Pokémon from Galar

"Okay, Lillie, just call me when you have time, and I'll be there as soon as possible~"

Mary made a small joke, but Lillie seemed to take it seriously. Lillie's cheeks flushed slightly, and she nodded happily.

"Well! I see!"

"..."

With a smile, Mary shrugged and agreed. Lillie was so easily offended; if she told her it was just a joke, it might make her angry. So it was better to keep smiling.

……

After drifting on the ship for half a day, Mary thought that once she saw the Ether Paradise, it wouldn't be too far away. However, it took much longer than she expected. Moreover, looking at the Ether Paradise that was being studied, Mary realized that this sea base was much larger than she had imagined.

"Wow, it's huge..."

Ash looked around, and his sentiments were shared by almost everyone present. Lillie stood to the side, holding Brighty, with a smile on her face, looking rather happy, as if she had been showing off something amazing to a friend and was therefore pleased with it.

Before the group could even leave, two people dressed in Ether Foundation uniforms approached.

"Welcome, everyone."

Welcome everyone!

The speakers were a middle-aged man wearing exaggerated green glasses and a strikingly beautiful woman with short purple hair.

"Ha! It's Miss Biko and Mr. Zaobo."

Ash acted as if he were seeing an old friend, and Lillie responded with a smile:

"We are very grateful that you two came all the way to welcome us."

"Lillie-chan and everyone, we've been waiting for you here for a long time~"

"It's been a long time since you've been to Etherland, Miss Lillie."

Hearing Zaobo's address, Lillie's cheeks flushed instantly, and she stepped forward, saying with a hint of reproach:

"Seriously... I've already told you not to call me 'Young Miss' anymore!"

"Haha~ To me, a young lady is a young lady."

"..."

Lillie seemed to have given up on refuting the argument and simply changed the subject.

"Speaking of which, where is Mother?"

Miss Biko took over the conversation, explaining with a smile:

"She's waiting for you at the mansion."

"Hey—it was my mother who called me, so I brought my classmates to visit and learn."

"She's just too busy with work to come over... Speaking of which, Miss... did Nebula come over today?"

As soon as Zaobo finished explaining, he revealed a somewhat subtle expression and leaned closer with a cheeky grin.

"Little Nebula's message is over here!"

As Ash spoke, he turned his back, revealing Nebula huddled inside his backpack.

"Oh oh oh—!"

Just as Zaobo reached out, Nebula teleported away, reaching into Ash's bag with its large hand, only to pull out a Rowlet...

"Coo coo coo coo—"

"..."

Zaobo stared wide-eyed at the Rowlet in his hand, then raised his hand and threw it away.

"Hey—! What are you doing?!"

"Zabo!"

Ash leaped and caught Rowlet, who was still half asleep, then turned and glared at Zaobo, who was beaming with pride.

"Oh dear, I'm really sorry about this."

"I'm so sorry, Ash."

Lillie turned her head and apologized to Ash with a troubled expression.

"It's alright, it's alright."

Ash smiled and shook his head at Lillie. He would never be angry with Lillie, but Marnie, standing nearby, witnessed this and secretly became wary of Zaobo.

Mary couldn't remember all the specific details, but she was certain that Zaobo wasn't a good person.

"Then, Miss, please hurry inside the mansion."

Chapter 124 The Pokémon Sanctuary in Ether Paradise

The group followed Zaobo and Miss Biko in the elevator to the floor of the mansion. Mary turned her head and stared at the three Etherland staff members who were with them.

After actually seeing them, Marie was quite impressed by how skilled Team Rocket's disguises were. If Marie hadn't been so impressed by Meowth, she wouldn't have realized that the two people were Jessie and Kojiro.

In fact, Mary hadn't heard the cat speak human language the whole way, so to be honest, Mary wasn't sure if these three were the three celestial beings from Team Rocket.

"..."

Perhaps sensing Mary's gaze, Meow looked up and met Mary's eyes. She instinctively shuddered; that big guy from that night had left a deep impression on her.

What's this brat up to?! Does she recognize me?!

"Meow--!"

"What's wrong, meow?"

The woman looked down at the cat beside her and asked instinctively, but the cat dared not speak, afraid that if it opened its mouth it would expose itself and then be beaten again.

"..."

Meow Meow shook her head vigorously to indicate that she was fine, and Musashi did not pursue the matter further. After all, she was still an employee of Etherland and could not act too recklessly.

"..."

Mary withdrew her gaze. She had only intended to look and hadn't planned to do anything, but at this time, she really couldn't let her guard down in Ether Paradise, even though she couldn't quite remember the plot of the games and animations...

However, whenever Nebula and Aether Paradise are involved, there is always a fight. It seems that things only calmed down after Nebula evolved.

Following the people in front, we entered that huge villa. It was clearly a massive sea base, yet they had specially carved out an open area to use as a residence. You could only say they were really rich and extravagant.

"Chairman, our guests have arrived!"

As Miss Biko led everyone through the villa's hall, she greeted them warmly.

A beautiful woman with long blonde hair, wearing a form-fitting dress and leggings, and partially covering her right eye, descended the stairs. Upon seeing Lillie and a group of classmates, she flashed a stunning smile.

"Welcome, finally..."

Ring ring—

Before she could finish her welcoming remarks, she was interrupted by a phone ringing. Chairwoman Rusamine paused for a moment, then decided to ignore the ringing and continue:

"Thank you for making the trip. It must have been a long journey..."

Ring ring— Ring ring—

"..."

"Please take your time with your tour, I'm sorry..."

With an apologetic wry smile, Rosamund apologized to the group and then turned to answer the phone call that had been going on non-stop.

"Excuse me..." xN

"Ugh……"

Lillie sighed, holding Bai Gungun in her arms. She must have expected her mother's busy work schedule.

Finally, we had to trouble Miss Biko and Zaobo to lead everyone to a huge office. Chairwoman Lusamine was handling official business at her desk, while Miss Biko was in charge of entertaining everyone.

Various pastries were already prepared on the table. Due to the studio layout, Mary only shared some of her favorite, and smallest, pastries with Little Mori.

Zaobo looked around and noticed the three people peering in from outside the door. He suddenly spoke:

"Hey, you guys, don't just stand there, hurry up and get the drinks."

"Okay, sure!"

The trio reluctantly ran out to fetch juice and soda. Mary, with one hand on her knee, held up her glass and smiled as she watched Meow Meow pour her juice.

"Thank you, meow~"

"what……"

With a very human sigh, the trio, while reflecting on the unpredictability of life, set out drinks for everyone, which Mary, who knew the identities of these three, found quite amusing.

……

Once Rosamune had finally finished her work and was done with it, she put down her pen, propped her chin on her hand, and looked at Lillie with great enthusiasm, asking:

"Then without further ado, can you quickly tell me about Lillie's usual behavior at school?"

"Gulp...cough cough—Mother! What's going on now?"

"You tell me what's going on... If I'm here, I can chat with you guys while I work, right, Bai Gungun~"

"kon~?"

Lusamine looked at Lillie with doting eyes, and her whole demeanor changed from that of a sharp chairwoman to that of a friendly older sister next door.

"Did you only bring everyone to Etherland for this kind of thing? You should show everyone the facilities first."

"Of course, I can do those things after I hear the story... ah, uh..."

Before Lusamine could finish speaking, several more phone calls rang, leaving the chairman flustered.

"Really! Let's go, I'll lead the way!"

Lily gave a huff, stood up somewhat angrily, looked at everyone, and decided to leave the office.

While happily enjoying her dessert, Mamane pointed regretfully to the half-eaten cake in front of her:

"Oh no—but I haven't eaten my chocolate cake yet..."

Before she could finish speaking, Lillie turned to Mamane with a terrifying smile, as if unleashing a blizzard in an instant, causing Mamane to shudder.