Just as Jason was thinking that the blue-haired youth looked like he wanted to pick a fight, the latter slammed the table before him, stood up, and shouted, "Ha! Our gazes met! You know what that means, don't you!? It's time for a Pokémon Battle...!"
Reacting to the outburst, the gazes of nearly everyone in the cafeteria were naturally drawn to the blue-haired youth.
'Is this guy for real...?' Jason wondered, pointing to himself, just to make sure he wasn't misunderstanding things.
"That's right!" exclaimed the blue-haired youth, a broad grin stretching across his face as he confirmed, "I'm calling you out, Jason Springfield! You, and your Lucario...!"
"Oshawaaaa...!"
'Well, that didn't take long...' Jason sighed, exhaling from his nose with a mix of relief and exasperation. Lucky for the blue-haired youth, whom he had learned from roll call was named Jake Langly, Jason had been hoping that someone would challenge him and Ren. He wasn't shameless enough to issue a challenge himself, so he had no choice but to wait for his fellow students to take the initiative.
Rising to his feet, Jason adopted a smile of his own and responded, "Very well. Ren and I accept your challenge."
Hearing Jason calmly and confidently accept his challenge, the smile on Jake's face broadened. He had been worried that Jason would refuse, so while he was secretly nervous about the prospect of losing, he felt a wave of relief wash over him like a warm tide.
"Aaaaaaaagh! I wanted to be the first to challenge Jason and Ren! You're so lucky, Jake...!" Kiawe exclaimed, shouting at the top of his lungs as if it were the only way he knew how to express himself.
"Aww. Looks like we'll have to wait our turn, huh, Koko...?" Hau hummed, gently scratching the electric pouch of his Pikachu.
"I will look for a teacher to referee the battle," Lillie proferred, rising to her feet ahead of the rest of the table.
"I'll go with you~!" Mallow offered, beaming. What followed was a mass migration of students, who, from the moment they had enrolled, had been looking forward to watching and taking part in Pokémon battles. Now that Jake had seized the initiative to issue the first challenge, more than a few students were wondering who they should challenge in turn...
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After relocating to the twin battlefields, Jason and Ren proceeded to do some warm-up stretches while waiting for Lillie and Mallow to return with a teacher. Kiawe had originally approached them to give some advice, but when he noticed how calm they were, he couldn't help but ask, "This isn't your and Ren's first battle, is it?"
"Technically speaking, it's our 107th..." Jason revealed, prompting Kiawe and everyone who overheard him to raise their brows. It wasn't a surprise to him that he and Ren had taken part in a battle, but 107? Unless he and Ren had been together for years, that was an incredible number of battles for someone without a Trainer's Card.
"Man, talk about a blow to my ego..." Kiawe exhaled in faux exasperation, shaking his head before revealing, "My Pokémon and I have taken part in forty-one battles, with twenty-six wins and fifteen losses. How about you and Ren?"
"We've won six times and suffered a hundred and one defeats..." Jason revealed, leaving those who overheard him at a loss for words. Kiawe, in particular, was slack-jawed. It was uncommon for someone to have many more defeats than losses, and as far as he could tell, Ren was a powerful and spirited Pokémon.
"Seriously? Just who the heck have you been battling to have that many losses...?" Kiawe questioned, bewildered.
"Mmn...that's classified..." Jason responded, leaving Kiawe at even more of a loss. At the same time, he looked past the befuddled youth and into the distance, meeting the gaze of the person responsible for most of his and Ren's defeats, Wicke. She just happened to be the teacher Lillie and Mallow brought back to referee his match, giving him and Ren even more of an incentive to win...
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"Then, if both Trainers are ready, you may begin~!" Wicke chimed, raising a pair of flags and prompting the students behind her to erupt into cheers for Jason, Jake, and Ren, in particular.
"Sammy, use Water Gun...!" Jake shouted, striking a dynamic pose and pointing across the field at Jason.
"Osha—wott...!!!"
Spurred by its Trainer, Sammy the Oshawott's bipedal, otter-like body swelled like a balloon before it expelled a highly pressurized stream of luminous blue water from its mouth.
"Ren, Copycat! Then close the distance...!" Jason shouted, causing the crowd of students to react with surprise as Ren expelled a pressurized stream of her own, countering Sammy's Water Gun and creating a large explosion of icy-blue energy where the two attacks met.
"What the—since when is a Lucario able to use Water-type moves...!?" Jake exclaimed, visibly panicking as Ren burst forth from the cloud of frigid water vapor and closed the distance between her and Sammy in the blink of an eye.
"Osha—!?"
Caught off guard by Ren's speed, Sammy barely had time to raise the clam shell affixed to its belly as a shield before the former spun on her heel and hit him with a spinning kick that was more of a push off than a proper strike. Ren was significantly taller, heavier, and stronger, so while Sammy was able to get his guard up, he ended up being sent flying past the stunned Jake like a projectile fired from a cannon.
"Sammy! Are you okay...!?" Jake exclaimed, fighting the impulse to leave his Trainer's Box. Doing so would result in his forfeiture, so he could only gnash his teeth and ball his hands in concern as Sammy pushed itself to its feet and resolutely raised its shell.
"Osha...waatt..." Sammy groaned, his brows furrowed, and his black, doll-like eyes full of conviction as he met Ren's gaze near the center of the battlefield.
"You still want to fight Ren? Then come..." Ren responded, leaping back more than ten meters before lowering herself into a ready stance, her red eyes gaining a ghostly blue hue as she used Detect.
"That's right, Sammy! We're not finished yet! Let's show them our secret technique...!" Jake shouted, striking a pose and forcing a broad smile that failed to conceal the anxiety in his eyes.
"Osha-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa...!"
'What this...?' Jason wondered, his brows rising at the sight of Sammy spinning like a top despite having flipper-like hind legs. As far as he was aware, Oshawott didn't learn Rapid Spin, so he was genuinely confused until it abruptly came to a stop and made a cutting gesture with the shell in its left hand.
fwoosh
Though it wasn't so fast that it couldn't be reacted to, Jason was briefly left speechless at the sight of Sammy unleashing a blade-like crescent of Water-type energy that cut across the battlefield. It was very clearly the Water-type move, Aqua Cutter. But as far as he was aware, Oshawott and its evolutionary line didn't have access to said power.
Fortunately for Jason, Ren wasn't dependent on his commands to act. The moment she saw that Sammy had used a ranged attack against her, she shifted her left foot forward, drew her right hand back, and gathered Fighting Type energy in her palm. Then, with a swift, almost imperceptible thrust, she shot her paw forward and projected a large, fiery orange palm that shattered the Aqua Cutter and surged forward with increasing speed.
"Sammy! Dodge...!"
As he was already in the process of dodging, Sammy paused in confusion when he heard Jake's shout. Because of that, Ren's Force Palm struck him head-on, pushing him back several meters before exploding into a torrent of fiery-orange energy.
"Sammy...!"
Seeing his partner take another heavy blow, Jake couldn't resist leaving his Trainer's Box to rush to Sammy's side. With that, Wicke didn't hesitate to raise the flag in her left hand, shouting, "The opposing Trainer has left his box! The winners are Jason and his partner, Ren...!"
Though the crowd of students cheered loudly and congratulated them, Jason and Ren couldn't help feeling dissatisfied. It was clear to them that Jake and Sammy had given the bout their all, but compared to their other opponents, there was a world of difference.
"Jason! Ren! That was awesome! The two of you are even stronger than I imagined you'd be...!" Kiawe shouted, his eyes gleaming as he ran over to Jason and Ren with a broad, excited smile on his face.
Understanding what Kiawe was thinking, Jason adopted a wry smile and stated, "I would ask if you want to battle us as well, but I don't want Jake and Sammy to feel like they didn't give us a proper match..."
"Ah...when you put it like that...let's talk later..."
Realizing that he had almost compounded the bitterness of Jake's defeat, Kiawe awkwardly rubbed the back of his head before abruptly deciding to head over and see if the blue-haired Trainer needed help.
'He has great character...' Jason noted, feeling relieved. The ease with which he and Ren had achieved victory, combined with everyone cheering for them, left him feeling like a bully. He would have liked to reassure Jake and Sammy that they had fought well, but since there was a chance they would interpret his comfort as adding insult to injury, he was relieved that Kiawe had taken the initiative to approach them in his stead...
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Following several additional student battles, Jason, Lillie, Ren, and Runa parted ways with their friends and began their return trip to the villa just after 7 PM. Hobbes had offered to come pick them up, but Lillie informed the elderly Butler that they would be perfectly fine returning on their own.
"You and Ren performed spectacularly this afternoon. Runa and I will need to work especially hard if we're going to catch up~" Lillie hummed, bumping Jason with her shoulder as they walked side-by-side along the paved road leading to the villa.
"As incredible as the two of you are, it's Ren and I who will need to work hard to avoid being surpassed..." Jason responded, feeling a comfortable warmth settle over him at Lillie's actions. The one-sided battle with Jake had left him feeling introspective, so it meant a lot to him that his fiancée cared enough to try to lighten his mood.
"Ren will train hard...!" Ren exclaimed, striking a guts pose a few meters ahead of Jason, Lillie, and Runa. Since she didn't have many opportunities to move her body while they were in class, she had been advancing along the path doing hand-clap push-ups. It was an odd sight, but Jason let her do as she pleased.
"Did you hear that, Runa? Jason and Ren will be training hard to stay ahead of us. Shall we give them a push...?" Lillie questioned, prompting the Ralts in her arms to look up and tilt her head to the side. Until that afternoon, Runa's training had primarily focused on playing and moving blocks with her mind. Using Disarming Voice on the Devon Corporation's training dummies was her first experience utilizing her Pokémon Powers in a simulated combat setting, so when she heard Lillie's words, she couldn't help thinking about the battles she had just witnessed.
Cupping her chin with her tiny, fur-covered fingers, Runa exhibited a look of perturbation for the first time. The thought of being injured frightened her, but she couldn't help recalling the excitement people displayed while watching Pokémon battles. Lillie got particularly excited while watching Jason battle, and since she experienced the former's emotions as if they were her own, Runa couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to be their focus.
"No need to rush things. You're still very young..." Jason expressed, his voice gentle and soothing. Runa could feel his concern for her and the warmth it stirred within Lillie, causing her own heart to swell and a happy smile to blossom across her face. She was never happier than when he showed concern for her, so, as scary as the notion of training and battling was, Runa began to wonder if it might be worth the risk if it caused Jason to worry about her even more...
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