[[ Ryan is not a Pokemon, FTR. He is an animal, in a sense; furries are considered half-human-half-animal, and based on preference, they may retain more or less of their root species' traits. I chose to have Ryan retain most of his animal features. Either way, I kind of stole my explanation for how he can understand Pokemon speech from a different story, but the gist of it is that animals and Pokemon are connected on a limited level, and that his knowledge of the 'Pokemon language' is more transposing than it is translating. ]]
In a split second, Elric's life flashed before his eyes. How could he be so stupid as to just let that Pokemon pull a gun on him...? It was the most unsafe thing he'd ever done, and now it would cost him his life. He watched as the assailant fired, and he thought it was all over. Time slowed, and the world around him vanished. But he was still alive...?
Suddenly, a harsh, cold and wet feeling overcame the young Lieutenant. Looking all around himself, his vision was blurred and dark crimson, and there was no ground under him. It was almost free-falling... And he couldn't breathe. He intook some of the water, and immediately attempted to spit it back up, only to intake more; the foul taste reminded him of sewer water that had stagnated for a few days, but the color he could not place... He had no idea which direction was up anymore, and he didn't even know if it was possible to break free of the enigmatic sludge. It was thick and felt like he was swimming in glue, and it was hard to tell exactly how far he was from the surface, if there was a surface.
Struggling to hold on to dear life, he kicked to what direction he hoped was 'up', and forced himself to hold onto whatever breath he had left. As light streamed down from the surface, Elric made a final push towards the light - and finally, he was free of the gooey slime. Though, come to think, at first he could not tell that he'd left the slime's grasp; the air was thick and salty, and it was raining. Looking up, the realization dawned that he was no longer in the world he'd known as Earth...
Dark, brimstone rock faces conjoined at the cheek stared down at him and encircled each other, creating a massive dome of stone and allowing no sunlight to escape. Thick, blood-red clouds hovered over the sea of crimson that the boy had just surfaced from, and in the center of the sea was a small island, a good thirty feet from Elric. Bones weak and his muscles aching, he forced himself towards the spot of land, where a glowing artifact of seemingly inhuman design rested. Conjuring what little strength remained, he gripped at the dark, scorched sand with one hand.
"The Exmortis has come for you, for all... Our immortal legions will purge the world of your sick disease you call human being..."
The voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once, allowing Elric little solace as he surfaced fully and removed himself from the sea of blood. Before him floated in mid-air a bright cyan artifact shaped as a ring with a demon's face designed into it, as if the face were carved out of a pentagram; it's eyes seemed to stare back at the boy as he reached to grasp it... His will was weak against the strange artifact, and he did not know if he was able to touch it. His fingers pryed at an unknown force that surrounded the object, and finally, his hand neared it. As he did, his world became a bright flash of white light, blinding him...
And just like that, as quickly as the dream had come, it had left without a trace. Elric tumbled down and impacted with the grassy ground face-first, and with a groan, he realized that the world was real again. He coughed a bit, sweaty; and rose to his feet on stiff, shaky legs. Ryan was already awake, and trying to figure out what had happened.
"What... What the hell happened?" Elric croaked, unsure of what to make of his strange vision.