A/N: Here we are at Chapter 5 of Soleil Academy: Dawn! I wanted to give a huge thank you for those of you who picked up this story and have taken an interest in it. I know it's different from most academy stories and the slow pacing might turn some people off but I wanted to make sure that you guys understood my protagonist and how he thinks and behaves. I hope I've done at least a decent job at illustrating that thus far.
For those who have not read the update that added to chapter 4 please go back to check it out. It's just a small section at the end of the chapter that you should read before reading this chapter so that you aren't caught off guard in this chapter.
I've gotten a couple new characters since last chapter, both of which are really cool so I'm looking forward to using them in the future. As for whether there's still room, yeah, I would actually like a a few more first years so that I can pick who will be friends with who between Shu and his not one, not two, but three rivals! I have not had any male second years been submitted and I am lacking in the third years. I'd like less battle course students in the first year but more of them in the second and third years.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I only own Shu and the rest of my OCs.
Chapter 5: The Invitation
The night of the battle with Furiko, Sakumo had gotten home late from the hospital with his arm in a sling so the following morning he contacted Professor Rowan and informed him of the events. Later that week, the professor had paid the Ishikawa household a visit only to find that Denki was unwilling to leave Shu's poketch. Instead, it simply stuck its tongue out at the professor from inside the device before shutting the screen off to hide.
When Professor Rowan returned to his hotel room in Eterna City, he contacted his former pupil and the current regional professor of the Kalos Region, Augustine Sycamore. Rowan wanted to speak to Sycamore about Denki and as it turned out, Denki's species was known as rotom which was a species of pokemon that was slightly more common in Kalos than it was in Sinnoh. The purpose of the call was not simply to discuss the pokemon itself but the bond that it seemed to share with Shu and Mina, which was Sycamore's area of expertise.
Sycamore wanted to speak to Shu himself so Rowan set up a video call hoping that his former pupil could coax Denki out of Shu's poketch. The video call ended with Mr. Ishikawa owing Rowan a new laptop since Denki decided to enter it and fry the circuits from the inside. The plasma pokemon proceeded to laugh about it afterward from the safety of Shu's poketch.
Seeing as how Denki rendered digital means of communication ineffective, Sycamore offered Shu and one adult an all-expense paid trip to Kalos for a weekend. At first, Shu's mother was opposed but once the professor mentioned the boutiques and bakeries, she started looking for flights. She and her husband (begrudgingly) agreed that since spring break brought many challengers to the gym it made more sense for her to accompany Shu to the Kalos Region.
Shu had to endure a seven-hour flight from Sinnoh to Kalos without a single second of sleep courtesy of his mother's earthshaking snoring but upon arrival he was fascinated by all of the foreign pokemon he had seen in a matter of an hour from when they walked into the airport to when the taxi had dropped them off in front of Professor Sycamore's lab.
Shu felt like he was on a different planet from all of the unfamiliar buildings and roads to the unique scents that wafted through the air. The climate was far different from gloomy Sinnoh with unhindered sunlight that warmed his fair skin. He even noticed that the people dressed differently. Rather than sweaters and heavy boots, women walked around in sundresses and sandals while men sported short-sleeved shirts and shorts.
The boy awed to his mother, "It's so different here, mom!"
She chuckled, "Well we are in a different region."
"Can I catch a pokemon here?!"
"Shu, you're barely learning to care for your Gastly. I'm not taking care of any more pokemon."
"Fine…" he muttered.
They felt the cab stop so they paid the driver and got their luggage from the trunk.
Shu asked, "So this is it?"
"This is the address he gave us. I suppose we should knock on the door."
Shu heard some static from his poketch to find that Denki was just waking up. After an incident at the Jubilife airport involving the metal detectors that almost resulted in Shu and his mother missing their flight, the electric and ghost type was exhausted and slept through the entire flight inside the poketch.
"Good to see someone is up," Shu said.
"Roto!" he cried happily.
"Hey I know you don't know me too well still but can you do me a solid and not short circuit anything while we're here? Professor Rowan said that this Sycamore guy's lab is full of expensive equipment."
Denki grinned and began chuckling maliciously.
Shu gave him a stern look, "I'm serious, Denki."
"Shu!"
The boy looked forward to find his mother at the front door with a man standing inside. He wore a lab coat so Shu assumed that this was Professor Sycamore but it turned out to only be an aide similar to Sakumo. The aid walked them up a set of stairs that branched off into two smaller sets into the second floor. They walked down a hallway until the aide stopped in front of a mahogany door with a gold nameplate that read, "Augustine Sycamore."
The aide knocked on the door and a man called out from inside, "Come in."
With permission, the aide opened the door and made way for Shu and his mother to walk inside where there found a rather young looking man sitting behind a desk. When he stood up to greet them, Shu noticed that he was tall, perhaps taller than even Sakumo. The man was rather handsome with his flowing black hair and calm silver eyes. Even with his lab coat he had a rather fashionable sense of style with his popped collar, rolled up sleeves, and expensive-looking watch.
"Welcome, you must be Ishikawa Shutsuga," the man said as he shook his hand. "I remembered that in Sinnoh your family name is said first correct?"
"Yeah."
"My name is Professor Sycamore." As he turned to Shu's mother, he held her hand gently and said, "And you must be his sister. Bonjour belle dame."
Shu's mother shook her head and flipped her wrist as she denied, "No, I'm his mother. My name is Niya."
"Ah, I see. Mr. Ishikawa is quite the fortunate man."
"Oh you," she said with a giggle.
'Did mom just giggle?' Shu asked himself in disbelief.
"Uh, so you called me here because of Denki, right?"
"Ah, yes! There is no need to rush, however. I am sure that you are both tired from your flight so why not rest for today and we can get started on studying your rotom tomorrow."
"My what?"
"The pokemon that resides in your poketch. Denki is its name if I'm not mistaken."
"Oh, so you're a rotom?" Shu asked.
Denki buzzed and seemed to nod his head in on the screen.
"Come, I will show you your rooms for this weekend. You can get settled and then I would like to take you both to dinner."
"Oh you don't have to bother yourself with that professor," Shu's mother said. "You already paid for our airfare."
"Nonsense, you are my guests. I will pay for your dinner tonight and after that, I will not insist on paying. Does that sound fair?"
She laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "Not really since you've already done plenty for us but if you insist you can pay this once. Nothing too expensive though."
"Deal."
After Shu and his mother settled in their rooms at Sycamore's lab, the professor drove them around Lumiose City to show them around. He pointed out a couple of boutiques for Shu's mother as well as some bakeries and coffee shops that he liked that were near his lab. Shu had zoned out for the majority of the conversation, allowing his mother to do most of the talking, while he sat in the back looking at the various buildings and shops. One stood out to him among all the others, however. While they were stopped at a red light, Shu noticed an oddly shaped tower down the road.
"Hey professor?"
"Yes, Shutsuga?"
"What's that down there?"
"I assume you're pointing at the tall one with all of the lights. That's Prism Tower. It's this city's pride and joy and a must-see for tourists as well as the home to our city's very own gym."
"No way! That's a gym! It makes the gym back home look like a tool shed!"
"Shutsuga!" his mother shouted.
"Sorry."
Sycamore chuckled as he said, "I take it that your father is the gym leader?"
"No," Shu's mother responded. "But he does work there as one of the gym trainers that players have to challenge. He's arguably the strongest trainer second to the gym leader herself. He has many more years of experience than her though."
"What type does that gym specialize in if you don't mind me asking?"
"Grass," Shu said simply.
Sycamore had parked his car in the lot behind the restaurant and led the two inside where they were seated immediately.
"I see that it pays to be the regional professor," Shu's mother said.
Sycamore chuckled, "Sometimes but I have to admit that I just called to reserve a table in advance."
Once seated, Sycamore allowed his guests to look over the menus and explained the dishes that they were not familiar with.
While they went about deciding, Sycamore asked Shu, "So you said your father is a grass type specialist. Do you plan on training grass types, Shu?"
"Not really. I mean I have a gastly and my dad says it's a poison and ghost type so I guess not. Plus I'm hoping that I can use Denki when I get more experience as a trainer."
"Ah, so a ghost type specialist?"
Shu shook his head, "Mmm, no, I don't think so either. Right now I just want to learn how to battle."
"So you have no experience in battling whatsoever?"
"Not really, just in the battle against the giant hypno but Emigna and I didn't help much. My dad and his pokemon are way stronger so I'm pretty sure they did most of the work."
"I'm sorry, you said 'Emigna?'"
"Yeah, that's my gastly."
"You sure you don't mean Enigma?"
Shu's mother laughed as Shu explained to Sycamore the origin of the name. After hearing it, Sycamore joined Shu's mother which caused Shu to groan.
"Don't fret, Shutsuga. It's like your father says, your gastly is unique and therefore deserves a name that only you could come up with."
"Yeah, you're right. It's just...I mean, does everyone have to know how to say that word correctly?"
"So Shutsuga, is there a goal you have in mind?"
"Well I might not have any experience yet but my dad says that he's going to teach me how to be a trainer. My parents can't afford to send me off to a fancy school and I don't have the grades to get any scholarships so I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way by training really hard and taking on the gyms to qualify for the pokemon league.. I already know all of Emigna's moves so that's a start, right?"
Sycamore nodded along to everything Shu said with a small smirk, genuinely intrigued by every word the young boy said.
"Well, your brother and I were both fortunate enough to go to a 'fancy school' so we got the easy ticket to our careers. I have to commend you on your determination despite the long road you have ahead of you. Truly something to be admired."
Shu looked confused as he turned to his mom and asked, "W-was that a compliment?"
She laughed and nodded, "Yes, honey. It was a compliment."
"Thanks professor!"
The food arrived not too long after. Upon smelling Sycamore's Steak Diantha Denki phased out of Shu's poketch, drawn out by the savory smell. Sycamore was amused and fascinated at the same time, more than willing to offer the pokemon a piece of his steak.
"Sorry about that, Professor," Shu said.
"Not at all. See the beauty of spending time with pokemon is that you're always learning new things about them. I had no idea what rotom ate."
"Well Denki doesn't really eat. I don't think he actually needs to eat to live like us. I think he just likes the flavor."
"Denki absolutely loves my cooking so I'll set a plate out for it at dinner time now."
"Yeah, we call Denki the garbage disposal."
Both Shu and Sycamore erupted into laughter until they realized that the boy's mother was glaring daggers at them. To avoid eye contact, they began eating quietly.
"So Professor, I understand that every regional professor tends to focus on one aspect of pokemon studies, correct?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"What would be your area?"
"Oh! I'm glad you asked, Mrs. Ishikawa. Well, my study is in mega evolution and the changes that pokemon undergo whether it be through normal evolution or other means such as forms that some pokemon can alter between."
"Mega Evolution?" Shu asked through the pasta hanging from his mouth.
"Shu, mind your manners."
He quickly sucked in the rest of the noodle and apologized.
"Yes, so let me start explaining by going back to my days as an aide for Professor Rowan. You see, Rowan is the leading researcher on pokemon evolution. In fact, he has discovered evolutions for pokemon that have not been discovered anywhere else such as Sneasel being able to evolve in Weavile, Magmar to Magmortar, Snorunt to Froslass and so on. His research is absolutely groundbreaking for competitive battling by raising the performance ceiling in many region's leagues."
"Woah, I had no idea that the geezer was so important."
Shu's mother shot him a menacing glare. Her eyes were wide and her nostrils flared.
"Sorry…" he muttered.
Sycamore waved away the apology with a calm demeanor.
"No need to apologize. To be honest, your brother and I have called him worst." The professor laughed to himself, reminiscing about his time under Rowan. "Anyways, while I studied evolution, I came across an interesting evolution line in Sinnoh: the gible line."
"What's a gible?" Shu asked.
"Here, let me show you."
Sycamore reached into his back pocket and pulled from it a square red device with rounded corners and a circle outlined in black in the center. Upon activating it, the device expanded, revealing a transparent glass screen inside it.
"Woah!" Shu marveled.
Having been used to the technology, Sycamore was amused by Shu's astonishment.
"Oh, right. This is a pokedex."
"Yeah, Rowan showed me his but this one looks way cooler."
"Well, that's because of the funding that Lysandre Labs has provided my lab. They happen to be the largest technology company in the region as well as the leading researchers in innovative technology. This pokedex uses their technology."
"Way awesome!"
"It is, isn't it? Now, where are you? Ah! There you are."
Sycamore passed the pokedex to Shu so he could see the tiny teal-colored pokemon with a red underbelly and a large fin coming from the top of its head.
"Gible evolve into Gabite and then Garchomp however once this species reaches its third evolution something extraordinary happens. Garchomp can evolve once again into a more ferocious and powerful state."
"Are you serious?!"
"Very much so. I've only seen it once but the transformation was phenomenal. It was beyond words. It was...it was...beautiful. I have never been surer of my purpose in this world as when I laid eyes upon mega garchomp. From that day forth I would focus my attention on mega evolution and discover all of its hidden secrets. That's actually why I came to the Kalos Region."
"What do you mean?" Shu's mother asked. "Is it more commonly known here?"
"As a matter of fact, it is, actually. Shalour City, which is a located in western Kalos, houses the Tower of Mastery which holds all recorded writing on mega evolution since its first discovery hundreds of years ago. Only in recent years with modern transportation is it being seen in other regions but Kalos is the home of mega evolution."
"Wow, that's fascinating. Well, I do hope that Sakumo can become a pokemon professor one day too."
"He's definitely a bright and determined young man. I should be scared of being kicked out of my lab with him around," the professor joked.
"Excuse me."
Standing a few feet away from them was a young woman with styled curly strawberry blonde hair. Despite not wearing any jewelry she exuded a sense of wealth just through her clothes alone. They seemed to be from expensive brands just from one look.
"Hi, how can we help you?" Sycamore asked.
She smiled sweetly at him. Her teeth were white as a moonlit sail, traced by the glossy pink curve of her lips. The girl was absolutely beautiful and stood at an average height with a rather petite frame.
"That pokemon there, I've never seen it before."
"You mean Denki?" Shu asked.
"So it's a denki? I see. It's quite adorable."
Shu and the others laughed to themselves.
"What's so funny?" She asked. There was slight irritation in her tone.
"We don't mean to offend," Sycamore explained, "but Denki is its nickname. Its species is rotom."
"Oh! How aptly named."
"What do you mean?" Sycamore asked.
"It's species name is 'motor' spelled backward."
Sycamore widened his eyes and cocked his head back ever so slightly from surprise.
"Yes, it is. That was quite the observation, young lady."
"My name is Fae. Fae Leclair."
She offered her hand with a loose wrist to the professor who accepted and shook it gently.
"Professor Augustine Sycamore. It's a pleasure."
Shu's mother also shook hands with the girl and introduced herself, "Ishikawa Niya."
"Shu."
The boy simply waved from his seat with a friendly smile.
Fae seemed bothered by his lack of manners until Sycamore spoke on his behalf, "You'll have to excuse my guest. He is from the Sinnoh region."
"Do they not have manners in Sinnoh?" she asked.
Shu stood up from his seat.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"
The cyan-haired boy ignored all of the looks he was getting around the restaurant. His mother tried to keep her voice as low as possible as she ordered her son to sit down. Only then did the boy take his seat. The rest of the room returned to its normal volume as conversations continued, some of which were about Shu.
Fae shot him a smug smirk as she asked Sycamore, "So as I was saying, Denki seems like a rare pokemon."
"Yes, his species is rarely seen in this region but Denki is from Sinnoh."
"I see. A pokemon from a foreign country. How much would you like for him?"
Sycamore stuttered, "I-I'm sorry?"
"How much would you sell Denki to me for?"
"Ro tom?" Denki cried in confusion.
"He's not for sale," Shu stated.
This time, Fae was confused as she asked, "I'm sorry?"
"We're not selling Denki to you."
"Oh, I see! You're looking for a trade. Very well. What pokemon would you be interested in? My parents can find it for you."
"Denki isn't up for sale or trade. He's not even my pokemon. He's my friend."
"So let me get this straight. You don't own Denki."
"No."
"None of you do?"
Sycamore and Shu's mother shook their heads.
"I see…" Fae began twirling a piece of her hair while rolling her eyes in thought. Her lips curled into a mischievous smirk as she said,"Then you won't mind if I catch it."
She approached Denki with poke ball in hand but to her surprise, the rotom phased into Shu's poketch.
"W-what happened to it?!"
Denki's face appeared on the screen and it stuck its tongue out at her from inside.
Fae's eyes widened in astonishment as she remarked, "It flew into your watch! That's amazing! I must have it! Won't you please sell it to me?"
She resorted to using her softer features - going so far as to pout.
"Look, I told you that I can't sell him to you and he doesn't want you to catch him."
Fae's pout turned into a furious scowl. She took a deep breath and face softened into a smile yet again.
"You're right. Thank you for your time. Enjoy your dinner," she said with a bow before returning to her table.
"Jeez, some people don't know how to take no for an answer," Shu remarked.
Sycamore nodded, "She most likely comes from a wealthy family. This is a rather 'trendy' restaurant after all."
Shu's mother shook her head, "I'm sorry, what? Professor, I can't let you pay for us if the food here is too pricey."
"No, not at all, Niya. I get funding to conduct research. Consider this an expense for research purposes. I mean in a matter of a few minutes I saw Denki perform an amazing feat. This dinner will be well worth it for educational purposes."
Sycamore could not help but chuckle slightly at his own comment.
"Woah, professors must make bank," Shu. "Maybe I should be a professor."
"You need to pass biology first," his mother quipped.
"Hey! Mom, it's hard!" Just as he said that a waiter passed by spilling water all over his wrist.
"My apologies, young man," the waiter said as he quickly reached for a napkin to begin cleaning the Shu's poketch only for the device to begin producing sparks of lighting.
Denki shot out of it and began flying around the room, causing the chandeliers to explode as it passed through them. People began shouting and throwing themselves onto the ground in an attempt to hide under the tables. Denki flew out of a window and the room was engulfed in darkness. Only small traces of light entered from the other room and through the windows.
"Denki!" Shu shouted as he rushed towards and window and jumped out of it.
"Shu!" his mother yelled after him.
"You go after your son, I'll handle things here and we'll meet at the lab."
With a nod, Shu's mother made for the exit but not before noticing that Fae and her table was vacant.
Shu had searched all over the area for Denki and kept asking people if they saw a small thunderbolt fly by. Every person that answered sent him closer to the center of the city until he found himself standing in front of Prism Tower. To his irritation, he found Denki facing off against Fae and her lilligant. She had a group of girls behind her watching and filming her battle.
"Lyra, use Energy Ball!"
The flowering pokemon brought her hands together and gathered a ball of bright green energy before shooting it at Denki. The rotom managed to spiral around the attack only to realize that the lilligant unleashed more Energy Balls.
"Stop it!"
Fae, Lyra, Denki, and the other girls turned to him. Denki cheered happily while Fae simply smirked at him and said, "You're just in time to watch me catch the wild rotom."
Shu shook his head and joined Denki's side while calling Emigna out to battle.
"Oh, so you are a trainer. You intend to take us on?"
"We intend to beat you! Right Emigna?"
The gastly cried out in agreement while maintaining eye contact with Lyra.
"Emigna, use Night Shade!"
She released a dark cloud from her mouth which slowly traveled towards her target however the energy ball was much faster as it flew into the darkness and came out on the other side. The attack connected with Emigna, forcing her to stop releasing the dark gas.
"Emigna, are you okay?!"
She shook off the pain and nodded "Ly!"
'Our attack isn't fast enough to land so we're going to have to get up close.'
"Lick her!"
Emigna flew forward only to find a barrage of Energy Balls coming her way. She ducked, hovered, and side-swept around the oncoming attacks but a couple connected with her which slowed her down. Unwilling to stop, however, Emgina pushed through the pain and ran her tongue across the lilligant's face.
"That's disgusting!" Fae shouted. "Not even your pokemon has any class. Lyra, finish it off with an Energy Ball!"
To Fae's surprise and dismay, Lyra refused to move - or rather, her body would not allow her to. The flowering pokemon would twitch in an attempt to move only to fail.
Shu jumped in celebration, "Alright! We paralyzed her! Follow up with Night Shade!"
From mere feet away, Emigna released another wave of black mist which completely shrouded the lilligant. Soon, Shu could make out something coming from inside the Night Shade. It was a small pink mist that was evaporating from inside. Suddenly, a glowing blue wave of energy shot out from inside the cloud landing a direct hit on Emigna, which caused her to drop to the ground.
"What?!" Shu shouted. "What happened?! Your pokemon was paralyzed!"
Fae began playing with her hair as she shot him a confident grin.
"Amateur. Don't you know what Aromatherapy does?"
"Aromatherapy?"
One of Fae's friends, a short ginger called out snarkily, "It cures all of the pokemon that come in contact with it of its status ailment, loser. Duh!"
Shu balled up his fists and clenched his jaw tight as his entire body trembled from the loss.
"Are you seriously going to cry?" the same girl taunted. "Fae get this over with so we can get back to campus before curfew."
"Oh, right! Lyla finish off Denki with another Energy Ball."
"Li! Ligant!"
The Energy Ball flew across the park towards the weakened rotom who found it difficult to move. It saw the green sphere get closer and closer until it was right in front of him. Suddenly Denki was eclipsed by a larger body which was pushed right through its ghostly body before rolling on the ground behind it. All of the girls remained completely still, unable to even blink as they watched Shu's body hit the ground and roll to a stop.
"You idiot!" Fae shouted as she rushed to Shu, her heels clicked against the cobblestone path as she did. "That wasn't for you!" she continued. Her voice croaked with panic as she fell to her knees to turn him over and check his condition. There was a large hole in his shirt where the attack connected and a nasty bruise forming on his chest. "Somebody call an ambulance quickly!" she shouted.
That was the last thing Shu heard as his mind faded into darkness.
When Shu finally came to, he could feel that he was laying on a bed and covered in a thin blanket. All he could see was white and shades of gray as he looked around the room. The bed was white, the sheets were white, the walls were gray, the curtains were gray, and the medical equipment was white and gray.
Shu looked to his right to find two people sound asleep in his room. His mother was in a chair next to him with her hand holding his. To his complete shock, Fae was sitting with a blanket on the guest bed by the window with her back against the wall.
The boy struggled to move his head but he managed to look over to his left only for the heart rate monitor to bend into his view with Denki's face on the screen. Its mouth was moving along to Shu's heartbeat. Shu shouted from surprise, waking his mother and Fae up.
"Honey, are you okay?!"
Shu's mother clasped his hand tightly while the boy tried to calm himself. His head drooped which worried his mother. Fae had even gotten out of her seat, unsure of what to do.
"Shu! Shutsuga!" His mother cried. Suddenly, she felt Shu shake and heard him begin to sob softly. "Honey, what's wrong?"
Shu threw his head back in laughter, "Good one, buddy! You got me!"
Denki joined him in laughter but stopped when it noticed how upset the girls were. Before Shu's mother could say anything, Fae smacked the boy in the back of the head.
"Ow! I'm in a hospital bed!"
"That didn't stop you from laughing your head off, did it?"
"That doesn't mean you go and hit me! What are you even doing here?!"
Fae glared at him. Her nostrils flared and her jaw clenched. Instead of shouting back at him she merely grabbed her bag and walked out of the room.
"Jeez, what's her problem?"
"She's the one who brought you here."
"She did?"
"You don't remember what happened to you?"
Shu looked down at his lap to try and recall what had happened when his chest began throbbing. He held it only to find that it was very bruised and his memory immediately returned to him.
"Yeah, I lost to her in a battle but I didn't want her to catch Denki so I jumped in the way. That's how I got this nasty bruise. Wait so she brought me?"
"She felt horrible about what she did. As soon as the professor and I heard that someone was injured by Prism Tower we called the authorities and they told us to come. The professor went back to his lab but he'll be here later. When I came, Fae was sitting by your side. She spent the whole night here."
Something pulled in Shu's chest but it was not from his injury. It was a sense of guilt for the way he treated Fae.
"That girl may have been wrong to have that waiter spill water on your poketch and hunt down Denki but she knows that she's wrong. It takes a big person just to admit that to themselves."
"Wait she had the waiter what?!"
"When I went looking for you I noticed that Fae and her friends had already left their table so I figured that she had tipped the waiter to 'accidentally' spill water on your poketch. I asked her last night and she told me that she did."
Shu began to fume, "I just got my poketch! She owes me a new one!"
"Shu, your father and I will buy you a new one. I don't mind considering that I don't have to pay for the hospital or the ambulance."
"Professor Sycamore is covering it?" Shu asked in awe.
"No."
"Fae?"
She nodded, "Fae."
Having spent the rest of their trip in the hospital, Shu was released since the doctor saw that he was in good enough condition to fly. He and his mother returned to Sycamore's lab to collect their belongings so he could drive them to the airport from there. With no poketch to hide inside, Denki took to hovering by Shu's side but made sure to stay close to him at all times.
"Farewell, Kalos," Shu's mother said. "I didn't even get to visit the boutiques."
"I do apologize that you didn't get to explore more of Kalos during your stay but I didn't want Shu to miss any days of school either."
"You could've at least sent us home tomorrow so we'd get home late and I wouldn't have to go to school on Monday."
Sycamore chuckled, "I suppose I might as well have kept you for another day or two to study Denki."
"Sorry about that, Professor. I know you paid a lot of money to bring us out here. I would leave Denki here with you but he won't leave my side."
"No, I understand, Shutsuga. I did get a lot of data just from seeing you interact with Denki even at the hospital."
"Don't remind me," Shu's mother said. "The doctor almost had a heart attack when Denki popped out of the screen."
Shu stifled his laughter with his hand to avoid a stink eye from his mother but Denki snickered without restraint.
"Besides," the professor continued, "I was talking with your mother about a way that I could study you and Denki some more."
"What do you mean?"
Shu's mother turned in her seat and said, "I still have to talk to your dad about it but Professor Sycamore was telling me that there is a prestigious academy here in Kalos not too far from Lumiose City. We don't have enough money to send you there but he won't mind calling in a few favors. The headmaster of the school is a friend of his so she can help reduce the cost of tuition. Your father and I have some money saved up that we could send you for things like food, books, and transportation. For anything else. It would still come out to be expensive for you to live on campus though so Professor Sycamore would be allowing you to sleep at his lab."
Shu's eyes widened as he processed what his mother was telling him. He asked the professor, "You'd actually let me stay with you?"
"Why of course. Sakumo did help me with some of my research by going on expeditions when he first started working at Rowan's lab and besides you would be offering me valuable research material in exchange. As for money for things like going out with any friends you make at school, you'll be working for me at my lab."
"You do realize I have a C- in biology, right?"
Sycamore let out a hearty laugh, "I'm not expecting you to write any research papers on advanced pokemon evolution techniques anytime soon. You'd start by doing basic office work around the lab. I see this as a perfect opportunity to cultivate a young mind full of potential."
"And it doesn't worry you that Denki might blow up your lab?"
Having arrived at their terminal, Sycamore parked the car and turned in his seat to face Shu.
"By then I'm sure that you'll have Denki under control a little more. Who knows, you might have it as your own pokemon. The new semester won't start until September. Just make sure you fill out the application on Soleil Academy's website as soon as you can. I think the deadline already passed but if you complete and submit it in a timely manner, I'm sure Dr. Maple can make a short extension for you. We'll talk more when you're back home."
"Wow...I-I don't know what to say Professor. Its just...I'm not the best at school...I don't want to let you down."
"I'll be with you every step of the way, Shutsuga. And so will my lab aides. This bunch, in particular, is incredibly team oriented so I'm sure you'll feel right at home."
Feeling Sycamore's confidence in him, Shu's look of doubt and uncertainty hardened into one of determination with a hint of excitement. His brows became strong and his lips curled into a smile as he said, "If you think I can do it, then let's do it! Thanks, Professor!"
"It's my pleasure, Shutsuga. Oh! I almost forgot to give you this. Come on, start getting your stuff out of the trunk."
They went to the back of the car where Shu and his mother unloaded their luggage and Sycamore grabbed a small white gift bag which he handed to the cyan-haired boy.
"Open it up."
Shu took a small box out of the bag that read "Holo Caster 3.0."
"Woah, what's this?"
"This is a Holo Caster, the main device that people in Kalos use to communicate with each other via hologram projections."
"This thing has holograms?! No way! Thank you, Professor!"
Without any time to react, Sycamore found the boy wrapping him in a warm hug. The professor smiled as he hugged his aide-to-be in return and patted the boy on the back.
The two separated and Shu opened the device, excited to see how it worked. Denki wasted no time in trying its new home out. It created a projection of itself in front of Shu through the Holo Caster and began dancing around happily.
"I think Denki likes it," Sycamore said. "Now I should let you know that this isn't from me."
"It's not?" Shu asked with a puzzled look. He turned to his mother who shook her head.
"Ms. Leclair said that this is to repay you for your, in her words, 'dinky little watch.'"
"She gave me this?"
"Yes. Her family has quite a lot of money and she doesn't seem to shy about spending it."
"She's a real cutie too, huh Shu?"
His mother nudged him, making the boy's face glow red.
"Mom!" he whined. "C-can we just get on this plane already?!"
A/N: This was a long chapter but you guys deserved it for sticking through these first few chapters to find out how Shu gets to go to Soleil Academy. Is he a little lucky? Yeah but I like to think that it's a combination of luck, networking, and his actions speaking louder than his words. Next chapter we finally get to see the academy! Since Fae is the first submitted character to be introduced I'll take the time here to let you guys know that I will provide credit to the characters on my profile as well as a little bit of information like their pokemon, their class year, and their courses once it is revealed in the story. Remember to read and review! See you next time
