Chapter 174: Craving a Worthy Opponent
By this point in the duel, Breloom, the entire mushroom, was just numb.
The poisoning from its Effect Spore ability and the Leech Seed on its body tormented it, making its body increasingly weak.
In contrast, Mismagius remained energetic.
After the second wave of energy powder from "Leech Seed" drifted over, the marks from being hit by "Seed Bomb" on her body also began to gradually fade.
Breloom's flurry of operations had been as fierce as a tiger, but the result was self-inflicted damage like a complete fool…
It truly couldn't hold it together anymore.
Afterward, Mismagius retreated, giving no further opportunities.
The opponent still wanted to struggle. "Breloom, use Bullet Seed!"
This time, the opponent used a skill with a longer range to avoid being affected by Effect Spore again.
The result—
"Mismagius, use Protect."
Pokémon's strongest defensive skill: Protect!
Apart from its short duration, only being able to defend against burst damage, and a tendency to fail if used consecutively, this move could defend against almost anything!
The seeds, shooting like machine-gun bullets, struck the eggshell-shaped energy shield, only managing to create futile ripples.
Afterward, Breloom remained poisoned, and the roots of the Leech Seed dug even deeper…
After several more minutes of entanglement, Breloom still couldn't find an opening in Mismagius's defense and was instead the first to collapse from exhaustion.
A staff member at the side immediately raised a flag, ruling Breloom defeated.
The first-year student opposite Arthur had nothing more to say; this torture was finally over.
During the brief post-match handshake, he gritted his teeth, still appearing rather unconvinced.
Arthur just didn't have the heart to tell him that he had no hope in this match from the start.
Mismagius's basic stats were actually far superior to Breloom's; she merely lacked offensive moves.
Even if Arthur's commands had been terribly unskilled, Mismagius could probably have withstood three or four of Breloom's "Seed Bombs" without major issues.
Ironically, because Arthur's commands in this match were so on point, never letting Mismagius suffer a disadvantage in skill exchanges, it actually prevented this new peer from seeing the true gap between them…
This new student didn't yet know that sometimes, being utterly dominated could also be a form of happiness…
With this match concluded, Arthur's winning streak had accumulated to three, and all three matches had ended quickly.
Thus, in the matching system's algorithm, he was now considered significantly ahead of his current rank, so the ranking jump for his subsequent challenges also began to increase!
By the end of the morning, Arthur had won seven consecutive matches, practically sweeping through the first-years of his cohort!
In the latter half of the afternoon's matches, he began to be matched against senior students in the youth training camp.
The duration of the matches started to increase, but the results remained unchanged.
By late that afternoon, most trainees had already recognized their own strength and were no longer fixated on their ranks.
The overall number of challenge matches was decreasing, yet only Arthur's rank continued to rise!
Everyone was watching the screen as that rank nudged forward every ten or twenty minutes, with a consistency that was infuriating to behold!
At this point, no one laughed anymore at the pre-tournament pipe dream of climbing from last place to the top six.
Because he might actually be about to do it!
By the end of the first day of ranking matches, Arthur had fought his way to 13th place.
He was the only first-year student in the youth training camp's top forty.
Looking further down, the next first-year was Flora, who this time had surpassed Justin and reclaimed the top spot among first-years, excluding Arthur.
Her overall rank in the youth training camp was merely 46th.
It seemed like a mid-table position, but in reality, more than half of the entire youth training camp consisted of first-years. Flora had actually surpassed only a handful of seniors.
After all, there were no more preferential policies after the first year of the youth training camp.
Trainees like Arthur, Galen, and Justin, who had previously obtained placements through amateur league achievements like the Golden Autumn Cup and entered with preferential policies, would often withdraw themselves the following year if their first-year results were poor, rather than continuing to struggle for another year.
The middle-aged man Arthur had encountered at the Golden Autumn Cup, who constantly worked part-time jobs to save money and repeatedly entered and left the youth training camp, was ultimately a rarity…
Those who could continuously stay in the youth training camp beyond the second year either had some ability or possessed the "power of money."
However, none of this could stop Arthur's advance.
By the next day, after two more duels, Arthur finally obtained the qualification to challenge the top six in the youth training camp.
After more than a day of ranking matches, the internal order of these six individuals had slightly adjusted, but the faces remained unchanged.
This was enough to show their dominant position in this base.
Yet, at this moment, facing the gaze of a mere first-year student, none of the six felt at ease.
At this time, no one wanted to speak up, as that would make them seem unconfident and cowardly.
But in truth, everyone hoped Arthur would pick someone else!
The first and sixth-ranked individuals were especially panicked.
It was human nature to pick the sixth-ranked; anyway, all top six had the right to choose their own teammates and didn't have to accept club arrangements.
As for picking the first-ranked…
Others might not dare, but this unorthodox first-year in front of them might very well do it!
However, just as the six waited in nervous apprehension, Arthur chose—
The person currently ranked fourth.
This third-year youth looked completely bewildered, his face screaming, "Why me? What did I do to you?"
His friend from the same cohort comforted him, "It's alright, he's just a first-year."
The youth turned and looked resentfully at his friend. "Then why don't you go up for me? Your rank is still ahead of mine. How about we discuss it with him?"
That good friend immediately performed a "friendship ending at the speed of light" maneuver.
"No thanks, you should go yourself. Goodbye."
The youth ranked fourth instantly shot up two middle fingers to express his "gratitude."
It was strange; despite facing only a first-year, every high-ranking trainee felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
This was probably the first time such a strange sight had occurred since the founding of the Sea Carp Club's youth training camp.
Both sides entered the field.
This time, the opponent, the youth, sent out his Pokémon: Gallade!
And on Arthur's side, Frogadier was still the one to take the field.
Arthur hadn't chosen this opponent randomly.
His actual purpose was to find suitable training partners for his Pokémon.
This was also his objective for fighting so actively in the ranking matches these past two days.
As previously stated, the true results of the graduation tournament depended on the 2v2 Double Battles starting tomorrow. His forceful push for rank at this time was partly to secure the initiative in choosing a teammate, but more importantly, it was to train his Pokémon.
Mismagius had just started following him, and they needed to work on command, coordination, and various other aspects.
Frogadier's restless nature meant it was always craving duels!
Fame, though good, had never been Arthur's primary pursuit.
So, he hadn't chosen to challenge the first-ranked player, which probably disappointed many.
What he truly craved were worthy opponents!
Therefore, before entering the field, he instructed Frogadier, "This match, hone your techniques well!"
(End of Chapter)
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