With their train coming to a stop at a station located outside Shalour, right next to the stadium hosting the WCS Battle Festival Challenge, Jason was unsurprised to see that the area had been converted to a festival grounds with hundreds of people and their partner Pokémon roaming about. There was even a serious-looking female Trainer being escorted by a Charizard sporting a gem-embedded neck harness that suggested it was capable of Mega Evolution.
"Mmmnnn...just smelling this air feels nostalgic..." hummed Korrina, taking a deep breath with her eyes closed.
"Where are we headed...?" asked Jason, standing next to Korrina with Ren, sparkly-eyed, seated on his shoulders. The presence of so many powerful Pokémon and their Trainers had her excited, but while she fidgeted about and flexed her claws into his scalp, she obediently remained on her perch.
"Well, I need to head to the broadcasting room to let the producers know I've arrived. I'll most likely catch up with the two of you back at the Tower of Mastery," revealed Alexa, reaching up with her left hand to lightly drum the back of Ren's shoulders.
"Then I guess we'll see you la—" Jason started, his words cutting off as Alexa abruptly kissed him on the right cheek, catching the very edge of his lips.
"I'll be looking forward to learning more about you this evening," Alexa teased, punctuating her words with a wink before departing toward the stadium at a light jog. As she left, Jason's gaze was immediately drawn to her grey, form-fitting pants, but only briefly as Korrina commented, "I can sense Luca's Aura. He's waiting for us down by the sea."
"The sea...?" Jason repeated, tilting his head curiously as he considered why Luca had chosen such a venue for his battle with Ren. The obvious answer was that he was being considerate. After all, Ren had lived by the sea for most of her life.
"That's right," confirmed Korrina, a broad smile adorning her face as she asked, "Now, should we put on our roller skates, or would you rather run over? It's not too far from here."
"Let's run. It will help get mine and Ren's blood pumping before our battle with Luca," responded Jason, prompting Ren to loudly repeat, "Battle~!" in an enthusiastic tone, drawing considerable attention.
"Did that Riolu just shout the word batle...?" asked one random Trainer to another.
"Then, let's go~!" chimed Korrina, cutely pumping her fists before taking off toward the end of the terminal.
"Well, you heard the woman," hummed Jason, removing a confused Ren from his shoulders before gesturing in the direction Korrina had taken off with his chin, adding, "Go ahead. I'll be right behind you. Just be careful to avoid running into anyone."
"Beehine!" Ren parroted, leaving Jason at a brief loss for words as she stopped a short distance from him to wag her tail and butt and all fours. At that exact moment, Rotom, hovering next to him with its cheeky grin, snapped a photo and laughed, "Ms Ren is really mischievous" as Jason gave it a half-lidded, deadpan stare.
Satisfied with her mischief, Ren, having understood what Jason meant for her to do, took off after Korrina while laughing without inhibition. It was a sound that was equal parts endearing and exhausting, so after exhaling a faint sigh from his nose, Jason smiled and followed her while Rotom kept pace and habitually tracked his distance and time...
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Though he would have struggled covering such a distance before arriving in the world of Pokémon, Jason was able to maintain a steady pace as he trailed Korrina and Ren to a cliff on the opposite side of the stadium from the train termina. There, three sets of stairs had been carved into the cliff and ground, leading down to a secluded beach lined with rock formations that made it ill-suited to swimming.
"Jaaaaaaason! We're over here~!" shouted Korrina, beaming radiantly and waving her right hand to draw Jason's attention. When he looked over, his thoughts briefly stalled, as, ostensibly having gotten tired of waiting, Luca had Laani pinned on her stomach in an armbar while Korrina watched from the side with Ren on her shoulders.
As Jason made his way over, Luca released his hold on Laani's arm and leaped backward away from her as she performed a sweeping kick and spun on her back like a breakdancer, casting sand in all directions. Then, after flipping onto her feet in a three-point pose, she glared at Luca with glowing pink eyes, causing his body to briefly emit a similarly pink hue as he came under the effects of her Charm.
'I told you! That won't work...!' Luca exclaimed telepathically, his voice somewhat strained as it echoed within Jason's head. At the same time, the pink haze around his body scattered, producing a sound akin to glass breaking before he intercepted the fast, flying kick Laani had aimed at his face with his right forearm.
"Are they competing to determine who will be your Ace...?" asked Jason, reaching Korrina's and Ren's sides, prompting the latter to glance at and extend her paws to him.
"Not really? Though I guess I can see how you might have come to that conclusion," responded Korrina, transferring Ren to Jason's shoulders as she explained, "Luca was curious about the team I had assembled while we were apart, so I introduced him to everyone. After that, he challenged Laani to a battle, and she accepted."
'In other words, he's making it clear he's the Ace...' Jason concluded, his gaze returning to the battle. Laani's speed and flexibility were jarring, but if she were around Level thirty to forty, Luca was between Levels seventy and one hundred. There was a notable difference in their experience and skill levels, and since his Steel sub-typing removed his weakness to Fairy-type moves, Laani's usual tricks were ineffective.
Seemingly realizing she was on the cusp of losing, Laani left Jason at a complete loss as she abruptly leaped back to distance from Luca, sliding across the sand on all fours. Luca's eyes widened in realization, but as he had been allowing Laani to go on the offensive, he was forced to jump to the side and use a move Jason suspected to be Extreme Speed to evade the extremely fast, fiery orange laser that discharged from Laani's mouth, sweeping across the beach and cutting into the cliff.
"You taught her Hyper Beam...?" asked Jason, his mouth hanging open in utter disbelief as he stared at Korrina. He knew that Hyper Beam was one of the best moves that could be taught to a Normal-type, but he wasn't at all prepared to see Laani on all fours, blasting lasers from her mouth as a last resort...
Shrugging and seemingly failing to comprehend the reason for Jason's incredulity, Korrina responded, "I know Lopunny aren't the strongest in terms of Special Attack, but you can't compete in the League or WCS if you don't have coverage against Flying-types. I originally tried teaching her Thunderbolt using a TM, but she didn't like how it caused her fur to become staticky."
"I see..." Jason muttered, his expression turning thoughtful as he looked ahead and briefly focused his gaze on Laani's butt. He didn't notice it at first due to his preoccupied state, but instead of feeling weird about it, he simply looked elsewhere as the realization that Korrina was even more of a monster than he'd realized washed over him. She was a genuine prodigy when it came to martial arts and Pokémon battling, yet, based on her best WCS performance, there were dozens of Trainers who were demonstrably more talented than her...
'I thought I was making decent progress in helping Ren reach the peak of her potential, but we're basically still at the base of the mountain...' Jason realized, his brows creasing.
'It's time to end this...!' Luca exclaimed telepathically, producing a yellow-hued, energy-formed bone in his right paw before smacking the ground in front of him. As he did, the Ground-type energy that gave form to the club mixed with the sand, producing a veritable tidal wave that soaked up the damage from Laani's Hyper Beam and obfuscated his position.
Fluffing up every strand of her fur on her body, Laani attempted to sense where Luca would attack from, her oversized ears twitching and her nose twitching as she leaped backward and high into the air to avoid the sand. Unfortunately for her, while her speed stat would be superior if they were the same Level, Luca's was presently much higher. Thus, while Laani was prepared for an attack from the front, Luca burst through the wall of sand, his body veiled in silvery-white energy as he merged Extreme Speed with a Quigong-like punch that connected with her abdomen the moment she landed—sending her flying backward as if she had been launched from a cannon.
'Korrina isn't the only monster...' Jason muttered internally, his eyes wide with shock. He knew Luca was strong, quite possibly the strongest of his kind, but the difference between him and Laani was even wider than the difference between her and the Throh she had bullied.
'Will you continue?' asked Luca, his expression and telepathic tone firm as he crossed his arms and waited for Laani's response.
Though she had had the air forced from her lungs and could barely stand due to the muscles in her core cramping with pain, Laani defiantly rose to her feet in response to Luca's provocation. Jason was genuinely surprised by her grit, but when he noticed Korrina observing the scene with a proud expression, things clicked into place. There was a reason she had chosen the borderline salacious Pokémon as her Ace, even if only for the duration of her stay in Alola...
'Your resolve is truly commendable,' Luca stated, nodding his head before uncrossing his arms and adopting a relaxed martial arts pose reminiscent of Kung Fu and Tai Chi. He was fully prepared to wait as long as it took for Laani to recover and mount an attack, but after forcing herself to take an unsteady step forward, the fluffy-eared Pokémon abruptly collapsed, her legs giving out, and her head and upper body falling backward as she lost consciousness.
"You performed outstandingly, Laani. Now enjoy a long, well-deserved rest," expressed Korrina, producing Laani's custom Poké Ball, which shot out a thin red laser from the front to envelop and digitize her body into a stream of data.
'You trained her well,' affirmed Luca, approaching the group and meeting Jason's gaze with his naturally serious expression. It was faint, but just as he had before, he sensed a thread of energy similar to Aura lurking within the otherworldly boy's body.
"Aww, shucks, Luca. You're going to make me feel embarrassed~" Korrina hummed, cupping the back of her head and beaming from ear to ear, very clearly pleased by Luca's praise.
'Who is training whom...?' Jason mused, a faint smile adorning his face as he couldn't help but find Korrina's reaction cute. What he didn't anticipate was Luca responding to his musings, asserting, 'I have been with Korrina for my entire life, and we have trained together since she was a child. We are partners who strive to improve one another. We have no need for such distinctions.'
"That's right! Luca isn't simply my partner or Pokémon! He and I are best friends~!" exclaimed Korrina, positioning herself behind Luca and hugging him tight enough to raise his feet from the ground. There were no notable changes to his expression, but Jason got the distinct impression that Luca was embarrassed by Korrina's behavior as he telepathically groused, 'You know how I feel about public displays of affection...'
"We may be outdoors, but I wouldn't exactly call a secluded beach with two people and Pokémon on it public~" countered Korrina, hugging Luca even tighter. The lean and athletic Pokémon could have very easily freed himself from her embrace if he really didn't want her to hug him. Instead, he stared intently at Jason with his red eyes, daring him to say something without expressing it directly...
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