Because of his protagonist aura and naturally high affinity, Gyarados had grown close to Ash. However, it still refused to be caught by a human.
According to Gyarados itself, it had once loved a fellow Magikarp. But that Magikarp had evolved before it did and was later captured by camp staff and released into the wild outside the valley. Gyarados had forced itself to evolve early—despite the injuries and strain—just so it could escape and reunite with its beloved.
Just like humans, Pokémon are intelligent and emotional beings. Ash deeply respected Gyarados's wishes.
And truthfully, although his Source Cleansing ability could indeed strengthen a Pokémon's potential over time, with his current level of Viridian Power, it would take him decades to elevate a Pokémon with average talent to the levels of Froakie or even his Pichu at home.
So, instead of spending years enhancing low-talent Pokémon, it was far more efficient and cost-effective to just seek out Pokémon with high natural potential.
Compared to Froakie's Purple Potential and Pichu's Gold, Gyarados's Red Potential really didn't measure up.
Moreover, Gyarados had already evolved and was technically middle-aged. For Ash — a Trainer with both psychic powers and a system — it simply didn't hold much appeal.
Ash preferred raising his Pokémon from their earliest stages, working with them from the ground up and maximizing their growth at every level.
So he wasn't disappointed at all when Gyarados rejected the idea of being captured.
He simply promised it that, from now on, if it came to the river near Pallet Town every day, he'd keep his word and help elevate its potential — one full tier higher.
"System, copy Gyarados's skills."
Beep…
…Copying…
…Complete.
For Ash at this stage, Gyarados's level was already considered quite high. And its skill pool was packed with powerful moves. So after finishing the Source Cleansing process, Ash naturally copied all of Gyarados's known moves into his system as well.
Once he was done, Ash returned Gyarados to its Poké Ball and handed it to Gary.
"Gary, do me a favor and give this Poké Ball to Professor Oak. I've still got a few things I need to take care of."
"No problem~"
After giving Gary the instruction, Ash released Froakie and headed back to his cabin with it in his arms.
Once inside, he got straight to work.
He picked up the cabin's landline phone and called home.
Ring…
"Hello? Son!!"
His mom's cheerful voice lit up the line as soon as she picked up.
"Hey, Mom! How's everything at home today? Is Pichu behaving, or has he been causing trouble while you do housework?"
"Pichu's not nearly as naughty as you make him out to be! He's an angel, right Pichu?"
"PiiPichuu!!"
(Pichu's excited chirp rang out through the receiver.)
Delia laughed.
"Ash, ever since you left for summer camp, I've been feeling a little lonely here. But luckily, you left Pichu behind to keep me company."
"These past few days, though, he's really been missing you. Keeps asking when the camp will end and when you'll be home."
Ash chuckled.
"Summer camp only lasts two weeks, so I'll be back soon. And when I return, I'll be bringing Pichu a new friend! So be nice to Froakie, okay, Pichu?"
"Pii? Pii-chu! Froakie?"
(Pichu sounded curious and excited.)
"Here, Froakie, say hi to your future roommate!"
Ash held the phone up to Froakie.
"Froooa~"
Froakie croaked politely into the receiver.
"Oh, right, Mom — today's camp activity was a fishing contest. Froakie and I managed to reel in a Gyarados and won first place again!"
"Gyarados?! Are you okay?! You didn't get hurt, did you?!"
Ash laughed.
"No worries — Froakie had my back the whole time. I'm completely fine. But Mom… you're not even surprised I got first place?"
"Of course not! My son's amazing — first place is the least I'd expect. But more importantly, I just care about your safety."
"Don't worry~ I'm being careful. I'm not doing anything reckless."
"Oh right, Mom — remember how I called last night and asked you to register an online shop for me on the League's official trade platform? Were you able to do that?"
Delia smiled proudly through the phone.
"You asked your mom to handle it — of course it got done!"
"The moment I got off the phone with you last night, I went straight to the League website and registered your online store. Since you said there was no need to hide your identity, I went ahead and named it — 'Ash's Skill Shop!'"
"This morning, the platform approved the registration, and just an hour before you called, I even reached out to a page design company to help with the store layout and design!"
"If you've got any specific ideas or requests, let me know now and I'll pass them along to the designers~"
Ash: "…"
He was honestly stunned.
He had assumed registering the store would take two or three days. He never expected his mom to work so fast — the shop had been approved this morning, and she'd already contacted a design company to renovate the page?
At this rate, the shop might be fully operational in just three days.
Though…
Ash did feel a bit awkward about the name "Ash's Skill Shop."
It sounded so childish — like a store owned by Mickey Mouse.
Still, despite teasing his mom a little about the name, he ultimately didn't ask her to change it.
Just like she said, he wasn't afraid of revealing the fact that he used psychic powers to help Pokémon learn moves.
And having his name in the store title wasn't necessarily a bad thing. At first, most customers would just assume he was some obscure move-researching Breeder. But once the store became popular, it could actually double as advertising for himself!
Rather than worrying about whether his powers would be exposed — or whether that exposure would attract danger — Ash believed it was better to grow stronger.
If he wanted to climb to the top of the Trainer world and become the strongest in history, then he needed ambition to match his talent.
"Oh, right Ash — about the Poké Ball Transfer Machine…"
Delia's voice turned thoughtful.
"That machine was developed by the League's tech department. It's not available to the public, and regular people can't really get their hands on one. How are we going to handle that?"
After all, Ash's online shop wasn't selling physical goods. It was offering a move-learning service. That meant buyers would need to send their Pokémon to Ash.
While it was possible to ship Poké Balls via a Pokémon Center, it wasn't exactly convenient — especially if Ash was traveling around and spending most of his time in the wild.
If he didn't have a portable transfer machine with him, his entire business would stall.
"Don't worry," Ash said.
"I'll go talk to Professor Oak about the transfer machine. I'm sure he'll have a solution."
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T/N:
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