Chapter 284: As Expected of You
A certain red-eyed berserker from a video game once said: dual-wielding is the best.
Ah, no, that's not it. It's: dual-wielding is pure joy!
With two broadswords at its command, Doublade's offense became a relentless, overwhelming tide that crashed down upon Scizor!
One sword would slash horizontally while the other slashed upwards, followed by a downward chop and a piercing thrust, all coordinated with perfect, seamless harmony.
Because they were, in fact, one entity~
With Indeedee's bleating cheers as a soundtrack, the person moved with the swords. The combined assault forced Scizor back step by step.
The opponent's occasional counterattacks couldn't break through the dual-blade blockade.
Instead, Rotom's electric armor was on the verge of being hacked to pieces by Doublade.
The idea of fusing with a partner using electric armor was a good one, but unfortunately, the fan's Rotom had too shallow a move pool.
If it had moves like Hyper Voice or Electroweb, the armor's support capabilities would have been on another level.
If it had Dark Pulse, it could have unleashed a circular energy burst and broken Doublade's combo.
But alas, it had none of those.
So, while a tech-savvy fan might be able to save the world, competitive Pokémon battling ultimately comes down to the strength of the Pokémon themselves.
A creative idea might earn you applause, but it can't win you the match.
"Doublade, Fury Cutter!"
Having gained the advantage, Arthur pressed on, showing no mercy!
He immediately unleashed its signature move, Fury Cutter!
With two swords, Fury Cutter was executed even faster, and the damage multiplier naturally stacked up more quickly!
Scizor managed to block the three slashes of the first volley, even returning a Metal Claw after the move ended.
But three seconds later, before the damage multiplier had worn off, Arthur commanded again, "Again! Fury Cutter!"
With all three slashes of the first volley landing, the damage of the second volley would be nearly doubled!
"CLANG!"
"CLANG!"
"CLANG!"
Another three powerful and swift strikes. By now, Scizor could feel its pincers going numb.
The professional player, for the first time, turned to the fan for help.
"A little help here!"
The fan hastily commanded: "Rotom, Astonish!"
But it had minimal effect.
Indeedee was certainly scared and started bleating wildly, but Doublade's two tassels were wrapped firmly around its arms. Even if it was frozen stiff with fear, it would just be dragged along to continue the dance.
As for Doublade?
Having followed Arthur to slay Gyarados, wade through a hail of bullets, and cut down Pokémon, thugs, and poachers—would a sword that had truly tasted blood be frightened by a sheltered child's scare tactics?
At this moment, Doublade even felt like sending Rotom a mental message: You know nothing of fear!
They simply couldn't stop the dual-blade assault!
Three seconds later, Arthur's same command came again, like a death knell.
"Continue! Fury Cutter!"
This time, before the move was even complete, Scizor fell to its knees after the very first strike.
Seeing this, the opposing pro player gave up.
"We forfeit."
This was just an exhibition match, after all. There was no need to tough it out until the very end.
There's no surrender in professional competition, but surely you can't stop me from tapping out in a fun match?
The fan beside him instantly followed suit.
"I forfeit too!"
With that, the referee raised his flag.
"Scizor and Rotom have lost their will to battle!"
The entire stadium erupted in thunderous applause.
Although the audience didn't get to see a legend fall, this comeback story was still thrilling enough to get their blood pumping and leave them wanting more.
Evolving mid-battle and then dominating the field—Doublade's story was a classic, satisfying tale of a king's return!
The final triple Fury Cutter combo that completely overwhelmed Scizor was incredibly satisfying for Arthur's fans.
During the brief post-match interview, the host brought up a very popular question: "So, this question is for our Arthur. Was the Honedge from this match—now a Doublade—the same one as your legendary 'demonic sword'?"
To be honest, the question caught Arthur a bit off guard.
Because the specific details of his journey in the Star Brilliance Alliance involved some military secrets and couldn't be made public, a legend about a "demonic sword" had been circulating around him for some time.
And since he wasn't particularly keen on debunking rumors, the legend of the demonic sword had now become an inseparable part of his public image.
In fact, some audience members had been asking this question since the beginning of the match. They had just watched on with suspicion when the organizers didn't address it.
And now, this troublemaking host had brought it up again.
They really knew their audience.
The atmosphere in the stadium immediately reached another small climax.
"Is it really the demonic sword?"
"But it didn't seem that impressive before it evolved?"
"Could it be because it didn't devour that Indeedee?"
The audience was abuzz with all sorts of theories.
Someone even seriously analyzed that the demonic sword was a female spirit, that it only absorbed the life force of men and looked down on the female Indeedee, which was why it seemed so weak before evolving.
And that it was only because Arthur had called out to her, a love that transcended the boundary of life and death, that the sword had evolved mid-battle.
They said it with such conviction, with such vivid detail, that you had to admire the creativity of the fans.
At this point, Doublade had returned to Arthur's back, and was now surprisingly quiet.
Perhaps it was feeling refreshed after venting its energy in the battle and was a bit slow to react to its surroundings.
A state commonly known as post-battle clarity.
This stark contrast to its fierce, dominating performance on the field only made people more suspicious that there was some unspeakable secret between this sword and Arthur.
Arthur opened his mouth, feeling a wave of trouble coming his way.
Beside him, Monica looked at him with a playful smile, her eyes squinted like a little fox watching a good show.
She knew part of the truth through her family connections, but she also knew she couldn't just say it.
After thinking for a moment, Arthur chose to give a deliberately ambiguous answer. "He was a bit… rebellious in the past. But he's much better behaved now. I'll make sure he doesn't get out and cause trouble."
"Rebellious in the past" referred to the sword always trying to run away. "Making sure he doesn't cause trouble" referred to not letting it absorb people's life force.
Every word Arthur said was the truth, without a hint of falsehood.
But to the ears of the host and the audience, his words took on a completely different meaning.
The host even subconsciously took a couple of steps back.
So there really is something wrong with this sword? It's just a little better than before? Does that mean it could turn into a demonic sword at any moment?
"Oh, oh, oh! So the demonic sword is real?! Arthur is just barely keeping it under control!"
"I knew it! If the demonic sword had 'caused trouble' with that Indeedee at the start, it probably could have crushed Scizor without even evolving."
"So the question is, how exactly does Arthur control the demonic sword? Hehehe."
"Arthur is a beast!"
The audience was always particularly fascinated by such rebellious stories. For a moment, the truth didn't matter as much anymore.
Was the truth as exciting as this?
When Arthur returned to the players' area, all the other pros were looking at him strangely.
Bella leaned in and whispered, "Is that… thing on your back really the demonic sword?"
She didn't even know what to call Doublade anymore.
Arthur just smiled.
"That depends on whether you believe it or not."
Bella was so startled she subconsciously took half a step back.
But the more discerning Luna just gave him a look full of clear suspicion.
It wasn't until they returned to the temporary lounge for the fan tournament participants, after the cameraman had left, that Monica finally found a chance to ask him with a smile.
"Why do you just let them spread these rumors about a demonic sword? All of those achievements were your own, weren't they?"
Doublade was strong now, but Monica, who had witnessed Arthur catch it, knew better than anyone: the truly outrageous one was this boy himself!
Arthur thought for a moment, then gave a very simple answer.
"Because it's too much trouble. It would be too tiring to explain everything."
Debunking rumors is a pain—that was his most honest thought.
Besides, he already had the even more indelible title of "Child of Suicune" hanging over his head, and had even suffered a real-life social death in front of Suicune itself.
The demonic sword couldn't possibly be associated with another Legendary Pokémon, right?
So, he'd just let it be…
This answer left Monica stunned.
She never would have imagined that Arthur would disregard his own achievements and let the rumors fly simply because he thought it was too much trouble.
That was… an incredibly real answer.
For a moment, all Monica could do was smile.
A thousand words could only be summed up in one phrase—
"As expected of you."
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