Chapter 228: The Culmination
Although the Blaze Team was very strong, having become Kubfu's new face since last year, the members of the Sea Carp Team were not entirely without fighting spirit as they faced them in this match.
Before the match, the head coach actively encouraged everyone.
"The Blaze team is famously a 'neurotic blade.' Their performance is very unstable. They can be very strong, but they can also be very weak. The line between god-like and ghost-like is razor-thin! We are not without a chance!
Moreover, they haven't changed their roster this year; the lineup is the same as last year, so there are no variables. Let's give it our all! We absolutely have a chance!"
As one of the three major international Alliances, Kubfu had always been very proud of the localization of its players; very few professional league teams hired foreign aid.
As the team with the best domestic results in last year's Champions Cup, Blaze had little room for reinforcement within the country during the transfer window. It was normal for their lineup to remain unchanged.
This also meant that all their intel was public!
After playing through a whole Champions Cup, all the trump cards in their pants had long been laid bare; they had no more secrets to speak of.
In the new season's regular season, their current record was two wins and one loss. They had already suffered their first defeat and were currently ranked below Sea Carp. To a certain extent, this already reflected their current situation.
This undoubtedly gave the members of Sea Carp confidence!
A team had already successfully toppled Blaze. Why couldn't the next one be them?
"Let's go!"
Before the main players took the field, the doubles division players, substitutes, coaches, and support staff were all cheering them on.
Then, an hour or so later, they were seen returning with their heads hanging low…
The 1v1 strength of the Sea Carp Team was, indeed, a bit lacking.
With reasonable lineup planning, they managed to secure one win, but they were shut out in the other two matches. The current score was 2 to 6.
This meant that in the upcoming double battles, they had to win them all!
And even a clean sweep would only earn them a chance at a captain's tie-breaker match. To be honest, the hope was still slim.
But if they lost just one more match, even this slim hope would be gone.
It was truly an unbearable situation.
Taking advantage of the mid-game break while the staff prepared the field, Bella tried to find some joy amidst the gloom, comforting Arthur, "Well, you'll have to get used to this kind of thing in the future. On our team, this is the norm."
The team captain nearby looked up and glared at her but ultimately didn't retort.
Because the fact was, he couldn't retort. The strength of Sea Carp's main players was indeed a fair bit weaker than that of A-list teams.
Moreover, unlike doubles players, reinforcing the main player lineup was more difficult. Sea Carp had been intending to buy a new main player for several consecutive transfer windows, but they could never find a good candidate.
In the end, year after year, they could only pass the pressure onto the new doubles players.
If it weren't for Bella, this Best Rookie, bursting onto the scene two years ago and being a treasure they had picked up, Sea Carp would very likely have already dropped to the bottom of the league last year.
And before the start of this year, many people were still not optimistic about them.
It wasn't until Arthur withstood the pressure in the first battle and defeated the Otter Team's Rain-Thunder combo that the various sports media outlets exclaimed in surprise—
Sea Carp had picked up another treasure from the youth training camp this year!
If promoting rookies from the youth training camp was like drawing cards from a blind box, then the Sea Carp Club's luck these past two years was the performance of a "gacha shill"!
It made people want to advise their boss to hurry up and eat something good, otherwise, who knows when he might not have the chance anymore…
Weak main players, strong doubles—this had become Sea Carp's most prominent label these past two years.
That was why Bella advised Arthur to get used to it.
In the future, when facing strong teams, this situation would likely become more and more common.
To this, Arthur returned a helpless smile to Bella and shrugged to show he understood.
Asher, at the side, however, had a grim expression and said nothing.
The rest time passed by in a flash.
After the on-site commentators quickly read a few sponsor ads, the double battle phase of the competition officially began.
In this match, the Sea Carp side chose to send Luna and Bella up first, in the hopes of boosting their currently low morale.
Fortunately, these two girls had excellent resilience to pressure. They withstood it and won the match, giving the team a breath of life.
Subsequently, it was Arthur and Asher's turn to take the field.
By this point, the opponent's choice of players and lineup could actually be completely guessed by their side.
After all, as mentioned before: the Blaze Team had made no personnel changes this year.
During the changeover, Bella came back and smilingly patted Arthur's shoulder, "I didn't expect you guys to be the ones to face that gambler pair. I hope your character is good enough. If not, maybe go wash your face before the match."
Arthur shot her a look and ignored her teasing.
Afterward, the field was quickly prepared, and the staff notified the players to enter.
Arthur walked along the player tunnel into the open-air stadium, once again facing the mountain- and tsunami-like cheers and support from the entire arena.
Unfortunately, none of it was for him.
The players on the opposite side also took their positions at the same time.
The referee blew the whistle, and both sides released their Pokémon at once—
For this match, Arthur still sent out Greninja, while Asher brought out Blaziken.
And they had already guessed the opponent's lineup beforehand:
It was Blissey and Clefable!
A pair of Pokémon very rarely seen on the professional scene. Whether in doubles or singles, these two Pokémon made very few appearances.
If Arthur remembered correctly, in the current Kubfu professional league, it seemed only this pair from the Blaze Team used these two Pokémon; they were almost impossible to find on other teams.
And this pair was also the culmination of the Blaze Team's "neurotic blade" characteristic!
Opposite Arthur, the trainers for both Blissey and Clefable were women.
The Blissey's owner looked a bit older, with a gentle and quiet temperament. Although not stunningly beautiful, she gave off a sense of intimacy, inexplicably reminding one of a nurse or an older sister.
A Pokémon like Blissey was originally most commonly found in hospitals. No matter the world, they seemed to be the first choice for doctors and nurses, with a very high proportion of healing-type skills in their repertoire. They also had gentle and perceptive personalities, and even their body color was pink.
On the other side, the Clefable's owner was relatively younger. Arthur had heard that she went pro in the same year as Bella. They had known each other during their youth training camp days, and as for their relationship… he didn't have the nerve to ask for more details.
Clefable's color scheme was also pink, and like Blissey, it was also a bipedal figure with short arms and legs, just a bit slimmer than Blissey.
With the two Pokémon standing together, it felt as if the atmosphere had become more girlish…
But as opponents, Arthur and Asher didn't dare to treat them as girls who couldn't even truss a chicken.
"Time to gamble on our faces," Arthur used Bella's joke to lighten the atmosphere.
"Yeah, let's hope our luck isn't too bad."
Asher replied, but then, with no mood to joke, he added seriously, "Let's make this quick!"
Arthur nodded.
The referee then blew the whistle, and the match began!
The opponents' opening command was exactly what their side had guessed—
"Blissey, Reflect!"
"Clefable, Metronome!"
(End of Chapter)
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you