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

After taking all the items in Team Skull's bag, Dante and his team left them at the entrance and headed deeper inside the dungeon.

In Dante's view, this kind of team who doesn't even train and can only rely on using their disgusting smell doesn't pose much of a threat. 

Their team blitzed through the rest of the dungeon, taking down any opponent they encountered with one hit. And if they are in a room surrounded by multiple Pokemon, one Discharge from Pikachu or an Icy Wind from either Dante or Azumarill is enough to take all of them down. 

With their expanded movepool, the number and variety of threats they can respond to have significantly increased.

However, even with the ease they had in taking down the Pokemon in the dungeon, they still had to rest once and eat lunch on the 7th floor before continuing their journey.

"I wonder what the Perfect Apple tastes like? Is it much more delicious than our exclusive food?"

"It should be? After all, it's the food the Guildmaster eats."

"Do you think that's the reason the Guildmaster is so strong? I heard Bidoof and Sunflora said the Guildmaster can take on 5-star mystery dungeons by himself!"

"…maybe? What do you think, Dan?"

Dante had been silently listening to the conversation behind him. Hearing Azumarill's question, he lowered his head in thought before replying.

"I don't think so. Just like the exclusive food only gives more energy than the Apples and Berries here, the Perfect Apple is probably the same. Maybe it's just more delicious."

The three of them continued their exploration white chatting leisurely. Finally, after a few hours, they reached the 13th floor.

"Wow! I-is that the tree where the Perfect Apple grows from? It's huge!"

Pikachu stared in awe as he took his phone out and took pictures of the tree.

At the end of the dungeon, there stood a tree that reached more than 50 meters in height. Its leaves shone with a mysterious luster. The trunk was also very thick, about 5 meters in diameter.

Dante was beginning to doubt his earlier statement. This tree is so much bigger than the surrounding trees around it, maybe the Apple it produces is also special?

He opened his Copycat vision and looked around. However, except for the abundant Grass-type energy on the tree, there were no other abnormalities.

'Maybe it's within the roots?'

He looked at the ground in contemplation. 

"Dan, what's wrong?"

"...I think there's something beneath this tree."

"Is it a treasure!?"

Pikachu's eyes lit up when he heard Dante's words. His head swiveled, checking the part of the ground Dante was pointing at.

"I'm not sure. However, there should be a reason why only this apple tree grew to this size when other apple trees around it have a normal size."

"And you think the reason is because there's a treasure beneath this tree? Then what are we waiting for? Let's check it out!"

Pikachu used Dig to try getting underground. However, he only dug about a foot-deep hole when he suddenly stopped.

"Hnngh! Ouch!"

"What's wrong, Pikachu?"

"The ground is so hard. I can't dig through!"

"Huh?"

Dante's eyebrows raised. With Pikachu's Attack of more than 130, he can even tear through a 1-meter-thick steel plate. How hard was the ground that he couldn't even make a dent? 

Azumarill tried after Pikachu, his arms tightening in focus before punching down. However, he also couldn't break through. Dante even tried using his Ghost form, but an invisible barrier blocked him when he reached that part of the ground.

Finally, Pikachu used Nasty Plot multiple times until his Special Attack doubled. Then, he used Grass Knot, Alluring Voice, and Thunder directly on that part of the ground. However, after the smoke dissipated, it remained as intact as ever.

"Haa, haa, impossible! How come that didn't even leave a mark?!"

"...it looks like with our current strength, we can't access the secret hidden underground for now. Come on, it's already getting late. Let's collect the Perfect Apples and return to the guild. We'll come back again after we're strong enough."

Pikachu reluctantly nodded, his eyes still lingering on the ground. 

Because of all the commotion they did, it caused the tree to shake and some of the Perfect Apples hanging from it to fall. After collecting all of those, they completed the quota Chatot gave them.

Looking up, Dante estimated that hundreds more apples were still hanging from the tree. Chatot only asked them for a dozen, possibly because he didn't know how much space Dante had in his bag.

He didn't waste this opportunity and collected all the ripe apples with Pikachu and Azumarill's help.

"Whew, that should be all of them. Come on Dan, take one out, and let's have a taste!"

"Alright, here." 

Dante distributed an apple to Pikachu and Azumarill. Holding the Perfect Apple in their hands, the three looked at each other before taking a bite.

"Wow!"

"Ish delicoushhh!!"

With his first bite, Dante felt the crunchiness of this apple. And with each chew, juices begin to explode in his mouth, the sweet but slightly acidic flavor contained within complementing each other to a perfect level so as to cause an eruption of flavor.

The three quickly devoured the whole apple before sitting on the grass in satisfaction.

"Burppp, my stomach is so full, I can't move~"

"Now I know why the Guildmaster only needs to eat one apple during dinner."

"Ahh~ let's stay here for a while before heading back."

Dante patted his bulging belly and suggested to the two. He hadn't expected just one Perfect Apple could contain so much energy.

The sun had begun to set when their team got back to the guild. However, after they entered the entrance, they noticed a familiar stench coming from their guild hall.

—

"Sniffle, yeah, we just wanted to lend them a hand after seeing them. Who knew they would knock us out and take all our items."

"Is that true?"

"Hey hey, that's impossible! We've been together with Omnipotent Travelers and even explored other dungeons together! They won't do something like that!"

"Sniffle, but they did it to us. They must have been pretending to be good Pokemon in front of you to deceive other innocent explorer teams like us."

"Now now, we'll wait for their team to get back before making any judgments. But if I found out you are lying and slandering our apprentices, then…"

Chatot's eyes narrowed as he looked at Skuntank and his team. 

"We're back! What were you guys talking about?"

Pikachu loudly announced their arrival while looking 'cluelessly' at everyone.

"It's them! They knocked us out and took our items!"

"Dante, Pikachu, Azumarill, what do you three have to say about that?"

"Huh? Well, we indeed knocked them down and emptied their Treasure Bag."

"See, they didn-what?!"

Chatot was about to back up his guild's apprentices, but after realizing what Dante said, his head whiplashed as he stared dumbfoundedly at the three. All the other apprentices also looked surprised at how casually Dante acknowledged it; even Team Skull was no exception.

"Chaw-haw-haw, see? They even admitted to it themselves! And we've got further proof. As long as you checked their bag, you would definitely find the Dodge Bow that he stole from us!"

Skuntank took this chance to jump up and double down on the accusation. While he was puzzled why Dante confessed so easily, he wasn't someone to back away from such a precious opportunity.

"We're so miserable~ We only offered our help but they repaid us so cruelly. I say we report them to Team Magnezone and strip them of their Exploration Badge!"

"Yeah! And we demand double, no, triple the items they stole from us!"

Zubat and Koffing, seeing their boss speak up, quickly followed suit.

And while they were jumping around, Dante, Pikachu, and Azumarill were calmly watching all that was happening, as if they weren't the ones being accused.

"I see, I see. Stripping the Exploration Badge, tripling the items, and then being reported to Team Magnezone, huh?"

Skuntank felt a cold chill on his back. Looking forward, he saw Dante with a calm smile on his face. Suddenly, a bad premonition enveloped his whole body.

"Hey Chatot, everyone, you know about the phone Pikachu always carries around, right?"

"Hmm? You mean the flat thing with moving images and sounds?"

"Yes, that. It can also record things that happened within a certain time. Let us show everyone how Team Skull 'offered their help' to our team."

Pikachu operated the phone and began playing the video under everyone's curious expression.

Seeing Team Skull admitting that they followed Dante and his team to the guild's exclusive dungeon during his confrontation with Dante, and suddenly launching a sneak attack, everyone gasped in surprise. Finally, it showed how Dante and the others fought back and instantly beat them up before the video ended.

"Uh boss, I think we messed up."

"You think!? Koffing, let's go! Noxi-!"

Dante only saw a blur before Chatot appeared in front of Skuntank, his wings coated in silver slapping him directly on the head and stopping his attack.

Boom!

Skuntank's head hit the ground, and his body followed along, incapacitated by Chatot with just one attack.

""Boss!""

"...owwie."

Koffing and Zubat looked at this unassuming bird with fear and surprise. What was up with this guild!? Dante and Pikachu became so strong just after joining for a while, and even this weak-looking bird can defeat their boss with only one attack?! Is the Wigglytuff guild full of monsters?!

"Attacking our guild apprentices, spreading lies and sabotaging their reputations, and even daring to initiate an attack on our guild headquarters?! How. Dare. You!!"

Everyone slowly backed away from the fuming Chatot. Zubat and Koffing, who were the main focus of his anger, cowered in fear. Skuntank's eyes also showed a trace of terror as he looked at the approaching Chatot.

""We-WE'RE SORRY!!""

That day, Dante and all the guild apprentices saw firsthand what a very angry Chatot looked like.

A/N: Sorry about the late chapter, our grandmother is about to fly back to her country and we spent the rest of today together accompanying her. We returned late at night, and I didn't have many chances to write on our trip. It's already 4 AM here in the Philippines when I finished writing the latest chap lol. Anyway, the rest of the college cast will be introduced in the next couple of chapters before Dante and his team enter their first 2 star dungeon.