The Legend of Absol

Bah, I wasn't inspired enough. :T So instead, you get an old fanfic story I wrote.

The Legend of Absol

A Pokemon Fanfic by Introbulus

Absol did not always have a horn. It also did not always take life so seriously. It used to be a very carefree pokemon, who would play practical jokes on the other pokemon, just for fun. He would always pick on weaker pokemon, so that he would not get punished for his actions.

One day, he decided to play a trick on a Vulpix. He decided he would tug on her tail to make her cry, because she was so proud of her beautiful tails. When he did so, the pain of having her tail pulled was so great, it caused her to evolve into a beautiful Ninetails. Absol was struck with her beauty, and paused, as the powerful Ninetails regarded him with spite.

"You are a selfish and careless pokemon." She said to him. "Thus, I will bestow upon you a terrible curse." And with a flick of her tails, Absol was given a black horn. A horn that would show him the most horrible disasters before they happened. Absol would try to stop them from happening, but they would happen anyway, and the pokemon would always blame him, because he had always been a trickster. But Absol knows that if he did not warn the Pokemon, they would suffer an even worse fate. Now, hated by all, Absol lives alone.

His cursed horn leads him to areas with bad luck, and he sees all of the world's most terrible disasters. When he is less wise, he will try to stop them, and be blamed for it, or else caught in the disaster himself. When he is wise, he can only warn those near the disaster to stay away, and he is still blamed for their misfortune. Thus he came to be known as the Disaster Pokemon, and he will always be around when disaster is about to strike.

In the last hours of daylight, in a tiny village by a tiny stream, the village elder told this story to a crowd of wide-eyed children. This was a new story for the children, but a story that every child eventually heard. Now came the difficult part…

“So the lesson is to never tease a nine-tailed fox?”

Getting them to understand it.

“No, my child, not quite. The legend is…”

“To be honest no matter what the consequences?”

“To respect your elders?”

“To never be late for dinner?”

The village elder sighed. This always happened. Despite an eloquent story, she could never get the children to understand. Of course, one boy always had a pretty good answer…

“Hah, you’re all wrong!” and that would be him. Shiro, the boy who thought he knew everything, and felt he knew more than the elders. This one was always a troublemaker. “The story is that you should never mess with anyone, or else you’ll receive a terrible curse!”

“Hmm? A curse, you say? But Ninetales gave Absol a blessing!”

The children were confused, and Shiro spoke up quickly.

“A blessing? But everyone knows that Absol is cursed with bad luck!”

“Ah, but isn’t it fortunate that we know the truth?” She grinned, showing several gaps in her line of pearly teeth. “Because now we know it is not his bad luck, but his ability to see the future. And because of that, we will always know that when Absol is around, misfortune is likely to follow.”

“Isn’t that awful though?” A young girl replied. “If Absol is always trying to warn people of misfortune, then he will always be lonely.”

“Hmm…yes, well it IS his punishment. But still, we are quite fortunate to have Absol at all, wouldn’t you say? “

None of the children could make heads or tales of the old lady’s words, and so they decided that it was a stupid story, heading off to their own huts to sleep.
The village elder slipped behind an old oak tree, after the children of the village had all drifted to sleep. She was not alone.

“I suppose you think it’s funny to regale them with stories of the old time?” The being that spoke to her was a Ninetales, though no ordinary Ninetales. This one had lived for many, many years.

“Oh come now…” She replied, her smile growing large, and her body growing round, as her disguise faded, revealing a mischievous Gengar. “Did I really misinterpret your story that badly?”

“Portents and omens are not to be taken lightly.” The Ninetales replied. “Nor are the lessons of the old.”

“Oh these humans, they never learn from the lessons anyway.” The old Gengar laughed, floating up to a tree branch. “And they wouldn’t have to, if you hadn’t cursed the poor boy like that.”

“It…was a blessing.” The Ninetales replied, turning her head away.

“Hah…so you say. But it hardly seems a blessing to the poor dear at all, wouldn’t you say?”

“Hmm…so you say…” The Ninetales grinned. “But who said it was a blessing for him?”