Chapter 202: Time to Step Up and Carry
Chapter 202: Time to Step Up and Carry
Arthur knew that when Bella said the lineup would be built around him, she was most likely exaggerating, probably speaking from her perspective as a fan.
However, the team's willingness to wait for him until now truly touched him.
To be honest, before he had set out to train, he had already prepared himself to be benched upon his return.
At that time, he wasn't even sure if Frogadier could definitely evolve. The message he left on Starbo before leaving said two months, meaning that if things went extremely poorly, he was even prepared to only return in December. By then, the team's lineup would certainly have been finalized, and after a bit more integration, the next year's league would be about to start.
Since he had decided to set out on a training journey, he had stopped thinking about the starting position!
He never expected the team to be willing to wait for him all this time.
The other two youth camp trainees who were promoted with him naturally had no objections; they had seen Arthur's killing spree during the graduation tournament, battling through the entire youth camp in three days.
But Asher was not happy.
He was no rookie; he had been playing in the professional league for many years already.
Although at his age, if he couldn't climb up to a main player position in another two years, he would likely have to retire quietly. But at least for now, he was still in the most competitive years of his professional career!
During this year's transfer window, he had come to the Sea Carp Club precisely because he saw that their lineup had a gap and was in urgent need of reinforcement.
He had originally thought that even if he couldn't out-compete the female duo, securing the starting position for the other doubles team would be a piece of cake.
He had even been fantasizing that after he arrived, he could pick his partner as if he were selecting concubines.
Who would have thought that upon arrival, he would be told by the club to wait first? They had another rookie who had gone out to train, with an uncertain return time, and wasn't back yet.
The starting position he had envisioned was not directly promised to him either, only deferred with the excuse that it would be decided after the rookie returned.
This left Asher stunned.
He thought he was a king making his grand arrival, that he could ask for whatever he wanted, but who knew he would receive such "backup plan" treatment? To make matters worse, he had already signed the letter of intent, and it was too late to quit and run.
Strictly speaking, Asher had actually been screwed over by Sea Carp's legal department—he had believed their grand promises and rashly signed the contract, only to find out after arriving: Oh boy, it's over. I'm locked in and can't escape.
Before signing, they wooed him with promises of a starting position and promotional packages. After he arrived, it immediately became "follow arrangements and please conduct yourself with dignity."
How could he stand that? His mentality collapsed.
Unfortunately, how could he outplay the professional team in the legal department? You signed a letter of intent and still want to run? You must be dreaming!
So, helpless, he could only vent his frustration on the long-overdue Arthur.
He didn't want to offend a potential future teammate right from the start either, but he felt choked with frustration if he didn't let this steam out.
And so, the scene from when Arthur had just returned occurred.
Bella and Luna knew a little about these internal matters. They took the opportunity during a private chat to explain it to Arthur and advised him not to be angry.
Afterward, Arthur was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.
He could only lament that the professional circle was full of deep schemes, one trap after another…
However, for him, this ultimately wasn't a bad thing.
At least it preserved his chance to compete for a starting spot upon his return.
This time, the team completely broke up the six of them. Even Bella and Luna, who had been a golden pair for the past two years, were included in the mix-up for multiple rounds of randomly paired battles to determine next year's doubles starting lineup.
Although he felt some sympathy for Asher being trapped by his contract, Arthur would definitely still fight for the starting position he deserved.
Greninja had already successfully evolved. If he didn't fight for it, wouldn't he be letting down the past month of training on that deserted island?
Subsequently, the team's head coach appeared, gave a brief, encouraging pep talk, and then announced the start of the duels!
The opponents for each match were randomly paired by the system.
In the first match, Arthur had good luck and was paired with Bella. Their opponents, coincidentally, were Asher and another rookie from the youth camp.
Meeting in the very first match, he and Asher were truly on a narrow road for enemies.
"Heh, rookie. I hope you're really worth us waiting so long for!"
Asher didn't forget to provoke Arthur before the battle began.
But now, after understanding this guy's predicament, Arthur only felt a strange sense of sympathy when he heard his words…
This look of sympathy, however, stimulated Asher's wounded heart even more.
"Hmph! I'll make sure you can't smile later!"
Bella snickered at the side, and Arthur could only helplessly spread his hands.
He felt he was very innocent in all this.
Bella's main Pokémon were two: the Togekiss she had relied on since her debut, and the Luxray that had started to show its prowess at the beginning of this year.
Asher's professional career was longer, so he had more main Pokémon, including a Nidoking, a Blaziken, a Braviary, and a Weavile.
Finally, Asher's partner for this match had a bulky Lickilicky, which Arthur had seen before in the youth training camp.
"How should we play this match?" Arthur and Bella actively discussed before the match.
Although Bella was his fan in daily life, on the battlefield, she was his senior. Arthur's attitude was still very humble.
Bella's analysis was also very quick.
"Don't mind Asher's trash talk directed at you. This guy has always had a calm head. He'll most likely target me. I guess he'll use Nidoking this match."
Arthur's thoughts were actually the same.
Nidoking's typing was Poison/Ground. Poison-type countered the Fairy-type Togekiss, and Ground-type countered the Electric-type Luxray. It basically had Bella's fatal weaknesses locked down.
"Then I'll use Greninja," Arthur said.
Normally, with a strong teammate, sending out Mismagius to play support would be a good choice. But if they were facing a Nidoking and Lickilicky combination, it looked like Arthur needed to step up and be the carry.
He had wanted to lie back and get carried to an easy win, but the situation, it seemed, would not allow it.
Hearing Arthur's words, Bella turned to look at him with some surprise. "Greninja? Your Frogadier evolved?"
Arthur nodded confidently. "Yes, the training went very smoothly. It has already evolved."
Now Bella no longer hesitated, placing her full trust in Arthur: "Alright, then your Greninja will be the main attacker. I'll use Togekiss to support you."
Subsequently, both sides revealed their Pokémon at the same time—
The opponents indeed sent out Nidoking and Lickilicky, exactly as they had guessed.
Arthur also gave a cold "heh" in his heart.
He trash-talked me so much before the match, but in the end, he still focused his counter on Bella.
A player's mouth is a deceiving ghost!
Tsk, scumbag!
At the start, the robust Nidoking spread its arms, roaring domineeringly at their side, its gaze provocatively fixed on Togekiss.
It didn't notice that Greninja, at the side, was already looking at it as if it were a corpse.
Nidoking's typing indeed had a significant advantage against Togekiss, but by the same token, it also had its own weakness to Water-type.
This time, it would be Greninja's stage!
(End of Chapter)
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