Gotta Spook 'Em All! (Spooky Drabble Prompt List)

[Flyg0n]

Bewear the Spooky Season!
​

As of today, October 18th, 13 days remain until the eve of Halloween! The pokemon world is filled with mysteries and eerie, inexplicable occurences. It's full of ghosts and ghouls and spirits and haunts (and a few cosmic horrors too!). To have some fun with the spooky spirit, I figured I'd compile a quick list of some prompts themed around these things. Not all of them are pure horror, some may simply be mysterious or creepy, or interpreted in scary ways, or centered around unsettling places or things.

After all, the true scariest and most terrifying thing of all is.... actually writing (and posting!).

So I created a handy little spinner wheel here of the prompts. I'll spin daily for a prompt but if the daily one isn't your speed, you are not required to use it! Pick one from the list or spin the wheel on your own if you prefer something more random. I will include the full list of prompts below.

This is a for fun chance to share short snippets of spooky writing and stretch the writing muscles. While you are not forced or required to make your work inherently scary, it is encouraged to have some fun trying something in that realm! That said you are always free to take the prompt in whichever way you like. You can put a twist or even have it end happily, or whatever floats your gogoat. Remember, fear and horror can also take many different forms. Supernatural, creature, thriller, body horror, slasher, cosmic and all sorts!

If you want an extra scary challenge, try timing yourself or sticking to a strict 100 word limit or other wordcount. When you are done, feel free to share your work or give someone else a positively spooky nice comment (no concrit, unless requested)! Remember to tag and cw/tw appropiately.

So just remember:
- Tag your work
- This is for fun, no judging yourself or others ;)
- You can pick any prompt you want
- Please feel free to share
- Write as much as you are inspired to!
- Challenging yourself is optional
- Have fun! ....Or else >:}

Note: A '/' indicates a related concept while parentheses denote the location or source. If you're unfamiliar, I highly encourage reading Bulbapedia, as there's a few obscure things in here and elements from different canons! You might discover something new! I may periodically add to the list if something particularly good comes to mind.

Spoiler: Prompt list

- {Dealers choice/Pick a Ghost pokemon}
- Lost in the forest/Phantump
- The spirits burned up in its ominous flame lose their way and wander this world forever (Chandelure)
- Lavender Town
- Lumiose Ghost Girl
- Abandoned Thrifty Megamart
- Under Mimkyu's Outfit
- Old Chateau
- Deserted Beach/Palossand
- Ninetales Curse
- Trapped/Spirit World/No one can see you
- Rotom/Possessed
- Cubone's Mother/Haunted by ancestors
- Strange House (Kalos)
- Odd Keystone
- Ghost of Maiden's Peak
- Silph Scope/Seeing beyond the veil
- New Moon Island/Nightmare
- Turnback Cave/Reverse World
- Eternal Floette/Eternal Life/Light of Ruin
- Ultimate Weapon/Trapped forever
- Chamber of Emptiness (Kalos)
- Trapped in a Pokeball
- Time Frozen Future (PMD:EoS)
- Voidlands (PSMD)
- Dark Matter (PSMD)
- Fugitives/Did No Wrong/Hunted
- Sea Mauville/Used for fuel
- Ultra Ruin; destroyed futuristic Hau'oli City from another dimension
- Yveltal Awakens/Chased by Death
- From boy to Kadabra
- Carried by Drifloon
- Curse/'???' type
- Mt Pyre/Laid to rest...?
- Entombed/Cofragigus
- Abandoned Playground/Scary House (Kalos Route 14)
- Mystery at the Lighthouse (Anime)
- Confuse Ray/Mind Playing Tricks
- Ghoul Daze/Portal to Hell (Anime)
- Vanishing Figures/Marvellous Bridge (Unova)
- Bewear Hug/Innocence
- Ditto/Perfect Copy/"That wasn't a human" (Alola Route 9 Police Station)
- Ruins of Alph/Unown Power
- Space-Time Distortion (PLA)
- Desert Spirit/Lured by Song/Flygon
- Spite Reborn/Hisuin Zoroark/Stalked through the snow
- Golbat/Bloodsucker/Avoid the night
- Empty Pokemon Center/Where did everyone go?
- Shadow Pokemon/Dark Rage/No heart
- Puppeted/Calryex

 

[Flyg0n]

Today's daily pick is....



The Chamber of Emptiness, located in Kalos! Just what is this strange location...

Chamber of Emptiness

bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

In Japanese, it is known as the Hollow Room. This strange empty room only holds a Spook Plate and later a Banettite. It is octogonal shaped and its map dexcription reads: "A mysterious void. It is said that nothing can exist within it.". Perhaps a final resting place, a trap, or sacred ground? What do you think?
(As a reminder, you are not obligated to use the daily prompt and can spin the wheel for yourself)

​

 

[Flyg0n]

"Have you heard? Supposedly there's treasure in the cave off Route 22."

Alvin overheard the lilting voice as he roasted an Oran berry over his campfire. Some unseen trainer nearby making conversation, her voice carried by the breeze.

Wasn’t that the forbidden off-limits cave?
-
A dark tunnel before Alvin. An empty room at the end. No treasure. Disappointed, he turned to leave.

Two red eyes and a golden zippered body melted from the darkness.
-
On Route 22, the lilting voice on the breeze carried to another nameless trainer.

"Have you heard? Supposedly there's treasure in the cave off Route 22."

 

[kyeugh]

It was sun one second and apocalyptic downpour the next. The rain comes in a flash upon Route 22, and it comes heavy—the mountains to the west admit no storms, so they must drop their loads completely onto that little green stretch.

It was unusually quiet tonight, and so the trainer was unaccompanied when she ducked into the cave for shelter, breath catching from the bracing cold wet.

She hoped it would pass quickly. She didn't relish the thought of camping in this cave, smothered in the blanket of its eerie, heavy silence. Trepidatiously, she pointed her flashlight into the cave's depths. It seemed to swallow up the light completely, illuminating nothing—though she thought she saw the glint of something precious and pink.

She thought to investigate it, but hesitated. She wasn't superstitious, necessarily, but ghosts were real, and it felt unwise to pilfer something from a cave with such an oppressively sinister ambience...

"Don't worry," came a voice, shrill and girlish but laced with chilling dispassion. "It's only us in here."

 

[Flyg0n]

Oh kyeugh that's verrryyyy good. Nice buildup and fantastic closing line, chills down the spine

 

[Sinderella]

UNDER MIMIKYU’S OUTFIT
(A drabble, because I suck at drabbles :>)​

Odette watched her opponent turn his nose up at Loïc, who’d taken his usual spot at her feet.

“A mimikyu? You really couldn’t do any better than a ghost too scared to come out from under its burlap sack?”

The mouthy trainer was silenced by an unearthly hand shooting out from under Loïc’s cloak. It snaked forward and clawed the ground at his feet, sending shockwaves of malevolence throughout the field.

Odette’s indignant sigh undercut the loud silence that had suddenly shrouded the showdown.

“By the time we’re done here, you’re going to wish he stayed under his burlap sack.”

 

[Flyg0n]

Today's daily spin is...

Empty Pokemon Center/ "Where did everyone go?"

Pokemon Centers in the Pokemon universe are hubs of activity and friendly camaraderie. A place for trainers and travelers to shelter from the world and for the pokemon to rest and heal from a long journey.

But what if you found yourself at a pokemon center completely empty? Or woke up to find everyone at the center gone? Perhaps even something else is afoot....

What do you think?

 

[canisaries]

omg i wrote drabble. its a bit longer than the other ones in this thread but i hope thats fine. content warning for (spoilers) pokémon death. im open to concrit but just reactions are fine too.

---​

This had been a terrible idea.

A trek through a thick forest with a path that was two-thirds mud after the torrent earlier in the day? In the dead of night, with nothing but a tiny flashlight to light her way? Surely she could have just set up camp in that one opening. Her pokémon would have been fine. A little sore, but fine.

No, that wasn’t fair. The welfare of her pokémon came before her own comfort. And that was why she needed to make it to the center. Her pokémon would be healed, and they would all get a nice warm room to rest in.

The thought of how nice that would all be fueled her long enough for her to see the lights of the center in the distance. She pressed on, her boots trudging through the mud and avoiding the odd root that snaked across the path, until the ground became solid and the center was close enough for her to switch off her flashlight and pocket it. From there, it was only twenty or so steps before she reached the automatic doors, which opened for her - though they seemed to jam for a split second. They should fix that.

Having stepped through to the warmth of the center, she could breathe a sigh of relief. Nothing to do now except to check in and heal her pokémon.

She walked up to the counter, which was empty - in fact, the whole center was empty - and pressed the bell button. Its ding echoed through the lobby.

She waited a moment. She waited a bit longer. She waited until she got impatient and rang the bell again.

Waiting didn’t bring anyone to her this time, either.

She was about to ring the bell a third time when she noticed a sign on the counter.

In absence of staff, use self-service machine.

Self-service machine? She hadn’t heard of centers having any self-service machines. Then again, she wasn’t the most avid reader of the news, and the government was known to be lackluster in its communication…

She looked around, and quickly noticed a large sign in the corner of the room hanging over a machine that looked like the one behind the counter with the addition of a sizeable touchscreen. Self-service machine, the sign said.

She walked over to the machine. The touchscreen seemed to show different options. ‘Book room’ and ‘Heal pokémon’ stood out to her. She decided to book a room first.

It was not difficult. The options presented to her as she navigated the application were recognizable as what she wanted. ’Room for one’. ‘Include breakfast’. ‘Confirm’. She paid and got her receipt. Having pocketed it, she tapped on ‘Heal pokémon’. Under ‘Count’ she tapped on the plus button until she was up to four. Then ‘Confirm’.

Please place pokéballs into healing machine in displayed order, the screen said, showing how the four pokéballs should be placed. She took out her pokéballs one by one and placed them according to the pattern.

“Alright, guys,” she said to the balls, “you’re about to be healed. I know it’s weird not to have the center lady do it, but this should really work the same way. Don’t sweat it too much.”

A muffled meow came from one of the balls - Clawrence, her persian. She huffed, amused, and smiled to herself. The others must have been asleep.

She raised her finger again and tapped on the ‘Heal’ button. Please wait, the screen read. Do not remove pokéballs from machine.

The machine itself lit up and began to hum. It was the same kind of hum that the machines behind center counters always made, which made sense. She waited, knowing well that this process usually took about two minutes, and pulled out her phone in the meantime…

The hum began to sputter. She looked up from her phone at the machine whose light was now flickering. The screen read…

Pleas

Do not remove poké

The rest of the text was covered by a multicolored glitch.

Uh. Um. Okay. What did that mean? What was going on?

Then an error dialog popped up.

Error, said the title. Segmentation fault, read the message.

What? What was a segmentation fault?

The error dialog had one button, and it was ‘OK’. She pressed on it. Maybe that would get it to work.

The dialog disappeared, and the screen changed. Healing unsuccessful. Remove pokéballs from machine and inform staff.

Okay…

She gathered the balls from the machine whose light was no longer on and placed them back in her bag. Her heart beat a little louder. Everything was fine, right? She’d just have to wait until morning for someone to arrive so that she could tell them what had happened. And she’d have to explain to her pokémon that it would take a few hours longer for them to get healed. Though probably just Clawrence, if the others were still asleep.

She took Clawrence’s ball into her hand again. “Clawrence, it looks like the healing didn’t work. That means you’re not gonna get healed until tomorrow morning. Sorry.”

Clawrence didn’t respond. Was he sulking?

“Clawrence? You hear me?”

Still nothing. She got a… bad feeling.

He was fine, though, right? A self-service healing machine would never be allowed to cause harm to the pokémon it was used on, right? The lawsuits would cost them a fortune…

She’d feel better when she saw Clawrence’s grumpy little feline face. She extended her arm and pressed the release button. The ball opened and manifested Clawrence onto the floor.

What was left of Clawrence.

---​

 

[Flyg0n]

Today we investigate Confuse Ray! The mind can play all kinds of tricks on one. The move confuse ray is but one way to mess with the brain. What does the move confuse ray do to a pokemon? What about a human? Or perhaps some other force tricks the mind...

 

[Flyg0n]

Spoiler: Content warning/AN

(Cw: blood, implied gore, pokemon death)
Lol oops this got long and out of hand but it was so much fun

By the Pale Moonlight​

“The target is exposed to sinister glowing lights that triggers confusion. Allies are treated as foes."
- Encyclopedia of Pokemon Techniques, Vol II

---

“Are you insane? What are we doing here?”

Lyris grunted, checking one final time over her equipment. Hunting knife, bow and beedrill-tip arrows, ariados weave jacket.

“This is a cursed forest, Lyris,” Riken hissed, his voice tense. His eyes shone white in the full moonlight, and he glanced over his shoulder for what must have been the tenth time in the last thirty seconds.

“You say cursed, I say ‘not suited for cowards’,” Lyris said evenly. She patted the pokeball containing her hunting Blothund, Siv. “Of which we are not,” she said firmly. “Anyways you know how Rangers are. They love to spread all kinds of rumors to protect their precious ecosystem or whatever. Like a couple of hunters are really gonna make that big a difference.”

Riken rubbed his hands on his arms, keeping them folded to his chest. “Or maybe it is cursed and protected by some insanely strong crazed pokemon. What happened to selling good ‘ole fashioned out of season Deerling pelts?” Riken paused and stared at her intently, as if trying to force her to listen.

“Lyris,” he hissed. “Come on. I love a good payout but its kinda hard to spend money if you’re dead. It’s called the Pale God for Celebi’s sake!” His voice raised to a harsh stage whisper.

“Fine,” Lyris said, intentionally louder than necessary. She couldn’t help but smirk slightly at the way her partner in crime flinched. “Stay here and play lookout. I’m going in, Pale God be damned. And we’re splitting 80/20, not 50/50. Got it?”

Huffing, Riken looked away. “Your life.”

-

Lyris stepped lightly through the woods, dancing between the underbrush with silent footfalls. Her wooloo padded boots muffled her steps and her Bolthund padded close to her side. Dark paint smudged his yellow and white pelt, masking his bright coloring. Overhead, dense branches blocked out the moonlight, blanketing everything in near total darkness.

Her heart raced in anticipation of the hunt ahead, and she was already daydreaming about what she could do with her now much larger share of the haul. Moonlit Forest, a patch of dense forest far off route, was considered a ‘protected reserve’. Normally not worth the hassle of sneaking in (Rangers were always so uppity about that), except this particular forest held a rare commodity. Shining pelted mon.

One of her contacts tipped her off to the presence of them in this particular slice of woods. Stantler, Deerling, Noctowl, Pikachu, and even a few Keckleon. All with shining pelts. Species that would go for plenty to the right buyer.

The forest had a reputation of some ‘supposedly’ fearsome Stantler-like pokemon with a pale coat and a size that defined logic and ‘protected’ it, but in her experience, tales tended to have more fiction than fact.

Although if the Pale God is real I’m sure that will sell for quite the pretty penny.

Tucking the thought away with a ghost of a smile, Lyris continued onward, adjusting her sableye-lenses. They had proved more than worth their price tag since they gave her the ability to hunt at night.

-

Deeper and deeper she tread. Damn this forest is huge. She saw plenty of pokemon around, though nothing worth the effort of hunting. Yet. The woods grew thicker.

A movement ahead made her pause and she narrowed her eyes. Behind her, a branch snapped. Siv’s ears swiveled and he turned the same time as she did. Nothing but dark forest. Frowning, Lyris turned around, resting a hand on Siv’s back. A little odd, usually he was keener than she was.

With a shrug she crept onwards.

Was that a flash of something white in the corner of her eye? When she turned to her right, she saw only a copse of white barked trees. Hm.

Just as she turned away, something, something high up moved. Blinking, she shook her head and leaned in, trying to get a look. Everything was still. Beside her, Siv gave a soft rumble. Lyris swallowed, finding it hard to tear her eyes away from the spot. Whatever she’d seen had stood taller than a human.

Lyris suppressed a shiver and forced herself to keep walking deeper into the woods.Nothing in here was supposed to be that big. The biggest thing in here was probably Stantler... her gaze dropped to Siv again, but the Bolthund was focused on the hunt.

A chilling wind swept through the gloom, and everything creaaakked. And then branches and brush somewhere to her left snapped and crashed. Lyris jumped and turned just in time to see a Raticate race away. Brown furred, she mentally noted.

On and on she continued, stepping between the trees and around dense brush, following the path upwards. As she pushed through a particularly thick cluster of trees near the top of a ridge, she came to a place where the trees changed from dark oak and pine to a dense cluster of white birch.

Then the trees moved- branches shifted, a towering cloven hoved pokemon with gnarled antlers- and then a bright glint of something, like moonlight- no brighter, a flash and circles of eerie light. A gigantic pokemon like a Stantler but much much larger, pale furred and looming over her, antlers aglow- Lyris gave a strangled yelp, and pulled her sable-spectacles off, blinking away the glow.

And then covered her mouth as she suppressed a laugh. Moonlight glinted off a couple smooth stones tucked in the trees, while the branches of the trees growing together formed what vaguely resembled some giant pokemon if you squinted at the right angle. Just a trick of the woods.

“So was this their Pale God?” she whispered to Siv, snickering. Nothing at all.

Siv barely acknowledged her and instead let out a sharp noise.

Lyris forgot all about the trick, a grin spreading across her face. A second later, Siv took off through the brush, and Lyris raced after him. This was it. He’d picked up something and all she needed to do was make the final strike.

Siv quickly outpaced her and she lost sight of him for a couple minutes until a loud bark sounded ahead. Breaking around a cluster of thorny bushes, she created the top of a valley. There, down at the bottom, stood a magnificent snowy pelted stantler, just standing there, in a full view, gazing around expectantly.

She’d never even seen one that color before. Was this the Pale God? Her heart raced in anticipation.

Kneeling, Lyris unstrung her bow. Oddly, she didn’t see Siv around, but then maybe he was watching from nearby not to startle the target. Letting out a slow breath, she raised her weapon and peered down the sight, a carefully mounted wide lens. Line up the shot. Exhale, steady...

Release.

The beedrill-tip arrow glinted, sailed its course and thwick! Sunk into Stantler’s chest. A strangled noise like a high bark escaped its mouth, then it collapsed.

A wild grin spread across Lyris’ face and she sprang nimbly down the hill, sliding down to the bottom. Crimson oozed from around the arrow, but that would be easy enough to clear once she took the pelt. The right application of cleansing moves could clear blood away easy enough.

Briefly, she looked up to scan the woods. No sign of Siv but he’d be along soon enough. All she could think about was that beautiful pale pelt, and how much it would sell for. What a magnificent beast. It’d been so worth it to come here tonight... When she looked down, she saw the Stantler (for a split second she thought she caught a splash of yellow on its coat, but that must have been a trick of the light) was still alive, barely. It's eyes shone with confusion and... betrayal? And then it went limp.

Still grinning madly, she drew out her hunting knife, lined the blade up, and began to cut.

-

Outside the forest, two Rangers stood by, while Riken sat scowling on the ground, restrained by one of the Ranger’s Spidops.

Riken could hear them debating how to search the forest as they waited for backup. Once or twice, he heard the word ‘pale’ come up. Lyris could handle herself, he told himself. Plus Siv was a beast of an Bolthund in a fight.

More Rangers showed up, and began breaking off into groups along with search and rescue pokemon, until eventually a sizable crowd formed. The murmur of the crowd picked up as they coordinated. Riken grimaced. Lyris would be in huge trouble if they found her now...

As he stared off into the night, contemplating his own fate, he slowly became aware of a shift in the atmosphere. A ripple of silence falling across the gathered rangers, pokemon tensing and then sharp gasps.

Riken turned and squinted into the darkness and saw a figure emerging from the woods. He blinked. “Lyr-” he started to say to himself, before the words died in his throat. Stunned exclamations of shock passed through the Rangers

Lyris emerged fully from the forest, grinning so wide the moonlight caught on her dark stained teeth. Blood covered her hands all the way up to her arms. She was carrying a pelt, cradling it in her arms, eyes wide and shining unnaturally in the moonlight, glowing the way a confused pokemons did.

“I did it!” Lyris cried, as if completely unaware of the horrified crowd of rangers, her eyes still aglow and empty. She let out a hysterically triumphant laugh, flashing bloody teeth. “I killed the Pale God!”

In her arms lay the bloodied pelt of Siv, her Bolthund.

 

[Flyg0n]

Today's pick is...

The Ultra Ruin
Home to the Guzzlord, UB05-Glutton.
According to research, The Ultra Ruin is a destroyed futuristic Hau'oli City from another dimension. The ruins are situated on top of a toppled skyscraper. Multiple doors and faded signs for a Tourist Bureau, an apparel shop, a malasada shop, and a salon are visible on it, suggesting the city was arranged as a block of flats.

This eerie landscape seems to be a far off future of Alola. Is that what lies in store for the cheery island region? Guzzlord roams these ruins, and it is said a single human remains behind to keep it in check. A lonely existence...

One of many futures, or just one? And what horrors lay in ultra space, waiting to be found...​

 

[System Error]

Sure. Just watch out for anything you'd expect to see in a place like this. Blood, horror, grimness, and all that.

Spoiler: Ninetales Curse

The panting Ninetales stared at the human before her. His eyes went wide and he locked up as dread of the inevitable overtook him. His Pokemon had wounded her, but they had been dealt with. Death was now too good for him. It was time to exact a greater toll.

Heeding her call, the spirits began to gather. A ghastly violet aura enveloped her. Her legs nearly crumpled as the pain of her wounds danced with the pain from this technique, but the desire for vengeance kept her upright.

She focused upon the human’s soul. “For a thousand years, you--”

Before she could finish, a sharp and searing pain shot through her backside reaching to her core. Her vision blurred as strength began to rapidly drain from her body. The Ninetales looked back at her killer. That Pokemon as black as his heart and red as the blood of his many victims. She tried to speak, only to silently choke as a trickle of blood seeped into her lungs.

“Such bliss,” the Pawniard whispered.

The spirits maliciously opened their arms to steal her. As the killer retracted his blade, she left the world in despair, crying for her orphaned child.

Spoiler

...except the Ninetales gets horribly killed by the slasher villain (?). Based off the penultimate chapter of Blade of the Blackout KIller. Kept it to 200 words because two different concepts double-stacked.