Chapter 93: Training Camp Ranking Tournament
Although in daily life, Arthur's care for his own Pokémon could be described as meticulous and devoted, once training time began, he could instantly transform into an emotionless, cold-faced tyrant.
"Don't just stare straight ahead!! In a real battle, you should learn to perceive the whole situation!"
"Change direction! Didn't I just teach you?! Make more changes in direction while sliding!! If you always move in a straight line, your intentions will be seen through by the opponent in an instant!"
"Observe!! I said observe!! Why did you make two meaningless attacks on a clone that had clearly already been exposed?"
Arthur's voice constantly echoed around Little Lapras's ears.
It wasn't some kind of stereo sound effect; it was because Arthur was also running alongside them on the ice surface.
When training his Pokémon, he would never lie comfortably under a parasol sipping tea while letting his Pokémon exhaust themselves alone.
He was always personally involved.
"Change direction, head that way! You clearly tested out that this one over here was a clone just now!"
While speaking, Arthur turned and executed a swift, powerful spinning kick, cleanly and crisply causing the Frogadier shadow clone to explode.
This couldn't help but make the real Frogadier, currently mixed in among the clones, shiver involuntarily.
Although he had no doubt that his master's sharp eyes were absolutely sufficient to easily identify his real body at first glance, seeing this scene still made him feel afraid nonetheless.
What if, by some chance, Master misjudged?
If I got caught off guard by that kick, wouldn't I faint on the spot?
Master in training mode... is terrifying like this!
However, despite enduring such terrifying pressure, Little Lapras persisted through the entire training session without a single word of complaint.
From initially being easily pinned down whenever Frogadier slightly closed in on her, she progressed to being able to flexibly skate around the field executing various unpredictable 'snake-skin' movements, spitting water while sliding, quickly identifying the real body, and then breaking the clones one by one.
The growth in Little Lapras's battle awareness was visible to the naked eye.
With such high-intensity training, even Frogadier, acting as the training partner, was thoroughly exhausted. Yet, Little Lapras once again gritted her teeth and persevered.
Sometimes, Frogadier would ask her how she managed it.
Her reply was invariably a stubborn question directed at Arthur: "Did my grandmother train these things before too?"
As long as Arthur answered "Yes," she would insist on continuing, no matter what.
Such perseverance left even Justin, who occasionally came to observe, feeling astonished.
He asked Arthur more than once, "Where did you pick up this Lapras? This way of training is just too reckless, isn't it? Aren't you afraid she'll rebel?"
Even though his Pidgeotto had grown alongside him for nearly ten years, he currently wouldn't dare impose such a heavy training load on Pidgeotto; otherwise, he'd definitely be pecked full of bumps on his head the next day.
For a moment, he found it hard to believe this was a new Pokémon Arthur had just captured.
Bro Arthur's miraculous and incomprehensible nature was once again emphasized heavily in his mind.
However, while Justin was sighing with admiration and envy, having no doubt that Arthur's Little Lapras would definitely amaze the world and shine brilliantly in the future...
On the other side, among the other trainees in the camp, gossip was certainly not absent.
Part of the reason was that Arthur had been renting various training grounds somewhat too frequently lately. The base's space was limited, and he occasionally occupied time slots others had planned to use.
As for the larger reason, it was likely due to jealousy.
After all, not long ago, Arthur was clearly from the same commoner class as them: living in the training camp dorms; tightly budgeting each day to only attend two hours of free courses; unable to afford renting any professional grounds that required payment; occasionally needing to consider part-time work to earn some money and recover financially.
And now, Arthur went out on one trip and returned as an internet celebrity. From then on, he moved out to live in a single apartment, attended six hours of courses daily without break, and rented various paid grounds and facilities without batting an eye.
In an instant, it seemed as though a lamentable barrier had been erected between them.
If Arthur, from the very beginning, had been in a different class from them like Flora, perhaps these people's mentality wouldn't be this way. But sometimes, watching someone from your own circle suddenly skyrocket to success is far more uncomfortable than seeing someone already successful appear before you.
Thus, gradually, various bits of idle talk and rumors began to float around.
"I really don't know what that guy is thinking. He clearly already has a Frogadier, so why choose a Water-type Lapras as his second Pokémon? Does he even know how to build a team? With that kind of understanding, he still expects to become a professional trainer?"
"Yeah, and his first Pokémon clearly has good potential. Why insist on picking another one of the same type? Did he choose Lapras because it doesn't need to evolve and can become battle-ready quickly? If so, why didn't he just pick an adult one? Couldn't be that he's afraid he can't subdue an adult Lapras, right? Haha!"
"No way? There's someone who can't even subdue the gentlest Lapras?"
"Well, that's hard to say~"
Occasionally, Justin, unable to stand it, would argue with them.
"What do you guys understand? Bro Arthur definitely had his reasons for catching that Lapras! You think it's as utilitarian as you imagine? He doesn't lack any 'quick battle power'!"
However, this would typically only result in him receiving more ridicule.
"Utilitarian? Give me a break! You're already aiming for pro, yet you have no professional planning? Do you think you're still playing house in the amateur circle? If you lose a match, are you going to cry while consoling your little baby Pokémon not to cry?"
Unfortunately, Justin's skills in the domain of arguing were truly lacking; each time sarcastic remarks were directed at him, he'd end up half-dead with anger.
He told Arthur about these incidents, but Arthur just smiled.
"It doesn't matter. Let them say what they want. I'm not raising my Pokémon to prove anything to them anyway. By the way, the profit share from the program team should be coming soon. I'll transfer your portion to you later."
Justin waved his hands repeatedly.
"No need, Bro Arthur! You keep the money, I don't want it! Just give me some more guidance, that would be great. I heard the training camp's ranking tournament is starting again soon, and I'm still counting on Pidgeotto to rush into the top ranks this time!"
The youth training camp holds a round of ranking tournaments every six months.
First, trainees are ranked within their own intake batch.
Afterward, the top five trainees from each batch compete in another round to determine the overall top ten ranking within the entire training camp.
This ranking is quite crucial.
Because the graduation standard for the club's youth training camp has never been that fixed; it's difficult to set a hard line for uniform assessment.
Generally speaking, once a trainee makes it into the top ten ranking of the training camp, they are considered, in essence, already listed for potential transfer.
Once the club's main professional team needs new members, or if other professional teams take an interest in you and are willing to pay a transfer fee to sign you, it signifies your graduation from the youth training camp.
Following that, you will officially begin competing on the professional circuit.
However, if you can't even break into the top ten in the training camp ranking tournaments, then you simply won't have the opportunity to appear within the sights of those professional team managers. When scouting for new talent, they fundamentally won't cast their gaze upon trainees ranked outside the training camp's top ten.
Therefore, once enrolled in the youth training camp, there isn't a single person who doesn't care about the ranking in the bi-annual tournaments.
Previously, when they had just entered the camp, the ranking tournament held then didn't carry particularly significant weight; at most, it was considered an initial assessment.
But now, half a year had passed.
The competition among the trainees of their batch was finally about to begin!
(End of Chapter)
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