Hello there, it's been a long time, but I finally made a reappearance and then going to write more fan fiction again! So I figured, why not revitalize this account with a fun little story about Halloween?
As with most of my stories, check the author's notes afterward for more information.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
The Special Day
On the last day of the tenth month, he would see them.
And every year he would watch them, but understand nothing.
They were the children of Lumiose city, and on that day, they always behaved strangely.
The children would run to and from Lumiose City in a fervor that he scarcely saw on any other day of the year. They tore up the leafy trails of Route 16, screaming so loudly that he was sure everyone from the entire region could hear it.
During the rare times that he floated to the edge of the route, he swore he could hear their feet pounding like thunder. The children seemed to race each other into the city.
Obviously, it was something special, but what?
He knew he wasn't the only Pokémon reacting to the special day. The Pumpkaboo had their own responses. Most would just try to ignore it, but he could see the wispy forms often flashing restlessly at the noise and the strange sights.
Some of the Pumpkaboo did venture out, but it was never far. Besides, none of them acquired enough information to explain the odd occurrence.
The Pantump however, had a different opinion on the matter. They would wave their branches rapidly, and furiously shake their leaves. It was as if they were trying to scare the children, but he never knew why.
The Murkrow and the Kelfki would travel the furthest, usually taking many hours before they returned from whatever they were doing. The soared off in droves so large that if the sun were out, he thought they would block it from rising.
And the Kelfki seemed to be trying to outdo the Murkrow using their own enormous groups. The jingling of their keys almost drowned out the children screaming. Every year, the key Pokémon gathered into their own hordes and followed black birds into the night.
He thought the two species were searching for something, but both those on the ground and in the air always came back empty-handed. He began to wonder if whatever they were looking for was even worth finding in the first place.
But what intrigued him the most during that night was the Litwick. They lived in the decrepit old building, but without fail on that night, they emerged. The flames would burn so brightly that he thought he would go blind looking at them. They disappeared without a sound, and no one seemed to know where.
When the Litwick returned at the dawn, the flames were so strong that they could rival the sun. And then they would disappear back into their pitch-black home, but there was no mistaking the huge grins on their faces.
And so he watched the others every year, hoping to find answers. But every year only brought more questions.
Why were the children screaming and running back and forth? What made the Murkrow and the Kefki gather and venture out? Why did the Pantump act the way they did? What made the Litwick so happy after that night, and suddenly cause them to have such vibrant flames?
He always asked the Pumpkaboo these questions, but they told him to ignore it. As a full grown Gourgeist, he had better things to do than worry about a single night where humans behaved bizarrely.
But that didn't stop him. In fact, that only made him certain. He had to get the answers on his own.
And for that, he must follow the children.
So on that fateful night, on the last day of the tenth month, the Gourgeist's plan went into action.
Like every year, he waited for the children as they deafeningly dashed into Lumiose. But this year, he did not wait long. When he was a safe distance away, he hopped along, not even stopping to look back at his home as he reached the city.
The Gourgeist quickly understood that the children were more distracted by the special day than he'd thought. No one even paid him any attention, or realized that they were being trailed by a Pokémon.
What could draw the attention of an entire city so much that they could not see that a group of children were being followed by a walking pumpkin?
As the Gourgeist drew closer to the children, something was far more baffling than not being noticed.
None of the children looked like children at all!
Directly behind him was a skeleton, the shining white bones contrasting eerily in the moonless night. Another near the skeleton carried a sword made of light. He'd never seen the likes of it before, but he guessed he could probably cut anything. Unfortunately, there was no telling what this creature really was, as it concealed its face with a black mask.
Yet another creature clearly had the hat and hook hand of the pirate. All that was missing were the seas and the boat. And in the center of them stood one with a black cloak. The Gourgeist almost couldn't see it as it blended in with the night. But there was no mistaking a white bony face, and the similarly colored tip of the sinister scythe the creature carried proudly in its hand.
Instantly, the Gourgeist stopped dead. His body froze as though he'd been hit by an Ice type attack, and his eyes grew so wide they could be too big for his head.
Was he really following a group of children, or some set of horrible creatures? His blood ran cold (well, if ghosts had blood anymore) as he continued to stare.
Was this really a good idea?
No, he would not run away.
The Gourgeist wanted answers tonight, and it was answers he would have!
He broke into a sprint (as much as his kind did sprint) and struggled to catch up with the creatures. When he finally did reach them, the Gourgeist did his best to tear his eyes away from the frightening attire.
Instead, he focused on something else the creatures carried.
He had never seen anything more peculiar.
Many of the creatures were carrying little buckets. The majority of were gleaming orange pumpkins, almost like him. The Gourgeist had to stifle a laugh at the idea that they were carrying pumpkin buckets, yet had no idea there was one following them! Upon closer inspection, some things the creatures carried were much cruder. A few of them had giant plastic bags, while others had simple baskets.
Perhaps those creatures were poorer than the others, or they just didn't like pumpkins.
But all the differences didn't change one thing the creatures had in common.
They were obviously searching, no, hunting, for something? But what?
Could it be the same thing those Pokémon were searching for? No, it couldn't have been, or the Pokémon would've come back with success.
All the more reason to follow the creatures.
The Gourgeist was so intent on tailing his quarry that he almost failed to realize they had stopped at an ornate house.
Rapidly, he hid in the shadows, waiting.
But then, a different sound reached his ears. Instead of screaming and thundering footsteps, ear-piercing giggling and delighted shrieks were heard.
The Gourgeist's face brightened. Of course they were still children! They were simply hiding in terrifying costumes! Well, they had most certainly worked on him!
If dressing up was part of this special day, then the Gourgeist almost regretted not being able to. But then, he was colored differently than most of his kind, his pumpkin black instead of the usual orange and brown. Perhaps that counted as dressing up, as everyone back home looked at him differently.
But, he wondered, were fancy clothes the only part of this special day? What was the true meaning of it? Dressing up couldn't have been the only part of the day. The Gourgeist had seen humans dressed up in fancy clothes all the time, and nothing spectacular happened. As far as he knew, they could dress up whenever they wanted.
But before the Gourgeist could ponder this further, the door of the house swung open. Instantly, the children's shrieks grew louder, and some pulled up their masks. The owner of the house smiled and laughed. After a few minutes, she presented them with a large bowl of food which he could not see.
And then, the children shouted three words.
These three words were some of the few that he recognized in the human language.
And he understood exactly what they meant.
"Trick or Treat!"
With that, the woman cheerfully took the food and placed some of it in each of the children's buckets. After each of them thanked her, they left, presumably to go find more.
That was his cue, and the Gourgeist snuck out of his hiding place.
Perhaps whatever the children were after was the meaning of the special day.
But he had to find that out first.
How was he to do that, though? The Gourgeist couldn't knock on doors, and he certainly didn't know the human language.
Then he remembered those three words.
Trick or Treat.
A smile formed on his lips as he boldly marched up to the house. The Gourgeist pounded up and down on the doorstep, wondering if he was being as deafeningly loud as the children had been.
He must have been, for the same woman answered.
A look of shock crossed her face, but she still smiled at him.
"Oh hello. It's not often we find a Pokémon here!"
At that moment, the Gourgeist enacted his plan.
Ghostly orbs formed around the Gourgeist and slowly took form. So slowly, in fact, that he was surprised the woman stayed to watch. Then again, judging by her previous reaction, perhaps she had never seen this before.
He concentrated as the orbs danced, and he focused on creating a spectacular scene. The Gourgeist had to mimic everything perfectly, or the journey could be for nothing.
The woman's eyes lit up as the orbs ever so carefully morphed into something else. The woman may not have recognized what he was doing before, but this, the Gourgeist knew, was something she surely understood.
For there, standing in between the two of them, was a shadowy simulation of the children. They were without their shrieks and stamping, but that was hardly needed.
The simulation looked so much like what happened before it was difficult to tell the two scenes apart. The orange buckets that looked so much like the Gourgeist still clung to the shadow children's hands. The woman still handed out her strange food, the bowl an exact likeness of the one she had used.
Even the children's costumes were the same. The one with the black mask still held his piercing sword of light, and the skeleton's white bones still shone. The pirate's hook hand could have swung to and fro, because it looked so real. And the child with the scythe still wielded his weapon in his intimidating black cloak.
The only thing missing was three words.
Trick or Treat.
The Gourgeist glanced up at the woman, beaming. Surely, it would get some of the food the children had now!
And he was right, for she returned his grin.
"Oh, would you like some candy too? Hold on just a moment."
His plan had worked, and he understood that one word in the sentence was like the ultimate reward.
Candy.
Candy was something that could be used to make Pokémon stronger. So much so, that, within minutes, it could turn even the weakest Pokémon into the most competent battlers ever seen.
And he was about to get some.
But, the Gourgeist pondered, what would he do with it all? He could gobble it down, and quickly become the strongest Pokémon alive. But, wouldn't it be greedy, not to share with his fellow Pokémon? Or would they fight over it?
And why were the humans after candy? Did it secretly make them stronger? Was there some sort of tournament with all of the humans that took part in this special day?
And even then, things still didn't make sense. The special day couldn't be just about candy. The humans could get it elsewhere (the woman must have, in order to give it to him). And it must not have been something very rare, because she had plenty to give to so many children at once.
So what was the meaning of this special day?
His pondering was interrupted as the woman returned. As the Gourgeist got a closer look at the candy, he stifled a gasp.
This candy wasn't anything like the candy for Pokémon!
Why, it was a brilliant mix of colors. It ranged from orange squares with yellow letters to giant brown rectangles with shiny silver edges. There were even bright red packages, and noisy boxes that shook when the bowl moved. Blue candies easily stood out from the rest, and even more so from the red writing on them.
Some of the candy was packed into long snakelike figures, and yet another dazzlingly colored kind resembled real snakes. And then there was an awkward variant that had small human writing on the bottom (what writing would humans need on a candy?). And then there were the round circles, held together by giant sticks. It reminded him of a Pokémon he'd seen once, but he couldn't remember what.
It was the strangest thing the Gourgeist had ever seen, and yet the very thought of tasting the candy made him quiver with excitement.
The woman laughed again.
"I see you're eager! This must be your first time out! Well, I don't know which candy you like, so I'll just give you a little bit of everything! Don't worry, I have a lot!"
With that, the woman scooped up a handful of the mysterious candy.
"Just tell me where you want me to put it!"
The Gourgeist's face fell momentarily.
Where would he put his candy?
It wasn't like he had a bucket, and he certainly couldn't throw it all into his mouth right there.
But almost immediately, his face brightened. The buckets holding the candy looked like him, so of course he had his own!
Carefully, he called upon the ghostly orbs. But, instead of summoning shadowy figures, they merely pointed to his pumpkin in a round line. To emphasize, the Gourgeist opened the mouth of his pumpkin wide.
The woman nodded.
"Of course!"
The woman dropped the candy into the pumpkin, and it landed with a satisfying crunch.
When she was done, she smiled one last time.
She left him with two other words.
"Happy Halloween!"
The Gourgeist blinked. That must've been what the special day was called.
Hall-o-ween.
He quickly grinned again. If this simulation could work on the woman, it might work on all the humans. And he would visit every house he could find.
The candy bobbed back and forth, like a symbol of victory, as he continued to hop around Lumiose.
He didn't need the children now; his plan was perfect.
The Gourgeist was right in that it worked on every human. Where he was wrong was that everyone gave candy.
No, there were many other things to eat on Hall-o-ween.
One house, there were round doughy objects that looked just like him. They had some sort of orange goo on top that he smeared all over his face. But their sweetness was simply divine, and he wouldn't leave until the house gave him a little bag.
Another had something even more interesting and delightful. The owner presented the Gourgeist with a food that jiggled so much he thought it was alive. But when he took a bite of the black spider-like treat, it bounced up and down in his mouth. And he savored the same delicious sweetness.
Maybe Hall-o-ween was special because of all the sweet things?
But then, couldn't humans get those other places? After all, they gave them to Pokémon.
Regardless, his quest to obtain all the treats continued. Eventually, so many rattled in his pumpkin, he wondered how he could still move.
Suddenly, he saw them. Their brilliant flames were unmistakable.
It was the Litwick from his home.
There were still in their gigantic groups, moving as one as they chased after something.
The Gourgeist rapidly scrambled to get a closer look, and reeled back with horror.
The Litwick were chasing the children, and they had no idea the Pokémon were there.
At last, he understood why the Litwicks' flames always burned so brightly after this night.
The Litwick wanted to deprive the children of their tricks and their treats, ruining their entire Hall-o-ween.
He couldn't let that happen! Not when they showed him how to enjoy himself so much!
The fear of the costumes and the heavy candy was soon forgotten as the Gourgist charged towards the Litwick. Expertly, he slunk into the shadows, smashing into the stunned Pokémon with a powerful Phantom Force. Their flames burned even more fiercely as they prepared to retaliate with Flame Burst.
But the Gourgeist was ready. He batted them away with his Shadow Balls, flinging them at a blinding speed that surprised even himself.
The scattered Litwick tried to regroup, but found that impossible as they were constantly combated by the fierce attacks. As a large group, they were formidable, but alone, they were nothing.
Within minutes, they retreated, and the Gourgeist grinned.
He'd given them a scare. Was that what Hall-o-ween was all about?
The Gourgeist didn't know, so he decided he would continue looking.
What else was there to find on this night?
He registered a crunching sound beneath him, and realized he was on a leafy path. It wasn't his home, but it certainly looked like it.
The humans were clearly planning something. Orange streamers hung from the trees, and many strange lights and signs seemed poised to activate.
The Gourgeist thought he noticed a coffin and a stage, but what would they be doing here?
Suddenly, an Ariados dropped down from her web, and he backed away slightly.
"Hey, you're just in time for the show!"
Before he could ask what she meant, the stage lit up.
A crowd of humans gathered around, the light of the stage many times brighter than the Litwicks' flame.
He hopped to the front, and immediately the Gourgeist noticed what was captivating the humans.
Music blared in the Gourgeist's ears, but it was not deafening like the children's screams. Instead, the music prompted a rush of energy that flooded through the Pokémon's body.
He had heard music before, with the distant echoes of the humans' radios. But it was clear that this music was nothing like that.
A symphony of drums boomed from the stage, and it accompanied a beat so bouncy that he wondered where the springs were. The voice of a man pierced the Gourgeist's ears. Or perhaps it was several men; he couldn't tell. Everything blended as one.
The Gourgeist didn't recognize the tune, but the humans certainly did. Their faces lit up as much as the stage had, and they cheered like the children. Some of them clapped in unison, and others shuffled the leaves around as their feet responded to the song.
But was truly transfixing was not the stage (or even the music), but what was on top of it.
For there were several humans in their costumes, but these were fully grown. What drew the Gourgeist's attention this time was not similar buckets, but incredible movements.
A woman in a red and blue cape flew across the stage as if she had wings. Another dressed as a devil moved her legs with the grace of an angel. Yet another wore a witch's hat, which swung back and forth as she twirled her hands. Joining them were countless others, so many that the Gourgeist wondered how they could all fit on the stage.
The Gourgeist copied the humans' gigantic grins, and within minutes, the rush of energy came again.
The urge to move was irresistible.
The Gourgeist bounced loudly and rapidly, like he had when he first got his candy. He made no noise, but instead timed his movements with those of the crowd and on the stage.
The glee that contagiously radiated from the humans had swept him away like a flood.
Suddenly, the music stopped and so did the dancers. The Gourgeist froze as the scenery darkened.
The thrilling music was soon replaced, and the Gourgeist shuddered as he adjusted to the changes.
Haunted howls went along with a low pitch, and more humans with costumes appeared from a place he could not see. The signs lit up with messages he could not read.
They must have been terrifying, though, because the Gourgeist could hear several children screaming.
At last, the Gourgeist could make out the details of one of the costumed humans. Every instinct shouted to run away, but he held his ground as fiercely as he had with the Litwick.
After all, the Gourgeist had learned a good scare was part of Hall-o-ween.
And he didn't want to miss the show the Ariados had talked about.
But now he could understand why the children were terrified.
Rushing towards him was a human wearing a giant monster head. Its red eyes glared eerily at him, although he tried to match its gaze. The human's hands had become furry paws, with claws as black as the night.
But that wasn't as intimidating as the object he carried.
The object looked like a long silver tooth, except he held it by a red handle. And when the human pushed the handle, it made a deafening whirling sound that was nothing like chewing.
The Gourgeist couldn't stop himself from shaking, but tried to remember why he came.
If there were monsters and scares, there had to be candy, right?
The Gourgeist glanced around warily, and he thought he could feel his ghostly heart pound as the path lay before him.
The human in the witch costume beckoned him towards the next frightening sight. She was motioning towards the coffin, now open and full.
Chillingly, what was inside the coffin was alive.
There lay the woman dressed as a devil, holding up a bowl of candy similar to what he had seen before.
But there was nothing polite about what she did with it. As soon as the children reached to grab the sweets, the woman jerked the bowl away.
The lucky ones got a piece or two, but much of the candy lay useless on the ground. Countless children scattered, tearstains lining their frightened faces.
The Gourgeist gulped. This could be his biggest challenge yet. But he had to try.
Gingerly, he hopped up to the coffin. The devil costumed woman still held the bowl, daring him to take a piece.
But as the Gourgeist reached his destination, a new fear overtook him.
How would he get his candy?
He couldn't grab it, and he wasn't about to reach over and clamp it in his mouth.
But then he remembered the orbs.
A single orb floated from his body and toward the candy. As the orb dipped into the bowl, the woman jerked it away. However, the orb rapidly snatched a piece of candy and soared back with its owner's prize.
The Gourgeist grinned. He had won! This was far greater than any battle he'd had with his fellow Pokémon, and he'd triumphed!
His fellow Pokémon. What fun they were missing!
And then it hit him.
The true meaning of Hall-o-ween.
He had found it.
It wasn't about the candy, the scares, or even the costumes.
No, Hall-o-ween meant that a bunch of the humans got together, and had a spectacular time.
And tonight he had been a part of it.
His face widened into a smile, because now there was one other thing the Gourgeist was sure of.
And that was that he would celebrate Hall-o-ween for many years to come.
Author's notes:
So I was saw the Halloween challenge and this little idea popped into my head. XD And since Gourgeist is basically a giant pumpkin based on a jack-o'-lantern and Halloween, what better Pokémon to use?
The original idea was for a Houndoom to go trick-or-treating with a Gourgeist as his trick-or-treat bucket, but I realize that would not work, because Gourgeist weighs 86 pounds… Also, there was going to be a scene where the Gourgeist hears about carving pumpkins and get scared, but that was taken out due to word limits…
For those wondering, Murkrow like shiny objects and Kelfiki like putting things on their keychains to add to their collections. I don't think either would find anything like that on Halloween, hence why they come back empty-handed. The Litwick on the other hand, search for human souls, and seeing as there are a lot of children out on Halloween, they would most certainly be successful.
Gourgeist is shiny because I figured that since shininess makes the Pokémon look different and can be equated with dressing up (even though it is possible to dress up Pokémon in other regions). The building that the Gourgiest mentions is the Lost Hotel, which is near Route 16, and it's the only place one can find Litwick.
I was originally going to have the Gourgeist lose the fight with the Litwick due to type disadvantage, but then I realized that it would burn all his candy and leave him too weak to continue on. So instead he wins using the element of surprise.
Gourgeist being scared by the costumes is actually a reference to the original purpose of Halloween. Halloween was originally created in the hopes that the costumes would scare away evil spirits. Gourgeist is scared because he is a ghost type (even though he's not an evil spirit). The costumes that the children wore are based on costumes I would see while trick-or-treating.
Gourgeist understanding the words Trick or Treat has to do with his moveset, since Trick or Treat is the signature move of Gourgeist and Pumkaboo. As for the word Halloween, it's simply a word he learns to associate with the holiday, although he never quite learns it (evidenced by the use of the words Hall-o-ween). As for the way he uses trick-or-treat, I got that based on the description of the move (the user takes the target trick-or-treating). Since that didn't give me much to go by, I assumed a simulation would work best.
Gourgeist hearing the sounds of radio and understanding humans dressed up in fancy clothes is based on two things that can happen in the Pokémon games. One is that people can play radio in areas where Pokémon are in order to influence encounter rates. The other is that Lumiose is home to the most expensive boutique in the Pokémon X and Y, and he would probably see the fancy clothes because the route is right outside the city.
Finally, all the traditions that Gourgeist encounters are based off of real things that happened to me when I went trick-or-treating when I was younger. I happened to trick-or-treat in an area that really got crazy for Halloween, the show really did happen.
The dance in real life was of costumed people choreographic dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller. Before that, there would be the heavily decorated trees and spider falling (or Ariados, in this case).
Afterward, the music really did becomes spooky and there would be flashing signs. And there really was a monster with a chainsaw who would come flying out and turn it on. I was never sure if it was real or not, but it made realistic noises and scared a lot of children (never me, though). And there also actually was a woman in a coffin who held up a bowl of candy, only to jerk it away as soon as someone tried to grab it. Needless to say, not everyone succeeded in getting candy from that house.
Finally, the foods Gourgeist eats are the actual foods that my family would have on Halloween. My family would have a party where someone would make pumpkin cookies, and spiders made out of Jell-O. The candy that Gourgeist describes are Hershey's bars, Reese's Cups, Nestlé Crunch, gummy worms, Lifesavers, Kit Kats, Laffy Taffys, and lollipops (that remind him of Swirlix).
And so ends this little mixture of Halloween traditions and Pokémon! :)