Giselle stared blankly at Ash. She hadn't expected to lose to him, nor had she imagined her grandfather would extend an invitation to Ash.
What shocked her even more was that Ash had declined the offer!
After hearing Ash's ambition, Giselle found herself stunned. His desire to see more Pokémon, meet more Trainers, and explore a broader world...
It was a perspective Giselle had never considered, and his words left her deeply shaken.
Until now, Giselle's goal had been clear—becoming the top student at the Pokémon Research School. She had achieved that, becoming the strongest among her peers.
But once she reached that pinnacle, something shifted. She became complacent, believing her strength was sufficient.
She even thought she had what it took to compete in the Indigo Plateau Conference and possibly become the Indigo Conference Champion.
Her classmates, too, couldn't understand why Ash had turned down their principal's invitation. But it was precisely because they couldn't understand that they weren't Ash.
After lunch, Ash and his friends left the Pokémon Research School, continuing their journey to the Cerulean Strait.
However, Giselle, still at the school, remained preoccupied, unable to forget her battle with Ash.
It was a crushing defeat, one she'd never experienced before. Her Karla Karla was at the elite level, far superior to Ash's Pikachu, which was just at a regular level.
Additionally, cubone's Ground-type abilities were a perfect counter to Pikachu's Electric-type.
Yet, despite this advantage, the battle ended in a resounding loss, and she had been unable to mount any defense.
"Is there really such a huge gap between me and Trainers from outside?" she wondered, unable to comprehend the defeat.
She had faced other visiting Trainers before and had always come out on top.
"It's not that the Trainers I battled were too weak... could it be that he's just too strong?" Giselle's thoughts drifted away from the lesson in front of her.
While the teacher lectured, she stared blankly, her mind elsewhere.
"If I keep going like this... will I ever see him again?" she thought, glancing around at her classmates, who seemed engrossed in the lesson.
But why, despite their attentiveness, were they still so weak?
After class, Giselle returned to her dormitory, still unable to shake off the thoughts. Finally, she decided to visit her grandfather and confide in him.
"Really... It seems my little Giselle has finally matured," the principal said with a smile after listening to her worries.
He could see that Giselle had come to realize that being an excellent Trainer required more than just theory.
"If you want to become a great Trainer, having a strong theoretical foundation is important, but it isn't everything," he advised earnestly.
"What else do I need?" Giselle asked eagerly.
"Real experience! Genuine battles, not the controlled, turn-based exercises you've been doing with your classmates," the principal replied gravely.
The school's focus had shifted almost entirely to theory. Even when Pokémon battles occurred, they resembled turn-based games, lacking the intensity and unpredictability of real combat.
In a real battle, every decision can shape the outcome, and opportunities come and go in an instant.
Only through these fierce, unpredictable encounters can one truly apply the theories learned in class.
This is what combat experience means.
The old principal had long wanted to change the school's current approach, but parents' opinions had shaped the curriculum.
Before he could gain enough influence to push through changes, he knew something drastic needed to happen to shift the mindset of these parents.
Ash's arrival had presented a possible solution. If Ash had joined the school and gone on to excel in the Alliance competition, his success could have been used as an example to persuade the parents.
But with Ash declining the offer, that plan was no longer viable. However, the principal now believed there might be a better option.
"Giselle, follow in Ash's footsteps and challenge the Kanto Alliance!" he declared, gently patting her on the head.
"What?!" Giselle gasped, staring at her grandfather in disbelief, sure she had misheard.
"If you want to stand before Ash again, you can't do it as you are now. Even if you graduate, you won't go far in the Indigo Conference as you are now," her grandfather explained, fully aware of the level of competition she would face.
Giselle was talented, but she still had a long way to go before she could compete with top-level Trainers like those at the Indigo Plateau Conference.
She would likely suffer more defeats, as she had against Ash.
"You will be the first step in my plan to reform the school!" the principal said, running his hand through her hair as his eyes gleamed with determination.
"From now on, only students who have earned eight Kanto Badges will be allowed to graduate!"
"Not just to graduate," he added, "but to qualify for the Alliance competition."
This had been the principal's original idea. The current rules, which allowed graduates to enter the Alliance competition without such a requirement, were outdated remnants from when the school was first established, at a time when the League desperately needed participants.
Now, with the League fully developed, the school needed to adapt or risk becoming irrelevant.
If Giselle succeeded, it would give the school an edge and possibly pave the way for a complete overhaul of its teaching methods.
"When I face him again..." Giselle thought, recalling Ash's calm yet determined expression during their battle. "I want to be like that!" she clenched her fists, her resolve strengthening.
\"Grandfather, I've made my decision! I'll leave school tomorrow and challenge the Kanto League. I won't return until I've earned all eight Badges!"
"Excellent! That's the spirit of a true heir to the Youteng family!" her grandfather exclaimed, laughing heartily.
He was pleased with her choice and silently thanked Ash for inspiring such growth in his granddaughter.
Without Ash's influence, Giselle wouldn't have experienced such a profound defeat or realized that theory alone couldn't make her a strong Trainer.
As he looked at his energized granddaughter, the principal couldn't help but think about Ash's age. The two were quite close in age... and if they met again in the future, who knows? Perhaps something more could develop between them.
Wouldn't it be something if the Mistrel family had an heir with such outstanding genes?
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Adios