A/N: Hello again for those of you reading! Like I said at the end of the last chapter, I'm going to do two updates today. Here's the second!
After Team Rocket has been blasted off, the show and lunch continue as planned with the boys actually being waited on and enjoying some gourmet food.
"That was delicious!" Max says as he finishes his last bite.
"Yeah, really good stuff!" Ritchie says. The four of them continue watching the show until a man approaches their table.
"Hello!" The man says.
"Uh…hi." Max replies.
"I just wanted to come by and thank you all for your efforts in saving our actors' pokemon earlier! It was truly brave of you!" The man smiled and held out his hand for Gary.
"Oh, it was no problem." Gary shook the man's hand, "They were actually making off with our pokemon as well." He paused for a second. "Did you say 'our actors?'"
"Ah yes, how rude of me. I apologize. I am the caption of the S.S. Cloud." The boys all gasped in awe.
"Nice to meet you!" Max jumped up in front of the captain, "My name's Max, and I just wanted to say that you've got a really neat ship here!" Tyrel stood up and pulled Max back a little.
"Yes, he does," he said, "now how about being polite and not crowding him?"
The captain chuckled, "Oh he's fine. He reminds me of my own son in many ways, too." He looked down to Max, "You really think it's a cool ship?"
"Of course sir! I even got to see the engine room!" He paused, "Well, a little of it."
"Sounds exciting!" The captain said and chuckled, "How would you like to see the helm and see how everything's run?"
Max's face lit up even more, "That would be awesome!" The captain laughed.
"You're all welcome to join us, as well. It'll be my way of saying 'thank you' for your services earlier. What do you say?"
"Absolutely!" Ritchie said.
"Sounds interesting, I've always wanted to see how these things run. Count me in." Gary said.
"Sure, I've already gotten everything organized and could use a little entertainment." Tyrel checked his watch, "Plus we've got some time to kill. Going to be a long ride."
"That it is!" The captain laughed. "Alright then. Why don't you guys follow me?" Everyone nodded in agreement and got up from the table. The captain led them back out the exit Team Rocket used to the deck. The deck, which was now open to passengers, featured a pool and a lot of chairs for lounging. The group rounded a corner and took a flight of stairs up to the control room.
"This is it!" The captain said as he opened a door and let the boys in. There were a few men in the front sitting in front of computer monitors and a man standing in the back behind the wheel. There were switches, buttons and lights almost everywhere they looked. "What do you think?"
The boys simply stared in awe for a moment. The man behind the wheel approached the captain and saluted him, standing at attention. "Welcome back, sir. No troubles to report, smooth sailing as usual."
The captain saluted back, "Thanks sailor, at ease. You are relieved of duty."
The man relaxed, "Thank you, captain." He slipped past the boys and left the room.
"Who was that?" Max asked.
"That was the first mate, the man you are going to relieve!" The captain smiled.
"Cool! So uh…how do I do that?" Max wasn't sure what the captain was talking about. Everybody chuckled and the captain walked Max over to the wheel.
"You, sir, are going to be piloting the ship!" The captain presented the wheel to Max. "It's all yours!"
"Woah!" Max jumped forward and took the wheel, though he was a bit too short to see over the console in front of him. The captain whistled and a man ran over with a chair. Max climbed up and took control of the wheel again. "This is amazing!"
"I'll give Captain Max here a few pointers," the captain said, causing Max to beam with pride, "why don't you three check out the rest of the helm? It's really quite interesting how everything's run."
"Aye aye, Captain!" The three of them said in unison. They all walked around, examining the intricate layers of levers and switches.
Tyrel walked behind one of the men in front of the computers, which had an image of what looked like a geographical map. There was a yellow blip that blinked occasionally. "What's that?" Tyrel asked the man.
"That's us on the map." The man took the headphones off that he was wearing. "We're kept on course by a global positioning system that tracks us by satellite." Next to him was another screen with a bunch of circles within each other. A line was constantly making a loop around those circles.
"And that's the radar, I take it?" Tyrel guessed.
"That's right," the man said, "It sends out signals that keep going until they hit something. If whatever they hit is close enough, the signal bounces back strong enough for our machines to pick it up. Otherwise it'll read empty and the waters are clear." Tyrel watched the two screens, fascinated.
Meanwhile Ritchie and Gary were messing with some of the tools the other men were using under their supervision. The captain was showing Max how to keep an eye out for anything while still keeping control over the wheel. After a little bit of practice, he hit a few buttons on the console in front of the wheel and took his hat off, giving it to Max. Max laughed and put it on, pulling it back so it didn't cover his eyes.
"Auto-pilot's off, now, Captain. You're in charge."
"Wow…" Max looked forward out the windows in front of him. "Alright men, full speed ahead!" He yelled.
"Aye aye, cap'n."
"Aye aye, sir. All ahead full." The men responded, even though the ship was already at full throttle.
The captain laughed. "You're a natural!" He looked around the room and smiled at seeing everyone enjoying themselves. He grabbed a cup of coffee and pulled up a chair next to Max, enjoying himself just as much as Max. The other three continued exploring the intricacies of the room, still fascinated at everything involved in keeping the ship moving and on course.
A few minutes later, one of the men called out: "Captain, we're picking up speed." The captain stood up and walked over, examining the screen.
"Any currents in the area?"
"No sir, none on record."
"Hmm…" The captain began checking all of the screens and gauges. Tyrel, Ritchie and Gary stepped back, giving him plenty of room. Max began to get worried.
"Uh sir…should I…what should I do?" Max asked, loosening his grip on the wheel.
"Just sit tight, Max. No need to worry just yet." The captain continued making his rounds through the room. He looked out the window in front of him for a second. He grabbed a pair of binoculars and took a closer look. "Oh no…"
"What, what is it?" Max asked, letting go of the wheel completely. "Did I break something?"
"No, but you'll need to excuse me." The captain returned to the wheel as Max jumped down away from it. "You did marvelously son, but there's trouble ahead. Everyone take a seat and buckle in." He took a microphone from the console in front of the wheel, held in the button and spoke: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. Please evacuate the deck and the dining hall and return to your rooms immediately in a calm and organized manner. We'll be experiencing some turbulence and we request that you remain in your rooms until further notice."
The boys simply looked forward out the window, trying to figure out why the captain was distressed. The boat began turning right at an alarming rate, almost causing all of them to lose their balance. Tyrel took off out the door and down the stairs, running past the pool toward the bow of the ship. Soon after Ritchie and Gary followed him while Max stayed with the captain.
Tyrel reached the bow of the ship and looked out. His face turned dark as he saw what they were heading for. Directly in their path was a massive whirlpool in the middle of the ocean. The captain's new course was leading them to the outer ring, but Tyrel knew it was inevitable that they would be sucked in. Ritchie and Gary followed soon after and saw the same thing.
"What's that?" Gary cried.
"It's a whirlpool," Ritchie answered, "but why is there a whirlpool here in the middle of nowhere?"
"It's too late to ask questions, we've got to do something." Tyrel looked around the deck which was now empty, trying to find any kind of solution. Suddenly, as he got an idea, he ran back up to the helm and up to the captain.
"Captain, can we avoid it?" Tyrel asked in a rushed tone.
"I don't think so, son." The captain's face was stern, almost emotionless.
"Well if we offset the weight enough on the right side-I mean, the starboard side-can we use the propulsion from the whirlpool to slingshot us out the other side?"
The captain took a quick moment and thought through the idea. "It's possible, but we'd need nearly an entire ton of weight to keep us from tipping from the sheer speed and the pull of the water. Not to mention we're already at full throttle."
"We have to try!" Tyrel turned back to Gary and Ritchie. "Both of you, follow me!" He led them back out onto the deck and to the starboard side of the ship. "Go, Metagross!" Tyrel threw his pokeball into the air and released Metagross who came out of his pokeball with his legs folded, hovering in the air. "We'll need to use our pokemon to offset the ship. Metagross will almost do it but he won't be enough by himself."
"I've got Cruise, a tyranitar." Ritchie said, "That should do it, right?" Tyrel nodded.
"Hopefully…but we'll have to set them both down at the right time." Tyrel looked down, thinking through how it might work out.
"Go, Blastoise!" Gary threw a pokeball out and released his blastoise. "We'll head to the back of the ship and do everything we can to give the ship an extra boost."
"Perfect." Tyrel held his hand up and Gary grasped it. "Good luck."
"You too." Gary and Blastoise took off for the stern of the ship. Up in the helm, Max was seated and buckled, watching out the window. The captain was frantically shouting orders and men were running all around.
"Sir, 30 seconds to breach!" One of the men yelled.
"Copy. Everyone, brace yourself." The crew all planted their feet and grabbed hold of the nearest planted object.
Out on the deck Ritchie and Tyrel prepared to offset the weight. "Ready, Metagross?" Metagross hummed.
"Get ready Cruise…" Ritchie held the pokeball in his hand, prepared to release Cruise. For what seemed like minutes, the ship simply kept accelerating faster and faster as the roar of the whirlpool got louder and louder. Finally, the nose dipped into the whirlpool and sent the ship forward at amazing speeds.
"Now, Metagross!"
"Go, Cruise!" Metagross unfolded his legs and slammed down onto the ship, crushing a few of the boards underneath him. Cruise appeared next to him and braced himself against the side of the ship.
Back at the stern, Gary had Blastoise used hydro pump into the water, propelling the ship even more. In the helm the captain held tight to the wheel as it pulled hard to the port side. Max watched intently as everyone frantically flipped switches and moved levers, doing everything the captain yelled almost before he yelled it. "Hold fast, men! We can make it!"
Tyrel and Ritchie were holding onto the railing of the ship as it shot through the waters, the spinning waters around the ship splashing over the sides. "Hold on, Cruise!" Cruise roared and tensed even more.
At the back of the ship, Gary watched what Ritchie and Tyrel couldn't see, witnessing the immense size of the whirlpool as they circled around it.
"Grraaah! It's not enough!" The captain shouted, "We're being pulled in!" As if he had heard the captain's cries, Blastoise opened his mouth and let loose a water gun attack as well. The ship began gaining speed and climbing back out of the torrent.
"That's it! Just a little more!" The captain was grunting as he continued to fight the wheel for control. Seeing his struggle, Max unclipped his belt and ran up to the opposite side of the wheel and jumped up, grabbing one of the pegs and throwing his entire weight into pulling it. It was just enough as the wheel began turning toward him and the nose of the ship barely grasped the edge of the whirlpool, sending them flying out.
"Don't give up now, Blastoise, give it everything you've got!" Blastoise sent out another burst of water from his water gun and hydro pump as the ship began gaining distance from the whirlpool. A few moments later the captain relaxed his grip on the wheel and sighed in relief.
Blastoise ended his attacks and Gary recalled him. "Job well done, pal. You've earned some rest."
Tyrel and Ritchie walked to the edge of the ship and looked behind them at the whirlpool. After a moment they shouted in joy, jumping up and giving each other a high-five. Metagross and Tyranitar were recalled and everyone ran into the helm to celebrate.
"Excellent work, gentlemen!" The captain saluted the boys who saluted back. "Never in my years as a sailor have I seen such fine sailing or quick thinking. Truly remarkable! Well done!" He turned and knelt in front of Max. "And I have to thank you too, Captain Max. Without your help we might not have made it through that! It's thanks to you that everyone is safe and sound!"
Max smiled, "It was no trouble, really!" He laughed and gave a thumbs up. "Just doing my part!"
The captain smiled and stood back up. He grabbed the wheel and then the microphone, making another announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to inform you that the trouble has passed. We were unfortunate enough to encounter a rather large rogue whirlpool, however with the help of a few brave passengers and our guest captain Max, we made it through safe and sound." Max giggled at hearing his name with the word "captain." "We'll be re-plotting our course for Kanto and should be back on track within the hour. For the time being we'd like you to remain in your rooms unless you've sustained an injury, in which case please make your way to the nurse's office located on the second floor."
"Captain…" Tyrel spoke up as the captain put the microphone back down, "why was that whirlpool there in the first place?" Everyone turned to listen to the captain's answer.
"To be honest, I have no idea," the captain said plainly, "Every now and again ships run into random waves or whirlpools in the middle of the ocean that nobody can explain. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's some of the pokemon." He turned and faced the window, his face growing serious. "I can say that I've never heard of one nearly as large as the one we just encountered. I'll be contacting the mainland and informing them of our situation, maybe they'll have more information." He turned back to the boys. "For now, you can relax knowing you've done this ship a huge favor. Saved it, even. You're all welcome to anything you want, Captain's treat. And of course you're welcome back here at any time, although for now it would make me most comfortable if you all returned to your rooms and took a rest from your hard work while we reset our course."
"Of course! No problem!" Ritchie held his hand out for the captain. "Thanks for everything!"
The captain shook Ritchie's hand. "Thank you boys, now if you'll excuse me." The boys all left the helm and walked back toward their rooms. Gary, Tyrel and Ritchie smiled and laughed as Max retold his story of how he helped the captain and saved the ship. Soon they all split up and went to their rooms, each one feeling overjoyed and slightly prideful at their accomplishments. The captain radioed the mainland and soon they would be back on track; Destination: Kanto.
A/N: Probably my longest single chapter, and now things are starting to get interesting!
Our heroes aboard the S.S. Cloud have helped the captain to avoid disaster as the ship was sent speeding through a whirlpool! With the dangers far behind them, the boys have returned to their rooms and the captain has begun replotting his course for Kanto. How's the day going in Johto where Ash and friends were supposed to be getting ready for a dance? What's that? Another whirlpool? And cyclones? What's going on? Ahem...sorry, got a little carried away. Stay tuned!
And please review! I'll dance for you if you do, I promise!