[[Results] Spooky Tales Writing Contest]

Wow, I'm honored to have won and I hope everyone enjoyed my story! I know I had a lot of fun writing it, and I definitely loved reading the submissions of the other entrants. I haven't written anything creatively in several years, so it was great to get to exercise those creative muscles again. It's super flattering to get a warm reception and positive analysis by @Gilan toward my writing. Shoutouts to the other users who submitted awesome stories, as well as the other mods who hosted and judged the event. I would love to participate in more PokeMMO based stories as well as give others a chance to win. ^^

 

Christmas writing event when? :P

 

[Well Met :D]

Glad to hear you got the issue resolved. Let us know how you like the game!

 

It definitely hasn't consumed countless hours of my life or anything. :P

[[Writing Contest] Spooky Tales (31st October)]

Hi all, please see my PokeMMO story submission in the spoiler text. It's inspired by Drifloon's Pokedex entires, which I've always found fascinating: "It tugs on the hands of children to steal them away. However, it gets pulled around instead. These Pokémon are called the 'Signpost for Wandering Spirits.' Children holding them sometimes vanish." The story includes a few PokeMMO references that I thought some of the more seasoned players might appreciate. Hope you enjoy!

 

IGN: Renola | Title: Drifting Away  | Word count: 1494

 

Spoiler

It began like any other day in PokeMMO at the Daycare in Route 3 of Unova. As usual, a sea of player characters were swarming the Old Man. Disappointed mumbles could be heard as trainers realized the baby Pokemon they hatched just weren’t Jolly or Timid enough for their liking. Other trainers were literally throwing money at the Old Man, demanding that their Pokemon egg be a female. I nodded at the Old Man and gestured to my two Mienshao, revealing I was only here for the same reason as everyone else.

 

As the Old Man led my two Mienshao behind the building, I couldn’t help but notice the faint laughter of children in the distance. That’s right, I remembered, the children’s school was directly adjacent to the Daycare.

 

 “Hey Wendy, I bet you can’t catch me!” Doyle, one of the preschoolers, yelled.

 

“The only thing I’ll catch from you is cooties!” young Wendy shouted, tumbling over as Nursery Aide Autumn rushed to her help.

 

I smirked to myself, recalling memories of myself being that young and starting my first Pokemon adventure. However, my thoughts were interrupted by the Old Man returning:

 

“Your two Mienshao magically disappeared forever, but left us with this egg. We don’t know how it got there!” he exclaimed as if I hadn’t heard this story from him a thousand times already. “You do want this egg, yes?”

 

“YES” I said, carefully accepting the egg into my hands. This same process continued for a few hours, until the sun began to set as the children went home and the player characters dispersed. Although it was getting dark, I continued to aimlessly ride my bike back and forth throughout the playground to encourage my new baby Mienfoo to hatch. “Whatever happens, I just want this Mienfoo to be happy and healthy. And preferably Alert to Sounds,” I whispered to the egg lovingly.

 

I was admiring the beauty of the moon shining down upon the playground when my thoughts were interrupted by a voice:

 

“Hey!” the shrill voice screamed.

 

I jumped back a little in surprise and felt my heart began to race. Someone had come to hurt me or my baby Mienfoo on this unimposing night! I gulped and quickly grabbed my things, beginning to bike away.

 

“Hey, mister! HEY!” the voice boomed from right behind me. I let out a small shriek and turned around, prepared to face my worst nightmare. The shadowed figure behind me opened its mouth:

 

“Hey, mister. Have you seen my Pokeball? I think I dropped it when I fell over earlier.” 

 

I immediately realized my mistake. The mysterious assailant was merely Wendy, the preschooler I saw this afternoon. Laughing out of embarrassment, I told the young girl that I noticed a Pokeball on the ground by the slide. She thanked me and began darting towards it. All was well, but I couldn’t help but feel like something was still amiss.

 

In my peripheral vision, I glimpsed at a floating blob far off in the distance. Its eyes were shining in the darkness, clearly watching me and Wendy. After my first scare, I assumed it was a cute little Pokemon that might have been lost, so I began approaching it. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be a purple balloon Pokemon with beaded eyes. 

 

Wait, is that a Drifloon? I’d maybe seen a couple of Drifblim in my life at the Giant Chasm, but a Drifloon was unheard of in somewhere like this because they’re normally native to Sinnoh. I knew had to catch it, since it would surely sell for millions on the Global Trade Link! Unfortunately, I reached into my bag and realized that I’d left most of my team in the PC.

 

While I was deliberating what to do, I saw Preschooler Wendy accidentally kick her Pokeball off into the distance, directly towards the Drifloon. She ran toward the Pokemon and looked up, smiling at the Drifloon's cute outward appearance. It warmed my heart to see how adorable the girl and the harmless Pokemon looked together. 

 

After the two played together for a little bit, Wendy bowed to the Drifloon and said, “Sorry, I have to get going now, but it was really fun to play with you!” The expressionless Drifloon, unphased by her comment, beckoned for her to come closer. Trustingly, Wendy grasped the “hands” of the Drifloon with her own. Suddenly, it tugged for her to follow, and the Drifloon and Wendy disappeared around the corner at a rapid pace.

 

I realized what was happening and began shouting Wendy’s name. Without thinking, I hopped off my bike and bolted after them. However, I wasn’t paying attention and smacked right into the bars on the jungle gym, slamming into the ground as everything went black.

 

By the time I had awoken, I could tell it was morning again. A crowd of player characters were behind me, cheering at something in the distance. As soon as the grogginess faded, I remembered that Wendy had been kidnapped and jumped up. My bicycle and bag were missing, and the only possession I had on me was a Pokeball that contained the newly hatched Mienfoo. I bolted toward the crowd and grabbed the shoulder of one of the players with silver hair:

 

“Hey, could you tell me what’s going on? Have you seen a little girl and a Drifloon?!” I yelled urgently.

 

“Of course I have. There are Drifloon all over, and they’ve come to take us to the Sinnoh region! Platinum confirmed!” the silver-haired player proclaimed.

 

“W-What?” I  stuttered in a confused daze, finally letting my eyes focus on what the crowd had been enamored with. Throughout the playground and in the sky, there had to be at least 99 purple Drifloon floating around. One of the Drifloon floated down and gestured to the silver-haired player character I had been speaking with. Unhesitatingly, the player put his hand on the Drifloon as it guided him away, whispering sweet nothings about the OP Garchomp he’ll have in Sinnoh.

 

The only Pokemon I had on me was the baby Mienfoo, but I had to do something. I chucked my Pokeball toward the Drifloon, and the Mienfoo emerged. I ordered Mienfoo to use Hi Jump Kick, but it kept going and crashed right through the ghost-type. One by one, the player characters grabbed onto the Drifloon and were led away, foolishly believing that they were actually being taken to Sinnoh. I kicked and screamed against my inevitable fate, but a horde of five Drifloon circled me and lifted my body into the air. One of the Drifloon cast Hypnosis on me and I quickly felt reality slip away into nothingness.

 

Upon awakening, I found myself and dozens of other player characters strapped to chairs in a building. I looked around and realized I recognized this place: It was Fennel’s dream lab in Striation City. However, the room was pitch black and Fennel was absent. I quickly realized that it was futile to attempt to escape the chair, so I stopped struggling and accepted my fate. I heard Preschooler Wendy sobbing silently in the distance and player characters panicking because even their Logoff button wasn’t working. I put my head down and waited for what seemed like hours until the time finally came:

 

“Welcome. I hope you’ve enjoyed your last moments of consciousness,” a deep voice bellowed. A large, pitch-black figure materialized from the wall in front of us. It was Darkrai. I would have been excited to see a mythical Pokemon for the first time, but I felt nothing but sorrow and misery after realizing Darkrai’s intentions. 

 

“I have to thank the Drifloon for luring all of you here, but unfortunately, we’re not going to Sinnoh today,” Darkrai began, “but you trainers are going on a journey.” Darkrai paused for a moment, basking in the fear of impending doom displayed in the faces of the trainers. “You will be going to the Dream World, though. More specifically, the Bad Dreams World. Your eternal nightmares will provide me with tremendous amounts of energy that feeds from your suffering. Your body will become an empty shell, and your mind will be an inescapable prison of torture and torment.”

 

I couldn’t believe this was going to happen to myself and the other trainers, all because we let a cute little Drifloon lead us away. My last moments of consciousness forever ceased as a Dark Void cascaded out of Darkrai and cloaked me in an eternal darkness.

 

At first, all was black. Quiet. Even peaceful. Then, the screams started. I could make out countless Drifblim, Dusknoir, and Misgmagius glaring at me through the darkness. They glided towards me and began their assault. I screamed in anguish as they pierced my flesh and devoured my skin. Sobs of pain and agony escaped from me while choking upon my own blood. The laughing, mocking cries of Drifloon could be heard echoing in the distance.