Orion 16: Multifasceted

When Orion and Grit finished all the food, Elena was watching them with wide open mouths.

"What?" Orion asked, wiping his lips on his no longer very white bandages.

"I've seen just bonded fighting aura trainers eat before, but you are on another level," Elena said, leaning forward. "Is that normal where you are from? Does everyone eat that much? How much did you eat before you got your Aura? Do you think you will get fat?"

Orion blinked, then shook his head.

Elena barely seemed to notice as she continued spewing questions until a dull-sounding horn bleared from outside.

Orion shot upright, then slung his legs out of bed and gingerly got out. 

"They are going to start the market!" Elena said as she walked to the door. "Come on, let's go! I need to check if I got my Aura!"

Orion slowly walked after her, and as he moved he felt his back ache. Down the stairs, then out of the Poke Center, he slowly felt his muscles warm up and relax while a hot flow seemed to originate from his stomach that expanded through his body.

"You okay? You look a bit red…" Elena asked, looking at him worriedly.

"I'm fine, just need to take it slow," Orion replied. 

"Good! Now, let's go!"

Orion walked after her, slowly, with Grit beside him. As he glanced down at his friend, he frowned. Something was off, but he couldn't put his finger on it at first. Then Riolu walked passed a window they had moved by before and he knew what it was.

He has Grown! 

Orion stepped closer to Grit, who looked up curiously. Orion didn't react but looked at Grit, then at the window, and quickly realized he'd gained almost a head in height.

"Riolu?" Grit asked, giving him a worried look.

Orion shook his head. "Nothing is wrong. You are just becoming bigger."

"Of course he is," Elena said, looking back. "He will hopefully grow another head or two before he is fully grown!"

"You know how big Riolu has become?" Orion asked, barely holding back a 'now' he was about to add to that.

"Nope, but most Pokemon that are his size and grow that much in such a short time reach roughly this high," she said, holding up her hand just over Orion's shoulder.

"If that's true, how big will he become when he evolves?" Orion asked, swallowing.

"No idea, but you do realize you have grown a bit?"

Orion blinked stupidly. "I have?"

"Yes! What did you think? That I shrunk?" Elena asked, stomping her foot angrily. "When you came here, I was here-" she stepped up beside his shoulder and prodded his chin. "Now I barely reach your shoulder!"

Orion looked around, trying to find something to measure himself by, but there was nothing. He'd not really paid attention, but as he thought about it, he decided he needed to add his height to his notebook. He knew he used to be almost five and a half feet, pretty tall for his age. If he took that as a benchmark, he should be able to figure out the rest easily enough.

As he was pondering, they reached the center of the town and stopped in surprise. A dozen Mudsdale stood corralled beside six large wagons with thick, rubber-covered wheels. The wagons were set up in a rough U shape, with many people meandering along their open sides, looking at the goods on the stall. On each side of the U stood a wagon with a large tent, flaps open. 

As interesting as that was, Orion only had eyes for the Mudsdale. He'd seen them before, but the largest he'd seen was one he could still look across. Although he knew Pokemon was larger now, he was staring in awe at the lead one, so high that he wondered if he could even climb to the top. As he watched it, it turned towards him, and Orion shivered when two burning red eyes locked onto his.

"What…" he hissed, taking a step back.

"Ri!"

"What's wrong?" Elena asked, looking at him.

"That Mudsdale, he has the same red eyes as that Zoroark we saw!"

Elena blinked, then laughed. "What? Have you never seen an alpha Pokemon before? They are pretty rare, but not that rare!"

Orion shook his head, focusing on her. "Alpha Pokemon?"

"Yeah, they started popping up here during The Storm of Shadows," Elena said. "Those in the wild usually stay away from towns, which is a good thing, but when they don't-" she shuddered. "Luckily, there are a few that bonded to trainers, like Sainglend. Without him, the caravan would probably never be able to move as freely as they do."

Orion inched forward, watching the massive Mudsdale -Sainglend- snort before turning back to the smaller ones around it. It almost felt like he'd laughed at him.

"How does one even bond them?" he whispered.

"You don't- not really," a gnarly old voice came from the side, and Orion jumped, then groaned as he felt his back pull.

A man with a rugged face, a large mustache, and a leather jerkin over a green shirt stood leaning against the wall. His thumbs were hooked behind his belt, letting his gnarled hands hang before him. Everything about him oozed tough durability, and he reminded Orion of his uncle Basil.

"Sorry for scaring you, young un," the man said, barking a laugh. "But to answer your questions, you don't bond one. I've only heard of a single trainer ever bonding with an existing alpha, and in all other cases, it was an existing Pokemon that became an alpha. But don't go hoping for one too soon- it's not all sunshine and rainbows!"

"Master Liath," Elena said, sounding excited. "I'm here to try again! I really think-"

"Elena!" 

Master Liath's rumble carried a lot of warning, and Elena snapped her mouth shut, then crossed her arms, looking surly. 

"I know, Grandpa told me," she muttered. "I'm not that excited!'

Master Liath raised an eyebrow before looking to Orion.

"And you must be the strange'un that Krastin spoke about. With a Riolu… Where did you find him?"

Orion shook his head. "What did you mean, having an Alpha isn't all-"

"Sunshine and rainbows? Simple! It takes two aura slots to have one, and that's if it's pure'o'type. If it evolves to something like yours, with another type, you need four slots!"

Orion's eyes widened in surprise. "But that would mean most trainers can't ever get one? What happens if you don't have enough slots when a Pokemon becomes alpha?"

Master Liath barked a laugh. "Don't make it sound that easy. There are only seven known bonded alphas right now, and some of their trainers are older than me! It happens every decade or so, and it never happened to a trainer with an aura lower than rank four."

"So… if someone has another Pokemon when a bonded Pokemon becomes an alpha…" Orion muttered, shivering as he recalled what Krastin had told him.

Master Liath sighed, then began walking forward.

"Come then, I'm sure you are curious to see about your Aura! Let's go and check!"

Orion nodded as he followed the older man, who'se mustache bobbed up and down while he walked. Everything about him oozed 'grounded' and Orion had the feeling that nothing could knock him down.

Probably his advantage for having a ground-type aura, Orion thought.

They walked towards one of the wagons with a tent, and Orion saw that a dozen children had started forming a line there. 

"Bah, now we are late and have to wait again," Elena muttered.

"That's how things go in life," Master Liath rumbled. He pointed at the back of the line.  "Now, just wait there and we will get to you soon enough!"

Orion watched him walk towards the other side of the wagon, disappearing around its back. Then he walked behind a young boy, barely thirteen, who was wringing his hands, staring at the open flap. When they stopped behind him, he looked back. 

Orion noticed a hint of fear when the boy looked up at him, but when his dark green eyes locked on Elena, he sighed in relief.

"Elena! Are you trying again?" he asked. "Better not make a scene again; otherwise-"

"Bram, I know already!" Elena said, raising her hands in the air in annoyance. "Everyone keeps telling me."

The boy, Bram, grinned weakly, then focused on Orion.

"So… you are the other one that is training with Krastin?" he asked. "Don't  you already know you have an aura?"

Orion hesitated, then shrugged. "Yes, but I need to know the details."

"Right, that makes sense," Bram said.

Orion could see from how his unfocused eyes that he was only partially paying attention. Most of him was fixated on the upcoming test.

"Well, I'll talk to you later, Elena," Bram said.

He turned back to the front as someone was let in the tent, and the row moved a step forward. 

Orion looked at the tent, wondering if he would be able to see what they were doing, but the tent flap had been closed, and there was no sound or movement to be seen.

I wonder if it's the same as what Krastin did, he thought.

A few minutes later, a young boy walked out, tears in his eyes as he quickly ran away.

"That one," Elena said.

Orion saw that her eyes had gone wide and her hands were stuffed deep in her pants. He wondered if he should say something, but besides 'good luck' he couldn't really think of anything. 

More people began filing in behind him, and a quick look showed that they weren't as late as Elena had said. They were soon at the head of a group of almost sixty children and young people ranging from twelve to eighteen.

Time passed, and the nearly a dozen people ahead of them went in and came out, all looking sad or depressed. Finally, it was Bram's turn, and he sighed sadly.

"Well, here we go again," he muttered. 

Orion looked inside as the flap was pulled back, and Bram ran in. He saw a small circle of people sitting in chairs and a single stool in the center. Pokemon stood behind the people, and one drew Orion's eye.

Abra! Orion thought in awe. It was a Pokemon that he'd only ever seen on the Pokeweb. 

Before the flap moved closed he barely saw the other Pokemon- two pidgeys and a blueish floating disc.

What was… right! A bronzor! Orion thought.

"Can… can you go first?"

Orion looked at Elena, who was fidgeting beside him.

"Ri!" Grit said, raising his small hand.

"Sure," Orion agreed.

Seconds ticked by, then a minute and another, and Orion realized none of the previous ones had taken this long. Then, a high-pitched whoop came, and a few moments later, someone rushed out of the tent flap. 

Bram rushed out, eyes bright and smiling. "Steel!" he shouted at Orion before turning and dashing away.

An excited chatter came from the row behind them, but Elena had gone pale.

"Odds, odds," she muttered.

Before Orion could ask her what she meant, the tent opened, and he was surprised to see Master Liath beckoning him.

"Good luck," Orion whispered to Elena, then we stepped into the tent. 

The flap was closed behind him, and he saw the people on the chairs staring at him. There were four women and two men, all wearing similar simple tunics and pants as Master Liath. 

"Alright young one, lets see what has Gymn leader Krastin so excited," Master Liath said as he walked to one of the empty chairs.

"Please sit over there," said one of the women, an elderly lady with long gray and black hair bound together in a tight ponytail. Her eyes were pinched but glittered happily.

"Abraaaa," the Abra said, waving at Grit, who hesitantly waved back.

Orion walked to the stool and sat down, feeling somewhat creeped out. A quick look at the people around him showed that they were all staring at him.

"Now we will be doing the same Krastin tried, just with a bit more power behind it," Master Liath said. "It might be a bit uncomfortable, and if you get the feeling you want to push back, make sure you do. The harder you do, the easier we can ready your Aura."

Orion nodded, and the people around him closed their eyes. A dull glow came from the Abra and the Bronzor while the other Pokemon also closed their eyes.

Immediately, Orion felt the soft itching that he had felt when Krastin had tested him come again, but unlike then, it didn't last as an itch. It went from an itch to a painful contraction, as if what he'd come to associate with his Aura was compressed together. He immediately wanted to push back, struggling to find the sensation he'd had with Krastin.

"Push back, please," the older woman whispered.

I'm trying, Orion thought, as the pressure on his Aura increased rapidly.

He actually felt them be pushed into each other, and sweat started beading on his head as he struggled to find the sensation of-

The muscle-like thing appeared to him with a suddennes that was more jarring than the previous time, and Orion didn't hesitate but pushed outward.

Unlike with Krastin, there was no booming, rattling pulse. Instead, he barely matched the pressure. Focusing on the sensation, he willed it to push harder. Hands clenched, and sweat rolling down his face, he felt the outlining of his Aura become clearer, and with the clarity came control and a sense of power.

Digging his Aura heels in the sand, he began pushing back in all directions, soft first, but soon with more force. The balance that slowly shifted, and though he felt the pressure increase, as if to keep his Aura compressed, it failed and slowly his Aura expanded.

Orion felt his Aura ever clearer, part aggressive and desiring to fight off the attacker -his fighting aura?- another part anamorphic and ever-changing, matching parts of the force attacking him and shoving back in kind. 

Orion had no idea how long the shoving match had lasted, but when he had pushed it back as far as it could, a balance came again. 

"Al- all right," a soft voice, weary and surprised, came. "You can stop now."

With the words, the pressure around Orion vanished, and his Aura rippled outward, filling the tent. He sensed the others around him, and for a moment, he got a 'feel' of their power.

Master Lyath was the strongest, along with the older lady. The others were weaker, on by far. He also sensed the Pokemon, powerful and bright, like lanterns in a dark room. Grit stood out as a happy beacon of power that very strongly matched his Aura. Then everything faded, and Orion realized he was standing, his arms raised as if ready to fight some unknown adversary.

All around him, the people on the chairs were looking at him with a weary curiosity. Only Master Lyath showed nothing but a bright-eyed grin.

"Not bad, kid! You have an Aura that I've only read about! At least now you won't have to worry about your friend's evolution!"

"What- what do you mean?" Orion asked, his throat sore as if he'd been screaming.

"You have a dual-type aura, but not a normal one. Your first type is fighting, as you knew, while your second type is Anamorphic."

"Ana- what?" Orion asked, shaking his head. 

"It means you don't have a stable second type, but you can match any second type as long as a Pokemon's first type is Fighting," Master Lyath said. "In other words, you can have