Chapter 30: Host Competition
Arthur had never been afraid that his Pokémon's desire to win was too strong, no matter how many championships Froakie wanted, he wasn't afraid.
The only thing he was truly afraid of was Froakie being scared by the hard training, no longer having any enthusiasm for winning, and even developing resistance to matches.
That was something he truly couldn't remedy.
Fortunately, it seemed that this concern hadn't happened yet.
So he responded with a smile, "Okay, I'll take you to keep winning in the future."
At this point, saying this while still sitting in a small stall at the night market might seem a bit overconfident.
But who could say for sure what the future would hold?
After eating his late-night snack, Arthur returned to the hotel with Froakie.
The next morning, he again took Froakie to the training center to train.
At the same time, Eleanor Vance was busy negotiating a commercial deal, leaving early as well.
On this day, which should have been relatively leisurely without a match, the two of them were coincidentally busy and rushing around, and no one was in the room early in the morning.
It wasn't until after 4 PM that Arthur and Froakie returned.
The matches were starting tomorrow, and they had to come back to rest and adjust their condition, so he didn't train Froakie until late at night like yesterday.
Before dinner, Eleanor Vance returned and excitedly presented a piece of clothing for Arthur to try on.
"What's this?"
Arthur asked, taking the long-sleeved shirt from the shopping bag.
"It's an advertisement shirt, provided by the sponsor. You have to wear this for every match from now on. Also, whenever you're interviewed before or after the match, you have to find a chance to say the sponsor's slogan. I'll write it down for you later. But there are no other requirements besides this."
While explaining this, Eleanor Vance's face was flushed, and she seemed to be still in a state of excitement.
She indeed had a reason to be excited. Being able to find and negotiate such a sudden commercial deal in just two days was a significant challenge even for her.
This was because she was holding her own grudge.
Arthur miraculously advanced to the main competition, which exceeded everyone's expectations. As his manager, she was unwilling to fall behind.
The only pity was that the kid she was in charge of was a complete black hole when it came to the internet.
Regarding another profitable commercial deal with a good commission, Arthur's response as an internet celebrity was still the same—
"Oh."
It made her grit her teeth in frustration.
Then Arthur tried on the advertisement shirt in the room.
After putting it on, he looked down. The front of the shirt had a picture of a Tauros and two lines of running script: "Red Taurus Energy Drink, for your Pokémon's most abundant energy."
Regarding popularity, traffic, and advertisements, Arthur was always indifferent.
"It's alright, the size is fine."
Eleanor Vance also knew that she couldn't share her joy with this kid, so she could only explain according to plan, "There are several more of these. Change them when they get dirty. Remember to find a chance to say the slogan whenever you're on camera."
"Okay."
Finally, she encouraged him with a smile, "Good luck tomorrow!"
"I will."
...
Time flashed, and the main competition day arrived.
The morning was for the opening ceremony, which included a song and dance performance by a dance troupe, as well as a performance by Pokémon. It was a grand performance jointly presented by Roserade and Swanna, and the effect was amazing.
In modern society, Pokémon are no longer just used for battle. They have truly integrated into all aspects of human life.
These Roserade and Swanna were Pokémon from the dance troupe. Most of the time, they were back-up dancers for their owners. Of course, it wasn't impossible for particularly outstanding ones to debut on their own.
In this era, Pokémon can also become idols.
After the performance, as usual, came the speeches from the leaders...
After all, it was a competition hosted by the Alliance TV station.
Several provincial leaders each said a few simple words on stage, and soon it was noon...
Finally, Arthur, who was almost asleep from listening to them, suddenly perked up. The draw ceremony was about to start.
Before this, the organizers briefly introduced the thirty-two players who had entered the main competition this year.
Only then did Arthur realize that everyone here was talented.
There were leaders of the university esports team in the City;
There were coaches from the local Pokémon gyms;
There were Pokémon qualification specialists who had once been professionals;
And even more were various non-professional gods who had participated in semi-professional competitions many times and had already gained some fame in this field.
The organizers' official heavy emphasis on introducing the players' titles was also to indirectly highlight the value of their own competition and raise their own level, a win-win approach.
However, when it came to introducing Arthur at the end, the professional host was a little stuck...
After all, Arthur's resume was as blank as her face after removing makeup.
In the end, she could only introduce him as, "The thirtieth player is the well-known streamer from Skyspire, the boy from the mountains, Arthur."
Unexpectedly, this simple introduction and weak title brought the loudest and longest cheers from the audience.
Arthur, who was walking onto the stage, vaguely remembered what Eleanor Vance had told him that morning.
"Remember to properly thank those little fans of yours on WeChat, their video brought you a huge wave of popularity."
He hadn't paid attention to this before, but only now did he witness how amazing this popularity was.
In his memory, even at his Heavenly King inauguration ceremony two hundred years ago, he hadn't heard such grand cheers.
The information age is truly terrifying.
After walking onto the stage, he gave a faint smile.
This feeling wasn't bad either.
But at this time, he didn't realize that as his popularity was rising so sharply, much hidden jealousy and malice were also coming his way.
He stood in the player area on stage, and behind him, many people looked at him with undisguised hostility.
Because as the saying goes, competitors are enemies.
In the field of competitive streaming, the competition is extremely fierce.
Pokémon competition is very popular in this world, with many players and viewers. But similarly, there are also many streamers.
The competition intensity in the streamer circle is hell-level.
In this competition, besides Arthur, there were also many top-tier amateur streamers. Although they weren't as strong as those professional players, they were still very hardworking.
To maintain their popularity and attention, they had to travel all over the alliance every year, participating in various semi-professional matches held in different regions. They worked hard for several years, only accumulating a bit of a fan base.
But Arthur was participating for the first time, with no prior experience. Just because of the popular meme of being the "Son of Suicune" and winning a few preliminary matches, his popularity inexplicably surpassed them. How could they tolerate this?
At this time, these people had only one thought in their minds: I might not be able to beat the professionals, but surely I can beat a newbie?
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