Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by a company I do not have control over.
Thankyou to DRD for proofreading this chapter.
A Navel Race
The island had a huge mountain jutting out from the middle of it. I could not see the top, the clouds shielded the top from us.
The boat ride took a while, as it was late in the afternoon as soon as we stepped off the boat.
We thanked the captain as we started to get off, Akari had already fled and we could no longer see her.
I was glad that Camilla had a rival in Akari. It would be good, especially if she followed the same dream. Even if Camilla didn't, I knew they would still be rivals.
Akari said that she was in search for strong trainers, apparently that didn't stop with Camilla, she wanted more.
I was a little sad that Akari had picked Camilla as a rival over me, I would have loved to have another rival. Sure, I had a few already, but there was no harm in having more.
The battle that had occurred between Akari and Camilla was great. I never expected Akari to be that good at battling as a trainer. She had three Pokémon, all of which were not fully evolved. Each of those Pokémon was able to stand up to the strength and power of Camilla's Pokémon.
On the boat ride, Akari and Camilla gossiped loads. I instead decided to learn a few things from Tracey and Leaf, they taught me about Pokémon abilities, and the effects and outcomes they had. It was extremely helpful. I would definitely use some abilities in the battles I had if they would let me, some abilities were random, and you could never tell when they would take effect, while others would take effect at a specific time in the battle. I didn't expect there to be so many abilities.
My friends and I made our way into the town of the next island. We weren't in any hurry to find the Pokémon centre, but we would have to get there eventually.
I started to wonder where the Gym was on this island. I could ask Tracey tomorrow, he was the most likely to know, especially if he lived in the Orange Islands. But the location of the Gym was not important right now. It was too late for me to take on the Gym, I would attempt to take on the Gym challenge tomorrow.
I hoped it didn't take too long to find the Pokémon centre. I didn't want to be out searching when it started to get dark.
Today had been a good day for everyone. We made a new friend in Akari. We had watched Camilla battle, which is something she hadn't done in a while. I had learned things during the battle about the Pokémon that Akari had. I had also learned things from Leaf when we were on the boat.
That reminded me. I needed to talk to professor Oak about upgrading my Pokédex. At the moment it would not record Pokémon that were native to Johto, just like Tracey's Marill and Akari's Totodile.
We, thankfully found the Pokémon centre just as it started to get dark.
Tracey went to the counter and asked for a room key, Camilla and Leaf went to sit at one of the tables, whereas I made my way to the phones to contact professor Oak, this would be the first time I talked to him while I was in the Orange Islands.
After a few rings he picked up.
'Jordan, glad to hear from you.' He started.
'Hello, professor.' I greeted him.
'I heard from Felina that you are competing in the Orange League.' The professor said.
'Yes, I am.' I replied. 'I already have my first badge.' I said showing him my Coral-Eye badge.
'Congratulations, I'm sure you will do well.' The professor said. His confidence in me would encourage me for tomorrows challenge. 'Is that what you called for?' The professor asked.
'Actually, professor, recently I have encountered a few Pokémon that have no recorded data in my Pokédex.' I started. 'Tracey explained that the Pokémon I try to scan are not registering because they are native to Johto and my Pokédex only scans Pokémon that are native to Kanto.' I continued.
'Oh, I see.' The professor said. 'Unfortunately, seeing as I am not there, or you are not here I cannot upgrade your Pokédex. Although I will send one of my aides to the island you are on. You are on Navel Island, correct?' The professor asked.
I nodded in confirmation.
'My aide will be able to upgrade your Pokédexes if you just stay there for a few days.' The professor told me. 'As soon as that is done you should have no trouble in registering Pokémon that are native to Johto.' The professor explained.
'Okay, thank you, professor.' I replied.
'You're welcome, and good luck with the rest of your journey.' The professor said.
I nodded to him as tanks before he ended the call.
I sighed, now that that was taken care of I would be able to continue on my journey knowing that that problem had been resolved.
'Jordan?' Camilla asked, making me turn around to face her.
'Camilla?' I asked back. 'What's up?'
She had expression on her face hat looked a little troubled.
'Do you have a minute?' She asked me.
'Sure.' I replied.
Camilla headed to our room, not bothering to see that I was following behind her.
I knew Leaf and Tracey were still at the table.
As soon as she entered our room she took a seat on one of the beds. I instead took a seat on the other one.
She sighed before she started to talk.
'You asked me to tell you about my dream, so I guess now would be a good time.' Camilla said.
Was this the dream she talked to my uncle about?
I was about to protest, but before I could Camilla had already started her story.
'You looked older in my dream, about fourteen or fifteen.' Camilla told me.
Fourteen? I was only eleven, that was three years from now, especially if this was an ESP dream.
'We were both standing in a weird place, it looked like a town, but it was distorted, extremely, like the pathway we were on was twisted like a loop. We could stand upside down, there were no rules of gravity in this place. The town wasn't in one place it was scattered, like the ground of this town was broken, and the different places were thrown around and in different places.'
This didn't seem like such a bad dream.
'You and I managed to cope with all the changes in this distorted place. It seemed like we were chasing someone, eventually we caught up with a blue haired man. I had never met anyone with this colour hair. "I told you not to interfere." He said before turning around.' Camilla said. 'My dream then shifted. I was in a room, a room that looked familiar, it was grey and made from metal. You and I were only accompanied by one man. This man had a gun, he shot you and you fell to floor and I saw blood pooling from you, I tried to scream, but no sound came out then everything went black. I woke up after that.' Camilla told me.
The dream didn't sound so bad.
'That was your ESP dream?' I asked.
'Jordan, you know the room that looked familiar?' Camilla asked. 'That was the dream my parents got shot in, first my dad then my mum.' Camilla said.
I didn't understand, why was her ESP showing her something that already happened? Why was I in that room with her? Wait! Didn't she say I was also in the room? That was then it clicked.
'Oh…oh…' I stopped suddenly realising how history would repeat itself. '…oh.'
Camilla nodded, now that I finally understood, this was bad.
I suppose now it was quite bad that we both died in her dream. It was also her ESP dream, so the events that went on may well occur, but I promised to Camilla that I would not let Team Rocket harm her.
This didn't just affect Camilla, it affected me too. I was involved in Camilla's dream and I had the power of aura.
'Did Riley help you?' I asked.
What I should have said was: "You need to talk to my dad."
This was bad, really bad, there was no way that my uncle could fix this, he could only help so much. Team Rocket had killed Camilla's parents and now once my dad again banished them they were going to come back again to kill Camilla and me.
That was strange, why would they kill Camilla? They didn't remember her, at least as much as she knew they didn't. They knew me, they knew me all too well. My mother and father had bad history with them, and Giovanni was now set on killing me. He wanted to make my dad feel what he felt when my dad saved my mum from him. Giovanni saw it as Red stole my mother, but in truth my mother was saved by my dad.
I'm not sure if my dad would be able to save me with this, but I didn't want to dwell on this dream that Camilla had and neither should she. I had an Orange Island Challenge tomorrow, I had to be solely focused on that.
'He put my mind at ease.' Camilla replied.
I almost forgot that I had asked her a question.
'So, you're calmer about it?' I asked.
Camilla nodded.
I finally understood that Camilla's dream was as bad as her past, hat was why she looked saddened at her dream, but this time was different, she didn't seem to cry this time.
I didn't want to think about it much longer, all this information would put strain on my brain. I decided I needed to sleep, that would clear my head and I would be focused on tomorrow.
But the sleep did not ease the strain.
I didn't know why or how, it all happened so fast.
I was able to comprehend a few things.
One: There was chaos all around.
Two: People were going to get hurt.
Three: The evil guys were going to escape.
Four: I was the one who was supposed to save them.
The prophecy rang true in my head. Like I would never forget it, it was permanently embedded into my brain.
"Disturb not the ones who harmonise together, the beast of the sea, tis he who holds the treasure.
With lightning fire and ice, the chosen one's downfall will be the price.
Three orbs that hold the solution, stop this will the worlds pollution.
The shrill sound blocking cry will be near, as the people of Shamouti cower in fear.
The chosen one will bring together all three, for the only one to tame the beast of the sea."
This was a prophecy, one that was given to me.
"Disturb not the ones who harmonise together." This must have meant three Pokémon, it could have meant people, but who would those three people be?
"The beast of the sea, tis he who holds the treasure." So, this beast of the sea has some kind of treasure, but I have no clue who this beast was or what the treasure was.
"With lightning, fire and ice." Three different Pokémon types, this probably represents the three that were mentioned in the first line.
"The chosen one's downfall will be the price." There was a hero in this prophecy, I was told it was me. Apparently, my downfall would complete this prophecy.
"Three orbs hold the solution." This line confused me, three orbs, they may be for the three beings of lightning, fire and ice.
"Stop this will the worlds pollution." So, the world was going to be polluted and the only way to stop it would be these three orbs.
"The shrill sound blocking cry will be near." So, we will hear a sound that could deafen all of us if we weren't careful.
"As the people of Shamouti cower in fear." So, there was this island, the one I was on now and all these residents will cower in fear because of a shrill sound deafening cry.
"The chosen one will bring together all three." So, I will bring these three beings together apparently to stop whatever was going to happen.
"For the only one to tame the beast of the sea." I didn't know if this line was referring to me or someone else who could tame this beast of the three.
I woke up.
The light had just been filtering through the blinds.
It was our second day on Navel island, I knew we would be here for a few more days, I hadn't yet, so that would be something I had to do, but today I was going to be solely focused on my Gym challenge.
Today I was going to win and receive my second Gym badge.
I got up and out of bed without startling Pikachu, he was still asleep.
I got dressed and made my way to the lobby.
I was the first person, besides nurse Joy who was in the Pokémon centres lobby.
I started to think about my dream. I think it was aura related, but I'm not sure, it wasn't bad, per say. It wasn't a good dream, either, it was…iffy. I couldn't decide whether this dream was something I should think about, or just leave for the moment.
I was eager to find answers though, so leaving it didn't seem like an option.
Getting answers would be difficult, but I knew the people who would have the answers. Leaf and Tracey were the people who knew about Pokémon and the Orange Islands Archipelago.
Although I didn't want Camilla involved, she already had enough to figure out and if she had another ESP dream, she would have more stress.
I didn't understand why she had ESP dreams more often, now we were in the Orange Island Archipelago, maybe there was something in this region that strengthened her, and was causing all these dreams.
Leaf was the next person to come out, she didn't seem surprised that I was awake. I was normally the first one awake. But she did look around and saw that we were the only ones besides nurse Joy who were present at the moment.
I then saw a few more people come in.
Oops, spoke too soon.
As soon as Leaf sat down I completely forgot what I was going to ask her, but it seemed important.
'You look confused, Jordan.' She said sitting opposite me.
'I was going to ask you something.' I said looking puzzled.
'But you've forgotten what it was?' She asked. I knew she already knew the answer, she was just asking for confirmation.
'Yes.' I nodded.
'Well, unless it was about your Gym challenge, you should keep it to yourself for now. You should be focused solely on that, nothing else matters today.' Leaf told me.
She was right, it was my Gym challenge today and I needed to concentrate.
My Pikachu came into the lobby a few seconds later followed by Camilla's Pikachu. I knew Camilla would come out soon.
My Pikachu sat on the table.
'Hey, buddy.' I greeted him. 'Pumped?' I asked.
He looked at me as if to say, "Do you even have to ask?" I took that as a yes.
Sure, enough Camilla came out a few seconds later.
She took her usual seat beside me.
Many more people now emerged from their rooms.
I wondered why Tracey was taking longer than usual, he wasn't normally like this.
'Hello.' Camilla greeted Leaf and me.
'Hi.' I greeted her back.
She looked at me with a look I knew all too well, she had another ESP dream, these had become extremely frequent with her almost every night. I hope it wouldn't cause her pain. I also hoped that it would stop for a while, perhaps the future had a lot to tell her.
Tracey came out a few minutes later.
'Hey Tracey.' I greeted. 'What took you so long?' I asked.
'I saw a rare Pokémon out the window, so I decided to sketch it.' He replied.
That made sense, Tracey was into sketching Pokémon. If I had the same opportunity to catch a rare Pokémon, I probably would.
'Are you ready for your next Gym challenge, Jordan?' Leaf asked.
'I'm ready.' I replied.
Pikachu jumped on my shoulder before I stood up, showing us that he was readier than I was.
Tracey led us to a large arched, golden gate.
'This is the entrance to the Gym.' Tracey said.
I looked up at the mountain that loomed in front of us. I could not se the top, this mountains peak was covered by clouds.
My friends and I walked through.
We saw a boy maybe a year older than me looking up at the mountain.
This boy had bright auburn hair that was in a messy style.
He turned around and I saw he was wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and light brown cargo trousers. H was also wearing darker brown boots.
'Hello.' He greeted us. 'My name is Danny, it appears as if this mountain is the only way to reach the Gym which sits at the top.' This Danny explained.
I had to climb a mountain to reach the top.
Danny then left, and he proceeded to scale the mountain.
Was there any other way up?
'Jordan, there.' Camilla said.
She pointed to a cable car.
I walked towards I but stopped realizing there was a sign in front of it.
"All challengers must climb the mountain with no help from their Pokémon. If they use their Pokémon or use the cable car the challenger will be disqualified and will not be able to take part in the Gym challenge."
Well now I had my answer.
I now had to climb the mountain, just like Danny had done.
I looked up and saw Danny was quite high, he might be able to hear me if I called him.
I gave my bag and Pokémon belt to Tracey.
'Can you take these up? I'm going to take on this challenge with no temptations.' I said.
Tracey nodded and took them with him to the cable car.
'Pika.' Pikachu called to me.
He stated to scale the mountain. I followed him.
He found it easy, but he was smaller than me, the ledges were large enough for him to bounce onto, but I had to grab them with my hands and find where I could place my feet. I remember doing something similar recently. My friends and I climbed a cliff face, grated that wa ninety-degree angle, thang goodness this mountain wasn't, it was still hard to climb, but not as hard as the cliff.
I wondered how Danny found it so easy, was he a climbing person? Maybe there were some people who were just good at climbing mountains.
I looked up and couldn't see Danny anymore maybe he had gone past the clouds. Not only could Danny climb mountains he was also quick at it.
Pikachu was gaining distance on me. True I couldn't use any help, but it would be nice if my Pikachu could support me, by climbing the same rate as I would.
A few minutes later I entered the cloud bank and my visibility became worse, the lower temperature didn't help. It started to get cold.
I emerged from the clouds and saw that I could now walk to the top, but it was covered with snow. I was shivering, maybe is should have worn my jumper, but it was really warm down at the bottom of the mountain.
I reached the top and I saw Danny sitting in the snow, he was making a fuss of Pikachu, scratching him behind the ears. Pikachu was cooing in happiness.
As soon as Pikachu saw me, he ran towards me and jumped on my shoulder.
Camilla was wearing a jumper, she came to me handing me my Pokéball belt and jumper.
I strapped my Pokéball belt on and put my jumper on.
'Hello, Jordan Hale, welcome to Navel Gyms Challenge.' Danny said standing up.
So, Danny was the Gym leader, I had met the second member of the Orange Crew.
I guessed that he knew my name because my friends must have told him, they did reach the top long before I did.
'To complete this Gym Challenge, you will use only three Pokémon which you will pick before we start the first part of this challenge. The first challenge is to freeze a steam of geyser. The second challenge is to build a toboggan out of the frozen geyser steam that all three of our Pokémon can fit in and you. And the third challenge is a race to the bottom of the mountain in the toboggan.' Danny explained. 'To win the badge you need to beat me in two challenges.' He continued.
Climbing that mountain seemed like a challenge.
I had to pick three Pokémon to help me in three challenges.
'Come on out Nidoqueen.' Danny said.
Nidoqueen stood in front of a geyser.
I needed a Pokémon that could use ice attacks, so I only had one choice.
'Blastoise, I choose you.' I said sending out Blastoise.
'Who are the other two of your Pokémon you will use?' Danny asked. 'I will be using Machoke and Scyther.' Danny told me.
I had to think ahead.
I need a Pokémon that could carve and that I could fit into a toboggan.
'I guess, you'll be using Pikachu, so now you only have one Pokémon to pick.' Danny said.
That made it a little easier, Pikachu could help carve with is Iron tail move.
I knew that I had one other Pokémon that could help.
'I pick Sandslash.' I said. Sandslash could use slash to help carve the toboggan.
'Okay, if you are using Blastoise then you need to have him stand in front of a geyser, and when the steam spurts out, freeze the column. Whoever freezes the ice first will win the first challenge.' Danny explained.
Blastoise stood in front of a geyser.
I saw Danny nod to Nidoqueen.
'Blastoise, when a steam comes out I want you to use ice beam, okay?' I asked Blastoise.
It nodded as a steam column came out, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.
I saw that Danny already had a big block of ice.
'Don't worry, Blastoise, we will get the next one.' I reassured him.
A few seconds later a second column of steam erupted and Blastoise wasted no time and used ice beam. The move froze a massive block of ice. It was taller than Blastoise or me. It was definitely wide enough to fit Blastoise in it.
I knew I lost that challenge, so I had to win the next two.
'Sandslash, I choose you.' I called out.
'Scyther, let's go.' Danny called.
A Pokémon I had not seen came out.
Scyther looked like a large insect. It is primarily green with cream between its three body segments. On the back of its head that looked a little reptilian are three points, it also has narrow eyes. Its forearms consist of large, white scythe. On its thighs are spikes of fur, and it has three clawed toes on its large feet. Two pairs of cream-colored wings extend from its back.
I took out my Pokédex to scan it.
'Scyther is blindingly fast. Its blazing speed enhances the effectiveness of the twin scythes on its forearms. This Pokémon's scythes are so effective, they can slice through thick logs in one wicked stroke.'
I now knew why Danny used Scyther. It was like Sandslash, but instead Sandslash had large claws.
'Okay, the first to craft their toboggan wins this challenge.' Danny said.
He then started.
I was already behind.
My Pokémon and I started to craft the toboggan. Well Pikachu and Sandslash did.
Blastoise gave encouragement while I told them how I wanted it to look.
Sandslash was so quick slashing at the block of ice making it look easy. He sliced through the ice like it was butter.
Pikachu used its iron tail to make small marks to help the design of the toboggan.
After about ten minutes we had finished.
We had a space for all four of us to sit in. Blastoise would be at the back, I would be in front of Blastoise, Sandslash in front of me and Pikachu would be at the front.
I looked at Danny and his Pokémon, he had only just finished.
'Well done Jordan, if you win the next challenge I will give you the Gym badge. It's been two years since someone had won this Gym badge, it gets boring winning all the time.' Danny said. 'Try not to disappoint me.' Danny continued.
Blastoise was going to be the one to push and steer the toboggan down the mountain. He decided that since he was the largest it would be easy for him to do that.
Pikachu got in first, Sandslash followed, and I followed him.
I saw that Danny was using Machoke to push the toboggan.
'Guys hold on tight.' I said.
'Why don't you three use the cable car and meet us at the bottom?' Danny suggested.
My friends made their way into the cable car.
'Jordan, as soon as the cable car disappears into the cloud bank we will go.' Danny told me.
Blastoise grabbed the back of the toboggan as Danny and his Pokémon made their way into the toboggan, besides Machoke who was going to push.
The cable car disappeared and Blastoise pushed.
As soon as the toboggan began to slide Blastoise jumped in.
I didn't look back as I was solely focused on staying first, but if I lost focus for even a second, I knew Danny would pass me in an instant.
I couldn't see him out of the corner of my eye, and I couldn't see him in front of me either, so I guessed he was behind me. I was glad for this as it meant I was going to win this challenge. That would be my second Orange Crew badge.
The snow disappeared as we entered the cloud bank, we were now on the rock the snow behind us, the toboggan slowed down, but not enough for me to worry about it, we still had a good constant speed.
We exited the cloud bank and I could see the foot of the mountain below us, but it was still a fair way away.
My Pokémon were enjoying the speed of the toboggan. I guess gravity had its advantages, occasionally.
It was good that my Pokémon were enjoying the ride, if there was no joy in this challenge there would be no point. I wouldn't force my Pokémon to do anything they refused to.
I looked to the side and Danny came towards me with blinding speed. I was afraid he was going to crash into me, that would be catastrophic, that would cause me to lose. I couldn't win with a Broken toboggan.
A few feet before he crashed he swerved to face to the foot of the mountain, the dust that he pushed in our direction cause me to lose control of the toboggan and it swerved in a zig-zag type of fashion. That would cause us dearly, especially since Danny was now speeding down the mountain gaining a great amount of distance between us.
As soon as I gained control we were facing the wrong, way, we were descending down the mountain face, this would also slow us down. I was not liking our odds at this moment.
I looked past Blastoise and saw that we may a s well give up. Between us and the finish line was Danny and he was about midway.
Blastoise punched his fist into the ground, that caused the toboggan to jerk and face the right way.
Blastoise then sprayed water in front of the toboggan, and as soon as the toboggan hit the water it started to speed up incredibly. The water that Blastoise produced created a smoother surface for us to glide on. I now saw we were catching up to Danny, it wasn't fast enough, but Blastoise was determined as he continued to use his cannons to spray water in front of the toboggan.
Sandslash also decided to help by using is claws to hook into the ground for a fraction of a second and push us across the ground.
It sped us up a little, but there was still no way we would catch up to Danny.
If we were to win, we would need a miracle. No amount of speed was going to help us.
It was working well, but the in an instant it suddenly got worse.
We slid onto a ledge and soared through the sky.
Our speed was increased as we headed toward the ground, we were catching up to Danny incredibly fast, but I knew on impact that our toboggan would be shattered to pieces. That would probably disqualify us, and after all the effort we put into making this toboggan
Danny was a few feet away from the finish line and we passed him and hit the ground.
I closed my eyes and squeezed them shut as I braced for the impact and the sound of broken ice, but it never came. I opened my eyes and saw Blastoise and Sandslash holding the sides of the toboggan making sure it didn't break.
Danny came out of his toboggan as it stopped next to mine, his was as intact as it was when he started down the mountain.
At the moment I could not move. I was still in shock of two things: One, my toboggan was still in one piece even after we crashed it into the ground. Two, we passed the finish line before Danny, which meant we won.
Danny offered me his hand as my Pokémon hopped out.
I accepted his offer as he helped me out my-still intact-toboggan.
'Congratulations, Jordan.' He congratulated me, shaking my hand. I returned his gesture hesitantly. I was still in shock.
My friends made their way to me.
I returned my Pokémon as my friends made their way to me.
'Well done, Jordan.' Tracey congratulated me.
'Halfway there.' Leaf agreed.
'We're all proud of you.' Camilla added as her congratulations.
I shook my head and my win finally sunk in.
'Thanks.' I said to all four of them.
'And as proof of your win,' Danny started. 'This is the Sea Ruby Badge.' He said handing me a pale pink oyster shaped shell with an upside down red crown with four points. Inside the red crown is a small round green gem. 'For your next challenge, I suggest Trovita island. The Gym leader there is called Rudy.' He will provide a good challenge for you.' Danny added.
I thanked Danny before my friends and I made our way back to the Pokémon centre.
I needed to tell my friends that we had to stay on this island for a few days for Professor oaks aide to show up and update our Pokédexes.
My friends and I sat down on a table as we entered the Pokémon centre.
'Guys, I have something to tell you.' I started.
Sorry for the long update, I have been extremely busy since my last update, you know, Christmas, new year and then an endless supply of unexpected things. Enough of that, my next chapter is now up. It is not as eventful or as long as the previous chapter, but Jordan acquires his second Gym badge, so now he's halfway to battling the Orange league Champion.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who's reading this, you guys are the reason I continue this story. And thanks to my reviewers, your reviews make me smile, even the constructive criticism I receive, it helps we write and continue.
Next chapter should be up early to middle of next month, hopefully. If I'm lucky it will be out at the end of the month.
Chapter Eleven: Burnt Charizard