The waters of Alola are dangerous, and it is easy for even experienced captains, on a foggy or stormy enough day, to mistake uninhabited rocks or even a mirage for a safe harbor, and release their anchor pointlessly into the sea. Typically, this is a harmless error; once the sailors attempt to disembark, they realize the mistake, and the only thing lost is time. But sometimes, the anchor is hopelessly entangled in seaweed, and the sailors are forced to abandon ship and try to use their lifeboats to make their way back to land.
There are those who see Dhelmise as the ghosts of those sailors who perish fleeing trapped boats, anchored too far from land, while others understand them as representing the spirits of the ships themselves. Many see in them the spirits of the water pokemon hunted by fishermen, or even, noting Dhelmise's typing, the trees cut down to build ships in the first place. But all agree that Dhelmise are ghosts of some kind, ghosts who drift through the water, clinging to anchors, for centuries after the spirits of those who used those anchors departed this world.
The anchor itself is a piece of technology that has evolved over generations, reflecting both changes in available material and improvements in crafting technique, and collections of Dhelmise (which exist only in captivity, for wild Dhelmise are solitary pokemon) reflect this variety; viewing a large enough group often feels like walking into a maritime museum. But while the styles, shapes, and even purposes of boats have changed over the years, their captains must remain very careful about where they lay their anchors – lest they lose them, and their ships, to an unmoored Dhelmise.
