Misdreavus and Weedle
This was his least favorite night of the year.
Some would be surprised at that, to learn that a Ghost Pokemon like a Misdreavus would hate Halloween. But he did. Nights were supposed to be quiet and dark. Halloween night was noisy, filled with lights, 'spooky' recordings, decorations, and sugar-crazed kids. Even the Safari Zone wasn't spared, as management had offered a special deal tonight: come in costume and get ten balls free. There were also parties arranged at the main lodge, the zoo, and all the rest houses. The noise was just awful.
The Misdreavus hid in a tree and muttered to himself. Everyone was so happy; how was he supposed to scare anybody? Most nights, it was pretty easy. Get them into one of the narrow tree-lined paths, then dash up behind them and shriek like he was a monster. The Safari Zone customers would scream and turn around, but he would be gone by then. Those times were delicious.
Yes, fear… the fear of others emitted such a rich aura. The red pearls around his neck were filled with fear auras that he sipped at to keep his strength up. But tonight, it seemed he wasn't getting any more fear. But he wanted to try. It didn't feel right to just give up on the night, especially so soon after the sun set. Keeping away from the decorated areas, the Misdreavus searched for a victim.
He found one in the narrow tree-lined paths, a boy walking alone. The Misdreavus came onto the path behind him, careful about staying in the shadows. As usual, it wasn't an easy feat; the boy was looking at the trees around him, searching for an interesting Pokemon to capture. The ghost crept up on the boy, then when he stopped, shrieked his most bone-chilling shriek.
To his triumph, there was a moment of fear and startlement. But, only a moment. It soon turned to embarrassment. He hoped forward into a ring of light and turned around. "Hey, how dare you try to scare me? Now face the smashing wrath of the mighty Hulk!" The boy brandished large green foam fists into a fighting posture.
The Misdreavus' eyes went wide, then he fled, crying out in fear. He rushed around trees, making a few branches snap as he flew by. Trying for cover, he dropped down into the bushes, but nearly barreled into a smaller yellow Pokemon. He turned aside in time, but ended up crashing into a tree. "Oooogh…" he groaned, dropping to the ground.
Next to him, the Weedle paused, spooked. That might have revived the Misdreavus, but he was in a bit much pain from hitting the tree at full speed. Once the Bug calmed down, he scuttled over him. "Hey, I thought you ghosties were supposed to phase through things."
"Ugh… yeah, but I need to be thinking about it to do it." He lifted himself of the ground a bit and looked back nervously. "Did it follow me?"
"What follow you?"
"That human boy," he closed his eyes. "So scary."
The Weedle twitched his large red nose. "One of the costumed kids scared you?"
"Not just any costumed kid!" the Misdreavus said, looking at the other Pokemon. "He had these huge fists and his skin was green! That's so unnatural on a human. And that snarling mask was just awful"
"You guys scare folks all the time, so can't you take the joke?"
He frowned. "Well I don't scare others by growing giant fists and turning green."
"It's just one night a year; you should be able to deal with that."
He sighed. "Yeah, when it's not this night. By the way, what are you doing up? Isn't it late for you?"
"Ahhh," the Weedle blushed. "Well I was feeling the need for a little nibbly snack, but the plant I had curled up under just did not smell appetizing. So I came and hunted out this delectable fern over here. Want some?"
"No thanks."
At that point, a shrill voice broke through the trees, causing them both to freeze. Some girl was singing boisterously. "I will give it to you," the Weedle muttered, "that these kids are real annoying tonight."
"Why are you singing loud songs when we're supposed to be hunting Pokemon?" a girl's voice asked.
A younger sounding girl stopped singing and replied, "Cause I'm a pirate princess Weedle, of course! I've go to sing; it's the pirate way."
"You'll scare all the Pokemon away with that voice," the older girl replied. "Besides, why do you think you'll find Weedles here?"
"Be-cause the website said that they got a special group of Weedles in this week, and I want to be the first to catch one!"
"It's dark out."
"Well, either I'll wake one up, or one will be out looking for a little nibbly snack."
"Sounds like your kind of person," the Misdreavus commented, even though he didn't know the Bug too well.
But he seemed to be right. The Weedle perked up. "Right! But I'm not sure I'll be able to get over to them in time. Kind of hard to walk fast when you've got these," he stuck out his stubby little feet. "Could you help?"
"Why should I do that?" he asked. "I hardly know you."
"Well it'd be nice, and, well…" he stalled, then came up with something. "Oh, I know! I can help you try to scare them!"
He did have that sharp poisonous horn. "Maybe. What do you have in mind?"
A couple of minutes later, the Misdreavus as carefully carrying the Weedle through the trees. The younger girl had started singing loudly again, much to the older one's annoyance. That made it easy to find and follow them. And the one girl was dressed as a pirate princess Weedle, maybe. She had a pink dress with black skulls printed along the bottom, which might have been saucy on a girl who actually had breasts. With that, she wore a black pirate hat marked with a skull and crossbones. And with that, she had a Weedle-like segmented tail, a large oval red nose, and a large spike o top of her hat. It was a weird ensemble.
The other girl, who was an older teenager, was better put together in terms of costume, although it was still weird. She wore a long pumpkin orange dress trimmed with black lace and a black ribbon belt with a large bow on her back. She also wore fancy black leather shoes, a orange bow tied around her head, and a black choker with a white lacy heart. On her arm, she carried a frilly orange and black parasol that was closed.
"You ready?" the Misdreavus whispered.
"Ready," the Weedle said.
At that, he tossed the smaller Pokemon at the girl in the frilly dress, then shrieked as usual. The older girl screamed as the Weedle hit her shoulder and tried to swat him off. Fortunately, he jumped off her before he got smacked and she got poisoned. That was a right tasty fear which the Misdreavus would enjoy later.
The younger girl was spooked by all he screaming, but was soon delighted. "Ooo, sis, it's a Weedle! And, and, a Misdreavus! Awesome!" She threw a green Safari Ball at the Weedle, quickly capturing it.
Gathering her nerves, the older girl turned and saw him. He thought for a moment about fleeing; it's what he usually did, frustrating young Trainers by fleeing, then scaring them witless minutes later. But then the girl pulled something out of her bag that smelled tempting. It was a sticky rice ball and he tossed it over to him. "There you go."
Oh, now what? He should flee, but that rice ball smelled so good. Almost as good as fear. It had been a while since he ate anything physical, he recalled. So he threw caution to the wind and dove down after the treat to eat it.
"Why don'tcha just catch her?" the Weedle girl said.
"How do you know that's a girl?"
"Well it's a Misdreavus. Aren't they all girls?"
No, he thought with a grumble. But the rice ball was just right: a bit warm, a bit sweet, a touch spice, and all around good.
"There are males out there," the older girl said. "Anyhow, I gave it a treat because I've heard that the few they have here are notorious for fleeing and escaping." She pulled out a Safari Ball and tossed it at him.
The energy started to pull at him, but he easily broke out of it. He wasn't done with the treat yet! He growled, watching them warily. Just because he'd stay for a snack didn't mean he'd stay with them.
"See what I mean?" the older girl said.
"There's that fowl beast!" a boy's voice rang out in the forested area. "Hulk Smash!"
Freezing in fright, the Misdreavus immediately forgot the rice ball and jumped. He spotted the weird green kid and whimpered. "Oh please, not you again…"
"Hey, cut it out!" the older girl called, throwing another Safari Ball. But this time the Misdreavus didn't fight it. If she could take him away from that crazy boy, he would be fine with losing his freedom.
Some time later, the Misdreavus was released into the main lodge. To his dislike, it was noisy and crowded here, with a fog machine running. The two girls were there, with the park Warden. "Ah yes, that would be one of our older residents you've caught," the Warden said. "He scares so many people after dark, but he is really quite timid. Good catch, young lady."
"Thank you," she replied.
The Weedle he had helped was now on a table nearby, bopping around to the music playing. He now wore a little version of the girl's pirate hat, although his had a hole in the top for his horn to go through. "Oh hey, you got captured too!" he said. "That's cool. My girl, she made me a pirate Weedle too, and even nicknamed me Swabbie! Arrr!"
"Don't pirates live out on the oceans?" the Misdreavus asked.
Swabbie paused. "Hmm, I guess. But so long as there's plenty of good plants aboard our pirate ship, I wouldn't care."
"Well I only brought one accessory for a costume for what I caught," the older girl said, pulling a red scarf out of her bag. "I just won't make a bow out of it. Hold still." She wrapped it around his head twice, the tied it at the side of his head. "I believe that I will call you Ricardo."
The newly nicknamed Ricardo the Misdreavus shook his head, trying to see if the scarf would come loose. "I'd rather not be at this party."
The younger girl giggled. "He looks like a ninja now! But our pirate and ninja have got to get along, cause we're sisters and they gotta be friends. Right?"
"Ninja?" Ricardo asked. "Why would we fight if I'm a ninja and he's a pirate?"
"I dunno," Swabbie replied. "But hey, if they're sisters, then that means we can be friends! Sweet!
"I suppose," he said, then sighed. "This life is going to be nothing like the one I left behind."
...
Emerald entry: A Weedle has an extremely acute sense of smell. It distinguishes its favorite kinds of leaves from those it dislikes by sniffing with its big red proboscis.
Misdreavus Platinum entry: A Pokemon that startles people in the middle of the night. It gathers fear as its energy.