Orion watched carefully as Krastin stood before him, eyes closed. He, Brawl, the overly large Breloom, and the even larger Chesnaught stood in a sort of triangle around him, and he felt… something.

It started as a slight itch, not in his body but in his mind, and rapidly increased to a tapping and scratching sensation.

Orion tried to pinpoint it, but all he could say was that it wasn't coming from his body. It felt like he had a an extra sense, like smell and hearing, that was picking up something… something familiar.

It took him a few moments to realize when he'd sensed the same. Back when he came through the rift in reality, he'd sensed it, and again when he'd touched the large Tauros moments before it had died.

"What-" he whispered as the sense became almost painful.

"Brell!" the Breloom rumbled, staring at him angrily.

"Right, sorry," Orion whispered.

He looked to the side, where Riolu was carefully examining what was happening, looking mostly curious.

The entire process continued to increase, Krastin now with his hands clasped and sweat oozing across his glistening face, grunting as if he was doing something incredibly difficult.

By now, Orion felt like something was pushing on him from all sides, and it was starting to get annoying. Not painful, but more like someone was constantly scratching their fingernails across a chalkboard.

"Alright.. Try- try to push back slowly," Krastin suddenly said.

Not sure what he meant, Orion focused on the feeling of beeing compressed. As easy as it was to sense it, actually interacting somehow was far more difficult.

Seconds turned to minutes as he grappled with the odd sensation. Even then, he didn't even contemplate asking Krastin. Something told him the other wouldn't respond, and if he did, it wouldn't be helpful. It was as if, deep down, he knew he had to push-

A sense of release came as he suddenly felt the mental muscle he had to use. 

The room shuddered, pencils and cups chattering on the tables and cupboards as a wave of… something… erupted from him.

Krastin stumbled back while the tall Breloom grunted, taking a surprised step to Krastin. 

"Chessssss….." 

Orion looked up in surprise, noticing the Chesnaught rubbing his head.

"Okay, and now what?" Orion asked.

Krastin grunted and waved, rubbing his eyes and swaying on his feet.

"One moment," he groaned, moving to the table. As he sat down on his chair, he flopped his legs on it and kept rubbing his head.

Not sure what was going on, Orion sat opposite him, then got back up and began walking left and right.

"So?" he said after another few seconds.

"I should have expected it," Krastin muttered, looking up. "You've got a weird aura, atleast level five, but there's something weird with it. Usually, even with the three of us we should be fine, but, well, you should go and talk with Professor Hazelton in a few days."

"What does that mean, level five?" Orion asked, wondering if that was low. It sounded low.

"At Least level five," Krastin said. "Six is the highest, and although I don't think you have that, there's definitely something different with your aura. That means it's either got a natural dual type, like that punk in Neos City, or something else going on. Perhaps Fluid Aura? Whatever it is, I'm only a level three, so there's no way I can figure it out. We will have to do it again when the merchant caravan comes in a few weeks."

Orion was watching the gym leader, trying to make sense of what he'd said. He was about to ask when the Breloom looked up and shook his head. Then it pointed at the door.

"Bre… loom!"

"Yeah, I'm afraid Brawl's right," Krastin said. "I need a rest. I'd expected level two or three, perhaps hoped for a four like Benny, but this? I'll need to rest till tomorrow. My aura is way overused now. Go and grab some books from Hazelton to read or ask him questions. Come back tomorrow so we can start training you!"

Orion sighed, then nodded.

"Well, thanks," he said, trying to sound grateful. 

He had no idea if he had succeeded, but Brawl came and began gently guiding him to the door. Then he shoved him out and closed the door.

"Ri…"

"Yeah, I don't know," Orion said, shrugging. "I guess we need to go to the library again?"

"Olu!" Riolu said, shaking his head before putting his hands over his ears.

Orion flinched. "Right, perhaps not just right away. Still, I wasn't to learn a bit about those auras."

Riolu cocked his head, then grinned as he punched outward.

"Right, Benny should know," Orion agreed.

He looked around, wondering how he was going to find him. Would he be behind the gym again?

"Riolu!" Riolu shouted, running further into the city.

"What do you mean, you can sense him!" Orion shouted as he ran after the small Pokemon

--

Orion stood with his hands on his knees, drawing in deep breaths as he stood before a narrow building wedged in between a large warehouse and a three-story building that looked split up into multiple family houses.

Riolu was standing before the door, glaring at the knocker that was to high for him to reach. He didn't seem even the slightest out of breath from sprinting full speed through the town for nearly ten minutes.

"You could… have slowed… a bit," Orion wheezed.

"Rio!"

"Well, if you did, slow even more next time," Orion muttered as he took a deep breath then raised himself up and walked ot the door.

"You are sure its here?" he asked, suddenly feeling awkward. What if he knocked and some random stranger opened up?

Riolu struck the door at knee height with enough for to cause it shake, while a dull bang echoed behind it.

"HEY!" a familiar voice shouted from inside.

"Well that explains it," Orion muttered just as Benny shoved the door open and glared outside. He stared at Orion, then frowned. "You? What do you want? I was sleeping!"

Orion blinked as he looked up at the morning sun. Did he mean still, or…

"We were looking for you," he said, deciding it didn't matter.

"I'm not interested in another match with someone that doesn't even train their Pokemon properly," Benny snapped, seeming ready to slam the door shut.

"No, wait!" Orion said, waving his hands. "Not that! I… Uhm, listen, can we talk for a bit?"

"No," Benny said, just as his pancham stepped forward, yawning. 

"Pannnnn cham!" it said, its eyes locking on to Riolu.

"No, we are not fighting the weakling again," Benny said.

"Hey, we aren't weak!" Orion said, feeling his annoyance grow. "We only bonded, and I have no idea what all this means!"

He only realized what he said a moment before Benny was blinking at him stupidly.

"What do you mean?" Benny said, shaking his head. "What what means?"

Orion sighed. "I'm not from here-"

"I noticed," Benny muttered.

"- and where I'm from, information on things like bonding and aura isn't common," Orion said, ignoring the other boy. "I was hoping you could tell me a bit about it."

It sounded weak even to him, and Benny frowned.

"Let's say I believe that which I'm struggling with. Why don't you just go to Krastin or Professor Hazelton or… nearly anyone else?"

"The professor… I was there, but he wants to ask so many questions," Orion said, deciding he was just going to go all in now. "While Krastin was tired after he tried to determine my aura level."

"So?" Benny asked, inching forward with a raised eyebrow.

"So, I don't really know anyone else, and I was-" Orion began.

"No! What was the level?" Benny snapped, shaking his head. "If Krastin became tired, that means it wasn't level three… unless you have dual typing?"

Orion shook his head. "He wasn't sure, but he said level five, and something was weird about it."

"Level…" Benny jumped forward, glaring at Orion as he grabbed his shoulder. "You're ly-" as Benny spoke, Orion felt a tiny push against what he guessed was his aura. 

It was barely noticeable compared to what Krastin had done, but like a soft sound, he still noticed.

"AGH! You're talking the truth," Benny said, shaking his head.

"Wait, how come you can just sense that now?" Orion asked.

"After someone's aura has been primed, its no longer hard to figure out if its stronger or weaker," Benny said. "I can't say what your aura level is, just that its atleast as strong as mine, and I've got a level four dual type. That means its either a level five, or level four dual type with some special thing. You will have to figure that out when the caravan comes... Bah!"

He turned and stomped inside, leaving the door open while muttering and grunting in annoyance.

Orion stood looking at the door stupidly until Pancham beckoned them in.

"Cham, cham!"

Riolu moved forward right away, and Orion followed, closing the door as he walked through a three step long hallway into an incredibly cluttered room. A bunk bed was shoved to one side, the top bedding looking recently slept in, while clothes and books filled the bottom one. A long couch stood on the other side, and two closets stood back to back creating a split in the room with a small table again their end.

Uneaten food, a cup, and some other things lay strewn everywhere, while dust and clothes littered the rest of the room.

"Stop staring and sit down," Benny said as he dropped on the couch, launching across it. 

He pointed at a creaky wooden chair beside the table.

Orion walked forward, dodging what he hoped were mudstained trunks before sitting on the chair. It creaked dangerously but seemed to hold.

"Alright! Tell me about your aura," Benny said, waving his hand around.

Orion shrugged. "I don't know what to say. Krastin did something that made it tingle. Then it felt like something was pushing something?"

Benny looked back with a look of stunned surprise. "You seriously don't know anything?" 

"No…"

Benny closed his eyes and leaned back, moaning. "Fine… perhaps I was a bit to harsh after we fought. I'll go and assume you aren't trying to trick me and that you really are this unknowing, in this case… do you have no bonded trainers where you are from?"

"If there are any, they did a good job of hiding it," Orion said, which was the truth while at the same time it wasn't. 

"Ri!" 

He looked up to see Riolu sniffing around the room while Panchan climbed on the top bunk and curled up.

"Okay, but there are people with Pokemon there, right?"

"Definitely!" Orion said.

"Wel, then I guess you have aura… wait, where did you say you are from again?"

Orion was surprised at how chaotic Benny was.

"I didn't, but I'm from up north, past the old ranch with the Tauros. It wasn't my intention to come here, but…" he shrugged, deciding not to tell anything that wasn't a lie if he could prevent it.

"Right… well, that happens sometimes," Benny said, looking at the badly plastered wall. "Anyway, you should probably go and find Professor Hazelton and a book later, but I can help you with the basics. It's not like I haven't only just had to do it myself."

Benny raised one hand, clenching it in a fist. "So, people like us who have an aura can use it to bond with Pokemon like you... Well, perhaps you don't know. Whatever. We can only bond with those Pokemon that match our aura, or in some people's cases, auras. An aura's level is determined by how many Pokemon you can bond with, so in my case, that's four, as long as they are fighting, dark, or both. In your case, it's fighting and perhaps five. If you bond with a Pokemon that evolves into another type or gets another type, it will cost double."

Orion nodded. "I read some of that," he said.

"Good, well, to actually use your aura and be able to bond with more Pokemon, you are going to have to strengthen your aura. The easiest way is to sense it and exert it like this-"

Orion watched as Benny opened and closed his hand and did absolutely nothing else.

"Uh…"

"Right, it's hard to detect, but it should increase as you train. Also, as your Pokemon become stronger, your aura becomes stronger too."

"So, training with Riolu?" 

"Exactly," Benny said. "Or training yourself. In your case, just fighting or lifting heavy things, or running… well, anything strenuous."

Orion saw Benny shiver at the mere thought.

"And you?"

"Well, I'm mostly good with fighting aura because Panchan only has that," Benny said. "If I can find a shadow Pokemon, or Pancham evolves, I'll be able to use shadow much easier."

"So you are training to?" Orion asked.

"Yes, but luckily, just resting and flexing my aura works well," Benny said. "I'm going to have to start training again soon when Krastin's course starts again."

Orion hummed as he looked at the cluttered room.

"So, are there a lot of people with dual types or level four auras?" he asked.

Benny choked, then coughed for a bit.

"You are joking with me! No, from what I know, there are only a few dozen dual types, and most of them are in Neos City. There are more level fours, but not a lot, and I only know of a handful of level fives. There's only one level six that I know of, Gymn leader Sarpak," he said, his face tight as he mentioned Sarpak. "There's probably more, but many trainers don't want to let it be widely known what their level is."

Orion wondered why, and why both Benny and Krastin seemed annoyed by Sarpak. 

"Anyway, put your fist before mine," Benny said, holding out his fist again.

Orion got up and did as asked. Benny didn't speak but began opening and closing his fist, and it took a moment for Orion to sense that he was… doing something. It felt like a tiny shove, but not directed at him but at everything around Benny's fist.

"You feel that?"

Orion nodded.

"Alright, try and do that. When you can, you will find it much easier to increase your aura," Benny said. "Anyway… I need to get some sleep. It will be a long day tomorrow!"

Orion looked at him dumbly, wondering how he was supposed to do that.

"Thanks," he said, realizing that was the second time he thanked someone while not completely feeling he'd learned much. 

A minute later, he stood back outside, feeling annoyed. For a moment, he pondered about heading to Professor Hazelton again, but when he thought about potentially having to answer questions for an hour, he decided it could wait a day.

Instead, he headed back to the Pokecenter.

I hope Nurse Joy will allow me to stay in a room, at least for a while longer, Orion thought.