Pokémon from Galar

Seeing Yuri's eager expression, Mary couldn't help but remind her:

"Calm down, don't fall..."

"Oh dear~ I know, how could it possibly fall down! Really."

Mary walked to the bench and sat down without commenting. Cong Youbing, on the other hand, took the initiative to stay by Youli's side, watching over the somewhat noisy girl to prevent her from actually falling.

This made Marnie even more curious about Sirfetch'd, wondering if most Sirfetch'd have a similar personality to Knight, or if there were significant individual differences.

Just as Mary was resting, Rotom's phone suddenly floated out of his pocket, and the screen showed a call from Sonia.

"Huh? Sonia's on the phone?"

Mary reached out and pressed the call button, then held the phone to her ear, and Sonia's voice came through.

"Hi~ Good afternoon, Mary, have you arrived in Waterboat Town yet?"

"Yes, we just arrived not long ago and are looking at the sea from the harbor."

"Haha~ Mary, do you still have the leisure for such refined pursuits?"

Hearing Sonia's laughter, Mary curled her lips into a smirk, not wanting to acknowledge her.

"Why are you calling so suddenly? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, something's up, Mary, are you interested in Alora?"

"Huh? The Alola region? Of course I'm interested. In fact, I've already planned to visit other regions after this gym challenge."

Mary frowned, wondering why Sonia suddenly brought this up. Even if she was just trying to have some fun, this topic was just too absurd.

"I just wanted to confirm something. There's a free trip to Alola right now, would you like to go?"

"A publicly funded trip? I don't believe it. Are you asking me to do something for you?"

"I'm so sad, does Mary-chan really not trust me at all~"

"...Otherwise what? It was all paid for by the company. I don't believe you paid for me to go out and have fun. Especially at this time of year."

Mary remained unmoved by Sonia's actions, but despite saying so, she was actually somewhat tempted, mainly because the word "public funds" was indeed attractive.

Traveling across regions can be quite expensive, especially if you don't have acquaintances to help you in other areas.

Although Mary herself is not short of money, she is not from a wealthy family, so it is good that she can save this money.

"Well... this should be an interesting topic for you, right? Do you know Dr. Kukui?"

"Dr. Kukui... I've heard of him, what happened to him?"

"Well, he's an old acquaintance of mine. He recently contacted me saying he's interested in Galar's Dynamax moves and wants me to help him research them in the future. In exchange, he'll give me a custom Rotom Pokédex."

"So what does that have to do with me? Besides, isn't the core of the Rotom Dex just Rotom? Why would I need to borrow it from there?"

"No, what I value is the machine's information processing capabilities. If I were to customize it here, it would cost too much money. It's better to have you go and retrieve it for me."

"It's just a short trip..."

Hearing this, Marnie lost interest. What interested her about the Alola region wasn't the scenery, but the unique Pokémon and Z-Moves.

"That's not necessarily true. I heard they're researching some kind of Ultra Hole over there, which supposedly allows you to encounter Pokémon from other worlds. Do you think your talent will be effective against those Pokémon?"

"...No, you're not planning to send me over there to help them research this, are you?"

"bingo~"

"No wonder it was on public funds... You've actually sold me out, haven't you?"

"Yes, and so far the data we've collected isn't so much that we can't process it all, so you can stay there for a while before coming back."

Sonia, without any intention of hiding anything, directly affirmed Mary's criticism.

"Well..."

Mary was still a little conflicted. She looked up at Yuri, who had actually caught a fish, and hesitated for a moment, unsure whether she should agree.

"If you're willing, I can also get you an opportunity to go on a tour of the islands."

Sonia placed another bet, which hit Mary's weak spot: the island pilgrimage was one way to obtain Z-Crystals.

"...When are we going?"

"Hehehe~ I knew you wouldn't let this opportunity slip by, but there's no rush for now, because my encyclopedia needs to be customized, so it'll be at least half a month from now, right?"

"So long? Does creating an illustrated guide take this long?"

"I don't know about that, but that's what Dr. Kukui told me."

Just as the two finished their conversation, Yuri suddenly ran back with her fishing rod, seemingly having caught nothing.

"Hey Mary, who are you talking to on the phone?"

"Sonia, do you want to talk to her?"

"Hey~ I want it! I want it!"

Mary handed over the phone, then took the fishing rod that hadn't been put away yet, letting out a barely perceptible sigh; her feelings were somewhat complicated.

Chapter 74 The Lighthouse and the Pokémon Band in Waterboat Town

According to Sonia, she would have to wait until the machine was finished before she could set off. Mary guessed that it would be around the time of the challenge against the Fire-type Gym.

If nothing unexpected happens that delays the process.

Mary reached out and took the phone from Yuri, casually putting it in her pocket. After thinking for a moment, she decided not to tell Yuri directly, but to wait until after the gym challenge in Waterloo Town was over before talking to her...

Where would you like to go next?

"Hehe, Sonia just told me that if we're lucky, we might run into a band made up of Pokémon near the lighthouse!"

"The band you're talking about... is it the 'Massie Marseille' that played in the championship?"

"Huh? I don't know. Sonia only told me that we might run into them there, but she didn't tell me which band they were."

Yuri blinked, clearly not knowing much about this. Seeing this, Mari shrugged, indicating that she didn't know much either, and that she had only heard this information from a casual conversation with Sonia before.

I don't know where she gets so much free time to pay attention to all this random stuff.

"Let's go take a look, maybe we'll run into them. And we'll pass by the water boat arena on the way, we can register there while we're there."

"Yes, yes! That's what I think too~"

Mary stood up from her chair and stretched. The beach was quite comfortable this time of year; it would be even better if there were a sandy area.

"By the way, the hotel I booked seems to be halfway there."

"Well, I can just take the city bus all the way down."

Holding Mary's hand, Yuri spoke in her usual energetic voice.

Following behind Yuri, Mari turned to look at the hardworking Onion Soldier and suddenly asked:

"Farfetch'd, do you want me to give you a Poké Ball? It must be tiring having you following me around all the time."

"Huh? (A Poké Ball? For me?)"

"Hmm, otherwise, wouldn't it be tiring for you to keep following us around and carrying that pair of swords and shields all the time?"

Marie didn't have any other thoughts. Besides, when it comes to Poké Balls, unless it's a Master Ball, someone with Sirfetch'd's level of strength can easily break free from the Poké Ball's limitations.

"Gah—(Thank you, but it's okay, the journey is also a kind of training.)"

Onion Soldier's answer was quite serious. After hearing it, Mary gave up her plan to let Onion Soldier rest for a while and decided to let him keep an eye on Yuri. That would be fine.

The bus swayed along the way, first taking us to a hotel where we checked in, and then continuing to sway until we reached the gates of the Water Boat Arena.

"Wow—the blue arena looks amazing."

Yuri stood to the side, gazing up at the enormous arena, while Mari sighed, wondering how her brother hadn't even managed to get an arena. Even without energy points, Mari didn't think that President Rose wouldn't even bother to build an arena.

It's highly likely that Nie Zi refused on his own initiative.

Nie Zi hadn't discussed with Mary his reasons for wanting to become a gym leader, so Mary didn't know what had happened in between.

In Mary's opinion, even without energy points, using the arena to hold a live performance would be beneficial to the development of Spike Town, given Nie Zi's popularity.

Unfortunately, Nie Zi used to think that Mary was a child and would never talk to her about such things. Now, Mary is too embarrassed to ask about it herself.

"Let's go inside first, don't waste time outside."

Mary patted Yuri on the back, pulling her out of her reverie.

"Oh! But I really hope I can meet Gym Leader Lurina!"

Yuri put away her phone and walked into the arena with a big laugh. The environment inside was similar to that of Grass Road Town, with challengers in arena uniforms everywhere.

Today's schedule looks packed.

There were small shops selling souvenirs nearby, and staff members were also on hand to maintain order.

The appearance of Mary and Yuri did not attract much attention, but the presence of Cong Youbing caused quite a stir among the contestants.

The Water Boat Arena was just as lively as Grass Road Town. Mari raised her hand to protect Yuri and walked through the crowd to the staff.

The registration process is the same for all trainers: confirm your trainer qualifications and the Pokémon you need to fight, and then just wait to receive an official email.

"It seems there's a challenge coming up later, Yuri, would you like to go check it out?"

Mary glanced at the challenge schedule posted in the hall, pointed to the current time, and said that the next challenge was not far away.

"Hmm... never mind, let's come to see it live next time. We can just watch it via live stream this time. Besides, Sirfairy probably wants to see some more powerful Pokémon battles, right?"

"Gah—(Of course.)"

Cong Youbing puffed out his chest. He'd come all the way to the arena, so of course he wanted to watch some tough matches. What was the point of watching matches between people weaker than himself?

The challengers in this round are not very strong. Some of their basic information can be easily found online. After all, it's a live challenge broadcast to the entire region, so it's normal for the contestants to receive attention.

Anyway, after Grass Road Town, the information of each contestant also came out.

Incidentally, Mary seems to be getting a lot of attention. Her strength in Grass Road Town is obvious to all, and she is Nie Zi's sister. Plus, with the Shout Team fanning the flames from behind... her own fan club seems to have appeared online.

Feeling extremely ashamed, Mary searched for herself once and then stopped paying attention to any news about herself.

The reason Marie asked Yuri if she wanted to watch the match was because the trainer was stronger than Yuri, but not so strong that she couldn't understand it. It would be beneficial to watch more Pokémon battles of this appropriate level.

However, since Yuri herself refused, Mari didn't say much. Anyway, there were several other trainers of similar skill levels later on, so they could come and see when the time came.

Once you leave the arena, the lighthouse is to the east of the arena. Follow the only road downhill, and you'll see the towering lighthouse.