"Pika? (What exactly happened?)"
Pikachu knew better than anyone how relentlessly Ash pursued his psychic training. This was the first time it had ever seen Ash interrupt his cultivation because of something unexpected, and the unusual situation left Pikachu thoroughly astonished.
"Something unexpected happened while I was meditating just now. I spotted a Noctowl flying past my window, and I sensed an extraordinary, mysterious power emanating from it."
"Curious, I used my Aura to track the Noctowl all the way through the city. Eventually, I followed it to an old commercial street in northern Lumiose City. Then I watched it fly straight into a wall and disappear without a trace."
Ash had no intention of concealing this matter from his Pokémon.
Pikachu and the others were his most trusted companions. Aside from the existence of his system and the fact that he had transmigrated into this world, Ash kept virtually no secrets from them.
"It flew into a wall and disappeared? Was it passing through the wall like a Ghost-type Pokémon would? But Noctowl is a common early-route Pokémon from the Johto region, and it's a Normal- and Flying-type Pokémon!"
Pikachu tilted its head, puzzled.
"Well, I know Noctowl possesses psychic talent. Could it be that Noctowl also has some hidden Ghost-type talent?"
Hearing Ash and Pikachu discussing the matter, Pidgeot, who had been playing with the other Pokémon, turned its head and joined the conversation.
"It wasn't like a Ghost-type Pokémon passing through a wall. The Noctowl simply flew straight through the solid stone as though the wall didn't exist. More importantly, I sensed an extremely mysterious and unusual power coming from it."
"This power doesn't belong to any of the eighteen known Pokémon types. It isn't an advanced power associated with Pokémon's special combat techniques, such as Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, or Dynamax."
"At the same time, it doesn't seem to be psychic power that humans possess innately. Based on my observations, I suspect this is a type of power acquired through cultivation, a power developed by practitioners of certain ancient, traditional professions."
Ash combined these observations with his earlier deductions and explained his conclusions to his Pokémon.
"Ancient professions? Power acquired through cultivation? What professions are you talking about, and what kind of power do they use?"
Even Greninja, usually composed and reserved, couldn't suppress its curiosity.
"From what I've learned, before the profession of Pokémon Trainer rose to prominence, the world of Pokémon had many other professions in ancient times, back when society was still organized along feudal lines. Some practitioners possessed extraordinary personal combat abilities."
"For example, there were warrior monks, samurai, martial heroes, and wandering swordsmen. Through specialized techniques, they could develop a form of internal energy"
"Ninja could extract another kind of energy from within their bodies. That power is called chakra."
"Meanwhile, there were other professions such as knights and mages. Knights cultivated a power known as fighting spirit, while mages cultivated magical power."
"Once these people had mastered their respective powers, they could combine them with a variety of specialized techniques. Their individual combat abilities were no weaker than those of Pokémon. In fact, practitioners at the same level could even be stronger than Pokémon!"
Ash shared everything he knew with the assembled Pokémon.
"Wow!! I never imagined that humans possessed such incredible powers beyond the abilities of extraordinary psychics like you, Ash!"
Pidgeot's eyes widened in amazement.
"But if these professions and their powers were so incredible, why weren't they widely promoted and passed down? Why has being a Pokémon Trainer become the most common and popular profession in the modern Pokémon world?"
Greninja asked, clearly perplexed.
"I don't know all the details myself. However, based on my own training experiences, I suspect one reason is that cultivating these powers is simply too difficult and tedious."
"Think about it. Even Pokémon Trainers, whose profession mainly involves training Pokémon rather than themselves, have become impatient with hard work. Most Trainers enjoy Pokémon battles, but they don't like the monotonous, repetitive exercises required for daily training."
"If that's the case, imagine how much more difficult it would be to convince people to cultivate their own bodies and powers!"
Ash paused briefly before continuing.
"Of course, I think there's another very important reason why these ancient professions declined instead of spreading throughout society."
"These professions had high barriers to entry. In ancient times, the organizations and families that possessed their respective legacies were extremely protective of their knowledge. They guarded their techniques jealously and maintained strict boundaries between their own members and outsiders."
"As a result, these professions gradually declined as society developed. Meanwhile, becoming a Pokémon Trainer had far fewer barriers. The rules were relatively standardized, and the profession was much easier to popularize and pass on to the next generation."
"Over time, the Pokémon Trainer profession naturally rose to prominence and replaced those ancient professions as the dominant path."
Ash couldn't help feeling a sense of regret when he thought about the decline of these traditional professions. In his eyes, their knowledge and techniques were incredibly precious.
If these professions had been widely promoted, becoming accessible to ordinary people just like the Pokémon Trainer profession, he believed they could have dramatically improved the overall capabilities and strength of people throughout the Pokémon world.
Unfortunately, those ancient professions had already declined. The few surviving legacies were controlled and monopolized by ancient families, who treated their exclusive knowledge as a symbol of their prestigious status.
"Ash, you said that the mysterious power you sensed from the Noctowl might have been cultivated through one of these ancient professions."
The Shiny Milotic beside them looked at Ash curiously.
"Do you know which profession that power belongs to? Can you tell whether the Noctowl was using a power cultivated by a knight, a mage, or someone from another ancient tradition?"
"Hmm..."
Ash considered the question for a moment.
"Based on my deductions, if my perception was correct, the power emanating from that Noctowl should be magical power cultivated by a mage."
He finally revealed his conclusion.
"Magical power cultivated by a mage?!"
The Pokémon exchanged astonished looks as Ash's explanation finally began to make sense to them.
Greninja folded its arms across its chest, its expression thoughtful as it quietly considered the implications.
One Pokémon, however, showed no reaction whatsoever.
It was the Shiny Fennekin.
The little Pokémon had only hatched from its Egg that very morning. It was still in its infancy, tiny and inexperienced, and had no idea what Ash and the others were discussing.
At that moment, it merely tilted its head and gazed at Ash with an adorably innocent expression, its little face full of curiosity.
"So, Ash, are you interested in becoming a mage? Is that why you want to obtain this power?"
Pikachu looked up at its Trainer.
"Is that why you interrupted your training just because you happened to encounter a Noctowl that might possess magical power?"
As Ash's very first Pokémon and the companion who had been with him the longest, Pikachu understood his personality better than anyone.
It knew how disciplined Ash was when it came to training. He would never abandon a cultivation session without a compelling reason.
Yet now, after hearing Ash explain so much about ancient professions and magical power, Pikachu still couldn't understand exactly what he intended to do.
"More or less."
Under the curious gazes of his Pokémon, Ash nodded.
Rather than answering Pikachu's question directly, however, he suddenly asked a question of his own.
"Do you know what Fennekin's Hidden Ability is?"
"Fennekin's Hidden Ability?"
Hearing Ash's question, the Pokémon stared at one another in bewilderment.
None of them seemed to know where he was going with this.
And judging by the way Ash had brought up the question, it was clear that the mysterious power of the Noctowl and the newly hatched Shiny Fennekin were connected in a way they had yet to understand...