Chapter 407: Overwhelmed by Basalt
The "China Professional League Daily" is a newspaper subordinate to the China Professional League Association, dedicated to reporting on professional league news and boasting a massive readership.
However, the newspaper's coverage followed trends and reader interests. News about the First Division League occupied a full two-thirds of the layout, leaving only a tiny section for the Second Division League, enough for a small picture and less than two hundred words of text.
As for the Third Division League, unless something significant happened, it wasn't qualified to be reported.
Today's small Second Division section featured a photo of Basalt and Cradily. Although the photo was small, the prestige of a Fossil Pokémon was undeniable.
So when readers opened the newspaper, their eyes were drawn to Cradily, and they naturally read the brief report about the Saints Club's afternoon match.
Saints Club rookie player Basalt achieves a 1v3 sweep in his debut. The Saints ultimately win 4-2, earning 3 points.
"A rookie player achieves a 1v3 sweep in his debut?"
Many were shocked upon seeing the newspaper. Especially seeing the name "Basalt," many had a vague impression.
A month ago, when Basalt joined the Sanctuary Club, he had made the front page, sparking considerable discussion. Unexpectedly, a month later, Basalt's debut resulted in a 1v3 sweep.
That night, Basalt went from the newspaper to the internet, creating another small viral sensation.
In response, major Second Division clubs became vigilant and intensified their collection of information on Basalt overnight. Clearly, this rookie couldn't be treated like an ordinary newcomer. Being swept 1v3 would be a huge embarrassment.
For instance, among the few supporters of the Five Venoms Club, some had already turned from fans to passersby.
Capital City.
In a closed training room within a high-end villa, a Lucario was training hard. Its trainer, a slouching teenager, was fully engrossed in a game downloaded on his Pokédex.
The door was kicked open. The teenager shuddered and quickly switched the screen from the game to data research.
At the door, a bald, burly man walked in holding a newspaper and threw it to him, shouting, "Look at this, bottom left of the second page."
"Hiss... Basalt starts with a 1v3 sweep in the Second Division League?" The teenager gasped.
"Back then, you could say you lost the provincial competition on purpose, but now? He's making a name for himself in the professional league, and you're still an Advanced-level trainer. How did I raise such a useless son?" The bald man roared furiously.
"This month, you're taking the Pro-level assessment. If you don't pass, I'm sending you to the army."
"The army?" Shen Tuming shivered.
Watching Shen Tujue's retreating figure, Shen Tuming sighed inwardly, "It's over; the good days are gone!"
Since Basalt passed the Pro-level assessment, Shen Tujue's temper had grown more irritable by the day, finding fault with his son at every turn and piling on special training sessions.
"Lucario, we have to work hard now!" Shen Tuming sighed.
Damn, another day of being overwhelmed by Basalt's progress!
Although a rookie, due to his dazzling record, Basalt's status instantly rose to a level comparable to the captain and vice-captain.
As for Zhang Zheng, he felt a mix of fear and envy. Envy because of Basalt's outstanding performance, and fear because his behavior during the welcome might have earned Basalt's grudge.
But in reality, Basalt was oblivious to Zhang Zheng's petty thoughts and even felt embarrassed about being too harsh during the spar. So whenever they met, Basalt would call him "Brother Zhang," making Zhang Zheng flush with shame. Look at that magnanimity! Zhang Zheng quickly corrected his attitude, deciding to learn from Basalt's strengths to become stronger.
With Basalt joining, the atmosphere in the Saints Club became more lively. If the club's ranking rose, they could get extra bonuses, even as substitute players. As for the main players, their salaries had a floating coefficient based on their appearance rate and win rate.
Learning this, Basalt silently set a small goal: maintain a win rate of no less than 75%.
Life in the club was fulfilling: training, competing, or traveling to competitions.
Two days later, Basalt boarded another flight for a match.
This time, their opponent was the Jinchuan Club in Jin City, Gansu Province.
Jin City, Gansu, housed the world's third-largest super-large copper-nickel deposit: the Jinchuan copper-nickel deposit. It contained extremely rich mineral resources, and most of China's magnetic ore came from here.
"The players of the Jinchuan Club mostly use Rock, Ground, and Steel types, adding other Pokémon for support or coverage," Jiang Jun explained the situation at the hotel after getting off the plane, involuntarily glancing at Basalt.
Rock, Ground, Steel—this composition was very close to Basalt's. This meant the impact of Sandstorm weather would be minimized.
Crucially, the Jinchuan Club's ranking was much higher than the Saints Club, being a top-10 level club in the Second Division, with extremely solid overall strength. Facing Jinchuan Club, winning would be extremely difficult. But as the head coach, Jiang Jun couldn't give up just because the opponent was strong; that wasn't the spirit of a trainer.
He had to use strategic lineup arrangements to achieve a "Tian Ji Horse Racing" effect, maximizing his advantages to strive for a draw.
"According to my latest information, besides the captain, you need to pay attention to one person in the Jinchuan Club: him."
Jiang Jun projected a photo of a handsome young man onto the big screen and explained, "Shao Weidong, 20 years old, a genius trainer from West Qin University, and also a rookie participating in the professional league this season. However, his strength cannot be underestimated because he is suspected to be the disciple of... Zhao Jiuge, the provincial Gym Leader of Gansu Province!"
"What? A disciple of a Master-level trainer?"
Everyone gasped upon hearing this.
Local Gym Leaders were Gym Leader-level; one could still see their backs if they looked up. But provincial Gym Leaders were Master-level. This was a height most league players could never reach in their lifetimes.
"This isn't certain, only suspected. Because Shao Weidong has a Magnezone, likely with the Magnet Pull ability, capable of setting up extremely powerful gravity and electric fields. Its strength is formidable."
Jiang Jun analyzed all the information he had collected. Thus, everyone gained a basic understanding of the Jinchuan Club's players.
Next was considering the lineup arrangement. The head coach had to consider how the opponent would arrange their lineup and how to counter it.
But just then, Jiang Jun received a call. After hanging up, his expression was extremely strange.
Seeing this, Captain Li Di asked curiously, "Old Jiang, what happened?" As the team captain, he had nearly ten years of friendship with Jiang Jun, so he spoke casually.
"The coach of the Jinchuan Club just called and said Shao Weidong wants to spar with Basalt, asking for our opinion."
After Jiang Jun finished speaking, everyone involuntarily turned their gaze to Basalt.
This was a challenge!
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you