When we last left off, Natasha had narrowly escaped the clutches of the Cult of Darkrai and is making her way back to civilization. In this chapter, she will be presented with the opportunity to pick out her Starter Pokémon…and get more than she bargained for.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon Insurgence; it is the property of its creators.
Having walked down the path for a while now, Natasha was unsure on when she'd reach civilization; the sun slowly rising in the air as the implications didn't go unnoticed to her. She had willingly walked through the forest at night, where nocturnal Pokémon would be at their busiest, knowing full well that if any of those Darkrai cultists caught up to her, it would be over. But at long last her perseverance would pay off, the path had led to a fairly small town near a cliff looking over the sea, the sign at the front simply reading 'Telnor Town'.
"At long last, I'm safe and sound. Thank you for accompanying me Me—" Natasha began, turning around and saw that Mew wasn't there anymore. Instead, there was a small note with what looked like a flute on top of it. Picking up both items, she put the flute safely in the bag she picked up during the escape before reading the note to herself.
'The Quartz Flute allows you to call upon Mew when needed. This can be used to utilize Mew's transform ability, transforming you into someone else, or potentially changing Mew into a different Pokémon. To use it, simply play the melody listed on the bottom of this note and Mew will come to you. As for why it left, there are people out there who would seek to capture it for their own nefarious purposes, hence why its association with you must be kept secret at all cost. However, you can tell this secret to those who have been chosen by Mew's comrades, though they are few and far between. Good luck!
Signed: your benefactor'
With the new realization that the knowledge she possessed would be dangerous in the wrong hands, Natasha discreetly tucked her note away and was about to enter town for the sake of restocking supplies, only to get distracted by the voice of what sounded like a young teenager calling out to her.
"Hey…you there, did you see it?" He called out, running up to the teenage girl. The boy was a rather cute lad, with short white hair on his head. His outfit consisted of a green jacket with a white undershirt and a pair of brown trousers. "I could swear I saw Mew right behind you, just now! Did you see it was well?"
On a surface level, the boy seemed like a pretty nice fellow, if a bit eager. However, the note did say to keep her association with Mew a secret, lest she become a target for the villainous people who seek its power, like that woman who had summoned Darkrai earlier. "I'm sorry, but I didn't see anything behind me." Natasha lied, a tinge of guilt welling up inside her as the boy's joyous expression soon fell like a ton of bricks.
"O-Oh, I-I guess I was mistaken then…" The boy replied glumly, before his mood quickly perked back up a bit. "M-My name's Damian. I'm an aspiring Pokémon Trainer! Well I would be if I had a Pokémon…"
"Pleased to meet you Damian, I'm Natasha. I just spent the last hour or so running through the forest to escape from some cult that captured me." The purple-haired girl greeted back, a surprised expression forming on Damian's face.
"Y-You were captured by a cult?! Which one was it?!" He inquired urgently, his full attention on the girl as she recalled what little memories she had of her time there.
"I-I don't know what they were called but they worshiped Darkrai, going so far as to summon it via a sacrifice. The woman leading the cult was terrible; murdering two of her loyal followers in a fit of anger. They're still in the deepest parts of the woods so they could pose a serious threat to the people here." Natasha informed him, choosing not to mention how exactly she managed to escape.
"Well it's a good thing that The Augur is coming to Telnor Town today; we can inform him of this cult so he can crush them with his invincible Pokémon!" Damian gushed eagerly, with Natasha raising an eyebrow in curiosity with the boy soon noticing it. "Y-You don't know who The Augur is? How long have those cultists kept you captive for? Anyway, The Second Augur is the man who chose to continue The First Augur's war against the cults. He united the region and is currently planning a strategy to crush them all in one fell swoop!"
"Second Augur?" The girl asked further, with Damian's earlier response forming another question in her mind; how long DID those cultists keep her locked up for? Furthermore, why did they capture her in the first place? These were questions that she desperately wanted answers for, even if it meant embarking on a journey throughout the entire region.
"Yeah, the current Augur wasn't the first one; from what I've heard he managed to take out most of the cults before he disappeared under mysterious circumstances. But people don't talk about the First Augur for some reason, so it's best if we move onto another topic. Now as I said, the Augur's visiting this town soon; with everyone preparing a massive festival for him. Everyone in town is going to offer him gifts of appreciation, while I've yet to get one for him. oh, I know, why don't we work together to finish a few errands? That way we can show our gratitude for his efforts and gain favor with him." The boy rambled quickly, his fervent worship of the Augur was adorable, if a bit worrisome.
"Sure. Let me catch my breath at the Pokémon Center for a moment and I'll come join you." Natasha replied, hoping to kick her legs up for a moment.
"No problem! Meet me at the town hall once you're ready." Damian agreed, the teenage boy quickly making his way back to town as the girl watched him with an amused smile. He seemed like a very nice boy, to the point where she wouldn't mind being friends with him. However now wasn't the time to ponder about his attitude; right now she needed to get the basic necessities for her quest, and the nearby Pokémon Center was the best place to start.
0000
Having spent the last half an hour or so at the Pokémon Center, Natasha was surprised at how hi-tech it was. Both the mart and the center were in one building, meaning that she could buy and sell a few items while waiting for her Pokémon to get healed, when she eventually gets one. Furthermore, there was also a small stall to the right that sold clothes as well as a couple of changing booths she could use to test them out before buying them. Having done her initial shopping at the mart earlier, she spent the next ten or so minutes looking through and trying out various types of clothes, eventually settling for the outfit she deemed the most spectacular. It consisted of a black and yellow set of armor that was resistant to most Pokémon attacks, over a black shirt and pants that were a little tight over her body, as well as black and yellow boots and gloves. Additionally, a billowing purple cape that reached the back of her shins hung from around her neck, with a golden crown resting nicely on her head. Now that she was 100% ready, she opted to make her way to the town hall where Damian was.
Upon entering it, she saw that the place wasn't as crowded as she'd expected, though that could be deduced as the townsfolk being in the midst of preparations for the Augur's arrival. There were only two groups of people in the building; a pair of young men huddled in the corner whispering to each other, as well as a pair of adults talking to Damian, the girl assuming them to be his parents.
"I finished cleaning up the road, is there anything else I can do?" Damian asked his father, before noticing Natasha walking up to the trio. "Oh, hi Natasha. I had just told my parents about how I met you outside and offered to help out with the preparations."
"Nice to meet you, Natasha!" Damian's father greeted her, his wife shooting her a disinterested glance. "Well Damian, I think we're pretty well finished with the preparations. All you need now is your gift for the Augur and you're all done. You do have your gift, right?"
"Well uh…I was busy with preparations, and I may have forgotten to get one…" The young boy replied nervously, the father sighing quietly to himself.
"I see…in that case I have an idea on where to get one; there's a multitude of Rare Stones in Telnor Cave, nestled in the middle of Shade Forest. However, that place is dangerous, so you'll need to have a Pokémon with—" He began.
"No, Absolutely not! There's no way that's going to happen!" Damian's mother cut her husband off abruptly. "He is far from ready to get a Pokémon; he's still just a child!"
"But mom, everyone else already got their Pokémon a while ago and left town." Damian made his case, but it fell on deaf ears.
"And you're not going to follow them, you'll get yourself killed!" She shot back at him.
"Why do you care anyway? You're not even my real mother!" Damian retorted, causing Natasha to snicker under her breath.
"I've raised you since birth! You're incapable of raising a plant, let alone a Pokémon! You're irresponsible, antisocial and you can't even—" His mother retaliated, onlyfor the father to raise his hands in the air.
"That's enough! I'm tired of you two embarrassing us with your pointless bickering! Natasha, was it? Would you be willing to help him through the forest to the cave so he can get a gift for the Augur?" The father halted the argument, shooting a quick look at Natasha.
"Sure, I'd be willing to help him out!" Natasha smiled at her elder, only for the mother to scoff at her response.
"Fine, but don't come crying to me when he fails this task." The mother snidely replied, only for the young girl to shoot a glare at her.
"You know I'm tired of your constantly shooting down your son for wanting to go on a journey with a Pokémon. You branded him as antisocial, but that's probably a side-effect of your shitty parenting!" She snapped back at her elder, catching her totally off-guard.
"And who are you to tell me how to raise my son?! You think you can come in here and lecture me all while dressed up as some high and mighty noble?!" Damian's mother yelled at the teenage girl, but the latter chose not to back down.
"Yes, I can. I may not know a whole lot about parenting, but I'm sure I can do a better job than you. Heck, you're not even his real mother so who are YOU to raise him as your son?" Natasha retorted smugly, flapping her cape behind her. "Come Damian, let us get you your gift for the Augur."
"Y-Yes, Natasha." Damian quickly replied, following her out of the hall as everyone else was rendered speechless at her display, the two men in the corner watching her with mild amusement before resuming their conversation. "Th-Thanks for sticking up for me, but was your attitude really necessary?"
"I'm sorry for acting like that, but you've got to stand up for yourself sooner or later. Otherwise she's going to keep pushing you around and that's not fair." The purple-haired girl defended her actions. "On another note, how'd you like my new outfit? The one I had before was on the verge of breaking, so I asked the tailor in the Pokémon Center to repair it. It'll be done soon enough."
"I-I like it a lot, I think it suits you well." The young teen replied, with Natasha shooting him a smile of gratitude. "Anyway, Professor Sylvan is handing out Eevee to new trainers in her lab, so that's where we're heading. Come, I'll show you the way."
"Alright then, lead the way." Natasha agreed, they duo making their way to the south of town where the two-story lab stood proudly. Noticing that the door was slightly ajar, they opened it and entered the lab and were treated to a most unusual scene. Right before them were two adults, one male and one female arguing with one another. The female was rather tall and had medium length navy hair that reached below her shoulders, as well as a pair of reading glasses over her eyes. Her outfit consisted of a professor's garb with a small coffee stain on the left sleeve, with Natasha assuming that she was the Professor Sylvan that Damian had mentioned earlier.
"Listen Professor. I'm not gonna mince words here, but these Pokémon are freaks!" The man commented bluntly, holding a trio of Pokéballs in his arms. He was a rather shady looking fellow, keeping his body hidden with the large black trench coat he wore over his white business suit, a black fedora perched on top of his head. "No other trainer would want them, and I can't keep them any longer. All I want is for you to take them; you already keep a bunch of Eevee as is, surely these three won't be a bother?"
"Hmph…why do you care about them? I know what you've done to them." Professor Sylvan commented snidely at the man's demands, the latter letting out a quick sigh.
"It's true, I'm merciless; I've done some very awful things. But there's no reason for these Pokémon to die." He replied, only for Damian to raise his hand in the air.
"S-Sorry for cutting you two off, but I'm Damian and this is Natasha. We're here to get a Pokémon so we can get a gift for the Augur in the forest." He chimed in, attracting the man's attention as an idea formed in his mind.
"As I may have mentioned earlier, I'd have no choice but to release these if you don't take them. Given how they haven't had that much exposure to the wild, they're sure to starve to death within a week. If you don't want them that badly, you can just give them to these kids, right?"The man proposed, with Professor Sylvan huffing to herself before turning around.
"Fine, just put them on the table." She relented, the man nodding in appreciation as he placed the three Pokéballs on the empty table on the eastern side of the room. With a tip of his fedora, he made his way out of the lab as Natasha watched him go in curiosity. Who was that man exactly, and why did she get a sense of…familiarity from those Pokéballs he was holding? "So, you two are here for a Pokémon, right?" Professor Sylvan asked them, her mood a lot cheerier than before.
"Yes ma'am!" Damian replied quickly, the older woman turning to face the three lone balls on the table momentarily before looking back at the duo.
"That man you saw earlier? He was one of my colleagues back in university; a smart man and a great scientist…as well as the leader of the Cult of Perfection." She admitted, catching the young teen off-guard.
"A-A cult leader?!" He exclaimed, turning to face Natasha. "Natasha, was he the one who had captured you back then?"
"No, I don't recall seeing his face there. Besides, the cult that abducted me was led by a woman." She replied quickly.
"I see…" Damian said, turning back to the professor. "Those cultists are evil; why would you willingly associate with them?!"
A thoughtful look appeared on Sylvan's face, recalling the first thing her former colleague said about those Pokémon he gave her; how they were something called 'Delta Pokémon'. "Natasha, Damian. Have you two ever heard of something called Delta Pokémon?" She inquired, with the white-haired boy appearing genuinely puzzled by her question. However, something clicked in Natasha's mind; she had heard about them before and knew quite a bit about them, but from where exactly she did not know. Was this the reason why that cult captured her earlier, to obtain this information for themselves before killing her?
"I-I'm familiar with them; Delta Pokémon are the result of a phenomenon that started in the far away Holon Region. The most notable difference is that they have a different typing from regular members of their species. For example, a regular Diglett is a Ground type Pokémon, whereas Delta Diglett is an Ice/Normal type Pokémon." Natasha explained to her friend, surprising the professor with her intricate knowledge.
"Well it looks like you're already knowledgeable on the topic itself." Sylvan shot the young lady a smile.
"Bu-But how do you know so much about them? This is the first time I've heard of them." Damian inquired curiously, which posed a good question itself.
"I-I'm not so sure myself; I don't remember a lot about my life, the cult must've attempted to erase my memory somehow. Whatever the case, Delta Pokémon are one of the very few things I can remember." The purple-haired girl replied, with the professor making her way to the Pokéballs on the table.
"From what I could gather, these three Delta's seem to be experiments on Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle; and while I would like to keep one for myself, I don't exactly have the space for them at the moment. Besides, I could always ask one of my contacts in Holon to ship one to me for research purposes. But if neither of you are interested in one, I'm more than happy to give you two an Eevee." She offered, pressing the button on the balls to open them as the two teenagers got their first look at a Delta Pokémon.
As she had mentioned earlier, they were variations of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. The Bulbasaur had a hot pink body with various blue and pink spots on its forehead and sides. The large bulb on its back was royal blue in color, with more pink spots all over it as well as a couple of white tufts on the bottom that were the tips of its vines. Finally, it had a small white daisy nestled comfortably above its left ear. The Charmander though, was a little more menacing, it's body completely skeletal in nature. A small purple flame flickered on the tip of its tail as it shot a toothy grin of curiosity at the duo. Finally, the Squirtle had a pitch-black body stemming out of its bright red shell, a series of thin black cloth wrapped around it's wrists, eyes and neck as if it was dressing up as a ninja.
Damian, out of a sense of curiosity approached the three and extended his hand to them so they can sniff it. The Pokémon slowly approached him and took in a slow sniff before eying him up wearily. "Looks like they're a little shy; why don't you reassure them that you mean no harm?" He asked Natasha, the purple-haired teen nodding as she approached the Pokémon and reached out to them. Like before, the Pokémon took in a slow sniff, only this time they were a lot more affectionate, nuzzling her hand and even requested some petting from her.
"Heehee, I guess they like me." Natasha giggled to herself, with Sylvan watching the scene as a sense of intrigue overcame her.
'Incredible…she managed to win the trust of these Delta's so quickly. Perhaps there's something special about her after all.' She thought to herself, with Damian approaching her for a request.
"Since those Delta Pokémon are incredibly fond of Natasha, would it be a problem if I got an Eevee from you?" He asked politely.
"Not at all, young man!" Sylvan smiled at him, handing him a Pokéball from her lab coat with Damian thanking her profusely.
"Thanks Professor!" Damian smiled back at her, turning to face Natasha who was enjoying her time with her new Delta Pokémon. "Before we head out to Shade Forest, why don't we have a little battle to start things off?"
"Alright then. However, I'll only be battling with one since at the moment you're at a huge disadvantage." Natasha agreed, turning to face her Pokémon. "So who's ready for their first battle?"
The three Pokémon were still staring at the white-haired boy with a sense of unease before Squirtle opted to step up to the plate, letting out a chirp of confidence. With a quick nod of confidence, Damian threw his Pokéball and sent out his newly acquired Eevee, the small but fluffy Pokémon letting out a chirp before gazing at the Squirtle and backed off a little in fear. "D-Don't worry Eevee, it's not dangerous. It's just like a regular Squirtle." He cooed at his new Pokémon, the Eevee regaining its composure before staring down the Squirtle and opted to charge at it, the small turtle retracting into its shell in the nick of time as it was sent flying back into the wall. The Squirtle managed to catch itself on the wall and bounced off it, lunging at the Eevee as it collided with it, sending the small Pokémon skidding back a couple feet.
Shaking it's head to regain composure, the Eevee quickly lunged at the Squirtle and kicked it with its hind legs, the small turtle letting out a cry of surprise as it was flung back a couple feet and landed on the back of its shell, flailing its arms and legs in the air. A spark of inspiration soon formed in the turtles' mind, as it tucked its limbs into its shell and began spinning inside rapidly, flying towards the Eevee and struck its side as the small Pokémon was flung back towards the wall and crumpled onto the floor, unable to continue battling.
"W-Woah, that was quicker than I expected." Damian gasped in awe, running up to his Eevee to check up on it. "Thank goodness you're not hurt too seriously."
"Sorry about that, I guess I didn't realize just how strong my Delta Pokémon were." Natasha chuckled sheepishly, with Bulbasaur and Charmander staring at Squirtle with a sense of awe.
"With skills like that, I'm confident that you can take on the Torren League challenge with ease." The young teen chimed back at her. "Once we've healed up our Pokémon, we should go through Shade Forest and into Telnor Cave to find a gift for the Augur."
"Wait, before you two go, I would like you to have this." Sylvan called out, making her way to the desk at the back before retrieving two small devices from the drawer and handed one to each of the duo. "These are your Pokédex; every beginning trainer gets one after receiving their starter. The data you collect from finding and catching Pokémon will be transferred to me so I can continue my research unhindered. And with that, I wish you two the best of luck in your journey!"
"Thank you so much for your kindness, rest assured we will not disappoint you!" Natasha pledged, with Damian joining in as the duo left the laboratory to prepare for their journey. Though there were a multitude of questions racing in Natasha's mind, one of them was of the utmost priority; why was she so knowledgeable on the subject of Delta Pokémon, on top of being their version of catnip? It was almost like she had some sort of invisible gift, though what exactly it was is a mystery to her.
And that about wraps this chapter up nice and neatly. I know some people may not like how Natasha managed to scoop up all three Delta starters easily, but I felt it played into the mystery surrounding her rather well. Speaking of which, I'll be putting down a list of acquired Delta's at the end of the chapter from now on so that everyone reading knows where she's up to at the moment. Thank you all for reading, I'll see you all in the next chapter.
Acquired Delta Pokémon:
D. Bulbasaur
D. Charmander
D. Squirtle
