Besides Nana and the others, Misty and Serena were also happy for Ash. One could tell just by looking that this Snorlax was completely different from a normal one.
The strength of wild Pokémon rarely exceeds the Advanced Level, yet this Snorlax's level was as high as High-level Superior, which was enough to prove how formidable its talent was.
Combined with its special ability to store Berries and its Agility that was unusual for a Snorlax—if Ash trained it well, it would likely become a core member of his team, not inferior to Charizard or Gardevoir!
Such a Pokémon is extremely rare to encounter; Ash's luck is still maxed out this time!
"Thank you, thank you very much. If it weren't for you, the wealth accumulated by the ancestors of this island might have vanished today. By the way, we don't know your name yet." One of the staff members came up to thank Ash and asked for his name.
"You're welcome. I'm Ash from Pallet Town. I came to the Fruit Seven Islands to buy some Berries and just happened to run into this. Of course, I couldn't just stand by and watch!" Except for Nana, who knew a little bit about the outside news, the rest of the people on the Fruit Seven Islands were almost completely out of touch with outside information.
So they didn't recognize Ash; at most, they just felt he looked a bit familiar, perhaps having glimpsed a picture of him somewhere, which they would forget in the blink of an eye.
Even if the Elite Four appeared here, these staff members might not necessarily recognize them.
So when Ash gave his name, it didn't cause much of a stir. Everyone was still very enthusiastic toward Ash because of his help.
Seeing this, Ash felt a bit disappointed but also a bit happy. Disappointed because his fame hadn't reached a world-renowned level yet, and happy for the same reason.
This way, he wouldn't have to be secretive on the Fruit Seven Islands. If these people were as fanatical as those outside, he would have to use a different identity, which would be quite troublesome.
After chatting with Ash for a while, Nana took the initiative to lead him to the central island of the Fruit Seven Islands to buy Berries. There were good Berries on the islands besides Sitrus Berries, but their quantities weren't large. This was because the main focus of the Fruit Seven Islands was Sitrus Berries, and also because other Berries were quite difficult to grow.
Different Berries have strict conditions regarding the growing environment, soil, weather, and other factors. Even experienced technicians cannot guarantee that every Berry will survive. That's why it's said that the Fruit Seven Islands reached such a scale thanks to the efforts of generations.
Berry tree trunks don't wither as easily as other fruits. Once successfully planted, as long as there are no particularly harsh environmental factors, they can basically maintain flowering and fruiting for more than five years. By then, new Berry trees would have already been planted.
Over time, even though Berries are hard to grow, the accumulation of generations still filled the entire Fruit Seven Islands with Berries across the mountains and plains.
Ash's group of three arrived at the central area of the Fruit Seven Islands. It was said that a portion of other Berries was grown here, but the quantity was scarce. However, when they arrived, they realized that "scarce" was only in comparison to Sitrus Berries; in reality, the quantity of other Berries was also quite large!
Moreover, the varieties were almost all-encompassing. Whether it was the fire-resistant Occa Berry or the paralysis-curing Cheri Berry, they were all here.
The Berries Ash needed were Ganlon Berries and Liechi Berries, which can help Pokémon improve their six-dimensional stats.
The effect of a dragon haze berry is that when a Pokémon's hp drops to about one-fourth, it helps the Pokémon increase its defense by one stage. This is the effect when held; if consumed directly, it can provide a permanent increase in defense.
However, this increase is quite tiny. Unless one eats Ganlon Berries as their main meal, the effect is just average. It's better to train more or take a few more hits.
The price of a dragon haze berry is very expensive, costing as much as 20,000 Pokedollars each, which is forty times the price of a Sitrus Berry!
So if one wanted to buy Ganlon Berries to eat as a meal, no matter how wealthy they were, it would be hard to afford such an expense.
Ash's bottle of Dill Essence only cost 68,800, and the effect wasn't one-time; it could be used continuously for a period. Even so, supply couldn't meet demand, making it priceless.
For a dragon haze berry worth 20,000, let alone eating it as a meal, even wanting to eat one every day is a luxury. Even with money, one might not be able to buy it.
Therefore, Ganlon Berries are not meant to be eaten directly but are used as medicinal or food supplements after combining them with various other medicines.
By combining them with other medicines or items for assistance, the maximum effectiveness of the dragon haze berry can be brought out, even reaching 120% of its effect.
Besides immediately increasing defense, it can also make a Pokémon's defense training twice as effective for a period. This is similar to the Odd Incense Ash made.
However, the Dill Essence Ash made provides an all-around improvement for Pokémon training, while the dragon haze berry only increases the improvement in defense. Relatively speaking, the overall utility is still a bit worse; it can only be used for specialized training. For example, for Pokémon that strongly need defense, medicinal and food supplements made from Ganlon Berries are very suitable.
Furthermore, formulas for making dragon haze berry dishes and medicines are a mystery to many. The common formulas circulating on the market can, at most, give the user a slight one-time defense boost, plus a 20% increase in defense training effectiveness for two days.
Although this formula is average, it's better than using the dragon haze berry directly. Other Berries are much the same, with equivalent formulas; the type of boost varies depending on the Berry.
As for Ash—he has backing. This "backing" naturally refers to the big shots in the Chat Group. With the help of himself from various parallel worlds, why would he fear not having a formula?
Before coming, Ash had already asked the big shots for Berry formulas. The formula provided by one called [Orchard Ash] was the best because he was a specialist in the field of Berries.
What he provided was an exclusive formula he developed. Not only can it increase the Berry's boost to 50%, but the duration can also reach four days. Furthermore, the instantaneous boost to the Pokémon is twice as strong as the formula circulating on the market. This kind of effect is likely unattainable even by the exclusive secret formulas of various families. Moreover, those other secret formulas used for mixing Berries will produce resistance after long-term use, and slowly they won't have such a powerful effect; the initial use effect is the best.
After using it a few more times, the boost might decrease from 20% to 10% or even 5%, and the duration will change from two days to one day, or even just a few hours.
This is why even though these Berries are so rare, difficult to grow, and scarce in number, they are still available on the market.
If they could provide infinite boosts and be used infinitely, even at 20,000 Pokedollars, those wealthy people would not hesitate to sweep all the Berries off the market.
But if they really had that kind of effect, Berries would probably be controlled by the League. Otherwise, the powerful Trainers in the world would all be those wealthy people, and it would be hard for common Trainers to catch up to them, even with a thousand times the effort.
Finally, on the Fruit Seven Islands, Ash bought ten each of the Berries that can boost five different stats, which cost one million. Plus, he bought some Sitrus Berries, Rawst Berries, and other miscellaneous things. All in all, Ash spent three million directly.
When Serena saw Ash picking out Berries worth more than a million, her small mouth was already wide open. When Ash's Berry purchase exceeded three million, her beautiful eyes almost popped out.
Serena knew Ash was rich; she could tell from various behaviors during the journey. But she didn't expect Ash to be rich to this extent!
Spending three million just to buy a few Berries—er, a few hundred Berries, actually—but this was also very exaggerated. Since when could buying Berries cost three million!
Three million is almost ten years of expenses for a normal family! Without considering raising Pokémon and buying Pokémon-related things, it's enough for a family of three to use for more than ten years!
Although Serena's family wasn't poor—after all, it would be impossible to go on a journey, let alone raise Pokémon, if they were poor—three million was definitely an astronomical figure!
Her monthly pocket money was only 20,000 Pokedollars, and that was increased by her mother because she was afraid Serena wouldn't have enough while traveling. Before she left, her monthly pocket money was only around 3,000.
Yet the increased pocket money could only buy one Berry—this made Serena deeply realize the gap between herself and Ash. Not just the gap as Trainers, but the gap in wealth was also worlds apart.
---
No wonder Ash didn't even care about the money from selling those crystals. Even if all the crystals they brought out were sold, it would only be a few hundred thousand, less than a million. For Ash, it wasn't even one-third of a single shopping trip.
Misty keenly noticed Serena's dejection. She quietly came to Serena's side and whispered in her ear, "Don't mind it, Serena. Ash's family conditions are actually very average. The reason he can be like this now is entirely because of Ash's own talent, hard work, and opportunities."
"To put it bluntly, as long as you travel with Ash, you'll have everything you should have. It doesn't matter if you feel far behind him now. As long as you look at his back and work hard to move forward, one day you will surely be able to stand by his side. A temporary gap isn't scary; what's scary is completely losing confidence in yourself."
A soft breeze blew against Serena's ear, making her delicate earlobe feel a bit itchy, but none of that was as shocking as what Misty said to her.
She looked at Misty in disbelief, her large eyes filled with confusion, as if not understanding why Misty would say such things. Misty looked at Serena's expression and showed a helpless smile on her face: "Are you wondering why I, as Ash's girlfriend, would say such things to you? Actually, I know. You should be considered my potential love rival. You spent time with Ash when you were little, and you happened to encounter him while out on a journey. If I hadn't confessed to Ash first, maybe he would have been taken by you."
"After all, Serena is gentle and kind, smart and brave, very much like Ash. Because of that, I probably can't bear to see you making that kind of expression. But I don't mean to give Ash up to you~ If you want him, go and fight for him yourself." Misty winked playfully.
Serena waved her hands repeatedly, "I, I don't mean to fight for him!"
Her cheeks instantly turned bright red, her voice a bit panicked, and her fingertips subconsciously tightened around the hem of her clothes. "I never thought about competing with you. To be able to see Ash again and travel with you guys, I'm already very satisfied."
After saying this, Serena's heart rate unexpectedly quickened a bit. While she said she wouldn't compete, a small sense of relief quietly rose in her heart—
Relieved that Misty didn't hold any hostility toward her, but was instead willing to speak to her so Honestly; also relieved that she could still stay in this team with Ash as a companion.
And in a corner of her heart, there was a tiny, faint hope that she didn't even dare to think too deeply about: Perhaps, as long as she stayed by his side and worked hard enough, could there be a slightly different possibility in the future? Even if she could only be an important companion by his side for a long time, it would be enough.
Misty looked at the somewhat panicked girl before her, and a smile couldn't help but appear in the corners of her eyes. Clearly, this person was her love rival, but her behavior and their time together lately had made Misty's hostility toward her vanish.
It was quite comfortable to get along with someone as transparent as Serena. However, she wouldn't proactively help Serena by reminding Ash, nor would she proactively say she would accept Serena—any woman, no matter how generous, would find it difficult to do such a thing.
But she wouldn't hold a strong attitude of opposition either. If that were the case, she wouldn't have let Serena join the team in the first place. With her relationship with Ash, as long as she didn't approve, Ash wouldn't let Serena join.
To summarize Misty's state of mind: just let nature take its course.
"Well, well~ don't think too much. Even if you wanted to fight for him, with that guy's blockhead, he won't feel anything unless you're direct. I'll tell you a secret: I struggled for a whole week before I blurted out my confession to him on our first date. I can't even tell you how nervous I was then."
"Eh! Was it you who confessed first, Misty?" Serena looked at Misty curiously with her pure blue eyes, as if wanting to explore more details of how Misty and Ash got along.