After an awkward but stimulating evening and morning training session, Jason, with Ren riding on his shoulders, and Korrina made their way over to the western stretch of beach. It had barely been a day, but there was already a massive hole in the ground that was presently being lined with concrete. Less notably, there were around thirty, two-and-a-half-meter-tall wooden posts that had been driven into the ground a short distance away, each fitted with small grooves on the sides that allowed them to be climbed.
"Posts like these are extremely useful for martial artists and Trainers who specialize in Fighting-type Pokémon," Korrina explained, casually leaping up and onto one of the posts, which were barely wider than the length of a foot. There was a persistent breeze blowing in from the sea, but despite these factors, Korrina looked totally relaxed as she gazed down at Jason and Ren, stating, "Their main function is to improve balance, but one thing I like to do with my Pokémon is play tag between them. Dodging between closely packed obstacles like these helps improve your spatial awareness and visual acuity while also being really fun."
"Ren~!"
After wiggling her feet free of Jason's hands and flipping down from his back, Ren began to run between the posts on all fours before stopping, rising to her feet, and hiding behind one. The excited, sparkly-eyed look she gave him made it clear to Jason that she expected him to give chase, so after exhaling faintly from his nose and looking up at Korrina to see her covering her mouth to stifle a giggle, he took off and spent nearly twenty minutes chasing the mischievous Pokémon to no avail...
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Following his and Ren's impromptu game of tag, Jason couldn't help but ask himself, 'Do I even want to become a martial artist...?' while doing his best to maintain his balance atop one of the posts. He had already fallen three times despite Korrina's advice, so if it weren't for the Quest he had received, tasking him to maintain his balance for a total of thirty minutes, he might have given up from a mix of boredom and frustration.
In contrast to Jason's struggles, Ren was flipping nimbly between the posts without fear or hesitation. She had a much lower center of gravity, which helped with maintaining her balance, but she was also having fun. Even when she slipped and plummeted heavily into the sand, she would laugh it off and climb up the nearest post as if falling were just a part of the game she was playing with herself. Meanwhile, Jason was constantly thinking about how if he slipped and fell at a bad angle, he could break a bone or even snap his neck...
Though he attempted to self-motivate by telling himself things would get progressively easier the more he trained, Jason had never been the type to obsess over strength. In games, he tended to favor classes that could summon creatures or make use of technology like turrets or automatons. And as far as Pokémon were concerned, his favorite typing was Dark, and, besides Lucario and Primeape, the only other Fighting-types he had even a middling interest in were Urshifu and Marshadow—which were virtually impossible for him to catch due to the former being a Legendary and the latter being a Mythical.
'This isn't a game...' Jason reminded himself, closing his eyes and taking a deep, steadying breath. He was already extraordinarily fortunate to have met people who were willing to help him train, and as far as starters were concerned, he couldn't do much better than a Riolu.
"Pardon my interruption, but are you Master Jason Springfield...?" asked an aged, gentlemanly voice, prompting Jason to open his eyes and turn his head to where an elderly fellow dressed like a Butler, complete with a golden monocle, stood with a brown, gold-latched leather briefcase in his left hand.
"I am..." confirmed Jason, offering a curt nod as he resisted the urge to comment that he didn't recall becoming anyone's Master. In response, the elderly, mustachioed man adopted a kind, almost grandfatherly smile and revealed, "Very good, Sir..." before raising and popping open the briefcase with both hands. Within was an ivory white, gold-trimmed phone with the golden, trident-like logo of the Aether Foundation between a pair of oval-shaped, bright blue eyes.
"I am here to deliver this Rotom Phone as well as a message on behalf of Lady Lusamine," stated the butler, prompting the phone to float out of the briefcase and fly toward Jason, an impish smile developing across its face as it synthetically chimed, "Greetings, user! My name is Rotom Phone! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!"
"Likewise..." responded Jason, nodding affirmingly as a faint sense of incongruence washed over him. He had specifically asked for a Rotom Phone, as it was a vital piece of technology in the latter Pokémon games and even the anime, but he hadn't really considered what it would be like to own one. The smartphones of his previous world were essentially just overpriced data-harvesting and monitoring devices. Now, he had a phone that not only possessed genuine intelligence—it could also fly, make calls on his behalf, inform him about the various Pokémon he would encounter, and charge itself...
"So this is a Rotom Phone..." muttered Korrina, her eyes wide and brows raised as she casually hopped over to stand on the post closest to Jason and his newly acquired phone.
"Indeed~!" chimed the Rotom Phone, its flat body spinning but its eyes remaining fixed like a stabilized camera as it stated, "And you're Korrina Masters, the Gym Leader of Shalour City! Please permit me to add your number to my contacts!"
"Of course. I'd be glad to," responded Korrina, adopting a bright smile as she produced a futuristic-looking, white, red-trimmed flip phone and held it out for the Rotom Phone to touch with its bolt-shaped antennae.
Though he wasn't fond of the Rotom Phone proactively adding people to his contacts without first consulting him, Jason turned his attention to the butler and carefully lowered himself to the sand. His legs gave out, and he faceplanted when Ren abruptly leapt down onto his shoulders, but he did his best to appear and sound calm as he rose to his feet, brushed himself off, and approached the man to remark, "You mentioned a message. What did your Lady ask you to convey?"
"It is an invitation for you and Miss Masters to visit and tour the Aether Paradise," answered the butler, producing a crisp-looking white envelope with golden embroidery, sealed with golden wax. As Jason accepted it, a pleasant-smelling perfume tickled his nose, reminding him of the taste of strawberries.
"Rio...?"
Detecting the same scent, Ren, sitting on Jason's shoulders, leaned as far forward as she could to get a better whiff.
Raising but holding onto the envelope, allowing Ren to sniff but not take it from him, Jason asked, "I presume the letter mentions it, but when are we expected?"
"This afternoon," answered the butler, leaving Jason at a brief loss as he explained, "The tour will be followed by dinner. And should you and your guests choose to remain overnight, rooms have been prepared for you at the Paradise estate."
"Is something the matter?" asked Korrina, approaching from Jason's right with his newly acquired Rotom Phone hovering beside her.
Regaining his senses, Jason turned his head to meet Korrina's gaze before calmly revealing, "We've been invited to tour the Aether Paradise and stay overnight at President Lusamine's place. What do you think?"
"Me? I think it's a great opportunity," responded Korrina, smiling radiantly as she revealed, "In fact, I was hoping we would get to ever since Ellaine first brought up the Aether Foundation. Their facility is pretty famous, and very few people get to explore it."
"Then, are you okay with heading there this afternoon...?" asked Jason, pulling the envelope from Ren's mouth as she suddenly bit down on its edge.
"Sure? I don't see why we can't," responded Korrina, tilting her head slightly as she pointed out, "It's not like we have anything particularly important going on. And once my vacation concludes, I'm going to be pretty busy."
"Right..." muttered Jason, experiencing a slight melancholy as, while Korrina was okay with him accompanying her for nearby PR shoots, she wanted him to remain on Akala Island while she ventured abroad for the Island Challenge. She simply couldn't guarantee his safety, and since he didn't have at least a Provisional Trainer License, she could get in a lot of trouble if he got injured as a result of her allowing him to accompany her into areas and habitats he wasn't cleared for.
Noticing Jason's mood diminish, even if his expression didn't change much, Korrina exhaled faintly from her nose, met the gaze of the butler, and expressed, "Please inform President Lusamine that we'd be happy to tour the Aether Paradise and spend the night."
"At once, my Lady..." responded the butler, placing his right hand over his heart and offering a courteous bow before rising to his full height, turning on his heels, and walking away. For a moment, it looked as though he was about to walk directly into the sea, but just as he reached the area where the waves crested the shore, he produced a glossy, predominantly black Poké Ball with red and gold markings.
PKSHAA
Seeing the butler release a Pokémon with an elegant, bird-like form, a sky-blue coat, sleek tail feathers, a white beak, large blue eyes, and an overcoat resembling fluffy clouds, Jason's pupils subtly dilated. It wasn't as simple as the version he was familiar with, but he instantly recognized the Pokémon as an Altaria, a rare and powerful Dragon/Flying-type. On its back was a pale blue harness with curved handlebars and a high-backed seat, allowing the butler to sit comfortably before it flapped its cloud-like wings and took to the sky.
"Wow...to think he would have an Altaria as a Ride Pokémon. That butler must have been an incredible Trainer in his prime..." commented Korrina, similarly surprised by the butler's mode of transportation. After all, a well-trained Altaria was a force to be reckoned with, so much so that, back in Kalos, it was on the team of one of their Elite Four members as well as a reserve Pokémon occasionally utilized by their Champion—the strongest Trainer in their region.
"Rena...!" exclaimed Ren, her pale red eyes blazing with excitement as she imagined herself battling against the Altaria.
kchakcha
"My, what a spirited Riolu," remarked the Rotom Phone, hovering around Jason's head and taking multiple pictures of Ren using its three separate cameras.
"Could you stop circling us?" asked Jason, prompting the Rotom Phone to stop in front of him with a naturally impish smile as it exclaimed, "Certainly! And, once again, I am your top-of-the-line Rotom Phone! If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about my functions, please feel free to ask or express them~!"
"Are you alright with being handled or placed into a backpack or pocket?" asked Jason, prompting the Rotom to spin its body before it answered, "If that's your preferred method of operation, I will oblige. But if you're giving me the option, I would like to be able to move and execute my operations independently. To facilitate that, I am fitted with a Holo Caster and many other conveniences."
"Alright. As someone who values their freedom and autonomy, I won't go out of my way to deprive someone else's..." stated Jason, exhaling faintly from his nose and smiling as the Rotom Phone started darting around like an excited bird. Its voice was somewhat grating, but instead of minding it, Jason turned his attention to Korrina and asked if she could play with Ren while he finished his Quest. She readily agreed, but since Ren still wasn't his partner, at least not officially, they spent around half an hour building and destroying a sandcastle while he forced himself back to the post he had previously descended from...
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