Chapter 3: First Steps Make the Difference

The warmth of Solgaleo’s rays combed its light over the city, pouring through the cracks and weak points of dimly lit buildings, shying away from touching anywhere near the sewers or hoodlum-based refuges, those of which had already recieved their fulfilling darkness during Lunala’s daily wake.

As if fighting back from the heat, a large gust of cold wind striked from the west, toppling over a Dolliv who stood quietly on the asphalt shingles of a small college dorm house. Unable to hold their ground, the flurry knocked them head-first onto a student’s open balcony, disturbing the guests in that same room shortly after and ruining their morning.

Hearing the sound but not paying attention to it, an anxious Cherrim moved through her small wooden room, glancing back and forward to check if the other three students in her dorm had woken up yet. But of course not, because there is no point in waking up early on the weekend, is there?

Ruby shuffled through her cabinets, pulling out a moldy Totter Seed she couldn’t quite remember ever collecting. Regardless, she stuffed it in her bag. If this guy gets into anything funny, I’ll at least have something to fight back with.

As sunlight slowly started to creep through her window, she folded her petals and strapped the bag around her side, walking past an obnoxiously snoring Skorupi towards the door.

When I move out, roomates will be nothing but a bad memory she reassured herself, kicking down the door and slamming it shut a few seconds later. She pushed herself to slip down the stairs at the end of the hall without haste.

Worst case scenario, she trips and falls because she wasn’t looking and has an anxiety attack. Second worse scenario, she goes out in public in her sunshine form and she has an anxiety attack… again.

For now, she tiptoed quietly down the red-striped stair room with curious eyes peeking through her petal curtain, eventually making it to the bottom doors. A good reason to enjoy the morning. No one’s up yet.

She sighed and burst through the doorway, jumping slightly at the bright lights decorating the reception hall of the bottom floor. Doesn’t matter how many times she’d been here; it would surprise her every time due to the unnatural placement of the lighting.

A drowsing Morgrem sat behind the reception counter, writing a check on a small slip of white paper. Despite being concentrated on their work, they quickly noticed the Cherrim trying to slip out the doors without saying hello.

“Ruby!” he shouted, causing her to nearly trip, “top of the morning to ya! Didn’t expect to see you up so early, eh?”

Ruby sighed and turned around, walking back to the reception counter. “H-hi Curtis.”

The blunt mon grinned widely, revealing a charred left tooth. “Ay, ye been payin’ taxes much? Wouldn’ be expectin’ such a sweet girl such as ye to be diddlin’ alongside big ‘tina. Especially wit’ all t’e hoodlums in this city..”

“N-no I’ve been paying.” She straightened herself a little, trying to fake any bravery she could. “Plus, I don’t have any interest in you. I th-thought you knew that.”

Curtis chuckled. “Not today, eh? Guess ye must be upset.”

“P-please just move on.”

“Fair enough.”

He turned around to shuffle some papers, turning to grab another stack. Then he proceeded to sit on his desk as if he really wanted to show much of a dork he was to the world. “Ah pardon me for t’is but eh.. ye much of a gossip person? Sorry if yer not, I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“N-no it’s fine go ahead.”

Curtis cracked his knuckles. “Three days ago a Growlithe kiddo got sellin’ illegal seeds on campus. Little jerk even tried to kill me, ended up wit’ a charred mouth and some burns around t’e lower end.”

He held up his left hand, revealing a dark-red bruise near the palm. “I don’ remember what seeds t’ey were. But I know when bad is in front of meh and I called security right away.”

Ruby nodded as Curtis stared intently at his bruise. “You got extra pay as a reward right?”

“Nah. Di’nt get nothing. Folks first thought I was just tryin’ to cause mischief and target inn’cent students. That’s what a reputation does to ye. The Pawmot lady up front managed to defend meh shortly aft’r; I owe ma job to ‘er.”

Right. Dark types always get a bad rep. Ruby frowned internally, before thinking of something to say. “Anyways..”

“Wasn’t there some sort of news about human-based renovations around camp? I don’t read up on this stuff so I know very little.”

The Morgrem smiled at her, positioning his left leg right next to his papers and his right in his chair keeping balance. “Hell ye they did, girl. That big company sponsored us and got a bunch of former humans to create some nice lookin’ decorations from their world. Ye’d never believe how much’a difference it makes.”

Nervous but happy, Ruby smiled. “Oh, that’s nice. Funds are still rough, aren’t they?”

“Yup. But what’s special about us compared to ot’er colleges is we got intelligent folks who actually ben’fit society and make life a bett’r place.”

He winked at her, but Ruby dismissed the flirting quite quickly. “I see ye got that bag on yeh. Means ye goin’ somewhere right? Where to?”

“I got a meeting at a café somewhere in the city. I don’t remember the name but I remember the location.”

“Stay safe, girl. Can’t have such gorgeous mons like ye goin’ out and killing ‘emselves.”

Ruby huffed, turning to leave. One more second with this guy and I’m out of here.

Curtis crossed his arms. “See ye ‘round. I’ll get yer heart eventually, ye hear?”

She quickly darted out the entrance door, breaking into a sunny garden pathway that had recently felt the effects of a light drizzle. Ruby peeked around despite her limited vision, determining that she would only have to walk a straight line to get to the college gates.

As she paced down the sandy road leading north, she noticed a few neatly placed gardenias along with a few graves relating to pokémon who had died on campus or who were connected to the college in some way. Did humans really just… burry their dead loved ones? Sounds painful to think about.

Eventually she made it through, noticing a small Mantyke flying around the garden. A Spidops along with a shorter-than-average Combusken guarded the gate, wearing a pinkish-red cape around both of their necks.

As the guards let her through the silver gates and into the streets, the Spidops spoke up. “Be back by dusk, don’t let anyone else in. You know the rules.”

“Yes sir.”

The gates slammed behind her, causing her bag to swing in the other direction and nearly let go of Ruby’s side. The shy Cherrim winced at the sound, but regardless stood as tall as she could.

Ruby opened her petal curtain a little more, taking in the sight and feel of the city.

The roads were a straightforward black path of smoothened and painted gravel, something that most former humans would have found strange due to the lack of “sidewalks”. But the dullness of the roads were what allowed pokémon of all sizes to pass through, with the occasional street entertainment or food stand being awkwardly plastered in the middle of it all.

Blubluk. Blubluk City. The fourth best place of business on the entire continent. A continent that… lacked a name unlike every other in the world. But the stupidity of that statement was what it made it stand out.

Blubluk was not much for large companies. At most, there was one big corporation while several thousand others loomed below it hoping to one day overthrow the crown. But.. most of these businesses barely lacked any flavor. Some were just the same logo or wares pasted over a million times over with a different name and different owner.

The idea of skyscrapers was barely new and only funded a hundred years ago by former humans, but with enough poor money management it managed to litter the city like berries in a stew.

Ruby took a moment to remember her path before darting right down the closest street, getting slowly more anxious as her legs led her right into a crowd of pokémon. They were yelling… something. She couldn’t quite recognize it, especially with the blood roaring in her ears and concerns of another breakdown scattering along the wave of her thoughts.

The electric tram was only a few blocks away, I just need to hold it in a little longer. She held her breath, weaving around city mons only to bump into someone near-immediately from behind.

Before she could voice an apology, a fervent but shaky shout interrupted her.

Ruby turned around and locked eyes with an Ampharos holding a sign with Unown-based lettering. “Ay Cheri legs, are you feeling out of it lately? Wouldn’t you be interested in a high quality play about a Gurdurr who dreamed of being a pop sta-“

She ran as quickly as her legs would allow. A Porygon-2 yelling about their favorite new berry stand was knocked back into an Abra behind them, both screaming threats only to realize she was gone.

She barely managed to escape the crowd through careful maneuvering, tumbling right into a random bed of gardenias next to the road. Quickly, she leapt back onto her bruised stubs and surveyed the grass around her.

I.. survived the storm. Phew. The crowd was still in its same spot before, but as she looked around slowly she could see that it was more than just the area near campus- it was everywhere. To the point where most of the businesses were either closed or part of a very few that decided to be open.

Before she could make any more movements, a deep mechanical buzzer hummed behind her.

Ruby turned around, surprised to see the tram right in front of her. A floating remnant of a human-made bus, as it had seemed, with a gray coat painted over the sides and no wheels attached. Instead, metal hooks were attached to the bottom, with several pokémon such as Magnemite and Klang at each of the hooks carrying it through some sort of electric wave or telepathy.

A Magnezone with a blue cap over their antenna floated ahead of the tram’s front. “You need a ride? Bzzz, 200 poké a ride.”

“O-oh yes, thank you.” Ruby squatted down to dig some cash out of her bag, opening her petal outer layer a little so that her small hands could reach in. By the time she had dug enough out, the Magnezone’s magnets quickly sucked it up and dumped the money in a small sack attached to the front of the tram.

“Where to, zzzz?”

“The Disarming Voices. It’s u-uh, a café near the northeast section of town.”

“Right away, zzz!” Ruby hopped into the tram, immediately realizing the lack of a door, along with the lack of any sort of windows all together. The only other two mons in the tram, an Aipom and a Grotle, gave her weird glares as she took a seat near the front.

Two of the Magneton buzzed nervously. “S-s-zirr, h-h-how do we deal with the protests? We barely managed to zzcrape b-by the last trip..”

The Magnezone at the front laughed, spinning their magnets wildly. “Don’t be afraid to z-zcare them, if it means using your electricity. Z-z-zivilians will move away just fine, zzz. Anywayzzz, onward!”

Ruby held her breath as the tram started to levitate upwards.

 

~

The ride felt like a blur. Enough time to think but not to nap.

All chances at that sleep were crushed when the Magnezone spoke again, alerting everyone within the tram and surrounding area with their spiky but magnetic voice.

“Bzzz! Here we are!”

Ruby bounced off the exit of the door, reassuring her bag as she looked back at the steel types holding up the tram.

“Thank you!”

“No problem!” rang the Magnezone. “Alright budzzz! Off we go!”

The tram floated off towards a random angle under the mon’s directions, leaving Ruby alone in the streets of the city.

Like the southern portion of Blubluk, it was crowded, too, but much more extreme. A few small gardens were plopped in obscure areas, some being in the middle of the street, while others were placed alongside the edges of the road.

Despite the lack of any city guides, she knew where to go in this haze of a land like this. Groups of pokémon were everywhere, behind her, to the left, and now swarming towards the trail of empty space left by the tram.

Is this supposed to be a common occurrence?

Much to her hesitance, she darted right into a random section of the crowd, moving past a Litten and several other pokémon she could not recognize. Still, Ruby kept her eyes to the sky to track the buildings around her, moving in accordance with the ones she recognized.

A few minutes of this went on until she ran into a wall of pokémon twice her size. A bulky, black body with a pink head and a white muzzle screaming something to a four legged mon with a grassy mane and two stiff horns.

As she tried to squeeze right through them, she felt herself get kicked in the stomach before bouncing right onto the ground sideways beneath her bag, getting constantly pummeled as if she was being beaten into the ground by massive hooves.

Bones compressed, blood rushing, breath tightened- it was all too much for her.

Until it stopped.

 

~

“H-hey, you okay there?”

…

“S-s-sorry you got crushed, but I managed to save you, r-right? Com’on, please be alive…?”

Huh?

…

A moment of silence passed before Ruby felt her consciousness return, forming into an energy that caused her eyes to snap open. Desperately, she used her weakened arms to open a gap through her petals, finding herself in a different area than she remembered last being in.

Sun to the sky, somewhat cloudy but full of airiness. Both sides, beds of gardenias.

“O-oh thank God. I thought you were dead there. I’ve never seen something like you, so it’s funny to at least know you’re alive, ahaha!”

The warmth of that voice. Something she didn’t recognize but felt comforted by.

Her outer layer protected her from her bones getting crushed.. didn’t it?

“I-I’m not the most medically trained professional, but I kn..know some stuff!”

The bright smile of a friendly Chimecho floated over her, blocking out some of the sunlight but returning it with some light of her own, through her comforting presence.

“I managed to heal you up through my move uh… Heal Pulse. I think that’s what they call it. S-sorry if it goes by a different name around here… I’m new to the city.”

Ruby pulled out all her strength to say a word. Any word. First impressions make the difference.

“H-hi.”

“Oh, we speak the same language, what a relief!”

“Wh-who are..”

The psychic type moved from her spot, using some sort of telekinetic force to help the Cherrim out. “I… I’m Alice! I’m a Chimecho!”

“I’m… Ruby..”

“Oh, such a sweet name! Does your species eat uhm… Oran Berries? My old medical teacher told me they work on nearly every pokémon.”

“Y-yeah. S-sorry for not…”

“N-n-no, please don’t cry!” Alice started to sweat a little before pulling out a blue berry from a medical bag out of Ruby’s vision, levitating it down into her gap for her to eat.

As she consumed it, Alice laughed nervously. “You won’t believe how many inconveniences you’d have to dodge…”

Through bites, Ruby was smiling.

“Oh!” Alice turned around, glancing back in forth. “So what pokémon are you? You seem to be a uh… grass type of sorts, but I don’t know for certain.”

“Cherrim” Ruby mumbled, finally finishing her food.

As strength seemed to flow throughout the mon’s body, Alice simply looked at her curiously. “O-oh, I see. What a lovely species!”

“I guess. Oh and uh.. thanks! I know words can’t describe feelings much, but that really did mean a lot…”

“You’re welcome!”

Ruby blushed behind closed doors, finally sitting up.

“S-s-so where are you off to, stranger? Got places to go?”

“Yeah… I got a meeting with a pokémon somewhere in one of the diners around here…”

“Okay” Alice replied, her eyes and smile relaxing. “Ah, stay safe then! I really hope we see each other again! And… hey, maybe we will!”

“I hope” Ruby mumbled. She glanced around. Her satchel wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Thanks- oh! Your bag, my bad!”

Alice teleported the Cherrim’s satchel around her side, nodding as the grass type slowly walked off from the garden around her and back into the greyness of the city.

“Have a good day!” she shouted.

“You too!”

Like that, I’m back on my way Ruby assured herself, feeling the sunlight get more intense as she headed back through the crowds, taking mental notes to not get run over this time.

Through careful weaving and sticking to the sides of the streets, she eventually found herself in a shaded spot with multiple other diners, alongside the one she was looking for, right in front of her. A hazel colored building with magenta doors and purple-stained windows to the left and to the right. A sign, the same color to that of the windows, hung proudly over the building, fashioning a few colorful blotches underneath the text.

“Here I go” she mumbled, stepping towards the front door of The Disarming Voices. Before she could even reach the door, it slammed open as a Sawk and Dedenne burst outside.

“Sorry, in a rush” the Dedenne slurred, panting as they disappeared in a chase against a mon twice her speed. They scurried out with haste, Ruby taking the opportunity to jump inside while the door was still open.

She barely managed to get in before it shut behind her.

Huh. Weird folks.

Before she could move an inch, a large gust of cold wind bit right through her protection, causing Ruby to cough without notice of the Naclstack waiting ahead of her.

“Ye come here to eat or…?”

“Oh! Yeah my bad-“

The Cherrim snapped out of her thoughts and peeked through her curtain to look around the diner. Thankfully, the pokémon sitting at the wooden tables, as few as there were, did not notice her. Colorful lights in shades of purple and pink lined the ceiling, casting a soft but eerie glow around the edges.

What did I come here for? Right, uhm..

“Guurl, you did not just come into a diner just to stare around and waste ma time!? Ye gonna eat something or do I need to kick your sorry ass out?”

The Naclstack was furious now, wearing a purple apron that Ruby didn’t originally see. The two stood in a mental standoff, before a surge of bravery shot straight into her.

“I-I’m here for a table under the name of Mall… Ma.. Mallku. He’s a Weav-“

“Right this way” the rock type hissed. “Make a mess in here and it’s coming out of your ass.”

Ruby said nothing, following the mon as she led her to a table near the back, where a Weavile, wearing the same red scarf and egg-shaped badge from before, sat sharpening their claws impatiently.

He immediately noticed her, getting out of his slouched position and forcing a smile. “Hey! Good to see you! Take a seat.”

The Naclstack walked away angrily as Ruby plopped down on a spot across from Mallku but still close enough to chat. The leather underneath her was… soft, even if she could only slightly feel it through her outer layer.

“I’m surprised to see you early” he mumbled, smirking.

Ruby widened her gap a little more so she could get a full vision of him.

“I-It was a rough trip here, I assure.”

“You didn’t come here alone, did you?”

Ruby sighed. “N-n-no… Tori and uh.. a friend will be here soon, they live a bit farther away, plus Tori likes to sleep in and all.”

“I see.” Mallku nodded, magically taking out a glass with some sort of pink liquid from beneath the table.

The room was awkward for a few moments. Ruby, still taking in the sights and smells of the diner, was too afraid to say anything while Mallku was simply waiting for her to speak up.

Her eyes fell onto Mallku’s drink before he quickly spoke up. “You want some?”

“N-no I’m good” she replied in a trembling voice.

“Fair enough.”