Episode 11: A day at the Chateau

"Hey, Niko, what do you think that is?" Warren asked as he pointed off in the distance to a massive castle on the water.

"No idea, Charlotte?" Niko said, turning to their female companion. She immediately grabbed her guidebook from her bag and looked it up. After a couple of minutes, she mouthed "ah-ha!" and turned the book around to show her friends. "Battle…chateau?"

"What's that?"

"Looks like something akin to the Battle Frontier," Niko replied. "And it looks like it's exclusive to the Kalos region."

"Want to check it out?" Warren suggested. "Maybe it'll help you two prepare for the Cyllage City Gym."

Niko looked at Charlotte, who seemed to momentarily light up in excitement. With a full team of Pokémon now, she had been wanting to test her skill against a trainer not named Niko or Warren. And she had made this quite clear on several occasions during their travels, specifically when noting that Niko had two other battling rivals and she had none. Niko attempted to defend himself, saying that it comes with the experience, and Charlotte believed him. However, it didn't seem to change her point at all.

Generally, she felt better about her Pokémon. Frillish had begun to master ominous wind, and Larvitar seemed to be getting the hang of learning rock slide. Smeargle was getting better at battling more generally, and Fennekin and Skiddo enjoyed just practicing their moves. Charlotte, after training with Skiddo for some time, realized that the small Mounting Pokémon seemed to have an untapped reservoir of power, since he kept defeating any Pokémon on her team that it challenged, with the exception of Deerling.

Deerling—the second Pokémon Charlotte had captured on her adventures—was struggling with learning a new move. He was still fairly powerful, to be sure, but his attempts at learning energy ball—a grass type move—consistently failed. It was particularly embarrassing to the Season Pokémon when he attempted energy ball against his teammate Skiddo, only to fail and get wrapped up in a vortex of razor leaves.

Charlotte noticed this quickly, and spent an inordinate amount of time with Deerling during the days previous to arriving at the Battle Chateau working with the Season Pokémon to help regain his confidence in himself.

"Yes, let's go to the Battle Chateau," she said, feeling determined. Niko nodded as well, ready to test his own team's might against whatever lay in wait for them there.

Crossing the drawbridge and entering through the double doors in front, the trio finally met another human being in the lobby of the Chateau. The lobby was fancy, similar-looking to Parfum Palace. Columns with gemstones at their base ran along the lobby with equivalent space between one another. The floor and walls were coated in marble. In the back of the room, behind a marble-coated desk, was a middle-aged lady in a maid's outfit, who first bowed to them before speaking.

"Welcome to the Battle Chateau. I'm afraid I don't recognize any of you. Are you three new?"

"Yes, we'd like to participate in the Battle Chateau," Niko said, unsure of what exactly to say. "Could you explain it to us?"

"Of course," she began, "the Battle Chateau is based on a ranking system. The ranks are named after different medieval nobility, and determine the relative strength of a trainer. Every trainer starts off as a Baron or Baroness, depending on one's gender, and will advance through the ranks once they've won a certain amount of battles. The higher one goes, the harder the challenges will be. The ranks are as follows: Baron/Baroness; Viscount/Viscountess; Earl/Countess; Marquis/Marchioness; Duke/Duchess; Grand Duke/Grand Duchess."

"I get it. How do you sign up?"

"You don't need to until you've defeated another person of your rank, which is none. Plenty of trainers come in here to challenge the Battle Chateau, but cannot battle someone of a rank higher than them. Speaking of challenges, one must ask for the challenge by declaring a writ of invitation. Generally this means throwing one's gloves at their prospective challenger. However, if you're new you simply approach one another."

"Sounds simple enough. Charlotte, Warren, you up for it?"

"Sure," Warren said.

"Absolutely," Charlotte replied. The lady in the maid outfit nodded happily, walking them to the side of the room where they entered into a set of stairs that took them to the second floor. Inside the room was a crowd of men, women, boys, and girls, all dressed nice clothing; tuxedos, suits, and long, expensive—looking dresses from difficult-to-pronounce brands.

"Looks like we underdressed for this…" Niko muttered as they took a look around the place.

"What makes you say that?" Charlotte wondered. "Not that I care, really."

"Neither do I, Niko," Warren said, "Let's just go find a challenger to face."

"You're right—" Niko said before he was interrupted.

"Welcome to the Battle Chateau!" a gentlemanly voice echoed throughout the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, today we have several new challengers! Please give them a round of applause, and feel free to make conversation with them!"

The crowd erupted into applause as the trio looked around, unsure of what to make of this. While Charlotte and Niko found themselves wound up in conversation with a middle-aged man and his wife, Warren was approached by the gentleman that introduced them as new challengers.

"Sir, if you are ready, we would like to set you up with a challenger," the gentleman, dressed in a charcoal suit, said to Warren first.

"O-of course, sir," Warren said just as a young woman walked up to him and shook his hand. "Hiya! What's your name?"

"Sandra. I'm new as well," she said shyly.

"Well, looks like we have something in common. Would you like to battle?"

"Of course," she said with a smile. The gentleman, who seemed to be a judge of some sorts, Niko deduced, led the two over to a set of stairs and descended onto a floating platform resting on the massive river. Niko, Charlotte, and many of the other frequents to the Battle Chateau watched from a balcony high above.

"This will be a battle between our newest challengers, Warren from Castelia City and Sandra from Lumiose City. The winner of the battle will upgrade to the rank of Baron or Baroness. It will be a one-on-one Pokémon battle. Once the two trainers are ready, the battle will begin.

"Poliwhirl, I choose you!" Warren commanded, throwing out a pokéball containing his very first Pokémon.

"Flabébé, I choose you!" Sandra shouted, summoning a tiny, white flower-like Pokémon. It had a rounded yellow "crown" on its head. It had tiny, beady eyes and blush marks, and a small nose. It holds the pistil of a flower which had white petals running around it.

"Flabébé, the Single Bloom Pokémon. Fairy type. It draws out and controls the hidden power of flowers. The flower Flabébé holds is most likely part of its body," Charlotte's pokédex read.

"That Pokémon is tiny," Niko said, squinting so he could effectively see it.

"Flabébé, use fairy wind!" Sandra shouted, suddenly ditching her shy persona in favor of an ambitious-sounding one. The Flabébé conjured a gust of sparkling wind that Niko and Charlotte immediately recognized. So, that's fairy wind, Niko thought to himself.

"Poliwhirl, water gun!" Warren shouted, figuring that a burst of water could help buffer from the sparkling fairy wind. It managed to successfully do so, and the pair decided to follow up with ice punch, to which Flabébé quickly evaded in lieu of attacking. "Hypnosis!"

"Razor leaf!" Sandra commanded. Flabébé conjured a vortex of sharp leaves to throw at Poliwhirl, who managed to successfully put his opponent to sleep before taking the barrage of attacks that ultimately brought him to a knee as well.

"Poliwhirl, you got this buddy?" Warren asked. The tadpole Pokémon nodded, standing back up with some difficulty. "Great, use ice punch!"

Poliwhirl's fist chilled as he ran towards the sleeping Flabébé. He successfully managed to land the punch, looking as if he crushed the Single Bloom Pokémon with a simple punch. However, Poliwhirl was blown back by what looked like fairy wind. Flabébé had woken back up.

"Razor leaf!" Sandra commanded.

"Block it with ice punch!" Warren shouted. "Now, doubleslap!"

"Fairy wind!" Sandra called out. Flabébé conjured another gust of wind that managed to briefly push Poliwhirl back before he began progressing once more towards his opponent, successfully landing the doubleslap and sending Flabébé across the field towards the edge. "Razor leaf!"

"Hypnosis!" Warren shouted. Poliwhirl once more put Flabébé to sleep and, realizing his opportunity, rushed towards the Single Bloom Pokémon and landed an ice punch to win the match.

"Flabébé is unable to battle, Poliwhirl is the winner! And the victory goes to Warren, who will now hold the title of Baron!" the judge declared, throwing an arm up in Warren's direction.

A white cape with gold and red strings was brought to Warren, who wore it proudly as he walked to Sandra.

"Great battle, by the way. I had no idea something so small could be so powerful."

"Thanks," Sandra said, blushing a little. "I think your Poliwhirl did great as well. Guess we just need to keep training."

"That's what my friends always say when they don't win. Keep it up," Warren said, just as the judge began announcing another pair of newcomers.

"We have just witnessed another challenge be made between trainers. Niko from Pallet Town and Barry from Anistar City!" the maid that greeted Warren and his friends announced. Warren slapped his friend on the shoulder as he passed by Niko and Barry, a black-haired young boy with a thin face. Like with Warren and Sandra, the judge explained the rules of engagement for the next pair of challengers.

"That was some battle, Warren," Charlotte said as her friend returned to the balcony.

"Yeah, it was harder than it looked, to be honest. Hope Niko does well now."

"I'm sure he will," Charlotte said with a smirk. Her eyebrows raised at the sight of Niko's Pokémon opponent—a small, bipedal cat-like creature with purple fur and wide, pearlescent pink eyes.

"Espurr, the Restraint Pokémon. Psychic type. The organ that emits its intense psychic power is sheltered by its ears to keep power from leaking out," her pokédex read.

"Espurr? Not familiar with it. Swirlix, you're up!" Niko shouted, summoning his newest Pokémon. "Use cotton spore!"

"Psybeam!" Barry shouted. From its mouth, Espurr conjured a beam of psychic energy that seemed to be deflected by the small puffs of cotton emitting from Swirlix's body. "Hmm…alright then, use light screen!" he shouted just as the cotton spores took effect, slowly Espurr's movements as they stuck to it. "Psybeam again!"

"Swirlix, use fairy wind!" Niko shouted. Swirlix wagged her—Niko recently discovered it was a "her"—tail and conjured up a powerful gust of sparkling wind that pushed the already bogged-down Espurr onto its back. "Round!"

"Light screen!" Barry commanded. This time, successfully, the attack seemed to land, blocking the loud sound emitting from Swirlix's mouth. "Now, get up and use psybeam!"

"Fairy wind!" Niko called out. Swirlix conjured another wind with her tail, but was quickly halted by the psybeam that struck her directly in the stomach, launching her backwards and nearly off of the platform. "Cotton spore, then!"

"Espurr, light screen!" Barry shouted. This time, fortunately, the light screen was put up before cotton spore hit, preventing the Restraint Pokémon from being further bogged down by the cotton. "Psybeam!"

"Round!"

Both attacks hit at the same time, knocking Swirlix and Espurr back simultaneously. It was clear that the match was not only one between equals, but also would be over soon enough.

"Swirlix, move in closer and use fairy wind!" Niko commanded. The Cotton Candy Pokémon floated forward, dodging a couple psybeams before closing the distance with her opponent. "Now!"

"Espurr, light screen!" Barry commanded. Once more, Swirlix's attack was blocked by light screen, but Swirlix dove down to tackle Espurr, which managed to cause it to stick to Swirlix.

"Right…" Niko muttered, "Swirlix, into the air, now!"

Swirlix rose high into the air, Espurr attached to her side, before using fairy wind on Niko's command, and forcing Espurr to quickly descend to the ground. Fortunately, Barry commanded his Pokémon to use confusion on itself, which halted the fall, but nevertheless left Espurr exhausted. It tried to get back up, but eventually collapsed.

"Espurr is unable to battle, Swirlix is the winner! And the victory goes to Niko from Pallet Town, who has now been promoted to the rank of Baron!"

"Well done, Swirlix," Niko said, watching his new Pokémon happily float over to him. "I didn't even consider your sticky skin. We'll have to take advantage of that in the future, right?" Swirlix nodded sticking her small, pink tongue out with joy.

Charlotte finished clapping for Niko when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw a tall, beautiful woman with long, straight blonde hair standing behind her.

"I'm new to the Battle Chateau, and they told me you're new as well," she said in a low, oddly seductive voice. "How about we see who's worthy of the rank of Baroness?"

"Yeah, sure why not," Charlotte said with a shrug. She—whoever she was—was right: Charlotte was the only one out of her friends that had yet to battle. As Niko and Barry walked back onto the balcony, Charlotte and her battling partner left it.

"Who's that?" Niko asked, referring to Charlotte's challenger.

"Some girl who asked Charlotte for a battle," Warren said.

"Interesting. Wonder who Charlotte will use for this battle," Niko said, leaning against the balcony with Swirlix watching beside him.

"This will be a battle between Charlotte from Castelia City and Morgan from Lilycove city!" the judge declared, explaining the rules of the match. Both trainers opened up pokéballs, and sent out their respective Pokémon.

"Deerling, I choose you!" Charlotte shouted.

"Sableye, I choose you!" Morgan shouted, summoning the dark/ghost type Pokémon Niko was familiar with.

"Sableye, the Darkness Pokémon. Dark and ghost type. It dwells in the darkness of caves. It uses its sharp claws to dig up gems to nourish itself," Niko's pokédex said as he showed it to Warren.

"Interesting," he replied. "Think Deerling has a shot?"

"If it learns energy ball, then yes," Niko said, "But if Deerling uses any of its other moves then it won't affect Sableye."

"Right…double kick or take down won't do anything. Only energy ball and faint attack," Warren added.

"Sableye, zen headbutt!" Morgan commanded.

"Deerling, energy ball!" Charlotte shouted, knowing fully well how large of a risk it was. Nevertheless, she made the attempt, only to watch Deerling get hit by the psychic-type move. "Deerling, faint attack, now!"

"Fury swipes!" Morgan called out. Sableye waited for Deerling to attack before unleashing a fury of slashes and scratches on its opponent, forcing Deerling to crouch to the ground and whimper slightly.

"Deerling…you can do it…" Charlotte said, trying to find a way around it. "You have to believe in yourself! Deerling, use energy ball!"

Deerling attempted to conjure the sphere of a light green color, but failed, lowering his head and apparently giving up. Sableye then slammed its head against Deerling's, blue sparks flying off of the point of impact and knocking the Season Pokémon onto his side.

"DEERLING!" Charlotte shouted. "You can get back up, I know you can! If you give up, then you'll never get stronger! You'll never be the Pokémon that you know you can be, the Pokémon that I know you are! Use energy ball!"

Deerling slowly stood back up to face Sableye, feeling the full confidence of her trainer behind her. The Season Pokémon conjured a light green sphere made up of pure energy and shot it at Sableye, knocking it onto the ground. Charlotte's eyes lit up with happiness as she watched Deerling, on his own, charge towards Sableye and briefly disappear before reappearing and slamming into Sableye with faint attack.

"Energy ball again!" Charlotte shouted. From close range, Deerling conjured a second successful energy ball, landing it against Sableye's face and knocking it to the ground. Morgan, however, was not through with, and neither was her Sableye.

"Power gem!" she shouted. Sableye thrust out its tiny, purple claws and summoned small pink gems that fired at Deerling, launching the Season Pokémon across the field. Deerling collapsed onto the ground before slowly getting back up. "Still fighting? My my Charlotte, your Pokémon has moxie."

"Of course he does. Deerling, use energy ball!"

"Detect!" Morgan shouted. Sableye's eyes shined for a moment before it evaded the move. "Now, zen headbutt!"

"Faint attack!" Charlotte commanded. Deerling waited for Sableye to get close enough before it disappeared, reappeared, and struck the Darkness Pokémon from the side, knocking it to the ground. "Finish it off with energy ball!"

"Detect!" Morgan shouted, but it was too late; the energy ball had successfully hit, knocking Sableye back to the ground in defeat.

"Sableye is unable to battle, Deerling is the winner! And the victory goes to Charlotte from Castelia City!"

"Hmph!" Morgan said, returning her Sableye. "That'll be the only time you defeat the great Morgan from Lilycove City!" she shouted, raising her nose to Charlotte and storming off.

"Deerling…I'm so proud of you," Charlotte said to the exhausted Season Pokémon. "You really showed your stuff today. I'm proud to call you my Pokémon."

Deerling nuzzled Charlotte's cheek before the judge walked up and delivered a white cape to Charlotte, similar to the one that Warren and Niko both received. She smiled as she looked at it: proof that she was getting better as a trainer.


"Thank you!" Niko said to the maid that had initially greeted them earlier that afternoon. "We'll be sure to come back!"

"I hope so," she said with a grin, "You three provided some of the most exciting battle we've seen all week!"

Niko nodded, turning to Warren and Charlotte. "Well Baron Warren, Baroness Charlotte, shall we get going to Ambrette Town?"

"I think so, Baron Niko," Warren said with an accompanying laugh. It had been a day filled with high-intensity Pokémon battles, and each trainer felt like they grew alongside their Pokémon. Now, with more determination than ever, the trio continued their long journey towards Cyllage City.