Mai assumed that Luther had spent the entire day outside thinking about how to handle tomorrow's match.
In reality, that wasn't the case at all.
Luther had simply wandered around all day.
Whenever he found something delicious, he bought it for Azumarill. Whenever he came across something fun, he spent some time playing with Milcery and Chikorita.
In short, he had slacked off for the entire day.
Even though he had accomplished absolutely nothing, Luther somehow felt exhausted by the end of it.
After returning to Contestant Village, Luther returned a call to Professor Rowan. Earlier, while Luther had been out enjoying himself, Rowan had said he would call back later. However, Luther never received that call.
When the video connection opened, Professor Rowan appeared completely soaked, as if someone had dumped a bucket of water over his head. Seeing him in such a disheveled state was rather surprising.
"Today's observation subject was Poliwhirl," Rowan explained, wiping a streak of water from his face. "But he seemed to be in an unusually good mood and didn't want to stay in the laboratory, so things got a little chaotic..."
In the background, a loud crash echoed as Poliwhirl was smacked to the ground by Aggron. A swarm of Misdreavus immediately piled onto him, pinning him down and finally forcing the troublesome Poliwhirl to settle down.
Wait...
Aggron?
That meant Lairon had evolved?
Sachiko's hand suddenly waved into view from off-screen before she poked half her head into the frame.
"Yo-ho, little Luther! You're still the same as ever..."
After laughing in amusement, Luther quickly asked:
"That Aggron is...?"
"Oh, that's right. It's the Lairon you rescued," Sachiko explained. "We've been feeding it ore, mud, and Pokémon food while collecting various data. Last night it was chewing on a chunk of iron ore, and when we woke up this morning, we discovered it had evolved."
"It seems the evolution happened while it was asleep. It didn't even realize it had evolved. When we woke it up, it looked completely confused."
"We actually called to tell you about that," Rowan chimed back in. "Also, the lab has already prepared a victory celebration banquet for when you win the championship. Even though you can't come back to join us, all the researchers are looking forward to raising a glass and celebrating your victory."
"Everyone's waiting for you to become Champion. That way, Sandgem Town will finally have a League Tournament winner of its own."
"And it'll be someone using a Pokédex issued by our lab... even though the Professor wasn't very willing at first."
Other researchers teased Professor Rowan from off-screen, their laughter bleeding through the audio.
Rowan coughed loudly, suppressing the noisy chatter.
"You won't be changing your lineup anymore, correct?"
At that moment, Aggron shoved Rowan aside and pressed its massive metallic face directly against the screen, only to be hurriedly pushed away by several flustered researchers.
"Sorry. Even though you've evolved into Aggron, I don't want to change my lineup now. Making changes at this stage would introduce too many uncertainties."
Luther spoke apologetically.
"The next time I travel somewhere far away, I'll definitely bring you with me. For now, just stay at the laboratory a little longer."
Aggron looked visibly disappointed, lowering its heavy jaw.
"Professor, I've mentioned this before," Luther said, changing the subject. "After the tournament ends, I might look for a place to settle down and buy some land to build my own house. When that happens, I'd like to take all of them with me. Is that okay?"
Professor Rowan had long known Luther wouldn't remain in Sandgem Town forever, so he was already mentally prepared.
"They were only being kept here temporarily for you anyway. But in the future, when I need to borrow your Pokémon to collect research data, you can't refuse."
Luther immediately agreed.
"Of course."
"I'll tell the Pokémon about it," Rowan said, nodding. "For now, focus on tomorrow's match. There's a big difference between the Champion's reward and the Runner-up's reward. If you want more resources, you'll have to fight for the win."
That night, it wasn't only Professor Rowan.
Many people who knew Luther sent messages wishing him luck, his phone buzzing continuously on the nightstand.
Even Oleander sent him a short message of encouragement.
Oleander, Steven, and Cyrus were currently hiding deep within the mountains, most likely in an area without signal reception. For her to send that message, she must have traveled quite a distance to find a connection.
"Thanks."
Looking at his glowing phone screen, Luther spoke softly to the empty room.
The moon set.
The sun rose.
As the first rays of sunlight slowly climbed above the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant hues of orange and gold, the day of the Sinnoh League Lily of the Valley Conference Finals finally arrived.
Under arrangements made by the Pokémon League, both Luther and Ash were escorted into the finals arena ahead of time, protecting the two competitors from being mobbed by the massive crowds of spectators locking down the streets outside.
During that time, the two briefly met in the waiting corridor.
Ash was as energetic as ever, as if nothing in the world could diminish his burning enthusiasm.
"Remember our agreement," Ash said, pumping a fist. "If you lose, you'll tell me your secret. No holding anything back."
Luther raised his hand and exchanged a sharp high-five with him, the slap echoing off the concrete walls, indicating that he always kept his promises.
Then, an idea suddenly struck him.
There was something he had been hesitating about for a long time. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity to tie it into their wager.
"If you win, you get to hear my secret. But if I win, what do I get?"
Ash froze.
Rubbing his chin, he thought hard, trying to come up with something equally valuable and appealing, only to realize he had absolutely nothing to offer.
Seeing Ash's expression, Luther grinned, revealing a mischievous smile like a Gengar whose Nasty Plot had succeeded perfectly.
"How about this? If you lose, you have to let me make a phone call."
"A phone call?" Ash blinked, confused.
"Yes. The call is related to you. Consider it my reward for winning the match. What do you think?"
There was that mysterious tone again.
Ash always felt that Luther was hiding secrets so astonishing that they could never all be uncovered.
But being afraid of a challenge wasn't Ash's style.
"Fine, I agree!"
"If I lose... well... even though I have no idea what this has to do with me, it's just a phone call, right? I don't mind!"
Good.
As long as Ash agreed, that was enough.
As for what would happen afterward, Luther couldn't be bothered to worry about it.
Under the guidance of Pokémon League officials, Luther and Ash headed toward the tunnels on opposite sides of the arena, preparing to make their entrance.
Luther took out his phone and glanced at a contact he had obtained through Professor Rowan's recommendation.
It belonged to Professor Sycamore, the renowned Kalos Region researcher famous for his studies of Mega Evolution.
Among the messages Professor Sycamore had sent Luther was a string of numbers.
It was Serena's contact information.
Luther didn't actually know Serena personally, but with the right connections, finding someone whose description was this specific wasn't difficult at all.
As long as he won the match, this pitfall would be one Ash had dug for himself.
It would have absolutely nothing to do with Luther.
As Luther and Ash stepped out into the open stadium, they were greeted by a thunderous, ground-shaking roar of cheers and applause from a packed crowd of one hundred thousand people.
Countless spectators leaned over the railings, watching with breathless anticipation.
The spectacularly exciting first Lily of the Valley Conference held under the new tournament format was finally about to conclude with its ultimate championship match.
The commentator didn't bother with another lengthy introduction.
After all, Luther's and Ash's profiles had been recited over and over again throughout the entire tournament.
Even Trainers watching the live broadcast from other regions knew their backgrounds by heart.
The same was true for the countless jokes and memes about Luther and Ash that had become famous across the internet.
The commentator only needed a single, booming sentence over the stadium speakers:
"Representing Pallet Town of the Kanto Region—Ash!"
"Representing Sandgem Town of the Sinnoh Region—Luther!"
That alone was enough to send the crowd into an absolute frenzy, the stadium lights reflecting off a sea of waving banners.
At the request of both competitors, the rules had been changed to an unrestricted format, further increasing the unpredictability of the battle and expanding the number of factors each side could exploit.
The digital display spun and locked; the random draw was completed.
Luther would make the first move.
The referee raised his flags toward both Trainers.
"The first move has been determined. Please prepare to release your Pokémon for the opening battle."
Amid the synchronized, deafening countdown of the crowd, two Poké Balls flew through the air, snapping open with brilliant flashes of white light at the center of the neutral battlefield.
The championship match had begun.
Darkrai vs. Snorlax.
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395