Chapter 602: Just Another Uphill Battle
The first match of the next day was an easy win for the Nine-Tailed Fox Team, sending them into the knockout stage with a perfect group stage record!
However, Future Yuzuru, the legendary rookie responsible for the team's Captain's Match, wasn't particularly happy.
First, they were aiming for the championship; they came prepared this year!
Second, because in the second round of the group stage yesterday, Future Yuzuru once again failed to beat Roman in the Captain's Match.
Two rounds, and although their team beat the Metro Team both times, she herself had never won against that man.
This made her extremely unhappy.
"Kubfu people are all annoying!"
She pouted, venting her frustration.
Why did she say "all"? Naturally, because the person she really wanted to beat wasn't in Group A...
After the Nine-Tailed Fox Team finished, they returned to the spectator seats.
Next up was the life-and-death battle between the Platinum Team and the Metro Team.
Knowing Future Yuzuru was upset about losing to Roman, the Nine-Tailed Fox members were all badmouthing the Metro Team to cheer her up.
"If you ask me, the second advancing spot will definitely go to the Platinum Team."
"Exactly. Platinum beat the Kubfu team in the first round, so they have a psychological advantage. Not to mention that yesterday, to save the score, the Kubfu captain's ace Pokémon was seriously injured. This match is destined to be harder for them than the last round."
"That Kubfu team relies entirely on their captain to carry them. Once that captain falls, the others can't hold it together."
"True!"
Their words seemed to sentence the Metro Team to death!
Although part of their conversation was to please the team's little princess, even setting that aside, their prediction was sound from a purely competitive perspective.
It aligned with the expectations of most spectators before the match.
Because the Sinnoh Alliance's number two seed, the Platinum Team, was visibly more well-rounded in all aspects.
And the Metro Team's pillar, Roman, already had an ace with a grievous injury that was hard to heal...
It was no exaggeration to say they were standing on the edge of a cliff!
Finally, the regular singles and doubles matches ended, and the Metro Team was indeed trailing by two points again.
The pressure was once again on their captain.
"Roman must win three small points in this battle to carry the team into the playoffs. Winning two points to force a draw won't work; their point differential is worse than Platinum's."
Leo's voice was full of emotion.
The Metro Team had once again placed the entire burden on their old captain...
And this time, the man's strongest ace Pokémon was seriously injured...
Fate seemed to be playing a joke on him, and the flight ticket back to the alliance seemed to be waving at him.
But the next moment, when the lights hit him, Roman walked onto the stage with an expression as calm as a still well.
As a late bloomer, he had experienced too many bumps and hardships along the way.
Under pressure that would crush others' spines, Roman simply smiled calmly at the camera.
Nothing more than habit.
It was just another uphill battle!
Then the referee blew the whistle to announce the start!
In the first round, Roman stuck to his unchanging style, sending out his Sceptile with the Unburden ability.
The opposing Platinum Team captain sent out a Trevenant, also Grass/Ghost type.
This move naturally anticipated that Roman would switch out Sceptile for Swampert later.
Even in the Champions Cup, Roman's most used tactic was still the one from Kubfu: using Sceptile's Grass Pledge with Swampert's Water Pledge to create a swamp effect, creating a favorable environment for Swampert to control speed.
Roman's tactics had always been straightforward, avoiding deception and tricks, so they were naturally easy to predict.
"Roman is still so honest, his opening gambit hasn't changed in ages. But now that his Swampert is seriously injured and hasn't fully healed, sticking to this tactic might be difficult, right?"
Aaron commented worriedly.
In the past, Roman was strong because even if he told his opponent what move he would use, they couldn't stop it; he relied on sheer strength to power through.
But now it was difficult...
Because Swampert was injured.
"Trevenant, use Leech Seed!"
The opposing Platinum captain wasn't in a hurry, seemingly certain that Roman would switch Pokémon, so he didn't rush to attack.
However, this time, to everyone's surprise—the honest man changed his move!
Not by much, but enough to catch the opponent off guard.
"Sceptile, shed armor, then close in and use Acrobatics!"
His first command wasn't the monotonous Grass Pledge anymore, but chose to command Sceptile to attack!
This time Sceptile was really going all out, no longer just a tactical preparation as a support ace.
The opponent was slightly stunned but soon chuckled.
"Courting death! Trevenant, defend first, then use X-Scissor when the time is right!"
The Platinum Team captain didn't fear a duel with Sceptile.
"This is going to be tough. Roman's Sceptile is only a main player-level support Pokémon, while the opponent's Trevenant is a captain-level ace."
The audience discussed spiritedly, and the members of Starlight and Frost also sweated for Roman.
This change of moves showed a desperate resolve, but would it really work?
On the field, after shedding its armor of leaves and tail feathers, Sceptile's speed soared to the limit, circling Trevenant rapidly. Whether using skills or basic attacks, it hit and ran, never getting greedy.
He was exploiting Trevenant's lack of speed!
This required him to have amazing reaction speed himself, and the trainer's vision and command had to keep up too!
A main player-level challenging a captain-level across tiers without a special type advantage was incredibly difficult!
However, as they fought, people were surprised to find—
Sceptile held on!
He actually suppressed Trevenant!
Even if it was achieved through ability effects in a short time, this was still a miracle!
Sceptile's reactions kept up!
Most importantly, Roman's reactions and commands kept up too!
In a desperate situation, on the edge of a cliff, this man actually held on!
Then, surprisingly, the Platinum Team captain chose to switch Pokémon first to preserve his ace's stamina!
This result caught everyone off guard.
Since the opponent switched, Roman naturally followed suit.
But before switching, Sceptile unceremoniously left a Grass Pledge before exiting, following his glorious tradition.
Then, with a flash of light—
Roman's strongest ace, Swampert, appeared!
At this moment, Swampert was covered in scars. There was a very obvious laceration on the right side of his waist and abdomen, merely scabbed over, not healed...
A heavily injured body couldn't heal in one night.
But at this moment, Swampert and his master had no choice.
They, as always, struggled to carry the team on their shoulders!
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