Chapter 598: First Victory
Everything went exactly as Yudan had predicted...
In the fourth round, Arthur fought with incredible ferocity!
Of course, he had never been timid before...
Yudan's last captain-level Pokémon, a Kangaskhan, was exhausted and covered in burns from Lina's attacks.
Just as Lina seemed to be reaching her limit, Arthur recalled her with a Poké Ball.
In that moment, Yudan felt a deep sense of powerlessness wash over her.
"Is the gap between us and the major leagues really this big...?" she muttered to herself.
Unlike the Three Waves Team, a wild card team funded by capital and hastily assembled just before the Champions Cup, the Cutie Pie Team, despite its silly name, was a standardized professional team.
They had daily training, planning, and development, and they participated in a league, albeit a regional one held by several small alliances combined.
Such leagues were far inferior to the seven major leagues in terms of competitive level, attention, and fan base.
The gap was as big as that between the CBA and the NBA.
But Yudan had never accepted this!
The Cutie Pie Team was actually like Starlight and Frost; most members were young, with a low average age, and each carried the halo of a genius in their respective alliances!
Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. The young Cutie Pie Team initially didn't feel inferior to the other three teams in their group!
Especially since the Three Waves Team, another wild card team, had just completed a massacre yesterday, boosting their confidence even more!
Who said wild card teams must be inferior to the seven major leagues?
We are geniuses too! League champions! The queens of our region!
We are destined to be the dark horse of this year's Champions Cup!
Entering the stage with such pride, only to be beaten to a pulp by Starlight and Frost, and now even their last shred of dignity was about to be lost...
After swapping out Lina, Arthur immediately sent out the little dragonfly.
Since the light source from Sunny Day hadn't dissipated yet, it would have been better to send out Old Flame, but the little dragonfly volunteered, and Arthur indulged her.
As soon as the little dragonfly entered the field, she noticed the opponent trainer's eyes had gone blank. She secretly rejoiced that she had volunteered in time, otherwise there would be no fun left.
The scoundrel dragonfly smirked, giving a slight smile. The Kangaskhan opposite trembled, as if foreseeing its own unpredictable fate.
With such a scoundrel on the field, Yudan's hope for a final shred of dignity was indeed slim...
Her third ace, Kangaskhan, couldn't hold on in the end.
Three captain-level aces wiped out. The score was now 0-4...
The future looked bleak...
The final score of this Captain's Match was 1-6, with Arthur winning by a margin of 5 points!
However, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the last point was likely a giveaway.
A shutout in the Captain's Match was a bit too cruel, and since it was already a guaranteed win, Arthur chose to leave the opponent a shred of dignity.
But even so, the total score reached an astonishing 16-0!
The record for the largest point difference, set just yesterday by Leo's Three Waves Team, was broken by Arthur and his team in less than a day.
Now the Kubfu audience was truly thrilled!
As soon as the match ended, countless posts and topics flooded various online communities.
"Where are those who said it was a good draw yesterday? Where are those who said Kubfu is done for this year? Come out! Let's talk, don't be shy!!"
"Heard this year's wild card teams are strong? I laughed!"
Normally, Starlight and Frost defeating the only wild card team in the group shouldn't have received such grand praise.
But coincidentally, the timing was perfect!
The successive setbacks of Kubfu teams in the first two match days, the arrogant faces of Leo's extreme fans, and the emergence of geniuses from other leagues this year all made the Kubfu audience desperate for a victory!
As a major alliance and one of the seven major leagues, they enjoyed the support of fans but also bore heavy pressure.
During the post-match handshake, Yudan sighed somewhat dazedly. "Is the gap between us and the seven major leagues really this big...?"
Arthur saw that her mentality was a bit unstable, so he asked, "Is this your first time participating in the Champions Cup?"
"Yes, our whole team is."
Arthur smiled. "Actually, so are we. At least in this regard, we are the same."
"Same? Heh."
Yudan laughed self-deprecatingly, glancing at the scoreboard on the side.
The score there was so dazzling...
But Arthur quickly continued.
"At least on this stage, we are the same.
"If we compare the overall level of the leagues, you wouldn't even qualify to compete on the same stage as the seven major leagues. But now, you at least have the possibility of becoming a dark horse, don't you?"
Yudan opened her mouth.
For a moment, she couldn't tell if Arthur was comforting her or humbly bragging.
Until Arthur let go of her hand and added, "Compared to war, arena competition is already a relatively fair game. If it were elsewhere, Kubfu crushing you would only be more brutal."
Okay, she was sure Arthur was really bragging...
But surprisingly, she didn't resent this showing off; instead, she felt much more invigorated.
Because Arthur was right!
Pokémon competition was already a relatively fair game.
Kubfu was one of the world's three superpowers! If they were competing in anything other than sports, they would only be crushed worse.
Here, at least they had the possibility of competing on the same stage.
In that case, why should she sigh and moan?
She finally smiled. "Your way of comforting people is really unique."
Arthur shrugged.
Just telling the truth.
Absolute fairness never exists in this world.
When small alliances lament that their leagues are inferior to the seven major leagues in all aspects, perhaps they should consider that if it weren't for competitive sports, they would only lose more.
This almost scar-revealing method of comfort surprisingly cheered Yudan up quickly.
At least, their Champions Cup journey wasn't over yet!
And Arthur and his team enjoyed a lot of cheers and congratulations after the match as they wished.
This victory greatly boosted Kubfu's morale!
It also allowed Starlight and Frost, a new team participating in the Champions Cup for the first time, to quickly shed their inexperience and lose all confusion!
Arthur was right about one thing: they were just like the Cutie Pie Team because they were also a group of rookies.
In terms of pressure, they bore no less than the Cutie Pie Team!
If nothing else, if they lost the match, the public opinion firestorm they would face would definitely be ten thousand times fiercer than that faced by the wild card Cutie Pie Team!
Behind the superficial glamour lay immense pressure where one misstep could lead to doom...
But fortunately, they held on in the first match of the group stage!
From now on, their mentality was unshackled!
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