Master Craftsman of the Elven World

Chapter 617 The Masked Boy and the Ghost, Mary's Primal Return

"Huh? Is it here? It's so slow."

In a prime spot in the audience, Mary finally saw Lightmoy arrive. Notably, the members of the cheering squad surrounded Mary, their spirits high and the atmosphere filled with enthusiasm.

Although the Shout Team was originally formed for Nie Zi and Marie, its members are residents and trainers from Spiketown. Their main goal is to make Nie Zi and Marie champions, and later on, it is mainly for Marie.

They appear to be a villainous organization, but they are actually just "fans" and will cease operations after Marnie becomes the gym leader.

But right now, it doesn't seem like we've reached that "completely insane" stage yet.

Perhaps it's because Spiketown hasn't fallen to its limit yet. Although it's experiencing continuous collapse and decay, the residents are still managing to get by, and the shouting team isn't as large as it would be a few years later.

Lightmoss: "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. A scholar who studies the history of Galar has arrived, so I'm a little late."

"Do Nie Zi's fan club also have their favorite contestants?"

Mary: "Probably, since everyone wants to watch the game."

This is also what the members of the Shout Team say to the protagonist at the entrance of the Palace City.

They will not cause trouble during competitive matches.

However, he was probably scared by Yu/Shengren. After all, in the anime, even at world championship-level events, they would still interfere, and Ash suffered greatly because of this.

"Hello there!"

Sonia sat down next to Guangtai and greeted Mary, who raised an eyebrow.

"So that's how it is. The people sitting here just now were employees of the Marocmont Group. They reserved these seats in advance."

"So, you're a scholar who came here to study history? And you're in cahoots with the Marocomón Group?"

"This little girl's words are really awful." Sonia's expression was very awkward. Guangtai also felt that Mary's personality had not yet grown to the "classic three-no" state in the game. According to the description of the Alliance Card, Mary's personality was quite lively when she was a child, and she also loved to cry.

In the special episode, the character's sharp tongue and outspokenness were further emphasized.

This girl's words are really awful!

This is one of the strange character designs of Mary in the comics.

However, Mary only speaks like this to people she dislikes. If it's someone like Shakoya or Pione, whom she doesn't dislike, her emotional intelligence suddenly becomes extremely high.

Guangtai: "So, it was just something they said on purpose. But Dr. Sonia is not a member of the Marocmon Group. She only has an agreement with Chairman Loz on research matters."

“Marie, you really don’t like President Rose.”

“It’s all because of President Rose’s development plan that Spiketown has become what it is now.” Mary curled up her legs, hugged them with her hands, buried her head, and stared blankly at the heated arena.

There's no reason to like it.

"But didn't we say before that if my older brother can become the champion, Spiketown can be revitalized? If my older brother can't do it, then I will do it."

"The reason for Pokémon battles is this: Spikestone Town is purely a Pokémon battle arena. However, using Dynamax is also the future trend and unstoppable."

“That’s the champion, Dante. Everyone thinks he’s the strongest. Even people from other regions wouldn’t be his match.” Mary’s gaze was fixed on Dante, who had appeared in the venue. The champion and special guests appeared at the opening ceremony to heat up the atmosphere, and then the elimination rounds for the contestants would begin.

As Dan Di waved his cloak and struck his classic "Finger to Heaven" pose, the cheers around him suddenly grew louder, demonstrating just how popular Dan Di was.

After all, Leon has never lost a championship since he won it at the age of 10! Therefore, the people of Galar believe that even if this champion goes to other regions and loses his Dynamax ability, he will still be able to overpower all the champions and become the strongest!
"It's normal for local citizens to have this mentality. Of course they should support the local champion. Would they support a champion from another region? Ah, it's hard to say whether or not such a thing is true?"

Guangtai thought to herself, "Maybe Galar will have fans of Karuni."

Speaking of champions from different generations, the ones who appeared as "stars" were Karu Ni and Dan Di, one a movie star and the other a sports star.

Lightmoy: "Who's more popular, Leon or Karune? Dr. Sonia, what do you think?"

Sonia: "Huh?! Asking me this kind of question all of a sudden is just asking for trouble!"

As a girl, it's impossible for Sonia not to pay attention to Carlos's championship next door. After all, Carlos's big movie is as famous as Unified's big movie. Compared to his fighting strength, Karuni is more famous as an actress!

For someone like Sonia who has given up on competitive gaming, even if she were to pay attention to girls, she wouldn't possibly follow competitive gaming fanatics like Gadria, Cindy, or Yeci, or office workers.
Rather, I'd said that although I'd heard of it, I didn't know the specifics.

"Dan Di is my childhood sweetheart, so it's probably better to support Dan Di."

Sonia rested her chin on her hand with a helpless expression, looking at the radiant man in the arena: "Don't you think he's handsome? Hehe."

Mary: "Because I'm the champion, I'm very cool. Because I have great strength, I can do whatever I want."

"Leon's hometown isn't a Dynamax Power Point, nor does it have a Gym, but it's a town known to everyone: Walpurg Town, a small town where people and Pokémon live in harmony, with ranching as the main industry."

"By carefully watching the champion's performance here, you can learn his techniques, which will be of great help on your path to becoming stronger in the future."

"But that guy is very strong, and you can't win without using any tricks, so..."

Mary looked at Guangtai: "Can that karate practitioner you support really defeat Dan Di?"

"Big Brother must have noticed something too. Ever since he returned from Unova and saw that the man who often came here named Kibana was going to train at a place called the Isle of Armor, Big Brother has stopped composing songs for a long time and started to focus on training and fighting."

“I often watch him study the fighting styles of Dant and others, which was originally unlikely. He was supposed to focus on studying music.”

"Don't be fooled by what Big Brother said about your dirty fighting methods. We are experts in the [Dark Attribute]. True villains are willing to do anything to win."

Guangtai: "So, Nie Zi has also made a wish?"

"To become a champion. Although most people think that becoming a champion will solve all problems. Well, that's theoretically true."

"Whether it's the ancient royal family that wants to 'restore their former glory,' the desire to make Galar Karate famous throughout the world, the idea of ​​facing danger and challenges, or the idea of ​​revitalizing their hometown, the only path that lies before everyone is to become the champion."

"This is the path to becoming a Pokémon Trainer."

Mary's character design hasn't changed much.

In the main story, she initially became the champion to revitalize her hometown, for the sake of the town's residents, and to fulfill Nie Zi's wish. However, after losing to the protagonist repeatedly, she realized that in the end, it was she herself who wanted to become the champion.

In the original Sword and Shield setting, Marilyn's character was the complete opposite of her later "emotionless" persona—

The Gym Leader of the Evil Path. 14 years old. Girl.

He originally worked hard to revitalize his hometown and make everyone happy by winning the league.
But winning within the league has become a higher priority than winning in individual matches.

They began resorting to despicable tactics such as stealing Pokémon from other league participants and blocking their path to prevent them from advancing.

"I want to live the way I want!" "This won't happen again!"

"I am the Dark-type Gym Leader!"

"To protect this town, I must become the champion!"

"Take down all the troublemakers!"

Looking at Mary's serious and thoughtful eyes, Guangtai wondered if the girl's mental state was reverting to its original state.

Although it was originally because the older brother wasn't working hard enough, and the younger sister had to shoulder the burden, now that the older brother is working very hard, if she still doesn't get good results, the younger sister might really turn evil.

Mary: "President Lotz's wish is correct in at least one respect."

"Only the strong have the right to change the future."

"It feels like she's suddenly become serious, and it's quite frightening." Looking at Mary's expression, Sonia found it hard to believe that such an expression could come from a little girl, while Guangtai seemed thoughtful.

Could the power of wishes combined with the dark crystal shards have also affected the surrounding audience, especially those with strong desires?

Although Nie Zi doesn't use Dynamax in battle, Marie does have a Dynamax Band.

"Come on, everyone, let's bring the battle to its climax!"

As Dan's voice rang out, enthusiastic cheers erupted once again. Then, the special guests, namely the gym leaders and the champion, left the stage together, and the challengers who followed would then take the stage to fight.

The opening match has begun!

The main event will be the day after tomorrow, and today is just an appetizer. However, the number of challengers this time is quite unexpected.

Guangtai looked around and realized that there were no familiar characters here. Even if there were familiar characters from Sword and Shield, they would probably be ordinary NPCs. Characters with more distinctive features, such as the costume designer Sean who carries a Sun Rock and uses cosmic power and causes high blood pressure, are not qualified to appear in this competition.

So the only option left is to sabotage others in Dynamax Raid Battles.

Led by Sean, along with Shinichiro's Wobbuffet, Clefairy, and Violet's Eevee, they are known as the "Gigantamax Raid Battle Flop Four".

The true Four Heavenly Kings of Galar.

Helpful Eevee. Fully healed Clefairy.

I'll return the favor to the old man first. The Solar Rock is utterly useless.

"It would be interesting to see the four lousy guys in an official competition."

Of course, Shakoya sometimes makes confusing moves, but considering that she doesn't like being with her dad, Pione, and doesn't have the same fighting skills as her sister, Botan, it's understandable that she might be a bit of a liability.

"Hmm? Someone you know?"

Although she didn't expect to see any familiar faces, to Guangtai's surprise, among the group of contestants, each with their own unique strengths, there were actually a few familiar faces!
The masked ghost boy entered the arena with great timidity.

While saying how scary it was, "Let darkness envelop the surroundings," it then made its Gengar Gigantamax!
"This contestant is so young. How did he get an invitation?"

Mary gazed at the children in the competition area: "Or are they just young-looking, but actually of the right age?"

Sonia: "Isn't that the child from the haunted house in Suchuan Town?"

"Although it's called a haunted house, it's actually a ghost gym. Did you know that Galar is actually a region with all elemental types?"

Mary: "All attributes??"

Lightmoy: "I heard that Galar has gyms of all eighteen types, but only ten of them are first-class gym leaders, while the remaining eight are second-class gym leaders."

"As the second-tier, they represent the less powerful gym leaders. If the first-tier gym leaders suffer repeated defeats in battles or engage in some inappropriate behavior, they will also be demoted to the second tier."

Sonia nodded: "That's right. Being downgraded to the second rank means losing [Glory]. In the Galar region, that's the most important thing."

She clasped her hands together, a worried expression on her face.

"My friend is the water-type gym leader, the popular model mentioned by Chairman Rose, the one called Lulina, the one who is like a raging storm."

"She, Dante, and Cibana were all challengers in the same Champions Cup, probably seven years ago."

"Not long ago, she almost faced the predicament of being demoted to the second rank, but fortunately she survived. However, while serving as a gym leader, she also works part-time as a model. She is not very famous yet, but I think that one day she will become a very famous model like Unova's Kiku."

"At that time, I'll have to choose between work and Pokémon battles: should I focus on developing my career or devote all my energy to battles?"

Guangtai: "[Her family and friends know that she has an extremely competitive personality and are worried that this will affect her modeling work,] is that right?"

Sonia nodded:
"Therefore, the competition for gym leaders in the Galar region is quite fierce. Unlike gyms in other regions, the gyms here are permanent."

"I've heard that gym leaders in other regions are chosen based on their strength, popularity, local influence, the Elite Four, or powerful trainers. There are also cases where leaders of challenge facilities become gym leaders, and even the heads of evil organizations may appear."

"However, in the Galar region, each of the eighteen towns has a corresponding gym leader. If you want to become a gym leader of the corresponding type, you have to go to a gym that matches that type and train hard."

"Besides that, there is a certain family with superpowers who have served as gym leaders of the superpower type for generations. However, they have declined in the last ten years and have been demoted to the second tier. Since then, no one has been able to become the leader of the first tier gym."

Guangmo watched the match in the arena.

Galar is an all-attribute region, which isn't obvious in the game, but it's described on Clara's League Card, the Poison Gym Leader. She was originally just an underground idol who took the Poison Gym's entrance exam and training to become famous; however, the Poison Gym is never encountered in the game.

Honestly, the gym leaders of the second-tier teams are practically invisible, because challengers never go to the second-tier gyms. As a result, they can only try to win rankings in the annual championship or town tournaments to gain recognition and increase their popularity.

"In comparison, Spiketown, despite lacking Dynamax Power Points, still firmly holds its position as the top team, demonstrating Nie Zi's formidable strength."

On the battlefield, Onio had already defeated his opponent, and the masked boy fled in a panic.

He mumbled something as if he had said something, or perhaps he hadn't, but it was definitely his wish.

"The competition uniform number is 291, which sounds like 'hateful' in Chinese."

Next came the competition with people I'd never seen before. After a brief, swift elimination process, the next person to appear was a familiar face with superpowers.
"Those who have disgraced me, I will make them fly! All the previous Gym Leaders of Psychic Gyms are my blood relatives. As their descendant, I was destined from birth to shoulder the responsibility of leading the Psychic Gyms!"

"My wish! To become the strongest superpowered person! To send all those who look down on me flying into the sky!"

"Oh, that's... Saiboli." Guangtai saw the appearance of the superpowered boy. If Cattleya was the strongest superpowered person, then Saiboli was the "weakest superpowered person"!
He once served as the head of a gym with superpowers, but he was dismissed because he always used telekinesis to make his challengers fly after defeat, which is why he went back to the gym to train again.

The competition uniform number 026 is a homophone for "brain".

(End of this chapter)