Once upon a time in a region by the name of Unova there lived a young boy at the age of ten who herded Mareep on his parents' farm. He traveled with the Pokemon everywhere they roamed, but often spent the time daydreaming, not watching the Mareep as attentively as he knew he should. Almost every day he would lose one or two among the vast fields and lush forests that surrounded their estate.

The boy would come up with wild excuses as to why they disappeared when his parents came out to check on him. Still, he was lucky that his Mareep loved him enough to always come back by the end of the day, though this did not stop the parents from punishing their son for lying in the first place.

One day a Mareep did not come back. The boy went to go find the Mareep, worried that his parents would scold him for losing one of their prized Pokemon. Finally, after an hour of searching, the boy came across a horrifying sight. He found the Mareep lying dead in a faraway field, shredded to pieces, its blood splattered on the grass. But, worst of all, was the creature standing over the lifeless body of the Mareep.

It was a massive Pokemon as tall as a human, as black as night, with a mane of hair as red as blood hanging wildly from its head. Its body was so thin the boy could almost see its ribcage poking against its skin. The gruesome Pokemon ripped meat from the corpse of the helpless Mareep and the boy watched, terrified, as the monster finished eating his parents' beloved Pokemon. Malevolent poisonous green eyes fell upon the boy, staring at him with a greedy, unsatisfied hunger.

The boy gasped and ran to tell his parents what had seen, praying that the Pokemon wouldn't follow him, wouldn't attack him next. He got to the house and yelled to his parents for help. They followed him right away, crossing the vast fields and hills, listening intently to his story as he shouted frantically about the horrible wolf-like Pokemon that had eaten a Mareep.

When they came back to the exact spot, they found a Mareep standing there, smiling and happy to see them. The parents scolded the boy for lying about the wolf-like Pokemon and took the Mareep back with the rest of the herd. The boy searched everywhere for the remains of what he'd sworn had been the Mareep, for drops of splattered blood, for remnants of bone or fleece, but to no avail.

The next day, everything was absolutely normal. The boy did not see the wolf Pokemon once. He watched the remaining Mareep, his eyes open for the monster, waiting to see it lurking in the shadows, ready to strike. To kill. For once, he did not day dream, but stayed resolute. Focused.

Nothing happened.

The following day the boy decided maybe he HAD just gotten carried away. After all, it's not like he hadn't daydreamed of Pokemon before, ones he'd created himself. However, after the boy had taken the Mareep out again after breakfast, two Mareep went missing. The boy searched everywhere and found nothing until that night. One Mareep was walking near the edge of the forest, seemingly unharmed, though its fleece was bloodied a dark crimson.

"My parents have to believe me this time! There's blood everywhere!" The boy thought, running back to the house, pulling the Mareep that had survived along. However, the Mareep got away and ran into a stream, washing off all the traces of blood.

"You were supposed to help me." He said, "Now they won't believe that that wolf Pokemon killed our friend."

The Mareep just beamed at him before trotting away.

"Still." He pointed out as they walked together companionably, "You're lucky you survived. I'm going to tie a ribbon around you when we get home since you're the luckiest Mareep."

And he did the second they got back. He tied a green ribbon in the fleece around its neck. Despite finding one of the lost Pokemon, his parents were extremely upset with their son. Two Mareep were now missing and hadn't returned.

"I told you, the wolf Pokemon ate them." The boy explained for the hundredth time, "I saw it the first time and the second time that other Mareep had blood all over its coat."

They still didn't believe him.

This happened again two days later... another Mareep disappeared. The boy was put in charge of feeding the Tepig instead of watching the Mareep despite his urgent message of the wolf Pokemon and how he guaranteed he could find it. Now, there were only two Mareep from the flock left, and the father wouldn't let his boy's imagination get in the way of losing his last two precious Mareep.

As the boy fed the Tepig and cleaned the Zebstrika stalls, it occurred to him that he'd never seen the wolf Pokemon after the first Mareep had been killed. The monster of a Pokemon wasn't exactly hard to miss... a huge, dark black body crowned with a furry red mane which flowed all around it in a savage snare. Sharp, ferocious claws and teeth. Why hadn't he appeared again after the other Mareep had gone "missing"? It was the only thing that could be eating the other Mareep... so why hadn't he been seen again?

The boy sighed, unable to think of anything.

And then another Mareep went missing the next day. The boy's father didn't understand what had happened- he had been watching them, his attention never wavering. The two Mareep had been playing and strolled off in the forest for a few moments. He let them play for a few minutes until he heard a strangled cry. He rushed into the forest and found a lone Mareep, though its fleece was poofed up as if it had just been electrocuted.

The father was baffled by this... Why would this Mareep have been attacked by an electric attack? All the Mareep were friends... or had been, until they'd started disappearing. The other Mareep was nowhere around. The father took the lone Mareep home and put it in the barn, hoping that it wouldn't disappear like the others.

When the boy was told what had happened, he asked which Mareep was left.

"The one you said was lucky, son." The father replied, "The one with the ribbon."

The boy nodded, wondering for the first time if luck had anything to do with it. All night, he tossed and turned, wondering why something felt so off. He couldn't sleep. His thoughts kept going back to the first Mareep corpse, the blood dripping from that wolf Pokemon's mouth, the feral eyes staring at him, daring him to interfere.

And then a scratch came on his window. A sharp crackle of claws screeching down the side... but so softly, so eerily softly, that only the boy could hear.

And then the boy realized what was outside. It was the wolf Pokemon.

"Mom, dad!" He screamed, heading for the hallway, "The wolf Pokemon! It's back!"

He stumbled to his parent's room, throwing open their door and crying for them to help. They came to his rescue, going into his bedroom, checking everywhere for this wolf Pokemon... and then looked outside. Sitting right outside was the lone Mareep, staring up at them with the green ribbon still tied around its fleecy neck.

"Son," The boy's father sighed, "Why didn't you just tell us the last Mareep had escaped? Instead you had to lie."

"But I didn't lie!" He replied, "That IS the wolf Pokemon! It transforms into a Mareep! I heard the claws on my window! It's him, it really is!"

"Don't be ridiculous." The father said, "It's just our last Mareep. And it's lucky, right?"

The boy didn't think the "Mareep" was lucky anymore. Not one bit.

Despite his constant pleas for them to let the Pokemon go, to free it, to kill it, to do ANYTHING but keep it, his parents said no, "It's just a Mareep. Stop worrying, it won't hurt you. We'll put it back in the barn."

"But it's out of food..." He said, comprehension dawning on him after they went outside, "...It doesn't have any Pokemon left to eat."

Horrified, he worried as his parents went out alone, defenseless, to the Mareep barn. He watched from the window, trembling, wondering if they would be eaten next. They managed to come back, safe and sound, but that did not undermine the boy's efforts to persuade them to believe the truth.

He tried for hours to convince his parents not to keep the Mareep until they kicked him out of their bedroom, leaving him alone in the rest of the house.

All. Alone.

The boy went back to his bedroom, but he could not sleep despite the late hour. He had not lied... he had not been lying once about this Mareep. Why did they not believe him? He was a good kid. Yes, he did mess around sometimes, but was this really his punishment? The safety of his family? Of himself?

He paced around his room... he needed a Pokemon to protect him. Really, that's what he needed. A very powerful Pokemon. Because, surely, this wolf Pokemon that could change its appearance at will must be really strong and smart.

In fact, the boy knew it was smart. The boy KNEW it was taunting him... and the boy knew, without a doubt, that he was the next target.

And, with that simple, crucial, understanding, he knew that the monster would come for him tonight.

The wolf Pokemon stood outside, breathing warm, harsh air against the glass, fogging it, admiring how easily it could shield itself from everyone... not just by clouding the glass, but by clouding their minds. It was this simple. So amazingly, elegantly, simple. He stared eagerly at the fog, knowing its last victim was hiding just inside, a sitting Ducklett waiting for its flesh to be ripped from those small, still growing bones.

He was done playing. A wolf in Mareep's clothing could only hide for so long... its camouflage was wearing off, but not because his ability was weakening, not at all. Its prey, which had shielded its true identity, had been eliminated... and yet no one had truly grown suspicious.

Except the boy.

The game was almost over... Really, it had been boring. Or at least uninteresting... The Pokemon admitted the boy had been fun to watch. To learn about. To trick. A bit stupid, really, how the child hadn't figured out sooner... the parents even stupider. And they would pay the ultimate price for their stupidity.

Their own son.

The wolf Pokemon breathed again on the glass, scratching softly with his claws, an unneeded mark of his presence. He knew the boy knew. He knew the parents wouldn't answer his cries for help. He also knew, without a doubt, that they would not come to comfort him tonight.

And, with that simple, crucial understanding, he opened the window and came for his last meal.

The boy watched as it climbed inside.... He remembered its appearance perfectly. Sharp, blood red claws. Fur as black as sin. The pointed, intelligent face. The mane of fur that fell violently from its head. Only now it was tied back with the lucky green bow.

The boy didn't know what to do. He couldn't defend himself against this monster all alone. Not even the Mareep had been able to defend themselves...

The wolf-like Pokemon stared back. They studied each other, the hunter and the hunted, all wool removed.

"After you kill me." The boy said after some time, surprising the Pokemon, "You're going to let them know it was you all along, right? So they know I wasn't lying?"

The Pokemon was taken aback. This boy was so unlike him... this boy didn't hide behind masks. This boy was brave. He may have been a liar, he may have not figured out the mystery fast enough, and he may not have the respect he deserved from his parents, but there was no doubt in the illusion Pokemon's mind that he was very, very courageous.

And maybe that deserved a bit of respect.

The Pokemon nodded, promising, its claws extending, preparing...

"Make it quick... too..." The boy whispered, closing his eyes, "I'm not going to lie... I'm really scared."

Or maybe, perhaps, the Pokemon thought as he lunged for the boy who screamed out, this boy was the most frightened all along.

The next morning the boy's parents woke up, relieved that their son had finally quieted down after spending half the night in their room, ranting about some imaginary Pokemon that he'd created just to get out of trouble.

Still, they loved the boy very much despite his overactive imagination, and went to his room to wake him for breakfast. They opened the door and gaped as they saw the last Mareep sitting on the boy's bed, staring at them, it's usually pure white fleece dyed a dark shade of red.

After a couple seconds, it jumped to the floor and unmasked itself, transforming into the wolf-like Pokemon... detailed exactly as the boy had explained it on the first day he'd seen it... except this time it's fur was tied by the boy's lucky green ribbon.

The mother and father screamed. The wolf Pokemon turned and fled through the open window, indifferent to the mourning, simple farmers. He had paid his respects to the smartest of his prey he had ever encountered. The bravest? He still wasn't sure. Still, he had kept his promise, and that was all that mattered to him.

And, hopefully, he thought as he ran into the forest, grinning to himself, maybe tricking people will become more of a challenge. After all... I do like challenges.

And it did become more of a challenge. The parents were mortified that they hadn't listened to their son. Word spread everywhere of this magical Pokemon that could transform at will, how he had tricked the family into thinking their beloved Pokemon had run away when, really, they'd been eaten.

The wolf-like Pokemon was named Zoroark, which meant "The dark, evil chief" as, of course, it was the top hunter of its kind. People began coming forth claiming their Pokemon had been eaten over the past years by this masked predator, though they hadn't known it at the time. The father refused to call him Zoroark and, instead called him the "Illusion Fox" Pokemon.

When asked why, he responded, "There are plenty of things in this world that can't be explained yet. I think that we have to look a lot deeper down in order to find the truth. Of course, many things are hidden from us... such as this Pokemon. We were eluded into thinking it was our own, dear Mareep when, in reality, it was a bloodthirsty killer. It had the instinct of a wolf, but the mind of a fox. Perhaps, if I had had the mind of a fox, maybe I would have saved my son... but that's not the case.

"I refuse to call it by an actual name because names can be eluding as well. I will call him what he is- the "Illusion Fox". Maybe, then, we can all truly remember what he is and avoid causing such grave mistakes in the future. I'm not going to lie... I rather liked life a lot more when I was fooled and my son was still alive than living now with the truth that he is dead. That, really, is no illusion."