I WON! I WON MY ORANGE ISLAND NUZLOCKE! I BEAT THE CHAMPION! I WON!

Hehe - sorry XD As you may be able to tell, I'm pretty excited right now. I probably should have mentioned last time that after I posted the last chapter, I would be taking on Champion Drake in the Nuzlocke. I guess I forgot considering just how exhausted I was the day I last posted on this story : )

But yeah! I WON! I'll give you more details on exactly what happened in the footnote, but this means we're closing in fast on the end of the Orange Islands Nuzlocke votes now ; ) And speaking of which, I am very surprised to announce that the winner of the last Evolution Vote was... Porygon! I'm REALLY pleased about this one, because out of the three Pokemon I was secretly hoping for, I thought this one would be the least likely to get picked. I also feel like Porygon2 is underrated because it's never been in the anime, so I'm excited that I can give Nolan on in my story : )

Finally, I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited, and followed this story. The support that has been shown to the story is amazing, and it means so much to me, so thank you : )

Please remember that Pokemon is not mine, only my OC's are : )

I hope you enjoy this chapter : )

The School of Hard Knocks - Part 1

Nolan couldn't help but feel rather uneasy as he tried - and failed miserably - to see through the thick pearly white fog that seemed to be closing in around him. He rubbed his arms in an effort to stave off the cold that the strange mist had brought with it, and squinted as he tried to find his bearings. It was to no avail though. The fog was as thick as pea-soup, and Nolan could barely see his hand in front of his face, it was so obscuring, let alone the path beneath his feet. The golden haired boy just couldn't understand it. This morning when he and his friends had packed up their latest campsite and resumed their journey to Vermillion City, the sky had been a brilliant shade of blue and utterly cloudless. It had seemed as though they had been all set for a glorious day of travelling. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a dense mist had come rolling in and settled across the land, making navigating the terrain tricky, and dashing any hopes that the young trainers might have had about reaching their seaside destination anytime soon.

The whole thing was a bit of a mystery, and not the kind that intrigued Nolan. No. This was the kind of mystery that irritated the boy right down to his core.

Still, there was precious little that Nolan could do about the weather though, so he tried not to let it get him down as he and his friends continued on their way, stumbling through the thick fog and trying not to lose each other as they went. The weather wasn't the only challenge to Nolan's mental state that morning however. Somehow - Nolan didn't know for sure how - the topic of Misty's ruined bicycle had been brought up again. Nolan had honestly forgotten all about that little incident since so much had happened since then, but evidently Misty hadn't, and apparently she had seen fit to bring it up now of all times. Nolan wouldn't say that she and Ash were arguing about it per say, but they weren't far off. Either way, their conversation was enough to get on the golden haired boy's already rather frazzled nerves.

"Ash, you're making this into a bigger deal then it is" Misty let out a sigh of sheer exasperation as the four trainers and their Pokemon walked along, "It was just an innocent reminder, that's all. I wasn't trying to accuse you of anything".

The raven haired boy to whom she was speaking let out a short, sceptical huff. It was clear that he didn't believe her.

"Yeah? Well it sounded as though you were implying that I have no intention of paying you back" Ash muttered, his tone and expression both rather petulant, "And that's just not true. So excuse me for being upset when someone basically says that they don't think I honour my debts".

"I wasn't implying anything of the sort!" Misty was starting to get annoyed as well now, wishing that she hadn't even brought this up, although she didn't think that she was in the wrong to do so, "I was just wondering when you're going to replace my bike, that's all. It was my property that was destroyed after all!"

Ash's scowl only darkened with each word she spoke.

"Why does it matter when?!" the raven haired boy couldn't stop himself from snapping at his friend this time despite his best efforts, "Unless you're that desperate to get away from us!"

Misty's jaw dropped wide open. She looked as if her friend had just slapped her.

"Ash... of course that isn't the reason why I want my bike replacing!" Misty whispered, and this time any trace of frustration was gone from her tone. She just sounded deeply, deeply hurt by what Ash had just said, "It's just... that bike was the very first thing I ever bought for myself after I became a Pokemon Trainer. Me and my Pokemon worked very hard to earn the money for it, so it was special to me. That's why I was so upset when it got wrecked, despite how important it was that you borrowed it that day".

Ash swallowed hard. Any wound to his pride was forgotten after hearing those words. Now all he felt was shame for how badly he'd reacted.

"Misty... I'm sorry. I should never have said that to you. I know it isn't true. I'm really sorry" the raven haired boy hung his head, feeling guilty, "And I am sorry about your bike. I will replace it when I can. To be honest with you, I've already been saving as much money as I can from all the battles I've been winning so I can buy you a new one. So I promise you, I am on top of it".

Misty swallowed hard, still a little hurt by Ash's earlier harsh words, but willing to accept his apology. She could tell that it was genuine after all.

"Thank you Ash" she said appreciatively, before feeling the need to add, "And just so you know, even after you've replaced my bike, I'll be sending it back to my home in Cerulean City to go into storage. I... I want to stay with you guys on the road... if that's alright".

Ash couldn't help but smile warmly upon hearing those words.

"Of course it's alright!" Ash spoke up for everyone. It was the honest truth after all. If Misty ever left them, each one of the three boys in their group would feel her absence keenly. They were all very much hoping that the day for goodbyes was a long, long way off, if ever at all.

Misty beamed at him, and at long last it felt as though the matter had been truly put to bed. Brock, who like Nolan had been keeping out of this little spat so that their friends could resolve it by themselves, now felt that things had eased up enough to break back into the conversation.

"Now that that's been decided, maybe we could all turn our attention back to the matter at hand" the older boy suggested, and Ash and Misty both nodded at him, as did Nolan from his position of to the side, "And that's finding our way to Vermillion City".

"Well..." Nolan chimed in too, looking around their little group and seeing nothing but fog in every direction, "To do that we'll first have to find our way out of this fog".

The others all nodded, knowing that that was going to be a problem.

"Anyone have any ideas?" the blonde haired Pokemon trainer asked his friends.

They didn't.

Nolan couldn't help but sigh tiredly when, in almost perfect synchronisation, Ash, Misty and Brock all regretfully shook their heads. He couldn't blame them however. He was coming up empty too.

"Perhaps we should just take a break then" the golden haired boy suggested with a frown. He didn't like his own idea very much, but he honestly couldn't see what other option they had, "There's not much point in continuing if we can't see where we're going. We'll just wind up getting lost".

Ash and Misty both begrudgingly agreed that he had a point, whilst Meadow and Pikachu both looked disappointed as well. Brock alone didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed oddly happy about this latest turn of events.

"Well in that case, why don't I just throw a little something together?" and without even waiting for a response from any of his friends, Brock then set his huge backpack down on the ground and immediately began rummaging around inside of it.

To the utter astonishment of Nolan, Ash and Misty, the older boy produced from his backpack in quick succession; a large foldaway table, four foldaway chairs, a table cloths, four plates, four sets of cutlery, four ornately patterned teacups and a matching teapot, two Pokemon food bowls, a variety of condiments and lots of different foodstuff. Within two minutes, the aspiring Pokemon Breeder had everything set up, before he finally looked up at his friends again, not noticing the way that they were all sweat-dropping, nor their incredulous expressions.

"Ah!" Brock exclaimed in a self-satisfied manner, triumphantly holding up a blue jar containing a mound of coffee granules, "There's nothing as satisfying as a cup of one hundred percent Cerulean Coffee!"

He then spared his friends another glance, his expression becoming rather thoughtful.

"You kids are too young for this stuff, but it's really quite good" the older boy remarked, completely missing the way that Nolan indignantly rolled his eyes for his choice of words, before he set down the jar of coffee on the table, and offered them a small purple drinks can instead, "How about some Prune Juice?"

Ash and Nolan both eyes the purple can in his hand wearily.

"I think I'll pass..." a slightly stunned Ash said slowly after a moment or two had passed.

"Me too" Nolan shook his head, a small frown etching itself into his face, "I'm more of a tea drinker to be honest".

"Hey!" Misty chimed in brightly upon hearing her golden haired friend's comment, "I know a great recipe for a nice herbal tea!"

Nolan perked up slightly upon hearing that, but Ash couldn't help but look at the orange haired girl doubtfully. Already he could see a flaw in her idea, and felt the need to point it out to her.

"Err... Misty" the raven haired boy said to catch her attention, "Where exactly are we going to get the herbs to make tea out of out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Oh..." Misty sighed, immediately becoming disheartened, "You're right..."

"Not so fast you guys" Brock reproached the two younger trainers, playfully waggling his finger at them, "I might not have herbs, but I still have teabags, and I just so happened to have brought my official Pokemon tea set!"

Brock gestured towards the table proudly. Nolan saw what he meant. The four ornate tea cups and the teapot he had set upon it earlier were all patterned with various Pokemon. The teapot had the images of a Raichu and a Clefairy on it, whilst the teacups were embossed with the pictures of Victreebel and Venomoth. Nolan couldn't help but chuckle slightly. He had a feeling that Iris in particular would get a kick out of that.

"Now of course the key to good tea and coffee is good water..." the aspiring Pokemon Breeder continued, walking back over to his backpack and beginning to rummage through it again, "And I just happen to have a generous supply of sparkling, delicious Mount Moon pure spring water!"

Evidently the eldest member of their group had found what he was looking for, and pulled out a bottle of water from his backpack. Brock held it up in the air triumphantly, and Nolan saw that just like the other boy had claimed, the label held the familiar image of Mount Moon on it. Again, the golden haired boy found himself smiling, looking back with fond memories of that particular Kanto landmark. He ran his fingers across the surface of Xanthite's pokeball and smiled softly to himself.

"And for zee special snack..." Brock spoke again, pulling Nolan out of his happy memories and back to the present. He stared in bewilderment at the strange accent that Brock was trying, and failing, to pull of, "I have for you some Kalosian Crepes".

Oh. That's what Brock was trying to do. Pull off a Kalos accent.

Nolan wouldn't have guessed that in a million years, the attempt was so bad. The golden haired boy smirked, but chose to keep his thoughts to himself. At his side however, Misty was less concerned about Brock's dodgy accent, and more concerned about what he had just told them. All at once, her vermillion coloured eyes began sparkling with pure and unadulterated excitement.

"Ooh! I love Kalosian things!" the orange haired girl gasped, a dreamy expression appearing on her face, "They're so romantic, aren't they?"

Nolan couldn't resist throwing her a playful smile upon hearing her exclamation.

"You know, for a self-proclaimed tomboy, you sure are a romantic at heart, aren't you Misty?" the golden haired boy teasingly nudged her. Misty winked at him as she responded.

"What can I say?" the Water Type Pokemon Specialist playfully shrugged her shoulders at her friend, "I like what I like, and that's romantic things. Especially Kalosian romantic things!"

And with just those few simple words, Misty found herself falling into a beautiful, and rather well-detailed daydream. She could quite clearly see herself sitting on a rooftop terrace in Lumiose City in the Kalos region, the Prism Tower standing resplendently in the background, as she delicately ate a plateful of delicious Kalosian crepes. It really was the most wonderful of images, and Misty wishes with all her heart in that moment that it could be true. Sadly, it wasn't, as reality was about to remind her.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

Misty jolted forwards slightly in surprise, the mesmerising illusion that her mind's eye had summoned up instantly shattering as she was brought back down to reality with a bump. Curious, and a little bit annoyed, Misty looked around for the source of the harsh crunching noise. It didn't take her look to find it, and when she did, Misty couldn't help but sigh out of sheer exasperation. Ash, clearly too hungry to wait for the others, had picked up an apple from the table, and was now gnawing on it, rather loudly too.

"You know Ash..." Misty shook her head at her raven haired friend in exasperated amusement, "I was actually enjoying that daydream before you snapped me out of it with all that crunching".

Ash wiped a small speck off apple off his cheek before he smirked over at her.

"Sorry Misty, but you know my stomach waits for no man, or woman as the case may be" he told her teasingly.

"Truer words have never been spoken" Nolan chimed into their conversation as he helped Brock by setting out the knives and forks on the tables, "I remember once we went to this little place in Pallet Town that do these amazing cheese burgers. By the time I had managed to finish one, Ash was already on his fourth!"

Misty laughed, her eyes going wide with both awe and amusement.

"That's because you eat as slowly as a Pidgey!" Ash protested a little indignantly, but he was still smiling at his best friend, "Seriously, you just nibble! You really need to learn to take proper big boy bites!"

Misty laughed again when Nolan blushed a little bit in embarrassment. Meadow and Pikachu both looked rather amused by the display as well.

The orange haired girl opened her mouth to join in on their playful banter, but sadly for her she never got the chance to. For at that moment, Brock broke back into the conversation, and he was far from being at the point where he was ready to laugh and joke with them just yet.

"Sorry to interrupt..." the older boy drawled, his tone sarcastic and really not sorry at all, "But I can't cook crepes and I can't boil water... if I don't have a fire!"

The snap of his tone caused Nolan, Ash and Misty to all gulp nervously as the older boy loomed over them. Almost as if Brock was their drill sergeant or something, the three younger Pokemon Trainers all immediately stood at attention, their backs rigidly straight, their attention focused entirely on the aspiring Pokemon Breeder.

"One of you is going to have to go into the forest and carry back some firewood!" Brock announced. His tone didn't invite any form of argument from the other three trainers.

"That's an excellent idea Brock!" Misty piped up brightly, far too brightly to actually by genuine, causing Nolan, Ash and Brock to all sweat-drop as they immediately caught on to her ploy, "And I'm willing to sacrifice the excitement of searching for firewood to stay here and keep you company!"

Nolan couldn't quite stop himself from scoffing at her words. That had to be the worst excuse he'd ever heard, including 'The Growlithe ate my homework'. Neither Ash nor Brock looked overly impressed with the girl's reasoning either, but none of the boys felt like arguing about it, so they decided to just let her off the hook this time.

"Well... I guess that means that..." Brock trailed off awkwardly. He didn't have to say anything anyway. It was already perfectly obvious what it meant.

"Yeah!" Ash burst out indignantly, his shoulders slumping in a bit of an over-dramatic fashion, "I'm going!"

The raven haired boy let out a long suffering sigh, prompting the aspiring Pokemon Breeder to frown at him.

"Well... you or Nolan" he reasoned.

"So probably me then" Ash whined, glancing pitifully over at his best friend. The golden haired boy couldn't help but roll his eyes at the other boy's antics. He was turning this into a bigger deal than it needed to be.

"Don't be such a baby about it Ash" Nolan lightly chided his friend, who looked sour about his choice of words, "If it bothers you that much, I'll come with you".

"Yeah?" Ash looked a little hopeful. Nolan smirked.

"Sure" the golden haired boy nodded faux-seriously, keeping a straight face as he said, "You can carry the firewood and I'll be there to keep you company".

Behind him, Brock snorted and Misty giggled. It was because of their reactions that Nolan's mask of seriousness broke. He let out a long hard laugh at the expression on Ash's face. It was absolutely priceless.

"Very funny" the raven haired boy playfully rolled his eyes when he realised that Nolan was just teasing him.

Shaking his head fondly, Nolan then turned to look down at his beloved Pokemon partner. He found Meadow smiling up at him, clearly amused by the humans' antics.

"You wanna come with? You can stay here and relax if you'd prefer" he offered her kindly.

"Bulba" Meadow couldn't refrain from rolling her eyes at him. As if she was just going to let her beloved human go wandering off into a fog so thick without her there to protect him. The little Grass Type Pokemon walked over to his side and affectionately nuzzled his leg. It was clear what her decision was.

"Right, let's get going" he said to those heading out, before he teasingly said, "Wouldn't want to stand between Misty and her Kalosian Crepes".

The sound of the orange haired girl's laughter followed them all the way out of their impromptu campsite.

Whilst admittedly the task of searching through a dense fog for any dry branches that they could use for firewood wasn't exactly an activity that Nolan relished, the golden haired boy couldn't help but think that his best friend was taking his complaining to a previously undiscovered level. The two boys, along with Meadow and Pikachu, were making their way further and further into the forest, trying not to lose each other in the mist as they went. Whilst Nolan and the two Pokemon were all fine, Ash was practically crouched over, his shoulders were slumped so low in utter dejection.

"Here firewood... here firewood..." the raven haired boy began calling out when his boredom for this chore got too much for him to handle, "No firewood here, you guys".

Nolan couldn't help but scoff lightly in amusement at his best friend's antics.

"Well what were you expecting?" the golden haired boy couldn't refrain from teasing the boy who was practically his brother a little bit, "For a bunch of firewood to come running up to you just because you called for it?"

Ash apparently couldn't see the humour in his words though. The raven haired boy just slumped again in defeat.

"Why do we always have to do all..." unfortunately for Ash, his latest whining protest was cut short, for at that exact moment, their two partner Pokemon noticed something up ahead through the fog shrouding the forest.

"Saur! Bulbasaur!" Meadow called out, alerting the humans that they had spotted something.

"Pikapi! Pikachu!" Pikachu added, pointing off into the distance with his tiny paw.

Nolan and Ash both followed the little yellow finger with their eyes, and saw to their joint surprise that there was something glowing up ahead of them. The yellow light, whatever it was, was so bright that it was actually cutting its way through the fog. Nolan couldn't help but wonder what could manage such an impressive feat out here in the middle of nowhere.

"Hey!" Ash cheered, suddenly sounding a lot happier, "It looks like a fire! Maybe whoever set it will let us have some of their firewood!"

"I suppose it's worth checking out" Nolan nodded his head slowly in agreement.

The two boys and their Pokemon began to approach the large glowing ball of light, but as they got closer they realised, much to their disappointment, that the bright light wasn't a fire as they'd initially suspected, but something far more... bizarre indeed. Nolan's jaw actually dropped wide open in utter bewilderment at the sight that met his eyes.

Six humans, five of them teenage boys and the last a sandy haired boy of roughly Nolan and Ash's own age, all wearing smartly pressed suits that looked like a uniform of sorts, were what was the source of the light. Well, not the boys themselves of course, but rather the wax candles that the five older boys were all carrying, the small flames cast eerie shadows across their faces. Perhaps most inexplicable of all though, was the fact that they were gathered around a treadmill of all things. The large piece of gym equipment was hooked up to a portable battery unit, which explained how it was operational out here in the forest, but not what it was doing there in the first place, nor why the youngest boy was running on it whilst the five older boys all stood around him.

Utterly bewildered, Nolan and Ash both ventured closer. As they got within earshot however, the boy on the treadmill apparently lost his footing for he suddenly came flying off the back of it, landing in a crumpled heap on the ground. Nolan couldn't help but wince in sympathy. That had to have hurt. Still, the two Pokemon trainers drew closer to the other group.

"I'm sorry..." they heard the boy on the ground whimper softly as they got closer. Nolan saw him drag himself to his knees, but frowned when he noticed all the older boys were glaring down at the fallen boy with unmistakable anger on their faces, "I... I forgot".

One of the older boys stepped forwards as the younger boy appeared to grovel at his feet. The teenager had striking red hair, and a nasty expression on his face. Nolan narrowed his eyes as he watched all of this playing out from a distance. He didn't like the look of this. Not. One. Bit. At his side, Ash felt much the same if his expression was anything to go by.

"You forgot" the red haired boy sneered down at the boy on all fours at his feet, his eyes glinting with malice and contempt, "And you call yourself a Pokemon Tech student? Well we don't want to study with the likes of you".

The sandy haired boy hung his head miserably.

"I'm sorry" he apologised weakly once more. He looked utterly downtrodden, but perhaps most heartbreakingly of all, used to this type of treatment.

Nolan narrowed his eyes as he felt a wave of righteous anger washing over him. This was bullying. Plain and simple. He had seen enough to convince him of that, and he wasn't about to stand by and watch it continue. Before Nolan could do or say anything though, Ash, evidently just as angry about what they had just witnessed as Nolan himself was, suddenly burst in action before the golden haired boy could even think about intervening.

"HEY! LEAVE THAT KID ALONE!" the raven haired boy bellowed angrily as he sprinted over to the other group, Pikachu at his side and both of them looking furious, "What's going on here?!"

The group of boys, who Nolan quickly realised were students of some sort, all looked briefly surprised by the interruption, but it quickly shifted into outright annoyance as they looked down at Ash and Pikachu with contempt. The red haired boy they'd seen picking on the other boy huffed, but actually answered Ash's furious question.

"There's nothing going on here, mind your own business" he snapped at the raven haired boy, clearly not used to people questioning him and not much caring for it either, "This is a private training session".

"Oh really? Well it looks more like a group of bullies all picking on someone who won't defend himself!" Nolan said hotly as he walked up to the group, more calmly than Ash had done, but still clearly quite angry. Meadow was at his side, and she looked mighty ticked off as well. Neither one of them had much tolerance for bullying after all.

The five older boys all just looked down their noses condescendingly at the new arrival as if he was some sort of half-wit.

"We're not bullying him, you little busybody" one of the accused bullies, a tall boy with long green hair that was styled into shape with copious amounts of hair gel replied, "We're trying to help him. There's no room in our Pokemon School for losers who don't even know Pidgey's evolved stage. We have to maintain certain standards".

Neither Ash nor Nolan particularly liked the sound of that, but whilst Ash was more than happy to argue the point, Nolan on the other hand was more focused on the fallen boy right now. A cursory sweep with his eyes revealed that the timid boy had no injuries, but Nolan still helped him to his feet. The boy muttered a quiet 'thank you', but meekly ducked his head. It was obvious that he'd rather be anywhere but where he was in that moment.

"I don't know about this school of yours..." Ash immediately spat in response to the group of pretentious bullies, "But if it's turning out students like you, I'd have to say the standards are pretty low!"

For the first time since Nolan and Ash had confronted them, the five older boys looked a little annoyed as opposed to smug. It was clear that that remark about their precious school had struck a nerve. Before any of the bullies had a chance to respond to Ash's comment however, they all heard the sound of approaching footsteps, before a familiar voice called out to them.

"That's right Ash! You tell 'em!" the voice exclaimed.

Turning to look over their shoulders, Ash and Nolan were both surprised to see that Misty was approaching them. Nolan couldn't help but wonder what she was doing there when she had wanted to stay back at their impromptu campsite, but now wasn't the time to ask that question. The matter at hand was far more important right now.

"You'd better stop bullying that kid!" Misty glared past her friends at the group of older boys, who all just looked amused by the girl as opposed to intimidated, "Or you'll have to answer to us! Right Ash? Nolan?"

Although he appreciated the support, Ash really didn't want his friend getting tangled up in this.

"Misty, you stay out of this!" he said, his russet coloured eyes conveying to the girl that he was concerned for her wellbeing as opposed to not thinking she was up to the task of helping out here, which she appreciated, "Leave it to me and Nolan!"

Nolan honestly expected Misty to fly off the handle after Ash had spoke those words. He knew that the Water Type Pokemon Specialist most certainly did not take kindly to being wrapped in cotton wool, especially from a guy. She was always adamant that she could hold her own just as well as any boy could, thank you very much. It was for that reason that Nolan was astonished to see Misty smirk in response to Ash's well-meaning words, as opposed to looking furious.

"You're right Ash" she nodded calmly, confusing Nolan even further, though Ash didn't seem to notice anything odd about her demeanour in this situation, "There's no reason for all of us to get into a fight. It's very brave of you to take on all five of them with just Nolan for backup".

And just like that, Nolan realised exactly what she was doing. Knew exactly what point she was trying to drill into the stubborn raven haired boy's head.

Nolan couldn't help but grimace slightly as he looked back towards the group of bullies. All five of them were smirking arrogantly at him and Ash, clearly confident that they would obliterate them in a fight. Nolan really hoped that this wasn't going to escalate into a physical confrontation. The last thing that he needed today was to get beat up, thank you very much.

Ash seemed to have got the message as well. He looked a lot less certain of himself as Misty continued speaking.

"I'll be here on the sidelines, cheering you and Nolan on, ready to drag your carcasses away at the end" the orange haired girl continued pointedly, very much hoping that her message was received and understood by her stubborn friend, "Show them what big strong men you guys are!"

Nolan tensed up and mentally braced himself, but thankfully the group of bullies seemed more amused by the whole thing than being serious about actually fighting with the younger boys. They just sneered down at them, as though Ash and Nolan were merely something unpleasant that they'd accidentally trodden in. Nolan couldn't decide if that was worse or not, and he wouldn't be getting the chance to find out.

"We don't fight" the red haired boy that seemed to be the leader of the group of bullies said smoothly. Nolan honestly felt relieved, but he refused to allow that emotion to show on his face.

"Fighting is for cavemen" the boy with the styled green hair added, his tone little more than a sarcastic drawl, "This isn't the stone age you know".

Another one of the bullies, that one having long purple hair that fell past his shoulders, stepped forwards.

"And if we wasted our time having a fight with a pair of little insects like the two of you" he drawled scathingly at Ash and Nolan, who were both steadily getting more wound up with each word they heard, "It would just make Pokemon Tech look really bad".

Behind him, the other two bullies, a boy with a cyan blue bowl cut and the other a boy with dark brown hair, both nodded vigorously in agreement with the purple haired boy's assessment. Neither one of them spoke up though. Clearly tiring of the confrontation by this point, the green haired boy that appeared to be the second-in-command calmly stalked up to the boy that Nolan had earlier helped to his feet.

"Well see you back at The Tech, Joe" he said in a low, ominous tone.

Nolan narrowed his eyes. That sounded almost like a threat to him, and he couldn't help but pray that he and Ash hadn't just made things infinitely worse for the other boy. After all, it's not like they'd be around to look after the timid boy for any lengthy period of time. He would have to learn to defend himself at some point, but that point clearly wasn't right now since the boy, Joe, just nodded sullenly.

"Okay" he said meekly to the five older boys.

Deeming his response enough, the five bullies then began to turn their backs on Nolan and the others, evidently done with them.

"Hey!" Ash protested at being given the brush-off, not liking the way that those older boys were just walking off before he was finished, "Maybe you cowards are just afraid to fight people like me and Nolan!"

The red haired boy sneered condescendingly back over his shoulder at the two Pokemon trainers.

"The only thing we're afraid of is how badly we'd beat a pair of little punks like you two!" he taunted viciously, causing Nolan to narrow his eyes at him in distain.

"Yeah, I'm getting that impression" the golden haired boy drawled sarcastically before he could stop himself, "You know, what with you and the other Pack Meowth all running away from us!"

This time it was the guy with the deep green hair that responded. He had a malignant smirk on his nasty little face as he regarded Nolan.

"The only reason we're leaving is because we can no longer stand the utter stench of you two wilderness cretins" he taunted viciously, before a particularly malicious gleam appeared in his eye, "I bet your parents are just as much a pair of urchins as you clearly are! It's no wonder you turned out so pathetic, if you come from bad blood like that. Not even two pennies to rub together! Ha!"

Nolan's jaw dropped wide open, his face immediately turning crimson with outrage. He couldn't believe that his family had just been brought into this. In fact, it took every ounce of self-restraint that the boy possessed not to lunge at the other kid, and rip his tongue clean out of his head for that despicable remark. Sadly, he knew what his father's opinion would be on that type of behaviour though, regardless of the insult made against him and their little family. So instead, Nolan opened his mouth to fire off a no doubt scathing insult in retaliation, but unfortunately for the golden haired boy, he never got the chance to.

Evidently the older boys were now bored of this conversation and their presence, so cackling and hooting with laughter, the five boys with their arrogant smirks and their smart suits then all disregarded Nolan and Ash completely. Turning in almost perfect synchronisation, the five bullies all just stalked away, no doubt making plenty of mocking remarks about them as they went. Seconds later, they disappeared completely into the fog, vanishing from sight altogether.

Ash and Nolan were both left seething in their wake.

And there we have it, the beginning of a new episode : )

I actually don't have very much to say about this chapter content wise, because I've had this one written months in advance : ) So I think I'll just move straight on to the details of how I won against Champion Drake in the Nuzlocke. As you guys may remember, I mentioned that there was no Elite Four in this Rom Hack, so it was just a straight-forward battle against the Champion himself. Here's the details of the team I took in with me: -

Meadow the Venusaur - Earthquake, Sleep Powder, Solarbeam and Razor Leaf.

Kangaskhan- Aerial Ace, Reversal, Brick Break and Mega Punch.

Alakazam - Future Sight, Psychic, Reflect and Recover.

Tentacruel - Ice Beam, Surf, Hydro Pump and Acid.

Vulpix - Flamethrower, Overheat, Will-O-Wisp and Confuse Ray.

Lickitung - Slam, Stomp, Shock Wave and Rock Tomb.

I know that some of the moves here might be a bit questionable, but remember this game is a Rom Hack, and therefore I didn't know where to find every TM in the game that I would have liked to have used. And I know I had some stronger Pokemon in the back, but I really wanted to use some of the Orange Islands Pokemon for the Champion, so this was the time I came up with : )

Drake's first Pokemon was his Ditto, which I baited into transforming to Vulpix before I easily took it down with a single of Tentacruel's Surf attacks. Now up was Drake's Onix, who was killed in one move thanks to another of Tentacruel's Surf. It didn't even get to use a single move XD The next Pokemon I faced was Drake's Electabuzz. This one was pretty easy too, and although it managed to get off a Thunderpunch, Meadow's Earthquake attack finished it in one shot. Drake's next Pokemon was Gengar, which was a little trickier thanks to it's Hypnosis attack. It almost managed to defeat Meadow, so I had to swap her out. Thanks to a combination of Alakazam's Future Sight and Tentacruel Surf however, Gengar went down as well. Drake's fifth Pokemon was his Dragonite. This was supposed to be his stronger, but it was actually the easiest to defeat. It never got to make a move as one Ice Beam from Tentacruel was enough to take it down. Finally, I faced Drake's own Venusaur. I think it was trying to set up a Solar Beam attack since it used Sunny Day, but two Aerial Aces from Kangaskhan easily took it down before it had a chance to attack. And just like that, I defeated Champion Drake and won my Orange Islands Nuzlocke!

Now, to be in keeping with the last time I defeated the champion in one of my Nuzlockes, you guys now get to vote on a special topic, and by that I mean, you'll be voting for... what you'll be voting for : ) What I mean is that there are now two available options to you, one of which will potentially lead to more voting in this particular Nuzlocke. The options are as follows: -

Option 1: - I get two bonus evolutions which can be used in two different ways. They can either be split and used to evolve two separate Pokemon, or used together to 'Super-Evolve' a Pokemon from their base form all the way into their final stage. In addition, this can apply to any of Nolan's Pokemon, including the ones from Kanto that were not involved in this Nuzlocke at all : )

Option 2 - I get to bring the last of Nolan's 'lost' Pokemon back to the team. You guys might remember that in the original Fire Red Nuzlocke, I lost two of my Pokemon, but you guys voted to pick one of them for winning the last Nuzlocke. This would mean that Nolan's entire Pokemon family would be complete again if I brought that Pokemon back now. What that would mean in terms of the story is that I would still write out that Pokemon character for a while, but then have it re-join Nolan later on. I'll still be keeping the Pokemon in question a secret however : )

Whichever option you decide however, know that it won't quite be the final voting topic for this Nuzlocke however. I have a surprise coming, but you'll have to wait and see to find out what it is...

And on that note, I think that's just about everything from me for this time, so thank you so much for reading this chapter and my story in general. I hope you are enjoying it all so far, and please consider leaving a review because I'd love to hear your comments and feedback : )

Until the next time, keep on reading : )