Chapter 27: Father-Daughter bonding
Beatrice was breathing hard as she hid behind a tree under the afternoon sun. She was wearing a black tank top and black shorts. Beatrice peaked her head from the tree to see Quinton approaching with his Dusknoir, who had entered his body and rose from his back. Beatrice pulled back and looked down at her Vulpix, who was looking up at her, waiting for her commands.
"Okay, Vulpix. We'll attack in three… two.." The fire type and the trainer shared a nod before leaping out of cover- only to see a Shadow ball coming her way. Out of sheer panic Beatrice shot her arms out. The moment her hands touched the ball the girl struggled to hold it back. Her feet dragged across the ground as the ball pushed on.
"Ugh..! Help me..! Vulpix!" Vulpix, who was just watching in sheer fear, shook his head to snap out of it. He quickly opened his mouth to release a torrent of flame to help push against the shadow ball.
"Ugh..! Ngh..!" Beatrice grunted in exertion, it was like trying to push back a wrecking ball.
"You should have known that I would expect you to jump out of cover." Quinton said, approaching the struggling girl. Dusknoir stuck to his back like glue. "Accept your punishment. Dusknoir, do it." Dusknoir snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the Shadow ball exploded. Beatrice and Vulpix were sent flying- and crashed back-first into a tree before sliding down to the ground. The young girl coughed loudly, and looked up to see Quinton, who had already walked to her. He had his hands in both of his pockets and his sunglasses on.
Beatrice thought he looked So cool.
She still couldn't believe that she was related by blood to a guy like him. Quinton lifted his sunglasses to his forehead, sighed, and then turned away as Dusknoir slipped back into his body.
"Get up," He said.
"O-Okay..!" Beatrice slowly stood up and brushed some dirt off of her pants with a smile on her face. She'd never been happier. She looked down at Vulpix, who rose to his feet again. The two shared a nod before racing after Quinton, who was still walking away. After a bit, Beatrice finally caught up to her father.
"What're we going to do now, teacher?" Beatrice asked with a spring in her step. Quinton turned around and stopped walking, causing Vulpix and the girl to stop as well.
"How much money do you have on you? Minus the amount you're giving to that police officer."
"... I have only a little bit. Why do you ask?"
"...How much is a little bit?"
"Uhm… only 3 million is left over after I pay off the police officer."
Quinton sighed. "'only' 3 million? Ugh. Well, you and I are going to the supermarket today. We're going to buy you more supplies and potions. We're using every dollar."
"WHAT!?" Beatrice cried. "NOOOO! I CAN'T SURVIVE WITHOUT AT LEAST HAVING ONE MILLION IN MY POCKET!"
Quinton remained deadpan in his expression.
"T-Teacher! Please! Can I please just keep one million?!" Beatrice begged.
"No."
"PLEASE!?"
"No."
Beatrice fell on her back and started wailing and swinging her arms about. "I WANNA HAVE AT LEAST ONE MILLION IN MY POCKET! I ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST ONE MILLION IN MY POCKET! WHY WON'T YOU LET MEEEE!?"
Quinton just stared down at her and sighed.
"Your foster father spoiled you rotten," Quinton said with a sigh as he watched Beatrice continue to throw a tantrum. Vulpix watched on in sheer shock, because he had never seen this side of his trainer before.
"If you don't spend all of your money today, then I'm not training you anymore," Quinton concluded.
Beatrice's wails stopped immediately, she sprung to her feet almost instantaneously clasped her hands together.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Beatrice bowed her head again and again. She finally stopped bowing after sighing. "I-'ll.. I'll- I'll spend the money… but how will I get more?"
"You'll have to get more through battling trainers. They give prize money."
"...Really?! They do that!? Why would they do that?!"
"How sheltered were you, as a kid..?" Quinton asked. "Whatever. We're going to the Veilstone city market."
Marie and Lucian were still sitting at a table near the Veilstone market. Marie had finished her coffee and Lucian was just staring into the distance.
"I really wish Rebecca called to update me about Palkia," Lucian said.
"Why not just call her yourself?" Marie asked.
"Well, knowing Rebecca, she'd just be like, 'you know I'll just call you when Palkia answers, right? Do you not trust me to do that?' Then we'd get into a fight. So I'm just going to wait."
"Huh," Marie said.
"Mr. Lucian, Miss Marie!" Beatrice cried. The two adults turned their heads to see Quinton and his daughter approaching them both. Immediately upon seeing Quinton, Lucian's eyes flashed with rage. He stood up.
"It's been days since we've seen you," Lucian said as the two approached. "Quinton didn't say anything bad to you, right?"
"No," Beatrice said. "He hasn't said much of anything during training, honestly."
Lucian turned to Quinton, who just stared blankly at him.
'I'm watching you.' Lucian mouthed these words without saying them. Quinton could read his lips, and said nothing.
"Well, we don't want to interrupt whatever's going on here," Marie said. "Let's get going, Lucian."
"Wait-" Lucian said. "Before we go." He approached Beatrice. "If he says anything that makes you think that you're nothing without your title, or tries to teach you how to be a jerk to people… Ignore him. Just learn tips and tricks about fighting from him. If anything, he's a strong trainer." Lucian glared at Quinton before turning around. "Let's go," He said.
Lucian and Marie left.
"Mr. Lucian really likes to antagonize you," Beatrice said.
"Well, like I said before, he's right about me." Quinton said. "I still don't understand why you want to learn from me, anyway." The red haired man walked toward the market and Beatrice followed.
"That's because I admire your strength." Quinton opened the door to the market and held it for the girl to walk in first. "I watched clips of you beating others so many times I could quote every one of them word for word!"
Quinton shook his head.
"I understand why you're my fan," Quinton said. "but I don't understand why you want to be like me. If you understood what it was like for me to be the champion, you'd know."
Beatrice turned her head and stopped walking, and so did Quinton. "What was it like, you being the champion?"
Quinton lowered his head enough for his eyes to be covered in shadow. He walked ahead of Beatrice and kept walking as the girl and Vulpix followed.
"I placed all of my worth onto my title. I was so scared of losing that battling wasn't fun anymore. I felt alienated around my peers. They thought of battling to be fun pastimes… for me, it was a matter of life or death."
"I see."
The two went onto an escalator.
"You don't want to be like me," Quinton continued, "because putting your worth into outside things… is foolish. Outside things, like trophies, titles, rewards…they don't take away that feeling of emptiness left behind from a lack of self-compassion. It only temporarily takes it away. Achievement was like a drug to me. Whenever I won, for a moment, I felt worthy. I felt like I was on top of the world. But of course, it would fade away. That mindset, along with several other factors, were what contributed to my downfall."
"I see.."
"I was hungry for power," Quinton shook his head. "Listen. don't become like me. On the surface, it looks like I have it all together. But on the inside, I was constantly fighting for my worth. So I ask again, do you want to become a man like me?"
Beatrice shook her head. "I'm not trying to become like you in that way. I'm talking about the you that looked confident- the one that beat his foes without a second thought, the talented, and incredibly strong you that I saw in those videos."
"...Tell me, what do you plan to do once you surpass me?"
"S-Surpass…you?" Beatrice said. "I-I.."
"You're still hesitating. I don't like that." Quinton said. "I'm going to take my time beating down the fact that I am only a single man. Not some person you could never hope to defeat and surpass. You will surpass me. I expect that much from you. So I'll ask again: when, not if, when you surpass me, what do you plan to do?"
"I-... I don't know…" Beatrice said. "I-... I never thought of it before.."
Quinton stopped walking, and so did Beatrice and her Vulpix.
"Then I'll give you an answer. You'll do whatever makes you happy. Become the strongest in the world- become a Pokémon contestant, the world is your oyster. Dream big."
Beatrice slowly smiled and nodded. "Y-Yes Teacher!"
The escalator soon brought them to their destination, and they started walking toward the aisle that had Pokémon trainer essentials. The two went silent once again.
"Hey," Quinton said, breaking the silence, "Beatrice,"
"Yes, Teacher?"
"What if I told you, that I was, and still am, tempted by the offer the Crimson Foundation gave me?"
"For getting an invoker fused with Arceus's power?"
"Yes." Quinton said. "I'm very much still interested. That much power could revive my thirst for power. I know that for certain."
Beatrice said nothing.
"For all I know, I could turn over to the bad side all over again. It's like offering a person the very thing they were addicted to for years. There's a chance I won't be able to resist the temptation."
Beatrice still said nothing.
"If that were to happen," Quinton asked. "What will you do?"
"It's a good thing I'm training with you, then.." Beatrice said. "Because that would mean I would have to defeat you. Fighting you over and over again can let me know about your strengths and weaknesses. Even before, when I fought you, you taunted me, because you were scared of losing, even then. Fear like that doesn't always just go away. So maybe I could use that against you."
"Why tell me this if It's possible for me to become your enemy?"
"Because you can't help it." Beatrice said. "If what you said to me was the truth, it means that the idea of losing to your daughter would shatter your pride. I'd use that against you, and there wouldn't be much you can do about it."
Quinton turned away to hide the biggest smile he'd had in a long time.
"That right there… is why I'm proud to call you my daughter." Quinton said.
"H-Huh!?" Beatrice said. Her entire face became red. "What do you-"
"You did exactly what I asked you to. You realized that if the time came, you'd have to defeat me. And so, for a moment, you stopped putting me on a pedestal. That was what I wanted all along."
"Oh.." Beatrice said. "Then what you said before… was it a lie?"
"No," Quinton said.
"Oh..." Beatrice sulked.
"But if I do turn to the dark side, I know for certain you'll stop me."
"Th-Thank you, teacher."
"Hmph. Just this once, I'll let you call me whatever you want. But only one time. Do you understand?" Quinton said. Beatrice nodded and smiled.
"Th-Thank you… Father.." She said.
Quinton sighed deeply. His face became slightly red as his heartbeat became faster. "Never mind. Call me teacher again. I'm not ready for you to call me that yet."
Beatrice giggled a bit.
"Okay, teacher." She said.
Soon, the two reached the aisle of Pokémon products in front of him. There were potions, revival stones… you named it, this store had it. Quinton eyed a fire stone, took it, and tossed it at his daughter, who caught it quickly.
"Uh…" Beatrice said.
"It's for your Vulpix. Oh, and also,"
Quinton pointed at the aisle.
"You're buying this store's entire stock." He said.
"I'M WHAT!?"
The next day came. Quinton and Beatrice were standing face to face with one another. The wind howled and carried their long hair as it blew past. Vulpix was the Pokémon Beatrice chose today. Quinton sighed to himself and crossed his arms.
"What's wrong, teacher?" Beatrice asked. Quinton didn't respond. He slowly nodded to himself.
"I've decided. I'm not going to take it easy on you anymore. I'm going to fight you with all of my strength from this day forward."
"Wait- What?!" Beatrice cried. "Wha- I'm I'm not prepared-"
"We've fought for three days straight now. This is the fourth day." Quinton said. "You should be familiar with my fighting style..." Quinton slid the sleeve of his orange jumpsuit and revealed a watch-shaped invoker. He pressed the button, and almost immediately, his entire body shined before becoming clad in armor. Beatrice's heart nearly leapt in shock. She'd never seen him in an invoker before.
"I'll warn you. I've never, not once, ever fought someone with all of my strength at the start of a battle." Quinton said. "Not even against Lucian. Not even once."
"What..?" Beatrice said,
"I was too prideful to do that." Quinton said. "I tried seeing Lucian as a bug, and it didn't work out for me. After I became angry, I was fighting my hardest against him, and lost." Beatrice felt her legs shake as Quinton's entire body began to glow with purple ghost-type energy. Dusknoir emerged from his back as rocks began rising from below his feet.
"Prepare yourself, Beatrice!" A raging aura of ghost type energy rose around the man like a giant flame. Beatrice slowly took a few steps back out of panic.
"Listen, Beatrice. You only have to land a single hit on me to win."
"I- I still can't possibly- I- I don't- I don't have my Invoker on me! I'll get knocked out if you hit me even once-"
Quinton disappeared in a blink of an eye- then re-appeared right in front of Beatrice. He had moved so fast that the young girl had no time to think. "Then don't get hit," Quinton said before Dusknoir, who was attached to his back, flung his fist her way.
An explosion rang out in an instant. What was left behind was a crater and nothing else.
Quinton turned his head to see Beatrice land on the ground behind him with Vulpix in her arms.
She was breathing heavily as she glared at her slowly approaching father. "Dusknoir, Use Gust!" Quinton said. With an enraged howl Dusknoir punched the air in front of him with so much force that a gust of wind shot toward Beatrice. Vulpix leapt off of his trainers arms as the two of them separated to get away from the oncoming blast of wind. Beatrice rolled on the ground upon landing and then rose to her feet.
"Is that what you're going to do if I turn to the dark side!?" Quinton said. "Just run away?"
"I haven't felt this much pressure before…" Beatrice said. "Even when I fought the other gym leaders with Lucia..!"
"Well, what're you waiting for!?" Quinton asked.
He disappeared in a blink of an eye, then reappeared in front of her. "You just need to hit me once!" Dusknoir threw his fist at her, and Beatrice leapt into the air once again. Quinton flung his finger her way, and Dusknoir shot a shadow ball at her. Beatrice's eyes shot open as the shadow ball flew her way, then was suddenly pushed aside by a blast of flame. Beatrice turned her head to see that Vulpix was the one who had saved her. Quinton leapt into the air after the girl, and Dusknoir's fist glew with a shadowy glow. At that moment, Vulpix leapt after the three of them.
"You're wide open!" Quinton cried.
Just before the fist was thrown, Vulpix came in between them, and bellowed a war cry to use the move Protect. A barrier formed around himself and Beatrice- protecting her from the oncoming punch just in time.
"Keep going!" Quinton said.
Dusknoir roared as he started rapidly punching the barrier. "NOIR NOIR NOIR NOIR NOIR NOIR NOIR!" Dusknoir repeatedly shouted the last part of his name again and again with every thrown punch. Slowly but surely, the barrier was hammered down from the sky and into the ground.
Beatrice watched her Vulpix struggling to maintain the barrier.
"Is this what's going to happen if I went to the dark side!? If you're this weak, then you'll never beat me! What are you going to do once I defeat everyone you love!?" Quinton cried. The barrier started to break. "Dusknoir! Do it!" Dusknoir raised its hand into the air and closed it into a fist before slamming it down with enough force to shatter the barrier like glass. Beatrice held Vulpix like he was a doll, and kept her eyes closed in what looked like fear. Quinton sighed as the aura around him faded. Dusknoir went back into his trainer's body.
"Hmm.." Quinton said with a disappointed sigh, staring down at her cowering daughter. "I suppose this means you're not ready yet. Fine, I'll tone it down. " He turned around and began to walk away. "Get up when you're less scared." As Quinton started to walk away…
Beatrice suddenly began to laugh.
Quinton's eyebrows rose. He turned around as Beatrice's laughter became louder. Vulpix's body began to glow red. Beatrice had given him the firestone she bought earlier.
She let go of Vulpix, and he began to float. Flames began to gather around him and form what looked like a flaming barrier. It was as though Vulpix had tapped into an otherworldly power.
"I finally know what your weakness is.. Father." Beatrice said. The moment she said that, Quinton felt a chill run down his spine. His body shook at the word,
'Father.'
Beatrice raised her legs up before flipping back onto her feet.
"What would that be..?" Quinton asked, a ball of sweat rolled down his cheek. Beatrice pointed her own thumb at her face.
"I'm your weakness." The ball of flames above her head exploded with so much force that the trees and grass around them caught on fire. Beatrice's hair flew wildly against the howling hot winds gusting around her. The Pokémon she had chosen finally landed beside her.
He was no longer a Vulpix.
He was Ninetales.
"You see," Beatrice crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "During our time together, you never, not even once, ever seriously hurt me. When you knocked me down just now, I pretended to be scared. You turned away instead of knocking me out. That's how I know-" Beatrice slowly opened her eyes. Quinton had appeared right in front of her with incredible speed and had Dusknoir pull his fist, ready to attack. The Ghost type Pokémon threw his fist-
Then stopped mid-flight upon realizing Beatrice didn't move.
"I'm your weakness." Beatrice smiled a knowing smile.
"Tch..!" Quinton grunted as Dusknoir pulled him upwards toward the sky. Dusknoir put his hand up in the air along with Quinton, and with their combined power, a giant Shadow ball that was large enough to blot out the sun rose from their hands.
"You're wrong! You're not my weakness! And I'll prove it today!" Dusknoir and Quinton tossed the giant Shadow ball over their heads- it floated toward Ninetales and Beatrice. The duo spun and ran away into the flaming forest. The gigantic shadow ball followed in pursuit, destroying the trees in its way like a gigantic bowling ball.
Beatrice knew full well that there was a slope up ahead.
"Ninetales! Destroy that tree!" Beatrice flung her finger at a tree they were approaching the With a loud roar, Ninetales shot flames at the tree- it tumbled to the ground instantly. Beatrice hopped onto it- the tree started sliding down the slope, and Beatrice and her pokemon were riding it like a the shadow ball came looming from behind, Beatrice continued to look ahead, steering the broken tree away from obstacles in her way.
From a bird's eye view, It looked like she was snowboarding away from a rapidly approaching avalanche- except, instead of snow, it was a oncoming gigantic shadow ball and broken trees.
"Prepare yourself, Beatrice!" Beatrice swung her head upon hearing Quinton's voice from beside her. He was floating in the air, flying away from his giant shadow ball. "Take this!" Quinton and Dusknoir shot their hands at Beatrice, and the girl used the broken tree to slide away from the salvo of shadow balls. Quinton grit his teeth, and Dusknoir grabbed its trainer by his sides before tossing him over to the tree stump. Quinton landed on top of the sliding tree stump with a crouch, and was across from Beatrice and Ninetales.
The three glared at each other before Quinton dashed forward. Beatrice blocked Ninetales's advance with her arm before going in alone. Dusknoir flew into his trainer's body and attached itself onto his back. Quinton shot his finger out, and Dusknoir flung a flurry of punches all of which Beatrice dodged- the ghost type even slammed his fist toward the ground to hit her, only for her to back step to dodge. Every downward punch he made left a hole in the tree they rode on. The longer this went on, the more enraged Dusknoir became.
"Dusknoir! Hold her down!" Quinton cried. Dusknoir moved quickly- within seconds, it was behind Beatrice- it held her arms behind her back as Quinton approached.
The father glared furiously as the daughter grinned widely.
"What're you going to do now?" Quinton asked.
"Turn around." Beatrice said. Quinton turned around to see that they were seconds away from crashing onto flat ground. Sheer panic came to the man's eyes.
If he didn't do something, his daughter, who wasn't wearing invoker armor, would be seriously hurt.
Beatrice continued to smile and did nothing as Quinton ran past her. Dusknoir released the girl and ran to Quinton's side. He leapt toward the gigantic shadow ball, and Dusknoir shot its hands out in an attempt to stop it.
He couldn't just explode the shadow ball like before; this one was too big. It would catch Beatrice in the blast.
"Ninetales! Let's Get out of here!" Beatrice cried. Ninetales ran over to Beatrice, and let her sit on his back before leaping high into the air, high enough to avoid the explosion that rang once the trees and the shadow ball hit the flat end of the hill.
Beatrice watched on from the sky with a smile on her face. Soon, Ninetales landed near the smoke and dust that rose from the explosion.
Quinton and Dusknoir were still standing. They were absolutely drained of all strength and breathing quickly, but they were still standing among the broken trees- the shadow ball that exploded earlier was nowhere to be found. Beatrice slowly walked toward the exhausted Quinton and Dusknoir from behind and poked his shoulder.
"Hey, Dad?" Beatrice asked. Quinton spun around.
"What were you thinking! You could have been-"
Beatrice smacked him across the face.
"I win." Beatrice said.
Quinton stopped for a second. He put his hand on his visor.
Then, he started to laugh. He started laughing extremely hard.
Beatrice couldn't help but laugh too.
Even if Beatrice hadn't surpassed Quinton today, she still won.
Quinton couldn't be prouder of his daughter.