Cynthia wasn't surprised that Misaki was leaving.
As long as Misaki remained in Sinnoh, everyone would only see her as Cynthia's protégé. Misaki had always been determined to forge her own path. Confident and hardworking, there was no way she'd be willing to live in someone else's shadow forever.
"Leaving is probably for the best. But beating me won't be easy. I wonder when she'll finally be strong enough to stand before me."
Cynthia smiled faintly.
When Luther told her what he planned to do next, however, all the amusement disappeared from her face, replaced by shock and disbelief.
"What did you just say...? You want to buy an island?" Cynthia's eyes widened.
Mai was even more stunned. She had never heard Luther mention anything like this before.
"Wait a minute. Weren't you always talking about getting a piece of land of your own, building a ranch and a house, maybe turning it into an estate? How did that suddenly become an island?" Cynthia asked.
"Plans change. Buying land and settling down is something I'll be doing for the rest of my life, so there's nothing wrong with being a little ambitious."
Luther answered honestly.
"Just tell me what I need besides money to buy an island, and roughly how much it'll cost. If I don't have enough, I'll go earn it!"
His determination was unmistakable. He wasn't joking, and this certainly wasn't some spur-of-the-moment idea.
Cynthia and Mai both fell silent, thinking it over.
Mai pulled out her notebook and phone and immediately started making a new plan. Since Luther had already made up his mind, she was going to support him and adjust her own plans accordingly.
Cynthia went into another room and brought out several rolls of maps, spreading them across the table.
Once they were opened, Luther realized they were detailed nautical charts of the waters around Sinnoh, along with detailed maps of several of the larger islands.
Cynthia had her Pokémon hold the maps upright and flatten them out so Luther could compare them more easily.
Luther was overwhelmed by the amount of information. He had only intended to ask Cynthia for some advice or suggestions, and hadn't expected her to have such detailed records.
"To be honest, for a while after I became Champion, I also thought about buying a small island and living there myself. But for various reasons, I eventually gave up on the idea."
"The island maps and nautical charts you're looking at now are all materials I got from the Pokémon League back then."
"Various reasons?" Luther looked at Cynthia curiously.
Whatever those reasons were, money certainly couldn't have been one of them. With Cynthia's status, money was hardly an issue.
Cynthia took an ice cream from the tray that Blissey brought over, which was packed with ice, then waved for Blissey to bring some to Mai and Luther as well.
Leaning back on the sofa and eating her ice cream, Cynthia lazily said, "Once you've picked an island, I'll explain everything to you. For now, just choose one."
It was the height of summer, so Cynthia's Pokémon, which had been playing around in the garden, had all come inside to enjoy the air conditioning and cold drinks.
Now they watched Luther examine the islands with great interest, offering their opinions alongside Mai's Pokémon.
Cynthia had asked for their opinions back when she'd been considering buying an island herself, though she had ultimately abandoned the idea.
Most of the islands were uninhabited and didn't even have names. They were simply unnamed islands, so Cynthia had marked their exact locations on the maps to make them easier to identify.
"How about this one... thirty kilometers west of Iron Island. It has extensive vegetation, and there's also plenty of flat land that could be developed. It looks pretty good."
Gardevoir and Espurr turned the map around toward Cynthia.
Cynthia ate her ice cream, waving her little spoon as she explained, "Iron Island sits just off the coast of Sinnoh.
It used to be a very prosperous place, but over the years, its mineral resources have gradually been depleted. It's nowhere near as prosperous as it once was. These days, most Pokémon Trainers who go there are training Rock-, Fighting-, and Ground-type Pokémon."
"That island is thirty kilometers west of there. Look closely at the nautical chart and you'll see that there aren't any major human settlements anywhere nearby. The closest inhabited island is Iron Island. And, if I'm being honest, considering how far people on Iron Island actually travel, your island would basically be in the middle of nowhere."
Luther remembered that Cynthia liked having peace and quiet without being completely cut off from civilization. Naturally, she'd given up on an isolated island like this.
Luther looked over the map from one side to the other and sighed.
It was a shame. The terrain and environment were practically perfect.
They found several more islands that caught Luther's eye, but each one had a problem. Either the environment didn't meet his expectations, or, like the first island, it was simply too far from areas where people actually lived and traveled.
Silver, who was playing with Gastrodon, had clearly noticed several islands that looked pretty good. Yet Luther rejected them one after another, leaving her completely puzzled about what kind of living environment humans actually wanted.
Now Luther finally understood why Cynthia had abandoned the idea in the first place. Wanting an island with a large population center nearby while also demanding good scenery and terrain was simply too much.
Any island that met those requirements was probably already in the Pokémon League's hands, or had long since been bought and settled by someone else.
Unless he genuinely wanted to become a hermit, there was no point in considering most of these islands.
Just as Luther's dream of owning his own island seemed about to fall apart, Mai slowly pulled out a map from the middle of the pile and unfolded it.
The island had a good environment, with mountains, water, and plenty of flat land suitable for development.
It was even considerably larger than Lily of the Valley Island. It was only about twenty kilometers from Lily of the Valley Island, putting it well within an inhabited area. For some reason, though, it had never been developed.
"Oh, this island." Cynthia studied the map. "This one actually meets quite a few of your requirements. Since Trainers often head out to sea from there, a Pokémon Center, a Power Plant, and a food storage warehouse were built along the coast. Other than those facilities, there's nothing else."
Luther's eyes immediately lit up. "Doesn't that make it perfect?"
Cynthia waved her spoon dismissively. "For you, maybe. I couldn't live there. You know I prefer having a little activity around me. Besides, once you buy an island, you'll have to keep developing and maintaining it."
"And you can't just develop it however you want. The Pokémon living on the island already have their own ecosystem. Once you move in, you'll have to plan everything around the environment that's already there. And as the Island Lord, you'll also have to manage your relationship with the Pokémon living on the island."
"After all, apart from the Flying-type Pokémon that make up most of the migratory species, the others you'll commonly find on an island are Grass-, Bug-, Water-, Ground-, Rock-, and Normal-type Pokémon."
"Sounds like a lot of trouble, doesn't it?" Cynthia spread her hands. "That's why I eventually chose to settle down in Sunyshore City. I found a spacious, beautifully landscaped residential community. The commercial district is only a short distance away, so there's plenty of good food, convenient transportation, and basically everything I need."
"Trust me. For someone like you who spends all day looking for ways to slack off, buying an island would be torture. There are just too many things to deal with. They're tedious, and they'll give you headaches. Having an island of your own sounds wonderful in theory, but once you actually own one, you won't think it's fun anymore."
Luther rubbed Espurr's head and noticed that all of his Pokémon were watching him. There seemed to be a hint of longing in their eyes.
Silver even bit down on the map in Luther's hand and started flapping her wings excitedly.
Mai watched Luther expectantly, waiting for him to make his decision.
Luther rolled up the map.
Cynthia thought he'd made the smart choice. There were always romantic ideas in life that sounded wonderful but were extremely difficult to put into practice. Sometimes, you simply had to know when to give up.
But Cynthia had underestimated Luther's determination.
"I've decided to go to the island and take a look at it myself. If it seems suitable, could you ask the Pokémon League what procedures I'll need to go through and how much it'll cost?"
(End of Chapter)
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