Chapter 44: Even Uncles Have it Rough
That capped young man considers himself a professional with his judgment of the situation, always well-founded and convincing.
But he had been completely wrong in his predictions twice against Arthur.
In the previous match, when he saw the terrifying lightning strike, he chatted with friends, saying this round should be a sure win.
But in the afternoon, he found that his opponent was Arthur, not the woman with the Dratini...
On WeChat, the chat history of his friends laughing at his jinxing abilities was still vivid...
However, although he was now unanimously deemed a comedic figure in the prediction world by his friends, he still had real combat skills.
In the end, his Scyther put immense pressure on Arthur, almost like a different species compared to the Scyther from the preliminary selection.
Agile movements, continuous blade lights, sharp attacks!
It ultimately brought suffocating pressure.
After a fierce battle of nearly twenty minutes, Froakie was finally defeated, experiencing his first loss in this Golden Autumn Cup.
Arthur's league journey unfortunately ended here.
But despite this loss, he had successfully achieved his pre-match goal.
He had made it to the top four!
That was enough.
After all the matches of the day ended, the event organizers specially arranged for all four remaining players to meet the representatives from the Sea Carp Club.
Unfortunately, Bella and Luna only had a half-day off. They had already returned to training in the afternoon. Arthur and the others only met a coach from the youth training camp.
"First of all, congratulations to everyone. On behalf of the Sea Carp Club's youth training camp, I welcome you all.
Our training base is located at 146-3 Shangdong Street in this city. Before next Wednesday, if you are interested in participating in this training camp, you can come to register."
The coach was very polite during the meeting and didn't make any forceful demands. He gave everyone the choice, and if anyone didn't want to join the youth training camp, they could still refuse at this time.
Of course, no one present would refuse.
Confirming that he had finally taken this first step towards a professional career, Arthur was actually quite calm.
But when he left the venue and took out his phone, which had been on silent.
He quickly found that his phone wasn't so calm.
Unread messages from various apps had exploded.
There were private messages from Star Blog congratulating him, blessings and encouragement from those young fans on WeChat, and even a text message from Uncle William, whom he had exchanged contact information with yesterday.
"Congratulations, kid. You fought well! If you need a part-time job after you get into the youth training camp, you can contact me. I know a few good places that happen to be hiring students."
At that moment, he really didn't know what to say.
This uncle was truly accomplished in the field of part-time jobs.
He felt it was a waste of talent for him to be a trainer...
Later that evening, Arthur took the healed Froakie out for a big meal.
Having experienced his first defeat in the arena, Arthur was initially worried that Froakie would be depressed and down.
But at the dinner table, watching Froakie devour the food, he realized that he had probably overthought it.
Froakie's carefree attitude was quite similar to that of his clueless apprentice from two hundred years ago.
He wondered what happened to his clueless apprentice later...
It wasn't until the city lights were bright that he took the well-fed Froakie back to the hotel.
Not long after he returned, Eleanor Vance came to find him.
"Congratulations, I didn't expect you to really make it to the top four. You're quite a surprising kid."
Eleanor Vance greeted him with a smile as soon as she arrived.
When she helped Arthur register online before the competition, she never imagined that a young man who had only been training for a little over a month would actually make it this far.
Even she, the "guardian" who had watched Arthur's journey, was quite shocked.
Arthur responded with his usual calm smile.
"Thank you, Eleanor."
But then he asked, "Will my doing this cause any trouble for you?"
Why would his advancement to the top four cause trouble for Eleanor Vance?
The reason was simple: he would definitely go to the youth training camp next.
But as a management company, the team behind Eleanor Vance obviously preferred him to spend more time on promotion and appearances.
Eleanor Vance rolled her eyes at him.
"Since you know it'll cause trouble for me, can you not go to the youth training camp?"
"No. We agreed when we signed the contract that you can't use the contract to prevent me from becoming a trainer."
"You heartless kid, why are you even asking then?"
Eleanor Vance glared at him resentfully, but judging from her expression, she was probably just joking, and Arthur didn't mind.
But then Eleanor Vance quickly dropped her playful demeanor.
This made Arthur realize: it was time to talk business.
"But I came here today precisely to talk to you about this. It's great that you're going to the youth training camp, and we all congratulate you, but your contract is still valid for several years. So besides training, your endorsements, live streams, and product promotions are still not allowed to stop."
Seeing Arthur frown slightly, Eleanor Vance suddenly smiled.
"But you don't have to be too resistant. We'll try our best to accommodate your training schedule.
Besides, this is also good news for you. After entering the youth training camp, your financial pressure will only increase. Perhaps you'll actively seek endorsements from me at that time."
"What do you mean by financial pressure?" Arthur asked, puzzled.
Eleanor Vance laughed.
"It seems you don't have a comprehensive understanding of professional clubs. You don't think the youth training camp is free, do you?"
"Uh..."
Arthur was genuinely stunned this time.
Only then did he suddenly realize.
No wonder Uncle William had recommended part-time jobs to him after congratulating him on reaching the top four.
"So that's how it is..."
At this moment, he suddenly understood: so all these years, that uncle had a hard time too.
After understanding, he obediently followed Eleanor Vance's request, logged into Star Blog to update his status, and interacted with fans.
Then the next day, Eleanor Vance dragged him around to negotiate several online endorsements. He didn't even have time to watch the Golden Autumn Cup finals.
The finals were on Monday, and then on Tuesday, Arthur continued to be dragged around by Eleanor Vance. It wasn't until Wednesday that he was finally released.
Because on this day, he was due to register and report to the Sea Carp Club's youth training camp.
As soon as he arrived at the club's training base, he was warmly received by the staff.
Later, he also confirmed Eleanor Vance's information here: the youth training camp was indeed not free.
And the price wasn't low either!
This was even with a 70% discount on tuition for being selected through the league as an excellent seed...
Following the receptionist into the base, Arthur quickly saw many familiar faces here: including the other three players who had made it to the Golden Autumn Cup's top four.
"Hi!"
The capped young man he had fought before was as enthusiastic and lively as ever, waving to him as soon as he saw him.
And then, another familiar face he had seen in the league also appeared in his sight.
"Hmph!"
The voice came from the money power woman who had been defeated by Arthur in the quarterfinals.
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