Authors Note: Sorry for not uploading anything last week but I was doing a lot of travelling over Christmas and the New Year and I wasn't really in the mood for writing. I am not using at an excuse, i was just telling you why there was no chapter last week. I should hopefully be back to my regular schedule from now on.
As Dan raced back through the gate separating Violet City and Route 31, he noticed a familiar face arriving from the other entrance.
"Danny!" She exclaimed. Both Dan and Lyra meet up in the center of the the small of the building.
"I thought I saw you run past. I bet you didn't even notice, did you?" Lyra asked rhetorically, teasing Dan as he blushed. "I wanted to wait for you by the lake. Marill here," she started as she gestured towards the blue aqua mouse, "wanted a swim in the water. You must have whizzed right passed us." Lyra ended with a smile on her face.
"Sorry I missed you," Dan started, "but Venom needed some rest after her training."
"Who's Venom?" Lyra asked, genuinely curious as to who this mystery person was.
"Oh!" Dan gasped, realising his stupidity. "You haven't met her yet, have you? Here," Dan exclaimed as he grabbed a Pokéball from around his belt holder, "I'll show you. Venom, I choose you!" Dan exclaimed, voice raised higher than normal but not quite shouting. As soon as Dan had uttered those three words, the Pokéball popped open, releasing a surge of blue and white energy into the air, before moulding into the shape of a Zubat. Once Zubat had appeared, Dan held out his arm, signalling Zubat to land onto him. "This is Venom." Dan started to explain to Lyra who appeared fixated on the small blue bat. Before Dan could say anything else, Lyra burst with excitement.
"OMG" She nearly shouted, loving almost any blue Pokémon, "She's so cute," Lyra screeched. "Can I pet her?" Lyra asked. Dan was so shocked by his friends reaction, he simply moved his arm forward, trying not to seem a little scared of Lyra. As soon as Dan had given permission, Lyra managed to calm down and began to gently stroke Zubat between the ears, earning a quiet squeak of appreciation from the bat.
"Wow" Lyra quietly muttered to herself, before Marill interrupted with a small bubble beam, slightly jealous of all the affection Lyra was giving to Venom. The Bubble Beam was powerful enough to be noticed, but not powerful enough to be painful to Lyra.
"Stop it Marill," Lyra joked, holding her hand up to her face, "Your still my partner." As Lyra stopped petting Venom, she suddenly remembered something she had picked up while she was in Cherrygrove. As she remembered, her eyes widened and she quickly dove into her bag, rummaging around for at least two minutes while Dan and Marill looked on, before she emerged holding onto a small, rectangular device.
"Here." Lyra gasped, seemingly out of breath, "That took forever to find. It's called a Versus Recorder. It's used to record your Pokémon battles. I have to keep going. Do me a favour, record your Gym battles. Please." Lyra almost begged. Dan happily agreed for two reasons. One, Lyra was his best friend and two, Lyra had put the puppy dog eyes because she knew Dan was a complete sucker for the look.
As soon as Lyra and Marill had left, Dan, Aqua and Venom ran towards Route 31 in search of a Bellsprout. Dan decided to leave Venom outside of her Pokéball to give her some extra training and Dan could use her Flight and Echo Location to his advantage, sending her up to scan for any Bellsprout. Dan and Aqua decided to continue the search on foot. As they all searched, Bellsprout managed to find one. Venom began to circle the area Bellsprout was located while she waited for Dan to notice. After Aqua had just defeated a stubborn Pidgey, Dan looked up at the exact moment Venom started to circle the air.
"Aqua, quick," Dan rushed out, excited to battle a new opponent. As Dan and Aqua rushed towards Venom's position, they saw it. A small, brown almost thorny body with a split at the bottom which seemed to be used for legs accompanied two razor-sharp leaves sitting just under a gigantic, yellow head compared to the rest of the body. The head of the Bellsprout had two black, beady, little eyes and light pink ring around what seemed to be a mouth. It appeared to be enjoying the sunlight by itself.
"So that's Bellsprout." Dan whispered to himself. As soon as Aqua saw the Bellsprout, he snarled, ready to attack. However, before Aqua could do anything, Dan threw his arm out in front of Aqua. Confused, Aqua blinked up at Dan, waiting to see why he had been stopped.
"Let's let Venom do this one." Dan stated, feeling Aqua's gaze on him. Dan carefully beckoned Zubat towards him, trying not to attract the attention of the Bellsprout. "O.K. Venom" Dan whispered, before yelling out "Leech Life!" Dan's sudden appearance combined with the loud noise startled Bellsprout enough that Venom managed to latch on, draining the life force out of Bellsprout's bulbous head. Before Venom managed to drain too much of Bellsprout's life, the Flower Pokémon unleashed two vines from between its body and its leaves, whipping Venom until she let go. Fortunately, Venom's type managed to protect her from most Bellsprout's Vine Whip.
"Venom, keep using Leech Life!" Dan called out to Venom, who was currently hovering in the air, just out of reach. As soon as Venom heard the command, she dived straight towards Bellsprout. However, instead of landing, Bellsprout managed to dodge Venom's attack with ease, showing Bellsprout's natural speed.
"Whoa." Dan commented, "I might get one of these for myself." Dan started to ponder, waiting to see how the battle turned out as he saw Venom's trajectory change at the last second, managing to land on Bellsprout anyway, draining its life force and healing herself simultaneously. This happened over and over until the Bellsprout started to show signs of weakness. Its speed was slower, its attacks were weaker and it was taking larger breaths each time. Venom seemed fine thanks to the healing power of Leech Life. Instead of prolonging the battle any further, Dan decided now was the perfect time to attempt to capture the Bellsprout. As he dug through his bag, his fingers brushed up against a small, metallic object. Grasping the object, he pulled it out, checking it was indeed a Pokéball, before launching it towards the weakened Pokémon. As the Pokéball flew through the air, it smacked the Bellsprout on the face, engulfing the weakened Pokémon with the familiar crimson energy, before sucking all of the energy inside and landing on the ground. As soon as it landed, Dan started to perform a small ritual he had developed. He crossed all his fingers on both hands, took a big breath and started to chant the phrase 'Please work.' over and over, not taking a single breath. As Dan stared at the small red and white ball, he saw it rock once...twice...thrice...*click*. As soon as Dan heard the confirmation, he breathed in before rushing over to the Pokéball.
"Yesss!" He cheered. "I got..."Dan paused as he took out his Pokédex. He had been informed by the Professor that you could scan the Pokéball to determine the occupants gender. "Him!" Dan shouted as the Pokédex completed its scan. As Dan rushed back towards Chris, he was halted by another Bellsprout, blocking the path towards Violet City. Before Dan could come to a stop, the Bellsprout used Vine Whip and aimed straight for Dan's face.
"Argh" Dan grumbled as the attack landed, leaving two straight, red marks, stretching from the top of his forehead, over his eyes and down to his chin. Before Dan could tell either of his partners to attack, the Bellsprout used its speed to race around to the left side and attack again, this time aiming for Aqua. Even though Aqua was strong, the type disadvantage he owned doubled the strength of Vine whip, dealing a lot of damage to the small reptilian. Aqua tried to shoot his Water Gun attack but before it made contact, the Bellsprout had rushed round to the right and attack Venom. This time, Dan was ready for it.
"Venom, Leech Life!" Dan's quick reaction, teamed up with Venom's air superiority managed to save Venom from being attacked as she started to drain the energy from the enemy. As the Bellsprout was distracted trying to shake Venom off, Dan turned to Aqua. As Dan and Aqua locked eyes, Dan simply stated a single word.
"Tackle."
Aqua immediately grinned at Dan, before running straight into Bellsprout. Bellsprout was so distracted by Venom, it didn't notice Aqua charging straight for it. The two combined attacks managed to weaken the Bellsprout so much, Dan decided to capture this one as well. As the Pokéball flew through the air, it smacked the Bellsprout on its left leaf, once again engulfing the Pokémon in crimson energy before pulling it into the small capsule.
As soon as it landed, Dan once again started his ritual, hoping that it would not fail him now, especially against a Pokémon with such a strong will. Dan visibly started to sweat as he looked on. It seemed like an entire minute had passed before a small *click* resonated through the air. Before he even picked up the Pokéball, Dan had grabbed his Pokédex, ready to scan the object before he announced "I got her." Dan released the Pokémon, who seemed to have a much happier demeanour.
"I think I'll keep you." Dan announced, crouching down to the same level as Bellsprout. I think I'll name you..." Dan took a minute to think before exclaiming, "Belle!"
Pleased with her new nickname, Belle bounced up and down with joy, as did Aqua. Venom instead chose to flap excitedly with a smile on her face.
"O.K. guys," Dan firmly stated, "Let's go back to Violet city." Dan decided it would be a good idea to summon everyone back into their Pokéballs, except for Aqua, before heading off the finally, get an Onix.
"I wonder what it's gonna be like" Dan pondered, excited to acquire the gigantic rock snake from Chris, and hopefully battling the very first Gym.