Though he felt exhausted after explaining things to Korrina and Professor Burnet, who permitted him to call her Ellaine, Jason found himself unable to sleep as he lay in his bed, staring blankly at the bunk above him as if he could see the girl snoring softly beyond. The incident that had occurred in Ellaine's massive bath aside, Korrina had effectively put the rest of her life on hold, even leaving behind her Pokémon to come and help him train and acclimate to living in her world. Then there was Ellaine, who, from the first moment they met, seemed intent to help him any way she could...
'The people of this world are infinitely kinder and more considerate than the humans from my world...' noted Jason, feeling a kind of melancholy he had never experienced before. The reason he didn't like being indebted to others was because he was afraid they would leverage it against him. But now, for the first time in his life, he felt relieved to be indebted to what he perceived as genuinely good and caring people. He still intended to return to his original world, but at the same time, he felt at ease knowing that he would be well cared for in the meantime...
With such thoughts soothing his mind, Jason, slowly but surely, slipped into a deep state of unconsciousness. His dreams invariably delved into what he could have done during his baths with Ellaine and Korrina, but as an increasingly healthy nineteen-year-old, it would have been stranger if his imagination didn't run a little wild in his sleep...
...
..
.
th-thump
Though he had started to rouse at the feeling of something moving above him, it wasn't until Korrina dropped down from her bunk that Jason awoke, feeling somewhat confused by the change in his surroundings.
"Oh? So it even gets like that when you're asleep...?" asked Korrina, fully rousing Jason from his slumber as he followed her gaze to his lower body, having awoken long before him.
"Sometimes..." answered Jason, doing his best to sound casual despite his sweat-covered cheeks burning. It didn't help that, due to the heat and lack of air conditioning within Ellaine's house, Korrina had gone to sleep in a thin, white, and red-trimmed spaghetti-string top and matching panties. And due to her sweating quite a bit as she slept, they had gained a hint of transparency.
"Mmn...I see..." hummed Korrina, her expression turning thoughtful before she changed topics, smiling as she revealed, "I'm about to head out for a morning jog and some light training. Want to come with?"
"Sounds good..." responded Jason, rising to a seated position and doing his best not to feel self-conscious about the condition of his lower body as he rose to his feet and added, "I just need to use the restroom and get some water in my system first..."
"Oh? I'll join you~" chimed Korrina, causing Jaon's brain to stall, but only briefly. Afterward, he grabbed a change of clothes before they made their way into their shared bathroom. Witnessing her casually use the restroom and make conversation with him was a significant culture shock, but after steeling himself, Jason pulled down his boxers and began dealing with his condition. Korrina blinked in surprise at this, her brows rising and her blue eyes following his movements for several seconds. Then, raising her gaze to meet Jason's, she presented a brief but radiant smile before continuing where she left off, detailing what she had in mind for his training and what level he'd need to be at to safely navigate their world while wiping herself clean with toilet paper and wet wipes...
...
..
.
After changing into their workout attire, consisting of short grey swim trunks for Jason and a separate white and red-trimmed sports bikini for Korrina, the two departed their shared room.
"Auwadinn~" chimed Audino, rising from where she was seated in the living room and bouncing over to greet Jason, in particular, as he and Korrina emerged from the hallway.
"Good morning to you, too, Audino..." greeted Jason, offering a faint smile as he gently cupped the sides of Audino's face and massaged her warm and squishy cheeks while scratching near the base of her fluffy, drooping ears.
"Auwaa~" chimed the Audino, following Jason's caress by hugging his waist and rubbing her face against his diaphragm.
[Your Bond Level with [Unnamed] has increased by 2.]
"It looks like Professor Burnet beat us to the punch," remarked Korrina, leaving Jason confused until he followed her gaze to the pool that had previously accommodated the Mantine. It was presently empty, so the simplest explanation was that Ellaine had returned it to its Poké Ball and taken it with her as she departed.
"She did mention on our way over that she liked to meditate as the sun rose..." revealed Jason, causing Korrina to gently palm her right fist as if she had realized something.
Sparing Jason the need to ask, Korrina smiled and explained, "The people of Alola have long worshipped the sun and moon. Since we're going to be staying here a while, we should ask the Professor if we can join her for her meditation. After all, the easiest way to integrate with and understand the locals of a society is to live like them!"
"Sounds good..." affirmed Jason, nodding approvingly. He was still a little disjointed by what had transpired in the bathroom, but he managed a faint smile as they made their way outside, followed closely by Audino. The sky had already started to illuminate, but the sun had only just begun to peek over the horizon, causing the sea to appear a dazzling shade of amethyst, the horizon to glow a warm purple-orange, and the cloud-filled sky to turn an increasingly saturated shade of cerulean blue.
'To think such beauty could exist...' mused Jason, his amber eyes wide and glistening a faint shade of pink in the sun's light. Korrina, noticing the mesmerized look on his face, couldn't help covering her mouth to stifle a giggle. Then, grabbing his hand, she pulled him along, chiming, "Come on! The best time to seize the day is at its outset~!" as she dragged him down to the beach.
'Speaking of beautiful...' thought Jason, his gaze shifting from the sunrise to Ellaine, standing one-legged atop her Mantine in a dark grey one-piece swimsuit that adhered almost seamlessly to the contours of her body. Her Mantine was rigged with a red and white harness resembling a waveboard with rounded black handles on the sides, so while Jason's gaze gravitated to the shadow of Ellaine's bottom and her toned thighs, kissed pink by the rising sun, he imagined the manta-like Pokémon flying across the water or diving deep into it with a passenger on its back.
Thinking Jason was staring down at Professor Burnet's Mantine, Korrina took it upon herself to explain, "Here in Alola, Pokémon are the primary mode of transportation around and between islands. That harness you see on Professor Burnet's Mantine makes it a Water-ride Pokémon. You'd need a license and at least five Gym Badges to be able to surf, ride, or fly on Pokémon in most other regions, but here in Alola, the only requirement is that you've enrolled in one of the local Trainer Schools or Academies. In the meantime, you'll need to ride with either me or Professor Burnet."
"Right..." responded Jason, offering a curt nod before meeting Korrina's gaze and asking, "Should we start running, or would it be best to warm up first?"
splash
Before Korrina could answer, Ellaine, who could hear the duo easily due to how sound traveled across water, dove from the back of her Mantine and quickly swam over to them with the grace of a seal. Then, rising from the shallows with a broad smile, she questioned, "The two of you are planning to go for a run along the beach? I'll join you," while pulling out a pale blue, wave-patterened Poké Ball from a waterproof hip pouch and returning her Mantine to its confines via a beam of red-orange energy.
Seeing water flow to fill the space the Mantine had vanished from, Jason couldn't help but wonder about the function and mechanics behind Poké Balls. However, as he had a Subspace that functioned in a similar fashion, he didn't find it particularly odd.
Responding to Jason's earlier question and answering Professor Burnet in the same breath, Korrina stated, "We're going to do some joint stretching exercises and warm up first. After that, I spoke to Jason about running to the rocks at the end of the beach and back here a few times. You're more than welcome to join us."
'Joint stretching exercises...?' Jason repeated internally. He didn't recall agreeing to such a thing, but since he didn't want to seem as though he was calling Korrina out, he ultimately nodded in affirmation.
"Alright, sounds like a plan~" affirmed Ellaine, offering a nod of her own before crossing her arms, eyeing Jason up, and asking, "Which one of us do you want to stretch with?"
"..."
Looking between the two women, who gazed back at him with what he was quickly learning were natural smiles, Jason adopted a comparably forced one and admitted, "I'm not entirely sure what Korrina means by join stretching exercises. I've only ever stretched alone..."
"Auwadinn...!" pealed the Audino, giving Jason's lower back a light smack with her left hand. When he confusedly looked back and down at her, she had a clearly disapproving expression on her face.
"I'm pretty sure she's trying to convey that she's helped you stretch in the past~" speculated Ellaine, reminding Jason of the many times Audino had helped him stretch, massaged his body, or provided resistance for him as he performed push-ups.
"Right...I should have said that I've never done joint stretching exercises with another person..." corrected Jason, habitually caressing the Audino's head with his right hand, causing her to pose with her hands on her hips, puff her chest, and beam proudly.
Interrupting the exchange, Ellaine proposed, "Then, since this is your first time, Korrina and I will demonstrate how to stretch with two people. After that, you can try stretching with both of us. I suspect that you're going to have a reaction, regardless of whom you choose, but if you react to one of us less, they'll be your partner. Alternatively, if you think it might help you acclimate to being around us faster, you could pair up with the person you have a stronger reaction to."
"Sounds good..." responded Jason, his cheeks warming as he knew what Ellaine meant by a reaction. Unfortunately, her bringing it up was enough to prime him, so as Korrina lay on her back and Ellaine took a knee to her right, allowing her to push the younger woman's leg up a startling degree, his swim trunks invariably tightened.
"Well, that didn't take long..." noted Ellaine, exhaling faintly from her nose as she unabashedly eyed the front of Jason's swim trunks. She found the way he averted his eyes and flushed adorable, but if they were going to enroll him in a Pokémon School or Trainer's Academy, they needed to get his impulses under control. With unruly or overly energetic Pokémon, this typically involved intense training to let them spend all their energy. Jason wasn't a Pokémon, but she was confident that he could be more receptive and be easier to condition once he had calmed down...
"You should run," said Ellaine, leaving Jason confused until she grinned and clarified, "This beach is safe, so run as hard and fast as you can. If you can reach the rocks at the end of the beach before we catch you with a three-minute head start, I'll take you somewhere incredible. If we catch up to you, expect to be tackled and cuddled."
"Tackled and cuddled...?" repeated Jason, feeling a peculiar sensation of panic swell within him as Korrina sat up, adopted a smile of her own, and appended, "Oh? That's sounds like fun..." with an almost predatory gleam in her shimmering blue eyes. She wasn't sure how fast Jason was, but the thought of chasing him down clearly excited her. And with Ellaine pulling a black diving stopwatch from her hip pouch and starting it, it became clear to Jason that they weren't joking...
...
..
.