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| Season | Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest (Season 18) · Laverre City & Sawyer arc (XY071–XY075) |
| Episode | Season 18, episode 24 · English episode 867 · Japanese episode 872 · Bulbapedia code XY072 |
| English title | Scary Hospitality! |
| Japanese title | こわいイエのおもてなし！ Kowai Ie no Omotenashi! — “The Scary House’s Hospitality!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 14 May 2015 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 18 July 2015 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Getta Banban (Mad-Paced Getter) – Tomohisa Sako · Gaogao Ōrusutā (Roaring All-Stars) – Little Glee Monster |
| English opening | Be a Hero – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Gastly (US) |
| Previous episode | So You’re Having a Bad Day! (XY071) |
| Next episode | A Fashionable Battle! (XY073) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeThe Scary HouseLon’s ghosts
Scary Hospitality! is the 24th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest, the eighteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 867th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 872, Bulbapedia code XY072). It first aired in Japan on 14 May 2015 and in the United States on 18 July 2015. It falls within the season’s Laverre City & Sawyer stretch (EP71–EP75).
Synopsis
Lost in a stormy forest, the group spends the night in a mansion with a kindly old man named Lon and his mischievous Ghost-type Pokémon, and discovers a startling secret about their host. Realizing they have been walking in circles, the group recalls Serena’s story of a “Scary House” that gives visitors the fright of their lives; Ash and Clemont want nothing to do with it, but Bonnie is eager. They take another path in the hope of reaching Laverre City, but soon come to a large house, where an elderly man named Lon invites them in out of the thunderstorm and hands them towels. He has exactly four towels and later exactly four dinner plates ready, which makes Clemont uneasy; the food is delicious, but Lon says he has already eaten.
Over tea Lon tells the story of how the house got its name, terrifying Ash and Serena and making Clemont faint, while Bonnie asks for more. Strange things begin to happen. Clemont insists that science can explain everything and unveils a detector for identifying the causes of unexplained events. When the rain stops, Ash’s shadow turns into a ghost and flies away, then Serena’s does the same; Clemont is lifted into the air and his device is snatched away, a chair spins on one leg and a piano plays by itself. The detector and the Pokédex reveal the culprits: Gastly, Haunter and Gengar, who explain that they love scaring Lon’s guests. Lon is delighted, and Clemont is relieved that science has explained everything.
Then Bonnie disappears, followed by Ash and Pikachu, and Serena falls through a trapdoor. Following Lon’s hint, Clemont and Chespin find a passage to the basement, where Frogadier’s frubbles help force open a rusted door. Pikachu finds a forgotten notebook describing a boy whose father built secret passages to escape the ghosts, until the family moved away. A photo falls out, and Bonnie notices that the boy looks like Lon. Lon remembers that he was that boy and realises the ghosts only wanted to play, but when Ash notices that the photo is over two hundred years old, Lon reveals that he is dead, and everyone screams. The next morning they wake in the forest wondering whether it was a dream, but Bonnie has a photo of herself with Lon and the three Ghost types. That night a soaked Team Rocket knock at the Scary House, and Lon happily welcomes them in.
Major Events
- The Scary House. The group spends a stormy night in Lon’s mansion with his Gastly, Haunter and Gengar
- Lon turns out to be a ghost
- Team Rocket appear only at the end
- Debut of Lon
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kalos story.
Changes in the English Dub
- The Pokédex lists Haunter’s and Gengar’s evolutions
- The closing narration, Lon’s in Japanese, is given to the narrator in a darker tone
- The preview has no background music
Part of our Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.