"Mmmmnnh. I feel healed just seeing this place again~!" Lillie hummed, entering Ellaine's abode with Ren and Jason following close behind her.
"Ah! Everything is so small~!" Ren chimed, darting past Lillie and running around excitedly. It was her first time seeing the interior of Ellaine's home since evolving into a Lucario, so while she recognized everything within, it felt strangely alien.
"How nostalgic~!" Dex remarked, zipping around and taking in the familiar sight before settling into his old charging station like sinking into a warm bath.
"You're free to go play outside, but remember the rules. Don't enter the forest on your own," Jason remarked, producing Dinah's Poké Ball from a red and white pouch.
pshaa
Following a sharp-pitched sound, Dinah appeared from her Poké Ball and issued a happy, "Auwadinn~!" before immediately making her way toward the kitchen.
"Ah! Allow me to help you~!" Lillie offered, hurriedly following after Dinah to prepare drinks and a light meal for everyone.
'It really does feel great to be back...' Jason thought, following the duo with an affectionate smile before startling slightly and looking ahead in confusion as Ren, instead of heading out to the garden to play, came up to and hugged him. She didn't say it aloud, but as he looked down to see her staring up at him with sad but intent eyes, he understood she had no intention of leaving his side.
"You're cute when you worry. But this is our home, Ren. As long as we're careful, we're safe here..." Jason asserted softly, simultaneously cupping the sides of Ren's face and gently massaging her squishy cheeks with his thumbs.
"Ren will stay with Jason..." Ren countered firmly, her gaze never leaving Jason and her arms tightening around his waist.
"Mmn...if that's what you want. But I need to be able to move around on my own..." Jason conceded, plopping his right hand down on Ren's head and tousling her bristly but soft fur.
"Ren understands..." Ren affirmed, giving Jason one final squeeze and nuzzle before releasing him. She then moved over to her cat-tree-like resting place. But since it was now much too small for her, she perched herself on the far end of the U-shaped sofa, granting her a view of the entire living room.
'I guess this will be our new normal for a while...' Jason sighed, both internally and externally. Ren had stubbornly refused to return to her Poké Ball or allow him out of her sight since her sedation wore off. It certainly wasn't her fault, but she seemed to blame herself for what had happened to him. As such, unless he was using the bathroom or within the safety of his Sanctum, she followed and watched him at all times.
Demonstrating this point, Ren got up from the sofa and hurried to catch up to Jason as he briefly dropped by his and Lillie's shared room to drop off his backpack and luggage. She even went inside before him to ensure it was secure, leaving Jason feeling equal parts thankful and exasperated, as, despite the tremendous difference in their capabilities, he considered it his job to protect her...
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vrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Though he couldn't be there in person, Jason made sure to watch the broadcast of Korrina's, Maeve's, and Nanahoshi's matches alongside Lillie, Runa, Ren, Dinah, and Dex in the living room. At the same time, as it had grown thicker due to Galar's colder climate, he used a pair of specialized shears to trim Ren's fur.
'I know it's not, but this feels beyond dubious...' Jason thought, following a Lucario grooming guide that required him to carefully trim the fur around Ren's surprisingly large breasts, butt, and genitals. Fortunately, while she noticeably enjoyed his ministrations, lying stomach down atop a grooming table designed to support her weight, her attention was entirely on the TV and the matches being broadcast.
'This is your duty as her Trainer and partner...' Jason reminded himself, raising Ren's tail and impassively running the trimmer along the contours of her thighs and butt. There were step-by-step guides for grooming the fur covering her thighs to resemble shorts, but for warmer climates like Alola, it was recommended to trim everything but her tail and the scruff around her neck and shoulders to 3cm. If it was trimmed too short, the guide warned that it could lead to severe tissue damage, as Lucario were ultimately crepuscular creatures who spent most of their lives in caves or dense forests. Beneath their fur, their skin was photoreceptive and prone to burning.
'I guess that means I'll get to refuse when she asks to try on a bikini...' Jason thought, using a rolling spacer and a pair of scissors to trim Ren's tail. Previously, as a Riolu, he had Ren wear a red-and-white striped one-piece when she wanted to practice swimming. He was certain it was only a matter of time before she wanted to try on something more risque, but now he had a reason to refuse. Whether or not she accepted that reason was another matter...
[The Great Sage Who Peers Under Skirts offers you 10,000 AP to make a skirt part of your Lucario's standard attire.]
Seeing the notification materialize in the periphery of his vision, Jason's brows briefly creased before he mentally asserted, 'I may be the reason she wears clothes, but what she wears is up to her.'
[The Great Sage Who Peers Under Skirts contests the veracity of your assertion, pointing out that you were just thinking about dissuading your Lucario from wearing a bikini.]
"..."
Unable to refute The Great Sage's riposte, Jason had Ren turn onto her side so he could trim her flank. The pose greatly emphasized the breadth and contours of her hips, but Jason focused on ensuring the length of her fur was even up to the pit of her raised arm.
"Alright, turn onto your back..." Jason said, prompting Ren to obediently follow his instructions, her gaze remaining fixed on the TV as he carefully sheared around her breasts. Jason couldn't help but notice how firm they were, but he didn't focus on it. And the longer the grooming session went on, the more his expression and bearing became those of a consummate, zoned-in professional.
"According to the timetable, Nanahoshi's match against Aaron of the Hoenn Elite Four should be up next. Do you want to watch it together...?" Lillie questioned, breaking Jason out of his trance-like focus.
"I'm not fond of leaving a task incomplete, but I couldn't possibly refuse such a request," Jason responded coolly, turning off and setting aside the trimmers before picking up a powerful hair dryer. The sounds it produced temporarily overwhelmed the volume of the TV, but he could see from the picture when he needed to turn it off.
"Ah...thanks for the assist..." Jason expressed, reacting to Dinah getting up from where she had been seated to help sweep up Ren's fur. His first instinct was to tell her that he had everything under control, but he knew from experience that, once she decided to lend a hand, there was nothing that could stop her...
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'I'm not sure if it's because of the blood transfusions, but I feel like my hormones are more balanced than normal...' Jason noted, feeling warm but unreactive between the bodies of Lillie and, as her grooming wasn't yet finished, a naked Ren. She wouldn't be able to wear clothes when he took on Gym Challenges or participated in League Conferences, so while he preferred that she wear them, he didn't insist that she don them before joining him, Lillie, and Runa on the sofa.
While contemplating whether he was finally adapting to life as a resident of the Pokémon world, Jason's brows perked at the sight of Nanahoshi in her form-fitting, pale grey, turquoise-trimmed battle attire. Her opponent was a skinny man with medium-length green hair and a prominent ahoge that jutted up like a plant leaf—Aaron Alders. His specialty was Bug-type Pokémon, so while he was a member of the Hoenn Elite Four, Jason was hopeful that Nanahoshi would secure the win with her Steel-types having a natural resistance to her opponent's typings. The only danger was that the match-up was a one-versus-one, meaning she and Aaron were locked into whichever Pokémon they fielded first...
'She's got this in the bag...' Jason thought, a broad smile adorning his face as Nanahoshi fielded a Flying and Steel-type Corviknight against Aaron's Bug and Fighting-type Heracross. In the games, Heracross were 4x weak to Flying-type moves. Nanhoshi's Corviknight even possessed the Hidden Ability, Mirror Armor, making it immune to status-lowering moves. As long as it kept its distance, it should have had an absolute advantage.
Unfortunately for Jason, the reality he was a part of didn't strictly follow the logic of the games. Nanahoshi's Corviknight definitely had the edge in Typing, but Aaron was still an Elite Four member. And once his Heracross Mega Evolved, it gained Skill Link, a rare Ability that drastically increased the strength and precision of its anti-air, Pin Missle barrage. Nanahoshi's Corviknight theoretically took only 1/4th damage from the attack, but with Mega Heracross having the second-highest attack among all Pokémon, at least in the games, each of its Pin Missiles was like a weighty blow from a sledgehammer.
As a last-ditch effort, Nanahoshi pulled a page out of Korrina's playbook by instructing her beaten and battered Corviknight to break through Mega Heracross's attacks and slam into it with Brave Bird. The latter, excluding Z-moves, was the strongest physical Flying-type move. But while it dealt tremendous damage, it was a kamikaze blow that caused the user to take heavy recoil damage.
Tragically, while Nanahoshi's Corviknight slammed into Aaron's Mega Heracross with the force of a flying car traveling at speed comparable to a bullet train, the latter withstood the desperate blow with Endure. It was paralyzed from the impact and likely wouldn't have been able to continue, but with Nanahoshi's Corviknight being knocked unconscious, the Rotom Drone refereeing the match readily declared Aaron the victor.
"Do you think I should send her a conciliatory message? Or would it be better to let her decompress for a bit...?" Jason asked, prompting Lillie to tilt her head and hum in consideration.
"Hmmn...it's hard to know when it comes to Nanahoshi. She strikes me as a very prideful woman, but I also get the impression that she enjoys being doted upon..." Lillie proffered.
"That sounds accurate..." Jason affirmed, pulling out his smartphone and taking a moment to consider his words before commenting on how great Nanahoshi looked in her battle attire. He felt that it would backfire on him if he said anything about the match directly, so he focused entirely on his impression of Nanahoshi herself.
✓✓
Seeing a pair of green check marks appear next to his text shortly after Nanahoshi departed the battlefield, Jason anticipated a quick response, but none came. The check marks indicated that Nanahoshi had read his text, but she evidently wasn't in the mood to chat as they went grey soon after, indicating she had closed her messaging app.
"I'll try messaging her on my end. You should focus on completing Ren's grooming before Korrina's impending match," Lillie suggested, pulling out her custom Rotom Phone and deftly tapping the screen with her thumbs.
"I'll leave it to you," Jason affirmed, waiting for Ren to stop weighing him down before rising from the sofa and returning with her to the grooming station. Having her watch him intently as he trimmed between her thighs was more than a little awkward, but her complete lack of a reaction came as a relief. It demonstrated the borderline unquestioning trust she had in him, so while he doubted that he would ever truly get used to such things, Jason didn't avert or blur his eyes as he dutifully completed Ren's grooming without incident...
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