"How much money do you have to work with?" Aoi asked, seeing Luther deep in thought.
Although Luther had told her from the start to make the list according to the highest possible standards, now that it was finished, she realized money was going to be a serious issue.
Saplings were generally priced by age. One- and two-year-old saplings were fairly cheap, but from the third year onward, the price practically doubled every year.
And since they wanted the orchard to produce fruit gradually instead of all at once, it would be best to transplant mature trees that had already reached peak production.
"To be honest, I don't have a single cent," Luther said with a bitter smile. "This island has already drained me dry."
Every word on the list looked like a price tag to him.
"Roughly how much will everything on this list cost?" he asked hesitantly.
Aoi didn't look down on him for having no money. The fact that he still hadn't backed down was enough to earn her respect.
"I'm not sure," she sighed. "The price of a sapling varies according to its age, how extensively it was cultivated, where it came from, and many other factors. Even if you searched online right now, you'd only find prices for some of them. As far as I know, research laboratories across Sinnoh conduct grafting experiments and develop more than a hundred new sapling varieties every year. Rainbow University is a renowned Pokémon academy with an agricultural department dedicated to studying Pokémon-related food and fruit trees."
"Kalos has also spent years cultivating Berries that both humans and Pokémon enjoy. Three varieties on this list were developed by Kalosian institutions. They're the result of more than a decade of research and improvement and only entered the market three years ago. The Sweet Cherry Tree, for example, is expensive, but it's an excellent fruit tree."
"I may need to visit Sunyshore City and Sun Heart City to learn about the latest research and market prices before I can give you a definite answer. But I can offer a conservative estimate."
Aoi took a deep breath. "For these ten thousand trees, you'll need at least six million. That's the absolute minimum, and I'm already assuming we'll buy younger saplings. You should prepare yourself, because the final cost will only be higher."
Even Mira, who had little understanding of money, shuddered.
Luther and Mai exchanged glances. Ten thousand trees would cover nearly a fifth of the eastern island of Lily of the Valley.
Good grief... This wasn't burning money. It was melting it by the truckload.
Luther gritted his teeth. "You're the expert. I'll leave the decisions to you."
The moment those words left his mouth, his six million was as good as gone. But this was for the island's wild Pokémon. No matter how much it hurt, Luther had to see it through.
Aoi walked over and held out her hand. "As long as you're committed, I'll help you unconditionally. I don't care how difficult or exhausting it gets. I want to see what this island will look like when we succeed."
Luther shook her hand and made a solemn promise. "I can't afford to pay you a salary worthy of your skills and position, but you can choose any piece of land you like on the island. One day, you'll be glad you did."
"I'll hold you to that. I'm definitely claiming a plot for myself." Aoi smiled. "I'll leave tomorrow. I'll have to trouble Yuzu to keep an eye on the Power Plant for me, but I heard the Pokémon League's construction team is arriving tomorrow to expand it, so there shouldn't be any problems."
After chatting for a while longer, Aoi and Joy left, leaving Luther staring blankly at the list.
He searched for information about the trees on his phone and found that Aoi was right. Most were improved varieties created through years of careful cultivation.
Even common trees found in the wild, such as those bearing Pomeg and Lum Berries, had been extensively studied by institutions worldwide in search of further improvements. Berries that could restore a Pokémon's condition or serve as food were especially important research subjects.
In ancient times, when productivity was low, many conflicts between humans and wild Pokémon arose from competition over resources. Food was the most critical resource of all.
During the decades of rapid development in Pokémon research, Professors had conducted countless studies on the Berries Pokémon relied on.
They selected promising specimens, cultivated them, spent years comparing them with the original varieties, decided on a direction, and kept improving them. No one knew how many failures it had taken for the Berries on this list to come into existence.
The Red Ink Pear Tree was one such example. It was an incredibly hardy fruit tree capable of surviving in almost any climate except extreme drought or cold. It was easy to keep alive and produced large quantities of fruit.
Its main drawback was that the fruit didn't taste particularly good, both humans and Pokémon found its flesh dry and somewhat astringent.
But it was still food.
One of the core motivations behind the tree's development was planting it in areas populated by wild Pokémon. The Red Ink Pear was humanity's gift to wild Pokémon, and an apology.
During humanity's period of rapid expansion, people inevitably encroached upon the habitats of wild Pokémon, leading to conflict.
As human territory grew, the areas available to wild Pokémon shrank, eventually sparking fierce struggles among the Pokémon themselves. Rainbow University had made solving this problem a major research priority twenty years ago, and it had taken them until four years ago to produce results.
The first news article Luther found reported that the Academic Alliance had allocated special funding to plant Red Ink Pear Trees throughout areas once overdeveloped by humans.
It had also called upon every region to join the effort, a proposal that quickly received support from all the major Pokémon Leagues. Rainbow University had even made all its research on the Red Ink Pear Tree publicly available, encouraging Professors worldwide to continue developing it and determine the next direction for improvement.
The intelligent people of this world had always understood that humans and Pokémon depended on one another. Whenever human development harmed wild Pokémon, people quickly looked for ways to make amends and improve the Pokémon's living conditions.
So how had Sister and Dr. Zishan, two people who had stood near the very top of this world for so long, failed to understand something so simple? What was even enjoyable about enslaving Pokémon? Was it all just to satisfy their desire for control?
Then again, there was no point trying to understand the minds of idiots and lunatics.
Aoi departed early the next morning. Luther had placed his trust in her, and she now carried a heavy responsibility toward the island's wild Pokémon. That responsibility even drove her to overcome her difficulty communicating with others.
Without relying on anyone for help, she headed alone to the coastal city of Sunyshore to learn about the latest developments in fruit-tree research across the different regions.
Luther wasn't idle either. Slacking off was no longer an option. He was now a man forty million in debt. If he didn't earn money and repay it, he might never get another chance to slack off for the rest of his life.
"Huh? You want to know if there's something like a commission agency?" Cynthia stared at him. "What are you planning?"
She was stretched lazily across a deck chair, eating cream cake and drinking soda. It took her a moment to realize that Luther intended to accept commissions for money.
Then she burst out laughing, nearly spraying cream cake everywhere.
Was his question really that funny?
"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't help it."
Despite her apology, Cynthia still let out several more snickers. After wiping her mouth, she struggled to suppress her laughter.
"You know, you're probably the most miserable Lily of the Valley Conference winner in history."
"The mighty champion of the Lily of the Valley Conference, reduced to taking other people's odd jobs just to scrape together some money... Oh, wait. Give me a second. I still need to laugh."
Cynthia clutched her aching stomach.
(End of Chapter)
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