Soleil Academy: Dawn
A/N: Welcome and thank you for stopping by to check this story out! This story will be an SYOC that takes place at a private school in Central Kalos, which will be the ideal setting for students from all around the region and from other regions to live and study. I chose the Kalos Region because it has the largest pool of Pokemon to select from but I will be accepting students from other regions, which will allow for even more diversity.
This story will follow young Shu as he learns how to battle, meets new allies and rivals, and explores a new region from the safety of Soleil Academy. You'll get to meet Shu in this chapter as well as his first pokemon. After all, what better way to start a story than at the beginning? Without much delay, I welcome you to Soleil Academy: Dawn!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I only own Shu and the rest of my OCs.
Chapter 1: A Shocking Encounter
The afternoon had to be the dullest moment of the school day, especially fifth period biology. Lunch had passed an eternity ago and there was an eternity left for the final bell. On top of that, Shu was assigned to sit at the front of the classroom, making him easy prey for Shikaru Sensei. It did not help that he brought it upon himself most of the time, just like today. As Shikaru Sensei drew a T-chart of the different types of adaptations, he heard a few snickers behind his back. He slightly turned, making the noises drop to a silence before continuing with his lesson. When the snickers began again, he whipped around to find a student tossing a crumpled up piece of paper at the back of Shu's head.
Shikaru Sensei shot the culprit a stern look, causing the boy to flinch. He then turned his attention to the sleeping boy sitting right in front of him with his head down against the desk. There was the slight sound of snoring resonating from the boy - his shaggy cyan-colored hair shielding his eyes, which were definitely shut tight.
Everyone remained quiet and absolutely still as Shikaru Sensei lifted the crumpled piece of paper and placed it gently on Shu's desk. He reached for a ruler and slapped the wooden surface with it, causing Shu's head to shoot up as he sat upright in his chair. The oblivious boy whipped his head back and forth as the rest of the class snickered and giggled behind him. Once he realized that he had been caught sleeping in class, Shu looked up at Shikaru Sensei with a slight smile as he brushed his bright locked out of his eyes.
"H-hey, how's it going Shensei?"
The instructor grimaced at that dreaded nickname. Shikaru Sensei was a rather short man with hardened features, especially on his face and hands. His hair was beginning to gray around the crown of his head and the edges of his mouth hung lower with every year of delinquents that he had to babysit.
"Do you know what this is, Ishikawa-san?"
Shu looked down at the ball in front of him.
"A crumpled up paper?" he answered.
"Yes. Do you have any idea why it's on your desk?"
"No. Why would I? I was asleep."
Shikaru Sensei growled at the sudden sound of snickering coming from Shu's peers.
"This was tossed at your head while you were asleep."
"It was?!" Shu whipped around in his seat. "Which one of them was it, Shensei? Point out the hooligan."
Shikaru Sensei cleared his throat to regain Shu's attention.
"If you weren't asleep in my class, no one would have thrown this at you. Come back after sixth period, Shu. You have detention with me. And no hats in my class." The man quickly swiped Shu's beanie off of his head and placed it in a drawer at his desk.
As Shikaru Sensei turned back around to continue with his lesson, Shu sunk into his seat. He looked at the board was an empty stare, not even bothering to notice that there were no traces of whatever he was taking notes on left on the board. They had left him behind ages ago. Shu looked at the crumpled paper in front of him and curiously opened it just to see if there was anything written on it.
"Meet in the forest at 4?"
"Yes."
They were written in different ink. The answer was in pink and had a small heart next to it so Shu could only assume that it was a girl. Ever the curious one, Shu turned in his seat, only for his eyes to meet with his classmate's, Fukaze. The other boy scowled at Shu aggressively and tilted his head as if asking what he wanted.
Shu drew a line and underneath wrote, "Did you throw this at me?" He passed it to the person behind him and told them to pass it to Fukaze.
"What if I did?"
"Did you or didn't you?"
"What are you 'gonna do about it?"
"Nothing."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
After an excruciating half hour in detention in Shikaru Sensei's classroom, Shu bolted out of the school to find his best friends, Ganji and Natsuki waiting at the front entrance. The door swung open, crushing the tall lanky redhead, Natsuki, and Shu leapt down the steps in a sprint for his bike.
"Yo, what's the hurry?" Ganji called out as he jogged down the stairs.
Shu unlocked his chain and swung a leg over the seat. "I'll explain on the way. We 'gotta go to the store!"
"The store?"
"Hurry!"
"Okay! Okay!" The slightly chubby boy got on his bike and followed Shu who had already sped off of the school grounds. "Ay Natsuki, you coming?"
The redhead stumbled forward, having had his face smashed by the door. "Coming…"
Several minutes later, Ganji and Natsuki caught up with Shu as he sped along the road, pushing the pedals with every ounce of strength.
Ganji called out from behind, "So what's up, Shu? Why are we going to the store?"
"Well we're going to the grocery store and a hardware store. That idiot, Fukaze threw the crumpled up paper that got me in trouble with Shensei. He's always been a dick to me for no reason so I'm getting back at him and you guys are going to help me."
"We are?"
"You are."
Natsuki asked, "How are we going to do that."
Despite not being able to see it, Shu's friends could sense the mischievous smile plastered onto his face as he said, "Oh you guys'll see."
They looked at each other in confusion and remained quiet the rest of the way.
Golden beams of light cracked through Eterna Forest's heavy foliage illuminating the forest floor. Despite this, the bounty of shade still created an ambiance of uncertainty, especially when bug-type pokemon could be crawling around any tree stump. The trio of boys had left their bikes behind to trek through the forest with the supplies they had purchased.
"Remember," Shu whispered, "be extremely quiet. They could be anywhere."
Suddenly, there was a soft giggle. "Not there, Fu-kun~"
All three boys instantly froze at the sound of a girl's voice and began looking around. They saw nothing so they decided to fan out in search of the girl. Natsuki found both Fukaze and the girl making out against a tree.
"Guys, come here!" Natsuki whispered.
Shu and Ganji crouched down and slowly made their way towards Natsuki and found refuge behind a shrub.
"Got 'em," Shu grinned. "Alright, let's do this quickly."
He unzipped his backpack as quietly as possible and took out two egg cartridges, a length of rope, a paint bucket, a metal tray, and two pre-prepared camouflage blankets with leaves and twigs super glued to one side. Ganji and Natsuki threw on the blankets and the latter crawled across the floor with one end of the rope and his own cartidge, making sure to hide the rope with leaves as he made his way behind another tree.
"You sure about this?" Ganji asked.
"Ohhhh yeah…As soon as you trip him, run."
Ganji nodded to him before crouching low to the ground with the blanket covering him. He held the other end of the rope and shot Natsuki a thumbs up. When Natsuki returned the gesture, Shu slowly walked in between the trees and gently laid the tray with paint a few feet from the rope, making sure to place some leaves on it as well to obscure the tray. Once they were all ready, Shu grabbed a handful of eggs and slowly made his way towards Fukaze and the girl.
Fukaze was feeling handsy again which made the girl giggle as she tried to get him to stop.
"Fu-kun~" she whined playfully.
"What's the big deal, Mina? I'm just having a little fun."
"Well so am I."
Fukaze felt something splat against the back of his head, making him whip around only to be hit by another one.
He looked down and the raw egg whites and yolk on his shirt, giving Shu the opportunity to throw a couple more, which hit the Mina unintentionally and she screamed.
Fukaze glared at Shu and shouted, "You're dead, Ishikawa!"
"Kick his ass, Fu-kun!"
Shu sprinted away from Fukaze, leading him towards his trap. As Shu dashed by them, Ganji and Natsuki lifted the rope, causing Fukaze to fall face first into the tray of paint. It took him a moment to process what just happened. It was difficult to tell because of the paint but he wore a dumbfounded look. As if he had one day woken up in the desert. To keep him down a bit longer, Ganji made sure to step on his back as he and Natsuki followed Shu.
Shu's heart was racing as he kicked up dead leaves in his stride. Sweat was beating down his fair skin and his breathing became heavier. He could hear his friends gasping for air as well as they all ran through the forest. How could they not be exhausted with Fukaze right on their tails?
"Split up, guys! He's 'gonna go after me. I can lose him."
"We're not leaving you!" Ganji yelled.
"Yeah, haven't you seen how big he is? He'll murder you!"
"It's not a request guys!" Shu yelled as he made a sharp left before they could make any more complaints.
Just like Shu planned Fukaze went straight for him so he sped up to his very limit, taking long strides to avoid tripping on any tree roots. That would surely be the end of him. Soon, he could feel that it was becoming more difficult to maintain his current speed so he looked around for a good hiding place. Maybe somewhere to lay low while Fukaze continued to run. That is when he noticed a peculiar chateau off to his left.
'That's the perfect place to hide!' He thought to himself.
As he made a break for the mansion, Fukaze followed. The closer he got, the more clearly that Shu could see the structure. It was just like he had heard. The "Old Chateau," as his older brother had referred to it was an abandoned mansion deep in the forest. It was a large mansion forgotten by time that stood behind iron gates.
As he approached the fence, Shu latched onto it and pulled himself up but his pants got caught on the tips of the iron rods, causing him to crash down to the other side. Before he could gather himself, he felt Fukaze's hand grip his leg. Shu instinctively tried to pull away to no avail. His pursuer had a firm hold on him and it looked as if he was not planning on releasing it anytime soon.
"Let go!"
"Hell no! I'm 'gonna make you pay!"
From up close, Shu could see that the pink paint had dried onto his face and colored his golden bangs. There was even a leaf stuck to his cheek still.
If Fukaze did not have a hold on him, Shu would have started laughing by now. Instead, he squirmed on the floor, attempting to push himself away from his captor. With only soft dirt underneath him, it was impossible to get a good enough baring to escape. With no options left, Shu began kicking Fukaze's hand with his other foot while Fukaze tried to restrain it as well. It was not until the third direct kick that Fukaze's grip wavered, allowing Shu to rip his leg away. He rolled to create distance between himself and the Fukaze and made a break for the mansion. He knew that Fukaze still had to climb the fence first so he had a decent chance of losing him.
Shu had no idea if the doors would even work when he ran right into them, causing them to fly open as he stumbled into the manor. He tracked mud onto the dusty maroon carpet as he did so. Curiosity overcame him, compelling him to look over his shoulder to see where his pursuer was and to his dismay, Fukaze had just landed and was sprinting forward full force.
Fighting against the aching feeling in his legs, Shu started to run again, full force up the stairs. He could not see anything on the second floor so he planned to hide there. He reached the top of the stairs and huddled into a dark corner. It was practically pitch dark. There was no possibility of Fukaze finding him.
Unless he brought out the flashlight feature on his poketch. At the sight of the sudden beam of light, Shu began crawling towards a doorway at the center of the back wall but the old manor could not mask his presence. The floor beneath him creaked, alerting his pursuer instantly. Fukaze aimed his flashlight at the second floor and saw a tiny bit of movement so he charged up the stairs. Shu activated the flashlight function on his own poketch and slipped through the doorway, hearing Fukaze's not that far behind. He made a right and ran all the way down the hall where he saw a flashing light coming from one of the rooms.
'Is someone else here?' he pondered.
Shu did not have much time to think before Fukaze finally caught up to him and tackled him to the floor, right in front of the flashing room.
"You little bastard! You make me come into this dump just to hunt you down?!"
Suddenly, there was a static-filled noise which caught Fukaze's attention. He turned his head to find a television on showing nothing but static. There was something else to the noise, something akin to laughter. It was very faint but still discernible.
"What's that noise?"
Fukaze snapped his head back to Shu and yelled, "Will you shut it?!" He pulled his fist back but just as he was about to punch Shu, the noise became stronger - it changed from simple static to electricity.
Fukaze turned again, this time to find sparks form around the television. Soon, there were small bolts shooting out of it and it began to shake.
"W-what the?!"
An idea sparked in his head. The best way to repay Shu for bringing him to the local haunted house was to let the house have its way with him so he grabbed the cyan-haired boy by the collar and tossed him into the room, shutting the door behind him.
Shu found himself a few feet away from the strange television so he immediately pushed himself against the door. He rose to his feet and tried to open it to escape but Fukaze was holding it from the other side.
"Dude let me out! This thing could explode!"
"Not my problem!"
Fukaze laughed from the other side as Shu pounded against the door and struggled to wrench it open. Shu turned around with his back against the door to find that the storm had gotten worst with the television shaking even more and stronger bolts of lightning flying out from it. The bed sheets were being ripped from the mattress and loose sheets flew all across the room.
'The rumors about this place were true! It really is haunted!'
If only Shu understood just how right he was...
"Do you want to play…" asked a little girl. It came from the other side.
"H-huh? Who the-?!"
There was a blood-curdling scream from the other side of that door and the sound of footsteps pounding against the floor. Fukaze was running from someone...or something…
The laughter started again except it did not sound like a little girl's. It sounded cybernetic, almost, as if it belonged to a machine. An image formed on the screen. It resembled some kind of face but it was difficult to tell because of the static and the light. Suddenly, something shot out of from the screen and whirled around the room creating a storm of blue and orange. The stream of electricity danced around the room, disappearing into the wall and reappearing from somewhere else until it vanished into the wall directly across from Shu and finally flew directly at him.
A/N: There you have it! That is the introductory chapter to Soleil Academy: Dawn. I just wanted to say that I know that the Old Chateau in the games is right by the forest's exit but I felt that for the purposes of this story, it should be deep into the forest like how it was in Pokemon Generations. I also know that poketches in the games do not have a flashlight feature but I feel like it's a pretty standard one to have especially since there are a lot of caves in the Sinnoh region.
I feel like most academy SYOCs jump directly into when the protagonist gets to the academy so I thought I'd take the first few chapters to really flesh out Shu in his usual environment before throwing him into the academy. He probably won't get there until Chapter 4 so please be patient with me.
I have the SYOC rules and forms up on my profile so be sure to read every part of it before sending in your application. It's VERY important that you pay attention to detail and that your application is thorough. Still, I'd like this to be fun for you so take your time in creating your characters. I do want the best ones, after all.
That's it for this chapter so drop a review letting me know what's good about my writing, what I can improve on, or just how your day is going and I'll see you next time! And remember, you must know de wae!