As they reached the north shore of the lake and approached the shrine, Allie balked. "Ok, it's not open but why are most of the chains broken?" A black stake stood off to the side of the seal holding the final chain. "If people have been finding and pulling the stakes, then we might be fucked. We're lucky they decided not to pull the last one. Are we ready?" Allie asked, then after getting the go-ahead, reached down and pulled the stake from the ground. It turned to dust in her hand, and the sealed door opened. A massive Pokémon with a chalice on its head stepped out.
"It looks like a Sawsbuck but fucking huge." Amara called. Then the Pokémon looked down at them, let out a roar, and stomped its foot. The earth shook, and the Goon Squad were thrown to the ground. The Pokémon let out a loud "Ting-Lu!" as a crater opened near where it had stomped. "Holy shit." Arven yelled, then Ting-Lu turned towards the group, lowered its head, and charged. Everyone was able to leap out of the way, save for Amara, who was tossed into the air. She reached for her belt and tossed out her Pidgeot.
"Thank fuck I brought you." She muttered as she dangled from Pidgeot's talons. She pulled out her phone and dialed Vaughn. "Mr. Vaughn, it's Amara, we have a powerful Pokémon remodeling Casseroya Lake. Can we get your help?"
"I am in the middle of a lecture. You got this." Vaughn's reply hit Amara like a rock, then he hung up, and the Goon Squad was on their own. Pidgeot put Amara down near her friends, and Amara pulled out Pellipper's Poké Ball. Ting-Lu glared at the group and shook the earth again as everyone threw their Water type Pokémon into battle. Amara sent out Pellipper, Penny sent out Vaporeon, Nemona sent out Quaquaval, Trish sent out Palafin, Arven sent out Coloyster, and Allie sent out Kingdra.
"Alright, let's hit it fast and hard. Kingdra, Hydro Pump!" Allie yelled as Trish recalled Palafin and quickly tossed it back in, now in its hero form. She called for it to use Surf, while Nemona had Quaquaval launch an Aqua Step. Vaporeon let loose a Bubblebeam, Arven had Coloyster launch a Water Gun, and Pellipper launched a Hydro Pump of its own. Ting-Lu took the blasts of water head on, weathering them with only minimal damage. Then it stomped again, and a crater opened under the Goon Squad's feet. Amara quickly pulled herself to her feet and pulled out an Ultra Ball.
"The fuck are you doing?" Allie shouted as she stood on shaking legs. "We've barely even dented it." Amara let the ball fly and used the few seconds to start climbing out of the crater. The rest of the group came to understand, and rapidly joined Amara in scaling the wall. As they turned to ready themselves for battle once again, they found the Ultra Ball had gone still.
"What are the fucking chances?" Amara asked, bewildered. Penny quickly did some mental math before announcing the five percent odds of this happening. "I guess I rolled a twenty." She muttered as she retrieved the ball. "That sucked. I'm going to have so many bruises." Amara dusted some dirt from her face and let out a sigh. "I might go strip and wash myself off in the lake. Does anyone else want to come?"
The rest of the Goon Squad surveyed themselves and shouted in the affirmative. A few minutes later their clothes were folded on the bank, and they were frantically scrubbing dirt from themselves. After a few seconds they heard a familiar voice. Mr. Vaughn approached with a blindfold over his face. "So, how was it?"
Amara blushed. "It was fine. Why are you blindfolded?" She sunk deeper into the water to cover her nipples. "It's because you saw our clothes, wasn't it?"
"Look, the last thing I want to see right now are my students' tits and genitalia. How did you deal with that Pokémon so fast?" He sat on a rock facing away from the lake. "Please come put some clothes on, actually, we'll talk after. I'll be in a beach chair across the bridge."
He stood, undid his blindfold, and walked away without looking toward the lake. "I wonder about that guy." Allie muttered. This elicited a chuckle from the rest of them and they filed out of the lake, dried themselves, and got dressed. "Amara, are you prepared to show off Ting-Lu?" She asked. Amara nodded, and the group made their way down the road to find Mr. Vaughn with his feet in the water and drinking Sweet Apple cider.
"So, did you throw a ball to buy yourself some time? I've done that." He was wearing sunglasses now and staring out to the horizon. "Either way, I'm glad you're all not dead." He took another drink as Amara pulled Ting-Lu from her boxes and tossed it out onto the shore.
"Huh, ground type. Cool." He took another drink and pointed at the bag on his chair. "Plowman system, pick two Poké Balls from the front pouch." He relaxed in his chair again as Amara pulled out a Fast Ball and a Moon Ball. "Congratulations. How many kinds?"
Amara pulled out her phone and checked her Pokédex. "Three hundred and forty-five." This made Mr. Vaughn smile and he bid her grab the third Poké Ball from the pocket, a Heavy Ball. "That means it's just the Love Ball left in the Apricorn set, yeah?" Mr. Vaughn nodded. "And I'll get it when I hit Three Hundred and eighty-four kinds?" Another nod.
"Also, I guess we can consider this your second meeting, just, maybe don't call me halfway across Paldea and end up nude when I show up next time, please." Amara blushed and confirmed she would not be doing that ever again, and the Goon Squad left Mr. Vaughn in his chair by the lake. Do you think he's like us? Amara asked into her back brain. I'm honestly not sure. Melody echoed back.
"So, Penny and I need to head up north. I'd invite you along, but you're not part of Team Star." Amara told the group. Hugs were exchanged and Arven, Nemona, Trish, and Allie made their way back to Uva.