Another night, another dream. Ryan was almost becoming used to the disorienting feeling of changing his perspective from close to the ground as a Shaymin and then high up, as a human.
In this dream, he was standing in a room, clean as ever. This room was filled from floor to ceiling in cages. He hated this room, it filled him with a deep anger. If he expressed that anger, however, the company he worked for would 'deal' with him. In every cage, was a different Pokémon. Trapped.
He felt trapped, himself, but he couldn't do anything. Not yet.
He saw one Pokémon, the one he had gone there to collect. A Shaymin, but with shorter legs and ears, no flower. A Land Shaymin. He picked up the Pokémon, doing his best to soothe its fear.
He carried the Pokémon to the room where his lab partner waited, giving it a couple hugs. He wasn't entirely sure if they were to comfort the Shaymin or himself.
He entered the room and put the Shaymin in another cage, close to a platform in the center of the room. His partner turned around, grinning. It was the man he feared.
"It's almost time. We're so close," the man said, "would you like to do the honors?"
"Not really," Ryan murmured to himself.
"What?" The man snapped, leaning closer. Ryan shrunk back slightly.
"Nothing," Ryan said, "I'll do it."
"Good."
Ryan approached the console beside the platform, on the opposite side to the locked up Shaymin. Watching the poor creature, he pressed a series of buttons and pushed a lever. As he pushed the lever, a tear began to open up above the platform, pouring out a black gas that threatened to choke everyone in the room.
Concerned, Ryan looked to the Shaymin, if it needed help. The black gas began to swirl around the Pokémon, being drawn in as the Shaymin started to glow, brighter and brighter.
"Yes!" The man cried, "it's working!"
The gas began to overwhelm the Shaymin, it being unable to take in much more and Ryan shut the lever off before the Shaymin was injured much more. It wavered on its tiny legs and fainted.
"You are going to regret that," the man hissed, closing the distance between he and Ryan.
The man's face imprinted in his mind's eye; Ryan shot up from his bed. He hoped he would get at least one good night's sleep at some point, hopefully soon.
This dream, at least, had been useful. He recognized the tear and the black smoke that had poured out. It was the same black smoke that had infected Pangoro and likely the other Pokémon too.
He had an idea and was doubtful anyone else would agree to it, but he had to try.
He crept out of his room and snuck down the corridors, avoiding the patrolling Pokémon that had been asked to keep watch of the Guild in case of another attack.
He approached the barred door to Pangoro's room. Most of the bedrooms did not have doors for entrances, just like Ryan's. Pangoro's had been no exception, so Machamp had installed some heavy metal bars to keep Pangoro in until he was fixed.
Looking in, Ryan watched Pangoro pace, reminding him of some of the Pokémon in the room of cages.
Ryan, being far smaller than Pangoro, slunk into the room, between the bars.
As Ryan approached, Pangoro turned and looked down at him with those huge emotionless eyes. Ryan braced for an attack, but none came.
"You," Pangoro said in a tone Ryan wasn't expecting. He recognized it and Pangoro was the one speaking, but it wasn't entirely his voice. "Is this place not a godsend?"
"In a cell, you mean?" Ryan said, a little confused and a lot scared.
"You'll know what I mean, although from the looks of it, you got the short end of the stick." To emphasize his point, Pangoro stretched and then leered over Ryan threateningly. "Would you like to talk face to face?"
Before Ryan could answer, the room began to flicker and brighten, a rift opening up between Pangoro and himself. Black smoke started to pour out of the tear, Pangoro moving to hold Ryan in place, but Ryan darted away from his clutches.
"What's going on down there?" A call came from down the corridor. Ryan could hear multiple Pokémon rushing over. As he turned to the voices, Pangoro grabbed hold of him tightly, allowing the smoke to engulf the smaller Pokémon.
Ryan tensed up, hoping his natural instincts would kick in. He also hoped that that ability was not specific to just Land Shaymin.
He breathed in and the inky blackness surrounding him began to light up, glowing a soft yellow. He breathed in more, pulling more and more of the smoke into himself. As the smoke began to die down, with Ryan soaking it all into himself, he caught a glimpse of something on the other side of the rift. Something huge and, behind it, something terrifying. He had never seen either of those creatures before and yet, somehow, he knew the feeling the smaller one gave him.
In reflexive terror, Ryan soaked up even more smoke, even though there was none left in the room. Pangoro started to choke and dropped him. Landing on his feet, Ryan turned to the larger Pokémon as the rift snapped shut. Pangoro's eyes returned to their normal shade, showing the whites of the eyes that had been hidden behind the blackness. The remaining smoke that had tainted Pangoro's body soaked into Ryan.
"What was that?"
A quiet voice in a crowd of stunned silence. Ryan turned from the once again comatose Pangoro to see as many Pokémon as possible, all looking through the bars into the room. At Pangoro. At him.
Ryan had attempted to explain the situation, but was shut down quickly. They couldn't verify if he had been telling the truth about helping Pangoro until Pangoro himself woke up, which had yet to happen.
With his track record of being a generally kind and considerate Pokémon, if a bit nervous, they had given him the benefit of the doubt and not locked him up, although he had been asked to stay in his bedroom until further instruction.
Against his mind's wishes, he fell asleep as soon as he hit his bed, his body exhausted after helping Pangoro.
His subsequent dream felt… different. Corrupted. As if something was tampering with it. He saw the usual interactions with Indeedee and the man, their research into the tears but he could tell something was off. Someone, something was watching. His eyes snapped open as a rift tore open within his bedroom and two Pokémon stepped out.
A Monferno and a Decidueye regarded him, blocking off the exit to the room. Both looked on, emotionless, awaiting his reaction.
Knowing that either of these Pokémon were dangerous to him on their own, but together was a nearly unwinnable situation, Ryan attacked, with hopes to dart towards the exit, but both Pokémon were faster than him, dodging to the side and trading places to make sure there was always one on the offensive whilst the other blocked the exit.
Ryan bolted around, firing out his magic leaves to little effect at the Pokémon. It was as if they had been picked purely for him. In the back of his mind, he wondered if any other Pokémon were being ambushed like this, but he also felt like this was personal somehow.
The Monferno landed a blow, punching Ryan and sending him singed and flying across the room, where Decidueye hit him before he landed, only worsening the impact. In two successful hits, Ryan was almost done, close to defeat. He backed up against the wall as the two Pokémon approached, showing no care towards him.
In his normal reaction to fear, although he was proud of himself for fighting as long as he had, he shut his eyes and curled up into a ball, bracing for the final blow.
Even with his eyes closed, his eyelids couldn't block out all of the light that suddenly exploded around the room. He opened one eye. He was untouched, the glow from his fur fading slowly. The portions of his coat that had taken on a black hue since he had soaked in the gas and returned to their normal green. Both Monferno and Decidueye were lying unconscious in front of him, and the wall to the outside of the Guild, that Ryan had pressed himself up against, had a hole burst through it. All around him in his portion of the room, had severe scorch marks. Somehow, Ryan had unleashed some pent-up energy from the polluting gas he had stored up.
Treecko was the first to find him. The other Pokémon took away the new attackers and allowed Treecko to share Ryan's room, in case of another attack.
Ryan couldn't help but notice the way they looked at him as they took the Pokémon away, however. Suspicion. They didn't trust him at all anymore.