A Pokémon Halloween Part 1-Toon-O-Ween Special

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Halloween night's crisp air had arrived once again. The brown autumn leaves fluttered in the breeze. The day was still young, so there was still plenty of time to get preparations ready, and the citizens of the town were using every second of it. As soon as the children got out of school they began to get to work. Decorations, costumes, buying candy. This was set up to be the best Halloween ever. Especially for Evan. He was a bit too old for trick or treats (he decided this last year when an old lady gave him a strange look when he asked for candy), but he was still determined to get into the spirit of the season. He got a bowl of candy to pass out, and decorations skewered all over the place. Skeletons, ghosts, vampires, bats. Evan tried his darnedest to cram in as much Halloween as possible to every square inch of the house. His mom was out of town with his siblings so it was the perfect excuse to have a Halloween party with the gang. 

Evan (with a checklist)-"Bats. Check. Hershey bars. Check. Lots and lots of T.P. Just in case anything spills......Nah, just kidding we're totally T.P.ing somebody." Evan chuckled to himself. "There everything is accounted for, except for my costume that is."

Evan ran into his room and came back out wearing his costume. Blue jeans, black gloves. There was also a black jacket with a yellow line through it. The makeup on his face consisted of squiggly lines underneath his eyes, and a red cap with a black streak in the middle. In the middle of the black streak was a half a pokéball that was blue. 

Daniel-"Uh...what are you supposed to be?"

Evan-"I'm Sinnoh Ash Ketchum. It's my favorite of his outfits so that's the one I went with. Oh, maybe I should grab a Pikachu plush to put on my shoulder." While Evan went to look for a Pikachu he suddenly got a call on his cell phone. It was Sam.

Evan-"Hey Sam, you ready for the party tonight."

Sam-"Yeah, about that. I can't come."

Evan-"What. Why?"

Sam-"I met this really hot chick dressed as a sexy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and she invited me to a party."

Evan-*Sigh* "That's fine. The others are still coming at least."

Sam-"They didn't tell you?"

Evan-"They didn't tell me what?'

Sam-"They're also at this party."

Evan-"What!"

Sam-"Sorry, I thought they told you."

Evan-"Everyone is there? Cassie, Ryker, Naomi, Bradley?"

Sam-"Yes, yes, yes, and yes."

Evan-"Even Rob?"

Sam-"Yep."

Evan-"Darn it. He was supposed to be Paul."

Sam-"I mean, he's still dressed like him. If you want to come I can text you the address."

Evan-*Sigh* "How many people are there."

Sam-"Hmmm, About 300."

Evan thought about going, but even the thought of him just standing at the front door of the house made him anxious and nervous.

Evan-"No, I'm fine. I'll just enjoy Daniel's company."

Sam-"Oh, Daniel is here to."

Evan-"What!"

Sam-"I'm just joking. Ok, well see ya bud. Love you."

Evan-"Love you too." *hangs up* "Well, this sorta sucks. You know what, who cares. I can still get into the spirit of this fabulous holiday all by myself. Who needs them. And there's only one way I can think of to get the spirit I'm looking for. 

(END)

Hello my name is Evan A.K.A. The Animated Critic. So Toon-O-Ween never happened. Whoops. Sorry I just got busy with other stuff and lost track of time. Well, at least I have enough time for one special. And it's gonna be big. This month on the Pokémon TV app (which is great if you're a fan of the anime) they made a special section dedicated to Halloween episodes. Well, more specifically, haunted house episodes. 

So today, why don't we review them all. The cool thing is we got an episode from every generation of the anime minus Gen 7. We're also not going to cover the episode from Gen 1 as it's an episode we've covered before, The Tower of Terror. So that leaves us with Gens 2-6. 

Gen 2-Illusion Confusion

Gen 3-Take This House and Shuppet

Gen 4-Get Your Rotom Running 

Gen 5-Scare at Litwick Mansion

Gen 6-Scary Hospitality 

I have to admit, I'm super excited for this. I've never seen any of these episodes before so I'm interested to see how this goes. Lets start off with Illusion Confusion, and lets try to not hurt ourselves. 

The episode starts with the original gang heading for Violet City to face Falkner, the flying type gym leader of Johto. Only problem is they're lost. Like usual Ash is overconfident in his skills to get them out of the forest, but this just ends with them getting more lost. They do stumble into Gary though who instantly begins to act condescending towards Ash. He does tell them though they need a Hoothoot to get through the forest. Apparently Hoothoot has the ability to see through illusions, which this forest is known for having. Ash and the gang quickly run into them and decide they need to get a Hoothoot. The funny thing is the illusions they see are trees with faces. Did they predict Trevenant all the way back in Gen 2? Ash especially wants one so that Gary can't get any more farther than him. They actually have a hard time finding the thing, which is surprising cause at night Hoothoot is as common as dirt. They finally find one though wondering the forest. They chase it down and run into a man named Hagatha. 

He owns a business where he lets trainers borrow his Hoothoots to escort them through the forest. Unfortunately for the gang the only Hoothoot remaining is not very good. He just gets people more lost. On the bright side it's still better than most GPSs. So Hagatha just keeps Hoothoot with him. Ash lets his passion get the better of him once again and begs to use Hoothoot to catch up to Gary. You know, I had completely forgotten how lovable Ash's passion for his quest is. Sometimes he does let it get the best of him, but it rarely, if ever, gets annoying. It is decided that Hoothoot will accompany them through the forest. There's a problem already though. Hagatha explains that he only listens to pretty girls. So only Misty can command the thing. Ash has a killer line about how there's no pretty girls around and of course Misty gets mad.

And so does Hagatha. Wait...he's a girl.

So the trek begins and we see Hoothoot is god awful at his job. So much so Ash begins to get frustrated with him, saying he needs to try harder. Again, letting his passion get the best of him. Misty is a little calmer and more understanding. She says he should do his best as it benefits them and allows him to get stronger by using his powers. It's a win-win situation. Misty and this Hoothoot are honestly adorable together. I kinda wish that Misty got to keep this thing. I mean up to this point the only Johto Pokémon they have is Togepi I believe so it'd help in giving the new Pokémon some more screen time. Team Rocket is also there....for really no good reason. They don't add much to the plot. They're really only there to fill the Team Rocket quota every episode apparently needs to have. You could cut them out and this episode wouldn't change. One could argue they're there to show what the illusions Ash and the gang are going through look like to outsiders, but that's not really necessary. I like Team Rocket, but sometimes it just seems they're shoved into episodes they don't need to be in. Either way they kidnap Pikachu. Then after a mere few seconds lose Pikachu. See what I mean. It feels like they were added in just to be filler. It takes less than a minute for Ash to get his Pikachu back. Oh, what tension! Then shortly after that they see a Dragonite illusion and chase after it. That's all they do in this episode. Yes, I can really see why they were necessary. After that Misty has an illusion of bug type Pokémon surrounding her. In case you don't know she's deathly afraid of bug Pokémon. Dark Types (A.K.A. The evil type)? Fine. Legendaries? No problem. A wild Kakuna! Oh, God have mercy on thy soul. Despite knowing it's an illusion though Misty still can't handle her fear. She needs Hoothoot to help her, and Hoothoot runs off faster than a trainer in a cave from a wild Zubat. Ash calls him out on this. Even though Ash may be a bit too hard on Hoothoot, mostly caused by the fact he wants to catch up to Gary, the Hoothoot does deserve to be called out. Ash says Hoothoot should be ashamed and that Misty was the one who believed in him. It's cheesy, but it works. Hoothoot gets his act straight and fends off the illusions. The illusions are revealed to be put together by our good old pals Haunter and Gengar. I think it would've been cooler if it was Misdreavus that was behind this though. I mean Misdreavus was one of the new Pokémon, and it is known to like messing with people. Maybe I'm biased because Misdreavus is one of my favorite Pokémon, but I think it would've worked. Anyway the episode ends with the group beating the ghost duo, getting out of the forest, Ash apologizing to Hoothoot for being hard on him, and the gang leaving for Violet City. This episode is pretty good. Hoothoot as a character is pretty fun to watch and I like the development it goes through. Ash also goes through some development. Starting as a stubborn child who let's his dreams get the best of him, to apologizing to Hoothoot for taking it out on him. I also like the connection Hoothoot shares with Misty. It's pretty cute, and I'm kinda sad they never had Misty keep it. I understand she's a water trainer, but she's had non-water Pokémon before. Case in point, Togepi. And if I recall in the episode So Near, Yet so Farfetch'd she tried to catch the titular Pokémon, whose a normal type. She's not just restricted to water Pokémon. But I found it a pretty fun episode and so I recommend it. 

Evan-*Sigh* "Well, back to my natural state of loneliness. This is where I thrive. That's sorta true. Ever since I made really good friends with those guys my review output has significantly decreased." *Stretches and Yawns* "I think I need a snack before the next episode. I mean I have plenty, cause no one has come to eat them." *Gets up off chair and heads to kitchen.* "Lets see, Reese's, Candy Corn, Caramel Apples. Do we have anything in this house that's not candy."

Daniel Enters

Daniel-"Uh...Evan"

Evan-"What's up Daniel?"

Daniel-"I...I don't feel to well."

Evan-"What, you got a ghost fever or something?"

Daniel-"I feel....a darkness."

Evan-"A darkness? Can you give more specifics."

Daniel-"Someone's...weeping. And there's a force looking for the source of this sound."

Evan-*Laughing*

Daniel-"What?"

Evan-"I see what you're doing. You're trying to scare me aren't you. Well, it won't work." 

Daniel-"Evan I'm serious!"

Evan-"Sure." *Continues laughing and leaves.* "Aw, man. That's one interesting story."

Daniel follows him.

Daniel-"Evan, please listen. I'm seriously worried."

Evan-"Daniel, I think you just got the Halloween spooks."

Daniel-"Why don't you believe me?" 

Evan-"I just think everything you're feeling could easily be explained away. The dark feeling is probably just the Halloween frights getting to you. I think you just imagined the weeping sounds. I mean wouldn't I be able to hear them to."

Daniel-"I guess you could be right."

*Baby crying sound that's loud and audible.*

Evan-"Ugh, Elizabeth woke up."

Daniel-"Um, Evan. Your baby sister is out trick-or-treating with your parents."

Evan-"Then....."

Daniel-"Run?"

Evan-"Yeah that might be a good idea."

Evan-"What the! There's nothing but darkness"

Daniel-"We can't escape."

Evan-"Daniel, remind me never to doubt you again."

Daniel-"Well do, but now what?"

Evan-"To the basement closet."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daniel-"Why this place specifically?"

Evan-"There's only one door, and no windows, so if anything is going to get through it has to go through the door so it can't sneak up on us."

Daniel-"Ah, I see."

Evan-"Also we're away from that wretched crying sound so I can watch some more Pokémon" 

Daniel-"Of course."

Evan-"Next up we have the Hoenn episode Take This House and Shuppet."

TO BE COMTINUED



Out of character-Ah, glad I finished this first part in time for the holiday. Wait, Halloween ended 30 minutes ago.
.......
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDge.