Shifting Sands: First Glimpse

OOC thread here

It was a warm, bright Monday morning in late spring. There was hardly a cloud in the sky over the University of Central Hoenn. The campus was relatively large, some 30,000 students, faculty, and staff, and a campus that spanned nearly half a square mile in area. But today, the campus was relatively empty. Final exams for the spring semester were now over, and most of the students in the dorms had left for their homes across the continent. However, there were some people who did have reason to remain back at the campus.

Outside the Biology and Biochemistry building, an intentionally archaic-looking building that was actually quite modern in its design, a small charter bus idled, parked out on a small street. But just inside the building was where this story was to begin. Six letters of acceptance had been sent out to six young scholars, signaling a meeting time and place - 8:00am today, in the lobby of the building. The plans were all set, and as the clock neared the hour, it would only be a matter of time now.

Just great.

The aging man sighed and ran a hand through his peppery brown hair. It wasn't receding as of yet, thank God, but it could happen at any time. Especially with his position, keeping up with a bunch of twentysomethings with nothing to lose. In a desert, this time.

Oh joyous day Saguaro thought, even managing a sarcastic smile to go with the thought. At least this trip would be interesting, going into the great unknown of the Desertlands; last time he had gone to 'study the effect of damp environments on Croagunk with differing abilities'. As it turned out, there was absolutely no effect at all and it was one big waste of the University's grant money (and Blaise's time).

The good Doctor stepped out of the University's B&B Wing and squinted in the sunlight, pulling out a pair of dark sunglasses and slapping them onto his face. He eased himself onto a mosaiced bench the art students had made and hummed a tune from his childhood.

Damned grad students were never on time.

Stupid Hoenn clocks

A young man walked out a nice looking house and began to walk to the bus stop, sighing. Just why did we have to leave? Hoenn's nice but Sinnoh's the best with Cynthia and all the elders. But always her, moving around and crap. And the desert now? At least, I'll be away from her. Dirk thought.

The bus came and he boarded, sitting next to an old woman. "Don't look so depressed, hon! Wherever you're going, I'm sure something will please you!" the woman said with a smile. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm sure the same will happen with you too." he replied. Maybe things weren't going to so bad after all. Getting off the bus, he saw a middle aged man sitting on the bench, sleeping. Whatta ya know. Must be him.

The young man was dashing now, hurrying to be on time. Behind him a large blue alligator ran too, so as not to look bad in their professor's eyes. Chris was always unorganized - papers to and fro as he ran, nearly avoiding being late to classes all his life.

Crap oh crap oh crap. he thought as he saw the dull yellow bus nearing with each step. Finally he reached the building, where a slightly angered old man stood.

"So you're..."

Unaware of the exact time, but certain that he was a going to be late, Bryan had taken the short way to the Biochem wing. Still, he was in no hurry to arrive before any of the other students, his pace slow and measured. A tall, thin boy, he had to duck beneath some of the lower branches that overhung the path. It was a little used route, walled off on one side by a lecture theater and on the other by a small grove of evergreens.

He kept his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his back bent slightly under the weight of his travelling pack. At his mother's insistence, he wore a wide brimmed hat, which did nothing to hide his messy mass of mousey brown hair. The brim slouched at the front, just inside his field of vision, much to his chagrin, and he had half a mind to send it spinning into the nearest refuse can.

The path wound around to end at the adjacent side of the building referred to in the letter (OOC: thanks for giving it a name, Kali =P). Rounding the bend, Bryan was surprised to find only two people in front of it.

Anne took large strides as she neared the large building, her long orange hair bouncing haphazardly behind her as she went. She was a tall and slender girl, with a pretty good figure and a million freckles all over her face and upper arms, and pale blue eyes. She was dressed rather plainly; a pair of blue jeans (tight but not too much so to show off too much figure), running shoes, and a pale pink tee-shirt with a red heart on the centre. She had a messenger bag slung over one shoulder.

A small brown fox trailed close behind her, hopping happily at her owner's heels, a bit grin on her furry brown face. The Eevee took a running leap and landed gracefully on her owner's arm, churring and curling around her neck like a scarf. Anne smiled; such a cute little thing.

She turned her attention back on the building; she ignored the bus for now, and instead drew a neatly folded piece of paper from the rear pocket of her jeans. She read it over again - it must have been the ninth or tenth time now - then slid it back in the pocket. This was it. She locked her eyes on the small gathering of people, and approached, head held high.

"Hello everyone. My name is Anne, and this is Bast," she said, motioning to the Eevee around her neck.

"Seems I'm a tad late to the party."

A tall slender man walks over to the group, his long black hair tied back in a streigth pont at the base of his neck. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his skinny jeans, letting out a soft breath as his partner Titan perched onto his back. He glances at the Gliscor, a soft look in his pale green eyes. He then looks back at the group before him, walking over to them confidently.

"Sorry for the lateness. I was...held up a tad when coming here."

He slipped a hand out of his pocket and motioned toward the dorms a bit off, chuckling under his breath.

"Seemed a few of my female co-eds wanted a word with me. Oh well, that mess is done for now...so. When do we ship out."

His eyes then slide to the lone girl wearing pink, a brown fox around her neck. He smiles charmingly at her, holding out his hand to her.

"Why hello there, aren't you a picture."

-curds and whey
There came a big Spinarak
which crawled right on to 'er back
And frightened Miss Muffet a-

"So you're...?" said a young man, chest heaving. He was accompanied by an alligator of ferocious size, whos was also apparently breathing quite heavily. Didn't the student know that Feraligator were only fast over short distances?

The doctor cleared his throat and responded,"Yes, I'm Doctor Saguaro. It's nice to have you aboard, young man." Blaise looked around, surprised to see that a number of youngsters had appeared while he was waiting.

There was a confident-looking young man with a Gliscor perched on his person, apparently trying to charm a youngeer woman who was wearing an Eevee as a scarf. Strange, but Saguaro had once been to a part of Kanto where people wore nothing but Tangela on certain holidays. The doctor shuddered at the thought.

There was another young man, who looked noticeably like his niece... so this was his fabled grandnephew. An herbalist or something, he thought. What was his name? Dick or something.

Blaise did a quick headcount, checking to see how many underlings he now had at his disposal. Only four...

"Well, I sure hope the last signer-up gets here soon, or else he'll be left behind," the aging man said, running a hand through his salt-and-peppered brown hair. It was going to be hot in the desert.

"So, while we wait, let's introduce ourselves!" the doctor exclaimed with forced cheerfulness; this would be interesting. The shy ones would be put on the spot, and the more open students would be made to feel like gradeschoolers.

Perfect. Nate thought. ten minutes late. Way to go. Objective 'Good First Impression' failed.

Nate was flying back into Hoenn after visitinga relative in Orre. Stupid Cipher, delaying flights with a bomb scare

Finally he landed in Slateport and rode a bike to Mauville. He saw the huge university, with a few students and a professor outside.

"Sorry I'm late. No excuse this time. Got to save them for later" he smirked. "I'm Nathaniel, call me Nate" he said extending a had to the man.

Failing to supress a snort at the young man with the Gliscor's blatant showboating, Bryan instead burying his head in his leaflet, his grin hidden by the brim of his hat.

Saguaro's invitation for introductions seemed like as good an excuse as any to break the ice, though he noted a hint of exasperation under the doctor's cheerful demeanor.

"Bryan Snow, English Literature student", he said, smiling warmly.

Anne flashed a smile at the Gliscor boy, but didn't say anything to him. Instead, she stroked Bast's mane and listened to a few others introduce themselves. Seemed she was the only girl on this trip. She scratched Bast behind the ears and drew her into her arms. When there was a pause after two boys had said their bits (she mentally filed their names away so she could remember them), she stepped forward.

"My name is Anne Jones, as I said. I'm a Pokemon Biology expert. I specialize in evolution and breeding. That bit in the Pokemon Breeder's Journal a few months back about egg groups? That was mine," She said, as cool as a cucumber.

Though, she had to admit, the old guy was pretty intimidating. She had never been very good with dealing with older guys.

Adrian shrugged and withdrew his hand, turning his attention back to the Old Man that was running this adventure. He nodded his head to the old man, giving him a smile as well as he crosses his arm over his chest in a slight bow of sorts.

"I am Adrian. I'm what you may call a Archaeologist, which is the result from my studies. I do hope we find something interesting out in the desert lands, hate to go through all this and find nothing but sand and Cacturne."

Titan closed her eyes and sighed, jabbing Adrian's side with her stinger. She then looks at the Professor and gives him a look that plainly said "I'm sorry for him."

"Ouch. Titan, no jabbing. I was only expressing a concern."

At this point, both pokemon and student have their conversation with one another, one defending themselves while the other only scolds him with a look and the waving of their arms.

Dirk stretched out and yawn for a bit.

"Hmm? I guess I'm last to introduce myself. Dirk. I guess I'm playing doctor for this trip," Dirk looked around at the faces. Half of them seemed bored, not knowing what to do and the professor just looked pissed but trying to hide it. But each one seemed to hide something. Something important.

The one with the Gliscor seemed a little smug. The late one's probably a jerk. The English Lit. dude seems okay. The girl is probably one of those stuck up know it alls. But the professor. He's weird yet he knows something...

"So what's supposed to happen now?"

Girl's a tad smug. Then again, that article was pretty decent. Hope the boy doesn't keep us up with his Glisc-

"Oh, what? Well once the other guy gets here then we can..." It was at this point that Saguaro noticed that the missing member of their group had arrived. And he was currently holding his hand out to the man. The ecologist raised his right eyebrow, looking at the hand like it was a Starly in the middle of Littleroot.

He grudgingly and briskly shook the boys hand, adjusted his sunglasses, and clapped his hands together in half-fake excitement. It was exciting, though, finally heading off to explore the great sandy expanses of Hoenn's desert.

"All right, then, all on the bus. We've got a schedule to keep!" Without a further word, the Professor strode toward the bus, climbing up the steps and sitting in the very front.

Adrian finally rolls his eyes and breaks the argument with Titan. He turns to watch the old man climb onto the bus. He judged the size of the bus, fishing out Titan's ball to return her so she wouldn't get stuck in the door. He then smooths down his coat and walks onto the bus. He swung into a seat and stares from the window, Titan's ball warm in his palm.

This should be interesting.

Hmm. Don't wanna seem like a loser. Better talk to some people.

Dirk began to walk over to the bus but walked slowly. He sort of drifted over to Anne. "Hey, you're a Pokemon Biologist, right? I've always wondered about this but does the egg in Blissey's pouch ever hatch or what does it contain?"

Her Eevee was cute. It seemed content, wrapped around her neck like a scarf.

Nate frowned. He seems a little slow, and he hides his emotions. Not good. Not good that I am judging his mind right now.

Nate climbed into the bus and went to the very back and set on the right, (Non-driver) side, near the window. We withdrew a Pokéball from his bag. He stared at it and pushed the button. It popped open and revealed the resident. A yellow vaugely human-shape and size creature with brown 'armour' in places. It had a large moustache and held two spoons, the right one twisted (He is holding the item TwistedSpoon if you didn't catch on). An Alakazam. Alakazam stared at Nate. He seemed a mix 80% disappointment and 20% disgust with Nate. "I take it you heard or sensed what happened." he asked Alakazam. The Alakazam nodded. Nate sighed. "Great, I made a bad first impression and everyone probably hates me or misjudges me now."

As the professor stood up and walked to the small charter bus, the front doors opened out, giving people entryway. A short, stocky middle-aged man sat at the driver's seat, with slightly tanned skin, and balding, graying short black hair, with thick eyebrows, a large, thick mustache, and no beard except for the rugged 'haven't shaved in a day because I'm too lazy' look. A large map of the Central Hoenn region sat nestled between his inherent pot-belly and the large steering wheel, and a half-eaten powdered doughnut was being held in his left hand as he held the lever that opened the door with his right. The man turned to the incoming passengers, particularly Dr. Saguaro, and gave a bit of a smile as he swallowed a piece of his doughnut. "Mornin peeps..." he greeted them, in his low, gruff voice, sounding rather unenthusiastic. A name tag, reading "Mr. Conway" was visible on his chest.

After Dr. Saguaro was seated behind the driver, and Mr. Conway quickly finished his doughnut, he held up his map over his shoulder to show the professor. "So, we're headed to this little town well north of the city, right? The name of 'Tamany Town', out on the edge of the desert?" He points to a spot on the map just out into the desert. Remarkably, although most of the area on the map is given in great detail, there appears to be little there, and no actual roads going further... just replaced by the words 'Hoenn Desert'.

The bus itself was not very big, maybe only with 5 rows deep, with two benches each except for the back row, which had a single, long bench, so a maximum of 21 passengers and a driver would be able to fit. However, since there were to be so few actual passengers, people would find enough room to easily go one person per bench, and even many of them could let their Pokemon sit with them, though the larger Pokemon would have trouble.

Chris took out a worn Poke Ball from his pocket and retracted his Feraligatr into it as he boarded the bus. He searched somewhat pathetically for an empty seat, finding one a minute later. He slinked down and finally relaxed, taking a a small silver iPod out of his pocket and selecting his favorite song as he stuck his hands in his jacket pockets. He had always had that tan jacket and silver iPod. Nothing much had changed in the past 13 years for Chris. Even his low voice remained unweathered by maturity...

Doctor Saguaro shook his head in a sort of resigned annoyance. Literally thousands of trainers, breeders, and so forth ad nauseum traipsed about the region, cutting paths and making maps of the whole continent, and there was still a humongous sand-colored stain on nearly every map in Hoenn.

"Yes, that's the place," he said to the busdriver offhandedly, more interested in the device a boy had just pulled out. He remembered hearing or reading something about thousands of songs, and that just didn't make sense; No one person knew or liked thousands of songs, and from what Blaise had seen they weren't generally used communally.

To occupy himself, Saguaro pulled a worn, minimized Repeat Ball from his sock. Enlarging it, he pulled out a piece of microfibered cloth and began rubbing the Pokéball, breathing on it first. Sadly, he couldn't release his old frien on the bus, as Blastoise don't do well on vehicles and Tortuga was too large anyway.