Hey everyone! Welcome back and hello! Please enjoy part 2.

Ash woke up the next day bright and early around 8 am. He was closing again tonight, but he didn't let that little factoid bother him. He rolled out of bed and made his way through his morning routine, getting ready for the day

Pikachu came up and jumped on his shoulder, rubbing a dotted cheek against Ash as he brushed his teeth.

"Good morning buddy," Ash greeted, using his free hand to pet the mouse, earning a content smile and sigh from his partner in crime. "should we head out and take a walk today?"

30 minutes later and Ash could be found walking down the street with a pikachu on his shoulder. Said electric mouse was currently giving all his love and attention to a ketchup packet lodged within his mouth. At another sound of pure happiness, Ash rolled his eyes. "I will never understand what makes ketchup so amazing," he muttered. Pikachu glared at him for half a second, an unsaid sentence passing through, before returning happily to his ketchup.

As they were walking, they passed the pokemon center, seeing a battle unfold on field that was always available for public use. A young man around Ash's age was battling with a Gallade, their opponent a mismagius , bobbing up and down. The gallade had some damage taken, but for the most part still looked energized. The mismagius on the other hand looked worse for wear. It's hat was dropping further than normal, and it's bobbing uneven. It was clearly on it's last legs. 

"Gallade, Psycho cut," Came the excited order from the trainer, clearly about to win. Ash's eyes narrowed, then widened greatly as he watch the Gallade charge up a lot of psychic power into his arms. 

"That Mismagius is in danger," Ash thought. He instinctively took three steps forward as Pikachu, seeing the same thing as he did, hopped from his shoulder.

"Pikachu, quick attack if needed," Ash ordered calmly. He nodded in approval as the Mismagius was turned into red energy and disappeared from view

"WHAT'S YOU'RE PROBLEM?!" the young girl scream, her breath hitching, "I FORFEIT MISMAGIUS, AND YOU SHOULD FORFEIT YOUR LISCENSE YOU PRICK!" She stormed off, tears forming in her eyes and she whirled around the corner to get her pokemon treated.

Ash had a bitter taste in his mouth as he watch Gallade's trainer laugh at her storming off. He decided to step forward. "Seriously, what is your problem?" he inquired, his voice easily carrying to the other trainer. "Are you blind? That Mismagius was clearly on it's last legs, and you order a full charge super effective move? It could've been severely injured, or worse."

The young man stopped laughing and instead gave Ash a critical eye. "So? Who cares? It's not my problem. It's a pokemon battle, if you lose, you lose. If not, what are pokemon centers for anyways?"

Ash felt his blood boiling. "It will be your problem if that Mismagius ends up dying. It's your responsibility as a trainer to reign in your pokemon, and failing to do so is a serious offense."

The opposing man shrugged. "It's never been an issue for me in the past,"

"Well right now isn't the past, is it?" Ash shot back. Clearly there wasn't getting through to this man with words. He made eye contact with pikachu near his feet, exchanging a shared glance of anger. A simple nod was all it took for Pikachu to understand exactly was Ash wanted.

"Let's battle," Ash called out "1 on 1."

The other man grinned. "Is that rat all you have? What would you know about battling then, if an unevolved pokemon is all you have?"

That comment struck a nerve that the man didn't know existed. Ash went from angry to pissed faster than what should've been possible. Ash silently seethed as he marched towards his side of the field. Pikachu silently trodded with him, sparks flying from his cheeks uncontrollably. Ash crossed his arms in front of him.

"What's you're name?" Ash asked.

"Name's Cameron. Nidoking, let's go!" The trainer called out, as the purple behemoth appeared on the battlefield. It looked questioningly at Pikachu, as if wondering if he was really supposed to be battling something so... small. Ash rolled his eyes. Like trainer like pokemon, idiocy has no bounds, AND he didn't even have the decency to ask for his opponents name. For someone who was supposedly so sure that he was going to win, picking type matchups was also extremely cowardly.

"You can have the first move," Ash said, his voice deathly calm.

"Nidoking, take down," Cameron called. The purple monster cried it's name as it was cloaked in white, charging at pikachu. Any on looker would be impressed by the power, but Ash merely raised an eyebrow. Sure it was strong, but Nidoking were never built for speed, nor was this particular nidoking too mindful about how it was running.

"Pikachu, quick attack into iron tail. Aim for the feet."

Pikachu went from standing still to a full sprint, catching Cameron and Nidoking completely off guard. Nidoking's target just disappeared from view, not even seeing his opponent move in the first place, and all Cameron caught was the yellow/white streak that went past Nidoking. An iron tail caught Nidoking right under the knees, hard enough to flip the Nidoking right on hit's head. It stumbled as it climbed back to it's feet, bewildered on what just happened.

"Pikachu, slam, upwards."

"Stop him with brick break!"

"Don't let him hit you Pikachu, then thunderbolt."

Pikachu sprinted at the Nidoking, watching as a glowing arm swung down at him. Pikachu, narrowly dodged the arm, before planting all 4 feet and jumping into the Nidoking with full force. The nidoking roared in pain, not even seeing how the rodent had dodged, barely catching the yellow blur speeding into his chest. The nidoking was launched several feet into the air, and cried once more as he was shocked by a thunderbolt, an entirely new sensation to him.

"How... how did that thunderbolt do damage? Nidoking is a ground type?"

"Ground types dodge damage by diverting electricity into the ground. No ground, no safety." Ash explained. This really was battling 101. Was this guy so stupid that he doesn't know the most basics of strategies? "Then again," Ash thought, "I did kind of invent that one."

Nidoking struggled to it's feet. By now it had realized it had been outmatched. Sure the pikachu was small, but it's power was immense. The last slam had been a direct hit, and the stinging sensation was stronger than he had ever felt, not to mention the tingling numbness that danced across it's skin.

"Nidoking, earthquake!" Cameron called, desperation seeping into his tone.

"Pikachu, iron tail,"

The ground shook and surface cracks formed, racing towards Pikachu. Ash grew more upset. Moves like magnitude and earthquake weren't illegal, but heavily frowned upon being used in towns and cities if the battlefields weren't built to support it. The damage risk was high, and repairs to foundations weren't exactly cheap.

Pikachu swung it's tail into the ground, creating a shockwave of his own. The forces met in the middle, and diverted the earthquakes energy harmlessly off into the forest. Ash sighed in relief, as the pokemon center stood unharmed.

"Are you kidding me? What is your actual problem? You used earthquake next to a pokemon center? Are you stupid?" Ash yelled at him. Cameron flushed as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Ash rolled his eyes annoyed. "At least Cameron had the mind to be embarrassed," Ash thought.

"Pikachu, let's end this already. Iron tail." Pikachu for the last time, took off faster than Cameron could follow. He seemed even faster than the last few moves used in the battle. Pikachu seemingly materialized in front of the Nidoking, flipping to slam his hardened tail downwards into the Nidoking's head. Nidoking collapsed under the force, and pikachu returned to Ash's side of the field. Nidoking struggled to it's feet. It's breath was heavily burdened, and one eye was closed in pain.

"Hang in there Nidoking, we can win this," Cameron pleaded. Ash merely shook his head.

"Pikachu, thunder. Full force," Ash ordered. The small rodent began charging electricity, his cheek pouches firing off sparks like crazy, clouds brewed overhead, and a massive lighting bolt crashed down. The attack struck Nidoking, enveloping him entirely in an extreme show of power. Cameron and Ash covered their eyes as a thunderous CRACK was heard within miles of the field. 

Cameron blinked as his vision returned, white spots dotting his vision. He whirled on Ash.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? YOU PSYCHOTIC PIECE OF-"

"Look." Ash cut him off calmly

Cameron was breathing heavily as he turn and saw Nidoking, laying in a crater, large chunks of the ground having been hurled away from him. Nidoking was breathing steadily and was passed out.

"He's a ground type, and was actually grounded that time. Hence the crater, he took barely any actual damage from that thunder. But imagine if he wasn't a ground type. What if he was a water type? Or maybe even a ghost type with poor defenses about to be hit with a psycho cut?" He sent a withering glare at the end of his tirade. 

Cameron paled. This is what he did to that girl he was battling earlier? His heart was pounding. His opponents words rang in his head from earlier. "It's your job to reign in your pokemon. Failing to do so is a serious offence." It was finally apparent why. He numbly recalled his Nidoking into it's pokeball. He had some apologies to make. He turned back to face the man who beat him black and blue, only to find him walking off, already a very good distance away. He tried calling after him, but Ash didn't even turn around. Cameron surveyed the crater left behind on the field. The field maintenance pokemon team would be able to fix this easily, but still... Cameron had never seen a thunder quite like that one before.

Unbeknownst to both the victor and the loser, a certain blonde woman watched the whole thing from the distant sidelines. She slowly took her sunglasses off, disbelief etched onto her face. Her eyes stayed glued to the crater that Cameron was also staring into. Just who in the world was that bartender?

Pikachu hopped back on Ash's shoulder as they entered a convenience store. Pikachu kept shooting him glances as Ash picked out his cup of noodles.

"You've done stronger thunder's before and you know it," Ash finally said. Pikachu pouted at Ash and started indignantly trying to reason with him.

"But..." Ash continued, "Considering you're a bit rusty, and you were finally warming up, then it was pretty good. Well done, Pikachu."

The small mouse smirked at his trained, puffing his chest out a little bit while placing his paws on his hips. Ash chuckled at him before checking out his items. He pulled another couple of ketchup packets from his pocket and handed them to his partner in crime.

Pikachu cried out happily and gave ash a couple of appreciative licks on the cheek before tearing the end off of his treat. Ash pulled out his phone and earbuds, playing music for his walk home. Once he made it through the door, he took an earbud out and looked over at his best friend on his shoulder.

"Y'know buddy, despite how easy it was, that was actually kind of fun. I miss battling." Ash said, his voice wistful as he turned his gaze to the spinning ceiling fan.

Pikachu looked at him, hope filled eyes staring at the side of Ash's head. Sure the sedentary life was easy and peaceful. He never had to do anything he didn't want to, but he was a battler through and through. The adrenaline rush was a high to Pikachu that could never be rivaled by anything barring ketchup. 

Ash stretched widely as Pikachu hopped down off of his shoulder. After sitting down at the counter and eating his noodles, he got ready to work. "I wonder if that lady will show up today." Ash pondered, as he put on his shoes. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, telling himself internally that it shouldn't matter, he bid Pikachu farewell as he headed out the door to the Shirona Centennial. After all, the bills weren't going to pay themselves.

And there's chapter 2! Hope you guys enjoyed, and if you have any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, then please leave a comment. Have a nice day everyone! Peace out