In this world, the potential of Pokémon is roughly divided into five levels: white, green, blue, purple, and red. The level of potential significantly impacts a Pokémon's growth speed, learning ability, and overall development capacity.
Among these, white and green potential ratings are the most common, found in most ordinary Pokémon. Green-potential Pokémon can barely evolve to their final form, and reaching the Superior level is already quite impressive.
Blue-potential Pokémon are considered somewhat talented. Generally, Pokémon at this level have a high probability of entering the professional ranks. Most Pokémon breeding shops typically only sell Pokémon up to this level.
Purple-potential Pokémon are extremely rare. Pokémon at this level are usually direct descendants of powerful Pokémon. It can be said that they are guaranteed to reach Gym level, with a reasonable chance of breaking through to Elite.
As for red potential, it signifies that the Pokémon has Champion-level capability. Most Pokémon that reach Champion-level usually possess this potential rating.
However, a Pokémon's potential is not set in stone—it can increase through dedicated effort and proper care.
For example, evolution is the most common method for Pokémon to improve their potential. The most obvious examples are Pokémon that require a stone or evolution item to evolve. A high-quality evolution item can significantly boost the user's potential. Besides this, the evolution environment, external assistance, and absorption of valuable resources also contribute to growth.
This was why David wasn't surprised to see that Gallade had red potential. Gallade's strength was impressive even among Champion-level Pokémon, so even if its potential wasn't inherently red, it must have been elevated to red during its later evolutions.
However, Zorua was different. The little fox was only a recently born Pokémon with no prior enhancements, yet he was already comparable to—or even slightly surpassed—the Champion-level Gallade. This demonstrated his incredible potential, especially considering Zorua still had one more evolution ahead.
David narrowed his eyes in thought. It was said that there were even higher levels above red, but that already involved the realm of Legendary Pokémon, which was clearly beyond his current reach. But then again, the future Zoroark might just have the qualifications to glimpse it.
That being said, no matter how exceptional innate talent was, it ultimately depended on subsequent effort.
With this in mind, David called out to the little fox, who was playing around the training room. Looking into his large, bright orange eyes, David said seriously, "Zorua, it's time to start training. We agreed yesterday that we would work hard together to become the strongest partners!"
The little fox nodded enthusiastically. "Zoro~ Zoro!"
Ever since absorbing the Seed of Awakening yesterday, David discovered that he could directly understand what Zorua was saying. In the system's interface, under the "Abilities" section, a "Partial Aura Power" notification had appeared.
That's right—the special ability David awakened was Aura, which appeared in various documented cases. However, he temporarily couldn't directly communicate telepathically with Pokémon like the Aura Guardians and Psychics could.
Looking at the "(Awakening in progress)" text next to his name in the attribute display, David understood that his Aura power hadn't yet fully awakened. But it didn't matter. The current stage of Aura power was already sufficient for his needs.
After closing the interface, David picked up the control tablet for the training room. After preparing the equipment, he had the little fox start basic assessment tests while he recorded the data.
Soon, Zorua completed all the test exercises. David immediately began analyzing Zorua's general condition using the recorded data.
Just as the Pokédex stated, the little fox's physical development was excellent. All measurements were generally 1.2 to 1.3 times higher than those of similar Pokémon at the same stage. Especially in speed—his innate talent combined with the effects of yesterday's Speed Potion meant that Zorua's speed, thanks to his leg muscle strength and body flexibility far exceeding his peers, was well above the level of normal Novice-rank Pokémon. It was still increasing as the potion continued to be absorbed.
After a thorough assessment, his mental power and energy intensity were also basically at the level described in the Pokédex. It confirmed that the system's categorization was consistent with reality, just more precise and accurate.
As for moves, because his overall energy intensity was above average, Zorua's offensive techniques were very powerful. However, being newly born, his overall proficiency was moderate and lacked systematic training.
Looking at the data before him, David already had a general training direction in mind.
First, physically, Zorua—whether before or after evolution—was a speed-type Pokémon skilled in offense. Training should focus on explosiveness and agility. Following the system's advice, systematic speed training was the way to go.
Regarding moves, the currently learned techniques could temporarily meet the needs of battles at this stage. The main focus should be on strengthening move control and improving proficiency. Higher-level moves could be learned later.
Most Zoroark, whether in their regular or Hisuian form, primarily focused on speed and special attack after evolving.
However, with the little fox's physical prowess, which also far surpassed his peers, using him purely as a special attacker would be wasteful. He could absolutely function as a dual-threat battler. With the little fox's powerful illusionary abilities and incredible speed, he would surely become a formidable mage-assassin in the future. Thinking of this, David couldn't help but feel sorry for his future opponents.
"Zorua, we'll now officially begin training."
After planning, David first turned on the treadmill, selected a relatively slow starting speed, and had Zorua warm up. Then, at regular intervals, he would increase the speed, continuing until Zorua reached his maximum achievable pace. Then he slowly decreased it before increasing it again, constantly pushing the limit after gradual adaptation. This cycle was repeated several times, allowing Zorua to gradually adapt to the increased speed from drinking the potion.
After spending a full two hours helping Zorua adapt to his enhanced speed, David then activated the surrounding launcher devices, starting the second exercise. He had the little fox train his evasion ability and body flexibility by dodging the training balls fired by the surrounding machines, while he himself began writing notes and planning.
"Alright, Zorua, that's enough for today!"
After completing several basic exercises, it was already noon. By this time, David had also roughly organized Zorua's training plan and development strategy.
Remembering his afternoon appointment with his friends, he put away the materials and stopped today's training. He gently picked up the little fox who had finished training, wiped the sweat from his body with a pre-prepared towel, and then took him to the Gym's internal restaurant.