"Though being able to maintain your balance is important, what really differentiates beginners from pro inline skaters is their confidence level and experience," stated Korrina, punctuating her words by approaching a ramp backward and performing a snappy double front flip before landing a little shakily in a slight crouch.
"Oh, wow. I almost ate it there~" laughed Korrina, performing a swift spin into a skidding stop. Then, gliding over to Jason, Lillie, Ren, and Mienfoo, she posed with her hands on her hips and suggested, "For the first couple of weeks, I recommend focusing on your leg and ankle strength by simply skating around or performing drills. It might look and even feel easy at the start, but inline skating places considerable strain on the thighs and lower back. But once you get used to it, you'll be surprised by how much it enhances your core and leg strength."
"Well, if it's anything like figure skating, I will sure be able to do it well...!" asserted Lillie, mirroring Korrina's posture with her chest puffed and chin raised. She felt that Korrina was trying to show her up, but as someone with years of experience with ballet and figure skating, she was confident in her balance, body control, and ankle strength.
"Great! With that level of confidence, you're guaranteed to get the hang of it in no time~!" affirmed Korrina, giving Lillie a radiant smile and a thumbs up that left the younger blonde's cheeks burning. She viewed Korrina as a rival for her to overcome on her path to becoming a top Trainer, but it was clear the latter didn't hold her in the same regard.
"Rena...?"
Seeing everyone else wearing rollerblades, Ren pulled on Jason's pant leg as if to ask why she hadn't been given a pair.
Shaking his head, Jason adopted an apologetic expression and explained, "Sorry, Ren. You can't wear these. But if you want to keep pace with me or play on the obstacles, just be careful not to break anything."
Tilting her head sideways, Ren looked between Jason and the concrete playground and its many obstacles. For the past two weeks, she had been told she couldn't play on it. Now that she was being given permission, she felt confused.
"Go ahead..." said Jason, gesturing with his chin and adopting what he intended to be a reassuring smile. When Ren saw that, a much broader smile developed across her face as she responded, "Rena rou~!" before releasing his pant leg, turning away from him, and taking off on all fours to explore the skate park in earnest.
"Mienfoo. Please keep an eye on Ren to ensure she doesn't hurt herself," appended Korrina, prompting her Mienfoo to briefly snap to attention and salute before taking off after Ren like an Otaku attempting to emulate the running form of a Shinobi.
"I must say, Korrina. Your Mienfoo is very well trained. Hasn't it only been a few days since it was captured...?" asked Lillie, genuinely impressed by Mienfoo's discipline and ability to follow commands.
"That's what makes Mienfoo and its evolved form, Mienshao, two of my favorite Pokémon~" hummed Korrina, explaining, "When they're young, they train together under a Master, usually a Mienshao, like students in a dojo. That teaches them discipline and helps them hone their unique form of martial arts before they set out in search of Trainers that can help them become even stronger."
"So they're Pokémon that train themselves? How mysterious..." muttered Lillie, her green eyes glistening with intrigue as she observed the Mienfoo in the distance. Her favorite typings were Fairy and Psychic, but she held a deep fascination for allPokémon.
"It certainly makes my job easier" chimed Korrina, pushing off, spinning around, and skating backward as she asked, "Now, then, shall we begin practicing? We won't improve just standing around" in a sing-song tone.
"I suppose," responded Lillie, glancing at Jason and offering him her left hand as she asked, "Shall we...?" with an expectant smile.
"Okay...?" responded Jason, accepting Lillie's hand and following her lead as she pulled him along, beaming happily. She evidently wished to skate in tandem, so while it was his first time skating on inline skates, he did his best to match her pace.
Observing Lillie's form and trusting that she could guide Jason through the basics, Korrina nodded approvingly before leaving the duo be to drop into a nearly five-meter-deep bowl. It had been nearly a month since she was last able to skate on a proper course, so she seized the opportunity to polish up her skills before they became rusty. This included launching herself upwards of eight meters into the air to execute increasingly tight flips, spins, and grabs while her Rotom drone zipped around to record her and take photos. She was considered one of the best at what she did, so even if she were just kicking off the rust and fooling around, her fans and fellow pros would relish the opportunity to see her in action...
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As she still needed to complete three challenges to wrap up her tour in Alola, Korrina ultimately departed from Ellaine's after four days. Ren was saddened by the loss of her training partners and opponents, but Ellaine and Wicke readily stepped in to serve as her and Jason's opponents—the former fielding her Munchlax, and the latter sending forth her Miltank and Growlithe.
With Miltank being Wicke's partner, a revelation that didn't at all surprise Jason, he and Ren regularly found themselves at the mercy of the buxom and bespectacled researcher and her tank of a Pokémon. She insisted on their battles being dynamic, so while he did his best to avoid her and even go on the offensive, Jason seldom lasted more than a few minutes before he was flipped heavily onto his back, sat on, or placed in an armbar by the deceptively swift and skilled woman.
"I believe this is the first time you've lasted past the five-minute mark~" hummed Wicke, her yellow-green eyes narrowed and a broad, cat-like smile adorning her face as she continuously cut off Jason's escape and attempted to grasp his wrist. For the better part of a month, tormenting and teasing him had become the highlight of her day. It reminded her of when she had just started as a Trainer, where she targeted and pummeled those who looked down on her for her small size and bookish appearance. Jason was nothing like those Trainers, but she couldn't help thinking back to those days when she saw him panicking and doing his best to avoid his inevitable reunion with the ground.
"You're enjoying this too much..." remarked Jason, his brow beaded with sweat, but his breathing regular as he narrowly evaded Wicke's lunge for his wrist and dodged past her. Then, while running away from her as fast as his form and Omnishoes allowed, he glanced at the battlefield where Ren was battling Miltank, shouting, "Alright, Ren! Look for an opportunity and hit her with a Rock Smash!"
"Rena...!" responded Ren, her glowing-eyed gaze fixed on Miltank as the pink-furred bovine crouched before her like a sumo wrestler prepared to receive and throw their opponent. Battling Ren near-daily had acclimated her to all the young and spirited Riolu's moves, so instead of providing the opportunity Jason had told the former to look for, she stood firm, smiled confidently, and made a come-hither gesture with her hoof-fingered right hand.
Though Millie's—the Miltank's—provocation caused her fur to stand on end, Ren similarly stood her ground and began stamping her forepaws in a controlled, focused tantrum. As she did, her body became enveloped in hazy white energy, her attack and special attack briefly increasing via the Normal-type move, Work Up.
Knowing from experience that Ren would continue powering herself up if she weren't stopped, Miltank accelerated from a dead stop to max speed in a split second, her body enveloped in purple-pink energy as she sailed forward without touching the ground.
Recognizing the move as Miltank's Psychic-type Zen Headbutt, Ren used Quick Attack to evade to the side at the last moment. Had she attempted to dodge earlier, Miltank's trajectory would have changed to intercept her. Instead, as the much larger Pokémon transitioned to a Rollout, she gave chase, her tail glowing with the fiery-orange hue of Fighting-type energy as she waited for the opportunity that would present itself once Miltank's move came to an end.
"This is a pretty humorous situation we've found ourselves in, don't you think...?" asked Wicke, looking considerably less fatigued than Jason as she trailed behind him, noting, "On one hand, we have Ren chasing Millie with a super-effective attack primed and ready. On the other, we have me chasing you. I wonder which of us will catch the other first~?"
'This is seriously frustrating...' thought Jason, his brows furrowing as his lungs began to burn. He knew Wicke's teasing wasn't meant to be mean-spirited. But as he had been busting his butt off to become stronger and faster, he couldn't help feeling frustrated by her ability to follow him like a persistence predator, never tiring while he burned through his comparably limited stamina.
Interrupting Jason's internal lamentations, Wicke abruptly landed in front of him, overtaking him with an acrobatic flip and posing like a wrestler in her form-fitting, white, pink-breasted, leotard-like outfit. He was traveling too quickly to stop and change directions, so he instead attempted to juke the purple-haired beauty, first darting toward her left before straining the muscles in his leg and ankle to change direction and dip to her right.
"Nope. But it was a very valiant effort~" chimed Wicke, her hands and forearms closing like a vice around Jason's lower abdomen from behind as she stopped his forward momentum. Then, before he could struggle or try to break free, she bucked her hips against his, forcing his feet to leave the ground, raising his shoulders and head past her own, and arching her back to unceremoniously supplex him into the ground.
With a burning sensation radiating through the back of his skull and his consciousness cutting out the moment he made contact with the earth, the very next thing Jason experienced was waking to the sight of Wicke straddling him, her expression and tone playful as she chimed, "I believe this makes our score twenty-six-to-one. Well done."
"Twenty-six-to-one...?" repeated Jason, his thoughts jumbled—and not just due to his blunt force trauma. If Wicke had won their match, it would have been her twenty-seventh victory. Her words suggested that he and Ren had won, but if that were the case, why was he on his back with the feeling his skull had been split?
Further contributing to Jason's confusion, Wicke dismounted him and backed away without offering to help him to his feet. Then something small, wet, and heavy slammed into him, causing him to tense, grimace, and nearly shove it away before he realized it was Ren, seated atop his left arm, pinning his chest and hair, and spiritedly licking his face as if it were covered in a layer of liquid chocolate.
Suppressing the urge to snap at and tell Ren to calm down, Jason raised his left arm, forcing her to shift forward and preventing her from licking his face before he pulled her toward his stomach and sat up, resulting in her being cradled in his arms. The back of his head felt hot, wet, and pulsed with the beating of his heart, but since he could infer from Wicke's words and Ren's reaction that they had won their battle, he forced a smile, gave her chest a drumming pat, and affirmed, "Great job, Ren. I knew you could do it..." as she smiled happily, clung to his wrist, and bit down on his index finger, her hammer-like tail smacking his side from excitement.
Fortunately for Jason, while Lillie initially exclaimed upon seeing the back of his head covered in blood, the wound wasn't deep, and the pain began to abate even before Audino healed him. Had he sustained such an injury in his previous world, he either would have died or suffered a concussion. Instead, thanks to the Mana that caused him to look like a realistic anime character, his skin had barely broken despite there being an indentation in the ground where his head had struck...
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