Fraud Watch (Lay the Very Best - Chapter 443)

Fenny stretched her arms over her head and leaned back against one of Scoria's wings, the Volcarona tucking in her side to get some kisses in on her neck.

"I've never seen you do such a dramatic entrance," she said, flashing Brandy a proud grin. "Well, except maybe the first time you showed off Cherry to everybody. You've really hit your stride with this."

Brandy rubbed the back of her neck, bashful at how pleased she was with the praise. Her mothers might be relentlessly embarrassing, but she did want them to be impressed by her. "Guess I'm getting better at acting like I belong here."

"Helps that you inherited my curves," Sparky said with a teasing slap to Brandy's butt. "I am such a good confidence boost."

Scoria nodded in approval. "Bug curves really are the best. You should roll those hips a bit more, really show them off."

"Okay!" Brandy huffed, "I've a bug of my own, I know when you're teasing me on purpose now. Go on, you have a job to do. Apparently, you want a badge too, so you'd better work for it."

Fenny blew everyone a kiss, as Scoria tugged her toward the velvet-roped stairs at the far side of the Casino with a VIP sign.

"Do your best, Brandy!" Fenny yelled as she disappeared into the crowd. "I want to brag about you when I get home!" 

"How are they getting into the VIP area?" Dani said. She'd been holding Brandy's hand for that whole mess of an introduction, just watching everyone with awe. 

"No idea," Brandy shrugged. "They'll manage, though. I pity whoever has to try to stop them. Morgan, you want to finally tell me who else you invited to keep my mother's company?" 

Morgan didn't answer. Her jaw was tight, shoulders locked. The feathers at the base of her wings kept twitching, tiny shivers that betrayed her attempt to stay composed. She was staring off toward the direction Vivienne had gone, eyes burning red, just visible below the brim of her witch hat.

Brandy instinctively went to comfort her with an arm around her waist, only to end up linking arms with Calcine as she came in from Morgan's other side. Together, they both gave Morgan a squeeze, and Brandy felt the heat of Calcine's palm spread through Brandy's arm and into the bird between them. The warmth worked, grounding the tension and letting her wings finally relax.

"You got the better of her," Calcine said softly to Morgan. "She turned tail and ran."

"Doesn't matter if she knows the plan," Brandy nodded, "Together we'll run rings round her."

Morgan exhaled, and her smile came back, but it had sharp edges to it. "I'm fine. Vivi's just always got under my feathers. She wanted to be me so bad when we were back in the gang."

Calcine gave her waist another squeeze. "Even I want a bit of your confidence, I can see why she'd be jealous."

Sparky flicked Morgan's tail and added, "Look at the quality of women you're pulling lately, I'd be seething."

Brandy tucked her head under Morgan's hat and gave her ear a kiss, licking the shell of it when Morgan leaned in for more. "I know which blackbird I've got all my bets on."

Morgan tried to wave it off with a laugh, tugging her hat down a bit. "You're all ridiculous", and she looked expectantly to Dani.

Dani went wide-eyed at being put on the spot, "Oh-oh-oh, right. I think your ... dick would be very suckable."

"Thank you, Dani." Morgan smiled, "That cheers me up."

Dani beamed as Brandy swung her round into the hug, Sparky coming from behind to wrap everyone up in a big ball, with Morgan at the centre. Morgan let out a slow breath, then actually melted into the contact for a heartbeat, her feathers fluffing up as she relaxed. It was a rare, quiet moment, and Brandy could feel how much she needed it.

Then they all got a face full of feathers as Morgan used Astonish to get out of the hug, the cloud of black feathers recoalescing a few steps away.

"Alright, team," Morgan said briskly, smoothing her feathers down. "We've had our moment. Let's get back to the mission, which Vivi apparently knows." 

"Still don't know how she did that," Brandy muttered. She looked around, letting her Compound Eyes pick apart the room. It all looked real, but they'd seen it was mostly an illusion last time they were here. They had to somehow break the illusionist's concentration again. "None of us would have told her. She must have a Pokémon helping her that can gather information."

Morgan nodded. "Makes sense, Vivi is a cheating sneak even by my standards."

"Don't compliment her!" Sparky gasped. "She's got huge tits, a fantastic ass, a great hat, and looks extra fuckable in her sparkly outfit, but I would never compliment an opponent.”

Morgan tried to give Sparky a wry look, but Brandy knew Morgan. That really had been a compliment; Morgan loved a good cheat.

"We're going to have to take the dress out", Calcine mumbled.

"What?" Morgan looked at her.

"When you evolve, your chest will get bigger. We'll need to get the dress adjusted."

"I could squeeze them into this dress," Morgan said, cupping her breasts. "You could help, you're strong."

"Deal."

Brandy let out a small smile as Sparky gleefully detailed how Morgan's dress would explode if they did that, but her focus shifted toward the far end of the room. Among the colourfully dressed dealers, one stood out that she'd seen last time.

Elegant curves and long, tapering limbs wrapped in a sleek black uniform trimmed in gold, styled to fit around a white gown that flowed out of the bottom of the black skirt. Her bob of green hair gleamed under the chandelier light, the ends of it resting gently on her shoulders as she shuffled cards with almost serene grace, waiting for someone to come play with her. Every Trainer knew those deep red eyes, gentle yet able to see through a person to their heart.

A beautiful sight, but it didn't quite fit right.

"Hey gang," Brandy whispered. "Why would a Gardevoir be in a Dark Gym?"

"You're right," Calcine said, looking in the same direction as Brandy. "She's the wrong Type for this place. Unless she's… not really there at all."

Morgan's wings shifted uneasily. "Or Vivi's Trainer likes showing off her rare girlfriends."

"She's so pretty though," Dani gasped. "I love Gardevoir. They're all super gorgeous."

Dani has though the last Gardevoir she met was a human, but Brandy didn’t blame her. Gardevoir were as beautiful as they were picky about which Trainers they'd bond with, and beauty like that could scramble brains. It took a special lady to get their attention. There was actually one in the tournament Brandy had seen briefly, and a Gallade too, but she hadn't had the chance to talk with them. Whoever that Trainer was, she was going to be a nightmare when Brandy had to fight her.

"Well, either she's fake, and we get to start teasing the person behind it," Brandy said, straightening her skirt. "Or she's real, and we have to deal with a massively powerful Psychic lady on top of everything else."

Brandy jumped when she heard a click of her Poké-dex camera and looked to see Sparky rapidly texting on it.

"What are you doing?"

"Shay and Maple don't know she isn't real." Sparky grinned, "I'm sending them a picture to get them to hurry up. Saying we got dibs if they don't get here in the next five minutes."

"But we're going right now," Brandy said. "You're just lying to them."

"Yeah, let's hope she's not real or they're gonna be mad," Sparky snorted. "I'm such a scamp."

She was a scamp. No arguing that.

"Come on," Brandy said as she snatched her Poké-dex back. "Let's go call her bluff."