Orion looked around, not sure how to feel. The town beyond the wall looked little like what he recalled. Although dull red tiles still covered the roofs, and the walls of the houses were the same shoddy white, he didn't see any of the familiar buildings. Everything seemed jumbled around or new, and he swallowed as he followed after Jeff.

I should have expected this.

They didn't encounter many people, but those he saw all walked around with obvious intent: eyes sharp and faces grim.

"Did something happen?" Orion asked as he looked around.

Jeff looked back, then shrugged. "Don't have Ditto or Zorua trouble where you are from?" he asked.

Orion blinked, then shook his head. He knew about Ditto, but he was sure they weren't native to Ferrum. He'd never seen one, not even in the ranch. And Zorua only hid in the northern woods, a month's travel from here, close to the mountains. They were secretive and timid. Why would they cause trouble?

"Then you're lucky. A few months ago, a group of crazed ones moved into the southern forest and have been driving the local Pokemon crazy," Jeff said. "So far, it's mostly contained to the Rattata and Raticate, but the trainers need to find the Ditto before the Houndour or, worse, the Houndoom get infected."

"Right," Orion said, having no idea what Heff was talking about. Still, from the way he spoke, he knew it was probably supposed to be common knowledge, so he didn't say anything.

He saw the first familiar building as they moved through a narrow alley into a small square.

The pokestop's walls were slightly damaged, and the red dome across it had cracks, but for the rest, it looked the same. Just seeing the simple building made him feel better.

He followed Jeff inside to see that the inside was roughly the same as well, except that it oozed age. The floor was rough, the walls yellowed, and the desk covered in scratches. Still, when he saw the pink-haired nurse behind the desk, he couldn't help but sigh in relief. Of all the things that had changed, at least-

"Hey, Tes, I've got a wounded one here," Jeff said as he looked at the pink-haired nurse.

Not Joy? Orion thought as he felt his mood drop a few notches.

The pink-haired nurse looked up worriedly, and when she saw Orion's face, she frowned. Then her gaze landed on Riolu, and it softened.

"Such a cute little thing," she crooned as she walked forward. "What happened?"

"It's not the Pokemon," Jeff said with a grimace.

Orion swallowed as he raised his hand.

The nurse hissed, turned, and began searching in cabinets.

"Was it a Rattata?" she called over her shoulder.

"Yes," Orion said, walking to the desk and waiting, hoping she would hurry up.

A few seconds later, the nurse walked towards him.

"You can head back to the gate, Jeff," she said. "I'll take it from here. And, could you please call me Joy like everyone?"

Jeff snorted while Orion blinked in confusion.

"But that's just your title," Jeff shouted.

"Doesn't matter!" Sister Joy, as Orion was happy to call her, snapped. "You know how bad things are everywhere. If we are ever going to return to a better time, we need to start with the small things."

Jeff sighed as he turned and walked away. "Sure, sure."

Sister Joy sniffed before taking Orion's hand. "Now, let's see what those little monsters did this time."

Orion kept his face averted for the entire fifteen-minute procedure, but when it was done, he was feeling a bit light in his head. His hand was covered in white bandages, and a cool fluid had been poured across it.

"The healing potion should start working in a few hours. Go find a place to sleep, eat, and rest. Don't use it until tomorrow," she said.

"Thanks, Sister Joy," Orion said with a grateful smile.

The nurse looked up and smiled warmly. "That's the way," she said, nodding. "Do you have a Sister Joy where you are from?"

Orion nodded.

"Good! It's about time things went back to normal," the nurse said as she angrily crossed her arms. "As much as it can, at least!"

"Uhm, do you know a place where I can sleep?" Orion asked. Then he suddenly realized another horrible thing. He didn't have any money!

Nurse Joy seemed about to answer when she looked at him worriedly.

"Are you alright?"

Orion swallowed. "I lost my bag with all my things…" he made up on the spot.

Nurse Joy blinked, then sighed. She looked at Riolu, then at him, and shook her head.

"Then you probably won't be able to find a place," she said softly.

Orion looked down, his mind in disarray. He wasn't unfamiliar with money issues, having helped his mother earn money to support the family ever since he could, but at least there had always been a place to sleep and eat.

"Calm down, calm down," Nurse Joy said as she looked at him. "Listen, you probably don't know this, but long ago, trainers came to Poke Centers and were allowed to book rooms. This was before the Storm of Shadows," she said sadly.

Her gaze drifted across the damaged walls, and she sighed.

"Anyway, with rumors of Neos City gym slowly rebuilding and sending prospective trainers into the wilderness to weed out the more dangerous Pokemon to reconnect the towns, I've been trying to get the rooms back in order. They aren't exactly great, but if you want, you can stay in one."

Orion immediately nodded, at which time his stomach promptly betrayed him by rumbling loudly.

He felt his cheeks heat up while Nurse Joy looked taken aback. Then she sighed.

"If you help me clear and repair the other rooms, you can use one of those I've finished, and I'll throw in meals," she said, rubbing her head.

"Deal," Orion said.

What he needed right now was stability and time to figure out what was going on. Plus, his hand needed to heal, and he had to train Riolu.

"Alright, follow me," Nurse Joy said as she walked back to the desk.

Orion followed after her, deeper into the Poke Center. He'd never been in one before, but as he walked through the narrow hallway and up a staircase, he saw that the above floor needed repairs and paint. Yellowed, dusty, and with the paint peeling off, it looked nothing like he knew it would have only a day and who knew how many years ago?

Nurse Joy left him in the first room, which was cleared of dust and debris, had a tiny table, chair, and bed, and needed paint as much as the rest. A window looked out across the town, and Orion nodded gratefully.

"I'll bring you some food in a minute," Nurse Joy said.

"Thank you," Orion replied.

It took longer than a minute, but eventually, Nurse Joy returned with a plate filled with vegetables, mushrooms, and a chunk of meat dripping in lard.

"Thanks," Orion said, barely able to keep his salivation from dripping out.

Nurse Joy just smiled. "You can put the plate back tomorrow morning, and then you can start clearing the debris from the other rooms. Just put it behind the Poke Center, alright?"

"Will do!" Orion said.

As the door closed, he saw Riolu had grabbed the meat and nibbled on it.

"Eat, then sleep," Orion said as he smiled at his friend. His hand was still hurting, but it was ignorable.

"Ri!"

"Yeah, things are weird," he said.

After they finished, Riolu licked away all of the lard of the plates before sighing contently.

Orion laughed, then undressed and quickly hung his clothes across the chair. He huddled down in the bed, pulling the sheets across himself. Riolu joined him on, curled up like a Skitty.

I need to find out if there's a library here tomorrow, Orion thought.

He had to learn what he could to determine his first steps in this weird new world.

The last thing he thought about were the aggressive Pokemon and why they were like that.

--

Orion woke wearily, pushing the blankets away. His mind was fuzzy, and he wondered why Synthia hadn't woken him up yet. Yawning, he sniffed. He really needed to clean again. His room was becoming dusty.

A second, soft yawn came from the bed, and he bolted upright, looking around in confusion. This wasn't his-

His eye fell on the little blue Pokemon on his bed, and the memories of the last few days came crashing back. Orion took a deep breath, feeling a sudden sadness and loss as he thought of his mother, sister, and uncle.

"Riolu?"

Riolu was looking around, still yawning, before rubbing its belly.

"Yes, food would be good now," Orion said, forcing a grin on his face. "But we probably need to clean out a few rooms first. Otherwise, I'm not sure Nurse Joy would give us any more food."

Riolu looked up at him, eyes wide in shock, while Orion felt a sense of dismay from the Pokemon.

"Don't worry. I'm sure after we clean a room or two, we will get some food," he said, jumping out of bed and getting dressed.

He could almost hear his mother's shouting voice in his mind, telling him to shower first.

"Showering will just have to wait for a bit," he whispered.

"Ri?"

"Nothing, just thinking out loud," Orion said.

Riolu jumped on his shoulder as he walked out of the room into the dusty hallway. Deciding to do one room quickly, Orion walked to the next door. Pulling it open, he found a room roughly in the same state as his.

I guess she did more than one room, Orion thought.

The next one was the same, but when he pulled open the fourth door, he was greeted by a room filled with dust, broken furniture, and even a small corner filled with bones.

"Well… this is going to take a while," he said.

Still, he'd done a lot of cleaning in his life, and he wasn't afraid of getting his hands dirty. Especially if it meant getting food! At the thought of breakfast, his stomach growled softly.

Orion began by piling up all of the furniture in the corner. As he moved the debris, he was surprised at how light everything was. Raising a thick chunk of wood, likely the side of a bed, he wondered if it was filled with mold.

After he finished step one, he grabbed some of the debris and walked back into the hallway. It was a hassle lifting it all down the stairs, but when he got there, he was slightly sad to find the lower floor empty.

No early breakfast, he thought, ignoring his clenching stomach.

"Ri?"

"I guess she hasn't officially opened up yet," Orion said.

It took him a while to find the backdoor that led to a small walled area with a closed gate. A large pile of debris lay in a corner, so he tossed what he had on it before cracking his arms.

"Alright, let's get all this stuff down first!"

"Ri, ri!"

They continued going up and down the stairs until the room was empty. With no broom or anything else to remove the lighter, smaller stuff, Orion just went to the next room. When he cleared half of it and was walking back inside, nurse Joy stood behind the counter, smiling at him. There was a blanket-covered basket with something that smelled heavenly standing near her.

"So, I see you are a hard worker! That's good. I'd worried I would have to wake you to hold up your end of the bargain," she said, smiling. "Come, I have food for you and your little friend."

Orion grinned as he walked to the counter, Riolu jumping up and down on his shoulder, softly chanting his name and sending out feelings of joy and hunger. The basket held fresh bread with some slices of meat that Orion didn't recognize. He didn't care either, as he devoured his portion so fast that Nurse Joy had to warn him to be careful.

When he finally finished, Riolu was still chewing on his portion, which was mostly meat and some cookie-sized chunks.

"So, I hope you don't mind, but I went to the mayor and the gym to check if they knew you," Nurse Joy said. "Jeff had already been there, and he said you were from a town in the northern forests?"

Orion sighed as he looked at the empty basket. He should have figured someone would talk to the authorities about him.

"Something like that," he muttered, feeling bad about not telling Nurse Joy the truth.

Nurse Joy nodded. "Gym leader Krastin said he'd heard of that. Isn't it a ruin a few hours north from here?"

Orion nodded. "Yes," he said, wondering what he should tell her.

Without knowing exactly what had happened in the last hundred-plus years, he had no idea how they would react to him saying he'd stepped out of a portal from the past.

Nurse Joy was examining him, then looked at Riolu and finally sighed.

"Well, I would advise you to tell Gym leader Krastin the truth. He is a nice man, but he dislikes people who lie to him."

Orion nodded, feeling his worry grow. A soft wave of resolve came from Riolu, and he looked up to see his friend look at him.

"I won't lie," he said.

"Well, that is good then," Nurse Joy said with a smile. "The mayor wasn't very interested, but Krastin said that you should come and see him when you finished up here."

Orion nodded as he got up and headed to the stairs. "I'll finish another room first!" he said.

"Alright, don't overdo it," Nurse Joy said as she began cleaning up.

"I won't," Orion said before looking back. "Say, is there a library here?"

Nurse Joy looked up in surprise. "A library…? Why, yes, there is. Do you want to go there?"

Orion nodded and listened intently as Nurse Joy told him how to reach it. Then he continued cleaning up.

When he finished the fourth room, he found Nurse Joy brooming out the first he had cleaned.

"I'll head to the library, then to Gym Leader Krastin," he said, waving at her.

"Alright! Are you coming back here after?"

Orion nodded. "If that's okay?"

"Definitely! There are a dozen more rooms, and you are way faster than I am."

"Then I'll be back after," Orion shouted as he headed to the door.

"Aright, and Orion?"

Orion turned to look at her.

"You can trust Gym Leader Krastin. He is a good man," Nurse Joy said.

Orion just smiled, not sure what to say back as he turned and left the Poke Center.