Setting: Set in between Hocus Pokémon and Here's Lookin' At You, Elekid. However, all currently released generations are fair play; the Fairy typing is in effect here!

Pairing: None, really. Maybe Pokéshipping if you really squint.

Rating: K for cartoon violence.

Age: Not necessarily important. They could be eternally 10 or they could have aged a few years. Whatever you prefer to think of as canon.

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated in any way with the Pokémon franchise. This story is merely for entertainment. I only own my OCs and, of course, the story.

A/N: I'm trying to write this in the style of the original anime. Imagine this as a Halloween-themed Pokémon movie. I am creating my own things here, but I'm trying to have all prior information stick strictly to canon.

Major thanks to my perfect beta, C'sMelody!

Trick or Treat

Having just received his last Gym Badge from the Blackthorn Gym, Ash and his friends are hard at work as ever in preparing for the Silver Conference…

"Oh boy, a king size candy bar!"

Or are they?

Ash brought the plastic-wrapped log of chocolate up to his nose and inhaled loudly, salivating even though he couldn't smell anything beyond the crisp October air burning his nostrils. After savoring the moment for all of two seconds, he ripped open the chocolate bar and bit off a mouthful, strands of caramel lacing his teeth and the candy together, looking like strands from the play spider webs decorating the houses of the neighborhood. When he licked it all away, he offered a bite to Pikachu, who was perched as a Golbat on his shoulder, wings and all.

"Ash, you're supposed to be saving your candy, not eating it all tonight," Misty stated, dropping her own piece into her orange jack-o-lantern bag hanging from the crook of her arm as she held Togepi to her chest. Togepi was thrilled by all of the sights and was content to do nothing but trill away at all of the lights and spooky decorations.

"Who says?" Ash grunted through the sticky sweetness.

"I bet your mother would," Brock said. "And please tell me that you're not still wearing your fake teeth."

After swallowing, Ash felt around his teeth with his tongue to discover that he was, indeed, still wearing the false teeth that were the finishing touch on his vampire outfit. Except now, instead of glowing a light green in the dark, it was certain they were stained brown with milk chocolate and caramel goodness. Pikachu barred his teeth to reveal much the same on his own fake incisors.

"Oops."

Misty sighed, shaking her head. "I knew he wouldn't be able to handle accessories."

"Hey, at least I was smart enough to wear a costume that I wouldn't freeze to death in!"

Misty looked down at her costume, mostly just to hide her flushing face behind her bangs. She was wearing the Goldeen outfit that she had worn ages ago in that crazy magician act. "So what? I already owned it, so I figured I might as well wear it! Besides, Brock isn't any better."

Brock had decided to dress like Bruno of the Kanto—and Johto, since that's where they were—Elite Four leaving him entirely shirtless. He was hoping that it would gain him points with the ladies. Unfortunately, most of the ladies they had seen so far were half his age. Nevertheless, he didn't want to be pulled into the argument, so he suggested, "Hey, why don't we just check out the next house?"

Misty harrumphed. "Yeah, Brock. Let's go."

Ash lingered behind for only a second. "Thinks she can boss me around like that," he grumbled. "Why shouldn't we be able to eat our candy on Halloween?"

Pikachu chattered his agreement before pointing in the direction Misty and Brock were headed.

"Oh, you're right! We gotta beat them to the next house!"

Moments after Ash ran to catch up to Misty and Brock, there was a rustling in the boxwood hedges lining the sidewalk.

Jessie popped her head out from a bush, making certain that she was holding two branches on either side of her face. She spied the twerp running off after the other two twerps with Pikachu right there on his shoulder, as usual. "Hmm, right on schedule."

"On schedule fo' what?" Meowth burst out of the next bush, some leaves taped to his whiskers. "We don't have a plan!"

"Maybe we would if it weren't Halloween!" James interjected, poking his head out of a third bush, pausing to spit out a few leaves. "But there are people everywhere! How are we supposed to pull off any kind of a heist?"

"Well…" Meowth began slyly, turning slowly to James as a smile spread across his face, "we could pull off a candy heist if we did a little less trickin' and a little more treatin'!"

"Ooh, now that's a good plan, Meowth!"

Jessie whipped her hair around and managed to smack both James and Meowth across the face, leaving them both dazed. "You numskulls! We're not out to get candy like all of these snot-nosed little kids! We're out to catch Pikachu!"

"But Jess," James whined, "think of how long it's been since we've had that much food! Much less good tasting food."

There was the sound of water dripping into the bushes as James and Meowth began to drool. Jessie clenched her fist until it shook, ready to let them have it again before she heard her stomach rumble. Both boys turned to her with raised eyebrows and Jessie blushed, holding her stomach in a gloved hand.

From out of the bushes, she produced three pillowcases and announced, "Well, I guess it can't hurt to think about food every once in a while! We can always nab Pikachu once those twerps have had their fill and all we have to do is roll Pikachu off the twerp's shoulder and right into the boss's office."

With matching grins, each grabbed a bag and then made off for the closest house, so close to mountains of candy they could taste it.

"Wow, this house would be spooky even if it weren't Halloween."

Ash and Misty nodded along to Brock's words as they all stood at the end of the street before a huge house that seemed to creak as a strong wind blew the autumn leaves and loose candy wrappers across the lawn.

It was like something out of a storybook. It was dark purple with a thatched black roof, which was made up of all odd angles, coming to a zenith at a pointed tower standing in the middle with a single window. Jutting in front of the window were bars of sharp iron, twisted as if by a giant's strong grasp.

"Well, the porch light is on," Ash pointed out. "That must mean that they're accepting trick-or-treaters."

Ash began to make for the front deck before Brock and Misty pulled him back. Even Pikachu pulled on his hair a little.

"Hey, what's the big idea?"

"M-Maybe we should just skip it and head to the next house," Misty suggested, eyeing the spooky structure warily.

"Why would we do that? Let's just knock on the door."

Ash stepped confidently forward, ignoring a whine from the back of Pikachu's throat as the deck groaned at their combined weight. There was no doorbell, so Ash raised his fist to knock on the door when, without so much as a tap, it opened all on its own.

"Huh, look at that."

Brock and Misty had reluctantly followed Ash, but now the both of them were slowly creeping backwards. Brock cleared his throat before saying, "Okay, now we should go, Ash."

"No, wait, look at that!" Ash was pointing just inside the doorway, where there was a small table holding a huge bowl of candy and a silver candelabra. Just above the bowl was a sign that said, take one. "Look, they want us to go in!"

Ash pushed the door open all the way, revealing that the whole room was lit by nothing but the three-pronged candelabra, flickering as the wind from outside tickled the stale air inside the house.

Opening the door revealed a parlor, completely decked out with Halloween decorations. There was a bit of old furniture here and there, but covering every open space were pumpkins, skeletons of humans as well as various Pokémon, witch's hats, brooms, and gnarled branches with bat-like Pokémon hanging from them. But they weren't tacky items snatched from the bargain bin of a local drugstore; everything was so well-made that they looked almost real, down to the porous bones of the skeletons and peeling bark of the branches.

After Ash stepped inside, Brock and Misty followed to take their pick from the massive collection of candy. Misty gave a little shriek when she saw an enormous Ariados doll in the corner, somehow suspended from the ceiling. It was shrouded by the dark, but the enamel mandibles almost seemed to glow with poisonous saliva in the candlelight.

She put a hand up to her face, turning away from it. It wasn't real, it only looked real. So it should only bother her if she looked on it. Nevertheless, the hairs on her arms were standing up on end and, for once that night, it wasn't from the October chill.

They all turned their attention back to the most pleasant sight of the candy dish. Even though it was pretty late in the night, the bowl looked virtually untouched. Apparently most trick-or-treaters thought even candy wasn't worth trying the old, creepy house.

But boy, were they missing out! There had to be every type of candy in that bowl. Chocolate, caramels, hard candies, lollipops, butterscotch, even truffles and small baked goods—more than Ash had even thought to imagine.

"You know, I bet we can take more than one," Ash said, reaching into the tantalizing bowl. "I don't think anybody would be upset by that."

"Ash, it says to just take one."

Misty's words sounded firm, but one look over at her, with her face inches from the candy bowl, showed that she didn't much believe what she was saying. She wanted the treats nearly as much as Ash did.

Both Togepi and Pikachu, who had wiggled their way onto the table, were also looking over the lip of the candy bowl, trying to make the best choice.

"One each," Brock stated. Both Ash and Misty sighed, resigning themselves to follow the rules before Brock spoke up again, this time with a big grin. "Though that doesn't mean we can't each choose one for each of our Pokémon too!"

Ash and Misty cheered as they finally dug into the bowl, counting off candy for each of their Pokémon as Brock wedged himself into the mix as well.

"Do you think all thirty of my Tauros count?"

"Only if all of my Gym Pokémon count!"

"Those aren't yours; they're your sisters'!"

"No, they belong to the Gym! And I'm better with them anyway!"

"Are not."

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Are—"

"Enough out of both of you!"

Brock unwrapped two pieces of caramel and stuck one into Ash's, then Misty's mouth to quiet them. He nodded at his handiwork as both of them struggled to chew.

"That's probably enough candy for the both of you."

Then Misty made a gurgling shriek through the caramel as she began looking about wildly.

"What?"

"Pobeebee ih aw!"

Brock cocked his head. "What?"

Pikachu reached and patted Brock. "Pipipi!"

Ash caught on at that point, joining in with Misty's mumbling. Brock, however, still had no reaction, so Pikachu was forced to concentrate, spiking the fur on his head and rounding his body until he looked like an egg.

"Oh, Togepi!"

Misty finally managed to chew the caramel down to a workable level and shouted, "We have to find Togepi! Anyone see where it went?"

Everyone collectively shook their heads. Then, they heard a light trill echo throughout the whole house. They cast about, uncertain of the direction the sound came from. Pikachu's ears twitched for a second, and then he took off, scampering out of the room.

"Hey, Pikachu!"

Ash ran after Pikachu, with Brock and Misty not too far behind him. There was no electric lighting to speak of in the house, but every hallway and room was lined with sconce-like lanterns, fire blazing in each of them; there was just enough light to see a few feet in any direction, but no more.

After rounding just a few corners, they stopped in their tracks, finding themselves completely lost, with no trace of Togepi or Pikachu. There wasn't so much as the light thump of a footstep. Nothing but dull creaks from the house, coming from every direction so that it seemed like the house was trying to move or maybe even say something.

"I think we should head back to the front of the house," Brock suggested. "Just wait for Pikachu and Togepi there."

"No, we have to find Togepi!" Misty was insistent, her jaw clenched and her gaze firm, but the wavers in her voice belied her strong façade.

"Pikachu will find Togepi, Misty. And we'll be easier to find if we just stay put."

Misty looked to Ash, who nodded at her. "Misty's right, Brock. I wanna find Pikachu."

Brock could only shrug. "Suit yourself. But let's retrace our steps at least to find a better path, okay?"

"Fine."

"Alright."

It only took a few steps for them to realize they had no idea where the front of the house was. They turned around a few times, poking their head past corners, into hallways, looking for any sign of familiarity.

Somehow, the whole house was designed the way the parlor had been. In every corner were pieces of antique-looking Halloween paraphernalia, most dusty with time, like they hadn't just been set out in the past few weeks for the holiday. It seemed as though it was always Halloween in this house.

Ash stepped over the black statue of a Purrloin wearing a witch's hat, trying the last exit from the room for any hint as to where they had come from.

"No luck. That hallway just has some huge ghosts that I don't remember seeing."

"So, we're lost?"

Misty looked at Ash with a perfect blend of irritation and fear while he sweat-dropped and backed away slowly, nearly tripping over the Purrloin.

"Not lost," Brock stated, trying to diffuse the situation—or rather, avoid any situation that got Misty too mad. "We just don't know where we are or how to get back to where we were."

A vein began to throb on Misty's forehead as she turned to Brock. "Well, what is that if not lo—"

"Pika! Pika!"

The sound echoed all throughout the house until the two calls became many, sounding like there were dozens of Pikachu hiding in the very woodwork of the house. It sounded like it could have come from anywhere. Ash, Brock, and Misty cast about in all directions, to little avail.

"Priii!"

That sound too began to echo, morphing until it was a twisted distortion of Togepi's cute call.

"I think it's coming from upstairs!" Ash finally declared. "Which hallway had the stairs?"

"This one!" Misty shouted, pushing in front of them and making for a set of wooden stairs, spiraling up with an iron rail, lined with cross-shaped spikes.

"Careful!" Brock put a fingertip to one of the spikes and yanked it away quickly. "These are sharp!"

"Pikachu! Where are you?"

"Togepi! Please come out here!"

Ash and Misty tumbled onto the landing at the top of the stairs and listened as more calls came from their Pokémon, bouncing off every which way, but stronger than they had been down below.

"This way!"

"You better not be getting us lost again, Ash Ketchum!"

"No, they're definitely this way!"

"Guys, wait up!"

The trio eventually stumbled into a large, cluttered room, furnished like an attic, with no candles to light the way. There were, however, windows washing the room with the moon's pallid glow.

"Pikachu?"

"Pikapi!"

Ash nearly ran into a tall suit of armor as he rounded a stack of items, opening the large room up even further. There, bathed in a deep red glow, were Pikachu and Togepi, eyeing a strange object.

"What is that?" Misty asked with a gasp.

The red glow seemed to be emanating from the object, which was resting in a basket on top of a treasure chest, just out of Pikachu and Togepi's reaches. Not for lack of trying, though, as Togepi kept stretching its arms out, trying to touch it.

"It looks like an egg," Brock observed. "Like a dragon egg, or something."

"Oh, that's so cool!"

Ash rushed forward to look at it and soon enough, the whole gang was taken in by its almost supernatural glow.

Pikachu took it upon himself to take Togepi in his arms, raising it over his head so it could get a closer look at the object. Togepi trilled in delight, leaning in to reach it.

"Don't touch it, Togepi," Misty chastised. "It's not yours."

Togepi frowned for a second, whimpering a little. Then it jumped out of Pikachu's grasp, arms outstretched as if to give the egg a hug. Togepi landed in the basket, which was lined with straw and wheat in a neat nest, and tried to hug the egg, but its stubby arms kept it at a distance.

"Oh, Togepi."

Misty reached for Togepi, but before she could grab it back into her loving arms, the egg began to glow brightly, blinding everyone for a moment as their eyes adjusted. After a few burning blinks, everyone turned back to see Togepi being sucked into the egg.

Everyone gasped in shock. Pikachu was the first to regain his wits, and he leapt up, grabbing for Togepi, only to begin being sucked into the egg too.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Ash grabbed for Pikachu, Misty grabbed for Ash, and Brock grabbed for Misty, each disappearing faster and faster as the glow became stronger, before fragmenting from a blood red into individual beams of orange and black like a Halloween sunburst.

Then, they were gone, and the room was once again dark and silent, save for the whistling of the wind outside, and the gentle groans of the old, dark house.

On Halloween night, Ash and friends had expected lots of treats but this is one trick they hadn't expected! Where have they gone and how will they get out of this one? Stay tuned for next time!

A/N: This story is looking like it'll be eight chapters posted throughout the month with the grand finale being posted on October 31st! Different than my usual style, but I hope you enjoy! By the way, this story is inspired by a Scooby Doo movie entitled Scooby Doo! and the Goblin King, an incredible web-comic entitled "Prague Race," and the Pokémon episode entitled Hocus Pokémon. Yup, my inspiration comes from all over.

Cover Art cred goes to Pixelated-Takkun on deviantArt!