This chapter follows up to the previous chapter with Team Rocket causing trouble and a battle between the two Snake Pokemon. It even shows a crush between Vipera and Lawrence. Well, sit down and relax to enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 9

Battle of the Snake Trainers and Loads of Trouble

Vipera and I stood at opposite sides of the battlefield. I had Ekans, Arbok and Adnocana's pokeballs in my hand. She probably only had Ekans and Arbok. I had the almighty Adnocana. How was she going to beat something that couldn't be beaten? I snickered. She didn't look even scared. I hate to beat a girl but I wanted to show that we Venemas are powerful trainers.

"This will be a three-on-three match. Each trainer can use three pokemon each. Once a player faints another pokemon or that trainer forfeits, that trainer is the winner." The announcer said.

"So let's see who is the true snake trainer and who is the big mouth." Vipera said.

"I am no big mouth. I will show you that we Venemas speak no lies." I said.

"Yeah, but if I remember correctly, your family is part of Team Rocket." She snickered.

"Oh, you have to bring that up. They might be part of the world's great crime organization but I still love them for who they are no matter what they do." I growled.

"Let's see how long your love lasts once I beat you." Vipera chuckled.

Both trainers were arguing back and forth. The crowd watched the whole thing that they didn't notice five eyes glaring from the bushes. Jessie pulled back and started towards an empty clearing. The rest of the Rockets followed behind her. Two mechanical Pokemon machines stood there. James looked happy to see another one of their inventions. Cassidy and Butch looked kind of worried since they hadn't operated devices like these before. Meowth was rubbing his paws like he had a scheme in his head.

"This will be the greatest scheme ever." James said.

"And not even Lawrence and the others will suspect it." Cassidy said.

The five Rockets including Meowth ran towards the Mechanical Pokemon. They wouldn't fail Giovanni this time. They would be showered with praise. They planned everything out. Even if Lawrence's brothers came, they couldn't stop them. Jessie, James and Meowth got in the new and improved Robo-Rhydon. Cassidy and Butch got in the Zangoose Robot. Each machine had room to hold hundreds and thousands of pokemon plus two trainers.

"Let's do this." Jessie said on an intercom to the Zangoose Robot.

"Let's achieve the greatest Rocket Victory." Cassidy said back.

Both James and Butch started the machines to roll out. Meanwhile back at the battle, I had just thrown Ekans out when two metal Pokemon arrived. I knew they weren't real pokemon. Team Rocket finally had the courage to show up. I didn't matter. I would send them home crying. A cranking noise was heard and five rockets popped out. Hmmm ... not so many, I thought but I still have to be careful anyways.

"Prepare for trouble, we are unstoppable."

"Make that double, so get ready for defeat."

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To infect the world with devastation."

"To unite all people within every nation."

"To blight all people within every nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To show the beauty of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"To extend our wrath to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"Cassidy!"

"James!"

"Butch!"

"Team Rockets blasting off at the speed of light."

"Team Rockets circling Earth all day and night."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Surrender now or you will surely lose the fight."

"Wobbuffet!!"

"Hey, that's my line. Meowth's, that's right!!"

I growled. They were ruining my moment of glory. How dare they show up? Had they not heard that I didn't want to join Team Rocket? I thought they were only after me. Then a suction hose came out of each robot. I recalled Ekans. I grabbed onto a tree. Vipera did the same. The suction hose was turned on full blast. I could see pokeballs flying everywhere. What was I supposed to do? I only had my three snake Pokemon.

"Well, it is the Venema kid and the Snake Girl. You will be perfect presents for the boss." James said.

"Not in your lifetime, blue-haired freak!" I shouted.

"Yeah, I want to going to with you people who steal pokemon and dress poorly." Vipera chuckled.

"Way to go, Vipera. That was probably the worst insult in history." I said.

"Hey!!!" Vipera shouted back.

"He's right! That was the worst insult in history. Fortunately, you two will be tied up for a while." Butch said.

I thought they were bluffing until a set of ropes fired at both Vipera and me. We tried to run but the ropes tied us against a tree. Great, I had to leave my other pokemon at home. Scyther would have helped us. Vipera was struggling and I could understand why. No, she was reaching for something. A pokeball, she was reaching for a pokeball. She pressed a button and a pokemon came out. It was Seviper. I could see its purple and black skin. I could see its sharp tail.

"Seviper, use your tail to cut these ropes."

Seviper sprang up and swiped its tail against the ropes. It struck hard and the ropes fell apart. I didn't realize that Seviper could be useful but it still was ugly. While we were celebrating, our captors noticed our escape. They directed their machines towards us. They were on both sides and weapons were aimed at us.

"You know I never thought it would get this dangerous." I said.

"You know I was a little bit harsh back there." Vipera admitted.

"I have to admit that I was a bit harsh too." I apologized.

"True trainers always admit the fears."

We turned to see where the voice was coming from. Then I looked up. There was Faulkner on a glider with his Pidgeot. Then I saw a second person. It was Winona who was also on a glider. She had either come to save me or bug me. I hoped she came to save me. I didn't know what type of Pokemon Winona had but they probably were useful.

"Hey you Faulkner! Why don't you take a trip and fly off?" Jessie growled at Faulkner.

"I don't know why you are missy, but buzz off!" Cassidy yelled at Winona.

"My name is Winona. I am a Hoenn gym leader who is going to teach you to not mess with relatives." She said.

"Winona, exnay on the elatives ray!" Lawrence said to Winona while not trying not to be embarrassed.

"You are related to the famous Hoenn Bird Pokemon Gym Leader? Why didn't you say something? Winona is my favorite Hoenn gym leader." Vipera said.

"Well, I wanted her to be safe. No one actually knows she is related to us so that will keep her safe. Oh look there is Pidgeot. I think it is coming to down for us to get on him." I said.

"Oh no you don't. Stop that Pidgeot!" Butch shouted.

"I don't think so. Altaria, I choose you!"

Winona threw a pokeball and a dragon pokemon appeared. I have heard of Altaria but never actually seen one. The Zangoose Robot fired some sort of missile at the Pidgeot but Altaria fired an Ice Beam right at the missile. Note to self: get myself the pre-evolution to Altaria. As Vipera and I got on Pidgeot, Team Rocket was mad. I could almost hear Jessie screaming through the Robo Rhydon.

"I will not let some air-headed gym leader mess this up." Jessie screamed.

"Jessie, calm down. You don't want to get your blood pressure up. It is bad for you to get high blood pressure!" James

"WHACK!!"

"Will you stop worrying about me and worry about our escaped prizes?" Jessie shouted as she wielded a frying pan in the air.

I had an idea as we landed. I summoned Faulkner down to the ground. I explained if we could blast Team Rocket easily if we could get the Snake Pokemon out of the machines. Fortunately, I didn't have Xatu on me. Suddenly, pokeballs started to appear out of nowhere. I knew why this was happening but decided to keep it myself.

"The pokeballs just appeared out of nowhere." Vipera said shockingly.

"Forget about that. It is time to take care of Team Rocket." Faulkner said.

"Yes, and this pokemon should do the trick." I said.

When the pokeballs mysteriously appeared, I got Electrike. Electrike was powerful enough to shut down one machine but not two. That's when I saw Winona on a Zapdos. I guess even gym leaders have powerful pokemon. I would have to ask her about it. Electrike and Zapdos teamed up to give both machines a real surge of energy. The machines surges and exploded.

"I guess we blew it." James said.

"I knew nothing would go well if gym leaders showed up." Jessie cried.

"Maybe this was a bad idea." Butch said.

"You are just figuring that out now."

"Should have stuck with the original plan." Meowth said.

"But we're blasting off again anyways!!"

"Wobbuffet!"

I watched the five or six Rockets blast off in the atmosphere. That was one problem down and now I had two to deal with. Vipera walked over and I explained that if people found out that Winona was related to us, she might have her Gym Leader's position taken away from her. Vipera came over and hugged. Vipera said that was thoughtful of me. Then there was the discussion of how Winona got a Zapdos. We got so caught up in the Zapdos story that I didn't see the announcer.

"Are you too going to battle or can we still give the trophy to Vipera?" The announcer said.

"Yes, we can and let's have a one-on-one battle with the most powerful Snake Pokemon at our arsenal." Vipera said.

I said ok. We walked back over to the battlefield. I didn't know what pokemon was her powerful snake pokemon, but I knew I was going to use Adnocana. It was the strongest and most powerful snake pokemon I had. She took out a pokemon and I took out Adnocana's snake pokemon. Winona and Faulkner watched from the crowds. I could almost taste the trophy. Wait a minute, taste the trophy. I think the Pidgeot's side affects are still here and I'd thought they'd be gone by now.

"This will be a one-on-one battle. Each trainer will use one and one snake pokemon only. The trainer that faints another snake's pokemon will win the match and the trophy. There is no time limit so let this battle for the trophy to begin!" The announcer shouted.

"Well, it is time for my pokemon to reveal its glory. Go Seviper!" Vipera said as she threw the pokeball.

"Seviper, huh? Let's see it take on my snake pokemon. Adnocana, I choose you!" I shouted as I threw Adnocana's pokeball.

Both Pokemon appeared on the field. The crowd gasped as they saw the two Snake Pokemon appear on the field. Seviper appeared to be a black snake with some purple skin with a red tipped tail while Adnocana was a giant sized snake with a blending of purple and black. Both pokemon were new to snake trainers. Seviper came all the way from Hoenn and Adnocana was a pokemon that seemed to be new and mysterious to everyone.

"Adnocana, huh? I didn't even know that there was another snake pokemon. It will be fun seeing it in battle." Vipera said.

"If you want to know, it is the friendly evolution of Arbok, which it evolved from one of your family-raised Arboks. Now let's see how this snake can do against a Seviper." I said while I chuckled.

"You are going down, Lawrence. Seviper, use Poison Sting." Vipera shouted.

"Adnocana, spin your tail to block the attack." I shouted back.

I was smart to that. With a big tail like that, the spikes would be reflected. Of course, it would aim in all directions. Fortunately, that was the audience's problem. I had trained Adnocana to the hardest. I have even spent night trying to get Adnocana to learn the best attacks, defense and strategies even if it meant I didn't sleep a wink that night. I am not going to lose to some snake with a knife at the end.

"That was a good strategy, Lawrence but you aren't going to win this round. Seviper, use Poison Tail." Vipera shouted.

"I don't think so. Adnocana, use Dig to escape from Seviper's attack." I shouted.

Adnocana dug into the ground causing the ground to shake. Now it was Vipera's turn to be worried. With a gigantic snake like that, it was hard not to worry. I could hear Adnocana come up to the surface. Vipera was panicking so much that she probably didn't even here the sound of Adnocana rising to the surface. That was a good strategy even if it seemed like I wanted only to win this match with unfair attacks.

"Seviper, get out the way." Vipera shouted.

"Sorry Vipera, Seviper is going nowhere. Adnocana, do it now!!" I shouted.

Adnocana crashed through the surface right where Seviper was. Seviper was thrown in the air. The crowd watched as Adnocana fully surfaced and Seviper was falling to the ground at a tremendous speed. Then I motioned to Adnocana and it caught Seviper. It laid it down gently on the ground. The announcer ran up to see if Seviper was unconscious or not. It was so he went over to raise my hand.

"Seviper is unable to battle. That means the match and the trophy goes to Lawrence." The announcer said.

"That was a good strategy. I mean Adnocana is an excellent pokemon but why did you save Seviper like that?" Vipera asked.

"I might not like Seviper that much but I wouldn't let it fall to its doom like that. But I want you to give you something." I said as I handed her the trophy.

"But you won this fair and square. Even Faulkner can vouch for that." Vipera said.

"Yes, but you are the true winner. Although I am a proud and talented trainer, none of this would have happened if your family didn't raise those precious snake pokemon." I explained.

"Well, you do have a point there. Okay, I will accept the trophy." Vipera said happily.

"Wait a minute, Lawrence needs some sort of recognition. Wait, how about Adnocana poses for a sculpture. I mean it is an excellent pokemon. We were going to replace the Arbok statue with Seviper but Adnocana would make a better representative for snake pokemon ever where." The announcer said.

"How about it, Adnocana? Are you ready to get famous?" I asked my gigantic snake pokemon.

Adnocana nodded his head and we went to a special area. It took a while for the sculptor to get the statue perfect but it was more perfect to see the Adnocana statue unveiled in the middle of the festival. I hugged Adnocana and returned it to its pokeball. I headed towards the Pokemon center to get my full line-up of pokemon. After the exchange ended, I decided to head off towards the next adventure.

"Lawrence, wait." Vipera shouted.

She came out running and looked at me. Then she presented me with a silver box. I didn't know what it was but I opened it. It was a Crystal Figurine that was in the shape of an Arbok. It was so beautiful that I stored it carefully in my backpack. I turned to her and she took my Pokegear. She fiddled with it and returned it back to me.

"Here is my phone number. Call me sometimes if you want to chat. And the next time the crystal sculptor comes by my house, I'll ask him to make a Crystal Figure of Adnocana." She said.

"Take care, Vipera." I said.

"Take care, Lawrence. Hope we meet again someday" She said after she kissed me on the cheek.

I blushed as she ran off. I knew that this was more than a crush. I think I am in love with her. The next town I stop by, I will give her a call. I walked down the path to the next town and the next adventure. Who knows what I will encounter in my journey around Johto? Will Team Rocket show up again? Will I ever get a Zangoose? I could call up Gesper and ask him but that would spoil my surprise. As I thought about all these, I kept on thinking about Vipera. We shall meet again someday Vipera. And I promise that.