If DOGE went all the way from being worth nothing all the way to nearly $1 per coin, then Litecoin can do much more than that.
Sometimes, it is not about the potential the coin has but all about the hype around it. If the community is large enough then more people, usually newbies will follow.
Yes, it is not fair how DOGE can gain this momentum considering the close to nothing value it provides as a token but unfortunately it's the reality.
Last time I've checked, LTC developers announced the "Mimblewimble" privacy technique. I don't know if it's already been implemented since I haven't been catching up with the project's progress. Adding new features to a Blockchain should make the underlying cryptocurrency soar all the way to the moon. Yet, nothing is happening as LTC remains stagnant in price.
You're right, usually a main net upgrade should send the price skyrocketing at least for some time but that hasn't happened and it may all just be down to marketing???
If not enough people know about it, equally not many people would buy the coin. The speculation on LTC has been almost close to nothing and it is interesting how people have grown out of LTC phase and sorta moved over to meme coins and NFTs.
My feeling - it's just the trend!