Following their brief foray into the pond, which was full of a bunch of tiny fish and a small school of Wishiwashi, Jason and co returned to the shore, where Mina, having changed into her baggy, paint-stained top, was in the process of painting something.
"Oh, hey, guys. Once you're done drying off and changing, grab some art supplies and choose an easel. I'm painting the pond, but you're welcome to draw or paint whatever you want," Mina stated, her gaze never leaving her canvas.
"Nn. Let's go change over by our backpacks," Lana suggested. "I'll keep watch first."
"Sure..." Jason responded, his gaze briefly shifting to Stella before he and Ren followed Lana over to their things. There, the blue-haired, blue-eyed girl watched him like a Talonflame as he toweled himself off and prepared to change into his spare set of clothes. The idea was that a wild Pokémon could attack while they were distracted changing, so it was customary in a group to have at least one person keep watch.
"I'm going to change here as well..." Stella stated flatly, making her way over with her gym bag in hand. Before Jason could respond, the icy-blue-haired girl had already removed her bikini top, exposing her modest, fair, and presently very perky breasts.
Focusing his attention on himself, Jason half-turned away from the two girls and peeled away his skin-tight swimsuit. Fortunately, Ren was there with his replacement pair in paw, eager to help him change, as he so often did for her...
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"What are you planning to draw...?" Lana questioned, repositioning her easel to be directly to Jason's left. To his right, Mina had thoughtfully set up an easel for Ren, so Jason promptly found himself flanked.
"I'm planning to paint the scene before us. Though with the time we have, my expectations are low..." Jason corrected, exhaling through his nose as he prepared his palette and brushes.
"Then I'll paint as well," Lana asserted, scanning the items Jason was preparing before making her way over to the supplies to grab brushes and a palette of her own.
"It's tough being popular~" Mina hummed, smiling from her position over Jason's shoulder, two meters behind and to his left.
"Mmn..." Jason responded, focusing his attention on the task before him. He frankly didn't mind the attention Lana was giving him. It reminded him of Director Amanda's nieces, whom he used to play with when he visited and ate Sunday dinner at her home. The nearly identical twins demanded constant attention, but he never felt more whole, at least at the time, than when he spent time with Director Amanda and her family.
'Please be okay...' Jason pleaded internally, a gentle wave of melancholy washing over him. He had been doing his best not to mull over the fates of those he had been separated from, but his introspective nature made it difficult. Fortunately, he had plenty to distract him—like Ren dropping and failing to catch her palette before it landed paint-side-down on the mossy ground...
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pii-pii-piipii-pii-piipii-pii-pii
"Alright, everyone. Let's begin our cleanup. Please check your areas and make sure there is no trash. If you didn't mix them, try to scrape as much excess paint as you can into their original containers. If you did, go ahead and scrape it all into the jar labeled earthen tones~" Mina stated, clapping her hands together at the sound of an alarm.
'Two hours isn't nearly long enough...' Jason thought to himself, exhaling in muted exasperation. He was used to working on the same painting for days, sometimes even weeks, so he barely had his base down by the time Mina was asking them to wrap things up.
Contrasting Jason's impression, Lana's eyes lit up as she peered at his work and commented, "Oh, wow. You managed to get all of that done in such a short time? You're really good at this..."
"I'm really not..." Jason sighed, stealing a glance at Lana's work as he cleaned his brushes. Calling it complete or a masterpiece would be an overstatement, but she had captured most of the scene in a very short period. It just looked more impressionistic than photoreal.
"Yours is actually much better. It might not be the most detailed, but it's incredible for the time we had..." Jason remarked sincerely, causing Lana to blink and raise her brows in surprise. She thought her painting looked messy, but the way Jason looked at it made it seem like he was genuinely impressed.
"You all did well~" Mina emphasized in her characteristically lazy tone, positioning herself behind Ren with her hands on the Lucario's shoulders. Ren's painting looked like something a preschooler might paint with their hands and fingers, but it was very impressive for a Pokémon who wasn't a Smeargle.
"Ren did well...?" Ren parroted, directing the question to Jason, her wine-red eyes gleaming with expectation.
"For your first time making art, you did exceptionally..." Jason affirmed, causing Ren's tail to wag excitedly as he grabbed the sides of her face and scratched behind both of her ears.
"Mmn! Ren loves art...!" Ren exclaimed, holding her paws up to her chest and clenching them excitedly into fists. She had no opinion on art before, but after hearing Mina and Jason praise her, it was now one of her favorite things.
"What about you, Stella? Can I see what you've been working on...?" Lana questioned, glancing at Stella, who, rather than positioning her easel with the group, had hers several meters off to the side.
"Do whatever you want..." Stella responded, rolling and averting her eyes. In response, Lana wasted no time in heading over to her, her brows rising to their limits when she saw the front of Stella's canvas.
"Oh, wow, Stella! This is amazing...!" Lana exclaimed, grabbing the sides of the canvas before turning it to face the rest of the group, her blue eyes sparkling as she chimed, "Jason! Look what Stella drew...!"
Seeing Lana turn a detailed charcoal sketch toward him, Jason's brows similarly rose in surprise. Stella struck him as more trendy than artsy, but he was evidently mistaken. He was confident that he could do better, but it wouldn't be easy.
"It's really good," Jason affirmed, nodding.
"Super good~" Mina appended.
"Stella is good at art...!" Ren pealed happily, ostensibly having forgotten that she had previously labeled Stella mean.
"It's not a big deal..." Stella muttered, avoiding meeting anyone's gaze while using a ball of sticky grey putty to remove most of the charcoal from her hands and fingers. She was evidently weak to compliments, as, while she did her best to play it cool, her cheeks tinted red, and the faintest of smiles adorned her face.
"This is a very promising group. I hope you all continue to attend these classes in the future~" Mina hummed dreamily, returning to her cleanup. Out of curiosity, Lana followed her, her eyes widening to their absolute limits as she got a look at the painting Mina had been working on before the rest of them got started. It depicted her, Poppy, Jason, Ren, Stella, and, though the latter hadn't brought it out, Gooey, playing together in the shallows of the pond. In reality, they had dove into the water a few times before getting out, but Mina's skills were on a level where she could paint whatever she imagined.
"Whoa...Miss Mina is really good..." Lana muttered, utterly captivated by the painting.
"I still need to add some finishing touches, but if you want, you can have it when I'm done~" Mina hummed, causing Lana to startle, an ear-to-ear smile blossoming across her face as she asked, "Can I really...!?" with the excitement of a child that had just learned she could pick out any toy from the toy aisle.
"I wouldn't have offered it if you couldn't~" Mina teased, giving a quick peace sign before returning to her cleanup—reminding Lana to do the same. The latter was giddy enough that she wanted to clench her fists, stomp her feet, and jump for joy. But instead of doing that, she returned to her easel and got to work cleaning up after herself, beaming happily as she did...
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After packing up and lowering their supplies from the trees, Jason, Ren, Lana, and Stella followed Mina as she led them to where they would be camping. Six hundred meters wasn't a particularly lengthy distance, but it felt like several kilometers when you were dealing with uneven terrain and hot, tropical conditions. Fortunately, while his body was caked with sweat by the time the group reached the designated campground, Jason felt like he could have continued for hours more—if needed.
"Oh? I thought we would be camping in the wild. There are bathrooms here," Lana noted, referring to a large, flat-topped, somewhat overgrown building that had entrances marked for boys and girls. There was even a designated area for making a fire, encircled by large stones and wooden logs for seating.
"Rest areas like this are fairly common when traveling along established trails and routes," Mina explained. "But you need to be careful when you approach them, as it's not uncommon for Pokémon to take up residence in such places."
Contrary to her words, Mina didn't appear even a little on guard as she made her way past the fire pit and dropped her bags down atop an area of compacted dirt.
Following Mina's example, Jason carried his bags over to another area that had clearly seen many tents before setting his backpack, supplies, and the green, waterproof bag containing his tent down. Ren naturally followed close behind him, but she wasn't the only one. Lana, like a blue-haired duckling, trailed after them both.
"Is it fine if I lay my sleeping bag near you and Ren? This isn't my first time camping, but I've never camped in an area where wild Pokémon live..." Lana revealed, sounding a little nervous that Jason might refuse.
"Sure. Though I was planning for Ren and me to sleep in a tent," Jason answered, holding up the bag containing his tent.
"Then, is it alright if I sleep with you? I'm really small, so I don't take up too much room..." Lana supplanted, a hint of ruddiness bleeding into her cheeks.
"Sure..." Jason responded. He had been anticipating Lana's request from the moment he noticed she hadn't packed a tent of her own. So, while he couldn't help feeling a tad uneasy, he didn't hesitate to nod and give her his permission.
"Really!? Thanks, Jason! Ren was right! You really are the best~!" Lana chimed, causing Jason to tense as she abruptly pounced on him and gave him a tight hug.
"Nn! Jason is the best...!" Ren repeated, her own apprehensions about Lana sharing her and Jason's tent evaporating. She had been looking forward to cuddling with him by herself, but she didn't mind sharing him with people who understood his bestness...
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Seeing how Lana had Jason and Ren wrapped around her finger, Stella, observing their interaction from afar, couldn't help rolling her faded, icy-blue eyes. She was tempted to contend that it would make more sense for Lana to sleep in her or Mina's tents, but her priorities at that moment were a shower and securing the area.
After confirming that no one was focusing on her, Stella turned her back to Jason, Ren, and Lana before pulling out a circular, compass-like device with a gridded, dark-green display. Turning it on caused a line to sweep in a circular, clockwise pattern around the epicenter. Fortunately, at least at that moment, nothing else appeared, allowing Stella to exhale a faint sigh of relief before she stored the device away and got to work setting up her own tent. The sooner that was out of the way, the sooner she could make use of the showers within the restroom—preferably before Lana was able to convince Jason to enter the shower together...
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