The break time soon ended, and Jomar returned.
"Stand up! Next, we'll start preparations for the upcoming tournament."
He waited for everyone to stash away their phones and stop whatever they were doing before continuing.
"The University Tournament has three formats: The Freshman, the Team, and the Individual Competition. We'll practice the Team format next."
"Eh? Isn't the Team battle a 10 vs 10? Is it gonna be a senior vs. freshman again, coach?"
Mualani tilted her head, a curious expression on her face. She glanced over to Dante, wondering whether the coach will place him with them or with the freshmen.
"No. It will be 1 vs. 9. Dante against everyone on the main team."
"EH!?"
The seniors looked at the coach in disbelief. They turned their gaze to Dante, who also had a raised eyebrow.
"But coach, even if Dante is strong, 1 against 9 seems a bit…much."
Roman spoke up, a frown on his face.
The Team competition is where the university's main lineup faces another university's team in a round robin format. They will send one team member at a time, who will eliminate as many of the opposing team before getting eliminated themselves.
In the end, the team who still had a member left is the winner.
This means that, if Dante alone faced all 9 of the team members who have 2-3 Pokemon each, he would need to take down more than 20 Pokemon to win.
"It seems you are underestimating Dante. With his strength, I won't be surprised if he managed to defeat all of you."
Jomar shook his head, a wry smile on his face. His students still don't understand how impressive Dante's feat of sweeping Norman's team, including Slaking, with just a single Pokemon was.
In the elite Trainer circle, there's a rumor circling around that Norman's Slaking is very close to reaching, or has even reached the Champion-level.
For Ursaring to defeat him, even if only through a desperate counter, signified that his strength is at least also close to the Champion-level. And Pokemon with that strength is on another level compared to ordinary Pokemon.
For the main team to even have a chance of winning, they need to rely on careful strategy and teamwork. If they use head-on tactics, then all their hope of winning is lost.
"Enough. Discuss your order of appearances and send out your first member."
Coach Jomar ended the conversation and proceeded to walk towards the middle of the arena, to once again act as the referee. Dante shrugged and followed after him, standing on one of the Trainer designated spots.
"Oh my god! it's really happening!"
Lena whispered, her body trembling with excitement. The other freshmen looked on in wonder too, curious whether Dante can really pull this off.
"Go, Dante! Take revenge for all of us!"
"Dan! Shinobu told me she is willing to do whatever you want if you win!"
"I did not! Dan! I'll approve of Candice if you win this!"
"Hey, what does that mean?"
Dante watched in amusement as the two roommates began to bicker once more. Staring at the lively black-haired, twin-tailed girl, Dante's mind began to wander.
Meanwhile, at the other side, the seniors had huddled together to discuss the upcoming match.
"I don't know what the coach is thinking. No matter how strong Dante is, his Pokemon aren't Legendaries. Even if it takes two of us to take down one of his Pokemon, we would still have 3 members remaining."
Kala complained. Seriously, with his Gourgeist, he could use Destiny Bond to take down one of Dante's Pokemon. That already left the boy wonder with just 2 Pokemon left.
"Dante's already obtained his fourth Pokemon, Mawile. And based on what I know, he'll most likely send her out first."
Mualani interjected. Dante only got Mawile yesterday, most people in the Pokenet probably haven't learned it yet.
"3 or 4, it doesn't matter! The point is, we have 25 Pokemon combined!"
"Don't forget how he defeated my whole team with only Azumarill. With that strength, I doubt even 30 Pokemon would be able to faze him."
Kala's words got stuck in his throat. That's right. He almost forgot. In the ranking battle against Mualani, Dante's Azumarill only needed to throw a stone to knock down each of her Pokemon. If he was allowed to do that again…
"I have a plan."
At this time, Roman suddenly spoke up. His glasses gleamed as he leaned in and whispered their strategy.
…
"So, they sent you out as the sacrificial lamb."
Dante said with amusement. Opposite him is Talong, the lowest ranking among the main team.
"Heh, I'll show you how this sacrificial lamb will choke you to death."
Talong grinned as he took out one of the Pokeball from his waist. Seeing this, Dante also palmed the Love Ball.
Because he only had Mawile for 2 weeks, her stats are still at a mediocre level. And due to focusing on strengthening Ursaring for the battle against Norman, Mawile's progress had been slower than intended.
Mawile (Female)
Type: Steel/Fairy
Abilities:
Intimidate (Reduces the Physical Attack of opponents)
Sheer Force (increases the power of moves that have beneficial secondary effects by 30%, but removes those additional effects.)
Level: 38
HP: 105/105
Attack: 76 Defense:63
Sp. Atk: 78 Sp. Def.: 67 Speed: 63
Item: Mawilite
However, this is the perfect opportunity to test out something he had been itching to for a while. Dante took out a red-black glove from his pocket. There was a rainbow-like, circular stone embedded on the groove behind its back. A DNA-like pattern can also be seen in the stone's center.
This is a Key Stone; the spoils from his battle with Hunter J. The glove is just something he found lying around in his backpack, an accessory he bought with Shinobu on one of their shopping dates.
As he was on the battlefield, Dante's every action was watched by everyone. Seeing the stone on that glove, the audience was stunned.
"T-that's…"
"It's a Key Stone!"
The students clamored. Even Jomar raised his eyebrows when he saw what Dante took out.
Uncaring about the commotion he caused, Dante strapped the fingerless glove on his right hand. He opened and clenched his palm, nodding in satisfaction when he felt no discomfort.
"Is that a real Key Stone?"
Talong asked, his voice decidedly less confident than before. How could he not? After all, for students like them, Mega Evolution is practically a stuff of legends.
"I dunno. What do you think?"
Talong furrowed his eyebrows. From Dante's current lineup, only Mawile can undergo Mega Evolution. And according to Mualani, Dante is very likely to use that Pokemon first. He took a deep breath, deciding to just stick to the plan.
"Both Trainers, release your Pokemon!"
"I choose you, Mawile!"
"Let's do our best, Bewear!"
As soon as Mawile landed on the field, she gave Dante a cute wave. It was only when Dante helplessly waved back did she nod in satisfaction and looked at her opponent.
Then, her eyes sharpened as she activated her Ability.
Bewear flinched. A formless energy radiated from Mawile and hit the large, pink, bear-like Pokemon, causing his attack to decrease.
"Bewear! Get closer to Mawile with Stomping Tantrum!"
Talong hurriedly commanded. In their plan, he is supposed to take out the physical attacker Mawile using Bewear. He didn't know how he'd fare against a Mega variant, so it would be best if he could knock her out before she could transform.
"Mawile, use Flamethrower!"
Bewear charged towards Mawile, the ground beneath him shaking with each step. Suddenly, a large swathe of flames appeared in his path.
Talong gritted his teeth. Because of Bewear's Fluffy Ability, he only takes half the damage from contact moves. Conversely, however, he has gained a weakness to Fire-type attacks.
"Bewear, Ice Punch and continue charging!"
Bewear's fist became covered in ice. Then, he punched the flames, creating a rather large hole in the middle. Adhering to his Trainer's request, he didn't waste time punching once again. Instead, Bewear endured the pain, passing through the initial gap he made as his fur was licked by the fire.
"Sure enough, Mawile in her base state still can't contend against an opponent of this level."
Dante murmured. He took a deep breath, channeling his energy towards his right hand and onto the stone behind the gloves. Then, he felt a familiar connection.
"Mawile!" (Feel the power of our love!)
On the battlefield, Mawile shouted as she became engulfed in light. Her body started to transform. The jaw atop her head split into two, becoming more elongated and serrated. Her body also grew a little taller, with the initial cream color on her arms and waist becoming magenta.
The light faded, and Mega Mawile showed her form for the first time.
However, it was at this moment when Bewear finally arrived. Without giving Mawile time to adapt, Talong commanded Bewear to use Hammer Arm.
The bear-like Pokemon raised his arms, clenching both hands and bashing towards Mega Mawile's head like a hammer. But before he could hit her, he was forcibly stopped.
His fist was clamped by a gigantic jaw. Bewear tried to take his hands back, but its hold on him was too tight.
"Bewear, Bulldoze!"
"Hold him above ground Mawile and use Power-up Punch!"
Mawile's other jaw clamped onto Bewear's midsection, lifting him into the air before he could stomp on the ground. Then, with his whole body immobilized, he wasn't able to do anything as Mawile used his body like a punching bag.
"Be-bewear…"
"Bewear is unable to battle! Talong, release your next Pokemon."
"Mawile!" (How'd I do, Dan?)
After the battle, Mawile casually dropped Bewear's body like a ragdoll and headed over to Dante's side. Her eyes were upturned, clearly expecting some sort of reward.
"You did a really great job."
Dante fondly smiled and rubbed Mawile's head.
He had tried to Mega Evolve Mawile on a whim. From his perspective, based on the amount of time they spent together, the chances of success weren't all that great. Then they succeeded. In just one try.
They went to the PMD world right after to test Mawile's strength in her Mega form. But he doesn't know why. Whether it's because of a difference in worlds, or due to the distortion in time that had prevented normal evolution, she couldn't Mega Evolve.
Now, they finally had a chance to test how strong her Mega form is. And sure enough, it didn't disappoint.
Mawile (Mega)
Type: Steel/Fairy
Abilities:
Intimidate (Reduces the Physical Attack of opponents)
Huge Power (Doubles the power of Physical Attacks)
Level: 38
HP: 105/105
Attack: 76 (+20) Defense:63 (+40)
Sp. Atk: 78 Sp. Def.: 67 (+40) Speed: 63
Item: Mawilite
A/N: For the boost in the Mega stats, I just subtracted the Mega form's stats to the base stats.
Also, thanks to my patreon Jeferolas for the suggestion! I had been thinking of something like a voluntary match at first, where anyone can challenge Dante until everyone is convinced. But yeah, curb stomping all the older students is much better hehehe.