Ash, Misty and Brock were continuing to head to Vermilion City, but a mist made that difficult.
"We should probably stop walking for the time being." Misty insisted
"Agreed. This mist is preventing us from seeing where we're going." Ash said.
"Let's take a break." Brock suggested.
Ash and Misty agreed. Brock took out some cerulean coffee, some tea and some prune juice. Ash and Misty accepted the tea, but weren't old enough to drink coffee and disliked prune juice.
"I'm going to make some crepes but water and firewood are needed." Misty offered to get some water and Ash agreed to get the firewood.
While Ash and Pikachu gathered the firewood, two Pokemon stood in their way. It was a male and female Nidoran.
"A pair of Nidoran." Ash said.
He looked them up on the Pokedex.
"Nidoran M. The Poison Pin Pokemon. Stiffens it's ears to sense danger. The larger it's horns, the more powerful it's secreted venom."
"Nidoran F. The Poison Pin Pokemon. Although small, it's venomous barbs render this Pokemon dangerous. The female has smaller horns."
"Pikachu I choose you." Ash released Pikachu.
"Use Thunderbolt!" The Thunderbolt paralyzed the Nidoran couple. Ash then threw two Poke Balls at them and caught them. The Poke Balls were then transported to Prof. Oak's lab.
Ash and Pikachu were just about to meet back up with Brock and Misty with the firewood when he picked up on a noise.
They saw a boy running on a treadmill with four other boys surrounding him. The four older boys were questioning him about Pidgey. When the boy answered the question incorrectly, he was shoved off the treadmill, called useless and left him on the ground. Ash and Pikachu witnessed the commotion and went to check to see if he was all right.
"Ah it's okay." The boy said. "This happens to me all the time. I'm Joe by the way."
"I'd like to know more. Would you want to discuss this over crepes and tea." Joe accepted the invitation.
Ash led Joe to where Brock and Misty were and they all shared crepes and tea.
"So what did you mean about you being tossed on the ground all the time?" Ash asked.
"I actually attend Pokemon Tech." Joe explained. "It's a boarding school where you learn about Pokemon. And there you can earn badges without traveling to get them."
"Those boys were helping me learn more about Pidgey." He added.
"I don't consider pushing you to the ground for answering a question wrong to be help if I'm being honest." Ash said.
"Would you mind showing Pokemon Tech?" Misty asked.
"Sure." Joe agreed.
By the time they got to Pokemon Tech the mist had finally cleared. Pokemon Tech was a massive building.
Joe gave them a tour of the area.
"The lessons here are very difficult and some students are struggling to catch up." He explained.
"What grade are you in?" Misty asked.
"I'm still a novice, but I have two badges." Joe said.
He showed them some sort of machine that showed he could easily defeat the Cerulean Gym's water type Pokemon. This caused Misty to become irate.
"Listen here you." She said. "This machine is nothing compared to real Pokemon battles. As a gym leader of Cerulean Gym I challenge you to a real battle."
Joe accepted the battle.
Joe and Misty got ready to battle in one of the training rooms.
"Misty calls Starmie!" Misty shouted.
"Okay and I choose Weepinbell." Joe said.
Starmie hit Weepinbell with a single Tackle and Weepinbell was knocked out immediately.
"No way!" Joe gasped. "How did my grass type lose to your water type?"
"Because Starmie has trained harder than Weepinbell." A voice said.
It was a beautiful girl with long hair and the four boys from before were with her.
"It's true that grass beats water, but it depends on the experience of your Pokemon."
"Who are you?" Misty asked.
"I am Giselle." The girl introduced herself. "The top student of Pokemon Tech. And I wish to battle you now."
Misty kept her Starmie out and Giselle sent out a Graveler. Brock was shocked by that choice. Water types beat rock types. But Graveler easily beat Starmie with a Tackle attack and it wasn't even phased by Starmie's Water Gun. Misty couldn't believe her eyes.
"There now you see Joe." Giselle said with a smirk. "Since my Graveler was more experienced than Starmie, that was the reason it won."
"Hold on a second." Ash spoke up. "There's more to training than a Pokemon's levels."
He introduced himself to Giselle.
"How many badges and Pokemon do you have?" She asked.
"Two badges and five Pokemon." Ash answered. Giselle and the four boys laughed.
"Weak." They said at once.
"Oh really." His eyes turned into that of a dragon's. "I challenge you to a battle."
"I accept." She said.
Ash released Pikachu while Giselle sent out a Cubone.
"Cubone hit that mouse with Bone Rush." Giselle said.
"Quick Pikachu use Quick Attack to dodge." Ash said.
Using Quick Attack, Pikachu easily dodged Bone Club.
"Use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted.
When Iron Tail hit Cubone, it hurt a lot.
"Use Bonemerang." Giselle said.
Pikachu allowed the bone to follow him, and led the bone back to Cubone. Pikachu then jumped on Cubone's helmet and the bone ended up hitting Cubone and made it lose. Giselle was surprised to see Pikachu beat Cubone. Ash then decided to teach Giselle, Joe and the four boys a lesson.
"You all still have a lot to learn about Pokemon battles." He said. "Type advantage plays a part in battles, but depending on the situation Pokemon can learn attacks to compensate for their weaknesses. An example is my Pikachu, he knows Grass Knot to deal with ground type Pokemon."
The students were amazed to hear this; it wasn't a lesson taught at Pokemon Tech.
After the lecture ended Joe and Giselle decided that they were still novices when it came to Pokemon training. Joe decided to leave Pokemon Tech and return home to start a real Pokemon journey with his Weepinbell. As for Ash, Misty and Brock; they said farewell to Giselle and Joe then continued their own journey.