This fragrance was remarkably similar to the scent of Water Hyacinth but lacked its slightly fishy undertone.
Water Hyacinth, being an aquatic plant, naturally carried a faint fishy odor due to prolonged immersion in water. However, the Sea Incense had a pure, refreshing aroma without any unpleasant fishiness.
"Let's test the effectiveness of the incense," Yuga suggested, producing a palm-sized incense burner.
This burner was specifically designed for incense, purchased by Yuga on the day he obtained the incense-making manual and had been kept in the store ever since.
Lain nodded and took the burner from Yuga. She opened its lid and placed some Sea Incense inside.
The structure of this incense burner, designed for heating incense, was quite unique. Its lid was hollowed out, and its body was round with a small space about half the size of a fist reserved for placing incense.
At the bottom of the burner was a switch. Once activated, the burner would start heating automatically. Under high temperature, the incense placed inside would release its aroma.
This type of incense burner was a modern invention. It used a new type of fuel for heating, which was efficient, long-lasting, and pollution-free.
In contrast, early incense burners were quite primitive, where incense was directly ignited inside a stove. However, this method was wasteful, considering the high cost of incense. Hence, modern incense burners gradually replaced the primitive ones due to their convenience and higher efficiency.
Opening the bottom switch of the burner, Lain placed it on the table. In no time, wisps of pale blue smoke began to waft from the burner's lid.
As these light tendrils of smoke dispersed, the entire shop was filled with a faint, refreshing fragrance. It made people feel relaxed and clear-headed, as if their minds had been refreshed.
"It's a success!" Lain exclaimed in excitement.
She had specialized in incense-making during her high school years and possessed a professional ability to discern the quality of finished incense.
"Congratulations!" Yuga smiled and congratulated Lain.
"Shouldn't I be congratulating you instead? You have another source of income now, while I'm just a simple part-timer," Lain said playfully.
Because of her good mood, Lain exchanged jokes with Yuga.
"Well then, part-time worker Lain, you should work diligently for the boss from now on!" Yuga joined in the playful banter.
Currently, Lain was the highest-paid employee in YoYo Day Care. Being an incense maker was a prestigious occupation, much more popular than being an ordinary Pokémon Breeder, and it brought in significantly more money.
After achieving success in their career, most incense makers would eventually open their own shops. If it weren't for Yuga's incense-making manual, Lain would also follow that path in the future. However, without Yuga's manual and mentorship, she would likely have a long way to go to achieve success.
Lain genuinely loved the art of incense making. Therefore, when faced with the temptation of Yuga's incense-making manual, she didn't hesitate to "sell her soul" to him, a decision partly influenced by Ryuichi.
As the scent of the Sea Incense continued to spread, customers in the shop began to notice this unique fragrance and inquired with Yuga and Suzuki Koen about it.
Seeing this, Yuga thought, why not take advantage of this opportunity to promote the incense?
YoYo Day Care had quite a few wealthy customers. Although incense was primarily intended for Trainers, many affluent non-Trainers also bought it.
Incense had benefits beyond enhancing a Pokémon's training efficiency and speed. Its inherent fragrance had a refreshing and awakening effect.
In the past, nobles had used incense as a substitute for perfume. Even today, many prestigious old families still maintained this tradition.
High-quality incense's aroma was on par, if not superior, to that of luxury perfumes. So, despite its exorbitant price, premium incense always sold well because one could never fathom just how many wealthy individuals existed in the world.
Taking advantage of the increased customer traffic in the shop, Yuga announced, "In the near future, we will be introducing premium Sea Incense to our store. We hope that everyone can come and . We will also be gradually launching other types of incense, so please stay tuned."
Initially, many customers were curious about the unique fragrance in the store. However, when they heard it was incense, most of them shook their heads in disappointment.
Luxury items like incense were only affordable for the wealthy, and it wasn't something that worked instantly; it relied on continuous use over time.
Nevertheless, there were still quite a few people interested in Yuga's mention of incense. YoYo Day Care was known as a "boutique store," and the quality of their incense was naturally expected to be top-notch.
Seeing that most customers lacked interest, Yuga wasn't discouraged. After all, incense was a luxury item targeting high-end customers, quite different from the sales of Pokéblocks.
Yuga's current promotion was just a minor step in getting the word out. The real promotion would rely on Windy's expertise.
Historically, the majority of YoYo Day Care's business didn't come from physical customers but from online customers. To reach customers in a world as vast as this one, a physical presence alone wouldn't suffice.
When it came to online sales, Yuga was truly grateful to have hired someone as reliable and capable as Windy.
Windy's personality was indeed very introverted, but his online persona was entirely different from his real self. He had made YoYo Day Care's online business thrive.
After announcing the upcoming release of Sea Incense, several customers approached Yuga with inquiries about it, and he patiently answered their questions one by one.
Once these customers left, Yuga turned to Lain and said, "The next phase will be all on you. I'll prepare the materials for the other types of incense as soon as possible."
For incense to go on sale, there needed to be enough inventory, so Lain would be quite busy in the short term.
Lain patted her chest and replied, "Don't worry, leave it all to me. Please prepare the other materials as quickly as you can. My 40-meter-long knife has been itching for action."
For Lain, making incense wasn't just work; it was a form of entertainment. She had been eager to get started for a while now.
After saying that, Lain swiftly returned to the new store's workshop, eager to continue making Sea Incense. Now that she could finally start, she didn't want to waste a single minute.
Watching Lain's hasty departure, Yuga shook his head in amusement.
Later, Yuga paid another visit to Uncle Kate's home, delivering a batch of materials for making Razor Fangs.
Razor Fangs weren't commonly used items, so most of the ones Uncle Kate made, apart from a few sold, had been used by the Gligars in Yuga's Ecological Park.