[Newbie Ash: I think I understand now. So the Insight Eye's ability is to see through a Pokemon's potential in terms of ability values, right?]
[Breeder Ash: That's just one basic function. At my current level, with just a single glance, I can see through a Pokemon's overall strength, its ability upper limits, its breeding level, what moves it knows, and even its living habits and battle patterns.]
[Breeder Ash: My ability should be genuine S-rank level. The fact that you drew an A-rank version means you haven't obtained all of my current capabilities, but it should definitely be sufficient for your daily needs.]
The experienced trainers in the chat group had achieved incredible mastery in every field they'd specialized in - their abilities were all absolutely mind-blowing.
For example, the Aura that Ash had first drawn could even compete with the world's most powerful Legendary Pokemon.
Although he didn't know the specific effects of this second A-rank ability he'd just obtained, even if it had just one of the functions that Breeder Ash had mentioned, Ash felt it was completely worth it.
Honestly, having experienced predecessors to guide the way felt absolutely amazing!
[Newbie Ash: How exactly do I use this Insight Eye ability?]
[Breeder Ash: Do you think it's some kind of Pokemon move? This thing is like a refined instinct I've developed. Just by looking at a Pokemon, you can automatically gather its data. If you really need to categorize it, it should be considered a passive ability. You don't need to actively use it - you'll understand how it works once you try it out.]
[Newbie Ash: But I don't know anything about Pokemon levels or rankings. Even if I can see what level something is, I won't know what that means, right?]
[Breeder Ash: If you had obtained my complete ability set, the chat group would have directly transferred knowledge about level systems into your mind. But even without that automatic knowledge transfer, you'll still be able to clearly see what level your opponent is - you just might not understand the specific meaning that level represents in the bigger picture.]
In other words, Ash might be able to tell whether a Pokemon was Champion level or Elite Four level, but he wouldn't necessarily know how those two levels ranked within the entire strength hierarchy.
[Breeder Ash: Level rankings are divided into Novice, Normal, Advanced, Superior, Professional, Gym, Elite, Champion, and God Realm. When you use Insight Eye, you'll easily see the Pokemon's corresponding level, and then you can compare it with this information I just shared.]
[Newbie Ash: Got it! I've written it all down!]
Ash silently memorized everything Breeder Ash had explained. He had never been this focused and serious, not even during Professor Oak's theory classes.
[Newbie Ash: So what about that C-rank ability? Does it make me run faster or something?]
[Breeder Ash: That ability is actually for Pokemon, not trainers. Didn't I mention before that ability values have potential rankings from S-rank down to E-rank? If you give that ability to your Pokemon, and its speed potential is below C-rank, it will instantly jump up to C-rank. If it's already above C-rank, then this enhancement will stack with existing potential, and there's a decent chance it could break through its current potential limits.]
[Champion Ash: That's exactly why we keep saying your luck is absolutely incredible. Even a C-rank ability is definitely among the most useful options available. It's vastly better than drawing some completely trivial knowledge like 'what side dishes pair best with dinner to enhance flavor.']
[Newbie Ash: ...]
Good grief, there's actually such useless stuff among C-rank abilities? How unlucky would someone have to be to draw something like that... cough cough, it wouldn't happen to be Unlucky Ash who started drawing things like that, would it?
Unlucky Ash, who was currently fishing in the real world, suddenly sneezed loudly, then looked around suspiciously, figuring the ocean breeze was getting too chilly, so he put on an extra layer of clothing.
[Champion Ash: Have you reached Viridian City yet?]
[Newbie Ash: Not yet, but I should arrive there tomorrow.]
[Champion Ash: That's pretty good time. Here's an important warning - don't challenge the Viridian Gym, and please don't ask me why right now. Wait until you have at least Gym-level strength before you learn about what's really going on with Viridian Gym.]
[Newbie Ash: Uh... okay, I understand.]
Ash felt somewhat confused, not understanding why he shouldn't challenge the Viridian Gym. In fact, he had only just learned that Viridian City even had a Pokemon Gym.
If Champion Ash hadn't said anything, he probably would have headed straight to challenge the Viridian Gym immediately after registering at the Pokemon Center.
But since the experienced Champion had specifically told him not to go to the Viridian Gym for now, he would put that matter on hold for the time being.
After saying goodbye to everyone in the group chat, Ash exited the interface and returned his attention to the real world.
It seemed like they'd been chatting in the group for a long time, but in reality, only about ten minutes had passed. The rain outside had just stopped falling. Misty, still leaning against her yellow bicycle, appeared drowsy from the gloomy weather, so she didn't notice that Ash had been meditating with his eyes closed for over ten minutes.
In this kind of peaceful, post-rain atmosphere, if there had been a comfortable bed and warm blanket available, anyone could easily drift off to sleep.
Back in reality, Ash turned his gaze toward his Pikachu, and instantly, a series of detailed information appeared clearly in his vision.
[Species: Pikachu]
[Gender: Male]
[Level: Normal Advanced]
[Ability: Static]
[Moves: Quick Attack, Thunder Shock, XXXXX]
[Six-dimensional stats: Physical Attack D—B (A) Special Attack D—B (A) Defense E—C (A) Special Defense E—C (A) HP D—B (A) Speed D—B+ (A)]
(Note: This panel is only listed for readers to understand better, it does not mean it appears exactly like this in Ash's eyes.)
Looking at Pikachu's six-dimensional attribute display, Ash's head practically sprouted visible question marks.
What kind of bizarre six-dimensional stats were these?
D—B... Did that mean it fluctuated between D-rank and B-rank? Did normal Pokemon really have ability values that varied this dramatically?
Then there was Pikachu's ability upper limits, which were uniformly A-rank across the board.
Although Pikachu was the first Pokemon Ash had observed using Insight Eye, based on his experience with the lottery wheel, A-rank was already an extremely rare tier, second only to S-rank ability upper limits.
In other words, his Pikachu's natural potential was unexpectedly excellent?
It was just that the ability fluctuation seemed a bit difficult to understand. Normally, would there really be a fluctuation spanning three entire levels? A single level difference in ability values was supposedly quite significant. No matter how you looked at it, it shouldn't fluctuate up and down by three full levels, right?
Or was his Pikachu somehow special?
Unfortunately, without other Pokemon to use as reference points, he couldn't draw any more definitive conclusions.
In addition to ability values, he could also clearly see moves, abilities, names, and levels. This passive skill was essentially like having a built-in Pokedex - equivalent to a Pokemon database installed directly in his mind that could analyze even more detailed information.
But just as Breeder Ash had warned, this skill wasn't the complete version after all, and it still had some obvious limitations.
For example, Pikachu's ability was listed as Static.
Ash could clearly see what Pikachu's ability was called, but he had absolutely no idea what Static actually did...