Chapter 25: Father and Daughter
Lucia stretched her arms wide as she and Anastasia left the PokéCenter together.
"Man.." Lucia said. "A week passed so quickly… I almost didn't realize it took that long to beat Wattson."
"It came and went like a flash, huh?" Anastasia said.
"Yeah. I wonder how Beatrice is doing… or what she did over the week." Lucia asked.
~~One Week Earlier~~
"Quinton," A male guard's voice broke the former champion's trance. Quinton had been staring at the ceiling again. He pulled himself up from bed and looked at the police guard pulling out his keys. "Someone's here to see you." He said.
"Someone's come to see you?" Samantha, Quinton's lover and cellmate said from the lower bunk bed. "Either they're your long, lost family or, people ready to bust you out."
"That joke was so funny, I forgot to laugh." Quinton said, hopping off of bed. He sighed and walked toward the jail cell bars. He put his hands through a small door on the bars and let the cop put him in handcuffs. Then, Quinton pulled his hands as the guard opened the door and let Quinton out. He locked the door behind them.
"Be sure to give them a kiss for me!" Samantha cried. Quinton didn't say a word as he and the guard walked. Who wanted to see him? Despite Samantha's joke being a... well, joke, it was awfully accurate.
It was either long lost family, or a person ready to bust him out.
Whoever it was, he supposed he was ready to see them, and hear what they had to say. The two of them eventually reached a door, and the officer opened it and let him into the visitor booth.
There they were- the people who had come to see him, sitting near a desk behind a mirror that blocked them from interaction. Two of the faces, he could remember.
It was Lucian and Marie. The third person, however, the girl who was with them...
He had no idea who that was.
"Sit down," Lucian said, furrowing his brow. Quinton slowly approached the seat on his side of the booth and sat on it. The guard closed the door behind him and stayed in the room with the prisoner. "We've got a lot to discuss," Marie said.
"So, from what I understand, some secret organization is going to try to break me out of jail…" Quinton said.
"Yeah. So let's talk about the elephant in the room- Are you going to join them?"
"...I think there's one thing we should discuss first." Quinton said. He pointed at the red-haired girl wearing the long white princess-like dress. "Who's that?"
"Quinton…" Marie said, standing up and letting the girl come forward. "This… is-"
"No," The red-haired girl said, turning to the blonde briefly. "Not another word. Don't say my name." She said, Marie sighed and nodded.
The girl looked squarely at Quinton. Quinton didn't say a word. The painful feeling in his chest grew, and he still had no idea why. After a brief silence, Quinton finally drew in breath.
"Who are you?" He asked.
The girl replied with silence of her own. She put her hands on the desk in front of her and leaned closer.
"Who are you?" Quinton asked again with impatience. The pain was becoming agitating. The girl suddenly pulled away, as though she were satisfied.
"Battle me." She said, "I want you and I to have a match."
"What?" Lucian said. "We- We can't just do that. He's in Jail!"
"That's right missy," The male police officer behind Quinton stepped forward. "We can't just let him out. Things in the real adult world are more complicated than you may think."
"Mr. Policeman.. What's your name?" The girl asked.
"My name is Henry," The policeman asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hm," The girl nodded and crouched under the desk.. The policeman's eyebrows raised when the girl placed a giant metal briefcase on the desk. She opened it and scanned the contents of it.
"Do you have a family, Henry? Children?" She asked.
"Why are you asking-"
The girl pulled out a smaller briefcase from the larger one, and opened it in front of Quinton and the guard.
Quinton had no idea that so many Pokédollars could be neatly placed in such a small briefcase.
"In this briefcase, I have over 10 million Pokédollars. If you did have a family, this should be enough to pay for their education- and your retirement. All you have to do is let Quinton out and keep that information secret for a week.."
Quinton's eyes slowly moved to the guard, whose eyes were wide open.
"I-..!" The guard placed his hand on the mirror.
The young girl waved the briefcase like it was a piece of candy. "Do we have a deal?" She asked.
The guard nodded very quickly.
"Quinton.. do you accept my challenge?"
"Sure," Quinton said.
"Good. Henry? will get the money after a week. I keep my promises. Also." The teenager went into her briefcase and pulled out a pair of folded sunglasses. She put it on the desk in front of the window.
"You will come all the way over here to get these sunglasses and give them to Quinton. I want him to fight at his absolute best." The girl closed her briefcase, turned around and left. Lucian and Marie both sighed and followed her out.
Quinton felt the guard's hand touch his shoulder.
"Well… time for you to go." The guard said.
"...Not just yet," the former champion said, standing up from his seat.
Samantha was staring at the ceiling while laying on the bunk bed they shared. She hadn't lied in the top half of the bunk bed in a while; it was nice.
Suddenly, the sound of the jail bars moving made Samantha get up from bed. She saw a male guard opening the bars and Quinton walked into the jail cell.
"Because of circumstance, I'm being let out of the jail cell for a week," Quinton said. "Do you want to come with?"
"Aww.. How sweet," Samantha said with a smile. "Before, you couldn't stand the sight of me, and now, you want to come and take me with you?"
"I just thought it'd be a pain to think about you screaming my name while I was gone. The guards would give me an earful when I'd come. I got a headache thinking about it."
Samantha smiled as she hopped off the bunk bed and onto the floor.
"So, to translate all of what you just said…" Samantha said as she walked toward Quinton. "You were worried that I would get worried about you being gone for so long, so you decided to come and tell me."
"Hmph," Quinton looked away. His face became a bit red.
"I know I'm not wrong." Samantha said. She raised her hand and brushed away some of Quinton's long hair and gilded her fingers on his lightly bearded cheek. She smiled.
"...Are you coming out of jail with me?" Quinton asked.
"...Nah. I'm fine right here. I'm totally used to life here in jail. I belong here." Samantha said.
"There's a girl who's letting me out. She had red hair like mine, and a sharp mind that jumps at opportunity.. like yours. She wrapped the guard around her finger."
"Are you implying there's a chance that this girl could be our little girl?"
"Yes."
"Oh heck! That just further confirms my decision! No way in heck I'm showing myself to her! Not till' my sentence is over!" Samantha said. "If that girl is actually our daughter- then I don't want her to see me! Not like this... mean, look at me, I-"
"Don't you dare talk yourself down- you look-..." Quinton's eyes darted away as his face grew redder.
"You're sweet," Samantha said with a wink. "But I wasn't talking about my looks." Quinton's eyebrows raised- and that confirmed her suspicions. " I was talking about my situation. I'm just a shell of my former self. Until that changes, I'm not ready to look my little girl in the eye. So for now, the answer is no." Samantha turned and hopped on the top side of the bunk bed and lay flat on her back. "I'm just gonna lay here and keep your bed warm till you come back."
"All right," Quinton said. He turned away. "Goodbye for now."
"Goodbye for now," Samantha said. "I'll miss you."
Quinton didn't say another word as he turned and walked away. The guard locked the cell once Quinton was out, and the two of them left. Samantha smiled, knowing for certain that Quinton was going to miss her, too.
Quinton and the guard walked in the empty hallway that lead to the outside.
"I was only able to smuggle in one of your Pokémon," The guard said as he handed Quinton a single Pokéball. "Your Dusknoir."
Quinton tossed the Pokéball into the air, and Dusknoir came out with a battle cry. Quinton and the ghost type shared a single nod before Dusknoir flew right into Quinton's body to hide.
The guard's eyes widened. "Did- Did you just…"
"My Dusknoir is my shadow. He hides in my body so no one, not even my allies or enemies know that I have him under my sleeve." Quinton said.
"I see…" The guard said. "Well, you still have a Ditto, right?"
"Hmph." Quinton shook his head. "We're not allowed to have our dittos in the jail cells."
"I only asked because not every prisoner follows the rules. Do you have one, or not?"
"No, I don't. I thought you cops would know that I'm not the type to go out when it's play time with Pokémon."
"You know why we give everyone Dittos, right? So we can suit the needs of all Prisoners when we let them go out into a supervised recess. They get lonely since we separated em' from their Pokémon.. If they want to see a Squirtle, they get a ditto that can transform. Although the dittos were trained to not use any moves or turn into anything other than Pokémon, so there aren't any breakouts."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because.." The guard pulled a Pokéball from his pocket and pushed it onto Quinton's chest aggressively. "If I'm going to have you go outside, and you somehow get caught by an onlooking guard on your way out or on your way back in, you're going to have a Ditto on your hand and attempt to play it off."
"...Fine." Quinton said.
"Also, this isn't just any ditto. This is my ditto. Meaning that unlike the prison trained Dittos, this one can use moves. If you need to use it, then go right ahead. I'll say that you stole it from me, if you happen to hurt any of the guards."
"I understand." Quinton said.
The guard and Quinton reached the doors, and the Guard opened them.
The afternoon sun would have blinded Quinton if not for his sunglasses. As he stepped out of the prison, he put his hands in the pockets of his orange jail jumpsuit. The black and white striped jacket that hung on his shoulders flew wildly in the wind as he stepped forward, crushing the gravel beneath his feet with his brown steel-toed boots.
"Well, Quinton, you're free to go. For now." The guard said.
Quinton said nothing as he stepped out of the prison. The coast was completely clear as he walked quickly toward an opened gate. Once he left the prison gates, he closed the gate behind him and stepped foot into the grasslands for the first time in a long time. He then saw who was standing in front of him.
It was Lucian, Marie and the girl that was with them.
The girl was already clad in her invoker armor, and glaring at him through her visor. She had one hand behind her back- it was then when he noticed she had a Slowpoke standing on her shoulder. He smiled a dopey smile and stared with vacant eyes. Quinton approached the trio. He stopped once he was within handshake distance.
"Hi," Marie said. "Good to see you outside for once, Quinton."
"I'm not entirely sure if you've changed completely." Lucian said. "I still have my doubts- so I'm watching you."
Quinton said nothing in response. His eyes turned to the girl, who stared at him with an intense glare.
Quinton didn't say a word.
"All three of you, come with me," The girl said, turning around. The adults let the teenage girl lead the way. As they walked, Quinton checked if the young girl still had her hand behind her back. Now that her back was turned to him- she hid one hand behind her stomach.
She was planning something. That much was certain. But what? Quinton riddled his mind as the four of them walked farther into the grasslands of Sinnoh. They were moving farther and farther away from the Prison.
It was especially windy today. The grass and trees were reeling from the gusts that blew past them. Quinton continued to think about the girl's previous actions until this point.
If the girl knew from the start that she planned on challenging him, why reveal her Slowpoke to him early? Why is she hiding her arm from him? There had to be some sort of explanation for it.
If this were his daughter- then she'd be thinking from the very start on how to win. She'd be thinking of a strategy. Quinton closed his eyes.
Daughter or not, he had to win. So he had to think outside of the box. She gave the guard sunglasses that was packed in her briefcase and wanted Quinton to wear it. In order for it to be in her briefcase, she must have packed it beforehand, and she had to have known that Quinton used to wear his sunglasses back when he was champion.
This must have meant that she was a fan of his. But why did he want her to wear his sunglasses? Did she want to crush him while he fought at his best…? No- it had to be because she wanted to fight the 'authentic' Quinton. The one that was seen as the Champion of Hoenn several years ago. That must have meant that she had seen him fight before.
How old was this girl?
14? Maybe 15?
She couldn't have been born while Quinton was still champion. So, she must have watched videos of him fighting.
She had to be a fan of his to know that Quinton used sunglasses- and had to be someone who watched him while gowing up. She must have been planning for this moment for longer than he'd thought.
As Quinton walked ahead, he tried his best to look as stoic as possible. Not once giving an ounce of emotion, even when the girl or Lucian occasionally turned their heads to glance at him.
His earlier thought process explained her motivations for coming with Lucian and Marie- but not her battle strategy. She had to have been planning for this for years, then.
So why bring out her Slowpoke now? Quinton closed his eyes and thought for a while. What would he do if he were in her shoes?
How would he beat the one he looked up to? Why bring out the Slowpoke now, of all times, and not at the beginning of the battle to surprise him, or counter the Pokémon he'd bring out?
If the roles were reversed, and Quinton wanted to beat someone he looked up to, he'd plan ahead. He'd do something unbeknownst to his opponent- and if they were worthy of being looked up to, then they'd expect it.
Quinton nearly gasped in realization.
She brought out Slowpoke not because she wanted to, because she needed to. The girl must have had more Pokémon to use, but specifically used Slowpoke.
No.
She specifically caught Slowpoke for this reason. Because she was charging an attack as they were walking. The invoker armor's power grants the user the same powers that their linked Pokémon has. If the Pokémon can fly, so can the user, etcetera, etcetera.
So if Slowpoke could charge a Hydro pump,
So could the girl.
The girl needed to have Slowpoke out and needed to have on her invoker because she needed to link with it. She had to hide one of her hands, because if she were charging a hydro pump, one of her hands would glow blue with water type energy. It would be obvious to him if he saw it, so she's hiding her hand for that reason.
If it's an attack that has to be strong enough to defeat him in one shot, then she'd have to have Slowpoke help her out too. He'd have to tap into his reserves of water type energy and give it to the teenager so it'd be much stronger.
The entire time, even as they walked, Slowpoke must've been helping the girl with her opening attack.
That's why she caught out Slowpoke, of all Pokémon.
Slowpoke is a dopey looking Pokémon. it could be doing anything, running a mile, doing backflips, getting its tail bitten off, and still have that dumb expression on its face. If it were any other Pokémon, they would show a sign of strain or weakness. But not Slowpoke. Meaning it could help the girl, and no one would be the wiser.
The only downside of this strategy was that if she did this, she would drain Slowpoke's reserves of power. It would be a lot easier to knock out.
Quinton closed his eyes. This was bad, really bad. If that attack hit him, it would be lights out. He had to think of something and fast.
No- he thought to himself. Calm down and think. There has to be something he can do. Think back to what you thought of until this point.
Quinton slowly reviewed what he learned.
1. This girl was likely to be a big fan of his and watched videos of him. This meant that any trick that comes out of his sleeve is likely already on her mind. If she has been planning for years for this battle, then she must have a sound strategy- she's likely to put him in a situation where he can't possibly win.
That meant that in order to win, he had to do something that not even she, who knew his every move could expect, despite watching the recordings of his battles.
Quinton nearly gasped once an idea came to mind. He stopped walking, and for a moment, the other three kept walking ahead. Lucian turned his head and turned to Quinton, who was completely still.
"What's going on?" Lucian asked. He turned around. "What're you doing?"
"...I hadn't gone to the bathroom yet. Just a moment," Quinton turned and walked off, and made sure to be far enough for the three of them to be out of sight.
They had to give him privacy because he's going to the bathroom, right?
Good.
He pulled out the second Pokéball he had been given by the Guard.
He knew exactly how he was going to win.
Quinton, Lucian Marie and the girl marched on. The red-haired girl that looked like Quinton stopped in her tracks, and the adults that followed her stopped as well. The four of them were in the middle of an open grass field. Trees circled them like spectators in a large arena.
"We're here," The girl said once she finally turned around. "Mr. Lucian? Miss Marie?"
"Yup," Marie said, "Getting out of the way, now." Marie turned and walked off. Lucian turned to Quinton.
"If you hurt one hair on that girl," Lucian said. "I'm jumping in to stop you. Unlike everyone else, I don't think you've changed much at all."
Quinton didn't say a word to him or even looked at his direction. With a final scowl, Lucian finally left.
Quinton's eyes were squarely on the girl, who kept one arm behind her hand. Her Slowpoke was staring into the sky with its mouth agape.
"I'll be the announcer for this fight, okay?!" Marie's voice came from behind Quinton. "When I say go, you Guys'll start, okay!?"
The girl's eyes shone with determination. Quinton drew in a slow breath from his nose and drew it out from his mouth. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. If his assumptions were correct, then the moment Marie said 'Go', was when she'd fire that attack.
But what if he were wrong?
Then it'd be over. He'd lose. He wouldn't be worth being looked up to. Quinton wasn't wearing an invoker, and he wasn't going to. It was all or nothing.
"Ready..?" Marie cried.
It'd been so long since he'd last fought someone- what if he was rusty? That sudden thought made sweat fall from his brow.
"Set..!" Marie continued.
Now wasn't the time for thoughts of doubt. Now was the time for action!
"GO!"
The moment that word left Marie's lips, The girl shot her hand out- and an intense torrent of water shot out from it and flew his way in an instant.
And it would have hit him if Quinton hadn't tilted his head the moment the fight started. The almost-laser-like blast of water flew by his cheek and razed the ground below it as it blew right by him. His hair and jacket flew wildly in the winds.
"Tch..!" The mystery girl grit her teeth as she pulled her arm back. "Slowpoke! Future Sight!" The trainer rushed forward as her and her Pokémon's eyes shined red. "I can see your movements..!" She cried as she charged forward. She pulled her fist back. "THERE!" She thrust her fist at Quinton.
Time seemed to slow down as Quinton stepped out of the way of the young kid's punch. Her eyes widened in surprise as she slowly turned her head to him. Time went back to normal once the child darted past him. She glared furiously and ran toward him again.
She was getting frustrated. Good, Quinton thought. He kept his hands in his pockets as he dodged his challenger's attacks.
The trick to beating Future sight was simple: Think of dodging one way, but have your body dodge the other. If his mind says he's going to dodge right- then the mystery girl's future sight will tell her that he will dodge right- but if he decides at the last second that he will dodge left instead, the girl's attack will miss.
In other words, purposely being indecisive will interfere with the Future Sight's premonition. He did this again and again all while intentionally keeping his hands in his pockets, all to get her more angry.
"Why can't I hit you!?" She cried.
"Because you're weak," Quinton said. He had to taunt her, because she had a chance of winning. He didn't like that. The adolescent shoved her fist toward his chest, and Quinton didn't move, nor did he plan to.
"Dusknoir!" Quinton cried. A ghostly arm came out from Quinton's back and caught the girl's fist. Then- all at once, Dusknoir emerged from the former champion's back.
"You had Dusknoir possess your body back at the prison..." The teenager said. "And had him hide inside your body until you needed him… I knew you'd do that! Slowpoke! Whirlpool!" Slowpoke's eyes stopped glowing, and so did the . Slowly, Slowpoke opened his mouth and released a blast of water that spiraled around the four of them and started to rise.
The four of them soon found themselves in the middle of a watery tornado.
"It's all over now!" Yelled Quinton's fan as she leapt high into the air. Her armor shined pink with psychic type energy as she floated high into the air along with her Slowpoke. Quinton looked up and saw the girl aiming her hands down at him. A ball of water started to form in front of her palms as Slowpoke's mouth opened. "There's nowhere to run! Nowhere to hide! It's all over, Quinton! All you can do now is just watch I charge this attack and take you down! There's no move in your Dusknoir's arsenal that can have you avoid this!"
Quinton just stared up at the mysterious child.
"You're right," Quinton said, closing his eyes. "There's no way I can escape. As you said before, there's nothing in my Dusknoir's arsenal that can win me this fight as it is now. You would have won..." Quinton's eyes shot open. "If you knew that this wasn't My Dusknoir!
Suddenly, Dusknoir's entire body turned bright purple. An in an instant, it fell to the ground like goop and formed the face of a ditto.
"Ditto!" Ditto cried happily.
"WHAT!?" Beatrice cried.
Lucian uncrossed his arms as he watched in sheer shock.
"Oh, I get it," Marie said, snickering to herself. "That bathroom break wasn't a break at all. You figured out her plan on the way over here, huh, Quinton…"
"IT- IT WAS A DITTO THE ENTIRE TIME!?" Beatrice cried. "BUT HOW!? IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN OBVIOUS FROM THE START..!"
Quinton took his hands off of his pockets and pointed up at the girl.
"Your decisions up to this point were calculated and meticulous. So much so, that I thought I was the only one capable of being this prepared. But now I finally realize it. I know now without a shadow of a doubt, that you are indeed my daughter. Beatrice. But one thing remains certain. I am several worlds apart from you! Ditto, use Transform and turn into her Slowpoke!"
"Ditto!" Ditto cried Slowly, The ditto expanded and took the shape and form of Slowpoke.
"Use Teleport." Quinton said. In a blink of an eye, the former champion and Ditto disappeared. Then in an instant, the former champion and Ditto, who was now on his shoulder, reappeared right behind Beatrice. "Use Psychic!" Quinton cried. Using its newfound psychic powers, Ditto was able to keep Quinton in the air as it kept Beatrice, Slowpoke and their water bubble hanging in the air. Beatrice struggled against the psychic force.
"Sl-Slowpoke…" Beatrice cried, struggling as hard as she could. "Fight back…! Help me..! Slowpoke..!"
"Slo-Slowpo-...Slowpoke..!" Slowpoke cried out in exhaustion.
"Your first attack tired your Slowpoke out. Now it's too fatigued to help you."
"That's absurd..! There's no way- I should have seen you had a Ditto!"
"The telling sign that the Pokémon you're looking at is Ditto is its beady eyes and string-like lips. But unlike other Pokémon, Dusknoir's face isn't on his head," Quinton said. "It's on his stomach. I instructed my Ditto to have its face on Dusknoir's palm instead of his face. That way, it would be nearly impossible to know if it was a Ditto or not."
"You..!" Beatrice cried. "How…!"
"I went a step ahead of your plans, that's how," Quinton shot his finger out at Beatrice. "Do it!" He cried. Ditto let out a battle cry as Beatrice and Slowpoke were sent flying into the water orb that they created. The water orb carried them all the way toward the whirlpool that they had created and exploded with an intense watery impact. It was like the world's largest water balloon had crashed there. Slowly, Quinton descended to the ground, and as soon as his feet touched the floor, Ditto turned back into its normal, pudgy purple self. Quinton pulled his Pokéball and returned his Ditto back into the ball. He slowly approached his defeated Daughter and looked down at her.
"Are you satisfied?" Quinton asked.
"You're… incredible…" Beatrice said. "Everything I hoped for.."
"What was this fight for?" Quinton asked. "Were you trying to test my ability?"
"Not… only that.." Beatrice slowly stood up. She pulled her Pokéball and returned Slowpoke into it without looking away from Quinton. "I've always wanted to fight you.. I've-"
"Looked up to me ever since you were a child?" Quinton asked.
Beatrice's eyes widened. "Wha-..! How did you-"
"The smallest detail can reveal your entire plan." Quinton said. Beatrice suddenly fell to her knees and bowed her head.
"Please..! Teach me everything you know!"
Lucian's eyes widened in shock as he started storming over to them. "What did you just say!?" The pink haired man shouted.
"Did-.." Marie said, lagging behind Lucian. "Are you-".
Quinton's eyebrows raised.
"I'm begging you.." Beatrice said. "You and I are worlds apart- no, universes apart! I know if you teach me everything you know, I'll be able to defeat anyone!"
"You can't be serious," Lucian cried, pointing at Quinton. "Him?! You can't trust him! He'll destroy your confidence! When he talked down to my wife's brother, he stopped being a trainer for the rest of his life!"
"Lucian! You're talking as though Quinton hadn't changed a bit!" Marie cried.
"He didn't change!" Lucian cried. "Did you not see the way he fought?! Did you hear what he said!? it was word for word what he said to Samantha, way back when he betrayed her! He called Beatrice weak because he was scared she'd win! He only cares about winning, and being the best! Look me in the eye and tell me, if the Crimson Foundation dangled power over his face again, he wouldn't take it and take us all down!" Quinton remained stoic as Lucian stormed over to him and went up to his face. "I'm onto you. You hear me? I'm onto you!"
Quinton said nothing. Marie ran over to Lucian and pulled his arm.
"Get away from him!"
"I'm keeping my eye on you, you understand!?" Lucian cried. "The moment, the instant you turn on us, you better be ready to be taken down again!" Marie pulled Lucian away from Quinton as he continued yelling.
"Go away for a little while, both of you,"Quinton said. "Leave me and my daughter be."
"WHAT?!" Lucian roared. "There's NO WAY we can-"
"C'mon, Lucian…" Marie said, pulling him away. "Let's go… give them… some privacy!"
"Fine…! But don't forget what I said!" Lucian roared, walking off with Marie.
Quinton watched them leave and then turned to his daughter who had still bowed to him.
"Get up," Quinton said. Beatrice immediately rose to her feet. "Lucian's right about me. I'm not nice. If you're under my tutelage, you'd better be prepared. I won't treat you any differently because you're rich."
"I- I understand!" Beatrice said, nodding quickly. "I understand completely!"
"Fine. I will train you under two conditions. One, you will never use your money to bring me out of jail again, do you understand?"
"...But-"
"Do you understand?" Quinton asked.
"...Yes." Beatrice said.
"The second condition. When you refer to me, you will use 'Sir', or 'Teacher'. No 'Dad' or, 'Father'. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir!" Beatrice cried.
"Good. Our training will begin the moment you buy new clothes. That long dress is going to get in the way."
"Huh?" Beatrice looked down at her Dress. "Why..?"
"In an invoker battle, the act of not putting on your armor is a taunt in itself. Your complete lack of respect for the enemy will get them angry. However there is a thin line between being a confident champion, and being a clown. If you beat your enemy in an invoker battle without putting on an invoker yourself, you're a confident champion. If you lose, you're a clown. This is an all-or-nothing strategy- and so, we must make sure that loss is never a factor. I'm going to teach you how to expect everything and anything. And while we train, you will make mistakes. Several mistakes. Countless mistakes. So until your senses are sharpened to the point that you can defeat me without letting a single attack hurt you… then you're ready to wear that dress of yours." Quinton pointed at his sunglasses. "I use my sunglasses to boost my own confidence, to show my enemy that I, without a shadow of a doubt, will be the victor." Quinton pointed at Beatrice. "Your dress can be used to boost your confidence." Beatrice's eyes shone with awe and wonder. She was like a little kid at that moment, likely thinking the words, 'that's so COOL!' in her head.
"... I see…!" Beatrice said. "But, do you really think that I can beat you without getting hit once?"
"Before I answer that, answer one of my questions. Did you tell the guard earlier to give me my sunglasses in an attempt to challenge me at my best?"
"...No.." Beatrice looked away, her face became red, she started fiddling with her fingers. "I, uh, I wanted to fight you because I always thought the sunglasses were really cool. I mean- I... I was trying really hard not to scream when I saw you."
Quinton facepalmed.
"You do realize that doing that cost you the entire match, right..?" Quinton said.
"I-I don't mind! I fought you knowing that I was going to lose."
Quinton narrowed his eyes. "What?" He said with so much intensity that it nearly startled Beatrice. The adult turned his back. "I refuse to train someone who has no plans of surpassing me."
"I- you don't understand! I wanted to be like you- not surpass you! You're too powerful for me to even-"
Quinton started walking.
"Wait!" Beatrice cried. Quinton stopped in his tracks.
"Why should I? I'm disappointed. More than disappointed." Quinton turned his head. "How can you and I share the same blood if you don't strive for greatness?!" Quinton roared. "If you want to be trained by me, you'd better not stop once you become as strong as me- you have to go even higher! Don't you ever fight a battle assuming you've already lost! It doesn't matter who your opponent is, be it me, or Arceus itself! Do you understand!? You can defeat Anybody! You WILL be the best! There is no if, ors, or butts. Do you understand!?"
Beatrice's eyes shot wide open. Tears started welling up in her eyes as she grinned widely. "Y-Yes!" Beatrice cried. "Yes! I do understand! I will become stronger than you! I promise!"
"Good. Tell Lucian and Marie to get a new set of clothes for you. You're only allowed to wear your dress again until you're able to defeat me in battle without being attacked once. Just like I have to earn my right to wear my sunglasses, you too have to earn your right to wear that dress."
Beatrice pumped her arms and leapt with joy. "Yes sir! Sir yes sir!" She cried. Quinton sighed.
She looked excited enough to talk to someone about this. That wouldn't be good.
"My third condition," Quinton said, "Is that you tell no one about the conversation we just had. No one. Especially Lucian. Understand? His opinion of me must not change."
"Why?" Beatrice said.
"Let's just say it's necessary, so I can keep my allies close, and my enemies closer. It's absolutely pivotal that you do not tell a single word of this conversation to anyone, especially Do you understand? Nod if you understand!"
Beatrice nodded quickly. "Y-Yes sir!" She cried. Quinton sighed, he turned around and crossed his arms.
"Good." He said. "Your training starts now…Beatrice."