Chapter 422: People Change
Back when he had first met Galen in the youth camp, Arthur had already noticed the huge difference in their training philosophies.
Galen was a typical product of the professional circuit's mindset, or more accurately, the mindset of the Kubfu professional circuit from a few years ago.
The traditional mindset of the era when the Demon King Team still ruled the league.
He didn't believe in the plasticity of Pokémon, only in data and tactics.
Precisely because he didn't believe in a Pokémon's potential, the moment he entered the youth camp, he had abandoned the Scyther that had won him the Autumn Cup without a second thought, and had immediately started saving up to buy a Magby with better species potential and individual stats.
Then, the year Arthur graduated and left the youth camp, he had acquired a second Pokémon, an Elekid.
Also hand-picked, a cub with excellent individual stats that he had spent a fortune on.
But now, it was already Galen's third year in the youth camp.
In that time, not to mention Arthur, even Justin and Flora had graduated the following year. But he, with his high-quality, expensive Pokémon, was still struggling for the graduation tournament.
The big brother who had entered the youth camp as the Autumn Cup champion had, in the blink of an eye, become the overaged, left-behind kid of the camp.
You have to admit, his journey was quite a sad one.
Now, the only thing he could probably boast about was that he had beaten Arthur once!
Just like in Naruto, if you ignore the timeline and just look at the record, even Zabuza can look down on Madara and Obito.
As Arthur continued to climb to new heights, the "value" of Galen's one victory was also rising.
And so, the moment he got on stage at this year's All-Stars, he was talking about that one win again.
The host immediately cried out, "My heavens?! I didn't expect there to be such hidden dragons and crouching tigers among the fans we've invited! This one is a real heavyweight! He's actually beaten our famous Miracle Rookie, Arthur, before!"
Hearing this, Justin couldn't hold back and stood up for Arthur.
"What's the big deal? He's really shameless for bringing up something from the amateur league! This guy is just desperate for fame!"
After three years in the youth camp, to finally get a chance to be on the All-Star Weekend, perhaps Galen really was a bit desperate.
Arthur, on the other hand, didn't seem to care.
With his current achievements, even if he didn't explain anything, no one would seriously think that Galen could be compared to him.
When the director pointedly cut to him, his expression was still normal. He even smiled and nodded at the camera.
A grand mentality, a show of complete composure.
And Justin, who was preparing to go on stage, was now rubbing his hands together.
"Watch this, Brother Arthur! Watch me go up there and crush him!"
Arthur was helpless.
"You'd better not speak too soon. Don't forget, in the first two rounds, professional players can't use their main Pokémon."
At these words, Justin immediately froze.
Ever since the new rules for the fan tournament at last year's All-Star Weekend had received unanimous praise from the netizens and audience, the organizers had decided to keep using them.
In the first few rounds, professional players are not allowed to use the main Pokémon they have already used this season, to give the fans more room to play.
This had greatly increased the fun factor of the competition.
It was just hard on professional rookies like Justin.
"Ah, this…"
At this moment, Justin let out the sound of a slacker…
The high-EQ way of putting it is: he integrated very well with the fan's skill bracket.
The low-EQ way of putting it is: he went down and pecked at some other chickens, and didn't even win.
"Ah! Damn it! I was so close to teaching that guy Galen a lesson!" Justin said hatefully after he came back.
Arthur looked at his promotion bracket on the big screen, which had been snuffed out in the first round, and smiled.
"Indeed. You were very close."
"..."
This made Justin so embarrassed he scratched his head.
In the end, it was Galen who had fought his way to the finals of the fan tournament.
But as luck would have it, his opponent in the final was also an old friend from the same year—
On the other side was the Sea Carp team's All-Star rookie this season, Flora.
Also from the same youth camp class as him and Arthur.
According to the rules, in the final stage, professional players could use their starting Pokémon. Flora, naturally, unceremoniously sent out her pseudo-legendary Dragonite!
To be honest, there was no suspense in this battle from the very beginning.
Galen's teammate didn't have any particularly outstanding skills and couldn't provide him with much protection.
And Flora's performance among this year's rookies was quite outstanding. Even on the All-Star stage, the power of a pseudo-legendary was still immense!
And this match really did show Arthur some amusing changes—
Back when he had first encountered Flora in the Autumn Cup, she had been a spoiled princess who commanded recklessly, relying on her Pokémon's high stats to do whatever she wanted.
Later, after entering the youth camp, she had also initially skipped all sorts of classes, dumping her Pokémon on the instructors and not caring at all.
In contrast, Galen, when he had fought in the Autumn Cup, both his command and the performance of his Scyther had left a pretty good impression on Arthur.
At that time, Arthur had genuinely felt that that Scyther had a lot of spirit.
But two years had passed in a flash—
The willful, arrogant princess from back then had reined in her temper, and her coordination with her Pokémon had become more and more polished.
In contrast, Galen, who had started from a higher point, now, in Arthur's eyes, had lost more and more of that spirit he once had.
In the end, the result of this match was also as expected: Flora easily defeated Galen.
"So, people really do change," Arthur commented with a light laugh.
"Who are you saying is changeable?" Bella, who hadn't been chosen to play this time, asked with curiosity.
"Uh, I was talking about the rookie from my old team."
"Oh, you mean that girl Flora. I remember now. Wasn't she in the same youth camp class as you? What, has she changed a lot? What's the reason?"
Arthur threw up his hands, about to say, how should I know.
But who would have thought that just as he was about to speak, the post-match interview on the stage began, and Flora immediately "sold" him out.
She answered the host's question, "Yes, that's right. I was in the same youth camp intake as that fan, and also with Arthur. The one who had the biggest influence on me among my peers was Arthur. His comeback at the time was incredibly shocking to me! It was simply unbelievable! That was also the catalyst that made me determined to change myself! As for Galen, with all due respect, he's not even comparable to Arthur. He doesn't have my money to buy Pokémon, and he doesn't have Arthur's talent to raise them. I can only wish him the best of luck in the youth camp."
Anyone with eyes could see that Flora was clearly defending Arthur.
It was probably because she also didn't like Galen bringing up his one amateur victory over Arthur the moment he got on stage.
And that last sentence, "wish him the best of luck in the youth camp," was a killer blow!
Galen had already been in the youth camp for three years! He was probably dreaming of graduating.
To wish him well in the youth camp at this point was like a Pangoro ordering takeout—absolutely savage.
In the backstage players' lounge, Bella immediately turned her head and stared at Arthur with a mischievous smile.
"Oho, this girl really is defending you. So this is what you meant by 'changeable'?"
Arthur's expression stiffened slightly.
And Justin, on the side, was looking at him with awe.
Was this also part of your calculation, Brother Arthur?
Arthur: I wasn't, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!
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