Other than that, the recipes for making Dragon Berries into dishes and medicines are a mystery to many. The common recipes available on the market can at most enhance a Pokemon's defensive power slightly and, combined with two days of defense training, can improve the effect by twenty percent.
This recipe, though ordinary, is better than using the Dragon Berry directly. Other berries are not much different; they follow the same recipe, with different types of enhancements depending on the type of berry.
As for Ash...he's got connections. Naturally, this refers to the bigshots in the chat group from various parallel worlds. With their help, would he ever lack formulas?
Before coming, Ash had already asked the bigshots for berry recipes. Among them, a formula provided by someone named "Berry Forest Ash" was the best, as he is an expert in the field of berries.
He provided his exclusive formula, which not only allows for a fifty percent enhancement from the berries, with the effect lasting up to four days but also offers a burst enhancement even stronger than the one circulated in the market.
Such an effect might not even be achieved by secret formulas kept within various families. Moreover, other secret formulas used for mixing berries tend to develop resistance over time, gradually losing their powerful effects. The initial usage offers the best effect.
After multiple uses, the enhancement may drop from twenty percent to ten percent or even five percent, and the duration may decrease from two days to just a single day, or even a few hours.
This is why, despite these berries being so rare, hard to cultivate, and scarce in quantity, they are still available on the market.
If there could be unlimited enhancement and unlimited use, even if they cost twenty thousand dollars, the wealthy would not hesitate to sweep all the berries off the market.
However, if such effects existed, these berries might be controlled by the league. Otherwise, strong trainers around the world would all be wealthy individuals. For ordinary trainers to catch up, even putting in a thousand times the effort might not be enough.
...
Finally, Ash bought ten berries of five different abilities on the Seven Berry Islands, costing him a million. Additionally, he purchased some Sitrus Berries and Burn Berries, among other miscellaneous items, totaling three million.
Serena's mouth fell wide open as she watched Ash spend over a million just on berries. When Ash's total spending surpassed three million, her beautiful eyes almost popped out.
Serena knew Ash was wealthy, as his various travel gestures indicated, but she never imagined he was this wealthy!
Spending three million on a few berries... a few hundred berries to be precise, but that's still extravagant. Since when did buying berries cost three million!
Three million is practically a decade's worth of expenses for a normal family! Not considering training Pokemon or purchasing Pokemon-related items, it's enough to support a family of three for more than ten years!
Although Serena's family isn't poor—after all, you couldn't travel or maintain Pokemon if you were—they still see three million as an astronomical number!
Her monthly pocket money is only twenty thousand, which her mother increased after worrying she wouldn't have enough while traveling. Before traveling, her monthly allowance was around three thousand.
Yet even with increased pocket money, it's only enough to buy one berry... This made Serena deeply aware of the disparity between herself and Ash, not only as trainers but also in terms of wealth.
No wonder Ash doesn't care about the money earned from selling those Crystals. Even if they sold all that they had mined, it wouldn't even amount to a hundred thousand, which isn't even a third of Ash's spending.
Misty, sharply noticing Serena's gloom, quietly approached her and whispered, "Don't mind it, Serena. Ash's family conditions are actually quite ordinary. The reason he is like this now is completely due to his talent, hard work, and opportunities."
"To put it simply, as long as you travel with Ash, you'll have what you need. Even if you feel you're far behind him now, it doesn't matter. As long as you keep working hard while looking at his back, you'll surely be able to stand by his side one day. A temporary gap isn't terrifying; what's terrifying is losing confidence in oneself."
The gentle breeze brushing against Serena's ears made her delicate earlobes feel itchy, but none of it was as shocking as what Misty had said.
She looked incredulously at Misty, her wide eyes filled with doubt, as if puzzled why Misty was saying such things.
Seeing Serena's expression, Misty gave a helpless smile, "Are you wondering why, as Ash's girlfriend, I would tell you this... Well, I know you're potentially a rival. Having spent time with Ash as a child and then running into him during travels, if I hadn't confessed to Ash first, who knows, maybe you would have won him over."
"After all, Serena is gentle yet kind, smart yet brave, much like Ash... That's precisely why I couldn't stand seeing you with that expression, but I have no intention of giving Ash to you~ If you want him, you'll have to fight for him yourself," Misty said with a playful wink.
Serena quickly waved her hands, "I-I don't intend to fight!"
Her cheeks turned bright red, and her voice carried a hint of panic as her fingers instinctively clenched at the edges of her clothes. "I never thought of fighting with you... Just being able to see Ash again, to travel with you guys, I'm already very satisfied."
After saying this, Serena's heart inexplicably raced a little faster. Although she verbally denied fighting, in her heart, a subtle sense of relief rose—grateful Misty harbored no hostility towards her, openly sharing such words, and also thankful she could still remain among this group with Ash as a companion.
In some corner of her heart, there lay a faint hope she dared not dwell on: perhaps, if she continued to accompany him and kept striving hard, there might be a slightly different possibility in the future? Even if she could only stay as an important companion by his side for a long time, that would be enough.
Watching the somewhat flustered person before her, Misty couldn't help but show a slight smile. Clearly, this person was meant to be her rival, yet their expressions and their interactions over time had unexpectedly dissolved Misty's hostility towards her.
Dealing with someone as transparent as Serena is pretty comfortable, but Misty won't deliberately remind Ash nor actively show acceptance towards Serena—no matter how magnanimous, no woman is likely to do such a thing.
But neither will she oppose too strongly; if she had truly been against it, she wouldn't have let Serena join the team in the first place. Given her relationship with Ash, as long as Misty disapproved, Ash wouldn't have let Serena join.
To sum up Misty's mindset—just leave everything to nature.
"Well, don't overthink it. Even if you want to fight, with that guy's thick skull, he wouldn't perceive anything without a direct confession. Between you and me, it took me a whole week of indecision before I accidentally confessed during our first date. You have no idea how nervous I was then."
"Eh! You were the one who confessed first, Misty?" Serena, her pure blue eyes filled with curiosity, stared at Misty, as though wanting to explore more about the dynamics between Misty and Ash.