"Hnnnnnnnnngh! Three hundred...!" exclaimed Lillie, leaving Jason feeling at a loss as he watched her straining against the electronic leg press until the value eclipsed 284kg. His personal best was only 211kg, so witnessing her slender legs exert such power left him feeling disjointed and just a tad self-conscious...
Unfortunately for Lillie, the electronic display showed her output gradually diminishing rather than increasing. It was only a matter of time before she reached her goal of exceeding 300kg, but without increasing her Strength parameter using Jason's AP, it would take at least a few months.
As the muscles in her thighs invariably reached their limits, Lillie drew her legs back and exhaled a held breath. In response, the leg press defaulted to its resting position, accompanied by a faint hydraulic hiss.
"Good work. You might not have been able to reach your goal, but you're still a heck of a lot stronger than me..." remarked Jason, presenting Lillie a scented white towel to wipe the sweat from her brow and chest.
"Thank you. But I really believe I can do it if I try just a little harder, you know?" responded Lillie, accepting the towel with a smile that broadened as she noticed Jason's gaze following the towel to her chest. She hadn't understood his fascination with her body at first, but as time passed, she found herself wanting him to look at her more and more...
"I'll keep doing my best as well..." muttered Jason, averting his eyes and glancing in the direction of Ren, averaging nearly two push-ups a second atop a padded stretching mat with Audino seated comfortably, watching her from the side.
Sensing Jason's gaze, Ren abruptly shifted to her paws, balancing atop them as she happily chimed, "Rena~!" and began doing hand-stand push-ups in a clear attempt to show off. It really was impressive, so instead of holding back his praise, Jason smiled, nodded his head, and commented, "That's very good, Ren. Once you evolve, you're going to need upper body strength, so keep at it."
"Rioooooo~!" responded Ren, shifting to just her right paw and balancing herself by spreading her legs and rigidly sticking out her tail. At that point, it might have been better for Jason to gently chide her for allowing herself to get carried away, but he had first-hand experience with what it was like to have his nature and sense of wonder ground down by the expectations of others. He couldn't do that to Ren—to anyone he cared about...
"Are the four of you having fun?" asked a familiar voice, drawing Jason's gaze to the dojo's entrance, where Ellaine arrived wearing her usual grey one-piece swimsuit beneath a form-fitting black wetsuit with orange trim, half-worn with the sleeves tied around her waist like a belt.
"My muscles and joints feel like they might tear if I strain them any more than I have, so I'm mainly spectating," answered Jason, the corners of his lips curling vertically as Ellaine made a beeline toward him and snaked her arms around him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Then, if you're not busy, we've finished setting things up to detect spatial anomalies while you're in your Build Mode..." hummed Ellaine, leaning into Jason's body with her breasts compressing against his chest.
"Is it all right if I observe the test and take notes?" asked Lillie, rising from the leg press with a bright-eyed, expectant smile.
"Of course it is," affirmed Ellaine, meeting Lillie's gaze with a radiant smile before releasing her hold on Jason, glancing around, and adding, "Though it won't be too late to conduct the test after everyone's washed up. Shall we make for the hot spring~?"
Hearing the words hot and spring next to one another, Ren flipped to her feet, her pale-red eyes lighting up as she rushed over to Jason, grabbing his pant leg and exclaiming, "Rena~!" while her tail wagged energetically behind her. She enjoyed hot and mineral baths much more than cold ones, so while she still wanted to continue her training, she was willing to place it on the back burner to bathe with Jason.
"Looks like it's decided..." remarked Jason, adopting a weary smile as he picked Ren up by the pits of her arms. He quite enjoyed taking baths, but ever since Ren hatched from her egg, he found himself spending upwards of four hours a day washing and grooming her. He didn't particularly mind it. It was just a tad exhausting...
...
..
.
Since Lillie was accustomed to hot baths, and it was an option among the many facilities he could build with Sanctum, Jason had used 70,000 of his saved AP to construct a [Hot Springs Lv 1]. As the name signified, it could be upgraded upwards of nine times. But with the Level 2 upgrade costing a staggering 450,000 AP and the final Level requiring 200,000,000,000, it would be a while before Jason unlocked the facility's full potential. For the time being, the benefits it provided were quantifiable but vague, with the facility's description being:
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[Hot Spring Lv 1]
Facility Rank: F
Benefits: [Physical Relaxation+3], [Mental Rejuvenation+2], [Spiritual Cleansing+1], [Exfoliation+1], [Beauty+1]
Notice: To receive these effects, an entity must remain inside the hot spring for a minimum of fifteen minutes, three of which must be spent fully submerged.
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"Ren. It's fine if you practice swimming, but please be considerate and try not to splash water everywhere..." expressed Jason, seated near the edge of the roughly five-meter-wide circular bath, which was encircled by large stones and fed by a green-hued mineral waterfall. Wicke had appeared to join them midway through their pre-bath preparations, so he was between her and Ellaine with his arms behind their backs and Lillie behind him, her legs tucked under his arms, her feet resting on his thighs, and her delicate fingers and well-manicured nails gently massaging his scalp.
"Rena...!" responded Ren, followed by her taking a deep breath, ducking her head beneath the water, and dog-paddling with impressive speed in a tight circle. Due to the density of her bones, she was about as buoyant as a boulder. Despite that, she was determined to learn how to swim, taking every opportunity that presented itself to practice.
"Ren is always so full of energy~" Lillie hummed, shifting the focus of her massage to the scruff above Jason's temples.
"Right? Even for a Riolu, she appears to possess an inordinate amount of energy and motivation..." remarked Ellaine, glancing at Jason and smiling as she contended, "One doesn't need to be a Researcher or a Professor to understand it's due to a certain otherworlder's influence..."
"Her growth is the result of her efforts...all I do is support her as best I can..." stated Jason, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against Lillie's stomach. He hadn't been getting much sleep lately, and since his System didn't permit him to miss a day of training, his muscles and joints ached from the strain of adapting to his new lifestyle.
"That's often all it takes to become an able Trainer—supporting Pokémon as they instinctively seek to reach ever greater heights..." hummed Wicke, causing Jason's eyelids to part slightly as she skated her fingers and palm along his inner right thigh.
"Come, now, Wicke. You know better..." remarked Ellaine, maintaining her smile but with a hint of warning in her tone. Jason had made it clear that he didn't want them to be overly intimate when Ren was present, so while she could sympathize with Wicke's desire to tease him, she prioritized the boundaries he had set.
"Just giving my Bond Level a little increase~" countered Wicke, poking her tongue out and winking playfully. She wasn't interested in competing with Korrina and Lillie for the top spot on Jason's Relationship leaderboard, but as she rather enjoyed having sex, she was incentivized to keep their Bond Level high. They had determined that a higher Bond Level increased their sensitivity to stimulus and made the experience all the more enjoyable, so she was ultimately investing in her future.
"Yeah, I get that. Just try not to get carried away..." expressed Ellaine, leaning forward and rising to her feet, providing Jason an incredible view before she glanced back and down at him, compelling him to look up and meet her gaze as she attested, "Jason can be too tolerant at times, so we have to keep in mind that his silence doesn't necessarily imply that he is consenting to what we subject him to..."
Without waiting for a response, Ellaine faced forward and began walking toward Ren, her bottom catching light in a way that was nearly impossible to dismiss. Ordinarily, Jason wouldn't be able to resist gawking, but as his brain processed her words, his blank gaze followed her exposed back and elegantly muscled shoulders.
Breaking Jason from his Reverie, Wicke quietly remarked, "I apologize if my actions crossed a line. I don't believe you need to be told this, but it has never been my intention to make you uncomfortable..."
"It's fine..." responded Jason, rising to his feet with a bit of effort and turning his back toward Ellaine, who had taken it upon herself to distract and play with Ren. As he turned around, Lillie's green eyes lowered and flashed with expectation, as, despite his efforts to remain calm, Wicke's caresses had roused a certain part of him. Thus, as Lillie eagerly scooted forward and hooked her hands around his lower outer thighs, he closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and habitually placed his left hand on her head, enjoying the softness of her hair as she did her best to relieve him...
...
..
.
After a bath that left him feeling paradoxically refreshed and exhausted, Jason was doing his best to braid Lillie's hair while waiting for Ellaine and Wicke to finish calibrating their equipment using a durable, military-grade laptop. The scanners they were using were the same as those developed to detect the presence and influence of Ultra Wormholes, so the idea was that they would be active while he made adjustments to Sanctum. If their sensors were able to detect and analyze the resultant spatial fluctuations, then the working theory was that they would be able to replicate them to create or tap into existing subdimensions.
"Shouldn't we be concerned that messing with space might antagonize Palkia...?" asked Jason, prompting Ellaine to blink in surprise and glance back at him from where she had been looming over and watching Wicke get everything prepared.
"Does Palkia appear to curb such efforts in your world's media...?" asked Ellaine. She and the Aether Foundation had gained a startling amount of insight into their world thanks to her conversations with Jason, but there were still many, many things they had yet to discuss. As such, hearing him casually refer to Palkia—a Pokémon whose existence was postulated but yet to be proven—was rather jarring.
"I know that he, Dialga, Giratina, and Arceus appear in at least one movie and a handful of the games, but I never watched or played them directly," answered Jason, shaking his head before contending, "I was just thinking that, as part of the Creation Trio and the de facto God of Space, he might not appreciate us opening holes in reality..."
"That...isn't something we even considered..." confessed Ellaine, glancing down at Wicke, who, in turn, turned her head to stare up at her. There was a possibility that Jason's concerns had no basis in their reality, but as the ongoing investigation into Faba uncovered decades of malfeasance, they had at least one sample case to demonstrate that his meta-knowledge of their world wasn't to be ignored.
Noticing the duo's uncertainty, Jason felt compelled to remark, "I'm not saying we shouldn't go forward with the tests. As long as we're cautious and prevent the results of our research from disseminating to those who might use it nefariously or opportunistically, it should be fine."
"Wow, Jason...it's almost like you're a Professor..." remarked Lillie, leaning her head back to stare up at Jason with shimmering, curious eyes and an expression of undisguised appreciation. The sudden compliment caused Jason to feel awkward, but as he was steadily growing accustomed to it, he managed a smile, cupped the sides of her face, and responded, "You can't be the only one thinking about her future..." with his cheeks growing hot.
Though it wasn't the first time Jason had said such words, Lillie's face lit up as she instinctively took a long, chest-expanding breath. Nothing was set in stone just yet, but as she and Jason were planning to spend at least the next five to ten years living and traveling together, it wasn't difficult to imagine them marrying and staying together. Hearing Jason reinforce that he was thinking about their future just as much as she was caused Lillie's heart to race, her green eyes narrowing slightly as she grabbed his wrists and muttered, "Then let's plan together from now on..."
Surprised by Lillie's sudden sultriness, Jason found himself stunned and at a loss for words. Thankfully, his body had learned what it needed to do at such times, so as Ellaine and Wicke observed them with raised brows and curious looks, he bent down, turned his head to the side, and allowed Lillie to slip her tongue into his mouth as they shared a series of smacking kisses...
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..
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