Abilities question

[Maciariello]

I want to fully understand this ability system and I'm slightly confused. Here's my question/example:

If I go into Zidane's abilities and select "Steal Gil" (meaning, I put the blue icon into the slot), then everytime I fight a battle and gain AP, that ability slowly increases toward a learned ability, right? And once the ability's bar is fully maxed out and learned (it turns red and has the 3 stars underneath it), then I don't have to have that piece of armor or whatever equipped any longer in order to use it, right?

If this is the case, then why is Freya getting put to sleep still if I have "insomniac" fully learned for her? Do I still need to keep the blue icon in the "insomniac" slot in order for it to work? I was under the impression that once and ability is learned, you no longer need to attach the blue icon to the ability in the ability screen.

Also, I equppied Quina with a leather shirt, and when selecting the shirt in the equip option, it says underneath it that it has the support ability "Protect Girls." But when I equip it and go into Quina's abilities, there is no "Protect Girls" in the abilities menu. I can't select it to start learning it because it isn't there.

I feel pretty dumb asking all of this because I know this should be straight forward, but a little clarification would really help me out. I'd appreciate anyone's help on this matter

[Che]

You learn the ability, which lets you use it freely without having to have that piece of armor equipped anymore. You can upgrade past that. However, you are still limited by how many crystal slots you have. If you have 18 crystals total, and have equipped abilities up to 16/18, and "Steal Gil" requires 4 crystals, you can't use it. It's a way to balance it so you can't eventually just be using every single ability in the game.

[GypsyElder]

You learn the ability, which lets you use it freely without having to have that piece of armor equipped anymore. You can upgrade past that. However, you are still limited by how many crystal slots you have. If you have 18 crystals total, and have equipped abilities up to 16/18, and "Steal Gil" requires 4 crystals, you can't use it. It's a way to balance it so you can't eventually just be using every single ability in the game.

Pretty much, the whole point of mastering an ability is so that you can use it freely whenever you need it, without having the armor, weapon, accessory ect. equiped.

If I go into Zidane's abilities and select "Steal Gil" (meaning, I put the blue icon into the slot), then everytime I fight a battle and gain AP, that ability slowly increases toward a learned ability, right? And once the ability's bar is fully maxed out and learned (it turns red and has the 3 stars underneath it), then I don't have to have that piece of armor or whatever equipped any longer in order to use it, right?

All correct except you don't have to have an ability stone equipped to the skill you're trying to learn, all you need is to just have the weapon or armor with the ability equipped to the character.

If this is the case, then why is Freya getting put to sleep still if I have "insomniac" fully learned for her? Do I still need to keep the blue icon in the "insomniac" slot in order for it to work? I was under the impression that once and ability is learned, you no longer need to attach the blue icon to the ability in the ability screen.

If that were the case then there would be no purpose in equipping the ability stones at all. The point is to learn the ability so you will always have it if you need it, and to strategize for battle with them.

Also, I equppied Quina with a leather shirt, and when selecting the shirt in the equip option, it says underneath it that it has the support ability "Protect Girls." But when I equip it and go into Quina's abilities, there is no "Protect Girls" in the abilities menu. I can't select it to start learning it because it isn't there.

That's because "Protect Girls" isn't meant for Quina to learn. Everyone has their own abilities to master.

[Firefly]

Woah,been a long time.Well it's be a would be a waste to go into detail when Che and GyspyElder have all ready summed it up.So listen to them,lol.