“Are you sure you have everything sweetie?”

“Yeah mom.” [i]It’s just a tour, I don’t need anything.[/i]

“Your bus fare? ID? Contact information?”

“Mhm, I checked.” [i]About three times...[/i]

“And you’re sure you don’t want me to come along?”

“I’ll be fine.”

A block or so away from the bus stop near the edge of Gateon Port the green eyed, black haired woman, wearing a light blue dress and white blouse, stood over her fairly short son, his hair short and black, his eyes wide and blue, wearing a wide sleeved purple shirt and black shorts, a hip bag turned to hang near the back of his lower torso. He had a tired expression on his face: he knew she meant well, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a bit much. Sure, he was a bit skittish around Pokémon, but just because it was a Pokémon Lab, it wasn’t like there were just going to be a dozen of the things running amok...right?

Briefly cringing at the though, the boy cringed even harder as his mother said, “Well, you enjoy yourself, Cornelius!” That name: why did his parents curse him with that name? Cornelius Rudolphus Duval. His sister was better off with ‘Marielle Josephine Duval’, but it took a couple years for Cornelius to squeeze a decent sounding name out of his long one. Seeing his displeasure, his mother corrected herself, “Er, Rudy: I’ll see you when you’re back!”

Rudy nodded, waving before turning to go to the bus stop. Despite his previous certainty that he’d be fine, he did get a bit of anxiety as he headed towards the sign: sure, he’d gone around the town alone, but he’d never been far from Gateon Port [i]alone[/i]. Trying to get a grip on himself, he focused on what he was going to say to the Professor when he got a chance.

The bus ride was a bit quiet (well excluding the bumps and jostling), with only three others taking the tour. Did the tour’s happen often enough that not too many showed up for each one? Or perhaps the Professor wasn’t as popular as Rudy had heard.

When the bus finally came to a stop, Rudy took a moment to stretch before standing from his seat, waiting for the others to file out, the first being the white haired boy with the scooter. Following the rest, the path took them to a red haired man in a white lab coat, who looked around for a moment before launching into an introduction, then asking the four for their names. Rudy cringed again, why did it have to be [i]names[/i].

The first to introduce themselves was the white haired boy, Desmond. As Professor Michael responded, Rudy began to predict the future: the other two would introduce themselves, and then the shy Rudy would be badgered into giving his own name. Wanting to avoid that, the short boy suddenly blurted, “Rudy!” Having said it a bit louder than intended, he bit his tongue, feeling a shred of embarrassment.