Another way of looking at Ash's swiss cheese memory. I wrote it out in
about 10min, so it's probably not very good.
Memory Loss?
As Ash, Brock and Misty continued their journey to Ecrutank City, a
noise distracted them. A large purple Pokemon appeared.
"What's that?" Ash asked, as he pointed Dexter at it.
"Nidorino, the Poison Pin Pokemon. This is the evolved form of the
male Nidoran."
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt," Ash called out.
"Pika!" the yellow mouse said as it released some of its electricity.
The energy blast tore into Nidorino and stunned it. Ash took the
chance and sent a Pokeball at it. After a few seconds the Pokeball
rocked to a stop and Ash picked it up. In a glow of light, the ball
vanished on its way to Professor Oak's
"Ash?" Misty asked, exasperated, "How can you not know what a Nidorino
is? As matter of fact, why can't you remember any of the Pokemon we
have seen in the past?"
"I'mn following the wisdom of a personal hero of mine."
"What hero would give the advice not to remember anything?" Brock
asked.
"Sherlock Holmes," Ash replied.
"Huh?" Misty and Brock said in unison.
"Sherlock only remembers things that are important to what he does.
Any thing else, he calls upon his library of books to help him out. I
could try to remember all the pokemon we have encountered, but what
would be the point? I don't have them, and I won't be using their
attacks in battle. And like Sherlock, I have a refrence tool. My
Pokedex. I also have a journal of what all Pokemon I've seen and what
happened when I saw them."
Ash opened his Pokedex and brought up an entry. "Hmm. I've seen
Growlithe three times already. But until I met that Officer Jenny who
trains Growlithe for police work, I didn't really think it was important
to recall that Pokemon."
Misty said, "That is stupid, Ash. How are you going to know what
Pokemon are weak to certain attacks, if you don't memorize them?"
"I've done all right, so far. Besides, I do memorize the Pokemon and
their evoultions that I do have. As well as the ones you, Brock< Nurse
Joy, and Team Rocket have. I deal with them on a day to day basis."
Brock said, "That explains why you can identify certian Pokemon, but
not others. But, just studying your own Pokemon and those that you deal
with daily won't be enough, Ash. You are going to have to remember more
about them. Besides, Sherlock Holmes, if he was a Pokemon Trainer,
would know all Pokemon on sight and what their attacks were."
"Er." Ash stammered. "What do you suggest?"
Brock took Dexter and looked at it. "First, you are going to learn all
the Pokemon that you have seen, by sight. Second, you will remember
where you saw them and how. Third, you will learn what their attacks
are. By keeping your mind empty like that, it should have a lot of
capacity for learning about Pokemon."
"Are you sure about this, Brock?" Ash asked.
"You went overboard in following Shelock Holme's lead. Sure he doesn't
know a thing about the solar system, but he did know what he needed to
know to do his job effectively."
Ash sighed heavily, knowing he was going to have a lot of memorizing to
do.