Chapter 15: Events at Pokémon Tech
Brock and the other four entered Pokémon Tech. Brock looked at Joe beside him and said, "Joe, since you're a student at this school, you must be familiar with the place. Could you give us a tour of the academy?"
"Sure, follow me!" Joe replied. He then led Brock and the others on a tour of Pokémon Tech. They arrived at a room filled with many machines. "The strongest person here is Giselle. She usually trains right here. Pokémon Tech only cares about Pokémon strength. Even a relatively weak student like me has the strength equivalent to someone with two badges. Someone like Giselle, the top student in the beginner class, has strength equivalent to four badges."
"Is that really true?" Daisy asked, looking at Joe.
"Of course, it's true!" Joe answered earnestly.
Brock, Ash, Misty, and Daisy still looked unconvinced after hearing Joe. Seeing their expressions, Joe said, "Don't just disbelieve me! I've won many times in the simulation matches! I'll demonstrate for you right now." He walked over to one of the machines and turned it on. The screen displayed the Pewter Gym battlefield. Then, a Geodude and a Weepinbell appeared on the screen. The on-screen Geodude was defeated by the Weepinbell in a single move.
Brock looked at Joe and the machine's screen and thought, _Isn't this just like the games I played in my previous life? If what they're saying is true, then I've caught all the Legendary Pokémon before!_
By the time Brock snapped back to reality, Joe had already finished his demonstration. Joe said to Brock and the others, "See? Didn't I just defeat two Gyms and get two badges? Those two Gyms were the Pewter Gym and the Cerulean Gym."
"What is this?! How could the Cerulean Gym be defeated so easily?! I'm Misty, one of the Cerulean Gym Leaders! I challenge you to a battle! Let's see who really wins!" Misty said angrily.
Hearing Misty, Daisy added from the side, "Misty, I support you! Our Cerulean Gym might be weak, but there's no way it can be defeated in a single move!"
Hearing Misty and Daisy, Joe replied confidently, "I won't lose!" They moved to a nearby battlefield.
"Go, Starmie!" Misty said, sending out her Pokémon.
Seeing Misty send out Starmie, Joe also took out a Poké Ball. "Go! Weepinbell! You can't beat me! My Weepinbell is resistant to Water-types!"
Just like that, Starmie and Weepinbell appeared on the battlefield.
"Joe, you underestimate the Cerulean Gym too much! Starmie, use Water Gun!" Hearing Misty's command, Starmie fired a Water Gun at Weepinbell. A single blast of water defeated Weepinbell instantly.
"That's impossible! My Weepinbell is a Grass-type Pokémon with strong water resistance! How could it be defeated in one hit?! This isn't real! I must be hallucinating! I won so many times in the simulations!" Joe exclaimed, refusing to believe what had happened.
Just then, a girl with beautiful black hair, wearing a blue and white school uniform, appeared.
"Giselle!" Joe said upon seeing the girl.
"See? You really are too weak," Giselle stated, looking at Joe. "Besides considering Pokémon types, you also need to look at the opponent's level. That girl is related to the Cerulean Gym Leader; her Pokémon's level must be quite high." Giselle pointed at Misty as she spoke to Joe. "I hope my classmates can all be my greatest rivals. We should push each other to become stronger, spar with each other, respect each other. Look at you now! I'm begging you, please get stronger quickly, alright? If you continue to show no ambition like this, please just leave, okay?"
Hearing Giselle's harsh words, Joe looked crestfallen and ran off towards a room. Seeing Joe leave, Giselle also turned to leave.
Seeing Giselle about to leave, Brock quickly walked over and took her hand. "Excuse me, Miss! You just drove away our guide! We don't know our way around here, and now you're trying to leave us too? That won't do!" As Brock spoke, he thought, _First time holding a girl's hand... feels pretty nice!_
"Then what do you people want?" Giselle asked.
"We don't want anything much. We just wanted to look around the academy, but since we don't know the way, we'll have to trouble you to show us around," Brock replied.
"No way! I'm very busy! I still have to train my Pokémon," Giselle refused.
"Then let's have a battle!" Brock proposed. "If you lose, you show us around the academy. If you win... I'll give you Meowth. How about it?" As Brock spoke, he thought, _I really want to see if the strength level of this academy is as weak as it was portrayed in the anime from my past life._
Hearing Brock's proposal, Giselle looked at Meowth standing next to Ash and said dismissively, "Why would I want a common Pokémon like Meowth? What use is it anyway?"
Hearing Giselle, Meowth retorted angrily, "You're the useless one! Meowth is very useful! If my master didn't tell me not to speak human language freely, I would have told you off already!" Meowth finished, then turned to Brock, "Brock! Don't lose to that woman! Otherwise, Brock, you'll lose an adorable Pokémon like Meowth!"
Hearing Meowth speak, Giselle stared in shock. "That Meowth can talk?! Alright, the bet is on! I'll battle you!" At the same time, Giselle thought, _A talking Pokémon is incredibly rare! In my family, I've only seen one or two Pokémon capable of communicating, and they were Legendary Pokémon, communicating through telepathy at that! This is the first time I've ever seen an ordinary Pokémon speak human language! If I can win this Pokémon and present it to the family, the family might even reward me with a pseudo-legendary Pokémon with good Potential! Then I could become as strong as my older sister!_ (Pseudo-legendary Pokémon include: Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, etc.)
"Miss Giselle, are you alright? Let's battle!" Brock said. His words snapped Giselle out of her fantasy.
"I'm fine. Come out! Cubone!" Giselle replied, taking out a Poké Ball.
"Alright then. Go! Zubat!" Brock said, sending out his Pokémon.
Cubone and Zubat appeared on the battlefield between Brock and Giselle. Just before the match started, Brock quickly entered his mindscape to check Giselle's data:
_Name: Giselle_
_Pokémon: Cubone, Graveler_
_Strength: Entry Rank Trainer - Late Stage_
_Pokémon Names: Cubone / Graveler_
_Potential: Supreme / Perfect_
_Strength: Elite Rank - Early Stage / Entry Rank - Late Stage_
"Cubone, use Bonemerang!" Giselle commanded. Hearing Giselle, Cubone threw the bone it held in its hand like a boomerang towards Zubat.
Hearing the command, Brock (snapping out of his inspection) ordered Zubat, "Zubat, dodge!" Zubat obeyed Brock's command and dodged the attack.
The bone, having missed Zubat, returned to Cubone's hand. Seeing that Bonemerang didn't hit, Giselle commanded again, "Cubone, keep using Bonemerang to attack Zubat!" Hearing Giselle, Cubone attacked Zubat with its bone again.
"Zubat, dodge the Bonemerang, then use Astonish on Cubone!" Hearing Brock's command, Zubat quickly dodged the Bonemerang, but it was still grazed by the attack and took damage. Just as it was hit by the Bonemerang, Zubat used Astonish.
Just as the bone was about to return to Cubone's hand, Cubone, startled by Zubat's Astonish, failed to catch the Bonemerang. As a result, the Bonemerang hit Cubone on the head. Struck on the head by its own bone, Cubone sat down on the battlefield and started crying, showing no will to battle anymore. Therefore, Brock won the match.