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Eight days after Ash left Cerulean Gym, Ash met a guy named AJ, the Beast Master, on the road.
He had set up an arena on the only path to the next town. Basically, anyone wanting to pass through the small forest to the next city would encounter AJ. Some enthusiastic Trainers, seeing this arena, would surely feel an itch to battle AJ.
The final result was that AJ had achieved ninety-eight consecutive victories. According to AJ's plan, once he reached one hundred consecutive victories, he would dismantle the arena and begin challenging Gyms, aiming for the Indigo League.
Ash, passing by, naturally felt his hunter's instinct rise and chose to challenge AJ. The result was... AJ's winning streak was broken.
AJ, fighting in this wild, remote place, had never seen a tactic like Sleep Powder followed by confusion, then paralysis after waking up, and finally infinite kiting?
AJ's awareness was stronger than that of ordinary Trainers. He was extremely strict with his ace Pokémon, Sandshrew, even trying to help it overcome its weakness to Water-type attacks. Although not entirely successful, it did reduce the damage Sandshrew took from Water-type moves to some extent.
However, this was completely useless against Ash, who didn't use any type advantages.
After being defeated by Ash, AJ candidly stated that he still had more areas to improve. The arena had lost its meaning after his defeat, so he would continue his journey, experience more of the vast world outside, and then go on to challenge Gyms.
Defeating AJ was just another ordinary interlude for Ash. Although AJ was a bit stronger than typical wild Trainers, that was all. Compared to a Gym Leader, he was still quite far off.
This applied to both his Pokémon and his own abilities as a Trainer.
However, it must be said that if he hadn't received guidance from the big shots in the group, his current skill level might not be much better than AJ's.
Later, Ash once again encountered the Team Rocket Trio!
They appeared unexpectedly, as usual, and after a brief opening monologue, declared they would steal Ash's Pikachu. This time, they came prepared, having made a claw that could defend against Thunder Shock and a cage specifically for holding Pikachu.
Initially, Ash hadn't anticipated this and sent Pikachu to battle directly. As a result, Pikachu was caught by their electric-immune machine and locked in their anti-electric cage.
But just as the Team Rocket Trio were preparing to escape in their hot air balloon, Ash directly jumped ten meters high onto the hot air balloon, then, to the Team Rocket Trio's stunned faces, punched and shattered the cage restraining Pikachu.
Finally, Pikachu sent them flying with a Thunderbolt!
As the Team Rocket Trio muttered, 'What a hateful feeling,' they all, without prior agreement, thought to themselves: should they change their target, stop trying to catch Pikachu, and instead try to catch Ash!
Isn't that guy more rare than any Pokémon?
Pokémon are common, but a human-shaped Pokémon like Ash is absolutely one of a kind!!
What the heck, jumping ten meters high, is that human jumping power? And that cage holding Pikachu was not only anti-electric but also made of special metal, with guaranteed hardness.
Yet Ash shattered it with one punch... If he's human, they'll eat him!
On the other side, Ash, having defeated Team Rocket, didn't show much happiness, because what the big shots in the group said had really come true: he really had been pestered by three troublesome guys!
Even after such a long time, those three guys could still find him, which was just ridiculous! Could it be that those three guys had some special sense for him?
...Another week later, Ash and the others arrived at a foggy forest. Even with map guidance, they got lost there. After wandering around the forest for a whole day, they finally found a building in the forest the next morning after the fog dissipated.
That's right, a building in the forest!
And this building was a school, and the school was quite large.
Upon seeing the school, Ash couldn't help but complain, "Who on earth thought of building a school in a place like this? Does anyone actually study here?"
They got lost entering this forest even with a map. Which genius thought of building a school deep in the mountains?
Complaining aside, having finally found a building in the forest, there would likely be some people inside, so they could go in and ask for directions.
Ash and his two companions walked into the school.
Ash initially thought that although this school was large, there wouldn't be many students. However, to his surprise, the entire school was packed with people!
This place seemed to be called some kind of Higher Education School. People who graduated from here could participate in the Indigo League directly without needing to collect badges!
Ash exclaimed in disbelief after hearing this: "...You can directly participate in the Indigo League after graduating from here? What a joke! Others work hard, travel through half of Kanto, and defeat one strong opponent after another to qualify for the Indigo League. Why can someone just study some theoretical knowledge here and go directly to the Indigo League?"
Before he started his journey, he thought that Pokémon battles were all about brute force, and he would always find a way to break through in battle. But after traveling, Ash increasingly felt the importance of theoretical knowledge.
This was also why he desperately studied theoretical knowledge with the big shots in the group. Without the various knowledge taught by the big shots in the group, he probably wouldn't even know the effects of several abilities, and he wouldn't particularly understand type advantages and disadvantages.
But that's not a reason to be able to participate in the Indigo League based solely on theoretical knowledge, is it?
Pokémon battles, of course, require actual combat to know who is stronger!
If it were only based on theory, then Tactician Ash in the group would be the undisputed strongest Trainer, bar none. Even Champion Ash would not be Tactician Ash's opponent in theoretical battles.
"But that's the slogan the Pokémon High School puts out... No matter how many badges you have, no matter your age, and no matter how long you've been traveling, as long as you graduate from this school, you can participate in the Indigo League without restrictions, but only once," said Joe, a student at the school.
Joe was the first person Ash and his two companions met at the school. According to his own account, he was almost at the bottom of the school, but his strength still surpassed that of a Trainer with two badges.
Joe's words gave the trio a new understanding of the school's power. Wasn't this Higher Education School clearly a privileged institution?
As long as you graduated, you could even ignore the Indigo League's two-year rookie restriction and participate in the competition.
Though, it's likely that anyone who hasn't graduated in two years in this place wouldn't be a formidable individual anyway...