The title left Phyllis confused. She had no idea what it meant at first.
But as she continued reading — drawing on her exceptional talent for financial management, which had helped her maintain her viscount family's massive estate with precision — she gradually began to understand.
"The focus of the Potion Economic Cooperative is cooperation," Aven explained.
"You know that to successfully sell potions, we must first grow berries, then use those berries to make potions, and finally market the potions."
"Each of these stages requires different people to complete. By pooling everyone's contributions into a collective and distributing profits based on individual effort, we form what's called an economic cooperative."
Aven integrated his knowledge of rural cooperatives from his previous life with the current situation and began explaining it to Phyllis.
As she listened, a contemplative expression appeared in Phyllis's eyes.
"First, the villagers who join the cooperative will be responsible for planting the berries," Aven said. "Later, the territory will purchase the berries uniformly. Based on the proportion of berries each villager contributes to the total, they will receive a corresponding share of the profits."
As Aven continued his explanation, Phyllis suddenly interrupted, "Profit sharing? What's that?"
"Profit sharing means distributing the profits," Aven explained. "When we sell the potions, we'll take a portion of the earnings and distribute them to the villagers as compensation for growing the berries."
This time, Phyllis more or less understood, but precisely because she understood, her brows furrowed even deeper.
In addition to the income from selling berries, the villagers would also receive a share of the profits. Phyllis felt this was completely unnecessary.
"Profit sharing—that's what sets my people apart from the common folk in other territories." Seeing her reaction, Aven grinned, which made Phyllis freeze for a moment.
"Alright, let's continue talking about this cooperative."
"Besides the villagers, anyone who participates in the cooperative's work can receive a share of the profits."
"This includes potion brewers, the trade caravans that sell the potions, and of course, you."
"The cooperative is a large collective. Everyone is compensated according to their contribution. Anyone who contributes to the cooperative will receive a portion of the profits."
After listening to Aven, Phyllis fell into silence. Though she prided herself on her outstanding financial management skills, she found herself overwhelmed by this unfamiliar and modern model of business operation.
It seems I still have much to learn, Phyllis took a deep breath, then looked at Aven as if he were some kind of strange creature.
Besides his talent as a apothecary, does Aven also surpass me in financial management?
"That's the gist of it," Aven said. "But this is only a rough draft of my idea. If you have any questions, feel free to bring them up—we can refine it together."
After sharing everything he knew about rural cooperatives and profit-sharing, Aven exhaled deeply. Most modern people were at least vaguely familiar with the concept, but when it came to drafting a detailed plan or deciding on fair profit distribution ratios, he still found himself a bit at a loss.
"Alright, alright…" Phyllis rubbed her temples, suddenly feeling that being Aven's Minister of Finance might not be such an easy task after all.
"Here's the cooperation agreement with her Highness regarding the potion shop," Aven continued. "Her Highness will provide the venue and protection, while we'll handle the shop's operations."
"I've already invited Mr. Hawke to manage the shop and handle potion sales."
"Potion brewing will be handled by Master Olai and Apothecary Link. You can coordinate with Link on that front."
"As for berry cultivation, my uncle Mike will take care of it. He's a berry farmer with plenty of experience in growing berries."
Aven went on, "Right now, our potion business is just starting out. We'll rely on the shop in Aspiration City to enter the market. Once the time is right, we'll establish our own trade caravans."
"Alright, alright…" Phyllis was already feeling mentally exhausted and responded weakly.
"Well, that's about it for now. We'll go over the remaining details privately."
Noticing Phyllis's fatigue, Aven gave an awkward chuckle and wrapped up the discussion about the potion business, turning his gaze toward the others in the room.
Other than Fessen, who was trying hard to listen, the rest had long drifted into a sleepy daze, completely lost on what Aven and Phyllis were discussing.
"Alright, if there's nothing else, we'll conclude today's meeting here."
Upon hearing this, everyone visibly relaxed, bowed, and left the study.
Once everyone had departed, the room fell silent again.
Aven sighed in relief and walked to the window, staring into the distance, deep in thought.
After a moment, a smile slowly curved on his lips.
Building a territory from scratch… starts now.
….
On the farm's grasslands.
At that moment, the Petilil, Rhydon, and other Pokémon had once again gathered together.
After finishing the meeting, Aven headed straight here—he'd missed his Pokémon during the past few days.
"Mew~ mew~" As soon as it saw him, Shinx bolted out from the berry grove and leapt into his arms.
"Shinx, long time no see."
Aven smiled and greeted the little cat, giving it a thorough pat and enjoying the soft fur under his fingers.
Shinx was also delighted. It had been living in the berry grove during Aven's absence and hadn't left once. This made Aven feel a bit guilty and he gently comforted it.
Holding Shinx, he walked to the grasslands and saw Cherrim surrounded by ten Cherubi's.
He had brought back eight new Cherubi from Aspiration City, significantly boosting their numbers.
They were rooted in soil enriched with growth fertilizer, basking in the nourishing energy beneath them, their faces full of contentment.
Aven checked on them and noticed that two of the Cherubi had berries that were particularly plump—these were the original two from the orchard.
It wouldn't be long before they accumulated enough energy to evolve. With the help of the fertilizer, they had regained the hope of evolution.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the distance, Rhydon was overseeing Tangela's training in the move Ancient Power.
On the rocky field, Tangela slowly gathered rock-type energy. While it hadn't yet successfully used the move, this was already a major breakthrough.
"Lil-Lil~" Petilil was also in the rocky field, trying its best to mimic the energy gathering.
Seeing this, Aven shook his head. Petilil couldn't learn rock-type moves. He figured he needed to have a talk with this willful little one soon.
The last time it learned Aromatherapy through Sweet Scent had been pure luck—its current attempts to master Ancient Power would be futile.
On the other side, Froslass was happily playing with snowballs—a fitting pastime for her.
Scanning the area, Aven suddenly noticed something odd.
He hadn't seen Vileplume when he was outside the village, and now even the farm's fields showed no sign of her.
Just then, a Starly flew in from afar. Aven immediately asked for information—it was rare for anything in Fruitvale Village to escape the watchful eyes of the airborne bird.
"Star Star!" Starly chirped, informing him that Vileplume was in the eastern grasslands.
"Eastern grasslands?" Aven nodded and decided to check it out.
Picking up Petilil, he said goodbye to the other Pokémon and headed east.
As he got closer, a strange fragrance drifted into his nose, making him pause.
He sniffed again and realized the scent was oddly complex—more than one fragrance mixed together.
"This is... Sweet Scent?"
"And it's... a blend of many different Sweet Scents?"
Aven's mind made the connection as he walked further, the scent growing stronger and more distinct.
Eventually, he saw the large petals atop Vileplume's head from across the grasslands.
Vileplume was dancing gracefully across the field, surrounded by a crowd of Gloom and Oddish, all swaying in sync with her movements.
As she performed Petal Dance, a gentle green light shimmered from her body. Wisps of sparkling pink mist floated off her petals.
The reddish flowers atop the Gloom began to pulse, releasing their own green light. Gradually, all the lights connected, casting a luminous green aura over the entire field.
In that glow, Aven saw that the Gloom were also releasing sparkling pink mist, blending into the air and drifting toward Fruitvale Village on the breeze.
"This is… Sweet Scent?"
Aven sniffed and immediately confirmed it.
And it wasn't just one—this was a large-scale Sweet Scent, a mixture from many individual Pokémon. Each distinct aroma came from a different Gloom.
"All the Gloom learned Sweet Scent?"
His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the many Gloom releasing the move.
Then it hit him—Vileplume was conducting a kind of special ceremony, guiding the Gloom in learning Sweet Scent!
This reminded Aven of a similar ritual that had once been used to evolve all the Oddish on the farm into Gloom.
And now, here was Vileplume leading the Gloom in learning a new move, through yet another beautifully orchestrated ceremony!
(End of Chapter)