Ryan and Treecko appeared in front of the same crowd they had left behind. Everyone was still in their stunned, silent state, as if no time had passed while they had been away.
"What. Was. That?" Machamp asked, forcing the words out as his head tried to wrap around what had just happened.
"None of you are going to believe us when we say this," Ryan said, "but we just spoke to an extremely powerful Pokémon who gave us advice on how to solve what is going on."
"And who was that powerful Pokémon?" Espeon asked snidely.
"Um… I'm not too sure," Ryan said.
"So, why should we believe a thing you say, yet ag-"
"You listen and you listen good!" Treecko shouted at Espeon, possibly shocking the crowd even more than the display with the rifts.
"I didn't know Treecko could speak?" One Pokémon whispered to another, loud enough for others to hear.
"Maybe you all should try listening before you open your mouths every once in a while," Treecko continued. He pointed at Espeon, "this Pokémon has been boosting our emotions to get us to rally against Ryan. If any Pokémon is to blame for the unrest within the Guild, it's her. Now, all of you zip it whilst Ryan speaks."
Nobody was going to argue with a Pokémon as animated as Treecko was in that moment as he took Ryan's side.
"The powerful Pokémon said," Ryan said slowly, trying to chip through the tension that Treecko had forged. "They said to 'find Regigigas'. Any ideas?"
There was a collection of blank faces and shrugs from the crowd as Espeon turned to Ryan.
"Looks like your valuable information is as useful as you," she said.
"Actually," Machamp said, pushing Espeon out of the way and out of the main clearing in the gathering. "I think I've heard of Regigigas. Some ultra-powerful ancient Pokémon? I found out scraps about it while I was training as a Machoke. From what I can remember, Regigigas got entombed as it was just too powerful. I can't remember where the tomb was though."
"What's the bet that the tomb is somewhere under the ocean?" Treecko said, "all the water has to drain somewhere."
"Good thinking," Machamp said, "some of the rescue teams have begun transferring the water Pokémon from the sea into the ponds around town. Everybody split up and see if any of them have any clue about underwater tombs."
Hearing the clear leadership from Machamp, the Pokémon teams all nodded and funneled out of the room, their fervor for revenge on Ryan doused for the time being.
"I really hope you two are onto something," Machamp said, "if all the water disappears for good, then we're done for."
"It's worse than that," Ryan said, "if we don't fix this soon, the Distortion world will collide with this one and destroy them both."
"What's the Distortion world?" Machamp asked.
"Let's hope you don't have to find out," Treecko replied.
"Where do you think you're going?" Machamp snapped at Espeon who had tried to slink away. "Let's have a little chat about messing with minds of Pokémon bigger than you."
Ryan and Treecko left the two of them to it, also going off to search for the right water Pokémon to ask about Regigigas.
With the amount of Pokémon now searching and asking, instead of just Treecko and Ryan working on something, word got around quickly about what they were looking for and it was barely half an hour later that a shoal of Wishiwashi claimed to know useful information. They had been saved from the seas and placed in the town fountain to stay wet. They communicated that all the water was being drained from one location. They were not sure if that was where whatever a Regigigas was, was hiding, but that was their best bet for the location of the troublemaker. They gave the directions to the Guild member and those directions found their way back to Machamp, Treecko and Ryan quickly.
"That's a lot of ground to cover," Machamp said.
"Then we need to get going now," Ryan replied.
"I agree, but the amount of time we are away will affect those who need help here," Machamp said, thinking. He left for a moment and came back with a large bell that had been hanging in Pangoro's office. "Quickest way to collect all the rescue teams in the area," Machamp said, stepping out to the entrance of the Guild and ringing the bell.
It was loud enough to get both Ryan and Treecko to shake where they stood, hoping they wouldn't end up deaf.
Soon enough, a huge crowd of Pokémon had gathered by the front doors of the Guild and Machamp began divvying up duties, keeping some teams back to watch over the Guild and its surrounding areas, whilst the best of the Guild were selected to join Machamp, Treecko and Ryan on their journey to find Regigigas and hopefully end the threat on their world.
Supplies packed, the teams stood on the beach, before the new expanse of land that used to be the sea. Treecko pointed in a direction to their left.
"The Wishiwashi said that that direction was the right one to take," Treecko said. Everyone nodded, not knowing whether this would be easy or hard. Either way, they couldn't hope for a stronger, more determined group of Pokémon.
They turned back to wave goodbye to the collection of villagers that stood further up the beach, seeing them off.
Following Ryan's lead, the best of the best set off along the sea bed.
It was a surreal experience, walking along bone dry land that had been fully submerged under water barely a few hours before.
Coral stuck out from the ground, as did huge rock formations that none of the group knew existed. Perhaps theirs were the first non-water dwelling eyes to see them.
The land they walked on was a solemn reminder of what more they could lose if they didn't win in this mission. So much life lost or displaced. Entire habitats destroyed.
Then, on the horizon, Treecko spotted the first of them.
Infected Pokémon, shambling towards them.
"At least we know we're going in the right direction," Machamp said, laughing loudly to bolster the spirits of the other Pokémon. "We do not waste our time with them, okay? Prime mission is to cut through and help Treecko and Ryan to reach Regigigas. Time is of the upmost importance here."
Treecko and Ryan shared a glance as the other Pokémon nodded, preparing for what would likely be the toughest fight of their lives. The number of infected Pokémon in their view only grew.
"Shaymin can fly, can't they?" Machamp murmured to the two of them.
"Yes," Treecko said as Ryan hesitated.
"It's... a work in progress," Ryan said, "I don't have much experience doing it."
"When the fighting starts, I want you two to fly over. Use us as a distraction and get there as fast as you can, okay?" Machamp said and Treecko nodded.
"You can do it, Ryan," Treecko said, patting Ryan on the back, "I know you can."
The ground was raked with deep cracks as they reached further and further into the area that used to be the ocean floor. It was dry and all the Pokémon were thirsty, reaching for flasks of water but not wanting to use too much as they had to make the return trip too.
The infected Pokémon were nearly upon them and they needed to be rested enough to put up a good fight, so they allowed the infected to approach them for the last bit of the distance.
Everyone braced for the fight and then Machamp lifted his right fists.
"For the Guild!" He cried, "For Pangoro!"
And they ran to battle.