The two Pokemon seat themselves on a large tree stump in the middle of the forest, thankful to be safe once more. "Thank you for helping us, Riolu." Pikachu replies kindly. "Hey, no prob'." the small blue Pokemon replies.
Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, Pikachu inquires, "Riolu, may I ask you a question, please?" The small blue Pokemon pouts, "I've got nothing to say to you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna find a home where folks appreciate me." He picks a small acorn off of the ground and throws it towards the tree tops with all of his might.
"We don't appreciate you...?" Pikachu wondered what Riolu had meant. Unfortunately, he hasn't long to ruminate on this matter when the two suddenly hear a "Konk!" followed by squawking and the fluttering of wings coming from the branches above as a large flock of angry Murkrows begin rapidly descending towards them. Riolu's knees quiver and his eyes grow wide. "Ooh, I think I made a boo boo..."
Oh my, Pikachu thinks. It's Pallet Town all over again! Nothing daunted, the two quickly begin dashing off, but the birds begin to overtake them. "Riolu," Pikachu pants. "Perhaps if we pool our attacks together, we'll be able to chase them away."
The indignant look then returns to Riolu's face. "Work with you? Yeah, when Tepigs fly, buddy! I can handle this by myself." The small blue Pokemon stops in place and fires an Aura Sphere at the birds; unfortunately, due to their type advantage, this does little more than make them even angrier. "Uhm, Pikachu?" Riolu gulps with a small shudder. "I, uhm, think that working together might be the best idea after all..."
Thankful that Riolu had chosen to listen to him, Pikachu begins to charge up a Thunderbolt, upon which Riolu charges up an Aura Sphere; the two Pokemon then pool their attacks together, causing a resounding blast that sends the Murkrows squealing and fluttering away. Catching their breath a moment, the two Pokemon breath a sigh of relief; Riolu turns to Pikachu with a look of gratitude on his face. "Hey, thanks for bailin' me out back there, buddy. I gotta admit you're a mighty good fighter." The small electric mouse smiles modestly. "As are you, little friend."
From over the trees, Pikachu notices the clouds part and the sun begin to shine through; though thankful that the rain had stopped, Pikachu was concerned, knowing that Ash and the others would be awake at any moment. "Riolu," he says. "If we hurry, we should be able to get back to the hotel before Ash and the others wake up." The small blue Pokemon sniffs, "Yeah, don't see that happenin'" upon which he begins running out of the forest and onto a country path.
"Riolu, wait!" Pikachu exclaims urgently as he attempts once more to follow him, but isn't quite fast enough when Riolu hops into the bed of a truck parked by the side of the road. The small electric mouse gulps audibly, partly due to what a dangerous action this was and partly due to knowing how difficult it would be to follow him on foot.
Okay, Pikachu thinks as he hurries after the truck. I'll need to use some strategy. Perhaps some...Agility. The small electric mouse puts on an immediate burst of speed as the ability takes effect, but unfortunately isn't quite able to keep up with the vehicle; Pikachu's brow wrinkles with worry, upon which he suddenly remembers something important. Perfect, he thinks. This hopefully will be my ace in the hole. Let's try a...Volt Tackle!
Pikachu had chosen to forget this attack in favor of another in the past, but just as he and Ash were leaving Alola during their past journey, a woman with three Pikachus had met with them and offered to teach Pikachu Volt Tackle again, which Ash had obliged to; the woman had likewise given Ash a piece of Pikanium Z, which both thought might come in handy later as well.(1) Quickly, the small electric mouse's body becomes bathed in electricity as he shoots down the road like a rocket; as he nears the truck, he leaps into the air, carefully cutting off the electricity, and carefully plants his front paws down onto the bed.
Pikachu flops onto his round little tummy, panting wearily as his ears droop. "Pfew." he breathes, upon which he looks up to see Riolu sitting in the far corner of the bed with his arms and legs crossed. "Oh, puff, Riolu," he pants. "Thank, puff, goodness!" The small blue Pokemon sniffs indignantly. "Don't you ever quit?"
"Riolu," Pikachu says seriously. "If we don't go back to the hotel before Ash wakes up, he and his friends will be very worried."
"Hmph," Riolu snorts. "And what exactly do I owe him?"
"But Riolu, he's our friend!"
"Friends don't do what he did!" Riolu snaps back.
"But..." The small electric mouse pauses for a moment, thinking, What could he mean? He hasn't much time to contemplate this matter, however, when the truck comes to a halt. The driver, a red haired woman with green eyes, had overheard their voices and become curious. "Uh oh!" Riolu exclaims as he sees the driver traipsing up to investigate. "Gotta bail!" He and Pikachu then carefully climb from the bed and scamper off again.
"Now, that's funny," the driver muses. "I thought sure that I heard Pokemon sounds from nearby. There must be Ghost Pokemon in the woods playing tricks on me."
(1) Though not canon to the TV series, this was a feature in the Sun and Moon video games, which overall might be a good explanation as to how Pikachu might have learned Volt Tackle again; many people, including me, feel that he never should have forgotten this attack as it would often serve as his ace in the hole in many situations. I hope to have both this and the Pikanium Z come into play in future stories as well.