Ryan burst into the clearing. He wasn't even sure how he had gotten there so quickly. One moment, he was walking towards town, concentrating extremely hard on not falling over. Then, he heard a cry for help and adrenaline took over. He ran through the trees towards the call for aid, his running becoming natural, second nature. Perhaps he had been thinking about it too much. Even infants could walk, Ryan simply had the disadvantage of age.

Almost a second later, the green Pokémon, Treecko, charged into the clearing too. They looked at each other briefly, nodding their respects and turned to the Pokémon that had been calling.

A Stantler stood, stomping nervously in a little circle, trampling already dead and dried yellow grass.

"You needed help?" Treecko asked, taking the initiative and stepping towards the agitated Pokémon.

"Yes, yes," the Stantler said, "My friend and I were just playing around in the pond when suddenly… well, look." The Stantler moved aside to give them a better look.

Ryan couldn't see the pond they were talking about. All he saw was a hole in the ground. He looked up quizzically at the Stantler.

"It's gone," the Stantler cried, "My friend, Ludicolo, got dragged under the water as it drained through that hole. The floor of the pond just sucked out from under him. I would go down to try and help but I can hear things down there. I'm too scared."

"That's okay," Treecko said, "that's why we're here." He looked over at Ryan who paused before nodding, following Treecko's lead.

"Thank you," Stantler said, "please hurry. I'm worried for him."

"You stay safe up here," Treecko replied, climbing down into the recess of the drained pond. "We'll be back with your buddy before you know it."

Ryan followed him into the pond and they both looked down into the dark hole, waiting at the bottom of the pond. They could hear the faint sound of rushing water and something clicking. Snapping.

"You ready?" Treecko asked Ryan.

"After you," Ryan said. Ryan spotted a flash of nervousness over Treecko's face, but it was quickly replaced with resolve.

"Let's do this," Treecko said, perhaps to Ryan, perhaps to himself. He then placed his hands on the edge of the hole, and dropped into the shadows below.

Ryan took a deep breath in, trying to steady his now shaking legs. Not shaking for their lack of use anymore, but for his constant companion. Fear. You're a coward, Ryan thought to himself, but brushed off the self-deprecation as soon as it appeared. Treecko had gone down. He had to. For Ludicolo. For Treecko. And for himself. He takes another breath in and jumps.

Beneath the pond lay a cave system. It was dark, very little light being shed into the caves besides from the hole that Treecko and Ryan dropped in from. There was a river running through the cave and, from the angle of the caves, Ryan guessed it would reach the sea somewhere beneath the cliffs that he had been standing upon earlier.

A blast of water shot out of the darkness, just barely missing Ryan, with Treecko taking the second one directly to his chest. Ryan dove to the ground, trying to avoid more blasts of water, checking to see if Treecko was okay, as the force had also knocked him to the ground. He looked barely scathed.

"I'm good," Treecko muttered to Ryan, "but I think these Pokémon aren't too happy with us being in their caves."

Treecko clapped his hands together and then threw what looked like leaves towards their shadow shrouded assailants.

"Come one," he said to Ryan, "you're going to have to help too, or we're both done for."

Ryan nodded. He wasn't sure what he could really do as a Shaymin. He was more used to fighting standing upright, with his fists. Although, he couldn't really remember ever having to do that. He was sure he wouldn't have been good at it. The more he thought about it, the less he could even remember before waking up in the flowers. Was he sure this was the dream, or whatever was before it?

"Ryan!" Treecko shouted, snapping him back to the present. They had crabs the same size as Ryan bearing down on them from all sides, snapping their claws menacingly. They were in a cave of Krabby.

Flustered, confused and more than a little scared, Ryan thought about what Treecko was doing with his leaves and tried to do the same, but he didn't have hands to attempt it. Fear began to spike and he curled up into a ball. Then he felt the heat of the fear dull and looked up. The cave was glowing ever so slightly, before the lights faded once more. The Krabby around them were dazed, if not entirely unconscious.

Treecko grabbed Ryan.

"What was that?" He said hurriedly.

"I'm sorry I wasn't much help, I didn't know what to do," Ryan stammered.

"Not much help? You could have said you knew something like magical leaf! You helped me more than I helped you," Treecko said, his words rattling out quickly due to excitement, "I'm Treecko, by the way. What's your name?"

Treecko held out a hand to shake. Ryan wasn't sure how to shake it without hands, so he headbutted it softly.

"I'm Ryan. I'm sort of… new in town."

"I'll say, that's a strange name Ryan. But a cool one, I like it."

"Thank you," Ryan said, feeling something other than fear and apprehension for the first time since waking up. "Should we find that Ludicolo?"

"Good idea," Treecko said, "before more of these Krabby appear or start waking up."

It was not easy navigating the cave in the dark, as soon the light from the hole in the ceiling didn't help them. Treecko slipped on some of the wet rock at one point and almost fell into the river that was running through the caves. It wasn't much more than a stream, but he didn't want to get any wetter than he had to. Ryan, unable to really see in the dark either, scrambled to help Treecko who, he thought, was about to fall over. As Treecko righted himself, Ryan's bumbling tipped the Shaymin into the river.

As the river was not very deep or fast flowing, Ryan stood up. He looked around confused.

"We're going uphill, right?" Ryan asked Treecko as he continued to do circles in the water.

"Yes, why?"

"This water is flowing the wrong way," Ryan said. Sure enough, the water that was there was rushing uphill, the direction they were walking, and not downhill towards the eventual ocean.

"What does that mean?" Treecko asked, dipping a hand into the water to confirm.

"We should follow it," Ryan suggested, "That's probably where the pond water went."

"Good idea, again," Treecko agreed and the green Pokémon hopped into the water too.

It did not take long for them to see the flickering light throwing shadows across the cave walls. They saw the shadows first and could see that the light was just around the corner. They could also hear splashing.

Jumping back out of the river, so that the increase in water did not pull them with it, Treecko and Ryan ran along the side of the rocky cave, trying to not slip. They saw a Krabby snapping wildly as it was pulled along by the tide. The cave system all seemed to fork here, at whatever was creating the light, and multiple rivers of water were all flowing in this direction.

Ryan spotted him first. Ludicolo. Evidently a fast swimmer, and strong, Ludicolo was fighting the tide of the water by swimming against it, unable to get out of the path of the water. Behind him, an awful tear in the air was sucking in the water and any Pokémon left within the water. The rip in the air was glowing bright white, whilst also pouring out a horrific black gas. Thankfully, the gas was not going too close to the water, so Ludicolo was safe from it for now, but Treecko and Ryan could see the Pokémon was tiring.

They edged around the side of the river, getting as close to Ludicolo as they could without accidentally getting pulled into the water too.

"Hold onto me," Treecko said and Ryan bit down on Treecko's tail as firmly as he could without hurting the Pokémon. Treecko then leaned over the water and held out a hand for Ludicolo to grab.

Ludicolo lurched in the water, the change in swim style as he reached for the hand threatening to take him with the tide. Treecko reaches just a little bit further, Ryan straining to keep them on the land, and clasps hands with Ludicolo.

The two smaller Pokémon inch their way backwards, dragging Ludicolo out of the water as the rip in the air shudders, and snaps out of existence, leaving the cave system in darkness, with barely any water left.

"Anyone remember the way out?" Treecko laughed in the dark, the easing of tension leading to both Ryan and Ludicolo laughing too.

The laughter continued almost the entire way back, as they needed to climb on top of each other to get themselves back out of the caves and into the dried-out pond once more.

"Thank you!" Stantler cried as she ran over to greet her recovered friend.

"Yes," Ludicolo said, "seriously, thank you. I thought I was a goner for sure."

"You two are heroes," Stantler continued to praise them.

"We were just helping out a fellow woodland dweller, that's all," Treecko said.

Ryan nodded in agreement. It felt good to do good, especially to be appreciated for it. He felt the slightest buzz every time Ludicolo or Stantler thanked him.

Eventually, the two Pokémon went off into the woods to recover from the stress of the incident, leaving Ryan and Treecko standing awkwardly in the clearing. The adrenaline had worn off and being out of the dark and not working to a deadline left them both at a loss.

"What are your plans now?" Treecko asked Ryan.

"I'm not too sure," Ryan replied, "I had been thinking of heading into town?"

"I might be going that way," Treecko said.

"Weren't you headed the other way before this happened?"

"I said might," Treecko said, "we made a good team down there, didn't we?"

"We sure did," Ryan smiled.

"I'm not usually the talkative type, but you. You make it so easy to feel comfortable talking to you. Did you know that?"

"I didn't, no, but… thank you?" Ryan watched Treecko warily as the Pokémon took a step closer.

"What I'm trying to say is, would you like to do this again? To help Pokémon?"

"Of course, I always want to help those who need it. What are you asking?"

"Would you like to form a rescue team with me? To join the Pangoro Guild?" Treecko was nearly touching noses with Ryan at this point. The excited and nervous Pokémon's wide eyes staring into Ryan's as he awaited the answer.

"Sure, I-"

"Yes! Thank you, Ryan!" Treecko held out his hand for the headbutt, which Ryan relented and agreed to. "It's settled. We're both going towards town, now we can join the guild when we get there. Ryan, to the Pangoro Guild!"