I Want To Lay the Very Best!

244 – Rigged For Her Pleasure

The Rolycoly and Joltik plushies had been easy; they were native Pokémon to Galar. Murkrows weren't, and finding one had been a bit of a quest for the pair as the night went on. Brandy didn't actually mind if they completed the set or not. She was just happy to spend time with Morgan and get to know her better. Part of learning more about her was learning just how competitive Morgan could be. She'd said she hadn't minded losing tournament fights with Cassidy. Still, there was no ignoring the tension setting on Morgan's shoulders at the idea she wouldn't be able to finish what she had started. It bothered her, and while they could always ask Wren and Diana's help to make a Murkrow plushy, it would be a triumph of the date if they could find just one in the carnival to win. 

So far, no luck, but their game-winning spree had continued. Brandy had smashed out a strength test with a hammer, feeling quite proud of how strong her swing was now, and Morgan had completely ruined a Cloyster's shell game to the point the poor Pokémon's head was spinning trying to keep up with her own shells. They'd showered her with kisses to make up for it, and while she didn't have the coveted Murkrow plush, she offered some free toffee apples instead. 

It was funny how confused Morgan was about the idea of a toffee apple. She waved the candied apple on its stick back and forth, looking at it like it might come alive and attack her.

"You don't have these in Unova?" Brandy asked, taking a big bite out of her own. The crunch made Morgan jump, and she gave Brandy a horrified look. 

"It's an actual apple?!"

"Is that weird?" Brandy crunched again, to Morgan's growing horror. "It's nice, the sweet goes together."

"This is the least sexy thing you've ever done." Morgan huffed. "I need to go home. We just eat fried food."

"You cannot resist my sexy Galarian culture," Brandy said with a grin as she held her toffee apple out to Morgan, waving it near her mouth and waggling her eyebrows. "We're famous for our food."

"Yeah, not in a good way," Morgan laughed, leaning in to take a bite. The apple crunch was partially loud as Morgan really chomped down on it, apple juice running down her chin as she chewed thoughtfully. A messy Morgan was hot, and Brandy had a bit of a blush when Morgan licked her lips clean. "It's not as terrible as I thought it'd be."

"It's good! I can see you smiling." Brandy laughed, "I read up on Murkrow. You like intense natural flavors. Sweet fruits and bitters, though you can't taste anything spicy."

"I don't think toffee apples are exactly natural," Morgan said, taking a tiny lick of the shell of her one. "Maybe I'll warm up to it. So you've been reading up about me?"

"I read up about all of you," Brandy said. "You'd think Sparky would be all about the sweet stuff, but Joltik actually like sour flavors the most. Something about the acidity. Carkol like spicy food that's also crunchy? I've not worked out something good for that, but I'm looking."

"You do try your best to spoil us all," Morgan smiled. 

"I do! I want you all to know you're appreciated," Brandy said, reaching out to grab Morgan's free hand and squeezing it as they walked between the stalls. "Making you happy makes me happy."

Morgan buried her face in her toffee apple, chewing away thoughtfully. Brandy let her think, turning her Joltik-enhanced eyes on the stalls to see if she could spot that elusive Murkrow plushy. The problem was that wild Pokémon rarely traveled far from where they appeared. The drive to find humans meant they quickly got entangled in the local communities and didn't really leave them. Someone like Mercury, a Pokémon that had been wild for a really long time, eventually started to travel to meet new people, but crossing the ocean for a wild Pokémon was rare. A few came across on ships and planes, so it wasn't impossible, but it was unusual. 

Since people wanted to win the faces they knew, Pokémon not native to Galar weren't as popular. But there was also something to be said for the exotic. So Brandy was looking for a particular stall. She knew she'd find what she wanted in one of them, and when Brandy spotted the fuzzy, squirrely face of a Bidoof, she knew she'd hit it. Her luck was in. 

"Look," Brandy said, pointing to a simple-looking stall with a purple-furred cat woman absolutely tonguing the heck out of a woman with glittering blue crystals in her hair. "Her prizes are all Pokémon you don't find in Galar."

"Good catch," Morgan said after a heavy swallow. To Brandy's amusement, she was absolutely demolishing that toffee apple. It seemed she'd warmed up to it very fast. "You've inherited my luck?"

"Is that something I can inherit?" Brandy asked innocently as they walked over. "You've never said which abilities you have. Do you have Super Luck?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I would!" Brandy nodded. "That'd be a lovely thing to learn on a date."

"Fine! I've only one ability so far, and yes, it is that one. It isn't as cool as it sounds. Cassidy inherited it. It's not really luck. It's more a gut instinct. A feeling about how things will go, and if you listen, you'll usually be right."

"That sounds really good," Brandy said as they waited for the purple-haired cat-like Pokémon, almost for sure a Purrloin, to stop kissing the woman in front of them senselessly. "Sounds super cool to me."

"It's less luck and more a gifted skill," Morgan smirked. "If you flip a coin, you'll know how to do it, so it always comes up the side you want. But if someone else is going to flip it? It's useless. You can't make them do it the right way."

"That sounds really, really good."

"It takes practice. It only activates if what you're doing is meant to be based on chance, like shuffling a deck of cards or rolling a die."

Brandy was curious about exactly how the ability knew when to kick in. However, the power behind Pokémon and inheritance was still a mystery for almost everyone.

Wait.

"Hey!" Brandy turned to stare at Morgan. "Wouldn't that let you cheat at Strip Poker? You'd be undefeatable."

"I don't know what you mean," Morgan said, staring back with an excellent poker face. "I didn't cheat once in that game."

"I caught you cheating fifteen times." Brandy said, "Your ability was giving you new ways to cheat! I couldn't win!"

"You've learned something new about me. This is a nice date so far." Morgan said smugly, "And oh look, she's finished."

Shameless topic change, but it was true. The woman staggered away with a Beautifly plushy, which was a pretty good get. They were famously pretty Pokémon and their little butterfly animal form was cute as heck. But Brandy wanted the Murkrow, which was really just Morgan if she was a very short crow instead of a tall crow-woman. The talons did look a bit weird instead of feet, but birds had to be birds. 

"Hey there, you two," the Purrloin said, leaning on her stall's desk. There wasn't any obvious game setup to get in her way, so she'd spread herself across it, her legs kicking up in the air behind her. "I saw your match earlier. You were really impressive!"

"Thanks," Morgan grinned, "We're here to play a different game."

"I can see that. It's my job to tempt you to play." The Purrloin grinned, revealing a flash of fang. "This is a kissing booth."

"We have to pay to kiss you?" Morgan squinted. "Surely you'd do that for free."

"But I'm going to charge you anyway. Criminal, isn't it?" she swished her tail behind her. A tuft of purple fur on the end made it look like it had a hook, and it hissed as it sliced through the air. "You're Tournament fighters, too. I should charge you a lot. You're probably loaded. I enjoy the kiss? You get a pick of your plushy."

Although she didn't have much chest to speak of, the Purrloin made up for it with a thick set of hips that Morgan was devouring with her eyes. She clearly wanted to get a hold of that butt, and the Murkrow plushy would be the sweet cherry on top.   

"We're doing okay," Brandy said, "How much?"

The Purrloin said a number that made Brandy's usually fire-filled blood run ice cold. 

"Brandy, I want that plushy," Morgan said, leaning into Brandy, her witch hat rim bumping against Brandy's neck. "Can we afford a kiss?"

"Nooooo," Brandy whispered. "Absolutely not."

"But I want it," Morgan whined. She was putting it on; her eyes were sparkling with mischief, but that didn't help Brandy! "The date will be ruined if I don't complete the set."

"I'm not bankrupting us for a plushy," Brandy said, tucking her arm around Morgan. "Stop being evil."

"No, this decides the date." Morgan grinned. "You get me that plushy, and you can keep your clothes on when we go flying after."

"Guess I'm flying naked then," Brandy gulped as she looked into the Purrloin's emerald green eyes. She was having as much fun with Brandy sweating about this as Morgan was. No help there. 

"Don't give up so easily," Morgan said, leaning her head onto Brandy's shoulder. Her hat was half-tipped off as it got in the way and hung on through pure Pokémon cheatery. "Use that clever brain of yours and think of a way to get it off her without paying a small fortune."

"I'd love a small fortune." the Purrloin said, licking the palm of her hand and slicking back her hair. "I'm built for penthouses and fine dinners. You're going to have to be exceptionally convincing."

Brandy sighed. Morgan wasn't a Poison type, but she sure did love to test Brandy. How was she going to get a Purrloin not to be greedy? That was their defining thing! 

This was the most rigged carnival game yet!

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