The next day at noon, Ash and his companions returned to the perfume shop.
As Erika had promised, the test results for the mysterious perfume were ready.
The moment they stepped inside, Erika greeted them with a radiant smile.
"Ash, you're here!"
"Yeah! So, how did it go? How's the perfume's effect?" Ash asked eagerly.
Erika leaned in slightly, her tone dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
"You absolutely won't believe how powerful the perfume you made is."
"Eh? That amazing?" Ash blinked innocently, though his heart was already pounding.
"It's more than amazing!" Erika's voice trembled with excitement. "I've never seen a disposable item with such incredible auxiliary power. The perfume you created can put Pokémon into a semi-hypnotic state while fully activating their cellular functions, pushing their physical training efficiency to an entirely new level!"
Ash's mouth opened slightly. He had known Fragrance was strong, but even he hadn't expected this much praise.
Erika continued, her tone full of barely restrained awe.
"According to our testing, one bottle can be used ten times, each session lasting an hour. It doesn't enhance mental aspects like focus or learning, but the Pokémon won't experience mental fatigue, only normal physical exhaustion. That means much faster recovery between training sessions!"
Her eyes gleamed as she revealed the most shocking part.
"And the training amplification effect… our current top-tier perfumes increase training results by about ten percent. But yours, Ash, yours boosts it by twenty-five percent!"
By the end, her voice had risen in disbelief despite her attempt to whisper.
When she'd first seen the data, Erika herself had been stunned.
Twenty-five percent! That was practically a cheat code for physical training, especially for Fighting-types or any Pokémon that relied on raw physical prowess.
And the ingredients? Dirt cheap. The real value was in the formula.
If her shop could produce and market this perfume… its reputation would skyrocket overnight.
Not just in Celadon City, but across all of Kanto, no, maybe even beyond.
Erika's eyes burned with quiet ambition. For her, this wasn't just about money or status as a Gym Leader.
What she wanted… was to see her perfume shop become the number-one brand in the world.
And Ash had just handed her the key.
"Ash," she said solemnly, placing a hand on her chest, "I'm willing to increase your share to a 90/10 split. You keep ninety. Just trust me and give us the formula, I promise on my honor, we'll never leak it."
"Ninety… ten?" Ash repeated, eyes wide as saucers.
That meant he'd get ninety percent of the profits, without paying for materials, labor, or advertising!
If a bottle sold for 30,000, that meant 27,000 directly to him!
In just a few months, he could be financially free. He could raise hundreds of Pokémon if he wanted!
But after a moment's thought, Ash shook his head.
"No, Erika. Let's stick with the eighty-twenty split we talked about. Eighty percent is already a lot for me."
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Besides, at thirty thousand a bottle, I'll still be earning plenty, right?"
"Thirty thousand?" Erika tilted her head, then smiled in that serene, dangerously beautiful way of hers.
"No, Ash. We've decided to make your perfume our new ace product. The price will be… 68,888."
Ash: "???"
Misty: "???"
Brock: "???"
"Sixty… eight… thousand?!"
Even robbing a bank wouldn't bring money in that fast!
Last night, when Ash and the others had looked up the ingredient prices, the total cost was less than four hundred.
And Erika was going to resell it for over sixty thousand, for a consumable!
Misty's jaw dropped. "W-Wait, people will actually buy it at that price?"
Erika just laughed softly. "Heh… you'd be surprised how many rich Trainers exist in this world. We don't have to worry about sales. We're the largest perfume brand in Celadon, and we have branches across Kanto. Once this product launches, we can even expand to other regions. So relax, Ash. All you have to do is sit back and collect the profits."
Ash stared at her for two seconds, then grinned from ear to ear.
"Deal!"
Even if the perfume didn't sell like crazy, just ten bottles a day would earn him over half a million!
For the first time in his life, Ash felt like the phrase "financial freedom" might actually apply to him.
The era of the broke Trainer… was finally over.
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 Plateau Conference.
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 Suzy. 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 façade.
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 had inherited part of the abilities of top-tier Breeders, and with his Aura Power and Tokiwa 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, Suzy!
"I'm telling you guys, Suzy 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 nonstop, to the point where 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 Suzy 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 Suzy's skill could compare to the legendary Breeder Ash in the group chat.
Soon, Ash and his companions arrived at Suzy's shop. Her shop was unlike the bustling ones on Beauty Street, it looked like a very ordinary small establishment.
It was small, the decor was plain, and even the sign simply read "Suzy's Breeding House," looking unremarkable.
"Is a top-tier Breeder's decor this unpretentious?" Misty couldn't help but complain.
"You don't understand, experts are always like this. Come on, let's go in." Brock tugged at his clothes, straightened his posture, and then, with a serious expression, pushed open the door to Suzy's Breeding House.
Inside, the decor was also sparse and simple, with no high-end tools or special devices, just two beds, and some common massage tools and potions.
"Hello, is this the shop of Breeder Suzy?"
"Welcome! I apologize, I was just grooming Vulpix. I'm Suzy, how can I help you?"
As the gentle voice came from behind a curtain in the room, a mature and beautiful woman stepped out.
The woman wore a simple caretaker's uniform, with long emerald-green hair cascading down her back. Her delicate face looked like a finely carved work of art, her skin fair as snow, her expression calm and kind, and her clear eyes carried a gentle, soothing warmth.
Upon seeing Suzy, Ash and Misty were both momentarily stunned by her beauty. Among all the people they knew, perhaps only Sabrina could compare.
Moreover, she exuded a tranquil, comforting aura, her soft smile radiating serenity. Regardless of her breeding skills, with such beauty and presence, she easily stood at the top among Breeders.
Coupled with the fact that she was also an officially certified Professional Breeder by the Pokémon League, her popularity was inevitable.
When Brock saw Suzy, his entire body froze. He bowed at a ninety-degree angle and said loudly, "H-hello! I'm Brock, and my goal is to become the strongest Pokémon Breeder! I've long heard of Miss Suzy's great reputation, and now that I see you in person, it's truly an honor! It was because of Miss Suzy that I decided to embark on the path of a Pokémon Breeder!"
Suzy, seeing Brock's exaggerated greeting, instinctively took two small steps back. However, upon hearing that she had inspired him to follow the breeder's path, the smile on her face softened further.
"Thank you. You're Brock, right? It's my honor to have inspired you to pursue this path."
"Not at all, not at all, you're far too modest, Miss Suzy! There are so many qualities in you that I want to learn from. I even want to stay here and become your apprentice!"
Suzy quickly waved her hands, flustered, indicating that she wasn't qualified for such praise. Meanwhile, Ash had already wandered over to the back of the room, where a Vulpix lay on a nursing bed with a somewhat displeased expression.
It seemed Suzy had been in the middle of grooming and massaging Vulpix when she rushed out to greet them.
Vulpix looked up at Ash curiously, tilting its head with a soft "Vul~" sound.
Ash smiled upon hearing it. "Do I have a scent you like? You really know how to talk. Then, let me finish the rest of your massage."
With that, Ash gently placed his hand on Vulpix's body…