Luther decided not to continue communicating with the wild Pokémon in the other areas. After his experience with the Whimsicott, he had realized that this wasn't nearly as easy as he'd thought.
It was easy enough to understand the Pokémon he lived with every day. Understanding wild Pokémon, however, was far more complicated and difficult.
Luther left the island. Two days ago, the Kukui Family had sent him an invitation to attend today's event in Sun Heart City. Since this was his first time attending something like this, Luther asked Mai for her opinion.
Mai glanced over the message. There was no strict dress code; they simply recommended wearing something similar to what he had worn when he won the Lily of the Valley Conference. Judging from the requirements, it was a fairly casual event.
"Just dress naturally," Mai advised.
Since his Pokémon might be asked to appear at the event, Luther brought Darkrai, Mismagius, Azumarill, and Gardevoir with him, leaving the rest on the island.
The Pokémon had already grown accustomed to island life. Once they learned that the entire island belonged to them, they spent their days running wild all over the place, practically developing a routine of heading out early and returning late.
Luther didn't go directly to Sun Heart City. Instead, he took a detour to Sunyshore City first.
Luther had already helped clean up the Team Rocket trio's reputations. After seeing that Luther had kept his word, Jessie, James, and Meowth had thrown themselves into making money. Their first stop was the coastal city of Sunyshore, not far from Lily of the Valley Island.
Luther had no idea what kind of business the three planned to start. The trio had very deliberately chosen to keep that part secret from him. Whatever—with their business instincts, he doubted they'd manage to lose money.
"Wait, you want to borrow Meowth?" James froze.
"There are a lot of different Pokémon populations on the island. I need to develop some areas and will have to communicate with them. Trying to figure out what they mean through gestures and all sorts of strange methods is way too troublesome, so I need to borrow Meowth for a while. There aren't many areas that need to be developed at this stage, and there aren't that many Pokémon groups I need to deal with. If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to sort it all out in a few days."
Luther really didn't want another painfully complicated communication process like the one with Whimsicott. With a translator as good as Meowth available, refusing to use him would just be making life difficult for himself.
The trio rarely separated, so Luther had expected Jessie, James, and Meowth to hesitate. Instead, Meowth agreed without hesitation, and Jessie and James didn't object either.
After all, they already owed Luther a favor, and Luther wasn't trying to use that favor to pressure them. He had approached them as equals, simply asking for their cooperation. That made the trio feel respected. Meowth, in particular, was happy that Luther considered him important enough to ask personally.
The trio was also curious about the island Luther had purchased. They hadn't had a chance to visit yet because of work, so having Meowth go there first would undoubtedly give them some interesting information.
"Looks like the two of us will just have to split Meowth's workload between us for now," James sighed.
Jessie pouted. "Then hurry up and finish it. If our efficiency drops because you're gone, the money we lose is coming out of your share too."
Luther readily agreed. He told them that when he returned to Sunyshore City, he would bring Meowth back to the island and that Meowth should be ready to go.
With the communication problem taken care of, Luther was in a good mood. Two months could pass surprisingly quickly when he was busy. Before leaving Sinnoh for Hoenn, Luther wanted to take care of as much of the island's initial development as possible so the architects and designers coming to the island could work without any concerns.
Because flying was prohibited in the area, Luther had to dismount from Altaria outside the Sun Heart City district.
The Kukui Family had made careful arrangements, though. They had already coordinated everything in advance and sent a car to pick him up at the designated location. The ride to the hotel venue was completely hassle-free. Once Luther arrived, he followed the VIP entrance, where one of the Kukui Family's assistants handed him a sheet of paper and gestured for him to look it over.
The instructions were extremely simple, explaining what he needed to do once he entered the venue:
"Say that the four new Berry drinks taste great. Ideally, drink at least half of each one."
"Let your Pokémon try them as well. Tell them in advance that even if they don't like the taste, they should try their best to swallow it."
"Patiently answer any questions from the reporters."
"Whenever possible, praise the flavor of the new drinks in front of the cameras."
Luther wondered whether all commercial events were this simple, or whether the Kukui Family had deliberately streamlined everything because of Mai.
Oh… Luther suddenly remembered. The Kukui Family had another famous spokesperson for their Berry drinks: a certain celebrity who hated complicated procedures, disliked unnecessary ceremony, and always preferred getting straight to the point.
Cynthia.
The Champion who had smashed all those tedious Pokémon League rules to pieces, leaving the League simultaneously loving her, hating her, and dealing with constant headaches because of her.
Luther laughed. So it wasn't because of Mai after all. Cynthia had simply already cleared the path for him. Whenever Cynthia had gone somewhere first, everyone who followed found the road incredibly smooth and comfortable.
As the event drew closer, more and more guests arrived. Luther stood off to one side of the stage, explaining to his Pokémon what they needed to pay attention to.
"How about this? Azumarill drinks first. Just copy her expression afterward. There's no way the drinks will taste terrible—I'm just worried you won't be used to the flavor and will make the wrong face."
Luther had plenty of confidence in the Kukui Family's Berry drinks. He had tried almost every flavor currently on the market. Aside from the somewhat strange sour-lemon flavor, he could give nearly all of them a positive review. Even after Mai left the Kukui Family, she still praised their products constantly. Having grown up around the family's brewing techniques, she had never been stingy with her praise.
The other Pokémon looked toward Azumarill. Azumarill patted her chest confidently, assuring everyone that they could leave it to her. She would make sure the message was conveyed properly.
Darkrai noticed someone watching them and turned his head.
Their eyes met.
A middle-aged man in a silver-white suit slowly walked over to Luther. His gaze was sharp and commanding, as though he could see straight through Luther, and his angular features gave him an unmistakably forceful air.
Luther didn't recognize him. He stood up in confusion and was about to ask who he was when the man extended his hand.
"Luther, technically this is our first meeting, but I've been keeping an eye on you for quite some time." The man's voice was calm. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Kukui Tetsu, the current head of the Kukui Family. Although my relationship with Mai is… complicated, I am indeed Mai's biological father."
Luther froze completely. He hadn't been prepared for that at all.
This was his first time meeting Mai's father. And meeting his future father-in-law was hardly a pleasant experience—especially since Luther and Mai had only recently confirmed that they intended to get married in the future…
Had the news somehow gotten out? Had he smelled something interesting and come looking?
(End Of This Chapter)
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