Archie - Pokémon: 7 Deaths: 1
Blue - Pokémon: 5 Deaths: 0
{Monua 31st, 6:00PM}
{Hearthome}
That kid from the Pokemon Center had been right. Hearthome's festival-especially at night- was a sight you just couldn't miss.
After Blue and 'Sebastian' had spent their morning running around buying spare clothes (including a pair of fake glasses that the new owner kept nervously fiddling with) and strolling past shops and Blue teasing the other about his refusal to set foot in 'that giant-ass glitter-building that looks like it was designed by a snotty rich five-year-old girl', the afternoon had become a city-wide bustle of people and Pokemon hurriedly shouting at each other and setting up decorations and game stalls before nightfall. Some of the 'early Natu' opened up an hour before the festival's official start, offering some of the passing kids a couple free games just for the sake of playing or handing out a handful of free poffins.
At six o'clock sharp, when the sky was fairly dark, a shrill scream filled the air.
Archie and Blue would've immediately run to find the source and see what had happened- if it weren't for a majority of people around them suddenly cheering.
And then, within in a few seconds, the streets were swamped with ghost-types.
Tons of Gastly and Haunter began to zoom by over their heads, Shuppet and Duskull poking out of building walls, chandelier-shaped spirits carefully lining the rooftops and faintly lighting up the streets in shades of blue and purple. Big, round Pokemon of various sizes with faces carved into their stomachs bounced along happily, providing brighter glows of orange and yellow and the occasional green. A group of kids at the end of the street screamed and ran away laughing when a towering tree-like Pokemon peered around the corner, branchy fingers curling around the building wall.
"...I think the festival just started," Archie said when music began to blast through elevated speakers.
"I can't believe it's a festival about ghost-types, of all things..." Blue muttered, edging closer to the Aqua Leader's side. "I swear if there's a single Gastly that gets too bloody close to me-"
To Archie's amusement- and slight satisfaction- Blue jumped when a little spirit in a tree stump mask appeared behind him and smacked his shoulder with an enthusiastic "BOO!"
"Glad you two got a laugh out of that," Blue grumbled, glaring at the snickering Aqua Leader and Luxray.
"I heard you say that the festival was about ghost-types, but that's not true!" the spirit giggled childishly. "It's a festival for the dead in general! It's like a kind of remembrance day for people you lost."
"Yeah, that's why there's ghosts all over the place pranking people and kids running around in costumes demanding candy from passersby and playing at game stalls," Blue said sarcastically.
"It's really cool, isn't it?" the ghost said, beaming at him and missing the sarcasm. "Miss Fantina started the idea seven years ago, and now look at how bright and colorful everything is and how many visitors the city has! People going to the Lost Tower and lighting candles for the departed is sweet and all, but this is sooo much better and all the departed are having fun too!"
"I'm willing to bet there's a whole bunch of interesting games for both living and nonliving, aren't there?" Archie asked, reminding himself to use a Kanto accent.
"Oh, there's a ton! I can even show you around!" the spirit said excitedly. "I'm Pavel, a Phantump! What about you? Are you from Sinnoh?"
"I'm Sebastian, and these are Blue and Star," Archie said, gesturing to the gym leader and the Luxray respectively. "Blue and I are from Kanto, but Star's been with us since we first arrived in Sinnoh a couple weeks ago. We're heading to Pastoria tomorrow, once tonight's festival is over."
"The festival actually lasts a whole three days, if you wanna stay longer," Pavel said with a grin.
"Look, I know I'm a sarcastic jerk, and I'll admit that the festival is actually looking damn cool for what it is," Blue said, "but I'm still not exactly comfortable around this many ghost-types and I'd rather get out of here as soon as I can. We've already postponed our departure by a day and we've got stuff to do outside of Hearthome."
"Are you scaaared?" Pavel teased.
"Getting possessed and trying to strangle somebody I care about once was enough," Blue snapped.
Pavel floated back a few inches, a little taken aback by the revelation, and his heart visibly sank. "...Sorry," he said quietly.
"Hey Pavel, what kind of games are there around here?" Star asked, deciding to change the subject sooner than later.
"There's a whole lot of them," Pavel replied, perking up again a little. "Like there's the Sableye Treasure Hunt where you gotta run through a dark room with a flashlight and try to find as many gems as you can in a time limit and certain colors give you more points, or the Labyrinthe where Golurk block your path and keep changing place and the faster you're out the more points you win, or the Paintball-Oon where you gotta aim at a Drifloon with a slingshot and try to hit it with paint before it vanishes."
"Those sound kind of fun," Archie mused.
Pavel nodded enthusiastically. "But there's also a tons of other fun attractions, like the Ice Skating Rink that's being maintained by a couple Froslass, or the Bouncing Haunted Castle where Drifblim sometimes grab you out of nowhere and drop you into a different part of the castle, or the Frillish Salon where you can get costumes and make-up and stuff, or the Mismagius Illusion Show- oh and there's also a swordplay tournament! Plastic Honedge for people under sixteen- thirteen, with parent approval- and plastic Doublade for everyone sixteen and up. There's even a special show at the end between two people who get to fight using real Doublade!"
"Now that sounds badass," Blue said approvingly. "Alright Sebby, we're-"
"Sebby?"
"-to the Frillish Salon first to paint blood on our faces or someshit and then I'm beating your ass with a Doublade."
"Hah, you wish! You'll be lying flat on the ground before you even know it," Archie said, folding his arms smugly.
"Hey look, it's the parade!" Pavel exclaimed, pointing excitedly.
They raised their heads and, indeed, a big, glowing orange carriage with black fluff on top was headed their way, pulled forward by a pair of dressed-up Ponyta. The group quickly stepped aside so the Ponyta could pass through, trotting down toward the other end of the street.
"Oh, come on, I don't wanna hang around and watch the parade," Blue said, giving Archie a nudge to move along when an entire stage was being pulled forward next, a Corpse Bride and a Jack Duskullington dancing together to the speakers loudly blaring 'THIS IS HALLOWE'EN, THIS IS HALLOWE'EN, GOURGEIST SING IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT'. "We've got better things we can do, so let's go!"
{Monua 31st, 9:59PM}
{Hearthome}
With Pavel as tour guide, finding the Frillish Salon had been a relatively easy task. Archie had found a white lab coat and decided to go for the 'mad scientist' look, ruffling his hair (and ruining all the effort he'd put into gelling his hair back that morning) and earning himself a couple fake cuts on his face, as well as a thin thunderbolt drawn in marker on his glasses to make them look cracked. Blue on the other hand had snatched up a purple fur coat with a hood ("It's my favourite colour." "What, you mean your favourite isn't blue?" "No, that joke only works on Saylee.") and a pair of dirty grey pants- the Jellicent in charge of the shop had fussed over him and insisted that she be allowed to spray his hair purple and that he wear a necklace made of green beads that hung as far down as his stomach.
Blue had been a tiny bit reluctant, but when the little Phantump off-handedly mentioned an old superstition that people dressed up in an effort to ward spirits away, the gym leader got his hair done, skipped the fake cuts and dunked his hands into the nearest pot of red paint, dragged his fingers down his face, and then stomped out of the shop cackling madly and causing a group of kids to run away screaming.
Finding the Honedge tournament on the other hand had proven to be a bit of a bigger challenge- mostly because they'd decided to try the Labyrinthe game on the way and gotten lost in the maze for longer than they'd expected (or at least Archie had- he'd shrieked and accidentally started running back toward the entrance when Blue jumped out from a corner with a freakier-than-should-be-legal Mr Mime mask).
As they'd arrived in the square where the tournament was being held, they'd come to find that it was less of a 'tournament' and more of a strange free-for-all where anyone could challenge anyone and try to collect points, as long as the opponent was within the same group. Blue and Archie agreed to first fight against each other to see which of the two would have the rights to take on other people, three matches total and two wins necessary.
To Blue's visible surprise, Archie had won the first two matches with ease. To visibly a lot less of Blue's surprise, Archie had also been very smug about it.
"So where did you even learn to use a sword, anyway?" Star asked, well after Archie had gone and somehow battled his way up to third place among the Doublade fighters.
"Kanto, obviously," Archie said mildly, pocketing the prize money he'd earned. "You didn't survive in that region without defending yourself a little." The Luxray gave him a look. Archie sighed and glanced around quickly before leaning closer to Star and Blue, dropping his voice. "I picked fencing as a club activity back in high school. I'm a few years out of practice, but-"
"You literal pirate," Blue groaned quietly.
"Oi, it has nothing to do with-"
"Thank you to all who participated!" the announcer started, making the crowd around the stage go silent. "Now that the rewards have been distributed to our fantastic participants and their breath-taking battles, we are going to offer you one last show to close the tournament! Are you ready?" There was a roaring cheer from the crowd, and the announcer bowed himself off the stage, leaving it to a new pair of battlers that got an even bigger cheer from the crowd as they both walked onto the platform with each a pair of very shiny and very real Doublade. Archie didn't remember seeing either of them among the participants before, but he did remember the Jack Duskullington from the parade that was now up there.
"I don't think I've seen that guy around before," the Phantump noted, hovering at Blue's side nervously. "The one with the white mask. Miss Fantina doesn't usually let anyone other than Brando and Shamgar fight each other, because it's dangerous to even wield a Honedge. Did something happen to Brando…?"
"What's so dangerous about holding a Honedge?" Star asked curiously.
Pavel shifted nervously. "Well, um..."
"They are known to steal your life energy."
Archie and Blue turned, and were met with the Corpse Bride from the parade standing behind them with an odd smile.
"Honedge are quite selective," she said sweetly. "It is requiring a great amount of trust and bravery to fight with one."
"Oh, hey, you're that lady from the parade thing," Blue said. "You were dancing with that Jack guy. Is he your husband?"
The Corpse Bride laughed. "Oh, I wish! His personality is très charmant, and under the mask he is, how you say, 'quite the looker'. Ah, si seulement," she sighed wistfully. "But the spirits, they are whispering to me of pain and grief in his heart. For me to charm him while he is healing would be très malpoli."
"Miss Fantina, is it really okay for that person to fight with a Doublade?" Pavel asked. "You know what happens..."
"Oh! Pavel, chéri, I was wondering where you have been!" the Corpse Bride cooed, stroking the stump with her fingers and causing the Phantump to giggle. "But oui, it is all safe. I have given them une évaluation. He is be using his own Doublade, and their bond is très profond. More than Brando or Shamgar."
"More?!" Pavel gasped. "Oh, wow..."
"Sorry, but did Pavel call you 'Miss Fantina'?" Blue interrupted.
"Oui? It is indeed I, la fabuleuse Fantina," she replied, offering an elegant spin as a bonus to her introduction. "How may I help you?"
"I'm Blue Oak, gym leader of Viridian city in Kanto," Archie's colleague said.
"From Kanto?" Fantina gasped. "You come from très loin, then! I must praise all the hard work you are doing for your region. It is only with leaders such as you that Kanto can hope to thrive. Vous avez tout mon respect," she said, bowing in a way that showed she was sincere and not just doing it for show.
"Thanks," Blue said. "We're doing what we can. Anyway, you're a gym leader here, right? D'you mind telling me if you have any information about Galactic or anything else going on in Sinnoh?"
Fantina straightened again. "La Team Galactique? You are not the first to ask. Non, je suis désolée, I have nothing of value to share," she sighed sadly. "The only news I have received of recent is of the Aqua Leader for Hoenn, and that we are to keep watch for him."
"I see," Blue said, pretending he didn't notice Archie trying to suppress a twitch. "Well, thanks anyway- though if you want some news, I've got some." Blue leaned closer and dropped his voice. "I've heard that the Aqua Leader joined Galactic in order to gain their protection."
Both Archie's and Fantina's eyes widened. "Non, vraiment?!" the latter gasped.
"S-Since when?!" Archie wheezed.
"I've heard rumors that the police aren't doing a whole lot lately, at least when it comes to Galactic," Blue continued. "Chances are he heard these rumors too and that he's trying to use this as his chance to slip out of the police's hands."
"Le malin garçon..." Fantina growled. "I shall keep this in mind. Merci pour l'information."
"Hey, anything to keep the world safe," Blue said with a shrug. "If we don't do it, who will?"
Fantina smiled. "Tu as raison. Again, merci for everything. I am to hope that you will continue enjoying the festival of Hearthome!" she winked before slipping away through the crowd, Pavel waving at them with a wide grin and floating after her.
"Blue, what the bloody fuck was that about?!" Archie hissed. "I know I've done seriously dumb shit but-"
"Relax, I know," Blue interrupted. "There are blades of grass just outside Hearthome with more sense than the average Galactic member, but I decided that if the police aren't gonna do anything about Galactic as things are now, maybe they'll look into it a bit more if there's an internationally wanted criminal sneaking around in there."
"...I find that idea to be strangely genius," Archie said.
Now to hope they're not gonna add that to my charges when or if I'm caught… he thought, holding back a sigh.
{}
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Monua 31st is the nuzverse October 31st and Hearthome was the conveniently perfect place to do it and today was the conveniently perfect weekend to post this kind of thing and I really shouldn't be allowed to invent random festivals.
I figure that until now people in Sinnoh celebrated this in Artinua/August and that it was a lot more like the japanese Bon Festival (and they probably still do it), but then Fantina showed up with her western-y culture and threw some Unovan Halloween at Hearthome and now it's a popular thing because all the dead spirits are having FUN and it's a lot more cheerful than just lighting candles and putting them by loved ones' graves. So basically Sinnoh has a very traditional celebration day for the departed, and then a more recent celebration type for the departed and that Fantina started about a year after she first arrived in Hearthome.
ARCHIE
Shanks the Sharpedo, Prince the Prinplup, Star the Luxray, Warin the Beautifly, Basil the Buizel, Rapier the Budew
BLUE
Sam the Blastoise, Pete the Pidgeot, Adam the Alakazam, Gary the Arcanine, Girish the Gabite