Borrowing Cynthia's Altaria, Luther, Mai, and Mira brought all their Pokémon with them and flew to the island they'd been dreaming about.
Being close to a famous location like Lily of the Valley Island had another advantage: the area had plenty of busy shipping routes. Luther spotted at least three cruise ships and cargo ships in the distance along the way.
There were also quite a few smaller islands scattered around the area. As they flew over, Luther saw several Pokémon Trainers out on the water, actively training and traveling around the sea.
The island was much larger than Luther had imagined. From the air, he immediately spotted the Power Plant, warehouse, and Pokémon Center that Cynthia had mentioned, all built by the Pokémon League along the coast facing Lily of the Valley Island.
Mai and Mira landed first.
Mai planned to speak with the Pokémon League personnel stationed on the island and learn more about its current situation.
Mira, meanwhile, took Gengar and Scizor with her to explore the island and find out which Pokémon were active there and what kinds of Pokémon communities could be found.
Luther continued flying around the island on Altaria.
Dense stretches of green forest covered the land. Every now and then, brilliant blue lakes and streams flashed into view. As Altaria flew low over the trees, cries from the island's bird Pokémon rang out.
Countless Pokémon raised their heads at the same time, looking toward the sky as Altaria's cotton-like wings carried it into the distance.
Near several towering mountains, Diglett and Geodude were working together to level out uneven patches of ground, completely unaware that Luther was flying overhead.
Along the eastern edge of the island, the cliffs looked as though they had been sliced straight through with a single stroke. Waves repeatedly crashed against the sheer rock face, sending spectacular sprays of white foam into the air.
Not far away was a white sandy beach shimmering faintly under the sunlight. As the tide rolled in and out, several lazy Pokémon would occasionally appear on the sand, simply lying there and letting the seawater wash over them.
Cynthia had been right. Developing the island would be difficult, especially depending on the number of non-migratory Pokémon living there. There would also be the challenge of communicating with them and coordinating any changes to their environment.
Before coming here, Luther had still been wondering whether he should actually buy the island.
Now, after flying around it, taking in the scenery, looking down over the entire island from Altaria's back, and gazing across the sparkling sea, he was certain.
This was exactly what he wanted.
You only get one life. You should have something worth pursuing.
While touring the island, there had been a moment when Luther imagined that this would all belong to him. For a brief instant, he felt like a king inspecting his own territory.
It was a strange and wonderful feeling, one he'd never experienced before.
His pursuit of strength had already become much less urgent. He was content to let his growth happen naturally.
But now he had developed a strong interest in building a place of his own.
He wanted to see his Pokémon, and eventually their descendants, running freely and happily around the island without restrictions. And the island's environment was more than capable of supporting Pokémon of every type.
With his imagination running wild about the future, Luther eventually arrived at the island's only Pokémon Center.
The Power Plant could operate without human supervision as long as the Magnemite and Magneton were left in charge of it. So aside from Nurse Joy, there was only one other person inside the Pokémon Center: a woman carrying a surfboard and wearing a swimsuit.
Her black hair was tied into a ponytail, and her wheat-colored skin showed clear signs of sun exposure. Her eyes were always slightly narrowed, as though she could barely be bothered to open them.
She sat quietly in the corner, drinking ice water in silence.
When she saw Luther enter, she picked up her surfboard, walked out the door, and headed toward the beach with a Crawdaunt.
From his conversation with Joy, Luther learned that she was the person the Pokémon League had sent to ensure the island's safety and keep the Power Plant running properly.
Her name was Aoi Nanjo, and she had made it to the Top 16 in one of the previous Lily of the Valley Conferences.
Because she was introverted, rarely smiled, and wasn't good at dealing with people, she had been assigned to this island.
Joy smiled as she explained on Aoi Nanjo's behalf. "She's always been like this. Whenever Pokémon Trainers stop by the island to rest, she usually hides in the Power Plant or warehouse instead of showing herself. It's not because she dislikes you."
Before Luther arrived, Mai had already gathered quite a bit of information about the island from Joy, including a topographical map that Joy and Aoi Nanjo had explored the island and redrawn themselves.
The map even had rough markings showing areas where large numbers of Pokémon were active. Monitoring these areas and tracking changes in the island's ecosystem was actually part of the work assigned to them by the Pokémon League and several research labs.
When Joy heard that Luther wanted to buy the island, she was somewhat surprised. However, she was actually looking forward to seeing a good Island Lord take responsibility for developing it.
In her opinion, the island shouldn't simply be left abandoned by the Sinnoh League.
By the time the sun was about to set, Mira finally returned to the Pokémon Center with Gengar and Scizor, completely exhausted.
Half a day wasn't nearly enough to record the Pokémon distribution across the entire island, but Luther was still able to get a rough idea of the Pokémon living there from the notes on Mira's phone.
What surprised Luther most was the variety of Pokémon types she'd encountered.
Besides the usual Rock-, Ground-, Grass-, and Bug-type Pokémon, Mira had also found Fire-type Vulpix, as well as Electric-type Plusle and Minun.
On the way back to Lily of the Valley Island, Luther and Mai finally made up their minds.
The island was worth buying!
Luther had originally planned to return to the Contestant Village and get some rest, but Cynthia called him and asked him to come over to her house. Apparently, someone wanted to meet him.
Luther sent Mai and Mira off to get dinner while he went to Cynthia's villa alone.
He had assumed that someone from the Pokémon League had come to discuss the island purchase with him.
Instead, he saw someone he vaguely recognized.
Compared with Cynthia, who was sitting comfortably on the sofa, this man's enormous frame made the sofa look almost comically small.
When he stood up, he looked like a sumo wrestler. Luther couldn't shake the feeling that an entire mountain was walking toward him.
"Long time no see."
It was Ulter, one of the nine Inspectors of the International Police.
After the Shiran Incident, he and Sister had been the ones who appeared before Luther and warned him.
Time had passed. Sister had eventually been identified as Leader Zero of the Hodgepodge organization and had been officially declared killed in the line of duty. Yet Ulter, her close friend and former partner, had now come to see Luther himself.
Luther was a little confused. He secretly glanced at Cynthia, only to find her calmly eating her ice cream.
Seeing this, Luther understood.
When the Pokémon League investigated the Hodgepodge organization incident, they must have thoroughly investigated the remaining eight Inspectors as well. The fact that Ulter could appear here now was proof that Sister really had acted alone.
"Inspector Ulter, long time no see. You're still as imposing as ever. Just looking at you makes it hard to breathe," Luther joked.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Ulter's mouth.
Then he suddenly bent deeply at the waist.
The huge man spoke in a deep voice that trembled slightly as he pleaded, "On behalf of the other Inspectors, I apologize to you. Please give the International Police another chance."
(End of Chapter)
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