Chapter 20: C020 - Making a deal with HF&P
Herbert, Isabelle, and Pete were currently sitting in an office next to the three warehouses on the lower hill. Pete looked a little uncomfortable, while Herbert and Isabelle had serious expressions on their faces.
Since Pete had explained grafting to Herbert and his workers, they had lunch together, which everyone enjoyed, but the atmosphere was a little tense. At this point it was almost time for dinner, but Pete still hadn't made any progress in buying his initial seed and berry purchase except for hashing out rough amounts and selection. He also didn't visit the city like he planned and hadn't looked into his upcoming travel.
"Here are the results, Miss Feelgood. Your three Sunfloras had, uh... happy expressions and danced a little on the spot when I asked what their findings were with the process," a biologist with a lab coat said as he came in with a tablet, which he handed over to Isabelle.
"Thanks Walter, send changes to my handle when you find any. And keep this matter in the company," Isabelle ordered as she looked through the report and handed it to Herbert.
Herbert did a more thorough reading and his eyebrows furrowed deeper with every page.
"0% rejection from any grafted branch that came from another berry tree. 40% rejection from the grafted branches you took from bushes. None of the stems from the rawst berry shrubs took root, except for the one... you called it bud transplant? Yeah, none of them were accepted by the plant, except the bud."
"Huh, that's honestly kinda surprising. In tree grafting the genus has to mostly match for branches to be accepted, and for regular fruit trees, you can't just mix and match like that... but I'm no biologist who could explain the principles," Pete mumbled as he was given the report to browse.
"Pete... no berries grew in such a short time, obviously, but if they do, and I'm guessing they just might... this is a game changer for us. You're still single, right? Both twins are also still single. Our two oldest daughters are sadly already taken, but mayb-"
"Herbert! Be serious," Isabelle reprimanded with an exasperated sigh.
"Pete, where did you learn to do such a thing?" Isabelle inquired with a wry smile as she looked from Herbert to Pete.
"My grandpa," Pete admitted with a shrug. He wanted to say as little as possible about this to not incriminate his status as man literally out of this world. Also, he really wanted to go back to Solosis, so he wasn't really eager to explain this whole deal to Herbert and his wife.
Back at lunch, the bond with Solosis had deepened - possibly after seeing how Pete had benefitted from his deep Master's bond with Golett, his first pokemon didn't want to be left behind.
Just before lunch, Pete had made a small elevated platform with Golett's help to put the bowls of food om for his smaller pokemon.
At this point, Pete was almost sure he had unlocked his psychic affinity. He couldn't read anyone's mind or lift things with his thoughts just yet, but he had an inkling he had unlocked it.
The unlocking was very different compared to the ground affinity he gained. Everything was a lot more subtle this time around. There was no new sense he developed or anything. He just felt a little...more. Not his senses, but as a person, as a conscious. It was very hard to put into words.
"Are you willing to sell us the rights to this knowledge? As in, you don't tell others about it and only use it for yourself," Isabelle said after the atmosphere grew a little too tense.
"Twelve months, no matter in what region I'm in, I keep it to myself, but I don't want money. Instead, I want a lifelong discount that we can negotiate. No limits to the catalogue. And the tree we worked on as a singing fee," Pete said after thinking about it for a while.
He wanted a comfortable life, and money was definitely necessary, but having too much wealth would eventually not help him be any happier. Instead, he opted to forge a long friendship with a place that could grant him non-stop benefits for a very long time as a farmer.
Herbert and Isabelle looked each other in the eyes, and silently talked to each other with their eyes. A short while later, Herbert nodded and looked to Pete.
"The duration is acceptable. The method will be found out eventually by our competitors if we're going on the market with those trees. We're thinking 15% permanent discount on anything non-berry and 5% off permanently on berry-related orders. The tree and your first order are free. By that, I mean the amount we discussed at lunch. Also, Jasmine is as pure as flowe-"
"Herbert, stop pawning off your daughters!"
"Oh, come on! The guy is an assistant professor, he is gonna research dietary habits of pokemon and how they can get stronger through food! You don't want such a guy backing our little flower from the back in her efforts to become a gym leader?"
Isabelle lost a lot of heat and instead got a pondering expression.
"Plus, he is plenty good looking, he's an excellent chef and plenty pleasant to be around, very polite. Maybe even too polite for his own good," Herbert continued, and Isabelle started looking at Pete with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Before this continues, I'd just like to say that I'm fine with the conditions but without the thing about you giving away your daughter," Pete hurriedly interjected.
"Are you saying our beautiful and kind Jasmine isn't good enough for you?" Isabelle asked as she narrowed her eyes.
"Not at all, but I'd want to be with someone I cherish for who she is and enjoy spending time with. And that requires getting to know the person. I'm sure you want the same thing for your daughters," Pete deflected as best he could, and Isabelle looked... well, not pleased but okay with his answer.
"Trying harder to sell her off than me," Herbert mumbled under his breath.
"What did you say? Speak up," Isabelle snapped her head back to face Herbert and once again narrowed her eyes.
They put a few of the conditions in writing, and since it was pretty forward, they did not involve a lawyer. Pete thought it weird, but apparently the Feelgood's mostly did the 'contract' as a sign of good-will and to stay on good terms with Pete's backing - the professor.
Half an hour later, when Pete was cutting greens and vegetables for a salad and had a reluctant Solosis on his shoulder, Isabelle brought over her two daughters. Pete had met Sophie at the warehouse earlier and Jasmine at lunch. The twins looked exactly alike in their matching sporty outfits. Both of them even had their lightbrown hair in the same pigtail haircut.
"So Pete, you want to open the farm at Evergreen Meadow at the coastline of Ilex Forest. Any idea how you get construction for your house running so far from Goldenrod?" Isabelle said as she sat down at the kitchen counter.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, didn't even notice you entering," Pete said, still absent-minded.
"I was asking if you already know how to get construction rolling if you manage to stake out some land at Evergreen Meadow," Isabelle repeated.
"It will probably involve a lot of time and many trips with my bags of holding. I can do a bit myself, and for the heavy lifting, I was kind of hoping my pokemon would step up," Pete answered with a laugh at the end as Solosis perked up.
"So young and capable," Isabelle praised while slyly eyeing her daughters, who were both mesmerized by the fast and steady knife work of Pete. They had only ever seen that with seasoned chefs before.
"I mean, not really. I'm sure I could do some of the wiring, but for the plumbing, I'm definitely lost. I'll definitely need someone to help with that, especially the planning. Walls and the roof should be doable, but setting windows properly is a skill I don't think I have. Well, I never did it before," Pete explained without looking up and shrugging at the end.
"Also, I'll stay with ground floor housing for a while. That should be easy enough with Golett's help in making the ground even and hollowing it out for the foundation."
"What if dad loaned you his Exeggutor? I'm sure he could help you with logistics for a while," Sophie interjected with a smile.
"Yeah, Exeggutor gets stir crazy anyway if dad is cooped up in one place for long. And he loves the beach," Jasmine added in a small voice.
Pete looked up and stopped cutting food for the first time since the three women of the Feelgood household joined him in the kitchen.
"Wait, do you think that's actually possible?"
Isabelle had to giggle at Pete's intense question and gaze.
"You'll have to play your cards right later, Pete," Isabelle shared with a mischievous giggle.
Pete closed his eyes for a moment, sighed, and got back to cooking.
Dinner was family time in the Feelgood household. Pete was reminded of yesterday's almost altercation between Isabelle and Herbert as the man joined him and the ladies and gingerly set the table in the garden.
Pete didn't want to intrude into the family time too much as he sat between the twins and looked at his pokemon eating his food happily. But when at the end of the dinner the conversation between Isabelle and Herbert turned to business anyway, Pete decided to speak up.
"Hey Herbert. You know what? I just decided that the grafting process cost has gone up a bit," Pete said in an even tone, and Isabelle stiffened. "The day after tomorrow, I'll borrow Exeggutor for a week as a travel companion to help me with logistics, and we have a deal."
Pete smirked a little at the end. These were almost the same words Herbert had used when he invited himself to dinner at Professor Elm's house.
"Hmm, you drive a hard bargain but I accept on the condition you take my daughters with you," Herbert almost immediately agreed with a mysterious glint in his eyes. Isabelle looked like she wanted to say something but in the end she didn't.
"Hey, what if I don't follow Pete to become a stinky farmer for a week?" Sophie asked in mock anger and a grin on her face.
"Young lady, stinky farmers are the ones who put food down on this table," Isabelle answered almost immediately.
"Yeah, no kidding. We all watched Pete make the salad," Sophie added, sticking her tongue out.
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