"Alright ladies, gather round!" Wendy slammed the table in front of her, causing Irene to jump slightly in her chair and glare at the other girl.
Seulgi and Irene had been approached by Wendy after the battle with Jennie and were told to come to the café just down the street from the Academy for a brief strategy session regarding the upcoming competition.
"Our team composition is officially confirmed as of about ten minutes ago," Wendy said, pulling out a thick manila folder and spreading its contents out on the table for everyone to see.
"No one else is challenging us for poaching rights?" Yeri asked, approaching the table with everyone's usual orders. She picked up a piece of paper with her name on it and started reading it over while sipping on her coffee.
"They're too scared of Seulgi," Joy snorted, rifling through the papers and grabbing hers. She thanked Yeri for the Americano and got back to reading. "After she beat the snot out of Jennie the three other teams that were in line to challenge us all withdrew."
Seulgi couldn't help the proud smile that made its way onto her face. She'd defeated Jennie in a fair battle and gotten the hottest girl in school to kiss her in front of everyone. What a rush.
Speaking of Irene, the Kalos Champion looked pleased to be working with Wendy and the others, judging from the way she immediately got to work looking at the dossiers Wendy had written up.
"Wow, these are really in-depth Wendy," Seulgi commented on her own dossier, which had her entire team's stats written up. Wendy had even included each individual Pokémon's likelihood of surviving a super-effective move. "I feel like I should ask how you got all this information, but maybe it's better I don't know."
"You would be correct, I'm not the kind of girl to kiss and tell," was Wendy's response. "They say knowledge is power and the more knowledge we have about our team and the synergies we can pull off the more prepared we'll be for this weekend."
Yeri pointed at the remaining papers on the table, "What are those for then?"
Wendy's smile made everyone shiver unconsciously. "Thank you for asking, Yeri. These are my pride and joy. I've done my best to compile all the information I can on the teams we'll be facing. These aren't complete because there are still some people out there who haven't pledged to a team, but I've got data on the ones most likely to cause a problem."
"You're an evil genius," Irene praised. Everyone turned to look at her. "What? I can appreciate hard work."
Wendy picked up her tablet and sent out a message in their group chat. "Here's what we're working with. We've got about five teams to worry about in this competition, not including Moonbyul and her girls."
"First is Blackpink. That's the team consisting of Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé. We've seen how Jennie battles, and her teammates are similar in their chosen style of battle. All of them are pretty decent coming up with strategies on the fly, but their one weakness is that they place a little too much importance on type matchups. We saw that earlier with Jennie's Weavile."
"So as long as we're aware that they're likely to try and switch out during an unfavorable matchup we should be fine," Joy concluded and Wendy nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. Second threat is a group called Twice, which is Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu." Wendy had to pause for a moment and take a breath.
"A big team," Yeri commented. "They're also not all competitive battlers."
"Precisely!" Wendy was happy that someone else had come to the same conclusion. "That means this team isn't just good with strategy but their Pokémon are also all expertly bred. Their sheer numbers give them a lot of options too. Some of the girls specialize in doubles, particularly Nayeon and Jeongyeon."
"But that gives them a disadvantage too," Irene murmured. "Only a certain number of teammates are allowed in each bracket so they'll have a harder time figuring out who to send. If we can make our best guesses as to who's likely to be in each bracket that takes away their element of surprise."
Seulgi was impressed by Irene's deduction, but then again the girl wasn't a Champion for nothing.
"I'm so glad Seulgi convinced you to join us," Wendy said sincerely. Everyone was gelling really well together so far and she couldn't wait to actually start practicing with them. She cleared her throat and continued. "Anyway. Threat number three are the boys of BTS: Namjoon, Jin, Yoongi, J-Hope, Taehyung, Jimin and Jungkook. They have Namjoon as their captain and let me be the first to tell you that this boy is smart. He can and will run circles around us strategy-wise. His teammates don't have the strongest Pokémon but they do all have some incredible synergy. Honestly, I hope we don't face them during our bracket."
"I agree," Irene said, picking up Namjoon's dossier and going over his team. "Theoretically, our best-case scenario has them losing to Moonbyul. She doesn't get shaken up over being outplayed in battle."
"And worst-case?" Seulgi was curious about what wisdom Irene had to share. "If we do have to battle them?"
"We can't psych ourselves out if it looks like we're losing to a better thought out strategy. Confidence in ourselves and our Pokémon will be what brings us victory against them."
Wendy nodded thoughtfully. She reached for the papers on BTS and began scribbling notes on them in neat handwriting. "I hadn't thought of that Irene, thanks. Have I told you how happy I am to have you on our team?"
Irene chuckled. "Once or twice. What about the last two teams? There's not much written on them."
"I tried my best, but this is the one team I don't have a lot of information on. All of them are freshmen this year, but they've shattered nearly every single school record set in the last decade. It's quite impressive."
"(G)-Idle and Itzy?" Joy tried pronouncing the team names. "Geez, everyone's being super creative this semester with names…"
"I think they pronounce it like "idle"," Wendy chimed in. "But that's not the point. Soyeon is the girl we need to watch out for in that group. She's tenacious, creative and her Pokémon have been expertly trained. She's the favorite to win the singles bracket. Even Moonbyul praised her work ethic."
"What about Itzy?" Irene had put on a pair of glasses to be able to take a better look at the compiled reports and Seulgi had to pinch herself so she wouldn't get distracted by just how gorgeous the Kalos Champion looked. Whew, okay Seulgi. Strategy first, pretty girl second.
"Rookies for the most part, but they're already showing effective synergies at a level far beyond that of normal freshmen. Dealing with them will be a matter of dismantling their teamwork. I'd recommend going with a strategy that focuses heavily on special conditions that shake things up."
Irene nodded thoughtfully, biting the tip of her pen and writing down Wendy's comments. "This is a lot of information to digest in a short time but I'm confident we can handle it. I can rent out one of the battle arenas at the League Headquarters on Wednesday if you want me to, Wendy. That way we'd have a good place to practice away from prying eyes.
"Could you? Dude that'd be fantastic!" Wendy clapped her hands gleefully. She'd never been to the League Headquarters, supposedly their battle arenas were state of the art and even came with adjustable terrain. Her brain immediately started playing with all the different scenarios she could create.
"Well at least from most prying eyes," Irene amended. "There's more than one person at this school who has access to the League Headquarters. Moonbyul probably has the same thought that I do."
Wendy waved her hand dismissively. "If they show up maybe we can scrimmage together or something. Ooh I wonder if I'll be able to see any famous trainers there. Arceus, I have so much planning to do…"
"And we've lost her," Joy laughed as her roommate immediately began tapping out her ideas for battle scenarios on her tablet, oblivious to everyone around her. "I think it's safe to call the meeting here. Thanks for coming on such short notice you two."
"Anytime, Joy." Seulgi didn't think it was possible for her to be any more excited about the opening ceremonies on Friday, but now after their strategy session she couldn't wait to start training with them tomorrow. "Oh! Before I forget, have we decided on a team name yet?"
Yeri's eyes lit up. "What do you guys think about Red Velvet?"
XXX
The sun was beginning to set by the time everyone returned to campus and both Seulgi and Irene thought it would be a good idea to grab some dinner at the dining hall before returning to their rooms.
The Academy's main dining hall was crowded, it was pizza and pasta night which was a favorite among many of the students. Seulgi spotted people from all three dorms waiting patiently in line and chuckled. Of course people would be flagrantly ignoring the rules set in place by Moonbyul and the other dorm captains. As far as the student body was concerned it didn't matter who had won the first dorm competition, all bets were cancelled when it came to pizza night. No one would be stuck eating at the food truck tonight.
She picked up a tray and got in line, Irene following behind her. They chatted idly about what they were in the mood for as the line began moving at a quick pace. A few minutes later they settled down at one of the few free tables, Seulgi with pizza and Irene with pasta. The pleasant buzz of overlapping voices filled the hall; occasionally Seulgi would catch a snippet of someone else's conversation. Pretty much all anyone could talk about was the upcoming competition.
"Friday's going to be wild," Seulgi commented. "Everyone's already so hyped up."
"It's the last competition of the year before summer break. There's usually a few League scouts that show up, trying to see if they can find any new talent."
Seulgi joked, "You hoping to get scouted?"
Irene played along, a smile on her face. "I can only hope someone out there notices my talent as a Pokémon Trainer."
"Who knows? Maybe one day you'll be a Champion." Seulgi grinned around her bite of pizza. Irene was cute when she played along with her silly jokes.
"A lofty goal. Maybe I'll get there one day," Irene replied.
Irene's tablet began vibrating and she leaned over to see who was calling. The smile immediately melted off her face and she pressed the decline button. "Why does he have to ruin a perfectly decent evening?"
"Who was calling?" Seulgi asked, taking another bite of her pizza. "It wasn't another reporter was it?"
Irene shook her head, "Worse. My father."
Seulgi tilted her head in confusion. Now that she thought about it, she never did hear Irene talk about her family. She didn't even know what Irene's parents' names were. "You're not going to answer it?"
The sneer that crossed the Champion's face reminded Seulgi of the night Irene sent her out to sleep in the kennels. It made her uncomfortable. "My dear father isn't worth my time. He's probably calling to yell at me for not telling him about the dorm competition this weekend."
"You don't want him to come watch?" What kind of relationship did Irene have with her parents that warranted the vitriolic response? Seulgi's parents were on their way to Kalos right now, taking the time to fly all the way from Johto to watch their daughter battle with her friends.
"He's always acted more like my manager than my father," Irene explained, poking angrily at the leftover pasta on her plate. Her posture betrayed the fact that she was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the conversation. Her tablet buzzed again and she reached over and turned it off with a muffled curse. "I already know what he's going to say. How dare I not tell him about this competition, it would be the perfect opportunity to do some more schmoozing with reporters and blah blah blah…Look, just drop it, okay?"
"Doesn't he deserve to come see you battle?" Seulgi pushed, seemingly unable to see the anger building in Irene's expression. She couldn't fathom a father not being interested in seeing his daughter's school affairs. Her own parents had always been in the front row for the important events in her life. "He is your father."
Irene's fork hit the plate with a clatter and she stood up, pushing her unfinished food away from her. "He doesn't deserve anything. He lost all rights as a father the second he decided being my manager and protecting our family's reputation was more important than being my parent."
Seulgi watched as Irene walked off without another word. People were starting to look at her so she quickly gathered up both of their plates and returned them to the kitchens before following after the Kalos Champion.
"Irene. Joohyun!" Seulgi stopped Irene in the hall as the other girl was about to walk out of the building. "What's wrong? Was it something I said?"
"I asked you to stop talking about my father and you just barreled on with the conversation regardless of my feelings." Irene's gaze was cold.
"I-I'm sorry, I thought you'd want your family to come see you. I guess I wasn't thinking." Seulgi's voice was soft and it trembled when she spoke.
"That's the first smart thing you've said all evening," Irene snapped. Seulgi looked up at her, the timid tone gone from her voice as she responded.
"Wow. Okay. No need to be rude. What's gotten into you?"
"Oh piss off, Kang," Irene all but hissed, her anger getting the better of her. "Don't act like you're the high and mighty one in this argument. We can't all have a perfect father who cares about his daughter and hugs her when she's hurting or wipes away her tears when she's sad."
Irene's words hit Seulgi in a way that had her beginning to tear up. This was the first time since they'd gotten together that Irene had gone back to treating her like she did when they first met. And it wasn't a nice feeling.
"Joohyun—"
"Just get out of my face, I can't even look at you right now. Why don't you go back to the kennels and just leave me alone?"
As soon as the words fell out of her mouth she knew she had said something regretful. Arceus, I've really fucked up.
Irene watched Seulgi turn away from her and start walking away, trying unsuccessfully to hide the tears that were prickling at the edge of her vision
"Seulgi wait," She tried to grab the other girl's hand but Seulgi refused to even look at her as she walked out the front door.
Irene was left with a queasy stomach and deep sense of shame. As if she had no control over her body she pulled out her tablet and began typing a message to someone. She could feel her own tears beginning to run down her face as she waited for the response. It came only a second later and Irene began walking, her feet moving of their own accord. She knew what she needed to do. She needed to talk to Moonbyul.
XXX
Seulgi had retreated back to their shared room and with her vision still blurry from all the crying she'd done she walked up the stairs to her loft and collapsed on her bed, gathering the covers around her so they'd muffle the sound of her sniffling.
Seulgi's Ninetales popped out of his Pokéball unceremoniously and hopped on Seulgi's bed, sticking his snout underneath her covers to lick at the tears running down her cheeks.
"What are you doing out of your Pokéball?" Seulgi asked, her voice still thick with emotion. She scratched him underneath his chin. Alanis growled softly, as if he was answering her question. "You just wanted to make me feel better, huh?"
Ninetales huffed an affirmation and promptly sat on her, his plush tails curling around her legs. Seulgi groaned as the wind was almost knocked out of her. "Whoa there boy, you're not nearly as small as you used to be. I need to be able to breathe."
Alanis yipped, sounding almost offended by Seulgi's statement. He nibbled affectionately at her fingers.
"I know I shouldn't be crying like this," Seulgi said. She was glad to have someone to talk to, even if that someone couldn't talk back to her. "It's illogical to expect me and Irene to never have an argument. Still, her words hurt."
"Ninetales."
"You're right, I shouldn't have pushed her to talk about her father. It's obviously a sensitive topic and I didn't realize I was going too far. I guess I just thought she'd want to have her father there to see her battle."
"Ninetales. Nine-Ninetales."
"Yeah, both of us do kind of suck at communicating with each other about uncomfortable topics." She scratched her Pokémon behind the ears. "I need to talk with her and work this out."
Her Ninetales nodded his head in agreement and shifted his bodyweight so he was no longer pinning her to the bed, choosing instead to curl up in a ball next to her. Seulgi absentmindedly carded her fingers through his golden fur as she started to think about what she wanted to say to Irene when the Champion returned to their room.
She didn't have to wait long, as a few minutes later she heard the telltale creak of their door. Ninetales lifted his head, ears pricked as the door shut softly behind Irene. He nudged his Trainer to alert her.
Seulgi sat up in bed and recalled her partner, placing his Pokéball in its overnight healer and padding down the spiral staircase to approach Irene.
The first thing she noticed was that Irene also looked like she had been crying.
"I'm sorry."
"I shouldn't have—"
Seulgi smiled softly and gestured for Irene to go first, sitting down at her desk chair to listen to what the other girl had to say.
Irene took a shaky breath. "I wanted to apologize to you, Seulgi. It was unfair of me to react the way I did when you pushed me about my father. Not many people know about my relationship with him and I was uncomfortable with the way you were talking about how he'd want to see me battle this weekend."
Seulgi reached for Irene's hand and held it. It was her turn now. "And I'm sorry that I didn't see your unease. I assumed that you would want your father there this weekend and I didn't bother to ask how you would feel about it."
"That doesn't excuse the way I treated you, Seul." Irene knelt down so her face was level with Seulgi's and shook her head, breaking away from Seulgi's grip and placing her hand on Seulgi's cheek, with love in her eyes. "I knew going into this relationship that there would be uncomfortable things brought up, and I need to learn how to be better at communicating my discomfort with other people. If I want us to work, I need to realize that interactions go both ways. You have brought me more happiness in the last few weeks then I've had since Dante died. So please believe me when I say that I'm sorry and I'll do better next time."
Seulgi kissed Irene's fingertips. "And I'll do better to not get caught up in the situation and be aware of your feelings. I really do like you Irene. You're an amazing girl with an amazing mind who deserves a family that cares about you as a person rather than as a means to a paycheck."
"I've got all the family I need with you and Moonbyul," Irene let herself smile, looking over at Seulgi's desk to the picture they had taken together at Moonbyul's mansion. "And Wendy, Joy, Yeri." She paused to take a breath. "And Jihyo, Daniel, Solar…"
"We've really gathered a bunch of misfits together, haven't we?" The two of them moved to Irene's bed and sat down.
"I think that's all you," Irene pointed out. She laid down on the bed and held out her arms so Seulgi could join her. "You befriended Wendy and her roommates. Then you stole Moonbyul's heart the night she met you out by the kennels. Solar loves everyone she meets and Jihyo is constantly talking about how well you're doing in her class. You're the heart of this little family, Seulgi. I'm simply along for the ride."
Seulgi sank into Irene's embrace.
"So that was our first fight, huh?" Seulgi asked, burrowing deeper into Irene's hold and relishing in the sweet scent of the other girl's perfume.
"I guess it was," came the soft reply. Irene shifted in place to wrap one arm around Seulgi's waist, her left hand playing idly with a loose thread on the other girl's shirt. "Thank you for bringing me back to my senses."
"I said I'd always be here for you Joohyun. Even if it's to tell you that you're being an asshole."
Irene chuckled. "You and Moonbyul are the only two people in the world who aren't afraid to call me out on my bullshit."
"That's because everyone else is terrified of you, babe." The word slipped out so naturally that Seulgi didn't even notice until Irene's hand froze in place. "What's wrong?"
Irene's cheeks had turned pink and she cleared her throat. "You've never called me 'babe' before. I like it."
"I'll keep that in mind for the future," Seulgi grinned, picking up Irene's smaller hand in her own and entwining their fingers. "Oh! Before I forget…"
Though the bed was extremely comfortable, Seulgi forced herself to detach from Irene as she stood up. She had to stop herself from 'aww-ing' when she heard Irene's whine of disapproval. Walking towards her desk she picked up a fancy red envelope and brought it over to the other girl. "I found this slipped under our door this evening before you came back."
Irene reached for the proffered envelope and slipped a fingernail underneath the golden wax seal to open it. "Is it that time of year already?"
Seulgi tilted her head. "Time for what?"
"The annual Champion's Ball. Leeteuk told me about it when I crossed into the Hall of Fame. Every year a region is selected to host a ball to honor those Trainers who have beaten their region's Champions." Irene's eyes darted across the page. "Huh."
"What?" Irene handed Seulgi the letter so she could read it for herself.
Dear Ms. Bae,
The United Champions Association is pleased to announce that this year's Champion's Ball will be held in the Kalos region on Saturday the 19th of May from 8:00-11:00pm. If you are able to attend the event please visit the event's website and fill out the questionnaire with the names of your party so our lists are updated. Guests are asked to wear formal attire for this evening. Thank you for your dedication and we hope to see you for an exciting evening!
Sincerely,
Lee Soo Man
President of the United Champions Association
"The ball's on Saturday night?" Seulgi asked, lifting her head up to look at Irene. She crawled back into bed with the other girl. "What if our team makes it to the finals? We'd have to battle early the next morning."
"It's not an ideal situation, I agree. I have no problem backing out of the ball if Red Velvet survives to the third day of the competition." Irene placed the letter on her bedside table and lifted the covers up so the two of them could curl up together. "I'll probably get a lecture from Leeteuk though on 'responsibility'."
Seulgi thought about it for a moment. That Irene was willing to back out of perhaps the most important event of the year if their team made it to the finals of the competition showed just how dedicated she was. But she shouldn't have to…
"We can make it work," the words fell out of Seulgi's mouth. She turned to Irene. "I mean, if you want it to. You shouldn't have to pick between the ball and the competition. Hell, there isn't even a guarantee that we make it to the finals."
Irene snorted. "Please, have you seen our team? If we don't make it to the finals I'll offer to be Moonbyul's personal servant for a week. I guess my only issue with the ball is that…" she paused briefly and the next sentence came rushing out. "Idon'twanttogoalone."
"Why Bae Joohyun, is this you asking me if I'll go to a fancy ball with you?" Seulgi's teasing tone brought a smile to Irene's face.
"Ya, who says I want to take you?" The Kalos Champion gently shoved Seulgi's shoulder. "But I mean if you wanted to go with me…."
"Absolutely yes." Seulgi leaned in and the two of them shared a gentle kiss. They broke apart, staring into each other's eyes and enjoying the moment. Irene bit her lip, and Seulgi swore her heart almost flooded with affection for the shorter girl.
Irene shifted next to her and rolled over to grab the tablet that was currently charging on her bedside table. "Let me RSVP then…"
Seulgi reached over and, with her longer arms, pinned Irene's wrists to the bed to prevent her from grabbing the tablet. Irene gave her a confused look. "Do it in the morning, Hyun. We were having a moment."
Irene took note of how deep Seulgi's voice had gotten and chuckled under her breath. "All right then. Please continue, Kang Seulgi."
Seulgi growled, and in one smooth movement she captured Irene's lips with her own.