Pokemon: School of Masters

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[Orin Murasaki Encounter Roll: 3]

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As Orin walked forward on the autowalk, his eyes drifted up to the dazzling upper floors of the airport—the towering Pokémon statues, the massive holographic ads, and the sleek modern architecture.

Next time, I'm definitely exploring this place properly, he promised himself. Take pictures, videos… post the best ones—Brina will surely love it, it should also be a hit with my friends back home.

Lost in that thought, he followed the crowd through the wide exit gates until he was finally outside.

"…Now what?" he muttered, stepping off to the side, unsure of where to go next.

"Hey! Are you Orin Murasaki?" a sharp voice called out.

He turned and saw a girl approaching. She had short, spiky red hair with dark goggles resting on her head and intense red eyes. She wore a sleeveless orange jacket over a dark magenta long-sleeved shirt, with fitted jeans and worn brown mountain boots. She stood around 5'2", noticeably shorter than him but full of confidence.

"Yeah, that's me," Orin replied, stepping toward her. "You are?"

"Zoey. Second year at Nexus. I'm one of the student reps assigned to guide freshers from the airport," she said, extending her hand with a grin. "Welcome to Unity Isle."

Such a tall first-year. And good-looking too. Not bad style either.

"Nice to meet you, Zoey. Or should I be calling you senior?" he said with a grin, shaking her hand while catching her stray thoughts.

"Heh, just Zoey's fine. We don't really stand on ceremony at Nexus—you'll see," she said with an easy smile.

"Cool," he nodded.

"Hang on, let me confirm I've picked you up," she said, tapping a few times on her sleek smartwatch.

With a moment to himself, Orin let his eyes wander again. Zoey had that effortless, tomboyish charm—definitely attractive, even if she didn't try to flaunt it. Her tight clothes itself were showing off an amazing figure.

"So Orin, I'll be sticking around for another ten minutes or so," Zoey said, scanning the crowd. "Need to see if anyone else from Kanto shows up. You can chill on the bus if you'd like—most freshers are already on board."

"Actually, I know two others from Kanto," Orin said, glancing back toward the terminal. "Ran into one of them earlier. She said she'd follow me out with her friend, so they should be arriving any second. I don't mind waiting."

"K, sweet," Zoey said with a grin, hands casually on her hips.

"So are you just here to pick up Kanto students? Is that your job as a student rep?" Orin asked, genuinely curious.

"Pretty much," she nodded. "It's a tradition at Nexus—second-years take turns welcoming the new batch. I had someone pick me up when I first joined too. It's not mandatory, but the extra NC they give us is a nice incentive." she added with a grin.

"NC?" Orin raised an eyebrow.

"Nexus Credits," she clarified. "You'll find out soon enough. Anyway, Kanto's always the last region to finish its exams, so its students usually arrive later than others. But this year's cutting it really close. If we don't leave soon, you guys might actually miss the opening ceremony."

"Oh right, my flight got delayed because of that thunderstorm." Orin explained with a wry smile.

"Yeah, I heard. Yours wasn't the only one—lot of delays this time of year." Zoey replied with a knowing chuckle. "That's why they split the pickup duty. I'm stationed here at Gate 10, and my friend's covering the other gate. We're the last batch of second-years doing pickups. Anyone who arrives after this? They'll have to take the maglev train to campus on their own."

She gestured to a nearby side gate marked "To Train Station – Nexus Line."

Orin took it in with a thoughtful nod. Questions were already forming in his mind—about the bus, Nexus Credits, the sorting process, what the Academy looked like up close…

But just as he opened his mouth to ask some questions, he spotted someone stepping through the exit gate—a man with striking blue hair.

His eyes widened in recognition—it was the same trainer who had skipped the boarding line back at Saffron.

"Just a sec, I'll be right back," Orin said to Zoey, who raised an eyebrow as he hurried away.

"Hey, Mister!" Orin called out, catching up to the man.

The man turned to him with a relaxed smile. He had striking blue hair and matching blue eyes, wore a sleek blue jacket, and looked to be in his thirties. A smug, calm expression seemed permanently etched onto his face.

"Yes? Can I help you?" he asked politely.

"Yes," Orin nodded, recognizing the voice he had heard during the mid-flight chaos. "I just wanted to thank you—and your Pidgeot and Skarmory—for what you did back on the flight. That was very brave. They're really incredible Pokémon."

He offered his hand.

Orin meant it, too. Flying into a lightning storm like that was no small feat. Skarmory especially, being a Steel-type, must have been at serious risk from the storm.

The man took his hand, shaking it firmly. "How did you know it was me?"

"I saw you enter the boarding gate earlier. You flashed a Pokédex, I just figured those Pokémon had to be yours," Orin replied with a grin.

"Smart," the man said with a knowing nod. "Yeah, those two have been with me for years. Been through worse storms than that."

"I bet they've never tried to stop a falling airplane before," Orin said with a chuckle.

The man laughed. "No, that's a first even for them."

"I'm Orin Murasaki, by the way," Orin added with a polite nod.

"Nice to meet you, Orin. Just call me Walker," the man replied. "So, let me guess—you're here to join Nexus Academy?"

"Yeah," Orin said, a bit surprised again.

"Well then, all the best," Walker said, starting to walk away. "Next time we meet, I'll make sure you get to meet my Pokémon properly."

"Next time?" Orin muttered to himself, watching Walker disappear into the crowd. The way he had said it—so casually certain—left him with an odd feeling.

As he turned back, he spotted Jessica already chatting with Zoey, a mountain of luggage stacked behind her.

"Hey, Jessica, you made it," Orin greeted with a smile.

"Yes, hello Orin," Jessica replied with a small grin. "Sorry, my friend took forever with the luggage."

"Hi…" came a tired voice from somewhere within the pile.

Orin leaned to the side and noticed a nerdy-looking guy half-buried under a stack of bags. "Oh—sorry, didn't see you there."

He offered a wry smile. "I'm Orin. Need a hand with all that?"

"Hi, I'm Jamie… and no, no need. I can manage," the boy replied, clearly exhausted but trying to play it off.

"If you say so," Orin said, chuckling. He had a pretty good guess—between the nerdy glasses and the periwinkle-blue hair, this had to be James.

"Alright, freshers, let's get going!" Zoey called, clapping her hands. "The other bus is already leaving, so we need to move fast. Follow me!"

I shrugged at Jessica and Jamie and started walking after her.

As we paced ahead, Zoey glanced sideways. "Hey, Orin—how do you know Walker?"

"Huh? You know him too?" Orin blinked. "He's the trainer whose Pokémon tried to stabilize our plane during the storm. I just went to thank him."

Zoey smirked. "Yeah, that sounds like him. He teaches Practical Flying Lessons for the first years, actually. So you'll definitely be seeing him again."

"Oh…" Orin suddenly understood what Walker meant by next time. It wasn't just a random comment—he turned out to be a teacher at Nexus.

"Now, there are a few ways to reach Nexus from here," Zoey continued, now addressing the group. "You can take the bus, there's a maglev train—which is the cheapest—then there are taxis and even flying cabs. But believe me, they'll just rip you off, so I don't recommend those."

"In my opinion, the main campus isn't that far, so if you don't have much luggage, just take a bicycle." She added.

"Riding a bicycle all the way to the airport?" Orin asked stunned.

"Yeah, it won't take long, and it's a good bit of exercise too. The Academy provides free ones to use, and you can just drop them off at this parking area," she said, pointing ahead to a walled gate labeled Reserved Parking Space for Nexus Academy.

"The Academy has its own parking space at the airport?" Orin asked, a bit surprised.

"Yep. You just scan your ID at the booth and it'll let you in," she said, smiling as she tapped her watch against the scanner. The gate beeped and slid open.

"Got it," Orin nodded, noting that she must have a smartwatch and the student ID must be linked with it.

Looking back, he noticed Jessica and Jamie walking a little behind, whispering to each other and not paying much attention to what was happening at the front.

Leaving them be, Orin and Zoey stepped inside the gate. The area beyond was a large open parking space—mostly empty except for a few scattered vehicles.

Orin quickly spotted a bus nearby, with Zoey already heading towards it.

It was a sleek, dark yellow-and-black vehicle with Nexus Academy boldly displayed across the front. Its wheels glowed with a faint yellow light, giving it a cool look.

"You can store your luggage in the back," Zoey said, walking up to the bus's door. She scanned her watch beside the panel, causing the red light to turn blue before the doors slid open with a hiss. "P-22, open the luggage compartment at the rear, please."

"Acknowledged," a robotic male voice replied from inside the bus.

"Who's P-22?" Orin asked, his curiosity piqued.

"It's the Porygon that runs the bus," Zoey replied. "It's called P-22."

"A Porygon is controlling the bus? That's… actually really cool," Orin said, clearly impressed. He knew Porygons were extremely costly high-end AI systems—often used by major corporations. Using one just to run a school bus? Nexus Academy must be loaded.

"Hello, P-22," Orin said with a friendly grin toward the vehicle.

"Don't bother. It never responds to anything but direct commands," Zoey chuckled. "Now go ahead and toss your stuff in—we're already behind schedule."

"Alright," Orin nodded, just as he noticed Jamie in the distance dropping one of the bags again while Jessica scolded him.

Ignoring them for now, Orin walked to the back of the bus, where a rectangular compartment sat open.

"This must be it," he muttered, sliding his luggage bag inside. He kept his backpack with him—he figured he could place it beside him once he was seated.

As soon as he stepped back, the compartment's flap slid shut, and his bag vanished into the vehicle.

"Okay…" Orin muttered, chalking it up to some kind of advanced storage system. He turned and walked towards Jamie, who was still struggling with the rest of the bags. "Let me help you out."

"Ah, if you… insist," Jamie said with a sheepish laugh.

Orin gave a quick nod and helped him load the bags. One by one, they placed them into the compartment, which automatically pulled each one inside with a smooth mechanical motion.

"Alright, you guys, hop in! We need to hurry!" Zoey called out.

"Let's go," Orin said, nodding to Jamie, who responded with a shy smile.

The three of them—Orin, Jamie, and Jessica—climbed onto the bus after Zoey.

From the outside, the vehicle had looked like some high-tech marvel, especially with a Porygon running the show. But inside, it was surprisingly normal—rows of cushioned seats, most already filled with chatting people.

Still, a quick glance toward the front confirmed what he expected: the driver's seat was completely empty.

"You guys can sit in the back—there should still be some seats left," Zoey said as she took the empty seat beside the driver's area.

Orin nodded and made his way down the aisle, passing rows of kids who turned to glance at him and the ones following behind.

Technically, they weren't "kids" per se—most of them should be around his age, maybe a bit older—but Orin still couldn't shake the habit of thinking of others that way. It was probably a side effect of his adult mind.

He had always been grateful for not being forced to attend school back at his home; attending classes with a bunch of hyperactive teens would have been a nightmare.

He casually scanned the passengers as he walked, figuring this must be the full group of Kanto students. Yet, not a single face seemed familiar.

Reaching the back, he spotted two empty seats on the left, and one on the right beside someone who was wearing an oversized straw hat, who glanced up as he approached.

"Hello," a soft voice greeted him.