Seulgi surged forward on her Bewear, quickly settling into a fast, yet comfortable pace. The Mudsdale was behind them, and the Rapidash in front, but she was confident about her pacing. Moonbyul had sent the schematics to her tablet and she had easily memorized the layout. It wouldn't give her a huge advantage, but anything would be helpful, especially since her Bewear didn't have the inherited speed that her opponents had.

She spotted one of the aerial cameras above her, attached to the leg of a Staraptor, and she urged Bewear to go a little faster. Those cameras were the student's lifeline to the race, providing live feed of the race to the gathered students and judges. They would be racing in a very large square, ending up back where they started. As long as she tried to stay in range of the cameras at all times, it would be nearly impossible for her other two opponents to break the rules and attempt to attack her.

Daniel was still ahead of her, his Rapidash's silver mane and tail waving in the wind. Of all the competitors, Seulgi was worried about him the most. He was just as confident as she was and she could tell that his Rapidash had plenty of experience with working under pressure and in front of a crowd.

Unbeknownst to either of them, the Breeder on top of the Mudsdale had a sinister plan up his sleeve. He had resigned himself to losing when he heard that Irene would be representing Dorm One, but now that that had changed, he was free to go after his opponents. He knew that Jihyo demanded that their dorm win without cheating. What Jihyo didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

It didn't matter to him that he was currently in last place, he could still easily see the other two. As soon as they passed a blind corner in the race he would enact his plan.  So when Trainer and Mudsdale passed through a particularly thick clump of trees, he stopped. Making sure the cameras wouldn't be able to see him, he whistled once. A bush rustled behind him and another Breeder walked out, leading an identical Mudsdale on a halter.

Of course it was cheating, but technically there was nothing in the rules about substituting a Pokémon mid-race. He quickly attached the saddle and reins to this new Mudsdale and mounted it, giving the other breeder his tired-out mount. "You know what to do?"

Yugyeom nodded, clipping the lead to the first Sawsbuck. "I do. I don't like this one bit, but I'm sure as hell not having our dorm lose this race. I'd rather cheat and win than lose and eat at that disgusting taco truck for the rest of the year. Go. Win this for us."

The rider saluted, and clicked his teeth, urging the Mudsdale to run. "I'll see you later on in the race then. And don't worry, we got this. I'll win for us, whatever it takes."

Yugyeom watched their representative run off. "I hope you're right, Jackson. Whatever it takes." The Mudsdale next to him nickered and he ran a hand down its neck. "Yeah, you're right. There's time to feel bad about this when we win."

XXX

Seulgi was fairly certain that they were about ninety-five percent done with the race. And she was in first. Her strategy of running at a quick yet steady pace went over well, as she had passed Daniel and his Rapidash, who were recovering after spending a lot of energy on the first leg of the race.

She saw the finish line in front of her, past this clump of trees, and she could barely hear the crowd cheering. She smiled. We're gonna win this.

Suddenly she was falling, her Bewear losing his balance and skidding on the dirt. She hit the ground hard, letting out a cry as her partner fell on her right leg, pinning her to the ground.

"Nice try, loser," a voice sneered, and she saw the Breeder atop the Mudsdale surge forward toward the finish line.

Her leg was killing her, her starter whining in pain himself. That…bastard! He had tripped up her Bewear. There was mud all over her partner’s legs, which could only mean that the Mudsdale attacked them. She prayed the cameras had caught the obvious foul but it then occurred to her that he wouldn't have tripped her if he thought he would get caught. And they were still far enough away from the finish line that the crowd wouldn't have caught the play.

Daniel and his Rapidash were still behind them, so Seulgi decided that if they were going to lose then at least they wouldn't come in last.

Moonbyul's gonna kill me either way. She managed to help push her starter off of her injured leg, but only managed to move a few inches before crying in pain. I can't do this.

XXX

Suddenly, Seulgi was no longer in the race, but back in her old dorm room at the Alola Academy, watching the final battle between a young, accomplished Trainer and the Champion of the Kalos League. Back then, she didn't even know the name of the girl who would soon become a region-wide celebrity.

Leeteuk was no easy Trainer, that much was certain, but even so, the beautiful raven-haired girl with the captivating brown eyes stood her ground without so much as blinking. The Champion had already lost five of his Pokémon and was down to his last one, a powerful Gourgeist.

The entire world held on with bated breath to see what would happen next. The challenger had also lost a fair bit of her team and was down to her last teammate as well. She had a strange strategy though. It was as if she had tailored her team to specifically fight in a certain way, switching her Pokémon in and out if they so much as missed an attack. In fact, the audience had only seen five of the challenger's Pokémon. She held in her hand her last hope.

"I'm impressed, not many people could have come this far," Leeteuk told the girl. "But you're down to your last Pokémon as well, so unless you have some sort of ace, I think we can call this battle over."

The challenger turned her head, clutching her last Pokéball in her hand. Just as the cameras focused on her face, she smirked. "It's not over until someone gives up. And unfortunately for you, I don’t give up easily."

Leeteuk frowned and called his Gourgeist in close. "Very well, show me what you've got."

The challenger tossed her Pokéball with a fiery energy and shouted for all the world to hear, "Dante, let's win this battle!"

And the rest was history.

It's not over until someone gives up. Seulgi's vision swam in front of her, but she pushed herself up off the ground, ignoring the throbbing pain running down her right leg. Grabbing onto her Bewear's shoulder to steady herself, she began limping towards the finish line.

The Mudsdale had slowed down considerably, as the Trainer on top of it was certain that they had won. Seulgi saw a flash of silver behind her, which signaled the presence of the Coordinators and their Rapidash. "We can't give up, buddy. That's the reason we