NOVEL NEXT Chapter 297: The Playoffs
The "underdog challenge" segment of the All-Star Weekend continued until past eight o'clock that night.
From five in the afternoon until eight at night, for over three hours, nearly ten doubles players stepped up to challenge the higher-ranked main singles players and captains.
Unfortunately, this year, as was often the case, there were no major upsets.
Successfully pulling off an underdog victory at the All-Star Weekend is incredibly difficult. After all, the main singles players who make it to this stage are already among the best of the best. Even if the challengers have the skill to compete at the main singles level, expecting them to defeat the All-Stars among them is still a tall order.
But there was no other choice. Besides the All-Stars, the other professional players were all at their respective team bases. Even if you wanted to challenge them, the opportunity wasn't there.
The underdog rising has always been a crowd-pleaser.
But since the inception of the All-Star Weekend, the number of players who have actually achieved this feat can be counted on one hand.
The most recent instance was four years ago.
Given that there were no major upsets this year, Luna's performance was exceptionally brilliant.
Throughout the entire event, only two challengers managed to push their senior opponents to a final, decisive round. And the other player was clearly running on fumes by the time they got there. The difference between that and Luna's narrow, one-move defeat was obvious.
Afterward, another player even indirectly boosted her prestige.
Following Luna's match, someone else also challenged the Banyan Team's Clayton, perhaps thinking they saw an opening after watching Luna's performance.
The result was a brutal beatdown. They were mercilessly crushed by Clayton's Metagross, which had only received hasty treatment and had not yet fully recovered…
With this, Clayton successfully redeemed himself, saving his face as a senior, and in doing so, further highlighted Luna's already outstanding performance.
The only one left hurting was the challenger who came after her, who was last seen huddled in a corner, drawing circles on the ground…
A world where only one person gets hurt was achieved.
"Luna, I have a feeling you're a lock for a main singles spot next year~"
On the way back after the event, Bella was happily bouncing along.
Luna, having just retrieved her Pokémon from the treatment center, had rejoined the group.
"I hope so."
Although she wasn't as bubbly as Bella, you could still see a hint of joy in her expression.
Despite the regret of not securing the final victory, she was generally satisfied with her performance today.
This undoubtedly gave her more confidence for her transition next season.
And Arthur, who had also closely observed three hours of 6-on-3 singles battles, felt his own confidence in his future plans grow.
Next season might indeed have a lot of room for maneuvering.
But for now, all of that still seemed a bit distant.
After the All-Star Weekend, everyone returned to the team to train and prepare.
A series of truly tough battles awaited them—the playoffs!
The double-elimination main tournament to decide this year's professional league champion!
Mentally, Arthur naturally took the playoffs seriously. He didn't skimp on any training, pre-match preparations, intelligence analysis, or tactical discussions. But deep down, he wasn't very hopeful about the Sea Carp Team's prospects.
The team's overall strength, especially in the main singles department, was just too lacking.
Once they got to the playoffs and everyone brought out their hidden trump cards, the doubles players alone couldn't carry the entire team.
And the facts proved him right—
A few days later, in the first round of the loser's bracket, the Sea Carp Team started by losing the singles segment 2-6…
Although they won one match, they were shut out in the other two, ultimately losing by a total of six points.
Even though Arthur and the other three doubles players fought with all their might to tie the score and force a captain's tiebreaker, in the final showdown, the Metro Team's captain, Roman, delivered a stable performance, decisively defeating the Sea Carp Team with a commanding 6-2 score.
And so, the Sea Carp Team achieved its eleventh first-round playoff exit since the team's founding…
This was a huge disappointment for the fans who had just been celebrating Arthur's Best Rookie award during the regular season. Overnight, the team's fan page was flamed so hard it trended on social media.
Throughout this, Arthur's emotions remained stable, and his mentality was fine.
Because he had never held out any hope, he was not disappointed.
The moment the first-round exit was confirmed, he immediately asked the club for a leave of absence, packed his bags, and hit the road.
As a result, the next day, when the analysis team wanted to hold a review session, they found that one of their starting players was missing.
"Where's Arthur?!"
The analyst, who was just about to start his PowerPoint presentation, froze on the stage.
The head coach waved his hand. "He said something urgent came up. He asked me for leave last night and has already left."
To be honest, the analyst was a little annoyed.
What could be so urgent that he couldn't even wait half a day? He couldn't even stay for the standard, unmissable post-match review session the morning after a game?
But after being humbled throughout the regular season, these analysts no longer dared to speak ill of Arthur so casually.
A few months ago, they had only seen him as a naive newcomer. But now, he was an All-Star and the Best Rookie! He was the team's most popular player, with the most impressive record, the one carrying the team!
"Sigh, well, if he's not here, he's not here. Let's start our review. Arthur's… his performance in that match didn't have much to critique anyway."
The analyst reluctantly moved on from the topic.
Privately, Bella also asked, "What private matter did that little rascal run off to handle?"
But Luna, Asher, and Elijah all shook their heads. None of them knew.
This result made Bella pout unhappily.
"Tch, what a secretive little brat, acting all grown up."
As for where Arthur had gone?
He had, of course, set off to find the whereabouts of his former companion!
Just before the playoffs began, the league merits from his Best Rookie award had been distributed.
To be honest, if it weren't for a sense of respect and professionalism for his role as a player, he might have even been tempted to skip work and leave then and there.
In that sense, the Sea Carp Team's first-round playoff exit was actually a good thing for Arthur, as it meant he didn't have to wait too long.
Of course, he hadn't deliberately wished for his team to lose. The matches he played in the playoffs, he had won beautifully. The Sea Carp Team's own shortcomings had nothing to do with him.
Now, he was already sitting on a high-speed train.
"Destination: the Charicific Valley in the Kubfu Alliance!"
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