"They're really fired up..." noted Ellaine, shifting Miltank's Poké Ball in her right hand. Her original plan was to let Ren exhaust herself, but seeing her and Jason giving it their all to win, she couldn't simply return Miltank and call the match early.
"Ri-oh-lu...!" exclaimed Ren, doing her best to remain behind Miltank and continuously attack her haunches. Miltank attempted to kick her several times, but with continuous use of Detect, she was able to see the attacks coming before they could land.
'Well, learning to deal with a loss is also important...' thought Ellaine, her yellow eyes gleaming determinedly as she shouted, "Miltank, use Rollout on your side...!"
Hearing Ellaine's command, Miltank performed a short hop, tucked in her limbs, and began spinning rapidly as she turned onto her side. When she hit the sand, it scattered in every direction, bypassing Ren's use of Detect by targeting the entire area.
"Alright, Miltank! Now use Headbutt...!" shouted Ellaine, prompting Miltank to break out of her spin like a breakdancer, balanced atop her hooved left hand. Then, planting her back hooves into the sand, she charged forward, accelerating from a dead stop to nearly a hundred kilometers per hour in a single, explosive burst.
"Ren, use Endure...!" shouted Jason, recognizing that Ren wouldn't be able to transition from shielding her face and eyes to dodging nearly fast enough.
"Rena...!" responded Ren, exuding bluish-white energy from her body that allowed her to endure Miltank's Headbutt. She rolled backward for tens of meters after tripping on the sand, but she managed to right herself on all fours before dodging to the side as Miltank, shouting, "Miruuuuuuu~!" and flying hind hooves first, crashed into where she had come to a stop.
'Fuck...!' Jason exclaimed internally, cold sweat beading across his body and dripping from his nose. Ren's speed had increased after she endured the second Headbutt, but he knew from the previous time the very same thing happened that the effect was only temporary. And the Miltank was simply too fast, strong, and durable...
With his tunnel vision suddenly worsening, Jason abruptly found himself planting face-first into the warm sand. He didn't lose consciousness, but when he tried to force himself to stand, the most he could manage was transitioning on his elbows and knees with his forehead pressing against the sand.
Just as Jason was cursing internally, he found himself pushed up rather forcibly by a pair of tiny but powerful paws. Ren had noticed his collapse, and instead of continuing the battle, rushed to his side to force him to a seated position, exclaiming, "Rio rou...!" with furrowed brows and a look of concern on her face.
"I'm fine..." lied Jason, his complexion paling as he went into shock, likely from heat stroke. He couldn't have imagined that standing still and issuing orders could be so strenuous, but he could feel a prominent pulsing in his head and ears as he fought to remain conscious.
"Sheesh...I knew you could be passionate, but that was a heck of a first battle..." remarked Ellaine, having returned Miltank to her Poké Ball before she, Korrina, and Audino hurried over. The latter, in particular, got to work cooling Jason's body and healing him while Korrina, recognizing Jason's symptoms, presented him a bottle of water, smiling as she appended, "It really was..." with her blue eyes glistening apprecitatively.
"Thanks..." responded Jason, presenting a weak smile before meeting Ren's concerned gaze, forcing a broader smile as he caressed her head with his left hand and joked, "You look like you could use another bath..."
"Rioluuu..." muttered Ren, hanging her head with a guilt-ridden look. She could sense Jason's Aura fluctuating and weakening during the battle, but she was so determined to win that she had ignored him until he collapsed. Meanwhile, he had been giving his all to support her...
"Hey...look at me..." said Jason, his expression tired and his voice gentle as he waited for Ren to meet his gaze before stating, "Your only mistake was at the very start of the battle. From then on, you were incredible. So don't let this loss affect you. I promise we'll both become much stronger from here on..."
Hearing Jason's assurances, Ren felt even guiltier. But since she didn't want to worry him, she nodded, offered an affirming, "Rou..." and took a seat, doing her best to appear obedient.
"What a sweetheart...and to think your bond would reach this level in one afternoon..." hummed Ellaine, standing cross-armed as she observed the interaction between Jason and Ren with undisguised curiosity. She knew from his Status that Jason was an empath, but she didn't expect that he and Ren would reach the level of synchronization in their very first battle. With more experience and stamina, he could take on the Island Trials and become one of the few Trainers able to use Z-Moves...
'I should contact Professor Kakui...' thought Ellaine, shifting her attention to Korrina as the latter remarked, "It's honestly incredible. Once we head inside, I think I'll contact my grandfather and have him send over a Mega Bracelet and some Lucarionite. It will probably be a while before you can use them, but after watching your battle, I'm confident the two of you will be able to achieve Mega Evolution!"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves..." said Jason, smiling wryly but feeling much better after Audino's healing. He was well aware of how powerful Mega Evolution was, but since he could barely keep pace with Ren at her current level, he couldn't risk her going berserk.
"Jason's right," affirmed Ellaine, nodding approvingly before adding, "For now, we should get inside and cool down in the bath. We have a lot to go over, and I imagine that this little one is famished after her battle."
Despite Ren weighing more than forty kilograms, Ellaine picked her up with the ease of a mother lifting her infant child. Upon witnessing this, Korrina extended her right hand to Jason, helping pull him to his feet as Audino pushed him up from behind. When she felt the heat radiating from his body, she knew Ellaine's suggestion was for the best, the smile on her softening as she remarked, "You really gave it your all..." while pulling him along at a supportive rather than insistent pace.
"Now I just need to reach a point where I have more to give..." appended Jason, exhaling in faint exasperation. He honestly hadn't expected that he and Ren would secure victory, but that didn't make the taste of defeat any less bitter. Fortunately, unlike in his previous world, he didn't have to deal with such feelings alone. He had two beautiful and capable girlfriends, an Audino that cared for him, and now a rambunctious little daughter to look after, train, and improve alongside. He could barely stand due to how tired he was, but he subconsciously smiled as he found himself looking forward to the future more and more...
...
..
.
With Rena in the care of Audino, Munchlax, and Miltank, who had been loaned to Ellaine to supplement her diet, Jason found himself seated at the PC in her room with the buxom Alolan standing behind him, her hands on his shoulders and her breasts deliberately resting atop his head as she explained, "These are the personnel files of those who have been chosen to oversee and assist with the research into your Subspace, System, and unique physiology. There will be more, but it takes time to recruit new and shuffle personnel from existing projects."
"They're all women..." noted Jason, arrowing through each of the files to confirm his suspicions before stopping on the first, a buxom woman with fluffy purple hair and yellow eyes even brighter than Ellaine's—Samantha Wicke, aged thirty-five and evidently single...
"Well, given the nature of some of our experiments, I thought it might be difficult for you to relax if there were other men around..." stated Ellaine, massaging Jason's shoulders as she reminded, "You explained previously that the men of your world are very protective. I can give the go-ahead to assign male personnel if you're confident there won't be any issues, but I thought you would be more comfortable and appreciative of an all-female research team..."
"I'm fine with things as they are..." affirmed Jason, grabbing Ellaine's right hand with his own as he appended, "But there is one thing I feel I need to clarify. I'm already beyond blessed to have two exceptional women as my lovers. I may not be able to help finding other women attractive, but I am more than satisfied with the way things are..."
"I'm happy to hear that..." hummed Ellaine, leaning down and wrapping her arms around Jason as she noted, "But in the grand scheme of things, you've only known Korrina and me for seventeen days. I don't doubt your feelings for us, but it's much too soon for any of us to know who we want to spend the remainder of our lives with. That's why, at least in our world, people are required to live together for at least two years before they can get married."
"..."
Not sure how to respond to Ellaine's logic, Jason lowered his unfocused gaze and remained silent. He knew that her and Korrina's interest in him primarily stemmed from scientific intrigue or curiosity rather than a place of love. He wanted to—chose to believe they cared for him, but from their perspective, influenced by their world and culture, a relationship wasn't cemented until marriage. And at that particular moment in time, neither of them was interested in getting married...
"Are you okay...?" asked Ellaine, her voice low, tinged with concern. She could tell that her words had shaken Jason, but in her opinion, that was all the more reason for him to keep his options open. She had grown to care about him much more than she expected in the brief period they had known one another, but between her research, Korrina's obligations as a Gym Leader, and his preparations for school and becoming a Trainer, she couldn't help but feel that Jason was committing to their relationship too soon.
"I will be..." affirmed Jason, his expression and tone flat as he closed his eyes and exhaled from his nose. He knew he was the odd one out in the situation, so instead of pressing the matter and trying to force Ellaine and Korrina to change for his sake, he opened his eyes and resumed perusing the personnel files. As he did, Ellaine provided supplemental information on each candidate, including at least one person Jason was certain that he recognized—her name all but confirming it.
'Bianca Schroed...' Jason read, referring to a bespectacled young woman with medium-length blonde hair, flared fringe bangs not all that dissimilar to Korrina's bangs, and bright, leaf green eyes. She looked markedly more realistic than her counterparts in the anime and video games, but he was certain she was Professor Juniper's Assistant from the Obsidian Black and Opalescent White sequels.
"Oh, now this is an interesting one," hummed Ellaine, resting her chin atop Jason's head as she revealed, "Bianca Schroed. A few years ago, she was involved in the take-down of a terrorist organization that had taken root in the Unova Region. She began working for the Aether Foundation a year or two ago as a field agent."
"She must be a capable Trainer..." noted Jason, his memories of Obsidian Black resurfacing in his mind. In the games, Bianca was the mentor who introduced various mechanics to the player and fought alongside them to thwart the ambition of the Pokémon Liberation Front. Notably, Bianca had been twenty during her third canonical appearance. Thus, with her profile listing her as seventeen, Jason's expression turned grim as he started to piece together a timeline in his head. Based on context clues, it appeared he was at least a year ahead of the events of Sun and Moon. If the events of Obsidian Black and Opalescent White were scheduled to occur in three years, that suggested that the events of Sword and Shield were currently taking place and that Scarlet and Violet should transpire three years later, possibly even concurrent to the Pokémon Liberation Front's rise...
'I really hope I'm wrong...' thought Jason, his expression thoughtful as he continued looking through the personnel files. He certainly wouldn't mind meeting Nemona, his favorite heroine from the Pokémon series, but since he wasn't a protagonist or particularly eager to risk his life, he wasn't sure what, if any, role he would have in events to come...
...
..
.