Demoralized at their defeat at Stark Mountain, the NAA Strike force made their way back to the Battle Frontier with their tails between their legs. As soon as the force entered the base, Grunt was taken to a doctor to heal his injuries and Nate went to the Air Knight hangar to have Haruna perform maintenance on his machine.
"Hey boss! How was the attack on Stark Mountain?" The purple haired mechanic asked, failing to notice the frown on Nate's face.
"Poorly." Nate replied curtly before exiting his Air Knight. "Make sure the Amplifier is working at peak efficiency. The heat from the volcano may have messed with some of the circuitry. When you're finished with my machine you can begin tracking down a new Knight for Grunt."
"All righ- wait What!?" Haruna exclaimed. "What happened to the Giovanni Mk II?" She tried to ask as Nate swiftly left the room.
A second defeat at the hands of this group is not good for the New Age Alliance's image. Nate thought as he rushed down the halls of the base. I need to report in to Momo. She'll know what to do.
Stepping into the communication center, Nate ordered everyone out of the room before calling the NAA's current leader: Momo.
"Nate, it's good to hear from you." Momo said, once the call connected. The Servine was sitting at her desk with two large stacks of paper to either side. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"It's about our raid on Stark Mountain." Nate replied. "We failed to eliminate the cell... again."
"Was the Dusknoir from Snowpoint responsible?"
"Yes and no. He was leading the troops from behind the scenes and united his resistance cell with the one that was already at Stark Mountain but the loss was ultimately due to the volcano erupting. It took out a large number of our troops and has taken Grunt out of commission for the time being."
"Two losses in a row definitely doesn't show strength to our enemies..." Momo replied, trying to ponder the situation. "Other resistance cells are probably going to become more brazen after hearing this news. You're going to have your work cut out for you when you return to Rustboro."
"Me and Grunt are returning to Rustboro!? What about this new cell?"
"Slow down for a second there Nate. I said you would be coming back to Rustboro, but I didn't say right away." Momo clarified. "Despite the fact they've gotten the best of you and Grunt twice now, you two are still our best shot at restoring peace there."
"What's our play then? How do you think we can take these guys down?" Nate asked.
"If a direct confrontation won't work, we'll have to use other tactics. I'd suggest a blockade. If their base of operations is in a mountain, they need to be bringing in food and supplies from elsewhere. If you can cut off these supply routes it will demoralize and weaken their troops to the point where you and Grunt should be able to handle things."
"Sounds like a good idea to me, but we'll need more troops if we'll want to execute a successful blockade."
"I'll send an order to get more troops to you as soon as possib-"
The communication was suddenly cut off as an explosion rocked the building.
"What's going on here!? Someone get me a status report!"
At the commander's insistence, a soldier stepped into the communications center and said, "The base is under attack!"
"What do you mean the base is under attack!?" Nate replied quickly.
"T-They came out of nowhere sir. Our forces are already in bad shape after Stark Mountain. We need your help!"
"I'll be out there right away!" Rushing back to the hangar, Nate grabbed his machine and took to the air where he took stock of the situation.
Just as the soldier had specified, the NAA forces were in tatters. While there were a few pockets of solid resistance to the surprise attack, most the Knights and AKs were powerless against the enemy.
How the hell do I turn this around? The AK pilot thought to himself.
"Found you!"
Before Nate could form any semblance of a battle plan, a Dark Pulse attack shot up from the ground below, narrowly missing his machine.
"Who did that!?"
Looking down, he was surprised to find the culprit was not a Pokemon but a tanned human girl, dressed in black from head to toe. To her right was another girl with long brown hair and pale blue eyes.
"I think you made him angry Rachel." The brown haired girl remarked.
"That was the point Eliza." The tanned girl replied. "Dusknoir gave us this mission weeks ago and I'm itching to get started."
"We could've started sooner if you hadn't insisted on going via the Resort Area."
"I thought it was going to be faster!" The tanned girl, Rachel, replied.
"I don't care how you came here. All I care about is how you're going to leave!" Nate said, dramatically pulling out his sword with a flourish.
"I don't know how we're leaving, but you're leaving in a body bag!" Rachel cried before launching another Dark Pulse at the NAA Commander.
No longer unaware of the girl's presence, Nate was easily able to block the attack with a Sonicboom before charging in with his sword at the ready.
Rachel made no move to dodge but instead readied a Night Slash and met the attack head-on. Shockwaves flew off the two combatants as their attacks collided. Neither one wanting to back down, they launched their attacks repeatedly while flying around the battlefield.
"You aren't bad for a coward." Nate said as their attacks clashed once again.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Rachel responded.
"It means you took advantage of the NAA while they were at their weakest." The AK smirked before adding, "You couldn't have beaten us without that advantage."
"You think so!? I could have taken down this whole miserable operation on my own!" Rachel shot back, clearly angered. "But I'll just have to settle for you!"
Angered by Nate's comments, Rachel unleashed a flurry of Shadow Balls at breakneck speeds trying to assert her power.
"You think you could've taken down this whole base? You can't even hit me with a single Shadow Ball."
Eliza could practically see the anger rolling off her comrade as Rachel gathered her power for another powerful attack.
"You know he's just goading you on right?" Eliza asked. "You're doing exactly what he wants."
"I don't care what he wants." Rachel replied as an energy dense Dark Pulse began to form in her hands. "He'll just be a pile of ash after this next attack. Dark Pulse!"
"Boomburst!"
The two attacks met in midair with a loud explosion, covering the battlefield in smoke.
"Where are you ya coward!?" Nate called though the smoke. "I thought that last attack was supposed to leave me as a pile of ash!"
"Shut UP!"
Appearing out of thin air, Rachel launched another flurry of Night Slashes at her foe. Not expecting his foe to get behind him, Nate was grazed by Rachel's first attack before quickly composing himself to block the rest.
"That was a neat trick you had there to get behind me but one fancy move isn't going to save you now." As if to punctuate his point, Nate quickly moved his sword to block a Night Slash aimed at his throat and counterattacked by vibrating his weapon to land a savage blow that drew blood all the way from the top of Rachel's neck to her collarbone.
"Rachel!"
The tanned girl held up a hand to assure her comrade that she was ok while bringing the other up in a feeble attempt to slow her bleeding.
"You've been holding out on me." She said with a sneer. "You couldn't lay a hand on me earlier."
"Not at all. I've been fighting at 100% this whole time. You just slowed down." Nate replied before charging with his sword raised.
The tide of the battle had clearly turned as Rachel was powerless to defend against Nate's attacks. It took only a few moments for the NAA commander to knock Rachel to the ground, bruised and beaten.
"This is the end!" Nate yelled as he vibrated his sword once again and began a powerful downward swing.
While the attack would have certainly finished the fight, Nate's attack never landed. Midway through his swing, an image of a bruised and beaten Grunt flashed through Nate's mind, breaking his concentration and sending his blade slightly off target.
As soon as Nate's blade could be seen going off target, Eliza teleported between her comrade and the AK pilot and launched a small Confusion attack to push the enemy backwards.
"What the heck was that?" Nate asked as Eliza used a small Heal Pulse on her comrade.
"That should hold you over until we can get actual medical attention. Try not to move around too much ok?"
"Fine fine..." Rachel grumbled, too tired to argue. "Just get him good for me."
"Tagging in huh? You're not really proving your bravery there." Nate said, still rubbing his head.
"I can see what you're doing and it's not going to work." Eliza replied, turning to face her opponent.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." The AK pilot replied facetiously.
"You're trying to get me angry like you did to Rachel. I'm a bit more in tune with my emotions so you'd be wasting your time."
"HEY! That's no fair!" Rachel cried from the sidelines.
Ignoring his defeated foe, Nate smirked and replied, "Ok then. I'll cut the crap and get right down to business."
"That would be best for both of us." Eliza said as Nate charged and began swinging his sword in a deadly combination.
Although the combination looked fierce from an onlooker's perspective, none of Nate's swings actually hit their target. Each one was dodged by mere millimeters by his enigmatic opponent.
"Why can't I hit you!?" Nate yelled as he brought his blade back for a powerful horizontal swing. Just before his sword reached its target, Eliza teleported behind him and landed a small Confusion attack on his back.
"Because your mind is an open book to me."
"Even if you can see my attacks coming, you're going to have a hard time winning if that Confusion attack is the best you've got!"
"You'll just have to see for yourself."
"Oh I will." The NAA commander replied confidently before sending out a torrent of Sonicboom attacks. Just like with his sword attacks, Eliza deftly dodged each of the attacks until there was only one remaining. Rather than dodging like she had before, she opened her arms, almost as if to embrace the attack.
Finally. I've got her. Nate thought as his attack neared its target. But rather than feeling the satisfying rush of endorphins as one of his attacks finally hit, Nate was hit with an overwhelming pain, almost as if he had been hit by the attack.
"Do you still think I can't win?" Eliza asked as she walked over to her foe, who had gone down to one knee to try and recover. While she had taken Nate's hit head-on, Eliza only had a couple small bruises that were already beginning to heal themselves.
"You're odds may have gone up a couple of points." Nate replied as he forced himself back onto his feet. "But I'll figure out your gimmick and take you down like the rest."
"The clock's ticking then bud." Rachel called from the sidelines. "Just take a look around you!"
Taking a moment to look around the battlefield, the AK pilot saw that Rachel was right. The already damaged NAA forces were being torn apart by the enemy forces. Whatever resistance the NAA had been able to put up at the beginning of the battle was now completely gone. Rachel and Eliza's forces controlled the battlefield now.
Nate began to tighten his grip on his sword as Eliza added to his pressure. "The battle was won before it even began. If you surrender now, maybe we might even spare you and that Knight pilot who keeps popping into your head. I'm sure Angra would love to have some words with you."
"If I don't have time to think my way out of this, I guess brute force will just have to win me the day!" Launching himself up off the ground, Nate began launching another flurry of sword strikes at his wily foe, playing right into her hands.
Just as with his Sonicboom attack a few moments before, Eliza allowed each attack to hit and cause damage to both herself and her attacker. Desperate to break through and somehow turn the battle around, Nate fought valiantly against the pain before collapsing to the ground on the verge of unconsciousness.
"Very... impressive." Eliza said, trying to compose herself after taking so much damage. "Most people are knocked back after the first hit, but you were able to land ten. If you were given the time to figure out my powers, you might've stood a chance." Standing over her defeated enemy, a hypnotic blue light appeared in Eliza's hand as she continued. "How about you take a nice long rest and we can talk about your terms of surrender later?"
No... Not like this... The NAA commander thought as the Hypnosis began to take effect. Just before losing consciousness, Nate glimpsed Eliza being blindsided by a powerful Dark Pulse attack and a small but familiar figure appearing before him.
It can't be... Light!? The AK pilot thought before falling completely unconscious.
AN: Hello everyone, long time no see! It's been almost a year since I last updated and for that I apologize. Between irl commitments and starting another fanfiction project, I haven't had as much time as I would have liked for Uprising. I'll try to get better at that in the future. But I have no intention of abandoning this project! As long as people are reading and enjoying the story, I will continue to try and write when I can. (Hint: A great way to increase an author's motivation is to leave a review.)
Now that the apology is out of the way, I want to give a big shout out to PsychicEevee0103 for the submissions of both Rachel and Eliza. You have been a tremendous supporter of this series and I thank you for that. If any other reader want to submit OCs for Pokemon New Age, feel free to send me a pm. While I don't have formal submission slots like I did for the original New Age, there will be plenty of opportunities for reader submitted characters in Uprising.
Will Uprising be updated before another year passes? Will I ever stop apologizing at the beginning of Author's Notes? And is this truly how I'm going to end this Author's Note? Find out... right now! Hopefully, No and definitely not. Here's the real outro:
How will the NAA turn this battle around? Will Nate be ok? And has Light truly returned or is it just the delusions of a man on the brink of unconsciousness? Find out next time in Pokemon New Age: Uprising!