015: The First Calm Mind!
Through the movement of the wind, Ash concentrated and began to identify its related sounds discerning their sources with increasing clarity. Yet, in his absorbed state, Ash failed to notice that the once-still gray mist within his Calm Mind space had begun to stir and boil like the foaming sea.
The shifting mist behaved much like the psychic energy described in Psychic-type training manuals from the Saffron City Psychic Institute, led by Gym Leader Sabrina. It churned as if poured into a mold or filtered like pulp through a papermaking screen. Before long, it congealed into a wide, blank psychic frame a canvas awaiting impressions.
As Ash continued listening intently to external sounds analyzing, interpreting, and reconstructing their context the elements materialized within the frame, like detailed brush strokes soaked in indelible psychic ink.
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Outside the Calm Mind space, the real-world wind blew through the tall grasses lining the outskirts of Pallet Town. It rushed toward the Ketchum home, a modest house with white plastered walls and a steep red-tiled roof. On the second floor, small wooden windows swung open gently, producing faint creaking sounds as the breeze passed.
In the garden that Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother, lovingly cultivated, flowers and herbs rustled under the wind's soft pressure. The leaves trembled like whispered voices, and their fragrance danced in the air.
A small group of Butterfree, known in Pallet Town for their territorial routines, fluttered in from neighboring yards. Their wings shimmered under the sun, and they let out a soft, trilling cry as they completed their daily pollination ritual. Upon noticing the yard's lush blooms, they hesitated. Remembering the house's rumored hostility to wild Pokémon, the Butterfree hovered uncertainly before veering away.
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Within Ash's Calm Mind space, the more he listened, the more the gray psychic mist took shape. The scenes drawn in the mist canvas grew detailed and vivid, synchronized with his perception. Each sound Ash analyzed rendered a sharper visual similar to the psychic sensory techniques developed by members of the Psychic Association in Saffron.
The scene gradually expanded to resemble an immersive panoramic scroll. As Ash's focus deepened, the Calm Mind environment transformed into a living image of Pallet Town a psychic tableau reminiscent of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival," but through the lens of his memory and extrasensory awareness.
One minute… Five minutes…
Ten minutes… Thirty minutes…
One hour… Three hours!!
Ash's concentration endured. The Calm Mind process, reinforced by his latent aura abilities (referred to in Riolu's training as Wave Guidance in Lucario-centric legends), drove the mist to coalesce further. But when all available psychic mist was depleted to sustain the ongoing manifestation, the canvas halted in its expansion. The frame stood completed suspended in psychic stasis.
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"Ahh!!" Ash cried out suddenly. A sharp, needling sensation struck the back of his skull intense and dizzying.
Before he could register the pain, his body swayed. Sitting cross-legged atop his bed, he lost balance and collapsed sideways onto the mattress, unconscious.
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An unknown amount of time passed. Slowly, Ash stirred from his blackout.
"What… happened to me? I was in Calm Mind how did I end up fainting?"
"Was it the 'Everything Listens' technique that backfired? Or did I make a mistake in the Calm Mind flow?" Ash muttered, frowning as he sat up. Unbeknownst to him, he had narrowly survived a grave ordeal.
If any experienced member of the Psychic Association had been present, they would have panicked at what Ash had just done. The Calm Mind technique particularly those outlined in the works of Sabrina and the Saffron Guild is a rigorous spiritual regimen meant to gradually strengthen a person's psychic capacity. Because it involves mental energy, the soul, and potential latent psychic traits, Calm Mind must always be supervised when performed by novices.
The first Calm Mind session carries the greatest risk. A mishandled session can result in severe neural stress. Milder outcomes include temporary mental disorientation or cognitive regression; however, total psychic depletion may lead to a vegetative state or death.
Because Ash had no supervision, his lone attempt was extremely dangerous.
The method Ash used consumed his mental energy through sustained sensory processing gradually draining his reserves in a Calm Mind trance. The theory behind this training is as follows:
Expend mental energy → Enter rest and recovery → Rebuild stronger mental capacity.
This feedback loop is the foundation of psychic cultivation. But timing is key. If the Calm Mind takes one hour, an equivalent recovery period is necessary afterward. As outlined by Psychic Association guidelines, Calm Mind exercises are generally conducted before bedtime to align with the body's natural recovery phase and prevent mental fatigue from affecting daily functioning.
Moreover, during nighttime, due to minimal ambient interference, one's ability to enter a meditative Contest Condition an optimal psychic state is significantly enhanced. Among elite psychics, including Sabrina's disciples and young talents from the Hoenn Psychic Academy, this nocturnal practice is standard.
But there's also a critical taboo: never allow mental energy to drain entirely. Calm Mind exercises should trigger fatigue gradually, not exhaustion. Exceeding safe limits is the ultimate error. Full depletion risks permanent neurological damage. Ash, in pushing his focus too far, had nearly crossed this irreversible line.
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In truth, most people especially untrained individuals rarely reach total depletion. The body's built-in survival systems act like emergency switches. Similar to how a Pokémon faints in battle to avoid further harm, humans experiencing psychic strain will involuntarily wake or exit the trance before it becomes lethal.
Once someone has performed Calm Mind regularly and developed sensitivity to their psychic limits, these internal alerts become more refined. The body will forcefully eject them from Contest Condition once a critical threshold nears.
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Ash had no idea how lucky he was. His deep subconscious triggered a protective reaction just in time rendering him unconscious before permanent damage could occur. Had he gone even a minute longer, it would not have been a fainting spell it would have been irreversible.
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