”All aboard!” The fog horn of the large ferry sounded off in the distance. Today was the big day, the day that Rue would start a new chapter of her life. It was about time. There were many kids dotted all over the docks, waiting to board the ferry and begin the journey to Zenith University. But Rue hung back, nervous and rather stressed about the whole thing despite the desire to go.
With a silence that clung to her, she pulled at the high collar of her hoodie, checking for the umpteenth time that it hid her skin. A soft chatter at her feet caught her attention, her eyes glancing down to the grassy earth. Peekey looked up at her in a concerned sort of manner, pawing at the skin of her leg with a small, worried frown.
Gorund lay nearby, sunbathing. The Mightyena’s chest rose and fell heavily, one ear twitching every once in a while, ever listening to what was around him. His chin rested lazily on his forearm, but he did bother to glance back at his trainer when the ship horn sounded.
It was time, and Rue didn’t want to make a bad impression the first day for being late for anything. Vorix, her Scolipede, was safely tucked away in his pokeball so he wouldn’t cause any trouble, though she could feel the contempt emanating from the contraption. The rest of her team were in the same way, resting in their pokeballs.
The trainer quickly made her way onto the ship for a very long and stressful boat ride.
With another sounding from the fog horn indicating that they had arrived at Zenith’s docks, Rue nervously picked at her sleeves. She had remained away from all of the other kids, which may have been a poor first decision since she did want to make some acquaintances, hidden away in one of the far corners of the ship’s hull.
She made her way up to the decks after most of the other trainers and coordinators had left, marking her as a straggler. Not that she really minded. Her only concerns were in her indecision on whether or not to force her way through her shyness and participate and be in the midst of the throngs of new students, or remain in her awkward silence and hope that nobody noticed her the entire day, which, let’s face it, was highly unlikely. Especially since she had to go and sign in and everything.
With her Furret perched on her shoulder, fluffy tail swishing along Rue’s back as she excitedly looked about the expanse of the island before her, switching from one shoulder to the other and chattering excitedly, crawling all over the girl’s head to travel between the two, Rue carefully made her way down the boarding ramp.
Gorund followed nonchalantly after her, though his eyes were deceptively keen, always watching for any threats or pissants that might bother her. But everyone else had by then already pretty much dispersed from the docks to head to the University.
You can do this Rue. You can do this. She thought worriedly to herself, rubbing at her left forearm in a nervous tick. At least no one was looking at her....
Adder was wickedly excited. It was finally the day that he’d get to head off to Zenith and learn how to be a coordinator! It was a new day, a new start, and a new adventure, and he’d be darned if it wasn’t going to be absolutely awesome.
”Hey, maybe we’ll even get to meet some cute girls~” His grin was huge and cheesy as he spoke to his Noctowl, Specs, who was currently flapping his wings to cause a bit of a breeze for the little green Cubone who was sitting at Addie’s feet, his bone carefully balanced between his two small legs.
Specs trilled loudly in playful agreement, tucking his wings in and tilting his head up to look at his partner. It was then that the ship’s horn sounded and the three of them were making their way to board the ship. With Pericles safely in his crossed arms and Specs trailing overhead, the trio settled themselves on the ferry.
”Man, this is going to be so awesome!” Adder clenched his hand into a resilient fist, a determined grin on his face as he looked out over the water. His Noctowl called out in agreement, wings fluttering excitedly as he too watched out over the water.
When the ship finally docked, Addie was among the first to run down off of the boarding plank, pokemon close in tow. There seemed to be an almost permanent grin plastered to his face. He was excited to meet all of the new people and get started making friends.