Jacky Wheeler, known as "Burning Pegasus" in his pro battling days thanks to his penchant for creating fiery wings on his back when putting his blazing speed to use (everyone has to have a gimmick after all), looked like he was on track to be one of the youngest champions of all time. Having started out his career at age 17, he quickly made his way up through the local leagues and joined up with the Indigo Plateau League, a regional level organization that centered on high-speed battling as its trademark. In his first year Jacky earned a spot in the annual championship tournament and was considered the favorite to win.

However, during his semi-final match the young Rapidash made a critical misstep during an all-out Flame Charge and crashed headfirst into a retaining wall, ending up with a concussion and, even worse, snapping his distinctive horn completely off. While recovering, Jacky realized that he was very lucky to have not broken his neck or worse during that accident, and felt that it was probably time to stop tempting disaster. Thus he retired from pro combat at the age of 24, when most battlers' careers start to reach their peak, and followed a lead from one of his old friends about a prestigious school in Viridian City that was in need of some combat teachers.

As the advanced fire moves teacher, Jacky is one of the youngest teachers in the PCA. Though he never had any formal training in combat himself, this also means he has a rather unique viewpoint of his moveset, which translates quite visibly into his lesson plans. He typically works with a small group on whatever move they all share an interest in learning, while the rest of the students are allowed to practice freely until their turn comes up. This sort of freeform class structure, his easygoing attitude and the fact that he's not that much older than the juniors and seniors he teaches make for a rather popular course among those who prefer to do things their own way, or at least those who get sick of doing things the same as everyone else.