Pokémon from Galar

Mary was somewhat surprised that the size was correct, probably because Yuri had gone to ask the shop assistant earlier.

"How about it?"

"It looks good! But aren't you going to try the ones below?"

"Of course I won't try... What are you thinking?"

"Ouch..."

Mary flicked Yuri's forehead with her backhand, then looked herself up and down, realizing she was being a little smug.

Yuri pouted and rubbed her forehead, as if seeking revenge, and openly and wantonly began to examine Mary's body.

But Mary wouldn't let it go like that. She quickly took off her clothes again, changed back into her own, and dragged Yuri out of the dressing room.

Growing up can be a bit troublesome, as sizes can change unexpectedly, and clothes need to be replaced frequently, which is generally quite expensive.

I hope it will grow slower in the future.

As she paid the bill, Mary looked at it and prayed. She knew she wouldn't care if the money was spent on Yi-chan and the others, but spending it on something like this made her feel a little pained.

Mary put the wrapped paper bag into her handbag and followed Yuri out of the boutique.

"Shall we go for dessert next?"

"Um... um..."

I thought that after buying clothes, Yuri's attention would turn to food, but unexpectedly she became conflicted.

"...What's wrong? Why are you hesitating in front of the cake?!"

"No, cough cough... Marie-chan~"

"..."

Mary, seeing Yuri's sudden change in tone, instinctively took a step back. However, Yuri pressed on, taking two steps forward and closing in.

“Look, we just had lunch not long ago, and we’re not very hungry right now. Would it be better to do something else first before we eat the cake?”

"Hmm? Sure, it's possible... but how could you say something like that..."

"Oh ho! Let's go play something else first!"

Upon hearing Mary's agreement, Yuri ignored all the complaints and hugged Mary's arm as they headed towards a nearby inn.

"...???"

Realizing they had reached their destination, Mary turned her head, her face filled with confusion and shock, to look at Yuri's radiant profile. For a moment, she was speechless.

Chapter 321 What Clothes Should I Wear for the Challenge?

The two secretly went on a date and returned quietly, without attracting much attention. Mary also readjusted her training plan to reduce her stress.

The specific time for Yuri and Hop's gym challenge has been announced, which has led to a significant increase in the number of people visiting Spiketown recently.

However, because it doesn't support Dynamax, it still can't compare to the popularity of other gym battles.

Although the news of Mary taking over as acting dojo master attracted a lot of attention because Nie Zi had other commitments, more people would prefer to watch the live broadcast, leaving the challenge of watching the matches live to other dojos.

Marnie herself wasn't as concerned about this kind of thing as Nie Zi. Spiketown had been gradually improving even without relying on Dynamax, so Marnie was actually relieved that the gym challenge hadn't attracted more people.

Moreover, Dr. Kukui's news was more troubling for Marie than anything else.

"Ah... are wild miniature nebulae really that easy to encounter...?"

"Perhaps it's because you, Mary, have some kind of attraction for Nebula. I don't think this is just a matter of luck."

On the other side of the screen, Dr. Kukui crossed his arms, a confident smile on his face as always.

"I think your little Nebula likes you a lot. It seems like it would be perfect for you to take care of me and the people of Metropolis."

At this moment, Little Nebula was clumsily eating dessert while hugging Pudding's blanket, just like always, looking carefree.

"Ha... never mind, let's not talk about that. How have Mizuki and the others been lately?"

After learning that no one would take in the little nebula, Mary quietly accepted her role as its guardian, thinking that being a mascot or something similar was quite nice.

"It should be good. When I contacted her before, I heard that she went on a trip to other regions with Lillie from over there. I also support the other one."

"I see. We'll visit them in another world next time we have the chance."

"Compared to another world, Mao and the others sometimes want you to come and play."

"Haha~ I'll go play after the gym challenge is over, but you can also come to Galar if you have a holiday there."

"Oh—that's good. I heard that there have been unusual three legendary birds appearing in Galar recently. If I didn't have to attend classes and do research, I would like to go and see for myself."

"It's not too late to come later. The three divine birds should stay here for the time being."

"Haha~ I'll try to go there. I'll hang up now, I have class later."

"See you next time, Dr. Kukui."

See you next time.

After hanging up the call, Mary casually put the Rotom phone aside, propped her chin up on her left arm on the table, and tilted her head to look at Nebula next to her, who was smacking her lips as if she hadn't had enough.

Behind her, Yuri, who had just finished washing up and was wearing pajamas, pushed open the door and curiously looked at Mary sitting at the desk, asking:

"I'm done washing up. What are you doing?"

"Dr. Kukui's phone call has just ended."

"Oh—what did you say?"

"It's about Little Nebula. It doesn't seem like it got lost anywhere."

"Oh—then Marie-chan will have to take care of her? Isn't that great? She'll be strong after evolving too."

Yuri's remark made Mary laugh. She leaned back in her chair and stretched.

"Ha~ It's hard to say when it will evolve."

All she does every day is eat, sleep, and play. Marie doesn't know if her strange ability will work on Nebula. Probably not.

While the effects are somewhat exaggerated, overall, becoming stronger still relies on training and nutrition. However, Little Nebula is quite unique; its energy intake primarily depends on its innate ability to focus light.

Mary fed it one bite last time, and it hasn't asked Mary for a second bite since. It seems that its conversion and absorption ability is not very strong.

Furthermore, she didn't know where to begin with the training. She didn't know whether to train Light or Psychic Marnie. Moreover, after evolving into its second form, Nebula would simply fall asleep, making it even more difficult to train her.

There's no shortage of stable combat power on either side, so Mary still thinks it's better to let things take their course and there's no need to force it.

I gave Yuri a brief explanation.

"Oh... I think I understand, but it seems pretty good. Isn't Little Nebula kind of cute like this?"

Yuri tore open the wrapper of a gummy candy, walked to the desk, squatted down, and carefully fed the candy to Nebula, taking the opportunity to reach out and rub its soft body.

"You just think it's easy to pet, right... It's not convenient for you to hug it anymore since Eevee evolved."

"Hehehe~ It's gotten bigger after all, but it's still quite comfortable to sleep together."

Following Yuri's words, Marie glanced at Espeon lying next to Eevee, its big ears twitched, it looked up at Yuri, and then lay back down.

"I'm going to take a shower. Let's go to bed early tonight, tomorrow is our match."

"Hehe, I'm really looking forward to it~ I haven't had a serious battle with Mary-chan yet."

"Yes, me too."

With a smile and a wave, Mari turned and left the room, clutching her pajamas. She was, of course, very much looking forward to her battle with Yuri. She had witnessed Yuri's rapid growth firsthand; she truly deserved to be the protagonist.

If you only use Pokémon of similar strength to fight, it won't be so easy to win in a real battle.

……

The next day,

Since there were no other plans, there was no need to set the challenge time too early. The two of them got up and washed up as usual, and then went to the dojo together.

"We'll be parting ways for now. See you on the field, Yuri."

"Okay~ See you later!"

After parting ways with Yuri in the lobby, Mary walked alone to the inner side, a place that used to be used by Nie Zi, but today it was naturally Mary's turn to use.

"How are you feeling, Mistress Mary?"

In the lounge, Mary had just entered when Rowling opened the door and appeared before her with a beaming smile.

"Stop teasing me, agent! I am an agent, I'll return it to my brother when he gets back."

"Haha~ There are quite a lot of people here today, it seems like they all came for you, Mary."

"Well, after all, I'm the acting gym owner now, so there's nothing I can do about it."

"I don't think you need to be so pessimistic. Here, take your clothes."

Rowling handed over the uniform representing the Dark-attribute gym. After all, her role in today's challenge was not that of a challenger, but rather the gym leader, so her attire naturally couldn't be the challenge uniform she had worn before.

Mary tore open the packaging, grabbed the clothes, shook them, and then her face froze.

"...No, Rowling, do you call this a uniform?"

I don't know whose perverse sense of humor it was, but the uniform consists of a short vest that exposes the stomach and arms on the upper body, and shorts and tights on the lower body.

I never thought much of it when I saw them giving this outfit away, but I never imagined I'd be wearing it myself!

"Yes, this is the women's uniform!"

"Bullshit! I've never seen you wear this before. It's clearly an outfit meant to be given away as a gift!"

"There's nothing I can do about it. There aren't any female dojo master uniforms available, so this is the only one I can make do with."

"hiss--

Chapter 322 Tense Preparation Time

In the end, Mary still put on that cool outfit, but she found her older brother's jacket and wore it over it.

Although this kind of outfit, with an open jacket and a crop top underneath, is still a bit tacky, it's at least better than not wearing a jacket at all and just having a tank top.

She had four Poké Balls hanging from her waist, three of which were red and white, and only one was Marie's Moon Ball.

Marie could see the list of Pokémon Yuri had chosen. The Fighting-type Sirfetch'd was exceptionally strong, so Marie naturally had to bring out a Pokémon of sufficient strength to deal with it.

As for the other three, they are Thousand-Faced Aviator, White Fluffy, and Ice Nine-Tailed Fox.