Chapter 261: Keep the Music Playing, Keep Dancing! (Membership Extra - )

Chapter 261: Keep the Music Playing, Keep Dancing! (Membership Extra Chapter)

[VIP Chat Group]

[Bill]: Wait, wait, wait! Am I seeing this right?! That Quaxly can not only flip through registration forms with its wings, but it can even hold a pen in its beak and fill them out?!

[Gary]: And it’s pretty skilled at it too. A duck writing with its beak has neater handwriting than most Trainers do with their hands.

[Bonnie]: Quaxly is so smart! Clemont, I want one!

[Clemont]: Bonnie, not every Quaxly is like Hina’s! Besides, you’re still too young right now.

[Bonnie]: What?! You always use that excuse to brush me off! Quaxly is obviously really smart!

[Liko]: Um... I’m in the Paldea region, so I can confirm that most Quaxly definitely can’t do what the one in the video does.

[Iono]: Yeah! If every Quaxly were this smart, I would’ve raised one to livestream with me ages ago!

[Steven]: Who do you think this duck belongs to? This is the duck Brother Asher carefully selected for Hina!

[Raihan]: In that case, I hereby dub it—the Asher of ducks.

[Leon]: ? What the heck is "the Asher of ducks"?

[Raihan]: Think about it. It can do basically anything, usually keeps quiet, and the moment it sits down when it really matters, its presence immediately fills the room. Isn’t that exactly like Asher?

[Bruno]: I... genuinely don’t know how to argue with that comparison.

[May]: Hahaha! Is Hina hiding behind the counter while she talks? She actually made Quaxly her spokesduck! Those two are so cute together!

[Zoey]: Dawn’s daughter actually has this kind of personality? This goes beyond just being introverted. That’s straight-up social anxiety, isn’t it?

[Johanna]: I thought Hina would be just as energetic and rowdy as Dawn. I never expected them to end up on opposite extremes. Hopefully she’ll slowly overcome it.

[Tiana]: Grandma Johanna, don’t worry~ Hina grows up to become really amazing! Her Day Care eventually becomes famous throughout all of Sinnoh. The kind where you have to book three months in advance~

The scene changed.

At the same time—

A flower field on the outskirts of Twinleaf Town.

The sunlight was warm, and the breeze turned the vast field of flowers into waves of countless colors.

On a picnic blanket spread across the grass sat sandwiches, fruit, two cups of still-fizzing sparkling juice, and a box of heart-shaped chocolates.

Dawn wore a light-pink sundress and a wide-brimmed straw hat.

She sat on the blanket, poking a strawberry with her fork.

Asher sat cross-legged beside her with a cup of sparkling juice in his hand, his sunglasses pushed up onto his forehead.

Behind them, at the edge of a field of yellow canola flowers, Dragonite lay sprawled on the ground taking a nap.

Piplup was resting against Dragonite’s belly with its own stomach facing the sky, gently rising and falling with each of Dragonite’s breaths.

"Hubby, aaah—"

Dawn speared a strawberry with her fork and waved it toward Asher with narrowed, smiling eyes.

Asher opened his mouth and accepted it.

He chewed twice.

"Sweet."

"Right?! Right?!"

Dawn cupped both cheeks in her hands, her eyes curving into crescents.

"These strawberries were freshly picked this morning! I specifically chose the biggest and reddest ones!"

Asher swallowed the strawberry and took a sip of his juice.

"Wifey, didn’t you say we came out today to train for a Pokémon Contest?"

"Training..."

Dawn twirled a loose strand of hair beside her face around one finger.

"Of course we have to train!"

"But we need to eat first so we’ll have enough energy, right?"

"And the weather is this nice. Wouldn’t it be such a waste if we didn’t do something romantic too?"

"And besides..."

Dawn put down her fork and scooted a little closer to Asher.

"Hina has always been afraid of meeting people. I thought about it for a really, really long time before coming up with this."

"It lets her build up her courage while slowly getting used to talking to other people."

"Don’t worry. Hina will be fine."

Asher lazily raised one hand and waved it.

"She might be a little introverted, but she’s extremely reliable when she’s actually doing something."

"She’s our daughter, after all."

"Of course!"

Dawn proudly puffed out her chest.

Then she speared another strawberry and held it to Asher’s lips.

"But since Hina is working hard, we can’t fall behind either!"

"Once we’re full, we’ll start training!"

"Hehe. With the mood already this good, why bother training?"

The corners of Asher’s lips curved upward.

He wrapped an arm around Dawn’s waist and pulled her closer.

"Let’s keep the music playing and keep dancing!"

"Hey, no!"

Feeling the warmth around her waist, Dawn’s cheeks immediately began heating up.

"This Grand Festival is really important! We can go on our date after we finish training!"

"Sure."

Asher smiled and leaned a little closer.

"But since it’s training, shouldn’t there be some kind of reward system?"

Dawn’s cheeks turned faintly pink.

"...What kind of reward system?"

"For example—"

"Every time you finish one round of training, I’ll kiss you once."

Dawn’s face instantly turned bright red, the color spreading from the tips of her ears all the way down her neck.

"H-Hubby! You’re teasing me again!"

"I’m not teasing you."

Asher’s expression remained perfectly serious.

"I mean it."

"Then... what if I finish ten rounds?"

"Then you get ten kisses."

Dawn buried her face beneath her straw hat and let out a muffled protest that sounded both sweet and soft.

"...You’d better not go back on your word."

[VIP Chat Group]

[Miette]: A flower field! A picnic! Strawberries! This is so romantic! Are we sure this isn’t the set of some romance movie?!

[Bianca]: Dawn even specifically picked the biggest and reddest strawberries! This is love! THIS IS LOVE, GIRLS! My teeth hurt from how sweet this is!

[May]: Speaking of which, Dawn and Asher deliberately came somewhere this beautiful... Are they really here to train and not just on a date?

[Viola]: Of course it’s a date. Dawn is probably just too stubborn to admit it.

[Valerie]: Dawn’s logic is, "We’re already outside, so what’s wrong with having a date while we’re here?" Asher’s logic is, "Since it’s already a date, what’s wrong with stealing a kiss?" They’re both using perfectly respectable excuses to do exactly what they wanted in the first place.

[Bianca]: That’s married-couple chemistry! Even their excuses fit together perfectly!

[Diantha]: Dawn is still too young. If it were me, I’d already have gotten a taste by now.

[Cynthia]: ...Diantha, mind your wording.

...

TL: Thanks again SenseiiDayy for tier 3 membership!