Chapter 481

Diantha's request did not violate the rules of the Battle Chateau, so after a moment of hesitation, the Chateau maid once again arranged an opponent for Diantha to serve as a "Baron-level" challenger.

However, the subsequent battles far exceeded everyone's expectations.

The three "Barons" who took the field sent out Pokémon that were not even as formidable as the Aggron belonging to the previous trainer, Luke.

Shengzai, in his Jolteon form, easily defeated the three Barons one after another with just a single "Thunderbolt," a "Thunder," and a "Thunder Ball."

Throughout this process, Diantha did not even need to give Shengzai any commands.

Because the Pokémon of these Barons were almost all defeated by Shengzai in a single hit.

After defeating three "Barons" in a row, Diantha's rank was directly promoted from the original "Baron" to "Viscount."

"Miss Maid, could you please arrange an opponent for me at this rank?"

Having just put on the Baron's cape, Diantha, who had now directly switched to the Viscount's cape, continued to speak.

This time, the Chateau maid wore a somewhat troubled expression on her face.

Because compared to the "Baron" rank, which could be obtained with just one victory, a "Viscount" was already considered a trainer with some small amount of strength.

Don't let the number of trainers currently gathered at the Battle Chateau fool you; whether they could scrape together a corresponding number of "Viscounts" was really hard to say.

"I am Nicola, a trainer with the title of Viscount. I would like to accept Miss Diantha's invitation to battle."

Just as Diantha expressed her desire to continue challenging, a slightly chubby boy with a bandage on his nose also took the initiative to step out and threw a white glove, symbolizing a challenge, toward Diantha.

If Ash and his friends were here right now, they would likely be surprised to discover that this boy named Nicola was the older brother of the two brothers who had brought them to the Battle Chateau before.

The Fletchinder he had back then had now evolved into a Talonflame, and as long as he won one more victory, he would be promoted from "Viscount" to "Earl."

Nicola often came to the Battle Chateau, and many trainers present knew the strength of him and his Talonflame.

Although Miss Diantha's Jolteon was very strong, up to this point, it had already gone through four battles and must have consumed some stamina, so many people felt that Nicola was not entirely without a chance of winning.

"Go, Talonflame, use 'Steel Wing'!"

Talonflame, swooping down from the sky, was incredibly fast, and its huge, spread-out wings shimmered with a white light at this moment.

It must be said that the opponent's Talonflame was cultivated quite excellently; for an ordinary Pokémon, dodging such a high-speed dive was not a simple matter.

However, for Shengzai, who possessed near-instantaneous dynamic vision, such high-speed movement was nothing at all.

Facing the fierce assault of "Steel Wing," Shengzai simply performed a nimble jump in place and easily dodged the attack.

"Shengzai, use 'Thunder Ball'!"

Shengzai, having nimbly dodged the opponent's attack, backhanded a thunder ball that exploded toward the opponent. However, compared to the Pokémon that had appeared before, Talonflame not only had the advantage of flight but was also very fast, and it quickly used Quick Attack to dodge the attack.

"Use 'Flare Blitz'!"

Flare Blitz, like Volt Tackle, was a high-power charging move. Although it dealt a thousand damage to the enemy and five hundred to oneself, if it could hit the opponent, the damage caused would be quite considerable.

Talonflame, which was already extremely fast, saw its high-speed flying body become even more astonishing in speed under the cover of flames; even when viewed from afar, it seemed as if the opponent had truly turned into a rocket.

"What a quite excellently cultivated Talonflame. Since that's the case, we should also show a little bit of our strength.

Shengzai, change form, become Espeon, and use 'Psychic' on Talonflame!"

Seeing Talonflame use a powerful move like "Flare Blitz," the trainers watching on the sidelines had originally thought that no matter how strong Miss Diantha's Jolteon was, it would be able to cause considerable damage this time.

But what surprised everyone was that the original Jolteon actually turned into an Espeon right before their eyes and used Psychic to forcibly stop the high-speed flying Talonflame.

"Use 'Psybeam'!"

With its body controlled by Psychic, no matter how fast Talonflame was, it could not exert its advantage at all. Soon, accompanied by Shengzai's successful hit with a Psybeam, the opponent directly lost its ability to battle.

And the trainers in the Battle Chateau who witnessed this scene, including Viola and Drasna, all stood up in surprise at this moment.

"So that's it, this Eevee is actually the guardian deity that appeared in Lumiose City before? I didn't expect it to have been captured by Diantha!"

The rumors about the mysterious Eevee had been spreading like wildfire throughout the Kalos region a while ago, even sparking an "Eevee fever" for a period of time, and the trainers present naturally knew about it.

It was just that they didn't expect that the Pokémon comparable to a legend had actually been captured by the League Champion Diantha and had appeared here.

After Diantha defeated Nicola, she also expressed her affirmation of the strength of him and his Talonflame.

However, when Diantha wanted to wait for the next opponent, she regretfully discovered that no one dared to come up...

The reason was also very simple: everyone had previously thought that the Eevee used by Diantha was not her main Pokémon, but one that had just been captured.

Therefore, out of the rare opportunity to spar with the League Champion, they dared to step down and challenge the Champion.

But now that the true identity of that Eevee had been revealed, as the guardian deity of Lumiose City, its status was even comparable to some legendary Pokémon, and it was being commanded by the League Champion; how could they possibly be its opponents?

Seeing that no one dared to step down anymore, Diantha also showed a troubled expression on her face.

However, just as she was thinking about whether to send out some weaker Pokémon to build up her rank first or wait until a few days later, a voice suddenly came from a viewing platform in the Battle Chateau.

"Diantha, let me be your and Eevee's opponent. I also happen to want to see the strength of the legendary guardian deity of Lumiose City."

The person speaking was a middle-aged woman with black hair, decorated with bones and teeth, looking like a shaman.

And this person was none other than one of the Elite Four of the Kalos region, the Dragon-type Elite — Drasna.

Drasna was a "Duke" of the Battle Chateau. Logically speaking, Diantha, who was currently only a Viscount, was not qualified to challenge Drasna.

But now that Drasna, who had a higher rank, was challenging Diantha, who had a lower rank, the situation was a different matter.

(End of chapter)