Pokémon from Galar

Ash's Rotom Pokémon watched the departing Ditto and made a strange sound, while the Pokémon following Marnie was quieter, though it also seemed quite surprised.

The group made a move to give chase, but Lillie grabbed Mary's hand.

“Marie, can I trouble you with this? It's about what I was talking about earlier.”

"Um...don't you need my help to find it?"

"It's alright, I'll take care of that!"

Lillie laughed and puffed out her chest, which amused Mari. Mari took the moon sphere from her waist and released Illie.

"Illumi, could you please go with Lillie to find a Ditto that has run away?"

"Ee~ (I understand.)"

Ichigo's Psychic ability is still useful; it's better than a group of people trying to grab it with their hands. None of the Pokémon here seem to have any psychic moves.

"Thank you so much, Mary! I'm so grateful for your help!"

"Ee~ (It's okay~)"

Watching Illumi run off beside Lillie, Mari turned to look at the four obedient Dittos left behind, smiled, walked over, and squatted down to look at the Dittos that hadn't moved much:

"Hello, my name is Mary, what's yours?"

"ma... (We don't have names, and we don't need names.)"

"ma! (Mmm!)" x4

"I see. Then I'll just call you Ditto."

Marie didn't mind, as long as she was willing to communicate. After all, not everyone cares about names. Some Pokémon don't mind, while others want a unique name.

Mary reached out and tentatively picked up a Ditto and placed it on her lap. After thinking for a moment, she asked a question that was very important to her:

"As you can see, I can have normal conversations with you, so I was asked to ask you how you feel about living here, whether you find it annoying or something."

The Ditto, placed on Mary's lap, shifted its body and opened its mouth, babbling:

"Mama~ (No way, here we don't have to do anything to have food, and we don't have to get rained on or be blown by the wind. Isn't that great? Before, when we were in the wild, we had to find food to fill our stomachs every day. It was so hard~)"

Mary grinned. Why were all the Pokémon she'd seen lately so salty?

"What happened just now? It reacted so strongly and then ran away..."

After Mary asked her question, a Ditto that was almost sprawled on the ground in a puddle of some unknown liquid also spoke up to explain:

"Mama~ (That guy is just afraid of needles~ He said things like it's too scary to have some unknown liquid injected into his body. Don't be fooled by how fast he ran just now, he's actually the laziest guy around.)"

"..."

Mary looked at the Ditto, which was practically turning into a puddle of unidentified liquid, with a subtle expression, and really wanted to say, "You're not much better, are you?"

"Well, so you guys actually like it here?"

"Mama! (Yeah, yeah! Life outside is so tough, and there are always weird Pokémon who can't find boyfriends or girlfriends coming to us, trying to hit on us. Ha, they don't even know what they look like, they can't even change shape and they want to chase us~)"

"...Um, okay, okay, let's not talk about that for now."

After thinking about it, Mary still didn't dare to delve deeper into the topic, feeling that she might learn about some very subtle aspects of Pokémon society.

"I heard from the people here that the five of you used to cause trouble at the police station. What's that all about? Why are you being so well-behaved now?"

I squeezed Ditto's soft body again, and watching Ditto slide around was quite amusing.

"Mama! (Ugh! Don't even mention it, it's too painful to recall.)"

"Mama! (Well... anyway, that was really an accident. See how well we've been behaving here?)"

"...I don't mean to pry into your privacy, it's just that this place is at most a free sanatorium. Once the Pokémon here recover, they will be sent back to the wild."

"Mama?! (What?! We're being sent back?!)"

As soon as Mary said this, even the Ditto lying on the ground immediately reverted to its original form, wriggling all over its body and looking quite nervous.

"Uh, no, don't get agitated. I'm just here to find out what's going on. If you have any difficulties, we can discuss them. If you really don't want to go back, I can help you explain the situation."

"Mama... (Actually, the five of us were being chased by a group of Pokémon, so we had no choice but to run to the police station for help. We didn't mean to cause trouble...)"

"Huh?! A chase?"

"Mama! (Yeah, yeah, those Pokémon are really something! All we did was transform into their forms to trade for some berries, and they all came and beat us up without saying a word! They're so mean!)"

Hearing the explanation from the Ditto that hadn't spoken until now, Mary's expression became even more subtle.

"...Could you explain the situation in more detail?"

"Mama! (You know, those big, goofy guys who wanted to find partners to breed with but couldn't find any, so they kept bringing all sorts of things to try and make us look like their partners so we could breed with them. Then word got out, and the transformed Pokémon started coming after us!)"

"Mama! (That's right! They were the ones who asked us for help first, but then they accused us of deceiving them and came to cause trouble for us with their companions, so they had no choice but to come to humans for help!)"

"..."

Listening to the Dittos' chatter, which gradually shifted from storytelling to complaining, the four Dittos seemed like completely different people. Gone was their earlier lethargy; they were now indignantly denouncing those 'heartless men'.

Caught in the middle, listening to the gossip about the Ditto, Mary really didn't know how to describe this... story that made the girl blush.

What is this... a Pokémon version of... what's with the girl? No, Ditto doesn't have a gender, and its customers are both male and female...

By the end, Marie was speechless. Weren't Pokémon supposed to be innocent and cute? Is the Pokémon culture in Alola really this open-minded?!

With a torrent of complaints stuck in her throat, Mary could only manage to utter two words:

"...Absolutely amazing!"

P.S.: Once I started having ideas, I couldn't stop. To be honest, I didn't do it on purpose. My initial ideas weren't this wild...

Chapter 127 Regarding the Invitation from the Ether Foundation

She took out a few Power Cubes from her backpack and quieted down the Dittos who were getting increasingly excited as they talked. Although the story was quite complicated, it didn't stop Mary from drawing a conclusion.

Given the shameless nature of these Dittos, they're likely to cause trouble again and be hunted down no matter where they're thrown. The best option is probably to leave them in Aether Paradise.

However, the specific arrangements will have to be decided by the people of Ether Paradise. Mary is just a messenger, at most offering some suggestions.

It didn't take Lillie and the others too long to catch Ditto. They didn't have to wait long before they saw Ash carrying the Ditto back to the cabin.

"Ee~ (I'm back~)"

Yi-chan walked up to Mary and rubbed her head against Mary's thigh, as if asking for praise.

Mary smiled and ruffled Ichigo's hair, then squatted down, hugged Ichigo, and rubbed her face against him.

Welcome back!

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mary. Thanks to Ichigo, we were able to catch Ditto so quickly."

Lillie walked over and watched Marie and Illumi's intimate actions with some envy. She then praised Illumi, saying that if Illumi hadn't reacted quickly and caught the Ditto in mid-air, who knows how long it would have taken.

Miss Biko, standing beside her, also smiled and said:

"Eh~ Indeed, Miss Mary's Ichi-chan has done a great job~"

"I'm glad I could help."

Mary didn't immediately put Ichigo back into the ball. Instead, she stood up again, walked over to Miss Beeko, and whispered:

"Um, I just asked about some things regarding Ditto."

"Really?! What are the Dittos thinking?"

"Um……"

Mary thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth. After carefully considering her words, Mary lowered her voice as much as possible and whispered in Miss Bicke's ear.

……

"...That's really true. Are you being so cautious, Mary?"

Miss Bee wasn't exactly ashamed, but she was a little embarrassed, mainly because the Dittos' behavior was so much like that of girls doing special jobs...

It was quite difficult for Mary to repeat it again after hearing it, despite her embarrassment.

"Well... I think it's better not to tell Lillie and the others about this, since it's a bit inappropriate."

Seeing the excited looks on Mao and the others' faces as they looked at the Ditto, Marie couldn't bear to tell them that these Ditto were actually...

Forget it.

"...Marie, what are you talking about with Miss Biko? By the way, is there any news about asking Ditto before?"

Noticing the two whispering to each other, Lillie walked over and approached Mary with a curious expression, seemingly eager to know more interesting things.

"Um... well, I do know a little bit about it. The Dittos seem to really like it here and don't want to leave at all."

"Really?!"

"Yes, really, the Ether Paradise takes very good care of us."

"I see~"

Lillie smiled, looking somewhat happy, while Miss Beeko began to think about the specific arrangements. Now that she knew what these Dittos were thinking and what had happened to them, things would be much easier to arrange.

In short, let's draft a report and send it to the chairman for review.

Having drafted a preliminary plan in her mind, Miss Biko breathed a sigh of relief, as she had at least resolved one issue. Her gaze then fell eagerly on Mary.

Such talent is something that these researchers envy the most. If Marie could stay and work at Etherland, this Pokémon reserve would definitely be able to be built even better.

However, Beeko had also seen Marie's information. She is the younger sister of the Galar region's Gym Leader and has a close relationship with Professor Magnolia's granddaughter, Researcher Sonia. It is said that Sonia gave Marie the opportunity to come to Alola.

This person is not easy to recruit, but it's worth trying to invite them.

"By the way, Miss Mary, would you be interested in doing a part-time job at Etherland Paradise?"

"Huh? What kind of part-time job?"

"It's like what happened today. The Pokémon here always encounter all sorts of problems. They're interesting, but they can also be a headache sometimes. Marie, your ability makes those headaches simple, like what happened with Ditto today."

Miss Biko didn't hide the fact that she had taken a liking to Mary's talent; after all, there was nothing to hide.

"...But I won't be staying in Alora for long."

Although Sonia didn't specify when she would return, one or two months would be the limit, and Mary couldn't keep using Sonia's name to freeload here.

"That's alright, it's just for a short period of time. It's not like you're officially starting work at EtherPark, Miss Mary. But your salary and benefits are guaranteed!"

"..."