On this very night, once a year,
there's one thing that runs rampant: fear.
When a Rockruff may evolve to howl at the moon.
When a Mismagius curses you with an eerie tune.
When a Houndoom bites you and you burn forever.
When a Drifloon lifts you away, light as a feather.
When a Noctowl swoops down on you from above.
When a Darkrai knows what you're most afraid of.
Ralia is a scary place on Halloween night.
Come on down. Stop on by. Join us for a fright.
Unless you think this night will make you feel unwell.
Maybe you should sleep with the lights on tonight. Don't worry. I won't tell.
As the narrator spoke, we caught a glimpse of the Halloween night that had descended on the Ralia region. A Midnight Lycanroc was standing on a rocky peak, howling at the moon, a Nincada shed its skin to become a Shedinja, a swarm of Golbats flapped past the full moon in the night sky, and a nearby traveler felt a chill as he turned around to see a cackling Gengar emerge from his shadow, make a terrifying face, and make the traveler run for it.
Nearby, Ash, Serena, Vernon, Pikachu, and RotomDex were walking through the night, a few of them trying to ignore the spooky atmosphere. "It's a bit weird wandering around out here on Halloween night, isn't it?" said Ash, looking around apprehensively.
"C'mon, you're not afraid, are you?" teased Vernon. "I've been in scarier movies than this. Ghost movies, black-and-white monster movies, psychological thrillers, teen romances..."
Suddenly, thunder echoed through the sky, and a bolt of lightning split the sky in half. The group was startled, but then suddenly came a downpour.
"Aw, great!" said Serena, covering her head. "We need to get indoors."
"Hey," said RotomDex, pointing towards a strange building in the distance. "There's a place we can hide."
The group entered the building, which on the outside, resembled a small motel. Entering, they found that the power wasn't working, so RotomDex lit up its screen to show that the motel lobby was completely empty.
"That's strange," said RotomDex. "Where is everyone?"
"Guess this place has been abandoned for a while," said Ash.
"Interesting," said Vernon, before getting a mischievous smile on his face. "Maybe it's... haunted?"
Serena felt a shiver go down her spine. "Hey, cut it out!" she demanded.
Suddenly, RotomDex started beeping. "Hold on, guys, I'm getting a report that's it's too dangerous to go outside for a while. We are all expected to stay indoors until further notice.
"So, we're just stuck in here until the storm passes?" said Ash, making himself comfortable on a nearby chair.
"Seems that way," said RotomDex.
"Hey, I have an idea," said Vernon, sitting down on a couch. "Why don't we pass the time by telling scary stories?"
"Do you really know any?" said Serena.
"Like I said, I used to be a horror star," said Vernon. "And I can tell you the key to a terrifying story is suspense. People are more afraid of things they don't know everything about, because they feel uncomfortable."
"Oh, I can tell a scary story like that!" said RotomDex. "Here, let me see..."
Once upon a time, on a dark, rainy Halloween night, a group of Pokémon trainers sought shelter from a savage storm outside, so they hid inside a run-down, abandoned hotel.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" came Ash's voice. "That's not a scary story! That's just what's happening right now!"
Huh? No, no, this is a, um, a completely original story loosely based on real events!
"Oh, really?" said Vernon. "So what were the names of these people?"
Oh, um, their names were, Crash, Melina, and Bernard! As RotomDex spoke in voiceover, three people who looked suspiciously like our human protagonists entered the motel in the story. In fact, they looked exactly like Ash, Serena, and Vernon, just all with red hair and red clothes. Along with Crash's faithful companion, Pikachu-
"Oh, come on!" said Ash.
Ooh, erm, I meant to say, an Aipom! Yeah, an Aipom of a different color! Which just so happened to be called Pikachu!
In RotomDex's story, a pink Aipom emerged from behind Crash's head, chuckling at the ridiculousness of the story.
"Okay, I've heard enough," said Vernon. "If you really want to tell a scary story, you need to know what your audience is scared of. Why don't I demonstrate?"
I'd like you to think of a time 2000 years in the future. Now this group of people are in space doing a little exploration. But while they cruise on their beloved starship, something goes terribly wrong.
This time we see Vernon, Serena, and Ash wearing space suits, examining things on a computer, until the ship's A.I., represented by RotomDex, "Attention all personnel. There has been a breach in the airlock. An asteroid has crash-landed there. Please get to the airlock to perform repairs immediately."
"We'll get right on it," said story-Vernon. Later, they were repairing the airlock while wearing space helmets, sealing the broken hole shut. Serena, however, wanted to examine the asteroid, which mysteriously began to crack open. Curious, Serena began to slowly walk towards it, until a tentacle grabbed her by the arm and yanked her in.
"Serena? Serena!" Ash called out after his friend. Suddenly, emerging from the asteroid, a giant Nihilego flew upwards, Serena contained inside of her.
"No, no, stay away from me!" Serena shouted in pain and confusion. Nihilego began spitting purple poison everywhere, and even using Power Gem to blast Ash backwards.
Suddenly, Vernon grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and sprayed Nihilego with it, causing it to screech in pain. Slowly, it began to drop the poisoned Serena, and Ash quickly ran over to pull her free. Then, grabbing onto a handle on the wall, he pushed the button for the airlock, and the to door to outside was opened, sending Nihilego flying off into the vacuum of space.
"Is Serena alright?" said vernon, walking over to Ash, holding an unconscious Serena in his arms.
"I don't know," Ash said. "We should get her to the medical bay."
As they left the airlock, they failed to notice that something was left behind in the asteroid. It was a Pokémon egg. And it was starting to glow.
Later, RotomDex was using various robot arms to examine Serena in the medical ward. "Well, she doesn't seem injured, but she'll still be feeling that creatures neurotoxins for a while." Suddenly, a red alarm began blaring. "Red alert! We have another breach! It's coming from the cargo hold!"
"I'll check it out. Why don't you stay with Serena?" said Vernon. Ash nodded, and Vernon snuck down into the cargo hold. There, he heard some disturbing crunching and smacking. He could see a black, round organism hiding behind a stack of boxes. He hid behind another stack of boxes, and saw that it was a Guzzlord, and it was eating straight through the walls. Vernon gasped in shock, but he accidentally knocked a box on the floor.
The Guzzlord turned around, and thrashed at him with its two claw-tongues. Vernon dodged, but the Guzzlord eventually grabbed him and brought him close to its mouth. Vernon was set inside its mouth, but he fought back against the beast's mouth, before he grabbed one of the claw-tongues and poked Guzzlord's eye with it. It screeched in pain, and Vernon ran out of the cargo hold.
"We have a problem!" he yelled as he ran back into the cargo hold. "There's a Guzzlord in the cargo hold!"
"A Guzzlord! That's not good. It will eat everything that it sees, until there is nothing left on this whole ship!"
"It'll be okay, just as long as we don't panic," Ash said.
Suddenly, the computers suddenly went blank. Ash and Vernon looked out of the window to see that Rotom had ejected himself from the ship. "Sorry, you guys are on your own."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" yelled RotomDex. "I would never abandon you guys like that!"
"Yeah, well, I had to get rid of the A.I., otherwise the plot would have been resolved too easily," said Vernon.
"Now what do we do?" said Ash. "That Guzzlord will devour this whole ship! And we can't just leave Serena."
"We'll have to retreat on the escape pod," said Vernon. "But be careful. That creature could be anywhere."
Suddenly, they heard creaking above. Looking up cautiously, Vernon asked Ash to carry Serena. They quickly walked over to the bridge leading to the escape pod, but saw that it had been chewed apart. Ash suggested that they crawl through the air vents, and they made it inside, carefully pulling Serena along with them.
However, they heard a lot of creaking coming from the metal around them. They feared the moment that the Guzzlord would appear, yet it never came. Vernon eventually reached the duct right above the door to the escape pod. He jumped down and called up for Ash to follow him. But that's when he noticed that his friend had mysteriously disappeared. He called out again, but was met with silence. He looked around with apprehension, until-
"Vernon!" said Ash, tapping his friend's shoulder. Vernon about jumped seven feet in the air, until he turned to see Ash.
"Where in the world did you go?" said Vernon.
"I just saw Pikachu run by here," said Ash, handing the still unconscious Serena to him. "I gotta go grab him! You get the shuttle ready."
Soon enough, Ash was wandering around a dark corridor, and he felt some water splashing all over him. He looked up to see that the Guzzlord had chewed through some water pipes, which were now leaking water all over the place. Suddenly, he jumped when he saw a yellow spark, but quickly recognized it as Pikachu. He walked closer to a trembling Pikachu, hiding behind another pipe, its cheeks emitting energy.
"It's okay, Pikachu. We can go home now," said Ash, extending his hand towards his Pokémon.
However, Pikachu suddenly pointed behind him and screeched, "Pika pika!" Ash turned around to see the Guzzlord standing right behind him.
The Guzzlord grabbed Ash with one of its claw-tongues and tried to devour him, but Pikachu blasted the creature with a Thunderbolt, making it drop Ash. Ash quickly grabbed his Pokémon and ran for it.
Vernon had heard the ruckus, and walked away from the shuttle he had just set Serena in to investigate. Soon enough, a running Ash ran into Vernon, knocking them both to the floor. "Ugh, you guys okay?" said Vernon.
"I guess so," said Ash. "C'mon, let's get out of here!"
The two men and Pikachu boarded the escape shuttle, closed the door and blasted themselves away into space. At this point, Serena finally woke up, and her friends managed to explain what had happened to her.
"A Guzzlord, eh?" said Serena, rubbing her head. "Well, at least it's long gone."
Suddenly, they heard a loud noise. Like metal clanging against metal. Curious, Ash and Vernon looked over to a darker corner of the space shuttle, and cautiously peeked inside. Suddenly, they heard Serena screaming, and turned around to see that the Guzzlord was standing right in front of her. It roared ferociously, but Pikachu popped up on Serena's stomach and emitted electricity from its cheeks, ready to fight.
Who's that Pokémon?
When exposed to a strong wind, its gaseous body will dwindle away.
"The end!" said Vernon.
"What? That's it? It can't end like that!" said Serena. "Did they beat the Guzzlord or not?"
"I don't know," said Vernon. "Sometimes things must be left up to the audience's imaginations. That's what I was getting at before. People fear the unknown, so a good horror writer must make them assume the worst, by using tension, suspense, and making sure they can never feel comfortable."
"Oh, are you done?" said RotomDex, flying up to them.
"Where'd you go, RotomDex?" said Ash.
"Oh, I was just looking around," said RotomDex. "This motel, it has quite an interesting history, actually."
"Well, I'd like to tell a scary story too if you don't mind," said Serena.
"Wait, don't you want to hear-" said RotomDex.
"You know, Vernon, your story wasn't scary because there was nothing supernatural about it. The supernatural is what's scary. That's what the unknown is like. Sci-fi can't be scary because we know most of it is impossible and even if it were, we could design a way to deal with a monster like that."
"Okay, why don't you tell us a scarier story?" said Vernon.
"I will, 'cause I'm gonna tell one that can and will play on its audience's greatest fear: loss."
In Serena's story, she, Ash, Pikachu, and Vernon were walking through a mysterious woods. However, they couldn't help but notice that the sky was blackening, and there seemed to be some ominous clouds rolling in.
"Weird," said Ash out loud. "It was bright out here a moment ago."
Suddenly, the wind picked up, and there began a deep moaning. The group looked around nervously, looking for where it was coming from. That's when a terrifying creature emerged from over the horizon. Yveltal.
"Guys, look out!" Ash called out, as Yveltal screeched and unleashed an Oblivion Wing attack. It blasted the ground between the group, turning it all to stone.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu leaped into the air and fired a torrent of lightning at Yveltal, but the giant bird simply blocked the attack with its wings.
"Use Iron Tail!" said Ash, and Pikachu's tail turned metallic silver and began bashing against Yveltal's wings. Eventually, the wings were moved out of the way, so Pikachu used Thunderbolt again, leading to a super effective hit. However, Yveltal recovered and charged forward. Pikachu hit it on the head with another Iron Tail, but eventually, Yveltal managed to knock Pikachu away, and unleash another Oblivion Wing.
"No!" Ash shouted out. Suddenly, the sun began to come out, and Yveltal, noticing this, decided to fly away. Ash ran over to wear Pikachu had landed, and was horrified to see that his lifelong partner had been turned to stone.
"No, no, no, this can't be happening!" said Ash, picking up Pikachu in his arms, big tears growing in his eyes.
"Oh, no, Ash, I'm so sorry," said Serena, walking up to him.
"After everything we've been through, how could it end like this?" said Ash, unable to hold back the tears in his eyes.
"Maybe it doesn't have to," came a mysterious voice. Everyone turned to face a mysterious woman cloaked in a black hood, her purple eyes visible underneath, and followed by a Duskull floating beside her. "I can see that the mighty Yveltal has come through here. It destroys everything in its wake. Still, I believe there may be one way to reverse your Pikachu's petrification. It involves a grave site overseen by Yveltal's counterpart, Xerneas."
"Xerneas? It's here? Well, we have to go see it!" Ash demanded.
"Hold on, Ash, how do we know we can trust this lady?" said Serena. "Doesn't anything about her seen strange to you?"
"I don't care, I gotta save Pikachu!" Ash insisted.
The mysterious lady led the group to strange grave site, littered with headstones for various Pokémon that had been buried there. In the center, they could see a tree. It looked like the form Xerneas would take when it went into slumber for a thousand years, yet it looked awfully strange. It was completely blackened with red streaks, and had an eerie aura.
"Uh, is that really Xerneas?" Vernon questioned.
"Well, if we are being perfectly honest, it is not truly Xerneas," explained the mysterious woman. "You see, Xerneas wandered through here long ago, and the people around here wanted it to use its powers to restore life to their fallen Pokémon. However, Xerneas insisted that it couldn't mess with mortality so frivolously, so they convinced it to give them a sample of its essence. Once Xerneas left, the people used the power of their Ghost-Type Pokémon to turn that essence into that tree right there. Their plan worked... more or less."
"Dus, Duskull," said the Duskull.
"More or less? What does that mean?" said Vernon.
The woman seemed to ignore him, and turned to Ash. "If you set your Pikachu here, by that tree, Yveltal's petrification should be reversed."
"Ash, think about this," said Serena. "Something feels really wrong around here. What if something goes wrong?"
"Young man, the choice is yours," said the woman. "You may restore your Pokémon to life, or leave it be. Just know that if you do, you hand your Pikachu over to the mysterious forces that control this very place. So the question is, how much do you want your Pikachu back?"
Ash looked thoughtful for a minute, but upon seeing his petrified partner in his arms, he nodded.
Later that night, Ash, Serena, and Vernon had prepared to sleep for the night. Ash hid himself inside the tent, feeling disappointed that the grave site's power didn't seem to save Pikachu. He covered his eyes with a pillow, and mumbled to himself, "Pikachu, I'm sorry."
Suddenly, he heard some crackling outside. Curious, he rose from the ground and walked outside, and was stunned to see that Pikachu was standing right outside, electricity emitting from its cheeks.
"Pikachu! You're okay!" Ash ran forward, overjoyed at seeing his best friend again. However, as soon as Pikachu saw Ash, it reacted violently. It blast a huge burst of electricity at him, leaving him almost completely fried.
"Ugh, Pikachu... what'd you do that for?" Ash said, trying to stand up.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu said angrily, its tail rising defensively.
"Ash, what's going on?" said Serena, she and Vernon emerging from their tents.
"Ugh, guys, look!" said Ash, pointing. "Pikachu's back!"
Pikachu was running into one of the tents, ripping angrily into a bag of Pokémon food, tossing everything to the side.
"Uh, Pikachu seems a little... different," said Serena.
"Hey, Pikachu, are you feeling okay?" Ash said, walking towards his partner. He picked Pikachu up in his arms, but Pikachu blasted him with a huge Thunderbolt, before using Iron Tail to free itself from Ash's grip, then running off into the woods.
"Pikachu, ugh," said Ash, holding his chest. "Wait up!" He ran off after Pikachu.
"Ash, no!" Serena said, as she and Vernon quickly ran after him.
Ash caught up to Pikachu, who turned to face its trainer with an angry expression.
"Pikachu, what's gotten into you?" Ash asked.
Suddenly, there was a loud screech, and Ash looked on in horror as Yveltal reappeared from behind a hill. Before Ash could even scream, Yveltal unleashed an Oblivion Wing.
"Ash? Ash?" Serena called out into the night. Suddenly she saw a silhouette of Ash, and quickly ran over, but was horrified by what she saw. Ash had been turned to stone.
"No!" Serena cried out, putting her hands on Ash, as if trying to get a reaction out of him. "No, no, no, you can't do this! You can't leave me like this!" Serena put her face into Ash's chest, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Oh, no, Serena, I-I can't believe this," said Vernon, walking over and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I guess... we've lost him."
Serena looked up at Ash's frozen face. "No, maybe not yet."
Serena carefully carried a petrified Ash over to the mysterious grave site, with the Xerneas tree giving off an even bigger aura than before.
"Serena, I really don't think this is a good idea," said Vernon. "Look what happened to Pikachu!"
"Your friend is right," came a voice, and Serena and Vernon turned to see the mysterious woman and her Duskull again. "It was a mistake to show you all this place. I think Xerneas was actually right. We should not toy with life and death so frivolously. That is why Xerneas wouldn't lend its real power. That tree, it's not the real Xerneas. It is a dark imitation of its power. You saw what it did to Pikachu. This may be difficult for you, but I don't think you can save your friend now."
Serena paused for a while, but looked over at Ash's petrified face and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't let Ash go like this!"
Eventually, it was morning, though the sky was still covered in clouds. Serena and Vernon emerged from their tents and looked over the horizon, and suddenly, were stunned to see a familiar figure walking over.
"Ash? Ash, is that you?" said Serena, walked forward. It was Ash alright, carrying Pikachu on his shoulder as always. But something felt... off. Ash's eyes seemed to be blank, as if something behind them had died. He started forward with no emotion, and he said nothing.
"Ash? Ash, is it really you? Are you... feeling okay?" said Serena, cautiously stepping forward.
Then there came a screech, and Vernon realized in horror what was coming. "Serena! No, stay away from them!"
That was when Yveltal emerged from behind the hill. Serena screamed, and she noticed Ash pulling out a shovel as Yveltal unleashed another Oblivion Wing.
"The end," said Serena. "So you see? You have to know how to provoke the right emotions in your audience. I know that we'd all be devastated if we lost each other, now wouldn't we?"
Suddenly, RotomDex flew over. "Huh? Are you done?"
"What? You missed my story, too?" said Serena.
"Sorry, I guess I just lost interest when I realized I wasn't even in it."
Actually, RotomDex had been examining more of the motel's history. He had learned they had tried to automate many of its services by having a Rotom possess the computers, but the services were lackluster, so the motel eventually went bankrupt, and everyone just left.
"That was quite a story, Serena," said Ash, looking down to see Pikachu in his lap. "Certainly makes me grateful that I still have the real Pikachu right here."
"Pika, pika," Pikachu said glumly.
"Don't worry, buddy, I'd never let that actually happen to you," said Ash, petting Pikachu's head, before looking to Serena and Vernon. "Or to either of you."
"Right!" said Serena, smiling. "And I'd never let that happen to you, Ash!"
"What about you, Ash?" said Vernon. "Can you tell us a scary story?"
"I bet I can," said Ash. "You know, what was missing from your stories was ghosts! Everyone knows that the scariest stories have ghosts! Those guys know how to scare us, and spend all their time tormenting us. That's what makes them scary. Actual malevolent entities that want to hurt you!"
It was a dark and stormy night, and Ash, Serena, Vernon, and Pikachu were running through the rain, until they saw a mysterious wooden house in the distance. They quickly ran inside , shutting the door behind them, attempting to dry off.
"Well, at least we'll be safe from the rain in here," said Ash, setting his pack on the ground, Pikachu shaking the water off of its wet fur. Suddenly, every light in the house was turned on, startling the group.
"What? How does this place have power?" said Serena.
"Do you think someone still lives here?" said Vernon.
"I don't know," said Ash. "Maybe we should look around? Why don't we split up and look?"
"NO! Don't split up! Why do they always do that!?" came RotomDex's voice.
"Don't interrupt, RotomDex!" said Ash in a voiceover. "Now where was I?"
Pikachu was looking around on its own, until it came to a room with a TV. Suddenly, it saw the TV turn on, and start playing static. Curious, Pikachu walked closer, and it heard a faint voice. "Bzzt, c'mon, pal, why don't you join uzz, it'zz a Pokémon playground around here?" It seemed to say. Pikachu narrowed its eyes, and drew closer, but suddenly, it saw a massive, ghostly hand emerge from the TV. Shocked, it ran out of the room, and suddenly, a small tremor was felt.
Ash ventured into the kitchen, calling out to see if anyone was actually home. However, he suddenly began to notice a lot of rattling happening with some of the plates stacked on the table. Looking over at them, he saw them suddenly lift off the table and begin spinning in midair. They were hurled at him, and he only ducked just in time. Suddenly, some of the candles lit up on the table, before expanding in a horrifying blue flame, causing Ash to run out of the room.
Vernon looked around the bedroom, but was confused because he could not find anyone upstairs. He spied a small doll on the bed and picked it up. It was a pretty cute doll. Just a little girl in a plaid dress with red pigtails.
However, the doll suddenly began to glow. It shook violently, so Vernon dropped it. Suddenly, it changed itself into a Banette, who leaped onto its feet, unzipped its mouth and cackled madly. It leaped onto Vernon, who wrestled with it until he made his way over to the window, and threw it outside, and then he ran out the door.
Serena was looking through the living room. The TV was on and emitting static, but Serena could not hear the voices coming out of it. She looked around but couldn't find anyone home. Suddenly, she heard a huge rumbling outside. She looked out the glass doors leading out to the backyard, and was shocked to see an enormous Trevenant, which broke through the doors with its hand and grabbed Serena to drag her outside.
"Ahh!" she screamed. "Ash! Vernon! Help me!"
Elsewhere in the house, Pikachu was anxiously looking around after hearing Serena scream, but suddenly, the closet door behind it opened. Turning around, it saw a Lampent floating right in front of the closet, which was glowing a terrifying mixture of blue and red. Pikachu readied itself with electricity and emitted a Thunderbolt, but the Lampent quickly dodged and grabbed Pikachu, dragging it into the closet.
Ash and Vernon ran out to the backyard when they heard Serena scream, and were stunned to see her wrapped up in the Trevenant's Forest's Curse attack.
"Charmor, I choose you!" Ash through a PokéBall, which let out Charmor. "Use Ember!" Charmor spat Ember into Trevenant's face, and the tree Pokémon turned towards them angered.
"Floattery, use Acid!" Vernon tossed out his own Pokémon. Floattery spat purple liquid at Trevenant's Forest' Curse attack, causing it to reel back. Trevenant dropped Serena and got ready to attack again, but Charmor and Floattery used Ember and Acid together, beating Trevenant back, and making it retreat into the ground.
"Thanks, guys," said Serena, walking over to embrace her friends. "I thought I was mulch there for a second."
"So, I think we can agree this place is haunted," said Vernon. "We gotta get going!"
"Wait, where's Pikachu?" Ash said. He and Vernon recalled their Pokémon and went back inside the house with Serena, until they heard a peculiar sound. They could hear Pikachu calling out to them, but they couldn't tell where. Suddenly, Ash saw the TV flickkering, and as he walked closer, Pikachu's calling got louder.
"Pikachu?" he said. "Is that you?"
"Pika, pika," came Pikachu's distorted voice, until a new voice came forth.
"I'm afraid Pikachu belongzz to uzz now," said the voice from before, and suddenly, the static on the TV formed an image. It looked like there was a Rotom on screen...
"Hold it! So first I'm a dirty coward, then I'm not in the story at all, and now I'm the VILLAIN!?" cried out RotomDex in the real world.
"No, no, it's a completely different Rotom," said Ash's voiceover. "I just needed a type of Ghost-Type that could be in a TV."
"Who are you?" said Ash in the story. "What do you want with my Pikachu?"
"Pikachu izz free from you zzelfish humanzz now," said the Rotom on screen. "He'zz on our side now..."
Suddenly, the couch in the room flew upwards, and the group narrowly dodged it. Then, the Rotom suddenly reached forward with a ghost hand coming out of the TV screen.
"Ah!" said Ash. "No, you stay away from us!"
"Don't worry, I know just what to do!" said Vernon.
"How are you gonna stop a ghost in the TV?" said Serena.
"Simple," said Vernon, who simply walked over to the wall, and pulled the TV's plug out of its socket.
"Ack! No! My only weaknezz! How did you know!?" said the Rotom, as the hand and the image on screen fizzled out. However, that's when they heard a huge tremor.
"We gotta get outside!" called out Vernon.
The group had managed to run away from the house, and stopped to catch their breath. "No, Pikachu!" said Ash. "We have to go back for him!"
"But how do we save him?" said Serena.
"Hey, guys, look!" Vernon pointed his finger towards a small shack. On it read, "Spirit Whisperer". "Maybe this person can help us."
Some time later, the group reentered the house, led by a woman who... looked suspiciously similar to the woman from Serena's story actually. Only now her cloak was blue and she had a Bulbasaur with her.
"You foolish children," said the woman. "You should never have entered this house. Do you know what this house is?"
"We cannot say we do, ma'am," said Vernon.
"This was once a mausoleum for deceased Pokémon. That is until some rich man decided to buy the property and convert it into his new house. Needless to say, the spirits of these Pokémon were angry, and attacked him as malevolent spirits until he fled."
"Why would these angry spirits take Pikachu?" said Ash.
"These spirits clearly despise humans beings," said the woman. "They must have abducted your Pikachu in a misguided attempt to save it."
The woman sat down on the coffee table in the living room, and got into a meditative position, before murmuring to herself. All remained quiet for a moment, until suddenly, the entire house shook like crazy. Ash, Serena, and Vernon nearly fell off their feet, but the woman and her Bulbasaur remained calm.
Eventually, the shaking stopped, and the woman said, "Yes, I see. These spirits dragged your Pikachu into the spirit realm. They opened a portal. That portal exists in... the closet in the upstairs bedroom!"
Everyone entered the upstairs bedroom, and opened the closet door, and saw the swirling blue and red vortex that was within.
"We gotta get Pikachu out of there!" said Ash.
"It won't be easy. But I believe, Bulbasaur can help us," said the woman.
"Bulba, bulbasaur!" said Bulbasaur.
A moment later, Bulbasaur had wrapped its Vine Whip around Ash's waist, and cautiously, Ash walked into the portal. All seemed quiet for a second, but then they all heard terrified screaming from Ash, and Bulbasaur felt itself getting pulled in.
"No!" said Serena, as she, Vernon, and the spirit whisperer grabbed onto the Grass Pokémon and began pulling. They kept yanking until suddenly, Ash was pulled from the closet portal, with Pikachu in his arms, but they crashed through the open window and fell outside, all the way down to the swimming pool that existed outside.
Ash pulled a dazed Pikachu out from the water and the Mouse Pokémon looked its trainer in the eyes. "Pika pika," it said weakly.
"Glad you're okay, Pikachu," said Ash. Suddenly, his relief was short-lived when the water around them began acting up. It trembling until some Dusknoirs and some Jellicents rose from the water. They shot some Shadow Punchs and Hydro Pumps at Ash and Pikachu, who quickly ducked underwater, and swam through the pool. Serena and Vernon arrived on the scene and quickly pulled them out of there, but the Ghost-Type Pokémon attacked them again, and the ran from the house, the spirit whisperer and her Bulbasaur right behind them.
They made it all the way down the hill, but suddenly the house flashed a blinding white. The group struggled to look at it, but the house grew smaller and smaller, until finally, it disappeared.
It's Gastly!
"The end!" Ash said, finishing his story.
"Ooh, that so spooky!" said Serena.
"You had me on edge," said Vernon.
"Hmph, I've seen scarier," said RotomDex, turning away with its arms folded.
"What's wrong, RotomDex?" said Ash. "I'm sorry I left you out of the story but-"
Honestly, RotomDex did not like any of these stories due to their portrayal of him. In Vernon's story, he bailed on his friends like a coward. In Serena's, he didn't even exist. In Ash's, he was one of the bad guys. And all three of these people had dismissed his story as not scary earlier. RotomDex thought if they wanted scary, then he would give them scary.
"Actually, I think it's my turn again," said RotomDex. "You guys just didn't let me finish! Now get ready, 'cause this story will keep you awake tonight!"
So, when we last left Crash, Melina, Bernard, and Pikachu the Aipom, they had settled down in a strange motel for the night, in order to wait out the storm outside. Of course, what they didn't realize is that this motel... held a deep dark secret.
As the characters in RotomDex's story looked around the motel, they hadn't the slightest idea that they were being watched. As Melina walked past an old TV screen, there seemed to be a shadowy figure wandering past her on it.
You see, this motel had once been run with the help of some Rotoms. They were brought in to possess the computers and automated services to help the customers. That is, until one day the customers continued to treat them so poorly, they got fed up and rebelled against the customers and their bosses. They'd fling dishes, squish people in their beds, and even tried to burn the place down. Eventually, the owners decided to abandon the hotel altogether, and that's when the Rotoms realized too late that they had no way out of the computers. They were trapped in this cyberspace-like limbo. At least, until now.
Crash with his Aipom on his shoulder suddenly made his way to a strange little arcade. In it were various arcade cabinets that didn't seem to work anymore. However, he got closer to one, which was actually a VR game for people and their Pokémon, complete with two headsets. Then, the machine mysteriously turned itself on.
Crash looked at the machine curiously, and, almost like the game was calling to him, he decided to put on one of the headsets, while his Aipom decided to put on the other. Once the game started, they saw that they were in a blank, empty, white space. There was nothing around, everything looked completely identical in all directions. But then, something curious happened. Two Rotoms appeared before Crash and Pikachu. They just floated there, doing nothing but carrying a creepy smile on their faces. But then, everything lit up in blue hue, and Crash and Pikachu felt very strange...
Melina and Bernard had reunited, and were looking around for Crash and Pikachu. Suddenly, the two appeared in a doorway, but something about them looked... off. Their eyes seemed to have turned a sinister shade of blue and they had creepy smiles on their faces. Melina and Bernard looked at them bewildered, until suddenly, Crash and Pikachu shoved them against a TV screen. The two felt a brief shock, before they blacked out. When they woke up, they saw Crash and Pikachu again, but now they looked completely normal. They were all inside that endless white space, and then they saw a TV screen light up in front of them. In it, they saw themselves, now all with sinister blue eyes and creepy smiles. Their other selves waved back at them, before the other Crash spoke.
"Thankzz for the bodiezz, zzuckerzz!" he said, in a voice eerily similar to a Rotom. The group in white space began banging on the screen, begging to be let out, but it suddenly went blank. Then, they heard chuckling, and turned around to see more Rotoms, who screeched, "More bodiezz, our freedom izz at hand! Now it'zz your turn to live in zzyberzzpace! Forever!" before they blasted them with Discharge.
Soon enough, the Rotoms that had escaped used their new bodies to walk out of the motel, breath in fresh air for the first time in forever, until they saw some more people walking past in the rain, and grinned when they knew they had found more vessels.
"And wouldn't you know it, but that motel was the same one that we are in now!" declared Rotom. "As I wanted to tell you earlier."
Ash, Pikachu, Serena, and Vernon were legitimately shaking now. "But, how could you know that?" said Ash.
"Who knows?" said RotomDex sinisterly. "In fact, what if I'm not your Rotom?" Suddenly, his screen showed a video of a monster screaming, and Ash, Pikachu, Serena, and Vernon all screamed and suddenly stood up and ran right out of the motel, and into the pouring rain.
"Booyah!" RotomDex celebrated. "I told you guys I could tell a scary story! Hah! I can't believe they fell for that! Everyone knows it's impossible for a Rotom to possess an organic body!"
Suddenly, though, he noticed something in a nearby computer screen on the desk. Curious, he floated over, and gasped when he saw another Rotom on screen. "Izz there room for me in thizz zztory?" it said.
"EEK!" RotomDex shrieked as he quickly flew out the door, yelling after his friends, "Wait for meeee!"
"Aw," said the Rotom on screen. "I'm so lonely." Suddenly, it heard the door open yet again, and it looked to see that three more people had entered the motel.
"I can't believe it!" said Jessie, wringing the water out of her hair. "That rain ruined my hairdo!"
"It's okay, Jessie," said James. "We can wait out the storm in here."
"Yeah. Hey! Maybe we should pass the time by tellin' scary stories!" said Meowth.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet agreed.
"Mime mime!" agreed Mime Jr.
The Rotom on screen grinned as it got an idea for a little prank. It vanished from the screen, and suddenly, the whole motel came to life, bathed in an eerie, blue glow.
"EEK!" said Meowth. "What on earth is happening here!?"
We all hope you enjoyed what you've seen.
Good night, and have a happy Halloween. (sinister laugh)
Ah, nothing like some good old fashioned horror parody to celebrate Halloween! So, I apologize to anyone who might get nightmares after reading this. Anyway, so long, and have a happy Halloween, everybody!