Eight days after leaving Cerulean Gym, Ash ran into a boy named A.J.
A.J. had built his own battlefield right in the middle of the path leading to the next town. Any Trainer wanting to pass through the forest had no choice but to meet him. Of course, many eager challengers couldn't resist a battle once they saw the arena.
The result? Ninety-eight straight victories for A.J. His plan was simple: once he reached a perfect streak of one hundred, he'd pack up the arena, set out to challenge Gyms, and aim for the Indigo Plateau Conference.
Naturally, Ash couldn't ignore the challenge. His battling spirit burned, and he stepped into the arena. The outcome… A.J.'s streak was broken.
For A.J., this was a shock. He'd never faced tactics like Ash's, Sleep Powder into Confusion, then Stun Spore, then endless hit-and-run! It was a battle style completely outside his experience.
To his credit, A.J. was no pushover. He trained his Sandshrew with brutal discipline, even working on its natural weakness against Water-type moves. Though it hadn't eliminated the weakness entirely, Sandshrew could at least resist Water attacks better than most.
But against Ash, who never even relied on type advantage, none of that mattered.
After the loss, A.J. admitted frankly that he still had a long way to go. With his streak broken, his arena no longer had meaning. He decided it was time to continue his journey, see more of the world, and grow before taking on Gyms.
For Ash, the whole encounter was just a brief stop on his road. A.J. was stronger than the average roadside Trainer, but still far below the level of a Gym Leader, both as a Trainer and in terms of his Pokémon.
That said, Ash couldn't help but admit to himself: without the constant coaching from the "big shots" in the group chat, his own current strength probably wouldn't be much greater than A.J.'s.
Not long after, the Team Rocket trio appeared yet again.
As always, Jessie, James, and Meowth made their flashy entrance, announced their evil plans, and declared their intention to steal Pikachu. This time, though, they came prepared: a mechanical claw resistant to electricity and a reinforced cage designed to hold Pikachu.
At first, Ash sent Pikachu to fight like usual, but Pikachu was quickly caught by the electric-proof trap and locked in the cage.
With smug laughter, Team Rocket began to lift off in their hot-air balloon.
That was when Ash did something that left them completely speechless.
He leapt straight up, ten meters into the air!, landed on their balloon, and with one punch, shattered the "unbreakable" cage holding Pikachu.
The trio froze in place, their jaws dropping.
Then, freed and furious, Pikachu blasted them with a massive Thunderbolt.
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
But as they sparkled into the sky, each of them thought the same thing: maybe their target was wrong all along. Why go after Pikachu… when Ash himself was the rarer catch?
Pokémon could be found anywhere, but a human who fought like a Pokémon? Who jumped like that? Who smashed reinforced steel with his bare hands?
What kind of monster was this kid?!
Meanwhile, Ash wasn't smiling at all. The warnings from the group chat had come true, he really was being hounded nonstop by these three weirdos. No matter where he went, no matter how much time passed, they always managed to find him.
Could it be… did Team Rocket have some special radar just for him?
Another week later, Ash, Misty, and Brock found themselves wandering into a thick, foggy forest. Even with a map, they soon lost their way.
The fog didn't lift until the following morning, and after an entire day of being lost, they finally stumbled upon a mysterious building deep in the woods.
That's right, a building in the middle of the forest!
And not just any building, but a school. A surprisingly large one at that.
When Ash saw it, he couldn't help but complain. "Who in the world decided to build a school way out here? Does anyone actually study in a place like this?"
They'd managed to get lost even with a map in hand. What kind of genius thought it was a good idea to build a school deep in the mountains?
Still, grumbling aside, a building meant people. If there were people inside, they could finally ask for directions.
Ash and his two companions walked through the gates and into the school.
Ash had assumed that even if the building looked big, it probably wouldn't have many students. But to his surprise, the place was packed!
This was the famous Pokémon Technical Institute, better known as Pokémon Tech. Students who graduated here were allowed to enter the Indigo Plateau Conference directly, without collecting any Gym Badges.
When Ash heard this, he was floored. "..Wait, you can go straight to the Indigo Plateau Conference just by graduating from here? That's ridiculous! Other Trainers work their tails off, traveling all across Kanto, fighting one tough opponent after another, just to qualify. And all you have to do here is study theory? No Gym challenges, no badges? That's not fair at all!"
Before his journey began, Ash thought Pokémon battles were all about brute force, just charging ahead and pushing through. But the more he traveled, the more he realized how important knowledge and strategy really were.
That was also why he had been so desperate to study battle theory in the group chat with the older, more experienced Trainers. Without the things they had drilled into him, he probably wouldn't even know what certain Abilities did, or how to properly use type matchups to his advantage.
But still, being able to skip the entire Gym challenge just with theory? That was going too far!
Pokémon battles were about proving your strength in real combat!
If it were only about theory, then the version of himself, "Tactician Ash" in the group would be the strongest Trainer in the world, no question. Even Champion Ash wouldn't be able to beat Tactician Ash in a classroom debate.
"That's the policy of Pokémon Tech," explained Joe, a student at the school. "No matter how many badges you have, no matter your age, no matter how long you've been traveling, if you graduate from here, you can enter the Indigo Plateau Conference without restrictions. But only once."
Joe was the first person Ash, Misty, and Brock met at the school. According to him, he was close to the bottom of his class, but even so, his battling ability was stronger than that of most Trainers who already had two badges.
His words gave the trio a brand-new perspective on the school's power. Wasn't Pokémon Tech basically a privileged shortcut?
Graduates didn't even have to worry about the two-year rookie restriction for the Indigo Plateau Conference. But then again, anyone who couldn't manage to graduate within two years here… probably wasn't much of a Trainer anyway.
...
You all know the drill right? 💎💎