First Halloween Special as advertised. This idea has been suggested by a faithful reviewer of SA and a soon-to-be of SL, as mentioned.
There will also be a Christmas Special to be uploaded on December 25 (this one is my idea). And remember, for SR, don't think of the reasoning behind some of the events (like the reinforced military grade titanium plating on the elevators in the last chapter). Most of the questions that start with "Why" can be answered in SR by "Just because" or "Because it's funny."
Category: SR.
Chapter 14: Halloween Special
October 27, 3 pm, Hearthome City, Sinnoh…
Green, Blue, Gold, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum waited in the rented out feast hall for the other Dex Holders to arrive. It was Platinum's birthday and the heiress was getting anxious, afraid that some of her seniors (and juniors) would not be able to attend.
On the large table set up in the middle of the feast hall, there was a pile of birthday present boxes stacked up. The stack was going to become much larger when the remaining Dex Holders arrived, and Platinum wished they would hurry it up.
From the kitchen, Diamond and Pearl entered, carrying several large trays filled with special cookies that the relaxed Dex Holder made for the occasion. The moment they set the trays on the dinner table, all the Dex Holders (minus Green) came close to have a taste.
Green silently groaned as all of the other Dex Holders started to chat louder and louder. It was getting increasingly difficult to focus on the news he was trying to read. He looked up from his newspaper when Platinum came close.
"Hey, senior… have a bite," she said as she held a cookie with one hand.
Green narrowed his eyes slightly and observed his junior's expression. Did Platinum just say "hey"? And is she presenting him a cookie with just one hand? Normally, given the girl's education, she would've presented him a cookie on a plate and with both hands, probably with a slight bow.
The Viridian Gym Leader took the cookie and was about to take a bite when he caught a whiff of something. He sniffed at the cookie and realized something.
'Oh, no… This could have some complications…' Green thought as he returned the cookie to Platinum. He then headed towards the kitchen to confirm his suspicion.
Just as Green disappeared into the kitchen, the entrance to the feast hall opened and the missing Dex Holders appeared. The moment they entered, they could see Diamond and Pearl performing a comedy act.
"Speaking of Pokémon!" Diamond started.
"Speaking of Pokémon~!" Pearl followed.
The late Dex Holders walked closer to the center of the feast hall but they stopped when the two Sinnoh Dex Holders' comedy act approached their 'classic' part where Diamond smacks Pearl on the back of the head… wait… what? They looked at the others to see if they noticed something wrong as well. Crystal was laughing to the point of tears, while Blue and Gold remained perfectly silent. Normally, Gold would be laughing to tears while Crystal remained silent. Blue would giggle occasionally at Diamond and Pearl's comedy acts, but she always showed some reaction.
"… Is it just me, or is something different here?" Red asked as he looked at Yellow and the others who arrived late.
Yellow looked quite confused as she observed the unusual behaviors of the other Dex Holders. Emerald looked over at Ruby and Sapphire, who were busy bickering near the dinner table.
"Well, those two didn't seem to change at all," he commented.
Black and White looked over at their two Hoenn seniors and soon noticed something. "Actually," White started. "They did change."
Emerald observed his two friends (though he did not like acknowledging their friendship). It seemed that Sapphire was arguing about how her Pokémon needed to stay beautiful while Ruby argued that power was far more practical than beauty.
Emerald soon headed for the exit. "Alright. That's it. I'm out of here. This is just… too damn weird."
"Emerald!" Crystal called out. She quickly ran towards him and embraced him. "I'm glad you're here! Come on, enjoy the party!"
"Uh… what?!" Emerald yelled out as he looked at Crystal. "What happened to you?"
"You're too serious all the time!" Crystal said. "Come on, live a little!"
"Crys," Gold said from behind with a sigh. "Try to be a better role model. You're not setting a good example here."
Emerald looked back and forth between his two Johto seniors. "… THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"
Just then, Green came out of the kitchen, holding an empty bottle in his hand and a solemn expression on his face. He looked at the Dex Holders who arrived late and approached them.
"We have a big problem here."
Silver looked over at Blue, who was… reading the news? Right beside her was Platinum, who appeared to be trying to pull a prank on the Kanto Dex Holder.
"… Clearly…"
Soon, all the normal Dex Holders gathered around the table in the kitchen while all the 'crazed' Dex Holders were in the main room of the feast hall, doing… whatever.
"Okay, here's the situation," Green said as he cleared his throat. "I'm researching on the type of venom from Toxicroak and its possible uses in medicine. I put the raw venom in this bottle," he said as he looked at the empty bottle that was sitting on the center of the table. "I needed to keep it cool, so I kept it in the refrigerator. But because of its color, I think Diamond accidentally thought it for something else and used it when he made those cookies. The unusual behaviors of everyone else must be a consequence from eating those cookies."
"How do we counteract the venom's effects?" White asked.
Green crossed his arms and thought for a second. "This specific type of venom is neutralized by alcohol."
Red reached into his bag and withdrew two bottles of liquor. The other Dex Holders all stared at him in shock.
"… Red, are those…" Black muttered.
"Red… what the hell?" Green said as he looked back and forth between his friend and the two liquor bottles.
The Kanto champion rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well… You know that saying "Whatever happens in Nimbasa stays in Nimbasa"? It wasn't entirely true this time. Let's just say that… this little happening followed me." He still received accusing stares from his friends. "Hey, I only take a slight swig every now and then!"
Green shook his head. "Anyways… I'm not sure what would happen if someone drinks this while they're affected by the Toxicroak venom."
"… Let's try it on one person and see what happens," White suggested.
"Alright then, who do you suggest we try this on?" Green asked.
"I vote Blue," White said. Silver suddenly turned to glare at her and she visibly flinched. "I – I mean… Gold."
Black thought for a few seconds. "… Do we need to revert all of the others back to normal? I mean… it's an interesting change, don't you think? And besides, some changes might be for the bet-" He was cut off by a loud yell from outside the kitchen.
"Oh, you idiot!" came Platinum's voice.
"… That, we need to change," Yellow muttered.
Black nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"
"… Platinum!" Red yelled.
"What?!" came the girl's annoyed voice.
"… Get over here for a second!" Red yelled again after a slight hesitation, taken aback by the HUGE changes in his junior.
Red poured some liquor into a tall glass cup and hid the two bottles. When the heiress came, he offered her the cup.
"What is this?" Platinum asked.
"Drink it. It's… uh… good for you," Red said partially truthfully.
"… No, I don't want to," the heiress said after taking a sniff.
Red rose to his feet and approached his junior, who was staring at him defiantly. She definitely needed to return to normal… Red took the cup and looked at the other Dex Holders for help. Black and White each grabbed onto Platinum's arm while Emerald used his Magic Hand Extensors to keep his junior's legs in place. That way, the heiress could not thrash around as Red forced her mouth to open.
"Sorry Platinum, but this is for your own good," Red said as he poured the alcohol into his junior's mouth.
The heiress tried to struggle and spit the alcohol out but Red had shut her mouth and pinched her nose so that she had no choice but to swallow. The moment she did, she shut her eyes in agony and struggled even harder. But then she suddenly stopped and went limp.
"… Platinum?" White called as she shook her younger senior.
Platinum soon snapped awake. She looked at Red with tired eyes and spoke.
"S – Senior? What… what happened?" she asked. Her voice was oddly slurred…
'Uh oh… looks like I gave her a bit too much…' Red thought as his junior started to hiccup. 'I guess a third of a bottle was too much…' "Uh… how are you feeling?"
Platinum hiccupped again. "I – I feel… great!" She looked unsteady on her feet… She glanced out through the door to the kitchen and turned her blurred focus on Red. "N – Now if you will… excuse me, senior, I… I am going to see… Diamond…"
Red watched Platinum stumble out of the kitchen and sat down on his seat again. He took a swig from the open liquor bottle and received varying stares from the other Dex Holders. "… What?"
"Well, Red," Green started. "It appears that while you did force Platinum to return to normal, you made her drunk. So basically, you didn't help at all." Red took another swig. "Stop drinking!" Green snapped at him.
Just then, the normal Dex Holders heard a very loud laughter coming from the outside. Yellow peeked into the main room of the feast hall and returned to her seat.
"That was Platinum and Crystal," she said slowly. "… I think Platinum ate another cookie."
Green sighed. "We have no choice. Everyone, take a cup, fill to a quarter full with Red's… drink, and force one of the affected Dex Holders to drink it. Emerald, you'll need to take both Ruby and Sapphire, so take two cups."
"What about Platinum?" Red asked. "She's already kind of… drunk."
"… We'll figure something out after all those cookies are disposed of and everyone else returns to normal," Green replied.
The normal Dex Holders each took a cup and filled it accordingly. They soon headed towards all the affected Dex Holders and began carrying out their plan.
Green first approached Blue, who was reading the news in the corner of the feast hall. The Gym Leader hesitated a little, as he honestly wondered whether things would be better off with Blue staying like she was right now. But he decided that all the Dex Holders needed to return to normal, so he went up to her.
"Blue," he said when he came close enough.
"Not now, Green. I'm busy," Blue said after a sigh without even looking up from the news.
'Hm… I heard that somewhere before…' "Here, drink this," Green said as he gave her the cup he was holding.
Blue sighed again and looked up at him. "What part of "I'm busy" did you not understand?"
Green rolled his eyes a little. 'Something tells me she's acting like… me.' "Just drink this."
Blue narrowed her eyes. "… Why?"
"Because you're not acting like yourself, and this will fix that."
"I'm perfectly fine the way I am, thank you," Blue said as she returned her focus back to the newspaper.
'Damn it… If she's going to act like me, then I have to act like her!' "Very well then. If you don't drink this, I'll have Golduck blast you with Hydro Pump. I just hope you don't have any electronics on you."
Blue sighed and shook her head. "Fine. I'll drink that if it means that you'll leave me alone."
'Am I really that easy?' "Here."
Blue took the cup and drank the liquor in one gulp. Green took the empty cup and watched her expression. She blinked a few times and shook her head. She smiled brightly (and a little mischievously) at Green.
"Whew!" she said in her usual cheerful tone. "It's getting hot here!" She then moved her arms to the end of her shirt, as if she was about to take it off.
"Blue, restrain yourself," Green said quickly and quietly. He was partially glad that Blue was back to normal-ish, but on the other hand… maybe her 'Green' persona was indeed better.
Blue grinned and patted him on the cheek. "Aw… you're cute when you're flustered."
Green rolled his eyes. He looked behind him looked on the dinner tables. 'Where's that damn cookie?'
At the same time, Emerald approached Ruby and Sapphire, who were still bickering about beauty and power. The arguments were the same as all the others ones he had heard before, but… coming from the opposite Dex Holder. Sapphire saw him approach and ran up to him.
"Emerald! What do you think is most important? Beauty or barbaric power?"
Ruby ran up to him as well. "Emerald! Of course you know that power and strength is more important than petty appearance!"
Emerald groaned. Talking to them was going to drive him insane, as always but in a different manner. He looked at Sapphire and gave her one of the cups. Her situation was more extreme, as "beauty" just didn't match her at all. Ruby was a very strong trainer (admittedly), so "power" matched him quite alright, but Sapphire…
"Drink this."
"Why?" Sapphire asked as she took the cup. "This smells quite bad."
"Just drink, damn you," Emerald said. "It'll make you… uh… beautiful."
In that instant, Sapphire chugged the liquor and Emerald gave the remaining cup to Ruby.
"I'm not drinking that!" Ruby yelled. "I don't want to end up like Sapphire! Obsessed with beauty? That's absurd!"
'Yeah… Absurd…' Emerald slightly shook his head. "This is a different drink. This will make you more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
Ruby quickly drank the liquor and Emerald sighed in relief. His two friends both returned the empty cups and looked at each other.
"S – Sapphire," Ruby said in a slurred voice.
"What?" Sapphire asked in an equally slurred voice.
"Did… did I ever tell you that… you're barbaric?"
"Shut up… you sissy…"
'That's better,' Emerald thought as he steadily headed to return the empty cups to the kitchen.
"But… you are beautiful," Ruby said from behind.
"… Thanks, Ruby," came Sapphire's embarrassed voice.
'And… I'm getting the hell out of here!' Emerald thought as he increased his walking speed.
10 minutes later, Green stood in the center of the main room in the feast hall, looking at all of the other Dex Holders. He still had half of the liquor bottle full, and he was trying to see if there was anyone who needed a dose. So far, no one seemed to need the additional doses. Platinum, who had two separate doses of the 'spiked' cookies… appeared incredibly drunk. Apparently, Red gave her even more to drink.
All the abnormal Dex Holders were back to normal, albeit being drunk. Red was sitting in the corner, drinking whatever was left in his liquor bottle. The others were scattered around, doing whatever they thought was nice in their distorted minds. Green was about to head back to his seat in the corner of the room (that Blue had occupied while she was 'crazy') to resume reading the news when he noticed something weird again.
Everyone else was playing utterly mindless games and acting quite odd, yet again. But this time, they weren't behaving completely differently from their actual personalities, but rather, drunk. Green looked at the Dex Holder who didn't eat the 'spiked' cookies, wondering why they were drunk. Then he saw the problem.
Each group of Dex Holders had a couple of bottles of empty liquor bottles beside them. Green quickly looked into the kitchen and saw the liquor cabinet completely empty. He glared at Red, who was probably the cause of the alcohol spreading. The Kanto champion saw him and raised his full liquor bottle as a salute/offer. He apparently had another one in his bag…
Green sighed and looked around the groups of Dex Holders to see if anyone was sober. Apparently he was the only one… Green groaned. There was no way he'd be able to fix this problem. He couldn't just leave either. If something bad happened, then it would be his fault for leaving a bunch of drunk Dex Holders all by themselves. He couldn't stay with them either, as their crazy laughs and mindless games would drive him insane. … There was one thing he could do…
Green sighed again and chugged the remaining liquor in his bottle.
This wasn't as easy as I thought. But I feel it was worth an attempt. The ending/solution is quite different than the suggestion.
I will try to upload the next chapter on the 1-year anniversary mark of SR (November 8).
Next up (DHC, per request):
It's midnight. The Dex Holders are preparing to go to sleep but then… the DHC Staff strikes! The Dex Holders' late-night mission: deliver a specially marked garbage bag and a letter to the house of one Dex Holder they had a problem with… They have 5 hours to do this task, but of course, the mission isn't as simple as it appears… Who will be the Dex Holder to end up with the most amount of garbage?