Pokémon from Galar

"Why don't you go find Hep first, and then wait for me in Dance Town?"

"No way! Honestly, are you saying that on purpose?"

Yuri pouted and sat up in bed, leaning her head closer and staring wide-eyed at Mary's somewhat guilty gaze.

"Too close, too close!"

Shrinking her neck back, Mary felt a little uncomfortable at such close proximity, as if she could kiss the other person with just a slight tilt of her face, making it difficult for her to remain calm.

"Well--!"

It was obvious that Mary's act of avoiding eye contact led Yuri to completely misunderstand. Mary's simple shyness was interpreted by Yuri as avoidance. Mary had said those things in public earlier that day, and now she was trying to brush her off? That's not fair.

Thinking this, Yuri increased the range of her movements, moving her hands forward and pressing her body further towards Mary.

"...Wh-what's wrong?"

As she was gradually approached, Mary instinctively leaned back until Yuri pushed her down onto the bed, at which point she was forced to look into Yuri's eyes.

"It's nothing! You know I like you, so why did you say those things?"

"Um, because...you seemed really worried about Hop, so..."

The more Mary talked, the more guilty she felt. Eventually, she fell silent. Faced with Yuri's intense gaze, Mary couldn't take it anymore and couldn't continue the lie she had made up.

"That's a lie."

"...I'm sorry, it was wrong of me to say those things."

Hearing Mary's apology, Yuri's lips curled into a slight smile. She then carefully leaned down and pressed herself against Mary, resting her head against Mary's neck and letting out a soft, muffled moan.

"Hmph~ Not sincere at all..."

"I'm sorry, I'll do anything, please forgive me."

Looking up at the ceiling and feeling the warm, ticklish breath in the crook of her neck, Mary finally couldn't help but feel her cheeks starting to burn. She raised her hand and hugged Yuri to prevent her from looking up and seeing her face.

The atmosphere seems pretty good right now...

Mary stared blankly at the ceiling, only belatedly realizing what Yuri had just said to her. To be honest, it felt like a confession.

This is really frustrating. Mary can't figure out what kind of "like" Yuri means... She only made a casual remark during the day, but who knows what Yuri interpreted it as.

From Mary's perspective, she and Yuri have only known each other for a few months. Mary's attraction to Yuri is entirely due to the influence of her past life memories and her personal preferences, but Yuri doesn't have those.

What if Yuri considers her a best friend, and then she suddenly confesses that she actually likes her body? That would be a complete disaster. Besides, there's still so much time before this year's dojo challenge, so Mari thinks it's better to play it safe... there's no rush anyway.

Meanwhile, Yuri, realizing she was being hugged from behind, nervously closed her eyes. Her face felt hot as if she had a fever, and she didn't dare to look up at Mari, afraid of revealing her disheveled state.

What Yuri just said was the boldest statement she'd ever made, spurred on by sheer courage and bravado. The same was true when she later buried her face in Mari's neck.

Fortunately, Mary didn't feel disgusted. She even hugged and comforted herself, which made Yuri feel that her plan to deliberately increase physical contact during this period was very successful.

Initially, Mary reacted strongly to all kinds of physical contact, seemingly disliking it. Yuri was also troubled by this for a long time. Although they could hold hands, it seemed that holding hands was all they could do.

But now, the usual cuddling, lap pillows, snuggling in someone's arms to sleep—it seems like Mary has gotten used to it and no longer feels awkward like before.

Following the momentum, she said "I like you," and the conversation kept repeating in her mind. This conversation made Yuri feel both shy and happy.

Although I really wanted to take advantage of the current atmosphere to confess my feelings, I've only known Mary for three or four months at most, and Mary is usually so indifferent. This is the first time I've seen Mary so flustered and a little shy just now.

Yuri was hesitant to make any rash moves. What if Mary only saw her as a close friend? If she suddenly admitted that she was actually lusting after Mary's body, wouldn't she be doomed on the spot?

With more than half a year left before the gym challenge this year, Yuri felt that it was best to play it safe and continue to work out the strategy secretly, taking it one step at a time... She couldn't rush things.

The two girls, embracing each other, hid their flushed cheeks, each lost in their own thoughts, savoring the warmth of the embrace.

Chapter 187 Meeting with Nie Zi

The next day, Mary had arranged to meet her brother and pick up her new Maxim Bracelet and Rotom Phone, as the makeshift phone's hardware was a bit outdated.

Mary arrived at the agreed-upon restaurant alone. Yuri, for reasons unknown, refused to go with Mary. Mary didn't insist, and they parted ways at the Shy Bud Hotel.

After reporting her reservation information, Mary realized she was actually a step too early. She was led by a waiter to an empty outdoor area, but she didn't see Nie Zi there.

Not intending to stand on ceremony with her brother, Mary picked up the menu, ordered food for each of the Pokémon, and a pastry and tea for herself. After letting everyone out, she leisurely waited.

Sisi sat on the chair next to Marie and habitually scooped up Eevee and placed her in her lap. Ever since Sisi evolved into Gardevoir, the relationship between her and Eevee seemed to have undergone a subtle change, and what was terrifying was that Eevee seemed to have completely accepted this change.

Although Marnie pays close attention to the status of her Pokémon, she avoids getting too involved in their love lives. After all, everyone has privacy, especially Sis who has gone through her teenage years. Although she has matured now, some of her habits seem to have been subtly preserved.

For example, she might become shy when it comes to emotional topics.

Although in Mary's group, only Suzu is currently experiencing relationship problems... Ichi still doesn't seem to realize Suzu's intentions towards her.

At the table, Xiao Mo and Ji Jiang were eating the fresh tree fruit provided by the restaurant. The process was that Xiao Mo first used an electric torch to roast the fruit, judging the heat by the changes in the skin. When the time was right, she removed the electric shock, took the fruit next to Xiao Qiu's wing, and snapped it in half, one half for each of them. There was a thin layer of air blade attached to it, a thin layer that was held back without being released. Her energy control was superb.

Xiao Mo is quite caring towards her youngest sister, and often shares her roasted tree berries with Hime-chan.

He originally planned to share the energy cubes, since Xiao Mo thought they tasted better. However, Mary stopped him. After a brief explanation, Xiao Mo understood and accepted the concept of the special food, and finally changed the food he was sharing to tree berries.

As for Little Chick, it spread its wings slightly and perched on the edge of the table for Little Mo to use as a cutting machine, then bent down and placed its big head on Mary's lap.

After evolving, Chirp completely lost the chance to snuggle in Mary's arms. Now, at most, he can rub his head against Mary's chest a couple of times, and he even has to worry about whether the feathers on his head will poke Mary, although with his current control, he won't do that.

Mary reached out and stroked the feathers on Little Chick's neck. After all, they were just young children, so it wasn't surprising that they would act cute. Besides, Little Chick didn't say anything flirtatious anymore. Of course, Mary knew that this little guy had just changed from being openly flirtatious to being secretly flirtatious.

Occasionally, he would suddenly blurt out a sarcastic remark, which made Mary so angry that she even wanted to pluck his head bald.

Kyon inexplicably came to enjoy the feeling of hanging his head on Mary's shoulder and letting his tentacles sway in the wind. Perhaps he found the lazy feeling of being led around by someone particularly tempting?

Fortunately, the daily training was being carried out diligently, so Mary let him be. Although Ah-Xu was quite heavy, he unconsciously maintained his buoyancy even when hanging on Mary, so the weight on Mary was actually only about five kilograms.

After waiting for a while, as Marie was feeding Chip and Kyon with the Pokémon food brought by the waiter, Nie Zi finally appeared in front of Marie.

"Brother, it's been a long time."

"Yes, it's been a long time."

Nie Zi still looked sleep-deprived. He nodded and greeted Mary, then walked to the seat opposite her, pulled out a chair, and sat down, taking a look at Mary's Pokémon.

"Ee~ (Long time no see, brother~)"

Hearing the conversation between the two, Yi-chan, who was lying on Si-chan's lap, stood up on her forelegs, raised her head and looked at Nie-zi opposite her, giving her an affectionate greeting. She and Nie-zi were quite familiar with each other.

"Oh, Ichi-chan, it's been a long time."

patted Xiao Qiu's head, which was resting on her lap, and told him to go eat by himself. Mary then looked at Nie Zi across from her and asked:

"Why is it taking so long? I've been waiting for ages."

"Sorry for taking up some time with Kawu... You really are being impolite."

Nie Zi's gaze fell on the things on the table, and she smiled wryly. This restaurant is very expensive; they don't even know how to save money.

"After all, it's your treat, brother."

Mary picked up her cup and took a sip of tea, without showing any remorse for her behavior.

"..."

Nie Zi didn't reply, but just stared straight at Mary, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't, which made Mary feel awkward.

"...What are you doing?"

"Sigh... I just suddenly feel like I don't recognize my sister anymore."

"what?"

Faced with Nie Zi's inexplicable remarks, Mary blinked, completely bewildered. What was all this about? It was just a risky adventure; why was he going to lecture her in such a roundabout way?

Nie Zi shook her head, showing no intention of explaining, and quickly changed the subject.

"Before that, I wanted to test Balu's strength, so I fought him."

"Oh? Really? You won or you lost?"

"We almost lost."

Nie Zi poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and then answered in this way.

Upon hearing this, Mary shrugged.

"What? I thought we won."

"No... strictly speaking, I actually lost. I used Weavile, and even with both of my attributes being advantageous, I still almost got defeated by Bal. He is indeed very strong. I'm even a little envious of you."

"Ugh, brother, you're battling a Pokémon whose trainer isn't even around, and you're using such a weak type..."

"The main problem is that after Pazu activated his Aura, he put a lot of pressure on me. The Overlord Aura is a truly domineering ability, capable of amplifying the strength of Pokémon to that extent. And Marie, you have four Pokémon that can all use this power."

Nie Zi's expression gradually turned serious. Although he knew that his sister had extraordinary talent, this time it really refreshed his understanding. Among the ten dojo masters, Nie Zi believed that his strength was among the top.

But given Mary's growth rate, if she were to use her dominant aura on the field... perhaps she could even break through the elimination rounds this year and stand in front of Dan in place of herself?

Of course, Nie Zi still doesn't think his sister has a chance to defeat Dan Di this year. That man is somewhat beyond common sense. If he really leads all six of the original teams, no one can beat him in the exhibition match.

Every year in the exhibition matches, Leon always has a Charizard and five other strong Pokémon participating. Even if he or someone else manages to defeat the first five Pokémon, they will eventually fall to Charizard.

Galarian Champion Dante's strength seems somewhat exceptional.

Chapter 188 Doubles Match with Nie Zi

"What are your plans, brother? Are you going home, or will you stay in Mech City?"

After dinner, Mary and Nie Zi went to the wilderness area. Yuri was also on her way. Since it wasn't on their way, they just agreed on a meeting point.

"I'll go back after you've finished challenging Kawu."

Nie Zi watched as Marie laid out training plans for the Pokémon and replied, "If I happen to be there, I can see what kind of challenge Marie is going to face."

"...Is everything alright at the dojo?"

"What problems could there be? The first challenger will take at least three or four months. We can leave the other trivial matters to others."

Mary had never really looked into how her brother ran the dojo before, because she found it too troublesome. But now, after hearing Nie Zi say this, she realized that her brother was actually more free than she had imagined.

He took out the new Rotom phone that Nie Zi had given him and contacted Yuri. She should be arriving in a little while. He also had a new Dynamax wristband in his backpack.

I didn't wear it right away, since the wristband is basically useless unless you're in a special place, and the Z-band is more convenient.

Nie Zi looked down at his younger sister and the Pokémon surrounding her, then suddenly spoke after a moment's thought:

"We still have some time, how about a match?"

"Huh? Suddenly?"

Mary looked up at Nie Zi in surprise, then nodded and said with a smile: