Hey, everyone, sorry about my long absence. I've been on hiatus since mid-2013, but now I'm back to writing. This will be my Halloween story.

Disclaimer: I do not owe Pokémon.

Chapter 1

It was a gloomy night in the woods. A gloomy night without a full moon and without stars. Nothing in the sky but clouds. The Hoothoot were hooting, and the Golbat were gliding. The wind was howling with the sounds of the night. Three little Pokémon, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander, were walking down the dark path, with their best friend Pikachu following. Charmander held his tail as a candle to light the way.

"Guys, going to the forest at night gives me the creeps," Squirtle whimpered, feeling scared.

"Oh, there's nothing to be afraid of," said Bulbasaur. "It's all just the wind. And probably a few Golbat and Hoothoot. They just like to spend time at night."

Suddenly, a few Golbat flew by and zoomed over the four Pokémon, who had duck with yelps.

"Well, that was unexpected," said Pikachu.

"I don't like it when they do that," said Squirtle, shivering.

Suddenly, Charmander's eyes lock on sight of dark clouds with lightning and thunder. "Uh-oh," he said. "We're about to have a storm." The rain began pouring down. "And it started. Oh, I hate rain!"

Pikachu found a big leaf on the ground and picked it up to cover Charmander's tail like an umbrella. "This will cover your tail for now," he said.

Just then, Squirtle saw something huge over the trees. A building, to be exact. "Hey guys," he cried, pointing at a building, "I see a place where we can stay!"

"Great, just a place we need for the night," Charmander grinned. "Let's go."

The four little Pokémon ran and ran down the path to the building. The building turns out to be a castle.

"Wow, look at this castle!" Pikachu gasped.

Squirtle looked at the castle, as thunder and lightning flashed, and then he turned white. "What was I thinking?" he whined. "That place looks haunted. I shouldn't have got us here!"

"Aw, quit your whining," said Bulbasaur. "I don't believe in haunted castles. Let's go see if anyone's there."

"Uh, why don't you guys go in? I'll wait out here."

Bulbasaur rolled his eyes. "All right, you chicken. You can stay here in the pouring rain." And with that, he, Charmander and Pikachu head toward the castle.

"I don't know, guys," said Pikachu, "there may be ghosts he may look out for."

Squirtle smiled. "Sure, I can stay out in the rain and look out for..." He turned white as his pupils shrank. "What?! Ghosts?!" He zoomed toward Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu. "Wait for me!" He ran so fast he bumped into them, and they fell on the stairs.

"Ouch!" cried Charmander.

"So you changed your mind," said Pikachu.

"Yes, I did!" Squirtle cried.

"Get off me!" shouted Bulbasaur, hitting Squirtle's shell with his Vine Whip.

"I wonder if anyone lives there," Pikachu wondered.

Charmander peeked through the window. He saw a little light shining through a door crack open. "I see a little light," he said. "Someone should be home."

Squirtle peeked through the basement window, and he saw a ghostly figure wisping by. He screamed "Ghost!" and jumped backwards. "Ghost!"

Bulbasaur went to the window where Squirtle saw something, but he didn't see anything. "You might be imagining things, Squirtle," he said.

"No, I saw a ghost!" cried Squirtle. "It's so scary!"

"Come on, guys, let's go see if we can find a room for the night," Pikachu said.

Charmander rang the doorbell. Right before their eyes, the door opened by itself.

"Uh...did it open by itself?" Squirtle asked, shivering.

The four walked inside and looked around.

"Uh, hello?" called Pikachu. "Is anyone home?"

No one answered. Then suddenly, the door slammed shut with a bang, which scared the four into jumping with cries.

"It's haunted! Help me!" cried Squirtle, jumping onto Bulbasaur's flower back.

"Would you get off me?" Bulbasaur said, annoyed. "It's probably just the wind."

"I didn't see it coming," said Charmander.

"Who's there?" a voice called out.

The four yelped and held each other as the door that let the light through opened. The light was revealed to be Magmar, who was holding his tail as a candle.

"Hey, it's a Magmar," Charmander said.

"Well, you four look like you were lost," said Magmar when he saw the four. "Outside in the rain is no place for fire Pokémon these days."

Just then, Squirtle's stomach growled. "Uh, can we perhaps have something to eat?" he asked. "We've been walking through the woods all night."

"Why, certainly," Magmar said. "Come, right this way. I'll take you to the dining room."

The four little Pokémon followed Magmar down the hallway. As they walk, Bulbasaur noticed a portrait of the Legendary Beasts with the background of the castle they had entered, with Entei in the center, Raikou on the left, and Suicune on the right. "Hey, it's the Legendary Beasts," he said, "and there's that castle we had entered!"

"Yes," said Magmar, "the Legendary Beasts were guardians of this castle. They were useful to fight pirates and enemy soldiers. They used to serve the king."

"Cool!" Squirtle smiled.

Bulbasaur had looked at the painting of a general standing on a wooden platform. He was oblivious to the eyes watching them, but only Squirtle noticed.

"Say, are these eyes looking at you?" Squirtle asked.

Bulbasaur scoffed. "How can a painting look at someone when someone stares at the painting for too long?" he asked.

Eventually, the four had arrived at the dining room Magmar had led them to. There, they saw some Pokémon sitting in the table. A Gliscor, a Typhlosion, a Houndoom, a Machoke, an Ampharos, a Krokorok, a Luxray, and a Feraligatr.

"I didn't think you kids would find this castle," said Machoke.

"We got lost in the woods," Charmander said, "and we needed a place to stay for the night."

"Well, you came to the right place," said Gliscor. "I used to live in this castle a few years back with my friend Noivern. Back then, things were peaches and cream, when I was a Gligar, and Noivern was a Noibat."

"Well, that's good," said Pikachu. He noticed a few with troubled looks. "You guys look troubled."

"Some of us were concerned this castle's been haunted," Typhlosion said.

"I don't believe in haunted castles," Bulbasaur said. "This castle's been visited many times, but no one's ever been here at nighttime. How can it be haunted?"

"Well, things were very swell a few weeks back," said Krokorok. "Then there were clattering sounds and several noises from everywhere. I had checked for any Ghost Pokémon. I find nothing."

This made Squirtle scared. "So this is a haunted castle," he gulped.

"Don't be stupid. This castle isn't haunted," said Bulbasaur.

"You're so skeptic," Charmander frowned.

"Well, a Pokémon can disagree, can he?"

Krokorok then smiled. "Why don't you have a seat? The feast will be ready," he said.

"Oh, boy!" cried Squirtle.

The little Pokémon sat at the table, with Pikachu sitting between Luxray and Squirtle, and Bulbasaur sitting between Houndoom and Charmander. Magmar brought a cart in with all the Pokémon food.

"Pokémon food?" Pikachu asked. "Is that all you guys eat?"

"Well, the servants of this castle used to serve Pokémon food for all kinds of Pokémon," said Luxray.

"Oh, okay."

"Okay, folks," said Magmar, "dig in."

Then suddenly, the lights went out.

Uh-oh. Looks like things are going to bump in the night for the Pokémon.