"Dan's...amazing."
Shinobu whispered, looking at her boyfriend with a mixture of awe, pride, and a hint of lust. Watching him assert his dominance made her a little wet.
The other freshmen also stared at the white-haired teenager who was shaking hands with Mualani, the calm smile not once fading on his face from beginning to end.
"I knew he was strong, but damn! He treated the seniors as if they were newbies!"
One of the freshmen subconsciously blurted out, causing those 'newbies' to look at him with unkind eyes.
Even though the seniors weren't as well known as the previous Gym Leaders, the impact of Dante's victory against them gave the students a greater understanding of just how powerful he really was.
With only two Pokemon, he won in a wheel battle against 25 fully grown Pokemon. And Pikachu didn't even seem winded! If he was sent out from the beginning, some wondered whether he could have taken on the opposing side all by himself.
At this time, Mualani and Dante walked off the stage following Coach Jomar's lead. Looking at the students who were whispering while looking at Dante, the taciturn professor calmly asked.
"Tell me. What did you learn from this match?"
"That our three years of effort is nothing in front of real talent?"
Talong replied, a mix of laughter and self-depreciation in his voice. He expected the stern Coach to give him a reprimand, but was surprised when he just nodded in agreement.
"As I've said, everyone is not born equal, whether in the common world or the Trainer world. The sooner you can understand and accept this, the sooner you can move on to become stronger. What else?"
The students looked at each other. Then, a freshman stepped forward and said:
"Um, that Mega Evolution is really a shortcut to becoming strong? Dante's Mawile was just average in strength, but she crushed everyone after Mega Evolving."
"Good observation. But don't generalize Mega Evolution. Different Pokemon have different strengths after Mega Evolving. Mawile, who obtains the Huge Power Ability, is one of the few who undergoes massive increase in strength after Mega Evolving."
Next, the students began pointing out what they observed; from Dante's use of moves, to the tactics employed by the main team. The coach listened and then supplemented more information.
Soon, the question and answer session ended and another round of sparring session began.
Freshman vs. Freshman, Senior vs. Seniors, Senior vs. Freshman.
Coach Jomar made sure that everyone fought with each other at least once. They had been excused on the first day after the Ranking Battle to bond as early as possible. And what better way is there to know each other than Pokemon battles?
The sparring lasted until the evening. Coach Jomar gave breaks after each round, for the Trainer and Pokemon to rest and absorb what they can from the recent battle. By the end of the day, everyone got a sense of each other's personality and fighting style.
After the training, the Coach led them at the private room in the Gillig's restaurant, where the Trainers and Pokemon ate to their heart's content. (They ate at the restaurant Mualani brought Dante and his friends over. I realized I never bothered naming it.)
—
"How was their first day?"
In the Dean's office, Ronaldo and Jomar sat facing each other. On the table between them were two cups of steaming hot tea.
"About as well as could be expected. The freshmen got their ass kicked, and the main team also got theirs. Your boy wonder also revealed another surprise; a new Pokemon that can Mega Evolve."
Jomar took a sip of tea and frowned. He was never really the tea kind of guy, preferring beer or wine instead.
"Oh? Which Pokemon was it?"
Ronaldo asked, a hint of concern in his tone.
"It's a Mawile. Heh, beat the shit out of four of the main team."
"Mawile…"
Ronaldo rested a hand under his chin, his eyes growing contemplative. Jomar also didn't talk, and the room grew silent, save for the occasional sound of sipping tea.
After a while, Ronaldo finally spoke, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
"How likely do you think…is it for a student to find a Keystone and Mega Stone in the wild?"
"Don't delude yourself, Dean. We both know the answer to that. Unless he is the son of Arceus, then the only way he could obtain those items is through the Elite Families."
Dean Ronaldo sighed. However, this was to be expected. With the talent Dante showed, it's only a matter of time before he was poached. Now the only question was, which family is it?
…
"Excuse me?"
In a secluded field inside the University, Shinobu's doubtful voice rang out.
In front of her was Focalors, who said she had something to discuss after the sparring session.
Shinobu had been curious what Focalors wanted to talk about- that she didn't want the others to listen to. However, she didn't expect to hear something so…incredulous, to come out of the usual stoic girl's mouth.
"I said, I'm willing to serve as Dante's secondary wife."
Focalors stared at Shinobu dead in the eye, her expression conveying no hint of joking.
"I'm confused. Where is this even coming from?"
Shinobu wondered. Did Focalors somehow find out about the agreement between her and Dan? And she wanted to join in?
"I know you're the second daughter of the Kuki clan in Japan. Did Dan agree to marry into your family? Or did they use you to tie him to your clan? The Mega Stone and Key Stone, they should be part of your agreement."
"Huh?"
"Everyone can see how much potential Dante possesses. With just your clan, after he gains further exposure, do you think you can withstand the pressure from those powerful families? They would do anything they can to attract Dante. And they would use the same method you did to pull him in."
Focalors stared at Shinobu. With her intelligence, she should understand, right? By agreeing to her condition, she and the Fontaine family can help stave off the upcoming people who want to take a bite of the pie named Dante.
However, Focalors' eyes drooped in disappointment and mild irritation when she heard Shinobu's response.
"Focalors, you're misunderstanding something. My relationship with Dan isn't that shallow."
"Please. Don't take me for a fool, Shinobu. What other reason would the second lady of such a prestigious family suddenly come to a backwater country and become lovers with a commoner?"
Shinobu furrowed her eyebrows, not knowing whether to laugh or feel offended. From an outside perspective, her relationship with Dan does seem a bit abrupt.
If it were any other person, she would have just told them to mind their own business and leave. However, as her friend, Shinobu wanted to at least clarify her situation.
"As I said, you're misunderstanding something. Dan and I met by pure coincidence. And before I left Japan, I'd already discarded my status in the family. Now, I'm just an ordinary girl."
"Really? Then what about the Mega Stone and Key Stone?"
"That… I don't know. But Dan has always been lucky. I wouldn't be surprised if he found those while out exploring."
"Luck…"
Focalors' eyes slowly widened. She remembered the Diancite 'supposedly' found by Dante. One of the tasks Furina had was to learn where he obtained it. But what if? What if he really found it by luck?
And about Shinobu. At the beginning, Focalors thought she had been assigned the same task as Furina by the Kuki clan. That her relationship with Dante was based on interest. But, had she been wrong all along?
That would mean, oh Arceus, she's a homewrecker!
Focalors face internally mimicked The Scream.
She seduced Dante with peace of mind before, because she thought his and Shinobu's relationship was transactional. In her mind, if she succeeded in getting Dante, she would allow Shinobu to be the 2nd wife, possibly becoming a bridge for the Fontaine family to cooperate with the Kuki clan. But now…
Focalors was awakened from her thoughts when a hand tapped her shoulders.
"You alright? You were spacing out."
"Ah! Yes, my apologies. Please forget everything I said just now. Goodbye."
Not knowing what to do in this situation, Focalors decided a temporary retreat would be the best course of action. But just after taking two steps back, she felt a hand grabbing her wrist.
"...then, how can I make up for it?"
Shinobu beamed, looking at Focalors like a hunter looking at her prey.
"Hehe, said you wanted to be Dan's second wife, right?"
A/N: By the way, I've changed the mechanism of Psychic Terrain. The end result is still the same, just the process of achieving it is different. Thanks to Pkbwgsc for the idea!
(So you don't have to backtrack, here's the description of Psychic Terrain now.)
In the Psychic Terrain, the field is flooded with Psychic energy. This causes Psychic-type moves to be boosted in strength. At the same time, moves that require sophisticated Psychic energy manipulation will be harder to use.
The most prominent example of these are priority moves. Priority moves work by accelerating the user's mental process through Psychic energy, allowing them to move much faster than they normally could.
However, under Psychic Terrain, these moves lose their effectiveness. Only those priority moves that target the user can still work. However, if a Pokemon fully mastered the priority move, they may still use it under the terrain's effect.