Ghost Trick (Plotting and Infopost)!

[indigo_league]

PART ONE – FESTIVAL

WHEN? WHERE?

Ecruteak City and Lavender Town are both holding simultaneous festivals to honor the dead from August 13th-August 15th!

WHY?

O-bon is a Japanese Buddhist festival meant to honor and alleviate the suffering of one’s ancestors. Here in the PokéWorld, this can apply to Pokémon as well as other people you’ve cared about who have passed from your life.
Also, it’s a festival. Who doesn’t like festivals?

I’M JUST A POOR BOY, NOBODY LOVES ME. HOW CAN I GET THERE IF I DON’T HAVE FLY/HAVEN’T BEEN THERE AND CAN’T USE THE CENTER WARP PADS?

The festival organizers are providing rapid transportation to and from the festival for P1000 one-way, or P1500 round-trip. Hurray!

ONCE I’M THERE, WHAT NEAT STUFF CAN I DO?

The streets are lined with NPC-run stalls for food, games, and the assorted tchotchkes of every summer festival you’ve ever seen in your animes! There’s Goldeen Scoop, heaping cones of Swirlix Candy, Test Your STRENGTH (there are two different machines for people and Pokémon; HM04 not required); basically, if you can think of it, it’s there. There will also be a yukata rental stall if you want to go full hog on the cultural side of things. Ecruteak boasts a small stage where the Kimono Girls give a short performance once every two hours; the festivities in Lavender Town are a little quieter, but they also have Haunter-shaped ice cream treats. When you lick them, they Lick you!
On the last evening (August 15th) of the festival in either location, there will be a large bonfire and traditional bon-odori dance in which everyone is welcome to participate. In Lavender Town only, they also set paper lamps afloat in the water past the cliffs.

WHAT WILD Pokémon CAN I CATCH?

Besides the Pokémon that are normally available in each location, you may find wild Gastly, Haunter (rare), Duskull, Yamask, Shuppet, Litwick (rare), Phantump (uncommon), Pumpkaboo (any size; uncommon), Darumaka (uncommon), and Goldeen (only at Goldeen Scoop). Ghost Pokémon sightings increase as the days approach the evening of August 15th, though never to Swarm levels of activity.
These Pokémon will be between levels 10-15.

PART TWO – WHEN THERE’S SOMETHING STRANGE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD…

WHAT, WHAT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Sooo remember how we said the Ghost-type Pokémon will gather in greater numbers as the festival goes on? All this ancestor business has given them…ideas.
At the stroke of midnight after the big bonfire/lantern-floating, some trainers will find themselves haunted by literal ghosts of their pasts. DUN DUN DUNNN.

WHEN? WHERE?

August 16th-19th, e v e r y w h e r e. This part of the event is not restricted to Ecruteak and Lavender Town. It can affect anyone, anywhere in either region.

SO WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HAUNTED?

Remember “The Ghost of Maiden’s Peak”? Well, some of the Gastly, Duskull, and Yamask seem to have gotten it into their heads that this kind of tomfoolery is somehow good medicine. If your trainer had someone in their life, someone now dead, that they have unresolved business with, these ghosties may take it upon themselves to play a little dress-up and follow your trainer around in the guise of said dead person until the issue is resolved. It’s their way of saying thank you for all the spiritual appeasement of the festival.
These ghosts won’t speak; Pokémon don’t talk, after all. So yes, your trainer is going to be followed around by some silent echo of their past who will not leave them alone.

YOU’VE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME.

They’re doing their best! Nobody sent them to Ghost Psychology School for Ghost Psychologists! It seemed like a good idea at the time!

WHO CAN I PICK AS GHOSTS? CAN I HAVE MORE THAN ONE?

You can only have one ghost haunting you for this event, but it can be anyone your character has seen personally (so if your character is a soldier and they accidentally killed a little civilian girl or something and that haunts them, you can totally pick that little girl, even if they didn’t know her personally). The ghost doesn’t have to be a person; it can be a pet or an alien enemy or a tree or whatever, but you are limited to one and your character has to have seen it so the Pokémon can use that memory.
Whoever or whatever your ghost happens to be, friend, enemy, or other, it should be something that the Pokémon thinks will be helpful to your character should they have a conversation with it. They’re not here to freak your character out, they’re honestly trying to assist.

WHO CAN SEE THE GHOSTS?

Everyone. This isn’t a ooh-it’s-haunting-me-and-only-I-can-see-it deal; friends, enemies, Pokémon, everyone will see who or what it is that’s haunting you.

ARE THEY DANGEROUS? WILL THEY ATTACK? CAN WE ATTACK?

They’re not belligerent, no. Remember, they’re not trying to hurt anyone, they’re just trying to help y’all out! However, they are Ghost-types, and the longer they hang around your trainer, the more energy they may take without really meaning to; so besides the emotional toll this haunting may take on your character, they may start feeling really lethargic on top of it.
Humans won’t be able to hit the ghosts, and Pokémon who try won’t be able to unless your trainer has a Silph Scope and can identify what Pokémon is haunting them. Battling the Pokémon in this way and driving it off is one way to resolve the issue.

THERE’S ANOTHER WAY?

Yeah, talking to it! If your character manages to address whatever it is that’s been burdening them about this person’s memory, the ghost will decide it’s performed a valuable service and drop the act! Your character can then catch it if they want or send it on its way.

CAN ANOTHER CHARACTER HELP MINE?

Yes, of course! If another character gives the ghost a stern talking-to on your character’s behalf, the ghost might realize they done hecked up and let go of the illusion, all, sorry, my bad. Another character can also talk your character through whatever it is they need closure on, or offer moral support, or whatever. Other characters can see and interact with the ghosts, is what I’m saying! Use that to your advantage.

ARE THERE BENEFITS TO SHAKING OFF THE GHOST?

Besides catharsis and closure if they face their demons, and also getting the Pokémon to stop leeching their energy? Heck yes! Event participants (whether or not they succeed in fending off the ghost!) will find an egg containing a shiny Pokémon of their choice on the morning of the 20th.

WHAT IF MY CHARACTER WANTS TO KEEP THE GHOST OF THEIR DEAD LOVED ONE AROUND?

Ummm, then they may need grief counseling and learn how to let go? But they don’t HAVE to drive off the ghost, of course. The ghost-illusions will dissolve at dawn on the morning of the 20th, but your character is welcome to catch the Pokémon who did the haunting and try to convince them to do it again. You know. Because that’s healthy.

CAN I OPT OUT OF THIS BUSINESS ENTIRELY?

Absolutely. No ghost has to spot your character or think it needs to haunt them.

I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION!

Sock it to us in the comment below!

Comments

[wing_attack]

... Where does one actually get a Silph Scope?

[indigo_league]

You can get them in Saffron City with relative ease, so the Lavender Town people will certainly have an easier time getting them than the Ecruteak people, who will instead have to place an order for one through Silph Co's delivery service for the low, low price of P5000!

Unfortunately, placing an order for one on the 16th doesn't necessarily mean you'll get it before the 19th unless you pay for expedited shipping~

[faintwaves]

So for those of us with reading comprehension troubles, is this to say that people who aren't haunted themselves but directly help people who are haunted with their ghosts are considered event participants and thus receivers of a shiny egg too?

[indigo_league]

That's correct! Participation in this event in any form will grant you the egg, even if your character doesn't have a ghost show up for themselves!

[usedflareblitz]

TWO QUESTIONS

1) you said ghosts can't be hit or attacked but what about ghost hugs. Yang needs to hug Ghost Mom if at all possible.

2) what about other players using alternate accounts to play the ghosts for another player? like, not against other people unless it's with permission, but at least for one-on-one scenes(e.g.: I ask one of my friends to tag Yang on a closed thread and they have an account for the ghost while I continue to play my character)

[indigo_league]

Absolutely fine on both fronts; just bear in mind that the ghost isn't capable of speech, so make sure whoever's playing your ghost is aware of this! Also, if possible, try to have a line in your post that says, like, "Ghost will be played by (ghost's username here)", just for our reference!! Otherwise, that's fair game!

[thedifferencebetween]

Can the ghost's appearance shift, any? Like say portray the deceased person from different points in their life/in different clothing, or will it stay the same the whole time?

And if so, does the deceased person have to look the same way/age as when they died, or can it be how the character most remembers them?

[indigo_league]

The ghost can only take one form at a time; however, that form doesn't have to be as the deceased person looked as they died, though that's certainly up to your discretion! Bear in mind, though, that the ghosts are trying to help, and not traumatize your character, so they certainly won't take the form of, like, someone who's been cut in half in a freak accident or something (unless they appear as they did before the bisection!!)

Long story short, they won't be looking gory or unnecessarily horrifying beyond, y'know, having a dead person's appearance, but anything past that is totally at your discretion!

[thedifferencebetween]

Awesome, thank you! I was thinking about ages, since Jack's ghost died when she was basically an adult, but his own mental image of her is as a little girl.

[captainash]

Can people see the ghost of someone they only sincerely believe to be dead? Or someone who did die but later returned to life without their knowledge, because apparently goddesses of harmony can do that?

[indigo_league]

If your character thinks that the person in question is dead, it's fair game, as far as the ghosts are concerned!

[usedgravity]

Sooooo... what if, short of completely making up a dead family member with completely made up issues, your character known/met zero people who (to their/our knowledge) have died? Is there any way to participate/get an egg?

[indigo_league]

Absolutely!! If your character participates in a thread with another character who has interacted/is interacting with a ghost, whether they themselves are being haunted or not, that counts as participation as far as we're concerned and therefore is totally grounds for getting an egg!!

[usedgravity]

Oh, cool! Thanks for the answer!

[indigo_league]

Happy to help! Have fun and pick out a cute shiny!!

[11121_assumption]

So in the game Walter has a younger version of himself that appears, representing his innocence, along with his adult self since he was a ghost himself. Would it be okay to that ghost appear or does it need to be a person rather than a reflection of himself?