Pokemon Legends ZA: Sorta Scary Cemetery Story Complete Walkthrough

The Sorta Scary Cemetery Story side mission in Pokemon Legends: Z-A (Mega Dimension DLC) turns a simple urban legend into one of the more atmospheric tasks in Lumiose City. This guide explains how to unlock the mission, meet the hidden conditions at Dormez Bien Cemetery, enter the correct password, and handle the Ghost-type showdown that awaits you.

While the game offers only cryptic hints through NPC dialogue, you can finish this quest quickly if you know exactly where to go, what time it must be, and which Pokemon to bring.

Overview of Sorta Scary Cemetery Story

This side mission revolves around investigating a rumor about a moving gravestone in a cemetery tied to Wild Zone 4. Once unlocked, you’ll talk to a courier NPC who sends you to Dormez Bien Cemetery with a specific phrase to remember and a set of unusual conditions to fulfill.

How to Unlock the Side Mission

Sorta Scary Cemetery Story becomes available only once you are well into the Mega Dimension DLC’s story. It is tied to progress in the Hyperspace Missions and your interactions with Lumiose’s Rust Syndicate and survey work in the wild zones.

Prerequisites

To see the mission marker and start the quest, you must:

• Have advanced far enough in the Mega Dimension DLC’s main storyline (around Hyperspace Mission 6 or later).
• Have already visited the Hyperspace Wild Zones and met with characters connected to survey work, such as Corbeau and the Rust Syndicate HQ, as prompted by the main DLC progression.
• Have unlocked access to both Wild Zone 13 and Wild Zone 4 around Lumiose City’s outer edges.

The game doesn’t spell out these prerequisites precisely, but you’ll know you are ready if the mission icon appears near the northern part of Lumiose, and Horace is interactable with a side-mission prompt.

Finding Horace and Starting the Quest

Once you meet the progression requirements, head toward the north side of Lumiose City:

• Travel to North Boulevard, the road that runs along the northern side of the city interior.
• Look near the eastern entrance of Wild Zone 13 for an NPC dressed as a courier. This is Horace.
• Interact with Horace to hear about a rumor: couriers have been whispering that a gravestone at a certain cemetery moves at night under mysterious circumstances.
• He will tell you about a special phrase you must remember and the fact that only under very specific conditions will the phenomenon appear.

After you accept his request, the Sorta Scary Cemetery Story side mission will officially begin, and your objective shifts to investigating the Dormez Bien Cemetery.

Where to Find Dormez Bien Cemetery

With the mission active, your next stop is the eerie Dormez Bien Cemetery. In-game, this cemetery is embedded in Wild Zone 4, one of the Hyperspace wild areas surrounding Lumiose City.

Reaching Wild Zone 4

Here’s how to get there efficiently:

• Use any available fast travel or quick transport to reach the vicinity of Wild Zone 4.
• On your map, Wild Zone 4 lies roughly southeast of Horace’s position by North Boulevard and Wild Zone 13.
• As you enter Wild Zone 4, you’ll notice it’s home to several Ghost and Bug-type Pokemon, including common spawns like Gastly, Honedge, and Spinarak.

The cemetery itself is integrated into this wild zone as a walled area with a gated northern entrance. This gate is crucial to the mission; the side quest event only triggers if you come in from the north.

Why the Northern Gate Matters

The game checks your approach to Dormez Bien Cemetery. Entering from any other side or using an alternate path will prevent the special prompts from appearing. Make sure to:

• Locate the northern boundary of the cemetery within Wild Zone 4.
• Line up with the main gate facing southward into the cemetery.
• Interact with this gate after setting up all the other conditions described below.

If you interact with the wrong entrance or do not see the passphrase dialogue, you are either at the wrong gate, at the wrong time of day, or carrying too many Pokemon.

Hidden Conditions You Must Meet

Sorta Scary Cemetery Story is designed as a mini puzzle: you must recreate the conditions described in Horace’s rumor before the game acknowledges your attempt. These conditions are simple once you know them but easy to overlook if you’re exploring blindly.

Condition Checklist

Before approaching the northern gate to Dormez Bien Cemetery, make sure that all of the following are true:

1. Time of day: Night
   The gravestone rumor only manifests after dark. You must visit the cemetery at night.
2. Party size: Exactly one Pokemon
   You can only carry a single Pokemon with you when you interact with the gate for the event.
3. Point of entry: Northern gate
   You must access the cemetery from Wild Zone 4’s northern entrance.
4. Passphrase: Correct sequence
   You must recite the cemetery “magic words” in the correct order when prompted.

How to Switch to Nighttime

In Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the passage of time can be managed through rest points such as benches and designated rest areas, often found near Pokemon Centers or hubs. These operate similarly to in-game time skips in other Pokemon titles, where resting moves the clock forward to a different part of the day.

• Look for a bench near the nearby Pokemon Center close to Horace’s position by Wild Zone 13.
• Interact with the bench and choose to rest until it is night.
• Once the game world has shifted to nighttime, make your way back out toward Wild Zone 4.

This rest mechanic echoes earlier games where resting or sleeping advances time, though exact interface details vary by title. Time control is a standard feature used to manage day/night spawning and event triggers across the series.¹

Reducing Your Party to One Pokemon

The second condition is to travel to the cemetery with only a single Pokemon:

• Access a Pokemon storage system (typically at the Pokemon Center).
• Deposit all but one of your Pokemon into your box.
• Confirm you have exactly one Pokemon in your active party screen before heading out.

This requirement is unusual for the series, where players usually travel with full teams of up to six Pokemon.² By limiting you to one, the game raises the tension of the upcoming battle and drives home the “alone in a spooky graveyard” theme.

The Magic Words: Correct Passphrase Order

Once the conditions above are met, interact with the northern cemetery gate in Wild Zone 4. Instead of a normal prompt, you’ll receive a sequence of selectable words, one “slot” at a time, and must reconstruct the phrase Horace taught you.

Passphrase Logic

The phrase is a playful tongue twister about being alone in a graveyard. In-game, the words are broken into segments. You are asked to pick one option from several choices for each part of the line. The full phrase is five segments long.

The correct order of concepts is roughly:

• Being alone or solitary
• Being by yourself
• Cemeteries themselves
• That they are somewhat scary

Select the words in the correct order until you reconstruct the phrase Horace mentioned. If you choose incorrectly at any point, you’ll either have to repeat the sequence or back away and try again.

Tips for Remembering the Password

To avoid mistakes, consider:

• Repeating the phrase out loud or writing it down after first talking to Horace.
• Noting that the structure follows a simple rhythm: lonely → alone → cemeteries → somewhat → scary.
• Understanding that each prompt is a fragment of that full sentence; look for choices that match the clue from Horace’s directions.

Once you correctly enter the phrase, a short scene will play, and you’ll be allowed into Dormez Bien Cemetery as the rumored phenomenon finally reveals itself.

Battle at the Cemetery: What You’ll Face

After the passphrase succeeds, the rumor about a moving gravestone turns out to be less supernatural and more Pokemon-related. The headstone you’ve been told about is actually associated with a pack of Ghost-type Pokemon.

Enemy Pokemon

You will be thrust into a battle against a group of Ghost-types, including:

• Multiple Greavard (Ghost-type, introduced in Generation 9)
• Houndstone, Greavard’s evolved form (also Ghost-type)

These species debuted in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet as Ghost-type companions associated with graveyard motifs.³ In Legends: Z-A, they appear at approximately level 75+, making them a real threat if your lone Pokemon is under-leveled.

Recommended Level and Types

The fight is manageable if you prepare properly:

• Recommended level: At least high 70s or 80+ for safety.
• Best types: Dark-type and strong Ghost-type Pokemon.
• Examples of strong choices: Pangoro, Houndoom, Tyranitar, or any Dark-type with high offensive stats and good defensive bulk.

Ghost-type Pokemon are weak to both Ghost and Dark moves, while being immune to Normal and Fighting attacks, as codified in the standard type charts the series has used since the introduction of Dark-type in Generation 2.⁴ Plan your moveset accordingly.

Battle Strategy Tips

Some practical pointers for the encounter:

• Prioritize the Houndstone if it poses the greater offensive threat, especially if it has strong physical moves.
• Use multi-target or efficient single-target moves to avoid getting overwhelmed by multiple Greavard.
• Equip held items that increase Dark-type damage or bolster your survivability, if available in the DLC’s item pool.
• Don’t rely on Normal-type coverage, as it will be completely ineffective against Ghost-types.

Note that you cannot capture the Greavard and Houndstone that appear as part of this mission’s cutscene battle. They function as event opponents rather than wild encounter slots.

Mission Rewards and Ominous Wind TM

Once you manage to defeat the Ghost-type pack, the rumor’s truth is revealed: there was no cursed gravestone, only Pokemon. After the dust settles, you will return to Horace to report back.

Rewards Breakdown

For finishing Sorta Scary Cemetery Story, you receive:

• Money reward: A payout of in-game currency (around $1313), a playful amount that fits the spooky theme.
• TM for Ominous Wind: a Ghost-type technique that becomes a solid tool for your special attackers.

What Ominous Wind Does

Ominous Wind is a special Ghost-type move with moderate base power and a unique potential bonus effect. In its earlier iterations in the series, it had a chance to raise all of the user’s stats at once, making it a risky but potentially rewarding option.⁵ In Legends: Z-A, it functions as:

• A special Ghost-type attack that deals damage over a short cooldown interval in the DLC’s action-focused combat system.
• A move that may boost the user’s stats under certain conditions, providing a snowballing advantage once triggered.

Teaching Ominous Wind to a special attacker that already benefits from Ghost-type STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) can significantly enhance your Ghost coverage for future missions.

Why This Side Mission Is Worth Doing

Aside from the immediate rewards, Sorta Scary Cemetery Story is worth your time for several reasons:

• Atmosphere: It showcases Lumiose’s darker, more mysterious side in the Mega Dimension DLC.
• Gameplay variety: The single-Pokemon restriction and password mechanic break up standard exploration.
• Ghost-type preparation: It familiarizes you with Ghost-type threats you may face elsewhere in the DLC.
• Build progression: The Ominous Wind TM opens up new strategies for Ghost-specialist teams.

Quick Reference Checklist

Before you set out, use this condensed checklist to avoid missing any steps:

• ✔ Progress the Mega Dimension DLC story to around Hyperspace Mission 6 or later.
• ✔ Talk to Horace near the eastern entrance of Wild Zone 13 on North Boulevard to accept the mission.
• ✔ Rest on a bench near the Pokemon Center to set the in-game time to night.
• ✔ Use the storage system to leave only one Pokemon in your party (preferably Dark or Ghost-type, level 75+).
• ✔ Travel to Wild Zone 4 and locate the northern gate of Dormez Bien Cemetery.
• ✔ Interact with the gate and enter the magic words in the correct sequence.
• ✔ Win the battle against the Greavard and Houndstone group.
• ✔ Return to Horace for your cash reward and the Ominous Wind TM.

FAQ: Sorta Scary Cemetery Story

Do I have to finish the main game to unlock this mission?

You need to be significantly into the Mega Dimension DLC rather than finishing the original main story alone. The mission becomes available after you progress through the Hyperspace Missions and interact with characters linked to the Hyperspace survey work around Lumiose City.

What if the mission marker doesn’t appear at Horace’s location?

If you don’t see the side mission icon near Horace by Wild Zone 13, you likely haven’t advanced the DLC storyline far enough. Continue clearing Hyperspace Missions and story quests, then return to North Boulevard later to check again.

Can I catch the Greavard and Houndstone from the event battle?

No. The Ghost-type Pokemon that attack you during this quest are treated as event opponents, not standard wild encounters. You must defeat them to progress, but they cannot be captured during the mission.

Is the single Pokemon requirement strict?

Yes. If you carry more than one Pokemon, the event at the northern cemetery gate will not trigger correctly. Double-check your party and deposit extra Pokemon before returning to Wild Zone 4.

Is Ominous Wind worth using in my movesets?

Ominous Wind can be very valuable on special Ghost-type attackers, especially if you favor moves that have a chance to boost stats. It offers solid Ghost coverage and fits well into builds that aim to snowball by stacking stat boosts over the course of longer battles.