Pokémon from Galar

Startled by the attack, Yuri tried to get up, but Mary gently pushed her back down. Her face flushed, Yuri awkwardly shifted her hips, tilting her head back to glare fiercely at Mary.

"Quickly, let me go!"

"Hmm~ You were the one who did it first."

"I! You! You're despicable!"

Seeing that Mary was becoming increasingly demanding, Yuri gritted her teeth, pushed off the ground with both legs, and fell onto the grass behind her, pressing Mary down with her.

Chapter 365 Clearing the Level

Mary and Yuri's challenge time was the same as before, with only one day between them. It could be said that the schedule was quite tight, but after all, apart from daily chores, Chibana didn't have any work that kept him occupied, so dealing with two challenges in two consecutive days wasn't a burden.

Yuri's challenge was alright, as she was a level above Hop in terms of strength. And no matter how many Pokémon there were in the gym, it was impossible for them to be able to precisely choose the right Pokémon for every challenger.

When Cibana fielded a lineup that was nearly identical to the one he used against Hop, it was clear that Yuri's challenge would be significantly less.

But when it was Mary's turn to challenge, things got tough. Whether intentionally or not, Chibana deliberately sent a Doronobalut to the arena, making that Doronobalut battle exceptionally exhausting.

Both sides pushed the pace to the limit from the start, not daring to slow down their opponent even slightly. Coupled with the fact that there was no room for error in their responses and moves, although the match did not last very long, the mental pressure on the players was exceptionally high.

Marie, who hadn't struggled to keep up with the battle for a long time, found herself unable to focus on the overall tactical layout halfway through the match, struggling simply to keep up with the attacking pace of the two dragons.

After winning the battle and leaving the arena with the badge, Mary finally relaxed and realized that her clothes were soaked with sweat.

While resting in a chair in the medical area, Mary was also impressed by the strength of her opponent, but despite this, she didn't complain.

Holding up the last piece of the badge, Mary stared at the design on it in silence.

Before the knockout stage began, I didn't have anything to do for the time being, but I didn't dare to relax at all. This time, I suffered a lot just from dealing with one of the main players of Cibana. There was no way I could advance in the knockout stage with this kind of difficulty.

I wonder if President Loz will plan to restart the Dark Night again. Logically speaking, the energy depletion three thousand years later should not be a concern after the official revival of Aeontana.

But given Chairman Rose's personality, he probably wouldn't believe that humans three thousand years from now could still command Eterna.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Aren't you going to change your clothes first?"

While Mary was lost in thought, Mujita appeared beside her at some point, holding a box of ice cream and feeding it to her with a small spoon.

"Let me rest for a bit. I was too nervous during the battle. It was my first time commanding a battle between two Dracos, and the last part was so fast that I couldn't keep up."

With a wave of her hand, Mary gave a brief explanation, saying that she didn't know if Muktuna had watched her match, so she gave a simple explanation.

"I saw your challenge. Here, have some to replenish your sugar."

He scooped up a big spoonful of ice cream and held it to Mary's lips. Mary opened her mouth without hesitation and took it in.

"Then why don't you just give me a new box? One spoonful isn't enough."

A cool sensation accompanied by a sweet taste spread through her mouth, and Mary shivered, feeling her mind clear up considerably.

"Aren't you afraid you'll catch a cold? You're still just an ordinary human being."

After sitting down next to Mary, Mukita shifted her bottom, her two short legs dangling in the air, looking just like a real child.

Mary glanced at her and saw what she was doing.

"Where's Yuri? She didn't come today."

"It seems I ran into a female fan; she'll probably be here in a while."

"Eh—I never thought Yuri would have this day too."

Mary laughed. She was curious to see what Yuri would be like when she was surrounded by female fans; she thought it would be quite interesting.

"Of course, there are only three people who have entered the knockout stage so far, and they are all rookie trainers. It's normal for them to get attention. In fact, there might be more in a while."

"Hmm...that might be a bit troublesome."

After saying that, Mary stretched and stood up from her chair.

"I'm going to change my clothes. Could you please keep an eye on things here for me?"

Go, go—

Wuji waved his hand dismissively, saying that as long as he could eat ice cream, it didn't matter where he was.

Shortly after Mari left the passage, Yuri rushed in, looked around but didn't see Mari. Instead, she spotted Mugentana sitting next to her and quickly went over to ask:

Where's Mary-chan?

"She went to change her clothes, she just left."

"Eh..."

Upon hearing the answer, Yuri's tone noticeably changed, and she then sat down next to Mukyuu Tana.

"Aren't you going to find Mary?"

Mugenta, biting her spoon, glanced strangely at Yuri, who seemed to be doing something else entirely.

"Why would I go looking for her after she went to change her clothes..."

"...But I heard that you did something like that before."

"Cough—! Why does Mary-chan tell you everything?!"

"He didn't tell me everything, he just complained about some of the more outrageous things."

"Mooooooo—!!! That idiot!"

Even though Mukita tried his best to explain, Yuri still shyly covered her face, not wanting anyone to notice her bright red appearance.

Mary, who was taking off her clothes in the locker room, suddenly shivered.

"Hiss—it's a bit cold, I should go take a shower."

Shrugging her shoulders, Mary quickly took out a change of clothes from her backpack and ran into the shower room next door.

……

Emerging from the dressing room, Mari let her still-damp hair fall loose behind her, only to be greeted by Yuri and Mugentana, who were already waiting nearby.

She reached out and took the Poké Balls from Yuri, but to Marie's bewilderment, Yuri was glaring at her fiercely with a 'fierce' look.

"Thank you... Is something wrong?"

A little confused, Mary couldn't help but ask directly.

"Humph--"

"...?"

His gaze fell on Mugenta Na beside him, sending out a signal of inquiry.

"She's shy, huh? Mmm—"

Before she could say much, Yuri swiftly grabbed Mugentana and covered his mouth.

Seeing Mugentana being held in Yuri's arms and gagged, Mari was even more confused.

"...What are you doing?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing. Xiaotai, you still need to go to the lab, right? Go on, go on!"

Turning around and putting Mugentana down, Yuri said with a smile.

"..."

Mugentai didn't have a temper; he just found it funny, gave Mary a helpless look, shrugged, and walked towards the laboratory.

"Alright! Mary, let's go back and rest now!"

"...Your change of attitude is too fast."

"Okay, okay, let's go!"

P.S.: It feels like it's only been a few chapters since I last wrote about the battles, so I've decided to skip over Qibana's challenge. I'll save the actual battles for the final elimination rounds, since there are still three gym leaders whose battles I haven't written about yet.

The main issue is that there's not much of a story in Hammerlocke, so let's fast forward to Lillie.

Chapter 366 Time to go to Yuri's house

For Marie and Yuri, the gym challenge was temporarily over. While Marie was still considering where to go for the next period of time, Yuri made her own suggestion.

Based on the principle of reciprocity, Mari agreed after a slight hesitation. So she rested in Hammerlocke City for a day, while Mugentana stayed at the laboratory and came over alone later. Mari went ahead with Yuri to the border town of Galer, Haran.

Hualang Town is named after animal husbandry. Although the town covers a large area, its population is not particularly large. In the past, Mary stayed more in Mugan Town, and this was her first time setting foot in Hualang Town.

"Hmm—the atmosphere is really nice."

I stretched and yawned. All around me were sheep pens enclosed by fences, which made the view exceptionally open and allowed me to see very far. The air was filled with the scent of grass, and a tall windmill was slowly turning in the distance. Butterflies or white tufts of grass floated by from time to time in the air.

With the pleasant weather, Mary thought this place would be a good place to retire.

The Pokémon around me have all been released and are roaming around freely. With such a wide field of vision, I'm not worried about any of them getting lost.

“If you walk along this road, you’ll reach my house. I’ve already told my mom that you were coming to my house, Mary.”

"Oh wow—but this place really is full of woolly sheep."

The constant 'baa-baa' sounds weren't exactly noisy, but they still felt novel.

"Well, it's a place like this after all."

Holding Mary's arm, Yuri remained unmoved by the familiar scenery along the roadside. It's hard to understand the feelings others have when they first see something they've become accustomed to.

"Speaking of which, I think I've heard you mention that you live very close to the Hep family?"

“Eh? Ah, um—you can get to Hop’s house by crossing one intersection from my house. As you can see, the houses here are quite far apart. Plus, his older brother is Leon, so he naturally played with Hop when he was little.”

For some reason, Yuri seemed worried that Mary might be thinking about other things, so she explained in more detail and her tone was somewhat flustered.

After watching Yuri's flustered state for a while, and waiting for her to stop talking, Mary finally spoke:

"I was just asking, thinking maybe I'd run into him. It's been a long time since I've fought him, so maybe we can have a long-awaited match."

"Haha—we definitely won't run into him. Hep is probably off looking for Dan, or maybe he's in the wilderness. We probably won't see him before the playoffs."

"That kind of drive is amazing in every sense of the word—"

After a brief moment of reflection, Mary quickly put Hop out of her mind. Since she couldn't see him here and there was no way to fight him, there was no need to think about it too much.

Just then, a pickup truck drove up along the road, its headlights flashed twice, and it slowed down. An older man poked his head out and waved to Yuri.

"Oh—isn't this Yuri? Your mom was just saying when you'd be back, and here we are! Good luck in the elimination rounds!"

"Long time no see, Uncle! You're delivering goods again today?"