How's it going, people?! I hope you're all enjoying Mother's Day. It's currently 4 in the morning for me and I've been working on this all week so I wanted to get this out because I wouldn't get a chance later. I am very pleased with the turnout for this SYOC and appreciate everyone who submitted a character and followed the rules and guidelines I set. Now let's respond to a few reviews.

Shinymudkip25: no, I don't know. You'll have to explain what you mean by weird vibe.

emosewa-13: Yeah, most people would know what the Pokemon look like, but I guess I do it more for aesthetic purposes. I'll try to cut down on that and I think I did cut down in this chapter.

Saiko Yonobashi: It's not Mega Evolution. It's nothing really big to us and I'd say it here but I really don't see a point in doing so when you'll find out pretty soon.

Alright, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 1: Arrival in Star Academy

Jubilife City was filled with the honking of cars as they traversed the asphalt conveyer belt many called a street. These conveyer belts intersected hundreds of times throughout the city, separating the towering buildings that gently poked the troposphere. Pedestrians walked along the cement streets, all with a destination in mind, most unaware of the contest taking place in the center of the city – well the one coming to a conclusion.

The four contestants stood side-by-side on the bright neon stage with their Pokemon before them, all eight giving their largest, most genuine smiles for the judges and audience.

The one standing to the far left of the stage was a girl – no older than fourteen. Sweat trickled down her olive skin as her hazel eyes peered through her thin eyelids and found themselves lost in a sea of people shielded by the stage lights that she stood under. Her long chocolate brown hair was tied into a ponytail while a pair of curled locks framed her face – the tips died a golden blonde.

She wore her navy blue contest dress which came down to her knees and had a teal sash wrapped around her waist with a bow resting against the small of her back and the remaining lengths cascading down until they were centimeters above the floor. Her heels screamed in soreness as they were lifted on teal pedestals that sheathed the rest of her feet and despite the aching, she stood up straight with her shoulders back, chest out, and one foot in front of the other. Even with fatigue, a coordinator had to appear presentable.

The other three contestants were like the many coordinators she had met while on her journey across the Sinnoh Region, whom which she would eventually forget. Sure, she would remember competing against them, but their names and faces would escape her memory. They were merely nicely dressed and well-groomed people who she was sure would forget her as well. She had faced many like them and would face many more if Arceus allowed it.

Before her stood a small hippopotamus Pokemon with sandy skin that was darker in some areas and lighter in others. His legs felt like jelly as they quivered underneath him, fighting to keep him up after multiple rounds of performing his arsenal of moves with as much precision and enthusiasm that he could employ. Like his coordinator, he too would most likely forget the Croagunk, Nosepass, and Snover that stood to his left.

Down below sat the three judges that would decide who would walk away with a contest ribbon. The contestants stood patiently as they conversed and became more rigid when the trio looked their way. The elderly gentleman in the center spoke into his microphone and said, "We have reached our decision. The winner of today's contest is…" The long, dramatic response was mostly for the people sitting on a sofa behind the cameras' lenses but damn, was it killing the contestants. "Kari Tomiyama!"

The girl and her Hippopotas' faces lit from the realization of their victory and she immediately ran towards him, surprising the little ground-type by picking him up from behind.

"We did it, Hippopotas!" she cheered with a squeak, almost too choked up to even speak. Kari could feel the defeat, disappointment, and jealousy oozing from behind her, but she didn't care. She just won a Pokemon contest and earned her first ribbon with Hippopotas since he was hatched.

As her defeated competitors left the stage, the elderly judge from before approached her and offered her a dark wooden box. Once he opened it, hazel eyes fixated onto the small orange ribbon lying comfortably on the velvet inside. She picked the symbol of victory up and held it up to Hippopotas, telling him that this was his victory just as much as it was hers. The roar of cheering slammed against her eardrums but it sounded distant as her mind focused on her accomplishment.

Kari had changed out of her contest dress and was now wearing her casual outfit: a long sleeve dark green cowl neck sweater, a pair of black tights, and her favorite pair of brown hiking boots. A cream-colored bead bracelet claimed her left wrist and snow flake-shaped earrings were tacked onto her earlobes. It had taken her some time but she undid her hair, leaving it in a simple fishtail braided ponytail that fell over her shoulder.

As she exited the changing room, she was assaulted by a large hug from both her parents. Her father was a tall, lanky man and her mother was very short, even more so than her, with plump cheeks. They both adorned weary eyes that spoke on behalf of the hard work they did to support their daughter.

"We're so proud of you!" her mother said excitedly, joy flushing through her heart.

"Didn't I tell you that those poffins would improve Hippopotas' performance?" her father said, adding to his ego.

Kari chuckled, "Oh how the Steel Chef is always right when it comes to food." He rubbed his nose proudly with one finger. Suddenly, an orange monkey leapt into her arms and she shouted with glee, "Chimchar!" The fire-type climbed onto her should and she rubbed the side of his face with her palm. "I'm sorry I didn't use you in this contest." Chimchar merely nodded and cried his name which she took as forgiveness.

She then looked past her parents to find her father's best friend from the army and his lovely family. The head of the household was a stout bald man with a rugged goatee warming his face. His wife, who stood at the same height as him, was an angel. She had long dark hair that fell in gentle waves and bright ruby eyes framed by her light skin. On either side of them were their two sons. One was the same age as Kari and the other four years younger than both of them. Both brothers shared their mothers crimson eyes and dark hair but were coated in their father's slightly tanned skin.

The crimson-eyed woman spoke, "You did great, Kari! You really deserve that ribbon!"

She smiled warmly at her, "Thanks Mrs. Villagran. I have your son thank for Hippopotas, though."

The ruby adolescent gave a nervous smile while scratching the back of his head.

"It was nothing really. Hippopotas only turned out so great because he has such a great coordinator."

Kari could not help but smile at her friend's compliment. "Thanks for taking care of Chimchar for me."

"Y-yeah, no problem."

She then turned to the younger Villagran brother and asked, "What did you think, Frankie?"

He shrugged, "It was okay."

The olive girl rolled her eyes and quickly planted a kiss on the boy's cheek to which she got an immediate response in the form of a smile.

"Okay, it was awesome."

She grinned down at him and said, "You're lucky I like compliments."

Mr. Villagran patted his friend on the back and bellowed, "Alright, Steven, I think we should get these kids to the airport for their flight!"

Kari's father nodded and the two families went to their separate cars before heading to the Jubilife City airport. Because Mark and Kari's flight was in the evening, they figured that they could squeeze in one last contest before their departure.

Alex stood before the sliding automatic doors of the Saffron City airport with his backpack slung over one shoulder and his sports bag on the opposite one. His father pulled on his suit case as they strolled up to the luggage check-in desk. After an emotional goodbye with his mother, the boy and his father left her with his two younger sisters in the car so they could lap around the unloading area.

Once the airport worker took Alex's bags, the father and son stepped out of line and looked at one another.

The large man put a thick hand on his son's shoulder and said, "Alright, Alex, I want you to have fun over there but do not put anything above your schoolwork, okay? That means girls too."

"Don't worry, pop. I'm going to become an awesome trainer! When I come back, I'm going to be much stronger and you'll be able to tell just by one look at me."

He chuckled and nodded understandingly at his son. "I know you will." He pulled Alex into a hug and the boy returned it. When they separated, his father said, "I'm going to miss you, Al."

The brunette's expression softened as he responded, "I'm going to miss you too, dad."

The man nudged his head towards the metal detectors and said, "You should get on your way. Your flight will be taking off soon."

Alex nodded, "Right…well I'll see you later, dad." The boy turned and began walking towards the metal detector with nothing but the clothes on his back, an orange backpack secured around his shoulders, and his determination.

Alex had been on the plane for several hours stuffed between an overweight man that smelled like cheesy puffs and an elderly gentleman that snored through the entire ride. The adolescent had to ask for napkins multiple times to clean the oozing saliva that dripped down onto his shirt.

A flight attendant's voice sounded through the speakers, "Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing. Please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing."

Thank Arceus!

He peered over the round man's gut to find a large expanse of water but no sign of the island they were landing on. According to the student handbook, which he quickly skimmed through, the island was shaped like a star – hence the name of the school.

Moments later, he felt a gentle thud underneath him instantly followed by the sensation of deceleration. Soon, the plane had completed its stop and Alex wasted no time in getting off and going to luggage claim.

Alex waited there for half an hour, watching as other people redeemed their possessions but his bags never came down.

Are you freaking kidding me?! Of course this would happen to me! Let me see if I can find a worker.

His search led him to the information booth where he found a young woman sitting behind the window. Her eyes were lifeless as she chewed her gum mechanically and stared blankly at the computer screen in front of her. Her chin rested against the palm of her hand with her elbow pressed against the desk. Alex stood there for several minutes waiting for her to call him up but she just kept opening and closing her mouth, producing obnoxious noises with her gum.

"Uh, excuse me?"

The only thing that changed was the position of her eyes when they shifted to look at him.

"Yes?" she asked as though giving him her attention was the biggest favor anyone could for another person.

"Um, my bags never came down. Did they get lost?"

"Let me check." She paused for a short moment, never once breaking contact with him, and responded, "No."

"You didn't even look at your screen," Alex countered trying not to let his frustration surface. He wasn't doing a fantastic job at it.

"Look, kid. My shift is over. I'm just waiting for someone to take over."

"But you're here right now and the computer is right in front of you!"

Another voice caught his attention, "Hey, are you a student at Star Academy, mon?"

Alex turned to find another young man standing behind him. He was very tall, standing at around six feet, with a dark hide. He wore a pair of tinted glasses, but Alex could see dark eyes behind them. His black hair was styled into dreads that fell down to his mid-back and black ink marked his inner right forearm, spelling out the words "One Love" in cursive style.

His clothing was very casual and simplistic consisting of a bright shirt with palm trees scattered all over it, a pair of khaki shorts, and brown sandals. A gold chain could be found around his neck despite some of it falling behind his shirt and a red, green, and yellow beanie hung from the back of his head.

"Yeah…" Alex said cautiously.

"Don't worry, brudda. All SA students get deir luggage transferred to the academy by boat. Da next boat leaves soon so we should get going." The colorful stranger turned and began walking, knowing that Alex would follow.

The emerald-eyed boy looked at the employee to find that she had lost interest in what was going on a long time ago and resumed staring at her monitor. With nothing left for him there, Alex ran off after the tall adolescent.

When he caught up, Alex asked, "So this isn't Star Island?"

"Nope. This is Crescent Island. The only way to get to Star Island is by boat."

"Ohhh. So are you a Star Academy student too?"

"You betcha' mon!" His smile was large to the point of contagion. "I'm a second year and I'm guessin' you're a freshy, ya?"

"By that you're asking if it's my first time, right?"

"Whoa!" the colorful boy said while playfully raising his hands in defense. "I didn't say anyting about your sex life." It took Alex a second to understand the joke but when he did, he couldn't help but laugh along. "So what's your name?"

"I'm Alex. What's yours?"

"Da names Aaron."

"Nice to meet you! So second year, huh? I bet you've got lots of strong Pokemon, right?"

"Naw, mon, I'm a breeder. Making 'strong' Pokemon isn't really my ting."

"Breeder?"

"Ya." He pulled on both ends of Alex's ear. "Hello? Is anybody in der?" He let the younger boy go and asked, "Did you tink only trainers went to SA?"

Alex chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Kind of."

"Oh you're in for a treat den, because you're about to meet all sorts of people wit different reasons for bein' here."

"Sounds sweet! How are the chicks?"

Aaron simply pressed his thumb to his index finger and simultaneously winked while clicking his tongue and that was all Alex needed to know.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Alex said, rushing ahead.

Aaron laughed, "Hold on, brudda! You don't even know where we're goin'!"

Alex planted his feet firmly on the soft soil and took a breath of fresh air when he and Aaron got off the ferry and arrived on Star Island. The first year could immediately sense a difference between the two islands. Crescent Island was noisy, filled with all sorts of sounds varying from honking cars to chatter amongst its citizens. There were no Pokemon with the exception of the Pidove standing on buildings and searching for food on the streets, the alley Rattata, and the occasional pet.

Star Island was covered in forests for miles and the air smelled fresh unlike its polluted neighbor. Alex could hear the cooing and squawking of several kinds of bird Pokemon and if he looked closely, he could see various bug-types in the grass or in the trees. He was more accustomed to large expanses of green than to gray.

"So where's the academy?" Alex asked.

"I'm glad you asked," responded an unfamiliar voice.

Alex's head followed the male voice and his emerald eyes fell upon a man with a mop of stringy chestnut locks that covered his ears and swept over his forehead. A pair of rectangular glasses separated his violet eyes from the rest of the world.

Taking one look at his clothing, Alex knew that this man had to be a teacher. The black blazer over the salmon-colored dress shirt were clear indicators of that. His khakis were perfectly ironed, completely devoid of wrinkles and his dress shoes reflected a ray of the high afternoon sun.

Aaron greeted him politely, "Hello, Dr. Boykin."

The teacher turned to the tall boy and offered him a smile as he responded, "Hello, Aaron. It's good to see you again." The chestnut man's voice was rather deep for his lanky appearance. He returned his attention to Alex and said, "And I'm assuming you're a first year, correct?"

Alex nodded with a friendly smile, "Yeah! My name's Alex."

An ivory hand stretched out in front of him. "It's nice to meet you, Alex. I am Dr. David Boykins, one of the instructors here at Star Academy."

"Seriously?! That's awesome! What do you teach?"

Just as Dr. Boykin was about to speak, he was interrupted by a short woman with burning auburn hair yet gentle sapphire eyes. She looked young, but definitely could not have been mistaken for a student with the amount of red covering her lips. Other than her lipstick, faint traces of blush and mascara could be detected but she had applied enough to not look like a clown.

Her clothing was casual but very classy consisting of a white blouse, a green skirt, and a thin beige cardigan to protect her milky skin from burning. She wore a pair of green flats on account of the terrain and her right wrist sported a silver bracelet.

"Yes, Jane?" the man asked.

"I'm going to take this group to the academy. Can you wait here for the next one?"

He gave his colleague a courteous nod paired with a gentle smile and looked at Alex.

"We can continue talking later. Please follow Dr. Beatty to that bus over there. It will take you to the academy." The students followed his finger to a yellow bus that others were already boarding. "I'll see you both at the banquet."

The bus ride was not too long but Alex could not believe that it took him a car, a plane, a boat, and a bus all to reach Star Academy. The good thing was that he was finally on campus and he finally got his luggage which had been transferred from the boat onto the bus. Dr. Beatty directed Alex to the admissions office where he would get his room key and class schedule.

After waiting in line, they reached the front and Alex decided to let Aaron go first. It was more because he wanted to see the older boy handle the situation first so that he didn't ask any stupid questions.

"Next!" the young woman behind the desk called.

Alex approached the plump raven-haired woman and said, "Hi, I'm here for my room key and schedule."

"Mhm," she responded cheerily. "Can I get your name?"

"Alex Arceo." She pulled up a drawer somewhere behind the desk and pulled out a folder. Upon opening it, her smile disappeared. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I have your room key right here but it seems that you forgot to sign up for classes."

Alex's eyes widened as much as they possibly could have as he stammered, "W-what?! I had to enroll in them?! I thought that we were assigned classes!"

"Did you read the student manual?"

He mentally slapped his forehead and let out a strained groan, "I skimmed…"

"I'm sorry. You really should have read through it."

The brunette put his hands on the edges of the desk and desperately asked, "Is there any way I can get my classes right now?"

Her face scrunched, "Sorry, not here. I have to check in other students. If you go down the hall and go to the first door on your left, you might be able to find someone to help you."

Alex darted out of the room and quickly entered the door the admissions lady told him and found himself in a small lobby with a long desk separating it from the next room. On the other side of that desk was a thin young woman with dark skin and frizzy hair tied into a bun.

She looked up at him and greeted, "Hi there, how can I help you?"

She was answered by an almost incoherent group of words which she made out to be, "I didn't sign up for classes and I need to get in. Can you help me?"

"Sure?" she said, not too sure. "At this point, though, almost all of the classes are full."

"Just put me in any classes that you can find, please." This time, he spoke more clearly.

The worker nodded before turning to the computer in front of her and asking, "What's your name?"

"Alex. Alex Arceo."

"And what program are you in?"

"Program?"

"You know, trainer, coordinator, breeder, researcher?"

"Trainer."

The room fell silent except for the clicking of keys as the young woman pressed them without fault. She finally looked up at him and said, "Alright, Sugar Plum, I'm printing out your schedule right now."

As the thin woman walked to the printer, Aaron walked in through the door and said, "You forgetting something, mon?"

Alex turned to find the older boy with both of their luggage and his stomach dropped with the guilt that fell into it. But that only lasted a second before the young woman said, "Alright, Alex here's your schedule." He accepted the papyrus excitedly and hungry eyes roamed over it.

The emerald orbs slowed as he read the contents of the paper. It was a planner separated into days of the week with the time slots on the side and boxes with the name and instructor of his classes plotted on the grid.

Okay, so Monday I have Pokemon Habitats from eight to eight-thirty. That's a drag but oh well. Algebra from eleven to eleven-fif – "Wait!" he shouted, not really trying to get anyone's attention. He was mostly doing it to stop himself. "Algebra?" His eyes scrambled over the schedule and he read aloud, "Chemistry? P.E.? Mythology? Hold on!" His head snapped up to the woman. "This is actual school stuff! I mean, I don't mind P.E. but what about the other stuff?"

Her eyebrow scrunched and she cocked her head slightly, thrown off by his statement. He made it sound like this was blasphemous.

"Well, yes. This is a school, after all."

Aaron managed to connect the pieces and started laughing, catching the others' attention.

"Oh, no, mon, you've got the wrong idea about dis place. You tought dat you were just gonna' learn about Pokemon battling, ya?"

Alex nodded slowly, unsure of what he was getting at.

"Well you learn dat here, but dis is an actual high school where you learn about other subjects."

The worker finally understood Alex's confusion herself and clarified, "Oh, Sweet Pea, let me explain how classes work around here. Since you're in the trainer program, you'll be in the Battle Styles and Tactics class for your three years here. You're also going to have Physical Education and an elective ever year. Now you only need two years of a single elective but some students pick a class thinking they'll like it when they end up not liking it so after each quarter for your first year, we give you the option to change electives."

"Okay, but what about the math and other stuff?"

"Well in addition to your occupational, P.E., and elective classes, every year you must take one math class, one humanities class, one physical science class, and one Pokemon science class. You didn't pick your classes before so I just put you in whatever was available, but don't worry, all of the requirements are met by these classes."

Alex took one last look at his schedule and read the rest of his classes to himself. "Hey, what does it mean by Physical Education 'C'?"

"Well we have two instructors for Physical Education and they each teach two classes. So Coach Whittier teaches P.E. A on Mondays and Wednesdays and P.E. D on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Coach Roads has P.E. B on Mondays and Wednesdays and P.E. C on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you look at Friday, though," her thin finger drew Alex's attention onto the thin sheet, "They combine Sections A with C and B with D and teach them together."

Alex nodded slowly as he continued processing the information in before him.

"Are you okay now?" she asked, sincerity apparent in her voice.

A pair of emerald orbs revealed her reflection as the mouth that they shared a body with formed into a genuine smile and said, "Yup! Thanks for everything!" With that, Alex grabbed his luggage and walked out the door with Aaron.

The older boy now had to show the first year where the dorms were. While they walked, he asked, "You really didn't know?"

Alex shook his head, "No, I seriously thought all I was going to learn here was how to be a better trainer."

"Are you disappointed?"

"Eh, a little, but it doesn't matter what classes they throw at me. I'll pass them all with flying colors!"

Alex's optimism and quick recovery forced a smile upon Aaron's face. He hadn't known this boy for an hour and he was already drawn to his positive energy. Forty minutes was all it took for him to know that Alex was the type to get hit by a Donphan's Rollout and get back up to take another.

"This schedule is kind of weird, though."

"Are you talking about de large spaces between them?"

"Yeah, how come I have like a two-hour break between my first two classes? And how come I only go to most of these twice a week?"

"Dat's to prevent classes from conflicting."

"But how come my last class on Mondays and Wednesdays doesn't end 'til six?"

"Dat's just the way they were able to make the schedules. Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds. You'll get used to it pretty quick. Plus on most days, your days ends around three or four and from then on, you have free time."

"Alright, I guess that makes sense."

The duo walked for a few minutes until they reached a set of three buildings with what seemed to be a courtyard between them. The land was rather uneven with the courtyard lower than the base of the buildings but multiple stairs cases bridged the two levels. The courtyard's ground was made of multi-colored cobblestones, but all of the paths around were made of cement. In the center was a fountain with a statue resembling a Manaphy and Phione playing – water was shot out from their mouth pieces and fell over a plate underneath them.

The three buildings resembled apartments and were very similar in design, distinguished only by color. The furthest one from them was on lower ground but stood taller than the other two. Its walls were coated in a peach color but the window sills and other edges on the building were a burning red-orange. The other two buildings were blue and green and shared the quality of light walls and dark edges.

"So these are the dorms?" Alex asked.

"Ya! I'm in Terra. Dat's de orange building."

Alex looked down at the small slip of paper that came with his room key that said his dorm building's name and room number. "I'm in Ventus, 301."

Aaron pointed at the green building and said, "You're gonna' go in there. How about we get settled and den head to the banquet?"

"Sounds good to me!"

Alex entered the Ventus Dorm and found that the inside was rather plain. It was a simple lobby with a couple sofas and a few chairs, a support beam, and an elevator. There wasn't anyone else there so he stepped into the elevator and ascended to the third floor. The search for his room began but before long, he stood in front of a viridian door with the numbers "301" in bronze. He noticed that there was a small lens just under the numbers which he decided to keep in the back of his head.

Using the silver key, he entered the room and found that it was bigger than he thought it would be. His second observation explained why. There was a single bed on one end of the room and a bunk bed on the other. Apparently someone had already claimed the single as evident by the navy and red blanket set on it and the luggage lying next to it. A black backpack sat on the chair by the desk at the foot of the bed so that must have been occupied as well.

Looking around the room, he noticed that there was a large window at the other end of the room which was left uncovered and there were two more sets of desks and chairs, each with a tall wooden dresser next to them.

Since only the single was occupied, he decided to pick which bunk would be his and pulled his suit case behind him. As he approached the beds, he felt his suit case knock something and heard a loud thud and a small hollow ringing.

Alex turned to find a black guitar lying face down on the floor and his stomach plummeted. Shit! Shit! Shit!

A door on the side wall that he overlooked when entering the room, which was most likely the restroom, flung open and a teenage boy with spiky silver hair stepped out. His dark eyes quickly found the fallen instrument and darted towards the brunette standing on the other side of it.

The silver-haired youth rhetorically asked, "Seriously, dude?!"

"I'm really sorry, I didn't see it there."

"Whatever," he said as he picked the onyx instrument and set it against the wall between his bed and desk.

Alex examined the adolescent in front of him, instantly taking note of his strange hair. It was cut short on the sides but left to a medium length on top to be spiked and swept slightly to the right. A pair of black square-rimmed glasses shielded his onyx orbs. His skin sported a medium tan which only contrasted his hair, making it stand out even more.

The boy wore a short sleeve plum sweater with dandelion yellow lining the bottom, hood, and edges of the sleeves. The zipper was silver as well as the fleur-de-lis on his both of his shoulders. The sweater was zipped halfway, leaving his black undershirt and chain necklace visible. The silver jewelry had a pendant in the shape of a treble cleft and in the center of the bottom swirl was a multi-colored stone. The silver boy's jeans were dark gray and his black sneakers had white bottoms and violet laces. The final touch to his outfit was the black sweatband with ash gray edges on his left wrist.

The stranger turned around and noticed Alex staring at him. He rudely stated, "Sorry, buddy, I don't swing that way."

Alex's brows fell as he quickly went on the offensive and countered, "Really? You hair says otherwise."

Silver's eyes widened upon hearing the retort and stated, "Well I'm glad it's noticeable or your clumsy-ass would bump into me too."

"What kind of idiot leaves his guitar out of the case?! Besides, it was sticking out from behind the wall."

"Well if it was sticking out, maybe you would've seen it!"

"It's a black guitar! How am I supposed to see that?!"

"The rug is light blue!"

"Uhh…is this a bad time?"

The bickering ceased when they turned to find another boy with his hand on the doorknob, but this one had crimson eyes as ripe as a Chople Berry and jet black hair. The white sweater that he sported had cobalt blue sleeves and hood, the dark blue jeans were a comfortable medium between skinny and baggy, and the gray sneakers had traces of blue throughout and white laces.

The silver boy walked past him and said, "I'm going out."

The ruby boy sighed, "I was hoping I'd be able to get along with my roommates."

"He's just on his period because I dropped his guitar on accident." Alex pointed to the onyx instrument leaning against the wall.

"Wow, did you apologize?"

"Yes! And he totally gave me attitude afterwards."

"Don't worry. I'm sure he just needs some time to cool off. I mean, we'll be living together for a whole year. I'm sure he knows that."

Alex merely shrugged and said, "I guess. That's on him, though. I'm Alex, by the way." He put a hand forward and his new roommate accepted it.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Mark."

"I'm not sure if you have a bunk preference, but I just got here so we can work that out. Mr. Attitude took the single."

"Well that depends on who usually wakes up first in the mornings."

"I'm not that big of a morning person."

"Okay, but maybe we should check out schedules to see who has to wake up first."

Alex wagged his index finger at Mark, "That's a good idea."

When the two boys compared schedules, the ruby boy said, "We have two classes together! Guess it doesn't matter who gets which because we'll be leaving at the same time every day."

"Okay, so which do you want?"

"Mmm, it doesn't matter to me."

"Alright, dibs on top!" Mark chuckled as Alex tossed his luggage onto the top bunk and began his ascent. As the two unpacked, Alex asked, "Hey, did you know that we'd be taking actual classes? Like the kind you go to normal high school for?"

"Yes?" he responded, not really sure why Alex was asking this. "Why? Did you not?"

The brunette quickly waved his hands in defense, shook his head, and laughed nervously, "Oh no, I was just asking because I heard some idiot thought that this place was just for becoming a stronger trainer."

Mark laughed along, "Oh, okay. Wow, that guy sure doesn't know what's going on."

"Ha! Ha! Ha! I know right? So what are you here for?"

"Do you mean what program I'm in?" He was answered by a nod. "I'm a breeder. What about you?"

"Trainer…" He was praying to Arceus that Mark did not realize he was the idiot that he mentioned before.

"Cool! So have you started collecting badges already?"

"Yup! I've got a total of five!" Alex was taken by arrogance as he flashed his wallet to his roommate. "I just recently got the Marsh Badge."

"That's awesome! I've done some traveling too with my friend. She's a coordinator and she came here with me."

I hope she's hot. I better stick with this guy to find out.

"What region did you guys travel?"

"Sinnoh. That's where we're both from."

"Sinnoh? I heard it's really cold up there."

"Yeah, it is, even Sunyshore has breezes most of the time. Where are you from?"

"My hometown is Vermillion City in Kanto."

"Kanto, huh? I've heard it's similar to Sinnoh – a few big cities and lots of trees."

"Yeah, that's Kanto for you," Alex chuckled. "Hey, so I agreed to meet up with a friend for the banquet. You want to tag along?"

"I have to meet up with my coordinator friend when I'm done unpacking. If we see each other, we could sit together."

"Sounds good!"

After the frustrating situation with his silver-haired roommate, Alex just wanted to get something to eat and forget about it. The last thing he consumed was the airplane food which was not exactly appetite-pleasing. As he exited the Ventus Dorm, he looked around the courtyard to find that there were more students now, most likely because they were all starting to leave for the dining hall.

His emerald spheres analyzed the area, taking note of some of the attractive girls, until they fell upon Aaron who seemed to be talking to someone but he could not see who because another student was in the way. He began approaching, but the interfering student stepped out of the way and Alex groaned inwardly. Aaron was talking to Silver Hair.

Alex had only spoken to Aaron for about an hour. They weren't exactly the best of friends with years of memories and experiences together. Maybe he could just walk away and go to the banquet by himself. Who knows? He could meet a girl and go with her. That'd be ideal. His plans were thwarted when Aaron's shaded eyes locked with his and the tall boy gestured with his arm for Alex to approach.

Alex neared the two and Silver turned around to which he was greeted with an unpleasant sight. He quickly turned to Aaron and asked, "How do you this clown?!"

"You mean Alex? He's cool, man. Wait, is he the guy you were just tellin' me about?"

"I said I was sorry!" Alex yelled at his roommate.

Aaron turned to the violet-clad boy and said, "Gio, it was just an accident. Alex is a nice guy."

"You've only talked to him for like an hour," the boy, known as Gio, retorted.

"And you've only talked him for a few seconds."

As much as he hated to admit it, Aaron was making a good point. Gio let out a sigh and turned to Alex. "Sorry for snapping at you back there. It's just that guitar cost me a pretty penny. My name's Sergio, by the way."

Alex nodded and introduced himself as well. "I think I'd be pretty pissed if a stranger almost broke something that cost me a lot."

Sergio's lips cracked into a soft smile as he said, "Hey, we don't know anything about an 'almost' just yet. I haven't even checked it."

Alex chuckled, "True. How much did it cost you, exactly?"

"Thirty-thousand Poke Dollars."

"So, um, do you want me to go get you coffee? Pick up your dry-cleaning? Battle some people? Because I'm shy of thirty G's."

Sergio laughed, "How short?"

"Thirty G's." The trio laughed together and afterwards, decided to head to the dining hall.

"Wow, he got mad over someone dropping his guitar?" Kari asked as she and Mark sat inside the dining hall. Chimchar was comfortably sitting on her lap – his tail flame was put out. The room was very large with a converging ceiling and many stain-glass windows high on the walls. The walls appeared cream in color due to the dim yellow lights from the multiple hanging chandeliers. The length of the room had small pathways separated from the rest of the dining room by a series of circular columns.

Like all of the tables inside that room, the table Mark and Kari sat at was very long, capable of seating at least thirty people and there were several of them inside the dining hall, all facing the same direction. At the very end of the room was another long table, which was perpendicular to and not as long as the others, occupied by many adults. The two friends assumed that those were the instructors.

There was no sight of any food, but silverware and utensils were placed in every seat for when the food arrived. Until then, the students spoke to occupy themselves. If they could not eat yet, they would use their mouths for something else.

Mark tried his best to speak over the roar of meshed conversations, "Yeah, I get that Alex should've been more careful but this other guy was being a huge jerk. I could hear them having a yelling match while walking to my room."

"Well, I can't really blame him. I'd be kind of peeved if that happened to me. That's nothing compared to my roommate though. She a total bitch!"

"Why?"

"Okay, first off, she had both beds put together for her to sleep in and told me that I would have to sleep on the floor. On top of that, she already had hired some workers to paint the wall pink! We're not even supposed to put stickers on the walls and she's painting them!"

"I see what you mean. Did you get your bed back?"

"Last time I checked, it was on my side of the room but 'Princess' probably hired someone to move them back together." Mark couldn't help but laugh at his friend's situation. "Why are you laughing?!"

"Because – wait."

"What?"

Ruby orbs locked onto three adolescents as they entered the large room. He pointed to them, causing Kari and Chimchar to both turn their heads. "You see the brunette and the guy with silver hair?"

"Are those your roommates?"

"Yeah. The brunette is Alex. I'm not really sure who the third guy is."

"It seems like they made up. Hey, why don't you call them over?"

"B-because I barely know them."

"Come on, you've gotta' be more social! How are you supposed to make friends if you don't talk to people?"

Mark let out a sigh, dropping the argument before it reached the point where Kari brought up the swing incident from their childhood. "Alright, let me call them over." He stood up and started waving until Alex saw him and the trio approached them.

Upon seeing Kari, Alex immediately got excited. Yes! She's freaking cute! Mark sat down and introduced the two.

As Alex shook her hand, he said, "Nice to meet you. Mark, Kari, this is Aaron and Sergio."

"Nice to meet you all!" Kari responded cheerily as she shook each of their hands. Her eyes locked onto Sergio and she said, "Mark said you were hard to miss and he wasn't kidding."

The silver-haired youth laughed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I thought it'd be a nice change, you know? My natural hair color is black."

She nodded, "Yeah, it actually looks pretty cool."

Note to self: dye your hair, Alex instructed himself.

As the three boys took their seats at the table, Mark said, "So you guys made up?"

Sergio nodded, "Yeah, sorry for giving you the cold shoulder before."

"It's okay. As long as everything is okay now." He shot Alex an "I told you so" look.

Suddenly, their ears were filled with the gentle chime of a spoon meeting a glass cup and the room fell silent. All eyes turned to the gentleman creating the sound. He was a tall man with dark skin, caramel eyes, and a shiny head. The only visible hair was his sideburns which met underneath his chin. His forehead was creased with a few worry lines, evidence for his years of hard work. He wore a simple suit and tie with the blazer left undone, nothing too distinguishable.

This man stood in the center behind the long table perpendicular to the rest of the tables. To either sides of him were several adults, each wearing professional attire. Alex identified two of these people: Dr. Boykin and Dr. Beatty but the rest were new faces to him.

Upon garnering the students' attention, the tall man smiled and began speaking, "Thank you all for your attention." His voice was deep, but very calm and slightly mysterious. "I am Professor Robert Cedar, the dean here, and it is my pleasure to welcome you all to Star Academy. Each of you is here because we have seen potential in you – potential that you have been wise in using up to this point – and the faculty here is dedicated to help you reach your full potential and grow even more as an individual. Before me are some the world's brightest minds, strongest wills, and largest hearts, brought together by your love of Pokemon and your drive to reach greater heights. Seated to both my left and right are the capable individuals who will be your instructors this year and I would like each of them to take a moment to introduce themselves."

Starting from the far right, each instructor introduced him or herself and the subject or subjects that they taught, but Alex mostly just paid attention to those whose classes he had. He couldn't really tell if this was good or bad but he was in neither Dr. Boykin nor Dr. Beatty's classes. Once the last instructor finished her introduction, Professor Cedar reclaimed everyone's attention.

"Thank you for introducing yourselves and for being with us this year." He redirected his speech back to the students and said, "These instructors are here as resources and guides to help you during your time here – each determined to help you all. You have a long year ahead of you and only you can decide what you do with your time here. Now before we start eating, I just wanted to tell you that classes begin tomorrow. With all of that out of the way, I think it's time for the food to be served."

From the other end of the room, waiters entered through swinging doors with covered platters in their hands. They spread out across the room synchronously, setting the silver discs in front of the students, and returned to the kitchen to get more. Just as one walked into the kitchen, another came out with sheathed platter and this process continued until all of the plates had been distributed.

Cedar raised his hands and announced, "Let's eat!"

The dishes were uncovered, revealing a spread of food that could satisfy any diet. There was meat, there was fruit, there were vegetables, sea food, pasta, pizza, tacos, and any food one could think of. Alex's eyes shimmered with joy as he started making his selections and gorging on the spread, disgusting some of the health conscious students, surprising his new friends, and amusing the faculty.

"I'm glad that I could fill your palate," a deep voice resonated from behind. Alex turned to find Professor Cedar standing behind him with a satisfied smile.

The brunette swallowed the bundle of food in his mouth and responded cheerily, "This food is amazing!" The dark man chuckled. "Oh! By the way, Professor Oak says hi!"

The professor's eyes widened upon hearing that name and a sudden realization occurred to him. The slight look of astonishment softened into a friendly smile as he said, "Ah, so you're Alex. Oak said you were an interesting one. First, Nancy and Lily tell me what happened in the admissions office earlier today and now I see your vigor and spirit." He chuckled to himself. "Professor Oak wasn't lying." He placed a large hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "I hope you enjoy your stay here."

Alex nodded and called to the, now leaving, headmaster, "Thanks!"

The banquet ended and Alex was lying on his back with a stomach so full that he looked like a pregnant Kangaskhan.

Sergio was strumming his guitar to check if there was any inner damage to it when he teased Alex, "You're going to put this school into bankruptcy with all the food you eat."

Mark laughed and added, "Yeah! I didn't think someone could eat a dozen barbecue wings and a whole pizza in under ten minutes."

Alex responded, "And I'm two-thousand Poke Dollars richer for it."

Sergio laughed and shook his head before stating, "Well tomorrow is your guys' first day so you should get some sleep."

As Mark placed his Poketch on his night stand, he queried, "Wait, so you're not a first year?"

"Nope, second year researcher."

"What do you research?" Mark followed up.

The silver boy could not control the grin that surfaced onto his face. "I can go on about it for hours but I'm actually really tired. Remind me again tomorrow, alright?" His roommates nodded their approval. Sergio reached for his lamp and said, "Good night."

Special thanks to Shujinko for Aaron Chancler

Yas! I'm done! Okay, so a few things about why this chapter is so long. For starters, I had to introduce all of the main characters (and one submitted character) and give a good amount of their personalities so you guys could get a feel for them. Then there were SO many things that I had to explain like Star Academy being on Star Island and the city being on Crescent Island, the schedule system, and the dorms. Plus giving descriptions of people and places takes up a nice chunk of word count.

Now I apologize for only revealing one submitted character, which was Aaron. Kari, mine. Mark, mine. Sergio, mine. Dr. Boykin, mine. Dr. Beatty, mine. I'm also very sorry that there was no battle and hardly any mention to Pokemon in general in this chapter with the exception of Kari's Hippopotas and Chimchar. The next chapter will have a few more characters revealed and it should not be as long as this one. As I've said before, I want this story to be driven more by the plot than by the battles.

Now, it took me days to figure out which teachers teach which subjects, how the schedule system should work, and which classes Alex, Mark, Kari, and Sergio will be taking so this is where I need you guys to make my life easier. For everyone who has a student character in this story, go to my profile and you'll see that under the OC Student Form, I have a list of classes sorted by type. I'd like you to PM a list of your character's classes. Because the occupational class is predetermined and all students take P.E., you will be deciding the math, humanities, physical science, Pkmn science, and elective classes that your character will be taking. For math, all first years will be taking Algebra so if your character is a first year, DO NOT bother with it. If your character is a second year, it could be possible that they failed Algebra and had to take it again and if they are a third year, it is possible that they failed Algebra or Geometry and are in Geometry. If the third year is in Geometry, specify which class they failed. The classes you select for your character will determine how the story plays out because the interactions between characters will be determined by which ones have classes together.

Alright, so I've come to the decision to remove Eric from the story so in this story, Mark does not have an older brother named Eric. Some of my other personal characters have been dropped like Takuya, Wesley, and Marisa because I felt like none of their story lines were prominent enough and that none of them could stand alone.

Now this is for all of my readers. Because "Pokemon Academy: A New Dawn" was the story that I did QOTD's for, I feel it only appropriate to do it for this story as well. I'm not sure if I'll be doing this every chapter, but I'll definitely be doing them.

QOTD: A few of the characters from my previous PA stories will be appearing in this story as well. From all of the submitted characters in PA, who was your favorite?

Here's a list of characters that were mine. These were NOT submitted: Alex, Mark, Eric, Takuya, Marisa, Wesley, Vanessa, Grant, and Roman. The rest of the characters were submitted and you can pick from them.

Now I'm going to bed so that I can get a few hours of sleep before I have to wake up. Legacy, night night!