Orange Island - Navel Island

Ash, Gou and Tracey soon left towards the Navel Island main after spending two days with Nurse Joy, helping her out. It was very fascinating how different things were in the Orange Archipelago compared to Kanto mainland and yet the same. Kids in the Orange Islands were not allowed to go on a journey until they turn fourteen at least, even then they had the choice to attend high school or college instead. But then again Ash figured it was not possible for anime or manga to cover everything so there was always a lot more to learn when it came to details.

Tracey, "There it is, Navel Island, the island with the tallest mountain in the Orange Archipelago."

Gou, "It looks cold up there."

Ash nodded, "I agree, let's go to the centre first, our Pokemon deserves a day off."

They agreed with the plan and headed to the Pokemon centre located on the western part of the island. Their Pokemon were more than happy to just relax and enjoy the pampering for one day after the continuous training and travelling. While there Gou inquired about the gym and Nurse Joy was happy to direct them towards the mountain while explaining the condition a trainer had to fulfill.

Ash, "Climb the mountain? I guess I'm sending the little ones ahead with Charizard then."

Charizard growled, he didn't want Ash climbing a steep looking mountain on his own and moved to sleep on top of him. Chimchar climbed Ash's shoulder and chattered holding onto his neck, he wanted to go with Ash. Ash pat the two fire type Pokemon oblivious to the fire lizard's thoughts and making plans to climb before Charizard was fed up and hissed at Lucario. Lucario chuckled before he got Ash's attention by patting his cheek to snap him out of his planning. Tracey snorted seeing it before going back to his sketching, it had become a normal scene now to see the Pokemon being protective.

Lucario, -You are not climbing the mountain on your own Meema. We will not allow you.-

Ash, "But the rule says, I can't use Pokemon to climb the mountain. So you all will either have to use the cable cart or fly on ahead of me."

Chimchar puffed, "Chimchar chim."

The monkey Pokemon then pulled the zipper of the grey jacket that Ash was wearing before he jumped in and made himself comfortable, "Chim chim char."

Ash blinked when Tyrunt, Omanyte and Phantump joined them and the older Pokemon nodded, before laughing, "Fine, fine, you can come, I can see, I won't be allowed to go anywhere on my own otherwise."

Lucario, -You got that right.-

Gou, "How will you do the challenge then?"

Cinderace, "Der?"

Tracey, "I'm sure we can come up with something."

Ash gave a smile, "I hope so, because I don't think I'll be allowed to move from here otherwise."

Unknown to them they were being observed by Danny who smiled seeing the close bond between them and their Pokemon. The gym leader looked forward to the next day, when he would be challenged, he had a challenger earlier but unfortunately the challenger quit half way through. It had disappointed him although he had not shown it and encouraged the young girl to try harder next time they met again. The young girl had simply nodded at him before walking away not saying another word, most probably feeling down from her failure. That night Tracey got another shock when he realized the third group chat he was added to was a group chat with all the regional Champions.

Red, :You are the new companion, Professor Oak was telling me about.:

Blue, :Thank you for watching over Ash and Gou. Mew knows what sort of trouble they get into always.:

Cynthia, :If you need anything tell us, we'll help.:

Lance, :You just want an excuse to get away from paperwork.:

Alder, :.....:

Diantha, :I wonder if I should make it a law for there to be a young adult accompanying young trainers in their journey?:

Wallace, :You can't baby the young trainers Diantha.:

Ruby, :They would rebel.:

Steven, :Indeed!:

Leon, :It's not a bad idea though.:

Lance, :Like Ruby said, they would rebel.:

Gold, :Damn right!:

Ash stood at the base of the mountain the next day, "Well here we are."

Gou was looking around, "It's so strange."

Tracey, "There is no one around."

Ash nodded, "Yeah, you would think since this is where the gym is located there would be people around here..... I mean most gyms back in Kanto were in the middle of the City hub bub and what not."

Gou, "There are always so many tourists around."

A voice spoke behind them, "It's part of the law of the Orange Archipelago."

Ash hushed his Pokemon who snarled at the new comer that held his hands up in a surrender motion, "Calm down you guys, it's okay."

Charizard hissed before pulling Ash behind him, he was still not over the fact a grown adult propositioned Ash a few days back. He growled in warning at the stranger, the rest of the Pokemon following his lead and standing around Ash. Cinderace, Golduck and Rattata standing close to Gou as well watching the adult human. Ash sweatdropped but didn't try to stop the Pokemon knowing full well how stubborn they could really be, instead he turned his attention to the newcomer.

Ash, "Sorry but my Pokemon are really wary of adults who are not family or friends with me."

The man blinked, "They are very protective of you, aren't they?"

Tracey shrugged, "Can't blame them, especially with pedophiles running around."

The man nodded, "I understand, by the way my name is Danny and you don't have to worry about me being interested in your trainers as I'm already married. My eldest daughter is the same age as your trainer, I would never touch another kid that way ever."

Charizard observed the man, Danny before nodding and moving back and nuzzling Ash, "Rrrrrrrrr!"

Ash rubbed Charizard's snout, "I know, thank you. I love you too, big guy."

Pikachu cooed, "Pi pika pikachu."

Lucario held Ash's bag, -Ahem! Back to the reason we are here, so it's decided Pikachu, Chimchar and I will be accompanying Ash up the mountain. Charizard will take the rest of the Pokemon including the kits to the top of the mountain.-

Danny's eyes widened, "So the rumours are true, your line truly can talk."

Milotic chirped, -Any Pokemon with a strong enough bond with a trainer can.-

Danny gaped before laughing, "You are full of surprises, aren't you, young man?"

Ash shrugged, "I like to believe anyone can do what we can as long as they don't give up."

Gou, "Are you here for the challenge as well?"

Danny nodded, "Yes I am, shall we climb the mountain?"

Ash nodded, "Sure, at least we are not climbing alone right guys?"

Chimchar looked at Danny before puffing and looking away grumbling, "Chim chim char chimchar."

Ash, "Come on bud, don't be like that, I'm sure he is trustworthy."

Lucario, -He has not lied, so far.-

Pikachu sighed patting Chimchar, "Pi pika pika pikachu."

Chimchar then climbed up on Ash's shoulder then made an 'I'm watching you' motion to Danny making him sweatdrop before turning away, "Chim!"

Gou, "You guys go ahead, I want to see if I can get more Pokemon here."

Tracey, "Alright, I will see you at the top Ash."

Ash who had started climbing beside Danny waved, "Sure see you there."

Danny, "Your Pokemon don't like me do they?"

Ash noticed the glare Chimchar was giving Danny, "Er.... It's not that they don't like you, it's more that, well, half of my Pokemon were actually rescues. Chimchar as well and the experience they had with other humans who were adults was anything but good."

Danny's face fell but only for a moment, "I see, well I am happy they are doing better."

Ash gave a nervous smile, "Please don't take it personally, it's not their fault, it just takes time for them to trust others."

Danny gave a sunny smile, "Don't worry, I understand actually. Two of my Pokemon are rescues as well. I know it can be difficult for them to trust others again."

Ash blinked before smiling, "Ah! I'm glad."

Ash was a little pink as he focused on climbing again, 'He looks so handsome smiling like that. Huh! No wonder Misty had a slight crush on him in the anime.'

The two of them climbed up the mountain path which was rocky in the beginning for four hours taking a small break in between where Danny made some stew for them. Ash took out some bread from his bag that Lucario was holding and they shared with Danny to go with the stew. Chimchar was enjoying the hand feeding as he sat on Ash's lap clearly enjoying the warm meal while Pikachu and Lucario were sitting on Ash's opposite sides eating. Danny noticed the young fire type did not glare at him too much after the meal but instead looked at him curiously. They put off the camp fire after they were done and continued their hiking before they came across a snow covered landscape.

Ash, "Before we go any further, Lucario come here, Chimchar and Pikachu, you two as well."

Pikachu and Chimchar went to Ash as he took out a black and blue long woollen jacket, a dark blue scarf and black hiking boots that he gave to Lucario. Lucario nodded and started to wear them, the long jacket reaching up to his knees almost touching the boots while Ash put the scarf around his neck. Ash then put a red scarf around Pikachu's neck and a yellow scarf around Chimchar making sure they were snug and would not come undone while climbing up.

Ash grinned, "You two match and you look handsome Lucario."

Pikachu cooed, "Pika Pikapi."

Chimchar, "Chim char."

Lucario, -Yes, thank you Meema.-

Danny watched them with a soft look in his eyes as they continued going up towards the gym, if only other trainers had realised the true purpose of the test. He shook his head and simply observed Ash as he made sure his Pokemon were alright as they climbed up the mountain and his Pokemon did the same thing vice versa. Soon they reached the top of the mountain where they were greeted by Tracey and Charizard, Phantump, Tyrunt and Omanyte. This was the longest amount of time the young Pokemon had spent away from Ash and they did not like it.

Ash turned to Danny with his arms full of fussy Pokemon, "Can I get a few minutes before the next challenge?"

Tracey smiled, "You figured out he was the gym leader."

Ash, "Well, he was trekking up the mountain easily, too easily I might add."

Danny laughed, "Take your time, they don't look like they'll let go anytime soon."

Ash cooed and comforted the younger ones for a good ten minutes before turning to Danny, "Alright what is the next challenge?"

Danny pointed at two geysers, "See those geysers? The next challenge is to make an ice block using ice type moves."

Ash nodded, "Ready when you are."

Tracey, "Begin!"

Danny, "Nidoqueen ice beam!"

Ash, "Kingler ice beam!"

The two Pokemon started at the same time and froze the geyser water coming out into two very thick block of ice. They finished at the same time making it a draw making Danny look at Ash excited. It was very rare when a challenger would come this far, the last one had been Luana's son.

Danny, "Alright then time for the next one, we have to carve a boat out of the ice block, make sure you don't melt it too much."

Charizard grumbled at that and Ash chose three Pokemon to help him, aside from Charizard he chose Primeape and Lucario to cut the ice. It took some time but after a few careful tries and with guidance from Lucario and Ash they managed to finish making the boat at the same time as Danny's team.

Danny clapped, "Well done now hop in, we are having a race."

Ash, "Race?"

Danny pointed at the beach, "The finish line is over there."

Ash nodded and they got inside the ice boats, Danny with his Scyther, Ivysaur and Machamp and Ash was with Pikachu, Chimchar and Lucario. Tracey started the race and they sped off down the mountain with a worried Charizard flying behind them. Lucario used his bone rush to push them away from large rocks on their path while Pikachu and Chimchar used Iron tail and fury swipes to get rid of the low hanging branches. There was one problem however as Kingler just started mastering ice beam, the ice was not really thick or stable and started to crack. Ash saw the finish line as the ice gave away around them and Gou standing by the beach.

Ash, "Gou! Look out!"

Gou looked up, "Ash? Hey Ash.... Oh no, slow slow down!"

It was too late as Ash crashed into Gou and all of them splashed into the ocean spluttering and coughing. Ash luckily had the foresight to hold Chimchar up so he didn't get wet.

Tracey, "Ash you okay? Gou you are here too!"

Gou, "Yeah, I caught a Horsea."

Ash, "I'm good, Gou broke my fall."

Danny laughed as he held his hand out to help them up, "Well then Ash! Congratulations on winning the race."

Ash, "We won? We won you guys!"

Charizard picked Ash up and checked him over before nodding and letting the younger ones jump on him. Ash laughed as they group hugged and accepted the Sea Ruby badge, his second badge in the Orange Island.

[A. N.: I got free time today.

Perks of today being my birthday, less work and extra free time. Yay!

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

See you next week.]