"Korrinaaaaa has arrived~!"
Following the bubbly cry, Korrina landed on the beach not far from where Jason was watching Ren, evidently having leaped down from the cliff and sticking the landing with her hands raised and a bright smile adorning her face. Luca dropped down next to her, but as he didn't have the benefit of Omnishoes, he landed in a deep crouch before rising to his full height and crossing his arms.
"Korrina! Luca~!"
Hearing Korrina's shout and seeing her near Jason, Ren habitually tried to run forward on her hands and feet. As a result, she briefly ended up face-planting into the sand before clamoring to her feet, shaking her head, and rushing forward without missing a beat.
"Great recovery~!" chimed Korrina, giving Ren a thumbs up.
'Congratulations on your evolution,' expressed Luca, his expression stern, but his telepathic tone a touch softer than usual.
Slowing down as she reached the group, Ren pumped her fists and boldly asserted, "Luca battle Ren...!" with glistening, excitement-filled eyes.
'If your Trainer agrees...' responded Luca, glancing at Jason with a steely but expectant look.
"I trust you'll guide her well," Jason affirmed with a nod, eliciting one from Luca in turn. Immediately after, Ren abruptly pounced on him, effortlessly knocking him off his feet and crashing with him to the ground.
"Ah! Jason okay...!?" exclaimed Ren, her expression going from happy to panic as she hadn't intended to tackle Jason to the ground. For a moment, Jason was too stunned to respond. He wasn't injured, but as Ren knocked him onto his back and rose to a seated position, her weight and the heat that had accumulated in her body from playing around were focused at a disconcerting location.
While doing his best to ignore the sensation, Jason calmly assured, "I'm fine. But you need to get off of me so I can stand up..."
"Mmn...okay..." Ren responded weakly, briefly placing even more weight on Jason as she adjusted her position to get her feet under her. Then, as he had back in Korrina's private booth, Ren offered Jason a helping hand rising to his feet.
"..."
Though he briefly stared blankly at the outstretched hand, Jason didn't hesitate too long before accepting Ren's assistance. As a result, he found himself pulled to his feet with considerable ease, placing him in a position for the red-eyed Pokémon to glance up at him with a pitiable, apologetic expression.
"Ren sorry..."
"It's fine. There's nothing wrong with feeling happy or getting excited..." Jason affirmed, using his left hand to tousle Ren's head as she was still holding onto his right with a casual grip he doubted he could free himself from, even if he pulled with all his might.
"Ren sorry still..." Ren countered, closing her eyes, tilting her head down, and nuzzling her forehead against Jason's chest, with her muzzle rubbing against his left flank.
"Mmn...apology accepted..." affirmed Jason, hugging Ren's head with his left hand before shifting his gaze to Korrina and Luca. He was hoping that they might intervene to divert Ren's focus back to the battle, but Korrina just beamed back at him with crossed arms and an almost smug look on her face. Meanwhile, Ren ignored him completely by closing his eyes and turning his head...
"What a wholesome interaction~!"
pichaa
Leaving Jason with a completely flat expression, his Rotom phone took it upon itself to commemorate his accepting Ren's apology with a series of photos that would invariably find their way back to Lusamine...
'I definitely need to take action soon, rather than later...' thought Jason, exhaling through his nose. Thus, after eventually separating from Ren and entrusting her to Luca, he sat down with Korrina to explain his stance and concerns...
...
..
.
"Mmn...I get that you're against it..." conceded Korrina, twisting her lips into a thoughtful grimace before appending, "What I don't understand is why you're against it. All things considered, Ren's proportions aren't that different from mine or Seren's. And if you're able to strengthen your bond through something as easy as sex, wouldn't that make it easier for you to form a Pactio? You might even trigger a Bond Phenomenon."
Ding!
Ostensibly prompted by Korrina's assertion, a Quest notification flashed before Jason's face, compelling him to read it.
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Quest: [Beyond Trainer and Pokémon]
Rank: B~S
Description: You've already formed a strong bond with your Pokémon, but there are greater heights to achieve. And while there may be many routes to the top, some are smoother or more precarious than others.
Objective(s): Form a Pactio with a Pokémon(0/1)
Optional Objective(s): Have sex with a Pokémon(0/1), Have sex with ten different Pokémon(0/10), Have one of your Pokémon produce a fertilized Pokémon Egg(0/1)
Reward: [500,000AP]
Optional Rewards: [100,000AP], [1,000,000AP], [Ultra Incubator]x1
Notice: This is a Quest sponsored by [The Ivory Star That Amasses Plates]. It is highly recommended that you complete it.
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"What's up? Did you receive a notification from your System...?" asked Korrina, her brows raised and her curiosity piqued.
"I did..." confessed Jason, inhaling a deep breath and exhaling loudly through his nose before explaining, "It's a Quest tasking me with having sex and even producing an egg with a Pokémon, but I'll say this now—I have no intention of completing it."
[The Ivory Star That Amasses Plates corrects the Aspirant by pointing out that the primary Objective is to form a Pactio with your Pokémon.]
[The Great Sage Who Peers Under Skirts rolls onto its back and guffaws without inhibition.]
Ignoring the messages as best he could, Jason explained, "To be frank, I don't have a good reason for why I feel as I do. One thing I know for sure is that Ren is like a daughter to me. I refuse to take advantage of her. And even if others don't view it that way, it doesn't change the fact that I have raised her from an egg and been her primary caretaker. I refuse to violate what I perceive as the sanctity of our bond..."
After listening attentively to Jason's explanation, Korrina demonstrated that her brain was useful for more than battling and martial arts by asking, "Then, what about Laani? You didn't raise her from an egg, and it's pretty obvious to everyone that you view her as more than a Pokémon. Why not have sex with her? I'm almost positive that if she saw us, she would want to try it herself."
Shaking his head, Jason calmly reiterated, "As I said before...I don't really have a good reason for how I feel. We could view it as a holdover from my previous world, but it just doesn't feel right—plain and simple."
"Mmmn...well, people are entitled to their likes and dislikes..." Korrina conceded, shrugging. She very clearly wasn't convinced, but she wasn't going to force Jason to do something he wasn't willing to do.
"But..." Korrina appended, her expression softening but her eyes serious as she stated, "Since I don't really see an issue with you and Ren having sex, I can't back you up. I respect and support your decision, but I can't adopt it as my own. Is that alright with you?"
"It wasn't my intention to force you to agree with me," responded Jason, shaking his head before smiling weakly as he added, "I just wanted us to be on the same page so you don't go out of your way to encourage Ren to be more assertive. This is uncharted territory for us all...I just don't want to step on any landmines that could have been avoided..."
"To be honest, Jason, I think you're being too cautious," Korrina rebutted. Contrastingly, a supportive smile adorned her face as she asserted, "But I understand you have a different way of viewing the world than we do, and it isn't mine or anyone else's place to say that's wrong. I just want you and Ren to both be happy."
"I know...and I can't express how grateful I am to you for that..." Jason sighed, glancing in the direction of Ren, mirroring Luca's moves near the shoreline, as he added, "And, truth be told, how I feel now might not be how I feel even hours from now. I understand this isn't my world and that the common sense I once lived by flew out the window the moment I was thrust into a previously fictional reality. It's just...things are happening too quickly. I need something to ground myself..."
"Right...I'm guessing my roping you into having sex with Alexa and her dragging Viola and Grant into things didn't help..." Korrina acknowledged, her usually bubbly expression collapsing into a cramped, apologetic smile as she cupped the back of her head.
Shaking his head, Jason adopted a smile and asserted, "While it's true that that was an awkward situation, I would have removed myself from it if I were unwilling to participate. I feel like I crossed a line by having sex with Viola twice, but even back in my previous world, there was a concept called swinging..."
"Swinging...?" Korrina parroted, tilting her head curiously as she imagined straddling Jason and making out with him on a swing set. It was a strange picture, but she was more than willing to give it a try.
Contrary to Korrina's expectations, Jason explained that swinging was a form of consensual partner swapping, where couples exchange sexual partners for social or recreational purposes. He made it clear the practice wasn't common and that it was widely frowned upon, but that didn't make it any less of a revelation. What followed was an awkward but educational conversation about kinks—the details of which caused Korrina's blue eyes shimmer with unabashed expectation...
...
..
.
As the sun began its gradual descent over the horizon, Jason and Korrina returned to the Tower of Mastery with Ren and Luca arriving well ahead of them. There, they ate dinner at the island's canteen, where Korrina fielded a ton of questions from her female Gym Trainers about how they had met, how they had fallen in love, and what their aspirations were for the future. It was exhausting, but Jason smiled through it and did his best to politely and succinctly answer the questions directed at him, leaving Korrina to do most of the talking.
Though one of the Gym Trainers proposed having a sleepover in Korrina's room, the latter thankfully refused on the grounds that she and Jason had some private matters to attend to. In truth, she had proposed inviting the group to join her and Jason on their walk over from the beach, but he had unhesitatingly rejected the notion—not just because they were supposed to be keeping sex a secret but because he was too exhausted to contend with the unfettered curiosity of five sporty women simultaneously.
Fortunately for Jason, Alexa had, once again, chosen to spend the night in her hotel room as she had a bunch of editing and compositing to do after the day's matches. Jason could have helped her with this, but since it was her job and not his, he neglected to mention that he had experience with both photography and video editing. Instead, after returning to Korrina's room for the evening, the two of them did some light exercises together before Ren and Luca returned, the former looking a bit worse for wear after what Jason presumed to be intensive training.
"Ren loves showers..." sighed Ren, sitting in front of Jason atop a wooden bath stool as he silently, stone-facedly lathered her body. He intended to have her wash herself gradually, but as he had been cleaning her body as many as a dozen times a day since she hatched, he felt it wouldn't be fair to her if he suddenly refused to do so. What he didn't expect was that, as he was finishing with her body, Ren would lean back and assert, "Ren will wash Jason~" with a happy smile.
"I can wash myself—" responded Jason, but Ren was already getting up, giving him an eyeful of her backside before she made her way around to his back, squatted down, and began enthusiastically scrubbing him using suds sourced from her own body.
"Ren is big now~" hummed Ren, looking and sounding happy to be able to return the favor by washing Jason's body. Fortunately, she didn't attempt to wash him with her body, leaving Jason stone-faced but able to endure by silently and preemptively washing his front—sparing it from the happily humming Lucario's roving hands...
...
..
.