Halloween 2023

[indigo_league]

The last few hours before dusk sees you all arriving at a large, stately home just outside of Lavender Town.

Unlike previous years, where Halloween had you visiting dilapidated castles, this manor home is in perfect condition. Age hasn't crumbled the walls or worn away the dark roof, but rather it sits on the manor like a heavy, proud crown, a testament to the many long years it has stood here while everything around it changed but it stayed forever the same. Candlelight flickers in its many windows, while it casts a dark shadow against the slowly setting sun. The gravel crunches under your feet as you make it up the long drive and a cold wind chills you to your very bones, even through the layers of whatever costume you've chosen to wear.

Then the manor's large double doors fling up. Two long shadows stretch down across the driveway towards you, light spilling around two silhouettes standing in the opened door, beckoning, inviting. Soy doffs his hat, while Riegfried bows deep, his hare ears nearly brushing the ground.

"Welcome to our Halloween Feast."




Inside the Manor

Not all of the Manor is available for you to explore. In fact, it's really just the ground floor that has been decorated and made available for your use. And even then, what rooms are available to you depends on the time of evening.

Contest portion

Early in the evening, several large rooms on the left of the Manor are open to your character.

The largest of these rooms has a stage and chairs set up, clearly where the contest will be held. Soy can be found in this room, in case you need to discuss some things with him ahead of your performance like lighting cues or other things you might need.

In addition to this, a dressing and prop room have also been made available. Need some last-minute adjustments on your costume? Desperate to find one final prop to really make your performance shine? Why not peruse the items Riegfried and Soy have brought with them for you to use? This is also a good place to have a chat with some others -- perhaps you like to scope out the competition before the performances start, or you are a newbie looking for some advice. Either way, this is the best place to find it!


Haunted Ball

Once the contest has concluded, and night has well and truly fallen, characters will be able to enter the large room on the right of the Manor.

The Ball Room has been decked out in enough black lace and dark velvet to make any classical vampire quite jealous. The ceiling has been decorated with spider silk that sways ever so slightly, casting flicking shadows on the walls in the candlelight. And while there are some seats and benches along the edges of the room, most of it is left free for people to dance and mingle. On a small podium in the corner of the room, a band of ghouls and zombies (costumes, we hope!) plays the kind of spooky tunes that are still, somehow, upbeat enough to dance to.

As folks dance and make merry and the evening carries on, one might note a spectral shape gliding around the dance floor, observing, before finally nudging its ghostly nose against a hand here and there and suddenly the ballroom floor is a lot more crowded.

More details about this part of the event can be found here

Outside the Manor


If you run out of interesting things to do inside (or you need some fresh air), why not visit the sprawling yard behind the Manor? It too has been decorated for the occasion -- carved pumpkins sit everywhere, candles burning merrily inside and on top of them. As night falls, a trained flock of zubat swoop low over the garden, adding that extra hint of spookiness to the air. Don't worry, they've been trained not to get caught in anyone's hair!

Food

The garden is clearly where Riegfried and Soy have put the less formal Halloween Activities, starting with a fair few food stalls. There is a stand where you can get drinks, offering things like tea and coffee, hot chocolate for the kids (or the young at heart) and mulled cider for the adults. No one shall go parched tonight!

Food is also available in various flavours, from various sorts of candy (cotton and otherwise) to more hearty snacks. No need to worry if your character isn't into all of this sweet stuff! There is piping hot soup and other common festival foods available as well for those seeking a break from all the sugar.

One stand in particular draws attention though, not for the food on offer --though those Candied Apples do look mighty tasty!-- but rather for the unusual pokemon that sits both proudly on the booth itself as well as the sign above the stand. Rumour has it that if you feed one of these Syrupy Apples to your Applin, you might just see something amazing!


Maze

A large corn maze has been grown towards the back of the sprawling yard. Riegfried and Soy have made sure to make it a little more exciting than your average maze though.

A small warp pad will transport you to the middle of the maze, from where you'll have to find your way out, guided only by lantern light (please remember to pick one of the lanterns before warping in!). And as if that isn't spooky enough, the maze has been stocked full of Pokemon ready to give you a little fright. Try not to run towards that dead end now!

The pokemon in the maze are available for capture. In fact, Riegfried and Soy encourage you to make a new friend or two in their haunted maze.

Available Pokemon: Zubat, Gastly, Murkrow, Misdreavus, Shuppet, Duskull, Drifloon, Yamask, Galarian Yamask, Litwick, Phantump, Pumpkaboo, Sinistea, Impidimp, Greavard, Gimmighoul

Bonfire

Set a bit away from the food stalls, and very safely away from the maze, is a large bonfire. October nights, after all, can get quite cold, and it will be nice to warm yourself up next to the fire. And maybe put all manner of things on a stick and roast them above the fire.

At the bonfire, you'll also find Riegfried. You've only ever seen him in his role as a contest or prom host, but today he's here to show you he's got one more hidden talent. Yes, by the light of the bonfire, Riegfried will be telling ghost stories. Why not sit for a spell, drink some hot choco and listen to the frightening tale of man door hand hook car door.

(Of course, Riegfried cannot be there the whole night. He still has contest duties to attend to too, so whenever he is absent, why not try your hand at telling a spooky story yourself? Tell people what goes bump in the night back in your home world)

Contest submissions | Shiny draw | Witches' judgement | Greavard event info

Comments

[crystalmaster]

That's encouraging that it's in production. It'll probably come out on schedule.

[He smiles at the Pokemon.]

Do you guys like it too?

[phoenixwiz]

Oh absolutely. Ron and Violet have been watching the show with me since I got into seeing it and they love it so much that they have been trying to recreate some of their favorite action scenes a lot when they get bored.

Fie!

[crystalmaster]

[Well, that sounds adorable.]

My friends back home do things like that too. It's always interesting to watch.

[Radley's Pokemon cheer. How fun! They would like to play too!]

[phoenixwiz]

Oh yes. It is a lot of fun to see friends and Pokémon reenact stuff like that for fun. Makes for a lot of fun reactions and great play time for the Pokémon and great memories too.

[crystalmaster]

It sure does.

[Radley sounds and looks a bit wistful, thinking back on his friends back home.

Evie talks to Harry's Pokemon, asking what kinds of fun scenes they play!]

[phoenixwiz]

(Ron goes on to cheerfully tell about the scenes that take place on top of trains where the hero had to fend off mooks while trying to get to his companions’ train car as they were separated at the time he got cornered. Violet then adds in the car chases scenes and how she finds them very exhilarating and enjoyable to watch.

However Harry soon gets distracted by a wet feeling felt on his hand. He turns around, wondering where the source of it comes from. The young man does get his answer in the form of a ghost candle dog woofing at him happily.)

Huh. Hello. Where do you come from? Are you missing your trainer to-

(Before he can finish his sentence though, he soon finds a red haired lady smiling back at him. She looks partly translucent, being a spirit and all, while the dog tries to get him to say hi to her. But it is clear that Harry is having a hard time trying to say something to the lady whom he seems to be very familiar with.)

Mum? Is that you?

[crystalmaster]

[Radley's Pokemon are mostly very excited and they want to watch the show too!

Radley starts at the dog appearing, but is floored when a ghost appears and Harry seems to know her. Is this for real? Or is it an illusion? He's not sure how to react. But with Harry so overcome, he feels he needs to be involved in this.]

... Hello?

[phoenixwiz]

(Lily, the ghost lady, smiles at Radley and gives him a gentle wave. Don’t worry, any friend of Harry is always welcomed in her books and she doesn’t bite, at all. Sadly she can’t talk like most ghosts brought into this world tonight but it won’t stop her from being with her son for just one night.)

Woof, Woof!

I think that she is trying to hello to you too, Radley.

[crystalmaster]

[Radley still isn't sure it's not an illusion, but he doesn't want to spoil things for Harry. So he smiles.]

I'm honored to meet you.

[phoenixwiz]

(Lily happily accepts the greeting with a grateful heart. She could see that Harry, despite everything that has happened to him after he death, is living a very happy life and has friends too.

He could have spend the rest of the time telling her everything about his time in the world of Pokémon but that would have wait for another time.)

It looks like you have a great timing in bringing my Mum into this world, candle dog. I didn’t expect a surprise like this to show up so soon.

Woof!

I don’t know if I had mentioned this to anyone outside of people in my world, but I actually lost my Mum and Dad on this very day when I was a baby. Someone back in my world was trying to get rid of me and they died trying to stop him. Not a great way to remember Halloween by, I must admit.

[crystalmaster]

[Radley stares at Harry in sickened horror.]

I'm so sorry. That's horrible.

[He's amazed Harry can feel like celebrating at all.]

[phoenixwiz]

Yeah. It is never fun losing parents on a major holiday, let alone on Halloween.

That could explain partly my bad luck with some of the Halloween stuff in here. Like being greeted by a wall in a castle basement while exploring said basement. For the longest time, I did find so a bit difficult to even enjoy Halloween even in school. Although I have been trying to end that wallowing in the holidays once I came here.

It is alright. At least that figure is no longer around to hurt me or anyone else at home. The least I can do is to move on and not let my parents’ memory and sacrifice to go in vain.

[crystalmaster]

[Radley thinks Christmas would be worse still, but definitely awful on Halloween too.]

That's really discouraging that you continue having problems when you're trying to find ways to enjoy the holiday.

That's good that person's gone. You're very strong to be able to determine to move on from so much heartache and tragedy.

[He wasn't sure he would have such strength. But he is stronger than he knows. He didn't lose loved ones to death, but he still lost them when he was disowned, and he's tried to move on.]

[phoenixwiz]

Oh gee, thanks. It was not easy trying to deal with the fact of how Halloween was connected to my parents’ untimely demise or trying to not be held back by those memories from enjoying it as much as everyone else but I’m pretty in awe by the fact that I didn’t fell into despair or remain bitter for a long time.

(Lily couldn’t agree more as she gives the both of them a relieved nod while Grimmy the ghost candle dog woofs cheerfully with his tail wagging energetically.)

[crystalmaster]

Yeah, seriously. I'm sure some people would just want nothing to do with Halloween ever.

[phoenixwiz]

Oh I agree with that as well. I honestly can’t blame them if they don’t want to do anything with Halloween out of personal reasons.

Everyone has different ways of coping with the grief and pain related to specific holidays after all, as I have come to learn, what works for one person may not work for others.

[crystalmaster]

Same here.

[He nods.]

That applies in general too, for how different people cope with their grief and pain. I started finding that out back home when I started taking people under my wing.

[phoenixwiz]

True, everyone will have different ways of dealing with grief. No two people will have the same ways to cope and deal with it.

A recent major event in my world before I came here had so many people lost their lives and it hit many folks, including several of my friends, pretty hard. I have a feeling that how they will deal with the loss will be different from how we deal with it.

(While he is still uncertain about mentioning the battle in Hogwarts by name just yet, he had seen several people greiving for their loved ones during the temporary armistice while he quietly slipped away to the Forbidden Forest.

Understandably Grimmy barks in agreement, sensing that grief is a common theme that lingers among the otherworlders, regardless of where they are from and what caused them in the first place.)

[crystalmaster]

That's horrible.

[Radley frowns. He thinks he remembers Harry briefly mentioning coming from something bad, but hadn't detailed it.]

Did you lose anyone special to you in that?

[phoenixwiz]

I did lose some of my close friends in there. That also includes the last remaining friend of my dad who had taught me a lot of things in spite of his condition of being a werewolf. He was one of the few parent figures I could count reliably along with my godfather, my friend’s parents, and the professor in charge of my school house.

(He didn’t mention Peter at all, knowing what he had done onto James, Lily, Sirius, and to some extent even him. Friends shouldn’t sell out their friends like what he did if even you were coaxed into doing it.)

One of my best friends lost a brother in there too and he almost lost his sister if their mother didn’t step in to save her. Even a professor I had a uneasy relation with had died while being a spy for our side: it was, as you pointed out, very horrible. The whole event did trashed the entire school to bits.

[crystalmaster]

[Radley doesn't even know what to say. He can't imagine a young boy going through so much.]

I'm so sorry.

[His Pokemon all look horrified and saddened too.

Radley might have complex feelings about the Peter situation, since his friends left him out of fear when he fell to their rival's brother.]

Do you want to talk about it or switch to something happier?

[He's willing to talk, but doesn't want to encourage it if it will bring the pain back more to talk.]

[phoenixwiz]

Oh yes. We can switch topics right now. Even if it has been a year, I’m still trying to deal with the effects it still have on me. It is going to take a long time for me to fully move on from it.

(Grimmy agrees with a very empathetic Woof, and so does Lily who understandably acknowledges the unfortunate long lasting effects wars had on people, even on the youth, and how Peter’s actions cost/hurt plenty of lives in some form.)

Even our ghost dog friend knows that we could change things to something a little more cheerful too.

[crystalmaster]

[Radley nods. He still hasn't recovered from the cruelty that happened to him back home and isn't sure if or when he will.]

I understand. Yeah, let's find something nice.

[Evie warbles and stands on two legs to look cute. Radley chuckles.]

[phoenixwiz]

Okay then. Maybe we might as well talk about any current plans we have at the moment. I’m on my way to Violet City to start on my Gym Battle journey: I should get to at least 2-3 badges before the end of the year. If I’m lucky to take on Whitney’s infamous Miltank, I might get four badges.

(Seriously Whitney, what sort of stuff has your Miltank been taking and is that why it got the reputation that it has? That is the big question that has eluding him since hearing horror stories of the Miltank defeating many Pokémon. Harry will probably never figure that out nor will he want to learn about it either.)

I wouldn’t lie, I am very nervous about facing Falkner since he will be my first challenge and even Whitney too, but I do hope for the best and get through this alive and well.

[crystalmaster]

That's great! I'm sure you and your Pokemon will do an amazing job. I don't think Falkner should be too hard, especially for someone who's been around a long time.

[He smirks.]

Honestly, I've heard Whitney's Miltank isn't so hard with the right type of Pokemon. Just be prepared for her to bawl like a baby when you win.

((OOC: I don't remember having too much trouble defeating the Miltank. I think I only lost once and then won on the first rematch!))