"There you go." Pidgeot flared her wings, dismissing the altered air around her form, and gently glided to alight at Pewter city limits.
"Thanks, Pidgeot." Ash slid off the huge avian's back as she stopped.
Ash's Pidgeot was a marvellous specimen of the species, at least in part due to her years of training and experience having a chance to express right from the get-go in the evolution. It was easy for her to convey Ash and Misty to the outskirts of Pewter City at a mere hundred miles an hour, diverting the wind around them to make for a smooth and comfortable flight.
"Wow," Misty said, dropping to the ground as well. "I'm really impressed, Pidgeot."
"It's nice to make a good first impression," Pidgeot said, then returned herself.
"...huh," Ash said. "I was going to make sure she was okay with that, but I guess I don't need to now."
He stood back, and looked at the city he was visiting for the first time in years – the first time ever, in this timeline.
Pewter City had started as a mining town, something something, had a museum of science and nature he guessed, possibly a contest hall Ash couldn't quite remember that one, and it was on the main road? And all of those things were presumably important to someone, but there was something else, too.
It had a Pokémon League gym, so of course Ash was interested in that one.
"Let's go, Misty!" he said. "Come on, Pikachu, let's get started on the journey to the Pokémon League!"
Misty shook her head. "Some people…"
"All right!" Ash said, once he'd arrived. "I'm here to challenge the gym!"
"You are?" Brock replied, arms folded. "Well, challenger, how many badges do you have?"
"This is to earn my first badge," Ash replied. "But don't go easy on me just because I don't have any yet! I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and I'm going to be famous one day!"
"Hey, watch it, I'm the one he'd be going easy on or not," Pikachu protested.
"If you don't want a challenge, Pikachu, I could ask him to go easy on you?" Ash suggested innocently.
It wasn't very effective, and Pikachu hit Ash with a quick Thundershock just to keep him honest.
"...thanks," Ash coughed out.
"You understand your Pokémon?" Brock asked, with interest. "That's an impressive feat, especially from a new trainer like you."
"Thanks!" Ash replied brightly. "Oh, hey, since it is my first gym battle, can we shake hands?"
Now Brock looked surprised. "Are you sure you're from Pallet Town? The challenger from there with the Squirtle wasn't nearly that polite."
"Yeah, I know who you mean," Ash replied, walking over and shaking the hand of his old friend.
There was a tingle of Aura as Ash made the connection, and Brock did a double-take. "Ash? What happened?"
He looked down at himself, then around at the gym. "Wait… is this another time travel thing? Who was it this time?"
"Technically Dialga, but not the one we met before," Ash replied. "It involved Arceus though… I'll explain later, we've got a battle to do!"
"You've got it, Ash," Brock agreed, reaching down to his belt, then frowned. "Wait. When are we, exactly?"
"Back when we first met!" Ash replied. "Pewter Gym!"
"Ash, you visited Pewter Gym once," Pikachu replied. "Brock's lived there."
"...good point," Ash admitted. "Thanks, Pikachu… anyway, uh, you should only have the Pokémon you had when we first met, but they should be as strong as you remember. I think? I'm still learning the rules for this."
Brock nodded along. "Huh, that's actually really interesting for what it means about how Pokémon develop… In that case, if you're using Pikachu I'll start with Geodude!"
Geodude nodded. "Dude."
"I know what to do," Pikachu said, jumping off Ash's shoulder, and both trainers stepped back.
Pikachu squared off against Geodude, and the Rock-type met his gaze levelly.
They both knew what had happened last time they'd battled here. Last time, Pikachu had been drastically overloaded by a power station and had managed to shock Geodude, making it not much of a battle at all.
Not this time.
"Begin!" Brock said. "Geodude, Sandstorm!"
Pikachu had been hoping Geodude wouldn't do that, but he used Agility and vaulted into the air as an opening move regardless. A sandstorm couldn't blow in every direction at once, and no matter which way it was going there was a direction where the air wasn't moving at all… and moving this fast meant it was harder for Geodude to hit him anyway.
"Stand still so I can hit you!" Geodude called, clapping his hands together and reversing the direction of the Sandstorm. Pikachu skidded to a halt as well, reversing directions, and ducked underneath a rock that Geodude threw in his direction before using Thundershock.
It didn't affect Geodude, but it did distract him a bit.
"How big's the arena?" Ash asked. "I can't see the lines any more."
"Hmm," Brock replied. "Let's just say the whole gym is the arena."
"Then get to the corner, Pikachu!" Ash called.
Pikachu ducked another thrown rock, paws skating along the gritty stone floor, before skidding into a turn and making for the wall.
He hopped up from one paw-hold on the wall to the next, then scurried along to the corner. Ash's guess had been right – even though Geodude was making the sandstorm larger now, and directing it towards that corner of the building specifically, it couldn't get at the sharp corner formed by the gym walls and so Pikachu was mostly safe.
"Your move, Geodude," Pikachu invited. "Or if you'd prefer, I can start charging up and see if we can make history repeat itself?"
"This isn't getting anywhere," Brock decided. "Geodude, use Dig!"
"On it, dude," Geodude replied, the Sandstorm clearing. He vaulted off part of the arena's rocky terrain, slammed down his other fist on the ground, and dug straight into the ground with a kerrunch.
Ash frowned. "Huh, that's weird. How is that going to help Geodude?"
"Something's wrong, Ash," Pikachu warned. "Brock's not an idiot. Well, unless girls are involved I guess?"
Ash closed his eyes, and did a double-take, which would have looked weird to anyone watching the battle. "Pikachu, the walls are rock too – look out!"
"Sneaky!" Pikachu said, pushing off the wall just as Geodude came crashing through. The Sandstorm roared back to life, trying to push Pikachu right back towards the Rock-type, and Geodude reached for Pikachu's tail to try and use Seismic Toss.
Pikachu managed to snatch his tail away, then used Electro Ball – not aimed at Geodude, but just to give him something to push against. That was enough to get him a bit further from Geodude, and he landed before dodging away from Geodude's next attack.
"If you want a fight, you'll get one!" he said, using his paw to control his slide. "Iron Tail!"
"Mega Punch!" Brock instructed.
Rock arm and metal tail clashed with a resonant belling sound, and the recoil sent Pikachu flying. Geodude's Sandstorm pulled at him again, trying to control his movement, and he recovered himself with a burst of Quick Attack before somersaulting back towards the Rock type.
"Catch him in a Seismic Toss!"
Pikachu skidded and dodged to the side, but not quite far enough. He wasn't close enough to hit Geodude, but he was close enough that Geodude could snag him with a diving catch from behind before launching them both into the air.
Just like Pikachu had planned.
"Pikachu, look out!" Ash called, which reminded Pikachu that he hadn't let Ash know about his plan… but, then again, it's not like he could have let Ash know without warning Geodude.
Instead, Pikachu just got to work hitting Geodude with his Iron Tail over and over again. Geodude was a tough Pokémon, but being repeatedly hit in the face with a super-effective attack was a bit much, and he lost his grip.
Unfortunately for Pikachu, Geodude only lost his grip when they were already both plunging towards the floor.
Fortunately for Pikachu, there was just enough time to dodge out from underneath the falling Rock-type, and he spun around to shed his momentum before twitching his ears at Brock. "How's that, Brock?"
"Wow," Brock said, nodding. "Not bad, Ash, you and Pikachu have really improved."
"That was mostly Pikachu," Ash admitted, and Pikachu nodded.
"Well, you beat Geodude," Brock added, recalling him. "But let's see how you handle Steelix… no, wait, he's Onix still."
Steelix came out of his Pokéball.
"Steelix!" he clarified.
"Huh," Brock decided. "Not Onix then."
"Yeah, that happened to some of the others, too, like Butterfree and Pidgeot," Ash said. "It's convenient! But I think this is the first one who's been an item evolution."
"This would be so scientifically interesting if we could ever tell anyone about it," Brock mused. "It's a whole new development in Pokémon physiology… anyway, let's get back to the battle. Steelix, Dragonbreath!"
Pikachu formed a Counter Shield, which helped a little as he whirled the dense net of lightning bolts around himself, then ran away as fast as he could with Agility. He went for the wall again, this time hopping all the way up to the ceiling, and dropped down from there right into the middle of Steelix's coils.
"Are you sure that's what you want to do, Pikachu?" Brock asked.
"Pikachu, Thunderpunch!" Ash said.
Pikachu didn't know Thunderpunch, but he did know what Ash meant. Steelix was still turning to confirm exactly where Pikachu was and line up a Dragonbreath attack, and Pikachu took aim. "One-"
Electricity fizzled against Steelix's hide.
"-and two!"
The second blow was a flash of blue light, one that launched Steelix bodily into the air and sent him flying halfway across the gym.
"...hmm," Brock said, considering how Steelix looked, then at Pikachu. "That's not Thunderpunch, right?"
"Force Palm!" Ash replied.
"Well," Brock decided. "Obviously Pikachu could have done that against Geodude, but then it wouldn't have come as a surprise for Steelix. I'm impressed, Ash."
Steelix groaned something about how he'd rather the impressing didn't involve him getting beaten by a Pikachu in an improbable way again.
"Well, the good news is, if Brock does take lessons from Ash on this stuff you might be able to talk to him and have him understand you?" Pikachu suggested.
"Sounds good," Steelix mumbled.
"So," Brock said. "Are you still okay with a Gym Leader following you around?"
"I'd love to have you, Brock!" Ash replied. "Though… didn't your dad need to show up? I think he was already back in town last time, but we're ahead of schedule I think."
"I think he was around for a while first," Brock answered. "The tricky thing is finding him and getting him to admit it."
Ash closed his eyes, looking around, then pointed. "Found him, let's go!"
"Glad that's all sorted out, Brock!" Misty said, as they left Pewter on the road north. "It wasn't nice of your dad to leave you in the lurch like that, but… hopefully it's going to work out better now."
"Yeah, hopefully," Brock agreed. "He actually got on okay, last time around, and it's not like much has changed… I'll probably have to check back in at some point, to make sure, but that's not for a while."
"Oh, and just to check?" Misty added. "We are going the right way, right? I wasn't along when you went this way."
"Rota's a little out of the way, but not so far I don't know the route from my own home town," Brock assured her. "Any ideas about what that message was, Ash?"
Ash shook his head.
His Pokémon were all healed up again, and so were Brock's, after a trip to the Pokémon Centre. There'd been a satellite uplink from Professor Oak waiting, so that Ash's intelligent Pokédex could access the Pokémon Transportation System even out in the field, but there'd also been an anonymous letter addressed to Ash.
It was a string of digits, and the word JJMAW.
"It's not any Pokémon I've heard of," he said. "Though I guess there's Maw in it, so maybe it's something to do with a Mawile?"
He shrugged. "Anyway, uh… we're a bit ahead of schedule, so I think we can fit in the trip to Rota. Then we can get back on the road to Cerulean City… nothing's really been different yet about much of anything, even Brock's dad was still around, so we really want to make sure we can rescue Charmander."
"He's probably not even been abandoned yet," Misty said.
"Yeah, it wasn't for another couple of weeks I think," Pikachu replied.
"Pikachu says it's another couple of weeks," Ash provided. "So we should have enough time?"
He reached for Dexter. "Do you have any ideas?"
I can index based on when you first scanned Charmander? Dexter provided. Mostly I have Pokémon photos to work from though.
"Don't worry, Ash!" Brock said. "I know our trip to Cameran Castle will go great! There's chicks there!"
Misty sighed. "Hang on a second, Ash."
She sent out Goldeen, and the surprised Water-Type found herself used for the heretofore unknown move Fish Slap.
"Ow," Brock mumbled from the floor.
"Don't even start with that," Misty replied, helping Brock back up again.
"Wow," Pikachu said. "I think if we knew what type that move was we'd know what type Brock was."
"Hey, if it's going to be a problem, we could go to Sinnoh and pick up Croagunk?" Ash suggested, grinning.
He'd missed this.
Later the same week, they were already inside Rota and walking along the tree-lined road to Cameran Castle itself.
"It's weird that it's so empty," Misty said, glancing at the others. "Isn't there some kind of big event coming up?"
"I think the main road is a different one, but that would actually take us longer," Brock replied. "And we don't mind going through places where you might meet wild Pokémon."
"Yeah," Ash agreed, then stopped. "Wait, I think there's something nearby…"
He closed his eyes, and pointed. "There, there's a strong Aura… no, wait, it's two of them? I think? One of them just stopped, the other's still coming this way."
Pikachu's cheeks sparked. "Who's there?"
A blue and black blur dropped down from the tree overhead, landing with a blue flash, and rose from her crouch.
It was a Lucario.
"Hail, and well met," she said. "You are Ash Ketchum?"
"That's me!" Ash agreed. "How do you know my name, though? Were you looking for me?"
"I was," the Lucario confirmed. "The Lord Ho-Oh sent his Suicune with news of you, and I have come south to confirm the truth of his words."
"Uh," Ash began, startled. "Wait, are you from the Lucario Kingdom? I didn't… uh…"
He shrugged helplessly. "I didn't know there were Lucario there? But now I say it, it seems a bit obvious."
The Lucario smiled. "Perhaps," she said. "But yes, I am from the Lucario Kingdom. Lord Ho-Oh's message told of your skill, and that you have learned some of the ways of Aura. May I test you?"
"I guess," Ash said, and Lucario bowed.
Then punched him.
Ash saw it coming just in time to raise his crossed arms and manage a flickering Protect shield, but the impact still knocked him into a tree.
"Ash!" Pikachu yelped, springing free, and Butterfree came out of his Pokéball.
The Bug-type's wings began to glow, and Ash shook his head.
"No!" he called. "Both of you – I didn't know what she meant, but I'm going to give it a try!"
"In hindsight I probably should have explained better," the Lucario conceded, then approached again. This time she moved a little more slowly, but kicked out with one foot, and Ash ducked underneath the high kick before retaliating with a punch.
It didn't do much to Lucario, though she did take a step back, and Ash tried his best to concentrate as she attacked a few more times – once landing a blow, but one that mostly winded him, and the other two attacks that he was able to dodge away from.
She was faster than him, and stronger, and tougher. And – there was something Sir Aaron had said about fighting someone who was faster, stronger, tougher and had a better idea what you were doing.
Don't.
Which wasn't especially helpful at the moment.
Fortunately, there was something else that Sir Aaron had said, as well, and Ash raised both fists before focusing as hard as he could.
For just a bit of time, not long at all, he could make himself stronger and faster, and this time Lucario's attack was one that was telegraphed and wound-up. Ash knew, he knew, that it was one he was meant to dodge.
So he didn't.
He caught it, and his arm went crack, and for a moment Lucario was frozen in one place – partly in surprise that she'd actually hit Ash, he thought.
Blue light flashed up his broken left arm, around his back, and flooded his right arm as Ash counterattacked. With Counter.
The blow knocked Lucario sliding sideways, into a tree, and the tree itself shook and shed bark – along with a very annoyed Weedle.
"Ash, are you all right?" Pikachu asked, bounding over. "What just happened?"
Ash sank to the ground, hissing through his teeth. "Aagh… Sir Aaron told me about it," he said, pushing away the pain as best he could. "About what to do if you're fighting someone stronger than you. Hit them with their own strength."
"I think you broke my rib," the Lucario admitted. "That was far more than I was expecting… Chosen One indeed."
"Ash, you should probably splint that," Brock advised.
"Do you want me to pick her up and throw her into another tree?" Butterfree said. "Just saying, it's an option."
"No thanks, Butterfree," Ash replied. "And, yeah… I guess it just seemed important."
"It was, and is, though not that important," the Lucario replied. "First I assumed you knew what I meant, and then I assumed you didn't."
She shook her head. "But you have more than proven you are everything Lord Ho-Oh spoke of."
"Wait, hold on!" Misty said. "What's so important that you had to test Ash like that?"
The Lucario jumped back up into the trees.
"Hey!" Misty protested, then went silent as Lucario came back down a moment later with a bag.
"Ash Ketchum, of Pallet," she began. "Will you accept this charge:
To educate in the ways of Aura.
To keep morality, and to ensure the same of your charge.
To protect those weaker than yourself, with all the breath you have in your body.
If you so swear, then we beg you accept this scion of our noblest line as an apprentice and companion."
"Wait," Brock said, slowly. "You don't mean..."
Lucario opened the bag, revealing a Pokémon egg.
"Wow," Ash said, a few minutes later, once Brock had sorted out a splint for his arm and Butterfree had doused the arm in Sleep Powder to help dull the pain. "I just… I'm having trouble working out what to think."
"I know what you mean, Ash," Brock said. "A trainer having a Riolu or Lucario is one thing, but the Lucario Kingdom are really careful about what happens to their Riolu. For them to even consider it…"
"I can understand why she wanted to test me," Ash agreed, looking up at the Lucario – still waiting patiently, a little further away to give them privacy.
"I…" Pikachu began, then sighed. "I can, too," he admitted. "I don't like how she did it, but if all they'd heard was hearsay, even from a Legendary Pokémon…"
"So, just so I can check?" Butterfree asked. "Where is this on the normality scale for everyone who travelled around with the group for longer?"
"It's… weird, mostly because of where the egg came from?" Ash said. "And the connection to Aura, and stuff… it's like it's brought everything home to me because it's someone else making that kind of decision. About me."
Brock nodded. "About halfway up, mostly because of that."
"So, Ash," Misty said, gently. "What do you think? Want to accept?"
"Want to?" Ash replied. "Yes, so much it hurts… the idea of having a Pokémon like that, a cool Pokémon like that, is just so tempting. But at the same time… I feel like I'd be putting them in danger."
"That's-" Pikachu began, but Ash kept going.
"Like it'd be accepting for the wrong reasons."
"No way," Pikachu said, slapping his tail on the ground with a spark of electricity for emphasis. "Ash, she didn't ask for the Riolu to be safe. She asked for what was basically the opposite – for you to teach them to be brave, and just, in the same way you are. The way you always have been."
He nodded firmly. "Ash, you'd be a great trainer for a Riolu. You're just feeling overwhelmed, and you're not seeing that."
"I don't know what Pikachu's saying, but I agree with him," Brock said. "Unless it's about me, then I probably don't."
Ash tried not to snigger, and failed quite badly.
Then he got up, and walked over to the Lucario messenger.
"All right," he said. "I'll do it. I swear – I'll do whatever it takes!"
"Thank you, Chosen," the Lucario said, and drew the egg out of her bag. She held it out for Ash, giving him time to sort out how to carry it, and Ash considered for a moment before reaching out with his right arm by itself.
"We'll have to get an egg carrier in Rota, or somewhere," Brock said.
"It should hatch in a few months – what the…?"
The egg was glowing.
It lit up with a familiar white radiance, soft and warm, that illuminated the whole stretch of path. Then, when it faded, Ash's arm was cradling a Riolu instead.
And a rush of sensation hit him.
Lab attack captured escape hurt friend close friend Aura attacked frozen stolen-
Rescued.
Tears glistened in the corners of Ash's eyes, and he sank to his knees.
"No way," he said. "I don't believe it… how can I be this lucky?"
"Believe in the evidence of your eyes, and the light of our spirits. It's me."
Riolu reached out a paw, and touched the side of Ash's face.
"Hello again, Ash."
"I think I really must have impressed someone," Ash said, faintly.
"Of course you did," Riolu stated, unshakably confident. "It's you."
"Can someone please tell me what is happening?" the Lucario messenger asked.
"It's… well, a bit complicated," Ash admitted, shifting so he was sitting down properly. "So… I don't know if Suicune told you about this, but I've been sent back in time. And, uh, it's just me, but if I knew someone well enough I guess I can bring them back in time too? We're still trying to get the pattern of how that works."
He let Riolu down, so the Fighting-type wasn't just being held there for the whole conversation. "And, well… a few years from now, I think is how I'd have to say it? Yeah, a few years from now, I helped rescue a Riolu from a Pokémon Hunter. It's… one of the only times I accessed my Aura before."
"It me," Riolu said, pointing at himself. "I'm the Riolu."
"And we must really have connected," Ash went on. "Because… well, like Riolu says. It's him."
"Well," the messenger said, trying to decide what to say about that. "I think that's the fastest anyone's ever managed to train a Riolu in how to use Aura."
"At this point he's better than me," Ash agreed. "It's going to be great having him to make sure I'm not doing this wrong."
He was grinning, barely able to contain his emotions. "I just… can't put this into words…"
Riolu raised his paw. "I can! This is going to be great!"
"Very well, then," the messenger Lucario said, with a nod. "Thank you for your explanation. Fare thee well, Ash Ketchum."
She turned with fluid grace, and began to lope off to the north – quickly accelerating, until she vanished from sight.
"Well, that was strange," Misty said, eventually. "Amazing, but… yeah, I don't know why I expected anything to not be strange."
"Strange things happen," Riolu replied. "Wait, can she understand me? Can you understand me?"
He shrugged. "Guess not. Hey, Pikachu, what's it like riding on someone's shoulder?"
"Want a go?" Ash asked. "Just, don't jolt me too much until I've got this healed. I don't think it's far to Cameran Castle, though."
Riolu had been trying to work out how best to get onto Ash's shoulder without jolting him, but that made him turn. "Wow, Cameran Castle, we're going there? I never got to go there before. That's where Sir Aaron lived, isn't it?"
The little Fighting-type beamed. "He was amazing! He's an inspiration to Riolu and Lucario everywhere, because he was known to wield the powers of Aura as well as any of us despite being a mere human!"
Riolu stopped. "Oh, uh… no offence?"
Ash laughed. "So long as you don't mind being registered to a Pokéball, I don't think I can be offended by that."
"Meanie," Riolu pouted, then flicked his ears. "So, why are we here? Tourism?"
"I really think we should learn this Aura thing soon," Brock said, leaning over to Misty. "We're missing half the conversations."
"So long as you can understand me, you're not missing the most intelligent bits, though," Butterfree said.
"We're there to take part in a tournament, and pick up some stuff," Ash explained. "If we can. You don't have to take part in the tournament if you don't want to, though."
"I could, though, right?" Riolu asked. "Ooh, and what kind of stuff?"
"Sir Aaron's gloves, staff and stuff," Pikachu supplied. "I think technically Ash has inherited it?"
Riolu did a double-take. "Inherited? Doesn't that mean you'd have to be – why didn't you mention you were descended from Sir Aaron?"
"I've only known for a couple of weeks!" Ash protested. "Even he didn't mention it!"
The young Pokémon's eyes were spinning. "You… you met him?"
"I think we're going to have to go through everything," Ash decided. "My life's so bizarre that either we go through the whole thing now or this is going to keep happening for weeks."
Meanwhile, somewhere in a really rather nice district of Kanto…
"Oh, noooo!"
Meowth looked up. "Dat was definitely someone yellin' for help! You think something ain't going according to plan?"
"Well, whatever it is, it doesn't sound good," Jessie agreed, turning to the other Pokémon in the basket. "Arbok! Get the balloon ready!"
"Chaar-bok!" Arbok said, in confirmation, and wound his way up one of the supporting ropes to begin preparing the burner.
Arbok had a very dextrous tail.
"Good thought, Jessie!" Meowth said, shading his eyes and looking into the distance. "Now, is it me or is there somethin' happening down the road?"
Jessie shaded her eyes too. "You know, I think you might be right! Get the binoculars!"
Weezing made a weezing noise, bouncing off Jessie's back with two pairs of binoculars balanced on top of him.
"Thanks!" Meowth said, grabbing one of the pairs, and adjusted the zoom dial. "Lessee… hmm, looks like… hey, does dat look the same to you as it does to me?"
"That's right!" Jessie agreed. "There's definitely someone coming towards us!"
"And not just a someone," Meowth replied. "A someone who's quite tall! And running, too, with a small four-legged fluffy Pokémon next to him!"
"Help!" the same voice from before yelled.
"Hey, I recognize dat voice from somewhere!" Meowth said, lowering the binoculars and scratching his chin.
"I do, too," Jessie nodded. "So, who could it be?"
"Oh, come on!" the mysterious figure lamented. "I know I didn't dress to impress today but that's ridiculous, now hurry up and throw me the Fire Stone!"
"Oh, now I remember!" Jessie said. "It's James!"
She thought about that for half a second, realized that probably meant Jessiebelle was not far behind him, and picked up the Fire Stone they'd… liberated… recently.
Jessie, as it turned out, was not very good at throwing even before you put her in a rocking balloon.
James saw the abysmal toss, and pointed. "Growlie – fetch!"
James' faithful puppy surged into a sprint, swallowed the stone in one gulp, and landed as an Arcanine. He skidded to a halt in front of James, stayed for just long enough for James to climb on, then sprinted off into the morning mist.
Jessiebelle had to admit, simply on a professional level, that that took some doing as an exit. Though she was sure she was going to get him eventually.
She was fairly sure she knew where to hire some helicopters, for example… and that would give her options for stopping that stupid balloon, too, which was currently exiting upwards with a cloud of Smog left behind it.
AN:
Riolu is the first really major divergence in the story, but then this particular Riolu is a significant one in Ash's development. This is the Aura Sphere Riolu from Sinnoh, rather than the Riolu Ash would eventually get in Journeys around a decade after this chapter was originally published.
Rewrite changes in this chapter include properly respecting Brock's position as the most experienced Ash Wrangler.
Ash at this point is still not a match for a proper Pokemon in a fight, mainly due to his low Aura reserves, low durability and low fitness. Basically, because he's a ten year old human. Counter is his only realistic choice to do damage, as it only requires that you survive the blow.
But, of course, since he's sensible (really… well, sometimes.) he's working on that.