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Rok awoke to the chirping of wild pidgey, the sun warming his fur.

Blinking his eyes open, he squinted against the daylight, fighting back a wave of disappointment. It was well past dawn. Last night's celebrations would be well and truly over by now, and all the other eevee would have evolved and assumed their new duties by now. He wondered if Silvo had gotten into the Jolteon Guild. He hoped so. The other eevee had been dreaming of it for years.

With a yawn, Rok got up and stretched. Well, no use wondering. If he wanted to find out, it would be best if he just went to the village himself. Besides, he needed to get back to join the leafeon guild. With any luck, he'd be back home by sundown. He certainly felt able up to it. Amazing what a good night's rest could do! Energy seemed to course through his entire being, the pain from his wounds faded to a distant memory. He felt like he could run a mile. He felt like he could run a hundred miles! Rok would be back home before he knew it, and his mother would smother him with hugs and kisses as she fretted over him, and he'd finally get to evolve and join the leafeon guild, and get to congratulate Silvo on becoming a jolteon, and it would be perfect!

His stomach growled, and a wry chuckle escaped him. Well, maybe he should grab something to eat first.

He glanced around, spying a pecha berry tree across the river. He liked pecha berries. He loved their sweet juice and sharp crunch. But… first he'd have to cross the river.

Rok eyed the water worriedly, his mind flashing back to the terror and pain of the last time he'd been in the river. But there were rocks across the way he could jump across. They were shiny, and probably pretty slippery, but that was to be expected. After all, they were in a river. And at that moment, slipping and falling didn't really scare him as much as it should've. He felt light, and springy, and strong. He felt invincible! No way could a stupid river stop him!

A cocky grin spread across his face as he walked over to the water's edge, tensing as he got ready to jump.

Rok glanced down at the surface of the water…

And scrambled back with a yelp, tripping over his own feet in his haste to get away. What was that? It can't have been his reflection, could it? It didn't look anything like him! It was probably just a trick of the light. Yeah, yeah that's what it was. He did get knocked about a lot last night, and you can't completely heal after sleeping through the night, that was just stupid. He was just a bit jumpy from that attack yesterday, that's all. Nothing to worry about.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped towards the river again, tentatively looking into the water once more.

This time, he didn't run. He just froze, as if staring into the eyes of an angry staraptor. This couldn't be real. This face staring back at him… it wasn't him! He didn't know any creature that looked even remotely like the one in his reflection!

It had a narrow face, with short, sleek black fur and tall, narrow round ears. There was a faintly glowing yellow circle on its forehead, as well as two yellow bands wrapped around its ears. Its eyes were almond shaped, with cat-like slits for pupils, and the colour of fresh blood. Its mouth was open in gaping shock, revealing sharp, white fangs.

This creature was terrifying. This creature was sleek and sharp as a glaceon's icicle. It looked like it was born to hunt and kill.

It was everything Rok didn't want to be.

"What in Arceus's name…?" He muttered… and immediately snapped his jaw shut. Was that his voice? It sounded nothing like him! It was too deep, too smooth, too… something. Sometimes guards came back sick with fever with purple stuff dripping from their bleeding wounds. The teachers told him that stuff was called, "poison". Rok felt like, if poison had a voice, it would sound an awful lot like his voice.

Groaning, he stumbled back away from the bank, falling heavily onto his haunches. Great, so even his voice belonged to a killer now. That's just perfect.

Rok sighed ducked his head miserably, staring at his paws.

And immediately wished he hadn't.

Turns out, his face and voice weren't' the only things that had changed overnight. Wonderful.

Curiosity fighting with fear at what he might see, Rok turned his head to look at the rest of his body. He was definitely much sleeker than before, and bigger too. There were glowing circles just like the ones on his forehead on the outsides of his thighs, as well as a glowing yellow band wrapped around his much shorter, much thinner tail, and he was completely covered in that short ink-black fur.

Nausea quickly tore away his hunger, and Rok tore his gaze away from his new body, thoughts scrambling to make sense of… whatever was happening to him. Eevee didn't just wake up looking totally different. That was impossible. Unless of course, they ev-

Evolved.

It was the only possible explanation. At some point last night, Rok had evolved into… whatever this thing was. That also explained his weird lack of injuries, and the energy coursing through his veins. He must've gotten healed up at some point in the process. Which meant he'd evolved in his sleep. But how? There weren't any stones around here, or mossy or icy rocks. The only Guilds that evolved without them were the Espeon and Sylveon Guilds, and they were a no-go. Espeon needed to be in the daylight to evolve, and sylveon needed the love and encouragement of the rest of the village. Could this be a new evolution? One that happened… what, when an eevee passed out after taking a beating?

Rok shook himself and got to his feet. Whatever it was, the village elders must know. A new evolution wouldn't just pop up out of nowhere. There had to have been others like him. Rok just didn't know about them because… well, he wasn't sure about that part, but there had to be a reasonable explanation. Now how to get back home….

He stared at the river, watching the rough currents tugging the water along as it splashed over the rocks and banks. He'd come here by the river. The river must lead back to the village, or at least some place near to it. If he just followed the river, he'll be home in no time!

A grin spread across his face as he trotted along the riverbank. Soon, this whole crazy mess will be resolved. With the energy of evolution still fizzing in his veins, and his injuries healed, nothing could stop him from getting back! Absolutely noth-

Rok halted in his tracks, staring ahead in disbelief. There was a fork in the river. Of course there was a fork in the river. Nothing could ever be easy for him, could it? Great, now how was he supposed to know which way to go? It wasn't like he was paying attention as the water was throwing him around last night!

Well… might as well just stick to the path that was on his side. If it was wrong, he could just go back.

With a sigh, Rok continued on his way, hoping against hope that this was the right path back.

He didn't think he could stand to be like this for much longer.

A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our first dark type! Also, I know that evolution doesn't actually heal pokémon, but I'm going to be taking a few liberties with the lore of the pokémon world here. Nothing major, just smaller stuff, so you don't have to worry about type advantages being nerfed or anything like that.

Please review!