Niven leaned back in his hut as he waited for a few more trick or treaters outside of his little house in the village. The Jolteon had been waiting for some friends who’d said they’d be dropping by with candy for a little party of his but it was still early for them to show up. In the meantime while waiting for his compatriots he had a bowl of berries he’d gone out and found on the side for any pint-sized pokes who came up who were interested in his confections. 

	Laying around the Jolteon chewed on a few berries while waiting and didn’t notice a lone shadow lingering near his house’s entrance. There was the silent step on the floorboards as the Jolteon gazed into the flames and when the pokemon finally noticed the intruder he screamed and jumped as Tiran pounced on his tail with a growl. “Tiran, what was that for?!” he screamed. The Umbreon blinked a few times as Niven had accidentally unleashed a flash attack and had thoroughly blinded him.

	Teetering back and forth the umbreon rose one paw to signal for Niven to wait. “Jeez, Nivs... I swear your flash attack is brighter than the sun some days...” he groaned. Niven glared at his friend as the umbreon finally got a big grin on his face again and his tail wagged. “Trick or treat, give me some good pecha berries or I’m gonna spook you again next year!”

	Rolling his eyes Niven gestured at a bowl of berries that he’d laid out for his friends rather than perspective young Pokemon. “I swear, you have more incorrigible habits than anyone I know...” he groaned. Tiran gave him a wide eyed look as if to ask “Who me?” and Niven just sighed as he flopped down in front of the fire once more and just gave his friend a smile. “Where are the others?”

	Finishing up a berry Tiran licked the juices off of his whiskers as he tried to clear his throat. “Ral got stuck up lumbering around his three brothers trick or treating. He said he’d drop by at some point, and Mew said he’d be by in another ten minutes.” The raichu and Mew popped into Niven’s head as his friend continued to chow down on berries and Niven had the relief to know that he’d grabbed a few extra berries from the market just in case this happened.

	Niven glanced out at the dark night and nibbled on a berry himself as they awaited their friends. After finishing up his fourth berry Tiran wiped away the juices from his muzzle as he turned towards his friend with an actual serious look on his face now. “Nivs, did you hear about the sentret brothers last night?” Looking at his friend curiously now Niven shook his head as he remembered seeing the brothers just a few days prior.

	“What about them?”

	“They’ve apparently gone missing. Usually if they ever go they let their neighbors know, but there’s been no sight of their bushy tails all day,” the Umbreon explained. Niven’s brow gathered a bit in concern for the pair as he tapped his tail on the floor a few times. Their thoughts were interrupted though as a tiny eevee pounced onto their doorstep with his mother Espeon trailing him with an amused look on her face.

	Dropping his basket of berries the eevee shook off some stray leaves from his fur as he straightened up. “Twick or tweat! Give me something good, or else giwatina will haunt your doowstep!” the eevee barked. Niven and Tiran both had to conceal giggles as they saw the eevee had his fur colored blue to make him appear like a Glaceon. His mother knocked him on his head with a tailwhip as she looked at him as if to say something else. The pup bowed his head looking a bit embarassed as he kicked at the dirt on the ground. “...Please.”

	“There you go,” his mother said. Tiran and Niven smiled as the Jolteon stood up and walked towards the entrance to put two berries into the eevee’s basket. “Thank you, he’s been super excited to show off his Glaceon costume to everyone, Niven,” the espeon chuckled. 

	The pup looked indignant as he poked his nose up and kicked out his back leg as if it made him look that much more majestic. “I AM a Glaceon, mom!” he barked. The mother just chuckled as she petted his head and thanked Niven, and greeted Tiran with his mouth full of berry, and went on her way with the costumed Eevee.

	Just as Niven started to turn back inside he felt a poke on his back and he jumped once more and Tiran let out a curse as he was blinded once more by a flash. “Niven, stop flashing everyone!” he shouted. After the Jolteon had calmed down he turned to see Ral blinking away spots as well along with his three Pichu nephews.

	“Niven, turn down the amps. I think Arceus saw them in the next life...” the Raichu laughed. His nephews, as impatient as they were, just jammed out their berry baskets and gestured for Niven to drop berries in there. “Boys! Patience...” Ral growled. They just stuck their tongues out at their uncle as Niven gave them each one berry and they were ready to bound away.

	Walking towards the door Tiran rose a brow at them as they all quieted down in the presence of the dower looking Umbreon. “Boys, calm your boats. There’s plenty of time for you to be eaten by the Grim Umbreon,” he said deeply. The three yipped in fear and jumped behind the Raichu who just smiled at his friend.

	“Sorry I can’t stay around for our little spook night, Nivs. I gotta watch these three ghoulies, and by the way, great costume Niven, what’re you going as?” The raichu laughed.

	Niven looked confused as he turned to see several berries lodged onto some of his quills. Tiran looked innocent as he smiled at Ral with an absolutely devious look. “He told me that he always wanted to be a Fruit Salad...”

	The Jolteon was not amused as he attempted to pick off the berries and Ral just laughed as his nephews started to march away as they saw one of their friends carrying around a large berry in their baskets. “Come on, Uncle Ral! I think Aunt Kanga is handing out Grande Berries again!”

	Ral sighed as he mimed dying to his friends. “Sorry guys, I hope you both have a fun time.” As he started walking away he froze for a moment and glanced back at them with a serious look. “Be careful too. I heard that some pokemon are going missing around town.”

	Tiran and Niven both shivered a bit as the Raichu raced to meet up with his nephews who were sparking with impatience. As the pair watched him march away they saw a pink flamed Quillava attempting to rush after them. “Looks like they left Rusty a few steps behind,” Tiran laughed. They gave the quilava a wave as Rusty waved back while yelling at Ral to slow down who roared with laughter as his boyfriend was so far behind. After a moment of silence Tiran sighed as Niven attempted to pull the berries from his quills. “What do you think about the pokemon going missing?”

	Not looking one hundred percent convinced Niven just shrugged as he gave up on his forced accessories. “Maybe some people just went on a mission and forgot to leave notes? I doubt anything is really going wrong... now let’s see if Mew remembers to bring some drinks.”

	The pair lounged away for a bit longer before they heard a hurried pair of steps and they both looked up to see Mew rushing in though he wasn’t carrying any drinks. “Guys!” Mew shouted.

	“Hey, Mew. You’re a little late, Ral had to head off, and where are the drinks?” Tiran asked. The Umbreon’s tail flicked back and forth impatiently as his mouth was dried from some sour berries he had chowed down on.

	The Mew didn’t seem quite that calm though as he panted and closed Niven’s door with a slam. “Guys, this isn’t any time to party! Something’s going down and I don’t know what’s up!”

	Tiran and Niven both looked a bit confused as the Mew proceeded to slam shut a few of the windows too now causing the pair to get a bit concerned. “Mew, what’s going on?!” Niven asked.	

	Finally starting to get some air back in his lungs Mew took a deep breath and slowed down for a moment. “You guys heard about the Pokemon going missing, right?” he asked. Tiran and Niven both nodded slowly as they watched the Mew who looked about ready to jump out of his skin at the drop of a needle. “Well... they’ve reappeared, but they’re acting really weird...”

	“How weird are we talking?” Tiran asked.

	“Well... I saw one of the Sentret brothers and... they were glowing with this weird dark stuff. Then they proceeded to tackle Dame the Ponyta down and gave her a weird look, and then her eyes started to glow this red color and she started to turn a purple color too!” Mew’s words practically broke the land speed record as both of them had to stop him twice and have him slow his speech until they could understand what he said.

	It took the pair a moment to really process this as they mulled it over. “So... they looked at her and she started turning... dark?” Niven asked.

	The Mew stomped as he waved his tail in irritation. “Not that exactly it was... it’s really hard to explain... they have a really weird feel about them!” Mew looked irritated as the pair didn’t quite understand as they glanced at one another in confusion. Their thoughts were interrupted as the door suddenly was slammed into by something that left a dent in it causing all three to jump in shock. They all stared at the door as Niven slowly stood up and some electricity sparked across his quills, frying the still stuck berries. “Who’s out there?” he called.

	There was no answer for a moment before there was another knock on the door and some of the wood buckled. They all jumped away as the door was slammed into one more time... and a Clefable burst through the door with odd glowing red eyes. The trio was silent as she let out a small giggle and they all took her in. An odd purple aura surrounded her with a sparkle that sent shivers up their backs. “Clefable... is something wrong?” Tiran asked. The Umbreon was on his guard as the clefable let out another giggle that seemed a tad bit sinister.

	“You three look like you’d be perfect hosts!” she laughed. These words didn’t exactly send good vibes to any of them. “Now please hold still as I allow you to feel the great power of being evil!”

	Now in any other situation where the fairy type HADN’T smashed through Niven’s front door, this might be hilarious, but right now the trio were feeling oddly intimidated. “Get down guys!” Mew shouted. With that the pokemon tackled into the clefable and sent her rolling into the corner. Mew grinned as he flexed his tiny arms and looked strong for a whole three seconds before she stood up with another one of her freakishly cheerful giggles. “Run!” he shouted.

	Niven and Tiran didn’t need much more inspiration then that as they started for the door with Mew and Niven getting out and Tiran reaching the door before a surprisingly heavy ball of pink hit him in the side. The Jolteon and Mew stopped as they heard the bark of the eeveelution and turned back to see her smiling down at Tiran as he struggled against her. “There’s no fighting it!” the Clefable giggled.

	“You... won’t beat me!” Tiran barked. Though even as he tried to beat her away Niven watched with a deep heart as Tiran’s eyes started to take on the odd red glow and a creepy smile formed on his mouth as the black aura around the Clefable seemed to spread over his own body. “Oooohhhh... so that’s it...” he chuckled.

	The Jolteon started to run back for his friend but he jolted to a stop as he felt the weak pull of Mew’s abilities. The Mew wasn’t exactly a pyschic powerhouse so he was trying his best. “Niven, we have to go! He’s already tainted!”

	The Jolteon glanced back at his friend who was getting up and shaking himself as his yellow circles on his body started to convert to a red color while he chuckled some more. “Yeah...” he grunted. Sprinting away the pair started in the opposite direction of where Mew had come from in the first place.

	The village wasn’t super large and as such the pair could tell the news had spread fast as Pokemon were panicking as they rushed out of their houses with kids in tow. “Where do you think this thing came from?!” Niven asked Mew. The Mew just shrugged as he struggled to keep up with his four legged companion.

	The pair froze as they heard a whinnie split the air and they both turned to see Dame standing with a black aura surrounding her staring right at them. “Dame, you have to snap out of it!” Mew shouted.

	The horse just beat the ground with her hoof as he started galloping full trot at them. “You should join, Mew! Imagine being able to use your psychic abilities to their full extent! That’s the power the Shadow promises!” she laughed. Mew and Niven attempted to get away but it was very obvious within seconds that she was catching up a lot faster than they could get away so Mew bit his lip as he looked at Niven.

	“Get to safety!” the mew shouted. Niven couldn’t ask what that meant as the Mew stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face the bullrushing Ponyta. He flinched as the equine Pokemon stopped right in front of him with a snort and he felt the warmth of her breath being snorted onto him. Niven wanted to stop but had to keep forcing himself to run as he approached the edge of town while trying to figure out what he was going to do.

	“Very good choice, Mew!” the Ponyta said. Mew steeled himself as he looked up at the horse and met her eyes full on. As their gaze met he felt a force invading his mind against his will and... and... he’d made the right decision afterall...

	As Niven reached the edge of town he saw other Pokemon running off into the darkness. A few got away but he saw some starting to get picked off already as they were grabbed by some larger Shadow Pokemon in the darkness, one of them a charizard who seemed to be enjoying himself quite a lot as he corrupted two other fire types. The Jolteon felt some hesitation as he started to paw the ground until he heard a familiar voice. “Niven!”

	The Jolteon turned in shock and saw Ral running towards him. “Thank Arceus... the others were grabbed, Ral. What should we do?” he asked the electric mouse.

	As he approached Ral the Jolteon froze up as he realized his mistake with the dark aura pouring off of Ral. Niven knew now that he was too close as he felt his heart start to pump faster and he bit his lip. “I know they were caught, Niven. Don’t worry though, I’ve got you, bud,” the infected Raichu laughed. Niven attempted to step back but as his eyes met with Ral’s he felt his body lock up as he stood there with their gaze locked up.

	A presence seemed to wrap around the Jolteon’s mind as he stood there with his mouth gaping a bit. “Give in, we can give you more power, take away that light and give you darkness,” the voice whispered into his mind. Now normally Niven would never be interested in power, let alone darkness, but for some reason with how powerful the voice was it did sound intriguing. Ral’s nephews, now also corrupted, all gathered around Niven and their auras converged on his body and he felt the presence grow stronger as his eyes started to take on the red glow. “Yes... let us in, we will make you powerful, allow others to feel the Shadow in them and become evil.”

	“Evil...” the word rolled out of Niven’s mouth. The electric pokemon growled as he felt his intentions start to twist as he imagined corrupting weaker pokemon so he could become more powerful, and with the intensity of all the aura around him he physically grew a bit as his grin became savage looking. The Shadow now a part of him hovered around his body as an aura as the other four stepped back and let him stretch out. A bolt of lightning flew out of his body and lit the entire village in a flash of black light with the Jolteon’s powers having been corrupted. “Perfect! Now are there more Pokemon around here to change?” Niven asked with a grin. The other four sneered along with him as they gathered into a little group to start looking for others.