Beyond the Adventure - A Pokémon Story

Chapter 7: Onward! pt2

                I look over at Darius, who is making the unconscious driver comfortable.  He lays him down gently, then folds up the driver’s coat, which was hanging on the back on his seat, and lays in under his head.  I rummage around the cockpit and find a map of Kanto.  I study it quickly.  The rail appears to have about five miles of extra track before stopping at Rock Mountain.  I continue rummaging and find a train manual.  I flip through and find information on the brake system.  I glance over at Pirate Girl, who is tinkering with the console.  Darius glances over her shoulder, offering random bits of advice while she continuously tries to shoo him away in vain.  The manual shows a diagram of the brake system.  Even better, it shows there are emergency brakes between every car!  If we activate those, we just might be able to stop this train in time!

                “Darius!” I shout excitedly.

                He looks up and runs over.  I hold out the manual and show him the diagram.  He looks it over and immediately he understands the plan.  “Got it, buddy!” he says.  “We can do this!”

                I look over at Pirate Girl.  “Hey Pirate Girl!” I shout.

                “My name is Jess, not ‘Pirate Girl’!” she growls.  “What do you want?”

                “Have you turned the throttle all the way down?” I ask.

                “I’ve been trying,” she says.  “It’s stuck.  I can’t pull it down.”

                I run over and try pulling it down myself.  It is definitely stuck.  I grab Brawny’s ball.  If anyone is strong enough to pull it down, it is him.  I toss his ball and he jumps out, ready for action, and the cabin immediately gets really cramped.

                “Brawny!” I say.  “We need to stop this train.  Grab that handle and pull it down all the way!”

                “Ma-CHAMP!” he shouts.  He grabs the throttle and pulls as hard as he can.  After a couple seconds of pulling, I hear a loud crack and Brawny falls backward, slamming into the cockpit door.  He looks dumbfounded as he looks at the broken throttle handle in his hand.  “Ma…Champ?” he says with a goofy grin.  I face palm.

                “Good going,” Jess groans.

                Brawny gets up and stomps to the console.  With a mighty fist, he punches straight through the console and rips out a massive handful of wires, mechanical components, and scrap metal.  The train lags and we all lurch forward.  The train has stopped accelerating!

                “Yes!” Darius shouts.  “Good job, Brawny!”

                Jess stares, dumbstruck.  “Well, that… worked.”

                Suddenly, we are struck with a bright light and we are momentarily blinded.  We exit the mountain tunnel that passes through Indigo Plateau and are now passing through Viridian Forest.

                “We’re almost to Saffron City!” Jess shouts.  “We need to stop this train NOW!”

                “Brawny ripped the throttle out,” Darius says.  “Won’t the train stop on its own now?”

                “We are going 340 miles per hour on a MAGNET train!” Jess explains, highly annoyed.

                I look at Darius.  “Because it is run on magnets, there is very little friction to slow us down,” I explain.  “The emergency brakes will apply that friction.”