Tricks and Treats (PG-13, based off the anime)

Hello! Another holiday-themed Palletshipping fic from me. This one's still in progress - I just posted chapter 3 of it on FF.net a few minutes ago. Hope you like it, and feedback is appreciated.

Genre: Humor/Romance
Author: Keela/Disco
Summary: Ash and co. engage in Halloween festivities. Sort of. Will eventually contain shonen-ai (guy x guy romance). Rated for later chapters.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any big thing (company, character, etc.) tied to it.
Notes/rambly bits: Naturally, this was inspired by the Halloweeny season (…). I love the holiday as well as Pokémon, so I thought, "why not combine the two?" Also, I wanted to write a relatively light piece involving my favorite couple . Finally, I wanted to keep this story in the same (or a very similar) tone as the episodes, so I don't think there will be anything too deep or dramatic, just mostly lighthearted stuff with some action (or at least, that's what I'm going for)
Warnings: Bad writing (it's been years since I've really written a fic, and I wasn't exactly good to begin with…), OOC-ness (though I tried really hard to keep them in character), future shonen-ai (guy-guy romance), and perhaps some other stuff that I've forgotten ;. Also, sorry about any formatting weirdness...

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Pokémon or any big thing (company, character, etc.) tied to it. Nor do I own Burt's Bees (the company, at least – I have some lip chap from them somewhere in my room).
Warnings: Same as before – not the highest quality writing, OOC-ness, formatting issues, etc. And this chapter is really, really corny, and probably has some nonsensical bits XD

Chapter 3

Notes: The normal disclaimers and warnings apply (the latter probably even moreso as the story goes on!). And, if you're reading just for the shippiness, there's none this chapter, so you can skip it if you want XD



Officer Jenny, clad in a white lab coat, her blue hair gelled so that every strand reached for the sky, led a kindly-looking elderly couple and their pet Meowth through the winding streets of Booville. The sun was once again in its final stages of setting, and already the streets of the town were filling up with eager trick-or-treaters of all ages.

After some time, they reached a long alley covered by tarp and guarded by several other officers. Small stalls, booths, tables and chairs, all covered in Halloween decorations, filled the alley, and heat lamps added to the brightness and coziness of the area. Several seniors had already made themselves comfortable in their designated spots, none looking up at the newest additions as Jenny stopped a few yards away from them.

"Well, here you are!" she exclaimed, gesturing at a few simple, yet comfortable-looking, fold-out chairs and a table. "We have a whole place just for seniors, so you don't have to worry about having to stand in the Central Square all night!" She smiled.

Upon seeing everything in the alley and getting their bearings, the couple and their Meowth grew very nervous. Sensing this, Jenny laughed.

"Aww, it's alright! See?" She pointed to the guards around them. "Everything will be just fine! Besides, crime is virtually nonexistent here. There's never been a murder or robbery in this town ever!"

"Really?" the gentleman of the group, purple roots peeking out from underneath his gray hair, blurted out. He pinched his chin. "That's…somewhat surprising…"

"Nonsense!" Jenny replied. "Our police force is world-renowned for its effectiveness!" She pulled out a small photo album and showed the pictures within to the trio, pointing them out rapidly and turning the pages as she spoke. "We've been honored by mayors, magazines, contests, pokémon league competitions, businesses, government officials, and…" - her eyes sparkled as she blushed – "…celebrities…!"

The elderly couple and their Meowth all sweatdropped at Jenny's antics, confused over her reaction to that last point, but not really wanting to know the reasoning behind it in any case.

Jenny cleared her throat. "Anyways…" She calmed down, putting her photo album back in her pocket. "So yes, nothing to worry about here! I have to get back to escorting other people, but make yourselves comfortable! And if there's anything you need, or want to return to your home, feel free to tell a guard and we'll assist you right away!"

"Thank you very much!" the woman of the group, red hair poking out from underneath her own gray cover, sweetly chirped in response.

"See-ahhh!" the Meowth blurted out, but was quickly clamped shut by the purple/gray-haired man next to him. "We'll be seeing you!" the latter sing-songly called as he held the cat pokémon, with a wide – almost too wide – grin. He and his wife waved to the officer as the latter began to leave.

Jenny, oblivious to the purple-haired man's actions, grinned and partly turned her back to them, waving as she walked away. "Have a nice – oh!"

Jenny stopped speaking mid-wave, and returned to them.

"Before I forget…"

The couple and their Meowth gasped slightly, wondering what the officer had remembered.

"Almost forgot!" Jenny said sheepishly. "I'll need to inspect your candy."

"I-inspect?" the elderly woman repeated hesitantly.

Jenny nodded. "Standard protocol. I just need to see one of your candy pieces. It'll only take a second." She reached into the large, brown bag being held by the elderly man, and pulled out a round candy with purple wrapping. The elderly couple and their Meowth looked at each other, then the officer nervously as the latter held the candy close to her eyes, squinting in deep concentration as she analyzed every millimeter of the wrapper. Removing said wrapper, she then did the same to the candy itself, sniffing it, rubbing it, and finally putting it in her mouth and carefully tasting it, to her charges' surprise. Thoroughly chewing on it for a moment, she swallowed the sweet, smiling and licking her lips.

"That was really good! The trick-or-treaters will love it!"

The trio sighed in relief, and the elderly woman smiled. "Well, we sure hope they do! We want to make others happy, after all!"

Jenny smiled. "I'm sure you do!" She turned to leave. "Sorry about that! Happy Halloween!"

"No problem at all!" the elderly man replied.

"Happy Halloween to you too!" the elderly woman finished off as they waved goodbye and Officer Jenny left the scene.

Once she was out of eyeshot, the trio looked at each other and grinned deviously, keeping their voices low as the alley continued to fill up with more seniors and officers.

"For such gullible idiots, the people here sure are lucky!" Meowth softly exclaimed, relieved to be able to speak like a human again.

"Heh, no robberies in their entire history…! I think it's time it's time to end that lucky streak, don't you?" Jessie asked her companions, the aggressive desire in her voice still laced with a sweet-old-lady impersonation.

"Oh, definitely," James agreed, his eyes narrowing as he sneered.

"Time to put this plan into action!" Meowth gleefully cried.

Team Rocket shared a hearty laugh, but quickly calmed down and blushed once people started to stare at them.


After an afternoon of playing games, dancing, and other Halloween-themed social activities (none of which required costumes, to Ash's relief), the gang and their pokémon were back in their room, putting the finishing touches on their costumes before they set out to trick-or-treat. Or at least, Ash was finishing up, with Dawn's help.

Brock, already in his doctor's outfit, knocked on the bathroom door.

"You guys almost done in there?" he asked its occupants.

"Yup, just about!" Dawn yelled back cheerfully. A moment later the door clicked and swung open, revealing a grinning Dawn, clad in her short, sparkly, bright green skirt and wings, wearing matching makeup, heels, and clutching a small, likewise matching wand in her hand. She had let her hair loose for the night, adorning it with matching pins.

She exited the bathroom excitedly, yanking Ash out with her. "Ta-da!" she cried, letting go of the stumbling Ash and positioning him straight up again.

Brock and the pokémon struggled to hold in their laughter. In addition to his pink Delcatty skirt with purple and yellow dots, Ash was sporting a surprising amount of makeup – light brown eyeliner (smudged in a few spots), pink eyeshadow and blush, dark pink lipstick, and a hint of mascara. To finish off the look, a Skitty pin lay fastened in his hair, and he wore pink tennis shoes with white socks. Despite Dawn's attempts at posturing, he slumped over slightly, looking at the floor with a slight pout on his face.

Brock let out a small chuckle and peered at Ash. "So, we all ready now?" he asked eagerly.

"Yeah!" Dawn chirped, grinning.

Ash picked his head up and sighed. "Guess so…" Their pokémon cheered as everyone headed out, Pikachu staying close to its trainer as it "piiiika"d and patted Ash's shin supportively.

"Everything'll be fine, Ash, like always," Brock assured as the trainers gathered their candy bags and made for the exit. "If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you were a girl myself!"

"And would you have tried to get a date with him like you do with every other girl?" Dawn quipped as she walked through the door, giggling.

"Uh…no…" Brock replied, peering out the door to answer her as he waited for Ash and the pokémon to leave. The blush and sweatdrop on his face said otherwise.

Ash sweatdropped himself as he exited into the pokémon center hallway, reliving bad memories from another time he had had to cross-dress. He shook his head and followed the crowd as Dawn and Brock continued talking and walking, lost in his thoughts.

It isn't fair…why do I always get stuck doing this? First to………I can't even keep them straight anymore! But this costume is for sure the worst one yet! Huh?

The sound of laughing caused Ash to pick his head up. Without him realizing, the group had already made their way to the lobby, joining people and pokémon of all types and ages dressed up an array of costumes. A few baby pokémon, dressed up in such costumes as vampires and pirates, were chasing each other around the first floor, as older pokémon and their trainers lounged around and socialized before heading out to trick-or-treat themselves.

Ash sighed as a slight smile crossed his face, and he turned to his companions to see them laughing over a joke he had missed. His smile grew.

Whatever… he concluded as the friends and their pokémon made their way to the Center exit. A spring entered his step.

I'm sure it won't be that bad…I have my friends with me, and nobody seems to care what others have dressed up as. Let's just get some candy and try to have fun!


The trainers and their pokémon were greeted with a blast of frigid air as soon as they exited the pokémon center. Trick-or-treating was in full swing – night had fallen, the streets were packed, and decorations seemed to light up every corner of the town.

"Man, it's freezing!" Ash blurted out.

Dawn gasped. "Ash, remember to use your girl voice, or the whole act is ruined!"

"Girl voice…?" Ash wondered out loud. "Oh yeah…that again…" He remembered, with some dismay, Dawn's instructions as they were prepping him up. "Sorry. Um…boy, it sure is cold out here!" he reiterated, making the last part higher-pitched.

Dawn laughed. "Perfect!"

Brock chuckled. "This is gonna be an interesting night."

Ash answered with a chuckle of his own, reverting to his normal voice. "Tell me about it."

"Anyways," Dawn cut in, "where should we start?"

"How about there?" Brock suggested, pointing to the top of a distant hill. His voice dripped with eagerness, almost to the point of desperation.

Dawn and Ash squinted to see said hill.

"Um, I was thinking we could start a little closer than that," Dawn said.

Ash realized something. "Hey, isn't that where –"

"Exactly!" Brock interrupted. "Samantha lives there, remember?!"

"Oh yeah," Dawn remembered, sweatdropping. "But Brock, we can make our way there as we –"

"No, we can't!" Brock cut off again. "We have to go now!" People began staring at the lovesick teen and his mortified friends as well as their nervous pokémon.

Now Ash was sweatdropping as well. The more people staring at them, he feared, the greater the chance of his "true identity" being found out.

"Brock," he pleaded, "calm down!" He looked at the now-very annoyed Dawn. "Maybe we should just humor him this time?"

Dawn huffed and rolled her eyes. "…fine."

"Alright!" Brock cheered, and tore off for the hill. Dawn sighed while Ash laughed as they walked after him.

"Where's Croagunk when you need it?" she muttered as she stared at it. The poison pokémon, wearing a tuxedo costume, was listlessly following the group, in a world of its own.

"Maybe it's got a crush on Samantha too?" Ash, donning his "girl voice" again, suggested with a grin.

Dawn's spirits lifted as she laughed herself. "Oh, boy." She shook her head in amazement. "Brock was right – this is gonna be an interesting night…"


"So this is Samantha's house…" Brock murmured as Ash, Dawn, and the pokémon caught up to him and two-story house he stood in front of.

Like all the other houses they had passed on their way here, this one was heavily decorated for the holiday. Samantha and her father seemed to like Psyducks even more than Ash and Dawn realized, as an oversized, inflatable one, lit-up from the inside and wearing a witch outfit, sat on the patch of grass in front of the house, just to the side of a few steps leading up to the porch. Said steps as well as the porch railing were lined with small, but detailed and alternating Psyducks and pumpkins. On the porch was a solitary bench, with another inflated Psyduck – this time dressed as a vampire – sitting in it. Glittering orange lights and confetti-covered cobweb, spread over the windows and door, completed the scene.

"Pika!"

Ash jumped slightly as Pikachu, dressed as a pirate, took off from beside him to climb onto the bench. Reaching through faux cobweb and bat pokémon confetti, it pressed its paw against the button to ring the doorbell. The resulting tone was clearly audible to the trick-or-treaters as it echoed through the house, and the clicking of footsteps inside quickly grew louder and louder as one of the house's inhabitants approached the door.

"Trick-or-treat!" Ash, Dawn, and Brock cried, with their pokémon joining in, as the door to Samantha and her father's house opened. Warm air and the faint scent of cinnamon wafted outside as the redheaded girl looked out and noticed them, their hands gripping open bags in anticipation of free - and possibly new and exciting - candy.

Samantha, clad in a witch's outfit and holding a large, pokeball-esque bowl of candy, grinned at the gang.

"You all look so cute! Here," she said, bringing her candy bowl towards them, "pick two pieces."

"Oooh!" Dawn squealed.

"Wow, awesome!" Ash cried, barely maintaining his feminine voice.

The trainers and their pokémon took a closer look inside the bowl, and proceeded to spend the next few moments hemming and hawing over which pieces to pick. There were so many to choose from - gummy pokeballs, badge-shaped pretzels, as well as small, assorted chocolate bars.

"Thanks for everything, Samantha" Brock added with a grateful smile, as the trainers and their pokémon slowly picked out their candy.

"My pleasure, Brock!" Samantha replied with a smile. She hesitated to utter her next words, clearing her throat and lowering her voice before she did so. "Um, Brock?"

"Yeah?" Brock perked up at her change in tone and stepped closer to her, as his companions obliviously continued to decide over their candy.

"I was wondering…" she turned her head and leaned in even closer to him, so that he could feel her breath on his ear. She looked over him quickly, with a twinkle in her eye, before finishing her sentence. "…would you like to come inside and…talk some more?"

Brock's cheeks burned up as he gasped loudly, snapping his friends out of their sugary daze. Samantha sweatdropped.

"I…I would love to…!" Brock cried out as tears of joy poured down his cheeks.

"Huh…?" Ash uttered as he tilted his head in confusion, as did many of the pokémon watching.

Dawn, her hands on her hips, huffed exasperatedly. "Boy, when I said he might meet some girls, I didn't think they'd actually like him back!"

"Um, guys," Brock said to his friends as he turned around, "you can go on ahead without me. I'll meet you later at the Pokémon Center." He grinned giddily as he turned back to Samantha. "Much later!"

Samantha, still smiling, sweatdropped more as a blush spread over her face. Looking past Brock to his companions, she reassured them. "Don't worry, guys, we're just gonna get to know each other a little better. You can come in too, if you'd like…" She didn't sound as enthusiastic when uttering the last few words.

"No thanks, Samantha," Dawn replied. "We're gonna continue what we came here to do!" Her last sentence was clearly meant for her lovestruck older companion, but it was too late for him, as he quickly grabbed the candy bowl, set it on the ground, and took Samantha's hands in his own and led them inside.

Samantha quickly turned her head back to face Ash, Dawn, and the pokémon. "Have a nice night, guys! And sorry about this!" she quickly said before Brock slammed the door shut, her tone of voice more excited than apologetic.

Dawn sighed defeatedly as her shoulders slumped. The pokémon chattered among themselves as Ash scratched his head, dropping his girl voice again. "Wonder what's so important that they had to talk about it right now…"

"I don't know…" Dawn replied gloomily. "Croagunk," she started, turning to Brock's main pokémon, "why didn't you –"

She paused when she noticed the poison pokémon's expression. Like Dawn, its shoulders were slumped, but it had an unusual look in its eyes. Almost as if it were about to…

"Croagunk? Are you okay?" A surprised Dawn asked the tearful pokémon gently.

"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Ash thought outloud with a sweatdrop.

"Pika," his first pokemon agreed, amused.

"Bun, bun," Buneary, dressed as a princess, urged as it held Pikachu's hand and gently began to drag the latter towards the other houses.

"Buizel! Bui…" Buizel, dressed a ninja, said as it ran to Dawn and Croagunk, comforting the latter. Croagunk seemed to brighten as its orange friend gestured to all the houses below, and the group's candy.

"Happeenee! Hap, hap." Happini, dressed as a pumpkin, added, skipping over to Croagunk as well, patting it supportively.

Ash and Dawn smiled and looked at each other, touched by their pokemon's comrarderie.

Pachirisu, however, was growing increasingly fidgety by the second. The squirrel pokémon, itself dressed as a large candy bar and finally completely fed up, took off down the hill with a loud, "chipaaaah!"

"Ahhh! Pachirisu!" Dawn cried, mortified, as Ash and the remaining pokémon gasped.

"Heh heh, guess that's our cue to go too," Ash replied with a smile.

Dawn looked at Ash and lightened up, chuckling. "Seems like it…"

The two of them and the pokémon collected their bags (including the overexcited Pachirisu's) and made their way down the hill to continue trick-or-treating.


"Ash, wait!" Dawn called, her breaths slightly ragged as she chased him. Her candy holder, barely filled and holding her wand, swung haphazardly. Her, Ash's, and Brock's pokémon, their little candy also in tow, likewise trailed her at various distances, piquing the interests of more than a few trick-or-treaters as they passed by and narrowly avoided collisions.

"Pikaaaa! Pikapiiii!" Pikachu cried to its trainer.

"Piiiipluup!"

"BUI-!"

Dawn and the pokémon screeched to a halt when they noticed that Ash had stopped running and was lingering at the entrance of the one place in the town apparently not lit up with blinding decorations – a dark, dingy alley.

"Ash…" Dawn weakly said as she approached her friend, his back turned to her and the pokémon.

Dawn placed her free hand on Ash's shoulder, gently shifting him towards her. Ash's fatigue was clearly visible, as he slightly squinted his bloodshot eyes and his makeup and hairdo were coming apart.

Ash sighed, slumping his shoulders and looking despondently at the ground.

"What's the point? I've tried to be cheerful this whole time, and all I've gotten is a ton of teasing and a handful of candy."

Dawn sweatdropped and sighed as well, taking her hand off Ash's shoulder. "Yeah…"

Besides Samantha and her father, the citizens of Booville hadn't been as friendly as she had imagined they would be. Half of them managed to figure out Ash's real gender, and were consequently too shocked or disgusted to bother with giving anyone in the group any candy. The other half apparently preferred younger trick-or-treaters. Though Ash and Dawn were by no means old, they seemed to exceed some maximum age limit in the candygivers' minds so as to deserve only single pieces of the smallest, oldest-looking reject candy pieces from Halloweens before.

All this eventually led to Pachirisu and Happiny breaking away in an attempt to collect candy on their own. But, like many of their schemes, the baby pokémon wound up causing even more problems. Dawn figured the damage they caused each time before scurrying away totaled a few hundred dollars.

A distant squeal of excitement, rising from amidst the rest of the hubbub, brought the young coordinator back to the present, and she shook her head to clear out the recent memories.

"Ash," she repeated determinably, balling her free hand up, "surely not everyone in this town can be so weird about giving out candy! Please…"

Her eyes shone with hope as she peered down to meet with Ash's.

"…Let's just try one more time? I promise, if we don't get candy, we'll go back to our room and try to forget this ever happened. And you can even have all my candy!" She smiled weakly at her last statement.

Ash slowly lifted his head and considered the proposition. After a few moments, he made his choice.

"…okay."

"Great!" Dawn replied with a wide grin, as she and her friends' pokémon cheered. She knew he couldn't resist candy, no matter the lengths he had to go to get it.

"But where do we go?" Ash asked unenthusiastically. "It feels like we've gone through the whole town already…"

"Hmm…" Dawn placed the same free hand on her waist as she thought. She suddenly gasped and snapped her fingers.

"I know!"

She grabbed Ash's hand and led him, pokémon following, through the town, until they reached another alley. Unlike the last one, however, this one was covered by tarp and completely outfitted for the holiday, with decorations adorning furniture and everything else in the area.

"I remember passing this on the way to Samantha's house!" she explained upon arrival.

She, Ash, and the pokémon facefaulted, however, when they realized that all the people sitting in the well-lit, cozy-looking alley – all elderly – had fallen asleep. All, Ash realized, except for one couple and their pet Meowth. The trio sat, clearly awake, alternatively checking their candy bowl, talking to each other, and peering around, jerking back in surprise and hurrying to ready their candy when their eyes met with Ash's.

A smile spread across Ash's face as he pointed at the trio.

"There's candy!"

The group darted to the elderly couple's stand, eagerly holding up their candy holders and crying out, "trick-or-treat!" before they had even reached said stand.

"My, my!" the elderly woman of the trio sweetly chirped, grinning widely. "Such wonderful costumes!"

"Thanks!" Ash and Dawn replied.

The elderly woman turned to her husband. "Honey, why don't we give them some of our best candy?"

The elderly man and the couple's pet Meowth looked at each other, then their female companion, in puzzlement.

"Uhhh, 'H-Honey?'" the elderly man inquired. "T-there's no one named Honey here, dear…"

A vein rose to the top of the still-smiling elderly woman's forehead, just out of sight of the younger trainers and their pokémon. She gritted her teeth and lowered her voice so that it was audible only to her companions.

"Just. Give. Them. Some. Candy!" she growled.

Panicked looks and sweatdrops crossed the old man and Meowth's faces as they gasped and scrambled to grab large, multicolored handfuls of sweets and, with nervous chuckles, plopped them in the eager trainers' and pokémon's bags.

"Here ya go!" the old man chirped, his voice breaking to a more youthful pitch.

"Dat's – hack – Meowth!" the cat pokémon added.

No one seemed to notice the slip-ups, as Ash, Dawn and the pokémon momentarily sifted through their candy in amazement.

"Wow, this is awesome!" Ash exclaimed, forgetting his girl-ish voice.

"Yeah! Just look at the variety!" Dawn agreed. Their pokémon chirped and cried happily, agreeing as well.

"It's our own recipe!" The old woman cheerfully exclaimed, her voice and appearance back to normal. "But it goes bad quickly, so make sure you eat it all tonight!"

"Wow, that soon…?" Dawn asked, somewhat suspicious.

"Who cares?!" Ash cut in, the troubles of the past few hours forgotten. "I'm eating all this as soon as we get back to the Pokémon Center!"

Dawn sweatdropped as her face scrunched up in nervousness. "Er, Ash…"

"That's the spirit, Boy!" the old man cut in, ignoring Dawn and patting Ash on the back.

"Yeah!" The old woman joined in. "Don't worry, Little Girl," she added, turning to Dawn, "you have nothing to fear from us! We just want to give all you trick-or-treaters something special to remember!"

Dawn grit her teeth slightly at being called a little girl, but brushed her annoyance and suspicions away as she glanced at Ash and the pokémon, whose jubilation was rapidly becoming more apparent.

She sighed softly and smiled at the couple. "Well, thank you very much for all this!"

"You're very welcome, dear!" The old woman replied with a wide grin and a hint of relief in her voice.

"We hope you like it!" the old man added, his grin equally wide.

"Oh, we will!" Ash assured. "Bye!" he added, rushing off past his companions and the sleeping seniors to the nearest house, his enthusiasm reawakened in anticipation of even more candy.

Dawn and the pokémon sweatdropped, both in amusement as well as embarrassment. Chuckling, she turned back to the elderly couple.

"Happy Halloween!" she wished. "Hope you all have a great night!"

With those words, she took off after Ash, the pokémon following.

"Hope you all have a great night too!" the old woman called, her reply barely reaching Dawn's ears.

Once the young trainer and the pokémon finally disappeared from sight, the couple and their Meowth slowly, cautiously peered at each other, then exploded into triumphant giggles.

"We'll definitively be having a great night, dat's fer shore!" Meowth said, his mirth giving way to cackles.

"Oh, if only it was this easy every time!" Jessie cried, sneering.

"And the hardest work is done!" James added. "Now all we have to do is wait…!" He trailed off, rubbing his hands in eager anticipation.

"Mm-hmm!" his companions replied. The three criminals punctuated the event with another gleeful laugh that echoed into the night, this time unhindered by any other potential witnesses.


Things began to look up for Ash and the gang as well. Almost as if a switch had been flipped upon receiving candy from the kindly old couple and their pet Meowth, every house the trainers and their pokémon visited afterward gave out generous amounts of delicious candy, and cooed and awed over everyone's costumes – including Ash's. The next couple of hours flew by as the group, unaware of the nefarious plans being put into action, was finally able to truly enjoy trick-or-treating.