Pokémon from Galar

"Don't be afraid. Although those two black and white horses are a bit irritable, I can sense that they don't mean any harm and won't take people's lives easily."

"Is...is that so?"

The assistant, her face pale, recalled the aftershocks that had been so close to her earlier. Just those aftershocks alone would have been enough to kill her Lucario.

"Hmm, they seem to have lived in the temple for a long time. Since there has never been an incident of harming anyone, it means they are not bloodthirsty."

After speaking, Mary looked down the hillside, her mind racing with thoughts of what to do with the two horses. In her memory, they were the proud and arrogant type; even the respect shown to Cangxiang and Zamarante probably wouldn't be enough to sway them.

If the Rachelon were here, all we would need to do is assist him, but now... is the only option to defeat them head-on?

They landed smoothly outside the laboratory in silence, while in Ice Condensation Village it was already dinnertime.

After putting Xiao Qiu away, Mary looked at her somewhat silent assistant, smiled, and reached out to hold her cold hand, the warmth of her body easily transferring to it.

"Go get something to eat first. Look how cold your hands are. Why didn't you tell me if you felt cold earlier?"

As Mary begins to evolve, her resistance to extreme weather naturally increases gradually. This also means that Mary is unable to change these impressions for a while. She thinks that the strong winds that she feels are okay don't feel cold when they are hanging on other people.

"Um... thank you. I contacted them beforehand about dinner, so it should already be arranged."

The assistant nodded, her face flushed. The temperature from her palm wasn't high, but it felt like the warmest and most comforting warmth she had ever experienced.

Chapter 435 The Crowned Queen

Holding the assistant's hand, Mary stepped into the research institute. She felt a little guilty for not noticing the assistant's condition, so she shone a little light on her to ease the tension.

The icy little hand in Mary's palm gradually warmed up. She glanced back and saw that her assistant's complexion had improved. She released her hand and said:

"Please organize what happened before and send a report to Dante. We'll discuss the next steps when Yuri and Hop arrive."

"Ah... yeah, I understand."

Looking at her released hand with some regret, she felt quite reluctant to let go of the warmth that had been continuously transmitted to her, but her good professional ethics made her quickly suppress her personal feelings.

Mary didn't pay much attention to the assistant's reaction. The light of the Radiant God was an energy that made people feel very comfortable. When she first felt that gentle light, she was quite fond of it.

"Miss Mary, have you ever heard of a black and white horse before?"

"Yes, I know a little, but it's not very useful. However, it's related to the Lacecrown King, so we can't just leave it unattended like the Pillar God and the Divine Bird."

The assistant didn't press further. Although she was the champion's assistant, she wasn't entitled to inquire about everything. Since Mary didn't bring it up, she didn't pry.

……

The first day of the investigation came to an end.

Mary lay in bed looking at the night sky outside the window. It wasn't snowing tonight, and the stars in the sky were exceptionally clear.

Little Nebula remained carefree, lying on the pillow, and no one knew when it would begin to evolve.

"Hop and I will meet you tomorrow morning, but are we really going to challenge the Snowstorm Horse and the Ghost Horse? Zacian said they are very difficult to deal with."

After telling Yuri about the matter, she asked Zaxiang about the Black and White Horse.

"The Queen of the Lace-Crowned Clan hasn't appeared yet, and we don't know when she will offer herself. The key question is how long the Black and White Horses have been awake. The only way to get information is to defeat them head-on."

“I heard from Zacian that she used to see them with Calycerin, and she doesn’t know their exact strength. However, Snowstorm Horse is more arrogant. If we can subdue it first, it will be much easier to deal with Spirithorn Horse.”

Yuri seemed quite worried about Mari, and asked Sohyo for a lot of information, which she was now telling Mari incessantly.

Mary turned sideways, looked up at Rotom's phone screen, and said with a smile:

"Thank you, but don't make things too difficult for Cangxiang. He might not remember many details about things that happened so long ago."

"No way, it's not like I did anything to her. We had barbecue today, and she and Zangmarante ate a lot. Hep and I were exhausted from grilling."

"Haha~ Is this a welcome party?"

"Yeah, it seems like ever since Xiaotai, my family isn't surprised at all when they see Sohshou. They even told me to take her around the world more often."

"I already had travel plans, but I was really surprised when Hep said she wanted to study at the research institute for a year before making any plans."

"It's all because of your influence. I didn't know you were away for a while, but Hop has changed a lot since you defeated Dan.

"Is it really that exaggerated? Everyone knows that Dan Di didn't use his full strength."

"But Charizard was defeated. That's Leon's symbol. It might not matter to others, but Hop really idolizes his brother."

Hearing this, Mary shrugged helplessly. Anyway, Hop's change was for the better, and she didn't have any extra feelings for him.

"Let's not talk about that. I heard from Sonia that you went to the snowfield with your assistant today?"

Seemingly sensing that the topic was getting serious, Yuri quickly changed it to an even more dangerous one.

"Yes, bring someone to help. She's very capable and considers things more thoroughly than I do."

"Oh, I see. So you two went to climb the snow mountain alone today."

Yuri's tone made Mary almost laugh.

"That's work, isn't it? There are dangers on the road. Are you jealous?"

"Hmph—what danger could there be if I followed you?"

"Even I couldn't withstand the siege of the black and white horses. She was terrified today. She was so frozen on the way back that she didn't even tell me. I had to give her some light to soothe her, otherwise her hands and face would probably be frostbitten."

Mary explained with a smile, but Yuri clearly grasped a different key point.

"What? You actually held hands with her?!"

"Uh... huh?"

Yuri's exclamation clearly caught Mary off guard. Did that count as holding hands? She was dressed like a dumpling, so only her hands and face were likely to come into contact. She couldn't exactly go up and cover the other person's face, could she? That would be even worse.

"You really did hold hands with him!! You idiot! You pervert! You womanizer!"

"Uh...no, I only held her hand briefly because I was worried she'd get frostbite, I really didn't have any other intentions!"

Just as Mary was hurriedly explaining, a knock came at the door, interrupting their conversation.

Yuri, who had originally wanted to continue, simply crossed her arms and let out a soft moan.

"Go and take care of your business first, I'll talk to you later."

"Uh...sorry,"

Mary clasped her hands together apologetically to Yuri, then quickly grabbed her coat and wrapped it around her dress. Without hanging up the phone, she opened the door.

"Miss Mary, I'm sorry to come looking for you so late."

"...!!?"

The assistant's voice suddenly came from the doorway. Yuri, who hadn't planned to peek, almost exploded. She quickly looked at the screen and saw the woman in her pajamas standing in the doorway. She wished she could jump out of the screen and beat her up.

However, Mary was unaware of the crisis at that moment, because in front of her, the assistant was floating on the ground, and beside her, a Crested King, about a meter tall, with a huge green flower crown on its head, was standing there.

"...You, you were already awake?"

"Well, actually I was already awakened during the Muktana Uprising, and I've only been wandering around this land."

Mary nodded slightly, then looked at her scantily clad assistant beside her and said helplessly:

"You don't need to go to all that trouble. Just talk to me directly. I was born with the ability to communicate with Pokémon."

The Crowned King was slightly taken aback.

"Yo~ (There are humans like this? Can you understand? I just woke up from a long slumber, my power has been severely depleted, and this body is so weak that I can't mimic human speech.)"

The voice changed to a strange and ethereal female voice. Mary smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I understand. So please let my companion go back to her room first, she's prone to getting sick if she stays like this."

King Lei Guan nodded, turned around, and controlled his assistant to float back to his room.

Yuri, on the other end of the phone, was completely bewildered by the conversation; what on earth was all this nonsense?

Chapter 436 Division of Labor

The appearance of the Queen of the Rachel was very abrupt, and Mary had no idea how the Queen had managed to find her so precisely.

However, now that the Lady Crown has appeared, the handling of the Black and White Horse will be much easier.

After talking in the room for a while, Mary wanted King Rachel to stay with her, at least it would be better if he stayed in the house, but he refused, saying that he was not yet used to the current world, and watched him disappear into the snow.

……

The next day, Yuri and Hop arrived at the snowfield together early in the morning. The news that the Raicrown had appeared made Zacian and Zamazenta restless. If it weren't for the fact that it was too late the day before and that the Raicrown had left first, they would have even wanted to come over overnight.

"So Sonia, you came along too..."

"Of course! It's related to my research topic!"

Sonia sat on the sofa in the guesthouse's living room, speaking with righteous indignation, clearly very interested.

Cangxiang and Zangmarante were squatting nearby, barely able to sit up straight in the hall, waiting for Mari's explanation.

The assistant was sitting a little distance away from Mary, glancing at the two large dogs with surprise, and occasionally glancing at Yuri, who was standing next to Mary.

"In short, the King of the Lacecrown approached me yesterday, probably because he saw what happened when I fought the black and white horses. He said he hoped I could help him tame them."

"How is the king in condition? Why can't he even subdue the Snowstorm Horse and the Spirit Horse?"

Zangmarante was clearly more restless.

"He looks healthy, but his strength has been greatly weakened. In addition, human faith has also disappeared, so it's hard to say how much strength he still has."

"Then let's go find the King now!"

"Don't worry, I've already spoken with the Calycerin King. He'll meet up with us today. You two should remember that the Calycerin King needs reins to tame the black and white horse, and the reins need the black and white horse's mane and flowers to make."

"The Radiant Flower, a beautiful flower that once grew alongside the king's power, once bloomed throughout the entire capital. It is the symbol of the king."

Cangxiang explained the meaning of the flower to Mary.

"Does that Radiant Flower still exist?"

Sonia quickly pressed for more information, but Zaxiang shook his head.

"The Radiant Flower only bloomed with the power of the King. After the King fell into slumber, the Radiant Flower gradually diminished. Now, the King's power can no longer be felt on this land, and the Radiant Flower has probably disappeared as well."

"King Radiant Flower said he would provide it, so we need to go and fetch the mane of the black and white horse and give it to you, is that alright?"

As Mary spoke, she looked at Zacian and Zamazenth. According to the Queen of the Crest, the Black and White Horses were proud but cautious. Mary had already shown her face to the Black and White Horses yesterday, and if she went again today, she would definitely go all out as soon as she appeared, which would greatly increase the difficulty.

"I'll do anything for the king!"

Zangmarante's gaze grew increasingly serious, and a hint of oppressive aura emanated from him, causing the inexperienced assistant to instinctively move closer to Mary.