The flames ate the ship violently, ripping its wooden hull into fueled embers and unleashing its wrath along the deck, stretching downwards and outwards, eating anything else it can or could. As disaster poured in above, three pokémon prepared to set sail beneath the stern, hidden in the captain's quarters with the entrance sealed shut and blocked with several wooden crates. The mons- Mallku, Victini and Jirachi- looted the room as fast as they came in, stealing an extra bag found behind the captain's desk and anything else they could find. Seeds, stashed food, books, business papers, of which listed plentiful info about ship routes, and other "treasures" in Bor's cabinets and shelves.

No traces left behind Mallku repeated to himself. He scrambled around the room before finding a switch behind a cabinet, flicking it and prompting a chnk! sound that bounced from the other direction. All three looked to the source, radiating collective awe as the flick triggered a secret latch- opening a small, secret door that leads outside the interior of the ship, pouring sunlight into the room. Jirachi inched towards the exit to get a better look, finding that the ocean surface was just a foot below them.

"Well, we got an escape hatch at least" Jirachi imparted. "Now we just need something to escape on."

Mallku nodded as he finished up ransacking the last of Bor's file cabinets. "Don't worry, there's something here we can use." He pointed to a fairly-sized wooden boat that was stacked against the far east wall, next to a bookshelf. "By the way guys, keep any books you can. Don't throw them away just yet, they might be useful later."

Jirachi rolled their eyes in reply. "But most of it's just a waste of space."

"Not when the shelf is full of survival guides" Victini chimed in. They pulled up a book about how to deal with getting lost in mystery dungeons, shoving it in front of Jirachi's face obnoxiously. "And if they're not much help, we can use them as campfire fuel!"

Mallku facepalmed but didn't argue.

"Well, I'm not carrying any books" Jirachi insisted with a hmph!, arms crossed. "If you two are so obsessed with reading then that's your problem, not mine."

The other two responded with mixed shrugs and sighs, going back to their work of looting the room. They made sure to check everything- even the parts that might not seem immediately obvious, like the trash can, the act of which search was quickly proved helpful as an old pocket diary was found buried at the bottom.

Victini flipped through the pages, finding nothing but random numbers and ruined receipts, scribbled over with some sort of black pen. "What's this supposed to be for?"

"Probably business stuff" Mallku groaned, heaving the wooden boat off the wall.

"Hm, okay." Victini stuffed the diary in their bag before mentally checking off everything they've scoured. "So, Mall. How does it feel now that we're castaways? Or is pirates the better word?"

"Uh..." The Weavile sighed, rubbing his arm. "I'm n..not exactly sure right now. But we need to move out of here fast, so let's get going."

Mallku reassured the small boat was ready and stable, before pushing it off the floor directly onto the ocean surface. Victini followed, throwing two bags they found in the back and plunking themselves onto a seat. Jirachi crawled in next with a bit of help, taking the bag strapped over Mallku's shoulder.

"Did we loot everything?" he queried.

Victini checked each of the bags for the final time, before handling off an affirmative nod. "Yeah! No compartment left unchecked."

"Good. And no traces, right?"

"There won't be traces left when this ship sinks into the ocean."

"That's true I guess" Mallku sighed. "Some disasters come with miracles, I suppose."

He let out another deep breath before pushing the boat forward, jumping inside with the others and causing it to rock a little. He grabbed a paddle from underneath the seats and began the strenuous task of moving the boat farther away from the ship, painting each stroke with a push that boosted them northward.

"Do any of you know Helping Hand!?" Mallku shouted back, straining between strokes.

"No, sorry" Victini replied.

"Alright. If you see anyone struggling in the water, tell me."

"Got it, cap."

Victini and Jirachi watched Bor's ship slowly collapse from the safety of their boat, bickering and disputing over what (or rather, who) started the fire as Mallku continued rowing back and forth with his single paddle. Victini argued that a lit match from one of the recruited mons caused the flames, meanwhile Jirachi was contending that Heatran sabotaged the voyage in an attempt to delay the trip.

Of course, neither were able to prove any points beyond one or two claims. They ultimately gave up and turned their backs, doing their own separate things by themselves, letting silence fill the space instead.

Frothy white foam swathed around the boat, coming in large waves that rippled from the direction of the larger ship. The air in general was salty, likely resulting from the large clouds of smoke that obstructed the sky past the ship, growing more expansive through the minutes and scaring away passing flying type pokémon.

Eventually, the ship behind them started to sink at an alarming rate- much faster than before, tipping on the front side and plunging deeper into the ocean. Victini, quickly thrilled by the sight, tried to shake a napping Jirachi awake, but to no avail. Mallku only replied with a sad "Yep" to the fire type's excitement, indifferently pushing the boat with more mindless, continued motions.

"But isn't it so interesting?" Victini crowed, disappointed that no one else shared their enthusiasm. They scanned the horizons dejectedly, before (almost immediately) lighting up as they noticed two figures floating in the water not too far away. They grabbed Mallku's arm and jerked it, pointing to the figures and shouting "I see people! I see people!"

Mallku yanked his arm away with an irritated scowl, but paused when he saw what Victini was pointing to- Andesine sitting on a raft that was barely floating under his weight, and Liz next to him clutching the edges, with everything below her shoulders submerged.

From the looks of it, the mons appeared distressed about something beneath them.

On instinct, Mallku cupped his claws over his mouth and shouted "Are you guys okay!?"

Liz turned her head and spotted them, yelling back a "Everyone's scattered!"

Mallku didn't know what she meant by that but didn't hesitate rowing towards them. When the two groups came within four meters, the Weavile jumped into the water and swam after the inflated raft, burning with unease and mild enervation.

Andesine frowned when he couldn't spot Lucy in the boat. "None of you are with her?" he asked.

Malllku rose a brow, coming within arm's reach. "Who?"

"Lucy?"

"She's with Heatran" Liz answered, turning towards him. She glanced back to Mallku, smiling awkwardly. "I'm a bit weak right now. Do you think you could help me swim over there?"

"Sure. Andesine is a lot heavier, so I'll move him after."

"That's fine" the Gastrodon lamented.

Liz threw an arm over Mallku's shoulder as he helped her towards the boat, moving slowly with small strokes in case she was injured from the flames.

"Thanks Mall."

"Yeah, no problem."

When they reached the boat, Victini helped them both up. Liz sat down a drenched backpack onto the seat next to her, sighing with exhaustion. Mallku fetched an Oran Berry from one of their own bags (one they stole from Bor) before sitting down across from Liz.

He offered the berry to her, smiling as she accepted it. "What happened with you guys?"

Liz sighed. "Everyone split off in different directions when they saw the fire. Some went west, some went east, and some might have drowned or been badly hurt."

Mallku grimaced at the thought.

"But I think everyone who was able to escape saw the coast up ahead" she continued. The other three looked at her puzzled, to which she answered with a rose pointed northward- pointing to a beach that snaked across the horizon not too far away, maybe reachable before dusk. "I saw Joes floating on a raft in the beach's direction. I tried to call for them, but I figure they didn't hear me."

"Were there all six?" Victini queried.

"Looked like it."

Mallku rose a claw to his chin, thinking. "I guess that covers shelter and a place to recuperate. Too bad half our crew is missing."

"I'm sure we'll find most soon" Liz sighed. "Problem is a bunch of them left their stuff behind, and I was only able to save my own things."

"Dumbasses" Jirachi cursed under their breath.

Victini held up a stolen bag, showing Liz everything inside they stole. "Hey, don't worry! We nabbed a bunch of junk from Bor, so we'll be fine. Look at this." They pulled out a can of dried Persim fruit. "Who knew the old man had so much cash? Lot better than eating trees, am I right?"

Liz grabbed the can with a quick vine, stared at the fine print for two seconds, and nodded politely (albeit awkwardly) before handing it back.

"Let's just assemble Andesine and see if we can find anyone on our way to the beach" Mallku decided. "You three stay here." He quickly jumped off the edge of the boat, swimming off towards the raft and leaving the others behind. A bit of a pause followed, only to be broken up as Victini scooted closer to Liz.

"So," Victini chirped. "How are you?"

Liz gave the mythical a confused glance, while Jirachi simply snickered.

"I'm... fine?" she replied.

"Mm." Victini closed their eyes, nodding. "That's quite good to hear~"

"Uh- you?"

"I'm doing well myself, hmhm~"

Jirachi made an obnoxious snoring sound, dodging an annoyed glance from Vic at the same time. Liz looked between the two blankly, unsure how to move forward.

"Don't mind them" Vic whispered, attempting to clear up confusion. "Rachi's a little pissy sometimes, but they'll get over it."

Liz nodded politely, still confused.

She turned her shoulder, glancing over the waters and noticing Mallku struggling to push Andesine towards the boat. Without needing a command, she sent down her vines and tethered them to the edges normally meant for hooks, jerking back and pulling the raft much closer. With her help, the group was able to get Andesine in the boat not too long after, checking nothing was missing and that they had everyone who was in the surrounding area.

Seemed like it was good to go.

Mallku let out a heavy sigh, standing at the bow with a paddle in hand. Liz stood close behind, ready to row alongside him.

"Ready, Captain?"

He knew he wasn't, but he also knew there wasn't much other choice. They were in a race against time now, fighting against an approaching dusk and a night that could spell out the days ahead.

Assuming there would be days, anyways.

This is for the greater good Mallku thought to himself.

With that, he began paddling. Liz, at his back, made the process towards the beach more bearable, what with the helping hand. Andesine and the mythicals argued and chattered all the meanwhile, picking up conversation topics that Mall himself wasn't quite sure he remembered hearing before.

Regardless, they pushed forward-

All through the overlapping waves of the sea, the white seafoam that came with it, and numerous anxieties that nipped at Mallku's mind. In the tastelessness of manual labor, a memory of Ruby would randomly come up once (seemingly out of nowhere without reason), cause him to hope that she was still doing alright after the panic attack, and fade back before resurfacing not too long later.

And speaking of memories and pokémon, Mall… wasn't quite sure about his connections when it came to most of the crew. He had only really talked to Mai, Liz and Lucy so far for the most part, even though Andesine was also an explorer and part of Lucy's team. Other mons, like Proteus and The Joes, he had tried to talk to and failed, whether it be because they were (possibly, potentially) purposefully ignoring him, or he was just bad at socializing.

But he had gotten along with Ruby so well? Er, well, sort of. A lot of his interactions with her had been somewhat awkward, much to his dismay. Was she just talking to be nice? She always seemed like she was being forced to socialize. Or… maybe it's just a matter of circumstance? Maybe there were no hard feelings and it just happened to not be the best time for things to come up the way they did.

Regardless, regardless, regardless… he would just have to wait and see.

Right now though, he would resolve to see something else: a wide beach snaking around a large, expansive forest, separating the land and the ocean, only this time closer now that they were in range. It was just a few paddles away, and hope burst through the ceiling when he also spotted three figures- Ari, Tori and a jumble of Joes waiting for him up ahead, with two drenched bags next to them and a "HELP" sign carved below their feet.

Unsurprised by the childishness of the sign and enthralled to finally see more members of his crew, Mallku dropped his paddle into the ocean and swam towards the beach, taking no hesitation as the others in the boat rose with surprise. His mind raced through arm strokes and the feeling of salt water on his fur, a sensation that would've been irritating if not for the fact that he was focused on other things.

Mallku breached the shore and let out a joyous sigh, running towards Ari, Tori and the Falinks group struggling to get into proper formation. He had an itch to hug someone as he approached, but shoved it down and greeted them with a smile instead.

"Good to see you all surviving well!" Mallku chirped.

Tori noticed his dumb grin, returning with silence and a short roll of her eyes. Meanwhile, the leader of The Joes stepped forward without hesitation, followed by his troopers, who clumsily moved around in a haze trying to follow their leader.

"We do not just survive, we thrive!" the commander stated triumphantly. "No separation can stop a team from winning, not even us."

Mallku offered a short nod, moving his gaze over the Falinks and spotting Ari floating towards them. The Roaring Moon looked a little more grumpy than usual, which was a hard statement but true at best, given his furrowed brow and uninteresting posture. The mon would've been more intimidating if he was a bit more awake, but the aftereffects of the morning alcohol had left their crumbs with a few pinches of drowsiness.

"Did any of you see what caused the fire?"

"Nope" Mallku replied, crossing his arms. "It seemed like an intentional attack though. Fires don't just start by accident in the middle of the morning."

Ari snorted. "That's just pathetic. Likely someone from our own group, but I doubt anyone would purposefully sabotage unless they only joined to be a shithead."

"Bor was steering at the front, so we know it wasn't him." The Weavile grimaced. He never got bad senses from anyone just yet, so the thought of disaster happening so soon rendered him uneasy. "It had to be one of the fire types. Matches aren't strong enough to take down an entire ship."

The crying of a Wingull bounced from the shore, a sign that the boat had finally caught up. Liz hurried over to join in on conversation, wasting no time to deal with annoying mythicals. "I'm sure we will find the answer later… assuming Heatran and Lucy haven't separated. For right now we should begin setting up, before nightfall."

"Well… I'd love to not have sand on my skin, but the beach is probably better for safety reasons" Mallku murmured. "Not that we need more bad luck than we already have."

Tori passed by carrying several sticks, eyeing all three of them with partial disinterest. "I think we've run through everything life can hit us with." She looked up, finding the sun just above reaching the early stages of sunset, followed by clouds beckoning an upcoming storm. "I'd personally stay away from sleeping in the open, but lightning can only strike us once."

"It's not going to storm" Mallku retorted, growing annoyed as the Whimsicott slowly walked away. "Whatever. We'll be fine. There're trees close by, and we'll see the rain before it hits us."

Liz frowned out of concern but chose to stay quiet.

Mallku scanned over the rest of the group- The Joes, who were busy practicing formations farther down the shore, Tori, gathering sticks and dumping them into a pile close by, Jirachi and Victini, who were still arguing to each other in the boat, and Andesine, who seemed to be enjoying the beach as he looked towards the horizon of which they came.

Nine… ten missing? The numbers were rough and a bit annoying considering what they meant, but the likelihood of the rest not being too far away had to be big- or at least somewhat high. Maybe if he didn't ask Ruby to tell everyone to scatter, things wouldn't've turned out the way they did.

But there was no time for regrets now. Nor dwelling on mistakes.

Mallku sat down pensively, crisscross and deep in thought. He tried to think of his priorities- they obviously needed a fire to warm up and alert nearby stragglers, which they could do with Victini's flames, heating up the stick pile Tori had organized. Then they'd need food of some sort, whether it be the kind stolen from Bor, food they brought themselves, or berries found in the forest somehow.

There was… also the option of feral meat, but Mallku knew that Ari would be the only mon willing to eat it, and even then, it was still too much of a hassle for one person. Another problem was that they were in severe lack of spices and ingredients, which was more of an issue than it sounded- no doubt that there was likely a lack of cooking expertise throughout the group.

But there was no harm in asking, right?

Mallku turned towards Liz, making a sweeping glance around the group. He straightened, attempting to look as impressionable as possible. "Ahem, it uh.. has occurred to my attention that we do not have much selection of food on us, however I was hoping that one of you might be experienced with making meals."

All the other mons glanced between each other curiously, before Tori sighed (quite disappointedly) and stepped forward. She did her best to cover her embarrassment with impatience; if she had feet like Mallku's, they would be tapping.

"I have some experience" the Whimsicott muttered. "Mostly self-taught with the rest learned from my dad. Don't expect anything fancy."

"Some experience is better than none, at least" Mallku remarked.

"Yeah uh… sure, whatever."

"Aside from cooking…" Tori looked at him skeptically as he waved to get Victini's attention, before shouting, "Hey Vic, can you handle the fire while we prepare dinner?"

"You got it, Mall!"

The mythical rushed to fulfill their instructions as Mallku directed Tori towards the wooden boat. Inside were five bags- two that he brought himself, two that he stole from Bor, and the one Liz was carrying.

"Find whatever food you can and try making a meal out of it, if possible" the Weavile directed.

Tori was bewildered. "That's all!?"

"Yeah?"

"No directions on what to cook?" Her skepticism was only fueling her suspicion. "How the fuck did you feed them if you're just giving the most bare-bones instructions imaginable?"

Mallku scratched his head awkwardly. "I don't know what we have. All I'm asking is you make something."

"Fine" Tori blurted. She got to work right away, much to her regret. She shuffled through flaps and pockets trying to find berries and things to work with, only to find the process much harder than initially expected.

That was easy Mallku thought to himself, walking back. Much simpler splitting up the tasks now that I have more mons to do them.

He wandered over to Liz and The Joes, coughing into his arm to get their collected attention. "You two are on straggler watch. I want you to go out into the forest looking for pokémon and come back when it's dark."

"Got it!" the commander Joe proclaimed, stabbing his horn in a forward motion (which the troopers behind him repeated). Liz softly bowed without saying much, turning towards the forest as The Joes led the way.

And that meant there were only three left.

Andesine, Ari and Jirachi.

Mallku sighed. But it's not like I really have much I need them to do anyways...

Andesine wouldn't be able to do much work without the arms or speed needed for it, Ari would likely disregard his instructions, and Jirachi wasn't fit nor required to any labor. The group was mostly on waiting watch until about everyone was found, so there wasn't much to do except maybe hypothesis and pre-plan while Liz and The Joes were searching.

Mallku sighed to himself, finding a nearby tree to sit under.

Ruby's gotta be okay, right?