Chapter 240: Learned It, But Didn't Quite Learn It
Afterward, what was rather surprising to the analyst and coaching staff was that Arthur had miraculously relented after meeting with Luna.
He agreed that he could take a look at new Pokémon first and make a decision after some time.
However, in reality, this was just a delaying tactic used by Arthur to secure his starting position.
And the most core change was that he no longer had any qualms about making empty promises, for example—
"I'll take a look for now and decide in the latter half of the year."
"I will definitely catch at least one new Pokémon before the end of the year."
"My lineup will definitely be expanded next year."
The reason for this was that Arthur had already started to entertain the idea of jumping ship next year!
Originally, he didn't dare to make these kinds of promises because the contract he had initially signed was for two years.
As a combatant with a sense of contractual spirit, he initially had no intention of breaking the contract.
But things were different now.
If Luna and Bella were both leaving next year, then his attachment to this Sea Carp team would be very, very faint.
Thus, he began to boldly make promises for plans from the end of the year to next year, coaxing the team's coaching staff into a happy mood.
Anyway, he was already prepared to quit and leave at any time; all kinds of empty promises came easily.
From this, one could see that Asher's evaluation of him as "introverted but passionate" was really not wrong.
Under his honest and silent exterior, there were actually all kinds of mischievous and wicked ideas.
And so, this storm was smoothly quelled.
Arthur continued his own style of training and, taking some time, went with the analysts to browse a Pokémon breeding center.
After a simple life of punching Charmanders and kicking Torchics, he calmly evaluated that all these Pokémon were "mada mada dane" ("still have a ways to go"), thus successfully delaying the plan to acquire a new Pokémon.
It wasn't that no one among the analysts suspected he was soft-resisting and dragging his feet, but they had no evidence.
The man had really knocked down a whole field of Pokémon with his bare fists and feet without using any tools. At this point, when he evaluated that this batch of Pokémon was no good, what else could you say?
There was nothing to f*cking say…
Just like that, after five days that left the analysts with a massive toothache but were otherwise uneventful, Sea Carp's next match was about to begin.
Thanks to the pile of empty promises Arthur had made, he had temporarily reconciled with the coaching staff, so he was still a starter for this match.
Asher's foul ban was not yet over, so Arthur's partner was still Elijah.
The opponent in this match was the Ghost Dragon Team, a team with a very domineering name and a very domineering team image!
Their club's mascot was the Legendary Pokémon Giratina!
It was just a pity that their strength was a little unworthy of such a domineering name.
The Ghost Dragon Team was only a mid-tier team in the league. In the past, their strength was about on par with Sea Carp's, with their matches often being a 50/50 split.
Both belonged to the level of "playoff gatekeepers," better than the teams below them but not as good as the ones above.
The styles of the two sides were also very similar; both had main players who weren't quite up to snuff, but their doubles divisions' performances were quite impressive.
Before the match, Luna encouraged Arthur, "Do your best. If you want to aim for this year's Best Rookie, that brother-sister duo on the opposing team is also one of your main competitors. If you take them down, your advantage in the selection will be much greater."
That pair was not this year's rookies; they had debuted last year, so they should technically be considered Arthur's seniors.
But both first- and second-year players could participate in the Best Rookie selection.
Elijah was very nervous. "But they're not rookies this year. Isn't this a bit..."
Arthur, however, remained calm. "Most of the teams we beat before weren't rookies either."
Elijah looked at him with a resentful face and said softly, "It was you who won, no need to include 'we'..."
The poor guy. Before he got on the field, Arthur had a four-game winning streak like splitting bamboo. The moment he came, his powerful thigh immediately turned against him.
Although the loss in the previous match couldn't be entirely blamed on Arthur, Elijah still couldn't help but feel resentful.
What happened to the big shot carrying me? Big shot, you tricked me!
Before they began, Elijah quietly asked Arthur, "Do you want to use Mismagius this match? Greninja probably hasn't learned Rest yet, right? The opponent will most likely target you again this match."
Arthur thought for a moment, then calmly replied, "No need."
After the experience of one match, he was no longer helpless against this. Besides, he didn't believe that every team had a Pokémon reserve as vast as the Demon King's to specifically target him.
An incomplete counter would most likely just end up shooting themselves in the foot!
Soon, the singles phase ended. The two sides fought to a 3-to-4 score, an unexpectedly close match.
Afterward, the doubles began, and Arthur and Elijah were still the first to go up.
Their Pokémon were still Greninja and Gallade.
And on the other side was a combination of Weezing and Nidoking.
"Heh, as expected," Arthur sneered.
The opponent had two Poison-type Pokémon; their intentions were self-evident.
It was just a pity that the way Arthur looked at them now was only with pity.
Do you really think you can lock me down forever just by learning one trick?
The opponent is really underestimating me!
Before the match officially began, he quickly instructed his teammate, "You go stall the Weezing. It won't take too long!"
Weezing floated in mid-air and could fly. Its own defense wasn't weak, making it not very suitable as an initial target for focus fire.
Moreover, the Weezing in competitive matches mostly had the Stench ability.
This ability's mechanism was similar to Clefable's Cute Charm from before; both passively and continuously released a certain wave while being hit, which would erupt after accumulating to a certain extent.
It was just that Cute Charm's eruption charmed the enemy, while Stench's eruption made the enemy vomit…
The sensory experience was vastly different, but both could effectively prevent the enemy from landing close-range combos.
So, Arthur had Elijah go and stall Weezing first.
He himself then commanded, "Greninja, target Nidoking, charge!"
"Nidoking, use Toxic!"
And the opposing player directly used poison at the start, clearly inspired by the previous match against the Demon King Team, intending to copy their classic strategy.
It was just a pity that their tactical reserves were too shallow.
Or perhaps it should be said, they underestimated Arthur too much, and underestimated Greninja!
In the last match, the Whimsicott had used "Poison Powder," a powder that spread over an area, ensuring Greninja would be poisoned if it got close.
And they had specially chosen a Steel-type Pokémon that couldn't be poisoned as a partner, allowing them to spread the powder without any fear of affecting their teammate.
But this time, the Ghost Dragon Team clearly didn't have this kind of reserve, and their player was too greedy, even trying to use the more potent "Toxic" at the start!
The result was that Greninja didn't even use a skill, relying solely on its phantom-like movements to dodge all the thick phlegm spat out by Nidoking.
The venom didn't even touch its body. No matter how potent the poison, it was ultimately useless.
"What?"
The opponent paid the price for their overconfidence and greed right at the start.
They wanted to be greedy and apply a stronger poison, but in the end, they failed to steal the chicken and even lost the rice used to lure it.
After Greninja got close, its skills were even still available!
"Water Shuriken!"
The customary shuriken opening!
At this time, the opponent's second tactical loophole was exposed.
The reason the Demon King Team had specially chosen a force-evolved Whimsicott for the match was for its Prankster ability.
With Prankster, Whimsicott's cooldown for various non-damaging powder-type skills was particularly short, allowing it to complete a triple-powder combo before being defeated.
But now, Nidoking didn't have this ability.
Once "Toxic" missed, it had no skills to counter with for the next several seconds.
This was what you call "failing to draw a tiger and ending up with something like a dog"!
They wanted to learn the Demon King Team's status effect tactics to target Arthur, but unfortunately, they had learned it, but hadn't quite learned it.
"Nidoking, counterattack at close range!"
At this time, the opponent had not yet given up.
Unfortunately, in a skill-less close-quarters brawl, Arthur would soon show him who the king of this domain was.
"Greninja, fight according to the training rhythm—
Finish him in thirty seconds!"
(End of Chapter)
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