Swanna Girl and Braviary Man

Chapter 20: An Elaborate Illusion

A young man looked down at his red and blue suit as he tried to think of all the ways he could've gotten out of his situation. No matter what he came up with, he fell short of how he was going to get out of the chair he was tied to. His hands were tied together behind him, while another cord of rope tied his legs to a leg of the chair, and another one wrapped around his torso. There was no escape for the young superhero, no matter how much he struggled.

His mind raced back to what happened prior to being shoved into a small broom closet and tied to that chair. Hours ago, he remembered fighting alongside his partner, until they were forced to split up. Deep down, the young man knew he shouldn't have fallen for yet another trick. He should've stayed where he was at and help with the fight, rather than listened to her like he did.

He did what he thought was best: he ran down the stairs to stop whatever was going on. Only, in turn, the young man ended up embarrassing himself by tripping over his two feet and falling down the stairs. It made it easier for the members of Team Miasma to capture him that way.

At least they took me and not her, the young man thought. I don't know what I'd do if they would have captured her.

It was only a short amount of time since the young man met his partner in crime, Swanna Girl, but it didn't take long for him to feel protective over her. Even he knew she was strong enough to take care of herself. That wasn't what scared him. It was how easily that girl weaseled her way into his heart. Because of that, he was afraid of losing her for good. He didn't want that to ever happen.

If he could, he would've used his earpiece to warn her and his sister about what was going on. He didn't want either of them to worry about him and just continue on saving the region. There was just one small problem. When he was kidnapped by the members of Team Miasma, they had taken both his Pokémon and his earpiece that his sister invented away from him.

Without being able to warn either of them of what was going on, the young man feared what could've happened next. As much as he worried about Swanna Girl, he knew she was tough. She would be able to tackle anything that came her way. She proved that when she fought at Patrat's Pizza for the first time, protecting her own city without giving it a second thought.

While Swanna Girl was tough, Team Miasma was cunning.

The door in front of him swung open, and a light switch was turned on so that he could see who had stepped in. A young woman with short brown hair and blue eyes walked in. It was a change from how the young man saw her from before, but that was the thing about this particular member of Team Miasma. She looked different every time he'd encountered her.

His sister dubbed this young woman the master of illusions, and with good reason too. She didn't have to try. If she had different colored eyes and hair, she could look the exact same. Other times, this admin of Team Miasma could appear to look like an unrecognizable 99 year-old woman.

She could also appear to be a sixteen year old girl who could steal your heart, only smashing it the day Team Miasma planned an attack on Opelucid City just to slow a hero down.

He knew her by name. In fact, he knew her by many different names. Being tricked by her multiple times damaged the superhero's pride. Rudi promised himself he would never be tricked by Gila ever again.

Gila bent down to look at the superhero at eye level. She smiled, which made the young superhero want to run the other direction. There was just one small problem. He couldn't move when he was bound to a chair.

"Rudi—"

"Don't call me that," Rudi growled.

The admin chuckled as she pressed her hand to his cheek, feeling his soft skin. "Why not? We used to be on friendly terms once. Don't you remember?"