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It was dark, rainy night in Sinnoh. The wind was blowing through the trees, leaves flying around in large masses. It was the end autumn, the time were the world lost its classic orange and red colors, shifting to a more gloomy shade of gray, turning white the instant it starts snowing. There was nobody outside of Hearthome, not even wild Pokémon. The place was very silent.

Maybe that was the reason why the young trainer had chills running down his spine the instant he left town. Probably wasn't the best time to leave, but promised his best friend that he was gonna get to his place in a few hours, so he had to hurry up.

"Can't be much longer now..." Peter muttered to himself as he started to run. He really didn't want to stay out too late, and he wanted to get to shelter just in case the weather got worse.

Seconds later he regretted thinking that, cause a few drops of rain started falling, and it got worse and worse in the following hour, until it was literally pouring with rain. The poor trainer started running, looking around for any kind of shelter. He eventually got out of the trees, and into an open area. Not far, there was a large circle of rocks, an in the middle a bigger rock with a rather interesting hole in it. Not the best shelter he could ask for...but better than anything.

Without hesitation he dashed for it as quickly as he could, not wishing to be soaked any further. Soon he was sitting in the archway that the rock had formed, looking on as the storm just seemed to get worse and worse.

"Damn it...how long is this going to last?" he asked himself, looking up at the clouds, seeing lighting shooting across the sky.

He sat there for around 30 minutes, the weather not showing any sign of improvement. What he didn't realise all this time...was the fact that he was not alone in that large hollow rock. Sleeping in the shadows, was a creature...and only now had noticed the trainer. The beast slowly got up and stepped out of the shadows, not looking very happy.

Peter had practically fallen asleep waiting for the storm to pass, his head bobbing from side to side, nearly hitting the wall on several occasions.

"Mmm...stop raining already..." He muttered in his sleep.

The creature slowly approached him, the trainer still unaware of its presence. It stopped right behind him, sniffing his neck.

"Mm...what is that..." He said, slowly roused back to consciousness as he felt the creatures breath against his neck. "How long have I been out for..." He let out a loud yawn as he stretched his back and arms.

The creature growled, and grabbed him from behind, tossing him outside into the mud.

"Agh, what the hell?!" He yelped, getting a face full of goopy mud as he landed back in the storm. "What in Arceus's name was that about?" He asked as he pushed himself back up to his feet.

He heard another growl. He had to wipe the mud off his face and turn around to finally see his attacker....and what he saw was beyond anything he would have ever expected to see.

Peter was a well informed trainer, he knew about pretty much all Pokemon species in Sinnoh...but that one he knew absolutely nothing about. From what he could see, it was a large, bipedal fox-like creature, roughly the same size as him. Its body was mostly covered in deep grey fur, with patches of black fur around its upper chest that protruded past its shoulders. Blood red claws lined its feet and hands, and streaks of red fur lined the edges of its lips and emerald green eyes. From the back of its head was a large mane which was roughly the size of its body, mostly red in colour with some black 'spikes' near the top of it, growing thinner towards the bottom, where a jade band was placed just a few inches away from the end of it. And from the looks of the creature, it was a female, which he could deduct from her shapely form, slender waist, and some details hidden under the dense fur on its chest.

"What... the..." He stammered, reaching for his Poké dex, seeing if it had any information on what he was looking at...and as expected, the Poké dex did not recognise the unknown Pokemon. He stared at the creature in confusion, not sure of what to do. The creature was doing the same, apparently relaxing a little now, noticing the intruderdidn't seem like a threat.

Many options flashed through Peter's mind. If that was really a Pokémon, he could catch her...it was probably one of a kind, or one of a few surviving individual in all Sinnoh. On the other hand, if he caught her, he would be probably killing off any possibility that creature had to find a mate, and maybe repopulate the region...after all, it was a rarePokémon.

"Who...or what...are you?" He asked, slowly approaching the creature. He was worried that if he tried going too fast, he'd be thrown back into the mud again, or thrown into something whichwouldn't grant him a soft landing.

She didn't look like she wanted to attack him, but she did keep a straight face, tilting her head a little to the side.

He sighed a little. He knew like everyone else that all these creatures could say was their name. He wasn't sure if that applied to ones that looked...special like this one, but a name at the least would help him out. "Your name? Your species?"

"Zor? Zoroark?" she said, looking confused.

"Zoroark...now that really is a new one on me..." He said, slowly approaching her. He was thoroughly soaked now, and it was hard to move in his drenched clothes.

She took a step back into the cave, still staring at him. She had one paw ready to strike now.

He stopped moving, standing his ground as he looked at her. He was at a loss what to do here, if he set one foot out of place, he really dreaded to think of the outcome.

And just as expected, as he took one tiny little step towards her...she dashed forward and swung her paw at him, scratching his chest. The cutwasn't deep...but it burned!

"Agh, what was that about?!" He felt like yelling at it, but he was able to keep his cool, looking at the three slashes left on his body. Small trickles of blood dripped from the wounds.

It was still burning, as if her claws were made of fire when they cut through his skin and flesh. He tried keeping a straight face, but it was no use, as he started to feel dizzy, his legs barely able to keep him from falling back in the mud. She seemed confused as well, surprised at the effect of her attack.

"What did you do..." He stammered a little, looking at her. "Was that some sort of poison move?" He was about to say something else, but then he noticed something that made the both of them jump a little. From his wrists, thick grey fur started to sprout around his hands, the palms swelling out into thick pads, covered by the growing pelt as his fingers grew a little longer, large blood-red claws growing from his fingertips.

He watched in horror the fur grow up his arm, and on his chest, where it seemed to grow considerably longer than on his arms, kind of like a mane, a darker shade of gray as well.

"I..I didn't know this would happen...I was just meant to give you a warning slash..." She said, stammering a little.

Peter just stared at her for a moment, jaw hanging low at what he heard. "You...you can talk?" He said, just as puzzled as she was, but for a different reason. "How are you talking?"

She seemed even more confused now. "You can...understand me now? But how..."

The answer to that question became pretty evident the more his body was covered in that gray fur, his hairs turning a bright orange at the same time. He looked down, noticing his legs growing rather large, his trouser being torn apart...and damn he was glad then fur there was long enough to keep everything covered.

"Maybe this is the reason." He looked over himself, his shoes tearing apart as his feet grew out from them, the toes having fused into three digits, large crimson claws growing from them as pads formed under the thick fur. "Well what WERE you trying to do when you scratched me?"

"Just...scare you off" she was staring at her claws, wondering what kind of magic she had casted on him. To her knowledge, no Pokemon could do something like that: going as far as transforming a human being like that.

"Well I should let you know, I don't scare easily." He chuckled a little, the slashes on his chest were all but gone, hidden beneath the fur but leaving some small scars. His orange-tinted hair started to grow longer now, growing down past his back as his ears grew longer and larger, moving up near the top of his head as they grew to points, the changes now spreading to his face.

His whole face started cracking and popping, the bones pushing outward, forming a muzzle. He grit his teeth, feeling them sharpen, becoming deadly fangs. His tongue grew into a point, and so did his ears, doubling in size. His eyes seemed to glow for a split second, just before turning green.

She observed in shock the human now almost completely transformed into a Zoroark.

His hair finally stopped growing, sitting now past his legs, looking almost like a substitute for his tail-less body. A thick jade band appeared several inches from the base of it, the fur on the bottom half spreading out to be large and bushy, almost giving it a tail-like appearance as his changes ended.

"Well..." He said, looking at himself and his new form. "I REALLY don't know what to say here..."

"Neither do I...." she said, approaching him a little, and resting a hand on his chest, wondering if that was even real. Her suspicions were cast aside when her hand was covered by the thick fur of his chest, heaving in and out with each breath that he took.

"Furthermore, I don't know what I'm going to do now. I need to make my way to see a friend, but with how I look now..."

She looked around, noticing the shredded clothes, but most importantly...his backpack. She picked it up, giving it to him. "Maybe this will help?"

He looked at it, the straps had given way due to the growth, but they were easily fixable. "Maybe I have something in here..." He pulled a few things out, drinks, books, sparePok é balls and a phone. He picked up his broken belt from the ground, the balls that contained his team still attached, and placed it in his bag.

She observed in silence. "All good then? Are you gonna be fine after this?" she asked, even though she knew he was not gonna be fine.

"I really don't know..." He sighed, holding his phone in his hands, then looking at her again. "I mean I could try to see him and see what his reaction to me is..."

"If you say so human" she said. She seemed uneasy around him...was that the first time she had met someone like her?

He dialed in the number for his friend and rang up. It was hard to operate the phone with those huge meat renders that lined his fingertips, but he was able to dial up.

"Anyone there?" He spoke into the phone.

"Hello? Who's there?" his friend's voice called out.

"It's me, Peter..." He said into the phone.

"Oh, hello there buddy...why the weird growly voice?" he asked.

"A long story..." He responded. "Lets just say this... do you believe there are ways to change a human into something else?"

"Not really, why do you ask?"

"Well...something like that happened...to me." He said, calmly.

"...explain yourself, cause if this is a joke it isn't funny" he responded, sounding slightly annoyed.

"It is very hard to explain...I'll do you one better, I'll be round in around five minutes, so just hold on." He said, hanging up the phone before turning to theZoroark.

She lowered her head. "So...all good then?"

"I won't know until I've gone to see him..." He sighed. "I don't know how he'd react...nor would I know how he'd react if I went without proof of what caused this."

She sighed. "I'll come with you, I guess I owe you...besides....I don't really have anywhere to go" she looked at him.

He looked at her solemnly for a moment. He didn't know if she was the only one of her kind or not, and if she was, then there was no chance of her finding a partner. He took a step towards her.

"Hey...if you want to, you can come with me...I don't want you to feel alone."

She smiled a little. "Thank you" she said, nodding.

He smiled back at her softly, and put an arm around her back. "Thank you too." He said with a nuzzle. "You won't have to feel alone anymore."

And he could finally go back to travelling, although this time he had a friend to spend time with.

Needless to say, when his friend saw him, he didn't believe that it was really him...but a few questions and he finally convinced himself, and boy was he shocked. Peter on the other hand...wasn't really shocked. Things had taken a weird turn, and while he was now being stared at by pretty much anyone he walked by, he was also stronger, more agile, more intimidating, and overall...a total badass in a sense.

And of course, there was the lady Zoroark. As time went on the two became great friends, and eventually...something more than that.

They were happy, and so was a certain Pokemon, looking at them from above the clouds, smiling at his wonderful work. Giving the Zoroark the ability to transform the human was a good move...that way she finally found the mate she was looking for, and eventually start the Zoroark reproduction.

Soon those creatures will be seen all around Sinnoh.