Chapter 7: Initiation

A shadow emerged into the light, dusting off a bit of grime near the end point of the tunnel to fashion as a seat. Sewage poured out of a mon-made waterway into the river below, ruining the quality of the water and scaring away any pokémon that weren’t part-poison.

He had seen it many times before. The sewer wasn’t the most hospitable place imaginable, but it was at least a safe back-up exit. In case things got to worse, he could escape down these halls and follow the river west to the sea, where he could take a ship out to the Goji Continent.

Not his first option, but merely a back-up.

He picked at his scarf a little before pulling out a small badge, styled in the form of an egg with white wings on both sides. The metal was slightly dulled, but still reflected the morning sunlight, hinting at any left-over sheen that might not have faded over the years. It had lost its teleportation mechanics years ago, but it didn’t stop him from keeping it wherever he went.

It wasn’t just a memory retrieval tool. It was a token of friendship and loyalty.

Mallku had lived too long, that he knew well. A mon his species should have died at least twenty years ago before now, whether it be old age or accidents. He had survived dungeons, nearly gotten his head chopped off by a Machamp, watched his dearest friends die, and miraculously wound up finding a mythical pokémon in a poorly hidden growth of shrubbery.

For once, he wondered if his guildmaster had been through events as bad as this. He’s lived more than five hundred years, so it’s only fair he must have.

Like the Ninetales had done through the years, he found himself sitting in front of a body of water watching the sunrise. No reason, really. But some things just happen on instinct, and this was one of those things.

The city was quiet and beautiful in the morning. The feeling had always been there, but Mallku was only starting to realize the occupancy of it. If he ever gets back, he’s going to have to make a mental note to ask his guildmaster if they can watch the sunrise together. And… maybe perhaps look over old memories.

No matter what, Mallku would promise that to the best of his ability. But… for now he would be watching the sunset alone.

Well, no one said he had to, of course. Jirachi and Ari never mind it, but unlike Mallku, both of them got bored of sitting around longer than two minutes. That, and they both fear getting seen by unfamiliar strangers.

The Weavile sighed before getting up and stretching, yawning as another day came to fruition.

I guess it’s about time I make breakfast.

~

Under the shade of an awning connected to a small pub, a Forretress waited alone. Vulnerable and feeble, the mon looked around curiously from within its shell, making no noise or movement as the street refused to be anything but empty. Todd should have expected it, really. Nothing could stop him from looking like a dumb random, idly standing in front of a shop he didn’t own or work at. But… Proteus was taking much longer than hoped. Unnerving but also expected.

He pretty much depended on the Galvantula to be back soon. A multiped with ways of actual self-defense mechanisms… Todd envied it. Being gifted such power on the hierarchy while Todd was left scraping for the bottom.

He glanced around once again and quickly caught sight of a pokémon walking through the streets by themself. A small flowery creature with a brown bag around its side, one with hidden facial expression wrapped by a grassy shell… or, well, whatever it was. Todd wasn’t too familiar with the names of most species, but regardless his eyes widened in joy and amazement.

“Good morning!” he shouted.

The mon winced as they turned around, unsure of where the greeting was coming from. Maybe they thought they were about to be jumped, or maybe they thought someone was about to force them into a conversation, because they froze in their movements almost instantly.

“O-oh I didn’t mean to scare you! Sorry, my bad!”

The sound of a light bell rang behind Todd, averting his attention. Behind him, Proteus crawled out of the front door of the pub. A small backpack was thrown over his abdomen, with a small pink shopping bag being held in his left pedipalp. A crimson bandana was wrapped around his neck, failing to hide a cut mark between the neck and the mon’s mouth.

Proteus glanced between Todd and the pokémon across the street that was still frozen in place. “I got everything we needed. Whatchu up to now?”

“Trying to say a greeting to the mon over there” the Forretress sighed. “I don’t think they heard.”

“Oh, I see.”

Proteus adjusted their bandana before crawling towards the mon, with Todd rolling behind. Curiously, the Galvantula stopped and lent out his open pedipalp.

“Hello! Sorry if we scared you, are you alright?”

The mon looked up, tilting their head towards him. “Nonono it’s fine” they sighed, unstiffening. “You can call me… Ruby. I-I’m a Cherrim if you couldn’t tell.”

“Ah, so like the vegetable?”

“Th-the what!?”

“You say your name was Rhubarb? Honestly, I think that name is silly, but I won’t judge, ahaha! My mama used to make rhubarb pie all the time, it’s a shame that you can’t buy any around here.”

“U-uhm” Ruby sighed. “That’s not my name. ‘Rhu-bee’. Like the gem, not the plant..”

Proteus turned around, chuckling. “Oh, sorry about that. Anyway, apologies aside, I’m Proteus, and this is my buddy Todd. Call him weak, but he can land some really tough Gyro Ball attacks if you’re not careful!”

“No need to flatter me, hohoho!”

The two bug types started to laugh in unison, causing Ruby to smile within her petals. “W-well, it was nice meeting you two. Have a good da-“

The Galvantula turned his back, quickly interrupting her. “Ah, so where are you off to?”

Ruby froze right on the spot, once again. “W-well I’m not too sure if I’m allowed to disclose that information. B-b-but I do have a meeting with someone soon, so I should probably…”

“Same for the two of us. Your meeting doesn’t involve a Weavile mon, does it?”

“Why do you ask…?”

Proteus simply smiled. “Oy, looks like we’re after the same destination! How lucky! And since we don’t have to hide anything… you can follow us if it doesn’t bother you. Unless you got other pokés you’re waiting on.”

Ruby started to weigh in on her options. I’m not as likely to get attacked if I don’t go alone… and there’s not really any secrets to be hidden…

“Yeah it’s fine” she muttered. “So I assume you both have been to the bunker before?”

“No, but Mallku told us everything. Everything from Jirachi to Necrozma’s tail! I was surprised he trusted us so much. After all, we’re just a duo of lowly bug types.”

Ruby nodded. “Oh, okay. I knew he mentioned something about not being picky with extra members…”

“Dunno. But we shouldn’t have to worry” Proteus assured. He looked between both Ruby and Todd, trying to think of a decision. “Well? We can’t be too late, can we?”

“Y-yeah. Want me to lead the way?”

“Go ahead.”

Ruby nodded, turning left of the pub and taking a route straight down the alleyway. Todd and Proteus followed, the former spinning and the latter crawling with the bags still in his grasp.

The street became dimmer and more run-down as they traveled, large wooden tiles or metal ladders overhanging the roof above them, alluding to some sort of passageway along the tops. They were definitely in gang territory now.

An influx of robbed or closed stores lined the sides, with an abundance of trash and rotted wood. Nothing about it necessarily scared any of them; it was to be expected that when you have a deep secret, especially as deep as Mallku’s, you’d want to hide it in a place no casual mon would dare to look.

There was too many of these run-down feral nests to make it obvious.

Eventually they took a left of a perpendicular exit way, passing through a street that looked vaguely familiar to the street Mallku had stopped at the following week.

After all, this was the street.

“Say Ruby, how do you know how to get around here so easily?” Todd queried.

“O-oh I’ve sometimes crossed through these alleys to get to my job… the crime down here isn’t that bad. Once or twice I’ve had pokémon try to kidnap or attack me though…”

“How’d you escape them?”

“It’s not that hard” Ruby huffed.

“Fair enough.”

A few moments later she stopped in front of a random building, with several wooden crates around the entrance. No door, no sign, all dulled colors.

Looks about right.

Proteus creeped up the steps. “This is the place?”

“I think so.”

Todd turned around, noticing two blurry silhouettes in the distance from the opposite direction from where the three of them of them had come from. “Oh, looks like there are two other members coming this way!”

The figures got closer, revealing the shape of a Chandelure and a Gastrodon. They both moved very slowly but did so with a calmness to that of their expressions. They wore teal scarfs, one tied around a limb and the other worn below the mouth, where the neck was expected to be. The latter’s scarf seemed to blend in with the oceanic color of its skin, not fully becoming clear as a scarf until the mons got within a Farigiraf’s neck of distance.

Ruby and Proteus turned around, watching the two mons as they approached.

“Ah, hello” the Chandelure said. “Are you three here for the meeting?”

“Oh, but yes we are!” Todd assured, grinning from underneath his shell. “You may call me Todd, and you can call my two friends here Ruby and Proteus.”

The ghost type nodded. “I am Lucy, this is Andesine. He’s a shy one.”

Andesine blushed while frowning at the same time. “I am a Gastrodon, and Lucy is a Chandelure, as you can tell. We come from the southern portion of the continent but were dissatisfied by the lack of guildwork they have in this area. I’m sure you can understand our joy when we found out there was an long-unfilled request needing a specific level of explorers.. doing such a big job as to protecting a mon that’s traveling an entire continent…”

Proteus perked up. “We’re doing a travelling mission? Funny, Mallku never said anything about that to us…”

“Guess it’s different for everyone then.”

Ruby inched back, towards the old building. “Well, we should all get a move on.”

“Right” Lucy continued. “Let me provide some light so we can see inside.”

The Chandelure floated over the crates and through the broken window, followed by Ruby and Proteus, then Todd and Andesine respectively. The infinite fire provided from the top of her head made travel through the darkness much quicker and much more efficient, with the light exposing broken chairs and ash along the floor.

The scene was enough to say that it was once a diner of sorts, easy to tell. The inside was very small, small enough to be confused for a kitchen. What really caught Ruby’s attention was the placement of the tunnel, however.

First off, it looked mon-made. Like an Excadrill had randomly decided to drill a hole through the corner of the diner, arching down slowly away from the surface. Lucy floated immediately, reminding Ruby where they were actually headed.

The tunnel was just as dark and muted as before.

~

“You said you aren’t paying for clean water, how else do you get you have it then!?”

Mallku smirked in response to Mai’s glowering. “You’d be surprised.”

The Mienshao squinted her eyes. “You have your own Cleanse Orbs?”

“Nah. Too expensive.”

“So how do you have clean water then!?”

Mallku crossed his arms as Victini sagged into the room, eyes baggy and weary. “I get Heatran and Victini to boil my water. There are only three mons in the house who need it, so it’s not as bad. Sometimes I’ll go to the city bath to save some.”

“H-how…”

“I keep all my water in the cooler in the basement. There’s a large pot I keep right next to it, and at the end of the week I’ll get the two of ‘em to help me boil and clean it. Simple as that.”

Mai groaned, clearly frustrated. “How long have you been living this poor…?”

“Not poor” Mallku snapped. “I have to take care of four other mons in this household using money I saved up during my seeker years. Drains my pile pretty quickly. I don’t just have a job I can go to anymore, not with having to take care of these pokémon and myself, and having to manage everything so I can help them get the things they want.”

“B-but… you have a scarf! And a badge!”

Mai poked at her own pink scarf tied around her neck, pointing to the egg-shaped badge of her own. “Why can’t you just go back!?”

“First off, mine lost its use. Second, going back isn’t an option.”

The two of them locked eyes before Mai sighed and gave up. “Alright, fine… so who else are we waiting for?”

“Proteus, Todd, Lucy, Andesine, Ruby, Brunia and Louis. That makes seven.”

The Mienshao nodded as Victini stumbled towards Mallku. “Hey.. Mall” they slurred, seemingly half-conscious. “Where’s Jirachi?”

“Still asleep. Breakfast is on the table if you haven’t eaten already.”

“Okey, thanks…”

In the back of the kitchen, a small japanese-inspired, rectangular table stood close to the wall, short in height but long in width. Five pillows sat around it, with one taking up a longer side. On the other side, a small wooden bowl of sliced Pecha berries had been placed on the table. Yawning, Victini slumped towards the bowl.

The air became quieter as Mai and Mallku watched them, until a familiar voice echoed through the halls. The both of them turned their gaze towards the door that lead to the basement, noticing Jirachi clumsily crawling through.

Mallku raced forward to scoop the mon into his arms, holding them like a child. “How’d you sleep?”

“Fine. No… dreams though” they slurred, yawning.

Mai quickly took upon a relaxing smile. “Ah, so this is really it?”

“They” the Weavile corrected. “But yes. Kind of a gremlin, so be careful.”

“They? Hm… Sorry about that. Up until now I’ve barely put much thought into myths. Hell, I barely believed much of what you said when the two of us met you. It’s… astounding.”

“Sure is. Which is why I’m so secretive about all this. But I trust you; I trust everyone here to be careful with this news.”

“My father said once that all food as secretive as something like this should be met with quiet tongues. If people notice you’re eating something, they’ll ask what, then why, then if they can try it.”

“Sorta” Mallku murmured. “If anyone is betraying us, I have faith in you to notice it and tell me.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Aw, don’t go ‘sir’ on me. I thought I told you that before…”

“Sorry” Mai muttered. She looked around the room, to Victini, then to Jirachi. “I’m going to go check on the others in the main room to see if everything is still alright. Thanks for letting me talk, Mallku.”

“Of course. You’re not gonna say hi to Jirachi?”

“Nah” Mai remarked, dodging the steel type’s furrowed brow. “Sweethearts don’t stay sweet without their heart. If Liz stays any longer without me she’s going to end up in a bad mood.”

Mallku nodded as the Mienshao slipped through the door opposite of the table, the door that led towards the entrance tunnel. Jirachi smacked their lips a little, yawning again.

“Today’s meeting day?”

“Yup.”

In the main room meanwhile, Mai found herself in front of a different face than expected.

“Look who’s here!”

Mallku followed her in, smiling quickly as Lucy, Ruby, Proteus, Todd, and Andesine shuffled through the tunnel, surveying the room. The other mons greeted them only to be quickly interrupted by Ruby.

“T-Tori!? So early!?”

Gabi moved out of the way, giving Tori and Ruby some room to hug.
“Gabi woke me up before dawn. A bit too early to be honest, but it was fine.”

“Y-yeah. What a surprise.”

Tori released Ruby from her grasp so the Cherrim could take a look around, noticing two new faces, a Mienshao and a Roserade wearing badges, similar to the kind she recognized, hooked to the collar of the scarves around their necks.

“Well then” Mallku announced, still carrying Jirachi in his arms. “We have five new pokémon for everyone to be acquainted with, and two others on their way soon. Please follow me to the basement so we can start the meeting shortly.”

The Weavile backtracked out the door and into the kitchen, with Proteus, Mai, Liz and Todd following. Ruby moved away from the larger crowd around them to get closer to Gabi and Tori, blushing from within her petals.

“So” Gabi chirped. “Looks like we got a big group here. Larger than I expected, really.”

“Y-yeah. It’s a bit much.”

Tori smiled. “Mallku said we don’t have to remember all their names today. But he said we should still try to treat everyone with respect. I think. I wasn’t really listening.”

“Of course you weren’t.”

“At least I was honest.”

“You two…” Ruby sighed.

Gabi threw a glare at Tori, only for it to miss as the Whimsicott slipped through the kitchen door. “Last one there owes me a million!”

She skittered outside of view, the other two behind her.

“I stick to my bet that she’s gonna end up dying recklessly” Gabi huffed, glancing back at Ruby as Lucy and Andesine passed them. “Anyways, how was your morning?”

“I waited by your house for a few minutes, but f-figured it was best to just go ahead and let you go at your own pace. After that I met the other four on my way here.”

“Names?”

“P-Proteus the Galvantula, Todd the Forretress, Lucy the Chandelure and uh… I… I can’t remember the Gastrodon’s name.”

“Noted.”

“Yeah.”

Both of them waited in silence before Gabi spoke up again. “If we both make it late will neither of us owe her?”

“I hope.”

A minute later they made it to the basement door, tall and wide, leading to what Ruby suspected was the sleeping quarters. The sound of muffled chatter and excitement could be heard through the walls, echoing up the stairs that connected the rooms.

“Time to get comfortable, I guess” Gabi mumbled, floating down the stairs with Ruby following.

The basement was much larger than any other room from the inside, containing a few pieces of furniture and items scattered around. An ice box that reached toward the ceiling sat near the opposite corner of the room, with a large, gray cooking pot placed against the side. Multiple pokémon chatted between each other, in the middle of the room, against the wall, or next to the one or two wooden desks. All of the faces looked familiar, except for two.

A Chimecho and a yellow silhouette talking to Tori in the center.

From within her petals, Ruby’s eyes sparkled with hope.

She knew a Chimecho.

Like an Electrode on wheels, Ruby dashed straight towards her without delay. Tori quickly noticed and stopped talking mid-conversation, eyes averting towards the Cherrim as she rushed towards them. The yellow silhouette simply raised their horns in surprise.

By the time Ruby reached them, the Chimecho turned around and was met with awe.

“R-Ruby!?”

She opened the gap between her petals a little more. “Alice?”

Alice flew towards Ruby, squeezing her body around the Cherrim like a towel. “O-oh I didn’t expect to see you again! How’s it been!?”

Tori tilted her head in surprise, scratching one of her horns. “Huh? You two already met?”

“Yeah! I saved her from getting squished by pokémon in the city! It was a week ago, I think.”

“Oh, cool.”

Ruby sighed. Alice’s body was preventing her from seeing, with the way she was tightened around her now. “H-Hey, can you uh…”

“Oh! Sorry” the Chimecho mumbled, flying off of her and floating back to her spot from before. “Anyways, it’s nice getting to see you again!”

“Y-yeah.” Ruby tilted her head right, noticing the other pokémon. “Who’s this?”

The mon approached her up close, now becoming apparent that it wasn’t just one- it was multiple! Ruby nearly jumped back in surprise. She had heard of pokémon who came in group of smaller parts, but she had never seen them until now. This one seemed to be like a troop, with one larger creature leading five others behind its back.

“Hello!” the brass announced. “How great it is to be acquainted! You may call us The Joes; not just one Joe, multiple! I do most of the decision-making, while the others simply follow my lead. We are a fearsome force of a Falinks, I’ll have you know!”

The five smaller members made no noise back, standing still and focused and watching the brass’s movements. Do they even have brains? Ruby pondered to herself.

Hopefully this was the last name she’d have to remember today. Especially with the consideration that maybe the others have their own names, and likes and dislikes…

“Nice to meet you too.”

“We are fearless. Any threat will leave us never hesitating to fight!”

The brass jumped up into the air, followed by the other five in a smooth motion. The brass stabbed the air with his horns, and the troopers did the same.

“Us?”

“Yes! Teamwork is absolute!”

“S-so even if you charged into b-battle knowing you’re going to d-die, you would go anyways?”

“Yes!” The Joes exclaimed, stomping their feet in rapid succession. “Yes, fellow mon! We will fight the big fight as a team, and a team no less! Double the power, half the struggle! A mon does not need to learn simple math to understand how far teamwork can carry you!”

Tori nodded, turning her gaze to the stairs to see a Glimmora and a Slowking shyly sneaking in. “Looks like the other two are here.”

Mallku seemed to notice as well, because he immediately stopped his conversation with Lucy and transferred Jirachi from both hands to his non-dominant. He crawled onto a nearby wooden table and went right back to carrying the mon in both claws.

“Everyone!” he shouted, getting the attention of all mons in the room including the two new members. “Welcome, to our first meeting of the Arceus Slayers Association!”

Jirachi cringed a little at the mention of the name as murmured voices littered the small crowd.

“It has been a harrowing journey collecting members for this cause, but I assure you our little enigma will soon be the first checkmark on the bucket list of a brighter future! Thank you all for doing what you can to be here, taking a day out of your own and keeping as much of a secret as pokémonly possible.”

Heatran and Victini shifted towards the table, one on the left and the other on the right.

Forming a triangle, with Jirachi being the tip of it all.

“Now” Mallku continued, sweeping a claw over the crowd in dramatic effect. “Like what I said before, we have lived too long in this unjust world. I assume everyone knows the mythical pokémon Arceus, and if so, I applaud your knowledgeable attitude. Intelligent mons will only further our expedition! But soon, we will get back what this monster has taken from us. Soon, with the help of ordinary folks like us all, we can purge this feeling of powerlessness and start an uprising! Arceus will no longer rule the universe, and we will be able to live a life of peace forever on. By the talons of Lunala’s wings I say!”

Several pokémon cheered or raised their fists as Mallku held Jirachi to the ceiling for everyone to see. The mon’s face was full of boldness and determination, a fire lit by the hatred and anarchy floating around their heart.

“Now’s your speech” he whispered.

Jirachi nodded.

“And from now on!” they shouted. “You will fall under my command. A pack living divided falls divided, while a pack conjoined survives conjoined. Unless you follow my lead, a doomy desire will be spelt for us all…”

The mon sighed as Mallku lifted them down, giving way to a continued speech of his own. “We will soon find ourselves going beyond what is meant for mortals. In less than a few months we all, assuming we don’t all lose our chance beforehand, will be hopefully standing on the same ground as our creators, that dreaded wretch and his guards.”

He coughed in a shaky breath. “I am not doing this to scare you. You have all shown already that you are willing to push beyond what you see yourself capable of now. But I will make one thing clear: we do this as a team. We will seek justice for this planet by ridding of its creator as a… team. Jirachi, Heatran, Victini… everyone will get their revenge if we do this together.”

Heatran roared as the crowd kept up the excitement. Tori made the loudest cry of all, completely ignoring Ruby behind her.

Victini climbed up onto the table alongside Mallku, ready to give a speech of their own. “Now that we’ve laid out the basics, I guess we tell them our course of action?”

“We’re still kinda working on it but sure, go ahead Vic.”

“Alright then.” Victini faced the crowd with a furrowed brow. “As I’m sure Mallku has said before, we will be traveling to another continent in the following weeks. Unfortunately, we can not access the Hall Of Origin without an Azure Flute, and since ours have been confiscated, we must resort to stealing from other legendary and mythical pokémon.”

“Up ahead. There is a ruinous temple where Regigigas, the so-called ‘Mover of the Continents’ lies. We will sneak into the temple, and we will steal the flute while the mon slumbers. Any other changes of plan will be announced in the next meeting. But aside from that, we have nothing else to say.”

“Next meeting. Saturday at midnight. We will also make our departure that night, so please do bring any valuable or important items with you. Tents and food are highly recommended, as we will most likely not return.”

“Exactly what Victini said. Now, that concludes everything. Feel free to leave now unless you are Brunia or Louis.”

He pointed a claw towards the both of them. “You two! Meet me in the back of the room so I can talk.”

With that, Lucy and a few other mons exited the room, talking in muffled conversation. Ruby simply stood in her spot, with Gabi, Tori, Alice, The Joes and Proteus still near her.

Proteus readjusted his bags, ensuring nothing had fallen out of them. “What an interesting first visit. Pleasure meeting you all.”

“You too” Tori replied. “Hey, that reminds me- y’all should come to our house for the night. We’d love to have you over.”

“Oh, okay. Sure. Todd is busy tonight though, so he won’t be able to come.”

Alice grinned. “I could come.”

The Joes made a stabbing movement in agreement as Gabi turned towards Ruby.

“What about you, Rubes?”

The Cherrim sighed. “I’d be cool with it.”

“Great. Let’s head out now then.”