All Irene wanted to do right now was go back to her dorm room and go to sleep. Anything to end this hellish day. But she knew from the moment she was crowned Champion that not a single day would pass without her being judged. She didn't know how Moonbyul and the others did it. Even just this single moment of her sitting by herself on a bench outside the gymnasium would soon be interrupted.

"Joohyun, can I talk to you for a minute?" There it was. Irene sighed deeply and turned her head to face Leeteuk. He looked worried, and GOD was she sick of people looking at her like she would break at the slightest touch.

"What?" Irene snapped, immediately regretting it. She pinched the bridge of her nose and apologized to the Champion. "I'm sorry, I just really don't want to talk right now."

Leeteuk shook his head vehemently, "But that's just it, Joohyun. We need to have a serious talk soon about everything. About Dante, your career. Look, I know these past few months have been really hard on you. Really, I understand. You're not the only person to have lost a partner before."

The Champion placed his hand gently on Irene's shoulder, and for once the raven-haired girl was too emotionally exhausted to move. "Are things ever going to get better?"

"Time heals all wounds, Joohyun. Remember that. It just might take a little longer for some of them. I'll tell you what, I'll go back in there and postpone the rest of the shoot until later, okay? Take some time off. You're back in school for the time being, focus on that instead of being a Champion. Call me if you need anything." Leeteuk got up and walked back inside, leaving Irene to her thoughts.

I really thought I was ready to do this. What the hell am I going to do now?

Almost as if on cue, her cell phone rang. Pulling the phone from her back pocket, she blanched upon reading the caller ID. There was no avoiding this call. "Father?"

On the other end of the line, Irene's father huffed with impatience. "Young lady, we need to talk right now. Joohyun, you will explain to me right now why Leeteuk is here in the gym calling off the rest of the shoot."

Irene cringed, completely forgetting that her father had been invited to watch and critique the photo shoot. After all, it was his company who sponsored the entire thing. "Father, I'm so sorry, I just can't do this right now. Please, can we talk later?"

"What aren't you telling me, Joohyun?" came two identical voices as Irene dropped her phone and faced her father.

"Nothing." She tried to plaster her coldest "Ice princess" look on her face, but failed miserably upon seeing the anger radiating off her father in waves. "I wasn't feeling well and I asked him to postpone it on my behalf."

Well, at least that was partly true.

"Bae Joohyun, my company has spent a lot of money financing your post-Champion career and rise to fame. If I say you're to participate in a promotional shoot, you WILL do so no matter if you're ill or not!" he yelled.

Irene scoffed, "Please, Father, you only jumped on my bandwagon once it became obvious that I was going places. I believe it took you until after I beat the eighth gym leader for you to even acknowledge me as a Trainer."

Irene's father stood shell-shocked for a moment before slapping his daughter across the face.

Irene barely registered the stinging pain as he slapped her, leaving an angry red welt on her cheek. Her eyes filled with tears but to her credit she did not let them fall. Instead, the raven-haired Trainer just stared at her father with cold brown eyes and called Garm, her Aegislash, who placed itself between girl and father. It lunged menacingly at her father, who took a fearful step back.

He backed away, knowing when he was outnumbered, especially by one of the strongest Pokémon in the Kalos region. "Don't let it happen again," he growled, retreating to the parking lot. "Or the next time I won't be as understanding."

As he disappeared, Irene sank down on the bench, her whole body shaking with a combination of rage and fear. Despite her deteriorating relationship with her father, he was right about one thing. He DID control her and her career. She was only useful to her sponsors as long as she continued to do well. If she outlived her usefulness she would find herself in a precarious position.

Garm hovered next to his Trainer, and gently headbutted Irene, earning a small smile in return. "Thanks Garm."

Their silence was soon broken again by a commotion over by the battlefields. A minute later she saw Wendy and her roommates (Sooyoung and Yerim? she thought) rush by her, followed closely by a Marowak and an unfamiliar Tyranitar. Her heart dropped when she saw that Wendy and Sooyoung were supporting someone in between them, the two girls looking unnaturally worried.

Irene managed to catch a glimpse of the injured student, and she frowned. Kang Seulgi. The three Trainers ran in the direction of the infirmary, and perhaps against her better judgement, she stood up to follow them.

There's something about this Seulgi girl that I just can't seem to get out of my head.

XXX

"Seulgi? Seulgi? Come on dude, wake up!" Seulgi groaned in pain, opening her eyes. Sooyoung's lithe frame leaned over her as she looked at the other girl with concern. "Seulgi? Oh thank Arceus, you're awake."

"What happened?" Seulgi wheezed, slowly levering herself into an upright position. Her ribs were killing her, and she felt almost as if a small car had run into her at full tilt. Suddenly the memories all came rushing back. The tag battle. Sooyoung's Tyrantrum going beserk. Sooyoung. "Damn, Sooyoung your Pokémon really packs a punch."

Wendy shoved Sooyoung out of the way and hugged Seulgi tightly, letting up only when the brunette winced in pain. "Sorry," she quickly apologized. "I was so worried that I didn't pull you far enough out of harm's way."

"I'm fine, Seungwan," Seulgi told the other girl, laying one hand on her shoulder reassuringly and steadfastly ignoring the growing ache in her side. "I may be in need of some pain medication for the next few days, but believe me, as a Trainer I've had worse."

"Well I definitely concur with that, Miss Kang," the school nurse said as she walked in, carrying a thick patient file to Seulgi's bedside. Lee Ji-eun leaned down next to Seulgi and began taking her vitals. "I take it you've had quite the adventure over the years. I count no less than a dozen remodeled fractures and judging by the sheer size of the file I've received from your previous school, you're no stranger to pain."

Wendy looked at Seulgi with a newfound respect. And perhaps something else. "Damn, what did you do?"

"I take a more hands-on approach to training my Pokémon. Back in Alola, I'd regularly travel to Mount Hokulani and hike with my