Pokémon: Out of the Woods | A Galar, Unova & Sinnoh Fanfiction

Chapter 44: The Broken Poké Ball

Hop tossed and turned in the bed in his family's Wedgehurst home. Abbey and Leon's house was dusty, but it had been so long since anyone stayed in Hop's home that the dust sheets were filthy. Back when the family split their time between Galar and Orre, Hop and Jovi joked that splaying out in the night would be their reason for divorce. They meant to buy a bigger bed, but never did. Now the empty bed seemed huge.

Zane was an exuberant child whose energy filled the whole house. Even during the night, his parents knew he was still awake, reading his Pokémon magazines by torchlight. He thought he was whispering to his Eevee. He didn't realise that he was so loud, his parents heard every word he said.

Back then, it was difficult to imagine that the house would ever be so silent, it was unsettling. The only sound was the wind that rattled the windows. Hop wished the doors would slam and the floorboards would creak. Ghosts would have disturbed him less than the silent, but palpable echo of his youth.

All but one of his Pokémon were asleep. They were exhausted after the chaos of the previous day. It was Zacian who fought the most, but Zacian who was still awake, staring intently at the sky as the moon, which still looked as full as it did last night, rose to its peak.

'Arreet?'

Hop got out of bed to stroke Zacian's ears, but it never took its eyes off the sky.

***

After a day of trekking through the Wild Area, Heather finally reached Hammerlocke as night fell. She changed her clothes, but her hair was still damp from swimming across the Lake of Outrage that afternoon. She knew Leon used to spend days with the wild Pokémon there, avoiding the rest of Galar, back when he was the Galar League Champion. It wasn't so far from Hammerlocke or Stow-on-Side. She hoped she might find Team Plasma – the real Team Plasma, not whatever Pluto thought he reigned over – camping there, or at least a strong and interesting Pokémon.

If anyone had been watching her, that might have proved she was Heather Haider. No-one else with three Badges would even consider crossing that lake on a Pokémon, let alone swimming. The water was deep and the Pokémon were indeed strong and dangerous. Heather didn't find any signs of the Team Plasma she was looking for; only proof of Pluto's presence in the stitched and healed wounds of the wild Pokémon.

I should've asked him what that Dynamax thing was all about... if he even knows. Oh well. At least I know there'll be a next time... and there's no point in asking him where Crobat is. He doesn't know.

The Pokémon that intrigued her most was actually the hungry Barraskewda that attacked her in the water. They were eaten in Orre, but Heather and her mother rarely had access to meat or fish, so she hadn't even heard of it before. She dodged a raging Gyarados and Mantine that accidentally launched at her. Barraskewda came at her so fast that its teeth left a gash on her arm. She only learned its name and type when she caught it. It seemed annoyed that it lost its meal – the Feebas she blocked its access to – but it cheered up when she cooked a curry with the free Bach's Food Tin she received at The Captain's Table. Joltik evolved after eating it.

The hills on the far side of the Lake of Outrage were deserted. It was safe for Heather to release her other Pokémon to introduce them to Barraskewda. They also appreciated being able to run freely. Lurantis began to look wilted from all the time it spent in its Poké Ball. It was used to the Orrean sun. Heather asked if it wanted to stay in the lab's garden in Wedgehurst, or in Bede's garden under Tansy's watch, but it refused. All of her Pokémon wanted to stay with her. At first, Barraskewda only wanted to stay because it hoped for another curry, but it was impressed by the strong Pokémon. It also befriended Clawitzer before Heather moved on. She couldn't understand her Pokémon like Pluto could, but she knew Cinderace was telling Barraskewda to watch what it said around anyone with green hair.