The lights dimmed out. The buzzes of conversation dissipated away into the darkness.

Faint, quick footsteps reached my ears. Wallace started, a casual tone and formality blending in his voice.

"Welcome to the Hoenn Halloween Special. We are pleased to have you here. This is brought to you by our very own Hoenn gym leaders. Please note that this show is free of charge and if anyone happens to ask you to pay for a ticket, please report to one of the gym leaders immediately. We hope that you will enjoy the show!"

Wallace's light footsteps faded away, replaced by another being with sturdy treads.

Light from the headlight above engulfed Roxanne. The audience's eyes were temporarily blinded, including mine.

As the audience tried to recover, Roxanne narrated. "Halloween has deep roots that started from the Ancient Celts. They celebrated the New Year on 1st November. A dark and cold winter would befall on them, which they believed that death was connected to it. They too believed that the night before the new year, the boundary between the dead and living worlds became blurred."

In the darkness, blue and purple glowed in different shapes. A slight bit more of light crept onto the stage, slowly making the scene visible. Plants, flowers and hunting weapons bobbed above the ground. Some wood was piled up about half a metre high at the corner of the stage, hidden in the darkness. Towards the left side, there was a small picnic table.

Wattson, Flannery and Brawly stood on stage, watching the floating items. Wattson wore a one-piece outfit, the material lazily hanging off his arms. He wore a yellow hat shaped like a bowl.

In contrast, Flannery and Brawly wore simple clothes. They wore sleeveless tank tops and bermudas. From the way it looks, I assume it was made of fake animal skins.

"Thus, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed the ghosts would return to the living world," Roxanne finished off her introduction.

Wattson raised his hands in the air. "With the spirits returning, I who is a Celtic priest can now make predictions for our future!"

Brawly and Flannery's only cheer followed after that. Despite the amount of excitement they had tried to put in their voice, it had awkwardly came off as if no one used to attend the festival.

Wattson stepped onto the picnic table, almost losing his balance as he climbed onto the table top. He raised his hands again.

I chuckled. Was this what people called budget filming?

"Okay! We will now start..." Wattson's voice faded off and his face was slightly scrunched up.

Silence found itself a place in the room. And the audience waited for something to happen.

Brawly spoke up, "What is it, sir? Is it the sacred bonfire?"

Wattson's face relaxed and he laughed heartily. "Yes! The sacred bonfire for us to burn our sacrifices. Flannery please!"

Flannery signalled into the darkness. As they carried the piles of wood into the centre of the stage, a mush of red slime slithered out. Fire shot out of Slugma's mouth towards the pile of wood that had been placed down.

Fire engulfed the wood; heat spread through the whole hall. Flannery and Brawly started to throw in the plants which had slowly reached the ground earlier. Slugma had discreetly returned to the sidelines.

Wattson stood on the stage silently, with his eyes closed. When Flannery and Brawly were done, they swiftly made their way to the front of the picnic table.

Wallace inhaled and announced, "With the help of the spirits, I can expect that our crops will flourish in the coming year!"

Brawly and Flannery's cheers started. In a few seconds, the lights died out. So did the actors' cheers. The only light remaining was on Roxanne.

Roxanne continued to narrate, covering up the movement of the actors and their props.

"After the celebration, they will re-light their hearth fires using the flames from the sacred bonfire. This way, they believed it could protect them for the upcoming winter."

Roxanne paused for a slight bit before continuing. "All Saints Day had also contributed to the beginning of Halloween. Pope Gregory III had moved its date from 13 May to 1 November. It was also called All Hallows."

"It is similarly celebrated as Samhain. With big bonfires-"

Roxanne stole a glance at the darkness. After a moment, Roxanne cleared her throat and repeated. "With large bonfires, people wearing costumes and parading."

There was a brief thunk, followed by a groan and fire lit up the fresh wood. A much more massive blaze was burning this time. The powerful flame lit up the stadium, showing two figures standing beside it.

Gradually, the headlights came on.

Wallace twirled around with a neatly pressed white suit. Attached to his back were white, feathery wings.

Not far from him, Norman stood stiffly with a scowl on his face. He wore a black suit with a red vest. Draped behind his back was a red cape. His hair was pressed down with a thick layer of gel. He gripped tightly into his devil staff, discreetly stabbing the bottom of it into the ground.

I almost felt sorry for him, but then again I didn't. Both of us didn't want to take part in this skit but due to the lack of actors, they needed one more person. We played a simple game and I had won. This earned me a front seat in the audience instead of a place on the stage.

Liz and Tate made their entrance. They dressed up as Lunatone and Solrock. Their Pokemon, as well as the other gym leaders' Pokemon, followed by them in their marching.

Wallace continued to twirl around and smacked Norman on the back. I would say Norman did ease up a bit.

Shortly, Liz and Tate ended the march in the centre of the stage.

"Gradually, All Hallows and Samhain influenced each other. Samhain began to be called All Hallows Eve, and over the years, it became Halloween," Roxanne finished her narration.

As she stepped down from the podium, all the lights came on. The gym leaders gathered at the centre in a straight line. Wallace took a wireless microphone and thanked the audience.

"Thank you all so much for celebrating your Halloween with us! Stay spooky!"

The gym leaders bowed, synchronised with each other.

The hall was filled with endless chattering again. A huge round of applause was presented to the gym leaders.

I turned my back to see the thousands of people who made their way to Lilycove from all over the region.

The seats and stairs were filled. There were those who were standing and still craning their necks to see the stage.

I was simply awestruck.

As the audience left, I made my way towards the gym leaders.

Flannery was bouncing. "Hey! Hey! Winona, you weren't sleeping, right? You saw us, right?"

I nodded. "You guys were great," I complimented, "Except for the part where Wattson forgot his line and your Numel was probably asleep under all that wood."

"I'm pretty sure the audience already forgot about it. Do you regret not joining us?

"Haha. No."

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Word Count: 1197