Aurastar Warrior: I'll be happy to check out your channel once you upload your walkthrough.
With seven gym badges in hand, Natasha seems to be on the verge of completing the Torren League. But what's this mysterious broadcast she heard shortly after the battle? Read on to find out the answer.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon Insurgence; it is the property of its creators.
Upon making it out of the gym, the duo was immediately accosted by Nora, a look of confusion etched on her face.
"What on earth is going on? The whole town has gathered before the large TV within the city square, something about a surprise broadcast." She inquired.
"I don't know myself; that TV hasn't been used in years, and you need legal permission from the folks over at the Suntouched City Broadcast Tower in order to broadcast something on there. Whoever it is, they're obviously doing an illegal broadcast." Calreath answered, the TV suddenly flickering to life as the trio stood there and watched from where they were standing.
"People of Amphitrite City. You may recognize me as Zachery, the friendly neighborhood librarian. I'm also the one spearheading the vaccine movement. Therefore, it is my top priority to shut down this, heh, infernal Deoxys disease from all over." Zenith began, chuckling quietly to himself. "However, there is one person who has resisted my efforts time and time again. Not only is he unvaccinated, which is dangerous enough on its own, but he's been trying to convince people to stay unvaccinated. My friends, we cannot allow this to continue. You hate Calreath now. Battle him into submission. Make him pay, then bring him to me. Target him, his friends, his girlfriend. Do this any way you can. Keep fighting the unvaccinated until all of Amphitrite City is safe. Thank you for watching this emergency broadcast."
As soon as it began, the broadcast had ended, leaving the trio nervous over what they just heard. Zenith, the head of the Infernal Cult, had essentially ordered a hit on all of them, with Calreath being the prime target. But his own safety was the last thing on his mind.
"Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no ,no! I've got to find Diana as soon as possible. I need to go, now! Once I found her, we'll meet you two in the mountains; that's where they are." The blue-haired man stated, quickly making his way towards Selene City as the two teens were still taken aback by what they just heard.
"I-It's gotta be a trick; no way would they actually attack us, right?" Nora inquired, only for Natasha to shake her head slowly.
"They will, I saw it happen firsthand. Zenith, he led me into a trap where I was ambushed by several trainers. They were…they were all brainwashed, most likely by that vaccine of his. If they have taken it, then it's highly likely they will attack us." She replied, the green-haired girl gulping over what she just heard.
"I think we're in over our heads here. There's no way we can hope to beat someone who could do something like this…" Nora replied weakly, only for her friend to rest her hands on her shoulders.
"We can't give up now, not when there's still a chance to win! We already took down one cult that had an advantage over us, what's stopping us from taking down this one?" Natasha told her, snapping her friend out of her funk.
"Y-You're right. There's still hope for us, however slim it may be." The green-haired girl said, recalling something Zenith had said earlier. "He said he'd be in the mountains, right? The best possible place would be Mount Rose, right near Deyraan Town. It'll be quite the long walk, so we better get prepared."
"Alright, I'll meet you there when I'm ready." The purple-haired girl replied, the duo heading off in separate directions to prepare themselves for the highly dangerous challenge ahead of them.
Mt. Rose Base
Natasha's preparations took a little longer than she hoped for, if only for the fact that she decided to hand the metal wings to the Pikataxi owner, who'd set up a small stall near the city entrance. Upon receiving the wings, the owner thanked her profusely, informing her that once he was done fixing up his car, he would ring her and inform her about her reward. Receiving his number, the purple-haired girl said farewell before making her way towards Mt. Rose. It was the tallest mountain in the region, standing at a height of over 5,000ft; with a series of caves tunneled through it in order for travelers to climb up to Deyraan Town easily. Natasha would've taken the path up the mountain, if it weren't for the quarantine station planted right beside the entrance. Zenith must've planted it there in order to keep her and her allies from reaching the small town so easily. Still, there had to be another way up the mountain, she just knew it. Distancing herself from the quarantine station, the purple-haired girl made her way towards a steep cliff-face and studied it carefully, hoping to find a way up.
"Trying to find a way past that quarantine station, huh?" A voice called out from behind, catching Natasha off-guard. Thankfully, it was only Nora, a sigh of relief coming out the teen's mouth.
"D-Don't scare me like that!" The purple-haired girl huffed.
"That makes us even then." Nora giggled, eyeing up the checkpoint once more. "You know, that wasn't here a week ago. I'm sure you've already figured out why it was built there."
"Yeah, Zenith must be on the lookout for us. If he were to inject that stuff into us, who knows what he'd make us do. The trouble is, that path seems like the only way u—" Natasha began, only to be interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Kids…" An unfortunately familiar voice called out, the duo turning to see Taen approaching them. No doubt he was up to something, but what exactly they weren't sure.
"How convenient it was that you found us." The green-haired girl eyed him up suspiciously. "So how'd you know we were here?"
"Easy. We tracked Natasha through that Mega-Ring the boss gifted her." The blue-haired man answered casually, with Nora shooting a frown at her friend.
"In my defense, it was the only way Damian and I could go through to the Jade Tower and save Jaern, at least until we knew his true allegiances. However, Reukra said that he only wanted the data from our battles; he made no mention at all about keeping a track on me." The purple-haired girl explained her case, with Nora's frown softening as she now understood the scenario.
"Well if he told you about that, you wouldn't have accepted it at all. Then again, you were foolish enough to accept the gift in the first place. As the old saying goes; keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Taen retorted, a smug expression on his face. "Anyway, Reukra suspected you two would need help climbing that mountain, so he sent me to find you. He has a way to help, but he requires something in return."
"Of course he does…" Natasha replied bluntly. "I suppose you want to meet up at your base?"
"Obviously. You do remember where it is, kid? I'm sure we can come to an arrangement that benefits us both." He smirked, quickly leaving the two to their own as they sighed in a mixture of weariness and frustration.
"Things can never go the way we want them to; no, we've got to do thirty meaningless tasks before we can make some sort of progress. Looks like we've got no choice but to pay them a visit." Nora stated, turning to face Natasha. "The sooner we can get this done, the better."
"Agreed. Wouldn't want to keep our "esteemed hosts" waiting any longer." She replied, the duo making their way back to Amphitrite City to catch a taxi to Helios City.
0000
Once the duo arrived at the capital city, they made they way to the Jade Tower and took the entrance to the Perfection Base that Natasha used back then to infiltrate the tower. From there, they made the short trek towards the base's main room, neither of them aware of the light 'ping' that echoed throughout the area. Soon enough, the duo confronted the leaders of Perfection, the well-dressed man gazing at the two teens.
"Well, this brings back some memories." Reukra said, a hint of nostalgia in his tone. "It was Natasha and that timid boy with the Deoxys mutation last time, wasn't it?"
"Don't you dare speak about him like that! It's your fault he's like that." Nora snapped at the older man, her eyes glaring with hate at the Perfection leader. "Once we've saved him, we'll make you pay for what you've done!"
"As fiery as your friend over there; how adorable." He retorted calmly, unfazed by her outburst. "Truthfully, I couldn't care less about you; it's Natasha I'm interested in. get the machine ready, Taen."
"As you wish." Taen replied, making his way to the back of the room.
"So what do you want with me?" Natasha inquired, clearly not in the mood for whatever trick he has planned.
"I have information that can help the both of you. It'll help you find your friend and get you up the mountain. I don't want much in return; just two small favors. The first is that I want your time to help test something; the second thing? A small amount of DNA from Mew. Don't try and deny it, I know you caught it." Reukra sated his demands, catching the duo off-guard.
"Y-You want Mew's DNA? A-Are you trying to create your own Mewtwo?!" Nora stammered.
"Naturally. After all, it is the granddaddy of Pokémon-related experiments. I've managed to obtain the original documents from that very experiment; documents that Giovanni kept hidden from the world for ages. So what do you say, will you give us some of Mew's DNA?" The older man requested.
"Say we were to refuse your request; what will you do?" The purple-haired girl inquired.
"Simple, I take the sample anyway. Not only have I locked down the base, but I disabled both your Pokéballs via a wireless signal so that you can't fight back. I had a hunch you might refuse our request, so I prepared for such an event." Reukra replied casually, catching the duo by surprise once more. They had unknowingly stepped into a trap from which there was no escape, unless they gave him exactly what he wanted.
"…may I discuss this with my friend?" Natasha requested, with Reukra giving her a nod of acceptance as the duo gave themselves some room to talk to each other.
"This wasn't how I hoped things will go…" Nora said wearily. "I still think we should refuse; the last thing I want is for Perfection to get their hands on Mewtwo."
"Agreed, but what other choice do we have. No matter what we say, they'll get the DNA one way or another. At the very least, we can gain something out of this deal by saying yes." The purple-haired girl whispered back.
"I suppose you're right. I just wish you didn't have to give it up." The green-haired girl replied, the duo ending their discussion as they approached the older man. "We accept your offer…"
"I wasn't asking you, but if you said yes, then who am I to complain?" Reukra replied, making his way towards Natasha and glanced at her shoulders, taking a pair of tweezers and plucked several small pink hairs off her outfit before putting them in a small plastic bag. Making his way to the machine, he inserted the hairs into a small slot and closed it, a low whirring noise emanating from the machine as Taen watched with glee. A few minutes later, the Master Ball in the bottom slot began glowing, a series of small energy waves filling it up as the purple-haired girl knew exactly what was going inside that ball. Once the glowing had ceased, Taen picked up the ball, a cocky smile etched on his face.
"And with that, we have it under our control. As much as I want to crush you with it right now, your Pokéballs were disabled. But we can fix that like so…" He began, pressing a small device as a second 'ping' echoed throughout the base. "But I want to make you suffer first; consider it revenge for all the humiliation you made me experience!"
Upon his cue, the blue-haired man sent out a Darmanitan, with Natasha responding by sending out her Reuniclus, the ghost-type hovering in the air. Uttering a guttural roar, the Darmanitan lunged at the Reuniclus, the former's body cloaked in an intense fire that sent smoke into the air. However, the Reanimating Pokémon was able to create a wonderous wall of light to protect itself, knocking the Blazing Pokémon back a couple feet. From there, the Reuniclus conjured up a series of shiny crystals and hurled them at the Darmanitan, the jagged edges leaving a series of small cuts on its body. It opted to follow up by charging up a powerful Shadow Ball, the spectral entity hurling the glob of eerie energy at the Fire-Type. The attack struck it directly, sending it hurtling towards a stack of empty boxes as it crashed into it. When the dust died down, it showed that the Darmanitan was unable to continue battling, it's paper-thin defenses doing it no favor.
"Tch." Taen scoffed, recalling his Pokémon before opting to send out Kyurem, the legendary dragon uttering a deep, guttural roar.
'This'll be a little trickier…' Natasha thought to herself, but she wasn't scared at all. Opting to play defensively for now, she ordered her Reuniclus to use Calm Mind, the entity clearing its mind of all negative thoughts in order to boost its mental capabilities. As she had expected, the Kyurem went on the offensive, rearing its head back and fired an icy cold beam of energy at the Reanimating Pokémon, freezing it solid on the spot. However, because the ghost type had prepared for such a thing to happen, it was ready to counter it, breaking free of its icy prison within moments. Its eyes glowing red, the Reuniclus whimpered to itself as it laid a curse on the Kyurem, a series of ethereal nails surrounding its large from. Soon, the first nail dug into its flesh, the dragon roaring in pain as it flailed its head violently.
Knowing that it was on a time limit, it chose to go all out in its assault, firing barrage after barrage of draconic energy at the weakened entity. The Reuniclus tried in vain to block the incoming attacks but was only able to deflect half of the blasts away from itself. Beaten and battered, the Ghost-Type fell to the floor, trying with all its might to float back up, but wasn't able to. However, it chose to give its foe a parting gift; with the last of its energy it dug the rest of the nails into Kyurem's body before slumping on the ground, the powerful dragon uttering one final roar of pain before it too fell to the ground. The battle had ended in a draw; not what Natasha had hoped for, but she'd take what she can get.
"There, there. You did very well out there…" She consoled her injured companion, recalling it to its ball with Taen recalling his Kyurem as well. Taking out a second ball, the purple-haired girl sent out her Ludicolo, with her enemy sending out his Poliwrath in response. The bipedal frog cracked its knuckles before lunging at the kappa and pummelled it with its fists. However, the Ludicolo was able to withstand the barrage and retaliate with a close-range Psychic, sending the Poliwrath flying back several feet. Despite taking a super-effective attack, it was more than capable of fighting back, the bipedal frog opening its right hand and struck at the Ludicolo's throat with a chop-strike, causing it to stagger back a couple feet. Clutching its bruised throat in one hand, the Sage Pokémon used its mental powers to immobilize its foe, granting it an ample amount of time to cope with the pain. Once the worst of the pain had subsided, the Sage Pokémon released its grip on the Poliwrath before waving its arms in a hypnotic fashion, lulling the defenceless frog to sleep. Immediately afterwards, it placed its hands on the Poliwrath's head and began siphoning its dreams, using the energy to restore any wounds it had sustained during the battle. Once it had its fill, the Ludicolo used its mental power to raise the slumbering frog in the air and hurl it towards the wall, creating a small impact crater and watched as its foe slid down to the ground, unable to continue fighting.
"Unbelievable…" Taen scoffed in annoyance, recalling his Poliwrath and sent out his Zebstrika. Taking out his Mega Ring, he pressed down on the keystone and watched as the zebra was enveloped in a multi-colored orb of light. A few seconds later, the orb shattered, revealing the Zebstrika in its Mega-form as it whinnied loudly. The crest running down its back was now multi-colored and crackled lightly with electricity. It had a pair of sharp white horns over its eyes, as well as a pair of multi-colored whiskers on its muzzle. The Thunderbolt Pokémon kicked the ground beneath it momentarily, before lunging towards the Ludicolo and tackled it, sending the kappa flying backwards into the wall. Dazed, the Sage Pokémon emerged from the impact crater and spewed a stream of boiling hot water at the zebra, singing its fur and caused it to whinny in annoyance. It's horns crackling with electricity, the Zebstrika emitted a powerful bolt of lightning, the attack striking its foe directly as the Ludicolo cried out in pain. The Water-Type soon slumped onto the ground, unable to continue battling as the zebra snorted in confidence.
"I'll make sure all your hard work won't be in vain." Natasha spoke to her friend, recalling it to its ball as the purple-haired girl opted to go for her trump card. Taking out her third ball, she sent out her Delta Volcarona, the giant moth shooting a glare at the Zebstrika.
"Heh, I was hoping to see that pest again. Time for me to exterminate it; use Thunderbolt once more!" Taen ordered, the Zebstrika charging up another bolt of lightning and fired it, only for the moth to disappear into a wormhole. "W-Where'd it go?!"
The Perfection cultist would soon get his answer as the Volcarona re-emerged behind the zebra and struck it from behind, sending it skidding forward a few feet. The Apocalypse Pokémon doubled down on the assault by conjuring a series of Shadow Balls and fired them at the Zebstrika, the barrage knocking it off its feet within a matter of seconds. Slowly getting back up, the zebra snorted and opened its mouth, spewing a massive pillar of fire towards the moth. Though the attack landed a direct hit, the Volcarona was more than capable of withstanding it, breaking free of the oppressive stream within moments and glared once more at the zebra. Flapping its wings quickly, the giant moth conjured up a large wave of noxious sludge, submerging the Zebstrika in the deluge before following up with a quick Heat Wave. The murky sludge was set ablaze by the searing hot wind, inflicting extra pain onto the zebra as it was unable to roll around to put the flames out. Mercifully, the sludge soon subsided; the Zebstrika too weak to continue fighting as it devolved back into its regular form. Angered by this turn of events, Taen recalled his Pokémon before sending out his newly acquired Mewtwo.
"Taen, as your superior, I advise you to—" Reukra began.
"I can crush this thing without your help!" The blue-haired man retorted, turning to face Volcarona. "Use Aura Sphere!"
The Mewtwo conjured up an orange ball of energy with its mind, the orb growing within its hands until it was twice as large as a basketball. With a quick fling of its wrist, the Genetic Pokémon flung the attack at its opponent, scoring a direct hit on the moth. However, it was able to resist the attack with ease, the Apocalypse Pokémon shooting a glare at the Mewtwo before conjuring up an eerie aura with its power. The moth flapped its wings once, sending a wave of pitch-black circles at the Mewtwo and sent it staggering back a couple feet. But the legendary Pokémon wasn't down for the count just yet, it's eye's glowing vividly as it gained the ability to ignore the moth's Dark-typing. With this new advantage in hand, the Genetic Pokémon conjured up an odd wave of psychic energy from within to attack the target, the powerful blast of energy knocking the Volcarona out the sky and onto the ground. But despite dealing a lot of damage, it wasn't enough to knock it out, the moth slowly getting back up and flapped its wings wearily. Knowing that she had to end the battle now, Natasha ordered her Pokémon to use Spatial Rend, the Volcarona's wings glowing a vivid pink as it slashed the air around it, sending a series of crescent-shaped blades of energy that distorted the space around them. The series of attacks struck the Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokémon attempting to withstand the barrage but was soon knocked off it's feet and crashed into a second stack of boxes. The Psychic-Type attempted to get back up, but wasn't able to, earning Natasha another victory against the Perfection cult.
"For the love of…" Taen seethed recalling his Pokémon as a look of fury was plastered on his face.
"How'd you like that, asshole?" Natasha called out, shooting a smug grin in his direction as she recalled her Volcarona.
"You shut your mouth, you insolent—" The blue-haired man began.
"No, you shut YOUR mouth!" A voice called out, the duo turning to see Reukra glaring at his sub-ordinate. "For crying out loud Taen, they're kids! You were gifted with new Mega Pokémon, you were gifted with special armor, you were gifted with Mewtwo, you even had the Dragons of Unova at your disposal, and you still lost to them! Even the most novice of trainers would've been able to pull off a victory with a mere fraction of what you were given! Utterly pathetic…"
"Ouch, talk about harsh…" Nora whispered to her friend, with Reukra approaching the duo.
"At this very moment, Zenith is the most powerful human alive. He has some sort of ability that enables him to take control over other people. I know this because he took the Crystal Shard I had in my possession, using a double-agent he planted in my cult. none of us know where he got this power from; no Psychic-Type I know can control people on this level. With the Crystal Shard in his possession, who knows how far his power will extend. However, he's scared…" The older man told them.
"Scared? What could he be afraid of?" Natasha inquired.
"The virus I created; not only does it extend the life of its host by strengthening the body, but it also grants the host immunity to whatever he's using to control normal people. The vaccine he created? It doesn't do anything; I did some research on a sample I managed to obtain and it turns out to be a complete dud. I have a hunch that those control booths he set up have something to do with his power. This means that harmony's father and your friend should be able to get you up the mountain. I've been tracking their location for some time no—" Reukra continued.
"You mean you knew where they are this entire time?!" Nora exclaimed in a mix of shock and anger.
"I can only read the psychic signals they emit whenever they use their abilities. They have the same signature as Deoxys, and to my knowledge there hasn't been a sighting of it in years. I've negotiated a deal with them; in return for keeping their location a secret and allowing them to continue their mission, they do some small favors for me every now and then. I've asked them to meet you at the base of Mount Rose. Do whatever it is you need to do with them; now please get out of here, I've got important matters to deal with." The cult leader replied.
"Like what, finding a more competent assistant?" Natasha chimed in, shooting Taen one last look before leaving the base alongside Nora.
Sorry the chapter's a little late, but I got caught up in other matters, including my other fanfiction on AO3. Looks like the plot's starting to pick up the pace now that we have an understanding on just how powerful Zenith is. The next chapter should be on the slow side, so that should be a nice little breather. Thank you all for reading, I'll see you in the next chapter.
Acquired Pokémon:
Mew
D. Venusaur
D. Charizard
D. Blastoise
D. Dugtrio
D. Crustle (Cake)
D. Golem
D. Ambipom
D. Muk
D. Reuniclus
D. Scizor
D. Volcarona
D. Sunflora
D. Gardevoir (female)
D. Gallade
D. Quagsire
D. Raichu
D. Hydreigon
D. Pidgeot
D. Golurk
D. Plusle
D. Minun
D. Ludicolo
D. Heatmor
D. Emolga
D. Drifblim
D. Roserade
D. Snorlax
D. Haxorus
D. Weezing
D. Dunsparce
D. Huntail (male)
D. Gorebyss (female)
D. Vespiquen
D. Chandelure
D. Bisharp
D. Scrafty
D. Luxray
D. Metagross (Spider)
D. Glalie
D. Froslass
D. Noibat (Egg)
D. Liepard
D. Avalugg
D. Shuckle
D. Typhlosion
