Along the way, Penny explained to Ash and the others about the situation at the Cerulean Gym. It wasn't about revealing the Pokémon at Cerulean Gym but rather why it was considered the weakest gym.
Generally speaking, a city's gym has to pass several assessments by the League to obtain the qualification of being a city gym.
Even the lowest tier gyms must have top combat power at the Professional Level; this is the basic standard for becoming a gym.
But gyms are inherited and periodically renewed. Some new Gym Leaders who inherit from their parents or grandparents may actually have quite ordinary qualifications, and the Pokémon they possess might only be at the Elite or Advanced Peak level.
However, in such cases, the parent often holds the position of Gym Leader for a while until their children grow up and can take over the gym entirely.
This means if there are children succeeding the Gym Leader, the parents act as a stabilizing presence. If the challengers are of ordinary strength, their children practice handling them, but if faced with strong challengers, the parents will step in.
In this way, the duties of the gym gradually transition from the parents to the children.
Gyms are subject to regular assessments, and if they fail, their gym qualifications can be revoked. Although such situations are rare, they are not unheard of.
So being a Gym Leader doesn't mean you can do nothing but hand out badges and sit in the gym consuming resources. With even a little negligence, the gym's qualifications could be stripped away.
Take Brock's Pewter Gym as an example: if Brock's own talent weren't strong enough to support his family in the short time his parents left, the Pewter Gym's qualifications might have been stripped away.
Brock is now twenty years old and has already trained Pokémon at the Professional Peak Level, stronger than his parents' generation. However, he left the stronger Pokémon at the gym for Flint to maintain it and only took out Geodude and Onix, the ones he battled Ash with.
Additionally, there was a Zubat caught on Moon Mountain, making a total of three Pokémon.
Comparing with Brock's well-managed Pewter Gym, Cerulean Gym was not so lucky.
Cerulean Gym had four successors, and all were sisters. In theory, among the four, there should be at least one with Trainer talent to support the gym?
Indeed, there was one, but she was too young, only fifteen years old this year. The former Gym Leader was secretly giving the youngest sister extra guidance, preparing her Pokémon in advance, teaching her various battle methods, and imparting knowledge related to Pokémon.
The youngest sister exhibited amazing Trainer talent, completely overshadowing her three older sisters in training. Unfortunately, before she could grow up, the four sisters' parents tragically passed away.
With no parental support and the child Trainers not yet matured, Cerulean Gym fell to become the weakest gym in Kanto, bar none.
Even though the youngest sister tried her hardest to support it, she constantly failed, winning only some new Trainers but losing against those with more experience who had been traveling for more than six months.
This was not only due to the strength of the Pokémon but also because the youngest sister had always been stuck in one place without venturing outside Cerulean City.
Having never seen a wider world, how could she understand the vastness of the world or handle challengers coming from various areas and cities?
As a Gym Leader, if her knowledge and experience were inferior to those of her challengers, she would offer them nothing but badges, and if it continued, the gym could lose its qualification at the next assessment.
The youngest sister also quarreled with her sisters about this, stating she couldn't bear the gym's responsibilities alone and that her sisters should help.
To which her sisters argued that they were performing water ballets every day, spending all their earnings on cultivating the youngest sister's Pokémon, with no extra funds to support other Pokémon or time for training and battle.
When the youngest sister heard this, she left Cerulean Gym in anger and declared she didn't need her sisters' support and could train her Pokémon on her own. She promised to become a Trainer stronger than her parents when she returns.
"...With the little miss gone, Cerulean Gym is weaker than ever. Previously, there was the little miss's Pokémon to help sustain the gym's defenses against challengers, but now that the youngest sister has left, the strongest Pokémon in the gym is only at the Advanced Level."
"And since Sayo and the others are not familiar with gym battles, even some beginner challengers can come to Cerulean Gym and easily defeat them... Sigh, I wonder when the little miss will come back," Penny sighed.
Ash and Brock exchanged looks, not expecting there to be such a story behind Cerulean Gym's reputation as the weakest. If not for Penny's explanation, Ash wouldn't have known at all.
And while Brock knew Cerulean Gym was the weakest in Kanto, he didn't expect such secrets behind it.
At the same time, Brock also understood why Misty didn't want to return to Cerulean City and why she left; it turns out she had a feud with her sisters.
However, Misty's decision to step out from Cerulean City was the right one. If you don't see the outside world and always remain isolated, no matter how much talent you have as a Trainer, you'll never progress.
Even he traveled at fifteen, which allowed him to support his family after his parents left him to manage nine siblings.
By then, they had reached the backstage door, and Penny knocked. When a voice inside replied, "Come in," the three entered the backstage area.
By this time, the Cerulean Three Sisters had changed their clothes and were toweling their damp hair.
The blonde woman in the middle of the dressing table was stunned at first upon seeing Ash and Brock but then realized, "You're here to challenge the gym, right?"
To be brought here by Penny at this time, they were definitely gym challengers.
"That's right, I'm Ash from Pallet Town here to challenge the Cerulean Gym."
"My name is Sayo, and I'm the gym leader… but it might not be convenient to challenge the gym now."
"Not convenient?"
"Well, actually…" Sayo slowly explained the current situation of the Cerulean Gym.
Originally, their youngest sister was the Gym Leader, but she left to become a stronger Trainer, so now the three sisters were temporarily managing the gym.
However, they'd never had much talent for being Trainers from the start, coupled with years of water ballet neglecting combat skills, rendering them average in both Pokémon strength and battle commands, even inferior to some novice Trainers.
Just yesterday, a Trainer from Pallet Town came and soundly defeated their Pokémon; they're still in the Pokémon Center and can't retrieve them until tonight, meaning battles have to wait until tomorrow.
"A Trainer from Pallet Town… does he have spiky hair and look quite annoying?" Ash described Gary, and Sayo confirmed.
"That guy beat me again!" Ash gritted his teeth, clenching his fist in frustration, as his rival always seemed one step ahead.
"Anyway, that's the situation. Since you're from Pallet Town, although you have a bit of a reckless look, you should be pretty strong, right? If you agree, we could just give you the badge directly," Violet offered, taking out the Water Drop Badge from the Cerulean Gym.
The light blue-haired Violet nodded beside her, indicating no objection.
Ash: …
Brock: …
Is this really a Gym Leader? Giving out badges for free? Since when did gym badges become so cheap?
And what do they mean by reckless? Is he worse than Gary?!!