By the time Seulgi’s last class let out that afternoon it seemed like the entire school knew about the upcoming battle between her and Jennie. Moonbyul and Namjoon had even used their dorm captain privileges to secure one of the school’s battlefields for the occasion, and as she walked out of the art building she saw a stream of students making their way down to the arena. As a group of them passed her she heard them chattering with each other about who would come out on top.

“I’ve got my money on Jennie,” one of the girls said confidently. “She’s in one of my strategy classes and some of the stuff she comes up with is seriously impressive.”

One of the other girls shook her head, “Nah, there’s no way she’ll beat Seulgi. You all saw her battle with Wendy.”

“Gotta say I’m with Yuna on this one Chaeryeong,” their friend added, tilting his head as he considered their opinions. “Seulgi’s not one to be taken lightly.”

Seulgi brushed by them carrying her art portfolio, a slight smile on her face. She had to admit it felt nice to have people being on her side. Gathering her thoughts, she walked across campus to the arenas, going over her strategies one more time for posterity. She was nervous, her stomach doing flip-flops in her belly as the arenas got closer and closer. Was this what Irene felt like before a big match?

Speaking of the Kalos Champion, she hoped Irene would be there to watch the battle. Seulgi didn’t know where exactly their relationship was leading but she couldn’t deny that every time she looked at her roommate her heart thumped with excitement. She knew Joohyun was the one of them with actual Champion credits but it would be nice to have her see Seulgi win. Oh Arceus, she hoped she won.

The stands circling the battlefield were already packed full of curious students. There was a clear divide among them as well. A good half of them were cheering for Seulgi, with Wendy, Joy and Yeri leading the pack. Irene sat next to them, looking uncharacteristically nervous. Even Moonbyul and her girlfriend had shown up, and as Seulgi gave them an awkward wave Moonbyul gave her a spirited thumbs-up in return.

The remaining students were cheering for Jennie, but none of them appeared to have any animosity towards Seulgi. Everyone just wanted to see a good Pokémon battle. Their referee for this match was none other than Jihyo, who promised to be fair with her judgements. The dorm captain took her place in the center of the arena and waited for the flood of gathered students to die down before putting on a microphone and addressing the crowd.

“How’s everyone doing this fine Monday afternoon?”

The answering cheers were deafening.

Jihyo smiled, “I’m surprised we have such a big turnout for this match, most if not all of you know why this battle is taking place but I’m just going to take a second and reiterate. Our final dorm competition of the year is on Friday and final team compositions are due in only a few days. A challenge has been called for the right to poach a teammate from an opposing team. The winner of this battle will add said teammate to their roster.”

“What am I, a piece of meat?” Irene grumbled in her seat, glowering petulantly at Jihyo. She knew there was no avoiding this match, but that didn’t mean she liked having her autonomy being taken away. Damn fine print.

“You’re a Champion piece of meat,” Wendy supplied, not being helpful in the least. She really hoped Seulgi would be able to pull off a win, if Irene did get poached by Jennie and her friends it would make the competition that much more difficult.

“Thanks for that, Wendy,” Irene said sarcastically. She began bouncing her left leg up and down, a sign that she was really nervous about the upcoming fight.

“Are both challengers ready?” Jihyo called out. Seulgi and Jennie both nodded their heads. “Very well. This battle will be a traditional 3v3 match. First Trainer to knock out all three of her opponent’s Pokémon will be declared the winner.”

“May the best Trainer win,” Jennie said to Seulgi. She was pleasantly surprised to see that the other girl had accepted her challenge. The fact that Seulgi came through with her declaration to see Jennie on the battlefield earned her a lot of respect in the other girl’s eyes.

“And no hard feelings regardless of outcome,” Seulgi replied, a fire starting to build in her gaze. She’d win this for Irene. But more importantly, she’d win to prove to everyone how dedicated she was to her Pokémon.

The two met in the middle of the battlefield and shook hands. Jihyo tossed a coin to determine who would make the first move and Jennie called it correctly. While the first move in a battle was important, Seulgi knew she couldn’t let it decide the outcome.

“Alright ladies, let’s have a nice clean battle.” Jihyo waited for both of them to return to their respective sides, whistle in her hand.

Seulgi went over her strategy in her head. Whoever Jennie sent out first would determine how she should respond. Remember what Irene taught you. Stay calm, stay focused and most importantly, understand the flow of the battle and adapt as it changes. No battle is over until the last Pokémon is down.

“Let’s go, Milotic!”

XXX

Jennie’s first Pokémon was a Milotic. Fitting, Seulgi thought as the Water-Type appeared on the battlefield, waving its beautifully scaled tail. Milotic were known to be powerful special attackers, and they could also learn multiple self-healing moves, which could spell trouble for Seulgi and her more offensively minded team.

The stadium was silent as all the spectators waited for Seulgi’s response. Several of her Pokémon were weak to water and ice-type moves, so she really only had one clear option for this fight.

“Come on Bewear!”

Her trusty partner Pokémon popped out of his Pokéball and faced down his opponent, barrel chest rumbling as he growled at Milotic. Jennie looked unbothered by the aggressive display and smiled. “We’ll start things off. Aqua Ring!”

The entirety of Milotic’s serpentine body glowed with blue light as a ring of water ran over its scales, forming a thin protective layer. Seulgi took note; every turn Jennie’s Pokémon would be able to heal a bit of damage. The obvious answer was to deal enough damage in a small window of time to negate it. But there was something about Milotic that made her hesitate.

“Bewear, Brick Break!” Her Bewear charged forward and leaped for the Milotic, crashing down on it with a heavy thump, stirring up the arena’s dirt floor and sending clouds of dust billowing up into the air. As the dust cleared however Milotic looked none worse for wear.

Damn it, her Milotic must be trained in defense, Seulgi swore. Worse, what little damage she had been able to do to it was quickly washed away by Aqua Ring. Things were not starting out so well.

Jennie’s strategy seemed to hinge on her taking advantage of Milotic’s defenses. The next few turns saw her using Safeguard, Coil and Recover to further bolster her already impressive defenses. Now not only was her Milotic immune from any status conditions it was also getting even stronger. If Seulgi didn’t stop her now, Milotic would sweep her entire team.

“I saw your battle at the last competition,” Jennies said as her Milotic managed to pull off another Coil. “Your strategy to stack Bulk Up on Bewear was impressive. I wonder how you’ll deal with it being turned against you?”

By now Seulgi was running out of ideas. They’d exchanged several blows already and Bewear was slowly starting to look worn. Milotic though looked as hale and healthy as ever. Her Bewear was strong but every time his attacks connected they d