Chapter 172: Pairing and Ranking
Chapter 172: Pairing and Ranking
Youth training camps essentially served to cultivate talent reserves for professional clubs.
Of course, earning some money on the side was naturally even better.
Since the goal was to cultivate talent, consideration had to be given to the trainees' development after they advanced to the professional leagues.
2v2 Double Battles were a mandatory lesson for newcomers!
Here, one had to mention the professional league's competition format.
The so-called team confrontation was not a group battle (all Pokémon out at once).
Although this type of gameplay had gained high popularity among the public in recent years, it had not yet been incorporated into official competitions.
An official league team battle referred to a total of five matches between two sides: three 1v1 matches and two 2v2 matches, with players from both sides not allowed to participate more than once.
The 1v1 matches adopted a "pick 3 out of 6" battle mode, meaning a player registered six Pokémon before the match but could only choose three to send out sequentially during the battle.
For 2v2 matches, each side sent out two players, each with one Pokémon, to cooperate in battle, with the winner decided in a single round.
For the five matches, two points were awarded for each win. In a 1v1 match, an additional point could be earned for a 3-0 sweep.
If the final scores were tied, the captains of the two teams would engage in a 1v1 tie-breaker match.
The captain's tie-breaker used an "8 pick 6" model, meaning eight Pokémon were registered, and six were sent out to battle.
The captain's tie-breaker followed the same rules as the League Cup.
The League Cup used the "8 pick 6" model from start to finish, which was why its entry threshold was particularly high. This also explained why, despite being a purely individual competition, it was ranked at the highest T1 level, even a level above the professional leagues.
Under this competition system, since players could not participate repeatedly, those who competed in 2v2 matches were generally the team's rookies.
This was because in 2v2 Double Battles, each player only needed to field one Pokémon.
The main players in the team, who had a more abundant reserve of Pokémon, were responsible for the 1v1 duels.
At the same time, there was an unwritten rule in the league: if a professional player hadn't become a main player by the age of thirty, they could pretty much retire.
2v2 was the arena for rookies; playing 2v2 after the age of thirty would invite ridicule from the masses, and this was the same worldwide.
When these youth training camp rookies first advanced, they definitely wouldn't be able to be main players; they all had to start by gaining experience in 2v2 Double Battles.
Therefore, it wasn't surprising that the graduation tournament would include 2v2 matches.
However, before that, there still needed to be a corresponding ranking and team pairing phase.
Early the next morning, everyone in the youth training camp was assembled.
Not just Arthur's cohort, but senior students from previous years also came.
An instructor stepped forward to inform them.
"The official graduation tournament will begin after the trainees from the Otter Club arrive. However, before that, we still need to conduct an internal ranking round and decide on the pairings for the Double Battles."
The instructor then opened a roster and called out six names.
Regrettably, Arthur didn't recognize any of them.
Fortunately, Justin, at his side, thoughtfully took the initiative to explain.
"They are all seniors from the cohorts above us, currently the top six ranked individuals in the youth training camp."
Then, they heard the instructor continue.
"You six are advised not to team up with each other. We need to see how well you cooperate with others. Apart from each other, you will have priority in choosing teammates in the subsequent graduation tournament."
The instructor then faced the others. "As for the rest of you, an initial ranking will be drafted by an intelligent program based on your previous results. Those dissatisfied with their ranking can apply for a challenge.
However, note that this ranking is merely for your convenience to understand each other and form teams; it is not your final grade for the graduation tournament. Your final grade will still be determined by your Double Battle performance after the Otter Club arrives."
Since rookies entering the professional scene initially served as 2v2 Double Battle players, it wasn't surprising that the youth training camp placed more emphasis on Double Battle results.
Justin looked at Arthur with eager anticipation.
He didn't really care about his current ranking; he had already decided to team up with Bro Arthur.
What was surprising, however, was that Arthur noticed Flora was also looking at him.
This made him find it rather incredible.
"Any other questions?" the instructor asked out of habit.
Normally, this was indeed just a formality.
The youth training camp's graduation tournament had followed this model for many consecutive years; even first-year students should have some understanding of it.
Unexpectedly, someone actually raised a question this time.
Arthur raised his hand and asked, "Excuse me, can I directly challenge those six?"
In an instant, everyone's gaze turned towards him.
Soon, most people recognized his face.
Immediately, a wave of whispers spread through the surroundings.
"Is that… the one from the news?"
"Should be."
"But I heard his evil sword needs to be held in his hand to fight?"
"Who knows, it's an evil sword, after all."
Just as Levi had heard before, many people on the internet now believed that Arthur possessed a demonic evil sword, which he had nurtured since childhood by "feeding the sword with his own body." Once the evil sword was in hand, his eyes would open, and a killing intent would arise spontaneously!
After all, it was much easier for people to believe in a legendary evil sword than to believe that a teenager could single-handedly take an enemy's head from amidst a vast army.
Although both sounded rather absurd, the former was ultimately somewhat more acceptable.
Only Levi, because he had personally seen the corpses of the gunmen Arthur had killed in the trenches, firmly believed that it wasn't the sword that was strong, but the person wielding it.
However, others didn't necessarily think so.
At this moment, even the instructor coughed and reminded, "Arthur… is it? According to the competition rules, you yourself cannot be on the field when your Honedge is battling. You know that, right?"
Arthur naturally nodded. "I know. I don't plan on using Honedge in the matches."
He had also heard the discussions around him but paid them no mind.
Rather than always being speculated about like this, it was better to state directly that he wasn't planning to use the sword.
Besides, Honedge wasn't particularly good at independent combat anyway.
Honedge, on his back, vibrated slightly, attempting to protest: I'm actually good at it!
However, Arthur took a moment to grip its hilt: No, you're not!
Honedge was forced into silence, utterly exasperated…
The instructor could only explain, "According to the rules, when your rank gets close to theirs, you can naturally challenge them."
"Then what is my current rank?"
This, Arthur genuinely didn't know.
But the instructor's gaze towards him was somewhat peculiar.
"You were absent from the last ranking match due to leave. We only have your results from your first ranking match upon entering the camp. Plus, you're a first-year student, so… your current rank is 106th."
After a brief moment of silence, someone finally couldn't help but chuckle.
Because everyone knew that the Sea Carp Club's youth training camp currently had a total of only 106 people…
Arthur also felt a bit awkward for a moment.
He had forgotten that he hadn't participated in the last ranking match. Going back to the one before that, he and Justin were still brothers in misfortune, one last and one second to last…
The instructor even emphasized.
"The trainees from the Otter Club will arrive in three days. Excluding the time for final grouping and team pairing, all your provisional rankings must be decided within these two days."
In other words, there were only two days to change rankings through challenges.
Two days, to climb from 106th (last place) to the top six. Was that possible?
At this moment, many people looked at Arthur with expressions that were not quite smiles, the answer in their hearts seemingly self-evident.
(End of Chapter)
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