Reacting to the sound of hushed voices speaking to one another, Jason opened his eyes to find that he was alone in Lusamine's oversized, white-blanketed canopy bed. To his right, Korrina was brushing Lillie's hair, the former sporting her usual form-fitting training wear and the latter wearing a short-sleeved, blue-trimmed tee with matching, pale blue, buruma-like shorts.
Sensing Jason's stare, Korrina ceased her conversation with Lillie and glanced back at him with a smile, humming, "Good morning. We didn't wake you, did we~?" in a friendly, almost sing-song tone.
"No...this is about when I was planning to get up..." lied Jason, stealing a glance at a nearby, pendulum-powered wall clock. He had planned to sleep in since their flight back wasn't scheduled until 10 AM, but if the two were planning to exercise, he felt obligated to join them. The current time was 5:14 AM, so after getting his thoughts in order, he sat up and scooted toward the edge of the bed.
Rising to her feet after hearing Jason's and Korrina's exchange, Lillie left the former at a brief loss for words as she abruptly bowed with her hands folded over her lap, blurting, "Thank you for last night! I know we placed you under a lot of pressure, so I really appreciate you allowing me to take part!"
"It's fine..." replied Jason, forcing a cramped smile before asking, "More importantly, how are you feeling? If you're feeling sore, you should take it easy..."
"I do feel a little sore..." conceded Lillie, raising her head and beaming as she gaily appended, "But I also feel really refreshed. It's like a weight was removed from my heart—one I didn't even know was there. I hope we can continue to have sex in the future."
'She's so earnest...' noted Jason, his expression softening as he offered a weak, "Sure..." before shifting his gaze to Korrina and asking, "Are the two of you planning to head out for training? If so, we should pick up and Ren. The two of us will join you..."
"According to Lillie, they actually have underground training and battle facilities, so I was going to check them out," revealed Korrina, her smile broadening as she affirmed, "You and Ren are more than welcome to join us, of course. We just thought you might be exhausted from last night, so we were allowing you to sleep in."
"Yeah...President Lusamine and Ellaine are a dangerous combo..." sighed Jason, rubbing the back of his neck. Every muscle in his body screamed in pain, but he just viewed it as further proof that he needed to bolster his strength and vitality.
"Do you need help with that...?" asked Lillie, her chin raised slightly, but her green eyes focused on Jason's lower half as if she were trying not to look at it but couldn't resist.
Shaking his head, Jason smiled awkwardly and answered, "It will settle after I get my blood flowing properly. But I appreciate the offer..."
"Then, is there anything else I can do...?" asked Lillie, raising her gaze to meet Jason's with an earnest, eager look in her eyes. Just thinking about the previous night was enough to get her heart racing like a Spoink, so, if Jason allowed her to, she wanted to continue playing the part of his lover.
"How about a hug and a kiss...?" proposed Jason, briefly meeting Korrina's gaze, prompting her to smile and nod approvingly.
"R-Right! I'll do my best...!" responded Lillie, enthusiastically striking a guts pose before presenting herself before Jason with her arms spread invitingly and a serious expression adorning her face. It was equal parts endearing and awkward, leaving Jason with no choice but to smile as he carefully held her slender but toned sides, tilted his face sideways, and leaned in to kiss her. In response, she clung to the back and sides of his arms, her tongue eagerly engaging with his, and her body exuding heat like a radiator. This invariably exacerbated his condition, but since he had two beautiful blondes more than willing to lend him much more than their hands, it was less an issue than an opportunity for them to cultivate Bond Levels...
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Though it felt wrong and his shoulder protested with pain, Jason was helping Ren train and improving his accuracy with Poké Balls by hurling them at her as she dodged—her movements constrained by a harness comprised of springs. Meanwhile, Korrina and Lillie ran around an oval-shaped track centered around a rocky battlefield.
"Rioshishishi~" snickered Ren, wagging her tail and smacking her butt provokingly as Jason emptied a box filled with a hundred practice balls without striking her a single time. He had gotten close a few times, but she sent them flying back at him using her tail, forcing him to dodge or eat a 300g Poké Ball to the face.
'If she doesn't have a Naughty or Impish Nature, I would be extremely surprised...' thought Jason, his brows furrowed slightly as he waited for Audino, standing behind him as he sat down, to massage the pain out of his shoulder.
Seeing Jason sit down, Ren briefly tilted her head before turning and taking off on all fours. She seemed to enjoy navigating the battlefield's faux mountainous terrain, so whenever Jason was receiving treatment, she ran off to practice her Pokémon Powers against imagined opponents only she could see.
"Auwa, auwadinnoo~" chimed Audino, her words a complete mystery to Jason. What he did know was that she was trying to comfort him, so with a grateful heart and a weary smile, he responded with a faint, "Thank you, once again, for your help..."
"Auwadinn~" responded Audino, her pitch rising as she put more effort into her massage, causing Jason to feel a strong vibration and a peculiar mix of heat and cold that caused the pain within and around his shoulder to diminish rapidly. This technically undermined the results of his training, but as he was trying to improve his accuracy, not improve the elasticity of his tendons and joints, he needed her healing to continue.
vrrrrrrrm
Hearing a shuddering sound emanate from the direction of the elevator, Jason looked over to see the circular platform they had ridden down rise upward through a pressurized glass tube. Soon after, it reappeared with Wicke on board, causing Jason's brows to perk as it was a little early for their departure.
pshashik
As the elevator depressurized and opened, Wicke stepped out and made her way toward Jason with a growing smile.
'She must have heard about what happened between me and President Lusamine...' thought Jason, his suspicions confirmed as the moment she got within conversational range, Wicke happily chimed, "I heard that you had a particularly engaging evening with President Lusamine. Can I take that to mean you're now open to the idea of extrarelational intercourse...?"
"To an extent..." responded Jason, unable to refute Wicke's presumptions outright. His desire to value his relationships hadn't changed, but he was coming to terms with the fact that his relationship with Korrina and Ellaine wasn't particularly serious. That might change at some point in the future, but for the time being, their principal foci were being the best Trainer and Professor they could be...
"That's wonderful to hear~!" chimed Wicke, bringing her palms together and clapping just the tips of her fingers. Then, as Jason stared at her with a blank expression, she reached into a pouch at her waist and produced a predominantly pink Poké Ball with a pale pink heart pattern that matched her blouse, surprising and confusing him by asking, "Now, then, shall we have a battle?"
"You want to have a battle? Here and now...?" asked Jason, his expression making his befuddlement apparent.
"You'll understand once you see who I brought," stated Wicke, releasing the Pokémon contained within the ball. To Jason's surprise, it appeared to be the same Stufful as the day before.
"Awoooooooaaa...!" shouted the Stufful, standing on its hind legs, raising its arms, and releasing a surprisingly loud, high-pitched cry.
Though the Stufful's cry produced a visible shockwave, Wicke maintained her composure, made a slight adjustment to her pink-rimmed glasses, and explained, "As chance would have it, I happened to be the one to find this Stufful trapped under a fallen tree a few months ago. Dr. Mari notified me of the tiff it got into with your Riolu, so I approached it this morning, and it expressed a desire to continue where they left off."
"Aowaaaaa...!" appended the Stufful, flexing its deceptively strong arms. At a glance, it genuinely resembled a stuffed animal. But even without the ability to sense Aura, Jason could sense power radiating from its body as it gazed at him with its eerie, dark brown, doll-like eyes.
"Renaaaaaa...!"
Having heard the Stufful's initial battle cry, Ren came running over on all fours, her momentum causing her to skid across the hardened dirt terrain before she came to a stop in a pouncing stance near Jason's right foot. At the same time, Korrina and Lillie came running over with their Omnishoes, trailed closely by an excited Rotom.
"What's going on here~!?" asked Rotom, performing cartwheels through the air as it questioned, "Could it be that Ren and this Stufful are about to have a battle!?"
"Rena ren...!" barked Ren, her claws digging into the ground as her body filled with tension like a depressed spring. In response, the Stufful began waving its arms, almost looking drunk as it stumbled forward.
"Now, now...let's be patient..." Wicke chimed gently, crouching down and embracing the Stufful from behind just as it was about to break into a fast, controlled stumble. Its unblinking brown remained focused on Ren, but in response to Wicke's words and actions, it temporarily calmed.
"Are Ren and Stufful really about to battle...?" asked Lillie, directing the question and a concerned look at Jason.
Though he wanted to shake his head and answer no, Jason couldn't help recalling his promise to help Ren reach her full potential. She very clearly wanted to battle the Stufful, and with Korrina staring at him as if she were waiting to hear his decision, he felt compelled to nod, affirming, "If that's what Ren wants, then, as her partner, I will support her..."
"Rena~!" exclaimed Ren, rubbing her cheek against the outside of Jason's right calf. Korrina consequently nodded approvingly, so after Audino made sure both Pokémon were in peak condition, Jason traveled to the far side of the battlefield with Ren, leaving Wicke and the air-boxing Stufful on the side closest to the elevator.
Peering back across the battlefield once he reached his position, Jason briefly paused when he noticed Wicke shedding her sleeves and skirt to reveal she was wearing tight, form-fitting, high-waisted white pants with golden accents. Her thick, pale-pink, temperature-regulating sweater fed seamlessly into it, and since the battlefield they were battling on was the dynamic type—meaning they weren't constrained to boxes—she promptly began stretching, demonstrating her surprising flexibility.
Realizing that Wicke would be taking their battle seriously, Jason took a knee before Ren and gently clasped her shoulders, causing her to stare at him confusedly with her head tilted.
"I'll be honest with you, Ren..." started Jason, his expression and tone serious as he expressed, "This is all still new to me, so I'm not certain we can win. I can, however, promise you this. As long as my body lasts, I will support you to the best of my ability..."
"Ren...!" responded Ren, nodding her head and emulating Jason's serious expression. They may have only known each other for two, going on three days, but she could sense his concern and his desire for her to win. Jason himself might not be aware of it, but it was more than enough to enkindle the cerulean flame in her heart, the source of her power which she could typically only feel when she calmed down and focused her senses to their limit.
"Let's give them hell..." expressed Jason, tousling the paradoxically soft yet bristly fur between Ren's ears. Her tail waggled excitedly in response, but since Wicke and Stufful were already in position, with Korrina serving as their referee, he quickly retracted his hand and took his position. As he did, Korrina raised her right hand, causing Lillie to tense in the stands and Rotom to start recording as his second-ever Pokémon battle commenced with a concise, "Since both sides are in position—let the battle begin...!"
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