Chapter 586: Onward to the Future
A few days later, Lina finally emerged from her cocoon!
This transformation was a rebirth!
Having absorbed the gifts of three Legendaries and gained two freely switchable Mega forms, she had experienced an unprecedented leap in her life level, base combat power, and peak burst potential!
She had even grown a size larger, though she didn't look bulky. In her base form, her figure remained slender, with a long tail, making her look exceptionally graceful in flight.
In terms of appearance, Lina still preferred the slender, elegant style of Mega Charizard Y.
But when it came to fighting, that was another story.
"How do you feel?"
Arthur waited for her to land after she had flown enough, then walked up and patted her horn.
Lina chirped happily, full of vigor. Just spreading her wings now created a wave of scorching air!
She felt incredibly strong! Like she could take on ten opponents at once!
If she could teleport back to the Charicific Valley right now, she would definitely challenge the leader to a duel and wipe away her past shame!
"Alright, alright, calm down. You'll have plenty of chances to show off later."
Arthur stroked Lina's neck to soothe her.
Although her strength had improved tremendously, her personality hadn't changed a bit. She was still that fiery, show-off little dragoness.
But this was good. Now Lina could finally take over Old Flame's mantle as she wished.
With Lina's emergence, Arthur's waiting and searching in the desert had finally come to an end.
He spent another day accompanying Old Tyranitar around her territory for the last time; accompanied the little dragonfly to visit the tribes she had once tormented; gave Little Lapras a day off to have a final chat with Groudon; and let Ho-Oh and Rayquaza take away the sliver of Diancie's origin energy that Specter had kept in his body.
Diancie was a Rock/Fairy-type Mythical Pokémon. Her origin energy wasn't very useful to Specter.
In the past, Specter had relied on this energy to extend his life.
But now, as his body gradually healed and he no longer had so many chronic ailments from abusing himself day and night, Specter no longer needed this energy.
Keeping it would only make it easier for Future Yuzuru to find a weakness again, so it was better to return it all now.
Arthur's decision finally improved Rayquaza's mood.
Although before leaving, it still repeatedly warned Groudon: "Absolutely do not let this human fleece you again!" which made Specter roll his eyes repeatedly.
Groudon hasn't even said anything, what are you anxious about?
So stingy. No wonder they call you the Big Caterpie.
This remark nearly made Rayquaza explode with rage and challenge him to a duel on the spot.
Back in the day, Groudon hadn't participated in the war against the Kubfu Alliance, but Rayquaza had, so Specter never had a good face for it.
Although he knew a ghost couldn't beat a major Legendary, it didn't stop Specter from sticking out his tongue and making faces at Rayquaza whenever it turned its back.
"Pfft!"
Arthur just smiled as he watched from the side.
All good things must come to an end.
A day later, Arthur finally bid farewell to Old Tyranitar and the new generation Groudon, riding Lina towards the Alliance border at the edge of the desert.
It was time to go back.
On the way back, he felt light.
This time, he had found all his surviving old partners. The bonds of the past had been recovered. Now, it was time to march towards the future with his head held high!
Back in the human world, Arthur knew his next schedule very well—he had to go back and fight in the Champions Cup!
"I took a bit too long this time. I wonder if the manager and team leader will be angry," Arthur thought with a wry smile as he rode on the dragon's back.
A few days later, back in the Kubfu Alliance, he was indeed met with a storm.
"So you do know how to come back!! Why didn't you just bury yourself in the desert?! Do you remember you're a professional player? Do you remember you have a team?!"
Upon returning to the club, he inevitably faced a combined scolding from the head coach and the sisters Ivy and Bianca.
He could only lower his head and take it silently.
After all, being a professional player wasn't a job with much freedom. Normal players' schedules, training, and even watching matches on rest days had to follow the club's arrangements.
Someone like Arthur, who consistently took leave once a year and disappeared for over two months at a time, would have been kicked out by any other club along with their bedding long ago.
But the coach and teammates were just venting.
They knew: Arthur was different from the others.
After the scolding, the head coach put away her paper fan and pushed up her glasses.
"I've seen your recent performance through livestreams and various rebroadcasts. You did well, didn't embarrass our Alliance. Unlike those two idiots over there!"
Saying that, she smacked Aaron on the head with the paper fan.
Aaron, who was standing in line with Arthur to be scolded, looked innocent.
Why am I getting hit?
The Captain and I left after hearing the League Cup was canceled! The club approved it, the procedures were complete, and you nodded too, Head Coach! Why don't you slap the guy next to me who disappeared for two months instead?
Noticing Aaron's aggrieved look, the head coach glared at him fiercely, the effect comparable to the move Glare, making Aaron flinch on the spot.
"Still looking! You have the nerve to look at me?! Look at the record you achieved in the desert!! The desert is the home field for your Garchomp, is that performance worthy of your home field advantage?"
Aaron lowered his head, mumbling, not daring to speak.
In all fairness, Aaron's record in this event wasn't bad; he won more than he lost overall.
As a fellow All-Star main player from Kubfu, his ranking on the event points leaderboard was much better than Sima Heren from the Blaze Team who went with him.
But as the saying goes, comparisons are odious.
Records depend on who you're compared with.
Compared to Sima Heren, or even his own captain Leo, his record was decent. But unfortunately, he was standing next to Arthur!
A man whose win rate remained above 90% until the end of the event! A 100% win rate in wild battles! He never lost a duel where the trainer could participate, and maintained an astonishingly high win rate even in matches where the trainer couldn't intervene. A man who stood almost undefeated in the Phantom's territory against non-tag-team challenges!
And this was with the cameras missing Arthur's early resistance against Groudon and mid-stage annihilation of the Stitched Shadow Army, only recording his acceptance of challenges in Old Tyranitar's territory in the later stage of the event!
Even looking only at these public video records, Arthur's performance in this event was dominant!
Also not looking for Seeds and fighting non-stop, also neglecting proper duties, Aaron's performance looked shabby when placed next to Arthur's.
This event made the whole world remember one name—
Kubfu, Arthur!
The most direct evidence was: facing the upcoming Champions Cup, the Starlight and Frost Team's chances of winning according to foreign betting sites were almost catching up to the Grand Master Team, who had won two championships in the last four years!
One event reversed the competitive reputation of the entire Kubfu Alliance, which had been sluggish for decades!
Aaron could only spread his hands at this.
How can I compete with that?
Are you treating me like a stepping stone...
(End of Volume)
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