Chapter 173: The Advantage is Mine
Before the official challenge matches began, Flora came to find Arthur.
She still had that same posture, arms crossed, with a cool and aloof demeanor.
"Those senior students generally aren't willing to team up with first-years. So, you don't actually have to try so hard to get a high rank. I don't mind you."
"Er…"
Arthur was stunned for a moment before he realized: she wanted to team up with him!
No wonder she had come to his dormitory entrance yesterday.
After understanding, Arthur was speechless.
So, girl, if you want to team up, just say so directly! Why say things like "I hope you don't lose face for our Sea Carp camp"? Who can understand that?
Sure enough, the tsundere attribute, when placed in real life, wasn't cute at all…
Moreover, you don't even have twintails!
Helpless, Arthur could only manage a smile.
"I'd still prefer to pick my own teammate."
He turned and walked away after saying this.
"Hey! You!"
Flora, left behind, stomped her foot in anger.
Afterward, Arthur went to a computer at the edge of the battleground.
In this new era, all aspects had become intelligent. This ranking match didn't require numerous staff members to painstakingly record real-time rankings.
There were touchscreen computers beside the field, and the rankings on the screen updated in real time.
Anyone wanting to challenge just needed to tap on the computer, and the system would automatically match them with an opponent. After a while, a broadcast announcement would even notify that person. You just had to wait by the field.
It perfectly illustrated what "technology changes life" meant.
Arthur decisively tapped to apply for a challenge.
A few seconds later, the system matched him with his first opponent.
Because his initial rank was last in the entire training camp, the first opponents he could be matched with were naturally low-ranked first-years. They all had at least a passing familiarity with each other.
The trainee in the first battle clearly recognized Arthur and said without reservation at the start, "Sorry, Bro Arthur, according to the match rules, you can't bring your sword onto the field. Don't blame me for bullying you!"
In a daze, Arthur had a strange sense of déjà vu from this scene.
Not long ago, at the Everhart family estate, didn't that someone—Young Master Wilson, perhaps—say something similar before their match?
Young Master Wilson, hundreds of kilometers away, suddenly sneezed and thought, Damn it, who's thinking about me now?
A few minutes later, this first-year trainee walked off the field with an expression of someone doubting their very existence, muttering to himself.
"How could this happen…"
Arthur hadn't taken out the rumored "evil sword," yet Frogadier still swept through the opponent with ease, barely even using any skills.
Just with skill-less pressure, Frogadier had almost demolished the opponent's Hitmonlee, making the trainee doubt who the real Fighting-type Pokémon was.
"Who on earth taught that frog its 'Eighteen-Style Springing Kicks'? Do we even have Pokémon martial arts classes in our youth training camp?"
After finishing, Arthur, without a moment's pause, went back to the touchscreen computer and pressed the "Apply for Challenge" icon again.
This time, the first-year who stepped up had just heard about the previous battle and was clearly much more cautious. From the moment he entered the field, he didn't dare to be careless for a second, not even bothering with pre-match trash talk.
However, the outcome was no different.
Less than ten minutes later, his Starmie fell under the onslaught of Frogadier's "Dark Pulse."
"You! Your Frogadier has even mastered Dark Pulse? I remember it was just a Froakie when it entered the camp, wasn't it? You've been out for so long, when exactly did you give it supplementary lessons?"
Arthur shrugged and explained, "You don't necessarily have to rely on buying lessons to teach Pokémon skills."
Unfortunately, the only response he got was an expression that screamed, "You've got to be kidding me."
Apart from Justin, probably no one here believed Arthur could actually teach Pokémon skills himself without relying on instructors.
Only Justin would occasionally glance at that field, sigh softly, and think to himself: For Bro Arthur, this is all basic stuff.
You guys are still too young, too simple.
Less than half an hour after the ranking challenge matches began, Arthur came to the touchscreen computer for the third time and pressed the "Apply for Challenge" icon again.
This time, not only the new first-years but even the senior students from previous cohorts finally started paying attention.
The system used for ranking matches was relatively intelligent; consecutive wins in a short period could significantly increase the rank-jumping range for subsequent challenges.
If he could maintain this pace, Arthur's challenge applications would sooner or later allow him to jump ten or twenty ranks at a time. It might not take long to reach their level.
After all, the ranking matches had only just begun half an hour ago!
Half an hour ago, everyone was laughing at Arthur's naive idea of trying to climb from last place to the top six.
Now, just half an hour later, the lower-ranked trainees were actually starting to get nervous.
One could only say this change came too fast, like a tornado…
The third person Arthur was matched against was still a first-year, but this person was already considered upper-tier among his peers.
At least, he was at a level where he could stably remain in the youth training camp next year without worrying about being advised to withdraw.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he had the strength of a second-year.
Moreover, this person had thought long and hard before stepping up, confident that he had done extremely thorough preparation—
It was no longer a secret that Arthur's Frogadier had the Protean ability; many people knew.
Although this ability allowed a Pokémon's type to change constantly, seemingly without weakness, at least at this stage, the number of skills everyone had mastered was still limited.
This person had observed two matches and had already discerned that Frogadier's main skills were mostly Dark-type, followed by Normal-type and Water-type.
In the two duels, Frogadier had already displayed "Dark Pulse," "Night Slash," "Fling," "Smokescreen," "Double Team," and "Bubble"—a total of six skills.
The first three were all Dark-type!
This was actually related to Frogadier's evolved form, Greninja, possessing a dual Water/Dark typing.
Thus, for this match, this trainee confidently sent out his Pokémon: Breloom!
Breloom resembled a kangaroo, its body mainly green and beige, with a "mushroom" on its head shaped like a bamboo hat, hence its name.
Although this Pokémon's species potential was relatively average, its typing was Grass/Fighting.
This type combination had extra resistance to both Water and Dark-type moves, and Fighting-type moves were super effective against Normal-types!
Breloom could counter all three main types Frogadier had previously shown it could change into.
This time, the advantage is mine!
The newcomer thought with full confidence.
However, after he stepped onto the field, the very next second, he saw Arthur calmly switch to a different Poké Ball, and then send out a Pokémon he had never seen before—
Mismagius!
Ah, this…
At this moment, the opponent's composure wavered slightly.
After all those calculations, was I just battling wits with thin air the whole time?!
"Why aren't you using Frogadier?"
"It fought two matches in a row, it should get some rest."
"Is this Mismagius also one of your main Pokémon? Aren't you a first-year too? In such a short time, you can actually train three main Pokémon?"
His meaning was actually to persuade Arthur not to try and fool him with a Pokémon just meant to make up numbers.
He said three because anyone who had seen the news knew Arthur also had a Honedge.
To this, Arthur just smiled lightly and even kindly reminded him.
"You don't need to worry about that. My Mismagius is also very strong. You'd better not be careless."
(End of Chapter)
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