NOVEL NEXT Chapter 361: Mood Music
Many professional players who debuted in the same year as Arthur have had the same feeling—it's as if we're not playing the same game!
Last year, while most first-year rookies were still warming the bench, Arthur was not only a permanent starter but was also cutting down gods and buddhas alike, defeating countless famous veteran duos!
At that time, the rookies would sit on the bench in the lounge, watching Arthur dominate the arena, their hearts filled with the depressive thought of, as a fellow human, I'm truly sorry.
This year, that depression had finally become contagious!
Now, it wasn't just the rookies. Even a veteran like Chen Lin, who had made a name for himself in the doubles division and had successfully transitioned to the main singles stage, couldn't help but shed a tear in the middle of the night.
Seeing you again, from a heart full of pride to a body full of scars…
Once, we were so close, and now you've left me so far behind…
When I endured endless loneliness to climb to the main singles stage, you were still so far away I couldn't even see your back…
At this moment, Chen Lin's loneliness was so vast, he could feel the tears welling up…
There was a time when he and his partner could trade blows with Arthur. Back then, his Charizard could even suppress Asher's Braviary and gain the upper hand in that doubles match.
But now, he had only seen the first of Arthur's two Charizard, and he was already struggling to hold on.
Ah, what a painful realization!
After being stunned by the flinch, Chen Lin's Charizard continued to be brutally beaten by Lina.
And at this moment, Chen Lin didn't dare to rashly switch Pokémon.
This Charizard was already his ace. And on the other side, Lina wasn't even in the first tier of Arthur's team.
If he used his mid-battle switch now, he would only collapse completely later on.
This is so hard to handle!
After being brutally beaten until the stun wore off, Chen Lin's Charizard quickly retreated to create distance.
"Use Sunny Day!" Chen Lin then commanded.
Lina's Dragon Rush could be considered an ultimate move, and its cooldown was quite long. For a while, he didn't have to worry about the opponent's "Heat Wave" acceleration. So, Chen Lin decisively had his Pokémon use its signature pseudo-weather move.
His Charizard was very skilled with Sunny Day. It had been since his doubles days.
Back then, the Jinchan Team had planned to use this to limit Arthur's Greninja.
Under Sunny Day, the power of Water-type moves is weakened.
But that plan had been thwarted when Arthur had unexpectedly brought out his Mismagius. It was from that moment that his reputation as an "Intelligence Black Hole" had begun to spread.
A scorching light source rose into the sky!
A white, aura-like flame immediately ignited on Chen Lin's Charizard!
This was the effect of his Charizard's ability: Solar Power!
Chen Lin's Charizard didn't have the Blaze ability, but the relatively rare Solar Power. Its effect is to activate the energy within its body when exposed to intense sunlight, greatly increasing its special attack!
But this ability also has a side effect: the extremely active energy damages the user, causing the Pokémon to constantly endure a burning pain.
This was why he hadn't had his Charizard rashly use Sunny Day at the start.
Abilities are passive skills and generally cannot be turned on or off at will. Once Sunny Day is up, the ability's side effect is constant.
So, he didn't want to activate this state until the final showdown.
Originally, he had thought that his ace Charizard could at least suppress Lina for a while at the start—at full health, Lina's Blaze ability was effectively a blank.
After all, he had thought, Arthur has two Charizard. If I can't beat the older one, surely I can beat the younger one?
But reality was harsh.
Lina had told him: You really can't!
Forced into a corner, Chen Lin had no choice but to activate his final battle mode early!
Otherwise, he'd really be going home to listen to some mood music…
With its energy now active, the power of Chen Lin's Charizard's moves would all be increased!
In reality, all of a Pokémon's moves contain energy. There is no absolute distinction between physical and special. The only difference is that some moves have a larger physical component in their damage, while others have a larger energy component.
After Solar Power increased its energy intensity, even the power of Rock Slide would be enhanced, though the benefit wouldn't be as great as for beam-type moves.
"Go, Charizard!"
The sun was out, the fire was lit. Chen Lin felt he was back in the game!
But his situation did not improve immediately.
"Lina, attack!"
Arthur seized the cooldown period after the opponent used Sunny Day and continued to have Lina press her advantage!
A few seconds later, he changed his command: "Finish with a tail whip, then fall back! Create distance!"
The initiative on the field was always in his hands. Although the power of Chen Lin's Charizard's moves had increased, it still couldn't turn the tables. It was always in a passive position.
This was due to the gap in their basic combat skills!
When neither had any moves available, Chen Lin's Charizard was completely dominated by Lina. It could only briefly deter Arthur at the end of each cooldown period, and it couldn't use its moves to quickly end the match.
Lina was very durable. This was something she had trained for many years in the valley…
In this kind of evenly matched, drawn-out battle, basic skills, combat intuition, and the ability to apply pressure—things outside of moves and abilities—become even more important!
In a battle that's decided in one or two moves, basic attacks naturally seem unimportant. But in a stalemate, the clash and pressure of skill-less combat become crucial.
But in this area, the guidance and help that the instructors at the major professional clubs could provide was extremely limited.
Because the improvement of these basic qualities is a long-term process, requiring constant training and tempering. It's not something you can see results from in just a few days or a couple of weeks.
But the club's instructors are not nannies. They don't follow a single Pokémon around all the time. They specialize. Usually, each instructor is only responsible for teaching a Pokémon for a certain period of time.
For example, this month, this instructor is responsible for teaching a Charizard Thunder Punch. Next month, another instructor is responsible for its strength training.
In this situation, the teachings that can show visible results—such as learning new skills, increasing stats like strength and speed, and the degree of ability development—are better able to reflect the instructors' work.
Simply put, it's easier to complete their performance reviews, easier to meet their KPIs.
The club's instructors are not the trainers themselves, after all. They don't have to be fully responsible for the Pokémon they teach. As long as they complete their performance tasks and produce visible results within the specified time, that's enough.
And skill is precisely the one thing that is the hardest to visualize.
So, the instructors at the various teams basically don't teach this stuff.
And the biggest difference between Chen Lin and Arthur was this—the former mostly just delegated his Pokémon to the base's instructors, while the latter insisted on personally leading his Pokémon in basic skills training every day, rain or shine, never missing a session
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