Hyde's eyes parted to the shining sun.  Birds chirped, and she sat up, still a bit dazed and confused.  Something had happened yesterday.  She went to the show... and the mask.  That beautiful mask.  And... right, the ghost. The mask. Her... new form.

Her hands found their way up to her face, confirming the still present snout.  Fur still covered her face.  Fangs still there.  She looked at her hands, still tipped with blue claws.  Falling back on the ground, her fur fluffed up as she landed.  It was real. She was actually... a monster.

By the time she had rolled over and observed the area around her again, the sun had passed more than she would have liked.  A stack of masks sat next to her, a prominant reminder she was also a thief.  Looking through, she found a few interesting ones.  A few humans, including an older man, a young woman, and a teen with a hat.  Also a surprising number of pokemon and animals.  She immediately recognized one as a lucario, it's mask coloring standing out.  But...

There was one important one.  Her own.  Her... face. It wasn't there.  Even if she was stuck like this, she wasn't about to let the only remaining part of her humanity get left behind.  She had to go back.  But surely there's no way they would let her in.  She needed a disguise.  She looked to the lucario mask in her hand.  Something in it called out.  A familiar feeling.  She drew in a breath and placed it on her face.

It fit perfectly, which was odd given the difference in snout shape.  Standing up, they wandered over to a puddle.  A lucario looked back. They looked themselves over, but still saw only black fur, the tan of the lucario nowhere to be seen.  Chest still black fur. No spike.  Blue claws still visible.

But in the reflection? Just a lucario.

She pulled the mask free, and immediately was greeted with a towering black fox looking back.  Fur coated her chest, forming tufts near her shoulders. Her body skinnier than she would have thought, and large paws hung off skinny arms. Her face was coated in the shiny black fur, blue mascara lining her eyes. Her eyes, a deep, radiant blue. Her hair flowed back, attempting to escape from itself, with flecks of blue scattered throughout the tips. A large red bead kept it all neatly bundled together. She turned and twisted, looking at every angle, then put the mask back on.

The lucario returned.  They swished their head around, feeling the hair flow behind them, lagged by the bead. But also... the small bobbles of the lucario brushed against their face.  They could feel the ears twitch.  Reaching up, the spike provided resistance, but they could push through it.  It was... almost real.

They straightened up, and started looking around for a safe place to stash the other masks.  A bush could work, but wild pokemon might run off with them.  They picked one up, scratching their head with it, thinking things through.  When they went to put it on a branch, the mask was gone.  They spun on the spot, panic setting in, but the mask was nowhere to be seen.  A quick scan showed no sign of the mask, but in the panic, they brushed it out of their mane, the wood making a soft thunk on the ground.  The idea struck them swiftly.  Their mane, as voluminous as it was, made a perfect place to store them, at least the few they had.

With the masks stashed away, they took a moment to stretch, and scanned the forest.  They couldn't be that far from civilization, and they recalled the forest to the south only stretched so far before the coastline started.  With that knowledge settled, they picked a direction and struck out.  A small bit of walking later revealed they were just a little ways off the path.  A bit surprising that no one noticed them, but they took that as a victory.  The black fur was unfamiliar to them, but they were not quite ready to deal with a trainer seeing a prize.

The trail found, they made quick work of the trek back up to Ecruteak City, and were met with a dozen blue lights.  Police had surrounded the theater, no doubt responding to the stolen masks.  Approaching the door, one of the officers held up an arm, blocking their path.

"Sorry little buddy, can't go in there right now."

She seemed nice.  Hyde smiled at her, and she dropped the arm.  They would have to find another way in.  Surely their mask was still in there.  Peering around the corner, they could see a group hauling boxes of masks into an armored truck.

"My life's work, hoarded away. Not even my protege will get to see them."

Hyde jumped nearly 3 feet into the air, stumbling back and landing on the ground with a thud.  The lucario mask fell away, and for a moment, she scrambled to pick it up.

"I had hoped you would fetch the rest of them.  Clearly that will be more difficult now."

The pale white ghost of a monster floated just next to her, watching the boxes be loaded.  Hyde gently placed the mask back on their face, and stood up, brushing themselves off.

"You're still here?"

"Of course.  The trickery was to get free of that accursed thing.  Doesn't mean I don't still care for my work, and you... you're just sloppy."

Hyde frowned.  Well, frowned as best as they could, their new snout not well designed for facial emoting.

"I've had maybe an hour to figure out what the hell you did to me."

"Yes well, that doesn't mean you've had only an hour to learn how to plan."

They felt their fur bristle a bit.  This ghost, this... trickster.  They had more thoughts about the trickster, but were interrupted by an open box.  Specifically, the mask sitting in the box.

"Ah, is that the only reason you returned?"

Hyde's ear flicked, and they took a moment to calculate.  They could make a dash for it, but there's no way they could get far without being tracked down.  But if they waited.  The mask... would be gone. Lost to whatever vault the rest were going to.

"Running out of time, little fox."

As much as they hated the ghost, they were right.  Time for plans and thinking was closing fast.  They narrowed their eyes, dropped to all fours, and sprinted at the officers.  They *had* intended to leap over the box and snatch the mask, but between not understanding how to run, nor being aware of their own size, they instead crashed straight through the box, several masks scattering to the ground.  Without thought, they grabbed as many as they could, making sure to grab their own, and stuffed them away, before booking it to the forest once again.

They could hear shouts and yells, but they kept going, desperate to keep a hold of the their new prize.  As soon as they cleared the treeline, they slipped behind a tree, and pulled of the lucario mask, nestling it within her mane.

"Could have gone better.  Certainly have to be careful with that sona now."

Hyde spun to meet the ghost.  Her eyes narrowed, and her lip curled into a snarl, sharp teeth bared.

"Why are you still following me?!"

Her voice was a bark, angry and forceful.  Each word spat out at the ghost.

"To train you, silly fox.  You'll need it, clearly."

She wanted to yell more, but the running had caught up to her, so she just slumped against a tree, panting hard.

"Surely you don't intend to use just those, right?  Do you not want to learn how I made them?"

Of course she did, but this ghost, this... trickster had started all this.

"Why should I trust you?"

"Hehehe, cause I have nothing left to stick around for.  Surely you can see I'm just curious now."

She pulled the new mask from her mane, looking it over.  It was wooden, like the others.  Looked like it could have been a few hundred years old.  And the energy from it was... familiar.  Familiar like the... Trickster Mask.  She paused, then tried it on.  They felt no different, but they knew.

"I have my own self again. Why do I need new masks?"

The ghost mocked shock, a hand over where their heart would have been.

"You wound me.  You wouldn't carry on my legacy?"

They laughed.  Not an evil or malicious laugh, but one filled with humor at the situation.  One filled with uncaring for the target.

"Why should I?  Not like there's anything to gain."

The laughing stopped abruptly, and a large toothy smile spread across the ghostly visage.

"Oh, but there's so much to gain.  You have a power many would beg for, and few have ever mastered."

"Yeah, one you forced on me."

The ghost shrugged.

"Well, I have nothing left on this world to do.  Seek me out if you change your mind.  And I suspect that will happen sooner than you like."

With that, the ghost turned into a mist, vanishing before their eyes, leaving nothing behind.  Hyde stood and brushed themselves off, ready to make their way back to Goldenrod.