"Croak?"
Greninja blinked in confusion when it heard Ash's words.
It wasn't just Greninja.
Pikachu, Pidgeot, Fearow, Gyarados, Milotic, Bulbasaur, Rotom—and even Blaziken—all turned to stare at Ash with astonished expressions.
None of them understood what he meant by attacking.
"Shing!"
Although puzzled, Greninja immediately carried out Ash's instruction.
Pushing itself away from the wall it had been leaning against, it straightened its posture and placed one hand at its waist in a sword-drawing stance.
With a crisp metallic sound—
A brilliant violet energy blade materialized in its hand.
"Ready?" Ash asked with a smile.
"Croak."
Greninja nodded.
Holding the glowing purple Blade in its hand, it assumed a battle-ready stance and fixed its eyes on Ash.
Not only Greninja...
Pikachu, Pidgeot, Fearow, Gyarados, Milotic, Bulbasaur, Rotom, and even Blaziken all watched Ash with intense curiosity, eager to see what he intended to do next.
"Haa..."
Ash didn't keep them waiting.
After taking a deep breath, he slowly spread his hands apart.
Under the stunned gazes of every Pokémon in the living room...
Threads of azure energy seeped out from his palms.
The strands of Aura rapidly converged, spiraling together at incredible speed.
Soon...
They condensed into a glowing sphere about the size of a blueberry.
As Ash continued pouring Aura into it...
The tiny sphere steadily expanded until it was roughly the size of a baseball.
Seeing this scene...
Pikachu and the others looked surprised, but not overwhelmingly so.
After all, they already knew their trainer possessed supernatural powers.
Blaziken, however, knew nothing about Ash's abilities.
Earlier, Ash had only used telepathy to speak directly into its mind.
That alone hadn't fully revealed the truth.
But now...
Watching Ash calmly form an energy sphere in his hands—
An attack it knew all too well.
Aura Sphere.
"Blaziken?!"
Blaziken's jaw practically hit the floor.
Its eyes bulged so far they looked ready to pop out.
In less than ten minutes after arriving...
It had already been shocked over and over again.
"Aura Sphere incoming!"
Ash smiled as he warned Greninja.
The next instant, he hurled the glowing Aura Sphere straight toward it.
"Croak!"
Slash!
The instant the Aura Sphere approached...
Greninja's Night Slash Blade flashed.
One clean cross-shaped slash.
The Aura Sphere was neatly cut into four perfectly equal pieces.
Although Aura Sphere was a powerful move...
Greninja was simply much stronger.
Ash paid no attention whatsoever to the shattered Aura Sphere.
At that very moment...
His entire focus had already been stolen by the system notification echoing in his ears.
[Ding! Aura Sphere trained once. Move Proficiency +1.]
"Hahaha..."
"It worked!"
"It actually worked!"
"I really activated the Move Proficiency system!"
"Success!"
"Yes!!"
The excitement that had been building inside Ash finally exploded.
He couldn't help shouting in celebration.
The Pokémon gathered in the living room had no idea why Ash looked so ecstatic.
They simply assumed he was thrilled because, as a human, he had successfully learned Aura Sphere, a move that normally only Pokémon could master.
Strictly speaking...
They were right.
But not completely.
Ash wasn't celebrating merely because he had learned Aura Sphere.
He was celebrating because he had discovered something far more incredible.
Just like his Pokémon...
He could now use the system's Move Proficiency function to continuously improve his own techniques.
…
The only thing Ash found somewhat disappointing...
Was that morning training had already come to an end.
After lunch, he would be heading into Viridian City.
There, he still had to attend his daily lesson at Viridian Gym under his unofficial mentor, Giovanni.
Every afternoon, Giovanni personally taught him advanced knowledge that ordinary trainers could never hope to access—
Pokémon cultivation.
Battle command.
Tactical planning.
Training philosophy.
And countless other invaluable skills.
Once that hour-long lesson concluded...
Ash would immediately rush to the Pokémon Center in Viridian City.
There, he would livestream consultations for his online Pokémon Clinic.
Meanwhile, Pikachu—his adorable little mascot—would once again help promote and sell copies of Ash's Feebas Beauty Guide during the livestream.
In the evening...
After dinner...
He would take Bulbasaur to the Pokémon Center's Battle Hall for practical combat training.
Then he would bring Pikachu, Greninja, and the others to the City Arena for their scheduled matches.
In short...
Once morning passed...
The rest of his day was almost completely occupied.
Whether it was training his Pokémon...
Or training himself...
There simply wasn't enough time.
Even the tiny fragments of free time he occasionally had—
If he happened to be in Pallet Town...
He would spend them healing wild Pokémon at the two field clinics, copying moves, and earning experience for his Viridian Power.
If he was in Viridian City...
He would use every spare minute to study books and expand his knowledge.
In other words...
The only period truly reserved for training each day...
Was the morning.
Fortunately...
Training had never been something that produced overnight results.
You couldn't eat an entire Snorlax in one bite.
Ash wasn't anxious.
He had plenty of time ahead of him.
And reality quickly proved exactly that.
…..
Over the following days...
Aside from his lessons at Viridian Gym...
His Pokémon Clinic livestreams...
Promoting Ash's Feebas Beauty Guide...
Bulbasaur's Battle Hall training...
And his nightly City Arena battles...
Every dawn and every morning...
Ash trained with relentless determination.
His Jujutsu grew increasingly refined.
His Laijutsu improved at an equally astonishing pace.
And thanks to the system's Move Proficiency feature...
His mastery of Aura Sphere skyrocketed.
After all...
Every successful use automatically guaranteed at least one point of proficiency.
But Ash was never satisfied with the minimum.
Each day, he consulted Blaziken about Aura Sphere's practical experience.
He searched through books and research materials, studying the move's underlying principles.
Since his Aura Power was only Level 36—roughly equivalent to an Advanced-tier Pokémon—his Aura reserves were far from limitless.
He couldn't spam Aura Sphere endlessly.
Because of that...
He paid extraordinary attention to the efficiency of every single training attempt.
The system guaranteed +1 proficiency every time.
But Ash also carefully analyzed each launch, identified flaws, and optimized the move little by little.
As a result...
Each successful Aura Sphere no longer granted merely one point.
Instead...
Every cast earned somewhere between 1.5 and 3 points of proficiency.
In less than three days...
Aura Sphere had already reached Mastered proficiency.
And it continued advancing toward the Grandmaster level.
A level of mastery...
That not even any of Ash's own Pokémon had yet managed to achieve.
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T/N:
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