This chapter takes off from the last chapter and explains what happened to Lawrence. For those who have fears of Snakes, you might want to skim or skip this chapter but those who do like snakes, read on. And you will see another new character ... who might have an effect on Lawrence.
Chapter 8
Snakes Are a Girl's Best Friend
It was two weeks later. I had fun being a pokemon. Sure, I didn't get to pretend to be Faulkner's Pidgeot but it was fun. Being a Pidgeot is so cool. It was fun to fly around without using helicopters. It felt good. The wind blowing past my wings was so awesome. I always knew about pokemon but being a pokemon gave me the insight. You can only study Pokemon as humans so much but being a Pokemon gives you more information than you can know. I was fun making fun with all the bird pokemon. Of course, I had to turn back into my human self. I had a journey to accomplish. Of course during the transformation, there were some parts I wouldn't want to discuss. I was hunting Ekans and Arboks. I didn't want my Snake Pokemon to know I was eating their kind.
"Lawrence, I have your Raticate patties up with Orange Juice." Nurse Joy shouted.
Did I mention that there was a side effect to joyriding adventure? Well, a few of the Pidgeot's traits kind of clung onto me when I turned into a human. I still have the urge to eat Rat Pokemon, Bug Pokemon and Snake Pokemon. It is supposed to wear off two weeks later. Right now, I am only allowing Xatu and Houndour to stay with me. I don't want my Snake Pokemon to see me eating their own kind.
"Here you go, Lawrence. You might want to release Houndour." Nurse Joy said while putting the tray down.
I followed her instruction and released Houndour. Houndour was happy to see me. It jumped on me. I guess it was happy to win that match with Faulkner. Every day my pokemon and I were getting closer and closer. If I had a close relationship with Xatu right now, I would be able to communicate psychically with it. But being a pokemon helped out. Sure, it was not one of my pokemon but I finally learned how a pokemon felt and lived.
"That was a good meal, wasn't it Houndour?" I asked.
That's when Houndour jumped on me and started to lick my face. For something so scary-looking it can be playful. It wasn't that heavy but it apparently didn't want to be moved. I guess the phrase that dogs are man's best friend is true. Of course Dog Pokemon push that phrase over the edge. It got down and looked at me. It gave me that glare. Great, I thought. I bet it wants me to become a Houndour and play around with it as a Houndour. Then my Pokegear rang and I picked up.
"Lawrence Venema speaking!!! May I help you?" I asked.
"Well, if it isn't Lawrence. It is great to hear you!!!"
"Winona, please I don't want people to hear you!!!" I whispered back to her.
"Why can't I talk out loud to my favorite cousin?" Winona asked me back.
I still couldn't believe that our family was related to Winona. Winona was a gym leader in Hoenn. I didn't know how it happened but it wasn't good. If Police found out she was related to us, they would arrest her and replace her. I didn't want that to happen. I mean she has never visited but I didn't want to see her in jail.
"Faulkner told me that you were turned into a Pidgeot. I can't believe it. I want to know all the details. I want to know how it was like being a bird pokemon." Winona asked.
Well I explained the whole thing to her!!! Boy, was she happy? I knew she was a Gym Leader that uses Flying Type Pokemon but I never knew she would get this excited. She wanted me to start writing a book about it. I didn't know about that. I mean it was cool but I didn't want to go public with this. Some things just have to stay out of the spotlight. I told her I would think about it. She said goodbye and I hung up. I was about to put the Pokegear away when it rang again.
"This is Lawrence Venema speaking? Who is this?" I said grumpily.
"Brother, you don't sound happy. What is wrong?"
"Oh, it is you Max. I thought it was her." I said.
"Who is calling you?" Max asked.
"Winona heard about my bird experience and she is bugging me." I whispered.
"Ah, speaking of Pokemon, I wanted to tell you there is a Snake Pokemon festival for Ekans, Arbok and Seviper. You might want to show off Adnocana so it can get accepted. I know the side effects of being a Pidgeot might make you crave Snake Pokemon but I don't want you to miss this." Max said back.
"I know. Well, I hope we see each other. And tell Winona to stop bugging me about my Pidgeot Experience." I said to Max.
"I'll try. I don't think it will help but I will try to get her off your back. Bye Bro!!!" Max said.
"Bye Brother. Just keeping on injecting yourself with poison." I said as I hung up.
So there was a Snake Pokemon Festival. I had to go. Despite the side of effects of being a Pidgeot, I wouldn't let that stop me. I recalled Houndour and went to retrieve my Snake Pokemon. I got back all of my snake pokemon except Seviper. I didn't want to bring that pokemon. Professor Elm forced me to bring Seviper. I didn't know why people liked Seviper. It was ugly. I mean it has a knife for a tail. Why is that so cool? Adnocana is cooler than Seviper.
"Hope you have a great experience at the Snake Pokemon Festival. Oh, I informed the Nurse Joy there of your "you-know-what.' Nurse said.
I waved goodbye and headed towards the Snake Pokemon Festival. It was in a place called Snake Valley. It was between Violet City and Azalea town. Actually it was more close to Violet City but people always assumed it was halfway between Violet City and Azalea Town. It was going to be hard not to trying to attack those Snake Pokemon. I hoped that I could keep my Bird Pokemon Instinct controlled. I kept that thought of my mind.
A couple hours later, I arrived at the festival. There was a statue of Arbok in the center. If I had my way, Adnocana would be the top Snake at this festival. Officer Jenny stopped me. I showed my pokedex to prove that I had Snake Pokemon. She let me through. She didn't even care about Adnocana. I went up to a bulletin board. It listed the events of the following days.
"Hmmmm ... bond with your Snake Pokemon by becoming a Snake Pokemon. That would be nice but I don't want to become more of a freak." I said.
"You think becoming a Snake Pokemon would make you a freak? Now that's a new one."
I turned around and saw her. Her hair was the color of an Arbok's skin. She was almost my height. She had an Arbok necklace and an Arbok Bracelet. She must be a real fan of Arboks. Now I feel foolish for saying that even though it was true. I didn't know what happened if I become an Arbok also. Would the side effects be severe? Would I be so confused that I wouldn't know if I were human or not?
"No, I like Snake Pokemon. It is just ... oh, this is so hard to explain." I said.
"Well, let's forget about it for now. Let's introduce ourselves first. What is your name?" She asked.
"My name is Lawrence Venema and I am not part of Team Rocket. So don't go calling Officer Jenny." I said.
"I heard about you. You are the one who beat Lorelei. Well, my name is Vipera Gadesa. My family runs the famous Arbok Farm in all of Johto." She said.
"I have heard about you more. Trainers come from all around the world to get Gadesa Farm's Arbok. There are the best Arboks. I wonder if my Arbok is a Gadesa Farm Arbok." I asked.
"Let's see. I remember your family visiting our farm to get an Arbok and Ekans. Yes, I think so." Vipera said.
"Wait, you said your family runs an Arbok farm. Why do you have Ekans?" I asked.
"Well, we also raise Ekans. I should have said that first but what I want to know is why would you think of becoming a Arbok would make you a freak." She wondered.
"Well, I already became a Pidgeot and I am still suffering from the side effects. I don't want Arbok's side effects mixed in with Pidgeot's side effects." I explained.
"Oh, that makes more sense. I guess you do have a point but why did you become a Pidgeot in the first place?" She asked me.
"At first, I didn't want to. I knew Faulkner had one of those Pokemon Transformer machines in his gym. But after I beat him and nearly damaged his Pidgeot, I wanted to turn into a Pidgeot to repay the favor." I fully explained to Vipera.
"Ah, that makes sense. You know I like snake pokemon but I love bird pokemon too." She said back.
"Ah, well shouldn't we check out the festival? I have a new Snake Pokemon to show them. My grandpa and Dad discovered just last year." I said.
"Maybe, you know you are cute. Let's go." She said.
I watched her walk in and I blushed. I must have a fever because I was falling in love with her. I shook my head and looked around for Team Rocket. It is kind of funny that they haven't shown up. I keep on expecting them to appear and them to drag me back to Rocket headquarters. Maybe Giovanni has given up trying to capture me. I headed off where Vipera was.
Meanwhile somewhere in the bushes, three Rockets were hiding. They were listening to the conversation between Lawrence and Vipera. These Rockets were no other than the troublesome trio known as Jessie, James and Meowth. They decided to get the first attempt to take down Lawrence. Of course their attention was being diverted. Instead on planning to capture Lawrence, they were going to capture Vipera's pokemon. Of course Meowth was happy about this.
"I thought we were here to get Lawrence." Meowth growled.
"Yes, but Vipera's Pokemon would be a better gift. Those Snake Pokemon are supposed to be excellent." James said.
"Why not both? Vipera and Lawrence would make two good additions to Team Rocket. With the Venema power and her powerful Pokemon, Team Rocket would be unstoppable." Jessie explained.
"Yeah, that's a great idea but we will need some extra help." James said.
"Maybe we can work with Cassidy and Butch just this one time." Jessie said.
"I'll call the boss to tell him of our plans." Meowth replied back.
While Meowth took out the laptop to call the boss, Jessie and James looked at the crowd. There were so many things that would make the boss happy. Not only would they bring back Lawrence, they would give him a whole truckload of Snake Pokemon and a Snake Pokemon specialist. They would probably get a promotion because of this. They smiled and waited for Giovanni's responses. Meanwhile back at the festival, everyone was gathering around to hear who had and trained the best pokemon.
"I know this is what you have been waiting for. I hope someone breaks the mold here because we have given the same trophy year after year after year." The announcer said.
I did know what they meant but I hoped that maybe I would win. Maybe they heard how I trained my snake pokemon. I would have to show off Adnocana. It was the newest and most powerful snake pokemon out there. I could see it now. There would be an Adnocana Statue placed in the middle of festival, instead of that Arbok Statue. The announcer pulled out an envelope.
"The winner of the best Snake Pokemon is ... not again Vipera Gadesa." The announcer sighed.
Vipera ran up to accept her trophy. That made me mad because I had awesome pokemon. I trained with them. I slept with them and I even played with them. I did everything to make sure they were in tiptop shape and she won!! I pushed through the crowd. The only person who should be winning the trophy was I. She was just about to start her speech when I got up there. I grabbed the trophy out of the announcer's hand and grabbed the microphone.
"Lawrence Venema, what are you doing?" Vipera growled.
"You think you are the winner. No, you aren't. I am the winner. My snake pokemon are better than yours." I growled back.
"Might I remind you that your snake pokemon came from my farm?" She grinned.
"Yes, but I did everything to make them happy and healthy. I can offer evidence to prove it." I grinned back.
"You are spewing out nothingness. So give me back that trophy, you second rate trainer!!" She shouted.
"SECOND RATE??? HOW DARE YOU CALL ME SECOND RATE??? I WILL SHOW YOU WHO IS SECOND RATE???" I shouted.
"How are you going to do that?" She chuckled.
"Vipera, I challenge you to a three on three match to see who has the better snake pokemon." I said.
"Well, I wanted to get my snake pokemon some exercise so I will agree to this pathetic match." She smirked.
"The Pokemon battle field is this way you two. Lawrence, can you give me the trophy so I can hold onto it for now?" The announcer said.
I thrust the trophy into the announcer's hands and followed him towards the field. Vipera followed behind. She wasn't even worried. She was going up against a Venema. She was going to wish she had eaten her words. She was going to know what it meant to go up against a Venema. This was going to be a day for her to remember. I quietly chuckled and headed towards the battlefield.