Orion dumbly looked at Krastin, who was glaring at him, arms crossed.

What should he say? Should he try to explain where he was from and what had happened? That he was from the past and moved here through some crazy portal? After all he had heard from Elena, he didn't think it was likely that Krastin would believe him. If they didn't even really believe Johto was real!

"Let me guess, Sarpak sent you to check if I will return?" Krastin snapped, taking another step forward and looming over Orion. As tall as Orion was for his age, Sarpak was two heads taller.

"What? No," Orion said, shaking his head. "I don't even know who that is!"

Krastin's mouth opened, and he seemed ready to speak when someone loudly interrupted him.

"Riolu! Ri, rio, LU!" Riolu shouted, jumping from Orion's shoulder to land between him and Krastin. It looked like a tiny toddler compared to the massive Gym Leader.

Orion felt an influx of combative spirit from his little friend, and it kindled something deep within him. He put his hands in his side.

"What… is that?" Krastin said, eyes focused on Riolu and taking a step back. "I've never seen a Pokemon like that, did you… You're from the Dark Colloseum town!"

Orion took a deep breath, then shook his head.

"I am not from Dark Colloseum town, I have no idea who Sarpak is, and I can't tell you where I'm from right now," he snapped, glaring at the much larger man. He almost felt like attacking him, and it took all his willpower to hold that back.

Krastin blinked, then took another step back. He raised an eyebrow, looking at Orion, and slowly, his lips curved up in a grin.

"I have never seen a Riolu before, but I can recognize a fighting-type Pokemon when I see one! You've only just bonded with him, haven't you?"

Orion sniffed. He could see that Krastin didn't seem as combative anymore, but somehow he didn't care. Angry, he glared back at the man, only for his grin to widen.

"Ohhhh…. What is wrong, kid? Would you like to have a fight?" Krastin asked, taking another step back and snapping his fingers.

Orion wanted to say yes but held back. He knew the gym leader would be far too strong for him, no matter how much he wanted to whip the grin off his face.

"Riolu!"

Riolu had no such worries and stepped forward, jabbing a fist in a challenge.

Krastin burst out laughing while the Breloom stepped up beside him, shaking its head.

It's too tall, Orion thought absently. What was up with the sizes of all these Pokemon? The tallest Breloom where supposed to be no more than five feet, this one had to be seven, making it even taller then him.

"No, Brawl. You are way too strong," Krastin said. "Benny, come over here!"

A weary sigh came from the side of the building, and Orion watched as a boy probably his age got up, stretching himself.

"Again?" he muttered, jogging over to them.

A movement came from the younger children, who had stopped hitting the bags and where now near the edge of the wooden construction, looking at what was happening with wide, curious eyes.

"This should be a great practice for you," Krasin said before looking back at Orion. "And for you to! Go and blow off some steam. We will talk after!"

Orion barely heard him, staring at a small black and white bundle of fur walking over from where Benny had been. It had a green leaf in its mouth, which mysteriously remained their when it yawned massively.

Pancham, Orion thought.

"I'm sleepy, do I have to?" Benny asked, looking at Krastin. Pancham sat down beside him, leaned its head against his leg and closed his eyes.

"What kind of fighting aura do you two have? You are always sleeping," Krastin said, walking back some more. "Yes! You have to!"

"Fine… Chawi, stop pretending to sleep," Benny shouted over his shoulder.

"Riiiiiii olu!" Riolu said, and Orion felt his friends desire to fight grow when he saw the roughly equally sized Pokemon approached.

"Pan…. >yawn<..... cham," the black and white Pokemon said before yawning again. When he squared off against Riolu, Orion saw a sharp look in the black eyes.

He isn't half as tired as he pretends to be, Orion knew, and he took a step back.

"Alright! This will be single pokemon battle," Krastin shouted. "The first pokemon to give up or be knocked unconscious loses!"

Orion felt his own desire to fight grow rapidly, and he couldn't stop grinning at Benny.

"Ready!" he said, immediately echoed by his friend. "Riolu!"

"Whatever," Benny said, waving his hand forward. "Ready. I guess."

"Fight!" Krastin shouted.

"Quick attack," Orion shouted. Riolu was moving before he finished the command, dashing forward like a blue blur.

"Leer," Benny shouted at the same time, and Orion's eyes widened as he saw the Pancham glare ugly at Riolu. His black eyes gleamed, seeming to ridicule Riolu's incoming attack.

Pancham tried to dodge to the side, but Riolu was faster. A thud came as Riolu's fist knocked the Pancham against the ground, only for it to get up almost immediately.

"Pancham!" it called out mockingly.

"Ri, ri!" Riolu shouted back, but Orion knew what had happened.

"Tackle!" Benny shouted.

"Quick attack dodge," Orion called.

Pancham dashed forward, missing Riolu by a long shot, but the Pancham didn't seem bothered. He rushed after Riolu.

"Quick attack," Orion called again, and as he did he grimaced. They really needed to get more moves for Riolu.

"Arm thrust as soon as it hits!" Benny shouted.

Orion's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. Pancham is a higher level!

He should have known how short he and Riolu were together!

"Endure," he shouted just as Riolu struck Pancham in the chest.

The small Pokemon shrugged it off, and suddenly, its arms began dashing out. Riolu tried to dodge, but he failed, and within a moment, four strikes knocked it back. It stumbled, then barely managed to remain on its feet.

"Again!"

"Quick attack," Orion called, gnashing his teeth. He felt a similar anger from Riolu, and as Riolu acted, he moved so fast he seemed like a blur.

This time Riolu caught Pancham in the back of the head, but before he could get away, Pancham spun around, letting out a barrage of punches.

"Endure," Orion shouted again, only for Riolu to stumble back and fall on his but.

Pancham ran forward, but a loud shout stopped him.

"Enough!" Krastin shouted, stomping forward and blocking Pancham from getting to Riolu. "Pancham has won!"

There was a halfhearted cheer from the children, making Orion feel even worse about what had happened.

Krastin turned to Orion. "You've lost… now come with me. I could see you were only just bonded, but I hadn't imagined that meant days ago!"

Orion gritted his teeth but ran towards Riolu who was crawling back up, swaying on his feet. "Are you alright?" he whispered.

"Ri…" Riolu said, sounding sad.

"It's not your fault," Orion said. "He is high- … he is older and has been training much longer than you have. We will get there!"

A snort came from the side as Benny walked to Pancham and picked him up.

"Yeah, it's not his fault. It's your fault," he said, sounding angry. He glared at Orion before turning and walking back to the house.

Orion gently picked up Riolu, noticing the bruises and a single gash on his cheek.

"Sorry. I'll get you healed up at the Pokecenter right away," he said.

"I'll take care of it," Krastin shouted from the door. "Come with me."

Orion grumbled but walked towards the gym leader.

"You can all go home for today! We will pick up tomorrow," Krastin shouted at the children. This time, there was a louder cheer as the kids dashed away.

Krastin waited till Orion reached the door, then walked inside.

"Come in and close the door."

Orion did as asked, then walked to a nearby table, putting Riolu down on it.

Krastin came to them, carrying a small purple flask. He opened it up and began gently rubbing the liquid across Riolu's wounds.

"I'll give you one of those when you leave," he said. "Look what I'm doing. You rub a thin layer on the wounds, then wait to see if the wound closes or fades. If it doesn't, wait a moment then put on some more until its all gone."

Orion didn't react. He knew perfectly well how to administer a healing potion, though he was surprised to find someone else who did it, like Uncle Basil. Instead, he gratefully accepted the bottle and continued expertly putting on the healing potion.

"Ah… at least you know how to do this," Krastin said. Then he walked to the large desk, sat down, and kicked his feet atop.

Orion continued applying the healing potion, smiling as Riolu leaned into his hand, purring happily. When he finished, he looked up to see Krastin, who had been looking at him quietly.

"Now… want to tell me why you are here?" the gym leader said, gesturing at an empty desk and a stool that was way too small for Orion. "You are a nice kid. I could see that when you were fighting. Very green, but definitely not one of those idiots that want to ..? Leeg

Orion hesitated, then pocketed the remainder of the potion. He picked up Riolu, walked to the desk, and sat down on it, ignoring the stool.

"I was lost in the woods above Basil's Farm," he said, trying to determine what to tell Krastin.

The man just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Orion looked at the gym floor, trying to sort his thoughts. He'd been annoyed at first by being confronted, but the fight had drained most of the anger out of him. Then the Gymn leader had given him a free healing potion, so he couldn't be that bad. Still… what should he do? Just tell him he was from a portal? It didn't feel like the best thing to do. But what else? He knew nobody and had no money. How was he going to do anything? Where was he even going to go?

Taking a deep breath, he shoved the worrisome thoughts away.

I could say I'm from a portal without telling him I'm from the past, he suddenly thought, blinking stupidly. Portals weren't that uncommon, right? He could just say he was from one of the Orange Islands. That wasn't too far away, and it would explain why he didn't know anything.

He looked at Riolu, who was looking back, sending him reassuring feelings.

Fine. What's the worst thing that can happen?

"I'm not sure how I got here," he said, looking up at Krastin. "I was resting in the forest near my Uncle's ranch when I heard fighting. I went to look and found this weird portal."

Krastin had dropped his boots from the desk, leaning forward as he looked at him.

"What did it look like?" he asked.

Orion tried to recall. "Black edges with some sort of lightning or energy around it. A bunch of Houndoor were attacking a Tauros… and…"

"You went to help," Krastin said as he took a deep sigh. "Damn, then you are in some deep shit, kid."

Orion looked at him in surprise. He'd expected disbelief and anger, or maybe worry, but not the sudden look of sympathy.

"Don't look at me like that," Krastin snorted. "It's not happened in decades, but I remember when a portal opened up, and someone from Sinnoh just appeared in the middle of the beach."

"From Sinnoh?" Orion said, eyes wide. "But Elena said there hadn't been any contact with anything beyond Ferum!"

Krastin laughed, shaking his head.

"Like these things are made common knowledge. The one that came from Sinnoh? Only a handful of people knew about that. I was just a low-ranked trainer back then. "Anyway, I think it's best if we keep this equally quiet. People have been getting antsy ever since Zorua have been infiltrating towns."

Right, those guards at the gate mentioned that, Orion thought.

"So… you believe me?" he asked, unable to keep his surprise out of his voice.

"Why shouldn't I?" Krastin said. "I can sense you're not lying, and you have a Pokemon that's not been seen here in ages."

Except that Orion knew that wasn't true.

Unless Professor Hazelton lied?

"So… where are you from?"

"A small ranch on one of the Orange Islands," Orion said, hoping Krastin couldn't really sense if he was lying. "We lived away from nearly anyone," he quickly added.

He didn't add which island, though if he had to, he would use Mikan Island. It was the only one he'd ever really been to, the single time his Uncle had brought his mum and him there. He barely remembered anything except for the beautiful beaches and the dense jungle, but it would have to do.

"Orange Islands?" Krastin said, his eyes rising. "I've heard of those. They are north of us, right?"

"East," Orion corrected him mechanically.

Krastin grinned, then nodded. "Just testing. You are mostly telling the truth, and I was curious to see why I feel like there's something off."

Orion felt his stomach clench, but he just shrugged. Krastin wasn't giving him a bad feeling, and he didn't get any dangerous vibe from Riolu either.

"Well, I guess we are all entitled to our secrets," Krastin said. "Can you tell me a bit about where you are from?"

"Riiiolu," Riolu said, jumping on the ground and looking around. He headed to one of the small bookcases and began looking at them.

Orion thought back to what he knew of Mikan island, overlaying his Uncle's farm. He decided to keep it as close to the truth as he could, only leaving out the technology.

When he finished, Krastin had returned his feet to the desk, looking at the blackboard thoughtfully.

"So, with how young you are, this does put me in a bit of a dilemma. Without knowing anything about the region, and with a Pokemon you have bonded only very recently, you can't go wandering around this region."

Orion didn't respond, but agreed with Krastin. The fight had managed to clear his mind somewhat, and he knew he had been underestimating the new world. He would need to figure out how things worked and how the aura worked. Besides, Riolu needed to become stronger.

Still, he didn't know what Krastin was going to do, and he quietly watched the gym trainer.

"How about this," Krastin said. "Why don't you join my Pokemon course? Benny is only a few weeks further than you, and it would be good for him to have a training partner. Besides, with the both of you having fighting type auras, it will help you learn much faster. After you are done, you will have learned how to use your aura, earned some money and had time to figure out what to do!"