Orion curiously wandered through the town, looking around and surprised by how old all the new things looked. Those few people he encountered all looked like they were in a hurry to get somewhere, and the only ones who took more than a glance at him sped up when they saw Riolu.

It took a while before he reached his goal, and without the directions of Nurse Joy, it would have been hard to find the Library. It was a bit outside the central area, hidden away between two large buildings: a warehouse and a squarish building with a flat roof that was home to multiple families.

"Ri?"

Orion hummed as he looked at the small old stone building. It had a second story made of rusty metal and a roof that was oddly round. Even then, he knew exactly where he was and what the roof was for.

So, Professor Hazelton's old place survived whatever happened, he thought as he walked to the door. A sign above it read 'Ferrum Library' and a smaller piece of paper stuck on the window with 'Open'.

The door creaked as he pulled it, then got stuck, and he had to put a lot of strength in to get it open. As it slowly did, Orion peered inside to see a small room with a round counter at the back. Books lay splayed atop, many with pale white, scribble-covered slips of paper sticking out. A small labyrinth of bookcases filled the rest of the room, and a staircase on one side led to the next floor. The entire place smelled dusty and damp.

I wonder if there's still a professor here, Orion thought as he stepped.

"I'll be right there!" A young voice came from somewhere between the bookcases. "Make sure to close the door so those horrible Cutifly don't get in!"

Orion was surprised at how immature it sounded, and he wondered if the owner had their kid running the shop. He strained to close the door again, and when he succeeded and turned, a small girl with dark, nearly black hair and pale silvery eyes had appeared behind the counter. She was hurriedly tidying her hair before wiping her hands on her dusty gray and brown skirt.

"Hey! I don't think I've seen you before," she said, her voice filled with a happy curiosity.

"Hi," Orion said as he walked up, waving awkwardly. "Well, I guess that's because I only arrived yesterday."

"Oh! That's fantastic," the girl shouted with delight as she grabbed a notebook and a pencil from the counter. "Where are you from? How far is it? Did it take you long to get here? How many people live there? What Pokemon did you see? Wait-" her barrage of questions changed to a whoop of joy. "Oh! She's so cute! I've never seen a Riolu before! I thought they were extinct, or just far away, or-"

Orion quietly remained standing as the small girl, roughly his own age but a head shorter, moved towards him, staring at Riolu with eyes that seemed filled with stars.

Impressively, she was scribbling in the notebook without even looking at what she was doing, and Orion glanced to see her writing was perfect, although somewhat rounder than what he was used to.

"So," he said, interrupting her as he waved his hands before her head, causing her to jump back in surprise. "I can answer a few of your questions if you give me the time to do so. But first, perhaps you could tell me who you are?"

The girl blinked, then rubbed her head as she grinned. "Right, sorry! I'm Elena," she said as she took a deep breath. "So where did you come from?"

Orion saw she was actually biting her lip to avoid asking more questions.

"I'm from beyond Basil's Range," he said, feeling slightly sad as he realized how much of an understatement that was. If years were distance, then he was probably further from home than anyone else.

"Oh, I know! Those are the ruins north in the Forest," the girl said, shaking her head. "How far north from there are you? How long did it take you to get here?"

Orion shrugged. "I don't really know," he said. "But I was wondering if I'm allowed to look through some books, preferably history books of the last few hundred years."

"Oh! You're interested in the old time from before the Shadow Storm?" the girl said, sounding incredibly excited and seeming fine with him changing the topic. "Of course! The books are open to all. There's just one thing you will have to do: wait here!"

Orion blinked as she dashed away from the counter, rushing away in the maze of bookcases. After a moment, the sound of someone running up the stairs came.

"Elena, no running on the stairs!" a muted voice came from above.

"Olu? Ri, ri?"

Orion hummed as he looked around. "Yeah, I have no idea who else could live here. This place used to belong to Professor Hazelton."

Another set of running came from the stairs, followed by a weary, old voice.

"Elena! No running!"

"Sorry, Grandpa!" Elena shouted as she dashed out through the bookcases. She was carrying a thin booklet with a lockable cover that she placed on the counter. "If you want to read the books here, you need to fill out-"

"Elena! How many times do I have to tell you that you can't force people to do this!" an old man said as he came walking from between the bookcases.

Orion's eyes widened, and he only just kept his mouth shut as he looked at a man who looked like a slightly older, green-eyed, brown, and gray-haired version of Professor Hazelton. He had a thick goaty tied together at the bottom by a gleaming metal cord. If Orion hadn't known he was over a hundred years in the future, he would have thought it was only twenty.

"Hello, young man," the man who looked like Professor Hazelton said as he walked behind the counter. He put another book atop the one Elena had put there. It was similar, but there was a symbol of a Pokeball on the cover.

Elena remained beside him, arms crossed and pouting at the book.

"I hope that my granddaughter wasn't too upsetting?"

"Grampa!" the girl shouted. "I was perfectly nice and only wanted to help! He said he isn't from around here, and he has a Riolu, so he is probably exploring the region, searching for towns!" She turned to Orion, eyes wide. "Did you come from a Gym?"

Orion shook his head and frowned. "No…" his eyes drifted to the tiny booklet, and he hesitated. It somehow looked familiar, but he wasn't sure he recalled where he'd seen it before.

"Ahhh, have you never seen the new Pokedex?" the old man said, pushing it forward. "You can take a look if you want. It's not nearly as sophisticated as the ones from before the Shadow Storm, but at least they don't blow up when a group of Wattrels and Killowattrels fly by. Perhaps if I ever manage to fix the insulator like they did on the old ones… hmm…."

Orion watched as the man began pulling his beard, seemingly lost in thought.

"Sir… who are you?" Orion asked.

"What? Who? Me! Ah, sorry!" the old man said as he blinked at Orion. "I am Professor Hazelton, the fourth." He added the final part seemingly as an afterthought.

Orion couldn't help but gape at him. Did that mean he was the great-grandchild of the original Professor Hazelton?

"And you are?"

"Orion!" Orion said, suddenly realizing Elena hadn't been the only one to properly introduce herself. A quick look showed the girl grinning at him, indicating she'd noticed it too.

"Good, and I see you have a very unusual friend," Professor Hazelton said as he stepped forward, smiling at Riolu. "I've not seen one of these in decades!"

"Grampa? You saw a Riolu before?" Elena shouted as she latched onto his arm. "When was this? Why didn't you tell me?"

Professor Hazelton laughed softly as he stretched out his hand, palm up, and held it before Riolu. "Can I…" he began, only for Riolu to raise its hand defensively.

"Ri?"

"It's alright," Orion said, nodding at his friend, sending him as much reassurance as he could.

Riolu sniffed, then high-fived Professor Hazelton, causing the old man's eyebrows to rise in surprise. Orion was about to say something when he saw that his friend was glancing up. Following the gaze, he saw a tiny Noctowl sitting high up in one of the rusty steel rafters.

"Ah… yes. I'd wanted to ask if I could inspect your friend a bit, but I guess this will do for now," Professor Hazelton said, causing Orion to look back at the old man. The professor took a step back and smiled.

"Now, back to the pokedex. Have you heard of them before?"

Orion nodded slowly as he looked at the red leatherbound booklet. It didn't look like the ones he'd seen before. Only the size, color, and imprint of a Pokeball on it reminded him of what he was used to.

He carefully picked it up, opening it. To his surprise, there wasn't the reflective sheet of glass of the tablet, but a paper with an image of a Ratata and some text to the side.

"Ratata: A normal type Pokemon that usually lives in hills and forests where it hunts Catterpy, Grubbin, and Sewaddle. Before the Storm of Shadows, they were known to be skittish and fearful creatures. Now they are best avoided as they roam in packs that can grow to hundreds and are aggressive against anything."

There was a lot more information on the page, and Orion's eyes widened.

They eat people? he thought, recalling his encounter outside of town.

With a shiver, he began leafing through the book, noticing that the pages were bound together by a metal spring that allowed the pages to be rearranged. As he progressed through the book, it didn't take too long to figure out what the problem was.

"Nidoking: A ground and poison type Pokemon that is said to roam the northern mountains. No sightings or information since the Storm of Shadows!"

"Rhyhorn: A ground and rock type Pokemon that is said to roam the northern mountains. Mutated after the Storm of Shadows. Three meters long and almost as high as an adult. One sighting, no further information."

Neither of the two pages had any drawings in the top square, but there was a faint outline for the Rhyhorn.

Three meters long? Orion thought as he swallowed. He'd seen Rhyhorn, and they were only half that at most and barely a meter high. Even the gnarly old one that had been his Uncle's starter, which had carried him through all the gyms, had been barely a centimeter taller.

"Have you seen one of those before?" Professor Hazelton asked curiously.

Orion hesitated, then shook his head. He'd seen Rhyhorn, but nothing like this one. "No," he said as he frowned at the tiny booklet.

"Say… are you going back out there?" Professor Hazelton asked.

Orion looked up to see curiosity in the old man's eyes.

Was he going out? Orion hummed, then slowly nodded.

"Maybe, but I need to get supplies and a place to stay first. I also need to figure out some things I don't know," he said as he looked around.

"Well, I can't help you with the first two, but I've gathered a lot of books and information here," Professor Hazelton said. "How about this? Go and read what you want, and when you go back out, take this Pokedex, and perhaps you can fill in anything you find during your travels?"

"Grampa! That's what I asked," Elena said as she huffed at the old man.

"No, dear, you tried to trick our young friend into filling out the empty one," Professor Hazelton said as he smiled at his granddaughter.

Orion didn't have to think about it long, and he put the small book in his jacket pocket.

"I can't promise when I'll head out, but I'll add what I can," he said. "Is it alright if I go look around a bit now?"

"Of course," Professor Hazelton said as he smiled happily. "I'll leave you to that and head back myself! Research doesn't do itself after all!"

He laughed as he began walking away. "If you need help finding something, just ask Elena!"

Orion saw the girl make an ugly face before sticking out her tongue at the old man's receding back. When she saw him look, she sniffed and grinned.

"Right! You said you wanted books on the Storm of Shadows, right?"

Orion nodded, and she rushed around the counter and towards another bookcase. "This way!"

"Riiii…. Ri," Riollu said, and Orion realized he sounded somewhat exasperated.

Not sure how he could know so well what his friend was thinking, he just nodded and rubbed his back.

"Don't worry, I'm sure things will calm down again soon," he said.

They followed Elena to what had to be the oldest bookcase, one that stood leaning against the wall. It was filled with dusty books.

"People don't usually read these anymore," Elena said as she took a book and blew the dust off before handing it to Orion. "If you've only ever heard the stories, this might be a good start. It details what happened pretty well without going into any details."

Orion hefted the book, which was probably as thick as his finger and nodded.

"Thank you."

"No problem! You can just read over there and ask if you have any questions," Elena said as she waved at a dusty old chair placed against the side of a bookcase. Then she walked away, leaving Orion with the book.

He didn't mind, and as he looked at the cover, he quickly walked to the chair, sitting down and ignoring the dust.

"The Storm of Shadows," he muttered softly, reading the title. Then he opened the book and began reading.

--

"Grampa, is it a good idea to give him one of the Pokedex for free? We only have seven left! What if new trainers come from Neos City Gym?" Elena complained as she looked at her grandpa, who was sitting behind his cluttered desk, scribbling in a book.

A tiny Noctowl sat on his head, eyes closed and its head tucked under its wing.

"Don't worry, Elena, I'll create another tomorrow," Professor Hazelton said as he looked up. "But I think that book will be in good hands."

"What? Why? He didn't look like he knew what he was doing," Elena complained.

"Oh? And you know this because?" Professor Hazelton asked, his eyebrows raised as he pulled his short beard curiously.

Elena snorted and crossed her arms before her chest. "A feeling!" she said.

"Well, I also have a feeling," the professor said with a smile. "My feeling says Orion is going to be an interesting young man to follow."

"Because he gained an Aura, or because of his Riolu?" Elena asked. "And don't think I haven't forgotten about what you said! You're going to tell me where you saw one before!"

"Sure, dear," Professor Hazelton said as he looked back at his book. "Now, why don't you head back in case our young friend has any questions?"

Elena humphed, then turned and walked away.