Ash was heading away from A.J's gym, once again on the road to Vermillion when suddenly a fog rolled in, making it very hard to see. Just this once Ash wished he had a fire type so he could see where he was going.

"Hey you guys, maybe we should hold hands?" Misty suggested, sounding a little scared.

Ash quickly grabbed her hand, as brock took his other one. They hadn't gotten very far when Ash heard voices ahead of them.

"And what is this pokemon?" one voice asked

"A Pidgey." another, younger, panting voice answered.

"That was too easy, now tell me at what level does Pidgey evolve and what's the name of Pidgey's advanced stage?"

As as they rounded the corner he could see a young man on a treadmill with other young men around him, holding candles

"Hey, what are you doing?" he called out, causing the young man to trip and fall off of the treadmill.

"You'll never get any better if you keep having others saving you Joe." the one who had been asking the questions said, "Perhaps it would be best if you reconsidered your future at Pokemon Tech."

Ash watched the other boys walk away leaving Joe alone in the fog, "What was that all about?"

"My friends were just trying to help me."

"You call those kids your friends? With friends like that who needs enemies?" Misty said

"They really are my friends you know, and they were just trying to help me." seeing Ash's dubious look he continued, "I am a beginner and my parents had to save to send me to Pokemon Tech. If they weren't interested in helping me they'd leave me alone like the other beginners in my class."

"So this Pokemon Tech, what's it about?"

"It's a school for trainers that don't have the time or the inclination to go after badges. Once you graduate from Pokemon Tech you are guaranteed a spot in the Pokemon League. Right now as a beginner I have the same qualifications as a trainer with two badges. Giselle, the most popular student in the school is in charge of the rest of the beginner students who came up with the idea of helping those of us that are falling behind. This is her."

(1)he showed everyone a picture of a gorgeous young woman posing for the camera.

"she can teach me any time," Brock said, openly drooling.

Ash couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Brock and a little embarrassed. Sure Giselle was a very pretty face, but he knew that sometimes a pretty face could hide a very wicked personality.

Joe lead Ash through the school to a bunch of computers. "Giselle is usually practicing here."

"Shouldn't she be practicing on the battlefield?"

"All pokemon tech students practice on the simulator. it's all the experience we need."

"If you believe so, then how about a friendly battle to pass the time until Giselle gets here? I have two badges so we should be equal in strength."

"All right, let's go."Joe took Ash past the computers to an empty area. "We can battle here. Go Weepinbell."

Ash thought through his choices, he could go with Mimikyu but the chance was that Weepinbelle would have a poison type attack, one of the few Mimikyu was weak against.

"Gyarados, to the field!"

"A Gyarados huh? Well, this should be a short battle. Weepinbell, use Razor Leaf!"

"Bounce!"

the Gyarados bounced over the leaves thrown by the Weepinbell, "Now, hyper beam!"

The Hyper Beam blew the Weepinbell into the wall, then it slid down with swirls in its eyes.

"How did you do that? Whenever I face a water type on the simulator with my Weepinbell I always win."

"You just didn't take into account that Gyarados is obviously of a higher level than most."

The pretty girl from the photo was glaring at Joe, "You should know that by now that a higher level Gyarados can learn the move bounce, a flying- type move. It's no wonder you're the bottom of the class, Joe. You're an embarrassment and if you don't shape up neither I nor your friends will keep helping you."

"You must be Giselle then."

"I am."

"Are you really the best trainer in this school?"

"Yes, I am."

"Good then perhaps you'd be willing to prove a point? I have two badges and I would like to challenge you."

"And what point would that prove?"

"That this school is not really teaching you anything."

"As if some newbie trainer could defeat me."

"Then it would not hurt to accept my challenge, but if proving me wrong is not enough, how about a wager? If I win you will admit that this school isn't really teaching you everything you need to know, and If you win I'll give you my Gyarados."

"You'll regret the day you challenged me, come on, let's take this outside!"

They came to another battle field, this time in front of a pool "All right, let's see how you deal with this, go Cubone!"

"Mimikyu, you're up!"

"Sending out a pikachu to battle my cubone? I knew you were stupid when you decided to battle me, but I didn't realize how stupid."

Ash ignored her, "Why don't you make the first move? I'm feeling generous."

"Bonemerang!"

"Let it hit you!"

The bonemerang hit Mimikyou dead on just as Ash wanted, "Copycat!"

Another bonemerang came flying from Mimikyou and Cubone had to dodge, never noticing that Mimikyou had gotten behind it, "Finish it!"

Ash noticed that once again Mimikyu's tail had turned wooden, smacking into Cubone, hammering it into the ground.

Giselle sank to the ground "How did you beat me? My Cubone is my highest level of pokemon."

"You got cocky, thinking you knew everything there is to know about pokemon. That is why I won this match

To his surprise Giselle started to laugh, "You know you are right Ash. I guess some things can't be taught in school."

"You know you really do have a well trained pokemon, you should take the gym challenge, I bet you would do well."

"You know what, I think I will, and perhaps we'll meet again at the pokemon league."

"I look forward to it."

End Chapter

(1) In this episode Ash shows interest in what is admittedly a very pretty girl. they never show him showing interest again. But think about what happens when he does. Misty hit him on the head with her mallet. Poor Ash. Like yeah, he wasn't being very sensitive to the girl who maybe kinda likes him at this point but he was also punished by said girl for showing interest in a girl. Maybe and this is just my headcanon here, maybe the reason Ash never again shows interest in a girl is because of this incident. He was hurt by someone he considered a friend for showing interest in a girl, so he never does it again around any girl. Either that, or the writers kinda forgot about this moment. But wouldn't it make more sense that Ash is gun shy around girls after being hit over the head by one just for saying another was pretty in front of her?