With three days having passed since everyone but Wicke and Korrina returned to the beach, Jason, while undergoing intensive training, was also learning to defend himself.
"Don't tense. Keep your body loose and reactive. And remember, power comes from leverage..." Maeve advised, hunched across from Jason in a two-piece, dark purple sports swimsuit, with a padded, hot pink helmet, fingerless striking gloves, and knee pads.
"I'm ready..." Jason lied, instinctively raising his hands to try to push Maeve's shoulders down as she lurched toward him. He succeeded in pushing her lower to the ground, but she just drove forward harder, her foot sinking deep into the sand as she forced him back.
'She's like a bulldozer...' Jason groaned internally, attempting to put more force into his palms, only for Maeve to abruptly raise her arms, batting his hands away from her shoulders before grabbing his head and driving her knee just short of sinking into his diaphragm.
"You're still tensing...and that was a perfect opportunity to counter my charge with a knee..." Maeve sighed, releasing her hold on Jason's head and stepping away from him with her hands on her hips and her back to him. Jason got the distinct impression that she was leaving herself open, but since he didn't want to become the kind of person who attacked his opponent's back, he didn't act on it.
"I just can't bring myself to hit someone I care about..." Jason excused, causing Maeve to tilt her head back and exhale an even louder sigh. Then, turning to face him with a frown, she asserted, "Then you're an idiot. That kind of sentimentality is fine in ordinary, day-to-day life. But between two people who earnestly want to help each other grow stronger, it's rude not to give it your all..."
"I understand that..." Jason sighed, raising his hands and hunching his body in preparation as he stated, "But it's not something I can just turn off. You're going to have to beat it into me..."
"Just remember. I don't enjoy hurting those I care about either. But this isn't what that is," Maeve asserted, adjusting the wrap of her rightmost glove as she attested, "Fighting isn't inherently violent, Jason. Once you realize that, these spars will become something we look forward to. Right now, you're just pissing me off..."
"Not intentionally..." Jason countered, waiting for Maeve to finish with her adjustments before attempting to seize the momentum by rushing her. He basically used her same tactic against her, but when she pushed down on his shoulders, he immediately faceplanted in the sand.
"I really don't enjoy this..." Maeve remarked flatly, sitting on Jason's back and putting his left arm into a painful armbar. She knew he wasn't going to improve if she kept coddling him, so when he tried to free himself instead of tapping out, she used her pelvis as leverage against his hyperextended elbow and leaned back...
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Thanks to the healing power of Pokémon and futuristic medical science, Jason only needed around an hour to recover from having his elbow fully dislocated. Skyler encouraged him to wear a medical sling for the rest of the day, but as he didn't want to worry or stress Lillie or Ren, he returned to Elaine's—he returned home without one.
"Jason...!"
thmpthmpthmpthmpthmp
Despite the pink padding on her toes, Ren's feet produced heavy thumps as she ran across the cottage's hardwood floor and intercepted Jason at the door with a hug.
"I missed you too, Ren..." Jason affirmed softly, his heart melting and a wave of guilt washing over him as he hugged Ren's head to his chest. He knew it wasn't easy for her to stay put while he was out, but if they didn't address her separation anxiety quickly, Ellaine cautioned him that it would only get worse.
"Lunch will be ready momentarily. Why don't you take Ren with you to wash up~?" Lillie suggested, smiling from the kitchen in a pink, Bewear-themed apron.
"Thanks. I believe I'll do just that," Jason responded with a hum, giving Lillie an appreciative nod before throwing her over his right shoulder and carrying her to the bath. He nearly slipped a disc in the process, but Ren enjoyed the surprise carry, a happy laugh emanating from her throat and her tail wagging behind her.
'Take Runa.'
Hearing an unexpected but familiar voice, Jason looked to his left. Runa was sitting in the middle of the living room floor, encircled by a bunch of misshapen silver spoons.
'Mmn. Alright, then. But only if Lillie allows it,' Jason responded through the telepathic link Runa had established with him.
"Lillie! Runa wants to come with us! Is that okay...!?" Jason called out, raising his voice but not quite shouting.
"Of course! Just make sure to dry and powder her properly when you're done~!" Lillie chimed, beaming happily from behind the kitchen counter. With her permission secured, Jason allowed Runa to climb up his left arm and onto his shoulder. Her grip was really strong for her size, so she had no trouble holding onto him as he carried both her and Ren to the bath for a pre-lunch rinse...
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"Did something happen to your right arm? Your muscles feel tense..." Lillie noted, interrupting her and Jason's study-cuddle to give his right forearm a tentative squeeze.
"My super intelligent and perceptive fiancée doesn't miss a thing..." Jason hummed softly, wrapping his arms around Lillie and kissing the side of her head before attesting, "I injured it during training, but it was my error. One good soak in the hot spring, and I'll be right as rain..."
"Perhaps I should learn some self-defense techniques..." Lillie muttered, her words barely audible, even to Jason.
"It's definitely better to know how to defend yourself..." Jason affirmed, slipping his hands under Lillie's thighs and adjusting his position so that she was reclining against him. Then, as he got the distinct impression she wasn't pleased that he had been injured, he slipped his hands under her Pikachu-themed hoodie and rubbed her belly.
"Right...due to our Pactio, you can feel when I'm angry and upset..." Lillie muttered, retracting her arms into her sleeves so that she could rest her hands and forearms atop Jason's. She had been contemplating pulling Maeve aside and chastising her for being too rough, but she knew Jason wouldn't like that. She also knew he wouldn't want her to see him getting defeated over and over again, so she was at a loss.
"Maeve is a good teacher..." Jason whispered, tracing the elastic band of Lillie's pajama bottoms as he asserted, "I'm not the best student, but I've no intention of giving up. Please let me do this..."
"How could I possibly refuse when you appeal to me with such sincerity?" Lillie sighed, her cheeks tinting red, and her voice suffused with a warmth that didn't stem from a place of tenderness. Unfortunately, Ren and Runa were napping together on Jason's bottom bunk, so his hands and fingers remained above her waistband and below her bra...
"Thanks, Lillie. You're the best..." Jason asserted softly, punctuating his words with a lingering kiss to Lillie's neck. The impulse to escalate things was nearly overwhelming, but while he couldn't prevent a certain part of him from swelling, he remained in control of his actions and gave Lillie's flat but addictively squishy belly a thorough caress before they returned to their studies...
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As the days since his return to Akala Island turned to weeks, Jason fell into a routine. The first thing he did when he woke up, weather permitting, was join Ellaine out at sea for a morning meditation session. After that, he would complete his morning routine according to a schedule the girls had created together. From there, he and Ren would train, or, more accurately, play together along the beach or at the skate park—followed by his and Maeve's sparring sessions, a midday lunch, his and Lillie's study-cuddles, and, last but not least, his evening hang-outs with his girlfriends, typically at their respective abodes.
'Just two more weeks...' Jason sighed internally, his expression content and his body completely relaxed—a stark contrast to the disquiet in his mind. There were precisely fourteen days remaining until his and Lillie's first day at the Melemele Island Pokémon School. But before that, they would be moving to a villa her mother had prepared for them, a veteran Butler named Hobbes, and six security personnel.
"Are you thinking about how much you're going to miss me...?" asked the woman who had just taken Jason for the ride of his life, emerging from the bathroom in a pink sweater, a pair of white panties, and Slowpoke-themed stockings with swirly ears on the thighs.
"That wasn't what I was thinking, but I'm definitely going to miss you..." Jason responded lazily, his brain tingling as the woman, Wicke, crawled onto the bed and promptly straddled him.
"What were you thinking...?" Wicke asked, her yellow eyes narrowed, and the corners of her lips curled in an effortlessly seductive smile. She had already drained him three times, but as she slowly shook her voluminous butt to provoke him, Jason couldn't help but consider that he had more to give.
"Mainly, that the tempo of my life is about to speed up tremendously..." Jason sighed, his hands resting on Wicke's thighs and caressing them as he confided, "I was hoping that things would slow down once Lillie and I became Trainers. But with everything that's happened...and with what the League has planned...I can't just put everything aside to go on a leisurely journey, can I?"
"On the contrary, that's precisely what you should do..." Wicke asserted, her expression softening as she grabbed Jason's hands and caressed his knuckles with her thumbs, adding, "It's commendable that you have such a refined sense of responsibility. But, while not exactly sacred, a Trainer's journey is a rite of passage. If you and Lillie choose to spend a few years finding yourselves, no respectable adult is going to condemn you or force your hands..."
"Lillie and I are well aware of that..." Jason affirmed, giving Wicke's outer left thigh and butt a light smack as he argued, "But the two of us want to be of assistance. We plan to go on a journey, but unlike most Trainers, we know precisely what we want and where we belong..."
"So you think. But the two of you are too lacking in life experience to know with absolute certainty what you want..." Wicke contended, licking her lips before leaning forward, the substantial weight and extraordinary softness of her breasts depressing against Jason's chest as she pinned his hands to the bed and began kissing him. Jason felt that the conversation they had been having was consequential, but other than liberating his hands to grab her butt, he offered no resistance or protest.
"This is how the young should live their lives..." Wicke asserted, her face flushed and her lips glistening with saliva as she stared deep into Jason's eyes and reiterated, "So don't think about extraneous things when you go on your journey. Instead, follow your heart. Travel where the winds, fate, and your own whims take you. Befriend and catch as many Pokémon as you're able. Challenge what you believe to be true. Because until you've done these things, you can't know for certain where it is you belong. You only know the cage that obligation and circumstance have constructed around you..."
Seemingly finished with her life lesson, Wicke rolled to Jason's left and cuddled close to him, muttering, "Now, let's go to bed. You and Lillie have a big day tomorrow, and I need to return to the Aether Paradise to ensure Faba doesn't escape through an Ultra Wormhole to align himself with our enemies..."
"Right...I understand their reasoning, but I still can't believe the League released him to continue his research..." Jason muttered. He was a little taken aback by the sudden reduction in tension, but instead of stressing over it, he turned toward Wicke and caressed her side. What followed was a lengthy discussion regarding the events that had recently taken place at the Aether Paradise. The League wanted operational Ultra Wormhole tech as soon as possible, so while most of the funding for the project stemmed from private investors, they had used their authority to assemble dozens of the most talented scientists and researchers to expand and accelerate the program far beyond its original scope...
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