If anybody really understood Ash, it was Pikachu. He always knew what Ash needed to hear when he was feeling down after a particularly brutal defeat.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu chirped. The cute little guy was so sensitive.
"Thanks buddy, that's just what I needed after that last battle. I mean, talk about your beginner's luck!" Ash had just lost to Bug Catcher Joey and his fearsome Metapod. But, in his defense, how was he supposed to know that it was that high of a level?
"The kid was standing in Viridian Forest waving a net over his head and shouting lame battle cries. Who just does that?" he rambled.
"Pika..."
"Okay, okay. Maybe I've been known to do that every now and then. But that was when I was like ten!"
"Pika!"
"Alright, so I'm still ten."
"Pika..." It almost looked like Pikachu was chastising him. In reality, he had just seen a particualrly interesting leaf. But Ash didn't know that.
"...and it was last week. I see your point. Do you think I should ask for a rematch?"
Ash, not speaking Pokémon, took Pikachu's rant about how it wasn't Ash going out there and taking all the shots for his friend as advice on training up a little bit before challenging Thug Catcher Joey. He then spent eight minutes romping in a patch of tall grass. No terrified Pokemon scurried out. Just when he was going to give up and just go curl up underneath his bed, a wild Kakuna appeared in front of him.
"Da! Da! Daaa da! Da! Da! Da! Alright Pikachu, hit it with a tackle!" he enthusiastically shouted as he wiggled his hips for no reason. Pikachu tackled the Kakuna. It used poison sting and Pikachu was poisoned. Ash didn't notice. He had Pikachu tackle the offending bug into submission, and started looking for Bug Catcher Joey again.
Pikachu felt terrible. He was slowly dying from the poison, and Ash didn't even seem to care! He was just strolling back down the path with a creepy smile on his face, looking for the trainer he had lost to earlier.
"Let's see... Was he to the left or the right, buddy?"
"Pika..." Pikachu groaned.
Ash started off on the left path, "Thanks for the tip. I don't know what I'd ever do without you."
Pikachu followed in Ash's footprints. Sometimes he felt like if he would just go in a Pokéball, he wouldn't have problems like this. Then he remembered the amount of times when Ash had just forgotten that a Pokémon was poisoned or paralyzed or almost dead simply because he couldn't see them. It wasn't always the young trainer's fault, but that didn't make it any easier on him when he called on an injured Pokémon to fight. Pikachu was glad that he could at least let Ash know when he was too hurt to help. Getting Ash to understand him was still almost impossible. One day it would seem like the trainer could hear his Pokémons' thoughts, the next he was misinterpreting them.
"Look! Over by that tree! Is that him?" Ash was really really excited now. He had just caught the first glimpse of Bug Catcher Joey. "Let's sneak up behind him and surprise him."
Ash proceeded to tip toe over to a few feet away from the trainer. Then he shouted as loud as he could, "I WANT A REMATCH! LEEET'S BATTLE!" as he wiggled his hips again.
"I beat you once I can beat you again, you're on!"
Ash was facing Bug Catcher Joey and glaring. "Pikachu! I choooose - wait, hold on." He finally noticed that Pikachu wasn't feeling good. "What's wrong buddy?"
"Pikaaaaaa..."
"You want some candy? You don't need that, it'll rot your teeth."
"PIKA PIKA!" Pikachu was yelling at him to just hand over an antidote already.
"I'm glad you agree. Now stop complaining and leeeeeeeet's battle!" Ash struck a ridiculous pose as Bug Catcher Joey sent out his Metapod. It used harden.
"Hit it with a charge attack!" Pikachu really wished that Ash knew what he was doing. Since Pikachu didn't know how to use any electric attacks, Charge was the worst possible option. He sighed and charged up. The Metapod used harden again. If he wasn't getting hurt from the poison, Pikachu would win easily.
"Hmm... Pikachu, use tackle!" Pikachu tackled the stupid Metapod. It only did a tiny bit of damage. In a few turns, Pikachu would faint by poison. He was mentally cursing Ash for not giving him an antidote. "Pika chupi pika!"
Harden.
Tackle.
Harden.
Tackle.
Harden. Pikachu was about to faint, and the Metapod hadn't even attacked! Ash finally realized that something was wrong. He dug around through his bag and found the antidote that he'd found sitting outside of the forest a few hours earlier. He sprayed Pikachu with it and he seemed to instantly recover.
"Hit it with a charge!" Ash ordered, flipping his hat to look even "cooler". Even though Pikachu was happy that his friend had finally used an antidote on him, he still didn't know any electric moves. Pikachu felt a surge of electricity building up in him.
Harden.
Ash thought Pikachu should just zap the Metapod. After all, Professor Oak did tell him that Pikachu was an electric type Pokémon. "Use a uh... zap attack!"
Pikachu was confused. Zap attack? That wasn't even an attack name! He tried his best to follow Ash's order, and to his surprise he actually zapped the Metapod! Zapping it did a lot more damage than tackling did. "Pikachu has learned Spark." the Pokédex beeped.
"Awesome! Hit it with another Zap Attack!" Ash shouted, ignoring the fact that it was Bug Catcher Joey's turn.
Pikachu complied. He used spark again, and the Metapod used harden. It went on like that for a while before Metapod finally fainted.
"No fair! You cheated!" Bug Catcher Joey complained.
Ash put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. "No I didn't! I'm Ash Ketchum, the awesomest most amazing Pokemon trainer in Kanto! Give me my prize money!"
Bug Catcher Joey looked like he was about to hand over his twenty Pokédollars, but he ran away. Ash chased him and 'used tackle'. It was super effective, and Ash left with his twenty Pokédollars. He picked up Pikachu and started spinning him in a circle.
"Pi-pi-pikaaaaa!"
"I'm glad we won too, little buddy. Now, where's the next trainer?"
Pikachu sighed. Some things never changed.