>>36690039Researching his opponent is how he got into that mess. Ash was still reeling from getting his ass kicked by Trip a few episodes before this and wanted to prove that he could go into battle with strategy instead of just winging it like he normally does. Focusing so much on "strategy" caused him to start forgetting the basics and doing shit like forgetting to bring other Pokemon. After Pikachu shocked him, he went "fuck it" and decided to go back to his usual strategy of ignoring type match-ups and using Pikachu against everything.
