Pokémon: Simultaneous time travel, this Ash is too versatile!

Chapter 50: The History of Cerulean Gym, the Name of the Weakest Gym, Badges Given Away Free!
Along the way, Xiaohua explained the situation of Cerulean City Gym to Xiaozhi and the others. She didn't reveal the Pokémon of Cerulean City Gym, but rather explained why Cerulean City Gym was called the weakest gym.

Generally speaking, a city's dojo must pass a series of rigorous tests by the league before it can obtain the city's dojo qualification.

Even the lowest-ranking dojos have top-tier fighters at the professional level; this is the basic standard for becoming a dojo.

However, gyms are passed down through generations and are subject to generational changes. Some new gym leaders who succeed their parents or grandfathers are actually quite average in strength, and the Pokémon they have may only be at the elite or even advanced peak level.

However, in such cases, the father usually takes over the position of dojo master for a while, and then entrusts the dojo to his children when they grow up.

In other words, if the children take over as gym leader, the parents are essentially there to keep things in check. If the trainer is just an average-level trainer, then the children can practice on them. If they encounter a strong trainer, then the parents will step in.

In this way, the older generation gradually passed on the responsibilities of the dojo to their children.

Dojos have regular assessments, and if a dojo fails an assessment, its dojo qualification can be revoked. Although such situations are rare, they do happen.

Therefore, a gym leader is not someone who can simply become a gym leader and do nothing but hand out badges and sit in the gym and live off the government. If they don't work hard, they might lose their gym status.

Take Brock's Pewter Gym, for example. If Brock himself hadn't been so talented that he managed to hold up the family during the short time his parents were gone, the Pewter Gym might have been stripped of its status.

Xiao Gang is twenty years old, but he has already trained professional-level Pokémon, which are even stronger than his parents' generation. However, nowadays, he keeps the stronger Pokémon in the gym for Wu Neng to use to keep order. He only brought out Geodude and Onix, the two Pokémon that had battled Ash.

In addition, there is a Zubat that was caught on Mt. Tsukimi, making a total of three Pokémon.

Compared to the Pewter Gym run by Brock, the Cerulean Gym was not so lucky.

There are four people who have inherited the Cerulean Gym, and they are four sisters. Logically speaking, one of the four should have the talent of a trainer and be able to take over the position of the gym, right?

There really is such a person, but that person is too young, only fifteen years old this year. The former gym leader secretly gave the youngest girl special training, teaching her Pokémon battle techniques, various ways to train Pokémon, and imparting all kinds of knowledge related to Pokémon to her.

The youngest sister also showed amazing talent as a trainer. In terms of trainers, she can be said to be completely superior to her three older sisters. Unfortunately, before the youngest sister could grow up, the four sisters' parents passed away in an accident.

Without the support of their fathers and with their children's trainers yet to mature, Cerulean Gym has fallen to become the weakest gym in Kanto, bar none.

Even though the youngest sister tried her best and struggled to hold on, she was repeatedly defeated. She could only win relatively easily against some novice trainers. Whenever she encountered a trainer with more experience who had been traveling for more than half a year, she was basically no match for them.

This is not only due to the strength of the Pokémon, but also because the youngest sister has been working in isolation and has basically never left Cerulean City.

Without seeing a wider sky, how can one know the vastness of heaven and earth, and how can one cope with challengers from various regions and cities?

As a gym leader, if your knowledge and experience are inferior to those of the challengers, and you offer no help to them other than giving them badges, then such a gym leader is very likely to have their gym qualification revoked when the next assessment comes.

The youngest sister also argued with her older sisters about this, believing that she shouldn't be the only one responsible for the dojo, and that her sisters should also help out.

In response, the younger sister's older sisters said that they perform synchronized swimming every day, and the money they earn is used to raise the younger sister's Pokémon. Where would they find the extra food to raise other Pokémon? They also don't have time for Pokémon training or Pokémon battles.

Upon hearing this, the youngest sister stormed off from the Cerulean Gym, declaring that she didn't need her sisters' financial support and that she could raise her Pokémon on her own. She said that when she returned, she would be a trainer even stronger than her parents!
"...With the young lady gone, the Cerulean Gym has become weaker than before. Before, the young lady's Pokémon could support the gym and deal with some challengers, but now that she's gone, the strongest Pokémon in the gym is only at the advanced stage."

"Besides, Sakura and the others aren't familiar with gym battles. Basically, even some beginner challengers can come to Cerulean Gym and beat them up... Sigh, I wonder when Miss will be able to come back." Flower sighed.

Ash and Brock exchanged bewildered glances. They hadn't expected the Cerulean Gym to have such a past, let alone the title of the weakest gym. Ash wouldn't have known this if Blossom hadn't mentioned it. Brock, while aware that the Cerulean Gym was the weakest in Kanto, was also surprised by this hidden secret.

At the same time, Xiaogang also understood why Xiaoxia didn't want to return to Hualan City, and why she left Hualan City—it turned out she was angry with her sisters.

However, Misty's decision to leave Cerulean City was correct. If one doesn't come out to see the world and keeps working in isolation, no matter how talented a trainer is, they will only stagnate.

Even he himself had traveled when he was fifteen years old before returning home, which is why he was able to support his family even after his parents passed away and he was raising nine children alone.

The three of them had reached the backstage entrance. Xiaohua knocked on the door, and a voice inside said "Come in." The three of them then entered the backstage area.

By this time, the three Hua Lan sisters had changed their clothes and were all drying their wet hair with towels.

The blonde woman sitting in the middle of the dressing table was stunned for a moment when she saw Ash and his companion, then she realized what was going on: "You're here to challenge the gym, right?"

The only people who could be brought here by Xiaohua at this time are probably gym challengers.

"That's right, I'm Ash from Pallet Town, and I'm here to challenge the Cerulean Gym."

“My name is Sakura, and I’m the gym leader of this gym… but it might not be very convenient to challenge the gym right now.”

"Isn't that convenient?"

“Well, actually…” Sakura slowly explained the current situation of the Cerulean Gym.

Originally, the Cerulean Gym Leader was their youngest sister, but she left the gym to become a powerful trainer, so the three sisters had to take over as gym leaders for the time being.

However, none of the three of them had any talent as trainers since childhood. In addition, their long-term performance in synchronized swimming had neglected their battle skills, resulting in them being quite average in terms of both Pokémon strength and Pokémon command, even inferior to some newly debuted trainers.

Just yesterday, a trainer from Pallet Town came over and beat up their Pokémon. They're still at the Pokémon Center and can only be retrieved tonight, meaning they'll have to wait until at least tomorrow to battle them.

"The trainers in Pallet Town... are they people with spiky hair and a really annoying look?" Ash described Gary's appearance, and Sakura confirmed it.

"That guy is faster than me again!!" Ash gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. How could he not feel resentful when his rival was always one step ahead of him?
"Anyway, that's the situation. Well... since you're from Pallet Town too, even though you seem a bit green on the uptake, you must be pretty good, right? If you agree, it's fine to just give you this badge."

Ayame, who had sky-blue hair, suggested this and took out the Cerulean Gym's Water Drop Badge.

The peony beside the calamus nodded in agreement.

Xiao Zhi: ...

Xiaogang:......

Is this...is this a gym leader? Gym badges are free? When did gym badges become so cheap?
And what does "a hothead" even mean? Is he any worse than Xiao Mao?!

　Many things in the Pokémon TV series are incomplete, so I had to add many settings myself, otherwise the story would lack a lot of completeness.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)