During the one-hour morning training session, raising two moves from Novice to Skilled might sound difficult.
But if it's just one move from Novice to Skilled, then it's actually quite easy.
Especially since, over the past couple of days, Magikarp and Feebas had been playing in the river and unconsciously using those very moves. Each accidental use had already triggered the system's learning mechanism, quietly stacking proficiency in the background.
That meant the difficulty of the training Ash assigned today had been reduced even further.
"Alright. Since you all understand your tasks, let's begin."
"There's a large boulder that rolled into the river upstream near Stone Bridge. Valor, go there and practice Tackle on the rock."
"Downstream, Uncle Sangtian has been pumping water into his fields these past few days. Lumina, go practice Water Gun toward his farmland."
"Splash—!"
"Blu~!"
After Ash finished arranging everything, the two Pokémon nodded and immediately sprang into action.
Morning had just arrived.
The sun was only peeking out, revealing half its round face—like a newborn swaddled in glowing clouds—slowly and gently rising.
Its brilliant light carried warmth with it, flowing toward Pallet Town. The small river outside the town shimmered under the breeze, rippling with golden reflections.
"Pidgeot—!"
Just as Ash was about to turn aside and begin his own training, a clear, powerful bird cry echoed from the distant sky.
Ash turned his head in delight.
Against the rising sun on the horizon, two bird Pokémon—one large, one small— were flapping their wings and racing toward him at full speed.
If not Pidgeotto and Spearow, who else could they be?
"Whooosh—!"
A strong gust swept across the riverbank, carrying the breath of dawn as Pidgeotto and Spearow descended, landing on the pebble-covered shore before Ash.
"Pidgeotto, Spearow—you're here."
Seeing that after a night's rest, the heavy sorrow clouding their expressions had eased just a little, Ash finally felt some of the tension in his heart release.
The death of their mother, Fearow, was a tragedy—painful even for an outsider like Ash.
Grief was natural.
But if they remained trapped in sorrow forever, that would be far more worrying.
Thankfully, the brothers were resilient.
It seemed Ash's concern had been a bit excessive.
"Pidgeot— Ash," Pidgeotto said, looking at him steadily. "Can you take Spearow in and let it join us?"
"Of course." Ash nodded without hesitation.
"Before Fearow passed, she entrusted Spearow to me, and I promised her I would take care of it. I won't break that promise."
"From today on, Spearow will be one of my Pokémon—part of our team."
As he spoke, Ash reached into his pocket and took out a Poké Ball.
"Spearow—here we go!"
"Chee—!"
Seeing the Poké Ball in Ash's hand, and feeling the encouragement in his brother's eyes, Spearow nodded firmly.
The large cypress tree on the hillside—their former nest—wasn't far from Pallet Town.
And in Pallet Town, there was a kind human with healing powers who went to Dashiwan Valley every day to treat injured wild Pokémon.
Spearow had long heard Ash's name.
It had never imagined becoming Ash's Pokémon—but now that the moment had arrived, it didn't feel resistant at all.
On the contrary, it felt excited.
Its mother had entrusted it to Ash.
Its only remaining family—its brother Pidgeotto—was already Ash's Pokémon.
Following Ash felt natural.
"Then—go, Poké Ball!"
Ash didn't hesitate and threw the Poké Ball.
Bang!
"Shooo—!"
The Poké Ball struck Spearow, which instantly turned into a beam of red light and was drawn inside.
Because Spearow joined willingly, there was no struggle.
"Beep—beep—beep—click!"
The Poké Ball rocked gently twice on the riverbank, then emitted a crisp locking sound.
"System, check Spearow's data."
Ash picked up the Poké Ball and issued the command mentally.
[Pokémon: Spearow]
Level: LV.20
Type: Normal / Flying
Nature: Bold, Mischievous
Ability: Keen Eye
Hidden Ability: Sniper
Pokémon Potential Classification:Red
Moves (Copyable):
Proficient (1/1000): Peck, Fury Attack
Skilled (1/500): Growl, Leer, Focus Energy
Novice (1/100): Mimic
…
After scanning Spearow's profile, Ash instantly understood everything.
Compared to its brother Pidgeotto's Blue-tier potential, Spearow's potential was slightly lower—but that was only in comparison to Pidgeotto.
Against ordinary wild Pokémon, Red-tier potential was already exceptional.
After all, Spearow was the child of a former Fearow leader.
Its move pool was still sparse, but LV.20, combined with an unawakened Hidden Ability: Sniper, left Ash extremely satisfied.
Ash never underestimated Pokémon abilities.
In truth, abilities weren't something every Pokémon possessed.
Pokémon with very poor potential often lacked even a basic ability—let alone a hidden one.
That was why Ash was so pleased.
A Spearow with Sniper and one without Sniper were practically two different Pokémon.
Normally, when a Pokémon struck an opponent's weak point or vital area, it triggered a critical hit, dealing 1.5× damage.
But with Sniper, that critical damage was multiplied again.
In other words—
A Sniper Pokémon dealt 2.25× normal damage when landing a critical hit.
It was like finding an enemy's exposed weakness and striking it precisely—
a single blow, devastating and decisive.
And now, that potential belonged to Spearow.
A new wing had officially joined the flock.
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