Episode 2- Reputation: Part One
Still Waters Run DeepLeeteuk rolled into his office at ten o'clock on the dot and stopped in his tracks when he saw someone sitting in one of his chairs. He checked his phone to make sure he didn't have an appointment.
"Hi, can I help you--" he asked, freezing mid-sentence. "Hyuna? What are you doing here?"
Moonbyul's mentor and current Hoenn Champion shot him a winning smile and stood up to embrace him. "I was in the region checking on Moonbyul and decided to stop by. I'm sorry, did you have an appointment?"
Leeteuk shook his head. "I'm free for a few hours. It's just such a surprise to see you, what about the League challengers in your region?"
"Ever since Moonbyul beat me, no one's really been brave enough to challenge the Elite Four. People seem to either be scared of her or want her to marry them. Byul has gotten many letters from people asking her to 'step on them'." Hyuna shuddered.
"Ah, I get it. What are you going to do with your free time then?"
"I thought I'd see to my current charge, head over to Kiloude City to check out the Battle Maison, and just relax for a bit. I'd also like to talk to you about something, Teuk."
Leeteuk recognized Hyuna's serious voice and sat down. "It's about Joohyun, isn't it?"
"Look, I completely understand wanting to increase your Champion's reputation. Especially post-championship. But when we heard about Dante, I wondered if introducing her back into the world of competitive battling was a good decision."
He sighed, "Believe me, I've been asking myself the same question ever since I got that phone call. I've tried to keep her mind off Dante by throwing her back into work but I can see it's not really helping. Tell me, Hyuna, how did you approach this with Moonbyul? I haven't had a Champion to work with for ages."
"I listen to them. Joohyun might not be much for talking right now but keep her going. Like it or not, she respects the hell out of you, and she listens more closely to your words than you think. Sometimes I envy the relationship you two have. When Moonbyul gets mad she starts swearing and I have to call Solar to get her to calm down."
They laughed, and Leeteuk smiled at Hyuna. "Thank you for the advice, my friend. How about we go for a coffee, my treat?"
Hyuna stood up and gathered her purse. "Always. You know I've heard good things about the coffee in the Kalos Region..."
XXX
"Alright losers, listen up. The dorm competition is right around the corner," Moonbyul said, addressing the heads of the other two dorms, Kang Daniel, Kim Yongsun, Im Nayeon and Park Jihyo. Her own co-head, a boy named Namjoon, was serving detention for breaking one of the school's laptops. "We need to set the terms for this semester's winner."
Jihyo ignored her entirely and continued filing her nails. Jihyo was one of the two heads of Dorm Three, and a very talented breeder whosePokémon had ended up in multiple champion teams. While she wasn't the best with battle strategy, the sheer talent herPokémon possessed made her a tough opponent. After the previous dorm head was suspended for cheating in last year's competition she had taken up the reins to massive success. "What makes you think you're going to win again this semester, Byul?"
"Jihyo," Kang Daniel chided, shooting his girlfriend a glare. "Our dorms both lost fair and square last time, let's not bring up old memories." Daniel led Dorm Two along with Moonbyul's girlfriend Solar. The two of them were a creative force to be reckoned with. Daniel blew through his region's contest circuit undefeated, becoming only the eighth coordinator to do so. With Solar as his co-head Dorm Two were looking like very strong contenders for the competition.
"Bad memories, Daniel? Moonbyul threw a PIE in my face," Nayeon hissed, unconsciously patting her hair. Where Jihyo was a highly successful breeder, Nayeon had made a name for herself through her incredible dedication to breeding shinyPokémon, a rare occurrence in which aPokémon was born with a different coloring than normal. Shiny breeding had somewhat of a bad reputation, since the market was filled with irresponsible breeders who would abandonPokémon when they weren't born shiny. Nayeon aimed to change the industry into a force for good.
"Those were the terms, Nayeon," Moonbyul sighed, chuckling at the memory. "Losers get shanked with pie. Besides, at least I remembered to toss your favorite flavor in your face."
Nayeon lunged at Moonbyul, who jumped back quickly, smile still on her face. Solar shot her girlfriend a reproving glare. "I can never eat lemon meringue pie again thanks to you!"
"Would the two of you stop it?" Jihyo shouted, grabbing her friend around the waist and hauling her backwards. "Save the animosity for the competition, okay? We're only here to discuss terms."
"Fine," Nayeon huffed. "What are we betting?"
Moonbyul cleared and passed two pieces of paper to her rival captains. "I put together a list of of most wanted resources and privileges that our dorms would likely want."
"Winner gets exclusive access to the Main Dining Hall?" Daniel's eyes widened. "Where will the rest of us eat?"
Solar blanched. "NO! Absolutely not, Byul."
"Come on babe, eating th
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