#or like. just added a tink noise n had it go on like normal

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

I want your opinion on Glee Club (ds ver). I really like it but even though I always feel like I did good and didn't miss any beats I always end up with an OK??? Like i have no idea if its the game or just me

glee club has invisible barelys in ds, you're probably just getting invisible barelys (ds' grading system is super strict so there's that too). it basically does in megamix too they just added an extra indicator for proper timing. but anyways i love ds glee club v much. :3 i prefer it to megamix glee club tbh, in megamix glee club is really strict scoring-wise. feels strict timing-wise too but that might just be cuz i don't know when i get barelys in it in ds lksdfjfdkfds-

[letswritefanfiction]

Lost in Halloweenia! Ch4

Crosspost from ffnet and AO3.

Summary: It’s Halloween! Ash and the gang are living it up trick or treating when they stumble upon a strange house with some strange artifacts. What mysteries do they hold and…wait, who are those three lurking behind them?

Word Count: 2,824/27,343

Previous chapter here

Next chapter here

Chapter 4: All the King’s Men

Last time, Team Rocket was back at it again, stealing things that don’t belong to them. But this time it was the crown of the king of Halloweenia, instead of Pikachu—oops, I’m sorry: Pika-boo. Worse yet, Ash, Misty, and Brock just found out that they have only two hours to get back home. What more could possibly go wrong?

“Tehe!”

“Whoopee!”

“Hahahahaha!”

Team Rocket was all a-giggle as they made off with the crown, which they had stuffed into Jessie’s candy bag. Really, what could be better: candy and a crown, all in one convenient sack.

Life was good.

Finally, when they were out of breath, they stopped by some hedges, not too far from the castle, but far enough that they felt safe from being found out.

“Lemme get anotha good look at dat crown!”

Jessie pulled the crown out of the bag and everyone had to hold back their own gleeful giggles.

“It’s more beautiful than I remember!” James gushed.

“I have to try it on!” Jessie said.

She was just about to plop it down on her head when Meowth kicked her in the face, leaving her flat on her back and the crown in his hands.

“Quit dat! Whaddya tink da boss is gonna say when he goes to put on dis crown after it had your greasy head all up on it?”

Jessie sat back up, fists clenched. “Greasy?! My hair is beautiful!”

Meowth hopped out of the way of her swinging fists, chin turned up snootily and his index finger pointed. “Dis crown has to be purr-fect for da boss. Just imagine…”

The world seemed to fade away as Meowth created a whole fantasy with his words.

“Just imagine da boss, slaving away in his office. He has so much work to do all da time; it’s very taxing on him. Maybe he’s even getting to da point where he feels underappreciated. He’s had the same old throne for years and it just doesn’t say ‘big man in charge’ like it used to. What does he need to remind everyone that he’s da head honcho of Team Rocket? A crown to show dat he’s not just da boss: he’s da king! Then, when he’s feeling good and appreciated, he’s gonna look at us and know that we’s the ones that were responsible for it. He’s gonna appreciate us! And you know da best way to appreciate someone? With a big, juicy bonus, dat’s what!”

Meowth came out of the fantasy with his eyes wide and a hand over his heart.

“And then he’ll remember that I’m da top cat once and for all!”

Everyone sighed with happiness, dreaming of their bonuses. They snapped out of it when something huge flew high overhead, making a lot of noise and causing the bushes to blow about. A moment later, something smaller, nearly completely shrouded by the night sky flew after it, both seeming to be in quite the rush.

“They look like they came from the castle,” Jessie observed, a waver of worry coloring her tone.

“Do you think they’re looking for us?” James asked, his fists pressed nervously to his mouth.

“Dats’ a risk dat we can’t take!” Meowth declared. “We gotta get outta here!”

“I can help with that.”

Jessie, James, and Meowth all let out girlish screams as a pair of red eyes blinked through the bushes before lunging through a burst of leaves out at them.

Ash stopped abruptly in his tracks, causing Brock and Misty to run into him and a dozing Pika-boo to land sorely on the ground.

“Pika,” he moaned, rubbing his rump grumpily. It was too far past his bedtime for nonsense like this.

“Ash, what are you doing?” Misty asked as he picked Pika-boo up off the ground. “We need to hurry and get out of town.”

“This shop is the first one we’ve passed that’s open,” he explained. “We’ve gotta check to see if there’s a portal in here.”

Brock took stock of the lights that were on in the store, unlike all of the other properties they had passed. “Ash is right. We have to at least check it out.”

“Fine, but be careful,” Misty acquiesced as they pushed through the door, hearing the tinkling of a bell knocking against it. Ash coughed immediately as the pervasive scent of incense tickled his lungs.

“Ugh, I hate smelly things,” he said, plugging his nose with his fingers.

“Ash, you’re being rude,” Misty hissed, yanking his hand away.

Ash pouted, taking a big gulp of air so that he could hold his breath.

Then the gang proceeded to glance around the strange shop. The storekeeper was a woman draped in flowing, patterned garb with long sleeves that probably touched the floor behind the counter. She looked like an ordinary eccentric woman until she turned to the side. Everyone gasped and stepped back when they noticed a hand where her ear should have been with a blinking eye right in the center of the palm. As it stared at them, they all stiffened their spines, trying their best to act normal. Ash—still holding his breath—gave a little wave and Pika-boo bounced around.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” the lady asked absently as she flipped through a magazine.

“N-No, just browsing around,” Brock stuttered, waving his hands in front of his chest.

The lady gestured out to the store. “Please do.”

Everyone eagerly turned their gaze out to the store, glad not to be staring at the strange lady anymore. The shop was filled with jewelry, sculpted candles, some of that horrid incense, not to mention more of the Halloween paraphernalia they were growing so used to seeing in this world. All of it was piled up, nearly spilling onto the floor in some cases. Either this store didn’t get a lot of business, or it was just going for a very…eccentric vibe.

“So, Ash, any great ideas? Any of these look like portals to you?”

“Uh…”

Ash was staring at all of the knickknacks, thingamajigs, and bric-a-brac blankly. They all looked like things that could have come from their world as much as they looked like things that belonged in this world.

“If not, then we should really move on,” Brock whispered.

“But if we head out of town, how can we find a portal?”

“How can we find a portal if we can’t tell where any of this junk came from?”

“Excuse me, miss!” Ash raised his voice to get the shopkeeper’s attention. He had to move past some of the piles to get a better view of her and accidently knocked his head on a paper lantern. Pika-boo shook his head out of embarrassment for his trainer. “Uh, where was all this stuff made?”

The shopkeeper looked up at him with bored eyes. “We have various clients in the neighborhood who make our products. Why?”

“Oh, uh, no reason!” Misty squeaked out before Ash could say something stupid. “Just like to support local businesses.

“All businesses here are local businesses,” the lady deadpanned.

Misty’s cheesy grin faltered. “Right…Of course!”

The storekeeper rested her chin in her hands, taking a good look at everyone. “You know, it’s quite unusual for me to get costumers on Halloween. Much less ones who seem to have put so much time into their costumes…”

She was eyeing Ash and the gang suspiciously, and they shrunk back, shivering a little under her cold stare.

“Think she suspects anything?” Ash whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

“If she hears you saying stuff like that, she will!” Misty hissed back.

“Well, I’m not sure how well she can hear, what with having only one ear and all,” Brock added.

The shopkeeper piped up again. “And why isn’t Pumpkaboo wearing a costume?”

Everyone stared at Pika-boo, who was sweat-dropping heavily from his perch on Ash’s shoulder. Pika-boo looked at Ash nervously and the two nodded at each other.

“Let’s get outta here!”

“Thanks for letting us look around!” Brock shouted back as the four of them booked it out of the store.

After leaving the store, the bell giving another chime before the door slammed behind them, the gang continued running, going straight out of town like Mantar had suggested.

“Ash, I’ll never forgive you if we end up in jail because of you!” Misty huffed as they ran.

“No one’s gonna end up in jail if we just keep running!” Brock shouted.

Suddenly, there was a sound coming from the sky, almost as if a small plane were flying overhead. But, rather than a plane, this thing was blowing this way and that, faster than Ash’s eyes could follow. It was out of control. Yet, somehow, it seemed like it was headed straight for them.

“W-Watch out!” Ash shouted as they all scrambled, somehow running even faster as they sprinted, screaming away from the flying object.

The sound of air gusting and a huge object looming towards them grew until it was ringing in everyone’s ears. With one flying leap, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pika-boo hit the ground, covering their heads as the huge whatever-it-was flew over them and crash landed just in front of them.

When the danger was past, everyone lifted their faces out of the grass, to look at what exactly had nearly hit them. There before them, leaving a huge ditch of upturned grass in its wake, was what appeared to be a giant stone soldier. It was easily as tall as Ash and Misty combined, and wider than if the whole gang stood side by side.

After pushing themselves to their feet, everyone slowly crept towards it to get a closer look. Whatever it was, it wasn’t moving anymore, nor was it making a sound.

“What is that?” Misty asked.

“Let’s ask Dexter.”

Ash fished his Pokédex out of his backpack and pointed it towards the blue and yellow thing that he only hoped was a Pokémon. The Pokédex flashed to life and confirmed its belief as it started speaking: “Golurk, the Automaton Pokémon and the evolved form of Golett. Flying faster than the speed of sound, Golurk loses control when—”

Before Dexter could even finish its reading, a small, purple blur flew in front of them and then over to the Golurk. She looked like a perfect blend between a ghost and a witch, hovering in the air with a large brown flap slung over its shoulder.

“Mismagius, the Magical Pokémon and the evolved form of Misdreavus. Mismagius chants incantations, and while some cause misery, some give happiness as well.”

“Come on, roll over, you big lump!”

The Mismagius beat at the Golurk, but the wispy tendrils of her dress were hardly threatening against its massive frame. Nevertheless, the Golurk rolled over with a thump that felt like an earthquake under Ash and co.’s feet.

Without missing a beat, the Mismagius dropped the brown fabric—which was almost as big as she was—on the stone soldier’s chest, where a large yellow crack was open and gleaming like glow-in-the-dark paint. Abruptly, the bandage sealed to the crack, and a moment later the stone soldier blinked before sitting up and spinning its tiny head as if to regain its bearings.

“Sorry about that,” the Mismagius said, finally addressing Ash. “This guy flies out of control when he loses his bandage.”

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Ash replied with a good-natured grin. “Nobody was hurt.”

“Thank goodness. It would be bad press if one of the King’s personal guards hurt anyone.”

The words ‘kings guards’ was enough for Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pika-boo to stiffen immediately, eyes frozen in shock. These were the exact people that Mantar had warned them against. The exact ones they’d been running from. Ash cracked a nervous smile as he tried to appear normal.

“Heh, yeah, that wouldn’t be good for anyone. Anyway, my name’s Ash, this is Misty, this is Brock, and this is…our friend…Pumpkaboo.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” the ghost-witch said with a tip of her pointy hat. “I am Blair and this is Lacedaemon.”

Everyone blinked blankly at the second name.

Blair smiled. “You can call him Lassie.”

Everyone looked relieved. “Nice to meet you,” they said in unison.

“Pi Pikachu!”

Instantly, all eyes turned to Pika-boo, who was now covering his mouth with his furry wings, eyes wide in recognition of his mistake.

“What was that?” Blair growled, flying close to Pika-boo’s face.

Pika-boo just smiled as innocently as he could, fangs bared, sweat dripping down his little face in nervousness.

“I’m sorry, I think I misheard before. Pumpkaboo, can you tell me the names of your friends here?”

Pika-boo whimpered, trying to force human speech out of his mouth, but it just wasn’t happening. Under Blair’s sinister yellow glare, Pika-boo had no choice but to break down and yell, “Pikapi!”

Blair’s eyes narrowed. “I thought so.”

Abruptly, she headed right to Pika-boo, her body disappearing right as she reached him, and reappearing on the other side with a whoosh. More than that, when she reappeared, Pikachu’s disguise was completely gone. But Pikachu didn’t exactly look like Pikachu anymore. Ash and the gang were shocked to notice that the brown stripes on Pikachu’s back and its red cheeks were now black. He was turning Dark already.

“A psychic disguise,” Blair stated, circling the whole group. “And judging by his fur, he’s already been here a while.”

She immediately began using her dress-like form to swipe at all of the fake stitches and marks along Ash, Brock, and Misty’s skin, before their disguises too disappeared.

Blair reared back, her eyes wide. “Humans!”

Lassie, now standing on both legs, walked toward them, every step leaving a heavy impression in the dirt and nearly knocking everyone off their feet.

“Did you steal the crown?” Blair interrogated as Lassie loomed over them, blocking out the moon and casting them entirely in shadow.

“N-No, we didn’t!” Ash cried out.

“Lassie, attack them!”

“No, please don’t!” everyone yelled at once.

Lassie was just about to strike when there was a crying from inside Misty’s bag.

Blair’s eyes once again narrowed. “What was that?”

“N-Nothing!” Misty squeaked.

“Show me your bag immediately!”

With the threat of Lassie’s all-powerful fist right in front of them, Misty had no choice but to take an awake and now crying Togepi out of her bag.

This pulled Blair’s attention, and she immediately flew right up to Togepi’s face, causing Togepi’s sobs to turn to little hiccups. Then, before Misty knew what happened, Blair swiped Togepi and flew high over their heads.

“You can have the Fairy back when you return the crown!”

“What?” Misty screeched, running at Lassie. “We don’t have the crown!”

Right as Misty reached Lassie, he lifted off into the air, this time controlled as his feet seemed to form jet-packs. The wind from them caused mud and dirt and debris to fly in the air, making Misty and everyone else cover their faces and cough as they looked away.

“Pikachu, Thunderbolt!” Ash coughed out.

Pikachu loosed a Thunderbolt onto Lassie, but it fizzled quickly into nothing, with no more than a blink from him. Then, when the air settled, Lassie, Blair, and Togepi were gone.

“Togepi!” Misty cried out into cupped hands. But there was no answer.

She continued yelling, until Brock said, “That won’t do any good, Misty.”

“It makes me feel better!” Misty snapped through the tears that were clogging her throat.

“Misty,” Ash said, coming up and touching her shoulder, “we’ll find Togepi. We just need a plan.”

“I bet they’re headed for that castle,” Misty stated firmly, turning to face the large peak in the sky.

“But Mantar told us not to go there,” Brock cautioned.

“I don’t care!” Misty snapped. “Nothing’s gonna stop me from going there and saving my Togepi!”

“But, uh, they said that they’d only give Togepi back if they got the crown,” Ash mentioned.

“Okay, then we’re going to have to split up,” Brock said. “Misty and I will head for the tower and Ash, you and Pikachu do whatever you can to find that crown.”

“But what about the portal?” Ash asked worriedly. “And midnight?”

Brock shrugged. “We’re just going to have to hope that we find it along the way. If we find anything, we’ll send my Crobat, and you’ll send Noctowl, okay?”

Ash nodded as Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. “Okay.”

Everyone made a circle and put their fists in the center, save for Pikachu, who offered his tail.

“Let’s go save Togepi!”

Ash and co. finally have a mission, but it doesn’t seem like one that will help them get back home! Hopefully they’ll be able to pull off both before time runs out. And we left Team Rocket in quite a perilous position this time. Who was their mysterious intruder? Find out the answer next time!