It's been two weeks since Seulgi found Irene's Ninetales wandering around the streets downtown and things had settled down in their dorm. They were no longer at each other's throats which was something she was thankful for, especially since she was getting swamped with schoolwork. Not only did she have mandatory battle strategy classes every day but Jihyo had assigned a paper in their breeding class, due next Tuesday.

Seulgi liked all the work though. She could tell that she was becoming a better Trainer and more adept at communicating with her team. Even her Vulpix was growing up quickly, picking up on things his older teammates were learning. It wouldn't be too long before he would be ready to evolve. Everything seemed to be going peachy, which meant the other shoe had to drop soon.

She was in her room working on researching proper ways to incubate and keep Pokémon eggs while Irene browsed through her emails when a loud explosion erupted through the night sky. Vulpix yelped in fear and ran for the safety of the nearest person, which happened to be Irene, curling up into a tight ball in her lap and shaking like a leaf. The Champion set down her tablet and ran her fingers through the baby Pokemon's fur in attempt to soothe it.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, gently lifting the frightened Pokémon off her crossed legs to peer through the window. Students were running out of Dorm Three, but by the looks of things they were more irritated then scared. Irene felt the bed space next to her depress and scooted over so Seulgi could see. "Oh."

"Oh? Their dormitory just exploded, Irene!"

"Bah, it was bound to happen sooner or later, I told Jackson it would be a bad idea for him to keep two breeding-age male Magmortar in the same room."

Seulgi just stared at her. "You seem awfully nonchalant about this whole thing."

Irene gave her a wry smile, "You'll learn soon enough that this Academy is a strange place. Explosions like that aren't uncommon, we'll probably be given a few days off so maintenance people can repair the damage. Maybe they'll coat the walls in a fireproof material this time to prevent it from happening again."

The raven-haired girl settled back down on her bed and resumed reading on her tablet while Seulgi slowly got up to return to her desk. Sure enough, not twenty minutes had passed before both of their tablets beeped with a video alert. Seulgi pressed the icon on her tablet and message from Professor Kim popped up on-screen.

"Students of Kalos Academy. No doubt you have heard of the incident that happened just a little while ago. Rest assured that we will have this sorted out as soon as possible so as not to interfere with everyone's studies. However, the damage to Dorm Three was rather extensive and as of tomorrow morning the campus will be closed for the rest of the week while everything is repaired."

"See? Couple of free vacation days, nothing to worry about. Now are you almost done with studying; I'd like to get to bed."

"Y-yeah, I don't think I'm going to get anymore studying done at this rate." Seulgi turned off her desk lamp and retreated to her loft. Vulpix jumped off Irene's bed with a tiny thump and joined his Trainer. "Irene?"

"Yeah Seulgi?"

"Did Professor Kim say the campus was going to be closed all week?"

"Mhm. What's the matter with that? Way I see it I get to relax for like five days."

Seulgi recalled her Vulpix and placed him in her overnight healer before getting changed. "I just don't have anywhere that I can go," she whispered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing Irene. Good night."

"Mmm. Night."

Episode 5: Respite

Of course by the next morning the whole Academy was atwitter with gossip about last night's explosion, as everyone packed their bags for the impromptu vacation. No one was more excited about this than Wendy. The time off they were given wasn't enough for her to take a trip home to Kanto to see her father, but her family had a nice enough house in the city that she could comfortably spend the week playing videogames with Joy and Yeri, eating their weight in junk food.

At least that was her plan until she saw a morose-looking Seulgi leave her dorm with a single suitcase, a frown on her face. Wendy still felt bad about how they left things a couple of weeks ago so she sidled up to her, "Hey Seul, why the long face?"

"Hello Wendy. I guess I'm just irritated about the whole campus being closed for the rest of the week. I'm a transfer student from Johto, where the hell am I going to go?"

Wendy hissed sympathetically; she had forgotten that the other girl was a transfer student. "Well hey, if you need a place to stay for the week you can come hang with me, Joy and Yeri. Dad set me up with this sweet place in the city and you're more than welcome to use one of the guest rooms."

Seulgi grinned, a wide bright smile that had Wendy's heart leaping with happiness. "Really? I wouldn't want to intrude on your break Wendy."

"Then don't," a voice called from behind them. It was Moonbyul, carrying a duffel bag in one hand. "Why stay with Wendy at her place when you can join me, Solar, Daniel, Jihyo and some others at my parents' estate? You and your roommates can totally come too Wendy, we have an indoor pool, fully stocked bar…"

Wendy's eyes widened, she knew she probably shouldn't accept the offer but some things were too great of a temptation even for her. She'd heard of the Moon estate, it was supposed to be massive. Moonbyul may be the current Hoenn champion, which came with some damn decent pay, but her parents were multi-millionaires. She turned to Seulgi, "You gonna go? It sounds like it could be a lot of fun."

"And God knows you need to unwind a little, you carried this dorm to victory it's the least I can offer," Moonbyul added.

Seulgi looked back and forth between Wendy and Moonbyul. Honestly she hadn't expected for them to be this welcoming. But it was leagues better than what she had planned to do, which was to get a hotel room somewhere, so she nodded. "I'd love to go, Moonbyul."

"Great! Our ride should be here in…" she checked her watch. "Fifteen minutes. I was just on my way to get Solar, Daniel and Jihyo."

"We'll join you then, if that's okay," Seulgi said.

"I'll text my roommates and let them know the change in plan," Wendy started tapping out a message on her newly repaired tablet.

"No problem. Like my mom always says, the more the merrier."

XXX

Irene watched Seulgi, Wendy and Moonbyul walk off in the direction of Dorm Two and for a brief second she wondered what it would be like to join them. But she figured the best use of her time would be to head out to Kiloude City for a few days so she could bond with the rest of her team.

The Kalos Champion made her way to the main building, where her ride was supposed to pick her up. But instead of the taxi she was expecting, a sleek black town car was idling in the pick-up lane. Next to it stood a large burly man in sunglasses, and Irene knew he was there for her. How did her father find out about this?

"Miss Irene, your father wishes to have a word with you."

"I'll bet he does. I however have zero interest in speaking with him so please leave." Her fingers twitched at her side, ready to call out one of her Pokémon should her father's lackey prove to be less than reasonable.

The man took off his sunglasses and sighed, reaching for his belt and calling out a Pidgeot. The large bird Pokemon squawked and landed next to him. "I apologize, but he's asked me to pick you up regardless."

Who the hell does my father think he is? I'm not some type of dog to be summoned whenever and wherever he wants. Irene took a deep calming breath. It wasn't this man's fault that he was sent to retrieve her, but she wasn't about to give in. "Zebstrika, Wild Charge."

Her Zebstrika burst out of its ball and charged forward towards the Pidgeot, sparks dancing on its fur. The poor Pidgeot only had time to back up about a foot before being struck by the attack, falling faint not a second later. "He should know better by now than to send people to bully me. I'm the strongest Trainer in Kalos, nothing he throws in my way can stop me."

The man recalled his fainted Pokemon with a small scowl and retreated back to his car. Irene's father was going to flay him alive for not bringing his daughter back like he'd requested. With a roar, the engine started up and he left.

Irene exhaled, closing her eyes and trying to will her heartbeat to return to normal. Zebstrika leaned in to nuzzle his Trainer, letting out a comforting nicker. "You're right buddy. I'm not gonna let my father ruin my week. Come on, let's go."

Dragging her roll-away suitcase behind her, the two of them walked to the main gates of the school. She was about to leave the grounds when a horn honked behind her. If that's my father's toady again I swear….She turned around but instead of coming face to face with a pair of sunglasses, she saw Leeteuk. The stately champion rolled down his window and poked his head out. "Need a ride?"

"Anywhere but here," Irene replied, recalling her Zebstrika and approaching the car. Leeteuk chuckled, unlocking the back seat and waiting for his protégé to get in. "This is not how I wanted my vacation to start."

XXX

"Holy. Shit." Yeri gasped, looking out the window at the large wrought-iron gates. Just beyond them he could see an enormous, sprawling estate complete with what looked like a basketball court and multiple battling arenas. The grounds were expertly kept, and the long winding driveway to the main house was lined with trees and flowers. "I'd heard about the Moon estate but I never imagined…"

Solar giggled. "Moonbyul's parents are old money Yeri, this is just one of their houses. They stay here during the school year and always invite me over for Thanksgiving. Did you know the back of the estate leads out to one of the local beaches?"

Seulgi could almost see the young Trainer vibrating with excitement, and she agreed with her. Here she thought she'd be spending the week at a hotel, and now? Now she gets to have fun with her friends at this gorgeous retreat. "Moonbyul this place is astounding."

The Hoenn Champion grinned, leaning out the window to input the gate code. "Thanks, Seulgi. This has been my family's main base of operations ever since I started at the Academy, it'll be really nice to share it with everyone."

Several minutes and many compliments later, the shuttle bus they'd rented drifted to a stop at the front door of the Moon mansion. An older woman flung open the door and bustled outside, calling out, "Where's my girl?"

Seulgi had never seen Moonbyul smile so widely and it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. The Hoenn Champion hopped out of the bus and ran over to her mother, giving her a tight hug. "It's good to see you, Mom."

Seulgi could see the family resemblance between the two even though Moonbyul's silver hair was a far cry from her mother's natural hair color. Solar was the next to exit and Moonbyul's mother wrapped her up in a similarly tight embrace.

"There's my future daughter-in-law! Are you keeping my baby under control?"

Solar beamed, "To the best of my abilities, Mrs. Moon. It's a full-time job though."

Moonbyul's cheeks colored as she half-heartedly slapped her girlfriend's arm. "Mom, I'd like you to meet my friends. Since the school's being closed to deal with the damage done by the explosion I thought I'd invite them all here for the week."

By now everyone had disembarked and Joy and Yeri were sorting everyone's luggage for them. "It's no problem at all, Byul. Like I always say, the more the—"

"Yeah, the more the merrier." Moonbyul began pointing at each person in order and introducing them. "We have Wendy, Joy and Yeri from Dorm One. Wendy's got a wicked sense of strategy, I hope she doesn't come for my title one day. The two token heterosexuals that are busy making heart eyes at each other are Daniel and Jihyo, from Dorms Two and Three. And this is—"

"Ah, you're Seulgi!" Moonbyul's mother exclaimed. Seulgi was pleasantly surprised that the older woman knew her name. "Byul sent me the videos from the dorm competition, you're a very talented Trainer."

Seulgi blushed. "Please, I'm not nearly as accomplished as the people standing here with me."

Mrs. Moon tutted in disapproval, "Don't sell yourself short dearie, it takes a special kind of person to be able to pull victory from the jaws of defeat like that." She turned to face the rest of the group. "I bet you're all hungry after the drive up here, why don't you put your things inside and I'll make us lunch."

As she walked back inside, Wendy whispered to Moonbyul, "Your mother is amazing, I love her."

"She is kind of great, isn't she? Don't get too comfortable though, we've got work to do after we eat."

"Work?" Joy butted in, "I thought this was supposed to be a break?"

Moonbyul shrugged. "Mom always taught me to value hard work. In exchange for staying here we're going to work down the road at the Pokémon shelter our family runs. Don't knock it til you try it though, it's a lot of fun."

The mansion had eight different guest rooms, all of them styled after a different Pokémon type. Solar and Moonbyul immediately claimed the one with a king-sized bed that had been modeled to represent the Water type. Seulgi got the chance to peek inside while everyone was unpacking their things.

Daniel and Jihyo took the rooms that had been decorated with red and green respectively, though Seulgi was pretty sure that they'd probably end up only using one room. Wendy, Joy and Yeri staked their claims on the Dark, Ghost and Psychic rooms so that they were all next to each other. In fact, she found Yeri and Wendy jumping on Joy's bed, while the latter looked on impassively. Seulgi giggled; Joy would have her hands full with them.

At the end of the hall was a room with a large window that overlooked a small cliff that reached out to the beach below. Seulgi placed her things on the bed and hummed in satisfaction as she looked at the soft blueish-white walls. This one must be decorated to represent the Flying-type.

There was a soft knock on the door and Seulgi turned around to see Solar. "Mrs. Moon says lunch will be ready in ten minutes."

"Thanks. I still can't get over this place, it's more than I could have ever imagined."

The older girl smiled. "You're taking this better than I did the first time Byul took me here. I freaked out, I was so worried that her family wouldn't like me. Not because we had started dating, but because they were just so much…richer than I was. Back then I was just a Coordinator that was just starting to make a name for herself. But her entire family was so genuinely nice that by the second day they had already started calling me their future daughter-in-law."

"How long have you two been together, anyway?"

"Almost three years now. Byul and I visit here during winter break to spend time with her family. I'll have to show you around later, this whole estate is incredible. The town puts on a monthly festival down at the beach too, and we're in luck. It's happening tonight."

Solar migrated to sit on Seulgi's bed and the two of them lapsed into conversation until Wendy poked her head in, "Didn't you guys hear? It's lunch time."

"We'll be right there!"

As Seulgi looked out the window one last time, a warm feeling settled in her chest. So this is what it's like to have really good friends. I can't believe how lucky I am.