"Sfff...haaa...sfff...haaa..."
Though it wasn't how he planned to spend the remainder of his day, Jason found himself running back and forth along the beach with his recently hatched Riolu, Ren, keeping pace with him. When they began, she ran ahead and completed the nearly two-kilometer circuit in fewer than three minutes. This repeated five times, as that was how many laps he had informed her they needed to complete. However, after witnessing him return to the starting point twice and turn around to begin another lap without taking a break—pushing through his exhaustion—she eventually joined in and fell into pace at his side.
'Oh, thank God...' thought Jason, spotting Korrina and Audino waiting for him with lemonade-like Nomel Berry juice and freshly cut Watmel Berry as he and Ren were returning from his final lap. It had technically only been eight days since he began training properly, so while ten kilometers might not be a particularly great distance, his lungs burned, his throat felt sore from his labored breathing, and his abdomen cramped—particularly on his right side.
"Great job, both of you," stated Korrina, smiling radiantly and presenting the glass of Nomel Berry juice to Jason while Audino presented a skewer of fruit to Ren, chiming, "Auwa dinn dinn~" in a sing-song tone.
"Thank you..." panted Jason, doing his best to control his breathing before downing the glass of tart and sweet juice in several large gulps. When he was finished, he exhaled a profoundly relieved sigh, returned the glass to Korrina, and asked, "Were you able to find everything...?" while glancing at the white and red duffel bag behind her.
"I did," confirmed Korrina, nodding. "But are you sure about this? Partner Pokémon are already ostracized and envied by wild Pokémon. If you have Ren start wearing clothes and accessories typically reserved for Pokémon Contests and Fashion Battles, she'll have trouble exploring and training on her own."
"I wasn't aware that was a thing..." admitted Jason, his brows creasing slightly. He felt that Ren was a little too human to be walking around in the buff, but he didn't want her to be bullied or face difficulties because of something he imposed on her.
Having been paying close attention to Jason's and Korrina's exchange, Ren turned her attention to the duffel bag next to the latter's feet. She wasn't afraid to face increased difficulties, so after discarding her half-eaten fruit skewer, she began trying to open the bag with her paw-like hands.
"Oh? It appears Ren wants to wear clothes..." noted Korrina, her brows perking and a broad smile adorning her face. The truth was that she had baited Ren by provoking her species' high pride, but the key to everything was Jason completing his ten-kilometer circuit without rest. If Ren didn't care at least a little about his expectations for her, she couldn't have been baited. At least, not as easily...
...
..
.
Since he was Ren's de facto parent and possibly lifelong partner, as Riolu and their evolved form, Lucario, could live upwards of a hundred years, it fell on Jason to care for, bathe, and dress her. Korrina walked him through everything, but as one of the most vital aspects of training Pokémon was teaching them that they could trust and depend on the one training them, she could only advise and not help him. If she did, Ren's imprinting might shift to her, causing her to become increasingly resistant, potentially even hostile toward those she viewed as a threat to their partnership.
"Alright...be a good girl and hold still..." sighed Jason, forcing a smile as he helped Ren don a pair of spat-like bottoms that matched the blacker parts of her fur. It was the fourth pair he was putting on her that day, so while it wasn't as awkward as the first time, he couldn't help second-guessing his decision to have her wear clothes. She soiled the first pair since her paws weren't structured in a way to allow her to remove them readily, and since she couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes, she kept jumping out the windows to play, dig holes, or attack Ellaine's berry bushes as if she had a lifelong grudge against them.
"Rioluu..." sighed Ren, closing her pale red eyes and exhaling, ostensibly emulating Jason's exasperation as she patiently waited for him to finish dressing her. This time, he slipped a thin, breathable shirt over her head that emulated the pattern of a Lucario, causing her fox-like tail to waggle excitedly when he had her check herself using a large hand mirror.
"How does it look...?" asked Jason, causing Ren to clench her paws like fists as she excitedly responded, "Rio-ree~!" in a pleased, high-pitched tone. Then, as she really liked taking baths, she promptly took off like a racecar, leaving Jason staring blankly in the direction she had departed, his body visibly tilting.
CRASH
'It's no wonder the [Gotta Catch 'em All] Quest has such an outrageous reward. If it's this difficult to take care of a single Pokémon, taking care of thousands would be impossible on my own...' noted Jason, exhaling loudly from his nose before departing the bath to find the wooden door leading to the back garden had been broken open. Fortunately, he didn't discover Ren damaging even more of Ellaine's berry bushes and trees—at least not purposely. Instead, she was darting between them on all fours, her body veiled in a luminous, bluish-white aura as she used the Pokémon Power, Quick Attack, to drastically increase her speed, leaving behind a fleeting, zigzagging trail in her wake.
Seeing Ren's movements, particularly those of her powerful hind legs, kick up dirt in her wake, Jason closed his eyes and exhaled what must have been his fiftieth sigh that afternoon.
"Though you might not think so now, this is actually a favorable sign," remarked Korrina, entering the hallway from the direction of the living room, her expression a supportive smile as she made her way over and joined Jason at the broken, her blue eyes focused on Ren's antics with a hint of nostalgia as she explained, "Pokémon can be classified as having one of twenty-five Natures that influence their growth. In Ren's case, I'd say she possesses a Naughty or Hasty Nature. That will make her weaker to physical and special attacks, but if she hits hard and avoids getting hit altogether, defense doesn't matter."
"Let's just hope the construction of the training facilities doesn't take too long..." sighed Jason, stepping down the five steps leading to the ground and attempting to redirect Ren's destruction by asking if she wanted to go and play on the beach. She seemed reluctant at first, but when he said he would race her there and took off ahead of her, she quickly caught up and overtook him before smugly awaiting his arrival and praise near where the sands transitioned from wet to dry...
...
..
.
With Ellaine returning atop her Mantine just as the sun was beginning to sink over the horizon, casting the world in a beautiful orange hue, Jason waited to welcome her with the nearly one hundred pound Ren swaying restlessly on his shoulders, her razor-sharp claws pricking his scalp but thankfully not causing it to bleed.
"I see that your egg finally hatched," remarked Ellaine, sporting a broad smile as her Mantine reached the shallows, effectively beaching itself to allow her to step onto dry land.
"Her name is Rennae, or Ren for short," stated Jason, sporting a smile of his own as he explained, "Back in my world, it represents revival and the desire to be born anew."
"Rena~!" exclaimed Ren, demonstrating another reason Jason had chosen the name. She couldn't quite vocalize all the syllables just yet, but he was hopeful that Ren would one day be able to introduce herself.
"Well, if you aren't the cutest, most adorable Riolu I've ever laid eyes on" hummed Ellaine, causing Ren to raise her paws and cry out, "Rena!" in a happy tone. Her sudden movements and inordinate density nearly caused Jason to stumble backward, but Ellaine reacted quickly, stepping forward to grab his hands as he instinctively stretched them out—releasing Ren's legs in the process.
"Rena! Rena!" exclaimed Ren, running around Jason and Ellaine on all fours after flipping backward from the former's shoulders. Unfortunately for Jason, she still had a lot of energy to burn. Thankfully, Ellaine had the perfect solution, a smile broadening as she produced a Poké Ball from her hip pouch and asked, "Shall we have a Pokémon battle?"
"Right now...?" asked Jason, completely off guard by the sudden request. Then, with a slight frown, he explained, "Ren has yet to be captured and Digitalized. I don't want her to get injured..."
Contrasting Jason's reservations, Ren pumped her paw-like fists, her pale red eyes glistening with determination as she firmly barked, "Riolulu! Rena ren...!" as if to insist she would be okay.
"You don't need to worry," said Ellaine, appearing and sounding confident as she explained, "I have several Super Potions and a Hyper Potion inside for emergencies, and we can have Korrina and Audino oversee the battle and provide medical assistance. More to the point, battling is what gives most Fighting-type Pokémon purpose. Korrina should have explained that to you."
"She did..." confirmed Jason, exhaling from his nose before looking down at the clearly excited Ren, her height barely extending past his knees. He felt she was too young and tiny to participate in a live Pokémon battle, but she clearly didn't share the sentiment—her fiery eyes fixed on Ellaine as if the two were fated rivals.
Since having Ren engage in a battle was probably the only way he would get any sleep that night, Jason ultimately nodded in affirmation, his gaze meeting Ellaine's as he said, "Let's do this," with as much conviction as he could muster, given the circumstances.
[Your Bond with [Rennae] has increased by 38 points.]
Ding!
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Quest: [The Bond Between Trainer and Pokémon]
Rank: D~??? [Linked Quest]
Description: You have been challenged to your first Pokémon Battle. Your chances of winning are close to zero percent, but if you wish to rise to the pinnacle of the Pokémon world and earn your Riolu's trust, you must enter each battle believing you can win.
Objective(s): Win your first Pokémon Battle without revealing the conditions of this Quest(0/1)
Base Rewards: 10,000AP
Notice: Very few reach the pinnacle without experiencing losses. The most important thing is to learn from them and keep pressing forward. The moment you give up on yourself, you invite others to do the same.
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Noticing that Jason's focus had deviated from her face, Ellaine playfully asked, "Enjoying the view...?" despite knowing he was reading a System prompt or notification. Since he presently had their visibility toggled off, the angle of his gaze gave the impression he was staring intently at her breasts.
"Quite a bit..." responded Jason, closing the window to take in the view before meeting Ellaine's gaze with a smile and stating, "I'll reveal to you what I was looking at after our battle."
"Alright, sounds good. I also brought back news and some files for you to look over, so we'll talk after our match," affirmed Ellaine, shifting her gaze from Jason to the approaching Korrina and Audino. They had heard Ren's excited shouting, and after seeing that Ellaine had arrived, they naturally came out to welcome her back. Tellingly, Korrina wasn't surprised to hear that Ellaine had proposed a battle. Rather, one of the reasons she had yet to capture a Pokémon of her own was because of the amount of time they would be spending together. Ren could easily imprint on her if she trained with and battled against her regularly. Ellaine, on the other hand, was only present in the early mornings and late afternoons, making it impossible or, at the very least, unlikely for Ren to shift her imprinting onto her...
...
..
.