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This was Luther’s first time dealing with the Sinnoh League’s higher-ups. He couldn’t say whether he had a good or bad impression of them, but he did find their enthusiasm a little uncomfortable.
They apologized and let Luther decide on the form of compensation himself. Finally, they gave him the caretaker’s contact details. It wasn’t until he declined a reporter’s interview and returned to the Contestant Village that Luther finally figured out what had happened.
“Why did things escalate like this?”
When Luther messaged Cynthia, he was full of surprise.
“It’s probably a combination of many factors. It’s the first time the Sinnoh League has used a dual-format system in the preliminary round. The number of participants hit a new high and exceeded expectations, so the Pokémon League was slightly underprepared.”
“And with this dual-format preliminary, regions like Kanto (Indigo), Hoenn, Unova, Kalos, and even Galar all sent people to observe. The Sinnoh League also has its reputation to maintain. Causing a major incident during a conference like this isn’t something the higher-ups would allow.”
“Just accept it. The League could have handled things better, but look at it from another angle: if you and Misaki hadn’t put on such an exciting battle and shown such impressive strength, no one would have spoken up for you. Just treat it as something you deserved.”
The Round of 32 to 16 matches were postponed by one week, but all other rules remained unchanged; this was the adjustment made by the Pokémon League.
The League-sent caretaker took away four of Luther’s Pokémon for recovery, excluding Darkrai. Darkrai was stubborn and insisted it was fine. After being examined on-site by the caretaker, Luther had no choice but to agree.
Ash Ketchum advanced easily in the first round with a clean 3–0 victory, and his opponent wasn’t Sho (Shinji).
Surprisingly, Sho, who was originally supposed to battle Ash, had also advanced into the top 32.
Paul, Etorre, Dakota and Barry all easily defeated their opponents, too.
Knowing that Luther had been in an intense battle that day, none of them went to bother him, allowing him to calmly gather his thoughts and reflect on the match.
Even the trainers who advanced to the top 32 joked that Luther’s single battle had earned them a seven-day break and dedicated Pokémon care services.
On his way to the Contestant Village, where Luther was staying, Paul had originally planned to take a closer look at him. After all, he had been a hot topic since the latter stages of the preliminary round.
However, the moment he saw Ash appear, Paul silently turned around and left.
Watching Paul leave, Team Rocket looked completely confused.
“What’s that grumpy brat doing here?” Jessie couldn’t help but ask aloud.
They had come specifically to report their earnings, but they didn’t get to see Luther; they were stopped directly by Mai.
On that day, the intense battle between Luther and Misaki had driven up the prices of all merchandise related to Luther. Despite the rising prices, they couldn’t keep up with the crowd’s enthusiasm after the match ended.
The carefully prepared goods sold out completely, and there were even plenty of additional orders, which was an extremely successful outcome.
At the same time, their performance caught the attention of the Pokémon League, which rewarded them with a better stall location. Although working with Mai was sufficient, James still wanted to demonstrate his abilities to Luther in person.
However, his bragging had little effect on Mai. Even after hearing the reported numbers and sales figures, she showed no surprise, leaving James feeling puzzled.
“Not satisfied even after selling everything?”
“Was it because our prices weren’t high enough? Not ruthless enough? Didn’t earn enough?”
“Oh, that’s not it. I did the calculations beforehand, so I knew what your profit and revenue would be today.”
Mai took out a small notebook in which she had made some notes earlier. James and Jessie leaned in immediately, only to find that the recorded numbers were almost identical to their own accounts, differing only slightly.
“But we raised the prices halfway through,” Meowth said, feeling even more puzzled. They had originally reported the initial prices to Mai and Luther. It was only after seeing Luther win that the trio discussed it and temporarily raised the prices to a level that would be acceptable to the audience while maximizing their profits.
Holding Eevee, Mai smiled faintly. “I walked around the nearby stalls. No one else was selling merchandise related to Luther or Misaki’s Pokémon; you were the only ones. If you hadn’t raised the prices, I would have started to doubt whether Luther had chosen the right people.”
At that moment, Team Rocket suddenly recalled that when Luther first introduced Mai to them, he had casually mentioned that she ‘knew a bit’ about doing business.
The seven-day break was extremely important for Team Rocket. They could restock all the goods that had sold out and try to replicate today’s success during the Round of 32 to 16 matches.
James had now practically decided to cling to Luther for dear life. He planned to produce merchandise for Luther’s entire team; after all, there was no reason not to profit from fan economics.
In fact, Luther already knew that Team Rocket had come to the Contestant Village. However, his attention was caught by a message on his phone. It was a congratulatory message from Gardenia, who had been watching the Lily of the Valley Conference and had seen Luther’s impressive performance that day.
“Not bad. Aside from your lack of raw strength making you seem cautious and hesitant, everything else was commendable.”
After thanking Gardenia for her praise, she suddenly started complaining.
Starting the day before yesterday, Hearthome City and Oreburgh City had been hit by storms, with rain, wind, and thunder all at once.
The video that Gardenia sent showed just how intense it was: relentless torrential rain poured down while howling winds swept across the courtyard of the Hearthome Gym. The wind was so strong that it made Gardenia, who was filming, cry out in surprise.
Dark clouds filled the sky, occasionally split by bluish-purple ‘branches’ of lightning. The thunder grew louder and louder and even caused the footage to shake.
The happiest creature in Gardenia’s courtyard was probably her Exeggutor. It wasn’t bothered by thunder or storms; rain was always a good thing.
Usually sporting a somewhat gloomy expression, the three-headed Exeggutor was now dancing happily in the downpour, its three faces unified into wide smiles.
“I really envy the weather on Lily of the Valley Island. Here in Hearthome and Oreburgh, it’s either torrential rain or violent winds, and now thunderstorms have joined in too. I heard the airport has already cancelled many flights.”
“Oreburgh City is the same. Because of the heavy rain, many miners don’t dare enter the mining areas anymore. Roark said that even the mining activities at the Oreburgh Gym have stopped and that fossil excavation work has been suspended.”
It sounded more serious than Luther had imagined.
“Anyway, most companies in Eterna and Oreburgh have given their employees time off. After all, if something goes wrong in this kind of weather, it could be disastrous.”
“Pokémon Centers and other Pokémon League facilities have already started recruiting Electric-type Pokémon from local trainers, with compensation, to prevent power outages caused by the extreme weather.”
Gardenia shot him an annoyed look. “I’ve no idea what’s going on with this weather. I’ve lived in Hearthome City for so long and have never seen anything this strange.”
(End of Chapter)
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