Hey readers - we're back with another chapter : ) Sorry about the delay, but for once I can honestly say that I really have been working on this story. The problem was that my motivation was demanding that I write scenes and chapters for future episodes and point-blank refused to let me write anything that would finish off this one : D But I pushed past it and here we are ; )

Anyway, for those of you who can remember, last time I asked you guys to vote on which of Nolan's Pokemon got to evolve since I defeated Brock. The options were Pidgey, Geodude and Magikarp, and the winner was... Magikarp!

Yeah, I can't really say I'm too surprised about how that one went ; ) Now fair warning, it is going to be quite some time before this evolution happens in the story. As far as pacing goes, it seems a little ridiculous to give Nolan such a powerhouse after earning only a single gym badge. But rest assured, he will be getting that Gyarados eventually : )

Finally, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone that has supported this story by reviewing, favouriting and following. It means a lot so thank you : ) Also, please remember that Pokemon is not mine, but my OC is.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter : )

Pokemon! I Choose You! - Part 6

Nolan narrowed his eyes in concentration, a deeply thoughtful frown tugging at his lips, as he considered the best course of action he could take at the situation that had been presented to him. After all, the blonde boy was determined to pull this off and successfully capture his first Pokemon. Not only would it be another major step in his undertaking to become a fantastic Pokemon trainer, but it would also wipe the smug smirk off Ash's face. And to Nolan, both notions were extremely appealing.

Across the clearing from him, the wild Pidgey was eying Nolan and Meadow with dark suspicion. It was more than a little obvious that the flying type Pokemon was expecting some form of attack from them. Ash's methods had hardly been subtle after all.

Still, the little brown creature made no move to attack first. It was just watching them with an air of caution. Just like Nolan, it seemed like the Pidgey also didn't want to be the first one to break the tense silence that had fallen over them all.

But alas, it couldn't go on forever.

The blonde boy knew that his opponent had the advantage in this fight. Meadow, being a grass type Pokemon, was weak to attacks from a flying type like Pidgey. That was why Nolan was thinking this through so carefully rather than just seizing the moment. He knew that it would be down to him to come up with a strong enough strategy to help his partner overcome her disadvantage and claim victory for them. Nolan was confident that between their efforts, he and Meadow would get the job done.

Despite only having just met her, his faith in Meadow was already absolute.

With an idea forming in his mind, Nolan allowed a small smirk to etch itself into his face, before the blonde boy leapt into action. At his side, Meadow braced herself for what promised to be a challenging battle. Her very first battle in fact, not only with Nolan as her partner but also in her entire life. And Meadow was determined to win. She was going to prove to anyone in doubt that Nolan's faith in her wasn't naïve or misplaced.

They had to win this. They just had to.

"Go Meadow!" Nolan ended the silent stalemate, determination dripping from his stance and expression, "Get in close and use your Tackle attack!"

"Saur!" she nodded eagerly.

Meadow shot towards the glowering Pidgey with surprising speed given her rather short legs. The little green Pokemon knew that this was a somewhat risky move - getting in close like this. Still, she trusted that Nolan had a plan in mind. She might not know the boy very well just yet, but she knew that he would never deliberately see any harm come to her. She could be certain of that if nothing else.

"Pidgey! Pid! Pid! Gey!" the wild Pidgey cawed aggressively, a dire warning clear in its tone. When Meadow refused to heed it, the little flying type sprung into action as well.

Swirling its wings along the ground in a motion so fluid it almost looked like it was dancing, the Pidgey kicked up a lot of dirt and sand. Beating its wings as hard as it could, the Pidgey launched the pile of dirt it had gathered up in the direction of its attacker. Almost immediately, Meadow was completely blinded and whimpered in pain as the grit and dirt stung at her sensitive eyes.

"Bulba!" she whined in obvious pain.

Unwilling to stop charging however, Meadow kept on going with the intended Tackle attack. Unfortunately for the small green Pokemon, due to her compromised vision, Meadow veered off course and missed her target. The wild Pidgey looked rather smug about that.

It wasn't the only one.

From his position slightly behind Nolan, Ash couldn't help but have a large smile on his face that was practically dripping with smugness. Being so vindictive wasn't usually in the boy's nature, but Nolan had really got on his nerves before, so he couldn't help but by a little glad that things weren't going to blonde boy's way. He saddled up to Nolan and nudged his arm in a mockingly playful manner.

"Huh... looks like your partner isn't doing so well Nolan" the raven haired boy remarked, his tone rather heavy with sarcasm, "I thought such an expert trainer like you would have caught a little Pidgey like that one by now... guess I was mistaken".

Nolan's eye twitched as he worked furiously hard to resist the urge to deck the other boy.

"I never claimed to be any kind of expert" he eventually ground out through clenched teeth in a manner of forced calmness, "I just said that you were a disaster today, which is perfectly true! Besides, me and Meadow aren't done yet. That Pidgey is as good as mine!"

Ash scoffed in thinly veiled disbelief.

"I'll believe that when I see it" he sneered at the blonde boy in a rather condescending tone.

"You're about to!" Nolan snapped back in frustration.

Meanwhile in front of the bickering friends in the clearing, Meadow was still having trouble landing an attack due to the damage that the wild Pidgey had inflicted on her. She blindly tried her Tackle attack again for what must have been the tenth time, but alas, the little flying type that was her opponent managed to dodge out of the way yet again due to the sloppy attack. The grass type Pokemon was quickly getting very frustrated with her lack of sight.

"Saur!" Meadow grumbled unhappily.

At the edge of the clearing, Nolan threw his partner a concerned glance. Having all that sand and dirt flung in her eyes had to be extremely painful for his friend. He didn't want to force her to continue the fight if she wasn't up to it.

"Meadow, are you okay?!" he called anxiously to the little grass type.

"Saur!" she instantly nodded, though her eyes were still squeezed tightly shut in obvious agony.

"Can you keep going?!" Nolan wanted to know, "Because you don't have to! I won't think any less of you if you want to call it quits now!"

Even though she appreciated the sentiment, Meadow found herself scoffing at the suggestion that she back down now. This was their first battle together for crying out loud. She wasn't about to let her human down by calling it quits now!

"Bulba!" Meadow nodded much more insistently this time. She didn't much like the idea of her partner thinking that she was weak and couldn't handle herself after all.

Taking a moment since the wild Pidgey wasn't attacking her just yet, Meadow sat back on her hind legs and used her front paws to furiously wipe at her eyes. It took a few moments, but she eventually managed to dislodge enough of the dirt to be able to open her eyes.

She was relieved that she could see again, though her eyes still stung a bit. Ideally she needed to flush them out with water, but that obviously wasn't an option right now. Meadow knew that she would just have to try her best and hope it was enough.

Defeat just wasn't an option as far as she was concerned.

Seeing that his partner had managed to clean out her eyes a little bit, and that she was still committed to the fight, Nolan couldn't help but beam at her proudly.

"You're the best Meadow!" the new trainer cheered in delight, which brought a smile to his beloved partner's face, "Now let's play this Pidgey at its own game! Use Growl!"

Finally able to see her prey again, Meadow whirled on the spot, and fixed the wild Pokemon with a look so frigid that for a moment she could legitimately be mistaken for an ice type Pokemon.

"BULBASAUR!" Meadow snarled, actually snarled, in a manner so menacing that the Pidgey couldn't help but immediately feel terrified of her.

Nolan also couldn't help but swallow hard from where he stood.

The blonde boy could scarcely believe that a creature as sweet and gentle as his precious partner could ever produce such a horrible sound. He had to give her credit though. Meadow had certainly brought about the desired effect.

Sufficiently petrified by this point, the wild Pidgey had clearly decided that it had had enough now. It took off into the air as fast as it could, obviously intending to make its escape.

Unfortunately for the Pidgey, neither Nolan nor Meadow would stand for that.

"I don't think so!" Nolan yelled determinedly, turning towards his equally resolute partner, "Meadow quick! Stop it with your Vine Whip attack!"

"Bulb!" Meadow nodded seriously.

Nolan watched in fascination as Meadow scrunched up her eyes in deep concentration. Moments later, two dark green vines burst out from the crease of skin where her bulb was embedded in the flesh of her back. The vines shot towards the wild Pidgey like a pair of lassoes, and immediately bound themselves around the fleeing flying type's skinny ankles.

The Pidgey was stunned to find itself halted in its tracks.

"Pid! Pidgey!" it squawked in panic, beating its wings even harder as it furiously tried to escape its captor's grip.

Meadow wasn't having any of it though.

Clinging on with every ounce of strength that her little green body possessed, Meadow ignored the wild Pidgey's wriggling and struggling and frantic caws of fright. Instead, the small Bulbasaur looked up at her trainer, patiently awaiting his next instruction.

"Nice work" Nolan complimented, and Meadow couldn't help but preen with pride at his words, "Now reel it in!"

"Bulba" Meadow nodded in agreement.

The grass type Pokemon quickly turned her focus back to the squirming flying type in her grasp. Slowly retracting her vines back into the small skin sack hidden beneath her bulb, Meadow carefully began dragging the frightened Pidgey back towards them.

The feathery brown Pokemon was aghast when it realised what was happening.

"Gey! Gey! Pidgey!" Pidgey began its struggles anew, wriggling furiously and even going as far to peck on the vines with its small but dangerously sharp beak in its endeavour to free itself.

Meadow winced in pain as the Pidgey viciously assaulted her vines, but it wasn't so bad that it was enough to force her to let go of her captive. No. After coming this far, she wasn't about to let the Pidgey claim victory over her now. Nolan was depending on her. She would not let him down.

"Keep it up Meadow!" Nolan encouraged his partner from the sidelines, "You've almost got it! Just a little further now!"

The Pidgey seemed to have realised the same thing.

Abandoning its attempts to peck its way out of the vines and to freedom, the angry flying type Pokemon soon adopted a new approach to its conundrum. One that Nolan was forced to admit, was actually rather clever. Flipping itself downwards, the Pidgey hung by the vines upside down in the air, and fixed Meadow with a withering glare. Before anyone had a chance to prevent it, the Pidgey stopped pulling in the opposite direction, and instead flew down towards Meadow like a small feathery bullet.

"Saur?!" Meadow gasped in shock.

"What the...?!" Nolan looked on with a completely stunned expression on his face.

WHAM!

Right at the last second, the Pidgey managed to turn its dive into a fully fledged Tackle attack, and due to the fact that she was still clinging on to the assailant as though her life depended on it, it meant that Meadow had no chance of dodging it in time. With a bellow of pain, Meadow was knocked hurtling backwards, her vines becoming disentangled from her opponent in the process.

"No! Meadow, are you okay?!" Nolan cried urgently, his tone frantic with worry.

Rubbing the sore spot on her head from the point of impact, Meadow whined in pain but nodded regardless. She wouldn't have too long to recover though. Now that it was free from her clutches, the wild Pidgey was more than a little peeved by this point, and all thoughts of fleeing whilst it had the chance had been erased from its mind as a result.

It was clear that Pidgey was now on the warpath, and intended to let them know about it.

Beating its wings with such an intense fury that they were little more than a blur of motion, the small brown Pokemon summoned up a tiny swirling vortex of wind. And just like when Ash had deployed his quite-frankly insane strategy earlier on, the Pidgey unleashed its powerful Gust attack, directly in the path of Meadow!

"NO!" Nolan gasped, his eyes widening to the size of saucers in horror, "Quick Meadow! Dodge it!"

But it was already far too late for that.

The little vortex of sharp wind struck the grass type Pokemon head on, instantly sweeping her off her feet and sending her soaring through the air. Then she began her descent, plummeting back down to Earth like a little green meteor.

"MEADOW!" Nolan screamed in worry, helpless to do anything but watch her fall.

"BULBA!" Meadow shrieked in alarm.

WHAM!

With a sickening thud of flesh against earth, Meadow slammed into the ground with enough force that had she been human, she would probably have broken several bones. Thankfully Pokemon were built sturdier, but there was no denying that the impact had to have hurt. Meadow let out a few weak moans of agonising pain.

"Meadow!" Nolan exclaimed in horror.

The little green Pokemon barely even had the energy to weakly raise her head to reassure the boy that she was okay.

"Not as easy as you thought it would be, huh?" Ash drawled sarcastically from behind Nolan, "Guess you're not quite so clever after all".

Nolan whirled on the spot.

Without even pausing to think about his actions, the blonde boy smacked Ash across the side of the head so hard that it knocked the raven haired boy off balance. He crumpled to the ground, clutching his temple in pain, whilst Nolan fixed him with a look that could kill.

"Shut. Up" he snarled, and Ash recoiled, instantly knowing that he had gone too far this time, "My partner could have been seriously hurt from that attack, and all you can think about is making snide comments to appraise your own overblown ego?! I'd expect that from Gary, not you Ash!"

Ash glanced down at the dishevelled Meadow, still lying pathetically in the tiny crater that her crash landing had created, and winced, knowing deep down in his guts that his best friend was right. It had been a pretty below-the-belt move to say those things to Nolan at such a horrible moment, and the raven haired boy couldn't help but grimace at the comparison to his loathsome rival. He opened his mouth to offer an apology, but he didn't get the chance to.

For at that moment, Meadow let out another particularly pain-filled moan. Throwing Ash one last look of disgust, Nolan turned back to his partner, his expression instantly becoming one of concern.

"Saur..." Meadow let out another groan of pure agony as she slowly crawled out of the crater.

The blonde boy was about to rush over to his fallen partner, to tell the little grass type just how sorry he was for letting her get hurt and to beg for her forgiveness. Before he had the opportunity to however, Meadow dug in deep, and through sheer force of will, managed to push herself back to her feet.

Nolan swallowed hard, tears beginning to pool in his eyes.

"Meadow... it's okay" he breathed sadly, "You don't have to keep going. It doesn't matter if we lose this one... we can just try again later".

But Meadow refused to accept that.

"Saur!" she growled and shook her head stubbornly. Meadow didn't care how much damage her body had taken. As long as she still had consciousness, she was willing to fight.

Nolan opened his mouth to protest, to insist that they stop before she could get hurt any further, but he never had the chance to say even a single word.

Refusing to accept defeat, Meadow didn't bother waiting for her trainer to give her an instruction this time. Unleashing her vines again, Meadow launched them at the Pidgey, who was utterly stunned that she was even standing after taking its most powerful attack, let alone still willing to battle. The little flying type was so caught off-guard that it didn't have the chance to dodge in time, and ended up taking a heavy Vine Whip attack straight to the face. The force sent the Pidgey sprawling into the dirt.

"Pidgey!" the little brown Pokemon whined in pain.

Meadow seized on her chance, and forcing her legs to move even though they burned in protest, she raced over to where her enemy lay fallen, and used her vines to pain its wings down. The Pidgey began struggling but to no avail. It simply couldn't dislodge the stubborn grass type.

Nolan stared with his mouth hanging open a little, somewhat teary-eyed.

The blonde trainer couldn't believe just how determined Meadow was, how much she wanted to fight, and for him of all things. Her passion made the blonde boy feel slightly ashamed at how willing he had been to call it quits before. He was still very concerned about his beloved partner getting hurt of course, but that was when a realisation struck him.

Nolan was going to worry about that... for the rest of his life.

Meadow was his partner for life now, which of course made her his responsibility, but that didn't mean he had to be so scared. They would never achieve what they had set out to do if he lived in a constant state of fear, and to fail would be to let his partner down. And Nolan just couldn't live with that. No. If Meadow was going to show such bravery then he was going to have to as well. It was the very least that his partner deserved from him after all.

So with a sense of renewed confidence, Nolan allowed a huge smile to light up his entire face.

"Okay Meadow, if you're sure you want to continue" Nolan called, re-joining the battle and making his partner smile widely in relief, "Then let's finish this off with Leech Seed!"

Grinning, Meadow nodded, and whilst still using her front paws to keep the Pidgey from escaping or attacking, she arched her back upwards so that her bulb was up high. After a few seconds, her bulb began to glow with an ominous green light. From the opening at the top of her bulb, Meadow fired out a seed that was similarly glowing. The shining seed struck the frantic Pidgey right between the eyes and became lodged there.

The effect was immediate.

Several thin vines with tiny leaves exploded out of the glowing seed, and despite how hard the Pidgey was struggling, the vines effortlessly bound themselves around the flying type's small body, completely immobilizing the wild Pokemon within seconds.

Knowing that it wouldn't be long now until the battle was done, Meadow felt comfortable climbing off her captive. As she did so, the vines shrouded around the Pidgey began to glow, and Meadow couldn't help but grin as some of the flying type Pokemon's energy was drained.

Then Meadow's bulb began to glow with the same light as some of the stolen energy was given to her, healing her up injuries and restoring some of the damage that the Pidgey had inflicted on her. It wasn't a perfect fix, and she would definitely need to rest once the fight was over, but it would be enough to tide her over for the moment. Together, Nolan and Meadow looked on as the Pidgey's struggles slowly became weaker and more sluggish as more of its energy was sapped away.

Within seconds, the moment was finally upon them.

His fingers trembling with barely contained excitement, Nolan tentatively reached for one of the empty pokeballs he had clipped to his belt and detached the small spherical device. Then, without wasting any time hesitating, he arched his arm back as he took careful aim.

"Pokeball, go!" the boy cried in eager anticipation as he hurled the empty pokeball at the Pidgey's prone figure.

To Nolan's delight, his aim held true.

Striking the barely conscious flying type head on, the pokeball snapped open and sucked the Pidgey into its confines in a crimson beam of light. The vines that had previously held the feathery creature in place fell limp before disintegrating, as the pokeball closed and landed in the middle of where the shoots had been just moments before.

Then it was simply a matter of waiting.

Nolan and Meadow watched with baited breath as the pokeball began to wobble from side to side, the button in the middle flashing between red and white at random intervals. Despite the boy's natural excitement - he had been waiting literally years for this moment after all - Nolan couldn't help but also feel slightly nervous.

Not only was this a huge moment in any newbie trainer's career, Nolan was also a little bit worried about what would happened should the capture fail. The Leech Seed may have restored some of Meadow's health to her, but there was no way she could continue with the fight if the Pidgey broke free of the pokeball and attacked her again. Nolan didn't want to argue with her, but he also couldn't stand to see her get hurt. It honestly was a catch-22, and Nolan absolutely hated it.

Fortunately for the blonde boy, it wasn't an issue he was going to have to face that day.

At that exact moment, the pokeball stopped shaking around in the dirt and finally lay still. The light in the centre of the device also stopped its rhythmic flashing, and tiny sparks shot out of it instead, almost looking like miniature stars. Nolan gasped in awed disbelief as the reality of the moment eventually sank in.

The capture... had been successful.

He had caught his first Pokemon. He and Meadow had a new teammate. It felt... it felt... Nolan honestly had no idea how it felt. It was as if all the breath in the boy's body had been knocked out of him.

For a few seconds, the blonde boy just stood there gaping, his mouth hanging wide open in awed disbelief.

The next thing he knew, Nolan was off running like a maniac.

Sprinting forwards so fast that he almost fell flat on his face in excitement, Nolan let out a cheer that was so loud it almost seemed to make the skies overhead quiver and shake from his complete and utter delight.

Lunging forwards, the jubilant boy scooped up his grinning partner in one arm, whilst using his free hand to gather up the newly occupied pokeball off the ground. Jumping back up to his full height, Nolan gleefully spun Meadow around, both of them laughing with pure and unadulterated joy.

"We did it Meadow, we did it!" Nolan cheered as he finally stopped spinning them around and instead pulled the little green Pokemon into a loving hug, much to said Bulbasaur's delight, "We caught our first new teammate! And it's all thanks to how hard you worked! I'm so proud of you Meadow! Thank you!"

Honestly, words simply couldn't express just how grateful to his partner Nolan felt in that moment. She had really come through for him, and he couldn't be prouder of her if he tried.

"Saur! Bulbasaur!" Meadow laughed happily at the boy's exuberance, hugging him back just as fiercely. Seeing her human so happy made her happy, so Meadow was glad to have been able to pull off such a feat.

Nolan was about to express his gratitude for all her hard work once more, but before he had a chance to, he heard the sound of soft footsteps approaching him from behind.

"Nolan?" a timid voice spoke out, and turning, the grinning blonde trainer found Ash standing right behind him, looking down at his shoes guiltily. His ecstasy fading a little, Nolan patiently waited for the other boy to speak.

"I'm... I'm really sorry for the way I was acting before" Ash apologised, and Nolan could tell from his tone just how utterly sincere his best friend was being with his words, "I was just really frustrated, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you when you were only trying to help. I was acting like a brat, and I'm sorry. Oh! And congratulations on catching your first Pokemon! You and Meadow were really amazing out there!"

Hearing such a heartfelt apology, Nolan couldn't help but allow his earlier anger and frustrations with his friend to fade away. He offered the other boy a wide smile, which Ash hesitantly returned.

"Thank you Ash" he said softly, allowing his best friend to see that he really meant it, "And me and Meadow forgive you, don't we Meadow?"

"Bulba" Meadow nodded sweetly from her spot in Nolan's arms.

Ash beamed, relieved that they weren't angry with him anymore, before he decided to change the subject to a happier topic.

"So err... now that you've caught the Pidgey, what do you do now?" he asked curiously, rubbing the back of his head in a slightly confused manner, "I mean, how do you become friends with a wild Pokemon after you've battled and defeated it?"

The blonde boy smiled at Ash's obvious attempt to make up for insinuating that Nolan was a know-it-all.

Grinning, Nolan decided against playfully calling him out on it, just in case their little spat was still too raw for the other boy. He might have let it go already but that didn't necessarily mean that Ash had. So instead, Nolan didn't tease his friend and just answered his question.

"How about I show you?" he suggested kindly.

Ash silently gestured with his hand for Nolan to go ahead.

Grinning, the blonde haired boy nodded and knelt down. He carefully placed Meadow and the newly occupied pokeball on the ground, before taking off his backpack. He immediately began rummaging around inside it, though what he was looking for Ash had no idea.

The raven haired boy soon received his answer however, when moments later, to Ash's utter bewilderment, his friend pulled out a small jar of what appeared to be mixed seeds.

What on earth was his friend up to now?

Ash decided not to voice his question aloud however, and instead just watched as his friend got down to business.

Nolan cupped one of his hands and carefully poured a small amount of the seeds into it, setting aside the jar once his palm was full. Then, with his free hand, the blonde boy reached out and picked up the pokeball. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm the nerves that had suddenly developed in the pit of his stomach, Nolan pushed the button.

Then it was time for him to just wait.

Wait and let Pidgey come to him.

He could admit that he was a little anxious about how this initial meeting would go, but Nolan was hopeful that the Pidgey wouldn't bare him and Meadow too heavy a grudge. He really wanted to become good friends with his newest Pokemon after all.

Watching with baited breath, Nolan looked on in eager excitement as the pokeball opened and released a flash of red light that quickly materialised into the form of Pidgey.

The Tiny Bird Pokemon nervously looked around before it caught sight of Nolan. It squawked and anxiously backed a couple of steps away from the young human in fear.

"It's okay, it's okay little Pidgey" Nolan gently assured the skittish flying type before him in a soft voice, "We're not going to fight you anymore, I promise".

"Pidgey" the Pidgey regarded him with thinly veiled scepticism.

Smiling at the little Pokemon's intelligent caution, Nolan slowly extended the hand holding the seeds in it. Pidgey shrieked in panic and hopped backwards, but calmed slightly when the human made no further move to approach.

"A peace offering" Nolan explained simply, "It's good for flying type Pokemon like you. Cross my heart".

Confused by the human expression, Pidgey stared at him distrustfully, but cautiously took a tentative step forwards. When Nolan made no move to pull a fast one, it took another step, then another, until finally it was stood right in front of the young trainer. Still being cautious, Pidgey carefully plucked one singular seed out of the boy's hand with his beak.

Casting another nervous glance up at the boy, Pidgey saw that he was smiling and nodding his head reassuringly. Pidgey still wasn't sure, but something about this human made it want to trust him, so it decided to take a chance. It opened its beak and it one fluid motion, swallowed the small seed whole.

Nolan beamed in delight when the small Pidgey cawed out in happiness.

"That's yummy right?" he gently asked the flying type Pokemon, being mindful to keep his voice low to avoid spooking the timid creature. Now that they were finally making progress, Nolan didn't want to unravel it all by getting too far ahead of himself.

"Gey! Gey! Pidgey!" the Pidgey nodded eagerly.

"Well it's all for you, so knock yourself out" Nolan smiled kindly, quietly laughing when his new Pidgey all but buried its face in his hand and began gulping down the food with absolutely no restraint whatsoever.

Behind them, Ash looked on with an awed smile growing across his face as he watched his best friend and his newest Pokemon begin to bond.

From her spot next to Nolan, Meadow allowed herself to relax slightly. When the blonde boy had first let out their newest team member she had admittedly been on guard, afraid that the Pidgey might be out for revenge and that it would try to attack her beloved human partner. Now though, watching the flying type eating out of the palm of Nolan's hand, Meadow could see just how gentle the Pidgey so obviously was at heart. It was clear that it had only been attacking out of fear and anger before. It gave Meadow hope that they would all become good friends before too long.

Once the Pidgey had eaten its fill, it leaned back and cooed up in happy satisfaction at Nolan. The blonde boy smiled and brushed a few stray seeds off his hand.

"Have you had enough, or are you still hungry?" Nolan asked kindly. When the small feathery Pokemon had confirmed that it was done, the blonde haired boy smiled happily, "Good, maybe now then we can discuss something important".

The little Pidgey looked up at him, again with caution, but there was no denying that its sharp eyes also held a spark of interest now.

"Me and Meadow have captured you" Nolan slowly began to explain, "Do you understand what that means?"

Pidgey cautiously nodded its head.

In its lifetime Pidgey had witnessed many members of its flock being captured in those strange devices by humans and then taken away, never to be seen or heard from again. Pidgey didn't really know what happened to them afterwards, but it had always been curious, and hoped that they were all okay.

"So you understand that from now on, you'll be travelling around with me and my friends?" Nolan wanted to be sure that Pidgey was absolutely clear on this point, "That you'll be one of my Pokemon, and that I'll be responsible for taking care of you from now on?"

The Pidgey looked a little less sure about that, but not overly upset either. It just seemed confused as opposed to anything else. Sensing this, Nolan hastened to explain as best he could.

"You see Pidgey, I'm on a journey to become a Pokemon Master - the very best when it comes to trainers" Nolan explained passionately whilst Pidgey, and Meadow too for that matter, listened with rapt attention, "The first step on that journey is to compete in the Indigo League, a big tournament being held in a year's time. To enter, I need to win eight gym badges by defeating gym leaders in battle with my own Pokemon, which right now is just you and Meadow".

Pidgey's eyes widened in response to the boy's words.

"In return for joining me and battling under my command, I'm offering you a loving home, loyal friends, and the chance to become stronger than you could ever become in the wild" Nolan pressed on, hoping to entice the little flying type.

Pidgey immediately perked up at the promise of the pursuit of strength.

By the very nature of things, the Tiny Bird Pokemon were very much at the bottom of the hierarchy in a flock of their kind. It might not be fair, but that was just the way of things, or so its mother had always said, before she too had been captured by a human. Pidgey had always dreamed of one day evolving into a fearsome Pidgeot. They were the coolest of the cool, but it seemed impossibly difficult to acquire that level of strength. Pidgey had tried its hardest, but had never been able to achieve an evolution. Maybe this human was right. Perhaps the secret was to work in a group rather than working alone.

It certainly couldn't hurt to try at least.

"So, what do you think?" Nolan kindly asked the small brown Pokemon, pulling Pidgey out of its thoughts and back to the present, "Are you prepared to work with us?"

Pidgey only had to think about it for another second, before eagerly nodding its head.

Nolan honestly couldn't help but beam at the response.

"Brilliant! the blonde boy happily exclaimed in excitement, "Then welcome to the team. Meadow and I are glad to have you!"

"Saur" Meadow smiled kindly in agreement.

Pidgey looked between the boy and the Bulbasaur with a slightly touched expression on its face. It was glad that if they were all going to be travelling together, there was no hard feelings between them.

"My name's Nolan by the way" the blonde boy introduced himself.

"Pid!" Pidgey cawed in greeting to him.

"Say, how would you like your own name?" Nolan asked as the thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Gey?" Pidgey blinked up at him in a slightly confused manner.

"Well, now that your spot on the team is official, it feels only right to offer you your own name" Nolan shrugged his shoulders as he explained, "Something unique to you, that'll show everyone just how special you are. What do you think?"

Pidgey considered it for a moment, before once again nodding its head.

"Great!" Nolan cheered, and at last Pidgey gave its new trainer a full smile, "I'll have a think about it and then bounce some ideas off of you later. But first of all..."

The blonde boy trailed off as he reached behind himself and withdraw his pokedex from the back pocket of his jeans. Pidgey eyed the red device with curiosity in its eyes.

"Now I just need to scan you with this, okay?" Nolan said in a quiet, reassuring voice, "You won't feel a thing, I promise. It's just to give me a little more information, so that I can take better care of you".

Only when the Pidgey had nodded its consent did Nolan proceed with the scan.

Recalling the steps that his father had taken earlier in the day when the man had shown him how to scan Meadow, Nolan repeated the procedure on his new teammate. A thin beam of scarlet light shone from the pokedex and landed on Pidgey's forehead. Moments later, the desired information was presented to the boy on the screen.

The new trainer eagerly looked it over.

Exactly as Nolan had expected, Pidgey's current move set consisted of Tackle, Gust and Sand Attack. Not the greatest in the world, but certainly not the worst either. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long until they could add some more attacks and techniques to that list anyway.

Nolan also learned that his new Pidgey was slightly smaller than the average Pidgey, but he wasn't too worried about that right now. As far as he was concerned, his new friend was perfect. Besides, if anything, its small size might be an advantage. Surely Pidgey must be quicker in the air without having as much bulk to move around. Plus it might make it harder for enemies to land a hit, which was always a plus. Nolan also discovered that his new friend possessed the Keen Eye ability, which the blonde boy vowed to read more up on later.

Finally, the pokedex revealed that the new member of his team was a male, which knowing would help Nolan immensely later on when trying to come up with a suitable name for the little Pidgey.

Satisfied with everything he found, Nolan grinned and flipped his pokedex shut again, before stowing it back in his pocket.

"Brilliant" the boy nodded quietly to himself, "This told me a lot about you Pidgey. It'll help me out for sure when I start working out how best to train with you".

"Pidgey!" Pidgey seemed excited and eager to get started.

Already Nolan could tell that although initially timid, his new friend was also extremely determined once he had the right motivation, and that he genuinely wanted to become stronger. The boy only hoped that he could help him achieve it.

"But for now, I think you should return to your pokeball" Nolan continued, and Pidgey let out a little disappointed coo, "You can rest up in there until I can get you to the next city. I want to have you looked over by a Pokemon nurse after that battle with Meadow. You both took a lot of hits, so I need to make sure everything's okay before I can start working out the details of how to train you".

Pidgey didn't much like it, but he respected his new trainer's decision. He gave a single nod, and Nolan smiled as he held up the pokeball that now belonged to Pidgey.

"Okay Pidgey, return" he said softly, watching as the capsule snapped open and pulled Pidgey back into its confines in a beam of scarlet light.

Nolan held the pokeball tenderly against his chest, knowing instinctively that just like it had been with Meadow, already Pidgey occupied a warm spot in his heart. He had another new friend on his team, and to Nolan, that was simply amazing.

It was just the latest step in what promised to be the adventure of a lifetime.

And there's Chapter 6 : )

Yay! Nolan has his first new Pokemon!

It certainly feels like it's been a long time coming : ) I know I was a little upset at first that I didn't get a Mankey in my Nuzlocke, but Pidgey would have been my second choice anyway, so it's all good : )

I'm actually quite pleased with how this chapter turned out. At one point I was a little worried that I was going to have to split it into two parts due to its length - which I really didn't want to have to do - but things were wrapped up pretty neatly before it got to that point : )

Anyway, let's move on to the newest topic for you guys to vote on : )

Originally there wasn't going to be one for this chapter and I was going to wait, but I was looking through my notes regarding the order I want to play the game in, and I remembered that I could skip Misty for now and progress a little further, but not so far that I would exceed the level cap : ) So I've changed the order of a couple of things, which I hope will help prevent me from losing any of my Pokemon later on in the game, and thus have to write them out of this story.

This might be the last topic that you guys get the vote on for a couple of chapters though, so at least it's an exciting one : ) A new encounter!

Pokemon Options -

Route 24: - Abra - Female - Careful Nature - Synchronize Ability

Route 25: - Oddish - Male - Hardy Nature - Chlorophyll Ability

Diglett's Cave - Diglett - Female - Docile Nature - Sand Veil Ability

Personally I think that there's only one viable option here. I was SO excited when I managed to get an Abra, even more so when I actually managed to catch her before she could teleport away : D Still, it isn't my decision as to whether I get to use her or not - that one's up to you guys ; )

Also, just a little fun fact, but that Diglett almost killed Meadow when I was trying to catch her. Thankfully my starter is fine and I was able to heal her up in time, otherwise I would have been fuming to have lost her in such a stupid way : D You really need to play a Nuzlocke carefully ; )

Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review whether it be to vote on the latest Pokemon that Nolan will catch, or just to leave general feedback : )

Until the next time, keep on reading : )