Chapter 156: Seethe
“Do you feel any discomfort…?” Jason asked, gently washing Ren’s left flank from behind her, seated atop a short wooden stool.
“Nope. Ren feels super fluffy and warm~” Ren responded in a sing-song tone, followed by her humming happily as Jason continued lathering and cleansing the site of her injury with a rubber-bristled brush—her left arm raised to give him easy access to her side.
Though the gash on Ren’s side had been mended easily with the aid of Lusamine’s Clefable, Jason couldn’t help feeling somber, guilty, and more than a little annoyed as he eyed the three streaks of missing fur along her flank. The wounds had been inflicted upon her by the Zinopup, teaching them two important lessons. One, the process that made Pokémon all but immune to being severely injured or mutilated didn’t protect them against attacks from extra-dimensional entities. As for the second…
‘It’s not Dex’s fault…’ Jason sighed internally, doing his best to remain calm, even as he boiled beneath the surface. He had asked Dex to follow Ren and inform him if anything happened. But due to the limitations of its phone body, Dex had lost her and the Zinopup early on in his task. Then, ostensibly afraid that it would get in trouble or be disciplined, it spent the afternoon searching for the two in a panic, burning through its charge and ultimately losing power mid-assignment…
pcha pcha pcha
As Jason was thinking about asking Lusamine to lend him a drone for Dex to inhabit, the sound of wet footsteps atop tile reached his ears, followed by a pair of hands coming to rest on his shoulders.
“How much longer do you plan to spend over here? Everyone is waiting for you to come join us~” remarked the hands’ owner, prompting Jason to lean his head back and look up to find Lusamine staring down at him with a relaxed smile.
Before Jason could respond, Lusamine abruptly crouched down, her legs flanking his and her arms wrapping around him, reducing their distance to zero as she noted, “And you’ve yet to wash your back…”
“…”
Feeling something soft pressing against his back, accompanied by Lusamine affectionately caressing his chest, Jason couldn’t stop his body from reacting. At the same time, Ren glanced back and looked down, her pupils becoming large and round.
“Oh? As usual, your body is honest…” Lusamine hummed, using her right hand to begin stroking Jason’s erection while glancing down at it over his shoulder.
“Lusamine…now isn’t really the time for this…” Jason remarked, doing his best to appear and sound calm despite his body warming rapidly and his heart beginning to pound in his chest.
“Hmmn? Oh, right…I forgot that you don’t want Ren observing things like this…” Lusamine conceded, retracting her hand from Jason’s member and holding him closely as she appended, “Though, admittedly, I don’t see the harm in it. If the two of you are attracted to one another…I say you should follow your hearts…”
“No…”
Surprising both Jason and Lusamine, Ren, her gaze fixed on the former’s lower half, was the one to state, “Ren and Jason love each other lots. But Jason only has sex with humans…”
Facing forward and taking over the role of washing her body, Ren, almost matter-of-factly, asserted, “Ren is going to have sex with other Pokémon. Lots and lots of them.”
“Lots and lots…?” Lusamine repeated, her right brow rising and an amused smile adorning her face.
“Nn…” Ren nodded, continuing to wash her body as she explained, “Ren is going to become the strongest. And Zinopup says that it is the duty of the strong to pass down their genes to as many mates as possible.”
“The Zinopup said that? What else did he say to you…?” Jason asked, his curiosity and concern piqued in equal measure. He was going to ask Ren about her day after they got out of the bath. But as he needed something to distract him from the weight, warmth, and softness of Lusamine’s body, he seized the opportunity.
“Hey! Aren’t the three of you getting ahead of yourselves? Don’t forget that you’re not the only ones here…!” chimed a voice from the direction of the hot spring, prompting Jason, Lusamine, and Ren to look over at where Iris, Lily, Maeve, Nanahoshi, Megumi, Jenni, Xendalah in her human form, a handful of researchers, and a plethora of Pokémon were seated around or relaxing in the bath.
Rising from the bath, Iris, having been the one to shout, marched over and stood boldly before Jason with her hand extended, stating, “Before that, you need to get yourself under control. Come on. I’ll take care of it outside.”
“On the contrary…as the one to rouse him, it is only natural that I be the one to help calm him down…” Lusamine countered, her eyes narrowing as her and Iris’s gazes met.
“…”
“…”
Feeling a sudden, unmistakable static permeate the air as the two women locked gazes, waves of panic and confusion washed over Jason. He didn’t believe his relationship with the two had developed to the point they were willing to compete for his time and attention. But there they were, exuding auras only the most powerful Trainers could pull off…
“Ahem…if you will excuse me…” interjected a third party, the tension in the air diminishing but not disappearing as Lillie stepped her way past Iris and stood before Jason, Ren, and Lusamine with her hands cupped above her diaphragm.
“Mother…I will take over from here…” Lillie stated plainly, her tone firm as she unwaveringly held Lusamine’s gaze.
“But of course…” Lusamine conceded, releasing her hold on Jason’s body and rising to her full, somewhat towering height, and humming, “He’s your fiancé, after all…”
“That’s correct…” Lillie affirmed, doing her best to appear dignified, even as Lusamine cupped her chin and drew closer to her, bringing their faces to within a few centimeters of one another.
“…”
“…”
“Very good, Lillie…continue growing this way…and never let anyone take what is yours…” Lusamine muttered, her usually green eyes gaining a hint of gold as she gave Lillie’s cheek an affectionate caress. Then, stepping past her, she met the much shorter Iris’s gaze and playfully asked, “Well, then. Shall we…?” while gesturing in the direction of the bath.
“Tsk…”
Making no effort to conceal her annoyance, Iris crossed her arms and fell into step with Lusamine, stating, “Fine. But you owe me a Pokémon battle. Don’t think I didn’t notice that look in your eyes…”
“Hooooooo~? Was there something like that…?” Lusamine asked, earning herself a withering stare as she covered her mouth and giggled maturely at Iris’s expense. Fortunately for the latter, her urge to battle, which had been dormant for nearly a decade, was presently stimulated to an extent she hadn’t experienced since her days as an active Trainer…
‘It appears that my time hasn’t simply resumed…it’s flowing in reverse…’ Lusamine mused, glancing back over her shoulder and following Jason’s broad, muscular back as he was escorted from the bath by her daughter. She couldn’t recall the last time she had felt a genuine desire to compete. But the more time she spent with Jason, the stronger her impulse to claim him for herself…
…
..
.
Following his and Lillie’s brief recess, Jason returned to the bath and did his best not to let his gaze wander to the many naked bodies around him as Ren animatedly recounted what she and the Zinopup had gotten up to that afternoon.
Unsurprisingly, at least to Jason, the reason the Zinopup had set out that morning was to hunt. What did surprise him was that it wasn’t hunting for its next meal. Rather, according to Ren, the reason it hunted was twofold—to gain experience and to stimulate its bloodline.
Though it was difficult to imagine, Ren insisted that she and the Zinopup had spent hours talking about the world the latter originated from and the people who had invaded it. During that conversation, Ren learned that the monsters of the Zinopup’s world didn’t grow by simply aging. Their growth was tied to the amount of essence they took in, with predators prioritizing the concentrated essence found within other monsters to grow as quickly as possible.
For one reason or another, the Zinopup concluded his and Ren’s chat by pointing out that she possessed an incredible amount of energy within her body. Then, as it had a penchant for doing, it suddenly attacked, grazing her side with its claws before she hammered its head into the ground with a heavy, downward strike. After that, the two battled for some time, with Ren emerging as the victor and the Zinopup losing a horn for its needless aggression…
…
..
.
Standing shirtless in the hall outside his and Lillie’s room, Jason found himself staring down at the central play area in silence, his gaze fixed on the slumbering Zinopup. Much of the frustration he had endured during Ren’s recounting had been vented with the help of Lillie and, though she mainly just observed them, Iris. Still, after learning that the Zinopup had ambushed and ostensibly tried to kill Ren…he couldn’t help thinking that the pint-sized dragon would serve him better as a pair of gauntlets or an incomplete suit of lightning-resistant armor…
‘Even if it’s merely following its nature…why should I help a creature that views me and everyone around it as a means to an end…?’ Jason asked himself, his already creased brows tensing as the Zinopup raised its head and glanced back at him through the one-way glass. It couldn’t see him, but it could ostensibly sense his bloodlust.
Closing his eyes, Jason attempted to steady himself by breathing deeply through his nose and exhaling from his mouth. He had told Tapu Koko that he would help the Zinopup return home. But, more than that, he wanted to prove to himself and those around him that he didn’t need the coddling he had been receiving since his arrival in the world of Pokémon. It absolutely helped. But there were times when a man needed to stand alone…
With such thoughts in mind, Jason opened his eyes and briefly locked gazes with the Zinopup through the window. He was determined to get through to it in the days to come, but as he turned to leave, his soul was nearly forced from his body as he nearly walked directly into the person that had snuck up to him on his right side.
“You need to be better aware of your surroundings…” Xendalah hummed, grinning at Jason in her bob-haired human form, her blue eyes gleaming like ghostly sapphires in the corridor’s dim lighting.
Distracted by Xendalah’s eyes, Jason didn’t immediately notice that the disguised Pokémon was wearing a frilly-shouldered, exceptionally sheer white nightie. Once he did, his gaze instinctively lowered, prompting the mischievous Zoroark to readily raise the hem of her skirt and ask, “Do you like what you see…?”
“…”
Seeing that Xendalah was wearing a black, string-like thong with ribbons under her nightie, Jason’s gaze lingered for half a breath before he looked up and asked, “What are you doing here so late…?”
Raising her nightie even further, Xendalah unabashedly exposed her faux breasts, provocatively pushing them together as she answered, “I could sense that you were standing out here alone and decided to come up and see what you were up to. Can’t sleep?”
“Something like that…” Jason responded softly, returning his gaze to the Zinopup, which had returned to its slumber. Xendalah naturally followed his line of sight—but that wasn’t all she did. As far as she was concerned, there was already no distance between her and Jason. So as he turned to glance down at the Zinopup, she naturally drew closer to him, embracing him from behind and resting her chin atop his shoulder as her appearance reverted to her Zoroark form.
“What do you want to do…?” Xendalah asked, her voice low and sultry as she rested her right paw against Jason’s abdomen and caressed his chest with her left.
“…”
Feeling Xendalah’s exceptional warmth and fur-covered breasts against his back, Jason was grateful that he had been completely drained before departing his and Lillie’s room. That didn’t stop him from having at least a slight reaction. But Xendalah was smart enough to know that he wouldn’t be okay with her taking things even further. Instead, she simply held him, a low purr rising from her throat as Jason contemplated how he wanted to deal with the Zinopup moving forward…