"What is Aura Power?" Erika hesitated and then asked, her small face somewhat puzzled.
She had just heard the term Aura Power from Ash's mouth, but she didn't pay much attention because she was focused entirely on the perfume Ash made and his formula. It wasn't until Ash mentioned it a second time that she reacted.
"It's a special power of mine. This afternoon, the reason Charmeleon was able to grow to the point where it could barely contend with Venusaur was because it received the boost from my Aura Power."
"The boost from Aura Power... is a special ability similar to superpowers, right?" Erika was a little surprised to hear the secret behind Charmeleon being able to contend with Venusaur, but not completely unexpected.
She had already guessed it during the battle.
Since Ash could defeat Sabrina, a superpower user, there was a high possibility that he himself was a superpower user, and with Charmeleon's sudden increase in strength during the battle, there must be something fishy going on here.
Erika had already suspected this, but she didn't expect this power, different from superpowers, could have such effects outside of battles!
Most importantly, it could also have an effect on perfumes!
If this new perfume developed by Ash really could affect Pokemon, then the formula would be priceless!
Erika also had perfumes that could enhance the training efficiency of Pokemon, but of course, she wouldn't let Ash use them for practice since they were the store's trump card products.
The reason her store became the largest perfume shop in Celadon City, besides her being the Celadon Gym Leader, was also because their perfumes could work on Pokemon. Despite the high prices, such costs were completely acceptable to those Trainers who wanted their Pokemon to win at the starting line.
Even their store only had two types of perfumes that could enhance training efficiency: one that could make a Pokemon's spiritual power more focused for training, improving efficiency by about ten percent.
And another that could enhance the activity in a Pokemon's brain, improving learning and skill proficiency by about five percent.
Even so, these two perfumes could be sold for 48,888 and 38,888 respectively, because only their perfume shop in Celadon City could produce such perfumes, demonstrating the power of monopoly!
And now, Ash had directly invented a perfume that could enhance Pokemon training efficiency. Even if it's not known how much it could enhance, anything related to Pokemon wouldn't come cheap.
"Ash, can you temporarily give me this perfume? I feel like your perfume might be effective on Pokemon, and if it is, we could collaborate."
"Collaborate?"
"That's right, if I'm not mistaken, you might be short of money, right?" Erika said pointedly.
Ash wasn't surprised to be seen through about his lack of money, especially since every action he took in the perfume shop screamed one word—broke!
If someone couldn't see that, they would have to be blind.
Ash nodded without hiding it, as he indeed was short of money, for everything everywhere!
Pokemon training, improvement, nutrition, travel expenses along the way... it's all real money!
Once he left Celadon City and headed to Fuchsia City, Ash would have to rely on wild battles again, as he wouldn't have money without them!
"If your perfume can indeed be effective on Pokemon, then you can list it under our name. If you trust me, you can give me the formula. We'll provide the materials and split the earnings 2/8: you get 8, we get 2, all you have to do is collect the money."
Erika proposed to Ash with anticipation, feeling a bit nervous as she spoke.
Although she didn't yet know the value of this perfume, from rough interactions, it was highly probable this perfume could be effective on Pokemon, which wouldn't be cheap.
Even if they provided labor, materials, and marketing, a twenty percent share was quite substantial.
If Ash disagreed, Erika even prepared for a nine-one split.
Hearing Erika's words, Ash widened his eyes, looking at the small bottle of red liquid in his hand, the shock in his heart reaching unprecedented levels.
Such an opportunity?!
Doing nothing but providing a formula and just collecting money, and getting eighty percent at that!
Is it real... this eighty percent share makes him feel a bit uneasy!
After all, even this formula wasn't entirely his...
No, strictly speaking, it was his, invented by him from another world, so claiming it as his own wasn't an issue.
Even though Ash had intended to establish this collaboration, he hadn't expected to earn so much. In his expectation, if he didn't have to be responsible for anything, receiving seventy percent would already be satisfying, but Erika opened with eighty!
Ash's lack of worldly experience was obvious, for if the richest Ash were here, even an 8-2 split was considering Erika as a Gym Leader and acquaintance.
If it were someone else, the richest Ash would insist on a 9-5 split—he takes 95, they get 5!
"What do you think, Ash? Do you think the share is too low? We can still negotiate if you think it's low, but we need to test the perfume first to confirm effectiveness."
Erika thought Ash's silence was due to dissatisfaction with the share, so she hastily adjusted.
"No... no, eighty percent is plenty, Erika. Go ahead and test it. Once the test results come out, we can talk again. How long will it take?" Ash asked, handing the completed perfume to Erika.
Erika reached out with her soft hands, delicately taking the perfume as she said, "It'll take about half a day, come by tomorrow around noon."
"Okay... By the way, Erika, you mentioned giving me some training perfumes if I developed a perfume."
"I'll have someone bring them to you. Do you want ones for skill training or for training levels and ability values?"
"Levels and ability values." Ash decided without hesitation.
In terms of learning skills, who could be faster than a human-shaped skill learning machine like him, so he naturally chose the latter.
"Alright, you guys wait outside; I'll have it sent over shortly," Erika said while continually examining the perfume in her hands.
"By the way, Ms. Erika, Misty seems to really like your perfumes here, could she get a free one if she fancies something?" Ash boldly asked.
"No problem, she can take whatever perfumes she likes, free of charge!" Erika generously replied.
Given the value Ash created, such a freebie seemed trivial!
"Well, Misty, now you can pick perfumes without worrying about the price... Why are you looking at me like that?" Ash was thrilled about saving money, turning to see Misty staring at him.
"Nothing, thanks, Ash. This one's on you; I'll treat you next time~" Misty replied, shaking her head as she smiled at Erika, then pulled Ash out of the perfume lab.
Watching them leave, Erika couldn't help but shake her head: "Ah, youth is wonderful... though I'm not old myself."
Once outside, Misty kept pulling Ash to select perfumes, asking for his opinion on each. At first, Ash answered, but later he felt his nose might break, and his responses became numb.
Ultimately, Misty picked three perfumes, costing less than two thousand in total. Compared to items for Pokemon, things for people were quite cheap.
The training perfumes Erika mentioned were also provided to Ash by the staff, giving him twenty bottles this time, with an official price nearing a million...
But considering the raw material cost, it's actually five-six thousand, making Ash once again marvel at the high profits of perfumes.
Raising Pokemon truly wasn't an easy task financially.