Chapter VI: The Legend of the Amulet

"Whoa, be careful!"

Steven, Seth, and Drake had entered the dangerous waters north of Mossdeep. Steven was right, Seth realized; the currents here were really strong. Even his Sharpedo wouldn't last long out here. They had just gone over a rough wave, and the boat had landed hard in the water, knocking them all off their feet.

"It's even rougher here than I remember," said Steven. "I hope this boat holds together…"

"Hope?" asked Drake. "Did you say you hope, instead of you know?"

"Yes, I did."

Drake gulped.

Suddenly, the boat shook! It sounded, and felt, like something was pounding against the hull! Seth ran outside, and saw four Sharpedo ramming the hull hard, trying to sink the ship!

"Aw crud," he said. He almost called Steven and Drake, but decided to handle the situation himself.

"Go, Manectric!"

The blue and yellow pokémon came out of its Great Ball and howled.

"Use Thunder on those Sharpedo!"

Manectric howled, and electricity surrounded it. The lightning shot out and down, hitting the four Sharpedo dead-on! They retreated underwater as fast as they could.

"Return," said Seth, calling back Manectric. He walked back into the bridge and faced Steven and Drake.

"This place is really dangerous," he told them. "The pokémon obviously don't like intruders."

They continued deeper into the mist, until they could barely see two feet in front of them.

"What was that?" thought Seth. He had heard something…something that sounded like an engine…

He stepped outside and looked around. There couldn't possibly be someone out here, could there? Unless it was that old hermit…

Then he saw it. He saw a shadow in the distance. It looked like…a boat? But who could it be?

"Hey Steven, did the hermit you told us about own a boat?"

"I think so," Steven replied thoughtfully. "But I think he sunk it a while ago."

"Then who is that?" thought Seth.

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"That old man was nuts," thought Kyle. "Who does he think he is, bossing me around like that?"

Kyle had taken a different route he found as he left the island, one that wasn't nearly as rocky, or misty.

"And how did he know about its power?"

He had found it really strange that an old hermit knew about the amulet. What had he called it? The Amulet of Rayquaza? Well, it was a suiting name. The amulet did have an engraving of Rayquaza on it.

Then, a thought came to him.

"Hmm…maybe…just maybe…he had gone into hiding because he was afraid of the amulet's power! He seemed pretty scared when he saw it…"

He continued to drive the boat, until he finally came to Lilycove City. There, he jumped onto dry land and abandoned the boat. He had a new mission: find out this amulet's true power, and learn how to harness it.

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Seth watched the boat's shadow go by, until it disappeared into the distance.

"Whatcha lookin' at, Seth?" asked Drake as he walked up next to him. Seth looked out at the mist for a few more seconds, then turned around and looked at Drake.

"Nothing," he said, grinning. "C'mon, let's get back inside."

They both went back to the bridge, where Steven was trying to see through the thick fog.

"Darn it, I can't see…hey Seth, would you mind going up topside to be a lookout?" He handed Seth a walkie-talkie.

"No problem," Seth said, taking the walkie-talkie.

"There's a lifejacket up there you can wear," Steven said. "You may need it."

"Thanks."

Seth walked out the door, went around to the stern, and climbed up the ladder on the back, until he was on top. He saw the lifejacket, grabbed it, and put it on.

"See anything?" said Steven over the walkie-talkie. Seth looked around.

"I can see a little further," Seth said, "But it doesn't seem like there's anything up ahead except for some rocks."

"Try to direct me around them," Steven replied.

"Okay, turn to the left. Port side."

The boat began to turn left, avoiding the rock.

"Okay, you're gonna want to slow down," Seth said. "A lot."

Steven did so. The boat came to a halt.

"How many rocks are up ahead?"

"Too many to maneuver around," Seth told him. "I think you'll have to back up."

The boat began to move backwards. Seth turned around to make sure Steven didn't back up into any rocks.

Drake's voice came over the walkie-talkie.

"Hey, what kind of crazy old guy lives in a place like this?" he said.

Seth silently agreed. Why would anyone live out here? It was impossible to see twenty feet in front of one's nose, and the waters were extremely difficult to navigate due to the currents, the mist, and the rocks. A wave crashed into the boat, causing it to lurch and causing Seth to fall over. He dropped his walkie-talkie and it clattered away.

"Seth, are you alright?" Seth heard Steven's voice over the walkie-talkie. "Seth?"

Seth crawled over to the walkie-talkie and picked it up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. Another wave hit the boat, pushing it to the left.

"Look out!" Steven yelled. Seth turned around to see what Steven was talking about.

CRASH!

Seth lost his footing and went flying off the top of the boat. He landed, hitting something hard.

"Ugh…" he groaned, picking himself up. He had landed on a large rock that was flat enough for him to stand on. He looked towards Steven's boat and waved at them, signaling them over. The boat began to move closer to him. Drake poked his head out of the door.

"Hey Seth, how'd ya get there?" he asked.

"That huge wave knocked me off of the top of the boat," Seth explained.

"Oh, okay," Drake said. "Steven wanted me to tell ya he can't move too close or else he might hit the rocks again. That last wave knocked it into the rocks."

"Gotcha," Seth replied. He pulled out a Great Ball.

ROAR!

Seth looked to his right and nearly fell backwards. He was facing a giant Gyarados. It was much larger than any normal Gyarados, and normal Gyarados were very big.

"Dang it!" Seth said. "That thing must've caused that wave that knocked us into the rocks!"

"Whoa!" Drake yelled, half-frightened, half-awed. "A Gyarados!"

Seth put away his Great Ball containing Altaria and grabbed a ball containing Manectric.

"Go! Manectric!" Seth yelled, sending out his electric pokémon. Manectric howled when it came out, facing the Gyarados. Gyarados roared and sent out a Dragon Rage attack at Seth and Manectric.

"Dodge and use Thunder!" Seth yelled, jumping out of the way of the blast. Manectric, using its amazing speed, ran out of the way of the Dragon Rage. Thunderclouds began to form over Gyarados. Manectric howled and a powerful lightning bolt came out of the cloud, directly striking the Gyarados.

"Gya!" Gyarados roared in pain. To Seth's shock, however, the monster still stood.

"That Gyarados is powerful," Seth said to himself. "Okay Manectric, wait for its next attack!"

Manectric nodded and stared intently at Gyarados. Gyarados roared and lunged at Manectric, who dodged out of the way.

"Now use another Thunder attack!"

Manectric howled again. Thunderclouds formed again and a lightning bolt came down, but Gyarados quickly moved. The lightning struck the rock the Gyarados had slammed, causing it to explode and sending several rock shards flying everywhere. Seth ducked as a rock flew over his head.

"Thunder!" Seth heard Steven yell. An Aggron appeared next to Seth. It roared, and thunderclouds formed again.

"Manectric, use Thunder with Aggron!" Seth commanded his pokémon. Manectric howled and even more lightning clouds formed. One enormous bolt of lightning came crashing down, hitting the Gyarados full blast. It roared in agony, writhing and flailing dangerously. The attack stopped, and the Gyarados fainted, slamming into the water and causing another wave.

"Return," Seth and Steven said simultaneously, calling back their pokémon. Seth sent out Altaria, flew back to the boat, and called it back.

"Thanks, Steven," Seth said.

"Wow, you guys won!" Drake said in awe. "That was so awesome!"

"No time to celebrate," Steven said. "That wave is about to hit us!"

Seth and Drake looked back, seeing the gigantic wave caused by the Gyarados falling into the water. The three trainers hastened to get inside the boat. The wave slammed into it, pushing it hard…

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What happened?

Seth slowly opened his eyes. He stared into the blue, sunny sky above him.

There's no mist here…

Seth sat up quickly, and then felt dizzy. Looking around, he realized he was on a small island with an old cottage in the middle. He looked out at sea and saw the misty Northern Hoenn waters in the distance.

'We landed in the middle of nowhere,' he realized. 'We're not in Hoenn anymore.'

He looked around the small beach, finding Steven and Drake nearby. Steven was already waking up, but Drake was still unconscious.

"Steven, you alright?" Seth asked.

"I'm fine, but I don't think my boat is," Steven replied. "Look at it."

Seth looked at the boat. It had sustained massive amounts of damage from the rocks and the waves.

"I don't think she'll be out in the water again," Steven said.

"Well," Seth said, "At least we can Fly back." He kneeled down to Drake.

"Hey," he said, shaking him. "Wake up."

Drake opened his eyes and sat up.

"Where are we?" he asked, looking around.

"Our destination," Steven said, gesturing towards the cottage. Drake stood up and looked at it.

"This place?" he asked. "Someone lives here?"

"Yes. Well, at least he lived here a few years ago. I don't know about now."

"You mean we might've come all the way here for nothing?" Drake asked, astonished.

"It's our only lead right now, Drake," Seth told him. "Calm down, Steven knows what he's doing."

Steven walked up to the cottage and slowly opened the door. Seth and Drake followed him inside.

"Hello?" Steven asked. "Is anyone here?"

"Steven?" a hard voice replied. The group looked in the direction of the voice to see an old man with a lined, hard face. He looked troubled about something.

"Sir," Steven said, "I came to ask you abo-"

"Who're they?" the man asked, gesturing towards Seth and Drake.

"This is Seth, the current Champion, and Drake, his apprentice."

"Champion?" the old man asked, looking at Seth. "You mean he beat you?"

"Fair and square," Steven replied. The old man walked up to Seth and examined him closely for a few moments.

"They don't expect much from Champions nowadays, apparently," he said. This made Seth angry.

"What are you talking about?" he said, containing his anger. "I beat the Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, Wallace, and Steven. I even fought Team Magma and Team Aqua. What more is there?"

"Let me tell you something, boy," the old man said sternly. "When I was your age, there were trainers at least ten times as powerful as you and Steven."

Seth couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wasn't sure whether he should believe him or be insulted by the man's comments. The old man looked at Steven.

"So, what did you want?"

"I came here to ask you about a strange amulet," Steven said. "I don't know the whole story, though. Seth and Drake will have to fill in some of the blanks."

The group began to tell him about Kyle and the amulet, how it glowed, and how no one but Seth saw it. The old man was intrigued.

"Only a powerful trainer can see the amulet's glow," the old man said.

"So you admit I'm strong," Seth said.

"I'll admit you're strong by today's standards," the man replied, "But if you lived when I was younger, you would be nothing." Seth had to force himself not to yell.

The man continued. "This amulet you speak of is called the Amulet of Rayquaza."

"What's so special about it, though?" Drake asked.

"Years ago, back when I was in my twenties or so, there was an extremely powerful dragon pokémon that ravaged the lands, destroying towns and killing people and pokémon alike."

"You mean Rayquaza?" Seth asked.

The old man shook his head. "No. I mean Shadow Rayquaza."

"Shadow Rayquaza?" Seth asked in astonishment.

"Yes," the old man replied. "It was powerful, more powerful than Rayquaza. People were terrified of it.

"A few trainers banded together, intent on stopping it. I was one of them. We fought it in a battle that shook the land of Hoenn to its very foundations. But the pokémon couldn't be stopped, even with our combined strength.

"Then, a man found a stone in the Sky Pillar. It was a very rare stone with magical properties. He studied it, trying to unlock its secrets. While he studied it, Shadow Rayquaza began to pursue him intently, trying to kill him and destroy the stone. He came to the conclusion that it was afraid of the stone's magic. He used the stone to develop a magical amulet."

"The Amulet of Rayquaza," Seth said.

"Yes," the old man said. "We battled Shadow Rayquaza again using all of our strength. We managed to weaken it enough for the amulet to be used. It trapped Shadow Rayquaza. Unfortunately, if the amulet were to be destroyed, Shadow Rayquaza would be unleashed again. So we hid it deep in Meteor Falls, far from where anyone could find it.

"A theory was developed about it later on. It was believed that if any trainer were to find it and put it on, they would have access to Shadow Rayquaza's power, enhancing their pokémon's power. And if they were pushed to the limit, Shadow Rayquaza would take that trainer over completely. Being locked in the amulet, Shadow Rayquaza is much weaker than it used to be, but still powerful enough to cause major damage. Rather than stay and find out, I left Hoenn and stayed here.

"This boy you tell me of…Kyle was his name, wasn't it? I met him about two hours ago. He is a very arrogant young man. I warned him of the Amulet's power, but he wouldn't listen to me. He seems intent on discovering how much power it contains. However, it's far too much for him to handle."

"You can come help us," Steven said. "If you fought Shadow Rayquaza before, you'll know what to expect against him."

The old man shook his head. "I'm too old to fight him. I'm not as powerful as I used to be. For now, you'll have to fight him. With the help of these two, of course." He gestured towards Seth and Drake again. Drake put up his fist.

"Kyle won't know what hit him when I'm through with him!" he said with a cocky grin on his face.

"I know a trainer who might be able to help us," Seth said. "He's pretty strong, too."

"Good," the old man said. "You'll need all the help you can get to defeat Shadow Rayquaza."

"Well, thanks, sir," Steven said to the old man. "At least now we know what we're up against."

"Good luck," the old man said. "And be careful."

Seth, Steven, and Drake bade farewell to the old man, went outside, and flew back to Hoenn.