Brooke Express [GRAND OPENING - OPEN]

Ten minutes. It could have been an hour or thirty seconds. Ten became five, and five became three, and Lawicke Academy grew taller and taller outside Gwyneth's window. The train whistled, blaring to signal its coming arrival.

A Chatot fluttered to the front of the compartment, a startlingly human voice echoing out throughout the train car. "Arriving at Lawicke in two minutes. CAWWW." The Pokémon let out a shrill cry with a cock of its head, a stark contrast to the smooth voice of of what could only be its trainer. "Please take your bags and form an orderly queue... CAWWW. We will be making our way up Cycling Road in carriages, ten at a time."

The Brooke Express whistled once again, a creak as the train began to apply its brakes.

Gwyn swallowed.

Alex must of dozed off or zoned out...or something because the next thing she knew, a Chatot fluttered into sight as it gave out the information that they were only two minutes away. She blinked as she straighten up, grabbing the bag that she had resting at her feet. There wasn't much in it, a few keepsakes to keep her from getting homesick with the head of a Stufful plushie sticking out the top of it. For a second, her gaze lowered as she stared at the beady black eyes of the plushie before she quickly leaned down to touch noses with it with a small smile before quickly pulling away in hopes that nobody saw it. As the train started to slow down, she pulled herself to her feet as she hugged her bag tightly, resting her head on the head of the Stufful plushie.

After his little upset, so many things happened all at once. There was a bright flash that nearly made him jump out of his seat, then there was a squeal followed by an "are you alright?" which was followed by an announcement claiming there was only 15 minutes left before they arrived. It was crazy. Part of Marcus felt disappointed but he knew that when they arrived, he would be getting his own pokemon and be allowed to venture out to seek more. He wasn't exactly interested in being a trainer so much, but he desperately wanted to study what was there.

Then there was ten minutes, and then before he knew it, the Chatot began to speak. It took him off guard at first. As he was looking out the window, he expected to glance at the front of the car and see a young person standing there, but all he saw was a weird bird. With a wide and excited gaze, he began to scribble more notes down about the colorful talking pokemon that interrupted itself with shrill squawks that put him a little on edge. They were almost there! Turning around to where the flash came from earlier, he saw a boy whose eyes were glued to the window similarly to how Marcus was watching earlier. "You're the one who took the picture, right? What did you take it of?" he asked, simply trying to start a conversation before the train arrived at its destination. He wanted to make at least one friend first.

About to fall asleep against the window, the sight of a what looked like a giant mansion caught her attention and she sat up. Hearing over the intercom that they'd arrived, Casey's bored expression was tucked away as she bubbled with excitement. This was it, they were finally here!

Peering out the window, the train started to slow down and she watched as they pulled into a station. Now, instead of jumping around like weirdos, most kid in the train car were huddled against the windows, 'ooing' and 'awing' over the grand sight. And grand was an understatement. The academy was an enormous building that sat on top of a hill and as she craned her neck looking towards the top, she didn't even know if it was the top, seeing that it had so many stories and floors that jutted out of the sides. Behind the school were lush forested mountains with the midday sun peacefully hovering above them. Although beautiful, she couldn't help but wonder why in the world they put a school way out in the middle of nowhere. Was it going to be like Colonia Dignidad where they were all going to be subjected into joining a cult and have no way out but death? Just thinking of a place like that sent a shiver up her spine.

Grabbing her back that was shoved under her seat, Casey slung it over her shoulder and made her way down the aisle before the crowd of obnoxious kids was able to bulldoze her over while trying to gathering their things. Reaching the end of the train car, she winced at the sound of the brakes screeching against the train track. After a few moments, a guy whom she presumed was a part of the train staff came into the car with a smile on his face, took off his hat, and held it upside down like a bowl. "Place your tickets in here, good luck out there!" he called cheerfully. Behind her was now a line of kids eager to get off the crammed train and she couldn't blame them.

Grabbing her ticket from her pocket, she placed it into the hat and gave a thankful nod to the gentlemen. Making her way off the train, she took in a deep breath, letting her lungs become filled with the wonderful fresh air and let out a content sigh. This was it, Lawicke Academy, the school for young adventurous students and pokemon. This was definitely going to be an interesting adventure.