Knights and mages, magic and fighting spirit—these ancient professions and mysterious powers were primarily found in the Western world, in regions such as Kalos and Galar.
Kanto, Johto, and the other regions, on the other hand, had no traditional legacies of knights or mages.
Once Ash returned to Kanto in the near future, investigating the existence of mage organizations and obtaining their magical cultivation techniques would become an extremely difficult task.
According to Ash's original plan, he had intended to visit Wikstrom and ask for his assistance in locating a mage organization.
The reason was simple. Wikstrom was a native of the Kalos region and understood it far better than Ash ever could.
Furthermore, Wikstrom was one of the Kalos Elite Four. His status and influence were unquestionable, and the power he wielded, along with the information at his disposal, far surpassed what Ash currently possessed.
Finally, Wikstrom was also the head of the prestigious Knight family.
Magic and fighting spirit, knights and mages—these two professions and their respective powers were frequently mentioned together. That alone demonstrated how closely connected they were.
If Ash approached Wikstrom for help, perhaps a mage organization would be willing to do the Elite Four member a favor and provide Ash with a set of magical cultivation techniques.
Even if they weren't willing to hand over such techniques directly, Wikstrom could at least tell Ash where the mage organizations were located. That would give Ash a clear target to pursue when he eventually tried to obtain the techniques himself.
What Ash hadn't expected, however, was that he would discover a clue about magic and mages before he even had the chance to approach Wikstrom.
Thinking of this, Ash didn't hesitate for a moment. He immediately entered a meditative state and released his Aura to pursue the Noctowl he had just seen.
Instead of using Aura as a 360-degree radar to scan his surroundings, he narrowed its range into a highly focused beam, tracking a single target in a straight line.
Ash's Aura was already powerful enough to rival that of the Pokémon in his second team. When he exerted himself to the fullest, he could even detect targets hundreds of kilometers away.
The Noctowl had flown past the hotel window through the swirling snow outside. Because of the blizzard, it wasn't moving particularly quickly. Moreover, it was carrying a glowing red crystal in its beak, making it even easier to identify.
Ash extended his Aura, and it didn't take long for him to track down and lock onto the Noctowl.
Flap, flap...
Noctowl possessed soft wings and the remarkable ability to approach its prey silently while flying, without making the slightest sound.
That was under normal circumstances, however.
Today, the weather outside was bitterly cold, with snow and strong winds battering everything in their path. Even though this Noctowl was fairly powerful, flying through the blizzard was clearly taking a toll on it. Each beat of its wings required considerable effort, producing a series of muffled flapping sounds.
Ash's Listening to All Things meditation technique picked up even these minute details and relayed them to him.
But he paid no attention to such insignificant sounds. His entire focus was fixed on the Noctowl and the direction in which it was flying.
As he continued tracking it, Ash gradually breathed a sigh of relief.
The Noctowl wasn't leaving Lumiose City. It wasn't flying toward the outskirts, either.
Instead, it circled around the city before eventually making its way to the old district in the north.
After flying over the streets of the old neighborhood for a while, the Noctowl began to slow down.
Ash wondered where it intended to land.
Then, without warning, the Noctowl suddenly darted toward a dark stone wall situated between an old bookstore and a secondhand record shop.
"Hmm?!"
Ash couldn't help staring in surprise.
Although the Noctowl had spent a long time flying through the blizzard over Lumiose City, exhausting a considerable amount of energy, its mental state appeared perfectly normal. It showed no signs of confusion, dizziness, or disorientation.
Ash couldn't understand it.
The Noctowl had been flying perfectly well just moments earlier. Why would it suddenly attempt something as suicidal as crashing headfirst into a wall?
"Wait?!"
Just as Ash was struggling to make sense of the Noctowl's bizarre behavior, something unexpected happened—something he found even harder to comprehend.
The Noctowl flew straight toward the wall between the old bookstore and the record shop.
Ash was convinced it was about to smash into the stone surface, potentially leaving itself seriously injured.
But that wasn't what happened.
The Noctowl passed straight through the wall and disappeared on the other side!
"!!!"
Human eyesight could sometimes be deceived. Perhaps someone might mistake an illusion for reality or imagine having seen something that had never happened.
But Ash wasn't relying on his ordinary vision.
He was observing everything through the extraordinary sensory perception granted by his Aura.
There was absolutely no possibility that he had simply imagined what he had seen.
And that was precisely why he was so utterly astonished.
The Noctowl had genuinely passed through a solid stone wall!
"Hmm?! My Aura can't penetrate the wall? I can't even see what's on the other side?"
This discovery shocked Ash all over again.
One of Aura's most powerful applications was its ability to penetrate certain obstacles, allowing him to perceive what lay beyond them. In practical terms, it functioned much like X-ray vision.
At that very moment, Ash could use his Aura to see through the walls of the neighboring buildings. He could clearly perceive the interiors of both the old bookstore and the record shop.
Yet the wall directly in front of him—the very wall the Noctowl had passed through and vanished behind—was completely impenetrable to his Aura.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sense anything beyond it.
"Could there be something like a magical barrier here?"
Based on the various peculiarities surrounding the Noctowl, Ash had already begun connecting the mysterious Pokémon with mages and magic.
Now that he had encountered this extraordinary phenomenon, his first thought was that the wall itself might be an illusion created through magic.
Perhaps it wasn't even a real wall.
Perhaps a mage had concealed the entrance to a secret magical realm behind a spell—a magical barrier disguising the entrance to a hidden world!
That possibility immediately captured Ash's imagination.
He repeatedly attempted to extend his Aura through the wall, hoping to discover what lay beyond it.
Every attempt ended in failure.
Eventually, Ash decided to stop wasting his energy.
Instead, he left an Aura mark on the signboards of the old record shop and the bookstore beside the mysterious wall. He then raised his Aura perception high above the ground, surveying the northern old district from the air and committing the surrounding streets to memory.
"Once I have some free time tomorrow or the day after, I'll come here in person and investigate."
After placing the Aura marks and making sure he had memorized the location, Ash recalled his Aura and opened his eyes.
"Pika?"
Pikachu had been chatting with the other Pokémon in the room. Seeing Ash emerge from his meditation much earlier than usual, it tilted its adorable little face in confusion.
"Pika, pika? (What's wrong? You usually train your Aura for two full hours, rain or shine. You never miss a session. Why did you stop so early today?)"
"Something unexpected happened."
Ash shook his head.
His mind was still occupied with the bizarre scene he had just witnessed: a Noctowl flying straight into a stone wall and vanishing without a trace.
"Pikachu, how long have I been training?"
"Pika! (Just one hour.)"
Pikachu glanced at the time displayed prominently on its phone's lock screen before answering.
"One hour, huh?"
As Pikachu had said, Ash normally trained his Aura for two hours every single day, without exception. He had maintained that routine with unwavering discipline.
But after what had just happened, he simply couldn't calm his mind enough to continue meditating.
The matter involved the mysterious Shiny Fennekin, so Ash intended to take it extremely seriously.