"Let's properly check out our room," Orin said to Riolu after snapping a few selfies with his new Lumina Jacket.
"Ree-ooo, Ree-oo!" Riolu chirped, still bouncing on the bed with unrestrained energy.
Orin sighed softly, half amused, half worried the bed might collapse under Riolu's enthusiasm. "Maybe bed replacements are free," he muttered with a wry smile before deciding to inspect the bathroom first.
Inside, the bathroom looked surprisingly modern—there was a shower, a bathtub, a washbasin, and even a glass partition separating the toilet from the bathing area.
"Neat," Orin said, testing the hot water tap and nodding in approval.
After freshening up, he returned to find Riolu peering curiously out through the glass wall.
"Rii," it called, pointing its paw toward the balcony.
"Here, but don't go past the railing, alright?" Orin said, sliding the glass door open.
Riolu bolted outside immediately, pressing its face against the iron railing and looking around in wonder.
Orin followed, noticing that the glass wall was one-way—he couldn't see inside from the outside. "Well, that's a relief," he thought, though he still wished they had added some curtains; constant brightness could get annoying.
The balcony itself was small but cozy, with a simple table and chair. From there, the view opened into a large courtyard garden dotted with trees, benches, and a central fountain. Being on the ground floor meant it wouldn't take much to hop down into the courtyard—and vice versa—so he made a mental note to keep the balcony door locked at night.
Several students lounged around the garden with their Pokémon, chatting or reading. Just looking at them he could tell that they were likely upperclassmen. Unfortunately, Orin didn't spot a single cute girl among them, which earned a faint sigh of disappointment.
Still, the sight of a pair of Hoothoots perched on a distant branch brought a smile to his face.
Orin kept a watchful eye on Riolu, who was still trying to wedge its face between the iron bars of the balcony railing, before turning his attention back to exploring the rest of the room.
The standing cupboard offered plenty of space for his belongings, and to his surprise, a section of the side wall slid open to reveal several compact fold-out beds—six in total.
"These must be for Pokémon," Orin muttered, impressed as he slid them neatly back into place.
Next, he turned to the wall by the study desk.
"Wow… this really is a hologram wall," he said in awe, brushing his fingers over the smooth surface as dozens of icons shimmered to life.
He had seen tech videos featuring setups like this, but they were notoriously expensive. The fact that his own dorm room here had one was mind-blowing.
"I guess the hardware's hidden somewhere under the desk," Orin murmured, recalling what he had seen online.
Sitting down, he began exploring the icons.
"What's this—NSID?" he muttered, noticing the label at the top corner of the hologram display.
NSID: 20251000
"Huh, must be my Nexus Student ID," he said, mentally noting it down before continuing to browse.
Most of the apps were simple enough—a Notewall app for writing or sketching, an alarm, even one to control the room's lighting. Through it, he discovered he could dim or darken the glass walls, effectively turning the room night-dark without any curtains.
"That's way cooler than blinds," he said with a grin.
Then another icon caught his eye.
"Nexus Store? What's that?" he muttered, tapping it open.
A bright blue interface unfolded before him, displaying his details at the top:
Name: Orin Murasaki
NSID: 20251000
Year: 1
Trainer Rank: Novice
NC: 1000
Below that was a search bar and an endless catalog of items.
"Poké Balls, Great Balls, Potions, PokéBeds, Berries—there's just so much stuff here," he murmured, scrolling through the list in surprise.
Each item was neatly tagged under categories like Trainer Equipment, Academic Use, and Battle Essentials, with a price listed next to it. A standard Poké Ball was 10 NC, while a Great Ball was 20 NC.
"NC must stand for Nexus Credits," he mused. "Looks like I've got a thousand already. But… is ten a lot?"
Even basic items like Potions were 10 NC each, and the prices climbed steeply from there.
"So this is basically a PokéMart app—but for students," Orin said, intrigued.
After thinking for a moment, he typed 'Evolution Stones' into the search bar. A new list appeared, showing a variety of stones, the cheapest priced at 300 NC.
"Three hundred, huh? That's definitely expensive," he muttered thoughtfully.
Curious, he searched for something rarer. "Let's see if they have Pokémon-held items like a Twisted Spoon…" He remembered how much trouble and money it took for him to obtain it.
To his surprise, it popped up—but the listing was highlighted in red. When he tapped it, a message appeared:
Trainer Rank Insufficient
"Huh. So even here, I can't just buy whatever I want," he said with a wry smile as he couldn't even see it's price. "Still, this place is better than any PokéMart—at least everything's available. I just need to work on my supposed Trainer rank first."
"I've got quite a few questions now—about Trainer Ranks, NCs, and all that. Maybe the Fresher's Group knows more," Orin muttered, closing the Nexus Store app. He didn't really need to buy anything yet, so he switched over to his phone.
"Looks like I got a bunch of emails," he said, opening his inbox. The first was a congratulatory message from Nexus Academy itself, welcoming him as an official student. It also provided his new academy email, which would grant him access to the academy's intranet.
Academy Email: [email protected]
There was even a link to set up his password.
"I'll do this later," he murmured, spotting a downloadable student brochure attached. He downloaded it but didn't open it yet.
"Huh—Entrance Exam Scores?" Orin muttered, opening another email from the academy. His eyes widened. "Fifth rank? That's… actually not bad."
The message explained that he had been awarded 1000 NC for his placement—so that's where his credits had come from. Still, curiosity got the better of him, and he opened the attached answer sheet.
"So I missed the best answers for four multiple choice questions," he grumbled. "Guess that's why I only got fifth place."
It stung a bit, especially remembering Giselle's smug grin when she had ranked first. "Five thousand NC and a Pokédex upgrade… that sounded so tempting," he sighed. "Next time, I'll nail whatever exam it is for sure."
The last email was from Altaria Skyways, offering a 50% discount on his next flight as an apology for the earlier incident. The code was the same as the one he got inside the physical letter.
"Well, I can't really blame them," Orin said with a half-smile. "A legendary encounter isn't exactly standard flight turbulence."
He snapped himself out of his thoughts about the Legendary Pokémon and opened the PokéNet app. There were still a string of congratulatory messages that were unread, but he ignored them for now and went straight to the 2025 Nexus Freshers Group.
"Wow, this group's really active," he muttered, staring at the hundreds of unread messages. He started scrolling, trying to find something actually useful.
Most of it was just people saying hi, hello, or yay, made it into Nexus! Others were praising their houses, like, Valor House rules! or posting photos of their dorm rooms and House buildings.
"Wait, every House has a different dorm style?" he said, raising a brow as he swiped through the images. "At least everyone gets a single room—that's amazing in itself." A small smile tugged at his lips.
There were even photos of the Pokémon they got and one of them caught his attention. "Whoa, someone pulled a shiny through those random Pokéballs? That's insane luck," he muttered, as his collector's heart felt envious.
Further down, people were talking about clubs, NCs, House Points, and even about the Pokédex Seminar that many were attending right now.
"Mentor?" Orin blinked, spotting several mentions of it. "We're assigned Mentors too?" Apparently, each freshman had a senior from their House to guide them. "Then why hasn't mine messaged me yet?"
As if on cue, a notification popped up—a message request from an unknown number with a Garchomp as the profile pic.
Hello, I am your assigned Student Mentor. Open the link below to join the chat group I created.
Orin didn't think much of it and tapped the link. The group already had five other new members besides the Mentor.
Should we introduce ourselves?
an unknown number typed.
Let's all meet tomorrow at 10 AM by the Lumina Garden gate for face-to-face introductions,
the supposed Mentor replied.
Someone in the chat asked where the Lumina Gardens were, and the Mentor quickly responded with a map link.
Orin replied that he would be there, just as another person asked where they should have lunch.
You can have your lunch in the dorm cafeteria, it's in the central courtyard. If you have any special dietary preferences, you can select them through the Holo Wall in your room.
A moment later, someone else chimed in, asking if their Pokémon could eat there too.
You should all have basic Pokémon registered to your Pokédexes right now. You can get their meals from the cafeteria as well—just scan your Pokédex and it'll provide the assigned portion for your Pokémon.
"Wow, that's actually really helpful," Orin muttered. He knew each Pokémon required a precise nutritional balance, and he hadn't yet looked into what Riolu specifically needed.
A string of thank you messages followed, and Orin added his own before the group finally went quiet.
"I wonder who my mentor is—and who the other five people in the group are," he said to himself. "They must all be from Lumina House too, right?"
A small grin tugged at his lips. "Hopefully one of them's a cute girl," he added under his breath.
Just then, his phone buzzed with a group video call from Duplica and Terri. Orin's expression brightened as he accepted it eagerly.
"Hey, superstar!" Duplica greeted with a grin, lounging comfortably on her bed.
"Orin, did you reach safely?" Terri asked, concern lacing her voice. From her background, she seemed to be in her own bedroom.
Both girls began speaking almost at once, their overlapping voices making Orin chuckle.
"Hey, girls—yeah, I made it. I'm in my dorm now," he said with a warm smile.
"Show us your room already!" Duplica said impatiently.
"Well, before that, I want you to meet my partner," Orin replied, walking toward the balcony. "Hey, buddy—say hi to Copycat and Terri for me."
"Rio?" Riolu looked up at the phone screen, tilting its head curiously.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Duplica squealed, bouncing so hard that her phone slipped right out of her hand.
Terri laughed. "Wow, you got Riolu as your partner Pokémon? That's amazing!" Her whole face lit up with excitement.
"Yeah, I was lucky," Orin said, smiling proudly.
"Hi, Riolu! I'm Orin's friend, Terri!" she said, waving enthusiastically.
"Riolu?" It looked between Orin and the phone screen, clearly unsure what to do.
"Go on—wave and say hi," Orin encouraged with a grin.
"Rio~" Riolu lifted its paw and gave an adorable little wave.
"Wow, Riolu's so smart!" Terri said, covering her mouth in delight. "So, is it a male or female?" she asked curiously.
"I haven't figured that out yet," Orin admitted, scratching the back of his head. "Why don't you introduce me to your partner while Copycat finds the phone she just dropped," he added with a chuckle.
"Okay, sure. In my case, they told me her gender right away," Terri said as she stood up and walked toward her living room. "She just loves to exercise all the time—guess we've got that in common. Here, say hello—Tyrogue!"
The pale purple Pokémon balanced upside down on one hand, then flipped perfectly onto its feet, yellow eyes locking on Orin for a second.
"Tyrogue," it said firmly, crossing its small arms.
Orin couldn't help but grin. In his mind, he recalled that back in his world's games, the Tyrogue line was always male. Guess here, in the real Pokémon world, that rule didn't apply.
"He is Orin, a very good friend of mine," Terri said with a smile.
"Hey, Tyrogue," Orin greeted, eyeing the three blunt ridges on her head. "This is my partner, Riolu. Riolu, say hi to Tyrogue."
"Rio!" Riolu locked eyes with the fighting-type on the screen, its red gaze meeting Tyrogue's sharp yellow one.
"Oh boy," Terri said with a wry smile. "Looks like my Tyrogue wants to battle your Riolu now."
"Well, the feeling's mutual," Orin replied, glancing down at Riolu, who was already brimming with fighting spirit.
"Ugh, finally found my phone!" Duplica's voice suddenly blurted out, her face filling the screen. "Hey, give the phone to Riolu—I wanna see it more than your handsome mug!" she demanded, half-pouting, half-grinning.
"Well, you missed your chance," Orin teased, smirking.
"Ugh, I hate you!" Duplica huffed, puffing her cheeks while Terri chuckled in amusement.
Orin smiled softly, warmth spreading through him. For a moment, it almost felt like he was back in Saffron City again.
***
[Sav112 has redeemed an Extra Chapter this week]