Pokémon from Galar

Mary smiled and let Yuri grab her arm as she pressed for more information.

"After your exhibition match with Dante is over."

"Then remember to invite me to come and watch."

"Remember to invite me too! I can't miss something like this!"

Sonia, standing nearby, reached out and continued the conversation, emphasizing her presence. Mary turned to look and asked:

"But aren't you preparing your dissertation? Getting a doctorate isn't that easy."

"I still have some time! And it's something related to my thesis, so of course I'll go take a look."

"I can't wait to take on the challenge!"

Hep, standing next to her, didn't join the conversation; instead, she expressed her own passionate feelings.

"You should take a break. Don't overtrain and then I have to scold you."

Sonia, however, didn't hold back in criticizing Hop, telling him to calm down.

"Hahaha...Isn't it because you're here, Sonia? And Zangmarante is so powerful, I don't feel at ease if I don't push myself to the limit."

After the previous Eternatus incident, Hop seems to have become even more enthusiastic about the path of a trainer. Although he has shown interest in research, he has no intention of changing direction.

As they spoke, Yuri dragged everyone into a food street. The mingled aromas of food tantalized their taste buds. Even Sonia, let alone Hop, was tempted.

"Ah—Yuri, you always lead the way to places like this. I don't get as much exercise as you guys every day."

Sonia groaned as she followed after touching her soft belly through her clothes, though her body betrayed her reluctance.

"There's only one day left. Tomorrow is the exhibition match. How could you possibly stay in Gongmen City the day after tomorrow?"

Yuri hugged Mary's arm, turned her head, and smiled with her eyes narrowed. She lived close to Sonia and knew that she had been busy working on her thesis lately, and had only taken the time to watch Mary and Dante's exhibition match these past two days.

"By the way, should we call Xiaotai over too?"

Sonia pursed her lips and didn't respond to Yuri's words. Instead, she turned the conversation back to Mary, who simply shrugged, smiled, and shook her head, saying:

"She's staying in the lab every day now, and I doubt she's planning to leave anytime soon."

"You really trust her completely."

"She's not really a child, she just looks young. Besides, she'll be coming here to study next year, so let her be."

"Have you already contacted the school?"

"With so many people in the lab, how could we possibly not be able to contact a Pokémon school?"

Anyone who can participate in the research on Eterna is an elite researcher, so there's no need for Mary's family to worry about such matters. Even their personal information was prepared by Chairman Rose.

"Hey—! You guys should try these grilled skewers! They smell amazing!"

Hop, who had run away earlier, suddenly reappeared, carrying a fragrant plastic bag and handing it to everyone.

"How come you're eating so quickly?"

Yuri reached out and picked up a string of them, making a comment as she did so.

"Who told you to just stand here and talk? Hey, have a couple of skewers, or go buy them yourselves."

Seeing that Yuri was about to reach out and snatch it, Mary laughed and grabbed Yuri by the back of her collar, saying:

"I'll go buy it for you. Why do you keep taking Hep's things?"

"slightly--"

Yuri stuck her tongue out at Hop before following Mary and running towards the barbecue restaurant.

Seeing this, Hep deliberately took out a string of them and replied with a smile:

"childish!"

Then, right in front of her, he devoured a whole skewer in one go, his taunts practically off the charts. But before Yuri could even lunge at him in anger, Sonia, standing nearby, delivered a light but firm chop to Hop's head, then casually took a skewer from the bag in his hand and put it to her mouth.

"You're childish too."

"..."

Looking at the empty bamboo skewer in Sonia's hand, Hep was speechless. Putting aside the relationship between Sonia and his older brother, he himself was often taken care of, and she could almost be considered half a sister to him. He really couldn't treat Sonia the way he treated Yuri.

On the other side, Yuri had already been brought to the front of the barbecue restaurant, but she still wrinkled her nose and stomped her foot.

"I'm furious!"

Seeing her like this, Mary couldn't help but laugh; she was quite cute.

"Okay, don't be angry anymore, I'll buy you more."

"I'm not a child!"

Yuri glared at Mary, then paused and said:

"I've arranged to go to the lab with Xiaotai tonight, so I might be back a little late."

"The lab? What are we going there for?"

"I mainly wanted to go find Xiaotai, but she had no intention of coming out, saying it was a waste of time, so I had to go find her myself."

Hearing Yuri say that, Mary turned to look at Yuri and nodded casually, without asking her what was going on between her and Xiaotai.

"Okay, then I'll wait for you to come back."

"Mmmmm~"

Yuri nodded vigorously, letting out a sigh of relief. She had thought that Mary would press her for answers, and she didn't know how to explain it to Mary. She had mentioned Mary when she talked to Soshou earlier, and she felt a little strange, so she thought of asking Kota.

Because she herself felt something was off, as if she were investigating some kind of secret, she decided to explain to Mary after meeting Xiaotai.

Chapter 423 Reunion

Since the next day was Mary and Dante's exhibition match, everyone didn't stay out too late. After exploring during the day, they went back to the hotel to rest before dinner.

Yuri went to the research institute to find Xiaotai, just like before. Mari was alone in her room with nothing to do, so she took her Pokémon out of the city and ran to the countryside to enjoy the breeze.

Sitting atop the cliffs on the east side of the city, overlooking the panoramic view of the city, the towering Loz Tower remains the most prominent landmark, standing out even amidst the dense cluster of high-rise buildings to the north, attracting attention.

With her eyes closed, Mary carefully felt the changes that were constantly being pushed forward within her body. Her heart had been completely transformed. In Mary's perception, it was a structure similar to a heart, made entirely of light, rather than a heart organ.

Furthermore, due to the continuous blood circulation, every corner of his body was already tinged with a perceptible pale gold color, and the speed at which he absorbed light was also steadily increasing.

If I deliberately slow down the pace like this, I probably won't be able to remain human for more than two or three years. Who knows, I might actually be captured and trapped in Yuri's ball in the future.

Thinking of this, Mary couldn't help but smile slightly.

Yuri went to see Kota today, most likely because it was about her. The protective measures she used in front of everyone when she fought against Mukita must have been remembered.

Although everyone refrained from asking further questions, there's probably no shortage of private investigations.

Since they are all trustworthy people, they don't mind being investigated. However, apart from Xiaotai's personal confirmation, most of the others probably just think they have developed superpowers.

I wonder if Xiaotai will tell Yuri the truth.

Lying back on the lawn, Mary gazed at the azure sky, half-hidden by the dense foliage, and wondered what Yuri and Kota were doing.

Yi-chan sat down next to Mary, lowered her head and licked Mary's face, silently comforting her.

Just then, Balu, who was doing basic exercises, suddenly floated in front of Mari and blocked the sunlight, causing Mari's vision to go black.

"Hoo~ (I think I can sense that Sasuke and the others are approaching this way~)"

Balu's tone was full of affection, after all, he was a junior whom he had raised himself. He didn't expect that Xiao Zuo was also nearby and had contacted him in a way that was unique to their clan.

"Huh? Really? I haven't seen them for half a year, I wonder how they are doing."

Upon hearing their names, Mary sat up with a hint of surprise.

Having known each other for so long and even traveled together for a while, of course there's a bond between them. However, Galar is so vast, it wouldn't be easy to find them, and as an elder, it wouldn't be appropriate for Balu to proactively seek out a junior who's still training, so it's been left unresolved.

"Ee~ (Little Sasuke is pretty strong, he'll be fine.)"

"But what happened before affected the entire Galar. I wonder if anyone was injured."

Having not seen each other for so long, Mary, compared to Balu, became more concerned and flustered.

"Hmph~ (What could be wrong? I'll go check on how Sasuke is doing lately.)"

Without waiting for Mari's reply, Baru vanished from the spot, and the sudden sunlight made Mari squint.

"Ee~ (Do you think Xiao Zuo and Xiao Yu will come back this time?)"

I-chan's ears twitched, hinting at something. The Poké Ball that Marie had temporarily given to Xiao Zuo was still in her bag. At the time, she hadn't released the Poké Ball, and neither Balo nor Xiao Zuo had mentioned it. The ball had just remained there.

"Um……"

Mary thought for a moment, then smiled and shook her head, saying:

"Probably not. According to Balu's thinking, he'll probably have to wander around for another year or two and experience more before he comes back."

“Ee- (Not necessarily, Mary, a lot has happened around you. I think it might be better to have Xiao Zuo come with us.)”

Although I-chan doesn't have much experience being alone in the wild, she's heard a lot from Pazu, so she's not completely clueless. The wild can indeed be a good training ground, but it depends on what you're comparing it to.

Mary has clashed with the gods several times this year, and she's grown up quickly. Going out on her own is nothing compared to having Mary by her side.

"Well... I'd be happy if they were willing to come back, of course. I can roughly understand what you're saying, but we won't end up with more and more dragons, will we?"

Scratching her head slightly, Mary chuckled twice. Though she said it, it was really just a joke. Dorgonmesia's first evolution cycle was extremely long, and since Mary didn't directly interfere with the training, she couldn't shorten it much.

Baru came and went quickly; before Marie and Ichigo could finish talking, he had already appeared in their sight with Sasa.

"Hooray~ (Marie, long time no see!)"

"nya~ (Long time no see~)"

Xiao Zuo and Xiao You floated over together and jumped into Mary's arms.

Doronchi's height wasn't too bad; he was just tall enough to fit right in front of Mary. It's just that his head was a bit big, making him look a little comical next to Mary.

"Long time no see, how have you been?"

Mary squeezed Xiao Zuo and Xiao You's little paws and smiled with her eyes narrowed. Seeing how energetic they were, they must be doing quite well.

"Hmm~ (Everything's fine, it's just a bit troublesome to go to the city to get something to eat. Unlike Mary, I can't just say it directly; I have to gesture for a long time.)"

"Oh... shall I take you to Gongmen City later so you can eat your fill?"

Mary chuckled. She hadn't expected Xiao Zuo to enjoy doing this kind of thing. Just imagining him foolishly carrying tree fruits and other such things to the barbecue stand and gesturing at them made her laugh.