Chapter 23 – The Beautiful Cygnus

Route 504. 11:58 p.m.

"I don't wanna do this," Faith moaned.

"Then go back already!" Jamie snapped. "If you're just going to complain, then go back to the Pokémon Center!"

"I can't go back! I know I want to catch this poacher red-handed, but if we catch him in the act…" Faith shuddered at the thought of actually seeing a Slowpoke's tail getting brutally butchered. "I can't handle gruesome things like that!"

"THEN GO BACK!"

"Children," David said, pushing up his glasses again, "can we focus, please?"

Apparently, David's plan to catch the poacher was to hide in the bushes at night where they would have a clear view of the lake. Once the poacher was in view, the three of them would attack at once with their Pokémon. With the full moon reflecting on the surface, the water seemed to sparkle quite a bit.

"Why do they call this place Rain Dance Lake anyway?" Jamie asked.

"Slowpoke may be dimwitted," David answered, "but they're actually believed to summon rain when they yawn. I did some reading back at the Center before we came back up here. Apparently, this lake used to be a big giant crevice, but a group of Slowpoke gathered and started yawning. Not long after that, a torrential downpour started and filled the whole thing up with rainwater in a matter of days."

It was easy to see that Faith was dazzled at the thought. "I wish I could've seen it happen."

"It doesn't sound that special to me."

"Well, you're not a romanticist like me, Jamie," Faith said with a slight huff.

Jamie raised an eyebrow and said "I didn't say that."

Before they could say anything else, a ball of shadowy energy smashed into the back of David's head and exploded… "GAAACK!" …sending him tumbling several meters down the hill.

"DAVID!" Faith shouted just before both she and Jamie were sent tumbling down the hill as well after they both got a hard hit to the backs.

David rubbed the back of his head and straightened his glasses. "Are you guys okay?"

"I'm fine," Faith said, pushing herself up.

"Look up there!" Jamie's finger pointed at the culprits. In the middle was a floating cloak-looking Pokémon with yellow and red eyes, a large head looking like a witch's hat, and a sneer on its face. On either side of it were two smaller round Pokémon that looked like garbage bags with teeth. David took out his Pokédex and scanned each one.

Mismagius – the Magical Pokémon. Its cry sounds like incantation. It is said that the cry may rarely be imbued with happiness-giving power.

Trubbish – the Trash Bag Pokémon. Inhaling the gas they belch will make you sleep for a week. They prefer unsanitary places.

"Ewwww," Faith said with a cringe.

"I suppose it's natural for anyone to cringe at the smell of garbage," a crass female voice spoke up. "Allow me to lighten up the scene. Mismagius, Flash!"

Mismagius' eyes lit up, blinding the kids for a few seconds. Once their eyes focused, a woman could be seen. She wore a purple unitard with a matching overskirt with black stripes near the bottom. With her legs exposed, you could see a pair of leather boots which reached halfway past her knees. Covering her arms were a pair of sleeves cut off from the rest of her outfit. On her chest was a stylized "N" along with a ruby necklace. Her hair was long, black, and wispy and her eyes, an eerie gold color.

"Do you find me stunning?" the woman asked. "I'm not surprised. I am the most beautiful member of Team Nova. And what's my name, you ask?"

Two female Nova grunts with a couple machetes at their hips came out from behind her and fired a pair of confetti poppers. "She is our astonishing Admin, Lady Cygnus!"

THWACK! THWACK! "Lady" Cygnus took this opportunity to slap her underlings in the back of their heads.

"Owww!" Nova Girl A said. "Why did you hit us?"

"I told you before to do the confetti after the intro!" Cygnus snapped. "And did you have to fire it into my hair?"

While she was busy snapping at her underlings, Cygnus' Mismagius glanced back with a sweatdrop. Only to get a Razor Leaf attack right in the face, courtesy of Wildleaf, who Faith had just called out.

"Who said you could attack my precious Mismagius?" Cygnus barked, clearly infuriated. "Don't you children have any manners?"

"Why should we show manners to you people?" Faith barked right back.

"You might as well confess right now," David said, rubbing his neck. "You've been cutting off Slowpoke tails, haven't you? Those knives you're carrying are proof enough."

The grunt girls tried to hide their machetes behind their backs, but Cygnus simply waved a hand. "So what? Slowpoke are slow, stupid, useless Pokémon, but their tails have a special oil gland they use to attract prey. In fact, it's what they use to attract Shellder in order to evolve into Slowbro. They can't even evolve on their own! We only need their tails in order to hunt for rare Pokémon."

David pushed up his glasses as all three glared at the Team Nova people. "You people are deplorable. You're even worse than Orion!"

"Orion's a big loser who can't stop playing video games!" Nova Girl A snapped. "He deserved what he got from that gym leader guy!"

"And so what if we're deplorable?" Nova Girl B said. "We're in pursuit of power. And you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs."

"And we don't need to worry about you telling the police," Cygnus said with a sneer. "Our Pokémon won't let you go anywhere. Now off you go, girls. Chop off some stupid Slowpoke tails," she practically sang out.

However, the two Nova Grunts and their Trubbish didn't make much headway as David and Jamie both blocked their way. "Who's not going anywhere?" David asked.

"Trubbish, use Pound," both girls said at once. The two Trubbish both hit David and Jamie in the stomachs, knocking the wind out of both of them. As soon as they hit the ground, both Trubbish sat on their backs. David grunted a bit trying to get back up, but stopped when one of the girls held a machete to the bridge of his glasses.

"Just be glad we didn't use these babies," Nova Girl A said.

"Chop, chop, ladies," Cygnus said, folding her arms. "We don't have all niiiight."

"Use Razor Leaf again!" The grunt girls had to shield themselves with their blades as they and their Trubbish took another volley of Wildleaf's Razor Leaf. She and Faith were fuming over this whole fiasco. "This is disgusting! What gives you the right to do this?"

"Right?" Cygnus put on an arrogant grin. "I have every right in the world. Just look at me." Cygnus placed her hands on her hips. "It doesn't matter what I do. Whether it's hurting innocent Pokémon or punishing ignorant kids, as long as it gets the job done, everyone will forgive me. And why is that, you ask?"

"Because she's beautiful!" both grunt girls cheered enthusiastically. "You're amazing, Lady Cygnus!" And in a similar manner, both Trubbish cheered for Mismagius, who simply tilted its head.

Cygnus chuckled, amused by how easily her girls and their Trubbish would worship her. "So tell me, little girl. What do you think of me?" she asked with a wink.

Faith ground her teeth in frustration. "That's it? You all infuriate me! And as for your so-called beauty? That hair, that outfit, it all screams Bride of Frankenstein! UGH!"

The Nova girls and their Trubbish gasped in shock. And apparently, that was all the distraction they needed for David and Jamie to hoist both Trubbish over their heads.

"Get these things off our backs!" David and Jamie both shouted as they chucked the Trubbish at the Grunt girls and knocked them on their backs. Both girls shuddered as they looked up at their boss, who was clearly seething.

"Frankenstein?" Cygnus asked through gritted teeth. "Bride of Frankenstein?"

"No, wait! That's not what she-MMPH!" One of the grunt girls spoke up, but was silenced by having Cygnus' heel in her mouth.

"Oh, no," Cygnus said. "I heard quite clear. And I don't tolerate that kind of sass mouth."

"Well, forgive me for speaking the truth," Faith snapped. "David, Jamie, let's teach them a lesson: three on three!"

"Sounds good to me," David said. "Cyndaquil, take it away!"

"I'm with you," Jamie said. "Go, Venonat!"

Both boys sent out their respective Pokémon. Cyndaquil immediately flared up the vents on its back while Venonat hopped from side to side.

"I'll be glad to punish all three of you," Cygnus said. "Mismagius! Trubbish! Front and center!" The grunt girls got up as the two Trubbish stood side by side with Mismagius.

"We can take out that Chikorita easily!" the grunt girls said in unison. "Trubbish, use Acid Spray!" Both Trubbish spat out a nasty green liquid at Wildleaf.

"Cyndaquil, counter that with Ember!"

"Venonat, use Confusion!" With respective blasts of fire and psychic energy, both Pokémon managed to destroy the spattering of acid.

"Now it's my turn!" Faith said. "Wildleaf, use Razor Leaf!" Chikorita leapt up and flung out more razor sharp leaves. Mismagius was clearly knocked for a loop, but the Trubbish twins had taken minimal damage yet again.

"You'll have to do better than that," Cygnus retorted. "Mismagius, use Psychic! Bring that Chikorita down now!" Mismagius' eyes glowed blue and with a burst of psychic energy, it looked as though a heavy weight was brought down on Wildleaf's back. Wildleaf struggled to stay on its feet.

"Come on, Wildleaf," Faith shouted. "Fight back!"

"Now, Trubbish," the grunt girls called out, holding out their machetes, "use Pound on the other two!"

"Cyndaquil, dodge!"

"Look out, Venonat!" Both Pokémon had to jump back to avoid the Trubbish's attacks.

"Don't stop, Trubbish!" the grunt girls happily ordered. "Pound and Pound again!" The two Trubbish kept running after Cyndaquil and Venonat, giving them both a good smack and knocking them on their backs!
"Come on, Venonat! Get up!" Venonat pushed itself back on its feet.

"Cyndaquil, up! Up!" Cyndaquil pushed itself up as well. "It looks like they're trying to push us back and single out Wildleaf," David said.

"Of course," Grunt Girl A said. "No one insults Lady Cygnus."

"That little girl deserves whatever punishment she gets," Grunt Girl B said.

"All right, Mismagius. Enough of that." Cygnus put on an evil sneer. "Fire a Shadow Ball at that wretched girl!"

"What?" Faith clearly didn't expect this. Mismagius let up on the Psychic attack, allowing Wildleaf to breathe easy before launching a ball of shadowy energy right at Faith, having it explode on her stomach and knocking the wind out of her. Wildleaf was utterly shocked as Faith took a tumble down the hill, rolling past the boys and into the water.

"FAITH!" David threw off his jacket and his bag before running into the lake after her while Cyndaquil ran after him.

"David, wait!" Jamie shouted, as he was now alone with Venonat, and the quite exhausted Chikorita. The fear on his face was very evident.

"Now that she's out of the way," Cygnus said, brushing a lock of hair from her face, "let's take that Chikorita. This little bug's just a weakling, but Chikorita are very rare indeed. That should teach her to insult me! Ha ha!"

"Oh no you don't!" Jamie shouted. "Venonat, use Tackle on Mismagius!" Mismagius didn't even move as Venonat passed right through it. And the two Nova Girls couldn't help but laugh it up.

"Look at how desperate he is!"

"Forget your glasses at home? Normal attacks don't work on Mismagius!"

"Keep going, Venonat!" The Nova Girls stopped laughing as they realized that Venonat's real target was Cygnus…who swatted the Insect Pokémon back with her bare hands and with a bored look on her face.

"Like I said," Cygnus said as Venonat bounced on the ground. "Weakling. Now move it, ladies! The sooner you get Chikorita, the happier I'll be!"

Wildleaf gritted her teeth as Mismagius and the Trubbish twins inched closer and closer. However, before any of them knew it, Wildleaf started yelling and her eyes and broad leaf started glowing with green light. Mismagius and Trubbish looked uneasy at this development.

"What's going on?" the Nova Girls asked.

"That's Overgrow," a drenched Faith shouted after being helped out of the water by David. "When Chikorita's power is low, her Grass-type moves are powered up! This is great!"

"What does it matter?" Cygnus shouted. "Use Shadow Ball again!"

"Wildleaf, use Razor Leaf!" While Mismagius charged up a ball of shadowy energy, Wildleaf flung out a volley of glowing green leaves which flew faster than before, shredding up Mismagius, who floated to the ground. However, the Magical Pokémon still struggled to get back in the air.

"Venonat," Jamie shouted, "use Confusion on Trubbish!" Venonat's eyes glowed blue as one of the Trubbish started to float in the air. "Now drop it!" Venonat's eyes stopped glowing and the Trubbish actually fell on top of Mismagius, knocking them both out.

"How dare you?" an enraged Cygnus yelled.

"I'll get 'em for you, my lady!" Nova Girl B shouted. "Use Acid Spray!" Trubbish was about ready to spit out another glob of green acid, but was cut short when Cyndaquil popped out from right underneath it from a hole in the ground, sending the Trash Bag Pokémon flying five feet in the air.

"Yes!" David pumped his fist. "That Dig's getting better."

The second Trubbish plopped down on top of both the first Trubbish and Mismagius. Cygnus couldn't help but growl.

"Got any more?" Faith yelled as Wildleaf, Cyndaquil, and Venonat lined up, looking very angry. Because of this, Cygnus and the Nova Girls promptly recalled their respective Pokémon.

"You'd better hope I never see you again," Cygnus said as she threw something on the ground that kicked up a giant cloud of smoke. David, Faith, and Jamie stood still even a while after the smoke dissipated and Cygnus and her girls had disappeared. After that, all three collapsed to the ground and lay on their backs.

"I'm so exhausted," David said as Cyndaquil sat down next to his head. "But at least we won."

"I'm so proud of you, girl," Faith said, hugging Chikorita.

"I'm too tired to even go to the Pokémon Center," Jamie said, snuggling up with Venonat.

"I'll dish out some Potions tomorrow morning," David said, clutching his Cyndaquil. "For now, we can sleep out here."

"Ooh, that sounds nice," Faith said, making herself comfortable on the grass.

"G'night, guys," Jamie said, already nodding off.

David closed his eyes as well. He could briefly hear someone yawning. And not long after that, he could feel something dripping on his face, then the rest of his body. All three of them shot up once they knew what it was.

"RAIN!"

"Get to the trees!" Jamie yelled. Apparently, what David read about Slowpoke's yawning was true. That, and he would have to purchase a few tents.

Name: Cygnus (Admin)
Age: 19
Sex: Female
Appearance: Black hair with red tips, ruby necklace
Bio: A selfish workaholic diva, Cygnus commonly resorts to whatever means necessary to get even the simplest jobs done. It's said she spends a whole hour getting her hair just right.
Pokémon: Mismagius

And just so you know, I did indeed base her look on Misdreavus.

In the next chapter, David and the others make it to Sodalite Town with plenty of time to register for the next Contest. However, a wild Pokémon makes off red-handed with Faith's purse!