Author's Note:

THIS ISN'T THE REAL NEXT CHAPTER. THAT WILL BE UP TOMORROW.

This is just a short one-shot Halloween special I wrote. Pretty obviously not canon with the rest of the story and it takes place in a modern day setting, but with Pokésouls.

I didn't spend very long on this so it's a bit rough, but hopefully it's at least slightly entertaining :)

So Happy Halloween everyone! Frosty gives virtual ice cream to you all! Just don't drop yours like Preston did.

Halloween Special or Vampires in Lumiose

In the darkness a creature lurked, human in shape, but monstrous in nature. It slipped between buildings, one with the darkness, until it found a soul foolish enough to walk alone after dark. When the creature was done with that person, they were nothing but a bloodless body on the ground.

A large van pulled up to the city of Lumiose, clearly having seen better days. It was missing one of the mirrors and the front window was cracked severely on the passenger's side, creating a spiderweb effect across the glass. Add in a few dents to both fenders and it was clear the van had been through some rough times. On the side in red letters was writing, PPH (Pokésoul Paranormal Hunters).

A girl with long black hair was at the wheel, head tilted into an odd position to see out a portion of window not covered in cracks.

"Are we there yet?" complained a girl in the back whose name tag read, 'Zyra.'

"Obviously not," replied the girl whose name tag read 'Pecha'. "If we were we wouldn't still be moving."

The driver, whose name tag was labeled Nami, just sighed and didn't partake in the argument.

"Who are we going to see anyway?" asked Zyra.

Pecha pulled some papers out of the glovebox and flipped through them. "A detective in Lumiose named Preston Rolfe called us. He said that bloodless bodies have been turning up on the streets."

"Well that's a vampire," Zyra said. "Case closed."

"We're supposed to stop the vampire," Nami informed.

"Oh. Well that's a lot harder. How do you even do that? Stake it?"

"That's what the lore says," Pecha replied. "It's usually right."

The conversation drew to a halt as Nami parked in front of the police station. The three girls got out followed by their Pokémon partners and headed up the stairs of the building. Zap remained outside as they had found that bringing Luxrays into occupied buildings tended to freak people out. Darkfire and Yuki however, were small enough not to be a bother. At the front desk they asked to see Preston Rolfe and the receptionist called him to the desk. Preston showed up and the grey haired man came to find them and brought them back to his office.

"You're the paranormal investigative team." It wasn't worded as a question, but Pecha replied anyway.

"Yep, that's us. I'm Pecha, that's Zyra and Nami."

"Thank you for coming," Preston said. "We've tried everything we can think of to catch the killer, but nothing's worked. Normally I think of your kind of people as con-artists, this is your chance to prove me wrong."

"We are not con-artists!" Zyra exclaimed. "We hunt supernatural creatures!"

"That's why you're here," Preston replied. "Though I would like to say now, for the record, you only get paid if you have proof you stopped whoever, or whatever, is doing this. If there's no proof, you don't get anything."

"Okay," Pecha said. "We'll bring proof."

"Wolf!" Preston called. A man with white hair poked his head in. "Bring these girls to the incident sights."

"Right!" He saluted and gestured for the investigators to follow him. "It isn't that far so we can just walk there," Wolf said as he lead the girls out of the building. They walked a few blocks down the road and into a deserted alleyway. "Here we are! So what do you think did it?"

"Probably a vampire," Nami replied.

"A vampire? Why do you think that?"

"The victims were drained of blood and they were all killed at night," Pecha answered.

"Have you ever caught a vampire before?"

"You like to ask questions don't you?" Zyra replied, stopping the boy before he could find out that the three had never even seen a vampire before much less killed one.

Wolf nodded sheepishly. "Everyone in the office says I ask too many questions."

"Zyra," Pecha promoted. "Do your thing."

Zyra nodded, pulled out her wooden flute and began playing a sweet,lilting tune.

"What is she doing?" Wolf asked.

"Shh," Pecha whispered. "She needs quiet."

Zyra's melody continued and eventually Pokémon began to show up, looking at the girl from around dumpsters and rooftops. When several had gathered, Zyra ceased playing. Darkfire, Zyra's Umbreon, walked with Zyra to speak with the street Pokémon. Zyra had a special report with Pokémon, but the only one she could actually understand completely was Darkfire. However, Darkfire could understand other Pokémon so by using the Umbreon as a translator Zyra was able to speak with any Pokémon she wished. Pecha and Nami had Pokésoul partners as well, but neither girl had the special thing Zyra did that made Pokémon love her. The information Nami and Pecha got was generally useless,while Zyra's method brought the group valuable clues sometimes.

Zyra spoke with the Pokémon for a bit while Pecha looked for physical evidence. Nami was busying herself by taking pictures of the scene in case they needed to look at it again later.

All Pecha's investigation turned up was a piece of black fabric, not very helpful. Many people wore black and the texture was common as well. She kept it anyway, it could end being useful later.

The Pokémon slipped away back to where they came from and Zyra turned back to Pecha and Nami.

"Get anything?" Pecha asked.

"Not really," Zyra replied. "They saw a figure wearing black but that's all they could tell me. They didn't see the face and they were too far away to get any other physical features."

"There weren't any Pokémon nearby?" Wolf asked.

"Pokémon can sense the supernatural. They weren't around because of the vampire, or whatever creature it is that did this."

"Let's go back to the station," Nami suggested. "Maybe we can get some clues from the body."

"Follow me!" Wolf said.

The three girls followed Wolf back to the station. "Winters," greeted a terrifying man with red eyes. He wore all black and a black trench coat hung on the chair behind him.

"Hey Wyvrn," Wolf greeted. "This is Wyvrn," Wolf said to the investigator girls. "He's my partner."

"Nice to meet you," Nami said politely while Pecha and Zyra gave the Crimson eyed man a wide berth. Wyvrn grunted in response and continued on his work.

"He was creepy," Zyra said once they were down the stairs and out of earshot.

"He's not that bad," Wolf assured. "Though you don't want to get on his bad side. He's a bit violent."

They arrived at the morgue and found a man sleeping at the admittance desk. "Kirtus!" Wolf yelled. The man startled awake.

"Huh?" Kirtus said.

"We need to see the body," Wolf told him.

"Oh, right," Kirtus said. "It's in number 103."

Wolf nodded in thanks and continued leading the girls. It was cold in the basement and Yuki seemed quite at home, floating in circles around Nami's head. They walked into the morgue and Wolf pulled out the slab labeled 103. She appeared to be in her late twenties or early thirties and had pale blond hair that framed her face. She was completely uninjured, except for the two small bite marks on her neck.

"Definitely a vampire," Zyra said.

"Yeah," Pecha agreed. "But vampires don't have to kill their prey, so there must have been some reason it killed this one."

"Some just like killing," Nami said sadly.

"What were the other victims like?" Pecha asked Wolf. "Did they look similar, or have the same sort of job? Is there anything connecting them?"

"We haven't been able to find anything," Wolf replied. "They were all found on different streets, they're different ages and as far as we can tell have nothing in common."

"Is this her cellphone?" Nami asked holding up an evidence bag.

"Yes," Wold said. Nami began flipping through the phone, tapping on the buttons through the plastic of the evidence bag.

"Find anything?" Pecha asked when the other girl put the phone down.

"No," Nami shook her head apologetically.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to go out tonight," Pecha said.

"Do you need backup?" Wolf asked.

"Nope," Pecha said. "We can handle this." Probably, the three girls all added mentally.

As the three walked past Wyvrn again Pecha noticed that his coat seemed frayed at the edge, as if it had been torn. The girls walked to their van and sat in the back, which was their home on the road and where they generally made their plans.

"So what's the plan?" asked Zyra. "Hang out in alleys at night and wait for it to show up?"

"Basically," Pecha said. "With the three of us and our three Pokémon partners we can have six areas of town under watch."

As they were discussing the details, there was a knock on the door. Suspiciously, Pecha opened it and peered out. A woman stood there and grinned mischievously at them. "Hi there! You're the supernatural investigators, right? Nami, Pecha and Zyra?"

"Yes…can we help you?" Nami asked.

"I'm Kai," the girl introduced. "And I think I have some information you may be interested in."

"What is it?" Pecha asked.

"I can't tell you here in the open!" Kai exclaimed. "Come back to my base."

"That's the sort of thing a murderer would say," Zyra pointed out.

"Well, you know I'm not a vampire," Kai said. "If I were I'd be on fire right now!"

"She does have a point," Nami admitted.

"She could be something else," Zyra refuted.

"And you'll never find out if you don't come with me," Kai pointed out.

"Okay," Pecha said cautiously. "We'll go with you."

"Great!" Kai closed the back door and ran around to the driver's seat and sat before the wheel. "Here we go!" she exclaimed and hit the gas before the other three girls had a chance to buckle their seat belts. Pecha hadn't even sat down and was flung against the back door. The three investigators managed to get themselves seated as Kai drove seemingly taking every turn as fast as possible without flipping the van.

Kai drove the girls through town and finally stopped in front of a small office in the outskirts of town. "Here we are," Kai announced. "This is my office!"

"What do you do exactly?" Pecha asked.

"I'm a private investigator. I work with the police a lot actually," Kai replied.

"If you work with the police why are we all the way out here?" Nami wondered. "Couldn't we have talked at the station?"

"You'll see! Come on!" Kai led them to the door and ushered them inside. It was a small office with two desks, one with a plaque reading Kai Akiyama, the second one reading Christina Oak. In front of the second desk sat a girl who was clicking around on her computer. "This is Christina," Kai introduced. "Christina, these are the paranormal investigators."

"Hello," Christina said distractedly.

"So why are we here?" Zyra asked impatiently.

"When you were in the office, did you happen to meet a man named Wyvrn?" Kai asked.

"Creepy guy, red eyes," Zyra replied. "Yeah we saw him."

"Did you know that he comes in before sunrise and leaves every day after dark? I've never once seen him in the sunlight. Isn't that odd? No one is that devoted to their job."

"Odd, yes," Pecha agreed. "But that doesn't necessarily make him a vampire." Though as she said this she remembered the torn coat and the similar black fabric still in her pocket.

"No, but this does." Kai picked up a paper from her desk and thrust it at Pecha. Pecha grabbed it instinctively and examined it, Nami and Zyra peering at it from either side of her. Wyvrn was in the picture, mouth open and fangs tearing into a blood bag.

"Well, that's pretty definitive," Zyra said. "But if you know who the vampire is why haven't you told Preston?"

"He's just eating a blood bag in the photo," Christina replied. "And he didn't even steal that so the photo isn't actually proof of a crime."

"Right," Kai agreed. "We need to catch him in the act."

"We were going to patrol tonight and see if we could find him," Pecha said.

Kai nodded. "Good idea. So far all the victims were alone and walking through dark unpopulated areas so make sure to keep to those kinds of places. Here." She handed over a map with several places marked in red. "If I had to guess, I'd say that he's going to use one of those alleys tonight."

"Thanks," Pecha said, examining the map.

"Give us your phone numbers," Christina demanded. "We'll keep in contact and make sure none of you get eaten."

"I'll keep an eye on you through the street cams," Kai added. "None of them actually see into the alleys though. If they did we wouldn't be having this problem. But I should be close enough to be of some help."

Pecha, Nami and Zyra shared their numbers and left Kai and Christina.

"Can we trust them?" Zyra wondered. "Why can't they just do it themselves if they're so smart?"

"I think they were probably worried about getting eaten by a vampire," Nami replied.

"Cowards," Zyra muttered.

"Not everyone grew up fighting off wild Pokémon with their bare hands," Pecha commented. Zyra just scoffed.

Night fell and the three girls had separated, though they remained in contact with each other (and Kai and Christina) on the phone. They remained mostly silent, not wanting to give themselves away, but if anyone needed anyone else they'd be able to talk to them instantly.

Nami walked down one of the alleys, a bit unnerved by the silence. She wrapped her white sweater closer around her and shivered. Then she felt a creeping presence behind her. She whirled and caught the hand that was aimed at her head. Borrowing Yuki's powers briefly, she froze the hand.

It was immediately evident that the person attacking was not Wyvrn. The assailant was a small little girl, though her bared fangs marked her a vampire so her true age was likely much older than she appeared. Upon seeing her hand freeze, the girl did not react predictably, she smirked, then flexed her hand, shattering the ice. "You didn't really think that would work, did you?" she asked.

"Vampire!" Nami cried through the phone as she reached to her belt for her stake. She heard Zyra and Pecha announce that they were coming and held the stake out at the vampire.

"You're supposed to act more frightened," the vampire sighed. "It's boring if no one screams.

"Back off," Nami threatened.

"Why should I? You think you scare me?" The vampire bared her fangs the Nami threateningly.

"I can't let you eat anyone else," Nami said.

"Well, you brought this on yourself then," the vampire said and charged at Nami. Nami readied to stake the girl, but before the vampire could reach her there was a gunshot. The vampire fell, then managed to prop herself up on her arms. Her head turned and she was shot again. Nami looked upwards and saw Preston, holding a gun. Curls of smoke faded into the air from the barrel.

"So it really is a vampire," he mused.

Nami nodded. The girl was still twitching so Preston shot her again. The vampire stopped moving after that. "Is it dead?" he asked.

"Well, it was dead to start off with so that's not a great question," Pecha answered as she and Zyra wandered into the alley.

"Is it re-dead then?" Preston asked.

"Seems to be," Zyra said, kicking the body which showed no response.

"Okay. I guess I'll have to pay you guys," Preston sighed. "Even though I'm the one who actually killed the thing."

"I would have staked it," Nami protested. "How did you know I was here anyway?"

"Kai called."

"Nosy woman," Zyra muttered.

"We did have her on the call," Pecha pointed out.

"You three should get off the streets," Preston suggested. "I'll call this in and have some officers take care of it."

The girls nodded and went to their van to sleep through what was left of the night. Two of the night officers showed up and Preston handed the scene over to them.

The two officers looked at the body curiously. "You think it's really a vampire?" one of them asked.

"Rolfe seemed to think so," the other replied.

"It is," said a woman. The two officers looked at each other, then whirled towards the voice. A woman stood there, a red scarf wound around her neck. "I need her," she said, pointing at the corpse.

"This is a crime scene," the first officer said.

The woman grabbed the jacket of one of the officers and threw him against the wall. He hit it with a thud and fell to the ground, stunned. The other attempted to escape, but she kicked his legs out from under him and covered his nose and mouth until he passed out. With the guards dealt with, she approached the body.

The woman dropped the tote bag she was carrying and removed several bags of blood which she put in front of the body. The vampire's eyes suddenly opened and her fangs latched instantly onto one of the bags of blood. As she drank, the gunshot wounds healed and vanished as if they'd never happened in the first place.

"Thanks Red," the vampire said after finished off the last bag. "I wasn't expecting to get shot."

"It's just good they didn't stake you Sky. You wouldn't have recovered from that as easily," the woman referred to as Red said. "And my name is still Lucinda. Not Red."

Sky shrugged. "I think now would be a good time to skip town, don't you think?"

"I agree," Lucinda replied. "But make sure to do something about them first." She gestured to the two unconscious officers.

"Right, right." Sky walked over to one of the men and pulled him towards her. His eyes opened blearily and she stared into them. "You never saw Lucinda. All you saw was a vampire's body turning to ash in the sun. Then it blew away."

"The ashes blew away," the man repeated, enthralled. Sky dropped him, then repeated the process with the other one.

"Welp, let's get out of here. I was sick of this town anyway!" Sky announced. Lucinda followed. "Oh, and here's money for helping me out." Sky handed over a stack of bills which Lucinda accepted and began counting. "I hope we run into that stupid Pokésoul girl again," Sky grumbled. "I'll show that little girl not to threaten a vampire!"

"...Are you in a position to call someone else a little girl?"

"Shut up Lucinda!"

Pecha, Nami and Zyra were at the police station waiting to receive their payment. "What about Wyvrn?" Zyra asked quietly, glancing sidelong at the officer.

"If he's not killing anyone it's none of our business," Pecha replied.

"So we just leave him then?"

"Kai and Christina are keeping an eye on him," Nami assured.

"Hey," said Kirtus walking towards them. "This is your payment." He yawned hugely then smiled at them.

"Thanks," Pecha said. "Did you find out anything about the vampire?"

"Her body vanished," Kirtus replied with a shrug. "The officers securing the scene said it burned when the sun came up."

"Really?" Pecha said. "I've never heard about that happening before..."

"Well it's dead and that's what matters," Zyra said.

"Yes," Nami agreed.

"Let's get out of here!"

The three girls left the station and got in their van, ready to hunt out the paranormal wherever it may lurk. Though hopefully for them (and Nami especially) their paths never cross those of Sky or Lucinda again.