Pokémon from Galar

Yuri swallowed the words she was about to say and changed the subject to something lighter.

"Hmm, I'll arrive in Gongmen City early tomorrow morning. I'm afraid I'll have to get up in the middle of the night to get there."

"Haha~ That must be really tiring. I'm not going with you, I'm going to sleep."

Yuri chuckled with a smug look on her face.

"Hey hey—then I'll definitely wake you up first before I go out tonight."

"Get out of here."

Chapter 246 Night Tour

That night, Mary carefully got out of bed, glanced at Yuri who was still fast asleep, smiled, and went to get dressed.

"Hmm... Mary-chan? Are we going?"

However, it was unclear when the commotion disturbed Yuri. Mary had just finished dressing when she heard the rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other behind her, as well as Yuri's soft, sweet voice.

"Sorry, did I disturb you?"

Mary walked to the bedside, bent down while holding onto the headboard, smiled at Yuri's face, and asked softly.

"No... I actually woke up because I realized Marie-chan wasn't around."

"Pfft... What's that?"

Yuri rolled over, turning to lie on her side, and looked at Mary. Still half asleep, she raised her hand and pinched Mary's cheek, asking:

"...What time will you be back?"

"It might be after dawn."

"I understand, be careful on the road."

"Yes, thank you."

Mary's heart skipped a beat. Looking at Yuri's face, which was faintly visible in the dim light, she smiled, leaned down, and kissed Yuri on the lips, whispering:

"I'm off."

"Well……"

Unable to tell whether Yuri was sleepy or shy, Mari stood up and left the hotel with only Xiaochu, Yi-chan, and Su-chan.

After Mary left the room and she heard the door close, Yuri suddenly pulled the blanket over herself and buried herself in it.

"Waaaaah—!!!"

Her little feet kicked around in the blanket, expressing her shyness and excitement.

"kon~?"

Vulpix jumped onto Yuri's pillow and chirped curiously, wondering what was wrong with her trainer.

……

Meanwhile, Mary left the inn, looked at the town which was almost identical to the scenery during the day, and called out to Silkie.

"Please, take me to the treetop."

Taking Little Bird out of town late at night would be too noisy and might disturb others, so Mary had Silky carry her directly over the jungle.

"Shh~ (Okay~)"

With a smile, Sis picked up Mary in a princess carry and then vanished from the spot in an instant.

The scenery before her eyes suddenly changed to a view of a bright, clear moon. Mary pouted and looked at Sis-chan.

"...Was it really necessary to carry him in a princess carry?"

"Sha~ (Because Mary-chan is so cute~)"

"..."

Not knowing how to answer, Mary gave up thinking and reached out to take out Chirp's Poké Ball and released him.

As soon as it appeared, it activated its tailwind, spread its wings, and quickly stabilized its body. Only then did Little Chirp look at Mary and Silky.

"Gah—(Shall we set off now?)"

"Okay, thank you for your help."

"Gah~ (What's the trouble? It's so nice to spend a wonderful evening alone with Mary-chan~)"

"...Did I really pluck all your feathers off?"

"Gah... (Haha... just kidding, just kidding...)"

"Really."

Mary sighed and had Sis help her sit on Little Bird's back.

"Alright, Sis-chan, go back and rest now."

"Sha~? (Don't you need me to come with you?)"

"It's okay, Little Chirp will protect me."

"Sha~ (Okay then, call me anytime if you need anything.)"

After saying that, Siji obediently returned to her healing ball and went back to sleep.

"Gah—(Alright, let's go!)"

Sensing that Mary had secured herself, Little Bird suddenly exerted its strength and flew high into the sky.

"hiss--"

Mary bent down, facing the wind and looking at the scenery above. She shrank her neck, thankfully she had put on a coat beforehand, otherwise she would have been freezing.

"Gah—(First time taking off late at night, the scenery is actually quite nice—)"

Little Chick seemed excited because it was its first time going out at night, and it tilted its head back and shouted loudly.

Mary grinned, reached out and patted Little Chick's head, and said loudly:

"Why are you so excited? It's quite a long way from here to Gongmen City. Don't get exhausted halfway there."

"Gah—(Are you underestimating me?! This short distance is exhausting for me, but I could cross Galar without even breaking a sweat!)"

"You're just bragging."

Mary smiled and ignored the guy's boasting, about crossing Galar. Maybe he could say that again in a year.

After getting used to Xiao Chu's speed, Mary relaxed a little, took out her Rotom phone, opened the camera, and pressed the shutter button to take a picture of the bright moon and the starry sky.

Since it wasn't a proper flying taxi, Mary just lay on Little Bird's back, and Little Bird didn't dare to go at full speed, lest Mary couldn't stand the cold wind.

So it took a little longer to get to the brightly lit Gongmen Market.

As the economic center of Galar, the city of Miyagi is bustling even at night.

Landing in an open area, Mary put away the little bird that had been through a long journey and walked alone on the streets of Gongmen City.

"what……"

Mary yawned, covered her mouth with her hand, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and looked at the pedestrians on the street with some emotion. Aren't these people sleepy? They all have so much energy.

"Oh my, isn't this contestant Mary? What brings you to Gongmen City at this hour?"

A slightly tired voice came from the side. Mary turned around and was met with Olive's cool but exquisite face.

"Miss Olive? What a coincidence! I'm here to pick up a friend from the airport. But what's Miss Olive doing at this hour...? Are you still working?"

Mary's gaze fell on the tablet in Olive's hand, and she was somewhat taken aback. Working overtime at this hour, wouldn't she die from overwork...?

"No, I've already finished get off work. I was just planning to come out for a drink and take care of some chores."

Olive casually put away the tablet, thought for a moment, and asked:

"Your friend is from Alola, right? Professor Kukui recently added a rather strange young trainer. It must be related to something Alola is preparing for, right?"

"Um... well..."

Mary scratched her head awkwardly, unsure how to answer Oliver's question, mainly because she didn't know what to say and what not to say.

Seeing Mary's slightly nervous expression, Olive chuckled. Because of the Mugentana incident, she was now quite concerned about Mary.

"Don't be nervous. I just wanted to remind you that your presence is very important to the president. Be careful and don't get involved in anything too dangerous."

"Yes, yes, I know, thank you."

"Then I'll be going now. See you next time, Mary."

Olive waved her hand, didn't linger, said goodbye, and left, heading in the direction she had planned to go.

Standing there watching Olive's slender figure, Mary felt a pang of emotion. She didn't know much more about Olive than anyone else; she vaguely remembered that Olive had been a researcher before, but that was all she knew.

But if he's so considerate of the president, who knows how things will turn out in the future...

"Ugh……"

With a soft sigh, Mary turned around and continued walking towards the airport.

Chapter 247 Picking Up the Airport

Although the airport was brightly lit in the middle of the night, there were surprisingly few people.

After visiting the Pokémon Center to help Chinchilla recover, they entered the airport.

Mary checked the time; there was still some time before Miyuki's flight arrived. Looking around, Mary walked into one of the shops in the airport, intending to buy some hot late-night snacks.

Mizuki spent most of the day on the plane, so she probably didn't eat anything properly.

After sitting in the chair and eating by herself for a while, as the announcements on the radio played, Mary stuffed the leftover wrapper into the trash can and walked towards the exit, where she finally saw a tired-looking Meiyue.

"Ah...Mari-chan—!"

Just moments ago, Meiyue had been looking like she was indulging in some kind of spiritual cultivation, but upon seeing Mary, she immediately perked up, rushed through the exit, and threw herself at Mary.

"Long time no see, Mizuki."

Mary put one arm around Miyuki and said this with a smile.

Releasing Mary's body, Mizuki took two steps back, sniffed the air, and then looked at what Mary was holding, her meaning clear.

"Stop looking, I bought this for you, have some."