Technically, she was too old for this. She certainly felt too old when watching these younglings running around in crappy costumes. Yes, she had done that too at some point. But she had had the strength of character to grow out of that kind of foolishness.

Only now she had been brought back down to size. That one distortion had helped her grow at least some, but a few years were not enough. At least she was not some kind of toddler anymore. But she was still a far cry from being a proper woman. Which blew. Hence, she had decided to spend this night abusing the heck out of her current form. And no, she did not censor herself because of her youthful looks. She was just too classy to use more colourful language. Again, she had grown out of that juvenile enjoyment from just saying dirty words.

Well, for the most part. At least she would like it if people did not treat her with kid gloves. Like that Mienfoo. That one didn’t care at all how old she looked. It just wanted to fight. Lash could accept that, her own Poochyena already being ready to accept that challenge.

But then mom had to swing by and ruin the fun. Booh. Lash was almost as dejected as her Pokemon, which decided to instead kick some nearby stone.

Lash, in the meanwhile, turned towards the newcomer. Wearing an impeccable little black and red devil’s attire, complete with horns to accentuate her oddly-shaded hair, Lash could tell that she had already put more effort into this than Ms. Fake Pumpkaboo. And since she was a devil, she just had to see what she could get there. “I wouldn’t mind an apology at all! But you look like the kind of lady that would have given me candy anyway, right? Then that would not mean much as an apology, if you ask me.” Lash crossed her arms, lightly pouting. Though she also just knew that she was correct anyway. On this of all evenings, she would not be a saint that simply forgave, but a devil collecting her dues.


Mika Nakayama

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Heh. She had not expected that kind of response. But it was good enough. After all, she got candy and something akin to a moral victory. That was probably as good as this got, really. Hence, she took the candy. “Eh, anything is fine, really. I just like things being straight-laced, really,” she replied before stashing it away for now. It certainly would be shared, later, but right then she was still in the collecting stage. The loot would be distributed and consumed once they knew what the haul was, not any earlier. That was true for poaching Pokemon and gathering candy alike.

With the Mienfoo returned and it seeming like the humans were fine with it, Houndour did not waste a moment and simply charged the other head-on for the moment, trying to bite down on the enemy. “I take no responsibility for this one though. I haven’t really trained it much, yet.” Her other Houndour was much more well-behaved. This was the new one she had recently caught though, and it was still relatively wild. Not like that woman over there could complain much, given that she let her Pokemon wander off like this, of course. “Why aren’t you dressed up, though? I mean, you either ignore the occasion or you go all in. Just having a bit of decoration isn’t really enough either way, if you ask me,” Lash added, focusing entirely on the stranger instead of the fight in the background.


Mika Nakayama

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“Hmm, not particularly. But I don’t much mind it, either.” In the past, she had seldom celebrated it for a very simple reason: it was too good a distraction. Halloween in Hoenn could get weird and wildfast. The rangers usually had more to do on an evening where Pokemon just randomly got mega evolved and might pick fights for the entertainment of others. That Mienfoo and her Houndour were fighting comparatively peacefully, so that Toxicroak would be enough to keep them under control in the end.

But, yes, it was a good time to go out and do her job, usually. But being put in a body like this, she still had trouble actually convincing people that she was who she claimed to be, so that was less of an option. Hence she instead had come here, now. “But I guess that’s what makes me different from you. If I decide to do something, I commit to it. Not like it is difficult to do.” After all, she had found this ensemble in a store with only minor adjustments needed. Due to that, it had been quite easy for her to dress up.

But that did not mean she was all too special in that regard. Lash briefly tilted her head, clearly thinking. “See, it would be easy enough for you, too. Your usual style, from the looks of it, lends itself to some easy enough costumes. Like, just add a lot of fake blue fur to the neck and where your hands come out of your sleeves and with a bit of makeup you could make a decently good were-lycanrock.” Lash tended to not go for the all-too-easy sexy-XY routes. And not just because she was trapped in that kind of body. “Sure, you would look a bit less pretty, but that is also what this day is about. That not everyone has to go out dressed to the nines in order to bring something flavourful to the streets.”

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“Thanks,” she said, while taking the bar from the other. For once, she did not make a snide comment about how that might look to an outside observer. It was okay to give random kids candies on this day, after all. Lash did keep her guard up a bit in that regard, but this was a peaceful place for the most part.

“Anyway, I’m Lash. And you could say that I have a good bit of experience.” Well, mostly with disguises and camouflage that helped stealing and poaching Pokemon. But this wasn’t too different. She was no master of deception, but she knew how to make cheap, adequate things to blend in. Plus, fashion was always important. It was what differentiated them from savages, after all.

Briefly, she watched those two still going at each other as if they were Ultra Beasts fighting for universal dominance, but she soon returned her attention to the one who had given her but a nickname as well. “You seem surprisingly inexperienced though. Do you just usually ignore this day? You do have a bit of a big sister vibe going on, so it’d be odd if you did not have younger siblings to take care of.” Lash certainly abused her appearance to just speak her mind like that. It would probably come off as rude from an adult, but this was just inquisitive, innocent rambling like this. Well, probably.


Mika Nakayama
- ultra beasts 4

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“One doesn’t have to have actual sisters to be a big one,” she just replied with a bit of a shrug. “Besides, blood relations are generally overrated anyway. You can’t choose family and they are just as capable of deserting you as anyone else.” There was a bit of genuine….annoyance in her words. Not true resentment, more a sort of apathy that was only broken by some irk. Lash was not one to talk about family much, even though she was not one of those people who came from truly broken homes, either.

She was just disappointed more than anything, really. “You don’t strike me as all that odd, though. At least not compared to anyone else in this place. Just normal people, some with quirks, some squares, some put into outlandish situations. But I would just call just about anyone in Hoenn pretty normal, all things considered.” Well, things were getting quite philosophical all of a sudden. She had to put a stop to that, at the very least. “But it is good to have my experience acknowledged, mhm,” she hence started, nodding to herself, in order to dispel that notion. It had taken this woman a few moments to realize it, but at least now she was giving her some respect. That was good enough.


Mika Nakayama

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