My name is Kang Seulgi and from the moment I was old enough to receive my first starter Pokémon, I knew that I wanted to become the best Trainer in Alola. Fast forward seven years, to my second year in Trainer School and I realized that my dream would be a little harder to achieve than I originally thought. I watched on T.V. as Trainers such as Moonbyul from Hoenn and Irene from Kalos defeated their champions and entered the Hall of Fame, to forever be immortalized.
So I figured if I wanted to be the best then I needed to go to school with the best. But some things are easier said than done. Welcome to the Kalos Academy and to my story.
XXX
"Leeteuk, I don't get why we have to do all of these things to prepare," Irene complained, staring listlessly out of the car window at the scenery rolling by. Her Alolan Ninetales curled up on the seat next to her, content with snoozing the whole car ride away.
"Irene, you're one of only a few people to become a Hall of Fame Trainer, and as such you must treat your fans well. They've propelled you to stardom and now it's time to give back," the Kalos Champion replied smoothly. "You're going back to the Academy to finish your schooling there, but in between your classes there are people who expect you to fulfill your end of the bargain."
Irene rolled her eyes. She did not sign up for all of this. Granted, she didn't think she would ever make it through the entire Kalos gym circuit, much less challenge and defeat the Elite Four. She liked the fame at first, enjoying the long lines of fans that shouted her praises and asked for autographs. Things quickly got lonely though. Her status as a Champion separated her out from the legions of other Pokémon Trainers. It didn't help that she wasn't much of a people person outside of when she had to be.
"Are you thinking about it again?" Leeteuk asked softly, turning to face Irene. "I know it's only been a couple of months since it happened, but don't you think he'd want you to go through with it? After all, you couldn't have done any of this without him."
She had been on top of the world. But the higher the pedestal, the harder the fall, Irene figured. Less than a month after her victory over Leeteuk, she had her world torn apart. Dante. Her faithful Charizard, the Pokémon that she'd been partnered with for years had suddenly and unexpectedly fallen ill.
He was sick for a very long time, and even the best of healers couldn't find what was wrong with him. Irene remembered being at dinner with some of her friends when she received the phone call. The next day, she was standing in Lavender Town in the Kanto region, laying a bouquet of flowers near a silver plaque.
Of course the entire region mourned with her. They saw it as the tragic tale of a champion Pokémon cut down in his prime, but for Irene, who had raised him from a tiny Charmander, it was far more personal and heart-wrenching.
The car rolled to a stop at a fancy wrought-iron gate, and within seconds the car was surrounded by young men and women screaming their heads off and waving little signs shaped like Irene's face. For a brief moment Irene thought she saw a marriage proposal among the numerous signs being waved around. It took the security guard and her three Mightyena to stave off the crowd long enough for the car to scoot through, the gates closing behind them with a heavy thud.
"Irene? Joohyun!" Leeteuk shook the young woman's shoulder and disrupted her reverie. Ninetales whined and pawed at her Trainer. "We're here."
Irene looked out at the familiar grounds before her and couldn't help the growing pit of anxiety in her stomach. How would she be able to handle returning to school without her most trusted companion by her side?
"Leeteuk can we just sit here for a while before I get out? It's kind of overwhelming." Her mentor nodded kindly, crossing his legs and taking out his tablet. Irene heard the sound of a popular mobile game coming from the tablet a second later.
"Take as long as you need, Joohyun."
They sat together for about twenty minutes before Irene finally gathered up her courage. "I guess I should get going. I still have the same room, yeah?" Irene avoided theChampion's gaze as she gathered up her things and opened the back door. She didn't want Leeteuk to see the lone tear that rolled down her face.
Recalling Ninetales back into her Pokéball, Irene snapped the ball onto her belt and walked the familiar route back to her dorm room. She climbed up the flight of stairs in front of Dorm One and was about to reach the top she suddenly collided with something tall and sturdy. She was bounced back down the stairs, where sherolled to a stop, her muscles groaning in protest. "Ow, what the fuck?"
XXX
From the moment Kang Seulgi saw Leeteuk crown a new Kalos Champion, she knew she had to meet the raven-haired Trainer. She even caught herself a Vulpix, which she hoped would soon evolve into a Ninetales, like Irene's. There was only one problem.
Seulgi lived in the Alolan region, a long distance from the far-off Kalos between the two was expensive to say the least, and a three-day journey to boot. Rarely were planes chartered to travel that distance, as they had to make stopovers in Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova before reaching Kalos. In fact, there were only two reasons to charter a plane to Kalos.
Onewas to obtain a region passport and officially move there, a process which could take years to come to fruition, and Seulgi simply didn't have the time. The second was far more manageable, if harder to obtain in her case. If Seulgi wanted to meet Irene in Kalos, she had to travel with a student visa.
Seulgi currently attended one of the Alolan Region's best schools for up and coming Trainers and maintained high enough grades to be considered for a transfer program. She had dutifully filled out the paperwork and registered her team with the appropriate organizations and just last week had received her letter of approval from the school in Kalos.
Granted, she may have slightly embellished her transcripts just a little bit. (Her Bewear hadn't beaten that many opponents) Nevertheless, the Kalos Academy for Gifted Trainers was happy to accept her as a transfer student.
Now three days later, she was walking up the road, orange rolling suitcase in one hand and town map in the other, jet-lagged and highly confused. The Academy should be around here somewhere… She turned right at the next intersectionand was immediately blocked by a growing crowd of fans. What is going on here? She wondered, stowing away her map and tightening her grip on her belongings. Seulgi soon found herself knee-deep in fangirls as she tried in vain to wade through the crowd. Who could they be waiting for? "Irene! Irene! IRENE! IRENE!"
Seulgi wished she could call her partner Pokemon out and get rid of all the fans. One look at her Bewear would send them scurrying away like Rattata . She stood on her tiptoes to glean just the slightest glance of a black van being stopped at the gate. Her heart suddenly beat faster, and she just knew that Bae Joohyun was in that van. Seulgi had to restrain herself from letting out a squeal, lest people catch on to her true plan.
The one thing her new school had adamantly declared upon her acceptance: No bothering their celebrity students. Joohyun wasn't the only celebrity attending their school. Moon Byulyi, a Hall of Famer from Kanto, Park Jihyo, an elite Pokémon Breeder and Kim Yongsun, a champion coordinator from Hoenn also attended school there. So that meant absolutely no cameras other than the ones the school-provided tablets (all of which were on a closed network restricted to school students and staff), no ambushing them for autographs or advice, and definitely no battles with them unless sanctioned by staff.
Seulgi was driven back as the crowd suddenly dispersed, no doubt thanks to the three snarling Mightyena herding people away from the van. She watched as it crawled through a tiny opening in the front gate before the wrought-iron gate shut behind it.
"Hey, you! What are you doing here?" the security guard asked, pointing at Seulgi and waiting for an explanation. Her Pokémon flanked her and growled.
"Uh, hi. My n-name is Kang Seulgi and I just transferred here." She reached into her backpack for the transcripts and letters she had received just in case she was questioned further.
The officer scoffed, "Yeah, right. Do you know how many boys and girls say that in order to get inside these gates?"
"No, really, I have my papers and everything!" She handed over the documents and waited patiently as the officer carefully pored over every single page, no doubt checking for even the slightest error or discrepancy.
Seulgi heard a sigh and was handed her papers back, before being waved through the gate with nothing more than a reluctant, "Go on then. You don't want to be late for morning classes. The office is located in the largest building, they'll want to see you before you start."
Seulgi's face dissolved into a huge grin, as she thanked the officer and bounced through the gate. I'm in!
The farther she walked, the more she was impressed. The Alolan Academy's campus was a decent size, but was absolutely nothing compared to the grounds before her. It must've been three times the size of her old school, and from what she could see, it was filled with the latest state-of-the-art battling equipment and coordinating arenas.
A row of six grass-and-dirt stadiums were on her left, and she saw a few early risers out with their Pokémon, putting them through their paces and engaging in practice battles. On the other side of the main road she was on stood an outdoor arena that was not doubt home to practice contests. She saw a beautiful shiny Rapidash let loose with a dazzling Flame Charge attack, the red flames mixing with the silver of the Pokémon's natural mane.
Both areas led to a sprawling modern building that bustled with activity, even though it was only eight in the morning. She stopped in front of the glass double doors leading inside and took a deep breath.
"All right Seulgi, you have gotten this far. Alola is a long way from here, and as of this moment you are in the big leagues. You better not screw this up." Seulgi enjoyed giving herself pep talks, as it calmed her nerves whether she was standing in front of a large crowd before a major battle or preparing to give a speech to her classmates about the dangers of improperly grown Oran Berries.
Steeling herself, she rested her left hand on the doorknob before sighing and pushing the door open. Seulgi whistled in surprise as she walked in on a magnificent scene. People and Pokémon of all shapes and sizes were busy attending to their morning tasks, and she had to stop and just experience everything. The young Trainer walked to the center of the ground floor, where a directory had been placed for easy locating. She typed in the office number on the touch-screen and was told to head up to the third floor via the elevator, where Admissions and Transfers was located.
Seulgi gathered her things and strolled over to the elevators, and was shuttled up to the third floor, where she needed to put the finishing touches on her enrollment. The third floor was even busier than the first, though she figured it was because this floor housed all of the Student Life offices as well as the Admissions people. Spotting a sign labeled Admissions and Transfers, she knocked politely on the door, which was answered by a Gardevoir.
"May I help you?" a voice resounded in her mind. She took a step back before remembering that most Psychic Pokémon could communicate via telepathy, and smiled at the Pokémon.
"Yes, I think you can. I'm Kang Seulgi and I'm the new transfer student." Seulgi started to pull out her papers again, but the Gardevoir shook her head and ushered her inside with a small smile of her own.
"We've been expecting you, Miss Kang. Professor Kim would like to meet with you before you rush off to classes. His office is just inside to your right."
Seulgi thanked the Gardevoir and made a beeline for Professor Kim's office. She paused and took a moment to spruce up her hair and get in the right mindset before approaching the professor.
He sat at his desk, too busy typing notes on his computer to notice her arrival. Seulgi cleared her throat and he jumped up in surprise, his glasses nearly slipping off his nose. "Ah, Ms. Kang, I presume."
She nodded and gave him her registration papers and transcript, which he took with a smile, gesturing for her to take a seat in one of the comfortable-looking chairs facing his desk. Setting her belongings on the ground next to her, she sat waiting for him to finish reading her documents, hands folded neatly in her lap.
"I see you come to us with a very impressive record from Alola, Seulgi? Indeed, your grades are phenomenal, and your Pokémon seem like seasoned veterans at their craft. But I must ask, why choose to transfer here for the remainder of your schooling?"
She took a minute to think of her answer before saying sincerely, "While I love my home region very much, Professor, the Kalos Region seemed like the perfect place to get an education that's focused on things other than battling or coordinating or breeding. I wanted a balance between my career as a Trainer and my responsibilities as a young adult about to venture into a world that's not entirely dependent on the number of badges you own."
Kim Dongwan nodded and flipped to the next page in her registration. "A well-thought out answer, Seulgi, and one that I think perfectly sums up what the Kalos Academy for Gifted Trainers is all about. Rest assured that not everything at this school is Pokémon, though most of it is. Students are required to take normal classes in addition to those in their chosen field of study, along with two electives per semester."
Whew, that seems like a lot of work, she thought for a split second before dismissing the errant thought. She had been through a rigorous program before in Alola, and this one seemed no different, albeit less focused on battling. Seulgi waited with bated breath while Professor Kim made a few marks on her registration and opened his desk drawer to pull out a stamp. He marked the last page of the registration and pushed it back over to her, handing her a pen.
"Just sign here confirming your intention to register here, and your agreement to our rules and regulations." Seulgi grinned and signed her name, "Well, Kang Seulgi welcome to the Kalos Region! Gardevoir here will direct you to Student Affairs, where you'll get your locker assignment, dorm assignment and class schedule. We'll give you until lunch to find everything and get settled in your room."
"Thank you, Professor Kim," Seulgi bowed politely and followed the Gardevoir out. She was directed to go down the hall, and take the next right, where Student Affairs was located.
This section of the floor looked a lot less stiff and formal then the rest of the building, covered in announcement boards, Trainer Tips and Pokémon stat sheets. She made her way to the front desk there and was greeted by a bubbly blonde, who was rolling back and forth across her office space on the wheeled chair. Seulgi's eyes widened. The girl looked awfully familiar…
"Hi, you must be Seulgi. I'm Yongsun, the Director of Student Affairs, but you can call me Solar!" The champion coordinator offered her hand, which Seulgi took happily. Yongsun turned her gaze back to the computer and typed a few things into the system before handing Seulgi a small binder. "I'm supposed to give you this. It's a copy of all of the dorm rules and regulations, just to make sure you understand. Your locker number, default combination and schedule are already in one of the front pockets."
Seulgi took the binder and flipped it open, taking a moment to memorize her locker combination. Having an eidetic memory came in handy sometimes. Yongsun dug into her jean pocket and dug out a small gold key, which she used to unlock one of the file cabinets next to her desk. "This is your I.D. card, make sure you haveit with you at all times, otherwise you won't be able to buy lunch or attend any events. Trust me, I've lost mine so many times that my girlfriend told to just keep it around my neck."
"I'll keep it safe," Seulgi assured her, inserting the I.D. into a plastic holder and attaching an Alolan-style lanyard to it. "Is there anything else? I kind of wanna explore a bit before lunch starts."
"Just one more thing." Using her feet to propel her chair across the room, Yongsun unlocked a drawer to her left. "Your room assignment and key. Might wanna dump your things off in your room before heading to class."
"Oh,thanks, I completely forgot about that." She glanced at the inscription that had been lasered into her dorm key and noticed that she would be living in Dorm One. "I guess I'll see you around soon, then. It was nice to meet you Yongsun—I mean Solar."
"You too, Seulgi!" Yongsun waved to her as she turned around to leave. She seems really nice, Seulgi thought. She was a champion coordinator after all. Pocketing her key and consulting her Town Map again, which had been updated to show a map of the Academy grounds, she took the elevator back down to the ground floor, walking outside. Her next destination was Dorm One.
According to her map, there were three different dorms at the Academy. All three were co-ed, though separated by floor so as to discourage fraternization. Dorm One seemed to be the primary dorm for those Trainers interested in competitive battling. Dorm 2 belonged to the Coordinators, and though Seulgi couldn't see much through the tinted glass, it seemed to be very vibrant and full of creative energy. The last dorm was home to the breeders, and those focused on either the breeder track or the healer track.
She was so focused on gleaning every last detail her map had to give her that she only had a split second to react before a figure crashed into her, sending her falling forwards and the other unfortunate soul backwards down the stairs."That hurt…"
Turning around to apologize to whoever had collided with her, Seulgi's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Lying sprawled at the bottom of the stairs and looking positively murderous was a beautiful raven-haired Trainer. "Bae Joohyun," Seulgi whispered in awe.
"Ow,what the fuck?"