The moment Ash locked his eyes onto the newcomer, a string of data immediately appeared in front of him.
Fletchling
[Type]: Normal / Flying
[Ability]: Big Pecks (prevents Defense from being lowered)
[Moves]: Tackle, Growl, Quick Attack, Peck, Agility, Roost, Double Team, Razor Wind
[Base Stats]: Total 278, HP 45, Attack 50, Defense 43, Special Attack 40, Special Defense 38, Speed 62
...
[Upgradeable]
[Ability]: Big Pecks I (prevents Defense from being lowered, Defense increased to 1.1x)
Big Pecks, boosting Defense.
It was not exactly a weak effect, but it really was not the best fit for a frail little Fletchling.
Too bad it was not Gale Wings.
If it had been, he would have been able to preview what Gale Wings looked like after enhancement.
The reason Ash cared so much about Gale Wings went back to experiences from his previous life.
What had left the deepest impression on him about Fletchling, and later Talonflame after it evolved, was that very Ability, Gale Wings.
Back in the early games, before it was nerfed, Gale Wings had the powerful effect of giving Flying-type moves +1 priority, and it came with no extra condition at all. Use a Flying-type move, and it got priority. No matter how fast the opponent was, priority moves would always beat them.
Back then, Pokémon weak to Flying had practically vanished from the competitive environment.
Of course, there was a difference between the games and reality.
So once that effect was placed into the real world, it might not be quite as overwhelming as he imagined.
But there was no doubt that Gale Wings was an extremely strong Ability.
Still, changing Abilities was not something he needed to rush.
After all, once Fletchling evolved, Big Pecks would turn into Flame Body.
Ash was just as curious to see what an enhanced Flame Body would do in the real world.
Putting that aside and looking at this Fletchling itself, perfect IVs alone were already proof that it was no ordinary wild Pokémon.
Fletchling might be pretty common in the wild, but most of them did not have especially high potential.
A specimen like the one in front of him was normally incredibly hard to come across.
And the fact that it had shown up in front of Ash at exactly this point made him suspect this was probably the one he had been destined to catch.
Especially since after snatching the Pokéblock, the little thief had not flown off.
Instead, it stood proudly on top of a nearby rock pillar, looking down on Froakie like it was mocking him.
That only reinforced Ash's conclusion.
This really was that little brat bird that had originally been meant to bully Bonnie.
Now that it had basically delivered itself to his doorstep, it was perfect practice material for Froakie.
Once Froakie had been tempered through real combat, then when they came back after lunch and resumed training, his grasp of Acrobatics would definitely take a huge leap forward.
Maybe he could even move straight into practical combat refinement ahead of schedule.
"Froakie, this is a pretty good opponent! Give it everything you've got, use Acrobatics!"
Already annoyed, Froakie reacted the instant he heard the order.
His narrow eyes widened sharply, black pupils filled with focus.
"Croak~"
Froakie's legs exploded with force.
His whole body launched into the air like a nimble bird, green light flowing around him as he shot straight toward the Fletchling perched atop the rock pillar.
Froakie's sudden burst of speed startled Fletchling badly.
It frantically beat its wings and barely dodged the attack by the narrowest margin.
Froakie's strike slammed into the top of the rock pillar instead.
Boom!
A deafening crash rang out.
The top of the stone pillar, which was nearly ten feet thick, was split by Froakie's kick with a massive crack running all the way down to the base. Dense spiderweb-like fractures spread across the sides.
A moment later, the entire pillar fell apart, shattered rock raining down as it collapsed.
Rumble!
Even Ash could not help blurting out, "That's strong!"
Had he just triggered the doubled-power effect?
The sheer force of that hit was far beyond what Ash had expected.
Perched on top of another rock pillar, Fletchling's beak hung open in shock, cold sweat soaking the feathers on its back.
Froakie himself looked just as stunned when he saw the result.
He stared at the freshly made pile of rubble in disbelief.
"Croak?"
Did... he really do that?
Ash did not hold back his praise or encouragement at all. He clapped his hands.
"Great job, Froakie!
Think carefully about that attack just now. What was different compared to your other attempts? Try to recreate that exact feeling!"
Froakie fell into thought.
If he had to say what was different about that attack, then maybe it was that strange sensation, as if time itself had slowed down.
That state of complete concentration while using Acrobatics.
If he could reproduce that state, maybe he could raise his success rate with the special technique of Acrobatics to the point where mistakes were almost impossible.
With that thought in mind, Froakie used Acrobatics again, charging fiercely toward Fletchling.
Ash watched in silence, eyes full of anticipation.
Fletchling had just barely recovered from its shock when it saw that terrifying little monster rushing at it again.
It immediately panicked and beat its wings hard, fleeing the pillar as if its life depended on it.
Bang!
The attack hit the pillar this time too, but only shattered one corner of it.
Aside from a chunk of rock about the size of a soccer ball crashing down, nothing else happened.
The difference in scale between the two attacks was way too extreme.
Visually, it was not even a matter of simply doubling the power.
It looked more like the first one had been several times stronger.
That was where the difference between pure numbers and reality came in.
A base-power difference of 55 and 110 could make people think in simple numerical terms, as though they were just comparing one attack's strength to another on paper.
But reality was not as simple as one plus one equals two.
In the real world, there were all kinds of factors to consider.
It was not just the attacker's strength. The defender's ability to endure, the material's resilience, its hardness, its structure, all of that mattered too.
Once an attack exceeded the target's limit, every extra bit of force after that created a completely different outcome.
For example, if someone slammed shoulder-first into the wall of an old mud-brick house with just enough force to approach the wall's limit, then the wall might only shake a little and drop some dust.
But with just a tiny bit more force, enough to exceed that limit, the entire wall might collapse on the spot.
The visual difference would be enormous.
That was the difference between reality and numbers on a page.
"Did it fail?"
Ash was not too disappointed.
If the special force technique behind Acrobatics were really that easy to master completely, then the move would probably be everywhere on the pro circuit.
Fletchling, which had hurriedly dodged Froakie's second attack, was just about to leave for good and never provoke this harmless-looking but secretly terrifying monster again.
But when it unwillingly glanced back, it froze in surprise yet again.
What was going on?
Where had that terrifying power from before gone, the kind of power that could have one-shot it?
Half doubtful, Fletchling stopped trying to leave and hovered in the air with flapping wings, suspiciously watching Froakie.
Was Froakie deliberately hiding his strength and pretending to be weak?
Or...
Was this Froakie really just half-baked?
Froakie, standing atop the rock pillar, glanced at the motionless Fletchling but did not rush into another attack.
Instead, he sank into thought, carefully analyzing what had made that perfect strike different from the one just now.
That calm, thoughtful state actually made Fletchling even more uncertain.
It ended up awkwardly stuck in place, unable to decide what to do.
If Ash had to describe the situation using words from his previous life, it would be this:
I'm waiting for my cooldown, what are you waiting for?