Hahahhhjdkfhjhf I wish this was the first pokemon fic I uploaded here. I am pretty sure it was chronologically the first out of everything, too. I probably had a reason for not doing so? Maybe because it's an obscenely singular wall of text. Whatever, I could argue with myself all day.
This was a story I submitted into some fanfic project on the Serebii forums ages ago: "How Pikachu Got Spots On His Cheeks And Other Short Stories", or something like that. I can't be bothered looking up the name at this point. The person in charge loved it! ... The person was called DaBurninator! Holy cr*p, do I know this guy? No I think it's a coincidence.
Anyway what happened was he never got round to actually putting it up, and I was basically heartbroken and vowed I'd post it myself once I was sure he wasn't going to, then proceeded to never put it up. The whole project was characterised by a heavy continuity - starting merely as shout-outs to one another, and eventually cementing itself as fundamental to the style - and naturally my preteen self went over the top with that, especially since I can't easily link the previous works for you to reference. As quickly as I can explain: if you've never heard of it, we probably made it up. Ideally the rest of this style, the repetition and simplicity, will communicate enough of the context you need.
I've chosen not to change anything before uploading, this time round. It feels like too much of a reflection of my past, from the bizarrely consistent miscapitalisations to the unrefined, kid-grade "jokes". It's always a little strange that these old dusty memoirs can be so innately familiar to you, and at the same time, not.
Written 2005-2006, age 11. (I could be overestimating my youth! But I get the feeling I'm not.)
/-/-
Now, we haven't had a good story for a while - What do you mean, "You never cared?" You're going to listen whether you like it or not... I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way! Don't leave... or at least bring me some tacos now that you're standing. Now, this is a story about simplicity and complexity, friendship and betrayal, love and hate and all sorts of other contradictions.
Where Masquerain's Wings came from
On one of the many landmasses surrounding Hoenn, there is a rocky hill. And at the bottom of this rocky hill is a shimmering lake. Now that you can imagine the scenario, I'll let you imagine the families living on the rocky hill and the shimmering lake.
On the rocky hill, there was a family consisting of a Bagon, Shelgon and Salamence. On (literally) the shimmering lake, there was a family consisting of a Surskit and Masquerain. One thing to note is that at this time, neither Salamence nor Masquerain had their wings. Another thing to note is that the two families didn't know about each other, as they were very careful not to reveal their existence to anyone. Everyone knew what happened if the HUMANS discovered you.
One day, both Bagon and Surskit (who were approximately the same mental age of a 7 year old) happened to be bored at the same time, and ran off to explore. Coincidently, they happened to be about to hit each other.
*WHUMP!* Bagon was rather surprised to have ran into a midgety, scrawny stick thing. Likewise, Surskit was surprised to have ran into a huge, bulky rock thing. They stared at each other for a while, then they both asked each other, "What are you?" at the same time. They both laughed at this act of similar thinking, and as predicted, they became very good friends quickly. In fact, they were such good friends they decided to venture into the forest together the next day.
A Wurmple was eating leaves on that very next day, and saw a Bagon and a Surskit wander off into the woods. She remembered how everyone wanted to taste the Stikee and Stukee fruits, but couldn't get to them. The Wurmple suddenly had an idea; one that required a nimble Surskit...
After walking for a while, Bagon and Surskit stopped and stared at some Wurmple clustered beneath a Stick-Stick tree. They cried out words of encouragement to the top of the tree, where a Beautifly and a Dustox were competing over finding an opening. The two walked over to the Stick-Stick tree and asked the Wurmple what was happening. The Wurmple exchanged glances, then one said, "We want to see what the Stikee and Stukee fruits of the Stick-Stick tree taste like, but it's impossible to get past the sticky leaves! Do you think you could help?"
"We don't have wings," Surskit and Bagon replied, flatly.
"Oh, but you can evolve to get wings! All you need to do is close your eyes and think of a white light," the Wurmple replied, almost a little too quickly. "It might help if you think of flying too." Surskit and Bagon wanted to help the Wurmple badly, so they both closed their eyes and thought of a white light - and flying...
Surskit felt different, as if she had reached the climax of her ability. She looked at her best friend and very nearly started laughing; Bagon was now little more than a wrinkled lump with legs and a face. How they came to be like that is another story. Bagon (now Shelgon) also felt slightly stronger, yet slightly confined. He stared at the insect-like creature before him that was so familiar, yet... he cocked his head (or tried to) as the Surskit-turned-Masquerain started laughing. She jumped over to a large puddle and motioned for Shelgon to look at his reflection. Shelgon saw himself in the puddle, and realised that he now looked just like his older brother, who he respected very much.
"Wait, we still don't have wings!" Shelgon cried. Masquerain frowned. Indeed, they didn't have wings like they had imagined. They turned to the Wurmple, who had already noticed.
The first Wurmple seemed to be in deep thought. "I guess you could try evolving again," she suggested, after a short while. And so they tried again... but nothing happened. Masquerain couldn't even think of the white light as clearly as last time. Shelgon, on the other hand, was trying very hard, but the white glow that started to envelop him faded away almost as quickly. Any Pokemon trainer should know that they didn't have enough experience. The Wurmple was thinking yet again, as the others crowded around her; she was extremely intelligent.
She came up with a revolutionary idea. "Well, what if we try getting you strong enough to keep that glow going?" Everyone heartily agreed, and to test this theory, she offered to spar with Shelgon. Being a mere Wurmple against a mighty Shelgon, she was nearly knocked unconscious by his headbutt. She lay on the grass, slowly panting, before she got up slowly and grinned. "I'll admit, that was pretty fun!"
Soon, many Wurmple were battling with each other. One stronger than the rest had beaten almost all of the other Wurmple, and was had defeated the Wurmple that had come up with the idea. As there was a set rule that you weren't allowed to knock the opponent unconscious (a rule now forgotten), she was able to watch as he started to glow white and was transformed into a silver cocoon. In a way, he seemed stronger, fiercer, and more confident. "I didn't need to think of the white light!" He breathed softly. In fact, in another battle, he managed to defeat a Wurmple in one hit; something even other Silcoon couldn't do.
And so, they discovered that sparring was a more effective way to evolve than thinking of a white light.
Shelgon would think of the white light after fighting the Wurmple (and a Silcoon or two), and each day he would be able to keep it glowing for slightly longer. Oh the other hand, Masquerain could defeat the Beautifly and Dustox, but whenever she tried to evolve, it was impossible. She had already reached her final evolution. In a desperate attempt, she challenged Shelgon to a battle. They attacked and defended, but Masquerain, having trained less, was the loser. Shelgon smiled. "I guess I'm the winner, then..." He would've said more, but he stopped as he noticed he was glowing yet again. I'm going to evolve! He thought exictedly, and he thought of the white light and wings quickly, as an extra measure. He felt himself growing bigger... stronger... sprouting something on his back...
Shelgon opened his eyes. This time, he felt power coursing throughout him. He stretched his legs, his neck and his wings - Wait, wings? Yes, during the transformation, the new Salamence had aquired the ability to fly! Salamence flapped the wings tentatively, then jumped up and soared through the air gleefully.
"This is great! I can see everything so differently!" He cried. The first Wurmple, on the other hand, was extremely upset. She needed Masquerain to slide between the sticky leaves, not a hulking dragon. However, she didn't show it. Instead, she congratulated him on the sucess and explained that it would be very hard for him to get to the fruit without getting smothered by Stick-Stick leaves. Salamence, however, had grown cocky during the evolution. He glared at the now-puny Bug Pokemon.
"So, you think that I'm useless now, don't you? I can get to those fruits easily!" Salamence leaped into the air, then poured out massive flames at the tree. The tree's leaves were burnt completely, but because of the sticky properties, the sap absorbed much of the Ember. The Stikee and Stukee fruits were still intact.
"Wow! Thank you so much!" A Beautifly exclaimed. "Now we can get to the fruit!" She and a Dustox raced off to the tree and began to tug frantically on the fruits. All the Wurmple crowded around them, leaving Salamence and Masquerain by themselves.
Salamence was happy that he had achieved that goal after so long, and he soared off into the distance. To this day, this goal has metamorphed into a simple longing to fly like the birds - What, that wasn't what I was explaining? Masquerain's wings? This makes the story longer! Don't groan like that; it's a vital part of your education.
Before Salamence flew away, however, Masquerain came up to him. There were tears in her eyes; not just tears of happiness, but tears of sadness, too. "Salamence, how come you have been able to grow such magnificent wings, while I can't do anything at all?" As mentioned earlier, Salamence had changed, and he now scoffed at the poor Pokemon.
"Oh, so you want to know the reason for that, don't you? Well, I'll tell you the reason - It's because you're weak. Far too weak to even grow a bigger body." With that, Salamence lifted off and disappeared into the distance, leaving behind a heartbroken Masquerain. She let herself cry freely, as he was her first, only and closest friend. The tears dropped onto the grass below, but they did not comtinue falling for long, as she straightened up bravely and vowed something to herself.
"Salamence, I want to prove my worth to you. Wurmple, I want to help you and your family. I'll earn your respect, and maybe I'll be treated as an equal. What I'll do is... Is... I'll visit the Wizard of Kurt!" As many knew, the Wizard of Kurt was extremely unpredictable, and it was crazy to visit him, unless you were competely unsuspecting, or a very evil man. She walked off in a random direction, and she would ask many for their help, until she reached the very home of the Wizard himself...
The great Wizard of Kurt was busy making himself a coffee, when there was a knock on the door. He could tell it was the knock of the Masquerain, as he was expecting the Bug to come to him. He shouted out, "Enter, young Masquerain!" And so the Masquerain tentatively stepped into the palace. She reached the room where the great Wizard of Kurt was sitting grandly, and she lowered her head in a sign of respect. Before she could open her mouth, though, the great Wizard spoke. "I know your predicament, young one. You have been forgotten and shunned, which is a situation one your age should not be in. Yet, you still believe that there is good in each one of them. Faith like this is worthy of respect. I shall grant you the ability to soar amongst your friends, and I will also help you prove your amazing spirit in a way that is clear to all." The Wizard grasped a elaborately decorated wooden pole and chanted a ritual, then fired an orange beam at Masquerain.
Masquerain didn't fell any pain as the beam hit her. She absorbed it, and felt something fasten itself to her back. Opening her eyes, she could see herself in the reflective surface of the wand; she now had wings that almost doubled her size! The pattern on them, though, was intruiging. They were adorned in the adstract idea of two eyes. She glanced questioningly at the great Wizard of Kurt, who was smiling at how his spell had turned out.
"Do you see the eye spots?" Masquerain nodded. "You will be able to intimidate your enemies with these wings. Now, go out and explore the world in a way that you never have before!" She obeyed and buzzed out of the window. Strange, she thought. He isn't as bad as people say. The great Wizard of Kurt watched until she was gone, then sat down again and sighed relievedly. You never knew who would be evil these days.
I do have the right story, don't I? Good. Masquerain will never truly intimidate their foes, as they are genuinely faithful in the good that resides in every being. You too can learn from this; No matter how different another may seem from you, if you respect them, something good will come out of it. Ok, my tacos are finished. Goodbye.