The Shiny Fennekin's exceptional natural talent was also reflected in its base stats.
Under normal circumstances, Fennekin had a base-stat total of 307.
However, the Shiny Fennekin before them had a base-stat total of 374—a full 66 points higher than an ordinary Fennekin.
And Fennekin's final evolution, Delphox, had a base-stat total of 534.
If this Fennekin were properly raised by its future Trainer and its natural potential were fully developed at every stage of evolution, then if this 66-point advantage continued all the way through its evolution line, its final form would have a base-stat total of:
534 + 66 = 600.
That would make it another extremely rare Pokémon with a base-stat total comparable to a pseudo-legendary.
In short, the Shiny Fennekin's natural talent and potential were extraordinarily high.
According to the system's classification, it had already reached Blue+ (Perfect).
One could say that this was already close to the upper limit of what an ordinary Pokémon could achieve.
Anything beyond that would enter the realm of legendary Mythical Pokémon, Legendary Pokémon, or special Pokémon like Pikachu and Greninja in Ash's possession—Pokémon that carried a special destiny and were connected to the fortune of an entire region or side of the world.
After checking the Shiny Fennekin's data, Ash was just about to close the status panel when he suddenly noticed something he had overlooked.
It was the Shiny Fennekin's Ability.
"[Mage]?! Fennekin's normal Ability isn't [Blaze], while its Hidden Ability is [Magician]. So how did this one end up with [Mage]?"
When Ash's eyes landed on Fennekin's Ability, he couldn't help freezing for a moment.
At first glance, Magician and Mage looked extremely similar.
If someone merely glanced over the names without paying close attention, they might not even notice the difference.
But although their names were similar, the meanings behind the two Abilities were completely different.
Magic tricks were created by using props and highly practiced techniques to produce seemingly incredible visual effects.
But no matter how astonishing those tricks appeared, they were ultimately illusions—things created to deceive the senses.
True magic, however, was fundamentally different.
The mysteries and supernatural phenomena of magic were real.
Put crudely, even in a somewhat contemptuous sense, a magician was simply an ordinary person performing tricks.
A mage, on the other hand, was a genuine being capable of wielding supernatural power.
The two were completely different existences, belonging to entirely different levels and dimensions.
Fennekin's Magician Hidden Ability had a very specific effect: a Pokémon with this Ability could steal the held item of an opposing Pokémon when it attacked.
In the Pokémon games, where practically every Pokémon could be equipped with a held item, this Ability had a certain tactical significance and value.
But in the real world, where Pokémon did not routinely carry battle items in the same way, the Ability was considerably less useful.
What Ash had never expected was that this Shiny Fennekin's Ability wasn't Magician at all.
Instead, it possessed an Ability whose name resembled Magician but whose meaning was completely different—and one Ash had never heard of before.
Mage.
After discovering this, Ash didn't hesitate.
He immediately used his mind to select the explanatory note beside the Ability on the status panel.
The next moment, the detailed information regarding the Mage Ability unfolded before his eyes.
Ability: [Mage]
Description:
A variant Hidden Ability that has an incredibly tiny chance—roughly one in ten million—of appearing among the Delphox evolutionary line.
Delphox possessing this Ability possess astonishing natural talent and attainments in the path of magic, allowing them to undergo magical cultivation.
At the same time, Delphox possessing this Ability find it easier to learn Special Attack moves and status moves. The power of Special Attack moves receives a 50% increase, while the priority of status moves is doubled.
After reading through the data describing the Shiny Fennekin's Mage Ability, Ash was secretly astonished.
Although the Mage Ability couldn't compare to Huge Power, which doubled a Pokémon's Attack, a 50% increase to Special Attack moves was still an astonishing enhancement.
One had to understand that even a power-boosting held item generally provided only around a 20% increase in a relevant stat.
Although held-item boosts were not restricted specifically to Special Attack or Physical Attack, they usually came with restrictions concerning the types of moves they enhanced.
The Mage Ability was different.
Its enhancement had no such type restriction.
Although it only strengthened Special Attack moves, the range of moves it could benefit was considerably broader.
And besides the 50% Special Attack boost, it also doubled the priority of status moves.
On top of that, the Ability provided an obvious talent bonus toward learning and mastering Special Attack moves and status moves.
Although these additional benefits weren't represented by straightforward numerical values on the system panel, Ash understood their true value perfectly well.
Status moves were moves that could not directly deal damage.
Their power was therefore always considered zero, although some status moves could indirectly cause damage by inflicting conditions on an opponent.
Status moves included, but were not limited to, moves that changed the user's or opponent's stats, inflicted status conditions, restored the user's HP, altered weather or field conditions, or removed status conditions from the user or members of its team.
And move priority was essentially a rule-level mechanism governing how quickly a move could be executed.
In actual battles, an increase in move priority could have an impact even greater than the 50% Special Attack boost.
However, although those numerical enhancements were impressive, they were not what truly caught Ash's attention.
What really interested him was one particular phrase in the description of the Mage Ability:
"Possesses astonishing natural talent and attainments in the path of magic, allowing it to undergo magical cultivation."
"…"
The Pokémon of this world had always relied primarily on battle to increase their strength.
By fighting, they absorbed the mysterious energy governed by the world's special rules—energy that was similar to battle experience—and used it to grow stronger.
Other than that, there were very few conventional methods for a Pokémon to increase its strength independently.
Of course, Psychic-type Pokémon could cultivate their mental power.
Ghost-type Pokémon could absorb negative emotions and even life force.
But Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokémon were special cases.
Other Pokémon could not simply imitate or reproduce those methods.
Yet now, after seeing the description of the Shiny Fennekin's Mage Ability, Ash had discovered something entirely new.
Apart from battling and ordinary training, there was actually a third method through which a Pokémon could increase its strength.
Cultivation.
This was different from the meditation used by Psychic-type Pokémon to temper and strengthen their mental power.
The Shiny Fennekin could undergo magical cultivation.
Regardless of what form that cultivation took, the important point was that Fennekin now possessed an additional method of increasing its strength outside of actual combat and conventional training.
That was a huge advantage.
After all, Pokémon couldn't battle or train at every moment of every day.
If battle and training were considered "action," then cultivation was the equivalent of "resting while progressing."
When there was no battle available, or when a Pokémon became exhausted from training, other Pokémon would eventually reach a point where their experience gains and strength improvements slowed or even entered a bottleneck.
But Fennekin could use that time to practice magic.
It could continue gaining experience.
It could continue increasing its strength.
With this additional growth path, Fennekin's rate of development would likely be considerably faster than that of ordinary Pokémon.
Catching up from behind and eventually overtaking others through this alternative path of growth was almost inevitable.
"However, cultivation always requires a cultivation method."
Ash's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought about it.
"Whether it's Psychic power cultivation, Viridian Force cultivation, or Aura cultivation, all of them require an appropriate cultivation method."
"Without the corresponding technique, even if someone possesses extraordinary talent for cultivation, that talent is ultimately useless."
As someone who possessed two different Psychic abilities, Ash had considerable authority when it came to cultivation.
And now, a brand-new possibility had appeared before him.
A Pokémon capable of magical cultivation.
The discovery had made Ash increasingly curious about just how far this Shiny Fennekin could ultimately go.