victory_road | MISCHIEF NIGHT

Current Location: Everywhere!

Entry tags:

MISCHIEF NIGHT

Who: All the Dark-types put your paws up!
Where: Anywhere and everywhere!
When: Sunset on Halloween Night to sunrise on November 1st!
Summary: MISCHIEF NIGHT MISCHIEF NIGHT
Rating: G-PG13
Log:

There’s a sour-sweet wind a-blowing this eve as the sun hangs low and red in the sky. The leaves have turned, windows glow like jack-o-lantern eyes, and the streets hum with the excitement that the night will bring. There’s no mysterious trees growing straight out of the concrete this year, and there’s a palpable sense of relief as those who were waiting with bated breath for the other shoe to fall finally set about hanging up last-minute decorations and picking the candy aisles at every PokeMart bare.

It is Halloween, and for the first time in a few years, it would seem nothing is going to get in the way of the holiday.

… At least, right up until the last sliver of sun dips below the horizon.

A flock of Murkrow explodes up from the woods around Violet City, cawing in excitement. On the Sevii Islands, Alolan Rattata pop out of their burrows with bright eyes and quivering noses. In the glens outside Celadon City, the Houndooms start to howl.

Almost as one, all Dark-type Pokemon, big and small, young and old, stop and lift their noses to the crisp breeze. Something ancient tingles in their bones. Oh, tonight...tonight is their night. However much they may love their trainer, something higher is calling them. Mischief! Adventure! CANDY!

It’s time!

Fast or slow, brazen or sneaky, the sunset is the signal for each and every Dark-type to break away from their trainers and run off into the night. To do what? Well what do you think, silly humans? You know what night it is!

Some fashion their own costumes and go door to door earning sweet treats alongside the excited children who are out in droves. Or perhaps they might pursue some more unconventional treat-seeking avenues -- sometimes one man’s trash is another mon’s treat!

But there’s more to Halloween than candy; others will develop a nasty streak and put the ‘trick’ in ‘trick or treat’, upsetting outdoor decorations, frighten childrening and little old ladies, or even pantsing people! The horror! Anything can happen on Halloween!

Even the wild Dark-types are filled with the holiday spirit. Last year everyone was too wrapped up with that Ghost-type nonsense to properly enjoy Halloween, so they’re all too happy to make up for lost time. Harried trainers trying to track down their tricky runaways might find themselves befriending the Poochyenas, Murkrows, or even Alolan Meowths that have come out of the woodwork to celebrate. After all, what good is a grand trick if there’s no one to tell about it? What good is a tasty treat with no one to share? Even trainers who don’t have any Dark-types in their arsenal will find themselves approached by these wild Pokemon and invited to tag along!

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[ A bell peals behind them, cheerful and playful. The absol sporting it around their neck on a ribbon lands in front of Wrath and his entourage, having sprung off a wall and sprinted across a rooftop in order to shortcut to the far side of this square. He shakes himself off, the bell pealing with every movement, his grass-woven harness and the shoulder bags weighing heavily at his sides giving him a disconcertingly odd appearance of a pack animal simply missing a lead rope.

He trots on up to the woman handing out candy at a storefront, dancing sideways and tossing his single horn, bell ringing again. She laughs, nervous, and tosses a piece of candy into the bag he loosens with a masterful use of his horn and the tie to one of his shoulder-bags.

He's just as jaunty as he takes off, bounding away into the crowd as Wrath and his entourage are given free access to the same woman and her candy largess.

It will be sometime later than a young woman in a country-style dress, sporting a sun hat and low-held pig tails, will hold up her bent arm and support the weight of the hoothoot who comes to roost on it, letting out a grunt as she brings the owl-like pokemon close to her body. Wrath just happens to be the closest trainer-like person, even with Avari in costume as a trainer, that she directs a question to: ]

Have you seen or heard an absol with a bell come through here recently?

_{[Even in all the hubub, the chiming of bells is not what one expects to hear among seething herds of trick-or-treaters.]

[A number of Wrath's Pokemon look up before he does-- he's busy counting candy as he walks, but then as the Absol comes dropping down from on high, he stops with startled yelp, watching the confident dark-type just sashay right up those porch steps.]}

... Huh!

_{[That Pokemon is by ITSELF... all this time he's been walking around in a group, but they could cover so much more ground split up! And more ground means MORE TREATS!]

[But Lute is bounding away before he has a chance to voice this to his team-- though by the time Annie herself arrives some time later, it's just him and Avari. Lute apparently inspired an entirely new strategy here.]

[Before answering her, he looks her and her Hoothoot up and down with that semi-suspicious squint that only children 12 and under seem to manage.]

[She looks mature and sophisticated.]

[Mature and sophisticated people sometimes have money.]}

... Maybe.

Why?

[ It's a good squint. Annie meets it head-on, nonplussed. ]

I'm looking for them.

[ Arlert turns her head to look at Wrath, hooting soft and low. She's tired, and would like her errant teammate back with them, which ends up being a "we've been running all night" statement delivered to Avari. ]

_{[Avari's ears prick and she tilts her head. She's hardly about to quash whatever little scheme that's percolating in Wrath's head, but she's not a straight-up criminal. She won't lead them on. We saw him. But it was awhile ago, on a different street. And my trainer's a crafty little thing, so...]

[She looks back at Wrath with a... not cruel, but still lightly amused smirk. Because HE'S about to lay it on real thick.]

[Wrath shrugs broadly, letting his sack of candy swing off of his arm.]}

Maybe I saw one... but I don't really remember.

I've seen a lot of Pokemon tonight...

[ Arlert listens, cooing more tiredly after. He's driven tonight. I've never seen him like this, she admits, and it's somewhat admiring, because Arlert takes her own duties and playtime quite seriously in turn.

She likewise watches Wrath, curious as to his craftiness. Annie will handle it, she believes, but even if she doesn't, Arlert wonders what not handling it would look like. The little feather butt.

Annie, for her part, runs her fingers over Arlert's feathers, watching Wrath as he shrugs. Avari's movements register in her peripheral, but her focus for the time being stays on her trainer. ]

Unfortunate if your memory's going at your age.

[ ... Annie. ]

It doesn't usually get better when you're older.

[ It's all very dryly stated, no real undertone; but she's not here to bribe anyone, or to play games, one way or another. Taking a breathing moment for herself and Arlert is becoming the order of the moment. ]

_{[The line between 'handling' and 'not handling' Wrath is sometimes quite thin.]

[He doesn't look put off at all by the dry insult (if it could be called that), though whether he didn't "get" it or just didn't care is unclear. Frankly, there's usually also a fine line between those.]

[His grin gets a little bigger and he leans forward a bit, as though about to share a secret.]}

You know what helps me remember stuff sometimes, though?

_{[Avari lets out a quiet, amused chuff through her nostrils and says Here it comes out of the corner of her mouth to Arlert.]}

... Getting extra candy.

_{[THERE IT IS he wants to be bribed. This probably isn't surprising.]}

I'm sure.

[ She says, fingers scratching through Arlert's chest feathers. She hoots again, pushing her wings out from her body. Annie dips down her arm and helps throw her back into the air, where with a great beating of wings, she climbs higher overhead. ]

Good luck with that.

[ Bribes are not worth it, not for this. She glances up to see Arlert circling and then flying away up the street. Annie nods to the young man and his pokemon, then steps forward and heads in the same direction Arlert flew, weaving through the people and pokemon on the street. ]

_{[Wrath's oh-so-pleased smile remains for a second or two before abruptly fading when he realizes that his Brilliant Ploy failed.]}

... HEY!

Aren't you going to try and get me to remember?!

_{[He shouts this at her retreating back, apparently GENUINELY SHOCKED about this.]}

[ She holds up a hand in a backward wave. ]

Not feeling up to bribery tonight, sorry.

[ Welcome to the backside of "too tired for this nonsense." She glances upward, watching Arlert as she zig-zags over, and follows best as she can groundside. ]

_{[The expression of shock turns briefly into an insulted scowl-- but he never lets himself get down for long.]

[Well, not over schemes, anyway.]

[There's a patter of footsteps as he scurries to catch up to the Unbribeable Girl and her owl.]}

Well, maybe if I see more streets, I'll remember where I saw your Pokemon!

_{[More streets also means more opportunities to get CANDY.]

[Avari, rolling her eyes slightly, saunters along behind them.]}

[ When the same young man catches up, Annie spares him a glance before she's forward facing again. ]

Or if you see more doorways? Ring more bells? Knock on more wood?

[ Notably the behaviours she's seen, and will... actually. She turns her head toward him. ]

Fine. Let's do it.

[ She can ask at each door if they've seen an absol wearing a bell without having to be given candy of her own. Brilliant. ]

_{[WHY YES ANNIE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS IMPLYING, ALL ALONG!]

[More than happy with this new plan, Wrath bounds up the next set of doorsteps with gusto and rings the doorbell with frankly unnecessary force before holding his bag out expectantly.]

[A kindly-looking middle-aged woman answers the door with a bowl of chocolate Bidoof pops. As many have over the course of the night, she coos at the sight of Wrath and his "trainer".]}

Oh, how precious! A candy for you...

And for you...

_{[She offers one to Annie as well automatically, although you can see the cogs turning in her head trying to figure out how a Hoothoot matches up thematically with the pigtails and sundress. This street takes its Halloween costumes Very Seriously.]}

[ She holds up her hands in warding it off: ]

I'm here to accompany him.

[ Tipping her head toward Wrath, her hands kept at her side. ]

Has an absol with a bell been by trick or treating? He's dressed as a goat.

[ The woman blinks, looking to Wrath and then slowly handing him the second piece of candy. ]

It's nice if you to do that, dear. And yes, now that you mention it, I did see a sweet little Absol come by not too long ago... he was a gogoat? I thought he might have been a Mareep!

Did he head up the street after seeing you?

[ The woman smiles and makes a sort of dismissive curling of her hand, tipping her head up the street. ]

Oh yes, probably. Maybe? I'm sorry, dear, there's just so many, I can't keep track. Oh, look at you!

[ The woman addresses the two young girls who come up behind them, one with a pikachu in her arms, the other holding an oddish. Annie steps away and heads toward the next house, figuring her candy pilferer will keep pace. This time she stays a step behind him when they get to the door. ]

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MISCHIEF NIGHT

treats

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wtf i never even got this notif

laughs, dw has been not great with notif emails

it super hasn't

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