Pokémon from Galar

"Ah... (I've handed control over to you. I'm suppressing the toxin secretion, but I don't know if it's due to my skill level, but it's still producing a small amount. Marie, the limit is two hours, but after that you'll have to lie down for a while to recover, just like Rosamund.)"

"If it's within half an hour, removing it won't affect your mobility, and the toxins should dissipate naturally in about two days."

"Half an hour is enough."

Mary smiled, then looked at everyone surrounding her. She instinctively reached out her hand, but all eight tentacles suddenly shot out, and the scene instantly became chaotic.

It took Mary nearly ten minutes to finally adjust to the sensation in her limbs. Floating in mid-air, she aligned her line of sight with Bal's and grinned.

"Hehe~ This feeling is so unique, it's the first time I've ever been able to fly."

From the initial chaos and confusion, after more than ten minutes, everyone had largely lowered their guard. Balu could only look helplessly at the girl in front of him.

"Hurry up and get familiar with it, there's only half an hour left, and half the time has already passed."

"Don't rush me, I'm trying my best."

Mary lowered her head and crossed her legs. The black substance almost covered her entire body, like a protective film. It was very close to her body and felt very comfortable against her skin, much more comfortable than stockings or other similar fabrics.

"By the way, Kyon, can I use the skills you know?"

"Um... (Theoretically, it should be possible, but do you know how to use it?)"

"You can teach me, that's all."

"Ugh... (If I get distracted, the duration of the parasitic infection will be further reduced.)"

"It's okay, I should be able to learn it once I get familiar with both sides. The main problem is that I can't take this step of starting from scratch on my own."

"Okay then, you give the commands, and I'll unleash the skills."

"Hehe~ Then I'll learn a few less: Cleanse Smoke, Venom Blast, and Poison, and then Power Gem, just these four moves."

"Okay~ (I'll slowly channel the energy, Mary, see if you can sense it.)"

Mary floated unsteadily to the side, aimed at the rock wall, and after sensing Kyon's movements controlling the tentacles, she closed her eyes and carefully sensed the poison and rock-type energy.

It wasn't until Kyon controlled them to move that Mari realized what kind of power was contained within this body.

Chapter 219 They won't suddenly run away, right?

Manipulating energy to unleash special moves is a truly amazing experience.

Although these energies did not pass through Marie's body, the control transferred by Kyon allowed Marie to truly experience what it felt like to be a Pokémon.

Their agile limbs, the graceful movement made possible by flight, and their destructive, powerful moves are completely unmatched by the human body.

After controlling her body to fly a little further away, Mary raised her tentacles. Kyon had already demonstrated how the Power Stone's energy circulated, and now it was her turn.

Maintaining her composure, Mary awkwardly located the energy within her body. As if looking inward, Mary even felt that she saw two semi-transparent bands of light of slightly different colors within Kyon's body, covering every part of his body.

Carefully manipulating the earthy yellow energy, although Mary was only a temporary controller, the energy was exceptionally obedient and docile, smoothly following Mary's commands, and began to condense energy clusters at the ends of the tentacles in a specific structure, enough to release light.

Ichigo stood in front of Mari, volunteering to be the tester of the special move's power.

"It's about to start, I-chan!"

"Ee~ (Come on~)"

Feeling the energy ball that Mary had condensed, I-chan nodded easily. Although it had taken shape, its power was clearly not as great as the Power Gem that Kyon had released before.

Mary focused her attention on Ichigo, extending two tentacles that pointed towards the target. She was manually aiming the Power Gem's attack direction, unsure of its precise placement. Then…

Whoosh—! Thud—

A pale yellow light flashed by and successfully struck I-chan's body. However, the protective light barrier disappeared in an instant, blocking all the energy burst in front of I-chan and preventing her from being knocked back.

"How was it? How was it?"

"Ee- (For the first time, I'd say it's passable.)"

After considering it for a moment, I-chan finally gave her assessment: the power of that attack was really weak, probably only about half the power of Kyon's. However, considering that Mari had only been human before and had only been exposed to Rock-type energy for less than half an hour,

From this perspective, Mary's talent can be considered quite remarkable.

"Hehe~ I knew it! I could definitely do it."

"Ah... (Although it's not good to interrupt you now, the time is almost up. The toxins are accumulating and are about to reach the warning line. Get ready, I'm about to leave.)"

"Wow, that was fast... Okay, put me down now. Thank you for your hard work, Kyon."

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm happy to be of help."

Mary controlled her body to gradually descend, and then after a wave of dizziness, her body suddenly felt heavy. Mary's body slid out of Kyon's cavity without any hindrance and then fell to the ground.

Sis quickly teleported to Mary's side, reaching out to support Mary's upper body as she nearly collapsed. Looking at the purplish-black liquid rapidly receding from her body, she asked with some concern:

"Sha... (Are you alright?)"

"Ah, it's nothing, it's just that I was a little... not quite there when I suddenly turned back into my own body."

Mary raised her hand and moved her fingers, then shifted her legs. Although the dislocation was quite severe, she quickly regained her senses and stood up again.

"Eh? (How are you feeling? Is anything bothering you?)"

"No, apart from feeling a little awkward, I don't feel anything is wrong. It's just that I feel a bit excited."

"Ah~ (This is normal. That toxin is meant to stimulate emotions. You were in a high mood when it was parasitizing earlier, right? That's probably the effect of the toxin~)"

Having returned to its normal form, Kyon floated back to Mary's side and explained its considerations. Mary nodded thoughtfully; she had indeed felt quite excited during the experiment.

"So, a small amount of toxins only makes people feel elated? This side effect is acceptable, and there are plenty of things you can do in half an hour."

Mary, quite satisfied with the result, beamed with joy. The effects would likely linger for at least two days, only gradually fading away…

"The experiment is almost over, let's head back today and go see what Yuri is up to at the fighting dojo."

After greeting everyone and putting the lazy guy back into the ball, we leisurely returned to Su Chuan Town.

On the way, Mary bought two cups of Yuri's favorite milk tea. When Mary arrived at the fighting dojo and found Yuri in the training ground, she saw her resting nearby.

"Yuri—"

"Huh? Mary-chan, what brings you here?"

Yuri smiled and waved, inviting Mary to sit down next to her.

"Okay, I'll come check on you after training. Where's Cong Youbing?"

"Over there."

Yuri took the milk tea and then pointed to a spot a little further away where two Farfetch'd were practicing swordplay; one of them was probably Bea's Pokémon.

Mary turned her head, looked at Yuri who was covered in sweat, and asked in confusion:

"What have you been practicing here? Why are you sweating so much?"

"Hehe, I also learned some basic fighting skills. The Thousand Faces Avoidance and the others are training on their own in the training room next door."

"I see."

Bea is really good to Yuri, even lending her a Pokémon training ground. Fighting-type Pokémon are mostly trained in this ground, but there are always some people who don't just catch Fighting-type Pokémon, so there are also general-purpose training grounds.

"Where is Bea's Gym Leader?"

"I'm busy."

"The gym leader must have a really tough job~"

"Haha~ That's true."

Having drunk half of her milk tea, Mary propped herself up on her arm, turned to look at Yuri, and suddenly said:

"I have something to tell you when I get back tonight."

"Hmm? What is it? Can't you tell me now?"

Yuri turned her head and was taken aback when she saw Mary's slightly serious expression, wondering what had happened.

"It's a bit troublesome, it's better to go back and talk to them."

"Wait—! I only have one question!"

Yuri raised her hand aggressively to block Mary's path, then leaned in close. Mary shrank back and asked:

"what?"

"Won't Mary-chan suddenly run away by herself, will she?"

Yuri's words left Mary with mixed feelings. After a brief silence, she finally nodded.

"...No, not at all."

Upon receiving a positive reply, Yuri relaxed completely, then put on a nonchalant smile and sat up straight.

"Then there's no problem. I need to continue training. Let's talk about it when I get back tonight."

"Okay, I'll wait for you here."

Chapter 220 Prelude to the Challenge

Mary explained everything she could to Yuri, except for the omitted information about the Sword and Shield gods and Eterna. She also told Yuri about the potential conflicts that might arise within her and her own thoughts.

Just as Mary had predicted, no matter what, Yuri was unwilling to let Mary go on an adventure alone, so basically as expected, the two of them entered the Mystic Forest together.

Of course, before that, Mary still has a gym challenge to complete, so she's not worried about that for now. She'll wait until she's more familiar with the parasitic state before entering.

When I arrived at the Ghost-type Gym again, it was just as deserted as the last time I came.

The older sister who had received Mary and Yuri last time didn't go to the back to help this time. Instead, she diligently guarded the lobby and successfully spotted Mary and Yuri walking in.

"Oh~ welcome, Mary and Yuri."

"Thank you, it's my turn for the gym challenge today."

"Hmm~ Let's go change first. Should Yuri wait here in the lobby or in the audience area?"

Mary waved and went to the locker room alone. Then the older sister focused her attention on Yuri. There were also screens in the lobby where you could watch the live broadcast of the match.

Although not many people like to come to the Ghost-type Gym, the arena for gym challenges is still quite crowded. Onio specially had a passageway built from another location to the audience seating area, so that people don't have to go through the gym.

"Let's sit here for a while. Aren't we supposed to battle a few trainers before the official challenge begins?"

"Yes, the 1v1 battles are not publicly available. It will indeed take some time before Gym Leader Onio makes his appearance."

The older sister smiled, took two glasses of water, sat down next to Yuri, and then sank into the sofa, looking quite lazy.

Perhaps sensing Yuri's gaze, the older sister coughed twice, slurping her tea as she explained: