#ALSO. i saw the kids playing this one clapping game called 'pikachu' that apparently only exists in our direct area

[rubberbandballqueen]

we finally got got the camp and playground rules posters i asked my boss to get printed, and someone redid all my beautiful and thoughtfully-made typography... :'c

[rockynfriends]

Tricky Treat

(This is a commissioned story from the fantastic @incaseofart​, just in time for the spooky season! Hope you all enjoy -- we have another post coming out later today so don’t touch that dial ;)

Two voices shout in unison “HALLOWEEN! HALLOWEEN! HALLOWEEN!”

“Alright, alright, hang on a moment. Before we leave, we need to establish some ground rules.”

“That’s right. Fugue and I want to make sure no one does anything that puts them in danger.”

“But Rocky -- you said that Halloween was a dangerous season!”

“I SAID that it was a season of intrigue and danger. I also said that it was a good reminder to be aware of your surroundings and not let yourself into situations with unnecessary risks.”

Fugue smirks as he listens to his friend talk about the merits of avoiding risk and describe the other ‘ground rules,’ thinking about the many and various ways in which Rocky has personified unnecessary risk.

“What? You don’t agree with me?” asks the latter, looking at Fugue with a coy grin.

“You know that when it comes to reducing danger I’m always in favor,” replies the Ampharos with a shake of his head. “I just never thought I’d hear YOU telling someone else.”

Rocky scratches his head and chuckles. “Well, a year ago neither of us expected me to be taking my little brother trick-or-treating either.”

“Like my costume?” asks Pizzicato gleefully.

Rocky smiles. “Absolutely. It’s very fitting, sweetie.”

“If he’s not careful he’ll end up being another dad friend,” Fugue thinks to himself as the younger mons grab their baskets.

“Ready to go, everyone?” Rocky asks.

“What about Cynthia and Deneb and Cassie?” asks the Azurill quickly, apparently noticing their absence for the first time.

“They’re gonna stay home and watch Arsenic and Old Lace. It’s one of Cass’s favorites – apparently they’re in it, though they’ve never told me where,” Rocky replies with a shrug and a smile.

Fugue stifles a chuckle at this. “I imagine Deneb will get a real kick out of that one. It’s the one with Boris Karloff and the psycho great-aunts right?”

“Psycho what?” Riley tilts his head.

“I’ll explain later,” Rocky replies. “For now, let’s get some candy.”

This is met with cheers from all sides.

“Now then,” Fugue begins, as they make their way to the first house, “Is there a reason you wanted to help chaperone instead of look for candy yourself, Rocky?”

“Uh, well…to be honest, I liked the idea of watching Riley more than getting extra treats for myself. He’s my brother and I wanted to just be there for him, I suppose. I’d like him to have a normal Halloween. No monsters, no villains, just candy and family and friends.”

“That makes sense. You’re pretty good at this big-brother stuff.”

“Ha, thanks. I’m learning that apparently it means being the responsible one, which used to be Cynthia’s job, but now I find myself trying to stop her from getting him into mischief! She loves him to death, honestly. Personally I think--”

He pauses as they stop at the first house.

“Uh, Fugue? Has this place always been…creepy?”

It’s a fair question. The building seems to loom over them with its spiked tower in the center leaning slightly forward and a dimly lit porch.

“Let’s uh, skip this—” but before Fugue can finish, Pizzicato has smacked the door several times with her tail.

“Ding-dong ditch?” asks Rocky nervously.

Fugue nods. “Normally I’d say no but let’s—”

He’s interrupted by a hissing sound, and then the air fills with smoke.

“Uh…what’s happening?” Riley says with a mixture of confusion and nervousness in his voice.

“Welcome travelerssss…” replies a voice with an unusual tone. “You’ve found my housssse of secretssss.”

“Great,” Fugue mutters. “Weird neighbor. Probably just pranking would be candy getters. Alright, then, thank you for the excitement but we have to go now.”

“Ssssooo ssssooon?” asks a Seviper, appearing in the doorway through the smoke. “Sssssurely you’re here for Halloween treatsssss!”

Riley looks at Seviper skeptically. “Yeah, without the smoke and scary expression, thanks.”

“Jussst sssstaying in the sssspirit of the ssseasssson,” laughs the Pokémon, “I like to keep trick-or-treaterssss on their toessss.”

“You don’t have toes though,” says Pizzicato innocently.

“True, ssssmall one,” replies Seviper with a chuckles.

“We appreciate your time, but I just remembered something important,” Rocky says. “We have to go get it. Sorry to disturb you.”

“Yeah…you’re creepy,” Riley chimes in.

Seviper laughs again. “Yesss…but that’ssss the point of Halloween, issss it not?”

A moment later, the Pokémon vanishes. Fugue shakes his head.

“Come along, then, onwards to—” his sentence is cut off when turning around makes him aware the group is now suddenly IN the house despite never making an effort to cross the threshold.

“Okay…” he frowns. “Rocky, any thoughts?”

“I’m thinking we just went straight to the trick part,” replies the Pikachu, looking around the large foyer into which they seem to have been transported.

“How do we get out?” asks Pizzicato. “We haven’t even gotten any candy yet!”

“I like her,” says the voice of the snake, though the direction from which it comes is no longer clear. “If you can find your way through thissss place, there will be a very big treat. Your firsssst clue issss to figure out which of you issss the odd one out.”

“Odd…one out?” Riley frowns.

“That’s me!” Pizzicato giggles. “I’m water and you’re all electric!”

Rocky nods slowly. “That sounds about right.”

Fugue shakes his head. “Yes, but there’s another interpretation. All of you are mouse Pokémon, and I am not. So it might be me too.”

Riley shakes his head. “It’s Rocky.”

Everyone looks at him surprised.

“Why me?” asks the Pikachu.

“You’re the only Pokémon that can use a move normal Pikachu can’t. I’ve seen you do it.”

Fugue pauses for a moment, then agrees. “That’s a good thought, Riley.”

“Indeed it isssss,” comes the hissing voice of the snake. “Up ahead there are doorssss with your facessss on them. Pick the door that you think hassss the ansssswer.”

Sure enough, a variety of doors appear out of the smoke.

“How did he get our faces…?” Fugue begins, but is interrupted by Riley marching to the door and throwing it open – only to nearly be tackled by Rocky.

“Careful!” the Pikachu nearly shouts. “Let’s at least see if we can figure out what is going on in there!”

So saying, he peers into the door…and a light comes on, revealing a wooden staircase leading downwards into a darkly-lit basement.

“Good choice, Riley,” the snakey voice says. “You’re on the right track.”

Fugue shakes his head. “Me first. I can light the place up.” The orb on his tail glows bright, showing the whole room – inside there appears to be a Rube Goldberg machine of sorts.

“What does this thing do?” asks Pizzicato as the rest of the troop follows Fugue downstairs.

“I dunno, but I want to find out!” Riley says excitedly. “After all, this is the right door.”

Rocky pauses. “How do you know?”

“Because it was your face, Rocky. I haven’t gone wrong by following you yet!”

The Pikachu is not expecting this reply, and sniffs slightly to hold back sudden happy tears.

“Well, how do we trigger it, do you think?”

Fugue looks it over. “I think that’s our next obstacle to clear. Figuring it out, I mean.”

No one notices that Pizzicato has wandered up to a small bowl and hopped inside. A moment later, it lifts into the air, taking her with it.

“Whee!” she shouts, much to everyone’s dismay.

“Pizzicato!” Fugue cries, but the machine continues to whir to life.

Her weight counters another weight, thereby knocking a lever over. It smacks into a cup with dice, which roll across a drum of some sort, which lets out a sound that fills the room and causes the plunger below it to pump once or twice, pulling a block of wood down a pipe and letting another ball roll down a ramp until it smacks a plank, which seesaws into the wall, knocking it down.

“All that effort just to open a door?” Rocky frowns.

“Sssssometimessss it’sss about making ssssure the participantssss are paying clossssse attention,” says the voice. “The next room will require ssssome extra thought. Better sssstay alert! Sssso far the young onessss have been more obsssservant. Can the adultssss catch up?”

The others exchange a look before Fugue reaches up and picks Pizzicato out of the bowl.

Rocky shakes his head. “This feels like a sort of game, but what kind of prize is there for winning?”

No answer comes, and Fugue shrugs. “All I know is that the kids seem to be having fun.”

“Yeah, but I’m missing out on candy,” Riley pouts a bit as they enter the next room. Suddenly carnival music plays and they find themselves surrounded by mirrors on each side.

“Did it suddenly get hot in here?” asks Rocky, shuddering.

“Who knowssss thissss ssssong?” calls the Seviper with a hissing laugh. “You’ll find your exit in the rhythm!”

“I don’t know this song,” Riley shakes his head.

“Me neither,” Pizzicato chimes in.

Rocky shrugs. “I’m lost, personally. Any ideas, Fugue?”

The Ampharos pauses. “Hold on a moment…I think…I think I’ve heard it before…”

“Holding on” proves to be a somewhat difficult task, as it only continues to get hotter in the room. It’s not long before everyone’s sweating.

“Fugue, no rush, but uh, if you have any ideas, we’d love to hear them,” Rocky says in a dry whisper.

The Ampharos’s eyes are determined – and suddenly they look inspired. He claps twice, stamps his right foot, then spins a somewhat clumsy circle – and the room almost instantly cools down as the mirrors fall away to reveal another door.

Pizzicato cheers. “I knew you’d figure it out!”

Rocky tilts his head. “What was the song?”

Fugue smiles, shaking his head. “Someone I care very much about sang it to me when I was younger. We had a dance we used to practice for it too. You know, like kids like to do? What you saw just now was part of it – it took me a while because I hadn’t heard it in years. I haven’t the faintest clue how Seviper knows it.”

“Sssome ssssecretsss ssstay that way,” replies the hissing Pokémon. “But you’ve done well. Can you ssssolve my lasssst puzzle? It’sssss a real doozy.”

“Last puzzle?” Pizzicato frowns. “I was hoping there were a few more.”

The others all give her a “you’ve gotta be kidding me” look, but only Riley says it out loud.

“Sure it’s fun but we’re missing out on all the treats!”

“Come on,” Rocky shrugs. “The more we stand here, the longer we’ll be missing out whatever’s out there.”

The group makes their way into what appears to be a great dancing hall, with portraits of Pokémon clad in formal, almost Victorian style attire, hung on the walls. It’s not long before they recognize their own faces in some of them.

“Hey that’s…” Fugue has to stifle a laugh as he notices Deneb, wearing a frilly collar and a somewhat dour expression. “I uh…I wonder what the puzzle here is supposed to be.”

“Hey, isn’t that your trainer?” Riley asks, pointing to another painting.

Fugue nods, perhaps even more baffled. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but that puffy wig actually looks pretty good on her. How did they get her likeness, though?”

Before they can discuss it further, the snake interrupts, suddenly appearing in another burst of smoke.

“You’ve sssspeculated plenty. It’ssss time for the main event! If you can bessst me in a fight, then I sssshall releasssse you!”

Rocky frowns. “Well…that’s sort of disappointing. I had hoped you planned a real mind-bender, not just a throwdown.”

“Ah, but you ssssee,” laughs the snake. “I will not be battling you directly. I have insssstead devisssed a battle of the witsss unlike any other!”

Another puff of smoke fills the room, and before them stands a perfect facsimile of Cynthia!

“What the heck?” Riley practically shouts.

“Don’t worry,” she laughs. “Your challenge isss to determine what move you have that could bessst counter an attack I ussse. If you win, then you will try another opponent, then another, before the tessst endsss.”

“So it’s a simulated battle,” Fugue thinks. “Well, I don’t have everyone’s movesets memorized just yet but—”

“I do,” Pizzicato says happily.

“Then it fallsss on you to determine the bessst courssse of action,” smiles the Eevee with her strange enunciation still in full force. “I trussst the othersss will not regret having you in charge!”

“Uh, Fugue? Are we floating?” Rocky asks calmly, but with a certain tremor in his voice.

“Quite suddenly, yes. Except Pizzicato,” mutters Fugue. “I guess the final test really is all hers.”

“The adultsss never quite caught up, did they?” laughs their Halloween host. “Nonethelessss, here’ssss the firssst tessst! Cynthia approachessss and ussesss ssswift! What do you do?”

“Riley! Use Protect!” Pizzicato says with confidence. Riley complies, though a moment later he looks quite confused.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” Rocky says.

“Uhhhh, neither did I?” he replies.

There’s another puff of smoke, and this time it’s Deneb facing them off. As if to remain in character, this time the Pokémon does not speak, instead presenting them with a Psychic attack.

“Fugue, try Rock Throw!” The Ampharos does so, but his confusion is even more evident.

“Um, I can’t…actually do that,” he whispers. “I think Pizzicato doesn’t actually know what I can do.”

“Well now’s not the time to correct her,” Rocky says quickly. “We’ve KINDA got to rely on her so—”

He’s interrupted by the sudden appearance of Cassiopeia where Deneb was.

“Crap,” Riley mutters, only to quickly apologize when Rocky gives him a look.

“Here’sss a Ssshadow Ball!” they declare, only to have Pizzicato immediately say “Rocky! Bug Bite!”

For a moment the older trio all exchange a look of despair – but then Rocky stirs, looking as lost as he possibly can, and executes the move with perfect precision.

“Okay….” Fugue says, scratching his head. “I assume this means we win?”

As if to answer his question, Seviper reappears and smiles. “Well done, travelerssss. You’ve defeated my obssstaclessss and proven your ssskill. I presssent you with your reward.”

A golden plastic card appears in front of each Pokémon and Seviper vanishes, revealing the exit just ahead.

“What’s this?” Pizzicato asks plaintively, apparently bummed that the game has ended.

“Well, it’s…10,000 poke worth of candy – or rather, a gift card for that – for each of us,” Rocky says with a half-stunned expression.

“Candy? You mean that weird snake gave us free candy? And we get to pick it out?” Riley asks quickly.

“That is…indeed the case,” Fugue says, scratching his head again, this time with a smile.

“Wow! What a prize! Hey, can we play again?” Riley wonders out loud.

“I had fun too! I don’t even need another prize!” Pizzicato adds, only for both of them to find themselves half carried to the exits and into the night.

______

“That was pretty fun, Cassiopeia. I didn’t know you were such a prankster!” laughs Cynthia as they make their way home.

“I believe Halloween is an opportunity to enjoy the chance to give others a bit of excitement. I couldn’t have pulled it off without your help. Your portrayal of a Sevipers’ accent is quite convincing, Cynthia.”

“Ha, well, Deneb here had it the hardest, but she still pulled it off wonderfully!”

The fusion Ampharos grins and wobbles with delight, nodding in agreement.

“So they’ll probably need to go do more trick-or-treating, and tell us their story when we get home. In the meantime, shall we actually go watch Arsenic and Old Lace?”

“Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll pop the popcorn!” Cynthia grins.

So, having finished their own trick, they make their way home to enjoy their treats.