Navel Island

The gang soon arrived at Navel Island.

"Here I can get my second Orange League badge." Ash said. "The question is, where is the gym though?"

"You kids lost?" A voice asked.

The voice belonged to a man with a big backpack on his shoulder.

"Actually we are." Ash said. "We are looking for the Navel Gym."

"I will take you there." The man said. "I know the gym very well."

"You have a huge backpack there." Tracey said, pointing to the man's backpack.

"Ah well, I use this to store whatever I need on my journeys." The man said. "It is always best to be prepared. My name is Danny."

Ash, Misty, Tomo and Tracey smiled at what Danny had said; they also knew that is was best to be prepared.

Danny led the gang to the foot of the big mountain that stood on Navel Island.

"This is the gym." Danny said.

"You mean instead of a building, the Navel Gym is actually a mountain?" Ash gasped.

"That is correct." Danny nodded. He then pointed to a gate at the foot of the mountain.

"When you pass through that gate, the challenge starts."

Ash and Tracey walked up to the gate and pushed it open. Through the gate was a path that led up to the mountain. Tracey saw a sign and looked at it.

"This sign post says that challengers for the gym have to climb up the mountain and non challengers can take the cable car." He said.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad." He said.

"Oh hold on." Tracey continued. "It says that the challengers are not allowed to use any Pokemon for help up the mountain, or they will be disqualified."

"Well that makes things harder." Ash said. "I still need the gym badge, so it can't be helped."

Ash and Danny started to climb up the mountain, while Tomo, Tracey and Misty took the cable car. Danny was climbing the mountain easily, but Ash was finding it a bit difficult; he had never climbed up a mountain before. Suddenly Ash slipped and fell down, but he managed to grab a hold of a ledge. He wanted to call out Ivysaur to help, but knew it wasn't possible due to the rules. Danny watched Ash with admiration as he began to start climbing again. Soon Ash and Danny rested.

"Man this is hard work." Ash sighed. "Climbing a mountain is harder than climbing a tree."

After the climb, Ash and Danny had to walk up to the top. At the top was snow and the cold snowy wind was blowing fiercely.

*'Sheesh, this wind is cold.'* Ash thought.

Finally Ash and Danny reached the top of the mountain. Misty, Tracey and Tomo, who were wrapped up in blankets to stay warm, saw them come up the mountain. Tomo and Growlithe rushed over to see if Ash was alright.

"It's okay Tomo." Ash said, rubbing Tomo's head.

"Well Ash." Danny said. "After seeing you climb up the mountain, I have to say I'm happy to have you as my challenger."

"Wait." Ash said. "Danny, you're-"

"That's right, I'm the leader of Navel Gym."

The gang was surprised.

"Now Ash, the real challenge begins."

Apparently climbing up the mountain wasn't the only challenge of the Navel Gym. Ash had to go through three challenges to get the badge. Danny led Ash to two geysers.

"Our first challenge is a frozen geyser race." Danny said. "We each use one Pokemon who knows ice type attacks to freeze a hot water geyser. The one to freeze their geyser first wins the challenge."

Ash chose Lapras and Danny used Nidoqueen for this challenge. Both Lapras and Nidoqueen used Ice Beam to freeze the geysers. It was a close call, but Danny won the first challenge. Lapras felt bad about losing, but Ash rubbed his head.

"That's okay." He said. "I'll win the next challenge."

The next challenge turned out to be some sort of ice sculpting race. The challengers had to carve the frozen geysers into sleds using their Pokemon. Danny used Nidoqueen, Scyther and Machoke while Ash used Pikachu, Ivysaur and Flareon. Thanks to Flareon's Flamethrower, Ash won the second round. So right now it was a tie between Ash and Danny.

"Well Ash this has been a very good challenge so far." Danny said. "But now it's time for the final challenge."

The final challenge was a sled race. Danny and Ash had to race down the mountain on the ice sleds with three Pokemon in tow.

"The finish line is on the beach." Danny explained. "And whoever crosses it first wins."

Danny had Scyther, Geodude and Electrode in his sled with him and Ash had Pikachu, Wartortle and Ivysaur in his sled. Danny and Ash got into position at the starting line, on top of the mountain. Then when the signal lights at the starting line turned from red to green, Ash and Danny raced down the mountain. Tomo, Misty and Tracey went into the cable car to get down from the mountain and to watch and see who would cross the finish line first.

Ash and Danny raced down the mountain on their sleds like crazy. They were both eager to cross the finish line first. Danny's Scyther steered the sled with it's scythes and Ash's Ivysaur steered the sled with it's vines. It was a bit of a bumpy ride, but Ash didn't give up. Soon the terrain had changed from snow to rock. At that time Ash's sled had begun to fall apart a bit because of the rocky terrain. Danny was approaching the finish line, but Ash was catching up to him fast. Because the sled began to break apart, it was becoming lighter which made the sled pick up speed. Then at last, Ash crossed the finish line first and landed in the ocean. Ash, Ivysaur and Wartortle were wet, but happy they won the race.

After getting out of the ocean, Ash walked up to Danny.

"Ash you gave me the best challenge that I ever had." Danny said. "And I say congratulations for your win. I also present you with the Sea-Ruby Badge."

The Sea-Ruby Badge was a white oyster shell shaped badge with a small green gemstone on it. Ash thanked Danny and received his second Orange League Badge.

With the Navel Gym challenge complete, Ash and the gang bid farewell to Danny and left Navel Island on Lapras.