Chapter 55: Showdown About to Begin
At first, Justin was quite happy to see a familiar face, thinking that having an acquaintance among the seniors would provide some support.
Arthur... ahem, Bro Arthur was reliable, but after all, he was still a minor like himself.
But it was clear that he had misjudged the situation.
This wasn't a collaboration, but a competition for a single-plank bridge!
Since the main income of this wilderness exploration program came from online auctions, the organizers naturally wanted to gather as many viewers as possible.
After all, auctions always fetched higher prices with larger audiences.
So they only needed one group of streamers to enter the protected area at a time. To achieve this, they had already negotiated various exchanges of benefits beforehand.
In this situation, forget about a senior from the youth training camp, even biological brothers would fight for the opportunity.
Arthur and Justin were still foolishly focused on the base pay of 600 per day, unaware that others were eyeing the potentially uncapped auction commissions.
This directly caused them to underestimate the competitive resolve of others, putting them at a disadvantage from the start.
Eleanor Vance on the side was also caught off guard.
She hadn't talked much with Arthur since he went to the youth training camp. This was her first time hearing that Arthur had only managed to get a bottom-ranking position in the camp, which greatly surprised her.
To the point that she forgot to speak up for Arthur at first.
By the time she reacted, the other side's mocking laughter had already formed a chorus.
"It seems your company really has no one else, Eleanor. The only streamer you could find is a bottom-ranked newbie from the youth training camp. Who knows if he can even last a year before quitting?"
Arthur and the others were enjoying discounted tuition in the youth training camp because they achieved a certain ranking in the league, meeting the entry requirements. But this discount only lasted for a year, and the tuition would revert to full price the following year.
So the end of the first year was always a mass exodus from the youth training camp.
Many young people would take a year off from school to try their luck. If it didn't work out, they would obediently go back to their studies or jobs. True dreamers like Uncle William, who repeatedly failed and tried again while working part-time to save up, were always a minority.
Conversely, once you survived the first-year attrition wave, trainees who continued to stay for a second year were naturally considered more reliable by those who knew the situation.
This was the source of confidence for the other group at this moment.
Besides the senior trainee who knew Arthur and Justin, the other prospective streamers they brought were all experienced trainees who had been in various clubs' youth training camps for a full year.
Therefore, after that senior trainee revealed Arthur and Justin's true identities, everyone in their group felt that this competition was already in their grasp.
But unexpectedly, Arthur suddenly asked out of the blue.
"Senior, I remember you've been in the youth training camp for three years now?"
The other person nodded proudly. "That's right, so you should recognize the difference—"
But before he could finish, Arthur raised his voice and interrupted, "Three years and still can't graduate, are you proud of that? No one thinks that's something to boast about, right?"
Arthur generally didn't like to be sarcastic. His usual approach was "if you can't fight, don't talk."
But that didn't mean he couldn't use sarcasm to mess with people's minds.
Back when he was fourteen, he had joined the army and became a trainer. What kind of scumbags hadn't he beaten up?
Having seen it all, he naturally picked up a few tricks.
This "right, right" combined with his tone and expression almost made that senior trainee explode on the spot.
"You—!"
But at this moment, the organizers arrived.
That senior trainee, under instruction, deliberately shouted loudly in front of the organizers, "What's the point of being good with words? Trainers ultimately have to prove themselves with their Pokémon. Do you dare to have a match right here? If you're afraid, just get lost!"
The group of organizers who arrived frowned slightly.
Their original intention wasn't to use Pokémon battles to decide who would be the streamers for this protected area exploration.
This was clearly a buyer's market. They actually wanted to use the competition between the two agencies to drive down the price.
Even if the auction commission was agreed upon beforehand and couldn't be changed, they could still gain more leverage in negotiations.
But the other agency, probably seeing through their intentions, directly seized the opportunity to create trouble, planning to eliminate Arthur and his team before any price negotiations could even begin!
Their provocation seemed brainless, but their motives were far from simple.
Eleanor Vance, a step behind, also realized what was happening.
"Wait!"
These candidates were bought with the company's resources. Why should they withdraw just because they lost a single match?
She immediately wanted to stop them.
But unexpectedly, Arthur had already agreed.
"Alright, let's have a match then. Right here?"
Eleanor Vance quickly pulled Arthur aside, thinking that Arthur was acting impulsively because he was young and hot-headed, so she wanted to calm him down.
"Don't be provoked! This competition for the streamer spots isn't just about Pokémon strength. As long as you meet the organizers' basic requirements, we still have a chance to compete. They're trying to set a trap for you!"
However, to her surprise, Arthur smiled calmly.
"I know, but my thoughts are actually the same as theirs."
Everyone knew that agencies who paid for the opportunity wouldn't just give up because of a single loss. They also wanted to win the initial battle to dampen the other side's morale before negotiating the price.
And coincidentally, in the current situation, both sides felt they had a good chance of winning.
The other side felt they could easily defeat Arthur and Justin.
But coincidentally, Arthur felt the same way.
Because he had seen the senior trainee's Pokémon in the youth training camp.
So he really didn't think his Froakie would lose, even though he was currently ranked last in this batch of youth training camp recruits.
"You—"
Seeing his smile, Eleanor Vance was momentarily at a loss for words.
So, with the tacit agreement of the organizers and both agencies, everyone quickly stepped back, clearing a space in the middle for the two sides.
There was no proper arena here, so they had to make do with an open space.
Fortunately, neither side had Pokémon who knew "Dig" moves, so the ground being concrete or the professional arena's yellow soil wouldn't make much of a difference.
Arthur, of course, sent out Froakie as always.
And the senior trainee sent out his Pokémon, a Grovyle.
Seeing this matchup, Eleanor Vance couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Grovyle was a Grass-type, and it was also an evolved form of Pokémon. Even though Arthur's Froakie had the rare Protean ability, preventing the opponent from consistently landing super effective hits, this battle was still a disadvantageous one for Froakie.
After all, while the Grass-type had many weaknesses, Froakie didn't know any Fire, Poison, Bug, Ice, or Flying-type moves. Conversely, Froakie's Water-type moves would only deal reduced damage.
"This kid, for all his fine words, is still acting impulsively," she muttered to herself.
Unexpectedly, Justin, who was standing nearby, heard her.
Justin comforted her instead.
"Don't worry too much, Eleanor. Bro Arthur can handle this kind of small stuff."
Eleanor Vance gave him a strange look.
"You look older than Arthur, right? Why are you calling him Bro Arthur? And isn't your Pokémon a Flying-type? Why aren't you fighting this match?"
Even though the duel was initiated by Arthur, both of them were here together, and it wouldn't be wrong for them to switch players.
But what Justin said next completely surprised Eleanor Vance.
He said: "You can rest assured, Eleanor. Bro Arthur's win rate is much higher than mine."
By now, he had completely transformed into Arthur's biggest fanboy...
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