"So, what do you think? Any recommendations...?" asked Korrina, seated next to Jason as he perused videos on a thick, durable, steel-blue tablet. More accurately, he was watching Pokevision videos produced by Bea to promote her and her Pokémon.
"They're very...direct..." Jason responded, his brows creasing slightly as virtually every video showed Bea and her Pokémon simply training from a static angle with no cuts. There was music overlaid on each, but it felt like an afterthought—like a YouTube short where random music was added to a movie scene to avoid the platform's copyright detection.
"Is that a bad thing...?" Bea asked apprehensively, sitting opposite Jason and Korrina, sharing a booth seat with Ren. Korrina had persuaded her to return by touting Jason as a PR/Marketing genius, so the look on his face had her feeling uncharacteristically anxious.
"If it were just one or two videos, it wouldn't be that bad. But while your Pokémon change, the content remains virtually the same. You also reuse the same music, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But the track you've chosen is too high-energy—it never lets the viewer breathe. If you want the track to be associative, it needs to be catchy or build the listener's anticipation as the video progresses..." Jason explained, twisting his lips. The track in question was reminiscent of a traditional Pokémon battle theme. It would have fit seamlessly into one of the games, but it was much too intense for an unscripted, uncut training video.
Shaking his head, Jason met Bea's gaze and asserted, "The music should guide the viewer—telling them when to lean in, when to breathe, and when something is about to end. Right now, it never resolves. So when the video cuts off, it feels unfinished—unresolved. And that's not a feeling you want to leave in your viewers."
"What do you suggest I do, then?" Bea questioned, preempting Jason's response by stating flatly, "I don't have the funds to hire a PR team, and all of the talent managers I've consulted say the same thing. They want to get into modeling and marketing, but that would distract from my time spent training and improving alongside my Pokémon..."
"Aren't you represented by Macro Cosmos? Shouldn't they have personnel who handle things like this...?" Korrina asked, tilting her head.
"They do. But I'm not influential enough to have my own dedicated team, and those that exist are more concerned with making money than helping me achieve my goals..." Bea explained, her words heavy with exasperation and fatigue.
"What are your goals...?" Jason asked, smiling supportively as he added, "If I know what they are in advance, I'll have a much better idea of what you need to do to reach them."
"First and foremost, I want me and my Pokémon to be the strongest we can possibly be," Bea responded, punching her right fist into the palm of her left hand as she asserted, "I believe there are still greater heights for people and Pokémon to achieve. And to demonstrate that, I will start by smashing Leon's perfect record. After that, not even the sky is the limit..."
Seeing the fiery resolve in Bea's steel-grey eyes, Jason couldn't help but feel impressed and—just a tad—intimidated. She was like a more serious version of Korrina, and with the latter being able to split boulders with her kicks, there was no doubt in Jason's mind that Bea, who famously sparred with her Machamp, could accomplish similar feats.
"Are you starting to see why I asked her to stay back?" Korrina asked, a playful grin adorning her face as she bumped Jason's shoulder and gave him a knowing look.
"What's that supposed to mean...?" Bea asked, furrowing her brows and narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
Waving her right hand in front of her face, Korrina answered, "Let's not focus on that right now. Right now, I'm more curious to hear what Jason has to say regarding your goal and how to improve your videos."
"It's a great goal to have," Jason affirmed calmly, nodding. Then, with a confident smile, he attested, "As for how to improve your videos in a way that doesn't require shifting focus away from your training, I would start with how your videos are shot. You already command attention—your stance, the sharpness of your gaze, the way you carry yourself. If they saw you in the real world, the average person wouldn't be able to take their eyes off you. That's because they can imagine themselves in the moment, standing across from you. And there's a significant difference between seeing someone throw a punch from the side and witnessing it come directly at their face."
Though her somewhat thick brows perked at Jason's casual mention of her appearance being able to catch people's attention, it was what came after that captured Bea's interest. She knew precisely how it felt to have a fist come flying at her face, so as he went on to explain how she could set up and frame a shot with occasional cuts to sell the weight and impact of especially heavy blows, she listened closely and eventually started taking notes...
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vrrrrrrrrrr
Gesturing with her left hand to silence Jason mid-sentence, Bea picked up her non-Rotom phone, deactivated its security with her thumb print, and confirmed, "That's my team. I need to get back so I can prepare for my matches this afternoon."
"I also need to head out and prepare, but we should totally meet up and put what we learned today into practice. I'm certain Jason wouldn't mind filming and directing us~" Korrina hummed, causing Jason to feel slightly pressured with her sidelong, ear-to-ear smile.
"I'll consider it," Bea responded flatly, meeting Jason's gaze and catching him off guard as she adopted a faint smile and attested, "But anyone who can raise a Riolu into a Lucario while teaching it how to speak shouldn't be a bad person. Let us meet again once this conference has concluded."
Finished with what she had to say, Bea asked Ren to let her out of the booth before rewarding her with a shaker bottle filled with chilled, milky protein powder. Jason offered to take her wherever she needed to go via the car and the chauffeur that had been assigned to him, but Bea politely refused on account of her destination being outside the city. Thus, after a cursory exchange of contact information, she forewarned Korrina that she wouldn't be holding back in their impending matches before departing by way of a Flying Taxi—ferried by a particularly large Fearow...
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"It's been a while since I rode in such a spacious and luxurious car. It makes me feel like a proper lady~" Korrina hummed, seated to Jason's right with her head on his shoulder and her right hand clasping his. Ren was napping in her Poké Ball, so with space enough to accommodate six people comfortably, they nearly had enough leg room to lie down on the compartment's carpeted floor.
"Have you been informed who your opponent will be...?" Jason asked, his voice low, barely a whisper. He knew that Korrina didn't want him worrying about her matches, but as the Great Class was comprised of Trainers who had an average of twenty-three wins and zero losses under their belts, he was curious to see if he recognized any of them.
"I have. And it's going to be a tough battle..." Korrina responded, raising her head from Jason's shoulder and producing her Rotom phone to show him her next opponent directly.
Seeing a young, confident-looking man with wick-like black hair, sharp blue eyes, and a distinctive, pale scarf that resembled elongated tufts of ghostly blue flame, Jason's brows creased in recognition. As a result, he muttered, "Alain..." even before reading the man's name.
"What's with your reaction? Do you recognize him...?" Korrina questioned, noticing the sudden change in atmosphere.
Nodding, Jason revealed, "Back in my world, he's a popular character who appears in the Pokémon anime and several spin-offs as the series' rival or a deuteragonist. He even makes an appearance as the reigning Champion of the Kalos League in a game called Pokémon Legends Z-A..."
"Hmmn...I'm pretty sure his goal is the same as mine—to master Mega Evolution and cement his Charizard as the strongest in history. But I can definitely see him becoming Champion if he puts his mind to it..." Korrina conceded in a reflective tone, cupping her chin and tilting her head back as she reminisced about her previous interactions with Alain.
Sparing Jason the need to ask, Korrina revealed, "A few years ago, Alain went on an absolute tear through the Kalos Region, completing our Gym Challenge in near record time before securing second place in the annual Kalos Conference. Since then, he's been a top contender in the WCS. He even fought for a spot in the Masters Eight during last year's conference, but he wasn't able to hold the position to the end."
"He definitely participated in at least one Masters Eight in the anime. But his Mega Charizard was ultimately defeated by Leon's," Jason confirmed, prompting Korrina to smile and hum, "Well, Leon's Charizard is considered to be the current strongest. I don't know if it's true, but I've heard that he and his Charizard journeyed to the Johto Region's hidden Charicific Valley for special training. If the rumors are to be believed, they defeated every other Charizard on the island before returning to become Champion of the Galar Region without accruing a single loss."
"I'm fairly certain he acquired his skills from Mustard, the owner of the Isle of Armor we discussed previously..." Jason reminded, crossing his arms and frowning as he argued, "Not that it matters where he acquired his skill. I'm more concerned about the Darkest Day occurring. Were you able to learn anything on your end?"
"Not really," Korrina answered, shrugging her shoulders before revealing, "I tried asking Bea, Nessa, and Raihan if they encountered any interesting Trainers taking on Galar's Gym Challenge, but there was no one like the protagonists you described. As for Leon's brother, he's currently enrolled in the Kanto Region's famous Indigo Academy. From what I've been told, he's only in his first year of a three-year Ace Trainer course."
"I don't know if I should feel relieved or concerned..." Jason sighed, his voice heavy with exasperation. He knew that, canonically, there was a functionally infinite number of Pokémon worlds, generally separated by whether they had Mega Evolution or not. He was obviously in a timeline that had it, but it was hard to pin down when he was in relation to major events. All he knew for certain was that there had yet to be an outbreak of Ultra Beasts, meaning that the events of Pokémon Sun and Moon had yet to take place—assuming they ever did...
"How about just feeling the moment...?" Korrina asked, leaving Jason confused until she unclasped their respective seatbelts, scooted further to his right, and guided his head to her lap. Then, while gently combing her fingers through his hair, she proceeded to hum a faint, pleasant tune—one he knew used to be hummed to her by her mother.
'Right...even if the events I'm aware of come to pass, it's not as though I'm in a position to influence them...' Jason reminded himself, closing his eyes. He had already compiled most of his pertinent meta knowledge into a document that was currently in the League's custody. If Chairman Rose were keeping Eternatus imprisoned under his power plant, they would find out and resolve the situation. At present, he was just an outsider with little influence and a single Pokémon. Rather than worrying about catastrophes he couldn't affect with his limited power and resources, he was better off focusing on things he could...
With such thoughts in mind, Jason fell asleep in what felt like seconds. He hadn't noticed it, but the events of the previous evening and that morning had left him mentally, emotionally, and physically drained. He was used to pushing through fatigue, but a lack of caffeine, combined with the warmth and softness of Korrina's thighs, made an effective anasthetic...
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