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The next day at noon, Ash and his two companions visited the perfume shop again. As Erika had mentioned, the effects of the perfume should have been tested by noon.
When Ash arrived at the perfume shop, Erika greeted him with a joyful expression: "Ash, you're here!"
"Yes, how are the effects of that perfume?"
"You absolutely won't believe how powerful the perfume you made is," Erika said mysteriously, her voice even dropping when she spoke about the perfume.
"Uh… is it that powerful?" Ash paused for a moment, then pretended not to know as he asked.
"It's more than just powerful! I've never seen a disposable item with such incredible auxiliary functions. The perfume you made can put a Pokémon into a semi-hypnotic state, while maximizing the development of various cells within its body, allowing for a huge boost during training!"
"According to tests, one bottle of perfume can put a Pokémon into a hypnotic state about ten times, with each session lasting an hour. It doesn't provide any boost to mental aspects, but the advantage is that training won't cause mental fatigue, only physical wear and tear, which allows for much faster recovery."
"Finally, there's the training amplification effect. In our perfume shop, a 10% increase in training effect is already considered top-tier, but the one you made, Ash… it's 25%!!"
By the end, even with Erika deliberately lowering her voice, it still sounded somewhat sharp.
When she first saw this result, Erika simply couldn't believe it. How could there be such a heaven-defying effect, increasing training by 25%? Although it only targeted the physical body and had almost no effect on the mind, it was still incredibly potent.
For Fighting-type Pokémon and others that rely on physical attacks and body strength, it was an epic boost!
Moreover, the ingredients for the perfume were not expensive; the true value lay in its formula. If their perfume shop could produce and sell it in bulk, their reputation would undoubtedly reach a new level!
It might even spread to other regions!
For Erika, this was more important than making money. Unlike the common Gym Leader's desire to make Pokémon stronger or revive their Gym, Erika's wish had nothing to do with the Gym.
What she wanted was to develop and expand her perfume shop, not just to become the number one perfume shop in Celadon City, but to become a leading chain of perfume shops worldwide!
Currently, it seemed that with the help of this perfume, she could definitely take a huge step closer to her dream!
"Ash, I'm willing to sell your perfume with a 9/1 split, hoping you can trust me and give us the formula. We absolutely will not leak the formula," Erika said with conviction, patting her small chest.
A 91 split… this split once again exceeded Ash's expectations. A 91 split, and he wouldn't have to pay for raw materials, labor costs, or advertising. This meant that if a bottle of perfume made 30,000, he would directly receive 27,000!
If he continued with this income, he estimated he could achieve financial freedom in less than a year, and he wouldn't be afraid to raise one or two hundred Pokémon!
However, Ash still shook his head and said, "No need, Erika. Let's stick to the 80/20 split we initially discussed. 80% is already a lot for me. Besides, a bottle of perfume should still make over 30,000, right?"
Towards the end, Ash's voice also lowered. The profit from perfume was, of course, not something to let others know. If they knew, although they would understand that the perfume was indeed worth the price, there would inevitably still be some imbalance in their hearts.
"Over 30,000?" Erika tilted her small head, a look of confusion on her beautiful face. Then, she slowly curved a smile that could only be described as devilish and said, "No, no. We've decided to make this perfume our ace product, priced at… 68,888."
Ash and his two companions: ???
Over 60,000? Even robbing a bank wouldn't get money this fast!
Yesterday, when Ash was mixing the perfume, they had all checked the prices of the ingredients after returning. The total cost would definitely not exceed 400.
And you're reselling it for over 60,000? And it's a consumable item!
Calculated at only ten hours of use per bottle, one Pokémon could use it up in at most two days. If someone had six Pokémon… good heavens, they would burn through 200,000 in a single day!
"Will anyone really buy it at this price?" Misty swallowed, finding the calculated price somewhat unbearable.
Even as a Gym Leader, she couldn't afford such a price for raising Pokémon.
"Heh heh, there are many rich people in the world. You don't have to worry about sales. We are not only the largest perfume shop in Celadon City, but we also have branches in other Kanto cities. If this perfume can be sold in our shops, we can even open branches in other regions. Ash, you just sit back and collect the money."
"Deal!" Ash said without hesitation after a moment of stunned silence. Even if the perfume didn't sell well, if he sold ten bottles a day, he would still have a daily income of over 500,000!
The days of being penniless were finally gone forever!
This money would not only allow him to raise Pokémon without worry, but it would also completely alleviate any concerns about Misty's and Brock's Pokémon.
Subsequently, Ash discussed some details with Erika. Erika even drafted a contract for them to sign, in duplicate, as formal as could be.
In fact, even without a contract, Ash wasn't worried at all. After all, Erika was a Gym Leader; she couldn't run away from her responsibilities. Besides, with Erika's wealth, she didn't care about those profits; what she cared about was whether she could make her perfume shop bigger and stronger.
With everything settled, Ash and his two companions waved goodbye to Erika. As for the revenue, the money would be transferred to Ash a week after the perfume went on sale, and then once a month thereafter.
The weekly payment was because Erika knew about Ash's financial situation. If it were delayed for a month, Ash would probably have to engage in wild battles for that entire month.
And the money from wild battles probably wouldn't be enough to fully put Pokémon into a high-speed development state.
So, for both practical and emotional reasons, the payment time had to be moved up a bit, otherwise, a month's delay would significantly impact Ash's subsequent Indigo League.
Ash also readily agreed to this plan.
However, the sale of the perfume probably couldn't begin in the short term. The formula Ash provided wasn't complicated, but it would still take some time to learn and master the process to perfectly replicate the perfume Ash made, estimated to be about three to four days.
Erika had also informed Ash of this in advance, so Ash was aware.
Ash had originally planned to stay in Celadon City for a bit longer, waiting for the money to arrive so he could buy things at the department store, preferably equipping all his Pokémon with held items. But now, it seemed the wait would be a bit long, so he could only wait until his next visit… After leaving Erika's perfume shop, Ash and his companions began heading towards Celadon City's Beauty Street. However, before they even reached Beauty Street, they encountered an incident on the next street. Many children on this street seemed to have gone missing.
Ash and his two companions decided to stay and investigate, discovering that it was actually Hypno's doing. After finding the hypnotized children in a park, Ash immediately had Gardevoir lift the hypnosis from all of them, and the matter was successfully resolved.
After the incident, Misty encountered a dazed-looking Psyduck. At first, Misty thought it hadn't been un-hypnotized, but even after Ash released Gardevoir, it couldn't lift Psyduck's hypnosis.
By a stroke of luck, Psyduck touched Misty's Poké Ball and, by a strange twist of fate, became Misty's Pokémon.
This made Misty's entire face darken!
Although Psyduck was a Water-type Pokémon, this particular Psyduck was clearly problematic!
In its normal state, it looked dull and foolish, almost indistinguishable from other Pokémon when they were hypnotized!
Misty didn't even know how to train such a Pokémon!
But since it had already been caught, she could only accept her fate. Misty couldn't bring herself to release it.
Ash, however, comforted Misty, saying that this Psyduck might be particularly powerful.
Misty merely chuckled at Ash's comfort, offering no reply.
Powerful or not, can't I tell? If this thing could be powerful, I'd write my name, Misty, backward!
However, in reality, Ash was indeed doing more than just comforting Misty, because according to the Insight Eye's data, this Psyduck's strength fluctuated between Novice Level peak and Professional Level peak.
Ash had seen fluctuations in aptitude, and he had seen fluctuations in ability values, but this was genuinely the first time he had seen fluctuations in level, and such an exaggerated level fluctuation at that!
What did this mean? It meant that when this Psyduck was weak, it couldn't even beat a novice, but when it was strong, it could even contend with a Professional Level peak!
He just didn't know how its power was activated.
After catching Psyduck, Ash and his companions continued their journey, finally arriving at Beauty Street before dark. They then found a random guesthouse to stay in, took a bath, ate dinner, and then began searching for the person Brock wanted to find.
That person was named Suzie. They found her shop after a little inquiry on Beauty Street; she seemed quite famous there.
On Beauty Street, various shops displayed signs related to breeding: relaxation, massage, fatigue relief, boosting vitality, and so on… On the surface, breeding seemed capable of everything, but many Breeders here were merely putting up a facade.
Massage was the most basic skill a Breeder had to learn. However, to completely relax a Pokémon, eliminate fatigue, or even achieve the so-called boosting of vitality through massage, one absolutely needed to be a Professional Level Breeder.
Even Brock couldn't do this currently, but Ash could. After all, Ash inherited part of the abilities of top-tier Breeders, and with his Aura Power and Viridian Power, massage was merely a common technique. More importantly, it was about combining it with those two special powers.
And on Beauty Street, there was only one recognized Professional Level Breeder: Suzie!
"I'm telling you guys, Suzie has been consecutively rated as Kanto's most popular Breeder, a Professional Level beauty Breeder. You must be polite when you meet her later," Brock chattered, and the other two and Pikachu felt like their ears were about to grow calluses.
"We know, we know, you've said it no less than five times! Is this Suzie really that amazing?" Ash grumbled helplessly. When it came to breeding skill, he might not be the absolute top, but he had met the absolute top people.
Ash didn't believe that Suzie's skill could compare to Breeder Ash in the group chat.
Soon, Ash and his companions arrived at Suzie's shop. Her shop was unlike the bustling shops on Beauty Street; it looked like a very ordinary small shop.
It was small, the decor was average, and even the sign just read 'Suzie's Breeding House,' looking like four plain characters, unremarkable.
"Is a top-tier Breeder's decor this unpretentious?" Misty couldn't help but complain.
"You don't understand, experts are all like this. Come on, let's go in." Brock tugged at his clothes, straightened them, and then, with a serious expression, pushed open the door to Suzie's Breeding House.
Inside, the decor was also sparse and ordinary, with no high-end tools or anything, just two beds, and some common massage tools and potions.
"Hello, is this the shop of Breeder Suzie?"
"Welcome! I apologize, I was just grooming Vulpix. I am Suzie, how can I help you?" As the words fell, a gentle voice came from behind a curtain in the room.
A mature and beautiful woman scurried out from behind the curtain.
The woman was wearing a simple nursing uniform, with long emerald green hair cascading down her back. Her delicate face was like a finely sculpted work of art, her skin as fair as snow, with a faint blush, and her eyes as clear as lake water.
Upon seeing Suzie, Ash and Misty were both slightly stunned by her beauty. Among the people they knew, only Sabrina could probably compare.
Moreover, she exuded a gentle aura, and a warm, comfortable smile hung on her face. Regardless of her breeding skill, with such looks, she must be at the very top among Breeders.
Coupled with the fact that she was also an officially certified Professional Breeder by the League, the combination made it impossible for her not to be popular.
When Brock saw Suzie, his entire body stiffened. He bowed ninety degrees and then said loudly, "H-hello! I am Brock, and my goal is to become the strongest Pokémon Breeder. I've long heard of Miss Suzie's great name, and now I finally see her in person! It is because of Miss Suzie that I decided to embark on the path of a Pokémon Breeder!"
Suzie, seeing Brock's exaggerated greeting, couldn't help but take two steps back. However, upon hearing that he had embarked on the path of a Breeder with her as his goal, the smile on her face became even gentler.
"Thank you. You're Brock, right? It's my honor to be your benchmark and to inspire you to pursue the path of a Breeder."
"Not at all, not at all, you're too kind, Miss Suzie. There are so many qualities in you that I want to learn from. I even want to stay here and become your apprentice!"
Suzie waved her hands repeatedly, indicating that she wasn't qualified, while Ash at this moment had already walked to the nursing bed in the back and saw a Vulpix lying on the bed with a somewhat displeased expression.
It seemed Suzie had been in the middle of grooming and massaging Vulpix when she rushed out to greet them.
Vulpix looked up at Ash, who stood before it, tilted its small head, and let out a soft cry.
Ash smiled upon hearing it: "Do I have a scent you like? You really know how to talk, then I'll finish the rest of the massage."
With that, Ash gently placed his hand on Vulpix's body…