[Ding! Skill "Thunder Wave" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
[Ding! Skill "Thunder Shock" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
...
[Ding! Skill "Icy Wind" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
[Ding! Skill "Gunk Shot" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
[Ding! Skill "Substitute" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
[Ding! Skill "Sand Attack" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
...
[Ding! Skill "Scary Face" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
[Ding! Skill "Feather Dance" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
...
[Ding! Skill "Whirlpool" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
[Ding! Skill "Facade" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
...
[Ding! Skill "Attract" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
[Ding! Skill "Hydro Pump" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
...
[Ding! Skill "Hydro Pump" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
[Ding! Skill "Tackle" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
[Ding! Skill "Vine Whip" trained once. Proficiency +1.]
On the beach beside the estuary downstream of Pallet Town's river, Ash trained diligently and meticulously, while the familiar stream of system notifications continued ringing in his ears.
Although the system provided no direct feedback for his own martial arts training, the progress of his Pokémon was crystal clear.
By the time the sun had climbed high into the sky and reached its midday position, Ash finally concluded his morning Jujutsu training session.
He then had Rotom compare two videos side by side.
One was recorded during his first practice session that morning.
The other had just been recorded.
The difference was obvious.
Whether it was Rotom observing from the sidelines or Ash himself as the practitioner, both could clearly see the improvement.
After only a single morning of training, his mastery and familiarity with Jujutsu had increased dramatically.
"At this rate, I should be able to start integrating Aura Power into Jujutsu within a few days."
Ash was extremely satisfied with his progress.
In fact, it had exceeded even his own expectations.
Thinking about it carefully, the reason wasn't difficult to understand.
His current body was simply far superior to the one he had possessed in his previous life.
Moreover, he had spent years continuously strengthening it through training.
Long before he ever began practicing Jujutsu again, he had already met all the physical requirements necessary for martial arts cultivation.
His previous life had been completely different.
As an orphan, he had suffered from poor nutrition throughout much of his childhood.
Even after entering university, he had needed part-time jobs just to cover his living expenses.
His physical condition back then had been terrible.
When he first enrolled in a martial arts school, most of his effort hadn't actually gone into learning techniques.
It had gone into repairing and strengthening his body.
Now, however, things were entirely different.
His body wasn't merely healthy—it was exceptionally strong.
Although his muscles weren't overly bulky or exaggerated, the explosive power hidden beneath them was tremendous.
His status panel proved it.
Both his Strength and Stamina had already surpassed those of an average adult.
And not an adult from Earth.
An adult from the Pokémon world.
That solid foundation, combined with his previous life's memories and experience with Jujutsu, was precisely why his progress had become so astonishing.
Since his Jujutsu training was advancing far faster than expected, Ash realized he needed to accelerate the rest of his plans as well.
Learning Laijutsu.
Learning Aura Sphere.
Fusing Jujutsu with Aura Power.
The entire roadmap would need to move forward ahead of schedule.
Fortunately, detailed plans for all of those goals had already been prepared.
More importantly, none of them required outside assistance.
Everything could be accomplished through his own efforts.
For now, all he needed to do was proceed step by step.
The one exception was Aura Sphere.
That required much more careful consideration.
First of all, Aura Sphere was a move used exclusively by Pokémon.
Not just any Pokémon, either.
Only Pokémon capable of sensing and manipulating Aura could learn it.
Ash had already tested the system's move-learning functionality numerous times.
Unfortunately, it didn't work on him.
Whether it was elemental moves such as Water-, Fire-, or Grass-type techniques...
Whether it was Normal-type moves, which were generally easy to learn...
Or even Fighting-type moves, which theoretically had the greatest compatibility with humans...
The results had always been the same.
Failure.
Ash suspected the reason was fairly straightforward.
While Fighting-type Pokémon often possessed humanoid or semi-humanoid appearances, they were still fundamentally different lifeforms from humans.
They might look similar on the outside, but on a biological level, they were entirely different species.
As for the exact differences between Pokémon and humans at the genetic and anatomical level, Ash couldn't say.
After all, he wasn't a scientist.
In fact, the more he reflected on the Pokémon world, the more he noticed something rather amusing.
Most academic researchers devoted themselves almost entirely to studying Pokémon.
Very few studied human biology.
Very few researched human life sciences.
And strangely enough, the organizations that seemed most interested in researching humans were often the criminal syndicates operating in the shadows.
It was an ironic observation.
The state of scientific development in the Pokémon world was oddly lopsided.
Of course, that was merely a side thought.
The direction of the world's scientific progress had little to do with him.
He wasn't particularly interested in it.
What truly mattered was his own theory.
Humans couldn't learn Pokémon moves because they lacked the innate biological potential required to do so.
That was his conclusion.
But Aura Sphere was different.
Very different.
Ash himself possessed Aura Power.
He was an Aura user.
That meant he should theoretically be capable of learning Aura Sphere.
More importantly—
He possessed the natural aptitude required for the move.
And if he truly succeeded in learning it...
Then there was a possibility.
A very exciting possibility.
Perhaps the system's Skill Proficiency function would finally recognize one of his abilities.
If that happened, he could grind proficiency exactly the same way his Pokémon did.
Every use would provide guaranteed progress.
Every training session would produce measurable results.
And eventually...
He could raise Aura Sphere to an utterly ridiculous level.
A level that would leave ordinary Aura users speechless.
Just imagining the possibility made Ash excited.
After all—
Who wouldn't want to enjoy the feeling of cheating with a system?