Back at the hotel.
Baimu cleaned his hands thoroughly and didn't rush to start making perfumes. Instead, he picked up the bottle of handcrafted essence he had bought.
As he had thought, pure essences were very expensive, and "handcrafted" essences were even pricier. Even though the shopkeeper gave him a friendly discount, considering he was a newbie, it still felt like a pinch on his wallet.
However, for comparison, this expense was necessary.
"Hmm... this smell..."
He recalled the fragrance from his dream and tasted a bit with a cotton swab.
An advantage of dream simulation is that the content doesn't fade upon waking; it's clear in his mind.
If his memory wasn't confused, given the color and aroma of this essence and some details, it should be of high quality.
While Baimu didn't believe that essence making hadn't evolved over the decades, finding such a high-quality essence in a random shop was indeed unexpected.
Missed an opportunity to show off.
Alright, even if the essence crafted by Sister Xiangfen was of exceptionally high quality, to the extent that it could excite people in a shop, Baimu didn't plan to flaunt it.
Be grateful for the gifts of predecessors and enjoy them quietly; flaunting would be inappropriate.
Furthermore, those instruments might have some connection to Sister Xiangfen, who passed away a couple of years ago. During her lifetime, she must have continued to study essence making extensively, working on ways to mass-produce or simplify high-quality essences.
Quality is one aspect, though.
On the other hand, as the shopkeeper said, "traditional" essences could be blended without any instruments, which is why Sister Xiangfen could continue developing essences on her travels.
This was very friendly for Baimu, who was also traveling.
Not only that, but the techniques for making essences are interconnected, meaning that even though the simulator only provided him with the awakening essence, he could learn to make other types with some effort.
Essences are not entirely separate fields from one another.
"Making scents!"
Baimu rubbed his hands together eagerly, spreading the raw materials on a piece of white cloth, grinding those that needed to be ground, and extracting juice where necessary. He then picked up various pre-purchased test tubes for sampling, blending, heating, stirring, filtering, and manually centrifuging in proportion...
After twenty minutes of work.
He successfully produced a vial of liquid essence.
However...
"I still need more practice." Baimu had to admit that just relying on memory without practice didn't allow him to perfectly replicate the essence from his dreams.
What he made wasn't even as good as what the shopkeeper sold him!
"Mawile?"
Mawile looked curiously at the liquid essence, wondering if it could be used for perfume.
"Of course, essence is very versatile, used in perfumes, scented oil, bath gels... many everyday items, even Pokémon breeding," Baimu said with a smile.
Mawile's eyes lit up, pulling the trainer's pant leg, eager for him to make a bottle.
"You have to let me research; a proper perfume requires many ingredients, not just essence alone." Baimu waved a hand.
His immediate interest was to try making scented oil, which was the simplest.
Scented oils come in various types, such as round, dry ones sold on the market, placed in humidifiers to gradually release fragrance with the steam.
These scented oils are easy to store, with a shelf life of months. The downside is that the quality diminishes over time. There's also a type that's burned, which isn't much different.
Liquid scented oils are not easy to store but have immediate effects when mixed with water and sprayed using a specialized fragrance machine.
Baimu bought a "fragrance machine," about the size of a palm, resembling an ancient incense burner in appearance, although incense burners typically burn incense, and this one bubbles liquid.
He diluted it with water and poured it into the fragrance machine.
Soon enough.
A mist began to slowly rise from the opening at the top of the fragrance machine.
Mawile was startled, its nose twitching slightly, and then it relaxed into a peaceful, serene expression, "Mawile~"
"This is nice..."
Baimu plopped onto the sofa, melting comfortably and showing immense comfort, "What I made feels much better than what the hotel provides."
The hotel's scented oil was just fragrant without such magical effects.
The other Pokémon gathered around, even the diligent Chansey took a seat on the sofa, enjoying the relaxing aroma that seemed to bring them into a state of 'void.'
Baimu glanced at the bedroom; sure enough, the Galarian Corsola was drawn in, floating slowly, swaying as it made its way out.
He was about to assist it when suddenly there was a soft ding beside him.
It was like a droplet of water amplified many times over.
Upon turning his head, he saw Chansey transform from a pink little egg to a sparkling blue one, its whole body enveloped by spiritual power, aligning with its serene face, which looked somewhat sacred.
Has it turned into a Buddha?
No.
It's [Meditation]!
This fellow had learned a new move.
Baimu was astonished, not expecting that just smelling a scented oil could lead to learning a new move—was this a result of pent-up energy?
He looked at the other Pokémon, hoping for some delightful change, but Chansey's Meditation seemed unique among them.
What a pity.
"Sun..."
The call from Galarian Corsola brought Baimu back to his senses; it seemed to perceive that the trainer was coming for it and couldn't wait any longer.
"Coming, coming."
Baimu stepped over the Aggron lying directly on the floor and placed his hand on it, moving it onto the sofa.
The Galarian Corsola wobbly reached out its smoke-like appendage, sensing the mist in the air. For once, its expression shifted from gloom to slight delight, and the downturned corners of its mouth turned upwards.
Baimu accurately captured this moment with a rare sense of delight, although his phone wasn't within reach to capture it.
Could scented oil really make Galarian Corsola smile?
He suddenly felt it was worth it.
He lay back down on the sofa, feeling the urge to yawn despite the early hour, and glanced at Mawile, entirely mesmerized by the scented oil, then scooped it up in his arms for a nap.
Obviously meant to awaken, yet why was it making him so sleepy...
——
"The dilution strength wasn't enough after all."
Baimu, waking up well into the afternoon, scratched his head, finally realizing why it had made him sleepy.
Modern fragrance machines tend to release scent faster because modern scented oils are significantly diluted and need dense smoke to be effective.
Using the amounts Sister Xiangfen typically used, it turned out far too strong.
One of the raw materials for the awakening scented oil includes honey secreted from Royal Flower's Hypnotic Powder, similar to how indole smells stinky when concentrated and pleasant when faint.
Controlling the amount is crucial.
Even more water was needed in the mix.
"You learn from mistakes, but it's not entirely without gains, wouldn't you agree?" he turned to the somewhat shy Chansey.
"Lucky~"
Chansey was equally surprised at its abrupt learning of Meditation, albeit a little embarrassed by its incidental nap. Having interned in a hospital, it should have noticed something amiss with the situation and taken necessary action.