Irene knew she was in trouble the minute she saw Leeteuk's face. It was the same face her mentor had whenever she came home late after a night of partying with Solar and Moonbyul. "You're giving me that look, Leeteuk. I get it, I ed up. Can we get this over with so I can go back to the dorm competition?"

Leeteuk sighed, and gestured for Irene to get into the car. "Your father called me in a rage yesterday, something about an article?"

They pulled out of the school parking lot and headed towards the Champion's Tower. The name itself was misleading, as it wasn't really a tower. In fact, the PR headquarters of the Pokémon league was only a couple of stories tall and rather nondescript looking.

Irene released her Ninetales and it settled happily in the seat next to her. "You know my dad, he's always overreacting about everything. I can't count how many times he's threatened to disown me over stupid things like this."

Leeteuk raised his eyebrows, "It doesn't seem like his usual rage, Irene, and I think you know that. Is the article right?"

The Champion scoffed, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "Yes and no. I'm definitely not circling the drain or suicidal, and I'd never resort to taking drugs. But…something kind of hit home for me when the piece mentioned depression."

Her mentor's face softened. He understood, he really did. A young woman becoming Champion, with all of the privilege that came from that title, was a hard thing to bear. Add in all the loss Irene had experienced and it was no surprise she was asking about it. "Do you think you want to meet with a doctor to discuss it?"

Irene's eyes widened, almost as if she feared the thought of going to a doctor. "Are you kidding? And have the tabloids run rampant with a story like that?"

"If you wanted the meeting to be super private, the league has plenty of physicians that have taken strict confidentiality contracts. After all, did you hear that Siebold broke his arm recently? He was performing one of his monologues for a challenger when he slipped on the wet stairs and fell."

Irene knew the injury was nothing to laugh about but she couldn't help but chuckle. She remembered facing Siebold, monologue and all. It was one of her more memorable battles. "No, I didn't hear that he broke his arm. Oh…"

Leeteuk smiled. "The league has plenty of resources Irene, you need only ask if you want to use them."

Feeling a little better about her chances, Irene nodded. "I'll have to really think about it, but I might just check them out. Would my father hear about it?"

Leeteuk knew that the one person Irene feared above all was her father and to be honest it made him sad. Irene’s father should be a role model and mentor to his daughter, not a manager and PR watchdog. "He would not hear about it from our people, only you would have the power to tell him."

Irene breathed a sigh. Good. "In that case, can you get me some information today while we're at the tower?"

"Of course. Now, heart-to-heart aside, we've got to deal with this article. Buckle up Irene, this is going to be a long day. Damage control is never pretty."

XXX

As the day progressed and a multitude of battles went on, the scoreboards kept beeping as the dorms fought for first place. Seulgi found herself watching many of them, impressed that the other two dorms were able to keep up with theirs.

For being focused on Coordinating and Breeding respectively, Dorms Two and Three were still amazing at battling. Wendy was by her side for most of the day, pointing out people and Pokémon, and regaling her with tales of being the daughter of an Elite Four member.

"So there this guy was, one Pokémon left, while my dad still had three of his team. I could see him shaking, looking at my dad's Dragonite."

"I've seen your dad's Dragonite on TV before, it's one of his most powerful Pokémon right?" Seulgi grinned when Wendy puffed out her chest proudly.

"Yeah, that Dragonite is beast. My dad promised to give me one of the Dratini he's bred when I graduate," the shorter girl said excitedly. "Anyway, the challenger was scared out of his wits and my dad just stood there. The poor bastard ran screaming from the fight, leaving his Venusaur on the field."

Seulgi gasped, "That poor Venusaur! The guy came back for it, right?"

Wendy nodded. "Yeah, but he then got a pretty serious verbal beating from my dad about responsibility. I've been on the receiving end of one of those conversations and let me tell you, it is not a pretty sight."

The rest of