Poke-Odyssey 2001 chapter 18 One Tough Little Belle Cameron and his friends had just left the frosty Tartar Plains and were now walking in much warmer spring weather. "Where's the next gym located Tracey?" asked Cameron. "It's right on the top of Mt. Mustard", said Tracey as he pointed south to a far away mountain. "It looks so small for mountain", said Misty. "That's because it's just so far away", said Tracey. "Mt. Mustard is the largest mountain in Ryooku. It could definitely take a few days of walking to get there and about a day to reach the top." "Just like the long trip from the Fuchsia Gym to the Cinnabar Gym", said Ash remembering that pretty long trip and the many adventures they had trying to get there. "I guess it looks like we'll need to go to the mall and buy some hiking boots", said Misty. "And I guess it looks like I'll be breaking out my credit card again", sighed Ash checking the credit on his Pokedex which was getting low from all the clothes he bought Misty from the last store. "Hey, what's that over there?" asked Cameron as they saw something like a huge garden on the side of the road. Reiko started sniffing and then smiled. "Why that smells like flowers!" she squealed with delight. "And judging by the smell, every single flower in the world must be in that garden. Like the Hoot-Hoot that loves to eye anything it sees, I must check this place out!" And she sped over to the garden while the others tried to catch up with her, especially the annoyed Growlithe. When they got to the garden's entrance, they found huge wooden closed doors and a sign on top that said, "Welcome to the Bayleef Garden." "Isn't bay leaf supposed to be spelled with EA instead of EE?" asked Cameron. "Who cares about the misspelling of that sign?!" moaned a discouraged Reiko. "This smaller sign on this door has given me great disappointments!" And she pointed to a sign on the door that said, CLOSED. "I guess this means we won't be visiting the Bayleef Garden today", said Ash. "But it's not fair!!" cried Reiko. "I must see all those beautiful flowers! Like the Exeggutors that cry out for endless sunlight. My soul cries out for the sight and smell of flowers!" "Please take it easy Moonray", said Cameron trying to calm down his girlfriend. "I'll buy you a big bouquet of flowers the minute we get to the next town." "Sorry Came-chan", wailed Reiko. "But a mere bouquet is nothing compared to seeing a whole world of flowers. This is a golden opportunity for me and I won't be able to experience it!" "I never knew you liked flowers so much", said Misty. "Besides my Came-chan and ninja training", explained Reiko. "Flowers are the next things I adore. Back in Fuchsia, the neighbors had the most beautiful flowerbeds I've ever seen. Whenever my ninja training was done for the day, I would go out and run through the flowers picking them while sniffing and admiring their glorious colors. Even though the neighbors would get mad at me and end up calling my big brother to have me punished." "No wonder why you like being near VP so much", smiled Cameron thinking about all the times Reiko would get excited whenever he let his Vileplume out of his ball. "Yes", continued Reiko. "I've always dreamed about owning a Pokemon that has pretty flowers all over its body. But that dream sort of died when I got trapped behind that evil electric wall. All of those smog-producing factories my former bosses built killed every flower in Pallet Town so I wasn't able to see any in 5 years. And I definitely wasn't able to experience any flowers during my time in jail. Except for those roses you sent me on my last birthday. Thank you Came-chan." "My pleasure", smiled Cameron as he cupped Reiko's chin. "I'll tell you what my beautiful little blossom. We'll all stay here until the owner of this garden comes and opens it up. That way you'll get a chance to look at all the flowers they got in here." "Geesh! That sounds like something Brock would say!" said Ash remembering all the times Brock would halt Ash's journey just so he could impress some strange girl. "Arigato! Came-chan!" cried Reiko as she was about to hug Cameron. Growlithe tried to get in their way, but Reiko managed to hug Cameron while poor Growlithe got squished between them. "Growl!" it peeped. "Is that how hot dogs are made?" wondered Ash seeing the squished Growlithe stumble around on the ground. "But Cameron", said Misty. "Who knows when the owner will open this place up? It could take days or maybe never." "Or how about right now?" said a beautiful Chinese accented voice. Everyone turned around a saw a beautiful young lady with black hair done in long pigtails and two balls on her head. And she was dressed in Chinese clothing. "How do you do my friends?" said the woman bowing to them. "My name is Mai Goodness, but you can call me Mai. I am the owner of the famous Bayleef Garden." "Are you going to open your garden now?" asked Reiko nervously while slowly reaching for her katana just in case this lady would reply no. "Yes I am", smiled Mai. "Sorry that I wasn't here before. My Bayleef was feeling a little under the weather this morning, so I had to take it to the Pokemon center. But it's doing a lot better now." "You take one leaf that's used for spicing up pasta to a Pokemon center?" asked Ash. "What next? Your tomato paste?" "No, not that kind of bay leaf", laughed Mai as she took out a Pokeball. "This Bayleef", and she released a small green brontosaurus with leaves surrounding its long neck and a huge leaf stuck on its head. "BAYLEEF!" it said while waving its head leaf hi. Cameron aimed his Dex at the Bayleef. "BAYLEEF: the leaf Pokemon", replied Dextra. "A spicy aroma emanates from around Bayleef's neck. This spicy aroma acts as a stimulant to restore health." Cameron noticed that the word Bayleef that appeared on his Dex was spelled with two Es instead of EA. "So that's why that sign was spelled that way", said Cameron. "It wasn't talking about the bay leaf you eat, it was talking about the Pokemon, Bayleef." "What a glorious aroma", sighed Reiko as she took a whiff of the smiling Bayleef while the plant Pokemon rubbed Reiko's hair with its leaf. "I wish I could take home a sprig of something like Bayleef." "Is that okay Mai?" asked Cameron. "Reiko really does love plant life." "But of course", smiled Mai. "But why settle for a mere sprig when you can have a whole grass-type Pokemon?" And she pushed open the doors and invited everyone in. To everyone's amazement, especially Reiko, they were looking at a huge garden filled with flowers, trees, and plants of every kind. There were even lots of grass-type Pokemon roaming around free. They saw Chikoritas playing tag with each other, Bulbasaurs and Ivysaurs playing jump-rope with their vines, and a walking sunflower called a Sunflora flapping its leaves teaching an aerobics class to a bunch of hopping little seeds called Sunkerns. "I've never seen so many kinds of grass-types in one place", said Tracey pulling out his sketchpad. "Like the Pokemon that passes away, but becomes an invincible Gastly", sighed Reiko. "I've died and gone to Heaven." "Thank you, I'm so glad you like my humble garden", said Mai blushing. "And for a fee, you can wander around and each take home one Pokemon." "You mean like in the Safari Zone?" asked Cameron. "Oh, you've been there?" asked Mai. "I remember that fun place when Bayleef and I vacationed in Kanto a few years ago. It was then I wanted to build my own version of a Safari Zone for Ryooku." "But the Safari Zone has a whole variety of Pokemon and you only have grass- types", said Misty. "I know, I just like raising grass-types the best", smiled Mai as she hugged her precious Bayleef. "And since I only offer one Pokemon type, the fee is a lot cheaper than in the Safari Zone. $50 for each of you. Now who wants to pay me so they can catch their very own grass-type?" "No thank you", said Cameron. "I already got my Vileplume as a great grass type. "And I got my Venusaur", said Ash agreeing with Cameron and because Misty kind of maxed out his Pokedex's credit from all that clothes shopping. "I would like to get one", said Tracey. "But unfortunately, I own two bug-types and they like grass-types a little too much. For dinner that is." "And the only types I collect are water-types", said Misty. "And a grass-type might end up absorbing all their moisture." "I want to catch one! I want to catch one!" cried Reiko in an eager hyper voice while jumping up and down like a Kangaskhan. "Well then go ahead my eager little Moonray", smiled Cameron as he handed his Dex to Mai. "It'll be my treat." "Arigato! Came-chan!" cried Reiko as she kissed Cameron and danced around in the garden while Growlithe tried to keep up with her. "But wait", said Ash. "Won't Reiko need to use some special kind of Pokeballs like the Safari Zone uses?" "No, you have to supply your own Pokeballs", said Mai. "That's another reason why it's cheaper to visit here than in the Safari Zone." "Does Reiko have enough Pokeballs with her?" asked Tracey. "I'm not sure", said Cameron. "But I do know she still has that Love Ball she got from the Garlic Acres gym." "That means the Pokemon Reiko needs to catch with that ball must be in love", said Misty with hearts in her eyes. "How romantic!" "Better be careful Mist", winked Ash. "Or else you might get locked in that ball." * * * * * * Reiko was happily skipping around the garden smelling every rare flower she could find while Growlithe tried his best to keep up with her. Suddenly she stopped when she saw a bunch of Pokemon flying right past her. They were little pink seeds with skinny leaves sticking out in the top and they were spinning around like helicopters. "Those are Hoppips", smiled Reiko as she spoke to Growlithe. "Otherwise known as the weeds with wings. My siblings have told me wonderful stories about Hoppips that live in a magical garden in the sky." "Growl?" asked Growlithe wondering what in the world this psycho ninja girl was talking about." Reiko took out her ninja net and threw it over the Hoppips snagging every last one of them. "HOPPIP!" they cried. "Growl!" growled Growlithe wondering what Reiko was up to. "Do not be afraid little ones", smiled Reiko. "I am only going to take one of you back with me. Like the one raffle ticket that can only be the winner, which one of you little darlings will be my newest Pokemon?" "HOPPIP! HIP! HIP!" cried all the Hoppips out loud. Growlithe suddenly eyed something coming. He quickly hid behind a bush while another Pokemon appeared. It was a round green plant with a pretty yellow flower on its head and an angry look on its face. "SKIPLOOM!" shouted the plant while Reiko turned around in shock. "Oh dear", gasped Reiko. "I forgot. In that same story, you should not try to capture a whole flock of Hoppips together. Otherwise you might have to deal with their mother. An overprotective Skiploom!" "LOOM!" shouted Skiploom as it sprayed stun spore all over Reiko paralyzing her. Then Skiploom skipped over to the net, freed her Hoppip babies and scolded them for flying off where she couldn't keep an eye on them. Then Skiploom started twirling its flower like a helicopter and flew off while the sulking Hoppips flew right behind her. Growlithe then jumped out of the bush and approached the stunned Reiko. "Why didn't you warn me that that Skiploom was com...? Wait, don't tell me. You didn't warn me cause you don't like me very much", groaned Reiko. "Growl!" snickered Growlithe. "Can you at least be a good doggie and remove all this stun spore from me?" pleaded Reiko. "Like the Lickitung that uses its precious tongue as an excellent tool. I'm sure you can do the same with yours." "Growl!" scuffed Growlithe for he knew if he licked off that stun spore, he'd become paralyzed too. Instead he just breathed a little fire at Reiko. It certainly burned off the stun spore, but also poor Reiko as well. She quickly used her stop, drop, and roll technique putting out the fire. "Are you sure you're not actually a Houndoom in disguise?" moaned Reiko. Growlithe just silently smiled while a halo sprouted over his head while his tail secretly formed a devil's point. * * * * * * In another part of the garden, Cameron and Sandy were admiring the beautiful flowers this garden had to offer. "I'd bet VP would love to look around this place", smiled Cameron as he released his Vileplume. "VILE!" The flower said happily as he danced around smelling and hugging all the wonderful plant-life like they were kindred spirits. "It's good to make Pokemon happy", sighed Cameron. "Right Sandy? Uh, Sandy? SANDY!!!" Cameron suddenly found poor Sandy being piled under five Oddishes that were absorbing all the minerals from his body. "SHREW!" he cried weakly. "Stay away from him you little vampires!" shouted Cameron as he tried to come to his friend's aid. But then he stopped and started sneezing. Cameron then found himself surrounded by a group of Glooms. They were dancing around him while oozing out their nectar all over the place. Cameron, who was allergic to nectar, started to fall down on the floor sneezing like crazy unable to go and help Sandy. "VP, ACHOOO!" sneezed Cameron. "Please help us! ACHOO!" "VILE!" cried VP for he couldn't help them right now for a huge vine had snared him. VP turned around and found himself getting dragged into the mouth of a huge Victreebel. VP quickly closed his eyes while sadly listening to Cameron's sneezing and Sandy's cries for help while he could feel Victreebel's hungry breath getting closer. Suddenly a loud cute "BELL!" was heard and VP got released. VP opened his eyes and saw a strange, but pretty looking flower- like creature yelling at the Victreebel causing it to crawl away in shame. "VILE!" said VP who took one look at its savior. She looked like a little green girl with a cute green face and handless arms. She was wearing a hula skirt made of leaves and two red flowers were on top of her head. "BELL?" said the girl plant asking if VP was all right. "VILE!" said VP while hearts formed in his eyes. Then the plant girl made a huge leap over him and went to help Cameron and Sandy. VP looked amazed while this plant shouted at all the Oddishes and Glooms telling them to go away and leave his friends alone. Then the plant-girl went behind some bushes and out of sight. "VILE!" said VP as he went over to Cameron and Sandy to see if they were all right. "I think I'll be okay VP", said Cameron as he took out a tissue and blew his nose then gave Sandy some full restore potion restoring his health. "Shrew!" said Sandy thanking Cameron. "Came-chan!" cried Reiko as she ran up to her boyfriend but Growlithe backed her away as usual. "Are you all right?" she cried. "I saw what those merciless plants tried to do to you and your Pokemon." "Well be fine", smiled Cameron. "Thanks to that mysterious plant-girl that saved us." "Plant girl?" said Reiko who remembered seeing that strange Pokemon saving them. They peeked through the bushes and saw the same plant-girl punching a small punching bag with a look of toughness on her face." "A plant that is a warrior like me", sighed Reiko. "That would be a wonderful Pokemon to train with." "She kind of reminds me of that Powerpuff Girl, Buttercup", smiled Cameron as he aimed his Dex at the plant that was busy concentrating on her punches. "BELLOSSOM: the flower Pokemon. An alternate evolution of Gloom", said Dextra. "Bellossom gather at times and appear to dance. They say that the dance is a ritual to summon the sun." "I didn't know Glooms had another evolution", said Cameron. "Gee, VP. If things turned out differently, you might''ve become a Bellossom instead. What do you think VP? Uh, VP?" "VILE!" sighed VP as he stood there while little hearts surrounded him. "It's pretty obvious Came-chan", smiled Reiko. "Like the male Dodrio that gets attracted by a female Dodrio's tail feathers and falls in love with her. VP has fallen in love!" "You're in love VP?" said Cameron smiling. "And I don't blame you too. She is kind of cute for a Pokemon." "Vile!" said VP shyly while twiddling his petals. "Hurry VP", said Reiko. "You must go over there and win her heart like she did yours. Like the early Pidgey that catches the Caterpie. You must seize love when it comes your way." "VILE!" said VP nervously as Reiko pushed him through the bushes. "Bell?" wondered Bellossom as she saw the nervous smiling Vileplume slowly approach her while sweating pollen from his petals. "Vile, Vileplume, Vile", stuttered VP which meant, "Read any good plant food labels lately?" "That's it my little Romeo", whispered Reiko as she took out her Love Ball. "Reiko, what are you gonna do with that?" asked Cameron which was pretty obvious to him. "Once VP wins that Bellossom's affection, I'm gonna catch her! Just think about it my love! We'll really be a destined couple now that we'll each have a grass-type that are in love with each other!" After a few minutes of talking, Bellossom started to find VP quite enjoyable. And she showed it by spraying a sweet smelling scent from the flowers on her head. "VILE!" sighed VP as he took a whiff of the pink pollen. "That there's Bellossom's sweet scent", said Mai who just came up from behind Cameron and Reiko. "That means Bellossom must really like your Vileplume a lot." "He's a really great guy", said Cameron proudly. "Shrew!" said Sandy agreeing with him. "And he's about to get a really great girlfriend once I catch her!" said Reiko as she threw her Love Ball at Bellossom. "BELL!" cried Bellossom as she saw the ball coming her way. She leapt up in the air and whacked the ball back at Reiko hitting her in the face. "Reiko, are you okay?" asked Cameron as he helped her up. "Ooooh, I think I hear church Bellossoms", said Reiko in a dazed voice as she saw imaginary Bellossoms dancing around her head. "BELL, BELL, BELL!" Bellossom shouted angrily at VP, then slapped him on the cheek and then hopped off. "VILE!" cried a heartbroken VP as he rubbed his bruised cheek with one arm and held his broken heart with his other. "Why is Bellossom angry with VP?" wondered Cameron as he went to comfort his Pokemon. "He didn't do anything bad to her." "I know why", said Mai. "Bellossom thought Reiko sent VP over to her just to distract her so she could catch her. I've know that Bellossom for a long time and she does not take kindly to having her heart played with." "VP, I am terribly sorry", said Reiko humbly as she went over and hugged the crying Vileplume. But VP just pushed her away and ran off somewhere in the garden completely heartbroken. "All I wanted was a beautiful flowery Pokemon I could call my own", said Reiko sadly. "But instead, I seemed to have lost the friendship of somebody else's. Oh, Came-chan, why can't I ever do anything moral?!" and she started crying in her arms. Even Growlithe didn't have the heart to back her away. But before Cameron could speak, Tracey ran up to the group. "Come quick guys!" he said nervously. "There's some kind of trouble happening!" Cameron, Sandy, Reiko, Growlithe, and Mai along with her Bayleef followed Tracey to a distressing sight in the center of the garden. Ash and Misty, along with Pikachu and Starmie were trying to battle a swarm of huge ladybugs. They were carrying huge nets and were swooping down scooping up every last Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Hoppip, Exeggcute, and any other grass-type they could find in the garden. "What are those things?!" gasped Cameron as he aimed his Dex at the kidnapping bugs. "LEDYBA: the five star Pokemon", replied Dextra. "Ledyba is very timid. It will be afraid to move if it is alone. However, Ledyba will be much more active if it's in a group." "Pikachu, thunderwave!" commanded Ash. "Starmie, use your confuse ray!" commanded Misty. Both Pikachu and Starmie launched their attacks but the bugs created an invisible safeguard shield protecting them from becoming paralyzed and confused. Then they went back to capturing more grass Pokemon. "I don't understand this", gasped Mai. "I usually let the Ledybas fly in here because they're always friendly to the plants. Why are they all doing this?!" "Maybe they decided to become vegetarians?" wondered Cameron. "Quick Bayleef!" cried Mai. "Stop those bugs with your vine whip!" "BAY!" shouted Bayleef as it shot out a bunch of vines trying to yank the netted Pokemon away from the Ledybas. But the head Ledyba launched a supersonic attack causing poor Bayleef's vines to become confused tying itself up and landing on the ground unconscious. "BAYLEEF!" cried Mai as she went to her Bayleef's aid while all the Ledybas flew off with every last grass Pokemon. "My poor little seedlings!" cried Mai. "How could those Ledybas suddenly turn cruel?!" "I don't think they did it on purpose", said Tracey. "I've noticed that those Ledybas' eyes were under some kind of spell and they also had tiny headphones over their ears. Like someone was ordering them to fly in and steal all the Pokemon." "But who do such a thing?!" cried Mai. "Three guesses", said Cameron who had a pretty good idea. "Sandy, can you track down those bugs with your nose power?" "AAA-SHREW!" sneezed Sandy for his nose was too stuffed up with pollen to smell anything. "Bless you", said Cameron as he handed Sandy a tissue. "How about you Growlithe?" "GROWWLCHOO!" sneezed Growlithe who suddenly developed a bad case of pollen in the nose as well. Reiko just secretly smiled at this big tough Growlithe's predicament. "What we really need to sniff down grass Pokemon is our own grass Pokemon", said Tracey. "VP, are you still out there? VP?!" called out Cameron. But he was nowhere to be seen. "Gee, I hope he didn't get captured as well?" said Cameron nervously. "I don't think I saw VP in one of those nets", said Tracey. "Maybe he's just hiding somewhere in heartbreak", said Reiko. "I do not think we should ask him to help us right now." "You're right", said Cameron feeling sorry for his Vileplume. "I'll use my Venusaur", said Ash as he released the huge plant montser. "My Venonat can help too", said Tracey as he released his purple hairy bug. "SAUR!" said Venusaur as it sniffed around the garden and got the scent. "Venonat!" squeaked the bug as it used its radar eyes to track down the trail of pollen. Then everyone left the Bayleef Garden with Venusaur and Venonat leading the way. Bellossom had stepped through the door with an even angrier look. She wasn't going to root here and let her grassy brothers and sisters get taken away. She started hopping after our heroes while a certain sad Vileplume peeked out from the door watching her. * * * * * * Venusaur and Venonat had stopped right behind a field of bushes. "What did you find guys?" asked Ash. Everyone peeked through the bushes and found all the grass Pokemon locked in a huge tank so they couldn't release any spore attacks. And sure enough, there was Team Rocket with a whole swarm of Ledybas hovering over the tank. "CHIKA, BULBA, IVY, LOOM, HOPPIP!" cried all the frightened plants at once. "Pipe down or I'll make mulch out of all of ya'!" shouted Meowth while extending his claws at the plants. "Isn't this beautiful?" sighed James while holding a rose. "With all these grass Pokemon in our possession, we can start up our own happy little garden where we can run and play and pick daffodils." And he imagined himself with long hair and hippie clothes running through a field of grass Pokemon stepping on most of them. "You're thinking small as usual", grumbled Jessie as she smashed James on the head with a pumpkin. "With all these plants our Ledyba lackies have stolen for us, we can train a whole army of grass Pokemon. They'll stun spore soldiers, poisonpowder Presidents, poison ivy ivy-league schools! Just think boys, we'll have a complete garden of evil that the world won't be able to weedwhack away!" "And those that don't cooperate, I'll toss into the world's biggest salad!" said Meowth in a sinister voice causing the tiny Sunkerns to jump into the loving leaves of their Sunflora mothers. "No one's making a salad out of my little saplings!" shouted Mai as she jumped right in front of the Rockets along with our heroes and their Pokemon. "If you wanted a grass Pokemon so much, I would've let each of you into my garden to take one for a small fee." "Sorry toots", laughed Jessie. "But why take one for a free?" "When you can steal all of them for free", continued James. "And how can all those Ledybas obey your commands?!" demanded Reiko. "You didn't corrupt them like you did me." "Oh no, my dear little traitor", said Jessie. "These bugbrains were more simpler to corrupt than you ever were." "We read in an issue of Pokemon Weekly that Ledybas get hypnotized when they hear soft music", said Meowth as he took out a small boom box that played gentle sounding music. "We just happened to come across this whole swarm of innocent looking Lebybas this morning and we seized the opportunity", laughed James. "And with those headphones over their ears", continued Jessie. "And this mike in my hands, I can get these little ladies to do whatever I want. Observe. Ledybas, do that special trick we taught you!" Jessie spoke into the mike. All the Ledybas gathered together and formed a huge letter R while Team Rocket recited their motto proudly. "Now my lovely Ledybas", said Jessie. "Attack those twerps!" "BAAAAA!" buzzed all the Ledybas as they started to swoop down at our heroes. "Venusaur, use your sleep powder!" shouted Ash. "Venonat, use stun spore!" shouted Tracey. Both Venusaur and Venonat released their pollen attacks, but the Ledybas just took a deep breath and blew the stuff right back at them. Venusaur and Venonat got put to sleep while our heroes got paralyzed from the stun spore. "Nice work bugs", cackled Jessie. "Now it's your turn to play the exterminators!" The Ledybas slowly started to approach the paralyzed people and Pokemon ready to finish them off. "Oh no!" cried Misty as she shut her eyes. "What a way for me to go! Being killed off by a bunch of bugs!" Cameron closed his eyes too. Just then, he heard a loud, "BELL!" Cameron opened them and saw Bellossom doing a petal dance. She was firing really hard petals at the Ledybas knocking most of them out. "That a girl Bellossom", smiled Mai. "BELL! BELL! BELLOSSOM!" shouted Bellossom demanding that Team Rocket let those plants go. "Quick you bugs!" shouted Jessie. "You're not gonna let some dainty little dandelion get the best of you?! Use your swift attack!" "BA!" shouted the Ledybas as they fired their swift stars at the unprotected Bellossom. "BELL!" she cried out as those stars ripped off some of her leafy skirt. "Poor Bellossom!" thought Reiko not wanting to see a fellow warrior get humiliated like this. "VILE!" shouted another voice. "VP?" gasped Cameron. Sure enough, VP had jumped right in front of the weakened Bellossom and spun around real fast using his cut attack to slice up the swift stars. "Bell?" gasped an amazed Bellossom. "Vile!" said a blushing VP. "Isn't that romantic", sighed James. "A boy flower coming to rescue his fair flora!" "Well let's see if this hero can roll with the punches", laughed Jessie. "Ledybas comet punch now!" The Ledybas started launching fists of energy at poor VP, but the determined plant just stood there trying his best to keep those punches from hitting Bellossom. "Quick VP!" cried Cameron. "Try using your solarbeam!" "Cameron, that may not work!" said Tracey. "There are too many clouds in the sky today. It could take a long time for VP to launch a solarbeam!" And sure enough, VP tried his best to absorb as much sunlight as he could, but with no luck. "BELL!" said a determined Bellossom as she got up and watched this valiant Vileplume get comet punched to death. She started glowing as bright as the sun and the clouds suddenly started to disappear and the bright yellow sun came out. "AAAH! Squint attack!" cried Meowth as he put on a sunglass monocle since he only had one eye. "What's Bellossom doing?" gasped Ash. "She's using her sunny day power", said Mai quietly. "Amazing!" was all that an amazed Reiko could say. VP suddenly felt a surge of solar energy enter his petals. He quickly launched a non-stopping solarbeam from his head causing the shocked Ledybas to back away. "Bell", smiled Bellossom who winked at VP and blew him a kiss. "VILE!" said VP in his happiest voice. Then he aimed his solarbeam at the Rockets. "Don't look into the light!" cried Jessie as she covered her eyes. "It looks like that sunny day's gonna sweep us Rockets away!" gasped Meowth. "I knew I should've put on some extra sunscreen today!" cried James as the beam hit all three Rockets causing them and their boom box to blast off once again. "BELL!" cried Bellossom as she went over and cuddled the exhausted VP causing him to smile and pass out at the same time. With no more music playing, the Ledybas woke up from their hypnotism. They removed the headphones and saw our heroes covered with spore. They took a deep breath and blew it all off our heroes allowing them to move again and for Venusar and Venonat to wake up. Then the head Ledyba flew over to Mai and made an apologetic, "Ledyba!" "Don't feel bad my friend", smiled Mai as she patted the Ledyba's spotted back. "It wasn't your faults. Those mean Rockets were the ones that did this to you. Thank you for freeing us from the stun spore." "BA!" smiled the Ledyba as it flew up to its swarm and started speaking to them. All the Ledybas got together and formed the word, THANK YOU. Cameron and the others smiled for it turned out that they were really good-hearted bugs. * * * * * * Everyone had released the imprisoned grass Pokemon and had taken them back to Mai's garden. All of the grass-types were roaming, skipping, and playing around all happy like nothing had ever happened. Cameron and Reiko then looked at VP and Bellossom who had been holding arms all this time looking lovy-eyed at each other. "I'm sure glad VP and Bellossom got to be friends again", smiled Cameron. Reiko then approached the happy plant couple and put on her humble face. "Please forgive me Bellossom-san", said Reiko as she bowed to them. "I admit I tried to use VP to get you to fall in love so you'd be distracted so I could catch you. But I realize that was wrong. VP did like you a lot and me doing what I just did almost ruined it for both of you. I am sorry my friends." "Vile!" "Bell", said both plants accepting Reiko's apology. "But I do admire your fighting spirit Bellossom-san", said Reiko. "I just wanted to own a strong fighter that was also covered with beautiful flowers. But I suppose you wouldn't want me as your trainer now." "Bell, Bell, Bellossom", replied Bellossom with a sinister smile. "What did she just say?" wondered Reiko. "Bellossom wants to know if you're a strong warrior like she is", answered Mai. "She says if you can beat her in a Pokemon match, she'll be your new Pokemon." "Vile!" smiled VP hoping that his belle would lose so Reiko would get to keep her. "Very well then", smiled Reiko. "But be warned Bellossom-san. Like the Snorlax that gets cocky and eats more than 900 pounds of food. You might end up tasting the bitter taste of defeat." "BELL!" said Bellossom still wanting to fight. "All right then", said Reiko with her vicious ninja face. "I choose Hitmontop!" And she released the little fighting Pokemon right in front of Bellossom. "HITMONTOP!" said the Pokemon bowing to his opponent while Bellossom bowed back. "Uh oh!" thought Cameron. "I've seen Reiko train her Hitmontop many times, and believe me, training under Reiko is serious stuff!" "Shrew!" said Sandy agreeing with him. Bellossom started off with her petal dance sending those hard little petals at Hitmontop. "Quick Hitmontop!" commanded Reiko. "Use rapid spin to blow away those petals, then finish her off with a triple kick!" "HITMONTOP!" shouted Hitmontop as he spun around like a tornado blowing away all the petals. Then he spun over to Bellossom and tried to kick her down. "Vile?!" gasped VP as he opened his eyes and found Bellossom still standing perfectly still. Hitmontop was kicking her non-stop, but she wouldn't budge. "It's like she's rooted to the ground!" gasped Cameron. "Well, she is a plant after all", said Tracey. "Keep kicking Hitmontop", commanded Reiko. "Like a house of cards, she will eventually fall!" But then Bellossom's smile turned into an angry frown. All that kicking caused Bellossom to release her frustration power. "BELL!" she shouted as she whacked Hitmontop hard sending him back into Reiko's arms. Reiko and Hitmontop looked at the now even tougher looking Bellossom still rooted, but ready to knock away anyone who approached her. "Vile!" said VP impressed, but wouldn't dare go near her when she becomes this way. Reiko started whispering something to Hitmontop and smiled when he heard her idea. He spun around fast using his dig power to bore himself under ground. "Bell?" wondered Bellossom who was still in her frustrating stage. Just then, the ground around Bellossom exploded causing her to fly into the air. "Good work Hitmontop!" shouted Reiko. "Now finish her off with a quick attack!" "TOP!" shouted Hitmontop as he jumped out of the ground and kicked Bellossom in the face causing her to fall down defeated. "VILE!" cried VP as he tried to come to his love's aid. "Bell!" said Bellossom with a weak smile as she held up her arm telling VP to stay put. Then she turned to Reiko and winked at her giving her the signal to throw the ball. Reiko smiled as she threw her Love Ball at Bellossom sucking her in. "I did it!" shouted Reiko as she leapt up into the air. "I got a Bellossom!" "Vile!" said VP happily as he hugged the Pokeball that now contained his new traveling companion. * * * * * * Our heroes were now leaving the Bayleef Garden with Mai waving goodbye to them while her Bayleef was waving too with its head leaf. VP and Bellossom were walking arm in arm still hopelessly in love with each other. "That is so sweet", sighed Cameron. "It looks like nothing could separate them." "If only I could say the same for another certain couple", sighed Reiko walking a few feet away from Cameron for the always on guard Growlithe was walking between them. "Vile!" "Bell!" sighed the plant couple as they released sweet smelling heart- shaped pollen into the sky. TO BE CONTINUED!