Hello readers : )

Here we are with the next chapter. I actually don't have too much to talk about today, so we're just gonna get straight down to business : )

On that note, let's talk about the winner of the last voting topic. I'm happy to announce that the winner this time was... Tauros! Honestly, I'm not too sure how I feel about this one. Whilst I do like Tauros a lot, I could have used getting another fire or fighting type since I already have a lot of normal type Pokemon. On the other hand though, I am happy you guys picked Tauros, simply because I could barely believe that I was lucky enough to catch him before he could run away in the Safari Zone : )

Beyond that, I'd just like to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited and followed this story. I really appreciate all the support that has been shown to this story, so thank you 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 6

Nolan could honestly say that he had never been more afraid in his entire life. Even being hunted down by the Spearow flock back in the Pallet Woods hadn't inspired this level of fear in the boy. Perhaps that was down to experience though. Nolan knew just what immense pain Beedrill were capable of inflicting on their victims after all. His leg muscles were burning, screaming in agony as he pushed himself to run faster and faster. The golden haired boy desperately wanted to stop, to rest, even just for a second. He knew that he mustn't do that though. Doing that would be nothing short of suicide. The deadly swarm of Beedrill was quickly closing the distance between them, and if they caught up to the retreating humans... well, Nolan had no doubts that he and his friends wouldn't survive that encounter. And so they all kept running.

Running because this time, their lives really did depend on it.

Suddenly, Nolan saw a figure appear out of some bushes just ahead of him and his friends. For one horrible moment, the golden haired boy feared that the swarm had somehow managed to get ahead of them, and that the Beedrill now had them surrounded. Nolan quickly dismissed that theory however upon realising that the figure was that of a human. And not just any human, but one that Nolan was coming to recognise quite easily. It was the Samurai. They had caught up to the Samurai.

The eccentric boy registered the presence of the other three humans and their Pokemon running up behind him, but didn't take the time to acknowledge them. He was much more concerned about the murderous swarm of deadly Beedrill that were quickly bringing up the rear after all.

"WWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Even the Samurai, for all his proud - borderline pompous - mannerisms, couldn't stop himself from shrieking at the top of his lungs. He sprinted away through the forest as fast as he could, the muscles in his legs practically burning with the effort. He wasn't the only one in such a dishevelled state though.

A mere five feet or so behind him; Nolan, Misty and Ash were in much the same condition.

The raven haired boy was still being dragged along, practically frog-marched between his two human friends. It was particularly an endeavour for Nolan, since he wasn't just dragging Ash along, but also because the golden haired boy had Meadow tucked under his spare arm. Running on the ground slightly ahead of them was Pikachu, his tail and ears the only parts of him visible through the tall grass.

Needless to say, all five of them were in a state of unadulterated panic.

"They're gaining on us!" Misty screamed over the cacophony of buzzing that was practically pounding against all of their eardrums.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu squeaked anxiously from near her feet. It was clear that the small yellow Pokemon was very frightened by this horrible situation they were in.

"Saur! Bulba! Bulbasaur!" Meadow wailed loudly from her spot under Nolan's arm, obviously just as scared.

"If they catch up to us we're finished!" Nolan gasped out, panting for breath as he ran faster than he had in his entire life, "We need to think of a way that we can lose them!"

"Any ideas?!" Ash exclaimed, still allowing himself to be dragged along.

Nolan thought furiously hard for a couple of seconds, but his panic-stricken mind was coming up totally empty. The golden haired boy feared the worst for a moment, before suddenly, almost like a miracle, the solution present itself to the small group of fleeing humans.

Or rather, the Samurai came up with a potential escape idea for them.

Without any warning whatsoever, the eccentric boy suddenly broke away from the established trail, and almost immediately disappeared from sight. Ash and Misty both blinked in confusion. They couldn't understand how the sword-wielding boy had managed such a feat. Nolan on the other hand had caught the movement, but only just. And so it was with great relief that the golden haired boy now knew exactly what they had to do to escape.

"HARD LEFT!" he bellowed to his friends over the intense buzzing of their relentless predators, "NOW!"

Using every last ounce of strength that his body possessed, Nolan tugged on Ash's arm as hard as he could, and threw his whole body to the left-hand side of the forest trail, sending the two of them as well as Meadow tumbling into the same berry bushes that the Samurai had vanished into just moments before. Thankfully, Misty had not questioned her friend's words, and instead trusted in his instincts. The end result was her falling into the bushes as well, obscured from sight completely. Last but certainly not least, Pikachu darted into the bushes as well, and they all ended up in a dog-pile. Then came the hard part.

They had to wait to see if that little manoeuvre had been enough to save their lives.

Five seconds. That was all it took for the answer to make itself known to the group. Just five seconds, but it could just as easily have been five years. Truly, the brief period of time passed by at an excruciatingly slow rate, but after what felt like half an eternity, Nolan's and everybody's fates were made clear to them.

The Beedrill swarm... had lost them.

Buzzing furiously, the deadly cloud of yellow and black Bug Type Pokemon continued surging through the forest in a straight line at an alarming speed. They were obviously confused as to where their prey had gone, but just kept charging onwards, figuring that they would soon pick them up again. Luckily for Nolan and his friends, that wasn't going to happen. Soon enough, the last of the Beedrill had swarmed past their hiding place, and the buzzing that filled the air eventually faded away. At long last, they were safe.

Feeling weak-kneed, Nolan couldn't help but let out a deep sigh of relief.

In the dog-pile all around him, his friends all did the same. Even the Samurai, who coincidentally enough they had landed right next too when they had all jumped into the bush, couldn't help but smile in relief when he realised that the Beedrill were gone.

Truly, the four humans and the two Pokemon were beyond euphoric, they were just so happy to be alive.

"We... we made it..." Nolan just barely managed to croak out as the reality of their survival began to sink in.

"Bulba!" Meadow was almost crying with joy at the fact that she and her beloved partner had escaped that awful encounter unscathed.

In the bushes around them; Ash, Misty, Pikachu and the Samurai all shared in the sentiment. Faint smiles began appearing on each of their faces, and for one beautiful, shining moment, it looked like everything was going to be okay. But of course, the universe wasn't that kind, and it was at that moment that Ash happened to catch sight of something out of the corner of his eye. The raven haired boy turned his head to get a closer look and...

And immediately all the good came crashing down around them.

"Huh?" Ash tilted his head to one side as he struggled to take in what it was that he was looking at.

His attention caught and his curiosity peaked by the wordless question posed by his best friend, Nolan turned to see what it was that his best friend was staring at all of a sudden. When he did, Nolan's eyes almost bulged right out of his head. The others all had much the same reaction as they turned to get a look as well.

The new area that the group had sought their refuge in was another forest clearing, except right in the middle of this one, stood a towering and imposing oak tree. It was much larger than all the surrounding trees, and it looked to be a lot stronger too. But it wasn't the tree itself that had the young trainers and their Pokemon so horrified. Oh no. It was the fact that the tree was full to the brim with dozens and dozens of Kakuna! Some were dangling down from the branches on stringy webs, whilst others were latched onto the tree's trunk and roots, all of them totally unmoving. But whilst they weren't moving around at all, there still had to over a hundred of them. And considering what had just happened to the group of trainers, it was no wonder that this particular sight was enough to chill them all right down to the bone.

"A whole hive of Kakuna!" the Samurai gasped out, though whether from awe or fear Nolan couldn't be sure.

"Aah!" Misty let out a small shriek.

That one definitely was out of fear, Nolan numbly thought to himself. From his position next to the golden haired boy, Ash began rummaging around in his pockets, and moments later he pulled out his pokedex. He quickly pointed it towards the tree that had been infested by the mustard coloured Bug Type Pokemon.

"Kakuna - the Cocoon Pokemon" the pokedex reported, before it gave Ash the exact same information that Nolan had received earlier from his own pokedex, "Kakuna are the transitional stage between Weedle and Beedrill. Kakuna remain mostly inactive until they evolve into deadly Beedrill".

"But... but that might may that there are more Beedrill around here!" Nolan gasped in horror, feeling a fresh wave of fear rolling over his entire body at the realisation, "Beedrill hardly ever leave Kakuna undefended after all".

Realising that he was right, the others all returned their attention to the tree that was suffering from the Kakuna infestation. They all nervously searched it for any sign of a lurking Beedrill that could spot them and choose to attack at any given moment. Mercifully, none of the trainers could see any such threat lurking in the tree's branches, but that didn't mean that they didn't notice that something was amiss. It wasn't a Beedrill, but right at the base of the tree trunk, secured in place with a couple of knotted roots, was a striking jade green creature that all of them instantly recognised.

It was none other then Ash's missing Metapod!

"Hey! Over there!" Ash yelled out excitedly, completely forgetting the fact that they were all supposed to be hiding and thus they should be making as little noise as possible, "It's Metapod!"

Gasping at the almost screechingly loud display that he'd just made for the entire forest to hear, both Nolan and Misty rounded on him urgently. Misty quickly clapped her hand over his mouth, whilst Nolan settled for scowling darkly at his best friend.

"You idiot! We're supposed to be laying low here!" Nolan hissed angrily under his breath to the raven haired boy at his side, who's eyes widened in shock at the harsh tone that Nolan spoke with, "Are you deliberately trying to bring all those Beedrill back here to kill us?!"

"He's right Ash!" Misty snapped in a whisper as well, frustrated by the sheer stupidity of his foolhardy actions, "You've gotta keep your voice down!"

Unfortunately, it was already far too late for that.

In almost perfect synchronisation, the eyes of each and every single Kakuna searched over their forest dwelling, before they took notice of the group of humans that had unwittingly stumbled into their midst. Nolan couldn't help but grimace as all the Bug Type Pokemon stared coldly at him and his friends. The golden haired boy expected the Kakuna to start screaming, or do something else to attract the attention of their Beedrill protectors.

What they actually did was so much worse.

Before the frightened eyes of the group of youngsters, the Kakuna all began to glow one by one with a dazzlingly bright white light. For one brief moment, Nolan thought that the Kakuna were merely using their Harden to protect themselves, and that this brewing situation would be okay. The golden haired boy was quickly forced to abandon that theory, along with the tiny glimmer of hope it had brought him, as he realised that that was not what was happening. Because the light that the Kakuna were shrouding themselves in was not the light from using Harden.

It was the light that came from evolution!

Nolan and his friends all looked on, completely aghast, as every single Kakuna transformed into a Beedrill. Within seconds, the light show faded away, and the transformation of each individual Bug Type Pokemon was complete. The air was quickly filled with the sound of harsh buzzing again, and as one, the newly evolved swarm all narrowed their ruby red eyes on the cowering humans. Nolan grimaced as he realised what this meant.

They were right back where they'd started.

"Beedrill?!" Misty gaped at the newly evolved swarm in horrified disbelief.

"They all evolved together!" Nolan exclaimed, beginning to tremble with fear once more.

Before the horrified eyes of the small group of humans and their beloved Pokemon, dozens upon dozens of deadly Beedrill all came surging out of their nesting tree. Within seconds, the sky was full of the murderous yellow and black creatures, and it wasn't long before they set about Nolan and the others.

"RUN FOR IT!" Nolan bellowed over the cacophony of the threatening buzzing sound.

At his wise urging, everyone in the group all immediately scrambled to their feet, and crashed their way back through the bushes that they had initially hidden themselves in. A split-second later, the new swarm was after them.

"WWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

All four of the humans couldn't help but let out almost frenzied screams of panic as they found themselves running for their lives once more. Smashing through the forest undergrowth at a breakneck pace, they all fled as quickly as they could. It was no good though. The swarm was right behind them. Things certainly were looking very bleak for Nolan and his friends this time around, and for a horrible moment, Nolan truly did fear the worst.

Miraculously, those fears turned out to be for nought.

Scrambling down the established forest trail, Nolan and the others all rounded a corner, jumped over a fallen tree trunk, before they burst into a new clearing with all the grace of a Ponyta on rollerblades. And right there, bathed under the sunlight giving it an almost angelic glow, laid their salvation.

A cabin.

Someone, God only knew who, had built a little cabin out of logs and vines out here in the middle of the Viridian Forest. Nolan could have wept with joy upon seeing it. He had no idea what type of person would decide to live all the way out here in such isolation, and frankly he didn't care. He just prayed that the occupants were home right now, and that they'd let him and his friends take refuge there. Needless to say, the golden haired trainer made a beeline for the small wooden structure, his friends less than half a step behind him.

"My cabin!" the Samurai suddenly yelled over the harsh buzzing that was ringing in their ears, "I think we can make it!"

A strong surge of pure and unadulterated relief passed through Nolan's entire body upon hearing those words from the other boy's lips. At least now they didn't have to worry about gaining entry and asking permission to take refuge in their only shot at survival. Despite the fact that his legs were burning in protest by this point, Nolan forced himself to put on an extra burst of speed. His efforts were not in vain, and he quickly reached the exterior of the cabin. Moments later, he was joined by all the others.

"Open it!" the golden haired boy gasped out urgently.

Fumbling for a tense couple of seconds, the Samurai eventually draw out a small but sharp pocket knife. Nolan, Ash and Misty all watched as the Samurai then slid the knife down the gap between the door and its frame. It was clearly with the purpose of triggering some kind of clever mechanism, for moments later the door swung open to permit them entrance. Nolan didn't waste any time by being impressed by the Samurai's ingenuity, and immediately threw himself through the open doorway. He landed on the hard wooden floor with a soft grunt, as Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Meadow all followed his example. Finally, the Samurai crossed the cabin's threshold, swivelled on the balls of his feet, and with an almighty crash that was loud enough to wake the dead, he slammed the door shut behind them. The Samurai then frantically placed a large wooden plank into slots on either side of the door, barricading it shut.

At long last and against all odds, they were finally safe.

CRUNCH!

Then again, perhaps the relief that all of them had allowed themselves to feel was a little premature. Perhaps the group of young Pokemon trainers weren't quite as safe in the small wooden cabin as they'd initially thought.

CRUNCH!

Nolan's icy blue eyes practically bulged out of his head, and his jaw dropped wide open in horrified disbelief, when he realised what the source of the ominous crunching sound was. It was the sound that wood made when it began splintering apart. That could only mean one thing...

CRUNCH!

The golden haired boy yelped in shock and recoiled away from the door when all of a sudden, a gigantic stinger managed to pierce its way through solid wood, as the Beedrill outside made more and more desperate attempts to get at them. Nolan found himself praying that the door would hold. If it didn't... well, there'd be nowhere left to run.

CRUNCH!

Misty let out a small scream of fear and alarm as a second stinger joined the first, penetrating through the door as well. It wasn't without difficulty, but the Beedrill outside still managed it. The small group of humans and their Pokemon all waited with baited breath to see what would happen next, to learn what their ultimate fates would be.

What in reality was only about ten seconds, soon began to feel like an eternity.

Nolan was growing more and more nervous with each passing second, as he and everyone else all sat in the dark, staring at the door uneasily and with fear, hoping against hope that their sanctuary would hold out for the duration of this attack. They all looked on, trembling slightly with nerves, as at long last, the two stingers poking through the door wriggled about for a moment, before they retracted back out of the wooden surface. What was left were two small holes in the door that allowed a small trickle of sunlight to filter into the darkened room.

Swallowing hard, Nolan gathered his courage, and bravely peered through one of the small holes. What he saw made his stomach lurk unpleasantly. Dozens and dozens of Beedrill were swarming about the cabin, so it was obvious to Nolan that they had the entire hut surrounded, with no chance of escape. Loathed though the golden haired boy was to acknowledge it, he couldn't help but come to one awful conclusion that filled him with dread.

They were trapped.

"Phew!" Nolan heard the voice of his best friend say from behind him, "That was close".

Turning to face him, Nolan saw that Ash was still sprawled out on the floor of the cabin and was wiping his brow in relief. The golden haired boy immediately felt an intense surge of pure rage course through him at the sight. He couldn't believe that after all the trouble they had just gone through, in part thanks to the raven haired boy's own actions, Ash actually had the nerve to act like this was all over and done with. The naivety of the other boy's thought process was enough to make Nolan's blood boil. And it soon transpired that he wasn't the only member of the group that felt that way.

The Samurai, who had been busy removing his helmet, weapons and armour and placing them on a nearby table, scowled as he turned his attention back to the raven haired boy.

"I hope you've learnt your lesson, Novice" the Samurai spat angrily at the boy on the floor at his feet, "You letting that Weedle escape almost cost our lives!"

Ash immediately felt like his pride was being attacked, and he angrily leapt up to his feet as a result.

"Take back that 'Novice' crack!" Ash demanded, his tone filled with self-righteous anger.

It was the fact that his best friend seemed to be missing the point entirely that caused Nolan's temper to snap. Striding forwards, the golden haired boy got right up in Ash's face and scowled furiously at him.

"Why should he?" Nolan ground out through clenched teeth, his tone leaving no doubt that he mostly certainly was not pleased right now, "As far as I'm concerned, he's right!"

"Huh?!" Ash reared back in shock, his expression and tone both incredulous. He stared at his best friend, clearly hurt that Nolan wasn't taking his side in this argument. Nolan just gave him a flat look in response.

"You know, I really did think that you might have learnt something after that whole run-in with the Spearow flock" Nolan started disparagingly, his icy blue eyes narrowed in obvious annoyance, "But no! Despite all the trouble that happened that day, you're still the same old Ash!"

"What are you talking about?!" Ash angrily demanded to know, not liking the way that his best friend was speaking to him at all.

"You're still impulsive, you're still rash, and you still open your mouth before engaging your brain!" Nolan snapped at the raven haired boy, honestly wanting to wring his neck as he ranted and raved, "Honestly, it's like you're incapable of learning from your past mistakes!"

Ash's jaw dropped wide open in incredulous outrage.

"What mistakes?!" the raven haired boy burst out.

"Seriously?!" Nolan couldn't help but gape at his friend in sheer disbelief, "You actually don't know?! Alright then Ash, I'll clue you in. When you're hiding in a bush to escape from a horde of dangerous Pokemon, it generally isn't a smart move to then start shouting at the top of your lungs! As proven today, it really doesn't end well!"

Ash deflated slightly, but quickly found a second wind.

"I was just pleased to see that Metapod was safe, that's all!" the raven haired boy tried to defend his earlier actions, although he was starting to see Nolan's point, "I didn't know that all those Kakuna were going to evolve and chase us!"

"No! You mean you didn't think about the possibility of them doing that!" Nolan retorted angrily, "If you had just thought for once instead of just blurting out whatever's on your mind like you always do, you could have quietly returned Metapod to his pokeball without alerting the Kakuna. He would be safe, and we wouldn't be trapped in here! Now, because of your carelessness, we'll all stuck!"

"Stuck?" Ash repeated blankly. Honestly, it was like he was being dense on purpose or something.

"Well those Beedrill outside aren't likely to be going anywhere anytime soon, are they?!" Nolan snapped back at him angrily, "Not when they know that we're trapped in here with nowhere to go!"

Ash swallowed hard, realising that everything that Nolan had said was right. The raven haired boy immediately felt utterly terrible about this horrible situation that he had accidently landed them all in. He opened his mouth to say something, to maybe even apologise, but he found that the words just wouldn't come. Eventually, he settled for just looking down at the floor in shame. Nolan took a deep breath, trying to get his brewing temper back under control, but before he could manage that seemingly impossible task, the golden haired boy made the mistake of looking at the others.

Upon doing so, his anger levels immediately skyrocketed again.

Whilst Misty, Meadow and Pikachu had all wisely made the decision to keep out of the little spat between Nolan and Ash, the Samurai unfortunately had not shown the same level of restraint. The boy had an infuriatingly smug smirk plastered all over his face as he enjoyed watching Nolan tearing into Ash. Needless to say, when the golden haired boy saw his expression, he most definitely was not impressed, and Nolan had no qualms about letting that fact be known.

"And I don't know what you're smirking at, because you're not much better than him in my book!" Nolan snarled at him bluntly.

The Samurai's smirk evaporated off his face in less than a second.

"What?" the eccentric boy blinked in utter confusion, "How am I as incompetent as the Novice?"

Nolan couldn't help but scoff at the sheer gall of the other boy.

"Ash was responsible for the second swarm chasing us" Nolan allowed, though he continued with his tirade before the Samurai had a chance to interrupt him, "But that first wave of Beedrill only came after us because of you!"

The Samurai's jaw dropped wide open in incredulous disbelief.

"That is not true!" the somewhat eccentric boy protested heatedly, clearly very offended by the accusation made against him, "They came after us because the Novice let that Weedle he engaged in battle to escape. The fault lies with him, not with me!"

Nolan couldn't help but scoff out of sheer disbelief.

"You really can't see how you are the one to blame for that entire situation?" Nolan asked him incredulously.

"I fail to see how I am the one at fault" the Samurai confirmed with a stiff nod of his head, "Furthermore, Observant One, I..."

But Nolan's patience had finally reached its end.

Without even bothering to wait to listen to what else the other boy might have to say, Nolan immediately lunged into action. In one quick motion, the golden haired boy had snatched up the Samurai's sword from where it had been discarded on the table, and swung it through the air. He stopped it about an inch or so away from the Samurai's exposed neck. Needless to say, his extreme actions provoked quite a dramatic reaction from all the others.

"Nolan?!" Ash and Misty both jolted in shock, very alarmed by such violent and threatening behaviour, which was totally out of character for their usually sweet and kind friend.

"Chu!" Pikachu jumped anxiously.

"Bulba! Bulbasaur!" Meadow looked up at her beloved human anxiously, very concerned about this turn of events as well.

But unsurprisingly, it was the Samurai himself that had the biggest reaction.

The somewhat eccentric boy immediately recoiled in shock and horror, his dark eyes going very wide with fear. When he spoke, his normal cocky confidence had vanished, giving way to a nervous tremble in his voice.

"B-be careful!" the Samurai stammered out, a hint of a desperate plea in his tone and expression, "T-that can... b-be very dan-dangerous if y-you don't know h-how to wield it!"

"I think it can be very dangerous regardless of if you know how to use one or not" Nolan replied flippantly, not moving the blade so much as an inch, before he almost casually asked, "Furthermore, you...?"

Nolan trailed off, leaving the prompt hanging in the air. The Samurai just stared at him, fearful and utterly confused.

"W-what?" the Samurai questioned, still nervously eyeing the blade held to his neck.

"You started to say something to me" Nolan reminded him, forcing himself to remain impassive despite how horrible it made him feel to frighten another human being like this. He couldn't back down now though. It was important that the Samurai understood the point that he was trying to make, "What were you going to say?"

"I... I don't..." the Samurai was seriously beginning to struggle to speak. He had never been in a situation like this before. It was always him holding a sword to somebody else, not them holding one to him, and now he didn't know how to react. And that scared him. It scared him more than anything else ever had before in his entire life. The boy was quickly becoming a trembling mess, but Nolan refused to relent.

"Come on!" the golden haired boy persisted in a hard tone of voice, "What were you going to say?"

"I... don't know!" the other boy stammered.

"How can you not know?" Nolan demanded to know, though he already knew the answer to that question. It was the whole point behind him doing any of this to the other boy after all, "It was barely even a minute ago!"

"I... I can't r-remember!" the Samurai managed to gasp out, practically vibrating by this point, he was quivering so badly, "Please! I swear I can't remember!"

CLANG!

The echoing noise was so loud that everyone in the cabin jumped, and for a split-second, the Samurai truly did fear the worst. His heart pounded in his chest and his eyes involuntarily squeezed tightly shut as he expected to be welcomed into the cold embrace of death. A moment passed. Then another. It was only after the third did the Samurai come to a most startling realisation.

He wasn't dead!

He was still breathing, which meant that he couldn't be dead. Dumbstruck by this revelation, the Samurai almost wept with joy and relief. He actually even swayed on his feet slightly, he was so overcome with emotion. After a couple of tense moments, he finally managed to open his eyes again, and when he did he saw that Nolan had thrown the sword down to the ground. Now the golden haired boy was just standing before him, a darkly triumphant smirk on his face. The Samurai couldn't help but gape at him in astonishment.

He wasn't the only one.

Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Meadow were all staring at their friend with their mouths wide open due to sheer disbelief. It was almost like he was a stranger, they were so thrown off by his extreme and almost cruel behaviour. Nolan just ignored them all for the moment though. Instead, he kept his focus solely upon the Samurai.

"It's amazing how blank the mind goes when you have a sword pointed at your head, isn't it?" Nolan said, almost conversationally.

And just like that, the Samurai finally understood.

The boy's dark eyes widened to almost comical proportions as the truth sank in with him. He was the one to blame for this entire mess. Having a sword pointed towards his head whilst being totally unarmed was one of the most frightening experiences of his whole life, so it wasn't unreasonable to assume that Ash, and even Misty and Nolan, had felt the same intense terror when confronted with the same situation. He hadn't been able to think clearly, so why should he have expected Ash to be able to? And now the other boy's failure at catching that wild Weedle suddenly didn't seem quite so black and white anymore. Not when he had distracted Ash from that task so thoroughly with the actions he could now see were very terrorising. Suddenly, the Samurai was overcome with another emotion: guilt.

This really was all his fault!

Nolan on the other hand had carefully clocked the other boy's reaction, and when he saw that the Samurai now finally understood how his own actions had played such a monumental part in the chain of events, he dialled his grilling back a little bit. He made it so that he was addressing both Ash and the Samurai when he spoke his next words.

"I hope you two realise now what you've allowed your pathetic egos to cause" he told the other boys bluntly, causing them both to flinch in shame and self-disgust, "And just know this - if anything bad happens to Metapod, its on both of you. I hope you two can live with that".

And without so much as sparing them another glance, Nolan then whirled on his heel, and marched off down to the other end of the cabin. Once he had put as much distance between himself and the others as was possible at the moment, the golden haired boy then sat down cross-legged on the floor, and silently continued to fume about the current predicament that they found themselves in.

Needless to say, no one dared to speak to him again for the remainder of the night.

And there's another chapter down : )

One more to go, and that'll be another episode wrapped up : )

Now, I want to take a moment to talk about Nolan's behaviour in this chapter. I know that it might seem a little out of character for him to literally hold a sword to somebody's head, but I also REALLY wanted him to drive home the point that he was trying to make to the Samurai. I think we can safely say he managed to achieve that XD I also think that Nolan would want to point out Ash's misdemeanours as well, so yeah, he's pretty ticked off with both of them right now ; ) To all the people that asked me in reviews to make sure the Samurai got called out on his behaviour, well, I hope you enjoyed that scene as much as I enjoyed writing it : )

Beyond that, let's move on to today's voting topic. It's another new evolution vote, this time for defeating Sabrina. Fun fact, this is the one gym leader I was seriously worried about facing when I first started my Nuzlocke, and yet bizarrely, she turned out to be the easiest one as I literally wiped out each and every one of her Pokemon without there even being any close calls : ) Funny that : ) Anyway, the options to pick a new evolution for are: - Meadow the Ivysaur, Welkin the Pidgey, Geodude, Voltorb, Jigglypuff, Koffing, Kadabra, Poliwag, Meowth, Venonat and Electabuzz.

And I think that's just about everything for this week, so thank you all so much for reading this chapter, and please leave a review on your way out.

Until the next time, keep on reading : )