88 C088 - Jasmine's big week of surprises

After two days of hosting his in-laws at his farm after the party, with the parents only moving back home to Violet City for sleep, Lucifern and Chloe, and Lily, Tom and Emily using the last empty guest houses, and the remaining sisters all bunking together in Sophie's room, Pete found himself alone in the kitchen with Buddy, Jasmine's older brother and future head of the family's seed company.

"Those Rinka Berry cross-breeds you created with Oran and Leppa Berries are a huge hit in the medical community, you know. The saplings you've provided us are going out for whatever price we demand," the young man started.

Pete, who had just washed and prepared some of those berries for breakfast-jam looked up in surprise, "Really? I thought they'd just help with sore throats, hoarseness, and stuff. What makes them so special?"

"Well, you know that a full berry diet is too much for humans, right?"

"Sure, eat three Oran Berries in a day, and you have diarrhea for a week."

Buddy looked at Pete with thin lips and continued, "Well, whatever you did with the crossbreed, that effect doesn't kick in, even when a small child has to consume multiple berries for the symptoms that are getting treated to be gone."

"So I accidentally created the perfect cure for colds and remedy for the flu?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Just find a berry that quickly unblocks a stuffed nose, and we're golden," Buddy said with a laugh, not realising that Pete might just do as Buddy suggested.

"How long before your competitors sell the berries?"

"Eh, Sunkern&Oddish Logistics out of Kalos already does. At least they weren't shameless enough to claim they invented it. Probably because they didn't want to mess with you. We did attach your name to it in the catalog after all," Buddy answered with a shrug.

"Wow, how did that happen so fast?" Pete asked as he started making a huge serving of scrambled eggs with the plants his Arcanine brought over with his shiny Jumpluff riding on her back.

"I'm guessing they either posed as one of the legitimate buyers or bought it off them with a price they couldn't refuse. The list is short, and we're already investigating since we only sold ten mature saplings so far. And can I just say? That Miltank looks way too intense for simply making breakfast," Buddy offered in reply before finally getting weirded out by the shiny Miltank in the kitchen.

Pete looked to the 'head chef' and explained with a laugh, "Don't mind her. She's just always giving her best. She only recently joined the kitchen, so she doesn't really do glass half full yet. Full throttle or none, that's her modus operandi."

"Which is a very admirable trait for a chef," a new voice interjected from behind the two.

"Ah, good morning, Chloe. Did you sleep well?"

Chloe immediately felt at home in the kitchen and started helping out the Alcremie in making dough for pancakes. "Yes! I can't believe my husband had to drag me here! If only I had known, I wouldn't have made it so difficult for him. And I still can't believe my sister-in-law's husband-to-be turned out to be THE Recipe Professor."

"I can't believe you didn't know," Buddy countered with a laugh.

"Eh, I don't really care for the news, I only care about good food - sue me," Chloe replied with a wink before turning back to making breakfast.

"How did you hear that nickname then?"

Chloe looked to Buddy and asked, "Do recipe books count as news?"

"Uh, no?"

"Then my point still stands. Luci brings me some books for new inspiration ever so often, and the most recent bestsellers all feature this 'Recipe Professor', though the moniker only appeared in the latest two books, it only ever read Pete Lang before. I never bothered to look you up, though. No offense," Chloe answered before turning to Pete for the last part, who simply shrugged. Becoming a famous chef or something similar was never his intention to begin with.

Sophie, who uncharacteristically woke up earlier than any of her sisters, sneaked up on him and whispered into his ear, "So, excited for tonight, Pete?"

"Well, she won't say no, but I'm honestly more nervous than excited anyway."

"Nah, you got this. It was very nice of you not making two days ago all about you but left the day for her only. And like this, you'll make this a week she'll never forget. But we're all here and judging you, so you better have a good plan," Sophie continued with a giggle.

"What are you two giggling about like little school children?" Another voice asked as it joined them in the kitchen. Isabelle had just arrived with her husband and wanted to help out with the breakfast.

"Ah, you know what," Sophie answered as she pumped her eyebrows suggestively.

Isabelle shook her head and looked to Pete, "Don't let her get under your skin. My daughter will say yes, and you'll do great. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks," Pete meekly answered as he pointed to the fridge. "I think most of breakfast is covered. You could make some drinks?"

The breakfast was a hectic but fun event like always with so many people present and set the mood for a great day. Later in the night, just after sunset, the event Sophie teased Pete for was about to happen.

Pete led his girlfriend to the lake, the moon hanging over their heads in clear skies and reflected on the calm surface of the waters. On the beach, there was a small table with some drinks and two chairs waiting for them.

"What is this for, Pete?" Jasmine shyly asked as she sat down with Pete holding her chair.

"A surprise," Pete only offered with a mysterious smile as he poured drinks for the two and sat down in front of her.

"Hmm, the moon's really beautiful today."

"It really is, I chose well."

Jasmine took a moment to regard her boyfriend. There was an inkling of what might be happening in the back of her mind, but in case she was wrong and got her hopes up for nothing, she suppressed those thoughts and simply enjoyed the thoughtful gesture.

Finally, she simply asked, "What did you choose well?"

"The timing, I guess. Look over to the lake. The surprise isn't over," Pete pointed out with a chuckle.

When she looked over, she saw hundreds of Butterfree and Yanmega flying over the lake thanks to the moonlight. But the moonlight wasn't necessary to see them because all these flying pokemon started using Tail Glow. It gave the impression of additional stars lighting up in the skies, especially with the reflection of the lake. Them moving around, however, gave this scene a supernatural beauty all of its own.

"Is that why Valentino spent so much time on that Butterfree isle since coming over? Or Bay Island, you called it? Was he convincing the...m? Pete?"

As Jasmine soaked in the beautiful sight, she slowly looked back to Pete but didn't find him on his chair. Instead, her partner kneeled next to the table and looked at her with a warm smile, holding a ring in his outstretched hand. He was all confident and handsome like usual, but Jasmine, before blanking out, noticed how his hand was shaking a little.

"I've put this off a little too long for my liking. All kinds of excuses ran through my head. 'The farm isn't done', 'there's still so much research to be done', 'your career is about to start' and so much more, but I didn't feel like waiting anymore, I couldn't. There's no doubt in my mind that I want to spend the rest of my life at your side. You're kind, smart, driven, so, so beautiful, and so much more. Not a day has passed that I didn't feel blessed waking up next to you. Which is why, with your parents permission and them likely waiting just behind that dune," Pete proposed as he pointed his free hand over to the side and finally asked, "I want to ask you to be my wife. Will you marry me?"

Coinciding with the question, Mega Milotic jumped out of the lake with her tail fins glowing in a translucent pink and blue, leaving behind a sort of rainbow arc with the five colors of Pete's affinities in the air in the middle of the night. It was a neat trick they found out about a little after the mega evolution.

Jasmine was taken aback. It was the question of her inkling after all! In a lucid moment, she quickly snatched Pete's ring from his hand and put it on. The ring was a simple weaved band with inscriptions inside that she didn't read because of the dim light. But she was enchanted with the color of the ring and the perfect fit.

The ring was something Pete created together with Klinklang and Metagross. The two steel pokemon turned out to be the perfect goldsmiths with their minute control. The inside of the ring that rested against the skin and held the inscription was smooth, yet the outside held braided gold and bronze wires that together formed a warm earthen, golden brown reminiscent of the ground typing color.

"I... uh, can I take that as a yes?" Pete cautiously asked after Jasmine admired the ring for half a minute yet stayed silent.

The young gym leader snapped her head in his direction, lunged herself at his kneeling form, and gave him a deep kiss as they held each other in the cool sand.

"Yes, gladly," she finally whispered after the kiss simmered down into soft, loving pecks.

With a wide smile, Pete picked himself and his fiancee up and was about to continue kissing her when Vivian and Isabelle ran to them and hugged the two lovebirds in a crushing group hug. Sophie, Lily, Courtney, Valerie, and Chloe soon joined.

Only Rose, Jasmine's older sister, and her girlfriend looked on with an awkward expression. Getting married or not was a big point of conflict in their relationship, so while Rose felt happy for her baby sister, she couldn't show it.

The men in the group all looked at this mountain of women with wry yet content smiles, though none of them joined in. Something Herbert would later regret when his wife peeled herself out of the hug and to look at him with disapproval, mouthing the words 'ugh, men' at him with disdain.