"Mmn...the most obvious solution would be to do a bunch of squats until you have thighs like iron. But with how quickly you seem to put on muscle, you could end up looking like a Combusken..." Korrina answered, reacting to Jason's question about methods to strengthen his thighs to more easily endure Ren's weight. At the same time, she made good on her promise to provide him a massage, her fingers, thumbs, and palms working his back and shoulders with inexperienced ardency—kneading more painfully than skillfully as she straddled the backs of his thighs.
"I'm confused. Would it not be easiest to simply allow Ren to sit on your lap? Surely you would get accustomed to it..." Lillie contended, seated a short distance from Jason and Korrina. They were currently gathered in her room atop her bed, where, to help Runa improve her Psychic abilities, she had the young Ralts guess what was on the faces of tarot-like cards she drew from a pile of nearly a hundred.
"Ren really likes sitting on Jason's lap~" Ren contributed, energetically performing squats next to the bed. Notably, as Lillie wanted Runa to get used to their presence, all of Korrina's Pokémon were present, lounging about or quietly exercising. This included Luca, who was meditating; her Machamp, who was shadowboxing; her Hawlucha, who was posing in front of a mirror; and, of course, the trio she had preserved from her time in Alola: Laani, Scrafty, and Mienfoo.
After what she had experienced earlier that afternoon, Laani wasn't in the best of moods. Curiously, this resulted in her poutily lying across Audino's lap, the latter calmly and carefully brushing her long and fluffy ears with a soft, mitten-like brush. As for Scrafty and Mienfoo, the latter was teaching the former slow movements resembling Tai chi.
"As long as you can sit still..." Jason sighed, his voice tinged with a slight groan as Korrina's hands, despite being soft to the touch, were even more unforgiving than having someone step on his back. Despite that, he found the sensation strangely pleasant, as if tension he didn't know he had was being kneaded out of him.
"Ren can sit still...!" Ren responded, pumping her fists, her tail wagging excitedly behind her. Then, as if to demonstrate her claim, she borrowed a page out of Luca's book by sitting cross-legged on the floor, bridging her fingers near her navel, closing her eyes, and tucking her chin to her chest.
"Do your best to hold that position as long as possible..." Jason hummed softly, his humor-tinged words causing Ren's ears to angle backward and a faint shadow of unease to descend over her face. She was only trying to show Jason that she knew how to sit the same way Luca did. She didn't expect him to instruct her to hold the position—particularly while she had been in the middle of exercising.
"It might go against your instincts, but when it comes to Lucario, honing your mind is just as important as honing your body~" Korrina appended supportively, causing Ren's brows to crease into a look of determination. Jason was her partner and the person she trusted the most, but she held Korrina's and Luca's strength and bond in high regard. She viewed them as the primary obstacle she and Jason needed to overcome, so if it would help her become stronger and guarantee her place on the latter's lap, she would meditate as hard and as often as needed.
'Relax your mind and let the tension in your body melt away...' Luca said telepathically, dutifully positioning himself behind Ren with his palms on her back. Ren naturally obeyed, leading to a protracted, very educational meditation session in which even Korrina's Machamp, Hawlucha, Mienfoo, and Scrafty joined in. Meanwhile, Jason continued being reduced to putty beneath Korrina's palms, while internally, he mentally prepared himself for the inevitability that Ren would expect to be allowed to sit on his lap after demonstrating her ability to keep still...
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Contrary to Jason's expectations, neither Lillie nor Korrina made any overt attempts to transition from cozy cohabitation to more licentious activities. They slept in the same bed, but in the lead-up to lights out, they primarily just cuddled and talked about the WCS in their pajamas. Things invariably heated up the following morning, but that was because it had become as much a part of their morning routine as brushing their teeth.
'Whoever came up with this mode of transportation is insane...' Jason thought, his complexion pale and his intestines forming knots within his abdomen as he rode within a Flying Taxi alongside Korrina. Each time the Coviknight carrying them retracted its wings, the cushioned compartment would plunge ever so slightly, producing a feeling of weightlessness. And each time that happened, his willpower was pitted against a growing urge to vomit.
"Today's matches should be much easier than yesterday's," Korrina stated matter-of-factly, bumping Jason's shoulder and showing him the screen of her Rotom phone as she explained, "You see, when someone loses a match in the Great Class, they get matched against others with the same number of losses. Because of that, some Trainers actually throw their first match, as it all but guarantees they won't be matched against contenders for the Masters Eight until reaching the Ultra Class."
"That makes sense..." Jason muttered, his brows rising slightly as, for the second time in as many days, he recognized the opponent Korrina would be facing. Their identity wasn't apparent at a glance, as they appeared a lot taller and had a different hairstyle than the one in his memory. But the moment he saw the orange-haired, surprisingly buxom, swimsuit-wearing Trainer's name, he couldn't help but utter, "Misty..." with a mix of awe and disbelief.
"Oh? Is this also someone you recognize from you-know-where? Or did you learn about them from your research...?" Korrina asked curiously. She knew that Jason and Lillie had been researching each region to determine which Gym Challenge to take on, but going by his reaction, she was pretty sure he recognized Misty from his previous world.
"She was a mainstay in the early games and the very first anime," Jason explained, confirming Korrina's suspicions and piquing her curiosity even further. For a brief moment, she was tempted to ask if they should try to recruit Misty to join their project. But, like herself, the latter was the leader of a Gym—specifically the Kanto Region's Cerulean City Gym. She would almost certainly refuse due to prior commitments. And, considering she was in her late twenties and a famed celebrity within her region, she likely had a boyfriend or two.
'That's a really daring swimsuit...' Jason noted, his gaze briefly lingering on the lower half of Misty's high-waisted, one-piece sport swimsuit. The seams of the leg openings indented her skin above the bones of her hips, and as a result, the fabric tapered inward, barely covering what it needed to and leaving a fair amount of her butt exposed. She had on a pastel blue jacket with a water-blue trim, long sleeves, and the water drop symbol on the shoulders, but it cut off just below her navel...
Diverting his attention to Misty's Pokémon, three of which were blacked out, indicating she had yet to field them, Jason remarked, "Her Golduck could be a problem. And if her capabilities are anything like what I recall, her Gyarados is capable of Mega Evolution..."
"You're right on both counts," Korrina confirmed with a nod, a confident smile adorning her face as she asserted, "But you're mistaken if you think water is a weakness for Luca. It's naturally shorter in battle, but he's able to hold his breath for over thirty minutes. More significantly, Gyarados are some of the most temperamental Pokémon there are, making them super difficult to train well. Misty's Gyarados can Mega Evolve, but if she uses it early, it will rampage, forcing her to withdraw from the match."
"Mega Evolution honestly feels like more trouble than it's worth..." Jason sighed, causing Korrina to frown unintentionally. After all, she was the de facto poster girl of Mega Evolution. And, as it was part of her heritage, the comment was an unintentional jab at her ancestry.
Fortunately, while he didn't notice her frown, Jason managed to smooth things over by appending, "At the very least, it's not a power the average Trainer should be using in publicly broadcast battles. It's different for you and Luca, as the two of you have basically spent your entire lives working to master it. But in most other cases I've seen...it just doesn't feel like the League is sending the best message to aspiring Trainers..."
Bringing their conversation to a rather abrupt end, Jason's and Korrina's Flying Taxi touched down at their destination with surprising grace. They had to wait for the Corviknight to come to a rest before disembarking, but unlike an engine or a turbine, it simply needed to slow its beating and fold its glossy, raven-black, naturally metallic wings inward before discharging plumes of hot vapor like a steam engine.
"Alright! Let's warm ourselves up by running the rest of the way to the stadium...!" Korrina exclaimed, drawing considerable attention to her and Jason as she began throwing swift punches. The early morning air was a crisp 14 degrees Celsius, and as it had been even colder while they were flying through the sky, she was keen to get her blood pumping before her first match.
"I was wondering why we didn't touch down outside the stadium..." Jason exhaled with a smile. However, as he would be sitting for much of the day, he didn't hesitate to begin stretching alongside Korrina. The stadium was visible in a large clearing three city blocks over, but Korrina had them take a detour, ensuring he completed his daily Foundation Training before they reached it...
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Though her Scrafty and Mienfoo lost their respective matches, Korrina managed to secure herself two additional wins thanks to Luca's dominant performance. Misty had tried flooding the field, a common tactic used by Water-type specialists, but Luca was surprisingly able to run across it as if it were a solid surface, specifically using the Grass-type move, Trailblaze. Misty attempted to sink him by having her Mega Gyarados use Whirlpool, but he simply rode the current like a surfer or a snowboarder, sending the crowd into a frenzy with his skill.
"Korrina! Luca was super cool today! Super strong...!" Ren exclaimed, practically bursting into Korrina's dressing room after the latter sent a message to Jason, calling them over.
"Oh? Should I bring him out so you can tell him yourself~?" Korrina asked, bracing herself to accept Ren's running hug without being knocked off her feet.
Following behind his self-assigned daughter with a slightly exasperated expression, Jason was unsurprised to find that Korrina wasn't alone in her changing room.
"Oh, wow. You're not just tall. You're super tall. And muscular to boot..." remarked Korrina's guest, an orange-haired beauty with a full but athletic figure on full display behind a pale, almost grey-blue swimsuit. It had dark blue accents that followed the contours of her body, but what Jason did his best to pay attention to were the woman's eyes—pristine, blue-green orbs that perfectly complemented her orange hair, which framed her face with spiky bangs and inward curving occipital locks.
"Jason Springfield. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Jason expressed, extending his right hand to the woman, Misty Kasumi, for a handshake.
"Lucky you. I usually charge for this kind of thing~" Misty joked, smiling playfully as she accepted Jason's hand, leaned forward slightly, and gave him a wink. She was a lot more confident than the Misty in his memories, but she was also noticeably older and more mature, further distorting the timeline Jason had been attempting to form in his mind.
"That must be very lucrative for you," Jason quipped, matching Misty's energy as he might a client. It was a little difficult with the notification he received the moment their hands clasped, but there was a reason none of his employees dared to play poker against him in his previous world. Once he turned on his poker face, there was very little that could break it...
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