Luther sat on a rock not far from the camp, turning the Rainbow Wing over in his hand as though he could catch a glimpse of Ho-Oh within its shimmering colors.
Mira had just finished showering and walked over while drying her long, damp golden hair. "You called me out here specifically. What do you need?"
Luther carefully placed the Rainbow Wing into a specially prepared case, then turned to look at her. "In about a month, I'll be leaving Sinnoh for Hoenn. You know about that already, right?"
"Yeah. It's a Pokémon League assignment. I heard the pay's pretty good too, so it's a nice chance to save up and pay off your debts."
Luther stood up and walked over to her. "I might leave a little earlier than planned. There are a few loose ends I want to take care of first, so I probably only have about half a month left on the island. Once I'm gone, I'm counting on you to look after Mai."
Mira blinked. If he meant security, her Pokémon could easily keep the area around the camp safe.
Once the villas were finished, even if she had to split some of them off to watch over Cynthia's and the others' places, she'd still have more than enough manpower. As for daily life... wasn't she usually the clumsy one being taken care of by Mai?
Luther sighed softly and glanced toward the Misdreavus in the distance, who were busy teasing Dusknoir.
"Not everyone in the Sinnoh League, or among Sinnoh's old families, thinks I deserve to own this island. You understand what I'm saying?"
Mira scratched her head, only vaguely following. "But Cynthia, Diantha, and Lance are all involved with this island. Who'd be stupid enough to pick a fight with you?"
"People who are jealous," Luther answered immediately. "Some of them think I talked up the island's future prospects just to attract investment from everyone else. They don't believe I genuinely wanted to buy it myself and then happened to be chosen by Cynthia as a suitable owner. They were potential buyers too. I got there first, so naturally they're not happy."
Mira still didn't quite get it. "Then just explain..."
She stopped, seeing Luther already looking at her like she was an idiot.
The fact that Luther hadn't paid for the island entirely out of his own pocket and had relied on investment from others was already enough for certain people to see something wrong with the deal.
Jealous people weren't going to stop and think about the value of favors, relationships, or connections, and they certainly wouldn't care that Luther still owed money to the first group who had backed him.
All they cared about was the final result, resenting Luther simply because he had gotten something they wanted.
At that point, reasoning with them was pointless. They wouldn't dare provoke Cynthia or Diantha directly, so they'd go after Luther instead, using him to make a statement. If Luther simply hid behind the Champions and refused to deal with the problem himself, he'd only be mocked even more.
What they probably wanted most was to sabotage Luther's development plans until the whole project collapsed, forcing the island back into the Pokémon League's hands so it could be distributed again.
"I know you're not actually stupid," Luther said, "but when it comes to this kind of scheming, listen to Mai. She grew up around family politics, so she has experience with this stuff. If they're only trying to annoy us with minor things, tolerate it if you can. But if they go too far..."
Mira stared at him, knowing Luther was about to give her a limit. Just hearing "tolerate it if you can" had already made her feel irritated.
"Then beat the hell out of them. If anything happens, I'll take responsibility."
Mira immediately clapped her hands and burst out laughing. "Now that I can work with. I'll let Mai decide where the line is, as long as you're not asking me to hide in my shell and take everything quietly."
Mira had no idea where Luther had heard these rumors, but she was certain he'd already given Mai the same warning.
Mai had actually been quite calm when Luther told her. The island had already been purchased, and that was a done deal.
Those people weren't going to openly challenge the Pokémon League over it, but they could still make life difficult for Luther and constantly needle him from the sidelines.
Mai had even predicted some of the methods they might use: delaying League transport ships bringing supplies, colluding with certain people to raise shipping fees, or even sneaking onto the island to damage construction materials.
In short, they would stick to harassment that never quite crossed the line. You might catch their people or their Pokémon, but there would never be enough evidence to openly tear things apart with the figures behind them.
"If you had deeper roots, more influence... or if you'd even bought the island entirely with your own money, then they'd probably have accepted defeat," Mai had told him. "That's often how business and family rivalries work. The Kukui family went through something similar before."
She understood this kind of thing far better than Luther did.
The warning itself had actually come from Ron. It wasn't that the Pokémon League was deliberately trying to make things difficult for Luther; the sale of Lily of the Valley East Island had simply brought certain people back out of the woodwork, people who had long coveted the island but had never been able to meet the League's strict qualifications for purchasing it.
From what Luther had heard, the truly prominent families in Sinnoh had already tried buying islands in the past, and most of those ventures had ended badly. Some families had suffered enormous losses, eventually returning their islands to the Pokémon League and even having to pay a hefty fee to restore the damaged natural environment.
As a result, Sinnoh's top families had absolutely no interest in trying again. The people currently making noise at the League were mostly second-rate powers that couldn't begin to compare with major families like the Kukui family.
Ron had asked Luther whether he wanted any help, but Luther refused. What a joke. If he needed other people to solve every little problem for him, what kind of Island Lord would he be?
This was his problem, and he'd deal with it himself. This island would one day be a paradise for his Pokémon, their children, perhaps even his own children, and all of his friends.
Did every random nobody seriously think they could push Luther around and somehow get their hands on the island afterward?
Did they think he had no temper?
Luther only asked Ron to pass along one message, an old saying from his previous world:
"Anyone who causes my wedding with Mai to be postponed will receive a personal visit from me. Don't say you weren't warned."
In this world, showing up at someone's doorstep and challenging an entire family one after another until every last one of their Pokémon had been defeated was an deeply humiliating act.
It could leave that family unable to hold its head up in the local community, so Luther was sure those people understood exactly what he meant by a "personal visit."
"I'm giving you permission to make those visits too," Luther added with a sly smile.
Mira blinked. "Didn't you say you'd only visit them if they delayed your wedding with Mai?"
Luther spread his hands with an innocent expression. "Yes, that's what I said. But who ever said my butler can't just go beat down their doors on her own? If they don't like it, they're welcome to come attack the island themselves, as long as they're capable of it."
Mira suddenly felt like she needed to reevaluate Luther. He really could be devious when he wanted to be.
Still, the thought of marching straight up to someone's home and blocking their front gate until she'd beaten everyone inside made her blood start pumping. She almost hoped some idiot who couldn't judge their own strength would jump out and give her the chance to try it.
"Anyway, don't neglect your training," Luther said. "Running around from morning till night and exhausting yourself because you're desperate to repay me is way too obvious. You don't need to do that. Once you've finished surveying the area, start seriously working on the battle training you fell behind on during all those years with that hodgepodge organization."
(End of Chapter)
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