Pokémon from Galar

As she said this, Mary paused, turned her head to look at Mizuki's wrist, and asked:

"Are you wearing the Dynamax Bracers I gave you last time?"

"Mmm~ I've always kept it in my backpack."

"I'll teach you how to use it later; it's quite simple to operate."

"oh oh--"

Meiyue nodded and smiled. Mari knew her level of skill, which made her quite curious about what kind of opponent Mari was talking about.

Anyway, it definitely won't be very weak.

"Speaking of which, aren't we leaving directly from up there like last time?"

As Mizuki watched the forest edge draw closer, she curiously pointed to the sky. Last time, she was brought down from the sky by Chiu, so she knew how vast the Mystic Forest outside Dance Town was.

"Let me show you the unique Pokémon of Galar. And putting the Pokémon aside, the Glowing Forest itself is worth a visit."

It won't take much time. After leaving the Mystic Forest, Little Bird can take them directly to Hammerlocke City. It will take at most three days.

It wasn't explained in great detail, but the meaning was conveyed.

The three of them plunged into the Mystic Forest and quickly found themselves in its unique, dark environment.

Curious, she reached out and patted the giant mushroom beside her. Seeing its translucent fluorescence, Mizuki became quite curious and, in a playful mood, started taking pictures as she walked, illuminating a large area of ​​the road.

"Whoa—!"

Suddenly, Meiyue, who was walking ahead of Mary and her companion, let out a cry of surprise. Before Mary could rush over to check, she saw a mischievous little demon step on Meiyue's head, leap up, and dart past Mary into the jungle.

"That startled me! What kind of Pokémon was that?"

Mizuki scratched her head, then peeked out again behind the giant mushroom, asking Mari without turning her head.

"Mischievous Imp, a Pokémon unique to the Mystic Forest, may be attacked."

"It's alright. I heard recently that the mischievous little demons don't attack people as much anymore, although they still steal things."

Yuri led Farfetch'd to the side and added with a smile, "The risk of getting beaten up for attacking humans is high, but the risk of stealing is much lower, especially now that there are more and more trainers, Pokémon will also change their behavior style accordingly."

"Oh, I see... Haha~ I'll be more careful next time, I'll be more careful next time."

Mizuki chuckled and got away with it, and Mari naturally didn't say anything more; there was no need for Mari to remind Mizuki of this.

Seeing that Mizuki had called out Ye Yibu and brought her to her side, Mari stopped paying attention to her and instead lagged a few steps behind to come to Yuri's side, smiling as she looked over.

"...What, how come?"

Feeling uncomfortable under Mari's gaze, Yuri glanced at Mari subconsciously, then quickly looked away. Mari remained silent and continued to stare at Yuri.

I've been waiting ever since I finished the challenge yesterday, but I haven't spoken up even though I've already left Dance Town.

"..."

"..."

The two remained silent, and the atmosphere gradually became strange. Yuri's cheeks turned increasingly red because of Mary. Of course, she knew what Mary was trying to say. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell her; she just needed a little time to mentally prepare herself.

"We had planned it!"

"Gu..."

"It was Yuri who said it herself~"

"Well……"

"And you promised you wouldn't lie to me~"

"Waaah..."

Mary deliberately spoke in a low voice, whispering to Yuri. With each word, Yuri felt as if she had been struck by an arrow.

"I'll talk—I'll talk!"

"Hmm~"

Mary raised her eyebrows, signaling her to hurry up.

"...that's it,"

Yuri's gaze darted around, glancing at Mizuki walking ahead, completely oblivious to the situation, then at Onion Yuhei beside her, and finally meeting Mari's eyes for a fleeting moment.

After waiting for a while, watching Yuri close her eyes and take a deep breath, he finally spoke:

"Um... what kind of relationship do I have with Mary-chan right now...?"

"what?"

Mary blinked, puzzled. She'd been waiting for this question for so long. What did she mean by "what kind of relationship"...?

"Well, it's just that I suddenly realized that although Mary-chan confessed her feelings, she never said what their relationship was..."

Yuri's voice grew softer and softer until it finally fell silent, while she kept glancing at Mary, as if she wanted to look but dared not.

"Uh……"

Mary raised her eyebrows and thought about it carefully. She didn't seem to have said anything like that, but generally speaking... wouldn't confessing your feelings mean confirming the relationship?

Does this mean that after confessing your feelings, you have to confirm it one more time before it's considered over?

He scratched his face a little awkwardly. Well, this was probably really his fault.

Thinking of this, Mary had no choice but to reach out and pinch Yuri's chin, turning her face towards her, and then lower her head to kiss her.

"...?!"

After a two-second pause, Mary released her grip, looked up at Yuri who was probably about to crash, and said with a smile:

"I'm sorry, it's my fault. You're my girlfriend, I won't let you get away."

"For, for, for—"

"Ok?"

"Why all of a sudden?! There are still people here!"

Yuri lowered her voice, blushing and excitedly scolding Mari, saying that Mizuki could see what was happening here with just a turn of her head!

"It's okay, Mizuki won't mind."

"I would mind—!"

Mary raised her hand to catch the small fist that was hitting her, and said with a smile:

"Alright, alright, she didn't even look over here. Your overreaction is really going to attract Mizuki's attention."

"Gurgle—!!"

Seeing Yuri silently withdraw her hand and puff up her cheeks like a bun, Mari couldn't help but laugh out loud. So obedient? Doesn't that make me want to bully her even more?

"I'm sorry, please forgive me."

"Humph--"

Just as Mary was struggling with how to appease Yuri, there was a sudden rustling sound in the nearby jungle. A little fire horse suddenly darted out, ran to Mary and Yuri, and happily rubbed its head against their bellies.

"Ritsu—(It really was you guys—!)"

Mary patted the little pony's head and asked, looking down:

Where is your mother?

'Rule—(It's later, I guess?)'

"Pfft, what is it? Did you run out alone?"

Chapter 257 A Favor from Qibana

Quanjuku City,

Mary and her group leisurely spent two days on the road, returning to the territory of Hammerlocke City.

"Yo~ girls, welcome to Motogakure City."

Not long after arriving in Motogakure, Kibana, for reasons unknown, approached them and stood before them.

"...Wow, that was fast. Weren't we supposed to go to the dojo this afternoon? Why did you come looking for me first?"

Mary looked at Chibana, who was still acting nonchalant, with a bit of speechlessness. Could this guy have been waiting for this on purpose?

"I was having coffee over there when I saw you guys outside, so I thought I'd come over and say hello."

Kibana pointed to a coffee shop next door. Next to an empty outdoor seat, a Goodra was holding a large cup and sipping tea. It looked like Kibana's Pokémon.

"I'm quite free."

"Haha~ I wasn't originally this free, but your brother Nie Zi suddenly took over a lot of work a while ago, so I've become free."

"My brother? Ah... I guess I know why. Honestly, I could have handled it myself."

Although Mary was surprised for a moment, she quickly realized why her brother had come all the way here, which left Mary speechless.

"Let's not talk about work anymore, Mary. Aren't you going to introduce this lady? She's the rival you found for me, isn't she?"

Chibana naturally wouldn't distrust Mary, and no matter how much he thought about it, the other party wouldn't lie to him about this, even though the opponent only looked a year or two older than Mary.

"Ah—sorry, it was my oversight. This is Mizuki from Alola. She's very strong, so it's best to go all out against her."

"Hello, my name is Kibana, the Galar Dragon-type Gym Leader. I look forward to battling you."

"Alola, I hope you can fully enjoy the Dynamax battle today."

Mizuki, on the other hand, didn't seem intimidated at all. She had found some information about Qibana in the past two days, and just from what she had shown, it was clear that he was very strong. She was indeed quite looking forward to it.

"Want to come over for a drink? It's on me."

Cibana pointed to his seat; there were still three more people sitting at that table.

The three of them looked around, but since they didn't have any detailed plans, they figured it wouldn't take much time to sit down for a while, so they nodded in agreement.

After returning to the cafe and ordering, Yuri's attention was immediately drawn to the incredibly cute sticky dragon next to her.

I reached out and touched its body. It was soft like jelly, and I could feel a little liquid covering its skin, but it wasn't slippery.

Nyanmei Dragon didn't mind Yuri's actions; instead, he lowered his head and smiled at Yuri in a friendly manner.

"I saw your updated records on the official website. The next stop is Zhanjing Town. That mother and child won't be easy to deal with."