"Terrance?"
Battle Chateau's butler, Turner, hesitated for a moment, then his eyes lit up. It was indeed a good choice.
The opponents for Champion Diantha's exhibition matches in various towns were always selected by the local person in charge.
To ensure the visual appeal of the exhibition match, even though Miss Diantha would go easy on her opponents, they still had to be qualified enough to face off against the Champion.
In other words, even if the Trainer who gets to participate in the exhibition match with the Champion during her tour isn't particularly outstanding in terms of battle techniques, they still need to be a Trainer with considerable combat strength.
Terrance clearly met that qualification.
"Mm, go contact the young master."
The current owner of the Battle Chateau was also the person in charge of Camphrier Town's exhibition match.
After Terrance finished his battle with Wikstrom, both parties remained calm.
The other party didn't dwell on his loss, and Terrance didn't get smug about his win.
It was just an entertainment-focused battle, after all.
"Interested in challenging the Kalos League?" After the battle, Wikstrom extended an invitation.
What he meant by "challenge" wasn't simply participating in the Lumiose Conference. He was asking if Terrance had any interest in vying for a spot among the Kalos Elite Four.
"No, I still need more rigorous training first," Terrance replied with a smile, tactfully declining.
Terrance had enough self-awareness to know that in a standard 6 vs. 6 battle, he still wasn't a match for either Elite Four Leo or Wikstrom standing before him.
He couldn't even handle a full 6 vs. 6 battle yet.
Full-team battles were the true test of a Trainer's strength. Experience and situational judgment of a Trainer were magnified to the extreme in such matches.
A Top Trainer, even using a mix of main and not-main Pokémon, could cleverly coordinate their team to defeat an amateur Trainer using six Pokémon on par with an Elite Four's main team.
With Terrance's strength relying mostly on his breeding skills, without overwhelming power, he would absolutely suffer in such a match.
Compared to those seasoned Top Trainers, he still had a lot of work to do.
"That's a shame, young Trainers as interesting as you are hard to come by these days, haha," Wikstrom said heartily, dragging his armor with him.
Terrance felt helpless. After his battle with Wikstrom, he planned to check on Altaria and ask Xerneas something.
As for the Battle Chateau, if nothing special came up, he likely wouldn't return here in the future.
Terrance was now considered a celebrity in the Battle Chateau, but due to his high Duke rank, no one could challenge him. This rule worked greatly in his favor; after his battle with Wikstrom, he could stroll leisurely around the chateau, no longer receiving white gloves at every turn like before.
"Lord Terrance, sorry to bother you. Do you have a moment?"
While Terrance was packing up his things, there was a knock at the door, followed by a voice.
"Just a moment," Terrance replied.
The visitor was Butler Turner, his expression still bearing that ever-unchanging smile. After Turner entered, Terrance first offered his thanks.
If not for Butler Turner sending the invitation letter for him, he probably wouldn't have had the chance to experience so many battles.
"Butler Turner, what brings you here…" Terrance asked.
"Lord Terrance, before I explain, please take a look at this first." Turner handed him a pamphlet.
On the cover was a woman dressed in luxurious clothing. The moment he saw the picture, Terrance blurted out, "Miss Diantha?"
Immediately after, he continued to read further.
It was the schedule for Diantha's annual regional tour of exhibition matches, where she selects eight towns across the Kalos region to perform in.
"The nearest exhibition match is… Camphrier Town, one month from now?"
Terrance looked up, unsure of what the other party meant.
"Then I'll be straightforward. The person in charge of Miss Diantha's exhibition match in Camphrier Town is my young master, and we'd like to invite you to be the opponent in the exhibition match this time," Turner said with a smile.
"If the opponent is a unique Coordinator from Hoenn or other regions, and especially one with top honors, then this exhibition match would likely be a great success."
Terrance's information wasn't hard to find. Just searching his name online would reveal his reputation, accomplishments, and identity. Since they want to invite him to participate in the exhibition match, it was natural to do a bit of background research.
They hadn't known much before investigating, but after looking into it, Butler Turner was quite surprised.
However, this only further strengthened his young master's resolve to invite Terrance as the exhibition match Contestant.
As for highlights… given Terrance's identity, his Duke title in the Battle Chateau, and the fact that he defeated Elite Four Wikstrom here, this series of accomplishments was enough to make the Camphrier Town exhibition match the most successful and most attention-grabbing one of Miss Diantha's match in Kalos this year.
"Oh? Can you be a bit more specific..." Terrance said with a hint of a smile.
"Appearance fee, 500,000."
Terrance scratched his head. "Too little."
"But oh well, give me half a day to consider it. I'll give you an answer then."
Given Terrance's current status, 500,000 as an appearance fee really wasn't much.
Even for someone like Fantina, her appearance fee wouldn't be lower than that.
"Lord Terrance, if you have any other requests, feel free to mention them. I'll take my leave for now," Turner bowed and exited the room, leaving Terrance alone in thought.
500,000 was merely the starting offer for the appearance fee.
If Terrance wanted to ask for more, there would be no problem at all. But although he wasn't exactly rich, he also wasn't short on money.
Now that he had reached this level, unless he planned to do something big, money wasn't a pressing concern. And even if it was, he had countless ways to make money at any time.
For raising Pokémon and daily indulgences, it was more than enough.
So when it came to the appearance fee, Terrance didn't fuss too much.
The other side seemed well aware of this… How much desire for money could a Trainer who wasted their time in the Battle Chateau really have?
Rather than the appearance fee, Butler Turner believed the opportunity to battle the Champion would be far more appealing to Terrance.
As for the fee, it was just a formality.
Even if Terrance didn't accept it, after inviting him to participate in the exhibition match, the people behind Turner wouldn't feel right not offering some kind of benefit.
"One month, huh…" Terrance scratched his head again. It wasn't unacceptable.
After thinking it over for a while, Terrance simply agreed. He went straight to find Butler Turner to negotiate. His laid-back and casual attitude probably ranked among the top even within the famous Trainers.
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