As the Island Lord, Luther felt it was only right that he work toward giving the Pokémon living on the island a better environment. After receiving Vespiquen's gift, the responsibility that came with those two words, Island Lord, felt even heavier, and several new ideas began taking shape in his mind.
He still wasn't sure where to begin, so with Altaria's help, he headed to the site where Cynthia and Caitlin planned to build their estate.
Since the area was fairly close to the Pokémon Center, Mira's Pokémon had already gathered information on the wild Pokémon that frequently appeared nearby.
Unlike Vespiquen's colony, where one species lived together under a single leader, there was no clear ruler in this region. The Pokémon here mostly lived independently, which had a lot to do with the abundance of food.
The Pokémon here weren't particularly territorial or ambitious. None of them seemed interested in monopolizing all the available resources, and according to Gengar, even conflicts were relatively rare.
Luther stopped to speak with every Pokémon he encountered, reassuring them and easing their concerns. Before long, most of them raised the same question:
"What happens if the fruit trees and other trees are cut down and there's less food for us?"
That finally confirmed Luther's thinking: food was the key.
There were plenty of migratory Pokémon on the island, especially Flying types traveling back and forth between the island and mainland Sinnoh.
Their droppings acted as excellent natural fertilizer, which was one reason the soil on Lily of the Valley East Island was so unusually fertile. But fertile soil alone wasn't enough; the island simply didn't have enough variety in its plant life.
Mai had spent the day observing the surroundings and noticed that many types of fruit trees and plants capable of meeting the Pokémon's nutritional and survival needs were extremely scarce.
No wonder the population of resident Pokémon was much lower than Luther had expected. Sometimes half a day would pass without seeing a single Pokémon that actually lived on the island, the only ones overhead were Flying types traveling between here and mainland Sinnoh.
The island served as a rest stop for many different migratory Flying types, and their brief stays had helped create this rich, fertile land. The natural environment was excellent, but the island's ecosystem had already reached the limit of what it could support.
And the bottleneck was food.
This wasn't a problem Luther could solve by simply handing out bags of Pokémon food from the warehouse. Even so, Luther and Mai had their Pokémon distribute a little food to each wild Pokémon they encountered while spreading their names among them.
The idea had been Luther's, and the results were obvious. On the way back to camp, wild Pokémon began greeting Luther instead of immediately trying to flee. Their expressions were noticeably more relaxed as well.
Once they returned, Luther sank into thought. He had already come up with one possible solution on the way back: buy fruit trees and plant them across Lily of the Valley East Island.
But that immediately created a whole new set of questions. Should he buy mature fruit trees and transplant them, or purchase saplings and seeds and wait for them to grow? What kinds of fruit trees should they choose? Where should they plant them?
Just thinking about it was enough to make Luther's head hurt.
As he struggled to organize his thoughts, Chansey brought him a glass of iced orange juice. Luther happened to be thirsty, so he took it and drank.
A faint floral fragrance touched his tongue, just enough to notice. The sweetness was gentle rather than overwhelming, blending perfectly with the tartness of the orange juice. It was wonderfully refreshing, and Luther's mind suddenly felt much clearer.
Not far away, Azumarill had already gulped down an entire glass. Holding the empty cup, she walked over to Mai and pointed at the opened honeycomb, asking for more honey.
Luther smiled.
The easiest option would be to ignore the problem and simply continue developing the island as planned. But he didn't want to. He wanted to change this island. He wanted to create a better environment for the Pokémon that lived here.
This place shouldn't become a paradise only for Luther, Cynthia, and the others; it should also become a paradise for the wild Pokémon that had lived here for generations.
Luther told Mai what he was thinking. Faced with yet another idea that was clearly going to cost them a great deal of money, Mai simply stepped forward and hugged him.
"I was thinking the exact same thing just now. Looks like we ended up on the same page again."
What else could Luther say? Falling for Mai really had been one of the best things that ever happened to him.
Mira didn't come back late that day, returning to camp just as the setting sun disappeared beneath the horizon. She had no intention of objecting to Luther's proposal. She was the butler, and Luther was her master.
Unfortunately, her master was currently buried in debt. If he already owed tens of millions, what difference would spending a little more on fruit trees make? Besides, as the butler, her purse had been empty for ages anyway.
Joy soon heard about Luther's idea as well. She remained silent for a long moment before giving him a deep, solemn bow.
Ever since arriving on the island, Luther had thrown himself into development and claiming land, but he'd handled everything gently. Whenever wild Pokémon were involved, he chose negotiation instead of force.
That alone had already left Joy with a very favorable impression of him. After all, many development projects she'd witnessed in the past had been nowhere near this considerate. In places people rarely saw, conflict between humans and wild Pokémon had always existed.
What Joy truly hadn't expected was for Luther to go this far for the wild Pokémon living on the island instead of simply ignoring their problems.
This was an enormous island. Planting enough fruit trees to make sure the wild Pokémon no longer had to struggle with limited food variety and poor nutrition would be a massive undertaking.
Joy had spent a long time dealing with the island's wild Pokémon, and now all she felt toward Luther was admiration. She could already tell this would be a huge project, and an expensive one.
"First, let me thank you on behalf of the wild Pokémon here," Joy said. "Second, once the saplings arrive on the island, I'll submit a request to the Pokémon League to be permanently stationed here."
That was naturally good news for Luther. An island like this would be much more enjoyable if it was filled with familiar faces he knew and liked.
Since the opportunity had presented itself, Luther brought up the questions he'd been struggling with earlier. There was no point trying to solve everything alone when they could put their heads together.
"Looks like we'll need someone who understands gardening and cultivation," Mira said. "If we hire a specialist, that's probably another big expense."
Joy suddenly clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention. "We already have someone."
Everyone stared at her in confusion.
"By 'we,' you mean... someone on the island?" Luther asked.
Joy smiled and nodded.
There weren't any guests living on the island yet. At the moment, there was only Luther, Mai, Mira, Joy...
"Aoi Nanjo?" all three of them said at the same time.
Joy snapped her fingers. "Exactly. Aoi."
"You only know that she once competed in the Lily of the Valley Conference, right? Apparently, none of you know that she used to be a very talented horticulturist. She also comes from an extremely accomplished gardening family. Honestly, her skills as a Pokémon Trainer might not even be as good as her gardening ability. When I went back to Lily of the Valley Island, I quietly looked into her background. She's won quite a few awards."
"Aoi's seriously impressive. When she first arrived on the island, she got drunk and said that if she hadn't lost, she would've been able to prove to her family that she hadn't abandoned her gardening skills and had also made a name for herself as a Trainer."
Something vague clicked in Luther's mind. Aoi Nanjo hadn't shown herself at all since losing to Cynthia.
It seemed there was an unforgettable story behind that defeat.
(End of Chapter)
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