Chapter One: A Shocking Complication
It was exactly 4:01 AM when Alex Falkenrath knocked her alarm clock off her nightstand. As she was stuck deep in a dream, she didn't even stir when the device crashed onto the floor and broke apart.
It was exactly 7:52 AM when Alex should have been walking up the steps to Professor Spruce's lab, but she was still asleep.
It was exactly 8:13 AM when Alex fell out of bed, saw the sun shining brightly through her window and her clock smashed on the floor, realized she had no idea what time it was, and screamed. As she was running late, she didn't even change her clothes before racing down the stairs and out the door.
It was exactly 8:46 AM when Alex burst through the doors of the Academy and raced down the hall, toward the room she thought was Professor Spruce's lab. Instead, when she opened the door, she found six boys, posing before her with sparkling smiles and a resounding "Welcome!"
With a yelp, Alex threw herself back against the door in an attempt to escape. Apparently, the doors didn't open both ways. Her arms flailed around in search of the doorknob, while the boys' expressions shifted.
"Oh, wow, it's a boy," chorused two identical looking redheads.
"Phoenix, Fox, I believe this young man is in the same class as you, isn't he?" asked the pale boy next to them.
"Yeah, but he's shy. He isn't very sociable, so we don't know much about him." The twins shrugged.
Alex had only transferred to the Academy a few weeks prior, and she had only enrolled so she could enlist in Professor Spruce's pokemon training course. Since the course would send her on a journey away from the school, she saw no point in trying to make friends when she'd be leaving them all within the month, so she stuck to herself and her studies. She also wasn't technically a boy, but she wasn't about to correct them. The poor girl was busy trying to get out of there, and she couldn't care less about what gender they recognized her as anyway.
The pale yet regal looking boy from before smirked knowingly, and pushed up his glasses. "Well that wasn't very polite." The twins looked at each other, obviously confused by their friend's attitude. "Welcome to the Caelus Host Club, Mister Honor Student." He seemed to put a particular emphasis on the word 'mister,' and Alex got the impression that he'd already realized she was a girl.
"What?" The blonde in the front stood with wide, purple eyes, and leaned in far too close for comfort. Alex turned away, now facing the doors as she struggled with them. "Then this exceptionally rare honor student we've heard about, Alex Falkenrath, is you?"
Alex went ridged, peering warily over her shoulder at them. "Wha- how do you know my name?" she asked slowly.
"Don't you know?" The pale boy was still smirking. "You're infamous. It's not every day that a commoner gains entrance into our academy. I've been told that unless you have an audacious nerve, you cannot become an honor student here, Mister Falkenrath."
"Uh... Thank.. you?" Alex wasn't sure anything he'd just said could really be construed as a compliment, but she didn't want to start anything, she just wanted out of there.
"You're welcome!" The blonde sidled up next to her and clamped a hand on her shoulder. "You're a hero to other poor people, Falkenrath! You have shown the world that even a poor person can excel at an elite, private academy." Uncomfortable, Alex scurried sideways, away from the blonde. He blinked in confusion, but recovered quickly, voice taking on a dreamy quality as he strolled after her, making dramatic gestures with his hands the whole way. "It must be hard for you to be constantly looked down upon by others."
"I wouldn't go that far.." Alex mumbled, scooting helplessly back and forth in front of the door. No matter how she tried, though, she couldn't seem to keep out of his reach. The boy just kept following her until his arm dropped over her shoulders again.
"Spurned, neglected... but that doesn't matter now. Long live the poor!" The kid had stars in his eyes. "We welcome you, poor man, to our world," he moved gracefully, grinning, and thrust his arms up over her head theatrically, "of beauty!"
"I'm out of here," Alex muttered, turning away. She finally managed to get the door open.
"Heyyy!" whined the shortest of the group. He jumped up and grabbed her arm, physically dragging her back into the room with surprising strength for such a little boy. "Come back here, Lexie-boo." He spoke in such a cutesy, baby-talking way that she had to wonder what the kid was doing in a high school. "You must be like a superhero or something, that's so cool!"
"I'm not a hero, I'm just an honor student." Alex realized belatedly what else the boy had said, and was getting increasingly more uncomfortable and irritated. She really needed to get to Professor Spruce's lab. "And who're you calling 'Lexie-boo'?!"
The tiny boy fell backward onto the floor, utterly stunned at Alex's outburst. The taller blonde slid up next to them again, holding his chin pensively. "Still, to think such a fabled, erudite student would be so openly gay..."
"Openly what?" Alex lifted a brow at the boy, unamused.
"So tell me what kind of guys you're in to!" The boy grinned, again recovering quickly as he gestured to each of the others. "Do you like the strong, silent type? The boy lolita? How about the mischievous type? Or, the cool type?"
"Uh... it's not like that," Alex scrambled to explain, backing away from the boy. "I was just looking for the lab-"
"Or maybe..." He slid up next to Alex, catching her chin in his hand. His fingers curled against her skin, voice disturbingly suggestive as he continued, "you're into a guy like me. How about it?"
Alex squeaked and jumped backward. In her haste, she'd failed to see the stand behind her, or the ornate vase perched on top of it. Just like her alarm clock, she knocked it off its stand. The world seemed to move in slow motion as she turned, frantically reaching out to catch it, but was just in time to watch the beautiful piece crash onto the floor. She whimpered down at the shattered pieces, physically shaking.
"Awww!" the twins despaired from behind her.
"We were going to feature that Renaissance vase in an upcoming school auction," scolded one of them.
"Now you've done it, commoner. The bidding on that vase was supposed to start at 8 million poke!"
"What!?" She frantically tried to count on her fingers, but it was so much money she could hardly even comprehend it. "Um.." She turned tentatively back toward them, "Can I pay you back?"
"With what money?" The twins spoke in unison, both shrugging their hands up smugly. "You can't even afford a school uniform."
With considerable mortification, Alex remembered that she was still wearing the clothes she'd slept in the night before. She felt like she might sink into the floor. Really, she was hoping this was all one particularly awful nightmare, and she'd wake up just in time for her day any minute now.
"What's with that grubby outfit you've got on, anyway?" One of the twins asked, sounding like he might laugh.
"Well," the pale, smirking boy bent down to pick up one of the shattered pieces, "what do you think we should do, Beau?"
Alex blanched, twitching with dread. It was at precisely that moment when Professor Spruce walked by the door and caught a glance at the scene inside. "Alex?" The woman asked with one arched eyebrow. "So you decided to show up, after all."
"I'm sorry, Professor," Alex started, hands clasped in front of her. "I've had a bit of a rough start this morning-"
"You look more like you're ready for bed than for a journey." Professor Spruce closed her book with an abrupt thump. "I hope you don't think you're going to train in your nightclothes."
"Oh, no," Alex shook her hands in front of her, scrambling to explain once again. "I was running late this morning and I got a little lost, but believe me, I'm ready."
"Hm." Professor Spruce seemed to regard the whole room with disdain, but motioned for Alex to follow her. "Right. This way, then."
Alex bowed her head, apologizing profusely to the confused looking boys as she backed out of the room. She felt like she might explode all the way there, just from the excitement buzzing through her veins.
"Unfortunately for you," Professor Spruce spoke sternly as she led the student through her lab and into the back room, "all three of our traditional Minto Region starter pokemon were claimed by students who weren't late."
Alex's heart fell. She opened her mouth to ask why the professor bothered to bring her to the lab, then, but was cut off.
"However, I do have one left." Alex lit up as the professor began pressing buttons on the round table-like device in front of them. A pokeball rose from the center circle, surrounded by empty three empty circles. "I think I should warn you. There is a problem with this last one." She lifted the pokeball, and Alex caught a glimpse of a lightning bolt just above the button. "This pokemon will be far harder to train than any of our traditional starters."
"I can handle it," Alex promised with a bow of her head. She thought she caught the professor smile.
"In that case, here you are. Raise it well." She nodded once, and handed over the pokeball. While the professor turned away, Alex pressed the button in the middle of the pokeball. When it opened, a yellow light streamed out, and a creature about a foot tall materialized on the table-like device in front of her.
"Whoa," Alex breathed out, mystified as she looked over her pokemon. It had a round, babyish face, and was covered in pale yellow fur. It had two elongated diamond shaped ears with black tips, and angular black tail, and a tuft of black fur at its collar. It had a tiny nose and a round, pink pouch on each cheek. It could very well be the cutest thing she'd ever seen. "It's the best of all," she announced happily.
"Pichu," the pokemon replied curiously, tilting its head.
"You'll see," the professor said in a tone that gave Alex the distinct impression she was smirking.
Alex reached out tentatively, and the pokemon smiled, right up until the moment that Alex actually touched the animal. Instantly, Pichu's expression turned sour, and with a quiet, growled "Chu," the animal let out a burst of electricity that had Alex crying out and her hair standing on end. For the moment, she was paralyzed. Pichu seemed to have shocked itself as well, as it was looking a little dizzy.
"Pichu is the pre-evolved form of Pikachu, also known as the electric mouse. They're usually shy, albeit mischievous, but can sometimes have an... electrifying personality." There was that smirk tone again.
"I see what you mean."
"Shocking, isn't it?" Professor Spruce sure did like her puns. "Now, take these. Your pokedex and pokeballs. You know, it would have been such a shame if you hadn't shown up today, considering we went through the trouble of programming this pokedex specifically for you."
"Thank you," Alex replied earnestly, sticking the items in the pockets of her pajama pants.
"Don't forget Pichu's pokeball," the professor called over, waving dismissively.
"Oh, right." Alex turned back to her new pokemon and smiled warmly, holding up the pokeball. "Let's go, Pichu." However, when the red light streamed out, Pichu stuck up its nose and dodged it. "Huh?" She tried again, and again, but Pichu avoided returning to the pokeball each time.
Professor Spruce looked up, surprised the girl was still there, but then gave a tight smile. "While being trained, most pokemon stay inside their pokeball; but some, like your pichu, hate being confined."
"Oh." Alex looked from Professor to Pichu, then nodded. "Okay." She smiled, stuck the pokeball in her pocket, and scooped the pokemon up in her arms.
"Pichu," the animal grumbled, but thankfully this time, there wasn't enough electricity stored in its pouches to do more than make her hair float up with the crackle of static.
Alex gave an uneasy laugh and waved goodbye to the professor, then made her way out of the lab. Her troubles with the Host Club were all but forgotten, as she took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. This was the beginning of her pokemon journey. Finally, she was on her way to becoming a pokemon master, just like her mom, and once she'd done that, she would be the greatest pokemon journalist the world had ever seen. She would make her mother proud.
Author's Note:
So originally I was going to have the Ouran characters here, but because of the different storylines and personalities that are going to be involved, a lot of things just wouldn't be in character for them. So I combined a bunch of characters and some original stuff to make a bunch of OCs. I'll be trying to draw parallels to at least one episode from each show per chapter, but sometimes it might not work out that I can draw from both at once. Anyway, this should be an interesting and hopefully funny adventure, and I hope you all like it!