This was supposed to be short, but turned out longer than I expected. I now like Caitlin a bit more than I did before, though, and I find myself imagining that the player character of the Sinnoh games is partially responsible for her decision to leave and train to control her abilities.
Disclaimer: If I owned the Pokémon series, Darach would've appeared with Caitlin outside of the Pokémon League in BW and BW2.
Important Note!: Dawn is referred to as Platina in this story for certain reasons.
X-X-X
R is for RoyalPearlShipping (Caitlin & Dawn)
"Miss Diamond! So pleased that you could come as a guest rather than as a challenger!"
"I'm pleased that you invited me, Darach." No, she wasn't. She was tense and nervous and just a teeny bit frightened. Platina P. Diamond, miscalled by others by the moniker 'Platinum', had been invited to the Battle Castle of the Battle Frontier that bordered between the Sinnoh and Johto regions. But it wasn't for a battle. It was for a chat with the Battle Castle's 'princess' Caitlin. She might have looked forward to it at some other point in time, but after last week, she was almost more frightened of Caitlin as she had been of Cyrus's mad dream.
The week before, something peculiar happened. After watching her loyal butler battle Platinum several times, Caitlin suddenly decided out of the blue that she wanted to battle the blue-haired teen. Darach had tried to plead his employer out of it, stating that he would battle hard enough to satisfy her, but she insisted and Platinum insisted. As much as it helped to hone her team's skills, the Battle Frontier was starting to feel monotonous and fighting a new challenger would be fun.
It should've been fun. But it wasn't. She won, but that was when all hell was let loose. There'd been screaming and yelling and her head felt like something was trying to split it open from the inside. When she came to, Darach had been tending to her and apologizing for Caitlin's actions, asking Platinum not to tell anyone about this. It frightened her, but she agreed nonetheless.
After taking her coat and hat, Darach led her to a room. Sitting in said room on a pastel-colored loveseat was Caitlin, looking like the picture of a demure lady even with her back turned. It was hard to believe that a week ago, that apathetic-looking girl nearly killed her by psychic assault.
"Lady Caitlin. Miss Diamond has arrived," Darach announced her presence.
"Very good, Darach. You may leave us."
Say what? No! After what happened last time, one would think that maybe having Platina in Caitlin's presence was a bad thing! The last thing the young Pokémon Trainer/Coordinator needed was to endure being on the receiving end of the blonde girl's mental attacks yet again. But before she could whisper to the butler not to leave her alone with his charge, he'd already gone off to do some sort of work. "Crap…!"
"Come here." The sound of Caitlin's voice made her freeze. The Battle Castle's princess was looking at her from the loveseat.
"Well… I did accept to come, so I may as well play along," Platina whispered to herself for some confidence. She walked towards the arm chair that was near the loveseat, but far enough away for the blue-haired girl's taste.
"Come sit with me." The steel in Caitlin's voice made Platina flinch and turn on her heel. Before she knew it, she was sitting next to the blonde girl. Okay, not next to her. Even in a state of cautious fear, Platina had the sense to sit as close as possible to the armrest opposite of her.
A small part of Platina thought it was funny that Caitlin was shorter than her sitting down and wondered how tall she was. Then she realized that it was her brain's way of trying to ignore the fact that she was sitting next to a person who could've killed her days ago.
"Have some tea." Caitlin motioned to the tea set on the coffee table in front of the loveseat: two cups, a kettle, and a sugar bowl, all decorated in the same pink and white floral motif. Platina never really liked tea, but she figured she had to go along with it to please the psychic girl. So she poured herself a cup, dropped a couple cubes of sugar in it, and took a sip. "It's an herbal fusion tea. Darach's specialty."
"A-ah. I see…" The tea wasn't so bad, but it really did nothing to calm Platina's nerves.
Caitlin poured some tea for herself and began to drink it. Silence fell between the two girls for what seemed like minutes. It took all Platina had to not ask why the heck she was there in the first place, because she was afraid of how Caitlin would react to this. Unsurprisingly to the blue-haired girl who decided to clam up like a Clampearl under attack, it was the blonde who spoke up first, "By the end of the week, I will no longer be witnessing your battles. Darach will determine the amount of your winnings from that point onward."
"Huh? Why?" Was it because she beat her in a Pokémon battle? If that was it, it made Caitlin seem like a sore loser! …Then again, she did throw a monster-sized tantrum a week ago.
"As a result of my actions after our battle last week, I have been dismissed from my position at the Battle Castle and am being sent off to a school for those with abilities such as my own in order to learn to control properly," Caitlin said as she looked down at the tea in her cup. It was the first time Platina had seen the pink-clad girl with a sad expression. Usually, she was apathetic or annoyed—or plain ol' frightening when she was upset.
Needless to say, it made Platina feel guilty. "I'm sorry."
Caitlin blinked and looked at the taller girl. "Why are you apologizing?"
"Because it's partially my fault that you lost your position. Darach didn't want you to battle, but I refused to listen." But that was only because she didn't know of the possible consequences.
"…Please, don't be. It was my own decision to do so." Caitlin took another sip of her tea while her guest was busy looking surprised. "My abilities are not only a danger to everyone else, but myself. If I don't learn to control it, the stress on my mind will kill me." Platina continued staring at the blonde girl in shock. "I refused help for it because I assumed I was more than capable of controlling myself. But I am not. All I can do is try to restrain my feelings and have my servants make things go my way."
"I'm sorry for that." It had to have been hard. The best solution she had was restraining herself to the point of apathy.
Caitlin frowned. "Stop being sorry!" The loveseat and the table shook a bit and Platina gulped. Eventually, the shaking stopped and Caitlin returned to her normal apathetic expression. "It's my own fault. I am a spoiled brat who is used to getting things her own way because of her heritage, wealth and the power she was born with. I was overconfident in my abilities as a trainer as a result."
"Well…I could see why. But the fact that you can admit it means you're not as spoiled as you thought." Platina smiled. "There's no problem with getting mad if you lose a normal Pokémon battle, either. Just so long as you don't overreact and learn what you have to improve." Caitlin started to stare at the blue-haired girl as a result, and it made Platina feel a bit nervous.
"Ah. Yes… That's what I wish to be able to do. I would like to be happy with the results and the experience, whether I win or lose. But my emotions control my power. If the slightest thing upsets me, I run the risk of destroying everything around me. That means that I won't be able enjoy the pure excitement of battling the way you and Darach do when you battle for me until I learn to control myself. Which is why I would like to ask you a question."
"Oh? Well, ask away."
Caitlin placed her teacup down on the table and shifted on the loveseat to better face Platina. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke, "I will train so that I am able to control my powers and become a trainer worthy of my family name. When that time comes, no matter how long it takes, I would like for the two of us to battle each other once again."
That wasn't a question, but Platina smiled nonetheless. "Of course! I mean, so long as I'm still training Pokémon by that point." It's not like she knew how long psychic training took. She could be married with kids at that point!
"You will." Was that a prediction? Or was Caitlin actually commanding her to keep training Pokémon until they had their rematch? Platina really didn't want to know… "That is all I wish to tell you. You may leave now."
"Uh… Isn't there something else you wish to tell me?"
Caitlin stared at her blankly. "Such as…?"
Platina resisted the urge to shout. "An apology, maybe? 'I'm sorry I nearly killed you a week ago'? I mean, I know you can't control yourself, but it'd be nice if you said it to me yourself instead of using Darach as a mouthpiece." Now she was starting to feel like her normal self.
"I..." Caitlin's pale cheeks suddenly turned bright pink. She was blushing! She actually looked like a normal girl when she did that. "I am sorry for what I did to you, and I hope you were not seriously hurt."
"Thank you. And the worst I got off with was a headache." Platina put down her teacup and placed her hands on her lap. "So, when are we getting our crumpets or biscotti or…whatever people eat at tea parties?"
The blonde girl blinked. "You…wish to stay longer?"
The blue-haired trainer nodded. "Yeah. I figure you're going to be leaving soon, and now that we're friends, I want to spend some time with you before then."
"Friends?" Caitlin froze for a moment. Platina wondered if she'd start jumping for joy and her emotional powers would bring the building as a result. Instead, she simply clapped twice. "Darach."
"Yes, Lady Caitlin?" Darach seemed to suddenly appear on Caitlin's side of the loveseat, bowing to his employer.
"Miss Diamond and I would like something to eat with our tea."
"Of course. Is there anything in particular you would prefer, Miss Diamond?"
Platina got over her shock at Darach's quick appearance and answered, "Just about anything is fine with me, thank you."
"Very well. I will prepare something I hope is suitable to both your tastes." And then Darach was gone as quickly as he'd appeared.
"…So, what will we talk about until he comes back?"
Caitlin started to blush once again. "I…would like to hear about your participation in Pokémon contests."
Platina smiled. So the blonde girl was interested in that sort of thing. "Well, I never really wanted to be in contests before, but my Mom was a coordinator in her day and she always thought I wanted to follow in her footsteps. So she…"