I'm trying to force myself to stick to twice-a-week updates. If I don't do that... well, I'll end up eventually not updating at all.

If anyone has ever had a negative experience with this item, I think you'll agree when I say that aforementioned experience makes you want to rip someone's head off.

Disclaimer: -insert standard disclaimer here-


9. Doom Seed

Some days, explorers wanted to go through the really difficult dungeons and strengthen themselves. Some days, the available missions were only for easy dungeons. Some days, it was just impossible to actually take jobs from the bulletin board. Team Tenacity was having one of those days.

"Okay," Kevin said as he and Bolt descended towards the beach. "If we go to the Hidden Land, it just has to be us two. Lapras won't let anyone else go."

"Fine with me." Bolt smirked. "So where's Lapr—oh, I see him."

Lapras was visibly swimming at some distance in the ocean. He quickly swam in towards the beach after Kevin whistled and waved. "Hello, Kevin and Bolt," he greeted. "Is there something you want?"

"Yeah," Kevin replied. "Would you take us to the Hidden Land today?"

"I would be glad to." Lapras chuckled. "That is the main reason I stick around here, after all."

"Thanks!"


Bolt shifted impatiently. The first time he had made this journey, it had been pretty cool. The second time it had started to wane a bit. By now, frankly, it was old. Oh, sure, the whole dimensional sea-of-time part still was a bit breathtaking, but Bolt just wanted to get into the dungeons and fight. He hoped to level up today.

"All right, here we are," Lapras declared as they approached the edge of the Hidden Land. "Just give me a chance to stop and you can go."

"Please remain in your seat until the Pokémon has come to a complete stop," Bolt said in a sing-song voice. "Thank you for riding Lapras Airlines. Come again!"

Kevin held back laughter as Lapras pulled up. "Hee hee... okay, heh, now let's go."

"Oh, yeah!" Bolt cheered as he hopped off. "Let's go kick some ass!"


The Hidden Land was one of Kevin's favorite dungeons. It recalled when he, Bolt, and Grovyle had been trying to stop the planet's paralysis. This, Kevin thought with a pain in his heart, had been the last place they had ever seen Grovyle. Sure, Grovyle apparently hadn't disappeared after all... but Kevin still missed his old friend. Sometimes he wondered what their lives had been like before his memory loss. He knew they were close before, but that knowledge didn't return the lost memories.

"HEE-YA!" Bolt screamed, jolting Kevin out of his thoughts. Bolt smacked a Rampardos across the chest with an Iron Tail, then leaped to his feet and ran down the corridor to a Manectric. "Fall to my might, Lightningrod bastard!" he shouted before knocking her over with a Quick Attack.

"Jeez, think you're attacking enough Pokémon yet?" Kevin asked as he ran to catch up. "Seriously, pace yourself, we're barely in here."

Bolt glanced back with a slightly crazed expression. "I'm going all out. Do me a favor and destroy every Manectric you come across, okay? As long as there are any on our floor, I can't use electric attacks."

"Oh, whatever," Kevin sighed. Arguing with Bolt was useless. Kevin made a mental note to keep an eye out for Apples... they would probably need them.


Fourteen floors. Somehow, Kevin had managed to find enough Apples and Max Elixirs to keep Bolt's rampage going through fourteen floors. Thankfully it would soon pay off; Bolt was nearing his next level. After he reached it, he would calm down and allow the remaining exploration to proceed normally.

"Oh, yes," Bolt whispered excitedly. "Look in there, Kevin!" Kevin peered into the room Bolt was pointing at. It contained a variety of gummis, seeds, and orbs. "I would bet my tail that this is a monster house!"

"Oh, really. A monster house." Kevin wasn't too fond of monster houses. Then again, he didn't have a move that could hit all enemies in a room. Discharge could hit all those Pokémon at once. "Just make sure we knocked out any Manectric before you try that, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Bolt said impatiently. He stepped in, Kevin warily following. As the two predicted, a horde of Pokémon immediately stepped out of the grass and started growling at them. "Now, let's do this! Hah!" Bolt used Agility and zipped over to a Manectric on the other side of the room. Kevin used Aqua Tail on a closer Manectric as Bolt fell into a strong Slam on the one he had targeted.

Kevin took the opportunity to look around as Bolt threw some Iron Thorns at the remaining Manectric. There were two Garchomp they would have to take care of after Bolt had used Discharge. If there happened to be more Manectric elsewhere on the floor, they would also have to defeat a Purugly, two Bastiodon, a Magmortar, a Tropius, and a Dragonite by hand. One of the Bastiodon had picked up a reddish-pink orb, and the Dragonite had picked up a black seed.

"All RIGHT!" Bolt cheered as the Manectric fell. He grinned at all the Pokémon surrounding him. "Time to level!" He stood directly in front of the Magmortar and glared defiantly at him. Kevin watched cautiously. Bolt was usually pretty good at controlling where his Discharge went, but sometimes in a large room like this he couldn't keep his aim away from his water-typed partner.

Just then, the Dragonite flew up into the air and lifted his arm. Kevin's heart sank as he suddenly realized the Dragonite was aiming the seed right at Bolt. "WATCH OUT ABOVE!" Kevin screeched at the top of his lungs. Bolt jumped and looked up just in time to watch the seed fly like a bullet right between his ears. Bolt stiffened as the used seed disintegrated into nothing.

"Bolt?" Kevin asked nervously. "Bolt... what kind of seed was that?"

"I... I think..." Bolt's expression suddenly contorted with rage. "I'm a level lower, I feel it! That son of a bitch, he hit me with a Doom Seed! ARRRRRGH!" Bolt's fur and ears stood straight up. His front paws tightened into fists; he clenched his teeth. "I was just about to level up, too!" His tail suddenly straightened into a non-zigzag line.

"Oh, crap," Kevin whispered. "Please, no..." He knew what was coming next.

Bolt suddenly erupted with a massive anger-driven, unaimed Discharge. Every enemy Pokémon in the room, even the Garchomp, instantly fainted. Several Pokémon who were far down in connecting corridors were paralyzed. The only situation which could possibly compare to the power of this Discharge was a shouting Wigglytuff.

Thank Mew that Chatot gave us the Protect TM! Kevin thought grimly as he struggled to keep the green bubble around him from shattering.


I'll try to see if I can get the next one done a little earlier, but I won't make any promises. I do, however, know exactly what I want to do with it. My only fear is that since I've had this idea for weeks, I'll end up reworking it to death... ugh.