Pokémon from Galar

Yuri nodded, placed her phone on the charging dock, then pulled the blanket over herself and lay down. She patted the pillow next to her, signaling Mary to come to sleep quickly.

Mary shrugged. Although she felt like she had just gotten up a few hours ago, she figured she might as well just lie there and rest.

Mari moved closer to Yuri, and before Mari could even make a move, Yuri immediately leaned in, burying her face in Mari's chest, pressing her entire petite body against hers, and then hugging Mari.

This was the first time Mari had ever seen Yuri act so affectionately. Suppressing a laugh, she raised her arms and hugged the girl, then lowered her head, gently resting her cheek against Yuri's hair, and whispered:

"Good night."

"Mmm—Goodnight."

Chapter 162 Kyogo Ido and Parasites

The next day, Mary woke up very early, and even felt a little dizzy, probably because she had slept too much.

Mary turned her head and glanced at Yuri, who was still sleeping soundly beside her. She smiled and found her broken Rotom phone and a regular phone she had bought in another Alola.

I went straight to sleep last night and didn't have time to restore my communication devices. So I just sat on the bed, took off the back cover of the broken phone, removed my SIM card, and put it in the new phone.

It's definitely impossible to buy a custom Rotom phone in Alola right now. We can only apply for temporary access to transfer the Rotom to this phone for a while.

While Rotom's phone was used for Joey's treatment, Mary couldn't simply call Rotom out and transfer it to a new device due to permission issues. Otherwise, if it were discovered later, Mary's usage rights might be revoked.

After inserting her usual SIM card and seeing the full signal strength displayed on the screen after powering on, Mary quickly went to the Rotom mobile phone manufacturer's website and submitted a license application.

Then I put the two phones aside and ignored them. Anyway, the Rotom will transfer over by itself after the permission is granted, but it's also possible that a different Rotom will come to take over.

After all, Mary's phone had been completely out of contact for half a month, so the merchant would probably want to check whether their phone had been used for anything against the rules.

Marie pulled back the covers and got out of bed, rubbing her temples as she left the room. She then found Balu and the others sprawled out on the sofa or the floor in the living room.

Last night, Mary herself stayed up for half the night before finally falling asleep, and Yi-chan and the others even went out to train before coming back to sleep.

Just as Mary was about to turn around and go into the kitchen, she suddenly realized that she didn't seem to see the Nihilego anywhere.

Because I just caught it yesterday, I was still in a daze and didn't realize that another Ultra Beast had joined my team.

"...Where did it go?"

Mary blinked and looked around the living room but couldn't see him anywhere. That shouldn't be the case. Could he have gone back into the Ultimate Ball?

Thinking this, Mary returned to her room, picked up the Ultra Ball next to her, and pressed the switch, but there was no sign of that guy inside. Slightly worried, she ran to Sonia's room to check, and only felt a little relieved after confirming that no one in the room had been attacked.

After searching the entire house, Mary finally found the head staring at the eaves of the balcony, floating in mid-air and unconsciously swaying its tentacles with the wind. It was probably a sleeping Nihilego.

"..."

This was the first time Mary had ever heard that Nicholas Ido floated while he slept.

Looking at the translucent tentacles swaying above her head, Mary curiously raised her hand to touch one. The tentacle retracted sharply upon being touched, then slowly lowered back down. She poked it again, and it retracted once more.

Although she couldn't understand why this guy was sleeping on the balcony and getting some fresh air, Mary was also a little worried that if they were camping in the wild and she wasn't put in the tent, she might drift away to who-knows-where when she woke up.

After thinking for a moment, Mary raised her hand and grabbed a yellow tentacle, then pulled Nihilego down and brought it into the house. She watched as Nihilego floated back to the roof and remained motionless, showing no signs of waking up.

Mary remarked on how low this guy's vigilance was, then turned and went into the bathroom. She had been looking for so long, and he hadn't even brushed his teeth yet.

After washing up, I came out and found that Si-chan had woken up at some point, but she just turned her gaze to Mary and smiled, still holding I-chan's body and not intending to move at all.

Not minding, Mary smiled, then turned to look at the motionless Nihilego still hanging on the ceiling, before walking into the kitchen. She hadn't cooked for half a month and was starting to miss it.

……

Yuri and Sonia also woke up one after another, and handed the Rotom phone that had been moved out to Mary.

After breakfast, Mary still had to go to the Pokémon School, since the others probably didn't know she had returned safely yet, and she had to go and let them know she was alright.

"Yuri, do you want to come play with me?"

Before leaving, Mary extended an invitation. She had assumed that Yuri would come along, since she had a rather vivid memory of Yuri's coquettish behavior the night before.

Yuri shook her head and smiled as she declined Mary's invitation.

"No need, I plan to explore Alola properly today. After all, I haven't had a chance to see the place properly since I came here."

"Okay, I'll be going now, bye~"

Mary didn't insist. She waved and led Ichigo and the others toward the Pokémon School.

Yuri smiled and turned back into the house. Sonia was still fiddling with her Rotom Encyclopedia. Seeing Yuri come in, she rested her chin on her hand and said with a smile:

"I thought you would come along."

"No way! I'm not a child!"

"You're not a child anymore,"

Sonia laughed without any restraint, looking at Yuri's puffed-up cheeks, and continued:

"But you really should have some fun. It's a rare opportunity to come to Alola, so let me show you around today."

"Yes, yes! I want to go surfing!"

"Then we need to buy a swimsuit first."

Yuri, who had already decided where to go for the day, was left out of the conversation. Meanwhile, Mari was leisurely taking a stroll. Although the Alola on both sides were similar, there were still subtle differences in their atmosphere.

"Wow~ (Breakfast was delicious today~ I knew it was the right choice to stay by your side, human.)"

Nicholas was spinning around Mari like a madman, not even afraid of getting himself dizzy.

"Can you even taste the flavor... or rather, are you used to the food here?"

As a translucent being, Nihilego's way of eating was an eye-opener for Marie. The food was sucked in and digested to the point of disappearing in no time. That was hardly digestion; it was more like corrosion. It was truly remarkable that Chairwoman Lusamine could stuff half of her body inside and still be alive and kicking.

"Ugh~ (Of course! The food in that awful place was awful, and it always tasted the same.)"

"Okay, as long as you can eat it."

Mari nodded, not dwelling on the matter of Lusamine and Nihilego's fusion, but speaking of fusion... Mari glanced subtly at Nihilego beside her.

"Speaking of which, what exactly is your clan's parasitic ability, and why is it based on the organism being parasitized?"

"Huh? (Ah? You're interested in that? It's like eating dessert, isn't it? Rich emotions and intense feelings can bring us pleasure. After all, look at my other kin, aren't they all like idiots?)"

"And what about you? Do you also want to parasitize?"

"Ugh~ (I'm not interested. After parasitizing, my body will be taken over by someone else, okay? Besides, I don't need to experience emotions from others. I have my own. But if you want to experience it, you can reluctantly agree.)"

Niohuru didn't realize Mary's probing, or rather, he did realize it but didn't care. He genuinely disliked letting other people's emotions interfere with his thinking.

"No, I'm not interested in that either. I don't want my desires to be amplified and turn me into a madman."

"Oh~ (That's good, but I definitely won't go crazy. I already hate intellectual contact, why would I amplify your emotions?)"

Was this originally controllable?

"Oh~ (I haven't tried it either, but it seems like it's possible to control whether or not hormones are injected into you. Why are you worried about that?)"

"Why don't you learn more about it? You can't communicate with your other members of the same tribe, so this opportunity is very rare."

"Ugh~ (I understand, I understand. The guy who brought me to Alola was the same way; he didn't react when I said thank you, and now I don't even know where he's gone.)"

"...Were you brought here?"

"Ah~ (Yeah, yeah, with my small frame, how could I possibly get into the Ultimate Cave? I saw one of my kind trying to enter, so I ran over and hid under its tentacles to sneak in.)"

"Okay, then."

Marie had initially intended to complain, but after thinking about it, she realized there wasn't much to say. She rubbed her temples, deciding she'd have to remind Professor Kukui later that there might be a Nihilego hiding somewhere in Alola.

Chapter 163 The Battle Resumes

Marie arrived at school a little late; everyone else, including Ash, had already gone into the classroom. So, as soon as Marie stepped into the classroom, she attracted everyone's attention.

"Long time no see, everyone, Alola~"

"Marie?! You're really back?!"

Mao slammed her hand on the table and stood up abruptly, her eyes even seeming a little red. Heaven knows how they've managed these past two weeks; to them, Chairperson Lusamine was just a classmate's mother they'd met once.

But Mary was their classmate with whom they spent every day.

Seeing Mary appear unharmed before everyone, even Shui Lian couldn't help but wipe her eyes. Lillie went even further, rushing over and throwing herself into Mary's arms, just like Yuri had done yesterday, burying her face in Mary's body and bursting into tears.

"That's great...that's great...Marie, it's so good to see you back safe and sound!"

Mary was taken aback when she saw Lillie crying in her arms again today. Then she realized what was happening, raised her arms to hug Lillie, and gently patted her back, trying to calm her down.

Thinking about it carefully, perhaps Lillie was under the most pressure... After all, Marie went with her back then because she wanted to protect Lillie.

But in the end... her mother and her companions who were protecting her disappeared together in the Ultra Hole. If it weren't for Ash and Gladion, Lillie might have really collapsed on the spot.

Having figured these things out, Mary couldn't help but smile bitterly. She really only went along because she wanted to see Ultra Beasts. Protecting Lillie was just a side thing, but she never expected that it would cause Lillie to suffer.

"Haha~ Lillie has been really worried about you lately, Mary."

Ash stood to the side, smiling happily. Everyone present felt that they were partly responsible for Marnie's disappearance, and Ash even took Nebula into the Ultra Cave every day to search for Marnie.

"I know, I'm sorry to have worried you. Lillie too, I'm so sorry to have worried you, I should have come back sooner."

"Welcome back, Mary. Let's go fishing together again next time."

Water Lily carried the sea lion Ball Ball to Mary's side with a relieved smile.

“Marie, where have you been all this time? We went to the lair of Suwuid but couldn’t find you.”

Kachi was more curious about Marie's experiences, as it was clear that there was more than one world on the other side of the Ultimate Hole.

"Well... that's a long story. Didn't you ask Ash? He was listening in yesterday when I was talking to Professor Kukui, wasn't he?"

"Huh?"

Ash gave an obviously awkward laugh, while everyone else turned and glared at him, seemingly indicating that Ash hadn't said anything at all...

Mary looked down at Lillie, who was still nestled in her arms, and helped her stand up straight. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears on Lillie's face and said with a smile:

"Okay, stop crying, you'll look bad if you keep crying. Everyone's watching you."

"...I...I understand!"

Lillie blushed, gave Mary a shy glare, then lowered her head and took out a handkerchief from her pocket to carefully wipe her face. Finally, she took out a small round mirror and carefully looked at herself. Seeing that there was nothing wrong except for her red eyes, she stopped.

He led Lillie to her seat, and Lillie, having composed herself, looked up and continued to ask:

"Marie, what exactly happened to you in the Ultimate Hole? And how did you get back?"

Mary thought for a moment and decided not to hide it. She just told them not to spread it around. Then she briefly recounted her experience. Even so, after learning about another Alola and the possibility of another version of herself, everyone was surprised and curious.