Chapter 7: New Deltas, Evolutions, and Teambuilding!
"Alirght Ambio! You're doing great! Keep it up!" Moon cheered.
"Ai Ai Pom!" The Delta Aipom cheered as it quickly shadow punched a Rotom into the ground with a happy smile.
With his small skirmish against a trainer concluded, the Delta Aipom's body began to glow as it glowed and expanded.
Its shadowy head became detached from its body as its one ghostly white hand tail split into two, which now supported the floating shadow black and body. The hairs on its head became scrunched up into a little bunch tied up by the connecting of the two ghastly white hands.
Moon had to admit as the Ambipom let out a battle cry. It would certainly be a frightening sight if you just so happened to accidentally cross paths with one in the middle of the night as you walked down the city street.
Ambio giggled as its disconnected body rotated itself 180 degrees and flipped upside down. The head was still greeted with those pale, soulless white eyes that would pierce the soul of any prey it nailed down.
"Well, let's check you out then, no need to rush it." Moon said. He took out his Pokedex and scanned the Delta Ambipom.
Ambipom (Delta Species)
Classification: The Ghost Arm Pokemon
Type: Normal and Ghost
Abilities: Cursed Body, Infiltrator, or Technician
Additional Info: It plays pranks by frightening people with its detachable head. If its spirit leaves its body, its body is left without arms.
Newly learned Moves: Memento, Perish Song, Double Hit, and Night Shade.
"Hehe, pretty neat. Seems you still evolve learning double hits like a regular Aipom would. You've got quite the knack for being a little prankster, shame that's not your ability eh?"
"Pom Pom." Ambipom shrugged.
While exploring the watery route down to Vipik City from Metchi Town, Moon had taken a bit of time and wandered off after seeing a bit of an opening between thickly put together trees. He was greeted with a grotto of sorts.
After rustling around in the grassy maze-like rotation of said grotto, he eventually made it to the clearing, where he was greeted with quite the shock for an opening.
In the middle, there was a Pokemon. It looked vaguely similar to Sunkern of all things. Except where the seed portion of Sunkern was yellow and brown, this one was purple and black. It also looked like it was dripping, almost like it was actually made of…oil?
Sneaking up to get a better look, Moon accidentally snapped a twig, which alerted the little gooey seed. Angrily, it flashed red as the little twigs at the top of the gooey seed went ablaze with purple fire.
"Kern Kern!" The weird Sunkern fired a few small embers from its mouth, which Moon quickly ducked out of the way of.
"Irwin, Aqua Jet!"
He tossed out his trusty Feraligatr, who quickly surrounded itself with jets of water as it tackled the small seed with all its might. The sunkern was flung into a tree where it immediately fell to the ground and stopped moving.
"Well…it is a sunkern I suppose." Moon tossed a poke ball at the small Pokemon, which hit and brought the small gooey seed into it. The seed wiggled back and forth within the confines of the ball before it dinged shut.
Picking up the ball, Moon let his newly caught friend out. The purple sunkern developed in front of him and looked confused.
"Just want to check you out, don't worry." Moon replied. "Unless…" Sunkern hopped up towards his bag and loosely tried to bounce around it.
Curiously, he took out his pokedex and scanned it.
Sunkern (Delta Species)
Classification: The Blazing Oil Pokemon
Type: Fire and Poison
Abilities: Flame Body, Analytic, or Poison Point
Additional Info: A delta species similar to the Pokemon, Sunkern. Discovered by DankRabbit and EchoTheThird. It is able to emit a purple fire that poisons its enemies. Unlike its counterpart, nothing of interest happened when exposed to a Sun Stone. However, we hypothesize that it seeks a method of evolution for its survival.
Known Moves: Absorb, Growth, Ingrain, Poison Powder, Ember, Acid Armor, Sludge, Incinerate, Nasty Plot, Endeavor, Will-o-Wisp, and Flamethrower.
"Well then…If I can figure out how to evolve you, I suppose you'd make a nice counter to-"
"Kern Kern!" Moon looked up at the blazing twigs and touched a Fire Stone he had been given by an old lady in Midna town upon seeing his Eevee. Immediately, the small oil seed began to grow and expand.
Moon had to give the delta some credit as the light faded. It certainly looked like an oily, gooey, sunflora. The little purple leaves were dripping from the oily fades. Its face looked less energetic than an average Sunflora, however, given that the sunflower statue of its face was replicated by LITERAL FIRE. That was something Moon was willing to forgive.
"Let's just hope you don't live in a constant state of agony then." he pointed the pokedex at the burning sludge sunflower.
Sunflora (Delta Species)
Classification: The Burning Sludge Pokemon
Type: Fire and Poison
Abilities: Flame Body, Analytic, or Poison Point
Additional Info: Unlike regular Sunflora. This delta species of Sunflora can convert fire and poison into nutrition. It purges its enemy's uncleanliness with fire. Though we can't say exactly what would happen, we advise ever letting this thing near any water.
"Pretty cool…though the people who wrote about you have a point…I probably shouldn't let you near an ocean or something. Let's call you…Helios? That sound cool?"
"Flora!" The oily sunflower gave him a half-hearted salute as some purple gooey oil dripped from its leaves.
"Shortcake, protect!" Moon called.
The Delta Dwebble withdrew into its cake shell and glowed as a wild Breloom quickly punched the shell back.
"Okay Aurora Beam!"
Shortcake withdrew its body and fired a multi-color beam of light from its mouth, which blasted the fighting bipedal mushroom back. Breloom skidded on the ground and turned its fist purple as it began another charge towards the cake bound crab.
"Use Mist! Then Return!"
Shortcake unleashed a bright blue fog around itself from the fake cherry on its top. As Breloom entered into the mist, Moon watched a glowing white light smash into the wild mushroom, who was knocked out as Shortcake emerged again, looking much bigger than before.
Well, the large cake on its back certainly looked much bigger, as for Shortcake herself, the crab part of her looked a bit bigger, and she had more visible legs. However, her claws were the only real change.
Moon looked at the cake shell, which now looked a lot more like a slice of Strawberry Shortcake (hence why he had named her this). Except, now, at the top where the fake frosting was starting to overflow, there was now a large metal pitchfork.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Moon wondered.
Crustle (Delta [Cake] Species)
Species: Cake Pokemon
Type: Normal and Fairy
Possible Abilities: Own Tempo, Scrappy, or Simple
Information: While it does not mind sharing its pastry with others, it will stab thieves with its fork. Its body is quite cold in order to preserve the freshness of its cake.
"How?" Moon questioned. "How do you get the fork off of you?" Shortcake just sighed as he glanced back down at the movepool.
Newly learned Moves: Work Up, Automize, Dazzling Gleam, Misty Terrain, Metal Claw, and Play Rough.
"Nicely done Shortcake. You've made our bond!"
"Crustl!"
As he was surfing on the back of his ride Lapras towards Vipik City, Moon eventually looked across and saw a weirdly rundown shack. Like, seriously rundown, it looked ready to collapse.
"What a weird thing to just be on the side of a waterway route." he said, as Lapras dropped him off. "It's far disconnected from the city and town…and it looks like nobody even lives here."
Glancing around, he spotted a hollow tree with what looked like a notebook, which he reached for and took out, giving it a quick read.
Delta Project: Perception.
We had hoped for a unique success with this experiment…unfortunately, the little shocker is far too weak. Reukra will be disappointed, for sure…however…it would be a shame to just put the thing to sleep. I will simply leave it here in the hopes that a worthy friend will find it one day. If you are reading this, take the pokeball enclosed here and toss it through the open window, when it dings, you can safely enter the shack and claim your new friend.
Shrugging, he took the green pokeball from its enclosed packaging and looked for the open window, which he found just above his eye level. He quickly tossed the ball in where it fell to the ground with a slam.
There was a bit of shuffling before the familiar sound of the ball opening and capturing an unknown Pokemon.
With the dinging concluding, Moon walked inside, and found there was literally nothing except the pokeball in the house. He picked up the ball and let out his newly caught friend.
He was greeted with the development of a Pokemon that resembled a Ralts. While the small body was still snow white, the arms were now bright blue, its helmet was now colored yellow and topped with two icicles where its red horns would normally be.
The small little pokemon happily smiled at him, though he couldn't see its eyes. Moon gave it a smile back before scanning it.
Ralts (Delta Species)
Classification: The Perception Pokemon
Type: Ice and Electric
Abilities: Lightning Rod, Clear Body, or Snow Cloak
Additional Info: A delta species similar to the Pokemon, Ralts. Discovered by EchoTheThird and Zero_Breaker. It uses its own ice and electricity to help make its trainer's life easier.
Known Moves: Thundershock, Growl, Powder Snow, Double Team, Shock Wave, Nuzzle, Ice Shard, Calm Mind, and Ice Beam.
"That's a lot of moves…" Moon whispered. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of candy and handed it to the pokemon.
The Delta Ralts took it eagerly and ate the candy. As it finished, its body began to glow brightly as it expanded into a more bipedal creature. The emerging Delta Kirlia had its body yellow, with its larger helmet to follow. Its eyes were now exposed to be ice blue and it's white dress body swirled as it twirled happily.
Kirlia (Delta Species)
Classification: The Excitement Pokemon
Type: Ice and Electric
Abilities: Lightning Rod, Clear Body, or Snow Cloak
Additional Info: This Pokémon loves dancing to swing music. As it grows more excited from dancing, it generates sparks and snow begins to fall within the surrounding area. Much like its counterpart, we theorize it would be capable of undergoing evolution into either Gardevior or Gallade. However, when exposed to a dawn stone, our male Kirlia did not undergo evolution.
"Well…you're a girl." Moon said, "So no Gallade for this guy. I have just the name for you, ice queen." Kirlia giggled as he returned it to the pokeball.
Moon let out a fanatic groan as he finally entered the crossing into Vipik City. It was now extremely late at night, and he was exhausted. Thankfully, Pokemon Centers were open 24/7 so he'd be able to get a room and rest up for tomorrow.
That being said, based on what the brochure he had taken from the crossing gate guard told him, ever since the first Augur disappeared, the town had become much more of a dump. The gym leader, Xavier, had set up the region's dump nearby. And while the town sure looked like forestry. Moon could detect a faint whiff of trash from somewhere over yander.
As he made his way to the Pokemon Center, he heard a rustling sound. Glancing over, he spotted a bush move, before he felt something thud against his head.
Grunting in frustration, he turned his head to where he heard the smack of the creature on the ground. He could make out the faint head of a Jack-o-Lantern with fire burning from its eyes and head. He pointed his pokedex at the Jack-o-Lantern and was quickly greeted with an entry.
Wooper (Delta Species)
Classification: The Halloween Pokemon
Type: Fire and Grass
Abilities: Flash Fire, Pickup, or Harvest.
Addition Info: A Delta Species similar to the Pokemon, Wooper. Discovered by EchoTheThird, This mischievous Pokémon, said to only come out on Halloween Night, loves to surprise people on Halloween with tons of candy. However, rumor has it that those who are naughty to one may never be seen again.
Glancing at the picture as he dodged a flaming bullet seed, Moon noted that the iconic Wooper derp face was instead plastered on a body that blended into the black night, and it had a large red tail.
"Woo Woo!" The Jack-o-Lantern howled, Moon felt his breath get heavier as he heard the Jack-o-Lantern crunch on a candy similar to the Delta Ralts he had fed. The pitch black night was lit up with a bright white light as the Delta Wooper began to grow, and when the light finished, the Delta Quagsire emerged looking very horrifying.
The carved Jack-o-Lantern with fire burning out the mouth and eyes didn't look as scary, it had the derpy quagsire face everyone knew and loved so much, with little red flasks spiking up . However, the burning face of agony on its purple belly looked like something straight out of the final boss of EarthBound. It now had two whip-like arms that were also on fire.
Moon glanced down at his Pokedex as the Delta Quagsire let out a scream that he couldn't determine if it was genuinely terrifying or funny.
Quagsire (Delta Species)
Classification: The Halloween Pokemon
Type: Fire and Grass
Abilities: Flash Fire, Pickup, or Harvest.
Addition Info: Despite its frankly disturbing appearance, this Delta Species is kind to every Pokémon it meets. It glows with Halloween spirit as it wanders the streets in search of kids to horrify and steal candy from. We recommend people who have played EarthBound do not tell people what the face looks like to unsuspecting people.
Known Moves: Ember, Snatch, Leech Seed, Thief, Stockpile, Bullet Seed, Trick-or-Treat, and Mystical Fire.
"Yeah, no fucking thank you." Moon said. "I may have the skeletal remains of a Charmeleon and the ghost of an Ambipom with me, but I am not sending out a Pokemon to look at that thing." He took out a Dusk Ball and chucked it at the large Jack-o-Lantern face. The dusk ball hit the Delta Quagsire, rocked back and forth once, and then dinged shut.
"Arceus help us…" Moon mumbled. He then glanced back down at the pokedex entry for the Delta Wooper and Quagsire. "I wonder what this thing was doing out here anyway? It's the end of fucking April, we're nowhere near Halloween!"
Sighing in disappointment, he picked up the dusk ball and simply made his way to the pokemon center. What a day today had been, lots of evolutions, unfortunately none for Cobalt. He guessed maybe he and Riolu still had some training to do. New teammates, and tomorrow, he will be taking on the second gym of the region.
He looked back down at the brochure and read the biography of the gym leader, Xavier.
To say the gym leader was…interesting. Would be an understatement. The man was an adult, unlike Orion, he had dark skin, a bumblebee striped beater, brown baggy cargo pants, a back cape made of what looked like tree leaves, and his green hair was bunched up around his head to the point you might mistake him for a girl. He was also carrying a strange looking brown and gray bong.
Xavier is the gym leader of Vipik City, he specializes in Bug and Poison type Pokemon, and is usually a big hurdle for trainers just starting their journey. He is the only gym leader in the region (prior to the first Augur). To have most trainers take an average of 4 attempts to defeat him. With other gym leaders after him having an average of 3 or below.
Other gym leaders are considered harder than Xaiver, hence why he is only the second gym leader. However, he serves as a reminder to young, naive trainers, that bug and poison types should not be taken likely. Try not to get tripped up by the funky smell of his bong too, it's hiding a secret you aren't prepared for.
"Average of four attempts eh?" Moon questioned. "Sounds like he'll be a very entertaining trainer to face. Better workshop the team a bit tomorrow."
His quartz flute pendant began to glow as he heard Mew chime in.
"Indeed you shall, Moon."
Bit of a shorter, more montage like chapter than normal, but the word count is definitely probably going to get skewed by my Author's notes, as we've got a bit to discuss in terms of the new team members. A lot happened, but at the same time, that a lot wasn't developing our overarching plot much further apart from Moon getting his ass to the next city.
Anyway, starting off, Delta Sukern and Sunflora. A very...interesting idea, I'll give them that. Unlike other games, you don't have to worry about evolving Sunkern immediately, as it shares the same level up movepool as its evolved form. I'm aware that Sunflora is not a particularly good Pokemon, it is from Johto after all, a lot of those Pokemon needed some aid, why else would Game Freak continue to go back and try and fix their broken asses constantly.
Surprisingly, Delta Sunflora is not a bad Pokemon to use, the 4x weakness to ground is a legitimate concern, especially for something so slow. However, the Analytic ability definitely helps, with only 30 base speed, the thing is going to move last, and hit incredibly hard with a special move. Also, good dual-fire types can be incredibly hard to come by in Torren, and Dual-typings are far more valuable in this game, where you never really know what's coming next. However, it is Sunflora at the end of the day, it can be outclassed by other Fire Types pretty easily, but its definitely not egregiously dogshit.
Speaking of dogshit...Delta Quagsire. Look, I get it, we all love Quagsire and its little derpy face. But this thing is TERRIBLE. Fire Grass is such a cool typing, but since the Delta form shares the same Base Stats as regular Quagsire, its not going very far without severly underperforming. Sure, 430 base stat total is better than Sunflora's base 425...until you realize Sunflora will always be doing double damage if it goes second off a base 105 special attack.
Delta Quagsire is pretty straightforward, it gets Seed Bomb and the inconsistent weight dependent Heat Crash by level up. But that's it as far as good STAB goes until you get access to the Fire Punch Move Tutor, at which point, this thing becomes more of a burden to carry around. I guess you could try to stall a bit with Leech Seed, but without Unaware the Pokemon kind of falls apart. Its a nice little filler, but otherwise not something overly worth your time. Which I guess is fair, considering the only way to get it is to leave a Lava Cookie or Rare Candy in a hollow tree, change your clock settings from 12:00 AM to 5:00 Am, then capture it.
Now for the big one. Delta Ralts. It is such a shame that it comes along and smashes Delta Scizor into the ground. But genuinely, this Pokemon is fantastic...if you evolve it into Gardevior that is. We've seen the memes, being a Psychical Electric or Ice type Pokemon is a goddamn death sentence, and Insurgence is no different unless your name is Delta Scizor. Delta Gallade's most reliable STAB options are Thunder and Ice Punch, which it thankfully gets by level up...except by the time you'd get the ability to evolve Delta Kirlia, it would be past the level needed to learn them which at that point, you're better off just using Delta Scizor. It gets Icicle Crash and Wild Charge...but as the typing of electric and ice without levitate would cue you in, this thing doesn't survive a single hit that's super effective.
Delta Gardevior is about the same in terms of living capabilities as its male counterpart. However, it's a special attacker. Because I am basing the bosses on their Hard Mode Teams, the level cap for the second gym is 35. And wouldn't you know it, if you use the level trainer to immediately take Ralts up to level 32 before you evolve it, it learns Ice Beam, which it wouldn't get as Gardevior until level 40. It's well worth doing so too, as its only good ice move otherwise is Frost Breath. On top of that it also gets Moonblast, Thunderbolt, and Calm Mind. This thing was built as a special attacking machine, and it destroys everything in its path assuming it comes in fresh. Switching into this thing raw is not a good idea. Easily a top 5 delta to use if you're new to the game. It's an extreme glass canon, but well worth your patience to use it.
Phew, took me a bit, but thats it for today's chapter. I hope you enjoyed the montage of Evolutions; I think it's funny that Delta Crustle immediately gets Metal Claw and its dex entry implies that's how it would use the move with the fork it can't reach. Delta Ambipom is cool too, and I love the design they gave to Xaiver, Pokémon doesn't really do much adult jokes anymore so it's always nice to see fangames include stuff like that.
But why exactly would a bug and poison gym leader be so difficult for trainers? I hear you asking? Only one way to find out!
See you all, next time!
Moon's Team
Sunny - Eevee
Satanel - Delta Charmeleon
Irwin - Feraligatr
Shortcake - Delta Crustle
Cobalt - Riolu
Sahara - Delta Grimer
Ambio - Delta Ambipom
Whiteout - Delta Scyther
Helios - Delta Sunflora
Weiss - Delta Kirlia
Terroriser - Delta Quagsire