Pokémon from Galar

"Well, I'm not a researcher there either, so I'm not sure if you'll have the opportunity to participate."

Mary had been quietly listening to their conversation. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Nebula and Mo had finished all of her and Yuri's milk tea. So she stood up and went to buy two more cups. Yuri hadn't even had a few sips.

"I'll go buy two more cups."

As Mary moved, Mo and Nebula jumped into Mary's arms, leaving Yuri behind, and together they headed towards the milk tea shop counter.

"Pfft, I've been abandoned~"

"Hmm... I did feed them too!"

Yuri pouted and lay on the table, her eyes following Mary's retreating figure, unwilling to look away.

"Speaking of which, are you ready?"

"What preparations?"

"Prepare to battle Marie. This gym challenge will be very difficult for you."

"What's there to prepare for? I'll just enjoy my first official match with Mary, even though I think I'm more likely to lose."

"It's not like there's no chance. Marie will most likely use the Pokémon from the gym, rather than her own."

"Huh? Why?"

"...After all, she's just an acting Gym Leader. Marnie's team only has two Dark-type Pokémon. It's hard to imagine that they'd have enough for battles."

"Oh yeah—won't I lose even worse? My Pokémon Marie is so familiar to me, but I'll be facing a completely unknown opponent."

Sonia suppressed a laugh and patted Yuri's head, comforting her:

"Look on the bright side. After all, it's not my own Pokémon, so there will definitely be some shortcomings in teamwork. But that's also an opportunity."

"……is that so?"

Yuri looked up at Sonia, who was trying not to laugh, filled with uncertainty, and her pessimism only intensified.

Touch a day

Let me think about what kind of slice-of-life content to write. Now that the plot has progressed this far, I have this strange feeling of not knowing what to write about in the slice-of-life scenes. 233333333

And in the final elimination round, I was still considering whether to win or lose and let Dante continue to be the champion.

I'm still unsure whether to write about my travels in other regions, so I'm quite conflicted.

Chapter 318 The Acting Master in the Making

The screening process for the acting gym leader was much easier than Marnie had anticipated. Since it was only an acting gym leader, not an official one, after testing Marnie's leadership abilities as a trainer and combining it with her previously submitted battle records, she easily obtained the qualification.

This incident itself did not actually have any impact on Mary's daily life, as the gym's operation was not something that could be done by the gym leader alone.

Furthermore, most of the people in the dojo were members of the cheering squad, which meant they were fans of Marie. Not only were they not dissatisfied with Marie temporarily taking over the position, but some were even thinking of making Marie the official member.

After his short vacation ended, Nie Zi taught Marie some basic gym operations before leaving again for Mon City, where Team Rocket's prisoners were being held in jail.

Nie Zike still remembers that the Rockets had a fugitive executive. Although the threat has definitely decreased after Apollo's arrest, it's hard to guarantee that the Rockets won't send more people to cause trouble here.

In addition, the strange, life-desecrating Pokémon seized from Lambda means that most of the previously missing researchers have likely been recruited by Team Rocket.

This was created by a researcher from Galar, and the Galar Alliance naturally has an obligation to bring him to justice.

While the hybrid Pokémon Thunderbird and Thunderbird Seadra currently recorded by the League may seem somewhat bizarre, at least the Pokémon themselves do not have any serious flaws.

The Thunderbird Dragon remained with the child in Traverse Town. After the League inspected the area and found no potential hazards, and recorded the data, they returned it to the child.

The Thunderbird Sea Beast was handed over to the research institute where the researcher used to work, and they are trying to find a way to alleviate the frostbite he suffered from himself. It is said that the progress is quite good.

But no one knows how many innocent lives were lost in the shadows because of this absurd experiment, so anyone who knows about it is not in a good mood.

This is also one of the reasons why Nie Zi does not want to withdraw from this operation now; he does not want to see people who desecrate life and take pride in it go unpunished.

Of course, these criminal investigation matters of the alliance have nothing to do with Mary's side. She is currently thinking about how to fight against Yuri and Nie Zi.

The Pokémon used are definitely from the gym, so they are very familiar with each other and there will be no problem in commanding them. The issue is that they still need to work on their coordination.

After all, they are Nie Zi's Pokémon, and Nie Zi's battle habits may not be the same as Marie's, so Marie needs to get through the adjustment period as soon as possible before the two of them challenge each other.

As a result, in the gym over the past few days, Marie and Nie Zi's Pokémon have fought many battles, including singles, doubles, and team battles, allowing Marie and the Pokémon to quickly get used to each other's fighting styles.

"Phew—you've worked hard, everyone take a break."

Just finished a doubles match, where Mary led Iron Claw Lobster and Crow Head against Hime-chan and Kyon.

The partners were chosen almost randomly, and Marie took turns giving commands, quickly getting to know the strength levels of each Pokémon and roughly selecting a list of Pokémon to meet the challenge.

Leading the Pokémon, who had finished training, to the medical area to recover their strength, Yuri, who had been following behind, smiled and approached Mari as she sat down.

"Mari-chan~ Is training over?"

"Okay, let's sit for a while and then go have lunch."

"Okay~"

She sat down next to Mary with a smile. Since she had also lent the training ground to Yuri and Hep, Mary did not deliberately avoid the training scene, as she felt there was no need to.

"Are Hep and Sonia still training?"

"Yeah, but I didn't expect Sonia to be so good at making training plans!"

Having nothing to do these past few days, Sonia naturally came to the dojo, and then took the opportunity to give Yuri and Hop some special training.

After all, he was someone who traveled with Leon as a rival back then. Although he hasn't been a proper trainer for quite some time, his battling skills may have declined, but his training skills are another story.

"After all, she's a researcher. But, Yuri..."

As she said this, Mary turned to look at Yuri's smiling face and posed a profound question.

"Are you really okay with always coming up to me to slack off? Look at how hard Hop has been working lately."

"I wasn't slacking off. I was just like usual. It's just that Hep was working too hard! Sister Sonia already scolded her once, but she still pushes herself to the limit every day."

"Hmm~"

Mary raised her hand and pinched Yuri's soft cheek, not minding at all that Yuri blushed and slapped her mischievous arm away. Mary also agreed with Yuri's statement, saying that the sense of crisis wasn't as exaggerated as it seemed.

"Looks like it'll be just the two of us having lunch again?"

"Hehehe~ Probably."

Although it was said that there were only two people eating together, it was really just going to the dojo's cafeteria together. It wasn't as atmospheric as one might imagine, but Yuri didn't care at all. She was happy just being with Mari like this.

Mary was naturally aware of Yuri's thoughts. While feeling relieved, she also felt a little uneasy. When did this feeling begin to appear?

Although I didn't ask, it was probably after the Alola incident.

He tilted his body slightly, letting his weight fall onto Yuri's shoulders.

"Is the training too tiring?"

Yuri smiled and peeked at Mary, then reached out and pinched her cheek as revenge for her earlier actions.

"A little."

"How about we relax a little?"

"Hmph~ I won't hold back, let's fight."

"Who said that..."

Enraged, Yuri pinched Mary's cheeks, puffed out her cheeks, and tucked Mary's head under her armpits. Then she slapped Mary's soft cheeks with both hands and rubbed them a few times.

"Um..."

Making an embarrassing sound that seemed to have no meaning, Marie simply lay down on Yuri's lap. Her previous answer wasn't a lie; getting the dozen or so Pokémon in the gym to work together was no easy task.

These past two days have been filled with intense battles. While the Pokémon can be rotated, there's only one Marnie, so it's true that she's quite mentally exhausted.

Holding onto Yuri's arm and resting her head on her lap, surrounded by familiar scents, Mary gradually relaxed and quickly fell asleep.

After Miss Joy finished her examination and treatment, Si-chan came out and saw this scene. She casually reached out and grabbed Xiao Mo and Xiao Xingyun, who were about to pounce on her, one in each hand.

After exchanging a few words with Ichigo, the two Pokémon waved goodbye to Yuri from afar, then left their trainer behind and led their companions towards the cafeteria.

Chapter 319 Lap Pillow and Date

Mary didn't sleep for long. People were constantly coming and going in the medical area, which quickly woke her up from her light sleep due to the noise.

"Well……"

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by the familiar space. The soft pillow under her head left Mary still in a daze, not quite realizing what had happened.

"woke up?"

"……Um."

Yuri's voice came from above, attracting Mary's attention. She turned her head and met Yuri's bright gaze.

"How long have I slept?"

"It'll probably take about ten minutes. If you're sleepy, you can sleep a little longer."

"……Thanks."

Subconsciously rubbing against Yuri's smooth thigh, Mary whispered a thank you.

"It looks like Mary really needs to get some rest today."

"...Um, I guess so."

As she gradually came to her senses, Mary propped herself up and got off Yuri's lap. She didn't pay any attention to the dojo members who were watching them. She rubbed her slightly sore eyes and looked down at the large red marks she had left on herself.

"Sorry, will it hurt?"

"It's alright, you'll feel better after sitting for a while. Rather than that, you should rest this afternoon; the training schedule for the next two days has been too packed."

Yuri shook her head without any concern. Mary hadn't been lying down for long anyway; she'd be fine after a while.

"I understand, I will adjust accordingly."

Mary didn't try to be stubborn; she was clear-headed about this. Since her body had already sent out signals, she naturally wouldn't ignore them.

"Mmmmm~"

"Speaking of which, where are Si-chan and the others? They should have come out by now."

"I saw you were asleep, so I went to the cafeteria first."

Yuri finished speaking with a smile, then leaned to the side and nudged Mary with her shoulder, quickly changing the subject: