Despite how corny the ghost-like scream was, Josh would recognize that voice anywhere. That was none other than Councilwoman Elinor Anderson . Playing along with her otherworldly greeting, The masquerading Leader raised his bright sword and pointed it at her, answering, "Begone! No evil spirit can escape the wrath of Josh, the Committed! Isn't that right...Raikou?" The Manectric let out a bark that sounded more like its own than the roar of the Johto Beast. He held the plastic lightning bolt a bit close to his mentor's neck before relaxing his arm and smiling.

"How you doing? I had to play along," Josh greeted Elinor, making sure there was plenty of room in the purple saddlebag camouflaged by the saddle's thundercloud-like design. "You know, the more time has passed since the meeting," his voice became much quieter, "the more danger I realized this is going to put me in. But that's not going to stop me. Don't get me wrong, fantasizing about riding Raikou is fun on its own. But I look forward to the real thing." Saber let out another crackling bark, hoping to meet the legendary electric-type someday, as well.

Josh pulled out his phone to confirm the route they would be taking. "There's a haunted house at the end of the block. I think once we've gone around the block and gotten our fill of sweet treats, we should check it out. Long as you've got ways of handling ghost-types, that is!"

Elinor seemed to be genuinely supportive of Josh's dream, which made a ton of sense after speaking to Melody and Matias about Avatars in general. Elinor was a member of the Council, the body that governed Hoenn. The Council oversaw the AQUA Initiative, so of course it was in her best interest to look out for people who had the drive to chase the gods. "Not at all. We talked about this after the meeting in Lilycove, don't you remember?" It still felt strange referring to her by her first name, considering she was one of the most politically powerful people in Hoenn. Second only to the League Commissioner herself.

"Of course," Josh agreed with the Councilwoman. "It feels weird to be able to do this again. Johto doesn't let anyone eighteen or older go Trick-or-Treating. I was very surprised to find out Hoenn doesn't have a maximum age for it." With that, Josh led the way to the block the two would be doing their candy run on. "And Raikou, watch your speed." And with that, they were off, the Manectric-masquerading-as-legendary walking alongside Elinor as they started going from door to door. A disappointing number of lights were off, but there were enough of them that the two would be able to get their fair share.

At the third house with its lights on, they were greeted by an elderly man and his two teenage brother-and-sister grandchildren. All three were thoroughly impressed by Elinor's, Josh's and Saber's costumes, and one of them even asked for permission to take a picture and a video as the other dropped a small bag of hard candy and a couple of Fun Size milk chocolate bars into the racer's basket. Given Elinor's position, he asked her if she was okay with being on a recording.

Whether or not Elinor was okay with it, Josh consented, making sure to warn his friend to stay out of sight if she wasn't okay with video of her being taken. Once the boy gave the thumbs-up, Josh pulled back on Saber's reins sharply and squeezed his sides, causing him to rear before darting across the large front yard the property boasted. He took one hand off the reins to manipulate his sword much like a charging knight.

After a couple of speedy laps around the yard, Josh came closer to the boy and dismounted, both the Manectric and Gym Leader making a full turn to allow the young ones to get a good look at his full costume. "You're welcome," Josh said to the adolescents after the recording had stopped. "Have a good one!" With that, he sat astride the purple thundercloud once more. "That family was sweet," he remarked to his Ranger mentor, on the way to the next house.

Josh, too, had acquired quite the stash after hitting most lit houses on this side of the block. The haunted house was in sight, its windows even having fake lightning effects flashing on them from time to time. It was clearly professional quality. Before reaching their true destination, though, they had a few more houses to collect candy from and show off their costumes. Both of them were clearly having fun with it, Josh slashing his sword at imaginary foes as "Raikou" cantered down the sidewalk. He got a couple of compliments from passers-by on the way to the last trio of houses they would be stopping at. The interactions were for the most part uneventful, though he did get one more picture from a young couple who were originally from Johto. They took two photos; one with Josh striking a victory pose from atop Saber (and with Elinor if she allowed it), plus a group photo that looked more normal other than his costume.

At last, they had arrived at the haunted mansion. It was big: three full floors, eerie sounds, a graveyard in front...just about everything imaginable. Even the fake lightning was accompanied by a prerecorded sound of thunder that made Saber flinch. It even startled Josh, though he played along after the jumpscare. "Hey Saber, if you want your costume to be believable, you should act less like a Manectric and more like a Raikou," the knight laughed to try to keep their spirits up. "After all, thunder is supposedly the sound of Raikou's cry. The real one."

With that, the young man approached the mansion's creaky-looking doors, pushing them open. They were as creaky as expected, making a loud sound marking evidence that their hinges had needed oil for years. The hall inside was big enough that Josh could stay mounted. "Ready, Elinor?" he asked.

Josh and Saber coughed as they found their faces full of cobwebs. "Hah, didn't think my sword would be useful here," he laughed after spitting a few times. He held the glowing, plastic blade in front of him, ready to clean up particularly thick cobwebs in their way. Another loud creak echoed in the main hall as the Manectric stepped on a rigged floorboard. The entrance closed behind them without warning, a recording of a Mismagius cry playing afterward. It was real enough sounding that "legendary" and rider were both on edge, Saber rapidly shuffling his legs to give both of them a look in all directions. There could well be real Ghost-type Pokémon in here, and Mismagius was a dangerous one to encounter. Though Josh was masquerading as a Hero of Johto, that plastic sword of his would do nothing but break if he tried to slash a Pokémon with it.

"You alright?" Josh asked Elinor, his eyes shifting to check for Ghost-type threats. He should have brought his Absol with him just in case, but he didn't; he would have to rely on his Pyroar to handle such Pokémon if need be. He hoped it didn't come to that. "Be careful. I wouldn't be surprised if there were real ghost Pokémon in here. What say you we explore this place from bottom to top? I get the feeling we'll have to find a different way out of here." He pointed toward a door on the left side of the hall and a double-door on the right side, "Raikou" nodding in approval.

Elinor's attention toward the floor tipped Josh off to look for a basement. Josh scoured the west half of the floor for evidence of a loose floorboard or any indication of a trap door. It wasn't a haunted house with there being at least one trap door. Preferably multiples. Another Mismagius cry echoed over a nearby loudspeaker, the young man's skin tingling as he let out a yelp shortly afterward. The trigger for said outburst was a three-dimensional cutout of a Mismagius, posed as though it were using ASTONISH.

"Sorry, I thought it was a real ghost Pokémon," he apologized to Elinor, sweating on the inside. He was going to need a long and cold shower when this was done. "I didn't find any way downstairs on the west side. Maybe there's something in this game room," he gestured toward what appeared to be a bar-like gaming hall, complete with dartboards, a pool table, and the like. There were fifteen balls racked up in a triangle, ready to be broken by a white cue ball. Something was off, though. Perhaps that every single colored ball on the table was a thirteen ball?

Elinor had every right to be paranoid, too; if she was paying close attention while running her finger along the edge of the pool table, she would have noticed an additional shadow cast from her body that was not accounted for by any light sources in the room. When her finger passed the middle diamond on the far side of the pool table, the cue ball went flying toward the rack of fifteen balls on the opposite side of the table, as though a professional player had struck the cue ball full force. If Elinor tilted her head, she would see a shadow shaped like herself, a cackling voice coming from it. It had to be a Pokémon doing that. But which one?

Meanwhile, Josh examined the other side of the gaming hall, taking particular note of the dartboards. All of the darts were fletched with Dreepy-themed reds and greens. It had been a long time since he had thrown darts. Not since before his first trip to Hoenn, while he was still a teenager. Taking three of them from a shelf near the other dartboards, he figured he would see how many darts it would take him to throw a single leg while Elinor continued to investigate.

His third throw was way off, landing in the Triple 13 wedge. The moment the dart contacted the wedge, the panel the dartboard was attached to receded into the wall, revealing a hidden, creaky-looking staircase leading upward. "Look at these...and this!" Josh called out, blissfully unaware of what had happened to Elinor other than hearing what he expected was her breaking the rack (and hopefully not scratching...)