Chapter 173

'Well, that was an experience...' Jason quipped internally, exhaling a sigh as he left the boys' bathing and shower room. He knew it was normal for the world he was in, but washing off and showering with a bunch of other guys while they conversed about their day wasn't something he would get used to anytime soon...

"Oh, hey, Jason. Did you enjoy your bath...?" asked a short girl with long blue hair and leaf-green eyes, freshly emerged from the girls' side of the bathing facility with two other girls.

"You...Myrie, right...?" Jason asked, his body tensing slightly as the three girls approached and openly sized him up.

"Are you waiting for Lillie and Ren...?" Myrie asked, her smile playful and slightly smug as she revealed, "If so, you might be here a while. They're the center of everyone's attention—Ren especially."

"Thanks for letting me know," Jason responded, offering the three girls an appreciative nod. His gaze was nearly drawn to Myrie's belly, exposed for the world to see between a pink spaghetti-strap top and elastic blue jean short shorts.

"Want to hang out with us for a bit...?" asked one of Myrie's companions, a slender girl with muted blue hair pulled up into a high, almost Tangela-like ponytail. Jason couldn't remember if she was called Sara or Senna, but he vaguely recalled her being part of the group that cheered for Ren's victory during their after-school matches. Notably, her partner was a Budew, held in a carrier at the front of her body.

"Thanks for the invitation, but if Lillie and Ren are inside, I should wait for them..." Jason answered, his smile cramping as the third member of the group, a girl with sharp blue-green eyes, spiky black pigtails, and a baggy white tee with a black skull on the front, brazenly felt up his left bicep and remarked, "Man...you're seriously jacked..."

"I know, right? It's no wonder Ren is such a beast. Your training regimen must be insane..." Myrie remarked, crossing her arms and exhaling a faint snort while openly gawking at Jason's abs. He was wearing a matte-black compression top, so his muscular definition showed clearly.

"Meowrrr..."

Hearing his Trainer praise another Pokémon, Myrie's partner, a Meowth named Toby, mirrored her cross-armed posture with an annoyed look on his face.

"The secret is daily training and a balanced diet that's high in protein..." Jason explained, gently guiding the spiky-haired girl's hand away from him with the back of his forearm.

"Jason? You're still here...?" asked a familiar voice, prompting Jason and the trio of girls to look over as Kiawe, Hau, and Elio exited the bath as a group.

"Lillie, Ren, and I assume Lana, Mallow, and Selene are still inside, so I was going to wait here for them to come out..." Jason answered, feeling relieved that he was no longer alone.

"Oh? Are you going to hang out with the girls tonight? I was kind of hoping to pick your brain about the upcoming tournaments..." Kiawe revealed, crossing his arms and exhaling through his nose.

"You three are Myrie, Sennia, and Cammie from Maheali's class, right...?" Hau asked, offering a bright but relaxed smile and raising his right hand as he happily appended, "Alola~" in a sing-song tone.

"Pika-pii~!" greeted Koko, waving happily from her usual position on Hau's shoulder.

"Alola," Myrie responded curtly.

"Alola..." Sennia appended.

"Yo..." Cammie concluded flatly, raising her left hand and making a rock-on gesture.

"What's going on out here...?"

With other students emerging from the baths, a crowd began to form organically. Fortunately for Jason, one of the groups was a fairly large throng of girls, with Lillie and Ren at their center.

"Oh, Jason! Over here~!" Lillie chimed, smiling brightly and waving to Jason the moment she noticed him.

'Thank Arceus...' Jason thought to himself, offering a nod and a curt wave to Kiawe before he made his way through the amassing crowd and hurried over to Lillie. Thankfully, she was quick on the uptake...

"Sorry, everyone. But there are matters that Lana, Mallow, Selene, and I need to discuss with Jason in private. But I really enjoyed speaking with everyone. I look forward to the next time~" Lillie expressed, offering the larger group of girls a smiling bow.

"Was there something like that...?" Selene asked Mallow, keeping her voice low.

"I worry about you..." Mallow sighed, exhaling exasperatedly at Selene's apparent inability to read between the lines.

"...?"

Confused by Mallow's response, Selene contemplated what the former was trying to convey for a full two and a half seconds before shrugging and separating from the group to inform her brother that she apparently had something to discuss with Jason. Elio was understandably confused by her uncertainty. But instead of pressing the matter, he smiled and told her to have fun and that he would be with Kiawe and Hau if she needed to find him...

...

..

.

"And here is our room~" Lillie chimed, opening the door to a cozy, cabin-like room with three bunk beds and a row of circular Pokémon beds lined up in a row. It was identical in layout to the room that Jason, Kiawe, Hau, Elio, and Sophocles had been assigned to, but it smelled incredible—both as a result of its occupants and courtesy of Mallow's Bounsweet, Sweetie, filling it with a sweet aroma.

"Oh, hey Stella...Alola..." Jason greeted, spotting Stella lying on one of the top bunks, watching something on her phone.

"Hmmn...?"

Rising to a seated position and removing her headphones, Stella looked over the group and asked, "Do I need to leave...?" in her characteristically neutral tone.

"You don't need to," Mallow corrected, adding, "You're welcome to stay and chat with us. We were probably going to talk about what happened today. Like, there's no way all of what happened was planned."

"It wasn't...?" Selene asked, head tilted.

"What I'm most curious about are Ren's and Lillie's transformations. Just what was that power...?" Lana questioned.

"Ah, that...I suppose the Skitty it out of the bag..." Lillie conceded, smiling wryly before glancing at Jason as if she were looking for permission.

Adopting a wry smile of his own, Jason revealed, "I was also forced to reveal my Sanctum—albeit only briefly. The situation didn't give us much of a choice, so I don't believe we'll get in trouble."

"Let's sit down and continue talking afterward," Lana suggested. She and Mallow had laid down blankets and pulled pillows from their beds to make a place to sit at the room's center. Unfortunately for her, Jason wasn't the only one to notice she was waiting for him to sit first, prompting Mallow to hold her hand up to her mouth, smile impishly, and tease, "Wow, Lana...at this rate, I'm going to start feeling bad for Poppy..."

"...?"

"Poppli...?"

Hearing Mallow say her name, Lana's Popplio, Poppy, joined her partner in staring in confusion. She had just gotten cozy atop the moist, sponge-like bed set out for her, so she wasn't expecting to hear her name.

Putting Mallow on the spot, Lana flatly remarked, "Popplio need to sleep between twelve and fourteen hours a day during their growth period. You shouldn't joke that I'm neglecting her..."

"Ah...you're right...my bad..." Mallow muttered, her usually vibrant smile cramping immensely. She was, in fact, just joking. But Lana's words made it apparent she didn't appreciate the insinuation that she was neglecting her partner being the punch line...

"Since we're on the subject. How are you holding up, Ren...?" Jason asked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Ren is exhausted..." Ren confirmed, stepping forward and bumping her head against Jason's chest. She had been awake for most of the day. And though she had enjoyed being the center of everyone's attention at first, her social battery had burned out hours ago...

"You were beyond amazing today..." Jason whispered, embracing Ren's body and cradling the back of her head. In response, Ren's tail wiggled weakly, really emphasizing just how tired she was.

"Oh! That reminds me...!" Lillie exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention with a clap.

"The transformation that Ren used earlier is powered by her and Jason's bond," Lillie explained, reasoning, "We should let them cuddle so she can transform again in a pinch."

"Ren agrees with this plan..." Ren responded promptly, recovering from her languor and giving Jason a firm, nuzzling squeeze.

"Hey...not too tight..." Jason groaned, tapping the space between Ren's shoulders. Ren immediately reduced the amount of strength in her arms, but her nuzzling continued, forcing him to take a step back and sit as the back of his leg met the side of one of the lower bunks.

"Oh, my..." Mallow exhaled softly, brows raised and fingers touching her lips as Ren promptly followed Jason onto the bed and covered him like a blanket.

"Ren tried really hard today..." Ren muttered, contracting her arms and squeezing her thighs together as if she were trying to fuse with Jason's body.

"You did..." Jason confirmed, his momentary panic giving way to weary acceptance as he caressed the exposed section of Ren's back with his right hand. He was also exhausted, and while it didn't feel great having her rubber stopper pressing against him, there were two firm yet pliant cushions that prevented it from becoming too uncomfortable. The bigger issue was the heat...

Fortunately for Ren, Jason didn't mind sweating. Thus, while everyone else chatted amongst themselves, he, like the owner of a very large cat, allowed his body to be used as a bed while Ren enjoyed a much-needed rest...

...

..

.

In the midst of dreaming that a hydraulic press was crushing his chest, Jason suddenly found himself fully lucid, prompting him to sit up and look around from the center of a sunlit forest clearing. To his left were ancient ruins, but before he could think to get up and investigate them, an all-too-familiar voice remarked, 'You're awake...' directly inside his head.

Looking to his right, Jason expected to find the avian figure of Tapu Koko towering over him. Instead, he met the striking blue-and-orange eyes of an incredibly lanky man with pale brown skin covered in black, white, and orange markings. The man's pale orange and yellow hair was wild, like a mohawk that had grown back in along the sides. And framing his face was a yellow, wing-shaped headpiece.

*tremble*

'...?'

Raising his head to the sky, which began to fracture, the figure remarked, 'We thought this form would aid in keeping you calm. Perhaps this one will do better...?'

Leaving Jason at an even greater loss, the figure, which was very clearly Tapu Koko, abruptly transformed into a skinny woman with the same dark skin, a black bikini, black stockings, and tapered, single-toed, okobo-style shoes. The previous iteration wore a flowing cloak, but the woman before him wore a loose, off-the-shoulder kimono with the same color palette as Tapu Koko's shield arms.

'Hmmn...we can sense that you're even more confused. But your emotions have stabilized...' Tapu Koko remarked, squatting in front of Jason with her legs spread wide, her elbows resting on her thighs, and her body hunched forward as she appended, 'We need to discuss what happened previously. For us to do that, you need to remain calm...'

"..."

"What is there to discuss...?" Jason questioned, his mouth moving, but his words echoing from around him—like he was hearing someone else speak with his voice.

Scratching her cheek with her right index finger, Tapu Koko turned her face and averted her gaze as she awkwardly revealed, 'We received a rather spirited dressing-down regarding how we treated you. It's not in our nature...but we came to apologize...'

"..."

Unable to believe what he was hearing, Jason stared slack-jawed for several seconds before choosing to lie back down and turn away from Tapu Koko onto his side, muttering, "I'm clearly still dreaming..."

'...'

Snapping the fingers of her left hand, Tapu Koko sent a jolt of electricity through Jason's body, forcing him to straighten out and jerk violently as she warned, 'You would do well not to play the fool before us...'

And thus, Jason had no choice but to accept that the Tapu Koko before him was the real deal, having somehow invaded his dreams...

...

..

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