Though he woke up feeling sore all over, Jason was in high spirits by the time he exited Ellaine's room with her and Korrina.
"Rena~!" exclaimed Ren, rising with a start and rushing over to Jason the moment he emerged from the hallway. Korrina had warned that Pokémon, especially their young, could develop dependency issues and separation anxiety if they became accustomed to sharing a bed as their Trainers, so she had spent the previous night sleeping with Audino and Munchlax atop a large, circular bed in the living room.
"Oof—"
With Ren weighing more than half his weight, Jason was nearly knocked over as the pint-sized Pokémon leaped into his embrace. Fortunately, both Ellaine and Korrina supported him, their hands remarkably firm and stable as they pressed against his shoulders to cushion the impact.
"And a good morning to you, too, Ren..." expressed Jason, wrapping his arms gently around Ren's small but absurdly durable body, causing her tail to waggle excitedly before he set her down. That caused her to look sad, but only briefly, as he smiled and asked her, "Are you ready for your first full day of training?"
"Ren! Ren~!" responded Ren, her red eyes glistening with expectation and excitement. Thus, while Ellaine and Korrina made their way to the kitchen to get a head start on breakfast, he ushered the still incontinent Pokémon to the bath to clean and change her into her training attire—an experience that reminded him that he needed to potty train her as soon as possible...
...
..
.
fwpfwpfwpfwpfwpfwpfwpfwpfwpfwp
Though things were peaceful while they meditated, the sun had barely risen by the time a veritable fleet of military-grade helicopters carrying supplies began arriving, lining the beach with the materials they would need for construction. Around the same time, a futuristic-looking, white, flat-bottomed barge with the golden, trident-esque logo for the Aether Foundation arrived in the bay with a veritable battalion of construction workers and Pokémon ready to conduct an environmental assessment and determine the ideal place to build a lab, an obstacle course, and a small, enclosed battlefield.
'Their efficiency is absurd...' thought Jason, observing the construction team from the attic of Ellaine's house while Ren did push-ups with 110kg of weight on her back. The weights looked like they should crush her flat, but while her fur became increasingly damp due to her inexplicable ability to sweat, she gradually neared a hundred push-ups with energy to spare.
"Ren...!" barked Ren, finishing her set at precisely one hundred push-ups. This was without Jason counting for her, lending credence to Ellaine's and Korrina's claims that Pokémon were born with a reflexive understanding of language and basic arithmetic.
"Mmn. Very good..." affirmed Jason, unlatching the harness keeping the circular weights from sliding off Ren's back before removing them as she remained in a steady, upright push-up posture. When he was finished, it was his turn to do considerably fewer push-ups. However, as she got to ride on his back as he did so, Ren didn't judge him. Rather, she seemed to be enjoying their joint workout quite a bit.
"Alright, you two, it's about time for a break~" chimed Korrina, ascending the stairs to the attic with two shaker bottles filled with a chilled blend of nutritious Miltank milk and protein powder. The one intended for Ren had a rubbery teat on top, as, while she had gums lined with tiny canine teeth, it would be at least a few weeks before they grew in fully and four to six months before she reached a Riolu's median height and weight: 72cm and 68kg.
"Thanks, Korrina. You're the best," expressed Jason, accepting his bottle with a smile before taking several large gulps.
"Be careful not to drink it too quickly," cautioned Korrina, sporting a smile of her own as she explained, "If your stomach cools rapidly while the rest of your body is running hot, it can interfere with your ability to sweat and cause cramping and nausea."
"Really? You have once again taught me something new..." remarked Jason, exhaling from his nose before setting aside his bottle and sitting cross-legged on the floor. The moment he did, Ren promptly climbed atop his lap and lay back, flexing the claws of her pink-padded paws anxiously until he brought her bottle to her mouth, compelling her to grasp it tightly and drain its contents rapidly.
"You heard Korrina...take it slow..." said Jason, his tone firm as he briefly pulled the bottle from Ren's mouth. Her brows furrowed at being denied the tasty and creamy beverage, but when Jason returned the bottle to her mouth, the speed at which she drained it was noticeably reduced.
"Very good..." expressed Jason, nodding approvingly. In response, Ren closed her eyes happily and wagged her fluffy but firm tail between her legs. She seemed to enjoy receiving praise, but Korrina had warned that too much could cause her to become temperamental. This was especially true for female Riolu and Lucario, a predominantly male species, so Jason needed to be careful not to spoil her and promote toxic, attention-seeking behavior.
Turning his attention from the increasingly adorable Ren to Korrina, Jason found the latter looking at him with a helpless smile. Instead of chastizing him, however, she picked up his bottle, began shaking it, and explained, "I spoke with the Foreman in charge of the construction. He said they would finish the obstacle course by the end of the day. The battlefield should be finished within three days, and the lab within two weeks."
Seeing Korrina casually uncap his bottle and drink from the same opening, Jason waited until she was finished before commenting, "Two weeks feels really rushed. Back in my world, a project like this would take months, and that's being generous..."
"Well, the Aether Foundation is one of the wealthiest organizations in our world," reminded Korrina, noting, "If we exclude the League, they're right alongside Silph Co and Devon Corporation in terms of wealth, even if their influence is mostly confined to Alola."
"I get that..." affirmed Jason, gazing down and meeting Ren's curious gaze as he contended, "I just get the impression they're rushing things. And as the person all of this is being built around, it almost feels like I'm witnessing the construction of my own prison..."
Shaking her head, Korrina calmly asserted, "I understand why you might feel that way, but the League aside, Ellaine and I would never allow that. It would undoubtedly inconvenience President Lusamine and the Aether Foundation, but if you told me you wanted to return to Shalour City right this instant, I would just need to make a few phone calls, and we'd be on one of the first outbound flights to Lumiose City, the largest city in Kalos. From there, it's just a two-hour helicopter ride back to Shalour. All in all, it would take around ten hours."
"Thanks, Korrina...that reassures me greatly..." affirmed Jason, resisting the urge to get up and pull the beautiful and highly considerate blonde into his embrace. Riolu were very impressionable and tended to emulate the habits and behaviors of their partners, so he, Korrina, and Ellaine had agreed to limit their intimacy to the bedroom and bath—specifically with Ren absent.
"There's really no need for that," contended Korrina, smiling radiantly as she asserted, "It's natural to help others, and since we're boyfriend and girlfriend, I won't let you be bullied or taken advantage of...not unless you want to be..."
Having noticed Jason's tendency to allow Ellaine and, to a lesser extent, herself, walk all over him, Korrina punctuated her statement with a wink. By that point, Ren's bottle was empty, so after swiftly snatching it from Jason's hand, she promptly bolted like someone who had just completed a prank.
'I absolutely adore that woman...' thought Jason, staring in the direction Korrina had departed with a wistful smile. His understanding that she and Ellaine didn't truly love him still weighed on his mind, but it didn't change the fact that they were his girlfriends. Even if they pushed or gave him the go-ahead to date or experiment with other women, he was determined to maintain their relationship and, assuming he couldn't find a way to return to his world, one day propose to them...
"Ren...?"
With such thoughts in mind, Jason had Ren get off his lap so they could continue training. Power, wealth, and influence were the foundation atop which everything else was built, so with presently limited means to grow the latter two, Jason's top priority at that moment was growing powerful enough to, at the very least, fight alongside Ren and the other Pokémon he would acquire in the future...
...
..
.
After what felt like a paradoxically long yet short day, where he spent the vast majority of his time looking after Ren, Jason was resting on the living sofa with a cool rag on his forehead when the front door opened, followed by Ellaine shouting, "I'm baaaack~!" in a merry tone.
Removing the rag from his head, Jason had Ren, who had curled herself into a ball atop his belly, get off of him before rising with the intention to welcome Ellaine back. Instead, he temporarily turned statuesque at the sight of the two guests she had brought. The most prominent was a tall woman with sharp green eyes, pale blonde hair that nearly enveloped the upper two-thirds of her body like a cocoon, a thin build with wide hips and long legs, and sleek, primarily white attire. Then there was a notably shorter but shapelier woman with fluffy purple hair, bright green eyes set behind pink-rimmed glasses, and similarly white, almost robe-like clothes with gold accents over a fluffy pink turtleneck sweater that accentuated her very prominent bust.
"So, you're the rumored boy from another world—Jason Springfield, was it? You don't look all that different from us," remarked the taller of the two women, a woman Jason immediately recognized as Lusamine Argyle. The other was Samantha Wicke, but his gaze remained fixed on Lusamine as she crossed her arms, flared her left hip, and introduced, "I am Lusamine Argyle, President of the Aether Foundation. I have come here to ascertain for myself what kind of man you are."
"And I am the Assistant Branch Chief of the Aether Paradise, presently reassigned to oversee the research we'll be conducting here. My name is Samantha Wicke, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance..." stated the buxom purplette, folding her hands neatly over her lap and offering a courteous, closed-eyed bow.
"The pleasure is mine..." responded Jason, purely by habit. In truth, he was taken aback by the unexpected presence of the two women. There was a stark contrast between them, but both were extraordinary beauties on par with Ellaine and Korrina. Lusamine, in particular, didn't feel human. She was like a Goddess mingling with humans. And though she was forty, going on forty-one years old, she appeared to be the youngest among the trio of mature women.
"Where's Korrin—" started Ellaine, her words cutting off as Lusamine, her almost neon-green eyes locking onto Ren, asked, "And who is this darling little one? Is she your partner?" with visible excitement.
"Her name is Rennae—Ren for short..." responded Jason, prompting Ren to exclaim, "Rena~!" before striking a pose with her paws raised happily. This caused Lusamine's eyes to flash. Then, with superhuman speed and her hair seeming to act as a foil, she darted across the room, picked the stunned Ren up as if she weighed nothing, and began rubbing her cheek against her as she energetically cried, "What an absolute cutie! And she's so smart!"
"R-Ren...!" exclaimed Ren, reaching for Jason with a panicked expression. She could sense that Lusamine had no intention of harming her, but being picked up and cuddled without warning caused her to panic.
"Pardon me..." said Jason, causing Lusamine to briefly narrow her eyes at him as he held her gaze and reached for Ren, carefully removing her from the tall and exceedingly swift woman's clutches. The Lusamine before him didn't appear evil, per se, but that didn't mean she wasn't dangerous. Not just anyone could helm a mega-conglomerate like the Aether Foundation, and if the events of Sun and Moon had been set in motion, then it wasn't an exaggeration to say the woman before him was a time bomb waiting to explode...
...
..
.