopass which was slightly levitating off the ground.
They followed Alder on his Braviary to the nearby Snow Portal. The road forward has already been cleared in advance by the Alliance personnel, coupled with the hotel's distance to the portal, it didn't take much time for everyone to arrive.
Just as before, the portal was still in an enclosed metal room surrounded by a force field. However, because of the ongoing Pokemon riot and the discovery of ruin, entry here was prohibited except for Alliance-approved Trainers.
Everyone took back their Pokemon into the Pokeball as per protocol. And except for Alder and some few other elite Trainers, the rest had to present their IDs to confirm their identity before being allowed in. But compared to when Dante and his class had to undergo a full body search before, this was already a more lenient process.
—
"Ugh, I still can't get used to this."
Hine held her forehead in pain. At this time, she was together with the team in the main Alliance station, having already changed into their Winter Jacket. However, because she wasn't given any time to rest, the sequelae from going through the portal still hadn't subsided.
"Don't force yourself, Hine. Just follow us and don't worry about battling for now."
Mavuika said as she rubbed her sister's back in comfort. She glanced at Luiz who was a first year student like her sister. Although he didn't say anything, his pale face showed everything. She similarly comforted him before turning to the remaining 1st year on her team.
She raised an eyebrow in doubt. Unlike the others, Dante was curiously looking around the now almost empty base, seeming not to be affected by the teleportation. Did he already adapt to it?
Well, however he achieved that, it was good. It means there would be no further need to divide her attention to protect him.
"Come, it's our turn. Make sure you watch each other's backs!"
""Yes!""
She gazed at the serious faces of everyone in her team, before firmly walking past the gate. From here to the ruin, each team will go separately for more maneuverability, as well as to prevent attracting more attention from the rioting Pokemon.
Alder, Cynthia, and the other elites had already escorted the non-combat personnel, so the remaining team only needed to worry about getting there.
Snow pelted their faces as they left the protection of the force field. Without her needing to say anything, the students behind her already took out their Pokemon.
Dante released Ursaring, Pikachu, Eevee, Mawile, and Ninetales.
Kinich released Flapple, Decidueye, and Rillaboom
Varessa released Miltank and Pidgeot
Barry released Empoleon and Staraptor
Roxanne released Probopass and Relicanth
Hine released her Charizard while Luiz took out his Scizor. The other three students also released theirs as well.
Mavuika silently nodded in approval at their choices, for not taking out any Pokemon that would hinder the team's mobility. Then, she released her Blaziken and Koraidon, and smirked as she rode on the back of her dragonic Pokemon- her ace.
"From here to the ruin, it's best to stay close to the ground. The Pokemon riot makes it very risky to fight in the air."
"Huh, speaking of which. Miss Mavuika, what about the Pokemon in this area? Has the Alliance repelled all of them?"
Agustin, a student from the Pasig University, asked. He glanced at the empty tundra with furrowed eyebrows, then at the soldiers that were stationed at various intervals around the base.
When he came here in the past, Pokemon can still be seen visibly grazing right out of the gate. But now? Except for the grass swaying along with the wind, the whole place was lifeless.
"Hmm? Of course they've gathered at the ruin. Didn't I tell you yesterday?"
"....I'm sorry. I must have forgotten."
Agustin's face flushed with embarrassment, as well as a bit of confusion. He made sure to engrave her every word yesterday. Did he miss something?
Fortunately, before he could fall into further self-doubt, the voices of his other teammates cleared it for him.
"Miss Mavuika, I don't remember you saying anything about it."
"Yeah, same."
"Sis, you must have forgotten to tell us."
"Huh? Ahaha, is that so? Sorry, my bad."
Mavuika awkwardly scratched her head. She must have been too focused on describing the dangers they would encounter, that she skipped over this trivial knowledge. So while they headed over to the ruin, she explained.
"As you know, the inside of a Pokeportal is a remnant of the broken world of Pokemon. Because of its incompleteness, the Pokemon born inside have defects such as being overly aggressive."
She looked back at everyone, and after seeing them following her pace without any problems, she continued.
"Now, the ruins are a bit different. Even though they are located inside Pokeportal, they seemed to possess every element of a complete world. The Pokemon inside, while aggressive, can be captured and tamed. That's how I got Koraidon."
"Korai!"
"And possibly because of their defects, the Pokemon in the portal long to destroy this complete world. Even the portal we came through invites the same reaction from them. If it wasn't for the barrier, we probably need to fend off countless waves of Pokemon every day."
After Mavuika's explanation, everyone understood. They also realized the threat at the same time. Since every Pokemon is gathering near that portal, then as they get closer and closer, encounter with them is inevitable.
Sure enough, after traveling for a while, they saw the unconscious body of a Sneasel along the road. This must have been done by the group that went ahead of them.
Soon, the bodies began to become more and more frequent and varied. And finally, inevitably, they encountered their first conscious opponent.
"Mamoswine!"
An angry cry sounded. At the side, a horde of Piloswine and Swinub led by a Mamoswine, noticed their group and rushed over aggressively.
"It seems our team will finally face our first battle. Well then, everyone, show me what you got."
Mavuika said with a smile. This group of Pokemon doesn't pose much of a threat, so she planned to stand aside and watch how the members of her team would perform.
"Heh, I can take care of them all, easy! Empoleon, use Surf."
Barry grinned. Beside him, Empoleon paused, before summoning a large wave of water towards the incoming horde.
The Piloswines and Swinub collectively launched countless Ice Shards at the approaching attack, but except for weakening it a little, they couldn't even create any gaps.
Just as it was about to swallow all of them, the Mamoswine at the front rushed head-on. Its tusk was covered in Ice energy, and it smashed against Empoleon's attack. In the end, it succeeded at dispersing the water wave at the cost of suffering slight injuries.
"Huh? This Mamoswine is much stronger than I thought."
Barry said as he chuckled in embarrassment. Normally, wild Pokemon only achieved about 50% of their racial limit. But for this Mamoswine to do what it just did, it's definitely stronger than that.
Just as he was about to continue to command Empoleon to attack, a "vee~" sounded from behind him. Then, large and innumerable stars flew from above his head and into the Mamoswine and its members.
They launched another barrage of Ice Shards against it, but they broke the moment they made contact. Finally, Mamoswine was once again forced to confront the attack head-on. Only this time…
"Mamo!"
He was only able to briefly stop it, before his body flew backwards. And without him, the star-shaped rays continued to hit all the Piloswine and Swinub.
The snow scattered in the air. When it fell, everyone saw the whole horde which had already fainted.
"Ah, sorry. I forgot to leave some for you guys. I'll ask Eevee to tone it down next time."
"Eevee~"
Everyone turned to the owner of the voice. There, sitting leisurely behind Ursaring, was Dante. He was scratching Eevee's head as he apologized to everyone.
"No, no, it's fin-. Wait. Do you mean Eevee was the one who released that attack?!"
Barry stared wide eyed at the innocent-looking fox that was purring contentedly. And he didn't know whether he was imagining it, but it looked like it frowned in dissatisfaction when it heard what he said.
"Hmm, yeah. Is there a problem?"
"Is there a problem? There's a huge problem, dude! How could an Eevee be so strong?! Wait, did you have it boost its special attack? Yeah, that must be it. Jeez, not cool, man. You almost gave me a heart attack."
"I didn't have her boost her attack, though."
"Hmph, yeah. Just keep on saying that. "
Dante raised an eyebrow, then shook his head with a helpless smile. Mavuika, who was observing everything on the side, finally decided to intervene.
"Alright, alright. There's no need to argue. Whether Eevee had boosted her stat or not, you did a good job taking them all down, Dan. And you don't need to hold back for everyone's sake. There are plenty of opportunities for everyone to show their abilities later."
"...if that's the case, alright then."
Mavuika felt a little uncomfortable as she met Dante's eyes. And the tone of his voice- it was as if he had seen through her believing more in Barry.
Though, in reality, she really did agree with his statement more. After all, Eevee's listed Special Attack limit is only 45. And based on the power of the attack she saw, only a Pokemon with a Special Attack of 140 and above could release that.
To know, 138 is the highest Special Attack racial limit, which is possessed by the Mega Evolved form of Alakazam. Yet Dante was telling them Eevee reached that level of attack in her unevolved form?
Yeah. Even if Dante had some superpowers that could accelerate the growth of his Pokemon, that was very ludicrous.
However, their next few encounters made her begin to doubt her worldview.
As they got closer and closer to the ruin, they encountered more and more Pokemon. At the beginning, when Eevee used Swift again to take care of all of them, Mavuika helplessly shook her head in disappointment.
Eevee boosted her attack to such a high level that the strain she had to endure must be huge. After one or two more attacks of such a level, the brown fox must not be able to hold on.
However, two attacks passed, and Eevee was as energetic as ever in Dante's arms. Mavuika thought she just underestimated Eevee's endurance, however, when she released a similar level of attack for the tenth time, her belief began to waver.
At this point, the whole team had gone silent. Barry, who made the speculation about Eevee in the beginning, now had a dull expression as he stared at the lively, brown Pokemon.
From the beginning until now, except for Barry, no one else had any more chance to make a move. With just one attack, Eevee could clear any group of approaching Pokemon. And she seemed to do it without exerting much effort at all!
15. 20. 30 times.
At some point, the Pokemon were now coming at them from all directions. Eevee had to continuously use Swift to take them down, one batch at a time. Everyone had already tensed up in anticipation, getting ready for the eventuality when Eevee gets tired.
But suddenly, the horde around them began to thin out. Just as they were confused, Mavuika's voice answered their doubts.
"...we've made it to the ruin. Good job, Dan."
The red-haired Elite had a complicated expression as she glanced at the young man who sat relaxedly on top of the Ursaring from beginning to end, as well as the Eevee yawning boredly in his arms.