Episode 84: Hex Marks the Spot!
Ash, Brock, and Brenda are standing at the edge of a wharf at Crater Town. Ash asks a man disbelief, "What do you mean, there won't be any boats leaving for another week!? We need to leave today!"
The man responds, "I am sorry for the inconvenience, but it is a necessity. Traffic into and out of Crater Town is so small that it's just not feasible for the ferry to run more than once a week, and it just took a trip yesterday."
It would seem our heroes have encountered yet another obstacle in their journey across Tenno, but knowing them, that just means an even more exciting adventure lies just ahead.
Brock asks, "Please sir, you must know of some other way for us to get across the Strait of Tenno, we need to get to Opti City, and we'd really rather not wait a week."
The man thinks for a moment. "Well, I suppose that you could attempt to charter a private boat. A few ships are harbored here now." He points to a nearby building. "That's the place you're going to want to go. That's where the crew of boats staying here tend to go. Someone there might be willing to grant you passage."
Brock nods. "That would work fine. Thank you, sir."
The man nods in acknowledgement.
As Ash, Brock, and Brenda turn to leave, Brenda asks, "Brock, do you think we can afford the price of a private boat? Sounds pretty expensive, and last I checked, we need to save up on our money."
Brock responds, "We'll just have to hope we can find someone willing to offer us a reasonable price."
Ash comments, "Let's hope so. There's no way I'm waiting a week for my gym battle at Opti City."
The three step into the building, and they find themselves in some sort of social gathering place of sailors, and rowdy looking sailors at that. Brenda asks, "So…who do we ask…?"
Ash looks just as overwhelmed as her. "Just ask anyone…I guess…"
Then, someone steps aside, revealing a woman sitting at a table. She has short cropped, black hair with a red bandana wrapped around it, and wears a blue shirt and black pants.
Immeadiatly upon seeing her, Brock gasps and dashes over to her. He proclaims, "Oh, lovely beauty, lady of the sea, I have the most humble of requests to make of a maiden as fair as yourself. For, you see, my friends in I are in great need of help."
Before Brock can continue, a man runs over, shouting, "Sweetie, I think I've got it! This is it!" The man is young and fit. He looks more like a surfer than a sailor, given his wavy blond hair, board shorts, and tropical shirt.
Brock freezes up as he realizes the man is referring to the woman. "Sweetie…"
Just behind Brock, Meteorfight chuckles in amusement, so amused apparently, that it forgoes Brock's uppercut.
The woman, now so excited that she ignores Brock, leaps up and asks in disbelief, "No joke? For real this time?"
The man asserts, "No joke. I triple checked everything, and it all lines up, we have it."
The woman leaps forward and hugs the man. "That's great news! All those years of searching will finally pay off!"
Ash and Brenda step towards the couple. Brenda asks, "If you don't mind me asking, what is it you're so excited about?"
The couple look toward them. The woman responds, "We think we've found the exact location of the S.S. Bright Star."
Ash questions, "The S.S. Bright Star? What's that?"
The man asks, "Really? You've never heard of the Bright Star before?"
Ash shakes his head. "No, what is it?"
"It's a famous pirate ship that sunk somewhere in the Straight of Tenno over 300 years ago. The ship's captain was infamous for his greed, and he plundered up and down the coast of Tenno, but so greedy was he that he would never spend a single doubloon. His entire life's wealth was all hoarded on his ship, so that it would never leave his side. Then came the fateful day where the fearless captain met his match. A storm of epic proportions rocked the seas, and the captain went down with his ship."
The woman explains, "Nobody knows exactly where the ship went down, and for the past 300 years, countless treasure hunters have tried and failed to find the fortune, but no one ever has." She then adds, "Until today, that is."
Brenda, sounding very impressed, asks, "You really think you've found it?"
The man nods and pulls out some old documents. "I found these at the Crater Town Archives. They are exact records of wind patterns on the night the Bright Star went down. Using them, as well as the Bright Star's last know location and time, I have calculated the exact location that ship would have been when it went down."
Ash says with wonder, "Wow, it's a real-life treasure hunt! That's amazing!"
Suddenly, a hardy sailor steps forward and proclaims, "No it's not. These fools are wasting their time. The Bright Star is nothing but a myth. If there was treasure to be found, it would have been found long ago. Don't let these fools get you excited over nothing." He looks to the couple. "I warned you years ago when you started this search that you wouldn't find anything. I'll warn you again. Stop wasting your lives, and stop giving each other false hopes."
The man puts a comforting arm on the woman's shoulder and retorts, "We'll see who wasted their lives when we have the treasure."
The sailor laughs. "Fine, do what pleases you. Too bad you don't have a crew to help you anymore." He walks off.
The woman sighs. "He's right, you know. We need a crew. There's no way we could start a salvage effort without a crew, and our entire crew gave up and left us."
Ash suddenly has an idea. "Hey, we can be your crew!"
The couple to Ash with surprise. The man asks, "Really? You believe us?"
Ash nods. "Of course. Not to mention, we came here looking for a boat to Opti City, so we could help each other out. Besides, a hunt for pirate treasure sounds fun!"
Brenda agrees, "Yeah, I'd love to see all those beautiful gold and gemstones! What do you think Brock?"
Brock is sulking in the corner. He murmurs, "Yeah…sure…"
The man smiles. "We'd be more than happy to take you to Opti City. Thank you so much. By the way, I'm Rob, and this is my girlfriend, Samantha."
Ash introduces himself, "I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu."
"Pika pi!"
Brenda adds, "And I'm Brenda. The sulker over there in the corner is Brock. Don't worry about him, he'll be better in a little bit."
Rob says, "Alright then, Ash, Brenda, and Brock, let's head out!"
Jessie, James, and Meowth sit at a nearby table in basic disguises. They watch as Ash and the others step out. Once they're gone, Team Rocket look to each other with wordless glee, all thinking the exact same thing.
Rob and Samantha present their ship to Ash, Brock, and Brenda. It's not a large ship, but neither is it small. Its wooden hull and sails make it look somewhat antiquated compared to the other boats docked.
Samantha explains, "This boat is both our livelihood and our home. We've done many salvage operations with it, but never one as big as this."
Rob comments, "These next few hours could make or break us." He shudders with anticipation. "It's actually quite exciting." After a moment's more of thought, he steps up onto the gangplank and beckons everyone forward. "Well then, all aboard. Let's prepare to cast off."
Everyone climbs up. Once everyone's aboard, Heala appears and curiously follows them onto the boat. Moorings are untied, sails are dropped, and the boat sails out into open sea.
Once the boat has left, the periscope of a submarine breaks the surface and follows behind in the boat's wake.
Who's that Pokémon!?
At their appearance, even Gyarados will flee. When they team up to use Water Gun, its power exceeds that of Hydro Pump.
Once out at sea, things settle down a little. Rob is sitting on the floor, with a plethora of charts and maps sprawled out before him. To his left are several antiquated pieces, while on his right is more modern equipment that he cross-checks them with.
Samantha steps up behind him and asks, "So, what do you think?"
Rob is too preoccupied to answer right away. After a couple more calculations and comparisons, he looks up and responds, "We're not that far now. All my different charts agree. The more I double check, the more certain I am that I have this right."
Samantha smiles, truly excited about what's about to come. "Wow, this is really happening. We're about to find the wreckage of the Bright Star."
Ash approaches them and asks, "So why does this treasure mean so much to you? Is it the money?"
Rob shakes his head and looks to Samantha endearingly. "No, that's not it at all. It's more about what it represents to us."
Brenda is interested in the story. "What do you mean by that? What does it represent?"
Samantha explains, "Rob and I first met looking for the Bright Star. We both had the same hunch about how to find it, and that put us both at the same place at the same time. At that point, it was just about the fame and fortune. I think that's probably why most treasure hunters start doing what they do. We started off by competing with each other, trying not to reveal the hand we had to the other, but it quickly became apparent that we both had the exact same theories and ideas."
Rob picks up, "After a continuous week of searching, we both finally realized how similar we both thought, and decided that we'd better off working together than apart."
Samantha fondly recalls that day. "And it was that day that I first realized I was in love with him. It took some time for Rob to reciprocate, but soon we had pooled our resources, bought our own boat, and we were inseparable partners from then on out."
Rob concludes, "And that's what the Bright Star means to us. It stopped being about the wealth, and became the foundation of our relationship. To find it now would mean the world to both of us, even without the treasure, simply because of how important of a role it has played in our lives."
Brock, who is looking down at a GPS display, shouts, "Guys, we're here! We're at the exact coordinates that Rob calculated."
Rob and Samantha look to each other. Samantha asks, "Well, Rob?"
Rob smiles and declares, "Drop anchor, and prepare for a dive. We're going to get that treasure." He gets up off the ground, and he and Samantha share a quick kiss.
It's Wishiwashi!
Both Samantha and Ash are dressed in diving gear and standing at the edge of the boat. Pikachu is standing at Brenda's feet, unable to go on the dive. Rob explains, "Alright, while you two will dive down, I'll coordinate from above. The communicators in your masks will allow us stay in contact. If my calculations are correct, we should be directly above the wreck."
Samantha comments with disbelief, "Wow, this is really about to happen." She then asserts, "Let's do this." She pulls out a Pokéball and tosses it, releasing a Pokémon in the water.
The Pokémon is a small fish with a silver, ball-shaped body covered entirely with metal spikes. It's tail is unusually shaped, with it having what looks to be a long metal rod coming out of its back, which suddenly flairs into the shape of a fish tail and its end, giving it the appearance of a handle.
Ash takes out his Pokédex. "Pufflail, the Puffer Mace Pokémon and a Water and Steel Combo-Type. The spikes on Pufflail's body are practically unbreakable. When threatened, it will wildly swing it body around, ramming its spikes into anything nearby. Evolves into Marlance at level 27."
Samantha suggests, "You're going to need your Water Pokémon too, Ash."
Ash nods and takes out a Pokéball. "Go, Dashilisk!"
Dashilisk appears on the boat, runs out onto the water, dances around a little while doing so, and then submerges itself. Its head breaks the surface a moment later and it cheers, "Dashi dashi!"
Ash and Samantha nod to each other, and they both leap into the water next to their Pokémon. They position their breathing apparatuses and Samantha gives a thumbs-up to Rob. Rob nods, and the two and their Pokémon dive down.
Once underwater, Samantha grabs Pufflail's handle-tail and it swims downwards, carrying her with it. Ash follows suit and grabs a hold of Dashilisk's back. Dashilisk also tows Ash downwards. It swims by wiggling its body in a serpent-like fashion.
Via a communicator in Ash's and Samantha's ear, Rob asks, "Do you see anything yet?"
Samantha, speaking into her breather's microphone, answers, "We only just started the descent. Give us some time to reach the bottom."
There's a moment of silence, and then Rob responds, "Right, sorry. Just anxious I guess."
"I certainly don't blame you."
While continuing his descent, Ash is caught up in fascination, looking all the sights around him. Water Pokémon of all kinds abound, swimming all over the place. A school of Luvdisc swim right past his face. Once they pass, he notices the soft glow of a Lumineon swimming off in the distance. He's so caught up in it that he is taken by surprise when a large Mantine swims right beneath him.
Samantha notices this and says via communicator to him, "The ocean is a marvelous place, isn't it?"
Ash agrees, "Yeah, I can't believe how many Pokémon there are here."
"As much as I love Rob, the sea always has been my first love. My parents owned a boat, which I practically grew up on. I'm just as comfortable in the water as I am on land, if not more so."
Ash decides to take the opportunity to ask, "So what makes you so certain that this treasure exists when no one else seems to agree with you?"
"When I was a child, sailing on my parents' boat, my favorite bedtime story to hear was about that treasure. I told my mom that someday I would find it for myself. I guess I just never grew out of the that child-like sense of wonder the treasure holds over me." She pauses. "I guess that sounds a little silly, doesn't it?"
"No, not at all. If you ask me, people should never lose that wonder they hold as a kid. It makes life that much better."
"You're right, Ash." Then she realizes, "We're approaching the bottom, look!"
Ash looks down beneath them to see the seafloor. It's getting dark this deep, but a cluster of Staryu and Starmie's flashing cores illuminate the floor with an eerie glow.
Rob immeadiatly asks, "So, what do you see? Is it there?"
Samantha replies, "Nothing sticks out immeadiatly, but it is pretty dark down here."
Rob suggests, "Try activating your belt-lights."
Samantha and Ash both reach down to their beltbuckles and press a button on their sides. A light turns on, helping to illuminate their surroundings.
Samantha suggests, "Let's split up and survey the area. Look carefully, as the after all these years, the wreckage could be covered in sediment."
Ash nods in agreement and understanding. He and Dashilisk swim off in the opposite direction of Samantha and Pufflail. They swim all around in search of any signs of the wreck of the Bright Star.
After some time searching, Ash notices something unusual. He spies a Sharpedo swim down into the ground and disappear from sight. He beckons to Dashilisk to tell it come with him. They swim over to where the Sharpedo disappeared. There they find a large hole in the ground, a hole that Ash quickly realizes is large enough to fit an entire pirate ship into. He calls out, "Hey Samantha, come check this out. I think I might have found something."
Samantha quickly swims over. As soon as she sees the hole, she knows what Ash is suggesting. She radios to Rob, "Ash just found a large seafloor tunnel, large enough to conceal an entire ship. If the Bright Star sunk here, it is very possible that it sunk into the tunnel."
After a moment's thought, Rob responds, "Alright, just be careful. Who knows what might be down there?"
"Right." They swim down.
After swimming only a few more meters down, their lights catch something. Sticking out from the ground beneath them is a half-buried and mostly decayed ship.
Samantha immediately stops swimming and freezes up. She says under her breath. "There it is…"
Rob shouts in disbelief, "What!? It's there!? You actually found it!?"
"Yes…we have at long last located the Bright Star." After staring at it speechlessly for several more moments, she gathers herself and says, "Alright, let's go in. I know exactly where the treasure room is." She leads Ash in.
The two cautiously swim into the ship. Once the chamber they enter is lit up by their belt-lights, light is reflected everywhere by all kinds of shiny and sparkly material. The room is full of gold, gems, and other treasure.
Samantha happily announces, "This is it! We found it! The treasure is all here!"
Ash can't believe his eyes. "This is crazy! There must be a fortune in this room alone!"
His attention is drawn to an ornate treasure chest resting in the center of the room. The wood it's built from appears to be rotting, but the chest as the whole still appears quite sturdy. The metal bands on it are elaborately designed, but almost completely rusted. Patches of algae grow on various spots. A single, perfectly circular hole is visible on the front of the lid. Ash reaches forward and opens the chest. Its lock must be broken, as it opens right up. Inside of it, it is overflowing with gold, gems, and jewelry.
Ash looks over to Samantha and calls out, "Hey, look at this!"
While Ash is looking away, the chest shakes on its own. Then the treasure shifts around a bit, and from within it a phantom arm appears. It's a bluish-green in color, and looks quite decrepit. The fist of the arm opens, to reveal that on its palm is a single glowing yellow eye. The hand looks towards Ash, and suddenly the entire treasure chest leaps backwards. It loudly screeches, "Abyyyyyyyyys!"
Everyone suddenly looks to it in shock. Ash shouts, "What happened to the treasure chest!?"
The arm quickly grabs the lid and retreats back into the treasure, closing the lid as it does so. Then, through the hole on the front of the lid, the hand's eye pokes out to survey the area. It's pupil darts side to side.
Samantha shouts in fear, "That's not a normal treasure chest! This ship must be haunted!"
Rob demands, "What's going on down there!?"
Ash and Samantha are too afraid to answer. They both grab onto their Pokémon and Ash shouts, "Get us out of here!"
Dashilisk and Pufflail, who are also terrified, swim out as fast as they can.
As they leave the cave, they're moving too fast to notice the giant Magikarp lurking nearby. Not a Magikarp at all, it's actually Team Rocket's submarine. Inside, Meowth declares, "Bingo, that must be where our treasure is."
Jessie declares, "Well then, what are waiting for? I want that treasure already!"
Meowth agrees. "Full speed ahead then."
James questions, "Wait, what do you guys think had the twerps high-tailing it out so fast?"
Jessie asks, "Does it matter? There's treasure down there."
James nods. "Point taken. Let's go." They all pedal as hard as they can.
The headlights of the Magikarp submarine illuminate the wrecked ship. Through its mouth, Jessie, James, and Meowth swim out, wearing Team Rocket-issued diving gear. They swim right into the treasure room. They are stunned by the sight that awaits them.
Jessie shout in exhilaration, "We've hit the jackpot! There's treasure everywhere!"
Meowth adds, "And not a twerp in sight to stop us from plundering it all."
James points out, "Still, what would cause the twerps to run away from this much treasure?"
Meowth declares, "They're twerps. Who knows what's going on in the head of a twerp half the time? All that matters is we're rich!" Meowth scoops up a handful of gold and tosses it upwards in a celebratory motion.
Jessie notices the treasure chest, sitting closed once more, and swims over to it to open it up. Once she does, her eyes immeadiatly lock onto a giant diamond. She squeals with joy and snatches it. "If diamonds are a girl's best friend, then you must be my soul mate!"
The decrepit hand emerges from the treasure and hones it eye on Jessie, specifically the diamond she holds. Its eye instantly conveys rage. It shouts in fury, "Abyyyyyyyysoul!"
Team Rocket all look towards it with shock, and see shadowy energy leaking out of the chest and pouring into the room around them. Various pieces of treasure throughout the room begin to float, as if possessed by a spirit.
Team Rocket all shout in horror at once, "Ghost!"
Flying treasure begins to be hurled at Team Rocket from every direction. They dodge what they can, put are pelted by many pieces.
James shouts, "This treasure must be cursed!"
Meowth shouts, "I never thought I would say this, but this treasure is too much for me!"
They all swim off as fast as they can in horror, but before Jessie leaves the room, Wobbuffet appears, also wearing diving gear. Being left behind by Jessie and the others leaves it confused. It then gets a look at the haunted treasure and treasure chest and cries out in fear, "Wooooooobbuuuuuuffeeeet!" and swims off after the others.
In their haste to return to the submarine, Jessie drops the diamond and it sinks to the seafloor. She takes no note of this. As the pedal away at insane speeds, they all shout, "Looks like Team Rocket's swimming off again!" They disappear from sight.
Back on the safety of the boat, Ash and Samantha both pant as they dry off, still shaken by their experience. Samantha shakes her head. "I don't know what it was. I've never seen anything like it. It's as if that treasure chest came to life. I never would normally believe in this sort of stuff, but I think that treasure was cursed."
Brock says, "There's no such thing, though. There must be some sort of explanation."
Ash disagrees, "I know what I saw, Brock. That treasure chest was possessed by a ghost."
Brenda gulps nervously. "You don't think that ghost will follow you…right?"
Ash shrugs, truly uncertain.
Rob thinks deeply, and then declares, "Pirate curse or not, there's no way I'm giving up on that treasure."
Samantha objects, "But, Rob…"
Rob shakes his head. "We've come too far, Samantha. We've done the impossible and found the Bright Star. We can't let it all go to waste. I'll go down there by myself if I have to. I need to do this."
Samantha is about to object further, but a large wave suddenly rocks the boat. This unusual occurrence causes everyone to look out to sea. The water all around them has begun to churn abnormally. Then gray clouds begin to fill the sky.
Brock asks, "Huh, what's this?"
Brenda shouts with fear, "It's the curse! The ghost must have followed you!"
The water grows increasingly choppy, and the sky darker. The boat is tossed all around by the waves, forcing everyone to grab ahold of something. Then a whirlpool forms not too far from the boat, and from its center rises the haunted treasure chest. It shrieks, "Abyyyyyyss!" A torrential rain begins to fall.
Samantha shouts, "That's it, that's the ghost!"
Ash adds, "And it's still angry!"
Brenda is horrified and screams.
The boat becomes caught in the whirlpool and begins to circle around and around. Rob yells, "The boat is sturdy, but don't know how much of this it can handle!"
Brock gets a good look at it and realizes, "That's no ghost! It's a Pokémon!" He looks to Ash and shouts, "Ash, check the Pokédex! Maybe it can help!"
Ash's eyes widen with this realization. He quickly pulls his Pokédex from nearby pile of discarded clothing. It says, "Abyssoul, the Curse Chest Pokémon, and a Ghost and Water Combo-Type. It is said when a greedy pirate can't relinquish his treasure, his spirit become bound to his treasure chest, creating this Pokémon. It hordes treasure inside of it, and only gives it to those it absolutely trusts. Does not evolve."
Ash is surprised. "You're right, Brock! It's a Pokémon!"
Brenda points out, "It's still angry though! I think it wants to destroy our boat!"
Rob asks, "How come, though? You guys didn't actually take anything, right?"
Ash and Samantha both nod. Samantha looks to the Pokémon and notices something. She realizes the giant diamond that once sat on top of the rest of the treasure is missing. She shouts, "That's it! It somehow lost that massive diamond it had! It must think we're to blame!"
Brock assess, "If that's the case, then we have to get that diamond back. It might be the only way to stop its rampage."
Rob adds, "And surely we can't take too much more of it."
Ash stands up and puts his diving mask back on. "In that case, Dashilisk and I will head back down and search for it."
Samantha stands up to. "Pufflail and I will go too. We'll find it."
Rob nods. "Okay, just please promise me you'll be careful."
Samantha nods. "Always."
Brock suggests, "And while you two do that, we'll try our best to distract Abyssoul. Maybe a battle can stop it."
Moments later, Ash and Samantha have prepared to dive once again. Ash shouts, "Alright Pikachu, distract it with a Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu leaps into the air and attacks. "Pikaaaaa chuuuuuuuu!" The bolt of electricity lands a direct hit on Abyssoul, but does little to stop its rage. If anything, it gets angrier. However, its attention does turn to Pikachu.
With its attention on Pikachu, Ash and Samantha jump into the water with their Pokémon and begin their dive anew.
Brenda throws a Pokéball. "Alright Rabbolt, let's help Pikachu out! Use Shockwave!" Rabbolt appears and wastes no time attacking with Shockwave.
Abyssoul shrieks with rage. "Abyyyyyyyyyssoul!" The whirlpool slows down slightly, but Abyssoul opens its chest, releasing flurry of sparkling light from the treasure within, a Dazzling Gleam attack.
Brock throws a Pokéball too. "Blissey, block the attack!" Blissey gets in-between Rabbolt and the attack, stopping it.
Rob shouts, "That's it! If we get it focused on battling, it can't concentrate on creating this storm! We have to do whatever we can to slow it down!"
Brock and Brenda both nod in agreement and prepare themselves to do that.
Ash and Samantha have returned to treasure room and are searching all over it. Ash picks up a diamond. "Is this it?"
Samantha looks over and shakes her head. "No, it was at least three times the size of that one." She looks around and sees nothing. "I don't get it. It couldn't have just disappeared. It has to be somewhere."
Getting frustrated by not finding anything, Ash takes a look out through a hole in the wall, and notices something unusual. On the seafloor a little bit away, a large group of Clamperl are gathered around a single point. Ash points his light at the circle's center, ad something glistens. Ash calls, "Hey, I think I found something!"
He swims out and Samantha follows. Their light scares the Clamperl, causing them all to clamp shut. Ash swims down and picks up a large diamond. He holds it up. "Is this it?"
Samantha nods enthusiastically. "Yes, that has to be it. I've never seen a diamond so large before. But how'd it get way down here?"
Ash points out, "It doesn't matter, we have to get this diamond back up to Abyssoul and calm it down."
"Right, let's go." They grab their Pokémon and head up as fast as they can swim.
Brenda shouts, "Alright Rabbolt, now use Hidden Power!" Rabbolt hurls several green energy orbs at Abyssoul.
Abyssoul swats them away with its hand. It then counterattacks by releasing a shockwave of shadows. The attack knocks Pikachu, Rabbolt, and Blissey back.
The boat creaks as it continues to rock violently. Rob shouts, "The boat can't handle much more of this! We don't have much longer!"
Ash breaks the surface and says, "Then it's a good thing we have this!" He and Samantha climb up onto the boat. Ash shouts, "Hey Abyssoul! Are you looking for this!?" He holds up the diamond.
Abyssoul looks to it and gets even angrier. It prepares to attack Ash directly.
Samantha shouts, "Abyssoul, no! We want to give it back to you! We never took it in the first place! Sure, we wanted to find your treasure, but it was never so we could take it!"
Rob steps forward and adds, "She's telling the truth! You can keep all of the treasure for all we care! We just wanted to find it! And we promise, we won't tell anyone else where it is! You won't be bothered again!"
Abyssoul begins to calm as it looks at them with confusion. "Abyss?"
Samantha explains, "The only treasure we care about is the treasure of discovery. Sure, we could be rich in wealth if we took your treasure, but we don't need that. We have each other. Please, take your diamond back and return to your home."
Abyssoul cautiously decides to trust them. The waters begin to calm and the storm clears.
Brenda cheers, "It worked! Abyssoul calmed down!"
Slowly, Abyssoul floats over to them. Once it reaches the edge of the boat, Samantha takes the diamond from Ash and holds it out. Abyssoul reaches for it. As soon as it takes ahold, it places it back in its stash faster than the blink of an eye and retreats back into the chest. Via the eye-hole, it then looks around at everyone.
Samantha says to it, "Thank you for trusting us. We really did mean everything we said."
Rob says, "Well, I mean, treasure sure would be nice, I'm not going to lie, but that was never our reason."
Abyssoul seems to ponder something for a second. The arm emerges via the back of the chest, then it opens itself and pulls out several pieces of treasure. Into everyone's hands it distributes one piece. Ash gets a Star Piece, Brock a Nugget, Brenda a Pearl String, Samantha a Comet Shard, and Rob a Big Pearl.
Ash asks, "What's this?"
Abyssoul points to each them. "Abyss."
Samantha asks, "Are you giving these to us?"
Abyssoul "nods" its hand in affirmation.
Samantha marvels, "Wow, so you do trust us. Thank you, Abyssoul."
Brenda looks at her Pearl String and gushes, "Wow, it's so pretty!"
Rob suddenly gets an idea and steps closer to Abyssoul. "Hey, Abyssoul, do you think I could ask a favor of you?"
Abyssoul affirms again.
Rob leans in towards it and whispers something. Abyssoul nods in understanding. It pulls something else out from inside it and hands it to Rob. Nobody can see what it is.
Rob turns around and approaches Samantha. He says, "Samantha, even if we didn't get any treasure at all from Abyssoul, I'd still be happy, because I have greatest treasure of all. You. I told myself that if we ever found this treasure that I would do this, so here I go." He gets down on one knee and holds up what Abyssoul gave him, a lustrous gold ring with a diamond on top. "Samantha, will you marry me?"
Samantha's eyes go wide. She takes the ring and embraces Rob. "Yes, yes, a hundred times yes!"
Ash and Brenda clap for them. Brenda says, "Congratulations!"
Brock is sobbing hysterically. Through his sobs, he sniffles, "I'm… so… happy… for… you…"
When they've finished hugging, Samantha looks to all of them and thanks, "Thank you all so much. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have even been able to go hunting for this treasure in the first place." She places the ring on her finger and looks to Abyssoul. "And thank you Abyssoul. I will treasure this ring always, just as you do your diamond."
Abyssoul begins to back away, and says, "Abyss, abyssoul." It's saying goodbye.
Everyone waves back to it. Ash shouts, "Bye Abyssoul! Good luck protecting your treasure!"
As Abyssoul begins to sink into the water, Rob shouts, "I meant what I said, we won't even tell anyone that we found your ship! If anyone asks, it's all just a myth!"
Abyssoul obviously appreciates this. It sinks out of sight.
Samantha turns to look at Ash, Brock, and Brenda. "Well you three, you held up your end of the bargain, it's time for us to hold up ours. Let's set sail for Opti City!"
Ash cheers, "Yeah! Time for my next gym battle!"
Brock, having calmed down, adds, "And now with these pieces of treasure, we should have more than enough money to keep us going for quite a while."
Brenda looks at her Pearl String again. "I don't know if I could bring myself to sell this, it's so gorgeous."
Everyone laughs at her.
See? It's just as I said. A great adventure did await our heroes. And now, yet another awaits them in Opti City. Stay tuned.
To Be Continued…
