Ryan stood slightly behind his new ally Treecko, having followed him through the woods towards town. The daylight was waning but Treecko had assured him that the Guild held accommodation for its members.

He had looked so excited to Ryan as he talked about all his favorite rescue teams and wanting to be just like them, that Ryan couldn't bring himself to ruin the mood and admit that he wasn't really a Pokémon. There was just never a right moment during the conversation and so he just stayed quiet, trying to take in as much information about this strange place as he could.

"I can't do it," Treecko said, shaking slightly.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked, "isn't this everything you've wanted?"

"But what if they still don't want me? Us? What if they do accept us, only to turn us away tomorrow?"

"We won't know until you try."

Ryan gave Treecko a little nudge, pushing him forward. Reluctantly, Treecko edged towards the front doors of the Pangoro Guild. The doors themselves were as imposing as body guards. Tall, thick wooden doors that only larger Pokémon could force open.

Treecko held out a hand and it quivered in the air as he tried to bring himself to knock on the door.

"You've got this," Ryan said quietly.

Treecko took a few short breaths, closed his eyes, and knocked.

There was silence.

No answer.

"Maybe they're at dinner? It is pretty late," Treecko stammered, "maybe we should come back ag-"

There was a dull thud on the door, shaking it slightly. Both Ryan and Treecko looked up as they stepped back, looking up at a hulking figure. A Machamp. Four arms bursting from its torso, each one containing more muscles than Ryan thought he had in his entire body.

"What do you two want?" The Machamp said as he stared down the two smaller Pokémon. He rested two elbows on each door to emphasize his size.

"W-w-we-" Treecko stuttered, trying to force his words out.

"We would like to sign up with your Guild," Ryan said, holding Machamp's glare with his own.

"You're kidding, right?" Machamp laughed gruffly, "What do you think you're going to save, Ratatas from getting stuck on the top shelf? What are you going to do if you get stuck up there too?"

"We have a right to apply," Ryan continued firmly, "let us in." Adding a quick "please" as Machamp's stare began to erode his confidence.

"Alright," Machamp said, "but it's your funeral. Things have been a little hectic around here."

Unable to keep in his excitement, Treecko started to walk in as Machamp started to move out of the way, but Machamp held a foot out to stop him in his tracks.

"What's your team's name, for the paperwork," Machamp said.

"Oh," Ryan said slowly, "team name?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"We don't have one yet," Treecko said, finally getting his words out. "But we will soon. We are a team. We have already completed a serious rescue."

"Likely story," Machamp said. "Look, no team name, no paperwork and no paperwork means no entry. Wrack your little heads and I'm sure you'll come up with something."

"It's true!" Ryan said, "we saved Ludicolo from getting sucked into some sort of portal along with all the water under the woods."

"Sure, you did. With the power of friendship? Time to go, come on."

Machamp began to shoo Treecko and Ryan out like a pair of pests when a voice somehow lower than his rumbled just out of sight. Immediately Machamp stood aside, pulling the door open fully. A Pokémon even taller than Machamp, by a full head, stepped into view. Ryan could see now why the doors were so big.

"It's Pangoro," Treecko whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Ryan.

"Indeed, it is," Pangoro said, his voice so low that Ryan could feel its vibrations within his chest. "What did you say about a portal?"

Pangoro's office, similarly to everything else within the Guild, was huge. The building had to be large to fit the mindboggling number of large Pokémon that it housed. It also had smaller sets of furniture for Pokémon closer to Ryan and Treecko's size, but Pangoro's office was sized for him and him alone.

A large panda-like being, Pangoro stood head and shoulders above most of the Pokémon within the Guild and was always chewing on a piece of bamboo. Ryan wondered if it was the same piece, however he saw a bucket with a neat stash of bamboo sticks close to Pangoro's desk, which he currently sat behind, taking in the information Ryan and Treecko had provided him with about the odd circumstances of their rescue.

"The good news is," Pangoro said slowly, "you two are welcome to join the Guild."

"And the bad news?" Treecko asked. To Ryan, he seemed more comfortable looking up at beings of Pangoro's frame. More used to it, Ryan thought.

"You never ask about the bad news," Pangoro said.

"Sorr-"

"But the bad news is that we have begun to hear reports like this, from further out of town. If it's getting closer and more frequent, we may be in more trouble than just simple natural disasters," Pangoro finished solemnly. He pointed to the door of the office, which had a smaller door connected to it, for smaller Pokémon. "Go and get some rest. Tomorrow, you begin work. And think up a team name, Machamp wasn't entirely untruthful."

"Yes sir," Treecko said, with Ryan echoing quickly after. They hopped off their oversized chairs and headed for the exit.

"Oh, and you two?" Pangoro called after them.

"Yes?" Treecko said, turning back.

"Keep this between us. For now."

"Yes sir."

Ryan and Treecko were given separate rooms. Every Pokémon that used the Guild as a home was given their own room. Espeon, another experienced member of the Guild explained to Treecko and Ryan, as she showed them around, that they had originally attempted to place team members in the same rooms, but with differing types came differing requirements. It would be difficult to stick a grass type in the same room as a Pokémon that was perpetually on fire, for example.

They had then attempted to place Pokémon in the same rooms with other Pokémon of their same type, however the competition between teams led to rapidly deteriorating morale among the whole Guild as rivalries broke out within the dorms and Pokémon would refuse to sleep near Pokémon they couldn't fully trust. So, reluctantly, a lot of money was spent on building an entire additional portion to the already huge building, to accommodate a room for every single Pokémon as well as enough future Pokémon to last till more rooms would have to be built.

Perhaps Ryan was just getting tired after the strange and long day, but he welcomed sleep like an old friend. The dream had been fun, but he was ready to return to standing at a normal height, talking to other humans. A world where Pokémon only spoke a few phrases at most. A world where he was… he was… what? He still couldn't remember. Was he still in the dream? He was certain he had gone to sleep.

A bright light flashed before his eyes. Electricity. A faulty light. White walls. Clean. Too clean. Unnatural. He looked down. A Pokémon was by his side. He smiled; he was a human once more. The Pokémon smiled back at him. It was purple and white, with downward turned horns. An Indeedee. It wore a lab coat. So did he. Why was he in a lab? There was a dulled call from down one of the sterile corridors and Indeedee looked away, towards the sound. Why did Ryan feel nervous, as if he shouldn't be caught even smiling at this Pokémon? The Indeedee pulled out a flower. Ryan recognized it from somewhere. He accepted the flower and the Indeedee bowed quickly before running towards the voice in the distance. Ryan looked down at the flower, confused. It then blossomed, again and again, unfolding outwards over his entire vision until he fell through the floor and woke up, choking on air.

Ryan scrambled to his feet. He was alone in the dark room. It must have been early. Something was bugging him. He felt the same itch and went to scratch it, but he was already scratching it, on instinct. His back leg was scratching up at his ear. He stopped moving. Shocked into stillness. He looked around at the room. At himself. He was still a Pokémon.

"No," he said quietly. "No, no, no, no…" He continued to repeat over and over. His breathing began to choke again. It wasn't a dream. Surely it must have been a dream. People don't just become Pokémon. Don't they? Even if he did, why was every Pokémon suddenly talking like people and acting out their own little civilization? Where were the humans?

Ryan ran to the entrance to his room. He needed to tell Treecko, to tell someone. He couldn't risk his life fighting portals and angry Pokémon three times his size. He was a Shaymin. Perhaps if he had been transported into the body of something like Pangoro, he would be more willing. He couldn't do this. He hurtled towards the doorway and right into the path of Treecko, barreling through the bright-eyed Pokémon and sending them both tumbling.

"I see you couldn't sleep either," Treecko exclaimed, picking himself up off the floor with a laugh. "Good thing, because I figured we should probably plan our team name before we start for the day. Espeon hinted to me that we might already be in line for our first mission come sun up. Hold on."

Treecko looked Ryan up and down. He then padded over to Ryan's small opening of a window and peered out.

"Yup, still night time. That's weird."

"What's weird?" Ryan asked.

"You," Treecko said, "you're still in your Sky Form, right? I've never seen a Shaymin in Sky Form at night before. You also don't have a flower… wait, yes you, oh."

"Oh, what," Ryan said. "Please finish your thoughts. Wait, nope, I'm sorry I snapped. I'm just a little stressed right now."

"No worries, no worries," Treecko said, stepping closer and looking off to the side, at Ryan body and not his face, while he talked. "You sort of have a flower, but it's more of a print pattern than a real thing. You aren't like any Shaymin I've ever met. You aren't even called Shaymin!" Treecko finished his observations with a laugh as Ryan stood quietly, not joining in.

"That's because I'm not a Shaymin," Ryan said, "I'm a human."

"What?"

"A human," Ryan repeated.

"Oh," Treecko laughed again, "you had me going there for a second. You're a funny one Ryan. Although I wouldn't go making that joke around any of the others. They seem a little stressed too."

"No but, I'm not joking," Ryan said.

"I get it, I get it. You're a sucker for the laughs," Treecko said, "you got mine, now let's get to work. What do you want the team name to be?"