Backstage at the stadium.
With the time for her appearance drawing near, Opal still used the parasol in her hand as a cane, planting it on the ground as she instructed the white-haired, curly-haired boy sitting primly before her.
"Watch carefully, learn carefully. As the future reserve Gym Leader of Ballonlea Gym, you must understand what 'pink' truly is."
"Remember, only through tireless seeking above and below can the answer arise freely from the heart!"
"I understand..."
Forced into a pink outfit and subjected to a month of Opal's pink ideology brainwashing, Bede had gone numb.
As a Trainer favored and sponsored by Rose, he had traveled and challenged Gyms while collecting Wishing Stars for Chairman Rose, hoping to become a powerful Trainer capable of helping Chairman Rose realize his ambitions.
But when he challenged the fifth Gym, Ballonlea Gym, Opal suddenly seemed to lose her mind. Claiming that Bede possessed the potential for "pink," she forcibly kept him there, intending to make him a Gym apprentice and have him inherit her position as Gym Leader in the future.
Naturally, Bede had been unwilling. He still needed to work hard to repay Chairman Rose.
Bede had tried to run, but the old woman Opal was absurdly strong. He had not succeeded even once. When Chairman Rose finally came to see him, the man had actually tacitly approved of Opal's actions.
Bede had resisted and struggled, but now he was numb. Even his clothes had been forcibly changed into an entirely pink set as he received her "pink" education.
Listening to Opal's nagging beside him, Bede, whose eyes had already gone dead, stared at the television hanging in the lounge, which broadcast the live feed from inside the stadium.
Though he was somewhat unwilling to admit it, Opal, that eccentric old