NOVEL NEXT Chapter 323: Facing the Old Team
The second match, Sea Carp versus Starlight and Frost, was also a huge draw, as it featured many players who had switched team logos.
However, because these two teams had made a peaceful player exchange, unlike the Otter Team's forceful poaching of a Blaze player late in the transfer period, the hype and tension weren't quite as high as in the previous match.
Most fans were just wishing their former players well.
And at this point, many people were thinking the same thing.
"The only interesting part of this match will probably be the doubles."
But then—
The host dropped a bombshell right at the start.
"And now, let's welcome the players for the first round of singles! First up, from the Starlight and Frost team: Arthur!!"
In an instant, the stands erupted!
"What the hell?! Did I hear that right?!"
"Did Starlight and Frost sign another main player named Arthur? What a coincidence, same name as last year's Best Rookie."
The spectator who proposed this idea was immediately surrounded by people looking at him as if he were an idiot.
Arthur walked calmly onto the stage.
In a flash, the audience, who had just been thinking that the singles matches between these two teams would be boring, was wide awake.
It really is him!!
My heavens!
"How old is he? He just debuted last year, and he's already a main singles player?!"
And then, following the shock, came the doubt.
"Can he really do it?"
"If you take too big a step, you'll trip, won't you?!"
"Does he even have enough Pokémon?"
Just as the audience was trying to count Arthur's usable Pokémon and shaking their heads, the referee announced the start of the match, and Arthur immediately gave them another shock.
For the first round, he sent out Old Flame's daughter.
This immediately drew another wave of "what the hell" from the crowd.
"Is that—a new Pokémon?!"
"He has a new Pokémon already?"
"He didn't just grab a random one to make up the numbers, did he? This is the main singles stage, man! You can't just throw someone in!"
Just as some spectators were smacking their lips, thinking that the Charizard Arthur had sent out was unreliable, the whistle blew, and Arthur immediately commanded an attack!
"Use Heat Wave for propulsion!"
Using the Heat Wave move to blast backward for acceleration was a secret technique that Old Flame himself had developed back in the day. Other Charizard normally couldn't do it, but he hadn't held back in teaching his own daughter.
Therefore, Old Flame's daughter did not fall into the category of "normal Charizard."
With a beat of her wings, a searing ring of fire exploded behind her.
Old Flame's daughter shot forward at an astonishing speed, charging straight for the opposing Noivern!
This startled the main singles player from his old team, the Sea Carp.
And it gave the crowd of spectators in the stands an even bigger shock!
What the hell?!
This Charizard doesn't look like it's just here to make up the numbers.
It crossed the initial distance between the two Pokémon in an instant. This looks… pretty damn fierce?!
In that split second, only one question flashed through the Sea Carp player's mind—Isn't it true that, I mean, is it possible that Charizard normally don't have an acceleration move?
He had chosen to lead with Noivern after seeing Arthur because he had assumed Arthur's starter would be Greninja.
Among the mains Arthur had shown so far, Greninja was undoubtedly the most impressive!
Even a main singles player wouldn't want to challenge Arthur's glorious record in close combat unless absolutely necessary.
Why bother?
That's why he had chosen Noivern.
Noivern can fly, is fast, excels at long-range sound-based moves, and is resistant to Water-type attacks. It was undoubtedly one of the best choices to counter a close-range assassin like Greninja.
But against a Charizard, it wasn't quite as optimal.
Especially when the opposing Charizard was like a cheat code, with an initial acceleration that was even faster than his Noivern!
Old Flame's daughter closed the distance in a flash and, without any courtesy, swiped a claw at her opponent, viciously swatting it out of the air and onto the ground!
Although Noivern is a true dragon, with the Dragon type, both its appearance and habits are closer to that of a bat.
It has excellent night vision, can use ultrasound to locate things, and is very fast.
But its torso is slender, and a large portion of its head is taken up by its ears. It has no sharp claws, no powerful muscles, no gaping maw, and none of the ferocious power of a solitary monarch.
So, most Noivern are not good at physical combat.
After being slapped to the ground by Old Flame's daughter, it didn't even dare to try and take off again.
The Heat Wave shifted from backward propulsion to a downward blast!
In this moment, Old Flame's daughter was incredibly excited, roaring with wild abandon.
She was finally at the center of the stage! In this moment, she was the protagonist!
But just as she was getting high on the thrill, a sudden shout from Arthur snapped her back to reality.
"Retreat!! Now!"
And here, the results of her recent surprise training became evident.
If this had been right after she had left the Charicific Valley, Old Flame's daughter would have been in a battle frenzy, and not even ten Tauros could have pulled her back. She wouldn't have rested until she had roasted that Noivern to a crisp.
But things were different now.
After this period of intensive training, especially after Arthur had personally stepped in for some "friendly and cordial" education, Old Flame's daughter now had a conditioned reflex to Arthur's voice.
Even though her mind was still thinking, to hell with it, I'm still hyped, her body had already honestly followed the command to retreat, and with exceptional decisiveness.
This was all thanks to the muscle memory formed from being repeatedly beaten… ahem, being reformed by love.
During her training, the little delinquent had even thrown a tantrum: My dad never hit me like this!
To which Arthur's educational response was very benevolent: Your dad was beaten by me just like this back in the day.
And so, the little delinquent had no rebuttal…
And today, that swift, decisive conditioned reflex had just saved her.
"BOOM!"
A terrifying pillar of energy shot into the sky!
Noivern had just used Hyper Beam!
The king of ultimate moves, with a normal cooldown of at least twenty seconds, its power second only to self-destruct moves!
The absolute pinnacle of beam-type attacks!
One of the most terrifying direct attack moves!
The Normal-type move: Hyper Beam!
This was one of the most significant differences between the main singles and doubles arenas: an ultimate move might be a strategic weapon in doubles, but in a main singles duel, it's just a conventional weapon!
Almost every main-singles-level Pokémon has one or two ultimate moves. It's nothing special.
In that moment, the commentators and the live audience erupted once again!
And after the eruption, the main player from his old team was also decisive—a red beam of light immediately recalled the Noivern.
He had commanded it to use its ultimate, then immediately exercised his right to switch Pokémon mid-battle, perfectly avoiding the crippling cooldown period.
A very seasoned use of the arena rules.
It was a good thing Arthur had read his opponent's intentions and ordered Old Flame's daughter to retreat in advance. Otherwise, taking a Hyper Beam to the face—the thought alone made Old Flame's daughter shudder.
And at this moment, she was really starting to get angry
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