After reuniting with Dex and reassuring the frantic Pokémon that he and Ren were okay, Jason returned with them to the villa. The sun had set by the time they arrived, but since his provisional license allowed him to stay out as late as 10 PM, they technically beat their curfew by two hours and sixteen minutes.
"Oho? The Young Master has returned. And with a curious scent upon his body..." noted the disguised Xandalah, sweeping near the villa's entrance in her raven-haired maid's appearance. Jason got chills as she scrutinized him with her predatory azure eyes, but he managed to appear calm as he responded, "Good evening, Xandalah. Has Lillie returned?"
"Quite some time ago, in fact," Xandalah responded. At the same time, she drew nearer to Jason, completely ignoring Ren as she leaned forward and sniffed the air around him.
sffsff
Feeling Xandalah's invisible snout dangerously close to his neck, Jason frowned and remarked, "It's rude to sniff people..."
"Perhaps between people. But a person, I am not..." Xandalah countered, her illusory human eyes narrowing in amusement before she retracted her invisible snout and stated, "You've met with Tapu Koko. Tell me, what did Melemele's Guardian have to say to you?"
"He advised me to get stronger," Jason responded, holding up his Z-Ring, affixed to his left wrist. He was right-handed, but since his right bore a fingerless black glove with a groove for a mega stone, he elected to wear his newly acquired Z-Ring Tapu Koko on his left.
"Hoooo...so the Guardian of Melemele has recognized you. Very curious indeed..." Xandalah hummed, a low chuckle emanating from her throat as she abruptly moved away and resumed sweeping.
'I won't be even a little surprised if she turns out to be a villain...' Jason thought, following Xandalah's retreating figure with a frown before turning to Ren and saying, "Let's go..." in a low tone.
"Nn~!"
Though she had been on edge with Xendalah invading Jason's personal space, Ren beamed happily and followed along as the former led the way into the villa in search of Lillie. Fortunately, while the mansion was large, it didn't have too many rooms. The first floor, in particular, just had a dining room, a sitting room, a kitchen, a small library, and a bath. And with the air heavy with the aroma of delicious food, it didn't take long for Jason to find Lillie, Maeve, Nanahoshi, and, to his surprise, Iris conversing in the dining room.
"Ah! It's about time the three of you appeared! And Jason! I expected you to be more responsible than this! Don't you know you should call ahead if you're going to be late!?" Iris shouted, slamming the table with her hands as she rose.
"You're right, I should have called..." Jason affirmed, his calm response leaving Iris at a loss until he raised his left hand and excused, "But there were extenuating circumstances, and I was distracted."
"Hold on—is that a Z-Ring...?" Maeve questioned, her brows rising to their limits. Even Nanahoshi appeared shocked, but instead of saying anything, she took a sip of her half-emptied frappuccino. She generally worked the night shift, so she made sure to top off on caffeine and sweets before her shift began.
Interjecting before Jason could be interrogated, Lillie, modeling a warm smile, said, "Welcome back, Jason, Ren, Dex. Have the three of you had the opportunity to eat? If not, I can have Hobbes warm something up for you."
"Please do," Jason responded, glancing at Hobbes, standing near the entrance to the kitchen like a statue.
"It would be my pleasure, Young Master," Hobbes replied, offering a courteous bow before departing through the decorative swinging doors separating the two rooms.
"Seriously, though. How did you manage to get your hands on a Z-Ring?" Iris questioned, asserting, "There's no way that you and Ren were able to complete a Grand Trial in a single afternoon. Don't get me wrong—the two of you have boatloads of potential. But I was visiting Kahuna Hala most of this afternoon, and you sure as heck didn't appear."
"It was given to me by Tapu Koko," Jason revealed, causing everyone but Lillie to react with surprise. The latter was more focused on rising to greet him as he approached to join everyone at the table.
Waiting for Jason and Lillie to finish embracing and sharing a kiss, Iris, sporting an uncharacteristically serious expression, asked, "Did you really receive that Z-Ring from Tapu Koko? If so, that's a big deal."
Shaking his head, Jason, after taking his position at the head of the table, stated, "He didn't approach me as a candidate for the position of Kahuna, if that's what you're thinking. And after thinking about it, I believe he gave me this Z-Ring as an apology."
"An apology...?" Lillie questioned, tilting her head.
"When we spoke, he revealed that when he initially approached me, he believed I was part of a group invading Alola from other worlds," Jason explained. "Once it was clear that wasn't the case, he asked Ren and me about our dreams before gifting me this Z-Ring and recommending that I become strong as quickly as possible..."
"Mmn...so that's how it is..." Iris remarked, drawing everyone's gazes before she stated, "This honestly doesn't concern you, but one of the reasons I was visiting Kahuna Hala this afternoon was because Team Rainbow Rocket was discovered conducting an illegal operation on the nearby Treasure Island. We managed to drive them away, but it wasn't easy."
While speaking, Iris pulled out a disc-shaped hologram projector and set it on the table. By the time she was finished, a serpent-like Pokémon that vaguely resembled a Steelix but with serrated spines, a sleeker body, and forelimbs appeared.
"What are we looking at...?" Nanahoshi questioned, her brows creasing to their limits. As a Steel-type Trainer, she knew the names and appearance of every Steel-type that had been discovered. The Pokémon before them was clearly a Steel-type, but it was far more vicious-looking than any she had seen.
"We're tentatively calling it UB-03, Codename: Serraviper," Iris revealed, her gaze shifting to Jason as she noticed he was staring at the projection with disbelief.
"What's wrong? Is this Ultra Beast something you recognize from your previous world...?" Iris asked, prompting everyone to turn their heads and stare at Jason with piqued interest.
Though his thought process was still a little stagnant from disbelief, Jason managed a nod and responded, "It looks different, but I'm almost positive that this is a creature from a franchise called Monster Hunter. One notable difference is that it's considerably smaller..."
"Do you recall what it was called in your world...?" Iris questioned, pulling out a Haxorus-themed Rotom Phone and setting it on the table, ostensibly to record Jason's response.
"If I'm not mistaken about its origins, it's called Dalamadur—an Elder Dragon capable of growing to the size of mountains and carving deep chasms with its movements..." Jason revealed, his expression and tone grim as he clenched his hands into fists beneath the table. He knew that Ultra Wormholes could connect to worlds without Pokémon, but he never expected that one of those worlds would be from a separate yet familiar franchise...
While Jason was wondering what the revelation could mean, Iris, visibly perking up, opined, "Oh? So it's a Dragon and Steel Type? That's a pretty rare combination."
"I'm not sure how mechanics translate between worlds, but the world of Monster Hunter doesn't have the concept of Typings..." Jason explained, doing his best to remain focused despite his thoughts fragmenting like a kaleidoscope of possibilities and explanations.
"Well, this Dalamadur thing definitely used Pokémon Powers. I was the one who battled it, so I should know~" Iris revealed, crossing her arms, puffing her chest, and raising her chin with a smug expression that made it seem like the Dalamadur hadn't been a challenge.
"If that's the case...there must be some kind of overlap between the version of Monster Hunter this Dalamadur originated from and the world of Pokémon..." Jason speculated, staring intently at the hologram as if it might reveal its secrets to him.
"I mean...isn't that obvious?" Maeve questioned, drawing Jason's gaze as she noted, "If there weren't a connection between our worlds, how could they be linked?"
"Fair enough..." Jason conceded, resisting the urge to explain that the connection he was searching for was broader, more meta-contextual to his situation. Maeve wasn't a fool, but as someone who self-identified as a musclehead, she struggled with subjects that didn't involve punching, kicking, or battling. Nanahoshi, on the other hand...
"You're wondering if this has something to do with the Constellations and whether they're actively linking worlds you and those from your world are familiar with..." Nanahoshi surmised flatly, hitting the proverbial nail on the head.
"If this isn't their or the Akashic System's doing, I would be immensely surprised..." Jason confirmed, glancing half-liddedly at the chat window that had materialized to his right. None of the Constellations viewing the conversation outright confirmed his suspicions, but The Great Sage Who Peers Under Skirts had produced emojis of three monkeys, one covering its mouth and the other two covering their eyes and ears.
"In other words, our suspicion about there being others in your situation pulling the strings was correct..." Iris concluded, her face scrunching into a contemplative frown.
clap
Drawing everyone's gazes with a crisp clap, Lillie, sporting a calm smile, stated, "While this is a very important matter that unquestionably merits further discussion, I believe this is neither the time nor the place. Jason and I must wake up early tomorrow for our first day of classes, so let us discuss something less heavy."
Shifting her gaze to Jason, Lillie's smile broadened as she expressed, "What I'm most interested in at this moment is how things went between you and the other boys from our class. Things went very well on my end. Mallow even invited all of us girls over for a slumber party this Saturday. I'm quite looking forward to it."
"Right. In the end, all of these things we were discussing are matters for the League to address," Iris stated, retrieving her projector and placing it in her bag before rising to her feet, turning to Jason, and stating, "Since it appears that Lillie will be busy this Saturday, I'll drop by then to pick your brain about this Monster Hunter you mentioned. See you then."
Without waiting for Jason's response, Iris gave a quick peace sign before turning to depart with her Rotom Phone in hand.
'This woman genuinely does things at her own pace...' Jason mused, exhaling faintly from his nose and following Iris's retreat with his gaze. Coincidentally, that was when Hobbes appeared with a push cart full of food, dashing the lingering tensions in the air with a hearty, closed-eyed greeting...
...
..
.
As Jason was in the middle of hearing Lillie's spirited recounting of her time with the girls from their class, an increasingly common phenomenon of space distorting inward and collapsing into a luminous, rainbow-hued tunnel occurred in the very forest where he had encountered Tapu Koko. This particular tunnel, however, was barely a meter tall and wide.
"Mrruff..."
Emerging from the tunnel, a canine creature with sapphire-blue scales, beige-hued ridges along its back and forearms, and spiky white fur along its back and prominently spiked tail began sniffing the air. It had pointed ears like a fox, but they were rigid like horns and colors the same beige as its shoulder, tail, and forearm spines.
Focusing on the spot where Tapu Koko had addressed Jason, the canid creature approached and began slowly circling the area. As it did, pale blue sparks began arcing across its body, causing the fur around its neck to become noticeably spikier before it raised its head and glanced in the direction Tapu Koko had departed with glowing, electric-blue eyes...
...
..
.