After a brief moment of surprise, Luther quickly regained his composure.
"Nice to meet you. Mai mentions you from time to time."
Kukui Tetsu burst out laughing. "That's not a very convincing line. You should know perfectly well what kind of relationship Mai and I have."
It was just a polite greeting, but Kukui Tetsu saw right through it.
"Never mind. We can talk after we're done here." Kukui Tetsu glanced at Luther's Pokémon and nodded approvingly. "They really are outstanding Pokémon. I hope they'll perform their roles perfectly during today's event."
Luther hadn't expected Kukui Tetsu himself to appear alongside him. He'd assumed having one of the company executives join him would be enough for an event of this scale.
The moment Kukui Tetsu and Luther took the stage together, the atmosphere immediately heated up.
Under the spotlights, Kukui Tetsu launched into a lengthy presentation of the company's latest products. Once he finished hyping them up, he moved on to praising Luther.
A top-tier talent. A rare, exceptional Pokémon Trainer. The most mysterious Lily of the Valley Conference winner…
Luther's scalp practically tingled with embarrassment.
Yet looking down at the guests and reporters all nodding along, he realized those descriptions actually matched how the public viewed him, especially the part about being a "mysterious winner."
That one clearly struck a chord.
As far as everyone else was concerned, Luther hardly ever showed his face. In fact, he appeared so rarely that it was almost ridiculous.
Normally, after the Lily of the Valley Conference ended, the media would spend weeks following the winner around, digging up stories from their every move and comfortably feeding themselves on the resulting headlines.
Luther, on the other hand, had completely smashed their rice bowls.
After winning the Lily of the Valley Conference, he vanished for over a week. He briefly reappeared for the celebration banquet, only to disappear again almost immediately afterward.
During the banquet, word had leaked out that Luther had rescued several high-ranking Sinnoh figures during the explosion at the Dandelion Hotel. Every media outlet rushed over, hoping to grab a major exclusive, only to discover... he had vanished again.
Past Lily of the Valley Conference winners had all taken different paths after claiming the title. Some became brimming with confidence, wanting the whole world to know their name.
Others kept a lower profile, yet still left enough traces for reporters to follow. Some immediately challenged the Elite Four, aiming for the title of Sinnoh Champion, while others humbly admitted they weren't ready and chose to continue training in another region.
But over all these years, Luther was the only winner who had gone completely silent after taking the championship.
And he really had gone totally dark.
It was almost as if the Lily of the Valley Conference winner were nothing more than a bubble that popped the moment the tournament ended, vanishing without a trace.
At first, everyone assumed Luther was deliberately building suspense, that he was holding out for a major announcement and planned to leverage his lingering popularity from the Conference to build up his public image.
They waited a full month.
If not for the Kukui Family's new product launch, he probably would have remained invisible even longer.
Industry insiders had already leaked that Luther had spent a fortune buying an island, but no further details had surfaced. That only fed the media's curiosity. Everyone was eagerly waiting for the open Q&A session after the launch event.
At last, Kukui Tetsu's speech came to an end. Following a cue from Tetsu and a prompt from the announcer, Luther walked toward the round table at the center of the stage where the drinks were set up.
Azumarill had zero issues with the attention. During the Lily of the Valley Conference, she had taken plenty of photos with fans in exchange for snacks, so she adapted almost instantly. Gardevoir and Mismagius weren't particularly camera-shy either, calmly interacting with the photographers below the stage.
Darkrai was a different story.
Having only shown himself for a moment, he already wanted to retreat into Luther's shadow and shut himself away from the world. But remembering how important this event was to Luther, he forced himself to endure it.
Four unbranded drinks had been prepared, each poured into a simple transparent bottle. With the cameras focused on him, Luther sampled them one by one.
When he reached the fourth drink, he suddenly paused. He lowered the bottle from his lips and carefully examined the orange-yellow liquid inside. Then, unable to help himself, he took another two sips.
Kukui Tetsu caught Luther's reaction immediately. Stepping over, he asked loudly enough for everyone present to hear, "Mr. Luther, would you say this one tastes the best out of the four?"
Luther hesitated, unsure how he was supposed to answer. The first three drinks had all tasted good, but none of them had really hit the spot for him. This sweet-and-sour one, though, was a different story.
Kukui Tetsu quietly mouthed a prompt: "It's fine. Just say what you think. The whole point is publicity."
Before Luther could respond, Azumarill, who had been watching him enjoy the drink, suddenly leaped onto the table.
Everyone froze.
It happened so fast that even Darkrai, Gardevoir, and Mismagius failed to pull her back with Psychic in time.
Azumarill swiftly twisted the caps off all four drinks, raised them one after another, and started gulping them down. In less than two seconds, she had sucked every last drop clean.
Luther was stunned.
Kukui Tetsu was stunned too, though for completely different reasons.
Luther was already wondering how he was going to explain away this little accident, while Kukui Tetsu was amazed that something this perfect had just fallen into his lap. He could practically see the drinks flying off the shelves already.
"Well, it looks like Azumarill couldn't even wait for her Trainer, Luther, to give his opinion! The aroma alone was enough to tempt her into finishing them first."
Kukui Tetsu immediately signaled the staff to bring out the rest of the prepared drinks. Gardevoir and the others still got some, but an entire crate was stacked right in front of Azumarill.
The message couldn't have been clearer, and Azumarill certainly wasn't going to refuse.
These fermented Berry drinks really appealed to her. Normally, Luther only shared a little with her, but now this strange middle-aged man was secretly gesturing that she could drink as much as she wanted.
Well, there was no reason to be polite.
She popped open bottle after bottle and chugged them whole. Camera flashes exploded nonstop below the stage.
Gardevoir looked at Mismagius, then glanced toward Darkrai, who had already retreated back into Luther's shadow. For some reason, she suddenly felt completely unnecessary.
The drink Luther had liked most could now be heavily promoted toward Pokémon Trainers and battle enthusiasts, while the bottles Azumarill had happily demolished could be marketed directly to Breeders and casual Pokémon lovers. This wave of publicity alone would probably keep the product relevant until the next major tournament.
Kukui Tetsu had never been particularly friendly toward Luther, considering Luther had played a major role in his falling-out with Mai. Right now, though, he wanted nothing more than to hug both Luther and that Azumarill.
Thanks to Azumarill's spectacular leap onto the table, the new product launch ended on a high note. Judging by the ecstatic expressions on Kukui Tetsu and his employees, the promotional impact had been even better than they could have hoped for.
The reporters, who had been holding back for over a month, immediately swarmed Luther the moment the event ended.
Their first question was about the island he had purchased. Everyone wanted to know the same thing: after spending such a huge amount of money on an island, what exactly was Luther planning to do with it?
(End of Chapter)
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