Chapter Text
a collection of words
By Blueberry 186
It was yet another foggy day at the Lake of Outrage, to the point where families of Corviknights and Gardevoirs had settled down and decided to set up their new homes. There had been an influx of these kinds of days recently all over the region of Galar, but nobody ever seemed to find out exactly why. Some thought it was a giant Altaria making its way throughout the POKéMON world. Others thought there was a giant fan up north blowing downwards. Most thought that was a stupid idea. No matter the reason for the fog, however, everyone had just started to accept it as a way of life. Defog became a common move around those parts, for starters. Claydols started digging into the ground, to protect their delicate eyes from the fog particles that always ended up hitting those sweet spots. The POKéMON around made things work, and they even made it a little appealing to travelers.
For instance, a certain Hattrem and Xatu had recently come here from Hattrem’s home, Glimwood Tangle. They identified themselves as “wanderers”, traveling all over Galar in search of something special… but in reality they were just homeless. The two Psychic- types Hattrem and Xatu did not carry much with them, really only being Hattrem’s prized possession— a Utility Umbrella. For one, it looked cool. For another, while not seeming all that important, the silly umbrella had saved Hattrem on multiple occasions— like the time it was raining, and a wild POKéMON would have OHKOd the poor Psychic- type with an Aqua Jet had she not been holding her famed umbrella. Hattrem believed her umbrellas were of the utmost importance, therefore she never went anywhere without her umbrella. Or her back up umbrella. Or her back up back up umbrella.
So it was certainly a surprise when, one early early morning, when Xatu woke up, the Utility Umbrella that had been protected for so long was gone and in its place was a packet of pure, unfiltered air. Instantly, the Mystic POKéMON scrambled around almost the entire lake, going from POKéMON to POKéMON and tree to tree to ask if anyone, anyone has seen her friend’s Utility Umbrella. She even dived into the water! Without even knowing Dive! Yet time after time, the bird was only met with resounding “no”’s, whether it be from Gardevoir to Mantine or Bronzong to Corviknight. No one had a clue.
After time and time had passed and Xatu still had not even a lead where it had gone, she slipped on a piece of mail and tumbled onto the ground, just missing a Kirlia on the way down. When she finally landed onto the grass on her head, the pain from the fall made her yelp in pain, like she hit herself in confusion from one of her own Confuse Ray attacks. This sudden action caused the nearby Kirlia to yelp as well, running away in fear. And all this commotion, motion, and intense emotion caused old sleeping Hattrem to finally awaken from her handstanding slumber. Just… not exactly in the best mood. The agitated Psychic-type, in her frustration, did what she always did whenever something of this sort occurred: she used Brutal Swing on the clumsy bird, taking a quarter of its HP and revealing the piece of mail hidden underneath. And so, as the next logical step, grumbly Hattrem went up to the suspiciously suspicious envelope and pondered. What is this? Where’d it come from? And— she looked around, becoming more and more frantic with each head turn— WHERE is my Utility Umbrella??
So she went up to the damaged Xatu to ask what was going on, and the two’s startled energy started to cause a panic between them, the Serene and Mystic POKéMON not acting very Serene… or Mystic. It was Hattrem who started the exclamations:
“Where’d you put my Utility Umbrella!?”
“I didn’t put it anywhere!!”
“So why isn’t it here!?” Hattrem gestured in the direction of the tree they were sleeping under.
“I don’t know!! It was gone when I found it!”
“Do you have ANY idea of what happened??”
“No, do you??”
“What do you THINK?? You’ve been awake longer than I have!!”
“Hmmmmm…” Xatu started thinking about the events of the last five minutes. “Have you tried checking that piece of MAIL we’ve got?”
Hattrem pondered. “I guess I haven’t.”
“So open it up already!” Xatu exclaimed.
Hattrem picked up the blue envelope, held her breath, and ripped it open to reveal… a smaller, green envelope. When she tried the same trick twice, what was inside was a wee white envelope instead. A third rip then finally stopped the Russian Doll mind games and opened a small, folded paper. Hattrem opened it up, and the small paper exponentially grew into a picnic-blanket sized monster letter. It read:
“Dear... whomever it may concern,
As part of my reign of terror across GALAR, I have stolen your UTILITY UMBRELLA!! If you want it back, you'll have to get through the HAUNTER'S HOLLOW, a giant cave in KALOS I've constructed. There are many tricks, traps, trials, and tribulations that you will have to overcome if you want your precious item back. I'll be waiting!
Good Luck,
HAUNTER ('s Hollow)”
The two Psychic-type POKéMON were… confuzzled, to say the least. Who does this Haunter think he is, to take a random umbrella and then invite the owners to an entirely different region? At least, that’s what Xatu was thinking. Hattrem was more like, WE NEED TO BE THERE RIGHT NOW. And so that’s exactly what she said:
“Xatu, we need to be there right now.”
“?!?? Are you actually falling for this?? No, Hattrem, we’re not going to a random Hollow a whole region over. Like why would you even want to cross that distance.”
“Because it has my Utility Umbrella.”
“How do you know it has your Utility Umbrella?”
“It says so. Right here,” Hattrem said, stumbling over to the end of the first sentence and tapping at the item’s name twice.
Xatu was unimpressed. “You actually believe that?”
Hattrem was offended. “You don’t?”
And then they started to argue. Xatu about how near-sighted and reckless Hattrem was being, and Hattrem how careless and selfish the Mystic POKéMON was being. “Wouldn’t you want to help your friend find her most valued gift?”
Then Xatu tried to reason. “H-How about your backup umbrellas?”
Hattrem shrugged the idea off at first. Everyone who was ever out for a Utility Umbrella somehow, conveniently, never seemed to notice Hattrem’s backups. They were almost invisibly untouchable! But Xatu insisted on checking, and so Hattrem looked behind her sleeping spot, where she always kept her backup umbrellas. Shockingly, Haunter spotted these backups, and in their place was another, smaller letter:
“I stole your backup umbrellas too.
Please come to my hollow.
Please,
HAUNTER (s Hollow)”
Hattrem stood firm. “Now we’re obligated to go.”
They started at the very south tip of Galar, next to the shore, and then the ocean where Arrokudas and Frillish ran-swam wild. Xatu asked one more time,
“Do you REALLY want to go on this long journey?
…because I’m not gonna go all the way with you. I’m not NEARLY as attached to your umbrellas, and personally, I…
…I don’t think it’s worth it. I mean, that’s just what I think, though, you might—”
Hattrem held her arm out, signaling Xatu to step back in fear. Hattrem spoke, her backside covered in shadow by the sun.
“I don’t care if you’re not going to go into the Hollow with me, but I’m going to. I have to go. All three of my Utility Umbrellas are at stake, and I’m not risking losing them forever.
…so are you gonna give me a ride or not?”
It was a half-assed speech, for sure, but something about Hattrem’s stance, and the smooth yet determined tone in her chirping— it just compelled Xatu to do whatever her friend asked of her. And so Xatu flew, Hattrem in tow.
The journey to Kalos was not what one would call “smooth sailing”. For starters, before they could even get off the ground, an actual starter POKéMON— a Squirtle— broke out of its egg, and, seeing as how the Mystic and Serene POKéMON were the first two pocket monsters it saw, the Tiny Turtle immediately started clinging on to the Psychic- types as if they birthed the Squirtle. Immediately, Hattrem tried to Brutal Swing the little pest off, but Xatu quickly held Hattrem in place, seeing as how a Brutal Swing from Hattrem’s braid of doom would almost certainly kill a baby (except maybe if the baby was a Bonsly, those are pretty tanky). Xatu desperately tried to reason with Hattrem. “You wouldn’t kill a baby, would you!?” Hattrem thought about it, and yes, she almost did kill a newly-hatched Tiny Turtle POKéMON. So, after apologizing and being freed from her wing prison, she gently took the Squirtle and set it down on the beach.
The two keep walking over to the shore, but before they can get to the skies, there’s another small cry. Xatu turns around first, and it’s exactly what she suspected— the Squirtle doesn’t want to leave its two mothers. The two stop to look at each other… What to do with this little squirt? They do not have ample time to think, as the two of them collectively split their efforts taking care of the Squirtle first and foremost. Eventually, Xatu decides on a temporary yet effective solution: getting the Squirtle to sleep. Although neither Psychic-types knew the move Hypnosis, Xatu’s Night Shade proved pretty potent, lulling the Tiny Turtle into a deep slumber. Eventually. It took her like five minutes, enough time for Hattrem to make up her mind concretely about the whole situation… or, at least, that’s what she wanted to believe. On one hand— braid, sorry, to think of going on a potentially dangerous adventure? Alone? In a different region? What was she thinking!? Yet, on the other braid, that poisonous poophead possessed prized properties, and permitting peripheral product power was perversely prohibited.
After that fiasco, the pair finally got flying, with the added Aromatic Mist from Hattrem to protect her friend whilst in the act of flight. This did not work, even though it may appear to have been, as the trip was relatively tame (save for the occasional Wattrel encounter). The real issue was at the end, as there was a very, very interesting flock of Wingulls and Duckletts flying in a decisively daring W shape, with two Pellipers at the very ends and a Swanna in the very center. The flock and its movement would not be such an issue if Xatu did not get distracted by Hattrem’s own heads-up, get hit by two of the Wingulls, and lost her balance in the air, causing Xatu, Hattrem, and the two Wingulls to start barreling down to land like four tomatoes thrown at a bad Meowscarada performance. While the Wingulls managed to come together and fly towards the flock again, and Hattrem did not take too much damage due to being on top of Xatu, the Mystic POKéMON herself took quite the beating from the effective stones that covered the shore of the island.
Hattrem, still standing and not lying down in pain, looked around the island. All she could see were rocks, palm trees, and Haunter’s Hollow— an apparent lack of any avian allies. So she called out “Xatu!” loud, louder, yet louder, and still… no response. It was only when the Serene POKéMON looked downwards that she found Xatu… who has been beaten almost to shreds due to the injuries she has endured over the trip. At this point, after a catastrophic calamity of cosmic inconveniences, Xatu had just about 4 HP left. Xatu’s distress, in turn, distresses Hattrem due to the innate nature of the POKéMON, causing Hattrem to desperately use one of her Oran Berries, giving the fallen bird a small boost. It wasn’t much, but considering Hattrem had a whole zero power points of Heal Pulse by that point, it was the best she could do. Hattrem, still worried and anxious, shaked Xatu earnestly.
“Are you okay???” she worried.
The bird began to twitch. Then, she started to wobble up, her wings barely able to support her body weight. Xatu’s injuries from the sharp, rugged Kalosian terrain had been very apparent. Wings were chipped, gashes on her head and bodily markings, it was truly a sight that horrified the Hatt to her core. Xatu was able to speak only a few words at a time:
“Damn those… stupid rocks…”
“…it all hurts… so bad…”
“so hard to… move… help…”
“…like, actually… please help me up…”
Compliant with the bird’s request, Hattrem helped the fell flier. Their touch was a jolt of electricity, a metaphorical ThunderShock that didn’t hurt but instead oddly revitalized Xatu’s energy. Quickly she scanned the area.
The terrain was barren. Sure, the outskirts of the island were covered in sand, where a few Diglett were chasing each other around in glee, but beyond that it was only brown and dark rocks that covered the ground, all sharp in shape and shifting in sizes. There were few patches of anything that could be considered flora, including one singular tree housing a sleeping Carnivine that may or may not had been unconscious. It was hard to tell with Xatu’s fuzzy vision. What wasn’t exactly fuzzy, after a few pathetic flaps from the bird and hand-stand-walking from the fairy, was the cave— with an entrance that looked to be dark, darker, yet darker— and the giant sign that accompanied it: a disproportionally neon and modern flashing sign that said, in big pixelly letters, “HAUNTER’S HOLLOW”.
Immediately, Xatu started to regret everything she had done to get this far. Hattrem and her were going to go in THERE!? Not even the most brave of Chesnaughts would ever think about venturing in such a dark place! In fact, the only POKéMON that would be crazy enough to waltz ten feet in— Zacian forbid, even living there— would be Zubats or Swoobats or Ghost-types.
Xatu remembered what POKéMON exactly sent the letter and realized a horrifying realization. Naturally, the bird then grabbed Hattrem and shook her with the force of a hundred Fury Swipes, because Xatu was in fact Swiping in Fury.
“Hattrem, what the HELL IS THY PROBLEM!?” The bird spat out. “I am NOT going in that HELLHOLE!!”
The Serene POKéMON repeated what she’d said earlier. In a soft tone, but the kind of softness that makes you rethink everything you thought was right and suddenly makes you feel extremely guilty. “I don’t care if you’re not going to go into the Hollow with me, but I’m going to.”
Xatu stepped back, reconsidering, and looked down in shame. (See what I mean?) “…if you’re really about to Accelerock into that Dark Void, I guess I can’t stop you.”
At least, that’s what she would have said if she didn’t burst into laughter after she said “guess”, suddenly realizing the absurdity of her two puns. Hattrem laughed as well, because she finds that kind of stuff funny.
…What? I lied? She doesn’t find those things funny? She looked at Xatu with a Mean Look that could kill a Pangoro on the spot?
Well, how are you gonna tell me what happens in my story? I bet you don’t even know about the Sableye yet.
…You don’t? Yeah, exactly. Shut up and keep reading.
Anyways, the two Psychic-types— after laughing their brains off— stood there, awkwardly. Hattrem was suddenly deep in thought, so soon after she thought she wouldn’t doubt herself again. She realized that, when she was going into that rock formation known as Haunter’s Hollow, that she was going in alone. Without Xatu. Hattrem would have to survive everything Haunter could possibly throw at her alone…
…but at the same time, she knew she had to. Her Utility Umbrella (and both back-ups, but mostly her main one) was WAY too valuable to just leave in the hands of this Kalosian clod Haunter. And, besides, if she didn’t put braid to nonexistent ass, the Ghost-type was going to continue this streak of madness all over her homeland, Galar.
So after at least thirty seconds of awkward silence and one or more “…Hattrem?”s from Xatu, Hattrem decided to walk into Haunter’s Hollow for good. And before she went fully in, she made sure to sneak in a fun fact to Xatu.
“By the way, I’ve always wanted a tall Gardevoir mommy to step on me and sweet-talk me to sleep.”
This way, Xatu would be too shocked to run after.
It worked.
Unfortunately.