Hey readers : )
Here we are with another new chapter. I want to keep this note very brief since the footnote is quite large, so let's get straight to it today, but please read that note on your way out as I think you might find it useful when casting future votes : )
On that note, let's get to the result of the last voting topic. I'm happy to say that the winner was... Hitmonchan! I actually like Hitmonlee better personally, however in terms of story-telling, I have an idea for giving Nolan a Hitmonchan which I don't think would work quite as well if I was giving him a Hitmonlee, so I'm not going to complain : )
I'd like to say thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited and followed this story. The support really means a lot to me, so thank you all very much. Finally, please remember that Pokemon is not mine, only my OCs are : )
I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
Challenge of the Samurai - Part 2
Coming back down to Earth from the euphoria that their victory against the Samurai's first Pokemon had brought them, Nolan and Welkin were quick to pull themselves out of it, not wanting to get too far ahead of themselves. Whilst winning their match against their first opponent was obviously a big deal for them, and tipped the odds of the battle in their favour, the golden haired trainer also knew that he couldn't afford to get cocky or complacent. Not if he didn't want their winning streak to quickly come to an end. Nolan knew that in order to keep their current momentum going, he and Welkin had to keep their minds focused and their wits about them. Who knew what the Samurai might throw at them next. They needed to be ready for anything. They had to win their first official trainer battle. They just had to.
His Pokemon were of a similar mindset.
Even though she had yet to participate in this particular battle, Meadow was just as determined and focused as her teammates were. The little Grass Type Pokemon was also mentally bracing herself, wanting to be prepared in case Nolan decided to send her out in Welkin's place. In fact, she was rather hoping that he would. She wanted to be apart of Nolan's first official trainer battle, and she wanted to help make sure it ended in a victory. If given the chance, Meadow would to her utmost to ensure that was the outcome. It was nothing more than her precious human deserved after all.
Out on the makeshift battlefield, Welkin couldn't have agreed with her more.
The small brown Flying Type Pokemon was flapping his wings to remain airborne, but his attention wasn't really on his flying at all. Instead, Welkin had his attention trained firmly on the Samurai, anxiously awaiting to see what might be thrown his way next. The gutsy little guy wasn't nervous though, in fact he was extremely excited. Already Welkin had gotten a taste for battling, and it was even better with Nolan at his side. So he was going to face whatever was coming their way head on, and do everything he could to claim the victory. After all, anything but his best would be an insult to them both, and that just wasn't an option.
In short, the three of them were the perfect picture of determined. They were going to win this.
They could feel it.
Across the clearing from them, the Samurai had been eyeing Nolan and his Pokemon critically, trying to determine their potential strengths and weaknesses from looks alone. He wasn't getting very far using that method of course, but it was all the other boy really had to go on right now. Carefully weighing up his options, it seemed to take an eternity for the Samurai to decided on the course of action he wanted to take. At long last however, he finally selected a pokeball, and removed it from the thick leather belt he wore.
"It falls upon you to defend our honour my warrior!" the eccentric boy cried as he launched the pokeball high into the air with one skilful manoeuvre, "Stand by for battle and bring forth our victory!"
The pokeball snapped open and a burst of scarlet light exploded out of it. The orb of pulsating red light pulled and twisted itself into a shape that Nolan wasn't familiar with. After a couple of moments however, it finally materialised into a physical form, and Nolan and his Pokemon friends got their first proper look at the creature that was to be their latest opponent.
Nolan could honestly say that he'd never seen anything like it before.
The Pokemon that had been released was a large insectoid creature that was roughly as tall as Nolan himself was. It's body was spiky and was mostly a pleasant green colour, with thin, cream coloured sections between its head, thorax and abdomen. Its reptilian head was split into three blunt horns, and a pair of light airy wings adorned its back. The most striking aspect of the strange Pokemon however was its arms; they were long silvery scythes that looked capable of slicing through solid stone. The golden haired boy couldn't help but eye them nervously. Add in the harsh glare that was on the creature's face, and it was the very definition of dangerous.
Immediately, Nolan, Meadow and Welkin were all very intimated.
"Wh... what type of Pokemon is that?" Nolan stammered, gulping nervously when the strange green Pokemon extended its scythes menacingly.
"Saur!" Meadow stood close to Nolan, anxious as well, but ready and willing to protect her precious human at a moment's notice if need be.
"Gey! Pidgey!" Welkin was also eyeing the new opponent closely, a hint of nerves in his expression, but he was quick to hide any trace of them. Intimated though he may be, the little Flying Type wasn't going to back down from his latest challenge. His pride simply refuse to permit it.
Seeing that his selected Pokemon had managed to strike a cord of fear into his opposition, a smug smirk graced the Samurai's face.
"This is a Scyther, a very rare Pokemon that hails from the territories of Fuchsia!" the Samurai informed Nolan with a hint of pride in his voice, "They are highly skilled in the arts of combat, and mine is no exception. Beware its power, Observant One".
And despite the other boy's quirks and eccentricity, Nolan couldn't help but take that rather ominous warning seriously.
Knowing that if they were to stand any chance at all of defeating this supposedly highly skilled fighter that they'd need some more information, Nolan wasted no time in setting about getting himself some. Rummaging through his pockets, the golden haired boy quickly retrieved his pokedex, and pointed it in the direction of the Pokemon that was now glaring menacingly at him.
"Scyther - the Mantis Pokemon" Dexi stated, inadvertently confirming what the Samurai had already told Nolan, "Scyther has claws that are as sharp as swords, and it is a powerful flyer. This Pokemon is rarely seen by humans and almost never captured".
At that particular piece of information, Nolan couldn't help but see the Samurai in a whole new light.
Whilst admittedly being thrown off by the other boy's rather pompous mannerisms, Nolan hadn't thought that he was an overly powerful contender. A challenge, yes - but not too much of one. Hearing what his pokedex had to say though, Nolan found himself re-evaluating that opinion. For if the Samurai was capable of catching a Pokemon as rare as a Scyther apparently was, than clearly the boy was highly skilled himself. It only served to make Nolan resolve to redouble his efforts though. He and his team could still win this. The alternative was to give up now, and that just wasn't an option.
So steeling his nerves and clearing his mind, Nolan immediately got down to business.
"Welkin! We don't know much about this one so be on your guard!" Nolan cautioned his Pokemon, who nodded his understanding at the golden haired trainer's words, "Let's start by testing the waters with a long range Gust attack!"
"Pidgey!" Welkin cooed in agreement.
Welkin began to beat his wings together, and the vortex of air that Nolan was growing to associate with his Flying Type Pokemon began to form. Before the small Pidgey had the chance to finish creating and launch his attack however, the Samurai smirked at both Welkin and Nolan from across the clearing, before addressing his own Pokemon.
"Scyther! Use your speed to prevail over our enemies!" the Samurai exclaimed, gesturing with the sword that he carried, "Take heart and use Quick Attack!"
Right as Welkin finished creating the swirling vortex of wind that was his Gust attack, the Scyther that was to be his target sudden seemed to flicker sharply. Then, to Welkin's complete and utter astonishment, the large green Pokemon disappeared altogether.
"Gey?!" Welkin couldn't help but gawk in confused bewilderment.
"What?!" Nolan exclaimed from the sidelines.
Less than a second later, the answer made itself clear to them both.
Starling poor Welkin out of his wits in the process, Scyther suddenly reappeared directly in front of the much smaller Pokemon. Welkin cried out in alarm, but had no chance to try and act beyond that, since before the little Flying Type Pokemon could even think about trying to dodge the imminent attack, Scyther slammed its entire body into his smaller one, almost knocking Welkin right out of the sky.
"PIDGEY!" Welkin yelled out in pain, every part of his body aching as he haphazardly tumbled towards the ground. The little Flying Type Pokemon just barely managed to catch himself before he hit the forest floor, beating his wings furiously to remain airborne.
"Scyther" the Samurai's Scyther seemed amused as it regarded Welkin for a moment. Then it started to flicker again, before it vanished once more. A moment later it reappeared, standing on the ground in front of its equally smug trainer.
"Whoa... Scyther's really fast" Nolan marvelled, impressed by the display, before he quickly shook those thoughts away. Now was hardly the time for them after all, "Welkin, we'll have to play this defensively! Use your Sand Attack!"
"Pidgey!" Welkin cawed loudly as he swooped down out of the sky, lowering his altitude until he was hovering just above the ground.
The Tiny Bird Pokemon kicked up some dirt, which he proceeded to fling in the direction of Scyther. Thankfully, the green insectoid creature and its trainer were a bit too slow to react this time, and Welkin's attack hit the mark. The end result was Scyther getting mud splattered all over its face. It did not look happy at all.
"Scy...Scyther!" the Mantis Pokemon snarled angrily, furiously trying to wipe its face clean and get the mud out of its eyes.
Nolan couldn't help but grimace slightly upon noticing that. It had to hurt cleaning out your eyes when you had blades for arms. The golden haired trainer wasn't about to let any small trace of guilt slow him down though, and he quickly cried out another command to his Pokemon.
"Now Welkin!" Nolan exclaimed, a sense of hope rising up within him, "Whilst Scyther's distracted, use Tackle!"
Eager to keep the battle momentum that they were building going, Welkin nodded, before streaking across the sky like a small feathery bullet. Scyther was still busy trying to restore its sight, and therefore couldn't move out of the way in time.
SMASH!
Welkin's smaller body collided with Scyther's much larger one. Due to the vast difference in their sizes, Welkin wasn't able to knock the Scyther down, but he did manage to catch the green insectoid creature off-guard, and therefore knock it off balance. As the Scyther clumsily stumbled around, still partially blinded by the Sand Attack, Welkin wheeled about in the air.
"Now use Gust!" Nolan commanded before the Samurai and his Scyther had the chance to recover from their equal surprise.
"Gey! Pidgey!" Welkin hooted happily as he began beating his wings together in rapid secession. The Tiny Bird Pokemon was able to quickly summon up a small but powerful vortex of swirling air, and once satisfied that it was strong enough, Welkin proceeded to launch it in the direction of his opponent.
"Scyther, try to deploy a strategic evasive manoeuvre!" the Samurai exclaimed, but it was already far too late for that.
The vortex of swirling wind slammed into Scyther, and with a startled cry, the green insectoid creature staggered backwards, tripped over its own feet, and ended up sprawled across the ground. Nolan and Welkin both let out a small cheer of celebration.
Unfortunately for them, it was a little premature...
"Scy...ther... Scyther!" Scyther snarled as it climbed back to its feet, and with one last furious swipe, it finally managed to clear away the last of the dirt that had been blown into its eyes. Eyes it used to glare at Nolan and Welkin scornfully.
"That's the spirit for which true warriors are renowned, dear comrade!" the Samurai cheered loudly, pleased that his chosen Pokemon was still willing to carry on, "Let us see if your Fury Cutter attack is enough to bring about our victory!"
With a somewhat malicious glint in its eyes, Scyther smirked and lunged towards Welkin, its blades raised and poised to rip the Tiny Bird Pokemon to shreds.
"Pidgey!" Welkin shrieked in alarm.
"Welkin! Dodge it!" Nolan cried, but already the golden haired boy could tell that it was futile. Scyther seemed to be a lot faster than Welkin was, the small Flying Type Pokemon just couldn't match it.
"Scy...THER!" Scyther let out a shriek of outrage that chilled Nolan all the way down to the bone.
Almost in a frenzy that was practically psychotic, Scyther's blades became nothing more than a blur of motion, as the large insectoid creature began slashing and tearing at poor Welkin in a flurry of swipes and slashes.
"PIDGEY!" Welkin screamed in pain, as Scyther's Fury Cutter attack opened a thin but long graze across his chest. A tiny line of red began to appear there, but thankfully, Welkin didn't seem too badly injured.
"Scyther! SCY!" Scyther roared, still slashing its blades at a rate that was far too fast for Nolan's mere human eyes to track.
"Try to knock it away with Gust Welkin!" Nolan commanded, trying desperately to regain control of the battle.
"Pidgey!" Welkin cawed determinedly in response.
The Tiny Bird Pokemon began beating his wings together very quickly. Before the familiar vortex of swirling air could be formed however, Scyther struck Welkin with its Fury Cutter again, cutting off the retaliatory attack before it even started. With another hard swipe, Scyther sent poor Welkin hurtling towards the ground.
"Welkin no!" an aghast Nolan yelled as his Pokemon tumbled out of the sky, "Pull up!"
Welkin struggled valiantly, but he was simply in too much pain and far too disoriented. He couldn't correct his flailing body enough to be able to fly properly. Not in time to save himself at least. The small feathery creature continued haphazardly falling from the sky.
Nolan could do little more than watch on hopelessly, whilst across the clearing from him, the Samurai's lips quirked into a smile as he tracked his opponent's fall with his sharp eyes.
"I believe it is time for this joust to reach its conclusion" the Samurai declared pompously, before gesturing grandly with the sword in his hand, "Scyther, dear comrade! Claim us a victory with your Wing Attack!"
The large insectoid creature's face curled into a twisted mockery of a smile as it lined the tumbling Welkin up in its sight. Using an impromptu Quick Attack, Scyther flickered briefly and disappeared out of sight, reappearing a split-second later, hovering in the air just above a panicking Welkin. It was then that Scyther followed through with its trainer's command.
"SCYTHER!" Scyther unleashed a wild howl as its light airy wings suddenly began to glow with an intense white light. Faster than the eye could see, Scyther then used its shining wings to strike Welkin.
"Pidgey!" Welkin shrieked in both pain and fright as the attack sent him hurtling towards the ground even faster.
"WELKIN!" Nolan screamed from the sidelines, feeling utterly helpless as he watched the inevitable play out in front of him.
CRASH!
Welkin finally hit the forest floor with a resounding thud, kicking up a small cloud of soil and dust and fallen leaves. The dirt cloud shrouded Welkin from view for a couple of moments, and Nolan hoped against hope that his friend was okay. Sadly, a few seconds later the dust cloud dispersed, revealing that Welkin most certainly was not okay.
"Pid...gey" Welkin was able to make a tiny, feeble moan. Then he slumped forwards and fell face-first into the dirt.
He was out cold.
Nolan allowed a soft sigh to slip his lips as realisation set in, and he returned his fallen Pokemon back to his pokeball. Whilst Nolan was obviously disappointed that Welkin had not been able to finish the fight, he also couldn't help but feel a strong surge of pride for his gutsy little friend. It took a lot of backbone to face such a strong opponent without showing any fear, and Welkin had tried his very best, so there was nothing shameful about his defeat at all. Nolan would be sure to remind Welkin of that once he had woken up.
Right now though, he had a battle to win.
On that note, Nolan couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he watched Scyther use another Quick Attack to flicker into view, appearing right next to its trainer. That thing was like a ninja, and would be incredibly difficult for Meadow to pin down since it had an aerial advantage over the small Grass Type Pokemon. Nolan grit his teeth determinedly though. Just because they were now at a slight disadvantage didn't mean they were going to give up.
They had to win this. They just had to.
"Excellent work, my warrior" the Samurai was saying, and in a rare display of affection, he reached out and patted Scyther on the head, "We are now very close to restoring our honour, and claiming victory over this traveller from Pallet".
"Scyther" Scyther grinned nastily, leaning into the touch of its trainer and nodding.
Across the clearing from the pair, Nolan couldn't help but feel a little indignant upon hearing those words. A heavy frown marred his handsome face at their somewhat arrogant assumption that the rest of this battle was going to be a cakewalk. Well... he and Meadow would just have to prove them wrong, now wouldn't they?
Meadow was also scowling in annoyance at her beloved human's side. It was obvious that the small green Pokemon wholeheartedly shared her trainer's sentiment.
They pair glanced at each other and tightly nodded, a silent promise being made by them both. And that promise was a simple one.
It was a promise to make this fight as long and gruelling as they could, regardless of the outcome.
"Get in there Meadow" Nolan ground out through his teeth, his icy blue eyes flashing dangerously, "Let's show them just how far this battle is from being over!"
"Bulbasaur!" Meadow eagerly nodded in agreement.
The little Grass Type Pokemon slowly walked out onto the makeshift battlefield, attracting the attention of the Samurai and his Scyther and pulling them out of their celebrations. The two of them both regarded Meadow closely, and with an air of superiority, as they sized her up. It was clear from their expressions that their opponents thought that they had the upper hand. Nolan couldn't wait to prove them wrong about that.
"An interesting choice of warrior, Observant One" the Samurai remarked, a hint of smugness in his tone, "Surely you must know that as a part Flying Type Pokemon, my Scyther has the advantage over your Grass Type Bulbasaur".
Nolan tried to keep his face impassive as he allowed those words to sink in.
Truthfully, Nolan had no idea what type of Pokemon Scyther was, and had merely assumed that it was a pure Bug Type Pokemon based on its appearance. The golden haired trainer wasn't about to admit to that though, so instead he just quirked an eyebrow at the Samurai in challenge. He had to believe that Meadow could still win this after all.
"Very well, if your decision is final..." the Samurai shrugged, clearly not understanding Nolan's decision but choosing not to question it, "In that case, me and my warrior shall grant you the first move".
Nolan couldn't help but smile at the Samurai's words. He might just end up regretting making that offer.
"Meadow, use Growl!" Nolan exclaimed immediately.
"Bulba... SAUR!" Meadow's expression contorted into a frightening look of utter fury, as she snarled menacingly at her much larger opponent.
"Scyth?" Scyther jolted backwards slightly, sweat-dropping. The large insectoid creature didn't appear to be intimidated though. If anything, it just seemed confused by Nolan's choice of tactic. Behind Scyther, the Samurai was mirroring its expression.
What Scyther and the Samurai didn't know however, was that was exactly what Nolan had been counting on.
The golden haired trainer knew that there was no way that Meadow could take on an opponent of Scyther's size head on and win after all. Brute force wasn't going to win this for them, so Nolan needed to be cleverer than that. His strategy was to throw the Samurai and Scyther off their game enough to be able to get around their advantage, and hopefully claim the victory for themselves. Nolan just hoped that it would work. He didn't have any back-up plans if it didn't.
"Scyther, do not be intimidated!" the Samurai cried, not realising that anything might be amiss, "Now go forth with the heart of a true warrior! Use Wing Attack!"
Nolan grimaced upon hearing the other boy's command.
The blonde haired boy could vividly remember how strong Scyther's Wing Attack was from when it had been used against Welkin. He also knew that as a Flying Type move, the attack would be even more effective against a Grass Type Pokemon like Meadow. Nolan tried his hardest not to panic, but he knew that things weren't looking good for his beloved partner right now.
"SCYTHER!" once again, Scyther screamed out a fierce battle-cry as it flickered into focus directly in front of Meadow. And just like last time, the green insectoid creature's wings began to glow with an intense white light.
"Meadow! Side step to the left and duck!" Nolan bellowed desperately.
"Saur!" Meadow hastily tried to follow through with her trainer's instruction, but it was just no good. Scyther was able to effortlessly out-speed her, and before Meadow could so much as blink, the much larger Pokemon was upon her.
"Scy... THER!" Scyther screamed again, that awful piercing scream, as it immediately proceeded to begin using its shining wings to strike Meadow over and over again.
"SAUR! BULBASAUR! BULBA!" Meadow wailed in pain, trying desperately to get away, but it was hopeless. Every time the little Grass Type Pokemon tried to crawl away, Scyther was quickly in her path again, continuing its onslaught of powerful attacks.
"MEADOW!" Nolan couldn't help but scream in panic as he helplessly watched her getting beaten up from the sidelines.
It felt like an eternity was slowly trickling by as Scyther struck Meadow again and again, but after a couple of moments, the onslaught of attacks finally ended. Meadow grunted in pain as she took a few steadying breathes, whilst a somewhat tired but smug Scyther leered down at her unpleasantly. The large insectoid creature then used another Quick Attack to rush back to its trainer in a green blur of motion.
The Samurai actually looked rather surprised as he eyed Nolan and his beloved partner with heavy scrutiny. Whilst the effort it was taking was more than a little obvious, Meadow had somehow managed to remain on her feet, despite all the tremendous blows that she had taken. Needless to say, the Samurai was quite impressed by that feat.
"Your chosen warrior is more resilient than I previously predicted, Observant One" the Samurai remarked, and Nolan couldn't help but feel a strong surge of pride for his partner upon hearing those words, "But I'm afraid even the most strong-willed of opponents all fall eventually. Now Scyther, let us finish this match and claim our victory! Use Quick Attack!"
"Look out Meadow!" Nolan tried to warn her, but it seemed futile.
Just like all the other times, Scyther's whole body seemed to flicker sharply for a moment before it was gone. A split-second later the green insectoid was directly in front of Meadow, who just barely had enough time to brace herself.
"Scyther!" Scyther snarled as it rammed itself into its opponent at full-speed.
"Bulba!" Meadow exclaimed in pain and frustration as the force of Scyther's attack was enough to send her hurtling backwards. With a soft grunt, the little Grass Type Pokemon landed sprawled out in the dirt a few feet back.
"Come on Meadow!" Nolan called out encouragingly, knowing that his beloved partner was probably exhausted but just knowing that she could still pull this around. His faith in her was unbreakable after all, "Get up! I know you can do it!"
His words of encouragement were enough to do the trick.
"Bulba..." despite the massive amount of effort it was taking, Meadow managed to dig deep, and somehow found the strength to pull herself back to her feet.
Nolan couldn't help it when a huge grin lit up his entire face.
"That's the spirit Meadow!" the golden haired boy cheered happily, beyond proud of his beloved partner for her utterly inspiring determination, "We're not done just yet!"
"Saur!" Meadow managed to give her trainer a small, strained smile.
Across the clearing from the two of them, the Samurai and his Scyther both stared at Meadow, their eyes wide, and their mouths hanging open in complete astonishment. They could scarcely believe it, but through sheer force of will alone, their opponent was still willing to fight. Now there was a Pokemon worthy of anybody's respect.
"Incredible! Even after all those attacks, that Bulbasaur is still standing" the Samurai marvelled, his tone but an awed whisper, "It truly does possess the heart of a true warrior!"
"Scyther" even Scyther had to admit that it impressed by just how gutsy Meadow was.
"But strength of heart alone shall not be enough" the Samurai declared boldly, confident that despite Meadow's resilience, she was still going to lose, "My warrior, it's time to end this. Fury Cutter!"
Upon hearing the words from the other boy's lips, Nolan immediately tried to keep his expression as blank as possible, whilst inside he was doing somersaults. This was exactly what he had been waiting for after all.
Nolan had known all along that Meadow had no chance against Scyther's Wing Attack or its Quick Attack. Their opponent simply had too great of an advantage, what with type effectiveness and out-speeding them at every turn. But Scyther's Fury Cutter didn't pose the same level of threat to Meadow at all. It was powerful, yes, but it was also slower than Scyther's other attacks, and that was the key to Nolan's plan. The golden haired trainer just hoped it would be enough.
He had nothing else to fall back on if it failed after all.
Sure enough, Scyther, arrogantly thinking that there was no way that Meadow could make a comeback at this point, charged right on in and raised its scythes high above its head, poised to strike.
"Now Meadow!" the golden haired boy yelled, his fists clenched with utter determination, "Your fastest Vine Whip!"
And somehow, perhaps through divine intervention, or perhaps even by the power of a miracle... Meadow was finally able to land her attack first.
"Bulba!" Meadow snarled fiercely as her vines shot out from the base of her bulb at a breakneck pace. Before Scyther had any idea what was happening, or had the chance to dodge out of the way, Meadow had managed to snare its dangerous scythes in her vines, and knotted them up tightly.
"What?!" the Samurai cried in alarmed disbelief, scarcely able to believe that his warrior had been out-manoeuvred.
"Scy...ther... Scyther!" Scyther immediately began struggling against the vines that had ensnared its 'arms', but it was no use. Meadow was clinging on as though her life depended on it, and despite how much it squirmed and wriggled, Scyther just couldn't break free.
"Nice work Meadow" Nolan cheered happily, and despite how utterly exhausted she felt, Meadow couldn't help but beam at her beloved human's praise, "Now toss it!"
Eager for a little payback, Meadow was more than happy to follow through with that order.
"Bulba... SAUR!" Meadow grunted with the amount of effort it took, but using every ounce of strength left in her beaten and bruised body, the little Grass Type Pokemon was able to drag the much larger creature through the air, before slamming it into the ground with a dull thud.
"Scyther!" Scyther let out a low moan of agony as its head painfully collided with the forest floor.
"You must break free, my warrior!" the Samurai cried desperately from the sidelines, horrified by how quickly things had started to unravel for his team, "Quickly Scyther! Shake that Bulbasaur off!"
But Nolan and Meadow weren't about to let that happen. Now that they were finally on track, they wanted to stay there, and Nolan knew exactly how to finish this battle once and for all.
"Not gonna happen" the golden haired boy retorted bluntly, before turning to address his brilliant partner Pokemon, "Meadow, let's finish this! Use your Leech Seed!"
Meadow couldn't help but smirk as she realised that this had been Nolan's game-plan all along.
Taking extra care to ensure that her opponent was kept restrained by her Vine Whips, Meadow raised her hind legs and carefully angled her bulb so that it was aimed directly at the trapped Scyther's head. Once satisfied, Meadow poured the last of her energy into forging the attack that her beloved human had ordered. Meadow's bulb began to glow with an intense green light, and seconds later, it fired out a seed that was also glowing.
Scyther was completely helpless to do anything about it as the glowing green seed hit it squarely in the face, taking root right between its narrowed, enraged eyes. Almost immediately, several thin vines with numerous leaves burst outwards from the seed, and rapidly bound themselves around the large body of Scyther. Within seconds, the insectoid creature was completely shrouded in the vines, and regardless of how much it struggled, Scyther simply couldn't break free.
"No! Scyther!" the Samurai had lost all semblance of his calm demeanour now, likely realising that his Pokemon wouldn't be coming back from this.
Knowing that the end of the battle was surely upon them at this point, Meadow felt comfortable enough to withdraw her vines back into her bulb. As she did so, the vines from the Leech Seed attack suddenly began to glow, and Meadow couldn't help but smile as she felt some of her energy being restored, the power for which being sapped straight out of Scyther.
"Scy...Scy...Scyther..." the large insectoid creature's struggles were rapidly getting weaker and weaker as more of its strength was drained away by the power of Meadow's Leech Seed. Soon enough, the struggling stopped altogether, and with one final feeble moan, Scyther's eyes drifted shut as it slipped into unconsciousness. Everyone immediately knew what that meant.
The battle was over.
Nolan and his Pokemon had won.
And there's part two : )
I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter. I wanted Nolan's battle with the Samurai to mirror Ash's canon battle, so whilst he faces Metapod and Pinsir, I wanted Nolan to face Kakuna and Scyther. Plus Scyther is a REALLY cool Pokemon, so the fact that I could add one into the story so early on in the adventure was a nice bonus : ) And YAY - Nolan won his first ever official battle! Little reminder though, he won't be winning every battle he gets into despite this story being based on a Nuzlocke, because that would get repetitive, really quickly ; )
Anyway, before we get to today's voting topic, there's something a little bit different that I wanted to do in this chapter, and that's give you all a proper update on what's been going on in my Nuzlocke : ) I realise that from a reader's point of view, it's probably more difficult to remember everything that's been voted upon than it is for me, because I've got the actual game in front of me : ) So without further ado, let's get into this.
Now, as I'm sure you're all aware, the game that the Nuzlocke is being played on is Pokemon Fire Red. I got Meadow the female Bulbasaur as my starter Pokemon in Pallet Town, and since then I've captured many different Pokemon, which you guys have whittled down until we got to Nolan's current team. These teammates so far are: -
Welkin the male Pidgey from Route 2, a female Jigglypuff from Route 3, a female Poliwag from Route 6, a male Meowth from Route 7, a male Growlithe from Route 8, a genderless Voltorb from Route 10, a male Snorlax from Route 12, a female Abra from Route 24, a male Koffing from the Pokemon Mansion, and a female Geodude from Mt Moon.
In addition to this, I have also received various gift Pokemon that have also been added to the team. In addition to Meadow the Bulbasaur, I have also received: -
A male Magikarp from Route 4. I know I had to pay for it, but I'm still counting it as a gift. I have also got a male Eevee from Celadon City, a female Lapras from Silph Co, and a male Hitmonchan from Saffron City.
Out of these fifteen Pokemon, I have evolved four of them. These are: -
Magikarp to Gyarados for defeating Brock, Abra to Kadabra for defeating Misty, Growlithe to Arcanine for defeating Lt Surge, and Eevee to Jolteon for defeating Erika.
In terms of actual game-play, I am quite a bit further on than where the voting topics have got to yet. I've actually finished most of the game already. I have defeated seven of the eight Kanto gym leaders, and have cleared out the first three islands in the Sevii Islands game story arc. I've captured my encounters for all of the areas on those three islands as well, along with a few more dotted around the mainland of Kanto. I am now waiting to face Giovanni, which I do not want to do until most of the voting has been done.
On that note, let's talk about what is left for you guys to vote on for this particular Nuzlocke.
At this point, you guys still have twelve wild Pokemon captures to whittle down to four new teammate through your votes. I have only been able to catch eleven of those encounters at the moment though, as Victory Road is blocked off to me until I defeat Giovanni. In addition to this, you guys will also get to decide upon two more gift Pokemon, those being the fossil Pokemon and the Game Corner Pokemon. Beyond that, you will also be able to vote to evolve potentially eight more Pokemon for the defeats of Koga, Sabrina, Blaine, Giovanni, Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha and Lance. As for defeating the champion - well, if I manage to do that, I have something a little special in mind for that voting topic.
Sadly however, the Nuzlocke has not been all plain sailing.
I have lost not one but two members of the team throughout the course of the game. I'm not going to tell you guys which ones since I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but this of course means that those members will eventually leave Nolan's team in the story. The only thing I will confirm though is that neither of them are Meadow, which I'm SO happy about because I really want to keep her if I can. On the flip side of all that however, I will still be including those two lost members in the evolution votes, for the added element of challenge, because if you guys pick those Pokemon to evolve, I am technically at a disadvantage because I can't use them in battle and have therefore lost potentially two evolutions that could have gone to someone else. Oh well, it's fun to push yourself in these Nuzlockes : )
Finally, just as a reminder of one of the rules that I set in place for this Nuzlocke, is that I only have to write out Pokemon that are lost before I reach the Indigo Plateau. Once I reach that point, any Pokemon lost in the Nuzlocke after that will not have to leave Nolan's team in the story. To balance this out however, it means that I only get one chance to battle the Elite Four and the Champion. If I fail that first try, I lose the whole Nuzlocke. Fingers crossed it doesn't come to that XD
And that's just about everything that's been going on in the Nuzlocke so far. I hope this summary was informative to you guys, especially when casting your votes in the future voting topics, and let me know if you'd like more regular Nuzlocke updates like this.
Now let's finally get on to today's voting topic : )
As I mentioned previously, we still have several more captured Pokemon to choose between to decide who gets added to the team, so today is going to be another new Pokemon vote : ) Here are today's Pokemon options : )
Pokemon Options: -
Route 21 - Tangela - Male - Adamant Nature - Chlorophyll Ability
Treasure Beach - Psyduck - Male - Naughty Nature - Cloud Nine Ability
Power Plant - Electabuzz - Male - Lonely Nature - Static Ability
Truthfully, I really don't think there's much of a contest here, but stranger things have happened, and you guys have actually been surprising me quite a bit throughout the voting topics so far. Either way, I know which one I'm personally hoping for, but it's not up to me, so please go leave your vote in a review to pick the next Pokemon to be added to Nolan's team : )
Last of all, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much for reading my story.
Until the next time, keep on reading : )