Ash recently made Pokémon history by finally becoming the World Champion after striving for that title for decades (in terms of real-world anime generations, anyway), but as it turns out, he made history long before then–and in a more significant way.

Upon becoming a Pokémon trainer at the age of ten, Ash was given Pikachu as his starter Pokémon before setting out into the world alone to capture wild Pokémon, battle gym leaders, and win tournaments in order to become the very best. In the beginning, Ash was very much a beginner who had little to no control over his Pikachu, wasn’t quite sure about how to capture wild Pokémon, and had no idea what he needed to do to enter tournaments. But, with every passing day, Ash learned and grew into his position as a legitimate Pokémon trainer. This experience culminated in Ash’s final triumph, when he finally took the title of World Champion. While that is perhaps the most prestigious moment for Ash in Pokémon, it wasn’t the most impactful to the wider lore of the anime–in fact, not even close.

Ash and Pikachu Made History with One Pokémon Battle Victory

In Pokémon: Indigo League episode 9 (written by Norman J. Grossfeld, Michael Haigney, and John Touhey, and directed by Masamitsu Hidaka), Ash, Misty, and Brock come across a school called Pokémon Tech, at which point they also come across the top student, Giselle. Giselle is basically in charge of the student body, and she’s been making life hard for one of the lower classmen, Joe. When Ash sees Joe being hazed, he quickly runs to his aid and challenges the person responsible–that being Giselle. So, Ash and Giselle face-off in a Pokémon battle, where Ash’s Pikachu is up against Giselle’s Cubone. Since Cubone is a Ground-type Pokémon, they were resistant to Electric-type attacks, making anything Pikachu could throw at them practically useless. So, Ash tells Pikachu to just punch and claw Cubone instead, and this tactic wins Ash and Pikachu the victory over Giselle and Cubone–and in doing so, created Pokémon history.

According to Giselle–who, again, is the top student at one of the most prestigious Pokémon academies in the world–no Pikachu has ever won a Pokémon battle without using an electricity attack. Pikachu aren’t the most exotic Pokémon out there, and they’re also not the most versatile when it comes to attacks, either. But, Ash and Pikachu established a special connection in the anime that never existed between a Pikachu and their trainer before. Since Ash treated Pikachu like a friend and partner rather than simply his Pokémon, he could just tell Pikachu to fight Cubone in unconventional ways without going against Pikachu’s training. Pikachu never had any training to begin with, he fights for Ash because he wants to, and that allows him to break the rules a little bit when it comes to normal Pokémon battle decorum–which, in the end, actually makes history.

While it was exciting for fans to see Ash finally earning the top-spot as Pokémon’s World Champion after following him on countless adventures for so many years, the actual in-world impact of Ash becoming Champion wasn’t that intense, as he was just the latest in a long line of Champions. However, by winning a Pokémon battle without having his Pikachu use an electricity attack, Ash actually made history within the established universe–and that happened long before he could ever call himself Champion.