Seulgi collapsed on a lounge chair and closed her eyes, soaked from head to toe but in a very good mood. The water fight had gone on until the sun started going down with Yeri and Joy declared the winners. There was simply no Pokémon that could match the speed Yeri's Arcanine had, and any who came up against the unstoppable duo fell to a barrage of water balloons.
Of course Seulgi felt like she had come out on top anyway. Having Irene pressed up against her back as they rode Mr. Fuzzles into battle was a victory in its own. What girl wouldn't like her crush to hold onto her?
Speaking of Irene, her roommate was a few feet away, chatting idly with Wendy and Joy. It made Seulgi happy to see the raven-haired Trainer interacting with other people. Irene was slowly letting her walls down around their friends and it was a beautiful sight to see.
"I see everyone had fun," Moonbyul's mother approached the group. Her Loudred held a stack of towels in its hands as they went around offering towels to everyone. Seulgi wrapped an orange towel around her waist, thanking the older woman for her kindness.
"Next time we're banning Yeri from using Arcanine, that's basically cheating," Moonbyul complained cheekily, toweling off her wet hair.
"You started it," Solar pointed out, shivering. Moonbyul grabbed another towel and draped it over her girlfriend's shoulders.
"Oh!" Everyone turned to look at Mrs. Moon. "While I have everyone here, let's all gather around for a group picture. I want everyone to remember this."
The nine young Trainers huddled together as the Moon matriarch brought out a camera. Seulgi ended up wedged between Joy and Jihyo with Irene in front of her. Joy gave Seulgi a knowing wink as they all posed for the camera. "Everybody say Pikachu!"
"PIKACHU!" The camera flashed.
"Perfect," Mrs. Moon said. "I'll send the pictures to Byul so all of you can have a copy. Now dry yourselves off quickly, dinner's in an hour."
"Yes Mrs. Moon!" Came the chorus of replies.
"Such polite young Trainers," she smiled. "Oh, that reminds me." She pulled out a list from her apron. "I need someone to grab a few things from the market down the road for me. We're out of soda and chips."
"I'd be happy to go," Irene piped up. "I could use a nice walk anyway."
"Thank you dearie." Joy casually cleared her throat and pushed Seulgi towards Mrs. Moon.
"I'll go too," Seulgi volunteered, shooting daggers at Joy, who pretended like she didn't know anything. Irene looked surprised but she didn't complain.
"How sweet. Well then the two of you better be off. Joohyun you remember where the market is right?"
The Champion nodded, going over the list and mentally figuring out how much to get so everyone was happy. "We'll be back soon, Mrs. Moon."
As Seulgi left she mouthed I'm going to kill you in Joy's direction. Of course since Joy knew about her crush on Irene she'd make things difficult. The other girl yawned, pausing to see if Mrs. Moon had left before casually flipping Seulgi off and mouthing back You'll thank me later.
Seulgi was about to give the younger girl a piece of her mind when a small hand rested on her arm. Irene asked, "You ready?"
"Yeah. Lead the way."
XXX
The market was about a fifteen-minute walk from the mansion, down at the bottom of the cliff by the road that led back into town. It didn't stock a huge variety of things but Irene and Seulgi found what they needed without too much trouble. Everything was loaded into three large paper bags and the girls made their way back home.
Irene suggested they take the scenic route back to the mansion, which would take them off the main road and into the woods. "I'm not trying to be creepy, but it really is a beautiful area. I used to come this way with Dante whenever we'd stay with Moonbyul."
Seulgi was surprised that Irene could casually bring up her deceased partner's name up like that. She didn't press the other girl though and swallowed the questions that were on the tip of her tongue. So she changed the subject. "How long have you and Moonbyul known each other?"
"Since I was ten. She was a year younger than me, and our parents would frequently meet together for work matters. She won her region's Championship two years before me, when she was only fourteen. The whole world went wild, she's only the second person under sixteen to win a Championship battle." They broke off from the main road and took a left down a path that led into the woods surrounding the neighborhood.
"Wow, that's impressive."
"Mhm. I admit, recently her and I have drifted apart a little bit. What with…recent events and everything. I'm glad Leeteuk brought me over here though, I didn't know how much I needed a break."
"I'm glad you came, this week has really helped me to make new friends. I'm glad Jackson blew up Dorm Three."
Irene chuckled. "Me too. That boy is many things, but smart isn't one of them, at least when it comes to making rash decisions."
Seulgi stopped. "Irene, we never got to really talk about…you know. What happened during the party."
"You mean the kiss?" Irene sounded so nonchalant about the whole thing.
Seulgi blushed. "I…yeah. Have I mentioned how sorry I am about that?"
"And I owned up to it, it was my fault for kissing you without asking first."
Seulgi swallowed. Well, this seems like the best time to mention…"I liked it."
Irene stopped in her tracks, before turning to face Seulgi. "You did?"
Seulgi could feel the tips of her ears getting hot with embarrassment but she'd already gotten this far, she might as well continue. "I like you, Irene."
Irene for her part seemed a little surprised but she couldn't hide the pleased grin on her face. "I like you too, Seulgi. Although I certainly haven't acted that way. I—"
"No, Irene. I likeyou."
The forest was dead silent. All Irene could say was, "Oh."
"Please say something," Seulgi begged. "It's okay if you don't return my feelings, I just thought—"
Irene stopped her. "No, it's not that. It's…I think I like you too, Seulgi. Like that. I'm just…not that good at feelings like that."
Seulgi tilted her head, "Oh. Well good, neither am I."
Irene looked at her like she was crazy. "I'm a Champion with less-than average social skills and most of the media calls me an Ice Queen because I always look like I'm about to hit someone. I find it hard to believe a girl like you is bad with feelings."
"I'm a girl from Alola who named her Stufful Mr. Fuzzles. The only reason I got into the Kalos Academy was because I have a perfect 4.0 GPA which came as a result of not having any actual friends."
"So we're both fucked in that department then," Irene said blithely.
Seulgi laughed sardonically. "We're a mess, aren't we?"
"I don't know, I've seen worse. You're a very pretty mess."
"Irene!"
The older girl walked closer to Seulgi, stepping in her personal space. "I don't know how things will go from here on out. We've both confessed to each other. What's the next step?"
"I wouldn't say no to another kiss." Seulgi knew she was being bold and she expected Irene to balk and retreat.
But she didn't.
Irene leaned in and placed a hesitant kiss on Seulgi's lips. "Is this okay?"
Seulgi looked dazed and all she could mutter was, "Oh yeah. This is definitely okay."
"Well then…" Irene pulled the taller girl in closer and kissed her again, feeling her lips against Seulgi's and enjoying the surprised whine that escaped the other girl's lips.
They broke apart only when they needed air. Seulgi was staring at Irene and debating what to say next when she heard the distinct sound of a camera shutter.
She whirled around, hand instinctively going to her belt in case she needed to call on her Pokémon. Irene placed a hand on her cheek, "What?"
"I thought I heard a camera."
Irene was shocked, and she turned away from Seulgi to look around her. She couldn't see anything but the forest. "I don't see anything."
"Maybe it was just me being paranoid," Seulgi tucked a lock of Irene's hair behind her ear and the Champion almost melted at the sweet gesture. Seulgi heard the sound again, and this time Irene heard it too. "Tell me you heard it this time."
Irene simply nodded and slowly reached for her belt, calling out her Ninetales. "Yeah." Her faithful partner looked up at her, tilting her head quizzically. "Aeolus, I think someone's watching us. Find them."
Her partner barked once and dashed off into the trees.
"This should be impossible, I thought Leeteuk was the only other person who knew where you were going this week?" Seulgi asked.
"He was." Irene strained her ears, waiting to hear a signal from her partner. "I don't know how anyone managed to find me."
Her partner was quick, and within a minute they heard her Ninetales' telltale howl. Irene took off towards the sound, Seulgi right behind her.
Her partner had cornered someone against a tree and was snarling at them. A man wearing casual clothes had been pinned against the tree, cradling a large camera in his arms. Irene was furious. Couldn't these people leave her alone for one second?
"Who are you?" she yelled.
"I-I'm from the Kalos News Network. Please, can you call your Pokémon off?" He side-eyed the powerful fox Pokémon.
Irene huffed, calling Aeolus to her side. "What are you doing here, this is a private neighborhood!"
She didn't have to guess though, judging by the camera hanging around his neck. Normally she tolerated the press, it was a part of the job description of Champion. But to have these vultures taking pictures of her while she was on vacation? Utterly despicable.
Seulgi nudged her and gestured to the camera. "Irene, he has pictures of us kissing."
The Champion's face paled. No. The world can't find out like this. "Give me that camera."
"No!" The reporter finally seemed to gain some confidence now that he wasn't being openly threatened anymore. "These pictures will circulate the entire region and I'll be famous."
"Those are illegally taken," Seulgi crossed her arms. "No publication worth their salt will accept them."
He scoffed, clutching his camera as though it was a child. "You're outside the Academy now, these pictures are completely legal."
Outside the Academy now…wait. That didn't make sense. Unless…
"You've seen the other pictures," Seulgi accused. "That's impossible, no one outside the Academy has access to any of the networks."
"Unless someone showed him," Irene said. "That's it, isn't it? You couldn't use the other pictures of me kissing Seulgi because they were on a private network, so you followed me to get your own."
The reporter laughed. "Someone wants me to expose you and your roommate, I'm set for life if I manage to release these." He called out two Pokémon, a Lucario and Vikavolt.
"We can't let that happen," Irene replied. She called out Garm, her Aegislash. Beside her, Seulgi called out her Tyranitar.
A battle it was then. The reporter wouldn't back down and neither would Irene and Seulgi. If those pictures of them kissing got released the media would be in a huge uproar. Irene shuddered to think of what her father would do if word got out that Bae Joohyun was gay.
"Vikavolt, use Thunderbolt!" The reporter made the first move as his beetle Pokémon charged up electricity in its massive horns and fired the move at Seulgi's Tyranitar.
The Tyranitar roared, but easily withstood the attack. In fact it looked even angrier. Seulgi examined the battlefield in front of her. Vikavolt was a dual type Electric and Bug Pokémon, and her Tyranitar was technically weak to it. If the reporter hit her partner with a bug-type attack, things could go sideways.
It was a double-edged sword though because Vikavolt was also weak to rock-type moves. It would all come down to who got the first real hit in.
Seulgi wasn't worried about Aegislash and Lucario. Irene's Pokémon should easily be able to hold off and withstand the other Pokémon. In the back of her mind Seulgi was excited. Wow, I finally get to see Irene battle. Though she wished it was under completely different circumstances.
"Tyranitar, Stone Edge!" Seulgi's Tyranitar stomped its foot, causing a piece of earth to break away from the ground. Tyranitar then took the rock projectile and hurled it at the Vikavolt, scoring a direct hit. The beetle Pokémon faltered, one of its wings damaged by the attack. One more decent hit would knock it out of the battle.
Irene had her hands full with the reporter's Lucario. It was faster than her Aegislash and although Garm had strong defenses, if things kept going she would find herself at a disadvantage. She needed Seulgi's Tyranitar to slow it down.
"Seulgi, this Lucario is outspeeding Garm, can you reduce its speed somehow?"
The taller girl nodded. She had the perfect move. "Tyranitar, switch targets. Hit that Lucario with a Rock Tomb!"
Her Pokémon nodded, eyes zeroing in on the Lucario. It stomped its foot again, only this time instead of hurling one large rock the Tyranitar shot out a barrage of smaller boulders. The rocks hit Lucario, tripping it up and causing it to lose the momentum it had gathered.
"Vikavolt, take that Tyranitar down with an X-Scissor!" Seulgi gulped as the opposing Vikavolt charged up its attack. She could only hope her Pokémon managed to hold through the assault.
"Aegislash, King's Shield!" The sword Pokémon warbled and it changed into its defensive form, hiding behind the shield it carried and stepping in between the charging Vikavolt.
The reporter's Vikavolt tried to halt its strike but the momentum was too great and it smashed right into Aegislash. The physical contact with Aegislash caused the beetle Pokémon to jerk backwards as though it had been punched.
The reporter swore. He had forgotten that Irene's Aegislash ran that move, which was something he should have seen coming a mile away. Not only were Aegislash's defenses tougher to penetrate when it was in Shield Form, but using King's Shield would literally sap the strength out of any Pokémon that dared to attack it with physical moves. Irene and the other girl were somehow working together with a synchronicity usually only seen in dedicated doubles teams. The way the Aegislash immediately placed itself in harm's way to block a powerful move meant for its partner was incredible. The whole display unnerved him.
"Tyranitar, are you okay?" Seulgi looked worriedly at her partner but he gave a triumphant roar to assure her everything was alright.
"Seulgi I can take this from here," Irene's voice was icy cold. This reporter came because of her. This was her problem and she would clean it up herself.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm the Kalos Champion," Irene said, facing the reporter. "No two-bit reporter can even dream of beating me."
Seulgi called for her Tyranitar to retreat and watched the rest of the battle unfold before her eyes. If she was battling she would first take out the Vikavolt since it had already been severely wounded by the earlier fights.
Apparently Irene thought the same thing. "Garm, take out that Vikavolt. Use Shadow Sneak."
Her Aegislash swapped back to its Attack Form, its shield becoming enveloped in a dark power. Tendrils of ghostly energy that looked disturbingly like tentacles shot out from the center of the shield and snaked towards the unfortunate Vikavolt.
The move was blindingly fast and the poor Pokémon had no time to react to the sudden attack. The tendrils wrapped around the Pokémon as it hovered several feet in the air. Then they solidified, grabbing the Vikavolt and grounding it mercilessly. The Pokémon hit the ground with a satisfying crash, faint and out for the count.
Seulgi was impressed. Sure the other Pokémon had already taken a few major hits, but for that one single move to completely knock it out? Irene's Aegislash was on another level.
It was one on one now, and the reporter's face had lost its smug expression. Of course he knew that challenging a Champion would likely end in his defeat, but the only other option was to give up his camera and he was notabout to lose the scoop of the decade.
His Lucario was still quite healthy, the only damage it had taken was from the other girl's Tyranitar. Though the Tyranitar hadmanaged to slow it down with that Rock Tomb. The reporter mentally went over what he knew about Aegislash and its potential weaknesses.
He wasn't fast enough however. "Garm, Sacred Sword."
His Lucario looked back at him with fear in its eyes, begging him to think of something, anything. But he came up blank. Lucario was weak against Fighting-type moves and Sacred Sword was one of the strongest moves an Aegislash could learn. Hell, everyone had seen it during the Championship battle between Irene and Leeteuk. Irene had felled Leeteuk's full-health Aurorus with a single Sacred Sword.
He had lost. Garm rushed the reporter's Lucario and with a single slash, the Lucario lay motionless in the dirt.
The unfortunate reporter, now faced with a fully-grown Tyranitar and the region's most powerful Aegislash, tried to back up to create a safe distance between himself and a very angry Irene. All he had to do was protect his camera. He didn't get very far though, as he backed straight into a wall of soft fur and rigid muscle. Stifling a squeak, he slowly looked up to see a giant Bewear staring down at him with glowing crimson eyes. The Bewear growled and the reporter could feel the vibrations emanating from the bear Pokémon's chest.
"I'd tell you not to move but it seems you at least got that part right," Seulgi said. "Drop the camera."
Despite every professional instinct the reporter had that told him not to give up the most important photos he'd ever take, fear won out and the expensive camera dropped to the ground. Not even his training had prepared him for facing a very angry Bewear.
The Bewear behind him shifted, and the bear Pokémon focused on the camera. Returning to all fours, Bewear gently picked up the camera in its jaws and returned to Seulgi's side. Seulgi quickly booted up the camera and began sifting through the damning pictures, a frown on her face.
How could someone have such little respect for another human being and use them to further their own career? It was disgusting. Seulgi turned to Irene. "Do you want me to delete all of them?"
"Please," Irene responded, not taking her gaze from the reporter who almost ruined her career. If he made so much as one wrong move she'd set her Aegislash on him.
Seulgi played with the camera and systematically deleted every single photo that was on the device before taking the SD card out and pocketing it. There was no way she was letting him go without ensuring allcopies of their photos had been taken care of. Satisfied with her results she handed the camera back to Bewear.
Was he really getting his camera back?The reporter thought. The girl with Irene had taken out the SD card but it was possible that she had missed a few photos. If he could only get his hands back on his precious camera maybe the day wasn't a total loss.
The Bewear slowly approached him, camera balanced precariously in its mouth. He reached out a shaky hand to try and take it but the Pokémon was just out of his reach. "Please. Please give me back my camera."
Seulgi's eyes narrowed at his desperate tone. She didn't like the way he phrased the request. "You want this back?"
He nodded, attempting again to get ahold of his camera. This man was tricky, Seulgi thought. He'd managed to follow Irene to the Moon mansion and even taken illegal photos of the two of them. He didn't care about the potential damage he'd do to the two girls, all he cared about was getting the next big scoop. Seulgi wouldn't allow him to hurt Irene.
"Bewear." Seulgi's voice became uncharacteristically cold. Her Pokémon rumbled. "Give the man his camera back."
Bewear took two steps forward, until he was within range of the reporter. But as the man reached out to take it, the bear Pokémon stepped back and crushed the camera between its powerful jaws, absolutely obliterating the expensive piece of equipment. Bits of plastic and metal fell to the ground and Seulgi's Bewear spit out the remains of the camera before returning to his Trainer's side.
The reporter let out a strangled cry and rushed forward, kneeling on the ground and sifting through the pile of junk. Nothing was salvageable.
"I'm sorry," Seulgi smirked. "I forgot to tell him to return it to you in one piece."
Seulgi didn't think of herself as a mean person, not in the slightest. Still, she had to admit, this felt powerful, watching him on his knees, utterly defeated.
Irene, who had been silent during the whole exchange, finally spoke up. "Leave."
The reporter looked up the Champion and couldn't help the shudder that ran through his body. "But I—"
"Now." Irene's Ninetales snarled menacingly. "If I ever see you near me again I'll report you to the police for harassment."
Knowing that he was truly defeated, the man gathered up the broken bits of his camera and shoved them into his camera bag. His superiors were going to kill him. Hell, forget his superiors, his client was going to kill him. He had paid big time for photos of Irene and now that he couldn't deliver, he could kiss that huge bonus goodbye.
The reporter shot one last pleading look at Irene and Seulgi but a warning snarl from Bewear made him skitter backwards and he ran away, tripping over his own feet.
Now that they were alone again, Irene finally allowed herself to breathe. She felt tears prickling on the edge of her vision as the adrenaline from the battle faded away. A warm presence settled next to her and Irene wrapped her arms around Seulgi and started sobbing.
"Hey, hey shh it's okay," Seulgi soothed her, gently rubbing the Champion's back. "He's gone. We won, we got the photos."
They stood like this for a few minutes until Irene's sobs turned into sniffles. When they finally broke apart from each other, Irene looked at Seulgi. "I don't know what I would have done without you Seulgi. Thank you." Mr. Fuzzles growled softly, shoving his head between the two of them as if to say You're welcome.Irene laughed softly, scratching the giant bear Pokémon behind the ears. "And thank you too Bewear."
Seulgi reached into her pocket and took out the SD card she had taken, handing it over to Irene. "I deleted what I could off the camera, but if there are any other copies they should all be here."
Irene gratefully took the little card. To think, this one harmless looking card contained the proof she didn't want the world to see. She didn't want the world to know that Kalos Champion Bae Joohyun liked girls. At least not yet. She would reveal things on her own terms.
The two of them finally seemed to notice that the sun was setting even further. "We should get back to the mansion," Irene said. She turned to look at the bags of groceries they had left. "They're probably worried about us."
Seulgi nodded and recalled her Bewear, picking up the groceries and falling into step just behind Irene as they began walking back.
"I don't know why I'm so scared," Irene said after a minute, putting the card in her own pocket and recalling her Pokémon. "There's nothing shameful about you and I kissing. And yet…I can't help it. What would the public think? What would my father think? Would my career be ruined if this came out?"
Seulgi held up a hand to silence Irene. "It's okay if you're scared. And it's okay if you don't want the world to know this about you. I forget sometimes you're a Champion and that by the virtue of that title you have people watching your every move."
"I'm safe at the Academy," Irene responded. "Everyone's bound by a confidentiality clause. It's…I can be myself there because I don't have to worry about appearances. I can just be normal. I don't have to live with my father breathing down my neck. I forget that outside those walls the world is a lot less nice."
"So what do you want to do?" Seulgi asked, hoping deep down that her fledgling relationship with Irene wouldn't get cut off before it could really begin. But of course if that's what Irene wanted she'd do it in a heartbeat. "We don't have to do…anything. If you need me to, I can move out."
Irene rounded on her. "Arceus no, I don't want that!" Seulgi was surprised at the shorter girl's almost visceral reaction. The Champion paused to gather herself and she cleared her throat. "I mean no. I don't want that."
"I really like you Irene, that much is obvious. But if us being…a thing worries you then tell me now."
"I'm not going to lie. I'm terrified." Irene's voice had gone soft. "But I like you. I like the way you look at me, as though I'm the only thing you see. I like your stupid smile, I like your determination." She looked into Seulgi's eyes. "I like you kissing me."
Seulgi broke out into a smile. "So does that mean…?"
"Seulgi, after we get back to the Academy would you want to go out on a date with me?" Irene rolled her eyes a bit at the cheesiness of the situation but upon seeing the effect it had on Seulgi she couldn't help the smile on her face.
"Hmm…I'll have to think about it," Seulgi replied.
Irene shoved her. "Kang Seulgi, you are so rude."
"Yes. Yes, I'd love to go on a date with you Irene." The Champion averted her gaze shyly at the response and moved closer to Seulgi.
The two of them walked together back to the mansion grounds, where Moonbyul buzzed them in. They wound their way up the road to the house and they were soon assaulted by all of their friends. Moonbyul in particular looked pissed and the Hoenn Champion proceeded to curse them out for making her so worried.
"Seulgi! Irene!" Wendy called out, rushing over to the two of them, Joy, Yeri and the rest of their friends not far behind. Jihyo took the grocery bags from them so Wendy could give them both a hug. "We were so worried, who takes two hours to get soda and snacks from the market?"
Seulgi and Irene shared a look. "It's a long story…"