Chapter Seven: Battle for Navel Island
The waves washed by as three Pokémon moved about the sea. First there was a Blastoise that carried two humans on his back. Bobby sat with his legs crossed and watching where they were headed, Nika was sitting on Blastoise as well, but she was turned the other way, half asleep and using Bobby as a pillow. In the air Mark rode Pidgeot as Charizard flew as well, he was trying to train Charizard to fly faster to avoid any water Pokémon that where quick on the draw.
Charizard dove towards the water, gaining speed in his dive. Then he pulled up, whacking the water with his feet and part of his tail. Charizard hovered, slightly weakened from hitting the water.
"Nice one Charizard," Mark complimented, "But if we wanna beat faster water Pokémon, you have to move faster." It was all apart of Mark's training. Charizard would fly high into the air, dive down, and then pull up, avoiding any attacks with the newly aquired speed from the dive. "Okay, let's try it agian, this time blast away some water with your wings."
Now the fire Pokémon flew straight up, almost too high so Mark couldn't see him anymore. Then Charizard dove, almost straight at the sea, a roar comming from his mouth. From the look of it Charizard would dive right into the sea, but suddenly he pulled up and sped along the surface. Charizard then blasted a wave with a gust of wind, sending it in the opposite direction.
The sea water went back and splashed Bobby and a sleeping Nika. Nika woke up sputtering and spitting up water.
"*cough* Blast it! *cough* Mark! You idiot! Why did you do that?!" Nika shouted, almost knocking Bobby off.
"Like I literally ment to make you all washed up!" Mark shouted back as Charizard hovered by Pidgeot.
"Grrr! Take that back!!" she shouted.
Bobby just sat there and sighed. Ever since Nika had decided to join him and Mark, she spent most of her time arguing with Mark. Both couldn't wait for the slightest reason to go tearing at each other's throats. He ignored the arguing behind him and started out infront, where Blastoise was headed. Slowly, out of the ocean, a pillar was growing and getting bigger.
"You!"
"No you!"
"You!"
"No you!"
"Both of you shut up!!!!" Bobby shouted, silencing Nika and Mark. He pointed out of the pillar they were headed to. "We're almost to an island, so if you two could stop from killing each other until we get there...."
Mark and Nika both shot deadly looks at eachother before looking away in disgust. Bobby sighed again.
* * *
Mark, Bobby, and Nika walked along the beach, following a paved path towards the giant pillar that jutted out of the island itself. Mark and Nika were still in foul moods, they mumbled in each other's direction with every two steps. Nika had her hands behind her head, looking inland, and Mark was slouched with his hands in his pockets and stared out to sea. Both of them where ready to continue the argument they had started a few miles out to sea.
"Maybe we'll be lucky and find the gym quick." Bobby commented.
"And if we're lucky Mark won't tell another joke." Nika said, plainly.
"And what does that mean?!" Mark demanded.
"All you tell are bad jokes!" Nika told him.
"They're not bad, just misunderstood." he replied.
"Rraahhg! I'll wipe that stupid grin off your face!" Nika shouted as she threw her Pokéball, releasing Goji.
"Ha! I'll make sure you start renting a sense of humor! Take her out, Sandrock!" Mark's Pokéball openned and his Onix materialized, towering over Goji. "Go, Take Down!" Sandrock lunged towards Goji, headfirst.
"Endure!" Goji caught Sandrock in his arms and was forced backwards, the Tyranitar's feet digging grooves in the pavement.
"Go, Screech!" Sandrock let out a high-pitched shreik that caused Goji to step back in confusion.
"Goji, get ahold of yourself!" Nika shouted. Goji shook his head and glared at Sandrock. "Flamethrower! Melt it down!" Her Pokémon inhaled and let out a blast of fire straight at Sandrock's head.
Mark watched as Sandrock was engulfed in flames. "Sandrock! Dig underground!" A loud rumbling could be heard as Sandrock went under ground.
"Go, Earthquake!" Nika commanded. Goji raised a foot and slammed it down on the ground.
The entire Island shook, rocking everything. Boulders even dislodged themselves from the Navel Island Peak. Mark and Nika still stood while the earth rattled, but Bobby couldn't and he fell on his rump, hard.
"Ouch, those two are going to destroy the island before we can get our next badge." Bobby commented as he rubbed his bruised butt. There was a movement and he looked up to see a blonde haired man holding out a hand. Bobby grabbed it and was hauled to his feet. "Thanks."
"No problem. What's going on with those two?" he asked, indicating Mark and Nika.
"A love/hate relationship. They both love to hate eachother." Bobby replied. "Who are you?" he asked just realising he had no clue who this guy was.
"My name's Danny. I live at the top of Navel Peak." Danny replied pointing to the tower of rock in the center of the island.
Danny? Danny..... Bobby wondered. The name sounded familiar, like something Denny had once told him and Mark. He tried to remember back.......
* * *
Denny was packing his bag before they could leave Pallet Town. Mark and Bobby were doing the same.
"Hey Denny, what do you remember about the Orange Islands from back home?" Mark asked.
"Well, I really only remember a few things, like an island with pink Pokémon, Four Gym Leaders. Out of them the only one I remember really well is Danny on Navel Island. Not sure why that's the only one I can recal...."
* * *
"That's it. You're the leader of the Navel Island Gym." Bobby said, finally realizing it.
"Yeah, I am." Danny replied.
"Now if we could only stop Mark and Nika from killing eachother, then we could battle you for a badge." Bobby commented, slightly embarassed with their behavior.
"And if we don't stop them, they'll tear Navel Island to pieces." Danny brought out a Pokéball. "Electrode, go!"
Sandrock and Goji started charging at eachother when another Pokémon materialized right inbetween them. The two stopped at the sight of the Electrode and froze, starring at it. Mark and Nika just stared too, too surprised to say anything.
"Electrode, Exploasion!"
"Electrode!" Electrode glowed and then exploaded, blasting Sandrock and Goji away from eachother and back to Mark and Nika.
When the dust cleared Mark and Nika recalled their Pokémon and looked at Danny standing by Bobby.
"Just what did you think you were doing?!" Nika shouted. "We were having a battle!"
"And destroying the island in the process." Bobby replied pointing towards the giant holes, smoldering earth, and uprooted trees. Nika was quiet for a bit after that.
Mark let out a whistle. "Hope you have urban renewal programs here."
"They wouldn't need them if you two would stop fighting for one day." Bobby replied, finally fed up with their anticts.
"He/She started it!" both Mark and Nika shouted pointing at eachother.
"I don't really care. I'll finish it!" Bobby shouted back.
"How about this," Danny said breaking up the argument. "Since you two can't seem to work together, you two will have to if you want the badge."
"What?! Me, work with him/her?!" Nika and Mark were at it again.
"I can't work with her, she's too bossy and won't listen to anyone but herself."
"All he can do is make terrible jokes that only he understands."
"It is aparent that either of you can stand the other, but if you're willing to work them out and defeat me then I will give you all the badge. If you can't, one of you will leave the group."
"Whoa, he can't do that. Can he?" Mark said under his breath.
"I dunno, maybe." Nika replied.
"First you have to climb to the top of Navel Peak without the use of Pokémon. We start now. Go!" Danny started running.
Mark and Nika stood for a second before realizing that they were being left.
"Hey!" The two of them running off.
"Outta my way!" Nika shouted
"Eat my dust, slowpoke!" Mark replied.
Bobby was left, a sweatdrop on his head. "Those two...."
* * *
The wind rushed by as Mark struggled to find a handhold. Great, not only am I climbing a peak, but I have to cooperate with Nika if I want that badge. If I don't, one of us is stuck with Nika. Mark thought. He also thought of what would happen if they lost. If he was forced to leave, Nika would love up to Bobby every second, if both he and Nika stayed Nika would beat on him every second. "No matter what I can't let Danny win."
As Mark was looking for his latest handhold, Nika was gaining on him. When the two had reached the foot of Navel Peak Mark managed to get a head start by almost running at the begining when the peak wasn't as steep. [i]I can't believe I'm forced to work with Mark, the worst comedian on the planet! And all because Danny thinks that we need to be able to work together. I don't need Mark's help to win, and I'll prove it!" Nika now started to climb faster, as soon as she had a foothold, she had found a handhold. She continued and passed Mark in seconds.
Mark watched as Nika began to out-climb him. "Oh no you don't." Mark started climbing faster as well.
Nika was still ahead of Mark and was still going faster than him. She was going to beat him to the top, if something didn't happen. But it did. Nika was finding hand and footholds left and right, but a handhold she had grabbed onto gave under her weight. Her feet slipped as well and she started to fall.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!"
Suddenly her free-fall was cut short and her body jerked as she was stopped from rolling down the peak. She looked down as she saw the rock she had grabbed fall down and down until it disappeared. Nika looked up and saw Mark holding onto her wrist with one hand and another holding onto a small ledge.
At first she was shocked. He... He saved me? Then she snapped back to her senses and grabbed onto the rocky face, forcing Mark to let go. This time she didn't fall but she still climbed up after saying to Mark, "I didn't need your help." And they continued to climb up the peak.
* * *
Mark and Nika reached the tip of the peak at the same time, and found themselves in a snowy wonderland with a wooden lodge about 100 feet away from the edge. Crawling over the edge they walked towards the lodge and then walked inside.
"And then Mark came sliding through a tunnel with his Charmander, heading straight for me and Pikachu. They hit us and we went bouncing through another tunnel. The four of us slammed into and broke through a wall and ended up falling right on top of Denny and Tina. Oh, hey Mark, Nika."
Mark and Nika were speechless. Bobby was sitting in a recliner, his feet propped up, and a cup of hot chocolate in his hands. Danny was sitting across from him. Both of them sat infront of a roaring fire.
"Glad to see you made it up, Bobby was telling me about..." But neither Mark or Nika were listening.
"How did you make it up here so fast?!" Nika demanded of Bobby.
"Is that real hot coco?!" Mark asked.
"Danny said I could take the lift up to the top." Bobby replied to Nika's demand. "He said it was the fastest way up here."
"Well now that you've made it we should start part two of this little contest." Danny said.
He led the three of them out onto the snow and towards two patches of snow-free earth. Seconds after they reached the spot two gysers of water burst into the air. Steam rose from them as they just blasted into the sky.
"Navel Peak is actually the highest source for natural springs in the Orange Islands. The lava below the island super-heats the water and forces it up all the way. Youre challenge is to agree on which Pokémon either of you have that is able to freeze the scalding water with Ice Beam." Danny held out a Pokéball and a Nidoqueen appeared.
"So, which one of your Pokémon knows Ice Beam?" Nika asked Mark.
"None of mine do. Does Goji?"
"He does, I just wanted to make sure he didn't have any weak competition."
"Weak?! I'll show you weak!" Mark threatened.
"Guys! Save it for latter!" Bobby shouted.
"Right, Goji!" Nika's Tyrannitar formed from the light flashing from the Pokéball.
They waited for the water to blast out of the springs once again. There was a slight rumble before the super-hot water burst out.
"Now. Ice Beam!" both Nika and Danny shouted at once.
Goji and Nidoqueen let out a blast of wavy energy that struck the base of the pillar of water. The Ice Beams began to move up the pillars, freezing more water as they went.
"Come on Goji! You can do it!" Nika encouraged her Pokémon.
"Freeze it Nidoqueen."
It was going to be close, both Pokémon were going at the same rate. They reached the top of the gyser and Goji froze the water first, Nidoqueen still freezing the water for several more seconds. The two solid ice blocks fell to the ground with a crash but did not shatter.
"Well it looks like round one goes to you two. Good thing you compromised."
"Compromise nothing," Mark replied. "None of my Pokémon know Ice Beam and I was counting on that over-grown lizard to know it."
Danny sighed before he brought out a blackboard. "Allright, round two is for us to create a bob-sled out of our ice blocks to look like the diagram here." He pointed out the various aspecs of the design. "You may only use three Pokémon to carve the sled, and have three hours in which to do it in. The time starts, NOW!"
Danny threw three Pokéballs and released his Pokémon to start carving. Mark and Nika started arguing.
"Goji will get the job done just like last time."
"What? That thing's too clumsy and may break the sled in half. We need Venusaur, Charizard and Butterfree."
"Don't think you're going to just leave me out!" Nika threatened.
"Well if you had any other Pokémon besides Goji than maybe you could have offered another choice, but right now we don't have time!" Mark shouted back. "Go!" He threw out his three choices and Charizard, Venusaur, and Butterfree materialized. "Okay, we've got three hours to make this," he pointed at the ice block, "Into that." Mark pointed at the blackboard. "Let's go!"
The next three hours weren't pretty for Mark and Nika. Between the two still arguing, Charizard, Venusaur, and Butterfree continued to get confused from Mark's yelling. Venusaur was slicing the ice with it's vines when one of Mark's comments distracted it and he whipped Butterfree. Butterfree was so surprised by the unententional attack that it released some powder around the block. While Charizard was melting the ice with his tail he inhaled some of the powder which set off an allergic reaction and he sneezed, a ball of flame hitting Venusaur and catching part of his flower on fire. The confussion took several minutes to resolve.
The Pokémon went over the three hour time limit. Danny had his sled carved to perfection with a combined effort from his Scyther, Machoke, and Nidoqueen. Mark and Nika's sled was carved after two more hours of arguing and accidents.
"Well," said Danny looking at the sun. "It's too late to race tonight. We'll do that in the morning. How about you three stay the night at the gym and get some rest."
Danny started heading back to the cabin, a defeated Mark and Nika following.
"Great, at this rate we'll lose before we even start." Mark commented.
"If you two could stop arguing for five minutes then maybe you'll have a chance." Bobby said.
Nika, surprisingly, didn't say anything to Mark or Bobby's comment. She was thinking. Tomarrow was going to be a long day.
* * *
Lawrence watched the monitor as he watched the three young trainers walk inside the log cabin. He had several other screens pulled up each with one of the trainer's individual stats showing.
"Hmmm, Bobby Young. Hacker. Takes a more stratigic way to Pokémon Battleing and uses his foes moves against them. Mark Harris. No stated proffession except,..... Trading Card Game expert?! Uses an all out assault way and tries to take out his opponents quick and simple. Nika. No occupation either. Trains with only one Pokémon, a very powerful Tyrannitar. Hmm, these three may prove powerful advicaries, and even more valuable hostages for lureing Denny and his Mew and Aerodactyl out of hiding." Lawrence glanced at the space where his tracking system, the 3/D chess board, used to be. "And pay him back for destroying my tracking device. Computer, activate silencers and cloaking system. We will wait for our moment to strike."
The Great Collector was transformed into a cloud, realistic enough to fool the naked eye. The sounds of the hover fans quieted untill almost nothing could be heard. Now, a silent cloud flew closer to Navel Island.
* * *
The morning light illuminated the ground, warming it with the sun's radient beauty. Mark and Nika stood near the edge of Navel Peak, looking out over the island and the set course for their little sled ride.
"This ain't gonna be easy." Nika commented.
"Yup, and we need to have a Pokémon with us for stearing." Mark replied.
"Goji can handle it."
Mark didn't say anything.
"What? Not going to say how worthless Goji is today?" Nika said, trying to egg him on.
"No, this isn't the time. We have to win this last race working together like friends instead of enemies. If we don't, someone's going to have to leave." Mark admitted. "Truce?"
"Truce."
"Well, it's nice to see that ou two aren't at eachother's throats this morning." Bobby said as he walked up to them.
"We called a truce and I put away my guns." Mark replied. Nika sighed.
"Bobby, what ver happens I.." but Nika was cut off from finishing.
"Morning all? Sleep well?" Danny said as he strode up to meet them. "We'll start the race in five minutes."
"Okay. Let's go Goji!" Nika's Tyrannitar materialized and let out a yawn.
Mark stood near the front, Nika on the opposite side. Goji stood behind the sled, ready to push off. Danny was standing in the same place as Mark on his side, a Scyther was at the rear, and inbetween was...
"Bobby?!" Mark almost shouted. "What are you doing?!"
"Because you only have one Pokémon for steering, so will I. And since there's two humans on your side, Bobby's riding in my slide."
"That and I didn't want to be left out of a sled run." Bobby added. Mark and Nika looked at eachother.
Bobby looked up at the sky and saw a large singular cloud hovering overhead. There was a breeze going by, but it seemed different. Danny's words interupted his thoughts.
"Ready? On your mark! Get set. Go!" The different riders pushed their sleds towards the edge.
Mark and Nika went over the edge at the same time Danny and Bobby did. Mark and Danny took several more steps before jumping in the front part of their sleds, followed by Nika and Bobby behind them, and finally Goji and Scyther jumped in their respective sleds.
The initial start was good for both teams, as was the straight run for gaining speed. Danny, Bobby and Scyther bent as close to the sled as possible to minimize air-resistance and started going faster than Mark, Nika, and Goji. They where already at the first turn.
"Dangnabbit!" Mark muttered. "At this rate they'll finish before we're half-way there!"
"Then let's copy them!" Nika replied. She, Goji, and Mark shrunk as much as they could and felt themselves accelerating.
"Lean into it!" Mark shouted.
They rounded the first curve by leaning and Goji digging his left claws into the ground rushing by the sled. This lead to another straightaway for 50 yards before another turn, that one to the right. The three rounded curves, in part by leaning and another by Goji's steering. The earth infront of them was still covered in snow, and they could see the trench made by Danny's sled ahead of them. But there was something else in the snow.
Five canisters lay in their direct path, they were grey with a singular glowing light.
"What are those?" Mark asked no one in particular.
"What are what?" Nika asked, seconds before the sled hit the canisters and an exploasion erupted from below their sled.
"That!" Mark replied, but it was drowned out by the sound of a second explosion.
More explosions rocked the sled as they ran over the Blaster Caps. One was so bad, Mark lost his grip on the sides of the sled as it bucked and sent him flying out. Someone grabbed his hand and stopped him from landing face-first on a Blaster Cap. Nika held onto his hand as Goji grabbed his leg and kept him from falling into the ground that was speeding by. Nika moved to the front of the sled as Goji put Mark on the seat behind her.
"Thanks, I owe ya."
As the sled was blasted by another explosion, Nika replied, "We're even."
Now instead of ramming into Blaster Caps placed in the snow, they were falling from the sky.
"What's going on?"
"I've heard of raining cats and dogs, but raining explosives?!" Mark replied.
They rounded a corner and saw Danny, Bobby, and Scyther being assaulted with the same Blaster Caps raining from the sky.
"Yo Bob! You okay?!" Mark shouted.
The other sled had slowed down considerably.
"Are you three alright?" Danny asked.
"We're fine, but what's wrong with the sky?" Nika replied.
At this time two spinning circles fell from the sky and slammed into the snow behind them. The circles velocity enabled them to roll towards the two sleds.
"Now those things look familiar!" Bobby shouted.
"Yeah, but where's Lawrence's ship?" Mark asked, searching the sky. "Nothing's up there!"
Bobby looked up too. True there was nothing there, except a single large cloud. "Wait a minute," he said. "That cloud hasn't moved at all since this morning, even with that never ending breeze!"
"Who's Lawrence?" Nika asked, confused at what Mark and Bobby were talking about.
"A wacko rich-boy who's currently after our pal!" Mark replied. "Actually, if he's after Denny, why is he attacking us?!"
"Maybe he wants to take you out of my misery." Nika mumbled back.
"More like I'm going to use you three as bait to lure Denny and his Pokémon from out of hiding." A large holo projection showed Lawrence above them. "Give up, it's so much easier that way."
"Is his ego showing or what?" Nika commented. "Goji, use Flamethrower and blow those two rings to pieces!"
Goji turned around in his seat and blasted out a stream of flame that engulfed the spinning rings. Satisfied that the rings had been melted down, Goji stopped his attack. Instead of two piles of melted metal, the rings continued to roll down the peak towards them.
"What?!"
"All your efforts are futile. These new Electro-Capture Rings have been reenforced to resist even Moltres's flames, and any other kinds of Pokémon attacks."
"Okay, anyone have anymore bright ideas?" Mark asked.
"Jump ship!" Danny said and got ready to abandon his sled.
"What?! Why?!" Nika asked.
It was too late, Danny, Bobby and Danny's Scyther had jumped off their sled, and landed in a snow drift. Mark grabbed Nika's arm.
"Forget this, let's go!" He jumped pulling her after him, Goji jumped too. The three of them hit snow as the Capture Rings rolled past.
Mark's head popped out of the snow, followed by Nika and Goji's heads.
"Good thing th....thh....thhhey don't mmmm.....mmma....make snow diving an olympic spoooo....ooorrrt. I'm frr...frrr......freeeeeezing!" Mark commented.
Danny, Bobby, and Scyther ran up to the freezing trio.
"You okay?" Bobby asked as he helped Nika out.
"Remind mmmm....mmmme next tiiiime we go to a ski rrrr..rrrr..rresort, nn..nn..not to wear a mm..mini skirt." she replied.
Something cold and wet hit Bobby and he grabbed it. It was Mark's green and black jacket. Mark mouthed something to Bobby, Nika was turned so she didn't see, and Bobby put it around Nika's shoulders.
There was a crash behind them and they all turned. From the sounds of the crash, their sleds had been hit, and broken into shards.
"No sleds, now what do we do?" Nika asked.
"Simple, fight back." Mark replied, rubbing his now bare arms.
"How genius?" Nika said.
"Those rings have to have some kind of weakness." Danny said.
"The rings themselves don't, we've seen them handle flames easy. What we need to do attack is his ship!" Bobby exclaimed.
"Why?" Mark asked.
"The control device for the rings has to be inside." Nika replied, catching onto Bobby's plan. "If we cripple the ship, we may cripple the rings too."
"Now, just give up there is no way you can avoid this next set of rings." Up in the air, two more rings dropped from the sky.
"What's your plan now?" Nika asked.
"Mark, use Gyarados with Goji and blast a Hyper Beam at that ship." Bobby grabbed a Pokéball of his own. "Now we need to teleport a Pokémon up there so they can get the system."
Danny pulled out one of his Pokéballs. "I've got Electrode here."
"Then let's do it before those rings slam on our heads." Mark insisted. "Gyarados!"
"Goji.."
"Gyarados..."
"Hyper Beam Attack!"
The two Pokémon charged up their attacks and sent a combined blast of energy straight at the Great Collector. The ship rocked from the recoil and an exploasion could be heard.
"Now, Alakazam!"
"Electrode!"
Alakazam and Electrode materialized seconds before both Pokémon disappeared in a flash of light.
Everyone on the ground watched as the rings fell closer and closer to them. A small flash of light and an exploasion later, the Great Collector had smoke pillowing out of the hole blasted through it. The rings began to lose their spin, but still continued falling straight towards the group at the bottum.
"They're gonna crash!" Mark shouted.
Goji ran up and twirled around, knocking one ring away from falling on the group. The Pokémon punched another one and deflected it, towards Mark. Mark dove out of the way as the ring crashed to the ground.
"Sorry, you all right?" Nika said.
Mark sat up. "Yeah, I'll live."
Above them the Great Collector began its decent as it flew away. Laurence's plans foiled once again.
* * *
Mark, Bobby, and Nika stood as Danny began handing out the badges.
"You two managed to work like a team even though you can't stand eachother." Danny said as he gave Mark and Nika their badges.
"And your quick thinking saved us from beign captured by Laurence." Danny gave Bobby a badge as well.
"Cool, only three more to go now." Mark said.
"If you can even last that long." Nika commented.
"Is that a challenge?!"
"You're on!"
"You couldn't beat an egg!"
Bobby and Danny sighed as Mark and Nika began fighting again.
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Chrono: Denny and Tina are still edging in through the uneisiness inbetween them ever since Millsweet Island. Denny's trying all he can to prove to Tina that he still loves her, but she's still skeptical. When someone tries to mess with Tina's feelings for Denny things really start to go over the top. Next time on POKéMON: DIMENSION SHIFTERS, Trouble in Paradise.
When things look bad, count on the power within.
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