Chapter 614: The Treatment He Deserves
"Using Soak to change types, then bringing out a Grass-type ace. This opponent is trying really hard."
In the Kubfu players' rest area, everyone was commenting on the Hornet Team's elaborate strategy.
Until someone from the Metro Team asked honestly.
"Aren't you guys worried about Arthur losing?"
In his view, the Hornet captain's sequence of moves was quite ingenious and imaginative, finding even a niche move like Soak.
As fellow Kubfu people, shouldn't they worry about Arthur's situation?
If he lost, it would be a huge blow to his reputation!
However, to his surprise, everyone turned to look at him with strange expressions.
"Uh, did I say something wrong?"
The first to reply was Serena from the Otter Team, who was also a candidate for the Captain's Match.
"You didn't follow the Ashen Desert event, did you?"
"Uh, not really. So?"
"So you need to change your perspective on Arthur. In the past league, because it was his first year as a main player, everyone subconsciously treated him as a rookie challenging his seniors. But things are different now."
"What's different?"
Serena spread her hands.
"Now he's the BOSS accepting challenges."
As someone who had personally been to the Ashen Desert, stayed in Tyranitar's territory for over ten days, and witnessed Arthur accepting no less than ten consecutive challenges a day, Serena was certain of one thing—
Arthur was far beyond the category of "rookie" now!
It's normal to worry when a rookie is targeted.
But when a BIG BOSS is targeted, people don't react much—because isn't that supposed to happen?
You're already the dragon guarding the final stage. Is it reasonable to expect the heroes coming to challenge you to make no preparations?
Obviously not.
So that was why everyone was indifferent to Arthur's current situation.
Was the Hornet captain's design ingenious? Yes, very ingenious. But in everyone's eyes, it was expected.
If he didn't have this level of intelligence, he wouldn't deserve to stand on this stage. This was the Champions Cup stage, after all!
Only that Metro Team member who hadn't paid much attention to the Ashen Desert event was still dazed.
He still subconsciously treated Arthur as an eighteen-year-old competitive newcomer.
Little did he know that this newcomer had already grown into the biggest face of Kubfu!
Any trainer who had experienced or followed the Ashen Desert event was deeply impressed by him.
A flagship figure, well-deserved!
So no one was worried about Arthur right now.
Because they knew this was the treatment a final boss deserved.
Including the Hornet Team captain himself, who knew this clearly. Even though the tactic was executed successfully, his expression remained focused, not daring to be careless!
"Simisage, use Solar Beam!"
"Solar Beam" is the same move, just called differently in some places.
At this moment, Simisage borrowed Lina's sun, skipping the charge for this move, and unleashed an ultimate move right at her face!
Having finally succeeded with his tactic, he fought very aggressively, striving to achieve success in one fell swoop!
Including the item he gave Simisage for this match, Miracle Seed, which boosted Grass-type moves, completely disregarding defensive items.
It was an all-in style, determined to give Arthur a head-on blow!
But Arthur had anticipated his opening with an ultimate move and ordered a step faster than his opponent.
"Heat Wave to accelerate, dodge to the right!"
Even though her type was changed to Water, Lina could still use the Fire-type moves she knew, but the power would inevitably be discounted, and it felt awkward to use.
Wet all over, unable to dry off, it was unbearable!
Fortunately, Arthur quickly helped her shift her attention.
"Keep charging, attack proactively!"
The Hornet captain raised an eyebrow, surprised that the opponent dared to attack proactively in this situation.
So reckless?
Many spectators also questioned, "At this time, Charizard's move power is at its lowest point, and he still dares to fight so aggressively?"
The Hornet captain helplessly chickened out first. "Simisage, fall back!"
"Lina, Sand Attack!"
This Sand Attack command didn't refer to the move, but literally throwing sand.
One half of the Random Field for this match was a Sand Field.
Lina used the momentum of her dive to slap the sand hard with her tail, sweeping up a large amount of sand at Simisage.
Afraid of getting sand in its eyes, Simisage hurriedly retreated and raised its hands to cover its face.
At this time, Lina fully understood Arthur's intention. Taking this opportunity, she retreated a few steps instead, creating some distance first.
Offense also required rhythm.
Sure enough, once the cooldown passed, Arthur's command followed immediately—
"Use Belly Drum!"
As soon as this command was given, the stands erupted in exclamations.
"Holy crap?! This..."
The audience was stunned.
Just now, someone questioned that Lina's power was at its lowest point, and Arthur immediately ordered a change!
An incredibly radical change!
Self-harm move—Belly Drum!
By severely injuring oneself, instantly maximizing Attack power!
This move dealt massive damage to the user, and the buff duration was much shorter than normal chanting buff moves.
It was generally a one-shot move used in desperate situations.
Unexpectedly, Arthur used it directly as a conventional offensive method.
"Too risky, isn't it? Is this necessary?"
The audience was still scratching their heads and questioning.
But the professional players' eyes lit up.
At this moment, even the Nine-Tailed Fox Team, who disliked Arthur the most, couldn't help but express admiration.
"So decisive! He didn't hesitate at all! This insight into the situation is truly terrifying."
"Kubfu's miracle man this year is indeed not simple."
Among the Kubfu commentators, one junior commentator didn't understand for a moment and voiced the same doubts as the audience.
"Player Arthur made a very risky move. Is this too rash? Belly Drum damages the Pokémon greatly, which might put his Charizard in a more dangerous situation."
But the more experienced Director beside him instantly understood Arthur's judgment.
"No, this isn't rash! On the contrary, this decision is decisive and beautiful!
"Because the duration of Soak is limited! To seize this golden output time before Charizard's type is restored, the opponent will likely choose to have Simisage only attack and not defend! Desperately grabbing output!
"At this time, blindly dodging will only hand over the initiative on the field!
"Arthur's counter is very decisive!
"Fight fire with fire!
"After Belly Drum, Charizard seems severely injured, but it gives the opponent many more scruples!
"Next move, does Simisage dare to continue using Solar Beam without defending?"
As the Director said, Lina immediately started a strong offense after Belly Drum!
And this time, it was the opposing Simisage who was tied up.
After Belly Drum, Lina's attack power instantly rose to a terrifying level!
Normally, at this time, one should consider defensive stalling.
The duration of the Belly Drum strength boost is very short. Stall it out, and the opponent essentially hurts themselves greatly for little gain.
This is the most common solution to Belly Drum, common sense written in competitive textbooks.
But the problem was—the effect of Soak wasn't long either!
Fight a fully buffed Water-type Lina?
Or fight an unbuffed Fire-type Lina?
The two options now facing the Hornet captain were full of malice...
He couldn't sleep either way. After thinking carefully for a long time, he could only see one word written between the lines—
Lose!
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