Author's note: Sorry for the delay; am trying to deal with shit in real life. Here's a new update at least.
Thanks to the following reviewers: PinkiePieParty122894; swordsmanwielder; Pen-Woman
Warnings: Mentioned character deaths; suspense
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto owns it. I also don't own Pokémon, that belongs to Satoshi Tajiri and The Pokémon Company.
I hope you'll like it!
Chapter 55
Naruto spent an hour cleaning up the garden and his home the next morning, together with his team. After months of being away, a quick cleanup was definitely in order. With a bit of luck they would be back home within a week but some tidying up wouldn't hurt before they left again.
"Everybody finished?" Naruto called out after storing away the mop and the dust cloth.
Lucario and Toxtricity came back inside from the garden, having finished getting rid of the dead leaves with Pidgeot's help. Vaporeon and Ninetales bounded down the staircase while Mimikyu finished dusting off a shelf, throwing the dirty rag into the basket.
"Mimi!" Finished!
"Vaporeon, Vaporeon?" Leaving now?
"I'm going to make a quick stop at the Pokémart first to stock up on medicine before we rent a boat," Naruto replied. "I have no idea how long it'll take before we're through Victory Road, so it's best to have enough medicine with us just in case."
In the best case scenario they wouldn't even need the extra potions but it was always better to be prepared. The last thing they needed was to get stranded somewhere in Victory Road with no medicine as a backup. Even if that place wasn't as dangerous as that mountain had been, there was no reason to teste fate. Naruto felt like they had tested fate a lot these past couple of months. If they could get through the boat trip and Victory Road without too many hiccups he was going to be so glad.
"Also more food," he muttered more so to himself.
Normally they wouldn't be away from home for long this time but again being prepared was important because one never knew what could happen. The past few months definitely had shown that.
After calling everybody back into their Pokéballs, Naruto did a quick tour around the house, closing the blinds and locking the door to the garden before doing the same to the front door after he stepped outside. He had fresh sets of clothes in his backpack and he had exchanged his old shoes for another pair. All that was left to do was make a quick stop at the Pokémart before going north and finding the boats.
It was still relatively early in the morning and it being the middle of the week, there weren't that many people in the store yet. That made it easier for Naruto to gather enough Super Potions and even a couple of Hyper Potions, adding some status healers as well. Tsunade had mentioned yesterday that there was a mini version of the Pokémart inside the Pokécentre next to the League, so if necessary he could buy even more medicine when they got there.
Gathering the medicine and extra food didn't take that long when there were barely other customers present, so in less than fifteen minutes Naruto walked outside again, inhaling the cold air. His backpack weighed decidedly a lot more and he adjusted the straps slightly to have the bag hang a bit more comfortably. It had started to drizzle during the time he had spent inside the market and he pulled his cap further down, tugging up his scarf to cover up the lower part of his face. This weather probably wasn't going to make it pleasant to take a boat to the island but he also didn't want to wait at least another month for the weather to grow milder.
He would just have to tough it out.
The professor had been right that the road to the dock was pretty straightforward. He went north after passing his own house, following a sandy path through a part of the woods he had rarely visited before. The path was covered with mushy dead leaves, forcing him to take careful steps or risk slipping. He was aware of the many eyes following him as he travelled deeper into the forest, from the gleaming big eyes of a Gastly lurking within the shadows of an old tree to the shy small ones of a Pidove pecking at the earth underneath a bush. He didn't pay them any mind, needing all his focus on the path in front of him.
Sometimes a Pokémon – like Impidimp or Whirlipede – made a move as if to slip from underneath cover of foliage, appearing ready to attack, but Naruto simply shifted his jacket slightly, just enough to reveal his belt filled with Pokéballs. As eager as they seemed to attack him, their eagerness vanished like snow under the sun upon witnessing the Pokéballs. Even if they assumed he was bluffing, clearly they weren't about to call his bluff.
The drizzle had turned into a steady bout of rain by the time the dock appeared in view. A couple of small white boats with a gleaming red stripe around the hulls were bobbing slightly, being rocked by the gentle waves. The wooden dock had some moss growing around the edges but the planks looked stable enough. Frankly with the rain steadily beating down on the wood, the moss was the least of his problems.
There was a small house with a porch built right in front of the dock; the wooden beams weathered with age. An elderly man and woman sat on rocking chairs on the porch, protected from the rain by the awning above them; a couple? The man was smoking from a pipe, peering at the water but upon hearing Naruto approach, he turned his head; the wrinkles on his forehead deepening.
"Ya here for a boat?" he croaked out, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"Yes, I'd like to borrow one to reach the Elite Four," Naruto explained, pausing in front of the porch. "How much is it to rent one?"
"Nothing, dear, the League gives us compensation in exchange for us lending out our boats," the woman replied friendly. "Just be careful when operating it, okay? If you want we can show you how to steer it."
"Bah, no need for that when it's so easy even the biggest moron knows how to operate it," the man grumbled, heaving himself out of the chair. "Can't get anything more straightforward than our boats!"
As he ambled inside, the woman sighed, shaking her head. Her silver white hair was pulled back in a neat bun and she wore a dark blue dress with a thick shawl wrapped around her shoulders.
"Don't mind him, dear, he grows grouchier each month," she informed him; her pale blue eyes glittering amused.
"I ain't getting younger but that sure as hell doesn't mean I'm deaf," the man snipped, stepping outside again. When he held a wrinkly, tanned hand out to Naruto, a key dangled from his grip. "Here, use the boat on the left, the one closest to the water. That'll get you there in no time. Just make sure you don't die on the way there."
"I'm sorry?" Naruto asked baffled, accepting the key. "Why would I die on the way there?"
"Oh, don't you start with your fearmongering again," the woman scolded the man, clucking her tongue, but he ignored her.
Sitting back down in his chair, the older man scoffed and started rocking back and forth. "It ain't fearmongering when it's the damn truth and ya know it. That water stretch ain't safe, far from it. It ain't the first time a challenger doesn't reach the island alive!"
Naruto had no idea what to think of this. The elderly man appeared wholly serious while the woman was rolling her eyes and shaking her head, appearing exasperatedly.
"Erm, I never heard of people dying on their way to the island," Naruto said carefully. He was pretty certain something like that would be all over the news.
"'Course ya wouldn't," the man retorted bluntly, picking up his pipe again. "Ya think the big chiefs would be happy if people know how dangerous travelling to that island actually is? They wouldn't have any challengers anymore and no challengers means no money. It's all about the money, boy, ya have to remember that!"
Yeah, he honestly had no idea whether the guy was serious or just joking around.
Tightening his fingers around the key, he inclined his head. "I'll be careful on the way there."
"Ya do that, boy. It'd be a great shame if you end up croaking at this point in your journey," the man spoke, nodding sagely.
Well, that wasn't a lie at least.
"Good luck with the Elite Four, dear," the woman smiled. "I hope you'll defeat them all."
"That's our aim at least," Naruto said lightly before walking onto the dock, making a beeline for the boat he would be borrowing.
The boat rocked gently back and forth when he stepped onboard, but it was easier to keep his balance than he had expected. He had never been on a boat before, let alone steered one, but as he stepped into the cabin he noticed that the elderly man had been correct. The controls of the boat were as straightforward as the path to the dock had been. As soon as he stuck the key into the small gap underneath the helm, the boat came to life, buzzing and groaning. A screen flickered green a couple of times before something started to appear on it: a map, he quickly realised. A blinking dot seemed to represent his present location because it didn't move until he tentatively turned the helm to the right, away from the dock.
Pursing his lips, he kept the helm pushed to the right until the boat moved away entirely from the dock. He straightened out the helm then and to his increasing excitement, the boat straightened out as well, began to move forwards out –
They were sailing.
Hell yes!
After having tried out the braking mechanism and familiarising himself a bit more with how the helm worked, Naruto felt confident enough to let his Pokémon out of their Pokéballs. According to Tsunade the trip with the boat would take a bit longer than a day, so he figured it would be nice if his Pokémon could relax a bit before they would get thrown back into the groove of battling.
"Ninetales," Ninetales remarked casually, snuffling around the cabin. Small boat.
"Yeah, it's not exactly big but it's just meant to get us to the island," Naruto replied and shrugged, keeping his eyes on the endless water in front of him. "So nothing fancy, but that isn't necessary. I'm just glad I can actually steer this boat because the setup is so easy."
Probably because the ones using the boats tended to not be the types to know their way around this particular manner of transport.
"Pidgeot?" Pidgeot asked curiously. Look around?
"Sure, go ahead. Just be careful, okay?" Naruto cautioned, squinting at the dark sky. "The rain hasn't let up once since we left home and it looks like it might actually grow worse."
It shouldn't, because he had checked the weather forecast this morning before leaving the house but obviously the weather at sea wasn't exactly following the forecast.
"Vaporeon!" Vaporeon chirped reassuringly. Be careful!
Everybody except for Mimikyu walked out of the cabin then, eager to explore the rest of the boat. Naruto looked down for a moment, watching Mimikyu settle down next to his right leg.
"You don't want to explore the boat with the others?" Naruto asked curiously, steering the boat more to the left when he saw the giant silhouette of a Wailord breaking through the water surface.
Wailord didn't have the reputation to be vicious but their enormous size had caused them to capsize boats and even large ships on more than one occasion. As Naruto steered the boat right next to the giant Water Pokémon, the Wailord blinked slowly at him as if in greeting before it slowly sank underneath the water again.
"Vaporeon!" Vaporeon chittered somewhere outside, making Naruto grin. So huge!
"Kyu. Mimi, Mimi, Kyu," Mimikyu replied unbothered. Wet. Not want costume ruined.
That made sense, yeah. Mimikyu's costume would no doubt soak up the rain like a sponge and it would take a long time before it would dry up.
"Well, here." Naruto bent down to pick up Mimikyu, setting him down on the shelf next to him. From his position on the shelf Mimikyu would be able to enjoy the view as well instead of being stuck staring at Naruto's legs and the floor. "Now you can see the view as well. Not that there's much else to see than water," he added sheepishly.
"Kyu!" Is okay!
Naruto grinned, turning his attention back on the water. "We'll eat in a few hours. I figured out how to make this boat steer itself in the right direction, so we'll be able to catch some sleep as well."
With the slow pace of the boat there was no way they would be able to reach the island by tonight, so they would have to spend the night on the boat. The couch on his left could be pulled out to create a makeshift bed and he had some blankets stuffed in his bag. The cabin itself was pleasantly warm, so at the very least they wouldn't become too cold during the night.
He wasn't sure how easy it would be to fall asleep when the closer they were getting to the island, the more nervous he became, jittery butterflies swarming around in his belly, but that was a problem for tonight. For now he was just going to enjoy the view, the glimpses of Water Pokémon as they swam past the boat, and watch his team enjoying themselves as they scurried around on the boat.
While the rain had kept to a steady stream the whole day, the moment dusk settled in, it changed from a steady sheet to an absolute downpour. Raindrops splattered loudly apart on top of the cabin's roof; the noise loud enough to drown out the purring of the engine. It would have been one thing if they just had to deal with a heavy downpour but the weather really decided to throw all it had at them.
They had just settled into the cabin to catch some sleep when it began: heavy thunderclaps which seemed to rock the boat, quickly followed by bright flashes of lightning. The bolts cleaved the dark sky apart, briefly illuminating the vastness of the water every time.
'Weather is not good,' Lucario remarked worriedly; his ears twitching violently with each thunderclap and each crackling of a lightening bolt.
'Boat safe?' Toxtricity hissed, lurking near the door.
"It should be," Naruto replied, trying to sound confident but the sudden switch of the weather left him a tad shaken.
It had been quite a while since he had last experienced such a vicious storm and he couldn't help but throw the boat's console a worried glance. The screen was still illuminated, displaying the flickering dot representing the boat. The dot – and them by extension – was still steadily making its way to the island; the boat working on autopilot now. It had been relatively easy to set the boat to autopilot after confirming the destination on the screen, but now he couldn't help but worry somewhat.
The boat was starting to rock a lot more violently than before as the waves grew increasingly more out of control. Naruto had to brace himself against the bed in order not to lose his balance. He spotted Toxtricity hunching down lower on the ground, pressing his back against the wall while Lucario shuffled to the other side of the door, occupying the corner there and minimising his risk of getting thrown off balance.
"Pidgeot, Pidgeot," Pidgeot screeched softly, fluttering his wings anxiously. No like this.
One had to be stupid to not sense the tension radiating from each Pokémon. Naruto wasn't faring much better. What had started out as a simple rainy day was quickly changing into a simile of a horror night with the ferocious downpour and the storm brewing right above them. There were barely any seconds between a thunderclap and a lightening bolt, which meant the storm was really right above them.
"We can't be the only ones experiencing a storm when travelling to the island," he muttered, attempting to convince his team as much as he tried to convince himself. "The League wouldn't use these boats if they can't handle a storm."
Storms couldn't be that uncommon at sea after all; it would be a giant oversight of the League if they were renting boats that couldn't stand up against a storm.
Unwillingly Naruto's mind wandered to the old man's warning, how several Trainers had ended up dying before reaching the island. The woman had acted like it had all just been meant to put some fear into Naruto, but what if the elderly man had been referring to something like this: people dying because they got trapped in a serious storm? If the boat were to capsize …
Ice filled his veins.
He sat up, snatching up his belt from where he had slung it across his backpack. "Come on, guys, get back into your Pokéball."
Predictably that set off a storm of protest from everybody but this time he wouldn't let himself be swayed. He shook his head and tapped the Pokéballs. "No, I'm really serious this time. I need you all to go back into your Pokéballs to keep you safe. Perhaps with less distribution of the weight, the boat won't be rocked this much."
Nobody looked happy with the order, but he had expected that. His team had proven they could be stubborn, but he was just as stubborn if not more than them. He was already worrying about how the boat would hold up, he would have some peace of mind if his team at least was safely back in their Pokéballs.
It took a moment of staring them all down but one by one they all returned to their Pokéballs. The last red beam had only just faded away before the next lightening bolt split the sky apart, making him bit down on his lip.
He tied the belt back around his hips and picked up his backpack, pulling it on. Using that as some sort of support, he leant back into the couch, covering his hands with the sleeves of his jacket and burrowing his nose in his scarf.
As he settled into a half hunched position, he looked out at the dark sky and listened to the thunder rumbling loud enough to shatter the earth itself. He could only hope that the storm would subside soon before it could test the boat's endurance too much.
He had only closed his eyes for a couple of minutes at best – but that was all it took.
Out of nowhere he was suddenly thrown off the couch when the boat was slammed sideways. His head knocked against a wall, making him see stars for a moment. He groaned, scrambling to sit up right but a new wave – one much larger than he had ever seen before, one so tall it blocked out the entire damn sky! – smashed straight into the boat, tilting it over completely.
Naruto had just enough time to scream before the windows shattered apart, water pouring inside, and the wave completely washed over the boat –
Dragging the boat and its inhabitants down into the icy depths of the sea.
AN2: It'd be something if Naruto actually dies here, huh?
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
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