"Bye — and you both seriously don't have to wish me at midnight, alright? I mean it," Orin said, ending the call as both girls waved goodbye.
He just didn't want them waking up early because of the six-hour time difference. They had already celebrated his birthday back home, after all.
"Is Riolu already asleep?" he muttered, glancing over his shoulder. Sure enough, Riolu was sprawled out on the bed, snoring softly.
The call had lasted for more than an hour, with even Kyle hopping in for a few minutes. He couldn't stay long — because of his restaurant — but he had been thrilled when Orin showed him Riolu. Thinking back, Orin realized the little Pokémon had been bouncing around constantly since coming out of its pokeball. No wonder it was exhausted.
"Ah! I forgot to mention the Legendary I saw," Orin murmured, smacking his forehead lightly. "Well, I can show them the pic later."
He stepped out onto the balcony so as not to disturb Riolu, taking a seat on the chair that faced the garden. Dialing home, he smiled as the call connected. He missed Brina's voice — it felt a bit empty without her constant teasing.
"Mr. Mime?" The screen lit up with Mimi's familiar face.
"Hey, Mimi! How's it going over there?" Orin greeted, waving at her.
"Mimiii!" she replied cheerfully, pretending to hold a steering wheel and then miming a plane landing before giving him an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Orin laughed. "Yeah, I landed safely. Look — I'm in my dorm room now! I even got a partner Pokémon, a Riolu. It's asleep right now, but I'll introduce you later." He turned the camera around, giving her a brief view of the balcony and the soft glow of the Lumina courtyard beyond.
"Miiime mime!" Mimi clapped her hands soundlessly, grinning in approval.
"So, where are Kaddi and Brina?" Orin asked, trying to hide his impatience.
"Mime." Mimi struck a thoughtful pose, tapping her chin before miming out the answer with her hands.
"Oh, so Kaddi's at the gym right now… and Brina's been sleeping since morning?" Orin repeated, frowning slightly. "That's weird — she never naps during the day."
"Mime?" Mimi tilted her head and pointed upward questioningly.
"No, no need to wake her up," Orin said with a soft smile. "Just tell her to call me when she wakes, alright?"
"Mime mime." Mimi patted her chest proudly, giving a thumbs-up before pointing back at him. "Mime?"
"No, I haven't eaten yet. It's just noon here," Orin replied, glancing at the time. "I'll grab something soon. What about you? You haven't been lazing around watching your TV shows all day, have you?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Mime!!" Mimi gasped dramatically, clutching her chest as if offended, then immediately began miming sweeping, scrubbing, and wiping sweat from her brow.
Orin chuckled. "Yeah, sure you did. Without me there to keep an eye on you, you wouldn't even touch the broom, Mimi."
"Mime!" Mimi blew a raspberry at him, pouting with her hands on her hips.
"Hahaha, I'm kidding," Orin said, laughing. "I know you're a hard worker. Alright, I've got to go now. Don't forget to tell Brina to call me, okay?"
"Mime mime!" Mimi waved enthusiastically as Orin ended the call.
"Hah…" Orin sighed, leaning back in his chair as the call ended.
He felt a little miffed. Normally, Brina was so clingy she would surely have called him ten times by now. Maybe she was sulking — it wouldn't be the first time. Hopefully, he could make Brina feel better when she called — he had plenty of pictures to show her anyway.
Orin stood up, shook off the lingering thoughts, and stepped back inside, closing the glass door behind him. Pulling out his Pokédex, he tapped open the link to the Pokédex Seminar.
"They said the seminar's about an hour long and runs all day… There's one starting in an hour. Should I book it?" he muttered to himself. He could have gone for lunch first, but with Riolu asleep, it was better to let the little guy rest and finish the seminar in the meantime.
"It's decided," he said, confirming his slot. The whole process felt strangely like booking a movie ticket — except it was for a seminar. Maybe that was normal here at Nexus. The venue was listed as the Nexus Academic Center, not far from Lumina House.
He hadn't unpacked yet, figuring he could do it after lunch. Standing before the mirror, Orin fixed his hair, straightened his Lumina jacket, and slipped on his new backpack.
"Return," he said softly, pointing Riolu's Pokéball toward the sleeping Pokémon. A red beam of light shot out, enveloping Riolu before pulling back into the ball, leaving the bed empty.
"It's such an amazing technology," Orin murmured, clicking the Pokéball to its compact form. Even after seeing countless videos about it, using one himself still felt surreal. How did something like this even work? He would like to find out someday.
He smiled faintly and whispered to the pokéball, "Sleep well, Riolu," before slipping the ball into his pocket. He had read somewhere that Pokémon could still sense and hear the world around them from inside their Pokéballs… though he wasn't quite sure if that was true.
---
[Orin Murasaki Encounter Roll: 18/20]
---
Just as Orin stepped out of his room, he nearly bumped into a girl standing right in front of him.
She had short blonde hair that framed her fair face, bright green eyes, and a slim build. She wore an orange tank top over a white undershirt, paired with a white skirt that swayed lightly as she moved. A green beret sat neatly atop her head — a perfect match for her eyes — and a green shoulder bag hung at her side.
She was juggling a water bottle in one hand while rummaging through her bag with the other.
[Orin Murasaki : Social Butterfly (Trait)]
"Hey there," Orin greeted casually, figuring she must be staying in the room across from his.
"Ah—!" The girl gasped in surprise, accidentally squeezing the bottle and splashing water straight at him.
Orin flinched but managed to dodge most of it — still, his left sleeve caught a good amount.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she squeaked, dropping her bag and rushing forward to check on him. But in her panic, her foot tangled around the strap, and she stumbled forward with a yelp.
"Ah—!"
Before she could fall, Orin stepped forward and caught her by the shoulders, steadying her easily.
Her hands landed on him by reflex — and stayed there a moment too long.
Wow… are those six-packs I'm feeling right now?
Orin blinked, caught off guard by her voice echoing faintly in his head.
"Uh… are you alright?" he asked with a wry smile.
"Oh—thank you! I mean—oops! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—ahhh!" she stammered, backing up quickly and bowing again and again, her face bright red.
"It's okay, really," Orin chuckled. "You're fine, right?"
"Y-Yeah! Totally fine! Just a little… uh, clumsy. Hehe… sorry for splashing you with water," Bianca said, glancing at his sleeve as she quickly picked up her bag and shoved her bottle inside. "That was so embarrassing," she muttered under her breath.
"Hey, it's just water," Orin said with a reassuring smile. "I'm Orin, by the way. This is my room—and I guess we're neighbors?"
"Hi, Orin! I'm Bianca, and my room's right across from yours—number 72," she said with a bright smile.
"Sweet. I'm from Saffron City, Kanto. Where are you from, Bianca?" Orin asked, already realizing she was the same Bianca from the Pokémon Black and White games and the anime.
"Wow, you're from the famous Saffron City? I've seen videos of the Shining Metropolitan City!" Bianca said, her eyes sparkling. "I'm just from a small town called Nuvema in Unova!"
"From what I know, Unova doesn't exactly lack big cities," Orin said with a small grin, remembering that one of them was modeled after New York.
"Yep, it sure doesn't," she nodded, agreeing—then suddenly leaned closer. "Orin, do you… work out a lot?"
"Huh?" he blinked as Bianca began poking and pressing his arm, then even his stomach and chest.
"Yeah, I trained at a dojo when I was a kid," he replied with a wry smile, feeling a bit awkward as this girl he had just met openly groped him. "Even after leaving, I never stopped training."
His muscles are so compact… but I can tell they're really strong. If only I could feel them directly…
"I can let you feel mine if you let me feel yours," Orin said, grinning after hearing her thoughts.
"Huh—what?" Bianca looked up at him, her face flushing bright red.
"Muscles," Orin clarified quickly, keeping his smile innocent. "I can tell you're interested in them, like me."
"Oh—uh, yeah, no! It's just a hobby of mine… looking at muscles," she said awkwardly, pulling her hand back. "I don't train personally."
A beat passed before she blurted, "Oh! I just remembered—I was looking for my Pokédex so I can open my door!" She started rummaging through her bag in a flustered hurry.
Orin smiled wryly as he watched Bianca rummage through her overstuffed bag—he could even spot a couple of Poké Balls crammed in there.
"Ugh, I put it in after the Pokédex Seminar… where did it—oh! Found it!" she said triumphantly, holding up the device like it was a treasure.
So she had already been to the seminar, huh? There went his plan to invite her to attend with him.
"Nice. Hey, Bianca, why don't we exchange numbers? It'd be good to have each other's contacts since we're neighbors," Orin suggested, pulling out his phone and handing it to her.
"Oh, absolutely! Just—uh, let me find my phone first."
She dove back into her bag, spending a solid minute digging through the chaotic mix inside before finally pulling it out with a sheepish smile. "I really need to organize this thing," she said, opening her contacts and swapping phones with him.
Orin quickly typed in his number and noticed her phone's brand. He hadn't even heard of it before—probably a local Unova company.
"Ah, done! Here, saved i—" Bianca started, but the phone slipped right out of her hand.
Orin caught it midair without thinking.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she yelped, bowing in panic.
"The phone's fine, don't worry," Orin said, chuckling softly. Man, she's really clumsy, he thought.
Just then, Bianca's phone began ringing in his hand.
"I think your dad's calling," Orin said, handing it back.
Her face turned pale. "Ah! I have to take this—my dad was so against me joining Nexus! He kept saying it was too dangerous and it took a long time for me and mom to convince him. But even after that he made me promise that I won't talk to any boys here! So he will surely freak out if he sees you!"
Before Orin could respond, Bianca swiped her Pokédex to open her door and dashed inside.
"I'm so sorry, Orin! It was really nice meeting you—hello, Dad!" she said quickly as the door shut behind her.
"Yeah… nice meeting you too, Bianca," Orin muttered with a wry smile. "What a chaotic but cute girl… and she's got some curves, too." Even those baggy clothes couldn't hide much from his sharp eyes.
His front-door neighbor turned out to be a cute girl—and a canon character, no less. Plus, she had shown clear interest in his body. All in all, Orin felt his first day at the Academy was off to a great start.
As Orin resumed his walk, he found the Lumina Hall just as lively as before. He had to follow the signs carefully or risk getting lost—this place was enormous. Students in matching yellow Lumina jackets passed him by, some offering polite nods. That simple gesture made him feel a faint sense of camaraderie.
What truly caught his attention, though, were the Pokémon strolling beside their trainers—so many of them and that too from so many different regions, it almost felt like a global fair.
Now that he had looked closely at the Lumina House emblem on the back of his jacket—the majestic Solgaleo at its center, encircled by a golden halo and a ring of elemental symbols—he began noticing the same insignia everywhere. It adorned banners and walls throughout the hall, often paired with the Nexus Academy crest: the Arceus ring framing a Poké Ball, quartered into the four house colors, and encircled again by a ring of elemental icons.
"They seriously are quite cool logos," Orin murmured, brushing his fingers over the smaller Nexus patch on his chest.
Exiting the hall, he opened his navigation. The Nexus Academic Center wasn't far, but it would take a bit of walking—so he opted for the shuttle instead.
As the bus rolled along, Orin leaned against the window, lost in thought.
Should I text Bianca already?
If he came on too strong, she might get weirded out—but if he waited too long, he risked being friendzoned.
He sighed, smirking to himself.
"Forget the Pokédex seminar—they should really host one on how to get a girlfriend instead!"
---
[Orin Murasaki registered Bianca's Number]
---
***
The commissioned art works of Lumina House Emblem and Nexus Academy Crest is available for the members of Pokémon Master Tier!