NOVEL NEXT Chapter 328: Training Begins
Although Captain Leo managed to win the final tiebreaker match, just like the Blaze Team in the opening match, he couldn't create a significant point difference.
Leo won 6-5. According to the point-difference system, he only earned one point, which wasn't enough to overcome their previous deficit.
In the end, the Starlight and Frost team, with an overall score of 5-6, suffered a regrettable loss to the Sea Carp Team.
The match was a true roller coaster, with both sets of fans doing emotional sit-ups, really testing their hearts.
Unfortunately, in the end, the Starlight and Frost fans weren't the ones smiling.
The players, too, couldn't smile when they returned backstage.
Losing their first match was undoubtedly a heavy blow.
However, this was actually just the beginning.
Because of the Devon Cup's tight schedule, they had to play again the very next day.
This time, against this year's playoff champions, the Blaze Team, they also failed to secure a victory.
An 0-2 start to the tournament was truly agonizing.
After a two-day rest, on the fifth day of the competition, Arthur and his teammates finally got their first win.
But by now, their chances of advancing were looking grim.
In their group, the two titans—the Blaze Team and the restructured Otter Team—were on a winning streak, firmly establishing themselves in the top two positions.
The Blaze Team was last year's Champions Cup third-place finisher and this year's playoff champion. Their dominance over the past two years was plain for all to see!
Although their team culture was very free-spirited, their strength was no joke.
The rookie, Zhuge Feng, despite being a subject of controversy before his debut, had gradually proven himself with his performance on the field over the past five days.
The first impression he gave was that his Pokémon roster was unfathomably deep!
In four matches over five days, he had already used a total of seven different Pokémon!
The majority of these seven Pokémon were at the main singles level. The rest, although still at the professional level, all had unique specialties and performed exceptionally well in the arena!
To this day, no one had seen his limits, and no one knew if he had even more Pokémon.
Even the laughable news about him providing postpartum care for a Mamoswine had been debunked in a post-match interview—
It was because the nursery where the Mamoswine lived was owned by his own family. He was helping his family look after the nursery, and since they were short-staffed, he had to step in and provide care for the Pokémon himself.
He even smilingly shared his experiences in providing postpartum care for various common domestic Pokémon during the interview, seemingly unfazed by the previous ridicule.
A big heart, squinty eyes, and unfathomable depth—in a short time, this rookie had been labeled with these three tags, and he himself seemed completely unconcerned.
If the Blaze Team's dominance was relatively easy to understand, with people mostly just watching to see how the rookie adapted, then the Otter Team's powerful rise after their restructuring was truly unexpected!
During the transfer period, when the Otter Team's captain had first made his move and kicked four players, the online reaction was overwhelmingly negative.
Although the Otter Team's record had been poor for the past two years, most fans were still nostalgic. The reputations of the main players who were kicked were mixed, but together, they still had a large number of fans.
Even after the Otter Team had spent a fortune to sign an All-Star captain, the two newly promoted rookies in the main singles lineup (including a substitute) were still a cause for concern.
But the actual performance of this newly formed team was unexpected, stunning everyone!
The newly promoted main player, Luna, performed very stably, not at all as fragile as the haters had imagined. And the former Serenity captain, Serena, was now a reliable point-scorer!
In the doubles division, the strengthened rain-and-thunder combo had shored up its weaknesses and was even more dominant! And the other couple duo was so lucky it often made people want to call the police.
After a few days of competition, their current record was a perfect winning streak! They were even ahead of this year's champions, the Blaze Team!
The remaining Otter fans online were now chanting the slogan, "Galactic Battleship, take off!"
Under the domination of these two titans, the situation in Group A of the Devon Cup was gradually becoming clear.
Although Starlight and Frost's performance had started to improve in the latter half of the tournament, with two losses already accumulated, their prospects were now bleak.
On the sixth day of the competition, Arthur's team had a rest day, but after that day's matches, the writing was on the wall.
In Group A, the undefeated Otter Team and the Blaze Team, who had finished all four of their matches with a 3-1 record, had already secured their spots to advance!
Each group of five teams only had two spots to advance.
On the final day of the group stage, Starlight and Frost would face the Otter Team, but this match would no longer decide anything.
With a current record of one win and two losses, even if Starlight and Frost managed an upset and beat the Otter Team, their points wouldn't be enough to catch up to the second-place Blaze Team.
And as long as the Otter Team didn't lose to Starlight and Frost by more than six points, they would keep their top spot in the group.
The Otter Team's chances of winning were already over fifty percent, and losing by a six-point margin was almost impossible.
So, this match was almost meaningless…
In the end, the recovering Starlight and Frost team put up a good fight. On the final day of the competition, they managed an upset victory over the Otter Team, shattering the undefeated streak of this newly formed "Galactic Battleship"!
Unfortunately, this victory came too late. It could not save them from their fate of being eliminated in the group stage.
Regrettably, for Arthur and his new teammates, their journey in the Devon Cup preseason tournament came to an end in the first round.
As expected, the internet was filled with criticism, and quite a few people were mocking Arthur.
Fame brings trouble. Since he had switched to being a main singles player, while many people wished him well, there were also many who were just waiting to see him fail.
But after this match, the head coach, whose demeanor was comparable to that of a strict headmistress, was uncharacteristically calm. She didn't unleash her signature dragoness roar.
"Don't take it to heart. The preseason doesn't decide anything. Adjust your mentality and play well in the regular season next year!"
This sudden gentleness was even a bit unsettling.
However, Arthur didn't pay much attention to this.
He was an extremely self-disciplined person. He never needed anyone to supervise his training. On the contrary, he was usually the one roaring at others not to slack off.
And now, it was the same.
He might seem like a rookie, but quite a few people on the team already knew him.
Early one morning, as Arthur was just leaving the base dormitory, he was met by Justin and Kevin, who were already dressed and ready to go.
"Brother Arthur, morning run?" Justin asked with a grin.
This little brother had already figured out his habits.
He was now even more punctual for the daily morning run than Arthur, the one who had started it.
And Kevin, after hearing that Justin was getting private guidance from Arthur during the morning runs, had immediately abandoned the base instructors and joined the running team every day!
He had fought side-by-side with Arthur before. The two of them, plus a rented Dodrio, had gone on a rampage that night!
His trust in Arthur was far greater than his trust in the base instructors!
Getting guidance from Arthur was more reliable than from an instructor!
The thoughts of the boy from the Star Brilliance Alliance were just that simple.
And not long after, Bella also started tagging along.
She didn't join the morning run, but she came for the guidance!
So, when Ivy and Bianca came out of their dorms around 9 o'clock, they were surprised to find that over half of their doubles division players were training with Arthur.
Seeing this, they couldn't help but smile.
"Why do I feel like by buying you, we also bought an instructor?" Ivy teased Arthur.
Arthur shot her a look.
"Then are you going to pay me double?"
"Sure. Double the salary, but I'll also add two points of interest to your debt."
"..."
Arthur was defeated.
Your boss will always be your boss…
But this did pique Ivy's interest.
"By the way, do you really have some kind of secret training method?"
Arthur smiled deliberately. "Guess."
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you