NOVEL WEB Chapter 8: Chapter 8 - Novice Protection
"Hey Dante, look what I found!"
Dante saw Pikachu running back while holding something in his hand. Picking it up and taking a look through the menu, Dante was pleasantly surprised. Pikachu brought back a Gold Gummi, a Yellow Gummi, and a Red Gummi.
Gummies are food in the PMD world that can be eaten to increase the IQ.
Different Pokemons are divided into different IQ Groups. After raising the IQ of a Pokemon to a specific level, they can learn IQ Skills according to their IQ Groups. Some IQ Skills are very powerful and can even be classified as another Ability, such as the No-Charger IQ which allows moves such as Solar Beam and Dig to be used instantly at the cost of double the PP.
In addition, eating Gummies can sometimes raise a stat. However, the use of Gummies can only be maximized if used through the Spinda's Cafe.
After giving Gummies to Spinda, he can make a drink that guarantees a stat increase to the one who drinks it. This is the reason why Pokemon base stats aren't very valuable in PMD games, because you can maximize the stats of every Pokemon to the limit.
Therefore, instead of looking at the base stats when forming a team, it's better to look at their Abilities and movepool.
'Wait! The racial limits of Pokemons in the real world are based on the base stats. Then by using the Gummies, can't I make the stat of each of my Pokemon stronger than any Pokemon?!'
To know, Arceus' base stats is 120 across all stats. With enough Gummies, Dante himself can make Pokemons achieve 255 Atk, Def, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, and Speed. The HP can even reach 999 with enough Sitrus Berry and Life Seed.
Of course, with Arceus' long life, he should have already broken through the racial limit. And just like Onix, his base stats are balanced to not be overpowered in the game. Maybe his racial limit in the real world is more than 200 across all stats.
"You can have the Gold and Red to get you to recover sooner."
Pikachu took the Yellow Gummi and began munching at it. Dante thanked Pikachu and also began eating. He was lucky and gained a stat in defense.
After resting for about half an hour, Dante saw that his HP recovered to 20/32. During this period, a Skitty, Geodude, and Chingling wandered into the room one by one and were beaten by the two of them which raised both of their levels to 7, with Dante learning the move Copycat.
Copycat is a Normal type status move which can copy the last move that the target uses.
Dante also learned through various uses of Astonish that the feeling he felt coursing through his body was probably the flow of energy needed in order to use the move. He can now roughly use the move by himself, though it's far from how the energy flowed when he clicked it using the menu.
With their newly gained strength and courage, Dante and Pikachu proceeded to further head into the dungeon. However, Dante was once again forced to realize why this was called the Expert Mode Difficulty.
In the next room, Dante encountered a Tangela. He was constricted and unable to move. Pikachu wasn't able to use Thunder Shock due to affecting Dante, and his Grass Knot can't help Dante out either.
A Makuhita tackled Pikachu from the side, knocking him away from Dante. Meanwhile, Dante was bitten by an Electrike as he was struggling to break free from Tangela's Constriction.
Feeling his body getting weaker and weaker, Dante kept choosing Astonish and Scratch from the menu, but it was no use. He was too tightly bound and the moves were unable to be used. As a last resort, Dante tried to mobilize the energy that he felt from his body.
Closing his eyes and concentrating within himself, Dante felt it. He tried moving the energy to his paws, but he still couldn't break free from the constriction.
Looking at the menu and seeing his HP drop to the single digit, Dante desperately tried to squeeze the energy into every part of his body. Suddenly, Dante felt a freeing sensation.
Opening his eyes, he saw Tangela still in a position of wrapping his body, but he was now halfway out of the Constriction. He also realized that his feet are not touching the ground, but is instead a foot above.
He subconsciously willed his body to move forward, and his body completely passed through Tangela.
Just as Dante was marveling from this wondrous experience, a Wooper from the side used a Water Gun just as Dante broke free. And while Dante tried to dodge aside, his body barely floated half a step before the Water Gun hit him.
The last thing Dante felt was a feeling of concrete smashing onto his face and the shout of Pikachu calling his name.
—
With a gasp, Dante woke up. Looking around, he saw his bedroom and the computer in front of him. The computer screen is all black, with a panel in the middle showing a summary of Dante and Pikachu's journey in the dungeon, same as what is shown after finishing a dungeon run in the PMD games.
The Last Outing
Dungeon: Beach Cave
Dante fainted with his partner Pikachu
Level: 7 Exp: 391
HP: 34
Attack: 21 Defense:19
Sp. Atk: 23 Sp. Def.:19 Speed: 20
Item: None
Dante looked at his hands and made sure that he was human again. He took a deep breath to calm himself from that intense experience.
Looking at the time, it seems like only a minute has passed since he entered the game. Dante clicked the mouse button and the screen changed to a prompt that said: [Exploration Opportunity for the day has been consumed. Please try again tomorrow.]
'Huh, so I can go to that world once per day. I wonder what will happen to me and Pikachu after we both fainted from the dungeon. In the PMD games, you were given a choice to exit the dungeon and risk losing some items, or wait for others to rescue you, heh, not that I ever had the experience of being rescued or rescuing others.'
Dante tried not to think about what could happen to Pikachu and his body over there. Pokemon's aren't usually carnivorous. Even the Pokemon he and Pikachu defeated just fainted and was left to the side.
'Hopefully they'll just throw us outside the dungeon? We weren't too deep inside and were just two rooms in. Wait, maybe I could access the menu and see Pikachu's status?'
Dante tried calling out the menu in his mind and a screen popped up in front of him. The options were the same as in the PMD world. However, the moves were grayed out, and in the team section, only his name was displayed.
This made Dante worried even more. For the rest of the day, Dante couldn't help but have his mind preoccupied about what could have happened to Pikachu.
His parents noticed his absentmindedness during dinner and couldn't help but worry about him. Dante just prevaricated that he was too excited about finally getting his trainer ID.
He waited impatiently in front of his computer, and finally opened the game again exactly at 12:01 AM. This time, there was the continue option instead of start, which Dante clicked. Suddenly, a system prompt appeared in front of his eyes.
[DING! IT IS DETECTED THAT THE HOST AND HIS PARTNER HAS FAINTED IN THE DUNGEON]
[HOST IS CURRENTLY UNDER THE NOVICE PROTECTION PERIOD]
[NO EXPERIENCE OR ITEM LOSS INCURRED]
[TELEPORTING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DUNGEON]
Feeling the familiar dizziness, Dante's head slumped on the computer table and he once again traveled to another world.
Hearing the familiar sound of the waves lapping on the beach, Dante opened his eyes.
Looking around, Dante found himself at the entrance of the Beach Cave. Beside him, Pikachu was moaning in pain. Seeing this, Dante breathed a huge sigh of relief, and his whole body slumped on the beach sand once again.