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Disclaimer: -insert standard disclaimer here-
7. Itemizer Orb
Treasure Town and Wigglytuff Guild were generally peaceful places. True, exploration teams constantly left for missions, Officer Magnezone made visits every day to pick up captured outlaws, and Wigglytuff occasionally started crying his eyes out; but nothing else usually happened that could make someone stop and stare. Just outside of the guild, however, there was a loud argument in process that attracted the attention of several eavesdropping apprentices. Team Tenacity, apparently, had a massive disagreement over something.
Kevin shook his head in exasperation. How long was this going to last? "Bolt, for the last time, orbs are not evil sentient beings determined to take over the world. Now quit being a moron and just come on!"
"No way," Bolt growled. He glared at the swirling purple orb. "You don't know what these things are capable of. Seriously."
Kevin grabbed the orb. After placing it in the bag, he stood up and crossed his arms. "We're going to bring some orbs along today. If you're going to be that stubborn, you can just not come today," he challenged.
"Fine with me!" Bolt shot back. "You two can go on ahead. If you use that thing, you'll wish you had listened to me! Oh, yes, you will!" Bolt immediately turned around and stomped back into the guild. Kevin rolled his eyes and headed down to meet Chaos.
"Where's Bolt?" Chaos asked as Kevin approached him.
"Not coming today," Kevin replied. He pulled out the Wonder Map to make sure they started in the right direction. "Okay, let's go."
The Marine Resort wasn't particularly challenging from Kevin's point of view. Chaos, on the other hand, seemed to be having a bit of trouble. Kevin had to force himself to stay patient. Chaos was inexperienced; problems were perfectly normal. He probably was actually having an easier time than he would have had if Bolt had come. Bolt wasn't exactly known for being encouraging. Even so, Kevin couldn't help but miss him. Bolt kept explorations interesting with his sarcastic remarks and cocky attitude.
"Look, Kevin!" Chaos exclaimed excitedly, jolting Kevin out of his thoughts. "I defeated a Persian, all by myself!"
"Good job," Kevin complimented. "Don't stay ahead, though. Let me go first, okay?"
"Okay!"
Kevin stepped ahead of Chaos and carefully scanned the area. Few dungeons posed much of a challenge for him nowadays, but he needed to keep an eye out for anything that could knock out Chaos. No monsters remained in this room except for a sleeping Ambipom, so Kevin turned toward a corridor and led the little exploration party through the dungeon.
"I can't believe all the gummis we've been finding!" Chaos exclaimed as he bit into an Orange Gummi. "I might actually be able to evolve soon! Wouldn't that be great?"
"If you want to evolve, I guess so," Kevin replied as he scouted the room, distracted. He could hardly believe how vulnerable he felt without Bolt standing behind his back. Kevin shook his head and vaguely wondered if he was starting to get paranoid. "As soon as you're done, we gotta keep going. I think we're halfway through, so the next floor should have Seviper. We'll find her and leave."
Chaos stuffed the remaining piece of gummi into his mouth and stood up, grinning. "Yeah! Let's go for it, Kev—WHOA!" Chaos gasped and pointed. "Behind you, Kevin!" Kevin whipped around and immediately saw what Chaos had noticed. Charging right toward them was a Slowbro, a Bellossom, and a Miltank.
Kevin took his battle stance. "Stay back, Chaos," he warned. As the three wild Pokémon reached him, Kevin struck. He started by using Ice Fang on the Bellossom's body, which caused her to instantly faint. He felt a sting on his side as the Slowbro attacked him. Kevin retaliated with a Crunch to the head. The Slowbro screamed in agony as Kevin forced himself to hang on as tightly as he could manage.
At that moment, Kevin made out a scream from Chaos. He forced himself to focus on the battles at hand and put his fears for the recruit's well-being out of mind. Kevin released the Slowbro from his jaws and smacked him on the nose for the final defeating blow. Kevin then rounded on the Miltank and Screeched. The Miltank snarled and aimed a blow at Kevin's neck. Kevin ducked and struck the Miltank in the middle of her belly with a powerful Superpower. The victory was his!
Kevin nervously looked towards Chaos next to him. To his horror, he discovered that two other powerful Pokémon had come from the team's other side while the battles were going on. Chaos had managed to defeat the Lickilicky, but was obviously about to lose to... Kevin's eyes widened in dismay. A Pelipper! If Bolt was here, Kevin thought sadly, he could have easily caused a one-hit knock-out. Kevin doubted he could defeat the Pelipper in one hit after Superpower's attack drop, and Chaos obviously didn't have enough left in the tank to stay conscious while Kevin fought a longer battle. There was only one option Kevin could think of in the little time he had.
"Heads up, Chaos!" Kevin shouted as he lifted the final orb he had packed. There was a dark violet flash, and suddenly the Pelipper was gone. In its place sat a perfectly innocuous Oran Berry.
"What... what just happened?" Chaos asked tiredly.
"I used an Itemizer Orb," Kevin said. "It turned the Pelipper into an item."
"What?" Chaos gazed at the berry with his eyes widened. "You mean... an orb can turn a living, breathing Pokémon into an item?"
"Uh... yeah?" Kevin fidgeted nervously as the implications suddenly hit him. "I mean... I guess the Pokémon dies... but, uh, he was the bastard who attacked us in the first place, right?"
Chaos shuddered. "You know what? I don't want to think about it." He picked up the Oran Berry. "I'll just pretend this is a perfectly ordinary berry, think about how lucky it is that we found it while I was low on health, and eat it so we can go on."
"I wish Bolt were here," Kevin muttered as Chaos ate the berry. "I bet he would have a few things to say about this situation."
"Oh, I really don't want to know what he would say," Chaos groaned. "Seriously, I feel like I just ate a Pokémon. So wrong. On so many levels..." his voice trailed off slowly and he stared ahead blankly.
"Chaos?" Kevin asked. He waved his hand over the Riolu's face. "Hello? You all right?" Chaos didn't react. "C'mon, snap out of it!" Kevin shoved his friend forward.
"SQUAWK!" Chaos screamed. His eyes suddenly changed from their normal red to green. He waved his arms up and down and leaped into the air as he tucked his legs underneath him. Kevin jumped back as Chaos crashed into the ground.
"... Crap," Kevin moaned. "Okay, uh... Pelipper, leave Chaos alone!" Chaos flapped some more and made another attempt at flight. Kevin smacked himself on the forehead. "Something tells me we're gonna need to convince Xatu to do some fancy psychic work."
I don't like this one so much... I've wanted to do this item since the beginning, but I couldn't come up with a story that satisfied me. Once I saw a request for it, though, I figured I should attempt it instead of put it off forever. Hope you guys like it more than I do.
