Gwen stood at the academy entrance, and had not been waiting long when Indigo came into sight, it seemed that he had accepted her offer to join her on the way to town. Indigo slipped his hands into his pockets and stood at Gwen's side upon arriving for a matter of moments before Gwen spoke up.
"Hey there, all set?" Gwen asked as she busied herself doing up the zip on her fur-lined leather coat, and pushed the academy door open, stepping outside.
"Sure seems that way." Indigo replied, only to notice the cold. Holding up a hand in order to signal to wait for a moment, Indigo pulled his bag off of his back, dropping to his knees in tandem with the removal of his schoolbag. With a swift movement, Indigo fluidly unzipped his bag, pulled out a thick black jacket, accompanied by a red scarf and hurriedly put the coat on, wrapping the scarf around his neck before zipping back up his bag and standing up again. With a small smile, Indigo signaled that he was ready to go now.
The two of them were mostly silent until they had passed out of the academy in full, whereupon they began to increase in volume as they relaxed more in the chill dusk air. As their spirits rose and they became less stealthy, they began to become noticed by the nightlife, which observed them curiously.
Indigo especially seemed much more in his element now that he was out in the dark, adopting a rather confident poise as he walked with Gwen. Pokemon this close to the academy were obviously used to seeing trainers wandering around, but it was rare to see them out after dark.
As the two begin to walk toward Oak town, talking as they will about various things related to the school or elsewhere, a pair of mysterious eyes survey the pair. Deciding that it would have some fun, the creature to which the eyes belong swoops down onto a nearby tree branch, inspecting the pair of trainers carefully. Without a sound, the spherical 'predator' flies over the pair as a cloud passes the moon, blocking out it's light. His own sense of sight not impaired in the slightest, the owl grabs at Gwen's hair, only to let go and flutter away quietly.
Gwen's hand shot to the back of her head and ran through her short, messy hair slowly, Indigo noticing this looked at her quizzically.
"Swear I felt someth-... No must have been nothing." Gwen said, letting her hand fall to her side.
Indigo looked at Gwen with a puzzled expression. "What's that now?" Gwen shrugged, and Indigo simply let it drop. If it was nothing, it was nothing.
After this, the creature quickly flies past the pair again, this time grabbing Indigo's goggles and flying off with them. Immediately Indigo cried out in shock, letting out a yelp as if part of his body had been ripped off him. Unfortunately for the creature, she hadn't waited long enough. The moon sneaked out of it's hiding place, bathing the world in some much needed light... And in doing so, revealed the Hoothoot to the pair of trainers. Indigo glared at the creature. "That thing just stole my goggles!! Wait until I get my hands on you, thief! I'll have your hide!!"
The pair were now out to get him it seemed. The Hoothoot didn't know how to deal with that. Seeing the pair unleash their own Pokémon, the Hoothoot felt that it should fly off and leave the pair alone. But those two had made some sort of challenge for each other. Hoothoot intended to beat them at their own game. He wouldn't be caught so easily. She was better than anything that lived on the /ground/! With gusto, the creature flew by the pair and attacked their respective Pokémon one after another without being so much as touched before flying away again. By this time, the pair of trainers were starting to get fed up with the Pokémon's antics.... The creature couldn't have prepared for what was coming next.
"Right little trickster this one... You wanna try to catch it? It's not really my type, besides: both my pokemon get in enough trouble as it is, I can tell that Hoothoot is trouble too. Same look on it's face as my Poochyena." Gwen called Amber back to her Pokéball and let Indigo take the lead, she was quietly curious to see him battle, so she really didn't mind taking a back seat on this one.
Of course, Indigo was more than happy to indulge Gwen's desire to see him in action. Those goggles had a story, and Indigo had no intent to allow that story to fly off in the claws of a winged trickster.
"Go for it Indigo!" She chirped quietly as she stood back, arms folded in observation.
Indigo leaped into action, pointing at the Hoothoot and calling to Shots. "Alright Shots, show that thief that it should keep it's claws to itself! Use Razor Shell!"
Shots obeyed and with stunning accuracy, struck with it's shell rather forcefully. The Hoothoot visibly shook upon impact, but remained aloft in the air, striking back at Shots with a peck. Shots took the hit rather well, but lost it's footing and fell over, opening himself up for another attack from the Hoothoot, who took the opportunity to peck Shots again, the Oshawott not taking it so well this time and crying out in momentary pain before hearing the yelling of his trainer to stop goofing around and get it together, jumping to his feet and striking the wild pokemon with another razor shell attack. The Hoothoot was now not faring so well, having had it's defenses somewhat weakened by the previous hit that it took. In a moment of weakness, the Hoothoot landed to rest, and that's when Indigo automatically acted.
Pulling the great ball he'd sprung for upon leaving for the Academy, Indigo prepared to launch the spherical capture device, holding it to his lips in some form of ritual for good luck before throwing it at the weak pokémon.
With a red stream of light, the Hoothoot disappeared, the great ball that had been thrown landing on the dewy grass with a soft thud. Indigo had little doubt that he was going to catch this pokémon on his first try, but all the same he felt some apprehension as the ball shook. Upon the ball stilling for the third time, Indigo let out a sigh of relief. Was that a little too easy? It seemed that way to Indigo. Could it be possible the Hoothoot /wanted/ to be caught...? That thought confused Indie, so he put it aside for now. Moving to the great ball, Indigo retrieved it and his goggles from the grass and turned to face Gwen, laughing happily.
"Looks like I actually did it, huh?" Indigo said, a slight hint of pride seeping into his voice.
"Rather impressive that one, I admit" Gwen replied.
It was only a short walk after that that the pair reached Oak Town. They finished the journey by occupying themselves discussing the battle that had just taken part, and Indigo's new team member; Hoothoot.
As the automatic doors of the Pokemon center parted at their approach, a wall of warm air hit Gwen and only then did she realize how relieved she was for a respite from the cold, even if it was only for a short while.
Gwen strode up to the counter and pulling out both of her Pokeballs handed them to the nurse.
"Just a check over please, the Phanpy is brand new and hasn't been checked yet, Poochyena should be fine, but check her nonetheless, thanks.
The nurse took the Pokeballs in a practiced manner and announced in a pleasant tone that they can either wait in the atrium, or observe her checking their pokemon. Gwen assured her that there was no need to watch her, and added that the boy with her might also need his pokemon checked over, and waited for Indigo to confirm this. Indigo did, and quite shortly placed a pokéball and great ball on the counter, moving after Gwen wordlessly once he had.
The nurse replied in an bubbly and overly-happy tone and then retired to an inner room to check the pokemon. Gwen considered the nurses demeanor quietly for a moment before commenting that she was starving, and strode over to the vending machines along the wall.
"Want anything?" Gwen asked over the mechanical clatter of coins dropping into the machine at regular intervals. Indigo shook his head. It was a little late to eat or drink anything. She pushed several buttons, stooped to retrieve her food, carried them over to a small table and promptly deposited herself on a cushy looking chair, with one leg up on the seat.
"You said today was your first day right?"
Gwen pulled two small booklets out of her bag as she asked this, and handed one to Indigo. Indigo blinked at the booklet that had been thrust into his hands, then at Gwen. "What's this, Gwen?"
"Class list, we can pick one or two optionals for tomorrow, as well as the ones which are compulsory." she said, as she flicked through the booklet looking at the classes and their respective teachers.
Gwen raised an eyebrow as she read 'Passion and life-skills' and quietly wondered what the 'Passion' part of that entailed, before looking at the designated teacher who was a feisty looking teenage girl with long red hair in a ponytail.
Indigo flicked through the booklet, looking through the different class options with frustration. With a sigh, he decided to regard Gwen's options.
Suddenly, pulling a pen from seemingly nowhere; Gwen circled a few classes and stuffed the booklet back in her backpack.
By the time Gwen had finished her snacks, the nurse had returned with their pokemon and ensured them that there was nothing to worry about. She told Gwen that the Phanpy was about a year and a half old, and still had some growing to do, and it was male.
The journey back was uneventful, Gwen and Indigo discussed what classes they were thinking of doing tomorrow(or at least, Gwen did), and by the time that they reached the academy it was the small hours of the morning. Gwen bid Indigo farewell and assured him that she would see him tomorrow, if not during classes then after. Indigo very much hoped so. He didn't really know what he'd do without someone to make sure he didn't trip over his own shoelaces.
No sooner than had Gwen walked into Raikou dorm, she felt a wave of tiredness wash over her, and without even making into her dorm-room, slumped onto a sofa in the Raikou dorm common room, fully dressed and fast asleep. If she had been awake enough to think straight she would have simply gone into her room where she had a perfectly good bed awaiting her, but alas it was not to be.
It was then, until some poor unsuspecting member of Raikou dorm would find a passed out new-girl on the sofa in the morning, that she would stay there.
Indigo sauntered into the Suicune dorm, sighing rather loudly. Despite his grimace, Indigo was fairly happy. Today hadn't been so bad. In fact, Indigo might even have ventured so far as to say that he was glad to have met Gwen. She seemed nice enough, and definitely was a lot more competent than Indigo, or at least, so he thought. Ignoring everything on the way to the room designated as his own, the boy noted the warmth of the place. After being out in the night air for all that time, the comfy air of the dorm was a welcome change. Sleepy, but not so tired that he couldn't find his own room, Indigo slipped into his own small slice of heaven and changed into his pajamas, getting into bed and nodding off quickly. "...What... A great... Place..."
