SPOILER (click to toggle)
The rift changed your Kora into this species because the Kora isn't available in rift color yet.
Ah, that was my first guess. Thank you for confirming it.
I'm curious, do other patterns have this outcome too? Or is it just this one? I find it neat that there could be a "default creature" of sorts for a pattern when your pet's species isn't available in it yet.
As of now, only changing your pet into the rift color can generate default species.
For other species, suppose you want to change a colored pet into a blob and it the blob doesn't have that color. The pet will turn into a common blob. Same with Yaherra and Qrykee for common colors.