Man, where is Pikachu? Ash thought as he examined, from behind a crate, into the darkened hull of the freighter.

The freighter was currently on the route for the Orange Islands. Ash and Pikachu had snuck on board, the day before, with the rest of Ash's Pokémon, who were in their Pokéballs, in his backpack, after stealing them back from Professor Oak's laboratory, last week. They stayed hidden from the workers on board but had to keep on their toes. They were currently finding a crate, in which they could sneak into and lay low, for the rest of the trip.

Ash looked back into the darkened cargo hull, before peering back to find Pikachu scurrying to his feet. He knelt down and scratched the electric type, behind its ears. "Hey bud, that took a while. What did you find? Are we in the clear?"

Pikachu gave a nod before turning back and quietly dashing to a crate that was in the corner of the space. Ash moved quietly through the shadows as he approached the container. He took out a crowbar, which was hidden away in his backpack. He put it under the lip of the wooden crate and slowly began to apply pressure downwards. The lid began to come up, with a slow creak. Ash gasped, as he heard voices, from across the hull, beginning to make their way toward his position. He quickly grabbed Pikachu and jumped into the crate, closing it before a flashlight hit his position. He breathed a sigh of relief, as he noticed the crate was empty. He began to hear voices, outside the crate and became curious. He leaned into the wall, with one ear, to listen more closely.

"You sure you heard a noise from over here?" Ash could hear a crotchety voice say from the outside.

"Yeah. I'm positive!" a younger voice responded. "We should at least check the package, right? You know, to make sure that it's still in there."

"Alright, but I'm telling you that it hasn't moved," the first voice said as the distinctive noise, of a crate being opened, could be heard. "You see? The package isn't going anywhere any time soon." Ash heard a slap of the crate, as he heard footsteps moving away, down the room.

I wonder what's in that package. Why are they so worried about it?

Ash was snapped out of his thoughts, as he felt Pikachu nuzzling his hand. "Pika pi Pikapi?" he asked Ash with hopeful eyes.

"Huh. . . . Oh yeah. Let's get you some food. You're probably hungry. Well, this is all I got for us, right now," Ash said as he pulled out a few berries that he had managed to pick from the forests, outside of the port city that they had been in, before finding their way onto the ship.

After eating a few of the berries, the duo laid down to rest for the night. Ash was curled up with Pikachu, nuzzling his cheeks. Ash had a hard time falling asleep, as something was pulling at him, but he couldn't figure out why or what it was. Why am I feeling like this? Something is calling to me, but what? The thoughts ran through his mind, before the exhaustion of the paranoia that he felt, in the last two days, finally overtook him and drifted into sleep.

Ash woke to sounds of whimpering. He slowly opened his eyes, to take in his surroundings. After regaining his senses, he noticed the commotion, coming from outside the crate.

"Listen here, you little mutt!" Ash heard the gruff voice, from the previous night, say, "You're going to eat this and you're going to like it!" The command was followed by the sound of a bowl, hitting the crate, and a yelp, belonging to whatever was inside that wooden box.

"Hey, be careful!" the same younger voice said. "The boss said that we need to take care of this one."

"Now, you listen to me!" the first voice stated. "Whoever paid us to capture this Pokémon, will still pay good money, no matter if there are a few scratches and bruises on it. Besides, this little beast needs to be taught some manners." A sudden sound of slap could be heard ringing through the hull of the ship. "Come on, let's get out of this shit hole."

Ash began to hear low sobs, coming from the crate. He nudged Pikachu awake. The electric type gave a yawn, before stretching its back and giving Ash a look of curiosity.

"Come on, buddy. We need to investigate something," Ash said as he slowly began to lift the lid of the crate. "I need you to go and check for anyone passing by. Got it?"

Pikachu gave a salute, as he hopped out of the crate and did zigzags across the floor while searching for any signs of trouble. When he found that nothing would bother them, he turned and gave a slight nod to Ash. Ash then slowly sneaked out of the crate. Once he lowered himself to the ground, he cautiously stepped toward the box, where the sobs were coming from. The hull of the ship was poorly lit, but he could manage to see well enough to inspect the mysterious wooden box.

He noticed that the two men, who had been there, had left the lid cracked open. The sobs were constant, but grew louder, with every step he took toward the crate. He opened the crate and looked in. He let out a gasp when he saw the contents. Inside, was small black and blue jackal-like Pokemon, who had white marks on either forearm. The Pokémon had chains on both of its wrists, as well as a collar around its neck. The chains were secured to the crate, to prevent the Pokémon from escaping. Scratches and burn marks could be seen littered, across its body, apparently from the poor condition that they were keeping it in.

When the Pokémon heard the crate being opened, it snapped its vision up. The Riolu recoiled upon seeing Ash. Ash could see the fear, sadness, and desperation in the Pokémon's face, as his heart began to break. Ash took another quick look around, as his mind began to race. It's been about two days since getting on this ship and the trip was scheduled to take a little under three. If I'm lucky, Pidgeot will be able to fly us the rest of the way there. He gazed down toward the Pokémon, one more time. I have to take that chance!

Ash lifted himself over the edge and into the crate, landing in front of the imprisoned Pokémon. Upon noticing the closeness, the Pokémon began to cry even louder. Pikachu peered over the edge of the crate, with a look of horror on his face. The young Riolu was making a lot of noises, causing a commotion, coming from the upper decks of the ship.

"Quick, Pikachu! Use Iron Tail on these restraints!" Ash said as he too began to hear voices, making their way toward them.

Pikachu made quick work of the chains. Once released, the terrified captive began to swing its arms wildly in panic. A chain, which was still connected to its wrist, came out of Ash's blind spot and slashed him across his forehead, eye, and lip.

Ash gave a quick cry of pain, before throwing himself at the young Pokémon. He grabbed Riolu in his arms, to try to calm him down.

"Shhh. . . . it's ok, little one. It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you." The Pokémon responded almost immediately.

The once frenzied Pokémon froze in place, before succumbing to tears and sobbing into Ash's chest. It sunk into his's chest as Ash continued to whisper into the emanation Pokémon's ear.

After a short bit, the Pokémon looked up and met Ash's gaze, before noticing the blood, coming from the wound that it had caused. A look of shame and worry came on the fighting type's face, as it slowly licked the wound.

"It's ok," Ash said softly, trying to comfort the Pokémon. "Wanna come with us?"

It nodded its head, hesitantly, while keeping its gaze on Ash.

"Awesome! Now, let's get you out of here."

Ash kept Riolu, in his arms, as if he was holding a toddler, while he made his way out of the crate. Once he hit the floor, he noticed a group of men, dressed in army gear, turn a corner.

"Hey, punk! Give us back that Pokémon!" the group's leader shouted out. "I said, give him back!"

"No chance! Pikachu, Thunder! Let's go!"

Out of the crate, jumped Pikachu, who let loose the powerful electric type attack that put the group in their places.

"This way, buddy!" Ash said as he turned and ran towards the stairs, which were closest to them.

Ash and Pikachu made their way up the staircase, as they turned down a hallway, looking for a way to the deck. Ash's vision began to become blurry, as the blood, from his cut, seeped into his eye.

They turned a corner, before running into another group of thugs. Ash jumped down another set of stairs that led to another level. He began to race through the ship, while still holding the Riolu. Every once in a while, he would hear Pikachu let loose another attack, to indicate that the pursuers were gaining on them.

He turned a final corner, before finding the staircase that would lead to the deck. He burst through the door, before coming face to face, with the leader of the group. The man stood there, dressed in the same army outfit as his men, but with a black beret. He shot Ash an evil glance, before giving a deep chuckle.

"I gotta hand it to you, kid, you got guts," he said while stepping forward. "We could use someone, like you, on our side. Now then, why don't you hand over that Riolu and come to join us."

"When hell freezes over!" Ash yelled back. His mind began to race, as he heard footsteps, coming from the door that he just came through. What am I going to do? I'm trapped!

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his mind. "Pikachu, use a Thunder on the ground right in front of us, and don't hold back!"

Pikachu jumped into the air and discharged the attack, causing a massive explosion to rock the ship. The group's leader covered his eyes as he began to cough. He surveyed the smoke, before seeing two figures dash out of the cover, which it had created, making their way to the railing of the deck.

"Quick! Stop them, now!" he shouted, but it was too late.

Ash jumped off the edge of the ship while throwing a Pokéball, below him, revealing Pidgeot. The trio landed on the bird Pokémon, who quickly took off. Pikachu hung onto Ash's shoulder, as he cradled Riolu, while also trying to grip Pidgeot, as the bird Pokémon dodged the incoming attacks.

After a while of frantic flying, the bird Pokémon finally managed to climb to an altitude, where no attack could reach them. Once Ash was comfortable and confident they had escaped the situation, he looked down to the still shaking Riolu.

"Hey there, champ. Are you ok?" he asked softly.

The Riolu slowly looked up to meet Ash's auburn eyes, before shaking its head.

"It's ok now. You are away from those bad men. I won't hurt you. I promise we'll do our best to safely return you to your parents."

The emanation Pokémon began to sob uncontrollably, as it whimpered.

"What's wrong, Riolu?" Ash asked as he felt his heart began to break again.

Then, the realization of what may have happened to the poor Pokémon hit him.

"Those guys killed your family, didn't they?" The fighting type continued to cry as it nodded its head into Ash's chest.

Ash held the Pokémon even tighter, in an attempt to comfort the hurt it was feeling. They both felt the same thing. Both had their loved ones ripped from them by the ambitions of evil men, but unlike his new friend here, Ash knew his loved ones were still alive.

After a while, the cries of Riolu died down. Ash took a hand and placed it behind the Pokémon's right side of its head, as he brought its forehead to meet its own, in one last attempt to comfort it.

"Hey," he said slowly. "I know it won't be the same, but if you want, I would like to be your new family."

The emanation Pokémon looked up, with hopefulness in his eyes, as it nodded. A small smile made its way across its face, for the first time.

Ash looked down, before noticing the spots of blood, which were staining Pidgeot's feathers. He slowly lifted a hand, to touch where the gash was, before wincing and closing his eyes in pain. The blood had dried, but the area of his face, where he had been cut, was sensitive. He began to feel a licking sensation, before opening his eyes and seeing Riolu, licking the wound.

Ash chuckled as he saw Riolu. "Hey, don't worry about me, buddy. I'll be fine, but thanks anyway. Welcome to the family. . . ."

---

". . . .So after we landed on Shamouti Island, I captured him in a Pokéball, and well, the rest is history," Ash finished his story as the rest of the grouped gazed in amazement.

Ash chuckled before noticing something. He shifted his eyes to see Lucario, as he's gently licking the invisible portion, of the scar, on Ash's forehead that he had created, five years ago. "I always loved it when you tell that story, Master," he communicated through aura to Ash.

Ash smiled as he shifted his gaze back to the group, as he heard squeals come from a few of the girls, in the group. "Aaron, that was so amazing!" Dawn blurted out. "You're a hero!"

"No wonder why you have such a strong bond with your Pokémon! You truly love them!" Clemont exclaimed.

"Wow," Trevor responded with awe. " Although you were reckless, you were very brave in rescuing Riolu from those bastards, Aaron. I'm glad Riolu found a great trainer within you."

Ash shrugged at Trevor's remark. "Well, I'm sure that you have a similar story like that, for when you first met Gregor," Ash said as he looks at Trevor's Mewtwo, who is still in shock after hearing about Lucario's tragic past.

"Kind of similar," Trevor replied.

"Well then," Ash continued. "Why don't you tell us about it?"

Trevor turned and gazed upon Gregor, who also turned and gazed at his trainer, for a moment, before turning back and looking at Ash. "Well, it's a long story. I'll have to tell you, at another time. Maybe, after the tournament, Aaron?"

"That would be fine, Trevor," Ash responded as he nodded at Trevor's plan to tell his story, after the tournament.

After that, the group continued to go on about how amazing Aaron's story was, which caused Ash to chuckle. He then noticed a hand on his own. He turned his head, to see Serena, with a blush on her face, as she looked into his eyes.

"You truly are something else, Aaron," she said softly enough, for only him to hear her comment.

Ash tried to find a response but was interrupted when the waiter had finally brought their food to them. Ash turned back to her and whispered, "So are you, Serena."

After seeing her blush, Ash stood up and excused himself and his Pokémon saying that he needed to get to bed. He walked toward the elevator, but turned once more, to see Serena staring at him, with her dreamy eyes.

I know that is Ash. No one else is that selfless or brave. I've got to talk to him privately, but how?

Trevor noticed Serena as she was deep in thought. He seemed to know what she might be thinking. Even if Serena figures out that Aaron is really Ash, I'm worried about what her reaction might be upon discovering the truth.

Trevor then turned and gazed upon the sights, viewed outside the hotel window, before turning back to Gregor. He stared at his Pokémon, as it also gazed at its trainer, while both giving each other, a small smile. Ash's story on how he met Lucario was really emotional to him. The moment, of when I first met Gregor, have impacted my life with a great feeling. If I hadn't save Gregor's life that day, I wouldn't have met... His thoughts died down as he and Gregor excused themselves, stating that they wanted to get some sleep since they would battle against Harrison tomorrow.

As they were walking away from the booth, Trevor refocused his thinking towards his upcoming battles. If I beat Harrison tomorrow, along with my opponent, in the quarterfinals, then I might be facing Ash in the semi-finals. When that happens, Ash, you better prepare yourself for a battle that you won't ever forget!