When we last left off, Natasha was introduced to a phenomenon known as Delta Pokémon, a concept that she was strangely familiar with. In this chapter, she will assist her new friend Damian in acquiring a gift for the Augur…only to stumble upon a conspiracy against the great man himself.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon Insurgence; it is the property of its creators.
Having finished their preparations for their journey to Telnor Cave, Natasha and Damian went their separate towards the cave so as to get in a bit of private training while they were retrieving their gift for the Augur. This was beneficial to Natasha as she could use this opportunity to learn a bit more about her Delta Pokémon, and potentially find out the reason she knew so much about them. Finding a quite clearing in the forest to train momentarily, she sent out her three Pokémon and encouraged them to stretch their legs, on the condition that they don't wander off away from her.
The Delta Bulbasaur was investigating the nearby plant life, sniffing the nearby berries cautiously before taking one off the bush and began eating it slowly. It soon determined that the berries were safe to eat, letting out a quick chirp at the other two to come join it as the Squirtle and Charmander made their way towards their friend. There, they spent the next couple minutes gathering as much berries as possible before sitting down on the soft grassy terrain and began eating at a casual pace.
"Incredible…that guy was wrong about them starving to death." Natasha commented in awe, bringing out her Pokédex to collect whatever information she could on the three Delta Species before her. From a cursory glance at the device, she was able to determine that the Bulbasaur was Fairy/Psychic, the Charmander was Ghost/Dragon, and the Squirtle was Dark/Fighting. This had struck her as odd; if what she knew about her knowledge was correct, she would've been able to determine their typing easily, but she had to use her Pokédex to gain an insight on her companions. Then again, there was the implication that the man who dropped them off had experimented on them, hence why they felt a little…different from your standard Delta Species.
Once the three Pokémon had their fill, they began a series of mock battles against each other to gain experience and grow stronger, with Natasha keeping an eye on them to ensure that they didn't accidentally go overboard and hurt each other. During the training session, the purple-haired girl's mind wandered back to Damian; how was he handling his new responsibilities? It's not that she could fault him for his eagerness, but she was a little concerned over how nervous he and jumpy he seemed. However, she was confident that he would be able to manage taking care of a Pokémon once he manages to get a full understanding of the basics. Soon enough, her Pokémon had finished their private training session, a little exhausted but satisfied over the progress they had made. Shooting a small smile at her friends, she recalled them back to their balls and continued her journey towards Telnor Cave, going deeper into the forest. Eventually, she stumbled into a clearing and saw what appeared to be a small mountain on an islet surrounded by a crystal-clear lake, a small wooden bridge connecting the two bits of land together. There was a small opening on the cliffside near the bridge, leading Natasha to believe that this was Telnor Cave. Taking a few steps closer to investigate it, the purple-haired girl's ears soon perked up, causing her to look side-to-side frantically before hiding behind a boulder near the opening, and saw a pair of those Darkrai cultists from before search the nearby woods.
"Tch, where could that brat be? We've spent over an hour searching for her!" The first cultist complained, searching the bushes near their feet.
"I don't see why we have to find her. Persephone was just going to kill her anyway; let the elements do the job for her." The second cultist replied casually.
"You don't understand; the computer showed that the memory-erasure wasn't completed yet, meaning that she could still remember some things. And if she remembers enough to pose a threat, then that could spell our doom…" The first cultist reminded their comrade.
"Let's check out that nearby town for her; it's the first place I'd go if I were lost." The second cultist suggested.
"A-Are you crazy?! The Augur is visiting that place; we'd get crushed within an instant." The first cultist shot back, an idea forming in their mind. "Let's try out luck searching Midna Town; I know a shortcut that ensures we don't have to go through Telnor Cave."
"Thank goodness for that; I never liked how chilly that place got at times." The second cultist agreed, with Natasha sighing in relief as she saw those two leave the nearby area. Once the coast was clear, she got out from behind the boulder and entered the cave behind her.
0000
Upon setting foot into Telnor Cave for the first time, a slight chill went up her back; seems that cultist wasn't lying about how could the cave was. Looking within her general vicinity, she saw several pools of cold water lying about the cavern, beside an intricate path that lead up and down various ledges and towards an opening with a ladder leading down to a second chamber of the cave. Walking cautiously on the path, Natasha climbed up a slippery, but not-so steep ledge and walked slowly down the second ledge so as to not fall flat on her face. now with the hard part out of the way, she made her to the ladder and climbed down it, only to get blasted by another cold draft; whatever was causing the cold air must be lurking down here. Hopping off the ladder and scanned the nearby area, she soon saw what looked like a small opening, the edges coated in a thin layer of ice. Taking a deep breath, she walked towards the chamber and opened it, only to get caught off-guard by what was inside.
Minding it's own business idly was a Delta Diglett, the fuzzy mole Pokémon breaking open some small chunks of ice with its sharp teeth before eating whatever berries and roots were encased in the ice. The entire cavern itself had a thin layer of ice, causing Natasha to move slowly towards the Diglett so as to not fall over and make a fool of herself. Unfortunately, for her, she stepped a bit too far and ended up slipping on the ice, falling onto her side as she let out a wince of pain.
"Argh…I think I bruised myself." She complained, sitting back up as the Diglett ceased what it was doing before and turned to face her, moving up to her before taking a cautionary sniff. "Hey, looks like you're a curious fellow." Natasha smiled at the Diglett, petting its head affectionally as it cooed in happiness.
"Dig! Dig!" The Diglett chirped, enjoying the petting it was receiving as the purple-haired girl took out a Pokéball from her bag and showed it to the mole Pokémon.
"Do you want to come with me?" She offered, the Diglett eyeing up the Pokéball before nodding in confirmation, its head touching the button on the device as it promptly entered the ball afterwards, the light soon dying down to indicate a successful capture. "Alright, another friend to join the gang!" Natasha smiled to herself, putting the Pokéball away before slowly getting up and exited the frozen cavern. Upon returning to the previous chamber, she could tell that the chill in the air was gone, or at the very least a lot more tolerable. Could it be that the Diglett was the cause of the cavern's coldness, and if so, what was an Ice type Pokémon doing so far away from the northern parts of Tandor, where the weather was a lot colder than down here? Either way, those were questions that can be put on hold at the moment, as there were more important matters at hand. Continuing her trek through the cave, she soon noticed what seemed to be a cracked boulder lying atop a small ledge, the purple-haired girl investigating it and saw what appeared to be an orange and red stone that resembled the sun, a sense of warmth emanating from it. Picking it up from the rubble to get a closer look at it, Natasha determined it to be a sufficient gift before promptly putting it in her bag.
"That's my gift found; now to find Damian and let him know I'm ready." She said to herself, briefly checking her sides before noticing another opening right behind the boulder and opted to go through it. There, she saw Damian digging through the dirt and held out an impressive looking stone, shining brightly in whatever little light was present in the cave.
"There we go, I finally found my gift." Damian spoke to himself, turning around and Saw Natasha approaching him. "Hey, what took you so long? I was here for at least fifteen minutes."
"Sorry, I got a little distracted and explored the cave for a bit. Don't worry, I already found my gift for the Augur." She replied, briefly looking at the stone he held in his hand.
"That's good to here! Now we can—" The white-haired boy began.
"He will not leave Telnor Town alive…" A mysterious voice echoed throughout the cave, catching the duo off-guard as they searched the nearby area for the source of the voice. Noticing a pair of figures on a wooden bridge over a fairly large pool of water, the duo crept up towards them to eavesdrop on the conversation, making sure to not get spotted. And though they couldn't get a good look at the two figures, they could tell that one was a woman with mid-length bluish-white hair, and the other was a fairly old man with what appeared to be a beret over his head.
"My agent is already in place, I assume yours is, too?" The old man inquired.
"Yes; they're armed with the strongest of Pokémon I have to offer." The woman replied in a calm, collected manner. "Rest assured, he will be dead before he leaves Telnor Town.
"Very good, this Augur disgusts me." The man commented, a look of contempt in his eyes. "Loathe as I am to admit it, I could grudgingly respect the first one for his valor and courage, but this one is just useless. He's practically brainwashed the entire region with all this propaganda he's spread about himself."
"I've heard how ridiculous it is; how he was born of fire and lightning and rode Xerneas as a steed? He's only been Augur for a year and already the people are worshiping him. Rather hypocritical of him to denounce the cults while forming his own cult under the guise of saving the region from us." The woman added, rolling her eyes over how cringeworthy it all sounded.
"Thankfully we won't have to worry about him after today, do we?" The old man smirked, the duo going their separate was as a look of horror appeared on Damian's face.
"Th-Those were cultists, Natasha! And they plan on assassinating the Augur! Come, we must hurry back to town and warn him of this threat." He told the purple-haired girl.
"Say no more, Damian. Let's get moving as soon as possible!" She replied, the duo quickly running through the cave to head back to town. During the trip, a thought popped into her mind; those two people were most definitely from separate cults, but had formed a temporary truce to put an end to the Augur, were they the only cults in on this plan, or are there several other cults pitching in to assist them? Regardless, she and Damian would ensure that no harm would befall the Augur.
Telnor Town
Having quickly ran back to town, the duo found Damian's father waiting outside the town hall, a look of slight annoyance on his face as he approached the duo. "And where have you two been? The Augur arrived five minutes ago, and is waiting for you two." He informed them.
"Thanks mister, we've got something important to tell him!" Natasha blurted, as she and Damian quickly ran inside, the older man eyeing them up oddly before following them inside. Upon entering the spacious building, the duo saw dozens upon dozens of townsfolk in a tight crowd before the Augur, all of them bearing gifts of considerable value. They quickly scanned the crowd to spot anyone who they deemed to be suspicious, but unfortunately nobody stood out from the rest. But despite the situation, the Augur appeared calm and collected, blissfully unaware of the threat to his life as he gestured at the young duo to come approach him.
"Ah, hello you two. I'm Jaern, the Second Augur of Torren. You two appear a little flustered but do not worry, I mean you no harm. Now then, what are your names?" Jaern greeted the duo.
"I-I'm Damian and th-this is Natasha. W-We've come to warn you of a threat against your life!" Damian stammered, the crowd gasping surprise as they soon began murmuring amongst each other.
"M-Mr Augur, I'm so sorry about worrying you. My son has an active imagi—" Damian's father attempted to apologize for his son's accusation.
"He's telling the truth; I heard it was well. There are two people here who are in on this plot, from two different cults respectively." The purple-haired girl backed him up, an ominous laugh coming from the back as a pair of men approached the Augur, with Natasha recognizing them as the duo whispering amongst each other.
"So you've heard about the plan…? In that case, you leave us with no choice." The first man replied, taking off his disguise to reveal a tight-blue scuba suit with a few patterns that resembled those on Kyogre's body. The man's companion took off his disguise and showed his own cult uniform, which consisted of a standard leather shirt and pants, topped off with a red hood and cloak that bore a striking similarity to that of Groudon. "Surrender to us, Augur and we'll make your death quick!"
"Like we'll let you succeed!" Damian retorted, running up to confront them with Natasha joining him soon afterwards.
"Hehehe, you brats have been watching too many superhero movies. We're cultists who pack strong Pokémon and some top-notch weaponry. We only came here to kill the Augur, but we won't say no to disposing of a pair of meddlesome brats!" The blue cultist jeered at them.
"Please, like I'm afraid of a gutless coward who threatens children with a weapon. We're a lot stronger than you two losers, so do us all a favor and go home." Natasha mocked the cultist, wounding his ego as he growled at the teenage girl.
"I'll make you eat those words; stand by for battle Skrelp!" The cultist yelled, sending out his first Pokémon as the sea dragon flopped on the floor before getting up onto its tail. The purple-haired girl eyed up the Pokémon momentarily before choosing to send out her Delta Bulbasaur, the calm Pokémon letting out a quick chirp as the crowd cooed in awe at the sight.
"I'll deal with that Skrelp with a single attack; Confusion!" Natasha declared, the Bulbasaur's eyes glowing a dark pink as the Skrelp was soon encased in a blue aura that restricted its movements. The sea dragon tried desperately or break free, wiggling its body fervently to escape, but to no avail as it was soon flung towards the back wall and crashed into it, sliding down to the ground as it let out a weak gasp of pain before fainting from exhaustion.
"M-My Skrelp!" The cultist cried out in shock over seeing his Pokémon get defeated so easily before recalling it quickly. "Horsea, teach this brat a lesson in pain!"
He flung his Pokéball to the ground, the device opening soon enough as a Horsea popped out and gazed at the Bulbasaur before shooting a quick stream of water at the Crystal Pokémon. The Bulbasaur was caught off-guard by the attack and staggered back a few feet, slipping on a recently created water puddle and fell onto its stomach. However it soon got back onto its feet and fired a flurry of seeds from its bulb that landed on the Horsea's body, a few small vines sprouting from the seeds and wrapped around the small Pokémon and began draining if of its energy as the seahorse let out a quick cry of pain. Gaining a second wind, the Bulbasaur arched its back and emitted a quick gust of pink wind from its bulb, the attack striking the weakened seahorse directly and sent it flying towards the cultists feet, a slack-jawed look on his face as he promptly recalled it.
"H-How could a kid like you defeat a member of the Abyssal Cult?!" He exclaimed, turning to his side and saw the other cultist get effortlessly crushed by Damian. "Th-That's it! Time to bring out the big—"
"Oh no you don't!" Jaern exclaimed, making his way past the two teenagers to confront the cult. "Trying to kill me is one thing, but to threaten innocent children? That's one strike too many; I'm sending you two to Helios City for your trial!"
"P-Please, have mercy!" The red cultist pleaded; the two men eyeing up the Augur in fear.
"Beg as much as you like; your future won't be bright once I'm done with you… Vinculorum mortae!" The blonde man stated, outstretching his arm as the two cultists were soon enveloped in a golden aura, disappearing from the town hall in a manner of seconds as Damian turned to face him, a weary look in his eyes. "Do not fret, young one. I merely teleported them to Helios City to await their trial."
"I see…" The white-haired boy replied.
"My sincerest apologies for having you two fight my battles, but your earlier boasts got me intrigued and I wanted to see how you'd fare in battle. Don't worry, I would've saved you had you two been defeated. I'm most impressed by your talent and bravery; you're more than welcome to visit me in Helios City. As for me, I have a…trial to attend to." Jaern told them, making his way to leave the hall when Natasha called out to him.
"W-Wait sir! Before you go, there's something you need to know; there's a cult hiding in Shade Forest and they managed to summon Darkrai. They had imprisoned me, but I was able to escape the other night." She informed him, a look of intrigue appearing on the man's face, but she could've sworn there was another emotion hidden beneath it.
"I see…in that case I'll investigate this cult once the trial's over. Thank you for informing me about this." He replied, adding a kick to his step as he promptly exited the building, the townsfolk eyeing up the two teens in respect as Damian's father approached them.
"Well it looks like you impressed the Augur today, young man. Your foster mother's going to have a hard time keeping you here once I tell her about this." He commented, embracing his son in a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you, my boy. You're more than welcome to go out on an adventure."
"T-Thanks dad…" Damian smiled at him, the duo soon separating from one another. "I'll meet up with my friends at Midna Town and participate in the Trainer School Tournament. Once I win, I'll make sure to let you know all about it!"
"A small tournament in the nearby town? Sounds interesting; mind if I join?" Natasha inquired, with the white-haired boy nodding fervently.
"Sure thing! Just don't come crying to me when you lose!" He retorted.
"Getting cocky I see…why don't we race there as a little warm-up beforehand?" The purple-haired girl suggested, a grin forming on her friend's face.
"Oh, you are so on!" Damian replied, the duo quickly running out of the town hall and towards the forest, the father watching them go with a sense of satisfaction as he knew that Damian had a friend to keep an eye out for him. The duo was initially neck and neck, but a combination of Natasha's lacking skill in endurance and her impressive but weighted outfit enabled Damian to overtake her and charge ahead through the cave and onto the next route. A few minutes later, the purple-haired girl managed to stagger out of the cave and onto the next route, taking a breather by a sign that read 'Midna Town: 1 mile away'.
"Phew…that kid has a nice pair of running legs…" Natasha panted lightly, her nostrils soon picking up an incredibly sweet scent, similar to that of a freshly baked pastry. Following the scent, she knelt down by a bush and parted the leaves and was met by the source of the scent. Siting right before her eyes was a cream-colored Dwebble, its shell covered in a thick cream with a plump cherry resting on the top of the shell. The Dwebble spotted the teenage girl and scuttled towards her, leaning over towards her as if gesturing her to try the cream on its shell. Scooping up a small amount with her finger, she popped the cream into her mouth and licked it, a wondrous sensation coursing her body as her tongue quivered in joy over the delectable taste. "T-This is utterly amazing!" She complimented the small Pokémon.
This had pleased the Dwebble greatly, the crab Pokémon letting out a series of small chirps as the purple-haired girl gently scooped it up with her hands to take a closer look at it. Based on its coloration and attitude, she could tell that it was a Fairy/Normal Delta Dwebble, often nicknamed the Cake Dwebble due to its unique shell. Not wanting to leave it on its own, she asked it if it wanted to come with her, and it nodded fervently. Taking out an empty Pokéball from her bag, the Delta Dwebble tapped the device with its claw and promptly entered the ball, the light dying down a few seconds later. With yet another friend added to the gang, Natasha promptly got up and continued the short but arduous trek to Midna Town.
Another good chapter done and dusted; the next one will be longer than the previous ones as it covers a fair amount of content from the game. Most notably, it'll have Natasha's first meeting with Nora which'll lay the groundwork for their relationship. Thank you all for reading, I'll see you all in the next chapter.
Acquired Delta Pokémon:
D. Bulbasaur
D. Charmander
D. Squirtle
D. Diglett
D. Dwebble (Cake)
