Third Person POV
Blue stood on the windswept cliff, staring at his fallen Scyther for a long moment.
He was clearly surprised by the outcome; with the type advantage in the final round, he had expected to pull off a victory.
However, he accepted the result without much of a fuss. He had experienced the sting of defeat once before against Red, and this match had been nearly as close as that one.
It was a sobering realization for the Pallet Town prodigy: there were trainers outside of his hometown circle who could actually keep pace with him.
Both sides withdrew their Pokémon into their respective spheres. Blue looked over at Grey, his expression shifting from competitive intensity to a guarded form of respect.
He wished Grey luck for his upcoming gym match in Vermilion—not that he thought Grey truly needed it. From Blue's perspective, Grey was operating at a level similar to his own.
While Lieutenant Surge had notoriously cranked up the difficulty lately, Blue had still managed to secure his badge, and he expected Grey to do the same.
Before parting ways, they exchanged Pokégear numbers.
For Blue, Grey was a benchmark—someone other than Red who could provide a legitimate challenge.
For Grey, it was a matter of pragmatism; no matter which version of the "Blue" legend this was, he knew the boy was destined for the top. Having a direct line to a possible future champion was an opportunity he wasn't going to pass up.
Grey's POV
I pushed toward Vermilion City as quickly as I could, the trek made easier by Meowth's constant wandering, which netted us a few extra items along the road.
To be honest, the match with Blue was still playing on loop in my head. I knew he was elite, but I hadn't realized just how thin the margins were.
If I had messed up the order of my team, or if Exeggcute's Leech Seed hadn't ticked at the exact right moment, Scyther would have sliced us apart.
Still, there was no denying the rush.
Winning against him validated everything I had done since waking up in this world. It proved I was moving in the right direction and that I actually had a shot at the Indigo League.
When I finally reached the Vermilion Pokémon Center, the atmosphere was heavy. There were a lot of injured Pokémon in the lobby. I handed my team over to Nurse Joy, who warned me it would take a while. She asked if I'd been through the ringer with Surge, but I told her we were just coming off a heavy battle with another trainer.
I took a seat in the waiting area, and that's when I saw a very familiar face. A kid with a Pikachu that looked critically injured rushed in, followed by a small group. It was Ash.
He looked devastated, his usual boundless energy replaced by raw worry as Chansey took Pikachu away on a stretcher. He slumped into a chair nearby, while Brock tried his best to console him.
I watched them for a second.
In my previous life watching the anime I thought Ash was the guy who never gave up, the one who found innovative, crazy ways to win.
I'd basically plagiarized his "Counter Shield" to win my own battles; the least I could do was try to get him out of this slump.
Ash's POV
I felt like I was sinking. Seeing Pikachu knocked out like that by Surge's Raichu... it was brutal. I stared at my hands, my mind racing. Should I evolve him? Is that the only way to win? Am I even a good trainer?
"Don't take it to heart, Ash," Brock said, leaning in. "It was just one match. You can always re-challenge Surge later and win. He's been increasing the difficulty level on purpose lately. He's been brutal to everyone, not just you."
"But that's worse!" I burst out. "If I can't beat Surge now and I need him to take it easy on me, then what chance do I have of being a Pokémon Master? Blue and Red beat him even with the high difficulty. I know they did."
Brock sighed. "Is that the problem, Ash? Is it the competitive rivalry with Blue and Red that's bothering you, or is it the loss itself?"
"Both! I don't know!" I put my head in my hands. "I thought I was a great trainer. Getting Misty's and your gyms badges felt like proof that I was good. But maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was."
"Hey, are you Ash Ketchum?"
I looked up. There was a guy standing there, about my age, looking pretty calm despite the gloomy mood of the Center.
"Yeah, what about it? Who are you, and how do you know my name?"
"My name is Grey Mallory," he said. "I'm a trainer from Celadon. I heard about you from a girl named Melanie back at the sanctuary, and Blue mentioned you too. He said there were two more trainers from Pallet. I thought you might be Red at first, but Melanie said a group helped her, so I figured you were Ash."
I groaned. "I see. Blue told you about me. Let me guess—you want to fight me because Blue beat you or something? You want to challenge the 'worst' of the Pallet trainers to feel better?"
"Fight you? Why would I want to do that?" Grey asked, sounding genuinely confused. "Your Pokémon are in surgery, and mine are still healing from my match with Blue. And for the record, I beat him."
My jaw dropped. "You beat him? Blue lost? How? I thought he was so far ahead that he couldn't be beaten."
"He can be beaten," Grey said, sitting down across from us. "But I'll tell you this: he was the toughest match I've had yet. If our Pokémon choices had been even slightly different, I probably would have lost."
I looked at him with a new sense of respect. If this guy beat Blue, he must be incredible. "Did you challenge Surge yet?"
"No, I still have to book a slot. I'll probably do it in a few days," Grey told me. "You should be able to beat him eventually, especially if you've already seen what he can do."
"I don't know," I muttered. "He's just too strong."
"Well, I'm not going to blindly challenge him," Grey said. "I need to get a solid idea of his Pokémon and their abilities first. It's better than being overwhelmed or surprised."
"Why do you need to do that?" I asked. "Why not just challenge him directly?"
"Because any edge I can get is an edge I'll take. It doesn't take long to analyze an opponent, and it helps me win," Grey explained. "Actually, that's why I came over. I wanted to ask about your battle with Surge. Sometimes getting another perspective helps you see things you missed. It helps me a lot when I talk to people on the Pokenet."
"I... okay, fine. I'll tell you," I said, finally letting it out. "I entered that gym expecting a normal leader, but turns out he was kind of a bully who was just beating up trainers in quick succession. When my turn finally came, he looked at my Pikachu and insulted him, calling him some 'baby Pokémon.' I was so pissed at him for that."
I gripped my seat, the frustration bubbling back up. "He challenged me to a 3v3 battle. I used Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Pikachu, and he used Voltorb, Magneton, and Raichu. Bulbasaur was actually able to defeat Voltorb and put in some serious damage against Magneton, but it eventually lost to it. Then, Charmander was able to beat Magneton because fire moves seemed to work against it really well. But then his Raichu comes up and just... it beats Charmander easily."
I looked toward the emergency room doors. "I thought Pikachu could get the win, but his Raichu was bigger and stronger, and its electric output was so high. It beat up Pikachu as if it was nothing. I guess it was my fault. I thought I was some good trainer, but I let my starter get beaten up so easily. I guess Surge was right... maybe my Pikachu needs evolution to beat him."
"From what I have heard, while not the best, you did have a good matchup with Surge," Grey told me, his voice calm and analytical. "Bulbasaur and Charmander were the right calls. Bulbasaur is able to tank electric energy and Charmander can hit Magneton quite well. Even using Pikachu makes sense as it resists electric attacks, but it also can't hit as hard against other electric types. Maybe if you started with Pikachu and used Bulbasaur at the end to stall out Surge with Leech Seed, you could have won that match."
I looked up at him, surprised he wasn't just telling me to give up.
"While he is right to some extent," Grey continued, "evolution isn't strictly needed to beat the Raichu. Besides, even if you evolve it, that Raichu has more experience as a Raichu and knows a lot of moves of that stage. It could still go on his side. I guess he was just trying to get into your head to make you lose composure and get the win. Had you started with Pikachu, you could have taken out Voltorb and saved Bulbasaur for the Raichu by swapping with Charmander early after the Voltorb. Honestly, from what I have heard, you aren't a bad trainer and you have a great list of Pokémon. I guess you might just be bad at planning the match and researching your opponent. Had you researched Surge, you could have gone with a better order and won the match. Of course, this is just speculation from my end."
"He is right, Ash," Brock said, leaning in to console me. "Don't take it so hard. You are a good trainer, but you aren't putting in your best and you were a bit overconfident challenging Surge blindly. We can always prepare again to beat him."
"Yeah, Ash!" Misty added, smiling. "Besides, we are there to help you out with this, and you can leverage our experience for your help."
Third Person POV
"You guys..." Ash said, wiping away a few tears that had escaped while he was venting. He looked at Grey and thanked him for giving him a better idea of how to handle the fight.
Grey told him it wasn't a problem, wishing him the best of luck. He mentioned he hoped to fight Ash in the S.S. Anne tournament if they both managed to get their badges. Then, with a slight grin, Grey admitted he'd lied a bit earlier—he actually did want to fight the other two Pallet trainers after everything Blue had told him.
Ash laughed a bit at that, the spark returning to his eyes. He told Grey that he would train, do his research, and then re-challenge Surge to get the badge. Once that was done, he promised he'd face Grey at the S.S. Anne.
Author's Note : I might have made things tough for grey we have a smarter ash in the loose now , after this talk , also for some reason collections and power stones seemed to be reducing a lot so I have decided to experiment with upload timings again.
I expanded the match of ash , no way in this world is surge doing a 1 vs 1 for a 3 badge match so its a 3vs 3 and it was tough for ash but still doable had he been smart
I have plans for Ash , so the next time u see him he is gonna show why he is a pallet trainer along with the other 2