With Maeve insisting that he at least catch Nanahoshi on the way out of her stadium, Jason steeled himself and flew over to it via Flying Taxi. He had arrived at Maeve's stadium via car, but since it would have taken him more than an hour to reach Nanahoshi's by the same method, he endured the comparably short, less-than-five-minute flight.
'Excellent. She still has one match to go...' Jason noted, stopping in front of a large scrolling display in the stadium's front lobby and food court. It showed Nanahoshi as one of the final three cards for the day, and, to his surprise, he recognized her opponent.
'This is a predicament...' Jason sighed internally, crossing his arms and adopting a troubled frown. Nanahoshi's opponent was none other than Raihan, and while she was bound to give the match her all, he couldn't imagine her emerging victoriously—bringing an end to her current streak of seven wins and zero losses.
Glancing at the two match-ups that followed Nanahoshi's, which were basically the venue's title cards, Jason was surprised to see that the final match included Champion Cynthia, a mainstay of the Pokémon franchise. Her opponent was a red-haired man with a large afro named Flint, a name he recognized from his research into the League's regions. The man was a member of the Sinnoh Region's Elite Four, so, despite his odd appearance, he was bound to give even Cynthia a run for her money.
thmp
Feeling a sudden pain in his left side, Jason hurriedly moved away and whipped around to find Nanahoshi staring impassively at him with her left index and middle fingers held up.
"Nice reaction," Nanahoshi stated flatly, snipping her fingers.
"I suppose I deserve at least that for arriving so late..." Jason conceded, forcing a wry but sincere smile.
"Have you eaten...?" Nanahoshi asked, thumbing over her right shoulder as she revealed, "I ordered too much sushi for lunch. Come and help me finish it off."
"Sure. I'd be happy—" Jason started, failing to get out all of his words before Nanahoshi turned and began walking away.
'Right...this isn't the best place to talk...' Jason sighed internally, following in Nanahoshi's wake while sweeping his gaze from left to right in a relaxed manner. There were many people around, and with Nanahoshi wearing her form-fitting battle attire beneath a soft, steel-grey, teal-trimmed hoodie, it wasn't exactly difficult to recognize her as a WCS participant...
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"Was that also networking...?" Jason asked, standing behind Nanahoshi and brushing her inordinately long and silky hair after she guided him to her changing room and promptly instructed him to remove his pants. He was a little taken aback by the abruptness of her request, but he ended up going with the flow, resulting in them having sex.
"Something like that..." Nanahoshi responded flatly, sitting with her eyes closed in front of a vanity mirror trimmed with soft lighting. The truth was that she had missed the unique stimulation that only Jason could provide, but she would never admit it—not to him, at least.
"Your hair is really long and beautiful..." Jason remarked softly, more so as an observation than an outright compliment. Nanahoshi's pale brown hair impressively cascaded past the backs of her knees when it wasn't tied back into a ponytail. Yet, despite its length, she didn't have any noticeably split ends, and its texture was akin to fine silk.
"Mmhmmn...go on..." Nanahoshi hummed softly, keeping her eyes closed. She didn't consider herself susceptible to flattery, but Jason's words had a marginally greater weight to them due to how carefully and diligently he attended to her hair.
"I'm honestly not sure what else to say..." Jason admitted, his voice low, somewhat husky as he appended, "Virtually all positive descriptors I can think of apply to you, but they're fundamentally inadequate. I suppose the most appropriate thing I can do is thank you for tolerating me..."
"Mmn...73 points..." Nanahoshi muttered, the faintest of smiles adorning her lips before she adopted a serious tone and stated, "I don't want you to observe or comment on my next match—or any of my matches for that matter. Just wait here to congratulate or console me..."
Though he was a little taken aback by Nanahoshi's request, Jason didn't hesitate for too long before affirming, "I understand..." in a low, palliative tone. He was certain he could help Nanahoshi prepare a strategy to best or, at least, better hold out against Raihan, but he wasn't going to insist or infringe on her pride.
"Mmn...you can be really dense at times, but you're quick when you need to be..." Nanahoshi affirmed, regaining a faint smile. Jason was tempted to ask her how he was dense, but since she would presumably utilize that as proof of her assertion, he elected to keep silent and continue brushing her hair—carefully and therapeutically...
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With Raihan being one of the Trainers favored to win the entire WCS, it was no great surprise that he soundly defeated Nanahoshi. Raihan was able to hard-counter her Steel-types with his Fire-type Torkoal, a large and extremely durable Pokémon that resembled a steel-shelled tortoise fueled by fiery coal. It was practically immobile due to its size, build, and weight, but its defense, combined with its powerful Fire and Ground-type moves, allowed it to defeat both of Nanahoshi's Pokémon without having to swap out.
Though he would have liked to stick around to watch Cynthia's battle against Flint, Jason spent the time following Nanahoshi's return to her changing room silently spooning her atop a comfortable, brown leather sofa. When she arrived, the first thing she did was walk directly into his chest with her forehead, so he spent the subsequent hour attending to and consoling her without speaking a single word.
Breaking the long silence, Nanahoshi muttered, "We should get going soon. Maeve is probably waiting for us..."
"Probably..." Jason affirmed. Instead of motioning to get up, however, he remained completely still, making it clear he had no intention of being the one to initiate their departure.
"Eighty points..." Nanahoshi muttered, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of being held a while longer. She felt guilty about leaving Maeve waiting, but she knew her pink-haired rival well enough to understand she wouldn't mind. Maeve was considerate to a fault, and though it led to her being taken advantage of, it was one of the things Nanahoshi appreciated and not-so-secretly loved about her character...
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Though he had originally planned to return to the Wyndham Champion's Resort, Jason, after contacting Lillie and Korrina to let them know of the change in plans, ended up accompanying Nanahoshi to the hotel, where she and Maeve shared a single room.
"It's not much, but feel free to come inside and make yourself at home..." Maeve expressed, doing her best to sound calm and casual as she led the way into her and Nanahoshi's small, double-bedded room. Other than two queen-sized beds, there was a nightstand with a shaded lamp, a dresser with a wall-mounted TV, two cheap metal wardrobes, and a single chair in the room's corner.
'This reminds me of my college dorm...' Jason thought, a nostalgia-tinged smile adorning his face.
"When are you planning to reintroduce me to Ren...?" Nanahoshi asked, surprising Jason by slipping her hands under his shirt and caressing his abs from behind. In the process, her breasts indented against his back, almost certainly by design.
"Preferably after we're finished..." Jason responded, his pupils dilating slightly as Maeve, after dropping her backpack, began to undress right in front of him. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, so much so that his thoughts temporarily ceased as every neuron in his brain coordinated to appreciate the sight before him.
Instantly snapping Jason out of his gaze, Nanahoshi asked, "Is it really such a big deal if she watches or joins in? If you're unwilling, I can do it for you..."
"What do you mean...?" Jason responded, his expression morphing into a deep, slightly annoyed frown. He didn't believe that Nanahoshi was trying to annoy him, but after his nightmare that morning, she was touching on a sensitive topic.
"She's talking about this..." Maeve appended exasperatedly, his cheeks tinged red as she unzipped a black bag and pulled out something flesh-colored with a leather harness.
"..."
Recognizing what the object was the moment he laid eyes upon it, the gears in Jason's mind immediately ground to a stop. Wicke had informed him that such an item was in development, but he had thought it was in the planning and design stages. He was neither mentally nor emotionally prepared to see someone he knew pulling out a fully actualized strap-on, much less one clearly inspired by his own anatomy...
"You okay? You look like you've just seen a Ghost-type..." Maeve noted, tilting her head with a mix of confusion and concern.
"He's probably worried that he's going to be made obsolete..." Nanahoshi hummed huskily, her voice tinged with humor. Unlike Maeve, she had fully anticipated a visceral reaction from Jason. Though, she hadn't expected it to be so extreme...
"There's no way that will happen," Maeve asserted decisively, her brows furrowing into a serious expression as she discarded the stap-on onto the bed and approached Jason to append, "A lifeless toy could never replace you..." while sliding her hands along his waist. Then, following an audible gulp, she tilted her head slightly to the side and leaned in to kiss him.
Though he was still shaken by what he had seen and what Nanahoshi's words implied, Jason temporarily set everything aside to concentrate, or, more accurately, lose himself in kissing Maeve. Her awkward and careful ministrations were the best medicine to his shaken psyche, and since she ceased teasing him to focus on kissing his right shoulder, Nanahoshi, too, was able to ease him away from what very well could have been a mental collapse...
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[Two Hours Later]
"If it bothers you, I promise I'll never use that faux appendage again..." Maeve expressed, seated behind Jason with her chin resting on his left shoulder and her hands lathering the front of his body.
"Is it really that big a deal...?" Nanahoshi asked, adopting a slight frown from her position behind Ren. At the same time, the latter tilted her head, confused about what the trio was discussing.
"It's complicated..." Jason responded, closing his eyes and taking a steadying breath before analogizing, "Try thinking of it in terms of your and Maeve's rivalry. If you were to learn she was routinely battling with another Steel-type Trainer—even if it was ultimately to prepare for your battles—how would that make you feel?"
"That's not really an apt comparison, though, is it?" Nanahoshi rebutted, pointing out, "That little toy we left back in the hotel is just that, a toy. It isn't another person."
"That's why I said it's complicated..." Jason sighed, his frown softening into a contemplative, unfocused stare. Other than him simply not being comfortable with it, he didn't have a clear, compelling argument for why Nanahoshi, Maeve, and others couldn't or shouldn't utilize strap-ons or other sex toys. He definitely wouldn't permit their use on Ren or any other Pokémon he acquired. But if Maeve wanted to go to town on her Salazzle as a reward for its hard work, there were no laws or moral framework that prohibited it.
'If only I had been able to control myself back then...' Jason sighed, both externally and deep within his heart. If he had been able to suppress his desire toward Burnet and never piqued her curiosity, the current situation never would have come about. He had effectively corrupted everyone he had come into contact with. And since he couldn't simply undo or reorient their common sense to be in line with his own, that corruption was bound to spread, affecting the lives of people and Pokémon alike...
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