Pokémon from Galar

"It's not that... I'm worried they'll be so engrossed in watching the movie that they'll forget to eat on time. Well, with Pazu around, I shouldn't have to worry too much."

The two stopped next to the bus stop while talking. It was rush hour, and there were noticeably more cars on the road and more people waiting for the bus.

Yuri curiously glanced at the girl next to her, who was wearing a uniform and was no more than two years older than her, and suddenly said:

"To be honest, I once thought about not traveling and instead going on to further my studies."

"Huh? Why?"

Marie was somewhat surprised because Yuri was a fan of Leon, and she had always assumed that Yuri, like herself, had a steadfast desire to become a trainer since childhood.

"Because traveling is tough, you always have to camp out in the wild, and it's very inconvenient to eat, shower, or use the toilet. Plus, I can't imagine taking care of five or six Pokémon by myself. And the uniform is also very cute."

"Hmm~"

"But in the end, I decided to give it a try for a year. If I felt it wasn't right, I would go back to school. That's what my mother told me."

"Many people are like that. After all, not everyone is suited to be a trainer. My family advised me the same thing, quite a few times, probably because they were worried about being influenced by my brother."

"Hehe~ But now I'm so glad I listened to my mom, otherwise I wouldn't have met Mary-chan."

"But even if you go to school, you might meet other people you like~"

"neeeeee—! Why would you say something like that!"

"Hahaha~ I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry~"

It's been a long time since I've seen Yuri react like this. The feeling of nostalgia made Mary laugh out loud. She really does like the reaction after teasing her a little.

However, Yuri didn't buy it. Seeing the smile on Mari's face, she angrily raised her little fist and started slapping her!

"You absolutely did it on purpose! The smile on your face never stopped! Ora ora ora!"

She raised her hand to block Yuri's small, almost powerless fist. Just seeing Yuri's sullen expression made her unable to stop the corners of her mouth from turning up in a crazy smile.

In the end, Yuri got tired of playing Ora and only reluctantly let Mari grab her little fist and press her arm down.

"Ha ha--"

Yuri, panting heavily, leaned against Mary, glaring at her fiercely as if to show that she had not succumbed to Mary's tyranny.

……

After playing until they were tired, they obediently took a car to the arena, and Mary pulled the now-calmed Yuri straight in.

"Are you injured?"

Mukita, who had been waiting in the hall, walked over and looked up at Mary with curiosity. With her keen senses, she naturally smelled the faint scent of blood emanating from Mary.

"Well, it's just a minor injury, I got it accidentally."

Yuri blushed instantly, while Mary herself calmly offered an explanation.

"Eh--"

Mugentana glanced at Yuri beside her, who was clearly telling outsiders about her, and let out a long, knowing sound. Even the way Kibana looked at Mari seemed to carry a meaningful connotation.

"Alright, let's go eat first. Yuri and I are both a little hungry."

Not wanting to continue the topic, Mary shifted her attention to dinner.

"Okay, come with me, the cafeteria is over here."

Pointing to the passage behind him, Qibana took the initiative to lead the way for the three girls.

Eterna glanced at the Poké Balls on their waists and asked:

Where are your Pokémon?

"They went to see a movie. They went to a private cinema in the afternoon and seemed quite interested, so we let them continue watching there."

The person in front, Cibana, turned around with a smile and said:

"Is it okay? You two are really carefree."

"Huh? What could be the problem? Sis-chan is very skilled at speaking, and everyone knows how to operate electronic devices to some extent."

Mary was taken aback for a moment, not thinking there would be any problem at all, and everyone knew the way between the hotel and the arena.

"I'm talking about yourselves, aren't you afraid of being attacked?"

"Ah—you mean that? It's nothing, Kyon is still here, he's not very interested in movies. Yuri has the Vibrating Salamander with her too."

patting the Ultra Ball at her waist, Mari explained with a smile that she and Yuri weren't without any Pokémon with them.

"Kyon... Oh, you mean that Ultimate Beast that can only fuse with you, right? Wow, it looks really powerful. It's making my hands itch to try it out. Can I experience it too?"

After all, there are very few trainers who can personally take to the field. Since they are men, it is easy for them to have the idea of ​​personally going to fight, and Kibana is no exception.

"Ah, well—Kyon probably doesn't want to. It took me quite a while to convince him."

Mary was taken aback. The reason why Kyon agreed to her proposal was because of the goodwill they had developed during their time together, and because Kyon really couldn't find anyone else to talk to.

The idea that Kyon would parasitize someone else is basically wishful thinking. When she was parasitized before, Mari was able to sense some of Kyon's emotions, so she knew his attitude in this regard.

"Haha~ That's such a pity."

There wasn't any hint of regret in Cibana's tone; it was probably just a casual remark, and he probably didn't really expect her to agree.

P.S.: The private thread is finally back!

Chapter 364 "Tense"

Time passed quickly in Motostoke City as always, and no attacks or anything like that happened, as if Team Rocket was too busy chasing them to care about anything else.

But Mary knew that this possibility was very small, and that her continued absence might be to wait for the right opportunity, or in other words, to wait for Chairman Loz to make a move.

However, Mary didn't tell Yuri these things in particular detail, but just told her to be vigilant, since the two of them always acted together.

Just as she herself said, Mujita had absolutely no interest in Hammerlocke City. Even though she had spent every day wandering around the city when she was in Spikes Town, perhaps it was because she had seen it for so long that every brick and tile of Hammerlocke City was etched into her memory.

So every day when Mari and Yuri go shopping or train, Mujita goes to the arena alone to find Kibana. As a result, Mari has recently felt that Mujita is gradually taking on the role of a researcher.

Hop is still the same as always, always one step ahead. Before Yuri and Marie could even begin their gym challenge, Hop had already started the official gym challenge.

As the challenge of the eighth gym, Marie and Yuri did not intend to miss it, and Hop's current strength level was not bad either. As expected, the whole battle was quite exciting.

Among the four fighters who arrived in Motostoke, including some previously unknown fighters, Hop was the first to clear the gym challenge, earning a spot in the knockout tournament to be held in Motostoke two months later.

Every year, very few people are able to clear the gym challenge and qualify; there have even been embarrassing situations where not a single competitor has qualified.

In contrast, this year's situation can be considered quite strong, with two very cute female contestants among them, making it arguably the most popular year in recent years.

The day before Yuri's challenge, in the wilderness.

While training Balu, who has the fastest reaction time, to move at high speed, Mary is also working with Sisi to improve her teleportation skills, which is the technique Sisi has been practicing the most in the past two weeks.

The flexibility of this move is self-evident, but against an opponent of the dojo master's level, if the move isn't executed quickly enough, it's easy for the opponent to anticipate it. Add to that the spatial fluctuations and energy dissipation, and...

While a simple teleportation skill might be sufficient for basic movement, it becomes increasingly inadequate for surprise attacks against stronger opponents.

With her output methods already sufficiently refined and mastered, Mary naturally began planning to further enhance her support skills.

To be honest, Sis-chan's teleportation speed is already quite efficient. To further reduce the activation time and improve the ability to teleport continuously, the difficulty increases exponentially with each step.

It will take some time before Sue can become unpredictable even when facing Raihan's Pokémon. However, Marnie is quite satisfied with Sue's constant flashing across the field as she faces Pazu's capture attempts.

Even if it's not quite at the level of being able to outmaneuver an opponent, the smooth transition alone elevates instantaneous movement to the level of a conventional defensive technique that can be used at will against any opponent.

Mary glanced at Nebula, who was sunbathing and dozing nearby, then shifted her gaze elsewhere for the moment.

Other Pokémon have also gradually entered this stage of intensive training. Of course, Hime-chan is still a bit behind, since she joined the team relatively late and is temporarily at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, Hime-chan herself didn't seem to be in a bad mood. It seems that unless a Pokémon in the team sings better than her, there's no need to worry about her mentality.

As for Nebula... well, it's just a mascot after all, and it didn't show any teleportation ability, so Mary didn't insist.

A little further away is Yuri's training ground. Tomorrow is the day of the challenge. However, compared to the beginning, she has become much more composed now, and at least she is not as nervous as she was during her first challenge.

Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly saw Yuri turn around, find Mary's figure, and then reach out her hand and run over.

"Waaaaah—! Mary-chan! What should I do if I feel nervous?!"

"..."

As the sound grew closer, Mari clearly saw the tense, almost tearful expression on Yuri's face. She chuckled slightly, amused. She'd just been thinking how well the child had improved and wasn't nervous anymore, and now look at her like this!

He reached out and took Yuri's hand, staggered back two steps, and steadied Yuri, who had already thrown herself into his arms.

"Wasn't everything fine before? Why are you suddenly so nervous?"

"But--"

Nestled in Mary's arms, Yuri pitifully raised her head and rested her chin on Mary's chest, drawing out her words:

"Didn't Hop win the challenge very narrowly before? I can't stay calm when I think about how Chibana always puts Dan in a tough fight!"

"It can't be that bad..."

Mary lowered her head with a subtle expression and looked into Yuri's eyes.

"It's really that serious!"

Seeing Yuri exuding an aura of 'come and coax me,' as if she had a tail, she could probably whip it around like a blur. Mary had reason to suspect that this person was just making up an excuse to act cute.

"..."

After a brief silence, Mary still couldn't resist Yuri's deliberate attempts to act cute in front of her.

Okay, okay—

He released one hand and gently stroked Yuri's head, carefully smoothing her soft hair with his fingertips.

"With me by your side, you'll definitely win."

"Hey hey hey-"

Yuri, who had buried her face completely in Mary's chest with her eyes half-closed, let out a muffled laugh. Mary could even vaguely feel the sensation of being bitten through her clothes.

"..."

With a slightly flushed face, Mary was now completely certain that this person had deliberately come over to try and take advantage of her, and had just made up a reason. Thinking of this, Mary decided not to be polite anymore.

He released his other hand as well, then grabbed her wrist and stretched it forward, pulling Yuri close while simultaneously pinning one of her hands behind her back.

The hand that had been touching her head swiftly slid down, quickly passing over her top and skirt, touching the exposed area of ​​her body. Her fingers lightly parted the skirt, then carefully and quickly probed inside.

"ah--!"