Chapter 249: Don't Like It, Don't Play
After Sableye left the field, Charizard went down to join it…
In the vast majority of cases, a one-on-two is an unwinnable fight.
Not to mention, without a counter, Mismagius's various debilitating moves were simply infuriating to the extreme!
Charizard was already suffering enough just from constantly guarding against Mismagius circling behind it to use "Mean Look," and from time to time, it also had to fight off the intermittent brain-farts from a state of confusion.
No matter how strong its raw power was, it had no way to unleash it.
In the end, it could only lie down flat in defeat.
The referee raised his flag—
"Charizard is unable to battle. Player, please recall your Pokémon."
At this, this round of doubles came to an end.
Although it no longer affected the overall outcome, Arthur and his team's performance still won the applause and praise of the live audience.
To fight with style even in a desperate situation.
This is the spirit of competition.
Afterward, in the second doubles match, Luna and Bella took the stage. Luna once again brought out a backup Pokémon she had been intensively training recently.
This time, she sent out Swellow.
However, considering this match no longer mattered to the overall result, the team didn't interfere.
Unfortunately, Luna was outplayed by a narrow margin in this match and ultimately couldn't secure the win.
But it also showed a gratifying side: it was clear that under the hellish training and Arthur's occasional guidance, Luna's few backup Pokémon were improving at lightning speed!
They were at least no weaker than the Nidoking that the Ghost Dragon Team had temporarily sent out not long ago.
If this momentum was maintained, Luna becoming a main player next year might truly not be just empty talk.
This once again proved that as long as one was willing to believe in their Pokémon and wholeheartedly devote themselves to training, the peak might be far, but the professional level was truly not hard to reach.
On the contrary, the team's previous method of casting a wide net and using trial and error, but in reality never fully developing any single Pokémon and only scratching the surface, had yielded no results in the past year or two!
This further strengthened Luna's rebellious resolve.
It also made her feel even more grateful for the path Arthur had shown her.
After this match against the Jinchan Team, the first half of this year's league regular season was more or less over.
At this time, it was already late February. At the halfway point of the season each year, there would generally be a week-long break.
During this time, the organizers would hold many online and offline activities, open up many voting lists, stir up some hype, and "cut some leeks."
After all, commercial operations were also an inseparable part of the league. Don't like it, don't play.
Among these, the most eye-catching list was undoubtedly the Best Rookie list!
Each year, the selection for Best Rookie would be decided by combining four factors: regular season record, fan voting results, commentator voting results, and scores from a professional judging panel.
Although this selection system had been criticized countless times when it was first proposed—after all, half of the weight came from voting, making its professionalism truly worrying.
However, it was undeniable that over so many years, this voting system had indeed brought more traffic and discussion to the league.
Over time, this system became fixed.
It was that phrase again: commercial operations are also an inseparable part of the league. Don't like it, don't play.
Arthur was naturally also going to compete for this list.
Fortunately, even when it came to online popularity, he was far ahead of the other rookies.
He was already an internet celebrity long before joining the professional league. At the beginning of the season, when his fans were arguing with the rabid fans of the Otter Team, they were still being suppressed. But after he powerfully defeated the Otter Team's Rain-Thunder combo in that match, his fan club had been vindicated and had soared to the heavens ever since!
As for comparing match records? Then Arthur was in a class of his own!
At the halfway point, Arthur had been a starter in all eight matches, with a current record of seven wins and one loss. Among the rookies who had newly entered the league this year, he was in a completely different league!
For a rookie in their first year in the league, just being able to get a starting position was often something to be thankful for. More of them were doing rotational substitute work like Elijah and Fang Shiwei.
Usually, they could only guard the water cooler and occasionally help their teammates order takeout…
But Arthur, at this time, was not only starting every match, but his record was also frighteningly impressive!
Now, no rookie from his cohort could even arm-wrestle with him. The only ones left to consider were the second-year seniors.
The Best Rookie award was open to players who had debuted within the last two years.
The sibling pair from the Ghost Dragon Team from before were second-year students, but unfortunately, they were crushed by Arthur in a direct confrontation.
When Greninja was on the field, it had taken out their Nidoking in just thirty seconds, a complete sweep. The scene was extremely brutal, not quite suitable for minors to watch.
Now, even including the second-year students, Arthur was an extremely strong favorite in this selection.
On the first day the voting opened, he powerfully charged to the top of the list, leaving the second-place person far behind to eat his dust.
When Arthur first heard this news, he was still very happy.
Then the next day, the club told him that as a player with a high popularity poll ranking, he had to participate in a reality TV show-like program during the break. And then he was instantly not happy anymore…
His training time was already insufficient, and his own Pokémon still had many skills waiting to be learned. To go and shoot a variety show at a time like this was simply ridiculous!
He really couldn't understand why a group of players who usually commanded Pokémon in battle on the field had to be forced together to play what-not board games, script-based games, and name-tag ripping.
He laughed at the organizers for not understanding training; the organizers laughed at him for not understanding business.
In this day and age, everything could be turned into a variety show. As long as there were fans willing to pay for it, a group of video creators could get together and shoot dozens of episodes of a variety show and dominate the charts for months.
The person responsible for notifying him once again reiterated: commercial operations are also an inseparable part of the league. Don't like it, don't play.
And so, Arthur had no choice but to go…
The main invitees for this trip were the rookies from the first and second years of the league. Most of them were very young, so Arthur didn't seem out of place among them.
As soon as he arrived, a very pretty young lady greeted him.
"Hi, you must be Arthur, right? Hello, great master. My name is Bianca, a cute little newbie. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Although Arthur wasn't in a good mood after coming here, you don't hit a smiling face. Moreover, the other party looked quite pretty when she smiled, so he also responded with a smile.
"Hello, a pleasure to meet you."
"Heehee~"
The other party smiled, proactively took Arthur's hand and shook it. Her personality seemed very lively.
Arthur recalled that he didn't seem to have seen her in the previous matches. He watched the league sparingly and couldn't remember which team this girl was from for a moment. He could only continue to maintain a polite but not awkward smile.
Afterward, everyone arrived, and the organizers quickly began to arrange makeup and set dressing, and then they had to take costume set photos.
In short, it was super troublesome.
After finally getting everything ready, it was time to form groups for the variety show games. Since Arthur knew too few people, he had to proactively find Bianca, wanting to team up with her.
If he really couldn't escape this frustrating variety show, at least choosing a pretty young lady as a teammate wasn't a bad option.
But unexpectedly, when he walked up to chat her up, the other party responded with a slightly surprised, gentle smile.
"Ah, sorry, you've mistaken me. I'm not Bianca, I'm her older sister, Ivy."
At the side, a white, Ice-type Vulpix glared angrily at Arthur and let out a "woo woo" sound.
The program team instantly captured this moment, leaving Arthur feeling very embarrassed.
Only then did he remember that when he had been looking at the Best Rookie poll before, the second and third places below him were apparently a pair of second-year twin sisters, from a not-so-famous mid-tier team. The team's results were average, but this pair's own record was not bad. In this respect, they were a bit similar to Arthur.
Now he finally remembered—
That pair of sisters were named Ivy and Bianca.
(End of Chapter)
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