After making his way to the designated meeting point, the rest area next to the Poké-ride practice course, Jason expected to be the only student present. Instead, he found two familiar figures waiting...
"Stella? Lana? What are the two of you doing here...?" Jason questioned, three possibilities popping into his mind.
pop
After popping the bubble gum she was chewing, Stella answered, "I'm interested in learning more about the environments and Pokémon of the Alola Region. This class gives me the chance to observe them directly..."
"And I'm here for you," Lana answered flatly.
"Me? To what end...?" Jason asked.
"You're different from other boys," Lana stated, her expression serious as she asserted, "I want to learn more about you and how you trained Ren to be so strong and smart."
"Ren is strong and smart~" Ren repeated, beaming happily.
"Nn...you really are..." Lana affirmed, nodding. Then, meeting Jason's gaze, her words hit him like a hammer as she plainly revealed, "I asked Lillie if it was okay, and she said she would be happy if we all got to know you better."
"Right...she seemed really excited by the prospect of us getting closer to you..." Stella confirmed, leaving Jason at a loss. Lillie had assured him that she hadn't informed any of her new friends about his otherworldly status or what they got up to when the sun went down. But that evidently hadn't stopped her from championing him...
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"Oh, wow. Lillie wasn't exaggerating when she said you were an incredible artist..." Lana remarked, her blue eyes sparkling as she viewed the sketch Jason had made of her. It was nearly three hours past the time Mina was supposed to have arrived, so after conversing about random topics, Jason acquiesced to doing a pencil sketch of Lana and her Popplio, Poppy.
"Popply pii~!"
smacksmack
As Poppy clapped her paw-like fins together, Jason couldn't help but scratch his right cheek, feeling awkward.
"That's just a rough sketch. With more time and a photo for reference, I could make it photorealistic..." Jason revealed, sporting a wry grimace. He appreciated Lana's praise, but since he knew he could do much better, he couldn't readily accept it.
Rising from where she had ostensibly been texting someone for the past two hours, Stella peered over Lana's shoulder, her brows rose before she coolly remarked, "Huh...it's actually not bad..."
"Do you want me to sketch you next...?" Jason asked, prompting Stella to stare directly at him, her icy blue eyes boring into him, and her expression devoid of any obvious emotion.
Before Stella could answer, the door connecting the rest area to the main administrative building opened, followed by Mina emerging with her hand over her mouth, yawning. Notably, at least to Jason, she wasn't wearing her usual tattered jeans. And while she wore her usual oversized, paint-stained shirt, it sagged off her right shoulder, revealing the strap of a hot-pink tank top or sports bra.
"Hey, everyone. Have you all gotten the chance to know one another...?" Mina questioned, her expression and tone sleepy, as if she had only just awoken.
Beating Jason to the punch, Stella, sporting a slight frown, asked, "As a teacher and an adult, shouldn't you apologize for arriving so late? We've been waiting here for three hours."
"Hmmmn...?"
Staring at Stella with her sleepy, pale, grey-blue eyes, Mina appeared to be considering her response.
"Anyways...did you all bring overnight bags...?" Mina questioned, passing her gaze over Jason, Lana, Poppy, and the stretching, recently-awakened Ren—evidently choosing to ignore Stella's question.
"I have mine here," Jason affirmed.
"Same," Lana appended.
"Mmnnn...I like you two. You have really mellow auras..." Mina remarked, her gaze shifting to Stella as she added, "Yours is a bit high-strung. You will have a difficult time getting into the headspace to create art if you're constantly stressing over things you can't control."
In a clear effort to suppress an outburst, Stella pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed as she inhaled audibly through her nose and out of her mouth. Then, seemingly regaining her calm, she held up a large duffel bag and said, "I have my things here..."
"Nice. You all seem prepared and raring to go..." Mina said, following her words with another yawn and reaching under her baggy shirt to scratch her belly as she added, "Just give me a few minutes to put on some pants, and we'll head out..."
Though it was brief, Jason definitely caught a glimpse of the hot-pink panties Mina was wearing under her shirt. He had assumed that she was wearing shorts or at least spats underneath, but that very clearly was not the case.
'Another one with no sense of shame or vigilance...' Jason sighed, both internally and externally. On a positive note, he received 100 AP from The Great Sage Who Peers Under Skirts—along with the emoji of a cartoonish monkey recoiling from a bright light...
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After being gone for nearly half an hour, Mina returned in a pair of white short-shorts, a sleeveless red top that left her abdomen and lower back fully exposed, a beige-brown jacket with paint stains, brown Omnishoes that resembled hiking boots, and a comically oversized, pastel-blue pack with multiple easels, art supplies, and canvases.
"Are you going to be okay carrying all of that...?" Jason questioned, his expression making his disbelief apparent.
"I'm stronger than I look," Mina responded flatly, setting her pack down before taking a seat on the ground and stating, "Before we head out for our campsite, let's eat, replenish our fluids, and, even if you don't need to, I highly recommend that you go to the bathroom. Toilets are few and far between in the wilderness. Eco-friendly wet wipes are a female Trainer's best friend..."
Without waiting for a response, Mina pulled out a surprisingly large bento box, opening it to reveal carefully arranged dishes and a boatload of rice. Her paint-stained blonde hair and face gave the impression that she was very untidy. Contrastingly, the contents of her bento box indicated that, while she didn't care much for her appearance, she possessed a certain degree of meticulousness—at least regarding the preparation of her food.
"Do you want some...?" Mina questioned, evidently having noticed Jason's analytical stare.
Shaking his head, Jason responded, "I brought my own," before taking a seat and producing one of the three boxed lunches the Maids back at the villa had prepared for him. Ren naturally took her place at his side, her tail wagging behind her as she waited patiently for him to ready her a bowl of meaty Poké Cubes.
"Stella and I are going to go use the restroom," Lana said flatly, directing her words at Jason, causing Stella's eyes to widen and the faintest hint of red to tint her cheeks.
"Are you inviting me to accompany you...?" Jason asked, causing Stella's eyes to widen further, nearly as round as saucers.
"I wasn't. But if you want to, you can," Lana responded, her gaze shifting to Ren as she clarified, "I was letting you know in case you wanted us to take Ren along. I'm used to wiping away poop and stuff since I have two younger sisters."
Before Jason could respond, Ren proudly puffed her chest and asserted, "Ren can wipe her own butt...!"
Though Jason's cheeks warmed slightly at the sudden outburst, Lana, Mina, and even Stella appeared genuinely impressed by the revelation, their faces exhibiting varying degrees of shock and intrigue. It took a lot of effort to potty train a Pokémon to the point they could clean up after themselves. But since Ren could speak and regularly wore clothes, they accepted that Jason was telling the truth.
"Your and Ren's bond is really amazing..." Mina remarked, a dreamy-eyed smile replacing her usually lazy expression.
"Mmn! Ren really loves Jason~!" Ren exclaimed, causing Jason's eyes to widen and his body to tense. He had never heard Ren say that she loved him, so the word struck him like a bolt of lightning.
"Hoooooooo...your color is really radiant at the moment. It's beautiful..." Mina expressed, bringing her hands together and clapping the tips of her fingers together—her eyes subtly shifting to Jason. She couldn't help but notice that his color had become chaotic, but only briefly.
'As I thought...he's good at suppressing himself...' Mina noted, her white pupils expanding and contracting slightly. She was born with the unique ability to ascertain the mental and emotional state of living creatures as colors that enveloped their bodies. Most people unleashed tiny wisps of color as their emotions shifted, but Jason, as if he was afraid to let people know his true self, kept his bottled up...
Just as Mina was wondering how she could help Jason loosen up, color began leaking out of him in response to Ren rubbing her head and cheek against his arm.
"Right...I love you too, Ren..." Jason affirmed, his response awkward but sincere as he cupped and caressed Ren's head. He was at least eighty to ninety percent sure that Ren's love for him was of the familial variety. And since he regarded her as a daughter, he chose to admit that his fondness for her was a form of love—albeit with a few barriers in place.
"Poppli...?"
"Mmn...I love Poppy too..." Lana stated, picking up and giving her Popplio a hug. Doing so caused her sailor's top to become wet and transparent, but since she always wore a navy-blue sukumizu-style swimsuit under her clothes, nothing became visible that shouldn't be.
"Popplio~!" Poppy responded, reciprocally rubbing her cheek and snout against Lana. Meanwhile, Stella had a slight frown on her face, as if she wasn't sure how to act in such a situation.
"Weren't the two of you going to the restroom...?" Mina questioned flatly, noticing Stella's conflict and deciding to throw her a lifeline.
"Mmn. I really need to pee," Lana confirmed, nodding. Then, returning her gaze to Jason and Ren, she focused on the latter, asking, "Do you want to come with us, Ren?"
"Ren also needs to pee..." Ren revealed, offering a nod of her own before directing her wine-red eyes to Jason, silently entreating him to come with her. Her separation anxiety had subsided considerably over the past two months, but she didn't like to leave him when they weren't in his Sanctum—a place where she knew he couldn't be attacked.
Exhaling a hefty sigh, Jason's words caused Ren and Lana's expressions to brighten as he confirmed, "I'll go with you..." in a defeated tone. Stella, on the other hand, looked like she had just seen a Ghost Type. She didn't consider herself easily embarrassed, but since she needed to do more than pee, the thought of a boy being present as she did so made her face pale to the point of appearing sickly.
Fortunately for Stella, Jason noticed her dismay from the corner of his gaze, compelling him to append, "But I won't be going inside or standing outside the entrance. I need to make a call, so I'll be waiting somewhere nearby..."
"Mmn...it would be kind of embarrassing to have you listen to me tinkle..." Lana acknowledged, raising her gaze and touching her chin with her left index finger. Despite her words, she didn't appear at all bothered by the notion. Rather, she seemed to be imagining what it would actually feel like to be in such a situation.
"Can we go already...?" Stella questioned, her pale complexion replaced by a blush that gradually spread through her ears. Her prickly tone and glower made it clear she wasn't happy with the direction things had gone, but she didn't overtly protest Jason accompanying them. She ostensibly just wanted to get it over with...
Spurred by Stella's grousing, the bathroom group promptly departed, leaving Mina alone with their largely untouched meals. In their wake, the blonde-haired instructor sat silently for several seconds before pulling out a smartphone with a Smeargle-themed case—her thumbs tapping swiftly as she texted someone with a marginally more serious vibe than her usual dream-like demeanor...
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